Super Ginormous

Day: March 7, 2007

  • W3C Relaunches HTML Activity

    Wow… this was one of the geekier things I read today… but it’s important to those of that work on the web. There’s news from the W3C that work on HTML is going to be relaunched…

    Recognizing the importance of an open forum for the development of the predominant Web content technology, W3C today invites browser vendors, application developers, and content designers to help design the next version of HTML by participating in the new W3C HTML Working Group. Based on significant input from the design and developer communities within and outside the W3C Membership, W3C has chartered the group to conduct its work in public and to solicit broad participation from W3C Members and non-Members alike.

    “HTML started simply, with structured markup, no licensing requirements, and the ability to link to anything. More than anything, this simplicity and openness has led to its tremendous and continued success,” explained Tim Berners-Lee, W3C director and inventor of HTML. “It’s time to revisit the standard and see what we can do to meet the current community needs, and to do so effectively with commitments from browser manufacturers in a visible and open way.”

    Read the Full Release

    This is pretty big news… The impact of this work won’t be felt, potentially, for years… perhaps a decade or more from now… I’m not sure if this announcement means that the W3C will officially start working on a HTML 5.0 Spec or not. Only time will tell. XHTML is not going away, and it will continue to evolve as well. I’m sort of baffleded at the reasoning behind the move to develop HTML further:

    But due to the significant legacy of Web content that is some variant of HTML, traditional browser vendors moved slowly to adopt XHTML. This, in turn, has meant little motivation for content developers to adopt XHTML for the traditional desktop environment. Leaders in the Web developer and design communities therefore urged W3C to renew its commitment to HTML by adding new features (starting with the HTML 4 standard) in a manner that is consistent with community practice and backward compatible.

    Considering how data-oriented the web is becoming, does it make sense to improve a standard that was improved upon by XHTML? I understand that browser manufacturers are hesitant to adopt more progressive specifications, but I don’t understand how further developing the HTML Spec is going to change anything. If they’re hesitant to support XHTML, what good does revising and updating the HTML Spec going to accomplish? Additional tags and attributes in HTML are going to require people to tweak their code if they want to take advantage of them. So what’s the point?

    Legacy HTML is going to exist on the web for ages to come. This fact should not stop Mozilla, Microsoft, Opera, Apple, etc. from continuing to push forward on supporting XHTML. We need to keep taking steps forward, and to me, this seems like a huge step back.

    Thanks, JD, for pointing this out.

  • Organic Workspace

    The ever-evolving, ever-changing PowerServe Creative department

    One of the running jokes here at PowerServe, is that I can’t keep my desk the same way for more than a few weeks. But it’s true. For as long as I can remember I’ve made it a point to change up my workspace at least once a month. I try to think of my workspace as being an organic, evolving environment… The subtle changes that I make to my workspace are really exercises in discovering configurations that work best for me. Some configurations stick. Others don’t. Sometimes people notice the change, most of the time they don’t. What does matter is that I notice. Having a desk that is constantly changing, constantly evolving to fit my work-style and my work environment helps me to stay better focused on the tasks at hand…

    My ever-evolving workspace.In the creative department, we’ve taken this idea a step further by decorating the walls with posters each of us enjoy. I’ve got several Clerks: The Animated Series posters up, a Spider-man poster and a Superman poster. I’ve also got tons of action figures and toys at my desk. From the ceiling, I’ve got a 12in Superman hanging, along with a Naboo Fighter and an American flag… Patrick‘s got movie posters and a Misfits flag hanging on his walls. A huge British flag is hanging from the ceiling in front of his desk. Don‘s got a few Mental Soup posters, a Star Trek Nemesis poster and a U2 poster on his walls. He’s got a few toys here and there… and a Led Zepplin flag hanging on a bookshelf… Josh is probably the minimalist of us all… he’s got two posters up… one he made, and another of a Triumph motorcycle…

    Regardless of whether we have a lot around our desks, or just a little… we’re encouraged to make our workspaces environment’s we’re comfortable in.

    Give it a try sometime… Don’t settle for how your workspace currently is, unless you’re really happy with it. Try configuring your desk differently… have it point in a different direction. If you’re facing a wall, move things around so you’re facing the center of the room… Hang some artwork on the walls… Do something different! You might be surprised at the results.