Jason Miller Design

GIMP Easter Egg

Fri, 26 Feb 2010 15:07:22 -0600

The GIMP website (www.gimp.org) has an easter egg, which I stumbled across as I was checking out the source code to determine their method for showing downloads for each Operating System. Go to GIMP.org and type the letters:

e e k

You will be presented with the easter egg. you can press esc to close it.
For the lazy, here it is:

Ontario, Your Websites Are Unacceptable

Sat, 30 Jan 2010 18:50:15 -0600

An open letter to the Government of Ontario, Canada

To Whom it May Concern,

While attempting to book a Level G road test this evening, I was presented with a "Waiting" page featuring terrible looking animated GIF images. After waiting over 60 seconds (the comical standard procedure prescribed by said loading message), my credit card information and appointment booking were not posted to the server. After another two attempts, I took a quick glance at the source code for the "waiting" page (located at /scripts/waiting.asp), I saw that there was a single script, which attempted to call window.navigate() - not an actual method in commonly used web browsers. I simply copied the URL from that failed method call, entered it into the location bar and was taken to the confirmation page.

This is absolutely unacceptable. As a web developer, I am well aware that there are inconsistencies across the various popular web browsers. However, a web page that is intended to redirect the browser after showing a message, yet fails to redirect the browser, is not just a "bug" or quirk. That is a failure to comply to any kind of standard. I would be interested in speaking with the developer who allowed such a mockery of JavaScript to make it's way into a production environment. I am genuinely offended that the government of the province I live in is incapable of providing even the most basic on-line services to its residents.

To put icing on the unpleasant cake, someone has taken it upon themselves to add a message to the authentication page, which recommends that users use the Internet Explorer 6 web browser - a browser known worldwide for its security flaws and inadequacy, and is not available to Mac and Linux users. While I am sure you are aware, I feel that I must remind you that Internet Explorer 6 is 9 years old, and has been banned in a number of countries. In short, the web browser DriveTest recommends is the same web browser that has repeatedly been used in large scale cyber-warfare attacks, more than any other web browser ever made.

I expect nothing short of confirmation that the DriveTest website is being rewritten. If this is not the case, you're not doing your job.

- Taxpayer

Hey, even Google is ending support for IE6.

Ogg or MP4? The HTML5 Video Codec Comparison

Tue, 26 Jan 2010 21:43:45 -0600

Video Quality
While the true quality of a video isn't as easily measured as some of the other comparison criteria presented here, it is certainly one of the most important factors in the debate over which codec should be preferred for use with the HTML5 video element. Nevertheless, here is are the two main observations I have after using both codecs through Firefox and Safari:

MP4 is slightly higher quality than Ogg. See the comparison below.
Ogg tends to look too dark, and in most cases the extra contrast emphasizes picture imperfections.

Download Size

Ogg Theora is smaller than MP4, so it requires less bandwidth to stream.

Playback Overhead

Subject of a heated debate sparked by Google employee Chris DiBona.
Wikipedia: Theora Performance

Stream-ability

Ogg tends to get messed up more often when streamed data is erroneous. This is an annoyance when watching content over a WiFi connection, particularly on shared and public networks.

Ogg VS. MPEG-4 Picture Quality Below is a comparison of the same frame encoded in Ogg Vorbis and MP4:

Ogg Theora

MPEG-4

MP4 vs Ogg Side by Side

Play Ogg

MPEG-4

Gmail.app 0.5

Tue, 19 Jan 2010 17:03:23 -0600

Gmail.app is Gmail for your Mac OS X machine. It uses Prism to wrap Gmail in a warm and fuzzy layer of Apple, and features new mail notifications (requires the Growl framework), unread message count on the dock icon, and playing sounds when messages are received. Hit the link below to download.

Download Gmail.app - Gmail for Mac

Installation Note:

Gmail.app will only run when placed in your Mac's Applications folder. Anywhere else, it will not start up.

