Fastest Train in The World

The flagship of French rail technology is the TGV or Train à Grande Vitesse (“High-Speed Train”), the world’s fastest train. TGVs regularly run at 300 km/h in normal service on some lines. And even this high speed is well below the TGV’s limits: the TGV holds the world’s record for speed on rails of 574.8 km/h (357.2 mph), or roughly half the speed of sound.

TGVs are very comfortable, quiet, and smooth-running trains. At speeds below 100 km/h, it is often hard to tell that the train is moving at all from the inside, unless you look out a window. At cruising speed, scenery streaks past the windows so quickly that you cannot become bored. At points where the TGV line parallels major highways, it’s amusing to watch expensive sports cars moving at close to two hundred kilometres per hour backwards with respect to the train!

TGVs are the state of the art in rail transport, and the French are justifiably proud of them. Contrary to what you might think, getting a train to move at over 320 km/h is more than just putting in a bigger motor—the engineering problems are huge. Nevertheless, France has been doing exactly this for nearly two decades, and in fact, it first broke the 200-mph (320-km/h) barrier a half-century ago, setting a record that stood unbroken until France itself again broke the record with the TGV.

Of course, in France, TGVs are commonplace. Some people even live in Paris and commute to Lyons to work (or vice versa) each day by TGV; the distance of over 500 km can be covered in less than two hours (some people spend more time than that just driving in from the suburbs!). The TGV is faster, cheaper, and more practical than aircraft for distances of less than 1000 km (and that covers just about every destination in France). Unlike aircraft, TGVs travel from city center to city center, you can board them immediately, and they are always on time (to the second—I’ve verified this several times).

WEB BROWSER

TOP TEN: 2010 Internet Browser Software Review

1. FIREFOX

Experience the simplistic power of Firefox, one of the original FREE Internet browsers. This we browser packs top–notch features and blazing speed into a tidy, intuitive interface that will help you navigate the web the way you want to. A few outstanding features include tabbed browsing, an integrated search engine and many add–ons of all types. This high-performance browser also has a massive selection of great customization features and tools to help you personalize your Web experience. New to version 3.5 of Firefox is improved speed, a private browsing mode, even more security than in previous versions, open audio and video formats, and a bunch of additional improvements.

Standout Features

• Private Browser Mode
• Open Video and Audio
• Instant Web Site ID
• Smart Location Bar
• Built-in Spell Checker
• Customization

2.GOOGLE CHROME

Google has joined the Internet Browser competition full force with a very impressive entry, Chrome. Google Chrome takes a unique approach to browsing the web, combining top notch features with speed, compatibility, and simplicity. Chrome uses complex features but makes them very simple to use. Chrome is an open source project using the WebKit rendering engine. We like what we’ve seen in Chrome so far, and look forward to seeing more innovation and simple usability from the browser in the future.

Standout Features

• Flexible Tabs
• Incognito Mode for Private Browsing
• Integrated Download Manager

• Online Task Manager

3. INTERNET EXPLORER

Microsoft's current standard is Internet Explorer 8. This web browser outperforms its ancestors with tighter security, private browsing and a clean look. Internet Explorer 8 features extensive parental controls that can be customized to fit each individual in a family. If you have small children and protection is a priority, look no further, this is the browser for your home computer. Internet Explorer is a good browser with great features. Additional features in version 8 make it even better and definitely worth your consideration.

Standout Feature

• Compatibility View to correct display problems
• Grouped Tabs
• Web Slices
• InPrivate Browsing

4. OPERA

Opera sings to a different tune, and it sounds great. This browser has all of the entertaining and practical features that will not only make surfing the web functional, but also fun. Just a few of the outstanding features include interactive voice, quick find, thumbnail previews, mouse gestures and customizing skins. This is one of the only browsers that has interactive voice commands. You can navigate the web by talking to the browser, and Opera will even read text to you. Configure Opera to fit your needs and your style. Arrange panels, toolbars and buttons and choose from several unique skins and various widgets. Opera has a dedicated user-base and reasonably so with all of its innovative features. However, we couldn't overlook some fairly serious compatibility issues. We look forward to Opera becoming a bigger household name and getting better compatibility web-wide.

5. SAFARI

Safari is not an Apple exclusive anymore; the top-notch browser is now available for PCs as well. Safari provides the Mac look and feel in Internet browsing. It is complete with tabbed browsing that includes a save tabs feature. Safari focuses on being lightweight and non-obtrusive rather than customizable. Hence the sleek interface isn't bulky and the frame is only one pixel wide. Some nice features include the development of Top Sites, spell checking for all fields, resizable text boxes, and snapback. Safari competes with our top browsers, but lacks some features like parental controls, anti-phishing, and a smart toolbar.

6. MAXTHON

Maxthon is a versatile browser that you can tailor to fit your web browsing needs. Customization options include the security settings, the interface layout, and useful plugins that you can download like a personal information management tool, decorative skins and the Google Toolbar. Maxthon lacks a few features higher–ranked browsers offer including thumbnail previews, parental controls, a smart toolbar, and anti-phishing technology.

7. FLOCK

Flock is the Internet browser targeted towards social butterflies. Flock is the Mozilla powered browser that specifically meets the needs of online social networkers by helping you keep informed when friends post or a favorite site is updated. It has a slick interface and plenty of features. Flock is equipped to keep you up to date with your contacts from Facebook, MySpace, Flickr, Twitter, etc. Flock is a great browser for online social networking, but falls a bit short compared to some of our higher ranked browsers in regards to features and utility.

8. AVANT BROWSER

Avant Browser is an Internet Explorer based, no-frills web browser. Avant includes basic mouse gestures, tabbed browsing with movable tabs, and a full 500% zoom. It falls short in comparison with our higher ranked Internet browsers, but is a fairly professional looking alternative.

9. DEEPNET EXPLORER

Deepnet Explorer is a fair browser in that it has a handful of features, but nothing that overly impresses. Deepnet Explorer's primary focus is on facilitating P2P networking and RSS feeds. It offers several useful tools and features, but fails to deliver all that the best browser do.

10 .PHASEOUT

PhaseOut is a flash-based shell for Internet Explorer. It adds some really impressive looking graphics and customizable skins to your web browsing experience. If futuristic looks and space inspired graphics are your thing, you might want to consider PhaseOut.