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The Web has succeeded at interoperability and scale in a way that no other technology has before or since. Still, the Web remains far from “state of the art”, and it is being increasingly threatened by walled gardens. The Web platform often lags competitors in delivering new system and device capabilities to developers. Worse, it often hobbles new capabilities behind either high- or low-level APIs, forcing painful choices (and workarounds) on developers.
Despite browser versions being released much faster, new capabilities still take a long time to materialize, and often do so in forms that are at best frustrating and at worst nearly useless to large swathes of the developer community for solving real-world needs.
The best recent improvements to the platform have been the result of collaborative discussions between developers and browser vendors. Sometimes these lead to big new features. More often than not, they lead to small changes that make existing systems suitable for a wider range of uses. In the absence of an intellectual framework for making these changes, we get a hodgepodge approach to design, where good ideas are not carried through and discredited patterns live on far longer than they should.
Building on the successes of tight collaboration between Web developers and browser-makers, folks who have iterated on proposals and straddled both sides of the line (including this article’s authors, Yehuda Katz, Dimitri Glazkov, Erik Arvidson, Dave Herman and others) have taken a longer look at what gives Web features longevity and utility.
The result of collaborative discussions between developers and browser vendors lead to small changes that make existing systems suitable for a wider range of uses. (Image source)
Over a decade of JavaScript library work, the progressive-enhancement revolution, the advent of polyfills, and the effort to birth the “Web Components” and “Shadow DOM” specifications have taught us surprising lessons: In every period, being able to use features in both high- and low-level forms has always been desirable.
HTML is great, until it isn’t. And JavaScript-only has predictable (and thankfully, now acknowledged) drawbacks.
Thinking that there is a “right way” to build new Web features is seductive. Just define The Way To Do It™ and make all standard-bearers comply, right? Turns out, it’s not that simple. New proposals are organic and stem from needs, not from pure speculation. Low-level needs demand low-level solutions. HTML elements and CSS rules aren’t natural fits for all work. And the existence of JavaScript creates a need for new APIs near the language level.
The process of introducing new features is usually an either-or proposition (i.e. either declarative features or low-level APIs) in the short run. But in the long run, nearly all features need expression in both domains. Moreover, we have to realize that proposals for new standards are hard work. The people doing that hard work are generally trying to do the right thing and can’t wait forever to ship features. A pragmatic, realistic approach to increasing the power and quality of Web APIs is needed, one that doesn’t presuppose infinite time, effort or understanding on the part of participants — just goodwill and a willingness to build bridges.
To support this goal, the standards process needs an intervention.
The Extensible Web Manifesto is a document that we have drafted to build consensus among standards participants around a few core ideas:
The core insight is that the Web has come this far on the back of largely declarative, largely high-level features: HTML elements for forms, CSS for layout and styling, and <a> for defining relationships between documents. While each of these adds APIs, little effort has been made so far to explain how they do their work and how they relate to each other.
While you can almost sense the many strata of APIs below Web features, they go unnamed, unexplained, unconnected and unavailable to you when the system doesn’t do exactly what you need.
It’s vital to know how APIs work and how they’re connected to each other. (Image source)
For example:
canvas element defines a programmatic 2-D bitmap API, while the long-standing img element is, not coincidentally, a way of rendering 2-D bitmap content. It’s easy to imagine that we could explain how JavaScript loads, unpacks and finally renders image content using the canvas API. Very strange that they’re separate elements and that the img element doesn’t have the canvas API, no?<input type="file" accept="image/*;capture=camera"> as well as with getUserMedia() is possible, but the form element version isn’t explained in the HTML specification in terms of getUserMedia() (which, admittedly, was added later — but no one has bothered to connect them yet).input element. It’s a valuable feature entirely disconnected from markup.audio tag works, despite the Web Audio API clearly being capable of providing the audio element’s implementation.This isn’t to pick on or single out any of the hard-working developers and authors who have poured their lives into building consensus and software to introduce these capabilities. Indeed, we are grateful for their accomplishments.
