Web News: See More of London from your Bedroom

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If you've been denying yourself that vacation trip to the UK, you can now take a virtual trip down the streets of London with the launch of Google's "street view" service for the United Kingdom yesterday. The free controversial service lets you view panoramic images at street level of locations in the U.S. and several other countries. Now in the UK, you can see what's things look like as if you were taking a stroll down a road in London, Belfast, Liverpool, Aberdeen, Manchester, or 20 other UK cities.

It's free, fun, and you can do it even in your pajamas!

Web News: Microsoft IE 8 is Now Available for Download

Though the web browser market is meeting increasing competition by Firefox and Safari, Microsoft has unveiled version 8 of its still dominant Internet Explorer web browser. IE 8 is now available for download from the Microsoft website, and is available for both Windows Vista and Windows XP.

Some of the newest features of IE 8 include:

• Toolbar button which lets you view websites originally designed for older browsers (is this a sign Microsoft may phase out IE 6?)
  
• Real-time search views of Amazon.com, NY Times and Wikipedia,
  
• Task shortcuts (called "accelerators") which speed up common tasks like mapping with Live Maps
• New security features against deceptive and malicious websites that block 2-4 times more malware websites than other browsers
• Page load times faster than other top browsers on 50% of top comScore websites
  

For historical insight, the majority of my web design experience (12 years), I've been primarily a Mozilla (platform that eventually led to Netscape, Firefox, and Safari) fan. However, I have to give kudos to IE for stepping up the security game in current times when identity theft, Internet worms and viruses, and malicious software ("malware") are becoming rampant threats online. A recent study shows that 91% of online U.S. adult users are concerned about identity theft and fraud and that 37% of users are afraid of providing their private information when shopping online.

Haven't heard any problems with or much love for the new IE 8 yet, but we'll keep you posted!