Development and technology commentary

Paste bug in Safari’s address bar (updated)

Sun, 22 Aug 2010 21:50:01 -0400

It would appear that there is yet another bug in Apple's browser for Windows.
This time it's with pasting a URL into the address field.

Safari 5.0.1 for Windows XP SP3 has a bug that won't allow a URL to be pasted
into the address field via the paste command as invoked through the
application's menus. The steps below identify how to reproduce the error.

Click in the address field to select the contents
Right-click | Paste or choose Edit | Paste to paste in the new URL
Press the Enter key on the keyboard or click the reload icon in the address
field
Nothing

If the URL is pasted into the address field via the keyboard command (Control+V)
the page will load as expected.

UPDATE: This bug affects Windows 7 as well.

Palm Pre inventories may be dwindling

Wed, 18 Aug 2010 19:16:46 -0400

Ever since the acquisition of Palm by HP a couple of months ago, the discussions at sites like PreCentral and webOSRoundup have been buzzing about new Palm hardware. Take the two articles below as examples of speculation and rumor.

Palm Pre Plus out of stock on Verizon and AT&T online
Rumor: Palm Pre successor to hit Verizon in October?

So, not to be left out, we have our own bit of speculation. Though to be honest, we’re not exactly sure about how to interpret the news. Our Pre needed to be taken in for service to address a problem that was preventing it from booting. After examination by the Verizon rep, it was determined that the unit needed to be replaced, but there were no replacements in stock. Given that we’re expecting the replacement to be a refurbished unit, there’s no assumption that Verizon is sold, or is selling, out of new devices.

Still, a lack of refurbished units did lead us to these three quick assumptions. A shortage like this could be due to a limited number of items being returned, which means there are a limited number of units being put back into service as refurbished. Given the reception webOS has gotten, this may be a reasonable conclusion. The shortage may be due to a limited number of items being replaced, but based on the amount of whining all over the Web about build quality, this assumption is easy to pass on. Perhaps the most promising to those longing for new hardware though, is that the total supply of Pres may, in fact, be dwindling. In which case, we may be very near to a new Palm rollout.

webOS leads in anticipation for next release

Thu, 5 Aug 2010 12:47:36 -0400

First published a few days ago, a poll posted by Boy Genius Report shows Palm webOS as leading in user interest in the next major release of mobile operating systems. The question is, “What operating system update are you most looking forward to?” And the options are:

Android 2.2
BlackBerry 6
iOS 4.1
webOS 2.0
Windows Phone 7
Other

webOS leads the way at 34.1% of the vote, while the second and third positions are Android 2.2 (25.8%) and Windows Phone 7 (21.1%).

It’s not immediately clear as to why a system that has largely lived in the shadows of the iPhone and the host of Android-based phones would place so well in this poll, other than there’s no limit as to how many times one can vote. This doesn’t explain however, the impulse to jack the numbers for webOS so high. It may just be that the recent acquisition of Palm by HP has drummed up a lot of curiosity about what may be in store for the system.

Find field in Safari for Windows loses focus

Thu, 15 Jul 2010 22:47:34 -0400

A rather frustrating behavior has been encountered in Safari 4 and 5 for Windows. The problem is that while searching for a string in page content, the focus can suddenly be removed from the search field. As is usually the case, no extensive troubleshooting has ben done to isolate the issue. And it's doubtful that any will be done. The find feature is pretty straightforward and there's no real reason that the focus should be stolen. There are however, some factors that may come into play.

The problem seems to be encountered with pages with lots of content and search results numbering perhaps 75–100 or more. To give it a look, here's what you try:

Load a page with a good deal of content.
Open the Find banner [Edit | Find ⌘] and start typing a string.
Safari will starting matching string in the page content as the search string is entered.
At some point the focus will be removed from the find field.

Overall, the find feature in Safari is pretty slick and so dealing with this bug may be worthwhile, but it can become quite tedious, real quick.

Microsoft re-extends XP downgrade option

Thu, 15 Jul 2010 22:38:17 -0400

This tidbit comes straight from the “give it a rest already folks” department. The word around the Web is that Microsoft is backtracking on its previous promise to terminate the XP downgrade option. It sounds like Microsoft is going to make some versions of Windows 7 eligible for a downgrade to Windows XP for a while yet.

It was laughable when the downgrade option was so popular when Vista was rolled out some three-and-a-half years ago. Now it just seems “sad.” It's sad in that we're two major releases past XP and companies are still fighting migrating to a newer version of Windows. And while the sadness blame fell on Microsoft for the troubled Vista rollout, now it's falling on the businesses that are still fighting the switch.

Windows 7 should prove to be a smoother transition than the one to Vista. So, the arguments cited for bucking the Vista transition should have been mitigated. Now, the resistance can really only be blamed on laziness and penny-pinching. It's the bottom of the 15th inning for XP, and companies should count themselves fortunate that they've been able to skate by for as long as they have with this system.

Microsoft needs to realize that until it pulls the plug on XP for good, there are always going to be those companies that will clamor for support. For all parties, it's time to put it to rest. And in fact, to start making arrangements for Vista too.

