A hue angle of 270 degrees, a saturation of 50% and a lightness of 40%
June 21, 2014 8:23 AM Subscribe
Eric Meyer is an expert on the Cascading Style Sheets (CSS) system used to control the appearance of web documents. He's the author of multiple books on CSS, and the "chaperone" of the css-discuss mailing list. His daughter, Rebecca, passed away, and her family asked that those attending memorial services wear purple, her favorite color. Dominique Hazaël-Massieux requested that a purple be added to the CSS color list be named "Becca Purple" in her memory. Eric suggested that it be named
rebeccapurple because his daughter wanted everyone to call her Rebecca after she turned six, and she was six for almost twelve hours. Today, a co-chair of the CSS Working Group announced approval of the change. From now on, rebeccapurple means #663399.She made it to six. For almost twelve hours, she was six.
How can anyone type those words, or read them, without falling to pieces.
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posted by Brainy at 8:34 AM on June 21, 2014 [93 favorites]
How can anyone type those words, or read them, without falling to pieces.
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posted by Brainy at 8:34 AM on June 21, 2014 [93 favorites]
Eric is a fraternity brother of mine. I don't know him that well because he graduated shortly before I pledged, but I've met him a few times. My heart is still hurting so much for him and his family.
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posted by starvingartist at 8:37 AM on June 21, 2014 [1 favorite]
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posted by starvingartist at 8:37 AM on June 21, 2014 [1 favorite]
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posted by mikelieman at 8:41 AM on June 21, 2014 [1 favorite]
posted by mikelieman at 8:41 AM on June 21, 2014 [1 favorite]
I'm so glad they approved.
This is what makes a "community" more than just a collection of people.
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posted by BinaryApe at 8:43 AM on June 21, 2014 [13 favorites]
This is what makes a "community" more than just a collection of people.
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posted by BinaryApe at 8:43 AM on June 21, 2014 [13 favorites]
Every one of those links brought tears to my eyes. Then I saw that rebeccapurple was the color of my bedroom walls when I was six and the tears flowed.
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posted by danabanana at 8:48 AM on June 21, 2014 [4 favorites]
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posted by danabanana at 8:48 AM on June 21, 2014 [4 favorites]
I'd learned about Rebecca earlier this week elsewhere on the 'Net, and gone through Mr. Meyer's blog entries about her. Nothing I can say about it that isn't screamingly obvious without words. She was a fierce little girl.
But I am glad to learn of rebeccapurple, and I will remember. (It is one of my favorite tones, too.)
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posted by seyirci at 9:01 AM on June 21, 2014 [1 favorite]
But I am glad to learn of rebeccapurple, and I will remember. (It is one of my favorite tones, too.)
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posted by seyirci at 9:01 AM on June 21, 2014 [1 favorite]
Are there any other known examples of vanity (or sympathy, if you'd rather) definitions in the CSS specification? How about in other web standards?
posted by The Confessor at 9:06 AM on June 21, 2014
posted by The Confessor at 9:06 AM on June 21, 2014
Vanity would be for someone to name a facet of specs after themselves. I consider this more a tribute than sympathy. Such tributes are common in biological sciences, and elsewhere, too.
posted by filthy light thief at 9:19 AM on June 21, 2014 [15 favorites]
posted by filthy light thief at 9:19 AM on June 21, 2014 [15 favorites]
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Rebecca sounds like a wonderful girl. This is a great memorial.
posted by arcticseal at 9:41 AM on June 21, 2014
Rebecca sounds like a wonderful girl. This is a great memorial.
posted by arcticseal at 9:41 AM on June 21, 2014
I apologize if my use of "vanity" was offensive; no offense was intended. It was simply one of very few descriptors for this sort of action that came to my mind. And I agree that "tribute" is better than my suggested alternative of "sympathy."
posted by The Confessor at 9:45 AM on June 21, 2014 [10 favorites]
posted by The Confessor at 9:45 AM on June 21, 2014 [10 favorites]
Confessor: not a web standard, but I've heard comparisons made to an in-game World of Warcraft shrine to a member of the development team who passed away. I'm sure there are plenty of other examples out there in tech, on top of the many in biology that have already been mentioned.
posted by Itaxpica at 9:47 AM on June 21, 2014 [1 favorite]
posted by Itaxpica at 9:47 AM on June 21, 2014 [1 favorite]
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posted by Monkey0nCrack at 9:48 AM on June 21, 2014
posted by Monkey0nCrack at 9:48 AM on June 21, 2014
This is beautiful.
posted by Brandon Blatcher at 9:53 AM on June 21, 2014 [4 favorites]
posted by Brandon Blatcher at 9:53 AM on June 21, 2014 [4 favorites]
Usually when I'm crying reading computer spec's it's out of frustration, not sadness and sympathy.
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posted by benito.strauss at 9:53 AM on June 21, 2014 [11 favorites]
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posted by benito.strauss at 9:53 AM on June 21, 2014 [11 favorites]
I clicked the rebecca tag on Meyer's site. It might made harder because I have a young daughter, but I could not even remotely get through those postings, it is so utterly honest and heart breaking. Those are the kind of things that haunt you (the reader, I cannot even imagine for the family) for a long time, but at least for the better I think.
posted by Bovine Love at 9:54 AM on June 21, 2014 [1 favorite]
posted by Bovine Love at 9:54 AM on June 21, 2014 [1 favorite]
Confessor: Yes, AliceBlue is named after Theodore Roosevelt's daughter, Alice, who fancied a similar shade of blue.
posted by kerri9494 at 9:58 AM on June 21, 2014 [3 favorites]
posted by kerri9494 at 9:58 AM on June 21, 2014 [3 favorites]
Well those biological tributes seem to be a bit different to me. Famous peoples names being incorporated into the taxological names of various creatures.
This just seems inane really.... The individual reduced to a "favourite colour". Forever remembered for something so arbitrary as a particular affection for purple.
posted by mary8nne at 10:01 AM on June 21, 2014 [2 favorites]
This just seems inane really.... The individual reduced to a "favourite colour". Forever remembered for something so arbitrary as a particular affection for purple.
posted by mary8nne at 10:01 AM on June 21, 2014 [2 favorites]
That's a lovely color, and a lovely memorial. I'm so sorry for the family's heartbreak.
posted by rtha at 10:08 AM on June 21, 2014
posted by rtha at 10:08 AM on June 21, 2014
I met him briefly at AEA last year when the speakers and some of the attendees went out to dinner, and followed along with a breaking heart as he told the story of his daughter.
Eric Meyer's contributions to web standards and CSS are exemplary, and the community has rallied around him as our hearts broke along with his through these events. The number of purple avatars in my Twitter feed made me glad to be part of the community. We do what we can but it will never be enough.
posted by fifteen schnitzengruben is my limit at 10:11 AM on June 21, 2014 [3 favorites]
Eric Meyer's contributions to web standards and CSS are exemplary, and the community has rallied around him as our hearts broke along with his through these events. The number of purple avatars in my Twitter feed made me glad to be part of the community. We do what we can but it will never be enough.
posted by fifteen schnitzengruben is my limit at 10:11 AM on June 21, 2014 [3 favorites]
Itaxpica: Along those same lines, the Tasker and Theo legendary gloves provide a substantial damage bonus to "pet" builds in Blizzard's Diablo 3, and are highly sought-after. Now meet their namesake.
On preview, thank you kerri9494.
I'm aware that "tribute" names and definitions are common in other contexts and fields, but I hadn't recalled any examples in HTML, CSS, Javascript, or [the standard libraries of] any of the other web design and programming paradigms that I have at least a passing familiarity with.
It turns out that "aliceblue" is only a few shades removed from a color I use often on my own website... although mine is a bit more muted @ #F8F8FF vs. #F0F8FF.
posted by The Confessor at 10:12 AM on June 21, 2014 [2 favorites]
On preview, thank you kerri9494.
I'm aware that "tribute" names and definitions are common in other contexts and fields, but I hadn't recalled any examples in HTML, CSS, Javascript, or [the standard libraries of] any of the other web design and programming paradigms that I have at least a passing familiarity with.
It turns out that "aliceblue" is only a few shades removed from a color I use often on my own website... although mine is a bit more muted @ #F8F8FF vs. #F0F8FF.
posted by The Confessor at 10:12 AM on June 21, 2014 [2 favorites]
filthylightthief, I don't think life scientists are allowed to fabricate new species in order to pay tribute to family members.
posted by nixt at 10:25 AM on June 21, 2014
posted by nixt at 10:25 AM on June 21, 2014
Forever remembered for something so arbitrary as a particular affection for purple.The tribute is the important part, not the worthiness of the remembered attribute. Six year olds typically don't have a long list of significant deeds and traits to memorialize, because they're six.
posted by zamboni at 10:27 AM on June 21, 2014 [72 favorites]
Eric Meyer's well-thumbed books have been on my desk for years. I have a stylesheet that's going to get an update now.
posted by sageleaf at 10:34 AM on June 21, 2014 [3 favorites]
posted by sageleaf at 10:34 AM on June 21, 2014 [3 favorites]
Pluto's moon Charon is pronounced Sharon, after the discoverer's wife Charlene. The IAU stuck to this pronunciation instead of the classical chi sound of Χάρων.
All things considered, naming a color in a list of colors that already includes X11 favorites like dodgerblue, aliceblue, and gainsboro seems small. And it's a fitting tribute to a future cut short and a man that got CSS where it is today.
posted by dw at 10:42 AM on June 21, 2014 [9 favorites]
All things considered, naming a color in a list of colors that already includes X11 favorites like dodgerblue, aliceblue, and gainsboro seems small. And it's a fitting tribute to a future cut short and a man that got CSS where it is today.
posted by dw at 10:42 AM on June 21, 2014 [9 favorites]
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posted by Tell Me No Lies at 11:05 AM on June 21, 2014
posted by Tell Me No Lies at 11:05 AM on June 21, 2014
Great post thanks. I'll wait untill I am emotionally able to read the links later on.
But this? This is what makes Mefi such a great place.
[edited for many typoes]
posted by Faintdreams at 11:11 AM on June 21, 2014
But this? This is what makes Mefi such a great place.
[edited for many typoes]
posted by Faintdreams at 11:11 AM on June 21, 2014
So long as men can breathe or eyes can see,
So long lives this, and this gives life to thee.
posted by Thing at 11:13 AM on June 21, 2014 [19 favorites]
So long lives this, and this gives life to thee.
posted by Thing at 11:13 AM on June 21, 2014 [19 favorites]
Wow, surprised and glad that the request was honored. It's a beautiful color for a beautiful girl.
