Web Directions

object(WP_Query)#69 (47) { ["query_vars"]=> array(55) { ["year"]=> int(2009) ["monthnum"]=> int(1) ["error"]=> string(0) "" ["m"]=> int(0) ["p"]=> int(0) ["post_parent"]=> string(0) "" ["subpost"]=> string(0) "" ["subpost_id"]=> string(0) "" ["attachment"]=> string(0) "" ["attachment_id"]=> int(0) ["name"]=> string(0) "" ["static"]=> string(0) "" ["pagename"]=> string(0) "" ["page_id"]=> int(0) ["second"]=> string(0) "" ["minute"]=> string(0) "" ["hour"]=> string(0) "" ["day"]=> int(0) ["w"]=> int(0) ["category_name"]=> string(0) "" ["tag"]=> string(0) "" ["cat"]=> string(0) "" ["tag_id"]=> string(0) "" ["author_name"]=> string(0) "" ["feed"]=> string(0) "" ["tb"]=> string(0) "" ["paged"]=> int(0) ["comments_popup"]=> string(0) "" ["meta_key"]=> string(0) "" ["meta_value"]=> string(0) "" ["preview"]=> string(0) "" ["s"]=> string(0) "" ["sentence"]=> string(0) "" ["fields"]=> string(0) "" ["category__in"]=> array(0) { } ["category__not_in"]=> array(0) { } ["category__and"]=> array(0) { } ["post__in"]=> array(0) { } ["post__not_in"]=> array(0) { } ["tag__in"]=> array(0) { } ["tag__not_in"]=> array(0) { } ["tag__and"]=> array(0) { } ["tag_slug__in"]=> array(0) { } ["tag_slug__and"]=> array(0) { } ["ignore_sticky_posts"]=> bool(false) ["suppress_filters"]=> bool(false) ["cache_results"]=> bool(false) ["update_post_term_cache"]=> bool(true) ["update_post_meta_cache"]=> bool(true) ["post_type"]=> string(0) "" ["posts_per_page"]=> int(15) ["nopaging"]=> bool(false) ["comments_per_page"]=> string(2) "50" ["no_found_rows"]=> bool(false) ["order"]=> string(4) "DESC" } ["tax_query"]=> object(WP_Tax_Query)#90 (2) { ["queries"]=> array(0) { } ["relation"]=> string(3) "AND" } ["meta_query"]=> object(WP_Meta_Query)#89 (2) { ["queries"]=> array(0) { } ["relation"]=> NULL } ["post_count"]=> int(15) ["current_post"]=> int(-1) ["in_the_loop"]=> bool(false) ["comment_count"]=> int(0) ["current_comment"]=> int(-1) ["found_posts"]=> string(2) "15" ["max_num_pages"]=> float(1) ["max_num_comment_pages"]=> int(0) ["is_single"]=> bool(false) ["is_preview"]=> bool(false) ["is_page"]=> bool(false) ["is_archive"]=> bool(true) ["is_date"]=> bool(true) ["is_year"]=> bool(false) ["is_month"]=> bool(true) ["is_day"]=> bool(false) ["is_time"]=> bool(false) ["is_author"]=> bool(false) ["is_category"]=> bool(false) ["is_tag"]=> bool(false) ["is_tax"]=> bool(false) ["is_search"]=> bool(false) ["is_feed"]=> bool(false) ["is_comment_feed"]=> bool(false) ["is_trackback"]=> bool(false) ["is_home"]=> bool(false) ["is_404"]=> bool(false) ["is_comments_popup"]=> bool(false) ["is_paged"]=> bool(false) ["is_admin"]=> bool(false) ["is_attachment"]=> bool(false) ["is_singular"]=> bool(false) ["is_robots"]=> bool(false) ["is_posts_page"]=> bool(false) ["is_post_type_archive"]=> bool(false) ["query_vars_hash"]=> string(32) "082c073076b90d3a4977b9e4b2310662" ["query_vars_changed"]=> bool(false) ["thumbnails_cached"]=> bool(false) ["query"]=> array(2) { ["year"]=> string(4) "2009" ["monthnum"]=> string(2) "01" } ["request"]=> string(252) " SELECT SQL_CALC_FOUND_ROWS wp_posts.* FROM wp_posts WHERE 1=1 AND YEAR(wp_posts.post_date)='2009' AND MONTH(wp_posts.post_date)='1' AND wp_posts.post_type = 'post' AND (wp_posts.post_status = 'publish') ORDER BY wp_posts.post_date DESC LIMIT 0, 15" ["posts"]=> &array(15) { [0]=> object(stdClass)#114 (25) { ["ID"]=> int(1553) ["post_author"]=> string(1) "3" ["post_date"]=> string(19) "2009-01-29 03:23:12" ["post_date_gmt"]=> string(19) "2009-01-28 17:23:12" ["post_content"]=> string(5156) "It's clear from developments over the last few months, and even the last couple of days, that the current economic climate is one few of us, even those old enough to experienced the dot com bust of a few years ago have any great experience of.There's certainly plenty of cause not to be optimistic. But of course, economies are as much about confidence as just about anything else. So, in all the gloom, is there cause for optimism?I think we in the web probably have more cause than most, strange as it may seem. And I genuinely believe that we have the opportunity to show leadership - by innovating, by redoubling our efforts to help the web become even more of the world changing force it has become.In practical terms, things that excite me, and give me cause for optimism (and of course things we are focussing on at Web Directions North) includethe mobile web - think of the impact that the web has had on the world, economically, socially, politically, when it has essentially to date only been available within narrow constraints of time (work and school hours for most people for most of its history), and place (workplaces, studies, places of education). So, as first class web experiences become increasingly available in all our pockets over the next few years, imagine the implications for business, education, and just about every aspect of human endeavor. Imagine the opportunities having the web everywhere all the time opens up. At Web Directions we have several sessions and workshops focussing on just these issues and opportunities.geo location services and apis - closely couple with this is a new range of capabilities already available, which will become increasingly standardized - the ability for a web application to ask a browser where the user is, and contextualize services and information based on that. We've got a session by Ryan Sarver one of the leading experts in this field at Web Directions focussing on precisely this. We're also working with the excellent folks at BrightKite to give you first hand experience of how some of these services can be used right now in your own applications.offline applications - there are places and times we still can't use the web, whether it's on an airplane, in a remote location, or when we forget to pay our ISP bill :-) But in order to make web based applications really something we can rely on, they must have 100% uptime. The capacity to have browser based applications that work whether you are offline or on is a vital step toward making the web the fundamental platform for computing. The last year or two have seen huge steps in making this a reality, and one of the genuine pioneers in this field, first with Dojo, and now with Google Gears, is Brad Neuberg, who's running Beyond Cookies a session on how to make your web applications work offline as well as on (all the while inside the browser).desktop like applications in the browser - The web has for most of its history been primarily document oriented. We've been seeing its transformation to an application oriented platform these last few years, but this has really accelerated with the rise of sophisticated libraries and frameworks that provide much of the underlying functionality required for web applications. To take this to the next step, only a week or two ago, Palm announced their new webOS and Mojo application development framework, based on HTML, JavaScript and CSS. The core tools of the web will be the core tools for how you build applications for webOS and the new generation of Palm devices - to me an exciting and courageous step by Palm. At Web Directions North, we have several sessions devoted to this whole area of innovation - including a workshop by one of the developers of the exciting Cappucino web application development framework, and a double session featuring core members of the teams that are developing such important widely used libraries as Dojo, YUI, Cappuccino and JQuery.There's actually a lot more happening with the web, and at Web Directions that excites me, and gives me cause for great optimism - from HTML5 and innovations in CSS, to new ways of interacting with the web using devices like the Wii, surface and multi touch mobile devices.So, while Denver isn't Davos, I honestly believe it's the folks on the web, innovating, not the folks at think tanks bloviating that are really a key to turning the economy worldwide around.So, are you optimistic? And if so, (or not) at makes you so?" ["post_title"]=> string(20) "A case for optimism?" ["post_category"]=> string(1) "0" ["post_excerpt"]=> string(0) "" ["post_status"]=> string(7) "publish" ["comment_status"]=> string(4) "open" ["ping_status"]=> string(4) "open" ["post_password"]=> string(0) "" ["post_name"]=> string(19) "a-case-for-optimism" ["to_ping"]=> string(0) "" ["pinged"]=> string(0) "" ["post_modified"]=> string(19) "2009-01-29 03:33:39" ["post_modified_gmt"]=> string(19) "2009-01-28 17:33:39" ["post_content_filtered"]=> string(0) "" ["post_parent"]=> int(0) ["guid"]=> string(36) "http://www.webdirections.org/?p=1553" ["menu_order"]=> int(0) ["post_type"]=> string(4) "post" ["post_mime_type"]=> string(0) "" ["comment_count"]=> string(1) "1" ["filter"]=> string(3) "raw" } [1]=> object(stdClass)#115 (25) { ["ID"]=> int(1546) ["post_author"]=> string(1) "3" ["post_date"]=> string(19) "2009-01-21 02:12:23" ["post_date_gmt"]=> string(19) "2009-01-20 16:12:23" ["post_content"]=> string(2768) "The venerable "A List Apart" today publishes two articles on the state of education for web professionals, the first by Leslie Jensen-Inman, whose recently finished a Master's thesis, where she

