Faster Internet!

I have been using the Opera web browser for many years now and have really appreciated the fact that they have introduced a lot of nifty and useful features – usually before anyone else.

Now version 10 is out in beta form. And again there are a lot of new cool features. The headline grabbing feature this time is Opera Turbo: “Opera Turbo is a compression technology that provides significant improvements in browsing speeds over limited-bandwidth connections like a crowded Wi-Fi in a cafe or browsing through your mobile phone while commuting.” They use compression technology to achieve this. Opera also includes an email client, improved design, speed dial, trash can where you can reopen closed tabs, etc.

They have also increased the speed of the browser itself: “We optimized the new Opera Presto 2.2 engine in Opera 10 to be much faster on resource-intensive pages such as Gmail and Facebook.”

 

This could do wonders for your slow dial-up, or satellite connection! Give it a try and let me know how it works out for you!

By the way, they also have a little web browser called the Opera Mini you can load on your phone (it's free) and it works great even on very small screens. I used it on my little Samsung cell phone in the Philippines, and I could open and read any web page I wanted.

Download and more info here.

The Aeropress Reviewed

A while back I posted rather excitedly about the Aerobie Aeropress, and my enthusiasm was based on other people's feedback on it. I have now owned one of these gadgets for a few weeks. And here are my observations so far:

Am I still as excited about this little plastic device? Even more so now after trying it! I have never before been able to make coffee this good... Seriously, I have been a coffee drinker for more than 17 years, and this is the first time I have tried something that is truly innovative and quite revolutionary. Now, I am sure there are $1000+ machines out there that might make coffee as good as this, but how does that compare to $25? Talk about value for your money. They don't even rip you off when you have to buy new filters!

It is fun and easy to use, cleans up very easily, and you have full control over how your coffee or espresso will turn out. I have tried both normal grind coffee, fine and espresso grind. To my taste, the espresso grind gives the richest and smoothest coffee. It might be a little harder to push the press down while making it, but it still works fine. The next variable is how long you mix the water and coffee grinds before squeezing it through the micro filter. The included instructions recommend 10 seconds. After trying various times, I have found 20-30 seconds to produce the best coffee, but individual preferences will vary of course. Just experiment a little, and soon you will be making the perfect cup for you every time...

I am not the only one who is blown away by the quality of coffee this simple press produces. I have had several people over, and they have been totally amazed by the rich, smooth and bitter-free coffee this thing makes. I have also tried making larger amounts, like filling a coffee thermos. Making a quadruple shot espresso (max capacity for the Aeropress) will almost fill a 1,5 ltr thermos, depending on how strong you like your coffee. It is a little trickier to mix the coffee grinds with the water when you fill it to the max though - it can get messy if you are not careful.

Any problems with it? Not really, but you do end up using more grinds than in a coffee maker if you only make one cup at a time... This is not really much of an issue though, because coffee makers don't do very well with small amounts of coffee, and I always ended up having to make at least half a pot when I only needed a cup, since that produces better coffee in a regular machine.

I highly recommend this to any coffee lover, whether you are living in the jungle or not!

Solar Freezer

If you are living in a remote village in the tropics there are a lot of things that won't be available to you. But for most of the year sunshine is not one of them. While solar power has its limitiations, technology keeps improving which this new product is proof of.

This freezer could be a great help in running a clinic or even in a private home.

"The custom, made to order IIS solution will maintain temperatures as cold as -5F (-20C) for at least 24 hours between charge, but with the (up to) 400 amp hr battery capacity and the solar panels working in harmony and regular exposure to sunlight, you should be able to go completely off-grid indefinitely.

VP of Corporate Accounts Jason Luedtke: "Our initial goal was to create a unit that would maintain the power source to the fridge/freezer for three full days with no sun exposure. That was our goal, the clouds come out you get a three day buffer. Our prototype testing proved that the unit maintained adequate power to hold temperature for nine days before we drifted out of proper temp range. We considered this a success.... but each unit (based on size/therefore power draw) and ambient temperature will have slightly varying results.""

(From: Gizmag)

More info: http://www.iis-inc.com/