PGDev http://pgdev.posterous.com Musings of a dapper developer posterous.com pgdevhttp://feedburner.google.com Mon, 09 Jan 2012 10:36:00 -0800 Beating Google Maps' Geocoding Limits (sort of) http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/pgdev/~3/yqXbZGinv8w/beating-google-maps-geocoding-limits-sort-of-84180 http://pgdev.posterous.com/beating-google-maps-geocoding-limits-sort-of-84180 <p><a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/rqmL1K7Mu_eNLytQkNdyT_wYrC4/0/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/rqmL1K7Mu_eNLytQkNdyT_wYrC4/0/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a><br/> <a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/rqmL1K7Mu_eNLytQkNdyT_wYrC4/1/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/rqmL1K7Mu_eNLytQkNdyT_wYrC4/1/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a></p><p> <p><div class='p_embed p_image_embed'> </div> I've recently done some work to programmatically plot a number of markers on a Google Map based on normal street addresses.</p> <p><a href="http://code.google.com/apis/maps/documentation/geocoding/">Google Maps' Geocoding API</a> does a great job of converting street addresses into Latitude and Longitude coordinates to enable you to plot the markers on the map.</p> <p>The initial implementation of the map went well, plotting 2 or 3 markers without issue. Problems started surfacing however when we started putting 26 markers through the Geocoder at once - it bailed out after retrieving the coordinates of just 7 addresses. After a bit of research, it appears the Geocoder has some strict <a href="http://code.google.com/apis/maps/documentation/geocoding/#Limits">limits </a>that don't like a lot of calls per second.</p> <p>My initial code involved loading in all the required addresses into hidden <strong>&lt;div&gt;</strong>, which could be looped over using jQuery's <strong>.each</strong> method. The<strong> .html</strong> of each <strong>&lt;div&gt;</strong> could then be fed into the Geocoder to return the Latitudes and Longitudes.</p> <p>With the addition of <strong>setTimeout </strong>against each call to the Geocoder API, we can reduce per-second requests and keep Google sweet!</p> <p><code> $(".address").each(function () { var address = $(this).children(".locationAddress").html(); setTimeout(function () { geocoder1.geocode({ 'address': address }, function (results, status) { if (i &lt; $(".address").length) { i++ } if (status == google.maps.GeocoderStatus.OK) { var marker = new google.maps.Marker({ map: googleMap, position: results[0].geometry.location }); } }); }, 1000*i); }); </code>&nbsp;</p> <p>For my implementation, the adding of the markers to the map visibly a marker per second didn't matter (in fact, it actually enhanced it!) - but you might want to set up some kind of "Please wait" message whilst waiting for the markers to be retrieved.</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> </p> <p><a href="http://pgdev.posterous.com/beating-google-maps-geocoding-limits-sort-of-84180">Permalink</a> | <a href="http://pgdev.posterous.com/beating-google-maps-geocoding-limits-sort-of-84180#comment">Leave a comment&nbsp;&nbsp;&raquo;</a> </p><div class="feedflare"> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/pgdev?a=yqXbZGinv8w:ibd83sWylJs:yIl2AUoC8zA"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/pgdev?d=yIl2AUoC8zA" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/pgdev?a=yqXbZGinv8w:ibd83sWylJs:V_sGLiPBpWU"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/pgdev?i=yqXbZGinv8w:ibd83sWylJs:V_sGLiPBpWU" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/pgdev?a=yqXbZGinv8w:ibd83sWylJs:qj6IDK7rITs"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/pgdev?d=qj6IDK7rITs" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/pgdev?a=yqXbZGinv8w:ibd83sWylJs:gIN9vFwOqvQ"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/pgdev?i=yqXbZGinv8w:ibd83sWylJs:gIN9vFwOqvQ" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/pgdev?a=yqXbZGinv8w:ibd83sWylJs:7Q72WNTAKBA"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/pgdev?d=7Q72WNTAKBA" border="0"></img></a> </div><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/pgdev/~4/yqXbZGinv8w" height="1" width="1"/> http://files.posterous.com/user_profile_pics/290805/n745480692_357756_7239.jpg http://posterous.com/users/36ztkpKAXNHb Paul Gordon mrgeesbigcircus Paul Gordon http://pgdev.posterous.com/beating-google-maps-geocoding-limits-sort-of-84180 Fri, 14 Oct 2011 04:00:00 -0700 Noteslate Case Study: How to kill a great idea http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/pgdev/~3/aVELTfOG6w4/noteslate-case-study-how-to-kill-a-great-idea http://pgdev.posterous.com/noteslate-case-study-how-to-kill-a-great-idea <p><a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/N4E_JBVdx6ctiThPAZKMFDMEGaM/0/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/N4E_JBVdx6ctiThPAZKMFDMEGaM/0/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a><br/> <a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/N4E_JBVdx6ctiThPAZKMFDMEGaM/1/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/N4E_JBVdx6ctiThPAZKMFDMEGaM/1/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a></p><p> <p><div class='p_embed p_image_embed'> <a href="http://posterous.com/getfile/files.posterous.com/temp-2011-10-12/DcwaJJwxBpmgtgofiFECcJdlCkywhwDCEuxakogdwghdccFHBjifmeIGoAFk/ns-photo08.jpg.scaled1000.jpg"><img alt="Ns-photo08" height="336" src="http://posterous.com/getfile/files.posterous.com/temp-2011-10-12/DcwaJJwxBpmgtgofiFECcJdlCkywhwDCEuxakogdwghdccFHBjifmeIGoAFk/ns-photo08.jpg.scaled500.jpg" width="500" /></a> </div> From the Noteslate <a href="http://noteslate.com/index.htm">website</a>:</p> <p><em>"NoteSlate is low cost tablet device with true one colour display, long life battery, handy usage and very simple and useful interface for pen and paper."</em></p> <p>I, like many others, got a bit hot under the collar when Noteslate was first announced. A low cost, low power, e-ink device with the ability to ACTUALLY WRITE ON IT? Yes please!</p> <p>Oh, but how they tease! Delayed till this date, no prototype till that date, still only in concept stage and so on and so forth.</p> <p>Constant updates via <a href="http://twitter.com/#!/noteslate">Twitter </a>and <a href="http://www.facebook.com/NoteSlate">Facebook</a> should be a great way to keep prospective customers informed and updated - but the social web is a two-way street.</p> <p>When a product is promised and the promise is broken, each update is dissected, chewed up and spat back - a hundred fold.</p> <p>Social media - great when you're on the ball, bites you in the ass when you drop it.</p> </p> <p><a href="http://pgdev.posterous.com/noteslate-case-study-how-to-kill-a-great-idea">Permalink</a> | <a href="http://pgdev.posterous.com/noteslate-case-study-how-to-kill-a-great-idea#comment">Leave a comment&nbsp;&nbsp;&raquo;</a> </p><div class="feedflare"> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/pgdev?a=aVELTfOG6w4:SpWf7Eu7XwU:yIl2AUoC8zA"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/pgdev?d=yIl2AUoC8zA" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/pgdev?a=aVELTfOG6w4:SpWf7Eu7XwU:V_sGLiPBpWU"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/pgdev?i=aVELTfOG6w4:SpWf7Eu7XwU:V_sGLiPBpWU" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/pgdev?a=aVELTfOG6w4:SpWf7Eu7XwU:qj6IDK7rITs"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/pgdev?d=qj6IDK7rITs" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/pgdev?a=aVELTfOG6w4:SpWf7Eu7XwU:gIN9vFwOqvQ"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/pgdev?i=aVELTfOG6w4:SpWf7Eu7XwU:gIN9vFwOqvQ" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/pgdev?a=aVELTfOG6w4:SpWf7Eu7XwU:7Q72WNTAKBA"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/pgdev?d=7Q72WNTAKBA" border="0"></img></a> </div><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/pgdev/~4/aVELTfOG6w4" height="1" width="1"/> http://files.posterous.com/user_profile_pics/290805/n745480692_357756_7239.jpg http://posterous.com/users/36ztkpKAXNHb Paul Gordon mrgeesbigcircus Paul Gordon http://pgdev.posterous.com/noteslate-case-study-how-to-kill-a-great-idea Thu, 13 Oct 2011 04:00:00 -0700 A rant about tech/new media recruiters http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/pgdev/~3/2-IBZQAJ7GE/a-rant-about-technew-media-recruiters http://pgdev.posterous.com/a-rant-about-technew-media-recruiters <p><a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/QkacNE3h-Kj5oOqLLno1hGckJlo/0/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/QkacNE3h-Kj5oOqLLno1hGckJlo/0/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a><br/> <a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/QkacNE3h-Kj5oOqLLno1hGckJlo/1/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/QkacNE3h-Kj5oOqLLno1hGckJlo/1/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a></p><p> <p><div class='p_embed p_image_embed'> <a href="http://posterous.com/getfile/files.posterous.com/temp-2011-10-12/bhDiAsyfErxnyrxcHAfpdJkBIHFlrDhrvwtfJldtHchrerFfnFtrcmiBwbDr/recruitment-agencies-North-Wales.jpeg.scaled1000.jpg"><img alt="Recruitment-agencies-north-wales" height="354" src="http://posterous.com/getfile/files.posterous.com/temp-2011-10-12/bhDiAsyfErxnyrxcHAfpdJkBIHFlrDhrvwtfJldtHchrerFfnFtrcmiBwbDr/recruitment-agencies-North-Wales.jpeg.scaled500.jpg" width="500" /></a> </div> I've registered with many IT and tech specific recruitment agencies over the years. Some have been small, local firms, others the big international players. I'm not on the market, but I still get a regular slew of potential new careers via email.</p> <p>All have one thing in common - does this ring any bells with you?:</p> <p><strong>"The following vacancy may be suitable for you. &nbsp;If it is not then please</strong><br /><strong> accept our apologies and update us as soon as possible with your current skills."</strong></p> <p><strong>"Apologies if this email has reached you in error - your details have been generated on the basis of a database skill search"</strong></p> <p><strong>"Apologies if this email isn't relevant, but as you have been registered as potentially having the right skills for this vacancy I thought I'd drop you a line."</strong></p> <p>WTF? <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EPa5oVG-nII">Did IQs just drop sharply while I was away</a>? Now, I'm not, never have been and, for the forseeable, never will be a part of the recruitment industry, but to me this method of trying to find suitable candidates is dumb, lazy and above all irritatiing.</p> <p>Is this the same across all sectors of recruitment?</p> <p>Does this method of finding candidates actually work? Does the machine gun/shit against a wall tactic prevail over any form of un-automated, personal communication?