| LED Digest 1889: Reading in Digital |
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================================================== The LED Digest Moderated Discussion List "Effective Online Advertising, Since 1997" pair Networks: The LED's Web Host Hosting and Domain Reg. from a Trusted Leader pair.com for Hosting | pairNIC.com for Domains ================================================== List Moderator: Published by: Adam Audette LED Digest adam,led-digest.com http://www.led-digest.com ............................................... November 2, 2004 Issue #1889 ............................................... .....IN THIS DIGEST..... ====== NEW ====================== --== Reading Digital Content ==-- ~ Valerie Beeby "Newspapers present their articles in narrow columns." ==== CONTINUING ================= --== Mac Test Environment ==-- ~ Peter G. Sachs "The cheapest way to go is to get the least expensive Mac which will run OS 10.3.x..." ~ Noah Price "Any current model will run all the latest (OS X) browsers." ~ Gary Marino "If you want a machine for testing purposes I'd suggest an iMac or eMac." --== Mac or PC? ==-- ~ Peter D'Aprix "Computers are just tools." ==== BILLBOARD =================== --== Typefaces & Text Sizes for Everyday Sites? ==-- ~ A Brantley ======== NEW ===================================== From: Valerie Beeby Subject: Reading digital content - PDF [was: Window Sizes] > As far as reading on the Web... It's just not the best > medium. Make your copy small in dose. If you have > a book for them to read just make a PDF... so they > can zoom in or out to their heart's content. - John Barrick, LED 1888 I would beg to disagree. Insofar as it's comfortable to read anything on a desktop screen, it's less stressful in a browser than Adobe Reader. Why? Word wrap. Newspapers present their articles in narrow columns. They know it's faster and easier to scan down a narrow column than to toil along long lines of text. In a browser or email reader you can (usually) concertina word-wrapped text and scroll down it as a narrow continuous column. (I do that with LED Digest.) You may be able to zoom a PDF document, but that doesn't do you much good when the length of the lines is set in stone by the designer. As often as not those lines are too long for comfort. Or else you're landed with fixed columns that you have to scroll down and then back up and sideways in order to follow. I'm a great e-book reader. I find the narrow format of a handheld screen ideal for reading whodunnits - and it frees you to move as you please. I love it and even read e-books on my phone. I believe Adobe have made word wrap available for the small screen, but only I suspect with their backs against the wall. Meanwhile, sorry, everyone, but I emit a groan when somebody tells me I've got to trudge through yet another PDF file on the desktop. Valerie Beeby http://www.purple-owl.com/favicon.html ===== CONTINUING ================================= From: Peter G. Sachs Subject: Mac testing > I am a web designer and I would like to test my sites > on Mac browsers... What is the cheapest model I could > buy that will run most popular Mac browsers? - Abu Haider, LED 1888 The cheapest way to go is to get the least expensive Mac which will run OS 10.3.x, That's probably a G3 iMac, provided that you can find a used one which will take 256MB RAM which is the realistic minimum to run OS X. Talk to an Apple store first to be sure you find out which model iMac to look for on eBay. Most Mac users run either IE 5.2.x or Safari (Apple's browser) 1.x. Hope this helps. Peter G. Sachs ------- new post - same topic ------- From: Noah Price Subject: Mac testing Any current model will run all the latest (OS X) browsers. I'd look at Safari, Firefox, Internet Explorer, and Netscape (in that order of priority). Others are used, but I don't see any breaking 1% or 2% in my logs, even on Mac-focused sites (YMMV!). If you buy new, look at the eMac (desktop model with built-in 17" display, base model lists for $799) or iBook (laptop with 12" screen, base model lists for $999). But for the cheapest, you might look at eBay or other "used" sources. I'd recommend a 1GHz or faster G4 to be sure you can run all the latest browsers well. > ... do they come in CPU only so I could use it > with a PC Monitor? I have very limited space. The least expensive new models include a display, but if you do buy a used "tower" model, you can use your PC monitor. You can even share one monitor with a KVM switch (just find a USB model that supports Mac and PC