THNC -- BLOG (How To Train Your Dragon)

THNC's Blog --
"Welcome to Dragon Training!"

Updated on September 1, 2011

If you like movies, I would encourage you to watch "How to Train Your Dragon" from DreamWorks. This story might be an allegory for the challenges we face in life. As C.S. Lewis once wrote, if it isn't allegory, it might be "supposal"... Suppose that lots of people need to use technology but aren't comfortable with it, so we're going to try to help them... We can change the paradigm in our world much like Hiccup and Toothless did in theirs. -- Jack

Foundations of Success, Part Five

1-21-2012 - Today, I begin a short project to prepare me for my first planning meeting with the Marcy Design Group people next week. My goal is to reread this website - all of it, and to read Marcy's website. This will prepare me for hearing their ideas and responding intelligently. Their work will hopefully create the website that allows and causes THNC's success. I know, it is never that simple, but a lot begins with a professional website that brings our features and programs to life. Possibly a good idea -- to list here what I come up with. More tomorrow...

1-20-2012 - Here is a brief entry... These past several days, I have been recovering from my most recent computer crash. I am now back online and rebuilding applications. This has been bizarre, because I have changed several aspects of my computer environment... a new Hewlett Packard PC, new Windows 7 OS, new version of FireFox, a local WiFi here in my home, and various new versions of software. The HP is 64-bit so some applications that ran on XP and the old Power Spec CPU are now different. I have updated THNC's home page and mock press release, as you probably saw when you came in. Yesterday, the header on this website did not display correctly. I made a minor change to the code and congratulated myself for fixing the problem. Today, same problem. I discovered how to clear the FireFox cache and the problem disappeared.

11-9-2011 - If you have been following the development of THNC, I feel I owe you an apology. There has been progress these recent months, but there haven't been entries in this log to share it with you. Mother's passing ended multiple aspects of my life. To be truthful, it has also begun others. The past four months have been tramatic ones. And there is more to be done. If Mother were here right now, she would remind me there are things to be done, projects to continue, obligations to be fulfilled. Perhaps she is gently nudging me through my mind's eye and the essence of personal character and duty that she and my dad gifted to me decades ago. One temporal life has ended. The momentum of Life continues, especially in the circle of lives touched by my parents and now expanded by their children. As you continue to follow THNC, you will see in gentle ways how the lives of all that have gone before me will have made THNC better. The spirit and personality of so many in our families and our circles of friends continue to offer us the ability to make life better - for ourselves and many, many more. Thanks for your interest, your patience, and your support.

Foundations of Success, Part Four

10-2-2011 - Today, my mother's temporal life ended. The doctors and nurses at Hospice reacted quickly to manage Mother's pain. Two days ago she slipped into ongoing sleep. Today, she left us. Thank you, Mother, for your gentle leadership and the impact you have made in so many lives around you. You will be missed. Now, I can say this to both of you, Mother and Dad... You were wonderful parents! I am saddened to admit that I did not always appreciate you two for all that you brought to my life. Perhaps that is part of my human legacy - to not have honored you as much as I should have. Alas, this life goes on, and I will continue learning from your examples for the rest of my days.

Foundations of Success, Part Three

9-15-2011 - If you have been following this blog, I apologize for no entries in September. My mother's battle with cancer has turned my life up-side-down. A lot of time has been taken, driving between her home and mine. Hers has been a noble conflict. She may not be unhappy with whatever outcome awaits her. We all wish that somehow she could have been spared the pain that has come with her illness.

Foundations of Success, Part Two

8-30-2011 - Today, I read an email about Mr. Jobs and his pancreatic cancer. The question being asked had to do with Jobs's genius-level intelligence (the phenomenal success of Apple Inc., the Macintosh, iPhones, etc.) and his apparent choice of relying on the traditional treatments for cancer (surgery, radiation, and chemotherapy). There are so many other treatments, as I have discovered. And almost all of them have better rates of success than the traditional "cures". This may be such a tragedy, for a 56-year old man to surrender his life in this way. I'm sure it isn't that simple, considering all that he has been through. Perhaps the saddest part of this story is that he is a Californian where many people around him may include Essiac and apricot kernels in their daily diets. He may have avoided all of the cancers, the tumors, and the liver transplant by using these and other preventative techniques. Of course, perhaps he did use them. Perhaps this scenario is a warning to all of us that might blindly trust any treatment.