</p> </p> <p><a href="http://pgdev.posterous.com/a-rant-about-technew-media-recruiters">Permalink</a> | <a href="http://pgdev.posterous.com/a-rant-about-technew-media-recruiters#comment">Leave a comment&nbsp;&nbsp;&raquo;</a> </p><div class="feedflare"> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/pgdev?a=2-IBZQAJ7GE:5B8Jp1dDIvE:yIl2AUoC8zA"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/pgdev?d=yIl2AUoC8zA" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/pgdev?a=2-IBZQAJ7GE:5B8Jp1dDIvE:V_sGLiPBpWU"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/pgdev?i=2-IBZQAJ7GE:5B8Jp1dDIvE:V_sGLiPBpWU" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/pgdev?a=2-IBZQAJ7GE:5B8Jp1dDIvE:qj6IDK7rITs"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/pgdev?d=qj6IDK7rITs" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/pgdev?a=2-IBZQAJ7GE:5B8Jp1dDIvE:gIN9vFwOqvQ"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/pgdev?i=2-IBZQAJ7GE:5B8Jp1dDIvE:gIN9vFwOqvQ" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/pgdev?a=2-IBZQAJ7GE:5B8Jp1dDIvE:7Q72WNTAKBA"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/pgdev?d=7Q72WNTAKBA" border="0"></img></a> </div><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/pgdev/~4/2-IBZQAJ7GE" height="1" width="1"/> http://files.posterous.com/user_profile_pics/290805/n745480692_357756_7239.jpg http://posterous.com/users/36ztkpKAXNHb Paul Gordon mrgeesbigcircus Paul Gordon http://pgdev.posterous.com/a-rant-about-technew-media-recruiters Wed, 12 Oct 2011 14:51:00 -0700 jQuery Animation Queue Fix http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/pgdev/~3/T6hHUQBURWU/jquery-animation-queue-fix http://pgdev.posterous.com/jquery-animation-queue-fix <p><a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/zpKCaFWAEQSoi-1Fy3osEzjstsg/0/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/zpKCaFWAEQSoi-1Fy3osEzjstsg/0/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a><br/> <a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/zpKCaFWAEQSoi-1Fy3osEzjstsg/1/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/zpKCaFWAEQSoi-1Fy3osEzjstsg/1/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a></p><p> <p>I've recently found an interesting bug/nuance when using jQuery animations with Javascript timing (setTimer/setInterval) in Firefox/Chrome.<p /> Basically Firefox and Chrome try to be clever and, instead of continuously playing a repeating animation (like our carousels) whilst the window is not active, it saves processor usage by "pausing" the animation in a queue. The only downside is that the queue is then dumped out in full when the window is active again, meaning it will cycle through the stored animation in matter of seconds, which doesn't look good.<p /> There are a number of documented fixes, including the jQuery.queue() function and Mozilla's own window.mozRequestAnimationFrame(), but I didn't have any luck incorporating these into our existing code.<p /> The fix I finally got to was using window.onblur and window.onfocus to find if the window containing the animation is active or not. The following code is something I've recently implemented:<p /> <strong>window.onblur = function () { $('#div').stop(); clearTimeout(timer); console.log("blur"); };</strong><p /> <strong>window.onfocus = function () { clearTimeout(timer); startTimer(); console.log("focus"); };</strong><p /> This simply stops the animation and clears the timer if the window loses focus, then clears the timer and restarts the timer when it regains focus. Simple, ja?<p /> Worth noting if you're putting in any timed Javascript animations.</p> </p> <p><a href="http://pgdev.posterous.com/jquery-animation-queue-fix">Permalink</a> | <a href="http://pgdev.posterous.com/jquery-animation-queue-fix#comment">Leave a comment&nbsp;&nbsp;&raquo;</a> </p><div class="feedflare"> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/pgdev?a=T6hHUQBURWU:yODLwKyrNKI:yIl2AUoC8zA"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/pgdev?d=yIl2AUoC8zA" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/pgdev?a=T6hHUQBURWU:yODLwKyrNKI:V_sGLiPBpWU"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/pgdev?i=T6hHUQBURWU:yODLwKyrNKI:V_sGLiPBpWU" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/pgdev?a=T6hHUQBURWU:yODLwKyrNKI:qj6IDK7rITs"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/pgdev?d=qj6IDK7rITs" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/pgdev?a=T6hHUQBURWU:yODLwKyrNKI:gIN9vFwOqvQ"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/pgdev?i=T6hHUQBURWU:yODLwKyrNKI:gIN9vFwOqvQ" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/pgdev?a=T6hHUQBURWU:yODLwKyrNKI:7Q72WNTAKBA"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/pgdev?d=7Q72WNTAKBA" border="0"></img></a> </div><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/pgdev/~4/T6hHUQBURWU" height="1" width="1"/> http://files.posterous.com/user_profile_pics/290805/n745480692_357756_7239.jpg http://posterous.com/users/36ztkpKAXNHb Paul Gordon mrgeesbigcircus Paul Gordon http://pgdev.posterous.com/jquery-animation-queue-fix Fri, 03 Jun 2011 04:25:00 -0700 Thoughts on Reactive Web Design http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/pgdev/~3/gPvxl4QGLsc/thoughts-on-reactive-web-design http://pgdev.posterous.com/thoughts-on-reactive-web-design <p><a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/Dmxpm-hdBVGKiM_fR-1ABS3_5Ls/0/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/Dmxpm-hdBVGKiM_fR-1ABS3_5Ls/0/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a><br/> <a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/Dmxpm-hdBVGKiM_fR-1ABS3_5Ls/1/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/Dmxpm-hdBVGKiM_fR-1ABS3_5Ls/1/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a></p><p> <p><div class='p_embed p_image_embed'> <a href="http://posterous.com/getfile/files.posterous.com/temp-2011-06-03/HziickBBomtJcwbxzpDrEqvBgcoJaiGDhkAemjAftbjCsFwyogrqwiyHpmEF/customer-sssssservice.jpg.scaled1000.jpg"><img alt="Customer-sssssservice" height="485" src="http://posterous.com/getfile/files.posterous.com/temp-2011-06-03/HziickBBomtJcwbxzpDrEqvBgcoJaiGDhkAemjAftbjCsFwyogrqwiyHpmEF/customer-sssssservice.jpg.scaled500.jpg" width="500" /></a> </div> For a while now people have been extolling the virues of Responsive Web Design (even though some people have argued it should be Adaptive Web Design), as a method of altering the way a web site or application is dynamically altered based on the medium that it is being viewed with. This, obviously, can only be A Good Thing&trade; for anything web - there are not only numerous screen reslotions to deal with nowadays, but countless different devices that all think they know how best to display your pride and joy.</p> <p>This is all very well, but we're missing a vital point - altering the UI to make it look nice is one thing, but are we considering the "U", the User, enough?</p> <p>I started my working career in a call centre. Answering phones, responding to customer queries, cross-selling services. Even though the types of call were not that intersting, each customer situation had it's own unique variances - complaints, sales enquiry, age of customer, accent - each variable called for subtle alterations from my side of operations to enable a successful outcome. By reacting to the customer I would be able provide a better level of customer service and, if dealing with them in the future, I would have a history of experience to call on that wouldd allow me to be more proactive to their needs.</p> <p>This is a simple example of customer service, but it got me into thinking how we build things on the web.</p> <p>Take an e-commerce application for example. A user browses your stock, they select items to add to their basket, they checkout, they leave. Or, they put things in the basket, but then they change their mind, then leave. Or you're just too expensive, and leave.</p> <p>Okay, so many online shops or e-commerce packages have concepts like displaying related items of things you've viewed or recently purchased, but how about a system that is monitoring what the user has been looking at in their current browsing session, reviewing the navigation trail that they have taken since landing on the site, what options they have selected, their deliberations, and reacting on the fly to give them a more customised experience. How about the following examples:</p> <ul> <li>A user hits a page 3 or 4 times, but leaves evertime by clicking the browser's back button. Why are they doing this? Is there an issue with site navigation? Can they find what they're looking for? Would it be beneficial to take them to a site search page, or even redirect them to a top-level page?</li> </ul> <ul> <li>A page expires with pending changes waiting to be committed. Have they forgotten they have pending changes? Could you automatically commit them, with an option for them to easily back the changes out if required? Could you email them with the pending change details so they can re-enter them at a later date?</li> </ul> <ul> <li>A user puts an item in the shopping cart, then leaves the site twice, returning both times from competitor sites viewing the same item. What are they comparing? Could you alter the price at all? Could you offer any other incentives on the fly to convince them to purchase through your site?</li> </ul> <p>These are all hypothetical situations, and a system to offer the type of instant "reaction" is far from a defacto implementation in modern web applications, but if we could think in terms of not only how we portray the web to our users but also how we are perceiving their experience of our web applications in a very real-time sense, it would greatly improve our understanding of the "U" in User.</p> </p> <p><a href="http://pgdev.posterous.com/thoughts-on-reactive-web-design">Permalink</a> | <a href="http://pgdev.posterous.com/thoughts-on-reactive-web-design#comment">Leave a comment&nbsp;&nbsp;&raquo;</a> </p><div class="feedflare"> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/pgdev?a=gPvxl4QGLsc:GNBMlqMkPhM:yIl2AUoC8zA"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/pgdev?d=yIl2AUoC8zA" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/pgdev?a=gPvxl4QGLsc:GNBMlqMkPhM:V_sGLiPBpWU"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/pgdev?i=gPvxl4QGLsc:GNBMlqMkPhM:V_sGLiPBpWU" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/pgdev?a=gPvxl4QGLsc:GNBMlqMkPhM:qj6IDK7rITs"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/pgdev?d=qj6IDK7rITs" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/pgdev?a=gPvxl4QGLsc:GNBMlqMkPhM:gIN9vFwOqvQ"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/pgdev?i=gPvxl4QGLsc:GNBMlqMkPhM:gIN9vFwOqvQ" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/pgdev?a=gPvxl4QGLsc:GNBMlqMkPhM:7Q72WNTAKBA"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/pgdev?d=7Q72WNTAKBA" border="0"></img></a> </div><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/pgdev/~4/gPvxl4QGLsc" height="1" width="1"/> http://files.posterous.com/user_profile_pics/290805/n745480692_357756_7239.jpg http://posterous.com/users/36ztkpKAXNHb Paul Gordon mrgeesbigcircus Paul Gordon http://pgdev.posterous.com/thoughts-on-reactive-web-design Mon, 11 Apr 2011 06:32:31 -0700 The creative ecosystem http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/pgdev/~3/9gnm2bo_TjI/the-creative-ecosystem http://pgdev.posterous.com/the-creative-ecosystem <p><a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/LCz77uvQqF_jAkg716amBg1ArI4/0/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/LCz77uvQqF_jAkg716amBg1ArI4/0/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a><br/> <a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/LCz77uvQqF_jAkg716amBg1ArI4/1/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/LCz77uvQqF_jAkg716amBg1ArI4/1/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a></p><p> <div class='p_embed p_image_embed'> <img alt="Recycle-logo" height="375" src="http://posterous.com/getfile/files.posterous.com/pgdev/AZ1rW5DcCo94CDhZdGVtBoplr7DC1cvbmGniPIErZaalpjSZ4Hxt75clHwbN/recycle-logo.jpg" width="384" /> </div> <p>I&#39;ve recently been thinking about the business of creating digital media, be that coding up an app, styling a web page or touching up a photograph. Generally speaking (and without annoying any OSS advocates out there), the big players out there such as Apple, Microsoft and Adobe offer all the tools we need for creating works of art in one shape or form.