Rarely do I rant and rave about Internet Explorer on this site. It is especially rare nowadays that I post anything technology related on the blog. However, given what I have went through in the last two hours, I feel I need to vent to the public at large. I HATE INTERNET EXPLORER! I really wish Microsoft would have gotten the browser right way back in 2001. Recently, most of the security holes have been patched, however, the boys in Redmond haven’t touched the underlying rendering engine since the browser was launched. Now, for people who do not develop websites, that’s not really a big deal. For people like me who strive to build standards-compliant sites that also look nice, IE is like a plague. IE mucks up every standardized computer language that is supposed to make web pages look right no matter how you choose to view them.
The new position of the navigation bar (just below the main title) took about 20 times longer than it should to implement. Why? BECAUSE IE HAS A BUG DEALING WITH WHITESPACE THAT HAS BEEN AROUND SINCE 1997! Now, as an experienced web designer, I should have remembered that the bug was there and been able to fix it without a lot of thought. It has been forever since I attempted the technique I used, so my knowledge of the bug had erroded. But, I got to thinking, why should I have to worry about the bug? IT’S 2006! MICROSOFT, FIX THE DARN THING ALREADY!
I have actually broken a big-time rule of web design: My page doesn’t render the same on all browsers. In order to see the page exactly how it is supposed to appear, you’ll need to download Firefox. If you’re using Internet Explorer, you’ll probably notice the black navigation bar is skinny. Well, it’s supposed to be a bit fatter and the links are supposed to be evenly spaced. I decided I wasn’t going to throw my design out the window just because of IE’s bug. I know, I know: Good web designers work around the bugs. Well, even with the bug, the design is functional. It’s just not as pretty. Oh well, as any of you know, I’ll re-design the site around Christmas.
The Bright Side: I suppose if that’s the only thing I have to complain about, then life must be going pretty good. In fact, that is exactly the case. Married life is awesome. I love Becca more and more every day, and I don’t care who knows it! I shall return to my teaching duties in a couple days, and I fully expect this to be the most productive year yet! I want to do the best job I can do to help my kids achieve as much as I know they can. One thing’s for sure, though: I now have what every man needs. A good woman behind him. I LOVE YOU BECCA!