Stop solving problems you don’t have is about not starting an HTML5 project with all sorts of polyfils built into your basic template that may never be needed or used. I’m calling it Polyfilitis.
. . . it’s important to understand how what she’s saying is different from other privacy theorists. The standard explanation for privacy freakouts is that people get upset because they’ve “lost control” of data about themselves or there is simply too much data available. Nissenbaum argues that the real problem “is the inapproproriateness of the flow of information due to the mediation of technology.” In her scheme, there are senders and receivers of messages, who communicate different types of information with very specific expectations of how it will be used. Privacy violations occur not when too much data accumulates or people can’t direct it, but when one of the receivers or transmission principles change. The key academic term is “context-relative informational norms.” Bust a norm and people get upset.
Head First Mobile Web (Brain-Friendly Guides) by Lyza Danger Gardner and Jason Grigsby is from O’Reilly (2012). I confess I got a little excited reading this book, which I haven’t done in a long time with a book I intended to review. The excitement came from the fact that I was learning so much.
Generally, I review books about topics I have some experience and expertise in–mostly HTML and CSS with a few general web categories thrown in. I may learn new things, but I’m mostly looking at what’s covered, how it’s handled, how clear the writing is, how clear the examples are, the overall tone of the writing, and the order in which information is delivered.
But I know little about building for the mobile web as a first (and perhaps only) step in creating a web site or app. Hence, excitement.
If you’ve never used a Head First book before, be prepared for different. There are a lot of images, jokes, exercises, quizzes, reminders, and other techniques you don’t normally see in technical writing. Head First books are written this way because of learning research into how best to help you, the reader, remember and use what you read. As you read, you are expected to work along with the text. Downloadable files are provided to help you put together the mobile web sites discussed in the examples. Here are the topics in the table of contents:
Responsive web design
Mobile first responsive web design
A separate mobile website
Device support
Device databases and classes
Frameworks for mobile (the book example uses jQuery Mobile)
Progressive enhancement, offline mode, and geolocation. This is a very good chapter–the explanation of cache manifests is excellent.
Hybrid mobile apps with PhoneGap
Being future friendly
Appendices include setting up a web server environment, installing WURFL and installing the Android SDK.
In going through these chapters you actually build more than one web site–a responsive one using media queries, a business oriented site with password sign in, and a mobile site with user input and offline uses. There is plenty of discussion about problems, pitfalls and ways to work around them.
I think you could get the information you need to get started building for the mobile web from this book and don’t hesitate to recommend it as a text.
Summary: Good hands-on experience while learning.
A review by Virginia DeBolt of Head First Mobile Web (rating: 5 stars)
Mobile Users Don’t Do That. Except when they do. Stephanie Rieger has some ideas about what to do for mobile.
With sites like Pinterest gaining popularity, intellectual property rights to images are a problem. (See The Problem with Pinterest.) I recommend you take a look at Link with Love to help educate yourself–and students if you have them–about intellectual property and copyright law.
There’s a beta site called QRhacker that has a clever twist on QR codes. It will generate a QR code for you based on some text, a URL, a phone number, a V card, or wifi access. Then you can customize it by adding a photo in either the background or the foreground. You can also select a foreground color.
I made two and saved them as images. One has my photo in the background, one in the foreground. Try them out and see where they take you.
The latest iteration of An Event Apart is nearly upon us, to be held in Atlanta next month with subsequent sessions upcoming in Seattle, Boston, Austin and Washington, DC later in the year. Widely recognized as the most important conference of the year for web site designers and developers, An Event Apart offers a series of educational workshops and seminars aimed at helping you, quite simply, to become even better at everything that you do online.
With topics ranging from content creation to raw design and web standards, all with an innovative focus on the future, An Event Apart boasts the very best minds and voices in the industry with speakers and presenters who have been and continue to be behind some of the most popular spots on the interweb.
If you’re a web designer or developer and have the time and means to attend then your first decision has been made for you! Once your initial plans have been made, it’s time to focus on how exactly you can best prepare to get the most out of your An Event Apart experience. Check out the tips below to effectively utilize social media in helping you to create a personal itinerary:
1. Get to Know Your Fellow Attendees
There is one thing you can be sure of when considering the people you’ll meet and converse with at An Event Apart: they are all utilizing social media of some sort to stay in touch with clients and colleagues. Leading up to the conference, learn more about the speakers, guests and presenters by following their social feeds; you’re sure to meet many of the colleagues you’ll soon be rubbing shoulders with via the same method!
2. Stay Active on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and Google+
An Event Apart attendees will seek each other out not generally by face, but by online reputation. Utilize your social media presence to let the world know that you are an innovative thinker with good ideas and give your colleagues a reason to seek you out! There is no better place in the world to network and build contacts with both potential clients and potential partners than An Event Apart; make the most of it!
3. Update Your Site
When duty calls and you’ve spent the last few weeks or months thinking and dreaming code and design, it can be easy to allow your personal site and portfolio to lapse. Take the time to update your “About” page and add fresh content to your site and blog in order to give those you’re connecting with a reason to stay and chat. Also, if you plan to leave An Event Apart with wads of your business cards having been handed out, the same folks that you impressed with your ideas at the conference can also be impressed by your personal home on the web.
4. Prepare Your Review
Attending An Event Apart gives you the immediate ability to act as a qualified reviewer after the fact, letting your clients, colleagues and visitors in on the intimate details of your experience and the new knowledge and strategies that you walked away with. While the review itself will obviously have to wait until after the conference is over, you can get started now by preparing your review template, planning the outline and letting your social followers know that your blog is the place to look for a thorough and enjoyable overview of the latest iteration of An Event Apart!
An Event Apart is not only an intense educational experience for web professionals but also an event focused on the fun that springs naturally from bringing so many like-minded people together in one place. In preparing for the conference, be sure to enjoy every minute of online shoulder rubbing with the knowledge that you will walk away from An Event Apart having learned so much from your colleagues, all applicable to your profitability as a web designer or developer.
The more you take away from the event, the more you have to offer your clients once you’re back behind your desk!
Convinced? Here are traveling tips to get you started planning the trip:
