A Week at the Opera Part II

Here is part II of the 7-part segment known as "A week at the Opera" which details a young man's struggles to fit into a "Be a Man!" society...Err...Not. Actually this details a week long look at the Opera Browser in comparison to Firefox.

Today I open up Firefox and I begin to use the Wand feature. Basically it is the Remember your Password feature in Firefox. The only difference is that all you have to do is hit Ctl+Enter and it enters in your info and it logs in for you. In Firefox if you "remembered" a password then it automatically shows it which I think can pose a security risk for Big Brother.

Most people aren't familiar with the Opera Browser so they would not even know this command so they couldn't "hack" into your accounts.

However what I have noticed is that Opera seems to be a little slower when it comes to loading up pages. It does an excellent job but even this site, the TechWrap, takes some time to load because of all the pictures even though I have DSL.

The biggest thing is that Opera relies very heavily upon loading sites that you visit regularly. That is all well and good but it doesn't help you when you are loading a site you have never seen before for the first time. In this area, Firefox is superbly better. Of course I'm not running any benchmarks over here but I'm pretty sure many would agree.

Tags: Opera, Firefox, Browser Wars, Technology, News, Wand

A Week at the Opera (v8.5)

For quite some time now, Firefox's memory problems have been itching at me. I decided that I would try a new browser and create a special segment at the TechWrap called "A Week at the Opera (v8.5).

Now as you can most likely figure out I've decided to try Opera. I've used IE before and hated my experience and plus I do not want a virus on my comp. so I chose Opera.

Each day I will detail out some of the plus and minuses of the browser. I'll try and do it for each day for one week starting today. Of course I am human so if I miss a day because of conflicts then of course I will make those days up so in total there will be 7 posts for this segment.

Day 1:

Just downloaded and I immediately recognize the nice interface. Very clean and it is definitely different than both IE and Firefox. When you click the address bar a panel appears below it and has:

1. Home
2. Top 10
3. Bookmarks

There are some great features in Opera that I have discovered today such as the zoom feature. Although, I will probably never use it, it seems decent.

Also, last thing that I've noticed for the day is that it has this extremely annoying feature where it caches the page. Sounds good except for when you load it up and you get the exact same home page (mine is Yahoo) that you get from the day before when it should change. Then you have to click the home button again for it to reload.

Also, my internet timed out while using Opera but it took me forever to notice because it continued to show me the same page over again that I visited maybe an hour or two ago.

P.S. I forgot to mention that I cannot even post this from Opera because it does not have all the features therefore I have to use Firefox.

Tags: Opera, Firefox, Browser Wars

Apple Event on Feb. 28

Apple will hold an event on Feb. 28th that will introduce "some fun new products from Apple."

No clue on what it could be but a touchscreen iPod would be nice.

Free NBC show on iTunes

A new show from NBC titled "Conviction" will soon make its first airing on TV after the Winter Olympics. However, right now you can get the Pilot (Episode 1), a music video from the show, and a behind the scenes look. "Conviction" is from the creator of "Law & Order" and details a "provocative" look into New York's young assistant district attorneys.

NBC is trying to make this show a success (well duh) and is trying to use iTunes to do it. Sounds like a good idea because hey, if it's free and looks decent then a TON of people will download it.

Tags: Apple, NBC, iTunes, Conviction, Law & Order

ATTN: All RSS readers, MUST read

Many RSS readers, in particular Firefox Live Bookmark Readers, please delete your previous feed because it will not work anymore. This is ONLY if you are using our old atom only feed.

As many know from a previous announcement, the TechWrap moved its RSS provider about a month ago so that we could accommodate ALL RSS formats. At the time I was not able to make the new feed a default view on the site such as from a web browser like Firefox. Well now I have been able to figure out the HTML code and it is working beautifully.

So please delete your old Atom feed and hit the live bookmark button again and voila! You have the new RSS feed.

Google Talk on the Blackberry

Blackberry Owners can now use both "Google Talk" and "Google Local" for their Blackberry device. Google Talk for the Blackberry is a version of the Instant Messaging application for the Blackberry and it enables users to send / receive instant text messages with other Google Talk community members.

This news maybe a little old but I felt it was still pretty important to anyone out there that has a blackberry.

(Source Linked as Title)

MacBook Pro soon to Ship

Apple Computer Inc. said Tuesday it will begin shipping this week the new MacBook Pro, the company's first laptop computer to feature an Intel Corp. microprocessor.

As previously reported just a little bit ago, Apple decided to upgrade the processor speed on all the new MacBook Pros.

These two things combined will have Apple taking over the world. MUWAHAHA! Ok, maybe not but a guy can dream. :D

2 Shows added to iTunes, 1 "Music Video"

So I decided to load up the iTunes and went to the TV Shows section of the Music Store. I was completely surprised to find that 2 shows have been added to the iTunes Store. They are the old shows, "Saved By the Bell" and "School of Rock." A soothing cup of nostalgia anyone??

Besides that though, there are some Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Edition "Music Videos" (more like they didn't know where to put it) that you can also now buy.

Google Click to Call appearances

Sadly, it has now disappeared but I was able to see the Google Click to Call Service. I tried testing it out but it did not work. I searched for new york hotels and was able to find the little green phone logo from Google Talk on the Marriot Sponsored link. This definitely could mark the beginning of a new era.

Previously we reported about a similar click to call ad that would use Google Talk and/or Skype. This is a little different because with this you type in your phone number and it is supposed to "connect you." Since the service failed I could not try it out and give you any more details about it.

One last thing is that it said it could "remember" your phone number on your computer much like a password. This does freak me out a bit especially because of the NSA wiretapping scandal that occurred recently. The U.S. government could in fact force Google to give up phone numbers and legally they would have to.

I took a couple of screenshots so here they are (click to enlarge):

New MacBook Pro Update

Albeit, not really a true update but still worth mentioning.

Apple's entry-level $2,000 MacBook Pro has a 1.83GHz Core Duo (used to be 1.67GHz), and the $2,499 model has a 2GHz processor (used to be 1.83GHz). Also, there is an option to upgrade that to 2.16 GHz for an extra .3 Gs ($300). Word.