Some Assembly Required

Well, we are sponsors for several competitions at the assembly, so we're putting up various prizes.

The big one is for the Browser demo competition. This year, Opera is the default browser - if you use another one, we ask for an explanation of what didn't work in Opera that you needed. Even the most useful report will win a small thank you prize. The best demo, on the other hand, wins a big cash prize. And because we're into open standards we have put up a special standards prize. The highest-ranked demo that runs in Opera without using plugins or java (there is an exception for audio only) will receive the standards prize of 500€. Even better, we will probably throw in a t-shirt! So, if you can make do with CSS, XHTML, XML, HTML, some of the cool HTML 5 features like canvas and Audio(), serious SVG support, fast Javascript, WML, Ajax, widgets, and a few other acronyms, and top the list, you can take off both prizes - well over 1000€ (and that's not even counting the T-shirt ).

Speaking of Widgets, we're running a seperate widget competition for Assembly '06. It works like this: You write a widget, and submit it for the Widget World Cup. That puts it in the running with the others in that competition, so you could win another 3000€ there. But if you come past the Opera stand and register your widget as an Assembly'06 widget, it will also be entered into the local competition. Since we had a hard time deciding what order to make the prizes, the winner picks from the prize pool, second place chooses between what's left, which goes to the third placed widget.

Oh, what are the prizes in the widget competition? Well, they include a Nokia N90 telephone (with Opera installed). And a Nintendo DS Lite (with Opera installed).

If you're desperate for Opera swag, these are both good ways to get some. We'll run a couple of little compos too - just stuff for fun.

Or you could win the ultimate prize - a job at Opera, where you get a salary, cool workmates, various kinds of loot, and maybe get paid to go to a demoparty or two (this will be my second this year Of course I have to work while I am there, so it might be a bit different). OK, strictly speaking that isn't a compo, but since you have to apply for it and convince us that you're the right kind of person to make a better browser, it is sort of like one...