'Holy HTML Batman'

This task made me realise I have been neglecting my inner nerd for too long.

I messed around with learning HTML many years ago, and have played with various types of editors, from CoffeeCup to Dreamweaver, since then. I have played the field but not really committed my self to a serious relationship with any particular type of editor yet.

It is important to have a working knowledge of writing HTML, I am aware that when you use programs like Dreamweaver they can create pages with superfluous code that may benefit from direct "tweaking" of the HTML, and I have found glitches every now and then that have been solved by looking at the code for the problem and then directly editing it.

I enjoyed making my page by tapping the code into TextEdit, Apples default editor, but found a few quirks with it (like having to change it from rich text to plain text). In the end It was a little frustrating having to type the code for every little thing you wanted to change. WYSIWYG software is the only way to go, as far as I'm concerned, but you need to understand how to write your own code in order fine tune the pages these programs create.

The question of who would win a fight between Superman and Batman is relevant to the topic, as far as I'm concerned, "Superman" is "TextEdit"(or equivilant) and "Batman" is "Dreamweaver" (or other WYSIWYG editor)

TextEdit is very powerful tool and can get the job done, but Dreamweaver has too many tricks up its sleeve. Where does Robin fit in? Robin is the HTML writing skills you need to get the most out of Batman, and together they make up ther dynamic duo of web page construction. No I have not been drinking.

This has all been a bit rushed, I am only home on weekends for the next 5 weeks, so I am trying to fit it all at once... may have to get Alfred to dust off the Bat-Lap-Top.

Chit Chat Paddy Whack, Beats Getting on the Phone

For this task I used Skype. I tried but couldnt get ICQ or IMVU working on the Apple, and as I had only just learnt to use Skype, I stuck with it.

I have found one on one real time chat to be fantastic. I have spent many hours, so far, using it and I love it! It sits in the background silent until someone has something to say, with none of the awkwardness this type of pause causes in more personal forms of communication. Its like having a chat with an old friend, it is as comfortable and relaxed as you want it to be. You can think and deliver considered responses without the time constraint you normally feel. So one on one I will continue to use instant messaging to communicate with friends and colleagues. The group thing is a different matter.

I have taken part in several group chats on Skype, I have found it far inferior to conference calls and even discussion boards (even given the time issues) for this type of communication. When there a few people chatting, people are typing at the same time, messages are being posted taking the conversation in different directions all at once, responses to those messages further fragment the group and the topic, and you end up with sub groups concentrating on their own little part of the conversation. No one really has any control over the chat. The conversation has no structure, at least on message boards, people can post their comment and get orderly replies. Here it all happens at once. It was like watching the old trading floor at the stock exchange during a "bullish" run, everyone yelling and reacting. I found myself sitting at my computer screaming "SELL SELL". For me, group style of chat is confusing, frustrating and hard work to take part in .

One on one instant messaging... Yippee. Group instant messaging... Boo, Hiss

Extra Extra, Owen Joins BBQ Newsgroup, Read All About It

For this exercise I wanted to join a hardcore group that took their topic very seriously, unfortunately my search for that term yielded unexpected results. Well not so unexpected really, in my rush to get the task done I forgot to run my search term through the "does this somehow relate to porn" computer. With that minor setback behind me I joined the Smoke Ring BBQ Group. Being an Australian male I have strong emotional and cultural ties to my BBQ and felt this US based group needed some expert antipodean guidance. It didn't take long to find a poor soul on the verge of making a big, and all too common, mistake.

Jason, had fallen into the trap of thinking Stainless Steel is the Holy Grail of BBQ materials. As I explained to Jason, stainless is fine for the body of the BBQ but enamel coated plates are far superior to cook on. Crisis averted.

I found this process quite painless, and didn't have the spam problems others experienced. However I will not be a member of the BBQ Smoke Ring for long although I admire the passion its members, like the members of a lot of these groups, have for their hobby. It gives me a similar feeling to when I watch the Mormons and Jehovah's Witnesses door knocking my street. I like, almost envy, their devotion but I am incapable of that sort of concentrated focus in my life.

Feeling Listless?

