Time is passing by
CSS selectors all exist within the same global scope. Anyone who has worked with CSS long enough has had to come to terms with its aggressively global nature — a model clearly designed in the age of documents, now struggling to offer a sane working environment for today’s modern web applications. Every selector has the potential to have unintended side effects by targeting unwanted elements or clashing with other selectors. More surprisingly, our selectors may even lose out in the global specificity war, ultimately having little or no effect on the page at all.
Any time we make a change to a CSS file, we need to carefully consider the global environment in which our styles will sit. No other front end technology requires so much discipline just to keep the code at a minimum level of maintainability. But it doesn’t have to be this way. It’s time to leave the era of global style sheets behind.
It’s time for local CSS.
In other languages, it’s accepted that modifying the global environment is something to be done rarely, if ever.
In the JavaScript community, thanks to tools like Browserify, Webpack and JSPM, it’s now expected that our code will consist of small modules, each encapsulating their explicit dependencies, exporting a minimal API.
Yet, somehow, CSS still seems to be getting a free pass.
Many of us — myself included, until recently — have been working with CSS so long that we don’t see the lack of local scope as a problem that we can solve without significant help from browser vendors. Even then, we’d still need to wait for the majority of our users to be using a browser with proper Shadow DOM support.
We’ve worked around the issues of global scope with a series of naming conventions like OOCSS, SMACSS, BEM and SUIT, each providing a way for us to avoid naming collisions and emulate sane scoping rules.
We no longer need to add lengthy prefixes to all of our selectors to simulate scoping. More components could define their own foo and bar identifiers which — unlike the traditional global selector model—wouldn’t produce any naming collisions.
import styles from './MyComponent.css';
import React, { Component } from 'react';
export default class MyComponent extends Component {
render() {
return (
<div>
<div className={styles.foo}>Foo</div>
<div className={styles.bar}>Bar</div>
</div>
);
}
The benefits of global CSS — style re-use between components via utility classes, etc. — are still achievable with this model. The key difference is that, just like when we work in other technologies, we need to explicitly import the classes that we depend on. Our code can’t make many, if any, assumptions about the global environment.
Writing maintainable CSS is now encouraged, not by careful adherence to a naming convention, but by style encapsulation during development.
Once you’ve tried working with local CSS, there’s really no going back. Experiencing true local scope in our style sheets — in a way that works across all browsers— is not something to be easily ignored.
Introducing local scope has had a significant ripple effect on how we approach our CSS. Naming conventions, patterns of re-use, and the potential extraction of styles into separate packages are all directly affected by this shift, and we’re only at the beginning of this new era of local CSS.
process.env.NODE_ENV === 'development' ?
'[name]__[local]___[hash:base64:5]' :
'[hash:base64:5]'
)
Understanding the ramifications of this shift is something that we’re still working through. With your valuable input and experimentation, I’m hoping that this is a conversation we can have together as a larger community.
Note: Automatically optimising style re-use between components would be an amazing step forward, but it definitely requires help from people a lot smarter than me.
My tech travel setup
MacBook Pro
Robert Capa, a famous photojournalist once said, “If your pictures aren’t good enough, you’re not close enough.” It’s not just about zooming in with your lens, either. It’s about getting physically closer to people and getting to know them better. It’s also about spending a little time with a stranger before taking their photo. That helps build the trust and comfort that’ll come through in your pictures. Walk up to your subject with a simple wave and a smile to help communicate that you mean no harm.
Ask permission to take a photo if they speak the same language as you. If you don’t share a language, try learning some basic phrases ahead of time, gesture at your camera and ask through expression. Of course if someone doesn’t want their picture taken, it’s imperative to respect their wishes and move on — people are always more important than photographs. National Geographic writes that “making great pictures is primarily a mental process.” What makes you want to photograph the person or place? How might you describe it to a friend, and what adjectives would you use? Are there details you can focus on that tell a story?
iPad/iPhone
Maybe it’s a dry, arid desert, captured by focusing on the patterns of cracked earth. Or a prairie that’s photographed with the horizon at the bottom of the frame, to help create a sense of the open sky and tranquility. Or maybe it’s the story of a deft artisan, fingernails covered in wet clay as she molds a pot. When you’re on the road it can be tough to eat right and make sure you get all the right nutrients. I started taking daily supplements of Multi-Vitamin, Fish Oil capsules and Vitamin D and it helps a lot. Especially the Vitamin D since I don’t get to see the sun a lot during the winter in Sweden.
