He hasn't responded to an email I sent, but then I have several email addresses for him and can't remember which I used. I also haven't seen him on ICQ, but then I'm on the other side of the world and hardly use ICQ anymore.
People leave our little community all the time (except Tim). So if he's suddenly decided to get a life, good for him. But it's the deliberate manner in which he's tidied up before he left that concerns me. When I took a sabbatical, I just walked away and never logged on as The First One ever again. I'd just like to know everything's OK, is all.
Posted by Malnurtured Snay (Member # 411) on :
I hope he's okay.
Posted by Ace (Member # 389) on :
It was updated yesterday.
Posted by Futurama Guy (Member # 968) on :
Yeah, I was curious about that too. I was looking at his "most recent" posts, just the other day, and none indicated anything about leaving. Perhaps he's the sentimental type and doesn't do well when it comes to say his "goodbyes". Posted by Cartman (Member # 256) on :
AFAIK, he left over that IE thing a while back.
Posted by Dat (Member # 302) on :
So what, are we saying Charles made him upset? So much, that he leaves us?
Posted by Futurama Guy (Member # 968) on :
You bastard!
Posted by Charles Capps (Member # 9) on :
Oh, which reminds me, I can take it down now - the experiment was a resounding success...
Posted by Topher (Member # 71) on :
Experiment?
Posted by Charles Capps (Member # 9) on :
I wanted to see how low I could get the percentage of users with MSIE.. down to nearly 50%, from 80% the month before.
Posted by B.J. (Member # 858) on :
Well, I *still* don't have a choice when browsing from work. Not that I mind using IE, but...
Posted by Mucus (Member # 24) on :
What *are* the statistics? And how detailed are they, can they differentiate between say Mozilla and Firefox or versions of Mozilla? Any Lynx users? Posted by TSN (Member # 31) on :
And more to the point, did the non-IE numbers go up? In other words, did people switch, or did IE users just leave?
Posted by Charles Capps (Member # 9) on :
50% IE6, 25% Mozilla and friends, 15% search bots, 5% IE5.x, 3% Opera, 2% other.
Two months ago, it was 60% IE6, 20% Mozilla, 9% search bots, 1% Opera, the rest other.
Four months ago, 75% IE6, 5% Mozilla....
This is just from the percentages. When I unglue myself from network election coverage, I'll write some utilities to crunch numbers.
Posted by Futurama Guy (Member # 968) on :
i feel dirty, and manipulated.
Posted by Malnurtured Snay (Member # 411) on :
Yeah, I voted today too.
Posted by Lee (Member # 393) on :
Yes, and even with the percentage drop, Flare still has to declare for Internet Explorer. Unless there are some absentee browsers still to be counted. . .
*Has been watching FAR too much CNN
Posted by Captain Boh (Member # 1282) on :
Well, I have to use IE half the time because Firefox does not like running on my Dad's computer for some obscure reason. Plus I can't really change the browser around at school...
Posted by Malnurtured Snay (Member # 411) on :
I went to Spike's new board and PMed him. He said he left over the IE thing and implied he would return when "it" was over.
It's over, right? Right?
Posted by PsyLiam (Member # 73) on :
So, was there a big problem over people using IE, or were you just creating hysteria over nothing?
And don't you think that was a pretty sly thing to do?
Posted by Siegfried (Member # 29) on :
They can have my Internet Explorer when they pry it from my cold, dead hard drive.
Or for $5.
Posted by Nim (Member # 205) on :
Lee:
quote:but then I'm on the other side of the world and hardly use ICQ anymore.
Yeah I hate that too, when you're so far away you have to write in allcaps for people to hear you.
Posted by Charles Capps (Member # 9) on :
quote:I went to Spike's new board and PMed him. He said he left over the IE thing and implied he would return when "it" was over.
That is the most utterly pathetic thing I have heard in ages. He left the board because of the simple fact that IE is an insecure piece of trash and a block of text on one page reminded him of this? Give me a fucking break.
Posted by Lee (Member # 393) on :
(Given that Nim and I have managed to be online at the same time about, ooh, once in the past six months, you'd think he'd appreciate how being ten to twelve time zones away from western Europe makes instant messaging rather hard)
Posted by Saltah'na (Member # 33) on :
Most people, like myself, still have to use MSIE6 due to the fact that most websites still function with IE6 and not with Mozilla. I had tried several, and each time, their rendering of certain sites I go to had me go back to IE in disgust. Having that message placed on there in big bold letters does nothing to change that rather than to irritate people, including myself, and possibly Spike. I did cut back on visiting this site when the message was up, but now it is gone, it is more comfortable.
Sure, I will admit that IE6 is a load of shit and they should have started on a IE7 long time ago, but alas, sometimes we really have no choice. Drilling that message in such a negative tone ("IE is a threat to the internet") really makes this place unwelcome.
I will only switch web browsers once I can visit those sites without any problems whatsoever.
