Opera 7.5 Excels

I know I've sung the praises of Opera many many times but I can't seem to get enough of this little program that does (almost) everything I need it to. Insanely fast web browsing, an innovative mail client, built-in newsgroup reader and newsfeed (RSS) reader, and you got everything you need to be an internet guru. Add to that some features that I haven't tried, including Opera's new built-in IRC chat client, and you'd think you'd have a serious case of "bloatware" on your hands. I remember back in the day (and maybe still although I haven't used the program in its most recent iterations) when Netscape was a do-it-all program that handled browsing, e-mail, and even web page creation. However, Netscape always seemed bloated to me and the features besides web browsing were not as intuitive as they could have been and each component didn't share enough commonality as far as functionality and UI are concerned.

Enter Opera, which seamlessly integrates browsing, e-mail, and all that other stuff I've already mentioned into one exceedingly attractive program. There's something to be said for the only remaining web browser to innovate continuously (unlike Microsoft which as lately seemed to confine major enhancements to its web browser with each subsequent release of its operating system) and include these innovations in a program without having to utilize add-ons (last time I used Mozilla, mouse gestures were a downloadable add-on that never seemed to work right). With Opera, everything is built-in, ready-to-use, and functional the first time you start up. Everything from inline text find, inline link find, mouse gestures, and an abundance of keyboard commands make Opera a joy to use. In fact, I rarely use my mouse when working with Opera. For all but the largest webpages, there's no need. Everything I need to do - every command I need to execute - is available using a simple keystroke. While I admit that I have not committed the entirety of the extensive list to memory, the most commonly used shortcuts are have become second-nature to me. These include "F2" to enter an address, "CTRL+N" for a new tab, "CTRL+E" to write a new e-mail message, and "G" to make the current e-mail as "read" and move to the next unread. I also helps that Opera makes use of many of the "standard" shortcuts made ubiquitous by Internet Explorer and Netscape such as "F5" (IE) or "CTRL+R" (NS) to reload the current page, "F11" to invoke full-screen mode, "ALT+HOME" to go to your designated homepage, "ALT+LEFT" or "ALT+RIGHT" to move back or forward, and "CTRL+W" to close the current page (window in the Single Document Interface world of IE). Again, Opera's well-executed Multiple Document Interface (MDI) allows for some shortcuts that aren't found in other browsers and some features that I find useful and unique. These include "CTRL+Click" to open a link in a background tab, "SHIFT+F11" to switch to Small-Screen Rendering mode (SSR), an awesome feature designed to make rendering pages on handheld devices a lot easier, and "F4" which turns on what Opera used to call the "Hotlist" but is now called a "Panel." The "F4" key displays the last-used panel, which can be one of ten including Search, Bookmarks, Mail, Contacts, Transfers, History, and Info. "Shift+F4" shows the Panel Selector which normal rests on the left side of the screen but can be placed elsewhere (right, top, or bottom). The Panel Selector allows for easy access to all of the panels which can also be activated by pressing "CTRL+0-9." There are so many modifications that can be made to the extremely flexible UI that I can't possibly explain them all here but with so much customizability, any experienced or novice internet user can find a layout that suits them.

Some noteworthy browser features include the Rewind and Fast-Forward buttons which compliment the standard Back and Forward. Rewind attempts to bring you back to the page you "started" at after clicking on a variety of links. This comes in handy when, after doing a Google search, you find your self ten clicks into some website. You could hit back ten times or hit the Rewind button, which takes you instantly back to the search page. Fast-Forward operates a little differently and takes you to what Opera thinks should be the next page in a sequence. It works amazingly well; when searching with Google, for example, the Fast-Forward button will take you to the next page of search results. Another nice feature is the Wand, a tool similar but better than IE's AutoComplete that stores usernames and passwords for any page that requires a logon. Opera remembers logons by page or by server. Visit a page that has a stored Wand password and a simple click on the Wand button or "CTRL+Enter" will fill in the required information and submit the form. The address bar also includes a built-in Google search box (now you can see why I offer up so many Google examples). With Opera, there's no need for Google's IE-only toolbar: Opera already blocks unwanted or all popups and allows searching from the address bar. Other great features include the ability to zoom pages (from 20% to 1000%), turn images on or off, and select the stylesheet for the page you viewing. This is an especially useful feature because you can turn the author-defined style sheet on or off or choose your own to apply to the page. This is useful in determining whether or not your page is standards-compliant. All new Blogger templates are, so turning off the style sheet has no detrimental effect. What's left is plain text that is still perfectly readable but without structure. Now that's what the world wide web is all about.

