Computer Genius Required

[Badstench]

I need help from someone more savvy with what's going on than I am.

The Problem: Out of the blue, Microsoft security suite has been sending me messages as pop-ups alerting me to the invasion of maliscious programs (viruses?).

This freaked me out. I followed the advice of the security suite to download a malware removal program.... actually, I followed the advice as far as the window that told me I had to pay a certain amount for internet protection.

Troubleshooting: I ran a scan through the computer panel/ security settings. It came back and said nothing harmful was detected.

My pop-up blocker is on.

My firewall is activated.

The Problem Persists: Microsoft warnings keep popping up (accompanied by the horrible sound of fingernails dragged across a blackboard).

What I want: is to stop this happening. I'm not 100% sure the warnings aren't valid, but I have no indications that my computer really is infected except for these dang messages... which lead me to a demand for payment... which lead me to think this is a method of spamming... which is really pissing me off!

Anyone got any suggestions?

[Hastifer]

You may have your Messenger service turned on, and someone may be exploiting that.

When you hover your mouse over parts of the "popup" does the mouse pointer become a "hand" icon instead of an arrow?

If not, then we can go check the Messenger service. You'll want to turn it off.

Click Start -> Control Panel -> Administrative Tools -> Services

Find Messenger in the list, and open it.

Click the Stop button. (if you're really mad at it you can do this repeatedly -stop stop stop) sorry couldn't resist.

THEN, in the "Startup type" box, choose "Disabled"

Click OK


Of course, if it is already disabled then you have another issue, but let's check this first...

[Badstench]

Everything went well until I got to the "services" list. I couldn't find anything that said, "messenger" or had "messenger" in the title. Could it be called something else?

I work through Alta Vista, by the way.

[thingirl]

Disclaimer: This might not be good advice. Dad is the computer whiz, not me. The following information is from memory of something he did.

If you have an anti virus/ scan program on your comp, run it and see if there is anything on your comp. If there is, do a google search on it and see if there's a free program to take it out.

[Oldschool]

First off let me say I'm not a computer genius, now that the disclaimer is out of the way.

I once had something similar - I was on the internet and a site I was on linked me to another that opened a window that advised me I had unwanted software (can't recall if it was termed spyware, malware, etc...) and I could download "their" software for a price to clean the system.

Here's where I messed up instead of closing out the whole browser I clicked cancel which often allows the scam to work. After that I kept getting a icon on my taskbar and the same "offer" every 5 minutes or so. The price for the software just unloads the crap they put on there.

At the time I did a bit of googling and that seemed to be a new type of attack then but that was some time ago.

This has been a long while ago but I can remember manually deleting everything I could find that was associated with it and then I went to a clean restore point which took care of it.

I'd run your virus protection and any other software you have like spyware programs first. If that doesn't do it go back to your last known clean restore point. I'm not familiar with Vista but XP automatically generates them and I'm guessing Vista does also. Manually deleting the programs can be risky and is probably overkill.

Good luck.

[racey]

Try using www.pcpitstop.com. You can set up an account for free. They have alot of different scans that they do. Virus/Malware scans are available. Let them scan and tell you what you have then google that result for a removal tool for that particular virus/malware.

[MrBlack]

Where is Young Ned when you need him :rolleyes:

[psychoadept]

I second the recommendation of pcpitstop.com. It helped me figure out what was wrong earlier this year when Dell @$%#ed up my laptop.

[Badstench]

Thanks everyone for your advice and help. The problem was exactly the same as described by Oldschool, so I opted for a system restore. That seems to have done the trick.

Thanks again.

[Oldschool]

Thanks everyone for your advice and help. The problem was exactly the same as described by Oldschool, so I opted for a system restore. That seems to have done the trick.

Thanks again.


Well then I must be a computer genius - NOT. :cool:

Actually glad to hear your system is back to normal by whatever "trick".

[Valiance]

Just be careful, I was a computer technician myself and specialized in computer viruses. The REALLY tricky ones will actually embed themselves in your system restore files. So once you system restore, you may still be restoring with the virus intact, just before it's done any damage. What you might want to do is system restore, then TURN OFF your system restore, run a virus scan on that point, and then turn the system restore back on. Turning off your system restore deletes all your old restore points, hence ensuring that nothing hiding in there got away from you. If it comes back, that's what I'd recommend.

My work computer got infected when someone plugged an unprotected and infected flash drive into it, and no matter how many times I deleted the virus, it kept coming back. Until I wiped out my system restore. After I did that and ran a scan, it never came back afterwards. I know, specifically, that Antivirus 360 (A rogue antivirus program that is actually a virus) embeds itself in your system restore files. Making it an absolute seething PAIN to get rid of.

Speaking of which, which antiviruses-antispywares do you have?

[Badstench]

Great advice, Valiance, and it's nice to know there's a computer technician "in da house". I haven't noticed any performance issues with my computer, so I'll not fiddle any further.

You may be a technician, but I'm the opposite; where computers are concerned, if I can muck anything up, I will. Something to do with Murphy's Law and Universal Truths.

************************************************** *****

But I have another request for help. (Scout? I see you've already posted a pic in the Fan Art thread, so you could probably help with this?)

In as few and simple terms as possible, how do I attach a pic to a post? (Just remember, I'm a computer Dummie, so talking to me like I'm 5 years old might be an advantage). And I'm too lazy too scroll through all the threads where I suspect this information might already be available.

I want to start a new thread in which the use of a few pics would be useful and important.

Cheers in advance.

[scout1idf]

But I have another request for help. (Scout? I see you've already posted a pic in the Fan Art thread, so you could probably help with this?)

In as few and simple terms as possible, how do I attach a pic to a post? (Just remember, I'm a computer Dummie, so talking to me like I'm 5 years old might be an advantage). And I'm too lazy too scroll through all the threads where I suspect this information might already be available.

I want to start a new thread in which the use of a few pics would be useful and important.

Cheers in advance.


See attachment..... I hope it helps.

[Badstench]

Ahahahahaha!

If Scout and Badstench were standing next to each other, Scout would be wearing the tee shirt that says, "I'm with stupid"!

And Badstench would be the one looking for the other person.

Thanks Scout... I literally ROFL'ed

[scout1idf]

No problem......

[Badstench]

Quite simply, I killed my laptop. I took it to a shop so I could get information from my hard drive. They downloaded my music library to a disc.

I put the disc in my new laptop and was rewarded by seeing a complete list of my "lost" CD's.

I want to transfer the lost CD's to my new laptop, Windows Media.

When I right click on the file, it asks me where I want to send the information to. It doesn't give me an option for Media player or Audio.

What am I missing?

[smv1973]

Quite simply, I killed my laptop. I took it to a shop so I could get information from my hard drive. They downloaded my music library to a disc.

I put the disc in my new laptop and was rewarded by seeing a complete list of my "lost" CD's.

I want to transfer the lost CD's to my new laptop, Windows Media.

When I right click on the file, it asks me where I want to send the information to. It doesn't give me an option for Media player or Audio.

What am I missing?

Did you make sure that your Media player has been activated and all the updates for it have been installed. I think there should be be a drop down option that will show other programs. I would open up your Media player and see what the file location is for your music library. You can that open that folder and transfer the music from your CD's to that folder. Once they are in the folder they will show up in your Media player. You may need to rip all the music from that CD onto your new computer. It all depends on the format they saved your music to the disc. I think they may of saved it as a file format so that will be a lot easier and time saving to transfer.

[scout1idf]

I was wondering if someone with programming experience could help me out. I've got a copy of my post from a programming forum that has not received a reply. I color coded the the matching elements to make it easier to find.

NOTE: This has been cut down from the original for the purpose of asking for help, but will still run as an example for trouble shooting purposes.

Spoiled to reduce size on the page......

I'll start by saying, I am very new to coding and I am trying to learn it on my own (books and internet, no schooling). With that said.......

I've been using the following code from "JavaScript a beginners guide" to make a page generator to speed up the repetitive process in a project.

The problem that I'm having is when it writes my link on the page.

In Frame1, I have to leave a space between the "<" and the "a href" or it turns everything that follows into the link and doesn't print the link like I intended. Then before I save the output to the proper file, I have to close the gap in the link for it to work.

{intended output to be printed: <a href="a_c_r_text input.html>}

What I need to know is, how do I get it to print the link instead of making everything after it the link?

Frame0
<html>
<head>
<script language="JavaScript">
<!--
var north_a="";
var north="";
var north_b="";
var south_a="";
var south="";
var south_b="";
var east_a="";
var east="";
var east_b="";
var west_a="";
var west="";
var west_b="";
//-->
</script>
</head>
</html>Frame1
<html>
<head>

<style type="text/css">
.body {
background-color: maroon;
background-position: center;
font-family: Comic Sans MS;
}

.form {
background-color: gray;
color: yellow;
font-size: 10pt;
font-weight: bolder;
margin-top: 20px;
margin-bottom: 3px;
margin-right: 5px;
margin-left: 5px;
padding-top: 20px;
padding-bottom: 3px;
padding-right: 5px;
padding-left: 5px;
}

</style>

<script language="JavaScript">
<!--
function store_info()
{
top.left_side.north=document.f1.north.value;
top.left_side.north_a=document.f1.north_a.value;
top.left_side.north_b=document.f1.north_b.value;
top.left_side.south=document.f1.south.value;
top.left_side.south_a=document.f1.south_a.value;
top.left_side.south_b=document.f1.south_b.value;
top.left_side.east=document.f1.east.value;
top.left_side.east_a=document.f1.east_a.value;
top.left_side.east_b=document.f1.east_b.value;
top.left_side.west=document.f1.west.value;
top.left_side.west_a=document.f1.west_a.value;
top.left_side.west_b=document.f1.west_b.value;
self.location="last.html";
}
//-->
</script>
</head>
<body class="body">
<P>
<form name="f1" class="form">
North:<br /> <form action=""><select name="north_a"><option value="" selected="selected"></option><option value='&lt; a href="a_c_r_'>"&lt;a href="a_c_r_"</option></select> : <input type="text" name="north" size="5"> : <form action=""><select name="north_b"><option value="" selected="selected"></option><option value='.html">'>".html>"</option></select><br />
<P>
South:<br /> <form action=""><select name="south_a"><option value="" selected="selected"></option><option value='&lt; a href="a_c_r_'>"&lt;a href="a_c_r_"</option></select> : <input type="text" name="south" size="5"> : <form action=""><select name="south_b"><option value="" selected="selected"></option><option value='.html">'>".html>"</option></select><br />
<P>
East:<br /> <form action=""><select name="east_a"><option value="" selected="selected"></option><option value='&lt; a href="a_c_r_'>"&lt;a href="a_c_r_"</option></select> : <input type="text" name="east" size="5"> : <form action=""><select name="east_b"><option value="" selected="selected"></option><option value='.html">'>".html>"</option></select><br />
<P>
West:<br /> <form action=""><select name="west_a"><option value="" selected="selected"></option><option value='&lt; a href="a_c_r_'>"&lt;a href="a_c_r_"</option></select> : <input type="text" name="west" size="5"> : <form action=""><select name="west_b"><option value="" selected="selected"></option><option value='.html">'>".html>"</option></select><br />
<P>

<center><input type="button" value="continue" onclick="store_info();"></center>
<br>
</form>
</body>
</html>Last
<html>
<head>
<script language="JavaScript">
<!--
function print_info()
{
document.write(""+top.left_side.north_a+top.left_side.north+top.lef t_side.north_b+"North&lt;/a>&lt;br/>"+top.left_side.west_a+top.left_side.west+top.left_ side.west_b+"West</a>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;"+top.left_side.east_a+top.left_side.east+top.left_ side.east_b+"East</a>&nbsp;<br />"+top.left_side.south_a+top.left_side.south+top.lef t_side.south_b+"South</a><br />");
}
//-->
</script>
</head>
<body>
<script language="JavaScript">
<!--
print_info();
//-->
</script>
</body>
</html>Frameset
<html>
<frameset cols="10,*">
<frame src="frame0.html" name="left_side">
<frame src="frame1.html" name="right_side">
</frameset>
</html>

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

[wetheril]

I'm not too familiar with the functions in Javascript, though the syntax makes some sort of quasi-sense to me, since I took a bit of C++ back in highschool. Is a_c_r_() a user defined function?

