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Kevin W (who many of you will recognize from css-d, thelist@evolt, and Opera newsgroups, as well as comments from Beyond30) has supplied a new Opera Panel/Mozilla Sidebar.
It is a Google Advanced Groups Search panel for searching Google Groups (Usenet). Codename? GAGS! Think of it as a cousin of Google Advanced Search Panel, codename GASP.
According to Yahoo's search results for 'paid keywords' the #1 entry is http://tntluoma.com/fun/fwd/keywords/ which is, I'm sure, not going to make the marketing department very happy.
Also, FYI.... I've given up on trying to get a good color scheme for right now... if you are using Opera and/or Gecko you can see one of the alternate style sheets (named colorful or mild) but then if you reload the page it seems to go away.
This just in.... my comments in [ ] below... excerpts only from source: http://news.com.com/2100-1001-978786.html
A U.S. district court judge on Monday ordered Microsoft to include Sun Microsystems’ version of Java with the Windows operating system, citing the software giant’s history of undermining the platform-neutral programming language. [Not to mention Netscape, WordPerfect, and a host of others.... Not to mention sacrificing MP3 for its own WMA]
“I find it an absolute certainty that unless a preliminary injunction is entered, Sun will have lost forever its right to compete, and the opportunity to prevail, in a market undistorted by its competitor’s antitrust violations,” Motz wrote in the 42-page ruling.
“Unless Sun is given a fair opportunity to compete in a market untainted by the effects of Microsoft’s past antitrust violations [Remember that they were found guilty of that, it was the remedy that was up for debate], there is a serious risk that in the near future the market will tip in favor of .Net, that it is impossible to ascertain when such tipping might occur in time to prevent it from happening, and that if the market does tip in favor of .Net, Sun could not be adequately compensated in damages.”
“While...deliberately fragmenting the Java platform to make it less attractive for developers and users, Microsoft also successfully embarked upon a campaign to destroy Sun’s channels of distribution,” Motz wrote. “Microsoft has succeeded, through its antitrust violations, in creating an environment in which the distribution of PCs is chaotic and the Java runtimes on PCs are incompatible.”
In the decision, the judge cited Sun’s request that Microsoft “set up Sun’s most current Java runtime environment to be installed by default on any product containing .Net, including Windows XP...and Internet Explorer.” [seems clear enough]
The ruling can hardly be a surprise to Microsoft. Motz gave some clue to his thinking earlier this month when he compared Microsoft’s treatment of Sun to figure skater Tonya Harding’s 1994 attack on competitor Nancy Kerrigan in advance of the Olympic Games. [Ouch...]
But industry trade group the Association for Competitive Technology [I think it is a safe bet to assume that these folks are probably funded by Microsoft... at least they didn’t call it “innovative”] took a dim view of the injunction, calling it anticompetitive.
This is good news for those truly interested in competition.
Summary: Jakob Nielson makes a good point about letting users resize text, but incorrectly places the blame for this on Cascading Style Sheets.
I was reading Jakob Nielsen's Alertbox, December 23, 2002: Top Ten Web-Design Mistakes of 2002 and enjoying it. He nailed a lot of things right on the noggin'.
But he blew it big time on one of them. He wrote:
4. Fixed Font Size
Style sheets unfortunately give websites the power to disable a Web browser's "change font size" button and specify a fixed font size. About 95% of the time, this fixed size is tiny, reducing readability significantly for most people over the age of 40. Respect the user's preferences and let them resize text as needed. Also, specify font sizes in relative terms -- not as an absolute number of pixels.
Now I agree that there is a fascination with overly small font size on the web. I agree that font sizes should be set in relative terms and not in pixels (mainly because Internet Explorer can't resize pixels).
But where he is absolutely totally wrong is in blaming this on Style Sheets.
Oh, and what is meant by disable a Web browser's "change font size" button
? What web browser is he talking about? Internet Explorer? IE6/Windows doesn't have a “change font size” button, but it does have a Text Size button.
No website should be able to disable a button. What I assume he meant was that setting font sizes in pixels renders the button useless. Since software is supposed to work for you (not the other way around), it sounds like Jakob should be talking to the folks who make a lousy browser.
