HTML 5 Stuff

Over in the Web Design and Development (WD&D) group (at Google Groups), I started a thread/topic/post for discussing HTML 5 Stuff. One of the members left a link to his own take on the upcoming HTML 5 standard and I responded to it right there in his blog.  Unfortunately, I wasn’t aware that his blog system would not automagically convert less than (“<“) and greater than (“>“) symbols over to html codes, and so every time I talked about these tags, they completely disappeared from the post reply as if they were actual HTML code (whether they were simply disallowed or are actually showing up as code, they simply are not showing up in the text of my reply at all).

So, in an effort to correct how his blog is displaying my reply to his post, I have decided to try to correct and clarify my response to his original post concerning HTML 5 on his blog here:

My Corrected Response on the HTML 5 Topic:

(As indicated, I will also try to edit this post and make it clearer…)

HTML 5 represents web design coming out of the dark ages.  It isn’t just a significant and noteworthy advancement, it represents an understanding in creativity, art, media and the flow of the production process.  And it also offers coders much better and clearer semantics.

More needs to be done, though.  Browser wars continue to over dramatically impede progress as they look to promote their own brand’s and codec as the default solution.  There is no true web authority to lay down the law on these characters who fight like dysfunctional in-laws.  Here too, the world’s governments fail to step in and help resolve issues because it doesn’t even understand this technology.  And no one understands that the lack any real authority continues to impede the process of stanardization support, as well as its progress and further advancement.  Therefore, this demonstrable lack of control over the web (and the internet as a whole) is helping to promote the stagnation of our global economy.

HTML 5 is the answer.  Not in its present form, but as it evolves and support for it finally surfaces across all platforms.  Which is the trouble, because as browser companies squabble about minor issues in order to promote their own brand, their self-serving brand oriented corporate muscling and protectionist attitude holds up progress for the entire rest of the world.  Of course, they obviously think that they are more important than everyone else, or the greater good.  And this is where the lack of any kind of corporate morality is constantly stabbing progress  in the spine of the back, repeatedly, like some sort of remorseless mad axe murder.

I honestly think that HTML 5 will change the world, eventually. But support is key. Why Microsoft Internet Explorer continues to hold-up the show should be considered criminal. I cannot understand why it insists on being seen as the bad guy in the technology development sector when it comes to the web. Of course, Microsoft never has seemed to “get the internet”. But they are not alone in blame for the wishy-washy support for the HTML 5 standard support, either. All browser entities are guilty because they are still promoting their own interests in a standardized codec for the <audio> and <video> tags.  This kind of idiocy continues to overshadow the technology and hold-up progress.

Should they have placed the development of the HTML 5 standard into the hands of a capable independent organization of web designers and developers?  They did.  And yet many of these issues we looked to the W3C and WHATWG for guidance on were ignored.

Yet, the corporate dance is still required.  I mean, I can start a group to develop HTMLX as an independent group, but no one is going to support it if they are not on-board.  And no one is going to want to help develop it as a standard unless it has a good chance of becoming a real standard which is supported by the corporate community.

In the meantime I know that I would have a whole lot more web design work if the HTML 5 standard were a reliable and competitive standard that we could rely on once it is ratified and officially released.  But we can’t because of corporate bickering and the ensuing lack of agreement or support to actually handle the <video> and <audio> tags.

In a time when we need work and to promote progress in order revitalize the global economy, the w3 (the worldwide web) needs massive attention so that we can put Humpty Dumpty back together again.

I am just one of many web designers experimenting with the HTML 5 standard.  I came across a link to this blog post on the subject of HTML 5 Stuff in the Web Design and Development group at Google Groups (http://groups.google.com/group/sitedesign).  But I do want better support, and I am calling for the browser industry to get on board (finally).  Because for us web designers, we will have to get on board with HTML 5 or we will simply die in the coming years.  This standard is just too good and helps untie the knots of code which flow and creativity tends to stumble over.

Thanks for your post, I love bringing awareness to HTML 5 and thank you for your effort.  I long to learn more about how to use the <canvas> tag. That tag should be lots of fun in the future. 😉

Reference:
Jame’s Parker’s (from Cyber Designz) HTML 5 and How It Works Blog Entry
The W3C
The WHATWG
The following links require membership in the WD&D group:
http://groups.google.com/group/sitedesign
http://groups.google.com/group/sitedesign/browse_thread/thread/faf4070ed871499d

Do You Need Like-Minded People to Follow on Twitter?

Are you looking for some like minded people to follow on Twitter?  If so, you may have been following people that your friends have been following, trusting their judgment.  But this has not worked out well for me.  Often it works very well, but there are the few trouble makers with a crappy mouth that I do not like my son to see.  Since TweetDeck is updating at regular intervals automatically, this is a big problem.

But recently Twitter has introduced “lists”.  Lists allow you to categorize other twitterers (or “tweople”) into lists.  In my case, I have categorized a whole mess of people into quite a few lists.  This should allow some of you who are designers to follow other designers, and etc.