From what I know of html, isn't <a> an anchor tag (http://www.w3schools.com/TAGS/tag_a.asp)? You'd have to enclose the link you want between <a> and </a> like most HTML tags (with the exception of line and carriage breaks).

For example...

<a href="http://yourserver.com/yourlink.html>Your link text goes here</a>.
The text after this is not a link.

Would displays as:

Your link text goes here (http://yourserver.com/yourlink.html). The text after this is not a link.


Edit: I'm still not too clear on what a_c_r_() actually does. Does it create a custom url location that the page will link to (which is in the format of a form)?

[scout1idf]

I'm not too familiar with the functions in Javascript, though the syntax makes some sort of quasi-sense to me, since I took a bit of C++ back in highschool. Is a_c_r_() a user defined function?

From what I know of html, isn't <a> an anchor tag (http://www.w3schools.com/TAGS/tag_a.asp)? You'd have to enclose the link you want between <a> and </a> like most HTML tags (with the exception of line and carriage breaks).

For example...

<a href="http://yourserver.com/yourlink.html>Your link text goes here</a>.
The text after this is not a link.Would displays as:

Your link text goes here (http://yourserver.com/yourlink.html). The text after this is not a link.


Edit: I'm still not too clear on what a_c_r_() actually does. Does it create a custom url location that the page will link to (which is in the format of a form)?

I forgot to remove the () from my example after color coding.

The a_c_r_ is the file name along with the text input after they are combined. The a_c_r_ file has over 200 pages associated with it and the text input defines which page you go to.

My example should have been <a href="a_c_r_44.html">

The whole line would be <a href="a_c_r_44.html">North</a>.........

[Young Ned]

I've done a little Javascript, though I'm not an expert. I notice, though, that the North/South/East/West lines all have <form> tags at the beginning, but none of them have a </form> at the end. And there's another <form> in the middle of each of those lines, but those aren't closed off with </form> either. So I suspect either you left out the </form> tags, or the <form> tags in the middles of the lines were meant to be </form>.

In general, when using Javascript to generate HTML code, a good way is to build the HTML code by itself first, in an HTML file with no Javascript, so you can make sure the HTML works properly before you pull it apart and stick the pieces into your Javascript program.

[scout1idf]

......I notice, though, that the North/South/East/West lines all have <form> tags at the beginning, but none of them have a </form> at the end. And there's another <form> in the middle of each of those lines, but those aren't closed off with </form> either. So I suspect either you left out the </form> tags, or the <form> tags in the middles of the lines were meant to be </form>.......

Those are the form action tags to tell it what to do within the form.

<form name="f1" class="form">
North:<br />[COLOR="Magenta"]form action=""><select name="north_a"><option value="" selected="selected"></option><option value='&lt; a href="a_c_r_'>"&lt;a href="a_c_r_"</option></select> : <input type="text" name="north" size="5"> : <form action=""><select name="north_b"><option value="" selected="selected"></option><option value='.html">'>".html>"</option></select><br />
</form>

In this case the "form action" is a drop down select box. The actual form has 10 options in the first select box and only 1 in the second select box with a text input box in between. It would have been a select box also but I didn't see the point with over 200 different options to select (numbers only).

The current full version of this form has 34 drop down select boxes with over 200 total options and 22 text input boxes for various information.

The only thing that doesn't work properly is the document.write function for the selected link.

[Young Ned]

Hmm, okay. I haven't played around with forms too much, either.

What I need to know is, how do I get it to print the link instead of making everything after it the link?

That's the part that is making me (and probably Wetheril) think you've got some tag that's not closed properly. But perhaps the problem is not in the HTML code, but in the Javascript that's trying to produce it. I'll try to play around with it tomorrow...

[wetheril]

That's the part that is making me (and probably Wetheril) think you've got some tag that's not closed properly. But perhaps the problem is not in the HTML code, but in the Javascript that's trying to produce it. I'll try to play around with it tomorrow...

You hit the nail on the head, Young Ned. I don't know much about the Javascript that's generating the html code to comment on whether that is messing up the display of the tags. This is why I hate bug testing!

[scout1idf]

......This is why I hate bug testing!

Yea, and my error checker doesn't show that anything is wrong. Probably because it's not wrong "if" that's what you want it to do.

That makes it harder for someone that is just learning.

[Scarbrow]

What is your error checker, Scout?
If the problem lies within the Javascript, maybe Firebug (http://getfirebug.com/) can help you.

Sorry I don't have time (nor experience enough) to review the entire example. My hands are quite full now with the old forum's conversion.

[scout1idf]

What is your error checker, Scout?
If the problem lies within the Javascript, maybe Firebug (http://getfirebug.com/) can help you.

Sorry I don't have time (nor experience enough) to review the entire example. My hands are quite full now with the old forum's conversion.
I use both Fire Fox Error Console in the "Tools" and Firebug.

I'm starting to wonder if the Frames method of storing information doesn't work with links. It literally translates the link into a link instead of printing the HTML information.

(North instead of <a href="bla bla bla.html">North</a>)
I can use variables on the same page and it prints like I want....
<script language="javascript">
<!--

var a='&lt;a href="a_c_r_';
var c="2";
var d='.html">';

document.write(a+c+d+"hello&lt;/a>");
//-->
</script>

RESULT:

<a href="a_c_r_2.html">hello</a>

.....but that doesn't allow me to use my form, in it's current form, "hummmmm, IN IT'S CURRENT FORM, that's got me thinking, maybe time to experiment".

The example in the book only listed text strings as it asked you questions. (simple questionnaire asking your name and favorite food)

When you clicked the button the last time it printed the answers you gave on a new page.

Thanks for the help. If anyone wants to throw anymore ideas my way feel free.

[wetheril]

I use both Fire Fox Error Console in the "Tools" and Firebug.

I'm starting to wonder if the Frames method of storing information doesn't work with links. It literally translates the link into a link instead of printing the HTML information.

(North instead of <a href="bla bla bla.html">North</a>)

If you want HTML code to print as text, instead of as html, you could use <pre>your code here</pre> tags. I'm not sure if that's what you're looking for.

[scout1idf]

If you want HTML code to print as text, instead of as html, you could use <pre>your code here</pre> tags. I'm not sure if that's what you're looking for.
Thanks, but It didn't work.

From the W3Schools.....
<pre>
Text in a pre element
is displayed in a fixed-width
font, and it preserves
both spaces and
line breaks
</pre>The actual quote left a wide space between "both" and "spaces" as an example. Since the <html>code option is turned off on the forum, it wouldn't show that in the quote.

[scout1idf]

For some reason if you put the "<" symbol or it's equivalents(&# 60; or & lt; ) in a drop-down select box, it doesn't print to the screen as intended.

Manually entering &# 60; or & lt; in a "text box" will make it print properly though ("<" still makes a link instead of printing it). So that's what I'll do until I can figure out how to do it automatically.

It should be easier than chasing down the gaps in lines of code and closing them after the fact.

If anyone knows or figures out the answer, please don't hesitate to post it here or PM me.....

Note: The symbols are shown expanded so they will display here.

[scout1idf]

Ok, I don't know why it works and at the moment I don't care (caring will be for tomorrow) but if you put "&amp;" in front of the "<" symbol, it will print the html code instead of making it a link.

<option value='&amp;&lt;a href="a_c_r_'>"&lt;a href="a_c_r_"</option>
Thanks to all of you that tried to help me with this problem.

///heads off to recode a bunch of lines///

[Young Ned]

Strange. I don't know why that would work, either.

[scout1idf]

Strange. I don't know why that would work, either.
I haven't taken the time to find out yet.

My book on php showed up today and I'm debating on downloading server software to my computer so I can work with it. Reading the download instructions has me a bit worried that I'll mess up my computer and I can not replace it if I do.

[scout1idf]

I'm going to hi-jack Badstench's thread again instead of starting another.....


I have been learning web page development kinda on my own (using internet and books) and I finally took the plunge with my OWN WEB SITE (free host) last weekend.

I know how it looks in Firefox and IE8 (it looks like I want it to) as well as IE6 at work (it's terrible).

I was wondering how it looks in Google Chrome, Opera, IE7, etc.......

Most of the site only has it's basic structure that will change as I have time.

Currently the VIDEOS page is the most complete (just worked on it for a couple hours) but is far from finished. Unfortunately, as far as I know, the rounder corners are only visible in Fire Fox or at the least not visible in IE.

If someone would like to let me know how it looks in the other browsers, I would appreciate it.

I wouldn't mind your opinion on the site as well.

Thanks in advance.....

Scout

[Oldschool]

Scout love your video page and your selections. Reminds me of the saying - If it's too loud you're too old. :)

Also if I recall there's a forum profile option to list a home page or site. And I also seem to recall an option to link the Sryth referrals for Free ATs section with a small graphic or text link as well on web sites.

Done bookmarked it so I can check on your progress.

Nicely done.

[scout1idf]

Thanks and thanks for the reminder about the profile....

[Young Ned]

Nice job; it looks very clean and easy on the eyes. Just a couple of questions. The rounded corners only show up on the "Home" and "Videos" pages; the rest all have regular square corners. That's intentional, right?

And on the Videos page, the gray rectangle containing the words "Some of my favorite videos from YouTube...." has a scroll bar on the right; apparently the browser thinks the words are too large for the rectangle or something, possibly because the words are on two lines, which may have to do with my default font sizes. If you're not seeing that, my default serif font is Times New Roman, with a default size of 16; and my minimum font size is 12. I can send you a screen shot if necessary.

[thingirl]

Using FF 3.0.17 (ahh, maybe that's why I've been having trouble everywhere, using a really old version...), I see the same scroll bar at the top of the videos as Ned. Also, the videos page is the only one where I can actually see stuff, all the rest are blank. and, the "s" in videos and the "p" in pictures are overlapping. Probably b/c it's an old version. I'll see what it looks like in 3.5 in a bit (probably tomorrow).

[Oldschool]

Nice progress Scout as I just peeked in again and notice some changes. Either I don't have the scrolling problem mentioned or you fixed it. I can't recall if it was there or not on my earlier visit as when I seen you vid selections I was like a kid in a candy store.

Btw I'm running FF 3.6. Dunno if that matters or not but just in case it does.

Again nice progress.

[scout1idf]

Nice job; it looks very clean and easy on the eyes. Just a couple of questions. The rounded corners only show up on the "Home" and "Videos" pages; the rest all have regular square corners. That's intentional, right?