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posted by Foci for Analysis at 11:25 AM on June 21, 2014 [3 favorites]
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posted by Foci for Analysis at 11:25 AM on June 21, 2014 [3 favorites]
From one Rebecca with purple hair to another who loved the color.
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posted by rewil at 11:44 AM on June 21, 2014 [7 favorites]
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posted by rewil at 11:44 AM on June 21, 2014 [7 favorites]
all of this is beautiful. and thanks to this page, i can say that rebeccapurple is truly a beautiful color.
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posted by raihan_ at 11:50 AM on June 21, 2014 [2 favorites]
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posted by raihan_ at 11:50 AM on June 21, 2014 [2 favorites]
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Thanks, Matt. I had looked at this page early today, and refreshed just now -- what a touching surprise.
posted by metaquarry at 11:54 AM on June 21, 2014 [23 favorites]
Thanks, Matt. I had looked at this page early today, and refreshed just now -- what a touching surprise.
posted by metaquarry at 11:54 AM on June 21, 2014 [23 favorites]
OMG I gasped and started crying again when I refreshed the page and it was purple. This place, I just can't ....
posted by danabanana at 12:01 PM on June 21, 2014 [38 favorites]
posted by danabanana at 12:01 PM on June 21, 2014 [38 favorites]
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posted by MrBadExample at 12:02 PM on June 21, 2014
posted by MrBadExample at 12:02 PM on June 21, 2014
THE PURPLE THREAD
and the tribute and the whole thing.
Just lovely. Thanks for the post.
posted by sweetkid at 12:03 PM on June 21, 2014 [1 favorite]
and the tribute and the whole thing.
Just lovely. Thanks for the post.
posted by sweetkid at 12:03 PM on June 21, 2014 [1 favorite]
I came across the sad news a few weeks ago on Twitter, the day it happened. I was basically destroyed for the rest of the day, even though I had never heard of Eric Meyer or his family. The way he wrote about it was that heartbreakingly honest and ... Thorough? Complete? Detailed? I don't know. He really plainly communicated what a huge loss occurred, not just for his family but for everything Rebecca might have done. It's true that this is apllicable to everyone who dies but that's generly not regarded as a good reason to not honor those individuals. I was interested to read that some people were against this because it sets a bad precedent/ creates a slippery slope. But who cares? There's 999,999 possible hex codes. Maybe in 30 years each one will be named after someone who died. Would that be so bad? It's not like they're mandatory.
posted by bleep at 12:04 PM on June 21, 2014 [12 favorites]
posted by bleep at 12:04 PM on June 21, 2014 [12 favorites]
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posted by Hairy Lobster at 12:10 PM on June 21, 2014
posted by Hairy Lobster at 12:10 PM on June 21, 2014
Heh. Recent Activity strips out the <style> tags in mathowie's comment but leaves their contents, and when skimming I thought someone was just writing some CSS as a comment as part of grieving, not noticing that it was #1. Then someone mentioned the thread turning purple and everything made sense.
posted by Rhomboid at 12:10 PM on June 21, 2014 [4 favorites]
posted by Rhomboid at 12:10 PM on June 21, 2014 [4 favorites]
This was the purple I used to use so many years (dg, decades?!) ago in my first blog, #663399. I think I'll go out and use it again for old times. (Though it did make opening this page confusing to me for a moment.) What a sweet tribute.
posted by _paegan_ at 12:12 PM on June 21, 2014
posted by _paegan_ at 12:12 PM on June 21, 2014
16,777,216 possible hex codes as each digit represents 16 possible values (16^6).
Also, fuck cancer.
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posted by tepidmonkey at 12:14 PM on June 21, 2014 [3 favorites]
Also, fuck cancer.
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posted by tepidmonkey at 12:14 PM on June 21, 2014 [3 favorites]
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Now downstairs to hug my daughter and hope that any tributes to her will be long after I am gone.
posted by TedW at 12:18 PM on June 21, 2014 [1 favorite]
Now downstairs to hug my daughter and hope that any tributes to her will be long after I am gone.
posted by TedW at 12:18 PM on June 21, 2014 [1 favorite]
Its awesome that the background here is that color.
Huh, the little girl that turned the web purple.
Now I'm crying.
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posted by The Vice Admiral of the Narrow Seas at 12:19 PM on June 21, 2014 [2 favorites]
Huh, the little girl that turned the web purple.
Now I'm crying.
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posted by The Vice Admiral of the Narrow Seas at 12:19 PM on June 21, 2014 [2 favorites]
I don't think I've ever had a background color make me cry before.
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posted by Lyn Never at 12:23 PM on June 21, 2014 [16 favorites]
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posted by Lyn Never at 12:23 PM on June 21, 2014 [16 favorites]
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posted by CrystalDave at 12:26 PM on June 21, 2014
posted by CrystalDave at 12:26 PM on June 21, 2014
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posted by maggiemaggie at 12:26 PM on June 21, 2014
posted by maggiemaggie at 12:26 PM on June 21, 2014
Although this background color is decidedly unprofessional, I think we can bend the regulations this once.
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posted by escape from the potato planet at 12:34 PM on June 21, 2014 [5 favorites]
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posted by escape from the potato planet at 12:34 PM on June 21, 2014 [5 favorites]
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posted by waxpancake at 12:39 PM on June 21, 2014
posted by waxpancake at 12:39 PM on June 21, 2014
Heh. Recent Activity strips out the tags in mathowie's comment but leaves their contents, and when skimming I thought someone was just writing some CSS as a comment ...
