Thursday, March 28, 2024

Goodies to Go! Newsletter #316

This newsletter is part of the internet.com network.
http://www.internet.com

 


Featured this week:

* Goodies Thoughts – Coming Soon! —
Some Changes

* Q & A Goodies

* News Goodies
* Feedback Goodies  
* Windows Tech Goodies  
* And Remember This

 


 

Goodies Announcement

The new Beyond HTML Goodies book
is now available!

 

Go beyond the basics
and learn how the pros add and use dynamic HTML features and advanced
JavaScript techniques. Beyond HTML Goodies demonstrates dozens of new and
different features readers can add to their existing Web pages using HTML and
JavaScript. The book starts with simple text and image tips, such as adding a
clock to a Web page or causing text to appear when the mouse moves over an
image. It gradually builds to more complex tricks, including manipulating forms
or working with cookies behind the scenes. Throughout the book, readers enjoy
Joe’s snappy style and “to the point” discussion of each “goody” in the book.

 

http://books.internet.com/books/0789727803

 

 


Goodies Thoughts – Coming Soon! — Some Changes


That’s right folks! Changes are on their way — to the HTML
Goodies web site, that is. The site has been around for quite a while now,
sporting its warm and friendly wavy brown margin. I like it, and so, apparently,
do a lot of you! It’s time though, for an update to its looks.

In the not very distant future, you’ll be seeing a fresh new look on the
website. The new design features a clean, modern, easy to read format, with easy
to find navigation and sharp new colors! The look is more in keeping with that
of the rest of the Earthweb family of which it is a member site (see
http://www.earthweb.com
for more)

And speaking of Earthweb, if you haven’t checked it out recently, you should do
yourself a favor and go take a look. There’s a ton of good material in there for
anybody in the web/software development and/or IT business. The categories
include Hardware, Web Development (which is where you’ll find us), Software
Development, Management, Networking and Communications and IT News.

The content of HTML Goodies will all be there, of course! We’re not going to
reduce the resources we provide for you — far from it; the resources on HTML
Goodies continue to grow, with recent additions including our PHP Tutorials
which are nearing completion, and the Web development project examples that we
recently started.

Once the cosmetic changes have been implemented, we’ll be revamping such areas
as the Mentor program. This program has been a tremendously popular area within
the site. Basically, the objective is to provide a means for novice and growing
web developers to ask questions of our "Mentors" who provide them with
solutions.

Our Mentors are volunteers who have a little more experience with one or more
areas within the developer arena and who are willing to share their expertise
for no more than the occasional bit of publicity for their own sites. They
provide their services primarily for the love of what they do and the benefit of
those who are trying to master their craft.

And, by the way, if this description fits you and you would like to become an
HTML Goodies Mentor, drop me an email (vbarnes@jupitermedia.com) with the words
"Mentor Volunteer" in the subject line and describing your area(s) of expertise
and I’ll add your name to the pool.

Other areas within the site will also be similarly reworked — 2005 promises to
be an exciting year for the HTML Goodies enthusiast!
 

 

Thanks for Reading!

 


 



– Vince Barnes


 


Top

Q & A Goodies


Questions are taken from submissions to our Community Mentors. You can ask a Mentor a question by going to

http://www.htmlgoodies.com/mentors
.

Q. I need to learn how to pass a variable(s) from web page to web page.
Do I use a cookie? Do I use a file and perl? Can it be simply done with the
hidden fields in a form?

A. There’s a tutorial on just that subject:

http://www.htmlgoodies.com/beyond/jspass.html

Q. How do I design my webpages so they fill the screen on all monitor
sizes?

A. If you want to make sure that your site will look well in all
resolutions you should first decide what your lowest screen resolution should
be. According to statistics, most people are viewing the web at 800 X 600 or
above and very few are actually viewing at 640 X 480. So you can safely design a
page for the lowest resolution being 800 X 600. When you design for 800 X 600
make sure that all of your images are optimized for that resolution. Use
percentages for your table instead of pixel widths. If you use a fixed pixel
width you are setting your table to an absolute measurement. If the table is set
to percentages it will expand as needed. I use a bit of JavaScript to check to
see what my sites look like in various resolutions. Copy and paste this into
your browser address:
javascript:resizeTo(640,480)
Hit enter and then save to your favorites. Do the same with the following:
javascript:resizeTo(800,600)
javascript:resizeTo(1024,768)
Your browser will resize itself to the resolutions and you can get an idea of
what the page is going to look like.

