tcervo

When running different version of Gecko browsers (NS 7, Moz, etc.), it is highly recommended that you create a new profile before installing a new version/browser, and use a different profile for each. There are known issues with using the same profile for NS 7 and Moz (by default they would share a profile.) Even though NS and Moz install in different locations, the profiles are stored in a common location…Not sure about Firebird, though…

Just curious to those who say they are tabbed browser users, but prefer external links open in a new window: why on earth are you considering yourself a “tabbed browser user” then? I use Moz, personally, so I love tabs…can’t live without them. I always middle click an external link so it opens in a new tab. That’s kinda the point of tabs, right? To keep your desktop/taskbar/dock/whatever uncluttered? Just curious…
Oh, and we were discussing this in another thread, and I pointed out a couple of reasons why new windows can be confusing/bad for people…I used my Mom as an example, but I know there are newbies out there by the millions that browse with their browser maximized, and have no concept of a new window opening…To them, clicking a link only to have the back button disabled (seemingly) is frustrating and confusing. They don’t think to look at their taskbar or dock to notice a new window has been opened. I’ve seen this time and again at work, with my Mom, etc. The other reason is, of course, accessibility. If you don’t care about that, then fine. Since blogs are basically journals, I would think the ability for a screen reader to use your site would make sense to you. Opening a new window screws up the focus of the screen reader, and they can get lost with no way back to your site…
Users already have options on how they want the link to open (in a new window, in a new tab, in the same window, etc.) Why try to force the issue, just to confuse a large portion of the population?

snee7,
I’ve been experiencing the same problems (very slow connection, to none at all…no FTP, etc.)
Mine has been traced to a relay/switch/whatever in Austin, Texas. It’s been down since about 8:00pm PST yesterday…Unfortunatly, it’s not the fault of my ISP or hosting company…it’s occuring somewhere in-between the two.
Try this: open up a dos window (I don’t know about ME, but in XP choose Start->Run then type cmd and click ok.
Next, at the dos prompt, type tracert followed by your URI. For example, mine would be tracert https://www.tcervo.com
If it gets to your domain without errors, then it’s something else. If you get a series of “request timed out” errors, then that’s your problem.
-Tony

It’s weird, I ran across another blog that was using the same markup (looks like), and it validates. The only diff was they used code inside of pre…I’ll have to try that when my site is back up. (Actually, my site was never down…it’s my connection/route from my ISP to my hosting company. Doing a traceroute tells me/us/them that between here and there, I’m getting sucked into a black hole in Austin, Texas. Specifically the handoff from v100.colo1.aus.texas.net [209.99.121.5] is sending me into oblivion. So, I’m the only one that can’t get to my own site!)

Impulz:
I was thinking about that myself, and here are/were my thoughts:
In today’s web, surfing with javascript disabled is like driving with your engine turned off…if you’re going downhill you’ll probably get there anyway, but the rest of the time you’re out of luck.
But, using the rel=”external” method with js turned off will simply open the link normally (in the same window), so it’s really not disabling any real functionality.
The more I thought about it, though, the more I’m thinking I’m going to ditch all opening of links in a new window…for the same reasons I don’t use the comments popup:
1) I personally hate popups, and new windows are essentially popups.
2) Some people get confused when a new window opens, particularly if they run their browser full screen. Seriously, my Mom is that way. She’ll wonder why her “back” button is greyed out, and call me and say her browser is broken. I tell her (time and again) to close the browser window by clicking on the little red X in the corner, then “Wow. There’s my other page! Where did that come from?”
3) New windows and/or popups wreak havok on screen readers. The switch in focus often confuses those using a screen reader since they are genearlly unaware that a new window has opened. I doubt anyone with a screen reader is visiting my site, but that’s not the point. (Side note: we had this conversation at work, and it turns out a member of our board is blind, and visits the company website with a screen reader…Luckily my argument had already prevailed.)
Ok, I’ll get off my soapbox now.
-Tony

Perfect, thanks!

LL,
Actually, if you want your site to be valid XHTML strict, you wouldn’t use the target attribute…it’s not allowed for XHTML strict. Instead, use rel=”external”, then do a similar parse. I just wrote an article on my site about this very thing, since I wanted links opening in a new window to validate. However, my site seems to be down (trouble with my host, I believe, since I can’t even FTP to my account.) Hopefully it’ll be up soon, so check it out here whent it’s up: https://www.tcervo.com/
Here’s a link to the original article where I found the script.
-Tony

Dude. That sucks…Funny, but terribly cruel ??

southerngal said: “I haven’t ever had anything happen to my MySQL database.”
Uh, oh…now you’ve done it. You’ve gone and jinxed yourself ??

