Sunday, November 30, 2008

This is a survey

Does anyone see a light blue column covering half the message on the left hand side of the blog?

Does anyone not see one?

This is one of those weirdnesses.

My screen looks like this ....











Well .... not the moire patterns part. That seems to be part of taking photos of your computer screen.



UPDATE

Ah. This is my very OWN Internet Explorer problem.
How exciting.

Stupid computer.

Thank you all for helping me to track down the culprit.

21 comments:

  1. I don't see a light blue column. But then, my filtering system may be deleting it, or it may be that my Mac doesn't like it.

    ReplyDelete
  2. No blue column.

    ReplyDelete
  3. I don't see any weirdnesses. :)

    ReplyDelete
  4. everything looks good on my end. Maybe your internet browser is acting strange?

    ReplyDelete
  5. Using Safari, don't see it.

    ReplyDelete
  6. I'm using Chrome, and I don't see it.

    ReplyDelete
  7. No light blue column covering half the message. I am using Firefox as a browser, whatever the latest beta is, on a Mac.

    ReplyDelete
  8. I'm using Firefox, and I don't see any blue column.

    ReplyDelete
  9. You are all so wonderful.

    THANK YOU.

    I see a blue column.

    Nobody else on earth (apparently) sees a blue column.
    This appears to be true right across the board no matter what system they are using.
    Visiting Martians do not see a blue column.

    The wonderful person who did my website ...
    (Website. Website. Wonderful wonderful website. You can see it if you follow the link on the top right of the page.)
    ... cannot see a blue stripe.

    My life is filled with bizarre experiences.

    ReplyDelete
  10. Um, I see a blue column. We use an older Internet Explorer at work (would that we used Chrome!), perhaps that may have something to do with it?

    ReplyDelete
  11. Nope, don't see it on my screen (I use Firefox). Guess you're special. {g}

    Linda G.

    ReplyDelete
  12. Hi Deniz --

    Oooh. Oooh.
    THAT's IT.
    I'll bet you that's IT.

    My Internet Explorer is so old it probably uses stretched tiger skins instead of duct tape ...

    So I can fix it -- probably -- by installing a new Internet Explorer, which I should likely do in any case.

    Ah well ... it can't be too hard. People install new Internet Explorers every day and they walk away from it, fairly normal.

    ReplyDelete
  13. no, no! get Google Chrome :-) While you're downloading, might as well download Google stuff! Wait'll you see what your Gmail looks like when you use Chrome - mine's all girly pink now, though I think I'll be switching to sunset/ocean stuff soon...

    ReplyDelete
  14. Google Chrome ...?
    (jo looks puzzled)

    The Google Chrome ...how you say? ... I know it from the nothing.

    I know! I'll go Google it.

    ReplyDelete
  15. Anonymous1:53 PM

    Laughing. Unfortunately, I do see it. Maybe it's something in our browers. I'll check out the other computers in my house. But it's there for me today.

    ReplyDelete
  16. Hi,
    Yeah, you need to upgrade your browser.

    I like Firefox (http://www.getfirefox.net/). It handles html code better. I like it because it has a lot of great modules you can add on to it and and increase the usefulness, including blogging tools.

    Google chrome is fast, though. ^_^

    ReplyDelete
  17. Anonymous9:18 PM

    I see the blue side. Glad you fixed it.

    I stopped by to comment on MLAS (aka Jessamyn). I just started reading it--what's important is that I bought it when first release--and was wondering if you kept the scene about Sebastien rooting through Jess's bedroom (I recall it from a previous post and from our mentoring days) and although it's a little different, it's still there! Yay. Why did you think an editor would cut it?

    ReplyDelete
  18. Hi M.O. --

    I was on another website and it had a very similar blue stripe.

    So it's not just me.

    (No. I've forgotten which website.)

    Speaking of websites ... I know you moved yours and the link I hvae to you is invalid. Can you give me the URL of a new link?

    ReplyDelete
  19. Hi Ardith --

    I have an idea that upgrading IE means I have to install Service Pack Two.
    I have avoided this. I probably have good reasons.

    OTOH, it is possible I already have Service Pack II snuck inside this machine because the random teenagers infesting my house borrow my machine and who knows what dreadful acts they perform upon it.

    There is a firefox icon on my desktop and, indeed, Firfox. But I don't use it much because it makes the web look funny. Perhaps I fear Change.

    There's also a Netscape icon.

    The DH puts these things in my machine. Useful programs. Efficient modules that improve performance. Beagles.


    He says,
    ". . . and this yadda gobbly automatic backup dumde dudda speeds up the murffe ting to hard disk dinghiddy yadda yadda search files diggle stomp. . ."
    and so on

    I say, "Oh thank you,"
    and go back to wrestling with Microsoft Word which is really technical challenge enough for anyone, y'know.

    Google Chrome I had never heard of before this little problem.

    I watched Lord of the Rings for the first time a few nights ago when it came on TV.
    (I have seen bits and pieces of the movie by chance over the years and more or less tried to ignore them. I love the books -- they were read to me when I was a child -- and did not want to get my vision of the characters reamed out of my head by a movie.)

    Anyhow ... my attitude toward technology is somewhat Sam's response to the oliphants. -- Wonder. Amazement. Delight. And the realization that it charges towards me as a berserk enemy.

    The oliphants, btw, were one of the few images from the movie I bear away without reservations.

    Jo

    ReplyDelete
  20. Hi Cathy --

    A raft of Really Cool Scenes got cut out of the manuscript. I had to write other stuff to replace them.

    The searching-Jess's-room scene managed to escape the slaughter.
    This pleased me.

    Putting the matter in a philosophical teacup --

    All scenes have to justify their existence.
    Scenes that do not contain the H&H interacting really have to justify their existence.

    At heart, the structure of the search-Jess's-bedroom scene is Talking Heads Exchange Information. Sebastian and Adrian are -- I hope -- interesting Talking Heads, exchanging vital information and doing nifty stage business while they're at it.
    But they're still Talking Heads.

    This is a weak structure for a scene. An easy, self-indulgent structure.
    You have to ration yourself to maybe one or two Talking Head scenes per manuscript.
    This kinda scene is the first to get chopped if your pacing is slow or you need to lose words. Rightly so.

    So ... why is this scene in the final book?

    I think the search-bedroom scene survived the cuts because it was truly about character revelation. (i.e. it was not using 'character revelation' as an excuse for taking up space.)
    The scene 'told' stuff about these three characters that would have been difficult to 'show' in any reasonable length of time . . . which is one of the justifications for Talking Heads. The scene is short. It found a spot where I could afford to slow the pacing. And it made an efficient framework to reveal character. I let Sebastian look at Jess's possessions and straightforwardly tell the reader what they 'said'.

    You'll say this sort of scene isn't so much 'efficient' as 'bloody obvious' and 'heavy handed'.

    Hmmm ... yes ....

    JoB

    ReplyDelete