Opera to Put User's Face in Times Square

Screen Resolution by biocute · 2005-12-12 09:38 · Score: 4, Interesting

For me, I would rather have my photo on opera.com for a month.

By the way, does anyone know the screen resolution of this thing? I checked here but it didn't say much, and Wiki says it's often very low resolution.

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Re:Screen Resolution by Anonymous Coward · 2005-12-12 11:59 · Score: 3, Informative

Typically, large video displays have lower resolution than you might think. For example: The physical pixel size of the Samsung display in Times Square is ~500px X ~600px

You'd actually be pretty amazed how good something can look at such a low res.

Whoever wins... by ari_j · 2005-12-12 09:38 · Score: 5, Funny

I hope she's hot.

Re:Whoever wins... by Anonymous Coward · 2005-12-12 09:59 · Score: 3, Funny

Naah, it'll be * * Beatle-Beatle...
Re:Whoever wins... by Anonymous Coward · 2005-12-12 10:07 · Score: 3, Funny

She will be. Also, smiling, successful-looking, pretty but not super-modelish, young, and caucasian.

We still encourage other users to submit their photos. This will allow us to focus on improving our product, because it lowers costs on our next ad campaign.

I.M.Moral
PR Department
Opera

That chick from accounting... by infinite9 · 2005-12-12 09:38 · Score: 4, Funny

So I guess it will be someone's O-face? Oh! Oh!

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Post Picture by Rac3r5 · 2005-12-12 09:39 · Score: 2, Funny

Along with a small caption....

to arrange a date, please call this number: ... ... ....

and then what? they'll usurp firefox? by passingNotes.com · 2005-12-12 09:42 · Score: 2, Insightful

the big banner should just say, "we used to cost money, but now we're free even though many web sites don't display properly, but do note that we invented lots of cool ideas that were adopted by all of our competitors and most people don't know this but most of our core marketing team is in the southern USA area and also we have this mobile browser accelerator that nobody even really uses much because it only works on like ten phones"...and the winner of this contest will be: ideally thin, caucasian and with a hip "opera user look" that the company can deploy in a larger integrated campaign. mark my words: no fat people, burn victims or others in that category of "couldn't work for abercrombie" will win...in fact, my guess is that the winner will be employed by either starbucks or abercrombie, age 22-26, female (tech influencers right now), shoulder length hair that's dark, thin and with a natural look light on cosmetics and wearing only solid colors on the billboard because it will create better contrast with the opera logo...

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Re:and then what? they'll usurp firefox? by worb · 2005-12-12 10:22 · Score: 5, Informative

I'm hesitant to reply to this troll and give it more exposure than it needs, but on the other hand, a few corrections/different points of view probably won't hurt...
"the big banner should just say, "we used to cost money, but now we're free even though many web sites don't display properly,"
That is true for all non-IE browsers. Until v1.5 Firefox couldn't even display the old Slashdot correctly, but you often had to refresh to make it work properly.
"but do note that we invented lots of cool ideas that were adopted by all of our competitors and most people don't know this but most of our core marketing team is in the southern USA area"
Opera Software is based on Norway (Northern Europe).
"and also we have this mobile browser accelerator that nobody even really uses much because it only works on like ten phones"..."
Not sure what this is all about, but Opera Mini works on most phones available today.
"and the winner of this contest will be: ideally thin, caucasian and with a hip "opera user look" that the company can deploy in a larger integrated campaign. mark my words: no fat people, burn victims or others in that category of "couldn't work for abercrombie" will win..."
Let's see what happens. Opera isn't exactly known to do it the traditional way. Heck, the CEO doesn't even allow himself a big fat pay check even though he certainly deserves it. He could have been a millionaire, but drives around in a rusty old car.
"in fact, my guess is that the winner will be employed by either starbucks or abercrombie, age 22-26, female (tech influencers right now), shoulder length hair that's dark, thin and with a natural look light on cosmetics and wearing only solid colors on the billboard because it will create better contrast with the opera logo..."
Actually, the person will be chosen based on submissions posted on the my.opera.com community site. They will not choose a professional model, since this isn't Opera's style. See above about how even the CEO is really down to earth.
They don't like to brag, so this marketing campaign is really unlike Opera to begin with, so my guess is that they'll choose someone who looks decent enough, but probably not someone who could have been a model anyway. Just an average person who doesn't make Opera look really bad.
Basically, this is meant as a "thanks" to the community that's been supporting Opera through all these years. Opera just turned 10, remember.
Oh well, this probably won't get through since bashing Opera seems to be the popular thing to do these days...
Re:and then what? they'll usurp firefox? by StateOfTheUnion · 2005-12-12 10:27 · Score: 4, Insightful

