Lea Verou » Personal http://lea.verou.me Life at the bleeding edge (of web standards) Thu, 02 Feb 2012 14:08:08 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.1 My new year’s resolution http://lea.verou.me/2012/01/my-new-years-resolution/ http://lea.verou.me/2012/01/my-new-years-resolution/#comments Fri, 13 Jan 2012 00:53:07 +0000 Lea Verou http://lea.verou.me/?p=1545

Warning: Personal post ahead. If you’re here to read some code trickery, move along and wait for the next post, kthxbai

Blogs are excellent places for new year’s resolutions. Posts stay there for years, to remind you what you’ve been thinking long ago. A list on a piece of paper or a file in your computer will be forgotten and lost, but a resolution on your blog will come back to haunt you. Sometimes you want that extra push. I’m not too fond of new year’s resolutions and this may as well be my first, but this year there are certain goals I want to achieve, unlike previous years were things were more fluid.

So, in 2012 I want to…

  • Land my dreamjob in a US company I respect
  • Get the hell out of Greece and move to the Bay Area
  • Strive to improve my english even more, until I sound and write like a native speaker
  • Find a publisher I respect that’s willing to print in full color and write my first book.
  • Stop getting into stupid fights on twitter. They are destructive to both my well-being and my creativity.
  • Get my degree in Computer Science. This has been my longest side project, 4 years and counting.
I wonder how many of those I will have achieved this time next year, how many I will have failed and how many I won’t care about any more…
]]> http://lea.verou.me/2012/01/my-new-years-resolution/feed/ 0 Dabblet blog http://lea.verou.me/2012/01/dabblet-blog/ http://lea.verou.me/2012/01/dabblet-blog/#comments Thu, 05 Jan 2012 23:40:19 +0000 Lea Verou http://lea.verou.me/?p=1531

Not sure if you noticed, but Dabblet now has a blog: blog.dabblet.com

I’ll post there about Dabblet updates and not flood my regular subscribers here who may not care. So, if you are interested on Dabblet’s progress, follow that blog or @dabblet on twitter.

That was also an excuse to finally try tumblr. So far, so good. I love how it gives you custom domains and full theme control for free (hosted WordPress charges for those). Gorgeous, GORGEOUS interface too. Most of the themes have markup from the 2005-2007 era, but that was no surprise. I customized the theme I picked to make it more HTML5-ey and more on par with dabblet’s style and it was super easy (though my attempt is by no means finished). There are a few shortcomings (like no titles for picture posts), but nothing too bad.

]]> http://lea.verou.me/2012/01/dabblet-blog/feed/ 0 My experience from Fronteers, JSConf EU, Frontend and FromTheFront http://lea.verou.me/2011/10/my-experience-from-fronteers-jsconf-eu-frontend-and-fromthefront/ http://lea.verou.me/2011/10/my-experience-from-fronteers-jsconf-eu-frontend-and-fromthefront/#comments Fri, 21 Oct 2011 02:42:43 +0000 Lea Verou http://leaverou.me/?p=1377

This month has been very busy conference-wise. I had 4 conferences in a row, so I was flying from country to country and giving talks for 2 weeks. As I usually do after conferences, this post sums up my experiences and feedback I got from these conferences, in chronological order.

FromTheFront

This was a rather low-budget Italian conference that took place in Cesena, a city near Bologna. Despite the extremely low ticket price, they managed to pull off a very decent one day conference, which is very admirable. Italian food is so good that I’d recommend visiting this country even if it’s just for the food! They were very nice hosts, and I thoroughly enjoyed my time there.

My talk was right after Jeremy Keith‘s, who is a very well-known and experienced speaker that knows how to make audiences delirious (in a good way), so I was naturally a bit nervous about the unavoidable comparison. Despite my fears, my talk was very well received. Here’s a sample of the twitter feedback I got:

@ is presenting js methods I did not even know existed during her css3 talk!!
September 29, 2011 21:50 via Plume  ReplyRetweetFavorite
@cedmax
cedmax

#ftf11 this is a real css/js hardcore talk. Fascinating @
September 29, 2011 21:54 via Twitter for AndroidReplyRetweetFavorite
@caludio
Claudio Cicali

#ftf11 when you watch a @ presentation there is always something you didn't know
September 29, 2011 22:03 via Gravity!ReplyRetweetFavorite
@andypanix
Andrea Panisson

#ftf11 I hugged @ at the end of her presentation at @ :-) Loved her
September 29, 2011 22:40 via Twitter for iPhoneReplyRetweetFavorite
@verlok
Andrea Verlicchi


A whole hour of CSS3 to the tenth by @ at #ftf11
September 29, 2011 22:48 via Twitter for iPhoneReplyRetweetFavorite
@Facens
Andrea Giannangelo

@ "what can we do in this case?" Nice presentation of css problem solving #ftf11
September 29, 2011 22:19 via Twitter for iPadReplyRetweetFavorite
@matteocollina
Matteo Collina

JSConf EU

Next stop was Berlin and JSConf’s European sister conference. This was one of the most well organized conferences I’ve been to: The food, the coffee, the afterparties, the wifi, the projectors, everything was top notch. Also, it had a get-together the day after the conference (called “hangover.js”) which I think is great and more conferences should start adopting this tradition. It eases the pain of the conference being over and you get to say goodbye to a few folks you weren’t able to catch at the afterparty. It also featured many cool ideas, like a gal drawing live visualizations of the talks (Here’s mine) and a singer to open the conference in the first day singing a song to …Brendan Eich (!). I made new friends, had lots of fun and everything was awesome.

I was a bit more nervous about my talk for two reasons: Firstly, it was my first JavaScript talk, and secondly, it had no live demos like my CSS talks, which is a big part of why people like them. It went much better than I expected, and I got very good feedback and even though I went hugely overtime (I had 30 minutes and did 55!) nobody complained. Thankfully, it was right before lunch so I didn’t eat up another speaker’s time (which is part of the reason I love the pre-lunch spot so much).  I didn’t get the super-enthusiastic feedback I get from my CSS talks, but it was good enough to not be disappointed. Here’s a sample:

Now the lovely @ is rocking the polyfills on stage at #jsconfeu - good talk, I worked through the slides with her earlier :)
October 2, 2011 12:49 via TweetDeckReplyRetweetFavorite
@codepo8
Christian Heilmann

wise JS code+hints on CSS and DOM features detections by @ #jsconfeu
October 2, 2011 13:19 via Twitter for AndroidReplyRetweetFavorite
@WebReflection
Andrea Giammarchi

Awww @ is sooo cute when saying "in other browsers, CSS polyfills are a pain in the ass!". Nice talk btw! #jsconfeu
October 2, 2011 13:19 via TweetDeckReplyRetweetFavorite
@nddrylliog
Amos Wenger

@ dropping knowledge bomb after knowledge bomb about how to build polyfills. Awesome Talk! #jsconf
October 2, 2011 13:24 via Twitter for MacReplyRetweetFavorite
@cramforce
Malte Ubl

Don't do CSS polyfills! Says @. She is soooo right! #jsconfeu Excellent talk, really more technical then thought it would be!
October 2, 2011 13:38 via Twitter for iPhoneReplyRetweetFavorite
@wpbasti
Sebastian Werner

Overwhelming talk by @ on #polyfills great detail hope to see it published! srsly this girl rocks http://t.co/APkxpGPl
October 2, 2011 13:49 via Twitter for iPhoneReplyRetweetFavorite
@claudiopro
Claudio Procida

some great work by @ at #jsconfeu. "Impossible to detect"? Sounds like a fun game! :)
October 2, 2011 13:55 via webReplyRetweetFavorite
@VeganBen
Ben Green

@ Really long and really informative. Dope styling + rich content. Congrats :)
October 2, 2011 14:05 via TweetDeckReplyRetweetFavorite
@nddrylliog
Amos Wenger

You can find my slides on Speakerdeck , Slideshare or the HTML version on my website.

