Mark DuBois Weblog

A working draft of the HTML 5 specification has been published – http://www.w3.org/TR/2008/WD-html5-20080122/ (January 22, 2008). There is an associated press release – http://www.w3.org/2008/02/html5-pressrelease. InfoWorld also has a review/ overview of this milestone – http://www.infoworld.com/article/08/01/22/W3C-offers-HTML-5-draft_1.html. Students are encouraged to review these documents; we can discuss further in class.

In several classes, I briefly mentioned that Internet Explorer 8 has passed the Acid test (actually the Acid 2 test). I forgot to mention the actual URL (for those who want to try this out in their browser). Please visit http://www.hixie.ch/tests/evil/acid/002/. Note that therer is an Acid 3 test, but that is presently broken. Firefox also did rather well on the Acid 2 test (as I understand). We can discuss this more in class for those who are interested.

I thought everyone might find this of interest. AOL will no longer support Netscape as of Feb. 1, 2008. Yes, I meant to post something earlier, but simply was overwhelmed. Details can be found at: http://blog.netscape.com/2007/12/28/end-of-support-for-netscape-web-browsers/

Some of us (me) can recall when this browser was practically the only show in town (mid-1990′s). I am curious about your thoughts. Perhaps we can discuss more in some of the web classes this semester.

I hope you are as excited about the start of the spring semester as I am. I do plan to try out some new techniques in my classes (rather than traditional lectures). Stay tuned as to how well that works out.

Based on current enrollments, these are the classes I am being scheduled to teach in the Spring, 2008 semester. If you are in any of the CMWEB classes, you should receive a postcard from me within a week confirming your registration in the class and indicating your first task in the class (to contact me via e-mail with the class number in the subject line). I will provide additional details in my response to your initial email message.

• CMNET 250 (Windows Server Security) – Monday and Wednesday from 1:00 – 2:50 p.m. in TC 309 (this is only taught as a traditional class, materials will be supplemented via the WWW, but you should plan on being present for each class).
• CMWEB 235 (Rich Internet Applications) – This can be taken either via the WWW or as a traditional class (or you can show up for certain topics).  Traditional version – Monday 6:00 – 9:35 p.m. in TC 210.
• CMWEB 240 (Server Side Scripting – ASP.Net) – This can be taken either via the WWW or as a traditional class (or you can show up for certain topics).  Traditional version – Tuesday 6:00 – 9:35 p.m. in TC 210.
• CMWEB 140 (eCommerce) – This can be taken either via the WWW or as a traditional class (or you can show up for certain topics).  Traditional version – Wednesday 6:00 – 9:35 p.m. in TC 213.
• CMWEB 160 (Scripting for Designers) – This can be taken either via the WWW or as a traditional class (or you can show up for certain topics).  Traditional version - Thursday 6:00 – 9:35 p.m. in TC 210.
• CMWEB 260 (Internship) – You will need to arrange this with me individually. Some course material will be available via the WWW, but the majority of your experience will be working with a client.