What are the pros and cons of email lists versus discussion boards?
Email lists seem to be a great way for a people who are new to the internet to get into online discussions, you only have to know how to send and retrieve email to use them. This strength also causes it greatest weakness, the amount of email that is generated by being part of a list. It is more in your face than a discussion board, you are reminded of the list nearly every time you open your email.

Email lists are to online communication as my wife is to me when I am trying to avoid mowing the lawn, a constant reminder that I am neglecting my duties (she is not very user friendly). And just as it is gets to a point where it is just easier to get out the victa, it is also gets to a point where it is easier to read the email and relieve yourself of the guilt...or put it straight in the bin and remove yourself from the list...either way you earn a beer.

On the negative side I think discussion boards require better internet skills. That said, in my experience, reading posts on discussion boards is far more pleasurable than dealing with email lists, better layout and more bells and whistles. I think as discussion boards continue to develop they will offer the same advantages that email lists offer, they will become easier for the beginner to use and the emailing of new posts will become a standard option. As I see it, the email list has joined the Black Rhino and the Beluga Sturgeon on the endangered species list.

Are there certain kinds of communication or purposes more suited to one than the other?
As far as I'm concerned email lists are for the things that I should do but don't really want to, the email forces me to stay up to date. With a little www.knowledge discussion boards are a far more user friendly, you can visit them when you want and in the meantime live on in ignorant guilt free bliss. I use these for topics that I enjoy as I don't need any external motivation to go to the page.

Emails from Heaven

There was a lot of hype when electronic mail was introduced. Women everywhere where shattered when they discovered it was a form of paperless communication NOT a new plug in robot-man who would do the washing up and put the toilet seat down. Despite this early setback electronic mail has entrenched itself in modern life.

1. What information about a user's email, the origin of a message, and the path it took, can you glean from an email message?
Luckily gleaning is one of my specialties. Email address's are made up of a username and a domain name and, with a bit of www.knowledge, we can identify what type of domain it is.

We can usually tell if the domain name is a common free online host for example:
bullyboy_de_la_boss@yahoo.com

Or if it is attached to a Government domain for example the now redundant:
jdellabosca@nsw.gov.au

Or if it is attached to a business web site:
jdellabosca@jdellabosca_conflict_resolution_mediation.com

Or if it from an educational institution:
jdellabosca@expensive_lessons.edu.au

2. In what cases would you find it useful to use the 'cc', 'bcc' and 'reply all functions of email?
I use the cc, or carbon copy, when I want to include people who I want to be aware of the information I am sending, but who are not directly involved, for instance:

I recently received an email invitation from a friend, front row members tickets at State of Origin 1 with free food and drink. When I replied in the affirmative I ensured I included the original text and cc'd my younger brother. He was not invited but I wanted him to be aware that I was going to be there, in the front row, members section, drinking and eating for free.

Bcc, or blind carbon copy, is a double edged sword. Its strong point is privacy protection but it is commonly used to betray personal confidentiality. Other than situations when you want to keep the people on a mail list from knowing who else is in the group I can think of few other occasions when it would be appropriate to bcc people, as it is akin to having a phone conversation on speaker when one party is unaware there is a group listening. I think the most common use for this function is as a subversive way of "dobbing" people in.

In my opinion, next to the Bible and Department Store Underwear Catalogues, the reply all button is one of the most inappropriately used things on the planet. In my work environment their is a culture of poor netiquette. It is commonplace for someone to send an email invitation, that requires a response, to a large group. Instead of replying to the sender only, the recipients reply to all. I get 50 banal emails, invariably written in all lower case, variously confirming or excusing their attendance at said event. The reply-all button should only be used when you have information that affects ALL or MOST of the people on the recipient list.

3. In what ways can you ensure that an attachment you send will be easily opened by the receiver?
Tip for new players...I have learnt the hard way that some of my male friends do not open attachments if the name doesn't appeal to them. I have overcome this challenge by renaming the attachment "sexy", or something similar, prior to sending it.

