| Technical requirements | |
|---|---|
| Screen resolution | Should be at least 800x600 (I am unable to test the site at 640x480 myself). |
| Browser | I test the site using at least Microsoft Internet Explorer and Netscape Navigator, which are still the world's two most popular browsers. I design the site to work well in text-only browsers, talking browsers, etc., but cannot test all environments for compatibility. |
| Operating system | This should not really be a factor, but I use Microsoft Windows XP (Professional). |
| Cascading style sheets | This site does use a CSS to influence the look, but should also be perfectly functional without it. |
| Cookies | None (why would this site need them?). |
| JavaScript | Only one piece of JavaScript, in a banner on my GTA3 page. It's a ready-made banner that offers me benefits to have on my site, but when it is practicable I will get rid of it. |
| Frames | I got rid of these in favour of inline frames a while ago now, and have never looked back. I intend to replace inline frames with objects (which I gather are more flexible and have wider compatibility), but my real ambition is to upgrade my webhosting and switch to ASP over ordinary HTML. This will have several benefits, including better compatibility, but costs even more money than I'm paying out now. Sorry. |
If you have any trouble with compatibility, even using an obscure (but up-to-date) browser or something, please contact me to let me know. In fact, if you use an obscure browser and it works fine, let me know about that too! I like to know if I'm doing things right or wrong.
My site used to be hosted at FreeServe, but that version is out of date. Unfortunately I did not replace the entire site with a redirection before I closed my account with them. Bizarrely, they have continued to host my site even though my account with them closed a long time (possibly years!) ago. But if you look at the menu on the left-hand side of that version, you will see that the copyright notice contains a link to the domain leevclarke.net, which is the only URL you should use for my site. The same is true for versions of my site that were listed at GeoCities.com - the old addresses are just out of date.
No, and it never will. Popups are so easy to block now - Netscape Navigator and the Opera browser are among the best general-purpose browsers out there, and both feature built-in popup suppression (Microsoft have finally added this functionality to Internet Explorer with Windows XP Service Pack 2, but it's still a shoddy second-rate browser). So even if I did stoop to such levels as to use pop-ups, most surfers just wouldn't even see them. If you see any popups at all while visiting this website then it is because your computer has become infected with adware, which sneaks onto your system via other (usually "free") software and actually serves extra ads to you based on the sites you visit! The solution? I would personally recommend Ad-aware and/or Spybot Search & Destroy. Both of these will detect and remove all sorts of adware, spyware, scumware, malware, tracking cookies, etc., Everyone should have at least one of these, or something similar.
I provide many links here - most are just for your information. Perhaps the link is to background information on something I mention, or further reading on a topic that may be of interest. Other times it just links to pictures of tits. But yes, some links will give me direct benefit when you click them, or sign up to someone else's service (oftentimes for free, like Swapitshop), or buy something from another website. Sometimes I have a banner or something that I have agreed to have on my site in exchange for the company to send me a free video game.
I have absolutely no obligatory links or banners, provided by my ISP, my webhost or anyone else. Each and every link here is put in deliberately by me - unless you have TopText or HotText or something like that installed on your machine. This online parasite actually inserts sponsored links into any page you visit, based on keywords appearing on that page. I get nothing for these - the only people who get paid are eZula Inc., who effectively sell advertising space on every website in existence and reap the profits. Please, get Ad-aware and/or Spybot Search & Destroy now to rid yourself of this vermin!
The annual costs for domain registration, webhosting and everything else this site relies on are not cheap. It's all paid for out of my pocket because it's really a hobby of mine, but I really don't make any cash profit out of it at all. Some sites have a donation system but these are notoriously unsuccessful, and so as far as I can I would like to keep this site going just the way it is. Getting a few second-hand CDs from Swapitshop and the occasional free gift from other sources is about the most I can hope for, and frankly I think it's the least I deserve.
Everything here is free to you - I have nothing that requires a fee or even a registration. If you choose to join Swapitshop for example (also free) then I get paid for that in swapits - this allows me to get myself some CDs or the occasional computer game or toy without having to do anything else. As I write this I have earned 2350 free swapits in the last two years or so, almost exclusively from visitors to my website - and it didn't cost them a penny to do it! You never know - you might even like the service they provide.
I have been quite careful not to infringe on other people's copyrights by copying or modifying other people's material, or making other people's material available for download from my servers without permission. Where I have not kept strictly to this, it is done with the greatest of care and respect. For example, I have taken screencaps from some TV programmes and made them available to the general public from my Pictures webpage. This could not reasonably diminish ratings of the shows on TV, or sales of any video or DVD of the programmes in the shops, so the people who own the material are not losing any money or having the reputation of themselves or their products tarnished.
Other times I have quoted people (such as Jonathan Katz on my Unserious page), but credit has been given along with a link to their website if possible. Despite all these efforts on my part, if you believe you have a legitimate issue then please contact me and let me know. I will remove the material in question or provide a link back to your site, at your choice.
