CSS - What's that?

Acronyms, they're everywhere on the Internet. “CSS” is an acronym you may have heard many times. Here's what the buzz is about.

"CSS" stands for "Cascading Style Sheet."

"Ah, okay. What's a Cascading Style-thingy?"

Here's some background.

Way back in the '80s & '90s HTML documents (web pages) contained all the information your browser needed to display formatted information. If you wanted larger text for a certain passage of text, you could override default settings of the browser by wrapping the text in some font tags with the desired font size specified. If you wanted an image to float to the left or right of some text, you could embed a property that made it do what you needed.

All was well—until web pages got much more complicated.

Complex web pages could mean hundreds or thousands of lines of HTML featuring multi-level, nested tables and hundreds or even thousands of font tags. Web pages were out-growing HTML.

CSS was invented to address the complexity of web page HTML. "How," you ask?

CSS addressed HTML complexity by separating formatting from document structure. With a CSS formatted web page (if it's done right), the HTML is fairly tidy. If you also religiously use "<div></div>" tags instead of tables for placing page content, your HTML can be downright spartan. Moreover, if an HTML document and its accompanying CSS document are well-planned, the code required between the two can be quite small, compared to an equivalent HTML-only document (especially if tables are used for layout in the HTML document).

“Okay, but what does ‘cascading’ mean?”

HTML documents have a hierarchy.“<div></div>” tags enclose blocks of text and other page elements. “<body></body>” tags enclose all the visible page content, including “<div></div>” tags. “<html></html>” tags enclose the entire page, including the “<body></body>”; tags and “<div></div>” tags. As a result, “<html></html>” tags are higher in the page hierarchy than the other two tags just mentioned.

Formatting applied to elements higher in the hierarchy“cascade” down to affect the display of elements lower in the hierarchy. As a result, formatting applied to the “<html></html>” or “<body></body>” tags will affect all visible content on the page. Formatting applied only to a “<div></div>” tag will affect only the elements enclosed by them.

Surprisingly, CSS has been around now for ten years. It is becoming the standard way of developing web pages, which is why you may be hearing and seeing more about it.

For some dazzling examples of what can be done with CSS, visit CSS Zen Garden which was featured in one of our newsletters.

Ubuntu - Linux that just works

“Unix” or “Linux” are two words that might strike fear into the heart of a non-techie. There's good news for those with hearts palpitating because we wrote those two words just now. In fact, your hearts might just find another reason for palpitating. It's free and easy to use!

It's not Windows!

If you're currently a Windows user, there's a learning curve. Aside from the desktop windows concept, dragging and dropping files, working with files, and so on, there are lots of differences.

For example, although you can (in some unusual instances) download a setup file and double-click it to install a program, that's not how it's done with Linux. Ubuntu comes with a package installer that tracks practically every program available for Ubuntu. When you need a program, you select one from the installer. It downloads the needed files, plus any related files it may need from an online repository and installs the program.

There are many other differences that may cause you to visit the Ubuntu Help Forums. But, hey, did we mention Ubuntu is FREE!

You may recall that we featured “Ubuntu” (a Linux distro) in one of our newsletters back a few months. It was featured in the “Websites: Useful & Interesting” section.

Well, we feel there's more of a reason to write about Ubuntu. Some of our staff have tried the Ubuntu distribution and can report a bit on it.

If you've got a relatively mainstream computer and you do mainstream “stuff” on it, Ubuntu may work quite well for you. And it's FREE!

Ubuntu lets you surf the 'Net, write documents, use spreadsheets, do a bit of graphics manipulation, view & edit digital photos, and / or listen to digital music. What's even more attractive is the fact that you do everything more securely than with a Windows system. Did we mention it's FREE?

Installation

Anyone who's ever installed an operating system more than once or twice has noticeably less hair than the average person. This applies to everyone, whether they've installed Windows, Ubuntu, or another OS.

With that said, Ubuntu will install quite smoothly on most machines. Moreover, you can run an Ubuntu session from a CD. So, you can test it out before you actually put the operating system on your hard drive.

