With that said, our first edition of Stay Fresh will cover jQuery. The latest version of this popular JavaScript framework is 1.3, which was just released on January 14th 2009. (Incidentally, the new version was released 3 years to the day of the first version of jQuery). The new version of jQuery has many new improvements, which we will cover today.
jQuery has a new CSS selector engine nicknamed “Sizzle”. According to the website: Sizzle is “a pure-JavaScript CSS selector engine designed to be easily dropped in to a host library.” Although there is no documentation available (yet), check out http://sizzlejs.com/ for more information. We’ll keep you posted on any Sizzle developments.
jQuery now supports “live events” – events that can be bound to all current – and future – elements. Using event delegation, and a seamless jQuery-style API, the result is both easy to use and very fast.
For example:
$("p").live("click", function(){
$(this).after("<p>Another paragraph!</p>");
});
Live events are very similar to the .bind function, with a few small differences:
$("li a").live(...)
Learn more about about live and die.
Ariel Flesler brought some serious refactoring of the jQuery event system to jQuery 1.3. The bulk of this change came down to the new jQuery.Event object. This object completely encapsulates all of the functionality normally found in a W3C-compliant event object implementation and makes it work smoothly across all browsers.
All HTML code injection scripting has been revised.
At press time, not much information was available about the recently re-written version of offset. However, the rewritten version is now 3x faster. Hat tip to Brandon Aaron for the rewrite.
As of version 1.3, jQuery no longer uses any form of browser/userAgent sniffing internally – and is the first major JavaScript library to do so. Instead, this new version of jQuery introduces a concept called “feature detection”. This is done by simulating a particular browser feature or bug to verify its existence, which is being performed by a new object: jQuery.support. Please note that jQuery.browser is still present in jQuery 1.3, but is in the process of being deprecated to encourage users to implement the new feature detection method.
We’ve spoken a bit about speed improvements, but don’t take it from us. John Resig has been kind enough to post up links to benchmark tests that you can run:
One last thing: With the new version of jQuery, comes a new API browser, courtesy of Remy Sharp Also available from the API browser, is an Adobe Air application that allows you to access the API right from a desktop application.
Stay tuned for tomorrow’s “Stay Fresh”, where the topic will be a VERY cool GTD desktop/iPhone application.
]]>The film features Don Tapscott, co-author of Wikinomics: How Mass Collaboration Changes Everything.
Here’s a preview of the movie:
Volunteer Toronto, through generous partnerships with nGenera Insight and Bloor Cinema is pleased to offer a free screening of Us Now, a UK film about how the internet inspires participation and collaboration in communities.
After the screening, Don Tapscott will participate in a panel discussion and Q&A session. Don Tapscott is one of the world’s leading authorities on business strategy, with emphasis on how information technology changes business, government and society.
The screening will take place on Thursday, February 26th at Bloor Cinema
Schedule of Events:
6:00pm Doors Open
7:00pm Movie Start
8:10pm Panel and Q&A
Tickets can be reserved at http://volunteertorontocommunity.eventbrite.com/
]]>Your personal information is not required to complete the poll.
http://spreadsheets.google.com/viewform?key=p6zHJwDyGB3_KLyp9KWEPRQ
To sweeten the deal, we will be choosing at random one pollster to receive a free ticket to our first event, so make sure you fill out the poll today!
]]>Our next event will be held at 7pm on February 18th 2009.
UPDATE: Our next meetup will be held at the Centre for Social Innovation, 215 Spadina Avenue, Suite 400. Please visit the event page for more information and to register.
UPDATE: Help us promote this event! Download the PDF poster (750KB).
]]>If you would like the opportunity to show off something you are proud of, want to get feedback from the community, or help raise awareness about something you’ve done, our Pecha Kucha format is for you! To sign up, simply email the details of your presentation to [email protected] and we’ll get back to you with the agenda for the evening.
]]>The concept is simple: As our vision for Refresh Events is to nurture and grow a connected organization of like-minded peers and professionals, we have launched a directory within our mobile site. To have your own listing, please download the ZIP archive from our site. Within the archive, we have a sample file and instructions on how to edit the HTML file for your listing (don’t worry, it’s easy! If you get stuck, we can help you out), as well as tips and advice on how to get the most out of the member directory. The amount and type of personal information you add is entirely up to your discretion.
If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to get in touch with us.
]]>All this has culminated in to this morning’s launch of the brand-new Refresh Events website at http://www.refresh-events.ca/.
It’s been only five months since we had our first event, but since that time, we have worked tirelessly on bringing you not only an informational site packed with content, but a portal that will connect you to Toronto’s vibrant interactive community.
We’d like to thank the following people for their assistance and dedication in helping us realize our vision:
Elaine Chen has been a sounding board, creative advisor and trusted partner since that warm day in July 2008 when we realized that a change was needed in our industry. A change that could bring about the revitalization of our community in ways that we have never seen before. A change that could empower people to be more creative, gain new skills and break out of the silos we work in and connect with those in the studios, agencies and corporations in this great city.
Nadine Lessio spent long hours integrating our design into Textpattern. At times it was a challenge, but Nadine stuck with it, and helped deliver an experience that we are truly proud of.
Noah Earle helped us integrate and make sense of the JavaScript and PHP that is helping us deliver our message to you.
But most of all, we have to thank you for helping us. This organization doesn’t belong to the few or the privileged. It belongs to you. You are the stakeholders in this organization. It belongs to those of you that work tirelessly in the trenches. It belongs to those that are new to this industry. It also belongs to those that have worked in this industry for a long time, and those that wish to renew their sense of belonging after a long period of separation. So on this day, let us summon a new era of creativity, a new era of connectedness, and a new era of community.
From all of us at Refresh Events, we thank you for your support over the past six months, and we look forward to meeting you and providing you with accessible and affordable digital media programming in the months and years to come.
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