<p /> But what happens after that? After you&#39;ve pushed your wonderful IDE or photo editing suite to all and sundry, you&#39;ve got a product that, by itself, demands to be updated, fixed and maintained to ensure that it stays ahead of any other competing product out there that might start offering bigger and better features.<p /> A method that can be seen prominently in the development arena is the creation of an &quot;ecosystem&quot;. Rather than send out a product into the big bad world and hope for the best, the masters of these tools also provide an environment that creatives can return to, either to show off their new creation, get advice from others or learn from the curators.<p /> Apple is a fine example of this: they provide the free IDE <a href="http://developer.apple.com/technologies/tools/whats-new.html">Xcode</a> for developers to create beautiful applications for the Mac, iPhone and iPad; the developer has a rich document library to sift through for help and advice on developing for the platforms, from beginner to advanced topics; finally there&#39;s the ubiquitous App Store, a ready made market which developers can submit their application to for the whole world to download and adore.<p /> Microsoft do the same - although corporate versions of Visual Studio cost silly amounts of Dollar, they provide a rich and varied set of tools for free, including <a href="http://www.microsoft.com/express/">Express versions</a> of most of their commercial applications, and more recently venturing into PHP/Open source development stomping grounds with <a href="http://www.microsoft.com/web/webmatrix/">Web Matrix</a>. Again, they provide an extensive library for developer bedtime reading, and now also have their own <a href="http://www.microsoft.com/windowsphone/en-us/apps/default.aspx">app market place</a> specifically for the Windows Phone 7.<p /> <a href="http://developer.android.com/sdk/index.html">Google</a> and <a href="http://us.blackberry.com/developers/javaappdev/#">Blackberry</a>, whilst not having their own unique IDEs, provide plugins for the ever popular Eclipse platform, and both provide extensive documentation libraries as well as having specific market for developer&#39;s apps to be published to.<p /> Imagine if they didn&#39;t do this. Imagine if Apple charged as much for Xcode as they do for Photoshop, didn&#39;t provide any developer help or documentation, and didn&#39;t have an app store. How popular would the iPhone be then? How many apps would be listed there?<p /> By providing the tools, the information and the means to propagate creative&#39;s creations, Apple <i>at al</i> not only keep developers happy, they ensure that they don&#39;t wander away from the flock. Which is, of course, great business strategy.<p /> So, do you want to emulate that? You might not be in the business to take on the likes of Microsoft or Adobe, nor may you be looking to create a brand new development language, complete with bespoke IDE. But from anything like simple application for a smartphone up to an enterprise level web application, there&#39;s Here&#39;s a few points that I think could be learned from the big boys:<p /> <b>Provide tools</b><p />It may seem like a loss at first, but by giving developers the tools to create things for your platform, for free, will pay dividends. It doesn&#39;t have to be a full blown IDE - providing any tool that makes the creative life cycle less of a headache will be cherished. If you&#39;re creating an application that&#39;s going to be sold through a market place, why not provide some cool auxiliary tools on your site?<p /> <b>Educate your users</b><p />All the gear but no idea? Having your peeps kitted up ready to go is one thing, but where do they go from there? Give them ample documentation to get them up and running, as well as references and cheat sheets to refer to.<p /> <b>Promote contributors</b><p />Whether it&#39;s through a market place or a special mention on your product&#39;s site, special creators should get special attention. If someone using your system is making great things, make sure they know how happy you are they&#39;re doing it.<p /> <b>Stay fresh</b><p />Stagnation, in any area of creativity, is a nail in the coffin. Make sure that updates and fixes are released regularly, as well as keeping your docs up to date.<br /> </p> </p> <p><a href="http://pgdev.posterous.com/the-creative-ecosystem">Permalink</a> | <a href="http://pgdev.posterous.com/the-creative-ecosystem#comment">Leave a comment&nbsp;&nbsp;&raquo;</a> </p><div class="feedflare"> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/pgdev?a=9gnm2bo_TjI:-MW_eHh5UiU:yIl2AUoC8zA"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/pgdev?d=yIl2AUoC8zA" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/pgdev?a=9gnm2bo_TjI:-MW_eHh5UiU:V_sGLiPBpWU"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/pgdev?i=9gnm2bo_TjI:-MW_eHh5UiU:V_sGLiPBpWU" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/pgdev?a=9gnm2bo_TjI:-MW_eHh5UiU:qj6IDK7rITs"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/pgdev?d=qj6IDK7rITs" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/pgdev?a=9gnm2bo_TjI:-MW_eHh5UiU:gIN9vFwOqvQ"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/pgdev?i=9gnm2bo_TjI:-MW_eHh5UiU:gIN9vFwOqvQ" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/pgdev?a=9gnm2bo_TjI:-MW_eHh5UiU:7Q72WNTAKBA"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/pgdev?d=7Q72WNTAKBA" border="0"></img></a> </div><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/pgdev/~4/9gnm2bo_TjI" height="1" width="1"/> http://files.posterous.com/user_profile_pics/290805/n745480692_357756_7239.jpg http://posterous.com/users/36ztkpKAXNHb Paul Gordon mrgeesbigcircus Paul Gordon http://pgdev.posterous.com/the-creative-ecosystem Thu, 24 Mar 2011 05:00:00 -0700 Overriding jQuery Tools inline styles http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/pgdev/~3/g45nRj3UpTo/overriding-jquery-tools-inline-styles http://pgdev.posterous.com/overriding-jquery-tools-inline-styles <p><a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/0eVyqGdqk_4oO_GgtnqUqFMEnSw/0/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/0eVyqGdqk_4oO_GgtnqUqFMEnSw/0/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a><br/> <a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/0eVyqGdqk_4oO_GgtnqUqFMEnSw/1/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/0eVyqGdqk_4oO_GgtnqUqFMEnSw/1/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a></p><p> <p><div class='p_embed p_image_embed'> <a href="http://posterous.com/getfile/files.posterous.com/temp-2011-03-24/dmdIeEhIqDhxaylayhECweqruGtJfpbElBtaCHwfpFlnEtlCiDdsFtEDAsdq/overlay.jpg.scaled1000.jpg"><img alt="Overlay" height="240" src="http://posterous.com/getfile/files.posterous.com/temp-2011-03-24/dmdIeEhIqDhxaylayhECweqruGtJfpbElBtaCHwfpFlnEtlCiDdsFtEDAsdq/overlay.jpg.scaled500.jpg" width="500" /></a> </div> </p> <p>A problem that was presented to me today was how to override the jQuery Tools Overlay inline styling for the "left" property.</p> <p>By default, "left" is included in the Overlay inline style no matter what - the default value centers it to the screen, although a numeric value can be assigned to it. Either way, "left" is present at all times, making it tricky to set your own value via CSS (in my case, setting a different "left" value for different clients accessing the same page containing the Overlay function).</p> <p>The way around this (which should work for other jQuery plugins with default inline styles) is to explicity assign a value from a particular class, like this:</p> <p><strong>&lt;style type="text/css"&gt;<br /><span style="">&nbsp; </span>.some_class<br /></strong><strong><span style="">&nbsp; </span>{<br /></strong><strong><span style="">&nbsp; </span>left: 100px<br /></strong><strong><span style="">&nbsp; </span>}<br />&lt;/style&gt;&nbsp;</strong></p> <p><strong>&lt;script type="text/javascript"&gt;</strong><br /><strong><span style="">&nbsp; </span>$(document).ready(function() {</strong><br /><strong>&nbsp;&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;$("#some_div").overlay({</strong><br /><strong>&nbsp;&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;left: $(".some_class").css("left")</strong><br /><strong>&nbsp;&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;});</strong><br /><strong>&nbsp;&nbsp; &nbsp;});</strong><br /><strong>&lt;/script&gt;</strong></p> <p>This way, the "left" property of Overlay can be set programatically by any number of different style sheets accessing the same Overlay function.</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> </p> <p><a href="http://pgdev.posterous.com/overriding-jquery-tools-inline-styles">Permalink</a> | <a href="http://pgdev.posterous.com/overriding-jquery-tools-inline-styles#comment">Leave a comment&nbsp;&nbsp;&raquo;</a> </p><div class="feedflare"> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/pgdev?a=g45nRj3UpTo:MWsLgwQaaGI:yIl2AUoC8zA"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/pgdev?d=yIl2AUoC8zA" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/pgdev?a=g45nRj3UpTo:MWsLgwQaaGI:V_sGLiPBpWU"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/pgdev?i=g45nRj3UpTo:MWsLgwQaaGI:V_sGLiPBpWU" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/pgdev?a=g45nRj3UpTo:MWsLgwQaaGI:qj6IDK7rITs"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/pgdev?d=qj6IDK7rITs" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/pgdev?a=g45nRj3UpTo:MWsLgwQaaGI:gIN9vFwOqvQ"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/pgdev?i=g45nRj3UpTo:MWsLgwQaaGI:gIN9vFwOqvQ" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/pgdev?a=g45nRj3UpTo:MWsLgwQaaGI:7Q72WNTAKBA"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/pgdev?d=7Q72WNTAKBA" border="0"></img></a> </div><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/pgdev/~4/g45nRj3UpTo" height="1" width="1"/> http://files.posterous.com/user_profile_pics/290805/n745480692_357756_7239.jpg http://posterous.com/users/36ztkpKAXNHb Paul Gordon mrgeesbigcircus Paul Gordon http://pgdev.posterous.com/overriding-jquery-tools-inline-styles Fri, 11 Mar 2011 14:57:00 -0800 MacBike.org.uk is live! http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/pgdev/~3/FAYiLUrwP-g/macbikeorguk-is-live http://pgdev.posterous.com/macbikeorguk-is-live <p><a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/prNou5NpawJJQF9ojkGgzEELztA/0/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/prNou5NpawJJQF9ojkGgzEELztA/0/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a><br/> <a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/prNou5NpawJJQF9ojkGgzEELztA/1/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/prNou5NpawJJQF9ojkGgzEELztA/1/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a></p><p> <p><div class='p_embed p_image_embed'> <a href="http://posterous.com/getfile/files.posterous.com/temp-2011-03-11/DjfFfsDqIbGAldlHsxkarbHmbdolcmcthjbekspEyliBBnbranrzIFCqmvfc/mm.png.scaled1000.png"><img alt="Mm" height="354" src="http://posterous.com/getfile/files.posterous.com/temp-2011-03-11/DjfFfsDqIbGAldlHsxkarbHmbdolcmcthjbekspEyliBBnbranrzIFCqmvfc/mm.png.scaled500.png" width="500" /></a> </div> After a long hard slog I'm pleased to say that myself, <a href="http://www.twitter.com/seveneightnine">@seveneightnine</a>, <a href="http://www.twitter.com/netsmith">@netsmith</a>, <a href="http://www.twitter.com/maryharmon82">@maryharmon82</a> and the rest of the crew at Raising IT has got <a href="http://www.macbike.org.uk">MacBike </a>into the wild! It's been a rollercoaster, and there's still a way to go before it's "done done", but we're pretty darned pleased with oursleves.