Posted by Mucus (Member # 24) on :
Example?
Aside from my online banking which has a hard-coded check for IE (ironically) and WindowsUpdate, list some examples of these sites.
I might note that your choice to not use something less dangerous is not just affecting you, but everyone else that has to receive spam, worms, and whatnot if your computer does get infected. Unfortunately, the days of boot-sector viruses which really just affected the one person are long past.
I might also note that with today's computers that web browsers are not a binary choice. You can actually have both installed. *gasp*
Posted by Harry (Member # 265) on :
I'd like to see those sites too.
Posted by Futurama Guy (Member # 968) on :
They're probably all nudie pay sites....
Posted by Topher (Member # 71) on :
I remember going to a site that required IE, but I forget what it was now. I seem to remember needing to register with the website for some thing or another. My bank's online banking page works fine with Firefox.
Posted by Saltah'na (Member # 33) on :
The browser I used was Opera. It was more than 6 months ago that I tried it under pressure from some friends of mine. These are a sample of sites which did horrible rendering of those sites from when I tried it.
For starters, I had trouble logging into my online bank at http://pcfinancial.ca. It would always come back with an invalid password.
http://www.scar.toronto.edu/~src A friend put some cool graphic that would follow the cursor, but it would not show up on Opera. Also, another friend using Opera has just told me that the pull-menu bar on the left does not work on his browser for some reason. It works fine on IE.
http://www.bigwhiteguy.com. Same, although in some areas, text gets pushed into the picture. This site has been revamped so I don't know if the problem still exists.
There are others, but I do not know if these problems are fixed at this point. Even if the rendering is corrected, I still may want to wait before actually switching.
Posted by Charles Capps (Member # 9) on :
Try again using Firefox instead of Opera, as Opera is FAR more picky about what and how it decides to render.
Also... try switching for a full week. Really. If at the end of the week, if you really think it sucks in comparison to IE, then switch back.
I think you'll find it sucks not. Posted by Mucus (Member # 24) on :
First: WTF? Mozilla/Firefox != Opera To further clarify this point: Lynx != Opera != Konqueror != IE != Safari != Emacs (Sorry, couldn't resist that nudge at emacs, I'm a vi fan)
Second: All of those sites are perfect, with the exception of your friend's webpage whose *cool* Javascript falling leaves (?!?) flicker.
Next.
Posted by Futurama Guy (Member # 968) on :
No problems here.
Posted by Saltah'na (Member # 33) on :
Well, it's beside the point now. The point was that it should be up to the user, and not some rude message to switch to another browser. I should point out that I had stuck to Opera for the longest period after trying out several others. Then I went back to IE.
I may switch later on, maybe not. Depends on my mood. And it may not be Firefox either.
Mucus: It looks like the graphic that said "Welcome to the Scarborough Residence Council" has been taken off. *shrug*
Posted by Harry (Member # 265) on :
quote:Originally posted by Saltah'na: The point was that it should be up to the user, and not some rude message to switch to another browser.
I agree with that. However crappy IE might be, if you're designing a site, you should take into account that still the vast majority of people use IE.
Of course, a small reminder that there is such a thing as Firefox (a small button, for example) is no problem. But you shouldn't alienate them. Because that's just what Microsoft tried with their pages in Opera.
Posted by Topher (Member # 71) on :
The official Alias page has rendering issues in Firefox on the character profile pages. But that's probably due to poor coding on the page or something.
Posted by Balaam Xumucane (Member # 419) on :
I suspect Charles's point was that people weren't "choosing" IE. That's just what they had on their machines. And IE causes a lot of problems. Especially for web-designers but also the security problems for all those users. People are afraid of change, but in this instance, stasis is actually more dangerous. The message merely called attention to this. It may have been a little confrontational, but it certainly got your attention. I switched my PCs to Firefox without any problems. Bookmarks, cookies, etc. came across great. I don't know that I would have done it without that message and this thread. And so I'm grateful. I've also switched several of my friends and clients who simply didn't know any better.
Of course, my Macs didn't have any problems. Nothing new there, really.
Posted by Charles Capps (Member # 9) on :
quote:Originally posted by Balaam Xumucane: I suspect Charles's point was that people weren't "choosing" IE. That's just what they had on their machines. And IE causes a lot of problems. [...] It may have been a little confrontational, but it certainly got your attention.
^^ What he said.
Posted by Futurama Guy (Member # 968) on :
And so ends another chapter in the life and times of the man known simply as Flare.
*cue Bonanza theme*
Posted by The Captain from M.I.K.E. (Member # 709) on :
strange.. i stopped posting mostly because i didn't have time, immediately after seeing the IE warning, but now I'm back, using Firebird, since IE started doing crazy things to my computer.
Unwilling statistic.
Posted by TSN (Member # 31) on :
"...but now I'm back, using Firebird..."
What, are you browsing on a monitor inside K.I.T.T., or something?
