Opera Mini Tips and Tricks

Opera Mini, one of the most popular mobile based browser's new version which has a completely revamped layout and tabbed browsing and many such features is giving a lot of people a headache to find and work with them. So, here are few Tips 'n' tricks to get you going.

First step:
You could start by setting the permissions for Opera Mini, allowing it to connect to net always, this will remove the need to do so manually every time you start Opera Mini.

"Key" Key:
The master key to Opera Mini is the number key "1", its like your right click. On a link it gives you the option to open the link in a new page, on a picture it gives you the option to open the image or save the image and on a normal page pressing it allows you select the text. In Bookmarks and Saved Pages it acts similar to selecting the manage option.

Note: Also, pressing and holding the center key of your D-pad serves the same purpose as the number key ‘1’.

Speed Dials:
When Opera Mini 5 came in first, people couldn’t find option to change the defaults Sites in Speed dial. They can be changed by pressing the same Number key ‘1’ and then assigning a new one.

Copying on page text content:
Copied text from a page and can’t place it on other apps and messages on your phone? There is a work around way which can help, but needs your phone to support text copying and pasting. Copy the text from a page by selecting it from a page by pressing the number key ‘1’, next place it from where you want the selection to begin and press “Start” and then move it to where you want the selection to end and press “Use”. Then instead of “Copy”, select “Search With..” Now when the text appears in search bar, use the phones Copy Text option. Now you are free to paste the text in other apps and messages.

Note: This blog post is based on Opera Mini 5 on Sony Ericsson K530i. The latest version of Opera Mini is Opera Mini 5.1 which is a minor upgrade over Opera Mini 5. Most of the procedures will function similarly on other phones too.

Until next time.
Regards,

Waving With The Bots

"First, What is Google Wave?"
Read it here

"What are bots, why add them?"
Before going into paranoia attack, Bots in Google Wave are very useful little Wave extensions. Each bot has a certain use ranging from useful to just plain fun.

"How do I add a bot?"
Bots are to be added in contacts first and then added to a Wave as you add contacts/friends to a wave.

Now Below is the mega-list of bots I could find. [Will be updated as I find more. Suggest more in comments if you find any.]

Tweety:
ID - tweety-wave@appspot.com
What it does? - This bot helps you send tweets from Google Wave.

Wikify:
ID - wikifier@appspot.com
What it does? - This bot adds links and definitions from Wikipedia to your waves for a given topic.

Polly the Pollster:
ID - polly-wave@appspot.com
What it does? - Polly the Pollster lets you create multiple choice polls with custom questions and answers.

Yelpful:
ID - yelpful@appspot.com
What it does? - This bot uses Yelp.com for searching in a wave. Type a query, such as /yelp [keyword], and Yelpful responds with search results in a new blip.

TwitUsernames:
ID - twitusernames@appspot.com
What it does? - This bot turns any word with @ in the beginning to a Twitter link. For example: @Sumeet becomes a hyperlinked @Sumeet .

Emoticony:
ID - emoticonbot@appspot.com
What it does? - This bot converts text smiley into smiley images.

Eliza the Robot Shrink:
ID - elizarobot@appspot.com
What it does? - Remember the DOS program, yes. It is a programmed therapist who chats with you in Wave.

Flippy:
ID - flippy-wave@appspot.com
What it does? - This bot turns all the contents of the wave upside down.

Bouncy:
ID - bouncy-wave@appspot.com
What it does? - This bot is for taking/bouncing out a bot from a wave.

Imma Let You Finish:
ID - imma-let-u-finish@appspot.com
What it does? - Yes, Kanye made it to the Google Wave. What this bot does is interrupts in a wave with "I'mma let you finish".

Wave Alpha:
ID - py-robot@appspot.com
What it does? - An bot for Wolfram Alpha.


More Below:

Madoqua Wave Bot:
ID - blog-bot@appspot.com

Sweepy:
ID - sweepy-wave@appspot.com

The Swedish Chef bot:
ID - borkforceone@appspot.com

RSS:
ID - rssybot@appspot.com

Bloggy bot:
ID - blog-wave@appspot.com

Hangman:
ID - wavehangman@appspot.com


Until next time.
Regards,



PS: No points for guessing the Post Title is a pun of "Riding With the Boys".

Google Wave

Finally after a month of waiting, I got the invite to Google's new, hyped product "Wave". By now everyone has heard or come across the term Google Wave somewhere, if not, Google Wave is an online tool for real-time communication and collaboration.

Google Wave is a next generation email like tool, where everything is in real-time, so you can discuss and collaborate. But unlike email, all the participants must be in Google Wave. Also, they should be added to one of the waves you've created.

To begin with you need to be in Google Wave. You cannot join directly as of now as it is in a limited preview, so you need to be invited. You can get invited by either visiting this page OR by getting a invite from a friend. Both of which might take time with the current rate at which invites are being sent. You can also get a invite from me, Read on. After getting the invite, all you need is a Google/Gmail account. You will be asked to create a new one or to log into an existing one.


Once in, you will get a ID which will look like YourGmailID@googlewave.com . Your contacts from Google are added to your Wave contacts, if they are already in, that is. Creating a wave is as easy clicking 'New Wave'. Waves are how you will be communicating and collaborating with people. A wave can be both a conversation and a document where people can discuss and work together using richly formatted text, photos, videos, maps, and more. Then you can add contacts to that wave. And you are good to go. The chat can be real-time considering your friends are online at that time. You can add photos, vids and other contents to your wave and download them too. Adding photos is as simple as drag and drop. The real-time is as real as possible with all the keystrokes and corrections.

For me Wave is a upgrade from IRC. Unlike IRC, Wave is real-time, has threaded reply so you can reply to a particular thread/comment when in Group discussion. Also its clutter-free and more professional looking.

There are a few extensions for getting something extra in Wave. Extensions include games which you can play with your friends in real-time. Few of the extensions are featured here .

Similarly lot of bots seem to be coming out for Wave. Bots like Tweety help to Tweet from Wave. All these bots are email like IDs which you have to add to your contacts and you're good to go. Will post more on Bots in next post.

If you need a invite to Google Wave contact me on Twitter or by leaving your mail ID here in the comments. I'll send you the invites. If you are already in Wave, add me to your contacts meet.naik.1988[at]googlewave[dot]com .

Until next time.
Regards,


Note: Due to overwhelming requests for invite and shortage of the same with me, I'll be needing your blog and profiles links to make sure you're not a bot or a troll looking for let-in. I need two links preferrably one to your blog and an open profile anywhere on any known social network(facebook, twitter). Make sure your profile is open to visitors, thats all. Hope you understand. And thanks.

Updates:
Winners have been contacted and the invites are all sent.

A similar Google Wave invite give-away is run by @Indyan and @Mrintech at here and here respectively. Enter at both the places for a better chance at getting the invite.