Safari for Windows Beta vs Opera 9.21!

Wasn't really too interested to install Safari until I saw the above where Apple claims Opera loads HTML even slower than IE & Firefox!!! How could the fastest browser in the world be that slow? Are the results doctored or is the benchmarking software inaccurate? So I installed it and then tried loading Apple's Start Page:

If you see the pic above, you would have noticed that Opera loaded 1st, and Safari only managed to load the navigation bars. Note that Safari had the head start first with its default start page, then I went on to Opera to enter the address!!!

Also while checking for memory consumption, it seems that Opera while running more functions consumes less memory than Safari! Not to mention I'm running Mail + Feeds + several UserJS scripts in Opera!

So if you wanna test it yourself, try here - Opera 9.21 & Safari.

New Toy: Panasonic Lumix FX07!

It was a tough choice but I finally got me self a camera, the Lumix FX07:

Forte: Wide-angle lenses, amazing macro mode, lotsa settings to tinker around, optical image stabilization, small, wide range of ISO settings: 100 –> 3200!

Achilles' heel: "Watercolor effect" when blown up to 7 Megapixels (esp. on higher ISO settings) - overcompensation by image processor I guess, but not so visible if you print it out. Night pics w/o tripod impossible with ISO > 200!

Anyway, some sample pics for those interested:

Pandora!

I never really caught on to the Pandora bandwagon till recent news that they have shut down access to countries outside the US due to copyright issues, but man, THIS is the future of radio or probably portable players (Creative - you should try to integrate this into your mp3 players)!

Basically in Pandora, you get to choose what you wanna listen to and Pandora intelligently seeks out the "genes" of the music you like and picks a random song which you may like. You can further finetune your music selection list by giving a thumbs up or down for the music it plays, and boy, I've been discovering like new songs and artists almost everyday!

If only we can do this in Malaysia, that would be so great!

Disable Snap.com Previews Permanently on Opera!

Saw an article on how to disable snap.com previews permanently, but in firefox.

Here's how to do it in Opera 9:

-Tools -> "Advanced" tab.
-Click on "Content" on the left.
-Click "Blocked Content" button.
-Add http://spa.snap.com/*

Done. Snap Preview begone!

No restarts required.

BitTorrent faster than HTTP download on Streamyx?

Half-a-week already since I've been back in Malaysia - adjusted ok to the weather, finally got to do some driving, jet lag's gone i think, shocked at all the crimes happening all over Malaysia and also find it weird that bittorrent speed does not match with http download speeds on Streamyx.

I'm on the Basic Plan (512kbps) and here are some screenshots of the downloads (average speeds):

http download:

BT:

Anyone has any idea on how to speed up http downloads? OpenDNS doesn't seem to help much, EventID 4226 patcher helped abit - is there anything I missed out?

Anyway, since the internet's so slow here, I've started reading now and the book called "Why Do Men Have Nipples" seemed pretty interesting. Here's something funny:

WHY DOES YOUR PEE SMELL WHEN YOU EAT ASPARAGUS?
Asparagus contains a sulfur compound called mercaptan. It is also found in onions, garlic, rotten eggs, and in the secretions of skunks. The signature smell occurs when this substance is broken down in your digestive system. Not all people have the gene for the enzyme that breaks down mercaptan, so some of you can eat all the asparagus you want without stinking up the place. One study published in theBritish Journal of Clinical Pharmacology found that only 46 percent of British people tested produced the odor while 100 percent of French people tested did.

the Brits will love this.