Friday, March 29, 2024

Goodies to Go ™
September 1, 2003– Newsletter #248


Goodies to Go ™
September 1, 2003–Newsletter #248

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


Featured this week:

* Goodies Thoughts – Last of the Summer
Whine

* Q & A Goodies
* News Goodies
* Goodies Peer Reviews

* Feedback Goodies  
* And Remember This

 


 

Goodies Announcement

Just in case you missed
it before, 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
Last of the Summer
Whine



Here in the US today is Labor Day. While summer is technically not yet over, it
is taken by many (most) here to mark the end of the season, and a lot of the
summer tourist locales start to close down. How much you like that depends
entirely on your point of view.

The holiday itself is a creation of the labor movement and is dedicated to the
social and economic achievements of American workers. Samuel Gompers, founder
and longtime president of the American Federation of Labor said "All other
holidays are in a more or less degree connected with conflicts and battles of
man’s prowess over man, of strife and discord for greed and power, of glories
achieved by one nation over another. Labor Day…is devoted to no man, living or
dead, to no sect, race, or nation."

You will not hear me, however, whining about summer’s passing. For me, it hardly
does! I live and work in central Florida where it’s summer almost all year! We
do, of course get the seasons — in the fall, the temperature plummets into the
eighties (around 30 Celsius/centigrade) and the winter, which is the coldest
week of the year, sometimes forces us to wear long sleeved shirts!

There is something that I can be heard whining about, however. It’s the dreaded
spam! I have seen people complaining on the local TV news about getting upwards
of 500 spam emails into their mailboxes on a daily basis. 500!! They should see
what it’s like if you have a published address! I get two to three thousand spam
emails daily in addition to legitimate incoming mail.

To get a handle on my email, and to provide me with comprehensive access to it
from anywhere in the world I use a combination of Microsoft’s Exchange Server
and Outlook. In a way this is a sledgehammer used to crack a nut, but it does
have some wonderful features. I can write some pretty involved rules for
handling incoming mail. Many email clients include the capability to write rules
in this way, and can be of great value in sorting out mail.

First, I look for subjects that are immediately recognizable as spam, and
auto-delete them. Next, I have a set of rules that look for things I am
expecting, such as mail that correctly uses one of my addresses in the recipient
field, and move this mail into one of a series of folders according to the
address. When my rules have finished picking out what they can, the remainder is
dropped into my default inbox. This remainder is everything that could not be
readily identified. It is 99% spam. I can cast my eyes down the list pretty
quickly ad pick out anything that looks like it might be legitimate, and
manually move it to a "work" folder. The rest I delete en masse. The last thing
you ever want to do is to respond to spam. That includes "unsubscribing" which
only seems to serve to add your address to a whole bunch of other lists. If you
suffer from spam, this technique may help you out.

Alternatively, our friends up at Panicware (http://www.PanicWare.com ) have a
product called Spamwasher that has it’s own rules built right in and maintained
by Panicware in a manner somewhat akin to the virus definition lists in your
favorite anti-virus software. I took a days worth of email and ran it into
Spamwasher. Remarkably only about fifty pieces of spam got through it!

There are legislative efforts afoot to try to stem the tide, but such efforts
will require international cooperation in order to be truly effective. That
might happen – we’ll have to wait and see. Spam exists only because it works. If
everybody stopped responding to spam, stopped buying the advertised products and
ignored or boycotted the vendors who use spam, it would no longer be worth
sending it. Somehow I don’t think that will ever happen!

Meanwhile, I hope you enjoy your autumn and winter seasons, or, for those of you
living in the southern half of our planet, I hope you have a great spring and
summer!



 



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’m trying to implement Joe Burns’ shopping cart onto my webpage and
it’s working great so far. However, instead of having an ‘Add This Item To My
Total’, and then a ‘You Have Ordered This Many Of This Item:’, I’d like to have
a dropdown menu listing various numerical choices and then an ‘Add This Amount
To My Total’ button. I’m trying to figure it out, but I’m not getting very far.
How do I go about doing this?

A. It sounds like you want to fill in the number with an option list, and
find another way to store the value. I’m not familiar with that cart, but it
sounds like a serious reworking of it. It might be a lot easier to find a
shopping cart that works the way you want rather than trying to rework this one,
though you would learn a bunch of JavaScript in the process. Replacing the text
box containing the total with an option list is easy. The user sets it instead
of the function setting it. However,
the function that fills that box in Joe’s script also stores the variable, and
you need to find another way to do that. That’s the part that’s a serious
rewrite.
[As an option, check out

http://www.JavaScriptSource.com
— a search on "shopping cart" reveals some
interesting options. Also check out Bob Conley’s suggestion, below. – Ed.]

Q. I am coming up very high in the search engine results for several
files on my site. If I change web host providers (my address will change of
course) will I ruin my search engine rankings? How might a change affect my
rankings — if at all?

A. I do not believe that the hosting change will affect your ranking with
the search engines. The spiders will be looking for your site no matter where it
is hosted. If it placed you high in the rankings once then it will more than
likely do it again when your site is re-indexed. For instance Google starts it’s
indexing every 30 to 45 days. So if you do change your host it will just
re-index the site from where it is. Although Google does sometimes drop sites
for no apparent reason and then picks them up again the next time. I have had
that happen once or twice. I actually submit to the search engines every 30 or
40 days anyway to be sure that they know the sites are there.

Q. I am trying to make a simple search form with one text field and one
button next to it on the top, and the search result table underneath. The
problem is that some users don’t necessarily click on the "Search" button (to
trigger the search action page), but rather hit the enter key after they type
something in the text box. This causes the form page to reload and they get no
result from the search. I am sure there is a simple solution to this; I’ve tried
everything I could think of, but with no success. Any help would be much
appreciated.

A. That happens when you only have one text box on a form. You could try
adding some hidden elements or disable the enter key for the text box. For
example:
function disable_enter(e)
{ if(document.all) // detect IE only
{var keycodec = event.keyCode}
else
{var keycodec = e.which}
if(keycodec==’13’) // check for ascii code of enter key
{return false;} }
<input type="text size="10" name="txta" onKeyPress="return disable_enter
(event)">

 

Q. I am starting to design web-pages and wanted to know what would I need
to start a small e-commerce site. I want it to be database driven.

A. First you need to know if your server supports database driven sites
and if so, what type. If your host uses a UNIX server then it should support PHP
and PERL. If your server is a Windows server then it supports ASP. Once you
figure which one, you can then look for a shopping cart that will work on your
particular server. Your host may even offer a cart for you to use. Ask them
first. The next is to start testing cart available on the internet. Do a search
on Google and then test drive them. Make a list of what you might want in a cart
and see which ones offer what you need.
If you do not want host your own shopping cart, you can look into something like
Paypal (http://www.paypal.com). HTMLGoodies
has a tutorail about Paypal here:

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

They do all of the shopping cart work for you. You add some code to your site to
use thier cart. They do get a percentage of the sale but I am not sure how much.

 

 

 

 

Top

News Goodies


Is RSS the Answer to the Spam Crisis?
[
September 1, 2003] As legitimate online publishers struggle
to get e-mail newsletters into clogged inboxes, RSS is fast
emerging as the answer to the spam nightmare.

Click
here to read the article


 

IBM to Update Information Integration Tool
[September 1, 2003] Big Blue embarks on a big project to add rich media,
speed, flexibility and to its DB2 Information Integrator product; for now,
call it ‘Project Masala.’

Click here to read the article

 

 

‘Blaster’ Teen Suspect Arrested
[August 29, 2003] UPDATE: The FBI has arrested Minnesota teenager Jeffrey
Lee Parson on suspicion he created a destructive variant of the ‘Blaster’
worm.

Click here to read the article

 

 



IE Patent Loss Aftershocks Reverberate
[August 29, 2003] Microsoft plans to make changes to its flagship
Internet Explorer browser while the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) has
started mulling alternative options.

Click here to read the article

 



 

Intel Acquisition In Line With Clusters
[August 29, 2003] The No. 1 chipmaker takes over pieces of German-based
Pallas, whose software is used in four of the top five supercomputers in the
Top 500 supercomputer list.

Click here to read the article

 

 

Salesforce.com Cleans Up its Karma
[August 29, 2003] An altruistic marketing tactic backfires as the online
software vendor apologizes to Dalai Lama supporters for posters advertising
a San Francisco appearance.

Click here to read the article

 

 

IBM Retakes Server Crown
[August 29, 2003] UPDATE: The latest stats from IDC rank Big Blue as the
No.1 overall server vendor worldwide, as x86 systems outpaced UNIX ones for
the first time.

Click here to read the article

 

 

Microsoft Readies Small Business Server Bundles
[August 29, 2003] Seeking to encourage small businesses to
enter into the world of server-based computing, Microsoft
plans to release an inexpensive bundle of its server system
early in October. While small businesses will enjoy the
ease-of-use and low introductory pricing, the cost of
additional licenses could temper the product debut.

Click here to read the article

 

PeopleSoft Seals J.D. Edwards Deal
[August 29, 2003] It’s officially signed, sealed and delivered; J.D. Edwards
and PeopleSoft are one.

Click
here to read the article

 

 



Where’s IT’s Next Hotspot? Ask DFJ
[August 29, 2003] The VC is raising a $100M fund to back startups in a
country that has seen investment activity wane recently.

Click here to read the article

 

 

 

 

 

 

Top


Goodies Peer Reviews


 

Every week a site selected each week for review. Each week,
reviews of the previous week’s selected site are chosen for
publication on the HTML Goodies website.

 

The current week’s selected site is published in Goodies To
Go and in the Peer Reviews section of the website. 
Current contact email addresses for submitting your site and
for submitting reviews are published in Goodies To Go.

If you would like to have your site reviewed, sign up for
the Goodies To Go newsletter in the Navigation Bar on the
left side of this page. 

For full details about this program, see

http://www.htmlgoodies.com/peerreviews

 

 

 

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/

Many thanks to Okie Thurman for pointing out the omission of
consideration for 21st, 22nd, 23rd and 31st in the day of
the week routine in last week’s Q&A Goodies (see

http://www.htmlgoodies.com/letters/247.html
) They do, of
course, also need extra code. There is, by the way, a much
better way to handle the whole question by using arrays —
check out

http://www.htmlgoodies.com/letters/214.html
)

Thanks also to Roger Palfree who reminds us of another
reason images sometimes don’t appear when uploaded to the
web server, even though they work just fine on your own PC
(see the background image question in newsletter #246 Q&A
Goodies

http://www.htmlgoodies.com/letters/246.html
) If your
server is a Unix/Linux system it will be case sensitive and
may handle .Jpg .JPG and .jpg (or .Gif .GIF and /gif )
differently. Window’s is not case sensitive for file names.

Thanks again for all your feedback!

 


Windows Tech Goodie of the Week:

Windows Tech Goodie of the Week:

Deploying ASP.NET Applications – Part 2

The second and final article in this series shows how to add
advanced
functionality such as customizing the installation dialog
boxes and their
sequence, installing registry entries, and creating custom
folders to
Windows installer files. The article also discusses when to
use which
deployment option and highlights the advantages of each one.


http://www.15seconds.com/issue/030820.htm

 


** and **
 


Bar Chart Sample Code That Handles Negative Values

We’ve had a bar chart sample on the site for a while now,
but when I wrote it I neglected to add support for negative
numbers. For those who are curious, I originally wrote the
code to graph our web site page views for our sales guys and
so negative numbers weren’t a concern. Well one of our
visitors who was feeling generous has donated the code that
he wrote to show bar charts that include negative values.


http://www.asp101.com/samples/bar_chart.asp#negative

 


 

 

Top
And Remember This . . .

On this day in…

1939 Germany Invades Poland


One and a half million German troops crossed the border from
German controlled territory into Poland on September 1,
1939. At the same time the Luftwaffe bombed Polish airfields
and the German navy attacked Polish ships in the Baltic sea.
Hitler tried to pass off the invasion as a defensive move,
even to the point of staging an "invasion" of Germany by
Polish troops, who were in fact SS troops in Polish
uniforms. They damaged a few insignificant German facilities
and left behind some "dead", who were concentration camp
prisoners in Polish uniforms. The British and French were
not fooled and gave Germany one day to withdraw or face war.
On September 3rd at 11:15 pm, following the 11:00 pm
expiration of the deadline, Prime Minister Neville
Chamberlain announced on the radio that Britain was at war
with Germany. Similar announcements from Australia, New
Zealand, India, and the next day from France, heralded the
start of World War II.

Today was also the day that: in 891 the Northmen were
defeated near Louvaine, France; 1267 Ramban (Nachmanides)
arrived in Jerusalem to establish a Jewish community;
1666
the Great Fire of London (which destroyed 80% of
the City) started in Pudding Street; 1849 the
California Constitutional Convention started in Monterey;
1874
Sidney General Post Office started operations in
Australia; 1878 the first female telephone operator,
Emma Nutt, started work in Boston; 1922 a New York
City law required all "Pool" halls change their name to
"Billiards"; 1923 Tokyo and Yokahama earthquake kills
106,000; 1945 World War II ends with the surrender of
Japan (9/1 in the US — it was already September 2 in
Japan); 1962 Earth’s population officially hits 3
billion (3,000 million) according to the United Nations;
1977
the TRS-80 Model I computer goes on sale; 1982
US law requires a maximum reading of 85mph on a car’s
speedometer;

Born today were: in 1854 German composer Engelbert
Humperdinck; 1875 novelist Edgar Rice Burroughs
(Tarzan); 1923 boxer (Heavyweight Champ) Rocky
Marciano; 1933 country singer Conway Twitty; 1939
comedienne/actress Lily Tomplin; 1946 singer Barry
Gibb; 1957 singer Gloria Estefan

 




Thanks for reading Goodies to Go!


 



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