> In my experience dark backgrounds with light text are more tiring on the eyes in long coding sessions.

I completely disagree; my eyes tire looking at a light screen much more quickly. Sometimes I'll invert the colors late at night just to make things easier to read.

(Come to think of it, thanks for reminding me that I need to figure out how to get xcalib working with my external monitor, not just the laptop screen...)

> Text gets blurrier quicker than when using a lighter background.

Perhaps you need to get glasses. I've never had text go blurry on me, regardless of the colour theme or duration.

I can't read a white background unless I'm in a very bright room. Off whites are better for me. But personally I prefer light on dark. But it's a personal thing.

I rue the day the browser default background colour changed from being light grey to white.

You may want to lower your monitor's backlight level (if LCD) or brightness/contrast (if CRT).

Thanks - but it is pretty darn low already.