Picture of a Comcast service vehicle taken in an open area from a public street in Macomb, Illinois 61455 (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

PCMAG reported that Comcast will ditch the 250GB data cap for their customers soon, because Comcast is exploring the option of increasing the data cap beyond 250GB.  When questioned, Comcast refused to say that people needed more bandwidth, instead they said nowadays it simply makes sense to have their customers with bigger data cap since online videos are becoming evermore popular.  In my opinion, I think sooner or later, the ISP industry will get evermore competitive and people will use more data than the data cap allows.  The people who need more bandwidth will just have to leave the ISPs that do not provide bigger data cap.

Google might speed up the adoption of which to abandon the data cap altogether.  Obviously, I’m looking at how Google is providing 100 times faster than today Internet connection speed for Kansas City, KS and Kansas City, MO.  Perhaps, once Google thinks that they will reap even more profits by providing ultra fast fiber broadband beyond Kansas City, KS and Kansas City, MO., then the competition will definitely push more ISPs to rethink about data cap logic.

Sure, Google has deeper intention for offering ultra fast fiber broadband.  I think Google wants to make sure they have the experience in providing ISP service, because Google never knows that they might need to roll out their very own ISP service to just about anyone who relies on Google services.  Perhaps, Google fears that one day ISPs will be able to dictate what people can watch and download over the Internet.  If such a day will happen, Google’s ultra fast fiber broadband will be able to aid Google in providing Google whatever services over the web to just about anybody as usual.  Google will always be the master of its own Internet services!

Google is so depending on the Internet for its prosperity, therefore no matter is too small to be overlooked when it comes to how Google does business over the Internet — ultra fast fiber broadband service/experiment is definitely a defensive and possibly an offensive strategy.  I don’t think Google ultra fast fiber broadband has data cap, but I’m not sure.  Nonetheless, I think Google wants to promote a future where data can roam just about anywhere without being restrained by the data cap limitation.  It makes sense, because Google core business relies on unrestrained Internet.  One good example would be YouTube.  Sure, Adwords is what making Google the most money, but YouTube, in the near future, might be the most important medium of which to allow Google to increase its core business might (i.e., Internet advertising — Adwords and Adsense).  Of course, nobody would know for sure that YouTube will play out as we think Google has hoped, but at the rate of everyone is slowly ditching the traditional TV for online media — it’s only a matter of time when online media will rule the world and the traditional media (i.e., TV) has to become something like the radio of today.  So, in order for Google to prosper in the upcoming media order, Google has to make sure that YouTube will become evermore popular and people will want to stream YouTube videos evermore.

Google’s YouTube might be so powerful as to how it will attract advertising dollars like nobody has ever seen something like it before.  How come?  Imagine regular TVs will tune into YouTube channels and not the traditional TV channels.  Such a future is probably where YouTube wants to be!  I think such a future for YouTube is very very possible!  Google is creating and promoting original TV type of contents for YouTube, therefore this sort of actions from Google confirms the importance of YouTube in regarding to Google’s media/advertising business.

Google is probably not the only one who thinks about how important it is for folks to be able to use the Internet without data cap, because there are so many other companies out there whose sole business relies entirely on the Internet.  Especially Netflix, because Netflix relies on the ISPs not to tighten the data cap as Netflix customers need to be able to stream Netflix movies.  Eventually, the old media will see that it’s futile to hold back the wave of the new media, therefore I think data cap strategy is too narrow.  Even the ISPs will be able to profit hugely when data cap limitation will no longer be around.  How come?  Like I had mentioned earlier, people will just have to leave the ISPs that are not providing them enough bandwidth.  Some of you might argue that people might not be able to leave their old ISP, because there won’t be a second ISP within the same broadband coverage area.  Well, I think such thinking will be outdated.  How come?  We can just take a look at Google ultra fast fiber broadband experimentation and know that the future for ISP industry will be a lot more competitive.  I sure hope the future will allow people to have a lot more choice of choosing an ISP, and I think we are heading for such a future anyway.  This is why data cap is just too narrow of a strategy — a strategy which will make ISP industry looks petty and the rest look eager to push ahead for a brighter better broadband/Internet future.

