LocalPCGuy, Author at Local PC Guy

By LocalPCGuy on JavaScript, Web Development

Removing (Google) CDN version of jQuery from Html5 Boilerplate?

I recently added a pull request to Html5 Boilerplate to remove the use of the Google CDN for loading jQuery. Little did I know that it would stir up some great debate about whether using a CDN, specifically the Google CDN, was the best practice or if concatenating and minifying your code into a single file is better.

The pull request was based on 2 things, 1 was a conversation Karen Ford (my co-worker) and I had with Alex Sexton at the jQueryTO conference in Toronto. The second was a very data-driven blog post Alex referenced by Steve Webster posted in late 2011 about Caching and the Google AJAX Libraries. In that post, Steve points out that there is generally very little performance benefit from loading jQuery from the CDN due to the amount of fragmentation that exists in what versions of jQuery are being used in the wild.

By LocalPCGuy on JavaScript, Web Development

Kalypto – jQuery plugin for customizing checkbox and radio button form elements

I’m happy to announce the first public version of Kalypto (former working name, replaceRCInputs) through GitHub:

Demo page here: http://localpcguy.github.com/Kalypto/

Code here: https://github.com/localpcguy/Kalypto

Description: Kalypto is a basic plugin to use a simple sprite and CSS in place of a checkbox or radio button. Styles for the checked/non-checked state should be defined in a stylesheet, and the plugin changes the class and maintains the state of the checkbox or radio button.

By LocalPCGuy on Web Development

Mime-Types for font-face files

I wanted to add this quick reference to the proper way to setup mime-types for @font-face here. Thanks go to Mike Kormendy for his blog post about these, and his answer on Stack Overflow to a similar question that led me to his blog post.

svg  as "image/svg+xml"
ttf  as "application/x-font-ttf" or "application/x-font-truetype"
otf  as "application/x-font-opentype"
woff as "application/x-font-woff" 
eot  as "application/vnd.ms-fontobject"

You can set these up in IIS manually, or you can add them to your .htaccess file or web.Config file (depending on platform.) Note: These are not standard yet, but there is a proposal to make a standard mime-type for font files.

By LocalPCGuy on Web Development

How to learn to develop web sites

First – learn HTML/CSS. You’ll do these in tandem, as you need both to do anything. Don’t pay attention too much the the version #’s like HTML5/CSS3 – just learn the basics and the rest will come with time as you do it. Avoid W3 Schools website (it’s out of date) and instead use something like Mozilla Developer Network or SitePoint Reference Guides.

Then JavaScript – learn the basics of how to use it as you will need to if you do any web work. After you know the basics, learn how to use a library like jQuery to make your JavaScript easier to write (but learn the basics of how JavaScript is written first.) Free or mostly free JavaScript resources

By LocalPCGuy on Personal Development

Refection of 2012; Planning for 2013 – My 4 C’s

Ah, the end of the year. Looking back and reflecting; looking forward and planning. It’s a time when you can put the past in perspective and the future starts to come into focus. In 2013, I’ll be focused on what I’m calling the 4 C’s. Create more, consume less, contribute to others, and (self-)control. But first, I want to reflect a little on 2012. This post is mainly for me to reflect on, but I welcome any comments, criticism or support any readers may have (@LocalPCGuy.)