Events 6

This page and its sub-pages are some kind of a blog, or in other words, it is an ever-growing personal computing-related set of pages with important current news and events (at least important in my opinion), therefore these pages contain current (at that time and so now past) important events, personal computing related "stories", like for example completely new things that I have discovered from the last website update, information about my current system state, un-installations, re-installations of my operating systems, any errors I am coping with, software updates and configuration instructions and similar. It was started on [ 19.2.2005 ] with the file-caching problem - that lead me to a complete un-install my Windows XP/Pro SP1 - and its basic description and solution. The solution was re-installing Windows, particularly downgrading to the non-SP version (but of course, before that I've tried almost all the possible solutions/work-arounds). And luckily back then the installation with "Unattended" parameters worked; if you're really interested then rather read the first opening entry for details below at the bottom of that page.

Once more, there were many new changes to the website in the past two "update-schedules". Namely, I've changed the background picture from http://tadej-ivan.50webs.com/pony.png to /script/hand.gif ("pony.png" file was archived to my 50webs FTP server and to Imageshack: http://img487.imageshack.us/img487/212/pony9ux.png), and also I've put it to all the pages so that it's not just on the "index.html" one, as it was till now. Then as most important, I converted all the documents from HTML to XHTML (XHTML comes from XML); for details see the Converting HTML documents into XHTML ... thread (with the related questions asked):  http://episteme.arstechnica.com/groupee/forums/a/tpc/f/6330927813/m/583002328731 that I've opened about this on "Ars Technica" forums.

Well, and for other recent interesting webcoding and web-design related threads on Ars Technica opened by me, please do check also the following links/threads CSS equivalent to body tag's "background" attribute:  http://episteme.arstechnica.com/groupee/forums/a/tpc/f/6330927813/m/890001418731, The question about tags: "I" vs. "EM" and "B" vs. "STRONG":  http://episteme.arstechnica.com/groupee/forums/a/tpc/f/6330927813/m/892007997731, The order of elements between "head" tags:  http://episteme.arstechnica.com/groupee/forums/a/tpc/f/6330927813/m/315003597731. /NOTE: While in regeard to validating; the pages are not yet XHTML-valid, since I needed to change so many things even without worring about validation. Anyway, the most common error is probably the one related to the line containing: target="_blank"; for this one in particular, I don't yet know for a CSS equivalent (and removing it would totally desctroy my website), but note that these errors are not at all of any major importance. /UPDATE: Well, I did it anyway (i.e. I removed the target="_blank"), since I was told in the first thread linked above that W3C apparently decided for the "target" attribute, that the user should have control over new windows and it's been removed from XHTML strict. However, there is a workaround with use of JavaScript; see here for details: http://www.webdeveloper.com/forum/showthread.php?s=&threadid=24359. But for two other recent interesting threads check out also the On patching the Win XP SP2's "tcpip.sys" driver ... thread:  http://episteme.arstechnica.com/groupee/forums/a/tpc/f/99609816/m/172002228731 thread (it's directly related to The message of the BSOD-error I am getting lately (related to tcpip.sys driver):  http://episteme.arstechnica.com/eve/ubb.x?a=tpc&s=50009562&f=99609816&m=904000939631&r=904000939631), that I've opened recently on how to patch the "tcpip.sys" driver by using a hex-editor program.

19.02.2006

And here below is yet another e-mail message from me to Terry at Terry's Computer Tips: http://www.terryscomputertips.com that was included in the latest March 19 issue: http://www.terryscomputertips.com/archives/news_20060319.php of his newsletter "Terry's Computer Tips - Volume 1, Number 40 -- Sunday, March 19, 2006"; however, this time not on the Terry's web-website (i.e. in an online version of his current "Terry's Computer Tips - March 19, 2006" newsletter issue), but it was posted as an entry titled 0.7 Reading PDF Files in an e-mailed version of of his newsletter, which contain also the "JUST FOR SUBSCRIBERS!" section.