Sennheiser HD-25 Headphones
It’s difficult to recreate the grandeur of a vast landscape in the confines of a picture frame. But one way to add a sense of depth to your photos is to compose them with objects in the foreground that support the scene. It can be as simple as a winding road through a national park, or some rocks to show off the local geology.
If you’re taking photos of people during normal daylight hours, a quick way to get more flattering light is to move the person out of direct sunlight. The light is much “softer” and doesn’t cast stark, unflattering shadows across their facial features. Even better, have someone stand next to an open door or window as the single source of light.
Working from your home?
01. Wake up at the same time every day.
Naturally, my first impression of these headphones is based off of the look of them. They have a classic over-the-ear style that is highlighted by a blue LED light that indicates the power for the noise canceling. The padding on the ear pieces seems adequate for extended usage periods.
They are wired headphones, but the 3.5mm stereo mini-plug cable is detachable. Something else I noticed right of the bat was the very nice carrying case that comes with them. It has a hard plastic exterior with a soft cloth interior that helps to protect the surface of the headphones from scratches. I never truly appreciated cases for headphones until I started carrying them from place-to-place. Now I can’t imagine not having a case.
It’s funny — the thing I feared would take away my “freedom” is the one thing that has allowed me to have it.
Joelle Steiniger
02. Have a routine when you wake up.
Once I gave the headphones a thorough once-over exam, I tried them on. As I mentioned, they have a classic over-the-ear style and just looking at them, the padding on the ear pieces seem adequate and the peak of the headband seemed to be a bit lacking, but you don’t really know comfort unless you try on the product. So, I slipped the headphones on and found them to be exquisitely comfortable. In order to test how voices sounded, and the overall art of sound mixing, I pulled up Netflix on my iPad Air 2 and watched a few minutes of a movie to hear all the nuances of the film. None of them were lost. In fact, I ended up hearing sounds that I hadn’t heard before. Echoes…birds chirping…wind blowing through trees…breathing of the characters…it was very impressive what the headphones ended up bringing out for me.
I’d start my day by checking email, Twitter, Facebook. Reading the “news”. I’d look at my to-do list and start working on something.
03. Plan your workout time — stick to it.
Now that I had the headphones on my head, I was finally ready to plug and play some music. I plugged the provided cable into the jack on the headphones and then the one on my iPhone 6. Then I called up Pandora. I tend to have a very eclectic music purview and have many stations set up for different moods. From John Williams to Fallout Boy, the sound quality of these headphones was remarkable. There is an amazing depth of sound and incredible highs and lows that make listening to music a truly breathtaking experience.
In order to test how voices sounded, and the overall art of sound mixing, I pulled up Netflix on my iPad Air 2 and watched a few minutes of a movie to hear all the nuances of the film. None of them were lost. In fact, I ended up hearing sounds that I hadn’t heard before. Echoes…birds chirping…wind blowing through trees…breathing of the characters…it was very impressive what the headphones ended up bringing out for me.
Distractions aside, there was no real rhyme or reason to my workflow. The not-so-fun (but necessary) stuff kept getting neglected.
04. Call it a night.
Now that I had the headphones on my head, I was finally ready to plug and play some music. I plugged the provided cable into the jack on the headphones and then the one on my iPhone 6. Then I called up Pandora. I tend to have a very eclectic music purview and have many stations set up for different moods. From John Williams to Fallout Boy, the sound quality of these headphones was remarkable. There is an amazing depth of sound and incredible highs and lows that make listening to music a truly breathtaking experience.
In order to test how voices sounded, and the overall art of sound mixing, I pulled up Netflix on my iPad Air 2 and watched a few minutes of a movie to hear all the nuances of the film. None of them were lost. In fact, I ended up hearing sounds that I hadn’t heard before. Echoes…birds chirping…wind blowing through trees…breathing of the characters…it was very impressive what the headphones ended up bringing out for me.
