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Via Willjessup.com. This is a demo of a script that emulates a 3D rotation of an object space using javaScript to change the position, z-index, size and opacity of different elements in space.
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If you’re just finding out about ALA now, then this article is a great primer and roadmap. Via ALA: If you’re going to build a house—or a website—you need the right tools. A List Apart offers hundreds of articles on design, markup, style, accessibility, usability, and more. We’ve selected a few that you might want to start with. (Think of this guide as one of those reassuring brochures from Lowe’s or Home Depot, but about websites instead of ceramic tile.)

Note: A List Apart publishes intermediate and advanced articles written for web professionals, so we assume familiarity with HTML, CSS, and concepts like usability and accessibility. If you’re looking for introductory articles, hold on for part two of this series, in which we’ll recommend resources for beginners. MORE

Via Digital Web Magazine: With nearly ubiquitous standards support among modern browsers, we’re turning to CSS to handle presentational heavy lifting more than ever. The more we rely upon CSS, the larger and more complex CSS files become. These files bring with them a few maintenance and organizational challenges.

Gone are the days of creating a single CSS file and dropping in rules as needed. As we build new sites, it is necessary to spend time planning how to organize and structure CSS MORE

Regarding the climate change debate: Wouldn’t it be smart to play it safe and error on the conservative side? If we clean up our environment and global warming is later found to be insignificant in the long term, then no harm done. But if we fail to take action and later find out we are changing the climate, then we’re in serious trouble. Lets be smart while aknowledging uncertainty. The worst that can happen is that we end up with cleaner air, water, and earth right?

Via New Scientist: Climate change is with us. A decade ago, it was conjecture. Now the future is unfolding before our eyes. Canada’s Inuit see it in disappearing Arctic ice and permafrost. The shantytown dwellers of Latin America and Southern Asia see it in lethal storms and floods. Europeans see it in disappearing glaciers, forest fires and fatal heat waves.

Scientists see it in tree rings, ancient coral and bubbles trapped in ice cores. These reveal that the world has not been as warm as it is now for a millennium or more. The three warmest years on record have all occurred since 1998; 19 of the warmest 20 since 1980. And Earth has probably never warmed as fast as in the past 30 years – a period when natural influences on global temperatures, such as solar cycles and volcanoes should have cooled us down. Studies of the thermal inertia of the oceans suggest that there is more warming in the pipeline.
Climatologists reporting for the UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) say we are seeing global warming caused by human activities and there are growing fears of feedbacks that will accelerate this warming. MORE

• Wikipedia entry
• The debate Behind Global Warming
• The End of the Global Warming Debate
• Global Warming: A Dozen Different Views
• All About Global Warming
• Climate science by Climate Scientists

Via A List Apart:When I first encountered Cascading Style Sheets in the autumn of 1998, I was trying to do cool stuff—make this stuff over here move, make that stuff over there change color—and it took another six months before I started using CSS to control presentation rather than behavior.

It took me two years to break out of the comfortable prison of layout tables, and another two years before I could use CSS to produce layouts that were originally intended for tables.

Even though I was forced during that time to deal with such anachronistic works of art as Netscape 4.0 and Internet Explorer 5.0 for Windows, the moral of the story should be clear: it took me a long while to achieve genuine mastery of CSS. MORE

Via NW Florida Daily News: “For more than a quarter of a century, a federal agency in the Pacific Northwest has been running the world’s most expensive wildlife restoration program, designed to save 13 species of endangered salmon and steelhead.

The Bonneville Power Administration, responding to concern about dwindling fish populations, has spent more than $8 billion helping salmon travel from the mountain streams of their birth to the Pacific Ocean and back again, where they lay eggs for the next generation. Impeding their journey are several hydroelectric dams.

