Jello wrote:

FireBug lets you explore the far corners of the DOM by keyboard or mouse. All of the tools you need to poke, prod, and monitor your JavaScript, CSS, HTML and Ajax are brought together into one seamless experience, including a debugger, an error console, command line, and a variety of fun inspectors.

Visit the FireBug website for documentation, screen shots, and discussion forums:

http://www.joehewitt.com/software/firebug/

A quick overview of FireBug's features:

* JavaScript debugger for stepping through code one line at a time
* Status bar icon shows you when there is an error in a web page
* A console that shows errors from JavaScript and CSS
* Log messages from JavaScript in your web page to the console (bye bye "alert debugging")
* An JavaScript command line (no more "javascript:" in the URL bar)
* Spy on XMLHttpRequest traffic
* Inspect HTML source, computed style, events, layout and the DOM

Works with:
Firefox 1.5 - 3.0 ALL

I was very frustrated doing AJAX/AHAH development until I found this tool.

No doubt.

Firebug lets me inspect any part of the DOM I want, and it lets me look at the XMLHttpRequest and its response.

Its true, this plugin lets you dig down into the DOM in a way that other plugins like Web Developer or Venkman won't allow. I particularly like the way you can enter the DOM either by pointing directly at the element on the page or start from the root node in the DOM browser and work your way down. From there you really do have the entire DOM to work with, not simply a tree of HTML elements and attributes.

Pretty damned cool.

I must agree. This is worth checking out if you're doing JavaScript development, especially if you've been feeling somewhat limited by the capabilities of other plugins.

RE: FireBug :: Mozilla Add-ons :: Add Features to Mozilla Software

A brief thought I had this morning about Memestreams representation of the Meme, which was sparked while reading the current discussion postings regarding the year summary of memestream data and its future:

In Memestreams, each link is considered a seperate Meme, despite the fact that two links may be involved in the same concept or idea. For example, the recent tsunami disaster has generated a wealth of links for donations sites, news updates, weather data, etc. It would seem that many of these links are part of a larger Meme, a greater idea. Despite this, the memes, that is, the individual links, as represented by Memestreams, remain separated, independent of one another.

It may be interesting to consider the potential for abstracting the representation of the meme such that the greater Memes have a chance to propogate. For example, and here, really, is what I was originally thinking, if Memestreams allowed multiple links per post, that is, more closely related to a traditional blog post, which may have several reference links either within or aside from the text or content, then perhaps all links there could be treated in the same bigger Meme as well as a smaller meme. That is, the links could be recommended invididually, as in the current system, but their relationship is recorded and the Meme as a whole could also be tracked, propogated, and recommended.

This approach would have several advantages and drawbacks, which are probably not immediately apparent, though I think further thought and analysis would be warrented, if for naught but mere curiosity. As for one advantage, it would give flexibility to more flexibly create and inject these meme encapsulations, a representation within Memestreams, into the pool. Currently, Memestreams encapsulation method lends itself to news articles and other timely information very well, but as for creating one's own, for lack of a better term, 'thought capsules', that is, more closely related to an 'idea' rather than an 'event'.

I think I'd like to elaborate, but that requires a bit of time -- something I currently lack.

I enjoyed reading through this because it gave me a chance to step back and look at all the things that people as users do and people as programmers implement everyday, without thinking of potential alternatives. It provides several scenarios which, at first glance, caused me to think, "Well, what's wrong with that?" but after presenting a few extremely reasonable questions or suggestions for improvement, I was left slightly stupid -- "Oh. That's why."

Its fairly important to keep things consistent or familiar for the people using current interfaces, though I would love to see some alternatives to aging methods being used in the very near future.

Unfortunately, I think getting people into something different may be quite tricky. Ripping out the Save option, for instance, would probably leave many people asking "How do I save? What's the filename?" Eliminating the File Open/Save dialog window would cause people to pluck their brains from Happy Paradigm A and force them into the New-But-Terribly-Uncomfortable Paradigm B. It will probably be a slow thing coming, if it comes at all.

When good interfaces go crufty

] I found a webpage that succinctly describes why I hate all gentoo users.

And that about sums it up.

Welcome to Gentoo is Rice, the Volume goes to 11 here.

] [I]n order to sell, you got to get through Wal-Mart

I hate you Sam.

-----

This interview is fairly interesting. You might read it if you are generally unhappy with the major players in the recording business and the current state of popular entertainment.

frontline: the way the music died: interviews: david crosby | PBS

30-some mix albums by artists Stef and MrCam. Genres include Club, NRG, Trance, Goa, and Chillout. I am particularly enjoy the last 10 minutes or so of Stef's "Maya."

Stef & MrCam

Latest release from Statistics, Leave Your Name.

] The debut full length from Statistics refuses to be
] pinned down to any one style, rather the record spans the
] sonic spectrum with an impressive collection of power pop
] song craft, steadfast hooks and textural soundscapes.

Synth and rock elements blend together to make an excellent album. This works well when listened to straight through, it has a flow to it that is very satisfying at the end. I get the same feeling here as when I listen to New End Original's Thriller.

Track 10, Reminisce, is available in MP3 from jadetree.com, though it is far from the best on the album.

Statistics - Leave Your Name

] There's been some discussion in the blog world about
] using a Bayesian categorizer to enable a person to
] discriminate along various interest/non-interest axes. I
] took a run at this recently and, although my experiments
] haven't been wildly successful, I want to report them
] because I think the idea may have merit.

It seems like a nice idea, but it doesn't this approach probably wouldn't work well with blogs. Spam may be easily classified by bayesian filters. The content of two blog entries, however, could easily contain many common keywords, yet provide significantly different levels of interest to the reader.

Also, if you're going to go through the trouble of structuring a set of articles in a way that they could be parsed by some filter, effectively restricting the article database to a single system, one might as well be using Memestreams, at least in its methods. I believe the results would be more worthwhile.

XML.com: Working with Bayesian Categorizers [Nov. 19, 2003]

] 11 years ago, April 1st 1990, rfc 1149 was written. This
] rfc specifies a protocol for IP over avian carriers, CPIP
] (carrier pigeon internet protocol). In 11 years, noone
] has bothered to implement this important protocol stack.
] But happily, we don't need to wait any longer! BLUG in
] cooperation with Vesta Brevdueforening has given you rfc
] 1149 support for Linux.

This is such an interesting idea, it must have been fun to implement. Be sure to look at the pictures.

Bergen Linux User Group (CPIP)

] The US spends almost $50 billion each year on education,
] so why aren't kids learning? Forty percent of students
] lack basic reading skills, and their academic performance
] is dismal compared with that of their foreign
] counterparts. In response to this crisis, schools are
] skilling-and-drilling their way "back to basics," moving
] toward mechanical instruction methods that rely on
] line-by-line scripting for teachers and endless
] multiple-choice testing. Consequently, kids aren't
] learning how to think anymore - they're learning how to
] memorize. This might be an ideal recipe for the future
] Babbitts of the world, but it won't produce the kind of
] agile, analytical minds that will lead the high tech
] global age. Fortunately, we've got Grand Theft Auto: Vice
] City and Deus X for that.
]
] After school, kids are devouring new information,
] concepts, and skills every day, and, like it or not,
] they're doing it controller in hand, plastered to the TV.
] The fact is, when kids play videogames they can
] experience a much more powerful form of learning than
] when they're in the classroom. Learning isn't about
] memorizing isolated facts. It's about connecting and
] manipulating them. Doubt it? Just ask anyone who's beaten
] Legend of Zelda or solved Morrowind.

High Score Education