Confessions of a Web Developer VIII
It's been a while since I've gotten a few things off of my chest and since I'm always full of peeves and annoyances I thought it was time to unleash:
- Rock star developers get lots of schwag and job offers every day. It makes me think to myself: "If I were an actual rock star, the offers would be sex and drugs." A very difficult decision as to what I'd rather be.....
- "Webmasters" are a lot like a "Porn Star": both get their status before they've done or proven anything.
- If more people knew about Dojo's Dijit library, Dojo could be the most popular toolkit out there. No other toolkit (maybe excluding Ext) available has that level of UI framework to go along with its base framework.
- MooTools 1.3 is the first step in incrementing MooTools to 2.0. Implementing Slick is a great start -- there's no more fitting name for this selector engine than that.
- I spend 40+ hours a week with Dojo team members and probably another 40+ with the MooTools team. Loads of brilliant people around me. I sometimes feel completely out-classed...
- ...although it does make me feel important since, at any moment of time, I can ping the head figures of Dojo, jQuery, and MooTools.
- Apple wont support Flash. Am I the only person that doesn't give a shit?
- Don't like Facebook's privacy policies? Close your account and create your own site. Simple. Facebook has put forth the money, time, and effort to create the site. You are owed NOTHING. STFU or move on.
- Getting beat up by a bug all day can be frustrating but the good thing is that the given bug will never victimize you again.
- I was playing the "guess which framework this business' website uses" game and I set my target on McDonald's. I said it would be jQuery. It was. Very fitting and an easy guess.
- Sometimes I look out my window and wish I worked in the outdoors. Then I realized that I'm a sickly, small person and that I'd probably die within a week.
- Crucify Microsoft and not its current browser developer team.
- It pisses me off that developers who blog are made to feel guilty for having ads on their site. We're giving away code for free; we're charging, essentially, for our time. And our time is worth it, so don't bitch.
- There's no better way to create instant comedy on IM than by using the "/me _____" command. "/me" = gold.
- I haven't touched a server-side script in weeks...and I'm more than OK with that.
- I felt like a total attention whore to create a David Walsh Blog page on Facebook, but a lot of people had asked for it. So deal with it.
As always I've lobbed the first pitch -- time for you to tee off.
Cool article :)
About facebook.. I totally agree
And about the Apple vs Adobe thing, I like/have iPhone games and I have a computer to handle the stuff that require flash. Apart from that I don’t really care.. Flash existed just because browsers couldn’t do some stuff and made macromedia (and later adobe) a whole bunch of money. Bottom line, not such a big deal.. Don’t get too attached to stuff :)
Good stuff David,
As Kostas says, I totally agree with the Facebook thing! No doubt when the begrudgers and moaners signed up, they all accepted terms & conditions which covers Facebooks ass.
Being a novice web-designers with high aspirations, I’ve dabbled ever so slightly in Flash Development, and have found it very difficult to use as opposed to JS. Granted much oh what can be done in Flash can’t be done in JS, but thats why theyre two completely different platforms!?
Just my opinion -_-
>>Sometimes I look out my window and wish I worked in the outdoors. Then I realized that I’m a sickly, small person and that I’d probably die within a week.
I work for an outdoor retailer and totally feel ya. Especially after looking at pictures of people ice climbing.
>> Apple wont support Flash. Am I the only person that doesn’t give a shit?
While I really don’t care if Apple will support Flash or not, I have enjoyed the battle between Adobe and Apple. It’s been like a teenage battle really.
>> I spend 40+ hours a week with Dojo team members and probably another 40+ with the MooTools team. Loads of brilliant people around me. I sometimes feel completely out-classed…
If it makes you feel any better, your knowledge makes quite a few people out-classed so think of it that way.
>>Getting beat up by a bug all day can be frustrating but the good thing is that the given bug will never victimize you again.
I totally agree!! Well said.
I agree with you on the ads, but maybe one day when you can afford be picky, could you perhaps choose partners that only want to use static images instead of really annoying and distracting flashing gifs.