interviewed thirty-two web design and development leaders. Each of them expressed interest in the formal education of the next generation of web professionals. Most emphasized a challenge common to higher education: technology moves too fast for curriculum to keep up with it.

Leslie's article summarizes those responses, and looks at the issues associated with, and some strategies for improving the education of web professionals.In a related article, Aarron Walter surveys various projects related to education of web professionals, including the Web Standards Project's Curriculum Framework, Opera Software's Open Curriculum Project, the work being done by the Information Architecture Institute, and our own project "Ed Directions" - a one day symposium style workshop, bringing together domain experts, education experts (including Aarron and Leslie), and educators, to help improve the quality of education for "the next generation of web professionals". Our first run of Ed Directions is taking place in Denver on February 3rd, as part of Web Directions North, and we hope to hold similar events in association with other Web Directions Conferences.In fact, Ed Directions brings together not just Aaron and Leslie, but also Chris Mills who manages Opera's open curriculum project, Stephanie Troeth, who along with Aaron and others at WaSP is coordinating their Curriculum Framework Project, Nick Fogler from Yahoo!, who has been developing and implementing their internal front end engineering training project, as well as folks like Jeffrey Brown and Glenda Sims who've been involved with developing and implementing standards and best practice focussed programs at secondary and post secondary level.This is something we've ben passionate about and focussed on for a long time with Web Directions and westciv, and it's very encouraging to see so much activity in this area." ["post_title"]=> string(26) "The state of Web education" ["post_category"]=> string(1) "0" ["post_excerpt"]=> string(0) "" ["post_status"]=> string(7) "publish" ["comment_status"]=> string(4) "open" ["ping_status"]=> string(4) "open" ["post_password"]=> string(0) "" ["post_name"]=> string(26) "the-state-of-web-education" ["to_ping"]=> string(0) "" ["pinged"]=> string(0) "" ["post_modified"]=> string(19) "2009-01-21 02:12:23" ["post_modified_gmt"]=> string(19) "2009-01-20 16:12:23" ["post_content_filtered"]=> string(0) "" ["post_parent"]=> int(0) ["guid"]=> string(36) "http://www.webdirections.org/?p=1546" ["menu_order"]=> int(0) ["post_type"]=> string(4) "post" ["post_mime_type"]=> string(0) "" ["comment_count"]=> string(1) "0" ["filter"]=> string(3) "raw" } [2]=> object(stdClass)#116 (25) { ["ID"]=> int(1542) ["post_author"]=> string(1) "2" ["post_date"]=> string(19) "2009-01-16 08:59:29" ["post_date_gmt"]=> string(19) "2009-01-15 22:59:29" ["post_content"]=> string(1615) "John and I went to SXSW 3 years in a row between 2005 and 2007. The first year was pretty good, suffused as it was with that thrill of meeting people we'd known via email etc for years. But the second year was probably the best for a whole host of reasons, not least of which was we made sure we connected up with lots of other Australians who were going before we went. Sound a bit like a ghetto? Well, you can choose to see it that way, but that actually wasn't our experience at all. For us it had a powerful networking effect where we all shared those "pre-existing" online connections with various people we'd known before we went there, so all of us met a lot more new people that second year.So, if you're planning on going this year, try and seek out the other Aussies that are going as well. Not sure if you can still do this, but back then there was a searchable database of all attendees and as I recall I just did a search for the word "Australia" and messaged anyone via that system. Why don't you all arrange to meet up somewhere on the first night? Or even have a meetup here before you go?Feel free to leave a message here if you're planning on going, or get in touch with Tim and Mike from Agency Rainford, Canary Carla, and the guys from Campaign Monitor, all of whom I know will be heading across.Have fun!" ["post_title"]=> string(51) "Going to SXSW? Make sure you get yourself connected" ["post_category"]=> string(1) "0" ["post_excerpt"]=> string(0) "" ["post_status"]=> string(7) "publish" ["comment_status"]=> string(4) "open" ["ping_status"]=> string(4) "open" ["post_password"]=> string(0) "" ["post_name"]=> string(50) "going-to-sxsw-make-sure-you-get-yourself-connected" ["to_ping"]=> string(0) "" ["pinged"]=> string(0) "" ["post_modified"]=> string(19) "2009-01-16 08:59:29" ["post_modified_gmt"]=> string(19) "2009-01-15 22:59:29" ["post_content_filtered"]=> string(0) "" ["post_parent"]=> int(0) ["guid"]=> string(36) "http://www.webdirections.org/?p=1542" ["menu_order"]=> int(0) ["post_type"]=> string(4) "post" ["post_mime_type"]=> string(0) "" ["comment_count"]=> string(1) "0" ["filter"]=> string(3) "raw" } [3]=> object(stdClass)#117 (25) { ["ID"]=> int(1538) ["post_author"]=> string(1) "2" ["post_date"]=> string(19) "2009-01-15 08:57:25" ["post_date_gmt"]=> string(19) "2009-01-14 22:57:25" ["post_content"]=> string(1249) "Here at Web Directions we love Campaign Monitor. And what's not to love? These guys have the best email marketing software for designers in the game, a slick new look and feel for all their sites and products, great free resources for anyone interested in email marketing campaigns, plus excellent and worthy enterprises such as the Email Standards Project. And on top of all the they are some of the nicest, most down to earth and professional people you're likely to meet on the web.So it surprises me not at all to read that they've also started something called Giving Back. If you run a meetup or other event for web designers and developers, get in touch with the guys at Campaign Monitor and they'll help you out with free email credits to manage the process of staying in touch with spreading the word about your event, and other stuff such as pizza, beer and prizes.How nice is that?" ["post_title"]=> string(30) "Campaign Monitor - giving back" ["post_category"]=> string(1) "0" ["post_excerpt"]=> string(0) "" ["post_status"]=> string(7) "publish" ["comment_status"]=> string(4) "open" ["ping_status"]=> string(4) "open" ["post_password"]=> string(0) "" ["post_name"]=> string(28) "campaign-monitor-giving-back" ["to_ping"]=> string(0) "" ["pinged"]=> string(0) "" ["post_modified"]=> string(19) "2009-01-15 09:23:43" ["post_modified_gmt"]=> string(19) "2009-01-14 23:23:43" ["post_content_filtered"]=> string(0) "" ["post_parent"]=> int(0) ["guid"]=> string(36) "http://www.webdirections.org/?p=1538" ["menu_order"]=> int(0) ["post_type"]=> string(4) "post" ["post_mime_type"]=> string(0) "" ["comment_count"]=> string(1) "0" ["filter"]=> string(3) "raw" } [4]=> object(stdClass)#118 (25) { ["ID"]=> int(1536) ["post_author"]=> string(1) "2" ["post_date"]=> string(19) "2009-01-14 12:53:24" ["post_date_gmt"]=> string(19) "2009-01-14 02:53:24" ["post_content"]=> string(1610) "Interesting article over at Web Worker Daily talking about the impact of the recession, at least from the US point of view.Got me thinking about how we might get a handle on what is happening here. I drag myself out of bed every morning to the depressing news from Radio National, to a world that in reality seems to be marking time and waiting for something to happen. I'm doing this myself: whenever someone asks me whether Web Directions has been affected, I can only really say that we won't know until we start trying to sell tickets for upcoming Australian events.I've heard of the odd redundancy among the wide circle of "people I know", but most of us would still appear to be living the good life, planning overseas trips and so on. Business as usual. The obvious sectors not to be working in at the moment are banking, mining and tourism, but, even within these, I wonder who the people are who are actually being laid off.At least according to some research, online isn't a bad place to be at the moment. Fingers crossed I guess.What's happening in your little part of the world?Ah, the waiting game sucks. Let's play Hungry-Hungry-Hippos! " ["post_title"]=> string(32) "And now we play the waiting game" ["post_category"]=> string(1) "0" ["post_excerpt"]=> string(0) "" ["post_status"]=> string(7) "publish" ["comment_status"]=> string(4) "open" ["ping_status"]=> string(4) "open" ["post_password"]=> string(0) "" ["post_name"]=> string(32) "and-now-we-play-the-waiting-game" ["to_ping"]=> string(0) "" ["pinged"]=> string(89) " http://webworkerdaily.com/2009/01/12/unemployment-the-economic-downturn-and-web-working/" ["post_modified"]=> string(19) "2009-01-14 12:53:24" ["post_modified_gmt"]=> string(19) "2009-01-14 02:53:24" ["post_content_filtered"]=> string(0) "" ["post_parent"]=> int(0) ["guid"]=> string(36) "http://www.webdirections.org/?p=1536" ["menu_order"]=> int(0) ["post_type"]=> string(4) "post" ["post_mime_type"]=> string(0) "" ["comment_count"]=> string(1) "5" ["filter"]=> string(3) "raw" } [5]=> object(stdClass)#119 (25) { ["ID"]=> int(1526) ["post_author"]=> string(1) "3" ["post_date"]=> string(19) "2009-01-12 16:20:49" ["post_date_gmt"]=> string(19) "2009-01-12 06:20:49" ["post_content"]=> string(944) "Just a quick reminder that the discount period for Web Directions North 2009 ends this Friday, the 17^th. Sign up before then for just $895 (including all taxes for):

