A New Look

One of my customers suggested that if I was offering to build web sites for people then I should have some way of showing my skills and abilities. This seemed a good idea so I built a new template (called Misty after this little lady).





I have been playing with rounded corners in CSS so the template Misty uses them. This template is a fixed width, three column page with static background. Which lends itself to lists and short paragraphs of text. It is not ideal for tutorials or articles but works just fine for a contact page (see pic on right) or a list. I already have a list of example templates on one of my sites but it had a severely plain and utilitarian background. It is only a three page site just to demonstrate the type of templates that are available for use as free downloads from the web. I don't mind using templates as a lot of hard work has been done for you and the cross platform issues have in many cases been solved. It is then a matter of adapting the template to the customer's needs by adding logos and content. To have a look at the templates go to OmegaCottage.org .

My next task is to change the apperance of the page I use to test new projects. At the moment it looks as sever as the old .org page did but I will select a very different template and adapt it to take the links to the project(s) I am currently working on then add a contact page so that folks can tell me what they think and/or ask for a quote for building a site for them. You will find the page at OmegaCottage.com .

Just a short post today - see you next week.

Setting up the new computer

The computer Jackie won has arrived. It is huge (24" x 24" x 9") and very heavy. We unpacked it and plugged it in and it proved to be as fast as was claimed. However although it was loaded with Vista Ultimate, there was no DVD or licence. Now I know that when you win something you should be grateful for what you are given but when it comes to a computer, then one without an operating system is like a car without an engine. I rang the people who built the computer and was told that it was loaded with Vista and that was that, but as a Microsoft Partner I knew it shouldn't be delivered like that.

The competition was run by PC Format so I rang them to find out just what I should have received. I was told the computer should fully complete and ready to run. I told them what state the operating system was in and that the accessory pack for the computer case was missing too. The Editor Alan Dexter told me he would contact the computer supplier YoYoTech and find out why I had been supplied a computer with an illegal copy of Vista on it.

I am glad to report that yesterday morning a parcel arrived containing all the missing bits. The computer is now up and running with a fully legal operating system and I have been able to add the wheels to the case plus a few other bits like a floppy drive. I am glad PC Format were able to sort this one but if the prize had been won by someone with less computer knowledge than my own would they have been able to argue with the builders or would they have found the computer stopped working when Vista wouldn't activate and had to go and buy a copy at the full retail price?

I have loaded all my usual software on to the computer and it all seems to run just fine. The next test is what it will do in Windows 7. Windows 7 is released on 22nd October. I have signed up at Amazon for the pre-order scheme and hopefully saved my self about £50 on the full price. I am at present using the RC 1 version of Windows 7 on two of my computers and I like it. So far I have had no problems with it as most of the hardware manufacturers are bringing out Windows 7 drivers ready for the launch. The one exception is Matrox who can not or will not say when or even if they will be bringing out Windows 7 drivers so I can't test my multi screen system using my normal P690 graphics cards. In view of this I have abandoned Matrox altogether and switch back to ATI graphic cards. I don't have the massive three screen desktop you get with Matrox but the three desktops I do get with ATI are nearly as good and whats more are reliable and stable which is more than the last set of drivers for Vista 64 bit were from Matrox.

BT Internet seems to be having problems again. Several of the people I am in touch with use this ISP and all have lost their connection over the past few days and several of them also report missing email. BT Claims there is nothing wrong but if not, where are all the missing emails?

That's it for this week - bye for now.

Who's a spoilt brat then?

On Thursday of last week my wife Jackie received the following email

---

Hi Jacki
Ref Yoyotech Competition PC Winner

Your PC will be shipped out on Monday 27-07-09 via City Link, and will be with you on Tuesday 28-07-09

If you do need to adjust the delivery day please inform us before Monday 2pm

--
Regards

Kul Singh
Antech Direct Ltd T/A Yoyotech
30 Windmill Street
London
W1T 2JL

---

She was just about to delete it as spam when she thought on to ask me to check it out for her. I rang the company and after the usual why are you ringing and who are you etc I was told that she had indeed won a computer and it would be delivered on Tuesday. I asked what is the spec of the machine expecting an Office machine or middle of the road family computer. What she is getting is this computer which is an ultra fast, ultra powerful games machine full of all the latest bells and whistles.

I began to think about how to shoehorn this beast of a machine into Jackie's corner of the lounge where she happily does several hundred Internet competitions a day. This is where I was turned from a puzzled husband into a spoilt brat because Jackie told me she didn't want it "What would I do with all that power?" and that it was mine if wanted it.

Now, bearing in mind that the number of times I have played a computer game can be counted on one hand, I had to work out if this powerful machine could be converted into a very powerful workstation instead of a games platform. The simple answer is that at this moment in time I don't know. I do use some very memory hungry programs (Adobe InDesign for example) and MS Office is notorious for hogging memory. But on the other hand these days I have to be able to handle book sized Word files as that is the way book manuscripts arrive from the author for typesetting.