Fronteers

I was looking forward to Fronteers the most, since it’s my favorite conference. It might not be the one with the most money or the biggest, but it has a special place in my heart for a number of different reasons (not all of which I can write in a public blog post). It was the first international conference I ever attended (in 2010) and I’ve met there so many people I used to only know (and admire) as a name & avatar before. It’s the conference I’ve had the most fun at, in both years I’ve been there. Everyone, the volunteers, the attendees, the speakers, everyone is awesome. There is something magic about this conference, as most of its speakers and attendees think about it in the same way (Christian Heilmann for example calls it “his special conference” and he goes to A LOT of conferences). It doesn’t just feel like a professional conference, it feels like a big, loving, open, web development family that gets together once a year to celebrate the advances in our field.

But this time, I wasn’t just an attendee. I wasn’t a regular speaker either. I was also hosting a workshop, my first full day workshop. I was super stressed about that, and in retrospect, it was the most exhausting thing I have ever done. Some other speakers told me it felt so exhausting because it was my first, I really hope they’re right. Luckily, attendees loved it, and they didn’t seem to notice my progressively getting tired after the 4th hour. Here’s some of the feedback I got:

Cool way of testing your CSS3 skills. Interesting workshop so far @ #fronteers11 http://t.co/ht9XwgHY
October 5, 2011 10:52 via webReplyRetweetFavorite
@flyingpinguin
Jurgen Vansteelant

Need coffee to keep up with @! Very nice and interactive workshop so far, though. #fronteers11
October 5, 2011 11:05 via YoruFukurouReplyRetweetFavorite
@V_v_V
Vivienne

Lea Verou really does it right. Her css3 workshop is pretty awesome! @ #fronteers11
October 5, 2011 11:36 via TweetDeckReplyRetweetFavorite
@Jessman5
Jessica Lazarus

Agree :) RT @: Lea Verou really does it right. Her css3 workshop is pretty awesome! @ #fronteers11
October 5, 2011 11:57 via TweetDeckReplyRetweetFavorite
@tforza
Tamara Forza

The CSS3 workshop by @ is pretty well executed. Learning loads of new stuff!
October 5, 2011 12:24 via Twitter for MacReplyRetweetFavorite
@ronderksen
Ron Derksen

My talk was the next day, and even though I was afraid it would be bad due to being tired from the workshop and the pre-party, I think it was my best talk ever. I was much more relaxed, and I got the most enthusiastic feedback I ever have. My hand literally got tired favoriting tweets, and I’m pretty sure I missed some. Here’s a small sample:

If you thought you can just miss the CSS talk by @ at #fronteers11, you're doing a big mistake. The talk will be amazing.
October 6, 2011 11:36 via TweetDeckReplyRetweetFavorite
@smashingmag
Smashing Magazine



Live coding CSS queen @ is now talking about 10 things we didn't know yet. #fronteers11
October 6, 2011 11:44 via EchofonReplyRetweetFavorite
@FronteersConf
Fronteers Conference


I've seen @'s 10 things talk three times now, yet still somehow manage to learn something new each time. Nice work.
October 6, 2011 11:51 via Twitter for MacReplyRetweetFavorite
@addy_osmani
Addy Osmani

Great live CSS coding session by @ revealing some very handy ans usable#CSS tricks #fronteers11
October 6, 2011 12:01 via TweetDeckReplyRetweetFavorite
@LuukWilms
Luuk Wilms

There are some really awesome CSS3 tricks shown by @ here at #fronteers11
October 6, 2011 12:05 via webReplyRetweetFavorite
@Georg_Tavonius
Georg_Tavonius

@ just made geeks to love CSS. Nice usage of CSS pseudo-selectors! #fronteers11
October 6, 2011 12:06 via Twitter for iPhoneReplyRetweetFavorite
@okonetchnikov
Andrey Okonetchnikov



@ showing off insanely amazing capabilities of CSS3 with the :nth-child selectors with adding and removing elements #fronteers11
October 6, 2011 12:08 via Twitter for MacReplyRetweetFavorite
@artjulian
Arthur Stobbelaar

Impressive css selector-fu by @ gets an applause from the #fronteers11 audience. And rightly so. Respect!
October 6, 2011 12:09 via Mobile WebReplyRetweetFavorite
@ronderksen
Ron Derksen

I was sceptical because of the title of this talk. But @ rocks "10 things you might not know about CSS3" #fronteers11
October 6, 2011 12:10 via Twitter for iPadReplyRetweetFavorite
@dantz
Andreas Dantz

Indeed 10 CSS3 Secrets that are actually secrets. Mind=blown. #fronteers11 by @
October 6, 2011 12:11 via Twitter for MacReplyRetweetFavorite
@nerdismus
Nils Riedemann

Can't wait for @ 's presentation/slides to come online. And she's not even done. #fronteers11 #cssQueen
October 6, 2011 12:12 via Twitter for iPhoneReplyRetweetFavorite


@ kudos for your live coding slides! Awesome! And thank you very much for some very useful tips!
October 6, 2011 12:24 via TweetDeckReplyRetweetFavorite
@LuukWilms
Luuk Wilms

@ talks things about CSS3, I didn't know before. I am shocked! o_O #fronteers11 http://t.co/i4A6MdOk
October 6, 2011 12:25 via webReplyRetweetFavorite
@soswow
Aleksandr Motsjonov

@ on CSS3 completely blew me away. Very creative use of properties and selectors. #fronteers11
October 6, 2011 12:25 via EchofonReplyRetweetFavorite
@mennovanslooten
Menno van Slooten

Kudos to @ for cramming all these unknown CSS gems in one hour! Thanks! #fronteers11
October 6, 2011 12:28 via EchofonReplyRetweetFavorite
@FronteersConf
Fronteers Conference



Totally amazed by the vast knowledge and CSS skills of @. Wow. Learned some nice css3 tricks along the way! #fronteers11
October 6, 2011 12:33 via TweetDeckReplyRetweetFavorite
@peterpeerdeman
Peter Peerdeman

Just seen @ pull some amzing rabbits out of the hat. Pure magic at #fronteers11
October 6, 2011 12:35 via SeesmicReplyRetweetFavorite
@bjornjohansen
Bjørn Johansen

10 blackbelt CSS3 techniques in under one hour. @ is a CSS guru! #fronteers11
October 6, 2011 12:37 via Twitter for AndroidReplyRetweetFavorite
@cruster
Ján Sokoly


This is probably the most enjoyable/informative talk on CSS I've attended (& I've attended many) @ = awesome presenter. #fronteers11
October 6, 2011 14:12 via Tweetbot for iPhoneReplyRetweetFavorite
@aral
Aral Balkan

So glad I got to thank the lovely @ in person for all her hard work! #fronteers11
October 6, 2011 18:57 via Twitter for iPhoneReplyRetweetFavorite
@ldebrouwer
Luc De Brouwer

Recapping the first day of #fronteers11 - the talks by @ and @ were the definitive highlights. I'm glad I came.
October 6, 2011 18:57 via webReplyRetweetFavorite
@wiekatz
Patrick Hund

First day at #fronteers11, with great presentations by @ (awesome skills), @ (really funny) and @ (inspiring enthusiasm)
October 6, 2011 19:02 via webReplyRetweetFavorite
@GovertVerschuur
Govert Verschuur

@ BTW, saw you in Stockholm and sat behind you today during the afternoon. Big fan! #fronteers11 #sweden
October 6, 2011 19:23 via Twitter for iPhoneReplyRetweetFavorite
@johannesaxner
Johannes Axner

The "10 secrets of css3" talk at #fronteers11 by @ all summed up here http://t.co/IJeW3UdP
October 6, 2011 22:16 via Twitter for MacReplyRetweetFavorite
@flurin
Flurin Egger

My slides are now online at Speakerdeck, Slideshare and the interactive version on my website.

Frontend 2011

Oslo is a city I’ve been to many times in the past, so there was nothing new to see there. I didn’t make it to the speakers dinner & pre-party due to my late flight, which kinda sucked but it’s my fault since it took me a long while to decide on my flight dates. The conference itself was a bit more design-focused that I’d like, but very well organized. It took place in the same hotel the speakers were staying at, which is always a good thing. It also had the best coffee I’ve ever drank at a conference, and one of the best I’ve tasted in general. I also loved the idea of having multiple projectors, so that everyone in the audience can see clearly. They had the very original idea of not only drawing caricatures for every speaker (here’s mine, I also got it in a nice frame) but also having the artist in the venue to draw caricatures for attendees as well!

My talk went smoothly, and received very good feedback:


fantastic presentation from @ at #frontend2011 is online http://t.co/GP5VU5Whuses her own build CSSS slides framework
October 11, 2011 14:46 via webReplyRetweetFavorite
@gustaff_weldon
Gustaff Weldon


Great presentation @ ! Grwat presentation framework! http://t.co/zKw8XRHH #frontend2011
October 11, 2011 14:50 via HootSuiteReplyRetweetFavorite
@orioltf
Oriol Torrent


really enjoyed @'s talk, some great tips n tricks #css3 #frontend2011
October 11, 2011 14:50 via webReplyRetweetFavorite
@gav_taylor
Gavin Taylor

Just attended an amazing session with @. Thank you! #frontend2011
October 11, 2011 14:51 via Mobile WebReplyRetweetFavorite
@mikaeljorhult
Mikael Jorhult

Inspiring peek into the less widespread secrets of #CSS3 with @ . @ up next on modular #JavaScript with Ender #frontend2011
October 11, 2011 14:59 via Twitter for MacReplyRetweetFavorite
@ken_guru
Ken Paulsen

Great preso on CSS3 by @ http://t.co/6wOOpoCB Thanks a lot Lea, really enjoyed it.
October 11, 2011 18:52 via Twitter for MacReplyRetweetFavorite
@cornae
Cornelis Kolbach

That’s it. I now get to rest for a while. Next stop is SWDC in November, which will host the première of my new talk “CSS in the 4th dimension: Not your daddy’s CSS animations” which will be about CSS transitions & animations, from the basics all way to badass secrets.

Thanks to all the conference organizers for inviting me and for the attendees for attending and giving feedback on my talks. You are all awesome, and it was the best 2 weeks ever. :)

]]> http://lea.verou.me/2011/10/my-experience-from-fronteers-jsconf-eu-frontend-and-fromthefront/feed/ 8 My experience from Frontendconf Zurich http://lea.verou.me/2011/09/my-experience-from-frontendconf-zurich/ http://lea.verou.me/2011/09/my-experience-from-frontendconf-zurich/#comments Tue, 20 Sep 2011 06:30:00 +0000 Lea Verou http://leaverou.me/?p=1323

I’m writing this blog post while eating some of the amazing Lindt chocolates I got for free 10 days ago at Frontend conference in Zurich. But it wasn’t a good experience only because of them!

First of all, it gave me the opportunity to visit Zurich for free, and meet an old friend for the first time. A girl we used to be penpals with at primary school & junior high when she was still living in Athens and I in Lesvos. She is now living in Zurich and doing her PhD in ETH. I arrived in Zurich a day earlier and stayed in her place that first night. We caught up and I had a great time.

Secondly, the rest of the speakers are great people and fun too, it was a pleasure to meet them. Especially Smashing Magazine‘s Vitaly Friedman. He’s a very kind guy, nothing like what you’d expect from somebody so successful. I also got the chance to meet Robert again, who was lots of fun as always. Those Swedes have a great sense of humor!

The conference itself was very nice, although small (only 200 people). Many inspiring talks, although I couldn’t attend them all because they were split into multiple tracks in one day. I would very much prefer it if it had 1 track and was 2 days. The 2nd day was an unconference, where attendees could speak, about whatever they wanted. I decided to get some sleep the second day, so I arrived a bit later, and didn’t attend many talks. It was kinda sad that it finished so early, around 4pm almost everyone was gone and most speakers were flying back the same day.

My talk went great, although I had the most technical glitches I’ve ever faced in a talk. That was my fault, not the conference’s. I guess I should learn to stop tweaking my slides at the last moment, cause things might break (and this time they did). Despite those glitches however, the audience loved it. Here’s a small sample of the twitter feedback I got:


I really like the slides by @. Please make them available later on, Lea. #FEC11
September 9, 2011 11:08 via Twidroyd for AndroidReplyRetweetFavorite
@FabianBeiner
Fabian Beiner

Outstanding live CSS examples in the slides by @. #fec11
September 9, 2011 11:09 via EchofonReplyRetweetFavorite
@michalbe
Michal Budzynski

Using multiple outlines with CSS3 box shadows, one of @'s awesome live slides at #fec11: http://img.ly/8dgR
September 9, 2011 11:14 via Tweetbot for iPhoneReplyRetweetFavorite
@jfahrenkrug
Ⓙohannes Ⓕahrenkrug

@ has some seriously good CSS3 tricks up her sleeve. #fec11
September 9, 2011 11:14 via Twitter for MacReplyRetweetFavorite
@kcornelius
Kathryn Cornelius

Wicked! Spread-radius for box-shadow could be really useful /cc @
September 9, 2011 11:14 via Twitter for MacReplyRetweetFavorite
@backflip
Thomas Jaggi

Multiple box-shadows! Brilliant! Thank you @ #fec11
September 9, 2011 11:16 via EchofonReplyRetweetFavorite
@cainvommars
Peter Willert

I sure hope the slides will be available online, there are some really cool CSS tricks in the talk by @ #fec11 /cc @ @
September 9, 2011 11:21 via Tweetbot for iPhoneReplyRetweetFavorite
@euklid
Fabian

Learning a lot of CSS3 hacks with @ at #fec11.
September 9, 2011 11:31 via webReplyRetweetFavorite
@shvi
Pierre Spring

@ sure knows what she is talking about. #impressing #fec11
September 9, 2011 11:33 via webReplyRetweetFavorite
@lorentzforce
Simon Josi ⚡


Thanks @, this was an awesome talk. :)
September 9, 2011 11:54 via Twidroyd for AndroidReplyRetweetFavorite
@FabianBeiner
Fabian Beiner

Check out @'s awesome html5 slides framework CSSS at http://t.co/vgPTwWL #fec11
September 9, 2011 11:55 via Tweetbot for iPhoneReplyRetweetFavorite
@jfahrenkrug
Ⓙohannes Ⓕahrenkrug

Thank you for your absolutely awesome talk @!
September 9, 2011 12:00 via Tweetbot for iPhoneReplyRetweetFavorite
@jfahrenkrug
Ⓙohannes Ⓕahrenkrug


@ great presentation about #css3 secrets. i really need to check #csss now http://t.co/CW2Ipy1 #fec11
September 9, 2011 12:03 via Mobile WebReplyRetweetFavorite
@marcoegli
Marco Egli

@ Don't be disappointed by "no questions". This just means your talk was so good that there are no open ones. :)
September 9, 2011 12:04 via Twidroyd for AndroidReplyRetweetFavorite
@FabianBeiner
Fabian Beiner

great speach by @ she really showed 10 new things bout css3 I didn't know
September 9, 2011 12:06 via Tweetbot for iPhoneReplyRetweetFavorite
@mauricenaef
Marcel Maurice Naef


@ Wonderful presentation Lea! :-) Great work! Impressive CSS3 examples you had... Enjoyed it very much! :-) εύγε!
September 9, 2011 12:17 via webReplyRetweetFavorite

@ Nice presentation with some very useful examples!
September 9, 2011 12:19 via webReplyRetweetFavorite

WEB: CSS3 Secrets: 10 things you might not know about CSS3 from @ at @ http://t.co/9mVeOfz Smart girl ;-)
September 9, 2011 12:43 via TweetDeckReplyRetweetFavorite
@andypanix
Andrea Panisson

If you fancy css3, the talk by @ @ is a must watch. http://t.co/bQaiwrs #fec11
September 9, 2011 13:13 via webReplyRetweetFavorite
@lorentzforce
Simon Josi ⚡

