No, this is not another shameless Opera plug, Opera beats Mozilla Firefox hands down; there is no competition per se for the firebadger’s audience are the geek masses whereas Opera is patronized by the geek classes.

The firefox killer is actually the next avatar of Microsoft Internet Explorer. Reversing a longstanding Microsoft policy, Bill Gates issued a statement that the company will ship an update to its browser separately from the next major version of Windows. A beta, or test, version of Internet Explorer 7.0 will debut this summer. Leaked photos of Internet Explorer 7.0 are doing the rounds on the net. From what I can gather, Internet explorer 7.0 will have support for Tabs, a pop-up blocker, full RSS support and better security features.

The average Firefox user, wants just the bare additions to Internet Explorer 6.0 which will be incorporated in the next release of Internet Explorer. Firefox users who have become hardcore power-users will have already shifted base to Opera and it will be their preferred browser. With Mozilla facing security lapses and the Internet explorer upping its game, I’d say that a majority of the ignoble populace who currently tout Firefox as the next best thing since sliced bread will revert back to Internet Explorer.

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I am neither Nostradamus nor am I a gypsy with a crystal ball but this is what I foresee; a year down the line blogger.com will either cease to exist or metamorphosise; into a paid only avatar and both the outcomes as I predict; are bleak for the blogosphere.

Granted, I am not renown for my powers of clairvoyance yet I still paint this picture of doom with certainty and I do this on account of my understanding of economics. At present I don’t see a valid revenue model when it comes to blogger.com. I don’t see any sources of income for a service of this magnitude to sustain it in the long run. Yes, Blogger.com has Google Inc. as its sugar daddy and maybe Google Inc. might tout blogger.com as a ‘loss leader’ but I am highly sceptical of this practice in the long run.

Blogger at present is not supported by adwords or any other forms of advertisement to rake in the moolah; it also does not offer a premium paid only service so the inflow of funds is minimal or non existent. In the coming months blogger will have to find ways to break even and the only options available are to either put up intrusive ads or offer a paid premium service. There is no such thing as a free lunch and hence I am quite certain that blogger.com will too shift towards a paid premium service. Now a word of advice to all the ignoble populace using blogger is to back up all your old posts onto your computer so that in the event blogger goes bust or paid you will have an archive of your old posts which you can then migrate to any other service.

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I am one of those few guys when I say, “Whoah baby, what headlights” I will actually be talking about a car. I have always been enamoured by technology since I could remember. I guess I am a natural born geek. Whenever we would go for vacation, the family would be busy taking in the scenic beauty of the place being visited while I would be busy in the local gadget shops. For a while now, I had been lusting after the Nokia 9500  and finally I decided on some self indulgence and purchased it. I did have some pre-purchase dissonance as to whether I should go for the P910i or the Nokia 9500, the true geek in me advised to opt for the P910i for its lighter, has better battery life and is touch-screen but alas I am not a true geek per se, I am a geek with an attitude, the personification of which is the phone. The Nokia 9500 screams, “I am big, mean and you can’t afford me. I am untouchable mate!!” and that is what drew me to it. The 9500 is an excellent phone and is definitely an extension of my personality in an electronic form. It was love at first sight I tell ya.

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Ahem ahem, I don’t mean those kind of games, I was referring to computer games. As an adolescent, I have had more than my share of computer games and enjoyed every bit of it. But now I am 26 and still am an avid gamer.  I was looking up freudian theories to see the cause of this dysfunction for I am told that , ‘only kids play computer games’… so I was more than happy to read the news of American G.I’s playing with their consoles when away from the battlefield.

An adult gamer is one who has dedicated endless hours to gaming as a teenager and through his college years. However, the adult gamer now has grown-up responsibilities, from employment to family obligations to keeping an active social life - IDGE, Publisher of Gamestar Magazine

I started playing my first game on the Atari, then migrated to the Commodore 64, then a NES system and the rest is history. Over the years I have played a lot of games and I would like to outline my all time top ten games.

• 1. Neverwinter Nights
• 2. Syndicate
• 3. Warcraft III
• 4. Sam and max hit the road.
• 5. Age of empires series
• 6. Need for speed Underground / Porsche Unleashed
• 7. Flashback
• 8. Call of Duty
• 9. Day of the tentacles
• 10. Mortal Kombat series

It is however ironic that most of us adult gamers can now stop drooling over the latest gaming gadgets and games and can actually buy them but alas we can’t spare time from work to actually play the damn thing to our heart’s content … sigh!! That’s life I guess.

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I have blasphemed, I have broken two of the prominent commandments of the Gible (Geek Bible) viz.

1. Thou shalt not permit another man to repair/covet your computer

2. Thou shalt never use Internet Explorer for surfing.

Oh Geek God, I implore… forgive my act of sacrilege. The greatest sin as per the Gible is to allow another man to touch ones computer, I didn’t mean to but alas I was left with no other alternative. For what its worth the engineer at the service centre too couldn’t repair it without my assistance and hence the unholy incident thou it occurred, it occurred in my presence; so kindly forgive my first sin. Oh Geek God, you know that I’m pious and I detest the evil empire headed by the beast Internet Explorer and also that I only use Opera for my web surfing needs. But sans my computer; I went to an Internet Cafe which didn’t have Opera installed and hence I was forced to use Internet Explorer. I know I have sinned and I seek your forgiveness.

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The Mozilla Foundation has decided to release the first ‘official’ version of Firefox…Its been touted as the next best thing since sliced bread by semi-geeks world over.. yes, you heard me right… “semi-geeks”…. anybody who uses an alternate browser to internet explorer is a level above the ignoble populace… but a true uber geek uses only Opera as their internet browser of choice. Firefox is just a mere ersatz of Opera, a rather insipid ersatz might I add. Opera innovates and Firefox immitates and I’m sure the folks at Opera are rather flattered. But nevertheless, any browser other than Internet Explorer getting such wide media coverage is in the interest of greater good and so firefox afficianados; have your fifteen minutes of fame.

P.S: I recently stumbled upon Operawatch, a blog that narrates in detail why Opera is the best browser in the world.

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Thought I should start reviewing me personal belongings that has made an impact in me day to to day routine so as not to forget em in the coming years. This is me first review and let me start with me favourite email service fastmail.fm It has evolved into one of the finest email service providers out there… but it still caters to a very niche market of technocrats while the majority of the plebeians still use yahoo.com or even hotmail.com ..

When I was back in college and totally jobless I loved making style sheets for fastmail, well me style sheets are now officially recognized .. before the advent of gmail and the 1 GB club Fastmail was one place where storage space was in abundance, it still is in me opinion . The ability to have custom “from addresses” in the compose screen, IMAP/Pop3, SMTP, sub domain addressing, server side sieve scripting, online storage space, ability to host own MX records make it a one of a kind email service. As I always say, quality comes at a price and to get the best out of this service its good to have a paid account with all the options rather than a free “guest” account.

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I have been a long time Opera fan, no no not Oprah… only females and gays watch that show. I meant the web browser opera.. www.opera.com …. in its latest incarnation its better than ever and I have no qualms about introducing it to any of my mates… Internet Explorer is full of security holes and should be avoided like the plague…. Opera is the browser for all technocrats.

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