How to make a proper website

The term web standards can mean different things to different people.

For some, it is 'table-free sites', for others it is 'using valid code'. However, web standards are much broader than that. A site built to web standards should adhere to standards (HTML, XHTML, XML, CSS, XSLT, DOM, MathML,SVG etc) and pursue best practices (valid code, accessible code, semantically correct code, userfriendly URLs etc). In other words, a site built to web standards should ideally be lean, clean, CSS-based, accessible, usable and search engine friendly. About the checklist. This is not an uber-checklist. There are probably many items that could be added. More importantly, it should not be seen as a list of items that must be addressed on every site that you develop.

It is simply a guide that can be used:

* to show the breadth of web standards * as a handy tool for developers during the production phase of websites * as an aid for developers who are interested in moving towards web standards

The checklist
1.Quality of code
1. Does the site use a correct Doctype?
2. Does the site use a Character set?
3. Does the site use Valid (X)HTML?
4. Does the site use Valid CSS?
5. Does the site use any CSS hacks?
6. Does the site use unnecessary classes or ids?
7. Is the code well structured?
8. Does the site have any broken links?
9. How does the site perform in terms of speed/page size?
10. Does the site have JavaScript errors?

2. Degree of separation between content and presentation

1. Does the site use CSS for all presentation aspects (fonts, colour, padding, borders etc)?
2. Are all decorative images in the CSS, or do they appear in the (X)HTML?

3. Accessibility for users

1. Are "alt" attributes used for all descriptive images? 2. Does the site use relative units rather than absolute units for text size? 3. Do any aspects of the layout break if font size is increased? 4. Does the site use visible skip menus? 5. Does the site use accessible forms? 6. Does the site use accessible tables? 7. Is there sufficient colour brightness/contrasts? 8. Is colour alone used for critical information? 9. Is there delayed responsiveness for dropdown menus (for users with reduced motor skills)? 10. Are all links descriptive (for blind users)?

4. Accessibility for devices

1. Does the site work acceptably across modern and older browsers?
2. Is the content accessible with CSS switched off or not supported?
3. Is the content accessible with images switched off or not supported?
4. Does the site work in text browsers such as Lynx?
5. Does the site work well when printed?
6. Does the site work well in Hand Held devices?
7. Does the site include detailed metadata?
8. Does the site work well in a range of browser window sizes?

5. Basic Usability

1. Is there a clear visual hierarchy? 2. Are heading levels easy to distinguish? 3. Does the site have easy to understand navigation? 4. Does the site use consistent navigation? 5. Are links underlined? 6. Does the site use consistent and appropriate language? 7. Do you have a sitemap page and contact page? Are they easy to find? 8. For large sites, is there a search tool? 9. Is there a link to the home page on every page in the site? 10. Are visited links clearly defined with a unique colour?

6. Site management

1. Does the site have a meaningful and helpful 404 error page that works from any depth in the site? 2. Does the site use friendly URLs? 3. Do your URLs work without "www"? 4. Does the site have a favicon?
1. Quality of code
1.1 Does the site use a correct Doctype?
A doctype (short for 'document type declaration') informs the validator which version of (X)HTML you're using, and must appear at the very top of every web page. Doctypes are a key component of compliant web pages: your markup and CSS won't validate without them.

CODE http://www.alistapart.com/articles/doctype/
More: CODE http://www.w3.org/QA/2002/04/valid-dtd-list.html CODE http://css.maxdesign.com.au/listamatic/about-boxmodel.htm CODE http://gutfeldt.ch/matthias/articles/doctypeswitch.html
1.2 Does the site use a Character set?
If a user agent (eg. a browser) is unable to detect the character encoding used in a Web document, the user may be presented with unreadable text. This information is particularly important for those maintaining and extending a multilingual site, but declaring the character encoding of the document is important for anyone producing XHTML/HTML or CSS.
CODE http://www.w3.org/International/tutorials/tutorial-char-enc/

More: CODE http://www.w3.org/International/O-charset.html

1.3 Does the site use Valid (X)HTML?

Valid code will render faster than code with errors. Valid code will render better than invalid code. Browsers are becoming more standards compliant, and it is becoming increasingly necessary to write valid and standards compliant HTML.

CODE http://www.maxdesign.com.au/presentation/sit2003/06.htm More: CODE http://validator.w3.org/

1.4 Does the site use Valid CSS?

You need to make sure that there aren't any errors in either your HTML or your CSS, since mistakes in either place can result in botched document appearance.

CODE http://www.meyerweb.com/eric/articles/webrev/199904.html More: CODE http://jigsaw.w3.org/css-validator/

1.5 Does the site use any CSS hacks?

Basically, hacks come down to personal choice, the amount of knowledge you have of workarounds, the specific design you are trying to achieve.

CODE http://www.mail-archive.com/wsg@webstandardsgroup.org/msg05823.html More: CODE http://css-discuss.incutio.com/?page=CssHack CODE http://css-discuss.incutio.com/?page=ToHackOrNotToHack CODE http://centricle.com/ref/css/filters/

1.6 Does the site use unnecessary classes or ids?

I've noticed that developers learning new skills often end up with good CSS but poor XHTML. Specifically, the HTML code tends to be full of unnecessary divs and ids. This results in fairly meaningless HTML and bloated style sheets.
CODE http://www.clagnut.com/blog/228/

1.7 Is the code well structured?

Semantically correct markup uses html elements for their given purpose. Well structured HTML has semantic meaning for a wide range of user agents (browsers without style sheets, text browsers, PDAs, search engines etc.)

