Tuesday 14 July 2009

HTML5 & XHTML5: MIME is The Answer

Currently, all the HTML5 / XML “serialization” stuff simply boils down to two straight-forward rules:

1. If HTML5 using HTML syntax is served with MIME type text/html This is HTML serialization.
2. If HTML5 using XML syntax is served with MIME type application/xhtml+xml then this is XML.

Disclaimer on all things series 5: I might be wrong now. Then again, I might be right in five minutes.

Filed under:   HTML5, XHTML, browsers, software, standards, w3c, web design and development, whatwg
Posted by:   Molly | 04:18 | Comments (16)

Tuesday 30 June 2009

HTML5: Best of the Minute

Damn, you cannot please all the browsers all the time. Funny, those browser beasts. They do stuff, then they do it again and change it. Or, they do it and you can’t talk about it.

If my Baloney has a first name, it’s HTML5! This is the best I can do at the moment, please and thank you.

Some sort of realistic support charts on a few HTML5 things I think are interesting.

Just remember, I didn’t lie and tell you I was right. Because as I quoted from Cowboy Wisdom in my #atmedia talk recently:

Never trust a man who agrees with you. He’s probably wrong.

Comment at will.

Filed under:   HTML5, browsers, conferences, cults of personality, humor, software, standards, w3c, web design and development, whatwg
Posted by:   Molly | 01:48 | Comments (16)

Thursday 19 March 2009

Which Browser do You Use?

Today is the official IE8 release date. I’m here at MIX09, where conversations about IE8 CSS 2.1 implementation and IE8 modes are in full swing. Since I’m on a fact-finding mission while here, I shall reserve my comments until I’ve had a few more meetings.

Last night at the Tao party I was interviewed by a fellow from Prague who asked some great questions, one of which was “Which browser do you use, Molly?” This strikes me as a particularly funny question, because there can only be one answer for a person in my job, which is “all of them.”

Of course, there’s a difference between use and prefer, but we’ll shy away from that for a moment while we answer the question: Which browser do you use?

Extra love from me (and maybe even an Opera beer cozie) for a few points as to why (for example, interface, CSS features, extensibility, tools, etc.)

Filed under:   browsers, ie8, microsoft, molly asks you, opera, software, standards, web design and development
Posted by:   Molly | 16:17 | Comments (103)

Saturday 7 March 2009

Five Favorite HTML Elements

Today I’m in a “gee, I feel like starting a conversation about HTML” mood, so g’wan. List your top five favorite HTML elements from any version of HTML (including 5). Describe why you love this element, how you tend to use it (or if it’s obsolete, why you wish it weren’t), and include any tips for styling, scripting or cross-browser issues regarding the element.

Your list should contain only HTML elements, but your descriptions can include any CSS or script samples, links to your  own work (go ahead, show off your stuff!) and any other related techniques you’d like to talk about.

There’s a book, t-shirt and other swag available to the top three most interesting entries. There’s nothing fair about the way I’ll give these out, it’ll be based solely on the top three responses I think are most interesting, useful or in need of an in-depth response.

Ready, set, GO!

Filed under:   HTML, browsers, css, giveaways and fun, javascript, nmby, software, standards, w3c
Posted by:   Molly | 20:51 | Comments (53)

Friday 13 February 2009

I Am an Opera Singer

“I am an opera singer / I sing in foreign lands / Most people seem to know my name / Or at least know who I am” – Cake

Today marks a major passage in my life, and I’d like to share it with you. At 13:00 hours on Friday the 13th of 2009, I formally became an employee of Opera Software, ASA. My position is Web Evangelist, working on the Developer Relations team. I will be based out of the Mountain View, California office, although I will continue traveling as well as doing workshops and conferences. My job description is exactly what my job has always been: evangelism and outreach for standards and an open, accessible, multi-modal Web.

What is astonishing to me is that for the first time in my career, I am with a company that specifically empowers its employees in regards to open standards. This is quite the change of pace, for as many readers are aware, through my former roles as a group lead for the Web Standards Project (WaSP) and then as a standards consultant to Microsoft, standards evangelism has been an uphill battle with no rest for the weary, no aid for the wounded.

