But Joel on Software has put things into perspective: Neither side is right, and neither side is wrong. Because there is really no right answer here.

It’s a long read, but worthwhile if you’ve been following the debate. It also add some understanding as why Vista is so plagued. (And yes, I’m one of those who has gone back to Windows XP)

Before reading Joel’s article I didn’t really have an opinion on what IE8 should default to. At least now I can say that maybe having no opinion is the right one!

If things stay as they are, we may all have a lot of work to do - going back and fixing old sites. Grrr.

The saving grace in my case might be the use of very specific stylesheets for Internet Explorer. We have used a conditional comment to call a stylesheet for IE6, another one for IE7, so IE8 shouldn’t read either of these - and just worry about the main stylesheet designed for Firefox etc.

I hope. I’ll have to check…

Tags: microsoft, internet explorer, ie8, web

I read this article on email and customer service about 6 months ago but while I was looking at some goals for 2008 I thought it was worth revisiting. So how do you stack up in those figures? If I’m not careful I tend to find myself amongst the 70% who fail to respond within 24 hours. Definately something I’ll be fixing for 2008. A good tactic is mentioned in Mike’s first point:

Automatically respond to all emails received: People will be more willing to wait for a reply if their initial communication has been acknowledged. Include a commitment to act on the issue and when you will respond fully.

I think people will generally understand if you can’t address the issue immediately - but it’s important to acknowledge the email and set an expectation of when you will be able to do so. It also ties in to something I wrote back in 2004 about controlling your email (instead of the other way around!) - it’s as relevant now as then. So, my top tips:

1. Choose when to check your email - don’t let your computer decide for you
2. As you’re going through your messages, fire up your diary (or whatever time management tool you use) and mark a time to actually attend to the task or issue
3. Respond to each email as soon as you read it (even if it’s only a brief response) - and at that point you can let the other person know when you’ll attend to is as well

Of course, if it’s an emergency you may need to deal with it straight away and all the above advice is null and void, but we don’t live in a perfect world, do we?

Originally posted at almostanything.com.au

Tags: email, customer service

Netscape probably started it’s decline when IE4 was released - a far superior browser at the time. Netscape never really recovered, nor reinvented themselves to create a case to change back. And it’s probably fair to say that Firefox helped to make Netscape obsolete as well.

Like sands through the hourglass…

Tags: netscape, firefox, browsers, internet explorer

We have come so far with browsers, but unfortunately most email clients are, well, a long way behind. If you have ever tested an HTML email in a few different clients you’ll know the frustration.
Yesterday’s launch of the Email Standards Project hopes to remedy this situation. Some people love it, some hate it, but HTML email is here to stay. And if we could have the proper standards support in email clients then it’s probably fair to say that a lot of those opposed would change their mind.

We have a long way to go, but at least now we have a vehicle!

Tags: email, html, standards

I’m not a big fan. They’re often hard to read even for someone with reasonably normal vision.

“Is that a zero or the letter O?”

“Upper case C or lower case c?”

Others have suggested some sort of simple logic question, like asking “What’s 1+1″ and having the user enter a ‘2′ in a text box.

That might be better, but it also requires some thought.

So I noticed that on Slideshare they prefix a captcha device with the question, “Are you human?”

And it got me thinking, can bots deal with radio buttons? Can we ask a question like this?

<form>
Are you human?<br />
<input type="radio" name="Human"
	value="No" checked="checked" />
	No, I'm a spam robot<br />
<input type="radio" name="Human"
	value="Yes" />
	Yes, I am human <br />
</form>
</body>
</html>

Download this code: human_form.htm

I must admit I haven’t done any research, but I’m thinking:

1. If a bot doesn’t understand radio buttons it will skip the question and fail
2. If it does understand radio buttons, it will probably choose the first option and fail
3. It’s an extremely simple question for a human to answer and should be completely accessible.

Point 2 is probably the most contentious. I’m making a big assumption there.

Has anyone else tried this? Can anyone spot any obvious disadvantages?

Tags: spam, captcha, forms, html, web, accessibility

Very badly.

I’m sure you have all seen it. Several paragraphs of text per slide. Cheesy animations (and different animations for each block of text). The “handouts” get handed to you as the presentation commences, so you and up reading the handouts during the presentation. And then you feel a little guilty, so you start listening to the presentation, only to find it contains exactly what’s on the handouts anyway - nothing more.

Yikes - if this is what teachers do then I’m really sorry for my kids.

It reminded my of an eBook by Seth Godin called Really Bad Powerpoint. (Links to a PDF file.) Well worth a read if you ever have to give a presentation.

And then today I read a comparison between the presentation styles of Uncle Steve and Uncle Bill. (Jobs and Gates if you’re not sure.) Which reminded me of Seth’s eBook again - especially if you look at the comparisons between the 2 sets of slides used in the example.

Now, I know public speaking is hard - and I’m trying not to be too critical of the teacher here. But please! Put some more thought into your presentations!!!

Tags: powerpoint, seth godin, bill gates, steve jobs

I’ve had a few beers and am not in the right frame of mind to write anything deep and meaningful - I’m just submitting this post on the odd chance I might get a freebie tomorrow!

Well, you never know…

Tags: wds07

I think this is the most important lesson:

“Ironically, the negative word of mouth and worldwide media coverage criticising 2Clix for trying to silence its critics seems to have damaged the firm’s reputation far more than the forum threads that were the subject of the lawsuit.

Tags: lawsuit, legal, 2clix, whirlpool

“Some people even like receiving HTML email.” (I have replaced his italics with my bold.)

Okay, so I’m weird, wrong and stupid.

But the thing that gets me the most is this:

“I still don’t do HTML email though. As long as support for Web Standards in email clients is as crappy and unpredictable as it currently is, well I’m sorry, but I’m not going back to nested layout tables and spacer GIFs just to create an email. Until the situation improves I’m happy to hand over the job of creating HTML email to somebody else.”

Well, I’m sorry too, Roger, but in the real world we just have to work with what we have. Were we all evil in the 90s for using tables and spacer GIFs for layout? No, we weren’t. We were just doing the best we could with the available technology.

Imagine saying back then, “I’m not developing any websites until browser manufacturers improve their browsers.”

Yep, right.

I’m not saying we should be happy with the status quo either, and David Greiner’s excellent post on why we need improvement in the area of standard support in email will hopefully shake a few things up.

I’m sure the day will come when we have decent standards support in our mail clients, but in the meantime those of us that flirt with reality have to deal with HTML email. That includes using layout tables and all sorts of other ‘evil’ measures.

But we just have to do the best with what we have.

Tags: email, standards, css, html

This could set a nasty precedent. Does that mean that nobody will be allowed to criticise anything online for fear of getting sued?

Do we have follow America’s lead in getting lawyers involved in everything?

Anyway, here’s the story.

Tags: 2clix, legal, forums, whirlpool