Opera CEO Prepares to Swim across the Atlantic

rRogta writes "Previously reported on slashdot here, Opera CEO boldly promises to swim across the Atlantic should the new Opera browser be downloaded a million times in the first four days after it's release. Well, they reached their goal and in this press release it says he's now preparing for the long swim."

Comments

How the heck?

[beatdown]

I'm not sure it is possible to pull this off. Isn't the north Atlantic cold at this time of year?

Re:How the heck?

[Freexe]

I think you will need opera to see this one, but it doesn;'t look too hard to pull off

Re:How the heck?

[Anonymous Coward]

A good semi-dry suit would do it. Just a wet suit with decreased water flow through it, for colder water. The problem is that he's gonna need a life-jacket too, because there's no way he's swimming that much.

Re:How the heck?

[Freexe]

http://people.opera.com/nicolasm/opera_ch05.svgz and the url...

Re:How the heck?

[mikael]

I'm not sure it is possible to pull this off. Isn't the north Atlantic cold at this time of year?

From this surface temperature map it would appear that if he swam at a latitude of 30 degrees North, the temperature is around 70 Fahrenheit or 21 Centigrade all the way to Spain. From Spain to South America it's even warmer (85 Fahrenheit/28 Centigrade). Up beside Norway, it's only 55 Fahreheit (12 Centigrade), so he would probably need a survival suit.

Re:How the heck?

[Anonymous Coward]

What about water and food?

Re:How the heck?

[ThePDW]

Well, yeah, I hope he's not worried about penis size after this swim. *deletes mental picture*

Re:How the heck?

[Trix606]

It is simple, just use a yacht with a built-in swimming pool. Swim laps all the way from Norway to the U.S.

Re:How the heck?

[SithGod]

Actually that would be way too warm to swim in. I swam in high school and while you hate to get in a cold pool, within about 5 minutes being in a warm pool is much worse. Probably the best temperature he could hope for would be around 60 Farenheit

Re:How the heck?

[nelsonal]

You're right for competitive swimming, but even the long endurance runs take about an hour or so. If you are swimming long distances, you have to be in warmer water to ensure that you don't lose heat too rapidly over the course of the next several weeks.

Re:How the heck?

[morticus]

I surf during all weather condtions with just a 4mm fullsuit. It utilizes fluid sealed seams, blind-stiching and blind-zipper to limit flushing. Honestly, 55F with a decent wetsuit is actually quite comfortable, you don't overheat during excessive paddling. When it drops lower, the booties, gloves and sometimes 2nd layer come in.

Re:How the heck?

[ckaminski]

The North Atlantic is ALWAYS cold.

Re:How the heck?

[Anonymous Coward]

Dammit! I was thinking the same damn thing, but you beat me to it! LOL

Re:How the heck?

[licamell]

Dupe of comments from the last article. This idea was actually mentioned many times.

Re:How the heck?

[Anonymous Coward]

I liked the cruise ship idea better

Re:How the heck?

[Anonymous Coward]

You think Oslo (latitude 60 N) is shown on your tropical surface temperature map? I'm just curious, what country did you learn geography in?

I'd guess the surface temperature near Oslo would be closer to 5 C (41 F) than 12 C this time of year.

Re:How the heck?

[Nutty_Irishman]

There used to be a navy dive tank at the subbase in Groton, CT that they would train on. I can't remember the exact conditions, but they used to keep the tank at about 92 degrees F for training purposes. After around 4 hours or so of training in the tank, they had to take a break to warm up. Water syphons heat away from the body much faster than air does-- I'm not sure there's any spot where he could swim across at where he wouldn't need some kind of wetsuit for.

Re:How the heck?

[kryocore]

Don't you hate pants?

Yes, I will keep my bushes.

Re:How the heck?

[pizpot]

How to Swim the Atlantic: - charter a plane with a kiddie pool or hot tub - use a yaught or cruise ship with a pool

Re:How the heck?

[Anonymous Coward]

12C is not cold water... I live in Canada and even in the middle of summer it's rare for the lakes to reach 15C.

Re:How the heck?

[Anonymous Coward]

Longest swimming events take 20 minutes. And ~70 would be best for a swim this long. Anything above 75, and you'll quickly get too hot - I would know, my home pool is at 83, and that feels just steamy during a race. At anything less than about 70, you'll start having to shiver to keep warm, which is bad for swimming. Again - I would know, Ive done sub 50 degree long distance races. Main problem for a trip like this would be sleep I would think. Unless he's allowed to stop of course. Food, water, and bathroom should be able to be taken care of in the water, but sleep just can't be done in the water.

Re:How the heck?

[BobPaul]

Isn't the north Atlantic cold all times of year?

Re:How the heck?

[Anonymous Coward]

God damn americans are stupid.

What about sales?

[colmore]

Given Opera's business model, shouldn't he have tied this stunt to sales rather than downloads?

Re:What about sales?

[Anonymous Coward]

Given Opera's business model, shouldn't he have tied this stunt to sales rather than downloads?

Yes, he should have offered to have the sales director forced to swim across the Atlantic, rather than himself.

Re:What about sales?

[Anonymous Coward]

As ad revenue is part of their business model, I don't see why.

Re:What about sales?

[MoonFog]

You realise this was said during an internal meeting and was released by the Opera people more or less without his concent. I suspect they did it as a joke rather than a publicity stunt even though it has turned into something like that now.

Re:What about sales?

[Anonymous Coward]

I would say this is a marketing decision to expose the Opera branding and increase product awareness in the marketplace.

In the last 30-40 years everything has become about the "brand" and how many people are aware of it.

Sales follow suit through natural course of action.

-SJ53
I think Opera is just trying to make sure Firefox doesn't chew away at it's marketspace as an IE alternative regardless of the fact that the full version of Firefox is free and Opera is not.

Re:What about sales?

[Anonymous Coward]

Given Opera's business model, shouldn't he have tied an anvil to his waist?

Re:What about sales?

[kpwoodr]

Google did something similar to this when Chad rode his bike across the country, and look how well that worked out for them...

Re:What about sales?

[physicsphairy]

Given Opera's business model, shouldn't he have tied this stunt to sales rather than downloads?

In a word, no. That would make a horrible salespitch. I'm not going to fork over money for a product I would not otherwise buy just to vote yes to the swim!

On the other hand, a download is not big deal. And once I download the product, I might be like "Hey! Cool!" and decide to buy it. Even if not, at least the product is getting some good exposure.

Deriving sales from stunts like this is rarely straight forward.

Re:What about sales?

[lahvak]

I think you missed part of the press release. It said:

If we reach one million downloads, I will swim across the Atlantic. If we do NOT reach one million sales, the sales director will swim across the Atlantic.

Re:What about sales?

[learn fast]

Nope, it was announced in an official press release.

General rule of thumb: if you hear about it in the news (including ./) it's probably coming out of a press release.

Re:What about sales?

[Anonymous Coward]

I downloaded opera just to add to the tally so this guy can swim (even though he won't make it).

Why would I watch ads or pay $$$ for a browser when Firefox works just fine?

Re:What about sales?

[MoonFog]

A press release written by Eskil Sivertsen, he included von Tetzchner's statement as a joke. Don't know if you understand Norwegian, but here is more on the swimming trip. Sivertsen is actually rowing beside Jon.

Re:What about sales?

[Anonymous Coward]

Why would I watch ads or pay $$$ for a browser when Firefox works just fine?

Firefox: For when "fine" is good enough.

Re:What about sales?

[middlemen]

Who is sponsoring it? Coke or Pepsi or Marlboro ? Diet Coke(or Pepsi) ad: Swim across the Atlantic with 1 calorie of Diet Coke (or Pepsi)... Marlboro: Cigarette smoke can be used to call for help.

Re:What about sales?

[rapidweather]

I saw the swim across the atlantic promise when I downloaded Opera 8 to put in my remaster of Knoppix Linux. I didn't think anything of it. I now use the browser, ad bar and all. I might send them $39.00 for a key to my personal copy, but then again, I might not. I recommend my remaster users do the same, to support Opera. If I remember right, most of the channel swimmers had a boat go right ahead of them, and that had a shark net and etc. to protect them. But across the Atlantic?

Isn't this lots and lots of miles?

[tquinlan]

Isn't this quite a long swim? Even if he goes from whereever he is to Iceland to Newfoundland? I seem to recall people having trouble swimming the English channel (23 miles, iirc). I think it's commonplace now, but it seems to me this is a signficantly longer trip.

Re:Isn't this lots and lots of miles?

[Anonymous Coward]

He's not actually stated anywhere it's non-stop, so he'll probably just nap in a boat overnight.

Still a very impressive feat if he does it though.

Re:Isn't this lots and lots of miles?

[mav[LAG]]

Truly, you have a dizzying intellect.

Re:Isn't this lots and lots of miles?

[Anonymous Coward]

I think he is going to be swimming the whole way and crossing the atlantic - but maybe not swimming in the atlantic.

Just a guess.

Re:Isn't this lots and lots of miles?

[tquinlan]

Says the man with "smegma" in his sig.

Re:Isn't this lots and lots of miles?

[Anonymous Coward]

Isn't this quite a long swim?

Not really. On my map, it looks like it's only about 12 inches from right-pond to left-pond.

Re:Isn't this lots and lots of miles?

[mav[LAG]]

Wait till I get going!

Re:Isn't this lots and lots of miles?

[Dr. Evil]

Not at all.

Those stories about explorers dying while crossing the Atlantic are all ploys to keep real-estate values high in Conneticut. If people found out that they could commute to Manhattan faster from France than from New Jersey, the friends of countless politicians would lose their shirts in the market collapse.

Re:Isn't this lots and lots of miles?

[LuxFX]

Isn't this quite a long swim?

If you take it literally, yes. He could just play in a pool on a cruise ship while it crosses the Atlantic, though, and techically be "swimming" "across the Atlantic"

Re:Isn't this lots and lots of miles?

[mule007]

Isn't this quite a long swim? Even if he goes from whereever he is to Iceland to Newfoundland? I seem to recall people having trouble swimming the English channel (23 miles, iirc). I think it's commonplace now, but it seems to me this is a signficantly longer trip.

If he does decide to swim to Newfoundland, I hope he doesn't decide to swim into the harbor here in St. John's, being the most easterly harbor and all..

It would be a real shame if he swam all this way just to get sick from E.coli and possibly die.

Re:Isn't this lots and lots of miles?

[mekkab]

so many ways to respond, a myriad of responses!

Continue the ad hominem attacks?

Educate you that its an homage to "Monty Python's Flying Circus"?

Make a velied reference to Monty Python's Flying Circus?

Make an allusion to another fav british show "Red Dwarf" by telling you to Smeg off?

Or some dissmissive missive that indicates you should simply give up because your ad hominem attack belies your own ignorance; a faux pas that diminishes your own standing in The Group by casting aspersions regarding the size of your manhood?

This is too much for a Monday morning; my head asplode!*

*-Ah, the old classic; escape via Homestarrunner reference!

Re:Isn't this lots and lots of miles?

[ckaminski]

There was a guy a few years ago who made the attempt with a very large swimfin, basically a 6 or 8 sq foot fin in which he put both feet and dolphin kicked his way across the ocean. I do not recall who it was or if he made it or not.

Re:Isn't this lots and lots of miles?

[evil-osm]

If he does decide to swim to Newfoundland, I hope he doesn't decide to swim into the harbor here in St. John's, being the most easterly harbor and all..

Alternativly he could swim to St. John NB, and into the Bay of Fundy. Get close enough to Lepreau and the Nuclear station there, so he could get that extra atom for extra engery!

Re:Isn't this lots and lots of miles?

[Anonymous Coward]

Uh, I thought that's why they grounded the Concorde?

don't you think....

[Anonymous Coward]

this is one of the big problems with 'good' software. we always try to promise about 500000% more then we can deliver.

Re:don't you think....

[Anonymous Coward]

we always try to promise about 500000% more then we can deliver

But we *have* to, or else some other dishonorable asshat will promise "but we've got the next best thing, and it's only 6 months away!" and you have no more customers. So what do you have to do? Promise the world and give it to them one piece at a time.

Re:don't you think....

[chadjg]

Not that it matters, but I'll contest the assessment of Opera as "good"software, and the 500000% bit.

Opera is great. I have it installed on my new to me Compaq LTE 5400 that is running Windows 98. IE is a semi-functional rotundity on that machine. Opera works nicely, and is quite a bit better in all respects, especially screen drawing time. It makes my weekend moochin sessions at the local coffee shop bearable.

Sure, the 500000% is hyperbole, and understood to be that, but the Opera guy's statement seems to be good hearted bombast, something I find acceptable. Maybe I'm nuts!

By the way, does anybody know of a place that I can get a cheap external battery pack or a set of internal batteries for my machine? They're so stinkin' expensive!

Re:don't you think....

[Analogy Man]

And like a good software demo we see the first 0.001% of the real stuff...then there is some voodoo and black magic...a "real exerience" (in this case Iceland hot cocoa) and then reaching "the goal" (lumbering out of the water somewhere in New Jersey).

Like the software demo, only a fool would take it for reality.

Re:don't you think....

