tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-81368709709358143202012-03-02T12:18:05.677+01:00A Web Philosopher's LifeWelcome to sharing the thoughts of a 'philosopher turned web professional' on news, media language, readings, web technology ... and random insights for discussion.Maria Antonietta Pernahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16191349566982727716noreply@blogger.comBlogger521100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8136870970935814320.post-60482757390777241512012-02-12T15:45:00.000+01:002012-02-12T15:45:31.583+01:00HTML5 Canvas Bites: Basic Back and Forth Animation
In this HTML5 canvas bite, I present an easy way to get a canvas dynamically generated 50 x 50 square image to move back and forth inside the canvas. Here's how it can be done.
The end resultThis is the simple result I intend to achieve:
As you can see, it's nothing fancy. Just a simple black square that obsessively navigates back and forth an HTML5 canvas element.
The codeThe relevant Maria Antonietta Pernahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16191349566982727716noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8136870970935814320.post-19544517768380669202012-02-07T15:28:00.001+01:002012-02-07T15:29:28.597+01:00HTML5 Tutorial On HTML.netHTML5 ON HTML.net
I'm thrilled at having been offered the fantastic opportunity to draw up a tutorial on one of the coolest topic on the web today: HTML5!
Please, follow the progress of my HTML5 tutorial on HTML.net and feel free to send me your suggestions. The table of contents is already online.Maria Antonietta Pernahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16191349566982727716noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8136870970935814320.post-59447371975833999092012-01-04T13:02:00.000+01:002012-01-04T13:02:25.657+01:00A Demo Calendar Application with JavaScript/jQuery
I recently completed a JavaScript tutorial on HTML.net. As I was working on it, I had the chance to go over some great methods of the Date object and felt that it'd be fun to challenge myself with some of the stuff I could do with it.
This is how I came about coding a JavaScript calendar demo application. After all, what's more appropriate to the New Year than a calendar!
What can my Maria Antonietta Pernahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16191349566982727716noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8136870970935814320.post-16394833172785413882011-12-16T19:55:00.001+01:002011-12-17T15:02:05.013+01:00HTML5 Canvas Bites: How to Animate Images In Canvas
Once you've drawn something on canvas, you can manipulate it to your heart's content. For example, you can make it move. Here's a quick example of how to do so.
How to animate a square on canvas
The final result will be a small black square moving straight on inside a canvas element. Nothing sophisticated at this point. This is just a quick sample to demonstrate how animation is Maria Antonietta Pernahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16191349566982727716noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8136870970935814320.post-12253973934526188422011-12-01T18:23:00.000+01:002011-12-01T18:23:36.818+01:00Complete Beta Version of JavaScript Tutorial on HTML.netHi, the Beta version of my JavaScript tutorial on HTML.net is complete! All 21 lessons can now be viewed on http://html.net/tutorials/javascript/.
Comments and suggestions are welcome. Thank you.Maria Antonietta Pernahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16191349566982727716noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8136870970935814320.post-63372051663986588492011-11-28T17:30:00.000+01:002011-11-28T17:30:07.281+01:00HTML5 Canvas Bites: How to Resize ImagesHere's one more canvas bite. In my previous post, I presented a snappy example of how to load a graphic onto the HTML5 canvas element. This short tutorial starts from where the previous one left off: I know how to load the graphic on the canvas, now I want to learn to resize it. How?
Resize a graphic inside a canvas element
Resizing a graphic once it's loaded into the canvas element requires Maria Antonietta Pernahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16191349566982727716noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8136870970935814320.post-68649235063692087292011-11-08T14:47:00.000+01:002011-11-08T14:47:29.345+01:00JavaScript Tutorial on HTML.netMy JavaScript tutorial is progressing and the beta version of lessons 1 - 9 is online and accessible on HTML.net!
