When you want to embed a map of a location on a webpage the first place to go is Google Maps. This process is slightly complicated for me as I am using the Maps Preview which removes the default sharing options. Maybe this is a plan by Google to move all developers onto the Google Maps JS API. Though how that benefits normal users who don’t know what Javascript is I don’t know. The original method however was to generate an <iframe> HTML block to put in your site. This was to me essentially undecipherable. All the options were cryptic URL parameters. Using a little Javascript is much simpler. You define all your options and then add your map to the relevant <div>. Here is an example:

See the Pen bfdLj by Jonny Barnes (@jonnybarnes) on CodePen

I’ve decided to stop using my DumbQuotes library on my site. I found that there were too many issues. Primarily with raw HTML and code-blocks. The straight-quotes in these sections all needed escaping so my library didn’t mangle anything. So I am now manually typing in curly-quotes using the appropriate keyboard shortcut. This is much simpler to maintain and keeps my markdown clean.

I have also slightly redesigned my site. I was using Skolar and Myriad Pro but found this a little clichéd. I am now using Prenton for titles and Livory for my body text. I’m liking the look so far. For readability I’ve also increased the font-size slightly.

Dan Pallotta gives an excellent TED talk about the differences in how the non-profit and for-profit sectors spend money. In summary, he suggests that our current attitude that charities must spend as little on overhead as possible is actually limiting the amount of good they can do. Who cares about the overhead, what matters is how much money actually gets spent on doing good. In order to grow that number then money will have to be spent. This shouldn’t be stigmatised like it currenly is.

David Cameron has decided the Government needs to do something to protect the innocence of children. How horribly miss-guided he is. There are two main problems that I can see. The first is an ideological problem, the second a logistical one.

##Why? The main issue to be dealt with is child pornography. This is less of a filtering issue. In terms of online consumption it’s mostly adults who can jut turn any filter off. The current strategy of taking any servers found containing CP offline is an effective strategy that we should continue and expand upon.

Then we get legal porn. Filmed with consenting adults acting out various fantasies or fetishes. This is now to be censored by default.

##How? Quite, how?

Here I shall use the terms URI and URL interchangeably to mean the same thing. I appreciate there are subtle differences.

The IndieWeb is a fantastic idea. The web itself is inherently open. No one owns it, no one directly controls it. However, if you aren’t careful what services you use on the web then it can effectively end up that way. We all use the web in a primarily social way these days, social networks if you will. The big three players on the social web are Facebook, Twitter, and Google with their Google+ service. They want you to spend as much of your time as possible on their services in order to maximise their advertising revenues.

This doesn’t play nicely with the inherently open and interoperable foundations of the web. Foundations without which these big players wouldn’t exist.

And thus the IndieWeb is born. A desire to own your social identity and share however little or much of that social presence with these big players you want. Which I think is absolutely right.

But what of URL shortening services?

Some people seem to think that having your very own short URL helps in this cause. Which I suppose it does, but I think only to a small degree. Why do we even need to shorten web addresses? The only situation I think it would be necessary is posting/syndicating to Twitter. Any other service has ample character space to post the full URL, or is sensible and uses annotations. On Twitter however, any link, regardless of how short it is, gets wrapped up in their t.co service.

I therefore don’t currently see any compelling reason to run your own URL shortening service other than simply because you can.

*[URL]: Universal Resource Link *[URI]: Universal Resouce Identifier