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.

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.