Delightful, eye-opening talks by @ (next gen web games) and @ (CSS3 wizardry) were a great kickstart to #fec11
September 9, 2011 13:31 via webReplyRetweetFavorite
@loleg
Oleg

@ totally rocked at her #CSS3 presentation. The #fec11 fee is now worth every penny. http://t.co/C1QlPqm
September 9, 2011 13:59 via TweetDeckReplyRetweetFavorite
@whitefleaCH
Thomas Lohbeck

@ - Awesome CSS3 Secrets presentation. Loved your comment "Thats what they deserve for using IE8" =) http://t.co/U5bULgo
September 9, 2011 18:09 via EchofonReplyRetweetFavorite
@Juztin
Justin

Totally blown away by @'s "10 things about CSS3" talk http://yjo.go.ly - she channels the pragmatism of @ to a T. #mustsee
September 9, 2011 21:52 via TweetDeckReplyRetweetFavorite
@codepo8
Christian Heilmann

OMG @ is such a CSS think-tank superhero! Watch her talk on CSS3 http://t.co/QFkA5KX now. And then worship her. I do.
September 9, 2011 23:26 via TweetDeckReplyRetweetFavorite
@derSchepp
Christian Schaefer

Just listened to @ speaking at @, what a fantastic talk. So would love to hear her speak in person some time.
September 10, 2011 00:11 via webReplyRetweetFavorite
@susanjrobertson
Susan Robertson

If you read the above carefully, you might have noticed that my talk was recorded, so you can see it too. :) Enjoy!

]]> http://lea.verou.me/2011/09/my-experience-from-frontendconf-zurich/feed/ 4 Help the community: report browser bugs http://lea.verou.me/2011/09/help-the-community-report-browser-bugs/ http://lea.verou.me/2011/09/help-the-community-report-browser-bugs/#comments Wed, 07 Sep 2011 12:54:47 +0000 Lea Verou http://leaverou.me/?p=1282

Thought I’d let you know that my Smashing Magazine article with that title was published today. It discusses why, how, when and where to report browser bugs, as well as how to make a good bug report.

Get comfortable and make a big cup of coffee before you dive in, as it’s quite long (4000 words).

]]> http://lea.verou.me/2011/09/help-the-community-report-browser-bugs/feed/ 0 Why I love our industry http://lea.verou.me/2011/08/why-i-love-our-industry/ http://lea.verou.me/2011/08/why-i-love-our-industry/#comments Wed, 17 Aug 2011 15:21:32 +0000 Lea Verou http://leaverou.me/?p=1225

I was thinking today how blessed I feel for being a part of the worldwide web development community (and the broader programming community). In a world where throwing shit at others is an acceptable way of climbing to the top, our industry is a breeze of fresh air. Here are a few reasons why I find our industry unique, in a very good way:

  • In which other industry is it common for people to spend several hours, days or in some cases even months, working on something to give it away for free, just to help people?
  • In which other industry do people help you and promote you just because they think you’re good, without getting anything out of it?
  • In which other industry do people listen to you, not because of your titles, degrees and “decades of experience”, but because of what you actually know?
  • In which other industry can you go to a big professional conference with jeans and a t-shirt and be in the majority? (And the best part is, even if you don’t like that kind of outfit and you prefer to wear a suit, you still fit in, cause appearances just don’t matter)
  • Judging whether someone’s work is good is a very rational and objective process (unlike arts). Sure, the various criteria have different weights for every person, but the criteria are the same for everyone, more or less (correctness, speed, maintainability, readability etc).
  • Even though it’s a male dominated field, I’ve never* experienced any discrimination or lack of respect due to my gender. Quite the contrary actually.
  • I’ve yet to meet a developer that lacks a sense of humor.
  • Work for us is our passion, not a chore. Yes, there are passionate people in every field, but in our industry it’s the norm, not the exception.
  • You don’t need to hide your geekiness. Instead, you’re encouraged to embrace it.

Yes, I know that not all of them are true for every single person that happened to be a web developer. I’m talking about the part of the industry that’s active and that I meet in conferences, meetups, twitter etc.

So, what are your reasons for liking our industry, if any? Lets keep this post happy and not whine about what we DON’T like please. :)

*Well, except one bad joke once, but he recently said he’s sorry and his intentions were good throughout, so I don’t count it.

]]> http://lea.verou.me/2011/08/why-i-love-our-industry/feed/ 21 twee+: Longer tweets, no strings attached http://lea.verou.me/2011/08/tweeplus-longer-tweets-no-strings-attached/ http://lea.verou.me/2011/08/tweeplus-longer-tweets-no-strings-attached/#comments Sun, 14 Aug 2011 05:27:39 +0000 Lea Verou http://leaverou.me/?p=1197

As some people that have been following me for a while know, the 140 character limit on twitter bugs me a lot sometimes, and I’ve tried to find a way to overcome it previously as well. The most common ways these days seems to be either cutting down the long tweet into multiple pieces (yuck) or using a service to host the longer tweet and post a summary with a link to it.

The latter isn’t an entirely horrible option. However, I see 3 big downsides:

  1. I’m not very comfortable with the idea of some external service hosting my content which could close down any time due to failure to monetize their website. In that case, I’d be left with some dead links that are of no value and my content would be lost forever. Yes, they usually warn you in advance in such cases, but such news could be missed for a number of reasons.
  2. People (including yours truly) don’t plan those things in advance. They just seek services like that at the exact moment when they want to post a long tweet. Being greeted with a prompt to use Twitter Connect is NOT nice. For starters, it slows me down. Also, I don’t want to give permission to every website on the effing interwebs to post on my twitter timeline. I owe it to my followers to be responsible and not risk filling their timelines with crap.
  3. Most of these websites look like someone puked and what came out happened to be HTML and CSS. The only exception I’ve found is twtmore, but it still suffers from #1 and #2.
So, like every developer with a healthy amount of NIH syndrome, I decided to write my own :D
My goals were:
  1. It had to be entirely client-side (except initially getting downloaded from the server of course). This way, whoever is concerned can download the full website and decode their tweets with it if it ever goes down. Also, being entirely client side allows it to scale very easily, as serving files is not a very resource intensive job (compared to databases and the like).
  2. No Twitter Connect, the tweets would get posted through Twitter Web Intents.
  3. It had to look good. I’m not primarily a designer, so I can’t make something that looks jaw-droppingly amazing, but I can at least make it look very decent.
  4. If I was gonna go through all the hassle of making this, I may as well try to keep it under 10K, so that I could take part in the 10K apart contest. (I haven’t submitted it yet, I’ll submit a few days before the deadline, as it seems you can’t make changes to your submission and I want to polish the code a bit, especially the JS — I’m not too proud about it)
I managed to succeed in all my goals and I really liked the result. I ended up using it for stuff I never imagined, like checking if a twitter username corresponds to the account I think (as it shows the avatars). So I went ahead and came up with a name, bought a domain for it, and tweeplus.com was born :)

twee+? Seriously?

