gBrowser? No, Chrome

Looks like the rumors from several years ago were pretty accurate; Google just released a new browser named Chrome that they have apparently been working on for several years. This thing has been in the rumor mill for ages but it was kept so closely guarded that no one but a select (very) few even knew the project existed. There’s been several dozen reviews/ criticisms written on the browser and it’s features, namely Incognito (read porno) Mode where no history or cookies will be recorded for that window, the new super-duper awesome V8 Javascript Engine that multiplies the JavaScript performance of websites through this browser, and it’s speed both in page and javascript rendering. So many articles that I felt it worthless to write anything like that myself so I decided to link to what I found to be the most interesting ones here so you can check those out.

Fanning the Flames

The main reason for this article was just for me to be able to say that although I was initially against YET ANOTHER browser crowding the marketplace I’ve actually become quite smitten with the little browser that could (and probably will, in many respects). Not to use, oh dear no for my heart is still with another, but as I mentioned in that past ‘Google Browser’ article I love how things like this light the fire under everyone else. This is ultimately going to spur on so many new developments in browser technology faster than it would have happened otherwise. The fact that many things like the aptly named V8 Javascript Engine is open sourced is going to make progress all the faster and, according to their comic, they’re hoping that’s the case as well.

Another big reason that I’m now willing to welcome Google Chrome with open arms is because it’s using the open source WebKit Rendering Engine (also utilized by Apple’s Safari) so your sites should render pages the same as Safari. You are testing your sites in Safari right? Right?

Sorry, this post ended up having way more links than I originally anticipated. I think they’re all good reads/resources though so when you get a chance check them out! And as always i’d like to hear what you thought about this article, Google Chrome, and the state of web browsers in general either through comments or via the contact form!

After a long internal debate and a lot of work I’ve recoded this site from scratch to replace the WordPress engine I’ve been using since this blog started. There were three main reasons why I decided to do this, none of which were in any way related with dissatisfaction with WordPress. In fact, I’ve been thoroughly impressed at the quality of the WordPress system and it ends up being the first thing I recommend to people looking for a blog or an easy way to publish news on their site. "So what were the reasons?" you may ask, well allow me to explain!

Would you like some SPAM with that?

The first big reason was the spam, oh dear God the spam! The comments table for this blog racked up over 32,000 comments and a grand total of 31 of those were actually legitimate. All I have to say is thank goodness Akismet is preinstalled, but even with that I still kept getting slammed with dozens of bogus comments a day. So I thought I’d add the reCAPTCHA captcha system to see if that’d help some. It did, but it was only successful at curbing the spam by half. Not great by any standards. So a custom solution was the best option, if no one knows what you’re running under the hood chances are they’re not going to (easily) know how to get around that system that’s in place.

I think I can, I think I can, I think I can

I’m no stranger to large development projects, i’ve built a custom (albeit fairly simplified) CMS and even an eCommerce engine designed specifically for artwork prints, but I’ve never created a full blog system. So naturally I thought it’d be a cool side project to work on during my free time. I gotta say that as I was coding along I realized countless little things that I didn’t consider when I started but that’s how it usually goes isn’t it? All in all I think it turned out pretty well. Still a few things I need to work on but the majority of it is functional and (hopefully) rock solid.

One cog in the gear

Perhaps the biggest reason I custom coded this is because I envision it eventually being a part of a bigger system of sites I have brewin in the ol’ noggin. Customization and reusability is a crucial aspect of my plans and what better way to go than to create the foundation myself from scratch. This way I know every digital inch of my site and will be able to integrate it infinitely better than I would a packaged solution.What sites you may ask? Well i’m not going to tell just yet, but rest assured it’s BIG!

So that’s it in a nutshell, just me tinkering away on my little corner of the web. Hopefully i’ll be able to get more and more added as time goes on, that’s the plan anyway.

