Html Explained Part 1

Writen by Dina Giolitto

Want to save money while promoting your web-based business? Of course you do. Here's some advice on the matter, from a freelance copywriter who knows: it pays to learn the basics of HTML.

If you're like me (stubborn), you've probably been dodging HTML for many years. All that code mushed together... it's distressing to look at! But here's the thing: HTML is your friend. He might be ugly, but he's a good guy to have on your side.

Once you get a basic understanding of how HTML works, the gibberish starts to make sense. And that's when you'll realize how easy it is to create web pages for your own business without having to 1. pay a designer thousands of dollars, or 2. purchase one of those expensive web design programs.

Let's start with a general explanation. HTML stands for Hyper Text Markup Language. It's the basis for every single design element you see on a web page: layout, copy, image placement, links, music, animation, etc. People who design their sites using fancy web page creators with buttons and copy/paste features are merely controlling the HTML code via the program's graphic overlay. Underneath it all, the code's still there in its pure form. You can see it if you go to a webpage and then click View>Source from the top menu.

Easy Web Page Creation

You can create a professional-looking web page using HTML and the bare minimum of tools: a text program (such as Notepad) to write and save files in, a Web browser to view the files, and a photo-editing program such as Photoshop.

Ever visit a webpage and then click View>Source so you can stare at the "guts" and try to make sense of it? The text program that opens that page is the same one you'll use to create your own web page from scratch. Keep in mind, a text program is NOT the same as a word-processing program, such as Microsoft Word. If you use Word, you may accidentally save your file as a .DOC, and in doing so, create all kinds of coding problems that make your page look crazy. NEVER create web pages in Word!

Here are three salient points about writing HTML code.

1. Your text editing program does not recognize paragraph returns when you type them with the Enter key. You will separate your text manually, using HTML tags such as < P > and < BR >.

2. HTML code does not differentiate between capitals and lowercase. Your tags can be typed either way and they'll still work no matter what.

3. HTML doesn't recognize Smart Quotes- those curly quote marks that Word and other word processing programs like to convert your straight quotes (or inch marks) into when you least expect it. HTML also doesn't recognize "curly" apostrophes (as opposed to straight ones, or footmarks). If you use these in your web documents, the computer will interpret them as code and fill your web page with gibberish. So DON'T USE SMART QUOTES OR CURVED APOSTROPHES!

Creating a Text Document: the Basis for Your Web Page

Start a new file in your text program such as Notepad, then save it with the .html extension. For example, you might name your file, "myfirstwebpage.html". Later, after you've entered your code into the text program, view the page as it will appear on the web by using a web browser such as Explorer or Netscape. Click File>Open, and then enter the name of your file. Viola! There's the web page that YOU created! The great thing about this feature is that you can keep on saving your text file and refreshing the browser page to track your progress.

Keep in mind that the pages you create and save as .html files won't be available for viewing on the internet until you publish them. This is done by purchasing a web hosting package through one of the major web hosting companies; for example, GoDaddy.com. You're required to "rent a space" for each web domain you own. But that's a topic for another article entirely.

Now that you know how easy it is to create your own web page, it's time to uncover the "secret" to HTML! HTML is logic-based; and for those of us who love a good logic puzzle, this is truly a beautiful thing. If you're ready for some HTML web design revelations, read HTML Explained: Part 2!

Copyright 2005 Dina Giolitto. All rights reserved.

Liked this article? Have more of the same emailed to your inbox each month. Sign up for the Copywriting and Marketing Ezine from Dina at Wordfeeder.com and learn to write search engine friendly web copy and market your web based business for free.

Strategies To Maximize The Life Of Your Mac Hard Drive

Writen by Alex Bezborodov

Although Macs are often deemed the most user-friendly computers, many Mac users do not know much about computer maintenance. This is because Mac OS cleverly hides all the cumbersome applications it runs to keep the system secure and healthy. Unfortunately, while this maintains Apple's signature look and feel, it also takes away the user's ability to easily monitor and maintain the health of their computer. Below, I recommend several procedures that can be performed by most Mac users without much difficulty, which will help safeguard your computer from data loss.

Be SMART, Monitor your hard drives

SMART stands for Self-Monitoring Analysis and Reporting Technology and allows you to run diagnostics on your hard drive to determine if a failure is imminent. In order to run the tool, launch Disk Utility (Applications: Utilities) and click on the top level indicator for your drive in the left-hand column. In the bottom of the window, you should see something like "SMART Status: Verified". If you do not see "SMART status" at all, your Mac does not support the technology. If you see "SMART status" but do not see "Verified", your drive may be at risk of imminent failure. In this case, your best bet is to backup your data and replace the drive. This simple, but often overlooked procedure may save you from losing your data. One other thing worth noting is that although there is a myriad of 3rd party applications that can run these diagnostics automatically, be advised that using such utilities in the event of a hardware failure can cause extensive damage to the drive.

