So for a big rivalry comes Firefox 3 vs Opera 9.5, both of which offer performance and functionality increases over the previous versions, and personally, are both dramatically different from their previous versions.

You can tell Opera is focused on merging your devices using it’s own platform with it’s Opera Link, which will allow you to synchronize your bookmarks across the Opera 9.5 desktop version and Opera 4.1 Mini(the one of two available mobile versions).  I see Mozilla as sinking behind with the seemingly low interest in Mozilla Weave.

Both browsers have had a design overhaul and I have to say I favor Opera’s interface over Firefox’s.   The Firefox interface is very old style text menu driven still, despite further attempts at getting away from this.  Opera has a very nice and sleek interface and is moving more towards the image/icon based navigation system.

Finally, speed.  Opera seems to be a decent bit faster (and yes I do have pipelining enabled with a moderate amount of tubes) and seems to run applications very well, despite not being one of the big contenders.

Despite all of this, I don’t think I’ll be quick to change.  The shortcoming of Opera is it has fewer addons (called Widgets in Opera) and those that exist seem to have less functionality, plus they seem to be part of their own system rather than integrated with the browser itself like Firefox.

I’ll probably use the two in tandem with one another, as I like them both quite a bit.  Plus the ability to sync my bookmarks with Opera 4.1 on my Tilt is pretty cool.  We’ll see how things go when Firefox Mobile becomes available.

Verdict: Use ‘um both

So I made the switch to Firefox 3.  Well, not totally.  I “figured out” how to run Firefox 3 alongside Firefox 2, mostly for testing purposes.

Firefox 3 seems to be a nice improvement in certain areas.  I’m not entirely convinced yet though, especially since I found an Oklahoma State University theme that only works with Firefox 2 (already tried changing the version number in the theme and reloading it, no rice).

Either way though, I may switch between the two as they both have their specialties.  However, I’m switching to Mozilla Weave for cookie sync and using Foxmarks for bookmarks since Google Browser Sync is being discontinued….rats

So I was at the pumps today filling up and I noticed the State of Oklahoma Standards testing and noticed a few things interesting.  Just a thought but you can maximize your return by going for the pumps with the closest measurement to being accurate.  Oklahoma has a legal tolerance of +/- 6 cubic inches and I noticed regular was -2, mid-grade was 0′d, and Premium was +2.  Check the pumps next time to get a true maximum return.

Also, I always put in premium once every 5 fill-ups or so to help with engine gunking and carbon buildup.  Your ECU typically will compensate for the higher octane of fuel but most premium gasolines come with cleaners in them to help remove gunk(I use Shell V-power usually) and I seem to get better gas milage on higher octane fuels as well.

Finally, I don’t let my car go bellow 1/4 tank(I did this week but I try not to).  Reason being is the fuel pump.  Think gas is high, how about a $1000 fuel pump replacement job?  Fueling more often doesn’t hurt your gas economy much to the best of my knowledge and it can save you that fuel pump damage due to overheating and burnout.

A lot of people ask me why I stick with Logitech gear when I could be getting Razer and other gaming branded stuff.  Why?  This is why.  I remember having that exact same keyboard and mouse(STILL have them in fact, the MX500 mouse currently serves my laptop) before I stepped up to the Logitech MX5000 combo.

Why do I keep on using Logitech gear?  Because it’s solid, it works, and it’s comfortable.  I mean solid too.  I can recount countless times where I’ve ended a game bashing on my keyboard, both my old and new keyboards have held together like you wouldn’t believe(even though Xbox 360 controllers aren’t up to the task).

They’re always comfortable to me.  I can spend hours on these things without much problem at all.

And best yet, it works.  Ok so the MX5000’s bluetooth stack has a few issues but it’s really pretty rare for me and it’s not much of a problem.

So go ahead and spent that extra money on "gaming" hardware.  Logitech is still going strong and I love their gear.

Don’t like it?  Well…

Everyone should know about the recent investigations against Intel.  Personally, I use Intel processor(I also have a few AMD processors) and I like how Intel has really been spending some money to push in some fresh new blood into the desktop x86 market.  I also like seeing them push some extra competition into the mobile products market(them and nVidia), but has anyone ever ventured to go beyond the major computer players such as Intel and Microsoft and investigate someone who is blatantly conspiring against consumers?

I’m talking about the RIAA and MPAA and the entertainment corporations behind them.  They’re blatantly conspiring together, and they’re definitely out to get "pirates" and they don’t care who or what they step on.

Now maybe they really are loosing a lot of profits.  My sentiments are really, too bad.  I’m not going to pirate music personally but that’s not going to stop several hundred million others.  But really, if they’d get off of their high wagon and do something innovative and fresh, maybe they’d make more profits.

Lets take the consumer laptop/desktop market.  This is obviously a market with razor sharp margins on products.  Yet people like HP(I’m a big HP fan, sorry if you’re not, but I have my reasons) are pumping out some seriously cool stuff(you didn’t think I’d forget the Blackbird would you?).  And they also seem to be making plenty of money in the consumer market.

Remember my previous post on the future of profits for Hollywood?  Well that’s what other companies seem to be well doing.

But back to anti-trust.  Isn’t one inclined to think that these companies need a good dose of reality and need to have some consumer rights forced down their throat(since they’re obviously not interested in doing it themselves)?

Up to you, but as for me, I’m off of their "products" until they see the light, or maybe they never will and I’ll be stuck in the indie world forever(fine by me really).

I recently saw Iron Man, which I thought was quite good (good for technomorons such as myself), but one thing that was blatantly apparent was all the product placement.  From all the Audis in the movie to the Burger King bag…you get the picture.

Well recently I was having a movie-fest celebrating my new Samsung upconverting DVD player which I bought for myself as a gift for being on the Presidential Honor Roll last semester, and I noticed that it’s been in past movies as well.

That got me thinking, with all the piracy going on and Hollywood "loosing money" (they’re still making plenty, just not as much as they did, oh noes!), maybe the product placement is a good thing for us.

Maybe Hollywood will get off of their traditional bandwagon and using product placement and advertisements, we can start seeing movies be much cheaper or even free, such as how Paramount did with Jackass 2.5.

I’m largely a hermit and the ability to check these movies out without having to fight the crowd and getting to see them in glorious HD streaming over the internet seems excellent to me.  Plus the movies being discounted when I DO decide to head out to say Bricktown seems just that much better.

Get to it Hollywood.  Stop suing people and implement better strategies for making money and I’ll stop boycotting you.

Now, if we can only do something about our internet bandwidth…