This post originally appeared on the Algonquin Studios blog. I was recently asked by a client whether or not the cookie law will apply to its overseas business. As a reference, he provided a link to the Computer Weekly article “How to comply with the EU cookie law.” It’s a…
You may have read my rant earlier this week about Network Solutions trying to trick me into allowing them to send me spam. As part of that dark pattern, Network Solutions asks me to verify my contact information, and then tries to up-sell me, and then suggests that I need…
In late 2012 I related my extreme displeasure of trying to register a domain through the intentionally confusing Network Solutions ecommerce flow. In my post, Network Solutions and Dark Patterns, I used a whole lot of screen captures to show the convoluted flow that I believe Network Solutions uses to…
Depending on how much you spend staying up on web browsers, you’ve probably heard the cry of Opera did it first more than once (though the low-hanging fruit, browser tabs, wasn’t technically Opera first). When Google announced that Chrome would offer a data compression mode, you may have figured you’d…
If you’re spitting-mad about the W3C’s perceived position on DRM, we would all be better served if you re-pointed that anger at what is happening to net neutrality. If you aren’t familiar with the net neutrality concept, here’s a snippet from Wikipedia: Net neutrality (also network neutrality or Internet neutrality)…
Plenty has been written about the W3C and DRM. Sadly, most of it has been written in the form of attacks against the W3C, with very few laying out the facts. Note: I am a participant in the W3C HTML Working Group (as an invited expert). Encrypted Media Extensions (EME)…
On Friday Jeff Croft posted a piece titled Web Standards Killed the HTML Star where he makes the argument that just knowing HTML and CSS is no longer enough to get a job. He states that the web standards movement has effectively rendered the need for specialized knowledge of browser…
I’m a bit behind on my reading. There is always some new wiz article on web technologies and it’s hard to keep up. Since any chummer can write one, sometimes you have to approach them with caution even if they’ve survived the meat grinder of public review for as long…
Today my second article at Web Standards Sherpa has been posted, Tracking Printed Pages (or How to Validate Assumptions). I fit a lot in there, but the gist is that I show you how to track when and what pages from a site are printed so you can make a…
Ganesha may or may not be stealing chocolate from the advent calendar. For a few years now web developers around the world have celebrated Saturnalia Christmas with advent calendars covering topics related to the web. Some come and go, but you’ll probably recognize a few regulars on this list. I…
My logs tell me that nobody took this 2011 plea seriously. I blame the typeface. Last year on Thanksgiving I made the case for ignoring social media for the day. I felt strongly enough that for the new year I even wrote about some social media behavior goals for the…
This post is an unexpected follow-up to my post Image alt Exception Change Re-Re-Requested (note one fewer “re-”) from June 2012. Back then, some had called into question the need for alt attributes to be required and ubiquitous on all img tags. Well, guess what — alt is back under…