I especially like the e-mail client built in to Opera, dubbed M2. It is a standards-based client that lacks some of the advanced features of the overly bloated Outlook 2003 but makes e-mail communication easy and intuitive. Rather than utilizing a folder-based structure that almost every other e-mail client features, M2 uses a database-inspired organizational structure that makes use of filters or what Opera refers to as "access points." Rather than messages being downloaded to an inbox as in a traditional e-mail client, all M2 messages are saved in the "Received" view. Specific views can filter messages based on any number of attributes, such as read status (unread vs. read), contact (who sent the e-mail), attachment (based on type of attachment such as document, image, music, etc.), user-defined label (including important, todo, mail back, and valuable), and spam status (if the e-mail has been marked as spam by Opera's built-in filter or by the user indicating manually that the message is spam). Messages are also instantly searchable. Know that you've received an e-mail with the word "facetious" in it? Just do a search and it'll pop up. Opera indexes all searches and saves them for future reference until they are deleted by the user. All of these features make M2 very different from other clients and take some getting used to. Once the adjustment period is over, I think many users will find Opera's method of handling mail to be vastly superior to folder-based clients. Perhaps the one feature that M2 lacks that would be nice to have is the ability to compose messages in HTML format. Currently, M2 only supports composing in plain text. This is a drawback but think about it - how many e-mails do you write that require advanced formatting? For a quick note, plain text is just fine. On the other side of things, M2 recognizes and displays HTML e-mails just fine using Opera's rendering engine. A search on the Opera message boards for composing e-mails in HTML resulted in this post from an Opera customer service representative: "It is more a matter of resources. We have more important things to spend our development resources on." In response to the issue of being able to receive HTML e-mail but send it, the same representative responded: "There is a saying: 'Be conservative in what you send, be liberal in what you receive.'" Finally, in response to the assertion that if Opera is so anti-HTML, why would it allow users to read it but not send it? Response: "Opera can read bad HTML code, but that doesn't mean that we want to encourage people to write bad code." For those that are interested, the complete thread is available here.

After all that I've written, I think it seems pretty obvious that I hold Opera in high regard. It is surprising, then, that I still make regular use of Internet Explorer. For what, you ask? Well, I still have a Hotmail account that I use regularly and I like to visit MSNBC once in a while, and Microsoft likes to make sure that every bit of content it produces is best viewed in IE. There was even a bit of controversy recently regarding Microsoft's MSN.com which was deliberately sending a sub-par stylesheet to Opera users in an attempt to encourage them to use IE. Additionally, Opera seems to have some sort of problem viewing my bank's online banking, so I am forced to use IE. This is an odd problem considering that the site worked just fine with the Opera 6.x series of browsers but stopped working with the 7.x series. I should post a complaint.

Overall, though, Opera serves my needs just fine and for everyday browsing, searching, news reading, etc., it is my browser of choice. I've included a screenshot below which is the way my copy of Opera looks most of the time. On the left is the Panel Selector, the Mail panel, and a tab featuring this very blog. Above the page is the address bar which features standard navigational buttons (rewind, back, forward, fast-forward, reload, and wand), the address box, the built-in Google searchbox, the zoom level selector, the security button, and the images/stylesheet button. At the bop is the "New Page" button as well as the tab bar, followed by the menu. As I've already mentioned, all of these elements are completely customizable and may be moved or turned off at will.



