CSS hack to minimize position differences between Firefox, IE6 & IE7

Writting a good CSS can be annoying when we try to show the exact same page on Firefox, Internet Explorer 6 and Internet Explorer 7.

Each browser has a different way to parse the CSS code, showing sometimes little, and sometimes huge differences on the elements positions.

For example, the margin property doesn’t work the same on FF and IE7. The first applies the margin related to their parent elements, and IE7 related to the “same level” elements.

This little hack will allow us to write different attributes for each browser, or to show deliberated differences:

1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17

/* Firefox class */ 
.element { 
margin: 10px 10px 10px 10px; 
background-color: #f00; 
} 
 
/* IE7 Class */ 
*:first-child+html .element { 
margin: 5px 5px 5px 5px; 
background-color: #0f0; 
} 
 
/* IE6 Class */ 
* html .element { 
margin: 2px 2px 2px 2px; 
background-color: #00f; 
}

If we assign this class to an element, for example <div class=”element”>, each browser will take the one that fits to it, in this case, a red background for firefox, a green background for IE7 and a blue background for IE6. Each class has different margin values, correcting the position differences that could exist in the page distribution.

Installing Vista SP1 on Vaio TZ

Service Pack 1 on Windows Vista is incompatible with certain versions of some drivers; that’s the reason because SP1 does not appear on windows update.

The conflict is with Mobile Intel 954GM Express driver: the last version supplied by Sony is 7.14.10.1380, and the not compatible versions are in the range of 7.14.10.1322 and 7.14.10.1403 (both included).

I have readed some people was trying to install the standalone SP1, but that’s a dirty solution, and it causes conflicts within the system, so I recommend to don’t try that.

The solution for the SP1 is kinda simple (tricky but simple), and I found that by chance. We will reinstall the actual graphic driver on the system to force windows update to offer us an optional update with a newer version of the driver (in my case the 7.14.10.1437, of course compatible with SP1).

• First step: Updating graphic driver with the actual version on the system. 
  

  

  

  
• Second step: Reboot the system and try a windows update. This time it should offer us an optional update with the Intel 945GM Express driver: Install it.
• Third step: Reboot again, check the new driver version, and again, windows update. If all was ok we have now the option to install SP1.

I have to say that my Vaio model is the TZ32VN (Spain) with Vista Business. Perhaps that doesn’t work with other models. In that case, another option is to visit www.sony-drivers.com, and search for “7.14.10“, choosing the driver from another Vaio (not TZ necessarily) with a version major to 7.14.10.1403. That should work without problems, but I recommend to give a try  with the workaround of windows update first.

Enjoying brand new server

Two weeks ago we ordered a new server, to replace the old PC we was using for the intranet at the company. Our new machine is a Dell PowerEdge R200, brand new, and we bought it for a ridiculous price (we was  tempt to buy three or four more for the render farm, but finally we decided that it could be hasty).

It has a Dual Xeon 2,3 Ghz, 2 GB RAM, two SCSI hds (160 GB each on RAID), and 3 GigaLAN interfaces.

I installed Fedora Core 9 on it, and after optimize and installing the required services for the intranet, the machine has a superb performance. It’s noisy (but we don’t care about that, because it will be on another room), but it couldn’t  heat less.

I’m very happy with this new toy, it’s the first dedicated server machine I have (except for the 3 dedicated servers I rented), and I’m impatient to extend the “collection” soon. For the moment we was looking some racks with integrated SAI and monitor that could fit so well on our office.

Multi touch interface (part 1): Planning

When I watched the Jeff Han’s multi touch video a year ago, I got impressed with that technology and I was researching about it. In fact, this is a not so new technology, and is really simple.

There are tons of geeks all over the world building their own multi touch displays, and researching how to improve them, and nowadays these home made prototypes are as good as any kind of comercial device.

I’m planning to build my own prototype. As a coder, I have an special interest about this technology and how to develop applications for it.

When I decided to start this projects, first of all I had to choose the technology to use on my interface. There are two main approachs to develop a home made multi touch interface. Both of them are similar, but the construction are totally diferent:This first method is the most used, perhaps because is the method used by Jeff Han, and it did famous this technology.

With this method, we use an acrylic panel and flood it with IR light from the borders. We use acrylic and not glass, because acrylic has a good transmittance for IR, while glass will not work.

Dorama: Japanese TV series

I’m watching dorama (jdrama) since some time ago, not only because I love japanese culture and language, but the peculiar style they have on TV series, an style we are not used at West, and I really like that freshness (a good manner to take a rest of scifi). Really, that’s the only reason I like dorama…

Well, series in Japan (live action series I mean) are called Drama (ドラマ dorama), and them have a wide range of subject matters. A lot of times them are based on manga or anime (for example, Great Teacher Onizuka Live Action, or Gokusen)

Japanese dorama are broadcasted on real seasons (spring, summer, autum and winter), with a duration of 3 months (between 9 and 11 weekly chapters). If the dorama gets a good success, some times they broadcast an special, longer duration chapter, and usually telling “what happened after”. That’s curious because the drama do not have only a tragic or happy ending, but you know what happened to the characters in the future.

The 9-11 chapter dramas are called renzoku (連続 - れんぞく), while long drama with only 2 o 3 episodes or “parts” (here called tv movies) are tanpatsu (単発 - たんぱつ). Special epidodes of a renzoku drama are tanpatsu too.

Many times, the soundtrack of some jdrama have legions of fans (as in the case of many anime), because they work with famous singers or composers. Music in a dorama have a great significance, contrary to the western series, where music is on a second plane (not as in cinema) .

Micro Motorola MC68000

Sorry, this entry is only available in Español.

I-Worms en Windows

Sorry, this entry is only available in Español.

Iniciación a los virus de macro (II)

Sorry, this entry is only available in Español.