Flock, the wanna-be browser for Web 2.0, is taking another hack at making its mark with a new public version - 0.7. So there's nothing terribly new from the last version, which was met with ridicule because it was an alpha that really wasn't ready for prime time. But I'll give Flock this much: they're certainly ambitious because Flock is still trying to be all things to all people. As standard features, it comes with a blogging tool, a bookmarking tool (del.ico.ius), an RSS reader and a photo uploader. One of the challenges of trying to be multi-faceted is it's tough to a do a good job at everything. The blogging tool, for example, is pretty basic - and it doesn't support Blogware. That said, I like this version of Flock a lot more the last one. There is nothing wrong with trying to push the envelope - and Flock is trying hard to do something different. So is there enough to unseat Firefox as the main rival to Internet Explorer, or even establish itself along with Opera as a viable number three in the browser market? Maybe. Flock has another chance to create some buzz and attract enough users to establish a browser foothold. It doesn't hurt that Michael Arrington is waving the Flock pom-poms. Flock has apparently raised $10-million in venture capital from Shasta Ventures. Not sure how it justifies this kind of investment given the business model hinges on revenue from a Google search box but I guess the folks in Silicon Valley are either smart than us or have a lot of money sloshing around. Anyway, it's worth giving Flock another try but not sure its a Firefox-killer. You can download Flock here.
Update: TechBeat offers up a review on the new Flock, while Thomas Hawk gives it a huge thumbs up.

Toronto Hydro plans to roll out a Wi-Fi network throughout downtown Toronto this year. The question is what markets it has targeted. Is it going after the high-speed Internet access market or the wireless market, or both? Toronton Hydro Telecom CEO Dave Dobbin provided a glimpse of his strategy during a presentation at the Canadian Telecom Summit when his mobile phone started to ring halfway through. The staged "stunt" was made to demonstrate how Toronto Hydro could provide free wireless phone service using Wi-Fi and SIP. The way Dobbin sees it, there would be no need to use any of your expensive cellular minutes while in Toronto. People who use the service would also be use their home or office telephone numbers while away from home. This strategy sounds like good news for Skype or Vonage but troubling news for Rogers, Telus and Bell. If anything, Dobbin is doing a good job of being a sh#$-disturber.