David Walsh :: Legendary scribbles about JavaScript, HTML5, AJAX, PHP, CSS, and ∞. » rand()

Google Wave Invites Giveaway

David Walsh — Tue, 08 Dec 2009 18:19:35 +0000

Over the past months I’ve given away dozens of Google Wave invites via my Twitter feed. Selfless? Yes. Kind? Of course. Generous? Always. So far I’ve simply given them away but now we’re going to play a new game!

The Plot

I’m going to keep this post open and you are going to ask me for a Wave invite via the comments section. As I get new invites, I will simply send them randomly. There is, however, a catch: you must post a link to your favorite photo of Christina Ricci. You scratch my back, I scratch yours.

I currently have 10 available. Good luck!

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Full David Walsh Blog Post: Google Wave Invites Giveaway

What I’m Thankful For: 2009 Web Edition

David Walsh — Thu, 26 Nov 2009 15:14:40 +0000

I’d like to take a moment this Thanksgiving to thank some people that deserved to be.

I’d like to thank the MooTools team for all of the support and hard work. I feel truly honored to be around such intelligent, driven group of individuals. I’d like to specifically thank Aaron Newton and Valerio Proietti for being great leaders and advisers. MooTools FTW.
I’d like to thank members of the MooTools community for all of their hard work. Sometimes I don’t think we all realize just how much we’re changing the web. Keep up the good work MooToolers!
I’d like to thank friends like Chris Coyier and Eric Wendelin for letting me bounce ideas off of them, however rubbish they may be.
I’d like to thank Babel Fish for allowing me to easily translate senseless phrases to other languages so that I may send said messages to foreign members of the MooTools team.
I’d like to thank Rey Bango for being my whipping boy whenever I need to talk smack to someone.
I’d like to thank Twitter for creating a service that allows me to be riveting in 140 characters or less.
I’d like to thank DirecTv for allowing to purchase not one but two soccer packages. I get to see EPL, SPL, La Liga, Serie A, Bundesliga, Ligue, Russian League, and Champhions League. In turn I’d like to thank Darren Waddell for being patient with me as I ask questions and initially attempted to be a Chelsea fan. I’ve seen the errors of my ways: go Gunners!
I’d like to thank Internet Explorer for continuing to encourage my creativity and making me think out each piece of my JavaScript code.
I’d like to thank my advertisers who are unknowingly paying for the rock I just bought.
I’d like to thank all of the crappy sites our there for giving me so many ideas for improvements.
I’d like to thank the developers and designers that follow me here, provide encouragement and constructive criticism, and reach out to help with projects. You guys make all the time I spend on this blog worth it.

Thank you again!

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Full David Walsh Blog Post: What I’m Thankful For: 2009 Web Edition

Confessions Friday

David Walsh — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 14:24:53 +0000

Over the past two years I’ve run my Confessions of a Web Developer series. Each one has been really popular and well-received. It’s Friday and I’ve had a bad week so today I want you to confess your web development sins in the comment section below. Purge your conscious at the end of the week and confess!

I hope to use these for a future post so make them juicy!

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Full David Walsh Blog Post: Confessions Friday

When Webmasters Attack!

David Walsh — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 00:25:13 +0000

CSS-Tricks scribe Chris Coyier wrote a great post titled What Beautiful HTML Code Looks Like where he outlined (with a great image, no less) how a great HTML/PHP file looks when proper programming practices are used. The post was so popular that the featured image was promoted to the Digg homepage. Then the webmasters logged out of their guild chat long enough to bless the Digg comments with their wisdom. I present to you…

When Webmasters Attack!

Also, what kind of web designer doesn’t already know this? It’s called being organized. However, all that white-space is going to add-up and waste bandwidth, which makes this “beautiful code” (a self-serving, inaccurate, subjective description) not-so-perfect.

What kind of web designer doesn’t know how easy it is to GZIP content which compresses/eliminates all of the extra whitespace that makes code more maintainable?

