Norwegian Opera 9.5 Released

Norwegian Opera desktop Web browsing software

After lots of late night testing and bug fixing, the Opera Desktop Team announced the release of Opera 9.5 Web browser. Opera 9.5 is a recommended security and stability upgrade. See the Security section. This release also introduces new storage and indexing formats for Opera Mail (including feeds). See the Mail/News section.

What’s new in Opera 9.5? This is what the Opera Desktop Team said:

• Opera is now available in 29 languages, 6 more than in 9.27 and more are coming.
• The number of Opera users has more than doubled since the release of 9.0.
• We fixed a new record of bugs, including 2,350 showstoppers.
• IMAP is up to 4 times as fast in 9.5 than in 9.2.
• Almost 500.000 of you were already using betas of 9.5.
• Opera Link synchronizes your bookmarks, Speed Dial, and notes between Opera on different computers, and even links to Opera Mini on your mobile.
• Enhanced address bar searches your entire browsing history, including the contents of each page.
• Security enhancements: malware protection, improved fraud protection, and support for Extended Validation SSL Certificates.
• New rendering engine with improved site compatibility and performance.
• Opera Dragonfly, the long-awaited tools for web developers.
• New skin.

If you are interested in finding out everything new after the release of previous Opera 9.27, please click here. I have to admit that I’m not a fan of Opera, since many of the websites that I use on a regular basis do not render properly. However, if you are satisfied with this quick browser and want to have its latest version, please click here to download and install it.

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The Rare Irony Mark

Illustration of the rare “Irony Mark or Irony Point”

During my Spanish and English classes we learned a lot about punctuation marks and how to use them adequately in our written assignments. I was glad I paid enough attention during these language classes, since they served me well when I was preparing my college graduation investigation report. But never was I told there was such thing as an Irony Mark.

This morning I found a new punctuation mark that my language teachers never taught me. As a matter of fact, this is the first time I was aware such a mark existed. It’s called the Irony Mark or Irony Point. You can see this rare punctuation mark in the illustration above.

Exactly what is the Irony Mark? This is the definition I found.

The Irony Mark or Irony Point, (French: Point d’Ironie; also called a Snark or Zing) is a punctuation mark that purports to indicate that a sentence should be understood at a second level. It is illustrated by a small, elevated, backward-facing question mark. Its usage is extremely rare. This mark was proposed by the French poet Alcanter de Brahm (alias Marcel Bernhardt) at the end of the 19th century. The irony mark has never really been used beyond occasional appearances in artistic or literary publications.

Example: He sold his watch to buy her combs, and she sold her hair to buy him a new watchband؟

Have you seen this mark before? If affirmative, can you share with us how it was used and by whom? At 61, I’m still learning new things. Good Day!

Source: Wikipedia Encyclopedia

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Tags: English

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