MacRankin

Perhaps I should have called this new topic 'First post of the Day' thread. Anyway, it's too late now -- to delete it, as someone else has made an immense first contribution to this very new topic. Hey, thanks a lot mister. I updated my old one times' version of VMware Fusion from 1 to 3, as well as IE7 to IE8 last night in the hope that I could find some decent IE add-ons. I thought it was all a waste of time until I discovered something called, 'Unity'. Right now, I've got two versions of Firefox open at the same time, and for two very different operating systems. My cursor arrow is able to change from its solid black, and white bordered, sharp and intuitive arrow head, while it hovers over my Mac 3.0.6 Firefox browser to that clumsy white and jittery (black bordered) cursor while I hover over my Windows Firefox 3.0.6 version. Using Windows in Unity mode is kind of cool, but apart from being able to open both IE6 and IE8 at the same, and be able to have a plethora of other Mac browsers open for testing there's not an awful lot I'd like to do with Windows 98 Professional. As I write this my host's server is down, so I can't even (at the moment) see my web site in most flavours of IEs. Ah, the shame of it.

I wanted to bring a thread to these forums that perhaps sets you up for the day (or not), so that you can get to do things that are right for you, and to basically talk about anything that might work for others (or, most likely not). It can be anything, really... PCs, Macs, nothing to do with anything in particular, or just something you want to get off your chest, so to speak, but all done as a first post, kind of thing. So, anyway, as it's my turn I shall begin... It's a Sunday morning over here in the UK, and I've just done all my exercising. Plus I even did a bit of shadow boxing for the first time since before I broke my collar bone in a road traffic accident late last year. Man, do I feel good. But, I've yet to read all of Eric's book, 'Bye Bye Fat... Hello You!'. I know that I will have to be reading that soon, mostly because I need to change my eating habit ways, and having five or six smaller meals spread out over an entire day is going to be pretty weird to digest -- metaphorically speaking, but I am (I hope) finally going in the right direction. P.S. By posting here, or as a response say, to this post it must be as your very first post of your own morning (wherever that maybe), or it won't really count. P.P.S. Responding to a first post (on the same day) that was your first post is not allowed, so that means if anyone has anything to say about this first post, or about themselves and I have already posted I cannot then post a response on the same day -- it'll just have to be done (as a first post) the next day. P.P.P.S If things do need to be hotly discussed (for more of an immediate answer) then I guess one of the admins will have to transfer a particular first post to its very own dedicated topic, perhaps?

Thanks there falkencreative. Everything now works as it should. I'm going to try and look for things that might be of help while I figure out how I'm going to get stuck into all this gobble-de-gook once more. My best bet is to leave php on the back burner so that I can concentrate on things that I'm more likely to understand. Even though css is relatively easy to work with it can take a fair amount of work to get to understand the mechanics of it. Peeps like yourself, Eric, Shelfimage, and well, most folks on here have that deep understanding that I've always lacked. So that's what I'm going to aim for -- all the tutorials on these web pages and anything else that I find relevant, and then to organise them into some meaningful order. Or, something like that. Funny, but someone at work, who is into writing code for games, asked me what html was all about. I have this analogy which I use on the one or two occasions that people have asked what this 'html' is all about... Html, is like the bare Christmas tree; it has no decorations on it that will turn an admiring eye. In order to decorate this 'html Christmas tree' we would have to use 'css' so that we can present our tree with all its splendid bells, ribbons, baubles, and whatever. Of course, a Christmas tree without lights is a tad bit too boring. So, if we wanted to make our tree a bit more dynamic we'd have to use something like 'flash' or 'javascript'. Or better still, something called, 'jQuery', a library of javascript, where all the tools for learning it is right inside you with your already gained knowledge of css. At this point it can get a bit complicated trying to explain anything beyond the likes of html, css, and jQuery. So, I just leave the Christmas tree analogy and focus on sharing stuff between lots of people server-side using something like php, which you wouldn't be able to do in a client-side environment.

I hope you got my pm that I sent you earlier there falkencreative, 'cause if you didn't that's another thing that ain't working along with another pm (most probably) that I sent a day or two ago to another forum member.