I took me a while to figure out what you were referring to, not having seen the comment in Recent Activity. And then "A-ha!". Nicely done, Matt, nicely done.
[For those who aren't into HTML, here's what happened. Matt (ab)used his mod privileges to include a <style> tag in his comment. (If a normal user tried this the <style> tag would have been stripped.) This style tag contained CSS that forced the background of the entire page to rebeccapurple. An elegant hack. ]
posted by benito.strauss at 12:39 PM on June 21, 2014 [11 favorites]
I took me a while to figure out what you were referring to, not having seen the comment in Recent Activity. And then "A-ha!". Nicely done, Matt, nicely done.
[For those who aren't into HTML, here's what happened. Matt (ab)used his mod privileges to include a <style> tag in his comment. (If a normal user tried this the <style> tag would have been stripped.) This style tag contained CSS that forced the background of the entire page to rebeccapurple. An elegant hack. ]
posted by benito.strauss at 12:39 PM on June 21, 2014 [11 favorites]
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posted by JoeXIII007 at 12:40 PM on June 21, 2014
posted by JoeXIII007 at 12:40 PM on June 21, 2014
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posted by jenkinsEar at 12:50 PM on June 21, 2014
posted by jenkinsEar at 12:50 PM on June 21, 2014
This just seems inane really.... The individual reduced to a "favourite colour". Forever remembered for something so arbitrary as a particular affection for purple.
Everything we do is arbitrary on some level. Remembering someone is a way of preserving a tiny bit of that distinctiveness for a little while longer. I don't think any of us would argue that it'd not have been better of Rebecca had lived, but we don't get to have that. So, a shade of purple is better than nothing.
posted by JHarris at 1:03 PM on June 21, 2014 [12 favorites]
Everything we do is arbitrary on some level. Remembering someone is a way of preserving a tiny bit of that distinctiveness for a little while longer. I don't think any of us would argue that it'd not have been better of Rebecca had lived, but we don't get to have that. So, a shade of purple is better than nothing.
posted by JHarris at 1:03 PM on June 21, 2014 [12 favorites]
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Much love to Eric...it's really hard for me to state in words how important his work has been to my hobbies AND work. I fucking love mefi. I fucking love that Matt made the change for this page.
Totally think we should organize a yearly rebeccapurple web day when everyone uses the color on their sites.
posted by fluffy battle kitten at 1:03 PM on June 21, 2014 [2 favorites]
Much love to Eric...it's really hard for me to state in words how important his work has been to my hobbies AND work. I fucking love mefi. I fucking love that Matt made the change for this page.
Totally think we should organize a yearly rebeccapurple web day when everyone uses the color on their sites.
posted by fluffy battle kitten at 1:03 PM on June 21, 2014 [2 favorites]
forever remembered for something so arbitrary as a particular affection for purple.
posted by mary8nne at 10:01 AM on June 2
Most people aren't remembered at all.
posted by Awful Peice of Crap at 1:41 PM on June 21, 2014 [14 favorites]
posted by mary8nne at 10:01 AM on June 2
Most people aren't remembered at all.
posted by Awful Peice of Crap at 1:41 PM on June 21, 2014 [14 favorites]
Not to minimize the extraordinary meaning of and emotion behind 'rebeccapurple', but why can't we get #006699 officially declared 'metafilterblue'? Neither it, nor anything really close, is already named.
posted by oneswellfoop at 1:54 PM on June 21, 2014 [3 favorites]
posted by oneswellfoop at 1:54 PM on June 21, 2014 [3 favorites]
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posted by Mister Bijou at 2:04 PM on June 21, 2014
posted by Mister Bijou at 2:04 PM on June 21, 2014
Read this earlier, pre-purple. Thank you thank you thank you.
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posted by unknowncommand at 2:08 PM on June 21, 2014 [6 favorites]
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posted by unknowncommand at 2:08 PM on June 21, 2014 [6 favorites]
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posted by Timmoy Daen at 2:11 PM on June 21, 2014
posted by Timmoy Daen at 2:11 PM on June 21, 2014
So purple. Much love.
posted by rtha at 2:22 PM on June 21, 2014 [2 favorites]
posted by rtha at 2:22 PM on June 21, 2014 [2 favorites]
Came back from hours ago. Refreshed this page. And just... tears.
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posted by hal9k at 2:24 PM on June 21, 2014 [4 favorites]
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posted by hal9k at 2:24 PM on June 21, 2014 [4 favorites]
ah I came back and see the beautiful tribute!
rip Rebecca
posted by thelonius at 2:34 PM on June 21, 2014
rip Rebecca
posted by thelonius at 2:34 PM on June 21, 2014
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posted by Two unicycles and some duct tape at 2:38 PM on June 21, 2014
posted by Two unicycles and some duct tape at 2:38 PM on June 21, 2014
Thought I could hold it together and then the whole damned page is rebeccapurple...
