The Blurb: August 2009

The Web designer's nemesis

Friday 14 August 2009  9.04 am

Everyone has their nemesis - the very embodiment of their worst fear.  Superman has Lex Luthor; Frodo has the Dark Lord Sauron.  Gordon Brown's is the next election, while right now the number one fear for most of us is, frankly, the common cold.

But Web developers across the world have a different arch-enemy.  One they have fought with a passion for what seems like two ice ages, and which shows no imminent signs of defeat.  It keeps them up at night with worry, and they regularly spend hours on end simply devising schemes to overcome it.

That enemy is the age old, and still sadly ubiquitious, browser known as Internet Explorer 6.  Two new and entirely free versions of Internet Explorer have been released since IE6 made its 2001 debut in Windows XP (they were innovatively named IE7 and IE8), but still more than a quarter of the public browse the Web with this beast.  This beast that takes defined Web standards, used by all the other major browsers, chews them up and spits them out with disgust as it places elements on Web pages wherever it pleases.  If you're an IE6 user yourself, you may have seen some of the sites you visit reduce themselves on your screen to no more than a jumbled, quivering mess.  As with all the greatest evil bad guys, IE6 wields a mighty power.  And Web developers could hardly have more contempt for it.

"Friends do not let friends use IE6," says Microsoft itself as it finds itself forced to extend support for the browser because people just aren't moving on.  Passionate websites have been set up - www.deathtoie6.com and the equally heartfelt www.saveie6.com.  But the war continues.

If you're feeling the love as a user of Internet Explorer 6 yourself, do the world a favour and install the free upgrade from Microsoft today.  You won't make any Web designer friends until you do!
 
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12:34:56 07/08/09

Friday 7 August 2009  12.34 pm

In history, there have been many significant dates.  Take the year 0, for example, which is most notable for the fact that it fails to exist.  Jesus, who was between four and seven years old at the time, must have found this most perplexing.

Then there was 1066, the year of the great Battle of Hastings.  1666, the year of the Great Fire of London.  And 1966, of course, the year that England won the World Cup.

Today is another significant day.  Because at the exact moment of this post, the time was 12:34 and 56 seconds on 07/08/09.  Special, indeed.
 
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