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Page Design and HTML Coding
Compatibility and authorship of displays.
Sharing, practicality and freedom.
I give credit where credit is due, and possible.
I always Make an effort to cite my human sources, with links to original websites whenever possible.
The Internet was originally designed for the free dissemination of information within the USA military establishment. The participants had to have similar computer systems and software, be connected, have file transfer capabilities, and, know of each other's Universal Resource Locator (URL) electronic address. With those elements, researchers and administrators could choose to exchange information on whatever subject they wished to increase their awareness of, or, consider concepts about.
Within a short time, It became impossible to restrain the use of the internet to a select and privileged group and it spread throughout the university, laboratory, and military personnel, through the business and political community, and, then to the general public. The military and commercial establishments have been keen to discard this historical reality and replace it with an intellectual ideal and new age orientation or myth which asserts that the Internet is, has always been, and should always be Free. Turn on the "Ask me what to do" option for cookies, in your browser app, and you will find an indication of a fraction of the numbers of people and organizations who are making an effort to track your every move.
A key motivation for the origin of Earthtym.net was to make freely available information on a revolutionary and highly effective health enhancement therapy. In addition, it was desired to provide relevant feedback and resource review such that others could avoid loss of time and finances through ignorance or lack of discernment and reach effective and efficient solutions earlier.
Earthtym.net and the "Foundation 4 Health Package" page display design has centered around the use of compatible HTML (Hypertext Markup Language) coding. This has NOT been an easy endeavor due to the constant changes and inconsistencies involved. The pages are all now coded to display with similarity on Netscape 3.0, Netscape 6.2, Firefox 3, and Microsoft Internet Explorer 5 or higher version, in HTML 4.0. A few browsers which lack more than archaic code translation, have a very limited code translation, or, have an idiosyncratic (have added their own special non W3 codes) style, may not display these pages well.
Netscape was the first widely used browser which afforded codes for sizing images and extensively formatting text. This enabled the placement of tailor-sized images within formerly text-only documents, and, the use of backgrounds and choices of fonts, font colors, and sounds. Microsoft later reverse-engineered Netscape Navigator to develop its Microsoft Internet Explorer version. While the World Wide Web Consortium in Switzerland sought to maintain a consistent set of coding conventions and compatibility, two developments have continually frustrated this end.
Many browsers entered the market, each attempting to address specific complaints or requests of users through the inclusion of their own idiosyncratic code tags, subroutines (plugins), and a range of operating preference. Increasingly, display features that were applicable for one browser would not be recognized by another. Instead of delivering information to the masses in a consistent format there were times when access was restricted according to patience, tolerance, hardware/device size and complexity, the number of included or downloaded "plugins or apps, and, operating system sophistication.
A few EXAMPLES of difficulties and how they were addressed by this author are as follows:
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Use of Tables:
Learning HTML coding in 1996 was largely restricted to examining and duplicating the code found on other Internet pages. This was done with the SOURCE view, or, by looking at the coding in a text editor. A number of tutorials were placed on the Internet by universities, search engine providers, Internet Service Providers (ISPs), large companies, and enthusiastic individuals. Regardless of the size and reputation of the source, coded examples were often poorly and incorrectly done, and, displayed poorly. Using their examples as templates resulted in a spreading of the errors, until, better examples were found, and recognized and understood. This required a good amount of experimentation and at least two recodings of the original pages.
The quality of the table coding in the webpages improved over many years.
Older pages lacked some of the benefits of later experience and awareness. It was discovered that the display of some pages in Netscape 3.0 allowed for a bleed through of the background color unless the text and images were presented on a base of 3 tables with a homogeneous and usually white background. During late 2003 and early 2004 all of the earthtym.net webpages were again reviewed and changes were often required to upgrade them to a consistent quality, and, HTML 4.0.
Maximum Table width coding WAS eventually pegged at 600 - 620 pixels between 1996 and 2010.
This provided a setup that was adequate for 12 inch monitors and provided a page-like display that was not distracting nor challenging on larger displays. For many people, reading a page that is too wide encourages eye tiredness and frustration and slows the reading speed and increases the reading time. Where graphics, button images, and icons are used on pages to accentuate link locations and break up white space and text, their placement on unrestricted page widths has a tendency to move about and lose the balanced format of the original design. This table width, at 600 pixels, also approximates, in many cases, how the page will look if printed out onto an 8-1/2 x 11 inch sheet of paper.
NEW, in early 2010, for earthtym.net, page widths were modified to 90% widths, and then to 90%.