I don’t think
This isn’t a “Hello Kitty” picture, Webmaster, so please don’t comment. This will get parsed by PHP and output as HTML.
I link to one stylesheet. It works on firefox, safari and ie8.
If you can’t be bothered to upgrade your browser, I can’t be bothered with you.
None of this If IE>blabla shit.
Oh, and spare me the “but i need IE6 to use some of the software at my office”. I DONT CARE! Use a more recent browser to surf the internet, and stop spreading viruses because you’re too lazy.
I was going to ask you, Webmaster, about your clients’ web visitors and the money they’d be losing by turning away persons with IE6 and IE7 browsers but then I realized I took them all from you. Apparently the order of importance goes: you, client, visitors. That’s completely backward.
…The irony of this article is that it’s one giant PNG image. Further proof that the most beautiful HTML is the nonexistent kind.
Apparently Chris should have used a JPEG?
Why I am not surprised to see a MacOS window?
Because you’re a psychic? WTF is that supposed to mean?
PHP in a .HTML file?
change the title to “What Beautiful HTML Code Looks Like [infoFAIL]“
As long as you’re going to ignore the main point of the post and be a smart ass about the PHP/HTML, I’ll point out that Chris added a .htaccess directive to parse .html files as PHP. Ouch, sick burn!
No title attributes in the anchor tags. Since when does that make for beautiful HTML?
The article isn’t called “What Beautiful SEO Looks Like”.
This page has a story, a sidebar, and a footer. ‘Real’ websites are far more dynamic than this, and by ‘real’ I mean ones that people will go to. Complex websites have complex markup. You shouldn’t be bragging just because you’ve passed your w3schools tests.
You’re right. What he should really brag about are the dozens of thousands of RSS followers and his status within the community.
I get it but to some point it gets stupid. Stop accommodating specific browsers. If the web page loads properly then good but if it doesnt and looks broken then that tells he consumer to upgrade their fucking browser! It should be that simple.
Another lazy, ignorant idiot that doesn’t understand that he isn’t important — his clients and their visitors are. This person clearly doesn’t get it.
In the end…
Thank you again, Webmaster, for reminding me why I should be so proud of the work I do. Without you I couldn’t pay for house, cars, and fine wine. Keep up the good work so I can keep up my fine life!
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Full David Walsh Blog Post: When Webmasters Attack!
Related posts:
CSS-Tricks — CSS & Text Selection & Highlighting
Google Wave Invites Giveaway
9 Signs You Shouldn’t Hire THAT Web Guy
Google Grabber — Using PHP to Find Out How Many Pages Your Domain Has Listed in Google
An Open Letter to You, Webmaster

7 Signs I Knew I Was Born To Be a Programmer

David Walsh — Mon, 26 Oct 2009 13:07:25 +0000

This will probably shock you but I’m a programmer. Not a designer, not a copywriter, just a simple programmer. I’ve done some self analysis and realized that becoming a programmer wasn’t a choice — it was destiny. The following is my logic for why I became a programmer.

1. I’m Allergic to the Sun

I’m not as hot as Kate Beckinsale but I’m just as allergic to the sun as she was in Underworld. The second I see the sun I sneeze. What’s odd is that I used to play outside endlessly as a child — it wasn’t until I became a programmer that I developed this strange allergy to the sun. Today my skin is very white — a monitor tan is the only tan I get these days.

2. I Get Nosebleeds Often

No true nerd gets their official credentials without proof of frequent nosebleeds. Unprovoked and unexplainable, my nosebleeds just appear out of thin air…literally. These pick up quite a bit during the winter. I’ve broken my nose three times but no way to confirm that being a contributing factor.

3. I Have No Immune System

Most of my “vacation days” (PTO) are used up by illnesses that range from migraine headaches to pneumonia to bronchitis. I have the sniffles 365 days a year. I’ll wake up with a sore throat in mid-June. My body has no desire to fight viruses. A perfect excuse to avoid manual labor and sit behind a monitor inside my condo.

4. I Have No “Real Life” Skills

You know how grown men are supposed to be able to change their oil, cook breakfast for their significant other, and do their own laundry? Yeah, not me. No joke — I tried making eggs a few months ago, messed something up, and my kitchen smelled funky for the rest of the day. I’m a complete train wreck when not located within three feet of a computer.

5. I Have No “Social” Skills; Computer > Human

I’m not what you’d consider a “people person.” I’d rather spend 20 minutes typing an email than 3 minutes on the phone. I simply don’t have that gene. When coworkers say hello to me at work I usually reply with “email me.” I’m charming via email, stone cold in person.

6. I Think I’m Much Smarter Than I Really Am

Like any good egotistical programmer, I feel I’m much smarter than I am. Yeah, I slang terms like “prototypal inheritance”, “event delegation”, and many other impressive programming terms, but can I make eggs? No. Doesn’t matter. Why? Because I can slang terms to people who aren’t computer savvy and help fix email problems. I think I belong in MENSA — most other things I belong in on a seat in the corner of the room with a coloring book and non-toxic crayons.

7. Fashion == null

I cannot stand “bros” that wear $200 jeans and $50 Hollister/Abercrombie/American Eagle T-Shirts. I see a Broseph walk down the sidewalk with white shades and a fro-hawk and choke on my own vomit…..yet I have no problem with wearing one of my 5 MooTools shirts to any event. Wedding? Yes…because MooTools has Class. So simple.

I’m a complete nerd for those scoring at home. The life of a programmer as a tough one…God only knows how I can get through each day.

