Few days back Mozilla had released first developer milestone Firefox 3.6 Alpha Namoroka for Mac, Windows & Linux. Firefox 3.6 is aimed to improve speed, performance, implementation of new CC3 classes, Startup and responsiveness improvements and much more.

With increasing competition in browser war Mozilla don’t want to left behind and they have already started working on Firefox 3.6 successor Firefox 3.7. To our surprise Mozilla is ready with first Preview version Firefox 3.7 Pre-alpha build.

Google Chrome is a browser that combines a minimal design with sophisticated technology to make the web faster, safer, and easier.

One box for everything

Type in the address bar and get suggestions for both search and web pages.

Thumbnails of your top sites

Access your favorite pages instantly with lightning speed from any new tab.

Incognito mode

Don't want pages you visit to show up in your web history? Choose incognito mode for private browsing.

Safe browsing

Google Chrome warns you if you're about to visit a suspected phishing, malware or otherwise unsafe website.

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The wait for Opera fans is over. Opera Software has officially released Opera 10.5 Pre-Alpha. Couple of days back, an internal build of Opera 10.5 had been leaked. However, the official pre-alpha is a lot more stable and contains a few extra goodies. The big new features in Opera 10.5 are:

Carakan: The speed race just got a lot more interesting. Opera 10.5 introduces the much anticipated Carakan – Opera’s new JavaScript rendering engine. We did a quick test using the V8 Benchmark. This is what we found:

(higher is better)

Opera 10.5 blew away Firefox and outperformed Safari by a fair margin, but Google Chrome still reigned supreme.

HTML5: Opera 10.5 uses an updated rendering engine( Presto 2.5.18). Presto 2.5 introduces a number of new features including support for CSS3 Transitions and HTML5 features like persistent storage.

Vega: Vega is Opera’s graphics library and was previously used only to render SVG. However, in Opera 10.5 all graphics is Opera is rendered using Vega. For now Vega is a highly optimised software rendering engine, but this move definitely does open up the possibility of using hardware acceleration in the future.

Better Platform Integration: As mentioned earlier, Opera 10.5 includes better Windows 7 integration including support for taskbar thumbnails and jumplists. However, there is good news for Mac users also. Opera has finally decided to utilise the Cocoa framework, as a result of which Opera now looks and feels like a native Mac app.

Private Browsing: Opera 10.5 not only introduces Private Browsing but also puts its own spin on it. Unlike in other browsers, you don’t need to open a separate window to enter private browsing mode. Opera supports per-tab private browsing. Whenever you use a private tab, Opera will not keep a record of pages opened in that tab.

Non-modal Dialogue Boxes: Dialogue boxes are no longer in your face. Instead they are displayed as page overlays.

Various UI Improvements: There are minor UI improvements all around. The cache viewer and find have been drastically improved while the address field and search field have been retouched.

Opera 10.5 is available for Windows and Mac users. There are some known issues including high memory usage. This build has major performance issues on older computers and it not recommended unless your processor supports SSE2. And finally, there is no UNIX build this time around.

Update: I wen’t ahead and carried out a few more tests. Opera managed to beat Chrome in both Peacekeeper and Sunspider. So, it appears that Opera is now the fastest browser available.

(lower is better)

• Digsby offers complete synchronization between computers and installations. Everything from the skin you chose to your pre-defined status messages follows you from place to place.
• You can place a widget on your blog, website, or social network profile so you can chat with visitors right from digsby.
• Manage multiple simultaneous file transfers from one simple transfer manager.

Windows by default doesn’t allow you to display desktop icons in a list view. There is no right click and display as list option either.

If you are someone who maintain the desktop as a digital junkyard, it might be quite an eye sore using the default icon view with icons overflowing out of your desktop edges. There is a tiny application that’ll display your desktop icons as a list instead of large icons thereby reducing the clutter to a great extend.

Head over to the Desktop List View site and download the self extracting exe or the zip file. Run the ‘desktopListView.exe’ to display your desktop icons in list view. If you didn’t like the view you can revert back to the normal desktop view by running the ‘unload.bat’ file.

This tool doesn’t persist the setting. i.e. you’ll have to execute the ‘desktopListView.exe’ each time you login, if you want the list view to stick around between login sessions. As a workaround you can add a shortcut to this executable to the windows startup folder.

