Switching IE

Much has been made of the "IE Versioning Switch" proposal. Frankly, I find all the notoriety perplexing. It would appear that many Web standards advocates and others of interest are afraid that this new versioning switch is likely to be adopted by browser manufacturers other than Microsoft. Apple's Webkit team, at least, assures us that they have no such plans. It seems just as unlikely for Mozilla or Opera to adopt a versioning switch for the most of the same reasons, the biggest, I think, being a need for a much larger codebase.

Another thing to consider is that by adopting a versioning switch for IE, Microsoft is catering to a group of developers and users that don't want to upgrade. The folks who grumbled and complained to Microsoft when IE7 "broke the Web" (by rendering CSS better than IE6) should be embracing the thought that IE8 will be more standards compliant than any of its predecessors. For whatever reason, Microsoft has made a commitment to support backwards compatibility, and now must stand by it. None of the other browser vendors has to worry about it.

My only problem with Microsoft's implementation was brought up by Jeremy Keith. In theory one should be able to create a Web page in HTML, create the layout with CSS, and be able view it in any browser without making any browser-specific adjustments. This is the whole point behind standards. However, IE8 (and, presumably, its descendants) will be built to render a page the way IE7 does. In other words, all of the standards compliance features built into IE8 will be turned off by default unless a developer includes a tag that does nothing in any other browser! Either you have platform independent HTML or platform independent CSS, and that is unfortunate indeed.

Razor

In December I finally decided to join the rest of the world and get a "modern" cell phone. I wound up getting a Motorola Razr, mostly because it was the cheapest phone with all the features I wanted. Interestingly, after I got the phone I've spoken to a lot of people who had Razrs and hated them. I've heard lots of gruesome stories about mysterious malfunctions, keys falling off, and one um... unique incident involving an automatic flush toilet. I'm happy to say that I've had no problems with my phone so far (and I've only dropped it once). The only minor annoyance that I've noticed is the Razrs propensity to collect fingerprints. Oh yeah, and it seems like everyone has one.

No Problem, Mon

There are no problems in business anymore. Sure there are "issues", but many of these have "workarounds", so life is good right? I refuse to call a problem an issue. When did "issue" become a euphemism for "problem"? "Workaround" is even worse. When I jokingly belabored the misuse (and overuse) of the words "issue" and "workarounds", to a friend his response was immediate. ""Solutions"!" he said, "Don't forget the "solutions providers"!" The irony, as I pointed out, is that one wouldn't need a solution unless he had a problem. Still, "workaround" seems much, much worse. Instead of solving, addressing, or eliminating a problem, workarounds allow problems to continue. Is anyone else envisioning an ostrich with its head in the sand?

Address It

You aren't going to fix a problem of which you're not aware. If you are aware of a problem, call it a problem right off the bat. Perhaps you can fix it, maybe not, but of one thing you can be sure: problems tend to lead to other problems. Sure, workarounds lead away from problems, but if there's a problem with your initial work, and you don't fix it, there's a good chance that subsequent work is also going to be problematic.