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Opera's CEO to Swim From Norway to the USA

Posted by Zonk on Fri Apr 22, 2005 07:51 AM
from the friday-morning-project dept.
Software IT
Viggeh! writes "An overly excited Jon S. von Tetzchner, CEO, Opera Software, today proclaimed at an internal company meeting that if the download numbers of the new Opera 8 Web browser reach 1 million within the first four days of the launch, he will swim from Norway to the USA with only one stop-over for a cup of hot chocolate at his mother's house in his home country, Iceland. The new browser was released Tuesday and was downloaded 600.000 times in the first 48 hours since release. The challenge will end on Saturday at 0900 a.m. CET, so if you want to try out some new software and make the CEO stick to his big words, download it at Opera's webpage(direct link)."
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  • I guess he doesn't have much faith in his own product eh?

    • Re:Well then. (Score:5, Funny)

      by Craig_P92669 (875776) on Friday April 22 2005, @09:06AM (#12312745)
      Somebody want to mention this to SCO? Surely there's a million people here that would pay $695 to see a certain somebody freeze his nads off and get hypothermia.

        • Re:Well then. (Score:4, Interesting)

          by God! Awful 2 (631283) on Friday April 22 2005, @11:18AM (#12314137) Journal
          "He probably likes his product but does not believe its useful for everyone. This is why would he would be surprised to see a million downloads that soon."

          This is obviously a load of crap. 600K downloads in 48 hours? How would he be surprised to see a million downloads soon?
          Heh... one day after the story about PR firms, and we're still discussing this?

          This is a friggin' press release for god's sake. The CEO is not surprised about anything. This whole outrageous statement was no doubt just a plan to stir up attention. And no guarantee that Opera didn't pay to have this story published in Slashdot anyway.

          -a

  • lets get him... (Score:3, Funny)

    by HTL2001 (836298) on Friday April 22 2005, @07:53AM (#12312058)
    slashdot should be able to crank up that number, so long as the web server doesn't go down

    • Re:lets get him... (Score:5, Funny)

      by sharkey (16670) on Friday April 22 2005, @09:01AM (#12312699)
      On Slashdot, the webservers are the ONLY things that ever "go down".

    • Re:lets get him... (Score:5, Funny)

      by Odin's Raven (145278) on Friday April 22 2005, @10:32AM (#12313647)
      [...] so long as the web server doesn't go down

      A tiny script runs on the Opera web server...waiting...watching...

      #! /bin/sh
      # Author : Jon S. von Tetzcher
      # Purpose: Please god, I don't wanna die!

      if [ $(cat /var/log/opera8_download_counter) == 999999 ]
      then
      /sbin/ifdown eth0
      fi

      • Re:lets get him... (Score:5, Funny)

        by Anonymous Coward on Friday April 22 2005, @11:45AM (#12314408)
        YES! I KNOW IT'S A JOKE, HOWEVER ....

        Dude! That is a crappy bit of code. The likelihood
        of it ever working is vanishingly small.

        Several problems:

        Because your test is not synchronized with the
        download counter your chances of stopping
        at 999999 are, well, like winning the lottery.

        Having determined that there have been 999999
        downloads there is a nasty race condition before
        the interface is brought down.

        Believe it or not, once the counter reaches 999999
        the number of downloads may be higher because
        the process updating the counter hasn't committed
        its changes yet.

        For extra credit I advise that you go away and
        rethink your solution otherwise your boss will
        be pissed at having to swim through shark
        infested water. I also see a pink slip on
        your horizon.

        - Moomin

  • 600.000 times (Score:5, Funny)

    by Anonymous Coward on Friday April 22 2005, @07:53AM (#12312060)
    talk about overusing significant digits

  • IT: Opera's CEO drowns off coast of Norway (Score:5, Funny)

    by Anonymous Coward on Friday April 22 2005, @07:53AM (#12312064)
    Posted by Zonk on 08:51 AM -- Friday April 29 2005
    from the friday-morning-swim dept.
    Viggeh! writes "An overly excited Jon S. von Tetzchner, CEO, Opera Software, today drowned off the coast of Norway after promising to swim to America if Opera managed a million downloads in its first four days. Everyone at Opera is quite sad, but they promise Opera 8.1 will have even more features because that's what he would've wanted. He leaves behind 7 computers, a wife, and 2 children."

    • No way! (Score:5, Funny)

      by Walkiry (698192) on Friday April 22 2005, @08:03AM (#12312173) Homepage
      Din't you read this?: with only one stop-over for a cup of hot chocolate at his mother's house in his home country, Iceland.

      He's an Icelander. He's one of the guys who grew up reading things like Njal's Saga, playing with his friends at being Gunnar or Kári and beting each other with wooden swords, playing with snow outside at some -10C and under blizzards and getting his head messed up with the perma-summer-light/almost no light seasonal cycle.

      If one of these guys says he's swimming accross the Atlantic, I'd advise to my good american friends to lock themselves in their houses and get ready for a raid.

