1. Remove The Unnecessary <div> Tags

I’ve seen a lot of people wrap a <div> tag around the <form> or <ul> menu list. Why create an extra <div> tag that you don’t need? You can achieve the same result by applying the CSS rules to the selector.

Example 1:

The example below shows how you can drop the <div> tag and declare the styling to the form selector.

Example 2:

Sometimes we wrap the content with an extra <div> tag strictly for spacing purposes. The example on the left uses a <div> to create margin space in between the boxes. But if each box has a heading (ie. <h4>), we can simply apply the margin space to the h4 selector and drop the extra <div> tag.

2. Use Semantic Markups

You should always use semantic markups to code HTML documents (ie. <h1> for headings, <p> for paragraph text, and <ul> for list items). So, even when the CSS is not presented nor supported, your document still makes sense.

Example:

The image below compares the rendering differences between <div> markups and semantic markups with no css supported.

3. Minimize The Use of <div> Tags

Have you seen the messy templates where <div> tags are everywhere and they drive you crazy? Have you ever missed a closing </div> tag or have an extra opening <div> tag messing up the entire layout? I’m sure most developers have experienced it before. So, you should always minimize the use of <div> tag if possible. It will make debugging and editing easier.

Example 1:

Instead of using <div> tag for breadcrumb navigation, it makes more sense to use <p> tag.

Example 2:

The following example shows how I can use CSS to cut down two <div> tags by replacing with one <span> tag. They both produce the same layout.

4. Format (Indent) Your Code

You should always format your source code (ie. indent your nested elements) so it is easier to read and debug. If you have Adobe Dreamweaver, you can easily format the code by using the Commands > Apply Source Formatting (from the application menu).

5. Comment The Closing </div> Tags

When coding for platform templates (ie. WordPress themes), the template is most likely splitted into several files: index.php, header.php, sidebar.php, and footer.php. Hence, you should always make a comment for the closing </div> tags so you won’t get lost. For example, when I see </div><!-- /wrapper -->, I know it is the closing tag for <div id="wrapper">.

Example:

I usually insert a HTML comment tag right after the closing </div> tag. I use the forward slash to indicate it is the closing tag.

1. What is USB 3.0 (aka. SuperSpeed USB)?

USB 3.0 is the next major revision of the ubiquitous Universal Serial Bus, created in 1996 by a consortium of companies led by Intel to dramatically simplify the connection between host computer and peripheral devices. Fast forwarding to 2009, USB 2.0 has been firmly entrenched as the de-facto interface standard in the PC world for years (with about 6 billion devices sold), and yet still the need for more speed by ever faster computing hardware and ever greater bandwidth demands again drive us to where a couple of hundred megabits per second is just not fast enough.

In 2007, Intel demonstrated SuperSpeed USB at the Intel Developer Forum. Version 1.0 of the USB 3.0 (confusing, isn’t it?) specification was completed on November 17, 2008. As such, the USB Implementers Forum (USB-IF) has taken over managing the specifications and publishes the relevant technical documents necessary to allow the world of developers and hardware manufacturers to begin to develop products around the USB 3.0 protocol.

In a nutshell, USB 3.0 promises the following:

• Higher transfer rates (up to 4.8 Gbps)
• Increased maximum bus power and increased device current draw to better accommodate power-hungry devices
• New power management features
• Full-duplex data transfers and support for new transfer types
• New connectors and cables for higher speed data transfer…although they are backwards compatible with USB 2.0 devices and computers (more on this later)

2. Isn’t USB 2.0 fast enough?
Well, yes and no. USB 2.0 for many applications provides sufficient bandwidth for a variety of devices and hubs to be connected to one host computer. However, with today’s ever increasing demands placed on data transfers with high-definition video content, terrabyte storage devices, high megapixel count digital cameras, and multi-gigabyte mobile phones and portable media players, 480Mbps is not really fast anymore. Furthermore, no USB 2.0 connection could ever come close to the 480Mbps theoretical maximum throughput, making data transfer at around 320 Mbps – the actual real-world maximum. Similarly, USB 3.0 connections will never achieve 4.8 Gbps, but even 50% of that in practice is almost a 10x improvement over USB 2.0.

3. How does USB 3.0 achieve the extra performance?
USB 3.0 achieves the much higher performance by way of a number of technical changes. Perhaps the most obvious change is an additional physical bus that is added in parallel with the existing USB 2.0 bus. This means that where USB 2.0 previously had 4 wires (power, ground, and a pair for differential data), USB 3.0 adds 4 more for two pairs of differential signals (receive and transmit) for a combined total of 8 connections in the connectors and cabling. These extra two pairs were necessary to support the SuperSpeed USB target bandwidth requirements, because the two wire differential signals of USB 2.0 were not enough.

Furthermore, the signaling method, while still host-directed, is now asynchronous instead of polling. USB 3.0 utilizes a bi-directional data interface rather than USB 2.0‘s half-duplex arrangement, where data can only flow in one direction at a time. Without getting into any more technical mumbo jumbo, this all combines to give a ten-fold increase in theoretical bandwidth, and a welcome improvement noticeable by anyone when SuperSpeed USB products hit the market.