Afterthought:  I don’t think to do away with data cap is to encourage piracy.  People who want to pirate are the people who will never pay for the things that they want to pirate in the first place, therefore forcing onto them with data cap plans is like asking them to be more prudent with what they want to pirate.  Furthermore, people who have great technological knowledge might hack into various networks so they can use such networks’ resources (e.g., bandwidth, storage space) for their piracy activities anyway.  This is why data cap is senseless for a future that relies evermore on a busier Internet/broadband highways.

Sources:

• http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2404557,00.asp
• http://www.google.com/fiber/kansascity/index.html

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• Sony Puts Internet Video Service on Hold over Comcast Data Caps (pamil-visions.net)
• Google Fiber Construction Update – Kansas City, KS and Kansas City, MO (techburgh.com)
• Are bandwidth caps about easing congestion, or protecting television? (digitaltrends.com)
• Sony Put Video Service on Hold Due to Comcast Data Caps (tech.slashdot.org)
• Will the Senate please ask ISPs to justify their wireless caps? (gigaom.com)
• Netflix CEO complains about Comcast’s data caps again: ‘In what way is this neutral?’ (theverge.com)
• Stephen Fry calls NZ broadband a ‘digital embarrassment’ (pcadvisor.co.uk)
• Are Data Caps Bad, Or Are They Justifiable? (webpronews.com)
• Netflix CEO blasts Comcast over net neutrality (slashgear.com)
• He said, she said: Is Comcast prioritizing traffic or not? (gigaom.com)
• Is Comcast violating net-neutrality rules? (tech.fortune.cnn.com)
• Comcast data caps stand in the way of Sony video service – Online Video News (digitaltvnewssummary.wordpress.com)
• Bandwidth Cap Is Bad For Data In The Cloud (essayboard.com)
• Netflix fires on Comcast, says nothing neutral about data caps (news.cnet.com)
• Senator questions whether Comcast is following NBC merger conditions (macworld.com)
• Comcast: Xfinity Streaming on Xbox Live Won’t Count Towards Data Cap (inquisitr.com)
• 7 ways Comcast is killing the cable killers (gigaom.com)
• Franken Questions Comcast’s Commitment to Net Neutrality (pcmag.com)

Google Logo officially released on May 2010 (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Google glasses has yet to make an official debut, but I feel like this Google’s futuristic eyewear might become a boon for video games and fitness applications.  Here is an idea for a video game using Google glasses.  Imagining if you are going to do some boxing with a few friends.  Instead of putting on real boxing gloves and get into the ring, you and a friend just need to put on the Google glasses, and the augment reality kicks in which transforms you and your friend into boxers.  Of course, the Google glasses needs to turn you and your friends into boxers with real audience.  Imagining the world can watch your friends and you best each other out with augment reality gloves in augment reality boxing matches, and when your a friend loses the fight, someone in the audience can actually challenge you to an augment reality boxing match (this person too must wear a Google glasses or else he would not be able to appear among the audience).  The people in the audience can be anywhere in the world.  OK, maybe this is probably going to be super hard to be implemented even for Google glasses, but what if it will be possible?  Using the scenario above, one can imagine that someone will be able to create something like fitness video game or fitness training application too.  Then again, everything about Google glasses is only now a hearsay, because people like us (not Google employees) have yet a chance to try it out and seeing its real capability — but I so wish that Google glasses technology will be able to allow app developers to create something like a boxing video game which I had a pleasure of describing and imagining above.

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The image of Seattle being refracted through myopic glasses (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Google envisions Google glasses which enhances users’ normal sight with computational information.  For an example, when you look up and at the sky, the Google glasses might tell you the weather information.  When you need to use a Google map, just speak out loud and the Google glasses will understand your natural language and pull up a Google map with complete direction.  Turn by turn direction?  Not a problem!  Furthermore, Google glasses can even snap a picture and allow you to either do a voice chat or video chat with friends.  How about email?  Not a problem!  So basically, you can do a lot by just wearing a Google glasses, and the only requirements you ever need are your own voice and the intelligence which understands the information that Google glasses digitally draws onto your normal sight.  The video right after the break will demonstrate Google glasses concept.  I don’t think this is yet a product, but it might be if Google dares to push this concept ahead.

