Ali Kuru

Opera is definitely the best browser for Windows Mobile and, because it comes preinstalled on most PDAs, it’s quite popular. According to Gizmodo, soon to be released 9.7 version of Opera Mobile will have long awaited Flash. It will also support Google Gears, which allow Windows Mobile users to enjoy offline versions of Google applications like Gmail and Google Calendar.

Opera Mobile will have an option for connecting Opera Turbo, the content compression service used in Opera Mini, which does a lot to reduce downloading times for a small sacrifice in image quality.

I’m happy to hear that it will support Flash and Gears, but I don’t think I will ever interest in Opera Turbo. It’s sounding like having a constant “men in the middle” :)

Enjoy the video demonstration of Opera Turbo below.

[via Gizmodo]

Yesterday Disqus commenting system has launched an update, and previously reported Facebook Connect caused messy statistics issue showed itself again with upgraded WordPress plugin. Since workaround offered at Disqus blog is not working anymore, I’ve tried to fix things manually.

Disqus plugin tells Facebook Connect to look for the xd_receiver.htm at the Disqus plugin directory with the variable facebookXdReceiverPath. Problem is, Disqus plugin doesn’t ship with the xd_receiver.htm, and that’s why Facebook Connect’s attempts to reach this file are returning with errors, and causing statistics mess.

Here is my solution;

1. Remove the previous workaround code, if you’re still using it.
2. Download the xd_receiver.html file here (right click and save as) and change its extension from “.html” to “.htm”.
3. Upload the renamed file to your Disqus WordPress plugin directory (to /wp-content/plugins/disqus-comment-system).
4. You’re done.

Hope you find it useful.

Update: Disqus team repacked the plugin with the previously missing xd_receiver.htm. Just update the plugin and your problem will be solved.

Good news first; according to VentureBeat, Prezi will open its gates to the masses next month, at 5^th of April. You can check my prezi review if you want an early look of the upcoming service.

Here comes the bad news; pricing scheme seem to be surfaced with the launch plan and there will be three plans available to the users. Which are; Free (on-line only, all information shared), Enjoy ($57 per year, only works online) and Pro ($160/year, on-line and down-loadable).

Sharing what you’ve created might not be problem for most of the users but being not able to download and use your presentations offline will definitely hurt free users. Anyways, Prezi is a really innovative tool for creating slick presentations and definitely worth a try.

Update: It looks like its not the presentations that free users are not able to download, but the new “offline editor”. See comments for details.

I have all of the main browsers installed on my computer(s), including Google’s Chrome (dev channel, v2.0.169.0). Nowadays, I’m trying to create a new theme for this blog, and I was using Chrome only to see how my design is performing on it.

Although I hated the installer and its registering of Google Update both as a service and as a timed job, I liked the Chrome’s look since its first release. I’m a long time Firefox user and I usually spend 5 to 7 hours in front of it every day. Yesterday, I’ve decided to give it a chance and switched to Chrome and ditched the loving Firefox for a day. I did my usual browsing including some standard emailing, roaming, searching, reading my RSS subscriptions, banking and I remotely accessed to my lab PC via LogMeIn. Also, I’ve browsed our internal FTP server for updates.

Here are my thoughts after the day; (more…)

I’ve recently started using Disqus for the handling of this blogs’ comments. Service has really nice features, including integration with Facebook Connect, which unfortunately seem to mess with your statistics if you are using StatCounter or Google Analytics (I’m using both).

There is a solution posted on the Disqus blog and I’ve got a tip for you if you are using WordPress, which will allow you to include the given xd_receiver.html on your blog only when necessary, to reduce the front page size.

If you wrap the given code on the Disqus blog with the WordPress conditional tag is_single(), mentioned xd_receiver.html (and the javascript that its calling) will only included in your post pages, where the comment form should appear. See the code below;

<?php if (is_single()) { ?>
<script type="text/javascript">
var facebookXdReceiverPath='http://alikuru.com/wp-content/files/xd_receiver.html';
</script>
<?php } ?>

If you are allowing your visitors to comment on your WordPress pages too, you might want to change the is_single() with is_singular() ;)

Update: Disqus has launched an update and Facebook Connect caused messy statistics issue seem to reoccur. Here is another workaround.

Prezi is a new Flash based online presentation tool from Zui Labs, which lets you create extra ordinary “zooming” presentations.

With traditional presentation tools such as Microsoft PowerPoint and Apple Keynote, you have to work slide by slide to create your presentation. With Prezi you have only one slide to work with! But rather than thinking your working space as a “slide” in Prezi, you should think it as a big (actually limitless) scientific poster. (more…)

Apparently, Google Calendar has an offline mode just like Gmail. Although I didn’t like the way Gmail handles your offline data, since it dumps every mail and attachments’ to your hard disk in an un-encrypted fashion, I like the idea of always accessible Google Calendar.

As always, you’ll need Google Gears to be installed in the first place.

Just found an interesting video of DNA transcription process, created with LEGO animation :)

The bright orange subunits are the mRNA nucleotides. In transcription, the single stranded messenger RNA (a copy of the DNA gene) is produced by the base paring rule. The mRNA then exits the nucleus through a pore in the nuclear membrane.

[MIT TechTV via BoingBoing Gadgets]

It is obvious that the “Surface” will be the next big thing not only for Microsoft, but for all of us. The clip below was shown at Wharton Business Technology Conference, and it’s called 2019, is showing how far will Microsoft is planning to go with its interactive surfaces. They are planning to embed this technology from your walls to your electronic newspaper, your table to your remote, to your cell phone, simply every surface you encounter in your life.

Give your 5 minutes to see this teaser of future, it is impressive!

[via gizmodo]