CODE http://www.maxdesign.com.au/presentation/benefits/index04.htm More: CODE http://www.w3.org/2003/12/semantic-extractor.html

1.8 Does the site have any broken links?

Broken links can frustrate users and potentially drive customers away. Broken links can also keep search engines from properly indexing your site. More:
CODE http://validator.w3.org/checklink

1.9 How does the site perform in terms of speed/page size?

Don't make me wait... That's the message users give us in survey after survey. Even broadband users can suffer the slow-loading blues.
CODE http://www.websiteoptimization.com/speed/

1.10 Does the site have JavaScript errors?

Internet Explore for Windows allows you to turn on a debugger that will pop up a new window and let you know there are JavaScript errors on your site. This is available under 'Internet Options' on the Advanced tab. Unchecked 'Disable script debugging'.

2. Degree of separation between content and presentation

2.1 Does the site use CSS for all presentation aspects (fonts, colour, padding, borders etc)? Use style sheets to control layout and presentation. CODE http://www.w3.org/TR/WCAG10/wai-pageauth.html#tech-style-sheets 2.2 Are all decorative images in the CSS, or do they appear in the (X)HTML? The aim for web developers is to remove all presentation from the html code, leaving it clean and semantically correct. CODE http://www.maxdesign.com.au/presentation/benefits/index07.htm

3. Accessibility for users

3.1 Are "alt" attributes used for all descriptive images?
Provide a text equivalent for every non-text element

CODE http://www.w3.org/TR/WCAG10/wai-pageauth.html#tech-text-equivalent

3.2 Does the site use relative units rather than absolute units for text size?

Use relative rather than absolute units in markup language attribute values and style sheet property values'.

CODE http://www.w3.org/TR/WCAG10/wai-pageauth.html#tech-relative-units More: CODE http://www.w3.org/TR/WCAG10/wai-pageauth.html#tech-relative-units CODE http://www.clagnut.com/blog/348/

3.3 Do any aspects of the layout break if font size is increased?

Try this simple test. Look at your website in a browser that supports easy incrementation of font size. Now increase your browser's font size. And again. And again... Look at your site. Does the page layout still hold together? It is dangerous for developers to assume that everyone browses using default font sizes.

3.4 Does the site use visible skip menus?

A method shall be provided that permits users to skip repetitive navigation links. CODE http://www.section508.gov/index.cfm?FuseAction=Content&ID=12 Group related links, identify the group (for user agents), and, until user agents do so, provide a way to bypass the group.

CODE http://www.w3.org/TR/WCAG10-TECHS/#tech-group-links

...blind visitors are not the only ones inconvenienced by too many links in a navigation area. Recall that a mobility-impaired person with poor adaptive technology might be stuck tabbing through that morass.

CODE http://joeclark.org/book/sashay/serialization/Chapter08.html#h4-2020 More: CODE http://www.niehs.nih.gov/websmith/508/o.htm

3.5 Does the site use accessible forms?

Forms aren't the easiest of things to use for people with disabilities. Navigating around a page with written content is one thing, hopping between form fields and inputting information is another.

CODE http://www.htmldog.com/guides/htmladvanced/forms/ More: CODE http://www.webstandards.org/learn/tutorials/accessible-forms/01-accessible-forms.html CODE http://www.accessify.com/tools-and-wizards/accessible-form-builder.asp CODE http://accessify.com/tutorials/better-accessible-forms.asp

3.6 Does the site use accessible tables?

For data tables, identify row and column headers... For data tables that have two or more logical levels of row or column headers, use markup to associate data cells and header cells.

CODE http://www.w3.org/TR/WCAG10/wai-pageauth.html#tech-table-headers More: CODE http://www.bcc.ctc.edu/webpublishing/ada/resources/tables.asp CODE http://www.accessify.com/tools-and-wizards/accessible-table-builder_step1.asp CODE http://www.webaim.org/techniques/tables/

3.7 Is there sufficient colour brightness/contrasts?

Ensure that foreground and background colour combinations provide sufficient contrast when viewed by someone having colour deficits.

CODE http://www.w3.org/TR/WCAG10/wai-pageauth.html#tech-colour-contrast More: CODE http://www.juicystudio.com/services
/colourcontrast.asp

3.8 Is colour alone used for critical information?

Ensure that all information conveyed with colour is also available without colour, for example from context or markup.

CODE http://www.w3.org/TR/WCAG10/wai-pageauth.html#tech-colour-convey There are basically three types of colour deficiency; Deuteranope (a form of red/green colour deficit), Protanope (another form of red/green colour deficit) and Tritanope (a blue/yellow deficitvery rare). More: CODE http://colourfilter.wickline.org/ CODE http://www.toledo-bend.com/colourblind/Ishihara.html CODE http://www.vischeck.com/vischeck/vischeckURL.php

3.9 Is there delayed responsiveness for dropdown menus?
Users with reduced motor skills may find dropdown menus hard to use if responsiveness is set too fast.
3.10 Are all links descriptive?
Link text should be meaningful enough to make sense when read out of context - either on its own or as part of a sequence of links. Link text should also be terse.