Personally, I think Google glasses will be so distracting that I might get a headache from using it.  Perhaps, if Google does it right, then Google glasses — if become the real product — might not be so bad.  Nonetheless, just thinking about Google glasses and how the information might interfere my normal sight is rather giving me a headache already.  Perhaps, if you can switch between normal sight and enhance sight mode, then it won’t be too bad all the time.  In fact, if you can switch between normal sight and enhance sight, Google glasses might become a super useful eyewear.  Additionally, I think Google glasses can also be very useful for teleconference type of meeting (i.e., more than two or three people meeting up virtually through the use of Google glasses)!

Oh, I can already here you say, can this be the next iPhone?  I don’t see why not if in the near future people rather wear Google glasses than carrying around an iPhone.  Then of course, Google glasses has to allow people dial the phone numbers through voice.  Perhaps, with Google glasses, people might call each other up and see each other too if both users have their Google glasses on at the same time.  Intriguing?  How about the idea of playing games and using all types of apps with Google glasses?  For this to work, Google might have to incorporate Kinect technology or similar technology into Google glasses.  One thing which I’ve a hard time imagining is the large amount of sophisticated technology that will get cram into something as small as a Google glasses.  Can Google do it?  Obviously, we don’t know, but at least we can bet that Google has the cash and the brains to boldly go about figuring this one out!

Just an update to this post!  I think Google glasses might take the argument of privacy to the whole new level.  How come?  If Google or anyone else has the access to how Google glasses stores information, that’s if Google glasses does stores what it sees, then there will be very little privacy one might has when using Google glasses.  Perhaps, people who are interacting with you when you’re wearing Google glasses can get very uncomfortable since they might think that anyone who has access to your Google glasses (besides you of course) can actually spying on them as they are interacting with you either face to face or through the pipe of the Internet.  This reminds us that hackers might love this kind of technology, because if without proper security, hackers can totally have a really close up and intimate kind of access to a Google glasses wearer and the people that interact with the Google glasses wearer.  What do you think?

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google chrome (Photo credit: toprankonlinemarketing)

Some of you might not know that you can add and delete users in Chrome browser.  Chrome browser lets you add and delete users once you signed into Chrome browser with a Google account.  This particular feature allows you to share Chrome browser with another user who uses your computer, but this user doesn’t necessary use different Google account.  So, in a way, by using different users with the same Google account, each user can store different browser history and bookmarks.  Anyhow, I’d created a video on how to add and delete users in Chrome browser, and you can check it out right after the break!

Update:  For your information, once you had deleted the main user in Chrome browser, you will be logged out of your Google account entirely!  This will not affect your Google account anyway, but just that Chrome browser will not remember your Google account.  Also, extensions will be deleted if a main user (i.e., user which ties to Google account) gets deleted.

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Of course, users who actually have been buying and consuming Google’s media will definitely experience eureka with Google Play, but users who are so far only consuming media from Amazon or Apple might hesitate to try out Google Play — they might not want to invest their money in Google Play when their vast archives of media are already stored with Apple or Amazon.  Nonetheless, I think Google Play looks awesome and might be an awesome all in one online media destination for Googlers, because Googlers get to check out their books, movies, music, and so on all within Google Play.

I’m pretty sure that Googlers have to sign into their accounts before they can fully enjoy Google Play, because Google Play links all of their Google’s media accounts together.  How do I know this?  I can actually browse my Google Music within Google Play.  Of course, once you have a Google account, I think Google Play is pretty much made itself available to you.

Update:  Oh, one last thing I forgot to mention in this post is that Google Play is also making Android apps available to Googlers!

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Energy Smart Data Center (Photo credit: EMSL)

Have you ever wondered how it’s possible for Google, Yahoo, Microsoft, Ebay, Facebook, and so many other big Internet companies out there to handle so much data and at what costs?  Average Joe like me thinks such behind the scene, almost unseemly unlimited amount of data handling feat is totally awesome.  We don’t see the intensity and the huge costs of planning and money that have to be poured into the handling of so much Internet traffics and data by each big, Internet company each day.  The obvious answer to the question how these major, Internet companies cope with almost unseemly unlimited amount of digital data is their use of the latest and the best datacenters.

Why the use of the latest and the best datacenters matter for these humongous, Internet companies?  Well, it’s obvious that as each passing day, the folks who have to maintain datacenters on regular basis notice the huge costs of maintaining the datacenters, and so they want to rely on the latest and the best datacenters if they can to cut down the ongoing costs of maintaining the datacenters (i.e., it’s profitable in the long run by saving costs now).  Three most expensive and obvious costs for maintaining datacenters are cooling, power, and equipment.

Cooling a datacenter through the airconditioning would be too costly, but this had been done with the old types of datacenters.  The old types of datacenters would also use power inefficiently as these datacenters were not designed to utilize green technology (e.g., solar energy, energy efficient equipments, etc…), thus incrementing the power cost tremendously.  Also, back in the days, datacenter folks did not take virtualization as a serious technology, therefore they missed the chance of cutting power and equipment costs — making them had to use more power hungry servers and power than necessary.

It was an eyeopening for me to see how modern datacenters actually run things, because the modern datacenters are designed to account for the efficiencies of cooling, power, and equipment, consequently cutting down the costs of maintaining the datacenters by lightyear.  It was the RSF Data Center Tour YouTube video below which had me go “wow” on how modern datacenters are designed.  Obviously, the big Internet companies not necessarily have and use the same datacenter blueprint (i.e., design plan) as the RSF Data Center, but RSF Data Center is modern enough to be used as an eyeopening for us all in regarding to how modern datacenters work.

Nonetheless, you might ask “But what is with the datacenter talk?”  Personally, I think by understanding how things actually work at datacenters, I feel that I can appreciate more at how everything works in regarding to all things digital.  I never have thought that datacenters can be operated at less costs but with more efficiency by utilizing virtualization more; it makes me appreciate virtualization even more.

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• Are there really 509,147 datacenters worldwide? (zdnet.com)
• Datacenter energy savings need a holistic approach and good information (zdnet.com)
• Green Grid Forum: new standards, tools, and documentation to improve the datacenter (zdnet.com)
• Best of the Web: Green datacenter and cloud computing news (greenclouddatacenter.com)
• Amazon’s user survey hints AWS datacenter in India, interesting aint it ?? (techbangalore.com)
• Do government datacenters deserve awards for their consolidation progress? (zdnet.com)
• IBM, Tulip partner on India’s largest datacenter (zdnet.com)

Image via Wikipedia

TunnelBear is probably the simplest VPN I’ve ever used!  I might be wrong but I think TunnelBear is partly using OpenVPN technology.  I noticed TunnelBear had asked me once to allow a component of OpenVPN to access the Internet so TunnelBear could start correctly.  Anyhow, using OpenVPN technology or not, TunnelBear is doing a very good job in simplifying the VPN experience.  Users do not need to have any knowledge of how to use VPN or setting up one, and yet they can simply install TunnelBear to experience VPN right away.

TunnelBear requires users to download its software at its official website.  TunnelBear supports Mac and Windows.  After the download of TunnelBear software is finished, users can install it onto their appropriate system.  After the installation of TunnelBear, users simply just have to start TunnelBear software, create an account as the software would instruct at first start, and then log in to TunnelBear through the software itself.  After logging into TunnelBear, users can begin using VPN by switching the Off button on TunnelBear software to On.

Windows users might experience unpleasant installation of TunnelBear software if they have customized their default text size (DPI).  With custom text size (DPI) in effect, Windows users might not be able to create a new TunnelBear account or log into TunnelBear through TunnelBear software, because the TunnelBear software will glitch and hide part of the software.  Fixing this complication is easy enough, Windows users just have to go to Control Panel > Appearance and Personalization > Display and pick the Smaller – 100% (Default) text size; click Apply button and then restart the computer to have default text size (DPI) to take effect.  Windows users now can start TunnelBear software again and follow the now working onscreen features to begin using their TunnelBear software for the first time.  As TunnelBear software is working, Windows users can now enjoy VPN effortlessly.

Mac users who install TunnelBear software might have to accept the option which requires Mac to install Java.  Other than that, I think the installation of TunnelBear on Mac is pretty straight forward.

Users don’t have to pay monthly fee or yearly fee for using TunnelBear, but using TunnelBear for free does have limitation.  One standout limitation of using TunnelBear for free is bandwidth cap.  The last time I checked TunnelBear, free users could only use TunnelBear up to 500 MB of VPN bandwidth a month.  TunnelBear has two other plans that will lift the bandwidth limitation away, but users have to pay either a monthly or a yearly fee.  By the way, TunnelBear does not annoy users with advertising banners (free users or not).

