So you want to be a front-end developer, eh? HTML5, CSS3, javascript, ajax, canvas, websockets, UX, TDD, MVC frameworks like Angular/Ember/Backbone/etc, APIs of every stripe and color imaginable... Being a "webmaster" isn't as easy as it used to be in "the before time, the long long ago" of the internet (15 years ago). Yet even though there's a ton of stuff to learn, a lot of the basics haven't changed.
If you're a tech person, this is probably all kid's stuff. Maybe you're very young and recently started programming, or maybe you're self-employed or a non-tech cofounder of a startup or small business who just wants to dip your toe into the tech side (a very smart thing). Either way the stuff isn't too hard to learn, and there's a lot of it, so mastering what you need to get an MVP (minimum viable product) going as quickly as possible is very important.
You've come to the right place. Let's dive right in.
HTML is verbose. Plaintext is unwieldy. WYSIWYG is inconsistent. Markdown to the rescue!
Oh wait, my blog runs on a custom script I wrote myself. Great, that means I can implement any feature I want with it. Crap, that means I have to implement any feature I want with it.
I desperately want to like Persona, the decentralized login system created by Mozilla, but it needs to evolve. It's such an awesome and long-overdue concept: who wouldn't want a relatively secure way to use one login/password for all their web services?When you go to a website and the little padlock icon appears next to the URL, that shows two things: That you are interacting with the website over an encrypted connection, and that the website really is who it says it is. This dual-purpose nature of the HTTPS protocol (SSL or TLS) is why it has become a standard: it protects you in both ways. But it presents a huge gap in the way the internet can be used, and it's the browsers' fault (Chrome, Firefox, IE, Safari, etc). Practically all browsers treat this issue the same way, and it's the wrong way.
Sometimes, always, it's desirable to allow encryption without any identity guarantee. Of course, if a website wants to provide both, it can, and it should even be afforded special notice for being extra-secure. You want your bank and certain other websites to be as secure as possible, after all. However, little-guy web servers shouldn't be punished for wanting to protect the user by using encryption even if they can't or won't guarantee their identity (for various reasons), which is exactly what happens in all major browsers:
You would think that the financial service industry, of all industries, would not be the last one to keep up with technology, but it is. They certainly are adept at making new financial instruments, like credit-default swaps (CDS) and collateralized debt obligations (CDO), even if it causes the laxest lending standards in American history - and the highest foreclosure rate as a result.
Yet every time I deal with a bank, I am flabbergasted as to its total lack of technological aptitude. I'm reminded of my grandmother trying to use a web browser. It's like the ones that work for Wall Street and the ones that work for Main Street are of completely different generations.
I'm very picky when it comes to Android apps; unlike a lot of people, I don't have a ton of crap installed on my smartphone. I'm starting this blog entry with the Android apps I have right now, and I'm going to update and republish it at the end of the year to see what has continued to make the cut throughout the year.
I ran across a great article the other day on HN about how to log client-side errors using Google Analytics. This is brilliant, and I've already implemented it for my biggest site. I'd like to hope everyone is logging their server-side errors too! Sadly, I bet many web developers aren't because I know that I wasn't doing it for years. When I first did, I quickly realized it was an invaluable tool for ensuring the robustness of my websites, because I immediately became aware of several page errors and bugs I had no idea existed in my apps.
Notch, the author of the bestselling Minecraft game, officially announced his next creation: a space MMO called 0x10c.Subscribe
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