I'm a bit confused. Therefore I should put my foot in my mouth, right?
On Sun, 7 May 2000 10:39:17 -0700, Bob Buckland ?:-\) wrote:
> Hmmm, seeing Arachne have XML/XSL/XSLT capabilities would be
> verrry, interesting, [right after Usenet news ;) and secure protocol
> support].
Since UseNet is strictly text, I don't think it is fair to say a
"browser" is incomplete without it. Yes, I *used* to follow a half
dozen ngs, but don't anylonger because of time constraints and because
the few times I've gone to specific ngs to request help I've been
totally ignored. But there is software out there that does a VERY good
job of handling UseNet [if you can get a complete LIST down] if someone
is into intensive ng use.
> Arachne is a great tool, but it's not competitive
> with the browsers and web sites aimed at buying/selling online.
Competitive? I don't think that's the word you meant, is it? With
bloatware browsers available free with a 'click' on at least a half
dozen sites, competition should have little to do with it. And there
aren't many places I've gone to shop on-line that I haven't been able to
shop -- Staples being the major exception. Nor have I had any on-line
retailer refuse to take my order because I call them on the 800# instead
of using the website. Even if I could use a "secure" site to send my
CC# I doubt I would ... not with all the recent security faults found in
so many places connected to the web. If a merchant is going to store my
CC# in unencrypted format, then I want it stored in a program that is
NOT directly linked to the web. :)
<snip>
> An issue I get from clients is that if you keep the site 'simple'
> how many customers (and they want customers to buy from them) will
> think the site is not 'hot' and go somewhere else. (sigh), so
> there's different viewpoints for different people.
The customer is always right. If you have explained that people are
less likely to go to a site which requires 4 minutes to download, because
of multiple graphics and piles of javasnit, and that people get tired of
waiting even 45 seconds for catalog pages to load when hunting for
something specific, and the customer doesn't want to hear it ... You
can always quote them a few figures about how many sales and how many
total hits a new site is likely to get -- and advise them that if they
haven't reached that level by such and such a point, they really should
reconsider making their site 'used friendly' instead of 'wowser
showtime.' Isn't the point of an on-line sales outlet to make sales,
rather than amuse passers by with fancy animations and background music?
> The costs in time/labor and testing of websites with a lot of
> browsers can be a big one (and that's not going to get less complicated
> anytime soon <g>). In the websites on CompuServe forums they're
> supposed to be able to support level 3 browsers and up, and that
> means javascript (mostly in the background navigation parts we
> don't control) and testing on a mac, DOS, windows, OS2 etc can
> drive you a bit nuts when you think you've just found a site that
> works in all of them and still looks 'new' you find that one little
> thing that turns out to be hours of fixing.
Huh? Again I'm confused. Are you saying that CompuServe won't allow
a simple 'any browser' setup? If that is the case, then why would
anyone stay solely with CompuServe/AOL??
> One thing that Javascript helps with is being able to present
> some of the page content based on the timezone and browser the
> person is using. which can be helpful.
Since it's apparent that html without javascript can recognize a
browser and it's version [how else would Arachne home page know I'm
running Arachne in latest version] why do you need js for that? And as
for timezone, just how does js arrange to do that? Does it ask the
calling computer what time it is and expect an answer it can understand?
And why should a customer be treated differently if calling after
midnight EDT or afternoon from Hawaii? Hardly makes sense. And if that
data is absolutely required [for what???!!!] can't a 'quick expire'
cookie of some sort do the same thing?
Speaking of which [cookie expiration], when a cookie for a site expires
does the site send a new cookie of the same name which overwrites the
original, or do we end up with both cookies? I've emptied the cookie
jar so many times it's not funny ... one thing I dislike is the cookies
that the CZ banner ads send and request every time we hit
home.arachne.cz ... I've removed dozens of them to keep the cookie jar
manageable.
One thing is certain, after the recent ILOVEYOU fiasco that cost
billions of dollars world-wide thanks to the BillyGate$ monopology:
Linux is going to become the OS of choice on more than just servers. So
Michael has jumped into the Linux Browser Wars not a second too soon.
As much as the thought plagues me, because at my age I hate learning new
things that are 'nuts & bolts' rather than 'finishing touches,' I am
willing to wager that my primary OS on this system will be Linux ... so
I hope Michael has a good port of Arachne available by then. I'm going
to have to contact Mix Software and see if they have a C compiler for
Linux ... because the day may come when registering software can result
in receiving source code to be compiled on the specific system that will
be running the software. [Which means I hope Michael dumps this C++ crap
and goes to a pure ANSI C for cleaner compiles.]
Anyone seen my brain? I've been searching for it about a week now, and
I fear it may have fallen off at the accident site without my noticing.
l.d.
--
-- "I need not like the company I keep, if that company helps me
attain my own personal goals and does me no harm." anon.
--
-- Arachne V1.61, NON-COMMERCIAL copy, http://arachne.cz/
