[FADCA] Ramblings
Freeman Crosby
mail at fcrosby.com
Mon Mar 28 14:18:39 EST 2005
First I must apologize for my later remarks for the following reasons and a
few more I care not to mention:
--------------------------------------------
1. It's a cold, rainy and dreary day.
2. I'm down to only 25 mg of my "happy pill" daily since my wife died a
year and a half ago ( pill's name deleted to get by qth's filter).
3. I'm going to weight watchers and have lost 14.5 lbs. I now ( usually )
have only one beer a day which cuts into my food allocation points and may
make me grumpy at times. ( If I lose another .5 lbs and I get another
"Star" but overate at Easter dinner and may not make it this week, it's
rumored they may take my last star away).
4. The weather has been cold and rainy with Red Tide since January. No
exercise at all except walking around Walmart.
5. I have a very persistent leak in the roof over my bed.
6. I loaded Turbo Tax Saturday and am ready to start doing my taxes but
want to reply so I can concentrate on them.
7, It's now 10:30 and I've been at the computer updating various ( not
FADCA) web sites writing this and answering e-mail since 8:00.
That over with I must add to Russ's comments on the database.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
I usually just "lurk" until I get a direct e-mail but in reviewing past
postings about the way we are handling the web site and database they
seem to outnumber any positive comments or suggestions.
It's easy for you guys to suggest all sorts of additions and features, most
of which I've added but if the basic structure is changed I'm outa-here.
Fancy stuff is great but you will note our database is written in old
fashioned HTML which can be read in any *browser ( frames or not )
It may look a bit outdated but has been on-line a long time and we want
visitors to be able to read our site in Timbuktu with any old version
of *Netscape or *Mosaic, I'm still getting e-mail from counties where they
don't have all the things we do and requesting programs I've written in the
mid 80's so they can get started in packet.
They do not need CGI scripts, Java, SQL , Open Office etc., Server side
functions, Front Page add ons or even an Adobe Reader to view most of our site.
The data is sent to me by Russ and automatically parsed into the HTML web
pages by various programs I've written.
These have been developed over several years as each new change or feature
has been requested.
I'll admit the database pages (mainly) are not perfect and do not validate
as valid <!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional//EN"> as
the code was written before HTML 4.0 came out, but the errors are slight
and when I get time I may fix that
BUT - The last time I checked most of the rest of the FADCA site DOES
validate.
Please check any page you hit and let me know if it doesn't as it is time
consuming to go through each one and I may have made an error when
updating. ( only do pages with the "Valid HTML" link please as some are
done with Word or other WYSIWYG programs to preserve formatting and will
never be right, believe me)
In the past you have praised other sites and databases like the FRC's, hey
anyone can dump a PDF file on-line, ours can be searched LIVE by Frequency,
Type, District, Callsign and Inactive stations. ( By the way check their
site for VALID HTML ) Link removed to get by qth net's filter
I only checked a few pages but none of FRC's validated
While on the subject of the FRC which I have been reminded we should have a
site as nice as theirs I can't find a link to FADCA, may have missed it but
was told we MUST have one to theirs.
--------------------------------------------
Bring up one of our database pages and "View Source" you can see the way
the software indexes them, simple but efficient.
I've had comments "you can't print it":
For those computer impaired:
Assuming you are using Windows of some sort, (** Mac/Linux users are on
their own, but they usually can do these type of things without help)
Suggestion 1.
Open the page you wish to print in a *browser ( Right Mouse Click, [Select
All], [File], [Print], In the "Page Range Box" Chose [Selection], Click on
the [PRINT] button. Wow !
Heck, you could even just hit [Print] and 10-1 it would work.
Suggestion 2.
Open the page you wish to print ( Right Mouse Click, [Select All], Right
Mouse Click again [Copy]
Open Word Pad, Word, Open Office, Word Perfect, Wordstar, Edit or whatever
your favorite Text Editor is and [Paste] ( various editors will have
different ways of doing this and some work better than others (** See above)
You can now print it, or EVEN save it for future reference as a document to
search through etc.( make sure you remember where you put it ) [CTL+F]
usually will search for you.
Suggestion 3.
If you want a graphic try:
[Print Screen] ( that is above the SysRq key on my keyboard ) Use
[Alt+Print Screen] to get just the window in focus.
You can then paste that into Word pad or other editors as above and print.
( or even a graphics program to crop & edit what you want)
Graphics aren't much use but real simple for the extremely computer
impaired. Can't get the whole page ? Change your screen resolution till you
see the whole thing, then [Print Screen] as above . Refer to your "Windows
Help File for this difficult maneuver" You may need the proper Video
driver, if so you may want to follow suggestion 5.
Suggestion 4.
In most *browsers you can go to the upper left and click on [File] and then
[Save As] and get the whole thing into your computer as an HTML page,
remember where you put it and you can reference it as often as you wish
"off line"
Suggestion 5.
Send me an e-mail and ask for the page you want and I'll do it for you and
reply with an attachment in whatever format you wish.
