A new TI-BASIC index is up, on the new site design. Incidentally, that was also the last holdout from the old Thrica Software site that I hadn’t bothered until now to move over, so I was obligated to keep the old design until I got the new one done.

I don’t know why it took me so long. It took me about 10 minutes to do, and it turned out rather nicely. No, none of the programs’ pages are actually up yet (tsk, tsk. I’ll try to have those up before July).

For the newcomers to this site, the design before this sunset one was Thrica Software. After I converted it to The Thrica Network, I moved the old design to /thricasoft/, and began systematically moving pages from that directory to the root. /thricasoft/ served me well, though it later became cumbersome: It came right after the OS X-themed site made entirely in tables, and was originally done in all absolutely-positioned CSS. I had drawn up the design for a merger between Thrica Software and another Mac site by a friend of mine, microkernel.tk. It didn’t quite work out, but I kept the design for my own.

The site also adapted as I learned more dynamic CSS: Instead of absolutely positioning the content boxes above and below each other, I was able to have them flow in line. The JavaScript also began to shrink, until I consolidated to the point where it was hardly necessary. Yet even through these changes, it badly lagged since it was never quite finished (darn TI-BASIC programs). It had 3 updates in the span of 6 months, since each change and the height of the page had to be hardwired into the code, due to poor structuring (it was divided into 9 sections: the 4 curved corners, the 4 sides, and the content). And when a bug introduced to Safari around version 2 messed up the background PNG to the point of wild discoloration, I decided that that design wasn’t worth keeping anymore.

I had been tossing around an idea in my head for a design with a Lake Waccamaw sunset at the top and the lake at the bottom with black in the middle for the Spring Retreat gallery, since the photos would be locationally appropriate. Lucky me, this thought came at around the same time as the demise of Thrica Software: I drew up this design, and moved the old design into /thricasoft/ for archive purposes.

Now, after the last bit of useful content has been moved off it, that design exists only in memory and the caches of search engines. In retrospect, it was a rather boring design, though not bad by any means (visually; structurally, it’s a different story). Yet as of now, it was the most primitive of all the sites in the portfolio. It served its time, but its time has gone. As nostalgic as I am about it, I’m glad to see it go.

I know, not exactly the most heartwarming eulogy (good riddance, ya geezer). Oh well.

As the saying goes, a dressed up pig is still a pig. Beta 1 was a dressed up and rather confused pig, but IE 7 Beta 2 has moved on to being a tramp dog: Attention-seeking, sort of ugly, not too smart, spastic, and omnipresent, but better than a pig.

The first thing that I noticed about IE 7 Beta 2 is that it won’t install with Beta 1 already there. It won’t upgrade, it won’t remove it itself, it basically says “No. I won’t install unless you uninstall Beta 1″. It took me a while to figure out where the uninstall was, because it classifies itself as an update, which is hidden in the “add/remove programs” window by default. Strike 1.

After it installed, though (which took about an hour. Zzz…), I immediately went to test the most glaring omission in Beta 1: CSS rollovers. They simply didn’t work under Beta 1. They even work in IE 6. Worse CSS support than IE 6? That’s embarassing. But, to my elation, rollovers do indeed work. Hallelujah! In fact, CSS support overall seems to be much improved over Beta 1 (which itself was virtually no improvement at all over IE 6). Lucky for Microsoft, because if they didn’t fix the abysmal CSS support in 7, web developers from all over the world would march on Redmond and burn the IE department to the ground.

The tab rollovers were slightly different in B2 than B1, but that was the extent of the cosmetic changes. The whole tab bar, though, being always on, screams “Hey! We’ve got tabs too!”. Good job, we’re proud of you for being YEARS late to the tabs party and then implementing them tackily. Even more tackily than FireFox’s, which is pretty tacky too, though not always on.

IE 7 is also the latest victim of Microsoft’s crusade against menus, which are thankfully reenablable, though they appear below the toolbar. Tacky again. If menus are confusing to noobs (Microsoft’s argument), then removing them is restrictive to everyone else. If you’re worried about noobs, then start by overhauling the convoluted and ridiculously complicated control panel system. And the XP view doesn’t count, because it doesn’t make it any less user-friendly.

IE7 does have some innovative features, though. I haven’t tested it myself yet, but the print preview system seems like an incredibly handy feature. It can delete parts of a webpage before printing - after all, why print a 500 pixel wide full-color header, or a group of ads? Their implementation of the forward and back buttons, though minor, is also nicely done. Instead of holding down the back or forward buttons to see all webpages ahead or behind the current one, there’s an extension of the button set that shows all the webpages both before and after the current, with the current highlighted.

Hopefully IE 7 final release will feature spec-complete CSS2 support (or at least close, since they already said it wouldn’t pass the Acid2 test). That’s the one feature that I want more than any other, for the sake of people on the internet, and to make my life as a web developer easier, seeing as I don’t use IE anyway.

Over the last few days, Google (and even Yahoo) have been taking flack for profiting off of unsavory websites. The first case was one of Google and Yahoo ads being served on typosquatting pages (domains that are similar to a more well-known one, i.e., bistbuy.com), which obviously make money for them.

Now, spyware was also an issue in the Yahoo suit - and the articles are not clear as to whether Google’s service Oingo actually owns the domains or simply serves ads to them, but I seriously doubt that any consumer would become legitimately confused by a parked domain lwoes.com as opposed to lowes.com. If they do then they should not be using the internet.

Sure, parked domains are annoying, but you don’t file a lawsuit when something annoys you. In the case of the spyware being installed, then sure, go for it, but it takes all of 2 seconds to correct a typo and get off the parked domain.

Now, another case against Google, which is along the same lines but infinitely more ridiculous, is the allegation that Google is profiting from child porn by having purveyors advertise on its AdSense service. If I ran a network like that, it would be completely laizzes-faire, and I know Google removes obscene content once it is made aware of it, according to their policy. The allegation that Google “intentionally inflicted emotional distress on the public” is patently ridiculous.

This is just another case of someone trying to exploit the legal system for a quick buck. Why on earth should Google pay the prosecutors if they lose? The prosecutors were not harmed even slightly more than the general public, so if anything, it should be a public debt. The fact that they are seeking “unspecified monetary damages to be determined at trial” doesn’t help their case any in my mind.

Dé jà vu?

Welcome to my third Wordpress installation, and my second attempt at a blog. My first Wordpress was intended to be a grand battleground for everything controversial (Fact And Opinion -> Verbate -> Virbate) that never panned out, and the second was testing out for a friend. My first blog was actually on Blogger, which lasted about 2 days before I decided it was dumb.

Well, it’s not like this blog is going to get mad traffic, which is what I was aiming for with Virbate. I figured, hey, I read the Xangas and Wordpresses of a few of my friends periodically, so hey, why not give them something to read. It’s not much, but I’m not aiming high this time. I’ll try to keep it interesting for you, and if anyone ever reads this, then let me know that I’m not typing to the wind and comment!

Well I think that’s about it for now. The setup’s not even close to being finished; I’m posting this mostly so that it’ll have actual content on the launch date. Enjoy!