I think many developers find it difficult to convert from table layouts to CSS positioning.  HTML Goodies has a short article on the subject and I think it explains CSS positioning very well.  You can read the article here.

You can download the platform preview of Internet Explorer 9 here. Try the demos of HTML5 and the hardware-accelerated performance with background compiled JavaScript.  They are impressive.

I have used various scripts to display calendars on websites, and the choice depends on the type of calendar being displayed.  On my business site I use a simple month-at-a-glance calendar that displays the office schedule so that clients will know when the office is closed. For the past several months I have been using a Google calendar to display the office schedule and I have been pleased with the appearance and ease of use.

Microsoft released a platform preview of IE9 at its annual MIX10 developers conference in Las Vegas.

"We saw how HTML5 enabled a whole new class of applications," Dean Hachamovitch, general manager of Microsoft's IE group, told attendees here Tuesday. "We quickly realized to do it right, which is our intent, our focus was more around designing what HTML5 apps will need so they will feel more like real apps than Web pages."

To make it happen, Microsoft is relying on high-performance graphics chips and other PC hardware to accelerate the delivery of graphics, video and text so developers can begin building the most powerful and rich applications possible in HTML5.

"Developers, raise your expectations," Hachamovitch said.

"We've built Internet Explorer 9 from the ground up on top of the Windows 7 platform," Steven Sinofsky, president of Microsoft's Windows division, said during a demo. "We're all in."

IE9 will have support for CSS3, the style sheet language used to describe presentation semantics of documents written in markup language, and for SVG 1.1 imagery inline.

Hachamovitch said Microsoft will update the browser code every eight weeks until it releases a beta version at some undetermined date down the road. It will include new Web standards such as plug-in-free video and a new JavaScript engine called Chakra that will compile data in the background to improve performance without changing pages or code.

Microsoft showed off the early iteration of IE9, running a series of graphics-rich demos that showed its new browser was faster than some of its competitors.

Speaking of competitors, Mike Shaver, vice president of engineering at Mozilla, was gracious enough to tweet some encouraging words during the keynote address, saying "IE9 looks great, very glad to see it."

You can read the full Internet.com article here.

In response to a complaint from Opera Software, a company in Norway that developed the Opera Web browser, Microsoft entered into a settlement agreement with the European Union (EU) that requires Microsoft to offer Windows users in Europe a choice of Web browsers.  Microsoft was to start offering the browser choice this month (March, 2010) and I just received an email from a friend in Europe who says:

The browser choice (Browser Ballot) update to Windows has arrived ! On start up I see a large window telling me how important it is that I choose my browser.  The only options are to select one (or more) for installation, or click "Remind me later". There is no "no thank you" button, no "don't ask me again" button, and no "close" button.  From what I read, "later" means "next time I boot", but so far that hasn't happened for me, so I don't know when I'll be given the choice again.

Finding themselves in the position where they had to offer a choice of browsers, I suspect that Microsoft has deliberately done it in the most clumsy and irritating way possible, so that they can blame any inconvenience on Opera and the EU. "Not us!", they'll say, "We were forced to do it".  Yes, maybe, but they could have complied in a far more user-friendly way. A choice during setup, and maybe a repeat offer of choice once a month, always with a "don't ask me again" option, would have been far more sensible.

A little research has given me the interesting fact that this particular Windows update cannot be uninstalled.  However, that same research also gave me a way to disable it :   http://www.symantec.com/connect/blogs/how-disable-browser-ballot-screen-windows   Take a look at http://support.microsoft.com/kb/2019411

I understand this was not in the initial release, but so many system administrators complained that they would lose control of their networks if everyone had a free choice of browser, that this "get out" had to be made available.  

Those of us in the U. S. and other countries outside the EU may not be safe from the "Browser Ballot."  According to an article in Computerworld, "A lobbying group composed of Microsoft rivals today called on antitrust regulators worldwide to pressure the company into offering a browser ballot screen to their citizens."

VisualLightbox.com, the company that released Visual LightBox and Video LightBox, has just released Visual SlideShow, a program, that lets you add photo slide shows to your website or blog with ease.  Visual SlideShow is very similar to Visual LightBox, but the slide show plays inside the page and doesn't open an overlay window.  Take a look at the following demos and keep in mind that they don't use Flash; Visual SlideShow uses only Javascript, HTML, and CSS.

http://visualslideshow.com/

http://visualslideshow.com/demo.html

http://visualslideshow.com/photo-slideshow.html

Visual SlideShow is free for non-commercial use. If you want to purchase the Business Edition, it provides an option to remove the Visual SlideShow.com credit line and has a feature that lets you put your own logo on images.  From now until March 19, 2010, you can get a 60% discount on the Business Edition ($19.60 instead of $49.00).  Use one of the following links to order Visual SlideShow with a 60% discount:

Visual SlideShow for Windows

Visual SlideShow for Mac

I was reminded today of a post I made to this blog back in 2006 about a CSS tutorial.  I checked and the site is still there, but I'm not sure that "tutorial" is a good description of Albino Blacksheep's Live Design.  Whatever you call it, I think it's a great way to understand what CSS can do.  You can see the Live Design here.

The About.com:WebDesign/HTML blog has announced the 2010 Reader's Choice Awards Winners.  I won't comment other than to say that I'm disappointed that my favorite web designer's web page, Cheap Websites At Webschlock.com, was not even nominated.

Best Product Page Design

Best Information or Content Page Design

Best Use of Images in Web Design

Best Use of Color in Web Design

Best Web Form Page Design

Best Web Designer's Web Page

Best Overall Web Design

Best Windows Web Hosting Provider

Best Linux/UNIX Web Hosting Provider

Best Reseller Web Hosting Provider

Best Cheap or Free Web Hosting

Best Windows Web Editor

Best Mac Web Editor

Best Non-Editor Software for Web Designers

Best Online Web Software for Web Designers

I've purchased enough computers over the years to know that you can get a lemon with any brand.  That's one reason I try to purchase all my computers through Costco Wholesale; Costco allows you to return a system within 90 days of the date of purchase.  I am still very happy with the iBUYPOWER S915i that I purchased from Costco.com a couple of months ago, but Costco no longer carries that model.  However, Costco.com will soon have a sale on an HP HPE 170t Desktop with a 25" LCD monitor.  The system, which has an Intel Core i7-860 @ 2,80 GHz, 8 GB of memory, and a 1 TB hard drive, will be on sale for $1,199.99 from March 11th until April 3rd (Costco Item #483978). It sounds like a good system for development work.  The system is now available on costco.com.  You can see the system here.