RockMelt – Is it really that hot?

On December 1, 2010 in General, Internet, Website Design.
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RockMelt LogoYou may of heard, or maybe not, of RockMelt? I hadn’t until the other day.. It’s basically Google Chrome with a few additional features. Some of them are really nice. In particular, the built in Google search opens a small window of results which stays to the right hand side of the screen for quick switching between websites. It’s also got Facebook chat built in and a couple of social media features for sharing website content.

It’s not a bad effort. It’s really more of a set of advanced plug-ins for Chrome, rather than a whole new browser. I just have one major gripe with it. Simplicity! Google Chrome is simple and it works brilliantly, especially because most modern websites are designed to optimise the whole browser, usually in fullscreen. RockMelt uses a lot of this valuable screen space to incorperate it’s ‘features’. It’s really annoying having the search window pop up all the time. In my opinion, a better option would have been to incorporate an entire screen within the browser based on the Google homepage.

Never the less, it’s a pretty decent piece of software, I suppose. I won’t be switching over from Chrome though, and I expect very few people will. Facebook chat belongs on Facebook.com. Google searches belong on Google.com. Call me old-fashioned, that’s just what I think, any way.

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Google Chrome integrates new ‘down for everyone?’ feature

On September 1, 2010 in #60SecondShout, Development, Internet.
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Ever gone to a popular website like Facebook, Twitter, Apple or even Google to find it’s down? And then have you ever wondered if it’s a problem with their server or your connection? I know I have, and it’s really frustrating, especially when you start ranting (“It’s down AGAIN!“) on Facebook (Or Twitter if Facebook is down!).

There is a simple solution. http://downforeveryoneorjustme.com is a superbly simple web 2.0 styled page that checks out a domain to see if the issue is global, or if you have just been impatient. This solves the problem, but requires going to a whole other website and copy/pasting the web URL.

Google Chrome has reportedly shortened the whole process even further, by integrating the server check function right into it’s ‘cannot find the requested page’ message. A small peice of text may now appear under the main and usual body of text which reads: “Other users are also experiencing difficulties connecting to this site, so you may have to wait a few minutes”.

A quick and nifty improvement to, in my opinion, the best browser on the market today. Way to go Chrome!

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IF statement for Internet Explorer and Chrome

On August 30, 2010 in #60SecondShout, Website Design.
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Iv’e been stuck the last few days with a seemingly simple problem to do with my big green banner on the homepage of www.JohnAlexanderRowley.com. The problem is that in Internet Explorer the fade animation causes .PNG’s to loose there alpha levels (transparency) and aquire ugly black borders for a few seconds while the animation completes.

To solve this, I wanted to use a set of IF statements (iv’e covered these previously in other IE-rant articles, but couldn’t figure why it wasn’t working this time. The soltion came after a fair while of googling and head scratching.

Rather than the simple <!--[if IE]>code if in Internet Explorer here<![endif]--> and then <!--[if !IE]>code if not in Internet Explorer here<![endif]-->. I had to use an extended version for the NOT IE (!IE). Here is what I used:

<!--[if !IE]><!-->code if not in Internet Explorer here<!--<![endif]-->.

It makes sence really, but took me ages to get my head around after I found it. Hope this helps someone as much as it helped me!

p.s. You’re NOT viewing in Internet Explorer!

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