On the other hand, if you have any out-of-the-ordinary or "bleeding edge" hardware you will probably run into trouble. For example, an very old PCI hard drive controller, a RAID controller, or something just released within the last few weeks may cause install problems.

However, if you first run Ubuntu from the CD, any such problems will likely show up before you mess up your hard drive or existing Windows installation.

An Office Suite Included

Ubuntu comes with a very sophisticated office suite that includes a word processor, spreadsheet application, a presentation program, a graphics program, and a database program. Each one of the programs can open and use Microsoft Office documents and can save documents in the Microsoft Office document formats, as well as it's own format.

These office programs will not open the document format released with Microsoft's upcoming Office 2007 suite. However, previous versions of Microsoft's Office suite will not do this either

The office suite is FREE, just like Ubuntu!

E-mail

Ubuntu comes with an e-mail program called "Evolution." Evolution appears to be a good program; however, we're more familiar with Thunderbird, which has also been featured in an earlier newsletter. You can use Thunderbird with Ubuntu. Thunderbird is a very full-featured e-mail program that can be upgraded to include a calendaring extension and PGP encryption. Thunderbird is, you guessed it, FREE!

Web Browsing

We recommend Firefox if you're using a Windows machine. We also recommend Firefox if you're using Ubuntu. Firefox was featured in an earlier newsletter.

If you're wondering whether Firefox is a good browser, you should know that Microsoft developed Internet Explorer 7 to catch up with Firefox. Again, Firefox is FREE!

Graphics

Ubuntu comes bundled with “The Gimp.” Despite it's name, the program is great for editing digital images. You can do pretty much anything a “mainstream” user needs to do and quite a bit beyond.

One feature that currently prevents The Gimp from being a “pro” tool is the fact it cannot manipulate “CMYK” or “32-bit” images, though a plugin is available for The Gimp that allows users to do so. Additionally, an upcoming release of The Gimp will support CMYK image manipulation.

Mainstream users will not need to worry about CMYK processing but pros will want to use the plugin or wait for the upcoming upgrade before they try replacing their favourite Windows graphics program.

In any event, y' know what makes up for shortcomings? It's FREE!

Digital Music & Video

Ubuntu can be configured to play pretty much any digital music or video format available right now. Ubuntu comes with only free, open source drivers, though. So, if you want to play Windows Media files, Quicktime files (other than iTunes purchases), or other proprietary formats, you will need to download extra drivers for that. Once these drivers are installed, you can view DVDs, DIVX files, MP3s, most WMV, and MOV content; rip CDS, etc.

There are programs available for Ubuntu that apply these proprietary drivers to your Ubuntu installation. You can find more information about them using the Ubuntu Help Forums.

If you like to shop the iTunes store, you it's not accessible on Linux or Ubuntu. On the other hand, you can connect your iPod to an Ubuntu system and transfer music files back and forth.

For those who don't yet own an iPod, you might want to note that anything you buy from the Apple iTunes store can be played only on the iPod. So, if you ever buy another mp3 player and / or try playing a song bought from the iTunes store on any player other than Quicktime, it won't work. You will have to buy another iPod or Apple manufactured player. Good for Apple. Not so good for consumers.

Digital Cameras

Using Ubuntu, you may have trouble finding the software that came with your digital camera. Manufacturers generally do not provide Linux versions of their digital camera software.

However, Ubuntu recognizes all the current versions of camera storage media. If you have a drive that accepts your camera's memory card or if your camera plugs into a USB or Firewire port, you can transfer your digital photos to and from your Ubuntu machine. It's as simple as dragging a set of files from one desktop window to another.

If you like to view and manipulate camera images in RAW format, all the major camera manufacturers' formats can be made to work with Ubuntu, though they don't all work by default. There are a number of image viewers you can install that will display almost every RAW format there is.

If you like to manipulate your RAW camera images, there are relatively good programs for Ubuntu. You will get good information by searching the Ubuntu Help Forums or by asking a question there.

