473,785 Members | 2,761 Online
Bytes | Software Development & Data Engineering Community
+ Post

Home Posts Topics Members FAQ

Xah's Edu Corner: Tech Geekers and their Style

Sometimes you want your text to flow into multiple columns, as in
newspaper's layout. However, as of 2005-12 this is not yet possible.
One can make-do by hard-coding it into HTML TABLE using multiple
columns. It is a pain because when you change your text, you have to
manually cut and paste to justify each and every columns by
trial-n-error.

A proposed solution is in CSS3 “Multi-column layout”, drafted in
2001 but not yet in any mainstream browsers as of 2005-12. See
http://www.w3.org/TR/2001/WD-css3-multicol-20010118/

With all the whizbang of styles and features in CSS2, a basic,
necessary, functional layout feature as multi-columns is not there yet.
This is a indication of the fatuousness of the IT industry's
technologies and its people.

Xah
xa*@xahlee.org
http://xahlee.org/

--------------------------------------
Xah Lee wrote:

sometimes in the last few months, apparently Microsoft made changes to
their JavaScript documentation website:

http://msdn.microsoft.com/library/de...bfe2330aa9.asp

so that, one has to goddamn press the "expand" button to view the
documentation, for every goddamn page.

What the fuck is going on?

And, good url before the change are now broken (giving HTTP error 404).

Many of the newfangled buttons such as "Copy Code" doesn't goddamn work

in Safari, FireFox, iCab, Mac IE.

And, in any of these browsers, the code examples becomes single
congested block without any line breaks. e.g.

«Circle.protot ype.pi = Math.PI; function ACirclesArea () { return
this.pi * this.r * this.r; // The formula for the area of a circle is
r<SUP>2</SUP>. } Circle.prototyp e.area = ACirclesArea; // The function
that calculates the area of a circle is now a method of the Circle
Prototype object. var a = ACircle.area(); // This is how you would
invoke the area function on a Circle object.»
There are two interpretations to this Microsoft's JavaScript doc
problem:

1. They didn't do it intentionally.

2. They did it intentionally.

If (1), then it would be a fucking incompetence of inordinate order. If
(2), they would be assholes, even though they have the right to do so.

On the other hand, in terms of documentation quality, technological
excellence, responsibility in software, Microsoft in the 21st century
is the holder of human progress when compared to the motherfucking Open
Sourcers lying thru their teeth fuckheads.

Dec 30 '05 #1
28 2480
"Xah Lee" <xa*@xahlee.org > writes:
Sometimes you want your text to flow into multiple columns, as in
newspaper's layout. However, as of 2005-12 this is not yet possible.
One can make-do by hard-coding it into HTML TABLE using multiple
columns. It is a pain because when you change your text, you have to
manually cut and paste to justify each and every columns by
trial-n-error.

A proposed solution is in CSS3 “Multi-column layout”, drafted in
2001 but not yet in any mainstream browsers as of 2005-12. See
http://www.w3.org/TR/2001/WD-css3-multicol-20010118/

With all the whizbang of styles and features in CSS2, a basic,
necessary, functional layout feature as multi-columns is not there yet.
This is a indication of the fatuousness of the IT industry's
technologies and its people.


In general, the IT industry doesn't address the needs of the Neandertals.

If you want a narrow column, you just reduce the size of your window!

--
__Pascal Bourguignon__ http://www.informatimago.com/

"You question the worthiness of my code? I should kill you where you
stand!"
Dec 30 '05 #2
[followups to comp.infosystem s.www.authoring stylesheets, since that's
the only newsgroup the OP addressed where this is relevant (LISP?? what
was he thinking?]

Xah Lee wrote:
Sometimes you want your text to flow into multiple columns, as in
newspaper's layout. However, as of 2005-12 this is not yet possible.
One can make-do by hard-coding it into HTML TABLE using multiple
columns. It is a pain because when you change your text, you have to
manually cut and paste to justify each and every columns by
trial-n-error.
It's also pointless since that balances the text only in *your* browser,
using your settings. It will look unbalanced in other people's browsers.