[dustmite]

I must say, although I downloaded Opera 8 as part of this 'joke', I installed it and tried it out, it really is a very good browser. It's innovative, has some very nice/useful features, the interface is elegant and well thought out. Made me think "why can't Microsoft write software like this? Instead we get a dumb old brick like IE."

Still, I'll probably stick with FireFox just out of inertia. Will try Opera out a bit more though.

Re:don't you think....

[chadjg]

I'm right there with you. I'd still like to get something even skinnier that would run on that old of a machine, but would cope with modern web sites. I don't know if that's a realistic goal.

As an aside, I really liked the way Opera handles their advertisements. Opera's way seems fair, easy to change, and I can get rid of them if I ever quit being cheap.

BTW, I have Opera 7.0. Is it worth the upgrade?

Re:don't you think....

[Bruce Perens]

My suggestion is that he find a transatlantic cruise with a swimming pool, and forget about Mum. But on last year's Geek Cruise, the water under the ship was rough enough that the swimming pool kind of looked like a blender and the water spent a lot of time in the vicinity of the ceiling. Linus' wife was especially green.

Bruce

Re:don't you think....

[Knightking]

Absolutly. They've made a lot of changes in two years of work. Even upgrading from 7.54 the changes are immediatly noticable.

Re:don't you think....

[Anonymous Coward]

It's definitely worth the upgrade. 8.0 has some major advantages over previous versions. The tab handling has been improved a lot, Opera now supports XML HTTP Request (and hence sites like GMail and Google Suggest), and the interface is much improved.

Compared to 7.0, you'll probably also notice that it's a lot less crashy (Opera 7 was pretty unstable when it was released, as I recall; it's been a lot better since 7.50 was released), and the integrated mail client is pretty impressive in my opinion. Also, I don't think that Google ads were an option in 7.0; if you choose to use them instead of the banner ad it only takes up 80 pixels at the top of your screen, so you get more space for the sites themselves.

Re:don't you think....

[Anonymous Coward]

If you promise a lot then deliver it, what's the problem?

Re:don't you think....

[hkmwbz]

You need to get Opera 8. It's better in, well, every way.

Two Words of Advice

[Deinhard]

Life Jacket

Re:Two Words of Advice

[plj]

Survival suit

Re:Two Words of Advice

[Anonymous Coward]

Two more words: No Way.

And two final words: Luxury Cruise.

Re:Two Words of Advice

[MacJedi]

In the north atlantic, life jackets just make your corpse float.

Re:Two Words of Advice

[jfengel]

Actually, "wet suit". A life jacket floats your face up and drags your legs, which means a lot of resistance to swimming. You'll get exhausted before swimming a mile in a life jacket.

Yes, IIADS (I Am A Distance Swimmer).

Re:Two Words of Advice

[the pickle]

In the Bering Sea, corpses make life jackets float. ;)

p

Re:Two Words of Advice

[Anonymous Coward]

He'll need a Navigator! :-P

Re:Two Words of Advice

[Captbaritone]

Water Wings

Re:Two Words of Advice

[Durindana]

Yes, IIADS (I Am A Distance Swimmer).

No, YAABA (You Are A Bad Acronymizer)

Re:Two Words of Advice

[jfengel]

IAS

(I Sure Am).

Re:Two Words of Advice

[otisg]

Life Jacket?
How about: Shark Bait

Seems fishy to me

[penguinoid]

This seems incredibly fishy, as if it were a marketing ploy. At any rate, von Tetzchner will be smelling fishy very, very soon!

Re:Seems fishy to me

[ergo98]

This seems incredibly fishy, as if it were a marketing ploy.

Fishy? It is absolutely impossible that he could swim across the Atlantic, a stop in Iceland or not. This is so over the top that it's amazing that anyone doesn't get the joke. Quite apart from the cold, and the giant waves, there's the little problem of the massive distance.

Obviously it's a marketing ploy (albeit all he managed to do was jack up their bandwidth bill - most of those Slashdot downloads went to /dev/null). He'll sit in a pool on a luxury yacht while it crosses the Atlantic or something.

Re:Seems fishy to me

[jmrobinson]

I love marketing stunts... Now if only we could get Linus to shave his head for a 1000 debian downloads....

Re:Seems fishy to me

[Freexe]

Techinacally the embassy in Iceland isn;t that far away from a lake which it't self isn;t that far away from the American embassy.

Sometimes you have to think outside the box!http://people.opera.com/nicolasm/opera_ch05.sv gz

Re:Seems fishy to me

[AviLazar]

Even if he went from the shortest possible points of EU to Iceland and then drove from it's SE coast to it's SW coast to get the shortest possible route to the US. Even if he was followed by a luxary yacht (hopefully he is) with a medical crew onboard. And EVEN if he sleeps on the yacht each night to get a good meal (assuming the yacht stayed stationary) and he swam at least 8-12 hours a day - I would be happy. Cause swimming for anymore then a few minutes (for a non-trained person) is tiring. Swimming for 30 minutes for a non-trained impossible is damn hard....swimming for 8-12 hours for a trained person is damn near impossible.

Re:Seems fishy to me

[ergo98]

Hey look - one of my psycho stalkers got mod points. Oh how I love those delightful little kids.

Re:Seems fishy to me

[kyojin the clown]

Honestly, you people are sad. Not the parent in particular, but all you tinfoilers who think this is soem sort of Evil Marketing Ploy (of evil)

the guy clearly declared he would swim the atlantic in some meeting, the PR people stitched him up by telling the world, and now he has done the decent thing and gone for a dip in the sea off oslo. Of Course he isn't going to swim across the Atlantic, but that doesnt make this some cynical ploy to part innocent god-fearing folk with their money. its a few people at work, having a laugh, which happens to have gathered some limited media coverage.

chill out and enjoy it for what it is.

Re:Seems fishy to me

[Anonymous Coward]

I swim competitively and have done 6 hour stretches before. It really isn't *that* difficult if your trained properly.

Security

[Anonymous Coward]

Let's hope he doesn't swim into any one of those pesky blowfishes.

download it

[diegocgteleline.es]

Well...despite of being closed software, I must admited Opera knows how to support linux - if you go to their download page they have packages for the main distros, ej: they've separated packages for debain woody, sarge and sid, different versions of fedora, etc...in fact I'm a a debian user (in case you haven't noticed) and I've the following line in my sources.list:

deb http://deb.opera.com/opera/ stable non-free

Re:download it

[digidave]

Thanks, I've just added that repository. They really cover all the bases for Linux installs. I usually end up using alien to convert rpms to debs when trying to install commercial software.

Re:download it

[Kainaw]

I must admited Opera knows how to support linux

Now, if they could only support the Opera specs. According to the specs, if you get an event, the javascript "window.event.cancelBubble = true;" will cancel the event from bubbling up to the window handler. Try that with a backspace key event. Nope - doesn't work. Specs, schmecs. Opera developers don't need 'em.

Re:download it

[lintux]

I'm not 100% sure, but I remember reading somewhere that Opera employs a Debian Developer. Might help a lot for sure. :-)

Re:download it

[Anonymous Coward]

I could be wrong, but it seems like when I first used opera it was specifically a linux browser. Then later on they went into the windows domain.

Re:download it

[Snarl]

It doesn't hurt the linux support that Opera and Trolltech have offices in the same building in Oslo, Norway either.

http://www.opera.com/company/
http://www.trolltech.com/contact/index.html

Re:download it

[damiam]

Now, if only supporting Linux didn't require the developer to provide packages for 20 different versions of all the major distros (apparently autopackage is working on this sort of thing, I haven't tried it yet).

Re:download it

[Anonymous Coward]

You are mistaking! It was lynx!!!

Re:download it

[Anonymous Coward]

No, AFAIK the first Opera was for Windows 3.11.

Re:download it

[matt me]

i'm just downloading opera for fc3 this moment. very impressed by range of distros for which packages are avaliable.

mozilla don't provide any binary packages for firefox. visitors to getfirefox.com are assumed to be windows/IE users, and all their marketing has been aimed at them.

now mozilla suite (seamonkey) development has stopped, it does seem they are abandoning the strategies that got them where they are now. seems a bit of an animal farm situation to me.

Re:download it

[Anonymous Coward]

Uhm, duh? Why would I want to let websites disable or change the behaviour of my backspace key?

Re:download it

[Kainaw]

Uhm, duh? Why would I want to let websites disable or change the behaviour of my backspace key?

I have answered this so many times that I'm ready to just give up on human intelligence...

This is not a case of "why would I want to let websites disable or change the behavious of my backspace key?" This is a case of Opera not letting websites that you create change the behaviour of your own backspace key as you like. Opera is making the decision for you. All other browsers let you make the decision.

Maybe the rest of the world is just so stupid that they've never noticed.

Re:download it

[Anonymous Coward]

Calm down. You're still free not to use Opera. If you want to be able to configure every little detail of how much your browser can annoy you, just use Firefox. That's just not what Opera is about. I happen to like the way Opera goes about things, so I choose to use Opera.

Re:download it

[hkmwbz]

"This is not a case of "why would I want to let websites disable or change the behavious of my backspace key?" This is a case of Opera not letting websites that you create change the behaviour of your own backspace key as you like. Opera is making the decision for you. All other browsers let you make the decision."

What you are really saying is that Opera should let the web page decide what the user does with Backspace. You don't like the fact that Opera leaves control in the hands of the user.

Fair enough, but don't pretend to be on some holy mission to save users from the "evil" that is Opera and its empowering of the user.

Hats off

[janek78]

Wow, you got to admire that man. I suppose he's not going to do it in one run, the journey seems quite long. Very nice map, though. :)

I guess he could also get a Krusty burger at one of those abandoned shore oil platforms :)

Re:Hats off

[Klivian]

The worst part are going to be the temperature. The weather in Oslo (where opera HC are) have been rather nice the last week, with high temperatures around 15C. But still cold by night, downwards to 2-3C. So you can say it's not summer yet, and not weather to recommend a nice swim. Guess the water temperature are something like 4C or thereabouts:-)

Tragedy in the making

[Dancin_Santa]

Swimmers with lots of experience have trouble crossing the relatively narrow English Channel. Attempting to swim from Europe to North America is out of the question, for the most part.

Without even considering the difficulties posed by currents like the Gulf Stream, the water exposure will dehydrate him severely and the constant cold temperatures will push him to hypothermia.

I wouldn't want to be him. At least unless I was swimming in a pool aboard a luxury liner.

Re:Tragedy in the making

[Anonymous Coward]

swimming in a pool aboard a luxury liner

I do believe you just gave him the out he needed...

Re:Tragedy in the making

[janek78]

Did he actually say he will swim it in one go? I don't think that would be physically posible. But with rest stops at a supporting ship, why not? It could take days, or weeks, I don't he was specific about the timeframe.

Re:Tragedy in the making

[LWATCDR]

"I wouldn't want to be him. At least unless I was swimming in a pool aboard a luxury liner."

Maybe a hot tub?
All kidding aside I have to wonder how much money they make on there add supported software.

Re:Tragedy in the making

[digidave]

"It could take days, or weeks"

Or months. Have you any idea how big the Atlantic Ocean is?

Re:Tragedy in the making

[mickyflynn]

Beowulf swam the North Sea!! In chainmail! fighting sea monsters with a sword!

this can't be all that more difficult

Re:Tragedy in the making

[nizo]

I thought the interweb made the world a smaller place? Pretty soon people will be able to jump across the Atlantic.

Re:Tragedy in the making

[Anonymous Coward]

Can you imagine a Beowulf cluster of those Beo...

ummm... nevermind...

Re:Tragedy in the making

[Anonymous Coward]

All kidding aside I have to wonder how much money they make on there add supported software.

Their software is supported by a mathematical operation?

Re:Tragedy in the making

[Anonymous Coward]

From what I read when this story first made the rounds, the guy is a typical overweight out of shape American. This was a gimmick, and I am sure that he will find some clever way to get around it, as most white pasty geeks do when in the face of athletic challenges :).

I am guessing that he will do laps in a pool installed on a jet, though someone else has suggested that he will swim to a US embassy. It makes no sense for him to actually swim the atlantic because he will have to train for a very long time to attempt this, and for maximum marketing effectiveness he needs to do this within the next month or so.

Re:Tragedy in the making

[Anonymous Custard]

It's 3000 miles wide from Gibraltar to Norfolk, Virginia.

If he can swim 2 miles per hour for 12 hours every 24 hours (12 hours per day), it'd take him 125 days.

Long-distance Swimmer Tammy Van Wisse holds the World Record (fastest person) to swim 1515 mile length of the Murray River in Australia. It took from 5 November 2000 - 18 February 2001: 106 days, and she's a professional, and it was a river, not a cold and turbulent ocean.

Re:Tragedy in the making

[double-oh three]

moderation: -0.5, took story entirely too seriously

Re:Tragedy in the making

[Anyletter]

Actually, judging by his height and build, I wouldn't call him overweight. And yes, von Tezchner is such an American name. I have yet to meet an American who was born in Iceland, and is a Norwegian citizen.

Re:Tragedy in the making

[stiggle]

But the North American and European plates meet at Iceland (his homeland).
There is a lake in the middle of the rift valley (the shores of which the original Icelandic Parliament used to meet on) http://www.randburg.com/is/thingvellir.html

He could have just pulled a fast one and swam across the lake :-)

Re:Tragedy in the making

[Dave2 Wickham]

Isn't all software?