Printers

Even if your printer manufacturer does not provide a Linux driver for your printer, there's a good chance you'll find a driver that will work in Ubuntu. However, many printer manufacturers do include Linux drivers and you should be able to setup your printer to work.

We were able to get a Lexmark Optra S 1855dn (older black & white laser), a Lexmark C534dn (new colour laser), and a Hewlett Packard Officejet K60 (older all-in-one inkjet) printing from Ubuntu (despite the fact HP does not publish drivers for the K60). Both HP and Lexmark publish Linux drivers for their current printers.

Scanners

If it's relatively mainstream, chances are it'll work with Ubuntu. We got a Hewlett Packard Scanjet 7450c scanner working with Ubuntu.

A word from our sponsor—FREE

We've used the word “FREE” lots in this article. We wanted to point out that free means something, in addition to “free from charge.”

“EULA” stands for“End User License Agreement.” You get a EULA with pretty much every bit of software you buy or download for Windows. In a nutshell, it outlines what you can and can't do with the software. EULAs have gotten a reputation for being very restrictive, in many cases hamstringing what users can do with their software.

Ubuntu and the majority of Linux software comes with a “EUA” (End User Agreement) that is far less restrictive than a EULA you would probably get with Windows software. Here's an excerpt from the Ubuntu website:

Must allow redistribution. Your right to sell or give away the software alone or as part of an aggregate software distribution is important because:
- You, the user, must be able to pass on any software you have received from Ubuntu in either source code or compiled form.
- While Ubuntu will not charge licence fees for this distribution, you might well want to charge to print Ubuntu CD's, or create your own customized versions of Ubuntu which you sell, and should have the freedom to do so.
Must not require royalty payments or any other fee for redistribution or modification. It's important that you can exercise your rights to this software without having to pay for the privilege, and that you can pass these rights on to other people on exactly the same basis.
Must allow these rights to be passed on along with the software. You should be able to have exactly the same rights to the software as we do.
Must not discriminate against persons, groups or against fields of endeavor. The licence of software included in Ubuntu can not discriminate against anyone or any group of users and cannot restrict users from using the software for a particular field of endeavour - a business for example. Thus we will not distribute software that is licensed "freely for non-commercial use".
Must not be distributed under a licence specific to Ubuntu. The rights attached to the software must not depend on the program's being part of Ubuntu system. So we will not distribute software for which Ubuntu has a "special" exemption or right, and we will not put our own software into Ubuntu and then refuse you the right to pass it on.
Must not contaminate other software licences. The licence must not place restrictions on other software that is distributed along with it. For example, the licence must not insist that all other programs distributed on the same medium be free software.
May require source modifications to be distributed as patches. In some cases, software authors are happy for us to distribute their software and modifications to their software, as long as the two are distributed separately, so that people always have a copy of their pristine code. We are happy to respect this preference. However, the licence must explicitly permit distribution of software built from modified source code.

Map Files 'n E-mail - How's it work?

If you have your own domain name, you probably want to use it for your e-mail messages. If you have more than one person working with your company, you probably want more than one e-mail address associated with your domain name. So, if your username is “mycompany”, how do messages get to you and how do you setup separate e-mail addresses to work with your domain?

1. E-mail program requests the location of “example.com”.

2. DNS server replies with the IP address for the host of example.com.

3. Message is sent to the Islandnet e-mail server at the IP address given by the DNS server. The Islandnet e-mail server first checks to see if the customer exists on the system. If the customer exists, the e-mail server checks to see if there is a map file for the domain, “example.com”.

4. If the map file exists, the message is processed according to map file instructions.

5. Anything destined for “boss@example.com” is processed by the “parent” or “mycompany@islandnet.com” account.

6. Anything destined for “bob@example.com” is processed by the child account “bob@islandnet.com.”

7. Anything addressed to “carol@example.com” is processed by “carol@islandnet.com.”

8. Anything destined for any address other than the three in the map file are deleted before they are processed through any account.

