Year End Blogging Report

Year End Blogging Report

Blog Name	2015 Posts	Total Posts	Total Page Views	No. of Years
Mr. Dickies	219	2,375	85,544	8
Arrow Prayers	216	3,196	63,232	11
Genealogy	40	969	141,216	7
Obituaries	1	315	49,994	8

This table reports 2015 statistics for my four Blogger blogs.

Note: The Blogger page editor doesn't offer a table option.  This table was created using a snippet of code that someone shared on the Internet and HTML for centering that I added.

Dick Henthorn

2 January 2016

Memories

... how precious memories are. They live in our hearts and minds, waiting to whisper back to us. Sometimes they come in difficult times, giving strength and hope. Or, they come simply to touch us with affection.
(Sue Monk Kidd, Firstlight, p. 22-23)

******

I'm working on a project to move the Bowie Seniors Computer Club (BSCC) web pages from Comcast to our new host, GreenGeeks.  Comcast will discontinue website support on October 8, 2015.  As part of the project I added a BSCC logo and navigation buttons to all pages except one that I don't maintain.  I also learned how to make the old website redirect automatically to the new home page.  I created a TinyURL: tinyurl.com/bscchome for folks who would rather not use the long URL to take them to the new homepage.  I'm using HTML that I key rather than an HTML generator.

Dick Henthorn

26 September 2015

Enlightenment

Learning to identify ways in which you're creating your own obstacles is tremendously enlightening if you're willing to explore this area of your life. (Dr. Wayne W. Dyer, The Power Of Intention, p. 62)

******

HTML, XHTML

and

Cascading Style Sheets (CSS)

In April 2011 I worked on a project to learn about Cascading Style Sheets (CSS). I had moderate success and create an inline CSS that worked. For some reason I never actually used what I learned to create a webpage and uploaded it to the Internet. Recently, I've been thinking about picking up the project where I left off. I found the file with my practice CSS on my old computer, moved it to the new laptop, printed out the nine pages and tested how they work on my own computer.

I discovered three nice sets of tutorials on YouTube which cover the topics of: HTML, XHTML and CSS.

• CSS Website
• HTML Tutor4u
• CSS Tutor4u

My YouTube search lead me to a very nice instructional website.

• Little Web Hut

I own two books on these topics.

• CSS - The Missing Manual  by David Sawyer McFarland
• HTML For The World Wide Web with XHTML and CSS by Elizabeth Castro

Mr. Dickie

9 February 2013

Generosity

To cultivate the quality of generosity in your life, do the following:

1. Be grateful for whatever you have.
2. Put people first.
3. Don't allow the desire for possessions to control you.
4. See money as a resource.
5. Develop the habit of giving.

The only way to maintain an attitude of generosity is to make it your habit to give:

• your time
• attention
• money
• resources.

(John C. Maxwell, Leadership, 21 January)

******

I'm making good progress on the project to learn how to use my new FreePages account on RootsWeb. Yesterday I modified the HTML that I use at the top and bottom of each webpage to bring it up-to-date and make it work with FreePages URLs.  The next step is to select an old file that I want to share, make the necessary modifications and upload it to my FreePages.  Stay tuned for further progress reports.

Mr. Dickie

21 January 2013

Horizontal Rules in Color

Obstinacy and heat in sticking to one's opinions is the surest proof of stupidity. Is there anything so cock-sure, so immovable, so disdainful, so contemplative, so solemn and serious as an ass? (Michel de Montaigne in The Book Of Choices by Mike Magee, M.D., p. 231)

******

I spent two or three days trying to understand how to draw horizontal rules in red, blue and black using Cascading Style Sheets (CSS). Right now I have at least a half dozen books available from my own collection and the library. None of them described how to do this. I also tried looking at some of the sample code available online. Most of the examples were quite complicated and the ones I tried didn't work. This morning I finally succeeded. I used information from two different sections of a book by Elizabeth Castro. She didn't actually illustrate how to do it.