And on the Videos page, the gray rectangle containing the words "Some of my favorite videos from YouTube...." has a scroll bar on the right; apparently the browser thinks the words are too large for the rectangle or something, possibly because the words are on two lines, which may have to do with my default font sizes. If you're not seeing that, my default serif font is Times New Roman, with a default size of 16; and my minimum font size is 12. I can send you a screen shot if necessary.

Using FF 3.0.17 (ahh, maybe that's why I've been having trouble everywhere, using a really old version...), I see the same scroll bar at the top of the videos as Ned. Also, the videos page is the only one where I can actually see stuff, all the rest are blank. and, the "s" in videos and the "p" in pictures are overlapping. Probably b/c it's an old version. I'll see what it looks like in 3.5 in a bit (probably tomorrow).

Thanks for taking a look and for the positive feedback.

@Ned

The squared corners are intentional as far as I haven't got to them yet.

I have changed some of the font sizes slightly and moved the buttons closer to the left in hopes of removing the scroll bars.
-----------------

@Thingirl

All of the blocks on the other pages are still empty so you were seeing just what you should.

As far as the "s" and "p" overlapping, let me know if the change I made fixed the problem. I may have to move the first button almost completely to the left and spread them out a little.

-------------------------------------------------
I think the biggest problem with my layout looking good to me but not to others (as in the overlapping letters and unintentional scroll bars) is probably that I use a wide screen monitor (1024 X 768 screen res.)

I probably should use a smaller screen to develop the pages then see how it looks in my wide screen and find a happy medium.....


Thanks again......

[thingirl]

OK, I figured, but I wanted to say just in case.

The scroll bar isn't there anymore, but the words aren't centered in the box. As for the overlapping links, the letter aren't overlapping any more, but the spacing is kind of wierd.

[zmflavius]

My laptop displays nothing but gray boxes except on the video page...though I suspect that the fault is with my laptop, since this problem is everywhere for me.

[Oldschool]

I haven't checked since my last post but ZM Scout's site is still under construction so I'm guessing it's probably that and not your laptop.

[scout1idf]

I haven't checked since my last post but ZM Scout's site is still under construction so I'm guessing it's probably that and not your laptop.

Your correct Oldschool, most of the pages, except the videos page are only the frame work and need content added. So it's not your laptop ZM.


@Thingirl

What size/shape of monitor do you have (for the screen shot)?
I set my screen res from 800X600 all the way up to 1680X1050 and nothing changed except the addition of scroll bars to see the whole screen.

In your screen shot, as you said, the nav buttons were space weird and the "Some of my favorite videos from YouTube...." text went to 2 lines instead of 1.

Again I suspect my use of a wide screen monitor is to blame for the spacing issued in non-widescreen monitors.

[Young Ned]

I have changed some of the font sizes slightly and moved the buttons closer to the left in hopes of removing the scroll bars.
Worked for me -- no scroll bar now.

I think the biggest problem with my layout looking good to me but not to others (as in the overlapping letters and unintentional scroll bars) is probably that I use a wide screen monitor (1024 X 768 screen res.)

I probably should use a smaller screen to develop the pages then see how it looks in my wide screen and find a happy medium.....

Actually, my laptop has a wide screen too; my resolution is 1280x800. It actually came with an even higher resolution, but everything was too tiny to read so I lowered it. Even at this res, though, I had to bump up my browser font sizes to make things readable, which is probably what caused the scroll bar problem.

[scout1idf]

I never thought about individuals changing font sizes on their computers and how it could mess up a web page layout.

I just finished making changes to the code that should make everything move a little better with different res/screen shape, I HOPE......

I had to many individual element margins & container margins instead of using the margins on the container elements only. I 'think' that this way the elements inside of the containers will shift with screen size instead of overlapping or splitting into other rows (again, I HOPE)......

EDIT:
I never thought about individuals changing font sizes on their computers and how it could mess up a web page layout. I just upped the font size on my computer as Ned said he did and it made a mess. Stuff overlapped real bad like Thingirl described. I don't have a clue how to combat that problem so I guess I'll be reading some more.......

[scout1idf]

Sorry for the double post, but I thought you may want to see what I'm dealing with code wise...

Spoiled for size reasons.....

<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Strict//EN"
"http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-strict.dtd">

<html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml">

<head>

<meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html;charset=utf-8" />
<meta name="description" content="my first site" />
<meta name="keywords" content="HTML,CSS,XML,JavaScript,videos,YouTube" />
<meta name="robots"content="index,follow" />


<title>Floating Points of Light</title>

<style type="text/css">.body{
background-image: url('../images/starry_night_3.gif');
}

a{
text-decoration: none;
}

a:link {
color: #FF0000;
}

a:visited {
color: #FF0000;
}

a:hover {
background-color: #cccc00;
}

a:active {
color: #FF0000;
}

.container{
width: 890px;
height: 1715px;
margin: 45px auto 45px auto;
}

.buttoncontainer{
width: 890px;
height: 35px;
}

.buttonbar{
width: 600px;
height: 35px;
margin: 0px auto 0px auto;
}

.titlecontainer{
width: 890px;
height: 40px;
}

.rowcontainer{
width: 890px;
height: 375px;
}

.rowcontainer2{
width: 890px;
height: 90px;
}

.rowcontainer3{
width: 890px;
height: 125px;
}

.spacer{
width: 890px;
height: 50px;
}

.button_1{
font-family: toledo;
font-size: 20pt;
font-weight: bolder;
color: #FF0000;
width: 120px;
height: 30px;
float: left;
text-align: center;
}

.button_2{
font-family: toledo;
font-size: 20pt;
font-weight: bolder;
color: #FF0000;
width: 120px;
height: 30px;
float: left;
text-align: center;
}

.header{
background-color: #999999;
width: 675px;
height: 105px;
font-family: toledo;
font-size: 52pt;
font-weight: bolder;
font-style: italic;
color: #ffcc00;
text-align: center;
margin: 0px auto 0px auto;
-moz-border-radius-topleft: 100px;
-webkit-border-top-left-radius: 100px;
-moz-border-radius-topright: 50px;
-webkit-border-top-right-radius: 50px;
-moz-border-radius-bottomleft: 50px;
-webkit-border-bottom-left-radius: 50px;
-moz-border-radius-bottomright: 100px;
-webkit-border-bottom-right-radius: 100px;
}

.title{
background: #999999;
width: 600px;
height: 40px;
font-family: toledo;
font-size: 20pt;
font-weight: bolder;
text-align: center;
color: #FF0000;
margin: 0px auto 0px auto;
-moz-border-radius-topleft: 100px;
-webkit-border-top-left-radius: 100px;
-moz-border-radius-topright: 50px;
-webkit-border-top-right-radius: 50px;
-moz-border-radius-bottomleft: 50px;
-webkit-border-bottom-left-radius: 50px;
-moz-border-radius-bottomright: 100px;
-webkit-border-bottom-right-radius: 100px;
}

.block_1 {
width: 435px;
height: 354px;
float: left;
font-family: toledo;
font-size: 12pt;
font-weight: bolder;
text-align: justify;
margin: 0px auto 0px auto;
}

.block_2 {
width: 435px;
height: 354px;
float: right;
font-family: toledo;
font-size: 12pt;
font-weight: bolder;
text-align: justify;
margin: 0px auto 0px auto;
}

.block_3 {
width: 435px;
height: 354px;
font-family: toledo;
font-size: 12pt;
font-weight: bolder;
text-align: justify;
margin: 0px auto 0px auto;
}

.footer{
background-color: #999999;
width: 675px;
height: 65px;
font-family: toledo;
font-size: 12pt;
font-weight: bolder;
text-align: center;
margin: 0px auto 0px auto;
-moz-border-radius-topleft: 100px;
-webkit-border-top-left-radius: 100px;
-moz-border-radius-topright: 50px;
-webkit-border-top-right-radius: 50px;
-moz-border-radius-bottomleft: 50px;
-webkit-border-bottom-left-radius: 50px;
-moz-border-radius-bottomright: 100px;
-webkit-border-bottom-right-radius: 100px;
}

.font8{
font-size: 8pt;
}

.span {
background-color: #cccc00;
}
</style>

</head>

<body class="body">

<div class="container">

<div class="rowcontainer3"><div class="header">

&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;My Page<span class="font8">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;by Dan...</span>

</div>

</div>

<div class="spacer"></div>


<div class="buttoncontainer">

<div class="buttonbar">

<div class="button_1">

<a href="floating_points_of_light_home.html">HOME</a>

</div>

<div class="button_2">

<a href="floating_points_of_light_info.html">INFO</a>

</div>

<div class="button_2">

<a href="floating_points_of_light_links.html">LINKS</a>

</div>

<div class="button_2">

<span class="span">VIDEOS</span>

</div>

<div class="button_2">

<a href="floating_points_of_light_pictures.html">PICTURES</a>

</div>

</div>

</div>

<div class="spacer"></div>

<div class="titlecontainer">

<div class="title">

Some of my favorite videos from YouTube....

</div>

</div>

<div class="spacer"></div>

<div class="rowcontainer">

<div class="block_1">

<object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/um1HG9Rb6Dg&hl=en_US&fs=1&color1=0x234900&color2=0x4e9e00"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/um1HG9Rb6Dg&hl=en_US&fs=1&color1=0x234900&color2=0x4e9e00" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object>

</div>

<div class="block_2">

<object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/DxNh77kFKjM&hl=en_US&fs=1&color1=0x234900&color2=0x4e9e00"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/DxNh77kFKjM&hl=en_US&fs=1&color1=0x234900&color2=0x4e9e00" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object>

</div>

</div>

<div class="spacer"></div>

<div class="rowcontainer">

<div class="block_3">

<object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/y0ysyaFuUUk&hl=en_US&fs=1&"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/y0ysyaFuUUk&hl=en_US&fs=1&" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object>


</div>

</div>

<div class="spacer"></div>

<div class="rowcontainer">

<div class="block_1">

<object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/sO_QntXc-c4&hl=en_US&fs=1&"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/sO_QntXc-c4&hl=en_US&fs=1&" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object>

</div>

<div class="block_2">

<object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/xJqsFwIP0IY&hl=en_US&fs=1&"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/xJqsFwIP0IY&hl=en_US&fs=1&" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object>

</div>

</div>

<div class="spacer"></div>

<div class="rowcontainer2">

<div class="footer">



</div>

</div>

</div>

</body>

</html>




This is only the video page......

[scout1idf]

Just a quick update.....

Some changes have been made, but most of them are stuck on my computer while the FTP server is down (since Wed morning). A major move is going on right now so I can't upload anything (just edit/delete) till they are finished.

From what the Admins have said, when they are done all of the sites should load a lot faster. I have already noticed a speed up so maybe (I hope) they are almost finished.


EDIT:

The server is finally back up. I just finished with some updates.....

EDIT 2:

Apparently there were still some issues with the server move since last nights updates were missing this morning.
Now the updates have been made....

[scout1idf]

I made some major updates to the video page if anyone wants to take a look...

Got some good recipes in the info section as well.......


Edit:

I noticed that I just passed post #800......

[scout1idf]

I have made some more additions to the videos page as well as some small design changes.

As a side note:

If anyone notices things like file extensions (.html etc...) you'll notice that I changed to .php on the page address so hopefully soon I will be adding small program items to my pages.