I notice that TunnelBear for iPhone and iPad is still in beta.  This means there might be some instabilities still for iPhone and iPad users who use TunnelBear.  Surprisingly, I’ve found using TunnelBear for my iPhone is rather stable, therefore I definitely recommend iPhone and iPad users to try out TunnelBear.  To use TunnelBear on iPhone and iPad, users can follow the instruction here to set up TunnelBear on their devices.

In conclusion, TunnelBear has made it super easy for people who have no VPN knowledge to start using VPN on their laptops and desktops right away.  With TunnelBear, people can now have more privacy and be even more secure as their data will be encrypted.  The privacy part is all too apparent, because TunnelBear users can just activate TunnelBear, go to Google and type in the search box “What’s my IP” — this allows users to click on appropriate top links within Google’s search result to show the VPN IP address.  So, by using TunnelBear, not only the connection is encrypted, the real IP address is also masked by the VPN IP address, thus users’ privacy can be protected better.  The best of all, TunnelBear is so simple and easy to use as users do not need to configure their firewall or router at all — TunnelBear just works!

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Google (Photo credit: Daniel Morris)

It’s so obvious to just about anybody that Google has got to be forevermore innovative in its dominant specialty which is Google Search.  You know, the thing that you do on the Internet whenever you stuck and need some answers to your particular problems (i.e., searching the web).  If Google snoozes, plenty of newcomers will overtake Google by being innovative.

Just recently, we have seen waves of innovations that might do just that!  Siri from Apple is one of those waves that might undermine Google’s future!  We know Google’s bread and butter has got to be Adsense and Adwords — these two technologies are relying on Google Search or else things will be moot for Google’s bottom line.  But why Siri and similar technologies?  Siri and similar technologies promise a step up artificial intelligence kind of technology which might be more attractive than just plain smart search engine.  With this in mind, we can see why Google might not like the idea of Siri to be the future search engine, because Adsense and Adwords will become irrelevant and bringing in less revenues when Google Search becomes less popular.

Of course, as now, we might think Siri, Evi, and others are just cosmetic effects for inferior search engines when one compares such things against Google’s effective search engine.  Nonetheless, one must not forget that Siri and the likes are possibly more awesome since it might be applicable for more than just your traditional computers.  People don’t exactly use laptops and desktops on the go as much as how they are with their smartphones, and this is why Siri is much more attractive on smartphones than plain old search engine.  Searching for something through voices can be less painful than typing in things on tiny screens that you often find with tiny smartphones.  And we know nowadays smartphones matter since these things are even more proliferate than laptops and desktops; for entirely different purpose which is surprisingly quite pleasant to many people — they’re going to be used on the road!

What’s more is not all about voice activation but more of the novelty of having a digital assistant.  Of course, as now Siri and the likes might not be exactly how people expect these technologies to be since the intelligence of these technologies aren’t yet quite sophisticated, but giving times I think these technologies will be smarter and then Google really has to worry then.  Imagine how something as Siri can be inside cars, houses, TVs, computers, and more.

It’s that obvious Siri can assist with more things than just being iPhone 4S’s assistant.  And we know we can use Siri or Evi to find things on the web.  What’s more is that Siri allows iPhones owners to execute tasks on their iPhones.  The artificial intelligence is now becoming more apparent as the virtual/virtue of the future of all things digital and real life.  Instead of imagining something much far out, we can just take a look at what we have already imagined and see why artificial intelligence of Siri and the likes will be so successful that Google will be tremble with fear.  It’s all about the Jetsons.  The lifestyle where robots serve their masters is indeed quite appealing!  Siri and the likes can certainly be installed onto robots!  Aren’t our cars becoming more robot-like?

One thing which I’m uncertain about the business model of Siri and the likes is how will the advertising business model fit into this technological picture?  Certainly, it’s quite awkward for Siri to spew commercials right?  We can’t really have or like that right?  I know I won’t!  Anyhow, I think eventually someone might find ways to squeeze in profitable business models for Siri and the likes.

Even Siri and the likes might not yet be profitable for the bearers (i.e., the founders or companies of these technologies), Google is not going to sit idle around for something or someone to usurp its bread and butter. This is why I’m not surprised to read a TechCrunch’s report Google’s Plan To Compete With Apple’s Multi-Platform Siri? Google “Assistant” which has reported that Google is working on a technology which goes beyond Siri to compete against Siri and the likes.  I think TechCrunch’s report mentioned they called Google’s Siri counterpart as Assistant.  Perhaps this name might be up for trademark troll?  Google might just as well better call it as Google Assistant, because the plain Assistant is either too common of a word to trademark or someone probably has used it within a computing field already.  Apple’s recent iPad trademark legal battle against Proview might be the best lesson for Google’s Assistant?