8-22-2011 - During the first two years of President Obama's presidency, I wondered if anyone else in this country was as angry as I was. Last November, I got my answer. Now, with the illness I described (see 8-18-2011's blog entry), there is another topic that angers me and frustrates me. I just hope that the power of the Internet is bringing greater awareness to everyone that alternatives are out there. And have been for a long time. Remember always Spock's parting blessing, "Live Long and Prosper!"

8-18-2011 - There is a new mock press release on our home page. It is about health care and our challenge to find good health care programs for THNC employees. This topic is very personal for me right now... a close relative is enduring advanced pancreatic cancer. Her suffering may be the motivation for me to find a health care provider company that opens onto both worlds -- traditional medicine with its surgery, radiation, and chemotherapy; and alternative medicine with its many therapies and a long history of successes. What amazes and puzzles me is the immense campaign by the AMA and the FDA to suppress all success stories of anyone with scientifically-based research, documented studies, and records of patients cured of serious illnesses. I am sure that the Internet is helping to reveal this information to millions of people ready to carefully examine and determine verifiable truth. At some point, governmental and medical corruption will be revealed, exposing all who have murdered, defamed, and ruined thousands of doctors, scientists, and researchers who dedicated their lives to discovering cures for all that ails us. We as a country need to demand better representation from our government and our elected officials. We should demand an openness for all methods of treatment to compete without bias for the support and backing of potential patients like you and me.

8-17-2011 - Today, I met with representatives of Norman, Jones & Enlow (NJE) in Columbus. NJE is a modest-sized CPA firm with a lot of experience with nonprofits. My hope is that THNC will establish a great working relationship with NJE. NJE may provide for THNC any or all of the following... accounting services; financial reporting; cash flow projections; audits and reviews; up-to-date tax advice; and integrated comprehensive services, including audits, taxation, and management consulting. Nonprofits like THNC live and die by their financial skills. We hope that NJE will be the CPA partner that we need. Final approval of NJE rests with the board.

8-3-2011 - I can't tell you how pleased I am with the appearance and functionality of the current website! Things have come together into a pleasing and attractive site. Yes, I'm biased. And I know how much work has been needed to get the site to this point in its development. There are things yet to be done, such as redoing the hyperlinks at the bottoms of most pages to match the new menu. I would be pleased if others visiting our website were also positively impressed and left with good feelings about THNC. And maybe an interest in supporting us and our programs. That would be (as Crush might say...) "Totally Awesome, Dude!"

8-1-2011 - The latest changes to this website are done. It is a really nice-looking and well-behaved drop-down menu capability produced by Cezary Tomczak (see the new credits page). And, of course, ready for you or me to find the mistakes - things I overlooked that still need to be redone.

Foundations of Success, Part One

7-29-2011 - Received a phone call today from the marketing department at BMI FCU (Battelle Memorial Institute Federal Credit Union). THNC's letter requesting business partner status was approved. THNC is now one of BMI FCU's select employee groups (SEGs). This means we now have one more highly valuable perk for every person that comes to work with us. It is also significant because BMI membership continues even after people leave THNC - for any reason. We are indeed fortunate to have credit union benefits as another way to recruit really great employees.

7-22-2011 - Today, THNC found a bank: The Huntington Bank. I hope that someday the term "partner" might apply. There are so many dynamic ways that a large, full-service bank can help the nonprofit that THNC may become. I am most impressed with two unsolicited referrals for Huntington that came from business contacts. I am also surprised that two other very large banks ignored my attempts to interact with them. First, there was the largest employer in Columbus. Second, there was the bank that advertises "the things we do for dreams". I guess it's a wonderful thing not to need new business customers. So, we will work with the bank that's interested in us. Kudos to The Huntington. Whatever success THNC may enjoy will honor the staff at The Huntington and add in modest ways to their future successes.

