XML-based declarative user interface languages are becoming all the rage right now. While the ability to declare a GUI using a descriptive language is nothing new (I believe software for X-Windows/Motif widgets has been around for awhile), we are seeing this renewed focus due to several factors: 1) maturity of XML technologies on the web, 2) the rising popularity of Mozilla's Firefox browser, 3) next release of Windows (Longhorn) and 4) new web applications that provide an enhanced user experience over traditional web experiences (for example Gmail, Google Maps, Flickr). Read the rest of this entry ...
As if Flash games weren't enough, Holger has released a new web-browser game written in SVG: Sokoban. This puzzle game is fun and challenging, but at 60 levels, it's unlikely that anyone is going to sit through them all. It's a shame that the game doesn't save a cookie and remember which level you've made it to (hint hint, Holger).
To play the above, your browser needs to support SVG (a relatively new web-based graphics standard). Until Mozilla Firefox 1.1 is released, I recommend you download the Adobe SVG Viewer plugin. For Internet Explorer, click here. For Mozilla Firefox, follow the instructions at the bottom of this page.
In the midst of Adobe purchasing Macromedia, thereby putting in question the Final Fate of Flash and the success of SVG, I decided to check out the W3C SVG site. No reaction yet there (and I guess there wouldn't be, they are a standards body, not a bunch of gossip columnists/business theorists). However, I did notice that they put up a new Working Draft document for SVG 1.2 about a week ago. Read the rest of this entry ...
I learned yesterday that someone had made the Firefox logo available as a SVG file for the purposes of putting onto T-Shirts, etc. I decided I'd use this opportunity to gauge the state of SVG renderers available to me, the average lay-person. Read the rest of this entry ...
It may seem that Scalable Vector Graphics for the masses is stalling on the web, but I did find this interesting site which has some recent promising news about SVG's rising popularity on the mobile phone front. Mobile vendors Panasonic and Sony have announced models that support SVG.
I've ranted before about XML, but despite my ill feelings, it's obvious that XML is at the root of some very promising technologies. SVG is one of those and it's really a shame that it hasn't yet taken off. This older article from Slashdot hints that March 2005 we'll start to see Mozilla include native support of SVG (the masses will see this in Firefox 1.1, I think)...that will be VERY exciting indeed! Maybe we'll start to see something interesting happening on the web for SVG very soon. As far as I know this will be the first major web browser to have native SVG support.
If you're interested in learning more about SVG, check out http://www.svgbasics.com for an overview of some of its capabilities. If you haven't installed Adobe's SVG Plug-In, don't worry you can turn off "SVG" examples on this site and just see what they would like if you had the plugin. Or you could follow the intructions at svgbasics.com and install the Plug-In.