4. What other improvements does USB 3.0 provide?
The enhancements to SuperSpeed USB are not just for higher data rates, but for improving the interaction between device and host computer. While the core architectural elements are inherited from before, several changes were made to support the dual bus arrangement, and several more are notable for how users can experience the improvement that USB 3.0 makes over USB 2.0:

• More power when needed
  • 50% more power is provided for unconfigured or suspended devices (150 mA up from 100 mA), and 80% more power is available for configured devices (900 mA up from 500 mA). This means that more power-hungry devices could be bus powered, and battery powered devices that previously charged using bus power could potentially charge more quickly.
  • A new Powered-B receptable is defined with two extra contacts that enable a devices to provide up to 1000 mA to another device, such as a Wireless USB adapter. This eliminates the need for a power supply to accompany the wireless adapter…coming just a bit closer to the ideal system of a wireless link without wires (not even for power). In regular wired USB connections to a host or hub, these 2 extra contacts are not used.
• Less power when it’s not needed
  Power efficiency was a key objective in the move to USB 3.0. Some examples of more efficient use of power are:

   

  • Link level power management, which means either the host computer or the device can initiate a power savings state when idle
  • The ability for links to enter progressively lower power management states when the link partners are idle
  • Continuous device polling is eliminated
  • Broadcast packet transmission through hubs is eliminated
  • Device and individual function level suspend capabilities allow devices to remove power from all, or portions of their circuitry not in use
• Streaming for bulk transfers is supported for faster performance
• Isochronous transfers allows devices to enter low power link states between service intervals
• Devices can communicate new information such as their latency tolerance to the host, which allows better power performance

To paint an accurate picture, not everything in USB 3.0 is a clear improvement. Cable length, for one, is expected to have a significant limitation when used in applications demanding the highest possible throughput. Although maximum cable length is not specified in the USB 3.0 specification, the electrical properties of the cable and signal quality limitations may limit the practical length to around 3 metres when multi-gigabit transfer rates are desired. This length, of course, can be extended through the use of hubs.

Additionally, some SuperSpeed USB hardware, such as hubs, may always be more expensive than their USB 2.0 counterparts. This is because by definition, a SuperSpeed hub contains 2 hubs: one that enumerates as a SuperSpeed hub, and a second one that enumerates as a regular high-speed hub. Until the USB hub silicon becomes an integrated SuperSpeed USB + Hi-Speed USB part, there may always be a significant price difference.

Some unofficial discussion has surfaced on the web with respect to fiber-optic cabling for longer cable length with USB 3.0. The specification makes no mention of optical cabling, so we conclude that this will be defined in a future spec revision, or left to 3rd party companies to implement cable extension solutions for SuperSpeed USB.

Google Chrome OS fast-boot:

Google Chrome OS security:

Google Chrome OS & Open Source:

To get this process working, follow these six simple steps. It shouldn’t take you more than five minutes, max. These instructions assume that you already have both a Facebook account and a Twitter account.

1. Make sure you are logged into Facebook. Now go to the Facebook’s Twitter application page. Now click on the Go to Application button. It looks like this:
   
2. The application will now ask you to confirm that Twitter can access your Facebook information. Click on the Allow button.
   
3. Now log into your Twitter account by entering your Twitter username and password. The screen looks similar to this:
   
   Click on the Login button.
4. You can now actually use Twitter from within Facebook. The screen looks like this:
   
   Personally, I never use this. I want the reverse of this. I want to update my Facebook status from Twitter. Therefore, click on the Allow Twitter to Update Your Facebook Status button in the upper-right of the screen.
5. You should get a confirmation screen that looks similar to this:
   
   Now confirm that you are willing to let Twitter update your Facebook status by clicking the Allow Status Updates button.
6. After you click this button, you will go to the Twitter application. Don’t Twitter anything from here. Instead, go to your Facebook Home page, by clicking the Home link on the Facebook menu.Now you can test the connection by going to your favorite Twitter application or the Twitter web page and entering a tweet. Wait a minute or two and go back to your Facebook home page and refreshing it. Your most recent tweet should be displayed as your Facebook status. This is how my status looked:

That’s all there is to it. Now every time you Twitter something, your Facebook status will be automatically updated.

Update: If you don’t want to send every one of your tweets to Facebook, then check out Selective Twitter Status. It allows you to designate the tweets you want to appear on Facebook by end a tweet with the #fb “hashtag” in your post. Only those tweets with the hash tag at the end will be posted on Facebook.

Find me on Twitter

Help test the future of Firefox!

The latest beta version of Firefox is now available as a preview release. Take it for a test drive and let us know what you think!

Free Download 3.6b2 for
Windows English (US) (7.7MB)

As anticipated, Yahoo is joining the Google-led OpenSocial alliance, which is developing a common set of standards for programmers to create applications that can run on social networks and other sites.

Yahoo has considered joining the alliance for months, according to people familiar with the company’s plans. But Yahoo executives fretted that Google might exert too much control over the evolution of OpenSocial and over any intellectual property created by the group, these people said. Yahoo raised those concerns with Google. Now, Google has agreed to give up control over OpenSocial.

In announcing Yahoo’s entry into the alliance, the companies said that the programming standard would now be in the hands of the OpenSocial Foundation, a non-profit group whose founding members will include Google, Yahoo and MySpace, another large backer of OpenSocial. The foundation, which will be created within 90 days, will “ensure the neutrality and longevity of OpenSocial as an open, community-governed specification for building social applications across the Web,” the companies said.

In a conference call with reporters, Google and Yahoo executives dismissed the idea that the foundation was created in response to Yahoo’s concerns. Joe Kraus, director of product management at Google, said the foundation represented “more an evolution of where OpenSocial is heading” than a response to concerns raised by any one member. And Wade Chambers, vice president of platforms at Yahoo, praised Google’s stewardship of the standard so far.

Yahoo’s participation brings to OpenSocial developers the potential to distribute their applications to a large base of new users. The alliance was formed last fall as a counterweight to Facebook, which has successfully courted thousands of application developers. The creators of many of the most popular Facebook applications have said they plan to adapt their programs to make them compatible with the OpenSocial standard.

Yahoo provided no details about when or how it would carry out the OpenSocial standard. So far, only MySpace and Orkut, Google’s social network, have introduced OpenSocial on their sites, Mr. Kraus said. Other members of the alliance include Bebo, LinkedIn and Plaxo.