7-13-2011 - As you've read before, my Plan A was to tell companies, "Read about us on our website and tell us what you can do for us!". That was a dismal failure. Plan B is to gather information - the hard way (through research) - and approach each company with specific questions. For the past ten days, I have been gathering information on banking, checking, and related topics. Here, I recognize and honor Mr. Frank W. Abagnale -- www.abagnale.com as one of the greatest minds of our age. His genious and creativity have helped create a better, safer, less crime-filled world. THNC's search for a bank or credit union will be greatly improved as the result of publications authored by Mr. Abagnale. Now, to locate a qualified bank or credit union.

7-4-2011 - Please picture in your mind's eye our national flag. Then recite the following...
"ONE EXCEPTIONAL NATION UNDER GOD, WITH LIBERTY AND JUSTICE FOR ALL."
(by Ramirez... Investor's Business Daily, page A16, July 5, 2011)
Happy Birthday, America!!!

7-2-2011 - One of the joys of building this nonprofit is the way that elements build upon others. As I attempt to create short lists of questions to ask service provider companies, I encounter topics that will help us in a broader sense:

Soon to be available to directors and advisors on the THNCers Yahoo groupsite is to be a list of committees and task forces with brief explanations. Clearly only suggestions, the list will serve to get you to think about ways to better organize our efforts;
My goal is to provide each director with basic resources, such as reference books about the work they are and will be doing. One such book is "Starting and Running a Nonprofit Organization" by Joan M Hummel. The 2d edition of this book was copyrighted 1996 (third printing 1998) and it is still listed on the website of the University of St. Thomas' Center of Nonprofit Management ( http://www.stthomas.edu/business/centers/nonprofit/research/default.html ). Clearly, there are many excellent books, and this is perhaps just one of them. Consider this effort another type of beginning... THNC will buy copies of this book and loan them to directors;
I have just ordered enough copies of Hummel's book, one for each director and a few extra copies. This probably piques the curiosity of book sellers when a customer buys a number of copies of a ten-year-old book. I will distribute them as copies arrive.
A wonderful, new idea is to encourage advisors to raise the level of their collective contributions by forming committees or task forces for their work. Strictly voluntary, such organization might be by people that see themselves taking a more proactive role in helping THNC to be "Moving On!" ;
More ideas will appear here as they come to mind...

Rebuilding our website, Part Three

6-29-2011 - This is always embarrassing. State my goal to be one thing, end up delayed with other projects that need to be done first. These past three days, I have been refining the organization of "THNCers", the Yahoo groupsite for THNC directors and advisors. It's a closed group (not open to the public). Since we always need more advisors, send us your email address and we'll add you to the advisory group. You'll be one of our "THNCers" (Thinkers). Now, all files on the THNCers groupsite are in PDF and RTF/Excel. This means there is a better chance that these files will be accessible on wireless devices. I know, for example, that the Android OS does not recognize RTF. It can, however, display PDFs. Wow... Yahoo indicates 143 new files on thncers! Now, back to service provider companies, I hope.

6-27-2011 - One possibility for this site is to use the 147 color names that are supposed to be recognized by all browsers (17 standard plus 130 more). All are shown on http://www.w3schools.com/html/html_colorvalues.asp. I see about ten that might approximate FDFFE0 and be more universally displayable. Things to try... later. Now back to doing research for service provider companies.

6-26-2011 - The color for FFFFE9, as displayed on my monitor, seemed to have a pink tint. Since my goal was to lighten the yellow without leaving yellow, I changed the color code to FDFFE0. Clearly different (to me), but just a very slight shift in color. I have always liked the appearance of hand-made colonial paper. Possibly more character or appeal than plain white (FFFFFF) paper. Consider the irony here... using the appearance of colonial paper in the website for a nonprofit intended to help people learn about and use advanced, high-tech home networking. Huzzzah!