The high-order bit is that the job isn’t done when both declarative and script-driven versions of a feature appear. Building a platform that’s resilient and adaptive for the long haul hinges on giving developers the confidence to take what they learn about one area and apply it evenly across the system. And that means explaining how the system works and drawing connections between the pieces.
In the case of many low-level APIs without high-level equivalents (such as Geolocation), their duty to “explain themselves” ends at the point where they have exposed a good API to JavaScript. “Good” here could mean being idiomatic and not introducing more platform magic than necessary. But when there are also declarative versions, or when only high-level versions exist, then the question looms large: How does that thing work? What are the layers below it? What APIs are required to make it go? How would you explain that API in mostly-JavaScript terms, appealing as little as possible to magical new platform APIs?
In an earlier time, attempting such a sweeping cultural change might have been foolish. Starting at a declarative level was undoubtedly a good idea. However, explaining even a bit of the underlying magic goes a long way: Exposing a DOM tree JavaScript opened new worlds to developers and bolstered the competitiveness of the platform. It also enabled the community to adapt through experimentation and enabled libraries to compete. This allows valuable, popular API ideas to potentially be standardized. The community can do it faster and with less risk than browser vendors and standards organizations can.
The answers aren’t always obvious, but the process of asking “How does that work?” is often more fruitful than it first appears. Details come into focus and missing explanations are uncovered, layer by layer. At each layer, it’s tempting to throw up our collective hands and say “It’s too hard” to explain all the stuff down there. Throw it all out. Start over. At least we won’t make the same mistakes, right?
Perhaps. But we’d also be starting from zero. Zero users, zero developers and zero useful content. The Web is the open, extensible, multi-vendor, universal platform of our lifetime. Small, meaningful changes to the Web can have an outsized impact relative to the effort involved. It’s a straightforward way to do a great deal of good. Encouraging layering, bit by bit, doesn’t mean giving up or “slowing down.” Just the opposite: It’s our only credible hope of making a Web that’s worthy to succeed the Web we have today.
Always keep in mind to “make things better” as much as you can. (Image source)
(al, ea, il)
© Extensible Web Manifesto Team for Smashing Magazine, 2013.
]]>Jawbone’s new activity-tracking wristband can be used to start your coffeemaker when you get up.
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The normal process when encoding video goes something like this: sort files, set preferences, start encoding, make a coffee, check progress, make another coffee, check progress, phone home, do some online shopping, check progress, make another coffee, check progress, do your taxes…
You might think that the process would be even slower using a cloud solution, with the extra steps of delivering your source files to the application, but that’s not necessarily the case.
Encoding.com is a leading provider of SaaS video encoding and having just processed their 50 millionth encoding job, it’s clear that the speed benefits of their service are based on long experience and a deep understanding of what it takes to deliver world class video encoding.
All video encoding services claim to be fast, but the difference with encoding.com is that they’re able to tell you exactly how they deliver on speed:
Ingest is the speed it takes you to deliver your files to Encoding.com. With 8 global ingestion centers in Virginia, California, Oregon, Ireland, Singapore, Tokyo, Sydney and Sao Paulo; your source data will be delivered to the nearest center to your location — a big deal when you’re working with large video files. What’s more, if you’re using FTP or Amazon S3 you can take advantage of Encoding.com’s multi-threaded transit. The use of Aspera FASP technology utilizes UDP for much faster transmission speeds. You can even use Dropbox and Rackspace as source locations.
Queue time is the time you wait for the encoding to begin once you’ve uploaded it. Encoding.com has an average queue time of just 23 seconds! They even provide a guaranteed maximum queue time, so no matter how many videos you send their way, you always know when you’ll have your files ready.
Processing is the time taken to convert your video. Encoding.com has invested heavily in the latest super-powered machines to be able to guarantee dedicated processing levels. They will even process all required formats in parallel, whether you need one output format or 25, they’ll all be ready at once.
Egress is the time taken to deliver all of your encoded assets to their delivery points. Encoding.com’s multi-threaded delivery and simultaneous delivery to multiple endpoints means you’ll be delivering video in no time flat. Unlike transcoding on premises which requires an extra step, if you’re using Amazon or Rackspace as your source and delivery point, there is no egress time at all.
