Posts filed under 'General'
A bug in mechanism that counts down the remaining days of trial versions of most Adobe software means that any trial launched during June 2008 will expire after only one day instead of the normal 30. Access to the trial versions has already been blocked on the Adobe site, but if you have already downloaded a trial with the intention of installing it later, don’t install during June. If you do so, it will expire after one day—and you won’t be able to reinstall it on the same machine. For more information, read the FAQ on the Adobe site.
May 28th, 2008
It’s been a long time since I’ve posted anything in this blog. I’m definitely not one of the world’s most prolific bloggers—not by any stretch of the imagination.
One reason I’ve been so quiet is because of the pressure of writing The Essential Guide to Dreamweaver CS3 with CSS, Ajax, and PHP. It’s the longest book I’ve written (730 pages, not including Introduction and Index), and I needed to get it out as soon as possible after the release of Dreamweaver CS3. The book was finally shipped to the printers at the end of June, so it should be available at online booksellers and in bookshops on or around 23 July. I finished the book in record time—seven months from starting the first chapter to finally packing it off to the printers. In spite of the rapid turnaround, it’s been fully tested in the final version of Dreamweaver CS3. I’m also delighted that Tom Muck, the highly respected developer of Dreamweaver extensions and author of several books, agreed to be my technical editor. Between us, I believe we have created a great book. Please go out and buy it by the cartload. 
Another reason for not blogging much is the fact that, when testing Dreamweaver CS3, I have been under a Non-Disclosure Agreement. It’s hard to blog when the things you really want to write about have to be kept under wraps until the software is released.
July 7th, 2007
There’s not much point in me adding to the huge amount that has already been said in newspapers and on TV and radio about the release of Alan Johnston. I’m just delighted that he was released unharmed after 114 days. Sadly, the situation in the Middle East is going to take a lot longer to resolve.
July 7th, 2007
Alan Johnston was due to have returned to London at the end of March after three years as the only western journalist based inside the Gaza Strip. Only a couple of weeks before his scheduled departure, he was abducted at gunpoint and his whereabouts are still unknown. I know Alan personally. We worked together in the BBC World Service newsroom in London in the early 1990s. The reason I’m posting this is not just because he’s a former colleague, but because Alan’s abduction is a threat to truth.
Journalists need to be able to report what’s happening in the world without constantly being in fear for their lives. Alan lived in Gaza. Other correspondents based in Jerusalem used to visit on a regular basis. Now they rarely go. It’s too dangerous. And the lack of information about what’s going on in one of the most volatile places on earth makes the rest of the world more dangerous, too.
For the latest information about Alan, visit BBC Online.
April 17th, 2007
Let’s me nail my colours to the mast straight away: I use XHTML and have done so for several years. XHTML 1.0 has been a W3C recommendation for seven years (since January 2000). I’m aware of the well-argued objections by Ian Hixie, among others, against sending XHTML as text/html. Opponents of switching to XHTML 1.0 also point out quite rightly that XHTML 2.0 won’t be backwards compatible with previous versions.
So the arguments that break out in online forums from time to time about whether to use XHTML always tend to go over the same ground again and again: XHTML 1.0 isn’t really XHTML because it’s normally delivered using the wrong MIME type (text/html instead of application/xhtml+xml), and anyway everything’s going to change several years down the line when XHTML becomes the standard. My viewpoint has always been this:
- XHTML 1.0 is an official standard
- It’s fully supported by modern browsers (even Netscape 4 has no problems with it)
- Using XHTML 1.0 properly (in other words, making sure that it validates) teaches you the stricter standards that will be necessary when XHTML 2.0 eventually comes along (if it ever does)
- Well-formed XHTML makes it easier to work with CSS and dynamic code, such as PHP
Of course, you could use the same arguments about valid HTML 4.01. What matters most of all is that your code follows the rules and doesn’t rely on the forgiving nature of current browsers to cover up your mistakes.
This subject came up again a few days ago in the Dreamweaver forum. The discussion didn’t produce any real enlightenment, but it set me thinking. One of the arguments used in the past against adopting XHTML 1.0 is that “it doesn’t futureproof your site” because you’ll have to do everything again when XHTML 2.0 comes along. Then it struck me: that argument is completely wrong.
XHTML 1.0 is HTML 4.01 reformulated as XML. Since XML is designed to be machine-readable, it is futureproof. Pages designed with XHTML 1.0 may not be displayed by future browsers in the same way as XHTML 2.0, but the DOCTYPE will tell the XML parser how to read it. The same isn’t be true of HTML pages, even if they validate according to the 4.01 recommendation, because an XML parser will choke on empty elements, such as img tags.
January 2nd, 2007
I just couldn’t resist. When I heard that the new .eu domain names were open to everybody, I just had to have one. So, welcome to davidpowers.eu. I haven’t decided what to do with the new domain just yet, so it’s pointing to foundationphp.com. I chose the foundationphp domain name because it ties in nicely with the titles of my two solo books, Foundation PHP 5 for Flash and Foundation PHP for Dreamweaver 8. But now that I’ve added Foundation ActionScript for Flash 8 to my repertoire, maybe it’s time to switch to the egocentric domain. Decisions, decisions…
April 12th, 2006