6-25-2011 - Worked today on locating more sources for startup cost ideas. Fiddled with the webpage background color - changed FDFFD0 (light yellow) to FFFFE9 (off-white). My purpose here is to find ways to make the webpages easier to read without going all the way to white (FFFFFF). What's your opinion? Next project - find a font that is easier to read.

6-24-2011 - The creation of past entries for this blog is officially done. Now to focus on new daily entries. The next major project is to return to what I was doing before the website rebuilding project -- searching for business startup costs from service provider companies. This information will be used to make grant application summary letters more meaningful.

6-23-2011 - Do more for this Blog to finish May entries.

6-21-2011 - The Marion project has been completed. Now, to recall other work that needs to be done. Wow... It is a good thing that I can make lists - to show in one place all that I need to do to catch up. An example of time-consuming projects is one that occurred during the past three years. To read more about this, do a keyword search in this website on "fabricates small plastic". The first and highest priority item on this current projects list - secure funding for THNC!

6-20-2011 - Bought parts to finish the Marion project. Learned that Mr. Edward "Dubbs" Roush had recently passed. He owned a popular hardware store in Westerville for many years. Later, he sold Honda motorcycles and cars. His passing is the end of an era. For all my visits to his store, I never actually met the man... just one of many customers that he and his employees served for many years. He and my grandfather were both business owners in Westerville. Both were important to the growth of that village - in different ways. Thanks, gentlemen! We won't forget you!

6-19-2011 - I hope to finish a three-year-old home repair project for an old friend in Marion. This is what happens when you get so busy that nonessential projects get put off. Tuesday, we will finish the work - hopefully.

6-18-2011 - This is an odd feeling, getting back to doing all the things that - for over two months - I set aside for this website development. Now, I am going through my notes to tell this Blog what happened. April is done; tomorrow I'll begin scanning May's notes.

6-16-2011 - Well, it's official... THNC has another service mark: "THNC About..." (Think About) will be used in advertising and lots of other printed and spoken applications. As stated on the application form to the Ohio Secretary of State, "Words 'THNC About...' to encourage readers and listeners to think about important aspects of home network technology and services provided by The Home Network Center, such as 'THNC About... Home Networking!' ".

6-11-2011 - Had an unpleasant surprise today. I have focused so much time these past two months on recreating this website that I have overlooked basic life requirements. Like renewing my driver's license. That's a really good reason - in the future - for THNC to have a multi-talented office manager... to help absent-minded people (like me) to remember ourselves. Mischief Managed - new license secured.

6-6-2011 - I am amazed at project evolution. The initial rebuild of this website was completed about May 16 (2011). However, just as soon as I dared to think "This website is done!", several new ideas seemed to leap from the onscreen images of the site. Now there are a totally new services section, a sitemap, and this blog. Perhaps viewers of the site raised it in their minds to "the next level". Once more, it is time to talk with service provider companies and inquire about the costs of their services. Only this time, we have an even more powerful tool to communicate thoughts about what we hope to accomplish.

6-1-2011 - Three days of sickness with an unknown illness. My GP has no ideas what it was. I have been unable to concentrate at the level that computer and website work requires. Today, I'm better and I am thankful for being so.

Rebuilding our website, Part Two

5-29-2011 - Just back from MARCON (Multiple Alternative Realities Convention). Today I heard a panelist say society should not allow intelligent machines to be built. When he said "Never marry a person smarter than you!, his credibility evaporated. A fellow in the back row was offering ideas about intelligent machines. Being out of business cards, I gave him a chit with my website and suggestions for searches on thnc.org. I hope he looks at our website and follows up. Perhaps he would like to be part of our advisory group (THNCers) and help to build the future of home networking

5-25-2011 - Do Not Use Carbonite. Save your money. Save your sanity. Invest in another service or backup your files regularly the old-fashioned way to CDs. That's what I used to do. Until I find something better than Carbonite, I'm going back to that method.

