Current Glamour: Adios, Amigo
Current ALA: Mo’ Betta Rollovers
Recent Interviews: CNET | pixelview | Library Journal

13 March 2002
[3 pm ]
After 48 hours at SXSW and Fray Cafe we flew to Phoenix for PLA and a tour of Lemurzone World Headquarters, then caught the Red Eye home. More on all that after we catch up on sleep and email.

While we were away, “Mo’ Betta Rollovers” from Issue 140 of A List Apart generated mail revealing additional reference materials on the subject, such as the enormously helpful “Evolution of Rollovers” at WebReference. In a similar vein ...

Stuart Robertson has updated his CSS rollover tutorial to work as well in Mozilla/Netscape 6 as it does in other standards–friendly browsers, while the “Angry Young Wetlog” skin at Neale Talbot’s Wetlog throws another spin on CSS rollovers. More such stuff, buried deep in our email in–box, will eventually be unearthed.

While we were away, numerous readers and colleagues wrote to tell us of AOL’s rumored plans to switch its members from MSIE to a browser built around the Gecko rendering engine that drives Mozilla/Netscape 6. If true, the browser switch would affect 30 million–plus AOL subscribers, or “about 30% of all U.S. Internet users,” according to NewsForge’s Robin “Roblimo” Miller, who reported the story. This in turn would encourage developers to author with web standards supported by Mozilla/Netscape 6, MSIE 5/6, and Opera 5/6, instead of crafting sites optimized exclusively for MSIE.

Speaking of web standards, WaSP co–founder George Olsen has launched Boxes and Arrows, an online magazine for Information Architects and others who focus on “user experience.” The new mag looks mighty promising.

Meryl provides a snapshot of the first Independents Day panel at SXSW. Left to right: Gabe Kean, Josh Davis, your humble narrator, and Derek Powazek. Greg Storey has posted a fast, rough blog of a small portion of the panel questions and answers. :::

8 March 2002
[9 am ]
In Issue No. 140 of A List Apart, For People Who Make Websites: Tim Murtaugh’s Mo’ Betta Rollovers shows how to avoid preload delays by using CSS to fashion faster, smarter rollover effects (with or without JavaScript). Also in this issue: an updated Help/Contact page, and a possible fix for the Mozilla/Netscape 6 printing bug.

When you’ve had your fill of ALA, there’s a new issue of Digital Web Magazine, featuring a designer’s guide to stock photography along with other swell features.

The Rogue Librarian has begun sharing personal stories like this one. More, please.

We’re on our way to SXSW 2002, Fray Cafe 2, and PLA 2002, returning late Wednesday of next week. See some of you in those places, and the rest when we return. :::

7 March 2002
[5 pm | 3 pm ]
Got Flash? Dig this. It’s yet another production of those nimble–fingered orange pickers at The Chopping Block. Just once, we wish they’d design something dull and ordinary.

Dotfile’s repository of CSS sites has come shrieking back to life. See yesterday’s Report.

Pardon our quiet. We’re shipping a mega–site, prepping for a week on the road, and grinding away at a fascinating variety of additional time–sensitive tasks. :::

6 March 2002
[3 pm ]
Joshua Davis and Gabe Kean will be joining Derek Powazek and Zeldman (and filling in for Shirley Kaiser and Michael Schmidt) at this Sunday’s What Is Independent Content? panel at SXSW. Hope to see some of you there! Details in World Tour.

Web Nouveau lists over 500 sites designed with CSS, some of them quite lovely. The Dotfile site referenced in yesterday’s Report seems to have run out of steam last year. (A “page freshness” bookmarklet misled us into believing that Dotfile was being actively maintained.) :::

5 March 2002
[2 pm | 11 am | 10 am]
Pete Zeldman is another year older. Happy birthday, brother. Now residing in London, Pete is one of the world’s most innovative musicians.

