Ask The Computer Tech A Question

pokeplayer984 · **Reply #60 on:** September 14, 2010, 01:43:46 AM

Okay, here's one. Take a look at what happened when I got onto YouTube earlier.

Now, I've seen this sort of thing happen with other websites and I just have to ask, WHY does this happen exactly? Usually I just have to do a reload to fix it, but why exactly does this happen sometimes?

landbeforetimelover · **Reply #61 on:** September 14, 2010, 10:12:12 AM

First of all, get rid of all the shit toolbars and check your connection. This happens when the style sheet isn't properly loaded and the page displays only the HTML and nothing else (pretty cool, eh? That's how things would look if there was no CSS embedded on the page.). It could have been YouTube's servers but I doubt it since you say this has happened before. It's only happened to me probably 6 times in my life (not counting the development of my own websites) and I'm on the computer pretty much all day every day. If you're running off a wireless connection this could easily happen if you don't have a good signal. Or if your FF is packed with tons of crap (i.e. toolbars *nudge nudge* and/or addons/plugins). This can also happen if the installation of FF isn't working right (this is common on portable versions).

pokeplayer984 · **Reply #62 on:** October 03, 2010, 10:02:48 AM

Okay, here's an unrelated to computers question.

If you could go anywhere in the world for one day, where would that be?

oogaboo · **Reply #63 on:** October 21, 2010, 06:11:18 PM

I as a web designer in-training I was wondering something. I know how to publish my own web page since it comes from my server but how do you publish a page for a customer? Someone walked up to me and asked if I could make and publish a page for them but I'm not sure how.

Would MSN be a good choice to host it, too?

landbeforetimelover · **Reply #64 on:** October 21, 2010, 11:54:31 PM

Quote from: pokeplayer984,Oct 3 2010 on 08:02 AM

Okay, here's an unrelated to computers question.

If you could go anywhere in the world for one day, where would that be?

Honestly I'd probably rather stay at home. I'm not at a part in my life where I really want to travel around.

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how do you publish a page for a customer?

So long as the site is clean and doesn't involve any "questionable" material (i.e. porn, file sharing, gambling, etc.), go sign up with GoDaddy. A single hosting account can actually store as many websites as you want. Then you could show the site to clients without any real trouble. When they finally wanted to pay for a domain and hosting themselves, transfer it to another account. But honestly you really shouldn't be offering web design services if you don't know how to host the sites and show them to your clients. I'd imagine you've been having quite a lot of trouble with this lately.

oogaboo · **Reply #65 on:** October 22, 2010, 01:08:14 PM

Okay. And should this page be a web template or just a regular .htm?

landbeforetimelover · **Reply #66 on:** October 22, 2010, 01:24:57 PM

Quote from: oogaboo,Oct 22 2010 on 11:08 AM

Okay. And should this page be a web template or just a regular .htm?

If you want multiple sites on the same hosting account and domain, then you'd have to code them manually. Templates are a big no-no, especially for web designers and developers. And if you want my advice, NEVER use .htm/.html as an extension when making a website. Always use .php (or asp if you prefer that language). Even if you don't plan to add any php to the website, it's a real b**** to change the extensions later after the site is already set up. And .php works exactly the same as .htm/.html except you can't execute PHP script in your web browser if the files aren't already on a server. Just upload it all to GoDaddy and use an FTP client like CuteFTP (my personal favorite) to manage and upload your files. The GoDaddy GUI sucks royally.

Amaranthine · **Reply #67 on:** December 25, 2010, 11:50:59 AM

MERRYCHRISTMAS!!!

Adder · **Reply #68 on:** December 25, 2010, 12:08:02 PM

What happend to your website? I clicked 'Song Clips' under Downloads,
and this page came up. Its the only page on the website that does this.

landbeforetimelover · **Reply #69 on:** December 25, 2010, 06:27:50 PM

^It's definitely on your end. This happens when the style sheet fails to load. There's nothing inherently wrong with the style sheet on the server, and it loads up for me and a few other people just fine. If it still does it, try clearing your cache and reloading the page.

oogaboo · **Reply #70 on:** January 29, 2011, 05:35:27 PM

What did you do to become a comp tech and web designer? self-study or school education?

landbeforetimelover · **Reply #71 on:** January 29, 2011, 10:23:29 PM

There are several ways to become a computer repair technician. The first is to go to school and study book after book after book with little practical experience then take the exam and pass because you're book smart. Those are the absolute WORST kind of technicians out there. I know because I've hired them before. Frankly they're idiots. Not just anyone can be a computer tech. It takes patience and a skill in troubleshooting that can only be acquired by being out in the field. And even if you have a lot of experience, the skill to troubleshoot and think like a technician is something you're born with. It's not something you can just learn and be very good at. The people that run the show know this. That's why they allow you to take the certification exams without having to take the classes. You can just teach yourself and then go get certified.