I was planing to add a blog to my site but the only example code that I have, I found out after typing over half of it, isn't supported by my host.

That sure makes the fingers ache......

[Oldschool]

Nice additions Scout. I had your site bookmarked so I went to it and got an error not found message. But I went back to your original post and the link you put there and didn't have a problem. I bookmarked it and deleted the "old" one and it work's fine.

[scout1idf]

Because of the international reality of the Internet, I added a temperature converter to my site (under info).

Thinking mostly of my interactions with people from around the world, I thought it might help me understand when someone says its X deg Celsius where there at.

I hope it will help others, especially my friends here.

When time permits, I may try to make some other converters (distance, volume, etc.)

NOTE:
I added a few new music selections and re-arranged a little...

[thingirl]

Nice. That's awesome. Very useful.

[Doolipalally]

Because of the international reality of the Internet, I added a temperature converter to my site (under info).

Thinking mostly of my interactions with people from around the world, I thought it might help me understand when someone says its X deg Celsius where there at.

I hope it will help others, especially my friends here.


Thanks for that thought, Scout. I've never understood Fahrenheit!

[scout1idf]

My latest design changes are now up and running.

I think (as does my wife) that the darker theme is easier to read. I also added a "roundness" as well.

For users of Internet Explorer, some of the design features are not visible to you.

It seems that they still are not supporting round corners as well as the complete change of the text in the link buttons. (text is supposed to turn black and change font style)


EDIT: I don't know if the site is loading faster because of the time of night or because I just changed some of the design elements to PHP includes instead of having the code on the page.

I'll see tomorrow if its still faster or not.....

[thingirl]

Looks nice on my end (FF 3.6.3). I really like the text change. Repped.

[Scarbrow]

A few comments:

I'm not entirely possitive, but usually addresses like:
*****REMOVED*****

are shortened or hidden (I'm not sure how) on PHP sites. I guess it has something to do with not letting users see too much about how your site is organized.

The recipe box is cool :cool:

The Temperature Converter *****REMOVED***** is missing links to the home page and rest of the site. Also, modifying the source of the page is expected nowadays to be done dynamically with AJAX (in this case, just plain Javascript will do), what means users don't expect the page to reload, and might think they have inadvertently done something wrong. A better design would just take the value from the active box (the one user has the focus on) and quietly translate it on the other one, without the user needing to press some button first. Unless, of course, that design has been done to test your skills on another way to do it and not the "usual" way.

Keep working on it, Scout

[Young Ned]

Speaking of the temperature converter, I put in 98.6° F (normal human body temperature) and got 37° C as expected, but then I put in 37° C and got 98° F. Seems you're rounding all the temperatures to the nearest degree, which is confusing and sometimes downright misleading -- for example, it tells me that "101°F equals 38°C" but "38°C equals 100°F", which is a bit of a headscratcher...

I'd recommend showing one decimal point on the temperatures, and also putting a space between the degree symbol and the C or F, so you'd get output like "37.0° C equals 98.6° F".

Trivia: what's the one temperature that is the same in both Celsius and Fahrenheit?

[scout1idf]

Speaking of the temperature converter, I put in 98.6° F (normal human body temperature) and got 37° C as expected, but then I put in 37° C and got 98° F. Seems you're rounding all the temperatures to the nearest degree, which is confusing and sometimes downright misleading -- for example, it tells me that "101°F equals 38°C" but "38°C equals 100°F", which is a bit of a headscratcher...

I'd recommend showing one decimal point on the temperatures, and also putting a space between the degree symbol and the C or F, so you'd get output like "37.0° C equals 98.6° F".

I changed the spacing for the temperature, and you are right that it looks better.

I also changed the output so it shows decimal places. Problem is I don't know how to make it only 1 decimal place. abs() was the only thing I could find that gives me the decimal value and it gives the absolute value.

Got any ideas before I start my search again?

[texlaw1992]

In response to Ned's question, I think:

-40 C = = -40 F

[scout1idf]

I changed the spacing for the temperature, and you are right that it looks better.

I also changed the output so it shows decimal places. Problem is I don't know how to make it only 1 decimal place. abs() was the only thing I could find that gives me the decimal value and it gives the absolute value.

Got any ideas before I start my search again?

I had to change it back (no decimal). It wasn't working properly with abs(). It didn't seem to like negative numbers.

In response to Ned's question, I think:

-40 C = = -40 F

After fixing the converter, I see that you are correct.

[thingirl]

I had to change it back (no decimal). It wasn't working properly with abs(). It didn't seem to like negative numbers.

I don't speak Computer Programmer, but from a Math standpoint, I would guess that the reason abs() doesn't work is because the absolute value of any real number is > 0. In other words, it's positive, even if the number is negative.

[scout1idf]

I don't speak Computer Programmer, but from a Math standpoint, I would guess that the reason abs() doesn't work is because the absolute value of any real number is > 0. In other words, it's positive, even if the number is negative.
Thanks. I never gave that a thought.

Somewhere in my reading, I've seen how to make your results show with a decimal (1 or more places) but I've read 4 books, partially read 3 others, and have been to more web sites for programming than I can remember.

Hopefully I'll find the answer soon (if we (I) can ever get this D@#N painting finished)......

[texlaw1992]

If anyone's interested in how I calculated -40 C = -40 F:

X = 9/5 X + 32 (C -> F)

-4/5x = 32

x = -40

QED

[Young Ned]

Texlaw is correct! Have a rep, sir. I wouldn't have expected a lawyer to remember much algebra, as there's not much call for it in that line of work.

Somewhere in my reading, I've seen how to make your results show with a decimal (1 or more places) but I've read 4 books, partially read 3 others, and have been to more web sites for programming than I can remember.

Hopefully I'll find the answer soon (if we (I) can ever get this D@#N painting finished)......

I assume the temperature converter is programmed in PHP? Did a little web research, and it looks like you should be able to make sure your calculations come out in real numbers rather than integers by using the (float) syntax to "cast" your calculations into the floating-point (real) type and specifying decimal points on your numeric constants. I haven't programmed in PHP, but I think something like this would at least give you decimal points in the answers:

$cels = ((float) $fahr - 32.0) * 5.0 / 9.0

Don't have time right now to look up how to specify displaying only 1 decimal place, but that's not as important anyway.

[scout1idf]

The whole page looks like this (including my HTML)

<?php

$f=$c="";

if (isset($_POST['f'])) $f = sanitizeString($_POST['f']);
if (isset($_POST['c'])) $c = sanitizeString($_POST['c']);

if ($f != '')
{
$c = intval((5/9)*($f-32));
$out = "$f° F = $c° C";
}
elseif($c != '')
{
$f = intval(9/5*$c)+(32);
$out = "$c° C = $f° F";
}
else $out="";

echo <<<_END

<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Strict//EN"
"http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-strict.dtd">

<html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml">

<head>

<meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html;charset=utf-8" />
<meta name="description" content="my first site" />
<meta name="keywords" content="HTML,CSS,XML,JavaScript,videos,YouTube" />
<meta name="robots"content="index,follow" />


<title>Floating Points of Light</title>


<link rel="stylesheet" type="text/css" href="../css/style_sheet_floating_points_of_light.css">


</head>

<body class="body">

<!--*********************************************
* *
* Begin Container *
* *
********************************************//-->

<div class="container">

<!--*********************************************
* *
* Begin Converter *
* *
********************************************//-->


<div class="title2">

Temperature Converter

</div>

<div class="spacer"></div>

<div class="rowcontainer_convert">


<form method="post" action="convert.php">
Fahrenheit<br /><input type="text" name="f" size="6" /><br /><br />
Celsius<br /><input type="text" name="c" size="6" /><br /><br />

<input type="submit" value="Convert Temperature" />
</form>



<div class="output">

$out

</div>

<br />
Input your temperature then click "Convert Temperature" button.

</div>

<!--*********************************************
* *
* End Converter *
* *
********************************************//-->

</div>

<!--*********************************************
* *
* End Container *
* *
********************************************//-->

</body>

</html>

_END;

function sanitizeString($var)
{
$var = stripslashes($var);
$var = htmlentities($var);
$var = strip_tags($var);
return $var;
}
?>

The book that I got it from actually had the math wrong for converting the temperatures. Makes me wonder how much other stuff they got wrong as well.....

[scout1idf]

I changed....


if ($f != '')
{
$c = intval((5/9)*($f-32));
$out = "$f° F = $c° C";
}
elseif($c != '')
{
$f = intval(9/5*$c)+(32);
$out = "$c° C = $f° F";
}
.....to.....

if ($f != '')
{
$c = floatval((5/9)*($f-32));
$out = "$f° F = $c° C";
}
elseif($c != '')
{
$f = floatval(9/5*$c)+(32);
$out = "$c° C = $f° F";
}
......and you get (for example)....

37* C = 98.6* F
Thank god for php.net.

I looked through my books last night and couldn't find what I was looking for. I Googled "intval" again and this time php.net came up first on the list.


EDIT:

I made some additional upgrades to the converter page. (following some of Scarbrow's suggestions. some I don't have a clue about, yet!)

For those who look at the code, please excuse the "Oldschool":rolleyes: table I added for the inputs. I'll clean that up with CSS when I have the time. For now, as long as it works.....

[Young Ned]

Great! Yes, as soon as I saw "intval" in your code I figured that's where the values were getting converted to integers, but you'd already fixed it in the next post. Good job. :D

[Oldschool]

For those who look at the code, please excuse the "Oldschool":rolleyes: table I added for the inputs.


Alright..... Finally something in this discussion I understand. ;)

Seriously to Scout and the others that can follow the discussion - impressive.

[thingirl]

Seriously to Scout and the others that can follow the discussion - impressive.

Ditto. I can't follow a word of the code. (The thing is, I'm thinking of getting my Dad to teach me some sort of programming course for an Elective. Maybe as early as next year.)

[spencer]

I see the code, my eyes glaze over, I forget where I was and then I am at the bottom of the thread...no problem :)

[scout1idf]

I've made quite a few updates recently. Mostly to the code and organization of the files.

I have also added a Guest Book for comments (not an easy task considering that the code I used was incorrect and didn't work without some research on my part and reconfiguring.)

A few comments:

I'm not entirely possitive, but usually addresses like:
*****REMOVED*****
are shortened or hidden (I'm not sure how) on PHP sites. I guess it has something to do with not letting users see too much about how your site is organized.


I asked about the shortened addresses and was told that it can be tricky and may be above my current skill level.

Sounds kinda like a challenge to me!

For the moment, I renamed files and reorganized my site (took many days to figure out the best way and a few more to redo all the links).

When I get some other site related project out of the way I'll look into the shortened PHP addresses.


The recipe box is cool :cool:

Thanks.

I just added a Chicken Alfredo Pizza the other day. LOVE IT!!!

The Temperature Converter *****REMOVED***** is missing links to the home page and rest of the site. Also, modifying the source of the page is expected nowadays to be done dynamically with AJAX (in this case, just plain Javascript will do), what means users don't expect the page to reload, and might think they have inadvertently done something wrong. A better design would just take the value from the active box (the one user has the focus on) and quietly translate it on the other one, without the user needing to press some button first. Unless, of course, that design has been done to test your skills on another way to do it and not the "usual" way.