OS: Win 98/ME/2000/XP/2003

Google Hacks is a compact utility that will allow its users to search google using different google search hacks. Using Google Hacks one can easily do a music search by using a highly optimized and complex search command that can be obtained just by clicking a number of option boxes that can be found in the program´s interface.

Google is a pretty powerful search tool. You knew that. You can use it to find information, but you can also use it to find downloadable MP3s, books, videos, and other items. We're going to assume you're just looking for legally available downloads, but the truth of the matter is if someone's posted an MP3 (copyrighted or not) to their web page, Google can find it.

But who has the time to memorize all the search modifiers like "-inurlhtm|html|php) intitle:"index of" +"last modified" +"parent directory" +description +size +(.mp3|.wma|.ogg) ?" That's where Google Hacks comes in. This handy little app will let you search for dozens of file types, song lyrics, cached pages, fonts, and other little goodies hanging out on the web.

Just download and install Google Hacks for Mac, Linux, or Windows, fire it up and enter your search term and check the boxes next to the type of search you want to perform. Your results will show up in your default web browser.

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Review:

Life is all about listening to your heart and chasing your dreams. That's the essence of 3 IDIOTS, directed by the supremely talented Rajkumar Hirani. Let me come to the point right away. There are films and there are more films. And then there's 3 IDIOTS.

Come to think of it, 3 IDIOTS carries a huge 'burden' on its shoulders: The 'burden' of humungous expectations. And it's not without reasons...

3 IDIOTS is Aamir's next release after the record-breaker GHAJINI.

3 IDIOTS is Rajkumar Hirani and Vidhu Vinod Chopra's third film together, after MUNNABHAI MBBS and LAGE RAHO MUNNABHAI, landmark films.

Three actors from the path-breaking RANG DE BASANTI team - Aamir, Madhavan and Sharman - team up yet again. Plus, Aamir's teaming up with Hirani. It couldn't get bigger!


3 IDIOTS is over-hyped and that could be dangerous for any film since it's the expectations which kill a film if the content doesn't match up to the hype. In this case, all izz well!

Now let's demystify the myths...
3 IDIOTS is not about idiots or nincompoops. It's about three engineering students who believe in 'I'll Do It On my Terms' and that's what the three characters achieve in life and that's what Hirani, Chopra, Aamir eventually achieve at the end of the movie. Making a movie on their terms!


One more thing! You cannot draw parallels with any other film, past or present, successful or unsuccessful. And though people may draw parallels with GHAJINI or the MUNNABHAI series, it would be sacrilege to do so. 3 IDIOTS [based on a novel 'Five Point Someone' by Chetan Bhagat] doesn't tilt, it stands tall.

Here's yet another illusion: 3 IDIOTS belongs to Aamir Khan. Yes, it does, but also to R. Madhavan, Sharman Joshi, Boman Irani, Kareena Kapoor and Omi, the entrant in Hindi movies, who delivers an equally sterling performance. The film would be incomplete without any of these characters.

To cut a long story short, all you'd like to say about the film is, All izz very, very, very, very, very well. Watch this film to know what it means!

Two friends [R. Madhavan and Sharman Joshi] embark on a quest for a lost buddy. As they make their way through the perilous landscape [Shimla, Manali, Ladakh], another journey begins: their inner journey through memory lane and the story of their friend - the irrepressible free-thinker Rancho [Aamir Khan], who, in his unique way, touched and changed their lives.

It's a story of their hostel days that swings between Rancho's romance with the spirited Pia [Kareena Kapoor] and his clash with and oppressive mentor, Viru Sahastrabudhhe [Boman Irani]. And then one day, suddenly, Rancho vanishes...

Who was he? Where did he come from? Why did he leave? The friend who influenced and inspired them to think creatively and independently, even as the conformist world called them three idiots. Where is the original idiot now?

Hirani is a genius and that has been proved twice in the past. He proves it for the third time with 3 IDIOTS. Screenplay writers Hirani and Abhijat Joshi and screenplay associate Vidhu Vinod Chopra narrate a story that's straight out of life. A story that each one of us can relate to or identify with.

