Use Cases, Use Counters, and Stickers

It’s Cyber Monday, the newsletter’s late, and I am full of 
tryptophan and gratitude

## Element Queries progress

We at the RICG are simultaneously working to both cleanly define the 
*problems* that element queries aim to solve, while also getting our 
hands dirty experimenting with a particular possible *solution*.

On the problem definition front — [it has come to our 
attention](http://ircbot.responsiveimages.org/bot/log/respimg/2014-11-19#T102038) 
that the use cases doc has heretofore gotten a teensey-weensie bit ahead 
of itself, by proposing a specific solution rather than cleanly, simply, 
and thoroughly defining the problem at hand. Mat took [a first pass at 
cutting the 
fat](https://github.com/ResponsiveImagesCG/eq-usecases/commit/7c5de85e99feefe830cc73811ad4a5129dd43f0c), 
but work remains to be done.

The [responsive images use cases 
document](http://usecases.responsiveimages.org/) served as a rock and a 
guiding light through the three-year onslaught of failed respimg 
proposals. We need, above all else as we embark on this journey, a 
strong use cases doc. Help us write one.

Simultaneously, the RICG is taking a stab at realizing a proposed 
solution. Johnathan Neal has a functional (totally experimental, and 
never-to-be-supported) [element query 
prototype](https://github.com/jonathantneal/hitch-element-queries) up 
and running. Johnathan’s repo is a hacky little glimpse of one 
possible EQ ending, right here at the beginning of our story, which we 
can use to concretely explore the problem space, [write 
demos](https://github.com/ResponsiveImagesCG/eq-demos), and provide 
feedback that will inform EQ work going forward. Huzzah!


## [Picturefill 2.2 hit 
stable](https://github.com/scottjehl/picturefill/releases/tag/2.2.0)

And we’re going to need more hands on keyboards to get 2.3 out the 
door. Mat wrote an eloquent plea 
[here](https://github.com/scottjehl/picturefill/issues/374).


## Speaking of Mat writing eloquently

True story: I drove 602 miles to Kansas City a fortnight ago to be a 
best man in a wedding and only *then* did it dawn on me that I 
wouldn’t be able to write both a toast and a newsletter before Friday. 
Oops. Mat bailed me out — [in fine 
form](http://lists.w3.org/Archives/Public/public-respimg/2014Nov/0018.html). 
Thanks, Mat.


## Respimg deployment is spiking

A while back I got pretty excited about chromestatus.com adding use 
counters for responsive image features. I did so in anticipation of 
being able to show you 
[charts](https://www.chromestatus.com/metrics/feature/timeline/popularity/524) 
[like](https://www.chromestatus.com/metrics/feature/timeline/popularity/523) 
[these](https://www.chromestatus.com/metrics/feature/timeline/popularity/521): 
responsive image markup adoption is surging like a bat out of 
aitch-eeee-triple-[hockey-sticks](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hockey_stick_graph).


## Hey, RICG stickers!

There are [RICG 
stickers](http://www.stickermule.com/user/1069094592/stickers)! Stuff 
stockings accordingly.


## Leftovers

I always loved a good turkey sandwich.

- Jason Grigsby will be talking respimg at An Event Apart in both 
[Seattle](http://aneventapart.com/event/seattle-2015) and 
[Atlanta](http://aneventapart.com/event/atlanta-2015)
- [Mat will be speaking about respimg, 
too](http://www.meetup.com/boston_JS/events/218914814/) – at Bocoup on 
December 17th in Boston.
- Steven Bradley over at Vanseo design has been on fire recently, 
posting a [series of great 
posts](http://www.vanseodesign.com/tag/responsive-images/) about the new 
respimg features, culminating in [this nifty 
demo](http://www.vanseodesign.com/web-design/responsive-images-demo/).
- Emil Björklund threw up [a little JSBin](http://jsbin.com/noxuze/) 
which shows and tells the benefits of using `picture` to deliver WebPs 
with JPEG fallbacks.
- Jonathan Hollin [wrote up his personal respimg 
workflow](https://www.perpetual-beta.org/weblog/srcset-production-factory.html), 
which uses [Hazel](http://www.noodlesoft.com/hazel.php) to automatically 
generate variously-sized sources and a markup snippet as soon as the 
images are dropped in a folder.
- ScientiaMobile wrote [an 
article](http://www.scientiamobile.com/page/responsive-images-specification-real-world-scenarios) 
explaining the thinking behind their new (device-detection-centric) 
server-side auto-resizer, which stirred up some 
[ambivolent](https://twitter.com/yoavweiss/status/538258500372422656) 
[react](https://twitter.com/wilto/status/538413818763030528)[ions](https://twitter.com/wilto/status/538414438664372224).
- Finally, [this is in German so I can’t read 
it](http://rocksolidthemes.com/de/contao/blog/responsive-images-picture-contao) 
(but it looks mighty fine!).

See you in a couple of weeks!

—eric