I've added links to this page along with the latest changes. Thanks for pointing out the need. (Actually I had been just hitting the back button on my mouse.)

AJAX......

I've only looked at it a little. I figured I better work on my PHP and JavaScript skills (mostly PHP) for now but AJAX does have some nice potential.

Thanks for your and everyone else's suggestions and support. Don't forget to stop by and sign the guest book.....

[Oldschool]

:pI know that AJAX has something to do with website programming but that's about it. Now that I fulfilled my on topic mod obligations.....

With all the other AJAX refereces - the cleaner, military ships, the mythological heroes, and so on...

I IMMEDIATELY thought of this one (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gNIVpMXHqlk) when I read it. :rolleyes:

"Dispatch war rocket Ajax....." Vintage 80's cheese at its finest.

Queen and Max Von Sydow.... Sweet!!!! :D

You may now resume your regularly scheduled programming.... :)

[Badstench]

Sory guys... I have to quote Spencer on this topic...
I see the code, my eyes glaze over
And from Oldschool:
You may now resume your regularly scheduled programming.

Yay!

0001000010111

(for those of you who don't get it... the above binary code has a specific meaning.)

[scout1idf]

0001000010111

(for those of you who don't get it... the above binary code has a specific meaning.)

If it was supposed to be your rep count, it should have been 1000010101.

If that wasn't it, I don't know.

[Oldschool]

I'm way in over my head but I'm guessing that is strictly binary and not L3375P34K (Leetspeak).

And for the record I had to use an online translator to get the above.

I found a binary to text translator but got an error message. Probably operator error, lol.

[scout1idf]

I'm way in over my head but I'm guessing that is strictly binary and not L3375P34K (Leetspeak).

And for the record I had to use an online translator to get the above.

I found a binary to text translator but got an error message. Probably operator error, lol.

I just used the calculator on the computer. Switched it to scientific, input the number after clicking binary then hit decimal again and it gave me the number. I couldn't remember how to translate it in my head..

[Oldschool]

Couldn't remember how to do it in my head, he says.......

There's just some threads I really oughta just read and move on. :rolleyes:

[zmflavius]

I just used the calculator on the computer. Switched it to scientific, input the number after clicking binary then hit decimal again and it gave me the number. I couldn't remember how to translate it in my head..

<so on and so forth...64/32/16/8/4/2/1

[scout1idf]

I need an opinion...


(edit: link removed now that the page is live.)
Is this useful? (it's only live through this link at the moment)

If so, is the output statement, (inches, feet, meters, etc....) phased ok, or could it be "said" in a better way?

Also, would a cubic calculator be useful?


Thanks in advance for your input.....

[Doolipalally]

Sorry, Scout, but the link wouldn't work for me.

[scout1idf]

Sorry, Scout, but the link wouldn't work for me.

(edit: link removed now that the page is live.)
I just tried it and it worked fine for me.

Last night I was having trouble with everything uploading slow so they might have been having problems and may have been when you tried.

[Doolipalally]

It's working for me now. Looks useful! Would have been really handy a few months back when I was buying carpet :)

[scout1idf]

It's working for me now. Looks useful! Would have been really handy a few months back when I was buying carpet :)

Thanks for the feed back and the Guest Book test.

I don't know what was going on last night, but almost every time I tried to upload a change, it took so long that the FTP timed out and I had to try again.

Some of the changes took up to 5 tries. Very annoying when you are ready to go to bed!

That's why I thought maybe they were still having problems when you tried.

[Doolipalally]

You're welcome - and thanks for the boost to 300 :)

It is annoying when things seize up like that. I had the same thing with a blog post recently - took me half an hour to write the post, and an hour to actually post it.

[scout1idf]

New additions to the "INFO" area.

[scout1idf]

Several updates for those who follow my progress.......

[scout1idf]

Check out my Guest Book for a new look.

Amazing what you can think of while you are setting up a machine at work....
*don't tell my boss though, he might expect more work.*;)

[thingirl]

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Nice!!!!!!!

Done like a true Slytherin boy. Err, Srytherin' boy :).

(EDIT: OK, so my joke stinks worse than Judge Fury's handler, but still...)

[Dariel]

Slytherin is for pansies :rolleyes: Gryffindor all the way!:cool:

[thingirl]

Amen, Dariel. Although, I think I'd almost be in Ravenclaw.

But Slytherin sounds like Srytherin'. In fact, I've actually said "Sryth-er-in" instead of Slytherin several times. :rolleyes:

[Young Ned]

Check out my Guest Book for a new look.

The scrollwork is a nice touch. :)

[scout1idf]

The scrollwork is a nice touch. :)
Thanks.

I just wish it would load faster, I guess that's the price you pay for a free host......

[scout1idf]

If you like playing Sudoku puzzles, check out my info page for "Number Game".

At the moment, there are only 2 different game boards. They load randomly when you click on the 'Number Game' link. I thought a touch of randomness would be fun (we all love it so much here).



Edit:

Board #3 is up and ready to play. It's a little harder to do than the first 2...

[Young Ned]

Nicely done!

[scout1idf]

Nicely done!
Thanks Ned.


I just finished uploading more boards. There are now 2 easy, 2 medium and 1 hard.

I may make more later but for now I think that's enough......

[thingirl]

I suck at Sudoku. But the design itself is nice. :)

[scout1idf]

If any of you follow my progress blog, you know that I had trouble with spammer's on my guest book and had to shut it down.


It's now back up.

I don't know if I stopped them or not, but any links they post won't appear so it's a waste of time for them.

It seems a simple strip_tags() function takes care of that little annoyance.

But anyhow, it's back up.

Also, the recipe box has a new look. Nothing new in it, just a new look.

[scout1idf]

I need some volunteers to test out my Guest Book's new security against automated spammers.

Unfortunately, unless screen readers can see images without alternate text, any blind guests won't be able to sign. Adding the alt text for the image would probably defeat the purpose since the 'bots' read the text.

I'll let you know a head of time, the image seemed to load kinda slow for me, so it may take a second or two. I'm going to see if I can pre-loading them when I have the time.

****goes off looking for that script, "I know it's around here somewhere"****

****"There it is."*****

[texlaw1992]

I didn't feel like starting a new thread for this, and this topic seemed the closest.

Is anyone else having a problem logging out of Sryth? Quitting works fine, but when I hit "log out," it freezes and I have to close the browser manually.

[scout1idf]

I didn't feel like starting a new thread for this, and this topic seemed the closest.

Is anyone else having a problem logging out of Sryth? Quitting works fine, but when I hit "log out," it freezes and I have to close the browser randomly.

I haven't had any problems with that.

[Badstench]

I have a real life tale to relate concerning computers and my ineptness at understanding them; I'm one of those people who turn the computer on and expect it to work, regardless of anything.

My dilemma has already been fixed, thanks in no small part to the GM. By explaining my dilemma and the simple fix, I might help someone.

My problem began a while ago... my internet connection was operating okay, but I noticed my Sryth connection had slowed down. It got to the point where I was experiencing 'blank' screens and interminably long loading of new pages.

I blamed my server (many were the swear words I uttered). I also blamed the increase in the number of game-players... maybe the GM's server was overloading?

I also blamed atmospheric conditions, the time of the day, and God.

It came to a head when, just a couple of days ago, Judge Fury became trapped in Central Tysa. I could not escape game page 24 to travel outside this region. I could enter Talinus City, Sageholt and Tanon Wood, but if I tried to go anywhere else, my screen would freeze. So I also blamed the GM!

After a round of emails between me and the GM, I decided the fault lay with my server, and swore some more.

Turns out I was looking for answers in the wrong direction. This post is just to advise players (especially those of you who aren't particularly knowledgeable about computers) that your computer isn't omniscient.

Ipso-facto... I checked my storage capacity and found it was maxed out. My poor ole laptop was so full of data that it couldn't cope with any more, and I was still trying to stuff it with more.

I spent an hour uninstalling/deleting programs and files that were superfluous to my needs, and now... well, my computer is working better than it has in a long time.

So, my advice to you is... clean your computer out if you're having performance issues.

That's all.

[Doolipalally]

I have a couple of questions, and I'm hoping all you computer-savvy people out there might be able to help me.

I'm supposed to be helping to find a new web host for a not-for-profit organisation. The woman in charge is raving about Joomla. Now, I can see that it's a nifty tool, but reviews I've read suggests it's quite a learning curve, even for those with more experience of building websites than either she or I have.

So question one is, does anyone have any experience of using Joomla, or a similar CMS? How user-friendly is it for beginners?

My own feeling is that given we're an organisation with not a lot of expertise and rapid turnover of personal, we want something a bit less ambitious and more manageable. Question two, therefore: can anyone recommend a web hosting company which will do more of the work for us? We already have a domain. We need a certain amount of flexibility in uploading and placing images. Other than that, I reckon almost anything's going to be better than what we've got at the moment...

[texlaw1992]

We're also looking for a new web host for our nonprofit's website. We have a Board meeting tonight, and I'll let you know if our IT person has found one (no guarantee it will be available in Russia, of course).

[scout1idf]

I have a couple of questions, and I'm hoping all you computer-savvy people out there might be able to help me.

I'm supposed to be helping to find a new web host for a not-for-profit organisation. The woman in charge is raving about Joomla. Now, I can see that it's a nifty tool, but reviews I've read suggests it's quite a learning curve, even for those with more experience of building websites than either she or I have.

So question one is, does anyone have any experience of using Joomla, or a similar CMS? How user-friendly is it for beginners?

My own feeling is that given we're an organisation with not a lot of expertise and rapid turnover of personal, we want something a bit less ambitious and more manageable. Question two, therefore: can anyone recommend a web hosting company which will do more of the work for us? We already have a domain. We need a certain amount of flexibility in uploading and placing images. Other than that, I reckon almost anything's going to be better than what we've got at the moment...

As far as Joomla or any other CMS goes, I have no clue.

I would have suggested my free host, but they have many restrictions that may not work for you.

[Scarbrow]

I'm afraid I can't help much. Web hosting is not my forte, and also no experience with CMS's. One small advice I can offer: make sure you pick something that does what you intend to to. You don't need the same tools for a collaborative site, a forum, a blog, a corporative website, or e-commerce, to mention just a few possible scenarios. Some CMS's will address some problems better than others, so pick carefully.

Call me naive, but I would start by looking for a local professional/company who calls itself "web designer" or something like that, and ask what kind of product would suit your needs, and if they can provide it.

Other than that, just wishing good luck, Dooli.

[Young Ned]

Had to look up CMS at an acronym website, and when I found it I clicked on the link for a definition and got this: http://encyclopedia2.thefreedictionary.com/Content+Management+System, which mentions another system besides Joomla called OSCOM. I don't know anything about that other system, but at least that gives you something else to check out.

[scout1idf]

I uploaded the newest version of my site this morning (12/21/10).

I hope everyone finds it nicer than the old one.

I still have some tweeking to do, but work will be calling me soon. :(

[zmflavius]

Site is definitely more streamlined, and I like the colour combination much better.

[Oldschool]

Nice improvements Scout - reppably impressive.

[scout1idf]

Thanks guys.

I started the rework around the time I started the calculator, but the calculator took priority. Then I did some more work on it and decided to work on another programming project instead (not yet complete and still on hold) then the personal pages became a nagging thought in my head so both projects got put on hold.