Trust in your intuitions
Once I gave the headphones a thorough once-over exam, I tried them on. As I mentioned, they have a classic over-the-ear style and just looking at them, the padding on the ear pieces seem adequate and the peak of the headband seemed to be a bit lacking, but you don’t really know comfort unless you try on the product. So, I slipped the headphones on and found them to be exquisitely comfortable. Once I gave the headphones a thorough once-over exam, I tried them on. As I mentioned, they have a classic over-the-ear style and just looking at them, the padding on the ear pieces seem adequate and the peak of the headband seemed to be a bit lacking, but you don’t really know comfort unless you try on the product. So, I slipped the headphones on and found them to be exquisitely comfortable.
If no one hates you, no one is paying attention. If attention is what you want for vanity, confidence, or, hell — to make a decent living — then know that it’s not instantaneous. Every single person that you’re currently paying attention to, at some point in their lives, was in your exact position.
You need to be
true to yourself
Just like every other human on the planet, I have epically awesome days and days when life just turne against me. And while I can’t stand most self-help (see: tired quotes over stock photography on Instagram), sometimes I need a little pick-me-up. And most of the time, in order to get out of a slump (because my brain leans more into math/science than anything else), I need to drop a logic bomb on my ass.
Yes, this is a long article. But here’s the thing — if you’re reading this in your inbox and are already like, “fuck this!” delete it. No hard feelings. If you’re reading this in a browser on a website, and you see how tiny the scroll-bar is because of how far you still have to scroll to get to the bottom, close this tab and go back to 140-character tidbits of advice. Still with me? Phew. Just had to weed out all the folks from points: #1, #4 and #8. Welcome friends, onward we go.
Remember to
never give up
If no one hates you, no one is paying attention. If attention is what you want for vanity, confidence, or, hell — to make a decent living — then know that it’s not instantaneous. Every single person that you’re currently paying attention to, at some point in their lives, was in your exact position. They kept at it and worked enough so that others started listening. Also know that if no one is watching, you can experience true freedom. Dance in your underwear. Write entirely for yourself. Like there’s a going-out-of-business sale. Find yourself — not in some coming-of-age hippie way involving pasta and ashrams— but in a way that helps you draw your own line in the sand for what matters and what doesn’t. Do what you want to do, just because you want to do that thing. This will build confidence that will come in handy later.
Once I gave the headphones a thorough once-over exam, I tried them on. As I mentioned, they have a classic over-the-ear style and just looking at them, the padding on the ear pieces seem adequate and the peak of the headband seemed to be a bit lacking, but you don’t really know comfort unless you try on the product. So, I slipped the headphones on and found them to be exquisitely comfortable. Once I gave the headphones a thorough once-over exam, I tried them on. As I mentioned, they have a classic over-the-ear style and just looking at them, the padding on the ear pieces seem adequate and the peak of the headband seemed to be a bit lacking, but you don’t really know comfort unless you try on the product. So, I slipped the headphones on and found them to be exquisitely comfortable.
If no one hates you, no one is paying attention. If attention is what you want for vanity, confidence, or, hell — to make a decent living — then know that it’s not instantaneous. Every single person that you’re currently paying attention to, at some point in their lives, was in your exact position. They kept at it and worked enough so that others started listening. Also know that if no one is watching, you can experience true freedom. Dance in your underwear. Write entirely for yourself. Like there’s a going-out-of-business sale. Find yourself — not in some coming-of-age hippie way involving pasta and ashrams— but in a way that helps you draw your own line in the sand for what matters and what doesn’t. Do what you want to do, just because you want to do that thing. This will build confidence that will come in handy later.
Stumbled the concept
Uncategorized
••6 MinutesPRIMER PASO: CAMBIAR LA PERSPECTIVA, LAS PREGUNTAS Y EL MODO DE ACERCAMOS A LA INFORMACIÓN
Entender a nuestra audiencia en la complejidad del mercado actual es un desafío. Se requiere una mentalidad ágil, capaz de sintetizar enormes cantidades de información con la perspectiva correcta. La industria del entretenimiento está cambiando su manera de hacer negocios, adaptando sus modelos a esta nueva generación. Las nuevas audiencias son nómadas, multitarea, experienciales, agnósticas de formato e impredecibles. No hay dos espectadores iguales. Dentro del mismo grupo demográfico pueden no compartir gustos o intereses, y la mayoría de las veces, son indiferentes a las costosas estrategias de marketing de hoy en día. Pero si realmente queremos entender a nuestro público y como interactúan con nuestro contenido, tenemos que cambiar las preguntas y el modo de acercamos a la información. Con cada ‘tweet’, ‘me gusta’ ó ‘selfie’ se multiplican las chances, y si no estás sincronizado con el comportamiento de tu audiencia, o monetizando tus contenidos, otra persona lo hará. La competencia es dura.
