K-Squared Ramblings

15 years of the Opera Web Browser

Hard to believe Opera has been around for 15 years. It’s only 14 since its first release, but 15 years ago two programmers started the project that became the Opera web browser.

I’ve been using Opera off and on for about 10 years. I think it was 1999 when a classmate showed me Opera 3.6, and how fast and small it was. (This was back when the installer fit on a floppy disk — and back when that actually made a difference.) I’ve followed it as they expanded from Windows onto Mac and Linux, onto high-end cell phones with Opera Mobile, and finally onto every Java-capable phone with Opera Mini. I’ve watched as they went from trialware to ad-supported to freeware business models. And while the desktop browser is no longer the speed demon it used to be, it’s been a consistent innovator in terms of both browser features and web capabilities.

So I’d just like to say: Happy 15th birthday, Opera! Just think, in a year, you’ll be old enough to drive!*

*In California, anyway. I think in Norway the driving age is 18.

Six Years

I was just commenting on The Comic Treadmill’s 5-year anniversary, and I realized: K-Squared Ramblings turned six last month. (September 14, to be exact.) I’ve been so busy with Speed Force that I haven’t posted much here, and didn’t even notice the milestone.

Let’s run the numbers:

• 6 years and not-quite 1 month
• 1708 posts including this one
• 2,863 comments including pingbacks and replies
• 52 categories
• 9 convention reports (6 San Diego Comic Cons, 2 Wizard World LA, 1 WonderCon)

Top-viewed posts for the year:

• Comic Con! (2003) – thanks to Google Image search and the Joker and Harley Quinn pictures.
• Songs Not to Play at a Wedding – thanks people looking for recommended wedding songs and the occasional StumbleUpon round.
• Creative Computer Names – for some reason people like to search for the phrase “computer names” a lot.
• Philosophy of Time Travel – It seems like everyone who sees Donnie Darko decides to look up the book title, and they all seem to land here.
• Victimized Hero – mostly people looking for the Flash/Wonder Woman bondage cover (or just “wonder woman tied up”). Never underestimate the power of Rule 36.