• 24 practical, inspiring sessions by world leading experts
• fully catered breaks and lunches
• opening night reception and legendary closing night Media Temple party
• Access to the attendee only Internet Explorer Ski trip at Breckenridge

Web Directions is as always 100% valuable, usable sessions, from world leading experts, things you can put into practice right away. And as always, it will be an intimate event, allowing you plenty of time to meet and interact with your peers and the speakers.Looking forward to seeing you in a few weeks in Denver!" ["post_title"]=> string(48) "Web Directions North discount period ends Friday" ["post_category"]=> string(1) "0" ["post_excerpt"]=> string(0) "" ["post_status"]=> string(7) "publish" ["comment_status"]=> string(4) "open" ["ping_status"]=> string(4) "open" ["post_password"]=> string(0) "" ["post_name"]=> string(48) "web-directions-north-discount-period-ends-friday" ["to_ping"]=> string(0) "" ["pinged"]=> string(0) "" ["post_modified"]=> string(19) "2009-01-13 13:08:23" ["post_modified_gmt"]=> string(19) "2009-01-13 03:08:23" ["post_content_filtered"]=> string(0) "" ["post_parent"]=> int(0) ["guid"]=> string(36) "http://www.webdirections.org/?p=1526" ["menu_order"]=> int(0) ["post_type"]=> string(4) "post" ["post_mime_type"]=> string(0) "" ["comment_count"]=> string(1) "0" ["filter"]=> string(3) "raw" } [6]=> object(stdClass)#120 (25) { ["ID"]=> int(1524) ["post_author"]=> string(1) "2" ["post_date"]=> string(19) "2009-01-12 11:19:08" ["post_date_gmt"]=> string(19) "2009-01-12 01:19:08" ["post_content"]=> string(3488) "How quickly a quarter of a year rolls by. When we launched Scroll during Web Directions South 08 we promised that all the articles would be published in full online 3 months after the print magazine was published, so, here they are.If you didn't manage to get your hands on a copy of our beautiful first issue, they're still available here. But you can now also check out all the articles in full at the Scroll site:Intelligence vs understanding by Indi Young, the author of Rosenfeld Media book, Mental Models. Solving problems requires more than brainpower and a design fix. We need to feel our customer’s pain to fully understand what they need. So throw off your thongs and get ready to walk a mile in your client’s shoes.Keeping the hot side hot and the cold side cold by Aaron Gustafson. Applying 1980s’ fast-food logic to JavaScript and CSS separation: techniques for keeping your presentation out of your scripts.Unreadable by Joe Clark. A species-wide experiment has been carried out on the world’s cyber citizens and the results are in. Thanks to the web, our brains are changing and our ability to read long is going the way of the typewriter. Is this really what we had in mind?Friction by John Allsopp. Is the web really the deathknell of print? With its ability to augment, to manage risk, and reduce friction, it might just be its renaissance.How fine is your design by Ethan Marcotte. The line between a successful design and a clever one is fine. Are you willing to make the ultimate sacrifice and hit the delete button on that work of pure genius to give the client what they want?Veerle Pieters - My favourite typeface. Veerle Pieters on the topic of typography, and why she chose Chalet for the design of her blog.Lynch-ing mobiles by Sebastian Strakowicz. Is watching movies on mobile phones really the bane of the film industry, or is it the next step in the evolution and revolution of personalised content?Exit strategy by Jeffrey Veen. Why a printed magazine may work in this age of the digital.Check them out and spread the word. " ["post_title"]=> string(42) "Scroll Number 1 - full articles now online" ["post_category"]=> string(1) "0" ["post_excerpt"]=> string(0) "" ["post_status"]=> string(7) "publish" ["comment_status"]=> string(4) "open" ["ping_status"]=> string(4) "open" ["post_password"]=> string(0) "" ["post_name"]=> string(40) "scroll-number-1-full-articles-now-online" ["to_ping"]=> string(0) "" ["pinged"]=> string(85) "http://scrollmagazine.com/buy http://scrollmagazine.com/number-1/my-favorite-typeface" ["post_modified"]=> string(19) "2009-01-12 11:19:08" ["post_modified_gmt"]=> string(19) "2009-01-12 01:19:08" ["post_content_filtered"]=> string(0) "" ["post_parent"]=> int(0) ["guid"]=> string(36) "http://www.webdirections.org/?p=1524" ["menu_order"]=> int(0) ["post_type"]=> string(4) "post" ["post_mime_type"]=> string(0) "" ["comment_count"]=> string(1) "0" ["filter"]=> string(3) "raw" } [7]=> object(stdClass)#121 (25) { ["ID"]=> int(1522) ["post_author"]=> string(1) "2" ["post_date"]=> string(19) "2009-01-12 08:03:01" ["post_date_gmt"]=> string(19) "2009-01-11 22:03:01" ["post_content"]=> string(1575) "Whitney Hess has gathered together insights from a whole bunch of influential user experience practitioners and writers to debunk a few myths about what the profession of user experience actually is. She came up with The 10 Most Common Misconceptions About User Experience Design, which has some very meaty food for thought for anyone working in UX, or who has a UX team as part of their larger project. For example:

Louis Rosenfeld, publisher at Rosenfeld Media, publishing books on user experience design, and co-author of the seminal 2002 book Information Architecture for the World Wide Web argues that user experience may not yet even be a discipline. “It may not even be a community just yet,” he asserts. “At best, it’s a common awareness, a thread that ties together people from different disciplines who care about good design, and who realize that today’s increasingly complex design challenges require the synthesis of different varieties of design expertise.”

" ["post_title"]=> string(34) "Ten user experience myths debunked" ["post_category"]=> string(1) "0" ["post_excerpt"]=> string(0) "" ["post_status"]=> string(7) "publish" ["comment_status"]=> string(4) "open" ["ping_status"]=> string(4) "open" ["post_password"]=> string(0) "" ["post_name"]=> string(34) "ten-user-experience-myths-debunked" ["to_ping"]=> string(0) "" ["pinged"]=> string(54) " http://mashable.com/2009/01/09/user-experience-design" ["post_modified"]=> string(19) "2009-01-12 08:03:01" ["post_modified_gmt"]=> string(19) "2009-01-11 22:03:01" ["post_content_filtered"]=> string(0) "" ["post_parent"]=> int(0) ["guid"]=> string(36) "http://www.webdirections.org/?p=1522" ["menu_order"]=> int(0) ["post_type"]=> string(4) "post" ["post_mime_type"]=> string(0) "" ["comment_count"]=> string(1) "1" ["filter"]=> string(3) "raw" } [8]=> object(stdClass)#122 (25) { ["ID"]=> int(1517) ["post_author"]=> string(1) "3" ["post_date"]=> string(19) "2009-01-10 08:30:12" ["post_date_gmt"]=> string(19) "2009-01-09 22:30:12" ["post_content"]=> string(2350) "Palm has just announced their very interesting looking webOS, and Mojo web application framework. Unlike Apple, Palm are essentially making the way you develop for their devices the way you develop for the web.According to Palm, Mojo is:

a new application framework based on the HTML5, CSS, and JavaScript standards ... webOS applications are installed and run directly on the device at native speed and have access to a wide range of device services.

Mojo will enable you to:

• Build applications with gesture-based navigation, transitions, and scrolling
• Use the webOS notification system to alert users without interrupting them
• Leverage the local storage capabilities of HTML5 so that data is available even when users are offline
• Use a JSON-based message bus to tap into a wide range of device services, including contacts, calendars, and location

