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    Learning HTML and CSS (with My New Book, Out Now!)

    I’ve always been a learn-by-doing kind of guy. Maybe it’s because I’m thinking about other things when something is explained to me, or maybe people are bad at explaining things. But either way, a concept doesn’t really sink in until I do it, or until I see an immediate application for it. When I learned HTML and CSS, I learned it by doing it. I’d make a page in Microsoft Front Page one then see what the generated source looked like.

    Eventually, when I moved to using Notepad (or more accurately, Notepad++), I’d try something and see what happens, or copy someone else’s source and modify it. It wasn’t ideal, and today there are lots of great alternatives. I’m happy to add a new one to the fray: my new book, HTML and CSS: Visual QuickStart Guide.

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    Switching to Windows with my new PC

    Earlier this year I decided that I needed more power in my production machine. The 2017 fully loaded Macbook Pro, much to my dismay, was not cutting it and I wasn’t even doing 4K videos. When faced with the option of dropping $5000+ on a new iMac Pro (which I could not afford to do), or spend half of that on a PC, the decision was pretty easy…I was switching to Windows. Here are my thoughts on the transition so far.

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    Mobile Browser Testing

    So this Responsive Web thing is all the rage these days, and rightfully so. As mobile browsers get more powerful, we can do a lot of great things that used to be thought of as only possible on  the desktop. We no longer need to have redirects on mobile that take our users to a separate site; we can have it all, no matter what device they are viewing our sites from. I recently updated both my site and my blog to be responsive (I’m still working some kinks out of the blog- I’m sorry for the mess). However, as mobile browsers are becoming powerful and plentiful, we run into the same issues we’re seeing on the desktop- we need to test our mobile friendly versions in several different browsers across multiple platforms.

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    The Web is Dead

    In Wired Magazine’s latest issue they proclaim, “The Web is Dead. Long Live the Internet.” I was pretty intrigued by this and decided to read the article (and subsequently subscribe to Wired. Well played, Wired). It’s divided into 2 parts, Blame Us (consumers) and Blame Them (corporations), and is very well written. I decided I’d have my students read it so we could discuss it in class; I wanted to get their perspective as college freshmen- people who have been using the Internet probably since 2003 or 2004 (age 11 or 12). I think it was around here that we really started to see the web change (MySpace was 2003, Facebook 2005), so it would be interesting since what we have today is the Internet as they know it. This will work  the same as the last class discussion on Facebook Places. I’ll pose my questions, write the class consensus, and then my thoughts.

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    QT: Manage Your Blackberry Email Online

    This is for all of use Blackberry (possibly only on Verizon Wireless) users. The Blackberry Web Panel allows you to manage (add/edit/delete and filter) all of the email addresses going to your blackberry device. You can also change PINs if you ever switch devices. I use it to skip sending emails I send to my device, as well as a few filters to make sure I don’t get repeat emails. I strongly recommend taking a look at it if  you have several email addresses forwarding to your Blackberry.

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    7 WordPress Plugins that Make Your Client’s Life Easier

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    WordPress is becoming an increasingly popular content management system on top of it’s popularity as a blogging system. More developers are choosing it as a solution to enable clients to update their own websites. And while WordPress out of the box is an excellent system, it could use a few tweaks to give most clients the freedom they need. Here are 7 plugins that will make your client’s job of managing their own website easier.

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    The Mac is Just Another Computer

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    Those of you who’ve known me for a while know I used to take a hard line against Apple. It was mostly the fan boys who would buy things solely because they were made by Apple that annoyed me. Then a little over a year ago, I made the switch from Windows to Mac. I was caught up in the shine of this new relationship and new OS and everything was new and excited, and new. But I’ve got some news for you: the Mac is just another computer.

    Let me start by saying this: I like my Mac. It’s nice- it’s got great features and very cool ways to navigate through applications and Coda, a Mac only program, has changed my life. However, I miss Windows’ superior file system and resource management, as well as it’s overall compatibility with more things. Essencially, though, I think the Mac is just a grossly overpriced PC.

    Anyone who has ever said they’ve never had a problem with their Mac falls into one of three categories: They just got it, they don’t use it that much/for that much, or they are a liar. I’ve had to restart mine several times because it has frozen on me, I constantly get bothered for updates, and sometimes it runs slow as hell. Two of friends, whom I see on a regular basis, have had theirs crash on them. That’s just the nature of having a computer, and a Mac is just a computer.

    It’s for that reason that I still don’t recommend them for general use. If you’re doing some very specialized thing, maybe it’s for you. Good luck upgrading it when you want to though- that is a huge problem for me. I will keep my Mac until it dies and I can’t say for sure if I am going to buy a new one. I am building a new PC soon, and am very excited to try Windows 7. If Windows 7 works for me, probably not. I can guarantee that I will probably never be a solely Mac OS person.