5-24-2011 - I have access to the Internet, but so much is missing or changed. The old settings - what I had that worked well before - are gone. I decided to use Carbonite's "restore everything" setting. Translates to a full day of waiting for Carbonite to restore files to my PC.

Every failure has blessings built-in. I need to go back to the "old days" when I recorded all license numbers and access codes for all applications. I also need to keep better track of where stuff is kept so it can be backed up.

5-23-2011 - Computer crashes -- corrupted Windows system file(s). Takes most of a day to find ways to work around the crash. Use PowerSpec's system recovery protocol to regain my OS, and everything else is in "My Old Disk Structure". Now to attempt to restore my computer. This approach was required since Micro Center does not supply a recovery disk with their PowerSpec computers. Mental note: do not buy PowerSpec again! Also - RAID on this machine does absolutely no good since it does not provide a backup of the OS, and no software is provided to copy from one HDD to the other in system crash situations. Why bother to have RAID when it's this useless?

5-22-2011 - Famous last words (It's Done!) -- changes to About, Services, and Sitemap sections.

Here is May's part of the marathon effort to rebuild THNC's website. As stated below in April's section, our objective is to offer anyone wishing to know more about THNC an immediately available description. This website provides a comprehensive snapshot of our plans for our nonprofit. So sit down, buckle up, and hold on! If you have some ideas about THNC or this website, we'd certainly enjoy reading them!