posted by Sweetie Darling at 3:07 PM on June 21, 2014 [8 favorites]
posted by Sweetie Darling at 3:07 PM on June 21, 2014 [8 favorites]
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posted by safetyfork at 3:17 PM on June 21, 2014 [1 favorite]
posted by safetyfork at 3:17 PM on June 21, 2014 [1 favorite]
Web developer tip: You can use rebeccapurple immediately in your CSS:
My respect and sympathies to Eric Meyer and his family, and my hat's off to the CSS Working Group for this remarkable tribute.
posted by ardgedee at 3:26 PM on June 21, 2014 [15 favorites]
[selector] {
color: #639;
color: rebeccapurple;
}
When a purple-colored element is selected, browsers that don't support the rebeccapurple name will report that the color is #663399. Browsers that do support the name will report rebeccapurple.My respect and sympathies to Eric Meyer and his family, and my hat's off to the CSS Working Group for this remarkable tribute.
posted by ardgedee at 3:26 PM on June 21, 2014 [15 favorites]
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posted by ThePinkSuperhero at 3:26 PM on June 21, 2014
posted by ThePinkSuperhero at 3:26 PM on June 21, 2014
Having a young daughter and reading Erics tweets during his own daughters illness moved me more than anything else I have ever read. Ever.
This is a very fitting tribute to a child who seemed to be a beautiful and charming young girl. I cried my heart out when she passed and have never felt quite so grateful for what I have.
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posted by twistedonion at 3:30 PM on June 21, 2014 [1 favorite]
This is a very fitting tribute to a child who seemed to be a beautiful and charming young girl. I cried my heart out when she passed and have never felt quite so grateful for what I have.
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posted by twistedonion at 3:30 PM on June 21, 2014 [1 favorite]
It's a lovely color. If someone's kid was in love with a pukey green-grey this proposal might have gone differently.
posted by michaelh at 3:50 PM on June 21, 2014 [1 favorite]
posted by michaelh at 3:50 PM on June 21, 2014 [1 favorite]
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posted by Monsieur Caution at 3:55 PM on June 21, 2014
posted by Monsieur Caution at 3:55 PM on June 21, 2014
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posted by sillygwailo at 4:03 PM on June 21, 2014
posted by sillygwailo at 4:03 PM on June 21, 2014
I started following Eric on Twitter back when I was attempting to use Twitter more regularly, because he'd had some interesting stuff to say on a podcast I was listening to. And the other day Twitter sends me the usual reminder that I am missing so much stuff by not actually ever visiting Twitter--and their automated system only saw that this moderately popular person I followed had a tweet a lot of people were paying attention to just then. I was not expecting it to be about this. He's a total stranger, but I guess on the internet, nobody seems like a total stranger.
My favorite pair of shoes is very close to this color. And one of my favorite t-shirts. She was a stranger, but she had good taste in favorite colors.
posted by Sequence at 4:20 PM on June 21, 2014 [2 favorites]
My favorite pair of shoes is very close to this color. And one of my favorite t-shirts. She was a stranger, but she had good taste in favorite colors.
posted by Sequence at 4:20 PM on June 21, 2014 [2 favorites]
nixt: filthylightthief, I don't think life scientists are allowed to fabricate new species in order to pay tribute to family members.
#663399 wasn't invented to pay tribute to Rebecca. Something that existed was named in her honor, just like organisms existed previously and were only named within recent history.
And really, as tepidmonkey noted upthread, there are 16,777,216 possible hex codes. The community, as it exists within the CSS Working Group, supported this small tribute to a life cut short. Lots of colors have specific names (from the top of that list, Alice Roosevelt Longworth, daughter of Theodore Roosevelt, has Alice Blue, and is the exception to the rule in that it is one of a very few formal names associated with colors in the list of X11 color names on the X Window System), but this name is limited to CSS conventions. Really, this is something that would have only gotten attention within the CSS community, if it were not for such a nice general example of a community supporting one of its key members and his family, because "CSS color codes" mean nothing to most people in the world.
posted by filthy light thief at 4:23 PM on June 21, 2014 [4 favorites]
#663399 wasn't invented to pay tribute to Rebecca. Something that existed was named in her honor, just like organisms existed previously and were only named within recent history.
And really, as tepidmonkey noted upthread, there are 16,777,216 possible hex codes. The community, as it exists within the CSS Working Group, supported this small tribute to a life cut short. Lots of colors have specific names (from the top of that list, Alice Roosevelt Longworth, daughter of Theodore Roosevelt, has Alice Blue, and is the exception to the rule in that it is one of a very few formal names associated with colors in the list of X11 color names on the X Window System), but this name is limited to CSS conventions. Really, this is something that would have only gotten attention within the CSS community, if it were not for such a nice general example of a community supporting one of its key members and his family, because "CSS color codes" mean nothing to most people in the world.
posted by filthy light thief at 4:23 PM on June 21, 2014 [4 favorites]
[An aside: after looking at this page in it's beautiful purple hue, the MetaFilter Blue looks ... murky, making it harder to forget Rebecca for the moment.]
posted by filthy light thief at 4:27 PM on June 21, 2014 [2 favorites]
posted by filthy light thief at 4:27 PM on June 21, 2014 [2 favorites]
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posted by bibliogrrl at 4:58 PM on June 21, 2014
posted by bibliogrrl at 4:58 PM on June 21, 2014
I read the FPP portion of this post after a couple of beers in a restaurant on the first day of a road trip with my family, and was thankful when I clicked through and saw the background that the rest of the family was in the bathroom so I didn't have to explain why it was suddenly so fucking dusty in here.