Yes, I like it. The plus means “more”, which is fitting and + kinda looks like a t, so it could be read as “tweet” as well. Yes, I know that the word “twee” has some negative connotations, but oh well, I still like the name. Whoever doesn’t can just not use it, I won’t get depressed, I promise. :P

Geeky stuff

How it works

  • A relatively new feature, Twitter automatically wraps URLs in t.co links, making them only 20 characters long.
  • All the text of the tweet is stored in the URL hash (query string will also work, although the output uses a hash). Some research revealed that actually browsers can handle surprisingly long URLs. Essentially, the only limit (2083 characters) is enforced by Internet Explorer. I decided to limit tweets to 2000 characters (encoded length), not only because of the IE limit, but also because I wouldn’t like people to post whole books in t.co links. We don’t want Twitter to start taking measures against this, do we? :)
  • A hard part was deciding which encoding to use (twitter is quite limited in the characters it parses as part of a URL).
    • My first thought was base64, but I quickly realized this was not a very good idea:
      • The encoding & decoding functions (btoa() and atob() respectively) are relatively new and therefore not supported by older browsers. I’m fine with the app hardly working in old browsers, but existing links must as a minimum be readable.
      • It uses approximately 1.34 characters per ASCII character. Unicode characters need to be URL-encoded first, otherwise an Exception is thrown. URL-encoding them uses 6 characters, which would result in 8 characters when they’re base64 encoded.
    • Then I thought of using URL-encoding for the whole thing. The good thing with it is that for latin alphanumeric characters (which are the most) it doesn’t increase the string length at all. For non-alphanumeric characters it takes up 3 characters and 6 characters for Unicode ones. Also, it’s much more readable.
    • Still, implementing it was tricky. It doesn’t encode some characters (like the dot), even though twitter doesn’t accept them as part of a URL. Also, escape() and encodeURI() behave differently and the Unicode encoding returned by the former isn’t accepted by Twitter. So I had to combine the two and do some substitutions manually.
  • When the textarea changes, the hash does too. The whole thing is a form with action=”http://twitter.com/intent/tweet”, so submitting it does the right thing naturally. I keep a hidden input with the tweet and the textarea has no name, so it doesn’t get submitted.
  • Usernames, hashtags and URLs get extracted and linkified. Usernames also get an avatar (it’s dead easy: Just use twitter.com/api/users/profile_image?screen_name={username} where {username} is the user’s username)
  • Internal “pages” (like “About” or “Browser support”) are essentially long “tweets” too.
  • A little easter egg is that if the browser supports radial gradients, the gradient follows the mouse, creating a spotlight effect. This looks nice on Chrome and Firefox, and really shitty on IE10, probably due to bugs in the gradient implementation (which I have to reduce & report sometime).

Buzzword compliance

This little app demonstrates quite a lot new open web technologies (HTML5, CSS3 etc), such as:

  • textarea maxlength
  • placeholder
  • autofocus (edit: I had to remove it cause it triggered a Webkit bug in Safari)
  • required inputs
  • New input types (url)
  • History API
  • oninput event (with keyup fallback)
  • hashchange event
  • SVG
  • Common CSS3 (border-radius, shadows, transitions, rgba, media queries)
  • CSS3 gradients
  • CSS3 animations
  • CSS3 resize
  • :empty
Let me know if I forgot something.
Oh yeah, I did forget something. There it is: twee+
]]> http://lea.verou.me/2011/08/tweeplus-longer-tweets-no-strings-attached/feed/ 26 CSS3 for developers: My Fronteers 2011 workshop http://lea.verou.me/2011/08/css3-for-developers-my-fronteers-2011-workshop/ http://lea.verou.me/2011/08/css3-for-developers-my-fronteers-2011-workshop/#comments Sat, 06 Aug 2011 01:03:43 +0000 Lea Verou http://leaverou.me/?p=1170

In case you haven’t noticed, in addition to my talk at Fronteers 2011, I’ll also be holding a full day workshop the day before the conference. The title of that workshop is “CSS3 for developers” and I wanted to explain a bit what it’s going to be about and why I chose to target web developers only.

Why “for developers”?

First of all, even though I do design websites and I really love design (not only web design), I consider myself primarily a developer. So, I think I can communicate better with other devs, rather than designers, since we “speak the same language”. Secondly, most CSS3 talks and workshops are presented by and targeted to, designers. Developers end up feeling left out and in return they tend to consider CSS an inferior technology which isn’t for them. CSS might not be a programming language, but it is code, and to fully master, it requires a very similar skillset to programming. It’s no wonder that most people that actually do research on CSS and/or write the specifications are not designers.

Besides, CSS3, in essence, is about creating web applications that download faster and are easier to develop, maintain and edit. There are very few things that can’t be done at all with CSS2.1. CSS3 just allows us to do them better: Less HTTP requests, less kilobytes to download, less presentational JavaScript, more flexibility. CSS3 is mostly about coding speed, flexibility, performance, maintainability. None of these are artistic pursuits, they’re all purely developer goals!

What will it be about?

It will be about many well-implemented and popular CSS3 features, like border-radius, shadows, gradients, new background properties, selectors, media queries, transforms, transitions etc. The key difference from most CSS3 talks & workshops will be the depth these will be covered in and the different perspective (practical information rather than artistic or “inspirational”). I usually opt in for depth rather than breadth for my talks, and expect the same from this workshop. The feedback I get most frequently for my talks is “I thought I knew everything about topic X, but yet I learned so much!”. I’ll do my best to maintain this reputation for this workshop as well. ;)

In addition to learning how CSS3 stuff can be used, information about browser support, fallbacks and performance will be provided.

Watch a single person talk for a whole day? Boooooring!

Hey, I agree. And it’s not just that: Listening to someone talk about a given topic and trying it out yourself are two very different things. I believe that you only really learn something when you actually use it. That’s why it won’t be done like that. ;) It will be very hands on and there is going to be at least one small exercise per almost everything explained. The exercises are going to be performed in a little web app designed exclusively for this workshop, so that you won’t need to bother with prefixes or write HTML and irrelevant CSS code just to try out a new property. And what’s best, you can take that app at home with you and practice what you learned as much as you want!

Of course that means that every attendee will have to bring their own laptop (or borrow one from a friend).

Kewl, can I haz ticket?

Workshop attendance is priced at €350 (€275 for Fronteers members) and you can get your ticket here: http://fronteers.paydro.net/

To make the experience better and more educational, we limited the number of attendees to 30. That might mean you need to rush: there are currently tickets available, but in a few days there might not be any left!

Looking forward to seeing you in Amsterdam! :)

]]> http://lea.verou.me/2011/08/css3-for-developers-my-fronteers-2011-workshop/feed/ 3 My experience from the CSS Summit 2011 http://lea.verou.me/2011/08/my-experience-from-the-css-summit-2011/ http://lea.verou.me/2011/08/my-experience-from-the-css-summit-2011/#comments Tue, 02 Aug 2011 23:51:04 +0000 Lea Verou http://leaverou.me/?p=1165

It’s been a few days since this year’s CSS Summit and my talk there. Where most people would assume that public speaking in a “real” conference is more daunting, I was much more nervous about this one, since it was my first talk at an online conference. I wouldn’t be able to see the faces of the audience, so how would I be able to tell if they like it or are bored shitless? Also, the whole idea of me, alone in a room, giving a talk to my laptop sounded kind of awkward, to say the very least.

Contrary to my fears, it was a very pleasant experience. In some ways, it’s much better than real-life conferences, the main one being the number of questions you get. In most real-life conferences you should be lucky to get more than 3 or 4 questions. Also, they’re usually at the end, so most attendees forget the questions they had at the beginning and middle of the talk (it happens to me a lot too, when I attend others’ talks). In the CSS Summit, I answered questions after every section of my talk, and there were quite a lot of them.

The attendees had a group chat in which they talked about the presentation, posted questions and discussed many other stuff. That group chat was the other thing I really liked. It might surprise some people, but even though I’m not afraid of public speaking, I’m quite shy in some ways and I almost never talk to someone first. So, if I didn’t know anyone at a conference and vice versa, I’d probably sit in a corner alone with nobody to talk to during the breaks. The chat makes it much easier for attendees to get to know each other. On the minus side however, “meeting” somebody in a chat is not by any means the same as really meeting someone f2f in a real-life conference.

Regarding my talk, it went surprisingly well. No technical hiccups like some of the other talks, no me going overtime as I was afraid I would (since I had to be slower), no internet connection failing on my part (like it sometimes does lately). I received lots of enthusiastic feedback on both the chat and twitter. I couldn’t even favorite them all, as the tweets were so many! That’s the 3rd good thing about online conferences: People tweet more, since they’re at home with their regular connection and not with a crappy conference wifi or a smartphone on expensive roaming.

