Archive for December, 2004
· December 12, 2004 at 7:25 pm · Web Hosting
Alright, I finally have some news to talk about. The rough draft of my introduction is finished. I know it has been a while and some might be disappointed that this is all I have done, but there are several factors that play into that. Number one is the fact that I have never written a book before! A lot of mine time thus far has been spent writing notes to myself, making outlines and trying to visualize what the book will look like in my own mind.
Hopefully later today I will be able to get a little more done before I have my nephews and niece over here for the next two days. I love them to death, but it is really hard to get any writing done unless the house is empty, I’m in my underwear and I’m packed full of caffeine. Not exactly the visual you wanted? For that I am truly sorry.
On a somewhat related note, I did a little updating to my own Web site, MitchKeeler.com this morning as well. Mainly I did a little book plugging here and there. One thing I am pretty proud of getting done is creating pdf versions of the example articles listed on my Web site. So now you have the option to view it as HTML or a PDF.
No real magic behind how it was done though. Just copied them into Open Office, did a little formatting, and exported them into the PDF format. I figure if the Web hosting book goes into e-book form, I had better get used to trying to play with PDF formatting, reading and viewing. I had not been a big fan of the format till I checked out a few of Lockergnome’s tutorials. Now I am hooked.
· December 12, 2004 at 6:33 pm · Web Hosting
When you have yourself a pie, chances are you are not going to want to eat the whole thing yourself. Instead you will divide the pie into several pieces so that it is easier to manage and everybody can get some. Think of a Web hosting account in the same way. You might want to have a section of it devoted to your blog. You might want another section of it to be devoted to your favorite links. With or without subdomains this can be done. However, with subdomains the process is so much easier to navigate.
Now I will save you the horrible trouble of what goes on during the Web hosting server side of this. Trust me, it is nothing exciting and probably nothing you need to worry about just yet. Most of you should know by now that when you create a new folder inside your Web hosting account, the directory for it should look something like this:
Without Subdomain:
http://www.yoursite.com/blog
Now that is all fine and dandy, but it might be a little hard to remember. Now what if you got a different address that pointed at that same exact spot, but was easier to remember? Try this on for size:
With Subdomain:
http://blog.yoursite.com
Did you see what happened? We dropped the “www” and put in “blog”. Now that this is up there, you can drop the use of “/blog” at the end. This my friends is a subdomain.
How can you create one of these beauties on your own? Well, your Web hosting company should have provided you with a control panel when signing up for your Web hosting account. If they did, you should have a setting somewhere in there telling you how you can get it done. It differs from control panel to control panel, so I will leave that much as homework for you.
In effect you are telling the server that “http://blog.yoursite.com” points to your “blog” folder. This can be done with any folder that is inside your root or home directory. Now how would a folder look if it was inside the blog folder? Like this:
Without Subdomain:
http://www.yoursite.com/blog/mitchrules
With Subdomain:
http://blog.yoursite.com/mitchrules
Now why would you want to use subdomains? For easier navigation and organization. The shorter you are able to make a URL, the more likely a visitor is going to remember it and come back.
· December 12, 2004 at 6:30 pm · Web Hosting
In the past I have defined many Web hosting jargon words that have sent many people to scratching their heads and calling upon the mighty powers of Google to look for an answer. Today I have one more for you. How many times have you hear of somebody saying they needed to FTP something? How about that they need to find a good FTP client? Thankfully FTP is a pretty simple concept to get your mind wrapped around.
FTP stands for file transfer protocol. What in the heck is File Transfer Protocol? The easy way to look at it would be to say it is just a way of transferring files over the Internet from one computer to another. Thinking of the Internet as one big network, FTP is the process in which you can get files from one computer to another computer across the globe.
Most of the time that other computer is going to be your Web hosting server, which in itself is a computer.
Think of it as your Web page files taking a hike across the country in a few seconds. No need to pack the camping gear, get out the toothbrush or even a change of underwear. With the high speed Internet access we have today even larger files can be moved pretty quickly.
FTP came to be way before the time of the Internet we know and love today. It was first used as only a series of text comands to move files from one computer to another over a network. While it hasn’t evolved from the main purpose it had, it has “grown up” I guess you could say. Now we use programs such as SmartFTP or CuteFTP to do the work for us.
Many of these FTP programs have features on top of features. The only ones you will probably ever use though is the act of connecting to your Web server to upload or download files, documents and folders.
