Posts tagged Uncategorized
Big changes
0Well, I found out a short time ago that Blogger no longer supports FTP published blogs as of, well, today. This precipitated a hasty migration to WordPress. I have plans to redesign my blog, but I have no idea when this will occur. So you get to look at the stock WordPress template for a little while.
Stay tuned…
Browser testing services: caveat emptor
1It’s time for some MonT-SteR Consternation™.
One of the maddening things about building Web pages is cross-browser compatibility. Most modern browsers are standards-based, which means that solid CSS designs will display consistently whether you’re using Firefox, IE7, Safari, Opera, etc.
The fly in the ointment is IE6, which is regularly cursed by beleaguered Web designers the world over by virtue of its plethora of CSS rendering bugs.
“IE6 is old, Rob,” you say. “Just stop supporting it. People need to upgrade.”
Au contraire, mon frère (ou mon soeur, s’il vous plaît). People do need to upgrade, but somewhere around a third of all Internet users continue to use IE6 for a multitude of reasons. I’m sure there are plenty of individual users who don’t upgrade because they don’t know how, or IE6 feels like home, or they heard someone badmouth IE7 because of its updated UI, or they don’t know about Firefox, ad infinitum. But it’s not just home users. There are plenty of corporations with beefy IT departments out there refusing to upgrade as well.
Until usage statistics for IE6 drop to infinitesimal levels, it stubbornly remains a thorn in the flesh. And beleaguered Web designers who use the Mac tend to curse IE6 even more, because Microsoft stopped building IE for the Mac at version 5.2. How do we test our designs?
Enter Browsershots.org and CrossBrowserTesting.com, which provide free (and paid) online browser testing without the hassle of finagling your system to run IE6 alongside other modern browsers. The former will give you a screenshot of your web design displayed in the browser of your choice. Helpful, but slow — even if you pay the $15 for a month of priority testing. On the other hand, CrossBrowserTesting.com provides what amounts to a remote desktop session in your browser window using your requested computer/browser configuration. And it offers more flexibility for paid users with subscription and pay-as-you-go models.
Sounds good, right? Yes, but with one significant caveat (and here’s where the “emptor” comes in).
I was excited about CrossBrowserTesting.com until I noticed that my credits were disappearing way too fast for how much I was using the service. It turns out that partially used credits are not carried over from one remote session to the next. For me, the net result was that I lost almost a third of the 30 credits I purchased. When I discovered this, my slack-jawed disbelief turned to anger. And I vowed to warn others.
Consider yourself warned. If you go with the pay-as-you-go service, you will lose credits unless you use all of them in a single remote session. It doesn’t matter how unused a partial credit is; whether 20% or 99%, that credit goes bye-bye forever when you end your remote session. And so does your money. Granted, credits cost about 20 cents each or less, but it can add up — especially if you go whole hog and opt for 500 credits at $200. Imagine losing a third of that, and you’ll see red as well.
To be fair, CrossBrowserTesting.com does state that partially used credits do not carry over. My surprise at this after the fact was my fault — chalk it up to failing to read the fine print. And there is a monthly subscription option with a flat fee of $29.95 for the first month and $19.95 each month thereafter for unlimited priority testing (FYI: these rates will soon be raised by $10 a month). Obviously, that would solve the disappearing credits issue.
In the interest of full disclosure, I should also mention that when I complained bitterly to CrossBrowserTesting.com about losing almost an hour of testing time, they gave me complimentary credits to cover the loss. But they were also unapologetic about their pricing structure, stating that it’s a common practice in the industry.
Funny, but that everybody-else-does-it argument never worked on my mom.
Blessings,
Rob
aka The MonT-SteR
They’re playing my song…
1Stumbled across this late last night, and wanted to share. I’ve always regarded this to be one of the most beautiful, soulful Christian songs written in more modern times.
There was nobody like Keith Green…
Blessings,
Rob
aka The MonT-SteR
Lost and found, dadgum it!
0I’m in the process of sending out a birth announcement I made for my new son (you can see it here), and so I’m searching for the e-mail addresses of some long lost friends.
One such friend is my college roommate, Evan Price, who was lead violinist for the Grammy-winning Turtle Island String Quartet, and now plays with the Hot Club of San Francisco. In the process of looking for his e-mail address, I stumbled upon this article at NPR’s Web site.