Here’s a small sample of the feedback I got:

watching talented @ speak on #CSS3 and gradients all the way from Greece at online #CSSsummit
July 26, 2011 17:07 via webReplyRetweetFavorite
@teleject
Christopher Schmitt

CSS Summit attendees super-impressed by @’s live demo slides, based on CSSS http://01i.jp/qslkiz
July 26, 2011 17:13 via EchofonReplyRetweetFavorite
@boblet
Oli Studholme

#csssummit @ is busy blowing people's mind with her gradient mastery.
July 26, 2011 17:16 via Twitter for MacReplyRetweetFavorite
@chriscoyier
Chris Coyier

@ is showing some fantastic stuff with gradients at #csssummit
July 26, 2011 17:19 via webReplyRetweetFavorite

My only response to @'s #csssummit gradient demo/presentation: "You can *do* that?" Amazeballs.
July 26, 2011 17:20 via webReplyRetweetFavorite
@elizabethyalkut
Elizabeth Yalkut

Pretty mind blowing what @ has done with #css3 gradients. http://t.co/Ihwrwe6 #CSSsummit
July 26, 2011 17:26 via webReplyRetweetFavorite
@wloescher
Wolf Loescher

Was great to see my tartan pattern at @'s presentation at #CSSsummit. Look ma, I'm on the internetz! :)
July 26, 2011 17:28 via Tweetbot for iPhoneReplyRetweetFavorite
@martuishere
Marta Armada

if you never heard of @, I'm telling you, you've been missing out! #justsayin #csssummit
July 26, 2011 17:31 via webReplyRetweetFavorite
@PetraGregorova
Petra Gregorová

Lea is great to give us a lot of info in a limited time span. Who knew gradients could go so far?#csssummit
July 26, 2011 17:32 via yoonoReplyRetweetFavorite
@caffeinerush
Stacey Plant

So much to absorb from @! This live demo is completely packed with awesomeness! #csssummit
July 26, 2011 17:34 via Twitterrific for MacReplyRetweetFavorite

@ is blowing my mind with CSS gradients #csssummit
July 26, 2011 17:39 via HootSuiteReplyRetweetFavorite
@matthewcarleton
matthewcarleton

The #CSS3 gradient session by @ is definitely one I'm going to re-watch on video. Twice. #csssummit #amazing
July 26, 2011 17:39 via HootSuiteReplyRetweetFavorite
@redcrew
DeborahEdwards-Onoro

Wow, so much about CSS3 Gradients I didn't know. There's a lot more than linear fades out there. #CSSsummit
July 26, 2011 17:41 via SeesmicReplyRetweetFavorite
@brandongcarroll
Brandon Carroll

@ just rocked #csssummit with her css-gradients-demo. That was really interesting. Who would've thought gradients can do all this?
July 26, 2011 17:54 via webReplyRetweetFavorite
@digitalCULT
Matthias

@ awesome presentation! Totally mind-blowing!
July 26, 2011 17:57 via TweetDeckReplyRetweetFavorite
@candiRSX
Candi Ligutan

Mind blowing presentation from @ on CSS3 gradients - very cool stuff! #CSSsummit
July 26, 2011 17:57 via Twitter for MacReplyRetweetFavorite
@jewlofthelotus
Julie Cameron

just saw a kickass presentation by @- secretly making a plan for getting her to #drupalfrontend next year
July 26, 2011 17:58 via Twitter for MacReplyRetweetFavorite
@mortendk
mortendk


@ That was an amazing presentation! Thank you so much! #CSSSummit
July 26, 2011 18:00 via HootSuiteReplyRetweetFavorite
@megcarpen
Megan Carpenter

Amazing presentation on CSS3 gradients by Lea Verou at #csssummit 2011. Can't wait for her workshop at #fronteers 2011!
July 26, 2011 18:00 via YoruFukurouReplyRetweetFavorite
@V_v_V
Vivienne

The session on CSS gradients was awesome #csssummit
July 26, 2011 18:01 via TweetDeckReplyRetweetFavorite
@iScreem
iScreem

@ absolutely rocks. Who knew CSS gradients could be this amazing? #csssummit
July 26, 2011 18:02 via Twitter for MacReplyRetweetFavorite
@pixelfuture
Rodrigo Munoz

@ badass speech at #CSSsummit! In depth but not boring at all. Green snake rocks btw!
July 26, 2011 18:04 via webReplyRetweetFavorite

@ @ definitely gain at least one big fan today... ME! ;)
July 26, 2011 18:53 via webReplyRetweetFavorite
@PetraGregorova
Petra Gregorová

Deborah Edwards-Onoro also put together a write-up for some parts of my presentation.

Thank you all!!

]]> http://lea.verou.me/2011/08/my-experience-from-the-css-summit-2011/feed/ 3 Vote for me in The .net awards 2011! http://lea.verou.me/2011/07/vote-for-me-in-the-net-awards-2011/ http://lea.verou.me/2011/07/vote-for-me-in-the-net-awards-2011/#comments Mon, 25 Jul 2011 15:38:44 +0000 Lea Verou http://leaverou.me/?p=1156

I don’t usually post shameless plugs like that, but I’m so excited about this I decided to make an exception. A few minutes ago I found out that I’m shortlisted in the “Brilliant newcomer” category of The .net awards!!!

Thank you so much @ everyone that nominated me and/or plans to vote for me. I really appreciate it guys*! :)

* “guys” in that context is used in a gender neutral fashion, I’m not only thanking the men :P

]]> http://lea.verou.me/2011/07/vote-for-me-in-the-net-awards-2011/feed/ 12 Detecting CSS selectors support + my JSConf EU talk http://lea.verou.me/2011/07/detecting-css-selectors-support-my-jsconf-eu-talk/ http://lea.verou.me/2011/07/detecting-css-selectors-support-my-jsconf-eu-talk/#comments Thu, 21 Jul 2011 02:30:26 +0000 Lea Verou http://leaverou.me/?p=1153

I’ll start with a little backstory, if you want to jump straight to the meat, skip the next 4 paragraphs.

In the past few months, my CSS research has been getting some attention and I’ve been starting to become somewhat well-known in the CSS industry. A little known fact about me is that JavaScript has always been one of my loves, almost as much as CSS (even more than it in the past). Ironically, the first time I was asked to speak in a big conference, it was about JavaScript, even though I ended up choosing to speak about CSS3 instead.

Lately, I’ve started wanting to get more into the JavaScript industry as well. I’m quite reluctant to submit speaking proposals myself (every conference or meetup I’ve given a talk so far has asked me to speak, not the other way around) and most JavaScript conferences expect you to submit a proposal yourself. I also couldn’t think of a good topic, something I was passionate about and hasn’t already been extensively covered.

This changed a few weeks ago. While I was writing my <progress> polyfill, it dawned on me: Polyfills is something that’s JS-related and I’m passionate about! I love studying them, writing them, talking about them. I quickly searched if there were any talks about polyfill writing already and I couldn’t find any. So, I decided to submit a proposal to JSConf EU, even though the call for speakers had passed 10 days ago. When I read @cramforce’s tweet that they had decided on most of the speakers, I spent a few days stressed as hell, checking my inbox every few minutes and hoping that my gut feeling that I would get accepted was right.

And it was! 3 days ago I received an email from JSConf EU that my proposal was accepted!! I can’t even begin to describe how happy and excited I am about it. And nervous too: What if they know everything I’m going to say? What if they hate my talk? What if the JavaScript industry is really as sexist as some people claim and they dismiss me because of my gender? I decided to put my fears aside and start working on my slides, as I couldn’t wait until later (even though I have multiple deadlines creeping up on me right now…).

A big part of writing polyfills is feature detection. Before trying to implement a feature with JavaScript, you first have to check if it’s already supported. So, a substantial portion of my talk will be about that. How to detect if APIs, HTML elements, CSS properties/values/selectors etc are supported. There are already established solutions and techniques about most of these, except CSS selectors. Modernizr doesn’t detect any, and judging from my Google search nobody has written about any techniques for doing so in a generic fashion.

