Google has just released their first public beta for Google Chrome, a brand new web browser based on the Webkit codebase. Currently, only Microsoft Windows is supported with an available download, though there are links to register for updates for Linux and OS X.

For a detailed, though entertaining, explanation on why the company is working on their own web browser, visit the Behind the Open Source Browser Project comic.

Exactly how much of an impact the release of yet another web browser will have is still undetermined, but if any company can make it big, it would probably be Google.

The 2008 Democratic National Convention has just passed and the Republican National Convention begins this week, which means there will be a fair number of speeches you may have wanted to listen to, but just couldn’t find the time.

If you have an iPod or iPhone, Apple is making most of those speeches freely available for download through iTunes. Selected speeches from the 2008 DNC convention are already up, and the RNC should soon follow.

If you’re a member of the audio book club Audible.com, the Election 2008 links on the main page will take you to the same content.

August marks a very special anniversary for Apple in that ten years ago it introduced the first iMac to the PC market.

Walking through the PC aisle today with all the different and colorful design choices available might make it easy to underestimate the impact the “Bondi Blue” iMac made. However, 1998 was time where most computers were designed as boring beige boxes more at home under a company desk than in your home.

The idea of a simple to setup all-in-one home PC had been attempted before, but the iMac really cemented the idea that a personal computer could be an experience versus a simple device.

Beyond the outward design, the iMac turned heads with a number of technology decisions that were controversial at the time, but are now standards. Some, for example, balked at the lack of floppy drive, but now many see the iMac as one of the death knells of those drives. The iMac also dropped several common Macintosh ports in lieu of utilizing USB connections, which at the time were very uncommon.

The release of the iMac also signaled a revitalized Apple. Steve Jobs had just returned to the company, which had been dealing with years of poor sales and struggling stock prices. However, the release of the iMac, designed by a team led by Johnathan Ive, sold nearly 800,000 units in the last half of 1998 and brought Apple back to profitability.

In the decade that followed, Johnathan Ive and his team continued to innovate with the Apple line, including iPods and iPhones, but the iMac in particular went through some of the most striking changes.

Those changes also swept through the rest of the PC industry and consumers responded positively by basing buying decisions on design as much as performance and functionality. It’s precisely because of those striking designs that consumers can walk through the PC aisle and find a computer that not only fits their lifestyle needs, but their fashion tastes as well.

I came across the fire-damaged Texas Cattle Company building today. Apparently, after having a number of restaurants come and go in the building, the decision was made to use the location for fire training exercises for the local fire department.

The punchline, however, comes from the restaurant sign catch phrase:

The September 2008 issue of Reader’s Digest hit newstands this week with an article entitled “13 things your computer guy won’t tell you …“

I supplied several tips and received a name check for it, though I would point out that everything I contributed are absolutely things I tell my clients about.

I had an opportunity to speak with Steve Mullen of the Startup BizCast about technology for different types small business owners.

Steve was interested in advice I could give to the three types of owners he identified as the highly-mobile “road warriors”, the flexibility-seeking “home office owners” or the multi-user supporting “small office owners”.

I also had an opportunity to remind all business owners about the importance of both security software, such as antivirus and antispyware protection, as well as data backup solutions, both on-site and online.

The podcast can be listened to via Steve’s website at StartupBizCast.com.

April and August are both “Recycle Your Computer Month” in Cuyahoga County, so residents with unwanted computers, monitors or printers may want to visit the Cuyahoga County Solid Waste District website in order to find out where to bring their equipment for safe handling and disposal.

The website answers many frequently asked questions about the program, including what happens to any private data on the hard drive with any computer you bring in.