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

I don't think about it often, but I am a dreamer. Sometimes it helps us achieve our dreams if we share them with others. And so, here are some of my dreams:

1. I dream of being a great husband and father. I am in charge of providing for my family and I believe that goes beyond financial obligations. It means helping to foster an atmosphere where my daughter can flourish. It means helping my wife to do the things she dreams of doing. It means making tough decisions that may not be what we want, but are what we need.
2. I dream of being a great friend. I want to keep in touch with those that are most important to me. I want them to know I care. I want them to know that I'm thinking of them and that I enjoy who they are and that I enjoy spending time with them. I want them to know I miss them. At the moment, I want them to know that I know I need to work harder at this dream.
3. I dream of being a great photographer. I recently realized that I have a lot more artistic ability than I knew. Between writing (see the next point) and photography, I'm actually doing pretty well. But I want to do better. I've noticed that I tend to take the same photograph over and over (see these pictures, for instance). I want a digital SLR camera, but I know that's not the solution to this problem. I need to think more creatively when I'm taking pictures. I need to get away from my standard formula and try new things. It's the difference between being good and being great.
4. I dream of being a great writer. I didn't want to be a writer until I was in college and a professor told me I was good at it. Since then, I've had a love-hate relationship with writing. When it comes down to it, I need to write more. I need the practice. I also need to read more. And I need to experiment. In the end, I want to make people laugh and I want to touch them somehow with what I've written.
5. I dream of making a difference in the lives of others. We all have it within ourselves to make the lives of others better. We just need to tap into it. Yes, finding bugs in a web browser can decrease the frustration of others, but I'm sure there's more that I can do.
6. I dream of pleasing God. I know I cannot lead (and have not led) a sinless life, but that doesn't mean that I cannot please God. I have been blessed so much, in so many ways that I can't even imagine. I dream of giving some of those blessings to others, of acknowledging those blessings, and of sharing them.

I've been tagged! Rowan Mulder wants to know what five things I'd like to see in Opera. The tagging game began with Daniel Goldman (see his post for the rules) and I'm going to go ahead and tag Timothy Luoma, Rijk van Geijtenbeek, Eirik Stavem, Allan Clements, and Ian Hickson.

Picking out five things I'd like to see in Opera is actually a bit tricky for me. I spend a lot of time listening to what others want in Opera. Often when I talk about what I want in Opera, I'm just echoing what I've heard from others. After some thorough brainstorming, I hope I've filtered off the bias and will present a list that's truly my own. Since I have a unique perspective as an employee, I've bent the rules a bit and included some things that I think (and hope!) Opera Software as a company could do better in the future.

And without further ado, five things I'd like to see in Opera:

• A better icon - Really, Opera's icon isn't very good. There are a number of design problems with it and it really can't compare to its competitors.
• A publicly accessible bug tracking system - Opera's users are awesome. They tirelessly figure out problems on web sites and find ways to reproduce really odd issues. To get the most out of their expertise, it makes sense to make the Opera Software bug tracking system publicly accessible. Our users are one of our greatest assets and I know that'd be thrilled to help kill some bugs.
• Better changelogs - When an Opera user takes the time to report a bug, the least Opera Software can do is inform them it's been fixed by listing it in the build/release changelog. Changelogs typically include less than 10% of the actual changes, though many are included in blanket statements like "improved stability".
• Opera Mail as a separate application - Opera Mail gets no respect, even less than the Opera browser. Opera Mail in Kestrel is leaps and bounds better than Opera Mail ever has been and it's going to get even better in Peregrine. I already use Opera Mail as if it were a stand-alone application, but few users probably know how to do so. Thus, I'd like Opera Software to release Opera Mail as a standalone application so others will be able to experience its greatness!
• Developer tools - One of the best ways to get more users to use Opera is to fix web site problems. One of the best ways to fix web sites problems is to provide superior tools for developers. If developers developed their web sites using Opera, then fixed the problems they find in other browsers, Opera would work out of the box. I think one of the main reasons that Mozilla and Firefox caught on is because it was early-on the defacto geek/developer browser. Those geeks/developers made their web sites work in Firefox, then spread the word and now Firefox has 10+% market share, while Opera is still hovering in the single digits.
• Bonus: Extensions - Face it, the Opera browser can't please every user. Opera Software can try to find the right balance between features and clutter, but I think that's a losing battle. What's the answer? Extensions. Let users make, rate, and install the features they want. Let users take the Opera browser to places Opera Software never imagined. They already try to do so now with various skins, toolbar setups, and hacks. If Opera Software gave them the right tools, the possibilities are almost endless. Extensions will also open the door to features from third-parties, such as the Google Toolbar and applications like RoboForm. I really want to see how much better Opera could be if the Web could apply their talent to it.

Note: The opinions expressed here are my own and are not meant to represent my employer, Opera Software.

