Friday, September 26, 2008
Why The T-Mobile G1 Is Better Than The Apple iPhone
All the hype came to its crescendo this week as T-Mobile, Google and HTC jointly released the T-Mobile G1, the first commercially available mobile device based on the open source Linux Google Android operating system.
The touch screen G1, known to some as the HTC Dream, bears some similarity to the Apple iPhone, which saw amazing uptake with the release of its 3G model. Even the original iPhone, released 15 months ago, still garners a great deal of hype.
And while it's uncertain whether the T-Mobile G1 and Google Android will unseat the iPhone for smart phone supremacy, the G1 is better than the iPhone, though it might not be as pretty.
At the G1's official launch on Tuesday, the main focus was on Google Android's openness and its work with the Open Handset Alliance. Along with unveiling the physical device itself, the Google and T-Mobile teams also launched the Android Market. Similar in concept to the Apple AppStore, Android Market enables third-party application developers to offer their apps to be used on the device.
The Android Market, simply put, is better than Apple's AppStore.
Google's hands-off approach means there will be no whining about what applications do and don't get picked up. Essentially, a developer can offer his or her application on the market without fees, review or even Google's stamp of approval. With Apple keeping a tight grip on the apps offered in its AppStore -- anyone remember IAMRICH? -- Android Market will be a breath of fresh air.
The G1 may earn a leg up on Steve Jobs' baby because T-Mobile is a better carrier than AT&T. It might come as a surprise, considering T-Mobile currently doesn't support 3G in every major metropolitan area, but the G1 will also support Wi-Fi and 2G networks until T-Mobile gets its high-speed 3G initiative fully up and running. Many potential iPhoners have been put off by the AT&T mandate, which is now in place until 2010, often complaining about the data plan pricing and unsatisfactory service.
While T-Mobile is bound to offer a few dead zones of its own, it has set reasonable pricing on its plans, offering a limited plan for $25 and an unlimited Web and messaging plan for $35. It's estimated that over a two-year period a voice and data plan for the G1 could save consumers nearly $400 compared to similar service for an iPhone. Plus, the G1 comes in around $20 cheaper than the cheapest iPhone model with a two-year contract.
Where the iPhone is sleek and slender, the G1 comes with a little more girth and weight. But the extra fractions of an inch and added ounces are worth it for the physical full QWERTY keypad. Similar in style to T-Mobile's now-iconic Sidekick line, the G1's screen slides up to reveal a full keyboard, with enough short cuts to ease Web surfing and make messaging simpler -- without relying just on a touch-screen keyboard to get the job done.
The G1 also offers multimedia messaging, copy and paste, voice dialing and a removable battery, which the iPhone notably lack.
And for those who buy devices for looks more than functionality, the G1 comes in three colors, while the iPhone hits just two: black and white. The G1 adds brown to the mix.
Both devices also offer a host of similar features and functions. Both have a music player, Bluetooth, GPS, GoogleMaps with Satellite View and Traffic and POP3 and IMAP email. The G1, however, relies on Amazon's MP3 store and the iPhone on Apple iTunes for music. The G1 also wraps into GoogleMaps Street View and a compass mode that orients the screen as the user moves, features the iPhone is missing. No, the G1 currently doesn't support Microsoft Exchange for email, which the iPhone does, but it does offer push Gmail and the device's makers anticipate someone will create an Exchange application for it soon and offer it in the Android Market.
Oh, and the G1 has a 3.2 megapixel camera, a touch higher than the iPhone's 2 megapixels.
Will these reasons be enough to propel the G1 past the iPhone? That remains to be seen. Research firm Strategy Analytics is predicting that the G1 could sell 400,000 units by year's end, accounting for roughly 4 percent of the smart phone market. While analysts at Piper Jaffray have predicted that Apple will have sold 5 million iPhone 3Gs in the past quarter. Surely, Google and T-Mobile have an uphill battle, but its strong feature set and subtle differences could be the boom the smart phone market needed for Apple to find its true rival.Google Patent Could Kill Off Cellphone Contracts
Google's keyword auctions redefined web advertising. Now, a patent filing reveals, the search company wants to do the same thing for wireless services.
Google's patent filing describes "devices, systems and methods" that would automatically poll nearby wireless services to find the best price for a voice or a data connection for a "portable communications device." That connection might come via a cellphone carrier, a WiMax provider, or even a Wi-Fi hotspot. According to the patent, users can either manually select the bid they like best or they can allow the device to connect automatically with the lowest-cost provider.
