I upgraded to Firefox 2.0 today at work. I didn’t care for the new new tab button, so I went looking for themes.
I found a bunch of Safari-like themes, but most of them are OS X-only, e.g., GrApple. I wasn’t pleased with iFOX or GrayModern; Phoenity Modern was pretty good, but I ended up going with the new, slim Orbit Blue.
Color wheel user Jim wrote in to say that he was having trouble with the transparent shading square in both FireFox 1.0.2 and Internet Explorer 6. I couldn’t replicate the FireFox problem, but my IE at work is doing the same thing. More breakage from the perpetually broken browser is frustrating, to say the least, but you can still use the shading box without the color background (while you’re waiting for a real browser to download).
So if you want the geeky explanation, here it is: I use a directX thingamajig (DXImageTransform.Microsoft.AlphaImageLoader filter) to get around IE’s fundamental brokenness as it manifests itself in PNG transparency. The latest service pack (SP2) seems to have turned off directX stuff for some people, which is, I suppose, what I get for using stupid proprietary extensions to broken browsers.
If you’re interested in stupid proprietary extensions for your antique broken browser, here are some other links about PNG alpha transparency support:
Or just use FireFox.
Lately I’ve noticed a few pop-ups sneaking into Safari. After more than a year of popup-free bliss, the sight of those unsightly windows is distressing. Todd Dominey thinks it’s being done with Flash, but I’ve also seen speculation (from Mike Soloman, the PithHelmet guy) that they’re being popped up using links that contain both a real URL and a javascript onclick event.
Quote of the Day: “Bill Gates is a Persian cat and a monocle away from being a villain in a James Bond movie.” — Dennis Miller (via /.)
Slashdot confirms the LJ buyout rumors, and starts more about LJ banner ads for all. Here’s the official announcement from LJ.
And I have no WP spam yet! I was thinking of adding a second checkbox if the new one wasn’t enough, but it’s looking good so far.
Slashdot fosters rumors that SixApart is buying out LiveJournal. SixApart makes MovableType and TypePad.
[Update] My favorite comment comes from Pentomino:
[Slashdot] has many features similar to Livejournal, most notably the friends list, and the view of friends’ journals.
Slashdot even goes one better — you can also define a foes list. If LJ had that, it would be World War III.
Pentomino himself has no foes.
Firefox extension of the day: FlashBlock stops Flash ads from flashing
John Gruber has updated Markdown and explained the new licensing. Pardon the late link.
This will probably be my last fresh entry until Monday, as I will be AFK for the weekend. There may or may not be canned stuff for your holiday consumption.
Psych link of the day: A precious case from Middle Earth (via GNXP)
I’ve added some bookmarklets (javascript bookmarks that do cool things) to Firefox. Most of them came from from CowboyScripts, especially from playing with the Size-Align Bookmarklet Generator.
It’s a shame it’s so hard to find Firefox extensions, even when you know they exist. ColorZilla is very cool, but it took me forever to hunt it down at home after installing it at work.
Jerie said I couldn’t do a 4-word blog entry, so instead I bring you Web Design in 2005. Brown is the new black, and the worn look may be hanging on just a little longer—perhaps until it’s tattered or shredded.
But not my geeking. ZDNet UK has an article up about the inner workings of Google. Thanks to Weblog Tools Collection for the link.