Posted by Mucus (Member # 24) on :
On a slight sidetrack:
I've just discovered Firefox's Sage extension and Flare's RSS feed. Kudos for saving me time and making my web browing that much more efficient
My only question, is there a way to make make the feed pull up, say all of Today's Active Topics rather than just the five most recent posts?
Posted by The Captain from M.I.K.E. (Member # 709) on :
quote:Originally posted by TSN:
"...but now I'm back, using Firebird..."
What, are you browsing on a monitor inside K.I.T.T., or something?
Yes. I'm from the future.
Firebird is a Mozilla-based app that someone happened to drop on my computer during a party. Everyone else was using it, so I decided to experiment. It's a familiar pattern.
Posted by PsyLiam (Member # 73) on :
quote:Originally posted by Charles Capps:
quote:Originally posted by Balaam Xumucane: I suspect Charles's point was that people weren't "choosing" IE. That's just what they had on their machines. And IE causes a lot of problems. [...] It may have been a little confrontational, but it certainly got your attention.
^^ What he said.
Which puts you on the side of the "I never have any problems with anything because I use a Mac and Macs are great you have a problem it's because you use Windoze by Micro$oft and they are sh*t sh*t fucking sh*t BY A MAC OR I WILL EAT YOUR LIVER!"
Posted by The Captain from M.I.K.E. (Member # 709) on :
I have never trusted Mac users.. and I never will.. I can never forgive them.. for eating my liver.
Posted by Aban Rune (Member # 226) on :
Mmmmmm... liver.
Posted by Charles Capps (Member # 9) on :
quote:Originally posted by Mucus: My only question, is there a way to make make the feed pull up, say all of Today's Active Topics rather than just the five most recent posts?
Do you mean the post contents themselves?
Posted by Mucus (Member # 24) on :
Not really, I mean that Sage seems to only pull the titles of the five latest posts. However, I would prefer if it pulled all the titles from the "Today's Active Topics". Thus I wouldn't have to watch Flare like a hawk
After a bit of looking, I'm hypothesizing that this might not actually be that easy since the five topic thing seems to be decided by http://flare.solareclipse.net/ContentIslands/1/rss10.xml which only has five generated entries.
Posted by Charles Capps (Member # 9) on :
Yes, but I control how many can be provided.
However, there's an upper limit of 15, while we usually have around 20 active topics per day here.
Posted by Balaam Xumucane (Member # 419) on :
quote:Originally posted by PsyLiam: Which puts you on the side of the "I never have any problems with anything because I use a Mac and Macs are great you have a problem it's because you use Windoze by Micro$oft and they are sh*t sh*t fucking sh*t BY A MAC OR I WILL EAT YOUR LIVER!"
What's the matter?... Jealous? *pistolwink*
I don't know if it's the Guinness or what, but limey livers are the best.
[ November 14, 2004, 06:42 PM: Message edited by: Balaam Xumucane ]
Posted by Sol System (Member # 30) on :
Flare has an RSS feed? Neat.
Posted by PsyLiam (Member # 73) on :
quote:Originally posted by Balaam Xumucane: I don't know if it's the Guinness or what, but limey livers are the best.
Only Australians are allowed to say "limey". Think up your own nickname.
I could also point out that Guinness is as much a "limey thing" as the colour green and the Blarney Stone, but I think I might have spelt the latter item wrong, so I won't.
Posted by AndrewR (Member # 44) on :
I think that's "blimey" not "limey" as in "cor blimey"
Posted by Balaam Xumucane (Member # 419) on :
We had that movie here, the one with Terence Stamp, called 'The Limey' (where he's on a plane and then he kicks the crap out of all these guys, except that maybe he didn't), and so after that was out on DVD, Americans were granted a limited distribution of 'limey'. Also, I mispelt 'Guinness' on my first try which would have disqualified me anyway.
Maybe we could we replace 'limey' with 'pommy' and 'Guinness' with 'boiled cabbage'?
Posted by PsyLiam (Member # 73) on :
You could, if this was the 1930s in some parallel universe. Go with "curry". And "pommy" is just as Australian.
Some European countries apparently have a name for us based around "roast beef" (as we eat it; in the same way that the French are called "frogs", or Americans are called "fat").
Posted by Futurama Guy (Member # 968) on :
Im not fat, Im from Minnesota, I blame that characteristic on my Lapland-ian descendants. Posted by Lee (Member # 393) on :
Actually, limey was used more by Americans. Australians always used pom.
Posted by Daryus Aden (Member # 12) on :
Australians say Limey? I think not.
Posted by Lee (Member # 393) on :
Thank you.
Posted by TSN (Member # 31) on :
Americans don't know or care about the difference between England and Australia, anyway.
Posted by PsyLiam (Member # 73) on :
And nor do I.
Wait, what was the topic again?
Posted by Charles Capps (Member # 9) on :
Something about a missing poster, I think.
Posted by Utmost Nim (Member # 205) on :
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