Blogg.ed

Not a lot of people know exactly what I do, which requires quite a bit of travel and socializing. I never really know where I'll be going next, so I bring a little of everything to make it memorable.

Sometimes though, I look at my bag and laugh. Growing up around briefcases, I never figured this would be my gear, but I'm not that normal. I asked my friends across a bunch of social networks (mostly got Twitter replies) what they thought was in my work bag.


Here's the photo of what I carry most days. I made a scoring system to reward risk and accuracy (correct/guesses x 100 x correct). Some people know me really well!

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I gathered together some images from my time in Austin for SXSW 2011 so far. I've still got 2 more days here, so I may have more to share afterward.

I've been thinking about this off and on for nearly a week and it's screwing with my head!

At Opera, lunch is served every day for employees. It's a really nice perk. BUT in my office in San Mateo, there is always chips and salsa/guacamole as part of whatever there is for lunch (so far, at least). I started to think about what I like more: the free lunch, or the chips and salsa/guac. Since the chips and salsa/guac are part of the free lunch, then the free lunch should be my answer.

However, the chips and salsa doesn't HAVE to be there for there to be a free lunch, so since I really like that part specifically, then the chips and salsa should be my answer. BUT it's part of lunch.

Things could be worse.

Let me know in the comments!

I had wifi issues earlier but wanted to quickly let everyone know that you can follow #UpNorthWeb for updates as they happen. I'll be summarizing each day when I have more time later.

Edit: Link fixed a bunch of times!

As part of Opera's Marketing Position Competition, you can favorite this post with the star at the top if you are signed in to MyOpera.

10. Old Recipes for Lutefisk and New Boxes from Frozen Pizza
It's time to put the past behind and look to the future - a technology driven future with new software, new looks, new ideas, and refrigerators.

9. Fan Fiction for Opera Man
Opera has it's fans, and chances are if you're reading this you are one. But Opera's got a a fanbase so strong that they've started writing fan fiction based on a fictional fictional character dubbed Opera Man. Certain fanatical employees are even involved in the movement and translation into multiple languages. Sadly, it's all terribly predictable: Fastest hero ever, saves everyone from bad situations, really good looking, etc.

8. Useless Code
Ever wonder why other web browsers have 90+MB install files and take up so much space when Opera packs in more features in a smaller footprint? Even the download and install is faster.

7. Coffee Cups
It's no secret that software companies like caffeine. But when your work day spans 24 time zones, you always have employees awake somewhere - even if they should be sleeping.

6. Doors
Not satisfied with speeding up web browsing and information accessibility on the Internets, Opera Software has thrown away all of the doors within their headquarters to make getting around in the real world faster as well (with the exception of the front doors, because security is important, too). Further, they get around using dirt bikes in the office halls and use jumps liberally from floor to floor.

5. Smiley Stat Tracking
Only secretly tested internally and in the MyOpera beta section online, the sad story of Smiley Stats ends here. Originally planned to be the metadata goldmine of the information age, the Smiley Stats program was going to track everyone's usage of Smilies in comments to then sell that data to advertisers - that is, until the exact same usage pattern emerged week after week after week:

• Monday - was the general feeling
• Tuesday -
• Wednesday -
• Thursday -
• Friday - curiously shows up with not only 70% from the community, but also 99% from Opera employees.
• Saturday - a mix of from the community and from Opera employees
• Sunday -

All they found was that Friday = Beers. Opera decided ultimately not to subject their community members to advertisements.

4. Opera Brand Laxatives
Opera loves to spread the swag thick, but this failed attempt had recipients running. The obvious choice as a medium to convey the 'Fast & Safe' angle of their web browsing platform, the Opera Branded Laxatives worked too fast - leading to the now infamous "Opera, So Fast You'll Crap In Your Pants" stickers.

3. Jon S. von Tetzchner's Speedo
Known for crossing bodies of water to launch new versions of web browsers, Opera's CEO has to toss the old Speedo in lieu of a wet suit in the winter months. Even vikings need protection from Norwegian winter seas.

2. Mail intended for Oprah Winfrey
Like letters to Santa Claus, Opera has the sad job of throwing away millions of letters intended for Oprah, shattering the dreams of household moms all over the world. Tweets, too!

1. Microsoft or Apple Employees
You will often find these curious creatures rummaging around in the Opera dumpster looking for useful bits of information as to what Opera will bestow on the web browser industry next since Opera is always beating them to the punch.

Anyone find anything else in Opera's dumpster?

_{I've added a link to my IdleRPG profile for my character DotEd, the Office Ninja, to my links page and blog sidebar.
You can find me idling in #IdleRPG on OperaNet and of course, in N+ Chat.}

[/IMG]If you're a member of N+ (it seems 71% are from the poll to the right) then you know about the Challenge I issued to get 200 additional members in about amonth and a half to bring the total to 500 by the time Opera launches the Final Version of the Opera Wii Browser.

Well, we did it. With weeks to spare I might add. I'm so happy right now, from the additional Moderator support (via Beeks), the addition of chat (suggested by Ramunas), and a wealth of support from many others, it's no wonder we did it so fast.
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