It goes without saying that the iPhone clearly has an enormous headstart when it comes to mobile platforms, but it will be interesting to see whether by opening itself up to orders of magnitudes more developers, essentially all web developers, Palm will be able to crate a dynamic ecosystem for the webOS. But, as our State of the Web survey suggests, we are still very much in the early days of the adoption of the mobile web, even among early technology adopters.I've said before that this is what I would much have preferred Apple to do with the iPhone. I'm very keen to see the Pre and webOS in the flesh, and think that's at least on paper it's a definitely exciting proposition.One day, I have little doubt that just about anything with a screen will have an SDK to make it extensible, and I'll also go out on a limb to say that the way that will be done is the way Palm is going about it - via web technologies.There are quite a few commentators suggesting that this is Palm's last roll of the dice, in the face of the iPhone, and Android, along with Windows based smartphones. If it is their last roll, I think they made the best possible bet they could.This is definitely something we'll be keeping track of." ["post_title"]=> string(18) "Palm Pre and webOS" ["post_category"]=> string(1) "0" ["post_excerpt"]=> string(0) "" ["post_status"]=> string(7) "publish" ["comment_status"]=> string(4) "open" ["ping_status"]=> string(4) "open" ["post_password"]=> string(0) "" ["post_name"]=> string(18) "palm-pre-and-webos" ["to_ping"]=> string(0) "" ["pinged"]=> string(103) " http://www.webdirections.org/the-state-of-the-web-2008/browsers-and-operating-systems/#mobile-browsers" ["post_modified"]=> string(19) "2009-01-13 13:09:08" ["post_modified_gmt"]=> string(19) "2009-01-13 03:09:08" ["post_content_filtered"]=> string(0) "" ["post_parent"]=> int(0) ["guid"]=> string(36) "http://www.webdirections.org/?p=1517" ["menu_order"]=> int(0) ["post_type"]=> string(4) "post" ["post_mime_type"]=> string(0) "" ["comment_count"]=> string(1) "1" ["filter"]=> string(3) "raw" } [9]=> object(stdClass)#123 (25) { ["ID"]=> int(1512) ["post_author"]=> string(1) "2" ["post_date"]=> string(19) "2009-01-08 07:44:19" ["post_date_gmt"]=> string(19) "2009-01-07 21:44:19" ["post_content"]=> string(496) "Another little distraction from the Man in Blue - the bokeh type experiment. Real real pretty.Oh, and in case you didn't know already, bokeh is that effect you get in a photograph when you have a narrow depth of field, and some bright points of light and color in the background. Like this." ["post_title"]=> string(14) "Bokeh Type Toy" ["post_category"]=> string(1) "0" ["post_excerpt"]=> string(0) "" ["post_status"]=> string(7) "publish" ["comment_status"]=> string(4) "open" ["ping_status"]=> string(4) "open" ["post_password"]=> string(0) "" ["post_name"]=> string(14) "bokeh-type-toy" ["to_ping"]=> string(0) "" ["pinged"]=> string(0) "" ["post_modified"]=> string(19) "2009-01-08 07:44:19" ["post_modified_gmt"]=> string(19) "2009-01-07 21:44:19" ["post_content_filtered"]=> string(0) "" ["post_parent"]=> int(0) ["guid"]=> string(36) "http://www.webdirections.org/?p=1512" ["menu_order"]=> int(0) ["post_type"]=> string(4) "post" ["post_mime_type"]=> string(0) "" ["comment_count"]=> string(1) "0" ["filter"]=> string(3) "raw" } [10]=> object(stdClass)#124 (25) { ["ID"]=> int(1510) ["post_author"]=> string(1) "2" ["post_date"]=> string(19) "2009-01-07 11:39:09" ["post_date_gmt"]=> string(19) "2009-01-07 01:39:09" ["post_content"]=> string(802) "The second Sydney Ignite will be held at the Shelbourne Hotel on January 22. If you haven't registered to attend already, get in now - it's free! There are still a few places left, but these will go quickly.The idea of Ignite is simple - presenters stick to a rigid format of 20 slides, each of which changes automatically after 15 seconds, giving a guaranteed 5 minute presentation. If something sucks, it only sucks for 5 minutes, so, what have you got to lose? The range of topics people will be presenting on is diverse - there's definitely something in there for everyone!Web Directions is sponsoring this event, so, see you there I hope. " ["post_title"]=> string(40) "Ignite Sydney, January 22 - Register now" ["post_category"]=> string(1) "0" ["post_excerpt"]=> string(0) "" ["post_status"]=> string(7) "publish" ["comment_status"]=> string(4) "open" ["ping_status"]=> string(4) "open" ["post_password"]=> string(0) "" ["post_name"]=> string(37) "ignite-sydney-january-22-register-now" ["to_ping"]=> string(0) "" ["pinged"]=> string(38) " http://www.ignitesydney.com/register/" ["post_modified"]=> string(19) "2009-01-07 11:39:09" ["post_modified_gmt"]=> string(19) "2009-01-07 01:39:09" ["post_content_filtered"]=> string(0) "" ["post_parent"]=> int(0) ["guid"]=> string(36) "http://www.webdirections.org/?p=1510" ["menu_order"]=> int(0) ["post_type"]=> string(4) "post" ["post_mime_type"]=> string(0) "" ["comment_count"]=> string(1) "0" ["filter"]=> string(3) "raw" } [11]=> object(stdClass)#125 (25) { ["ID"]=> int(1508) ["post_author"]=> string(1) "3" ["post_date"]=> string(19) "2009-01-07 08:42:04" ["post_date_gmt"]=> string(19) "2009-01-06 22:42:04" ["post_content"]=> string(732) "There's an article by me (John) in today's A List Apart, on the direction that HTML5 is taking in regards to semantics. I have long thought the approach HTML5 takes to extended the semantics of HTML was problematic in several ways, being not backwards compatible with at the very least IE6, and not extensible, and so essentially not solving the problem that it sets out to solve at all.There's some very detailed and thoughtful comments already after the article. So if you are interested in the issues of HTML5 and semantics, please take the time to have a look, and possible add to the conversation." ["post_title"]=> string(36) "John's HTML5 article in A List Apart" ["post_category"]=> string(1) "0" ["post_excerpt"]=> string(0) "" ["post_status"]=> string(7) "publish" ["comment_status"]=> string(4) "open" ["ping_status"]=> string(4) "open" ["post_password"]=> string(0) "" ["post_name"]=> string(35) "johns-html5-article-in-a-list-apart" ["to_ping"]=> string(0) "" ["pinged"]=> string(0) "" ["post_modified"]=> string(19) "2009-01-07 08:42:04" ["post_modified_gmt"]=> string(19) "2009-01-06 22:42:04" ["post_content_filtered"]=> string(0) "" ["post_parent"]=> int(0) ["guid"]=> string(36) "http://www.webdirections.org/?p=1508" ["menu_order"]=> int(0) ["post_type"]=> string(4) "post" ["post_mime_type"]=> string(0) "" ["comment_count"]=> string(1) "3" ["filter"]=> string(3) "raw" } [12]=> object(stdClass)#126 (25) { ["ID"]=> int(1478) ["post_author"]=> string(1) "3" ["post_date"]=> string(19) "2009-01-06 18:10:59" ["post_date_gmt"]=> string(19) "2009-01-06 08:10:59" ["post_content"]=> string(4122) "We've just published the report from our first (hopefully) annual "State of the Web" survey.

Some surprising results from the survey include

• Nearly half the respondents use Mac OS X Leopard, and over half use a non Windows Operating system. Windows XP still outweighs Windows Vista among these users by a factor of 4 to 1 as their operating system of choice.
• Just a small majority, less than 5%, use any version of Internet Explorer as their primary browser, while Firefox dominates as the browser for choice, with over 60% market share. Safari 3 follows with 21%, and the much talked about Chrome on just 4%.
• Only a tiny handful use Internet Explorer 8 beta as their browser of choice.
• Despite the hype of the iPhone, less than 20% of respondents use the mobile web, and a similar number develop sites optimized for mobiles.

Web Development technologies

When it comes to web technology use, standards based technologies dominate.

• Only 3% of respondents say they never validate their sites while 70% say that they frequently or always do.
• Only 10% of respondents say they use tables for layout, while well over 90% use CSS for styling their pages.
• 35% of respondents say they use microformats in their markup.
• 95% of respondents use JavaScript, and of these, almost all use libraries.
• JQuery is the dominant library used by some way, with 60% of respondents saying they use it.

