Web Design

What Pop-ups? (An Opera Story)

 

Advertising.com revealed that people click on annoying pop-up ads 13 times as often as they do passive banner ads. This will surely translate to even more sites using pop-ups for generating ad revenue, but I’ll still never see them because the software developers of the web browsers Opera, Netscape, Mozilla and Safari care about user experience. They’ve integrated intelligent pop-up blockers as part of their feature-rich browsers. What I mean by intelligent is that these browsers will still allow pop-ups when you request them (by clicking a link) rather than indiscriminately blocking all pop-up windows (like the 3rd-party, parasitic add-ons to IE do).

I Heart Opera

Speaking of user experience, Opera7.1 is the most user-centric web browser I’ve used.

  • It loads in a heartbeat and uses very little memory.
  • I search google by typing “g [terms]” (similarly for
    Amazon, E-bay, etc.)
  • While I read, I open links in the background so I can look at them after
    finishing an article without having to wait as they load. Meanwhile they
    sit in a convenient, tabbed interface instead of in individual windows.
  • When researching something, I can create simple text notes that automatically
    remember where I was when I took them.
  • To go back I just hold the right mouse button and click the left (and
    vice-versa to go forward again).
  • If text is too big or small, I can zoom a whole page in 10% increments
    with [+/-].
  • I can “skin” the browser when I feel like a new look. (see
    pink_bunny
    or Azurino)
  • I can toggle images, javascript, java applets, plug-ins (like Flash),
    cookies, animated GIFs, embedded sounds.
  • It’s the most
    compliant browser with regards to modern web standards    , letting me see
    sites as the designer fully intended.
  • If sloppy designers make broken web pages I can turn their style off with
    one click, giving me access to the unadulterated content of the site.
  • The latest version is only a 3MB download.

I could go on and on, but, basically, Opera innovates in ways that put me in control rather than leaving me at the mercy of the web. It’s all in their vision:

We believe in respect for our users.

Users have since the beginning shaped Opera’s features and spread the word to the uninitiated. Thanks to this interaction Opera Software exists today, both as an organization and as a technology leader. Opera Software will never forget that its main focus is the user.

What pop-ups?

 

Advertising.com revealed that people click on annoying pop-up ads 13 times as often as they do passive banner ads. This will surely translate to even more sites using pop-ups for generating ad revenue, but I’ll still never see them because the software developers of the web browsers Opera, Netscape, Mozilla and Safari care about user experience. They’ve integrated intelligent pop-up blockers as part of their feature-rich browsers. What I mean by intelligent is that these browsers will still allow pop-ups when you request them (by clicking a link) rather than indiscriminately blocking all pop-up windows (like the 3rd-party, parasitic add-ons to IE do).

I Heart Opera

Speaking of user experience, Opera7.1
is the most user-centric web browser I’ve used.

  • It loads in a heartbeat and uses very little memory.
  • I search google by typing “g [terms]” (similarly for Amazon, E-bay, etc.)
  • While I read, I open links in the background so I can look at them after finishing an article without having to wait as they load. Meanwhile they sit in a convenient, tabbed interface instead of in individual windows.
  • When researching something, I can create simple text notes that automatically remember where I was when I took them.
  • To go back I just hold the right mouse button and click the left (and vice-versa to go forward again).
  • If text is too big or small, I can zoom a whole page in 10% increments with [+/-].
  • I can “skin” the browser when I feel like a new look. (see pink_bunny or Azurino)
  • I can toggle images, javascript, java applets, plug-ins (like Flash), cookies, animated GIFs, embedded sounds.
  • It’s the most compliant browser with regards to modern web standards, letting me see sites as the designer fully intended.
  • If sloppy designers make broken web pages I can turn their style off with one click, giving me access to the unadulterated content of the site.
  • The latest version is only a 3MB download.

I could go on and on, but, basically, Opera innovates in ways that put me in control rather than leaving me at the mercy of the web. It’s all in their vision:

We believe in respect for our users.

Users have since the beginning shaped Opera’s features and spread the word to the uninitiated. Thanks to this interaction Opera Software exists today, both as an organization and as a technology leader. Opera Software will never forget that its main focus is the user.

You don’t win friends with salad

You can’t make this stuff up: “Sandra Garner and her husband, Darryl Garner, had invited a few guests over to their apartment on S Highland Avenue for a Memorial Day dinner. The menu was simple: A few drinks. A little chicken. And a whole lot of salad.” They argue over the salad, kick all their friends out, and both end up in jail for domestic battery, resisting arrest with violence, use of a firearm while under the influence, improper exhibition of a firearm and disorderly conduct. full story (St. Pete Times)

Happy Ending With(out) Standards

 

Media Farm creates an inaccessible and invalid site and calls it a “Successful Standards-Based Migration.”

