Be there or be annoyed by lots of tweets and blog posts about it. Read about the details over at the official hack day page http://hackday.org/ and I am very much looking forward to seeing you there.

• 16th and 17th of June 2007
• Alexandra Palace, North London (ice skates optional)
• Presented by Yahoo! and BBC Backstage
• Stay tuned for more info…

[tags]hackday,openhackday,openhackdayeurope,london,alexandra palace,yahoo,bbc backstage,cantwait,ohboyohboyohboy[/tags]

Hey, seems like nobody is signing up for cubicgarden’s Powerpoint Karaoke (that is Powerpoint, Ian, not Power Point). I consider it a wonderfully stupid idea and I am game.

In other news, I started a stupid new blog and flickr group. The idea was born when I pointed out to a friend that it is amazing that women have so many shoes and handbags. She then asked me how many T-Shirts I have and I did realize that I have far too many. So what I will do now is:

• Wear a different T-Shirt every day
• Upload the Shirt photo to flickr and blog its story
• Decide whether to keep or ditch it

All the ditched shirts will go either to a charity shop or to the clothes bank (depending on their state) or you can claim them on the blog (I will not cover postage, so that is on your cap).

Check it out: http://icant.co.uk/tshirtaday/

[tags]powerpoint,karaoke,tshirtaday,silly,fun[/tags]

Following the workshop in Singapore I promised to send out a more detailed explanation how to create a simple slide show in JavaScript that can be fully maintained in HTML, redesigned in CSS and all dynamic labels changed without having to change the main script.

The trick is once again separation, and if you care to learn more about this, check the 5 step example how to create a maintainable slideshow

[tags]JavaScript,slideshow,images,maintainability,unobtrusive,webdevtrick,beginningjavascript,bestpractice[/tags]

I just came across Scriptless Day via Twitter, which is something like CSS naked day but for JavaScripts. I had the same idea but didn’t bother as after me criticizing naked day I’d have appeared as a copycat.

In essence scriptless day is a great idea as it should show that:

• web sites with properly developed scripts do work without scripts
• JavaScript does make our experience smoother when it is available.

I am not too sure about the explanation of what a script is, and rather scared about the notion that it is nothing you have to think about if you believe in a library doing it for you, but all in all I am looking forward to this.

[tags]scriptlessday,scripting,usability,accessibility[/tags]

I was rather shocked to go to Refresh Edinburgh and witness that the planned presentation “The Business Reasons for Web Standards� by John Sutherland was cut short because of me mentioning the failure of a lot of arguments when talking to enterprise level companies and managers in my Highland Fling presentation.

It was not my intention to discourage people to try finding and communicating business benefits, and I am sorry if I disheartened someone to do so. Whilst this was a strange experience (wow, people listen to what I say!) I am actually happy that it made people reconsider their arguments and realize that the subject of web standards for business stakeholders is rather more complex than selling it to other developers.

We all have done a “why our company should use web standards� presentation in our careers and many a time it didn’t work out for a simple reason: we don’t speak the language of the people we try to reach and we don’t solve their problems. Instead we try to make them see the world through our eyes. In any communication it is always beneficial to know what ails the person you talk to, help them overcome one or more of their problems and then bring your ideas to the table. Opening a door is much easier when you already have a foot in.

In order to avoid more misunderstandings and make sure we have the right verbal ammunition to deal with all kind of people when we try to sell the idea of web standards development I set up a wiki on the subject of “The business case for web standards development�.

• Check out the wiki on the business case for web standards at http://icant.co.uk/webstandardsforbusiness/

I hope that by aggregating information there and using it to formulate our presentations and emails in the right manner we can have more impact than we have now. I also hope that reading success stories of others may encourage you to take a stand in your environment and try to get a chance to work in a less random manner than we have to do without sticking to standards.

Personally I also hope that I won’t drown in spam or not get any worthwhile content at all and I hope that the wiki will be self-moderated as I don’t have the time to tend to it 100%. I’ve been very disappointed in the past throwing myself to the wolves of collaborative aggregation and hope that I struck a more resonant nerve this time.

[tags]webstandards,business,promotion,evangelizing,wiki,writing,participation[/tags]