Hard to believe January is almost behind us. Yes, time flies. As Executive Director, I am now in my 31st year of working with web technologies (yep, started in 1992). Obviously a lot has changed over three decades. And things continue to change at a rapid pace. Since it has been 3 decades, I found it entertaining to review the site focusing on web browser engines from 1990 until today. Nice bit of history for those who want a refresher (and for educators). [Note: these links will all open in a new browser tab.]
OK, now that the past is behind us, let’s see what is happening with the following web technologies (a few articles which caught my attention in these areas).
- CSS
- HTML
- JavaScript
- Security
CSS
If you are using CSS animations, you might consider AnimatiSS (a collection of CSS animations for your web project).
I also enjoyed reading more about the :has() pseudo-class including real world examples.
When working with media queries, I like the MediaQuery.style site. It has many of the more commonly employed ones readily available.
Although this is still a work in progress, the CSS fingerprint site demonstrates how one can use CSS (and only CSS) to track visitors. It is not really scalable as it presently requires over 1 MB of CSS downloads. However, it is an interesting concept. It does avoid technologies such as NoScript.
HTML
Yep, there are still changes happening to markup and tags. After much discussion, there has been some consensus on how to best use the dialog element. Actually, how it should handle its initial focus. You can read more at the post titled “Use the dialog element (reasonably)“. Note that this may not be implemented in all browsers, but it should be in subsequent releases of said browsers.
JavaScript
For those teaching JavaScript, you might find the beginners guide to Chrome tracing useful. Sometimes a DevTools trace is not enough.
I also came across this interesting article explaining why using document.write() is not always a good idea. It is fairly in depth and explains why the placement of suck code matter as well.
Security
Microsoft recently published their 2022 Digital Defense Report. You can follow the link to read much more. Here are some of the highlights (scary though they are).
- 921 password attacks happen every second (up 74% from last year).
- they blocked 37 billion email threats last year.
- Attackers are leveraging vulnerabilities in IoT device firmware to gain access to corporate networks.
- The average cost of a data breach reached $4.35 million.
- People are now the primary attack vector. Identity driven attacks account for 61% of breaches. Phishing remains the most common form of cyber attack.
Your thoughts?
These are some of the articles I have encountered and found interesting over the past month. What have you found in addition? We look forward to your comments and insights.