A recent case study on Netscape’s DevEdge details a “standards-based” overhaul of the NYU Stern School of Business’ Executive Programs site by the web design firm Media Farm. What it fails to mention is that, due to their goal of giving users of version 4 browsers the full experience of the site, Media Farm essentially placed the site’s content in a pile of meaningless structure glued in place by CSS, only accessible via graphical browsers.

Here is a simulation of the front page viewed with Lynx, a fully-capable HTML browser without CSS capabilities (this might be a decent representation of how the site will render on a mobile phone or PDA). What’s immediately noticeable is the lack of alt attributes on images, but also general structure. A look at the markup reveals 0 headings, 0 paragraphs, 69 images and 86 table-cells! The W3C states “content developers must not sacrifice appropriate markup because a certain browser or assuasive technology does not process it correctly,” and that is what Media Farm has done. Navigator 4, in particular, simply cannot style a well-structured document to the requirements of the site’s visual layout, so they used meaningless DIV and SPAN elements to replace headings and paragraphs and to hold tag-soup layout tables in position. Although the use of CSS to replace some presentational HTML is certainly a step in the right direction, there is still need for meaningful structure in a document, especially if you are claiming to author according to standards!

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Treats

 

Lately I’ve been treating myself to some new gadgets, the big ones being a CD/mp3 player for my car (I love the comfortable knobs instead of buttons) and a cable modem (we’ve been watching a lot of Family Guy episodes lately). I held out for quite awhile on both, but I finally caved. Also on the way is a headphone amp and mic cables that will complete the recording setup we have in the rock room and allow me to finish up some of these new MrClay tracks (and start work on the next batch I’ve been writing). By the way, Josh and I hereby reserve the name “The French Horns” for future use.

I’m loving the new April March album “Triggers”. Musically all over the place, but mainly candy pop in the vein of France Gall/Stereolab (half the album is in French) with Beck’s “Mutation”-era production and touches of electropop. I think it’s the musical equivalent of a smile. Also playing lately: Pep Love (from the unstoppable Hieroglyphics crew) and Al Green’s “Back Up Train”. Eagerly awaiting a CD from Sweden’s the Radio Dept and the U.K.’s I Am Kloot.

Soon I’d like to get around to linking up all my Javascript/CSS experiments so someone else might find them useful. I make these things all the time but never link them to the site, because I’m lazy

Of all the stories I’ve read on this war, this interview struck me as very interesting. You’ll hear no more from me about it.

Have no fear, we’ve got stories for years

 

Entertainment Weekly gives their top 25 Simpsons episodes in light of the up-coming 300th episode. The writers still seem to be well on top of things, meanwhile FOX is craparama all around. Those pissed about about Futurama’s cancelling might already know this, but it was picked up in syndication and is now on nighty on the Cartoon Network’s “Adult Swim” line-up. Don’t miss Aqua Teen Hungerforce either!

This morning I listened to a ton of Lilys songs; a wash of painfully trebley guitars is nice way to start my day. I did make out a new lyric: “Charity division’s been out sick all week,” in a ridiculous song involving pharoes, for which Josh dreamed up a whole video. Let’s just say it had Kurt Heasley busting out of the top of a pyramid playing a guitar solo.

I’m getting back into doing Tonevendor work again and revisiting its usability and features. From the excellent WebDesign-L mailing list, I’ve got some new ideas for reworking database-managed URLs like .../view.php?item=123 to the nicer .../item/123/. Pretty exciting stuff (sigh) Oh yeah, this post needs more Sandi.

Shivering Spaces

 

I’ve got a knitted blanket around me, my feet are cold and the heater running round-the-clock has me dehydrated. I’m ready for breakfast @ the Plaza. So tomorrow is the first Bucs superbowl.. How in the world would I know this? Over the last year, Dan has slowly got me interested in sports — enough to follow Lakers games and know the names of a handful of NFL players and coaches. I don’t even know who I am anymore.

Word on the street is the 307 house of fun and excitement is building a LAN of four PCs, two are being put together over the next few weeks as parts arrive. The new-ish AMD XP 2100 CPU will power the “production unit” in my room while my old PC will be prepped for use as the dedicated “recording unit” in the rock room. No more recording on 4-track, transferring to PC then dragging all types of amps and instruments into my cramped room for overdubs.

Last night I read Dive Into Accessibility, an online book about building more accessible webpages. Most of the techniques I’d already picked up over the last year or two, but a few caught my eye, like this table trick to have content, rather than navigation, be first in the markup (for text and alternative browsers) in simple left-nav table layouts. A great idea if you must use tables for layout..

After an hour of hiding background PNGs and negative margins from IE/win, the pastel theme finally looks decent in that browser. Opera and Moz/Netscape6+ users get the real deal.