CODE http://www.w3.org/TR/WCAG10/wai-pageauth.html#tech-meaningful-links

4. Accessibility for devices.

4.1 Does the site work acceptably across modern and older browsers?

Before starting to build a CSS-based layout, you should decide which browsers to support and to what level you intend to support them.

CODE http://www.maxdesign.com.au/presentation/process/index_step01.cfm

4.2 Is the content accessible with CSS switched off or not supported?
Some people may visit your site with either a browser that does not support CSS or a browser with CSS switched off. In content is structured well, this will not be an issue.
4.3 Is the content accessible with images switched off or not supported?
Some people browse websites with images switched off - especially people on very slow connections. Content should still be accessible for these people.
4.4 Does the site work in text browsers such as Lynx?
This is like a combination of images and CSS switched off. A text-based browser will rely on well structured content to provide meaning.

More: CODE http://www.delorie.com/web/lynxview

4.5 Does the site work well when printed?
You can take any (X)HTML document and simply style it for print, without having to touch the markup.

CODE http://www.alistapart.com/articles/goingtoprint/ More: CODE http://www.d.umn.edu/itss/support/Training/Online/webdesign/css.html#print
4.6 Does the site work well in Hand Held devices?
This is a hard one to deal with until hand held devices consistently support their correct media type. However, some layouts work better in current hand-held devices. The importance of supporting hand held devices will depend on target audiences.
4.7 Does the site include detailed metadata?
Meta data is machine understandable information for the web

CODE http://www.w3.org/Metadata/

Meta data is structured information that is created specifically to describe another resource. In other words, meta data is 'data about data'.
4.8 Does the site work well in a range of browser window sizes?
It is a common assumption amongst developers that average screen sizes are increasing. Some developers assume that the average screen size is now 1024px wide. But what about users with smaller screens and users with hand held devices? Are they part of your target audience and are they being disadvantaged?

5. Basic Usability

5.1 Is there a clear visual hierarchy?
Organise and prioritise the contents of a page by using size, prominence and content relationships.

CODE http://www.great-web-design-tips.com/web-site-design/165.html

5.2 Are heading levels easy to distinguish?
Use header elements to convey document structure and use them according to specification.

CODE http://www.w3.org/TR/WCAG10/wai-pageauth.html#tech-logical-headings

5.3 Is the site's navigation easy to understand?
Your navigation system should give your visitor a clue as to what page of the site they are currently on and where they can go next.

CODE http://www.1stsitefree.com/design_nav.htm

5.4 Is the site's navigation consistent?
If each page on your site has a consistent style of presentation, visitors will find it easier to navigate between pages and find information

CODE http://www.juicystudio.com/tutorial/accessibility/navigation.asp

5.5 Does the site use consistent and appropriate language?
The use of clear and simple language promotes effective communication. Trying to come across as articulate can be as difficult to read as poorly written grammar, especially if the language used isn't the visitor's primary language.

CODE http://www.juicystudio.com/tutorial/accessibility/clear.asp

5.6 Does the site have a sitemap page and contact page? Are they easy to find?
Most site maps fail to convey multiple levels of the site's information architecture. In usability tests, users often overlook site maps or can't find them. Complexity is also a problem: a map should be a map, not a navigational challenge of its own.

CODE http://www.useit.com/alertbox/20020106.html

5.7 For large sites, is there a search tool?
While search tools are not needed on smaller sites, and some people will not ever use them, site specific search tools allow users a choice of navigation options.
5.8 Is there a link to the home page on every page in the site?
Some users like to go back to a site's home page after navigating to content within a site. The homepage becomes a base camp for these users, allowing them to regroup before exploring new content.
5.9 Are links underlined? To maximise the perceived affordance of clickability, colour and underline the link text. Users shouldn't have to guess or scrub the page to find out where they can click.

CODE http://www.useit.com/alertbox/20040510.html

5.10 Are visited links clearly defined?
Most important, knowing which pages they've already visited frees users from unintentionally revisiting the same pages over and over again.

CODE http://www.useit.com/alertbox/20040503.html

6. Site management
6.1 Does the site have a meaningful and helpful 404 error page that works from any depth in the site?
You've requested a page - either by typing a URL directly into the address bar or clicking on an outof- date link and you've found yourself in the middle of cyberspace nowhere. A user-friendly website will give you a helping hand while many others will simply do nothing, relying on the browser's built-in ability to explain what the problem is.

CODE http://www.alistapart.com/articles/perfect404/

6.2 Does the site use friendly URLs?
Most search engines (with a few exceptions - namely Google) will not index any pages that have a question mark or other character (like an ampersand or equals sign) in the URL... what good is a site if no one can find it?

