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I don't know really how to start this as I've been absent for so long, but I guess I don't need to get a lot into it. I'm back and that's it. The main problem for me is time, but I've been missing writing here a lot. Mostly because a blog like this is more for me than for the casual reader that might stop back. I am venturing myself in lots of new projects and experiences and I am constantly doing research and documenting my progress and stuff in a place like this serves me as a back reference in the future, but it might also be of some use to someone stopping by.

After all this time my interests haven't changed a lot. I'm now working mostly on Ubuntu Linux developing Ruby on Rails applications using also Git as my source-code management system. So that's what I'll be talking about here mostly on the technical side, which does not preclude getting away from these subjects every once in a while.

Regarding Opera, I must say that it gained me back after flirting with Firefox for some time. But finally the speed made me turn back. Firefox is so damn slooooooooooow I cannot even imagine how people use it anymore. It has become slower and using more memory than ever before. Opening a new tab freezes it for a few seconds, which is not tolerable. Coincidentally today they release the version 3, which I've been testing for a while in its beta and RC forms but it is still the same. The only thing that keeps me using Firefox is for web development, because Opera really lacks a Firebug killer (don't tell me it's dragonfly because it isn't, although it can be in the future).

And back to Opera, kudos for Opera 9.5!!! Firebug appart, Opera is still the great choice! Damn Google for not giving first class support for its fantastic web applications on Opera (read Google Docs and Spreadsheets, Gmail, Google Reader, etc.) but they are mostly usable anyway, and the advantages of using Opera really outweight the need to use Google Apps. I hope they are listening.

Well, that's it for the moment. I hope not to let this blog down this time, at least for a while.

Is it Opera's fault or the CSS styling of the Ubuntu web site is non-standard? Have you noted that the tabs at the top right are unaligned when seen in Opera, but are ok seen from IE and Firefox?

From Opera



From Firefox



Update (July 2)

A good fellow member of this community, whose blog is devoted to Opera and web pages compatibility with this browser, tells me that...

this is a known bug and described as "floated list item children of inline list child of an absolutely positioned element are not displayed on one line".

...it is even considered quite important (probably mainly because of it appearing on the Ubuntu website)

So it is unfortunately a bug in Opera, and not a bug in Ubuntu's web site coding. I hope this bug will get fixed soon.

I recall that some days ago I was searching for information about VLANs and I got a considerable amount of different pages open in Opera at the same time, all related to this subject. But then I had to stop working on it. I don't remember if I was at work and was time to leave home, or if I was already at home and had to stop for some other reason. The thing is that I saved the configuration of all open tabs in a browser session.

A few minutes ago I was ready to continue working on it, because I desperately need to set up some CISCO switches to work out some VLANs. Our network is rapidly growing and bringing some order into it is now more than a mere whim for us here in the IT department. But guess what: my sessions do not include the session on VLANs that I perfectly remember. The problem is that I have four Opera instances of my own. I work on two computers regularly: one at work and one at home, and to worsen the scenario, each with both Windows and Linux installed. It is to drive anyone crazy, believe me.

I've written before about the idea of storing Opera configuration files online, as part of the user's profiles in the Opera Community. These might include layout configuration (toolbar, menus, panels), user information (sessions, bookmarks, notes, contacts) and maybe wand, history or other pieces of sensitive data with the inevitable security and privacy concerns being appropriately addressed.

To this crazy quadruple setup you should add that I re-install Windows every six months at most, and every time I do this I have to work out my layout again, which is by the way very different from the default Opera layout (a single top toolbar, status bar on, panels on right, menu bar off, custom panels, custom search engines and more). Also, with the advent of the yet-to-come Opera 9, per-site configurations will become a real headache to maintain.

There's this principle in programming called the DRY principle: Don't Repeat Yourself. And I feel like I'm repeating myself every time I have to re-work my Opera environment to fit my needs again. The idea of integration between My Opera user profiles and the browser is not new and it's not mine, but it's great. What do you think?

Cool programs are just like delicious food. You just can't wait for the next opportunity to taste grandma's fabulous apple pies, or that spicy sauce with seafood at some good downtown restaurant, or whatever food you really really love.


I keep hearing about the upcoming Opera version over and over again, and it's a similar feeling. I just can't wait to taste it. This nasty little program is addictive. What is that chefs (aka developers) in Oslo headquarters are including in their secret recipe (aka source code), that keep us from dumping this browser? What kind of substance is having us hypnotized? Will there be a cure? I hope not.

Each day we spend more and more time on the web than doing anything else in our computers. We are increasingly preferring online applications than the traditional offline desktop-based ones. The most vivid examples are email clients, calendars and scheduling applications, newsfeeds aggregators, pictures and video managers, maps, and even online office suites and desktops. Some people have also talked about complete (or at least highly usable) web-based operating systems as a possibility in the future.

There are several reasons for all this. First, there are lots of free alternatives out there for many different kinds of applications. They are often more configurable and adaptable than their desktop counterparts (read theming, internationalization and localization, extendibility via plugins and open APIs). But perhaps the most important reason of all is the consistency and availability from a variety of differing systems and platforms. Some of these applications have also alternate but similar interfaces for mobile devices. This simple fact ensures that you see the same interface no matter where you are, if at work or at home, or if you are on someone else's computer, or in some Internet cafe while on your trip to Seychelles, or on that six-months stay on board the International Space Station orbiting the Earth.

But there is a single application that will hardly even have an online counterpart, not to mention a counterpart worth the switch. And that would be the web browser. The web browser is our permanent window to this immense zoo of blooming web desktops and applications. The web browser is the interface that doesn't travel with you as the rest of the set does. You could get to Seychelles and find out that they only have browsers X and Y, but they don't have Z, your browser of choice. Or you could find your self reinstalling a new box at home, and you have to go through all the process again. The process of fine-tuning your browser just the way you like it.

Opera already does a good job in this respect. Most of the configuration files inside the browser's profile folder are reusable. You can save them and restore them later on another computer, or give it away to other users. But I've had issues reusing Opera profile folders from Windows into a Linux user account, for example. It doesn't work out of the box. And even if it would, it will always imply an extra effort of backup and restore.

Imagine if Opera Community members could have their basic Opera customizations synchronized and stored online, as part of their user account in the community. This certainly doesn't solve all the problems of accessing the web from different places, but at least we could have a central configuration repository. And any changes you do to your interface (such as modifying your bookmarks or toolbars and menu layout), would be instantly available no matter where you start up Opera from.

Some other suggestions combined, such as developing a PortableOpera (as in PortableFirefox), could make this browser a real killer. Can you imagine your self with Opera installed in your USB flash memory stick (Linux, Windows and OSX could coexists), and authenticated against the Opera Community web site. The browser could also incorporate some of the community portal functionality, such as a built-in or plugin blog add-post interface and just about anything else you can imagine in terms of integration.