Archive for June, 2007

Firebug for Internet Explorer

Thursday, June 28th, 2007

I’ve finally found an equivalent to Firebug for Internet Explorer that actually works. I’ve been having limited success with the MS Script Editor and Visual Studio, specifically I have to deattach/reattach the debugger after every script error!

Surprisingly considering how much I’ve googled this, I never found
Nikhil Kothari’s Web Development Helper until it was recently mentioned on the ieblog. I suspect the problems I’ve been having are related to me running as limited user account on XP, with things locked down fairly well. So I still need to Runas… an administrator on Internet Explorer to use this extension, but that’s just one elevated process and it works great ;-)

Posted in Web Development | 2 Comments »

Skypein Now In New Zealand

Wednesday, June 27th, 2007

Well that proves it, voting can actually make a difference. Ok quit your laughing, true the government usually does what it wants, however this time I’m quite pleased I voted in the last elections. In fact it was the first time I’d voted in 10 years, and the Labour government won by a narrow margin due to people like myself, lol. However it has worked out well for me, interest free student loans and more importantly they deregulated the Telecommunications industry, effective 1 April 2007 (the start of the 2007-08 financial year here). Not only has this improved the DSL and landline offerings around the country, dereg also means we can have Skypein numbers here too!

UPDATE: I now have an Auckland Skypein number, and it works perfectly! I can also have it redirect to my cell phone if my computer isn’t on :-) I’ve tested that as well, however the call just comes up as Private Number on the phone, so it’s a bit hard to tell if it’s a skype call, but it’s still pretty cool either way.

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Street Lights And Fog

Sunday, June 24th, 2007

The weather has become increasingly cold here over the last few weeks. My weekly drives to Auckland often being enveloped in a fog that closes around me, as the other cars and world outside disappear. Contrary to many people I don’t mind the winter, with it’s big coats and long scarves sitting inside warm coffee shops as it rains heavily outside.

I have been quite productive of late, like a woodland animal tucked away from the cold in it’s warm burrow. This time of year is good for indoor projects, like finishing long over due business software, without the distractions of summer.

It is also something I want to finish before I head to Europe. Many of my friends are heading that way in the coming months, including my best mate Stoo in August, Ollie in July, and my French Reunion friend Audrey in the Spring, all going well with her exams. So I better get a move along!

Posted in Uncategorized | 3 Comments »

Safari 3

Wednesday, June 13th, 2007

Apple have just released Safari 3 Beta for Windows!, which is slightly ironic since I had been spending so much time trying to test stuff on WebKit under Windows recently. This is really good news for web developers, and the mac community in general, since there’s now no excuse not to test sites/apps to the same level as we do with Firefox and Internet Explorer—yes, I’m one of the many that can’t see the justification of buying a Mac to test sites. Safari 3 can be downloaded from the Apple site, go get it here.

Posted in Web Development | 1 Comment »

Hard Times

Wednesday, June 6th, 2007

As many of you already know, almost all my company’s income is remitted in US dollars, as our major clients are in North America. Unfortunately due to high interest rates here and the continual decline of the US dollar, this was the headline I read this morning:

NZ Dollar Hits 25-Year High vs US Dollar

“The local currency climbed to US$0.7639 in late afternoon local trading, the highest since 1982, when the country ran a so-called crawling peg currency. That’s also the highest since the kiwi, as the currency is called, was floated in March 1985 at $US0.4440.”


Of course, if you’re selling US dollars like I am, it’s in fact a 25 year low, and the worse exchange rate since 1982. Mind you in 1982 I was just starting school, and had other things on mind. Still, it looks like hard times are ahead.

Posted in Uncategorized | 2 Comments »

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