light headed! » Personal

The comments on this post at Smashing Apps has me irritated. Firefox and Chrome Fanboys keep yelling with the utmost of ignorance. People keep yapping about tabs, about addons and about features which Opera has had for years and years.

Opera Browser Features

So just to get things straight.

Opera introduced tabs to the world.
Those thing called private Tabs, now in Opera, expect in chrome in future releases, probably in two years.
Opera introduced labels for emails instead of folders.
Opera introduced mouse gestures, you have them as an addon for other browsers because somebody saw the implementation in opera and thought it would be a cool thing for firefox. You have them there because somebody was smart enough to invent it.
Speed dial was invented by Opera
Userscripts were enabled in Opera long before Firefox thought about Greasemonkey
See if any other browsers implement ACID 3 test better than Opera yet. Just because the others began harping about them now has made Micorosoft lookup and notice and do something about it in IE9 previews.
Opera already has voice based browsing. Expect an implementation in firefox and chrome in about two years and in IE in about five.
M2 mail client is on of the best i have used, Gmail does not have a patch on it. Not yet anyway. One hindrance they do have lack of PGP support. I want to know how many people in percentage terms know what PGP means. Most just don’t care.
The idea that browsers could make the web better just by being faster was again introduced by Opera by claiming it was the fastest browser in the world. The other browsers didn’t gave up on speed wars against Opera until Google came up with Chrome! Iam glad they did, they woke up a ‘mildly drowsy’ browser Giant, Opera!
Try the content blocking feature in opera (you only have to right click!), you will never want to try ad blocking again!
ADDONS Screw up your browser, get over it! The code is almost always never reliable.
USE their developer tools, equivalent firefox tools still do not have live preview.
Memory Management – Firefox woke up now when it no longer is much of an issue with gigs of RAM cheaper and cheaper.
Smaller file size, tighter code. Feel the interface, firefox still does not have it. Try chrome in Linux, clunky and broke as hell!
One keystroke shortcuts. Opera is still the only browser will this one. Try fingering through your tabs with one key button. You will never want to open tabs in other browsers again.
BONUS POINT – Torrent integration
BONUS POINT – IRC chat integration
BONUS POINT – Complete interface reconfigurability – Wide Screen? – Place your tabs on the right/left for greater real estate. Don’t want the tabs? Remove them and use the windows panel instead. Or just keyboard shortcuts. Or right mouse button with scroll.

BONUS POINT – Opera Link is the best thing out there. Not just your bookmarks, but your history, your notes, your speed dial, your searches. It stores everything!!

For the record browsing experience involves a whole combination of factors like newer tabs, mouse gestures, shortcuts, amount of javascript, your internet connection, multiple tabs, customizable interface, themes etc etc. Every single feature i have stated was invented by Opera.

I wouldn’t claim that the Opera browser will give you the perfect experience, every user will have their own barometer. But if you want the latest innovations in a neat little package, opera is for you.If you use opera for a few days, am pretty sure you will hate going back!

Raavan

sachin — Wed, 23 Jun 2010 09:22:25 +0000

Categories:

Forget what the critics and the “I only follow critics” people say. Its a good movie; Watch it! You will be glad you did!

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Microsoft Licensing – Highway Robbers

sachin — Thu, 17 Jun 2010 15:35:13 +0000

Categories:

Personal

Thank god i have Ubuntu on my home machine. I can’t use my copy of Windows if i buy a new Motherboard according to this guy. Why hasn’t anyone sued them for this? If i buy a car, am not “allowed” to turbo charge it, add radial wheels, convert to CNG and its illegal for [...]

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Tech Cults

sachin — Mon, 07 Jun 2010 20:21:45 +0000

Categories:

Personal

These six sects of fanatical loyalists prove there is no end to passion in tech. I have been around for atleast three of those, even if i was only a curious bystander observing. Seems like a long time ago, I must have gotten old!

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Productivity In 11 Words

sachin — Fri, 29 Jan 2010 08:47:08 +0000

Categories:

One thing at a time. Most important thing first. Start now!

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Google Clutter

sachin — Sun, 27 Dec 2009 06:42:39 +0000

There used to be simpler times. One name and one search box. Then we grew big. Then we grew bigger. Then we decided to do no evil. Later we began classifying world information. We helped hundreds and thousands of people get to what they want.