Yeah, I like the Saila article as well, which is whyI posted it in my original comment ??
Seems to me, the first definition of abbreviation ( 1. The act or product of shortening) means that all acronyms can be considered abbreviations (but not the other way around.)
Since the W3C seems to be abandoning the acronym tag altogether, and using abbr seems to make more sense in most cases anyway, why not do something like photomatt’s script but using abbr instead of acronym? Even better (or worse, depending on your point of view), the script could wrap a span around the text so that it can be styled for IE (since Microsoft, in it’s infinite wisdom, decided to abandon the abbr tag in IE 6 in favor of just the acronym tab…exactly opposite of the W3C.)
Just a thought…
-Tony

More fun stuff:
Here’s the list of all acronyms and abbreviations used by the accessify.com acrobot. You’ll notice the majority are abbr’s. This might be a good reference point for any abbr and acronym arrays that are put together.
Note also that the 5th version of the XHTML working draft does not include the acronym tag at all, just abbr.
-Tony

Ooops, the comment from the Craig Saila article got jacked up. It should read:
acronym : Use only with strict definition, i.e. for pronounceable abbreviations—if at all.
abbr : Use if: not pronounceable, always, or when in doubt.

I suppose there could be some discussion as to what qualifies as an acronym, and what is actually an abbreviation. (Personally, I think acronym is often used when abbr is more appropriate.) Even Webster’s seems to be unclear. For example:
ac·ro·nym
n.
A word formed from the initial letters of a name, such as WAC for Women’s Army Corps, or by combining initial letters or parts of a series of words, such as radar for radio detecting and ranging.
n : a word formed from the initial letters of a multi-word name
ab·bre·vi·a·tion
n.
1. The act or product of shortening.
2. A shortened form of a word or phrase used chiefly in writing to represent the complete form, such as Mass. for Massachusetts or USMC for United States Marine Corps.
3.The form to which a word or phrase is reduced by contraction and omission; a letter or letters, standing for a word or phrase of which they are a part; as, Gen. for Genesis; U.S.A. for United States of America.
So, both USMC and U.S.A. are used as examples of an abbreviation, but also seem to meet the definition of an acronym (a word formed from the initial letters of a name.) I would use the abbr tag for these, since you don’t often refer to the Marines as the You Ess Em See, but you do refer to the Women’s Army Corps as the Whack. Likewise, you don’t often say You Ess Ay…just You Ess, or America. I think the key to acronym is that it is a word (WAC = Whack, not Double-U Ay See.)
Here’s an article by Craig Saila, arguing that darn near everything we currently wrap in an acronym tag actually (correctly) belongs in an abbr tag.
I really liked one of the comments from Craig’s article:
* : Use only with strict definition, i.e. for pronounceable abbreviations—if at all.
* : Use if: not pronounceable, always, or when in doubt.
Enjoy,
Tony

In my opinion, both MS and Apple provide plenty of high quality free fonts with the basic OS. Many additional software packages add even more fonts. The fonts some people pay for (and should pay for) are specialty fonts created by artists to give an application (website, print brochure, movie title, etc.) a bit of distinctness. If these fonts were free, we’d see nothing but copycat clones. Remember the early days of the web, when every damn site under the sun used Comic Sans MS? God, I hate that font! So, I like that the WP site has a distinctive font that everybody and his/her dog are using.
My 2-cents,
Tony

uregistered said:
“It just seems to me that this blog is headed for disaster because you have to do it your own way. And when the upgrades come down the road, your going to have recode everything again. Hopefully I’m wrong.”
For me, this is exactly why I *like* WordPress…the *ability* to do it my own way. So many of the other systems are cumbersome to truly customize, whereas with WP I can modify everything….right down to which tags are wrapped around a link.
As upgrades come, I don’t anticipate having to change anything in my .CSS file. The majority of div’s are outside the WP loops, so changes to the backend systems will have no effect. I haven’t modified the names of any styles inside the loops, but I can change the *styles* all I want…that’s the beauty of CSS.
Forgive me if I’m not really understanding your concerns…
Let’s say I was installing a fresh install of WP. As a newbie, I could change the styles in the .CSS file to my hearts content without affecting any functionality. I could create 10 different styles, and switch them whenever I want, again without affecting any functionality. So, I guess I’m not really understanding the concern…
-Tony