1. Only the .data() API reads HTML5 data-* attributes, and it does so once.
2. The .data() API converts HTML5 data-* values to Javascript types whenever possible.
3. The lower-level jQuery.data() API does not read HTML5 data-* attributes.
4. No jQuery data API ever changes HTML5 data-* attributes.
5. All data-* names are stored in camelCase in the jQuery data object, using W3C rules.

You can read more about the history and the rules of the road over at Learning jQuery.

Spin.js is a new library that aims to cut out the need for images. Created by Felix Gnass, Spin.js uses CSS3 and JavaScript to render the indicator. For versions of IE that don't support CSS3, the lib falls back to using VML to render the UI. Here's how you'd setup a simple throbber:

 var opts = {
  lines: 12, // The number of lines to draw
  length: 7, // The length of each line
  width: 5, // The line thickness
  radius: 10, // The radius of the inner circle
  color: '#000', // #rbg or #rrggbb
  speed: 1, // Rounds per second
  trail: 100, // Afterglow percentage
  shadow: true // Whether to render a shadow
};
var target = document.getElementById('foo');
var spinner = new Spinner(opts).spin(target);

The great thing is the broad browser suppoer with Spin.js being successfully tested in:

• Chrome
• Safari 4+
• Firefox 3.5+
• IE 6,7,8,9+
• Opera 10.6+
• Mobile Safari (iOS 4)

Be sure to visit the demo page so you can use the interactive builder to see how the throbber can be dynamically adjusted based on small adjustments.

Contributing ScriptJunkie.com author and awesome developer Addy Osmani has put up a great post that dives into writing cross-browser JavaScript polyfills where he guides you through the ins-and-outs of polyfills and how to get started using them in your web applications.

"In today's post, I'm going to recount my experience of creating a cross-browser polyfill along with the lessons learned along the way. I'll also give you some tips on how you can create your own polyfills and avoid some of the headaches developers often run into when coding them for the first time."

If you're interested in leveraging HTML5 and ES5 today while still supporting non-modern browsers, Addy's post is well-worth the read. You can also check out the article I wrote for .net Magazine on the same topic.

By leveraging WebSockets and Canvas, noVNC is able to remotely connected to a box and render our the screen. Here's the main caveat though (via Joel's Github repo):

"Unless you are using a VNC server with support for WebSockets connections (only my fork of libvncserver currently), you need to use a WebSockets to TCP socket proxy. There is a python proxy included ('websockify'). One advantage of using the proxy is that it has builtin support for SSL/TLS encryption (i.e. "wss://")."

Regardless, this is still hot and a testament to how powerful web technologies are becoming. You also have to give credit to Joel for some innovative thinking and skills. Check out the video here:

[View:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=icVpGOvh4tc]

noVNC currently works on all modern browsers and for those that don't support WebSockets, it falls back to the web-socket-js polyfill for support. For IE9, you can also use the WebSockets prototype offered on the Microsoft HTML5 Labs site.

jQuery Intellisense

Expression has traditionally be a designer's tool but with the lines between developer and designer blurring, it makes sense for Expression to add support to one of the most popular JavaScript libraries out.

In their 2010 survey of Web Developers, Web Directions found that jQuery dominates—used by (an astounding) 78% of respondents.

Um..yea. jQuery is incredibly popular and adding it into Expression makes it substantially easier for users to build out dynamic sites.

Interactive Snapshot

One of the best features of Expression Web has to be the SuperPreview which lets you look at your site as it would render in any version of IE and Firefox 3.x. This was a snapshot though which was kind of tough if you were hoping to debug easily as it rendered. With Interactive Snapshot, you now have the ability to do just that:

In Web 4 SP2, we’ve added an Interactive mode to our stable of IE renderers (as well as an interactive Firefox 3.x). Interactive mode essentially puts Internet Explorer in a panel, allowing you to see and interact with web pages during the authoring process. Mouse-overs, lightboxes and animations all work. Simply saving your changes triggers a refresh of the panel. IE Interactive uses the current version of Internet Explorer installed on your machine.

While these are my two favorite features for this update, there's a whole lot more to check out so be sure to check out the blog post for details and give Expression Web a try.

LABjs 2.0 is a full rewrite, emphasizing standardized and future thinking feature tests instead of hacks, readable source code, and several helpful new features. LABjs 2.0's goal is to be both a complete loader solution itself, as well as the building block for a variety of more complex dependency management solutions.

Cool new features include:

• script() calls in the chain allow you to define one or more scripts to load in parallel
• wait() calls in the chain allow you to express where execution order needs to wait to preserve dependency execution.
• LABjs now uses standardized and future-thinking feature tests for preloading and ordered-execution loading, de-emphasizing hacky techniques like cache preloading (now only used in older legacy browsers).
• The source code is vastly cleaner, and well commented
• v2.0 is backwards-compatible for its API
• Many bugs/quirks, including weirdness with "AllowDuplicates" and chain resumption, have been completely fixed
• New features include "debug mode", built-in queueing, cache-busting, sandbox(), and noConflict()

You can check out the release notes for full details and nab a copy of the latest version here.