Very often, we've read news-reports of students committing suicides because they've to live up to the family's pressure/expectations. This film depicts it at the very start, when a student commits suicide. But the issue doesn't end there, for 3 IDIOTS raises a pertinent question: Was it suicide or murder?

Hirani balances the rough and smooth incidents in their lives beautifully. The sequences in the campus, right from the ragging sequence at the start, to Omi's speech when the word 'chamatkaar' is changed to 'balatkaar' [superb; will bring the house down], to the trio getting caught in an embarrassing situation at the reception of Kareena's sister [Mona Singh], to the dinner sequence at Sharman's house, to Kareena and Aamir driving Sharman's seriously ill father on their bike to the hospital... the funny moments would make your jaws ache.

The interval point is a shocker. The point at which the first half ends will leave you stunned. Now what was that? Kahani mein twist!

The mystery is solved soon after the intermission ends and a new journey begins. That's one of the USPs of the film. Just when you think that the story would be solved, a new story begins. Of course, the pace dips slightly in its second hour, especially during the delivery sequence of Mona [which may appear filmy to a few], but the immediate sequence, when the baby boy is born and also the subsequent sequence between Boman and Aamir bring the film back on track. The culmination to the film is novel and yes, it's a master stroke from the writing point of view!

Every person behind the camera gives his/her best to the film. Hirani and Joshi's screenplay is the mainstay of the film. If you fondly recall 'Gandhigiri' from their previous film LAGE RAHO MUNNABHAI, you'd have a new phrase to chew on this time: 'All Izz Well'. Muraleedharan C.K.'s cinematography is awesome. Note the aerial view at the very start, when Madhavan and Sharman begin the journey to Shimla or the picture perfect look of Ladakh... the DoP does a magnificent job.

Shantanu Moitra's music may sound plain ordinary to ears, but when viewed on screen, the score is just perfect. 'Give Me Some Sunshine', 'All Is Well', 'Zoobie Doobie' are three tracks that would grow on you after you've watched the film. The choreography of 'All Izz Well' [Avit Dias] and 'Zoobie Doobie' [Bosco-Caesar] are eye-catching. The background score [Sanjay Wandrekar, Atul Raninga, Shantanu Moitra] is right.

3 IDIOTS belongs to everyone. But, yes, there's no denying that Aamir makes you forget all his past achievements as you watch the amazing actor play Rancho. To state that this ranks amongst his finest works would be an understatement. Madhavan is incredible, especially in the sequence when he explains his point of view to his father [Pareekshit Sahani]. Sharman is outstanding from start to end. This was a difficult role to portray and only an actor of calibre could've pulled it off. Boman is superb as the vicious head of the institute. The scenes between Aamir and Boman are extra-ordinary and it's a treat to watch these two powerful actors clash on the big screen, without getting overdramatic. Boman's appearance, mannerisms and dialogue delivery are exemplary.

The length of Kareena's role may not be as much as Aamir, Madhavan and Sharman, but she registers a strong impact nonetheless. Omi is excellent and the viewers are sure to love his acidic tongue and gestures in the movie. Mona Singh doesn't get much scope. Jaaved Jaffery is competent. Pareekshit Sahani is decent.

On the whole, 3 IDIOTS easily ranks amongst Aamir, Rajkumar Hirani and Vidhu Vinod Chopra's finest films. Do yourself and your family a favour: Watch 3 IDIOTS. It's emotional, it's entertaining, it's enlightening. The film has tremendous youth appeal and feel-good factor to work in a big way.

Rating: 4.5/5

Synopsis :

Boy loves girl. Girl loves boy.
They get married.

In India, there are a few more steps:

Boy loves Girl. Girl loves Boy.
Girl's family has to love boy. Boy's family has to love girl.
Girl's Family has to love Boy's Family. Boy's family has to love girl's family.
Girl and Boy still love each other. They get married.

Welcome to 2 States, a story about Krish and Ananya. They are from two different states of India, deeply in love and want to get married. Of course, their parents don’t agree. To convert their love story into a love marriage, the couple have a tough battle in front of them. For it is easy to fight and rebel, but it is much harder to convince. Will they make it? From the author of blockbusters Five Point Someone, One Night @ the Call Center and The 3 Mistakes of My Life, comes another witty tale about inter-community marriages in modern india.

Review : Click Here