Comments on: This one goes to 3.999 http://www.jimcarson.com/2007/this-one-goes-to-3999/ Three standard deviations from the mean Wed, 07 Jan 2009 22:08:33 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.7 hourly 1 By: jim http://www.jimcarson.com/2007/this-one-goes-to-3999/comment-page-1/#comment-7 jim Mon, 20 Aug 2007 00:00:00 +0000 http://www.jimcarson.com/2007/this-one-goes-to-3999/#comment-7 (Since this might be of general interest, I'm reposting an excerpt of the mail I just sent you) I have these installed: <DT> <b>Adblock Plus</b> -- it's something you don't truly appreciate until you have to use a browser without it. <b>Adblock Filterset.G Updater</b> -- this updates Adblock from a master list. <b>Download statusbar -- to prevent the extra window from spawning; downloads appear in the bottom menu. </b><b>Web Developer</b> -- a must if you're trying to debug style sheets. <b>PDF Download</b> -- because <a href="http://www.wkiri.com/today/?p=45" rel="nofollow">the out-of-the-box Acrobat is so slow</a>, this lets you choose whether to open the document in Firefox, print or download it. <b>Long Titles -- fix the truncated "title" tags; useful for <a href="http://www.xkcd.com" rel="nofollow">XKCD</a>'s site. Also mine, too, when I write <a href="http://www.jimcarson.com/2004/05/a-sales-parable/" rel="nofollow">long parenthetical asides</a>. </b><b>IE View</b> -- lets me right-click-open a page into Internet Explorer ... if I have to. <b>StumbleUpon</b> -- topic based web browsing (e.g. "Cognitive science" or "lefthanded" or "politics") for when I have some time to kill before a meeting. The plugin lets you thumbs-up pages you like, which feeds the system. </DT> A downside of having a lot of these add-ons, especially StumbleUpon, is Firefox periodically checks for updates at startup. It annoys me to no end to have my browsing session interrupted because some obscure dot.minor.bugfix was issued, so I turn off checking (Tools -> Options -> Advanced -> Update -> untick "Installed Add-ons") (Since this might be of general interest, I’m reposting an excerpt of the mail I just sent you)

I have these installed:

Adblock Plus — it’s something you don’t truly appreciate until you have to use a browser without it.
Adblock Filterset.G Updater — this updates Adblock from a master list.
Download statusbar — to prevent the extra window from spawning; downloads appear in the bottom menu.
Web Developer — a must if you’re trying to debug style sheets.
PDF Download — because the out-of-the-box Acrobat is so slow, this lets you choose whether to open the document in Firefox, print or download it.
Long Titles — fix the truncated “title” tags; useful for XKCD’s site. Also mine, too, when I write long parenthetical asides.
IE View — lets me right-click-open a page into Internet Explorer … if I have to.
StumbleUpon — topic based web browsing (e.g. “Cognitive science” or “lefthanded” or “politics”) for when I have some time to kill before a meeting. The plugin lets you thumbs-up pages you like, which feeds the system.

A downside of having a lot of these add-ons, especially StumbleUpon, is Firefox periodically checks for updates at startup. It annoys me to no end to have my browsing session interrupted because some obscure dot.minor.bugfix was issued, so I turn off checking (Tools -> Options -> Advanced -> Update -> untick “Installed Add-ons”)

]]> By: Kiri http://www.jimcarson.com/2007/this-one-goes-to-3999/comment-page-1/#comment-6 Kiri Sun, 19 Aug 2007 22:37:37 +0000 http://www.jimcarson.com/2007/this-one-goes-to-3999/#comment-6 Wow, talk about a rose-colored browser! :) I've held back on installing any Firefox extensions (despite how cool some of them seem) because it already seems a bit bloated, and I've been warned that it doesn't manage memory well. Have you noticed any problems along these lines? What are your favorite extensions (aside from ad-blocking)? Another small interface note: when I leave a comment, it asks for a "username" instead of a "name". I think the latter is intended. "Username" to me suggests the act of logging in, as if it must first recognize me from my username. If you have control over this (and if you care -- it's a pretty minor thing after all), you might consider changing the form to say "Name" instead. (I think your previous version was like that.) Wow, talk about a rose-colored browser! :) I’ve held back on installing any Firefox extensions (despite how cool some of them seem) because it already seems a bit bloated, and I’ve been warned that it doesn’t manage memory well. Have you noticed any problems along these lines? What are your favorite extensions (aside from ad-blocking)?

Another small interface note: when I leave a comment, it asks for a “username” instead of a “name”. I think the latter is intended. “Username” to me suggests the act of logging in, as if it must first recognize me from my username. If you have control over this (and if you care — it’s a pretty minor thing after all), you might consider changing the form to say “Name” instead. (I think your previous version was like that.)

]]> By: jim http://www.jimcarson.com/2007/this-one-goes-to-3999/comment-page-1/#comment-5 jim Sun, 19 Aug 2007 18:47:03 +0000 http://www.jimcarson.com/2007/this-one-goes-to-3999/#comment-5 <b>Scout</b>, <b>Susan</b>: Thanks! <b>Kiri</b> - thank you for catching the google ads thing. It was embedded deep within the bowels of the template I used as a starting point; since I use Firefox with the ad-blocking, it was filtered. (Ah, IE to the "rescue") Scout, Susan: Thanks!

Kiri - thank you for catching the google ads thing. It was embedded deep within the bowels of the template I used as a starting point; since I use Firefox with the ad-blocking, it was filtered. (Ah, IE to the “rescue”)

]]> By: wkiri http://www.jimcarson.com/2007/this-one-goes-to-3999/comment-page-1/#comment-4 wkiri Sun, 19 Aug 2007 18:18:35 +0000 http://www.jimcarson.com/2007/this-one-goes-to-3999/#comment-4 I continue to be impressed by your willingness to tinker, rebuild, investigate, debug, and otherwise torture yourself through different blog software/layouts/etc. Once I got mine working, I didn't want to touch it again (it was hard enough getting the tiny customizations I wanted to work). But as for the new blog, I like the layout and readability! (And the blog title -- or am I imagining it? ;) ) The embedding of user comments inside google ads is a bit weird (at first it's hard to tell them apart). Otherwise, looking good! I continue to be impressed by your willingness to tinker, rebuild, investigate, debug, and otherwise torture yourself through different blog software/layouts/etc. Once I got mine working, I didn’t want to touch it again (it was hard enough getting the tiny customizations I wanted to work).

But as for the new blog, I like the layout and readability! (And the blog title — or am I imagining it? ;) ) The embedding of user comments inside google ads is a bit weird (at first it’s hard to tell them apart). Otherwise, looking good!

]]> By: susan dennis http://www.jimcarson.com/2007/this-one-goes-to-3999/comment-page-1/#comment-3 susan dennis Sun, 19 Aug 2007 17:03:09 +0000 http://www.jimcarson.com/2007/this-one-goes-to-3999/#comment-3 What Scout said-ish! What Scout said-ish!

]]> By: Scout http://www.jimcarson.com/2007/this-one-goes-to-3999/comment-page-1/#comment-2 Scout Sun, 19 Aug 2007 07:00:02 +0000 http://www.jimcarson.com/2007/this-one-goes-to-3999/#comment-2 Good to see you back-ish! Good to see you back-ish!

]]>