The Good Life... a weblog about life, technology, and the Opera Web browser

Ahoy, maties! Time for another edition of Tim's Opera Bits. There's not a whole lot of news this time, but the stuff I do have to write about is pretty significant. So, here we go:

1. Last week, Daniel Goldman, the man behind Opera Watch, joined Opera Software as a Technical Evangelist. This is a great win for Opera users! Daniel has a lot of enthusiasm for Opera and telling everyone he meets why Opera's great. He already has quite an audience for his site and contacts throughout the industry, so he's the perfect person for the job.

   Over the past couple of months, Daniel and I have worked together to host the DC-area Opera User group, so I have had the opportunity to get to know him in person. He's a great guy and I'm glad to have him not only as a friend, but as a co-worker.

2. Today, Opera Software launched Dev.Opera, a site geared toward web developers. The site features articles about creating content for the Web and is accepting your contributions. This is a great opportunity for web developers to get their name out to the community and teach others how to build sites the correct way.
3. Also today, Opera Software launched Opera Mini 3.0 beta. This release features secure browsing, feed (RSS/Atom) preview and aggregration, and some other great advances. If you haven't tried Opera Mini for your mobile phone, now's a great time to give it a spin.
4. As I mentioned in the last Tim's Opera Bits, Opera Software is co-sponsoring the WebmasterWorld Pubcon in Las Vegas on November 14 - 17. Jon (Opera Software's CEO) will be giving a keynote address on November 14th. I'll be at the Opera Software booth, talking with anyone that stops by. Daniel Goldman and Lawrence Eng will also be attending, though I don't know if they'll be in the booth. I hope to see you there!
5. And now for something completely different: I'd like to answer some of your questions about Opera Software and Opera for Desktop in the next Tim's Opera Bits. Please leave your questions in the comments to this post. I will not be able to answer all questions, but I'll do my best.

Thank you for sticking around!

It's time for another version of Tim's Opera Bits. It's been almost three months since the last (and first) version, so let's take a trip around Opera-land. Here's the scoop:

1. Today, the Desktop Team announced that Opera 9.1 will include Fraud protection (also referred to as anti-phishing). Hopefully, this Friday there will be a weekly build enabling users to test this functionality.

   I've had the opportunity to test this functionality over the past couple of weeks and must say that it is dead simple. The user interface is straight-forward and does what it should. I hope you'll like it.

2. Daniel Goldman and I recently hosted the second DC-area Opera User Group meeting in Silver Spring, MD. We had a great time discussing widgets, the future of Opera User Groups, and bug reports. Pictures from the event are up in my photo gallery.
3. Opera's CEO, Jon von Tetzchner, will be giving a keynote address at this year's WebmasterWorld PubCon in Las Vegas, NV. David Storey, Opera's Chief Web Opener, will also be giving a talk. There's a chance that I might be headed out there to help out, too. It should be fun!
4. On September 21st, Opera Software released Opera 9.02 for Desktop platforms. This is a security and maintenance release. If you're already using Opera, you should have received an automatic notice that a new release is available. If you don't use Opera, there's never been a better time to start.

5. It's just over a month until the Nintendo Wii is released in the United States. A recent press release gives details about the Opera browser available for the Wii. Opera will be a free download until June 2007, after which it can be purchased using a point system. Additionally, Opera will take advantage of the "Wiimote" and include Flash support.

   In other Opera and Nintendo news, Opera for the Nintendo DS recently went on sale in Europe. I don't think there's a release date for the US version yet, but hopefully it'll be here soon.

6. Did you ever notice that eight out of nine of Opera Software's executives were born in the mid-1960s? There's only four years' difference between the eight of them. Young'uns. The only exception is Roger Carlhammar, who was born in 1958. He's not even fifty!

Thus concludes this version of Tim's Opera Bits. See you next time.

Do you ever remember that you forgot something, then wonder what else you've forgotten? Or, do you remember that you forgot something, but you forget what you forgot?

