The third web browser, Opera, has just reached version 5.0 and it's now available in a free version for windows. The free version is a sponsored one, like the recent versions of Eudora, which means you get a small banner somewhere in the interface in exchange for no registration fee. I hope this gives Opera more market share, they really deserve it. It's a great and compliant browser with loads of features unavailable in the other two bloated monsters. And the alpha version for Macintosh is coming along quite nicely too!
Interesting: UK newspaper, The Guardian, is running a special report on the future of the monarchy and argues that in the new millennium Britain should be given the choice whether to keep the royal family or become a republic. It will also be backing a legal challenge to the Act of Settlement, which excludes Catholics and others from succession to the throne, on the grounds that it is incompatible with the European convention on human rights which recently became part of UK law.
The BBC is offering a desktop version of the ancestor of all synthesizers: the Theremin. What are you waiting for? Download it now and make your own old school horror movie soundtracks. It's available for Windows and Macintosh.
This exhibition of ice sculptures in Brugge looks impressive. Time for a daytrip?
Some local scientists, using new computer dating methods (no, not that kind!), claim to have tracked links back more than 300 years between HIV, and a similar virus found in chimpanzees.
Linux news has an article about the future of Darwin, OS X and Apple's partnership with the open source community. The comments from Ernie Prabhakar, Darwin's open source product manager are extremely interesting.