Computerworld Microsoft extends Windows XP downgrade rights until 2020
Ars Technica Support for Windows 2000 and Windows XP SP2 comes to an end

Palm webOS/Pre/Pixi stuck in wired headset mode

Fri, 9 Jul 2010 20:34:45 -0400

A quick search around the Wonkey Wild Web for {+”palm pre” +”wired headset” +phone} returned a number of reports of users having difficulty with their handsets being “stuck” in the wired headset mode. As would be expected there are a host of helpful folks offering potential solutions to their troubled fellow brethren. These include, and from Palm's own knowledgebase article, plugging and unplugging the headset jack a few times, blowing compressed air into the headset jack, and cleaning the jack with a cotton swab and alcohol.

While all of these tips make sense and are certainly appreciated, the problem looks as if it's really software related. To be more specific, Pandora software related. Though it's not clear as to what triggers the behavior, there may be a connection between Pandora and when it's “safe” to unplug the headset. Regardless of how the condition is encountered, the following are the steps that were taken to successfully take a Palm Pre on Verizon out of the wired headset mode.

With the headset unplugged, launch Pandora.
Once music is playing, plug the headset in.
Quit Pandora and unplug the headset.
Dial voicemail (or any number) to verify that the normal mode is re-established.

There are a couple of things to note. First, it may be that the reason for a device to be stuck in this mode is due to something like pocket lint being caught in the headset jack. Therefore, the methods plenty of users have suggested may be quite valid, so some links to some of them are included below. Also, it may also be that starting Pandora with the headset unplugged is not necessary. So, if these steps don't help at first, try some variations of them. For example, perhaps unplug the chord before quitting Pandora.

9 Simple Fixes for the Palm Pre
Patch Request: Disable Phone Wired Headset Mode
Pre stuck in headset mode

ESPN’s Scott Van Pelt as a YoVille character?

Thu, 8 Jul 2010 01:39:57 -0400

At one point, not too long ago, Zinga’s YoVille seemed to be the game everyone on the social networking site Facebook was playing. Well that, and the same publisher’s Mafia Wars. Now, it seems that players have moved on to the next game, and the next after that, so a curious screen capture taken from the YoVille splash screen may not be as relevant as it once was. None-the-less here it is, so that all may see, Scott Van Pelt of ESPN and his caricature-ized rendering of his own Mini Me.

Safari loads alternate video version

Thu, 8 Jul 2010 00:34:03 -0400

For a number of months now, Safari has been exhibiting an irritating behavior when viewing YouTube videos. While browsing around the site “alternate” versions of videos would seemingly randomly begin playing outside the normal YouTube player. In much the same way that a run-of-the-mill MPEG would show in the browser window. That is, with a dark gray background and a video player centered in the middle of the window.

Searches around the Web return hints that other users have experienced the same sort of behavior, and the Safari plugin ClickToFlash is often included in the reports. In fact, the ClickToFlash website tells that the plugin makes YouTube's H.264 formatted versions of its videos available to Safari in favor of the Flash versions.

“YouTube also offers H.264 videos…you get access to those same, higher quality videos.”

Without doing any real in-depth troubleshooting, it would seem that something between the combination of ClickToFlash and Safari is causing a little mixup between browser and plugin. The result is that a URL to the video is exposed. The result is often frustrating since what took place to “get” the alternate version of the videos is not clear. But there are now steps that can reasonably reproduce the situation.

Load YouTube.
Search for something.
Click a video.
While it's loading, click the browser's back button.
Alternate video. If the video doesn't load with the back button, click it again.

This behavior has been experienced with Safari for Mac version 5.0 and ClickToFlash version 1.5.4.

Restart machine after Vista system updates

Fri, 22 May 2009 20:10:57 -0400

In spite of the very frequent updates recommended for Microsoft Vista, there's a bit a saving grace in that they generally don't require a restart. However, there may have been an issue with FTP tied to this most recent update. The update was completed on 05/21/2009 but unfortunately, no note of which update was made. Regardless, a short time later there seemed to be a system-wide failure to connect to FTP sites via domain name. NOTE: There was however success connecting with IP addresses.

It's not immediately clear what, if any, connection between FTP and this recent Vista update there may be. In any case, a restart of the system corrected the issue. As a matter of practice, regardless of whether or not the update indicates that a restart is required it may be a good idea to perform one after each update.

Yahoo! to open data center in western New York

Fri, 22 May 2009 20:00:17 -0400

Yahoo! is looking to put a new data center in western New York. No decision has been made yet as to the exact location, but the list seems to have been narrowed to three sites. There's a great deal of optimism among those involved concerning the potential for future technology developments in the region.

Given that the announcement is recent the details are sparse, but the following links provide more information.

13 WHAM
http://www.13wham.com/news/local/story/Yahoo-Data-Center-Coming-to-Western-New-York/v-EuOJdNlECj2v2jRI8saQ.cspx

WIVB
http://www.wivb.com/dpp/news/yahoo_may_build_data_center_in_wny_090519