5 Things Opera Has in Common with Carnival

Since today is "Fat Tuesday" (better known as Mardi Gras), meaning the last day of Carnival celebrations in many countries around the world, we thought we would contribute to the festivities in our own way.

So cue those samba drums, and let's have the full list of things Opera has in common with Carnival!

1. One - It brings people together

Here we're not only thinking of the friends you can make, blogs you can read and photos you can share on MyOpera, but also features like Opera Unite, which lets you stream music, share files and folders, or even host your own Web pages directly from the browser.

Two - It lets you be whoever you want

Dressing up in masks and costumes is fun for the right occasion. But on a day-to-day basis, what you really want is to express your own personality. In particular, your experience on the Web should reflect your interests, your values - even your sense of style. With Opera, you can customize everything from your preferred language to your Speed Dial backgrounds.

2. Three - The extras add more fun

No parade during Carnival would be complete without lots of beads and feathers. Extensions like weather reports, stock market updates and e-mail notifications add their own sparkle and shine to Opera.

Four - It's location-specific

While Carnival is celebrated in many places, when it comes to celebrations the main addresses are Rio de Janeiro and New Orleans. In Opera, you can use location-based services such as Google Maps to find your way around the real world, and type in search terms directly into the address field to move faster around cyberspace.

And last but not least...

Five - It goes fast

How speedy is Opera? It zips past almost as fast as an evening of fun, when just about everyone is dancing in the streets.

Buon Carnevale, everybody!