</p> <p>Check it out, have a look at the current cyclists, give us some money, and sign up yourself!</p> </p> <p><a href="http://pgdev.posterous.com/macbikeorguk-is-live">Permalink</a> | <a href="http://pgdev.posterous.com/macbikeorguk-is-live#comment">Leave a comment&nbsp;&nbsp;&raquo;</a> </p><div class="feedflare"> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/pgdev?a=FAYiLUrwP-g:0qg2kkrymm8:yIl2AUoC8zA"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/pgdev?d=yIl2AUoC8zA" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/pgdev?a=FAYiLUrwP-g:0qg2kkrymm8:V_sGLiPBpWU"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/pgdev?i=FAYiLUrwP-g:0qg2kkrymm8:V_sGLiPBpWU" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/pgdev?a=FAYiLUrwP-g:0qg2kkrymm8:qj6IDK7rITs"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/pgdev?d=qj6IDK7rITs" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/pgdev?a=FAYiLUrwP-g:0qg2kkrymm8:gIN9vFwOqvQ"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/pgdev?i=FAYiLUrwP-g:0qg2kkrymm8:gIN9vFwOqvQ" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/pgdev?a=FAYiLUrwP-g:0qg2kkrymm8:7Q72WNTAKBA"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/pgdev?d=7Q72WNTAKBA" border="0"></img></a> </div><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/pgdev/~4/FAYiLUrwP-g" height="1" width="1"/> http://files.posterous.com/user_profile_pics/290805/n745480692_357756_7239.jpg http://posterous.com/users/36ztkpKAXNHb Paul Gordon mrgeesbigcircus Paul Gordon http://pgdev.posterous.com/macbikeorguk-is-live Wed, 02 Feb 2011 08:00:00 -0800 Santander and the web of FAIL http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/pgdev/~3/h3x6CqArxRI/santander-and-the-web-of-fail http://pgdev.posterous.com/santander-and-the-web-of-fail <p><a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/J7FH6PuAq_Q9gdCvrnRWi09hxUI/0/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/J7FH6PuAq_Q9gdCvrnRWi09hxUI/0/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a><br/> <a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/J7FH6PuAq_Q9gdCvrnRWi09hxUI/1/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/J7FH6PuAq_Q9gdCvrnRWi09hxUI/1/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a></p><p> <p><div class='p_embed p_image_embed'> <img alt="Banker-cat" height="362" src="http://posterous.com/getfile/files.posterous.com/temp-2011-02-02/mgckFhcoorqdfsvwboEEGnoDdphAkqeyddlvmcwqfpIcftqixwaEBtdctHae/banker-cat.jpg.scaled500.jpg" width="500" /> </div> For whatever reason - the Lord Almighty upstairs probably has an inkling - I bank with Alliance &amp; Leicester, who are being "merged" with Santander.</p> <p>Last week I noticed some strange activity on the access to my internet banking - random login attempts in the wee hours of the morining. I immediately logged in, checked the accounts to make sure nothing had been transferred, and changed my pins, passwords and anything else I could change, just to be on the safe side.</p> <p>The next day, the account had been locked out due to a number of failed logins. Somehow someone, somewhere, had got hold of my details and had tried peppering my account with the now redundant login details.</p> <p>Well done me I thought. All I have to do now is contact Santander, explain the situation and get my account unlocked.</p> <p>Oh, the&nbsp;<span style="font-family: sans-serif; line-height: 19px;">naivety&nbsp;of my youth</span>!</p> <p>Do you know what Santander said to me? They explained that their "system" had "detected" I have a virus on my computer, and to get my account unlocked I was required to install their recommended <a href="http://www.google.co.uk/search?rlz=1C1SVEE_enGB410GB410&amp;sourceid=chrome&amp;ie=UTF-8&amp;q=rapport+problems">Trusteer Rapport</a> software send them a SCREEN SHOT of my VIRUS SOFTWARE showing a clean scan.</p> <p>..........</p> <p>I'll give you a minute.</p> <p>..........</p> <p>Better? Yep, that's what they asked me to do. Rather than coming over as the "I work in IT blah blah" customer, I obliged, and sent them this:</p> <p><div class='p_embed p_image_embed'> <a href="http://posterous.com/getfile/files.posterous.com/temp-2011-02-02/FBjCojGEgGpICCowyHslHkBhsJlwkvqgtinJzJBvxvehbinIppxncnAgyahd/virus.png.scaled1000.png"><img alt="Virus" height="350" src="http://posterous.com/getfile/files.posterous.com/temp-2011-02-02/FBjCojGEgGpICCowyHslHkBhsJlwkvqgtinJzJBvxvehbinIppxncnAgyahd/virus.png.scaled500.png" width="500" /></a> </div> 3 hours later, and internet banking restored. Ridiculous? Yes. Unsafe? Of course. I would really like to know what web technology Santander are using that allows them to see if their customer computers have viruses on them, and indeed the software they use that proves an image that shows a clean virus scan hasn't been doctored in any way. They're web gods!</p> <p>Anyway, what's done is done. I could have sent them this:</p> <p><div class='p_embed p_image_embed'> <a href="http://posterous.com/getfile/files.posterous.com/temp-2011-02-02/IbkhCriyrylxysaoFCtdabCwhyjEreJAvAEtJkpxjBJaJlBdACnefFzglFdl/virus2.png.scaled1000.png"><img alt="Virus2" height="350" src="http://posterous.com/getfile/files.posterous.com/temp-2011-02-02/IbkhCriyrylxysaoFCtdabCwhyjEreJAvAEtJkpxjBJaJlBdACnefFzglFdl/virus2.png.scaled500.png" width="500" /></a> </div> or this:</p> <p><div class='p_embed p_image_embed'> <a href="http://posterous.com/getfile/files.posterous.com/temp-2011-02-02/AetHgHBwzeaadenajlpuywtfffIgvCchxBocrrmmgoiDAizmuvDCzlqouEti/virus3.png.scaled1000.png"><img alt="Virus3" height="350" src="http://posterous.com/getfile/files.posterous.com/temp-2011-02-02/AetHgHBwzeaadenajlpuywtfffIgvCchxBocrrmmgoiDAizmuvDCzlqouEti/virus3.png.scaled500.png" width="500" /></a> </div> but I'm not that kind of person.</p> </p> <p><a href="http://pgdev.posterous.com/santander-and-the-web-of-fail">Permalink</a> | <a href="http://pgdev.posterous.com/santander-and-the-web-of-fail#comment">Leave a comment&nbsp;&nbsp;&raquo;</a> </p><div class="feedflare"> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/pgdev?a=h3x6CqArxRI:QphosrUqLpI:yIl2AUoC8zA"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/pgdev?d=yIl2AUoC8zA" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/pgdev?a=h3x6CqArxRI:QphosrUqLpI:V_sGLiPBpWU"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/pgdev?i=h3x6CqArxRI:QphosrUqLpI:V_sGLiPBpWU" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/pgdev?a=h3x6CqArxRI:QphosrUqLpI:qj6IDK7rITs"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/pgdev?d=qj6IDK7rITs" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/pgdev?a=h3x6CqArxRI:QphosrUqLpI:gIN9vFwOqvQ"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/pgdev?i=h3x6CqArxRI:QphosrUqLpI:gIN9vFwOqvQ" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/pgdev?a=h3x6CqArxRI:QphosrUqLpI:7Q72WNTAKBA"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/pgdev?d=7Q72WNTAKBA" border="0"></img></a> </div><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/pgdev/~4/h3x6CqArxRI" height="1" width="1"/> http://files.posterous.com/user_profile_pics/290805/n745480692_357756_7239.jpg http://posterous.com/users/36ztkpKAXNHb Paul Gordon mrgeesbigcircus Paul Gordon http://pgdev.posterous.com/santander-and-the-web-of-fail Mon, 24 Jan 2011 08:57:00 -0800 Adaptive or Responsive Design? http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/pgdev/~3/4msoDo1ZKSs/adaptive-or-responsive-design http://pgdev.posterous.com/adaptive-or-responsive-design <p><a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/iXwGn7s6gbVpeuFxphuWJcs4rmw/0/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/iXwGn7s6gbVpeuFxphuWJcs4rmw/0/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a><br/> <a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/iXwGn7s6gbVpeuFxphuWJcs4rmw/1/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/iXwGn7s6gbVpeuFxphuWJcs4rmw/1/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a></p><p> <p><div class='p_embed p_image_embed'> <a href="http://posterous.com/getfile/files.posterous.com/temp-2011-01-24/GgyvexcCpvGIkiBlukupgpmofmxmiqlEqbtFDtHtxrvFsEyCEtziyfosnIGn/Formel3_racing_car_amk.jpg.scaled1000.jpg"><img alt="Formel3_racing_car_amk" height="333" src="http://posterous.com/getfile/files.posterous.com/temp-2011-01-24/GgyvexcCpvGIkiBlukupgpmofmxmiqlEqbtFDtHtxrvFsEyCEtziyfosnIGn/Formel3_racing_car_amk.jpg.scaled500.jpg" width="500" /></a> </div> The term "Responsive Design" is being bandied around a fair bit at present - not least in respectable resources such as <a href="http://www.alistapart.com/articles/responsive-web-design/">A List Apart</a> and recent Twitter frenzy of <a href="http://mediaqueri.es/">Media Queries</a>.</p> <p>Having recently attended the <a href="http://newadventuresconf.com">New Adventures in Web Design Conference</a>,&nbsp;some speakers touched on the subject of designing your content to fit a number of consumable mediums - that boiling down to view port size and mobile devices. This again was wrapped up in the term "Responsive Design". The term's origin was clarified both at the conference and from the A List Apart article:</p> <p><strong>"Recently, an emergent discipline called &ldquo;<dfn>responsive architecture</dfn>&rdquo; has begun asking how physical spaces can&nbsp;respond&nbsp;to the presence of people passing through them."</strong></p> <p>I don't feel the term "Responsive" is being used quite in the right context. For me, the above line does sum up how a website or application should behave if it is indeed "Responsive" - that is, to respond and alter it's behaviour based on the people that are interacting with it. To change it's overall design based on the constraints of the device it is being perceived &nbsp;through is surely being "<em>adaptive</em>"?</p> <p>To respond means to react to a certain action - you don't just "adapt" to a person poking you in the ribs, and you don't "respond" by merely bending your body around their poking finger (I certainly try not to anyway).</p> <p>Likewise, a gas or liquid doesn't exactly "respond" to being put in a jar by taking up the free space, it "adapts" to the space it has been placed in.</p> <p>Interestingly, at NACONF <a href="http://twitter.com/danrubin">Dan Rubin</a>'s talk was based on thinking about the language we use when we're designing or developing - this is certainly one area I'm going to be keeping an eye on out of curiosity.</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p>UPDATE:</p> <p>Check out <a href="http://www.twitter.com/csswizardry">Harry Roberts'</a> similar <a href="http://csswizardry.com/2011/01/forget-responsive-web-design/">post</a> for a far more eloquent summation on the responsive vs. adaptive story.