Facebook / Popfly Apple Style Carousel

Popfly is a tool / website from Microsoft, that allows users to create web pages, program snippets, and mashups using the Silverlight applications through a set of online tools. The Mashup Creator is a tool that lets users fit together pre-built blocks in order to mash together different web services and visualization tools.
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Blogging Part III - more…

This blog (experiment part II for me) is here for a couple of reasons…

• Having run a number of blogs through blogger (http://creativecog.blogspot.com/)  and myspace (http://www.myspace.com/creativecog)… I now have a greater understanding of blogs and what to use them for
• Due to advances I have made, in understand CSS techniques and standards compliant web development…

…and is where I take an element of control back from blogger and myspace, in running, publishing and customising my blog as I, and I alone choose fit.

So how am I doing that ?

Well having explored a number of content management / publishing packages (http://drupal.org/ and a few others that I’ll list when I can remember them)… I was getting to the stage where I was going to start from scratch and write my own blog software. They were a good technical base, but so many seemed to be incomplete and buggy when it came to the design and CSS. Whilst I understand the difficulties of writing compliant code that operates across all browsers… that is really where everyone who develops professionally for the web should be striving to get… and frankly I am not sure why people develop half baked themes for packages like Drupal.

With 7 years experience building a huge variety of LAMP systems, I have the technical skills (www.kookaburra.biz)… and with greater understanding of CSS and standards compliant design techniques (having just completed www.oakhamcricketclub.co.uk)… I now feel more comfortable with design skills… but then I came across WordPress… and everything to date has impressed me… so here I am… back in control of my blog…

Why should you use CSS & (X)HTML ?

I have added this section to try and give a simple and definitive answer to why sites should now be coded using CSS and (X)HTML. There are many articles on the web, but few seem to spell out an answer in simple / basic terms. In its simplest form:

By using CSS and (X)HTML you seperate content / site layout from design. (X)HTML should be used for the content / site layout and CSS for the design.

That is it in the simplest definition that I can come up with. By structuring your website in this way, you will have a website that

• Is well structured and meaningful
• Coded to best practice techniques
• Minimises coding mistakes
• Makes most use of Search Engine Optimisation
• Is easier to port between different devices (screens, mobile technologies etc)
• Improves Web Accessibilty for all users

In the same way that most of us think little of a buildings foundations, when designing websites often foundations are over looked. However they are an essential component of a well structured and valid website. With good foundations, designing and developing a website is significantly easier; you will have the best possible advantage in getting your website listed in the search engines and you allow all users, those with impaired vision, lower specification computers and those not on broadband to enjoy the experience of viewing your website.