CSS is a great technology that allows for faster page downloads (something Jakob always wants) and the ability for users to override the page style (something FONT tags never did). They should not be blamed for those who misuse them.
If you use Windows XP, there is a patch which will let you use your own browser (say, Opera) instead of IE in a few more places.
Read Microsoft Knowledge Base Article - 810565: Hyperlinks Open in Internet Explorer Instead of in Default Browser or Help and Support Center for more details.
For me this was useful only because it lets me put web items on my desktop (such as SearchMe Sidebar) and have access to them whenever I want, and have it open the results page in Opera.
Of course the cynical side of me would point out that they only released this patch for Windows XP, and I'm sure only because they felt some pressure to do so. So by giving in this tiny little bit (for something that should have always worked this way to begin with) they now have another "feature" to use when trying to sell XP.
That is all.
Apple has two new great "Switch" ads
Santa Claus switches (from "Merry Christmas" to "Happy Holidays") and Santa's iPod
See Microsoft, that is how you how you make a fake ad, not this way
This isn't related to Opera at all, but a warning.
MemTurbo support requires you receive unsolicited email, and then dismisses user complant. This all caught me by surprise, but after a week of waiting for a response, I have heard nothing.
Oh, and I can relate this to Opera somewhat: I paid $30 for MemTurbo, and I'm pretty sure I paid to upgrade from 1.x to 2.x. Rest assured I won't be paying to upgrade any further.
I wonder if they tried to eat the myrrh....
With its tiny screen, surfing the web with a mobile phone has been maddening. A clever new web browser could change all that..
Read more A quart into a pint pot (Economist.com)
That is all.
This is the 12th (and final) verse of the classic Christmas song,
"The Twelve Bugs of Christmas."
For the twelfth bug of Christmas, my manager said to me:
Tell them it's a feature
Say it's not supported
Change the documentation
Blame it on the hardware
Find a way around it
Say they need an upgrade
Reinstall the software
Ask for a dump
Run with the debugger
Try to reproduce it
Ask them how they did it and
See if they can do it again.
via Cybersalt.org
I've seen this every year for the past several years, and laugh every time.
It's a bit big, so it is on its own page.... just hit the BACK button to return
I'm working on redesigning the styles for this page.
Depending on when you visit, it may look somewhere between terrible and awful.
Hope to have it looking better soon.
Opera 7 beta 2 has a really cool feature (IMO) called the Wand, which is a password manager, something I have wanted for some time now.
But not everyone agrees, and that's OK. Opera excels at adapting to user's preferences, rather than forcing users to adapt to One Way Of Doing Things.
So all you need to do is edit your 'opera6.ini' file. If you did NOT enable Multiple User Support, the file should be in the same directory where you installed Opera 7 beta 2.
If you did install Multiple User Support, it will be in your Profile directory, something like this:
c:\Documents and Settings\Timothy\Application Data\opera\7\profile\opera6.ini
NOTE: 'Application Data' is usually a hidden directory, so you may have to adjust your Windows Explorer settings to see it. And of course change "Timothy" to your login name, unless your login name is Timothy.
If you want the Wand Off, add this to the file (MAKE SURE OPERA IS NOT RUNNING):
You will have to add this setting, it does not exist by default.
To turn Wand OFF
[User Prefs]
Enable Wand=0
To turn Wand ON
[User Prefs]
Enable Wand=1
That is all.
Here's another feature that someone else should have thought of long ago, but it took the folks at Opera to actually implement.
Opera 7 has a feature called "Quick Download"
Basically when you right click on a file (PDF, EXE, ZIP, etc) it will give you the option to Quick Download a file, which immediately saves the file to your default download directory (goto Preferences, then Programs and Paths).
Why should you have to deal with a pop up window just to save a file when you've already set a download directory?
Oh, and if you just have the URL of a file you want to download? Go to the Transfers panel and put it into the Quick Download space at the top of that panel.
(Power user tip: Go to Preferences then Sounds and set a distinctive sound to play when a Transfer is complete, so you'll know when it is done)
Well folks, it's getting to be that time of year when we look back at what was new in 2002.
