Bloody browsers! Bloody resolutions!

Having got my course page looking how I wanted it, I decided to be a good web designer and test it on Windows 98 (ugh) at 800x600 resolution (ugh!) on Internet Explorer 5.0 (ugh!!). The result? Ugh!!! More specifically, CSS padding doesn't work, so the text goes right up to the images and the vertical spacing is all wrong, the margins for headers are wrong and the fonts are cruddy - you can see the jagged pixels round the edges in a way that reminds me of my old Atari.

I can probably get round the margins thing by either setting my right margins in pixels (I have images down the right side) or setting my image sizes in ems, which I've never tried before (and probably wouldn't work in IE). Alternatively, I could do some fancy javascripting to detect the browser and screen resolution, and supply different stylesheets accordingly. I've never done that, but I hear it's possible.

I suppose I could also just print one of those irritating messages along the lines of "This page looks best when viewed at 1024x768 on a proper browser. If it looks cruddy, it's your fault, sucker." But that would be bad web ethics. Besides, I've just checked it in Konqueror, and although the results are better than IE, it's still not perfect. Back to the stylesheet ...

Funding left-wing talkshows

I know it's narcissistic to repost things I've written to mailing lists, but I couldn't resist ....

> Lastly,
> Why is it liberal talk shows do not suceed except on taxpayer funded PBS?
> If there was a market (demand)...it would be supplied (liberal talk shows...)

Perhaps because viewing/listening tastes are infuenced by the mainstream media, who are careful to push the agenda of the corporations that fund them.

My solution is to support left-wing content through careful product placement (shades of Wayne's World).

NOAM CHOMSKY: I have explained at length how network news media are feeding Americans a bland, uncritical view of current events. In fact, I've explained it at such length that I'm really thirsty. Time for a refreshing Coca-Cola, I think. [raises can to the camera and takes a deep gulp] Mmm, it's the real thing. And I don't mean that in any Baudrillardian sense. So, as I was saying, the corporate media have infiltrated our consciousness to the degree that we unthinkingly speak, act and dress in the way they dictate. And by the way, I'm wearing stonewashed Levis to give me that authentic proletarian look.

Anyway, it's time to welcome my guest, that well-known and still controversial feminist author, Germaine Greer. Say, Germaine, is that a Fruit of the Loom T-shirt you're wearing?