Thursday 31 July 2008

Even Dexter Knows HTML

I’m thinking there’s got to be a lot of jokes residing in this still I grabbed from the show “Dexter” which is about a blood spatter CSI by day and a serial killer cleaning up the streets of bad guys by night.

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Posted by:   Molly | 12:54 | Comments (39)

Monday 14 July 2008

Child Labor Laws Questioned, Holzschlag Says “Start ’em Young”

In late-breaking news it has been learned that Web standards advocate and educator Molly E. Holzschlag has been found using what appears to be child labor to help solve Web site issues. Here, we see a photo of Holzschlag’s youngest team member, who at 7 months old is hard at work:

“Lil’ P” has advanced skills in HTML, CSS and even is apparently learning some JavaScript. Despite his age, Holzschlag is confident that educating front end developers from early childhood does not equate to mistreatment toward children.

“If anything, starting children in computer technology this young is going to assist in innovative and rapid advancement of our industry. Start ’em young, and train them right, and a lot of the mistakes we’ve made will be avoided in the future.”

While Holzschlag insists Lil’ P is well provided for, his father, Big P, expresses his own concerns:

“The problem as I see it is that Lil’ P was always a bit big for his britches, and now he’s speeding far past old dad here. How can I effectively raise my child when I can’t even understand the words he uses? Frankly, while the public might question child labor laws for the safety of the child, in a case like this I’m far more concerned about the parental mistreatment that will ensue.”

Clearly the subject of considerable controversy, when asked his opinion on the matter Lil’ P smiled, laughed, picked up a handful of mushy peas and smeared them all over his face. After significant analysis we are still uncertain whether this was a profound statement of Lil’ P’s sentiments on the matter, or if he was just ready for his mid-day snack.

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Posted by:   Molly | 01:23 | Comments (31)

Saturday 12 July 2008

Web Standards Curriculum at Opera: A+

Just read Chris Mills’ opening words in his introduction to the newly launched Web Standards Curriculum at Opera and you’ll immediately know that this is material brought to us with great passion as well as experience.

Reading through what’s currently available (mostly “standards” philosophy and HTML so far) has been pretty amazing. The content has been organized by Mills, but authored by a variety of very strong and experienced real-world developers including Mark Norman Francis, Christian Heilmann, Linda Goin and Paul Haine.

The impressive aspect of the curriculum as it is now is that it’s comprehensive, including foundational topics such as Internet and Web history and evolution. Educators understand that history provides context for real learning. Sadly, this is an area often not available in books and online tutorials because readers typically want to dive right in and learn a given technique.

I’ve long held as a core belief that proper education includes those details. What good is a technique without context?

I applaud Opera Software, and Chris Mills, and all who are working so hard to create a really well-organized, well-crafted and completely free series addressing both the conceptual and pragmatic.

Well done, my Operatic friends! You get an A+.

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Posted by:   Molly | 01:31 | Comments (10)

Thursday 10 July 2008

Of Rich Web Experiences

If you want best practices, best information, best people and you care about code the place for you is the Rich Web Experience this September.

Early bird discounts apply right now – go check it out! If that sounds like marketing speak, say so! I’m working on my diversity skills. Last year I was honored with the same spot but health issues prevailed so I could not participate. This year, I’m raring to go and excited to be talking to as many Web developers and professionals as I can. Particularly application developers.

Interestingly, today is the day my relationship with Microsoft really, really ends (last check deposited to my account). Today, I stumble toward a “rich web experience” despite concerns about standards, agendas and linear thinking.

You can read about my Keynote and other sessions at the RWE web site. There’s an early-bird registration discount too! The richest Web experience I know is ironically off the Web. Face to Face, that’s the magic place.

I hope to see you at RWE!

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Posted by:   Molly | 11:12 | Comments (9)

Wednesday 9 July 2008

A Proprietary Web in Deed and Fact?

Paul Ellis eloquently points out a few things I’ve become hoarse saying over the past year in his recent post A proprietary Web? Blame the W3C.

My personal list goes like this:

1. There’s no such thing as “Web Standards”
2. There’s no such thing as an open Web (except in our dreams)
3. There’s no such thing as interoperability on the Web

Of course the grand irony here is that it’s supposed to be the W3C where we get Microsoft and Adobe and Apple and Mozilla and so on around the table working together to create specs. So blanket “blame the W3C” statements are a bit flawed. I’d be more specific. I’d say “blame patent and IP old-skoolers, blame poor W3C infrastructure, blame an archaic and slow rather than agile and rapid process.” I can honestly tell you the most interesting, passionate and standards-oriented brainstorms I’ve had the opportunity to be present at have always been at W3C WG meetings.

Alas, those meetings of minds are then hacked apart and returned to their respective Member Companies to be scrutinized in light of policies, agendas and oh the list does go on.

My concerns are therefore different than Ellis’, who feels that it’s time for a richer Web experience anyway. While I do agree with the need for rich experiences, I am more fundamentally concerned about how the “Open Web” will ever be re-opened, and if it ever will be.

Every time I’ve said “Web Standards Aren’t” I get a significant response. Sometimes people laugh, sometimes they look at me as if I forgot my medication that day. Ellis’ article brings it a little closer to home about the many years of commitment standardistas give to a quality of work and a visionary cause that may have long been lost before it was ever truly won.

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Posted by:   Molly | 01:15 | Comments (46)

Sunday 6 July 2008

To Challenge and Frighten

Challenge and sometimes frighten people.

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Posted by:   Molly | 02:44 | Comments (19)

Saturday 5 July 2008

Longing For Math and Being Art

The first wound is the one you remember:

Your teacher says:

“you’ll never need it don’t cry it’s okay”
you don’t believe her anyway.

You talk to your friends twenty years later
and they all say:
“Be your art”

Oh, how it feels good
To learn math and therefore see,
a life denied of algorithms and rationality.

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Posted by:   Molly | 23:58 | Comments (5)

Friday 4 July 2008

What is Independence to You?

Today is the 4th of July, which is independence day in the U.S. We party with feasts and drinks and fireworks.

It’s a great tradition. Have you tried the hot dogs? Beef, hot mustard, sauerkraut.

Still, I’m concerned with the core values of Independence. Concerned that the idea that independence is not at all what we have, even though it might be what we thought we set out to have.

Independence to Me

Is believing everything I do matters, even if it doesn’t.

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Posted by:   Molly | 07:41 | Comments (22)

Thursday 3 July 2008

The Morris Law of Standards

I read this at Tom Morris‘ site and had to quote here:

“However fucked up and crazy something is, someone, somewhere in a standards body is writing a parser, schema or proposal for it.”

Some things are true because they’re funny. But most funny things are just quite simply true.

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Posted by:   Molly | 06:09 | Comments (13)