The agency has little to show for its efforts. In any given year, only 1 percent to 3.5 percent of the fish complete the 1,800-mile round-trip fish trek, which begins 20 miles northeast of Lewiston, Idaho, and continues down the Snake and Columbia rivers. Fish scientists say the success rate should be at least double that.” MORE

Via treehugger: “Last week we wrote about Al Gore’s “bold strategy for fighting climate change”: Some policy proposals including 1) an immediate freeze on our current level of carbon emissions, 2) the creation of a “Carbon Neutral Mortgage Association” and 3) a revenue-neutral carbon tax created by the elimination of payroll taxes (for more details, head over to our post). But we only linked to the transcript of the speech, which is very long. Thanks to reader Many Sharma who sent us the link, you can now see the video of the whole speech: ::Video: Al Gore speech about Global Warming at NYU (Real Video format, there’s a free codec for it here)” VIEW

Via Consumer Reports: “Consumer Reports’ “Complete Guide to Reducing Energy Costs” is crammed with ways to cut your energy bills. Some take a little money and effort, such as weatherstripping your windows. Some take a little restraint, such as picking a sedan instead of an SUV. Others require investment, such as choosing the more-efficient refrigerator, even if the price tag is a bit higher. Of course, the best ways to save energy dollars are the ones that take no money and little or no effort. That’s what you’ll find in this excerpt–20 simple things you can do to start saving money right this minute, without having to reach for your wallet.

As the cost of heating your home and running your car continues to climb, we hope this book will help ease the burden on you and your family. And it’s nice to know that saving energy does more than save you money: It helps save resources. Using less energy pollutes less, creates less acid rain, and results in less global warming. Even if you do nothing more than the 20 free things listed here, you will have made a difference in your budget and a difference in the world. Not bad for free.” MORE

Via Chicago Tribune: “The discovery that a bizarre particle travels between the real world of matter and the spooky realm of antimatter 3 trillion times a second may open the door to a new era of physics, Fermilab researchers announced Monday.

The incredibly rapid commuting rate of the B sub s meson particle had been predicted by the Standard Model, the successful but incomplete theory aimed at explaining how matter and energy interact to form the visible universe. After 20 years of trying, scientists have now confirmed the rate, providing strong evidence for the theory.” MORE

Via EcoChick: “As reported last Thursday in the NYTimes, Google is setting up a for-profit philanthropy arm. Called Google.org, and begun with seed money of $1 Billion (is that all?) the group has specific aims to fight povery, disease, and global warming. Of course global warming only exacerbates poverty and disease, so by working on that front, Google’s founders will kill many birds with one stone.

The most interesting part of all of this is that Google.org will be a for-profit institution, meaning it can grant monies to start-up companies, form partnerships with venture capitalists, and can lobby in D.C. (Non-profits are tax-exempt, and are not allowed to make money or influence government officials/political races.)

One of its maiden projects reflects the philanthropy’s nontraditional approach. According to people briefed on the program, the organization, called Google.org, plans to develop an ultra-fuel-efficient plug-in hybrid car engine that runs on ethanol, electricity and gasoline.

The philanthropy is consulting with hybrid-engine scientists and automakers, and has arranged for the purchase of a small fleet of cars with plans to convert the engines so that their gas mileage exceeds 100 miles per gallon. The goal of the project is to reduce dependence on oil while alleviating the effects of global warming.

Google’s founders, Larry Page and Sergey Brin, believe for-profit status will greatly increase their philanthropy’s range and flexibility. It could, for example, form a company to sell the converted cars, finance that company in partnership with venture capitalists, and even hire a lobbyist to pressure Congress to pass legislation granting a tax credit to consumers who buy the cars.

The executive director whom Mr. Page and Mr. Brin have hired, Dr. Larry Brilliant, is every bit as iconoclastic as Google’s philanthropic arm. Dr. Brilliant, a 61-year-old physician and public health expert, has studied under a Hindu guru in a monastery at the foothills of the Himalayas and worked as a Silicon Valley entrepreneur.

In one project, which Dr. Brilliant brought with him to the job, Google.org will try to develop a system to detect disease outbreaks early.

Dr. Brilliant likens the traditional structure of corporate foundations to a musician confined to playing only the high register on a piano. “Google.org can play on the entire keyboard,” Dr. Brilliant said in an interview. “It can start companies, build industries, pay consultants, lobby, give money to individuals and make a profit.”

While declining to comment on the car project specifically, Dr. Brilliant said he would hope to see such ventures make a profit. “But if they didn’t, we wouldn’t care,” he said. “We’re not doing it for the profit. And if we didn’t get our capital back, so what? The emphasis is on social returns, not economic returns.” MORE