With plug-in technologies, Flash continues to dominate, with a market share of around 60%. Silverlight still has a lot of work to do to catch the long time industry leader, with a bare 2%, little more than the Real format. Apple's Quicktime has a surprising 20% of the market. Java applets have all but disappeared from the toolset of these early adopter developers.

On the back end, open source accounts for the majority of technologies used. Among server operating systems Linux at nearly 60% is used more than twice as often as Windows at 28%, with Unix also well represented at 17%. Even Mac OS X, which is usually far down survey lists for server OSs, is used by 5.5% of respondents. Apache at 70% is the dominant web server, with IIS at 23%.

Over 90% sites are database driven, with the open source MySQL at 70% and PostrgeSQL at 10% together accounting for the significant majority of sites by respondents. Microsoft's SQL Server at 22% and Oracle at 9% were the other widely used database systems.

With server side programming languages, PHP is the most commonly used, at 63%, with JavaScript at 55%, ASP.NET at 17% and Python at 15%. Despite its flavor of the month status, Ruby comes in at 14%, with Java at 12%, indicating that the language which came to prominence with the rise of the web is well and truly being challenged from all sides when it comes to web back end development.

Developers, developers, developer

The day of the web developer has well and truly arrived, with a significant majority of respondents describing themselves as "developers" rather than designers, or a combination of the two. 95% or more or respondents use JavaScript, and over 90% of their sites are database driven.

Read this, as well as all our conclusions, download the complete (anonymized) set of responses as a CSV, see tabular results to all the questions, the questions asked, or dive into our detailed analysis.

" ["post_title"]=> string(35) "The State of the Web survey results" ["post_category"]=> string(1) "0" ["post_excerpt"]=> string(0) "" ["post_status"]=> string(7) "publish" ["comment_status"]=> string(4) "open" ["ping_status"]=> string(4) "open" ["post_password"]=> string(0) "" ["post_name"]=> string(35) "the-state-of-the-web-survey-results" ["to_ping"]=> string(0) "" ["pinged"]=> string(377) "http://www.webdirections.org/blog/the-state-of-the-web-2008-a-survey-of-web-designers-and-developers/ http://www.webdirections.org/the-state-of-the-web-2008/#about http://www.webdirections.org/the-state-of-the-web-2008/conclusions/ http://www.webdirections.org/the-state-of-the-web-2008/ http://www.webdirections.org/the-state-of-the-web-2008/state-of-the-web-just-the-results/" ["post_modified"]=> string(19) "2009-01-08 08:57:10" ["post_modified_gmt"]=> string(19) "2009-01-07 22:57:10" ["post_content_filtered"]=> string(0) "" ["post_parent"]=> int(0) ["guid"]=> string(36) "http://www.webdirections.org/?p=1478" ["menu_order"]=> int(0) ["post_type"]=> string(4) "post" ["post_mime_type"]=> string(0) "" ["comment_count"]=> string(2) "22" ["filter"]=> string(3) "raw" } [13]=> object(stdClass)#127 (25) { ["ID"]=> int(1355) ["post_author"]=> string(1) "3" ["post_date"]=> string(19) "2009-01-02 08:30:11" ["post_date_gmt"]=> string(19) "2009-01-01 22:30:11" ["post_content"]=> string(1591) "TGDaily has an unattributed report asserting that

Google is now urging Gmail users to drop Internet Explorer 6 (IE6) in favor of Firefox or Chrome that, according to the company, run the popular web-based email service "twice as fast." Google also labels IE6 as an unsupported browser, meaning it fails to run some Gmail features

I'm unable to find any direct quote from Google to this effect - anyone got one? With 20% of users still using IE6 (which is only marginally less than all versions of Firefox, and close to 3 times Safari), it's an interesting position if it is in fact the case.There's a reasonable case to be made that IE6 is disproportionally used in larger enterprises and organizations, for which Google provides commercial versions of Google apps like Gmail. It's hard to imagine Google abandoning IE6 support for such users, even if the percentage of users for their free versions of Gmail, Google Apps and so on using IE6 is small and diminishing.We'll have some interesting related statistics from our recent "State of the Web" survey in the next few days, which among many other things asked designers and developers what browsers they used (and tested their sites and applications in).I'm guessing that for mere mortals, support for IE6 in our sites and applications will need to continue for some time yet, even if Google feels they can start transitioning users to other browsers. " ["post_title"]=> string(35) "Google deprecating support for IE6?" ["post_category"]=> string(1) "0" ["post_excerpt"]=> string(0) "" ["post_status"]=> string(7) "publish" ["comment_status"]=> string(4) "open" ["ping_status"]=> string(4) "open" ["post_password"]=> string(0) "" ["post_name"]=> string(34) "google-deprecating-support-for-ie6" ["to_ping"]=> string(0) "" ["pinged"]=> string(0) "" ["post_modified"]=> string(19) "2009-01-02 08:30:11" ["post_modified_gmt"]=> string(19) "2009-01-01 22:30:11" ["post_content_filtered"]=> string(0) "" ["post_parent"]=> int(0) ["guid"]=> string(36) "http://www.webdirections.org/?p=1355" ["menu_order"]=> int(0) ["post_type"]=> string(4) "post" ["post_mime_type"]=> string(0) "" ["comment_count"]=> string(2) "16" ["filter"]=> string(3) "raw" } [14]=> object(stdClass)#128 (25) { ["ID"]=> int(1352) ["post_author"]=> string(1) "3" ["post_date"]=> string(19) "2009-01-02 08:14:04" ["post_date_gmt"]=> string(19) "2009-01-01 22:14:04" ["post_content"]=> string(806) " Michal Zalewski at Google has published a "Browser Security Handbook" the goal of which is

to provide web application developers, browser engineers, and information security researchers with a one-stop reference to key security properties of contemporary web browsers. Insufficient understanding of these often poorly-documented characteristics is a major contributing factor to the prevalence of several classes of security vulnerabilities.

