Extra Future

Hi, I’m Phil Nelson, a writer, developer, and audio-visual maker of stuff. I have been making stuff online for over 25 years. I run RetroStrange and Set Side B. Good to see you.

Blog Archives

Month: April 2012

  • Opera confirms WebKit prefix usage

    [Mozilla, Microsoft, and Opera are none too happy][link] about Webkit’s prefixes becoming a sort of organic standard, especially on mobile:

    >Opera, along with Microsoft and Mozilla, announced at a CSS Working Group meeting that we would support some WebKit prefixes. This is because too many authors of mobile sites only use the WebKit-prefixed version, and not even the standard, unprefixed one, when it is available. This leads to a reduced user experience on Opera, Mobile Firefox and Mobile IE, which don’t receive the same shiny effects, such as transitions, gradients and the like, *even if the browser supports those effects*.

    The problem to me seems to be one of education and tools. Authors don’t use -o prefix because they either don’t know about it, or they don’t have a significant Opera user base. Ditto the other browsers. iOS is king of the castle on mobile, and that means Safari, and that means WebKit.

    [link]: http://www.netmagazine.com/news/opera-confirms-webkit-prefix-usage-121923 “Opera confirms WebKit prefix usage | News | .net magazine”

  • PNGPress

    [PNGPress, my PNG image compressor for Mac OS X, is available on the Mac App Store worldwide.][link]

    >Good developers know that making images for the web is a constant battle between quality and file size. Great developers use PNGPress.

    Try it and see for yourself. Here are some promo codes:

    WHW94KHHE6A4
    TNEMH4JKHP3M
    HXJEMTHHPLHW
    3XFE7AWMYJMX
    6ALNJWWWYJJ4

    [link]: http://extrafuture.com/code/pngpress/ “PNGPress | A PNG Optimizer for Mac OS X”

  • Twitter Introduces the Innovator’s Patent Agreement

    [Good news on this Tuesday morning:][link]

    >The IPA is a new way to do patent assignment that keeps control in the hands of engineers and designers. It is a commitment from Twitter to our employees that patents can only be used for defensive purposes. We will not use the patents from employees’ inventions in offensive litigation without their permission. What’s more, this control flows with the patents, so if we sold them to others, they could only use them as the inventor intended.

    [Software patents are a menace][marco], but it’s understandable for companies to hoard them when the cost for *not* doing so could take down their entire business. This sounds like a pretty reasonable solution. For now.

    [link]: http://blog.twitter.com/2012/04/introducing-innovators-patent-agreement.html “Twitter Blog: Introducing the Innovator's Patent Agreement”

    [marco]: http://www.marco.org/2011/08/11/patents-cant-be-fixed “Marco: Software Patents Can’t Be Fixed”

  • Josh Clark .vs. Jakob Nielsen on Mobile Usability

    [Kid gloves are off, and I’m with Clark:][link]

    >For all of Jakob Nielsen’s many great contributions to web usability over the years, his advice for mobile is just 180-degrees backward. His latest guidelines perpetuate several stubborn mobile myths that have led too many to create ‘lite’ mobile experiences that patronise users, undermine business goals, and soak up design and tech resources.

    There are no mobile browsers, just browsers. Handicapping your site on “mobile” is a good way to bug your users and make your site less useful to them.

    [link]: http://www.netmagazine.com/opinions/nielsen-wrong-mobile “Nielsen is wrong on mobile | Opinion | .net magazine”

  • Kurt Vonnegut’s 8 Tips on How to Write a Great Story

    >Write to please just one person. If you open a window and make love to the world, so to speak, your story will get pneumonia.

    [I’m a complete sucker for Vonnegut.][link]

    [link]: http://www.theatlantic.com/entertainment/print/2012/04/kurt-vonneguts-8-tips-on-how-to-write-a-great-story/255401/ “Kurt Vonnegut's 8 Tips on How to Write a Great Story – Entertainment – The Atlantic”

  • James Bridle’s Coverage of The New Aesthetic Panel at SXSW 2012

    >[At SXSW this year, I asked four people to comment on the New Aesthetic, which if you don’t know is an investigation / project / tumblr looking at technologically-enabled novelty in the world.][link]

    Consider it a companion / primer to the [Bruce Sterling essay linked here previously.][prev]

    [link]: http://booktwo.org/notebook/sxaesthetic/ “#sxaesthetic | booktwo.org”
    [prev]: http://extrafuture.com/2012/04/07/bruce-sterlings-essay-on-the-new-aesthetic/ “Bruce Sterling’s Essay on the New Aesthetic”

  • Bruce Sterling’s Essay on the New Aesthetic

    [I’ve spent an embarrassingly large portion of this week parsing Bruce’s 5000-word ramblerant on The New Aesthetic][link]. Consider it required reading for anyone who makes or designs.

    [link]: http://www.wired.com/beyond_the_beyond/2012/04/an-essay-on-the-new-aesthetic/ “An Essay on the New Aesthetic | Beyond The Beyond | Wired.com”

  • Stanley Kubrick’s Alternate Titles For Dr. Strangelove

    Personal favorite: [DR. DOOMSDAY AND HIS NUCLEAR WISEMEN][link], which sounds a lot like a Warren Ellis story.

    [link]: http://www.listsofnote.com/2012/04/dr-strangelove.html “Lists of Note”