Browsers as test platforms

Browsers as test platforms:
“Browsers from a developer's point of view. When developing for the web, it is inevitable that we need to debug and test our work. How easy or how hard is it to find the problems causing errors and how easy is it to replicate certain environment changes? Once we identified the steps we need to take to test properly, we will see if there is a chance to extend the browser to make these steps a lot easier.”

The development environment is an PC running Windows XP, in this case a IBM Thinkpad T40 with 1GB of Ram and a Centrino 1300MHz processor.

We will take a look at Microsoft Internet Explorer 6, Mozilla Firefox 1.0 preview release and Opera 7.50.

For testing, we will use a web site template with some HTML errors and a Javascript error.

What we want to test is:

• Why is the Javascript not working (i.e. why is the menu not collapsing)?
• Why is the site not being displayed correctly?
• Why does the form not get sent off?
• How does the design behave with different font sizes?
• How does the page work without CSS, or Javascript or images?

Debugging the HTML

We will check how comfortable the source view is in the browser, and if it provides us with extra tools to check the HTML structure.

Debugging the Javascript

We will test how easy it is to trace back Javascript errors. Does the browser tell us the error? How easy is it to see the error messages?

Debugging the CSS

When using CSS seriously, we need to avoid Quirksmode at all costs. Quirksmode is a feature that was added into modern browsers to ensure backward compatibility and forces it to render pages like its predecessor. This makes it nearly impossible to predict the outcome, and forces us to keep developing for the past rather than for the future. We can force browsers to render web sites properly - in standards mode - by giving them the correct DOCTYPE [1]. To see what went wrong with our CSS, we need to find out whether the browser renders in Quirksmode or not.

Testing the accessibility of our page

To test how accessible our page is, we can take a quick look to see how it renders without CSS, Javascript or any of them. Furthermore, we want to resize the font of the browser to check if that breaks our design.…

http://icant.co.uk/forreview/browsertests/

Windows Security Updates Summary for December 2004

Windows Security Updates Summary for December 2004:

“The Microsoft Windows security updates for December 2004 include several important updates and a critical cumulative update for Microsoft Internet Explorer 6 Service Pack 1 (SP1), a component of Windows. If you have any of the software listed on this page installed on your computer, you should visit the Windows Update Web site to install related updates.

Supported software affected

• Internet Explorer 6 SP1 on Windows 2000 SP3, Windows 2000 SP4, or Windows XP SP1
• Internet Explorer 6 SP1 on Windows NT Server 4.0 SP6a; Windows NT Server 4.0, Terminal Service Edition SP6; Windows 98; Windows 98 SE; or Windows Me
• Internet Explorer 6 for Windows XP 64-Bit Edition SP1

Note Updates for Windows Millennium Edition, Windows 98, and Windows 98 Second Edition are being made available under extended support for critical security issues.”

http://www.microsoft.com/security/bulletins/200412_windows.mspx

Net worm using Google to spread

Net worm using Google to spread:

“A Web worm that identifies potential victims by searching Google is spreading among online bulletin boards using a vulnerable version of the program phpBB, security professionals said on Tuesday.

The Santy worm uses a flaw in the widely used community forum software known as the PHP Bulletin Board (phpBB) to spread, according to updated analyses. The worm searches Google for sites using a vulnerable version of the software, antivirus firm Kaspersky said in a statement.

Almost 40,000 sites may have already been infected. Using Microsoft's Search engine to scan for the phrase "NeverEverNoSanity"--part of the defacement text that the Santy worm uses to replace files on infected Web sites--returns nearly 39,000 hits.

"Santy.a is spreading rapidly," antivirus firm Kaspersky stated in a new release published Tuesday. "However, this does not directly affect users. Although the worm infects Web sites, it does not infect computers used to view those sites."

The worm sends Google a specific search request, essentially asking for a list of vulnerable sites. Armed with the list, the worm then attempts to spread to those sites using a PHP request designed to exploit the phpBB bulletin board software.

The worm is the latest twist on using Google as an attack tool, a practice known as Google hacking. It may also be the first time a program used Google to identify victims for an attack.…”

http://news.zdnet.com/2100-1009_22-5499725.html

Producing a High-Definition Windows Media Video File

Producing a High-Definition Windows Media Video File:
“This document provides information about creating high-definition Microsoft Windows Media Video files. Topics covered include an overview of the content creation process, a list of acceptable video sources, information about the capturing and encoding processes, and system requirements for encoding and playing a high-definition Windows Media Video file.

By using Microsoft Windows Media Encoder 9 Series, you can create high-definition Windows Media Video files in the high-definition television (HDTV) standard formats, such as 1280 x 720 progressive (720p), 1920 x 1080 interlaced (1080i), or 1920 x 1080 progressive at 23.976 fps (1080Psf). The process of creating a high-definition Windows Media Video file consists of the following steps:

1. Capture the content from a high-definition source.
2. Edit the content (optional).
3. Convert the content to an .avi file.
4. Encode the content.

Note that you can use software, such as Sonic Foundry Vegas or Discreet CleanerXL, to combine the four steps into a single step. For more information about these programs, see the Sonic Foundry Web site http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=14986 or the Discreet Web site http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=15004.”

http://www.microsoft.com/windows/windowsmedia/
howto/articles/ProducingHDVideo.aspx

Web Design: A Decade Under the Influence

Web Design: A Decade Under the Influence:

“Full streaming video feeds of some of most noteworthy sessions at this month's Web Design World 2004 have been published for your education and entertainment.

Keynotes from Jeffrey Zeldman and Kelly Goto are joined by sessions on rich media web apps (Tom Green), defensive web design (37signal's Jason Fried), as well as sessions on accessibility, XML and more.”

http://www.ftponline.com/reports/wdwboston/2004/

Crop Images Contextually

Crop Images Contextually:

“Cropping and resizing your images for the Web is a common technique for creating smaller thumbnail images that download quickly. However, we've seen many sites that either use HTML's width and height attributes to resize larger images, or minimally crop and resize their images to lose vital information (see Figure 1). A better way to create images optimized for the Web is to crop them contextually.”

What is cropping contextually? Many times digital images shot for Web use have a border of useless space around the object(s) of interest. Rather than crop to just the film or chip's border, crop contextually down to the minimum dimensions that still convey the meaning or context of your image…

http://www.websiteoptimization.com/speed/tweak/crop/