I was just trying to work something out for XHTML and I thought I’d better look it up and check that I’m doing it right. A quick google search turned up a page that claimed to offer an XHTML tutorial.
Here’s an example of the code they are “teaching”…
Password: <input type=password />
Note the lack of validating quotes around an attribute value.
And to add insult to injury, the page offers XHTML Certification!
No wonder there’s so much crap out there on the web.
I’ve been getting so much spam commenting in the last week that I’ve turned off commenting on several old posts. Lets see if that helps.
I just ran the Dutch governments accessibility guidelines through Babel to get a translation. Most of it came out pretty good, but I’m a bit confused by this one…
R-pd.3.3 Lettuce in the markup no levels in the hierarchy of head rules.
I have posted the translation on the ByteClub wiki. Feel free to lend a hand making it make sense 
Some of it is still a bit garbled, and if anyone can translate the Dutch words that Babel left alone, then please let me know what they are supposed to say.
Somebody just sent me the following email about EarthHour. I like the idea
EARTH HOUR - 7.30pm to 8.30pm - Saturday March 31, 2007
Earth Hour is a fabulous opportunity for you and your family to do something about climate change. On one night, in one hour, more will be done, more will be demonstrated, and more will be learned than through a
hundred ‘talk-fests’. And you can help make it happen.
What is Earth Hour?
It sounds simple, but it is very, very dramatic. At 7.30pm on March 31st 2007, we will be encouraging companies, government departments, individuals and families to turn off their lights for just one hour. If we meet our objectives during the first Earth Hour, the savings in green house gas emissions will be the equivalent of taking 75,000 medium sized cars off the road for one whole year! Now that’s something worth doing.
Why?
The facts are alarmingly clear:
* The climate is changing! The 10 hottest years on record have occurred since 1990. In fact 2005 was the hottest year since record keeping began. (Australian Bureau of Meteorology)
* Almost 70% of Australia’s greenhouse gas emissions come from energy production. (ABS)
* More than 95% of the Great Barrier Reef will have been destroyed by 2050 if carbon dioxide emissions aren’t reduced. (WWF-International)
* One million species worldwide are facing extinction due to climate change. (University of Leeds)
But not everybody listens to the facts. Earth Hour is your opportunity to demonstrate how a simple change in our way of life could change, and help save, our planet.
The goals of Earth Hour:
* Households : Most of us use unnecessary electricity. Appliances on standby, old style light bulbs, lights left on when we’re not using them. Earth Hour will helpus all to realise just how simply we can make a dramatic impact upon global warming (and our own power bills). We will see it in action.
* Companies : We want companies to be involved. If every company in Australia turned off its lights when the buildings weren’t in use, and combined it with energy saving technology, we would save between
2 and 4 million tonnes of greenhouse gasses every year. Earth Hour will show companies just how easy that is.
* Power Companies : We will be asking power companies to provide special deals for companies and households to switch to Green Power.
* To make it an annual event : Out of the 8,766 hours in a year, let’s give one back to the earth.
What you can do:
* Sign up to Earth Hour and Pledge to turn off your lights on March 31st from 7.30pm to 8.30pm by logging onto http://www.earthhour.org/ You will receive all the information you need to make Earth Hour a great success (and to cut your own energy bills in the long term).
Pledging is free.
* Get off standby : Turn off all the electronic equipment and appliances in your home that are not being used or are on standby. Computers, televisions, stereo equipment, phone chargers, DVD or video equipment - you can find out more about this from WWF at http://wwf.org.au/
* Tell a friend : Spread the word about earth Hour by involving your friends, family and workmates. Get them to pledge at http://earthhour.org/ and most importantly, turn off the lights at 7.30pm Saturday 31 March 2007.
* Another thing you can do before the event is switch to Green Power: Contact your electricity provider today. If all Australians switched to Green Power the saving in CO 2 emissions would be the equivalent of what is pumped out of 40 million cars! That’s like taking every car in Australia off the road four times over.
* Spread the word - Once you have signed up for Earth Hour tell a friend; spread the word at work; tell your boss; mention it at school, at your local sports club or society group, you can even run it past your neighbours!
* Make it an event. Get the neighbours to switch off their lights and head out into the park for the hour; take some binoculars and look at the stars; sit and talk; explore your backyard by torchlight; have
fun with sparklers; or just go for a stroll. Do something non-electric as a family; make some candles, read by their light; have a picnic-at-dusk; pretend you are camping; have a candlelight dinner.
For more info on Earth Hour, check out http://www.earthhour.org
EARTH HOUR. MAKE IT HAPPEN
You know that goofy place holder text that some programs generate? I’m posting this with Textmate, and if I just type “lorem”, then hit the Tab button and I get…
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipisicing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud exercitation ullamco laboris nisi ut aliquip ex ea commodo consequat. Duis aute irure dolor in reprehenderit in voluptate velit esse cillum dolore eu fugiat nulla pariatur. Excepteur sint occaecat cupidatat non proident, sunt in culpa qui officia deserunt mollit anim id est laborum.
I downloaded a new page template at work the other day and it was pre populated with this text…
Epsum factorial non deposit quid pro quo hic escorol. Olypian quarrels
et gorilla congolium sic ad nauseum. Souvlaki ignitus carborundum e
pluribus unum. Defacto lingo est igpay atinlay. Marquee selectus non
provisio incongruous feline nolo contendre. Gratuitous octopus niacin,
sodium glutimate. Quote meon an estimate et non interruptus stadium. Sic
tempus fugit esperanto hiccup estrogen. Glorious baklava ex librus hup
hey ad infinitum. Non sequitur condominium facile et
I wouldn’t normaly read this sort of thing, but the “Souvlaki” caught my eye and I started reading. Soon I got to wondering if somebody was having me on. Some bored web manager throwing easter eggs into the place holder text? It wouldn’t surprise me. It’s exactly the kind of thing I would do 
Out of curiosity, I googled the line “Souvlaki ignitus carborundum e
pluribus unum.” and was amazed that it being used all over the place. So it wasn’t our webadmin 
The main thing that amazed me is how many big name web sites, including the Australian Conservation Foundation, had this text right there on live pages. And many of them look like pages that have been online for some time.