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Opera's CEO to Swim From Norway to the USA 563

Posted by Zonk
from the friday-morning-project dept.
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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Opera's CEO to Swim From Norway to the USA More

Opera's CEO to Swim From Norway to the USA

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  • Well then. (Score:5, Funny)

    by Grey Ninja (739021) on Friday April 22 2005, @07:52AM (#12312052) Homepage Journal
    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.

  • 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

  • Finally! (Score:2, Insightful)

    by MrChris2 (151271)
    A piece of slashvertising I can get behind.

    Opera rocks and this sort of daft challenge whilst obviously ridiculous is just the sort of fun way of marketing the browser I like.

  • 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:No way! (Score:3, Funny)

        by Scaba (183684)

        Also, he was subjected to hearing Bjork for much longer than the rest of the world. Swimming 5000 miles in icy water is a relief by comparison.

    • 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".
    • >He leaves behind 7 computers, a wife, and 2 children."

      This only seems to allow for three more major releases . . .

      :)

      hawk

  • 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?

  • He must have had some aquavit during that interview...

  • ...my internet connection at home is down, and I don't have administrative priveleges on this box (I'm at work). Oh well, maybe I can download it a few times anyway, if they don't have the site blocked...

    --Ender

  • 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.
    • Unfortunately not all platforms have an Opera 8 download yet.

      Yeah; I tried downloading it to my Mac, and got 7.54. Which brings up a question: Does my download count, since I didn't download version 8?

      OTOH, when I found it was the same as my old Opera, I first thought I'd screwed it up somehow, so I tried again. I got 7.54 again. So is that two downloads toward the million count, or is it zero?

  • 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)

  • 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."

  • Shenanigans. (Score:2, Insightful)

    by leetdan (776353)
    This is an interesting, and likely successful, publicity stunt. But aren't the waters of the North Atlantic, you know, balls cold? And doesn't the gulfstream tend to flow, you know, the opposite direction?

    This is most definitely not happening.
    • He might be ok with the gulf stream [tudelft.nl]. It rarely ever goes faster than 1 metre per second, usually around 0.2-0.6m/s, and it's a surprisingly short band of water.

      Still, I'm with you, I'd rather swim from America. Especially since then he wont have to worry about US immigration so much.

    • 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.

  • 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.

    • No, he's more eccentric than that (Score:3, Funny)

      by Anonymous Coward
      He's installed a swimming pool in his private jet. He'll swim around it while his jet flies from Norway to the US.
    • yea, possibly. Though in that case, it's the stopover in iceland for a cup of hot chocolate that's going to kill him.

    • Re:Yeah, but which norway (Score:5, Interesting)

      by TheWormThatFlies (788009) on Friday April 22 2005, @08:04AM (#12312184) Homepage

      Sure enough, there's Norway, Maine. Shouldn't take him that long.

      ...except for that stopover in Iceland (described as "his home country", so no wriggling out of that one).

    • like the old Burma-shave promotion (Score:2, Informative)

      by Anonymous Coward
      He'll choose a 'Norway' other than the country if they hit the download mark.

      Burma-shave had a contest in 1955 to send someone to Mars (whoever was first to send in 900 empty jars of Burma-shave). An enterprising grocery store owner in Wisconsin took up the challenge and called the company's bluff.

      Burma-shave ended up sending him to Moers, Germany for a nice vacation.

      http://www.snopes.com/business/market/mars.asp has a writeup, for anyone feeling nostalgic.

  • No point. (Score:2, Insightful)

    by whitetiger0990 (852580)
    I don't see a point... I bet a lot of people will just download it just to see him swim. Then later uninstall it. I'll do that tonight. I wanna see if he holds his words.

    Ooo wait... maybe Bill Gates will do something better so that people will keep IE. I could see it now. "Bill Gates jumps pit of acid and a large tub of sharks with laser beams attached to their heads (and it was on fire)."
    • The point is it will get a lot of people to at least try it out. Opera is convinced they have a superior product, by pulling a stunt like this many people will download it to support him swimming across the ocean, and in all likelyhood they will try it out.

      It's exposure. Maybe he'll even get on mainstream news.

  • 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
  • I don't want to overload their servers! :)

  • Meanwhile in Seattle (Score:4, Funny)

    by cOdEgUru (181536) * <<cherian.abraham> <at> <gmail.com>> on Friday April 22 2005, @08:02AM (#12312159) Homepage Journal
    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.
  • Cue Music: taaa ... taaa ... taaa

    Shot of shark underwater with a face like Bill Gates:

    Swimming..

    Music: taaa-tum ...

    Bill notices food and makes a turn:

    Music: taa-tum taa -tum ta-tum ta-tum

    Ocean churning:

    Water turns red:

    Profit!

  • Cruise Ship (Score:3, Insightful)

    by Ranger (1783) on Friday April 22 2005, @08:04AM (#12312183) Homepage
    All he has to do is get on a cruise ship with a swimming pool that is going from Norway to the USA. And he can swim in it 24x7. So technically he is swimming from there to here. That way he doesn't have to worry about things like hypothermia, sharks, giant squid, icebergs, polar bears, or being attacked by a creche of killer penguins.

  • 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...
    • Only did a dry-suit dive once (just for the experience of the suiting up proceedure,etc) and since they can act as a flotation device (especially wiht the warm fuzzies underneath) it shouldn't be much of a problem... Hands, feet, and face will be awful cold though.
  • Why not something realistic, like shaving his head or swimming say, the English Channel? That's only a tens of miles and yet swimming in the ocean (away from the shore) is SO hard that people die trying to swim just that far. No one can or will ever swim the Atlantic without major help from medicine or technology.
  • I find it hard to believe there is any way in hell you *could* swim from Norway to the USA.

    Even if you already held a large number of distance swimming records, that just sounds impossible given the distances involved.

    What is that man talking about?
  • In Opera 7 on Mandrake 10.2, I had to change the text size to 120% to read Slashdot. Now it comes up just right.

    Good luck with that swim :)

  • This was purposely leaked in hopes the /. effect would stop people from getting to the opera site to download the new release. It's not working though.

  • yeah, ok, sure, I'll do it. (Score:3, Funny)

    by danalien (545655) on Friday April 22 2005, @08:10AM (#12312242) Homepage
    wget -O - -q "http://www.opera.com/download/get.pl?id=26662&loc ation=29&nothanks=yes&sub=marine" > /dev/null

    all to see him eat his words =)

  • Well, good luck to him.

    His admittedly childish behavior is causing the words "Opera browser" to pass through the brains of geeks like me, however fleetingly. This is a powerful thing, no matter how it's done.

    If I was one of his minions, and had just spent a year busting my ass working on this thing, I'd be mighty proud of him.

  • easy (Score:5, Funny)

    by mshiltonj (220311) <mshiltonj@gFORTR ... m minus language> 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.

  • Ok well I just added two to the down load count! Since the poster's direct link down loaded the windows version! Then I had to go and get my Mac version.

    -S

  • 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."

  • I feel a little odd now.... (Score:3, Funny)

    by dickeya (733264) on Friday April 22 2005, @11:14AM (#12314102)
    ...knowing I just downloaded a piece of software with no intention of using it just to see someone perform a task during which they will surely die.

    What support group do I go to for this?

  • Why should I buy? (Score:3, Interesting)

    by firephreek (752523) on Friday April 22 2005, @11:27AM (#12314222)
    I went through the site, saw the screen shots...What is the difference between this and Firefox? I'm not too familiar with this thing called Opera, I've only watched it here and there. What makes it worth the $40?

"Everyone's head is a cheap movie show." -- Jeff G. Bone