Wednesday 5 March 2008

IE8 Beta and Readiness Toolkit

Here it is folks, an actual IE8 beta, overview of features, changes and enhancements, and a readiness toolkit for developers.

Check it out, now, my web soul brothers and sisters!

Filed under:   general, standards, software, web design and development, WaSP, w3c, conferences, announcement, browsers, microsoft, ie7, ajax, javascript, ie8, MIX08
Posted by:   Molly | 12:08 pm | Comments (59)

Monday 3 March 2008

Celebrate, C’mon! IE8 Standards Mode To Be Default

By now you’ve likely read about the big news regarding Microsoft’s commitment to a more interoperable Web, starting with the very good news that standards mode in IE8 will now ship as default.

I’m off to MIX08 tomorrow, and will be attending the keynotes as well as developer discussions on IE8 and additional events surrounding Microsoft’s agenda moving forward. I’ll post more as I’m able.

In the meantime, I just want to shout out a thanks for all the hard work it took this year to keep the IE8 conversation open and alive. We’ve been through some bumpy times, and I for one know that people on the inside of Microsoft faced an enormous amount of pressure in trying to keep that conversation in the public eye.

To all who worked so very hard from both the inside and outside, I toast your dedication, your willingness to challenge what would otherwise be the status quo, and I think it’s really worth taking a celebratory moment to realize that at least for now, the community voice can, and does, truly make a difference.

Filed under:   professional, policies, standards, software, web design and development, society, w3c, conferences, announcement, browsers, microsoft, community
Posted by:   Molly | 10:13 pm | Comments (46)

Wednesday 27 February 2008

Interview: Roger & Molly: Webstock New Zealand

I like this interview! It runs a bit long but Roger made me feel so welcome it just came out as a spontaneous chat.

Anyone willing to do text transcript, holler. I’d like to make one available!

Thank you, Roger, for a great interview.

Enjoy, comment, bitch etc. below:

Filed under:   professional, humor, standards, software, web design and development, travel, food and drink, society, w3c, conferences, announcement, creativity, browsers, microsoft, ie7, innovation, whatwg, community
Posted by:   Molly | 8:12 am | Comments (39)

Monday 18 February 2008

Well-Behaved Women Rarely Make History

Guess I’m going down in those history books, because I am scandalous!

What fun! I love the fact that Matt (the fellow whose shirt I unbuttoned the top two buttons of) used to “smuggle” my books into class. In the sixth form, no less! Oh, the irony.

Filed under:   humor, blogging, pop culture, web design and development, travel, blog slut, food and drink, society, conferences
Posted by:   Molly | 7:25 pm | Comments (19)

Friday 15 February 2008

I Wish It Were Webstock Every Day

What a fantastic experience here in Wellington, New Zealand.

Content, personalities, activities, food, drink, entertainment were all exceptional due to the hard work of the awesome Tash and her crew of equally awesome folk.

I want to shout out a thanks to this wonderful group, who work, for free, to pull Webstock off.

This is the finest event I’ve been to in quite some time.

Webstock restores my faith that not everyone involved in conference organizing is concerned with profits these days, and in fact people, and the passions of our industry are still going strong.

My very personal thanks and endless tons of love for all involved in this fantastic and very special event.

Filed under:   professional, web design and development, society, conferences, community
Posted by:   Molly | 9:49 pm | Comments (21)

Sunday 3 February 2008

Call for Web Standards Quips and Clips

I’m preparing my keynote for Webstock in Wellington, New Zealand, coming up next week. I would very much like a sampling of video shots of a wide range of individual opinions and thoughts answering the question: “What is the definition of Web Standards?” You can be as funny, mean, or weird as you like so long as you have some clear point to make. If you’re an enthusiast, be enthusiastic. If you’re a hater, be a hater. Just have a point, and think of the children

If you’d like to help out, drop a me! please in the comments. Shyness definitely does not apply here. I’ll contact you by email privately with details as to where to send and format, etc.