</p> </p> <p><a href="http://pgdev.posterous.com/adaptive-or-responsive-design">Permalink</a> | <a href="http://pgdev.posterous.com/adaptive-or-responsive-design#comment">Leave a comment&nbsp;&nbsp;&raquo;</a> </p><div class="feedflare"> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/pgdev?a=4msoDo1ZKSs:Mxpzy2v1qbA:yIl2AUoC8zA"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/pgdev?d=yIl2AUoC8zA" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/pgdev?a=4msoDo1ZKSs:Mxpzy2v1qbA:V_sGLiPBpWU"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/pgdev?i=4msoDo1ZKSs:Mxpzy2v1qbA:V_sGLiPBpWU" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/pgdev?a=4msoDo1ZKSs:Mxpzy2v1qbA:qj6IDK7rITs"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/pgdev?d=qj6IDK7rITs" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/pgdev?a=4msoDo1ZKSs:Mxpzy2v1qbA:gIN9vFwOqvQ"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/pgdev?i=4msoDo1ZKSs:Mxpzy2v1qbA:gIN9vFwOqvQ" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/pgdev?a=4msoDo1ZKSs:Mxpzy2v1qbA:7Q72WNTAKBA"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/pgdev?d=7Q72WNTAKBA" border="0"></img></a> </div><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/pgdev/~4/4msoDo1ZKSs" height="1" width="1"/> http://files.posterous.com/user_profile_pics/290805/n745480692_357756_7239.jpg http://posterous.com/users/36ztkpKAXNHb Paul Gordon mrgeesbigcircus Paul Gordon http://pgdev.posterous.com/adaptive-or-responsive-design Thu, 16 Dec 2010 03:47:00 -0800 High Response Web Apps: Async vs. the Post Back http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/pgdev/~3/Eg6G-KTZ8aQ/high-response-web-apps-async-vs-the-post-back http://pgdev.posterous.com/high-response-web-apps-async-vs-the-post-back <p><a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/lAJVka6X0pfTI763ddWizONsI44/0/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/lAJVka6X0pfTI763ddWizONsI44/0/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a><br/> <a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/lAJVka6X0pfTI763ddWizONsI44/1/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/lAJVka6X0pfTI763ddWizONsI44/1/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a></p><p> <p>I'm currently working on a project that involves a multi-step sign up process - there's a lot happening in the background, but the onus has been to keep the front end as responsive as possible for the user. To that end, there's a fair chunk of jQuery being used to call C# functionality in the back end to ensure the interface stays as spritely as possible.</p> <p>jQuery and many other Javascript based frameworks have opened up the world of asynchronous development to the masses, allowing user interfaces to remain in an operational state whilst something kicks off behind the scenes.</p> <p>So, looking the web, why are there so many big players who still use the old "click-post-respond-refresh" method of transferring data to the server and back to the browser?</p> <p>Even if the user interface is not necessarily needed to remain responsive whilst a task is being processed, surely a nice "please wiat" dialog box would be more relevant and presentable than the user having to check their browser's status bar to see what's happening?</p> <p>I was using eBay the other evening, working through deleting a batch of accumulated messages. After using GMail for a number of years, I was fairly surprised when each delete action I made caused a full post back of the page. Is that really necessary? It may sound trivial, but with the number of messages I had, combined with the paging method used on their page, it took forever and a day to get rid of them.</p> <p>Granted, in some cases a full post back cannot be avoided, and in some cases it is a necessity, but for apps where the user is expecting a fast, clean, responsive experience, can we please try to give them a helping hand with the tools available?</p> </p> <p><a href="http://pgdev.posterous.com/high-response-web-apps-async-vs-the-post-back">Permalink</a> | <a href="http://pgdev.posterous.com/high-response-web-apps-async-vs-the-post-back#comment">Leave a comment&nbsp;&nbsp;&raquo;</a> </p><div class="feedflare"> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/pgdev?a=Eg6G-KTZ8aQ:hfC5e7rB970:yIl2AUoC8zA"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/pgdev?d=yIl2AUoC8zA" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/pgdev?a=Eg6G-KTZ8aQ:hfC5e7rB970:V_sGLiPBpWU"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/pgdev?i=Eg6G-KTZ8aQ:hfC5e7rB970:V_sGLiPBpWU" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/pgdev?a=Eg6G-KTZ8aQ:hfC5e7rB970:qj6IDK7rITs"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/pgdev?d=qj6IDK7rITs" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/pgdev?a=Eg6G-KTZ8aQ:hfC5e7rB970:gIN9vFwOqvQ"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/pgdev?i=Eg6G-KTZ8aQ:hfC5e7rB970:gIN9vFwOqvQ" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/pgdev?a=Eg6G-KTZ8aQ:hfC5e7rB970:7Q72WNTAKBA"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/pgdev?d=7Q72WNTAKBA" border="0"></img></a> </div><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/pgdev/~4/Eg6G-KTZ8aQ" height="1" width="1"/> http://files.posterous.com/user_profile_pics/290805/n745480692_357756_7239.jpg http://posterous.com/users/36ztkpKAXNHb Paul Gordon mrgeesbigcircus Paul Gordon http://pgdev.posterous.com/high-response-web-apps-async-vs-the-post-back Tue, 23 Nov 2010 03:28:31 -0800 Apple misses the (marketing) target http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/pgdev/~3/OaG8G6SQPOQ/why-apple-dropped-the-ball-big-time http://pgdev.posterous.com/why-apple-dropped-the-ball-big-time <p><a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/ooE8arAZn7Eu2XfMy0rLpJRuoME/0/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/ooE8arAZn7Eu2XfMy0rLpJRuoME/0/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a><br/> <a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/ooE8arAZn7Eu2XfMy0rLpJRuoME/1/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/ooE8arAZn7Eu2XfMy0rLpJRuoME/1/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a></p><p> <p><div class='p_embed p_image_embed'> <a href="http://posterous.com/getfile/files.posterous.com/temp-2010-11-22/imkEcJdtfkpAzjiHqAIayHjijknaygolpBjDAktnvJmAeCkxjHCIFnviqwnf/stevejobs070625_2_560.jpg.scaled1000.jpg"><img alt="Stevejobs070625_2_560" height="335" src="http://posterous.com/getfile/files.posterous.com/temp-2010-11-22/imkEcJdtfkpAzjiHqAIayHjijknaygolpBjDAktnvJmAeCkxjHCIFnviqwnf/stevejobs070625_2_560.jpg.scaled500.jpg" width="500" /></a> </div> </p> <p>William Tell would be flabbergasted by recent apple related misses.</p> <p>Don't get me wrong, I love Apple products. I have owned a number of iPods over the generations, an iBook, an old-style iMac and I'm looking at getting a new iMac for the home. I love what they do, and how they do it.</p> <p>If Apple makes an announcement, my ears prick up. Will it be a new product? A new OS feature? Whatever, it's bound to be interesting.</p> <p>But a certain <a href="http://www.engadget.com/2010/11/15/apple-says-tomorrow-is-just-another-day-that-youll-never-forge/">recent announcement</a> didn't sit well with me. What could it be? What could it be? Surely something SPECTACULAR and Game Changing (TM).</p> <p>Oh, it's The Beatles. On iTunes. I don't like The Beatles.</p> <p>So why does this miss the mark?</p> <p>Look at it this way: if Apple announce something, they should be sure of one thing - anyone who likes Apple will be foaming at the mouth to know what it is, and will more than likely be (at the very least) pleased with the actual announcement. Job done (pardon the pun).</p> <p>With The Beatles announcement, they've taken that group of people they would normally have on board for an announcement, then applied The Beatles filter, further saturating that group into people who like The Beatles, and those that, at the very least, are "meh" towards The Beatles.</p> <p>The build up and the fanfare attracted absolutely everyone - but would leave a good portion of that percentage disappointed by the climax.</p> <p>Target marketing? More like carpet bombing.</p> </p> <p><a href="http://pgdev.posterous.com/why-apple-dropped-the-ball-big-time">Permalink</a> | <a href="http://pgdev.posterous.com/why-apple-dropped-the-ball-big-time#comment">Leave a comment&nbsp;&nbsp;&raquo;</a> </p><div class="feedflare"> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/pgdev?a=OaG8G6SQPOQ:U1O-bMzxzfg:yIl2AUoC8zA"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/pgdev?d=yIl2AUoC8zA" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/pgdev?a=OaG8G6SQPOQ:U1O-bMzxzfg:V_sGLiPBpWU"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/pgdev?i=OaG8G6SQPOQ:U1O-bMzxzfg:V_sGLiPBpWU" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/pgdev?a=OaG8G6SQPOQ:U1O-bMzxzfg:qj6IDK7rITs"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/pgdev?d=qj6IDK7rITs" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/pgdev?a=OaG8G6SQPOQ:U1O-bMzxzfg:gIN9vFwOqvQ"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/pgdev?i=OaG8G6SQPOQ:U1O-bMzxzfg:gIN9vFwOqvQ" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/pgdev?a=OaG8G6SQPOQ:U1O-bMzxzfg:7Q72WNTAKBA"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/pgdev?d=7Q72WNTAKBA" border="0"></img></a> </div><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/pgdev/~4/OaG8G6SQPOQ" height="1" width="1"/> http://files.posterous.com/user_profile_pics/290805/n745480692_357756_7239.jpg http://posterous.com/users/36ztkpKAXNHb Paul Gordon mrgeesbigcircus Paul Gordon http://pgdev.posterous.com/why-apple-dropped-the-ball-big-time Mon, 15 Nov 2010 06:31:09 -0800 Make time, cut out the middle man and learn http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/pgdev/~3/bml_I48cjF4/make-time-cut-out-the-middle-man-and-learn http://pgdev.posterous.com/make-time-cut-out-the-middle-man-and-learn <p><a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/DP-2m8DC7TY8fOV47KzeW21ztNw/0/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/DP-2m8DC7TY8fOV47KzeW21ztNw/0/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a><br/> <a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/DP-2m8DC7TY8fOV47KzeW21ztNw/1/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/DP-2m8DC7TY8fOV47KzeW21ztNw/1/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a></p><p> There are three major things in my personal day to day life right now: coding, cycling and DIYing*. <p />Although wildly different at first glance, the three for me have a solid connection (and the clue is in the last one): doing it yourself.<p /> Time constraints affect any one of these - putting a bike wheel together, wiring plug sockets, creating an accordion control. But there is nothing but satisfaction to be gained from creating whatever it is you&#39;re doing <i>yourself</i>, and if, heaven forbid, anything went wrong, you&#39;re in an excellent position to fix it. It stops the necessity for relying on others, and helps build your own confidence and knowledge.<p /> Development-wise, this should go without saying. I&#39;ve preached in the past about paring back the usage of 3rd party plugins and controls, favouring the option of researching what functionality you need and creating from scratch. Whilst not always the most efficient option (<a href="http://jqueryui.com/">jQuery UI </a>has come in handy on more than one occasion), rather than trying to find that niche plugin for a particular function I&#39;d advocate planning ahead and making time to put something together yourself.