A really simple way to detect CSS selectors support is using document.querySelector() in a try...catch statement. If the selector is not supported, an error will be thrown. However, that’s not really reliable, as the Selectors API is not supported in IE < 8. So, I thought of another idea: What if I turn the hassle of reading out a stylesheet via the DOM methods (browsers drop stuff they don’t understand) into a feature detection method?

The basic idea is creating a new <style> element with an empty rule and the selector we want to test support for, and then read out the stylesheet through the DOM methods to see if a rule actually exists. I’ve so far tested it in Firefox, Opera and Chrome and it seems to work. I haven’t tested it in IE yet, as I currently have too many apps running to turn on the vm, so it might need a few fixes to work there (or I might be unlucky and the idea might not work at all).

You can test it out yourself in this fiddle, just check the console: http://fiddle.jshell.net/leaverou/Pmn8m/show/light/

Apologies if this has already been documented elsewhere, I really couldn’t find anything.

Edit: James Long worked on fixing my example’s issues with IE

]]> http://lea.verou.me/2011/07/detecting-css-selectors-support-my-jsconf-eu-talk/feed/ 24 My experience from Web Directions @media & Standards.next http://lea.verou.me/2011/06/my-experience-from-web-directions-media-standards-next/ http://lea.verou.me/2011/06/my-experience-from-web-directions-media-standards-next/#comments Wed, 01 Jun 2011 09:31:36 +0000 Lea Verou http://leaverou.me/?p=1087

Last week, I was in London to give 2 talks. The first one was last Thursday, in one of the conferences I wanted to go ever since I learned my first CSS properties: Web directions @media. The second one was 2 days later in a smaller event called Standards.next.

Web Directions @media

I managed to get my @media talk early on schedule, so I could relax afterwards and enjoy the rest of the conference. Before I saw the feedback on twitter I thought they hated it, since the audience was silent and didn’t laugh at any of my jokes and asked no questions afterwards. However, I was wrong: The tweets about it were enthusiastic! Here’s a small sample:

Next is Lea Verou about CSS3 Gradients. Goodie goodie #wdx
May 26, 2011 11:47 via Twitter for iPadReplyRetweetFavorite
@KrokoHunter
Niels M. Frederiksen

#wdx Lea Verou presentation - nice blend of info and practical sugar
May 26, 2011 11:54 via Twitter for iPhoneReplyRetweetFavorite
@adrmakow
Adrian Makowski

Diagonal stripes with linear gradients = awesomeness #wdx
May 26, 2011 12:06 via Twitter for iPadReplyRetweetFavorite
@KrokoHunter
Niels M. Frederiksen


Enjoying @'s #wdx talk on CSS gradients. The brave soul is live coding. :)
May 26, 2011 12:09 via Plume  ReplyRetweetFavorite
@stefsull
Stef. Sullivan Rewis

some quite cool tricks with css3 gradients. Head to http://bit.ly/k2t0Td #wdx
May 26, 2011 12:09 via TweetDeckReplyRetweetFavorite
@ubelly
Underbelly

Like the live demo style for the CSS gradients at #wdx
May 26, 2011 12:17 via Twitter for iPadReplyRetweetFavorite
@pauliom
pauliom

struggling to keep up with the CSS3 gradient talk. Wow so much information! #wdx
May 26, 2011 12:19 via webReplyRetweetFavorite
@mfujica
Morena Fiore

#wdx wow @ is even smarter on stage. She knows stuff I reckon browser devs don't about gradients!
May 26, 2011 12:20 via Twitter for iPhoneReplyRetweetFavorite
@johnallsopp
John Allsopp

@ @ is hurting my brain here. In a good way
May 26, 2011 12:21 via Twitter for iPhoneReplyRetweetFavorite
@johnallsopp
John Allsopp

#wdx never seen anyone so passionate about gradients.
May 26, 2011 12:30 via Twitter for iPhoneReplyRetweetFavorite
@prawnstar
Bronwyn


@ was skeptical about the CSS3 gradients talk but it was actually really interesting #wdx #cp
May 26, 2011 12:43 via twidroydReplyRetweetFavorite
@matmannion
Mat Mannion

CSS3 gradients. You can do lots including bevelled and curved edges #wdx
May 26, 2011 12:43 via TweetDeckReplyRetweetFavorite
@farinab
Farina Broadley

#WDX - Just saw @ give a great presentation on how to Master CSS3 Gradients. Check her out -> http://t.co/NBLksqH
May 26, 2011 12:46 via Mobile WebReplyRetweetFavorite
@GlennCahill87
Glenn Cahill

#wdx #design Inspired to do things with css3 gradients after @ talk
May 26, 2011 12:47 via Twitter for iPadReplyRetweetFavorite
@NIMRweb
NIMR Web Team

@ fabulous talk! I had seen your gallery before and wanted to implement it but couldn't work it out. I definitely can now :) #wdx
May 26, 2011 12:48 via Twitter for iPhoneReplyRetweetFavorite
@xtinafowler
Christina Fowler


A big gratefull THANKS to @ , @ @ @ and @. You rocked my world, and changed my perspective #wdx
May 27, 2011 23:38 via webReplyRetweetFavorite
@KrokoHunter
Niels M. Frederiksen

What I learnt at #wdx - CSS3 Gradients are the new knitting and Google devs have got extraordinary hair, they must cameo in Game of Thrones.
May 28, 2011 13:00 via webReplyRetweetFavorite

And I should also credit @ whose gradient talk at #wdx inspired some new bells and whistles on http://bit.ly/l1IYba - thanks Lea!
May 28, 2011 21:24 via EchofonReplyRetweetFavorite
@sparrk
James O'Brien

One of the best. #wdx “@: "Mastering CSS gradients" talk slides: Screenshots at http://t.co/wdFAyQX and HTML at http://t.co/prmmN9S&#8221;
May 28, 2011 22:39 via Twitter for iPhoneReplyRetweetFavorite
@anttio
Antti Onttonen

@ Your #wdx presentation was so effective I actually dreamed about CSS3 gradients! :-)
May 29, 2011 20:09 via webReplyRetweetFavorite
@sirbenjaminnunn
Benjamin Nunn

You can play with the HTML version of my slides or view them on slideshare:

Mastering CSS3 gradients
View more presentations from Lea Verou

I really enjoyed some of the other talks in @media, especially:

Standards.next

The morning before my Standards.next talk, I woke up with a sore throat, a running nose and a blocked ear. I even thought about cancelling my talk, but I’m one of those people that have to be dying to change their schedule. So I went, and I’m glad I did, as I got to attend Peter Gasston‘s incredible talk on CSS3 layout. I really learned so much stuff from that!

As for my talk (“CSS Secrets: 10 things you might not know about CSS3″), it went fine after all. I had some trouble hearing the questions, due to the blocked ear, but nothing too bad. I had trouble with my last demo, as I got confused and used background-origin: padding-box; instead of content-box, but nobody there hated me because of it, like I was afraid would happen if I ever screwed up one of my demos :)

That event was much smaller (it took place in a small room in a pub), so the tweets were much fewer, but still very positive:

now the mighty @ telling us some secrets of css #standardsnext
May 28, 2011 17:26 via TweetDeckReplyRetweetFavorite
@patrick_h_lauke
patrick h. lauke

"The bigger it is, the more intense the bounce" - @ at #standardsnext. It's not what you think.
May 28, 2011 17:29 via TweetDeckReplyRetweetFavorite
@stopsatgreen
Peter Gasston

The good thing about @ presentations is her live demo integrated in her slides! Go lea! #standardsnext
May 28, 2011 17:35 via Twitter for AndroidReplyRetweetFavorite
@mfujica
Morena Fiore


Some superduper css3 tricks being shown by @ #standardsnext
May 28, 2011 17:41 via Twitter for AndroidReplyRetweetFavorite
@brucel
bruce lawson

omg some css things arent supported in webkit? incredulous headshaking by some attendees ;) #standardsnext
May 28, 2011 17:45 via TweetDeckReplyRetweetFavorite
@patrick_h_lauke
patrick h. lauke


