Opera recently released Opera Mini 3.0.1, a tiny web browser for your cell phone. You phone needs to support Java (don’t be surprised, many phones do) and needs to have data support in order for Opera to stand a chance of working.

It looks gorgeous on my Sony-Ericsson S710a… the S710a has a large screen and Opera takes good advantage of it. Even my older Sony-Ericsson T616 can run it.

Opera Mini is very small, too… the download for my phone was only 98Kbytes. How do they get it so small? By pre-processing the data… when Opera Mini makes a request, it talks to Opera’s servers, not directly to the website. Opera’s servers then pre-crunch the data for your phone, making Opera Mini’s job much simpler.
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I ran across an unusual offer from Amazon today… a pack of 25 blank CDR’s, rated for 80 minutes and 52x performance (the link for them is on the right). The only catch is that you have to process a rebate, but it looks like the rebate can be one online, so they have your money for a couple of months and after that you’ve got it back and 25 blank CDR’s.

If you don’t have Amazon Prime you’ll end up paying for shipping unless you buy enough other stuff with the blank CDR’s to hit the $25 mark, but if you do then you’ll get them shipped for free.

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Here’s an easy way to keep the weather forecast up-to-date in iCal under MacOS X. I’m sure some version of this will work with Outlook under Windows; I just can’t give you the exact commands to use for it.

iCal allows you to subscribe to calendars – it will periodically check if the calendar has been updated and import any changes. You won’t be able to edit the calendar, but it will always show up-to-date information in your iCal. This is a great way to share calendars with other people or to subscribe to calendars that are published on the Internet. I subscribe to calendars which provide US holidays, phases of the moon, and new movies release information.

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Apple has dropped the prices on some Macintoshes, iPods and accessories today only, Friday November 24th. You can get a brand new MacBook or iMac for $101 off, an iPod nano for $21 off or a regular iPod for $31 off. They also have deals on car chargers, earphones, speakers, Office 2004 Standard Edition, .Mac, Parallels, the Airport Express base station and more.

Shipping should be free on most orders. (more…)

Do you have a comics lover in your life who you’d like to get a holiday gift for, but haven’t got a clue what to get them? Read on, true believer.
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I know that I recently blogged about Amazon’s $10 savings on groceries, but I wanted to point out an extra good deal they’re offering.

You can pick up two boxes of Keurig K-Cup coffee (for instance, their Extra Bold Dark Magic) for $18.50. The normal price for one box is $13.95. Even if you join Green Mountain’s coffee club and save $2/box, you’re paying $11.95/box.
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The iTunes Store has free episodes of 30 Rock and 3 Lbs. 30 Rock is NBC’s Saturday Night Live-ish sitcom; 3 Lbs is the new brain surgery drama with Stanley Tucci. I was curious about both shows and took advantage of the free episodes to check them out. Beware that free episodes don’t stay free forever; if you’re looking at this weeks after it was posted, odds are that iTunes will want you to pay for these episodes.

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I recently picked up one of the new model Core 2 Duo MacBook Pro’s, and decided to try the new glossy screen. I was hesitant; I was worried about glare and whether it might make it more difficult to read the screen in bright light.

To the contrary, the glossy screen is fantastic. I find the display more readable than ever. I do see reflections in it at times, but my focus on the things on the display just tunes them out. The only downside is that it seems to pick up fingerprints more easily.

DC Comics has decided to give away the first issue of many popular Vertigo comics, online and in PDF format.

Go to http://www.dccomics.com/news/?nw=6186, find your favorite comic. Click on its title and you’ll be taken to a page where you can download issue #1.

They have recent series, like The Losers and Testament, as well as older ones, like Doom Patrol and Sandman. I’m glad to see that they’re not leaving behind the series which helped launch Vertigo.

Currently they have links for:
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I’m tempted to post this on my Apocalypse Blog.

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