5-17-2011 - Once more, with my greatest hopes... WEBSITE IS DONE! At least until the next bug pops up! Ever hear the story about Commander Grace Hopper and the first computer "bug"? True story. Email me and I'll share it with you. Now for some catch-up work... contact BoardSource (questions about usage). Try to install NetObjects Fusion 8 (only a formal complaint to PayPal caused Earthlink's suppliers to send me my copy two months after my prepaid order, so the 30-day trial period had already expired before I received my CD-ROM. Aren't these huge companies wonderful?). Ask ASQ to put my account on hold - my all-out focus on finding funding. You might be surprised how expensive trying to start a nonprofit can be!
5-16-2011 - Develop Help screen text and environment. Methods used for Ideas and Contact boxes will not work. Better approach - begin with Pico's HTML code and modify. Implement suggestions from Pico tech support. Go into Panic Mode over bad advice from Pico about their use of Templates. Solve the problem myself (can't wait for their reply). Add THNC logo to Help page and adjust for better appearance. Remove TJK Design stuff (Bye Bye, toggling! - concentrate on error-free code and requirements of good search results). An observation about TJK... my email request to them about becoming a customer was received but ignored. I suppose they are a California company with lots of work. They probably do not need THNC's business. I'm happy for them.
5-15-2011 - More search tests. Consider options for search boxes (on each page) and for the Help page. Begin Help page setup.
5-14-2011 - Try some searches. Why don't searches produce expected results? Begin development of a custom Help page. I need to show Pico weaknesses that you must work with on this site.
5-13-2011 - Troubleshoot my Pico anchor work. Implement a format for each section, using anchor-title, anchor-split, and anchor-end instructions. Create a Pico score card - all the sections that need to be defined. Decide to trash the toggle code ( expand / collapse techniques ) and focus on use of the search engine tool. I also want to use clean code in a modern XML and XHTML environment, or at least try to. Ongoing email to Pico tech support.
5-12-2011 - More work on PicoSearch. Explore AutoComplete anchors, anchor tags, anchor splitting, and anchor titles. The purpose now is to accomplish what FreeFind could not do - divide long webpages into manageable sections for searching. Now, to go through entire site and decide where anchors need to be. This will be a lot of work, but now I can accomplish my search engine objective (sectioning). Send email to PicoSearch tech support - what am I doing wrong? Remove old FreeFind code.
5-11-2011 - Can't sleep! Start again to ask again the basic questions. I decide to move forward with PicoSearch. Set up account, download software, and begin again to learn this product. This is more complicated with more capabilities. Remove FreeFind from my website.
5-10-2011 - Get a toggle technique from TJK Designs to work. Look at email from search engine companies, and reduce list to the finalists.
5-9-2011 - Study methods used on Jack's Site (my website) to see what I might learn -- http://home.earthlink.net/~jbntractiv/ Talk with several service provider companies. More on solving the search engine problem (access to sections of long pages). No success with my work, so it's time to find a new search engine! Look at searchmaker pro, picosearch, mtopsoft, atomz, site-search pro, fusionbot.com, sitelevel.com, wrensoft, sli systems, aleadsoft.com, kscripts, bankle, sphister, jrank, and extreme.com. To be considered, these engines must use highlighting in the actual text (not just the text sample on search results page) and web page anchors and fragment identifiers. Lots of questions and emails to companies about their products. Try to understand expand/collapse (toggler) techniques better. The problem is that these techniques cause lots of errors and warnings.
5-8-2011 - How to break up long webpages and get FreeFind to access those sections?
5-7-2011 - Nice board meeting today. Karen Ouelette is voted onto the board. I do some searching through my computer log notes for past work. Try to learn more about the online employment questionnaire used by Costco. Their website links to kronos.com (global workforce management solutions), but displaying code to that site is blocks (https site). Perform some
5-6-2011 - Try to produce meaningful results without FreeFind support, but tests are not successful. Last minute preparations for board of directors meeting.
5-5-2011 - PSPad is so useful, I sent a donation to support@pspad.com. I wish I had had this tool years ago! More work with FreeFind. Unfortunately, "data search" cannot do what I need it to do.
5-4-2011 - Learn more about XHTML. Cleaning files allows pull-downs to work again, I guess.
5-3-2011 - Decide upon FreeFind, because of price (No, it is not free.) and its "data search" feature. Install FF and begin to learn it. Experiment with using a search key in menu. This will not work without a lot of research. The search engine uses the page it is on to reference the search. Using a menu button takes the search operation away from the reference page. It's much easier to place the search boxes on each webpage. Now, another problem - pull-downs don't work! Research UTF-8 (Unicode) versus ISO-8859-1. Learn more about Byte Order Marks (BOMs - ASCII three bytes at beginning of files - EF BB BF) Begin research on converting webpages to UTF-8. Discover PSPad (a free editor at www.pspad.com ). PSPad includes a Hex editor which makes removing BOMs very simple. Create copies of webpage files. Use BOM in file name where BOM is the first three characters in the file. Use PSPad to clean webpage source code.
5-2-2011 - Can't sleep. Work on yellow arrows in menu. Try to find notes for service providers. Jeff's email: the site needs a search engine. Look at choices... freefind, picosearch, wrensoft, mtopsoft, atomz. Tests 91 - 96.
5-1-2011 - More on header rework. Lousy MS Expression Design tool -- have to master it to get anything done. (The goal here is to build the nonprofit, not to master all this software.)

Rebuilding our website, Part One

Here is April's part of the marathon effort to rebuild THNC's website. As stated above in May's section, our objective is to offer anyone wishing to know more about THNC an immediately available description. This website provides a comprehensive snapshot of our plans for our nonprofit. So sit down, buckle up, and hold on! If you have some ideas about THNC or this website, we'd certainly enjoy reading them!

