Thursday, July 19, 2012

Today...Databases, the SQL!

We learned a little bit about representing data in an XML file, but now we need to address its limitations.

What happens when you have multiple items that have connections between them?  That's when you need a "relational database".

One of the most popular formats for a relational database is called SQL.  SQL is table based, and it lets you integrate large quantities of data into your web page creations using intermediate languages like PHP.

Let's take a look at my site, Thinkersmith, to see how databases can be used fo' reals.

Wednesday, July 18, 2012

Don't forget to comment about the course (good or bad) with the registrar!

This is our last day to cover the good stuff, so let's get to it!

We talked about ones and zeros, as well as the way those numbers are stored.  Now, let's talk about how they represent the things we care about...from letters, to music, to pictures from home.

With images, there is a lot to take in to consideration.  We can use black and white images to talk a little about image compression, but there is so much more to think about.  Remember hex?  Let's revisit it and start talking megapixels!

Where would computers be without sound?  Sound also requires a lot of space, but like with images, we can compress those items.  We're actually so used to the compression methods that we don't even question the .mp3 extension anymore!

All of this helps us see how incredibly important it is to have talented computer scientists.  As data continues to consume more and more space, it's going to be evermore important to store and transmit it efficiently.

For now, we can focus on manipulating the bits that we have.  Let's take out a piece of paper, then take one last go at our webpages!

Tuesday, July 17th, 2012

Please don't copy code straight across. Use your own abilities to take what you see and make it your own.

We're getting down to the wire.  Any questions?

This is going to be a day to play with our pages...JavaScript and CSS.  Let's look at some reference material, then work together!

Monday, July 16, 2012

Don't forget to look at your grade!!  I've added a "weighted" total that takes into account what percentage each piece is worth.  You still have time for extra credit, so if you have zeros on anything, it's not GPA suicide...yet!

Now, to some unfinished business.  Would you believe that is was SPACES keeping our style from reading our XML??

There are a few more things we need to go over before the final.  Part of that requires a deeper knowledge of html...and part of it requires problem solving techniques known as debugging.  Lets' do some!

Friday, July 13, 2012

Happy Friday the 13th!  Well, I think I scared you enough yesterday, so let's keep things more or less logical today!

It's time to make our pages even smarter!  Let's include some XML.  XML is a lot like HTML, except that instead of using pre-determined tags, you get to make the tags up yourself!

One of the great things about XML is the ability to present metadata.  

Let's take a look at how XML works.

There are several reasons to use XML, it's standardization is only one of them.

It's highly unlikely that we'll remember all of this unless we put it to the test, so let's head out to take inventory of the courtyard and store our data in an XML file.  What did you collect?  How would you recall that info?

XML is all well and good, but what use can it really be when it looks that ugly?!?!  Well, there's good news!  Just as we can style HTML with CSS, we can style XML with XSLT.  It can seem confusing at first, but fortunately, there's a handy XSLT reference. This is a video that explains the transform template.  Chapter 17 explains it in more detail.

Okay, so *that* was a ton of fun.  Let's look at databases in a different way.  Nowadays, the world is all about SQL.  SQL lets you do things like insert, delete, join and drop cells and tables. Here's a quick crash course...

Thursday, July 12, 2012

Now it's time to take a step back and remember that the Internet is a public place.  Even the most "private" corners of your Internet history are accessible to someone.  Keep in mind that once something is posted, you lose it.  It's no longer yours to control...no matter where you're posting it.

The Internet is like a public bulletin board where your data gets *copied* instead of taken down.  Many people have lost their reputations to the World Wide Web.

Think before you post!

Now, let's take a look at how easy information is to find.  Did you know that there is public information about you that you thought were private?  With enough information, it's extremely easy to find someone's address, phone number, even Facebook page.

Hopefully it doesn't come as any surprise to you that there are bad people out there.  Let's look at some of the other ways that information becomes insecure.

Some times, people who aren't usually evil do things that are less than savory because they feel like they are protected by the anonymity of the Internet.  What would you do if you could get away with it?  What would your neighbor do?

To protect your data from sniffers, various encryptions have been developed, including Public Key Cryptography.

So, how do you know that the entity that you're sending secure data to is *actually* who they appear to be?  That's where SSL comes in.

It appears we've been educated on the world of Internet evil.  How will you protect yourself?

Wednesday, July 11, 2012

In regard to assignment 3:  Instead of using your shell (or terminal window), you are welcome to use this site, or one like it.


We've started playing with script!  Let's keep going.  It's time to combine some HTML, CSS and JavaScript to start making our page really cool!


Let's step away from that for a moment and talk color, shall we?


With a proper understanding of color, we can integrate all portions of our page into one magical portal.  Let's see if we can get our page to play nice...

First, we'll create a page with a few named divs and a text box.  Using a button, we'll have our background change color according to what's in the box!  That little feat incorporates HTML, CSS *and* javascript!