This was in response to the popularization of displays which were more often of the 15" or 17" size with pixel widths which varied across a range often exceeding a 50% increase on the earlier 600 pixel width. Throughout the 1990's and up to 2002, the more popular display widths were 600 pixels, especially in developing economies, libraries and lower income homes. From data on page, p-resize-view.htm, it is apparent that pixel width display sizes are now predominantly in the 1200 pixel width range. In addition, there are a wide variation of, and not a parallel association of, both physical display sizes and pixel width displays. Further, visitors to websites now read them on cell phones, tablets, and other devices, some of which have a default display of 1200 pixels. In designing for this audience, the page widths have been modified to a 90% page width.
This 2010 recoding revision will provide a narrowly framed page on most displays.
The display which will suffer the most will be the old displays with 600 pixel widths, which will actually be presented with a smaller dimension of page than they formerly provided. ALL other displays, including those on cellphones, will benefit from the decreased page margins and the larger page view. In a field in which there are both no adhered to standards nor any accepted norms and conventions, there are no optimum limits.
Regardless of which coding convention is adopted, everyone receives a less than optimum result, though all are spared severe diminished value. Technically, website scripts can analyze the settings of visitors, modify webpage sizes and content, and provide a more personalized result. This is provided at great cost, both of added storage space, computing power, financial cost, and technical bloat ... demanding profuse advertising revenues for coverage of costs, which YOU the participant to THIS site, see little or not at all.
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Use of Frames:
The ability to place several "windows" on a single display enabled different forms of information to be displayed on different topics simultaneously. Like other sophistications in coding, the elementary use of frames provided little acknowledgement of the fact that many people still used a 12" display. Cumbersome sizing of frames more suited to a 17" monitor left everything crowded or missing on the smaller displays. The inability to scroll the information within some frames and the inability to change the relative size and placement of frames frustrated the intended personalized nature of the use of the Internet. Consistently over the years, studies of Internet User preferences have indicated a hatred of sites using frames by as many as 50% of Internet visitors. I have not used frames to maintain simplicity, adequacy for all display sizes, and respect for the audience.
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Inadequate HTML tag understanding:
Most Internet tag codes are used in pairs --- to turn ON a feature, such as a font size, color, link and, to turn it off, or signal an endpoint, to the computer, for that format feature. Yet there are also numerous codes which are only used to indicate a change in structure and not in format. The code "P" was originally used to indicate the END of a paragraph. Paired codes ended with a CLOSE code which used the Open code with a "\" character at the left. Redundant code use has permeated most automatic coding programs, regardless of their cost, popularity, or size of originating company.
The use of a "\P" code by many to indicate the end of a paragraph, is one example. It has become accepted practice to use the regular "P" code now to indicate the OPENING of a paragraph. Similar redundancies have arisen with list line designators. Routine has replaced accuracy. This practice eliminated the use of coding programs for earthtym.net, and necessitated time consuming personal editing for quality.
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Selective use of colors was indicated before 2000 when it was noted that the same page could be displayed with great differences in color shade on computers with different browsers and different sizes and qualities of monitor. Some displays may be capable of an accurate presentation of millions of different shades of color. The monitors used by a large part of the computing population outside of North America may be restricted to a 256 color display capability. With the introduction of Web-TV in the later 1990's, specific color codes were NOT acceptable such as that of bright RED.
In some cases, an attractive coloration on one computer could become a putrid display on another. This was resolved by creating a COLORS chart in which consistent color rendering codes were defined. As some shades are too close for many people to differentiate between, an even smaller color base was settled on. Coding with these considerations restrains the artistic innovativeness and creativity of the page developer. Most of the webpages had to be recoded at some point to simplify and minimize the use of font and background color selection.
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Bolding of text:
Early on the "B" tag was used to turn on text bolding.
After a few years, this was upgraded to the use of the "STRONG" tag.
A few more years and the major browsers decided on using the "B" tag.
Each time, all of the webpages then on Earthtym, were recoded.
Most pages have ALL of the text bolded as not doing so has often resulted in the pages appearing too washed out of light as to be difficult to read. This was further aggravated by a choice of certain text fonts and features by the viewer. If you find the text displayed to be too bold or dark, you may darken the display slightly, or, choose another font which displays more to your liking.
Consistency of text display across different browsers and different sizes and qualities of monitors came to increasingly present a problem. If ALL the text was not bolded on some browsers, it appeared washed out and difficult to read. On others, all BOLD text was almost overwhelming yet the only way to provide cross-system compatibility. Font face selections also proved to provide anarchy of display unless specified as many systems have been set to preferences favored by the setup engineer or the more frequent user.