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posted by jferg at 4:59 PM on June 21, 2014
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posted by jferg at 4:59 PM on June 21, 2014
Are there any other known examples of vanity (or sympathy, if you'd rather) definitions in the CSS specification? How about in other web standards?
The current CSS list is here, itself based on X11 color names, which dates back to the 1980s. The wiki page says some of the color names were based on Sinclair Paints sample chips and Crayola crayons.
dw mentioned aliceblue, dodgerblue and gainsboro as vanity color words.
The closest I can think of in another standard is the proposed HTTP Status 451: "Unavailable For Legal Reasons" pays homage to Fahrenheit 451. (most people only know status 404: not found).
But 451 is far more explicit, isn't it? It's meant to draw attention. I like to think of rebeccapurple more like an easter egg.
Most people will look at the list of colors and never think twice. But some will, and they'll know the story of this young girl and know her favorite color. That's beautiful and humane.
posted by artlung at 5:10 PM on June 21, 2014 [6 favorites]
The current CSS list is here, itself based on X11 color names, which dates back to the 1980s. The wiki page says some of the color names were based on Sinclair Paints sample chips and Crayola crayons.
dw mentioned aliceblue, dodgerblue and gainsboro as vanity color words.
The closest I can think of in another standard is the proposed HTTP Status 451: "Unavailable For Legal Reasons" pays homage to Fahrenheit 451. (most people only know status 404: not found).
But 451 is far more explicit, isn't it? It's meant to draw attention. I like to think of rebeccapurple more like an easter egg.
Most people will look at the list of colors and never think twice. But some will, and they'll know the story of this young girl and know her favorite color. That's beautiful and humane.
posted by artlung at 5:10 PM on June 21, 2014 [6 favorites]
Her dad's post about Rebeccapurple is so plainly written, so calm, but you can just feel the obvious love he has for his daughter burning fiercely behind every word. Heartbreaking.
posted by Jon Mitchell at 5:19 PM on June 21, 2014 [1 favorite]
posted by Jon Mitchell at 5:19 PM on June 21, 2014 [1 favorite]
I have a client who insists on having...colorful...blocks of text on their site. #663399 will now be their new purple.
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posted by Thorzdad at 5:20 PM on June 21, 2014 [5 favorites]
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posted by Thorzdad at 5:20 PM on June 21, 2014 [5 favorites]
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posted by honest knave at 5:20 PM on June 21, 2014
posted by honest knave at 5:20 PM on June 21, 2014
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posted by limeonaire at 5:33 PM on June 21, 2014
posted by limeonaire at 5:33 PM on June 21, 2014
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posted by lriG rorriM at 6:15 PM on June 21, 2014
posted by lriG rorriM at 6:15 PM on June 21, 2014
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posted by hurdy gurdy girl at 6:23 PM on June 21, 2014
posted by hurdy gurdy girl at 6:23 PM on June 21, 2014
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posted by monster truck weekend at 6:40 PM on June 21, 2014
posted by monster truck weekend at 6:40 PM on June 21, 2014
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posted by ChrisHartley at 6:47 PM on June 21, 2014
posted by ChrisHartley at 6:47 PM on June 21, 2014
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posted by MartinWisse at 7:22 PM on June 21, 2014
posted by MartinWisse at 7:22 PM on June 21, 2014
For those who don't follow him, Ferrett Steinmetz (Rebecca's godfather-for-lack-of-a-better-term) has had some beautiful and difficult posts on his blog recently.
All The Love In The World Is Useless. All The Anything In The World: Also Useless.
Uncle Tommy, My Patron Saint Of Sick Children
One Last Writing On Cancer, And I'm Done For A While
A Poem For Rebecca Meyer, 2008-2014
I Welcomed You Into This World, And I Will Escort You Out
The Cardinal Sin Of Comforting The Grieving
Shiva Is
The Wrong Door
Deepest, deepest sympathy to Rebecca's family. And deep, personal sympathy to everyone who's had their own grief refreshed by this.
Fuck cancer.
posted by Lexica at 7:27 PM on June 21, 2014 [13 favorites]
All The Love In The World Is Useless. All The Anything In The World: Also Useless.
Uncle Tommy, My Patron Saint Of Sick Children
One Last Writing On Cancer, And I'm Done For A While
A Poem For Rebecca Meyer, 2008-2014
I Welcomed You Into This World, And I Will Escort You Out
The Cardinal Sin Of Comforting The Grieving
Shiva Is
The Wrong Door
Deepest, deepest sympathy to Rebecca's family. And deep, personal sympathy to everyone who's had their own grief refreshed by this.
Fuck cancer.
posted by Lexica at 7:27 PM on June 21, 2014 [13 favorites]
Metafilter brings me to tears more than any other web experience, and has done so for years. It's why I return. Not that I like to cry, it's just that I like being reminded why we're doing all this in the first place. And sometimes that moves me right to tears. Keep up the good work, Mefi, good bad and otherwise, you are in me, I am in you. Cancer stories and CSS rebeccapurples and all. For ever.
posted by Mike Mongo at 7:37 PM on June 21, 2014 [6 favorites]
posted by Mike Mongo at 7:37 PM on June 21, 2014 [6 favorites]
It doesn't mesh with the colour of the live preview, but then, it doesn't really have to.