Yeah, me too.

Last month, Rebekah, Sara Ellen, and I went out to Milwaukee to attend one of my cousin's (on my dad's side) weddings. I'm not a fan of flying and keeping Sara Ellen in a car seat for the car trip from Annapolis to Milwaukee didn't seem like a happy plan, so we booked a sleeper room on a train. The room was cozy, but worked really well for the three of us.

I only seem to get to see my mom or dad's family at weddings and funerals. The last time I saw my dad's family was at our wedding about two years ago. That was the first time Rebekah had met most of them and she wasn't able to spend a whole lot of time with them, so our trip was a great opportunity to really get to know them. We had a great time and I'm glad we made the trip.

The following week, we visited Lynchburg, Virginia where we both went to school. On Saturday, Rebekah was the Matron of Honor in one of her classmate's weddings. While the two of them were preparing various things (flowers, nails, etc.) on Thursday, I visited my alma mater. I've been back to campus a couple of times since graduating in 2003 and while some structures have changed, it still has the same feel it did when I went there. I was surprised how much I missed being there. All of a sudden, I was overwhelmed with this desire to do something for the school. I started thinking of things I could contribute and jobs I could do. It seems like every time I stop by Lynchburg, I start thinking about living there again.

See, Rebekah and I are currently living with Rebekah's parents partially because we haven't quite figured out where we want to live. They've also been a huge help with Sara Ellen while Rebekah and I learn to be parents. We could try to find a place in Annapolis, but housing is seriously over-priced in the Washington, DC area. Housing in Lynchburg is probably a quarter of the cost. We want to stay within an hour or so of Annapolis so we can easily visit Rebekah's parents and my dad and step-mom. We'll probably end up looking for a place up in Delaware and over the Chesapeake Bay Bridge on the Eastern Shore of Maryland in another six months or so.

It's been about six months now since Rebekah, Sara Ellen, and I moved back to the US. At the time, I wasn't too thrilled about it. I didn't realize how Sara Ellen would help us grow closer to our families and that's one of the reasons I'm glad we hopped back over the pond. We do miss Oslo and I miss my friends and colleagues, but it was the right thing for us to do.

I grew up in this area and it looks like our daughter will be doing the same. One of the nice things about being here is that Sara Ellen gets to go to the same pediatrician I did. Apparently the nurses in his office give him a hard time when his old patients bring their children to him. He did a good job with me and so far he's done a good job with her. She's now just over 9 months old, 25lbs. 10oz., and 29 1/2" tall. She's huge!

What: The inaugural Opera User Group meeting for the Washington, DC metropolitan area (including DC, Baltimore, Annapolis, Northern Virginia, and all areas in-between).

Opera User Groups are groups for Opera users created by Opera users. We recognize that we can learn stuff from each other and want to know others that have "seen the light". Details about starting an Opera User Group in your area will be posted on our Opera Community page soon.

This first meeting will be a social event, giving us an opportunity to get to know each other and discuss topics that interest us.

When: August 7, 2006 from 6:30 - 8:30pm. Come and go as you please.

Where: The Panera Bread restaurant in Silver Spring, MD, located near the Silver Spring Metro stop. The restaurant has free WiFi, so bring a laptop if you'd like (not a requirement by any means). Food and drinks are not provided by us, but you're welcome to get something there.

Who: Anyone can come: Opera users (Opera for Desktop, Opera on mobile devices, Opera Mini, etc.), those interested in Opera, or those interested in browsers in general. You don't need to use Opera as your primary Desktop browser or even have Opera installed. There will be no quizzes about Opera!

The Washington, DC Opera User Group (WaDCOUG, I suppose) will be hosted by myself and Daniel Goldman, the man behind Opera Watch.

I hope to see you there!

Also see:

• The announcement at the Opera Community site
• Daniel's post on Opera Watch