CODE http://www.sitepoint.com/article/search-engine-friendly-urls

One of the worst elements of the web from a user interface standpoint is the URL. However, if they're short, logical, and self-correcting, URLs can be acceptably usable
CODE http://www.merges.net/theory/20010305.html More: CODE http://www.sitepoint.com/article/search-engine-friendly-urls CODE http://www.websitegoodies.com/article/32 CODE http://www.merges.net/theory/20010305.html

6.3 Does the site's URL work without "www"?
While this is not critical, and in some cases is not even possible, it is always good to give people the choice of both options. If a user types your domain name without the www and gets no site, this could disadvantage both the user and you.

6.4 Does the site have a favicon?
A Favicon is a multi-resolution image included on nearly all professionally developed sites. The Favicon allows the webmaster to further promote their site, and to create a more customized appearance within a visitor's browser.

CODE http://www.favicon.com/

Favicons are definitely not critical. However, if they are not present, they can cause 404 errors in your logs (site statistics). Browsers like IE will request them from the server when a site is bookmarked. If a favicon isn't available, a 404 error may be generated. Therefore, having a favicon could cut down on favicon specific 404 errors. The same is true of a 'robots.txt' file.

Accessing The Entire Internet On Your 3 Phone

If you have a phone thats with the provider 3 theres a simple trick to allow you to access the entire
internet on its browser without having to go through 3 services and only what they want to allow
you access to view.
Simply do the following.
Menu - 9 (for settings) - 5 (for access points) - Edit the 3 Services
Change the APN (down the bottom) from 3services to 3netaccess
Restart the phone
And you can now access the entire internet through your phones browser.
Remember you'll have to change it back if you want to access 3 services.
Changing it in the browser doesn't seem to work.
I have tried this on my U8110 and it worked perfectly
Things to note:
* Remember that you are charged for all downloads (.4c per kb on most plans) so if your cautious
about your phone bill id advise staying away from sites with loads of pictures.
* Also, some people have had trouble where they have accessed a site with too much
information on it and the phone has either froze or reset. The phone is not harmed by this but its
advisable you dont go to large sites on it for this or the above reason. If your phone freezes and
you cant turn it off simply take the battery out and put it back in.

Small truth for RealMedia

You may find this helpful if you donwload hundreds of short episodes in rm format like me and tired
of double-click to open next files.
Very easy. Use notepad to open a new file, type this inside:
file://link to file1
file://link to file2
(type as many as you want)
Close file. Rename it to FileName.rm
Then you`re done!!!!
Ex:
I put my playlist file here: C:\Movies\7VNR
And the movie files are in C:\Movies\7VNR\DragonBall
Then inside my playlist file I`ll have something like this:
file://DragonBall/db134.rm
file://DragonBall/db135.rm
file://DragonBall/db136.rm
file://DragonBall/db137.rm
file://DragonBall/db138.rm

CHAT & INSTANT MESSENGING

CHAT & INSTANT MESSENGING
Chat programs allow users on the Internet to communicate with each other by typing in real time.
They are sometimes included as a feature of a Web site, where users can log into the "chat room"
to exchange comments and information about the topics addressed on the site. Chat may take other, more wide-ranging forms.
For example, America Online is well known for sponsoring a number of topical chat rooms.
Internet Relay Chat (IRC) is a service through which participants can communicate to each other on hundreds of channels.
These channels are usually based on specific topics. While many topics are frivolous, substantive conversations are also taking place. To access IRC, you must use an IRC software program.
A variation of chat is the phenomenon of instant messenging. With instant messenging, a user on the Web can contact another user currently logged in and type a conversation. Most famous is America Online's Instant Messenger. ICQ, MSN and Yahoo are other commonly-used chat programs.
Other types of real-time communication are addressed in the tutorial Understanding the World Wide Web.

FAQ, RFC, FYI

FAQ, RFC, FYI
FAQ stands for Frequently Asked Questions. These are periodic postings to Usenet newsgroups that
contain a wealth of information related to the topic of the newsgroup. Many FAQs are quite
extensive. FAQs are available by subscribing to individual Usenet newsgroups. A Web-based
collection of FAQ resources has been collected by The Internet FAQ Consortium and is available at /http://www.faqs.org/.
RFC stands for Request for Comments. These are documents created by and distributed to the Internet community to help define the nuts and bolts of the Internet. They contain both technical specifications and general information.
FYI stands for For Your Information. These notes are a subset of RFCs and contain information of interest to new Internet users. Links to indexes of all three of these information resources are available on the University
Libraries Web site at /http://library.albany.edu/reference/faqs.html.

USENET NEWS

Usenet News is a global electronic bulletin board system in which millions of computer users
exchange information on a vast range of topics. The major difference between Usenet News and email
discussion groups is the fact that Usenet messages are stored on central computers, and users
must connect to these computers to read or download the messages posted to these groups. This is
distinct from e-mail distribution, in which messages arrive in the electronic mailboxes of each list
member.
Usenet itself is a set of machines that exchanges messages, or articles, from Usenet discussion
forums, called newsgroups. Usenet administrators control their own sites, and decide which (if any)
newsgroups to sponsor and which remote newsgroups to allow into the system.
There are thousands of Usenet newsgroups in existence. While many are academic in nature,
numerous newsgroups are organized around recreational topics. Much serious computer-related
work takes place in Usenet discussions. A small number of e-mail discussion groups also exist as
Usenet newsgroups.
The Usenet newsfeed can be read by a variety of newsreader software programs. For example, the
Netscape suite comes with a newsreader program called Messenger. Newsreaders are also
available as standalone products.

