The kthoom logoSometimes I get an idea and I just have to see it through to a point where it will let my brain go. At work Thursday we were all slobbering over Steve's iPad and someone brought up how cool the Marvel app is. I had to admit it was much nicer than any piece of software I'd used for viewing comics before on my laptop.

In the meantime, I've been carefully watching WebKit creep closer and closer to implementing the W3C File API (Go Kinuko!). Something I've been eagerly waiting for more browsers to do so you can open up local files in SVG-edit.

And then it hit me. Read the rest of this entry ...

§832 · April 12, 2010 · JavaScript, RIA, Software, Technology, Web · 3 comments · Tags: , ,


[clipart]When I was fiddling with my JavaScript (sounds obscene) for the MIX 10k Challenge, I was obviously interested in shrinking the code as small as possible. I was also interested in learning some best practices that would produce tighter minified code but would not reduce the readability and integrity of the unminified source. Read the rest of this entry ...

§552 · January 18, 2010 · Uncategorized · 6 comments · Tags:


[clipart]I came across the MIX 10k Coding Challenge on the weekend, and on a whim I decided to submit one of my old SVG demos to the contest. The 10k challenge's tagline is "What could you create for the Web if you had only 10 kilobytes of code?". The rules didn't explicitly say I could use pure SVG, they mention SVG/Canvas in the context of HTML5 only, but I thought I'd give it a shot. It's in the spirit of the contest, after all. At the very least it would encourage Microsoft to clarify the rules and at the very best it would be accepted and the rules updated to allow pure SVG applications. Looks like it was my lucky day. Read the rest of this entry ...

§551 · January 14, 2010 · JavaScript, Microsoft, Software, SVG, Technology, Tips, Web · 4 comments · Tags: , , , ,


I've been watching David's FakeSmile script evolve over the course of the last few months. At the same time, I have been reading up on SMIL Timesheets, a recent specification drafted by the SYMM Working Group. With recent support of timesheets in FakeSmile, I thought it would be a good chance to experiment. Read the rest of this entry ...

§462 · May 19, 2008 · JavaScript, Software, SVG, Technology, Web · Comments Off on Smile Zen Garden? · Tags: , , , , , ,


David Leunen has released a new JavaScript library to fake SMIL for modern browsers that do not yet support declarative animation (Firefox 3.0- and Safari 3.0-). The nice thing about this is that it uses existing standards, so that when Mozilla and WebKit finally implement SMIL, this script will avoid executing. On that day, suddenly animations will become less processor-intensive. I'm all about progressive enhancement, but I'm also not above occasionally faking it a little to experiment with cool features. Read the rest of this entry ...

§440 · March 16, 2008 · JavaScript, RIA, Software, SVG, Technology, Web · 4 comments · Tags: , ,