As part of my education on HTML5, I
ended up with a review copy of Mark Pilgrim's book HTML5:
Up and Running. Like many
O'Reilly books I own, this will be one of the books I end up going back
to repeatedly while I get "up and running." Pilgrim includes
a balanced blend of context and code, which means I learn not only *what*
to do, but *why* I'm doing it and how it ended up that way.
Contents:
How Did We Get Here?; Detecting HTML5
Features; What Does It All Mean?; Let's Call It a Draw(ing Surface); Video
on the Web; You Are Here (And So Is Everyone Else); The Past, Present,
and Future of Local Storage for Web Applications; Let's Take This Offline;
A Form of Madness; "Distributed", "Extensibility,"
and Other Fancy Words; Appendix - The All-in-One Almost-Alphabetical Guide
to Detecting Everything; Index
As mentioned above, I appreciated the
look behind the curtain when it came to finding out why certain standards
and features had gotten there. The "How Did We Get Here?"
chapter does an excellent job in dispelling any notions that HTML standards
were methodically and rationally established and adhered to by all participants.
Once you know that, it's easier to understand why some features appear
to be compromises and/or might be supported better by one browser over
another. As he goes through each main feature set, he provides plenty
of code to show how it's used, as well as a handy chart that references
each main browser and what version it started to support the feature (assuming
it *is* supported). Based on that, it's pretty easy to figure out
if the feature you want to use will be supported by your intended target
audience(s). He also includes interesting sidebars under the catch
phrase "Ask Professor Markup" that seem to pose the questions
you'd ask if you had the author right there in front of you. Wrap
all this up in a writing style that doesn't take himself too seriously,
and you end up with an entertaining read that conveys a lot of information
in a short 200 pages.
One really cool tool he points out is
the Modernizr JavaScript library for detecting whether an HTML5 feature
is supported in a user's browser. Rather than try and write your
own detection functions, you can just call the appropriate routine and
see if it returns true. So if you want to know if the browser supports
the Canvas in HTML5, you can just say "if (Modernizr.canvas) "
and that's it. Clean and to the point. Learning about that
was almost worth the price of admission. :)
At some point I'll likely end up with
some 400 page book that covers every little parameter of HTML5 in detail.
Until then, HTML5:
Up and Running is going to get
dog-eared and post-it-noted while I get myself going. Great job,
Mr. Pilgrim!
Book Review - 11/22/63: A Novel by Stephen King
Sun, Feb 12th 2012 8:41p Thomas Duff While I end up liking most of the books
that I read by Stephen King, he isn't an author that I salivate over when
something new comes out. I'm not sure why, as I like the genre and the
style of writing. Perhaps I'll chalk it up to having too many other things
to read. :) Anyway, 11/22/63:
A Novel caught my interest in
terms of what it might be like to go back and prevent an event in history
that changed the world. Once I started reading, I was pretty much hooked.
King put a slant on [read] Keywords:
110
The Companion
Sun, Feb 12th 2012 3:50p Thomas Duff The Companion
Never far way, the companion follows.
An unwelcome traveler, tracking my steps.
I know the shadow is there, but I never
know where.
I run fast, but not always fast enough.
I'm caught, and the shadow surrounds
me.
All is darkness, direction is lost.
I know light exists outside the shadow,
but how deep is the darkness?
Will I break out into light with the
next step,
or will the journey out of the dark
be long?