I couldn't agree more . . . And to make matters worse, I just went to the forum where you can see uploaded pictures for the contest. If the 7 (yes that's right . . . seven) people that uploaded pictures as of the time that I visited the forum are any representation of Opera users, then I think that this ad campaign isn't going to get the demographically perfect person . . . Or at least not the demographically perfect person from a marketing perspective (stereotypically youthful, saavy, successful, and of course good looking with a look that implies professional or student in a way that would inspire people to use opera). And I have to agree with the parent post that the winner will probably be female . . . except there were no female pictures when I checked.
Of course opening your eyes, smiling, and focusing the camera would have helped . . .
Example 1 Example 2 Example 3
Re:and then what? they'll usurp firefox? by hkmwbz · 2005-12-12 10:43 · Score: 2, Insightful

"I couldn't agree more . . ."
With what, exactly?
"And to make matters worse, I just went to the forum where you can see uploaded pictures for the contest. If the 7 (yes that's right . . . seven) people that uploaded pictures as of the time that I visited the forum are any representation of Opera users, then I think that this ad campaign isn't going to get the demographically perfect person . . ."
You are assuming that Opera is looking for the "perfect person". This isn't a huge corporation we are talking about. It's a tiny company from Northern Europe which isn't exactly known for its bragging.
You obviously don't know anything about Opera Software. They are doing this as a thank you to their community, and they've just turned 10. Yes, the company has been around for ten years, and only now are they starting to do this kind of thing.
Cynicism is good, but you are just proving your ignorance. Opera keeps in touch with its users. How often do you see Mozilla employees/representatives answering support questions over at MozillaZine?
Oh, and there are lots more than seven people there.

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Re:and then what? they'll usurp firefox? by StateOfTheUnion · 2005-12-12 11:49 · Score: 4, Interesting

come on . . . get off your high horse . . . any company willing to purchase time on the jumbotron in Times Square on New Year's Eve is looking for a BIG publicity stunt to launch them into the big times . . . The fact that you think that this is merely a simple "thank you" from a happy company that is in touch with its customers speaks more of your naivete than it does of the strategies of Opera. Of course a big thank you is exactly what Opera's senior leadership want the userbase to think because they don't want to alienate their userbase.
But closer examination of their strategic intent indicates that they have bigger plans. Big jumbotron on New Year's Eve smells a lot like Monster.com buying commercial airtime during the superbowl. They are looking to kickstart an infective marketing campaign through a very prominent ad on a very prominent medium at a very prominent time.
Where is Opera compared with the other browsers? A niche player that serves as a focused differentiator (Read up on Classical Strategy (Michael Porter's five forces)). How can a niche player increase its market share? Only by becoming a differentiator or low cost leader . . . It's quite apparent that this marketing campaign is testing the waters to see how easy (or hard) it would be for Opera to shift gears.
If we consider the Boston consulting Group Matrix (BCG matrix), we can plot FireFox as a question mark (upper right quadrant) making moves to the upper left quadrant (star). It's logical to assume that Opera may be wondering if it can do the same thing . . . becuase it is likely that Opera currently hovers somewhere betweeb dog and star (between upper right and lower right quadrants).
In other words, Firefox has successfully broken Microsoft's stranglehold on the browser. Because customer's are now more likely to believe alternative browsers do possess adequate levels of Garvin's eight dimension of quality (Performance, Features, Conformance, Reliability, Durability, Serviceability, Aesthetics, and Perceived Quality), it is likely that this creates an opportune time for another browser to test the waters to see if it can go mainstream. It is quite apparent to the casual observer with elementary understanding of classical business strategy that this is a marketing stunt to gain data on the receptiveness of the marketplace.
To think otherwise is to have bought into Opera's marketing agenda, to not uderstand classical strategic theory (I have intentionally ignored resource based systemic, and processual frameworks for strategies because I do not have the data to comment), or to simply be naive.

