Bit 1

Welcome

Opera welcomes all its members to the new and improved monthly newsletter. Each month we will titillate you with interviews, articles and "Pitch Your Blog" contests. So sit back, relax and enjoy, but most importantly feel free to discuss and contribute.

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Inside Nintendo

Opera's Kaori Kotobuki gets a first hand peek at the Nintendo HQ.

On March 9, 2006, Kaori Kotobuki from Opera’s Tokyo office boarded the Shinkansen, a Japanese speed train and headed to Nintendo's headquarters in Kyoto, Japan. It was a two and half hour journey from Tokyo, and Kaori's first visit to Nintendo following the agreement between Opera and Nintendo.

Many would guess Nintendo's office to be a giant-sized Mario, or at the very least mushroom-shaped. Surprisingly, Nintendo's Kyoto-based office is very white, sleek and simple.

Kaori spent three hours talking with Minagawa-san. "I really got the sense of how passionate Nintendo is about its products. "Opera shares this enthusiasm, and together we can do some exciting things," she said.

Kaori was also fortunate enough to be present at the Tokyo press conference on February 15, 2006, where Nintendo announced the Opera browser and the TV tuner for the Nintendo DS. She recalls the press crowding around the device running Opera, and the excitement Opera generated at this event. The next day, the Nintendo DS with Opera was written about in the major Japanese newspapers and received more than 400 media hits worldwide.

Opera cannot reveal is plans with Nintendo just yet, though we can promise fun contests, cool Opera-Nintendo t-shirts and maybe a few other giveaways. As for the rest, you'll just have to wait until the June release of the Opera card for Nintendo DS in Japan.|Discuss in forum

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Interview: Dan Alexandru (dantesoft)

Intro: Many will remember Dantesoft as the winner of our NYC competition, who swept us all away with his tale of love. Dantesoft is still as popular as ever in the My Opera Community and was more than willing to share a little more information about himself in Opera Bits.

How would you describe yourself in one paragraph?

Tough... I'd say 'engineer'. I like to solve problems, but not the big ones; those are better left to senior management. I compensate the lack of control in life by buying gadgets, studying language, (meta) humor, and programming. Plus, I recently realized I'm very lucky.

Favorite web site?

Comics. I would say www.sinfest.net

Favorite blog and why?

User Centered: http://my.opera.com/usability/blog/ I like how he does his research. It's technical only when it needs to be. And the posts are usually long enough that you have to think about them. I pause in mid-sentence when I make a connection. I think that's a sign of good writing.

Best IT/blogging tip?

I'm 'look ma, no hands'-style blogging myself, so no advice here. My tip would be to get involved in the largest IT problem you can _almost_ solve with the right group of people. If not "Opening the web", then that should at least put one in the right direction.