I’ll be using these clips within the presentation to gain a widespread look at how people define, and feel, about Web standards. Mostly, the point is to demonstrate how it can mean such a variety of things to people from all over the world. The more variety, the better. I will then publish them in the public domain for all to enjoy.

Up for it? Let’s hear from you!

Filed under:   professional, standards, software, web design and development, WaSP, society, w3c, conferences, announcement, browsers, microsoft, accessibility, javascript
Posted by:   Molly | 6:55 pm | Comments (25)

Thursday 8 November 2007

mathematical integral equation for web versioning

A bit of levity during the W3C TPAC from the wonderful T.V. Raman, presenting the closing panel of the day, Cracks & Mortars.

Filed under:   humor, standards, web design and development, photos, w3c, conferences, nmby
Posted by:   Molly | 12:53 pm | Comments (26)

Thursday 1 November 2007

W3C TPAC Upcoming

The “all hands” meeting of the W3C, combining the Technical Plenary and Advisory Committee meetings commences next week in what is certain to be an historic event.

This is the first time we’ll see the HTML 5 Working Group Members and its many Invited Experts meet en masse and face to face. The CSS Working Group, the QA working group and the WAI working group meetings are all on my personal lists for participation, along with the most important aspect of any conference of this nature: Talking to and meeting as many folks as I can.

On Wednesday, November 7, I am beyond honored to host the opening panel presentation for the Technical Plenary itself. Joining me in “From the Outside, In” will be Aaron Gustafson, Patrick Haney, Matthew Oliphant and Stephanie Troeth whose individual experiences span many aspects of real-world issues as influenced by W3C policies and practices.

I owe an enormous debt of gratitude to the many people at the W3C and in the industry in general to have honored this group a unique opportunity to build bridges between the working communities of the Web and its most revered academic and scientific body, the World Wide Web Consortium.

From the Outside, In: Real World Perspectives on the W3C

Whether you’re a Web designer, developer, usability specialist or work in any one of the myriad jobs that go into making great Web sites, it’s clear that the W3C has significant influence on how you work. Whether it’s via the specifications that go into the software and agents that you use daily, or as the cornerstone of educational material, the W3C is involved somewhere in the process.

But it’s also clear that there’s been a gap between the real-world and the internal workings of the W3C. As Working Groups such as HTML 5 and CSS become more open, so must our conversations open. In this session, the W3C will have the opportunity to listen to real-world perspectives, respond to criticisms and praise and keep alive the ongoing commitment to authentic conversation and active community participation.

The panel:

• Molly E. Holzschlag (Web Standards and Practices Education and Outreach, Molly.Com, Inc.)
• Patrick Haney (Harvard)
• Matthew Oliphant (MathWorks)
• Stephanie Troeth (CloudRaker)
• Aaron Gustafson (Easy! Designs, Inc.)

We will also have a post-session q&a in the hallway near the presentation room, as well as dedicated Birds of a Feather tables set aside for ongoing discussion at lunch that day.

Am I excited? You bet. Idealistic, well always. Optimistic? Verdict is still out. In the meantime, this feels like forward movement and I, for one, want to be part of that momentum.

Filed under:   professional, policies, standards, software, web design and development, society, w3c, conferences, announcement, browsers, innovation, accessibility, community
Posted by:   Molly | 5:49 pm | Comments (35)

Friday 26 October 2007

Train the Trainer Swag Prep

Ooh, yummy stuff for the Train the Trainer Swag bag courtesy Microsoft, Peachpit Press, O’Reilly Publishing, and Lynda.Com.

Juicy stuff includes:

• One copy CSS Cookbook by Christopher Schmitt
• One copy Transcending CSS by Andy Clarke, edited and with a foreword by me, and an introduction by Dave Shea
• One copy Expression Web software
• An IE7 water bottle (perfect for warm sunny Tucson weather)
• One copy of CSS for Designers from Lynda.Com

Swag is set, shopping’s been done, the refreshments for this evening’s opening mixer are chillin’ and short of some general cleaning, the first official Train the Trainer event is about to kick off!