Note: After messages are processed by the map file (but before they are delivered to an inbox), they are processed through a “mailrule” file using Islandnet's PEP (Personal E-mail Processing) system. Unwanted e-mail messages can still be deleted at this point. This mailrule processing is represented by the parallelograms entitled “mailrule file.” For more information on PEP and mailrules, click here.

We're glad you asked!

How E-mail Addressed to Your Domain Gets to Your Account

How do servers know you and your domain name? How do servers know your e-mail address is “my@example.com” for example?

You may remember from a previous newsletter that computers know each other by their “IP address.” That is, computers know each other by something like “199.175.106.253” (this IP address happens to be one of Islandnet.com's domain server addresses).

So, is that how computers know your website address or domain name? And is that how computers know your e-mail address is “me@example.com?” The answer is “partly, yes.”

Hosting Your Own Files

If you were to have your very own server in our back room (like many customers), you would probably have your own IP address and it would be associated with your domain name. So, if someone typed “www.example.com” into their browser, the browser would associate that domain name with an IP address and load the files at that address into the browser window. Likewise, if someone were to send you an e-mail, the message would be associated with the IP address of your server in our back room.

But it's a different story when you've got thousands of other people with websites in the same machine room.

A Shared Environment

It's not efficient to dole out IP addresses to everyone with a website. It's much more efficient to use a few IP addresses for web servers, mail servers, MySQL servers, web log servers, and so on but associate websites (i.e. domain names) with customer files in another way.

So, what happens when someone types your domain into the address bar of a web browser or sends you an e-mail to your “me@example.com” address?

First, the computer belonging to the person who sends you a message sends your message to their ISP's e-mail server. We'll simplify the story a bit but the ISP e-mail server will check (through a DNS server) to see where the domain “example.com” is. Knowing the domain name is associated with an Islandnet IP address, it will send the message along to the Islandnet e-mail server. Unlike a single website on a single machine, the message simply gets sent to the Islandnet.com system.

Of course, before Islandnet's e-mail server accepts the e-mail, the server will check to see that there's a customer associated with the domain “example.com.” Once, the server finds the customer, the server accepts the e-mail.

Next, the server simply puts the message in your inbox.

Someone using a web browser to find your site will experience something similar. They'll type the domain name into their browser address bar or click on a link that references your domain name and their browser will consult a DNS server. In human terms, the browser will ask “where's ‘example.com?’ The DNS server will answer, “‘example.com’ is at ‘199.175.106.50’” (one of eight Islandnet web server IP addresses).

So, you don't have to have your own IP address to get messages or have people visit your website. Only your ISP needs to have IP addresses.

How Do Two Different E-mail Addresses Work with My Domain?

As long as the Islandnet servers know your customer name and know your domain “example.com” is associated with your account, all is well. Your e-mail will arrive in your inbox.

When an e-mail comes addressed to your domain name, it's associated with your account name (“mycompany”). As a result, it's delivered to your “mycompany@islandnet.com” e-mail address. By default, all e-mail destined for your domain will get sent to your “mycompany@islandnet.com” e-mail address.

What happens if you want to use “bob@example.com” and ”carol@example.com” too? What happens when you also need to have separate e-mail addresses with their own usernames & password for Bob and Carol? What then?

The “Child” Account

In order to have separate e-mail addresses, each with their own username & password, you need “child” accounts. Child accounts can be created at the following Helpdesk URL (you need to be logged in to access the page):

https://helpdesk.islandnet.com/accountman.cgi?tab=children

When you create a child account, you're creating a new e-mail address like the “mycompany@islandnet.com” e-mail address that exists as soon as you create a new Islandnet account. But in this case, the e-mail address is associated with the “mycompany” account.

So, say you create two child accounts called "bob" and “carol.” There would then be two new Islandnet e-mail addresses “bob@islandnet.com” and “carol@islandnet.com.” By the way, if “bob” or “carol” are already taken on the Islandnet system, you cannot take the same name.

Bob and Carol can log into the Islandnet e-mail servers using their own usernames & passwords to retrieve e-mail. They can also log into the Helpdesk and do other things with their child accounts, as permitted by the settings specified when you setup the child accounts.

