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How this site was built —
In 2003 I redesigned my site to use the latest CSS and image compression techniques at my disposal. I used HTML-Kit,
a free, share-ware product with impressive functionality, as my primary editor. While HK does not offer a what-you-see-is-what-you-get editing interface, WYSIWYG editors generally
produce bloated, convoluted code that is a misery to maintain. For the hand-coder, HK is an impressive product that is a pleasure to use. For image compression I used
Web Image Guru, a Photoshop-compatible plug-in that works in Ulead or Corel. Using these tools
resulted in dramatically reduced file sizes and consequent shorter download times.
Since the last complete update of the site, mentioned above, I have migrated to the Linux operating system. I have found it simpler to install, configure and maintain than Windows XP. Additionally, most of the applications I run are freely available from Open Source repositories.
The distributions of Linux that I have employed are Xandros and Mepis. Of the two, Xandros is more Windows-like and makes for an easy transition. Mepis is a bit more cutting-edge, and particularly appropriate to multimedia applications. Both are based on the Debian Project's Linux distribution and are therefore remarkably simple to download and install software on. They are far easier to maintain than any version of Windows yet produced. Each includes security features like anti-virus and firewall, "out-of-the-box".
For a web page editor I prefer Quanta Plus, part of the KDE family of software products. For those wanting a more WYSIWYG type of tool, Nvu offers a good alternative. For photo editing, the GIMP (Gnu Image Manipulation Program) is unsurpassed for Web applications. The GIMP consistently produces the most compact, yet high-quality images of any tool I have used. Other useful tools include Open Office, an office productivity suite including word processing, spreadsheet, presentation creator, and database. Open Office is highly compatible with MS Office. Additionally, many Windows software packages can be run directly under Linux using Crossover Office. Examples include MS Office, Adobe Photoshop, Internet Explorer and a raft of other software titles.
The only thing I found took a little getting used to is Linux's file permissions scheme. It should be noted that the time taken in adapting to this feature is well worthwhile, because it is one of the many things that makes Linux safer and more secure than other desktop operating systems.
The site's backgrounds are optimized to a 1024 x 768 resolution, but composition is created with consideration for 800 x 600. All backgrounds feature local subjects.
Since the last complete update of the site, mentioned above, I have migrated to the Linux operating system. I have found it simpler to install, configure and maintain than Windows XP. Additionally, most of the applications I run are freely available from Open Source repositories.
The distributions of Linux that I have employed are Xandros and Mepis. Of the two, Xandros is more Windows-like and makes for an easy transition. Mepis is a bit more cutting-edge, and particularly appropriate to multimedia applications. Both are based on the Debian Project's Linux distribution and are therefore remarkably simple to download and install software on. They are far easier to maintain than any version of Windows yet produced. Each includes security features like anti-virus and firewall, "out-of-the-box".
For a web page editor I prefer Quanta Plus, part of the KDE family of software products. For those wanting a more WYSIWYG type of tool, Nvu offers a good alternative. For photo editing, the GIMP (Gnu Image Manipulation Program) is unsurpassed for Web applications. The GIMP consistently produces the most compact, yet high-quality images of any tool I have used. Other useful tools include Open Office, an office productivity suite including word processing, spreadsheet, presentation creator, and database. Open Office is highly compatible with MS Office. Additionally, many Windows software packages can be run directly under Linux using Crossover Office. Examples include MS Office, Adobe Photoshop, Internet Explorer and a raft of other software titles.
The only thing I found took a little getting used to is Linux's file permissions scheme. It should be noted that the time taken in adapting to this feature is well worthwhile, because it is one of the many things that makes Linux safer and more secure than other desktop operating systems.
The site's backgrounds are optimized to a 1024 x 768 resolution, but composition is created with consideration for 800 x 600. All backgrounds feature local subjects.