When I finish the calculator upgrades (negative bonuses to skills & powers) I'll probably get back to my other project.

Again, thanks for taking a look.

[scout1idf]

I noticed some problems with spacing when using IE (big surprise). :mad:

I've requested some help in fixing the problem on the W3schools forum.

Hopefully someone will have an answer (that I will understand) to fix the problem.

[scout1idf]

I think the IE problem is now fixed.

I had to remove a back-ground color filter that, oddly enough, was designed to work only for Internet Explorer. Wouldn't you know, something Microsoft designed for it's self doesn't work properly.:p

[Young Ned]

I had to remove a back-ground color filter that, oddly enough, was designed to work only for Internet Explorer. Wouldn't you know, something Microsoft designed for it's self doesn't work properly.:p

How unusual... :rolleyes:

[scout1idf]

I think the IE problem is now fixed.

I had to remove a back-ground color filter that, oddly enough, was designed to work only for Internet Explorer. Wouldn't you know, something Microsoft designed for it's self doesn't work properly.:pHow unusual... :rolleyes:
According to one of my coding forums, the filter I used is quite buggy. Sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn't, and that's without changing anything. It just quits working. (It worked fine when I first uploaded it)

[Young Ned]

Probably written by one of their summer interns.

[scout1idf]

After the attack on the calculator site and it's removal from operation (http://srythforum.com/showthread.php?t=1670), I had posted about the use of Malwarebytes to clean up my computer.

So far it has worked great. I just wanted to give a little advice on it's use though.

Keep running scans of your computer to make sure that it gets everything out. Initially, it removed 12 viruses/extortion ware programs from my computer.

To complete the process of removal, it restarts your computer which will "wake up" sleeper viruses. They may or may not act right away, but it's a good idea to scan again.

Since the initial 12, multiple scans has uncovered several more.

So far it has removed a total of 15 viruses. When I checked the logs just now, I see that I've had 10 "clean" scans in a row.

I will probably run the scan at least once a day but probably twice for a while. I wonder if some of the 15 came from my trouble last November?

One last thought, just my opinion, ALL HACKERS MUST DIE A SLOW, PAINFUL DEATH at the hands of everyone that has been hurt by them!!!

[kaffe]

Texas Fire Ant bed works for me. You do not have to waist money on something to attract the ants. These little devils just love to attack.

[Tetracapillactomist]

Sorry 'bout that, forum-dwellers.

Anyway, just thought back to this issue, and to Scout's woes while I was testing the new downloadable version of his Table Maker Tool ("TMT" - not bad :)), and figured I'd put some clean links for anyone interested in grabbing this Malwarebytes utility, something of an industry standard that even competing AV-developers and vendors use, as well as techies, when their own solutions fail. (Not kidding.)

On this page, select the free version - the only difference from the paid version is that it works 'on demand,' not 'constant-on' - so it's perfect as a backup solution to your preferred 'always on' AV solution:
Malwarebytes Anti-Malware (http://shop.malwarebytes.org/lpa/342/3/7268/index_b.html?_kk=malwarebytes%20Anti-Malware&_kt=77dafa20-d875-4e0a-b98a-54dc2c93bd02&gclid=CMWa6qqHlqoCFcrDKgod7EeRyA)

There's this page too, theirs as well, but it may not load for you if you're not already a member or haven't at least signed up (the previous link just needs a name and an email address - any name, any email address) - this one, if it loads for you, does not:

Malwarebytes Anti-Malware (http://shop.malwarebytes.org/lpa/342/4/7268/download_g.html)

Good luck, and I hope you won't need it!

[Badstench]

A few months ago I bought a digital TV with internet capability.

I have a wireless connection with built in router in my home.

I bought an ethernet cable (price: NZ$19) to hook into my TV. I asked about a wireless receiver, but it cost NZ$130, so I went with the cable.

I have a secure, password-protected wireless connection (so no one else can tap into it without my say so).

After experimenting with the TV (Sony) remote without success, I pulled out the manual and followed the instructions which connected me to the internet.

I spent a good 4 hours mucking about with it, mostly watching YouTube content on the big screen.

But, I wanted to access a particular App (application). I didn't get the choice on the TV internet menu. The app I want is TV On Demand, from New Zealand Channels.

My question is this... how do I add apps to the TV/Internet connection?

[Tetracapillactomist]

Oh, with TVs, it's not so easy as you would expect coming from the PC experience. Usually you are limited to the choices the manufacturer has seen fit to provide for the product you've purchased, and for your region of the world.

Those things are very proprietary, and Sony is known to be even more fond of proprietary technology (things and toys they don't want to share with other children :)), than Apple is.

Again, usually, it's only through manufacturer's (firmware) upgrades and updates that you'll be able to gain and access more apps. (Haven't looked into hacks, but even those are trickier and sparse when it comes to home theatre products...)

My first advice is to call them (repeatedly if you must, in order to obtain a satisfactory answer), ask them, and specify what you would want to have as an additional app (repeatedly, cos you may get a dolt who'll just say the easy answer: "sorry, you can't" - even if their truthful answer should have been: "sorry, I don't know").

I have a US number: 1-800-222-SONY (7669)

... and one from Sony NZ: Sony Customer Care - 0800 766 969

... or, send your request on the net, while grinding away in Tysa: https://www.sony.co.nz/section/contactus

(Or maybe you'll get lucky, and someone will send you a trick by PM.
Anyone? Don't be shy if you know something, help the man out.)

[Badstench]

Thanks heaps, Tetracapillactomist. At least I have a starting point now, as opposed to staring at my remote control with varying degrees of frustration. Awesome help!

[Tetracapillactomist]

Bah, think none of it, Badstench - wish I did have a workaround, a trick to offer.

[Young Ned]

After experimenting with the TV (Sony) remote without success, I pulled out the manual and followed the instructions which connected me to the internet.

I spent a good 4 hours mucking about with it, mostly watching YouTube content on the big screen.

But, I wanted to access a particular App (application). I didn't get the choice on the TV internet menu. The app I want is TV On Demand, from New Zealand Channels.

My question is this... how do I add apps to the TV/Internet connection?

Since you can browse the Internet, doesn't New Zealand Channels have a web page you could visit to use their TV on Demand service instead of downloading an app?

[Badstench]

Young Ned observed...
Since you can browse the Internet, doesn't New Zealand Channels have a web page you could visit to use their TV on Demand service instead of downloading an app?
Internet capable Televisions don't work the same way as a computer... on TV's you can only access websites (apps) that are 'built in' to the operation matrix of the TV.

For example, although I can access YouTube and browse the content therein, I cannot simply go to another site if it hasn't been 'authorised' for availability in the television (I hope that makes sense).

Unfortunately, Sony TV's are mostly loaded with apps that are relevant to the U.S.

I can watch TVNZ Ondemand on my computer, but I want to watch it on my big screen TV. If the TV is internet capable, what's the point if you can't watch local content?

Anyway, there might be a simple answer I haven't discovered yet. I am awaiting a reply From Sony to an email.

[Tetracapillactomist]

Badstench, if you have the necessary connections (mostly HDMI - and its 'mini' versions for computers), the simplest if somewhat less than ideal solution would be to connect to the website through your laptop, connect the laptop to your television, and watch the content streamed to your computer on the big screen.

(Less than ideal, I said, because obviously both your computer and you television have to be powered up only to watch the TV... and ideally, the TV set should be enough to do just that - but than you have digital cable, satellite, DVR equipment, so in a way it makes no difference, the TV is never 'alone' anyway... :) So I'd say go ahead with hat option while waiting for Sony's response. Just be sure to get the right cable to connect the two devices - or, alternatively, both your devices might be equipped to connect to each other through a wireless connection - Bluetooth, WiFi, ...)

[Oldschool]

I don't have internet TV period much less a Sony but I thought one of Sony's functions was surfing the web. In fact I thought it touted Google being part and parcel. I do have the Wii game system hooked up and I know while it has a browser (Opera) it's very limited. It won't let you d/l Adobe Flash to watch YouTube vids being just one example.

Badstench maybe you need something from TVNZ Ondemand?

http://tvnz.co.nz/video/faq

Or at least they could probably give you information and may be easier to get a hold of then Sony.

Anyhoo, this is probably redundant but just in case,

http://www.sony.co.nz/microsite/internet_tv/sony-internet-tv.html

And if you have a Sony Playstation3, http://pcworld.co.nz/pcworld/pcw.nsf/feature/tvnz-on-demand-launches-on-playstation-3

Good luck buddy.

[Tetracapillactomist]

I don't have internet TV period much less a Sony but I thought one of Sony's functions was surfing the web. In fact I thought it touted Google being part and parcel.

Not sure about this, but I think it might be GoogleTV they're touting, OS. Which is another pre-installed app - assuming it is pre-installed... And I think it refers to a Sony product line named 'Sony Internet TV,' or some such.

(Don't quote me on all that, I'm battling some slooowing issues myself, and had no time to check. The forum pages themselves load like molasses fresh out of the freezer... makes my brain run in place and bounce of the inside of my skull waiting for things to happen...)

[Badstench]

forget everything except the TV... I don't want another external source.

My laptop is a couple of years old and doesn't have an HDMI connection, but even if it did, that's not the point... the point is, I have a digital TV with internet capability bought in new Zealand, yet it doesn't actually cater to the New Zealand market. I want relevant use of a function on a product that is capable of doing so and advertised as such. I want to know how to add an app to my TV, and I want that app to be TVNZ On Demand! :mad:

I also want world peace and my favourite foods to appear whenever I snap my fingers (without fear of weight-gain or dribble-chin, I might add). :p

[Tetracapillactomist]

Your case is not unique, Badstench, nor you disgust, anger, impatience and anything else you might feel about this dunghill that has to do with Digital Rights Management (DRM) in general...

Providing USB connections that have most of their functionality disabled and filtered, Internet access capability without providing essential content which can be accessed, not being able to watch a DVD bought in another country because your playback device has been kneecapped in order to prevent you from even once watching something on which you have spent your money - don't even get this one started... The list is so long I get 'antsy' just thinking about it, let alone actually typing it out...

And it all happened with the tacit approval of the general public, thinking:
'Sure! They have a right to consider me a thief and treat me as such, and fragment the global village into culturally segregated and corporately controlled fiefdoms!
They should be able to dictate what and when and how I can consume from the cultural palette: they're just protecting their investments - and benevolently protecting me from evil foreign content!
They're heroic swashbucklers fighting evil pirates, and I'm not a thief or a pirate, so why should it bother me?'

We're in this boat together now - only the particulars are different.

In a way, we all live under the rule of absolutist corporate monarchy.

Let a country's government impede the progress of a hungry corporate expansion in any way, and in essence, you'll see that country sued for damages and lost profit, protectionism, whatever...

And in some respect, your politicians are in no more control of that train than the kid who plays pretend-engineer in the passenger compartment.

Course, this is just a senseless, subversive rant - the reality has broadly smiling, rosy cheeks. :)

Don't tell me what you'd like, and how upset you are, and disappointed with digital tech and its loverly little spawn from the Neverness, DRM, Badstench - tell Sony, tell your retailer, and tell your representative, your politicians, the entertainment industry! ;)

(Of course you can tell me all of that, that was merely rhetorical! I'm just venting aimlessly and mostly pointlessly, by now. :)
Anyway, I've got so many things to do, I really can't afford to indulge in useless rants, what on earth am I thinking!?... :D)

[Badstench]

Agreed, Tetracapillactomist. And here's a good example of corporate arrogance...

