Tuesday, March 17, 2009

Tech Companies in Danger of Default? Solar Picture Murky

CNBC has a list of big name U.S. companies that could slide into default – meaning they won’t be able to meet their financial obligations, including paying their employees.

There are a few technology companies on CNBC’s liability list, and it makes for an interesting slideshow – but only if you’re lucky enough not to be employed by any of these companies.

Check out the entire list at: http://www.cnbc.com/id/29640663

Elsewhere, I’ve never been a big fan of solar energy, at least as a widespread, consumer-demand-type energy program that promises to solve even some of our oil dependency needs.

Now it seems that the emperor really doesn’t have any panels. Case in point, the number of applications in the state of California – a hotbed of solar energy sandbaggery – have declined by huge numbers. According to the California Solar Initiative commission, applications for commercial and private solar energy usage ran at about a pace of 1,000 for most of 2008. But 2009 has cast a cloud over the solar movement – just at a time when Washington is considering a carbon tax that will guarantee a big uptick in American’s household utility bills. Applications fell to 608 in January and 646 in February. Halfway through March, only 188 applications were filed for solar energy platforms in California.

Turns out that consumer appetite for pricey rooftop solar panels is waning - another victim of the economic downturn. But, if you want to invest in solar energy, there’s an index that allows you to do so. It’s called the Ardour Solar Energy Index (SOLRX). It’s trading off its 2008 highs – but it does offer a composite of solar energy stocks that provide a good representation of how the industry is doing.

Like I said, I’m not convinced solar is viable. But with the federal government pouring billions into alternative energy, a rebound in solar stocks might happen – but only if the economy cooperates.

Even so, I'm still not a believer.

One last tidbit for today. Apple had been fairly resilient through the first year or so of the current recession, but the bloom has definitely fallen off the rose. According to the technology analytics firm NPL reports that Apple Macintosh sales are down 16% from the same period a year ago. All told, Apple revenues are off by 22% when measured against the same time period. NPR also sees Apple’s market share in decline – down from 12% in 2008 to 11” of the retail personal computer market in the U.S.

Apple is soon shipping new versions of the iMac and the new Mac mini, which should provide some buoyancy going forward. But Apple’s Achilles heel has always been its high prices – a fact that consumers have already noticed, as the NPL data indicates.

Monday, March 16, 2009

Basic HTML Code / Tags For Simple Web Pages

This page is a very simple basic webpage tutorial to show 'how a web page works' i.e. 'how to create a 'first' basic simple HTML page'.

For an alternate start, some prefer A Basic HTML Generator (HTML editor) - or more advanced users may prefer the newer CSS Template Generator or the complete PHP (includes) Template Tutorial - followed by a complete php / css / html combination Template Code Maker.

This page shows how to practice / make changes on your local computer. After the index.html file has been created, it can be uploaded to the host server with FTP software (Such as: WS-FTP LE Tutorial.)

To create a simple web page, the first step is to learn a few HTML tags. And copy n paste, the HTML tags into a file using a text editor (such as WordPad or notepad). Then save the file as an ASCII (DOS text) file with the name index.html. BTW: index.html is the default name for the homepage on most web host.

Here are some basic HTML tags that show how a web page is created. For a fast start, just copy n paste this code into a text editor - save as index.html. Then read the 'practice' tips on this page.




favorites / bookmark title goes here




My first page



This is my first web page and I can say anything I want in here - I do that by putting text or images in the body section - where I'm typing right now :)




Notes:

  1. Most HTML tags require an 'opening' and 'closing'
  2. A web page requires an opening and closing HTML tag i.e. .. web page here..
  3. The top section of the web page requires a 'head' section i.e. ...
  4. Inside the 'head' you can place a title (which will be the name you see when you add the site to your favorites / bookmarks) i.e. ..text for favorites..
  5. After closing the , the next section is the In other words the body is inside the and but it's below the ... section.

Summary:

</span></b>... favorites title ... <b><span style="color:coral;">

.... all the web page is here ...

That's really all you need for a web page e.g :

  1. Just put in a title (favorite bookmark)
  2. Add some text or images in the body section
  3. Save the file as ASCII (text) file with the name index.html
  4. Then upload the index.html file to the public_html (www) directory

Practice:
Now Practice Practice Practice before you upload / publish your web page. In other words, it is better to practice and finalize your web page on your local computer. To do this with MSIE browser:

  1. Locate your index.html file on the hard drive (i.e. know the path)
  2. Open MSIE browser (either work offline or online)
  3. From MSIE, use 'file' 'open' and 'browse' to the location of the index.html - then 'open' - 'ok'
  4. Now that the web page is open on your screen, just minimize it so you can edit / make changes.
  5. Open up a text editor (such as WordPad / notepad) and load the index.html file. Make changes to the file such as adding more text or use the tag with a closing =
  6. Save the new index.html i.e. just use save to overwrite the old index.html.
  7. Now restore (bring back up) the MSIE browser window and click on refresh. The new reworked web page will now appear.

Summary: By saving the index.html file - then opening it in MSIE browser - then switching back to the text editor - making changes to the info between the body tags - saving the changes - restore the MSIE view - use refresh. Using this 'back n forth' procedure you can design - finalize the web page - all on the local computer. Then when it's finished just upload it to your web host.

Second Example (more tags :)

After playing with the tags in the first example, here a few more to 'practice' with:




favorites / bookmark title goes here




second page - smaller heading e.g. h2



This is my second web page with a few more HTML tags.
Let's start with a tag for a horizontal line =


Now let's put in an image (that is in the same folder as this file so we don't have to put the full path / URL


Razorback Hog Logo





This example only added two new tags but it shows how to improve you page as you learn new HTML tags. Also keep in mind that a lot of HTML tags have more attributes. For example, the


tag in this example could be changed to

Now that you know the basic 'structure' of a web page all you need to do is start learning HTML tags (and their attributes) to use in the ......... sections.