The upshot? Just as advertisers know they're always getting the market price for keywords on Google's AdWords system, wireless users would always get the market price for wireless data service -- or phone calls. The system could potentially free users from cellphone contracts and locked phones that tie them to one service provider and allow them to switch from one carrier to another, seamlessly, based on which carrier had the lowest price at that moment.
"It is an interesting notion," says Neil Strother, mobile analyst for Jupiter Research. "The idea would be that the device or system is smart enough that the switching could be invisible and in the background and, if they could patent it, it could be very disruptive."
Granted, a lot of obstacles stand in the way of this vision, not least of which would be the unwillingness of entrenched cellular carriers to play ball. Also, the system would require compatible software not only on handsets, but also on any potential wireless connection points -- a major infrastructure hurdle. But the patent is striking for its scope -- and for the glimpse it gives of Google's lofty wireless ambitions.
The patent covers both voice calls and data transmission sessions and also covers a device that will wirelessly connect to a number of carriers, pull pricing information and then select a carrier based on the information.
The patent, filed in March 2007 but published today, is an indicator of how the company sees mobile as its next playground.
Already the launch of the T-Mobile G1 phone (carrying the Google brand and Google's Android operating system) has established the company as a serious contender in the mobile business.
Mobile, after all, is the among the few technology sectors that have the potential to be a bigger business for Google than search.
And the patent goes along with Google's mantra of opening up the wireless industry.
In its patent, Google has said it wants to bring together all the different modes of connectivity and offer consumers a device that potentially make them agnostic to the carrier they use.
With the proliferation of wired and wireless access technologies including DSL, cable, Wi-Fi or 3G networks, consumers are struggling to unify their communications, says Google's patent. Most users have a land line at home or work, a cell phone for mobility and sometimes a PDA for data access.
"And they may have a different provider for each of these services, even though, to the user, they are just communications applications and not much more," says the patent.
Though some attempts have been made to simplify communications, they are limited and restrictive, claims the patent.
And that's where Google could step in. If successful, the company could offer a system that could help a single device operate on multiple networks.
The patent cites an example of a mobile phone that could run on a home broadband network and transition to a Wi-Fi network or a cellular network outside.
"The connections may, in appropriate circumstances, be provided by different telecommunications providers, and may involve hand-offs of a particular communication session from one provider to another," says the patent.
The advantages to the system are clear. It would help users have access to the lowest cost network at all times.
"In addition to cost as a factor in selecting appropriate telecommunications providers, users may opt for alternative auction models based on maximal bandwidth offered, best coverage/reliability, or some combination of options," says the patent.
To be sure, the patent may not amount to much. Even Google with its might may not be able to break the stranglehold of telecom carriers in North America, and it is unlikely most wireless carriers or telecom service providers would play ball.
"There is a lot of heavy lifting that would be required in the background to pull this off," says Strother. "The software has to be really smart and the device has to be well tuned to detect and switch quickly across different technologies."
"It's not impossible," says Strother, "but it would have to be a very nifty trick that they would have to pull off."
But even if telecom carriers don't sign on, Google can potentially pull this off -- albeit slowly. Last year, the company participated in the federal government’s auction of wireless spectrum in the 700 Megahertz band. Though Google failed to win any licenses, it bagged a commitment from the Federal Communications Commission that spectrum owners, Verizon and AT&T, among others, can't block out internet or telecom rivals.
Meanwhile, the company has invested about $500 million in the Sprint-Clearwire WiMax wireless broadband network
"It is not clear how big WiMax will be, but if it takes off, then it could be an alternative to current carriers," says Strother.
The biggest challenge then would be in convincing the FCC, says Strother. "The question is would the FCC go along with this?"
So far Google has been pushing the FCC to open up the airwaves, and just maybe it can convince it to take this step.
Eventually if Google can realize a part of its vision and convince customers to sign on, carriers will have little choice but to work with the company, say industry experts.
"You can't stop innovation," says Frank Meehan, director and general manager of 3G Handsets and Products for the Hutchison Whampoa Group. "As carriers we can instead choose to become platforms that drive innovation and look at building value around advertising and applications."
Google phone to hit Indian stores in December
Taiwanese handset major High Tech Computer (HTC) is planning to launch the Android platform-powered phone (popularly referred to as the Google phone) in India this December.
