CSS Rounded Corners Without Images

I found a neat trick the other day at http://www.cssplay.co.uk/boxes/snazzy.html. It's not new, but its CSS2, cross-browser compatable, and uses no scripting.

For those interested, the illusion is accomplished by placing graduated 2px and 1px tall div tags, with specific border attributes, below one another.

<style type="text/css">
#xsnazzy h1, #xsnazzy h2, #xsnazzy p {margin:0 10px; letter-spacing:1px;}
#xsnazzy h1 {font-size:2.5em; color:#fff;}
#xsnazzy h2 {font-size:2em;color:#06a; border:0;}
#xsnazzy p {padding-bottom:0.5em;}
#xsnazzy h2 {padding-top:0.5em;}
#xsnazzy {background: transparent; margin:1em;}

.xtop, .xbottom {display:block; background:transparent; font-size:1px;}

.xb1, .txb2, .txb3, .txb4,
.bxb2, .bxb3, .bxb4 {display:block; overflow:hidden;}

.xb1, .txb2, .txb3,
.bxb2, .bxb3{height:1px;}
.txb2, .txb3, .txb4 {background:#d4d4d4; border-left:1px solid #000000; border-right:1px solid #767676;}
.bxb2, .bxb3, .bxb4 {background:#d4d4d4; border-left:1px solid #000000; border-right:1px solid #767676;}

.xb1 {margin:0 5px; background:#767676;}
.txb2 {margin:0 3px; border-width:0 2px;}
.txb3 {margin:0 2px;}
.txb4 {height:2px; margin:0 1px;}
.bxb2 {margin:0 3px; border-width:0 2px;}
.bxb3 {margin:0 2px;}
.bxb4 {height:2px; margin:0 1px;}

.xboxcontent {display:block; background-color:#d4d4d4; border:0 solid #767676; border-width:0 1px;}
</style>


<!--Somewhere In The Document-->
<div id="xsnazzy" style="width:75px;">
  <div class="xtop">
    <div class="xb1"></div>
    <div class="txb2"></div>
    <div class="txb3"></div>
    <div class="txb4"></div>
  </div>


<div class="xboxcontent" style="height:65px;">
<table cellpadding=0 cellspacing=0 border=0 width="100%" height="100%" valign="center"><tr><td align="center">Test</td></tr></table>
</div>


  <div class="xbottom">
    <div class="bxb4"></div>
    <div class="bxb3"></div>
    <div class="bxb2"></div>
    <div class="xb1"></div>
  </div>
</div>

Word Scrambling Fun

I am a very briong prseon. To porve to eoyrvene that I sepak the turth I will dcseribe the way I sepnt a few munties of my life Sudnay ngiht.

A wihle back I read an actrile aobut how well popele can dhpcieer smlcbared wrods. It truns out that ppoele can sitll uarsntdend a srmcblaed word as long as you keep the frist and last letetrs the same.
I find this very inseettring from a pocsyholgy pecesrtpive. But, that is nteiher here nor tehre. I diecded I sohuld wirte a pgroram to do it for me. Why would I "watse" my time doing siheotmng so folvroius, uelsess, and "sutpid"? I wtaned to. So I sat down and hrmemaed out the prgroam in C# 2.0. (I cohose C# 2.0 because it was at hand, nhtiong more.) I would conidser it ftfeien munties well spent.

private void replace(ref string s, int startpos,string newvalue)
{
    StringBuilder sb = new StringBuilder();
    if(startpos > 0) sb.Append(s.Substring(0, startpos));
    sb.Append(newvalue);
    if (startpos + newvalue.Length < s.Length) sb.Append(s.Substring(startpos + newvalue.Length));
    s = sb.ToString();
}

private string scramblestring(string s)
{
    if (s.Length > 3)
    {
 StringBuilder sb = new StringBuilder();
 Random r = new Random();
 do
 {
  sb = new StringBuilder();
  int val = 0;
  List ca = new List(s.ToCharArray(1, s.Length - 2));
  sb.Append(s[0]);
  while (ca.Count > 0)
  {
     
     val = r.Next(0, ca.Count-1);
     sb.Append(ca[val]);
     ca.RemoveAt(val);
  }
  sb.Append(s[s.Length-1]);
 }while(s.Length > 4 && sb.ToString() == s);
 return sb.ToString();
    }
    else
    {
 return s;
    }
}

private string scramble(string s)
{
  Regex r = new Regex(@"\b[^\W\d]{4,}\b");
  MatchCollection m = r.Matches(s);
  if (m.Count > 0)
  {
foreach (Match ma in m)
{
   replace(ref s, ma.Index, scramblestring(ma.Value));
}
  }
  return s;
}

A Revenue Model For A Web Service Economy

I prefer to consider history as a guide.
The best solution would be a layered model similar to the blender on my kitchen counter. You pay a one time fee for posession of a blender, but you must also pay a monthly service charge for the electricity it uses and any fees associated with the items being "blended".

Here is how I would break it down:
(Using the layer model from Phil Wainewright)

• APIs: A fee based on usage
• Aggregation services: A fee based on usage
• Application services: A one time ownership fee
• Serviced clients: A one time ownership fee unless included with the application service

Esentially this duplicates what we have now. The real problem is actually getting people to understand why they should pay.

Web n.0!

I have read numerous writers and bloggers claiming the coming of Web 2.0, and even Web 3.0. I don't remember anyone, actually involved in building the "World Wide Web", declaring a version one.
The Internet is about services being served by servers. Whether acting as a remote datastore (html, images, xml, etc.) or providing access to interactive processes via server scripts and cgi, it has always been this way. Maybe I'm just to old to really "get it".