My vote for "Best Idea with the Worst Implementation"?
The "Gold Box" at Amazon.com
Never once has it even come close to suggesting something that I would be remotely interested in.... and it's not that they couldn't do better.... the "New For You" stuff would be much better candidates... but I guess they don't want to risk giving me a discount offer for something I might actually buy anyway.
For your hotlist Opera 7 Bug report sidebar.
Be sure to read the instructions before use.
This will make it easier to report a bug because you can just see the form in your Hotlist, fill out the information, and submit.
Please let me know if there are any problems with it.
Oh yeah....
Opera 7, beta 2, for Windows has been released.
This rocks. As anyone who actually reads this little site knows, I love Opera, but Beta 2 is very cool.
M2 is the best mail client ever. Sure it's not perfect yet, but I love it. Accesspoints are awesome. Filters have been improved. For those of you coming over from Outlook Express, there is an import feature. I imported messages from Outlook into Mozilla, and then imported them into M2 and it worked flawlessly, and I'm talking about 20,000 messages (yes really).
There's also the Wand - a Password Manager for Opera. Yup... and it works really well too.
Then there's the Links panel in the Hotlist, which shows you all of the links in given page.
You can now Drag and Drop the panels into whatever order you prefer them to be in, and they will stay there. You can also choose to show or hide the built-in panels.
One of these days I'll have to talk about all the configuration you can do to change the menus and the keyboard shortcuts, but for now, go and check it out!
After a bloody awful experience changing servers, the site should be back.
Sorry for the interruption... it was supposed to be a "seamless" transition.
HA! yeah right... Anyway, that's all for now... I've got to go make sure that the rest of the site is working.
Opera 6 for Mac OS 8.6-10.2 Unleashed
“With today’s release we confirm our commitment to the Mac platform,” says Mary Lambert, product line manager desktop, Opera Software ASA. “Mac is an important part of our cross-platform strategy, and we are working hard to ensure that Opera for Mac will become the default browser for Mac users.”
Evolt is a great website, and THELIST is a great mailing list.
We were talking about how ridiculous it is to think that you can put up a web page and protect it from anyone who really wants to get at it.
There are snake oil salesmen who try to tell you differently. What they sell is bunk. Yes it will stop someone who doesn't really care. Yipee.
javascript:d=window.open();d.document.open('text/plain').write(document.body.outerHTML)
Bang, that's all it takes.
Oh, and by the way, if you go to the site with Internet Explorer be sure to disable a certain security preference:
Tools > Internet Options > Security
Click on the Internet icon
Click on customize.
Scroll down to where it says Allow Paste Operations By Script.
Set it to DISABLE.
See, it turns out that they care about THEIR privacy, but not yours, so they are perfectly happy taking over your Windows pasteboard. Do you think they ought to be able to do that? Me neither.
If you don't want anyone to have acceess to it, don't put it on the web. If you want to limit access to it, put it behind a password, but don't think it's fool-proof.
![[Sign reading HELL covered with ice]](/images/beyond30/hellfreezesover-450x249.jpg)
(Note: this picture was taken before the Sox won the series.)
![[Picture of two birds sitting on tree branch with a child catching snow flakes on his tongue under the tree. One bird says to the other 'Are you thinking what I'm thinking?']](images/snowbirds-318x432.jpg)
Someone forwarded me a link to Despair.com... I think the concept is hilarious.
In no particular order, my favorites are: Adversity, Burnout, Dare to slack, , Demotivation, Cluelessness, Delusions, Dysfunction, Incompetence, despair, elitism, failure, fear, futility, ineptitude, irresponsibility, loneliness, strife, pessimism, pretension, problems, procrastination, regret, sacrifice, stupidity, and underachievement.
Opera7.0 beta1 version 2 (aka 7.0b1b) was released a few days ago. This is a security release, not a feature release. It’s always a good idea to keep up with the opera.beta newsgroup and Opera.com when running a beta. Unfortunately the naming is a bit obscure, but life is like that sometimes.
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