IMDb just turned 19. Yes, Techcrunch’s article reveals that the IMDb is actually older than the web browser. There’s a long ass explanation to that, which we’ll not be discussing here. But certainly, in these 19 years of web existence, IMDb is one of the most visited websites and also synonymous to the Wikipedia for movie lovers like me. We do have other ’superior’ movie rating systems such as Metacritic or Rottentomatoes, but IMDb totally belongs to the viewer’s rating and is not limited to critics. And hence, IMDb movie ratings are often considered to be closer to the taste of the audience.
The obvious utility of IMDb is that it is the largest compilation of movies and is not limited to just Hollywood or for that matter Bollywood. Every movie lover I know goes to IMDb first to check out if a movie is worth watching or not, or even to just have a look at initial reactions of audiences on a movie. So, for world cinema lovers, this is the one stop to gather information on movies. But other than the obvious use of viewing a movie’s ratings, what are the other ways that you use IMDb for? I have listed a couple of them below.
Download ONLINE. No Software Required.
Yes, you read that right. You can download Megavideo videos for free online without any software installations which load bunch of spywares and adwares into your hard drive.
For starters, Megavideo is a video hosting site, which unlike other video streaming websites like YouTube, DailyMotion and the like, has no upward time limit for videos. The range of content on Megavideo has been similar to its parent data sharing website Megaupload – [ if you know what I mean]. The catch here is that Megavideo allows non-premium users to view only 72 minutes of content at once. After this time is exhausted, the video streaming is halted. There are other work-arounds as mentioned in my post here [Firefox Hack: How to watch Unrestricted Full videos on Megavideo]. But if you are one of those, who just want it downloaded on your PC,Mac whatever, just follow the instructions below.
Initially, when I heard about the idea of a browser on a USB portable pen-drive, I started questioning about its applicability. I mean, why would someone not install an actual browser on the machine itself, and rather have it on a USB pen drive. The answer is simple: Portability. Not only of your favorite browser experience, but also of all that comes with it – bookmarks, addins etc etc. The applicability does not actually matter much if you access internet only at home, through your own machine [ in case of which, its better to just install it]. Or if work does not allow access to USB ports and installing of any new browsers, you are indeed forced to use whatever is available. But, if you do have access to USB ports at work, and you do not want to install your browser [ or are not allowed so by corpo firewall] , and also share your history data, bookmarks etc on your work machine – Portable browsers are the way to go.
Good news is – all your favorite flavours are available in their portable avatars. And here’s the list.
1. Firefox 3.0 on USB:
Portable Apps bring the Mozilla Firefox, Portable Edition. So, now you can take your bookmarks, passwords, history, extension with you. Visit the PortableApps website - Mozilla page to download the browser. It is just 9 MB in size, and after installation it expands to 27 -77 MB. I really don’t know what that * sign, beside the 77MB figure, means on the Download button.
Works fine on Win XP SP2 onwards, Win Vista SP1 and Win 7.
Sometimes things can become worse from being good, just in the name of innovation. A current example of such a thing is the newly introduced change of features in the Labels of GMail inbox.[Read: Labels, drag and drop, hiding and more] Innovation is supposed to bring with it, ease of use and user-friendliness. But with this new feature, what we have is completely the opposite.
GMail has pioneered user-freindliness, and I was overjoyed when I was given the facility to use the GMail Lab – Right side Chat. It allowed to manage my inbox space in a much more organised fashion. I did not bother if my hundreds of labels would mean my Chat Window would get buried down in deep underground. Everything was jolly good.
With the new features though, Label is back to a space above its original position – which is just below the default Inbox Tabs, and above chat. Sure, there is a summarizer which wraps up the Labels, which again questions its utility now. For one, I am not used to the Left-sidedness of it. Secondly, if the Labels tab is wrapped up, it only means, that when I drag and drop my messages to the left, it is going to unwrap then. The wrapping up of the Labs to show only the most used Labels is also quite questionable. This is because I have lots of Labels which I use frequently, but GMail Inbox now shows only 4 of them. For sure, I can use the “Move to:” feature still, which completely negates the drag and drop feature introduction.
I know GMail introduced the ‘drag and drop’ feature to replicate the Folder scenario as seen in Yahoo and Hotmail. But to do so here, users have to strategically place the mouse between a space so small that it can only fit a hair. This space is at the extreme beginning of the email, and before the checkbox. Yes, can you SEE it even? Talk about user-friendliness.Pffft!
And yes, Right-Side Label Labs is dead. WHYYYY????? I cannot send my Chat to the Right, because the popped up Chat Windows block the Contact list. So it did mean more sense for Right-Side Label to be enabled. I can only request, along with all the other users to bring Sexyback – Imean Right-Side Labels. Puhhhleeeeeeeezz!!!
This is Part II of the WWDC 2009 Keynote in Image series. And the following images are from the iPhone OS 3.0 demo at the Moscone West.
iPhone OS demo begins
Just a couple of hours from now [ exactly at 6 pm, London time ] the WWDC 2009 keynote will be held at Moscone West, San Fransisco. Unlike previous year, and the years before, when Steve Jobs took the centrestage to unveil many a fabulous products that Apple has, this year it will Apple’s SVP for Product Marketing, Phil Schiller, who will be presenting the keynote. And by this time, since the first announcement of the dates for this year’s WWDC, the internet and the blogosphere has been buzzing around with rumors and predictions on what possible products will Apple lift the curtains from. This post covers all of them, and also gives you the essential links you will need to stay connected to this year’s WWDC. [WWDC image source: Adam Jackson's Flickr Photostream]
First up: The Liveblogs:
Yes, these are the bunch of ‘Apple Groupies’ who will be tearing off their Tees, and screaming out loud with whistles blowing et al. They will be covering the event live through their Netbooks, Macbooks etc. Here is the elite list.
Engadget Liveblog of WWDC 2009:
Gizmodo Liveblog of WWDC 2009:
Slashgear Liveblog of WWDC 2009:
ComputerWorld Liveblog of WWDC 2009:
Macrumors Liveblog of WWDC 2009:
9to5mac LivePanel of WWDC 2009:
Macrumors Link for the Keynote Video [as and when Apple updates it]:
**Rumors and Predictions:**
The New iPhone 3GS:
What does ‘S‘ stand for? Is it Super or could it be Speed? Does that mean better processing speed, i.e. faster processors and more RAM. Also does it mean more storage? And oh, S could also mean (more) Saleable -i.e. a budget range product with a budget range price-tag. All these rumors have been making waves since the last couple of weeks. Let’s discuss them.
Well from different sources [mentioned below] we have collected the following data that the new iPhone 3GS is going to have the following features.
..significantly faster processors, twice the RAM, and twice the storage.
..expected prices to remain the same as the current lineup: $199/299 for 16/32 GB, respectively.
..better Battery life. [via Daring Fireball]
] The first thing you notice about the UI [user interface] on 44tips is that the site design is simplistic, clutter-free and quite minimal – yet, pretty. The colours are basic dark grey and Orange with a twang. Both remind me of Firefox somehow, which means-it works for me. Let’s explore the usability and the features on this website, and if it is worth making it your homepage. Shall we? 