0.7 Reading PDF Files

After my article last week on upgrading to newer versions of Adobe Reader, two readers wrote to tell me about the same alternative PDF reader.

First, subscriber Clif (of the Clif Notes Newsletter), wrote to say:

         Hi Terry,

         On my old Windows9x systems, I always use Foxit PDF Reader because it's faster and uses fewer resources. It's also completely free!

         http://freewarewiki.pbwiki.com/FoxitPdfReader

         Have fun!

         Clif

Then, Ivan Tadej wrote from Slovenia to suggest the same program:

         "...the subscriber Diane asks you about Acrobat Reader's alternatives saying: 'I just want to be able to read PDF files'."

         Well, if this is the case (i.e. if she only wants to be able to read PDF files), I want to let you and her know about an Adobe Acrobat Reader's replacement program from the Foxitsotware site: http://www.foxitsoftware.com called FoxitReader: http://www.foxitsoftware.com/pdf/rd_intro.php (it's also free); if I recall correctly, the Acrobat Reader installation package is more than 20 MB in-size, while FoxitReader is an only 2.5 MB in-size single-executable "non-setup" application, i.e. a "non-setup" in a meaning that it's just a .zip archive that requires no special installation (i.e. you just need to un-zip/copy it and it's ready to be launched) --

         best regards,

         Ivan Tadej, Slovenija, Europe

Thanks, guys. I may have to try FoxitReader. Two subscribers writing about the same article to suggest the same alternative...Wow!.

04.03.2006

Well well, once again many new things have occured; as first, I will list the additions/updates to my website. You may notice two totally new features: a "Bookmark it" button and a "Quick Navigation" drop-down box on the "index.html" pages. And also beside many other minor additions to articles, principles respectively, then re-arranging the layout etc., I've also written a completely new article titled "THE CACHE/DISABLE THE PAGEFILE MYTH" which you can read on the "myths.html" page. Then further, I've recently registered yet another Free hosting service at 50webs: http://www.50webs.com (particularly the free one: http://www.50webs.com/free_plan), that offers 60 MB of space for storage (allows "remote linking"), FTP access, e-mail accounts etc. So here is now located my eighth website variant: http://tadej-ivan.50webs.com/index.html. And so I can finally upload my Firefox's bookmarks files; one for each profile and the two "merged" ones; you can get them with "OPEN or GET" drop-down box. /UPDATE: Unfortunately I just couldn't upload them to this FTP server, i.e. the upload was always interrupted after approximately 300 KB of file were successfully uploaded. So now I uploaded them to the RapidShare: http://rapidshare.de free webhosting site, but later found out that I have problems with this one too. And because all of this, I am planning to register my own domain pretty soon, however, since a proper web site needs 3 things: a registered domain name, a DNS provider, and a web server (just FYI, the domain registrar points at the DNS server, the DNS server gives the IP address of a web server, and the web server provides pages), it might take some time to configure all this properly.

Further regarding my blogs. Beside my blog on "VOLJAblok" pages, written in the Slovenian language and titled Web-Notes: http://tayiper.blog.volja.net, I've recently opened various others. Namely the first one that I opened after the one in Slovenian language mentioned above was a so-called "diary" at the Kuro5hin site: http://www.kuro5hin.org (main page), http://www.kuro5hin.org/user/satyr/diary (a direct link to my blog), then the next was the blog at Spread Firefox: http://www.spreadfirefox.com (main page), http://www.spreadfirefox.com/blog/158407 (a direct link to my blog), next on Techrepublic: http://techrepublic.com.com (main page), http://techrepublic.com.com/5247-6257-0.html (a direct link to my blog), and the last one on CastleCops website:  http://castlecops.com (main page),  http://castlecops.com/modules.php?name=Journal&file=search&bywhat=aid&forwhat=satyr (a link to list with my blog's entries), [1.] My absolutely first "blog entry" (21.02.2006):  http://castlecops.com/modules.php?name=Journal&file=display&jid=405 (a link to list with my blog's entries), [2.] The first of "normal" blog entries (28.02.2006):  http://castlecops.com/modules.php?name=Journal&file=display&jid=410, which is a link to list with my blog's entries. /UPDATE: Few day back Paul's  http://castlecops.com/userinfo-Paul.html wife Robin:  http://castlecops.com/userinfo-Robin.html (here is also a link to my "userinfo":  http://castlecops.com/userinfo-satyr.html) kindly offerred to me yesterday if I would like to have my own "real" CastleCops blog, while this type of blog is meant only for the CastleCops "staff". And I am not yet a member of this "group", since I am only a "1st Responder Trainee". Oh yes, Paul is the creator of CastleCops site. Anyway, here is a link to it: http://satyr.castlecops.com, although note that it doesn't contain any content yet.

And as last but not least, I am proudly announcing that the results of my first-ever processed prime-candidate number for the TPR team (in particular it was the DC test and the number was "15989863") were just returned to the PrimeNet server. While also I've earned the very first $1.00 through my "Affiliate Program" service: http://pub40.bravenet.com/affiliate. Well, and that's all for now.

21.02.2006

Yet another e-mail message from me to Terry at Terry's Computer Tips: http://www.terryscomputertips.com was included in the latest February 19 issue: http://www.terryscomputertips.com/archives/news_20060219_2.php of his newsletter "Terry's Computer Tips - Volume 1, Number 36 — Sunday, February 19, 2006"; this time it is located as part of the first entry on the page "Part 2" titled 4. Comments from Readers.

4. Comments from Readers

-------------------------

Ivan Tadej, another email subscriber, wrote with two feedback items on my last online issue:

         Hey Terry, yet another e-mail message regarding your newsletter ...


         It's about to your last newsletter issue:

         http://www.terryscomputertips.com/archives/news_20060212_3.php (Part 3), particularly the *8. Starting Programs "Maximized"* entry.

         [quote]To make the program maximize on startup:

         1. right click on the icon for the program

         ...


         ...


         ...[/quote]

         You see, I think that Ralph might be confused because you you wrote: "/click on the icon for the program/", and as far as I know it should be "/click on the *shortcut icon* of the program/" (i.e. the icon of the shortcut pointing to program); at least I assume that may be the reason why he have can't find every that menu/setting.

         P.S., While regarding the *10. The Computer Keeps Dialing* entry in the same issue of your newsletter, beside "*/Never dial a connection/*" I also recommend to set the computer's modem to "/*Show terminal window*/" before dialing. For much more about this, check the "Security and dial-up" page at CastleCops Wiki: http://wiki.castlecops.com/Security_and_dial-up (I've created it) or the "config.html" page on my own home-website: /other/config.html.

         best regards,

         Ivan Tadej, Slovenija

         / (direct)

         http://www.tadej-ivan.be/ (redirect)

Thanks, Tadej. That's an excellent tip to help keep a "dialer" trojan under control, in case we ever get infected.

It's also important for those of us connected to the Internet via cable modems or DSL, if we also have a phone line connected to a dial-up modem so we can fax.

19.02.2006

Well and today it's precisely one year passed-by since I've started with this "events" page. So since it's a "festive" day today, I've made really many major modifications to the website's design from the last update; for instance you may notice the animated text (scrolling text keywords) on the first "index.html" page, then I've changed the table that now lists "meta stuff" below the "NAVIGATE" cell and so on. But note that I've had quite many problems with the syntax; particularly regarding the animated text, but see the paragraph below for details.

You see, the thing is that I first used the marquee tag with various attributes (namely "behavior", "direction", "hspacespace", "scrollamount", "scrolldelay", beside the standard ones such as "align", "height", "width" etc.), however unfortunately in this form the page doesn't appear to be valid. Here is a link to example document: /index-marquee_tag.html, and here to W3C validator's results: http://validator.w3.org/check?uri=http%3A%2F%2Fusers.volja.net%2Ftayiper%2Findex-marquee_tag.html. So as usual, I've opened a Ars Technica forums titled Is there a valid equivalent to marquee tag (by W3C recommendations) ??:  http://episteme.arstechnica.com/groupee/forums/a/tpc/f/6330927813/m/728006677731; so check it out for more info on the problem. Luckily someone suggested to use JS instead; here's an external script that I use now (beside the script in the document itself, which refers to it): /script/marquee.js, while for another interesting recent design-related thread I've opened a Ars Technica forums titled A question on two particular CSS selectors (overriding/precedence), please see here:  http://episteme.arstechnica.com/groupee/forums/a/tpc/f/6330927813/m/563009877731. Oh and yes, I've made other minor more or less "aesthetics" and "standards" relatedmodifications to the site's code, but they are just to many to list them here.

13.02.2006

And once again, there were really many modifications made to the site's layout from the last update, for starters regarding the "internal and in-line" CSS styling I use, I've changed the value of "a:hover" selector for colour of hoovered links from 00FF00 (bright green) to colour with HTML code CCFFFF (bright blue), then I've also changed the value of "br" selector from 12px to 8px. Further, I've added a totally new Mozbot search engine: http://www.mozbot.com to all the documents, then I've also added/modified the "abbr title=" element to explain the most common abbreviations in a tooltip. Also I followed an advice from fellow Arsian and so I am "forcing" myself into the habit of writing element names in lowercase, since XML and XHTML require lowercase element tag names. I might actually add this to the page "principles1.html" as a "small letters in site coding" part of "THE MINIMALISM PRINCIPLE" entry. And finally, I've also added a link to my Web-Notes @ VOLJAblok blog (in Slovenian language) to all the pages under "root-main" section: http://tayiper.blog.volja.net. Oh, and just a note. The next week on 19.2.2006, it will be exactly one year since I've started with this "events" page. Of course, I will post a festive entry that day.

Secondly, I am planning to finally upload my three Firefox's "bookmarks.html" files (for three profiles) and optionally also my MBM5's "MBM5_High-Low.csv" and "MBM5_Interval.csv" logfiles, for visitors to be able to access them from the "drop-down box". But first I need to find a free "online file-hosting service"; for more info see the Request: I need a free online file-hosting service thread:  http://episteme.arstechnica.com/groupee/forums/a/tpc/f/99609816/m/552008077731 that I've opened on "Ars Technica" forums.

08.2.2006

I was totally unpleasantly surprised when I wanted to visit my main site-variant at Volja free-host few days ago; the graphic basically stated the following: The URL you requested has been disconnected because it contained materials not allowed as stated on VOLJA subscription agreement.; here are the related files that they've put there instead of my files: /script/disconnect_sl.html, /script/disconnect_index.html (of course, this one was originally named "index.html"), /script/disconnection_eng2.gif, /script/disconnection_slo1.gif. And as an addition to that, also all the files that I've uploaded so far to my FTP were deleted. Grrrrrr. So of course I instantly phoned the "support line" and explain what had happened (and that my website doesn't contain any "porn", "hate speech" etc.), but they said that they cannot help me and that I should send an e-mail to "Info Volja" address instead. Well, in the end they have brought all the deleted files back to my FTP space, but I was certainly near panic for some time that day.

Here below I list various design-related articles at the Techrepublic: http://techrepublic.com.com website that I've read in the past week; anyway, here are the links: http://techrepublic.com.com/i/tr/downloads/home/creating_web_sites_c6.pdf, http://techrepublic.com.com/i/tr/downloads/home/designing_interfaces_c4.pdf, http://techrepublic.com.com/i/tr/downloads/home/8tips_user_friendly.pdf, http://techrepublic.com.com/i/tr/downloads/home/head_first_html_c8.pdf. The files are in the .pdf format, so you will need something like Adobe Acrobat Reader or a free alternative FoxitReader (see page "software.html") installed on your computer to be able to read them.