A specific font on one display may be cumbersome on another. The best overall fonts found were those of Arial, Helvetica, and Times New Roman. These were stipulated in this order of preference, on most pages. Others ARE personally favored yet not relevant to the content or consistent in display. All pages were reviewed and harmonized to this standard in late 2003 and early 2004.
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The use of Sound files:
In 1996 and 1997, sound was a creative and attention gaining element.
Sound files were added to a number of website pages.
Most microcomputers in use then, did NOT have more than basic sound rendering.
On a machine upgraded with a sound board, sounds were recognizable and pleasant.
On most business and institutional computers until past 2000, sound replay was bad.
For a uniformly pleasant viewing experience, many sound files were removed.
The sound files were removed or restricted to a minor presence.
As of 2003, many microcomputers now have a sound enhancement circuit board included as a standard device and the playing of .wav and .midi files is welcome. Numerous sound files were added during 2002, and a few more during 2003/4. All of the sound files have been listed with their origins on the CD-soundlist.htm and CD-soundlink.htm summary files included with the "Foundation 4 Health Package". In most instances, sound files coded into pages were presented such that they were only activated when and if the participating visitor chose to do so.
In early 2010, most MIDI files were removed and sound coding was modified when it was found that most Linux versions did not recognize MIDI files and that many "updated" audio player applications now frequently misinterpreted the previously acceptable coded instructions, and in some cases, did not recognize "embedded" instructions at all, or recognized them incorrectly.
In early summer, 2010, while testing browsers other than Firefox and MSIE, especially Opera, I found that the "embedded" code for sound files, in common and acceptable use since the mid-1990's, was now poorly interpreted or not at all.
In the Opera browser, sound files, with embedded coding, to play ONLY when a link was selected, now played automatically as the page loaded. Not only did they play, they often continued to play and replay continuously. On pages where 2 or more sound file options were provided, Opera played ALL of the files automatically, together, and, continuously.
Earlier, I had found Opera to be a poor interpreter of HTML. It reequired 3 times as much code per page to display the page as intended. This was largely because of a lack of discernment between format end codes. This was noted to them at the time, without response, or correction.
Opera was initially popularized because of its claim to fame, a feature that allowed the user to easily enlarge or dimminish images displayed on a webpage. The high growth pornography field, and its users were the primary beneficiaries. Later, increasing use of personal picture albums online and Youtube videos may also have contributed to a growing popularity. By mid-2010, Opera was a browser with enough of a following to justify a major effort in changing, yet again, the coding of sound file links, to be simple hyperlinks. These are now played by whichever "Helper" application is linked to for the file type in the Preferences of the browser in use.
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The graphics used on Earthtym.net were largely obtained from FILEX.com, a file search engine, between 1996 and 1999. It ceased operation around the year 2000. Images were searchable and listed there with no restraint or caution on downloading. It was often the searcher's experience to find that an image was listed as sourced on many differing sites. These often included multiple university servers as well as business, private, and association servers.
Image authorship was seldom available or provided.
Accordingly, origin was often impossible to determine as an image may already be displayed equally on dozens of different website pages when found by someone coding new pages. Server software could have been developed to prevent the saving of webpages and/or images yet such was not until 2001 or so. A greater orderliness and proactivity could have structured the image files, like many other kinds of computer files, to carry authorship and other design detail in a hidden "Properties" carrier, yet this was not done for a long time and is seldom used as of 2010.
The Internet is a Public Forum.
The use of graphics and other forms of information on the Internet has always carried with it the suggestion that anything posted on this "Public" forum became the ownership of the public and was freely available for copying and recirculation between the participants. Restricted use and ownership was usually understood to be the domain of Intranet business and military sites, membership admission restricted password sites, and URL's which were never listed by their owners with any search engines or promoted in any other way and carried robot exclusion coding.
Some graphics, directly or indirectly, came from WordPerfect background and image files for beginning with WordPerfect 7.0 there were tools and resources for creating HTML webpages.
Original image size has changed in consideration over the years.
The number of pixels per square inch determines the resolution of the image at its normal unaltered size. The larger the picture and the greater the resolution, the more information "bits" must be stored in a file. The more bits that must be loaded, the longer it will take to display according to the speed of the CPU in the computer, and, the speed of transmission of the internet signal being received. A fast computer in 1996 would have run at 66 MHz. In 2010, a fast microcomputer will runs at 2 gigahertz, thousands of times faster. A fast modem in 1996 would have been 1200 baud speed and ISP connection would mostly be by dial-up. In 2010, few people use modems slower than 100,000 baud speed and many now can choose high speed ISP connection. Anything larger than a 35k - 4 cm image loading in 1996 might look slow. In 2010, loading a 6 cm image of 3500K could seem instantaneous due to the CPU speed processing it.