Web design and development on the other hand is a lot different. It's run by money hungry bastards that don't know or care about what it's all about. If you want to be a professional web designer and/or developer, you have to go to college and get a degree. It's essential that you learn web design CORRECTLY and actually understand the concepts rather than just saying "Oh, when I do this it does this." I took web design classes throughout high school just so I could get an easy class and they were NOT teaching it right. They just wanted you to shoot the assignments out and didn't care how you made it work so long as it worked. I actually taught the web design class my senior year because I knew more about CSS than the web design teacher did. It was really sad.

But as I said, CONCEPTS are what matter, not results. It took me nearly three weeks to get the class to understand anything but once people started getting the concepts, they were able to shoot assignment after assignment out like it was nothing. And most importantly, they understood HOW it worked and WHY it did what it did. THAT is what being a web designer/developer is.

pokeplayer984 · **Reply #72 on:** February 12, 2011, 10:26:04 AM

I have noticed that you have talked quite a bit about your mother since you came here. What can you tell us about your father, whom it seems you NEVER mention?

Malte279 · **Reply #73 on:** February 12, 2011, 10:59:25 AM

I don't know to what degree you may or may not be familiar with the differences between the differences between the official microsoft office products and the free open office alternatives. But since you are the greatest expert in computer matters I know I'm wondering if you can tell / recommend anything about that?

landbeforetimelover · **Reply #74 on:** February 12, 2011, 06:35:11 PM

Quote from: pokeplayer984,Feb 12 2011 on 08:26 AM

I have noticed that you have talked quite a bit about your mother since you came here. What can you tell us about your father, whom it seems you NEVER mention?

I'd prefer not to discuss this, sorry.

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I don't know to what degree you may or may not be familiar with the differences between the differences between the official microsoft office products and the free open office alternatives. But since you are the greatest expert in computer matters I know I'm wondering if you can tell / recommend anything about that?

OpenOffice is a great alternative to Microsoft Office if you either have Linux or just don't want to pay the obscene prices that Microsoft charges for a simple word processor. The differences are minimal and OpenOffice can save in .doc and .docx formats (the formats used by Microsoft Office 2003 and 2007-2010 respectively). One disadvantage to OpenOffice is if you run into trouble or need to know how to do something real quick, chances are you won't be able to find someone else that has OpenOffice to help you.

In addition, all instructions at schools and universities apply to Microsoft Office. OpenOffice is capable of doing everything Microsoft Office is capable of doing, but the steps are somewhat different so you'll occasionally be left to figure things out on your own. There's nothing more frustrating than not being able to get your work done because you can't figure out how to work a damned program.

Me personally? I used Microsoft Office. But I only do so because I can get the program for free (I'm a hacker and pirate after all). If I had to pay for it, you'd be your ass I'd use OpenOffice. I can think of a lot better uses for my ~$300 than spending it on a program that just allows you to type and print crap out.

Malte279 · **Reply #75 on:** April 15, 2011, 05:44:15 AM

I'm glad to see you back posting Austin. How is your injury doing? I hope it healed up well?

pokeplayer984 · **Reply #76 on:** August 22, 2011, 11:59:33 PM

Okay, so you don't like talking about your father. Fine! I'll leave that alone!

What about other relatives like your Grandparents? Aunts? Uncles? Cousins? What can you tell us about them?

The Chronicler · **Reply #77 on:** August 23, 2011, 08:45:36 PM

I think I might be late on asking this question, but I figured I should ask it while it's still 2011.

What are your thoughts on the news of hacker groups in the last few months that briefly brought down websites for companies like Sony, PBS, etc.? (those are the only ones I can remember off the top of my head)