Suggestions are very welcome.Maria Antonietta Pernahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16191349566982727716noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8136870970935814320.post-64161410162500357132011-11-02T20:38:00.001+01:002011-11-28T17:32:32.026+01:00Html5 Canvas Bites: How to Load a Graphic into Canvas
The Html5 canvas element is not limited to drawing graphics on the web. You can also use a ready-made graphic, load it into the canvas element and manipulate it pixel by pixel. Here's how quick and easy it is to load the image into the canvas.
Load image into canvas: the syntax
To get a ready-made graphic into an Html5 canvas element it's as simple as using a short method. Here it is:
//Maria Antonietta Pernahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16191349566982727716noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8136870970935814320.post-86505003746939127412011-10-25T20:14:00.000+02:002011-10-25T20:14:21.179+02:00My Newest Project: Writing A Tutorial Series for HTML.netNEWS!!!
I've just been offered a great opportunity: writing a JavaScript tutorial series for HTML.net!
The first step is that of drawing up a draft table of contents and an introduction. This will give me a framework to start planning each lesson. Let's see how it's going to evolve.Maria Antonietta Pernahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16191349566982727716noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8136870970935814320.post-14714221473637888702011-10-22T19:06:00.001+02:002011-10-23T11:42:49.075+02:00Html5 Canvas Bites: How to Draw Linear GradientsThis is the second installment in this Html5 Canvas Bites series. In the previous post, I introduced the fundamentals of the Html5 canvas element and the 2d drawing context.
I also focused my attention on a greatly useful feature of the 2d drawing context; in particular: the context containing the styles of the image to be drawn can be saved and then restored as needed, thereby saving Maria Antonietta Pernahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16191349566982727716noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8136870970935814320.post-67671573853654969402011-10-07T16:50:00.010+02:002011-12-11T17:09:08.337+01:00Html 5 Canvas Bites: How to Save the Drawing State
I'm by no means an Html5 canvas wizard (I wish I were!), but as I learn new things about it I find it more and more fun. So, I'd love to share some of the less complicated stuff that we can do with it. I've decided to start from the canvas drawing context. Not the most exciting bit I could have come up with, but certainly the most fundamental.
My goal in this short entry is that of Maria Antonietta Pernahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16191349566982727716noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8136870970935814320.post-31699291083299893762011-09-05T19:11:00.339+02:002011-12-02T15:17:20.935+01:00A Blackboard Object: OOP Javascript/jQuery On Html5 Canvas DemoJavascript has evolved into a sophisticated programming language, and as such it has its own built-in objects as well as affording developers the possibility of creating their own custom objects. Here's my Blackboard object, a custom javascript object created as a stripped down version of my previous drawing board demo application. What are the advantages of using OOP (Object Oriented Maria Antonietta Pernahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16191349566982727716noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8136870970935814320.post-16779178025562299962011-08-20T16:17:00.125+02:002011-12-02T16:05:51.620+01:00Sticky Notes Demo: What About Writing Your Own Notes?
In my previous post, Sticky Notes: An Html5 Drag and Drop Demo, I presented a small sample of how native drag and drop functionality could be implemented using the latest Html5 Drag and Drop API (Application Programming Interface). The app simply allows visitors to move sticky notes about a white board and drop them in a basket. As each note is dropped in the basket a message box pops up Maria Antonietta Pernahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16191349566982727716noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8136870970935814320.post-65287947658120930542011-07-13T11:53:00.041+02:002011-12-04T11:13:34.992+01:00Safely Programming a Set of Options: Enumerations to the RescueENUMS
Let's say you have an element on your web page that has different properties for the visitor to choose from. What would be the best way to code those options in such a way as to minimize getting some of the items mixed up or messed up? The obvious way would be just to hard-code each option as a literal string, i.e., "Option1", "Option2", etc. However, being the obvious way doesn't Maria Antonietta Pernahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16191349566982727716noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8136870970935814320.post-13590771828593176722011-07-05T12:41:00.003+02:002011-12-04T11:11:12.361+01:00The New Website is OutAs anticipated in my previous post , my redesigned website is on the internet as I write. I hope it reflects the 2 main goals I intended to meet: a) reduced page size and b) streamlined and focussed content . I wish you all who visit the site a pleasant and frustration-free experience. Thanks!Maria Antonietta Pernahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16191349566982727716noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8136870970935814320.post-75820000834515901712011-07-03T13:09:00.001+02:002011-12-04T11:16:27.563+01:00My Website: Time for a RedesignThe time has come for a revamping of my website. This is a preview of what the comp looks like. It'll be up and running within the next couple of days. Here's why and what I've done.
