I added a Twitter widget to the sidebar

Let me know whether or not it pisses you off.

If you know how to make it static, rather than continually cycling through things with that annoying as shit animation, please tell me.

UK government fails to follow its own advice on not using IE6

From MoD sticks with insecure browser:

'The MoD is implementing a secure desktop computing service for 300,000 users worldwide through its Defence Information Infrastructure (DII) programme, but defence minister Quentin Davies said: "DII currently uses Internet Explorer 6 and at the current time does not have a requirement to move to an updated version."

Watson expressed his dismay at the response.

"Many civil servants use web browsers as a tool of their trade," he told GC News. "They're as important as pens and paper. So to force them to use the most decrepit browser in the world is a rare form of workplace cruelty that should be stopped.

"When you consider that the government supported Get Safe Online initiative advises that companies should upgrade from IE6, you would imagine that permanent secretaries would like to practice what they preach," he added. "Why civil servants should not be given the choice to use Firefox or Chrome or Safari is beyond me. UK web workers deserve better.'"

Emphasis mine, because I fucking loved reading that part.

Okay, fuck it. Follow me on Twitter

http://twitter.com/whyiesucks

Bonus points for the first person to recognize my profile picture.

IE6 Must Die moves to Twitter petition

For those of you involved in this Twitter thing (which I almost feel compelled to join now...fuck me - I can't believe I just said that), you can now add an icon to your Twitter profile image using a service called "Twibbon" - IE6 Must Die. This came about after James Lynch (lynchjames) read Mashable's article, IE6 Must Die for the Web to Move On:

"We've sputtered on with the dead weight of IE6 since 2001, but we�re just now reaching a breaking point, and companies are starting to feel it. YouTube and Digg clearly believe that it�s not in their best interests to continue supporting the outdated browser and thus have put the word out about their plans to phase out support. More and more companies will take their lead as it becomes harder and harder to justify the cost of keeping a site running correctly in Microsoft�s old browser.

But looking forward, HTML 5 standards will enable the building of richer web applications. More and more of our lives are on the web, and our use of web apps like Facebook has skyrocketed. Google�s even announced Google Chrome OS, an operating system that will run web apps instantaneously because it is built on the browser. But projects as rich as Google Wave will not realize their full potential (or run at all) if they must cater to a browser that runs on outdated standards."

The campaign as of this post has just about 5000 supporters, which doesn't seem too shabby for a day's work. Still, let's see that number really fucking rise!

IE6 Must Die

IE6 will die a long, horrible (for us) death

Or, further evidence that PPK knows his shit.

A short while ago, PPK (of indispensable QuirksMode fame) wrote a post entitled "State of the Browsers - IE edition" which you should have read by now. If not, go fucking read it.

"Recently I held a presentation at a local Microsoft conference in the Netherlands. Slides are here. Fanatical followers will recognise most of the topics I discussed from earlier slide shows, but the last one, about the changes to the market share of IE6, 7, and 8, is new.

Basically, IE6 will continue to exist when IE7 has all but disappeared, and, contrary to what you might expect, this situation will create exciting opportunities for Microsoft�s competitors.

Besides, last week the news came that Microsoft is going to voluntarily de-bundle IE from all Windows 7 machines that will be sold in Europe, and I continue to have my doubts about that affair.

So it�s time for a special State of the Browsers IE edition."

Make sure you read the entire thing, don't just skim the fucking thing and come back here.

Now, what he wrote should make complete sense, even if you didn't want to hear much of it. Who wants to admit that IE6, the shit-stained cockroach of a browser, will likely last longer than IE7?

Confirming this, a recent post on Digg looks deeper into the usage of Digg by users still stuck with IE6 and why the fuck they don't use something else. Turns out, most of them can't use something else. According to their poll, some 70% of IE6 users who participated say their job won't let them use something sane (either by direct denial or by blocking admin access).

Around the same time as the poll, it came to light that Orange UK not only instructs their employees to only use IE6, but it outright fucking threatens them with a �250 fine if they find Firefox on their work machine, even though Firefox helps them work more efficiently. This not only follows in the my-ignorant-fucking-company-won't-let-me-upgrade vein, but also the fuck-you-I'll-get-something-even-better.

The best of all (so far, I have no fucking doubt in my mind that others will continue to follow suit) comes from the United States government, where State Department workers asked Secretary of State, Hillary Rodham Clinton, if they could use Firefox instead of IE. In fact, they couldn't believe they even had to bother asking in the first place:

MS. GREENBERG: Okay. Our next question comes from Jim Finkle:

Can you please let the staff use an alternative web browser called Firefox? I just � (applause) � I just moved to the State Department from the National Geospatial Intelligence Agency and was surprised that State doesn't use this browser. It was approved for the entire intelligence community, so I don't understand why State can't use it. It's a much safer program. Thank you. (Applause.)

SECRETARY CLINTON: Well, apparently, there's a lot of support for this suggestion. (Laughter.) I don't know the answer. Pat, do you know the answer? (Laughter.)

UNDER SECRETARY KENNEDY: The answer is at the moment, it's an expense question. We can --

QUESTION: It's free. (Laughter.)

Update: Tom Watson, a UK MP, has joined in, questioning various government departments of their plans (or lack thereof) to move from IE6 to something not quite so fucking old and decrepit. Side note: one government department, which has at least started thinking about the move, wins the department naming contest: NOMS.