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Full David Walsh Blog Post: 7 Signs I Knew I Was Born To Be a Programmer

MacBook Pro: Week 12

David Walsh — Fri, 18 Sep 2009 13:06:30 +0000

It’s been 3 solid months of having my MacBook Pro now and I wanted to give a quick overview of my thoughts:

I loooooooove my MacBook Pro. Not one single regret about dropping $2,000 on it.
I develop quite a bit faster using TextMate. Nothing against my first love, jEdit, but Textmate is more flexible, functional, and useful.
The command line is a billion times more powerful thanks to Unix. I commend the efforts of Cygwin developers but there’s nothing like the real thing.
I can count on one hand the number of times I’ve needed to Force-Quit an application (yes, I’m looking at YOU, iTunes). Seriously.
Thanks to having this Unix-powered beast, I’ve become better with shell scripting and using command-line utilities and strategies.
Everything just seems easier. EVERYTHING. Installing and updating applications especially.
I still need to use a PC at work….and lets just say I’ve put in many requests for a Mac at work to increase my productivity.
Dock > Start menu
I enjoy that I don’t need to go through a bunch of shit just to upgrade my OS. No serial number, no online verification, no bull — just upgrade and move on with life.
The user interface of Mac applications is 100 times better than any Windows application. Not even close.
I will never, ever buy a PC again as a primary or secondary development machine.
Programs I use religiously: Adium, Colloquy, Tweetie, TextMate, Photoshop, iTerm, and Transmit.
Programs I use occasionally: AppFresh, Skitch, Transmission, GitX, VLC.
I have Windows 7 on VirtualBox and it looks great….but why have that as your primary OS when you can put it on a measly virtual box?
Although I was told by many to avoid MacPorts, I’ve found MacPorts to be extremely helpful.
At one point checking my work on Macs was secondary — now checking PCs has become secondary.
If someone were to ask me why I would choose Macs over PCs, I’d say: “Because things just work.”

I admit: I am a fanboy. I am smug. But I’m also productive, happy, and encouraged by this beast of a machine. MBP FTW!

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Full David Walsh Blog Post: MacBook Pro: Week 12

Important Notice: GeoCities is Closing.

David Walsh — Fri, 10 Jul 2009 02:57:19 +0000

I just got the worst news of my life:

Dear Yahoo! GeoCities customer,
We’re writing to let you know that Yahoo! GeoCities, our free web site building service and community, is closing on October 26, 2009.
On October 26, 2009, your GeoCities site will no longer appear on the Web, and you will no longer be able to access your GeoCities account and files.

Well…not the worst news in my life but Geocities was my first sandbox and I owe a lot of my HTML/CSS web growth to my free Geocities account. Too bad Yahoo! eventually bought it out and drove it into the ground. There will always be a need for free hosting providers for young web experimenters and GeoCities was just that for a lot of us.

Did you “grow up” on Geocities like I did? Share your experience!

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Full David Walsh Blog Post: Important Notice: GeoCities is Closing.

Quick Tip: FavIcons and 404 Errors

David Walsh — Fri, 19 Jun 2009 13:08:54 +0000

As you probably already know, adding a favorite icon to your website is a great way to add subtle branding to your website. It’s an easy, one-time update to your website that you never need to think about once it’s done.

Lets say you don’t care about the favicon or don’t have a logo to use as a favicon. Since each browser looks for a “favicon.ico” file when no favicon is assigned, your server may throw off 404 errors on every site visit. What a bunch of wasted bandwidth and server strain!

The solution is to use a blank favicon file. It’s tiny in size, prevents the useless 404 error, and decreases load on the server. Don’t have a blank favicon file? I do. Click here to download it.

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Full David Walsh Blog Post: Quick Tip: FavIcons and 404 Errors

MacBook

David Walsh — Tue, 16 Jun 2009 01:24:19 +0000

Forgive me Father, for I have sinned — I sold my soul for a MacBook.

So I didn’t necessarily sell my soul but after much prodding and advice from the MooTools team, I’ve decided to buy a 15″ MacBook Pro. Everyone told me I needed to get one and in all honesty, when the alternative is a garbage Dell laptop fitted with the trainwreck that is Microsoft Vista, it was my only option. I still have a Windows XP desktop that I love but I also got the MacBook so that I had both systems for testing.

Mac Fanboy?

I’m not a Mac guy. In fact Mac fanboys scare me almost as much as Trekkies (they’re basically one in the same, so maybe I shouldn’t be scared of one over the other). I feel as though now it’s time to drink the Kool-Aid though. There’s no denying Macs are solid, dependable systems and every designer/developer I know praises them like they’re Christina Ricci. It’s time for me to give it a shot.

I Need Your Help!

Since I’ve never worked on a Mac, and there’s no doubt that many of you love and work on Macs, I need your help and guidance. Here’s what I’d like from you:

What apps do I need to download?
What apps should I stay away from?
Have any tips for the switch from PC to Mac?
How much of a loser am I for just switching now?

I really appreciate any feedback or advice you can give me!

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Full David Walsh Blog Post: MacBook

iPhone

David Walsh — Tue, 09 Jun 2009 13:24:23 +0000

I’ll cut to the chase. My birthday is coming up on July 5th and my girlfriend wants to buy me an iPhone (like I need more time being connected to the web). Anyways, I don’t know a ton about the iPhone or the must-have apps that I need to buy. This is where I’m relying on your experience with the iPhone and its apps to tell me what I should or should not get.

So….which apps should I get? Which should I avoid? Have any tips or iPhone “secrets” for me? Please let me know!

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Full David Walsh Blog Post: iPhone