I am working on a project that requires some creative use of CSS. As I usually do when I have to do something I don’t do everyday, I pull out my reference notes. Basically, I keep a bunch of email drafts, saved in Outlook, that contain links on various topics. I know this isn’t the best way to catalog references, but it works for me and isn’t that the point. Well, I thought I would share my CSS list. It’s a good list for developers just getting started in CSS and as a handy “let me check” list for those more experienced. Let me know your favorite CSS sites. I want to keep the list simple. I am not trying to build an all inclusive list, but I will add links that you contribute that are helpful and add considerably to what can be found on these sites.

References and Examples
http://css-discuss.incutio.com – This Wiki is dedicated to real-world (and ideally, browser-neutral) application of CSS.
http://www.w3schools.com/css/css_reference.asp – W3Schools’ CSS reference that claimed to be tested regularly with all major browsers.
http://csszengarden.com – a great learn by doing site that highlights contributor redesigns of the csszengarden.com home page by only changing the external css file.
http://www.learn-css-tutorial.com/CrashCourse.cfm – crash course in CSS.

Validation and Verification:
http://validator.w3.org – XHTML validation. Page validation can have an effect on CSS rendering so I like to check that the HTML is good too.
http://jigsaw.w3.org/css-validator – CSS validation.
http://browsershots.org – view a screen shot of web page in multiple browsers.
http://thefrontside.net/crosscheck – an inline javascript validator. I know this isn’t CSS, but have used JavaScript for some ugly CSS Hacks.

Browser Hacks:
http://www.learn-css-tutorial.com/BrowserIssues.cfm – good intro to IE hacks.

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Twitter and JAJAH are collaborating on a service to let users make free phone calls with a Tweet. JAJAH Brings Telephone Calls to Twitter starting on 9/18/2009 with beta testing.

They are called @calls and the calls are made without revealing your number or having to know the number of the person you want to call. How? You just send a Tweet to @call @username, with the username being the Twitter name of the person you want to call. If that person follows you on Twitter and has a JAJAH account, a free two-minute call will be initiated. This works on your computer or mobile device (BlackBerry, iPhone, Android), and on Twitter.com or on a Twitter-client.

The question I have, how smart is a serviced based on a 2 minute call. The same questions were asked about the limited characters available in micro-blogs and tweets. I am not a huge phone user, so I am not the best judge of this, but it seems like people will want to talk more, get frustrated if they are constantly disconnected calls that are going well, or feel rushed with the timer running. It would be a good thing if you want to introduce yourself to someone live. Just put in their username and if they have JAJAH and accept your call you got a chance to do your introduction script. Yes, scripts. I see it now people spamming @call trying to drum up business. This provides the best of email and Twitter spam with telemarketing. Let’s hope they have controls to help limit this. I guess if you use this service you will have to be more selective about who you follow and not focus on getting a big following.

Anyway, I know I’m still basically talking to myself up here in the blogosphere, but if you are reading this give me some feedback. Tell me what you think about this service. Will you try it, are you scared it will be another spam farm, or can you see benefits in 2 minute calls.

To keep up to date with the JAJAH@call beta, follow @call on Twitter.

You can visit JAJAH at www.jajah.com and Twitter at www.twitter.com.

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Well, I had a project that stumped me for a moment. I understand how to dynamically inject meta tags through System.Web.UI.HtmlControls.HtmlHead. But, what if you already have Meta Tags set? I really didn’t have a clue. So, I had to take the dreaded trip to MSDN to browse object definitions and came up with the quickest thing that works. One day I will refactor it, but this works for now.

The application I had to update uses Base Pages and includes code to pull a default title, description, and keywords from a configuration file. My task was to overwrite the default meta values if the values are present in the record set retrieved from the database. My solution involves a simple method placed in the Base Page class that searches the head control collection to find and replace the appropriate meta tags. Read more »

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Say hello to the happy couple. A very smart team at FluidHTML took out the shotgun and told Flash and HTML to play nice. Search indexable, deep linking, and browser history with Flash. What? I thought we all ran away from Flash becuase of these limitations.  The usability and simplicity of HTML with the coolness of Flash. Much power is being given to the common HTML/CSS developer and I hope the web doesn’t pay for all of the crap they can now easily create with FluidHTML.

FluidHTML will be releasing soon. It will be free to use in development with a low cost fee paid to publish your projects in production. Will you try it? Will rich media capabilities of HTML 5 kill the project. Well, I’m going to give them a try and I think they have a good chance of beating the curve by latching on to the deeply entrenched Flash plug-in.

I noticed FluidHTML, great name, on the TechCrunch50 2009 website (www.techcrunch50.com). You can also check out FluidHTML’s website at www.fluidhtml.com.

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Bruce Clay is one of my favorite SEO sites (http://www.bruceclay.com/). Well, they have combined SEO with one of my favorite phychology subjects, Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs. The SEO Hierachy of Needs, as they call it, is a simple graphic and great explanation of where you should focus limited time and resources in your SEO and marketing effort.

You can check it out here - http://www.bruceclay.com/blog/archives/2009/08/seo_hierarchy_o.html and make sure you sign up for their newsletter. They offer a lot of good information on SEO and online marketing.

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I just read a great article on Microsoft’s CLR Profiler. If you ever have a problem with a memory hungry application and you don’t have one of those expensive profiler tools, the CLR Profiler is definitely something you should look into. It’s free, somewhat simple to use, and it has saved me more than a few times. Anyway, you can check out the article by Shivprasad Koirala on CodeProject.com (my favorite .Net development website) – http://www.codeproject.com/KB/aspnet/DOTNET1.aspx.

You can download the CLR Profiler .Net 2.0 version here – http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?familyid=A362781C-3870-43BE-8926-862B40AA0CD0&displaylang=en.

The .Net 1.1 version is here – http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?familyid=86CE6052-D7F4-4AEB-9B7A-94635BEEBDDA&displaylang=en.

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I have had my own business since I got out the military in 1998. In that time, one of the core things I learned about business is that you have to effectively manage customer relationships to survive. I have tried many different Customer Relationship Management (CRM) systems from paper based to computer systems with all the bells and whistles. So, I know that CRM can be implemented by any business regardless of size, budget, or technological acumen. In this post I will cover a little of what I have learned about CRM. I hope it sheds some light for those who haven’t established a system or are unhappy with the one they have. Read more »

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I spent that past few days without Internet access and I think I know what drug addicts feel like when they are going through withdrawals. To compensate for no computer, I spent time watching CNN, CNBC, even Fox News (nothing wrong with Fox, but to me, they get a little absurd at times). I browsed the bookstores, reading magazines and books until I felt like I was stealing. I guess my addiction is actually to information. I’m happy when I’m ingesting some new brain food. What I really missed is the on-demand searchable access to information that I get on the internet.

Well, I’m back on the net cataloging my massive encyclopedia of bits and bytes. One day I’m going to write about how I actually catalog and use all of this information, but today I’m just stretching my blogging muscles.

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Well, Google can’t physically send you back in time, but they can give you a great view of how the media was shaping culture in our not too distant past. I just checked out some Ebony magazines from the 70s and I saw issues from as far back as 1959. Talk about “Black History.” It was a totally different experience compared to watching a video or reading a book on the subject. It felt more authentic and not like a scripted version of history.  It also gave me some great insight on the history of urban marketing. Now I want to find some old TV and Radio news recordings.

This sounds like a great idea for a new site. An aggregation of old time media files from various publishers in one place. Like Google Books, but a more history focused and detailed effort to catalog the content with short commentary and of course social components. Anybody, want to help with design, development, or content management, LOL.

Anyway, check out the time machine at Ebony on Google Books. If the link died, try a search on http://books.google.com, they have a lot more than just Ebony Magazine.

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Welcome to my new blog soon to be full of my decoupled logic. My hope is that my knowledge and experience will be of help to someone out there. So click around, maybe you will find something interesting, insightful or inspiring. Please leave your comments and add me to your favorite social networking site.

Charles Bryant

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