It turns out that Evan lost his violin a few years back by leaving it on the curb at the airport. As a former bassoonist whose axe was badly damaged one day by a wayward restroom door (I’ll tell the full story another time), I can imagine how devastating this was for Evan. Unfortunately, concert obligations didn’t allow him much time to grieve; Evan was forced to find another instrument, pronto. Eight months and one police sting operation later, however, his long lost violin was miraculously recovered.
You’d think that would be a “happily ever after” ending to the story, but it presented a sticky dilemma for Evan. Check out the article.
Just a fun little tidbit of trivia I thought I’d share…
Blessings,
Rob
aka The MonT-SteR
Changes ahead
0Well, friends, The MonT-SteR is experiencing some change.
On Monday, I will begin a new job. Change has been in the air since before the holidays, but I had to wait to see how things were going to shake out before sharing anything with you.
There’s good and bad:
In any case, God has certainly taken care of us, for which I am very thankful.
I’ll have more to say Monday evening…
Blessings,
Rob
aka The MonT-SteR
Wacky Wednesday News Digest #2
3Due to The MonT-SteR’s schedule, the Manic Monday News Digest has now morphed into the Wacky Wednesday News Digest.
This week we have fugitive glass eaters, a karaoke rampage, and Chinese buns stuffed with cardboard. Enjoy!
Blessings,
Rob
aka The MonT-SteR
Pool scare and the Father’s heart
3On Friday evening, after a day of oppressive heat and frustrating office trials, I was very happy to meet my wife and son at the community pool for some relaxation.
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My son Robert has taken to the water quite well. He’s dependent on a life jacket at the moment, but he has no fear about jumping in the deep end and moving around the pool on his own. I was a lifeguard and swim instructor for several years before college, so I’ve been planning to “graduate” him to another flotation device that would encourage him to be a more self-sufficient swimmer.
We had a grand time together. The late afternoon sun’s low, hazy glow kept us warm, but not uncomfortable. The water’s temperature was perfect. We engaged the pool attendant in friendly, light-hearted conversation. And, of course, there was plenty of playful splashing to go around.
After enjoying the water for a couple of hours, we decided to head home for a late pizza dinner. We climbed out of the pool and began stowing the myriad pool paraphernalia (noodles, kick boards, goggles, beach balls, inner tubes, etc.) for the walk home. As I busied myself with deflating a beach ball, I heard Robert making sounds as though he was struggling with something.
I turned around and, to my horror, I saw him in the pool — sans life jacket — thrashing frantically in an attempt to keep his nose and mouth above water. He wasn’t succeeding.
It was one of those moments when time freezes; in fact, the memory of that sight has yet to leave my mind’s eye. The abject fear and panic in his eyes is what I can’t forget. When I saw him, he was already looking at me; his wild gaze screamed, “Daddy, I’m going to die! Rescue me!”
How long he had to wait in frenzied agony before I noticed his predicament, I don’t know. That’s something else that still haunts me. If I had been in his shoes, the thought, “If he doesn’t see me, I’m going to perish,” would have been looping mercilessly in my mind.
“Robert!” I cried, and jumped in to grab him. I hoisted him out of the water, and he coughed for so long and with such force that he vomited on me. As I held him and patted his back, I heaved a sigh of relief. Thank God, he was okay. I handed him off to his mom so she could comfort him, and climbed out of the pool to get cleaned up.
Apart from being a bit shaken up immediately after his ordeal, he recovered admirably. He showed no fear during a visit to the pool the next day. I, on the other hand, broke down in tears after we got home that evening. That’s as close as we’ve ever come to losing Robert. And I was haunted by the memory of his eyes, wild with fear as they were fixed upon me.
The odd thing was that God’s voice unmistakably broke through in the wake of all that chaos and upset at the pool. In an instant, I remembered the story of Jehoshaphat in 2 Chronicles 20, when a huge army was arrayed against Judah — one they had no hope of defeating.
Jehoshaphat proclaimed a fast and called upon the people of Judah to seek God for help. They gathered in Jerusalem to pray to the Lord, and they ended their prayer by saying, “God, we are powerless, and we do not know what to do, but our eyes are on You.”