The real question by AKAImBatman · 2005-12-12 09:42 · Score: 5, Funny

Will this be like the previous "Swim the Atlantic" bit? "Oh no! Someone pulled the power cord on the screen, so we can't do it! But we REALLY tried! See? And don't forget to download Opera!"

Meh.

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Re:The real question by FireballX301 · 2005-12-12 09:51 · Score: 2, Interesting

Yeah, I believe that, in Greenspan's word, would have been 'irrational exuberance'. It started as a joke until the comment was leaked (intentionally or unintentionally), but it wasn't as if anyone truly expected him to swim to America (and stop by his mother in Iceland no less).

But there's no indication that this stunt is a joke.

dear god by eyrieowl · 2005-12-12 09:44 · Score: 3, Funny

i look around the office, and i hope, and pray, that no one here uses Opera....

Re:dear god by BushCheney08 · 2005-12-12 10:08 · Score: 4, Funny

Why? You don't like to see her scaled down?

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I already submitted by ImaLamer · 2005-12-12 09:44 · Score: 5, Funny

this profile of myself but they rejected it for some reason.

Something about competition and being human or something...

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Re:I already submitted by daniel_newton · 2005-12-12 10:05 · Score: 3, Insightful

the legend of goatse has made me too afraid to visit links such as these.. I guess Ill never get the joke

Will Both.... by ehaggis · 2005-12-12 09:47 · Score: 2, Funny

Opera users be submitting photos?

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Why? by JMUChrisF · 2005-12-12 09:48 · Score: 2, Insightful

Why would I want that?

I don't want millions of people telling me how funny looking I am. It's not like I'd get a high paying job out of it or my own TV show on ABC.

Doesn't sound appealing to me, but I guess I'm not vain enough.

Here's the resolution... by gasmonso · 2005-12-12 09:53 · Score: 5, Interesting

There are a total of 2,300,000 LEDS at 122x48 feet. That equates roughly to a resolution of 2418x951 give or take a few :)

http://religiousfreaks.com/

Re:Here's the resolution... by infinite9 · 2005-12-12 10:04 · Score: 5, Funny

That equates roughly to a resolution of 2418x951 give or take a few

Since it's in times square, does that make it a new year's resolution?

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Disconnect your television. Do your own research. Draw your own conclusions. They're probably lying. Don't be a sheep.

Goatse anyone? by delphipro · 2005-12-12 09:58 · Score: 5, Funny

Any chance of getting goatse up there? Think about the public service that would be, hundreds of thousands of people sobering up instantly. Of course, it will also point out which of your friends are truly grotesque as they are the only ones smiling while everyone else is gagging.

Ok, everyone submit this picture by texag1992 · 2005-12-12 10:08 · Score: 2, Funny

opera user

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Re:Marketing Wars by hkmwbz · 2005-12-12 10:25 · Score: 2, Interesting

"must admit that the idea is cool - though the software is less than that."

Opera is less than cool?

I don't know what you define as "cool", but I'd say that being smaller and faster than other browsers, and still having lots of useful features (that don't get in the way, by the way!) built in without the need to mess around with extensions is pretty darn cool.

Not to mention the new Opera Mini browser which works on just about all mobile phones and is available for free.

And of course the innovation which has helped shape the modern browser. The now standard search field and popup blocking? Opera came up with those. And countless other features we take for granted today.

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what are the ftp details? by Tandoori+Haggis · 2005-12-12 10:35 · Score: 2, Interesting

Well it says PUT user's face.

Where is the IP address or the ftp domain?
Username and password for login?

