As many of you have noticed, I’m effectively proposing that the W3C become a foundation instead of a consortium, albeit a foundation whose primary mission is to act as a consortium would. I’ve avoided using terms like “non-profit” and “not-for-profit” because they might imply specific things which I don’t fully intend in terms of tax law, or whatever, but I do think of it as a generically non-profit institution; that is, one that does not strive to create a profit, except as can be invested into the endowment.

I’ve tried to explain why I believe this is a good idea, but in the end, I think the most fundamental reason is that one I can’t explain: it just feels like the right thing to do. It’s like I can perceive a shape without grasping all its details, but the overall shape looks right, looks better.

I fully expect that some will recoil from this idea, convinced that a foundation is a poor substitute for a consortium. Obviously, I disagree. I think the W3C’s future could be made much more stable with this approach, especially in financial terms. I also believe, as I said before, that it would be no less of a force for the advancement of the web. In fact, I think it would be a much stronger force, and have a greater positive effect, over the long term.

It is not a small undertaking, but it is an important and worthwhile effort, and I hope it is one the W3C considers seriously.

CSS is a language for describing the rendering of structured documents (such as HTML and XML) on screen, on paper, in speech, etc. This module contains the features of CSS level 3 relating to the hierarchical nesting of style rules. It includes and extends the functionality of CSS level 2 [CSS21], which builds on CSS level 1 [CSS1]. The main extension compared to level 2 is the ability to nest a style rule within another rule, allowing greater modularisation and readibility of CSS documents.

We already have an element for comments and other self-contained document
modules, namely, <article>. The spec in fact specifically calls out an
<article> nested in another <article> as being, by definition, a comment
on the outer <article>.

WebAPI is an effort by Mozilla to bridge together the gap, and have consistent APIs that will work in all web browsers, no matter the operating system. Specification drafts and implementation prototypes will be available, and it will be submitted to W3C for standardization. Security is a very important factor here, and it will be a mix of existing security measurements (e.g. asking the user for permission, like Geolocation) or coming up with new alternatives to ensure this.

The application cache is a poorly understood part of the HTML5 specification with a lot of potential. Let's get rid of some of the confusion and make the web a faster place.

"The World Wide Web Consortium has published a draft of an interface that browsers can use to manipulate files better, one of a series of steps aimed at gradually improving the sophistication and polish of Web site interfaces. The draft File API (application programming interface) defines a number of ways that browsers and Web sites can handle files better. One big part of it: being able to select multiple files for upload, such as on photo-sharing sites or Web-based e-mail, a task that often relies on Adobe Systems' Flash today."

"Aside is now acceptable to use for secondary content, such as a blogroll, groups of additional navigation and even advertising if that content is related to the page. When used within an article element, the contents should be specifically related to that article, for example a glossary. When using aside, please be aware of these changes of context."

"After spending about a day and a half in testing I am forced to conclude that the HTML5 drag and drop module is not just a disaster, it’s a fucking disaster."

"Technically, this endorsement does not have to say anything about the future prospects of the tags in Microsoft products, let alone the method Microsoft will choose. Most likely, the company will opt to go the Apple way, and use the DirectShow/Media Foundation frameworks." Well some decent news.