07.12.04

The Todo List

Tags: — Jeff @ 03:08

An ordered priority list:

  1. Fix my laptop (or rather, have Dell fix it for me) so that Windows works and so that I can use it without losing power any time I try something CPU– or hard disk-intensive, like building Firefox or Thunderbird
  2. Bug 253334 — Thunderbird needs a Help Viewer
  3. Bug 272841 — Accesskey mnemonics no longer working in help
  4. Bug 247595 — Use entities to describe menus and dialogs in help documentation
  5. Bug 251751 — Firefox Help window should not be alwaysRaised

Processes that can be run relatively concurrently with the aforementioned processes:

  • Really learn the building numbers and building layout at MIT
  • Explore as many halls, corridors, nooks, and crannies at MIT as possible
  • Participate in Mystery Hunt
  • Take a soccer referee recertification class
  • Teach myself the rest of the 8.012 book
  • Somehow catch up on sleep

Things that may interest me but may or may not get done, unordered:

But first:

  • Get through the rest of the fall semester
  • Study a lot, particularly for 5.112 and 18.022
  • Pass my classes

Edit: For the “will do” list, I also need to do a complete UI review of Thunderbird so that its UI can be improved. In particular I think the menus are rather heavy, although there are other parts that could be cleaned up as well. Firefox 1.0 was elegant – Thunderbird 1.0 is unfortunately not nearly as elegant.

18.11.04

Breaking Windows

Tags: — Jeff @ 19:00

As part of a flurry of needed changes to my laptop, I had to back up all my data and reinstall everything from scratch about two weeks ago. I’m certain I do this far more often than the average power user does (once every several months) and certainly far more than a normal user would. It’s a good way to enforce good storage habits (keep files compartmentalized so that my files are separate from my program files are separate from my application install packages), and it forces me to make a backup every so often because the hard drive’s getting completely wiped.

I rarely have problems doing this. Thanks to my handy custom install CD filled with all my favorite downloaded programs and my use of only a small amount of software, getting back up to speed usually takes only a few hours. The end result is a faster system and a satisfied me.

This time, tho, I’m having two big problems. The first problem is with printing using KLP, which is used to print to MIT printers (which doesn’t directly cost me money). For whatever reason, when I print using KLP I get pages of Postscript code instead of what I want, and I don’t know why.

The second problem is far more serious: Windows is randomly shutting down on me. Before the system reinstall, it worked perfectly. It also worked perfectly for a time after most of the reinstall had taken place. I suspect some program in the MIT software I installed is causing the problem, but I don’t know which. It seems to be triggerable by either jarring the computer or simply using it normally for a length of time which varies from minutes to hours. (I had hoped the problem was just a virus, as I usually don’t have a virus scanner installed because I don’t download many files and stay up-to-date on Windows security patches, but a virus scan showed it wasn’t.)

Combined, these problems make Windows completely unusable for me. If I boot, the computer shuts down very shortly afterward. If I am actually able to use it for a while, I can’t print anything I need printed. In fact, the only real reason I even try to boot Windows is to flush the email inbox read count back to a low number (I use IMAP, but because I’m afraid I might run out of my 250MB of space sometime — yes, it’s that bad — I have most of it stored locally). (This won’t be a problem after Thunderbird supports cross-platform profiles, if and when that happens.)

If Windows were the only operating system on my laptop, it would be completely unusable. Thankfully, however, it’s not — I have Fedora Core 3 Linux installed, too. Fedora works perfectly (showing that the shutdowns are a Windows-specific problem and not a hardware problem), so I’ve been booted in Fedora almost constantly for about a week. With the preponderance of good software out there (a web browser, an office suite, Windows emulation for use with some essential Windows-only software, and Linux-oriented freeware galore), I’ve had no problems during this time, either.

When and how will I get Windows working again? With Thanksgiving coming, I have the perfect time to do so, so until then I’ll likely only use Linux. (If Thanksgiving weren’t coming, I don’t know when I’d do it – maybe a weekend if I could make the time.) The how isn’t such a big problem either — I’ll just reinstall (again). While this solution certainly isn’t optimal, it’s also the most guaranteed to work, which is what matters most when reinstallation requires a few hours’ time.

Windows usually works for most things (and don’t get me wrong, it’s worked pretty much perfectly for me since I started using XP), but when it doesn’t, I know where I’d be without Linux — in the same sorry spot as most of the other people on the planet without knowledge of the available options.