Switch Between Applications on Mac OS X

Wed, 13 Jan 2010 21:08:48 -0600

If you are like me, you are constantly hiding and showing apps when you are working in Mac OS X. When I have multiple monitors available, I tend to have a few applications showing at the same time, usually one on each screen. When I am working on a single-monitor setup like a laptop, I quite often feel the need to remove the clutter of applications that trails my focus as I work.

Typically, this involves using command+H to hide windows before switching to the next application I intend to use - something that is habitual, yet probably not the most efficient approach. Instead, I could use the "Hide Others" menu item once the focus is within the desired application, which would remove all of the other applications' windows from the screen. The key command for that is command+option+H.

Taking note of this, I began training myself to use Hide Others instead of manually hiding each unused application. While switching through applications quickly, I happened to switch to Firefox by clicking it while I was still holding down the command and option keys, and to my surprise all of the other open applications were hidden, leaving only Firefox visible on the screen.

So, if you like to avoid the clutter of blurred application windows in OS X, try holding down command and option when changing applications. It works when clicking dock icons, out-of-focus application windows, and even the desktop (because it is part of the Finder application).

OpenSourceCinema.org - Open Video Remixing

Tue, 12 Jan 2010 10:52:17 -0600

I came across a great website/webapp today called OpenSourceCinema.org. It's a video sharing and remixing community with an eye toward open-source and the open web. One of the interesting features is the ability to edit movies without leaving your web browser. The site uses Flash to accomplish this, but it could have been done using HTML5 video, audio and canvas - which has me thinking about creating just such an app...

Anyway, check it out - OpenSourceCinema.org.

SocialCast.app - Turn SocialCast into a WebApp

Mon, 21 Dec 2009 18:33:23 -0600

I created a quick theme modification for SocialCast with the end goal of making the website feel exactly like a desktop application. SocialCast has done a great job with their desktop-like look and feel already through the use of CSS3 border radius and text shadow, and by removing the archaic link selection borders still used by most common web browsers. Essentially, this mod breaks the main content area of SocialCast out into the full area of the window and changes the scrolling behavior to act more like a desktop application. The mod is made available as a custom style via Stylish for Firefox or as a UserScript for GreaseMonkey.

To install the theme, go to SocialCast.app on UserStyles.org.

MindTouch Mac OS X Leopard Theme

Mon, 14 Dec 2009 12:57:16 -0600

I created a custom CSS theme for MindTouch Cloud 2009 that attempts to emulate the look and feel of Mac OS X Leopard (Mac OS X Snow Leopard). Check out the screenshot:

Click image for full size

The theme should also work for the other editions of MindTouch. Hit the link below to install it using Stylish:

MindTouch - Mac OS X Leopard Theme on UserStyles.org

Google Docs Mac OS X Leopard Theme

Fri, 11 Dec 2009 14:10:29 -0600

I created a theme for Google Docs today that styles most of the interface to look like a Mac OS X Leopard or Mac OS X Snow Leopard native application. This is particularly useful for the large number of Google Docs users who run the web app in a Site Specific Browser like Fluid or Prism. Download link after the jump.

Click image for full size

From the description:

Transform Google Docs into a Mac OS X Leopard app. The buttons aren't quite mac-like yet, but anything is better than the default Google chrome. Most of the customizations are focused on styling Google's internal Window Manager to match the actual window chrome on OS X. The two types of windows should look virtually identical after enabling this theme.

Check out the Google Docs Mac OS X Leopard theme on UserStyles.org, where you can install it any of 4 ways or just grab the custom CSS.

Firefox Sidebar Rendering Bug

Fri, 25 Sep 2009 21:58:38 -0500

It appears there is a substantial rendering bug in Firefox when content is loaded in the sidebar. I loaded Sitemappr in my Firefox sidebar, and the entire browser window totally bugged out. The progress bars on Sitemappr are animated GIF CSS backgrounds, and I am beginning to think that the rendering issue is related to the large number of them.

Has anyone else seen this error in Firefox 3.5?

Update: The error is fixed in Firefox 3.6, which is due out for release in the this week.