But don’t take our word for it, try it for yourself. As you can see, Encoding.com beats Zencoder.com by an average of almost 70 seconds. When we tried it ourselves the job completed 46 seconds faster. When you’re dealing with large amounts of video files, those seconds add up to hours very quickly.
Think you might like what you see? Then set up a free test account and try out encoding.com for yourself. We guarantee you’ll be making a lot less coffee from now on.
[This is a sponsored review for Encoding.com.]
Have you tried cloud-based video encoding? How does it compare to desktop encoding? Let us know your thoughts in the comments.
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Engineers Without Borders (EWB) is changing lives. On December 3, a national day of giving, you can be a part of the change.
We talked with Lee Blaney, an assistant professor and the group’s advisor, and Michael Brown, a student engineer, about an important trip they’ll be taking in January and how you can help.
Q: What is EWB planning on doing in January on your trip to Isongo?
Lee: The January implementation trip has one primary objective: to install a clean water system in Isongo, Kenya. Residents are currently collecting water from an unprotected spring. Our previous trip demonstrated that this shallow water is contaminated and represents a public health concern.
On the implementation trip, the team is planning to construct a borehole [a well to draw deeper water] and hand-pump system to provide clean water from deeper aquifers. Once the clean water supply is constructed, EWB-UMBC will help to form and train a village water committee on maintenance and operation issues. The goal is that after this trip, the community will be able to maintain this well.
In addition, EWB-UMBC wants to continue to engage the community in best water, sanitation and hygiene practices. Ultimately, all three of these elements are required for a successful project.
Q: What do you need to accomplish your goal? How do the donations to your fundraising campaign help?
Lee: To successfully complete this project, EWB-UMBC requires funding to drill the borehole, purchase the raw materials for the hand-pump, and acquire tools necessary for maintenance and operation. In addition, donations will help pay for UMBC students to travel to Isongo to complete the project. Once the water supply is installed, the EWB-UMBC team will conduct water quality testing to ensure that this new water supply is safe for consumption. Your small gift can help benefit the lives of hundreds of people in Isongo for a lifetime.
Michael: The more money we can raise, the more students we can send [to Isongo], increasing the total impact that we can have on the community. One great thing about our fundraising page is that potential donors can see exactly where their money will go.
Q: What does the support from alumni and donors mean to you?
Lee: EWB-UMBC relies on gifts to fulfill our mission of implementing environmentally and economically sustainable engineering projects, while developing globally aware and internationally responsible students and engineers. We especially appreciate gifts from alumni because we believe that EWB-UMBC not only promotes projects in the developing world, but also transformative experiences for UMBC students. In EWB-UMBC, undergraduate students are empowered to tackle complex, real problems on the other side of the world.
Q: What does it feel like to know you’re helping people around the world?
Lee: One of the fundamental canons of engineering is “to hold paramount the safety, health and welfare of the public.” In EWB-UMBC, students are empowered to use the knowledge that they gain in classes to benefit real people. Meeting these people and knowing that our work is helping to improve their lives is very powerful.
[UMBC student] Chris Mullen, who traveled to Isongo on last year’s assessment trip, expressed the impact of these experiences nicely: “I learned just as much in those ten days as I learned in the previous semester. It’s not just about the engineering application or the problem solving, it’s about the experience: getting to know people living in a foreign land that you won’t hear about on the news, good people who will make a bigger impact on my life than I could ever make on theirs.”
Michael: Helping communities in need is exactly why the students in this group give so much of their time and energy. Engineers Without Borders projects are great because the ultimate goal is to give the project over to the community. This creates a sense of empowerment within the community because they are ultimately the ones who are making it all happen.
To see more of what EWB-UMBC does, check out their Tumblr.
In case you’ve been living in a cave with no internet access for the past few years, you’re almost certainly familiar with Dribbble. But just in case you aren’t, it’s a place for designers to show off their designs, discover and explore the work of others, and even find more work.
Based in Salem, Massachusetts, Dribbble has gone from an enterprising side project to a small but profitable company. Designers and artists of all kinds use the site, including web designers, graphic designers, typographers, illustrators, logo designers, icon artists, and other creatives.