4-30-2011 - Begin work of upgrading header -- less information, better presentation. Try using MS Expression Design 2 again.
4-29-2011 - More tests on email fields and pull-downs in Planning and Industries. The first "I think it's done!". Frustration at uspto.gov and Copyright Office (eCO) being offline. Tests 81 - 90.
4-28-2011 - Tests with onclick and window.close. Lots of things that I could do but no time to experiment. I am tired of trying to find exact solutions. Put something together and try it. Use what works. Trials with PHP, body and centering, and guessing. Tests 69 - 80.
4-27-2011 - More on Contact and Ideas forms. Why do I not have control over email forms? Separate PHP and CSS files - separate files for each set of forms. More on centering, borders, style files, sizes, menu problems, popup windows, and open_Win. Discover that unseen characters cause serious problems. Tests 58 - 68.
4-26-2011 - Try to find a way to edit .js files... drag .js into Notepad and drop it (allwebco-templates.com). Try to make DOCTYPE and other HTML identical in all files. The same for all pull-downs and titles.
4-25-2011 - Look again at methods studied before. Try to remove unneeded stuff - jQuery, ajax, POST, Form, HTML. New project - how do I get the "thank you" screen to appear? Tests 52 - 57.
4-24-2011 - Try to learn more about each step of the email process. Try to find answers on a webmaster forum - I'm moving too fast to make this practical. Tests 50 - 51.
4-23-2011 - Work with Javascript, mailsent, logical If statements, PHP X-mail, email research, boolean test results, POST, and ajax_form. Tests 34 - 49.
4-22-2011 - Make Contact and Ideas files to look alike. Try onclick, centering, popup function, and simplifying files - remove stuff that doesn't need to be there. Tests 25 - 33.
4-21-2011 - Now, back on my own. More learning about jQuery, Javascript popups, document object models, CSS, and PHP. In PHP files, try click and hide function entries. Tests 20 - 24.
4-20-2011 - More help from CH's zip file. His source code is helpful, but I am still in the Swamp. Trials begin to pay off, and Contact Us starts to work. Send test1 to CH - does it really work? His email response... Yes, it really does work! More tests 2 thru 19, trying different flavors and seasonings.
4-19-2011 - Research Contact Us - style.css on ajax.google.apis.com and code..google.com. Acquire a Google API key; not needed, but there it is. Begin learning about lightbox and bumpbox; moo tools; code.google.com; Google Libraries API; ajax.form.phps; and jQuery.com.
4-18-2011 - New project - try to get message box to work (at Contact Us). CH's suggestion was a good one, but - like most of us - he is a user of the technology, not a master. He cannot provide answers to the problems I have encountered. He showed me the way into the Fire Swamp (Princess Bride). It is my job to get past the ROUS and get out of the Swamp.
4-17-2011 - Perhaps better but seriously much more complicated... Involved are all of the following: PHP, ajax_form, form method POST, jQuery, javascript, and more. I hope I can figure this out.
4-16-2011 - Thanks to directors and advisors for their responses and suggestions. Begin experiments to learn why things work or don't work with ul, ol, li. CH's suggestion about using "Contact Us" instead of "mailto:" for those that can't send email that way.
4-15-2011 - Try to resolve page-centering problems - CSS, wrapper, etc. Try to understand why changes cause and don't cause expected results. More work on Planning and Industries pages.
4-14-2011 - Ask directors and advisors for suggestions. Work on height, wrapper, margins, headers and subheaders.
4-13-2011 - More work on widths - page, sidebars; pixels, percentages. Add new buttons for Industries, Planning.
4-12-2011 - Ongoing work - headers, page renaming, page titles, use of bold for better presentation.
4-11-2011 - New project - move Appendix 3 (THNC's business plan) onto website. Acquire better understanding of reserved characters in HTML (ISO 8859-1 Symbols). Correct problems with Planning menu button ("current_page_item").
4-10-2011 - Up early, for a while... Styling lists, styling tables, page-bottom graphics. More on Industries pages.
4-9-2011 - More work sidebars. New project - try to put Industries lists into website at Industries menu button. Use "Jack's Website (http://home.earthlink.net/~jbntractiv/) for several experiments. That site needs a lot of work!
4-8-2011 - Can't sleep again (Mulder: "Do we see a pattern emerging?"). Apply work from last night - now all headers are the same. Work with CSS wrapper, header, menu, content. Experiments in MS Expression Design 2.
4-7-2011 - Calculate borders (remember "Top, Right, Bottom, Left"). Begin changing default.css.
4-6-2011 - Can't sleep - up at 12:24 am. HTML - how to put text into a reverse color box; online research on HTML sidebars; better understanding of spacial relationships - defining height and width of pages, headers, etc.
4-5-2011 - This sleigh ride begins with a refresher course in CSS (Cascading Style Sheet) use - how to define and control the appearance of many webpages with a single entry in a CSS file