These are only a few of the many ways to utilize the database ( using
whatever you already have in your computer )
--------------------------------------------
We have not touched on the "Layered Network Map" which I think is pretty
slick, we get complaints of data errors but few positive comments, updates
or corrections. You can still navigate it in a "Non Frames" *browser if you
want, and even the "Hot Spots" work.
Bob Harrison did the original map, Bud contributes the data and I've made
it "click-able"
--------------------------------------------
How about all those HTML versions of Bud's Power Point Presentations,
believe me they didn't convert themselves. Again about any old *browser
will view them , no pdf reader, no MS Media Player, Real Player or Flash
Player to see them.
--------------------------------------------
Another strange thing just popped into mind, I'm wondering how many
actually look at the site, some of the "suggestions" I get for ideas are
already there.
--------------------------------------------
I'm only hitting on a few points here as the taxes are still waiting and
it's 12:30, WAY past time for my delicious WW lunch and I'm not getting
anywhere BUT:
Aside from Bud & Russ I can remember no one helping in any way to make
things better, lot's of comments and requests for the latest and fanciest
features but no response to trying to get the basic data correct, we are
not mind readers and only have what we have to work with.
As Russ has said, anyone wanting to take our jobs should line up, write
Bill for confirmation and I'll be happy to delete over 40mb of web space
devoted to FADCA I pay for personally and have FADCA.org transferred to
another domain.
I'll even supply the web site as zip file en-total.
I guess I'd then have to start paying dues as Bud credits me $10.00 a year
to offset my costs.
I have even had comments the $19.00 Domain registration should be less and
we should shop around, I'm picking up the tab over the $10.00 credit so
what difference does it make.
Don't forget with my setup we share 250mb of web space which I can allocate
to to any of my 8-10 sites as needed and we have built in re-direct from
the old domain so we didn't have to notify everyone who had links to it.
This is the main reason I stay where I am as web space is cheap now, but
remember years ago when 5mb was a lot and I had the 250mb THEN.
I have about 100mb free at the moment
I type slow and make a lot of errors so it's now 1:30 pm and I'm really
hungry but can look forward to my 2:30 beer, actually this may be a 2 beer
day or if I keep the same pace as I have and can have a beer with lunch..
Hope your weather is better than mine,
Finally Thanks to Bud & Russ for all they do
73/Free
W1NPR
P.S.
* Browser ( What you look at web pages with )
Guess it's too late to start the Taxes today, can't miss my beer time and I
want to be alert, glad I wrote this first by the way.
I had this all composed and highlighted in HTML format and when I went to
send remembered it has to be plain text, you really missed a lot of points
I'd emphasized , not sure I should hit send but here goes
This is really frustrating now as I keep getting this returned as it keeps
getting rejected by qth's filter, hope I have all the bad stuff out this time
----------------------------------------------------------------------
At 12:37 AM 03/28/2005 -0500, you wrote:
>I am responding or commenting on several messages that have been sent today
>regarding Paclink and the database.
>
><snip>
>III. The FADCA Database.
>
>I have some updates that I have received that still need to be posted to the
>database. For the delay, I apologize.
>
>If District Directors want a copy of the data base for their District to use
>to see what the details are, I can send it. I have sent it before but
>received practically no response. I won't send it unless a Director asks me
>for it.
>
>Sysops or owners can go to the FADCA website and submit an request an online
>request for coordination of devices that the FADCA coordination policy says
>can be coordinated on a frequency in the band plan listed on the WEB site.
>If a new coordination is being requested, and the new coordination is
>replacing a currently listed device, please explain in the comments section
>of the coordination. Don't send me an email. While you may know what has
>happened in your area, I have no way of knowing and I don't read minds very
>well.
>
>I am concerned that some people have submitted information regarding a
>station or device listed on the database and they are not the registered
>sysop or trustee. PLEASE CONTACT THE LISTED SYSOP OR TRUSTEE or document
>that the listed person no longer is in the area, is no longer an operating
>Amateur, or that attempts to contact the listed SYSOP or Trustee have not
>been successful. I don't want us to get in the position of having deleted a
>device or changed the coordination of a device without the coordination
>holder aware of an consenting to the deletion or change. I hope we can do a
>better job than some repeater coordinators have done in this regard.
>
>Don't send me a list of changes. They often have no relationship to what is
>in the data base and it appears that some people who submit information
>don't even look in the database that is displayed on the Web Site to see
>what is in the database before sending a lot of "updates" of things that
>don't even exist in the database.
>
>I will update the database with what I have received as I have fallen behind
>with a lot of things (I once thought were very important) since December 15,
>2003. I will use the program we have now as it does everything we need it to
>do and Free is set up to receive the updates using the current program and
>enter the coordination requests I have received.
>
>I don't have time or the interest anymore to start learning a new data base
>program or re-entering data that is in the existing database.
>
>If you want someone to take over and maintain the database on some other
>program I will be more than pleased to send them what I have and they can do
>it. I will have to have someone take it over in the next 18 months anyway
>and now might be a better time than later.
>
>Russ
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