Now we are still bigger, so some people hate us. They don’t just hate us because we are big, they hate us because we seem to have forgotten what simple meant. We made a great email client. We made the word “beta” cool. We made some really cool but useless stuff for the web.

We weren’t really thinking about business. We were more into making the web usable. Then we realised we can really make huge amounts of money if we can just grow still bigger. So we decided to offer more and more services to people. Most people who loved us grew a little uncomfortable with our growing clout. We did indeed control quite a bit of their lives on the Internet.

Who else will have social networking platform, email, a chat client, a web browser, an OS and still be the number one search engine on the internet? Ok i know there is Microsoft, but we are cooler and we have adwords and google earth. But do we have to be the next Microsoft?

Lately our focus seems to have shifted, we spend a lot of time fighting cases and co-operating with governments against the interests of our users. We also keep track of all our users and maintain a track record of what they do on the internet. Oh we now also love clutter. Our new homepage reflects that. It really does.

All About Swine Flu H1N1

sachin — Sat, 14 Nov 2009 05:45:06 +0000

Swine Flu H1N1, Advisory-India

View more presentations from Kirti Kapoor.

Better late than never …

Homebuyer Tax Credit

sachin — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 07:53:06 +0000

Congress set to expand homebuyer tax credit .. It gives the people about $6000 to $8000 of extra money. Project to cost 10.4 Billion dollars.

Real Estate Home Appreciation – Last 12 Months – about $175000(Approximate assumption). [uspricemon.pdf]

U.S. mortgage applications up as rates drop below 5 percent .. About 4.97%; So you have a discount of 6000/175000 (3.4%) for a year. This costs about 10.4 billion dollars.

Total Bailout Cost Heads Towards $5 TRILLION .. in Oct 2008.

The estimated population of the United States is 307,232,546
so each citizen’s share of this debt is $39,012.32.

The National Debt has continued to increase an average of
$3.87 billion per day since September 28, 2007!

Per Capita Income – 40,208 (2008 figure) + 6000 Tax credit. [us-pci.xls]

Another nail in the coffin?

Fool's Gold

sachin — Mon, 06 Jul 2009 19:18:15 +0000

Categories:

Personal

Nytimes has an interesting commentary titled Fool’s Gold.

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Mediocrity And Genius

sachin — Wed, 25 Feb 2009 13:26:00 +0000

Productive mediocrity requires discipline of an ordinary kind. It is safe and threatens no one. Nothing will be changed by mediocrity; mediocrity is completely predictable. It doesn’t make the powerful and self-satisfied feel insecure. It doesn’t require freedom, because it doesn’t do anything unexpected.

Mediocrity is the opposite of what we call “genius”. Mediocrity gets perfectly mundane things done on time. But genius is uncontrolled and uncontrollable. You cannot produce a work of genius according to a schedule or an outline. As Leonardo knew, it happens through random insights resulting from unforeseen combinations. Genius is inherently outside the realm of known disciplines and linear career paths. Mediocrity does exactly what it’s told, like the docile factory workers envisioned by Frederick Winslow Taylor.

Reference

The House

sachin — Wed, 04 Feb 2009 18:45:10 +0000

It had been a few hours. It could have been a few weeks or a few years for all i cared. My elbows hurt by the harsh wooden table. The room was sparse and had a woody smell about it. I looked up to see a thatched roof. It had wooden planks built across the walls. This house was probably built many decades ago. People no longer seem to make such houses anymore.

The floor had the reddish tinge, the kind which wears off to take a pale brown. Had it been new it would have rubbed off on my feet. The room was about 15 feet long and about 10 feet wide, three doors one on each side except the one on my left. I don’t see anything clearly outside. My view si hazy. The side on my right also had two windows right beside each side of the door. It looked archaic, the doors would have been closed years ago, it didn’t matter. I was bored.

photo credit: Stuck in Customs

I got up and pulled open the door behind me. Sun light warmed up my face, for a second i stood there transfixed, soaking myself in, feeling the warmth creep into my body. It felt good, warm, fuzzy..love? I just stood there with my eyes closed for a few minutes. I opened it to see yellow paddy fields for as far as the eye could see. It wasn’t yellow, it was golden, the sun’s rays brought out the colour really well.