Here's the press release:

In an arrangement that brings together the work of JavaScript inventor Brendan Eich and Node.js inventor Ryan Dahl, Joyent and Cloud9 IDE, Inc. today announced an agreement to provide web application developers with a one-stop cloud development and deployment platform for Node.js applications from within the Cloud9 IDE (Integrated Development Environment).

The Cloud9 IDE, a state-of-the-art IDE that runs in the browser and lives on Joyent’s public cloud, JoyentCloud.com, allows developers to run, debug and deploy applications from anywhere, anytime.  This joint effort gives developers ready access to a premium IDE at no cost for pre-production use, and includes support for commercial use.

Developers can self-provision their Joyent Node.js SmartMachines from within the Cloud9 IDE, and immediately begin testing on their Node.js-based application. Once an application is ready for production, developers are able to purchase commercial cloud services that ensure scalable, successful deployment.

“If you want to see the future of cloud computing, this is it. Joyent has the complete cloud data center software stack and we have the cloud-based IDE for JavaScript, which is the language used by over three-quarters of websites today and is a key part of the explosion of mobile apps,” said Cloud9 IDE CEO Ruben Daniels. “The new integrated solution lets you create your development project in Cloud9, and then test and run your code on the Joyent architecture. You don’t have to create a new Joyent account – Joyent automatically accepts the login and billing information from your Cloud9 IDE account.”

 “We want to provide developers with the best tools for developing next-generation web applications, and this partnership does just that,” said David Young, Joyent CEO. “The combination of the Node.js IDE and Joyent cloud make it effortless for a developer to get an app up and running in the cloud quickly and successfully.”

Joyent Chief Evangelist Tom Hughes-Croucher and Cloud9 IDE, Inc. CTO Rik Arends will be putting on a webinar discussion about this partnership on Wednesay, July 20 at 10 AM Pacific time. Sign up here.

Here are some pics to whet your appetite:

1. Good documentation and demos - If I can’t figure out how to use your plugin and/or see what it’s capable of fairly quickly I don’t really want to waste my time on trying to figure that out.  The plugin author should be providing at the very least easy examples on what the plugin does.
2. Easily downloadable - Seems like a silly requirement but if I can’t easily download the code because of a silly wall in place like having to tweet to be able to get to the code base then that’ll weigh heavily in my determining to use the plugin or not.
3. License released under - I should also be able to find what license the plugin is released under.  Ideally it should be listed on the plugin site but if not in the header of the JavaScript file. If a jQuery plugin does not have a license specified I will not consider it.
4. Source code available - Most jQuery plugins are released with an open source license, with those projects the code should be available to evaluate.  I should be able to see the full source code, if you are only providing a minimized version then I am unable to evaluate very easily to understand how the code is architected.

These are just simple things every plugin author should be doing.  Unfortunately, HTML5 Uploader jQuery Plugin failed on 3 out of 4 items listed above.  I contacted the owners of the plugin to voice my displeasure and was sent a reply with a code beautifier link to be able to read the minified code that one got after having to “Pay with a Tweet” to download the code which has no license attributed with it.  I replied back with “thanks, but no thanks” and will find something else until they fix those issues above.

In addition to the items above, I consider the following to be a huge plus when evaluating a jQuery Plugin:

1. Source Code available on Github - This is a huge plus I can easily fork, watch or submit issues to the code base.  Github also provides the easiest way to view commits and see if the code has been idle or not.
2. MIT and GPLv2 Licensed - I find plugins licensed the same as the jQuery code base to be ideal.
3. Unit tests - It shows that the code is thoroughly tested each release and I can rest assured that the code is of quality.
4. Issue Tracker - If it is on Github I can see if the issue tracker is in use and if issues are being addressed as they come up.  This allows me to help the project if I come across any problems.

What are some criteria you use when evaluating jQuery Plugins or JavaScript code in general?

* Note: This content was originally posted on https://ralphwhitbeck.com and is reprinted here with permission.

• Browser support
• Codec support
• Timing
• Playback
• and more...

And support for a variety of audio formats:

It also provides methods to help you degrade your application for non-modern browsers. It's a simple, clean and easy-to-use library and definitely worth a look.

Andrew Wirick, Senior Trainer and Developer, explains the lesson structure, "Often learning is about understanding what prerequisite knowledge you need to know before tackling a subject. The goal of the lesson structure was to provide an interactive learning experience while also providing an easy way to tell what prerequisites a student needs."

Right off the bat they have 8 videos to choose from and each video is about 30-40 minutes long. They range from JavaScript 101 to understanding how jQuery manages events so you'll have a good set of options to learn from.