4-3-2011 - Begin a new phase of my computer usage - a wide screen monitor (SyncMaster 2333T), better speakers (with a woofer), and a camera suitable for Skype (Logitech HD Webcam). Wow! The wide screen lets me do so much more. It lets me display several screens at the same time with a great increase in productivity. This new experience is important, because it will condition my thoughts about the design and functionality of THNC's workstation (THNC-station).

Jack, meet Toothless

3-30-2011 - Funding Project evolution... Before today, my thoughts for Plan A were to a) do research with THNC's account at Foundation Center to find suitable grant-makers; b) write letters to these foundations; and c) send applications to the foundations that offered hope of our receiving funding.

"Little did he know..." the focused and intense exercise that awaited him. "Unbeknownst to him..." there lay before him two-and-a-half difficult months, a crash course in HTML, PHP, CSS, and more.

Plan A didn't work. Summary letters to grant-makers require details about how money will be used, including expenses for service provider companies. My effort to send email messages to a long list of such companies was a dismal failure. Probably because I should have called each one and discussed my needs. Another possibility is that I had no readily available means of introducing the plans for my nonprofit to the people I sent emails to.

Plan B would be something like a) redo THNC's website to create a comprehensive explanation; b) contact these serice provider companies individually by phone; c) ask to speak with people capable of supplying me with the specific costs I will need for my grant application letters; and d) begin again to compose summary letters to potential grant-maker foundations.

3-14-2011 - Explore a new version of Open Office. One goal is to find a business accounting system with a suitable account numbering system for THNC.

3-5-2011 - Excuse me while I do our income taxes. Back soon, I hope.

3-2-2011 - Today, our lives changed for the better. We upgraded from basic cell phones from T-Mobile to Atrix 4G (Motorola MB860 from AT&T) smartphones. Wow! What a difference in technology! Jack's 4G is named Toothless (How to Train Your Dragon); Liza's is named Ceze (Avatar). Using these devices will be focused meeting our telecomm needs as well as helping THNC evolve.

Prepare for new smartphones

2-25-2011 - This computer is terrible. Maybe it is Microsoft software, maybe something else. Slow, noresponsive, even with all the utilities I have on it. So sad.

2-8-2011 - When THNC is able, full time employees doing research also need to be able to respond to Tweets. Something like a) Best Buy's @twelpforce (http://www.BBYFEED.com/); b) Etsy's learning from followers how best to utilize Twitter and to evolve @Etsy (http://www.etsy.com/). THNC may do as @Etsy has done -- "Twitter is an 'amazing way of harnessing the collective brains of so many people.'"

JetBlue Airways learned that - just by asking what people wanted from JetBlue - they could consider people "as a resource for helping JetBlue deliver a better product." Twitter let JetBlue employees to "be authentic, transparent, and bring more of 'themselves' to the table." @jetblue (http://www.jetblue.com/).

Maxsie uses Twitter to share cutting edge apparel and fashion trends in real time. THNC could possibly do this with home networking, perhaps categorizing followers according to their specific interests. This could also include photos and graphics of new products and developments. @maxsie (http://shop.maxsie.com/).

When we can support it... Add a "Follow us on Twitter" button to the new website. Embed a widget on our site that will update with our latest Tweets (logo and widgets available from Twitter). Add a Tweet button; their logos and icons so visitors to our website know they can share content; API integration.

THNC's Blog -- "Welcome to Dragon Training!"

THNC's Blog --
"Welcome to Dragon Training!"