I think it just makes the blog look “cheap”. Keep up the good work otherwise!
Always looking forward to these posts :)
Christ, I normally find your posts really useful, but you can sound like a complete retard sometimes. I should make my own Facebook if I don’t like them selling my personal information to third parties without my consent? I guess I should make my own Gmail if I don’t like their policies. Or my own Twitter. Or Youtube. I joined Facebook in 2004, back when it was only college students. But now it’s a hellhole of Farmville apps, singles ads and privacy holes. You might enjoy rearing sheep or having photos tagged of you appearing in Google searches, but it doesnt give Zuckerberg the right to store all of my personal information, sell it to whoever he likes without my consent and make it difficult and confusing for me to leave.
Also, having read some of the comments, it seems your readers are stupid as you are so you can count my rss subscription cancelled
Well then Robert, you’re not only stupid, but a complete retard also. I t took me a total of 6 seconds to delete an account off of Facebook. So pull up your G-string and pop the diaphragm out of your twat you whiney sissy bitch. Deal.
Oh, here’s the link you attention whore. – https://ssl.facebook.com/help/contact.php?show_form=delete_account
If you’d rather do things the hard way because your thong is stuck up your mangina – http://www.wikihow.com/Permanently-Delete-a-Facebook-Account
Don’t you love those things out there called search engines, sunshine?
David. Dead on with some of these like I could give a shit if Apple supports Flash or working on server-side stuff. Especially someone else’s abortion-like code.
Maybe we ought to code “Robert” a suitable e-pill so his crying is reduced to a mere whimpering.
David, totally agree with you, but hey, the Facebook note. I personally don’t give a damn about their privacy or whatsoever. There’s nothing they’re sharing that I hadn’t already shared on my blog and/other networks.. But Facebook is big, and that’s at least one reason to develop for the Facebook Platform, which is more than awesome, which gives a second reason.
If not Facebook then at least Facebook Connect. Come on, how many more forms do I have to fill out? ;)
Cool blog post, just thinking out loud ;)
Cheers!
Maybe some web-dev rap videos would help, and flash some bling.
@Alex Crooks: Yep, that ad is getting the axe on the next round. I totally agree.
@Christoph Pojer: Of course you do.
@Robert: Why would you give your personal information from a site you don’t trust? You should’ve gotten out as soon as you could. I don’t post *any* information to Facebook or any other site that I wouldn’t want people to know. Welcome to the internet.
@Ferodynamics: I’ll create some of those soon! :)
Do people _really_ complain about ads on developers blogs? Because if they do that’s simply ludicrous. If the ads are intrusive or in some way malignant then have at it, kick up a huge fuss; but to complain about their mere presence? I find that quite astonishing in this day and age.
@Todd: Wow. This is funny as hell. I stumbled across Dave’s blog and read the article – nice to vent every once in a while – then caught your reply. Todd, that’s funny shite. Especially diggin’ the “mangina” and “g-string” bits. LMAO, literally.
Nice article David, and like always…keep up the good work ;)
“It pisses me off that developers who blog are made to feel guilty for having ads on their site. We’re giving away code for free; we’re charging, essentially, for our time. And our time is worth it, so don’t bitch.”
I think the issue that people have with ads is that they imply a questionable intent. i.e. having ads might mean that you’re only doing this for the money. Also, this is just my opinion, but having ads on your personal site is somewhat unprofessional — it’s a bit like selling ad space on your CV.
Also, and again this is just my opinion, ads can sometimes belittle the content itself.
I feel that the knowledge people like you share is important on a non-monetary level. The sharing of information should, frankly, be done freely, as it is the only means that humankind continue to exist with their current lifestyles. If you ever do or if you currently have children then I’m sure you will share your knowledge with them, without exposing them to ads and promotions in order to make it an economically viable exercise… It’s not all about the money, and it shouldn’t be.
And, IMHO, your time is worth no more than any other person’s time… The fact that we charge a premium for our knowledge and time does not entitle us to superiority in other areas of life.
