Chronicles of Opera

I've always been a sucker for new and imporoved online and desktop applications, including browsers. Opera is the one browser that as soon as I began using it, I KNEW it was going to impress me. From its features and interface, to its performance and its wide community, Opera had me hooked the very day I downloaded it and tried it out. At the time, I was a Firefox fanatic due to all the add-on's that I could throw on it. Yet they began to bore me, slowing down my system and complicating the experience I was having with bugs, glitches, and compliance issues. I was in denial though. Although I do still love good ol' Firefox, I realized I needed to move on to more mature web browsing. It wasn't until I realized Opera that this reality actually set in.

So what exactly is it about Opera that put this reality into motion? Let me lay out a few of the more important things in my eyes.

Speed
Opera really is one of the fastest if not THE fastest browser I have ever discovered. Not only does it load with the most minimal amount of delay, but once a page loads, it scrolls the page alot quicker and smoother than Firefox and IE. My sister mentioned to me the other day that upon trying it out, it seemed to take up the same amount of RAM that Firefox and IE 7 did, yet it still performed a lot faster. Frankly, I'm not sure if this is because browsers take advantage of the video card and/or internet connection more so than the system resources. But either way, the point is, it just goes faster.

Features
One thing I enjoy a lot with Opera is the mail client that it comes with. Specifically, setting up POP3 Mail account with a service such as GMail is beyond easy. The client already knows the incoming server and port so you don't have to look it up. As soon as you specify that its Gmail, aside from putting in your user name and password, Opera knows everything else and takes care of it for you.

Another feature is Speed Dial. Although Firefox has its own rendition of it, I enjoy Opera's more because it performes faster and its much more simple to use. For some of you who are anal about customizing the look, you'd probably enjoy Firefox's version more, but for those of you who just want it to work fast and efficiently, Opera has it covered quite well.

Then there are things like the notes feature in the side panel. I'm always running into text and links that I want to store somewhere so I can access it later for whatever reason. The notes feature in Opera is right there at your fingertips to paste anything you find interesting or useful on the web. It doesnt get anymore convenient than that.

One of the even more interesting parts of Opera is its built-in torrent downloader. When I was first introduced to Opera, I had 2 different torrent programs on my computer which both hogged resources. I ended up canning them both as soon as I found this feature in Opera. Not only is it much easier to access, but no manual torrent file is necessary to handle to download the files you're looking for. On top of all that, it downloads them faster than your typical torrent client.

Interface
Now for the eye-candy. Opera's inteface can be described as comfortable, simple, welcoming, whatever adjectives you want to put to it to describe its sleek and friendly face. Unlike Firefox, changing its skin can be done right from within the Tools > Appearance dialog. What is really cool is the fact that you can preview a skin right on your browser before keeping it. With Firefox, you have to deal with their website's small preview images and then just hope that it goes well for you when you download it and restart the browser to see how it looks.

Within the interface, the panels feature is what really takes the cake. It is your browsing buddy. It holds for you everything you hand to it, and is always right there the second you need anything. Bookmarks, Mail Client, Widgets, Notes, Transfers, History, Contacts, Chat, and even cooler, web panels that you specify on top of that! Again, firefox now has their own rendition of it, yet it simply does not blend onto the interface as beautifully as Opera's, neither does it perform as fast and smooth either.

Community
I am still a bit new to this place. And I often find myself looking at a bunch of different languages that I can't read or speak. But that's okay. It just means that Opera's audience is truely global and that tells a lot about how big of a community it really is. As of this writing, I havn't exactly made an official friend on here just yet. I guess I'm looking for someone (maybe you), to decide whether you want to be my friend and add me. In soon time, I'll fall into being more involved in this place and its people.

I enjoy browsing the site. It has a nice comfortable feel to it (much like Opera itself justifiably). The profile's are set up qutie nice, although they are pretty simple. Lately I have found myself more drawn to simple, just comfortable layouts and features than a huge indepth customization system that takes days to tweak to complete originality. This network is pretty much to the point about it all.