Anyhow, TechCrunch reported that Assistant might emphasize in helping real people solve real problems.  It certainly sounds to me as if Assistant is a better type of artificial intelligence design.  After all, this technology designs to solve people’s real problems, right?  TechCrunch reported that Google might allow third party developers to hook into Assistant’s API to create novel things.  If this is true, then it’s certainly that Google is taking an opposite direction of how utilizing something similar to Siri in general, because Apple is tightly guarding its Siri technology to a point that one can say three words, wall gardened experience.

So, in a sense, now it’s on Apple!  Even though Google has not yet released Assistant, it seems that Apple might better be making Siri as prolific as possible for the market, or else Assistant is going to do just that, stealing the spotlight from Siri eventually!  Luckily for Siri, I think Apple is moving in the direction where Siri can be found to be coupled with even more technologies.  One example would be how Arstechnica reported Siri will be coupled with Mercedes so drivers can use Siri to command Mercedes to do things (e.g., turning on radio, playing mp3s, GPS-ing).

Sources:

• http://techcrunch.com/2012/03/02/2011-was-the-year-of-social-for-google-2012-is-the-year-of-assistant/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign
  =Feed%3A+Techcrunch+%28TechCrunch%29
• http://arstechnica.com/apple/news/2012/02/mercedes-benz-to-integrate-apples-siri-for-hands-free-commands.ars?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign
  =Feed%3A+arstechnica%2Findex+%28Ars+Technica+-+Featured+Content%29

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• 4 Ways to Help Siri Recognize your Business (hudsonhorizons.com)
• Motorola: Come see how slow-witted Siri is! Please? (news.cnet.com)
• How Evi spent a weekend in App Store limbo (gigaom.com)
• Motorola Pits Voice Actions for Android against Siri in New Ad Series [Videos] (devicemag.com)
• Siri, You’re Never Going To Take Over Search If You Can’t Find Abortion Clinics (readwriteweb.com)
• Siri pretender Evi has been downloaded 200k times, but can’t handle the server load (thenextweb.com)
• Apple’s Siri has a new British rival – meet Evi (guardian.co.uk)
• Apple wins ad standards conflict over Siri in the UK (tuaw.com)

Image via Wikipedia

People can now download Windows 8 Consumer Preview and install this onto VirtualBox virtual machines to test and experience what Windows 8 has to offer.  Rumors have that Windows 8 might be due for an official release in upcoming holiday, but which holiday?  The truth is, we can expect Windows 8 to be released this year, and so you don’t have to cross your fingers for this!

Anyhow, the consumer preview version of Windows 8 might be the closest thing to the official release versions of Windows 8 so far, therefore it might be a good idea for everyday folks to just use VirtualBox to test it out beforehand so they can make a wise decision in regarding to upgrade to Windows 8 from their Windows 7.  The download link is at windows.microsoft.com/en-US/windows-8/iso.

After downloading the ISO, you also need to copy down the product key, because you will need it to install Windows 8 consumer preview version onto a VirtualBox virtual machine.  Meanwhile, if you don’t have VirtualBox yet, you need to grab this also.  Go to Google, type in VirtualBox and you will see how to download it!  Enjoy!

Related articles

• Download the Windows 8 Consumer Preview Now [Windows 8] (lifehacker.com)
• Windows 8 Consumer Preview: Should you install it? [Updated] (chron.com)
• Windows 8 Consumer Preview: What Do You Think [OPEN THREAD] (mashable.com)
• The Windows 8 Consumer Preview is out: here’s how to get it (arstechnica.com)
• How to get the Windows 8 Consumer Preview (geek.com)
• Windows 8 Consumer Preview Download: Microsoft Shows Off New OS; How To Try It Now (darkerme.com)
• Installing the Windows 8 Consumer Preview (arstechnica.com)
• Windows 8 Consumer Preview (Windows 8 Beta) – free download (1freeware.blogspot.com)
• Windows 8 Consumer Preview now available for download (bgr.com)
• Microsoft Unleashes Its Windows 8 Consumer Preview For Your Downloading Pleasure (gizmodo.co.uk)