E-MAIL DISCUSSION GROUPS

One of the benefits of the Internet is the opportunity it offers to people worldwide to communicate via e-mail. The Internet is home to a large community of individuals who carry out active discussions organized around topic-oriented forums distributed by e-mail. These are administered by software programs.
Probably the most common program is the listservr.
A great variety of topics are covered by listservrs, many of them academic in nature. When you subscribe to a listservr, messages from other subscribers are automatically sent to your electronic mailbox. You subscribe to a listservr by sending an e-mail message to a computer program called a listserver. Listservers are located on computer networks throughout the world. This program
handles subscription information and distributes messages to and from subscribers. You must have a e-mail account to participate in a listservr discussion group. Visit Tile.net at /http://tile.net/ to see
an example of a site that offers a searchablecollection of e-mail discussion groups.
Majordomo and Listproc are two other programs that administer e-mail discussion groups. The commands for subscribing to and managing your list memberships are similar to those of listserv.

Whats is FTP

FTP
FTP stands for File Transfer Protocol. This is both a program and the method used to transfer files
between computers. Anonymous FTP is an option that allows users to transfer files from thousands of host computers on the Internet to their personal computer account.
FTP sites contain books, articles, software, games, images, sounds, multimedia, course work, data sets, and more.
If your computer is directly connected to the Internet via an Ethernet cable, you can use one of several PC software programs, such as WS_FTP for Windows, to conduct a file transfer.
FTP transfers can be performed on the World Wide Web without the need for special software. In this case, the Web browser will suffice. Whenever you download software from a Web site to your local machine, you are using FTP.
You can also retrieve FTP files via search engines such as Ftp Find, located at /http://www.ftpfind.com/. This option is easiest because you do not need to know
FTP program commands.

Whats is Telnet

Telnet is a program that allows you to log into computers on the Internet and use online databases,library catalogs, chat services, and more.
There are no graphics in Telnet sessions, just text. To Telnet to a computer, you must know its address. This can consist of words (locis.loc.gov) or numbers (140.147.254.3). Some services require you to connect to a specific port on the remote computer. In this case, type the port number after the Internet address. Example: telnet
nri.reston.va.us 185.
Telnet is available on the World Wide Web. Probably the most common Web-based resources available through Telnet have been library catalogs, though most catalogs have since migrated to the Web. A link to a Telnet resource may look like any other link, but it will launch a Telnet session to make the connection.
A Telnet program must be installed on your local computer and configured to your Web browser in order to work.
With the increasing popularity of the Web, Telnet has become less frequently used as a means of access to information on the Internet.

Email

Electronic mail, or e-mail, allows computer users locally and worldwide to exchange messages.
Each user of e-mail has a mailbox address to which messages are sent. Messages sent through email can arrive within a matter of seconds.
A powerful aspect of e-mail is the option to send electronic files to a person's e-mail address. Non-ASCII files, known as binary files, may be attached to e-mail messages. These files are referred to as MIME attachments. MIME stands for Multimedia Internet Mail Extension, and was developed to
help e-mail software handle a variety of file types. For example, a document created in Microsoft Word can be attached to an e-mail message and retrieved by the recipient with the appropriate email
program. Many e-mail programs, including Eudora, Netscape Messenger, and Microsoft Outlook, offer the ability to read files written in HTML, which is itself a MIME type.

What is WORLD WIDE WEB ( www)

The World Wide Web (abbreviated as the Web or WWW) is a system of Internet servers that
supports hypertext to access several Internet protocols on a single interface. Almost every protocol
type available on the Internet is accessible on the Web. This includes e-mail, FTP, Telnet, and
Usenet News. In addition to these, the World Wide Web has its own protocol: HyperText Transfer
Protocol, or HTTP. These protocols will be explained later in this document.
The World Wide Web provides a single interface for accessing all these protocols. This creates a
convenient and user-friendly environment. It is no longer necessary to be conversant in these
protocols within separate, command-level environments. The Web gathers together these protocols
into a single system. Because of this feature, and because of the Web's ability to work with
multimedia and advanced programming languages, the Web is the fastest-growing component of
the Internet.
The operation of the Web relies primarily on hypertext as its means of information retrieval.
HyperText is a document containing words that connect to other documents. These words are called
links and are selectable by the user. A single hypertext document can contain links to many
documents. In the context of the Web, words or graphics may serve as links to other documents,
images, video, and sound. Links may or may not follow a logical path, as each connection isprogrammed by the creator of the source document. Overall, the Web contains a complex virtual
web of connections among a vast number of documents, graphics, videos, and sounds.
Producing hypertext for the Web is accomplished by creating documents with a language called
HyperText Markup Language, or HTML. With HTML, tags are placed within the text to accomplish
document formatting, visual features such as font size, italics and bold, and the creation of
hypertext links. Graphics and multimedia may also be incorporated into an HTML document. HTML
is an evolving language, with new tags being added as each upgrade of the language is developed
and released. The World Wide Web Consortium (W3C), led by Web founder Tim Berners-Lee,
coordinates the efforts of standardizing HTML. The W3C now calls the language XHTML and
considers it to be an application of the XML language standard.
The World Wide Web consists of files, called pages or home pages, containing links to documents
and resources throughout the Internet.
The Web provides a vast array of experiences including multimedia presentations, real-time
collaboration, interactive pages, radio and television broadcasts, and the automatic "push" of
information to a client computer. Programming languages such as Java, JavaScript, Visual Basic,
Cold Fusion and XML are extending the capabilities of the Web. A growing amount of information
on the Web is served dynamically from content stored in databases. The Web is therefore not a
fixed entity, but one that is in a constant state of development and flux.
For more complete information about the World Wide Web, see Understanding The World Wide Web.