Touch-Up or Facelift?A quick review of my website has made me opt for the full-blown facelift rather than a light-weight touch-up. In fact, my site goes back to 2008, and 3 years are like geological eras in webMaria Antonietta Pernahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16191349566982727716noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8136870970935814320.post-88377927276819942662011-06-12T12:02:00.001+02:002011-12-04T11:18:17.565+01:00Html5 Drag and Drop API: Sticky Notes Demo Touched Up
There's been a slight modification to my Html5 Drag and Drop API demo: Sticky Notes. I had noticed that the message box did not pop up when I tested the demo in Google Chrome, at least when the demo was accessed from a server (in fact, it worked fine when accessing it from the file system). The only change I made was to have the message box pop up after the note has been dropped into the Maria Antonietta Pernahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16191349566982727716noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8136870970935814320.post-12206945699589489852011-06-11T14:57:00.016+02:002011-12-04T11:47:11.141+01:00Sticky Notes, Html5 Drag and Drop Demo: Message Box
I added a message box to my Html5 Drag and Drop Demo, the Sticky Notes demo application. Before a note is dropped into the basket, a message box pops up with something appropriate to say to the user. Here's the small change that I made to my demo to accomplish this.
Message Box: What it Does
This is a simple addition to the demo application that I published in my previous post, Sticky Notes: Maria Antonietta Pernahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16191349566982727716noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8136870970935814320.post-17878447707355265852011-06-04T20:31:00.102+02:002011-12-04T12:57:43.899+01:00Sticky Notes: An Html5 Drag and Drop Demo
I have nothing but praise for the latest evolution of the language of the web par excellence, HTML(5). Its simplified syntax and semantic elements are just two of the major improvements. There's also the fun stuff to consider, though. Being able to implement drag and drop functionality with just a few lines of code is surely one of the cool things you can experiment with. Here's a sticky Maria Antonietta Pernahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16191349566982727716noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8136870970935814320.post-80817721295475715342011-05-20T19:37:00.012+02:002011-12-05T15:25:48.768+01:00How to Draw Text On My Simple Html5 Canvas Drawing Board Demo App
One more option has just been added to the drawing tools in my Html5 canvas drawing board demo application: text. Now you can easily type text in a box, select a font, a size for your text, and a color, then click on the board and the text gets immediately drawn on the canvas. Cool! Here's the little function that does the trick
The Text Tool
When you select a drawing tool you're now Maria Antonietta Pernahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16191349566982727716noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8136870970935814320.post-70182818400305382822011-05-01T19:21:00.014+02:002011-12-05T15:35:23.274+01:00Html5 Canvas Drawing Board Demo: Eraser Tool
Here are a few modifications to the simple Html5 canvas drawing board application.
Details
This is what I added to my application:
Line Width Picker
Now by clicking either the line or the pencil tool a menu slides down so the user can choose a line width from a radio button list. If no choice is made, the default is a 2 pixel width. By clicking a Close link the menu slides back up thus Maria Antonietta Pernahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16191349566982727716noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8136870970935814320.post-55235674679804597292011-04-28T19:30:00.001+02:002011-12-05T15:39:08.031+01:00Free Hand Pencil Drawing Added to my Basic Html5 Canvas Drawing Board
Here's the Html5 drawing board with a brand new feature.
New Features
Two small additions have been made to the Html5 canvas drawing board that I started yesterday.
First of all, the very easy bit: the mouse cursor takes on the 'crosshair' shape as it enters the canvas area ready to draw.