Not so at Opera. I’m working with some of the most talented folks in the business. Henny Swan, Chris Mills, Bruce Lawson, Jon Hicks, and of course Hakon Lie and so many others. The contributions these people have made to the industry and to the world are a light of inspiration, and I am very honored to be part of a company whose core creed is an open Web, and whose developer motto “Follow the Standards / Break the Rules” fits a personality like mine perfectly.

My role at Opera will largely be meeting with people, providing resources on Web standards, organizing events that promote open Web and best practices, and essentially evangelizing the essential truths of the Web that I’ve always held dear: Platform agnostic, user agent agnostic, ability/disability agnostic. Anyone. Anywhere. That’s the vision, and now I have the resources, support and security of a company whose time has truly come.

Of course, this is also the same day that it’s been outed that Microsoft IE8 will blacklist sites where the IE7 compatibility button is used by many people. This means that if you want IE8 readiness, you have to get ready now, or you run the risk of having your sites be on this blacklist, forcing IE7 rendering even if you authored the sites using open standards. So while this post is a personal announcement, anyone working on the Web please read up on this issue and pre-empt a potential blacklist on your site.

People who know me and know the history of how the IE8 opt-in opt-out switch got all, well, switched around will see immediately the irony of today’s events. I really, really want to maintain the belief that when Microsoft made that impressive and unprecedented leap into shipping standards mode as default, that that meant something. That was the result of a lot of hard work, a lot of pain, a lot of fury, and at least one person (me) who is now sitting here wondering if anything I spent the last year and a half of my life doing was helpful. That I am a mix of emotions right now is logical, because I know so many good folks within the IE team who believe. Their struggle is a difficult one and I don’t envy them, but I think this is a significant wrongdoing. A dramatic analogy in my mind is hey, so if I keep stepping on the brakes in my car, eventually I’ll opt out of them working?

All the more reason I’m counting my blessings that I’m with a company that wants standards. I don’t want to battle anymore. I want no more browser wars. I want peace in all the land. Is this an impossible dream? I don’t know, but for the first time in my adult life I am actually an employee to a company other than my own, a decision that was not made lightly. In fact, this is the third time I’ve been offered a job at Opera, so I’m going to remain an optimist, do my vocal exercises, and continue singing for a useful, beautiful, meaningful and interoperable Web.

Filed under:   announcement, browsers, community, ie8, microsoft, professional, society, software, standards, web design and development
Posted by:   Molly | 21:04 | Comments (84)

Thursday 8 January 2009

Web Standards for Web Applications

At the upcoming Web App Summit 2009, I’ll be presenting an all new workshop, “Web Standards for Web Applications.” The fabulous and ever-smooth Jared Spool interviewed me recently about the topic, covering issues such as HTML5, The rise of JavaScript, the integration of proprietary and standardized technologies and of course, browsers. We also had a few laughs along the way.

Listen to the audiocast, visit the Web Apps Summit page, and leave me some comments. I feel I’ve neglected this blog so much, so shout out your thoughts!

Filed under:   ajax, announcement, browsers, conferences, innovation, javascript, software, standards, w3c, web design and development, whatwg
Posted by:   Molly | 13:34 | Comments (18)

Tuesday 9 December 2008

Registration for January HTML Course Open

The HTML 4.01 Foundations course is available in a new format for January!

Read all about it and get signed up at WebWithMolly. If you have any questions or concerns you can ask them here or at the email provided on the sign-up page.

New year, new fun

Filed under:   accessibility, announcement, browsers, microsoft, professional, software, standards, web design and development
Posted by:   Molly | 14:03 | Comments (30)

Tuesday 23 September 2008

Web Standards 2008: Three Circles of Hell

Over on A List Apart there’s a recent article of my musings of the current state of Web affairs. Check out the Three Circles of Hell and take some time to share your thoughts and opinions!

