It features a chapter on logically marking up page structure with the new semantic tags (header, nav, section, article, etc.), which explains the contexts they should be used in with a hands-on example of restructuring a blog without excessive divs. A lot of online tutorials make the error of suggesting the aside element for a blog sidebar, which the book helpfully points out as wrong. The section element is the proper tag for the job, as it denotes an arbitrary section of the page, whereas aside is for broken-out sections of your article content, such as pullquotes or diagrams.

From there the author moves on to some CSS3 tricks using newly-added selectors. He shows some simple methods to add zebra-striping to tables with pseudo-classes and add visible URLs to links via a print stylesheet with :after. There’s a brief section demonstrating media queries, as well some on the new JavaScript APIs—localStorage and history pushState, for example. There’s even a bit on using cache manifests to set up offline access.

Oh, and the deprecations. HTML5 deprecates a good many tags and attributes. There is a section listing those, as well as some modern alternatives, such as opening links in new windows without the deprecated target attribute. It can be done cleanly and semantically by using JavaScript, without impacting the user’s ability to middle-click a link and open a new tab…which far too many sites still do today. If you do that, you need to read this book just for that reason.

What exactly is VPS.net? They are a provider of Cloud Virtual Private Servers. You can affordably purchase as much hosting firepower as you need, and have full control over the management of it. VPS.net isn’t like other providers though. Their unique “cloud” twist makes things a bit more interesting…

What makes VPS.net different from other services? Instead of simply partitioning a physical server into slices and selling them as virtual servers, VPS.net has what they call a “Virtual Private Server Cloud.” They break their infrastructure into “nodes,” which are blocks of resources (256MB of RAM, 10GB storage, 250GB transfer, and a certain CPU share) that you can pool together in various ways to create custom virtual machines.

Suppose you need a server with 512MB of RAM, 20GB of storage, and 500GB of monthly data transfer. Just order two nodes, create a new virtual machine, and assign the nodes to it. Press the switch to boot it up, and then you can choose one of the many OS images to install. (Ubuntu, CentOS, Gentoo, Debian and Turnkey Linux are are distros available at the present.)

What if you’re experiencing unusually high traffic? Just add another node and assign it to your virtual machine. It will reboot gain access to the new resources. (You can even purchase “temporary” nodes on a $1/day basis, which work great for handling short-term traffic spikes, or creating a temporary development test server.) I really like this concept. It’s very nice to be able to pay for the resources you need when you need them, instead of being stuck upgrading from a $50/month plan to a $100/month plan with a traditional VPS.

The service has seemed stable thus far, and customer support is truly awesome. I’ve rarely seen management so actively involved with their customer community. If I had a pre-sales question, all I had to do was send a quick message on Twitter. Ditlev Bredahl, CEO of the UK2 Group, which is the parent company of VPS.net, participates actively in the VPS.net community forum, along with the rest of the people at the hosting provider.

The servers are speedy, though your mileage will depend on your skills at configuring Linux servers.

I would definitely recommend VPS.net to anyone who has outgrown shared hosting. Between their flexible resource node model and their customer service, they’re definitely worth considering.

Affiliate link: VPS.net.