The price hoverer higher than its US debut tag of around Rs. 8200.
Ajay Sharma, country manager, HTC (India), told Business Standard: “We would prefer a mobile operator tie-up to introduce the Google phone in India in December.”
HTC’s G1 (the Google phone model) will cost more since “the Indian market does not work on the handset subsidy model".
Android is a Linux-based operating system for mobile devices that was announced in November last year and developed by the Open Handset Alliance — a group comprising players like Google, HTC, Intel, Motorola and Samsung.
Research firm Strategy Analytics has predicted that the G1 could sell 400,000 units by the end of 2008, accounting for 4 per cent of the smart-phone market.
To spur the growth of third-party applications, Google recently announced the Android Market, similar to Apple's App Store, where consumers can buy and download content for its mobile platform.
Labelled as competition to Apple’s iPhone, which is priced at Rs 31,000 for the 8GB model, the HTC G1 could be priced cheaper to maintain an edge in India. Currently, HTC has smart-phones in the Indian market priced between Rs 10,000 and Rs 35,000. Google India officials were unavailable for comment.
HTC’s device is a 3G phone with a touch-screen, slider keyboard, GPS and Wi-Fi.
HTC India, which has an exclusive partnership with Airtel, is also open to selling the G1 phone through independent retail channels. “We will decide the business model soon,” said Sharma.
He believes that Google’s software platform and operating system for mobile devices has the benefit of leveraging on more than 100 million online web users as well as its open source development platform and advertising-oriented business model.
Although India does not have 3G yet, Sharma said applications like maps and search could find takers. “We expect to build volumes in India and the Android-based phone should make HTC a bigger player in the wireless handset market,” he said.
HTC India hopes to sell 600,000 mobile devices in 2009, having doubled sales this year from 100,000 in 2007.
Tuesday, September 23, 2008
Android Makes its Debut in T-Mobile G1
After less than a year since the initial Android announcement, T-Mobile USA launches today the first handset that uses Android's software stack: a smartphone built by HTC, which is known for manufacturing Windows Mobile portable devices.
T-Mobile G1 showcases some of the most advanced capabilities of Android, by including a touchscreen, QWERTY keyboard, accelerated 3D graphics, Wi-Fi and 3G support, GPS and accelerometer. The device won't have an impressive design and it won't be as easy to use as an iPhone, but it will certainly be able to run a lot of interesting applications.
Android's marketplace will accept any applications without a preliminary review, so that users decide whether they're useful. That means Angelo DiNardi's MailWrangler application won't be rejected because it duplicates the functionality from a built-in application. "Developers will be able to make their content available on an open service hosted by Google that features a feedback and rating system similar to YouTube. (...) Content can debut in the marketplace after only three simple steps: register as a merchant, upload and describe your content and publish it," explains Android's blog.
Even if the first device fails to impress, it will still be a success because Android pushes the boundaries further. "Consumers will see cheaper and more innovative mobile devices and services, which will inevitably feature more engaging, easier-to-use interfaces - as well as a rich portfolio of applications," envisions Open Handset Alliance's FAQ.
We will find more at 10:30 a.m. EDT, when T-Mobile and Google will announce the device in a press conference that will be webcasted live.
Update. TmoNews has more information about the device:
Size: 4.6 x 2.16 x 0.63 in (117 x 55 x 16 mm)
Weight: 5.6 oz (159 g)
Display: 65K color screen, HVGA (480 x 320)
Talk Time: 5 hours
Standby Time: 130 hours
Memory: expandable up to 8 GB
Camera: 3.1 MP
T-Mobile G1 showcases some of the most advanced capabilities of Android, by including a touchscreen, QWERTY keyboard, accelerated 3D graphics, Wi-Fi and 3G support, GPS and accelerometer. The device won't have an impressive design and it won't be as easy to use as an iPhone, but it will certainly be able to run a lot of interesting applications.
Android's marketplace will accept any applications without a preliminary review, so that users decide whether they're useful. That means Angelo DiNardi's MailWrangler application won't be rejected because it duplicates the functionality from a built-in application. "Developers will be able to make their content available on an open service hosted by Google that features a feedback and rating system similar to YouTube. (...) Content can debut in the marketplace after only three simple steps: register as a merchant, upload and describe your content and publish it," explains Android's blog.