<p /> <br />* Disclaimer - pregnant wife and existing offspring are a trump card and automatically promoted to the top of any list. </p> <p><a href="http://pgdev.posterous.com/make-time-cut-out-the-middle-man-and-learn">Permalink</a> | <a href="http://pgdev.posterous.com/make-time-cut-out-the-middle-man-and-learn#comment">Leave a comment&nbsp;&nbsp;&raquo;</a> </p><div class="feedflare"> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/pgdev?a=bml_I48cjF4:0ZCveEgsKOo:yIl2AUoC8zA"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/pgdev?d=yIl2AUoC8zA" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/pgdev?a=bml_I48cjF4:0ZCveEgsKOo:V_sGLiPBpWU"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/pgdev?i=bml_I48cjF4:0ZCveEgsKOo:V_sGLiPBpWU" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/pgdev?a=bml_I48cjF4:0ZCveEgsKOo:qj6IDK7rITs"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/pgdev?d=qj6IDK7rITs" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/pgdev?a=bml_I48cjF4:0ZCveEgsKOo:gIN9vFwOqvQ"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/pgdev?i=bml_I48cjF4:0ZCveEgsKOo:gIN9vFwOqvQ" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/pgdev?a=bml_I48cjF4:0ZCveEgsKOo:7Q72WNTAKBA"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/pgdev?d=7Q72WNTAKBA" border="0"></img></a> </div><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/pgdev/~4/bml_I48cjF4" height="1" width="1"/> http://files.posterous.com/user_profile_pics/290805/n745480692_357756_7239.jpg http://posterous.com/users/36ztkpKAXNHb Paul Gordon mrgeesbigcircus Paul Gordon http://pgdev.posterous.com/make-time-cut-out-the-middle-man-and-learn Fri, 12 Nov 2010 07:42:42 -0800 Hug a developer http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/pgdev/~3/JtGssaaSRv4/hug-a-developer http://pgdev.posterous.com/hug-a-developer <p><a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/vVtzPdOEhZeSGF4VFQevhVJruIw/0/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/vVtzPdOEhZeSGF4VFQevhVJruIw/0/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a><br/> <a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/vVtzPdOEhZeSGF4VFQevhVJruIw/1/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/vVtzPdOEhZeSGF4VFQevhVJruIw/1/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a></p><p> <p><div class='p_embed p_image_embed'> <img alt="Java-4-ever-geek-parody-image" height="343" src="http://posterous.com/getfile/files.posterous.com/temp-2010-11-12/CjzDflEmloIAudrCvdeezhpjjsgzpzIeeJsmplHhpasvpnyrGcHfmjymxBFx/java-4-ever-geek-parody-image.jpg.scaled500.jpg" width="385" /> </div> Believe it or not, underneath the gruff exterior, the stubble, the middle-distance gaze and the questionable penchant for comics (sorry, <em>graphic novels</em>), us developer types are really just delicate little flowers that need love and careful attention. Here's why:<p /><strong>1. We are creative</strong><p />Pollock: art. Warhol: art. A meticulously documented application with carefully considered abstraction and well implemented exception handling: art. We make for the greater good, we are creators of beautiful things, we construct solutions and architectures which make us feel warm and fuzzy inside. Just because it's in Courier New (or, if you're a little nouveau, Consolas), doesn't make it any less of an item of pure creative flair.<p /><strong>2. We take criticism to heart</strong><p />Believe it or nay, most developers take criticism of their work pretty personally. Following on from development being a creative discipline, the engagement of a developer on a particular project requires a large investment of their personal touch on it. This can be from something as simple as how their code is structured, right up to how a particular element of user interaction is designed to function. A criticism from outside, no matter how constructive, will always have some bearing on how the developer has perceived a requirement.<p /><strong>3. We actually like other people</strong><p />Aside from the development team environment, developers can be seen as awkward, unsociable beasts (at the best of times). The modern developer has had to move with the times and become (especially in the freelance market) a representative of their organisation. Rather than being locked away in the development basement, we are now talking directly with other departments, clients and non-developers alike, being able to adjust our tech-jibber-jabber to match the situation.<p /><strong>4. We like the front as much as the back</strong><p />The modern developer is by no means a one trick pony. It's no longer acceptable to just know Java, C#, PHP, whatever. The development lifecycle doesn't stop at the data layer - crazy as it seems, users will <em>actually </em>want to <em>interact </em>with the application at some point. This means more and more developers with front-end skills - UI and UX concepts, graphic and colour usage and web typography. Having to learn these aspects of development/design has had a good side effect: developers actually get to not only <em>understand </em>these disciplines, but to also <em>enjoy </em>them. From tha' business logic to the Georgia, homies.<p /><strong>5. Not all of us own a Metallica t-shirt</strong><p />Not one. Not even a "There's no place like 127.0.0.1" slogan in sight.</p> </p> <p><a href="http://pgdev.posterous.com/hug-a-developer">Permalink</a> | <a href="http://pgdev.posterous.com/hug-a-developer#comment">Leave a comment&nbsp;&nbsp;&raquo;</a> </p><div class="feedflare"> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/pgdev?a=JtGssaaSRv4:KUIPy5XKYyk:yIl2AUoC8zA"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/pgdev?d=yIl2AUoC8zA" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/pgdev?a=JtGssaaSRv4:KUIPy5XKYyk:V_sGLiPBpWU"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/pgdev?i=JtGssaaSRv4:KUIPy5XKYyk:V_sGLiPBpWU" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/pgdev?a=JtGssaaSRv4:KUIPy5XKYyk:qj6IDK7rITs"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/pgdev?d=qj6IDK7rITs" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/pgdev?a=JtGssaaSRv4:KUIPy5XKYyk:gIN9vFwOqvQ"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/pgdev?i=JtGssaaSRv4:KUIPy5XKYyk:gIN9vFwOqvQ" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/pgdev?a=JtGssaaSRv4:KUIPy5XKYyk:7Q72WNTAKBA"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/pgdev?d=7Q72WNTAKBA" border="0"></img></a> </div><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/pgdev/~4/JtGssaaSRv4" height="1" width="1"/> http://files.posterous.com/user_profile_pics/290805/n745480692_357756_7239.jpg http://posterous.com/users/36ztkpKAXNHb Paul Gordon mrgeesbigcircus Paul Gordon http://pgdev.posterous.com/hug-a-developer Wed, 10 Nov 2010 04:25:05 -0800 Web Trend Lists: Good or Evil? http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/pgdev/~3/hbOxZQHF8Cw/web-trend-lists-good-or-evil http://pgdev.posterous.com/web-trend-lists-good-or-evil <p><a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/wowQEmw_Jg4uyfsujnVjzkxi0g8/0/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/wowQEmw_Jg4uyfsujnVjzkxi0g8/0/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a><br/> <a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/wowQEmw_Jg4uyfsujnVjzkxi0g8/1/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/wowQEmw_Jg4uyfsujnVjzkxi0g8/1/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a></p><p> <div class='p_embed p_image_embed'> <img alt="Nathanbarley1" height="313" src="http://posterous.com/getfile/files.posterous.com/pgdev/4OxP4f9ckBtzE5oAv2Ycoj0xhI44sPCrLy695m4hFPZXdG7zFNGiUauNQ6xj/nathanbarley1.jpg" width="414" /> </div> <p>Every now and then an article/post arises through the misty waters of the Interwebs, titled something along the lines of &quot;<i>Web Design Trends for 20xx</i>&quot;. The article will more than likely cover topics such as page layouts, typeface settigns, colour usage, images and backgrounds. Nothing is excluded - from the position of the site title/logo, to the size of the footer. Everything, right down to the most granular level, is &quot;trended&quot;.<p /> For the modern web designer/developer, knowing what trends are going to be coming up over the next year or so can be a boon - indeed, it can be the difference between being profitable or not.<p />The fashion industry has been doing exactly the same thing since, well, fashion became fashionable. The monolithic clothing design houses usually have a road map of what they&#39;re going to be churning out three to five years ahead, and little snippets of this grand design are fed down to us mere mortals on the high street drip by drip, prompting next season&#39;s choices of hats, coats and frocks (girls wear frocks, right?).<p /> Which leads us on to trends <i>de la</i> web. There are big powerhouses driving the development of web related products forwards - like the fashion industry has their Guccis and Ralph Laurens, the web industry has its own set of influential individuals who the community look to for shiny new toys and better ways of doing things, and emulate their success. These are people defining the path of the Internet, defining the trend of things to come.<p /> But just how closely should we follow web design trends?<p />There are new developers fresh on the scene who will take these lists as verbatim as to how they should be forging their products. There are old coders who will shun these lists and carry on as they see fit, as they&#39;re still getting over the demise of GeoCities. And then there&#39;s the experienced, modern day developer in the middle of it all - the developer who can think for himself, can pick and choose from the trends offered and implement them into his own work, at the same time playing around with leftfield ideas and projects.<p /> But are we truly able to pick and choose from these trends? Or are bosses, clients and marketing executives picking up on the buzzwords and rounded corners, forcing the modern web dev to roll over and play ball, adopting the same practices and principles, user interactions and, ultimately, designs as everyone else? Do trends offer options, or do they hinder creativity?<br /></p> </p> <p><a href="http://pgdev.posterous.com/web-trend-lists-good-or-evil">Permalink</a> | <a href="http://pgdev.posterous.com/web-trend-lists-good-or-evil#comment">Leave a comment&nbsp;&nbsp;&raquo;</a> </p><div class="feedflare"> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/pgdev?a=hbOxZQHF8Cw:romY7DKXRX8:yIl2AUoC8zA"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/pgdev?d=yIl2AUoC8zA" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/pgdev?a=hbOxZQHF8Cw:romY7DKXRX8:V_sGLiPBpWU"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/pgdev?i=hbOxZQHF8Cw:romY7DKXRX8:V_sGLiPBpWU" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/pgdev?a=hbOxZQHF8Cw:romY7DKXRX8:qj6IDK7rITs"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/pgdev?d=qj6IDK7rITs" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/pgdev?a=hbOxZQHF8Cw:romY7DKXRX8:gIN9vFwOqvQ"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/pgdev?i=hbOxZQHF8Cw:romY7DKXRX8:gIN9vFwOqvQ" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/pgdev?a=hbOxZQHF8Cw:romY7DKXRX8:7Q72WNTAKBA"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/pgdev?d=7Q72WNTAKBA" border="0"></img></a> </div><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/pgdev/~4/hbOxZQHF8Cw" height="1" width="1"/> http://files.posterous.com/user_profile_pics/290805/n745480692_357756_7239.jpg http://posterous.com/users/36ztkpKAXNHb Paul Gordon mrgeesbigcircus Paul Gordon http://pgdev.posterous.com/web-trend-lists-good-or-evil Thu, 28 Oct 2010 07:41:00 -0700 Maintaining state with Javascript & Cookies http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/pgdev/~3/ufIrSlK1cmw/maintaing-state-with-javascript-cookies http://pgdev.posterous.com/maintaing-state-with-javascript-cookies <p><a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/55u9ZmKFWvJQ5rT8OCf0UqRnuPU/0/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/55u9ZmKFWvJQ5rT8OCf0UqRnuPU/0/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a><br/> <a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/55u9ZmKFWvJQ5rT8OCf0UqRnuPU/1/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/55u9ZmKFWvJQ5rT8OCf0UqRnuPU/1/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a></p><p> <p><div class='p_embed p_image_embed'> <a href="http://posterous.com/getfile/files.posterous.com/temp-2010-10-28/sCpamviboodIxCrnFEydEjElslukiegiunGvqfJeirDykpjfwHFebpnltgDd/Programmer.jpg.scaled1000.jpg"><img alt="Programmer" height="375" src="http://posterous.com/getfile/files.posterous.com/temp-2010-10-28/sCpamviboodIxCrnFEydEjElslukiegiunGvqfJeirDykpjfwHFebpnltgDd/Programmer.jpg.scaled500.jpg" width="500" /></a> </div> The problem: a .NET control containing a toggle button to expand/collapse rows through the use Javascript needs to maintain state if the page posts back, either fully or partially.