Here's the Cascading Style Sheet (CSS) Code.

p {color: black}
p.hr {border-top: 5px; border-style: solid; padding: 0px;}
p#black {color:black}
p#red {color:red}
p#blue {color:blue}

Here's the HTML Code (enclose each line in <>)

p class="hr" id="red"
p class="hr" id="black"
p class="hr" id="blue"

Mr. Dickie
29/Apr/2011 9:37

Strongest Minds

The strongest minds are also the most nimble, the most ready to change and to include new information. (Karen Casey and Martha Vanceburg, The Promise of a New Day, 20 March)

... it takes work to make a difference. (Patricia Lorenz in Daily Guideposts - 2009, 10 February)

The world stands aside to let anyone pass who knows where he is going. (David Starr Jordan in The Book Of Choices by Mike Magee, M.D., p. 123)

******

I ran into a problem installing my first webpage on the RootsWeb website. I don't understand how their wrap-around HTML code impacts my code. Apparently they take over the background color and in my case there's a white box at the top of the page that I didn't specify. I have a lot more to learn. I did create a folder called "htmlold" on the website to store a copy of the homepage in case I need to "back out" my page. I was able to to fix the missing image problem on the Introduction page. There was a one character error in the file name.

I didn't post to either blog yesterday. I had other things on my mind, one of which was bagging up yard debris in the backyard.

Mr. Dickie
28/Mar/2011 8:18

Our Basic Problems

We have not learned that a nation is more powerful when it unites in earnest prayer to God than when its resources are channeled into weapons. ... Weapons by themselves will not keep us safe or solve the world's problems. Our basic problems are spiritual in nature, and only spiritual solutions will solve them. (Billy Graham, Hope For Each Day, 22 March)

******

I'm still trying to understand how a RootsWeb website works. Once I got past the problem of how to gain access the next stumbling block was understanding how the folder (directory) naming conventions work. I was reminded that it's best to use all lowercase letters and to avoid spaces and special characters. Yesterday I renamed some of the folders I created and some of the files within the folders. I also had to move my folders to be subordinate to one called "public_html." Then things started to fall into place and work. I was even able to install a clickable "X" button on the homepage that will take the visitor to an already existing "introductory" page. It's an interesting mental challenge to figure out how this stuff works. I consider myself to be a rank amateur when it comes to HTML. That's why anything I am able to accomplish must be simple, so it can be understood by myself and others. When a website is maintained by volunteers I think it is very important to keep it simple. Otherwise there is a strong possibility that the expert webmaster will drop out and the group will be left with a website that they can't maintain unless they hire professional help. Not a good situation.

Mr. Dickie
22/Mar/2011 7:50

Humility

Humility is the source of all true greatness: pride is ever impatient, ready to be offended. He who thinks nothing is due to him, never thinks himself ill-treated. (Fenelon in Chapter-By-Chapter Bible Commentary, by Warren W. Wiersbe, p. 276)

******

Last night Melva drove home from work with ice freezing on the car and windshield. During the night some snow fell on top of the frozen rain and sleet. Today the federal government granted liberal leave, the county schools closed. Cyndi was ready to go to the subway earlier than usual. I was doing my morning reading and didn't go out to warm up the minivan. I decided to use Melva's car because it was under the carport. Traffic was light going down the hill and coming back up. The road surface of the hill was a little slipper. Route 450 was clear. The temperature is supposed to warm by noon. I decided to just let the sun melt the ice off the minivan. Melva has a work meeting at 11:00 a.m. She shouldn't have any trouble getting there.

I'm posting some of my descendant charts in the HTML format to MyBox where I can share them with folks I know. Yesterday I posted eleven obituaries to my obituary blog. There are about another thirty-six in the set I found.

Mr. Dickie
22/Feb/2011 8:33

Thriftstore Shopping

The tragedy of life is that people who hold different views very often finish up disliking not each others' views, but each other. It should be possible to differ with a man and yet remain friends. (William Barclay, the Letters to the Galatians and Ephesians, p. 48)

******

On Monday we went to the 25% Off Sale at the thrift store. I found a book about creating webpages by Laura Lemay. Part of the book was about Style Sheets which interests me. Much to my dismay the price, written in grease pencil, had been rubbed off. I took the book to the area where they price the merchandise knowing full-well that they wouldn't price the book for me. Late yesterday I went back to the store to see if I could find the book. As I entered the store I was encouraged because there was a small sign by the door announcing that books and CDs were 50% off. I didn't find the book.

