rock

If you live and die by Facebook and Twitter, RockMelt has a browser for you. Based on Chromium, the foundation for Google Chrome, RockMelt bakes extensive Facebook and Twitter hooks into the browser interface. Check it out in this First Look video, and you can download RockMelt from CNET Download.com for Windows and Mac.

Is it worth switching to a new browser? Marc Andreessen never had to force users to ask that question when he built Mosaic in 1993. For most early adopters, it was their first browser.

But now he's backing the development of another browser, RockMelt. This browser is not perfect, but it does show that there's room yet in the market. If Facebook built a browser, it would probably look a lot like this.

This has been tried before. The other social Web browser, Flock, integrates Facebook features. Also, like Flock (at least the new 3.0 version), RockMelt is built from Chromium, the same Google-developed open toolkit underneath the Chrome browser.

RockMelt is solid effort and is worth trying. Here are some reasons you will probably like it; and, to be fair, some things that may turn you off:

It's a real social browser RockMelt shows which of your friends are online on Facebook, right in your browser. If you want to share something from the Web, you'll know who's going to see it right away. It makes sharing links and pages more engaging than using Twitter or even Facebook's site. (Downside: you can't scroll the left-hand "Facebar," which is sorted alphabetically, so unless you filter your friends by your RockMelt favorites, you'll always see your "A" friends on your list but you may never see your "Zs.")

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Little has been known about stealth start-up RockMelt except that it's a browser, specifically (and yet ambiguously) a "Facebook browser," and it's backed by browser godfather Marc Andreessen. Well, now RockMelt has crept out of the woodwork into a limited beta for Mac and Windows, and the world can get a peek at it.

RockMelt is indeed a "Facebook browser," if only because Facebook is the social-media service that's best integrated into it at launch. It's clear that ultimately the browser's team plans to make it more customizable with other services. … Read more

Having a tidy system is important, which is why we're always eager to see updates from our favorite drive wipers. Last week, we took a closer look at CCleaner 3, freeware from Piriform, that hasn't seen many major revisions since it was launched in 2004. Version 3 of the software introduces some major new features that make it worth the upgrade, such as a drive-wiping tool that can wipe all the data from your hard drive. You can see much of the new functionality for yourself in our First Look video.

We also got up close and personal … Read more

It's "Glee" meets BOL! Ok, no, don't panic, there's not that much singing. But it's Brian Tong's first day in the co-host chair, and we are having a good time. Off the rails. In the news today: Facebook app developers were evidently selling your personally identifiable information, which Facebook could barely be bothered to punish them for. Also, group gifting on eBay and a new low in "journalism" junkets. --Molly

With Rock Band 3, music games take a significant leap, adding a level of real-music simulation previously unseen in this genre. Part of it is the two-octave MIDI keyboard that comes with the game, but even more interesting is the optional Pro-level guitar controller. Made by MadCatz and using a licensed Fender Mustang design, the guitar has separate buttons for each string at every fret--102 buttons in all--meaning one can play actual guitar chords on it.

To compare the experience to actual music-making, I whipped out a real guitar (in this case a Fender Telecaster--sorry, I don't have a Mustang) and did a side-by-side run-through. By hooking up this Pro guitar and playing on the hard or expert difficulty levels, the guitar part consists of the actual chords from the song in question.

Unfortunately, the onscreen notation for this was unfathomable to me, with lines of varying heights indicating the fingering, starting with a root note. Fortunately, the actual chord names float by at the same time, and if you stick with those, the effect is very close to real guitar playing. … Read more

If you like "30 Rock" and have two bucks to spare, do yourself a favor and grab Scene It? 30 Rock, an iPhone game that'll have you "lizzing" with joy.

In case you're not familiar with them, the Scene It? games are basically interactive trivia. You might, for example, watch a video clip from the show, then have to answer a question about the scene. Or unscramble the letters from one of Frank's hats. Or match a catchphrase with the proper character.

Scene It? 30 Rock serves up 15 different kinds of questions … Read more

Like "30 Rock"? Got two bucks to spare? Then do yourself a favor and grab Scene It? 30 Rock, a new iPhone game that'll have you "lizzing" with joy.

In case you're not familiar with them, the Scene It? games are basically interactive trivia. You might, for example, watch a video clip from the show, then have to answer a question about the scene. Or unscramble the letters from one of Frank's hats. Or match a catchphrase with the proper character.

Scene It? 30 Rock serves up 15 different kinds of questions spread … Read more

Attention all you shredders. We've got Activision's new Guitar Hero: Warriors of Rock Guitar Bundle (XBox 360) to give away to one lucky winner. You get 90 tracks, a completely redesigned, rockin' guitar controller and lots of new gameplay features, including the franchise-first, story-based Quest. We're talking Black Sabbath, Slipknot, Megadeth and those rock anthems you know and love from Queen, Muse, KISS, and others.

Normally, this Xbox 360 Guitar Hero bundle would cost you about $100, but we're giving one away gratis. So, how do you try to win it? Let me enumerate the basic … Read more