Re:Tragedy in the making

[ceeam]

Are we talking top-to-bottom?

Re:Tragedy in the making

[Anonymous Coward]

Uphill!

Both ways!

Barefoot!

In the snow!

Re:Tragedy in the making

[mickyflynn]

You can find those at Wal-Mart.

Re:Tragedy in the making

[migurski]

I'm guessing the northern route (he's stopping in Iceland) is a lot shorter.

Re:Tragedy in the making

[Anonymous Coward]

Maybe if all of us on slashdot upload our current copies of Opera back to their web site, we can force cancellation of his swim.

Re:Tragedy in the making

[Emetophobe]

Long-distance Swimmer Tammy Van Wisse holds the World Record (fastest person) to swim 1515 mile length of the Murray River in Australia. It took from 5 November 2000 - 18 February 2001: 106 days, and she's a professional, and it was a river, not a cold and turbulent ocean. I'm guessing she swam with the current?

Re:Tragedy in the making

[AntiGenX]

Beowulf swam the North Sea!! In chainmail! fighting sea monsters with a sword!

After swimming in that cold water, I would hate to see the size of his cluster.

Re:Tragedy in the making

[Anonymous Coward]

Geeze people! Leerjet with a hot tub and he's swimming across the Atlantic!

Re:Tragedy in the making

[Anonymous Coward]

Yep, the whole thing is a shenanigan. 2 miles per hour = 3200 meters per hour, or 6400 meters in two hours. This is the pace that competitive swimmers swim for only two hours when they're in near peak condition. It's impossible to keep this pace for 12 hours.

Further, efforts to row across the Atlantic have been made, but not on an inflatable liferaft. That's a dangerous feat in itself.

Re:Tragedy in the making

[Anonymous Coward]

I'm gonna have to side with Unferth and believe Breca bested him.

Re:Tragedy in the making

[elgatozorbas]

Beowulf swam the North Sea!! In chainmail! fighting sea monsters with a sword!

Not completely: you forgot the sea monster was 64-headed, and Beowulf and each of his 15 brothers only fought 4 heads. Or something...

Re:Tragedy in the making

[Anonymous Custard]

Yep, the whole thing is a shenanigan. 2 miles per hour = 3200 meters per hour, or 6400 meters in two hours. This is the pace that competitive swimmers swim for only two hours when they're in near peak condition. It's impossible to keep this pace for 12 hours.

I agree... I was just pointing out how tough it would be even if you COULD swim at 2 mph for 12 hours a day :-)

Re:Tragedy in the making

[LuxFX]

Ben Lacomte swam across the Atlantic in 1998, and it took him 80 days.

Re:Tragedy in the making

[mickyflynn]

no, it was a contest against some other guy, and all the battle was his indvidual glory.

how he'll pull this off

[keithmoore]

charter an aircraft big enough to put a large water tank inside, and swim in the tank while the aircraft is flying to Iceland and thence to North America.

nice PR stunt!

Re:how he'll pull this off

[dfn5]

charter an aircraft big enough to put a large water tank inside, and swim in the tank while the aircraft is flying to Iceland and thence to North America.

I would hardly consider a hot tub with 3 hot flight attendents "swimming". But maybe that's how he got the idea past the wife.

If he's only started training now

[Mel]

He'll be either emergency rescued or dead long before he gets the hot chocolate

At the same time, at Microsoft HQ...

[Anonymous Coward]

Bill Gates and Steve Ballmer both agreed to cross the United States territory up to Washington D.C. by crawling like two salamanders should the number of bugs in the soon-to-be released version 7 of the (in)famous Internet Explorer reaches 2000 in the first 2 hours of its release.

Re:At the same time, at Microsoft HQ...

[gomoX]

ROFLMAO
that's it

I call shenanigans!

[REggert]

From TFA:

Jon is assisted by Opera's PR manager who will be rowing alongside the adventurous CEO in the company inflatable raft on the trip across the Atlantic as an act of guilt after making the CEO's statement public. The fearless crew is currently on its way to an undisclosed location in the Oslo fjord to begin the long journey toward America in the true spirit of the Vikings before them.

The author busted his cheek with his tongue, I think.

How He'll Do It

[Anyletter]

I figure he's going to swim from the Norwegian Embassy in Iceland, go to his mum's house, then swim to the US Embassy. Like this: http://people.opera.com/nicolasm/opera_ch05.svgz

Re:How He'll Do It

[Anonymous Coward]

And here is the original journal entry with some background and possibility to comment on the plan. But keep it secret eh.

http://my.opera.com/nicomen/journal/2

Re:How He'll Do It

[Anonymous Coward]

.svgz? What's that kind of a file? Why not .zzyxxyzzyyy? or .#j*?!% ?

Re:How He'll Do It

[Derek Pomery]

Ok, maybe Opera is just odd but...
Why on earth would you serve a perfectly standard Inkscape SVG that you had then gzipped as image/svg+xml?
Isn't that misleading?
Shouldn't you at the very least invent some new type, such as image/svg+xml-gzipped or something?
And heck, why on earth did you do the gzip? Sure it saves a few cycles over mod_deflate, but deflate has the distinct advantage that you don't have to start inventing new mime types and handlers for it.
just serve it as opera_ch05.svg and be done with it.
If you really want to gzip it, call it opera_ch05.svg.gz instead, and offer a link for Opera to the svgz if it does file sniffing or whatever to comprehend a file with a lying mime type.

Re:How He'll Do It

[k98sven]

Why on earth would you serve a perfectly standard Inkscape SVG that you had then gzipped as image/svg+xml? Isn't that misleading?

No it's not. Read the spec , and you'll find that this is completely correct.

The MIME type for SVG is "image/svg+xml" (always). And the extension for gzip compressed SVG files is ".svgz". And gzip is the only compression type which the spec allows for.

Re:How He'll Do It

[Anonymous Coward]

So - any app that opens it (apart from opera 8, which is - despite all the hoopla - not yet available on a mac) ? I've tried my share without success so far... :-(

Re:How He'll Do It

[Cayce.Sloane]

It is totally legal to gzip anything sent over HTTP without changing the media type (you only need change the Content-encoding). SVG stresses just how strongly that is required, and encourages the use of such techniques. I suggest that before making such comments you take five minutes to update your knowledge by actually reading the specs.

Re:How He'll Do It

[nicomen]

SVGZ is a zipped SVG, not worse. It just saves bandwidth. In this case the size is 1/4 of the original size.

Re:How He'll Do It

[Derek Pomery]

That's the problem with W3 specs. Always so confusing.
Obviously mime type and file extension are unrelated. Think dynamically served content. Depends purely on mime type.
Just 'cause the SVG spec on W3 recommends saving the physical files with a certain extension doesn't mean that browsers need to start using a combination of file extension and mime type to decode.

I refused to concede the point. :)
It doesn't seem to me a browser should be expected to examine the file extension to determine whether to do a gzip filter prior to parsing the file. If file extension was the key, one wouldn't need mime type to know what .svgz was. If that were the case, we'd be right back at where IE is, which does mime, file extension and file content sniffing to parse a file, and as a result managed not a few holes in security between all 3.

Re:How He'll Do It

[nicomen]

I'm sorry that the server didn't provide the right mime type. Since it worked out of the box with Adobe plugins and Opera's own SVG implementation I thought it did and didn't think of double-checking.

Anyway, if you had tried .svg all the time you would've got the same file uncompressed. ;)

Re:How He'll Do It

[Anonymous Coward]

Save the file to disk, rename to .svg.gz, open the archive, extract the .svg then open in a standard SVG viewer such as Inkscape, Sodipodi, Adobe or Mozilla-with-SVG.
Or, I suppose if you have Opera, you can click on the link directly. But then if you had it, you wouldn't be asking how to open.

Re:How He'll Do It

[Derek Pomery]

I have read the specs in the past. I'll freely confess to not knowing about the Content Encoding bit.
But my complaint still holds.
HTTP/1.x 200 OK
Date: Mon, 25 Apr 2005 15:36:45 GMT
Server: Apache
Last-Modified: Mon, 25 Apr 2005 15:00:45 GMT
Etag: "1224ce-2015c-426d061d"
Accept-Ranges: bytes
Content-Length: 131420
Connection: close
Content-Type: image/svg+xml

I don't see any place there where the server indicates what it was serving was gzipped.

Re:How He'll Do It

[greenhide]

My Firefox handled it just fine.

Re:How He'll Do It

[zoombat]

Wow, that's lame.

So you need Opera to view that link.. which makes it easily available to everyone that already runs Opera, but keeps it "secret" from everyone who's not using the software yet.. perhaps to add an extra incentive to those who haven't yet had enough incentives to try it out.

To me it comes off as pretty dumb. Why would you showcase a "feature" that providess content that's only useable by 1% of the browsing population? Or is this some sort of content standard that only Opera has implemented yet, and they're just ahead of the curve??

Re:How He'll Do It

[wheany]

This line:
Content-Type: image/svg+xml
says that the content might be gzipped.

Re:How He'll Do It

[Derek Pomery]

Ok, I should so totally drop this, but I just don't see where in the spec it indicates that.
And p'raps the browsers on this machine just suck (all 3 are Gecko) but all of 'em tried parsing it according to what the mime type said it was without sniffing.
And no, I don't see where in the spec link mentioned previously that it says a browser is supposed to sniff image/svg+xml content prior to parsing.

Re:How He'll Do It

[greenhide]

And heck, why on earth did you do the gzip? Sure it saves a few cycles over mod_deflate, but deflate has the distinct advantage that you don't have to start inventing new mime types and handlers for it.

Um, call me crazy, but I don't think they compressed it because there wasn't enough space on the server. I can't think of a single reason you'd want to have something compressed on a server and not when transferring it, so I have no idea who uses mod_deflate or why.

You save a lot of bandwidth by sending it as a compressed file. Most browsers automagically decompress HTML files and ilk when sent gzipped, so I see no reason why an svg would be treated any differently.

Re:How He'll Do It

[nicomen]

It works on all SVG enabled browsers that I've tried.

It's not really a showcase, just a funny slideshow done with SVG. If you aren't familiar with it yet, it's about time.

So to answer your question:

Or is this some sort of content standard that only Opera has implemented yet?

not really

and they're just ahead of the curve??

I guess

Re:How He'll Do It

[Derek Pomery]

Sigh.
Ok. I use mod_deflate all the time, and reason is simple.
CPU cycles are still far more plentiful than bandwidth, at least for me.
At the same time, not every editor I'm going to use to edit an HTML or SVG or whatever text-based encoding might be handles the same with a .gz extension.
Heck, not every web browser would know what to do if my index page was index.html.gz.
But size of mod_deflate page is 11KB, while real size is closer to 27KB.
And if a browser doesn't understand mod_deflate either, no prob. It'll still get a page.
Unlike situation I was complaining about where he provided a link that none of the browsers on my computer could open. Yes, I could download Opera to view his link, but I'dve liked to have seen a clear justification for it in the spec.

Re:How He'll Do It

[k98sven]

Obviously mime type and file extension are unrelated. Think dynamically served content. Depends purely on mime type.
Just 'cause the SVG spec on W3 recommends saving the physical files with a certain extension doesn't mean that browsers need to start using a combination of file extension and mime type to decode.

Since when don't browsers support multiple extensions for the same MIME type? I certainly can't remember having a problem with ".jpeg" vs ".jpg" lately.

It doesn't seem to me a browser should be expected to examine the file extension to determine whether to do a gzip filter prior to parsing the file.

But you're not expected to examine the file extension. The different file extension is a recommendation, not a requirement. But supporting gzipped content is required for an SVG reader to be spec-compliant. It's not like it's a hard determination to make. (E.g. "Are the first 4-bytes of the file 0x1f 0x8b 0x08 0x08 or not?")

Re:How He'll Do It

[sveinhal]

http://www.w3.org/TR/SVG11/intro.html#MIMEType
ht tp://www.adobe.com/svg/indepth/faq.html#svgz

Re:How He'll Do It

[Derek Pomery]

Therin lies the rub. The spec expecting web browsers to sniff the file or not.
Sure it isn't a hard thing to do, it just seems like a major deviation from other W3 standards.
I read the gzip support as being a local file handling thing. Otherwise, seems like a bad requirement.
But whatever.
I imagine those who wrote the spec can clarify, and if the browsers on my computer are not in compliance, they'll get updated if the spec is considered sane. Right now though, I couldn't open it.

Re:How He'll Do It

[Anonymous Coward]

Well I just tried it with Opera 7 (the latest on the mac) and it doesn't work. I get a standard "download" dialog box.

It's always great when your own software won't display your stuff :-/

Re:How He'll Do It

[whitehatlurker]

My Firefox handled it just fine.

Mine too - FF handed the SVG off to Opera ;-)

I think I need a new Amaya ... 9.0 didn't handle this show.

The swim thing is a cute idea though. Literally true, and he gets his hot chocolate at Mummy's.

Move on, no spoilers here. Get Opera yourself and see what the whole deal is about.

Re:How He'll Do It

[whitehatlurker]

Works fine with my Opera 7.54u ... perhaps you didn't download the Adobe SVG plugin?

