Seven tricks that Web users don't know:
Ignorance is about things, not people
1. Logos that link to the home page
2. Concepts of security vs. privacy
3. Rollover menus
4. Arrow keys and drop-down lists
5. Navigation by hacking URLs
6. Knowledge of browser controls
7. Second browser windows
The geographic effect
Change sites, not user behavior
Great checklist of pitfalls to avoid when creating websites that real people use (ie. 99% of them). Found via Asa's blog
Inspector Gadget and Docs: Design-By-Contract, Object Constructors, and Error Stacks in JavaScript
Alex Vincent has a great way to help debugging and pre/post-conditional testing in JS.
I really like the Design-By-Contract methodology.
I've been thinking of this one for a while, using a system of debug asserts to test pre and post-conditions. I remember we used to have a function documenting style in DS309 (PJ's subject of course) that included both pre and post-conditional comments (+ function description). This was for the "user" of the function, to understand what were the requirements of using it.
Then over the years I thought wouldn't it be cool to have this automatically tested, either using main()/test functions in the class, or using Unit tests. Then what about using MACRO based tests via something like PRECONDITION() that would only work in debug code (much like mozilla's NS_PRECONDITION).
Stop Win XP from Searching Within ZIP Files:
From the Start menu's Run dialog, enter this command:
regsvr32 /u zipfldr.dll.
Repeat and enter:regsvr32 /u cabview.dll.
Each time, you should get a notice thatDllUnregistersucceeded. Contrary to numerous Web sites displaying this advice, you need to restart the computer for the change to take effect.
I've gotten different advice over the years, and have instructions at home that I know work, but hopefully this does as well (still need to reboot)...
UPDATE: Turns out this didn't work for me, so need to dig up my info at home
UPDATE2: The hint from Mike works. Run regsvr32 /u zipfldr.dll, reboot straight away, then run WinZIP immediately and answer yes to "fully associate ZIP files with WinZip??". Confirmed that it works because search now doesn't look through ZIP files.