You have to be sure that the recipient has the software to be able to open the file. These days you are pretty safe with word and acrobat documents, but some audio and video files require specific software to open. As spam keeps reminding us, size is important, you don't want to send files that take too long to download, saving files in the correct format (for example if appropriate as a .gif instead of a .bmp) and using compression if necessary will make life a little easier.

4. What sorts of filters or rules do you have set up, and for what purpose?
I have anti-spam software which means that I am not up to date on the latest advances in personal augmentation or the current price of Viagra. I have filters set up that direct emails from certain sources into certain folders, and have a couple of email addresses blocked.

5. How have you organised the folder structure of your email and why?
I have many folders, I am a folderphile, if I get two or more email's on a particular subject they earn themselves a new folder, or a new sub-folder, or occasionally a sub-sub folder.

Internet Tools...The Last Word.

I said would post an update to the Internet Tools task as I felt I didn't really get it. With a bit of research about ping and IP numbers I am pretty comfortable with it now. I had drafted a post titled "When your Ping Pongs" but have refrained from putting it up (very dull). Robert solved the problem I had with the IP numbers at Curtin by answering my question on the WebCT discussion page, thanks mate. So, unless I am "advised" to go into further detail, this is the last I will say about Internet Tools. But I am sure, with my potential future career, I am yet to deal with many an Internet Tool.

Dazza Rocks Heaven

Kylie showed me a new trick... I have been sidetracked again! Just hit the stop button if Dazza isn't your cup of tea or click on the next song... who doesn't like Johnny Cash??? I think NET11 has created a monster.

UPDATE: Wow this got annoying quick! I may have to stop the auto play soon.

UPDATE: I have decided to run a poll to see what happens to the music, I am keen to dump it, but as an experiment I will put it to a vote.

I hope someone votes, otherwise its back to crying myself to sleep at night. So, unlike an election, this time your vote can make a difference.

Around the World in 80 Hops

80 days Phileas? Meet my Internet Tool.

Traceroute was a tool I enjoyed playing with. First I went to centralops.net and found Curtin to be 20 hops from the site at 251 ms. I then went to networktools.com and found it 20 hops at 259 ms. I found out that the IP number of the hostname curtin.edu.au is 134.7.179.53.

In my semi-ignorant bliss I have probably been happy with the illusion that the pages I view on the Internet were delivered there by the magical Internet Fairies, and although that would explain the fairy dust on my keyboard, it was probably not a healthy view for a budding web designer to hold. This exercise takes the ghost out of the machine by showing the physical path, and hardware, the information travels through on its journey to your screen.

Up until today I thought ping was the younger brother of a famous Swedish penguin. I am learning a lot. I gather ping is about speed and quality of connection, gamers seem to be obsessed with it and with reducing it and thereby their lag. I imagine hell is being trapped in an elevator full of gamers discussing lag and what to do about it. I pinged the Curtin server from my computer and received the below information. It seems to be written in Aramaic, I have sent a copy to Mel Gibson but have not heard back from him yet. I will post more when I have deciphered it.

Then, using my installed Apple network utility (thats right Robert, Apple, I am comfortable with my sexuality) I used traceroute from my computer to the Curtin server. Then I hit a speed bump, not really an issue when you are moving at a rate that would make a Three Toed Sloth appear dynamic, the IP number of the Curtin Server is different now! Whilst my immediate response was to curse the magical Internet Fairies, I am now convinced there is a logical explanation . I will post an update to this when I get it sorted.

The Mysterious Case of the Missing Word

This was a task I could sink my teeth into, a search for a mysterious missing word.
First step: Watch Indiana Jones in the Temple of Doom to get my head in the right place.
Second step: Eat cheese sandwich and a glass of milo... I may need the energy.
Third Step: Put on my Sherlock Holmes deerstalker hat and light up my calabash pipe.
Then my quest began.

For this task I installed FireFTP to my Firefox browser, a rather simple task that could be describes as... elementary.