The graphics card that is in this machine is a very powerful one but will it run a three screen system? Again I don't know till I try it as the Matrox website doesn't cover this graphic card. Quite a few graphics cards are not compatible with the Triple Head to Go hardware or drivers so it may not be as simple as plugging it in and linking up to my three screen system. Oh well, I have just finished typesetting a book so after the machine arrives tomorrow, I suspect I will be in for a few happy hours researching just how to configure this machine for best performance as a Desk Top Publishing, Web Designing and MS Office applications machine. It will be a bit like using an F1 racing car to pop down to the Co-op but you never know I might just take up flight Simms and learn to fly.

It is only when something like this happens that you take stock and realise just how much you can take your partner for granted without realising what is happening. Like most men, I can easily become wrapped up in what I am doing and lose sight of the big picture. Jackie just puts up with me staring at a computer screen for hours on end and still the house is spotless, the meals always arrive on time and I am never short of clean clothes - see what I mean - I am a totally spoilt brat especially when I get a wonderful present like this computer.

All Change - Day 2

By the end of day one I have activated my new server, setup my domains (all 4 of them), uploaded my websites to the new server, setup email accounts and started to setup the server and permissions.

Day two started by getting all the email accounts working as they should. I then began to try to add the databases to the domains. I found I had to learn a new way of working because the new server did not accept the settings and code my previous server worked just fine with. This meant out with the manuals, fire up Google and try to work out what was different. I eventually tracked down the main difference to the path statement. My old server used

'Server.MapPath("../private/database.mdb")'

to point to the data source. The new server required the full path to be used in the connection string like this

'sConnString="PROVIDER=Microsoft.Jet.OLEDB.4.0;" & "Data Source=C:\inetpub\vhosts\\httpdocs\private\database.mdb'

quite a difference but it does now seem to work just as it should.

Late in the afternoon the publisher I worked for arrived with a script that needs correcting so I guess that as my new server is working reasonably well, it will now have to wait till the bread and butter stuff is done and I can find some time to start fine tuning.

All Change

I have decided that the time has come to move up a level and start to host my own web sites and email on a server I control. As part of the move I am also going to change my ISP (Internet Service Provider) to try to get a more stable service as my present ISP has been having to tweak my connection almost daily to keep me connected. I am sticking with a business service as the contention ratio tends to be better and you don't get the server drops that plague residential connections. I thought a diary of what I am doing might just help any of you that are considering changing your Internet connection or hosting services.

Right where did I start?

The first place is on the web to look for an ISP that offers the services that you want. Many folk buy just on price or because the man in the pub says that this service is the one to go for. Many folk also take as gospel what the TV adds say and promise. A better way is to find out which service all your neighbours are using and then pick another one - why? let me explain.

The Internet works in a way that is similar to your mobile phone. Residential customers are divided up into groups (cells) of 50 connections and the ISPs gamble that not all 50 customers will log on at the same time. This is called the contention ratio. If they do all log on the service just disconnects people until there is enough bandwidth to allow connections to the web. These are the slow downs and dropped servers that are very familiar to Tiscali, AOL, TalkTalk and other popular ISP customers. I pay a bit more a month for a business connection and get a 20 to 1 Contention Ratio. Because I live in the middle of a residential estate there aren't many other business customers around here so I don't get dropped servers or suffer the slow downs all my neighbours suffer. This time round I have plumped for a local business ISP here in Yorkshire (PlusNet) which should give me a similar service to the one I got from Eclipse before they grew too big to give an individual service to all their customers.

Once you have chosen your new ISP you have to ask your present ISP for the MAC code (Migration Access Code) that allows you to switch ISPs without any downtime other than having to type in your new User Name and Password to your router. The only problem you may get here is that some ISPs try to delay giving you your MAC code so that you get fed up waiting and stay with their service. This is against the code of practice and usually if you make that known to to your ISP the MAC code arrives by email within a couple of hours. All you need to do once you have got it is pass it on to your new ISP and then wait till switch over day.

I have done this and been given the switch over date of 28th July. In the mean time I can log on to PlusNet and setup my email mail boxes ready for switch over so that I don't miss any email. I am not going to detail what you need to do to make mailboxes as every ISP is slightly different but most ISP have a help page that gives you detailed instructions how to setup mailboxes and the settings you need for the email program on your computer. This my ISP's help page for setting up email for example.

I have also signed up for a virtual server with ServerChoice who are a sister company of the domain registration company who manage the registration of my domains for me. The server should come on line today so I should be able to tell you how I get on configuring it tomorrow.

In the mean time I have received the Mac code from Eclipse and passed it on to PlusNet so my new broadband connection should be up and running on the 28th July.

Scam Warning

This week I have become aware of a nasty little scam being run on the websites of some major players on the web like Easyjet, Interflora and Vistaprint. You may see an offer on the order confirmation for money off the next spend, If you take up the offer you're taken through a lengthy process in which you're joining up to the Shopper Discounts & Rewards programme run by Webloyalty and agreeing to a monthly direct debit or continuous payment. The offer is a hefty discount on hundreds of major shops and eBay but try to use it and you will find out it is not a discount at all.


My bank tells me that the way they operate this scam is by getting your card details from the firm you have ordered from and then using the details to set up a recurring debit on your card. The banks can't refuse to pay it so the only way to stop the scam is to cancel your card with all the inconveniences that causes.


If you want to read what other people think about this scam and how it works look at http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?t=819869. There is also information on this site about what to do if you are caught.


I had another attempt to complete the rewiring of my network this week. When I torn the nail off the thumb that is in plaster I gave up. My study looks like it has been trashed by a determined police rummage team and I can only just get to my main computer but it will have to stay like that till I have got both my hands back.


The publisher I do occasional work for has decided that one of his sites needs a face lift. This site was originally written using an ecommerce program called Zencart. For a small business like his, Zencart has proved to be unwieldy and needs a lot of expertise in PHP to maintain. Also Zencart seems to be biased to selling music on line and adapting it to sell books has not been fully successful. His other company website uses osCommerce http://www.oscommerce.com/ which is more lightweight, much more intuitive to maintain and has a good number of people writing first class templates for all sorts of online stores including bookstores. I am meeting with him on Monday to decide which template to use so watch this space to see how we get on. The site we are updating is this one http://senbooks.co.uk/ so keep an eye on it.

That's all for this week I'm afraid, typing one handed isn't good productivity wise.

Post op week 2

I must admit that I am pleasantly surprised by the lack of pain from this op on my hand. The previous three ops all had me taking pain killers for weeks and my hand was totally useless as the slightest pressure on my thumb or fingers was extremely painful. This time round, it took until the morning after the op for the anaesthetic to fully wear off and my fingers to start moving again but when it did I was pleased to find that there was very little swelling, hardly any bruising and very little pain. Within three days I was using my hand to type with one finger. Now apart from the clumsy great pot on my hand and not being able to grip anything properly I hardly notice the op at all. I also don't need to take any more than my usual dose of pain killer to keep my arthritis under control.

I haven't managed to do any work on my network due to my hand but I have been busy doing other bits of upgrades. I have rejoined Skype using a wireless head set and web cam bought from eBay. The camera is tiny but give a good image even in the dark due to the LEDs that supply illumination. The web cam is compatible with Skype but not with Yahoo messenger so I can talk to some of my friends and customers but not others.

The wireless head set is a multi purpose one. It can be used for online audio/visual chat, It can be used as a baby monitor although wearing a headset all the time isn't my idea of comfort. It can be used wireless headphones to listen to music or DVDs without disturbing anyone else so it wasn't bad value at just less than £6. I haven't worked out how to wire it in permanently to my system as crawling about under the desk is a no no with this pot so it is just plugged in to the front mic and earphone connectors for now where it seems to work perfectly once I had told Vista what it was and where it was connected.

Earlier this week I was reading an article about how to make curved corners in CSS. It looked to be a lot of hard work just to make boxes with rounded corners so I thought I would have a go. I set to and designed a template for a web page called Curved Corners which you will find here if you want a look Curved Corners Test Page . It is a bit rough and ready at the moment but it wouldn't take much work to make it fully functional if anyone out there would like a site built using it.

I often find myself grinding my teeth at the claims of WYSIWYG web site editors who claim to be able to write perfect cross platform code first time every time. The simple fact is they can't as the following example will show. On Curved Corners is a small piece of code that produces a search box like this:-

<li id="search">

 <h2>Search</h2>

  <small style="margin-left: 25px">Search this site</small>

    <form id="searchform" method="get" action="">

 <div>

   <input type="text" name="s" id="s" size="15" style="height: 27px;" />

   <input type="submit" value="Search" style="height: 29px;" />

 </div>

    </form>

</li>

What this is supposed to look like is this :-

What you get is this in Mozilla :-

In Internet Explorer 8 you get this :-

And in Avant you get this:-

I am told that the WYSIWYG editors can sort this out but I think the above examples from my template show they are not quite as good as they claim. When I have debugged the code and made them all look the same I will let you know what had to be done to the CSS and HTML to get it right.

On Tuesday the heavy pot comes off, the stitches are removed and a light weight pot put on for the next four weeks. I am hoping that I will get a bit more use out of my hand although I will have to care full not to over use it.