The philosophy of the book is move forward. Not through bleeding edge technologies but adherence and pioneering site development through standards. The way I see it, if web standards have been around long enough for Microsoft to finally adopt – than you have run out of excuses for adopting standards in your work. Validated standards compliant, non-table based layout, semantically driven web development is here, embrace it.

This book goes beyond that though. Handcrafted CSS is the add-on work that builds on the Bulletproof Web Design philosophy: Progressive enhancement. It works like this I’ve given up on pixel perfect cross-browser web development. I can no longer justify doubling my development time by crafting everything twice: once for standards based browsers, and again for IE. It’s expensive and for what benefit? Think about it, besides the direct client and the developer, web site visitors use their browser, a single browser. They are not loading the site and switching back and forth between the two browsers scrutinizing every margin, border and font size.

Yes, the site has to look good everywhere. Yes, it has to work in every browser. No, it does not have to look identical in every browser. Repeat this to yourself over and over until your breathing and heart rate returns to a normal level. I have come to realize that it will never look exactly the same, and the cost of getting it even as close as it is possible is not worth the time.

This is where Handcrafted CSS comes in. As soon as you let go of this old way of thinking an entire new world opens up. Modern, agile, browsers adopt standards early to allow for testing and contributing to the standards ratification process. The more developers exercise this code in their work, the stronger the final standards will be. We can prove out the efficacy of the standard everyday through our work. Additionally we are seeding the internet with millions of reasons to stop using IE all together.

I think that if web surfers knew that their world would be a richer, more beautiful place using standards based browsers, they would stop using IE. Additionally, the more the world swings in the direction of standards, the harder it will be for Microsoft to continue to do business as usual. They will be forced to join the party.

So if you are interested in furthering the standards movement, experience the wonder and awe of CSS3 and the freedoms it provides (not to mention the severe reduction of coding effort), there are three things you should do;

Buy Handcrafted CSS, adopt progressive enhancement as a philosophy, and create beautiful sites that illustrate the joys of letting go of the old ways of building web sites.

Bobbie Brown CEO

Here is an excerpt from their current web site (I redesigned their web site but yanked it when my wife was not paid):

“Through many years of music education experience with people of all ages, Bobbie Brown, a founder and CEO of Music Talk Inc., has always known how therapeutic music can be.”

Unfortunately she doesn’t know that not paying your employees is illegal.

As a result of these delinquent salary checks, and the multiple failed promises by Bobbie Brown and the Board of Directors of MusicTalk Inc., Sarah was forced to bring this before the labor commission and was awarded a settlement. I have attached the court documents.

If you have information that would help the courts in settling this matter, are considering this program for funding, or are a member of the board of directors for this non-profit corporation please be aware if this information and contact me through this site. Thank You.

The one thing I’m learning to appreciate is good design and development. Some of the applications I’m looking at are just not not very well thought out.

The real consideration needs to me the end user. What does the customer have to do to accomplish their job? If the developer can’t walk in the user’s shoes more likely than not the product will not do it’s best to aid the user in their task… Doing their job. So does that mean that the developer has not done theirs?

I think this is the challenge that all developers must accept. Their success or failure is in how well the product accomplishes it’s goals. My first goal as a user interface designer is meeting the user where they are, not where I want them to be. Know the task, understand the user, and always strive for the elegant solution.

• allstateswest.com
• akeinc.com
• wiltoncalifornia.org
• walkforwesley.com
• gbhmanagement.com
• gbhrealty.com
• cjksecurities.com
• youngstersinc.com
• silvermanlawpc.com
• techniqueboysteam.com
• hire-standards.net
• azspecialneeds.com
• lepawspa.com
• dosinc.net

But has design moved forward? Clearly sites are more content oriented with the emphasis on search engines. Sites tend to be better organized, and searchable because they tend to use a content management system. Web publishing is more accessible with the convenience of Blogs, and photo sites like Flickr.

Unfortunately most of the positive steps were side effects. Sites didn’t start adding content because they wanted to communicate better, but to grab SEO points. Sadly the only reason to have a site is to communicate with potential customers. It took Google looking for content to force content into websites. With the advent of content came content management systems (CMS). With so much content on sites they needed an easy way to catalog, organize, and update it and the result was the use of databases and dynamic content was born. Now as the web has grown, so has the use of CMS. Blogs and photo album sites have brought content from everyones’ personal computers to the internet. Now even grandma can publish websites per-se. Writing diary entries, adding photos, and presenting your thoughts and ideas to the world. Of course none of these benefits are a better looking web. Graphic design is still an after thought in many cases, if it’s considered at all.

With the new easy-to-produce web comes a new batch of web developers who are convinced that because they can do it means they should. As you can see from the sites above making web production easier…can result in some pretty strong reasons for increasing the difficulty of web development to staggeringly difficult levels.

Now take my site as an example. I cater specifically to the organization of content, and the ease of navigation. The appearance is somewhat conservative to aid the user in finding what they want without having to learn a new interface. The results is a simple straight-forward design. I chose to enhance this basic framework with a few flourishes of the artist’s paintbrush, but all in all it’s a simple website. Is this bad? Because it is organized like a blog, is it devoid of design? Because I chose to maintain a fixed width and eschewed Flash for the main interface did I sell out?