NOTE: You should get this anyway, if you're using SVG at all. (Well, I guess you weren't, but in case you want to start ;-)

Re:How He'll Do It

[Raphael]

The MIME type for SVG is "image/svg+xml" (always). And the extension for gzip compressed SVG files is ".svgz". And gzip is the only compression type which the spec allows for.

In this case, I think that the SVG spec is incomplete. It should have mentioned that serving gzipped SVG over HTTP should use "Content-Type: image/svg+xml" and also "Content-Encoding: gzip". See section 14.11 in RFC 2616 (HTTP/1.1) for details. While the information about the MIME type is correct and is not affected by the compression used, the information about encoding should have been mentioned in the spec.

The problem with the SVG image linked here is that the server is sending the compressed SVG file without specifying the Content-Encoding. Because of that, most browsers will not be able to read the file. That's why they recommend using Opera 8 for viewing it. I suppose that Opera 8 uses file sniffing as a fallback method and is able to detect that the file has been gzipped (just like most browsers can open a JPEG file even if it was sent with the MIME type image/gif).

Re:How He'll Do It

[nicomen]

The latest on Mac is this (8.00 beta 1):

http://opera.com/download/index.dml?platform=mac &v er=8.00b1

and it should have SVG, but I haven't tested.

If not just download the Adobe SVG plugin for Safari or Firefox or Mozilla/Netscape/MSIE.

Re:How He'll Do It

[shawnce]

Opens and views fine in Safari (v1.3).

Re:How He'll Do It

[greenhide]

Sorry. I'm an ignorant fool. I just assumed that *all* that mod_deflate did was decompress a file prior to serving it. In which case, it wouldn't save bandwidth, would it?

I see now that I got it bass-ackwards. Looks like mod_deflate *compresses* files then sends them on through. And "BrowserMatch" means that for browsers not happy with the compressed file, they can get it uncompressed.

So, actually mod_deflate is exactly what you want: keeps it whole on the server, compresses it for transfer, then sends it on.

So my earlier comment is bunk.

Re:How He'll Do It

[greenhide]

I figured out why my Firefox did so spiffily. At some point in the past, I went here: Adobe's SVG zone and installed their handy plugin.

Works like a dream.

Re:How He'll Do It

[Lulu of the Lotus-Ea]

I tried it in Firefox and Safari. Works fine in both. (I might have installed SVG plugins previously though, but if so they're freely available).

Re:How He'll Do It

[Maniacal]

Works great in IE6. Opens Acrobat Reader to view it.

Re:How He'll Do It

[zoombat]

It's not really a showcase, just a funny slideshow done with SVG. If you aren't familiar with it yet, it's about time.

I'm using Firefox without plugins.. guess I should have just flipped over to IE -- I did that just now and it worked fine with Acrobat (as someone else noted), although it did crash my all my IE browser windows when it finished!

I'd never heard of SVG before.. thanks for everyone's follow up posts.

I hope he has thermal underwear...

[LegendOfLink]

...and quite possibly anti-shark spray, although I don't think that actually exists.

Re:I hope he has thermal underwear...

[Presidential]

...and quite possibly anti-shark spray, although I don't think that actually exists.

Hella lotta reading, but essentially it does exist.

http://www.nbb.cornell.edu/neurobio/Sisneros/Sisne ros%20and%20Nelson%202001.pdf

Re:I hope he has thermal underwear...

[mobiGeek]

What do you mean it doesn't exist? It appears twice (yes, twice!) in this movie review.

Re:I hope he has thermal underwear...

[Anonymous Coward]

FWIW, most shark attacks occur in shallow (3-4 ft) waters. I'd be much more worried about drowning than a shark bite.

Re:I hope he has thermal underwear...

[Anonymous Coward]

The largest number of shark attacks on humans happens in shallow water, yes. Because when humans spend time in water, they're usually in shallow water. The presence of humans is sort of a prerequisite for the existence of shark attacks on humans... Duh.

Re:I hope he has thermal underwear...

[elgatozorbas]

...and quite possibly anti-shark spray

He can just use a mirror to shine it back at them...

Must be some kind of trick...

[Andrewkov]

Is there an offshore US embassy near by or something? :-)

From the "Mysterious Future"

[eno2001]

eno2001 submits: "News Lark Republic is reporting today that Opera CEO has successfully completed his swim across the Atlantic promise by contsantly doing laps in a Princess Lines cruise ship swimming pool as it travelled across the Atlantic. When asked if this was a compromise of his promise, the CEO said, 'I really don't see the point in this line of questioning. I did what I said I woud do. I swam continuously while crossing the Atlantic'."

Man am I thirsty!

Re:From the "Mysterious Future"

[digidave]

Actually, it's doubtful he could continue doing laps all the way unless he was really dedicated and trained hard for several months. I suspect he will float in a chair the whole way while some bikini-clad waitress brings him bottles of beer and lathers sun screen on his body.

At least that's how I would do it.

Cries

[Anonymous Coward]

I just switched to Opera because with 8.0 Gmail works and the client on linux is quite responsive... But now the CEO is going to die and Opera will be lost among the waves??

What is the world coming to!!! *sobs in a corner*

Good for him...

[Pyroskankic]

Well, now that this mission has been accomplished... *Switches back to Firefox when no one is looking*

Re:Good for him...

[Anonymous Coward]

Yep, I took 20 minutes downloading it just to add to the fun! I just had to add to the challenge.

A record?

[northcat]

Is this some sort of record?

Ummm...

[chrisgeleven]

Somehow I don't think he will be able to complete it:

http://www.didyouknow.cd/aroundtheworld/swimming .h tm


Possibly the greatest triumph of endurance is Benoit Lecomte swimming across the Atlantic ocean.

Lecomte, born 1967, immigrated from France to Austin, Texas, at age 23. When his father died of colon cancer in 1992, it spurred him to do something extraordinary to raise awareness of and money for cancer research. With the help of Edward Coyle, director of UT Austin's Human Performance Lab, and dieticians, Lecomte trained to build his endurance, swimming and cycling 3 to 5 hours a day, six days a week for two years. On 16 July 1998 he set out from Cape Cod with 8 wet suits, a snorkel and some flippers into turning weather.

Navigated through the 40th and 50th latitude by two French sailors on a 12m (40 foot) sailboat and protected by an electronic force field, Lecomte swam 6 to 8 hours a day at two-hour intervals. He mainly used the crawl stroke, switching occasionally to a mono fin and using an undulating dolphin kick to carry him over the 5 600km (3 736 nautical miles) of relentless waves. 72 days later, on 28 September, he swam ashore exhausted but heroic at Quiberon, France.

Re:Ummm...

[Anonymous Coward]

protected by an electronic force field

1. What's that about?
2. Where can I get one?

Re:Ummm...

[BaudKarma]

You're underestimating the power of postitive thought! All those million people who downloaded Opera are behind this effor 1000 per cent! In fact, I'm downloading Opera again, just to show my support! I predict he'll make the swim in record time, just due to the power of positive thought!!!

Re:Ummm...

[adamfranco]

protected by an electronic force field

1. What's that about?

I'm guessing its some sort of boat-based shark repellent.

2. Where can I get one?

Your guess is as good as mine.

Re:Ummm...

[ad0gg]

I'm guessing its some sort of boat-based shark repellent.

2. Where can I get one?

Don't even bother. It doesn't stop laser beams. Worthless.

Re:Ummm...

[slartibart]

Something's not right about this. This guy supposedly swam 3,500 miles in 72 days? That's 48 miles a day. Unless he had an very fast current behind him the whole way, it's absolutely impossible for any human to swim 48 miles in 6 to 8 hours.

The English channel is 21 miles, and I think the world record crossing is around 8 hours.

Re:Ummm...

[wmspringer]

1. What's that about? I'm guessing its some sort of boat-based shark repellent. I think it's basically a big cage he swims in that can be electrified.

Re:Ummm...

[2short]

Somethings not right there.

5600km in 72 6-8 hour days. Doing the math and translating some units, that's roughy 7 miles per hour on average. Nobody swims that fast, even for short distances. Just using numbers from that same page, the record holders for swimming the English Channel average about 1.5 miles per hour.

Re:Ummm...

[s-orbital]

Man, you must work for Nasa, mixing your metric and imperial systems like that. That is what makes billion dollar space probes die!

Re:Ummm...

[ckaminski]

You've got the Gulf stream propelling you along. NO ONE goes human power east to west in the North Atlantic. It's a losing battle.

Re:Ummm...

[2short]

OK, adding gulf stream velocity, including when he was resing in the boat, gets the numbers in the right ballpark. But that means the gulf stream provided much more of the propulsion than he did.
It's an impressive feat to be sure, but it seems it would be most accurate to say he swam a lot while floating across the Atlantic in a boat. Most of his distance would have been covered while in the boat.

Re:Ummm...

[2short]

No, doing it incorrectly is what makes space probes die. Just as many errors result from using units one is unfamiliar with. Raised in the US, I am, sadly, most familiar with US units. Ideally I'd do everything in SI units. But, if you too were raised in the US, can you tell me off the top of your head what a reasonable swimming speed is in meters per second?

Re:Ummm...

[danila]

Well, nobody said that the ship had to stand perfectly still while the guy was sleeping, eating, reading and stuff. :)

Re:Ummm...

[ckaminski]

Man cannot swim that long. Just sleeping proves to be nearly impossible without a semi-stable platform to rest in. Nobody bitches about the people who row across the ocean getting a boost from the gulf stream, why should they bitch about a guy who swims 4-8 hours a day, and rests and carries his food in a rowboat with a partner for safety?

I'd argue the swimmer is indeed doing a hell of a lot more work than the rower. I know I can't swim at a decent speed for more than an hour at a time, but I could row almost all day if I had to.

Otherwise, you're mostly correct. :-D

Re:Ummm...

[2short]

"Man cannot swim that long"

Exactly. Man is not capable of swimming across the Atlantic. Coming as close as one can to swimming across it, and closer than anyone else has, doesn't mean he did it. I'm just saying, he didn't swim across the Atlantic in the same sense that channel swimmers swim across the channel. I don't bitch about someone rowing across the atlantic, because they claim to have rowed in a boat. I wouldn't bitch about this guy getting a boost while swimming, just about getting a boost while riding in the boat. He covered the significant majority of the distance sitting in a boat.

Since this is obviously not possible...

[mfender9]

...I'd personally do it by swimming up and down in a nice warm swimming pool on the back of a cruise ship all the way across.

Will be intersting to see how he gets out of it. Maybe he wants to feign his own death...

Is this really frontpage stuff for /.?

[GunR]

Can you say publicity stunt?
I wonder how many more downloads /. will give them before calling it quits.

Now, if MS would do the same, at least we could hope for sharks...

Re:Is this really frontpage stuff for /.?

[Denyer]

Of course it's a publicity stunt... and the next installment will probably be photos of a man face-down in water just off the shore, and something press friendly such as a charity donation.

Re:Is this really frontpage stuff for /.?

[AviLazar]

Yea download, delete, download delete. So much for increasing revenue through ad-driven software.

Re:Is this really frontpage stuff for /.?

[Anonymous Coward]

I wonder how many more downloads /. will give them before calling it quits. It is hard to imagine that a member of the slashdot crowd does not know about Opera. Why would /. have to steer the crowd?

Gulfstream

[Senor_Programmer]

IV with a hot tub and a couple of bunnies. Yep, that's gonna be one tough swim.

In other news

[GroeFaZ]

Bill Gates and Steve Balmer promised to swim across their bath tubs, should 1 million bugs be found in IE7 within 4 days after release.

Murderers

[darkmayo]

You cold hearted bastards have just sent this man to his death.. hope your happy.

Re:Murderers

[Ziviyr]

I'm proud to have downloaded it, just to delete it afterwards.

Re:Murderers

[Grey Ninja]

Oh, we are. I'll have you know that 6 of those downloads were from me.

Re:Murderers

[Anonymous Coward]

I helped to kill a man using a small shell script.

Re:Murderers

[Grey Ninja]

I was considering doing that. But I decided not to in the end, as I had other downloads going, and I figured that other people would most likely be helping do their part as well. ;) (but someone came over later on with his laptop and downloaded it twice more)

Re:Murderers

[Anonymous Coward]

Not murder. Assisted suicide. :P

Re:Murderers

[bluGill]

Hey, don't blame me, I use konqueror.

Re:Murderers

[nacturation]

hope your happy.

For the last time, hope is *not* my happy.

one timer

[dhuv]

When will these people realize that you can only make these kinds of statements once. If you cannot follow through, the next time you make a statement like this, no one will care.

Re:one timer

[erikharrison]

Well, it worked this time.

Once is better than never.

Re:one timer

[iggymanz]

hohoho! You've never listened to CEOs give corporate shareholder's conference calls, do you? As the song goes, "tell me lies, tell me sweet little lies.."

Re:one timer

[Anonymous Coward]

And when will people realize that this is just a joke they came up with? Seriously, I have never seen a bigger gathering of people who have no sense of humor.

He better watch out for the dupes, though

[Novacat19]

Those suckers will eat you alive.

A Bet for all of you...

[waldoiverson]

if the ISS lands on him as he swims, I will give you all a Taco Bell taco.

Re:A Bet for all of you...

[dutt]

you don't have that much money

Hahaha!