A proposed solution is in CSS3 “Multi-column layout”, drafted in
2001 but not yet in any mainstream browsers as of 2005-12. See
http://www.w3.org/TR/2001/WD-css3-multicol-20010118/

With all the whizbang of styles and features in CSS2, a basic,
necessary, functional layout feature as multi-columns is not there yet.
This is a indication of the fatuousness of the IT industry's
technologies and its people.


It isn't either basic or (obviously, since the world is still turning
after all these years without it) necessary.
Dec 30 '05 #3
Harlan Messinger wrote:

A proposed solution is in CSS3 “Multi-column layout”, drafted in
2001 but not yet in any mainstream browsers as of 2005-12. See
http://www.w3.org/TR/2001/WD-css3-multicol-20010118/

With all the whizbang of styles and features in CSS2, a basic,
necessary, functional layout feature as multi-columns is not there yet.
This is a indication of the fatuousness of the IT industry's
technologies and its people.

It isn't either basic or (obviously, since the world is still turning
after all these years without it) necessary.


This page works pretty well with Fx 1.5:

<http://weblogs.mozilla zine.org/roc/archives/2005/03/gecko_18_for_we .html>

--
Gus
Dec 30 '05 #4
Gus Richter wrote:

This page works pretty well with Fx 1.5:

<http://weblogs.mozilla zine.org/roc/archives/2005/03/gecko_18_for_we .html>


"Works pretty well" is in the eye of the beholder.

This does show one of the major problems with multi-columns on-screen -
what happens when there is more content than can fit in the viewport.
It's just plain stoopid to scroll down to read one column then have to
scroll back to the top to continue reading the same article, maybe even
the same sentence. It boggles the mind why anyone thinks this is a good
thing.

If you want to prevent long lines of text, set a paragraph max-width and
be done with it. You don't need these silly columns to accomplish it.

--
Reply email address is a bottomless spam bucket.
Please reply to the group so everyone can share.
Dec 30 '05 #5
kchayka wrote:
Gus Richter wrote:
This page works pretty well with Fx 1.5:

<http://weblogs.mozilla zine.org/roc/archives/2005/03/gecko_18_for_we .html>


"Works pretty well" is in the eye of the beholder.

This does show one of the major problems with multi-columns on-screen -
what happens when there is more content than can fit in the viewport.
It's just plain stoopid to scroll down to read one column then have to
scroll back to the top to continue reading the same article, maybe even
the same sentence. It boggles the mind why anyone thinks this is a good
thing.

If you want to prevent long lines of text, set a paragraph max-width and
be done with it. You don't need these silly columns to accomplish it.


Very nice assessment. I don't know about anyone else but this person
reads left to right and then top to bottom. It's an Internet page
viewed on a browser window of my choice, meaning I can override most (if
not all) of the author's settings. It is NOT a newspaper. It's a
different media: What? The designers never heard of Marshall MacLuhan?

If it won't fit in MY view screen I just want to keep reading DOWN. Not
down and then up and the left and then right and ... ok? I could resort
to invective but just let me say that anyone trying to design a Web page
to force me to view it "as you want me to" is doomed to failure. And,
in the process, you will alienate your audience. Is this sensible
marketing?

No.

It's stupid marketing. Let it flow, design it so you accommodate every
reader. And then /most/ readers will thank you. Design it for some
narrow market segment and you'll satisfy that narrow segment and tick
off everyone else.

As for the Int'l Herald, I could care less if they appeal to anyone or
no one.

--
Ed Mullen
http://edmullen.net
http://mozilla.edmullen.net
http://abington.edmullen.net
Dec 31 '05 #6
Ed Mullen wrote:
kchayka wrote:
Gus Richter wrote:
This page works pretty well with Fx 1.5:

<http://weblogs.mozilla zine.org/roc/archives/2005/03/gecko_18_for_we .html>

"Works pretty well" is in the eye of the beholder.