A Good Kind of Nervous

 

And so I usher in a new era of not working and not arriving to class on time because of not finding a place to park in the mornings. 3 classes, of which ~60% hold my interest, yield me $1800 in loans to make it to Spring. Will I make it? — Can I curb pop music and Subway consumption in order to pay rent? I suppose I will have to cut back, right after the upcoming Beulah / Mates of State show in Atlanta, of course. I already miss my friends at work (a couple days ago was my last day after almost 2 years there) and my friend Sandi, who now enjoys a healthy commute and adventures in Spanish comprehension in Miami. ¿Cómo sobrevivirá ella la ciudad grande?

This edition of mrclay.org is dedicated to the fantastic Lucksmiths album “A Good Kind of Nervous”. On the last brittle stars tour our routes intersected a couple times and I got a chance to meet 2/3rds of them and trade one of our CDs for one of their shirts. Suckers. In other news I’m loving the new Ivy album “Long Distance”. As always smooth and breezy and they seem to be moving in a more dance-pop direction. Lots of great melody and I appreciate the occasional, cheesy drum-loop.

Music

I promised better bit-rate mp3s soon, and of course I lied, but I do have some songs up my sleeve waiting for the right group to be put together. Even though it was sad to end the brittle stars, the tour was a rejuvination of sorts. If I can get another competent pop band together there shouldn’t be a lack of songs — well maybe words.

Down With OOP

Placing the acronym for Object-Oriented Programming in the title of a Naughty by Nature single should ideally secure me sufficient beatings from both the hip hop and coding communities. My classes in C++ and VB I hope will cover a lot of OOP concepts this semester and I’d like to create some smart objects and methods in javascript to simplify image rollovers and DHTML code. I’m learning more about html forms — the Spanish link above submits two variables to the Babelfish translator CGI “tr” using GET whereas their own forms hides the variables by POST-ing them.

Here are we, with a view of mountains
Staring at the floor for hours on end
There’s a world outside that window
And we’re looking at linoleum instead
Another sunset passes us by
We used to sit on our arses
And stare into the sky

If either one of us could drive
We could drive away
And the times of our lives
Could begin today

Look at us. We’re atrocious
We make a meal of every meal
And we browse through travel brochures
But the grass grows brown around these wheels
Take the tennis ball off the towbar
We’ve come a long way
But there’s so far to go

If either one of us could drive
We could drive away
And the time of our lives
Could begin today
What’s there to decide?
And what’s there to say?
If either one of us could drive
We could drive away

Some things might have to change
I wish there was some furniture
That I could rearrange

–The Lucksmiths “Caravanna”

Feeling Deserted

 

Coming home to Gainesville after touring the west coast, I feel like I’ve crashed. I forgot how much I like touring with friends, playing shows and meeting people along the way. I really miss it already, a lot. I’ve made up my mind to move to the west coast come hell or high water around this time next year. One year reserved for getting in all the education I can before the move, probably to Sacramento. The industry seems to be a bit more stable there, and even if the weather isn’t quite S.F., every step outside into Florida heat infuriates me lately. So this year will be about preparation, hopefully seeing a lot of my friends that I have to leave behind, and convincing the least anchored ones to jettison this state as well. If anyone needs a roommate in Sacramento Fall 2002, let me know.

Web Geek News

I’ve begun reworking the tinybadpictures.com layout (working model mrclay.org/newtbp) and it’s coming along nicely I think. The new one will be valid HTML & CSS, which will likely force me to serve NN4 its own hacked style sheet like on the brittlestars.org, but the code is smaller, beautiful and easy to modularize and update. Although I’ve banished the annoying frameset we had for page centering, I think I’ll now use an inline frame to display the big 30-40k pictures so they don’t all have to preload, this will also allow us to have more pics per gallery page. It also means having to provide a seperately generated version for users w/ clunky old browsers. PHP to the rescue again — I can make a link that will cause ?show=all to be appended to all gallery URLs which with deliver a more accessible version w/ all the pics on the page. So my work is cut out for me.

I noticed that the original mrclay.org blue looked a lot darker on the PCs at school so I have to wonder if Photoshop’s gamma adjuster is too light. Then I have to wonder, does anyone really care?

E-bay Auctions

1997 Brutal Scars Promo Poster OOP

Printed before Stella Scar’s dramatic dismissal and 3rd autobiography. Also features a shaven Josh Scar and the tentative title of the BS single released as “Shortcut to MyHeart.txt”. Fans will also recognize this title as the subtitle of Josh’s 2nd biography of 1998. I was told this might be very rare — reserve is 50.00USD.
48″x48″ laminated in cardboard tube
Extended until tomorrow 8PM E.S.T.!
[Image of Josh and Estelle posed in a very sensational teen-pop promo poster]

Featured Artwork

This obscure Warhol piece featured Clairecords empire founder and Studio 54 local Daniel Sostrom.
[5 images of Dan jumping, slapping himself high-5 on various colored backgrounds]
“Five High Fives” (1978) Colorforms ® on detached refridgerator door 36″x62″x5″.