Survey: Internet Connection

Keep in mid that the Web is a three-dimensional medium. The third dimension isn't depth -- it is time.

Further remember that flash and graphics -- unless used wisely -- produce a lower-quality experience for the viewer. For example looping animations may look neat, but they're highly distracting because the pull the eye away from the information.

One of the problems with Web designers is that most of them are either re-tread graphic designer or (worse) video people, or they were trained by graphic and video designers. Even after all this time a lot of them still don't have their heads around the fact that the Web is a different medium with significantly different rules.

(Okay, I'll shut up now and go take my pill. But I feel much better. Thanks.)

--RC "Sometimes history doesn't repeat itself. It just yells 'can't you remember anything I've told you?' and lets fly with a club. -- John W. Cambell Jr.

Man, if only more web sites worked right on LYNX, the world would be a better place.

todd

The best available here is 26.4K

Heck, I went to a _modern_ university -- they let the students use the keypunch machines themselves.

Then there was the day I went into the prep room, and saw a friend of mine sitting at one of the work-tables, staring disconsolately at a print-out, with a _moderately small_ deck (maybe 80-100) of cards beside him.

I went up, looked over his shoulder, and said "OH! the problem is obvious."

He looks up, and says (hopefully) "what is it?"

I said: "FORTRAN programs have to be on the cards with the purple stripe."

He, *knowing* I was pulling his leg, replied, absolutely deadpan: "Oh, so _that's_ it. They told us that in class, I should have remembered."

At about this point, some kid sitting on the other side of the table, with a *BIG* deck (like almost an entire 'box') of _plain_ cards, comes out of his seat like a marionette on wires, eyes bugged out of his head, and in a rising wail of absolutely *petrified* anguish/despair exclaims:

"FORTRAN has to be on the *PURPLE* cards????!!!!!!!"

Neither my friend or I could keep a straight face, and broke out laughing. A few moments later one of us manages to explain that we were just joking, and the guy collapses back into his chair.

I don't think I've ever seen anybody else so close to having to go change underwear, just as a result of something that was _said_.

Should I mention plug-board programming an IBM 046 ??

Or analyzing timing for various algorithms for dividing a large collating job among multiple 049 sorters?

That is followed by 5b -- insert sequence number in 'comments' field on *every*line* on the coding form.

(Then you can just pick up the 'scrambled' deck, make a few passes through the 'sorter', and have everything back in the right order.)

It only takes one or two experiences with 'un-numbered' decks for the 'wisdom' to sink in.

Hmm an IBM 046 was a non-interpreting paper tape to keypunch (basically an 024 keypunch with a paper tape reader) and sorters were 080, 082, 083 or 084. Do you mean a Daystrom 046?

We can certainly talk about plugging 407s and 557s if you like ;-)

You could also chat about the bastard child of an 082 sorter and a 402 EAM, the

Early 60's, programmer nick-named "Smoky". Changed program by pulling *one* end of wire(yep, "hot" end was still plugged in), closed panel, it started smoking. He turned it off, left room, announced "It's Broke" and returned to his cell.

Larry Blanchard apparently said,on my timestamp of 1/02/2005 5:50 AM:

Hehehe! Carrier pigeons anyone?

Ah yes. My pet hate was the Hollerith punching machine: the crap computer dept at uni couldn't afford electric ones, so students had to punch Fortran programs with the manual puncher, one column-at-a-time... ARRRGHH!

Shall I mention the demented coronel who wanted us to destroy the confetti for security reasons?

Oh yes we would! :)

Sorry this is so off topic for a WW NG. Just helping a fellow Woodworker...

You don't mention the version of PS, but you should be doing a "Save for Web" to save these as JPGs, then change the "quality" slider down, IMO around 50-60 on most pics works great.

It's actually a little more of a pain for the user since if they want a response they have to type in their email address, but I think it's worth it. I get ZERO spam.

morning so if

I personally like things left justified and if you notice nearly every commerical website everything is LJ, but since this isn't a business I allow for a little more creativity... I just looked at your source and if you're concerned about bandwidth, you did the centering the hard way!

Just place all your content in a 1 celled table that is centered. Also not sure why you're preloading a bunch of images, or if that code is just left over from something else.

What are you using to do your development?

Here's some great tips:

-FEW images for navigation, and those that are there are quite small. All of the tabs at the top are less than 2k.

-The links under the tabs are text only.

-Take a look at the physical size of all the pics on the page. The largest one I see on the home page right now is 90x90 pixels.

-Their content is not fixed width. As you change the width of your browser, the width of the page expands to fill. This is done with tables, not Divs or Layers.

-Style sheets, style sheets, style sheets. If you're not familiar with them, they allow you to define a "style" which is a set of attributes that you apply to different components of your page. For example, the main text in your site could have a style, and if you ever want to change the font size, for example, you only have to change it in 1 place, and it can apply to the entire site.

describe a base

Obviously a company has to decide what the ROI is on developing for every possible combo. I think it would be pretty ridiculous to test for a non graphics based platform when the OPs website is mainly pictures of his projects. I agree with Flash and Java issue, but not on JS.

We know how to do it, we just don't have the time to do it. I think if the OP hits 98% of the viewers out there, he'll be doing just fine. Here's some browser usage stats:

Are you referring to RFC1149-compliant, or RFC 2549-compliant, pigeons?

More like three or four once I go through all 14,967 stoplights, Charlie. :)

I've only driven to Roanoke once in the last couple of years on my own dime. I hate the trip to Roanoke. Too damn much traffic. Being in all that traffic when I'm only 2" off the ground in a little piece of aluminum foil with only four wheels makes me uneasy, I guess.

Plus I'm just a home body. I drive for a living, but if there's no living at stake, I don't go further than the shopping mecca/cesspool just over the hill from here. I have gas, food, Lowe's, Wal-Mart all within a mile, and SWMBO does 99% of that shopping too, so I rarely go even that far. Once or twice a year I make the big trek all the way into town to go to the lumber store.

I'm just saying it's nothing personal. I just don't get out much unless I have to. Bedford might as well be in British Columbia for all the likelihood that I will find myself in that corner of the world anytime soon.

Somebody must be filtering it for you. I have a couple accounts I have never used for anything but there is always spam in the mailbox. I think ISPs sell your name. (Comcast, AOL etc)

I pay 30 bucks a year or so to spamcop.net, and they block 98-99% of the spam sent to me. If I ran Windows, I'd buy zaep (zaep.com) which does a one time authorization of senders - unless a friend turns into a spammer, you'll get exactly no spam.

Dave Hinz

No one, well almost no one, uses 72-80 until they do 5A. when you punched your own every 'saved' stroke helped. Joe

Nope. I have my own domain name, and create my own mailbox accounts on that domain. There is a filtering option at the server level, but I have it turned off.

The only account I occasionally get spam is a mailbox named "sales", and I would imagine that the email bots just see the domain name and send to commonly named mailbox account. Even then I just get 4 or 5 a YEAR.

I had the opportunity to go fix a 101 in Spanish Town Jamaica (typebar emitter dirty). I think that and a keypunch was the whole data processing department in 1967. I was on my way to Gitmo to fix three 056s and an 047 when the Jamaica branch manager grabbed me.

Screw Roanoke, though it can be a problem--I came around and out 460 into Bedford itself today, and you may be right about the number of lights.

Up 581/220 to 24. Stay on 24 until you get to 43 and turn right. I'm not sure how many lights there are, maybe a half dozen in Roanoke, but on 24 there's only one, where it crosses 122 something like five miles from here.

Ah well. Some day you'll come get that fence. Before I cut it down and install it on a bandsaw. :)

Charlie Self "They want the federal government controlling Social Security like it's some kind of federal program." George W. Bush, St. Charles, Missouri, November 2,