Received a notice yesterday .. from my web host (Lunarpages), which begins » Warning: Excessive Server Usage Your account is using excessive resources, causing a significant degradation of services on the server. This is a shared environment and we can not allow one user to utilize the majority of resources, as it affects all users adversely. Because of this, your site has been temporarily moved ...
Learning lots about (X)HTML, CSS. & Dreamweaver. For example, I finished reading the Head First book (cover-to-cover, all 650 pages). Currently half-way thru the Lynda.com Essential training video for Dreamweaver CS3 (Creative Suite 3). Also reading the Missing Manual on Dreaweaver (~1,000 pages), which goes into more detail than the video. All great stuff. Was surprised to read over at Coding Horror that the average programmer reads less than 1 (technical) book per year.
With my current book (on XHTML/CSS) coming to a close, I've been cresearching books that deal solely with Cascading Style Sheets (CSS) ... .. to determine which one might represent the next step in upgrading my web meister skill set. Here's what I found. Let's begin with end. The best book (for me) would be » CSS Mastery: Advanced Web Standards Solutions .. by Andy Budd (from Brighton, England. His blog is » here.). Sample chapter posted » here (600-KB, 20-page PDF dealing with Layout).
Link worth bookmarking » PlantetPDF. Contains 7 pages worth of links to books (all free) .. with authors such as Dickens, Homer & Dostoevsky, and titles like Dracula &
Half-way thru new (650-page) Head First XHTML/CSS book. Completed first 7 chapters, which cover all things pertaining to HTML/XHTML (the *structure* of a web page, such as setting up » headings, paragraphs, images, links).
Chapter 8 (« 3-MB PDF), which I'm starting now, begins discussion of Cascading Style Sheets (CSS), which is cooler than (X)HTML, cuz it deals with *presentation* (as separated from structure). Been studying new "Head First" book on XHTML/CSS .. currently ~200 pages into it (1/3rd way thru), now reading chapter 5.
Haven't seen much new material I don't already know (having learned most of my tricks from viewing the source of other web sites). Tho I have learned bits-n-pieces of cool info from the book, especially regarding the names (terms) of things (.. which I've been using for years). Been reading a new book on XHTML/CSS. O'Reilly claims its books in the Head First series represent a "learning experience." (not a reference)
Slow down. The more you understand, the less you have to memorize. Take time to ponder the implications of what you're learning.
Pictures help you learn better than text, cuz the brain is tuned for images (not text).
While researching what books might help, two stood out:
Head First HTML with CSS & XHTML, by Eric & Liz Freeman, Dec 2005, 694 pgs
HTML, XHTML, and CSS, 6th Ed, by Liz Castro (Barcelona), Aug 2006, 456 pgs
The Head First book has an Amazon.com Sales Rank of 1154 (at time of this writing, rankings fluctuate constantly). The Castro book comes in slightly higher at 1110. Both are Amazon BestSellers. Been upgrading my web master skills recently, to include proficiency with HTML, XHTML, CSS & Dreamweaver. I'd also like to become familiar with JavaScript, PHP & SQL-based databases, such as MySQL.
Like most people, I learn best by doing .. by having a project to which I can apply my new skills.
I'm finding these newfangled XHTML/CSS pages significantly more complicated to work with than the old (simple) HTML ones I used with the original Rad Ghost guide. A security vulnerability was reported for the forum software (YaBB v2.1), as posted at iDefense Labs...
... which allows attackers to register with Administrator privileges by "setting the values of certain variables to contain certain characters." (Nice of them not to spell-out how to implement the hack.) Tomorrow (Monday) is the site's 7-year anniversary. If you enjoy the study of math & numbers like I do, you probably know the number 7 is often associated with notions of completion & perfection.
Seven years ago tomorrow, I acquired the domain name radified.com. Following day (June 5th), site went live (online).
You can read the very first Rad entry at the bottom of this page (archives for June/July, 2000). Fortunately I learned a thing or two since then (tho much of it the hard way > trial-n-error). Been playing Rad dad last few days. The bug is getting to that age where he knows what he wants (and what he doesn't want). No longer can I just grab him and do what I want. Now he must be dealt with.
