My blogging behavior took a hiatus on me, the main reason being a long stay abroad and a lack of time. I still lack time, but blogging is way easier when your Internet connection has a real will to live and work. I'll probably write more about my time in the Middle East later on, but right now the reason I am writing is a recent article I read in A List Apart written by Molly E. Holzschlag titled "Thinking Outside the Grid" (link at the end of text).
In this article, Molly argues that CSS allows us to produce layouts that challenge traditional assumptions about layout, in particular the grid layout. In doing so, she also criticizes the grid layout in itself, and argue for non-grid layouts as preferred to grid layouts for various subjective reasons, of which few I agree with. She briefly mentions the problems inherent in CSS when it comes to producing layouts with stretching columns and grids but apparently doesn't think it is a problem that our since thousands of years learnt and inherited way of visually organizing information is not supported by this technology.
If you liked my blog entry (see below) about CSS where I criticized its inability to making grid layouts an easy stroll in the park, turning them into a one day bathroom cleaning job, you'll probably like Molly's article. It's an interesting read for those not yet familiar with the possibilities of CSS and box model positioning and the shift web design has gone through since CSS made its breakthrough Even though CSS allows us to do many new and exciting things, challenge, improve, it can also confuse and prove that newer isn't always better. CSS is still not a complete solution to the layout problems web professionals face and until that is addressed, it will be a flawed technology.
"Thinking Outside the Grid":
http://alistapart.com/articles/outsidethegrid
My article about CSS and grid layouts: "The problem with CSS and why designers think with tables":
http://www.jakob-persson.com/node/477