Browser Compatibility issues

I discovered recently from a few of my readers that my blog has been loading differently in Firefox than in Internet Explorer. In Firefox, my main post is disjointed with my sidebar appearing at the bottom of the page. Since I always use Internet Explorer, I had not realized that such obstacle could be existed. I should have been checking browser compatibility in the first place, particularly since more users are switching to Firefox.

The best free solution to test your browser compatibility is BrowserShots.org. All you have to do is enter the web address of your blog, select the browsers for which you’d like to see screenshots across multiple operating systems. It is not necessary to check all those browsers and it will be pretty time consuming if you do.

First of all, you need to scroll down to the bottom of the chart and click on None to uncheck all the boxes. Then select the browsers that you want to test. Wait a couple of minutes (sometimes longer) for your results. You will be able to see exactly how your site looks in different browser versions. Aside from this, you can check out the Total Validator service to validate your pages for technical analysis. As I 'm not a pro webmaster, I might as well get some professional help to solve my multiple problems.

Lastly, thanks to WildApricot for a great browser compatibility blog post. Hopefully you’ll find it useful too.

Feedburner hacked - Inflate your subscribers

The guys at TheNextWeb has recently published a video showcasing us how easy it is to hack your Feedburner subscriber count. It doesn't take more than a minute or so to add a few thousand subscribers.

Basically, all you need to do is create an OPML file with the same feed copied and pasted as many times as you want and then import this into your NetVibes account. By using this trick any one can show fake feedburner subscriber stats for their blogs. Anything is possible nowadays but that’s not cool. I bet that there are a few bloggers out there who will take advantage of this opportunity.

This loophole is really something Netvibes and Feedburner will need to seriously fix soon so that people stop gaming and faking the feedcount system. It will be really interesting to see which blogs loose bunch of subscribers.

This video explains how it works :

Feedburner hacked! from Boris Veldhuijzen van Zanten on Vimeo.

Finding My new banner

I’ve been trying to figure out what kind of banner I want to use as the header for this blog. Since I didn’t like the picture banner that was included in the theme, I opted to upload a new picture for the banner.

And in case you were wondering, I came across the tips for new Bloggers template in Sweet Jasmine 's blog. The templates embody many useful features. For many new bloggers who are unfamiliar with coding, I hope you'll find these cool features handy which will give you better control over the various elements for your blog. I'm totally paronoid when it comes to embedding the html codes. If you’re not the tech-savvy type, you may find this tutorial rather useful as the instructions are easy to understand. All you need to do is to follow exactly the instructions provided. Even for those who are tech-savvy, it serves as a handy reference especially with its well-organised layout.

Hopefully with a good measure of patience you can make a smooth transition to the new Blogger system.

eBay $ued over faked goods

eBay, the world's online auctioneer has been ordered to pay a solid 40 million Euro / $63 million for not being able to stop auctions selling counterfeit goods. The lawsuit against eBay was brought on by the LVMH(Louis Vuitton Moet Hennessey) group, which includes big names like Louis Vuitton, Givenchy and Christian Dior, and it saw the website accused of not doing its best to keep people from selling fake designer bags and perfumes. Tiffany & Company in the United States has also sued eBay, but the case is pending.

THANK GOODNESS.. I never buy goods on ebay cause of the fact.. of people being able to sell fake goods. It's not fair.. how some people get screwed. eBay can be a nasty place for the unwary and I don't think it's going to get any better. If it is true that 90% of the Louis Vuitton bags and Dior perfumes on eBay are fakes, shutting down the trade in these items on eBay may be reasonable. Perhaps this is the price eBay has to pay for not taking any real precautions. Let’s hope that eBay learned a lesson from this and will take bigger steps to prevent fakes being sold on the site.

Critics and trademark holders are looking more for a way to guarantee authenticity and possibly including series and/or serial numbers of the items for sale.

Whoa!! Ladies check your bags and now that I’m thinking about it, men check your wallets too…

Full Article

Firefox 3 Download - A Huge Success

I know plenty of people will be rushing to download a copy of the final version of Firefox 3 on Tuesday when it’s released.

The Mozilla servers crashed as most Firefoxers all determined to be one of the first to experience the latest version of their favourite browser. They seem to be back online now after some early hiccups.

Still, Mozilla managed to break the world records for software downloads in 24 hours, and it looks like Firefox 3 is going to be highly popular. It has tons of new features with 15,000 improvements, plus it runs faster and provides a safer browsing environment.

I bet there are a lot of Firefox lovers out there, but I am not one of those, believe me! I see Firefox as a very good browser, but I always encounter problems, so I never fell in love with it. But only time will tell, because changing your primary browser is not something to do over night. It'll be interesting to see how the reception of Firefox 3 grows as more users experience its new features. I'm sure Firefox 3 should really become much better than any browser in the wild!

Well done, Mozilla!