Opera 9 Gives You Choice and Control.. Test Run..

myopera-thumb.jpgWhile personally an avid FireFox Fan, today I’m going to give Opera a shot. I mean, it sure does look pretty! These days, even Firefox tends to lock up – actually almost as much as AOL or the Beta of IE 7, so, it’s all 6 of one, half dozen another.

Opera Software released Opera 9 a little over a month ago, touting its newest Web browser for PCs. You can download it free in more than 25 languages for Windows, Mac, Linux and other platforms from www.opera.com. Opera 9 enhances the way you access, share and use online content by including innovative widgets – fun, small and useful Web programs – and support for BitTorrentâ„¢, the popular file distribution technology. Even while adding these improvements, Opera 9 maintains the security and speed millions of Opera fans have come to expect.

“For Opera 9, we worked hard to push the limits of what people expect from a Web browser, with increased speed, new Web standards support and innovative features such as widgets and BitTorrent,” said Jon S. von Tetzchner, CEO, Opera Software. “Even though we shaped this browser for the Web’s future, we have the powerful features people want and need for their surfing today. I truly feel Opera 9 has something for everyone.”

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AIM Phoneline – Free Phone number via IM

h1-aim-phoneline.gifThese days, there are so many numbers we have, most at least three, and that doesn’t mean you want to give any of them out to anyone online. Recently, Private line has been advertised a lot on TV, however quietly, AOL has released AIM Phoneline. It’s free, and you can upgrade for full service w/unlimited calling for $10/month. All via your IM client. So, if you need a personal, local free phone number you can give out to anyone – Your AIM® Digits

Why Do I Need Another Phone Number?

Everyone worries about giving out their home or mobile number. Now you can give out your AIM Digits instead. Continue reading

Amazon back into the Kiddy Market

Seems that Amazon’s teething ring for the Kiddy Market was needing some attention only four months after cutting ties with the retailer “Toys R Us,” unveiling a new department for babies, and “The Toy Store,” featuring products from retail partners such as Target and the Discovery Channel.

The Seattle-based company today announced the opening of the two new departments, which will supplement its existing inventory of books, DVDs, electronics, clothing, housewares and other items. The Toy Store, found under the “Toys & Games” tab on the Web site, offers a selection of children’s playthings, from stuffed animals to remote-control cars.

According to a June report, Amazon is to sell groceries online, but nothing further’s been heard on that front. Continue reading

WikiHow to Assist Reducing Prison Rape?

Wiki-Prison Tips for Incarceration

You broke the law and after a trial, you were found guilty and given prison time. You will spend most of your time in a locked building with people that have done as bad or worse than you. If you behave, it might go easier on you. Nonetheless, you will have to make the best of it if you are going to survive.

Now, brace yourself for the social dynamics of prison. There are certain ways to behave towards others if you want to get by.

Recognize that nights are the worst. You will miss your family, and freedom. You will probably cry, so stifle it into your pillow so no one will hear.

It’s this continuing assault on our sense of humor that actually makes me cry at night. Check out this insanity! First of all, was it written by a prisoner?

The “related” topics on WikiHow are “How to Help a Friend Who Gets Arrested in the Middle of the Night” (“It is 2 AM and someone you know has just been arrested. You know you need legal help. You do not want your friend to make a confession or be in a line-up or even get fingerprinted if it can be avoided. Continue reading

Personal Breathing Apparatus – Circa '60s

It’s amazing how far we’ve come technologically. My baby book contains the cover of the local paper proclaiming “WE LANDED ON THE MOON!” Today, intergalactic space imagery is something we have become accustomed to seeing.

This photograph, dating from the 1960′s, shows Astronaut John H. Glenn, Flight Surgeon Dr. William Douglas and equipment specialist Joe Schmitt leaving crew quarters prior to the Mercury-Atlas 6 (MA-6) mission. Glenn carries a portable ventilation unit.

Today, personal ventilation units abound, even though we aren’t using them in space, and even the new rail-in-the-sky, the Chinese railway running at or above 15,000 feet above sea level crossing into the far Southwestern reaches of China into Tibet, feature personal O2 dispensing systems to provide additional Oxygen in the journey.

[Source: NASA - Making History]

Google Toys Knocking Google?

Google Toys vs Google - Why are they Fighting?Although businesses obviously are in the habit of conducting business to make money – that doesn’t make them bad, does it? Google has hundreds of PHD bearing employees who are uber-smart – and simply sit and figure out what else they can do with this ever increasingly large database of data.

Now, with tools like Google Desktop, they are able to utilize that download to collect additional information about you, the web surfer, allowing them to better provide results for you – as they have a better idea what you are looking for.

Remember, no one is forcing the use of all these Google tools at you – people WANT to use them because they are handy, and darnit – they work.

Google is the biggest threat to Microsoft. In fact, during a recent CEO dinner, Bill Gates was discussing Google with the CEO of a Consumer Electronics Retailer. His single response of “Google” was in answer to the question, “What keeps you awake at night Mr. Gates?”

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US military tribunals outlawed – Bush recoils

How will Bush respond now? Everything he does, he gets his hands slapped, or at least the American people WANT to hold him accountable. We bring Clinton in to Congressional hearings to determine if he participate in fellatio with an intern but let Bush continue to spit out the words written for him, at a junior level of the language used by his predecessors.

At least it’s good to know that the US Supreme Court still can determine right from wrong.

However, like Bush, Franklin D Roosevelt, arguably the most important and powerful president of the past century, was stymied by a conservative, hostile court, through most of his first two terms of office. And his ambitious plan to dilute the court by expanding the number of justices on it was stopped dead in its tracks in the middle of his second term. Continue reading