Google Gears

Google is now on the path to making its Web-based apps available offline.

Google Gears is an open source browser extension that lets developers create web applications that can run offline. For now, it consists components called LocalServer, Database and WorkerPool.

Only the Google Reader will be made for offline use for now. However, as time goes on, other useful applications such as Docs and Spreadsheets, Calendar and Gmail will be put for offline use.
With the talk about a Google Presentation Software (see my previous post), the bringing of these applications offline could post a serious competition to Microsoft in the future.

For interested developers, take a look at Google Gears Developer Website: http://code.google.com/apis/gears/index.html

Google Gears (Beta) can be found at: http://tools.google.com/gears/

Downloads: Launchy 1.25

Launchy has just updated to version 1.25.

For the uninitiated, Launchy is a Windows only, open source keyboard launcher. Its similar to Quicksilver for Mac or Windows Vista's new built-in search engine and is powerful in its own right.

When you want to launch a program, just press Launchy's default shortcut, Alt-Spacebar and type in your program's name. Normally, after a few letters, Launchy would have guessed the program you want to open correctly. Just press Enter to launch your program.

Launchy can also be used to launch web searches and also has a built in calculator. The program is skinable and expandable through plugins.

This nifty application would be taken for granted easily. It is not until when you use another computer without launchy that you realized how useful and in a certain extent, dependent on it you've become.

Anyway, here's a screensshot

Get it at http://www.launchy.net/