I posted recently about why we no longer need to enter “www” when visiting websites in a browser. The topic is evidently an emotional one as I’ve received a ton of feedback on the matter. For those that missed it, here’s the basic argument:

The reason for using the “www” hostname prefix when entering websites is now a matter of history. It’s old. Deprecated. Outdated. Antiquated. Like websites that only work in Internet Explorer, sites that break when you use the domain alone should be firmly encouraged to join the 21st century. It’s wasteful to type, and it’s cumbersome to pronounce. Consider that it takes nine syllables to properly enunciate three characters.

Some argue that there is still a good reason to separate traffic destined to web servers from that destined to the domain itself. I think this is precisely the idea that’s become obsolete. The reason for that differentiation in the past was that the other protocols were as prolific (or even more prolific) than HTTP at the time. HTTP was just one of many, so it made no sense at the time to give any type of traffic a preference by pointing the root of a given domain to the system that hosted that content.

Things are different now. HTTP is utterly dominant. Any site interacting with the public on any serious scale does so via a web server, so making this the default is a matter of obvious practicality. This doesn’t mean we should abolish the use of hostnames. Hostnames are excellent tools for separating traffic and making meaningful associations with users. The argument here is simply for having the root point to the web content.

Compatibility

There are four basic levels of no-www compatibility:

1. Your site is available via www.domain.tld only. If you use the domain alone your request will fail.
2. Your site is available via both www.domain.tld and domain.tld, but www.domain.tld does not redirect to domain.tld.
3. Your site is available via both www.domain.tld and domain.tld, and www.domain.tld does redirect to domain.tld.
4. Your site is available only via domain.tld and www.domain.tld will break.

I personally recommend webmasters implement #3, and don’t advise #4 for any reason. The discussion here is about improving usability through simplification, not breaking things for the satisfaction of being pedantic.:

So I made some progress tonight on site.

1. Implemented the first version of my custom theme. Got it to work with wp-cache.
2. Enabled the no-www plugin that redirects www.dmiessler.com to dmiessler.com.
3. Changed my permalink structure from /archives/post_id to /category/postname.

So, yeah — good stuff.

This is quite possibly the most sophisticated and refined watch in the world. It’s a tourbillon, made by Patek Philippe, which is the finest watchmaker in the world. They are the Bentley to Rolex’s BMW.

If you doubt me, go read about it.

The “Sky Moon Tourbillon” Ref. 5002 is the first double-faced wristwatch that features a complete presentation of the nocturnal sky on its reverse side. The masterpiece displays the apparent movements of the stars, the orbit of the moon, the moon phases, as well as the hours and minutes in sidereal time.

As was already the case with the Star Caliber 2000, Patek Philippe’s goal in the development of the “Sky Moon Tourbillon” was not so much the number of complications per se. The real objective was to accommodate the most fascinating complications in the small case of a wristwatch: a perpetual calendar with a retrograde date display, a minute repeater, a tourbillon, the display of sidereal time, and a depiction of the nocturnal sky with the motion of the stars, the orbit of the moon, and the moon phases.

The acoustic indication of hours, quarter-hours, and minutes is and undoubtedly remains one of the most spectacular functions that a wristwatch can possess. When the slide on the left of the case is activated, the repeater first strikes the number of hours on a low-tone gong, followed by the quarter-hours with double strikes on the low-tone and a higher-tone gong, and finally by the number of minutes which have elapsed since the last quarter-hour on the higher-tone gong. In the “Sky Moon Tourbillon”, this chime is implemented in a rare and fascinating manner. In the comparatively small volume of a wristwatch, it is extremely difficult to generate a clear and rich-sounding tone.

A few years ago, after intensive collaboration with metallurgists of the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Lausanne, Patek Philippe succeeded in developing an alloy for gongs that create a particularly resonant sound. In the meantime, this alloy has been refined, making it possible to produce a special gong that can be more than one case circumference long. It is called “cathedral gong” because it renders the hour strike with a rich, full-bodied tone that like the bells in a cathedral reverberates for a particularly long period of time.

I do love beautiful things.

The William-Henry GenTac. That’s Titanium, Blue Saphire, Carbon Fiber, and a Damascus overlay on top of a ZDP-189 blade.

For anyone wondering why they can’t get their own custom theme to generate cached pages through wp-cache, the answer is simple. Make sure you call the wp_head() function within your HEAD section of your index.php file.

I’ve been wondering how to do this for some time now. I think I have the answer: capitalize everything except for the filler words.

It’s silly that I even wondered about this for more than 5 seconds. There’s a simple way to solve these debates — figure out how the best in the world are doing it and copy them.

It’s no longer necessary to use “www” when referring to websites. It’s a waste of storage, a waste of ink, and it takes 2-5 times as long to pronounce as saying the domain by itself. Enter no-www.

No-www is an initiative to make all websites accessible from both the http://www.example.com/ and http://example.com/ forms of their names. The reason behind it is to standardize domain names providing web content and to avoid typing unnecessary letters. — Wikipedia

The reason for using the “www” hostname prefix when entering websites is now a matter of history. It’s old. Deprecated. Outdated. Antiquated. Like websites that only work in Internet Explorer, sites that break when you use the domain alone should be firmly encouraged to join the 21st century. It’s wasteful to type, and it’s cumbersome to pronounce. Consider that it takes nine syllables to properly enunciate three characters.

Some argue that there is still a good reason to separate traffic destined to web servers from that destined to the domain itself. I think this is precisely the idea that’s become obsolete. The reason for that differentiation in the past was that the other protocols were as prolific (or even more prolific) than HTTP at the time. HTTP was just one of many options, so it made no sense to give any type of traffic a preference by pointing the root of a given domain to the system that hosted that content.

Things are different now. HTTP is utterly dominant. Sites interacting with the public on any serious scale does so via a web server, so making this the default is a matter of obvious practicality. This doesn’t mean we should abolish the use of hostnames. Hostnames are excellent tools for separating traffic and making meaningful associations with users. The argument here is simply for having the root point to the web content as a matter of convention.

As for people who include it when speaking, there’s no need to be rude when correcting them. Just kindly inform them that it’s faster if they just go to the domain itself, and that the “www” isn’t needed.

For more information, check out the no-www FAQ, and feel free to fly their sitecon seen above.:

[Edited 07.27.07]

xkcd

When I go out to eat I often just drive and wait for life to put me somewhere. I especially do this when traveling and in a foreign city in a foreign car.

–

I drive and drive. Oh, a steakhouse on the left…let me see if I can get in the turning lane… Nope. They wouldn’t let me in. Already passed it… It wasn’t mean to be.

Hmm, a cross-street with lots of cars. Probably some good resturaunts there. Turn right. Seafood would actually be good. Hey, there’s one on the right. Let’s do that. Uh…too full.

Something cool comes on the radio. Listen. Think. Forget that I’m looking for food. County line. Uh oh. Oh well, I’m sure there’s food somewhere in this county. And I’ve never been here before.  This should be fun.

–

It is said that variety is the spice of life, but I say it’s the freedom to explore the world and become enamored with its offerings.

It’s not a record. It doesn’t count. He cheated by using steroids while the previous record holder didn’t.

Counting Bonds’s number of home runs is like counting a runner’s sprint made on a bike.

Honestly, why is anyone still watching Baseball? Bonds, McGuire, and Sosa are the biggest draws to the sport and they’ve all been discredited. The sport had it’s time, and it was great, but it’s time to let it go.

The upcoming record-breaking events are hollow. They aren’t real because they are the result of illegal and unnatural enhancements. Screw them and screw Baseball for letting things come to this.