A list of my current lists, with links to them, follows:

@Domainating/authors
@Domainating/entrepreneurs
@Domainating/marketers
@Domainating/artists
@Domainating/sports
@Domainating/tools
@Domainating/directories
@Domainating/siouxfalls
@Domainating/seoers
@Domainating/resources
@Domainating/southdakota
@Domainating/developers
@Domainating/designers
@Domainating/domainers

Hopefully that’s a good place to start, anyway. I actually spent quite a bit of time building those lists. I hope you can enjoy a few of them.

These lists are meant to allow others an easy means to follow other like-minded professionals, but you don’t have to actually follow each member, individually.  From what I understand, Twitter allows you to follow each individual list, making it much easier to add everyone listed there.

However, remember that you don’t have to follow anyone in order to put them in your own list, either.  That is, I started a list of designers and added all the known/recognized graphic and web designers to it.  But I didn’t actually follow the guys who’s Twitter posts (“tweets”) weren’t in English.  I still want them in my list in case I need someone who speaks Polish better than I (or some other language), so that I have easy access to them should I need to contract a freelancer on a project.

I do suggest that you follow like-minded people, though.  For instance, if you don’t know anything about domain names, and don’t especially want to, don’t go through the list of Domainers.  You’ll only get a bunch of info you don’t really want to know, such as domain name news, domain names offered for sale, or maybe something like how to use Google AdSense to monetize your website.  Professional websites don’t show Google AdWords advertisements, after all.

Happy Tweeting!

Web Design Tutorial Resources

Originally, I started making this list as a quick reference page for our Web Design and Development group at Google Groups.  Unfortunately, real life interrupted and I never got this list done.

So instead of posting the incomplete list of web design and development tutorial resources to the group, I thought I’d post the start of it here.  This way, the general public can comment on the resources or even add additional online websites offering tutorial resources.

Note that web design requires more than simply knowing how to code and present information in HTML & CSS.  Usually in any such position, highly proficient graphic design skills are required with demonstrable hands-on knowledge of the Photoshop and Illustrator creativity application suites will also be required.  Further skills such as Flash, javascript, or php & MySQL coding proficiency, or experience in SEO or online marketing may well also considered an huge asset.

The aforementioned reason is why it’s often hard to find just the type of tutorial you might require, everyone wants something different, and most tutorial resources only cover specific skillsets.  One site might be offering HTML tutorials while not offering XHTML tutorials.  Another site might cover the CSS standard to version 2 and completely ignore CSS3, etc…

Therefore, I am trying to build a quick reference table of online web design and development tutorial resources.  I want it for my own reference as much as for anyone else’s.  Technology is always evolving in this industry, so it is great to have reliable up-to-date resources from which to learn and to reference.

The W3C (the WorldWide Web Consortium) is apparently too busy developing standards and defining them with barely understandable legal speak, so do not expect any good tutorials there on the site…

http://www.w3.org/
[The W3C (WorldWide Web Consortium) offers Standards Documentation in Legal Speak]

http://www.whatwg.org/
[The Web Hypertext Application Technology Working Group is currently working on the future HTML 5 Standard in conjunction with the W3C]

However, If the W3C was surely interested in leading the web technology standards, I think that they would have long ago identified their inability to communicate effectively with the rest of the world as well as addressed this problem with some easier to understand interpretations, examples and tutorials.  I personally take exception to some of the things they do, the way they do them, and the way they refuse to explain their lack of reasoning in doing some of the crazy things they do.

Since they don’t recognize this issue we are left to scavenge the web for decent info and tutorials in order to just have decent results.  And no one place completely covers any one standard, let along the lot of them.  In fact, there is no one decent authority to rely on.  Hence, I complied the following list of web design tutorials.

http://www.opera.com/developer/wsc/
[Free Opera Web Standards Curriculum (HTML/CSS)]

http://developer.yahoo.com/
[Free Yahoo Web Developer Network (HTML/CSS)]

http://www.sitepoint.com/
[Free HTML/CSS Tutorials & Reference Material]

http://www.smashingmagazine.com/category/tutorials/
[Free design tutorials for anything to do with design, all levels]

http://www.quackit.com/
[Free HTML/CSS Tutorials for Beginners]

http://www.tizag.com/
[Free HTML/XHTML/XML/CSS/Javascript/AJAX/VBScript/Perl/PHP/MySQL/ASP/Flash/SEO Tutorials for Beginners]

http://www.how-to-build-websites.com/
[Free HTML/XHTML/CSS/Dreamweaver/PHP/Javascript/Flash/Actionscript/PHP Tutorials for Beginners]

http://www.webmonkey.com/
[Free Web Developer’s Resource with many tutorials, articles and reference materials covering almost any web design subject]

http://www.freewebmasterhelp.com/
[Inexpensive HTML/XHTML/XML/WML/WAP/Javascript/SSI/PHP/MySQL/ASP/Cookies/Flash/FTP/.htaccess/Promotion Tutorials]

http://www.hscripts.com/
[Free HTML/CSS/Javascript/Perl/PHP/MySQL/SEO/Linux/Photoshop Tutorials]