[Anonymous Coward]

ROFL! These Opera guys are awesome, typical insane north Europeans! :P

We need more crazy people like this :D

This quote cracked me up:
"I take this challenge very seriously, but after three laps at Bislett Bad on Saturday I realized, as I was heaving like a whale, that I should probably have started the training a little bit earlier," says a slightly nervous Jon S. von Tetzchner. "I am hoping that my extra pounds of excess body fat will create enough buoyancy to keep me afloat and insulation to keep me warm."

But it got me thinking...

"Slashdot Followup - More proof that obese nerds are not as unhealthy as previously thought!"

I helped!

[CypherXero]

Well, I'm glad I could help out.

wetsuits drysuits

[petermgreen]

i could be mistaken but i think for official channel attempts even wetsuits are not permitted let alone drysuits.

i'd imagine a drysuit would deal with most of those issues though it may have problems of its own (boyancy springs to mind)

a wetsuit would alleviate the cold problem you mention but some of the others may still be issues.

Re:wetsuits drysuits

[harrkev]

If *I* were attempting this stupid stunt, I would consider bouyancy to be a bonus. Being above the water is better than being below it.

And drysuits are a lot warmer than wetsuits. Pro divers who have to work in arctic water use a drysuit. And they know a LOT more about diving that I do.

Re:wetsuits drysuits

[step]

channel attempts are very short compared to a transatlantic swim. it's over in a few hours, whereas you're looking at several weeks in this case.
things to keep in mind:

• traditional wetsuits, and especially drysuits are made for diving, not swimming. they are too stiff to swim for more than a few minutes (read: extra effort going nowhere) and cause abrasions / chafing in lots of places (neck and shoulders especially). there are suits made especially for swimming (try Quintana Roo or Ironman Wetsuits), but von Tetzchner is wearing a diving suit.
• you can't stock enough supplies for two people in a rubber inflatable.
• sharks. you'd probably want to swim in a shark cage.
• currents. unless you were totally insane, you'd rather swim with the currents than against them.

by the way, here's a guy who actually did it.

Re:wetsuits drysuits

[Anonymous Coward]

sharks. you'd probably want to swim in a shark cage.

Actually you won't have such a problem this far north. Sure, there are sharks, but they're not agressive and/or very small. Another thing to keep in mind is the depth theese sharks live on which make carrying a shark cage not only unpractical, but also uneccessary.

Sharks...

[GroeFaZ]

with LASERs on their heads...

PR Manager???

[notherenow]

Jon is assisted by Opera's PR manager who will be rowing alongside the adventurous CEO in the company inflatable raft on the trip across the Atlantic as an act of guilt after making the CEO's statement public.

The funniest thing about this is that the company even has an inflatable raft!

Beware of...

[dbleoslow]

Hypothermia http://www.threebrain.com/songs/hypo.html

modified headline

[v1]

Opera CEO Prepares to SINK in stupid publicity stunt.

As if he has a chance of making it...

RTFA! Its a joke!

[Anonymous Coward]

Read the press release!
Jeez. It's a joke.
He's not really going to do it; he's figuring out a way to honorably get out of it.

Re:RTFA! Its a joke!

[AviLazar]

He already has:

I blatantly admit that my promise was based more on joy and enthusiasm than my swimming abilities and physical health, I will do my very best to keep it

Re:RTFA! Its a joke!

[Anonymous Coward]

Ok, time to construct downloader bot... ;P

Re:RTFA! Its a joke!

[Anonymous Coward]

Hey, I clicked on the "agree" button in the EULA. He has to do it, :-)

Cruise

[gtog]

I would recommend von Tetzchner to take a cruise from Norway to the U.S.A. and spend his time swimming in the cruise ship's swimming pool.

Headline should read

[Microsift]

"Browser company seeks new CEO"

Re:Headline should read

[cobrabyte]

I second the revision request.

Or, we could wait a few weeks and see it in all its glory without our meddling fingers.

Seriously, he hasn't got a prayer.

-c

Don't worry, I'll save you.

[Ride-My-Rocket]

Since I don't want this nice gentleman to die horrible water-y death, I will abstain from downloading Opera.

Re:Don't worry, I'll save you.

[arashi no garou]

Since I don't want this nice gentleman to die horrible water-y death, I will abstain from downloading Opera.

Ummm...dude, I think you're a bit too late.

Re:Don't worry, I'll save you.

[Ride-My-Rocket]

Why not me, Lord? WHY!!?

On a serious note, though -- serves me right for not RTFA'ing. :)

Ok....

[Capt James McCarthy]

He'll swim in a pool on a cruise ship...

Re:Two (other) Words of Advice

[mobiGeek]

Don't doit.

( or maybe "dont doit" for those nerds who will attempt to point out that don't is not a single word... )

Something tells me..

[phuturephunk]

That he should wait until spring..Ya'no, because that whole North sea leg (not to mention the stretch in the north Atlantic) would be somewhat chilly..to say the least.

Re:Something tells me..

[bluGill]

He had better start training now. Something like 2 hours/day in the pool, and one day a week make that 8. (But he should have a professional design the training program, not someone like me who doesn't know how to design such a thing)

And he needs to spend a few hours a day getting supplies planned. He will want to eat along the way. I presume that row-boat will hold a few days supplies, and every few days someone will come along (how?) to give them more.

Considering the length of the trip he needs to leave as soon as he can safely swim or it will be winter when he arrives, and that may not be any easier. Though I don't know ocean temperatures.

I hope he makes it!

Re:Something tells me..

[ckaminski]

If he swam 6-8 hours a day, and the rest of the day slept and rowed across the Atlantic, I personally would consider his bet fulfilled. Man's got to sleep sometime, and the Gulf Stream is going to lose him every mile he fights for.

Hell, if he started from Cape Cod, he could FLOAT across in a couple months given enough food and hot water.

Re:Something tells me..

[RaffiRai]

The ocean sans gulf stream wouldn't feel the warmth of spring until mid Summer, at the earliest.

Nice...

[WidescreenFreak]

The Princess Bride quotes with a Monty Python sig. That's the kind of humor that I needed on a dreary, Monday morning. :)

But you would have known that I would have responded to your post, so I clearly cannot mod the comment in front of me.

Re:Nice...

[Anonymous Coward]

What the hell is with these moderators who use shit like "Overrated"? The parent post was funny. Get over it. Looks like Slashdot needs to have a requirement of its moderators to have a fucking sense of humor before granting moderator status.

Re:Nice...

[mav[LAG]]

You're just stalling now...

Re:Nice...

[WidescreenFreak]

You'd like to think that, wouldn't you?!

Re:Nice...

[Deliveranc3]

It all depends on whether he's from Australia.

Re:Nice...

[itwerx]

I have heard a rumor (unconfirmed) that "overrated" and "underrated" moderations don't get meta-moderated.

Re:Nice...

[Anonymous Coward]

I do believe that you're correct. I metamoderate once or twice a day (when I can) and I don't remember seeing the ability to metamoderate those two options.

Re:Nice...

[Anonymous Coward]

You're just trying to trick me into giving something away.

Re:Nice...

[WidescreenFreak]

It has worked! You've given everything away!

like water skiing. . . except without skis.

[AcidLacedPenguiN]

swim the atlantic? more like tied to the back of a boat. . .

Going on public record...

[BMonger]

In the case of "Opera Downloaders being charged for the murder of Opera's CEO" I would just like to state on record that I did not download Opera.

Re:Going on public record...

[AviLazar]

Thanks to the generous works of the RIAA/MPAA and their technological break-throughs we can now track your downloads. We know you did it, oh and the RIAA/MPAA wants their music/movie downloads back. You will be charged with a few crimes you damned terrorist.

i did a bad thing

[Anonymous Coward]

Did anyone else download then immediately delete (or download to /dev/null) Opera just to see if the CEO would do it?

Another option...

[Senor_Programmer]

Training class photo. These 60's hipsters know how to 'do the swim'.

Opera CEO nee Junior High Principal

[PDHoss]

Remember your dorky Junior High principal who would shave his head or kiss a pig or agree to get a pie in the face if the school met its fundraising goals on $1 candy bars because that would inspire you?

Yeah... that guy evidently has a new title. CEO.

PDHoss

It will take a while....

[Anonymous Coward]

Let's assume it's 1/4 around the world, then
it's about 10 000 km. With speed a of 1 m/s,
it would take him 10 000 000 s of swimming time
to reach America. That's 2778 hours, and if he puts
in 8 hours a day, that's about 350 days, almost a
year.

I wonder if he'll be home in time for the next
release?

Yes!

[goldenratiophi]

I wonder if repededly downloading Opera on my computers helped much...

Re:Yes!

[Nick of NSTime]

repededly

You have taken /. spelling to a whole new level.

Downloading kills

[9mm Censor]

Not only does it rob artists and actors of their well deserved money, but now it drowns people as well.

Unless of course he is just going to swim during the day, and at night sleep on a boat.

Re:Downloading kills

[AviLazar]

Unless of course he is just going to swim during the day, and at night sleep on a boat

I would accept this.

Not only does it rob artists and actors of their well deserved money, but now it drowns people as well.

Another reason to stop ALL downloads no matter how innocent the users claim it need be. Also stop that damn Hyper Text Terminal Protocal thingy - the biggest sinner of them all.

Re:Downloading kills

[Gamzarme]

So, I guess we're all going to be tought a lesson when the headlines read: DOWNLOADING KILLS MORE THAN JUST SERVERS.

Well, one last thing. I'm guessing poor Opera (the CEO in particular) is wishing the opposite was true: DOWNLOADING COUNT STOPS AT 999,999 AFTER SERVER DIES.

Related TV geek test.

[KipCas]

"...And she'd have made it too, if she hadn't been wearing her lucky ham."

If any of you get that I'll be shocked.
Shocked and sad.

Re:Related TV geek test.

[Anonymous Coward]

Poor Tim Conway's wife..

Re:Related TV geek test.

[Chrispy1000000 the 2]

I love that show you quote in your sig.

Re:Related TV geek test.

[Anonymous Coward]

Carol Burnett show baby!

Re:Related TV geek test.

[jcuffe]

Damn those sharks!

For REAL adventure see THIS...

[i_want_you_to_throw_]

Steven Newman's site theworldwalker.com. He is listed as the first man to WALK around the world. It took him 4 years and his book "Worldwalk" is a GREAT read (Order it and he'll autograph it and send it back to you).

He wrote a series of letters that were sent back and published in newspapers and all of them are being republished in their entirety on his web site right now.

Ironically he also ended up having a Japanese businessman to name a whole line of sporting goods after him.

I've seen this before!

[PenchantToLurk]

About two years ago at a company I no longer work at (my choice), after about 5 rounds of layoffs, the CEO calls a meeting, and declares that it is once again time for a RIF. Odd declaration, as this was usually done in private waves on friday afternoon.

He then procees to tell us that the next likely cantidate for reduction was *himself*. Bold, and we respected him for it.

It seems this Opera CEO has now also determined the greatest contribution he could make to the team!

Just curious...

[Anonymous Coward]

How many of you that downloaded Opera actually installed it? I know I didn't... :)

Border Patrol

[Anonymous Coward]

And whats to stop the coast guard from picking him up at the border? Hope his passport doesn't get wet/lost/sink.

Opera is hype, ant their boss is drowning

[ViaD]

It's really too easy to get a media hype these days... Who cares to download software with big ad banners? And they don't have an ad blocker :( The guy who wrote that for them, got sued for it. Its only a mater of time before Opera and Tetzchner drowns.

Re:Opera is hype, ant their boss is drowning

[hkmwbz]

"Who cares to download software with big ad banners?"

Apparently, over a million in four days. On the other hand, the Google ads are nothing but a tiny strip across the top of the screen. You won't even notice them.

"And they don't have an ad blocker :( The guy who wrote that for them, got sued for it."

And who, exactly, sued him, eh? Are you insinuating that Opera sued someone for creating an ad blocker? What a load of crap.

If this were the case, then how, pray tell, are these guys getting away with creating ad blockers for Opera?

"Its only a mater of time before Opera and Tetzchner drowns."

He's floating! And Opera has been around for ten years. It isn't going anywhere any time soon, especially not with the incredible success that is the Opera 8.0 launch.

Sorry, I know... Don't feed the trolls... But if one lets the trolls post without anyone correcting them, people might believe their drivel.

Re:Opera is hype, ant their boss is drowning

[ViaD]

"Who cares to download software with big ad banners?" Apparently, over a million in four days. - You really trust that? On the other hand, the Google ads are nothing but a tiny strip across the top of the screen. You won't even notice them. That is so stupid to say. That google bar is logging where you surf, and lauch directed commericials too you. Not good. And when you say "won't even notice them" You are a Troll. "And they don't have an ad blocker :( The guy who wrote that for them, got sued for it." And who, exactly, sued him, eh? Are you insinuating that Opera sued someone for creating an ad blocker? What a load of crap. I'm not 'insinuating', I'm telling you. How did Opera get so rich? They sued. And now, when they are rich, they got to guard their commercial interests, and propritary code. We'll see what happens... If this were the case, then how, pray tell, are these guys getting away with creating ad blockers for Opera? -Please man, do you really think Opera is controlling all the web? Opera is a browser... And by the way, you got to have good technical insight to install that adblocker. The guide even assume that you use windows. "Its only a mater of time before Opera and Tetzchner drowns." He's floating! And Opera has been around for ten years. It isn't going anywhere any time soon, especially not with the incredible success that is the Opera 8.0 launch. You must be naive? Is that the case? Your naivistic anger made you write this repply? And Tetzhnes did not drow, because he floated on his belly fat. He reached to hundret meters, before they picked him up. Sorry, I know... Don't feed the trolls... But if one lets the trolls post without anyone correcting them, people might believe their drivel. From my point of view, you are the commercial infected troll.

