Thanks to CSS3 web design techniques and font-foundries, the ability to create gorgeous typography and beautiful design for browsers, is more accessible than ever.

The Web is about content–finding it, delivering it, exploring it, and experiencing growth and possibility within it. What’s the fun of using a site that takes forever to load and is difficult to read? A poorly designed product can be the single deciding factor for whether a user stays on your page or makes a dishearteningly rapid exit. Fortunately, with the use of new code, integrating gorgeous design and Web typography into various browsers is easier than ever.

Since 1996 when CSS1 was first enacted, the Web has seen historical changes. Initially, there were only 9 fonts browsers read by default. The focus was mostly on legibility and monitor-only interactive readability.

Fast-forward 15 years: Designers now have the ability to utilize a multitude of typefaces from various font foundries to make the Web a more beautiful place. Comic Sans can, for instance, have embossed effects and gradients. Pages load faster, and the Internet is more beautiful, more interactive, and (most importantly) more readable.

“We are in a time like no other. Through the use of CSS3 we are able to make art from code,” said Tantek Çelik, Web Standards Lead at Mozilla and representative to W3C HTML and CSS Working Groups, at CASCADE SF’s HTML5 presentation, on July 2010.

Want to make the Web more beautiful? Learn how-to Saturday, May 19th at Adobe HQ in San Francisco, CA.

This Saturday, May 19th, 2012 at Adobe HQ, Sean McBride, Engineer and Developer at Typekit will teach San Francisco how to create gorgeous web typographic posters, magazines, and effects using CSS3 text shadows, transitions, outlines, text-gradients, and a host of other need-to-knows. McBride’s talk at this year’s SXSW Interactive was highly recommended by developers who attended, and we anticipate a similarly enthusiastic turnout–sign up today.

http://cascadesfworkshop.eventbrite.com/

Typekit: The easiest way to add real fonts to your website.

Built around web standards, Typekit gives designers and developers a subscription-based library of hosted, high-quality fonts to use on their websites. They have over 250,000 customers including some of the largest sites on the web today: The New York Times, Conde Nast, IGN, Twitter, and many others. It is also actively integrating Typekit into hosted platforms—such as WordPress, TypePad, and Posterous—so that anyone with a website can use real fonts.

Still, from what I’ve heard, there is a good proof of concept out there. The project is called ‘Frash’ and its basically a port of the Android flash 10.1.  It only runs on mobile safari at the moment and its still pretty buggy.  As such they released the code on GitHub (get it here) to see what other people can do with it before its released to the general public.  The code was created by Comex, a company that made the Spirit jailbreak.

I have not looked at the code, but now that its out there, I’m going to guess a few weeks before we get something we can call later Alpha or Beta 1.  However, when you read the comments, you still get people asking ‘Why’ should we even care if we have Flash on iphone/ipad?  Darn good question.  Ask yourself, when was the last time you used flash with exception to video or an advert?  I have a few cloud app that are flash based that I still use, but I could be the exception, not the rule.

And it was running.  Its was buggy as all get out, but most of the fail was around the digitizer and display.  I pulled up this website and it rendered fine, including the flash ads. So my impressions?  Ignoring the alpha state of it, I can see the value just as I would with the iPad.  Size is everything.  Having a nice large display that I can directly interact with is a big plus.  And since Android is basically the iPhone / iPad open source, I would expect the same trade offs.  More flexibility in exchange for a smoother user experience.

The fun bit was just how hacked this thing was.  Have a look at the images below. I had to press one of the black buttons on the side just to navigate back!!  Same thing for home!!  And actually, that was kinda cool.  The whole makerfaire feel of it.     Anyway, the takeaway here is, yes Virgina, there IS an Android tablet.  But I think we have a number of months more to wait for its ready.

{UPDATE} Adobe is looking  into the new SDK language. They continue to develop Packager for iPhone OS which will debut in Flash CS5

This really make me mad.  Part of the agreement for iphone 4.0 app development is that you cannot use outside libraries.  In English, you can only develop from the iPhone SDK.

Here is the actual language..

“The language from the agreement, which is section 3.3.1: Applications may only use Documented APIs in the manner prescribed by Apple and must not use or call any private APIs. Applications must be originally written in Objective-C, C, C++, or JavaScript as executed by the iPhone OS WebKit engine, and only code written in C, C++, and Objective-C may compile and directly link against the Documented APIs (e.g., Applications that link to Documented APIs through an intermediary translation or compatibility layer or tool are prohibited).”

