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Free Online Tools

Here’s a tip for both web designers and web developers – beginners and advanced.  After creating a new page or even after making a small change to a current page – always, always, always validate the page. 

You can use validation tools that are built into development environments like Dreamweaver, but I recommend the W3C validation tools. 

W3C Markup Validation Service.
http://validator.w3.org/

Valid XHTML 1.0 Transitional

W3C CSS Validation Service
http://jigsaw.w3.org/css-validator/

How We Read Online

Here’s a great article at the Slate.  It covers usability, web design errors, and reading trends online.  It’s not an all encompassing article, but it does touch on a lot of good points.

Also, it makes you wonder why Arial is still king when fonts like Verdana, Trebuchet and Georgia are fonts which are designed for the screen.

Enjoy!
http://www.slate.com/id/2193552/?GT1=38001

ASP.net Version Test Script

Here’s a little script that we have used over and over again that will display the version of ASP.net that is running on a web server.  This script has been particularly useful when working with virtual hosts. 

Copy and paste the following code into a file (example: test.aspx) and upload to the webserver.

<%@ Page Language=”VB” %>

<script runat=”server”>
    Protected Sub Page_Load(ByVal sender As Object, ByVal e As System.EventArgs)
        
        lblASPDOTNETVersion.Text = “This server is running ASP.NET version: ” & _
         System.Environment.Version.ToString()

    End Sub
</script>

<html>
<head>
    <title>Test ASP.NET Version:</title>
</head>
<body>
    <form id=”form1″ runat=”server”>
        <asp:Label ID=”lblASPDOTNETVersion” runat=”server”></asp:Label>
    </form>
</body>
</html>

The output should be something similar to:

 This server is running ASP.NET version 1.1.4322.2032

JavaScript pop up window alternative

This method still uses JavaScript, but it is paired with CSS to produce a less annoying and invasive outcome.

1)      Develop the content that you would normally open in a pop up.

2)      Create a div tag in the “opener” page.  Hide the div tag using the visibility and display properties and specify the position property as “absolute” and set the z-index property to a plane that is greater than 1 and by itself. 

3)      Use the newly created/hidden div as a container and paste the content from step one between the opening and closing tags of the div.

4)      Create a JavaScript function that “unhides” the div – unleashing all of the content you created. Once the div is “turned on” the div breaks away from the content around it and it “floats” to the plane that you specified with the z-index.   The example below is a javascript toggle function that will turn the div off or on depending on which state it currently is in. 

function div_toggle(id){               

var imagediv = document.getElementById(id);

if (imagediv.style.display==”none”){
        imagediv.style.display=”block”;
        imagediv.style.visibilty=”visible”;                             
}
else{
imagediv.style.display=”none”;
imagediv.style.visibilty=”hidden”;

}

}

Play around with different CSS positioning techniques to give you your desired affect. 

To see a live working example, go to our portfolio page and click on a thumbnail of any of the websites.

If you are interested and seeing more detailed instructions, send us an email.

Verizon Wireless SMT5800 Money Savings Tip

I recently got my hands on the Verizon Wireless SMT5800 — a practical smart phone from HTC.  I’ll do a full review of the phone later on.  But, I just wanted to pass along a tip that could save any potential buyers some cash. 

USB PortLooking at the “modified” USB port on the 5800, I thought I would try my old chargers from my Motorola Razor V3c to see if they would be compatible.  Both the car and wall chargers worked perfectly, even though the chargers use a standard USB mini connector and the phone’s USB mini port looks a bit different. 

Try your old chargers at your own risk — it could save you from buying a car and/or wall charger.

Google: top 10 rankings overnight or money back

The title of this blog entry was actually the subject of an email that I received. Pretty tempting — isn’t it? In a nutshell — don’t believe the hype. Is this solicitation possible? Well, anything is possible.

Here’s what you need to know. Google, Yahoo, Microsoft, et al., use complex algorithms to calculate search engine ranking order. And, the abovementioned companies keep key parts of these algorithms top secret. Not to mention that the algorithms change.

So, how do you get a top 10 ranking in Google? Hire a professional to put together a Search Engine Marketing plan that makes sense for your company.  And, don’t expect results overnight!

Tech Office Going Green - Part 2 - Green Web Hosting

Green, it’s the ubiquitous, yet trendy buzzword of the present.  And, with the price of fuel skyrocketing and social consciousness for our environment increasing, the term green will be with us for the foreseeable future.  In our last “green” post, we discussed a tech. project that was a less formal way to think green.  This time we will look at a more official way of going green – green web hosting.