I half expected a tree somewhere in the field, mostly in the center, humans always loved symmetry. It makes them feel stable, balanced. I couldn’t quite place the feeling. I felt warm, a little dazed but definitely happy. What was i happy about?? I didn’t have a reason, it just felt good. I felt free, yes .. an unencumbered view for miles, it made me feel free.

I didn’t want to venture out, i was half afraid i would destroy the vision. Maybe the vision would not live up to my expectations. I wanted a cigarette. I looked around but the room was empty. I put in both my palms inside my trouser pockets, a bit lazily, a bit to stretch my arms, it felt nice. I found a cigarette packet in my right pocket along with a match. Funny i have not smoked in quite a while now.

The house suddenly seemed higher. It seemed higher than earlier. The field towards the far end seemed to just dip a little lower. They dipped a little more. I felt high, i thought it was the cigarette. I realized i have not lit one yet. The house felt as if it was on top a hill. I lit my cigarette and inhaled deeply. It screwed the view, i threw the cigarette down, then wondered whether i should have stubbed it.

I realised it didn’t really matter. I felt the light breeze hit my face, it hit because it began abruptly. I wished to have the moment last forever, but feared it wont. Funny i always seemed to have thought of happiness as short lived. Now why would that be so?

The house seen from afar had a very woody, creaky, slightly burnt exterior. It could have been called a cabin, it really was only a cabin. You need a few basic necessities to make a house. like people to live in for instance. Nobody lives in a cabin. The sun at the far end gave the house a slightly sinister look. It’s funny that on such a beautiful day, amidst such a beautiful field, amongst the gold tinged afternoon, i see cabin which is cold and dark.

I see a path amidst the field, it is horizontal to my vision and stretches all the way to the far right from the far left. The path is probably dusty, i might see a car there some day blowing a little cloud of dust. It might probably blow a horn, the ones which you never hear on a city street. City horns are always harsh. They; like their owners are noisy, loud and very much against tranquility.

I saw a car right then. It was a taxi cab the one with the yellow top and black body. They always remind me of Bombay. This one had a horn just as harsh! I had begin to cringe with the noise, the endless cacophony of people jostling around among the streets, the mutterings, the nothings, the chatter, the voices. It all came in suddenly as i woke up with a start. For a second, i was trying to think, where was i?
—–
It was morning mayhem at my house. My mom oscillated between ironing her blouse and the kitchen. She was grumbling about the maid not coming in on time. Dad called out again for me, it disturbed the inner tranquil i had every morning. He has been doing this every time for 28 years now. 28 years!! Why did i come back? Why did i have to choose my parents place of all people? Could i not have rented out an apartment? But then i would not be saving as much money now would i?

I had peace for a few years, a home away from home is what i had wanted and what i had. A few years of bliss! Didn’t i love them? I did, i knew i did because i was angry when BobaMama had an altercation with my mom. I wanted to protect her, i had wished him away. Didn’t work. My dad looked really tired. He didn’t really need to work. But then he did, if only to protect his sanity. I wished he could and would relax a little more. But wishes never really come true.

I pushed my groggy self towards the bathroom and about five minutes later emerged thinking i should not have spent so much time watching movies into the night. They screw up my sleep time. And sleep-times are important. Come to think of i, my sleep times are always invariably screwed. I find new un-inspiring ways to screw them.

Like i watched two movies back to back until 3.30 am and had to wake up at 7 feeling drunk. Then there was a time when i read late into the night reading Ayn Rand, arguing over her book with myself, fighting over it in my mind. Twice i had concluded Ayn Rand was really just a smart woman who came up with something sensible. Twice i changed it to, she was super smart and bold even if bit of a sensationalist. I argued into the wee hours of the morning and hit the bed at about seven in the morning. Woke up at five past eight. I felt dead!!

Being dead is a good feeling i think. I could not feel the ground much, i could pretty much not feel anything. I remember this feeling from many years ago when i had smoked weed. It had an uplifting feeling. ‘DeaD’ wasn’t really uplifting, it was pretty much nothing actually. I was off to work in another hour and half. Life seemed to take over after this point. Funny it’s my life but it half seems to be controlled by factors i really purport to control. How is that for irony?