Internet Explorer 6 has the most annoying bug with transparent PNGs: some (or most, it seems like) dimensions cause IE6 to break a bunch of links within the container of the transparent background image. The links are still visible, but they can’t be clicked, and they don’t react to the cursor hovering over them.

The fix is to change the dimensions of the offending PNG (though it’s not really the PNG that’s being offensive, it’s IE). Your mileage may vary, and unfortunately, tests seem to indicate that no single dimension combination seems to work reliably.

Note that the alpha transparency in IE is created via a proprietary filter CSS attribute. Note also that the source image must be located in the same directory as the web page calling it. I have no idea why.

One fix as demonstrated by Satzansatz.

A guide to CSS support in email. A useful breakdown of how various desktop and web email clients handle CSS. I’ve had to design and troubleshoot a few newsletters in my time, and unfortunately it’s not only the markup that causes problems.

A week since I got back. Leaving California didn’t hurt; nearly two weeks in one place after almost a month on the road will do it for me. Returning to work wasn’t that easy, though. I was pumped up and all ready to go, but my first day saw no work done, and bad news on the horizon. We shall see how it all turns out.

I brought back a bottle of Shine On Georgia Moon corn whiskey, mainly because I got a kick out the bottle. And while I was going to be selfish and keep it myself, I gave it to M.S. as thanks for all the hard work he did doing my job while I was gone. But being the selfish guy I am, I maybe M.S. promise he’d only drink it with me.

When we opened the jar on Wednesday it became clear that we won’t be fighting over Georgia Moon any day soon.