COMPONENTS OF THE INTERNET

WORLD WIDE WEB

E-MAIL

TELNET

FTP

E-MAIL DISCUSSION GROUPS

USENET NEWS

FAQ, RFC, FYI

CHAT & INSTANT MESSENGING

MUD/MUSH/MOO/MUCK/DUM/MUSE

A Basic Guide to the Internet

The Internet is a computer network made up of thousands of networks worldwide. No one knows
exactly how many computers are connected to the Internet. It is certain, however, that these
number in the millions.
No one is in charge of the Internet. There are organizations which develop technical aspects of this
network and set standards for creating applications on it, but no governing body is in control. The
Internet backbone, through which Internet traffic flows, is owned by private companies.
All computers on the Internet communicate with one another using the Transmission Control
Protocol/Internet Protocol suite, abbreviated to TCP/IP. Computers on the Internet use a client/server
architecture. This means that the remote server machine provides files and services to the user's
local client machine. Software can be installed on a client computer to take advantage of the latest
access technology.
An Internet user has access to a wide variety of services: electronic mail, file transfer, vast
information resources, interest group membership, interactive collaboration, multimedia displays,
real-time broadcasting, shopping opportunities, breaking news, and much more.
The Internet consists primarily of a variety of access protocols. Many of these protocols feature
programs that allow users to search for and retrieve material made available by the protocol.

8 People Can Use The Same Msn Dial Up Account

its easy really. want to have an entire family on dial-up with just one bill?
step one. purchase 20 dollar a month subscription to MSN unlimited access dial up. This will
include an MSN 9 cd which you will need. With the software installed, fill up your secondary
account slots with new users. Make sure you pick @msn if it gives you the choice, hotmail email
addresses will not work..
say the secondary account is johnsmith@msn.com type in the Dial up connection
USER : MSN/johnsmith
PASS: ******* (whatever)
connect to your local msn phone number and the other people you gave secondary accounts to will
be able to do the same, while you are connected. Its a sweet deal considering everyone is paying
about 2 bucks a month for internet access, especially if you cannot get broadband. if you wanted to
sell off the access to people you could actually make money doing this.. but i do not suggest it.
I used to be an msn tech and this was a little known secret even to most of the employees.
After you do this you do not need the software any more. I would suggest keeping it on to
micromanage everyone else's accounts. and for the simple fact that if they don't pitch in, cut them
off HEHEHE
i'm on broadband now so i dont care if i tell you my little secret. anyone else knew of this?

Ways To Speed WinXP

Way To Speed WinXP

Since defragging the disk won't do much to improve Windows XP performance, here are 23
suggestions that will. Each can enhance the performance and reliability of your customers' PCs.

Best of all, most of them will cost you nothing.

1.) To decrease a system's boot time and increase system performance, use the money you save by not buying defragmentation software -- the built-in Windows defragmenter works just fine -- and
instead equip the computer with an Ultra-133 or Serial ATA hard drive with 8-MB cache buffer.

2.) If a PC has less than 512 MB of RAM, add more memory. This is a relatively inexpensive and
easy upgrade that can dramatically improve system performance.

3.) Ensure that Windows XP is utilizing the NTFS file system. If you're not sure, here's how to check:
First, double-click the My Computer icon, right-click on the C: Drive, then select Properties. Next, examine the File System type; if it says FAT32, then back-up any important data. Next, click Start,
click Run, type CMD, and then click OK. At the prompt, type CONVERT C: /FS:NTFS and press the
Enter key. This process may take a while; it's important that the computer be uninterrupted and virus-free. The file system used by the bootable drive will be either FAT32 or NTFS. I highly recommend NTFS for its superior security, reliability, and efficiency with larger disk drives.

4.) Disable file indexing. The indexing service extracts information from documents and other files on the hard drive and creates a "searchable keyword index." As you can imagine, this process can be quite taxing on any system.
The idea is that the user can search for a word, phrase, or property inside a document, should they have hundreds or thousands of documents and not know the file name of the document they want.

Windows XP's built-in search functionality can still perform these kinds of searches without the Indexing service. It just takes longer. The OS has to open each file at the time of the request to help find what the user is looking for.
Most people never need this feature of search. Those who do are typically in a large corporate environment where thousands of documents are located on at least one server. But if you're a typical system builder, most of your clients are small and medium businesses. And if your clients have no need for this search feature, I recommend disabling it. Here's how: First, double-click the My Computer icon. Next, right-click on the C: Drive, then select Properties. Uncheck "Allow Indexing Service to index this disk for fast file searching." Next, apply changes to "C: subfolders and files," and click OK. If a warning or error message appears (such as
"Access is denied"), click the Ignore All button.