Beyond the Dribbble website, there are also Dribbble Meetups, as well as a blog, Instagram feed, Dribbble on Facebook and Twitter, and more.
Dribbble has terminology largely based around basketball. Here’s a quick primer:
New images are called shots. The first upload from a new user is called a debut. A collection of shots created by a Dribbble member is called a bucket.
If an image is voted up by enough members, it can make the Popular section.
If a designer wants to create a response or variation on another’s work, it’s called a rebound. Get enough rebounds, and your work can make the playoffs.
Images on Dribbble are limited in size (to 400×300 pixels). But, you can include attachments to your images that can be full-resolution, full-size versions of your design (as well as downloads of things like PSD files).
Designers and other creatives can upload up to 24 shots per month, which prevents spamming and makes designers be a bit more selective in what they upload.
Uploading work to the site requires an invite from an existing user. This has caused some controversy (but more on that later).
If you’re using Dribbble for inspiration, there are a few different ways to go about it. First, you can sign up for an account and follow designers and artists you like. This way, you’ll get a feed of their work whenever you log in.
You can also browse work on Dribbble, without needing to set up an account. You can browse by Suggestions, Popular, Everyone, Debuts, Playoffs, and Teams. There are browse options for Highlights, Buckets, Colors, Projects, and Tags, too. You can also search the site by keyword, for both shots and designers.
And of course if you’re looking to hire someone on Dribbble, you can browse designers based on a number of criteria, including who has the most followers, where they’re located, the skills they have, their availability, and much more.
Dribbble was started in 2009 by Dan Cedarholm and Rich Thornett. It launched publicly in early 2010, with much fanfare from the design community. In the early days, Dribbble was invite-only, which meant you had to track down an existing member and get them to give you one of their limited invites.
Not long after the site itself launched, Dribbble launched the Debuts feature. This section highlights the first shot from each new member, making it easier for them to be seen. It helped to alleviate some early complaints about well-known designers dominating the popular pages, squeezing out lesser-known creatives.
In 2011, Dribbble launched a job listing section, as part of its Backboard promotional section. These job ads linked to existing job pages off-site, making them an incredibly simple way for employers to find potential designers.
Most recently, Dribbble has started offering new team accounts. Teams make it possible for organizations and their designers to share work on Dribbble together. Work can be uploaded to both the individual designer’s profile and the Team’s profile. Existing profiles can be converted to Team profiles, just in case you already have a profile for your company.
While you can join Dribbble and list yourself as a Prospect (yet another basketball term), you can’t upload work unless you’re invited to do so by an existing member. This is done as a way to control the rate of growth of the site, but some view it as a form of elitism.
Since Dribbble started out as a tiny, bootstrapped site, they’ve needed to control how quickly they scaled. Requiring an invite is a great way to do that.
Of course, that doesn’t stop some from feeling like the site was exclusionary. But the upside is that the majority of work found on the site is high quality, and the community is much more engaged than some other sites where anyone can join.
The easiest way to get an invite is to ask someone you know who’s already on Dribbble and see if they have any available. But let’s say you’ve already done that and you’ve come up short. There are a few other options.
First of all, you can search right on Dribbble. Users who have extra invites will sometimes post invite shots. All you need to do is find them before those invites are gone. Search for them right on the site, using keywords like “invite” or “dribbble invite” (make sure you’re searching “latest” and not “popular” so you don’t find old invites).
You also have the option to list yourself as a “Prospect” on the site, in hopes that someone with invites will send you one. While this is a longshot unless you’re already somewhat known, it doesn’t hurt to try it.
How to Find a Dribbble Invite offers a few more helpful suggestions, including some sites for showcasing your work when you’re looking for an invite.
There are a number of things you can do to improve the chances that your shot will become popular. While these methods are not foolproof (after all, design is largely a matter of taste beyond a certain point, and there’s no guarantee your particular design will appeal to enough Dribbble users to become popular, even if it is technically well-designed).
First of all, if your goal is to have a popular shot, then don’t released unfinished or unpolished work. You want to show off your best projects, in their most complete form. The image below is a good example of a polished, finished design that made the popular page.
Combining multiple finished screenshots into a single Dribbble shot can set your work apart.