Clean up files

This is pretty self-explanatory and is applicable to all computer users – take some time to organize your files on a regular basis. Clean up any downloads or files from your desktop and place the files into appropriate folders. This will not only save time, but will also protect you from losing files due to bad sectors.

UNIX Maintenance Scripts

Mac OS uses automatic maintenance routines called maintenance scripts to clean up system log files and other temporary files. The three scripts are designed to run daily, weekly and monthly. The problem is that these scripts are set by default to run late at night when most Macs are either off or sleeping. If the computer is off or in sleep mode during this time, the scripts will not run and the log files will grow in size, clogging up the startup disk and slowing down performance. The good news is there are a number of 3rd party programs that exist that allow the user to set different times at which to run the scripts, including MacJanitor (v.1.3 or later for Tiger) and Anacron among others.
I will be reviewing these titles and many others in the weeks to come so stay tuned. In the meantime, visit our website to learn more about Mac maintenance, data recovery tips, and other useful stuff.

Alex Bezborodov is the technical writer for Accurate Data Recovery, specializing in data recovery for end users, academia and small businesses. Check out the ADR Resource Center for more useful information.
Let ADR bring your data back to life!

Finding The Right Performance Optimizer

Writen by Kevin-James Vella

So, you've decided to fine-tune your PC by using a performance optimizer, but there are hundreds of products available on the market and to find a solution that fits your need can be daunting. In this article, I will explain what performance optimizers are and how they work while suggesting what you should look for when choosing such a utility.

What is a Performance Optimizer? Performance optimizers are software utilities that allow you to ensure your PC is automatically optimized and its performance maximized. These tools should also allow you to keep your PC running at peak performance. When too many of your resources are being occupied unnecessarily or beyond certain levels that you have established, the software should warn you to take immediate action. Performance optimizers should automatically fine-tune all your resources: hardware (CPU and memory) and your system settings. This will help you enjoy a faster, cleaner and more stable environment that will greatly minimize slowdowns and crashes.

Performance optimizers automatically dig into your hardware and free up valuable resources, remove system hogs that slow your computer down or cause it to crash. By looking at how your CPU is processing the information for all the tasks or processes at hand, these utilities determine the best configuration so that you can make the most of your computer. These tools also look at whether the tasks at hand are accounted for by legitimate programs.

For example, some performance optimizers are able to recognize that the CPU is handling a process that is spyware and should enable you to automatically scan your system and remove such threats. When optimizing memory, performance optimizers look at how your computer is using RAM and how Windows is creating and operating page file (or virtual) memory. By optimizing RAM memory, these tools help your computer avoid creating virtual memory. Moreover, they can also minimize the size of your virtual memory file.

Many performance optimizers, like SpeedUpMyPC, also have warning messages so that if your memory usage reaches a critical level, you could take remedial action. In some cases, these nifty utilities allow you to assign more CPU resources to any particular application that you are running, e.g. a game or a DVD. Performance optimizers use similar logic when optimizing your system settings - for example, they look at orphaned start-up programs bidding you to remove them. They also look for residuals of uninstalled or incorrectly removed programs to make your PC cleaner, safer, and, ultimately, more stable.

What should you look out for when choosing a performance optimizer? Ideally, the product will be robust and make efficiency gains in the way your CPU handles Windows and all your programs. You must also be able to monitor CPU, memory and hard drive usage to identify possible future bottlenecks and avoid annoying delays and crashes. The software must also optimize your RAM and page file memory while warning you should you be running out of resources. You should have an automatic way of making the most of your computer while minimizing the time it takes to boot. Registry files are also a source of slow-downs and crashes - you will have a faster PC by compacting your registry. Finally, the software must ensure that any harmful or unnecessary background processes such as spyware, adware, key-loggers and viruses do not slowdown your PC and jam its inner workings.

Many products on the market focus on a single aspect of your PC such as optimizing registry files or recovering memory. Although these are important functions and will enhance your computing experience, you will end up buying performance optimizers and using them in conjunction with the other products. My advice, at this stage, is to find a product that does most of the functions and then deepening your investment according to the problem you might have. Only when you feel that you cannot push your PC further should you consider upgrading hardware.

With all this background information, you do not need to google "speeding up my pc" or "performance optimizers". I usually do three things when buying utilities: (a) find out how they work and what they are supposed to do; (b) see what my preferred tech forum newsletters have to say about them and their recommendations; and, finally (c) read the reviews on the recommended products.

Luckily, this system has worked wonders for me and I have rarely thrown away good money on the software I have in my library.

Kevin James Vella is the Public Relations Manager of Uniblue Systems Ltd (http://www.uniblue.com), a global software developer. Kevin's passion for writing and ICT has seen him publishing several articles on personal technology, electronic commerce and online marketing.