opera on S Anand

Netscape Opera Internet Explorer and Mozilla

Sat, 16 Oct 2004 12:00:00 +0000

A decade with Netscape. I’ve been wavering between IE, Opera and Mozilla over the last few months, and have come a full circle.

IE: Default browser. Works with BCG’s intranet.
Opera: Great offline browsing. Fast downloading. Tabbed browsing. Mouse gestures.
Mozilla: Powerful plugins.
IE: A9 toolbar. Fantastic way of searching.
IE again: Google desktop. Solves all offline browsing problems I had.

MSN hates Opera

Sun, 09 Feb 2003 12:00:00 +0000

MSN’s attempt to foil Opera. via andersja

101 things you can do in Mozilla

Fri, 15 Nov 2002 12:00:00 +0000

101 things you can do in Mozilla and not IE. But apart from 1. Tabbed browsing and 2. Popup blocking, I don’t quite use the other features. Mozilla (and Opera) still need some catching up to do. via New Architect

Opera works on mobiles

Mon, 14 Oct 2002 12:00:00 +0000

Opera works well with mobile phones. I don’t understand how, personally, but Opera has revamped its site focusing on smartphones, and seems to have a good technology here.

Opera security holes

Thu, 22 Nov 2001 12:00:00 +0000

Opera has security holes as well.

Opera 6 Beta

Tue, 13 Nov 2001 12:00:00 +0000

Opera 6 Beta is out.

Block MSN access

Sun, 28 Oct 2001 12:00:00 +0000

Microsoft first tries to block MSN access to non-IE browsers, and then surrenders. I still can’t access their photos section through Opera.

Online classics video-on-demand

Wed, 07 Feb 2001 12:00:00 +0000

Online classics: video-on-demand for operas, plays, and dance. Video is definitely in these days, with NASA, CNN and a whole lot of others.

Phantom of the Opera

Tue, 17 Oct 2000 12:00:00 +0000

There’s a stall that sells theatre tickets for half price at Leicester Square, so I went there in the morning. It opened only at 12 noon, so rather than waiting, I just bought tickets for the balcony. 15.50 pounds didn’t seem to much. The musical was “The Phantom of the Opera”, running at Her Majesty’s Theatre.

There were 6 of us, and we went to the show. That was when I realized why the tickets were so cheap. They were on the second row of the third floor. Which meant that we had to crane our necks to see anything. What made it worse was that the lady in front of me refused to sit still. But after a while, I got used to it.

Well, one can see why it’s been running house full for the last 10-15 years. The visual effects are amazing. The play begins with an auction of a chandelier which fell during a performance at an opera in France. It is rumoured that the chandelier was caused to fall by the ‘Phantom of the Opera’. We go back in time (special effects). There’s this girl who’s been learning music from the Phantom, and he loves her, but she loves Raoul, who loves her. So the Phantom is angry, and does bad things, but finally gets a bout of conscience and unites them. That’s the plot.

But you wouldn’t think it when watching the show. The music is spell-binding, and performed real-time. When the Phantom takes Catherine to his den, they row over a lake made of smoke. Near Catherine’s father’s grave, there’s a lovely effect of water puddles. At this point, the Phantom appears and there’s some great fireworks also. What’s even more impressive is the coordination of the staff to get all these HUGE sets in place from scene to scene. The largest was a huge staircase, which must have weighed several tonnes. Sure, they must have had wheels. But still, it’s a feat to marvel at. Put all this in with the music, and you get an experience that’s more gripping than any movie that I’ve seen. The 3 hours flew by like the blink of an eyelid.

Well, not quite. Although I felt myself in the 17th century right through, there was one small interruption. Towards the end, when Christine was softly sobbing to Raoul, the atmosphere was broken by the ring of a mobile. That moment was almost like snapping back from a vision to reality.

Now, how can I stop myself from seeing “The Lion King”?