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Month: November 2006

Web 1.5

Web 1.5 Badge

A few days back, someone asked me why I have declared HR’s halfVAST Blog as “100% Web 1.5 Guaranteed,” rather than “100% Web 2.0 Guaranteed.”  Well, the short answer is that because it isn’t Web 2.0.

Here is what halfVAST.com does:

  • uses xHTML 1.0 Strict as its markup language
  • uses CSS to separate layout from content
  • uses <table> tags for tabular data, not for layout
  • uses Javascript for some functions
  • uses PHP and Mysql for dynamic server-side applications and data management.

And here is what halfVAST.com doesn’t do:

  • it does not fully utilize the technologies that are included in most definitions of Web 2.0, such as AJAX.
  • it does not implement the Semantic Web model
  • It does not have mashups in the true definition of the term.

So I use the term “Web 1.5,” as I like to think halfVAST.com is indeed chasing the Web 2.0 Brass Ring, but still needs to take many more rides on the Carousel!

Many sites are advertised as “Web 2.0” or even “Web 3.0” based on their outward appearance…but as we all know, looks can be deceiving.  Sort of reminds me of the Plasma and LCD TV advertisements…some can display true HDTV out-of-the-box while others are “HDTV-Ready” and need an external tuner to provide true HDTV.  You typically have to read the fine print to determine which is offered with a particular make and model.

Fantastic Machine

I got this in an email today. If you’ve never seen it, take a look. It is really impressive.

This incredible machine was built as a collaborative effort between the Robert M. Trammell Music Conservatory and the Sharon Wick School of Engineering at the University of Iowa. Amazingly, 97% of the machine’s components came from John Deere Industries and Irrigation Equipment of Bancroft Iowa, yes farm equipment!

It took the team a combined 13,029 hours of set-up, alignment, calibration, and tuning before filming this video, but as you can see it was WELL worth the effort.

It is now on display in the Matthew Gerhard Alumni Hall at the University and is already slated to be donated to the Smithsonian.

fantastic_machine.wmv

Jury Duty

Jury Duty SummonsOn the 28th of October, I received a summons to report for Jury Duty at the US District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia.  I was to be “on call” for a two week period running from 10 November 2006 through 24 November 2006.

To find out whether you had to report to the Courthouse, you had to call a 1-800 number after 6:00 PM and enter your Juror ID Number. You were either told to report to the Courthouse on a particular day or were given a date to call in again.  On Friday, November 10th, I was instructed to be present in the Jury Assembly room at the Courthouse no later than 8:45 AM the following Monday or bad things would happen to me.  So on Monday, off I went.

So, Monday, I, and about 75 to 100 or so other upstanding citizens who reside in the US Court’s Eastern District of Virginia appeared in the Jury Assembly Room.  If course everybody was really “happy” to be there to do their civic duty, especially the poor guy who had to drive 73 miles one-way to get there.  I was fortunate in that I could take the DC Metro from Vienna to the King Street Station in Alexandria and take a 10 minute walk to the courthouse.

Continue reading “Jury Duty”

The Color Purple, Part II

So why does my blog have a purple theme?   Well maybe its because:

  • I like the color purple
  • Or maybe I was inspired by The Color Purple
  • Or it could be that Barney is my hero
  • Or I might be color-blind
  • Or, as some have implied, I’m a Web 2.0 WannaBe and believe all the hype about using flashy color combinations
  • Or maybe I have a thing for Purple Cows
  • Or maybe because once upon a time I read this Zane Grey novel
  • Or maybe it was because I did some searches on Google and got 1,200,000,000 hits for Red, 941,000,000 hits for Blue and only 9,250,000 hits for Purple…and I decided to help Purple bump up its Google Ranking.
  • Or it could possibly be because of this or this.
  • Or maybe even one of these.

Or maybe the real reason is…

Continue reading “The Color Purple, Part II”

The Color Purple

In case you haven’t noticed, HR’s halfVAST Blog has become more colorful. In particular, it now has a Purple theme.

Why purple, you ask? Stay tuned..more on this to come in the near future.