What more could you ask for in a browser? Opera 7.5 excels, and with continued development, it can only get better. An ad-supported version of Opera is available for a free download from Opera Software ASA. Opera may be purchased for USD 39. Donations are available for web designers and other web professionals (I happened to qualify) by visiting Opera's Global Donations area.

Realization

Sometimes you realize something that makes your life a whole lot easier. When I say “life,” I’m really referring to this thing I’m typing to write now. Yes, I’m talking about my journal. I found out, rather interestingly, that not only is my journal located at http://home.comcast.net/~bhinc, but it is also available at http://bhinc.home.comcast.net/, which is infinitely better. Why is it better, you ask? Well, for one thing, you don’t have to make the goofy little ~ symbol when typing in the address. In addition, it allows me to work in a “root” directory, meaning that I don’t have to link all my files as “/~bhinc/images/…” but rather “/images/….” See what I mean? Infinitely better.

Enough ranting. Time to watch Timeline and go to bed.

Broadband = Happiness

Ok, I know the title of this post may sound trivial and even bit presumptuous. The assertion that any one thing can bring about unprecedented levels of happiness is certainly an audacious one, especially when one most often hears such statements in concert with developments such as winning a million dollars or finding your true love. Even so, I have determined that having broadband after spending so many months playing the waiting game with a modem has brought about a certain level of happiness in my life. Near-instantaneous pictures, streaming audio and video, and downloads in a flash. That's some good stuff, especially after being spoiled by the T1 connection I enjoyed for 5.5 years as a student at the University of Oklahoma. One pastime that I have "re-discovered" after acquiring broadband internet access from Comcast is the ability to stream internet-only radio stations. One of my favorites is the commercial free, only-80's Club 977. They play some great music and when using the broadband feed, it sounds really good. I use their SHOUTcast feed with Winamp 5.03, but they also stream in Real and Windows Media formats. Check them out of you're a fan of 80's music - you won't be disappointed.

It has been a few days since my last post and, appropriately, not much has happened since then or I would have posted in the interim. My dad was here for a visit from Monday until today. My sister worked Monday from 2:30 - 10:30 so he and I went out to dinner which was nice. We also did a little shopping where I acquired a few new shirts for work and a new pair of shoes (thanks, Dad). Last night he was off to U.S. Cellular Field to watch the White Sox get slammed by the Texas Rangers. Oh well. At least he took some pictures with my camera. He was fortunate enough to be able to watch the game from the Sherwin-Williams corporate skybox. Here's a great picture of the scoreboard from the skybox:



I'm off tomorrow so I anticipate a lazy day as I normally do laundry on Sunday. What will I do? Who knows...but whatever it is, I hope it's fun. Right now I'm going to watch the season finale of Enterprise which my sister so graciously taped for me. Thanks, Lauren. I appreciate it.

My First Time

As the title of this post might indicate, this is my first time posting by e-mail. Yet another of the many once-premium features that Google has incorporated into the updated and upgraded Blogger. And, even though I'll be able to spell-check my posts when I use Opera (see http://www.opera.com/support/tutorials/opera/spellcheck/ for more information), it's even easier to utilize Outlook's spell-check capabilities. Plus I'm able to post remotely without havening to go through the sign-in process at Blogger.

Had to work this morning at 7:45 am and woke up late, but what else is new. Neglected to take a lunch today so I was able to leave an hour early - that option is especially nice on Saturdays when I really don't want to be at work. Speaking of work, I've put a new-and-updated resume together because I'm interested in applying for a job. It's a customer-service-related position at Park Press located in South Holland. They are a local printer that prints a weekly free paper as well as other projects. I'd at least like to find out how much they're willing to pay.

Supposed to hang out with Chuck tonight but he didn't call when he was supposed to and no one seems to know where he is. His loss, I guess, even though I've been waiting for Chuck to re-appear on a more regular basis ever since I moved back to Illinois. Hopefully he'll get over whatever blockage he has and be "normal" again.

