> My ultimate goal though is for it to be presentable in IE7 with a top notch experience in anything newer, makes it a little easier.
I think that's the exact right attitude.
I work in an environment that supports back to IE7 and I really get a kick out of creating robust solutions that work in crappy or older browsers.
Admittedly I work with web sites, or simple applications, rather than full on web applications, but I find starting with sensible HTML/CSS/JS and using progressive enhancement usually gets me 95% of the way there.
That was an excellent read. Thank you. I'll admit I'm often reluctant to read to much in to data I deal with daily (web analytics), as I'm unsure of how to measure its significance accurately. I'm going to dive in and learn more about this.
Olicarchification, the new gentrification, is a bitch. What do all of these "successful 'creatives' (architects, cinematographers, commercial and television directors, etc.)" think happened to the people that were living there before them?
I found even after becoming competent in HTML/CSS and learning enough JS to do UI stuff, using APIs was still a mystery to me. Most API documentation is aimed at a more advanced audience.
I could use cURL to make a request, but I couldn't work out how to fit all the pieces together in a web app.
API tutorials which are truly for the beginner are a great idea.
I think you are right about how it reflects a different time.
I doubt many average farmers kids made it through to 8th Grade though. Anyone who was taking the 8th Grade exam was probably reasonably wealthy, looking to continue studying, and take on a profession of some kind.
I don't agree with the everyone's a winner attitude, but a focus on winning, rather than developing young players skill is like teaching kids to do well on a standardized test rather than teaching the fundamentals of the subjects.
There's a risk early 'success' will lead to the players not developing the skills they need to compete later.
(I honestly don't know and would love to learn about this. Thanks)