Sources of images in 1996 often delivered 1 Megabyte digital files from photographs digitally scanned. Some browsers did not recognize HTML codes that resized original images for Internet display. An 18" logo drawn by an artist, photographed and transferred to a digital file by way of a scanner might be diminished in storage size by reducing the resolution drastically downward. Resized for display in Netscape by using pixel HEIGHT and WIDTH specifications might allow for its appearance as an 6 inch emblem on a "large" 12 inch display. In another then popular program, Mosaic, lacking the ability to interpret size coding, the image would totally distort and dominate the webpage with its original 18" dimensions. If its resolution had been reduced to reduce file size, it would now look grainy and of poor quality.
Sources of images since 2000, have increasingly been digital cameras. These can be set with resolutions that restrict file size suitable for Internet display. Such files would not reproduce good quality photographs so the author may elect to maintain two or more versions of their photos. Images and photos can now be quickly taken and processed and downloaded to a computer, programmed into a webpage and uploaded with the webpage to an Internet site within an hour. This process could have taken days in 1997 and resulted in inconsistency of display. Image manipulation software has become increasingly available and lower in cost since 1999.
For the sake of fast loading of multiple image pages, I have retained file sizes and resolutions for ease of loading and display on both recent and older computers. This means that Earthtym.net and the "Foundation 4 Health Package" files can be viewed comfortably even on inexpensive, used computers obtained for free or a charge of several hundred dollars.
Many images depicting respectful and healthy intimacy were selected and downloaded from a variety of sites at various stages over a number of years. Some of these reveal their origin. Many of the sites were withdrawn or have changed their URL addresses. Many of the images are duplicated on numerous sites of similar topic. Links to these images on instructional pages are to pages coded to provide the participant with a pleasant similarity of display size and resolution. Originally, the pages and images were resized, where beneficial, to fit a 600 pixel, 12 inch screen display, most common at that time. Common display sizes have more than doubled in size and pixel resolution, in the interim, and, ALL coding sizing of photo displays has been withdrawn in early 2013.
Many of the originating sites for the adult images were purposely NOT recorded and listed as the intent of providing a defined selection was to NOT encourage the participant to roam pornographic or erotic sites ... which usually provide significant selections of abusive images. All images depicting intimacy are in a protected area of the "Foundation 4 Health Package" and they can be permanently discarded, excluded from general access, or personally organized according to preference. NONE are pornographic by legal standards or disrespectful by religious norms.
Some image and sound files have been forwarded to me without authorship often after extensive circulation beforehand over the Internet. This includes a number of PowerPoint presentations and PDF format files. Like other files and information duplicated on the website or in the "Foundation 4 Health Package", links or URL address info are provided when available and the participating researcher is encouraged to obtain or review the source according to their degree of interest.
Other unrecognized image files will gladly be given added detail if the originator wishes to contact me, provide permission, and demonstrate some form of proof of authenticity.
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codes and animations
have been restricted to a few instances on the website. Like many early HTML tag introductions, they were originally overused to the point of irrelevancy, distraction and aggravation on many sites in the mid to later 1990s. These types of files and coding also vary in recycle frequency according to the computer CPU speed being used by the page visitor. SLOW on some computers can be FAST, and irrelevant, on others. They became highly disliked by many site visitors. Animations in that time frame, and still relevant for global use, can glut computer memory resources and slow display loading of pages.
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The bottom-of-page TRAILER has changed as the website and Package have evolved and more sections and tools have been added. The online Atomz search engine was added around 1999 and has provided considerable benefit for some visitors. Both this and the inclusion in the indexing of some major Internet search engines required an eventual massive addition of META coding for relevancy. The Pages-by-Topic link list was added near 2000 and has become a much needed site index. With many more pages added to the site in 2001 and 2003, the benefit of providing a more consistent trailer section to each page including a Pages-by-Topic link proved advisable. Most pages were recoded to afford this access in early 2004. With wider displays and higher resolutions, a second wide-screen version was added of the Pages-by-Topic link list.
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TEXT COMPOSITION for electronic presentation demands a greater consideration for the use of the medium and the qualities of the viewing participant than those used to provide very orderly and rationalized structures in printed text. The Earthtym.net website and the "Foundation 4 Health Package" are foremost for the use and enjoyment of proactive researchers seeking an information experience which is practical and pleasant. The culture in which this information is often being used affords the participant with a wide range of electronic media, including electronic games which encourage short attention span and impatience. This orientation builds on the frequent experience of the Internet user being charged according to length of time connected, or, transferring files to their browser.
