It' s been three days since Google released their web browser, Chrome. I attempted to do all my work yesterday using Chrome to see how it would perform and to see if it had all the features that I use in a typical day. I usually have numerous browser windows open as I setup new websites and test out new functionality on the website, so it was working hard all day.

Overall, I was pleased. I liked the minimalist interface and the address bar that is used for bookmarks, recent pages and search queries. I thought it was as fast as Firefox 3, both of which blow past Internet Explorer. Our point-of-sale application was faster running under Chrome than Firefox, probably due to Google's new Javascript routines, as the POS contains a lot of Javascript and AJAX. Chrome can make a web application run as a desktop application similar to Firefox's Prism product, which provides a very minimalist interface and more speed. I did have to load Firefox once because of a quirk with a form field, and I had to load IE once, only to see if IE was doing anything weird in rendering a new website design.

There's a lot of cool stuff under the hood that translate into improved security and performance. So, if you're still using IE, you now have two better browser choices in Chrome and Firefox. Happy downloading.

Recently we learned of a wine-related website that had been hacked at a particularily bad time (not that there is a good time to be hacked). While we sympathize with them on the effort required to get their site back up, we were a bit concerned as their site was running the ColdFusion software like ours. After some research, we're able to rest a bit easier.

The hack was a cross-site scripting attack, where someone adds malicious database code to a URL or a web form field. If the web program that processes the data expects an ID field in which to access the database, doesn't validate that it's just an ID field, and passes the entire field to the database access routine, then bad things can happen. Luckily our websites have several layers of protection to not allow this to happen to us.

We've noticed lately an increase in the frequency and sophistication of attempted attacks to our websites, but have considered them an annoyance to our schedule, as we typically alert the hacker's ISP of the attempted hack. Good programming practices and keeping up-to-date on server software is always a good defense.

I was pondering our point-of-sale application and thinking about the upcoming Family Winemaker's tasting event. A winery could take a laptop with a broadband Internet card and could use our POS application to take orders in real-time. No more paper order forms with illegible handwriting. They could even attach a magnetic card reader to a USB port and swipe credit cards -- all quite cool.

Now, for those wineries worried about table space and wine spilling on your laptop, here's an even more high-tech idea -- use your iPhone as a point-of-sale terminal. Being web-based, the WineWeb point-of-sale application can run on an iPhone.

My appologies if this sounds like a sales pitch, but imagine the possibilities. The concept that point-of-sale equals tasting room is gone. Now a winery can sell wine, event reservations and wine clubs whereever they happen to be. Cool stuff to ponder.

OK, I admit this may be a bit of a stretch, but since this blog is about technology and wine, here goes.

News was released today that scientists have discovered more about the origins and functions of the Antikythera Mechanism, an ancient mechanical "computer" that dates to the 1st century B.C. Since its discovery by divers around 1900, much has been speculated about this advanced technology. Now, in addition to tracking astronomical events in the solar system, the researchers found that one of the dials was dedicated to tracking the 4 year cycle of the ancient Olympiad games. The month names on the 19 year calendar have now been determined to be Corinithian, which provides evidence as to its origin. Interesting stuff -- more details at the research project website.

Since wine has been a part of Greek culture for over 4,000 years, the chances are good that the ship carrying the Antikythera Mechanism was also carrying wine. While the sailors may have relied on the Mechanism for navigation, they very likely didn't require a "computer" to sell their wine in other locations. My how times have changed. Now, in our "advanced technology culture" we don't require a computer to travel from one state to another, but we need one to figure out how and where we can get wine from a winery to a person in another state, given the ever-changing laws restricting the free trade of wine.

So the question of the day: Has civilization progressed in this area in the past 2,000 years?