and you should be able to share keyboard and mouse, too). Noah Price http://www.prxy.com ------- new post - same topic ------- From: Gary Marino Subject: Mac testing I run Mac and PC platforms. OS 10 and XP are similar with some exceptions. Keeping to Macs tradition Mac simplifies a lot of processes. You have to use one to understand. Rambling, sorry. If you want a machine for testing purposes I'd suggest an iMac or eMac. They are CPU and monitor all in one. You don't have to buy these new if your budget is tight. There are a couple of reputable Mac resellers on the web. If you want it for serious graphics as well as testing I'd go with the G5 dual processor. You can share a multi-sync monitor with a PC via A/B switch. Run any of these machines on OS 10 and classic mode OS 9 and you cover all bases Mac. Well that's my 2 cents... Thank you, Gary Marino WildSky Design, LLC zeroqs, bellsouth.net ------- new post - new topic ------- From: Peter D'Aprix Subject: Mac or PC > The "best" computer for you depends on your own needs. - Tom Aman, LED 1888 I have to agree with Tom. Computers are just tools. As with any tool, you should pick the appropriate one for the job based on facts and some research. Sure, people get attached to their tools but that is no reason to abandon objectivity. As a photographer, I know many photographers rave on about Canons over Nikons, film over digital. Honestly, who cares? What is comfortable for one user may not fit the next. What will solve the problems of one job may not solve the problems of the next. If the equipment does not do the job, either fix it or get something that does. Match the tool to the user and the job it is expected to do. I have been using Macs since the first 512K came on the market. Until my G5 and OS X came along, I have been sorely tempted to caress every one of them with my tire iron on a daily basis. OS X has changed much but not all of that. Nevertheless, because the user interface is so natural for me to use, and as all my work is done in the designer, photographer and web site design space, to shift over to my PC takes a major mental shifting of gears. But since a Mac will display sites just fine that a PC doesn't and vice versa, I have to test pages on both. Not that that will catch everything either, but it catches a lot not the least the size and manner of displaying type. But even on a Mac using OS X, Safari shows even CSS set type smaller than IE or Netscape while image files remain the same. Plays havoc with carefully designed pages. Whichever route you go, you will have some problems at some time. So my main advice after all these many years, is make sure you have a second drive the same size or larger than your main drive and BACK UP DAILY. Better yet, have two back up drives and back up the second once a week. Sometimes problems go undetected for a few days and get transfered to the back up drive. I write all this as a computer user who is a user not a techie. A computer, for me, is still foreign territory. Give me a wrench and a hammer and I do fine with wood or metal. Give me a computer program and my eyes cross. But it is the tool required for my work in today's world along with the Nordic Track to make my body work again after 10 hours frozen in the sitting and mouse position. Peter D'Aprix - Visual Communications http://peterdaprix.com peter, peterdaprix.com ==== BILLBOARD =================================== From: A Brantley Subject: Window size / resolution - typical text sizes? > Anyone care to weigh in on the best typical typeface(s) > and text size(s) for the everyday web site? - Sandy Galvin, LED 1885 I can't offer much in the way of text size becauseText size is easily adjusted by the visitors in their browser. But, please, when webmasters set up your tables please set them up by percent instead of using a fixed pixel size. Tables that go off the end of the screen are annoying and difficult to view. I will leave the site rather than try to follow the tables off the monitor screen. This is a personal pet peeve that webmasters assume that all visitors are using the same viewing screen size that the webmaster is using when the solution is so simple. Thanks, A Brantley ------------------------------------------------------- The LED Digest is sponsored by pair Networks: pair.com for Hosting | pairNIC.com for Domains Copyright 1995-2004 Adam Audette. All Rights Reserved. ----------------------------------------------------------------- "As scarce as truth is, the supply has always been in excess of the demand." - Josh Billings |
