I’m a long-time fan of Eric Meyer’s S5 browser-based presentation system. (In fact, I’ve been working on a TextMate bundle for it. Though the code to produce an individual slide is very simple, it still can be a bit fussy when you’re producing a lot of them.)
Robert Nyman’s new AJAX-S system is unabashedly inspired by S5, but places slide content in a separate XML file that then gets rendered into HTML by Javascript.
Via Rafe I learned of an astounding Javascript hack done by a MySpace user. Excerpts from the summary, allegedly written by the creator:
…anyone who viewed my profile who wasn’t already on my friends list would inadvertently add me as a friend. Without their permission.
8:35 am: You have 74 friends and 221 friend requests. Woah. I did not expect this much. I’m surprised it even worked. 200 people have been infected in 8 hours.
Sometime in recent weeks, store.apple.com picked up some Ajax. If you didn’t know this either, go play with the online configurator. Notice that as you make changes via the pop-up menus, updates to the “Summary” box in the upper right are made without a page load. The items that are added or altered by your selection are briefly highlighted in blue, which then fades out.
Examining the source reveals certain telltale signs as well.
Making the rounds today is a perceptive mailing list posting from Rasmus Lerdorf explaining how simple Ajax really can be. I particularly like this bit:
Before you blindly install large “AJAX” libraries, have a go at rolling your own functionality so you know exactly how it works and you only make it as complicated as you need.
Alex Bosworth offers a sensible list of Ajax Mistakes.