Hari's Corner

Just some observations on web design based on my experience with my company's website.

1. If you want to use a fixed-width header graphic, it's nearly impossible to make a theme which is "free-form" fluid width, that is, scales to any resolution. You have to center the content within the browser for the theme to work well.
2. If you want to use a fluid-width, free-form theme, you need to design a header logo that merges with a background colour or pattern at one end so that header can stretch to any resolution without appearing odd or broken.
3. If you mix percentage widths with pixel widths in the style sheets of a single design, you can expect some strange results. For example a hundred percent width specifies just 100% of the current visible browser width, completely ignoring the regions covered by horizontal scrollbars (at least in Firefox). This can lead to strange results at resolutions lower than that which the website was designed for. For example, the 100% regions get cut off at the visible region while the fixed width regions can go into the scrolling region. This typically happens with a fixed width sidebar mixed with a fluid width content area
4. The CSS attributes max-width, min-width etc. are of very little use in fixing such issues caused by mixing of fixed pixel widths and fluid percentage widths as the problem will either occur at a higher resolution or at a lower resolution.

I believe that until the industry evolves a style-sheet technology can work "intelligently" - that is start accepting dynamically calculated values - the problems of design will remain. The compromise will always be between utilizing the entire browser width while sacrificing a bit of style and utilizing only a portion of it to maintain an elegant, graphics-oriented design.

Papa Hari News Service

A prominent Professional Wrestling organization recently trademarked the word Terrorist™ and sought a patent for all clothing and accessories associated with such individuals and groups across the world. This has caused widespread dismay and consternation in the media as to how to label people and groups who indulge in spreading terror in future.

Speaking at a news conference, the owner of the federation mentioned that since the word was now officially part of their franchise, they would disallow its usage in common parlance, especially in the media. When asked how politicians, the media and citizens across the world would refer to such groups, he suggested several alternatives like "Terror Makers", "Terror Persons", "Terror Warriors", "Horrorists" and "Bad and Evil Persons".

"There are plenty of alternatives to label such people outside of pro-wrestling. We seek to restrict the usage of the word Terrorist to our industry," he explained. Explaining that a new wrestler named The Terrorist would be making his debut in the arena in the coming weeks, he said that they were already running back-stage promotions with a mysterious masked Asian fighter carrying a machine-pistol in his hand, scaring other wrestlers and divas in the locker rooms. In the time-honoured tradition of the Professional Wrestling industry, The Terrorist would be a bad guy with an attitude, mouthing off anti-American slogans to get a rise out of the crowds and generally indulging in foul play tactics like bashing his opponent's head with a steel chair and other assorted objects when the referee was looking the other way, to win a match. The Terrorist would also randomly bash up referees and officials who decide against him or discover his cheating. The crowds would naturally be expected to boo such an undesirable character. His finishing move would be called "The Suicide Bomb", a modified version of a power-bomb (a commonly-used move which only leads to a 3-count pin victory when used as a finishing move by the wrestler in question.)

The owner also mentioned that they had sought a trademark for the term Axis Of Evil for the name of a tag team which would consist of The Terrorist and another bad guy as a partner. "The concept Axis of Evil really suits the wrestling industry. It has a sinister ring to it," said the owner. Explaining the idea, he continued, "This stable will be the most evil and terrible force in the whole of our promotion, striking fear and terror into the hearts of opponents and using dirty tricks to win matches." When asked how the United States government would now label the unholy alliance of terror-making nations that threatened democracy and justice, he suggested alternatives like "Axis of Bad", "Axis of Wicked" and "Axis of Not-Nice" countries.

Many critics of the pro-wrestling industry claim that the whole thing is a fraud perpetrated on the public. American President George W. Bush, when asked for his opinion on the trademarked names said "We will bring all Terrorists to justice!" When asked to clarify whether he was referring to terror makers or to the pro-wrestler, he responded with confusion.

In other news, a prominent terror-making group has sought a trademark on the word Freedom Fighters to prevent its misuse for propaganda purposes. Many media giants like BBC, CNN and Fox have expressed disappointment at these developments.

The lack of regular updates from blogs seem to be the flavour of the season as it has been for some time. I've also been analyzing it from a personal point of view.

To me the biggest constraint to meaningful blogging seems to be the definition most people have of a well constructed blog post. Whereas some people are satisfied with putting together a few words and calling it a "post" I have a different idea of what constitutes a good article. There lies the trouble.

So why do I find constructing blog posts on a regular basis troublesome? Well, I emphasize the flow of ideas - they should be readable and coherent - and they should be easily expressible in simple language. Unfortunately most of my ideas stay in cold storage for too long to reach the point where they're "cooked" properly. Since I am very particular about form, I don't want to put them down in a half-baked way. Therefore I allow so many good ideas to waste away without expressing them. I think it's actually a good thing. Sometimes committing ideas to words might make them too clarified when I am not really bothered much. Opinions expressed in words always seem stronger than they actually are and I am careful about voicing random opinions in public as I can never be sure of where it will come back to bite me.

I also consider the costs of cooking a well-defined article out of randomly generated ideas. Issues of time and space get in the way. It's not easy to write naturally and quickly unless an idea is particularly well developed. This lack of focus has happened so many times that I've lost count. I always begin writing something and then lose focus. The best writing seems to happen naturally and flows effortlessly with an idea, developing it into fruition.

This is one reason why I always vary the pace. I don't schedule blogging. It's a hobby and it will always remain that way. Most of my readers know that a sudden rush of activity will be followed by periods of total inactivity here. There was a time when I wrote more opinion articles, but that phase seems to have gradually faded away. I've also slowly moved away from the software and technology focus.

Humour and comics have kept me in business. The motivation to entertain readers has just about kept the engine running.

Well, a bit of meta-humour in this comic.

Well, I know I've been doing a lot of comics lately, but hopefully I'll also get some time to write some regular articles in-between this month.

Well, this one introduces Boxi's mom!

Well, I know it's been four cartoons in a row, but I love drawing an idea which comes out right the first time and keeping it in cold storage can spoil it.

Since it's the Batman season now, I couldn't resist this one! Yes, yes, I know it's the 1960s Batman suit; I am a big fan of Adam West's portrayal of Batman as the caped crusader in the 60s television series which was campy, satirical as well as family friendly. Besides it suits Boxi much better than the lean and mean "Dark Knight" suit, doesn't it? )

Let me tell you, silhouettes aren't as easy to draw as they look