Help kill Internet Explorer 6
IE6 is like an illness that just won’t go away, but we have the medicine.

IE6 Update looks like IE’s Information Bar, but instead of offering your visitors an ActiveX plugin, it offers a browser update.

via IE6 Update.

In my current position I do a lot of UI and frontend work.  Probably the toughest thing I do is try to support IE6.  We’re a large corporation and the software is used by other large corporations, meaning IE6 is a must.  It’s our default browser on all machines (Not that I ever use it though..), and is required for a lot of legacy systems.

Here are the top reasons I HATE IE6

1. The box model is incorrect (requiring CSS hacks *,_, …you know the drill) This is my biggest complaint, I waste so much time trying to get things to work correctly in IE6, its so frustrating…
2. There are no debugging tools (The web accessibility toolbar is crap for debugging and I can only do so much with Firebug Lite)
3. It is ridiculously slow!
4. Transparent PNG problem (well some work, but they have to be saved a certain way)

Tags: IE6,Microsoft,Web Development
Categories: Technology
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With Microsoft, the company that vilified the Open Source movement, running CodePlex, I was skeptical.  (I still am..)  Naturally the Free Software Foundation (fsf.org) is pretty curious about their intentions too.  See  my commentary, but make sure you read the whole article.

Many in our community are suspicious of the CodePlex Foundation. With its board of directors dominated by Microsoft employees and ex-employees, plus apologist Miguel de Icaza, there is plenty of reason to be wary of the organization. But that doesn’t prove its actions will be bad.

OK, so they are using the word apologist, thats a little bit nicer than traitor.  Stallman really made himself out to be a bit of an asshole.  He caused a pretty big schism in the Open Source world with that one, it was a very polarizing statement, and I’m pretty sure I’m siding with de Icaza.  The guy contributed a ton to the free software community, and the open source community, and is trying to create an open source community on the Microsoft side.  I am now a Microsoft developer by profession, not really by choice, but if someone is developing an open application on a Microsoft system, you cant ostracize them. (I’m actually developing closed source applications now, so you can rip away at me I guess..)

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Tags: CodePlex,Free Software,FSF,Microsoft,Open Source,Richard Stallman,WTF License
Categories: Technology
1 Comment »

Here is a list of what Jon Gesley thinks are key points in the future of computing:

In ten years every OS and application will be “cloudified” – every application will be aware of the elastic, available resources that are in the cloud. He sees these resources as something people can fall back on, like a rental car when you are travelling. Helping with back up and economies of scale.

Moore’s law is alive and well – what are the implications of this? Be careful as you are thinking about cost reduction and cost management, as those costs are dropping dramatically.

Multitouch and other UI innovations – what can the applications be that support multitouch? Gelsey asks people to let their imaginations run wild with that could look like. What can you do once you have this new UI of gestures?

Search will be a utility – search as an application or web service. What if your application has access to search, cheaply and ubiquitously. How would that augment what your application brings to the table?

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Tags: Cloud Computing,Grid Computing,Microsoft,P2P
Categories: Technology
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1) Instead of Apple’s sheer walls of glass, Microsoft’s stores will have brushed steel walls dotted with holes — reminiscent of Windows security.

2) The store will have six different entrances: Starter, Basic, Premium, Professional, Enterprise, and Ultimate. While all six doors will lead into the same store, the Ultimate door requires a fee of $100 for no apparent reason.

3) Instead of a “Genius Bar” (as Apple provides) Microsoft will offer an Excuse Bar. It will be staffed by Microsofties trained in the art of evading questions, directing you to complicated and obscure fixes, and explaining it’s a problem with the hardware — not a software bug.

4) The Windows Genuine Advantage team will run storefront security, assuming everybody is a thief until they can prove otherwise.

5) Store hours are undetermined. At any given time the store mysteriously shuts down instantaneously for no apparent reason. (No word yet on what happens to customers inside).

6) Stores will be named Microsoft Live Retail Store with PC Services for Digital Lifestyle Enthusiasts.

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Tags: Apple,Microsoft
Categories: Technology
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