Filed under:   WaSP, accessibility, ajax, announcement, browsers, how we will be, javascript, microsoft, molly asks you, professional, standards, w3c, web design and development, whatwg
Posted by:   Molly | 08:29 | Comments Off

Sunday 14 September 2008

Announcing The World Wide Web Foundation

Only a mere few hours ago Tim Berners-Lee at an event in Washington, D.C. announced The World Wide Web Foundation.

The mission of the foundation is:

• to advance One Web that is free and open,
• to expand the Web’s capability and robustness,
• and to extend the Web’s benefits to all people on the planet.

All well and good, of course, but wasn’t that supposed to be part of the W3C’s mission, too? The difference here is that the foundation is essentially about funding (which is something the W3C dearly needs).

“The Foundation will raise funds through a multi-faceted strategy, beginning with a $5 million seed grant over five years from the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation.”

There’s a fairly good overview of the program on the site, give it a look-see. I would love to feel optimistic about this, but at this point I’ve really decided that creating more groups is just adding layers of problems on top of what we’re already doing.

On the other hand, if this empowers greater outreach, education and fosters real influence in returning to the core ideals of an interoperable Web for all, then I’m all for it.

Filed under:   accessibility, announcement, browsers, how we will be, society, software, standards, w3c, web design and development
Posted by:   Molly | 18:09 | Comments (27)

Thursday 10 July 2008

Of Rich Web Experiences

If you want best practices, best information, best people and you care about code the place for you is the Rich Web Experience this September.

Early bird discounts apply right now – go check it out! If that sounds like marketing speak, say so! I’m working on my diversity skills. Last year I was honored with the same spot but health issues prevailed so I could not participate. This year, I’m raring to go and excited to be talking to as many Web developers and professionals as I can. Particularly application developers.

Interestingly, today is the day my relationship with Microsoft really, really ends (last check deposited to my account). Today, I stumble toward a “rich web experience” despite concerns about standards, agendas and linear thinking.

You can read about my Keynote and other sessions at the RWE web site. There’s an early-bird registration discount too! The richest Web experience I know is ironically off the Web. Face to Face, that’s the magic place.

I hope to see you at RWE!

Filed under:   accessibility, ajax, announcement, browsers, community, conferences, how we will be, ie8, innovation, javascript, microsoft, policies, rails, society, software, standards, w3c, web design and development, whatwg
Posted by:   Molly | 11:12 | Comments (9)

Wednesday 9 July 2008

A Proprietary Web in Deed and Fact?

Paul Ellis eloquently points out a few things I’ve become hoarse saying over the past year in his recent post A proprietary Web? Blame the W3C.

My personal list goes like this:

1. There’s no such thing as “Web Standards”
2. There’s no such thing as an open Web (except in our dreams)
3. There’s no such thing as interoperability on the Web

Of course the grand irony here is that it’s supposed to be the W3C where we get Microsoft and Adobe and Apple and Mozilla and so on around the table working together to create specs. So blanket “blame the W3C” statements are a bit flawed. I’d be more specific. I’d say “blame patent and IP old-skoolers, blame poor W3C infrastructure, blame an archaic and slow rather than agile and rapid process.” I can honestly tell you the most interesting, passionate and standards-oriented brainstorms I’ve had the opportunity to be present at have always been at W3C WG meetings.

Alas, those meetings of minds are then hacked apart and returned to their respective Member Companies to be scrutinized in light of policies, agendas and oh the list does go on.

My concerns are therefore different than Ellis’, who feels that it’s time for a richer Web experience anyway. While I do agree with the need for rich experiences, I am more fundamentally concerned about how the “Open Web” will ever be re-opened, and if it ever will be.

Every time I’ve said “Web Standards Aren’t” I get a significant response. Sometimes people laugh, sometimes they look at me as if I forgot my medication that day. Ellis’ article brings it a little closer to home about the many years of commitment standardistas give to a quality of work and a visionary cause that may have long been lost before it was ever truly won.

Filed under:   browsers, community, personal, policies, professional, society, software, standards, w3c, web design and development
Posted by:   Molly | 01:15 | Comments (46)

Monday 9 June 2008

Ten Years of CSS Pantheon

It started as a bit of conversation and sparring between Daniel Glazman and I on Twitter. Then Daniel posted this list, which is just exceptional. I’m reposting here. Can anyone help with links and any missing persons? This is an awesome list and I’d like to fully expand it. Note that this only refers to people who were or are W3C CSS Working Group, not other influentials (though worthy they might be).