Q. Where is the tutorial on mouse over for "click here"?

A. You should be able to find one in the JavaScript Primers on the HTML
Goodies site. Here is a link to the Table of Contents:

http://www.htmlgoodies.com/primers/jsp/jsp_toc.html

[If you’re looking for a particular piece of JavaScript code, check out

http://www.javascripts.com
and
http://www.javascriptsource.com
  — Ed.]

Q. When you open a new window is it possible to close the original
window? When I run this code I just get an error message after the new window
opens.

window.open("page.html", "whatever", config="height=500,width=500") self.close;
I’ve tried replacing self.close with main.close and window.close but I always
get errors. main.close only works for closing new windows.

A. The reason you are getting the erros is that you have the wrong syntax
for your window close. The correct syntax should be:
self.close()

or:
window.close()
to close the original window. The other problem that you will have is that when
you use JavaScript to close the original or main window an alert will popup
asking you wether you want to close it or not. This is a security feature that
keeps someone from closing the window without the viewer’s permission.
JavaScript is not allowed to close the main window.

Q. I cannot figure out how to get the submit button to work. I need the
information from the order form to go to my email address. If this is not
possible, please advise me on how to retrieve information from a form that is
submitted. Anyway, the form is there and each text box is coded within the form
frame. I would also like to be able to add a confirmation page when they submit
the order. (Code sample supplied)

A. The reason your form is not working is because the SUBMIT button has
no place to send it to. The line that starts the FORM needs an ACTION attribute.

This line:
<FORM name=" " enctype="text/plain">
Should read something like this:
<FORM name=" " enctype="text/plain" action="page_to_send _the_info_to.shtml">

The page that the form sends the information to should contain all of the needed
coding to send the information to an email. If you are using the script to send
to an email application, I would suggest you find another script as some
browsers do not support that.
[See also these articles for more information:

http://www.htmlgoodies.com/articles/emailforms1.html


http://www.htmlgoodies.com/articles/emailformphp.html

– Ed.]
 

 

 

 

 

Top

News Goodies

ContentGuard Bulks up Property Portfolio
[December 20, 2004] Five new DRM patents in the U.S., Japan
and Europe add to ContentGuard’s control of digital rights
management.

Click
here to read the article

 

Tivoli Tightens Aim at Security Threats
[December 21, 2004] IBM refreshes two Tivoli management software bits for
security

Click
here to read the article

 

 

 


Google Fixes Desktop Search Flaw

[December 20, 2004] A vulnerability that ships local desktop
searches over the Web is plugged by Google techs.

Click here to read the article

 

 

 

Microsoft Alters Hotmail Security Trend
[December 20, 2004] Trend Micro takes over the security
reigns for the giant’s e-mail service.

Click here to read the article
 

 

 

Redmond Moves Unnerve McAfee Investors
[December 20, 2004] Shares of McAfee sank Monday after Microsoft made its
second move against the security company in a week.

Click here to read the article

 

 

 

eBay Protests Exec’s Arrest Over Sex Tape Listing
[December 20, 2004] UPDATED: The company’s stateside officials say they are
outraged as the head of its India operations is jailed without bail until
Friday.

Click here to read the article

 

 



Spammers Slammed With $1 Billion in Fines

[December 20, 2004] Damage award is believed to be the highest ever.

Click here to read the article

 

 

 

Microsoft Girds For EU Appeal Ruling

[December 20, 2004] According to a staff memo, the decision is expected
Wednesday.

Click here to read the article


 

 

Holiday Shopping Surge is On
[December 20, 2004] Online shopping peaks on Mondays, while online spenders
don’t stop for the holiday.

Click here to read the article

 

 

 


New W3C Standard Reuses Content

[December 20, 2004] The Web standards body reaches another goal
in its bid to construct composite XML documents reusing
information.

Click here to read the article

 

 

 

 

 

 

Top

Feedback
Goodies


Did you ever wish your newsletter was an easy two way communications medium?
Ploof! It now is!
If you would like to comment on the newsletter or expand/improve on something
you have seen in here, you can now send your input to:

mailto:nlfeedback@htmlgoodies.com

We already receive a lot of email every day. This address will help us sort out
those relating specifically to this newsletter from all the rest. When you send
email to this address it may wind up being included in this section of the
newsletter, to be shared with your fellow readers.
Please don’t send your questions to this address.
They should be sent to our mentors: see
http://www.htmlgoodies.com/mentors/

Thanks again for all your feedback!

 

 

Top


 

Windows Tech Goodie of the Week:
 

A Look at WebCharts, a Free .NET Charting Control

Recently I discovered a free .NET charting tool from
Microsoft employee Carlos Aguilar Mares called WebChart.
This article provides a quick overview of WebChart,
demonstrating how to use it in an ASP.NET Web application.


http://aspnet.4guysfromrolla.com/articles/120804-1.aspx

*** AND ***


Server-Side Printing to a Networked Printer from ASP

A while back I wrote "Server-Side Printing from ASP" which
explained how to print plain text to a printer directly
connected to your web server. Since then, I’ve received
quite a few email from people looking to accomplish the same
task on a networked printer.


http://www.asp101.com/articles/john/serversideprint/network.asp

*** AND ***

Designing Role-Based Security Models for .NET

In this article, Michele Leroux Bustamante discusses
authentication, authorization and role-based security in
.NET. Along the way, he provides some best practices for
implementing role-based security in some typical .NET
application scenarios including rich clients, Web
applications, and Web services.


http://www.15seconds.com/issue/041208.htm

 

 


 

Top


 

 

 

 
And Remember This . . .

On this day in…
 

1989 US Invaded Panama

Wanting to overthrow the dictator Manuel Noriega, who had been
indicted in the US on drug charges, the US invaded Panama on this
day in 1989. In the early 70’s he had been recruited by the CIA to
assist the US in its efforts against the spread of communism in
Central America. By the late 70’s he became involved in drug
trafficking and was dropped from the CIA payroll. In 1979 the
communist Sandinistas came to power, and in 1983 Noriega was brought
back in to the CIA. He became the military dictator of Panama. In
1986 reports surfaced that he had been a double agent, working also
for the Cuban intelligence agency and for the Sandinistas. He was
disowned by the US government and indicted by Federal Grand Juries
on drug smuggling and money laundering charges. President Bush had
increased the US military security force in the canal zone when, on
December 16 1989 a US Marine was shot dead at a Panamanian Defense
Force roadblock. The next day President Bush authorized "Operation
Just Cause" and on December 20, 9,000 US troops joined the 12,000
already there. By December 24, Noriega and his PDF were crushed. The
US made Guillermo Endara President of Panama (he had actually been
elected, but the election was annulled by Noriega) and on January 3
1980 Noriega was arrested by US Drug Enforcement Agency agents. The
Organization of American States and the European Parliament both
called the invasion a flagrant violation of international law.

Today was also the day that in: 1620 the Mayflower, with 103
pilgrims aboard, landed at Plymouth Rock; 1835 HMS Beagle,
with Charles Darwin aboard, sailed into the Bay of Islands, New
Zealand; 1898 Pierre and Marie Curie discovered Radium;
1914
the first feature length (silent) film comedy, "Tillie’s
Punctured Romance" was released, starring Marie Dressler, Mabel
Normand and Charles Chaplin; 1923 Nepal became an independent
nation (formerly a British Protectorate); 1933 Five year old
Shirley Temple was signed to a studio contract with 20th Century
Fox; 1937 the first feature length, color and sound cartoon, "Snow
White" (Disney) premiered; 1946 1,086 died in an earthquake
in southern Japan; 1948 the State of Eire (formerly the Irish
Free State) declared its independence; 1954 Dr. Sam Sheppard
was convicted of the murder of his wife, Marilyn (inspired "The
Fugitive"); 1968 David Crosby, Stephen Stills & Graham Nash
premiered together in California; 1978 Police in Des Plaines
IL, arrested John Wayne Gacy Jr for murder; 1979 Zimbabwe
adopted its constitution; 1988 New York bound Pan Am jumbo
jet (Flight 103) exploded over Scotland, killing all 259 people on
the plane and 11 people on the ground; 1989 Vice-President
Quayle sent out 30,000 Christmas cards with word beacon spelled ‘beakon’;
1991 actress Jane Fonda married CNN-director Ted Turner (her
birthday); 1994 Bomb exploded on #4 train on Fulton Street
NYC;

Born today were: in 1117 Archbishop of Canterbury Thomas
Becket; 1804 British Prime Minister Benjamin Disraeli;
1850
Hadassah founder Henrietta Szold; 1879 Russian
dictator Joseph Stalin Dzoegashvili; 1918 Nazi/ 4th UN
Secretary General/Austrian President Kurt Waldheim; 1937
actress Jane Fonda; 1940 musician Frank Zappa; 1943

musician Albert Lee; 1944 actor Jared Martin; 1948
actress Carol Potter; 1957 comedian/actor Ray Romano; 1965
actor Andy Dick; 1978 actor Michael Vitar;

 




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