· December 12, 2004 at 4:00 am · Web Hosting
Everybody and their grandmother should know that a Web site should be easy to use. You shouldn’t have to hunt for navigational links. You should be trying to guess if that is content, a trick or an ad. Over the past few years more and more Web sites have started to take the trickery out of Web site content. However there are still a few that are in the dark. Not all fools are bad fools though.
Some may have just not spent much time wondering how useable is their Web site content. Now is the time to wonder, are you one of those people or not? Which side of the fence do you sit on? Either way you may want to check out the following.
Meghan Whitmore, a contributing writer for The Dev Web, has written up a nice guide for any new folks in the proverbial house on the importance of Web site content usability.
When we say, “content”, we mean your website copy, your message. Web sites have a million different messages and a million different ways to say things, but there are some basic content usability guidelines that are appropriate for everyone.
First one should realize that when internet users “read” a web page, they do not read it as carefully as they would, say, a book. They scan. In a 1997 study by Jakob Nielsen and John Morkes, 79% of the people tested scanned pages, while only 16 % read word-for-word. For one reason, they aren’t sure if this web page even has the information they need. Another reason is that people are simply impatient and looking for where to click next.
For a few more resources on useability in the Web site creation world, check out these links:
Do-It-Yourself Usability Testing: Your Questions Answered
Web Site Usability And You
There is no doubt that content useability is an important issue. Content is the meat and potatoes of any Web site and should not be ignored. More times than not though it is overlooked, but not ignored. With the rush to get banner ads and click through rates, you can not forget that the reason a person is coming to the Web page if for what you have written within the walls of links, extras and ads.
· December 12, 2004 at 3:03 am · Odds & Ends
Many thanks to Matt for turning me onto this whole new “digging” sensation! I have killed more time there today that I really should. The Web site in question, digg, is not really a new idea. It is more of a twist on an old idea. Some might even say it is like Slashdot, without the sucking!
If you are confused about how to use the service, then check out their FAQ or better yet read Matt’s article on the matter over at Ctrl-Alt-Del.
Even I have started to digg a little. You can view my digg profile to keep up with what submissions I have made where. There is even an RSS feed so you can keep track of what I have put up to be digged, dugged, buried within the Web site.
· December 11, 2004 at 6:01 pm · Odds & Ends
Animal rights and video games, you’d think the two would have nothing to do with each other right? Well, think again! The folks over at Veggie Games are putting together a game in which you play as a mad steer ready to fight back for the animals. Steer Madness doesn’t look innovative, but does look like a lot of fun.
Best described as “Grand Theft Auto” meets “Chicken Run”, Steer Madness is a fully-featured 3D action-adventure game for PC and Macintosh. The game is appealing to both gamers and non-gamers alike with it’s easy controls, captivating storyline and rocking indy music soundtrack. Though based on direct action activism the gameplay is completely non-violent and suitable for all ages, a refreshing change from the usual guns-and-bombs video game line-up and keeping it consistent with the compassionate message of animal rights.
Now I am a guy who loves his meat. Hamburger, bacon or steak, it doesn’t matter to me. However though I do have to admit that this idea really does have a chance of surviving. Not so much for the “good fight” against folks who eat meat, but because it seems like it would fit better in a Monty Python skit than a video game. It isn’t the first game to fight for animal rights though. There is at least one more than I know of.
Whiplash is about a two animals chained together in a bizarre animal research facility. There is Redmond, a California white funny as heck rabbit, and Spanx, a long-tailed silent weasel. The purpose of the game is to pretty much go through the entire facility and destroy as much as you can. Even though I loved this game personally, it didn’t seem to do very well with many video game reviewers, such as Gamespot.
With the preponderance of grim, militaristic realism and exceedingly cutesy preciousness indigenous to many of today’s video games, it’s always refreshing to find one with some actual wit and humor. Whiplash, the latest platformer from Crystal Dynamics, finds its humor somewhere in between Looney Tunes-style slapstick and light absurdist social commentary. Unfortunately, humor is the only thing Whiplash seems to really nail, and chuckles alone aren’t enough to carry an entire game.
There were some glitchy details to the gaming, but if you are able to overlook that it is a really fun game with some off-the-wall humor.
So there you go, one good game and one soon to hopefully be good game for all you animal lovers out there.