      I lived 2 years in Iceland; let me tell you, it was fun there :D

      • Re:No way! (Score:4, Funny)

        by Tibor the Hun (143056) on Friday April 22 2005, @08:16AM (#12312306)
        Ah, ah,
        We come from the land of the ice and snow,
        from the midnight sun where the hot springs blow.
        The hammer of the gods
        Will drive our ships to new lands,
        To fight the horde, singing and crying:
        Valhalla, I am coming!
        On we sweep with threshing oar,
        Our only goal will be the western shore.
        Ah, ah,
        We come from the land of the ice and snow,
        from the midnight sun where the hot springs blow.
        How soft your fields so green,
        Can whisper tales of gore,
        Of how we calmed the tides of war.
        We are your overlords.
        On we sweep with threshing oar,
        Our only goal will be the western shore.
        So now you'd better stop and rebuild all your ruins,
        For peace and trust can win the day
        Despite of all your losing.

    • Re:IT: In further news... (Score:5, Funny)

      by JaredOfEuropa (526365) on Friday April 22 2005, @08:23AM (#12312363) Journal
      "Eyewitnesses have reported a Microsoft corporate jet in the area where von Tetzcher was last seen. According to one witness, the jet descended to just above sea level, and dropped a largem ferocious-looking fish with some sort of optical device attached to its head, into the water".

  • Well finally! (Score:5, Funny)

    by biglig2 (89374) on Friday April 22 2005, @07:53AM (#12312066) Homepage Journal
    I've seen the slashdot effect kill many a server over the years, but at last we take it to the next level. Hit that link enough, and a man will die!

  • Cold (Score:5, Funny)

    by provolt (54870) on Friday April 22 2005, @07:54AM (#12312078)
    Can anyone really swim across the northern Atlantic? I would have thought he would freeze.

    Perhaps he'll get on a cruise ship and spend the whole time in the pool?

  • Direct Link to Win32 version (Score:5, Informative)

    by Leknor (224175) on Friday April 22 2005, @07:55AM (#12312090)
    For such a geek heavy site as /. you'd think a download link would be to a platform select page and not the windows installer.

    Here is a better download link: http://www.opera.com/download/ [opera.com] Unfortunately not all platforms have an Opera 8 download yet.

  • He'll be disappointed... (Score:5, Funny)

    by SFA_AOK (752620) on Friday April 22 2005, @07:55AM (#12312091)
    ...when he gets turned away my US immigration and has t oswim back home.

  • Why, exactly... (Score:3, Informative)

    by Eivind (15695) <eivindorama@gmail.com> on Friday April 22 2005, @07:56AM (#12312103) Homepage
    Can anyone tell me why, exactly, the "direct link" to download Opera from Slashdot points to the Windows version ?

    One would assume, if noone else, atleast Slashdot is aware that there *are* other OSes out here. (and Opera supports quite a few of them)

    • Re:Why, exactly... (Score:5, Insightful)

      by maxwell demon (590494) on Friday April 22 2005, @08:07AM (#12312201) Journal
      Can anyone tell me why, exactly, the "direct link" to download Opera from Slashdot points to the Windows version ?

      Because this gives a lot of posters getting positive moderation by pointing out this fact, giving a link to the general download page (the latter is almost guaranteed to get +5 Informative) or maybe even by making fun of it.

        • Re:Why, exactly... (Score:5, Funny)

          by Binestar (28861) on Friday April 22 2005, @10:11AM (#12313461) Homepage
          Not to mention the modding-up for the people who explain it.

          Add in the modding up of the person who points out that the person who explained the modding up procedure is being modded up and it's a full blown mod orgy.

  • In other words... (Score:3, Insightful)

    by wowbagger (69688) on Friday April 22 2005, @07:56AM (#12312104) Homepage Journal
    In other words:

    "I don't think there is a chance in hell of our getting a million downloads in four days, so I will make this grandiose gesture knowing full well I will never have to put up on it - much like the Taco Bell/MIR offer.

    However, I will use this PR stunt to get lots of free advertising from lazy reporters who are too stupid to figure out how I am using them."

  • Yeah, but which norway (Score:5, Informative)

    by rde (17364) * on Friday April 22 2005, @07:57AM (#12312112)
    Being the suspicious slashdotter that I am, I suspected that a) there was a town in Norway called USA (unlikely), or b) there was a town in America called Norway (almost certain).

    Sure enough, there's Norway, Maine [norwaymaine.com].

    Shouldn't take him that long.

  • Downloaded.... (Score:4, Funny)

    by CypherXero (798440) on Friday April 22 2005, @08:00AM (#12312140) Homepage
    OK, I downloaded Opera...wait, I have Mozilla Firefox...

    *Drags ow32enen800.exe to the trash...