Connections Complete

I finally have cable in my room. Just took a trip to Best Buy and a little handiwork with a drill. Also have my computer linked via 18 feet of cable to my VCR, thus allowing me to download all sorts of video files and pipe them to the TV/stereo. Very nice. And now that I finally have broadband, I can actually download stuff. Also very nice.

Have to work at 7:30 so bedtime is rapidly approaching. My dad is coming in for a business trip/visit on Monday and he's staying for three nights. At least he'll buy us lots of stuff. Hey, I'm allowed to have hopes and dreams.

Subscribe to Me

Wow, what a wonderful technologically advanced world we live in. And I thought Xanga's subscribe feature was useful. Now I realize how limited it actually was.

You are now able to subscribe to my journal using two formats:

   RSS 2.0: http://feeds.feedburner.com/bhinc
   Atom: http://bhinc.home.comcast.net/atom.xml

You can use any of the available newsreaders that are out there to subscribe or you could use the most awesome Opera 7.5. I highly recommend this. Currently, Opera only supports RSS feeds but I'm hoping a later release will add support for Atom (as it stands, Blogger only allows you to publish feeds using Atom and a 3rd-party service must be utilized to publish an RSS feed).

Questions? Let me know.

The Process Has Begun...

And now I begin the process of moving everything I've done over at Xanga to my new Blogger - no ads and it's on my own server space so I control it. I'm going to try to pre-date the posts from Xanga so the follow chronologically, something I couldn't do when moving from Blogger to Xanga. Another perk.

Man, this Comcast broadband is fast.

"Big" Decision

Finally! We have an appointment for Wednesday (05.19.04) to get Comcast cable internet installed. I have been waiting for this day for a long while.

In other news...

Google's bid to take over the world seems not too far off, and they are updating their services to reflect their newfound wealth (ok, not yet but certainly after the IPO). One service that I'm excited about is GMail, Google's free e-mail client. I'm so tired of AOL and of course once we get Comcast up and running I'll be using one of their accounts. But GMail sounds intriguing and I'll definitely try it once it becomes available to the public.

Another of the services they've freshened is Blogger, which you may recall was my blog-of-choice before moving to Xanga. The real reason for moving to Xanga was its ease of posting and the ability for other Xanga users (some of whom I count as friends) to post comments. While I don't seem to have received any comments to date, I still like the idea of people having the ability to post. The final reason for switching to Xanga was the loss of my T1 connection to the internet and my handy static IP address, which allowed me to run my computer as a server on OU's network. Well, Google seems to have fixed all of Blogger's shortcomings when it comes to Xanga and I'll soon have webspace with Comcast if I decide not to run my computer as a server again (which invites all sorts of hacker-type attacks). In addition, Blogger seems to be more standards-compliant than Xanga and therefore Opera 7.5 (the best browser out there) likes it a lot better than Xanga. It's a good thing for me I haven't done too many posts to this thing so it won't be too hard to migrate.

Look for my new-and-improved blog to debut somewhere on the internet next week. I'll of course make one last post here to let everyone know where it's gone. And for those of you who are wondering, no, you do not have to be a Blogger user to leave comments with Blogger. Anyone in the world can. And that's a lot of people.

Just an Update

Yeah, it's been a while. Been busy working and sorting through boxes of stuff my parents brought from Iowa that was "taking up space in their storage unit."

The good news is that Comcast has finally finished their upgrade in our area. Thus, they will be adding a slew of new channels as well as cable internet, which should be available sometime this week. Note that as soon as I am signed up for and making use of said cable internet, I will once again maintain a 24/7 online presence. While this is not as useful as it once was (my AIM usagee has decreased considerably over the last four months as people seem less inclined to want to chat with me), it should encouarge me to make more frequent posts to this journal as well as keep with with other methods of communicaion.

That's all for now...laundry day today, then "Laugh Out Loud Sunday" on FOX, although I'm sad that the season finale of Arrested Development has already aired while Simpsons and Malcolm continue to have new episodes. And of course I'm looking forward to the last episodes of 24 on Tuesdays. Still my favorite show by far.