How do you use “bob@example.com” and / or “carol@example.com?”

The Map File

For complete documentation on the map file, go to the following URL:

https://helpdesk.islandnet.com/help/mapfiles.php

A map file is a plain text file that exists in the root directory of your account. Its name is based on a domain name you have. In our example, we're using “example.com” so the map file would be named “map.example.com.” If you have another domain name, you would have another map file named in the same manner, say “map.example2.com” if your second domain were named “example2.com.”

Again for the purpose of our example, the map file looks like the following:

boss:mycompany@islandnet.com
carol:carol@islandnet.com
bob:bob@islandnet.com
*:!

The first line of the map file tells our e-mail server to direct any e-mail destined for “bob@example.com” to the Islandnet address “bob@islandnet.com.” The second line tells our e-mail server to direct any e-mail sent to “carol@example.com” to the address “carol@islandnet.com.” The third line tells our e-mail server to direct any e-mail sent to “boss@example.com” to the address “mycompany@islandnet.com.”

The last line of the map file tells our e-mail server to delete any e-mail destined for any other address at example.com. Why?

Adding the final line to your map file is a good spam fighting tool. If you are not using any other e-mail addresses with your domain name, there's a very good chance that any e-mail destined for those other addresses are sent by spammers. Those three characters at the end of the map file ensure messages destined for other addresses at your domain don't even make it onto our servers, thereby reducing the number of messages processed.

Sending E-mail from Your Domain

Now that we know how messages get to your domain e-mail addresses, how do you send e-mail from your domain?

That's easy.

When you setup an e-mail account in your e-mail program, be it Outlook, Outlook Express, Thunderbird, or another program, you're taken through a number of steps. During the account setup process, you'll be asked for your e-mail address. Assuming you're "bob@example.com" simply input "bob@example.com."

Whenever you send e-mail using the account you've just setup, anyone receiving e-mail sent through that account will see "bob@example.com" as the sender.

For more information on setting up e-mail accounts with your e-mail program, contact tech support.

Websites - Useful & Interesting

We get to see a LOT of websites in our virtual travels. Here are a few that made us laugh, chuckle, cry, say "WOW," take action, or spend money.

Islandnet Picks

101 Christmas Videos Online

Ugly Overload

Stumble Upon

NOVA

You're a mean one Mr. Grinch! Yes, you'll even find Dr. Seuss' Christmas classic, "How the Grinch Stole Christmas."

Check it out! There are the Christmas classic shows, cartoons, musical specials, and even classic Christmas commercials.

If you've been reading this newsletter for any length of time, you may remember we featured a website called "Cute Overload."

Well, it had to happen. Someone has started a site dedicated to the opposite concept. It's called "Ugly Overload" and it's dedicated to all creatures ugly and repulsive.

Fair is fair. Ugly and repulsive creatures need love too, right? Moreover, if you're a hairless cat, ugly is a relative term is it not?

We're not much for adding toolbars to your browser. As a general rule, it's a good rule to abide by. In other words, we generally recommend against installing third-party toolbars in your browser.

However, you might want to visit this website and follow their instructions to add a toolbar to your browser.

The concept is this, you tell the Stumble Upon website what interests you have. Stumble Upon has and maintains a large database of good websites and web pages covering many categories. Once the Stumble Upon toolbar is added to your browser (and your preferences are noted), it chooses a random site for you to visit each time you click the Stumble Upon button.

We can tell you it seems to work quite well, bringing up websites that consistently "measure up" to expectations. In fact, you may find yourself wasting more than a bit of time clicking on the Stumble Upon button. It's success at sending you to good sites depends on how other fellow "stumblers" rate various pages. Those that consistently get good ratings, are more likely to be displayed for you.

Give it a try if you like.

We have not investigated what potential security issues installing this toolbar may introduce. As a result, installing it is at your own risk. Also, there may be privacy issues related to the information you submit to this website. You should satisfy yourself that any privacy issues you may have are addressed before using this toolbar.