Brilliant. Style Sheets vs. JavaScript shows how to create JavaScript–free Rollovers that save time and bandwidth, using as a demo the menu bar from this very site.

Everything you ever wanted to know about Quirks mode in Mozilla. (Hat tip: Darryl Zurn.)

The Deja Vu Browser Emulator lets you see how your site looks in NCSA Mosaic and other ancient browsers. The Anybrowser Site Viewer simulates more recent browsers as well as WebTV. (Hat tip: Brian Gallagher.)

“Some men see things as they are and say why. I dream things that never were and say, Why not?”

Dotfile has started a list of sites designed with CSS. Add yours.

Judging by Bruce Sterling’s much–linked essay on SXSW in the post–boom landscape, “blog” would seem to have become a catch–all phrase for any non–commercial site, from portals to periodicals.

Our pals at 37signals have had a facelift. Not only that, they’ve produced a free, seventeen–page white paper on contingency design, intended to help site designers avoid errors and deliver better experiences. :::

3 March 2002
[noon]
The FAQ, Bio, and About pages have been updated. The FAQ is quite useful; the Bio, professionally necessary. :::

1 March 2002
[6 pm | 11 am | 8 am]
In Issue No. 139 of A List Apart, for people who make websites: Build a Cross–Platform Web Design Testing Station, by Paul Sciortino. Everybody talks about cross–platform testing, but nobody’s shown how to do it on a nuts–and–bolts level. Until now. Sciortino’s comprehensive tutorial for Mac–based web designers will set you up with the testing platform of your dreams. (’Nix and Windows users, we hope to do the same for you in a future issue.)

Jim Heid sent this photo of zeldman.com as seen on a camcorder. The Bluetooth–enabled Sony Handicam IP includes a web browser with what appears to be a 300 x 200 viewport, as well as a built–in email app. We hear it also shoots video.

Jugglezine is “an unassuming e–zine about balancing work and life.” Well–written and cleanly laid out, it feels like an indie site. But it’s actually a by–product of Herman Miller, the design company famous for Eames chairs and such. We always thought Herman Miller was smart. We had no idea they were this smart.

Now in World Tour: Hot poop on this month’s live events, including SXSW 2002, Fray Cafe 2, PLA 2002, and Communication Arts Interactive. Whew, we’re tired already. :::

27 Feb. 2002
[1 pm]
My Glamorous Life No. 70: Adios, Amigo. :::

[11 am | midnight]
Mammoth: 100 panel Fusion at waferbaby.com.

What is real? 415 564 1347. :::

26 Feb. 2002
[5 pm | noon | 10 am]
W3C is adjusting its Patent Policy to promote royalty–free web standards. As part of the deal, members will be required to disclose patent encumbrances and convert them to royalty–free status. These policy revisions address concerns voiced by WaSP and many others last year. News.com provides a summary. Hat tip: Till Quack.

iStockphoto has relaunched. iStock offers a collection of royalty–free photographs, illustrations, Flash and audio files contributed by its members. The site is a production of Evolvs (design) and Webcore Labs (high–performance web hosting).

We had the pleasure of meeting Joe Maller at last week’s Seybold conference. Now you can have the pleasure of enjoying the bizarrely comic movies he produces. Empty is our current favorite. Please enjoy responsibly. When not exploring themes of frustration, exhaustion, and obsession, Joe produces filters for Final Cut Pro.

Speaking of exhaustion and obsession, we’re currently wrapping up the design and consulting phase of a new brand launch. The project has consumed ten to twelve hours a day for the past six weeks, and we’re pleased with the way it’s shaping up. More will be revealed.

Meanwhile, the revised ALA forums are all but complete and should launch within a week or two; and WaSP Phase II is slated for a March relaunch.

The Desktop Pictures collection, long a mainstay of this site’s Steal These Graphics! department, has been retired, as those creaky old images (1995–1997) no longer reflect what we do. The old pages, sans pictures, are still online, but are no longer linked from the living matrix of this site. :::