************************************************************
The Web ComplexBack in the deep, dark ages, back in the early, formative days of
the Internet (that is, four or five years ago, perhaps!) web pages
were things you would look at, and they
’
d simply look right back at
you.
That was that.
No interaction, no real, personal, interactive
"
Hey!
Great to see you again!
How are the kids?
"
—
nothing like
that.
(OK, so maybe I
’
m going back a little more than five years,
but I think the story is much nicer the way I tell it!!)
Then, as the Web evolved, along came dynamic sites, interactivity,
personalization and database connectivity.
Web sites were becoming
more and more complex and their functionality was increasing
geometrically.
So when will it stop?
Where is the Web going?
Will
I, with my relatively simple site, be left behind, forever relegated
to obsolescence?
Whoa there Nellie!
Let
’
s slow down and take a
look.
Where
’
s the web going?
Let
’
s think for a moment about all the
programs we run in the computer.
When it gets right down to it,
they all provide fairly much the same functionality
—
they read
information from files, manipulate it, display things on the screen,
store information back in files, interact with network resources and
maybe print out a few things.
Of course, the tremendous variety of
ways in which each of these things can be done can make this look
like a gross simplification, but, simplified though it may be, it
does in fact describe the basic functionality involved.
It starts with input, coming from keyboards, mice and the like,
microphones, scanners, cameras and so on.
This all goes into the
software which manipulates it, interacts with files and databases
and so on, until it ends up as output sent to your screen, printers,
speakers and so on.
That
’
s basically the same process a web page goes through.
Suppose that all your files and programs were stored at the server
end.
Now suppose your
"
browser
"
could accept all the aforementioned
input types and (as it already can) outputs.
You wouldn
’
t need any
local storage; you wouldn
’
t install or update your programs, you
wouldn
’
t need much of a local computer
—
in fact, you wouldn
’
t need
to be at any specific computer; any one with the right
"
super-browser
"
would do.
In this scenario, all your computing
would be done through the Web.
Far fetched?
Not at all!
It
’
s fairly common already!
First,
there
’
s the likes of Citrix, which let
’
s you take just about any
application and run it through the Internet (by the way, I
’
ll be at
Citrix iForum in Las Vegas next week
—
maybe I
’
ll see you there!).
This is a fairly elaborate solution though
—
too much for the
average home user, it
’
s more for business with their own server
farms.
But there are also other variations on the theme
–
some more
suited for the home user.
You already know that companies like Google, Yahoo, MSN and the like
will provide you with free email and tons of storage space.
Now
take a look at the last article under News Goodies today.
I think
you
’
ll start to see where the future of the web might take us.
Oh, and about that simple web page of yours
—
not everything that
’
s
written has to be a book.
There is still plenty of room for such
things as newsletters (thank goodness!) and simple notes.
Humble
website will always continue to serve the purpose they currently
do.
A family history website, for example, though built with
relatively low-tech stuff, is highly likely to increase in its
meaning, purpose and value with the passage of time.
So cheer up,
and keep typing (or speaking, if your into some of today
’
s higher
tech input devices!)
Thanks for reading!
–
Vince Barnes
************************************************************
Q & A Goodies***********************************
Questions are taken from submissions to our Community
Mentors. You can ask a Mentor a question by going to
I was wondering how to have information filled our on a form sent
directly to a e-mail address? If this is possible how can I
implement it into my website?
A.It does not work very well when you try to email a form directly
to an email address.
Usually what happens when the attempt to
submit the for is their email client will pop up without the
information from the form in the body of the email.
You should use
a serverside language such as Perl PHP or Asp to process the form
and email it to you.
[
Take a look also at:
and
—
Ed.
]
Q.I want to design a home page which display different images each
time it loads. There will be 6 main images to be shown all will be
displayed one by one and when 6th image will be displayed, the first
image will come again.
A.There are so solutions many available. It all depends on what
type of technology you want to use. My best suggestion is to do a
search on Google or Yahoo for
"
JavaScript image rotator
"
. You will
find about 10000 hits. Most of them probably even have a demo so you
can see what it will look like before you try it.
