Dreamscapers Web Design

How to display a map

2010-03-01T10:10:00.003-06:00

I found this neat trick today and thought I would share it with you.

Say you want to put a map of where ever on your web site. Go here first www.wikipmapia.org Go to the top nav bar and hover over Login, look below to find Map on Your Page, click on that. Just copy and paste the code and that's it. Anyone can move the image around after you post it. It's pretty cool!

New Web Site Up and Running!

2010-02-20T08:09:00.001-06:00

I finally finished my first hand coded web site this morning. I had a couple of code bugs on the Contact Page email form, all good now.

www.jerrykiser.com

Check it out and please leave some feedback!

Paul

New Website Project

2010-02-15T17:01:00.001-06:00

I've been working on a new web site for a friend as one of my projects for the web design class I'm taking. It's amazing how many changes that have been made, I'm sure there will be a lot more as time goes on.

The site is not public yet, this is a snip of what it looks like.

Been Busy with CSS and Creating a Web Site

2010-02-12T23:29:00.002-06:00

It's been a real busy few weeks. Leaning CSS and all kinds of fun stuff. One of my projects is to create a web site. A friend of mine asked if I could do one for him to show his talents in metal art sculpting.

It has not been made public yet, I need to keep creating new ideas on the layout. So far it's going pretty good.

Here is the new site address, it's under construction but at least the domain is taken care of.

www.jerrykiser.com

Second Semester Work

2010-01-22T21:18:00.002-06:00

Finally I've completed the first semester and now getting into some nuts and bolts of how to create a web site using HTML and CSS. We start our first project this next week.

A friend of ours has been an artist with metals for a very long time. He asked me if I could create a web site for him. I agreed to the project and we met last weekend so I could get some initial information.

I am so excited in creating my first site from scratch! More to come as I progress.

Great C++ Forum

2009-10-14T05:17:00.002-05:00

I joined this forum yesterday http://cpptutorials.freeforums.org/index.php

This is the same guy on YouTube who I found to be a great instructor,

http://www.youtube.com/profile?user=antiRTFM#p/u

The next chapter I'm studying is called the Nested Selection Structure. I'll post more information in the next post after I have a chance to go through it and write some code.

The Selection Structure

2009-10-09T05:16:00.002-05:00

I'm hoping to find a way to post the code here of some of our exercises. I need to convert the files but have not found a way to convert them to jpg or other acceptable format.

We are now studying The Selection Structure, and I'm hoping to understand it so it makes sense. We have the selection structure or sometimes called the decision structure, then the other two are sequence and repitition.

Added to this study is more discussion about the flowchart, adding the Diamond to represent the condition. When using it you have on one side a True satement, a False statement on the other side, with flowlines leading to other conditions.

You can use the C++ statement to code both the if and if/else forms of the selection structure. When using more than one statement within the structure you must use these braces {}, this is referred to as statement blocks. They say it is also good programming practice to include the //end if comment to identify the end of an if statement in a program.

We also have more symbols to remember and understand, the && and . The && is called And logical operator and the is called the Or logical operator.

Added to this study are two more functions, toupper(charVariable) and tolower(charVariable). As it is important in C++ to recognize how words are displayed using upper and lower case letters, you can use this to convert them to one or the other.

So much to learn in so little time.

Been Busy With C++ Assignments

2009-09-30T19:09:00.002-05:00

I have been really buried with study and completion of assignments, haven't had time to write here. I just submitted my last one that was due tonight. Wheew, it was harder than I had anticipated. Seeing it done is another thing, but having to write code following your IPO Chart, using information given to you is tough. I'm sure it will get much easier as I go along, I just have to keep looking through notes, the chapter and my past codes. At least I hope it gets easier!

It sure is a good feeling when you after you have spent so much time writing the code and then you start debugging and you type in the information asked for and you get the correct answer. I just hope that I really need this after all the work I am putting into it! LOL

Made My Very First C++ Program!

2009-09-25T13:31:00.002-05:00

I know this sounds like no big deal, but it is to me! LOL I got up real early and went through Chapter 4 Exercises. One of my assignments was to complete an IPO chart, and build a program from what information they gave us. I had a few bugs, but other than that I was real happy with the results. I sent an attachment to my instructor, her comment was very favorable.

I've been watching the YouTube Video's, I mentioned in an earlier post, just finished #9. This guy explains it in lay mans terms. One of his remarks was, "Have Fun With It". Make up some silly programs and see what kind of results you get. Play around with it and get answers to your questions.

At least now with this laptop I can play around with MC Visual C++ 2008, and have some fun learning!

Life is getting better!

C++ Exercises

2009-09-23T22:15:00.003-05:00

The book that I am learning from is titled "An Introduction to Programming with C++, by Diane Zak, fifth edition.

I finished my exercises in Chapter 3 today, zipped and turned in. What a relief, it really wasn't that hard just time consuming. My first program went smooth, no errors, second one is a different story. But that's OK, I had to learn how to fix them. All in all a great experience. I was really pushing for time to get it turned in, I had to wait until my laptop arrived in order to continue. Now I hope to be able to get ahead some, so I'm not so stressed.

I'm getting some experience on MS Visual C++ 2008 Express Edition, and I'm remembering how to find my way around, there is still much to learn.

Laptop Finally Arrived!

2009-09-22T22:33:00.002-05:00

I received my new Toshiba Tecra A10 yesterday at 5pm, went home and went through the normal routine of starting up a computer. I did have to install more memory, will have to take the 500GB hard drive to an authorized dealer to install. I don't have anyway to do that, and it's under wattanty.

It is a joy to use it, much faster than our other Toshiba, has MS Vista Business, and lots of other software I just loaded such as Adobe PhotoShop. Can't wait to dig into it and use it. It came with a CD of tutorials, so that will help me get up to speed.

I was able to finally start using it for my assignments while attending TSTC. Had to download MS Visual C++ 2008 Express Edition so I could work on my assignments, now I can start creating programs. Went to a Lab at TSTC so I could get some guidance from the instructor, went very well, created my first program with no errors.

TSTC also gave me Office 2007, which I needed because the software that came with the machine was a 60 trial, go figure. You spend all that money and it's a trial, don't understand it. Anyway it's all in good working order and I'm very happy.

Frustrated!

2009-09-18T05:30:00.002-05:00

I'm so frustrated with Toshiba! They have not shipped my laptop yet and I need it real bad! I wish that TAA had ordered an HP or Dell, anything but Toshiba. Poor technical support with our current Toshiba Satellite's WLAN. I loose connection on the WiFi and Verizon USB 760 all the time, no one seems to know how to fix the problem. Never ever had that happen with the Dell laptop that was supplied to me when I was working, too bad I had to give it up! Grrrrr

I am on Chapter 3 in my Computer Programming book, need to download Visual Studio 2008 and start doing the C++ code work. This is so frustrating!

Found a Great C++ Tutorial Site

2009-09-16T22:14:00.002-05:00

I was searching today for some tutorials on C++ and found this one on YouTube.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tyVhn0FWWB4&feature=PlayList&p=1D10C030FDCE7CE0&index=0

There are a total of 72 vidoes, with a great narrator who seems to know what it's like if you are a noob in C++.

I have watched two of them and will watch them all. It will be much easier when my new laptop arrives so I can follow along better. I wanted to find something that I could actually do a hands on approach while listening/learning at the same time. I think I found it.

Too some of you, learning C++ is easy, it's not so for me. I have to study real hard, make a few mistakes and learn from them. I have a long way to go, but I will succeed.

C++

2009-09-16T05:07:00.002-05:00

I have been studying C++ over the last few days, I think I'm finally getting the hang of it. I'm in chapter 3 of our book, after reading how you make up the code, it's not really that hard. You just have to remember to enter the prooper code for the computer to show what you want, and in the right order. I'm sure it will take a lot more time once I am able to work with it hands on. I need to get a compiler, which I will do when I finally get my laptop, which is another story in itself! I am anxious to set it up and transfer all of my bookmarks and files I have stored on our little Toshiba Satellite.

A topic of discussion on our class forum has a lot of good information in it. We were asked to do some research on C++ and discuss it. One person had found some very good tutorials on YouTube! Who would have ever thought about that, I sure didn't. I did check out one short film and found it very helpful. I will do some more work at a later date and hopefully research them all.

When I had thought about this undertaking I didn't realize I would have to be a programmer first and foremost. I figured all I would need was some study in applications for web design, but I now realize it will benefit me in the long run.

I'm mainly writing this blog for my own benefit, to visually see my growth. It will be great to look back and see how I've matured in this very new arena.

PowerPoint 2007

2009-09-11T05:22:00.002-05:00

I worked on creating my own PowerPoint presentation yesterday for several hours. After completing the assignments from the book, Go with Microsoft Office 2007 by Gaskin, Ferrett, Vargas and Marks. http://www.pearsonhighered.com/go/

It was lots of fun, I lost track of time posting pictures, research and such for my topic on the History of Silver Eagle Bus. I had 11 slides made up, using some of what I learned and add some more goodies. Then I re-read the Instruction for Week 3 and it said no more than 5 slides, I thought it said at least 5. Oh well, it was a great learning experience, now I have to trim it down.

There are so many tools with this new version of PowerPoint, that it takes a while learning it all. I really like the new features, you can make a very professional presentation.

I found out I can make notes in my books as they are mine to keep. That is great news, because there is a lot of information that I need to highlight for future reference.

The course I am taking for Computer Applications is very interesting. I am certain that it will get more difficult as I continue learning over the next several months.

Photo Shop

2009-09-07T19:06:00.000-05:00

I have been searching for some Photo Shop software, as I will need that in order to facilitate my learning experience. I will also use it in my web design service when I get that operational.

I am thinking that the RV Camping industry might be a good target for my services. As we will hopefully be able to travel when I get out of school, it would be great to pick up some work along the way to help pay for it. I have been doing some research along those lines, it looks promising.

I'm back to school tomorrow after a long weekend. I installed some dual pane windows in the bedroom of our Silver Eagle Bus Conversion over the holiday. It should help on lowering our electric bills and give us some cross ventilation, as the temps are getting down into the mid 60's.

Life is good!

Introduction To Web Design

2009-09-05T05:59:00.000-05:00

I am in the process of taking college classes on Web Design Technology at Texas State Technical College (TSTC), located in Abilene TX.

I am interested in providing Web Services to private Campgrounds in the future. With the increasing need for these services, it is important that I get a degree in order to provide excellence in this area.

If you are reading this, you might be interested in the services that will be provided, or have interest in the subject of Web Design for Campgrounds.

This will be an ongoing learning process as I create my skills, so if you have any ideas that you would like to be pursued, please leave a comment or send me an email.