Welcome

I tried to convert this page to XHTML 1.0 Transitional but it seems that Blogger insists on using <br> instead of the required <br /> and I'm sure there are some other things that aren't quite up to spec. So it goes. Thanks to Eric Meyer, CSS Guru, I've fixed the problems that kept this page from validating. In recognition, I have happily added a new icon to the left menu.

In other news, I think I have uncovered a terrorist plot here in Philadelphia. Our cat Patti has been in the habit of finding my water glass and drinking from it. This is not such a strange habit (although a very annoying one!) for cats, as I can attest to, coming from a house with six cats. But, Patti always invariably tips my glass over, spilling it everywhere. After she has done so she never tries to drink any of it. I have seen similar behavior once before, at the home of Carole and Jerry, some of Erica's friends who live near Winston-Salem, North Carolina. They have a cat named Benny who viciously attacks glasses on their coffee table, not because he wants to drink from them, but because he wants to see them fall to the floor. I now believe that our cat Patti is a terrorist in training, and I think that perhaps there is a large cell based around Winston-Salem, her original home. Her repeated attacks on my water glasses have become more bold and more frequent as of late, and I'm beginning to become afraid every time she enters the room. This is obviously what the cat-terrorists want, for us to always be reaching for our water glasses and looking around suspiciously whenever we're enjoying some nice cold water from the Brita pitcher. I'm not sure how to deal with this. I like cats. I like our cat. But I won't be oppressed by this terrorist activity!

—Jack

Labels: css, Patti cat, Philly, terrorism, web design, Winston-Salem, xhtml

This site is growing by leaps and bounds these days... After finding my way to the New York Public Library's online style guide I decided to change the site to xhtml. I haven't done that yet. But, I have updated my copy of Dreamweaver 3 to write valid xhtml, an important first step. You can find instructions on how to do this at blog of francois. The instructions work for both Dreamweaver 3 and 4, but the zipfile he provides is Dreamweaver 4 specific. So, I have packaged up my modifications into a zip file that you can download here. Be sure to go to his site and read through the instructions before blindly installing these patches. For an explanation of the idea behind these patches, check out A List Apart's article on modifying Dreamweaver.

—Jack

Labels: css, web design, xhtml

I've run this page through the W3C's HTML validator and fixed a few things. It now checks out :) This step was taken in no small part due to my fiancee's mother, who wanted to know why the countdown on our wedding page would sometimes say that we were married (incorrectly, I assure you!). She is an AP Computer Science teacher and she was visiting another professor and they tried to fix it. In the process they took my code to task, pointing out to my shame that there were several places where my HTML and CSS were lacking. With their guidance, the help of the validator, and A List Apart, I've managed to get this page and the other one corrected. I'll be revising the rest of the site later this week as I wait with bated breath for employers to call. Incidentially, the CSS on this page doesn't validate, but that is due to a few hacks that the people who designed it implemented. If everyone used an up-to-date standards compliant browser it wouldn't be a problem. Until then...

—Jack

Labels: css, family, web design, wedding

Welcome to my new homepage. This one was created with the help of BlueRobot's Layout Reservoir. The photography pages still need to be overhauled, but I'll work on that next week.

We've nearly settled in here in Philly, with only a few amenities lacking, such as the dining room chairs that we haven't gotten around to staining and putting together. We're going to be taking care of those on the 4th of July weekend. This weekend we're going down to Baltimore to help my sister move to a new apartment. Apparently it's just down the street from where she lives now, so they're not renting trucks or anything, just making a nice long ant line from one apartment to the other. They're putting us up for the night and taking us out to see her boyfriend's band, so that should be cool :)

Erica has gotten a job at Borders, as you may know if you've been reading her updates. I've gotten the cold shoulder from most companies up here, but I'm plugging along, working on better web authoring techniques since it's been about two years since I seriously pursed it and things have changed. Most companies, even the temp agencies, are looking for 3-5 years previous experience in the IT sector. A guy at one agency told me that about four thousand workers have been let go in the last year or so, and so I guess they are able to fill their ranks with the semi to uber experienced. One lady had the gall to tell me to call back in 3-5 years. I wanted to tell her I'd be working by then and wouldn't need her help, but I guess with the way things have gone recently that's not guaranteed either. So it goes...

In the meantime if you know of anyone who needs a little web help I'm open for some contract work. My skill level isn't quite where I'd like it to be, but that will be reflected in the cost of the work. Besides, if I can get a few things in my portfolio I can show those to the folks who want 3-5 years and see if I can get any of them to actually pay attention to me.

—Jack

Labels: 1st post, Baltimore, employment, family, home improvement, job hunting, Philly, retail, web design