It's funny you should say that because all I keep on getting on this lovely but not so manageable forum is error messages, or codes. I can't even edit me own freeping profile! I kept thinking that this is something else yet to be implemented. Looks like I might be having browser problems, so after I post this I'm off to get Safari going. Thanks for that other bit of info concerning reputation ratings.

Will there be a way for me in the near future to add a blog? I noticed that this function does not appear to be enabled when I had tried on the once or thrice occasion to enable it. I'm not exactly planing on saying great things, but I am looking to mention the odd thing or two that may be of help to others. Btw, how is one able to increase another member's reputation rating in the My Friends page, say? I know I haven't actually added many friends to that list, but I do consider most of you as my friends.

Yeah, I'm now downloading Journler, as I really need to start making a kind of catalogue of all things I once knew of, but didn't quite understand, like my own and billyboy's code manipulations. Not to mention the understandings of our Eric's 'Sticky Footer' solution, or any of POB's, (Paul O'Brien over at SitePoint) incredible clear-headed understanding of all that is really going on under the hood, so to speak. I guess what I'm trying to say is that I'd like to nail the things I should know (under my hood) on the head, and permanently too!

Hey, thanks there falkencreative. I'm not too keen on the look of Journler, but it does look like it might have the makings of what I'm looking for. I had Evernote a while back, but for some reason could not resurrect it. I'll have to uninstall it and then re-install it, I suppose. P.S. You know, it's kind of funny why I got into web page building... I wanted to show the world my Real Basic understandings, which I've now long since forgotten about! Now, an even funnier thought entered my mind that perhaps I should try to get back into it just to create something for this very problem. P.P.S. Erm, but for now though I'll stick with your Journler suggestion. Thanks again. Oh, sorry there virtual. I didn't see your post. I really do not want to use DW if I can help it. Apart from the need of wanting an 'all-in-one' app solution for my immediate needs, these days I'd like to move away from the all dancing, all singing apps like DW, but I may just look into it. Btw, thanks for the suggestion there virtual.

It's been a whiles since I've looked at any css / php / gobble-de-gook markup and code, and I've got no idea when or how I'm going to get back into all this web page building stuff... I've since signed up for the KillerSites University, but haven't really given much thought to how I'm going to re-learn all the stuff that I once knew. I could just get stuck into Stef's University and forget about all my memory hang-ups. I could, but before I go down that path again I'd really like to find a piece of software that will allow me to create not just a snippets collector but some 'all-in-one' app that will allow me to enter why a certain piece of code does not work, why we need to take another approach, what works and why, and also have some place to actually highlight the snippet of code under said explanations. For one reason or another I feel that if I just blow over all this understanding and just use what's out there when I need it I'll never really have the same understanding as some of the more knowledgeable peeps out there, like you. So, I guess what I'm looking for is a piece of Mac OS X software that kind of looks like Coda, but allows you to create a description and knowledge base above for the code below. I've got something called 'Code Collector Pro', but that's just for snippets. It won't help me know why I've stored it apart from the obvious reason of having a work-around close to hand. For the Mac OS X platform I do have BBEdit, which I suppose could be used for this one kind of task, but I'd much prefer a dedicated app. Code Collector Pro is okay (for snippets), as too is 'Snippet', which is more of a menu-based snippet collector. The only other solution might be something called, 'Snippets'. Yes, that does sound like the last app. Unfortunately, this one is only for the Snow Leopard, Mac OS X platform; I'm still using Leopard. I'm also using WindowShade X, which is a haxie isn't currently supported by Snow Leopard. Incidentally, you might be interested in Snipt. It's a kind of social snippet-based community. I haven't joined up yet to see what benefits there might be, but I may yet do so if I can't resolve this little sticking point of mine.

Yeah, and me. But hey, you're worth it Eric. And besides, it wouldn't feel right not supporting you in all the professionalism you put your body through.

Eric, your book is looking really good so far. I used to do a bit of boxing when I was (a lot) younger. I did a little weight training too, but that was mostly circuit training, weights, and some other leg wrenching, power manoeuvring agony. The boxing though, gave me big muscles in the arms. To be exact, shadow boxing gave me humongous biceps, and as for my legs they were once like tree trunks. I'm a bit busy these days as my mum is very poorly, and I have to see to her needs in hospital, but when I can I'll get stuck right into your book there Eric. P.S. I do about 20 to 30 minutes of exercises every morning, but when I miss one morning's worth it hurts more than if I was to do double the amount of exercises.