http://htmlite.com/
[Free HTML/XHTML/XML/XSLT/CSS/SSI/Perl/PHP/MySQL/Javascript/FTP/.htaccess Tutorials]

http://www.tutorialtastic.co.uk/
[Free HTML/XHTML/CSS/PHP/MySQL/Javascript/Graphics Tutorials]

http://www.webdevelopersnotes.com/tutorials/index.php3
[Free HTML/SQL/MySQL/Javascript/Flash Tutorials]

http://www.echoecho.com/school.htm
[Free HTML/DHTML/XML/CSS/SSI/Perl/PHP/ASP/Cold-Fusion/Java/Flash/Graphics/Design Tutorials]

http://www.sergey.com/web_course/content.html
[HTML/DHTML/XML/CSS/CGI/Javascript/Java/ASP/HTTPS/SSL Free Web Technologies Overview Course]

http://www.jessett.com/
[creating a website: Usability/Graphics/HTML/Dreamweaver/CSS/DHTML/SEO]

http://www.webdesign.org/
[Free HTML/CSS/PHP/ASP/Javascript/Design/Usability/Color/Templates/Photoshop/Fireworks/Gimp/PaintShopPro/CorelDraw/Illustrator/Flash/Swish/3D/SEO Tutorials]

http://www.academictutorials.com/
[Free HTML/DHTML/XHTML/WAP/XML/XSL/XSLT/RSS/DTD/Perl/PHP/Python/ASP/.NET/SQL/Javascript/Java/VBScript/SVG/SMIL/Flash/Photoshop/Gimp/Matlab/Gnuplot/GIF/Graphics/SEO & more Tutorials and Quizes]

http://www.alistapart.com/
[A List Apart is the primary resource for most professional web designers and UI developers. You simply can’t go wrong with the info here, though it often does require a good background in basic HTML/CSS coding to follow.]

http://www.learnable.com/
[Site Point’s paid, but inexpensive, HTML/CSS/Javascript/PHP/MySQL classes]

http://www.lynda.com/
[Lynda.com is a well known and reliable resource for paid design & development classes of all types]

http://iwa-hwg.eclasses.org/
[eClasses.org offers a variety of paid classes and certifications with discounts given to IWA-HWG membership]

Feel free to leave me a comment and add your own suggestions.  As indicated, I was nowhere near done when I started this list and the current list above only represents a small portion of what is currently available.

update May 5th, 2011:
The W3Schools site is full of glaring inaccuracies and no attempt is ever made to correct them despite hand fed the cited inaccuracies and their corrections by reknown industry professionals.  They have been a source of frustration for many professionals.  On top of this they sell HTML/CSS certifications without any authority or accreditation.  Steer clear of this garbage site.  More details can be found at http://w3fools.com/.

Windows Laptop(s) & Windows Notebook(s) Info Sites Online

I have just setup a few domains that I think should do pretty well…

Windows Laptop TM logo

I liked how the letters flowed together (once I worked at it a while).

WindowsLaptops.com logo

This one above was based on the colors of the WordPress design theme/template.

WindowsNotebook.com logo

I like how the checkmark reflects the angles of the W and the dot of the i turned out to be the icing on the cake that completed the illusion.  In this case I am actually experimenting with keeping the text as large as possible and incorporating the checkmark to appease the web media image optimization cops.

Windows Notebooks logo

It probably doesn’t seem like I spent a lot of time on the logos for the plural versions of these domains.  But I was specifically matching them up to the colors of the WordPress design theme/template that I want to use for those two, so I didn’t want them to not look alike and if you visit the articles blog/site, I think you’ll agree that they match-up pretty well there.

I also wanted the plural versions to seem more like a conglomerate or at least a partnership between the two sites.

I did want the singular (non-plural) version domain name logos to offer their own unique identity, as they offer great value in a premium domain name.

I plan to get these posted online elsewhere, in my profile (Doug-Peters.com), and featured at Premium Brand Name, but I have a birthday party to go to for my 70 year-old uncle Gordon (great guy, by the way).  So I am just throwing out these images and thoughts as quick as I can so that all this will get posted somewhere.

I really like these sites and there are already some great reviews and tips and tricks posted.  I will be obviously be posting more articles, as well.  I will definitely be looking to post some laptop/notebook mods and hacks on the plural version domains.  The singular version names will probably be a bit more conventional.

I added about 3 pages to the WD&D group at Google Groups.  One was a resource links page.  I’m thinking that when I get it further along, I might just post it here.

Anyways, I have been extremely busy trying to clean-up my portfolio, working on my resume and doing just about everything I can think of in order to get my next web designer, online marketer, SEO, ad writer, copy writer, graphic designer, brand expert, illustrator and/or webmaster position.  Let me know if you have anything for me.  😉  This looking for a job is worse than a full time job.

I am getting tired of it.  I am ready to move to either coast, Chicago, or anything.  But if I don’t get something soon I may wind-up as an auto salesman.  Which wouldn’t be bad, but I wouldn’t be as creatively challenged.  Which is simply when I am the most excited and happiest.  😉