Take the Survey
I took it and so should you—The Survey For People Who Make Websites, 2009: http://aneventapart.com/survey2009/
I got another awesome letter from Google today I thought I should share with the world, because it means thing will be changing for the good in 2010.
Google has officially announced it will not be support IE 6 browsers on a few of their major services, such as Google Apps (letter below), YouTube and Gmail.
Dear Google Apps admin,
In order to continue to improve our products and deliver more sophisticated features and performance, we are harnessing some of the latest improvements in web browser technology. This includes faster JavaScript processing and new standards like HTML5. As a result, over the course of 2010, we will be phasing out support for Microsoft Internet Explorer 6.0 as well as other older browsers that are not supported by their own manufacturers.
We plan to begin phasing out support of these older browsers on the Google Docs suite and the Google Sites editor on March 1, 2010. After that point, certain functionality within these applications may have higher latency and may not work correctly in these older browsers. Later in 2010, we will start to phase out support for these browsers for Google Mail and Google Calendar.
Google Apps will continue to support Internet Explorer 7.0 and above, Firefox 3.0 and above, Google Chrome 4.0 and above, and Safari 3.0 and above.
Starting this week, users on these older browsers will see a message in Google Docs and the Google Sites editor explaining this change and asking them to upgrade their browser. We will also alert you again closer to March 1 to remind you of this change.
In 2009, the Google Apps team delivered more than 100 improvements to enhance your product experience. We are aiming to beat that in 2010 and continue to deliver the best and most innovative collaboration products for businesses.
Thank you for your continued support!
Sincerely,
The Google Apps team
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Google Inc.
1600 Amphitheatre Parkway
Mountain View, CA 94043
I feel like this movement has been long awaiting the support of a giant such as Google to back it. Microsoft has not supported or even accepted any responsibility for the IE 6 browser quite some time and it is non-sense to continue to apply hacks and work-arounds to perfectly legitimate website code to support it.
However, as website developers and owners, I also believe we should make the initiative to instruct our visitors using IE 6 that they need to change their software before we just cut them off completely. Implementing User Agent detection and displaying messages to these users on every page they view might be a good start. Offering them their choice of downloading IE 8, Firefox 3.6, Safari 4 or Google Chrome 2 would also be a great way to encourage them to upgrade.
I received this (awesome) letter from Google today and thought it was cool enough to share:
Because you’re so popular, we’re enclosing a window decal that shows customers you’re a “Favorite Place
on Google.” The sticker includes a special bar code that potential customers may scan with cameras on their
phones. Then they can see your business listing on Google, read and write reviews, and add you as a favorite
right there. We encourage you to put up this decal so potential customers know that you’re a Favorite Place
on Google.
With the holiday shopping season here, we encourage you to update your free Google listing right away. It’s
easy to check if your hours, address, and business description are correct. We also recommend you add
photos, videos, and even coupons to help your business stand out. All of this is free. You’ll notice the results
every time someone says, “We found you on Google.”
Congratulations on your popularity on Google. We look forward to providing you with more and better ways
to grow your business.
Sincerely,
Michaela Prescott
The Google Local Business Team
Recently I have noticed a blinking cursor in my Firefox browser. I assumed it was an strange css or browser bug on the website I was working currently working on when I noticed it for the first time.
After some basic troubleshooting, I realized it was a Firefox feature or something that had to be causing it. I started the usual process of hopping and typing the first words that come to mind about the situation and starting digging into the search results on Google for the answers.
I knew it was a Firefox setting or update bug that had caused the problem. However, I checked and realized I was still on the (stable) version 3.5.5 that I had been on for quite a few months… (cutting my additional findings short for now (almost 1:00 am — time for some zzz’s)…
So if you have this problem here’s the long story short
There are three commonly supported methods for instructing/requesting internet indexing spiders/bots/robots what to scan and what to skip. Each of these methods are complimentary in usefulness to each other, but none are not equal in effect.
To really protect and enforce rules for any specific user agent that is visiting your website you will have to constantly analyze website traffic analytics, bandwidth reports and visiting IP addresses and geographic locations, known pubilc or private proxy servers, and the specific methods and tactics of EVERY unwanted program and visitor and be able to implement new means to thwart their new methods on a regular basis.