Just like Robert. He was powerless to stay afloat or to save himself. He didn’t know what to do. But his eyes were upon his daddy.
And this was how God spoke to me: “You ran to your son’s rescue without a second’s hesitation. How much more will I rescue you when you get in over your own head? Am I any less moved by your trouble when you look to me deliverance? Will I not come to your rescue, and quickly?”
A teachable moment, to be sure, and right in line with the a fortiori reasoning that Jesus applies to the Father in his teachings (Matt 7:11, Lk 12:24-28). Do I think God arranged for Robert to almost drown just to teach me something? No way. But I serve a God “who causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose” (Rom. 8:38). In other words, nobody can make the best of a less than ideal situation like God can. Isaiah puts it this way: He exchanges the ash-heaps of our lives for beauty (Is 61:3).
And nobody does rescue like He does.
Blessings,
Rob
aka The MonT-SteR
Disaster on Fairview Lake
0Well, friends, I’m finally getting around to breaking my month-long silence. It’s been a busy time, with some vacation thrown in the mix around Independence Day.
While on vacation, I experienced what can only be described as a misadventure. Don’t worry, it was a comical one, as you’ll discover if you listen to the audio below.
Enjoy a hearty laugh on me. 
Blessings,
Rob
aka The MonT-SteR
The MonT-SteR’s new face
1Well, I promised changes in appearance awhile ago, and here is the first wave.
This is unfinished, of course. I have plans for nifty rollovers for the buttons, and I want to apply this template to the other pages that are part of tMR.
Gone, however, are the days of www.mont-sterreport.com/blog. The root directory of my domain now houses my blog, which I think is a more logical and comfortable arrangement.
It’s very late, so I’m off to bed. But drop me a line to let me know what you think of the new look.
Blessings,
Rob
aka The MonT-SteR
Traveling and changing
0I’ve had a few moments of MonT-SteR Consternation™ today, and since misery loves company, I thought I’d share them with my adoring public (snicker).
I’m off to Dallas, TX for the AFP International Conference on Fundraising. The good news for me is that I’m handing off a big chunk of responsibility to a co-worker, and so I won’t be responsible for logistical support at these tradeshows anymore. I also won’t have to travel for them either (the rest of the MonT-SteR Family is happy about that).
I have a lengthy layover here in Newark, so I thought I’d do a little blogging. BTW, if you can avoid Newark/Liberty Int’l, please do. I had to switch terminals once I landed here, and it was a confusing process. The helpful airport signs seemed to indicate that I would have to go beyond secured areas to catch a train to other terminals. I, however, was certain that a temporary reading disability had afflicted me and that I had to be reading the signs incorrectly, because no airport would be so profoundly silly as to do something like that.
But the longer I stood there looking up, frozen in incredulity, forcing other people to walk around me in annoyance as they bustled hurriedly on their way, it began to sink in. My elementary school education had trained me well. I was reading the helpful airport signs correctly.
“Wait a minute,” I muttered under my breath, as I stood gaping at the helpful airport signs. “You mean they’re going to make us go through security again at the other terminal?!?”
Yup.
I guess I shouldn’t be surprised — after all, New Jersey is also the state where it is assumed that the general public is to darn stupid to pump their own gasoline (self-serve gasoline is so anathema in the Garden State that it’s actually ILLEGAL — I kid you not). So Newark/Libery Int’l (and its helpful stinkin’ airport signs) is now firmly on my list of airports to avoid.
Okay, enough kvetching. My intent for this post was to highlight a couple of changes here at tMR:
- I’ve switched from Reblogger and started using Blogger comments. This gives me more control if I need to moderate comments, and I don’t have to use two solutions to publish my blog.
- I figured out Blogger’s trackback tags.
- It’s been annoying to me that my title posts are not hyperlinked to a permalink for each post. I’m fixing that.
- Witness the glory of RSS chicklets on the right. Subscribe away, my friends.
And just as an FYI, I plan to roll out a new and improved template for tMR. It’s in the works, but it’ll probably be a long time coming.
That’s it for now, folks. Stay tuned for more substantive posts coming this weekend.
Blessings,
Rob
aka The MonT-SteR