Frilly bits

Cameron Moll may feel like a posting about dingbat ornaments is stating the obvious, but… yanno… I was wondering.

25 resources for ornaments, fleurons, and "frilly bits" ~ Authentic Boredom

The Highly Extensible CSS Interface ~ The Series ~ Authentic Boredom

Over at Authentic Boredom, Cameron Moll has embarked upon an interesting discussion of how to... well, the title says it all:

The Highly Extensible CSS Interface ~ The Series ~ Authentic Boredom

I say it's a “discussion” because Moll has invited readers to respond with their criticisms and enhancements as the series goes on. Part I is up now, and it looks to be a very interesting series. Check it out.

Just my type

Lately, when not focused on the mysteries of XSL transformations, I've been spending a fair bit of time trolling the web and trying to learn how to better use of typography in my web page designs. I feel I've got a strong base of CSS experience and know how to place things where I want them; now I want to learn the process of deciding where to put them. What type face to use, at what size, and in which color.

But here's the rub: lots of typography sites rant at length about how most web designers know bupkes about typography and its history, but very few actually get around to offering the sort of information that might remedy that shortcoming. Where should those of us who didn't go to art college supposed to learn the secret handshake, this late in the game?

Fortunately, tucked away in a comment on one of these typography blogs, I found a couple links to pages that in turn contain links to other pages that actually do offer information — not just heavy doses of condescension:

• Web Design is 95% Typography (1)
• Web Design is 95% Typography (2)

If I can find enough of this sort of material, I may eventually be able to get the hang of how to design with type and not just why I should.

Why browser detection is a bad idea

Wherein Dave Shea explains that there are just too darned many browsers out there to tailor your presentation by parsing browser strings.

mezzoblue § Home: "Detect This"