07.09.04

First checkin

Tags: — Jeff @ 17:04

My cvs.mozilla.org account is finally working. After a little less than three weeks since the initial bug filing, I finally got all the files, variables, and SSH keys set up correctly. I just made my first checkin to the aviary branch — a simple fix to add Ctrl+0 to the Firefox Help viewer. I’m now checking out the trunk code (my only repository was for aviary because that’s Firefox right now), and after I do that I’ll check in the fix to trunk. (This is very likely possible without requiring two trees, but right now I don’t know the method.)

25.08.04

Eagle

Tags: — Jeff @ 00:58
-->RESOLVED FIXED

30.07.04

Winstripe – (A Belated) Part 2

Tags: — Jeff @ 04:17

I had a reasonable bit of constructive commentary on Winstripe to post. Then I had to go on vacation for a couple weeks. I got back to changes. Then I left for a month for Alaska. I got back to more changes. My original commentary was now effectively obsolete, so I removed it. In fact so much has changed that this commentary is written by one who feels thoroughly overwhelmed. That said, what you get from me here, you get. (This is by special request, by the way — you should feel privileged!)

What’s the overall Winstripe feel now, after a couple point releases and much visual tweaking? It feels like Windows XP. The icon style is slightly different, but it’s not a huge leap. The five defaults, in particular, are excellent. They all fit in well with XP; I particularly appreciate the efforts on the Home icon. The Reload icon change is simple yet effective. The Back and Forward arrows have a soft feel even though they have the sharp edges; I wish I understood how the designers managed it. Losing the shadows underneath the icons was a necessary step, and it happened. In all the ways I can find, it feels very much like Windows XP. It’s also had a little time to grow on me, and that’s probably helped some too. I also haven’t seen a single mention of an odd-looking theme in Google News, where I have a query set up for all news containing the word “firefox”, so it seems not to have been the oft-predicted fiasco I knew wouldn’t really happen.

What else needs to be done?

Let’s start with the main toolbar icons. The five default icons are polished; they stand alone and need no updating. Enough said, and well done!

The other toolbar icons are still of slightly lesser quality (tho all are passable for a 1.0 release). I don’t particularly like the Go button because it feels too small in comparison to the rest of the icons, but it’s certainly acceptable. Icon edges in the secondary icons feel a little too hard overall; however, this problem’s not really bad, and I unfortunately can’t offer any constructive criticism on this point. Many of the icons appear to have drop shadows underneath in the old style for the five defaults, which I think should go. (I might be imagining them, tho, because it’s extremely late at my end. If they’re not figments of my imagination, they’re so barely noticeable that they can probably be left alone. I’d still remove them for consistency.) The New Tab icon feels a little toaster-y, as pointed out by others, but it’s good enough for 1.0 (tho I might spend a little extra time on it before 1.0 if time permitted). I’m confused a little by the Space icons, which look the same. I didn’t like the “old” new Flexible, but back to nothing isn’t so great. As a random idea, perhaps an embedded spring would work? Also, shouldn’t Space be the size it is on the toolbar, perhaps (this might not be an icon, tho, so perhaps it’s another’s job)? The only icon that I feel needs some special effort is the Print icon, which is a natural candidate for three-dimensionalization that would make it fit the XP style much better. It’s also likely to be one of the most-used lesser icons, so it deserves attention the most.

As for non-toolbar icons, they’ve been updated (and in places newly created) as well. I like everything I’ve seen so far except for three small, insignificant icons that haven’t changed since their introduction: the micro-buttons for the extensions in the Extension Manager. The buttons are monotone and clash with the rest of Winstripe. It’s obviously difficult to produce good icons at such small size, but they should be updated when possible. They simply don’t fit the overall style.

All in all, tho, a great cleanup job by the Firefox designers, who have taken an ill-fitting (and in my opinion ill-released) theme and made it into a conformant, stylish thing of life. This theme has every right to be in Firefox version 1.0. (Firefox designers, if any of you happen to stop by, I’d love to know you read this, because this is written by a once-naysayer primarily to give you some well-earned kudos after much hard work. Particularly as I don’t know what reaction has been to the updates as I’ve been away for so much, I feel you need as many thanks from me as you can get.)

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