Now, I am as much against smoking as anyone. I also do not want workers needlessly exposed to hazardous substances. Still, for Apple to deny warranty claims on Macs exposed to cigarette smoke seems way over the line.

Yet, that is what The Consumerist says Apple has done on at least two occasions in recent months.

Chrome OS may lead to higher-performance netbooks, but many of them will not be running Google's next-generation operating system.

Why? Because Chrome OS could force Microsoft to stop crippling netbooks to avoid competition with more expensive notebooks.

IGetMusic ($40; ten-day free, feature-limited trial) is an interesting app that listens to Internet radio stations for you and turns their streaming music into numerous portable M4A files, which can be played on most MP3 players. iTunes or other music apps can convert these into MP3 files, if you wish, for total portability. Unfortunately, this isn't one of those easy-to-use, launch-and-go apps.

The debate over climate change--and what is fact versus what fits the agenda of one side or the other--is raging in the wake of hacked e-mails alleging that facts were covered up. I'll let the climate change rivals battle that out, but let's take a closer look at the security aspects of e-mail and how attackers were able to acquire these messages.

A server at the Hadley Climate Research Center in the United Kingdom was breached and the attacker was able to acquire thousands of e-mail messages and sensitive documents which were subsequently uploaded to an FTP server in Russia and have since been publicly shared and analyzed around the world.

Now, I'm not suggesting that Google's Web-centric OS is a nefarious, 1984-esque plot to subjugate the human race -- or at least the 1.7 billion (and rising rapidly) people who use the Internet. But Google already knows more about many of us than we may know. A few examples:

By the year 2020, you won't need a keyboard and mouse to control your computer, say Intel Corp. researchers. Instead, users will open documents and surf the Web using nothing more than their brain waves.

Scientists at Intel's research lab in Pittsburgh are working to find ways to read and harness human brain waves so they can be used to operate computers, television sets and cell phones. The brain waves would be harnessed with Intel-developed sensors implanted in people's brains.

When Google unveiled its open source Chrome OS on Thursday, many commentators were quick to dismiss the new operating system as unimpressive and underwhelming. Citing everything from the browser interface that represents the entirety of the user experience to its limited hardware support and inability to install apps or play PC games, early critics have slammed Google's cloud-based OS for being exactly what it is intended to be: lean, fast, and simple.

To my eye, all this criticism appears to miss the point of Chrome OS--and indeed, the point of most of Google's services. Of course, this is nothing new for Google.

Earlier this week, Google gave the world a first look at the Chrome OS. The press event confirmed what was suspected when Google announced it was working on a netbook operating system four months ago -- it would emphasize speed and simplicity. As the tech world tests versions of the operating system that were compiled from Google's source code it is looking like the project's priorities may be weaknesses.

Popularized in many of the highly acclaimed PBS documentaries produced by filmmaker Ken Burns, the technique of turning historic still images into something more palatable for a television audience (by slowly panning across the images, and fading in to new ones) has become a common technique for videographers with limited shooting budgets. PhotoFilmStrip (free) provides a one-stop application you can use to generate just such a video montage out of a series of still photographs.

You pro

It has been difficult for Google to explain away the seeming conflict between Chrome OS and Android.

Saying that Chrome is for the Internet and Android for devices, requires a belief that users actually make the distinction.

In this week's special (and slightly long) episode of the PC World podcast, editors Robert Strohmeyer, Tim Moynihan, Melissa Perenson, and Nick Mediati discuss the just-announced Google Chrome OS.

The lean, netbook-centric operating system isn't for everyone--especially those who want to run installed applications or store all their media locally--but it is an exciting development for the cloud-computing world.