I have developed an application in JBoss Seam 2.2.1.Final using RichFaces 3.3.3.Final. Some parts of the code make heavy use of a4j calls, i.e. Ajax calls. This works very well under most browsers. Unfortunately when IE9 was released two weeks ago, it refused to work with my application. I would click on certain links and nothing would happen. Or I'd get blank pages back.

Eventually I traced the issue to a known bug in the Sarissa.js file that is used by RichFaces for XML and DOM parsing. This file in RichFaces 3.3.3.Final is not compatible with IE9.

A couple of changes to the file made it work for me on my site however. The attached file can be used in your project and just reference it so that it overrides the built in one.

Anyone who knows me would know I have a knack for innovation, for technology and for fine craftsmanship. I recently replaced my awesome but too heavy Seiko Arctura Kinetic Auto Relay with a Longines Automatic. Going from kinetic (which is a mechanically powered quartz system) to automatic (purely mechanical) is in a sense like downgrading from a purely accuracy perspective, but there is something about a watch that is purely mechanical that is hard to describe. It ties in with an old tradition of extremely precise craftsmanship where the variance in the gravity of the earth affects the accuracy of the mechanical movements, and some watches even compensates for this mechanically. Truly amazing.

But today I saw this. Apart from the amazing advertisement, this watch is just beyond insane.

I went to a local pet shop in the area and found three racks full of these "bonsai" fish... People who know me know I do not care if a person is placed in such a small container. People are not my favourite living creature... But to place an animal like this, a fish, in a bowl containing less water than you drink in a can of soda, is just plain cruel.

People doing this defend their position by claiming these fish are not very mobile or active, therefore they are fine. But I disagree. Without being an expert on the subject, it is just plain common sense that this is wrong. A fish is like any system, it has inputs and outputs. Inputs being food and seawater, outputs being detritus (waste food) and ammonia expelled through the gills. Detritus breaks down into ammonia and nitrites, eventually nitrates. Coupled with the ammonia expelled through the gills, these accumulate in the tiny bowls. That means water parameters will go bad quickly, as ammonia and nitrites are toxic to fish. Without daily water changes (possibly more frequently) these fish will be unhealthy and unhappy.

What is wrong with this picture? Red indicates countries NOT using the metric system.

Canon 7D at 8fps...