Blimey Eric, you're a man of many talents. I've never bothered with diets myself, as nothing really works except for good old lower ab exercises. Bloody belly -- gets right on my tits, almost.

Have I said something stupid? Well, lets put it this way; I very rarely ever go to the home page. I've always seen this website as a forum, and because of this I still see no glaring link to your university on this side of the fence. I had wondered why it wasn't included in the KillerSites Network drop down menu bar.

Whoa! There is so much going on here, though it's not always easy to find things. For one thing it's not obvious that there is a university here. One almost has to stumble upon it (as I did) in order to discover it. Yeah, about that university... I am thinking of getting back into web page building, and Stef's university is really something I'd like to get into, mostly for the php stuff, which I had to drop a whiles back when updating from Tiger to Leopard on my Mac. Things went astray, and I was never able to run and test things, so I kind of gave up on it, including the web page building. Even though I had discovered that little MAMP utility thingy, by then it was too late and I had completely lost the plot, and started to wander off again. Stef, you've done a really good job on the Killersites forum. Not sure I'll be able to contribute anything of worth around here, but I am up re-learning all this stuff again with a renewed confidence.

Hello, what's going on here then? I haven't been doing any web page building in the time I've been away from here, but that doesn't mean to say I might not ever make a return.

Hi everyone, long time no post. I literally stumbled across a $20 bundle of goodies one might add to a web site or two. It's only a 3-day (birthday) offer, and was only started today, so don't forget this! In my opinion, though, that bundle is no way worth $300, but I reckon it's worth something, maybe? There are two things you'll need to do in-order to get your hands on their stuff; one, you'll need to register, and two, you'll need to deposit monies, or in this case, pay 'em 20 digital green backs. Just one more thing... Be prepared for an humongous download of 1GB. the mefo rest .net (remove spaces)

Hm, I read something recently about the 'Magic Quote', or some such thing that used to be enabled in earlier versions of php. Not sure if this has anything to do with your problem though? I had a look a whiles back to make sure it wasn't enabled on my version of php, and though it isn't, I have no idea how you would go about disabling this feature, other than messing about in Terminal -- the Mac's command line app. Having said that, I did come across this a few hours ago in another very good book on php... $name = stripslashes($_REQUEST['name']); Maybe someone else knows more of this? ...Typical, I've just re-read that passage, and it's only for back slashes, so it couldn't possibly have anything to do with your problem. Silly me.

I must admit, I thought it would be unusual for someone to, have say, their paypal account open in one tab and some dodgy-looking website in another. I do very much want to go through your vid tutorials, and I will -- at a later stage, but only after I've tried to understand things by the book. It takes me an awful long time for things to sink in, and simply watching a video (for me) isn't going to cut it. A book, on the other hand won't either, but at least it will allow me think about what I do like, what I don't understand, what looks to be useless code, and generally get a real feel for what I'm looking at. Just for curiosity, I looked at the start of a 'day of' series of learning vids for php. Man, that guy teaching was all over the place in terms of explaining things clearly. This kind of video tutorial is great for someone to see what it's all about, but I just wouldn't / couldn't have the patience to go through his video tuts -- it'd drive me nuts! ...Whereas I will with your videos, simply because I know they will aid me in my memory and revision, and also (from watching some of your stuff already) I know that I will get quality in my understanding of php where it matters. :cool:

Hi Eric Erm, I've had a little google around, but haven't come across anything specific. I'm wondering whether Bridge is preventing you from moving them? Or, maybe it hasn't got anything to do with Bridge. Twice though, I've come across something about using the escape key when photoshop fails to open a file, and the using the key combo of Ctrl-Alt-Shift while starting up photoshop. This, I think, was to restore your preferences?

Hey everybody I'm still learning the basics of php -- again. Came across this really interesting tutorial showing how to stop peeps from having their login info snatched by a nasty cross-script... http:// net. tutsplus .com/tutorials/php/secure-your-forms-with-form-keys/ (remove spaces) I'm not going to attempt having a go at this tut, mostly because I'm trying to remember what I've learned so far. Incidentally, if anyone's interested, I've been reading the pdf version of PHP Solutions by David Powers, and have been diligently creating extra notes -- just in case I lose them again, and if anyone would like a copy of my notes of chapter 3, I'd be glad to pm or post them here, whatever is ok with the admin, though I'm not altogether sure if I can re-create them with the same annotations as mine.