</p> <p>Simple Cookie solution:</p> <p>In the Javascript -</p> <p><span style="color: blue;">function</span>&nbsp;Toggle(itemIndex)<br />{<br /> document.getElementById(<span style="color: maroon;">"item-span-"</span>&nbsp;+&nbsp;headerIndex).attributes[<span style="color: maroon;">"class"</span>].value&nbsp;=&nbsp;<span style="color: maroon;">"newClass"</span>;<br /> ...<br /> document.cookie&nbsp;=&nbsp;<span style="color: maroon;">"item"</span>&nbsp;+ itemIndex+&nbsp;<span style="color: maroon;">"="</span>&nbsp;+&nbsp;document.getElementById(<span style="color: maroon;">"item-span-"</span>&nbsp;+ itemIndex).attributes[<span style="color: maroon;">"class"</span>].value;<br /> ...<br />}<p /></p> <p>And in the control itself -<p /></p> <p>writer.WriteAttribute(<span style="color: #a31515;">"onclick"</span>,&nbsp;<span style="color: blue;">string</span>.Format(<span style="color: #a31515;">"Toggle({0});"</span>, itemIndex));<p /><span style="color: blue;">if</span>&nbsp;(System.Web.<span style="color: #2b91af;">HttpContext</span>.Current.Request.Cookies[<span style="color: #a31515;">"item"</span>&nbsp;+ itemIndex]&nbsp;!=&nbsp;<span style="color: blue;">null</span>)<br />{<br /> writer.WriteAttribute(<span style="color: #a31515;">"class"</span>,&nbsp;System.Web.<span style="color: #2b91af;">HttpContext</span>.Current.Request.Cookies[<span style="color: #a31515;">"item"</span>&nbsp;+ itemIndex].Value);<br />}<br /><span style="color: blue;">else</span><br />{<br /> writer.WriteAttribute(<span style="color: #a31515;">"class"</span>,&nbsp;<span style="color: #a31515;">"originalClass"</span>);<br />}<p /></p> <p>I'll leave you to tidy the rest up and fill in the blanks!</p> </p> <p><a href="http://pgdev.posterous.com/maintaing-state-with-javascript-cookies">Permalink</a> | <a href="http://pgdev.posterous.com/maintaing-state-with-javascript-cookies#comment">Leave a comment&nbsp;&nbsp;&raquo;</a> </p><div class="feedflare"> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/pgdev?a=ufIrSlK1cmw:15GlCA9uYqE:yIl2AUoC8zA"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/pgdev?d=yIl2AUoC8zA" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/pgdev?a=ufIrSlK1cmw:15GlCA9uYqE:V_sGLiPBpWU"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/pgdev?i=ufIrSlK1cmw:15GlCA9uYqE:V_sGLiPBpWU" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/pgdev?a=ufIrSlK1cmw:15GlCA9uYqE:qj6IDK7rITs"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/pgdev?d=qj6IDK7rITs" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/pgdev?a=ufIrSlK1cmw:15GlCA9uYqE:gIN9vFwOqvQ"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/pgdev?i=ufIrSlK1cmw:15GlCA9uYqE:gIN9vFwOqvQ" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/pgdev?a=ufIrSlK1cmw:15GlCA9uYqE:7Q72WNTAKBA"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/pgdev?d=7Q72WNTAKBA" border="0"></img></a> </div><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/pgdev/~4/ufIrSlK1cmw" height="1" width="1"/> http://files.posterous.com/user_profile_pics/290805/n745480692_357756_7239.jpg http://posterous.com/users/36ztkpKAXNHb Paul Gordon mrgeesbigcircus Paul Gordon http://pgdev.posterous.com/maintaing-state-with-javascript-cookies Thu, 28 Oct 2010 04:23:51 -0700 Will Twitter Kill Email? http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/pgdev/~3/5cPLYFt7sxQ/will-twitter-kill-email http://pgdev.posterous.com/will-twitter-kill-email <p><a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/_u1ADi-mje0YUxPc9QiZDO8zh8E/0/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/_u1ADi-mje0YUxPc9QiZDO8zh8E/0/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a><br/> <a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/_u1ADi-mje0YUxPc9QiZDO8zh8E/1/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/_u1ADi-mje0YUxPc9QiZDO8zh8E/1/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a></p><p> <p><div class='p_embed p_image_embed'> <a href="http://posterous.com/getfile/files.posterous.com/temp-2010-10-28/tnHCnpvnBHFHAEhmipgAuzvknvlxlBkHcxCmfqltjiyxeAoJfdfgvqJHDHqG/Blue_Bird.jpg.scaled1000.jpg"><img alt="Blue_bird" height="375" src="http://posterous.com/getfile/files.posterous.com/temp-2010-10-28/tnHCnpvnBHFHAEhmipgAuzvknvlxlBkHcxCmfqltjiyxeAoJfdfgvqJHDHqG/Blue_Bird.jpg.scaled500.jpg" width="500" /></a> </div> </p> <p>I use Twitter a lot, but it's only recently that I've sat back and taken stock on exactly how I use it, and how it fits in with my usage of other means of electronic communication.</p> <p>What surprised me the most was comparing it against email.</p> <p>On average I'll send around 5 Tweets a day in the working week. A few of those will be good mornings, how you doings and the like, a few will be development/work related, a couple of ReTweets and perhaps a link to a blog post like this. I also contact friends and colleagues using Direct Messages, maybe uploading a photo here and there.</p> <p>The method of contact with others that Twitter provides emulates everything I do with email and more. I'll be lucky to send one email a day, and that's usually if I need to send a file attachment. I don't (and, essentially, can't) use email to connect with the development community on a whole. I don't even know the email addresses of some friends and colleagues I interact with daily using Twitter.</p> <p>So for me, pending some additional features, Twitter has replaced my email usage. To hammer the final nails in the coffin, I'd like to see:</p> <p>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; - A Twitter client such as TweetDeck to offer offline Twitter usage.<br />&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; - File uploading and sending, rather than just photo/video.<br />&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; - 140 character restriction removed for DMs.</p> <p>I'm sure I'll think of some other things. I'll Tweet you about it soon.</p> </p> <p><a href="http://pgdev.posterous.com/will-twitter-kill-email">Permalink</a> | <a href="http://pgdev.posterous.com/will-twitter-kill-email#comment">Leave a comment&nbsp;&nbsp;&raquo;</a> </p><div class="feedflare"> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/pgdev?a=5cPLYFt7sxQ:5u8TXksnzG8:yIl2AUoC8zA"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/pgdev?d=yIl2AUoC8zA" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/pgdev?a=5cPLYFt7sxQ:5u8TXksnzG8:V_sGLiPBpWU"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/pgdev?i=5cPLYFt7sxQ:5u8TXksnzG8:V_sGLiPBpWU" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/pgdev?a=5cPLYFt7sxQ:5u8TXksnzG8:qj6IDK7rITs"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/pgdev?d=qj6IDK7rITs" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/pgdev?a=5cPLYFt7sxQ:5u8TXksnzG8:gIN9vFwOqvQ"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/pgdev?i=5cPLYFt7sxQ:5u8TXksnzG8:gIN9vFwOqvQ" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/pgdev?a=5cPLYFt7sxQ:5u8TXksnzG8:7Q72WNTAKBA"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/pgdev?d=7Q72WNTAKBA" border="0"></img></a> </div><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/pgdev/~4/5cPLYFt7sxQ" height="1" width="1"/> http://files.posterous.com/user_profile_pics/290805/n745480692_357756_7239.jpg http://posterous.com/users/36ztkpKAXNHb Paul Gordon mrgeesbigcircus Paul Gordon http://pgdev.posterous.com/will-twitter-kill-email Thu, 28 Oct 2010 04:04:02 -0700 The Rabbit Hole Bug Fix http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/pgdev/~3/keYtQEVC8Ys/the-rabbit-hole-bug-fix http://pgdev.posterous.com/the-rabbit-hole-bug-fix <p><a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/cQZavqg4-y06hVvWD53hgKHVy6w/0/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/cQZavqg4-y06hVvWD53hgKHVy6w/0/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a><br/> <a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/cQZavqg4-y06hVvWD53hgKHVy6w/1/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/cQZavqg4-y06hVvWD53hgKHVy6w/1/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a></p><p> <p><div class='p_embed p_image_embed'> <a href="http://posterous.com/getfile/files.posterous.com/temp-2010-10-28/qtmllgaCsgryCFytFnBizgIHsvxGGqJmpkugwBHhGcAlAoGHJapgljtwFDzB/blackhole-7908361.jpg.scaled1000.jpg"><img alt="Blackhole-7908361" height="375" src="http://posterous.com/getfile/files.posterous.com/temp-2010-10-28/qtmllgaCsgryCFytFnBizgIHsvxGGqJmpkugwBHhGcAlAoGHJapgljtwFDzB/blackhole-7908361.jpg.scaled500.jpg" width="500" /></a> </div> As a developer, there will be more than enough situations where you are required to fix things. Sometimes these things will be of your creation, other times it will be of another developer's doing. Either way, when the problem rears it's head, you'll need to fix it.<p /> It could be a five minute fix, it could be a five hour fix - but hopefully, whatever the issue, you'll have it nailed down and a plan of action to rectify the issue ready to roll.<p /> Then you go down the rabbit hole.<p /> All of a sudden, that simple-ish fix is now two or three other fixes. Two are related, but the other is completely separate and you can see on the horizon another couple of problems that this new fella is causing. Leave that/those to one side, get your priorities sorted and get the initial issue fixed. But the problem starts to spread out like an infection, seeping over and out of it's own petri dish, clinging on to other files and assemblies. A quick fix is now an architecture changing event, leading to meetings with other developers to get a strategic rethink.<p /> I've just stepped through the start-to-finish process of a method that was causing me a headache using Visual Studio. One initial problem. One initial file. One inital assembly. Numerous other issues found. Thirty five open files. Eight assemblies.<p /> The horror.......the horror....