* The World Rugby Cup is one month from starting.
* The sponsor of the All Blacks is Adidas.
* Adidas is supplying the official rugby fanwear, including the iconic All-Blacks jersey. They cost a whopping NZ$220.
* The same jersey costs half that if ordered online from the USA (not including postage & packaging) and is also cheaper if ordered from Australia.
* Adidas has blocked shipment of online sales of its jerseys to New Zealand.
* The biggest retailer of sports equipment in NZ called a meeting with Adidas bosses and requested a price drop in line with overseas markets.
* Adidas refused, citing standards of premium markets, ie; the same thing happened at the World Football Cup in South Africa and happens everywhere.
* Result - consumer backlash. Not only have sales of the Adidas jersey all but stopped, people have also boycotted Adidas products across the board.

What Adidas failed to consider is that Rugby isn't just a game to New Zealanders; it's our national sport. Rugby isn't just played, but watched and participated by a huge percentage of our population. We view it as being part of our national psyche. To deny any aspect of enjoyment or following to the game is to attack New Zealanders and our lifestyle. This will not be tolerated.

I am one of the disgusted and will never buy an Adidas product ever again. It's the sheer arrogance of Adidas that got up my nose... they virtually thumbed their noses at our little country, ignored us as an market of any importance and treated us as consumers unworthy of consideration.

Adidas sucks!

[Chareos]

Have you checked Ebay mate? They have a load of All Blacks shirts on there and I can't imagine that Adidas can stop shirts being sent from Ebay.

[Oldschool]

Just googled that Badstench and seems quite the fracas over there from the internet articles I read. Interesting to note that the NZRU is backing Adidas - I'm sure it's "politics" since Adidas is a major sponsor. I notice that the NZRU site's name is sandwiched between the All Blacks silver fern and Adidas logo.

The article I read about the NZRU supporting Adidas also said that WorldRugbyShop.com (in the US) has stopped shipping sales to NZ. Still Chareos makes a good point and I'm sure Googling rugby jersey retailers, etc... might net some legitimate sites that Adidas hasn't gotten to.

[Tetracapillactomist]

What Adidas failed to consider is that Rugby isn't just a game to New Zealanders; it's our national sport.

Adidas sucks!

Tell you the worst news: they don't even consider it a game - only a business, to be squeezed to the last drop of NZ coin.

And that's Adidas.

I won't even get started on Monsanto... I really won't. If what Adidas does is blatant thwarting of international, open commerce - with some hint of curtailing consumer rights and freedoms - then what Monsanto does is trampling human rights, arguably...

To me - culturally, commercially, in terms of individual rights, expression, self-expression, creativity, cooperation, sharing of information, ideas, and goods... you name it, we'll throw it into the soup - it looks more and more as if it's the rise of corporate feudalism, and we're one step away from being chained to the land. Figuratively speaking... for now.

Even 'piracy' - increasingly everything and everyone can be labelled as 'piracy' and 'pirate.'

"Content theft''- watch a show that some slithering slick in a smashing suit and tie decreed you have no digital right (is it just me, or does that make for a laughably ridiculous expression? :)) to view...

And even copyright, when it comes down to it, viewed in historical perspective, has gotten out of hand...

Civilisation as we know it, was made possible by free copying, borrowing, recycling, and building upon ideas that came before, things were done and redone again and again... Without that, theoretically, each individual, each generation would've had to start from scratch - that would make for one very slowly advancing civilisation...

All right, so it's a stretch, but you get the principle of the thing... legally, it's fairly clear - until the next time laws, rules, regulations... and end user agreements change. Philosophically, on the other hand, and based on humanistic considerations... bah, who cares about philosophy, right? ;)

I don't, not right now - I'm falling asleep after every third word... :)

Another sleepy rant - done. And so am I. :) Sorry for any inconsistencies, mistakes, and fundamental faults... :)

'Have a ball, all!' -- 'Call me Al, pal!' :)

[Badstench]

I have frozen screens. For some reason, I was able to open a new screen to type this.

Anyway, I've spent two hours typing the newest addition to the "Keddin Files", and I must have hit a key that froze my screen.

I have a small window in the top left corner of my screen that gives me options to restore, minimize, or close.

I clicked on each option and got no response.

I'm thinking I might have to shut down and restart, but then I'll lose the last two hours of writing.

HELP!

[scout1idf]

I have frozen screens. For some reason, I was able to open a new screen to type this.

Anyway, I've spent two hours typing the newest addition to the "Keddin Files", and I must have hit a key that froze my screen.

I have a small window in the top left corner of my screen that gives me options to restore, minimize, or close.

I clicked on each option and got no response.

I'm thinking I might have to shut down and restart, but then I'll lose the last two hours of writing.

HELP!

Can you copy and paste your work in notepad or word pad and save it?

[Young Ned]

Sometimes browsers or Windows get hinky (that's the technical term ;)) when available memory gets low. If Scout's suggestion doesn't work, you should be able to press Ctrl-Alt-Delete and then "Start the Task Manager". On the Applications tab, select any application (other than the one in which you're writing "The Keddin Files") and click "End Task". If that doesn't get things moving, repeat until either (a) things unfreeze, or (b) you're out of applications to click (other than the one in which you're writing "The Keddin Files").

And if your operating system is anything but Micro$oft Windows(TM), ignore everything I just said.

[Tetracapillactomist]

Were you typing directly into a posting window, Badstench? I assume you were, though my assumption is only based on precedents (I'm telling you again: enable Quick Launch in the Taskbar, or create a 'fake' Quick Launch if using Windows 7, put a shortcut of any text editor you like there - Wordpad, Notepad, and beyond - so you can open them instantly with a single click without having to minimise any windows, and either write in there to begin with, or copy-paste your progress into one, every once in a while).

Are you using Firefox? (It's complete and utter... rubbish - yes, that's what I was going to say - right now.)

If you were able to open up a new window, that meant not all was lost. Sometimes it needs some time to sort itself out.

If that happens, check first if another window or tab has a dialogue bow open which requires your action (clicking 'yes' or 'no,' as an example - could be a new PM notification dialogue that's hiding in the background, behind the visible window.

In the bottom left hand corner of your screen, in the Taskbar, hover over the frozen application's symbol - see if there are windows, dialogue boxes that show which you're not aware of, or are unfamiliar with - if there are, click on them to display them, then either provide the answer requested, or simply dismiss them (check what they say first, and don't dismiss them if you're not sure of the consequences of that - if it's just PM notification, or anything else familiar, react to it accordingly).

Once all such things are cleared, click on the application's symbol there, in the bottom, on the Taskbar in an attempt to minimise it (instead of trying to do the same in the in the frozen window's upper right corner) - that can at time wake/unfreeze your app.

If that attempt to minimise the window doesn't respond, try ALT+SPACE - it should present you with a menu in the upper left corner of the window, with options to minimise, restore down or up, move, etc.

Hit the Windows logo key on your keyboard if there is one (if there isn't hit CTRL+ESC), and if the Taskbar is unresponsive.

So many possibilities, so many things, without much specific information...

Try ALT+TAB to switch between applications, see if that brings to the fore something unexpected or unfamiliar...

If you're shutting down programs from the Task Manager as Young Ned suggested, do not terminate "explorer.exe" (that's not the browser, that's the thing that allows all shortcuts, controls to be displayed and interactive; without it, there won't be much left for you to click - if you do close it accidentally, or intentionally, if 'explorer.exe' itself is ever frozen; no problems though, it can be relaunched from within the Task Manager itself, but for now avoid closing it, that's obviously not what caused the problem in your case).

Scout asked the most important question: can you copy the text (highlight all you can see, and if right-click doesn't respond, go with CTRL+C), then paste it (again, if no right-click response, use CTRL+V) into the new window - or better yet, a text editor file?

Well, in any case, I just noticed the timestamp on your post - I seem to be late to the party, and hopefully your creative efforts got out of that bind well and safe, since there's no further reply... There's more, but if you no longer need the urgent help, I'll just wish you good luck.

[Badstench]

Thanks for all the advice... I'm one of those people who loves technology without actually understanding it.

Unfortunately, I was typing directly into the forum page and had scrolled most of the work up and out of sight, so I couldn't copy and paste.

The two hours of effort is gone.

ack.

[Tetracapillactomist]

Not again... This isn't the first time. Sorry about that loss, I know fairly well what it feels like.

All right: if you care, write down all the details you know about your computer, operating system, send it by PM if you prefer, whenever your prefer, and let's try some fail-safe, preventive, or at least mitigating measures.

[scout1idf]

Might I suggest in the future, use notepad, word-pad or whatever you have on your computer and save frequently.

When you are satisfied/finished, copy and paste it to the forum.

That will save you a lot of heart ache if your computer decides to http://www.freesmileys.org/smileys/smiley-forum/censored.gif (http://www.freesmileys.org/smileys.php) you hard like that....

[Tetracapillactomist]

I suggested that (in my previous post, but also towards the beginning/first half of this year), Scout, although Badstench needs to have a quick, one-click access to it, always visible, always available, for it to become second nature, hence the Quick Launch bar, or in the case of Windows 7, the 'fake' Quick Launch.

And it wasn't the computer in this case, but the browser (I just have a strong feeling that Firefox is involved, though we don't know, that info's missing), since he was able to open another browser window which allowed the posting of the urgent call for help.

(And I suggested the same thing months ago, when there was another instance of lost material, Badstench, so... I think it's time to do something about it. :) Whenever you're up for it.)

[Oldschool]

Just a heads up.

I normally use a laptop running Windows 7 and a desktop running XP.

The desktop notified me earlier of several updates including security updates. Just got on to the laptop (which had been left on btw) which is set for auto update and thought to check it.

Several updates for it from Win7, IE9, Microsoft Office, etc.... and most of them security updates. All were tagged "important" btw.

[Oldschool]

And as I've had to look for this a few times now I've decided to copy it here where it'll be easier for me to find. Fortunately I just looked for and found it a few days ago when I wanted to look at Shadowblacks FoB file on a computer I didn't already have it on so it was easy for me to find, but since it may be some time before I need to find it again it fits here quite nicely imo.

And I'm adding the word compression to this post to aid in searching as in doing a search of this thread.

And kudos to Tetra for the original post,

Oh, me so sorry - right it is!

http://www.7-zip.org/download.html

And WinZip:

http://www.winzip.com/index.htm?sc_cid=go_ca_b_search_wz_brand

And the place for WinRAR:

http://www.rarlab.com/

(Sorry if I missed something, just rushing past, don't mind the flash.)

[Oldschool]

Just finished updating FF on the other systems and did a plug in check as well and was notified that my Silverlight was old as version 5.something is out. I had been running 4.something although I seldom use it - I think.

Anyhoo.... none of my computers updated it automatically via Windows Updates or even offered to and I checked one of the systems running Win7 before updating via FF's plug in option. Perhaps it would've updated itself if I used it more than seldom - that could be it now that I think about it.

Just figured it worth a mention.

[Young Ned]

My computer has Silverlight on it, too, and I don't even know what that is! It shows as "Micro$oft Silverlight" on the Programs menu, so I assume it came with Win7.

