being working a lot with mootools, dojo, wordpress and some other frameworks and toolkits lately, my question today is this:
Why, most of the times, don’t frameworks and toolkits developers launch any backward compatibility modules at all?

It might seem pretty complicated getting old deprecated funcionalities working  on newer, better versions, but, apart from some real specific embembed funcionalities, it really shouldn’t be that hard.

For the following example i’ll use Mootools as an explanatory example:

All you need is a nicely designed dynamic version transitioning system.
One that allows you to, anytime on the execution, define which version will the following code run on.

Imagine you design a backward compatibility plugin from version B to version A.
On version C you’ll design a backward compatibility plugin to version B.

So now, on a page running “mootools-C.js” you should include the backward compatibility modules “mootools-back-C-B.js” and “mootools-back-B-A.js”, or a compiled version (having just a copy paste of both previous files content) “mootools-back-C-to-A.js”.

So if you run something like “Mootools.use_version(‘A’);” the dynamic version transitioning system would automatically look for it’s previous version compatilities execution for version B at, let’s suppose, “MootoolsBack_C_B();” and then rerun the same command (“Mootools.use_version(‘A’);”) while already running on version B to travel back to version A (the dynamic version transitioning system, already on version B would run something like “MootoolsBack_B_A();”).

This method would, in theory, work for multiple version transitions without having to design a specific plugin for each version to version compatibility. It would save developers hours in trying to put two different tools, based on two different framework/toolkit versions, together on the same execution – like using both MOOdalbox 1.3 beta 2 and mooflow v0.2 in the same page.

The system would work both ways, as you could “Mootools.version_reset();” or “Mootools.use_version(‘C’);” to travel back to version C on the rest of the execution, the system would run the consecutive version travel functions eg. “MootoolsBack_A_B();” and “MootoolsBack_B_C();” and the rest of the code would be running on Mootools version C.

This “dynamic version transitioning system” will be used for every release transition on NaturePhp.
It might not work perfectly at first, but it will certainly relieve many developers’ headaches.

I hope in the future more and more projects start using a system like this.

i’ve used firefox for development for quite some time now, but on a mac i’ve always liked Safari better for regular web browsing, as it always been much faster and cute.

But the recently released Firefox 3 for Mac really changed my mind. It is, without a doubt, awesome. Runs perfectly smoothly, really nice design, fastest browser ever.

Firefox 2 versions really dragged around with heavy Javascript applications such as Gmail or our upcoming FallForward, but this new version handles javascript even better than Safari 3.
This release has been a really nice boost for my web browsing as i’ve not been much into the latest beta versions of Firefox 3.

The bad part is Firebug still hasn’t come out on it’s official release for Firefox 3. However, i’m using the beta and it works really nice – and everything is perfect again.

A “must have” indeed.

Great work for the guys at Mozilla!!
By the way, great website design for http://www.mozilla.com ;)

Well, ironically, the corporate need for resources has given us a peaceful answer to quest for our need for knowledge – the internet revolution, specifically with the web 2.0 innovations.

But what about reliability?

Click here to view the embedded video.

Imho the different opinions and points of view now show us what the world is really like. It’s not that everything on the internet is reliable – true. But the mix of the many different point’s of view on a subject allows us to define our own answer. In the internet you are your own “gatekeeper”.
Let’s face it, there will always be opposites, but there is a reason to everything everyone says – may it be environmental, corporative, physical, a thought, a feeling, or even a stupid comment.
The gathering of all this controversial information gives you – for yourself – an answer.
Truth itself, as we get it, is environmental and never absolute.
And if knowledge is just an organized gathering of information – web 2.0 is knowledge.

Some may say “What about expert knowledge?”.
Expert knowledge usually has a problem – the expert.
If the expert manages to step aside his own ideology, his expert knowledge will truly be the reasoned combination of all points of view.
But let’s face it, i’ve never seen this happening – every information is controlled.
But if we clash this controlled information from it’s various counterparts, we might get a clearer view of the so called “truth”.
All we need is as many angles as possible – and on the internet, everyone can have and is free to post their experience.
Wikipedia for example, works very hard trying to combine all these point’s of view and keep itself away from the discussion, but a decision must always allow some content to be posted – their only error imho is not to empathize more on the related discussions for each article – still, they’re one of the best information sources in the world.

The so feared violence of an anarchic system is now shielded behind an anonymous computer and long distances and the perfect environment for a real peaceful anarchy now exists on the virtual world.
Of course this release of the “i” requires understanding by the “others”.

When you read something, take it as another’s concept, not as a truth.
Read many concepts and you’ll innerly find your own.

Google, read, blog, comment, and pass it along.

Quite an amazing work.

Visit Li Wei’s website for more details and photos.

I mean, i know Retro is fashionable sometimes, but 1990′s style Microsoft’s patented OOXML as an open office standard?? – An absurdly 6.000 pages specification with many known issues.

Such a fundamental evolutionary tech like an Open Office Standard is “given” to Microsoft as sole developer and entitled owner?? – They can sue any other company for using it ffs!
With unspecified fundamental binary code (blob) that nobody can interpret but themselves and making use of deprecated technologies such as VML??
View the details.

WTF?

The voting itself is undoubtfully a staged play, with multiple countries having last-minute vote changes, from disapproval or abstention to approval in the eleventh hour, making the final results look like a “Should US invade the Middle East?” poll – only a few wise countries voted no…
Even Norway changed their minds!!
So much for compliance…

“I am very disappointed in ISO, OSI, and ECMA. I held them with high regard, until they started approving standards and licenses of a company that has been holding back the PC industry all to make a little more money.” – says a commenter at Intellectual Property Watch

I totally agree – shameful indeed.