I’m glad I read Slashdot regularly. If I didn’t, I’d probably miss out on all the cool articles on Benjamin Franklin. See, today is the 300th anniversary of his birth and the news for nerds has a small posting with links to studies of his research. It turns out Ben Franklin had a very influential hand in creating America having helped compose the Articles of Confederation and the Constitution, advanced several scientific fields of study - two of which he created, electricity and meteorology, and promoted the abolitionist movement.
There is so much to thank Ben Franklin for we often forget everything he contributed to America and the world. It’s a miracle that so many great and energetic minds were able to come together under Franklin’s superb diplomacy to build the foundation the world (in some way) enjoys today. If you are in the Philadelphia area, you may want to check out some of the events the city has planned in honor of this most respected and influential people of all time.
Happy birthday Ben!
The website my wife created for our wedding is getting a bit old. We’ve been married for only three months but the site has nothing but wedding details that no one needs. I’ve set up a blog so people can check in for the latest goings on but don’t have a main page yet. Although she created the wedding pages (without knowing a thing about HTML coding), she doesn’t want to do it again and I have been tasked with the site redesign.
Now, I don’t know much about HTML coding myself. I’ve been pretty successful at taking existing code or code samples and tweaking them to suit my needs. As you recall, I did embed streaming video, photos, and Google Maps into the site; I even altered the color scheme and added my own banner icons on the bottom of the page. But as mot people know, that stuff is easy. Today’s 6 year-olds can do what I did. But I can’t create from scratch a site - especially one that looks any good.
So I started looking at web templates on-line - free ones, specifically. They are out there but they all suck. Those that are good cost anywhere from $24.95 to $100.00+. I’m not adverse to buying a template but now is not a good time for me to be spending money on a cosmetic redesign with me moving and all. Templates are a good idea for the future but not good now. What I need is some good sample code so I can ‘edit’ it to my liking.
Does anyone have a good site where I can get sample HTML code that’s nearly complete? I don’t need (or want) Flash and a simple, but nice looking, site is what I’m looking for.
Does anyone want to code me a website for free? I’ll give you a free plug on the site.
Any takers???
Guess, not… rats.
Ok.. so the hard drive didn’t crash. I don’t know what happened but after I reseated the cables, my HD came back to life. I don’t know what caused it to do that but it has happened before. Except the last time it happened, I never got a ‘Can’t find NTLDR’ message - which usually signals a failed drive.
Anyway, now that its back up, I have to figure out why it keeps happening and what to do to fix it.
I’m a huge fan of Calvin and Hobbes. I read it all the time when it was still being published and I read it whenever I can online. My brother, who’s also a huge C&H fan, gave me the entire book collection one year for Christmas. The comic is brilliant on so many levels.
One level is that of a kid just being a kid. Getting into trouble and just trying to have fun. Whether its pretending to battle alien invaders, picking on the girl at school, or sledding in the snow, Calvin makes the most of the world handed to him and enjoys it with his trusty friend Hobbes.
The other, and more enjoyable level, is that of a philosophical one. Both Calvin and Hobbes were named after their respective inspirations: John Calvin and Thomas Hobbes. John Calvin was, during his time, considered a reckless theologian who challenged the establishment - much like Calvin does in the strip. Hobbes, who I would call a realist, shared a less optimistic view of humanity and balanced Calvin’s character by bringing a practical view to the altruistic views of the 6 year-old. Thomas Hobbes also influenced Thomas Jefferson a great deal and helped him, along with John Locke, construct the ideas of democracy for our country.
Anyway…
I am adding a link to the daily comic strip on the sidebar on the right.
The hard drive on my computer failed today. Thankfully, all my important data - my MP3s - are safe on another hard drive. I should have set up RAID 1 but I was thinking that it might be nice to use the extra space for data files and not waste a drive. Now it seems I have to spend a few hours tomorrow getting the system up on the one drive and reinstalling everything.
When I am done installing the OS, I’m ghosting the hard drive and will make sure I have backups made more often.
Oh, and I’m going to replace the bad HD and enable RAID when I get it.