Thank you Daniel!

A Decade of CSS Influentials (W3C CSS-WG working list)

César F. Acebal, University of Oviedo
Glenn Adams
Vidur Apparao, Netscape
Marc Attinasi, Netscape
Jonny Axelsson, Opera
David Baron, Mozilla
Robin Berjon, Expway
Arindam Bhattacharya, Openwave
Jim Bigelow, HP
Kimberly Blessing, AOL
Tim Boland, NIST
Bert Bos, W3C
Chris Brichford, Adobe
Steve Byrne, JavaSoft
Carl Cargill, Netscape
David Carlisle
Tantek Çelik, Microsoft, Technorati
Ada Chan, Microsoft
Brad Chase, Bitstream
Troy Chevalier, Netscape
John Daggett, Mozilla
Daniel Dardailler, W3C
Angus Davis, Netscape
Don Day, IBM
Michael Day, YesLogic
Angel Diaz, IBM
Dwayne Dicks, SoftQuad
Martin Dürst, W3C
Laurie Anna Edlund (Kaplan), IBM
Arron Eicholz, Microsoft
Elika Etemad
Bob Easton, IBM
Todd Fahrner
Max Froumentin, W3C
Scott Furman, Netscape
Ming Gao, HP
Daniel Glazman, Electricité de France, Netscape, Disruptive Innovations
Oliver Goldman, Adobe
David Goldsmith, Apple
Melinda Grant, HP
Molly Holzschlag
Björn Höhrmann
Ian Hickson, Netscape
David Hyatt, Netscape, Apple
Scott Isaacs, Microsoft
Richar Ishida, Xerox
Ian Jacobs, W3C
Lorin Jurow, Quark
Anne van Kesteren, Opera
Thierry Kormann, ILOG
Sally Khudairi, W3C
Sho Kuwamoto, Macromedia
Kevin Lawver, AOL
Philippe Le Hégaret, W3C
Michael Leventhal, CITEC
Håkon Lie, W3C, Opera
Chris Lilley, W3C
Peter Linss, Netscape, HP
Murray Maloney, SoftQuad
Jonathan Marsh, Microsoft
Paul Matchen, IBM
Charles McCathieNevile, RMIT University, W3C
Kevin McCluskey, Netscape
Eric Meyer, CWRU
Markus Mielke, Microsoft
Bruce Miller, NIST
Alex Mogilevsky, Microsoft
Lou Montulli, Netscape
Shinyu Murakami, Antenna House
Paul Nelson, Microsoft
Steven Pemberton, CWI/W3C
Brad Pettit, Microsoft
Thom Phillabaum, Netscape
Robert O’Callahan, Mozilla
Liam Quin, SoftQuad, W3C
Dave Raggett, W3C
T. V. Raman, Adobe
Douglas Rand, SGI
Nisheeth Ranjan, Netscape
Jacob Refstrup, HP
Tapas Kanti Roy, Openwave
Claudio Santambrogio, Opera
Marcin Sawicki, Microsoft
Pierre Saslawsky, Netscape
Svante Schubert, Sun
David Seibert
Dave Singer, Apple
Powell Smith, IBM
Patrick Soquet, Havas Edition Electronique
Jared Sorensen, Novell
Robert Stevahn, HP
Michael Stokes, HP
PV Subramanian, Oracle
Michel Suignard, Microsoft
Jason Cranford Teague, AOL
Ed Tecot, Apple
Jeffrey Veen, Hotwired
Mike Wexler, Adobe
Chris Wilson, Microsoft
John Williams, Quark
Misha Wolf, Reuters
Laurent Wood, SoftQuad
Don Wright, Lexmark
Ted Wugofski, Phone.com
François Yergeau
Mohamed Zergaoui, Innovimax
Steve Zilles, Adobe

Filed under:   Twitter, WaSP, browsers, community, innovation, professional, society, software, standards, w3c, web design and development
Posted by:   Molly | 05:36 | Comments (25)

Tuesday 3 June 2008

Microsoft and Me: Project Wrap-Up Preview

Well, the Microsoft project I’ve been working on for 1.5 years wraps up this month! It’s been a whacked, wild and wonderful ride.