Green web hosting companies come in a couple different flavors.  The first are the hosting companies that buy renewable energy credits for solar, wind, geothermal, etc.  Typical hosting companies in this category are DreamHost and HostPapa.  The second type of green hosting company actually consumes green energy that they produce themselves.  For example, Affordable Internet Services Online, Inc employs solar panels that run their data center, have solar tubes that bring in natural light, and utilize servers with AMD Opteron processors that consume less power.  Pretty impressive!

Obviously, if you are looking for a host that is about as green as you can get in the industry, you want to sign on with a company like Affordable Internet Services Online, Inc.  However, companies such as DreamHost and HostPapa are also worth a look, as it is better to do little, rather than nothing when it comes to being environmentally conscious.

Keep in mind, these hosting companies cater toward small to medium-sized business and are not meant to power fortune 500 websites. 

Tech Office Going Green - Part 1 - Dell “Lapserver”

Dell Latitude CPx JWe recently turned an old Dell Latitude CPx J into a development web server. We did this impart because we have been trying to be more eco-friendly. Also, because I am a total technology geek and I love a good challenge. Now keep in mind, this is not mission critical stuff. This is just a box to beat on.

So, how is this a green alternative to using a regular box or rack mount? The CPx is strong enough (P3 750 w/ 512 MB of RAM) to be an IIS 6 web server, yet uses a fraction of the power that a box or rack mount would use.

The setup went without a problem. Although, there was one issue. When the laptop is closed, the LCD screen turns on. This is annoying because, while this little giant serves up many websites to our developers without a problem, the monitor stays on all the time and uses more electricity. Thus, defeating the purpose of a green, lap-server in the first place.

“Turn Off Monitor” to the rescue.

After scouring the Internet for possible solutions, I stumbled upon a little program called, “Turn Off Monitor”. This little beauty is great. It’s small, less than 400k. And even better, it only costs $3 and it runs on win2k3 server.

Give it a try if you find you need to turn off a monitor without using a physical switch.

http://www.rtsoftwares.com/Turn-Off-Monitor.htm

So, in conclusion, I bought a program for $3, that was less than 400k, and it did exactly what I wanted it to do. Ahh – it makes me think back to the good old days of shareware in the early 90’s (Think the old download.com or TUCOWS)

Transferring Domain names away from IPOWER

Expanding on a recent article about IPOWER, I decided to provide the steps that helped us during a recent irritating incident regarding the hosting giant. 

We work with many hosts as our clients many times have acquired hosting services before working with us.  And, to be fair, transferring domains between registrars is never a walk in the park.  The process is clunky (purposefully?) and for the average Joe, it is easy to drop the ball and never complete the process.  However, IPOWER and a few others take the clunkiness to a new level. 

Here is what we have to do in order to transfer domains out of IPOWER’s hands.

1)      Contact IPOWER* and ask them:

a.     To unlock the domain (transferring a domain is impossible if the domain is locked)

b.     For  the Authorization or EPP code

c.     For  the login credentials to OpenSRS.net (never give this information out)

Results will vary, but often IPOWER will send an email or two to the administrative contact email address immediately containing the information requested.  Once we have all three items.  We login to OpenSRS and double-check the info (See Step two).

*We go to IPOWER’s homepage early in the morning and engage in a live chat.  The queue is usually short during that time of day and we can usually get help in just a few minutes without having to put together a lengthy email or make a phone call.

2)      We then go to https://manage.opensrs.net/ and login using the credentials that was given via IPOWER.

a.    We need to click “Domain Locking” and make sure the domain was unlocked.  If it wasn’t, we unlock it.

b.    We then click “Domain Extras” and double-check to see if the authorization code is correct.

3)      We go to the gaining registrar (the new domain name provider) and start the transfer process.

 The domain should be transferred within 5 days unless the domain is locked or the current registrar(IPOWER) denies the transfer. 

What Happened to IPOWER?

Once upon a time, IPOWER/ IPOWERWEB was known to be an inexpensive host that offered decent ( not great) customer service.  The trade off was fine, especially for the technically inclined that didn’t need to rely on IPOWER customer service to run their hosting.  Unfortunately, the decent customer service has turned to downright horrible.  Google IPOWER and you will see listing-upon-listing of unhappy customers, complaints, class action lawsuits and even blogs/websites dedicated to bringing down the hosting giant.

So, I have two questions:

1)      Have you ever seen reaction like this to a host before?

2)      Who now fills the shoes of IPOWER as the host with the best prices and satisfactory customer service?


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