One of the primary goals of HTML and JavaScript is transparency, the accessibility to the code that drives the page. Exposing code so that others can learn from it. In fact this attribute is credited with the proliferation of the web. This poses a serious risk for some web content. If you produced a highly interactive, community driven game would you want you intelectual property (ip) exposed? Web sites don’t expose their business logic. No one expects Amazon to expose how they drive their shopping logic. If Poptropica, a popular game/community for kids, was produces in HTML and JavaScript anyone that visited your site could copy the code, modify it, republish it, and monetize that ip. Who would want that? So think twice before wishing that HTML5 should replace Flash.

That’s when I remember that I installed with compatability mode disabled by default. I turn it on and kablooey! my menus break.

So if you develop using standards put this meta tag in your document head. Or in the wordpress header file.

<meta http-equiv=“x-ua-compatible“ content=“IE=8“>

Now my menus work again, stupid Microsoft.

So far so good. It’s UI has been reworked for better access to features, and there were a number of bug fixes. It allows for comment moderation and there is talk of push notification and commmenting on comments.

Keep up the good work.

So for any of the kids at Taylor Street Elementary reading this… I enjoyed speaking with you today, and look forward to learning with you again.

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.

For example if they commit to an implementation of CSS3 in IE 8.5, and the standards change right after their release, Microsoft couldn’t steer the ship fast enough to hit the new target. So they wait, and wait until the dust settles on changes before they invest in the development commitment.

Luckily for everyone there are faster, more nimble browser companies that are willing to prepare early and provide early adoption for emerging standards. Firefox, Safari, Google Chrome, Opera, and konqueror are all taking risks and investing in the emerging standards. It’s a riskier approach, but the entire industry benefits from this prototype development process. The designers and developers experiment with the tools. Resulting in feedback for their peers, the browser makers, and the standards groups. It’s a cyclical loop evolving the industry.

The wait and see attitude of Microsoft os fiscally conservative and only benefits their bottom line… Maybe. It has driven a lot of customers away, and created animosity within the web development community. I don’t think a single developer or designer would shed a tear if Internet Explorer dropped stone cold dead. I would venture to say there might be large contingent that would throw a party in celebration.

I say let’s help speed up the process of evolution, and extinction. Use modern browsers. Implement CSS3, and HTML5. Support standards and follow them in your personal work and client projects. Participate in the process and dialog. We can all work together to make our lives easier.

Enough said.

The HJC-FRS has four inputs;

1. MIC-SP: for the helmet speakers, and microphone
2. Intercom: to connect the passenger’s helmet mic-sp headset
3. PTT: for the push-to-talk button ( I made one of these but that was a different project)
4. AUDIO: a 3.5mm jack for MP3 players etc.

Th iPhone has two input/outputs I’m going to try using the 3.5 mm 4 conductor jack on top. This provides stereo audio and microphone input, and well as the ability to pause, skip, hang up and answer if you short out two of the wires with a button…just like the hands free headsets.

The Plan:

Make a cable to connect the iPhone’s 4 pole jack to a 6 pin mini din jack on the ChatterBox.

The Diagrams:

This diagram shows the pin outs for the jack view, looking at the back of the ChatterBox. When soldering the wires this is the view of the pins as well.

This diagram shows the pin outs in the iPhone plug.

The Parts:

The easiest way to get the parts for the cable…Amazon.com.And a grand total for the parts $1.81 !!! The cable I spec is nice and round so it fits perfectly in the din plug. Here are the part numbers;

• $0.65 iPhone cable (camcorder vid-aud cable): link to cable on Amazon
• $1.16 6 pin mini din plug: link to plug on Amazon

The Assembly:

After the cables arrived I soldered them up using the pin outs circulating on the internet. If you buy these exact cables these colors should match up, but double check with a continuity tester to be sure.

Note: The cable I bought can be disassembled and desoldered, not cut. Use an exacto knife and carefully split the plastic triangle. Inside you will find a PC board and the wires are soldered to that. Now all you have to do is re-solder them to the pins. Nice.

Note: The din plug needs to be trimmed a bit. The outermost sleeve is 2mm too long. Because the HJC-FRS has a recessed jack trimming the outer sleeve down a bit will give it a step down so it fits better in the ChatterBox. I would lose the right audio on the ride because the plug was not seating all the way,m so trim it before assembly. Slide this onto the cable before soldering.

To bridge the grounds I cut a little off the left over RCA jacks pig tails and soldered it onto pin 1 and pushed the blue and bridge together and soldered them at the same time.

REMEMBER: The pin outs diagram is looking at the back of the din plug!

The last step is wrapping the back of the jack and wire with ~3 wraps of electrical tape. This protects the wires, and allows the plug to grip the wire and reduce the chance of the wires getting pulled out.

The Results:

How did it work? Ok. It works, but it isn’t perfect. The intercom input bypasses the volume control, so the iPhone volume is what controls the music, the volume knob on the ChatterBox does nothing to boost or attenuate the volume of the music. It will however cut the volume down by ~30% when the ChatterBox is turned on. In other words turning on the bike-to-bike radio will reduce the volume of the music, and it’s noticeable. Bummer.

Here are a few other options I have thought about;

1. iPhone earplug headphones with a wind guard on the mic stuffed into the helmet in conjunction with the ChatterBox, intercom still available, separate volume controls
2. Bluetooth headset disassembled and wired into the intercom jack, but then I can’t talk to my passenger
3. New ChatterBox with Bluetooth built in…expensive ~$400

Option one here may be the best/cheapest solution… Any other ideas?