I feel that even though a site isn’t flashy, obtuse, or complex it isn’t necessarily boring. There is an elegance to simplicity, consistency, and user focused design. The real trick is making it elegant, slick, flashy, and keeping it usable.

Maybe it’s my system. Could be. But why wouldn’t Doom 3, Quake 4, Half-life 2, Tomb Raider, Bioshock, or Need for Speed underground, underground 2, or Most Wanted crash then too? In fact no other game I’ve played has crashed. My system is pretty much top of the line. Core 2 6400, 2Gb RAM, ATI 1900XTX 512Mb VRAM.

Why wouldn’t a company write a patch to resolve such a widespread, common problem. This is a well documented issue:

• reaper-x
• Gameguru
• Neowin
• Megagames
• Overclock.net
• Guru3d
• Here is the full Google results link

I understand not knowing how to trace an un-reproducible bug, that doesn’t seem to be a problem here. I understand having hardware that doesn’t meet the system requirements, not an issue as far as I’ve read. I understand abandoning a project, not the case here as there have been three patches released since it launch. So what’s the problem?

More importantly I want to know why EA would think that I would actually buy the next installment of this game that comes out this week, Need for Speed Pro Street, when they haven’t even gotten the last one to work! I for one am waiting to buy this game until the user reviews come out, becasue even the game magazines didn’t report this problem with carbon. Buyer beware.

Update

Right after I wrote this article, I found that the demo was online for Need For Speed Pro Street. I downloaded the 750 Mb file, installed it, and ran it. It trudged through the intro movies, flashy animations etc… Then I set my video setting to match my screen, this game at least supports my wide screen monitor, unlike Carbon. Setup my game pad. Then started the demo for the speed challenge. CRASH!!!!! I tried again, having to repeat all my setup procedures again. This time I quit after changing my settings, anticipating the crash and not want to set up my screen and controls again. Re-launched and tried again to start the race. CRASH!!!!!!!!! Wow, now I really want to buy this game.

Aren’t demos supposed to be the compelling, “oh my this is so amazing I have to play the full game” experience? The “this blew my mind, now I want to give them my credit card number” kind of experience? Oh well, guess I’ll save my money for the Orange Box, Crysis, or anything that doesn’t have the EA name on it. Pathetic!!!

Now the interesting thing is that the code for the home page, as an example, is really poorly built. They still use tables for layout, and the JavaScript is embedded in the header. Worse still they are an internet law firm.

There are a few things that strike me as ludicrous from a developer’s standpoint.

My top ten list of why they are stupid:

1. Use technology that can actually hide your code: ASP, PHP, Flash, JAVA
2. Move your scripts to a separate file from your HTML, at least
3. Use JavaScript to disable right clicking
4. Go old-school and use frames
5. Float a transparent GIF over the whole page so people can’t click
6. Have code that is actually worth looking at
7. Show your EULA before people can view your content, allowing them to opt out of viewing your stupid site
8. Stay off the internet because there is always a way to get the code
9. Hire a designer because your site looks terrible (see 6)
10. Telling people to not link to your site, or click your ads, or look at your content defeats the entire purpose of having a web site

And John W. Dozier, Jr. calls himself a “Super Lawyer”:

"is recognized through peer review as a "Super Lawyer" in the law of the Internet"

Poor ignorant lawyer, I almost feel sad for him.

As most people know, Windows is a double edged sword, it seems easy at first but there are lots of potholes on this road. Windows 3.1 seemed to become corrupted almost weekly, and I was constantly re-installing it. Windows 95 was more stable, but you always had to exit into DOS to get some applications to run. Windows NT 4 suffered a similar problem as 95, and was drastically different in terms of system administration. Windows 98, and ME were really only patches to 95 to support USB and a few other technologies. And then finally windows 2000. Stable and robust like NT 4, but more inline with the workstation user than NT 4 which really felt like a server environment. I really liked Win2K. Even after XP came out, Win2K was better because it was just as stable as XP, but could be run on half the computer that XP required. Half the RAM, drive space, and video card. Eventually XP’s bells and whistles won me over and I switched. It made some tasks really easy, and the improvements from day to day were enough to convince me to switch. When I built my new PC I wanted to move XP onto it, so I had to decide whether I wanted to shell out for another license of XP, or try something more daring. I settled on trying Linux.

The first time I ran Linux I tried Suse 9.2. It installed easily and ran well on my older P4 1.8Ghz. One day I decided to upset the apple cart and re-install Windows just to get my ATI All-in-wonder running to be able to capture video again. (The Linux support for this is little more than a hack and it was really a pain in the butt at the time) So back to Win2K. It ran well for about six months and then about two weeks ago Media Player stopped working. So I went to uninstall it, and the Add Remove programs popped open with a gray bar down the side of the window, a string of text across the top, and no icons, or menus. Crap! Now what. I could re-install windows, but clearly I didn’t have a really good opinion of it after it just finished crapping on me. So the only logical choice was something free, robust and simple. I’ve reading a lot about Ubuntu Linux, Beryl adding Vista-like enhancements, and knowing that Linux ran well on this box before.

