JavaScript Optimization

If you are a JavaScript fan, this post is for you.

Here is a great summary article on JavaScript Optimization Guidelines

Nice to see a reference to a now outdated resource we published several years ago.

These days JSON, Ajax, AVRO, etc is the way to go.

Fractaless Menus and Grids

In a recent article, we presented a fractal approach to the design of menus and grids. It was demonstrated that:

• these patterns can be emulated with CSS and division-based iterated layouts.
• by using divisions, positioning issues associated with the use of list elements (ul, ol, etc) and mentioned at this Mozilla blog are avoided altogether.
• there is no need to resource to browser hacks or css gymnastics, which often cause new issues with other browsers.

Almost immediately some asked if we could achieve same results using a fractaless approach (i.e., no iterations at all), and if so, what are the pros and cons of using one approach over the other.

In a nutshell, indeed: the above design patterns (menus and grids) can be emulated without having to use recursion. We just need to use the correct design strategy.

Last week we published the Fractaless Menus and Grids article which explains how this can be done. Both approaches, fractal and fractaless are compared.

To do what we teach, we are updating the Fractal Resources Index sub-site so some of these design patterns will be incorporated. We are also looking forward to implement changes across some pages of http://www.miislita.com.

Menus and Grid Article: An Update

I’ve updated the Menus and Grids article. CSS and markup instructions have been modified to make the iterated patterns more flexible and applicable to a variety of scenarios. Additional reference material has also been added. Wrappers generated by default by our design tool have been removed to simplify the markup.

I believe the proposed fractal approach avoids all the CSS workarounds and positioning issues raised at this Mozilla blog and in relation with the design of grid-like patterns.

BTW, a Wikipedia entry has an interesting article on CSS tableless Web design, but unfortunately goes to the extreme of including the following statement:

“Using divisions to simulate a table for the display of tabular data is as  much a design flaw as using tables to control graphic and page layout.”

According to whom? Since when achieving a given rendering through different design strategies is a “design flaw”? Evidently, Wikipedia allows biased opinions from individuals or interest groups disguised as reputable editors.

I challenge the above half-true opinion. Read my rebuttal to Wikipedia in the improved version of the Menus and Grids article.

IRW:2010-3 Fractals in IR and Web Design

The current issue of IRW is out. As mentioned before, it is dedicated to fractals and their application to Computer Sciences, in particular to Information Retrieval (IR) and Web Design.

Enjoy it.

Fractal Design: Menus and Grids

The traditional way of rendering horizontal menus and grids in Web pages is with HTML tables or by styling block level elements like dl, ol, or ul with Cascading Style Sheets( CSS). This often involves CSS workarounds for handling positioning issues.

In Menus and Grids, we present an alternate approach using fractal concepts. The article provides two examples of this approach using no images, no JavaScript, no ordered lists (ol, ul, dl), but just division elements, CSS, and a bit of fractal theory. These have been tested with the latest versions of Internet Explorer and Firefox browsers, only.

Since the only block level elements used are divisions, positioning issues and CSS workarounds associated with the use of list elements (ol, ul, li, and dl) are avoided altogether.

BTW. This month issue of the IRW Newsletter is dedicated to Fractals in IR and Web Design. It should reach subscribers’ inboxes next week.

Cheers.

Hackers in your Cell Phone, Car, and TV

Thanks to the Internet, hackers are -or soon will be- invading your cell phones, car, and TV.

Cell Phones:

The Energizer DUO Trojan: What You Need to Know, reports that the Energizer USB charger has been infected with a nasty Trojan.

Cars:

Ford Motor Rolls Out New Security Features To Prevent Car-Hacking, reports that Ford is taking steps to prevent hackers from literally car-jacking your vehicle.

TV:

Google, DISH Network in Set-top Tests, reports that Google is moving to provide search services through your TV. With TV soon hitting the market with Internet Widgets and similar technologies, soon your TV sessions will be subject to hacking.

So, very soon: hackers, spammers, and marketers in your car, phone, and TV.

To secure a job, get certified in Internet Security related technologies. Or how about, Multimedia Search Marketing (MSM)? That’s a new great acronym to think about.

Stop the Press: RSA Encryption Cracked!

According to this news:

Researchers have found that by playing with the voltage on a device, it is possible to crack the popular RSA encryption keys. Hackers are having a field day with this research.

The article says:

“Researchers at the University of Michigan say they have uncovered a way to circumvent encryption used on many devices.

The research is the work of Valeria Bertacco, Todd Austin and Andrea Pellegrini. According to their paper, entitled ‘Fault-Based Attack of RSA Authentication’ (PDF), the trio demonstrated a way to beat the popular encryption method, which is used in media players, laptop computers, smartphones and other devices. It is also used by retailers to secure customer information online.

The researchers found that by varying the voltage on a device it was possible to get their hands on the ‘private key’ needed to beat the security feature. Using what they described as an inexpensive device specially-built for the experiment, the trio manipulated the voltage and caused the computer to make small mistakes in its communications with other clients. This ultimately revealed small pieces of the private key, which they eventually used to reconstruct the key offline.”

CSS-only Iterated Layouts

Thank you all for visiting the recently launched sub-site on fractals. I forget to add to yesterday’s blog post a sample picture of some of CSS-only iterated fractal layouts. Here is an example: The Accordion Family. These patterns were obtained by iterating a basic two-column Web page layout.

These were created as described in the Random Patterns document and in the Fractal Movies, CSS-only Backgrounds, and Two-Column Layouts article. BTW, the later is a long PDF file (more than 800k because of the so many pictures in it). So if you initially see a broken link message, ignore it. The file should download just fine.

Don’t forget to read the disclaimer before watching the fractal movies. These run faster with Firefox than with Internet Explorer.

Fractal Movies, CSS Backgrounds, and Iterated Layouts

I am pleased to announce the launching of a sub-site within Mi Islita.com: the Fractal Resources Index. The sub-site is a collection of resources about fractals and their application to language modeling, information retrieval, Web design, information security and affine areas.

It includes ongoing research of fractals in Web design. As part of this research I have also published a new article that might interest programmers, SEOs, and designers alike:

Fractal Movies, CSS-only Backgrounds, and Two-Column Layouts.

In this article a fractal movie effect is documented, which might open the door for additional research at the interface of programming, design, and information security.

The write up of the many resources available in it was at the expense of issuing the February issue of the IR Watch Newsletter. This will arrive to subscriber’s inboxes some time this week. Sorry for the delay.

Feel free to browse through the new sub-site and let me know what do you think about fractals in Web design.