Even if the first device fails to impress, it will still be a success because Android pushes the boundaries further. "Consumers will see cheaper and more innovative mobile devices and services, which will inevitably feature more engaging, easier-to-use interfaces - as well as a rich portfolio of applications," envisions Open Handset Alliance's FAQ.
We will find more at 10:30 a.m. EDT, when T-Mobile and Google will announce the device in a press conference that will be webcasted live.
Update. TmoNews has more information about the device:Size: 4.6 x 2.16 x 0.63 in (117 x 55 x 16 mm)
Weight: 5.6 oz (159 g)
Display: 65K color screen, HVGA (480 x 320)
Talk Time: 5 hours
Standby Time: 130 hours
Memory: expandable up to 8 GB
Camera: 3.1 MP
Monday, September 22, 2008
Send FREE SMS to mobile phones in India via Email
Send FREE SMS to mobile phones in India via Email without any cost and is unlimited!
Just send an email from your email account to the Mobile Email of your friend and it will SMSed to your friend mobile phone. It will be delivered in minutes, depending on the email transmission. If the cell is switched off, then the message will be delivered as soon as it comes to the network. Example: If your friend cell number is 9843012345, then your friend's mobile number series is 9843 and so you have to send an email to your friend as 919843012345@bplmobile.com
Use the table to below find out mobile email of our friend.
State / City - India | Cellular Operator | Mobile Number Series | Mobile Email SMS |
| Andhra Pradesh | AirTel | 9849 | 919849xxxxxx@airtelap.com |
| Andhra Pradesh | Idea Cellular | 9848 | 9848xxxxxx@ideacellular.net |
| Chennai | Skycell / Airtel | 9840 | 919840xxxxxx@airtelchennai.com |
| Chennai | RPG Cellular | 9841 | 9841xxxxxx@rpgmail.net |
| Delhi | Airtel | 9810 | 919810xxxxxx@airtelmail.com |
| Delhi | Hutch | 9811 | 9811xxxxxx@delhi.hutch.co.in |
| Gujarat | Idea Cellular | 9824 | 9824xxxxxx@ideacellular.net |
| Gujarat | Airtel | 9898 | 919898xxxxxx@airtelmail.com |
| Gujarat | Celforce / Fascel | 9825 | 9825xxxxxx@celforce.com |
| Goa | Airtel | 9890 | 919890xxxxxx@airtelmail.com |
| Goa | BPL Mobile | 9823 | 9823xxxxxx@bplmobile.com |
| Goa | Idea Cellular | 9822 | 9822xxxxxx@ideacellular.net |
| Haryana | Airtel | 9896 | 919896xxxxxx@airtelmail.com |
| Haryana | Escotel | 9812 | 9812xxxxxx@escotelmobile.com |
| Himachal Pradesh | Airtel | 9816 | 919816xxxxxx@airtelmail.com |
| Karnataka | Airtel | 9845 | 919845xxxxxx@airtelkk.com |
| Kerala | Airtel | 9895 | 919895xxxxxx@airtelkerala.com |
| Kerala | Escotel | 9847 | 9847xxxxxx@escotelmobile.com |
| Kerala | BPL Mobile | 9846 | 9846xxxxxx@bplmobile.com |
| Kolkata | Airtel | 9831 | 919831xxxxxx@airtelkol.com or Net 2 Cell |
| Madhya Pradesh | Airtel | 9893 | 919893xxxxxx@airtelmail.com |
| Maharashtra | Airtel | 9890 | 919890xxxxxx@airtelmail.com |
| Maharashtra | BPL Mobile | 9823 | 9823xxxxxx@bplmobile.com |
| Maharashtra | Idea Cellular | 9822 | 9822xxxxxx@ideacellular.net |
| Mumbai | Airtel | 9892 | 919892xxxxxx@airtelmail.com |
| Mumbai | BPL Mobile | 9821 | 9821xxxxxx@bplmobile.com |
| Punjab | Airtel | 9815 | 919815xxxxxx@airtelmail.com |
| Pondicherry | BPL Mobile | 9843 | 9843xxxxxx@bplmobile.com |
| Tamil Nadu | Airtel | 9894 | 919894xxxxxx@airtelmail.com |
| Tamil Nadu | BPL Mobile | 9843 | 919843xxxxxx@bplmobile.com |
| Tamil Nadu | Aircel | 9842 | 9842xxxxxx@airsms.com |
| Uttar Pradesh (West) | Escotel | 9837 | 9837xxxxxx@escotelmobile.com |
MSC Code for Cellular Circle Operations
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Airtel: Andhra Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Chennai (Skycell), Delhi, Gujarat, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Goa, Karnataka, Kerala, Kolkata, Maharashtra, Mumbai, Punjab, Tamil Nadu, Uttar Pradesh (West)
Hutch: Delhi
Escotel: Haryana, Uttar Pradesh (West), Kerala
BPL Mobile: Mumbai, Maharashtra, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Pondicherry, Goa
Idea Cellular: Andhra Pradesh (Tata), Maharashtra, Goa, Gujarat
RPG Cellular: Chennai
Aircel: Tamil Nadu
Celforce (Fascel): Gujarat
Note: Ananthapuri.com is not responsible for any errors in the above list or any information provided in this page, and also delays in the message delivery system. Message Delivery time depends upon the cellular network.
