Following on the tail of my previous article on CSS 2 selectors, this time we’re going to examine what happens when rules collide. When two or more different rule sets select the same element in the document tree and have declarations that try to set the same property, how does the browser know which one to apply? Which declaration will override the others? These are the questions that put the “cascade” in Cascading Style Sheets.

In this article, the first in a two-part series, we’re going to take a look at the basics of selectors in Cascading Style Sheets, Level 2 (CSS 2), including the components used to build them and the various ways to combine them. It’s important to understand that what I’m presenting here is the full view of selectors as defined in the CSS 2 Specification. You may or may not be able to put some of the concepts discussed to use today because of poor browser support, particularly in the areas of attribute selectors and the :before and :after pseudo-elements. However, seeing the bigger picture provides valuable context, and support is continuing to grow. You don’t want to be caught looking backwards as things move forward. So let’s start out by examining some fundamental questions about CSS selectors.

For those of you out there who are complaining that Flickr shouldn’t do video, you are cordially invited to suck it.

Dark side of the Google

If you hadn’t already noticed Google has gone dark today. In honor of Earth Hour Google’s changed the background color of their home page from its usual white to black. Over on TechCrunch Michael Arrington has been scoffing at how ironic this is:

We criticized Google when we first posted about this because, it turns out, black web pages actually may use more power than white ones (based on a study that Google itself cited last year). So Google is, ironically, causing people who visit their site to use more power to celebrate Earth Hour than they would on a normal day.

The following is what the post that Arrington references by Bill Weihl on the Official Google Blog has to say:

…on flat-panel monitors (already estimated to be 75% of the market), displaying black may actually increase energy usage. Detailed results from a new study confirm this.

So there you have it. A black Google increases the power consumption for 75% of the market, therefore Google going black uses more energy than a white Google. Michael Arrington says so. Google says so. It must be so. Slight problem: There’s no way to draw that conclusion with that amount of information.

Aidan Emery Glendinning

Patience apparently does not run in my genes, because late Sunday night our son, Aidan, decided that we’re not the boss of him and that it was time for him to see the world outside. After a few hours in the hospital he was born early Monday morning, and came out screaming to beat the band.

Over the last few days he and Laura and I have been getting into our routines, and for the most part he’s been an absolute angel — except for the times he’s decided that mid-diaper-change would be a good time to start pooping. Blowing bubbles from your backside with road tar can hardly be considered good behavior.

Right now it looks like we’ll be bringing him home tomorrow, which will be great. The private hospital room is nice and all — it’s even got a couch for me to sleep on so I’m not stuck in a chair — but it’ll be fantastic to sleep in our own bed again.

Hey Jeff,

I know you’re busy chopping kindling and all, but maybe you could take just a few minutes to recognize that children have two parents. You see, my wife created a baby registry on your site, but now she’s the only one who’s allowed to add things to it. Why? You even asked her to enter my name when she created it, and you taunt me with it saying that the registry belongs to both of us right there on the page. But we both know the truth: You just don’t trust me to add items to my own son’s registry.

There’s no two ways about it: I need a new phone. My current phone, a Motorola V551, has been on its last legs for several months now and I’ve been putting off getting a new one because I didn’t want the hassle. But I don’t think I can put it off much longer.

Laura and I went to see Ratatouille this afternoon, and one of the previews before the movie was for a live-action dog movie about a beagle, or some other kind of hound dog, that gains super powers through some sort of lab accident. All at once the horror of what I was seeing struck me: Some miserable so-and-so has crapped all over Underdog and put it on screen. I think I would rather go with Laura to see Becoming Jane and actually watch it than be subjected to this pile of pants.

Profile

As you might have seen from my photostream already, Laura and I have some rather exciting news. Laura seems to be doing her best to get me used to the idea of being covered in vomit, but so far everything else is looking very good. We’re looking forward to a way better than average Christmas present.

A few days ago Molly threw a bit of a hand grenade into the community:

1. COMPLETE HTML 4.1, XHTML 1.0 and CSS 2.1 in specs and browsers where applicable
2. CALL for consistent implementation of these most basic specifications in all current browsers and devices to this point
3. WAIT for future HTML, XHTML and CSS implementations until these implementations are complete
4. FOCUS on JavaScript and DOM fixes and implementations as we come up to par with markup and style

Now, Molly, you know I love you so I’m going to assume that you were just looking to stir the pot to get people talking about this. I’ll bite.