5.) Update the PC's video and motherboard chipset drivers. Also, update and configure the BIOS. For more information on how to configure your BIOS properly, see this article on my site.

6.) Empty the Windows Prefetch folder every three months or so. Windows XP can "prefetch" portions of data and applications that are used frequently. This makes processes appear to load
faster when called upon by the user. That's fine. But over time, the prefetch folder may become
overloaded with references to files and applications no longer in use. When that happens, Windows
XP is wasting time, and slowing system performance, by pre-loading them. Nothing critical is in this
folder, and the entire contents are safe to delete.

7.) Once a month, run a disk cleanup. Here's how: Double-click the My Computer icon. Then rightclick on the C: drive and select Properties. Click the Disk Cleanup button -- it's just to the right of the
Capacity pie graph -- and delete all temporary files.

8.) In your Device Manager, double-click on the IDE ATA/ATAPI Controllers device, and ensure that DMA is enabled for each drive you have connected to the Primary and Secondary controller. Do this by double-clicking on Primary IDE Channel. Then click the Advanced Settings tab. Ensure the
Transfer Mode is set to "DMA if available" for both Device 0 and Device 1. Then repeat this process with the Secondary IDE Channel.

9.) Upgrade the cabling. As hard-drive technology improves, the cabling requirements to achieve
these performance boosts have become more stringent. Be sure to use 80-wire Ultra-133 cables on all of your IDE devices with the connectors properly assigned to the matching Master/Slave/Motherboard sockets. A single device must be at the end of the cable; connecting a single drive to the middle connector on a ribbon cable will cause signaling problems. With Ultra DMA hard drives, these signaling problems will prevent the drive from performing at its maximum
potential. Also, because these cables inherently support "cable select," the location of each drive on the cable is important. For these reasons, the cable is designed so drive positioning is explicitly
clear.

10.) Remove all spyware from the computer. Use free programs such as AdAware by Lavasoft or SpyBot Search & Destroy. Once these programs are installed, be sure to check for and download
any updates before starting your search. Anything either program finds can be safely removed. Any
free software that requires spyware to run will no longer function once the spyware portion has
been removed; if your customer really wants the program even though it contains spyware, simply
reinstall it. For more information on removing Spyware visit this Web Pro News page.

11.) Remove any unnecessary programs and/or items from Windows Startup routine using the
MSCONFIG utility. Here's how: First, click Start, click Run, type MSCONFIG, and click OK. Click the
StartUp tab, then uncheck any items you don't want to start when Windows starts. Unsure what some items are? Visit the WinTasks Process Library. It contains known system processes, applications, as well as spyware references and explanations. Or quickly identify them by
searching for the filenames using Google or another Web search engine.

12.) Remove any unnecessary or unused programs from the Add/Remove Programs section of the
Control Panel.

13.) Turn off any and all unnecessary animations, and disable active desktop. In fact, for optimal
performance, turn off all animations. Windows XP offers many different settings in this area. Here's
how to do it: First click on the System icon in the Control Panel. Next, click on the Advanced tab.
Select the Settings button located under Performance. Feel free to play around with the options
offered here, as nothing you can change will alter the reliability of the computer -- only its
responsiveness.

14.) If your customer is an advanced user who is comfortable editing their registry, try some of the
performance registry tweaks offered at Tweak XP.

15.) Visit Microsoft's Windows update site regularly, and download all updates labeled Critical.
Download any optional updates at your discretion.

16.) Update the customer's anti-virus software on a weekly, even daily, basis. Make sure they have only one anti-virus software package installed. Mixing anti-virus software is a sure way to spell
disaster for performance and reliability.

17.) Make sure the customer has fewer than 500 type fonts installed on their computer. The more
fonts they have, the slower the system will become. While Windows XP handles fonts much more
efficiently than did the previous versions of Windows, too many fonts -- that is, anything over 500 -- will noticeably tax the system.

18.) Do not partition the hard drive. Windows XP's NTFS file system runs more efficiently on one large partition. The data is no safer on a separate partition, and a reformat is never necessary to reinstall an operating system. The same excuses people offer for using partitions apply to using a folder instead. For example, instead of putting all your data on the D: drive, put it in a folder called "D drive." You'll achieve the same organizational benefits that a separate partition offers, but without the degradation in system performance. Also, your free space won't be limited by the size
of the partition; instead, it will be limited by the size of the entire hard drive. This means you won't need to resize any partitions, ever. That task can be time-consuming and also can result in lost data.

19.) Check the system's RAM to ensure it is operating properly. I recommend using a free program called MemTest86. The download will make a bootable CD or diskette (your choice), which will run
10 extensive tests on the PC's memory automatically after you boot to the disk you created. Allow all tests to run until at least three passes of the 10 tests are completed. If the program encounters any errors, turn off and unplug the computer, remove a stick of memory (assuming you have more than one), and run the test again. Remember, bad memory cannot be repaired, but only replaced.