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The Unified Messaging Service from BSNL allows to send SMS messages to all BSNL cell phones in India. You can send SMS emails to BSNL phones as mobilenumber@bsnlumN.com
The email domain is different for each region - bsnlumn.com (North), bsnlums.com (South), bsnlume.com (East) and bsnlumw.com (West).
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PC to Mobile SMS Links » Send a free SMS to your friends' mobile from the Yahoo! Messenger - You can send an SMS to Hutch, Orange, Airtel Escotel and Spice Punjab and Spice Karnataka users in India and AT&T users in USA.
» SMS in Malayalam and other local languages - SMS is no longer just available via English language, you can send and SMS in Hindi, Gujarati, Marathi, Bengali, Kannada, Malayalam, Punjabi, Tamil and Telugu! Receive MSN Messenger messages from your mobile device, download ring tones.
Sunday, September 21, 2008
How to Create my Own Website
How to Create my Own Website
a guide for beginners
You are welcome to evaluate this article
with the stars in the rating tool above :-)
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A web page – what is it?
A simple web page is usually a nicely designed text document, with embedded images and with links to other web pages. (More complicated web pages might have other features, too.)
While files used by word processor programs have .doc, or .txt extension, file names of web documents are ending in .html so that the computer can detect, that the file is supposed to be opened with a web browser (e.g. Internet Explorer, or Firefox). Another common feature of text and web documents is that, similarly to word processors, there are web page editors available. Web page editors will save your documents in HTML format. A document created this way is ready to be uploaded to a server.
Does a webpage work only on web servers?
Before, or instead of, publishing your web page on the Internet, you can place it to the hard drive of your computer, too. It makes no difference to a browser program to download a web page from a folder on your C: drive or from a remote computer (web server). This is very helpful anyway, because this way you can try out your website on your own computer before uploading it to a web server.
The browser program will open your document if you enter the folder and file name. This may be e.g. C:/documents/webpage.html on your computer. The difference is that if you want to open a HTML file that is already uploaded in a folder of a server, you will need a domain name too, so that the browser program can find the remote computer on the net. The domain name will direct the browser to the root directory affiliated with this domain. Now you only have to provide the domain, the folder and file names to the browser in order to download an HTML document from the server:
http://www.example.com/ documents/webpage.html = domain/folder/file name
You surely have already opened many web pages simply by typing in the domain name, without any folder, or file names. This easy way of connecting to web sites is made possible by the servers, because, if you enter only a domain name, the server will automatically look for a file called index.html in the root directory. So if you have a website composed of a number of web pages, you will have to call the main page index.html
HTML codes
HTML codes were designed to help in formatting the text and other objects on a web page. (HTML = HyperText Markup Language.) As mentioned earlier, there are web page editor programs available that will generate HTML documents for you, just like word processors produce text documents. One of the free editor programs can be downloaded here: http://nvudev.com/download.php
However, you can create HTML documents without professional web editors as well, because codes are quite easy to use. All you need is a Notepad, or any simple word processor. When saving your document, make sure the extension is .html
It is advisable to open HTML files only with very basic word processors (e.g. Notepad), that save your documents in simple text format. More sophisticated word processors will put their own codes into the text files while you are editing them. These codes may not comply with HTML standards and will not be understood by web browsers.
A simple unit of text, or other object, formatted in HTML, is called an HTML element. An element will look like this:
So if you want to make a sentence bold, you need to type this into the HTML document:
This sentence will be bold
To set the color, you type this:
This text is blue
If you are interested in learning more codes, there are plenty of resources available on the Internet.
