[SGVLUG] Fwd: WebSpinner: 24 Hours only: *Free* OPERA Internetbrowser

[Emerson, Tom]

> --- Peter Benjamin <pete at peterbenjamin.com> wrote:
> 
> > I just heard of this offer, and have included some instructions.
> > 
> > For one day only, you can get an ad-free version of Opera. This 
> > offer is valid from 12 a.m. Tuesday, August 30 to 12 a.m. 
> > Wednesday, August 31 2005 (PDT).
> > 
> > Go to   http://www.opera.com/party
> > 
> > This free version means no advertising banners 
> > that takes up part of the browser window.
> > 
> > Requires your email address before displaying registration codes

Apparently, it will take anything that looks like an e-mail address -- I tried "nobody.in.particular at myob.com" [yeah, I know myob is probably a legit company/site, but the irony of it is priceless...] and it returned these codes:

Windows       w-cmTAz-BxdCi-3dVXa-TwBPS-BAaVn 
Linux Intel   u-PEeBz-YQhCi-5sKXa-XpNPS-FumVn 
Linux PowerPC p-AXzsy-LDVti-MnDva-e6tYT-FXk7m 
Linux Sparc   k-KmUKx-tQvMh-hCdwc-5H7EU-F567p 
FreeBSD       f-AcWKy-4e47h-s5Xaa-wEyET-4iXsn 
Solaris       s-ACXKx-UYiMh-7Shwc-et4EU-QM37p 
Mac           m-RLb6w-Ldv7f-enXPb-M8kmV-FXdtp 

oh, wait, was I not supposed to say that?  I didn't see anything resembling an "agreement" as to what I would or would not do with the information I received in exchange for an e-mail address...

(actually, don't even need to make the e-mail look legit -- it returned codes for "asdf at b", so I suspect ANYTHING with an @ in it will qualify...)

But to the deeper point -- why all the fuss in the first place?  I mean, with the source code anyone could just create a version that doesn't even have "banner" support in the first place (probably be a smaller binary to boot...)  Oh, wait, Opera isn't FOSS you say?  hmmm... that could be a problem.  Is it that good then?