Hi there everyone Erm, I have an old favourite website that I go to once in a while. Well, it has been quite a while since I visited www. macpicks .com, and doing so with my favourite browser (Firefox 3.0.10) has made some script that is used on that site ban me every time I try to use that website's links. I've been banned 2 or 3 times, maybe? Well, anyway I've since found out that I can use Safari without invoking any errors, though the script does invoke 'no referrer report' when control-clicking on a link (opens a new tab). Now, I realise that none of this is very helpful, and I have asked the website owner to send me an example of the script so that I can show it to you peeps, if it is indeed a php script? Anyway, for now, there is just this... CGI Error Invoked: NO REFERRER REPORT CGI Error Result: Access Denied CGI Error Description: Reason: Your browser or firewall does not report referring sites, or you have clicked on our link located somewhere other than this website. These links will only work from within the home site. Attempts to cut and paste, or bookmark the links individually will not work. We do not track you in any way and only use the referrer report to verify that the link used is actually originating from our site, thus avoiding cgi spam on our server. You will shortly be transferred back to the website. Not sure if this is a php related problem, but I guess you peeps will let me know. Thanks for taking the time to read this. I'm banned again! Looks like 3 strikes with the old control-clicking method while using Safari has now banned my ip address, yet again. I give up.

Excellent intro into PHP there Stefan :cool: You came across very cleanly and to the point. I'm pretty sure it will help to boost peoples' encouragement in wanting to really get 'stuck in'. It certainly will give me the encouragement to hopefully nail the basics, more so now, in-order to have that Zend framework elevate my potential usefulness in PHP. I'm currently settled reading PHP with 'PHP Solutions: Dynamic Web Designs Made Easy', by David Powers. I wish though I could learn stuff fast, but it takes an awful long time for stuff to be absorbed by my puny brain, so I'm taking my time, making notes, highlighting areas, doing practically anything that will help me to recognize and remember this stuff. I was getting into PHP last year, but got hung up with the proper use of single and double quotes, of all things. You know, you read one thing and you can't fathom why someone else prefers another way of doing things without explaining the differences. Keep up the good work there Stefan. :cool:

Good luck to you Ben ...Cool that you'll be taking part in a real effort to make a difference. :cool: Oh, and erm, while you're out there, be safe.

Hi there Erm, if I were you, I'd forget about vtc, and go check out lynda dot com. Also, you'll still have to download MySQL in-order to use this 'mysql monitor'. There's something similar on the Mac called Terminal, which I'm reluctant to use, mostly because I have to use its command line, user un-friendly interface in-order to tell mysql how I want my tables to look, and also I'm only a beginner too. I'm sure there are other resources out there that will assist you in covering what you'll need in-order to download either WAMP or XAMPP. But, as a newbie you'll want to be absolutely sure that you are doing it the right way, so like I say, go check out that lynda url. I haven't as yet done an awful lot with mysql, as I'm still getting to grips with the very, very basics of php. Just familiarizing myself with it is a start... Knowing how to manipulate it is a whole different ball game.

Thanks for the book title I may just get a copy. Not saying I'll be doing anything definite with Blender, as I much prefer the looks of Kinemac. I was playing around with the idea of having one or two 3d product images, where they could be adjusted manually by an interested visitor, rather than just annoyingly have the things rotate. Beyond those delicate, flash 2d, banner transitions that I've seen done by susie there isn't really a lot that I'd want to see moving around on a web page. Btw, I came across a really useful set of Blender video tuts that you're probably already aware of. I think they're mostly geared towards Windows users' who have a 3-buttoned mouse. I do have a multi-buttoned mouse meself, but I've been playing around with the keyboard / mighty mouse combos. Anyway, about those tuts... http:// blenderunderground.com/ 2007/07/18/blender-basics-part-1-video-tutorial-completed/ (please remove spaces) There's an humongous amount of material for newbies in which to cover in just the first part alone. That's way too much video at one sitting for me. It might be an idea to watch a chunk of it at a time.