I downloaded the Firebug 1.0 beta the other day and I gotta say it’s fantastic. This is the coolest HTML and CSS debugging tool to come along since the Firefox Web Developer toolbar. In fact, my Web Developer toolbar hasn’t seen much use this past week since I’ve started using Firebug.
Basically, Firebug lets you inspect any element on a web page. Once you’ve selected an element to inspect, Firebug shows you where the element is in the source code and gives you a breakdown of all the style rules that apply to the element, including inherited rules. At any time you can make changes to the markup and the style and see those changes reflected immediately in the browser, just like the “Edit CSS” tool in the Web Developer toolbar.
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Tagged: ajax, beta, css, debug, development, extension, firebug, firefox, html, javascript, jessenewland, joehewitt, parakey, recommended, soylentfoo, tools, webdesign, xhtml
I’m writing this entry in Internet Explorer 7. Let me back up—I’m not sure you heard me correctly. I’m not writing this in Internet Explorer 7 Beta or even in the Internet Explorer 7 Release Candidate. I’m writing this post using the official release of Internet Explorer 7. The official release announcement was made this afternoon on IEBlog.
You can download Internet Explorer 7 now if you’d like, or if you’re not anxious you can wait a few weeks, as the new browser will be released as a high-priority automatic Windows update.
I for one am impressed with the new product and can whole-heartedly recommend it to everyone. As far as web standards support is concerned, I don’t think IE7 hits the nail quite on the head, but it’s a far cry closer than IE6 ever was. I have to give credit where credit is due, and the Internet Explorer team has earned my praise for taking huge strides in the right direction.
My wife and I watched a wonderful movie a few days ago called Akeelah and the Bee. After watching it over a week ago, my wife’s Granny called it simply, “The best picture I’ve ever seen.” I couldn’t put it any better, myself.
When I was a kid, I read Charlotte’s Web probably a dozen times. Every time I read it I cried when I got to the page where the spider dies. I mention this only to illustrate that I’m quick to cry (and I’m not ashamed to admit it—all real men cry), and I tend to enjoy and return often to stories that bring tears to my eyes. Akeelah and the Bee has secured its place in my DVD collection by making me cry twice.
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I confess. I’m addicted to The Weepies. I just bought their latest album, Say I Am You, on eMusic.com and can’t stop listening to it.
The group is fronted by singer-songwriter duo Deb Talan and Steve Tannen. They have a rustic folky sound that is in some places poppy but in other places pretty mellow. Their lyrics are playful, yet deeply poetic, and Deb’s beautiful alto voice (that has elsewhere been compared to Karen Carpenter’s) and Steve’s perfect harmonies give the album a rich character.
I first heard The Weepies in an NPR interview (click “Listen” just under the article title to hear the interview). Their personalities and their history together struck me as much as their music did, which prompted me to buy their album. I’m not a huge fan of the folk genre, but I pride myself in my eclectic taste in music, so it was inevitable that I would find some folk music I can really enjoy.
I’m pretty stingy with my five star ratings in iTunes. Most songs I like are marked three stars, the best songs are marked four stars, and I save five stars for those songs that are simply amazing. That said, I’ve marked no less than six songs on this album with five stars: “Take It From Me”, “Gotta Have You”, “World Spins Madly On”, “Painting By Chagall”, “Nobody Knows Me At All”, and “Living in Twilight”.
In short, buy this album. If you’re anything like me, you will not regret it.
Firefox 1.5 Beta 2 has come and gone without a word from me. To catch you up, all but two of my fifteen extensions are working now: ReloadEvery and Wikipedia. Someone on my earlier post mentioned they had a working copy of ReloadEvery, but I may just end up removing it from my extension list. I’ve survived without it for this long. Anyway, I didn’t start this post to talk about Beta 2.
I’m excited to announce that Firefox 1.5 Release Candidate 1 is available! If no glaring bugs are found in the release candidate, it should become the live release within a week or two.
I haven’t found anything really new in RC1. It’s pretty much just a cleaned up version of Betas 1 and 2. In case you didn’t read my last post, the new features include an improved options panel, faster back and forward navigation, a slick new auto-updater, shiny new error pages, a new “clear private data” dialog, and drag-n-drop browser tabs. I’m excited for this to be coming out of beta so I can recommend it to all my friends. It really is a marked improvement over the 1.0.x series.
It’s been long enough that I’ve forgotten how fun it is to upgrade my browser. Sure, we’ve had the security updates, but there’ve really been no new features for almost a year.
Mozilla Firefox 1.5 Beta 1 changes all that with a slew of new bells and whistles, including a super-simple “Clear Private Data” dialog, better popup blocking, drag and drop re-orderable tabs, quicker back and forward navigation, and a shiny new automatic update system.
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There’s a lot of buzz on the internet lately about something called Konfabulator, so I downloaded it to check it out. Konfabulator used to cost a pretty penny, but was recently acquired by Yahoo! and is now free (as in free beer).
In a nutshell, Konfabulator is a framework upon which developers can create things called widgets. Widgets can be anything a developer wants them to be, but they’re generally simple objects like clocks, calendars, CPU load meters, and the like. I love the weather widget that comes pre-installed with Konfabulator and I’ve also found a simple desk calendar I like. You can also find remote controls for various media players and other programs.
I’ve enjoyed playing around with it today and would recommend it. It’s worth a quick look at least, considering it’s free.
I’ve installed Skype so my brother-in-law and I can voice-chat for free while he’s away this summer (he’s doing an internship with a big accounting firm in a different state). It’s a pretty slick little program, and the connection is clear as a bell (much better than MSN voice-chat).
I hate seeing an empty contact list, so if anyone else uses Skype, send me your screen name using my contact page and we’ll get in touch.
I feel like this blog has been overrun by wedding video segments, but this should be the last post on that subject. The DVDs were delivered last night and I’m pleased to present all four segments here for your viewing pleasure.
The video was created by Pinnacle Weddings. If you’re getting married in the Salt Lake area you should definitely take advantage of their services. They’ve been absolutely amazing to work with and I think the finished product speaks for itself.
I think I’m officially addicted to memes.
I just found this great site called 43 Things. It’s another of those social sites like del.icio.us and Flickr. At 43 Things you list your long- and short-term goals and then track your own progress. You can also find other people who are working toward the same goals and enlist or offer help.
A while back I started compiling a list of 100 life goals. Last night I copied some things from that list onto 43 Things. Some of my goals are fanciful, but many are serious things I’d like to acheive.
Now to find a place to display my 43 Things list here on my blog…
Our Love Story
