************************************************************
A Tree-less ChallengePicking up the mail every day just isn
’
t what it used to be. Not that that
is necessarily a bad thing; there may be good and bad aspects to it; but
it
’
s just not as much fun as it once was. For instance, seldom do we see
letters from relatives and friends. We might see the occasional card to mark
some special event, but a plain old letter has become rare indeed. The
telephone slowed the flow, but email and IMs have brought it to a screeching
halt (almost!) The mailbox still gets filled, however, because there
’
s junk
mail and bills to take up the slack. It
’
s interesting to note, while the
subject passes by, that junk email has not replaced junk mail in the same
way that email replaces letters; it has merely added to the deluge.
Then there are those bills. When all you have to look forward to is unwanted
advertising and (unwanted
<
g
>
) bills, it
’
s not surprising that the joy has
gone from the prospect of picking up the mail. But our friendly Internet is
here to help us out again!
"
Paperless
"
is the buzz-word of the day. In the situation I
’
m taking a look
at today, it refers to the idea of getting rid of paper billing, especially
around the house. The first to offer me the option to go paperless was my
cellular phone company. I should say that they were they first ones who
really caught my attention
–
there may have been other offers earlier.
Here
’
s how it works:
First they have me go on-line and sign up for paperless billing. In the
process I create a userid and password. When they prepare my bill, they put
an image of it in PDF format into a database and link it to my userid. They
then send me an email to tell me the bill is ready. When I log on to their
paperless billing site, I am presented with a list of recent bills with the
new one on the top, and the details of the current amount owed showing next
to the list. I can take a look at the invoice and if everything is ok I
click the
"
pay now
"
button and pay through their secure site. Nice, clean,
simple!
I greatly prefer this method over the old direct debit solution whereby the
vendor simply takes the money out of my account when it
’
s due. The trouble I
see with direct debit is that if, for example, the meter reader keys in
597994 instead of 579994 I wind up with a bill for $6,500.00 for one month
’
s
water. Now, not only do I go without food for a while, but I
’
m paying
interest on my overdraft protection! I
’
d much rather see the bill and argue
about it before any money leaves my account than after it has already left!
It has to be said though, that many of the
"
direct debit
"
method companies
will now send out an email invoice fifteen to twenty days before they debit
one
’
s account, providing an opportunity to check the bill and call them with
any issues prior to them extracting all your cash.
I do think this is
better!
I like the paperless solution I outlined above a lot and I now have all my
phone, utility, cable, water and other routine household bills on the same
type of program. I was chatting with my neighbor, who is also paper
bill-less, and he was telling me that his lawn maintenance guy (I like to do
my own lawn work) does his billing the same way.
Now there
’
s a challenge for my GTG readers, I said to myself! It seems to me
that a simple web/email billing solution would not be too hard to develop. A
solution based on HTML, PHP and MySQL would be economical (as far as server
requirements are concerned) and relatively simple to do. I
’
m not concerned
with payables tracking or the like, just the solution I outlined above.
I would like to develop the solution with the help of a small group of GTG
readers and publish the whole thing on the HTML Goodies site, in our new
"
Webmaster Projects
"
section. If you have some of the skills I have
mentioned and you are game for being involved drop me an email to the
feedback address
—
please put
"
A Tree-Less Challenge
"
in the subject line.
I would like a team of about five people to participate. Everything must be
developed from scratch and will be made available to our readers of the
site, so we can not use any copyrighted code or materials.
All participants
will receive proper credit for their work.
The keywords for this little
project are
"
simple
"
and
"
basic
"
! So do you want to show off your mettle to
your peers?
Right now I have to run outside and clear today
’
s junk out of my mailbox.
Then again, maybe there
’
s a letter from one of my friends
…
. maybe
…
.
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
My website is done in tables, and I have one Cell on the top, three Cells
in the middle and one cell on the bottom. I want to make it so the in the
middle 3 cells, all the text is forced to the top. I tried
td align=top
but that didn
’
t work.
A.Change the align to valign and code it like so: td valign=
"
top
"
Q.How do I detect a flash plug-in and redirect the browser to a new URL?
A.Flash kit had a couple ways. I don
’
t know which you need, so here is the
search results page:
I am constantly creating files (pdf or word) files that I need to show to
many co-workers. Instead of having to email everyone every time 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?
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:
To 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).
Q.
I saw on a website once where there were dainty little buttons that didbrowser
’
s back, refresh, and forward buttons. I found
the javascript code for that on Html Goodies, but is there no way to apply
this event to a hotspot on an image? With the script on the website, I
’
m
under the impression it is written to create a standard form button with the
back (etc.) abilities. I have an image on which I want to select a hotspot
which will act as a back (etc.) button. Help?
A.What you are looking for is called an image map. Here is a link to a
tutorial on the HTMLGoodies web site:
It is best to have a tool to assist you in defining the hotspots of an image
so check your Dreamweaver documentation for references to image maps. If you
find this to be lacking, there is an excellent piece of shareware called
MapEdit available from boutell.com at:
At $10 it
’
s a bargain.