    Opps, I hope the download number didn't go up ;)

  • I'll do my part to save this man's life (Score:5, Funny)

    by Anonymous Coward on Friday April 22 2005, @08:01AM (#12312152)
    by not downloading Opera
  • While the rest of the world continue downloading furiously, Bill keeps his GPS_enabled, Laser_attached pet sharks ready off the coast of norway.

    Muwaaahhaahaha

  • In other news... (Score:5, Funny)

    by justforaday (560408) on Friday April 22 2005, @08:02AM (#12312162)
    For some reason 950,000 copies of Opera have suddenly been downloaded by an IP block owned by a company in Redmond, Washington.

  • Not possible (Score:5, Interesting)

    by hanssprudel (323035) on Friday April 22 2005, @08:04AM (#12312187)
    In case anybody is wondering - of course that cannot be done. While the atlantic ocean has been swum [didyouknow.cd], it was done by swimming six hours a day in two hour intervals (and took almost 80 days). And the person who did it was a highly trained swimmer, not a corporate CEO.

    Also, going via Iceland might be a bad idea - since in the north atlantic he will freeze to death without a dry suit. And try surface swimming six hours with a dry suit some time...

  • easy (Score:5, Funny)

    by mshiltonj (220311) <mshiltonj.gmail@com> on Friday April 22 2005, @08:19AM (#12312317) Homepage Journal
    while [ 1 ] ;
    do GET 'http://www.opera.com/download/get.pl?id=26712 ' > /dev/null ;
    done ;

    C'mon in, the water's fine.

  • Read the press release (Score:5, Informative)

    by Tom (822) on Friday April 22 2005, @08:49AM (#12312576) Homepage Journal
    You should really read the press release [opera.com] that is on their main site.

    It's so much tongue-in-cheek that it stops just short of saying outright "yes, it's a joke".

    Then again, it's very refreshing to see that a corporate PR department can still get away with cheap shots at the CEO. Choice quote: "However, having seen Jon in his red beach attire before, I am not sure if swimming to the USA is scarier than exposing people to this sight."

    • The obvious answer (Score:5, Insightful)

      by ggvaidya (747058) on Friday April 22 2005, @08:00AM (#12312136) Homepage Journal
      It's MARKETING!

      I hadn't heard about Opera 8, and if it wasn't for the slashvertisement, I'd've been in the dark.

      This is well timed - just today I installed iTunes, was completely bowled over, and was wondering - if a non-free music player can be this cool, what about a non-free web browser?

      nice to see them CEOs get out of the comfy office once in a while ...

      • Re:The obvious answer (Score:4, Insightful)

        by AlexMax2742 (602517) on Friday April 22 2005, @08:38PM (#12319799)
        It is. Contrary to Slashdot popular beleif, it IS possible to get a great product by paying for it.

        Opera is one of them. Sure it seems 'bloated' at first, but most of it is because of lots of little toolbars that you can turn off and never see again within 4 seconds. And even with all this "bloat", it seems to be a lot snappier than Mozilla Firefox. And there are lot of little gemstones around the program that you keep discovering the more you use it. Some of these gem's you'll love and start using on a regular basis (one example of mine was the "drag over a non hypertext URL and right click it and choose "Go to URL"), and others that annoy you (The totally unnecissary chat client) you can turn off and never have to bother with again.

        And if the thought of banner ad's for the unpaid version feaks you out, you can even switch the ads to a Google AdWrods bar that's a lot thinner than the standard banner ad....and I know I sure as hell don't mind AdWords, even on webpages.

        Give it a try. I've been using the free version since 6.xx, and every time I've tried any other web browser, I've always wound up coming back.

    • Re:Why will he do this? (Score:5, Insightful)

      by geoffspear (692508) * on Friday April 22 2005, @08:02AM (#12312165) Homepage
      Why do you continue to breathe?

      Does your breathing improve my web browser's performance somehow?

      Do you, through breathing, disrupt Microsoft's monopoly or create world peace?

      No, it does not. Your continued living is therefore pointless. Please die.

    • Re:Shenanigans. (Score:5, Funny)

      by ildon (413912) on Friday April 22 2005, @08:27AM (#12312391)
      This is most definitely not happening.

      REALLY?????

    • Re:Shenanigans. (Score:5, Interesting)

      by mforbes (575538) on Friday April 22 2005, @08:44AM (#12312524)
      First, the Gulf Stream doesn't extend that far north. Take a look at the wiki [wikipedia.org] for it.
      However, if he were swimming against it (instead of north it and perpendicular (roughly) to the current of the North Atlantic Drift), he'd be lucky to make any headway at all. The average speed of the Gulf Current is around 5 knots (or is that nauts? I've never been sure which is correct). Now, I've done a mile swim numerous times-- I was on swim/dive as a kid-- and I KNOW it takes me about 18-20 minutes to swim an imperial mile. Considering a nautical mile is even longer, I really doubt I'd make any progress swimming against that current! Take that & multiply by however many miles it is from Norway to Maine... I don't even want to imagine trying.

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