October 2003
Oct. 18, 2003
The Python Web SIG
Python now has a Web SIG. SIGs are Special Interest Groups, each with a target to develop and improve a certain aspect of the Python language, standard library or community. The Web SIG has two purposes: create a plan for improving Python’s web client abilities (including things like the ability to parse CSS) and work on improving Python’s server side capabilities.
[... 289 words]Lawrence web meetup
My colleague Adrian is putting together a meetup for web designers and developers in the Lawrence, Kansas area on Monday evening. The venue is yet to be decided but we’re looking to book somewhere for dinner with an atmosphere that’s conducive to lively conversation. Likely attendants so far include Adrian Holovaty, Travis Beckham, Anitra Pavka, Dan Cox (designer for ljworld.com, lawrence.com and kusports.com) and myself. If you’re a web developer/designer in the area and this sounds like your kind of thing drop Adrian a line for more information. It should be a lot of fun.
[... 121 words]Oct. 19, 2003
HTMLifying user input
I’ve added a comment system to my new Kansas blog. Since the target audience for that site is friends and family rather than fellow web developers, I’ve taken a very different approach to processing the input from comments. While this blog insists upon valid XHTML and gives very little help to comment posters aside from highlighting validation problems, my new site’s comment system takes the more traditional root of disallowing HTML while automatically converting line breaks and links.
[... 602 words]Managing Social Software
Moderation is a topic that goes hand in hand with online communities, but despite being a highly complex matter it is rarely given the coverage it deserves. That’s all set to change now thanks to Tom Coates’ excellent new blog, Everything in Moderation. The site’s topic is “creative ways to manage online communities and user-generated content”, and the content posted so far easily lives up to that claim. Of particular interest are the introductory post, the definitions of the four principle types of moderation and a fascinating entry about using stealth moderation tactics to deter abusive posters. Definitely one for the blogroll (at least once it starts pinging blo.gs).
Converting links without regular expressions
I pair-programmed this code with Natalie just over a month ago, and I’ve now added it to my Kansas blog simplified comments system as mentioned earlier.
[... 791 words]Oct. 20, 2003
Fun with DHTML and Flash
Travis Beckham’s podLob features 56 experiments in Flash and 19 in Javascript/DHTML. I particularly liked the Flash image transitions. I’d probably complain bitterly I came across that kind of effect on a real site but as experiments they’re fascinating and great fun to explore.
Oct. 21, 2003
Using XPath to mine XHTML
This morning, I finally decided to install libxml2 and see what all the fuss was about, in particular with respect to XPath. What followed is best described as an enlightening experience.
[... 576 words]Oct. 22, 2003
A List Apart Again
A List Apart has unveiled the long awaited redesign, and is celebrating it’s third manifestation with three brand new articles.
[... 339 words]Ward talks Wiki
Artima have published the first installment of Bill Venners’ Conversation with Ward Cunningham, which focuses on the Wiki. When asked how readers can get a bigger picture of what is going on in a Wiki, Ward responds with this:
[... 212 words]Oct. 23, 2003
Knoppix
So, I finally tried Knoppix today. I’d heard a lot about it and was ready to be impressed, but it still took me by surprise. If you haven’t heard of Knoppix, it’s a full Linux distribution on a CD that is designed to boot straight from the CD, without you needing to install anything and without you having to worry about it modifying the contents of your hard drive.
[... 588 words]Pair Programming
I’ve spent a few hours over the last two days pair programming with Adrian. We’re working on a pretty huge project at the moment, and we’ve just started work on the coding phase, overlapping the design phase. I had tried pair programming a few times before with some success, but this time in particular the benefits of the approach were crystal clear. In total, we’ve defined 4 database tables, a number of functions and a simple class. Working separately we would almost certainly have created more lines of code. However...
[... 373 words]Progressive page updates
Now this is cool: The joy of flush() shows how PHP’s flush() function can be used to send data to the browser before a page has finished rendering. Check out Ben’s demo page to see the trick in action.
