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Siebe TolsmaSticking it to the man -- Browser styleAs many of you know, I'm the primary developer of the UI controls of the Windows Live Messenger Web Toolkit -- That is to say, I've written most of the code that makes them tick, and I do almost all of the styling. Credit where credit is due of course, my coworkers have also contributed to the UI controls (and two thumbs up when they do).
Anyway, as part of the UI controls, we often encouter various CSS bugs and other oditities in the various browsers that we support. Right now we support IE6, IE7, IE8, FF1.5, FF2, FF3, FF3.5, Chrome 1 and Chrome 2. Yes, we don't support Opera, although I hope that we someday do. Some browsers have more quirks than others (IE6, IE7, I'm looking at you!), while the newer browsers have less bugs.. Unfortunately, when they do, they are often harder to solve and more complex in nature.
Dealing with these bugs is not always fun. Sometimes we encounter issues so strange, that it takes a long time digging around to find the real issue, and for most of the non-obvious ones there is suprisingly little information on the webs on how to solve them. All the IE6 and IE7 bugs are old, and well-documentated, but quirks in FF3 and so on are often less well-understood. At first I start out optimistically; "I'm sure we can find a work-around or other fix that will work in a few minutes". After that the slow realization that this might be a nasty one sets in; "Shoot, there is no information about this anywhere, did we do something completely wrong?". For the really nasty ones, it soon turns into a "Damn, this bug is really annoying, there is no info about it, and nothing I do seems to help". Sometimes for hours, sometimes for days.
But the best part is when I finally fix a really nasty bug. It's a liberating feeling, a feeling of sticking it to "the man" -- the digital middle finger that says "we don't need a new release of your browser, our stuff works around your bugs, sucker!". This is, of course, heavily censored as I do not want to fill my blog with profanities :-).
... and I keep coming back for more. Brain dumpBlogging would be so much easier if I could just create a brain dump and post it. No need to form coherent sentences and typing it all using a silly keyboard. Man, that would rock.
Which, coincidentally, is also the reason I haven't been updating my blog. I have plenty of interesting things I would like to discuss, talk about, blog about, or something like that.. I also have plenty of time in the evenings to write up elaborate stories (hey, what can I say, no other obligations). Yet I can't be bothered to type it all. I'm sure some brilliant and self-proclaimed Web 2.0 expert has come up for a term for this "syndrome", but I can't be arsed to go look for it.
In other news, I think having breakfast is finally starting to pay off. A couple of weeks ago I finally found something I like to eat in the morning. I'm not a big toast and/or bread and/or bagle and/or anything-else-in-the-morning-fan. But I do admit I feel less foggy during the day, especially in the afternoon. Now if only I could improve my cooking skills for dinner, I'm sure I could achieve world peace.
Also, I have a weird fascination with Twitter. On the one hand I find it interesting to read what people are doing, yet on the other hand I get annoyed like hell by all the people who post mindless retweets, tweet when they're stuck in traffic, or post ten times a week that they're at some airport somewhere around the world (we get it, you travel a lot, now go do something useful). That's the one thing I think Twitter is really missing: A way to cleanly sort this big pile of information (and incoming tweets) into categories and groups that actually matter to me, sparing me all the boring messages. I also forgot I had my phone set up for Twitter, so I was slightly surprised to see I got a bunch of SMS messages when someone sent me a direct message. I have to check my bill, see how much that joke cost me.
I was watching TV the other night, and I happen to see the latest Coke advertisement. I know it's been out for a while, so I'm sure you've seen it: the sweaty, hot (as in warm, not good looking) guy, who is thirsty beyond believe and recognizes the Coca Cola bottle in every sound, shape and other sensation you can think of on his way to some shoddy store where he buys a bottle to relieve his thirst. Coca Cola really messed this one up. They're previous ads were spot on, giving most people a real sensation of I got to drink this stuff, It's awesome. But this ad is just... Weird. I can't see how it possibly can have any effect (heck, it made me want to not drink cola).
The other day I got a TomTom, a neat little device. I know the educated readers know that I don't drive, so let me explain. My parents are coming over in two weeks (two weeks?! holy sheeze, time flies!) and they want to go places. So naturally they'll be getting a rental car. Of course, you could rent a GPS device, but it's super expensive, and I'll need one eventually anyway. So in the end it's cheaper to just buy one. I like how you can just download other language voices and so on for free.
Anyway, I better stop rambling now. Laters.
Mind your queue.Having recently become somewhat a fan of his columns and documentaries (especially about messy people), here's one of the best columns I think you should read... and still totally true. The standard "thriller" / "action" soundtrack -- What is it?As heard in the Hitman (2007) Soundtrack, the new Prototype teaser (which looks awesome, btw), and many many more movies and games.. What is it? It must be some standard piece of audio, perhaps from a classical piece? I don't know. Maybe someone can shed some light on it. It's been bugging me for a while now >_>
Edit: The tune in question starts around 0:50 in the Prototype trailer. Plane/helicopter crashes?What's up with all those plane/helicopter crashes the past month or so? I've never heard of so many going down in a short period of time.
.. and that's just off the top of my head. Is this just getting more media exposure, or? Edit: One more for the list -- An F-22 fighter jet just went down. A post before heading to Las VegasSo here's a quick post before I head off to Las Vegas tomorrow. I'll be attending Mix -- If you're going and see me, or want to meet up, let me know (leave a comment or send me an e-mail). Anyway, before I go to the land of the free (ahem), I thought I'd post some random observations I made over the past few months that I've been here in Canada.
WhiteYet again, everything is white.
 Stuff I want to do....
..... Oh, and go to work. PhotosynthPhotosynth is awesome. I think I'm going to create a synth (hm, I wonder if that's going to be a verb.. "I'll go synth it") of the surroundings of my apartment building.
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