Archive for August, 2007.
Aug 29 | Posted by Jeffrey Barke | Add a Comment
While searching for something completely different, I ran into an interesting article on Firefox extensions to avoid. The article was published by Computerworld on 10 April 2007 and discusses ten add-ons that are “bad” because they waste network resources or don’t provide enough benefits to be worth running. The extensions to avoid:
- Fasterfox
- NoScript
- Adblock and Adblock Plus
- PDF Download
- VideoDownloader
- Greasemonkey
- ScribeFire (formerly Performancing)
- TrackMeNot
- Tabbrowser Preferences
- Tabbrowser Extensions
To learn why you should avoid these extensions, you’ll have to read it.
This article complements one published 7 March 2007 on 20 must-have Firefox extensions. It’s interesting to note that in March Greasemonkey was a must have, but by April it became one to avoid. And web developers who don’t know about these add-ons will definitely find them worth checking out.
Aug 26 | Posted by Jeffrey Barke | 2 comments
Recently, theMechanism has become more interested than ever in mobile web development. Dave and I were talking a bit about the possibilities after work the other day, and we got so excited we snapped up our first .mobi domain. Now that we had it, though, what to do with it?
While I’ve made a site “mobile friendly in two minutes,” heard of the .mobi domain, read a little about Flash Lite, and worked with semacode, I haven’t engaged in any serious, professional mobile development. So, as senior developer for theMechanism, it was incumbent upon me to do some research. Dave asked me to share my findings on the blog. So, over the next few weeks, I’ll be writing about mobile development here while working on themechanism.mobi (note—themechanism.mobi must be accessed by a mobile device or else you’ll simply be routed to themechanism.com).
Why mobile development?
Well, there are facts such as “internet-enabled mobile phones outnumber PCs four to one” [1]. Then there’s the dream/nightmare of ubiquitous computing—using semacode we can “build applications that combine aspects of the virtual world into the real world” [2]. Finally, it's (relatively) new (and therefore exciting) and, given the release of the iPhone, sexier than ever.
.mobi Domains
While a mobile site can be located anywhere (a domain, subdomain, or subdirectory) “.mobi is the first—and only—top level domain dedicated to users who access the Internet through their mobile phones. General registration of .mobi names began on 26 September and is now open to everyone.” [3]
mTLD Top Level Domain, Ltd. was appointed by ICANN as the official global registry for the .mobi top level domain [4]. To achieve their goal of a domain dedicated to mobile users, mTLD (known informally as dotMobi) has established three mandatory rules that registrants must agree to comply with when they register a .mobi name. mTLD tests all .mobi domains for conformance to the three mandatory rules once per quarter per domain, though this frequency may be increased for sites that have not been compliant in the past. Non-conformant domains will be suspended [5].
Mandatory rules for a .mobi domain:
- You are required to use XHTML Mobile Profile 1.0 markup language for the home page of your site if your web application does not have the means to distinguish between devices, or, if your web application is able to distinguish between devices but does not recognize the current device.
- The site must work with or without the “www” in the domain name
- Frames are not allowed.
That’s it for now. Next time, I’ll talk about some tools to make mobile web development easier.
References
Aug 24 | Posted by Dave Fletcher | 5 comments
As anyone who frequents theMechanism in New York knows – Friday is “pizza day” for the famished denizens of the Creative Bunker. And anyone who knows a little more about the inhabitants of the Creative Bunker, appreciates that we dig our pals at Pizza Suprema at 413 8th Ave, New York, NY. (212) 594-8939. Not only do they spin a particularly toothsome pie, but they also are always sure to send their best regards to Jeffrey and Dave, and a kindly joust at Josh Ingber (who enjoys the pizza, but doesn’t share the same nearly religious love for the “Suprema” as Jeffrey and Dave).
With all of that said, we want to give our pals at Pizza Suprema a nice shout out – because when our savory and saucy cheese pizza arrived today, there was no charge. Pretty cool considering we live in a city of roughly 8,008,278 and these pizza kings manage to make us feel like we’re living in a small town with the fast service and familiarity.
Next time you’re anywhere near MSG in Manhattan (Suprema is one block South-West from the Garden), we implore you to stop in, order some za, say “Boo-ya!” and tell them that the theMechanism forcibly commanded you to do so.
Bon appetit…