Filed under:   professional, standards, software, web design and development, giveaways and fun, w3c, conferences, creativity, browsers, microsoft, ie7, accessibility
Posted by:   Molly | 3:55 pm | Comments (28)

Wednesday 22 August 2007

Come Together for a Rich Web Experience

The Rich Web Experience is a show I’m really getting excited for. I’ll tell you why.

I know nothing about JavaScript and Web applications in the real world. And I’m aching to learn!

And wow, I get to do that from people such as Douglas Crockford and Alex Russell. If you do anything with front end web development or browser technology, they are both worth a very serious listen. Not to mention the fantastic line-up that RWE has put together.

I’ll be reviving the popular keynote I did in Vancouver in February “WSI: Web Standards Investigations” as well as presenting on Web browsers and standards. I’m giving a workshop on CSS, too.

Here’s my schedule:

• KEYNOTE - WSI: Crimes Against Web Standards
  Web standards investigators: Get your crime scene gear on and help Molly dig up the dirt on crimes committed against web standards. Molly will demonstrate markup and CSS samples from her own felonious work dating back to 1993, as well as the work of other infamous standardistas before they got rehabilitated and let standards into their hearts.
• Markup & CSS for Developers: Empowering the Application Developer with Front End Magic
  As a developer you’ll probably be tasked with technical concerns such as streamlining file size, optimizing http requests, and ensuring that your web sites and apps remain manageable and flexible. You also need to step in and modify style and even create visual interfaces for your apps. Markup and CSS for Developers is a 90 minute presentation aimed directly at dealing with CSS from a developer’s point of view.
• The Broken World: Solving the Browser Problem Once and For All
  The Web was meant to be interoperable, but as every web designer and developer knows, interoperability is the very thing we lack. As we build standards-based, flexible, accessible, well-designed sites, we find it’s the browser that gives us most of our headaches. In this session, you’ll learn to take better control not through hacks and filters, but through an understanding of why browsers work the way they do.

Social Software as a Platform for Human Advancement
As we enthusiastically embrace the many technologies that come together to create Web applications, it’s important to also stay aware of the societal impact our software offers. In particular, social applications offer a foundation for improvements in all kinds of relationships. Spanning from business-oriented apps that enhance networking and economic opportunities to the more personal social applications that allow for myriad interaction, the social application deserves our attention not just as technologists, but as individuals and communities, too.

I’ve been honored to bring what I know about markup and CSS to the Rich Web, in particular the applications experience. I’m not a programmer, but I love working with programmers to find solutions to major issues in the delivery of a great web site experience.

Who’s going to The Rich Web Experience (RWE)? Anyone want to go?

I’m hoping to see you there.

Filed under:   professional, policies, standards, software, web design and development, travel, WaSP, society, w3c, conferences, announcement, browsers, microsoft, ie7, ajax, rails, accessibility, javascript, whatwg, community, RWE07
Posted by:   Molly | 4:02 pm | Comments (56)

Monday 20 August 2007

A Mouth Full of Noise

The fabulous Rob Cottingham tells me this particular comic panel he drew was inspired in part by my Web Directions North 2007 Opening Keynote. How cool?

I had this passing thought that the guy should be female and have curly hair, but that’s just me.

Rob, you are a star! May your very cool Noise to Signal comic shine on!

Filed under:   professional, standards, web design and development, WaSP, society, w3c, conferences, creativity, community
Posted by:   Molly | 10:19 pm | Comments (48)

Wednesday 13 June 2007

Budapest

Parliament Building, Budapest

Some new photos from Budapest, Hungary.

Filed under:   web design and development, photos, travel, conferences, microsoft
Posted by:   Molly | 1:32 am | Comments (32)

Tuesday 5 June 2007

Guess the Question

Originally uploaded by petele.

Now if that isn’t a classic WTF look on my face, I really don’t know what is. The fun now begins as you guess (or make up) the question I was asked that resulted in my WTF face.