It's great to know that technology is advancing the way it is for the web so that a browser like Opera can truely harness its capabilities. I havn't mentioned every good thing about this browser here, they are merely some of my favorite aspects of it. And although Firefox has its arsenal of goodies, in my world, the maturity of Opera's setup is what gives it power over all other browsers.

Nobody wants to do the work anymore.

Relationship breakdowns are worse than ever, out there. I hear stories that make the hair stand up on the back of my neck. And then I get a lot of different explanations...

The ugly fights. The drinking and partying. The laziness and watching TV. Irresponsible spending. Stress.

All the things that we do out there, that lead to relationship breakdowns. Believe me, I understand it. But you know what? I don't think it's because you just "fell out of love"

in fact, that is crap.

LOVE is the discipline to do in marriage what you used to do out of passion in dating. Loving someone is about being awesome yourSELF. Then you can share that awesomeness. That is love. People sit around waiting for their partner to start meeting their needs first. They hold out. You don't get a raise by holding out, this isn't the NFL. Life is more like McDonalds, because its lots of work and if you can't hack it, you are out.
Even if you worked your ass off yesterday... you still have to do it again today.

But no one wants to do the work anymore.

I am convinced that any of us could be compatible with over 50% of the decent people we meet. If that person, and yourself, wanted to choose to do the work that a relationship / marriage is.

First we don't want to work on ourselves. Bad habits? they aren't so bad... Hot temper? Well, those people deserved it. Not going to change that. Inappropriate sex life? No one around to tell us not to... We have all these character flaws we want people to just accept us for, and that is FOOLISH. FIX your STUFF! Watch your mouth. Discipline yourself. Work hard. Then work harder. Don't know why you always get mad or flip out or get high? FIND OUT and FIX IT.

Then, we don't want to help the other person. That's work too. Helping them overcome their bad habits. Not only do we not want to, we shouldn't have to, and our own bad habits get in the way. So we get frustrated with the other person, or offended, and instead of doing the work of helping that partner become more of what they could be, we start tearing them down, criticizing them, and folding our arms across our chest, saying, "I deserve better than this". Really? Why? Because you are so damned amazing? No you don't.

You deserve what you earn, and if you need your partner to improve, you earn it by improving yourself, and then helping them. Not with cruelty or neglect or attacks.

But, that's work. Hell it makes me tired just thinking about it. So, what do we do? Click on the TV. Get drunk. Go shopping. Complain like mad to those who will listen. Do you take a class? Read a book on how to get better? You guys are so awesome, some of you just might. But too many do NOT, especially in our younger generations. They don't have fathers teaching them about the value of hard work and sacrifice, they have MTV talking about how cool it is to drink, shoot people, wear jewelry, and get laid as much as possible.

You want the sex, but want it free. Honestly, I think this starts with the men. Doing as little as possible to get some booty then discarding her like yesterday's newspaper. Men, are you doing your homework? Do you have the balls to do your part? Do you lead by example? Do you even know how?

And ladies... do you bitch about everything wrong, looking for the 10% you don't like, instead of keeping your eyes on the 90% that he is working hard at? Did you neglect your own emotional growth, and hook up with some dumbass guy who did the same, and then you want to complain about why isn't he better? And why is he a deadbeat father too?

Because nobody wants to do the work anymore.

Let's not forget the work around the house. Working a job. Cleaning the house. Parenting. Giving your focused attention to your loved ones. It is not glamorous, but we can't all be movie stars. When this stuff gets neglected, resentment jumps out quick, like two partners in a business where one feels like they are doing all the work.

Relationships are WORK. You cannot be lazy on your job, and you cannot be lazy in love. No one likes lazy people. This also means that if you have too much going on right now, but you want a successful relationship, you may have to trim back other parts of life, and get a good balance, so you have the time and energy that a successful relationship requires.

Work is good for you. It feels good, even if you complain sometimes.

So when it comes to love.... it isn't just about chemistry, the hot sex, the feelings, the laughs...

None of that will fly, unless you are also doing the work.