</p> </p> <p><a href="http://pgdev.posterous.com/the-rabbit-hole-bug-fix">Permalink</a> | <a href="http://pgdev.posterous.com/the-rabbit-hole-bug-fix#comment">Leave a comment&nbsp;&nbsp;&raquo;</a> </p><div class="feedflare"> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/pgdev?a=keYtQEVC8Ys:7DETheFwcl4:yIl2AUoC8zA"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/pgdev?d=yIl2AUoC8zA" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/pgdev?a=keYtQEVC8Ys:7DETheFwcl4:V_sGLiPBpWU"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/pgdev?i=keYtQEVC8Ys:7DETheFwcl4:V_sGLiPBpWU" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/pgdev?a=keYtQEVC8Ys:7DETheFwcl4:qj6IDK7rITs"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/pgdev?d=qj6IDK7rITs" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/pgdev?a=keYtQEVC8Ys:7DETheFwcl4:gIN9vFwOqvQ"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/pgdev?i=keYtQEVC8Ys:7DETheFwcl4:gIN9vFwOqvQ" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/pgdev?a=keYtQEVC8Ys:7DETheFwcl4:7Q72WNTAKBA"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/pgdev?d=7Q72WNTAKBA" border="0"></img></a> </div><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/pgdev/~4/keYtQEVC8Ys" height="1" width="1"/> http://files.posterous.com/user_profile_pics/290805/n745480692_357756_7239.jpg http://posterous.com/users/36ztkpKAXNHb Paul Gordon mrgeesbigcircus Paul Gordon http://pgdev.posterous.com/the-rabbit-hole-bug-fix Wed, 13 Oct 2010 02:26:00 -0700 Being "Social" is all or nothing - don't disappoint your "customers" http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/pgdev/~3/kNlZ8IU62sQ/being-social-is-all-or-nothing-dont-disappoin http://pgdev.posterous.com/being-social-is-all-or-nothing-dont-disappoin <p><a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/0bcVZJ780yktPpR_gzDkL_Hfhpw/0/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/0bcVZJ780yktPpR_gzDkL_Hfhpw/0/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a><br/> <a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/0bcVZJ780yktPpR_gzDkL_Hfhpw/1/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/0bcVZJ780yktPpR_gzDkL_Hfhpw/1/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a></p><p> <p><div class='p_embed p_image_embed'> <a href="http://posterous.com/getfile/files.posterous.com/temp-2010-10-13/GIGdrqhnwledAxjAzpkbwHpqunaJEwgCHxlsrwymbnyrBmpHqImiJtFAeJuu/twitter3.jpg.scaled1000.jpg"><img alt="Twitter3" height="333" src="http://posterous.com/getfile/files.posterous.com/temp-2010-10-13/GIGdrqhnwledAxjAzpkbwHpqunaJEwgCHxlsrwymbnyrBmpHqImiJtFAeJuu/twitter3.jpg.scaled500.jpg" width="500" /></a> </div> You use Twitter. You use Facebook. You blog. You share. You post. You proliferate things that other people have Tweeted, posted blogged, posted, whatever. You're Social (with a capital S).</p> <p>Once you've got into being Social, and you've built up a loyal (and expanding) base of followers and friends, you're on top of the world. People like what you're saying. They like the content you're generating and sharing. They respect the things you say.</p> <p>Twitter is a good, solid example of this - you say the right things, you get more followers. The number goes up. Sure, using a web analytics system against your blog can give you the same output, but nothing as simple, raw and, in Twitter's case, visible to others about how Socially popular you are.</p> <p>But what if you let it slip?</p> <p>What if you spent a month away from propogating the Internet with your content? You've spent weeks, months and years building up your Social empire - you've also built up an expectation to your loyal fan base about what they're going to get from you, and in what sort of timescale.</p> <p>This really hits home when corporate entities use Social tools to show their face to the world. What if a company has a spate of using Twitter for 3 months, building up connections to potential and existing customers, even other businesses, then goes completely off the radar for another 3 months. The fire that they had been stoking starts to die down, people lose interest, their expectation of what is going to be presented to them and when has been obliterated. What would happen if your favourite high street shop suddenly closed up, then reopened months later expecting the same loyalty from you? Would you feel the same about it? What would you think about their commitment?</p> <p>Interacting Socially isn't something to be picked up one minute then left to fallow. If you're Social, then <em>be Social</em>, all the time. It's an interface to<em> you </em><span style="font-family: mceinline;">(or your business)</span>.</p> <p>Keep the channels open.</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p>UPDATE: A fine example from <a href="http://www.connectednottingham.org.uk">http://www.connectednottingham.org.uk</a><div class='p_embed p_image_embed'> <img alt="Twit" height="140" src="http://posterous.com/getfile/files.posterous.com/temp-2010-10-13/FqDsbGDhxqfAinjldijjalancrIgjcflGcgqnealyGGokxqfeAuvocFtDmBG/twit.png.scaled500.png" width="230" /> </div> </p> <p>203 days since your last update? Seriously? And you're pitching yourself as some sort of development catalyst for businesses?</p> </p> <p><a href="http://pgdev.posterous.com/being-social-is-all-or-nothing-dont-disappoin">Permalink</a> | <a href="http://pgdev.posterous.com/being-social-is-all-or-nothing-dont-disappoin#comment">Leave a comment&nbsp;&nbsp;&raquo;</a> </p><div class="feedflare"> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/pgdev?a=kNlZ8IU62sQ:fUfoJ6RHfsQ:yIl2AUoC8zA"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/pgdev?d=yIl2AUoC8zA" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/pgdev?a=kNlZ8IU62sQ:fUfoJ6RHfsQ:V_sGLiPBpWU"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/pgdev?i=kNlZ8IU62sQ:fUfoJ6RHfsQ:V_sGLiPBpWU" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/pgdev?a=kNlZ8IU62sQ:fUfoJ6RHfsQ:qj6IDK7rITs"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/pgdev?d=qj6IDK7rITs" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/pgdev?a=kNlZ8IU62sQ:fUfoJ6RHfsQ:gIN9vFwOqvQ"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/pgdev?i=kNlZ8IU62sQ:fUfoJ6RHfsQ:gIN9vFwOqvQ" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/pgdev?a=kNlZ8IU62sQ:fUfoJ6RHfsQ:7Q72WNTAKBA"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/pgdev?d=7Q72WNTAKBA" border="0"></img></a> </div><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/pgdev/~4/kNlZ8IU62sQ" height="1" width="1"/> http://files.posterous.com/user_profile_pics/290805/n745480692_357756_7239.jpg http://posterous.com/users/36ztkpKAXNHb Paul Gordon mrgeesbigcircus Paul Gordon http://pgdev.posterous.com/being-social-is-all-or-nothing-dont-disappoin Tue, 12 Oct 2010 04:19:00 -0700 Dive Into HTML5 by Mark Pilgrim http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/pgdev/~3/E5ch1in0Aik/dive-into-html5 http://pgdev.posterous.com/dive-into-html5 <p><a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/s2lVye6hGJzhX7LZYE9F5ZALHEI/0/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/s2lVye6hGJzhX7LZYE9F5ZALHEI/0/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a><br/> <a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/s2lVye6hGJzhX7LZYE9F5ZALHEI/1/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/s2lVye6hGJzhX7LZYE9F5ZALHEI/1/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a></p><p> <div class="posterous_bookmarklet_entry"> <blockquote> <div> <h3>Dive Into HTML5</h3> <h3>by<br />Mark Pilgrim</h3> <h3>with illustrations from the Public Domain</h3> <p>❧</p> <p><img src="http://diveintohtml5.org//a.wearehugh.com/dih5/aoc-d.png" height="105" alt="D" width="104" />ive Into <abbr>HTML5</abbr> seeks to elaborate on a hand-picked Selection of features from the <a href="http://diveintohtml5.org#">HTML5</a> specification and other fine Standards. The final manuscript has been published on paper by O&rsquo;Reilly, under the Google Press imprint. <a href="http://www.amazon.com/HTML5-Up-Running-Mark-Pilgrim/dp/0596806027?ie=UTF8&amp;tag=diveintomark-20&amp;creativeASIN=0596806027">Buy the printed Work</a> &mdash; artfully titled &ldquo;HTML5: Up <em>&amp;</em> Running&rdquo; &mdash; and be the first in your Community to receive it. Your kind and sincere <a href="http://diveintohtml5.org#">Feedback</a> is always welcome. The Work shall remain online under the <a href="http://diveintohtml5.org#" rel="license">CC-BY-3.0</a> License.</p> <h3>Table of Contents</h3> <ol> <li><span><a href="http://diveintohtml5.org#">Introduction: Five Things You Should Know About <abbr>HTML5</abbr></a></span><span>0</span></li> <li><span><a href="http://diveintohtml5.org#">A Quite Biased History of <abbr>HTML5</abbr></a></span><span>1</span></li> <li><span><a href="http://diveintohtml5.org#">Detecting <abbr>HTML5</abbr> Features: It&rsquo;s Elementary, My Dear Watson</a></span><span>2</span></li> <li><span><a href="http://diveintohtml5.org#">What Does It All Mean?</a></span><span>3</span></li> <li><span><a href="http://diveintohtml5.org#">Let&rsquo;s Call It a Draw(ing Surface)</a></span><span>4</span></li> <li><span><a href="http://diveintohtml5.org#">Video in a Flash (Without That Other Thing)</a></span><span>5</span></li> <li><span><a href="http://diveintohtml5.org#">You Are Here (And So Is Everybody Else)</a></span><span>6</span></li> <li><span><a href="http://diveintohtml5.org#">A Place To Put Your Stuff</a></span><span>7</span></li> <li><span><a href="http://diveintohtml5.org#">Let&rsquo;s Take This Offline</a></span><span>8</span></li> <li><span><a href="http://diveintohtml5.org#">A Form of Madness</a></span><span>9</span></li> <li><span><a href="http://diveintohtml5.org#">&ldquo;Distributed,&rdquo; &ldquo;Extensibility,&rdquo; And Other Fancy Words</a></span><span>10</span></li> <li><span><a href="http://diveintohtml5.org#">The All-In-One Almost-Alphabetical No-Bullshit Guide to Detecting Everything</a></span><span>11</span></li> <li><span><a href="http://diveintohtml5.org#"><abbr>HTML5</abbr> Peeks, Pokes and Pointers</a></span><span>12</span></li> </ol> <p>❧</p> <p>&ldquo;If you&rsquo;re good at something, never do it for free.&rdquo; <span>&mdash;</span><cite>The Joker</cite><br />(but that doesn&rsquo;t mean you should keep it to yourself)</p> <p>Copyright MMIX&ndash;MMX <a href="http://diveintohtml5.org#">Mark Pilgrim</a></p> </div> </blockquote> <div class="posterous_quote_citation">via <a href="http://diveintohtml5.org/">diveintohtml5.org</a></div> <p>A great resource I'm currently using for getting up to speed with the eponymous "H" word of the moment.</p> </div> </p> <p><a href="http://pgdev.posterous.com/dive-into-html5">Permalink</a> | <a href="http://pgdev.posterous.com/dive-into-html5#comment">Leave a comment&nbsp;&nbsp;&raquo;</a> </p><div class="feedflare"> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/pgdev?a=E5ch1in0Aik:ui14ny61ISY:yIl2AUoC8zA"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/pgdev?d=yIl2AUoC8zA" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/pgdev?a=E5ch1in0Aik:ui14ny61ISY:V_sGLiPBpWU"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/pgdev?i=E5ch1in0Aik:ui14ny61ISY:V_sGLiPBpWU" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/pgdev?a=E5ch1in0Aik:ui14ny61ISY:qj6IDK7rITs"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/pgdev?d=qj6IDK7rITs" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/pgdev?a=E5ch1in0Aik:ui14ny61ISY:gIN9vFwOqvQ"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/pgdev?i=E5ch1in0Aik:ui14ny61ISY:gIN9vFwOqvQ" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/pgdev?a=E5ch1in0Aik:ui14ny61ISY:7Q72WNTAKBA"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/pgdev?d=7Q72WNTAKBA" border="0"></img></a> </div><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/pgdev/~4/E5ch1in0Aik" height="1" width="1"/> http://files.posterous.com/user_profile_pics/290805/n745480692_357756_7239.jpg http://posterous.com/users/36ztkpKAXNHb Paul Gordon mrgeesbigcircus Paul Gordon http://pgdev.posterous.com/dive-into-html5