Hard News by Russell Brown

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Hard News: Geekstuff

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  • merc,

    Dam, I should have known better, but for a moment there I was cyber geek.

    Since Dec 2006 • 2471 posts Report

  • matthewbuchanan,

    But I've just realised that links in these forums only open in a new tab in Firefox. In Safari, it's a new window. Any one know why?

    It's just a design thing, the developers of Firefox have (rightly) decided that in a tabbed world, "_blank" means new tab, not new window. I wish the Safari team would do the same, or at least provide a preference setting.

    Use of "_blank" is not without its detractors though, particularly for browsers in which it's impossible to override it. It's been dropped/deprecated from the XHTML 1.0 Strict specification, which is one of the few reasons PA is still 1.0 Transitional. The recommended approach is now to use JavaScript to open new windows.

    Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 163 posts Report

  • Murray,

    And Russell, if the user is "forced" to open links in a new tab/window, that's not an "option". Personally, I prefer to choose myself when I want to open a link in a new tab, by holding down ctrl in Firefox (or I use shift in IE ).

    I sort of consider using "_blank" a little underhanded, like the site trying to hold onto me even though I've decided to click away. ;)

    Wairoa • Since Feb 2007 • 3 posts Report

  • Juha Saarinen,

    NOOO!! BUCHANAN! NOO!!

    Not to use reams of Javascript to hack around a single, very useful attribute.

    Since Nov 2006 • 529 posts Report

  • Juha Saarinen,

    Since Nov 2006 • 529 posts Report

  • merc,

    Dude, I run a 2001 "Icebook" G3 with dual boot, OS9, and 10.2. That would make me very low-fi, or retro even. Though Safari never cut it for me, due to the fact that I have to use a PC at work and I like to run the same browser, and the tab thing was an issue back then.
    Indeed my next machine is vexing me somewhat. And I agree with not going with the JS ream, also most blockers can turn scripts off.

    Since Dec 2006 • 2471 posts Report

  • Robyn Gallagher,

    I was looking at this discussion at work and there were far more Gravatars showing up here than I can see now at home. Caching, perhaps?

    Since Nov 2006 • 1946 posts Report

  • Hamish,

    I'm just posting to see if my Gravatar finally got updated..

    .. And yes, there is a good reason _blank was dropped: it's an obnoxious way to link - especially since you've all got a 'open in new window/tab' button a mouse click away.

    On the topic of Mac browsers - what's the deal with Camino being completely useless? Surely the marriage of Mozilla practicality with Mac's supposed ease of use would give a far supior experience. Not so!

    The A.K. • Since Nov 2006 • 155 posts Report

  • Murray,

    obnoxious. that's the word I was looking for. :)

    Wairoa • Since Feb 2007 • 3 posts Report

  • matthewbuchanan,

    Safari is considered harmful

    To productivity, at least. Fascinating read, I had no idea.

    Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 163 posts Report

  • Jason Kemp,

    I heard that Vista likes 4GB of ram to be useful. Its looking like more reasons to get a Mac after all. I went and got a Gravatar to try out - looks like it is all working now.

    Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 368 posts Report

  • Juha Saarinen,

    No, I can safely say it doesn't need 4GB. 1GB is fine, 2GB is better. Due to the way x86 processors work, it would be a waste to get more than 3GB of RAM for a 32-bit OS.

    Get a 64-bit OS however, and you don't have to worry about the 4GB limitation for the OS at least.

    I had 8GB of RAM in a Mac OS X box once. The kernel saw all the memory, but the apps didn't. Was kind of cool nevertheless, but Apple took the box back and now they don't give out review gear, just machines for film and TV placement. Bit sad that.

    Since Nov 2006 • 529 posts Report

  • Hamish,

    Not really - Noel Leeming's are selling notebooks for $999 that'll run Vista on 512 Mb. It's not advisable - but with 1 Gb and a cheapish video card it should be sweet.

    The A.K. • Since Nov 2006 • 155 posts Report

  • Juha Saarinen,

    Gravatars make PA System slow to load, especially for threads with multiple pages of comments. I think if you're going to have avatars, they need to come from the local server, or an Akamaised one.

    For me, Gravatar is 200ms+ away but Telecom's Global-Gateway likes to drop packets en route, so Gravatars often don't load. Slow load times was one reason I removed MyBlogLog, as the Avatars there too several seconds each to come down through the tubes.

    Since Nov 2006 • 529 posts Report

  • Russell Brown,

    Gravatars make PA System slow to load, especially for threads with multiple pages of comments. I think if you're going to have avatars, they need to come from the local server, or an Akamaised one.

    For me, Gravatar is 200ms+ away but Telecom's Global-Gateway likes to drop packets en route, so Gravatars often don't load. Slow load times was one reason I removed MyBlogLog, as the Avatars there too several seconds each to come down through the tubes.

    Hmmm. And it seems to have been worse in the past couple of days. How much longer should we give them?

    Also, am I detecting a mood agin the use of " target="_blank"> here? I like the way it manifests in Firefox now, but am I alone?

    Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 22850 posts Report

  • Juha Saarinen,

    Works fine in FF, Opera and Maxthon. IE7 loads _blank in a new window, just to be like that.

    Since Nov 2006 • 529 posts Report

  • Russell Brown,

    More insight on Safari slowdowns:

    http://arstechnica.com/journals/apple.ars/2007/2/28/7259

    Not simple.

    Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 22850 posts Report

  • noizyboy,

    come in ... gravatar.

    wellington • Since Nov 2006 • 171 posts Report

  • noizyboy,

    dang.

    wellington • Since Nov 2006 • 171 posts Report

  • noizyboy,

    now?

    wellington • Since Nov 2006 • 171 posts Report

  • noizyboy,

    hmph.

    wellington • Since Nov 2006 • 171 posts Report

  • JP Hansen,

    I smirk at your gravatarless... ness.

    Waitakere • Since Nov 2006 • 206 posts Report

  • Nais,

    RB I'm with you re new tab auto-launching in Firefox.

    Auckland • Since Dec 2006 • 22 posts Report

  • Hadyn Green,

    So what else can you use the Gravatar for?

    (please be there this time)

    Wellington • Since Nov 2006 • 2090 posts Report

  • andrew llewellyn,

    Prestige Hadyn, you got it or you ain't.

    Since Nov 2006 • 2075 posts Report

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