Q.Is there something you could use so that when the mouse moves over a link
it would look like a regular text, meaning that the mouse-pointer would turn
into an I shape instead of a hand?
A.This tutorial will explain it:
Something to be aware of is the effect can vary between browsers. Test it at
least in the recent IE and Netscape to make sure nothing is screwed up.
Discussion Goodies***********************************
Have you seen the discussion forums on the HTML Goodies website?
It
’
s a
great place to get help from others who, just like you, are developing web
pages.
Many different topics appear in the forum, and a new one will appear
if you create it!
Here
’
s a sample of recent topics:
php emailer:
PDF Export:
Three Tries
–
Password protect not working:
Adding internal style:
Automated keyword display for better SE ranking:
***********************************
New Year, New Linux Kernel[
January 3, 2006
]
IPv6 gets a boost in first new kernel of the year.
Read the article:
[
January 3, 2006
]
Security company details risks mobile workers face from
wireless intrusions.
Read the article:
[
January 3, 2006
]
Thomson aims to improve its core integration software for
financial services firms.
Read the article:
[
January 3, 2006
]
Zero-day Windows Metafile exploit to be patched in the
first update of the year.
Read the article:
[
January 3, 2006
]
Patent Office preliminarily rejects two patent claims used
by NTP to build infringement case against Blackberry maker.
Read the article:
[
December 30, 2005
]
internetnews.com makes some predictions for 2006 in the
IT world.
Read the article:
[
December 30, 2005
]
The PC maker is planning a strong push to make PCs the
staple of digital entertainment.
Read the article:
[
December 30, 2005
]
It may be making the vulnerability easier for
attackers.
Read the article:
[
December 30, 2005
]
The company will release its next edition of Java in
early 2006.
Read the article:
[
December 30, 2005
]
Will UDI spell the end of VGA for video display?
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:
mailto:nlfeedback@htmlgoodies.com
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!
***********************************
Examining ASP.NET 2.0’s Site Navigation – Part 3This article is one in a series of articles on ASP.NET 2.0
’
s site navigation
functionality.
This part examines how to use base the site map
’
s contents
on the currently logged in user and the authorization rules defined for the
pages in the site map.
By John Peterson:
"
As 2005 draws to a close, I once again find myself
wondering where the year went. Here
’
s a list of some of ASP 101
’
s highlights
from 2005.
"
***********************************
1924Tutankhamun
’
s Sarcophagus was Uncovered
British archaeologist Howard Carter had searched intently for the tomb of
the boy king, Pharoah Tutankhamun, the 12th king of the 18th Dynasty who was
nine years old at his accession, and who died while still in his teens.
He
finally found the steps to the burial chamber near the tomb of King Rameses
VI in the Valley of the Kings, near Luxor, Egypt.
On November 26, 1922 he
and fellow archeologist Lord Carnarvon entered the tomb.
The tomb had,
miraculously, survived intact for more than 3,000 years.
The excavation of
the four room tomb took more than four years, and uncovered thousands of
objects.
It was on this day in 1924 that a stone sarcophagus was uncovered,
which contained three coffins, nested one inside the other, the innermost of
which was made of solid gold, and contained the mummified body of
Tutankhamun.
Today was also the day that in:
1431Joan of Arc was handed over to
the Bishop;
1521Martin Luther was excommunicated by the Roman
Catholic Church;
1777Washington defeated the British at the Battle
of Princeton, New Jersey;
1795Ceramic craftsman Josiah Wedgwood died
at age 64;
1833Britain took control of the Falkland Islands in the
South Atlantic;
1870construction of the Brooklyn Bridge was started
(completed May 24, 1883);
1938the March of Dimes was established to
fight Polio;
1958Sir Edmund Hillary reached the South Pole,
overland;
1959Alaska was admitted as the 49th State;
1961the
US broke diplomatic relations with Cuba;
1962Pope John XXIII
excommunicated Fidel Castro;
1969John Lennon
’
s album
"
Two Virgins
"
was declared pornographic in New Jersey;
1977Apple Computer was
incorporated;
1988Margaret Thatcher became British Prime Minister;
General Manuel Noriega of Panama surrendered to US authorities;
Junk bond king Michael Milkin was released from jail after 22
months;
Born today were: in
1624the first Black child born in America
William Tucker;
1892writer John Ronald Reuel Tolkien;
1897Polish American actress Pola Negri (Barbara A Chalupec) (Madame Bovary);
Welsh actor Ray Milland;
1909Danish pianist/comedian Victor
Borge;
1918singer Maxene Andrews (one of the sisters);
1921actor John Russell,
1926English record producer Sir George Martin
(The Beatles);
1930actor Eddie Egan;
1945actress Victoria
Principal;
1945musician Stephen Stills;
1946English musician
John Paul Jones;
1956actor Mel Gibson;
1960Chinese actress
Joan Chen (Chen Chung);
1967English actress Helena Bonham Carter;
actress Shannon Sturges;
1975actress Danica McKellar;
actor Jason Marsden
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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