I am constantly creating files (pdf or word) files that I need to
show to many co-workers. Instead of having to email everyone everytime I finish a file, I would like to upload the file to my
server and have them view the list of files online and download the
ones they want. These files need to be password protected as
different people in different departments should only see files
pertaining to them. Here was my idea, create a bunch of password
protected folders on a server
–
one for each department, and I will
upload the file to any folder that should be allowed to view these
files.
Two questions: 1) I put the files in a folder, but when I
try to view the folder in a browser it tells me I don
’
t have
permission to access this folder (I assume because I never created
an index file). How can I set it up that I should be able to view a
list of files that are in the folder?
2) how can I create a page
that will allow me to upload files to folders using a browser?
A.I believe you are correct in that you do not have an INDEX file
for the server to show when you try to access the folder. You could
create an INDEX file with the links to the documents for
downloading. I am assuming that you have already password protected
the folder? An even easier way would be to use a password log in
feature for your pages. The application would allow users to sign up
themselves and you would control which group the user should be in
and only the documents or files you allow each group or person to
view. There is a nice web application called ASPLogin. It has to run
on a server that supports ASP. For example, to make a document
available to all users in a group called
‘
management
’
, members of a
group called
‘
administrators
’
and a user called
‘
fred
’
(who may or
may not be in either of the groups), you would add the following
code to the top of the document:
<
%@ LANGUAGE=VBScript %
>
<
%
Set asplObj=Server.CreateObject(
"
ASPL.Login
"
)
asplObj.Group(
"
management
"
)
asplObj.Group(
"
administrators
"
)
asplObj.User(
"
Fred
"
)
asplObj.Protect
Set asplObj=Nothing
%
>
Any other group or person trying to see that document will not be
allowed to see it. It is a pretty slick application You can take a
look here:
http://www.asplogin.comTo create a page to allow you to upload documents would call for
some scripting. This all depends on what type of server you site is
hosted on. If it is a Windows server then it will support Active
Server Pages (ASP).
I just finishing a webpage using background images in my table
cells. I set my background color to black and my background image is
texture of color. So here is my problem
…
the poeple who asked me
to do their website want to be able to print it for themselves and
for students who visit the website. I just discovered that the
File/Print command in Explorer stays black where it
’
s supposed to
have a backgroud image.
It is really ugly when you print it. In all
the 5 years since I
’
m doing webpage its the first time that someone
has asked me to have a better rendering for printing. I havent found
anything on that subjet so far, so if you have any ideas of how to
fix this I will be very grateful.
A.I believe you do not have control over what the user is printing
in this case. To print a background color or image the user has to
have their browser set to print them. By default the browser will be
set up to not print the background color or images because they
impair readability or consume large amounts of toner or ink.
In Microsoft Internet Explorer:
Select Tools and the select Internet Options.
Click the Advanced tab.
Scroll down to the section labeled Printing and mark the box labeled
Print background colors and images.
Try Reprinting the page.
I am not sure how it is done in Netscape.
How would I make my own computer game with JavaScript?
A.Here is a link to some JavaScript games:
Q. Is there a way to create a menu of hyperlinks over an image? I
want a text menu over my left margin images without having to create
image links.
Use the image as the background of a table cell and place the
links in the table cell.
When making an ordered list, is there a way to make the numbers
of the ordered list bold without making the entire content of the
ordered list bold?
A.Yes, put bold tags around the li tags.
<
b
>
<
li
>
<
/b
>
***********************************
Sun, Google to Push Java, Toolbar[
October 4, 2005
]
Landmark agreement unites Internet-based services
and Java.
Read the article:
[
October 4, 2005
]
The wireless specialist will use the software
giant
’
s platforms to develop new apps for first responders.
Read the article:
[
October 4, 2005
]
The music industry
’
s pattern of lawsuits and
settlement procedures against P2P downloaders is questioned.
Read the article:
[
October 4, 2005
]
IBM goes all out for SMBs with new Power5+
machines, which include a special Quad Core design.