This does show one of the major problems with multi-columns on-screen -
what happens when there is more content than can fit in the viewport.
It's just plain stoopid to scroll down to read one column then have to
scroll back to the top to continue reading the same article, maybe even
the same sentence. It boggles the mind why anyone thinks this is a good
thing.

If you want to prevent long lines of text, set a paragraph max-width and
be done with it. You don't need these silly columns to accomplish it.


Very nice assessment. I don't know about anyone else but this person
reads left to right and then top to bottom. It's an Internet page
viewed on a browser window of my choice, meaning I can override most (if
not all) of the author's settings. It is NOT a newspaper. It's a
different media: What? The designers never heard of Marshall MacLuhan?

If it won't fit in MY view screen I just want to keep reading DOWN. Not
down and then up and the left and then right and ... ok? I could resort
to invective but just let me say that anyone trying to design a Web page
to force me to view it "as you want me to" is doomed to failure. And,
in the process, you will alienate your audience. Is this sensible
marketing?

No.

It's stupid marketing. Let it flow, design it so you accommodate every
reader. And then /most/ readers will thank you. Design it for some
narrow market segment and you'll satisfy that narrow segment and tick
off everyone else.

As for the Int'l Herald, I could care less if they appeal to anyone or
no one.


All I can say to you two is that you are free to ingnore and not use it.

--
Gus
Dec 31 '05 #7
Xah Lee Wrote:
«Sometimes you want your text to flow into multiple columns, as in
newspaper's layout. However, as of 2005-12 this is not yet possible.
One can make-do by hard-coding it into HTML TABLE using multiple
columns. It is a pain because when you change your text, you have to
manually cut and paste to justify each and every columns by
trial-n-error.

A proposed solution is in CSS3 “Multi-column layout”, drafted in
2001 but not yet in any mainstream browsers as of 2005-12. See
http://www.w3.org/TR/css3-multicol/
»
Gus Richter wrote:
« This page works pretty well with Fx 1.5:
http://weblogs.mozillazine.org/roc/a...18_for_we.html
»

Thanks! Very neat!

Way to go FireFox!

Recently i got the Web Developer tool bar for firefox. I loved it,
especially the Outline Tables feature, which can give one a quick
overview of the site's layout that is otherwise extremely time
consuming to see.

Xah
xa*@xahlee.org
http://xahlee.org/

Dec 31 '05 #8
Xah Lee wrote:

Gus Richter wrote:
« This page works pretty well with Fx 1.5:
http://weblogs.mozillazine.org/roc/a...18_for_we.html
»

Thanks! Very neat!

Way to go FireFox!


It looks way better when text-align:justify is applied.

--
Gus
Dec 31 '05 #9
Xah Lee wrote:
With all the whizbang of styles and features in CSS2, a basic,
necessary, functional layout feature as multi-columns is not there yet.
This is a indication of the fatuousness of the IT industry's
technologies and its people.


No, this is an indication of what happens to an industry paralyzed by
organized crime and a corrupt government.

Microsoft delendum est.

--
John W. Kennedy
"But now is a new thing which is very old--
that the rich make themselves richer and not poorer,
which is the true Gospel, for the poor's sake."
-- Charles Williams. "Judgement at Chelmsford"
Jan 1 '06 #10

This thread has been closed and replies have been disabled. Please start a new discussion.