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Paragraph length has been reduced to afford viewer comfort and does NOT follow grammatical formats taught in most educational institutions. Maintaining such "printed" standards for this electronic medium would lose most of the audience from the eye strain and the brain numbing of displays composed of unbroken expanses of text. My focus, has been on communicating not on adherence to norms transplanted by the status quo to a medium for which they were never intended.
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Introductory highlighting at the beginning of most paragraphs can aid the participant in focusing, retaining their attention, and, providing them with reference points for recall and return. Some pages received this structure of coding from their beginning. Most were updated and standardized to this format in early 2004.
On the Internet Links page you will find some references as well as on some specialized pages like the Lymph System page. Many introductory NOTES pages on technical matters are in the "Foundation 4 Health Package" and have links to their originating sources. In addition, informative articles on human sexuality are also found in the Adult section of the "Foundation 4 Health Package".
Numerous topics are given a good beginning or basis on Earthtym.net and you are encouraged to continue building your awareness by extending these through both online and offline resources as well as through personal and practical experience.
Seminar, instructional, profile, abstract, and article information files have been freely placed on the Internet by institutions, individuals, and companies since the beginning of the Internet. Their presence does not mean that the visitor can gain a certificate or sanctioned experience simply by means of their access. Much information, in this manner, is shared with the visitor on Earthtym.net yet very much more is available in the "Foundation 4 Health Package".
Security issues have been simplified and steps taken for the benefit of the Earthtym.net visitor and the purchaser of the "Foundation 4 Health Package". JAVA and Javascript was not added to any of the pages until 2008. What was present with articles reprinted from other addresses was removed. This means there are no cookie, Trojan, pop-up, or worm subfiles present to frustrate and aggravate your life. Javascript is not all equally well written and does not run error-free on all versions of all operating systems. Much HAS been included in the "Foundation 4 Health Package" in the form of freeware, shareware, and supporting notes to make your use of the Internet safer and more productive.
Early in 2008, I found that a small piece of Javascript had been added to every page on the website, AFTER, they had been uploaded, and after I had changed my website hosting company. Considerable effort was spent trying to determine the origin, intent, or function of this code. I found that the same code had been added to many pages on other sites, particularly, forum and bulletin boards, as well as others. As there was none in the original documents, I could remove the presence of this rogue code by simply re-uploading ALL of the files. I would then have to check periodically to see if the rogue code had been added back.
A Javascript, that would only be activated if someone right-clicked on a webpage, such as if they were going to copy part or all of the page, was added to most pages during the Spring of 2008. This provided authorization to the visitor to share the website information, with the request that such information not be changed in context and that it be supplied with the URL of the originating page. These codes were being misread by some browsers by 2012 or before, and viewers were being cautioned about background activated code. The browser programming was very poor, as it was warning of the presence of Javascript, which had NOT been activated, and which collected NO information about any Internet user.
Personal health influences and my Basic Personality have contributed to website and the development of the "Foundation 4 Health Package" focusing more on quality of CONTENT than on quality and consistency of design through the 1996-2003 duration. Recurrent periods of health distress, often with a suggested terminal outcome, have necessitated this choice of narrow focus. Usual practical considerations like income and housing demand their due in a commerce biased society. Those of you who have followed the Earthtym.net, and previous /~empower site, may have been frustrated by the poor display of some pages previously. If so, I have not heard from you, and did my best with what I had.
A great frustration has been the 3 reoccurrences of mercury amalgam toxicity through this period which had their own impact on my level of health and technical awareness. That was followed by 4 years of coping with, researching, gaining an understanding of the multiple forms of CFS-ME, and assisting myself and my wife recover from different forms of that multiple chronic illness syndrome-package.
With the benefit of Spiritual Guidance, I have been able to make relevant decisions.
The provision and development of balancing sessions and the research in evidence on these pages has been possible, together with the provision of descriptions, definition of, or recovery options for multiple illnesses, by the Grace of God and my hour-by-hour choice of aspirant and disciple.
Spiritual Guidance has always been a strong influence in my finding the changes that have been made and deciding which of many alternatives would be best, not only for me, but for the audience. The timing of massive re-coding changes has often been more one of the degree of my health, the trends on the Internet, the demonstrated preferences of the audience, the proximity to a publication date, and the resources available. It is sometimes very humbling to note the extent of changes required during a later recoding and the lack of awareness that has existed earlier. Your patience and my persistence has brought you an increasingly improved resource both in content and in presentation.
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