Been looking into Virtual Private Servers (VPS) .. by trading emails with Lunarpages support to learn how that deal that works.
Odd how Basic Hosting (which I have now) comes with 350 gigs of storage (which few will ever use) & costs less than 10 bucks a month. Yet a VPS account only comes with 20 gigs storage (still way more than the 2 or 3 I need) .. tho costs $40/month. Seems like the numbers are backwards (you pay more, but get less). So I asked why. Their response: A big part of Indulging Your Technolust involves learning how to use cool software. Once you have your hardware dialed in, and your system backed up (crucial step), it's time to become proficient with your favorite programs.
After you install WAMP (running as localhost) you'll notice in phpMyAdmin (where you set up your MySQL databases) a warning that says you have no root password, saying this is not secure and should be corrected soon as possible. Test of the new Rad server. If you can read this, you're getting the *new* server. Could be my imagination, but this one feels a little zippier. No?
The new Rad server is a Dell PowerEdge 2650 (PDF), sporting dual-Xeons @ 2.8 GHz, with 6 gigs memory & SCSI RAID disk storage, running... The site move to a new, updated server (mentioned yesterday) involves a new name server (they say), which means the site might (not sure yet, I asked) be unavailable for a period of time following the move.
Okay, they said the new name server *will* need to propagate, which means the site will be unavailable for 24-72 hours, depending > this stuff. (The Rad server is physically located downtown Los Angeles.) This entry is continued from Part I > Comparing Joomla vs Drupal Content Management Systems - Part I
You can actually TEST various CMS'es at > OpenSourceCMS, log in (as administrator) and take them for a test drive. Every two hours, the site wipes your changes and starts everything over from scratch. Pretty cool. You can also demo Joomla! here. Recall a few days ago? When I mentioned the idea of getting another domain name, so I could split-out site content related to my adventures as Rad-Dad?
I've since been pondering various domain names, such as rad-dad.com (which is already taken, tho I could buy it for a price) and radfather.com (which is available). But none felt right. Until today. Back when I first launched Radified (summer of 2000), I purchased a web-hosting account that provided 350-MB storage space .. for $32/month (less discount, if you paid a year in advance).
Today, I received a note from the girls at Lunarpages, saying they raised the amount of disk storage for clients enrolled in their Basic hosting plan .. to (an incredible) 350-GB (still $6.95/month). Thinking of splitting-out site content pertaining to my experiences as a dad .. to a NEW site, such as raddad.com (oops, that domain name already taken) .. or rad-dad.com (uh, that one is also taken).
Anyway, I'll find some new domain that will work. (Cost ~$10/yr, and I already have tons of content I could transfer.) Test of Google's AJAX Search API, which lets you insert Google elements into your web pages (using JavaScript code). Pretty cool.
You first have to sign up for a license key. (Google gives you a big, long key, ~100 characters.) Mid-way Review of Head First XHTML/CSS Book
First Impressions of Head First XHTML/CSS Book
Theory of Learning Behind the Head First Series of Books (from O'Reilly)
Best Books for Learning the Basics of Web Site Design (XHTML + CSS)
Upgrading Web Master Skills | New Technologies Presenting Challenges
YaBB Forum Security Vulnerability Patched
Radified's 7-year anniversary | A brief history
Learning Dad Tricks & all about Virtual Private Servers (VPS)
Proficiency with Software & Setting Root Password for MySQL Database in phpMyAdmin under WAMP5
Site Move to New Upgraded Web Server Complete
Moving Site to New Upgraded Web Server
Comparing Drupal vs Joomla Content Management Systems - Part II
New Domain Name: hardnuf.com (Adventures in Fatherhood)
Lunarpages Web Hosting Increases Storage to 350-GB
Comparing Joomla vs Drupal Content Management Systems - Part I/II
Using Google's AJAX Search API
If you use an RSS reader, you can subscribe to a feed of all future entries tagged 'website'. [What is this?]