Well, I almost flipped the fuck out today trying to deal with all the complicated ins and outs of modern web design. Whatever happened to just presenting the data, having no real form to it, and letting the public sort that shit out on their own when they had time? To just putting up a giant list, unorganized and un categorized. The point was to just get it onto the net, not to make it look nice.
It's is not to be any longer. These days, people associate the look of your site with its validity as an information source. This is particularly disturbing because there is one singluar force out there attempting to screw with the lives and minds of simple web designers the world over. If you've spent any time playing with nested tables and css recently, then you know exactly what force I am talking about: Microsoft.
It is unconscionable the extent to which Microsoft Internet Explorer is willing to destroy a design. Many times, I feel as though my pages should just be viewed with Links (Lynx) and be done with it, since IE is just going to fuck them up beyond recognition anyway.
Another irritant in the world of current web design is the fact that across multiple sets of languages, like HTML, CSS, Javascript, and so forth, there is no standard way to mark items. I have to remember to use = signs and put quotes around ever thing in html, then remember to use semi-colons, colons, and no quotes in CSS.
Adding to this particular annoyance are the endless streams of sites out there, like Edge and the CSS Zen Garden which people keep pointing me to. These sites look great. They have many interesting tricks done with CSS. Now how does this help me in any way shape or form? It's all way over my head, way complicated, never works for me, and does nothing to explain exactly how relative positioning or floats really work. These sites, and a ton of others like them linked on Del.Icio.Us taunt me as if to say: You'll never figure this out, loser! And this is what your site will NEVER look like! Ahahahahahahahahhahahahahaha.
Personally, I am in favor of throwing out HTML, CSS, and everything else associated with webdesign, then starting the fuck over. It's become snarled and complex, and everyone has their own way of doing the same things.