Not the best way to wake up on a Sunday

There are nice ways to be woken up and there are not nice ways of being woken up. My personal favorite way of being woken up is not being woken up at all and Laura knows this, which is why I know there’s something wrong when she wakes me up on a weekend. Usually it’s because Arrow’s ripping up something he shouldn’t be, or is eating something he shouldn’t have been ripping up, or has thrown up something he shouldn’t have eaten. But sometimes it’s truly spectacular.

You might notice that I’m in the middle of some major design changes here. I’ve decided to go back to a look that will be more familiar to long-time readers. Back when I migrated over to this domain name I had the idea that I would do a series of redesigns using different basic color palettes, so I went from my grayscale + red look to one using primary colors that I never really finished. But I got to missing my old design and decided I wanted to go back and do a refined version of it.

I’m back at SXSW again this year — getting caught up with everyone and enjoying some good panels and parties. I would have posted sooner, but the Internet connection here’s a bit like the port-a-johns at an outdoor concert and the hotel’s connection was no better until today.

I’ve been able to throw a few pics up onto Flickr, though. As usual, that’s a better way to see what I’m up to than waiting for me to get around to posting here. If you want more frequent (if not more more trivial) updates you can find me on Twitter.

I was looking through my server logs yesterday and checking out the search terms people coming to my site from search engines had used. It’s always good for a chuckle — yes, if you’re a big geek like me. One of the queries jumped out at me this time, though: my husband doesn’t love me. I did a quick Google search myself and, sure enough, my home page was listed at #44. Now, up until a couple sentences ago my blog didn’t even use the term “husband,” but likely I still rank on the term because of all the links from my wife’s site that point to me.

I’m not sure which is more disturbing, really… that my site comes up on that search or that someone was actually doing that Google search.

Right around this time a year ago I was sitting, about panicked out of my mind but trying desperately to stay calm and stay present, waiting for Laura to be prepped for an emergency C-section. It was pretty clear that the two nurses who were staffing the otherwise empty recovery room where I’d been told to wait hadn’t been briefed on the complete picture of what was happening. I don’t remember the exact conversation, but I remember one of them asking me if I was excited and me explaining that I was more nervous than excited considering that my wife wasn’t supposed to be due for another three months. That was when the entire mood in the room changed. Excellent. Now they could panic with me.

You know that nice relaxed feeling you get after a good, long vacation? Yeah, that’s long gone. I think it might have actually lasted all of two days back at work.

Laura and I had a fantastic time in Ireland. In two weeks we made it around almost the whole island. You can check out my whole Flickr set from the trip to see more. Laura’s posted hers too.

Also, if you’re so inclined, you can vote for two of my Ireland shots in the themes for Issue 8 of JPG Magazine:

Laura with the beasts

Laura and I are off for two weeks vacation. We’ve just rented a car and are driving around the west of Ireland. Right now, we’re in a little cafe in Lahinch that has free wireless Internet. Hopefully we’ll find some more places on our trip where I can post more pictures. Keep an eye on my Flickr photostream to keep up with us.

According to the rules of Usenet I hereby invoke Godwin’s Law:

Reuters - Leaving Iraq now would be the same as handing postwar Germany back to the Nazis, U.S. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld said in a column published on Sunday, as retired U.S. Army Maj. Gen. Paul Eaton called Rumsfeld incompetent and urged him to resign.

“Turning our backs on postwar Iraq today would be the modern equivalent of handing postwar Germany back to the Nazis,” Rumsfeld wrote in an essay published in The Washington Post on the third anniversary of the start of the Iraq war.

I’m in Austin for the next several days for SxSW Interactive and looking forward to another killer time this year. Drop me a line if you want to catch up, or just check out where you might find me after the days’ sessions are done.

Stuart Pierce Glendinning

You worked so hard, my little man, and now you can rest. You did such good in the short time that you were here. You filled us with more love than we knew we could hold. You made me so much better than I was before—you made me a father. I will love you always, and will wait impatiently until I can see you and hold you again.