Gmail on Safari ... not quite right

I love me some Apple, but sadly, there are some ...

Safari issues with Gmail's mostly awesome UI ...

• The unix-ey keyboard shortcuts for moving around (j for next message, k for previous, etc) require a click somewhere on the page to start working. I'm not sure where the focus is when the page first loads. (It's not in the search box. As far as I can tell it's nowhere -- maybe in an XMLHTTPRequest?)
• Can't send via keyboard. All browsers (that I've used) share the spacebar-for-focused-button-click shortcut, including Safari. However, the send button on a Gmail message, while it gives a visual indication of taking focus after tabbing from the message input box, does not get clicked when hitting either spacebar or enter. Since it's styled unlike other buttons in Safari, I'm guessing it's actually a link dressed up as a button, which is probably the issue.
• Command-click doesn't open links in a new tab. The equivalent gesture works in Firefox, but Safari opens links in Gmail messages in a new window even when the status bar tells you that clicking the link will open the link in a new tab. I know Google likes to put onclick attributes on links to keep the href from being relevant, and I'm guessing that's the issue here. (Presumably some JavaScript is telling the browser to open a new window.)
• The fancy bottom-right-corner floating indicator of whose messages are hidden off-screen doesn't repaint correctly. When scrolling a long conversation with multiple messages expanded, I frequently end up with a whole gaggle of those little colored labels strewn up and down the right edge of the window. (Luckily the worst they can do over there is hide ads.)

This will be updated as I find other issues or things get resolved. tagged gmail mac osx safari issues.

You Know You Arrived at the Bachelor Party Too Late When ...

• You say hi to the bachelor, and he greets you with a somber look and a finger-in-the-air "just a sec" gesture, then shuffles past you to the bathroom.
• You get off the phone with a friend a few minutes later and find out that while you were away, the bachelor came out of the bathroom, was handed another drink, threw up in his drink,* then headed back to the bathroom.

Happy wedding, man! * which was still sitting on the bar. However, I must give credit where due: The bar itself was left spotless.

Gmail Unimpressed

I can always tell when Gmail doesn't think much of the content of my recent conversations when it gives me sponsored links to

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ClearCase is bad, and I don't like it

I don't do many technical posts, but I was writing this in an email anyway and thought I may as well publish it.

The main ClearCase-rooted things that hurt me on a daily basis at the current client:

• No atomic check-ins and frequent hangs during check-in/add (maybe a network/machine issue rather than CCase) → many broken builds. (I suspect ClearCase doesn't respond accurately when Cruise checks to see if there's been activity during the (120-second) quiet period.*)
• No tool support for seeing all at once what needs to be synched between the local snapshot and the repository (combined w/ lack of atomic check-ins) → many missed file-adds → many broken builds.
• Complexity of administration → this is handled (in a giant company) by some support team only reachable via support tickets → slow resolution of issues, which, due perhaps to corporate stinginess with permissions, includes restoring deleted files and undoing absent users' checkouts.
• One-file-at-a-time labelling → labelling the code-base takes hours → it's a once-an-iteration operation rather than an every-build operation → no ability to pull the most recent known-good code → devs who update before seeing that the build is broken** have to manually roll back individual files or be locally broken until the broken build is resolved.
• One-file-at-a-time up-to-date checks → updating is slower than it ought to be.

* On further thought, it's more likely we're seeing:

• 1: Cruise checks for activity,
• 2: ClearCase responds that there's been none,
• 3 and 4 in whichever order: Cruise starts updating; I start checking in,
• 5: Cruise ends up with only some of my check-in,
• 6: Cruise builds with whatever chunk of my check-in it got, and that not surprisingly fails more often than not

** ... or while Cruise is building or the relevant build is queued behind other builds.

tagged clearcase scm dev

Breakfast Sandwich Arms Race

In the microwave-heated cold war of greasy fingers in the morning, Burger King brings a sweet and salty French toast sandwich to contend with Ronald's heretofore unchallenged McGriddle. My jaw drops. My stomach whimpers. This is MADness!!! (PS -- You should really click that McGriddle link. It's a high-quality walk-through.) tagged food

The SHAC7 Situation

This deserves more attention. Unfortunately this is a case that could have been won, but the original defense team apparently over-estimated the jury. Now their clients are stuck in a long, slow appeals process during which they're likely to languish in federal prison. In brief, a group of animal rights protesters have been convicted of a number of fairly absurd federal conspiracy and stalking charges based primarily on testimony that does not relate to any of the defendants specifically.