Never rule out the "geek" factor when we go looking at websites. You've, no doubt, ran across the PBS program, "NOVA," while channel surfing. Perhaps you're someone who regularly watches the program.

If you like science in general or specifically astronomy, physics, geology, geography, medicine, or any other physical science, you'll like the NOVA website.

In fact, you'll be able to find some great videos to watch on your computer. Take, for example, the following section on "The Elegant Universe."

Islandnet.com Hosted Sites

Dr. Who Chronology	Terry's Tiles	T-shirt Magic	The Victoria Gilbert and Sullivan Society

You've never seen history like this before! From 13,700,000,000 BC to 5,000,001,023 AD, this website chronicles the deeds of Dr. Who. Talk about yer long running TV shows! It's all here at this Islandnet.com-hosted website.	If you need tiles, here's the place to go—Terry's Tiles. As their slogan says, "Have We Got Tiles!," you'll probably find what you need, even if it's just advice on how to repair that old caulking or grout around your bathtub or shower. The Terry's Tiles website is hosted with Islandnet.com.	Git yer customized t-shirts here! No, we mean really customized. You can pick your shirt, pick your slogan, pick your artwork, pick your fonts, and pick your colours. It's all up to you. Then again, if yer lazy, y' can just pick something 'n buy it. Yer choice. Take a look at this Islandnet.com-hosted website. The combinations and permutations are endless. .	If anyone is going to like opera, they might find Gilbert & Sullivan's comic operas the ones to see and hear. It'll draw them in. There's ridiculously dramatic acting, unbelievable (for Victorian times) plots, ostentatious and blindingly bright costumes, and fast-paced lyrics laced with double and triple puns, and rhythmic multi-syllabic delivery throughout. It's no surprise there are Gilbert and Sullivan societies around. Islandnet.com hosts the Victoria society.

We Love Websites!

Websites are our business--hosting them and building them. If you need a website--blog, retail, business-to-business, personal, database-driven, or something else--Islandnet has plenty of website development and programming experience. Call or e-mail us if you'd like anything from graphics to nit-picky programming.

$900 for a Domain? - It's a scam!

Some people have got nerve. When you combine nerve with a complete disregard for legality or ethics, you get domain name scams.

You may recall a while back we warned everyone about bogus domain registration notices. We warned people about “Domain Registrar of Canada,” who “domain slams” people into switching their domain to their service—at greatly inflated prices relative to those of most domain registrars. Well “Domain Registrar of Canada” has nothing on this company of thieves.

Can you imagine paying almost $1,000 for a domain registration? Well, apparently these guys are betting some people will. Click on the image to the left for a larger view of the mailed invoice we got here at Islandnet.com.

Although the authors of the invoice tried to make the invoice look official, it really doesn't pass the smell test very well. The English on the document is poor and you are asked to remit payment to a New York address. Also, the website of the supposed registrar doesn't exist—there is no site at the domain name “central-registration_service.com.”

With all that said, perhaps there are people who are new to the whole website thing. They're paying lots of bills during the Christmas season and there's another one that just came in for that newfangled website they just got. Maybe they exclaim, "Wow, domain registration is more expensive than I thought!" then pay the bill.

Take care and watch for scams like this one.

Spam-a-lot - AMTSGI

Some of our customers use the domain "amtsgi.bc.ca" as their domain name when they send and receive e-mails. Those who have been using it are probably aware of a recent spam run that targeted the domain. Here's a notice Rob, one of our tech gurus, posted in our Helpdesk forums.

We are getting reports of users receiving undeliverable emails arriving in there account claiming they sent an email to an address from "username@amtsgi.bc.ca" were the user name is the beginning part of the islandnet email account.

Its because Islandnet.com owns amtsgi.bc.ca so your address @islandnet.com can also be your address @amtsgi.bc.ca.

The bounces are being received because someone is sending spam "spoofing" username@amtsgi.bc.ca and anything in the spam run they are sending unfortunately is returned into your inbox.

