JaySmallarchive This is the Small Initiatives site archive from 2009 and before. Use the links for Jay's and Ka's new blogs.



January 2008

Posted by Jay Small

At their worst, I'll admit, open-source software communities can breed flame wars, ugly breakups and needlessly forked development roadmaps. But at their best, you have to admit, open-source crowds share ideas, solve practical problems and tip hats at each others' successes.

Witness the Drupal community's post congratulating the developers of Joomla -- arguably Drupal's biggest competitor for mindshare -- on their new release.

What's up, DOCTYPE?

22 Jan 2008
Posted by Jay Small

Advocates of Web standards now warn that a heavily used technique for switching between standards-based browser rendering and, well, everything else -- called the DOCTYPE switch -- is broken.

OK, so that last sentence is meaningless to you if you don't work often in Web design or development. Even more meaningless would be any attempt I make to explain it for general audiences.

So, my advice:

Posted by Jay Small

My boss, Bob Benz, announced last week he is leaving Scripps to join a new consulting and product development venture that includes a circle of mutual friends.

Posted by Jay Small

Links in search of someone in a quippier mood than me, all the better to say quippy things at a rapid quip (enough already, Small!):

Posted by Jay Small

The Scripps Howard Foundation, affiliated with the company that gives me my day job, once again seeks entries for its National Journalism Awards. The program includes a Web Reporting category. Enter before Jan. 31 and maybe you'll get to bask in the glory. Details from the announcement:

Posted by Jay Small

I should have seen this coming a few weeks back when I wrote about the sudden proliferation of social network invitations.

The people at LinkedIn are not happy that Plaxo's new social networking application reaches in and grabs LinkedIn connections and profile data.

Posted by Jay Small

Happy New Year! Now can we put an end to all the "milestoning" already?

You know what I mean. The changing of a year provides a far-too-easy opportunity for writers -- journalists, opinion leaders, you name it -- to look back or look forward any of these tired ways: