NCDevCon 2011

tags [http://www.javascriptkit.com/dhtmltutors/customattributes.shtml]. + Lists: <data-role="listview"> + Filtering support: <data-filter="true"> o The filter only works on the data on the current page, not the entire set of data. * Check out: Search, Slider, Collapsable Blocks, swipeable events, etc. Geolocation 101 (Andrew Powell) This tied in well with the jQuery Mobile class. We talked about the HTML5 Geolocation API [http://diveintohtml5.com/geolocation.html], the history of geolocation technology and presidential executive orders, and its role in "Tomorrow Never Dies [http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0120347/]". Notes: * You must always ask for user permission; some browsers make sure the user agrees. * Don't write geolocation intensive apps; they drain batteries. * Cell phone tower location is the least accurate but fastest, followed by Wi-Fi, then GPS (slowest, most accurate). + Cellular network location works like a Venn diagram [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Venn_diagram]. * Not all devices/OS' support altitude reporting. * Look up "GeoFencing [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geo-fence]". Tame Your CSS3 With Sass (Les James) This was a really helpful class as I'd never heard of Sass [http://sass-lang.com/], which the presenter described as a "CSS metalanguage". There really aren't any notes that need writing, I simply need to use it. BTW: there was one fellow there who worked for the government and had a CSS file over 2k lines long that he inherited from his predecessor. He will definitely be using Sass in the future! QR Code Crazy (Shawn Dunning) This was a great overview of the history and uses of Quick Response, or QR codes [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/QR_code]. In addition to seeing some examples, we talked about how the smartphone/QR code bit presents accessibility issues (more Digital Divide, if you believe in that). And a week or so later, I also heard this [http://www.npr.org/2011/09/26/140805493/few-consumers-are-cracking-the-qr-code] on NPR which asked if by the time QR codes could become more widely adopted they might already be obsolete. Notes: * Uses position boxes and, per the standard, white/black should be switchable. + I wondered about putting QR codes on archival scans to verify the image's orientation and color balance, i.e with some metadata embedded in the code itself. * Smartphones use regular expressions to determine that a URL string exists and subsequently points a browser to the site. The code itself is simply a string. What Is NodeJS And Why You Should Care (Garrett Johnson) A little over my head, but that's why I went right? :P Notes: * Research node.js [http://nodejs.org/#about]; possibly use to serve up a website. Writing JavaScript That Doesn't Suck (Bucky Schwarz) If you watch only one video online, watch this [http://textiles.online.ncsu.edu/online/Viewer/?peid=b2e41bcc02cc4a169a0baaa4ecb960ac1d] one. Useful and highly, highly entertaining. Notes: * Consider using strict equality in JavaScript (===). * jQuery "leads to one-off scripting ... ". * Selector speed (fastest to slowest): id, element, class. + Don't search for a single class unless you have to. * Don't declare new variables inside a loop (doh! I do this all the time). * Look up "dirty bit [http://computer.yourdictionary.com/dirty-bit]". This was the last session I attended and afterward I talked to the speaker. He recommended "JavaScript: The Good Parts [http://www.amazon.com/JavaScript-Good-Parts-Douglas-Crockford/dp/0596517742]" as a quick, no-nonsense read to help improve my JavaScript.