Styled design captures seem to do best. That means a plain old flat screenshot probably isn’t going to cut it. If it’s a mobile design, take the time to transfer it to your iPhone/iPad/other mobile device before taking a screenshot. Using an image that’s at an angle, isn’t all in focus (highlighting key areas or design elements), or is otherwise composed creatively is a better way to draw attention to your work.
There’s nothing wrong with uploading wireframes to Dribbble if they’re as polished as the ones below. The angled view gives it a bit more visual interest.
Even just showing your screenshots at a slight angle can make them stand out more.
An animated GIF can really set your work apart.
Another key to creating popular shots is to get involved on the site. Take the time to comment on and become fans of the designs of others. Follow other designers, and interact. Dribbble is a community, and if you expect others to appreciate your work, you need to do some appreciating of your own.
Building up your follower numbers is also a key to getting more popular shots. There are a number of ways to do this, including the volume of work you post (the more often you appear on the debuts page, the more often you’re likely to be seen), promoting the work of others (who will sometimes do the same for you), and being associated with other popular designers.
While checking out debuts, popular shots, and other tools right on the Dribbble website can be a great way to find awesome shots, there are a ton of other sources for finding inspiration on Dribbble. Here are a handful of alternative sites for finding the great stuff on Dribbble.
Design Tickle is a “Dribbble showcase magazine” that curates some great work from the site. They collect shots into various curated articles, generally based on a theme.
Dribbbleboard offers up a simple, minimalist UI for browsing through popular shots, debuts, and shots from everyone.
If you’re looking for PSD files on Dribbble, then check out Psddd. You can browse by date or by category, and find all sorts of great shots.
Jourrrnal shares interviews with great designers on Dribbble, for a slightly different way of finding inspiration shots.
Freebbble showcases freebies from Dribbble, as well as some premium files you can purchase.
This one is a little bit different. You can’t actually browse Dribbble shots with Color Pickers, but you can browse color palettes used by shots for various colors. Just click the refresh button and you’ll be shown the color palettes of popular shots that use that color.
Fribbble is another showcase of free resources and downloads from Dribbble users.
Bbbrowser has one of hte simplest interfaces for browsing Dribbble out there, with just an ever-changing screen filled with popular shots.
InspiredShots is an infinitely scrolling showcase of popular Dribbble shots.
Guifff showcases animated gif Dribbble shots.
Dribbble is not the only platform of its kind. There are numerous similar sites where designers can share their work with other creatives as well as the public at large. Some of these are very similar to Dribbble, while others take a somewhat different approach.
Probably the most visible of these Dribbble competitors is Behance, which is now owned by Adobe. The biggest difference between Behance and Dribbble is that anyone can create a Behance account and share their work, while Dribbble requires designers to be drafted before they can share. Arguably, this raises the quality level of the work found on Dribbble.
Another major Dribbble competitor is Forrst, owned and recently relaunched by Zurb. Like Dribbble, Forrst requires you to be recruited by an existing member before you can share (and show off) your design work. And while Dribbble focuses exclusively on visual design work, Forrst focuses on both design and development, allowing developers to share code. Forrst is much more focused on feedback than Dribbble, too.
Dribbble has advantages and disadvantages over its biggest competitors. But the great thing is that you don’t have to choose just one site on which to participate. You can have accounts and be active on Dribbble, Behance, and/or Forrst if you choose.
Beyond just browsing Dribbble in different ways, there are tons of other apps and resources out there that you may find useful. These range from resources for learning more about how to best utilize Dribbble to things like WordPress plugins for showing off your work from the site on your own blog or website.
If you’re going to join Dribbble, the first thing you should do is read the Player’s Handbook.
The Dribbble Blog is another must-read for any Dribbble users.
The Dribbble API is the basis of a lot of other apps that let you interact with Dribbble, and the place to start if you want to create your own app or interact with Dribbble data directly.
Hooops is an iOS app for Dribbble with a flat design and attractive color palette. It offers pretty much all the functionality you’ll find on the Dribbble website. too.
Nibbble is a free Dribbble screensaver for OS X 10.8 or later (there’s an older legacy version that will work with older versions of OS X, too).