Oct. 24, 2003
Microsoft’s XUL
According to this Microsoft blogger the reason IE development has seemed quiet of late is that they’ve been working hard on XAML, an XML Application Markup Language which is a way to create applications in the browser (or out for that matter) [...] It is basically an XML structure with CSS and JavaScript. The CSS defines the appearance and the JavaScript dictates behavior.
Oct. 25, 2003
The difference between POST and GET
How important is the ability to tell the difference between data sent by POST and data sent by GET (i.e in the query string) when developing web applications? Some web frameworks (such as PHP) provide separate mechanisms for accessing POST and GET data. Others (such as Python’s cgi module) provide a single interface to form information that doesn’t distinguish between the two. I already have a strong opinion on this but I’m going to leave it open for discussion here for a bit before weighing in.
Oct. 26, 2003
XUL in Safari
Safari 1.1 is included with the new release of Mac OS X, Panther. From Dave Hyatt’s list of Safari 1.1 features:
[... 149 words]Capturing the power of re.split
A couple of Python tips. The first is really a tip for Mozilla/Firebird: You can set up a Custom Keyword for instantly accessing Python module documentation using the string www.python.org/doc/current/lib/module-%s.html—I have this set up as pydoc, so I can type pydoc re to jump straight to the re module documentation. I only set it up half an hour ago and I’ve already used it about a dozen times.
[... 478 words]Oct. 27, 2003
Avoiding RSI
I’m pretty sure I’ve never had RSI, but occasionally my wrists feel a little sore after spending time at the keyboard and I know enough about it to know that I really don’t want it. This weekend I started using WorkRave after spotting a link to it on Meri’s blog. It’s a neat little application for Linux and Windows that sits in the background and reminds you to take short breaks from the keyboard every once in a while. Following the suggestion from the FAQ I have it set up to encourage a 15 second “micropause” every 10 minutes and a 5 minute proper rest break once an hour. It’s too early to stay if I’ll stick with it or get annoyed and turn it off, but I have to admit that I have been feeling a bit more comfortable at the keyboard. Whether that’s purely a psychological effect from using it or the breaks are actually making a difference is hard to tell.
Oct. 28, 2003
Oct. 29, 2003
PCs for non-geeks
A couple of interesting links about the security problems faced by the vast majority of the home PC using public, who don’t know how to install security updates (or even what they are) and don’t have a corporate IT department to bail them out when they run in to problems. Joe Average User Is In Trouble is a column by a security expert bemoaning the scale of the problem. Do we all need a personal system administrator? is a call for advice from Steve Garrity for tips on minimising the support calls he gets from his parents, and includes an excellent response from Matt Haughey in the comments.
[... 230 words]Getting my stripes
Well colour me yellow and black, I’ve just become the latest member of the web standards project! I’ve been an avid supporter of the web standards movement for over a year now—in fact, my first ever entry linked to their launch of Phase II. It’s a great honour to be a part of something I’ve supported for so long and I hope to become heavily involved in the Learn campaign, which aims to provide resources to developers who want to learn to use web standards effectively. I’m joining a truly talented team and I look forward to helping encourage web professionals to adopt standards and make the web a more interoperable place.
Defeating browser incompatibilities
Peter-Paul Koch has unveiled his new site, QuirksMode.org, which features over 150 pages of cross browser CSS and javascript tips and tricks. Five months in the making, there’s just too much good stuff to link to individual pieces here so my best recommendation is to head on over there and spend some time browsing around. I’ll make an exception though in linking to the Table of Contents script, which uses the DOM to create an additional navigation bar linking to each of the level 2 and 3 headers on a page. Another great example of the power of structural markup.
Oct. 30, 2003
Nvu
Launched today by Lindows, Nvu is a new project to develop a complete “web authoring system” (aka Dreamweaver/Frontpage style WYSIWYG editor) for the Linux platform. Reading around the marketing hyperbole, What it actually is is a standalone version of Mozilla’s Composer with a whole bunch of improvements and extra features, scheduled for release in early 2004.
[... 413 words]Shooting yourself in the foot
Kimbro Staken on DRM: The record companies can be proud that they’ve so thoroughly screwed things up that there really isn’t even any point in paying for music now.