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The JavaScript Anthology: 101 Essential Tips, Tricks & Hacks (external link)
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Blog Entries from February 2006
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Opera 9 Preview 2 Released
Today Opera Software has released a second preview version of Opera 9, the next innovate browser in the Opera line. Opera 9 looks to be a huge improvement to the browser, making it more user friendly and powerful simultaneously. This new version boasts a variety of new features:
- Opera Widgets (external link)
- Content blocking
- Search shortcut editor
- BitTorrent support
- Tab thumbnails
Opera 9 Preview 2 also improves the CSS3 and SVG support of Opera's internal rendering engine.
Mac users will also be happy to find mail notification in Opera's Dock icon and improved compatibility with Intel Macs.
You can download Opera 9 Preview 2 (external link) at Opera Labs' website.
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IE7 Beta 2 Released
If you have not heard already, Microsoft has released a public beta version of Internet Explorer 7. This is the first update to IE's internal rendering engine in years. IE7 Beta 2 brings the browser enhanced security features and a remodeled interface with the popular tabbed browsing feature.
The main change in IE7's rendering engine is that it better understands the hacks long used by developers to apply specific styling to IE only. Now IE7 understands these hacks, but it has not fixed the rendering mishaps the hacks were fixing. Microsoft has advised developers to use conditional comments (external link) instead.
If you are already using the inline CSS hacks for IE then you will have to change around some of your CSS to compensate for IE7.
Personally, I find IE7 to be a nice improvement, but it is not yet up to par with Opera and Firefox. The text in IE7 is slightly fuzzy and not as crisp as in Opera. It is quite painful on the eyes.
Downloading IE7 (external link) requires a legitimate, genuine version of Windows XP SP2. It also installs over Internet Explorer 6, although there are hacks to install it as a standalone application.
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SmartFTP 2.0 Released
If you are a web developer it is likely that you commonly use FTP to upload files to your web host. An FTP client allows one to easily transfer their files between their computer and an FTP server. There are a bundle of different FTP clients with varying features and capabilities.
The second version of SmartFTP (external link), a popular FTP client, was released late last week. Compared to the previous version, SmartFTP 2 boasts an updated, sleek interface as the main change. Another fantastic feature is the ability to place two browsing windows adjacent to one another. This makes transferring files between your computer and FTP server a breeze, without the irritating window resizing and window focusing from the previous version.
The overall interface is more cluttered and more crowded, compared to the previous version, and may prove to be too confusing for FTP novices. If you have previously used SmartFTP then adapting to the new interface will be a breeze. If you have used other FTP clients then you will find yourself at home with SmartFTP as well.
If you are looking for a great FTP client, then SmartFTP is the solution you are searching for. If you are using SmartFTP 1 then you know what to do - upgrade (external link).
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