Re:Opera is hype, ant their boss is drowning

[ViaD]

"Who cares to download software with big ad banners?"

Apparently, over a million in four days.
- You really trust that?On the other hand, the Google ads are nothing but a tiny strip across the top of the screen. You won't even notice them.

-That is so stupid to say. That google bar is logging where you surf, and lauch directed commericials too you. Not good. And when you say
"won't even notice them" You are a Troll.

"And they don't have an ad blocker :( The guy who wrote that for them, got sued for it."

And who, exactly, sued him, eh? Are you insinuating that Opera sued someone for creating an ad blocker? What a load of crap.

-I'm not 'insinuating', I'm telling you. How did Opera get so rich? They sued. And now, when they are rich, they got to guard their commercial interests, and propritary code. We'll see what happens...

If this were the case, then how, pray tell, are these guys getting away with creating ad blockers for Opera?

-Please man, do you really think Opera is controlling all the web? Opera is a browser...
And by the way, you got to have good technical insight to install that adblocker. The guide even assume that you use windows.

"Its only a mater of time before Opera and Tetzchner drowns."

He's floating! And Opera has been around for ten years. It isn't going anywhere any time soon, especially not with the incredible success that is the Opera 8.0 launch.

You must be naive? Is that the case? Your naivistic anger made you write this repply?

And Tetzhnes did not drow, because he floated on his belly fat. He reached to hundret meters, before they picked him up.

Sorry, I know... Don't feed the trolls... But if one lets the trolls post without anyone correcting them, people might believe their drivel.

From my point of view, you are the commercial infected troll.

Re:Opera is hype, ant their boss is drowning

[hkmwbz]

"Apparently, over a million in four days. - You really trust that?"

I have no reason not to. Opera is known to be a good company.

That google bar is logging where you surf"

Actually, all it does is to send relevant ads. It would be illegal for Google to gather data about you, as it's against the privacy policy, and a breach of contract between Opera and Google.

Besides, it's optional, and not even enabled by default. You are given clear instructions on what it does before you yourself turn them on.

"And when you say "won't even notice them" You are a Troll."

Actually, no. I am simply telling the truth, as opposed to your FUD and lies.

"I'm not 'insinuating', I'm telling you. How did Opera get so rich? They sued."

Uh, for your information, since you clearly are completely ignorant: Opera Software is a tiny company. Rich? What is that supposed to mean? And who did they sue? Do you even have a single shred of evidence to support this ridiculous and obviously false claim?

"And now, when they are rich, they got to guard their commercial interests, and propritary code. We'll see what happens..."

How about you try to inform yourself before spewing out FUD and lies? Read Opera Software's position on software patents yourself, and stop being silly. You can read about how they want a patent-free web too.

Come now, little boy, give me some specific examples where Opera has sued someone for ad blocking or software patents.

"Please man, do you really think Opera is controlling all the web? Opera is a browser..."

You are not making sense. You claimed that Opera sued someone for creating an ad blocker for Opera. I pointed out that lots of people have created ad blockers for Opera, and they are not being sued.

"You must be naive? Is that the case? Your naivistic anger made you write this repply?"

I am naive because I point out simple facts that counter your brainwashed FUD?

"And Tetzhnes did not drow, because he floated on his belly fat. He reached to hundret meters, before they picked him up."

Your point being?

"From my point of view, you are the commercial infected troll."

Did you know that the FSF encourages open-source vendors to sell software? That open-source is in no way the opposite of commercial? That companies like Red Hat, Novell, IBM, and so on, are commercial entities building their business on Linux?

Seriously, you are simply delusional. I hope for your sake that you are trolling, but I'm beginning to think that you actually are this stupid.

How old are you?

Re:Opera is hype, ant their boss is drowning

[ViaD]

To be short. Opera sued M$ for fucking up competition. They won, and cashed in $ 80 mill. Probably, in the settlement agreement, they both agreed to shut their mouth... Cause no newspapers could state that it was microsoft, they only insinuated... One thing is for sure, Opera cashed in $ 80 mill from a lawsuit in 2004.

And what to do, if some really annoying adds beat the little home made ad blocker? And you really need to change the source code? I'm 100% sure Opera won't help you.

You must understand tha the Opera bussiness model is based on the view of commercial interests(only?).

I run Knoppix and Firefox, and are very happy with that. I wrote the \. article in anger over the overdimentioned hype of Opera.

Re:Opera is hype, ant their boss is drowning

[hkmwbz]

"To be short. Opera sued M$ for fucking up competition. They won, and cashed in $ 80 mill. Probably, in the settlement agreement, they both agreed to shut their mouth... Cause no newspapers could state that it was microsoft, they only insinuated... One thing is for sure, Opera cashed in $ 80 mill from a lawsuit in 2004."

There was no lawsuit. Opera got money from someone for something, but there was no lawsuit. But where is this lawsuit against someone who created an ad blocker for Opera?

"And what to do, if some really annoying adds beat the little home made ad blocker? And you really need to change the source code? I'm 100% sure Opera won't help you."

Are you serious, or are you pulling my leg? Opera doesn't have a built-in ad blocker. The bloody point is that there are several ways to block ads with Opera, most of which are third party solutions. Lots of them exist even though you claim that Opera sued people who created an ad blocker for Opera.

"You must understand tha the Opera bussiness model is based on the view of commercial interests(only?)."

Actually, no. If that were the case, then the founders would have left ages ago, with millions in their pockets. Opera is a tiny company with a vision.

"I run Knoppix and Firefox, and are very happy with that. I wrote the \. article in anger over the overdimentioned hype of Opera."

Overdimentioned Opera hype?! What about the overdimentioned Firefox hype?

Now, quit slithering away:

Come now, little boy, give me some specific examples where Opera has sued someone for ad blocking or software patents.

Let's hope

[Anonymous Coward]

that someone at Microsoft will make similar promise regarding ie7, except that they will dive downwards towards the bottom of the ocean ... and maybe stay there :)

Re:You must be European.

[Anonymous Coward]

I like woke up abnd had a fucking hell of a time shitting last night. I didn't know that I spawned you!

Those that d/l'ed

[AviLazar]

Those of you that helped kill this man will have to serve time in jail. It will be calculated based on the number of times you downloaded the software divided by 1 million calculated based on the yars for this premeditated murder.

Re: Those that d/l'ed

[FirienFirien]

So... considering the extreme of an 80 year sentence ("life"? That close enough?) even though he said it himself (this might be more considered assisted suicide, but we're looking at the maths here).

Per copy downloaded: 80 years divided by one million. Considering there's only around 700000 *hours* in 80 years, we're looking at maybe 40 minutes' time for each of the downloaders by your formula! Well, shucks.

(24*365.25*80 = 701280)

I like the cruise line plans though. Staying in a cruise pool for the time it takes to cross the atlantic is still a significant time to exert yourself for. If he swapped in and out of the inflatable dinghy with his PR, so long as there was at least one of them in the water at a time, that'd be a pretty appreciable match up to his words.

Re: Those that d/l'ed

[mattyrobinson69]

by that logic all the people that sponsored the pissing marathon runner would be fined (weeingInPublic/(herSponsorship * theirContribution))

Re: Those that d/l'ed

[Abel29A]

I just have to nitpick on your calculations there :) The maximum prison sentence in Norway(where I guess this crime would be deemed to have been commited) is 21 years imprisonment.

Re: Those that d/l'ed

[AviLazar]

Assuming they knew he would do that, yes, by that logic it would.

Re: Those that d/l'ed

[Anonymous Coward]

wtf? pissing marathon runner? link please!!! :)

I think it won't take that long because...

[CrazyDwarf]

If it were me, I'd get in a cruise ship, spend the whole time swimming in the pool. Then I could say I "swam" across the atlantic.

Pictures are up

[nandhp]

http://opera.com/swim/ - Pictures have been posted. Next update at at 10:00 am CET (4AM EDT)

PR and visibility

[phorm]

Yes and no. Most companies would hope that some downloads lead to sales, or increased popularity will lead to improved company image. The "Atlantic Swim" also harness a lot of publicity itself, making the company and browser, etc more visible.

The company inflatable raft !!!

[AT-SkyWalker]

So his VP of marketing (or whoever he is) is crossing with him in the "Company's inflatable raft " !!!!!!!!

Yeah right, get me one of them hot chocoloate with you please !!!

They're planning on a loooong trip

[hugesmile]

From TFA:

The next update on the remarkable and heroic journey will be available here on Tuesday, April 25, at 10:00 am CET (04:00 am EST).

Tuesday April 25 is a year from today!

Re:They're planning on a loooong trip

[dantheman82]

Must have been a typo. It's now been updated to Tuesday, April 26...

Re:They're planning on a loooong trip

[vDave420]

The next update on the remarkable and heroic journey will be available here on Tuesday, April 25, at 10:00 am CET (04:00 am EST).

Tuesday April 25 is a year from today!

Yeah, I noticed that as well the first time I read through the article.

However, when I went to go post this, I noticed your post. When I double checked the article, to be sure that we weren't mistaken, here is what it had been updated to:

The next update on the remarkable and heroic journey will be available here on Tuesday, April 26, at 10:00 am CET (04:00 am EST).

Maybe they read your comment and noticed the typo? Perhaps he will try after all? Ha!

-dave-

Hmmmm

[Danathar]

If you constantly were swimming in a pool on a luxury cruise ship...if the cruise ship made it to the U.S. would that qualify as "Swimming to the U.S."

Easy to explain--bad google seach results

[FerretFrottage]

While testing the Opera browser he was searching google for the term "swimming across atlantic ocean" and hit the "I'm Feeling Lucky" button.

Prediction

[Spy der Mann]

There'll be a boat next to him. Around the 5th km, he'll give up, and say: "Well, at least I tried". Then he'll become an Icon of "you never know until you try", and a whole marketing campaign will rise from this.

Re:Prediction

[Speare]

You know what they say about operas... It ain't over till the fat lady swims.

Re:Prediction

[Anonymous Coward]

"There'll be a boat next to him. Around the 5th km, he'll give up, and say: "Well, at least I tried". Then he'll become an Icon of "you never know until you try", and a whole marketing campaign will rise from this."

No, *really*?

Well thank /. for marking your contribution as Score:4, Insightful, because no one else could have possibly guessed that.

While we're at it, an Ironman Triathlon swim section is only 3.8km. Swimming is hard. Jon isn't going to come close to 5km. Hell, his arms probably wouldn't hold out to be towed that far.

I give him full points for guts and humour in the glare of the camera, and hope he doesn't cramp and swallow too much water before they can drag him into the zodiac.

Re:Prediction

[Eminence]

• While we're at it, an Ironman Triathlon swim section is only 3.8km. Swimming is hard. Jon isn't going to come close to 5km.

Now, inevitably, the betting will start... how long would he swim? 5 km pays 3:1. :-)

Ingenious

[Anonymous Coward]

First tell them you'll swim across the Atlantic, and then for the rest who didn't download it the first time, put it in a format that only Opera will use so that the curiousity of how his plan works will get the better of them and they'll download Opera too!

Re:Ingenious

[nicomen]

Would've been kind of clever indeed.

- If it hadn't been that SVG is already supported with some half-ready implementations in Mozilla/Phoenix/Firebird/Firefox, as a custom plugin in Konqueror, and the Adobe plugins available for Netscape 4 plugin compatible browsers - in addition to Opera 8's built-in implementation of course ;)

food

[Anonymous Coward]

they don't have any food.

Norway, Maine

[Xian97]

Maybe he will try to swim across Pennesseewassee Lake in Norway, Maine to keep his promise of swimming from Norway to the US.

While undoubtably a publicity stunt, it's nice to hear that Opera 8 had 1,000,000 downloads. I have been a fan of it for years and use it as my primary browser. Although it is not Open Source they support more Operating Systems than any other browser - I even remember running a BeOS version years ago.

Re:Norway, Maine

[Anonymous Coward]

Although it is not Open Source they support more Operating Systems than any other browser

You sure about that? Mozilla runs on an awfully large number of operating systems as well. Including many "not exactly mainstream desktop OS" systems like OS/2, HP/UX, Solaris, AIX, etc. I think there's even a Mozilla for BeoS as well.

In related news...

[Kippesoep]

Opera is looking to hire a new Chief Executive Officer as they seem to suspect being without one soon.

cruise ship pool?

[JDizzy]

Does swimming in the literal, or technical sense, apply to bording a cruise ship, and staying immersed in liquid for the entire venture?

Just currious.
*smirk*

Re:cruise ship pool?

[Yaotzin]

I wouldn't want to do any of those, the water in the Atlantic is pretty damn cold.

Cruise ship...

[MadCow42]

I was thinking a nice trans-atlantic cruise would be more realistic.

