edmullen dot net

SITE INFORMATION

Real Sitemap


INTERNET EXPLORER

Internet Explorer by default does not display custom error pages set up by Webmasters. This Wikipedia article says, in part:

"Internet Explorer (before Internet Explorer 7), however, will not display custom pages unless they are larger than 512 bytes, opting to instead display a "friendly" error page. This default behaviour can be changed under Tools | Internet Options by clicking on the Advanced tab and un-checking the "Show friendly HTTP error messages" check box."

I suggest you change that setting if you use any version of IE.


DISPLAY REQUIREMENTS

The site should display acceptably on a screen resolution as low as 800 x 600 pixels. However, I strongly recommend 1024 x 768 resolution as the minimum for modern systems. If necessary, you can adjust your default font size in your browser (and in Windows) to achieve a comfortable viewing setup.

At the same time I realize that there are those of you still working with 15" displays and can't (or don't want) to use finer than 800 x 600. Not just for this site, but also for the vast majority of sites now in existence, you should consider an upgrade.

Color depth lower than 32-bit will show some images in less than their original quality.

If you are using Internet Explorer 6 or lower you must have javascript enabled to use the navigation menus. No cookies are used on the site. With the exception of the Java pocket watch and crossword puzzle pages, no Java is used here.


BACKGROUND

I built my first Web site around 1996 or 1997. It went through many permutations as I learned HTML and my interests evolved. My ISP changed many times (Compuserve, Prodigy, Mindspring, Earthlink, MediaOne, AT&T, and finally Comcast). Along the way I realized my site (and my email address) kept getting lost and the updating was driving me nuts. So I "bought" (I suppose that "leased" is a more accurate description) three domain names: "edmullen" dot "net," "biz," and "info." And in 2007 I started paying for hosting on 1and1 dot com.

Just for grins I found an archive of what was probably my first Web site. The original files are dated November 1997.

I am currently using the latest version of SeaMonkey. I also have, for testing, current release versions of Firefox, Thunderbird, Opera, and Internet Explorer.

I run a wired Fast Ethernet LAN (100 Mbps) in my home using basic Windows Networking which was installed sometime around June 2000. (Yes, I even installed the wiring myself. I do not, however, recommend doing this in Atlanta in June. The attic gets VERY hot.) Sometime around June 2004 I added a Netgear 802.11b wireless access point (20 Mbps). That was upgraded in April 2007 to a DLINK DI-524 wireless router (up to 54 Mbps). I upgraded that to a Buffalo wireless router using 802.1n. All four of my Tivo digital video recorders are on the network as well. - Alas, all the Tivos were recycled in 2014 and replaced by a single Xfinity X-1 cloud DVR.

As of August 2015, my main system (the "Server") is now a customized Vision Computers 3.20 gigahertz Intel Core i5-4460. It has:

A Dell Inspiron laptop (January 2012) mostly sits in the family room connected to the stereo system via a Soundblaster USB audio I/O. It pulls music through the LAN from the server in my office which currently contains over 11,000 mp3 and other audio files, almost all at 224 kbps encoding or better. The "media" partition is about 67 Gb of data.

My wife's computer is a Vision desktop with 2.8 GHz Intel processor, 1 Gb of RAM, and a Dell E173 EFP 17" LCD panel.

The network is online via Comcast 100 Mbps Internet access.

These are the devices on the network:


DESIGN CONSIDERATIONS

This site is intended to be "browser independent" and should display equally well using any browser. Uh huh. So why should you care? Because you should be able to view any Web site without needing to use a specific product, technology, or browser. One of the basic design principles of the Mozilla Open Source effort is that all the Mozilla-based products (Mozilla, Firefox, Thunderbird, Netscape, etc.) will conform to the industry standards as closely as possible. The W3C (World Wide Web Consortium) is the body that establishes and promotes those standards.

I support Mozilla and the concept of interoperability through standards. A large portion of this Web site is devoted to Mozilla information.

The inherent conflict in this quest for interoperability and compatibility has always been between the ability to use the latest standards and techniques and offering every user essentially the same browsing experience regardless of their software. In addition to all browsers not being equal, some users turn off and certain features and others have them on. One can go slightly crazy trying to account for all the possibilities. Consider that different browsers may or may not successfully implement the following:

Also, the user can set default and minimum font sizes that override a Web page's settings. Hence, the designer needs to make a page "fluid," that is, it gracefully degrades with (sometimes extreme) changes in the user's environment.

Too, consideration for those who browse using speech readers or very large fonts due to sight impairment must be taken into account. And that can range from my normally correctable 65-year-old (as of 2015) eyesight to persons struggling with much more severe impairment.

The Web designer is thus faced with a host of choices to make which either limit what can be included in a page design or exclude some users.

One obvious answer is to simply have Web pages that consist only of text and with no interactivity. Gee, that'd be pretty darned exciting now wouldn't it! The real answer is to effect the best compromise one is able to within reason.


I validate each page and CSS at these sites respectively:

The W3C Markup Validation Service

The W3C CSS Validation Service


I test the site's pages using the following browsers:

ie logo Internet Explorer

mozilla logo Mozilla SeaMonkey

firefox logo Mozilla Firefox

opera logo Opera

safari logo Apple Safari for Windows


NOTES:

The site contains:

STRUCTURE


If you have trouble viewing any of my pages, (especially Mac users since I don't have one!), or have questions or comments, please email me.


This page last changed: Tuesday, June 21, 2016 - 01:25 PM USA Eastern Time

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