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So does HTML really stand for Hating on Twitter Markup Language?That's the impression at least some programmers were left with after having their attention drawn to an element within the official HTML specification -- 4.10.7.2.8 The maxlength attribute - that veers from the straight-and-geeky normally found in such documents to take a swipe at Twitter and its infamous 140-character message limit.(2011's 25 Geekiest 25th Anniversaries)The broadside was penned in 2009 but caused a minor stir only two days ago when posted to the programming section on social-bookmarking site Reddit, a community that boasts some 340,000 subscribers. Most of the 341 comments generated by that post - titled "I just noticed the HTML specification has a nice, subtle jab at microblogging (whatwg.org) -- were of the Twitter-sucks-no-it-doesn't variety, but a number took exception to the "childish" use of a technical document as "a soap box."Others noted that the jab was anything but subtle.As for the jabber himself? Ian Hickson, longtime editor of the HTML specification, tells me he doesn't hate Twitter at all and suggests that those objecting to his editorializing might want to lighten up.