A few folks know what to do: create clean, compatible, polite javascript that degrades nicely. Most create abominations that well... make me reach for my revolver... Today I found something spit out of the 'industry standard' adserver that I had to share with a dood I know. Chat transcript follows...
DOOD: yo
ME: I think I'm surrounded by the worst technology in the world
ME: ever get that feeling?
DOOD: yes
ME: I get that when I come across this kind of thing:
ME: document.write('<noscript><a href="http://ad.doubleclick.net/click%3Bh=v8/378a/3/0/%2a/d%3B209144603%3B0-0%3B1%3B23113405%3B3454-728/90%3B29241525/29259404/1%3B%3B%7Eokv%3D%3Bkw%3Dgamechannel%3Bgame%3Dgamechannel%3Bgenre%3Dstrategryrpg_game%3Btile%3D2%3Bdcopt%3Dist%3Bsz%3D728x90%3B%7Eaopt%3D2/1/7b/0%3B%7Esscs%3D%3fhttp://clk.atdmt.com/TGM/go/125488438/direct/01/" target="_blank"><img border="0" src="http://view.atdmt.com/TGM/view/125488438/direct/01/5298130" /></a></noscript></iframe>');
DOOD: !
ME: does that juse blow your mind
ME: OR WHAT?
DOOD: who wrote that? Someone on our team or a 3rd party?
DOOD: I mean your team
ME: some 3rd party
DOOD: amazing
DOOD: they don't get anything
ME: some 3rd party WHICH IS AN INTERNET STANDARD. THE CADILLAC OF AD SERVING
DOOD: wow
ME: we're doomed
ME: as a species
DOOD: totally
ME: just thought you'd like to know.
ME: enjoy life. the end is near.
DOOD: I just spent 2 months working with one of the the world's worst engineers. They canned his ass last week
DOOD: this guy was an imbecile, yet he commanded a huge salary and concessions because we thought he was an 'expert'
DOOD: I spent all of my time re-writing and debugging his crap code
DOOD: some of the worst programming I've ever seen
DOOD: and it made me doubt the future of mandkind, as we are all brothers.
ME: I'm there.
ME: document.write('<noscript...
DOOD: that gives me an idea for a netscrap feature. Have a contest where people submit real source code that can never execute
DOOD: this is a plum example
DOOD: there are others
ME: that's a good one.
DOOD: but they have to be real, culled from real source.
I guess the reason this gets my goat is that I face this question every day: does it matter if software is 'done right'? Ultimately it seems that the true measure of 'rightness' is whether the business is succeeding, not the correctness of the minutiae. For a guy whose background is QA, this is a tough pill to swallow.
Anyway, Dood -- good thinking about the netscrap feature. So toss a few things onto the scrap heap (put in the Tech category) and I'll put them up.
PS- For those of you not in the know, one way javascript puts things on the page is through document.write. In this case, the code is using javascript to put a <noscript> tag -- which usually contains something for the browser to show if it doesn't support javascript. Use javascript to deliver the payload to use if you don't use javascript. Boom!
Last night's tune 'i had nothing' was recorded at a rehearsal space with my bandmates (weekly jam-mates?). I basically said, "When I hit record, just start playing." woomp! there it is.
Thanks a bunch for all the notes you've sent me on these things.
Finally, I updated that web page. It's a klunker, but:
I think I'm somewhat caught up on the listening now.
Bruce-
Seth-
Peter-
Derek-
A few other notes on the recent gems:
Website housekeeping note: I moved everyone's ftp directories from /29/you to /29/players/you. I'll delete the other directories soon. This will help with a page that will do automatic updation as the files come in.
Seth + Peter: I too am really digging listening to everyone's songs. I can't express how psyched I am that youses (an EXTREMELY talented bunch) are kookoo enough to try this with me.
This week will be tough! It'll be our first time balancing this with work. Anytime you sit down to write, try writing two. Have a few ideas in your back pocket for those time crunches. Also, no penalties awarded for digging up something a few years old too.
Speaking of a few years old -- when I told eve about this she was interested in helping. She asked me to transcribe a song she wrote which I'll try to put to music on 2/6:
http://29.netscra p.com/29/players/greacen/lyrics.txt
Finally, Michael Tornatore dropped off a drum kit today, a loaner for the month. I didn't have a chance to use it yet but I'll likely switch from recording exclusively on the laptop to start using my 'studio' (finally) which means some elec-trific-o-rock-i-fication in my (and therefore your) near future.
Good luck this week!