Filed under:   humor, web design and development, conferences, teched07
Posted by:   Molly | 9:36 pm | Comments (83)

Monday 4 June 2007

Passages: Leaving the Web Conference Circuit

I sit here in Orlando, Florida, exhausted from not sleeping enough before the day’s begun and many more miles to travel before I rest.

It’s been a wonderful ride, amazing - I’ve met great people and seen parts of the world I’d never even imagined I’d get to visit. But I’m very tired, and my passions are changing. I’m moving toward a time where I want, and need, my life and work to be a bit more quiet and focused.

So, as a pre @media07 London announcement, I want to let folks know that this will be one of the last major public Web events I will be appearing at. There are a few more smaller events, but as of October, I will no longer be speaking or keynoting any popular Web conferences.

This doesn’t mean I’m leaving public life, however. I will continue to present at specific, technically-oriented conferences, and Microsoft-related events. But my main focus will be shifting away from the globetrotting and toward the hard work on interoperability and Web standards both within Microsoft and on-site at companies and organizations worldwide such as AOL and the BBC.

This way, I get to sleep in on more days, and spend a heck of a lot less time in pressurized air cabins. And maybe, just maybe, I’ll find the inner peace that’s eluded me since, well, pretty much my life began some 44 years ago.

So I’m off to yet another convention center in yet another city, spending a day with my good mates from Microsoft who have been keeping me together in ways they probably don’t even know, then getting on a Virgin Flight to Gatwick.

By Tuesday morning I will be cozying up in my Bayswater studio and visiting my English kitty friends Zeus and Hera. Then on Saturday I go to Budapest, followed by Amsterdam, Zurich and Cannes before returning to the UK to visit with friends, and an unexpected surprise: My youngest brother, who just received his Ph.D. (on top of his MA, BA and JD) will be in London at the same time so we are planning a day together to celebrate his success.

Filed under:   professional, conferences, announcement, family
Posted by:   Molly | 4:14 am | Comments (58)

Thursday 10 May 2007

Blue Sky: Web Browser, Standards and Interop Summit, XTech Paris

In Paris this May 15th, XTech 2007, Molly.Com, Inc. and Useful Information Company have combined resources to join industry influentials and peers for the first annual Browser, Standards and Interop Summit in parallel with the XTech conference.

The Summit will consist of an open meeting of as many browser vendors, standards advocates, W3C and related standards supporters as we can gather. We will also have workgroups and an open mike session so everyone can be heard.

The day will be open to observation for interested journalists (particularly bloggers, podcasters and videocasters) based on available space. Participants will include representatives from Opera Software, Mozilla, Microsoft Corporation and others. It’s an opportunity to make voices heard in a more neutral, open discussion outside the vendor or standards groups themselves.

As Web developers and designers are all too aware, a lot of our effort goes into skirting round the inconsistencies in web browsers. We care about giving our users the best experience possible, so we take the time. A lot of time.

We can save a lot of that time if we also tackle the root causes: unclear, problematic standards and related issues with browser interoperability. While standards can provide the palette from which the next revisions of browsers take features, interoperability work can fix things in the near term, and for the future, getting us back to the original platform and user agent agnostic vision of the Web.

Both Useful Information Company and Molly.Com, Inc. are splitting the event room cost. Vendors and participants will be required to provide their own travel and lodging, there will be no sponsorships taken from anyone although volunteer opportunities to assist with the Summit in a number of ways, such as providing refreshments, are available.

• When: Tuesday 15 June 2007
• Location: Novotel Paris Tour Eiffel / XTech, Paris, France
• Room: TBA
• Cost: FREE
• Time: 09:00 - 17:00, interested attendees are welcome to join at any point during the day

Hope to see you there! Please do let us know via comments if you’re interested.

Filed under:   policies, standards, software, web design and development, conferences, announcement, browsers
Posted by:   Molly | 7:31 am | Comments (62)