AlanBarber.Org
Wednesday, October 26, 2005
Opera 9.0 (Merlin) Preview 1
Man those boys (and girls) at Opera sure have been busy! Version 8.5 of their browser was released in September and they’re already talking about version 9.
I’m not complaining though. I think it’s great. From the beginning opera was a very nice browser. It’s support for basic features was a bit lacking but in the last 6 months or so they have really cranked it up. 8.5 is very close to being right on par with IE or Mozilla/Firefox.
It’s impressive to see them really pushing hard now to surpass these browsers. Opera has been my browser since well about this time last year when I downloaded version 7.54. It was an extremely small and fast browser and except for problems with a few websites I used it for everything. With version 8.5 I now use opera for all my browsing needs except for one site. This isn’t opera fault though. It’s my stupid bank and their online service. It refuses to run on anything except IE or Netscape (Hey dumbasses Netscape is dead!)
But I digress. Opera 9.0 looks to be an impressive application. Here is just the shortlist of new features:
XSLT 1.0
XPath 1.0
Web Forms 2.0
Web Apps 1.0 CANVAS element
Some CSS3 Selectors
TLS 1.1 and TLS Extensions
Partial SVG Basic 1.1
And that’s just what’s being added to the core engine! Not to mention all the other new features and hopefully *fingers crossed* full ACID2 compliance!
Just a short primer here. ACID2 is a test that the Web Standards Project developed to help browser vendors to verify their browsers to follow, well, web standards. Simply put, ACID2 is a webpage that is designed to use many of the web standards, html, css, etc. If the browser follows the standards then the webpage will look like a smily face! If not then it just looks like garbage.
Surprisingly current browsers fail the test. Most vendors, including opera, are working to correct their problems and properly support the features need for the test to pass.
It’s a good thing trust me. The more vendors work to support standards and in a proper way the easier it will be for web developers to design sites that work for all browsers. As a result it will mean end users like yourself will be able to visit websites and they will look and function correctly for you.
Anyhoo, you can read up on the >full details and while you’re at it check out the blog of Tim Altman. He works at Opera and post a lot about the development of the browser.
on 10/26/2005 at 10:20 AM
Sunday, October 23, 2005
Blessed John XXIII Parish Website
Just a quick note tonight.
The website for Blessed John XXIII Catholic Parish is now live! Well it’s been life for a while but it’s official now I guess. It’s posted on the bulletin so check it out!
I’ve sure spent a lot of time on it so I’m very proud of it!
Tuesday, October 18, 2005
Yet Another Job Post
Man what’s with this posting once a month thing? I must be suffering from bloggeritis. HA!
Well, let’s do a little what’s up with alan recrap…
I’m still working at UPS. Big whoppie. I’m getting kind of sick of the place. Not to say I ever loved the place but just lately I’m really burning out on the whole job. It’s just such a brain-dead job. Loading boxes for 4 hours every day will do that.
I put in to be a supervisor but nothing has happened yet. They move pretty slowly on hiring I guess.
I had a job interview today at a company. I feel it went really well. The person I interviewed with was really cool. He is a techy like myself, so we actually talked about computers and stuff. We seemed to click atleast from my feeling on it.
The place is neat. They seem to be a rather young company that’s starting to grow. That’s something I like! Of the few places I’ve interviewed at they’ve all for the most part been rather old and rigid. They’ve been around for a long time and have their set ways. This place just has a strong open and flexible vibe to it.
As far as the actual job goes, it sounds just like something I’ve wanted to do. The IT group at the company is a bit undersized and so they’re very much jack-of-all-trades. While the job is to do web development work they still want someone that can manage servers, do tech support and even get dirty and help wire the office network.
Which I just love the idea of that. Going back to UPS for an example; I get bored doing the same thing all day. The prospect of having some variety every day is nice. It keeps the neurons firing and the brain on edge ready to go at all times.
Anyhoo, I feel good about it and am hopeful they call me back next week for a second interview.
Oh yea… I almost forgot. I just want to give a big thank you to everyone on the Blessed John XXIII Parish Growth Committee. Thanks for praying for me today. I know you’re prayers helped!
Sunday, October 09, 2005
Grand Rapids, Ohio Apple Butter Festival
I went to the Apple Butter Fest with the girlfriend today. I’ve lived in the area for 10 years and never been there and she hasn’t gone in several years so we figured we might as well go together. Better than sitting around home all day.
It was pretty much just a bit art festival. There were lots of booths with people selling nick-nacks and other crafty things. Plus plenty of food booths.
I’d say the coolest part was the living history area. Basically, if you’ve never been to Grand Rapids, they have a restored section of the old Miami & Erie Canal along the Maumee River.
Along the river they setup a living history area. There were people dressed up in outfits from the revolution, civil war and ww2 eras set up in camps doing demonstrations and what not. It was pretty cool just roaming around seeing everything.
Anyhoo, we ended up just walking around for about three hours before we were just tired and went on home.
I’d say it was a good day. Church, breakfast at Bob Evans, Apple Butter Festival and then cartoons tonight. That would be Fox Sunday night cartoons of course! Simpsons, Family Guy and American Dad.
Wednesday, October 05, 2005
It wasn't really a meeting
Well it wasn’t much of a meeting. Basically, there were about a half dozen of us there and all we did was fill out paperwork. It was just your run of the mill type stuff. Consent forms for background checks, driving history, education background, etc. Actually the one thing that surprised me was a form to sign over all intellectual property to the company for the duration of employment plus 1 year.
Basically, it’s a contract that says if you invent/create anything, while working there, it’s the property of UPS. It was 3 pages of laywerese but from what I got the jest of it it’s just for things in relation to what the company does. So, if I create a better way to track packages or develop a system to organize shipping schedules then UPS owns it. But I think if I were to invent some new toy or write a book then I’m in the clear. But who really knows with all that jargon they use.
Hmm, maybe I shouldn’t have signed that without first getting some clarification on that from a lawyer. I do occasionally write software. I might to create something and start selling it because I know I could make lots of money. That IP consent form might give UPS the right to take control of that software. Oh well little late now I guess.
Anyhoo, it’s nice to see the ball finally starting to roll. I hope the process goes pretty fast. I’ll try to keep up and make posts about each step of the process. I know this kind of info could be handy for fellow UPSers out there.
Saturday, October 01, 2005
Finally some good news
I put in my Letter of Intent for promotion at UPS a few weeks ago. Yesterday at work I was given a letter to notify me that they got the letter. They are going to have a meeting before work on Tuesday for all those trying to get promoted. I assume it’ll cover the whole promotion process.
They’ll probably go over how the process works, what will be expected of us, etc, etc.
It’s just a meeting so still no guarantee that I’ll get promoted but I’m glad to finally see the process move forward. I was beginning to think that I might end up stuck down here as a loader forever. At least now I know if I work hard I can get a chance to move up to a part-time supervisor position.
Now hopefully I will find a real job in my field soon and not have to worry about any of this but if not it’s nice to have something to fall back on.
Even if I don’t end up getting promoted this time around, I know that I will put in a new letter immediately and try again. I’ll be a persistent bugger and keep trying and trying until they give in and promote me!