I'll keep moving, keep hoping that the
n [read] Keywords: traveler
71
Book Review - Curse of The Narrows: The Halifax Disaster of 1917 by Laura M. Mac Donald
Sun, Feb 12th 2012 1:31p Thomas Duff I'm always amazed when I run across
a major event or disaster that I've never heard about before. That happened
last year when I was on a cruise that had a stop in Halifax. It was there
that I learned about the 1917 Halifax explosion that nearly leveled the
town. To get more information (and based on the recommendation of a friend),
I went to the library and picked up Curse
of The Narrows: The Halifax Disaster of 1917 by
Laura M. Mac Donald. It's not an easy read due to the overwhelmi [read] Keywords: mac
87
Book Review - How Do You Kill 11 Million People?: Why the Truth Matters More Than You Think by Andy Andrews
Sun, Feb 12th 2012 10:50a Thomas Duff How
Do You Kill 11 Million People
by Andy Andrews is one of those books that, on the surface, has a title
that seemingly begs to get people riled up. The mind quickly goes
to politics, ethics, religion, or a myriad of other issues that cause instant
controversy and division in today's society. But if you take a step back
and clear your mind, the message here is one that is true and transcends
labels that we place on people and groups. In short... how do you
kill 11 million people?
[read] Keywords:
384
Would you like to win a free copy of the IBM Sametime 8.5.2 Administration Guide?
Mon, Feb 6th 2012 6:08a Thomas Duff Do you like to win a free copy of the
IBM Sametime 8.5.2 Administration Guide?
Well, all you need to do is visit IBM
Sametime 8.5.2 Administration Guide
and tell us the one feature that makes you want to own this book in the
comments section below. Make sure to enter your email address, so that
I can in touch with you. Two individuals who have mentioned the best reasons
will be provided with an e-copy each.
This drawing will run through February 19th, and we'll select two winner [read] Keywords: administration
ibm
lotus
sametime
email
Managing your message at a social conference by deleting comments... Really?
Mon, Jan 16th 2012 11:27a Thomas Duff So I'm out on PlanetLotus, looking over
the blogs for today's OGS and such, when I find this blog entry from Avabiz
and ReduceMail: Come
talk to ReduceMail Booth 320: IBM’s Showcase Customer Went to Outlook.
I find that a little odd that a vendor
at Lotusphere would be taking that particular angle as a blog entry to
promote their product. But looking at all their blog entries, I see
the same pattern. People are defecting from Notes, so come talk to
us about our mail prod [read] Keywords: ibm
lotusphere
notes
outlook
planetlotus
156
Book Review - 1,000 Mitzvahs: How Small Acts of Kindness Can Heal, Inspire, and Change Your Life by Linda Cohen
Mon, Jan 9th 2012 7:00a Thomas Duff One of my goals/resolutions for 2012
is to incorporate intentional acts of kindness as a regular part of my
daily life. About the same time I committed to that, I ran across this
title that became available at our library... 1,000
Mitzvahs: How Small Acts of Kindness Can Heal, Inspire, and Change Your
Life by Linda Cohen. What perfect
timing... This gave me some ideas and inspiration for things I could do
above and beyond the "say something nice to someone" efforts.
It also caused me t [read] Keywords:
170
Book Review - Stories From Jewish Portland by Polina Olsen
Sun, Jan 8th 2012 8:27a Thomas Duff Portland has a colorful past, with varied
influences from multiple ethnic groups and cultures shaping the city over
the years. One group I hadn't seen covered much from that angle is the
Jewish community. How did they make it to Portland? What role did they
play in the city? What struggles and triumphs did they have? Polina Olsen
helps to answer some of those questions in her book Stories
From Jewish Portland. Olsen writes
a column called "Looking Back" for the Jewish Review, and here
[read] Keywords: community
office
897
Book Review - Micro: A Novel by Michael Crichton and Richard Preston
Mon, Jan 2nd 2012 5:35a Thomas Duff It's been a while since I've picked
up a novel by Michael Crichton. When our library put Micro
by Crichton and Richard Preston
into circulation, I grabbed a copy in order to try and catch up a bit.
I was a bit surprised when I read the intro and found that Crichton had
died and Preston took over to finish the novel. I think I probably heard
or knew about his death at one point, but I certainly hadn't remembered.
So how does this Crichton/Preston novel fare? I'll be honest... to
try [read] Keywords:
