Date: 11/30/06 (WebDesign)    Keywords: browser, web

Greetings all!

I posted a few days ago re: Flash encoding video for the web...I think I found a good mix of quality with load time. Would you please proof?

I'm seeing if it plays back on most systems with the following qualities:

I'm looking for:

A) Quality. How does it look? How does it sound?
B) Stuttering? Does it start to drop frames / have choppy playback? (Audio should be fine, video may skip)
C) What Platform are you on (Mac/PC), what browser, if you have dialup or broadband, and a rough estimate of your processor and RAM...all of these factors determine how anything Flash-based plays back.

http://lucidsound.com/flash/

It's a 1.5-2 minute video trailer of a doc for Spike TV that I did the sound for several months back. Yes, it begins with black...audio starts before video, and the file DOES autostart...no need to hit play.

WARNING: It contains graphic images of the 9/11 tragedy.

Many thanks for your time all!

Source: http://community.livejournal.com/webdesign/1190430.html

Date: 12/01/06 (Web Technology)    Keywords: web

U.S. government warns of an al-Qaida call for a cyber attack against online stock trading and banking Web sites beginning on Friday.

Source: http://news.zdnet.com/2100-9588_22-6139878.html

Date: 12/01/06 (WebDesign)    Keywords: web

I was checking out the university jobbank and came across a listing for a receptionist position (which I am NOT interested in) for a CPA firm, but noticed that even though they have a company.com web site name, their web site is not yet developed. I'd like to submit my resume to see if they might be interested in hiring me to design their web site, even though the job listing is for a receptionist. For all I know, they may have someone to design their web site, but I'd still like to try to submit my resume and see if they might be interested.

Is this even appropriate? How do I word this paragraph in my cover letter in a professional way?

"Upon reviewing the (Name of University) Jobbank, I noticed the job listing for a Receptionist position, but also noticed that the www.nameofcompany.com web site is not yet developed. If you do not currently have someone in line to develop your company web site, I would like to apply for the position and I am available to meet with you at your earliest convenience to discuss this possible opportunity, my qualifications, and my portfolio with you."

Thoughts? Suggestions?

I'm just not sure this is even appropriate considering their job listing is for something entirely different.

Source: http://community.livejournal.com/webdesign/1191315.html

Date: 12/01/06 (WebDesign)    Keywords: asp, web

I have a contact page in .asp on a website for a client. The company is based in Canada, so I built the site in English and am now translating the site into French. (Well, changing everything so it is French, sadly my French skills let me read, but not write.) Anyway... everything is going well, but I need to change the "send" button on the page to an "envoyer" button.

The button and text are created by the script, so I would like to avoid having to place an image there. Does anyone know how to get the text from "send" to "envoyer"?

Please help... I've never had to do this before.

Thank you!

ETA, 11.06pm: Well, just changing the script value from "send" to "envoyer" seems to be working. Need to upload it to the server to check for certain, but that seems to be it. Easy fix.

Thanks for the help!

Source: http://community.livejournal.com/webdesign/1191088.html

Date: 12/01/06 (Web Development)    Keywords: html, xml, web, seo, yahoo, google

Do people still use these on their actual websites? I'm helping a woman launch her website and she would like to include a sitemap. I know you can generate XML and HTML ones specifically for Google and Yahoo! and things like that, but what about plain, easy-to-read ones to actually put on your website for people browsing your website to look at? Can that still be helpful in terms of SEO?

Thanks!

Edit: Two other questions...is it better to create your own sitemap or are programs that create them for you pretty good? I found one that I thought looked good: http://www.sitemappro.com/

Also, the site in question is password protected, only members can view certain sites...should every page still be on the sitemap even though non-members won't be able to access it?

Source: http://community.livejournal.com/webdev/373692.html

Date: 12/02/06 (Computer Help)    Keywords: web, spam

Please pardon the interruption and borderline spam. Just thought there might be a few of you in this community...

Welcome to the newly created community for Field Technicians, fieldtech. This is a highly informal community, meant as a relaxing place for technicians to bitch about anything and everything.

For example:
* Working on a register that is on the verge of catching fire?
* Had to work a 24 hour shift doing overnight installs?
* Hate your callcenter/home office?
* Feeling like that PDA/BlackBerry is more like a house arrest bracelet than a technological marvel?
* Fall off a tower several hundred feet in the air?
* Got bitched out for missing your service level agreement deadline?

We feel your pain. Welcome to what I hope will be one of your favorite destinations on the web.

Yours,
ckline

Source: http://community.livejournal.com/computer_help/717760.html

Date: 12/02/06 (WebDesign)    Keywords: web

hey everyone

come this spring, i'll be graduating from college! yeah! i'll have a degree completely unrelated to design (mathematics), but i've been working in the field without breaks for 8 years now. i know what i'm doing, i do good work, and i feel that i'm qualified for most of the web design jobs i see out there. i'd like to work for an ad agency, and in-house design group for a big company, or a university. i am not interested in freelancing.

i'm searching craigslist, monster, random companies i like, and i'm finding a ton of jobs, but i don't know when the appropriate time to apply for these jobs is. a lot of these jobs seem to come and go pretty quickly. i know web design isn't a field that companies really recruit for, so i was wondering what everyone here might suggest. how early is too early to apply for a job? if i found a job that i love in, say, february, would it be weird to apply and say that i can't take it until i graduate in may?

Source: http://community.livejournal.com/webdesign/1191806.html

Date: 12/02/06 (Computer Help)    Keywords: browser, virus, web, spyware, google

Source: http://community.livejournal.com/computer_help/718593.html

Date: 12/02/06 (WebDesign)    Keywords: browser, css, web

Hello all. I'm an active member of graphicdesign, and have recently added webdesign as i'm becoming more involved with web development for a couple client projects.

I'm in the process of a CSS-level overhaul of my site, biesdesign.com. I do not plan to edit the content pages at all, only the CSS that controls layout. The site is currently laid out entirely in an external css file, so that shouldn't be a problem.

My issue is that my redesign will look best on monitors with screen heights in excess 900px, so I need to create an alternate css file for smaller monitors (to allow the client to revert to my site's current design or a slightly modified version thereof) and need to create a method where the client's browser remembers which CSS layout they're using when moving from page to page so that they have a consistent experience once they've chosen. I realise at this point that I'll likely have to insert several lines of code into each page, but that isn't a problem. I just don't want to have to maintain two websites to accomodate for monitor sizes. When I add a page, I need for it to be immediately a part of both experiences, if that makes sense.

Any ideas?

Source: http://community.livejournal.com/webdesign/1191941.html

Date: 12/04/06 (Web Development)    Keywords: web, google

I was just wondering if someone could tell me if this was at all accurate? I've been trying to help someone with their website, and I've been submitting them to various online directories (human-edited ones mostly like DMOZ) so that they will have more links going to their site. I was under the impression that will help with their Google rankings. They've recently retained the services of a professional internet marketing company and the company is telling them to stop submitting their site for links because if they get too many in a short period of time, Google frowns upon that and will possibly knock their page rank down. Can anyone tell me if there is any truth to that?

Thanks!

Source: http://community.livejournal.com/webdev/374075.html

Date: 12/05/06 (WebDesign)    Keywords: html, java, web, hosting, shopping

I'm designing a website for a friend. I have a pretty basic knowledge of html but that's about it. I'm good at simple sites. My friend wants a shopping cart, and would prefer not paypal since it can't calculate shipping. Her hosting plan comes with AgoraCart but I can't figure out how in the heck to integrate it seemlessly into my web design. From what I see it only lets you put in a header and/or footer and you can make no changes to the body. This site isn't just pictures and buy now so that's a problem.

So the impossible dream questions. Does anyone know of a shopping cart that is: Free, can be integrated into the body and let you add things around it, doesn't require extensive knowledge of perl, java, etc, and works with Dreamweaver would be nice but not required (i can use other html editors).

Thanks.

Source: http://community.livejournal.com/webdesign/1192352.html

Date: 12/06/06 (PHP Community)    Keywords: php, web

I cludged together some php to make a upload and download tool for a client and I have the username and password stored in the php file as such:

$username = "bob_the_unforgiving";     /* The username. Case sensitive. */
$password = "foobar12345";       

Source: http://community.livejournal.com/php/516862.html

Date: 12/06/06 (WebDesign)    Keywords: php, software, security, web, shopping

I have this project, which started out as a relaunch of a relatively simple website for a photographer, and is getting more and more complicated. Which is fine, as long as I'm getting paid and I *know* what to do... ;-)


Part of the website is a simple php based ordering system without payment options (customer chooses photos, orders, gets a confirmation/invoice email; photographer also gets confirmation email, waits for customer to pay via check or bank transfer, then sends photos to the given address).

We had discussed including paypal payment, but now my client wants her customers to have the option to pay directly with their credit card when ordering. I've never done anything like this, and am not sure what is the best and most simple way to implement it.

I know some providers (no provider/host yet, so I'm open for any suggestions) offer e-commerce/shopping cart software, but I'm not sure if that's what I'm looking for, as I don't want to change anything with the ordering system itself if possible. What I do need is a way to initiate the transaction of a given sum of money from the customer's credit card to my clients bank account; including security issues and whatnot.
Is the best/easiest way to use e-commerce software? Is it possible (for someone who's not a total newbie but not a php guru either) to do that with a php script?

Any help, suggestion, information is welcome, thanks. :-)

Source: http://community.livejournal.com/webdesign/1193123.html

Date: 12/06/06 (PHP Community)    Keywords: php, software, security, web, shopping

I have this project, which started out as a relaunch of a relatively simple website for a photographer, and is getting more and more complicated. Which is fine, as long as I'm getting paid and I *know* what to do... ;-)


Part of the website is a simple php based ordering system without payment options (customer chooses photos, orders, gets a confirmation/invoice email; photographer also gets confirmation email, waits for customer to pay via check or bank transfer, then sends photos to the given address).

We had discussed including paypal payment, but now my client wants her customers to have the option to pay directly with their credit card when ordering. I've never done anything like this, and am not sure what is the best and most simple way to implement it.

I know some providers (no provider/host yet, so I'm open for any suggestions) offer e-commerce/shopping cart software, but I'm not sure if that's what I'm looking for, as I don't want to change anything with the ordering system itself if possible. What I do need is a way to initiate the transaction of a given sum of money from the customer's credit card to my clients bank account; including security issues and whatnot.
Is the best/easiest way to use e-commerce software? Is it possible (for someone who's not a total newbie but not a php guru either) to do that with a php script?

Any help, suggestion, information is welcome, thanks. :-)

Source: http://community.livejournal.com/php/516890.html

Date: 12/06/06 (Web Technology)    Keywords: web

A start-up films mini-documentaries that serve as Web ads. No formal scripts are used, and static shots are not allowed.

Source: http://news.zdnet.com/2100-9588_22-6141459.html

Date: 12/08/06 (PHP Community)    Keywords: php, html, database, web, spam, google

I've got an interesting problem that's stumped both the senior programmer and me.

Situation:
A user is looking for a company to provide a service, they find our site at or near the #1 position on a google search result, they find a company where they need the service done, and they send a request for a quote via a php form. The form processes this request, logs it into the DB, and at a set time, that record is dropped into a MTA. This is the problem.

`From: $UserProvidedEmailAddress`

Problem:
In an ideal world, this would be fine, but thanks to spam... this sets of just about every single spam filter I know of and then a day/week later we are suddenly blacklisted by everyone including our own email service provider. In the last two months we've had to call up the spam database companies and get taken off the list (after a day or week of them doing necessary investigation to find we are in fact not spamming). The next logical step would be to replace the from field with a real email account like `info@ourserver.com` and then put the user provided email address in the `reply-to:` field of the email header instead. But my senior argues that we will still set off the spam filters and I agree and I can't see how to fix this.

So to review:
There are 3 parties involved in these script generated emails.
Customers who provide us their email addresses via the form. We protect the email addresses and flush them after 60 days (legal reasons)
Advertising clients who pay us to get these emails from our top listed site.
Ourselves, all transactions are bcc to us so we can track initial user to advertiser interactions and make sure we are providing the product our clients are paying us for( customers and web presence)


Why:
My employers want to keep it as simple as possible for our clients to respond to potential customers, hence the customer email address in the from field. But that doesn't work because of spam.


Thoughts:
Also, we can't put advertising client email addresses on the site or make them accessible to humans because spam-spiders will get them and proceed to spam the client's.
My senior has written a working prototype for an in-site messaging system using rails, but the fear is that some of our clients are to lazy/stupid to use it... I agree, some of these people are pretty dumb.
Another thought would be to put some sort of mailto: url in the emails, but not everyone uses html enabled email clients.

Source: http://community.livejournal.com/php/518711.html

Date: 12/08/06 (WebDesign)    Keywords: web

I've got a situation. I'm working on a site promoting a book that is part of amazon.com's affliate program. In the program they provide you with your own special link to a webpage, where your book is displayed very small with another link to Amazon's main site where you can buy the book. Bascially you get credit for the "hit" to Amazon's site when the user clicks on the special link which then takes them to Amazon to buy the book.
It's a pain in the butt to have to click on one-->button in your site-->button on special link site --> to amazons site to buy the book.

I've made a button in my flash file, when you click you get two windows, one is the hit site (which i have resized very small and out of the way, the other is the amazon site you would have gotten had you hit the special link site. So I'm getting the "hit" (i think, if i'm not, please someone tell me) but eliminating the need for the user to then have to click the special link site because the amazon site is already there.

My question is-- is there anyway to totally eliminate the "hit" site, get the hit, but somehow have the window not appear at all? If anyone knows anything about amazon's program, please let me know! I'm worried that by having a button launch both sites, that I might be loosing the hit all together!

Thanks for reading that long-winded question!

Source: http://community.livejournal.com/webdesign/1193991.html

Date: 12/09/06 (Web Technology)    Keywords: web, google

Fox, Viacom, CBS and NBC Universal are in talks about creating a video Web site to compete with Google's YouTube, the Wall Street Journal reports.

Source: http://news.zdnet.com/2100-9588_22-6142345.html

Date: 12/11/06 (WebDesign)    Keywords: web

Greets folks, couple of things. I'm now maintaining this website for some folks and if possible, you can see where one the links are clicked, the image disappears. I imagine its more than likely do to something in this code:

a:link.home{
	background:url(home.png) 0 0 no-repeat;
	display:block;
	height:50px;
	text-decoration:none;
	width:250px;
}
a:hover.home{background-position:-250px;}

Source: http://community.livejournal.com/webdesign/1194426.html

Date: 12/11/06 (Security)    Keywords: security, web, microsoft

Microsoft wants to sell Web sites and businesses on security checks of customer PCs. That may not go over so well.

Source: http://news.zdnet.com/2100-1009_22-6142265.html