Things Read
Wherein Robert briefly muses on what he has
read.
I’ve just finished quickly nipping
through my O'Reilly book on Javascript by David Flanagan (the rhino
book). One of the most striking things about it – it was published in 1998
– was the extent to which web development of the time was horribly
complicated by the raging Browser Wars. Thank heavens that is largely behind us,
and everyone is getting around to implementing W3C recommendations. I just hope
that we don’t return there now that Microsoft have announced plans to kill
off the browser.
On another matter, I’ve also just read Robin Williams book on design for non-designers. I’ve always liked her writing — I was lucky enough to find ”Beyond The Mac Is Not A Typewriter“ for $5 today — and can thoroughly recommend this little gem. With great lucidity and gentle humour, she manages to quickly lay out a basis for informed design of printed materials. If one in ten people who print flyers, newsletters, letterheads and for-sale signs reads and understands this book, the world will be a much more visually pleasing place.
Tim Bray has written another nice little piece, albeit one which is fairly obscure. He’s summarised a core issue for the W3C TAG , which I can roughly summarise as "What does the R in URI mean?" A current description of the Web-as-it-is revolves around the idea of three legs: URIs, data representations and protocols. The tricky bit comes when you think about or talk about URIs. Universal Resource Identifiers. A URI is a name which identifies a resource. You‘ve seen a million of them: http//www.wobble.com/xyz/thingo.html is the most common form you‘re familiar with. The tricky bit is the word “resource”. What is a resource from the point of view of the web? Well, perhaps the best way to describe it is that a resource is what a URI identifies. Hmm. Maybe that needs to be thought through a bit...
Finally, an insanely great column on writing columns, re-published by Tom Coates. A quote: "Having something to write about is not the same as having something to say. If you really have no opinions to speak of beyond, say, liking Princess Di and not liking Prince Charles, you are in the wrong job and perhaps even in the wrong trade."
On another matter, I’ve also just read Robin Williams book on design for non-designers. I’ve always liked her writing — I was lucky enough to find ”Beyond The Mac Is Not A Typewriter“ for $5 today — and can thoroughly recommend this little gem. With great lucidity and gentle humour, she manages to quickly lay out a basis for informed design of printed materials. If one in ten people who print flyers, newsletters, letterheads and for-sale signs reads and understands this book, the world will be a much more visually pleasing place.
Tim Bray has written another nice little piece, albeit one which is fairly obscure. He’s summarised a core issue for the W3C TAG , which I can roughly summarise as "What does the R in URI mean?" A current description of the Web-as-it-is revolves around the idea of three legs: URIs, data representations and protocols. The tricky bit comes when you think about or talk about URIs. Universal Resource Identifiers. A URI is a name which identifies a resource. You‘ve seen a million of them: http//www.wobble.com/xyz/thingo.html is the most common form you‘re familiar with. The tricky bit is the word “resource”. What is a resource from the point of view of the web? Well, perhaps the best way to describe it is that a resource is what a URI identifies. Hmm. Maybe that needs to be thought through a bit...
Finally, an insanely great column on writing columns, re-published by Tom Coates. A quote: "Having something to write about is not the same as having something to say. If you really have no opinions to speak of beyond, say, liking Princess Di and not liking Prince Charles, you are in the wrong job and perhaps even in the wrong trade."
Posted: Tue - July 29, 2003 at 09:07 PM The Occasional Masthead Technology Email Comments
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Total entries in this blog: 19
Total entries in this category: 15
Published On: Aug 07, 2003 07:19 PM
Total entries in this category: 15
Published On: Aug 07, 2003 07:19 PM