Similar topics

9
1611
by: Xah Lee | last post by:
Dear Joe, It is well known that you are an avid hater of Microsoft, from their technologies to their leader to their business practices. I have now and then seen your impassioned expression of this hatred, scattered among your newsgroup posts. Personally, i have an inherent distrust toward big organizations. This applies to Microsoft. Since perhaps 1995, MS has become more and more large, and as well becoming a hate target especially...
102
7135
by: Xah Lee | last post by:
i had the pleasure to read the PHP's manual today. http://www.php.net/manual/en/ although Pretty Home Page is another criminal hack of the unix lineage, but if we are here to judge the quality of its documentation, it is a impeccability. it has or possesses properties of:
14
1915
by: Xah Lee | last post by:
sometimes in the last few months, apparently Microsoft made changes to their JavaScript documentation website: http://msdn.microsoft.com/library/default.asp?url=/library/en-us/script56/html/1e9b3876-3d38-4fd8-8596-1bbfe2330aa9.asp so that, one has to goddamn press the "expand" button to view the documentation, for every goddamn page. What the fuck is going on?
6
487
by: Xah Lee | last post by:
Sometimes you want your text to flow into multiple columns, as in newspaper's layout. However, as of 2005-12 this is not yet possible. One can make-do by hard-coding it into HTML TABLE using multiple columns. It is a pain because when you change your text, you have to manually cut and paste to justify each and every columns by trial-n-error. A proposed solution is in CSS3 “Multi-column layout”, drafted in 2001 but not yet in any...
0
9645
marktang
by: marktang | last post by:
ONU (Optical Network Unit) is one of the key components for providing high-speed Internet services. Its primary function is to act as an endpoint device located at the user's premises. However, people are often confused as to whether an ONU can Work As a Router. In this blog post, well explore What is ONU, What Is Router, ONU & Routers main usage, and What is the difference between ONU and Router. Lets take a closer look ! Part I. Meaning of...
0
9481
by: Hystou | last post by:
Most computers default to English, but sometimes we require a different language, especially when relocating. Forgot to request a specific language before your computer shipped? No problem! You can effortlessly switch the default language on Windows 10 without reinstalling. I'll walk you through it. First, let's disable language synchronization. With a Microsoft account, language settings sync across devices. To prevent any complications,...
0
10336
Oralloy
by: Oralloy | last post by:
Hello folks, I am unable to find appropriate documentation on the type promotion of bit-fields when using the generalised comparison operator "<=>". The problem is that using the GNU compilers, it seems that the internal comparison operator "<=>" tries to promote arguments from unsigned to signed. This is as boiled down as I can make it. Here is my compilation command: g++-12 -std=c++20 -Wnarrowing bit_field.cpp Here is the code in...
1
10095
by: Hystou | last post by:
Overview: Windows 11 and 10 have less user interface control over operating system update behaviour than previous versions of Windows. In Windows 11 and 10, there is no way to turn off the Windows Update option using the Control Panel or Settings app; it automatically checks for updates and installs any it finds, whether you like it or not. For most users, this new feature is actually very convenient. If you want to control the update process,...
0
8978
agi2029
by: agi2029 | last post by:
Let's talk about the concept of autonomous AI software engineers and no-code agents. These AIs are designed to manage the entire lifecycle of a software development projectplanning, coding, testing, and deploymentwithout human intervention. Imagine an AI that can take a project description, break it down, write the code, debug it, and then launch it, all on its own.... Now, this would greatly impact the work of software developers. The idea...
1
7502
isladogs
by: isladogs | last post by:
The next Access Europe User Group meeting will be on Wednesday 1 May 2024 starting at 18:00 UK time (6PM UTC+1) and finishing by 19:30 (7.30PM). In this session, we are pleased to welcome a new presenter, Adolph Dupr who will be discussing some powerful techniques for using class modules. He will explain when you may want to use classes instead of User Defined Types (UDT). For example, to manage the data in unbound forms. Adolph will...
0
5513
by: adsilva | last post by:
A Windows Forms form does not have the event Unload, like VB6. What one acts like?
1
4054
by: 6302768590 | last post by:
Hai team i want code for transfer the data from one system to another through IP address by using C# our system has to for every 5mins then we have to update the data what the data is updated we have to send another system
3
2881
bsmnconsultancy
by: bsmnconsultancy | last post by:
In today's digital era, a well-designed website is crucial for businesses looking to succeed. Whether you're a small business owner or a large corporation in Toronto, having a strong online presence can significantly impact your brand's success. BSMN Consultancy, a leader in Website Development in Toronto offers valuable insights into creating effective websites that not only look great but also perform exceptionally well. In this comprehensive...

By using Bytes.com and it's services, you agree to our Privacy Policy and Terms of Use.

To disable or enable advertisements and analytics tracking please visit the manage ads & tracking page.