After several days of not checking Reader, the unread items really piled up. I’ve made huge strides in getting through everything the past couple of days. But I’m a little concerned by the 225 items in the “weirdness” folder. Maybe I shouldn’t let those accumulate like that. I’m in for one freaky evening.

Finally, my friend asked:

What would you recommend/include in a list of top 5-10 things a blogger needs to know about html? I have plenty of people around me at work that know html well but I’d like to be able to deal with style (like the list question you answered before) and other issues on my own…you know, be somewhat self-sufficient without getting too deep into html.

I think bloggers should understand the basic rules of opening a tag and closing it. A closing tag looks similar to its opener but with a slash in front of the tag: e.g. </strong>. There are some basic tags that I think bloggers should be familiar with: bold (<strong>), italics (<em>), images (<img>) and links (<a>). There are other handy tags like <blockquote> and <ol>, <ul> and <li> that are good to know. (continue reading…)

The next question from my friend is:

What are your thoughts/feelings on Twitter/micro-blogging?

Like any serious web geek, I have a Twitter account. And I’ve posted maybe 5 tweets. I just don’t see a good way to use it for myself.

But I love completely simple web apps that only do one thing. Twitter just isn’t for me… at this time. But at least it’s not another we-do-everything-app like MySpace, Facebook, Virb, etc.

We had a brief discussion via email around the office today. The head of our UI team sent everyone a link to a new .png (I pronounce it “ping”) fix for Microsoft’s Internet Explorer (IE). I know for the non-webby it still sometimes comes as a surprise that IE is so despised by web developers but here it is: IE is crappy and here’s one reason. A .png is a type of graphic file like a .jpg (“jay-peg”) or .gif (“gif”). IE doesn’t render transparent .pngs correctly so designers must employ a hack to make this very common file format work in this very common browser.

One of our designers responded with another Microsoft complication to avoid. I responded, “Avoid Microsoft. Period.” Which got a response like “Oh, I heard you don’t like IE. If only you can convince billions of people to stop using it…” Har har. (continue reading…)

A List Apart presents this year’s Survey for People Who Make Websites.

My workmate just posed the question: “What’s dorkier — larping or creating a sexy Second Life avatar and uploading it to Flickr?”

My answer: larping. At least I understand the impulse behind creating a sexy avatar.

Discuss.

RE: iPhone apps:
I found the WordPress app invaluable at ComicCon. I loved standing in line for something and writing a blog post. Likewise, the Facebook and MySpace apps which kept me in touch with out-of-town friends while I was stuck in traffic on Thursday or just hanging out at the Con. But MySpace, really… Facebook’s app kicks their ass. MySpace uses a tiny version of frames when viewing a profile so that the top of the page stays put and the bottom scrolls. This is incredibly annoying on an iPhone where vertical space is a premium.

Other apps I’m using right now: (continue reading…)

A friend of mine who is a professional blogger sent me 3 questions that I’m going to answer separately. Here’s the first:

Can you recommend any html cheatsheets/tutorials? My boss recommended Web Monkey…just wondering if there are others.

Webmonkey is excellent. I used it all the time when learning HTML and Wired has recently re-launched it.

But grabbing an HTML cheatsheet is a great idea too. Sometimes, when you’re blogging you just want to do something that your blog software doesn’t have built in. And if you’re not working in HTML every day, it’s difficult to remember all that code. It’s great to have a cheat sheet handy. Here’s a couple of summaries:

Tutorialblog did a huge round-up of cheat sheets. You’ll find some HTML ones on there.

Wired’s Compiler (now the Webmonkey blog) linked to Scott Klarr’s collection of cheat sheets. You’ll find HTML and XHTML near the bottom.

Another blog I read — MakeUseOf.com — also highlights cheat sheets when they find them.

I did not make it into the Mythbusters panel. So after a last look around I headed home feeling relatively fulfilled.

Here’s the summary:
I stood in a ridiculous line for The Office — didnt get in. I caught Terminator and Pixar panels. Loved Pixar; still don’t get why there exists more than one Terminator film. (I think even as a kid I’d have clammored more for sequels to Commando or Raw Deal.) Then I hit the floor again. (continue reading…)

I’m waiting in line for a Mythbusters panel. One volunteer told me I’d get in. Another said it wasn’t likely. The line is hella long. This is the last gasp of the con for me. I’ve spent too much money and burned up the iPhone’s battery. If I don’t get in, I’ll head home and all will be well.