This started off as an experiment to practise my newfound skill in composing HTML. Since then it has become a shrine to everything about me - this includes a history of my life so far (I am currently still working on my biography), as well as a running commentary on my life since the end of 2001 (via my online diary). It is my belief that a website, once started, should remain for the rest of time. Certainly any serious domain names should never be allowed to expire, and preferably any notable or specially-promoted URLs (such as www.ChannelName.com/ProgrammeName) or sub-domains (such as Section.Domain.com) should never be removed.
Certainly this will be true as long as I am alive; the domain www.leevclarke.net will always be the primary source of information about me as an individual. However I cannot guarantee this after my death. My brothers tell me that they may keep the site alive as a memorial, but almost all of the content I have now will be removed. My advice? Get it now, while you still can!
My site used to be hosted at FreeServe, but that version is out of date. Unfortunately I did not replace the entire site with a redirection before I closed my account with them. Bizarrely, they have continued to host my site even though my account with them closed a long time (possibly years!) ago. But if you look at the menu on the left-hand side of that version, you will see that the copyright notice contains a link to the domain leevclarke.net, which is the only URL you should use for my site. The same is true for versions of my site that were listed at GeoCities.com - the old addresses are just out of date.
Firstly, I never claimed to be smart; although now that you bring it up, I am actually pretty smart. Smarter than you think... smart enough, in fact, to know that Flash is crap. There is a golden rule that other website designers would do well to learn, and it is this: just because you can do something, doesn't mean that you should. The fact is that I could add some Flash sequences if I so desired, but it would add little or nothing to the experience for you, the visitor. It's for the same reason that I don't make your pointer leave little sparkly trails behind it, or have one page dissolve or wipe into another when you follow a link.
Most of the content I have here is text - there aren't that many images, and very few graphics that move. This is all done very deliberately. If you want Flashy graphics, there are plenty of other sites from which to choose. I am good at writing a coherent sentence, so I put my skill to use. You would do well to know your strengths too, and be satisfied at catering for one thing really well rather than making a half-hearted hash of lots of different things. Dabble, but dedicate.
There are so many problems with this question that I almost don't know where to begin. Firstly, Netscape Communicator has been replaced by Netscape Navigator (Communicator having been abandoned after v4.7, but still available for download). Furthermore, you have phrased the question the wrong way around. Since Navigator is my personal browser choice, I actually go out of my way to make this site compatible with Microsoft Internet Explorer! I feel it's important to allow for people using different browsers; IE and NN are a must, but since I am dedicated to the principles of the free distribution of information, this means maximising compatibility of my website.
So I also cater for text-only browsing, visitors with a disability or accessibility issues (e.g. how does my site work in a talking browser for blind people?), and so on. People access the web via so many different means now - do you think a mobile phone browser can utilise cookies, cascading style sheets, frames, JavaScript...? Probably not. Graphics and other fancy stuff is used here only to augment the content, not define it. I also keep the structure of my HTML documents as simple as possible (working towards the replacement of HTML with XHTML), and just use a cascading style sheet to influence the look.
If you want a starting point, try this article entitled "What's so bad about Microsoft?". If that only serves to whet your appetite, try checking out some links listed in Google's Anti-Microsoft category.
Well that's not even a question; nevertheless I will make two points. Firstly, I am a self-confessed hypochrite. I would rather admit that I don't always practise what I preach (rather than deny it), because it keeps me focussed on self-improvement and helps keep away the complacency of perceived self-perfection. Secondly, I have a copy of Linux Redhat but have yet to install it because all my hard-drives are formatted to NTFS for Windows XP. I do not yet have the chronological resources to commit to reformatting a drive for Linux and experimenting with a dual-boot system. Sooner or later I will stop making excuses and just do it.
This is done very deliberately, and the reason is quite simple; this is the correct punctuation under these circumstances. Many people confuse writing initials with writing the spelling-out of a word. If you're writing dialogue in which a character actually spells out a word rather than reads it, then the convention is to write it like this: A-B-L-E if your character is spelling out the word "able" (it's written in capitals, with a dash between each letter).
This is easily confused with the acronym "able", which would be written like this: A.B.L.E. (still written in capitals, with a dot after each letter). Thus many people will write an acronym with dots between each letter (confusing the two), and end up with F.A.Q as a result. I have seen this on apparently professional websites, but that does not make it correct. It is becoming increasingly optional to omit the dots altogether and write an acronym as just FAQ instead of F.A.Q., and I myself succumb to this on occasion. Dots after each letter, or no dots at all - the choice is yours. Just don't put dots between each letter and I'll be happy (and you will be correct).
I don't believe in Freudian theory. Next question.
Firstly, you should refrain from asking this question in the passive voice. I'll assume you meant to phrase it as "How often do people ask these questions of you?" and answer it as follows: the fact is that people never ask me these questions. One night I got a little bit drunk and decided to add an FAQ page, as my site didn't already have one. This decided, I pretty much just made up the questions that I might be asked, and wrote answers. Thus the FAQ page was born, even though it should technically be called NAQ (Never Asked Questions).
No, absolutely not. It hasn't been a secret for some years now.