Category: Technology

Categories
SVG Web

Gracefully upgrading

I am reminded in comments of Steve Champeon’s progressive enhancement, which I actually did cover in my book, “Adding Ajax”. My apologies to Steve for seeming to subvert his subversion of all browsers look the same. I tend to think of Steve’s progressive enhancement in light of the use of JavaScript, but it is also focused at design, too. And, I am embarrassed to admit, I forgot about the concept when I started to write up what I’ve done with my site designs. Blame it on enthusiasm, or advancing age—take your pick.

However, if the concept is so popular with web designers, I have to wonder why every time I mention the use of SVG in web design, I’m met with “Oh, but not every browser supports SVG”? Perhaps IE has become, over time, a handy excuse for not trying something new.

Regardless, the idea of starting plain, and upgrading gracefully did originate with Steve.

Categories
Technology

My Kindle 1.0

Alas, my Kindle 1.0 is now old school with the release of the Kindle 2.0. I am not disappointed, though. I never was one to worry about the style of the Kindle, the refresh rate is fine with me, and I have an 8GB SD card, which blows away the 2GB built-in memory in the Kindle 2.0.

I would like the better resolution, and the 16 shade of gray, and the slightly larger screen, but I don’t read books with many figures, and I never use my Kindle for web surfing, so I don’t feel terribly deprived. I have a modified cover that protects my Kindle, and allows me to read it comfortably without accidentally hitting buttons. But then, I can also walk and chew gum at the same time, too. I’m talented that way.

My Kindle 1.0 isn’t sexy. OK. I can live with this. I’m not sexy, either. I live in Missouri. Sexy in Missouri means something slathered in barbeque sauce.

I drive a 2002 Ford Focus, which I think is sexy, but looks like a soap bubble on wheels. All my laptops are 3+ years old, which isn’t sexy. I still find Twitter to be awkward, which is definitely not a sexy attitude. I have a calendar with cute cat pictures on my wall, don’t have a single credit card, cellphone, or frequent flier mile—so very, very unsexy. That über hip east coast intellectual reading the Kindle on the beach? That’s not me.

Owning a supposedly “sexy” Kindle 2.0 is not going to be a life changer for me, so why would I upgrade my working device for another?

I am glad that Amazon came out with a second device, as it shows the company’s commitment to the ebook industry. I was disappointed, though, that Bezos didn’t come out with support for ePub, and other formats; nor with any hint of openness about the current Kindle closed loop. International folks will also be disappointed, as no mention was made of international access. The Kindle exclusive Stephen King short story didn’t do a thing for me.

The frugality of the Kindle, 1.0 or 2.0, I’ll leave to a future writing at The Frugal Algorithm.

Categories
Technology

Kindle Versions

On Groundhog Day, I’ll have had my Kindle for a year. I’ve been working on an anniversary review of the device, which will get posted either to the Frugal Algorithm or Secret of Signals. Or perhaps a bit in both, not sure.

The buzz about the Kindle now is that a 2.0 version is coming out, February 9th. I imagine a new version is likely, but contrary to what people have been saying, there has been more than one Kindle variation released in the last year.

Currently, there are Kindles running the following operating system versions: 1.04, 1.08, 1.1, and 1.1.1. Amazon has stressed that all provide the same functionality. The only thing to account for the difference, then, is variations in the device. Not a simple swapping of parts, either, because one doesn’t need to update an operating system when one swaps identical parts.

I have a 1.04 version of a Kindle, and must admit to some curiosity about what improvements went into the 1.08 and 1.1 models. I know that one always takes risks buying version 1 of anything, but I don’t think I’ve ever seen a case where an item’s internal architecture has changed three times within one year. Changed enough to force a new version of the operating system. At a minimum, I have to wonder what will happen when new software functionality is rolled out. Do we 1.04 owners get the same goodies as, say, 1.1 owners?

To add further to the confusion, some people have reported in the owner forums seeing an OS version of 1.2 in their devices, and there are differences with this OS, but Amazon has stated this operating system has not been released. So rumor runs rampant in the forums, because we have no other source of communication about what’s happening with the devices. To be blunt, Amazon does not communicate with Kindle owners.

Regardless of lack of communication, and despite being an “old” Kindle owner, I do still like my device, though I really wish we had folder capability. However, I’d really rather that Amazon support ePub, and release its AZW format to other ebook readers. And I’ll have more to say on this later, too.

Categories
SVG

The SVG Feed

I had originally created a Planet SVG in order to bring together a feed of SVG items. Once the SVG IG created Planet SVG web site, for all things SVG, I redirected planetsvg.org to it.

I still wanted a feed of SVG-related items, so I created the SVG Feed. Currently, the application queries SVG feeds once a day, including my own Delicious SVG-related feed. The latter was my way of ensuring that items related to SVG that aren’t accessible via a feed, or the related feed isn’t specific to SVG, get included.

The SVG Feed has it’s own feed, and uses Planet and Venus software. It only updates daily, as there are not enough items for more frequent updates. If you know of an SVG feed that should be included, send me an email.

Categories
Diversity Technology

Respect

I have spent too much time worrying about specifications managed by people who, frankly, don’t have a lot of respect for what I have to say. I am not a browser developer, specification author, nor do I fit within the narrow parameters of “people who are seen to be contributors”.

Years ago, I defined the term Coders-Only-Club, to designated the seeming feeling of being an outsider, unless one acts a certain way, or does a certain thing. I can definitely say unequivocally that writing books or weblog posts does not ensure entry into the Coders-only-Club, or perhaps I should term it, “Contributors-Only-Club”. To be honest, writing simple tutorials or examples, helping people, or answering questions doesn’t gain one entry, either.

What’s absurd about the whole thing is I’m fighting for something I don’t really need, because I do have viable alternatives I can use with my own work. I deliver every page at my web sites as application/xhtml+xml, which gives me singular power to accomplish wonderful things. I doubt, very much, that any browser is going to drop XHTML support for many, many years to com, so I can continue to incorporate SVG, or RDFa, or any number of new vocabularies that haven’t even been invented yet.

Frankly, I’m just wasting my time worrying about things I can’t change.