Browser Undead: ways to survive ie6

Every web designer out there pretty much loathes Internet Explorer.  The latest iteration made some encouraging leaps forward in terms of accepting a universal standard or three.  The world has changed so much since the 90’s and we all know of and love our freedom of choice when it comes to browser selection.  Microsoft’s stubborn insistence on ignoring standards for years has resulted in double the workload for developers.  Testing sites across a variety of browsers and correcting the inevitable bugs takes a lot of time, which results in lower profits for designers like me.

So ie8 is ok; ie7 is tolerable…but ie6?  It’s a nightmare; the freak child of design indifference coupled with bizarre proprietary features. [aside: Who out there loves, or truly understands the idea behind ie's filters, anyway?]   I recently had a rude awakening when a client sent me a screen-grab of a site I had thoroughly tested in Firefox, Safari, Chrome, ie7, ie8 and ie8 compatibility mode.  I had the bizarre idea this year that with the release of ie8, we could lay the eight year old ie6 to rest.  I dropped support in my coding for the browser.  I also forgot to mention this in my contract.

Here’s the thing:  We’re designers (I’m making assumptions since you’re reading this).  We love the web…a lot.  In high school, they called us nerds and didn’t understand us at all.  Now, they call us “the web guy” and don’t understand us at all.  Other human beings think more about the rest of the world, rather than thinking about computers 24/7.  Amazing but true.  The other terrible truth is that around 15% of the population still uses the 6.  So while you and I downloaded the latest and greatest the day it came out, there are a lot of people out there (read that as “clients and their customers”) are firing up eight year old browsers to read their email.  So as i stared down the ugly screen-grab of my beautiful site ripped to shreds by the rotting zombie horde of ie6 browser bugs that I thought dead, I realized one thing:  I’m going to need some bigger guns.

As a designer I have two main problems with ie6: lack of support for .png images and CSS layouts that are inconsistent with all the other browsers on the planet.  In terms of understanding the bugs, I mentioned some good resources in this post. My favorite remains sitepoint.com.  Understanding bugs is not our purpose here, though.  Our purpose is finding guns…big guns.  For web developers software = guns, and I found some good stuff in my latest search.  The other good news?  I only use free stuff.

In terms of solving the positioning issue, Microsoft has created a slick tool called Super Preview that’s available for download here.  It lets you simultaneously compare a url in different versions of ie.  Thank you!  It’s stable and helps you see problems very quickly.  Half the problem is finding the bugs, and this tool does a pretty good job.  One issue I had is that it doesn’t seem to represent ie filters (specifically alpha) which is pretty crippling if you’re dealing with fixing .png’s.  Another piece of software that shows a lot of promise, and handles both the positioning and the .png issue,  is IE Tester, available for download here.  It’s currently an alpha release, and has the inherent instability related to alphas BUT it does a solid job, and has a lot of features that Super Preview lacks.  Make sure you run the program as an adminitrator (right-click > run as administrator) otherwise it’ll crash if it encounters Flash or a CSS filter (our main reason for using this rather than Super Preview).  Here’s hoping for a stable beta soon.  So now we see our bugs, and armed with sitepoint, we crush ‘em.  On to .png’s!

.Png image files are awesome for a lot of reasons.  One of their most awesome capabilities is the inclusion of alpha channels, which allow a varying degree of transparency.  As a designer, transparency is priceless.  It lets you make things shiny, or draw drop-shadows with ease.  You want this.  You need this.  ie6 says you can’t have it.  I say, thank you Angus Turnbull for writing a nice little script, aptly named the IE png fix.  His site and the instructions included in the download explain it well.  Another option that comes with a great explanation, is this entry on 24 Ways.

That should put your ie woes to rest in no time, which hopefully means you get some rest too.

New Contracts & My Dad’s Book

Good news.   I officially am officially partnering with Bold Springs Nursery to bring their site re-design to light.  I’m very excited about this one. They’re demanding a lot, and as I sketch out some of the initial layouts, I know it’s going to be great for their customers.   Nobody has anything remotely like we’re planning.

Also, my dad wrote a book!  I haven’t read it, but I did make a web site for him.  Check  it out here!

Economic Woes

I joined the club today.  Count me amoung those who’ve lost their jobs to economic collapse.  I no longer have my day job with Athens Area Habitat for Humanity.  The non-profit sector has been hit hard.  I know for a fact that they have no home sponsors lined up once they finish the homes they’re working on currently and that a huge chunk of their funding comes from government sources (ie deficit and cut prone sources).   I knew my head would be the first to roll.  I was the newest on staff and worked in the office, not directly with home building.  My job was basically to take care of all the various unsundry whatever that everyone else had no time for.  Now it just won’t happen at all.

Strangely, I feel relieved today.  While the whole money issue is going to be a crunch, I feel as if I’ve just started a new chapter. I may feel differently in a few weeks, but I’m looking forward to job hunting tomorrow.

Oh, I also secured my biggest web contract to date today.   With job stability being such a joke, why go after a salary anyway?  Now if Obama can just get this health plan passed before I break any bones…

WETA…how do you get paid to build toys this big?

Check out this full scale Warthog WETA built for the scrapped(?) Halo movie:

For all you uninnitiated and/or socially well-adjusted readers out there, WETA is Peter Jackson’s nerd paradise out of which the Lord of the Rings movies were born.  More pictures are available here.

There’s also a brief blurb on Newsweek’s blog about the abandonded movie that honestly makes me hope that Halo stays a game.  Maybe it could be done well…maybe.

Happy Sunday everyone.

Loss of a friend

It saddens me to say that sometime during the night, my dear Beta fish, Charles Joseph, passed away.  He was my constant companion for four years.  A truly awesome desk buddy.  I will miss his frowny face and buggy eyes.

Rest in peace, my friend.  Rest in peace.

Chales Joseph

2004-2008

A Case of the Mondays

Ok, so here’s the skinny on my professional status:  After attempting to go full time with freelance design work with absolutely no financial backing or resources I’ve come to the conclusion that all the books were right:  If you want to be a freelancer have SIX MONTHS OF LIVING EXPENSES IN THE BANK BEFOREHAND.  I made money as a full timer.  I actually made more than I was making at my old job.  The problem is I’m just now getting paid for jobs I did in um…February.  This is not strange.  I read about this phenomenon before I got started, I just chose to be stupidly optimistic.  Don’t be stupidly optimistic.  Your stomach will thank you.

So the plan has changed, yes?  I have a 9-5 which I actually enjoy.  Steady paychecks are fun!  I’m working at Athens Area Habitat for Humanity during the day, shooting weddings with my wife on the weekends, and contracting websites as well.  It’s great!  (Sidebar:  Check out the gallery I made for Alyssa here and her blog here).  We have enough money to grow and all the work we’re doing is stuff we enjoy.  I love shooting the weddings on the weekend because the two of us get to hang out while we work.  Couldn’t be better.

Breathe Easy

Honda has actually made a commercially available fuel cell car.

The official FCX Clarity site can be found here.

If you’re lucky enough to live in SoCal, you can lease one.  By the time these cars reach Atlanta, I might make enough money to afford the $600/month lease.  Until then, my Volvo/bike combination works just fine.

Common sentiment

From an interesting post from Relevant Magazine’s “God” section.

“One of the primary things is that they haven’t been taught to think,” Kinnaman says. “As we look at the interviews with teenagers and with young adults—their perspective theologically, and even their perspective about the world—very few have what’s called a ‘biblical worldview’ or perspective about the world that’s informed by the principles of Scripture.”The research also finds that, along with the lack of empowered thinking, the “one-size-fits-all ministry” discourages engagement, especially from a group as independent as twentysomethings. The disengagement only furthers doubt fueled by questions without easy answers. Often, young adults like Strahand know the “right” answers, but lack the theological and philosophical instruction to apply it, not only in an academic setting but also in times of doubt and fear.

“God did not intend for us to walk alone,” [one recent grad] says. “The Church seems like it is going in this crazy direction of huge multimedia presentations and all this stuff, but I really think that people want other real people.

Every single relationship you have should emulate your relationship with Christ in some way, so if you are missing that in your life, you’re not going to be connected. The Church has done such a terrible job of making sure that Christians stay connected.”

read the rest…

Online rewind

Life. Shifts.

Ok, so I am fairly inconsistent with things that are optional, and blogging has fallen low on the priority list lately. Not to say things haven’t been interesting. April was a complete bedlam since we moved from Savannah to Athens, GA.

For the uninitiated, Athens is a cultural mecca in the middle of an agricultural nowhere, east of Atlanta. R.E.M and the B-52s were the two most famous bands to come out of this town, but the place remains an indie darling and has produced names we all love, such as Neutral Milk Hotel and Of Montreal. A great deal of the magic is the result of Elephant Six recording company’s work, and the scene here remains incredibly active.

Needless to say, it’s fun to live here.