Lastly, a new tool has been added to the line, triangle and circle. It's the pencil tool. Now it's Maria Antonietta Pernahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16191349566982727716noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8136870970935814320.post-15860810959920467292011-04-27T16:47:00.003+02:002011-12-05T15:45:21.612+01:00First Steps into Html5 Canvas: Basic Drawing Board Web App
Web developers have been getting excited about the wonders of Html5 for a while now. I'm no exception, although it's been only very recently that I've been trying my hand at drawing with the Html5 canvas API. After a cursory search on the internet, here are some great resources and my very first basic drawing application that you can download at the end of this post and preview on my personalMaria Antonietta Pernahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16191349566982727716noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8136870970935814320.post-82624498569659828532011-04-17T12:18:00.002+02:002011-12-05T15:49:45.304+01:00A Fix To Ajax Master/Detail Page with WebMatrix and jQueryIn the last post I presented a few code snippets related to building an Ajax master/detail page in WebMatrix and razor. Further testing soon revealed a few pitiful bugs with IE8, although there seemed to be no problems as far as FireFox and Chrome were concerned. this is a new IE8 bug-free version with relative download at the end of the post. Here's what I changed with respect to the previousMaria Antonietta Pernahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16191349566982727716noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8136870970935814320.post-22793542053020647192011-04-15T20:45:00.244+02:002011-12-06T17:49:38.858+01:00How to Code an Ajax Master/Detail Page with WebMatrix and jQuery
Here we are, again with this great website building tool from MS, Webmatrix. The fact is, it's amazingly fun to use and I've been getting rather addicted to it. Browsing through some of the search words related to this blog, I've come across some requests both for how to build a master/detail page and for performing Ajax calls in WebMatrix. So, I thought to myself: why not combining the two Maria Antonietta Pernahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16191349566982727716noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8136870970935814320.post-20226963069251357492011-03-31T16:48:00.160+02:002011-12-08T12:58:49.320+01:00How to Build Simple Users and Roles Admin Helpers for WebMatrix
Who says that using Razor in Microsoft WebMatrix means that code is bound to be scattered all over your web application, that you find yourself having to type in the same code over and over again, and finally, that you might as well forget about your best OOP (Object Oriented Programming) practices. This is how you can take advantage of 2 powerful Razor syntax tools, helpers and functions, thatMaria Antonietta Pernahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16191349566982727716noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8136870970935814320.post-25741327013008278252011-03-24T19:25:00.000+01:002011-03-24T19:25:32.857+01:00Technorati Verification7XAPHYT9MTKCI've submitted my blog to Technorati.Maria Antonietta Pernahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16191349566982727716noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8136870970935814320.post-798094050644124082011-03-10T20:58:00.004+01:002011-12-10T16:46:22.394+01:00WebMatrix, jQuery and Ajax: Together They Work like a Treat!Simple Date Picking App with WebMatrix and Razor Code Using jQuery and AJAX
I've been playing with the latest Microsoft WebMatrix web editor and I love the way it seamlessly integrates dynamic server-side development, HTML5, jQuery and AJAX technologies. I come from Microsoft Web Form development and I'm used to all the conveniences of having ready-made controls that quickly allow me to set up Maria Antonietta Pernahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16191349566982727716noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8136870970935814320.post-15693435064078427812011-02-26T16:30:00.002+01:002011-12-10T16:55:01.988+01:00Microsoft WebMatrix: Sharpen up Your Code with Razor
These last few days I've been playing with Microsoft's latest free goodie: WebMatrix. Here are the best references that I've found to get you started on it.
What is WebMatrix?WebMatrix is an integrated web development environment that makes it really easy to build, publish, and also SEO optimize various kinds of web apps, and it amazingly shortens the time it'd normally take to do it. Maria Antonietta Pernahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16191349566982727716noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8136870970935814320.post-29578313701345802882011-02-09T16:31:00.006+01:002011-12-11T16:06:27.474+01:00Fun Building a Netflix Movie Browser with oData and jQuery
I've been experimenting with the Netflix oData service these last few hours, and I've come up with this simple little demo.
What is Netflix
The Netflix website offers visitors the possibility to have instant access to movies and TV programes by paying a small monthly fee. The mini-site demo that I've developed here is limited to browsing movies. It's not enabled to viewing them. In fact, toMaria Antonietta Pernahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16191349566982727716noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8136870970935814320.post-52965327363557128632011-02-01T17:44:00.004+01:002011-12-11T16:14:00.592+01:00Facebook versus Google and the Debate on the Open Web
Although the terms "Internet" and "World Wide Web" (the web for short) are often used interchangeably in ordinary conversations, the former is a wider concept that includes but doesn't end with the latter. Vince Kuraitis clarifies the difference between the two as follows:
The Internet is a massive network of networks, a networking infrastructure. It connects millions of computers together Maria Antonietta Pernahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16191349566982727716noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8136870970935814320.post-61655237582195680302011-01-09T20:03:00.005+01:002011-12-13T15:07:47.080+01:00Grab and Mash Up Data with oData
The core of an internet application consists in getting and manipulating data. How great would it be if your web site exposed its data on the Internet so that other applications could freely make use of it and mash it up together with other data coming from other sources? With oData (Open Data Protocol) this is not only possible but incredibly simple.
OData has evolved out of a project datingMaria Antonietta Pernahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16191349566982727716noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8136870970935814320.post-75790060793750748902010-12-10T19:14:00.003+01:002011-12-13T16:37:22.189+01:00How to Retrieve Your Wall Posts from a Facebook Connect Asp.Net Web SiteGetting my Facebook wall posts on an Asp.Net web page that uses Facebook Connect, looks something like this:
Here I'd like to show one way in which this could be done, at least the way I've done it. In my previous blog post Asp.Net and Facebook Integration: How to Display User Notes I already gave some useful references and indications on how to set up your Asp.Net environment for Facebook Maria Antonietta Pernahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16191349566982727716noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8136870970935814320.post-38908517953908633102010-11-10T13:11:00.001+01:002011-12-21T15:44:41.077+01:00Simple Quiz Demo with Java Script
The other day I caught my little nephew half-dozing on his history book. Having asked him what he thought he was doing, he admitted that he would have to face up to a history test the next day at school and that was his way of tackling revision. At once I thought that perhaps a quiz might be more fun for the poor boy, so I roughed up a very simple quiz that could be set up in no time so that Maria Antonietta Pernahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16191349566982727716noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8136870970935814320.post-73943329458109267282010-09-29T20:18:00.001+02:002011-12-22T15:28:18.718+01:00Asp.Net and Facebook Integration: How to Display User Notes
Individuals and businesses alike do have a voice, exchange views and news around the globe at a click of the mouse, and a major catalyst player that makes this possible in cyberspace is ... Facebook. What about having your own website talk to your Facebook wall or Facebook profile so that you can better share its content with your friends across the net? The Facebook team makes available its Maria Antonietta Pernahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16191349566982727716noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8136870970935814320.post-80702895176604530132010-09-08T19:57:00.000+02:002010-09-08T19:57:06.352+02:00The Future of Music Video Runs on HTML5
Are you ready to take a futuristic jump back to the past of your younger, innocent self while listening to the music of the Arcade Fire in the process? Easy, with Html5 you can, and this is how.
The 21st century way of consuming music through video is on the web, and you're expected not just to sit and watch the show, but to interact with the images and contribute to the final product. This Maria Antonietta Pernahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16191349566982727716noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8136870970935814320.post-51805737330741415072010-08-21T13:15:00.002+02:002010-08-21T19:35:57.197+02:00Have You Been Checked ... On Facebook?On Wednesday 18th August Facebook launched the 21st century version of the agora', the square or meeting place of ancient Greece where the Greek elite used to meet up and discuss politics. It's Facebook Places; only, unlike the Greek agora' where the focus was on political decisions for the common good of the city-state, Places is all about the individual, his/her friends, and a particular spot,Maria Antonietta Pernahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16191349566982727716noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8136870970935814320.post-7119686538601690042010-07-18T12:27:00.002+02:002011-07-09T15:27:31.127+02:003 Requirements You As A Client Are Entitled To Ask A Novice Web DeveloperThroughout my free-lance career I've by and large come across two kinds of clients: those who have little idea of what they're after and are willing to leave to the developer most of the important decisions about the web site they want, and those who have learned the jargon and expect the web developer to be a passive executor of a usually long list of requirements. Neither of these two extremesMaria Antonietta Pernahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16191349566982727716noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8136870970935814320.post-11215959316106143052010-06-25T16:35:00.000+02:002010-06-25T16:35:53.804+02:00CAPTCHA, Turing, and Consciousness (Part III)
The philosopher of mind John Searle
In my last post we faced Alan Turing's crucial question: what does it take for a computer to be intelligent? The genius's answer was: if you talk with it and it looks intelligent to you, then it's intelligent; or, if you don't spot the difference between it and a human being, then it's intelligent. Well, obviously visual appearance is intentionally Maria Antonietta Pernahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16191349566982727716noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8136870970935814320.post-9954067901738599432010-06-10T20:07:00.000+02:002010-06-10T20:07:49.330+02:00CAPTCHA, Turing, and Consciousness (Part II)
In my previous post I introduced CAPTCHA (Completely Automated Public Turing Test To Tell Computers and Humans Apart) as a kind of test which most of us puts up with nowadays if we want to post something on the web. It aims at telling apart spam bots from us, that is, from real human beings. A CAPTCHA usually requires us to write down some random, jumbled up letters and numbers that appear Maria Antonietta Pernahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16191349566982727716noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8136870970935814320.post-79914945973754740132010-06-04T12:40:00.002+02:002010-06-10T20:10:11.520+02:00CAPTCHA, Turing, and Consciousness (Part I)All of us are used to those annoying requests to rewrite some random letters and numbers pictured in front of us before being allowed to post a form on the web. This is a technique aimed at preventing spammers from inundating web sites by offering tests that only humans and not machines will be able to pass. The name of such web tests is CAPTCHA, which is an acronym for Completely Automated Maria Antonietta Pernahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16191349566982727716noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8136870970935814320.post-40349698283703023632010-05-26T13:14:00.003+02:002010-06-10T20:10:42.267+02:00Synthia: The New Artificial Life Form Is BornAs someone who communicates with computers via web languages, be they languages that make text, images and videos appear on a computer browser, or make a web page look a certain way on your screen, or have web page elements behave according to users' expectations, I can't but be fascinated by everything that happens on the borderline of the artificial and the human. As a philosopher, I can't butMaria Antonietta Pernahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16191349566982727716noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8136870970935814320.post-30504870197516867282010-05-19T11:28:00.002+02:002010-06-10T20:11:15.986+02:00Vertical versus Horizontal Web DevelopmentThe web development agency logo was in front of me one Tuesday morning of over two years ago. My first job interview as front-end web developer. I swallowed, counted up to 10 and rang the bell. I was 5 minutes early ... perfect. The door opened and a pleasantly looking man let me in and asked me to take a seat and wait for a few minutes. Two minutes... five ... ten ... fifteen... and so on Maria Antonietta Pernahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16191349566982727716noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8136870970935814320.post-41260567553793149532010-05-13T19:07:00.002+02:002010-06-10T20:11:44.902+02:00Web Site Building Today: Renaissance or Compartmentalised Web Developer?
All free-lancers like myself spend some time looking out for interesting projects so that their skills are kept constantly on their toes and, incidentally, food can be put on their tables.
It just so happens that in so doing I come across some job offers such as the following:
Looking for excellent, experienced web designer to build web site for a new business. The prospective candidate willMaria Antonietta Pernahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16191349566982727716noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8136870970935814320.post-8596141564096390152010-05-07T10:46:00.001+02:002010-05-07T10:47:54.133+02:00Html5 and Css3: Web Designers Rejoice!
Web designers have been discovering and contributing to the implementation of the newest versions of the languages of the web, i.e., HTML (Hypertext Markup Language) and CSS (Cascading Style Sheet). I'm talking about HTML 5 and CSS3, of course!
The benefits of designing web pages using the puppy version of these languages are enormous: easy to create cool visual effects without images, Maria Antonietta Pernahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16191349566982727716noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8136870970935814320.post-58357396565470176462010-04-28T13:16:00.003+02:002010-06-10T20:13:02.256+02:00You did that ... Reeeeeally?'Hello, I'm so and so, what's your name?' - As a child, nothing gave me the jitters more than approaching a group of children, especially children who already seemed to know each other and unselfconsciously play together, and introduce myself by those simple words.
A lot has changed since then...
I've changed since then. I introduce myself all the time to all sorts of different people now, Maria Antonietta Pernahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16191349566982727716noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8136870970935814320.post-60522779805804055312010-04-23T19:59:00.002+02:002010-04-23T20:05:38.825+02:00The Newly Arrived .Net Framework 4's Answer to the SEO Craze
These last few days I've been having fun experimenting with the newly released free version of Visual Studio 2010, specifically with the software for web development, i.e., Visual Web Developer 2010 Express Edition (VWD).
Some time ago I remember busting my brains trying to achieve clean, human readable Urls for my clients' web sites working with the previous version of the .Net Framework and Maria Antonietta Pernahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16191349566982727716noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8136870970935814320.post-23637519720865859232010-04-17T12:07:00.004+02:002010-06-10T20:14:06.105+02:00Upgrading: Excitement and FrustrationsOn April 12th Microsoft launched Visual Studio 2010 and the .Net Framework 4.
The latter is a clever framework for developing all sorts of computer based applications and the former is a software which enables developers to build their applications with relative ease by employing the .Net framework. There was a version 1.0, soon followed by a version 1.1 and Visual Studio 2003, then we find a Maria Antonietta Pernahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16191349566982727716noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8136870970935814320.post-71312304231833058492010-04-10T13:13:00.003+02:002011-12-21T14:35:23.924+01:00Pleasures and Pains of Web Developers' ForumsOne striking difference between working as an academic philosopher and working as a web developer lies in how one relates to their peers.
Nowadays, most academic philosophers deal with their colleagues in order to weave a network of contacts, mostly sitting on a number of committees of various kinds or being the 'Head' of something or other , e.g., scientific journals editorial boards, research Maria Antonietta Pernahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16191349566982727716noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8136870970935814320.post-21085462193699632010-03-27T13:12:00.004+01:002010-04-13T13:00:43.427+02:00The Web Page: A Magical World of ObjectsThose of you who landed to web design and development after a flight in the abstract skies of philosophy might have noticed strange echoes of overly-familiar elements: concepts to grapple with, logical constructs to test out, and puzzle-like challenges to tackle. This creates marvellous and unexpected resonances between a discipline that bears within it the marks of eternity such as philosophy Maria Antonietta Pernahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16191349566982727716noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8136870970935814320.post-76859590365923844362010-03-20T17:14:00.002+01:002010-06-10T20:16:31.614+02:00Role models and the media
Back in February, an Italian rock singer called Morgan declares to the press that he regularly makes use of drugs, especially crack cocaine, among other reasons, as a way of managing his depression. As a consequence, the country is 'scandalised', the greatest number of politicians proclaim their absolute indignation and reprobation towards the personage in question, and the latter is Maria Antonietta Pernahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16191349566982727716noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8136870970935814320.post-16537049819349347122010-03-19T19:02:00.000+01:002010-03-19T19:02:24.914+01:00Philosoblogging away ...If you spend years obtaining qualifications in something as 'niche' as philosophy and then you find yourself with a bigger number of academic journal publications than of years spent earning a living within the confines of an academic institution, then you might end up like me, i.e., a free-spirited, independent-minded, skint ... web philosopher.
As a web philosopher I'll be throwing all sorts Maria Antonietta Pernahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16191349566982727716noreply@blogger.com0