I found this far easier than the telnet task as I didn't need to know any special commands, it was easy to navigate around the Curtin site. Even though this was, in my opinion, a far better experience as a user than telnet, I still found it far less compelling than working with modern browsers to locate information on the web. My experience with FTP, these days, is limited to "getting" and "putting" web page files to and from servers, a task it performs superbly. I can see how those with a history using this type of application enjoy it, and I respect it as tool in kit for in the development of the web experience, but when used to perform functions like in this task it lacks the bells and whistles that I enjoy. Some would see that as a positive.

In no time I tracked down the rouge file. I laughed triumphantly as I deftly dragged it over to my desktop and eagerly opened it... there it was beaming out at me. I turned to Watson (my cat) and rhetorically asked " What matters Watson?" I took the calabash pipe from my mouth and thoughtfully curled my bottom lip "CAPITALIZATION MATTERS" I declared. "Elementary my dear Watson, elementary".

Star Wars

Yes she may be, but she is your SISTER dude!!! Uncool

Robot love is disturbing.

Wow, this guy needed a girlfriend. I barely had the patience to watch it let alone create it. I love that there are people out there with the twisted genius needed to build something like this, I also love the fact that I am not one of them.
As for the log entry requirments I think that telnet was an important step in the evolution of the internet experience, and I imagine it still has its place; for certain technical functions (way above my ability) and to a certain degree as a bit of working nostalgia, like having a pinball machine in the garage. Sure some people did creative things with it, but I think human nature is such that people will find a way to express themselves by whatever means are available to them, however obscure.
Modern web browsers have opened the internet to an audience that could never have experienced it via telnet, due to the technical knowledge required to use it, it would have restricted access to a very small group of computer literate people.
I guess I view telnet like the old dirt road that used to run up the main street, it has now been replaced by a four lane bitumen road, which makes life easier for us all, but its fun to look at the old photos and wonder.

Telnet Tales

Today was my first experience with Telnet. And it was cool. I felt like an old school computer hacker and really had to fight the urge to take down the whole damn system. I had a bit of trouble getting it all together at first but once I worked out that all I had to do was type "telnet" it all happened easy. But I enjoyed the trial and error and looking up the right commands. Whilst I had a bit of fun with it, my computer would be covered in dust and cobwebs if it was the only way to operate over the internet.

5 Blogging Rules from Heaven

1: Thou Shall Not Drink And Blog
See my first post. Drinking and blogging is a reckless pursuit that can only end in embarrassment.

2: Thou Shall Tell It How It Is
Whilst a lot of "how to" blogs advise being inoffensive and keeping it like a "conversation with your grandparents", I say there is a reason there are record levels of lonely old people in the world. They are boring and cranky.
I am not saying you should deliberately offend anyone but if there is a place for freedom of speech this must be it. Got an opinion? voice it. The only reason I am blogging is it is a requirement of the course, anyone who chooses to blog should have something interesting to say or just keep a diary. As a rule we all believe in freedom of speech... unless it conflicts with our values or beliefs, I say lets hear it, at least it will be a good read.

3: Thou Shall Not Make Ridiculous Generalisations
I have read blogs where pompous bloggers have used stupid stereo-typing, like saying that all old people are boring and cranky for example, to help enforce a point. It is bound to offend humorless people and result in hate mail.

4: Thou Shall Proof Read Thy Post
Please use the Queens Bloody English. I hate reading blogs written in all lower case, and really hate them written in SMS language. u c what i mean? i h8 this and it must stop b4 it makes my head hurt.
If your thoughts are worth posting up for the world to see at least present them in a manner that indicates that you respect them enough to make them easily decipherable. I sound like an old person.

5: Thou Shall Be Careful When Blogging About Others
Only blog something about someone that you would say to their face. Fortunately I often say stupid things to people's faces.

My first blog!

Welcome to my first ever blog, courtesy of NET11. I may have set the bar a little high with my blogs title, but I will try to make it as painless as possible to read!

I think, for me, blogging may be a bit like playing Sing Star, I start of very shy and reserved but before I know it I am laying down "Ice Ice Baby" and throwing in break dancing moves between choruses.

Hmm ... Net 11 Heaven ... almost got a rap quality to it ...

Bloggin Net 11 Heaven
Eating a sandwich, devon
Got a daughter, 7
Time for bed, 11.

I must be tired.