I just ran it, and I see it has an "Updates" tab that lets you specify how you want it to handle updates: download & install automatically, check automatically but let you decide when to install, or never check for them. So you may need to review your settings. Or, since it's a Micro$oft product, it may be completely ignoring your settings anyway. :p

[Oldschool]

Good point Ned and lol. Btw what little I know of Silverlight courtesy of our friendly forumers, www.srythforum.com/showthread.php?t=1082

I'd have put my post in the above had I remembered the above was a thread and not a discussion. Could move both our posts but they fit here just as good.

Anyhoo... www.srythforum.com/showthread.php?t=1082

[Young Ned]

This is (I think) an HTML/CSS question. The company that makes and documents the VMS operating system, which I use at work, is owned by HP these days, and up until recently I haven't had any serious problems with the online documentation.

Unfortunately, at least some of the manuals lately have begun doing something strange: every paragraph is displayed as a single very long line, without wrapping when it gets to the edge of the screen the way web pages normally do. You end up having to scroll to the right to read them, sometimes very far to the right, and then you have to scroll all the way left again for the next paragraph. I can't seem to find any option in my browsers to tell it not to do this, probably because browsers assume that sites won't do this -- at least, I've never seen this happen anywhere else. And it happens in all the browsers I've tried:

Firefox 3.6.25
Chrome 16.0.912.63 m
IE 8.0.7601.17514

(Yes, I know they're all a bit behind, so please don't bother mentioning it unless you think newer versions really would help.)

I tried viewing the source of one of the pages that was doing it, but there was a whole lot of code and nothing jumped out at me. It might very well be on their style sheets anyway, and I know rather little about CSS.

Here's one of the pages that's having this problem, for those who'd like to inspect it firsthand: http://h71000.www7.hp.com/doc/732final/4527/4527pro_003.html

If anyone knows or can figure out what's causing this weird behavior, that would be great. If you can figure out a way I can fix it, that would be even greater! As it happens, I do have a small Greasemonkey script that I use for these online documentation pages, mainly to make the section headers a bit bigger and more noticeable, so if you can tell me what I'd need to do in a Greasemonkey script (assuming it's not something I can fix by tweaking my browser settings or updating my browsers), that would be fantastic.

(And no, the Greasemonkey script is not causing the problem: it occurs even when I disable the script, plus I only use the script in FF anyway and the problem still occurs in IE and Chrome.)

[Oldschool]

YN haven't a clue but I'm running the latest FF (9.0.1) and it's too large horizontally for me as well.

I did notice something - don't know if it'll help analyze anything and you may have noticed it yourself.

When I reload the page it displays correctly wrapping for a very brief second while it's still reloading (at the beginning of the reload) then as it finishes it goes back to being too wide. Actually it's about half the page width but it reloads too fast to scroll or to get more than a quick peek.

[Doolipalally]

I had a look and noticed that the heading "HP OpenVMS System Services Reference Manual" (visible if you scroll right when you're at the top of the page) seems to be centered on a page that's way too wide. Dunno if it's what's causing the problem, but there is a note in the source code at that point about increasing the width of the content area.

[Young Ned]

When I reload the page it displays correctly wrapping for a very brief second while it's still reloading (at the beginning of the reload) then as it finishes it goes back to being too wide. Actually it's about half the page width but it reloads too fast to scroll or to get more than a quick peek.
Yes, I've noticed that too sometimes. That's one of the things that makes me wonder if it's something in their style sheets that's causing it, because if the style sheet sometimes takes just a little longer to load than the page you might see the page normally before the style sheet kicks in and forces the weirdness.

I had a look and noticed that the heading "HP OpenVMS System Services Reference Manual" (visible if you scroll right when you're at the top of the page) seems to be centered on a page that's way too wide. Dunno if it's what's causing the problem, but there is a note in the source code at that point about increasing the width of the content area.
Hmm, so maybe they're just increasing it a few hundred times too much? Interesting possibility!

Well, I just noticed something that should help a lot. The website has a version of the documentation for each of the last several versions of the operating system, and the version I have bookmarked is pretty old by now. When I went and looked up the same topic in a newer version of the same manual, Lo! The line wrapping is working just fine in the newer one (http://h71000.www7.hp.com/doc/83final/4527/4527pro_047.html). :rolleyes:

So I don't know if they're actually trying to discourage people from using the old versions of the manuals, or if it's just some form of "bit rot" that's set in because they haven't updated those old pages for a long time, but I guess it's time to update my bookmarks to newer versions of the manuals. Thank you both for your investigations!

[Tetracapillactomist]

[...] it happens in all the browsers I've tried:

Firefox 3.6.25
Chrome 16.0.912.63 m
IE 8.0.7601.17514

(Yes, I know they're all a bit behind, so please don't bother mentioning it unless you think newer versions really would help.)

Why IE8? - slower and less secure than IE9.

Upgrade to IE9, it should help, page formatting seems to be recognised by it.

I tried viewing the source of one of the pages that was doing it, but there was a whole lot of code and nothing jumped out at me. It might very well be on their style sheets anyway, and I know rather little about CSS.

Javascript. Tried parsing that too - no patience. Looked for "nowrap" tag quikly, but that's not it, it's not there.

Here's one of the pages that's having this problem, for those who'd like to inspect it firsthand: http://h71000.www7.hp.com/doc/732final/4527/4527pro_003.html

OK, I tried it. Took some screenshots. Here's how it appears in IE9:

http://www.srythforum.com/picture.php?albumid=50&pictureid=523

http://www.srythforum.com/picture.php?albumid=50&pictureid=522

Obviously contents can't be read here, but it gives you an idea: it's wrapped/formatted properly. (FF and Chrome - had same issue as you. I think Safari might work well, haven't tested, don't have it now, won't bother, IE9 does the job.)

If anyone knows or can figure out what's causing this weird behavior, that would be great. If you can figure out a way I can fix it, that would be even greater!

([...] the problem still occurs in IE and Chrome.)

Cause? Well, some js tag in there, I s'ppose, can't think of another besides nowrap atm; won't bother since IE9 seems the solution.
(And even if I found it, I can't change their page's encoding, so why bother. You should leave them a message about the apparent incompatibility, maybe. Encoding resets in FF and Chrome automatically, with auto-detect on or off - that split-second correct page formatting shows before reset to default; didn't find a quick way of disabling it, so I'm leaving it be.)

Figure out a way to fix it? Well, sorta, I guess, if that's fixing it: upgrade to IE9, I hope it works out for ya. If not, maybe I'll drop by again, scratch my head, mumble curses to myself.... maybe I'll have a 'bwilliant' idea by then. (I wouldn't bet on it, but 'hoo nose' ... ear, throat, fingers and toes...)

Hope it helps, brilliant or not - good luck.

Bloavez Mad (in honour of Rhaknar),

and Bloavezh Mat (in honour of Matt), to all.

And Happy B-day, PA.

SN: yeah, I'm alive still, just don't feel like b'tchin' and trollin' any more...

[edit] And if you dinna like that comment, sorry.
(I TRIED to get past those things, I did, I really did - can't. Sorry. On top of e'thing else, I can't.
If there weren't the 'else,' those jibes wouldn't even matter, but with the 'else,' everything does matter, so that's that. Ha-bloody-ha.)

Anyway, that's all, couldn't resist the call of the wild / the urge to help (??? yet to be decided...), hope it works, bye.

[edit 2] Pffft, ninja'd. Meh, just as well, cos I forgot to say: in cases like that, if all else fails, or if I'm really short on time (or too impatient) to install a new browser, look for alternative solutions, cause, blah-blah, and if I really need the info, I just [select all] or highlight portions I need, paste in a text editor (Wordpad and up for regular text, Notepad for code), et voilà - only, you lose some heavier formatting while copying from Chrome and FF pages, but IE(9) maintains more of those as well, including some tables, etc. With a bit of luck, text/formatting looks almost the same as the original, depending on source. Something to think about. Or try.

[Young Ned]

Thanks, Tetra, good to know that it works with at least one browser. This laptop came with IE8, and I probably should upgrade to IE9, but I hardly ever use IE anyway since I like Firefox better, so I never think of it. Plus, this is a work laptop and upgrading anything always seems to be more complicated than it should be...

So, were you writing your post while I was posting my last reply? Because it sounds like you didn't see my reply yet.

[Tetracapillactomist]

I like FF's looks and general feel better as well. For less demanding / resource hogging stuff. But I like Chrome for some things, and IE9 for things involving that lumbering, buggy, already-slow Adobe Flash content, mostly.

So I use all three. At the same time, mostly. For different things, suited to each. Works out well. And as in your case, if I run into something wonky, I can switch instantly that way, test, experiment, see if a browser's at fault, or something else.

And yes, you ninja'd me, O Green One, while I was stabbing the keys / typing, taking screenies, uploading them, ... It's OK. Still true, what I said. Hopefully.

You're welcome, Ned, for what it's worth.

[scout1idf]

I was just looking through the code for the page and the style sheet and couldn't find where it was messing up for sure, other than tables being used to make up the page.

I was noticing that some of the table rows were adding up to pretty wide widths. I would think that that could be part of the problem.

I was also wondering about some of the JavaScript. There were 3 separate JS files listed, but I could only view 1 of them. The other 2 were just a blank screen.


From a coding point of view, the page is a mess and a nightmare. I wouldn't want to tackle redoing that one if there was a short time constraint.....

[Young Ned]

From a coding point of view, the page is a mess and a nightmare. I wouldn't want to tackle redoing that one if there was a short time constraint.....

Yeah, the web pages for their documentation are generated automatically from the same files that are used to produce the print manuals (available as PDF files from the same site), so it doesn't surprise me that the code is a mess. I've noticed that automatically-generated HTML usually looks pretty ugly. Considering the sheer size of their documentation set, though, I'm sure the automatic generation saves them a lot of time when updating the manuals.

[scout1idf]

I move my post here for easier future reference......

One of our engineers at work repairs computers for people.

He's the one that suggested Malwarebytes Anti-Malware when I had the major malware/virus problem last spring (the one that cost me my web sites, D@mn Hackers).

I was talking to him the other day about a flash drive problem and during the course of the conversation, he told me about two other products he uses (both from download.com).

Wise Disk Cleaner
Wise Registry Cleaner


I installed them both tonight and ran them (it suggested to run the disk cleaner first).

Currently, my computer seems to be running as fast as, if not faster than when it was new!
I bought it in March or April 2007, so it's far from new.

If your system seems extremely slow, you might want to give these a try.

Note:
Go to download.com and type "wise" in the search box and they will come up first in the search.

I almost forgot, they are both FREE!!!

[Young Ned]

I'd forgotten you used Malwarebytes' Anti-Malware back then. I just got introduced to it myself when my work laptop got hit with the "System Check" virus and the IT guy gave me a link to a procedure for getting rid of it that involved using that exact product, along with several others first. Procedure worked great, and I'm happily virus-free again.

I also upgraded my FF 3.5.x to 9.0.1 a few days later, as I was using FF when I got attacked.

By the way, the site my IT guy told me about has procedures for ridding yourself of all kinds of viruses and malware -- and download links for all the nifty free utilities, too! Check out http://www.bleepingcomputer.com/virus-removal/ and look at the right-hand column for a list of all the major recent viruses... just click on the name of any virus to go to the procedure for removing it.

[scout1idf]

Thanks for the link Ned.

I bookmarked it for further reading....