The Application Cache is no longer a Douchebag

Posted by Mike Ratcliffe on 5 May 2013 at 00:37

If you have ever used the application cache you will probably be familiar with how easy it is to break offline functionality and how difficult it is to work out why things are broken. With a large offline web app finding the source of problems can be an almost insurmountable task…

Moving your Contacts and Calendar Away from Google

Posted by Mike Ratcliffe on 26 Mar 2013 at 01:37

For the past few years I have used Google Contacts to store my contacts and Google Calendar to store my calendars. These services really are excellent, particularly because they allow me to keep my data synchronized between my Android phone and numerous instances of Thunderbird on PCs and Laptops…

How to install Django on JustHost (and maybe other shared hosts)

Posted by Mike Ratcliffe on 21 Jan 2013 at 01:32

If you search Google for "how to install Django on JustHost" you may be surprised to find tens of thousands of articles claiming that it can't be done and none claiming that it can. Well, it can and here's how: Log in using SSH access In the Security section of your control panel click…

Firefox DevTools API

Posted by Mike Ratcliffe on 5 Oct 2012 at 17:55

Hopefully, most of you are familiar with Firefox Developer Tools by now, if not then now is the time to get familiar! The DevTools Team recently met up in London to talk about, and generally hack on, developer tools stuff and it turned out to be an amazingly productive time. The DevTools team has tw…

How well does your browser protect your privacy?

Posted by Mike Ratcliffe on 5 Aug 2012 at 16:51

Having downsized my home a couple of times in the last year it is no understatement to say I have urgent space issues. I have power tools, large kitchen devices and surplus everything else. I looked online for a new shed, comparing reviews and investigating the UK's top shed building companies in my…

What is it like to work as an engineer at Mozilla?

Posted by Mike Ratcliffe on 3 Aug 2012 at 03:40

This question popped up on Quora recently. I have been working on the Developer Tools Team at Mozilla for over a year now and would love to let you all know what is it like. To see this from my perspective I you will need to know a little about my background. I have always enjoyed reverse engineer…

What is SOPA and why should you care?

Posted by Mike Ratcliffe on 18 Jan 2012 at 15:44

I have had a flood of emails today from people asking about what SOPA is and was surprised when I looked online and didn't see any places that explains why SOPA would be a very bad thing. The idea behind SOPA is to stop online piracy and this is a good thing but there are some very, very serious consequences meaning the end of the internet as you know it…

How Browsers Work - Behind the Scenes of Modern Browsers

Posted by Mike Ratcliffe on 29 Oct 2011 at 15:40

In the years of IE 90% dominance there was nothing much to do but regard the browser as a "black box", but now, with open source browsers having more than half of the usage share, it's a good time to take a peek under the engine's hood and see what's inside a web browser. Well, what's inside are millions of C++ lines…

New job at Mozilla

Posted by Mike Ratcliffe on 26 Jul 2011 at 00:40

Okay, I have had the job now for over 3 months but I have really been neglecting my blog ... after all, you all deserve to know about what we Mozillians are up to and we are doing some awesome things at the moment. I have been contributing to Firebug and Firebug Lite under various guises now since…

Firefox 4, not just another version number!

Posted by Mike Ratcliffe on 23 Mar 2011 at 23:39

So, it has been a long time coming, but I am sure that once you have experienced the awesome that the Mozilla developers have produced you will agree…. this is a download worth getting! We have come a long way since I started using Mozilla products. Way back in 2005 when I was a younger boy (what… I’m only 18. I downloaded and rediscovered the web…

Firebug Inspector Improvements

Posted by Mike Ratcliffe on 10 Jul 2010 at 17:04

Almost a year since I last posted, I can't believe it. I am no longer spending time working on Firebug Lite, but am spending my spare time these days working on Firebug's inspector. There are three versions of the inspector's highlighter: The frame highlighter is the blue frame that appears…

Firebug Lite - Changes Q4 2008 - Q1 2009

Posted by Mike Ratcliffe on 5 May 2009 at 10:07

We have made a bunch of changes to Firebug Lite over the last few months and it is about time we shared them with you. For those that don't know what Firebug Lite is it is basically a cross browser version of Firebug. It does not have the JavaScript debugging capabilities of Firebug but is excellent…

Ramblings of a Madman

JavaScript, Firefox and General Rants and Raves About Hacking the Interwebs