Sure it’s no big deal if you code some simple sites, which have 5 to 20 pages, and don’t use much flash, javascript and for which you have written your own html. If you are an experienced coder you won’t have any problems with such sites.

But! if you code a bigger site, which extensively uses flash, a lot of javascript, and some CMS juggernought like Drupal – coding for IE6 is a pain in the ass.
I am telling this from my personal experience.
I have been working as a coder to such a project in the last couple of months, and there simple are so many bugs which may occur, so many situation that you will never stumble upon if you only code simple sites.

I am talking about a site that have hundreds of pages, and most importantly – that have a unique design, which you have to implement to several different content management systems.

You have a design that have to be implemented – in my example – in Drupal, and all the modules that are used in it, OsCommerce with it’s awful tables and terrible generated html and Gallery 2.

And you have to make the same design on each one of those systems (sure, you can reuse your code to a point, but not always), and that design should look the same on every major browser out there (IE 6, 7, 8, FF 2, 3, Chrome/Safari, Opera).
Modifying the html is also an option but you have to be careful what you are changing, because that certain element that you want to delete/modify may be also needed in a hundreds of other places.
You need to have a hell of a good knowledge for the system you are coding, when it’s not possible for you to write your own html when you need it.

And debugging such a huge, huge site, is pain in the ass, as IE6 rendering and js engine is awfully slow. Each refresh in IE6 can take up to 15 seconds. 15 seconds! you are waiting for that browser to load all the js, flash and php shits.
Btw, IE7 is not so much better in that regard.

So, final conclusion – yes, there is now problem with small sites, but no, there are huge problems with huge sites.

I am not telling that we should stop coding for IE6, even for bigger sites. That is our job, after all, that’s what we are paid to do.

What I want to tell is that coders have all the rights to complain and swear at IE6, cause it’s really an old browser which cannot adapt to the new technologies so easy.

No need to do all that hard work on nothing.

settings = $.extend({}, defaults, options);

If (!this.length){return this};

this.each(function() {

This should do the trick.

Ultimate collection of top jQuery tutorials, tips-tricks and techniques to improve performance

http://technosiastic.wordpress.com/2009/09/24/collection-of-top-jquery-tutorials-tips-tricks-techniques-to-improve-performance/

While I agree that web designers should be able to handle making changes for the sake of IE6, and that websites need to look good in IE6, I still feel IE6 is a terrible browser.

From a user perspective, no one should use it. I can’t think of a single good reason to use it… there are better alternatives out there. Even IE7, which I still believe is terrible, is superior in every way I can think of to IE6.

However I think I agree with your core point. From a coder/designer perspective, your site needs to look good in it because people DO use it.

Still, I would suggest that what makes a browser good or bad isn’t whether or not it’s possible to code for, but rather whether or not it follows basic W3C standards. These standards are there to ensure that designers don’t HAVE to add an extra style sheet, more lines of code, or avoid certain perfectly good code because it isn’t supported. Microsoft has blatantly disregarded the standards, in my opinion they made a very bad browser, and I think they need to be held accountable.

Without Spaces, IMO, OS X wouldn’t be usable for people who multitask. As it is however, OS X does have Spaces, and it is incredible. It’s the best way to manage windows that I can think of. Windows is unusable to me because it lacks spaces or anything remotely like it.