Ever wondered who recruited your favorite Dribbble users? Who Drafted Who? will tell you.
Jribbble is a jQuery plugin that will fetch shots from the Dribbble API, including comments, rebbbounds, and more.
Liiikes analyzes Dribbble statistics to find the best content.
Highlight Reel is a simple WP plugin that makes it easy for you to show off your latest Dribbble shots on your website or blog.
This Dribbble WP Plugin lets you include up to ten shots on your website, with a variety of options.
If you’re looking for a Dribbble invite (or have one to give away), then check out Draft.im.
Since Dribbble launched their Teams feature, it’s clear that they’re serious about attracting creative accounts of all sizes, from solo freelancers to large agencies. This is a great move, and one that will certainly draw even more attention to the site. Getting agencies on board, with multiple high-quality employees, will grow the site and (hopefully) increase engagement.
Of course, as the site grows and becomes even more prominent, it’s bound to receive even more criticism. We’ve already covered the elitism argument and the way that some creatives feel their limited access membership is exclusionary. But more recently, some designers and developers have criticized Dribbble for putting too much emphasis on form and ignoring function.
How will Dribbble address these criticisms in the future? I think the bigger question is, do they need to? With a user base as passionate and active as Dribbble has, they can afford to make their own path and pick and choose which criticisms they decide to respond to.
Besides, some designers are already jumping to Dribbble’s defense, showing just how involved and invested they are in the site and its future success. With a community like that, and widespread support from much of the design world, Dribbble is in a very strong position to move forward in whatever way they see fit.
Tons of blogs and news sites have covered Dribbble in the past, including both critiques and praise. Besides that, there are tutorials for getting more out of Dribbble, and other commentary. Here are some select pieces.
Dribbble is a fantastic platform for getting your work out there if you can get an invite. While some designers have become disillusioned with the platform, plenty of others are still active and passionate about the site.
Take the time to do your research and see if Dribbble is right for you, and then get involved! Comment, like, engage, and otherwise make the most of it.
Do you use Dribbble to post work? Would you use it if you could get an invite? Let us know in the comments.
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Across America, you will find a chorus of economists singing cautious songs of hope about the nation’s economy.
But in Detroit, you will get a sour note.
Once a symbol of vibrant industry and American prosperity, Detroit now resembles an urban ghost town in ruins.
The Motor City’s:
It’s not difficult to imagine why Detroit has often been referred to as “hell on earth.”
To make matters worse, the city’s 18 billion dollars in debt has forced it to file the largest bankruptcy case in U.S. history. Judge Steven Rhodes is in the process of making the final decision that may determine the fate of the city.
Regardless of the outcome, mayor-elect Mike Duggan thinks there is hope.
“I have a very clear vision of how Detroit will come out of this bankruptcy: stronger and better”
Is Mike Duggan wise in predicting a recovery for Detroit?
Is Detroit’s tragic downfall an indicator of the future of America?
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While the devastated Pacific island nation of The Philippines struggles to recover from hyper-Typhoon Haiyan…
A different kind of storm may be brewing in eastern Europe.
On November 11, representatives from 190 countries gathered to engage in Climate Change in Warsaw, Poland.
One of those delegates came with a special message. With the death toll still rising in his country, Yeb Sano from the Philippines has pledged to go on hunger strike until a climate change deal is reached. He says…
“We can fix this. We can stop this madness. Right now, right here”
For years, scientists have warned us about the potential side effects from global warming, including, the increased possibility of stronger storms. It increasing appears that we may be condemned to a world where storms like Typhoon Haiyan or Hurricane Katrina are the norm.
Earlier this year the Mauna Loa Observatory reported that CO2 emissions have risen above 400 ppm. This definitely isn’t a tipping point –but it’s a sign to numerous world governments that something has to be done.
It’s in this environment (no pun intended) that the Warsaw Summit will take place.
But, after multiple unsuccessful summits and failed treaties, do we really think the Warsaw Summit will be able to fix anything?
With strong defenders such as Mr. Sano, we at USDemocrazy would like to think so.
(Interested in the Warsaw Summit? They’ve got their own YouTube Channel here)
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