So basically as I read it, any app using a compatibility layer or tool like flash to iphone or java to iphone is verboten. What does this mean for the 3D engine unity3D?  Is that no longer allowed too?  This is pretty much aimed at Adobe and the new feature in CS5 that will allow you to create an iphone app using actionscript 3.  Poof!  Gone.  This is the worst news ever.  Why should intermediary code matter as long as the actual execution code is still compliant??

I wonder if we are looking at a lawsuit over this.. What a crock.

… Its 24 hours and I’m still mad.  I mean, what if Comcast said they would only show movies that were shot with Panasonic cameras?

Solution?

Allow Flash on the phone, BUT, with limitations.  For example, a flash app CANNOT load another flash app remotely.  Flash can only have very limited access to the file system. How about a limit on footprint? CPU usage limit?  I can think of more, but you get the idea.  By putting strict limitations on how Flash is allowed to operate within the iPhone OS, they can constrain Flash enough to insure it cannot be a threat.

So what are Adobes options?  Right now, none. They have to play to the rules Apple gives them, however, Andriod, Microsoft mobile, Sybian, soon the Pre and perhaps blackberry may not have such issues… Well, maybe blackberry will have a few issues. So why is Adobe still willing to play this game?  Two reasons.. First, even with limitations, there will be TONS of flash programmers (I would be one of them) who would love to write for the iphone, even with limitations. Second, flash video. If they can get flash video running on the iPhone, this will insure Flash Video will continue to be the dominate player.  Makes you wonder if anther limitation Apple will place is not Flash video eh?

G.ho.st: An example of Flash as a desktop UI.

‘Lynch demonstrated Flash Player 10 on devices running Nokia’s Symbian operating system, Microsoft’s Windows Mobile, and Google’s Android operating system. But the quintessential example of the new family of smartphones, Apple’s iPhone, so far remains only on the wish list.’

<rant>

Now Lynch is saying that Apple and Adobe are working together to on getting flash working and that Flash lite is still being worked on, but really, after all this time?  Nothing? You know that Apple has put some sort of ‘platform’ restriction on it to keep it WELL sandboxed.  And now Flash 10 by 2010, but NOT on the iphone?  Lynch also demonstrated AIR 1.5 running on a Linux-based Aigo miniature computer. I would think they could at least get AIR working on the iphone.  Even that would be a step in the right direction.  Of course, as I’ve said many time, what I REALLY want is flash video support.  I’m sure Apple is in no hurry to get that going. Come on Apple! Its on Android. Android!  I’m waiting for blackberry next.  Hmmm… blackberry.

</rant>

Adobe has confirmed that Flash capabilities won’t be coming to the iPhone anytime soon. Company CEO Shantanu Narayen recently discussed the difficulties in bringing Adobe’s most well distributed product to the iPhone. “It’s a hard technical challenge, and that’s part of the reason Apple and Adobe are collaborating,” Narayen told Bloomberg Television at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. “The ball is in our court. The onus is on us to deliver.”

Now this may seems like ‘ah, here we go, more excuses for flash not being on the iphone’.  Well, I dont think so.  Just the fact they Shantanu said they are working on it is still a big deal. Many people do not buy that the problem is technical, but as a former Flash programmer, I can tell you that the flash player is pretty demanding; and depending on how much of the flash feature set they want to support, I can see some limits.  However, I have seen Flash 7 working on many portable devices, so if Adobe limited a few of the more heavy feature of the flash API set, it can be done.

Still…. why cant we at least get the flash video player?  THIS is what I’m calling B.S. on.  There is NO technical reason flash video only could not be supported right now.

Just read in engadget that Apple is bowing to the pressure of Android and has agreed to work with Adobe to put Flash on the iphone.

<rumor>

..Adobe CEO Shantanu Narayen has revealed that Apple and Adobe are “collaborating” on making Flash a reality on the iPhone..

</rumor>

Not too many details yet, but this is step 1!  I will pound the interwebs for the next few days and see what more I find.. I’ll add it to this post unless it’s something major.

.. you can now resume your normal interwebs viewing.