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Re:Here's my entry by Aranth+Brainfire · 2005-12-12 10:37 · Score: 5, Informative

You can't simultaneously say it is harder to install than firefox AND say that it doesn't have any features Firefox doesn't have. To get 75% of Opera's features in Firefox, you have to install an extension. And unless you already know exactly what extensions you already want, this process takes time (and is annoying as heck, in my opinion).

If you actually want to know what features Opera brings, visit http://opera.com/features/ and look around a bit. Nobody really cares enough (I hope) to waste their time recompiling a list for you.

For me, it really just boils down to the philosophies behind them. Use Firefox if you really care that much about everything being open source or fiddling with your browser. Use Opera if you really don't care and just want something that works with advanced features.

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"Quoting yourself is stupid." -Me

oh boy by icleprechauns · 2005-12-12 10:38 · Score: 3, Funny

i hope i dont win...somehow 50 ft pimples consuming times square seems more like something out of the next godzilla movie than something someone would actually want to see

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Hot Babe?!? by Dareth · 2005-12-12 10:41 · Score: 2, Funny

They wouldn't just pick a nice photogenic female would they?

As apposed to a pasty male, "Afraid of the evil daystar!", person.

Winning quote: "I love Opera, especially when the fat lady sings."

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My mother is a halfling and my dad is an ogre, so that makes me an Ogreling

I use Opera because by obarthelemy · 2005-12-12 10:43 · Score: 2, Interesting

- it's smaller, lighter, faster than Firefox, and just as safe and compatible
- mouse gestures are included in the standard install
- there are slightly less frequent updates/bugfixes to download for the core program, and since I don't use any plugins (again, mouse gestures are standard), a LOT fewer plugin updates ;-)
- I think Firefox does not have "sessions" (a bunch of URLs and their associated histories), that I can load automatically at startup, or at any time thereafter. I use that a lot: when i launch Opera on my main pc, it automatically opens My Yahoo, my 2 main mail accounts, and Slashdot. For when I go shopping for computer parts, I have a session with my favorite shops and review sites...
- I like Opera's download manager better, but that's mainly aesthetics/ergonomics, not functionnality.
- I'm soooo used to typing F2 + "g dodo bird" when I want to google about the dodo.

Then again, I started using Opera almost as soon as it came out on Windows, 7+ years ago, so I'm set in my ways now (and I paid for it ;-) ) .

Let me return the question: apart from the quite valid philosophical one of Free Software being A Good Thing (tm), is there any reason to switch to Firefox ? I have it installed on several PCs, but I see no reason to switch over to it.

The one thing I don't like about Opera is that, if a fatal problem ( OS crash, network crash, other App fatal crash - note that Opera almost never crashes - ) occurs when you JUST opened a page (before a single byte of it has been downloaded), Opera loses track of that page, and opens a blank page instead with no URL. All the other, fully- or partially-downloaded pages, automatically reload when you re-start Opera.

Best Reagrds, Olivier

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Re:Just another shameless Opera plug... by taskforce · 2005-12-12 10:45 · Score: 2, Insightful

Compared to Firefox, Opera innovates far more. Tabbed Browsing, Interface Customisability: even the principles used in the design of Gmail - Opera is far ahead.

Firefox is great becuase it has had such excellent marketing and is diversifying the browser genepool away from IE; but as an acutal browser Opera tends to be the far more innovative, responsive, faster and generally a better program.

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if she's got to be cute... by anticypher · 2005-12-12 11:10 · Score: 3

Then let it be this girl:

Melissa Theuriau
with other photos here and a GIS will turn up enough to keep you happy.

Currently a Fark cliche, but one of the most pleasant to look at.

the AC

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Re:if she's got to be cute... by Aadomm · 2005-12-12 11:48 · Score: 3, Funny

No wonder the French keep so well abreast of current affairs.

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Re:Here's my entry by XnavxeMiyyep · 2005-12-12 11:12 · Score: 3, Insightful

Nobody really cares enough (I hope) to waste their time recompiling a list for you.
We'll see about that!

Opera features
Efficient surfing
Tabbed browsing: Surf the Web easier and faster by opening multiple Web pages within the same application window.

