Why the New Opera is Perfect for Slow Connections

Opera 11.1 is available for download for Windows, Mac and Linux. One of the best features of Opera is the built-in Turbo mode that lets you browse the web faster even on slow connections. The feature can also help you save money when you are on a metered Internet connection, like that hotel room, where you have to pay per byte. Let me explain. When you request a web page - say time.com - your browser will connect directly to the time.com servers to download all the images, text, and other associated files. However, in the case of Opera Turbo, the same request is routed to Opera servers – the web page is downloaded on Opera servers first,...

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Does your Flash Player Look Like a Green Screen?

You are trying to watch a video on YouTube but all you get is a green screen like the one in the above screenshot. The audio portion is playing just fine but the Adobe Flash Player is unable to render the video. If you refresh the web page, the ‘green screen’ problem might vanish temporarily but it is very likely to stage a comeback in your next browsing session. And this problem is not specific to YouTube but any video website that uses the Adobe Flash Player. The fix is however simple. While you are on a video page, right click anywhere inside the Flash Player and choose settings. Now click the first tab that says Display (look for...

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How to Use Windows 7 Themes on XP or Vista

Microsoft paid close attention to personalization in Windows 7, and shipped it with a gorgeous collection of desktop backgrounds and themes. Windows 7 also makes it easy for users to create their own personalized themes and then share it with other Windows 7 users. If you are still using an older version of Windows (like Windows XP or Vista), you don't have to feel left behind because, with some simple tricks, you can enjoy all or part of what these Windows 7 themes have to offer. Use Windows 7 Themes with XP and VistaFirst, launch the official Windows 7 themes directory and download some of the themes you like to your Windows XP or Vista...

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How Software Download Sites Are Confusing Users

Columnist and radio host Dwight Silverman recently did a detailed analysis on how the various software download links, available on CNET’s popular download.com website, could be confusing their not so tech savvy users. The reason is quite simple. Some of the banner ads running on Download.com have big red buttons that scream “Start Download” – such ads are confusing and the user may therefore end up installing a completely unrelated software. To CNET’s defense, they have little control over such ads as these are directly served by Google. This story reminds me of another popular software downloads site - Softonic.com – that offers a...

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How Twitter Can Improve Their Homepage?

What you see here is a screenshot of the Twitter home page (English version) that shows up when you are either not registered with Twitter or are not logged-in. Just below the sign-up form, you can find a rotating list of some of the popular people who are part of the Twitter ecosystem. These mostly point to Twitter accounts of celebrities from the entertainment and media world, brands, authors, and everyone else who commands a popular following on Twitter.  Twitter probably has this list in place to convince first-time users to sign-up for an account but there’s one little problem with their approach. Katie Jacobs Stanton of Twitter,...

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How to Add JavaScript in your WordPress Posts

While you can easily add JavaScript code to your WordPress site by modifying the theme files, there can be instances when you may want to insert JavaScript inside specific posts or pages and not the entire site. How do you do that? If you are running the self-hosted version of WordPress (not WordPress.com), you can sometimes add JavaScript through the built-in editor itself. Just change the writing mode from Visual to HTML and copy-paste your JavaScript code into the text box. Adding JavaScript to WordPress – An Alternative However, if the above option doesn’t work with your JavaScript, here’s an even better option that makes use of custom...

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