2007
Choke Web Development Framework 1.0
After years of thorough research I may finally present the Choke Web Development Framework 1.0, “Choke” or “CWDF” in short. Choke is an easy-to-use, easy-to-maintain, and future-proof platform for web design and development…
Dark Days for Germany
Yesterday, on the historically significant November 9, the German government approved a law that requires telecommunications providers to retain all customer communication data for a period of six months, and allows authorities to gain access to stored communications…
3 Great Learning Strategies for Generalists
“Lifelong learning” sounds like some sort of buzzword, but it’s necessary to develop and progress, and awesome to cultivate. Mistakes are great, too, as they are accelerating the learning process, and this needs to be kept in mind…
Qualities of Design: It Works and It’s Durable
Attempting to improve my simplified definition of design I’d like to point out another important attribute beside functionality, namely durability (or robustness). This means that a design that works may nonetheless be bad if…
User Agent Style Sheets: Basics and Samples
CSS manages the default formatting of documents through user agent style sheets, a cornerstone of the cascade. This means that a web browser doesn’t just present a line of text when it’s fed with an HTML document that has no styling information, but…
Cost of Solution vs. Cost of Problem
Problems cost money, and problems require solutions that also cost money. This is known in all industries, but in many cases, there is focus on only one side: What does the solution of the problem cost? This ignores the other side, the cost of the problem.
Microformats Would Benefit From a Namespace
Microformats become more and more popular, accelerated by the questionable success of the nofollow
microformat. However, those of them that mandate class names cause problems that could be avoided by using a “pseudo-namespace.”
7 Additional Ways to Focus on Users
Smashing Magazine just published my article on “20 (Alternate) Ways to Focus on Users,” and not only do I like to point to the article, I also like to extend it. A quick bonus level, so to speak.
The Art of Dancing in 1910 and Narratives of Time and Space
Information design time travel with several photos of Zorn’s ancient “Grammar of the Art of Dancing.” Featuring craftsmanship, small multiples, and, surprise, “narratives of time and space.”
Are You a Web Designer or a Web Decorator?
This has bothered me for for a long time. The topic popped up when I thought about art and design, and it had to be covered when Roger asked whether we were designers or developers—
The 1,000 Dollar Comment Game
Finally, the remake of the infamous comment game. Easy money and link love.
Interview: Me on Blogs and Blogging
Bruce C. Brown interviewed me for his forthcoming book, The Secret Power of Blogging.
HTML: All Elements From HTML 1 to XHTML 2.0
A continuously updated index of all elements defined by the major HTML specifications.
Arguments for the “style” Attribute
The HTML Working Group is currently arguing whether to drop the style
attribute. To encourage discussion outside the Working Group, here are the reasons I see to keep @style
.
A Plea for Better Software: Provide Auto-Save
So far, applications rarely automatically and periodically save users’ work. They therefore fail to prevent unnecessary, frustrating, expensive loss of work and information. Since this isn’t just a but a critical problem, we need to encourage application developers and owners…
Load Time, the UX Factor: Facts and Measures
Load time of websites seems to remain our industry’s stepchild, but the vision is real-time surfing, not spending bandwidth improvements. There are still some facts and measures to consider when it comes to fast websites with a certain ease of use. Here are eight, to be exact.
WCAG, HTML, and CSS: Maybe the Standards Need a Break
The web development community worries about the development of WCAG, HTML, and CSS (about the latter since recently). These worries and the related criticism appear valid and legitimate, and there are things we could do.
Requirements for Website Prototypes (and Design Systems)
Best practices for website prototypes based on HTML, CSS, and DOM scripting, covering essential requirements from accessibility to universality, and including definitions, pros, and contras. Compiled from a recent presentation.
Me on Czech TV
Czech Nova TV phone-interviewed me about The World’s Highest Website!
Principles of Art, Design, and Decoration
Much thinking about design has led me to the conclusion that defining the terms art, design, and decoration can be pretty simple. Outlining their principles, at least.
10 Steps to Create a High-Quality Website
A quality website doesn’t fall from the sky, and it’s impossible to create in a few fast clicks. When setting up a website, one needs goals, content, structure, design, programming, and maintenance. What one needs is…
On Updating a Book (Webdesign mit CSS, 2nd Edition)
I’m still working on the second edition of Webdesign mit CSS. And I can say: I like this work, though updating a book is more challenging than starting from scratch. It looks like less work at first, but that work is different.
Revitalizing SUS, the System Usability Scale
About 20 years ago, John Brooke published the concept of a “System Usability Scale,” a “reliable, low-cost usability scale that can be used for global assessments of systems usability.” SUS is based on a Likert-scale questionnaire…
.htaccess: 7 Useful Ingredients (Plus Bonus)
This article features useful directives for .htaccess configuration files, based on my experience with a number of lightweight projects. It’s a pretty simple collection and you may be aware of some of these things…
The Problem With Link Blogs (Plus Five Link Blogs That Rock)
Link blogs suck because they don’t provide content. With few exceptions, link blogs suck because they jump on the back of people who actually create content. Link blogs nonetheless play an important role in the hypertext ecosystem…
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Find adventure anywhere? Try 100 Things I Learned as an Everyday Adventurer (2013). During my time in the States I started trying everything. Everything. Then I noticed that wasn’t only fun, it was also useful. Available at Amazon, Apple Books, Kobo, Google Play Books, and Leanpub.
Curious about traveling the world—and about a personal perspective? Try Journey of J. (2015). A freestyle documentary of 557 days of travel across 6 continents and 48 countries. Available at Amazon.