Read the article:
[
October 4, 2005
]
Feds claim fraudster raised donations by falsely
claiming to be flying humanitarian flights to New Orleans.
Read the article:
[
October 4, 2005
]
UPDATED: IDC
’
s expectations for IT purchases
dropped in the wake of Hurricane Katrina, but analysts expect to see
a rebound.
Read the article:
[
October 4, 2005
]
Tattle-tales don
’
t need to fear reprisals if they
use anonymous reporting service.
Read the article:
[
October 4, 2005
]
The chief justice and supreme court nominee both
had hands in Redmond cases.
Read the article:
[
October 3, 2005
]
It becomes the first state to make the scam a
civil violation.
Read the article:
[
October 3, 2005
]
Google and Sun expected to announce cooperation on
a hosted version of an open source productivity suite.
Read the article:
***********************************
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:
We already receive a lot of email every day.
This address helps 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
Thanks for all your feedback!
***********************************
Displaying RSS Feeds – A Look at RssFeed Version 1.9In a recent article we discussed a free, open-source ASP.NET server
control that we could use to display syndicated content from another
site on an ASP.NET website. In this article we
’
ll take a quick look
at RssFeed and then highlight some of its new features. Read on to
learn more!
After downloading the limited links version of our paged database
search script, one of our readers decided to send in an improved
implementation that wraps the code up into a function and adds some
CSS support. If you
’
ve ever wanted to be able to easily add previous
and next links to your search results, then have we got the function
for you.
Migration to IIS 6 can present itself as a daunting challenge.
Depending on your existing hosting configuration, the process can
number in hours, days, or even weeks. Careful planning and research
is integral to achieve a successful migration.
***********************************
1957"
Sputnik
"
Launched
Heralding the dawn of the
"
space age
"
, the USSR launched the first
man made Earth satellite, the
"
Sputnik
"
, on this day in 1957.
It
launched at 22:29, Moscow time, from the Tyuratam space center in
Kazakhstan.
Sputnik was 22 inches in diameter, weighed 184 pounds,
and traveling at 18,000 mph, circled the Earth ever 1 hour, 36
minutes.
Its orbit varied from 143 mile to 584 miles from Earth,
until it deteriorated in January of 1958, when it burned up in the
atmosphere.
Its launch caught the American Government and
scientists by surprise, and started what became known as the
"
space
race
"
.
Today was also the day that in:
1824Mexico became a
republic;
1883the
"
Orient Express
"
linking Europe to Turkey
by rail, ran its first run;
1910Portugal became a republic;
Rev Sun Young Moon left prison in Seoul;
1957"
Leave It to Beaver,
"
debuted on CBS;
1966Lesotho
(Basutoland) gained independence from Britain;
1974John
Lennon released
"
Walls
&
Bridges
"
;
1984US govt closed down
due to budget problems;
1990Regional elections were held in
what was East Germany;
Born today were: in
1860"
Sherlock Holmes
"
illustrator Sidney
Paget;
1889Olympic rower (father to Grace) John B. Kelly;
silent film actor Buster Keaton;
1923actor Charlton
Heston;
1931comic strip crime fighter Dick Tracy;
1932actress Felicia Farr;
1941English author Jackie Collins;
singer Patti LaBelle;
1945actor Clifton Davis;
actress Susan Sarandon;
1949actor Armand Assante; 1
961actor David W. Harper;
The original home of HTML tutorials. HTMLGoodies is a website dedicated to publishing tutorials that cover every aspect of being a web developer. We cover programming and web development tutorials on languages and technologies such as HTML, JavaScript, and CSS. In addition, our articles cover web frameworks like Angular and React.JS, as well as popular Content Management Systems (CMS) that include WordPress, Drupal, and Joomla. Website development platforms like Shopify, Squarespace, and Wix are also featured. Topics related to solid web design and Internet Marketing also find a home on HTMLGoodies, as we discuss UX/UI Design, Search Engine Optimization (SEO), and web dev best practices.
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