I came back to work today after the weekend “fall back” and noticed that my Dreamweaver CS3 was starting to act up. Ever since we got it it’s been running like a champ so I googled “dreamweaver CS3 crashes” and lo and behold one of the first results is a TechNote posted today on adobe.com that links the frequent crashes on the DST ending. Of all the things I thought it could be, changing the clocks back an hour wasn’t even considered. That’s why i’m posting this in the attempts to spread the word about this odd error. Here’s a quote of the Issue as explained in the Technote.

Adobe Dreamweaver CS3 crashes when working with certain PHP or ASP files in Code view or Design view after the clock goes back one hour, when Daylight Savings Time ends. The crashes only occur when selecting certain lines in Code view, or selecting certain objects in Design view. The crashes only occur in files that have PHP or ASP code, intermingled with HTML code. The crashes do not occur in Dreamweaver 8 or earlier (Ref. 229536).

Click Here to read more and to find out how to fix this issue.

Here’s a Firefox extension that I can see as being another vital tool to web developers trying to get those pixel-perfect web 2.0 applications done faster and with less hassle. It’s called FireBug and does a lot of things that the popular Web Developer extension does such as highlighting and code views but this also give additional support for Javascript debugging, CSS and JS tweaking on the fly and Exploring a treeview of the DOM. One of the coolest features, however, is the ability to monitor network activity so you can see exactly what is taking your pages so long to load. With the increasing complexity of even the most basic websites, tools like this are going to be a vital resource to keep production time down.

Site Pro just released a new design for their site - http://www.sitepronews.com/ A cool resource for web scripts - http://protolize.org/ A free audio editor, anything this cool that’s free is pretty sweet - http://audacity.sourceforge.net/

Check out www.dhtmlgoodies.com/ for souped up menus and other “goodies”. This is a great resource for miscellaneous scripts that have been browser tested and developed for a good amount of time. They also have calendar, gallery and form scripts free to use.
 

A free online ‘zine worth checking out, http://www.websitemagazine.com/

Absolutely loving all the links over at http://www.kayodeok.btinternet.co.uk/favorites/webdesign.htm. It seems that some were broken when I tried but all in all another great bookmark resource!

FINALLY! The hardest browser to code for is one step closer to being dead. microsoft announced that as of the new year they will not issue new security updates for the mac Internet Explorer. They suggest, rather, that people start using “more recent web browsing technologies such as Apple’s Safari”. All us hardcore coders that try to design and code for accessibility in all browsers can see the light at the end of the tunnel. I’m not going to stop testing in Mac IE but I will start to put less weight on making everything pixel perfect in the now defunct browser.

This article, Architecting CSS, opened my eyes to the possibilities of better organizing my CSS. Up until recently i’ve had no problem using one CSS file for a site but i’ve noticed more and more that they get longer, especially when the layouts are CSS based. Definitely an eye opening read, check it out for some good ideas of how to better organize your code.

Yahoo! News now has a beautifully recoded website that’s surprisingly table-less! Check it out, I think it’s a step in the right direction for sure.

I recently had a need for a dropdown in a layout and dreaded using the ol’ javascript method. After a bunch of searching I got to this excellent article by the peeps at A List Apart that explained how to get a pixel perfect dropdown with CSS. Check out the article and the results!

Westciv has released the 4th version of thir CSS editing software, check out the features and screenshots! Style Master 4.0

For those unaware, May 1st Reboot is a yearly international relaunch of websites with new designs. This marks it’s fifth anniversary, each year that has passed has made it more and more popular and therefore more and more fun to witness. Check out their site and if you’re so inclined register to be a part of the Reboot!

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Also, a new site has sprung up this year called CSS Reboot, it’s run independently but with the same passion as the original. The purpose of this site is to raise more awareness of the CSS and Web Standards design community.

unfortunately what the May 1st Reboot is most certainly not is a CSS and web standards-minded community project. The entries have been famously lopsided in the Flash department. So I got to thinking today that maybe this year could be the year to change all that. We can call it the May 1st Reboot Reboot… or something.

Here’s a link to the article that started CSS Reboot CSS Web Standards May 1st Reboot