Today marked the official launch of the Opera Mobile 9.5 beta browser. I have been waiting for this beta program for a long time now, and as soon as the beta became available, I rushed to the Opera web site to download the browser.

From today’s press release, we know that Opera Mobile 9.5 beta now defaults to page overview mode, allowing the user to view the entire Web page and instantly recognize the Web site. With panning and zooming options, the user is able to focus on specific page content. Opera also introduced a new user interface for easier navigation.

Here’s a list of some of the improvements you’ll notice over Opera Mobile 8.65:

1. Faster – Opera Mobile 9.5 beta continues this fine tradition with improved performance over Opera Mobile 8.65.
2. Pan and zoom – Just like Opera Mini, Opera Mobile 9.5 beta defaults to full Web page viewing and allows users to pan and zoom into their desired content easily.
3. Improved user interface – Opera has completely renovated its mobile UI. Cleaner and more intuitive, the new UI is designed for quick and easy navigation.
4. Opera Dragonfly – Use your Opera desktop browser to debug sites on your mobile phone through the Opera Mobile 9.5 debug menu.
5. Improved standards support – Opera Mobile 9.5 is the most standards compliant browser available, and the company remains steadfast in its commitment to make the Web accessible for all.
6. Save pages and/or images – With a click, simply save pages to your phone.

This last point is a nice touch to add. I often want to be able to save images I see on the Web. Being able to do so on your phone (where I happen to spend a lot of time browsing) is an unexpected added bonus.

Most of us reading this are probably accustomed to the idea of getting Linux for the cost of an opinion about the weather — in other words, nothing. But now Ubuntu, arguably the most visible of Linux distributions, is hitting store shelves at Best Buy for the practically impulse-buy cost of $19.99 USD.

Why pay? Two reasons: One, you get printed documentation — something people have increasingly lamented the loss of, although the cost of printing in general (and the search ability of electronic files) has pushed paper docs aside.

The other, and more significant reason, is sixty days of unlimited tech support courtesy of Canonical. Two months is a fairly decent margin of time for someone to install Ubuntu and work their way through most showstopper issues, and the most recent Ubuntu comes with a very nice gamut of tools to make migration and dual-booting a lot easier than it usually is.

The price is definitely right. The last time I saw boxed Linux on the shelf of my local Best Buy, it was SuSE, and it sported a pricetag of almost $100.00 USD (A quick search of Best Buy’s site shows they don’t even keep SuSE in stock anymore; not much of a surprise, there.)

I’d love to not only see this take off, but spawn some competition in the same space — say, perhaps from an outfit that uses the same pricing model but uses Fedora or even OpenSuSE as their base distribution.

Yep, you read that correctly. It isn’t officially available through iTunes yet, but the file is out there and can be downloaded and installed on your iPhone.

In order to snag the file to update your Apple iPhone’s firmware, go to MacRumors for the download.

MacRumors reports:

“In order to install the firmware, you will have to do it manually by pressing the Option key when pressing the ‘Check for Update’ button in iTunes. Then select the .ipsw file manually. If for some reason your download is a ‘.zip’ file, rename it to ‘.ipsw’ before proceeding.”

The Apple iPhone firmware update is a 225 MB file, so it’s going to take a while. You can also grab the iPhone1,2_2.0_5A347_Restore.ipsw firmware from here. Enjoy.

That’s right, MAME version 0.126 of MAME32 (MameUI 32-bit/64-bit), the Windows command line version (32-bit/64-bit) of MAME and SDLMAME for OS X (Universal) were all released late last night.

Of course they’re all available for free download in my MAME section, so grab them while they’re nice and warm.

It’s been a long while since I updated my Unusual Trivia page, so today I added four new entries for your reading enjoyment:

1. In Michigan, it is illegal to chain an alligator to a fire hydrant.
2. It is against the law to whale hunt in Oklahoma.
3. Jim Morrison (of the 60’s rock group The Doors) was the first rock star to be arrested on stage.
4. Sir Thomas Crapper, attributed to inventing the flush toilet, was a nephew of Queen Elizabeth.

Of course you can view lots of other funny trivia and useless knowledge by visiting my Planet Sean unusual trivia page.

If you know any fun and unusual trivia not already listed on my site, let me know. I’m always looking for fun nuggets of sliced fried gold.

Last month, a handful of privacy groups urged Google to add a link to its privacy policy on its home page, in accordance with California law.

Google said it interpreted the law differently.

Google resisted doing so in part because every bit counts when determining how quickly its home page loads, given that load speed and user satisfaction are strongly related.

The company probably also wanted to avoid giving outsiders the idea that they can force design changes by complaining.

In a blog post, Marissa Mayer, VP of search products and user experience, said that Google co-founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin would agree to the change only if the number of the words on the home page (28) remained unchanged. So the word “Google” was dropped because it was implied.

“Today we’re making a homepage change by adding a link to our privacy overview and policies,” said Mayer. “Google values our users’ privacy first and foremost. Trust is the basis of everything we do, so we want you to be familiar and comfortable with the integrity and care we give your personal data. We added this link both to our homepage and to our results page to make it easier for you to find information about our privacy principles.”

So as we can all see, Google replaced the unnecessary “©2008 Google” copyright notice at the bottom of its home page with a privacy link.

Though the copyright symbol and date remain, the bottom text now reads “©2008 – Privacy.”

Well done, Google.