Introduction to HTML: http://www.w3schools.com/HTML/html_intro.asp
Try it editor: http://www.w3schools.com/HTML/html_examples.asp
An HTML tutorial: http://www.htmlcodetutorial.com/document/
Other files and codes to improve your website
It is enough to upload a single HTML document to the server in order to create a fully functional website. However, an HTML file contains only text, which is formatted by the codes. If you want to include images, videos, sounds, or other objects, first you have to provide them in separate files. Then, in the HTML document, you need to include references to them (folder and file name), in the part of the document where you would like to include them.
A web site will usually consist of:
1. HTML files (one for each web page on your site)
2. image, video, etc. files (references to them provided in the HTML documents)
2. image, video, etc. files (references to them provided in the HTML documents)
3. possibly other files too (e.g. CSS files for advanced formatting, or PHP files for dynamic pages)
If you have all the files ready, you only need to upload them to the server or to your hard drive.
CSS, PHP, JavaScript and other codes may be used for more advanced sites. There will be a short summary about them later on in this essay.
Uploading your files to a web server
Web hosting is relatively cheap, especially if you have a simple static website. Even free hosting is available at many places.
If you are a beginner, it is a good idea to gain experiences on a server where hosting is free of charge. There are, however, some disadvantages if you choose free servers: the lack of good customer service and that they will usually put ads in one of the corners of your site.
Web developers would typically say that it is not advisable to choose free hosting if you have a serious site.
Before the site becomes fully operational, you need to register a domain name. The hosting provider will do it for you for a fee and you have to wait for a couple of days or weeks for the approval, depending on the type of domain. In the case of free hosting, you don't have to bother about registering a domain, you usually get a free sub-domain immediately after you have opened your account.
After you have finalized the structure of your site and tried it out on your own hard drive, the files can be uploaded to the server. Create the folders (if needed) in the root directory of the server and upload the files. If you have been using a template, the original folder structure can remain as it was downloaded. Make sure all the references pointing at the different folders, pages, images, etc. are correct in the documents, because web editor programs sometimes might make unexpected modifications in the files.
The most common way of uploading the files is through FTP-connection (FTP=File Transfer Protocol). There are many ways to make an FTP-connection; one of them is the Total Commander program. You can download the program at http://www.ghisler.com/
The service provider or your web editor program might also assist you in making FTP-link to the server.
In any case, in order to establish an FTP-connection, you will need the address of the server, the name of your account and a password.
Website templates
There are plenty of free website templates available on the Internet. These templates are professionally formatted, complete sites. You can download your favorite template into a folder of your hard drive (do not forget to check for viruses). If you have a web editor program, open the html file(s) and finalize the web pages. The main page will be called index.html.
In case you don’t have a web editor program, the html files can be edited with simple text editors, too, e.g. with Notepad. After you saved the changes you made in the file, you can check the result by opening it with a browser program.
Some places to download templates from:
www.freecsstemplates.org/css-templates/ www.freelayouts.com/websites
CSS code
Using CSS (Cascading Style Sheets) is an important means to create well formatted web documents. In website templates, the CSS file is usually included in the main folder, together with the HTML files.
One of the main advantages of using CSS is, that the codes defining the “looks” of the webpage are dealt with separately, thus the HTML document doesn’t have to be full with repeated formatting codes. This is especially advantageous if you have several pages within a site: you need to define the format only once. When you decide to do any change in the design of your site later on, you only have to edit the CSS file, this will affect all the HTML pages.
Example:
With the following code, Heading 2 will be formatted in the CSS file:
h2 {
text-align: left;
color: blue;
font-family: "Arial";
font-style: italic;
}
In the HTML file, Heading 2 will be defined like this:
text to be formatted
Now, in any html document, affected by this CSS file, Heading 2 will be aligned to the left, and will contain italic, blue, Arial letters.
CSS codes are usually provided in separate files, but may also be included in the HTML file (the latter solution is not advised if you have more than one page to deal with).
For more details, have a look at any CSS course on the Internet, e.g. on the official Microsoft site
Dynamic web pages – JavaScript, PHP, MySQL
The content of static websites can be altered only by uploading a new HTML file to the server instead of the existing one. In contrast to this, dynamic pages are changeable, with the help of different applications, built in the web page, or running on the server.
JavaScript may be one of the least complicated of these applications. It should not be confused with the Java programming language, although there are some similarities between them.
