Archives for "Beyond HTML"
Internet Explorer Won’t Download Delivered Files
Today I came across an issue where Internet Explorer 9, and maybe some earlier versions, won’t download files that were delivered off SSL with PHP or ColdFusion. I was very frustrated as I have been securely delivering files this way for a long time. I eventually found the solution in a forum -
This is what worked for me to resolve the exact issue you are having, and may be useful for anyone else in the same position:
Firstly – Note: this answer only relates to people who are having trouble downloading non-IE files over SSL (https://), such as .exe, .pdf, .msi etc.
Go to Internet Options in IE9 (Tools > Internet Options) or click the cog in the top right of the Browser and go to Internet Options.
1. Choose the Advanced Tab
2. Scroll down to Security
3. Un-check Do not save encrypted pages to diskYou should now be able to download the file that IE9 won’t download.
Have fun.
Email is not a Social Network
In June 2006 MySpace was the most popular social network. It was overtaken in 2008 by Facebook, which officially launched in 2004. Google Buzz launched a few years later in 2010 – mostly an add-on to Gmail. These are just a handful of some of the most popular social networks. They allowed people to share thoughts, links, photos, recommendations – the list goes on and on. Different sites allow for different groups (or Networks, if you will) that can be set up for sharing various tidbits. The proliferation of these sites means we can stop using email for this type of sharing, and use it for what it was meant to be used for – useful communication.
In the past two days I have received probably about 7 emails with random links and comments, and I am sure many of you have received many more. As much as I enjoy these, I think that they are more appropriately placed on facebook, or another network, where I can access them and check them out when I want to. There is a hierarchy to how we communicate, and some things aren’t quite worthy of email.
Back in the day you would have to visit, or call on, someone to communicate with them. You would stop by their house or shop and talk to them. Eventually you could write letters, and then call, and finally email. Each of these things has found its place in the social hierarchy. Sure, some people prefer a phone call to an email, or some people will poke their head in my office, rather than calling.
I am proposing a new addition to this hierarchy – the passive world of social networking. Some things deserved to be ‘posted’ for others to look at when they have time. Email in the workplace is rising, and so is its status. It does not need to be cluttered with such things as links to the Double Rainbow video on Youtube.
Why else would Google have created Buzz?
Gboard
I just learned about a device that exists called the Gboard, I have never seen or heard of anything like it, and I think it rocks. How cool to have a keyboard just for Gmail shortcuts? Bluetooth would be good, but maybe that will come out with the next one.
Ever seen anything like this? Let me know.
Gmail’s Paging Buttons
I like Gmail, especially the interface. I feel like every time I use it I discover a slick new aspect to the interface. One thing I don’t like is the paging buttons, to move back and forth between older and newer messages. Almost every time I need to move back a screen I end up scrolling the ad that is right above my messages. I think that a little more separation would be good, or somehow calling more attention to the paging buttons, rather than the ad scroller.
ESPN.com on 34th Street
I don’t have a TV in my house, so I have to watch all of the NCAA tournament games on my computer. Originally I was navigating to the games through cbssports.com, the official site of the games. I was checking something on ESPN and I noticed that they also link to the games – and it is easier for me to navigate. Maybe it is because I am more used to it. I also think that they have a simpler, more clear, layout.
It is not very often that a web site like ESPN’s will drive traffic to another web site. It is working, at least for me. I am on ESPN.com a lot more now than cbssports.com.
jQuery UI Accordion Issues in Internet Explorer 6
I really like jQuery UI, but I was having some issues with the accordion in IE6. It was hiding some of the content after I expanded a section. The content it was hiding was in a table, but in fiddling with the code it turns out that it was hiding random things in the div, not just the table.
I fixed the issue by setting ‘animated:false’ when I called the accordion. I actually used cgi.http_user_agent to sniff out the browser and if it is IE 6 I call the file with the animation disabled. Otherwise I call the original file.
Internet Explorer Caches Ajax Requests
Last night I was putting some final touches on an app I am developing and I ran into some issues in IE8. When I used jQuery’s $.get() to pull some content off the server it triggered the success function without ever requesting the page from the server. I was a little confused at first, but after I used the right keywords I was able to figure out that IE8, and probably IE7, cache ‘get’ requests. It seems like there are two workarounds that are pretty common: switch to post, this is what I did, or add a random number as a URL variable. I didn’t care if my request was get or post, so I just made the switch.
After that all was good, again.
jQuery 1.4
jQuery1.4 has now been released. I just recently started using jQuery and have used it for a few projects. Now I am not sure how much testing I need to do before I upgrade my code or if I should even bother. I think for the time being I will keep my old projects at their current level and upgrade as I build new apps.
jQuery in a CMS
I have used jQuery twice in the past month to get some custom behavior from a CMS. In the first instance I used it to re-URL a site for Xavier, and in the second instance I used it for some custom menu options that weren’t available in WordPress. I like the results it produces, but I always worry a little bit about JavaScript as a solution. I would much rather keep things server-side, but sometimes client-side is just easier (and almost as reliable).
Flex vs Flash
Yesterday I attended a free Flex training session that was put on by Adobe. The training covered how to integrate Flex with ColdFusion. I know a fair amount about ColdFusion, but hardly anything about Flex. I learned a lot, but I have a lot more to learn about Flex.
One issue I pondered during the training was the difference between Flash and Flex. I think the difference comes from how the apps are built. Yesterday we worked on our projects using Flex Builder and the interface was one that I am very comfortable with. I opened Adobe Flash CS3 today and it looked a lot more like PhotoShop, and less like something I would use comfortably. In the end they both produce apps that run on the Flash platform, and I think they can fun on the AIR platform as well.
I did some looking around and found this article about the differences: The Difference Between Flex and Flash.
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