Boredworkers.com

After some issues with Windows/Unix linefeed characters inside one of our demo archives, all the source files are finally checked in to McCabe TRUEchange and I’m free from the overbearing deadline. Or am I?

I typed in the title of this post without much thought. Looking at it again, I noticed that the last syllable reads DOOM! The team here still has to perform a round of integration tests on the product before it is released to QA. Hopefully the title isn’t some dark omen of things to come.

At any rate, since I’m waiting for the compilation to complete (takes about 2 hours and the server is REALLY slow since the overheating issue two days back), I took the opportunity to update myself and get back into the loop.

Microsoft Internet Explorer 7
First thing on my list was to check out IE7. Prior to its release, there was much talk about it fixing a number of major bugs (e.g. the broken CSS handling). There’re also tons of improvements and new features thrown in such as multi-page tabbing and added security. You can get all the full details at Internet Explorer’s homepage.

All this talk is well and good. However, did they really deliver on the features? The only way to find out is to download the installer and take it out for a test drive. And that’s where everything broke down.

It’s really sad when you’re a major web browser and your page is down for the count. How are people supposed to try out your latest release if they can’t even get to it? Granted that I could probably get a copy from some other mirrored location but I rather get it directly from the official site. Worse still is the timing of it all. To have its download page offline when their competitor, Mozilla, releases a new version of the insanely popular Firefox browser is just… [insert expletive here].

Mozilla Firefox 2.0
Moving along, I decided to check out Firefox 2.0. I’ve been using Firefox for the longest time. It is for the most part stable, except for a few glitches and being resource hungry (an instance of Firefox typically has a 65MB footprint). So much so that if it weren’t for the fact that my company’s intranet sites do not support the browser very well (CSS problems again =.=”), I wouldn’t even be bothered to start up IE.

I’m actually writing this post with the new version of Firefox. The new features are mostly invisible to the user. Except for some changes to the look and feel of the browser (buttons, tabbing, colours). The transition was painless. Most of the Firefox plugins and extensions that I have installed work without any need for updates. However, resource utilisation is still on the high side. After starting up and leaving it on for a few minutes, the browser quickly claimed 50MB of memory for itself.

Whether at home or in the office, it is usually the top resource heavy process for my work station. Couple it with a resource hungry operating system like Windows XP and you’ll be short on memory fairly quickly. If you’re a gamer or use memory intensive programs, it might not be a good idea to leave Firefox running alongside unless you have chunks of memory to spare. Fortunately, I don’t do much of either. The 256MB I have at home is enough for my needs. Yes, I know, “WTF, 256!” right? If you want to contribute to my PC upgrade fund, you’re more than welcome to.

On the downside, the browser did CRASH on me. I was composing this post when I opened a new tab to look at something. The moment I hit Ctrl+T, Firefox hanged and refused to respond. I was forced to close the process and ‘End Task’. I’ve only used 2.0 for about an hour and already it’s decided to show its ugly side. For a moment I was contemplating reverting to the earlier version.

I started Firefox again with the thought of having to rewrite the post and had half a mind to diss them. However, I was pleasantly surprised when a popup asked me if I wanted to restore a previous session. I did, out of curiousity. Lo behold, all my original tabs and THIS original post in all its unadulterated glory was restored! All my changes were not lost. Now THAT is impressive. Kudos to Firefox for the uberleet recovery process.

So far I’m happy with 2.0. While it did hang on me, it recovered gracefully and saved me a ton of work. I’ll try it out for a few days in the office before upgrading my home machine.

Bleach Episode 101
In Bleach Episode 100, we saw Soi Fong nearly dying and one of the Bound kicking the bucket. We were left with the Shinigami 13th squad captain facing off with another Bound. What happens next? The subbed version of episode 101 has just been released by Dattebayo. While I’ve downloaded the episode, I haven’t yet had the chance to watch it. That’s something for me to do when I get home tonight.

Speaking of home, since I’ve completed my work projects, I promised I’ll leave the office early today. It’s already 6.05pm. So tata.