ENTENDER A TU AUDIENCIA SE PARECE MUCHO A UNA “PRIMERA CITA”
Existen varias herramientas muy buenas de análisis de datos que buscan conexiones en la información, identificando hechos y comportamientos. Pero hay otros factores que no están en el reporte. Cuando se trata de entender a tu público, toda la información que puedas obtener es importante. Pero hay que ser inteligente y sensible para comprenderlos efectivamente. Es vital aprender a leer los signos, evaluar la información obtenida, y ajustar el acercamiento según sea necesario. Entender a tu audiencia se parece mucho a una “primera cita”, y la analítica es una forma de medir el “lenguaje corporal” de tu audiencia.
¡Seguro que obtendrás toneladas de datos! Desde mediciones en tiempo real, provenientes de herramientas de medición, hasta los reportes de mercado de tus propios productos, sean físicos o digitales. Estas mediciones te darán una idea aproximada de tus puntos fuertes y hasta donde puedes “coquetear” con tu audiencia. Contar con todos los detalles es importante, pero saber seleccionar la información es la clave.
Debes poder adaptarte rápidamente y ser flexible. Así como una sonrisa sutil, gestos, miradas y movimientos son importantes en una cita, hay varios indicadores que nos dicen lo que pasa por la “cabeza” de nuestra audiencia.Presta atención a las tendencias, las noticias relevantes de hoy, las redes sociales; El ‘timing’ es importantísimo. Incluso el clima te puede dar una métrica que los algoritmos hayan pasado por alto.
El “lenguaje corporal” la clave en toda relación
Simiras atentamente las señales. El “lenguaje corporal” de tu audiencia se vera tan claro como “Neo” ve a la Matrix. Un ejemplo muy actual fue el film Jurassic World. El lenguaje corporal de la audiencia fue bastante claro: durante el weekend del estreno, la tasa de vídeos compartidos en YouTube relacionados fue de 45 a 1 (la media es 9 a 1). El tráiler oficial en el canal oficial de Universal tuvo 66,6 millones de vistas (apoyando las razones de empresas que invierten en canales web). Twitter casi se rompió con su #JurassicWorld que alcanzó un máximo de 63K. La conversación en las redes sociales durante la cita fue muy fluida. Miles y millones de personas compartieron el trailer con su comunidad. Esto seria casi el equivalente a una intención de compra, un beso.
Otro factor fue que ese fin de semana no hubo grandes eventos deportivos, ni semifinales de futbol en TV. Sumemos también a Chris Pratt mostrando el torso –para las damas- incluso calendarios escolares y shows de TV estuvieron repletos de dinosaurios semanas previas del estreno. Por último, parece que familias enteras disfrutan de ver como ¡Pterosaurios se alimentan de turistas! ¡Puro entretenimiento familiar! Mundo Jurásico batió varios récords, siendo el film con mayor recaudación histórica en su estreno con unos lindos $511,8 millones de dólares en ventas sólo de entradas globales, superando incluso Harry Potter y la Cámara de los secretos. ¡Qué buena cita tuvo Universal Studios!
Conclusión. Las audiencias consumen e interactúan de las maneras más inesperadas, y hay que estar preparados para prestar atención, tanto a los reportes y datos analíticos como a lo que esta sucediendo fuera de ellos, casi en tiempo real. Los datos son generados por la misma audiencia que los consume, a través de sus propios dispositivos vía chat, canales online, redes sociales ó tweets. Hay que prestar atención a la “vibra” del lenguaje corporal y saber utilizarla a nuestro favor. Las analíticas pueden ser difíciles de entender, pero son sólo una parte de los datos. Mantente tranquilo, se tu mismo, observa y responde con la actitud justa, quizás este sea el inicio de una relación inolvidable.