Integrated search: Search Google, eBay, Amazon and more with Opera's integrated search. You can also search directly in the address field using shortcuts (e.g. "g" for Google).

Pop-up blocking: Opera lets you control whether to block all pop-ups, or open only the ones that you have requested.

Fast Forward: Fast Forward will detect the most likely "next page" link and greatly simplify navigation in multi-page documents.

Password manager: Opera's password manager remembers your usernames and passwords so you will not have to.

Sessions: Save a collection of open pages as a session, for later retrieval, or start with the pages you had open when Opera was last closed.

Mouse gestures: Opera supports mouse gestures, allowing you to perform certain movements with the mouse in order to access commonly used features.

Quick preferences: Pressing F12 displays Opera's 'Quick preferences' menu to easily switch settings such as browser authentication, pop-up and cookie preferences.

Notes: Notes can be kept in conjunction with a Web site you want to refer to later, to remind you of any particular information you may like to review again.

Voice: The voice feature allows you to control Opera's interface by talking and to have documents read aloud. Voice is currently offered in English and runs on Windows 2000 and XP.

Security and privacy
Security bar: Opera displays security information inside the address bar, located next to the padlock icon that indicates the level of security present on a site.

Encryption: Opera supports Secure Socket Layer (SSL) versions 2 and 3, and TLS. Opera offers automatic 128-bit encryption, the highest available security of any Web browser.

Delete private data: Opera can be configured to clear the history and cache when exiting, to protect your privacy. Any kind of private data can easily be erased at any time.

Cookie control: Opera gives you detailed control of what cookies to accept and reject, such as allowing for different set-ups for different servers.

Mail and Chat
Opera mail: Opera's built-in POP/IMAP E-mail client is a combined e-mail program, news reader, mailing list organizer and RSS/Atom newsfeed reader.

IRC chat: Communicate with people all over the world using Opera's IRC chat client. Chat privately or in rooms, or share files with your friends and family.

Customization
Drag and drop: Using the 'appearance' dialog you can make Opera look almost any way you want. Move buttons and search fields, add and remove toolbars, and so forth.

Skins: Opera skins can give your browser the look you want. Make the browser your own by giving it the icons and buttons of your choice.

Language: Opera's user interface is translated into a multitude of languages, and the language can be changed on the fly.

Accessibility
Zoom: With Opera you can zoom the contents of any Web page from 20%-1000% using the zoom dropdown or the + and - keys.

Text size and colors: Text size and link styling can be changed using Opera. Text color and background color can also be customized.

User style sheets: Opera comes with a set of ready-made style sheets, including accessibility style, that can be used to override a Web site's style set completely.

Web development
Standards support: Opera prides itself in supporting all major Web standards currently in use, including CSS 2.1, XHTML 1.1, HTML 4.01, WML 2.0, ECMAScript, DOM 2 and SVG 1.1 tiny.

Small-screen mode: When displaying a page in small-screen mode (Shift+F11) you can see how it will look on a mobile phone or other small-scre

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Re:problem? by hesiod · 2005-12-12 11:22 · Score: 2, Interesting

Despite the terse message, this AC is exactly right, IMO. I've never looked into the price of something like this, but it seems like an extremely immense waste of money to me. Of course, I'm also not a not very knowledgeable about marketing: maybe this will end up being a great investment.

So anyway, my question is this: does anyone know of any examples of such adverts (not just New Years, but stuff like the Super Bowl) that have ended up being good investments, besides beer and the like? In particular, companies related to technology in some way.

Shocking winner! by AndroidCat · 2005-12-12 11:45 · Score: 2, Funny

Who would have guessed?

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Huh? by LFS.Morpheus · 2005-12-12 15:51 · Score: 3, Funny

(that's 54 square meters!)

Huh? What is a 'meter'? While your "square feet" reference sounds familiar, could you please provide a useful measurement of comparison, like percentage of a football field (no, not a soccer field), the number of the number of Big Macs that could fit on it, or the number of 54" widescreen TVs would be needed to make this giant TV. Also, how many Libraries of Congress does it ... something?

Thanks!

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Opera to Put User's Face in Times Square

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