Macie D’s is now using MooTools *gasp*
http://www.mcdonalds.co.uk/static/js/alib/lib/moo/tools.js
Also well said about the ads – I never know why people moan about sites having ads? Do you make them visit your site… no! Do you make them click the ads… no! Do you stop them installing adBlock… no! Will they pay for your hosting and time and effort otherwise… no!
Your posts always cheer me up :-)
Since when did you add the selected text search thing? That is awesome! Seriously people, try it … select some text on this page and David will appear like an iconic angel hovering politely above your selected text … click him to search his site for the selected text.
Just because we know not to put personal information on Facebook doesnt mean it’s OK for them to do what they’re doing. Lots of people arent aware of the privacy issues. Have a look at youropenbook.org. I don’t even know these people but I can read their status updates. Just because Facebook is confusing and misleading about how it handles privacy doesnt make it the user’s fault. If it were, they wouldnt be having crisis meetings to deal with it, would they?
“Apple wont support Flash. Am I the only person that doesn’t give a shit?”
I don’t care either. While I’m still worried about a lot of Apple’s other policies, I’m certainly not going be upset if Flash start disappearing from most web sites.
… except games… Kongregate has a lot guilty pleasures in it.
Words war with chained /me ___ are always a good time.
Words-war with chained /me ___ are always a good time.
Facebook hate makes me feel alive.
Yes, but how many webmasters make good pr0n stars? Just sayin.
Attention whore to do a fan page on FB? May I be the one to direct you to one of Adam Carolla’s latest podcasts. I think you’ll enjoy it: http://www.adamcarolla.com/ACPBlog/2010/05/17/adam-and-jay-louis/ ;-)
@James: I disagree. I don’t see this as much different than paying for a college education, or tech support, or hell — even entertainment.
I know it sounds ego-centric but my time is worth more than some others, the same way Resig’s time would be worth more than my time.
I don’t owe it to people to do this — I do it because I love doing it. That said, I get enough traffic to make extra cash. I have a mortgage, wedding coming up, etc. Why wouldn’t I give a cost to my time?
Additionally, I’ve got a “day job” so this site isn’t so much a portfolio as it is a code lab.
@Paul Spencer: I’ve had it about a year now. It’s meant to be an “added bonus.”
@james – I’ll gladly accept the $150 you got for each of your nettuts articles :D
@Ryan, good point. I’ve actually considered stopping writing for Nettuts for the very reasons I outlined above.
@James I agree that our time may not be worth more than that of any other trained professional (doctor, plumber, etc), but how many plumbers take the time to offer their knowledge up in a open and public forum for all others to learn from…. freely?
Some of us do bare costs to share said knowledge (hosting, domain renewal, etc), and a tiny bit of income that advertising brings anymore, I would think is the least that could be asked for in return.
That being said, I have seen programming blogs that are nothing more than a thinly-veiled attempt at cashing in. :-(
Confessions of a Web Developer VIII.I
@allWhoOpposeMakingMoneyWithAds What’s wrong with trying to make a few extra bucks? If you hate ads that much don’t visit the page (any page with ads), don’t even use ad-block, just don’t visit the page period. Do ads really hurt your eyes that much? You must be new-born babies.
I’ve been eating McDonald’s my whole life, but tonight is the first time I have visited their website. That’s crazy!
Facebook… I hear a lot of people talking about quitting, but I have not heard of one of my friends actually doing it. From what I’ve heard is that facebook is using user information to provide targeted ads/content all over the web. How is this a problem? Would you rather see content and ads that are irrelevant? I blame the media for this one.
You use chrome? Makes the “guess the framework” game a lot easier. Check out the Chrome Sniffer extension.
“Don’t like Facebook’s privacy policies? Close your account and create your own site. Simple. Facebook has put forth the money, time, and effort to create the site. You are owed NOTHING. STFU or move on.”
Finally somebody said it! *FINALLY*!
I can’t stand when people complain about something for months, if not years in this case, but never have the gusto to get off their lazy ass and actually fix it themselves.
Your bluntness has saved us all.