LeeseIT Blogs » Design

doctype, a predictable problem

Leroy Leese — Tue, 29 Jan 2008 03:33:39 +0000

I don’t want to sound condescending, but it was something that was bound to come up. I ran into it working with the Tactical Sensor Model (also called the Common Sensor Model, and finally, Joint Sensor Model) working group. In that situation, the API needed to grow as the abilities and capabilities of the Sensors (and their Models) improved. And how do you progress an API (or in this case, specific Standards) and maintain backwards compatibility? Some people who are smarter than me are working on it which is good but I can tell you that we never came up with a solution that satisfied everyone. In this case, if I were developing a browser, I would NOT be interested in handling version cases for rendering a page. It means that the engine will grow and grow and grow and although there won’t be alot to maintain because each version will build on the last and once a version is released, its not going to get modified but what about NEW browsers? Really, they are going to test each version’s engine and move forward? So basically, if you are not in the browser market now, you will have a huge-uphill battle if this goes through. Ick, its a nightmare and its easy from the server side of the problem to sit back and go, “You, client-side people REALLY have your work cut out for you”. If that is the case, I hope the open-source community likes testing (as opposed to developing) because that is going to be where time gets spent.

The alternative isn’t pleasant either, what with all kinds of progress moving forward with standards AND browsers. It isn’t an easy puzzle to solve. Good luck. To everyone.

All Table Based Layout Designers Please Read This

Leroy Leese — Wed, 09 Jan 2008 17:32:38 +0000

Great presentation for those considering table based layouts. I think its an old link, but still VERY relevant.

http://www.hotdesign.com/seybold/

New Year and New web design

Leroy Leese — Mon, 07 Jan 2008 15:11:45 +0000

For me, it is very refreshing and brings a sense of newness…at least during January. Once we get past February, the newness has faded and when I write the date on checks, it is more of a habit to write out the new year. But for now, lets settle into newness. And to go with that, we are launching a new website design. Thanks to Riotta.com and RyanFidler.com for helping us get this new site launched. Our hope is to bring our website look up to par with the quality of work we deliver. We had many new clients launch successful new websites and we have many more projects in the wings right now. We hope 2008 is prosperous for all our clients and wish you well.

Found this on AListApart.com

Leroy Leese — Tue, 21 Aug 2007 00:55:46 +0000

It was amazingly valuable for debugging JS.

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Safari also has a javascript debugger. You need to enable the Debug menu in safari, which can be done by typing the following into terminal (make sure safari is closed):

% defaults write com.apple.Safari IncludeDebugMenu 1

Then relaunch safari, and from the debug menu you can open a js console.

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Amazing.

www = Wild Wild West

Leroy Leese — Mon, 25 Jun 2007 17:55:17 +0000

www – does it mean World Wide Web OR Wild Wild West? It seems awfully wild out here sometimes. I read articles all the time and its so unbridled – the things people say, the types of websites out there. Its definitely exploiting freedom of speech. I want people to have that freedom – but people sometimes implement zero restraint. Anyway, I think “wild wild west” fits “www” more appropriately.

Great Read for Software Team leaders and workers

Leroy Leese — Tue, 08 May 2007 18:26:10 +0000

If you lead a software team or work on a team, you need to read this article

http://www.joelonsoftware.com/articles/fog0000000043.html

We’ve got something here…

Leroy Leese — Wed, 18 Oct 2006 15:04:18 +0000

I have been searching high and low for development software that meets the following criteria:

Connects to web based version control
Has functional reference for PHP
Runs on multiple platforms (PC/Mac)
Easily manipulates and assists with CSS/JavaScript/(X)HTML

And the good news is, I have finally found a solution… I recommend any team doing distributed development on multiple development and deployment platforms use the following setup:

Eclipse 3.1.1
Subclipse 1.0.0
Aptana 0.2.5
PHPEclipse 1.1.8

Using Aptana, you can be FTP’ing into the website. With Subversion, you have version/source control. With PHPEclipse you have reference, templates and with Eclipse you have a distributed platform. Its a dream come true. Why couldn’t I find someone recommending this setup on a website before I invested dozens of hours in research? I think that people are either satisfied with the Zend Framework, or they simply don’t have the cross-platform needs that we have. And frankly, most designers we work with are completely satisfied with Dreamweaver MX/8 and the check-in/check-out process it affords. For the time being, when I work with those developers, I will have Dreamweaver running concurrently in order to make sure I don’t stomp (or overwrite) the designer’s updates. Until we get to point where we are solely a development shop, and can ease off design, we’ll run this setup…or maybe we can develop an Eclipse plugin that will allow us to simulate DW check-in/check-out while using Eclipse…hmm…

Google this Google that: The Internet Monopoly

Matt Satorius — Mon, 11 Sep 2006 02:59:05 +0000

Could one ever really exist? I mean, this is the internet. It’s worldwide! Anyone and their brother could get the simplest website off the ground if they wanted to. With that at stake, we as designers hold the standard that in order to make ourselves worthwhile and of value to your clients, we must excel at our trade and rise above the templates! Could Google have more in mind though?

Google no doubt has become a part (and for some a large part) of our daily lives. Whether it be our search engine of choice or our home page, for some it could be our email, im, atlas, and coffee maker (perhaps not yet…but just you wait!). As I was discussing with a colleague, we were talking about some of the Google applets that are offered, and the point came up that Google no doubt has taken off. The snowball is rolling down the mountain, how much snow will it pick up along the way and what stretch of our lives will Google make easier for us next? That’s just the thing! Google’s applets tend to be quite easy to use, quick in loading, and convienient for our quick need of information. When is this movie playing around me? Punch it in Google. How did my stock do today? Google knows. How long am I going to be in the car and where is the closest taxi? The answers are quickly found with a Google click.

As developers though, Google also has also made some of our lives easier. With each applet that Google comes up with, API’s have also been developed for easy integration to your website. Whether it be the simple adding of a Google search or map, or even as far as your complete checkout system, Google has the tools readily available. Not just that though, it’s FREE! How can we say no? However, the question we must ask ourselves is whether we are signing and sealing our own grave. At what point will Google stop, if ever?� Will it be that someday Google will have it’s finger of code on every website?� On one hand, why reinvent the wheel? On the other, let’s be creative! Free vs. man/billable hours. A system people already know how to use vs. a proprietary system. Coming from a fellow designer, we are in between a rock and a hard place. Truly there will always be the need for custom designs and uniqueness, however with Google taking over the rest of pie, how do we stop this train?

Are there any answers? Do we admit that Google is here to stay and adopt them into our designs, or do we instead forge ahead as unique designers and programmers and rely not on Google applets? The choice is yours, but it sure is hard to think of the internet these days without Google.com.