If your goal for 2009 is to get your security geek on, then here's an excellent place to start. Also good for impressing folks at nightclubs with intimate details of "Same-origin policy for XMLHttpRequest" and such forth. Or not." ["post_title"]=> string(46) "Google's "Browser Security Handbook" published" ["post_category"]=> string(1) "0" ["post_excerpt"]=> string(0) "" ["post_status"]=> string(7) "publish" ["comment_status"]=> string(4) "open" ["ping_status"]=> string(4) "open" ["post_password"]=> string(0) "" ["post_name"]=> string(43) "googles-browser-security-handbook-published" ["to_ping"]=> string(0) "" ["pinged"]=> string(0) "" ["post_modified"]=> string(19) "2009-01-02 08:14:04" ["post_modified_gmt"]=> string(19) "2009-01-01 22:14:04" ["post_content_filtered"]=> string(0) "" ["post_parent"]=> int(0) ["guid"]=> string(36) "http://www.webdirections.org/?p=1352" ["menu_order"]=> int(0) ["post_type"]=> string(4) "post" ["post_mime_type"]=> string(0) "" ["comment_count"]=> string(1) "0" ["filter"]=> string(3) "raw" } } ["post"]=> object(stdClass)#114 (25) { ["ID"]=> int(1553) ["post_author"]=> string(1) "3" ["post_date"]=> string(19) "2009-01-29 03:23:12" ["post_date_gmt"]=> string(19) "2009-01-28 17:23:12" ["post_content"]=> string(5156) "It's clear from developments over the last few months, and even the last couple of days, that the current economic climate is one few of us, even those old enough to experienced the dot com bust of a few years ago have any great experience of.There's certainly plenty of cause not to be optimistic. But of course, economies are as much about confidence as just about anything else. So, in all the gloom, is there cause for optimism?I think we in the web probably have more cause than most, strange as it may seem. And I genuinely believe that we have the opportunity to show leadership - by innovating, by redoubling our efforts to help the web become even more of the world changing force it has become.In practical terms, things that excite me, and give me cause for optimism (and of course things we are focussing on at Web Directions North) includethe mobile web - think of the impact that the web has had on the world, economically, socially, politically, when it has essentially to date only been available within narrow constraints of time (work and school hours for most people for most of its history), and place (workplaces, studies, places of education). So, as first class web experiences become increasingly available in all our pockets over the next few years, imagine the implications for business, education, and just about every aspect of human endeavor. Imagine the opportunities having the web everywhere all the time opens up. At Web Directions we have several sessions and workshops focussing on just these issues and opportunities.geo location services and apis - closely couple with this is a new range of capabilities already available, which will become increasingly standardized - the ability for a web application to ask a browser where the user is, and contextualize services and information based on that. We've got a session by Ryan Sarver one of the leading experts in this field at Web Directions focussing on precisely this. We're also working with the excellent folks at BrightKite to give you first hand experience of how some of these services can be used right now in your own applications.offline applications - there are places and times we still can't use the web, whether it's on an airplane, in a remote location, or when we forget to pay our ISP bill :-) But in order to make web based applications really something we can rely on, they must have 100% uptime. The capacity to have browser based applications that work whether you are offline or on is a vital step toward making the web the fundamental platform for computing. The last year or two have seen huge steps in making this a reality, and one of the genuine pioneers in this field, first with Dojo, and now with Google Gears, is Brad Neuberg, who's running Beyond Cookies a session on how to make your web applications work offline as well as on (all the while inside the browser).desktop like applications in the browser - The web has for most of its history been primarily document oriented. We've been seeing its transformation to an application oriented platform these last few years, but this has really accelerated with the rise of sophisticated libraries and frameworks that provide much of the underlying functionality required for web applications. To take this to the next step, only a week or two ago, Palm announced their new webOS and Mojo application development framework, based on HTML, JavaScript and CSS. The core tools of the web will be the core tools for how you build applications for webOS and the new generation of Palm devices - to me an exciting and courageous step by Palm. At Web Directions North, we have several sessions devoted to this whole area of innovation - including a workshop by one of the developers of the exciting Cappucino web application development framework, and a double session featuring core members of the teams that are developing such important widely used libraries as Dojo, YUI, Cappuccino and JQuery.There's actually a lot more happening with the web, and at Web Directions that excites me, and gives me cause for great optimism - from HTML5 and innovations in CSS, to new ways of interacting with the web using devices like the Wii, surface and multi touch mobile devices.So, while Denver isn't Davos, I honestly believe it's the folks on the web, innovating, not the folks at think tanks bloviating that are really a key to turning the economy worldwide around.So, are you optimistic? And if so, (or not) at makes you so?" ["post_title"]=> string(20) "A case for optimism?" ["post_category"]=> string(1) "0" ["post_excerpt"]=> string(0) "" ["post_status"]=> string(7) "publish" ["comment_status"]=> string(4) "open" ["ping_status"]=> string(4) "open" ["post_password"]=> string(0) "" ["post_name"]=> string(19) "a-case-for-optimism" ["to_ping"]=> string(0) "" ["pinged"]=> string(0) "" ["post_modified"]=> string(19) "2009-01-29 03:33:39" ["post_modified_gmt"]=> string(19) "2009-01-28 17:33:39" ["post_content_filtered"]=> string(0) "" ["post_parent"]=> int(0) ["guid"]=> string(36) "http://www.webdirections.org/?p=1553" ["menu_order"]=> int(0) ["post_type"]=> string(4) "post" ["post_mime_type"]=> string(0) "" ["comment_count"]=> string(1) "1" ["filter"]=> string(3) "raw" } ["queried_object"]=> NULL ["queried_object_id"]=> int(0) }