Via Rafe Colburn. Google has published an interesting webstats survey they did in December 2005 on how developers use HTML.

What raises the eyebrows for me is that the result graphs of the survey are all published in SVG and they do not provide any alternative raster images. If they are trying to widely publish their results, truthfully it's not the best way to convey their information, but perhaps there is a message here? Google also specifically recommends using Firefox 1.5 to view the results. This is the first time I've heard of Google endorsing the use of SVG (I'm not counting Google Analytics, since that was really Urchin Software). I wonder if we'll soon see a version of Google Local using SVG to draw the route paths, markers, etc for Firefox and Opera ?

I like the Google Code page. The atmosphere is very casual and open, and it really gives you the feeling that Google is chock full of people who are very interested in seeing the web advance (looking at HTML 5, using SVG, etc). In general, Microsoft blogs attempt to do the same thing but they don't come across that way (usually are very tight-lipped about what future specifications they might support in their products, for instance).


§215 · January 25, 2006 · QuickLinks, Software, SVG, Technology, Web · Comments Off on Google Survey Uses SVG ·


I was trying to figure out a good way I could still get my thoughts down digitally at the GDC without having to book time with Rob's laptop. Taking my work laptop on a conference trip when the conference is not related to work is not a good idea. I'd be toast if it was stolen or broken. A new laptop is also out of the question at the moment. So, since my wife no longer uses her PDA (a Sony Clié), I decided to try eBay and I found a portable keyboard I can use with that. I received it in the mail today and I thought I'd test it out. It's a "Fellowes Stowaway XT" for those who care about such things. For those who have moved on to better mobility solutions, just pretend this post is from 1999. Read the rest of this entry ...

§214 · January 24, 2006 · GDC, Technology · Comments Off on GDC 2006: Keyboard A-Go-Go ·


I came across Jamie's blog after he left a comment on my SVG Solitaire post. Apparently he's been a little busy with SVG too. If you've got 10 minutes and the Firefox 1.5 browser, why not go try a game of Worm SVG.

Great work! Feature Requests:

  1. Make it work in IE+ASV. Keyboard input didn't work for me.
  2. Make 'P' pause the game - useful if someone interrupts you at work, ahem...
  3. Make the worm and dots a little less blocky, more sexy, this is vector graphics after all. At least make the worm a "polyline" and use stroke-linecap="round". Or maybe a "path" so that you only have to change one "d" attribute every time you move the worm...
  4. Make it work faster in Opera 9 TP1 (if possible), see polyline/path idea above
  5. Make a server-side high score tracker (I've been trying to figure out how to do this in a hack-proof way myself)

My record (after 3 tries) was 200 points.


§212 · January 23, 2006 · Games, QuickLinks, Software, SVG, Technology, Web · Comments Off on SVG Time Waster: Worms ·


I was going over the Game Developer's Conference schedule for 2006 and came across this session entitled "Collada for the PlayStation3". The reason it caught my eye is that Collada is a specification put forth by the Khronos Group, which I had read about in my SVG research. Read the rest of this entry ...

§210 · January 21, 2006 · Games, GDC, Software, Technology, XML · Comments Off on GDC 2006: Collada on the PS3 ·


Via Sean Inman. A great essay by Paul Graham entitled How To Do What You Love, also has some overlap with Rob's latest entry revealing this key: Always Produce.

§209 · January 19, 2006 · Life, QuickLinks, Tips · Comments Off on Two Routes ·