I will be writing a few blog posts over the next several weeks talking about the technical and personal experiences of my recent time working with Microsoft. I was offered so much insight, access to great people and some influence as to IE7 and IE8 as well as other products and processes.

And, for some crazy reason, all this despite my known outrageousness.

Please look forward to more posts from me as I clarify the most educational information, interesting anecdotes and inside scoop from this truly life-changing experience.

Filed under:   WaSP, announcement, browsers, community, creativity, ie8, innovation, microsoft, professional, society, software, standards, w3c, web design and development
Posted by:   Molly | 18:24 | Comments (21)

Saturday 24 May 2008

Working Group by Numbers

Do the numbers tell a story?

Here is a breakdown of a W3C Working Group by number of representatives and their origin. The question I’m thinking about is whether the number of reps per given organization relates to influence, and if so, to what measurable degree?

Sample working group representatives by origin

# of Reps	Organization
1	Adobe
2	Antenna House, Inc.
3	Apple, Inc.
3	AOL LLC
3	HP
2	IWA/HWG
7	Microsoft Corporation
3	Mozilla Foundation
3	Opera Software
5	Other – Individual, independent company reps
1	Sun Microsystems, Inc
1	University member
6	W3C Invited Experts/Staff

There are several variables, one very important one is that just because there’s a currently listed representative in a group doesn’t mean that representative participates as much or at all. A related variable would be that certain long-term participants who do a lot of work will naturally have earned merit-based influence within a group.

Tell me what you think.

Filed under:   Blogroll, accessibility, browsers, community, innovation, molly asks you, policies, professional, society, software, standards, w3c, web design and development
Posted by:   Molly | 15:36 | Comments (179)

Thursday 22 May 2008

A Patent Parable

Three companies have come together to discuss interoperability between their products. The first company, Mud Corporation, has thousands of patents that, if not protected, risk becoming compromised. Mud could become vulnerable to loss of profits based on what was once a firm ownership of valuable intellectual property.

The second company, Tangerine, typically jumps ahead of the interoperability process in an effort to advance the power of their own innovations. They have great ideas but are perhaps too aggressive – implementing aspects of specifications that haven’t been formally approved. This opens up the opportunity for Tangerine to patent technologies developed in the Tangerine way, outside the specifications, setting up more interoperability problems down the road.

Finally, we have Small and Spongy, Inc. This company has typically done things its own way and has challenged core interoperability issues because Small and Spongy has massive influence. Why? They have their own kind of dynamite in the form of “market share” despite sporting a less superior but far more widely used product.

During the meeting, the primary issue is to figure out how to share technologies and retain those portions of ownership of patented technology that each company deems necessary. The group prioritizes a list of shared goals and deliverables, and begins to discuss each one and how it might or might not weaken or require the surrender of individually owned pieces.

Mud and Small and Spongy disagree about the way a deliverable is written, and an argument ensues. Mud, not willing to jeopardize a strongly prized patent, plays the “take our toys and go home” card, threatening to remove itself from the collaborative group.

Tangerine gets very frustrated because they don’t want to slow down their own growth with such issues. Tangerine representatives quietly leave the room.

Small and Spongy throw up their hands and say “Hey, we have market share, so we don’t have to care after all! Woohoo!” Small and Spongy representatives follow the Tangerines to the nearest bar and begin an eight hour Margarita binge.

Mud representatives, having protected their interests but not succeeded in addressing the interoperability issues, call it a day and join in the drinking, except for the four new fathers who go home to their upper middle class lives, wives and offspring.

The moral of this story is that interoperability threatens too many profits, and this is why we don’t have an interoperable Web.

Filed under:   browsers, humor, innovation, policies, society, software, standards, web design and development
Posted by:   Molly | 00:28 | Comments (18)