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posted by aroweofshale at 7:38 PM on June 21, 2014
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posted by aroweofshale at 7:38 PM on June 21, 2014
I've been reading Eric's blog for well over a decade. I've never met him, but he's basically a friend of a friend. Last summer it was a shock to start seeing the posts about Rebecca, and I've dreaded each new one that's shown up in my feed. I can't count how many times I've found myself in tears at work after reading another beautiful, stunning, and absolutely heartbreaking piece.
I knew about the proposal for rebeccapurple, and I'm so pleased to see that it's gone through. Eric has had such an incredible impact on the uptake of CSS over the years (I, too, keep the salmon book over my desk at work), and this small token of appreciation will, I'm sure, have a lasting impact.
For fierce little Rebecca,
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posted by jburka at 8:05 PM on June 21, 2014 [1 favorite]
I knew about the proposal for rebeccapurple, and I'm so pleased to see that it's gone through. Eric has had such an incredible impact on the uptake of CSS over the years (I, too, keep the salmon book over my desk at work), and this small token of appreciation will, I'm sure, have a lasting impact.
For fierce little Rebecca,
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posted by jburka at 8:05 PM on June 21, 2014 [1 favorite]
Metafilter is the most human and humane place on the entire internet.
Thank you.
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posted by Slap*Happy at 8:38 PM on June 21, 2014 [5 favorites]
Thank you.
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posted by Slap*Happy at 8:38 PM on June 21, 2014 [5 favorites]
Also, I will forever cherish being six and twelve hours old. I've been that old thirty four years and ten months and two days and twelve hours.
I think, sometimes, I might regret some of that time if I spent it as someone older than that, and how I spent it... but I really don't.
Purple is amazing everytime I see it.
posted by Slap*Happy at 8:44 PM on June 21, 2014 [3 favorites]
I think, sometimes, I might regret some of that time if I spent it as someone older than that, and how I spent it... but I really don't.
Purple is amazing everytime I see it.
posted by Slap*Happy at 8:44 PM on June 21, 2014 [3 favorites]
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posted by slipthought at 8:51 PM on June 21, 2014
posted by slipthought at 8:51 PM on June 21, 2014
I, as many, started reading Eric's work about CSS because it was good, valuable and _damn_ the man could write. Then his kid got sick and that same skill tore my heart. I love this colour, bittersweet as it may be.
posted by mce at 8:52 PM on June 21, 2014
posted by mce at 8:52 PM on June 21, 2014
This just seems inane really.... The individual reduced to a "favourite colour". Forever remembered for something so arbitrary as a particular affection for purple.
If only there were some really great things for her to be remembered for, like the way we remember Ozymandias.
posted by XMLicious at 8:59 PM on June 21, 2014 [7 favorites]
"This just seems inane really.... The individual reduced to a "favourite colour". Forever remembered for something so arbitrary as a particular affection for purple."
Well also a life cut horribly short by something as arbitrary as childhood cancer.
posted by sweetkid at 9:07 PM on June 21, 2014 [2 favorites]
Well also a life cut horribly short by something as arbitrary as childhood cancer.
posted by sweetkid at 9:07 PM on June 21, 2014 [2 favorites]
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I have a 5 year old and a 3 year old. I can't even start imagining what it would be if this happening to me. A dear cousin died aged 18, 30 years ago, and last time I spoke with her mother she told me she still thinks about her every day.
. for Rebecca, and unfortunately ... for her parents.
posted by kandinski at 9:18 PM on June 21, 2014 [1 favorite]
I have a 5 year old and a 3 year old. I can't even start imagining what it would be if this happening to me. A dear cousin died aged 18, 30 years ago, and last time I spoke with her mother she told me she still thinks about her every day.
. for Rebecca, and unfortunately ... for her parents.
posted by kandinski at 9:18 PM on June 21, 2014 [1 favorite]
If you do anything that involves CSS and haven't taken direct inspiration from Eric Meyer's work, you're standing on the shoulders of someone who did. Loss is loss; memory and the tokens of memory are how communities acknowledge that.
posted by holgate at 9:46 PM on June 21, 2014 [6 favorites]
posted by holgate at 9:46 PM on June 21, 2014 [6 favorites]
Good lord; just stopped back in to see what was going on with this, and saw the background. I love you guys.
posted by a box and a stick and a string and a bear at 9:59 PM on June 21, 2014 [2 favorites]
posted by a box and a stick and a string and a bear at 9:59 PM on June 21, 2014 [2 favorites]
Kills me that she died on her birthday.
rebeccapurple: let's put it on all kinds of things.
posted by jenfullmoon at 11:17 PM on June 21, 2014 [1 favorite]
rebeccapurple: let's put it on all kinds of things.
posted by jenfullmoon at 11:17 PM on June 21, 2014 [1 favorite]
The coverage from the paper local to the Meyers. For once, the comments do not reduce my faith in humanity.
posted by Harald74 at 11:54 PM on June 21, 2014 [1 favorite]
posted by Harald74 at 11:54 PM on June 21, 2014 [1 favorite]
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posted by SarahElizaP at 12:45 AM on June 22, 2014
posted by SarahElizaP at 12:45 AM on June 22, 2014
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#663399 was also the purple shade used on Sun's website pre-Oracle buyout.
posted by mrbill at 1:05 AM on June 22, 2014 [2 favorites]
#663399 was also the purple shade used on Sun's website pre-Oracle buyout.