I bought five CDs and four books. The CDs I bought were: Santana - Supernatural (71 cents); Dvorak - Symphony No. 9 and Te Deum (71 cents); Tammy Wynette - The Best Of (40 cents); Beethoven - Symphony No. 9 (40 cents); Brahms and Schumann - Symphonies No. 1 (40 cents).

The four books I purchased were: Rick Steves - Italian - Phrase Book and Dictionary (40 cents), I needed this because I want to be able to read the Facebook postings of the Dalu family in Italy; William P. Young - The Shack (40 cents), I bought this one to replace a copy I gave to someone else before I read it; Mike Magee - The Book of Choices (71 cents); Thomas Kinkaide (71 cents), I may already have a copy of this one, my memory failed me.

While at the thrift store I dropped off three donation items that should have left our house long ago.

Mr. Dickie
27/Oct/2010 8:22

Home Sweet Home

...help me to value the humdrum periods of my life, which prepare me for action when it comes. (Patricia Houck Sprinkle, Daily Guideposts - 1986, 4 September)

******

We enjoyed a nice five day trip to Norfolk, VA and Raleigh, NC. While in Norfolk we saw the families of Melva's godson, Raul, and his sister, Linda. It had been five years since we were last in Norfolk when we attended Hannah's first birthday. In Raleigh we visited the family of my college ROTC friend, Rich. I'd been talking about going to see him for many months. We were surprised that it only took six and a half hours to drive back from Raleigh when we used U.S. Route 1 and Interstates 85 and 95.

I'm looking forward to resuming the project to share more of my genealogy reports via my Box.Net account. I'm planning to convert some files from HTML to PDF. This will allow me to once again share some of the information that used to be available on the AOL website.

We had trouble with Melva's GoPhone account. The online account summary showed a balance when the phone announced that no more funds were available. Yesterday I called their 800 number to see if I could get help. I was on the line about ten minutes while the person who took my called worked on the problem. They didn't indicate what happened. It's a good thing we had two phones on the trip.

I noticed that the feed of this blog to Facebook Notes isn't working again. I wonder if there is something I can do to fix the problem. I'll have to decide whether I care enough to try to get help.

Mr. Dickie
12/Sep/2010 9:26

Close Call

Thank you for not talking about recession, inflation, the weather or your health. (Daily Guideposts - 1990, 12 August)

******

Yesterday we went to Schrom Park for a fifty-minute walk. We walked four laps. We hadn't been there for many weeks. We were shocked to see how many trees came down in recent storms.

On the way home from our walk we came very close to being involved in a head-on accident. We were on Good Luck Road and we had some. As we neared an intersection a car coming towards us from the opposite direction crossed the center line and drove directly towards us on our side of the road. As he crossed the center line he was about two hundred yards away from us. I honked and started to slow our minivan. When a crash seemed certain I began to turn right onto the cross street and got our car stopped. As this fool passed in front of us I realized that he had control of his car. What he was doing was turning, at a high rate of speed, onto the same side street where I'd stopped. What he intended to do, by driving on the the wrong side of the street for nearly half a block was, cut me off. One of the reasons we don't often drive to this park is because I'm always saying, "There is too great a risk that some fool is going to try to kill us during the trip." We came very close yesterday.

It's time to admit that my laser printer is out of ink. Shaking the ink cartridge doesn't provide enough ink on the left side of the page. Today's my day to install another ink cartridge.

I converted a three-page HTML document into a PDF file. I used my HTML editor to strip out the HTML codes. Then I used Google Docs to reformat the document, add page numbers and generate the PDF file. Then I uploaded the document to my Box account where I can share it with other folks working on genealogy.

