As I’ve mentioned before, I use Google News as my news source, having left CNN and other news web sites far behind. Google offers far more data, far more variety–and now the main page is customizable. You can choose which sections (World, National, Entertainment, Business, Science/Tech, Business, Sports, Health, and More Top Stories) you want visible, and for each section, which national focus (U.S., Spain, Chile, Germany, China, Japan, etc.). You can add sections and change their positions to anywhere under the Top Stories banner, and then decide how many stories each section will display.

I know that other sites are customizable as well, but as with many other things Google, the whole package is better than what’s being offered elsewhere. I tried Yahoo for a while, but for some reason it stopped recognizing my cookies and would simply not accept any new settings–probably a result of Yahoo deciding to focus their setup on Internet Explorer to the exclusion of Mozilla/Firefox. I consider that unacceptable–I’ll be damned if I’ll be forced to use that piece of junk, and any site worth its salt will find a way to work universally–which Google does on a regular basis.

Another mention of Google Image Search, by the way–it’s very handy for my classes. Just the other day, I thought to mention the Altair computer from the mid-70’s in my Computer class. I hadn’t prepared for it, but no problem–just hop onto Google Image, and within about 10 seconds I had some great photos to show the class on the monitor. Apple’s beautifully-executed zoom feature let me crop out everything else, so the image took up the whole screen. Cool.

Speaking of Apple, they’ve just signed on to the Blu-Ray DVD format, the next-generation high-definition DVD format which can hold up to 50 GB of data using a higher-frequency laser to etch smaller bits onto the disc. This is in opposition to the HD-DVD format, which has a lower capacity but which is cheaper to produce, according to its representatives. On the face of it, I would take this as a sign that Blu-Ray is better, simple because of Apple’s history of choosing the better format (though some of those formats, such as Firewire, have lost out through Microsoft and Intel’s sheer force of market control). Still, it is worth noting that Sony and HP are among the companies supporting Blu-Ray, and so there might be some influence from companies Apple has had close relations with as of late.