posted by mrbill at 1:05 AM on June 22, 2014 [2 favorites]
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posted by mdeatherage at 3:06 AM on June 22, 2014
posted by mdeatherage at 3:06 AM on June 22, 2014
Really beautiful touch with the page background. Lovely thought.
posted by Hartham's Hugging Robots at 4:35 AM on June 22, 2014
posted by Hartham's Hugging Robots at 4:35 AM on June 22, 2014
Whoa! Hitting this page and seeing the background of "the blue" to rebeccapurple was startling and obviously appropriate.
posted by rmmcclay at 6:04 AM on June 22, 2014
posted by rmmcclay at 6:04 AM on June 22, 2014
One of my friends from college lives near their family and has a son who was good friends with Becca. He has been posting about her illness for awhile now and about how his son has been processing it. I had no idea of Eric apart from him being Becca's dad. But it is amazing to see rebeccapurple here on Metafilter.
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posted by hydropsyche at 6:34 AM on June 22, 2014
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posted by hydropsyche at 6:34 AM on June 22, 2014
Well, that left me bawling, not just 'a little dusty in here'.
Oh, it's so hard to be a human sometimes.
To live in a world, where everything, and everybody, dies, and is eventually lost to time, regardless of how fair that is.
posted by Elysum at 7:48 AM on June 22, 2014 [2 favorites]
Oh, it's so hard to be a human sometimes.
To live in a world, where everything, and everybody, dies, and is eventually lost to time, regardless of how fair that is.
posted by Elysum at 7:48 AM on June 22, 2014 [2 favorites]
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So much dust. And thanks, mathowie or pb or cortex or whoever did this, for overriding the style sheet for this page. Very classy, very appropriate. Shit it just got dustier in here.
posted by feckless fecal fear mongering at 7:58 AM on June 22, 2014 [3 favorites]
So much dust. And thanks, mathowie or pb or cortex or whoever did this, for overriding the style sheet for this page. Very classy, very appropriate. Shit it just got dustier in here.
posted by feckless fecal fear mongering at 7:58 AM on June 22, 2014 [3 favorites]
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posted by cjorgensen at 6:01 PM on June 22, 2014
posted by cjorgensen at 6:01 PM on June 22, 2014
My own little girl will turn six on her next birthday.
I was doing just fine till I read what her dad said, "She made it to six. For almost twelve hours, she was six. So Rebecca it is and must be."
It's so very wrong to read that sentence. I don't know what CSS is or who rebeccapurple's dad is....but I will never forget that sentence, the unimaginable grief.... or the name rebeccapurple.
Your memory will rock on forever, six year old rebeccapurple. I'm so very sorry the world lost you so young, and that your parents have lost such a precious human.
Hugs for mumpurple and dadpurple.
posted by taff at 9:05 PM on June 22, 2014 [7 favorites]
I was doing just fine till I read what her dad said, "She made it to six. For almost twelve hours, she was six. So Rebecca it is and must be."
It's so very wrong to read that sentence. I don't know what CSS is or who rebeccapurple's dad is....but I will never forget that sentence, the unimaginable grief.... or the name rebeccapurple.
Your memory will rock on forever, six year old rebeccapurple. I'm so very sorry the world lost you so young, and that your parents have lost such a precious human.
Hugs for mumpurple and dadpurple.
posted by taff at 9:05 PM on June 22, 2014 [7 favorites]
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posted by coleboptera at 10:06 PM on June 22, 2014
posted by coleboptera at 10:06 PM on June 22, 2014
I was just thinking the other day that I don't really have a favorite color. I do now.
RIP, Rebecca.
posted by terrapin at 12:33 PM on June 23, 2014
RIP, Rebecca.
posted by terrapin at 12:33 PM on June 23, 2014
I just read the story of Rebecca's illness (crying all the way), and it was absolutely devastating to read about her diagnosis and the days leading up to it. The whole thing is devastating. I am very grateful to Eric for writing it out and sharing it with others, because Rebecca is not the only child who will go through this, and perhaps other parents will find solace in his remarkable words.
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Thanks for making the background to this thread rebeccapurple. What a lovely tribute to a remarkable firebrand of a little girl.
posted by sockermom at 3:59 PM on June 23, 2014 [2 favorites]
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Thanks for making the background to this thread rebeccapurple. What a lovely tribute to a remarkable firebrand of a little girl.
posted by sockermom at 3:59 PM on June 23, 2014 [2 favorites]
I don't have kids. I don't even particularly like kids. but this story has hit me hard. viciously. over and over again.
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posted by FlyingMonkey at 7:33 PM on June 23, 2014 [1 favorite]
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posted by FlyingMonkey at 7:33 PM on June 23, 2014 [1 favorite]
The Economist: "Digital remembrance: The colour purple"
posted by grouse at 4:22 AM on June 24, 2014 [2 favorites]
posted by grouse at 4:22 AM on June 24, 2014 [2 favorites]
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This is a lovely colour, it would suit FanFare, and I feel it would be an apt tribute.
posted by marienbad at 12:50 AM on June 25, 2014 [5 favorites]
This is a lovely colour, it would suit FanFare, and I feel it would be an apt tribute.
posted by marienbad at 12:50 AM on June 25, 2014 [5 favorites]
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<span style="color: rebeccapurple">.</span>posted by grouse at 8:24 AM on June 21, 2014 [51 favorites]