I burned the Live disk, booted into Kubuntu (the KDE desktop version of Ubuntu, still Ubuntu but a different X-windows interface) and clicked the Install Icon on the desktop. A few questions later the desktop popped open, I installed a bunch of free applications, and I was running again. Just as windows is a double edged sword, so is Linux. It’s easy to install, easy to run, and there are now lots of ways to keep it updated and running. The downside is it isn’t Windows. So there isn’t a vast selection of applications, games, and hardware support. My video card, for example, is more than capable of handling OpenGL screen savers, but the Linux drivers that come out of the box cripple the video card to a staggering level. But if all you are looking for is an OS that’s easy to install, can run Thunderbird for email, Firefox for the web, and enough security to keep hackers, and spyware out of your life, why would you bother paying Microsoft for a license of Windows? Now if only I could keep myself from trying to squeeze more juice from the video card and other hardware and end up breaking the damned thing I’ll be just fine.

I thought I would write up a review for this bike as the usual resource for reviews, roadbikereview.com, seems to have stopped updating their site. I added this bike, and wrote a review, but after a month it has yet to appear on their site. Oh well. Some of the old reviews I read about the 2002 and 2003 Scattante CFR bikes were less than inspiring. They cited issues with the reseller, Supergo, and the bikes as well. Things as severe as high speed head wobble in descents. I’ve put in about 700 miles on it so far, mostly on my commute to work. I’ve taken it out on a few longer rides, one was a trip to Davis from Sacramento with my friend Aaron, and another was one of my favorite rides from my old stomping grounds the Santa Cruz mountains.

Wow, what a ride! I posted earlier about the crash on this ride, but the other 90% of the ride was fantastic. The Scattante CFR climbs well, it’s got great gearing for climbs as long as you are relatively fit, and its comfortable for long stints in the saddle. The frame is stiff, and light with no hint of chain rub when you are out of the saddle. As for old issues with previous versions of this frame, no head wobble what-so-ever. I was descending down Bear Creek Road with traffic (+35 MPH Mr. Officer) and I can tell you from that alone, this bike corners like it’s on rails, even with my high mileage, puncture resistant, commuter tires.

The 07 Ultegra shifter are simply dead-on precise, and the trim clicks work like they should. Trim clicks are half clicks that allow you to cross gear a bit and keep the front derailleur from rubbing on the chain. My ancient STI shifters were not nearly as refined as the new ones, guess ten years of progress and refinement help.

Transitioning from the Ti frame to the carbon was an easy transition. I was always a bit disappointed in how flexible the Ti frame was, especially when standing or sprinting. It was light, but I just wasn’t ever excited by the ride. The Scattante CFR doesn’t have any of these issues. It rides a lot like my old steel frame being comfortable and stiff, but light. There are a couple of issues with the cable housing rapping on the head tube and sounding rattly, but I can resolve that with a bit of padding around the housing at the head tube. I also want to add some anti-scuff at the head tube as well to keep the frame shiny where the cables will rub.

Here are the specs:

• Frame: Carbon Monocoque Road Frame
• Fork: Carbon Blade, Carbon Steerer
• Headset: 1 1/8″ Integrated, 36/45 degree
• Crankset: TruVativ Rouleur 2.2TM, 53/39T, Double
• Bottom Bracket: TruVativ
• Shift Levers: Shimano Ultegra STI
• Handlebar: Forte Precision 6061-T6 Aluminum w/ 31.8mm clamp
• Stem: Forte Precision Aluminum, cold forged, w/ 31.8mm clamp
• Front Derailleur: Shimano Ultegra, Double, 31.8mm clamp
• Rear Derailleur: Shimano Ultegra, Double, 10-speed
• Cassette: Shimano 105 12/25T, 10-speed
• Brakes: Tektro R740, Dual Pivot
• Wheelset: Shimano WH-R561-L, 16H front and 20H rear
• Tires: Continental Ultra Gatorskin 700×23
• Pedals: Speedplay X5 (old)
• Seatpost: Forte Precision Aluminum/Carbon, 27.2 x 350mm
• Saddle: Velo   
• Chain: KMC DX10 SC
• Grips/Tape: Synthetic cork tape

The only bits I changed out from the stock bike were the tires, I prefer Continental tires, and the seat. Although I’m still trying out several seats to find the one true seat. Other than that, I’m a bit skeptical of the bars and stem, I don’t know who manufactures them, as they are re-brands from someone else. I will change those out before the spring of next year.

For the ~$1,700 that these bikes are going for I think they are an incredible bargain.

Update – I have recently noticed pulsing when using the rear brakes. With the wheel in a truing stand I noticed that the seam on the drive side is bulged slightly (a one inch section, with a ~1 mm change) with no deformation in the roundness. While not catastrophic it is annoying. So much for Shimano 105 quality control.