I'm sure he can spend 7 days in the swimming pool, maybe with the "support raft" by his side too.

MadCow.

It doesn't matter

[vwjeff]

Given Opera's business model, shouldn't he have tied this stunt to sales rather than downloads?

If he does go through with this stunt, the media will report on it.

Cayuga Lake (Upstate NY)

[TamMan2000]

Last summer some local politician swam the length of Lake Cayuga for a charity fund raiser of some kind.

As I recall it took him about 24 hours, and the lake is ~45 miles long...

I realize the Atlantic is quite large, but I am having difficulty in determining precisely how long the swim would be. Anyone have an answer?

Re:Cayuga Lake (Upstate NY)

[fredrik70]

IIRC the old record for swimming the atlantic is about 80 days - yes they had breaks for rest, food etc..

Why cant some other CEOs try it

[grahamsz]

I'd far rather see some other CEO's of unnamed companies risk their lives swimming the atlantic.

Re:Why cant some other CEOs try it

[NoMoreNicksLeft]

I'd rather see the Director for IE development swim to the bottom of the atlantic.

Not a dupe!!

[kajoob]

This isn't a dupe . The first article was about swimming across, this article is about swimming back.

In other news...

[Hubertus_BigenD]

...Opera will begin accepting aplications for new ceo.'s to replace the late Jon S. von Tetzchner.

Re:Two (other) Words of Advice

[Deinhard]

I don't understand this post. A "doit" is a small Dutch coin (about a half farthing).

Is this a reference to trying to make money off the publicity?

If he doesn't do it...

[BinBoy]

...everyone should upload the browser back to the web site.

Are you sure?

[hawk]

My memory on that seems a bit rusty . . .

:)

hawk

Re:Are you sure?

[Akoma The Immortal]

I've found that: Enjoy!!

Re:Are you sure?

[hawk]

*whoosh*

:)

hawk

Bitter Ex-Wife

[spineboy]

A little known fact is that his bitter ex-wife was personally responsible for downloading over 300,000 copies of the program, stating " I hope he frezzes his nubbins off!"

A few problems...

[mikvo]

I few possible problems I haven't seen mentioned yet:

1. His visa gets eaten by fish during his swim and Homeland Security turns him back before being allowed to enter the USA.

2. Microsoft has a patent for "A method of moving ones arms and legs so as to propel him or herself through water" and all profits for Opera as a result of such an elaborate marketing stunt are paid to Microsoft in a settlement.

Submitted gets headline WRONG

[greenhide]

Hey people, let's do a quick check, shall we:

curl http://www.opera.com/pressreleases/en/2005/04/21/| grep Atlantic

Huh, that's funny. No mention of the Atlantic there.

This is one of those times where's it's crucial to read the article. The headline should read,

"Opera CEO Prepares to Swim from Norway to the United States"

The story should reflect same.

Look above for the half-dozen odd people who have figured it out.

And yes, for all of you who pointed out how difficult it would be to swim across the Atlantic Ocean -- yes, you're right.

Re:Submitted gets headline WRONG

[Anonymous Coward]

Hey people, let's do a quick check, shall we: [...] Huh, that's funny. No mention of the Atlantic there.

Except that isn't the link currently provided; this one, complete with references to that "atlantic" thing of which you speak, is:

lynx -dump http://www.opera.com/swim/|grep -i -B 1 atlantic

The weather in Oslo was pleasantly mild as Jon S. von Tetzchner prepared for his transatlantic swim this morning. After struggling

--

adventurous CEO in the company inflatable raft on the trip across the
Atlantic as an act of guilt after making the CEO's statement public.

Re:Submitted gets headline WRONG

[timmyf2371]

This is one of those times where's it's crucial to read the article.

Indeed it is, and perhaps next time you will do a better job of it.

Taken directly from the linked article:

Jon is assisted by Opera's PR manager who will be rowing alongside the adventurous CEO in the company inflatable raft on the trip across the Atlantic as an act of guilt after making the CEO's statement public.

Huh, that's funny. There is a mention of the Atlantic there. Now don't get me wrong I don't suspect he will actually do it or complete it, but I merely get the feeling you should think twice before you start posting such rubbish.

four words...

[CrazyTalk]

He's a dead man. He admits he's not even a swimmer! Maybe he should try a few laps around the pool first before he attempts to cross the freaking OCEAN?

Beowolf = My Dad???

[lbmouse]

...uphill both ways, in 6th of snow, and with shoes made out of gophers.

notch me up as another one

[Anonymous Coward]

I saw the story here and downloaded opera, I have no intention of installing opera what so ever.
How many others here did the same and can we setup a "Bill Gates" will eat his shoe if IE7 get 1 million downloads ? LOL

At least he's giving himself lots of time....

[Anonymous Coward]

"The next update on the remarkable and heroic journey will be available here on Tuesday, April 25, at 10:00 am CET (04:00 am EST)."

Tuesday April 25? I make that the year 2006 or perhaps 2017.

And after he floats off in the distance...

[Anonymous Coward]

The Opera luxury cruiser picks the respected CEO up and drops him a few miles from his mothers house where he pretends to be exhausted. Next, the Opera jet picks up the CEO and he parachutes onto the coast of North America.

This is what is going to happend. How stupid can anyone be to believe otherwise?

Hah! The joke's on him!

[fitten]

I made a script that downloaded it 999,999 times!

Who cares?

[christowang]

When did software companies need resort to wacky radio bits to sell its product?

I heard if Sirrus gets a million subscribers Howard Stern is actually going to start doing a radio show again. WOOF WOOF!

Respect

[flurdy]

It may have been an off the cuff remark, that the PR department exploited.

But fair play to the man, he is giving it a go.
(Ok, he is never going to swim the whole way)

Having just read "Situation report #2", he is in the water and swimming a bit anyway.

Promotional Consideration paid for by Opera Corp.

[Anonymous Coward]

so fucking what?

there's nothing to see here folks, just a shameless shill splattered on the sidewalk. slashdot has now officially become a mouthpiece for anyone who can, truthfully or not, claim to have ANY connection to anti-microsoft 'tudes... even if it's just another commercial software company.

move along. move along.

My favourite bit ...

[sbowles]

... is the picture of the PR guy rowing the little dingy. ;^)

It IS a loooong trip

[2short]

If he were actually going to do the swim, and we assume he plans to do it by swiming at an elite-endurance-swimmer pace 12 hour a day, a year is about how long it would take. Which is to say, the put the date of the update 24 days too late.

Re:1st post

[after fallout]

exactly how could you have a first post that is in reply to a post?

Get Opera 8 for free!

[Anonymous Coward]

You can get Opera 8 for free if you sign up at their my.opera.com site and get 250 referral clicks. :) Not bad!

Sharks?

[knigitz]

Aren't there like..sharks in the ocean?

Feeling a bit bad about this...

[sean23007]

I for one did my part to do this poor guy in, because when I saw that he'd promised to do this, I downloaded Opera 8 and installed it. After all, if he thought it was that good, maybe there was something to it. It was indeed very fast, but the lack of extensions (like AdBlock and ForecastFox) made it not quite as enjoyable a browsing experience, and (more importantly) there was a process running constantly called something like 'operamotifwrapper' that took up over 7% of my processor at all times while Opera was running. And this is on a 2.8 GHz machine! That's a lot of cycles it needs just to idle. I don't like my laptop to overheat, so I try to minimize my utilized clock cycles ... and thus switched back to Firefox. I don't know if the Windows version is better, but it seems the Linux version needs a bit more work before I'd use it.

Sorry guy! Didn't mean to help kill you.

How about treading water in the gulf stream?

[samuel4242]

It wouldn't be anywhere as strenuous as actually swimming. And if you wear a wetsuit, you can pretty much bob along. He could spend about 7-8 hours a day floating in the water and then hop on the boat to do some work. They could even hook up a video conference link so he could talk to employees and clients.

If I had business to do with Opera, I would jump at that video conference. That would be one that I wouldn't delegate to an underling.

More operating systems than what, IE?

[adb]

I tried to install Opera on this here Debian Opteron, but it won't run: I'm using 64-bit shared libraries, and they haven't compiled a version for x86-64 Linux (or anything, for that matter) yet.

Meanwhile, since Firefox has publicly available, portable source code, the nice people at Debian built it for me and packaged it neatly and I've been using it happily on this machine since I bought it last summer.

Sharks

[Anonymous Coward]

What about sharks? Those fuckers get hungry.

In soviet Russia...

[theufo]

Your corpse makes the lifejacket float.

My Resume

[eander315]

Dear Opera,

After viewing the pictures on your website, I would like to apply for the newly opened positions of CEO and PR Manager at your company. I feel I have the necessary qualifications, such as "not-drowned" and "not-reported-lost-in-the-northern-Atlantic".

Thank you for your time and consideration.

Here's how ...

[scharkalvin]

He'll be in the pool on the QM2 all the way....

Re:Here's how ...

[Anonymous Coward]

What fucking idiot modded this "insightful"? There have been at least two dozen other comments about yacht/cruise ship swimming pools.

not sure about that

[jadedseraph]

I have been compeitively swimming for about 15 years (swam in elementary school, high school, college, still do it) and if you're talking about what constitutes a warm pool vs. a cold pool, I think you are off on the temperatures. I swam distance all through high school and college (which is the most like his across the atlantic thing) and you want the temperature right around 78-80 farhenheit(about 26 celsius). Anything lower and you can't keep your body temperature regulated (which is something you learn in the first couple of practices outside in the summer). 78-80 sounds high, but for some reason being in water saps the heat out of you much more quickly than air will. I used to know the reason, but I honestly forgot it sometime back in high school. Probably something to do with density and such.

Re:not sure about that

[gardyloo]

for some reason being in water saps the heat out of you much more quickly than air will.

That's part of one of the reasons, but there are others a bit more important:

The most important reason is the huge heat capacity of water: you can shove a little bit of heat into a given mass of air, and it'll warm up a huge amount, very quickly, to the point that it's often very very near the temperature of whatever it's in contact with (and no more heat, on average, will flow into it once it's at the same temperature as the heretofore warmer thing). However, if you do the same thing with the same mass of water, the water will just keep sucking more and more heat from whatever is warmer than it, as it will take much longer to heat up (generally).

The density argument is *somewhat* applicable, because it means that a given patch of skin will be in contact with a lot more water than it will with air, and so there's better thermal conductivity away from that patch of skin. However, that's the only thing I can see which would connect density to this issue -- the specific heat capacity of gold (at 19.3 times as dense as water) is only about 3% of that of water. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Specific_heat_capacit y

Re:not sure about that

[Tim C]

Water conducts heat more readily than air, so you lose body heat quicker in water than you do normally. That's part of the reason why a room at 20C feels more comfortable than water at 20C (eg the water in a glass of water that's been left out in a room for a while will be at room temperature, but will *feel* colder)

Re:not sure about that

[delta_avi_delta]

I'll give you a clue - you can stick your hand into an oven at 100 degrees very safely, but you can't stick your hand into a pot of boiling water :)

Re:not sure about that

[brandonfpu]

most spas are 100+ degrees. i think you got mixed up between centigrade and fahrenheit... water boils at 212F

Re:not sure about that

[snorklewacker]

most spas are 100+ degrees. i think you got mixed up between centigrade and fahrenheit... water boils at 212F/i

Even so -- I regularly stick my hand into a 450 degree oven when things need moving around in there. It ain't comfy, but I can take 20 seconds of it. I'll assume for the sake of argument that the outside air has cooled things down to a balmy 350 degrees (it hasnt, but my point will still be made)

Now stick your hand into water boiling at a "mere" 212 degrees for just 10 seconds. You've just learned a painful lesson about heat transfer.

Re:not sure about that

[It'sYerMam]

Just as clarification: Not only do you lose heat quicker to the water, but the water than transfers it away more quickly.
This means, that for a given temperature of air, and the same of water, the area directly around you will be closer to the temperature of the original substance in water than in air.

Re:not sure about that

[uhlume]

Who says he "got mixed up"? He didn't specify temperature scales, and most of the civilized world aside from us 'Merkins don't use Fahrenheit. 100 degrees Celsius is the boiling point of water.

Re:not sure about that

[nzkbuk]

Water conducts heat about 25 times more efficently than air.

Re:not sure about that

[Anonymous Coward]

Not much more. 104 is quite hot. Every degree you add from there makes it feel very, very hot. 107 is essentially unbearable.

Essential Eqipment

[killproc]

He should be able to make it if he remembers to wear a fricking laser attached to his head.

HOLY CRAP

[Craig_P92669]

You /.ed Google Maps! You are a god!!!

Re:HOLY CRAP

[CoffeeJedi]

given the parent of this thread, shouldn't that read:
"HOLY CARP"

Re:HOLY CRAP

[Craig_P92669]

Hats off, sir.

I wonder...

[Anonymous Coward]

I wonder how many of those downloads were like mind: download, find that it is still as painful to use as in the past, delete.

Re:Two (other) Words of Advice

[Anonymous Coward]

he was condensing "do not do it" into two (other) words of advice.

Well...

[gcantallopsr]

I only support Free Software, but if he DOES do it I will buy an Opera license when there is an stable 8.0 version for Linux/PPC :-)

Utterly Suicidal

[petrus4]

His swimming path would take him across arguably the coldest, deepest, and generally most terrifying body of water on the planet. Norway is further north than England...To a degree the man would literally be retracing the path of the Titanic.

If it wasn't for the fact that he had already begun, I would write to him and beg him in the strongest possible terms not to do this. If he wishes to die, there are much faster, less painful, and less fearful means available.

Way to go!!!!

[Anonymous Coward]

Now lay down the law for the worlds fastest time over the atlantic

60 degrees can kill you pretty quickly

[bradleyland]

For short time periods 60 degree water is fine, but when swimming trans-atlantic, you want something a bit warmer.

Temperature Fahrenheit | Exhaustion/Unconscious | Expected Survival

32.5 | <15 min. | 10 to 45 min.
32.5 - 40 | 15 - 30 min. | 39 to 90 min.
40 - 50 | 30 - 60 min. | 1 to 3 Hours
50 - 60 | 1 - 2 Hours | 1 to 6 Hours
60 -70 | 2 - 7 Hours | 2 to 40 Hours
70 -80 | 3 - 12 Hours | 3 to Indefinitely
Over 80 | Indefinitely | Indefinitely

From: http://www.walrus.com/~belov/hypothermia.html

Re:60 degrees can kill you pretty quickly

[CatMan79]

You forgot:

80-95 | Indefinitely | Indefinitely
95-105 | 2-7 Hours | 2-10 Hours
...
400-410 | 5-10 sec. | 30 to 60 sec.
etc.

Re:60 degrees can kill you pretty quickly

[Loconut1389]

400-410 would flash boil wouldn't it? Like there would be no water to swim in at that temperature and you'd be one crispy critter from the steam?

Re:60 degrees can kill you pretty quickly

[uzor]

Depends on the pressure. Crank it up to a couple atmospheres, and the water would stay.

Re:60 degrees can kill you pretty quickly

[gnuman99]

A couple for 400F? LOL

Re:60 degrees can kill you pretty quickly

[gnuman99]

How about water closer to 0F? You know, the oceans are loaded with salt and that water doesn't freeze at 0C (32F). Actually, the entire 0 of the F system was set to freezing point of water saturated with salt. Why? Because the British thought geting pure water to measure 0 degrees (ie. 0) was too difficult.

Re:60 degrees can kill you pretty quickly

[Prong_Thunder]

"...the British thought geting pure water to measure 0 degrees (ie. 0) was too difficult."
no prize for you!

Re:60 degrees can kill you pretty quickly

[uzor]

couldn't be bothered to do the math.

Re:60 degrees can kill you pretty quickly

[Anonymous Coward]

I'll always love you, Jack.

In a related story,

[notnAP]

Microsoft's Bill Gates refused repeated requests from IT professionals world wide who asked that, upon the 100,000,000th Windows infection, he take a long walk off a short pier.

it's a joke

[maxpublic]

RTFA. It's a joke.

It's amazing how many slashdotters failed to notice the "whooshing" sound over their heads after they finished the article.

Max

He'll be dead unless..

[Khyber]

A. He can combat osmosis. Being in all that salt water is going to make his body dump it's own water and take in sea water. Not good. His kidneys would not function after a while, not to mention this guy would be fairly pickled after a week or so. B. He can combat the currents. Seeing as some of these currents would pull a guy wearing two or three lifejackets under the water and keep him there, I doubt he can. C. He can stay up that whole time. Let's see. A previous post said it'd take him about.. 170 days? Jesus, you'd need some killer meth to stay up that long, plus keep you wired enough to go. D. Let's not forget those sharks that like to attack things that look like they're flailing about and helpless in the water. Oh, and don't wear any shiny objects, otherwise a barracuda might bite your balls off.

If Doogie Says so...

[sonixtwo]

Straight out of Doogie Howser, MD's personal journal: DECEMBER 9, 1989...Tonight Wanda and I said those three little words, "Let's not doit." I love you Wanda. The King of Geeks can't be wrong...2 words it is http://members.tripod.com/~DannaDo/Journals.html

Re:If Doogie Says so...

[lewp]

I remember that. Kill me now.

Re:Two (other) Words of Advice

[Anonymous Coward]

No it's not. Perhaps you're thinking of the word "duit."

100 C

[Anonymous Coward]

212 degrees Fahrenheit is equivalent to 100 degrees Celsius, you know.

high temperature water under pressure

[stfvon007]

Not nessisarly, they would just need to have the water at a really high pressure to keep it from boiling.

Re:high temperature water under pressure

[It'sYerMam]

Hmm... How high a pressure? Would it be high enough to actually injure someone in it?
Interesting thought..

Re:high temperature water under pressure

[mikael]

There was a discussion some while back from the navy guys about "the dangers of high pressure steam, gas cuts and broom handles".

Re:Two (other) Words of Advice

[Anonymous Coward]

He was speeking in English, in English it is...

Re:Two (other) Words of Advice

[fondacio]

Mod parent up. He's correct. "Doit" doesn't mean anything in Dutch.

Re:Two (other) Words of Advice

[Anonymous Coward]

Were you born this way or did you have your sense of humor surgically removed?

I....

[jrushton]

use Internet Explorer...

You insensitive clod!!!

Re:Two (other) Words of Advice

[Deinhard]

Sorry, but Doit is indeed a Dutch coin.

North Atlantic current does the "swimming" forward

[gnuman99]

They will probably swin the in North Atlantic current. It is warm and pushes you along quite fast. He could just float on the water and get to england.

Now, if they want to swin from Spain to Florida, well, that's another matter! :)

land shark

[Anonymous Coward]

hes a stupid ass bitch faggot

46 Priest LFG Uldaman

Re:North Atlantic current does the "swimming" forw

[2short]

But he actually specified he's going to swim from Norway to America by way of Greenland. i.e. against the North Atlantic current. Since said current flows slightly faster than the fastest swimmers swim, this whole disscussion is silly, because he's not actually going to do it.

Re:Two (other) Words of Advice

[the grace of R'hllor]

I'm Dutch, and have been for the past 26 years. For the past 20 years or so I've been capable of naming coins. No, it isn't.

Given that farthings have also gone right out of fashion, it might've been, once, but to say that a doit is a Dutch coin is like saying that the US is a fine colony of the British Empire.

But thanks for the old term, I like stuff like that. Never heard of it before. We do (did) have: cent, stuiver, duppie/dubbeltje, heitje/kwartje, kwartje, gulden/piek, knaak/rijksdaalder. Now, of course, we have those crappy Euro things, which have made things expensive and have about as much character as the Dutch Prime Minister.

Longest swim was...

[toonworld]

According to the guinness world records, the longest ocean swim was made by Susie Maroney in 1998. She swam from Mexico to Cuba for a distance of 197 KM (122 miles).

link: http://www.guinnessworldrecords.com/gwr5/content_p ages/record.asp?recordid=54452

I'm pretty certain that from Norway to Iceland is a bit farther than 197 KM. Swimming in the ocean is not like swimming in a calm pool. You have waves, storms, marine life and all sorts of neato things to worry about.

Obligatory old joke

[rduke15]

Nobody seems yet to have mentioned the old joke that I heard as a kid, and probably my parents too:

A boy asks:
- Daddy, is it far, America?
The father replies
- Shut up and swim.

Near, far.....

[Anonymous Coward]

Watch out for icebergs...

well, he's into doing crazy things after all...

[DrEasy]

... such as trying to grab marketshare from a Microsoft quasi-monopoly.

Great publicity

[takeya]

I suppose more people would be pleased if it was someone with Mozilla, as firefox is already better known, but imagine watching the channel 5 news (or whatever channel you watch) and seeing a short piece about the creator of a web browser swimming across the Atlantic. I'm sure a lot of people would look into it.

It's just that if it was the "creator," or one of the major developers of Mozilla, it might get more interest since more people are already open to it.

Just for the record I am an Opera user myself. Yes I paid. I have no objection to closed source etc, so long as it's good and they don't treat customers like criminals :)

Common guys... That guy tricked us...

[mynickwastaken]

He can now swim in a pool surrounded by blonde chicks while the transatlantic is doing his job.

Cake remix...

[AllOutOfGum]

... I am an Opera swimmer ... I'll swim 'till I'm all dead...

Ideal competitive swimming temperature 26C / ~78F

[KMSelf]

See here for FINA standards (international swimming governance body).

From my own experience as both a competitive swimmer and doing lifeguarding / pool maintenance (back in the day), anything over 80F is uncomfortably warm after a brief period at workout / competitive efforts. 78F is cool enough to keep you moving, but not cramped. Down as far as ~74 is tolerable, barely, if you keep moving. Anything below that and you'll be adversely affected by the cold, though yes, you can swim in temps well below that, with conditioning. Open-water swimmers compensate by wetsuits, skin coatings, or unusual metabolisms.

Because of the heat density of water, temperature bounds are pretty tight. And yes, if you are a recreational / rehabilitative swimmer, competition temps are going to be too low for you. This is bloody typical of "athletic clubs" as well (term used advisedly).

It's not uncommon to see swimmers, in the middle of winter, in overheated pools, hauled out on deck -- to cool off. Sweating doesn't do much for you when you're surrounded by water.

Death in Yellowstone

[KMSelf]

If you really want some benchmarks on that, try the book Death in Yellowstone. Among the first stories is about a man who tried rescuing his dog from a hot pool, at about 200F.

He survived. For about 24 hours.

The book details a number of other ways you can die in the woods (or waters as the case may be).

Don't Worry!

[notthe9]

Don't worry, he'll be safe. He is being accompanied by a GUY IN AN INFLATABLE RAFT. He will be just fine.

Just swim on a cruise ship

[SagaLore]

He should just ride a cruise ship and continuously swim on it during the trip.

Not shark cage, fish zapper

[gtkuhn]

Well, the article that grandparent linked to about the swimmer who made it says he used an electromagnetic device to produce a 25ft sea-creature repelling sphere.

The final frame as PNG

[GQuon]

Here's the final frame of the SVG animation: http://gunnarre.nvg.org/operaswim1.png

Pond Zero would be good enough

[leonbrooks]

I wonder if Dampier Salt is using Linux yet?

By way of explanation, click through "Visit our Salt Operations", then "Dampier", then enlarge the map (their webserver runs Domino, so the real URLs rapidly turn to pooh). "PS 0" stands for Pumping Station Zero, which lifts raw seawater into Pond Zero.

PS 0 has some grilles to keep really big fish out of the intakes (Dampier has many, many really big fish). Merely big fish get turned into fish-meal by the pumps, and little fish often get right through... including little baby sharks. The little fish get dumped into an evironment containing lots of fish-meal, and those not promptly consumed by the existing inhabitants survive to grow into bish fish themselves. Including the sharks.

The fish near the shoreline are nearly thick enough to walk on. Literally. In a bucket-sized volume of water, you might find 3 or 4 fish roughly 40-50cm long. The reason for this is that if they stray into deeper water, the fish there have grown large enough that they can't get in close to get the fish-meal before the littler fish eat it all... but they can constantly smell it. Including the sharks.

Put it this way, you might succeed in walking across Pond Zero, but if you did it would be because of being constantly flung into the air by fish - mostly sharks - competing for you. There's a fair few developers I'd like to try this experiment on - if they don't promptly fix a few things about their code - and the list includes many who haven't worked for Microsoft.

You forgot

[leonbrooks]

Shark Bait

Ooh-hah-hah!

[obFNref]

either ...

[jopoy]

Either Opera has a lot of fans or more than one million people really hate Jon S. von Tetzchner

What the heck?

[myom]

For those geographically and commonsensically challenged:

1. The distance is at a par as swimming across the American continent...
2. ...in water that would kill you in minutes to hours depending on the season.
3. The gulf stream (albeit slower than people think) would work against him and take him to the north coast of Norway and north Siberia faster than he could swim

If he would make it somehow to a warmer area, with no currents he would still need months, if not a year to swim across, with a raft to sleep and rest on, and a steady supply of food, water, heat, cooling, sun shelter, perhaps even protection from the random shark etc.

It is all a marketing ploy, and I am very surprised to see slashdotters seriously discussing his chances of success!

The Opera CEO didn't get very far...

[edgepi]

It seems like Jon S. von Tetzchner had a rough start on his cross-Atlantic swim, according to the company's web site. According to this (great PR) story von Tetzchner actually had to rescue his PR Manager out of the cold water in the Oslo Fjord today.

BRAVE CEO SAVES PR MANAGER

[toonworld]

If you go back to there webpage, they have an amuzing story as to how they got out of the promise...

http://www.opera.com/swim/

UPDATE: He bails out!!!

[Anonymous Coward]

If you go check out the link, you'll see what I mean.

At least he went out a hero

Am I the only one?!

[pclinger]

Am I the only one who thinks this is fake?

Quote:
"A local farmer spotted the drama from his kitchen window and took surprisingly sharp photos with a remarkably powerful telescopic lens."

Ok, a farmer, with a powerful telescopic lens, who happens to have it in hand, and start taking pictures just as the raft starts to deflate?

How about this quote:
"As much as I don't want to talk behind a colleague's back, there is no doubt that we would never have let Eskil assist Jon in the raft had we known he can neither swim nor read maps,"

Seriously... this has to be a joke.