We are updating accounts ad people report the problem but we have some customers that use @amtsgi.bc.ca legitimately so we unfortunately cannot do a company-wide block of these emails

If you click on the link below that will take you into the Advanced Settings for PEP Wizard:

- https://helpdesk.islandnet.com/cgi-bin/ms2/admin/pepwizard

In Section 3 Custom Rules add:

delete if to contains "amtsgi.bc.ca"

If you have a customized mailrule and are familiar with editing mailrule files you can use the PEP Editor link below:

- https://helpdesk.islandnet.com/cgi-bin/ms2/admin/pepedit

If your interested in learning more about how PEP can benefit you in canning the spam the full documentation can be found below:

- https://helpdesk.islandnet.com/pep/index.php

Thank you from Rob Turner @ Islandnet.com Technical Support.

Anti-Virus - AVG's Still Free

Many people use the popular Anti-virus program by Grisoft: AVG. If you use it, you may be vaguely aware that in January something big is happening with the program. Warnings sometimes popup on people's desktops warning them that version 7.1 will no longer be supported. No worries, though. AVG is just being upgraded. That's all. (Thanks to Rob for posting the notice below in the Helpdesk forums).

There seems to be a misconception that AVG Free Edition is being discontinued, this is not the case, direct from the AVG Website: http://free.grisoft.com/doc/1

GRISOFT is announcing a new version of the AVG Anti-Virus Free Edition. This new 7.5 version with improved performance and full compatibility with the latest Windows Vista version is available. Users that are using AVG Free 7.1 will be provided with a specific dialog, within the next few weeks, with the opportunity to choose the right option fulfilling their needs. AVG Free 7.1 version will be discontinued on 15th of Jan 2007.

You can download the new 7.5 version from http://free.grisoft.com/

Grisoft recently acquired "Ewido Anti-Spyware" and have renamed it "AVG Anti-Spyware" which is also worth getting, it has a 15 day resident spyware checker but the manual spyware scanner remains active and usable.

If possible I would advise getting the AVG Internet Security Suite that has Anti..Virus, Spyware, and a Firewall which is not free but worth the money in my opinion "http://www5.grisoft.com/doc/products-avg-internet-security/lng/us/tpl/tpl01"

These programs are for Windows XP users, if you want my opinions on good software for Mac's or other versions of Microsoft Windows please email support@islandnet.com.

Tech Savvy Tips - Be a Pro

Here's another pro tip!

The Definition List - <dl><dt></dt><dd></dd></dl>

If you've been around HTML pages for any time, you're familiar with all the usual tags: <html></html>, <body></body>, <p></p>, <div></div>, <table></table>, <td></td> and so on. Paragraphs, layers, tables, unordered lists, ordered lists—you use them all the time.

You may not use "definition list" tags though. Per the title above, they go something like the following:

<dl>
<dt>A Term for Definition Goes Here</dt>
<dd>The Definition Goes Here</dd>
</dl>

"dl" stands for "definition list." "dt" stands for "definition term." "dd" stands for the "definition."

Here's what the above code looks like without any CSS applied to it:

A Term for Definition Goes Here: The Definition Goes Here

Here's what the same definition list looks like with some CSS applied to it:

A Term for Definition Goes Here: The Definition Goes Here

The definition list is ideal for, well, definitions. You can also use it in place of a table where you need to repeat table-like information. For example, you could use a definition list for a form (the form actually does nothing so pressing “submit” won't do anything except reload this page):

There's less code required, which is good!

You should note, though, that using the definition list and CSS as a general layout tool (i.e. for the form just used as an example above) can cause usability problems for people using text browsers and other tools for the visually impaired. When a text browser runs across a definition list, that's what it expects for content—a definition list, not form fields or anything else.

Legal Stuff

The information displayed in this newsletter and any previous or subsequent newsletters is for information purposes only. Islandnet.com, AMT Solutions Group, Inc. and related companies are not responsible for any losses or damages resulting from the use of information in the newsletter. While the information contained in this newsletter is believed accurate, readers must verify information for themselves. Sites we link to do not necessarily represent the opinions or policies of AMT Solutions Group, Inc.