JavaScript is basically a little application that can be built into a HTML document. Web browsers are able to interpret and run the JavaScript. After the web page has been downloaded to the visitor’s computer, the browser will execute the codes, thus, the program, arriving with the HTML page, will run on the user’s computer. (This is why it is called client-side application.)
These applications can be quite diverse; you certainly have encountered many of them. Java Scripts may instantly check whether you type in the correct answers in a questionnaire, or may alter the size of an image when you pull the mouse over it. Diary applications are very common, too.
If you want to place similar tricks into your HTML-page, simply copy the code into the part of the page where you want it to appear. Plenty of ready to use codes are available on the Internet.
Note: Javascript is a very commonly used friendly little program arriving with web pages. However, as the application runs on the user's machine, it also may be used by hackers to create a gateway to your computer for malicious programs from the Internet. This is one of the reasons why it is important to visit only trusted websites and to run a top quality anti-virus and firewall program.
PHP is one of the most common server-side applications. This code also fits into HTML-files, but, unlike client-side JavaScript, PHP will run on the server. Consequently, the dynamic elements of the webpage are finalized by the server and will arrive at the user’s computer in their final shape. A pre-condition to this is that a program running PHP codes must have been installed on the server. The extension of the file has also be changed from .html to .php so that the server can detect there is an application to be run in the page before forwarding it to the reader. Thus, if your main page contains php codes, its name will be index.php instead of index.html.
How does a PHP-script work? Let’s take a webpage hit counter as an example. This application is able to count the number of visits to the page it is installed on. This little program obviously can only be run on the server, because this is where you can follow the hits at the webpage. Every time when a visitor downloads the page, the server automatically runs the PHP code embedded in the page. This short application basically checks the actual number shown by the counter, adds one to it, saves the new number and displays it in the section of the page where the code was placed.
In practice there is a very wide range of PHP applications, starting from this kind of simple codes to complex ones, like full content management systems.
Databases are often needed to support dynamic web pages. In the example above, you only need to store a single number on the server (number of visitors so far). It is enough to create a text file for this purpose (e.g. counter.txt), where the number is saved, and replaced by a new number when there is a new hit. This file can be stored in one of your folders on the server.
There are of course more serious applications with larger, separate databases. Here comes MySQL into consideration, which is one of the most popular database systems. MySQL is used by most of the free forum programs and content management systems, so if you would like to run one of these, make sure the host is able to provide you with MySQL (usually they are).
JavaScripts and PHP Scripts to download: www.hotscripts.com
There are more complicated dynamic sites available as well. You can download ready to use forum programs, then simply upload the files to a server and you will have your forum administered by yourself. Unlike the case of static website templates, here you don’t need to change anything in the downloaded files before uploading them to the web server. You will have to finalize your site through the Internet, using your administrator rights.
Forum programs can be downloaded e.g. at www.phpbb.com or www.simplemachines.org
Before uploading, make sure that the server is capable of running PHP codes and there is a database (MySQL) connected to your account.
Content Management Systems (CMS) are similarly, or even more sophisticated ready to use programs. CMS programs can provide most of the features needed for a Web 2.0 site. Depending on your choice, authorized users may write articles, blogs, comments, create forums, etc., on your site.
Thanks to Content Management Systems, anybody can create professional dynamic websites without any serious knowledge on informatics. The quality of a web page doesn’t necessarily depend on the amount of invested money anymore; good content created by you will be sufficient to become successful. You will need to spend a couple of days, however, to try and learn the way you can administer the CMS.
Some of the best CMS programs can be downloaded at these sites:
Some recommendations before finalizing your website
When you prepare your web pages on your own computer, keep in mind that readers may have different screen resolutions, or browser programs than you. When you are ready with the website it is worth having a look at it with major web browsers (Internet Explorer 6.0 and 7.0, or Firefox) and checking it with different screen resolutions.
You shouldn’t forget either that some of the visitors will have slow Internet connections. If you don’t want to make your site a nightmare for them, do not use large files. Text files are relatively small; a HTML file is usually only a couple of kilobytes. The main problem is caused by images. It is enough to put a few pictures with a size of a couple megabytes on your webpage and it might prove very slow to download. For this reason, web developers prefer to use images with small file sizes. If you don’t have an image editor program on your computer, you can shrink your images at websites on the Internet, e.g.: www.shrinkpictures.com
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