20.) If the PC has a CD or DVD recorder, check the drive manufacturer's Web site for updated firmware. In some cases you'll be able to upgrade the recorder to a faster speed. Best of all, it's
free.

21.) Disable unnecessary services. Windows XP loads a lot of services that your customer most likely does not need. To determine which services you can disable for your client, visit the Black
Viper site for Windows XP configurations.

22.) If you're sick of a single Windows Explorer window crashing and then taking the rest of your OS down with it, then follow this tip: open My Computer, click on Tools, then Folder Options. Now click on the View tab. Scroll down to "Launch folder windows in a separate process," and enable this option. You'll have to reboot your machine for this option to take effect.

23.) At least once a year, open the computer's cases and blow out all the dust and debris. While
you're in there, check that all the fans are turning properly. Also inspect the motherboard capacitors
for bulging or leaks. For more information on this leaking-capacitor phenomena, you can read numerous articles on my site.
Following any of these suggestions should result in noticeable improvements to the performance and reliability of your customers' computers. If you still want to defrag a disk, remember that the
main benefit will be to make your data more retrievable in the event of a crashed drive.

Google secrets

Extended Googling

Google offers several services that give you a head start in focusing your search. Google Groups
(http://groups.google.com)
indexes literally millions of messages from decades of discussion on Usenet. Google even helps
you with your shopping via two tools:

Froogle CODE
(http://froogle.google.com),
which indexes products from online stores, and Google

Catalogs CODE
(http://catalogs.google.com),
which features products from more 6,000 paper catalogs in a searchable index. And this only
scratches the surface. You can get a complete list of Google's tools and services at
www.google.com/options/index.html
You're probably used to using Google in your browser. But have you ever thought of using Google
outside your browser?

Google Alert
(www.googlealert.com)
monitors your search terms and e-mails you information about new additions to Google's Web
index. (Google Alert is not affiliated with Google; it uses Google's Web services API to perform its
searches.) If you're more interested in news stories than general Web content, check out the beta
version of Google News Alerts
(www.google.com/newsalerts).
This service (which is affiliated with Google) will monitor up to 50 news queries per e-mail address
and send you information about news stories that match your query. (Hint: Use the intitle: and
source: syntax elements with Google News to limit the number of alerts you get.)
Google on the telephone? Yup. This service is brought to you by the folks at Google Labs
(http://labs.google.com),
a place for experimental Google ideas and features (which may come and go, so what's there at
this writing might not be there when you decide to check it out). With Google Voice Search
(http://labs1.google.com/gvs.html),
you dial the Voice Search phone number, speak your keywords, and then click on the indicated link.
Every time you say a new search term, the results page will refresh with your new query (you must
have JavaScript enabled for this to work). Remember, this service is still in an experimental phase,
so don't expect 100 percent success.
In 2002, Google released the Google API (application programming interface), a way for
programmers to access Google's search engine results without violating the Google Terms of
Service. A lot of people have created useful (and occasionally not-so-useful but interesting)
applications not available from Google itself, such as Google Alert. For many applications, you'll
need an API key, which is available free from

CODE
www.google.com/apis
. See the figures for two more examples, and visit
www.pcmag.com/solutions
for more.
Thanks to its many different search properties, Google goes far beyond a regular search engine.
Give the tricks in this article a try. You'll be amazed at how many different ways Google can
improve your Internet searching.
Online Extra: More Google Tips
Here are a few more clever ways to tweak your Google searches.
Search Within a Timeframe
Daterange: (start dateûend date). You can restrict your searches to pages that were indexed within
a certain time period. Daterange: searches by when Google indexed a page, not when the page
itself was created. This operator can help you ensure that results will have fresh content (by using
recent dates), or you can use it to avoid a topic's current-news blizzard and concentrate only on
older results. Daterange: is actually more useful if you go elsewhere to take advantage of it,
because daterange: requires Julian dates, not standard Gregorian dates. You can find converters
on the Web (such as
CODE
http://aa.usno.navy.mil/data/docs/JulianDate.html
excl.gif No Active Links, Read the Rules - Edit by Ninja excl.gif
), but an easier way is to do a Google daterange: search by filling in a form at
www.researchbuzz.com/toolbox/goofresh.shtml or www.faganfinder.com/engines/google.shtml
. If one special syntax element is good, two must be better, right? Sometimes. Though some
operators can't be mixed (you can't use the link: operator with anything else) many can be, quickly
narrowing your results to a less overwhelming number.
More Google API Applications
Staggernation.com offers three tools based on the Google API. The Google API Web Search by Host
(GAWSH) lists the Web hosts of the results for a given query
(www.staggernation.com/gawsh/).
When you click on the triangle next to each host, you get a list of results for that host. The Google
API Relation Browsing Outliner (GARBO) is a little more complicated: You enter a URL and choose
whether you want pages that related to the URL or linked to the URL
(www.staggernation.com/garbo/).
Click on the triangle next to an URL to get a list of pages linked or related to that particular URL.
CapeMail is an e-mail search application that allows you to send an e-mail to google@capeclear.com with the text of your query in the subject line and get the first ten results for
that query back. Maybe it's not something you'd do every day, but if your cell phone does e-mail
and doesn't do Web browsing, this is a very handy address to know.