Opera is the new Firefox
I recently started using a new browser. I started looking for a new browser because of how slow and memory-draining Firefox is. Internet Explorer is better in these areas, mostly because it shares memory with the rest of Windows (which is kind of cheating, and an issue in itself), but I wasn't willing to switch back to Internet Explorer and further foster the monopoly of a browser that's not developer-friendly. (As a developer myself, that's important to me.)
So I started looking for a new browser, and this is the result of my search:
Opera. It is supposedly less memory-intensive and even more standards-compliant than Firefox. I'd used it at work before, but not extensively and only to test my web pages and see if they worked. Previous versions of the browser advertisingted by a built-in advertizing bar, so that was kind of a deterrent to give it much of a try. The newest version, though, is completely free, so now I'm going to give it a chance and see if it can live up to my expectations.
The first thing I noticed about switching to Opera is that it is different. The interface is unique in a lot of subtle ways, so I've been having a harder time switching from Firefox to Opera than I had switching from Internet Explorer to Firefox. It might be a process and I'm not sure if I'll stay with it, but I'm excited to be giving it a try.
Nightmare Before Christmas: Sally (updated)
In honor of the
re-release of Nightmare Before Christmas, I thought I'd write some thoughts I had from the last time I watched it. I realize that these things stand out to me because of
my theory about the spiritual meaning of the movie, but I'm ok with that. It's part of what makes the movie special to me.
If you haven't seen the movie (not that I can imagine that being the case), you might not want to read this until after you've seen it at least once. I just don't want to ruin it for anyone.First, I noticed how bright and colorful Christmas town is compared to Halloween town. Almost everything in Halloween town is some shade of gray. Except Sally. I didn't realize this until later, but Sally has colored hair and a colorful dress and is filled with colored leaves. She's different.
Then, when she overhears Jack's song about his soul searching, she says she knows how he feels. Also, contrast her attitude and that of Jack with the rest of the town. Jack's tired of the same old thing, just turning on his wheels, and Sally doesn't want to be locked up in her house--she wants to be free.
Also, Sally has visions. She knows that Jack's pirating of Halloween is a bad idea.
I think the things about Sally are cool with the idea that the movie is really about Jack's dealing with spiritual awakening. Based on the differences between Sally and the others, I think Sally is already a spiritual person. It makes this
conversation more meaningful:
SALLY
You don't look like yourself Jack, not at all.
JACK
Isn't that wonderful. It couldn't be more wonderful!
SALLY
But you're the Pumpkin King.
JACK
Not anymore. And I feel so much better now.
SALLY
Jack, I know you think something's missing. But --
Anyway, there's just some things to think about. I hope you watch the movie again.
UpdateI went to see the movie in 3-D tonight and I thought it was great. There weren't any new scenes or weird 3-D things, but I'm really glad that they used the original footage to make it instead of doing some hokey George-Lucas-like thing with it. The new format just made it seem more real and alive. Go see it.
Rage Against some guy's Machine
A few minutes ago I was in the parking lot looking for a spot. I came to an empty spot and didn't quite see it until I was too far forward to get into it. I would have backed up, but the SUV behind me was following me so close that I think his bumper was actually hovering over mine. I pulled to the side so that he would go past and let me back up to get to the spot.
As he drove past, I made a not-BYU-approved gesture at him. The man stopped his car and got out. Now he was an older man, late 40's probably, so I was a little surprised to see him respond with the "step up" attitude. I would normally have no problems shouting not-BYU-approved words at him, but when he got out of his car, so did the passenger: A dark-haired, sunglass-wearing man, about the size and shape of a refrigerator. He looked dangerously like a mob bodyguard from movies.
And so, I sat sheepishly in my car mouthing not-BYU-approved words and hoping that they would move on without making an example out of me.
Pizza
If you worked at a pizza delivery store, and one night there was a particularly long wait, would you tell this to customers before or after you charged them?
Gabe Unleashed
One night this summer I was sitting around with Tyler, Lillywhite, and Roundy. We were planning on seeing some movie, but this brought up a vicious debate: In a theater, or at a drive-in?
Our discussion was thorough and heated. We talked about every possible aspect of the experience: company, screen size, sound quality, noise, etc. Somehow, despite a very thorough analysis, we couldn't come to a consensus. It's surprising, I know.
Of course we couldn't just leave it up to differing opinions because... well, I don't know why. But we were all convinced that there was a single best way to see a movie, and each party was determined to have the other party give in. Then we thought of something upon which we all could agree: Gabe.
We agreed that we would call Gabe and ask Him which was better, the drive-in, or the theater. We agreed that would be the end of it and whatever he said would be the right answer. We made the call, and truth prevailed.
Since Gabe has moved to New York, I wonder how many of us feel that our searches for truth have been stiffled. I've come up with a solution:
Query Gabriel (dot com). The basic idea is that we can all post questions that we have, about any topic, and Gabe has to answer them.
Happy Birthday, Gabe. Thanks for your gift. To us.