This Summer movie season looks fantastic. Generally, I only see a movie in the theater if the special effects make it worthwhile. I have seen some romantic comedies in the theater recently (such as Musc & Lyrics, which was a lot of fun), but I wouldn't have minded waiting for the DVDs. In any case, there're plenty of movies I deem worthy of trips to the theater this Summer.

Here's my list of must-see Summer movies for 2007:

• Spider-Man 3 (May 4th) - Saw it on May 9th: great movie
• Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End (May 25th) - Enjoyed the first, thought the second was over-done, but I'm looking forward to seeing what they do with the third - Saw it on June 21st; much, much better than the second; great fun
• Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer (June 15th) - Enjoyed the first one and I'm a big fan of superheroes - Saw it on June 15th; it was okay
• Live Free or Die Hard (June 27th) - Yippee-ki-yay!
• Ratatouille (June 29th) - Pixar: nothing else needs to be said - this movie was great fun; I laughed, I cried, I enjoyed
• Transformers (July 6th) - Transformers were some of my favorite toys when I was a kid; plus, this a Spielberg movie and the trailer looks fantastic - the movie was phenomenal
• Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (July 13th) - Harry Potter: again, nothing else needs to be said - excellent, just excellent
• The Bourne Ultimatum (August 3rd) - I hope this one lives up to the first two, which were very good
• Stardust (August 10th) - This is one of my favorite books and I want to see what this all-star cast can do with it

Undecided:

• Ocean's Thirteen (June 8th) - The first was great, the second was a flop, so I'm still on the fence
• Rush Hour 3 (August 10th) - I liked the first two, but I'm not sure if they can do it again

Wait for video:

• Shrek the Third (May 18th) - The first was OK, the second was boring. Fool me once....
• Evan Almighty (June 22nd) - This just doesn't seem to have as good a story as the first one

What's up with ten of thirteen movies here being sequels? The only original story in my list is Ratatouille. Is Pixar the only studio that can pull-off a blockbuster non-sequel?

My MacBook Pro is quickly running out of hard drive space, so I decided I'd upgrade the internal 80GB hard drive. After a lengthy search, I settled on the Seagate Momentus 2.5" 7200.2 160GB drive with freefall protection (ST9160823ASG). I'll be doubling my current space, getting a faster drive compared to the built-in 5400RPM drive, and I get added protection for my hard drive in case I drop my laptop (which I have no plan on doing, but better safe than sorry). I scoured the 'net today, but alas, couldn't find it for sale anywhere. I finally called Seagate Presales Support and found out that the drive has been delayed a bit, but should be shipping in June or July. Strike one.

While searching for a new drive, I realized that I'd run into trouble transferring my data between my old drive and my new drive. After some research, I decided I'd go with an external hard drive enclosure. I sometimes do computer tech support for friends, family, and people at my church and I find myself doing a lot of hard drive shuffling. I figured an enclosure that works with 3.5" drives would come in handy there, so why not pick up an enclosure that works with both 2.5" and 3.5" drives? Well, no one makes them, that's why. Icy Dock is considering making a tray that will fit 2.5" drives into their 3.5" enclosure. I gave them a call and the tray is still on the drawing board. Strike two.

Finally, I've been searching for a good backup solution. Our household has six computers* and we all really should be backing up our hard drives. The most obvious solution to me is some form of network storage. I'd like something that does RAID 1 for added protection. There are a couple candidates. First, there's the 1TB Western Digital My Book World Edition II. Not happening: horrible reviews, plus it's Windows-only. Second, there's the Netgear SC101. Not happening: horrible reviews, plus it's Windows-only. When will a reputable manufacturer come out with a decent network storage solution that offers redundancy, is cross-platform, and ideally doesn't require me to install software on each client computer? Strike three.

I'm just not having any luck.

* Yes, six. I have two: my MacBook Pro for work and my Windows XP desktop (which stays off most of the time); Michael, Emily, and Ellen have Windows XP laptops; and there's one Windows XP desktop for general use. Rebekah and Dale are the ones that use it most frequently.

It's been almost two months since Tim's Opera Bits v5.0, so let's get into it:

1. Opera Desktop 9.20 was released last week. 9.20 includes Speed Dial, a quick way to access the sites you visit most, and supports a Developer console. See the press release for more details.
2. The final version of the Internet Channel developed by Opera Software for the Nintendo Wii was also released last week. The Wii contains the most advanced rendering engine publicly available from Opera Software. See The Rendering Engine for the Wii for more details.
3. An experimental release of Opera Desktop with video element support is available from the Opera Labs for y'all lucky Windows users. This release has native support for the Ogg Theora video codec, which powers the video element. See the April 13, 2007 post at the Opera Labs for details.
4. Don't like Opera's built-in spelling checker? You've got a few options: OSpell (my pick) and Spell Check for Opera (via Daniel) use Opera's User Javascript feature to implement spelling checks.
5. The Nintendo DS browser developed by Opera Software will be released in the US on June 4, 2007.

That's about it. Got a question you want answered in the next Tim's Opera Bits? Ask away in the comments!