Mr. Dickie
29/Aug/2010 8:00

West Virginia Friends

Wisdom is the God-given ability to see life with rare objectivity and to handle life with rare stability. (Charles R. Swindoll, Wisdom For The Way, p. 207)

******

Melva and I went to Union Station to eat supper with Vernon Anderson our friend from West Virginia. Vernon and I spent several years working on Yoho genealogy together. He reminded me that we never talked on the phone during the course of our project. Everything was done with Email and attachments. This time, to coordinate our get-together we used our cellphones. When it was time for Vernon to return to the bus we walked with him to the bus garage. He introduced us to Joe Henthorn and his wife. I believe this was the first time I ever met a Henthorn from the Ohio River valley face to face. If you are wondering if we are related, we aren't, at least not in this country.

I thought of another thing to learn about. I discovered there are programs that can convert webpages to PDF files. If that works it would come in handy. I could use it to salvage my HTML pages from the genealogy website I had on AOL for many years.

Mr. Dickie
22/Aug/2010 7:42

Mariano Rivera

Once you know the truth, you cannot go back to not knowing. Living the truth that you know is the greatest service you can offer the world. (Iyanla Vanzant, Until Today!, introduction to November)

******

I enjoyed watching the New York Yankees Panamanian pitcher, Mariano Rivera, close out the last game of the World Series. One of the last batters he faced was Carlos Ruiz another of the seven Panamanians playing major league baseball. Ruiz is from David, Chiriqui, Panama and Rivera is from Panama City, Panama.

Recently I had a senior memory issue. I forgot the location of the HTML pages from my old website. I'd been working on a project to remove the HTML code from the pages so I could post them to my Google blogs. My memory stopped working and I couldn't remember if the files were on a Zip disc or on the old desktop computer. Last night while doing something else with the computer I found the folder again on the desktop computer. This morning I wrote down the path name. I'm going to put it on a 3x5 card and then file it with my password cards. I wonder if I will be able to find the card if I need it. Good grief!

Mr. Dickie

Google Reader

No one is innocent beyond childhood. (Touchstones, 8 October)

Just for today, get clear about the differences between what you need and what you want. (Iyanla Vanzant, Until Today!, 27 September)

Opportunties for spiritual growth, as well as new character defects, pop up like weeds in a newly mown lawn ... (Courage to Change, 6 October)

******

Yesterday I discovered a program on my desktop computer that I must have forgotten about. I probably never used it. The purpose of the program is to convert a text file to an HTML file. I think it is also supposed to convert RTF files to HTML. That didn't seem to work. Because text files don't have any typesetting commands I don't see much usefulness in the program. Finding it got me thinking about whether there are other programs on my old desktop computer that I have forgotten.

I'm using Google Reader. Until yesterday the only blogs I was following were on Google. I installed a link to a blog on WordPress. It worked.

Mr. Dickie

It's Not My Problem

By following a few simple guidelines, we become free from slavery to compulsive ... [behavior] and self-centered confusion. (Food For Thought, 31 August)

People today foolishly try to believe that all the world's senselessness and cruelty - the richness of the few, the great poverty of the many, the violence and warfare - happens outside their own lives and does not interfere with them and their way of life. (Anonymous, A Calendar of Wisdom by Leo Tolstoy, 6 September)

We must not be easy in giving credit to every word and suggestion, but carefully and leisurely weigh the matter according to God. (Thomas a' Kempis in One Day at a Time in Al-Anon, 12 September)

******

Yesterday I continue working on the project to add "labels" to the postings I previously made to my Google "News" blog. This is one of my two genealogy blogs. While doing the project I discovered that many of the entries are in need of further formatting. It will take many hours to complete the project. The result should be worth the effort. It will be much easier to find things in the blog and once found the appearance of the text will be much more user friendly.

I'm also working on a project to share more of the pages I used to make available on my AOL website. Before uploading the information I need to removed the HTML information and then I need to edit the end of each line of text to fix a "word wrap" problem. Last night I did a test using MS Word to correct the "word wrap" problem. The test worked. I plan to do further testing to determine if I can speed up the process by changing the strings I place in the search box.

Mr. Dickie