The not-allowed cursor is going to be useful when designers created a not very clear inactive state of an item #standardsnext
May 28, 2011 17:56 via Twitter for AndroidReplyRetweetFavorite
@mfujica
Morena Fiore


We could do faux columns with pure gradients! Yeay ! #standardsnext
May 28, 2011 17:58 via Twitter for AndroidReplyRetweetFavorite
@mfujica
Morena Fiore

Check out @'s demo of #CSS3 patterns at #standardsnext and her gallery (written in this pic): http://flic.kr/p/9MKNaN
May 28, 2011 18:04 via EchofonReplyRetweetFavorite
@twitrnick
Nick Smith

another case of something not supported in webkit...the audience is aghast! #standardsnext
May 28, 2011 18:06 via TweetDeckReplyRetweetFavorite
@patrick_h_lauke
patrick h. lauke

Learned loads of good new CSS tricks from @'s talk. #standardsnext
May 28, 2011 18:12 via TweetDeckReplyRetweetFavorite
@stopsatgreen
Peter Gasston

Thanks to @ for a great 10 css tips talk. I want your deck woman! :D #standardsnext
May 28, 2011 18:13 via Plume  ReplyRetweetFavorite
@stefsull
Stef. Sullivan Rewis

Learned loads of good new CSS tricks from @'s talk. #standardsnext
May 28, 2011 19:49 via webReplyRetweetFavorite
@albybarber
albybarber

@ thank you very much for your two talks over the last three days. Very informative and I loved your real-time demos/slides.
May 29, 2011 00:48 via Tweetbot for iPhoneReplyRetweetFavorite
@jackosborne
Jack Osborne

I found out afterwards that one particular lady in the audience complained about my pronunciation of the words “fuchsia” and “ems”. That’s what I would’ve said to her if I heard: “Here’s some breaking news to you: Not everyone is a native english speaker. Shocking, isn’t it? I would really be interested to hear your pronunciation if you ever did a presentation in Greek. KKTHXBAI”

Overall, I had a great time in London. I hadn’t been there for more than 10 years, so I had forgotten how beautiful city it is. I loved attending and speaking at both of those events, and I would like to thank Maxine Sherrin and John Allsopp for inviting me to @media and Bruce Lawson for inviting me at Standards.next.

]]> http://lea.verou.me/2011/06/my-experience-from-web-directions-media-standards-next/feed/ 5 My experience from Geek Meet http://lea.verou.me/2011/05/my-experience-from-geek-meet/ http://lea.verou.me/2011/05/my-experience-from-geek-meet/#comments Fri, 13 May 2011 13:29:20 +0000 Lea Verou http://leaverou.me/?p=1030

I decided to start writing a blog post after every talk I give, to be able to go back and remember what I thought about each event, what feedback my talk got etc. And I’m starting with Geek Meet May 2011.

The event

Geek Meet is a meetup organized in Stockholm by Robert Nyman. It has hosted talks by many industry leaders like Jake Archibald, Bruce Lawson, Molly Holzschlag, Chris Mills, Remy Sharp, Christian Heilmann and more. It’s free to attend and has sponsors so it can afford to offer free food, drinks and speaker accommodation.

My experience

I was very surprised to hear that the event was sold out just 18 minutes after Robert’s announcement! According to him, that set a new record for it!

This event was kinda challenging in many ways. I was the only speaker, so if I failed, everyone would notice. Also, I had to give 2 talks and one of them was brand new, which is always stressful.

However, the crowd there was awesome! Not only they were very relaxed, but they had a great sense of humor too. I don’t think I had ever been in an event that was so relaxed. And their reaction to my talks was so encouraging, I don’t think I have ever heard such loud clapping in my life!

I’m saving the feedback I got here, to bottle the feeling:


Dags för första sessionen på #geekmeet om CSS3 gradients med @
May 10, 2011 18:38 via Twitter for iPhoneReplyRetweetFavorite
@ptz0n
Erik Pettersson

It's filling up, time for @ to speak; "CSS3 gradients - from #000 to #fff in 45 minutes" at #geekmeetsthlm http://twitpic.com/4vxry1
May 10, 2011 18:40 via EchofonReplyRetweetFavorite
@palleman
Palle Zingmark


Första ölen smakade bra. Nu ska jag få lära mig allt ön #css3 gradients av @ på #geekmeetsthlm
May 10, 2011 18:41 via Twitter for AndroidReplyRetweetFavorite
@olofto
Olof Törnqvist

@ how tall are you? /notReallytooShyButItsFun
May 10, 2011 18:45 via Twitter for iPhoneReplyRetweetFavorite
@JesperBylund
JesperBylund

#000 not #ooo ;) RT @: CSS3 gradients - From #ooo to #fff in 45 minutes ( @) #geekmeetsthlm http://t.co/Ezebar1
May 10, 2011 18:45 via Twitter for iPhoneReplyRetweetFavorite
@chronix
Fredrik Johansson

"We have someone very talented, and hot here on stage. We also have @ " @ presents #geekmeetsthlm Classy. ;)
May 10, 2011 18:46 via EchofonReplyRetweetFavorite
@internuts
Ludvig Lindblom



#geekmeetsthlm you can use CSS3 gradients anywhere you can use images. @ has no idea why you'd want a gradient cursor though
May 10, 2011 18:49 via Twitter for iPhoneReplyRetweetFavorite
@JesperBylund
JesperBylund

Didn't know you could use CSS gradients as backgrounds in cursors or list style images. Neat. @ at #geekmeetsthlm
May 10, 2011 18:50 via EchofonReplyRetweetFavorite
@internuts
Ludvig Lindblom

‘CSS3 Gradients from #000 to #fff in 45 minutes’ with @ at #geekmeetsthlm http://t.co/0ruLMmv
May 10, 2011 18:50 via Twitter for iPhoneReplyRetweetFavorite
@dth
Daniel


in the past we've been about 8 geek girls...today I count 15 and that is excluding the speaker @ #geekmeetsthlm #awesome
May 10, 2011 18:52 via TweetDeckReplyRetweetFavorite
@ze7en
Kim Thörning



15 minutes ago, I knew _everything_ about CSS gradients. Not anymore. Thanks, @. #geekmeetsthlm
May 10, 2011 18:57 via Twitter for iPhoneReplyRetweetFavorite
@martenbjork
Mårten Björk

Första talaren och css-experten (@) pratar om css3-gradienter och dissar firefox i vart och vartannat kodexempel #geekmeetsthlm
May 10, 2011 19:15 via Twitter for iPhoneReplyRetweetFavorite
@FredF
Fredrik Forsberg

<3 @ RT @: "save yourself some bytes" så nördigt fint :) #geekmeetsthlm
May 10, 2011 19:16 via TweetDeckReplyRetweetFavorite
@ze7en
Kim Thörning

Impressive, @ just spits out all the current bugs on CSS3 gradients in various browsers. She doesn't just know the stuff that works.
May 10, 2011 19:31 via EchofonReplyRetweetFavorite
@internuts
Ludvig Lindblom

@ would've gotten a standing ovation from me if i didn't risk falling off the stairs & drop my laptop on some1s head #geekmeetsthlm
May 10, 2011 19:33 via TweetDeckReplyRetweetFavorite
@ze7en
Kim Thörning


@ great speech! Amazing how cool stuff you can do with CSS gradients! #geekmeetsthlm
May 10, 2011 19:37 via TweetDeckReplyRetweetFavorite
@nitzdesign
Joacim Nitz

@ will there be video of your css3 gradients talk?
May 10, 2011 19:57 via Twitterrific for MacReplyRetweetFavorite
@acalzadilla
Anthony Calzadilla

Great speech @, but what's next at #geekmeet ?
May 10, 2011 20:15 via TweetDeckReplyRetweetFavorite
@I_ARE_RIO
Patric Nordmark

Great speech by @ about CSS gradients at #geekmeetsthlm. Always impressed by cool live examples.
May 10, 2011 20:31 via twidroyd