W3Schools Online Web Tutorials

At W3Schools you will find all the Web-building tutorials you need, from basic HTML and XHTML to advanced XML, SQL, Database, Multimedia and WAP.

The quality of the material I have looked at here is excellent. The only disappointment is the inability to save whole tutorials as PDF or even one print friendly page; I can’t use a notebook standing on the train.

Definitely worth a look

Linux.com | Note to new Linux users: No antivirus needed

Misleading claims and false advertising by virus protection rackets to the contrary, you simply don’t need antivirus products to keep your Linux box free of malware.

While I agree that Linux does not need antivirus protection, I consider it good practice to have some form of AV protection on a Linux computer. Not for that computer’s benefit mind (at least, not at the moment) but for Windows users. Email borne viruses may pass through your inbox by mistake.

Then again, some distributions come with AV built in; it’s also open source so there’s no licensing issues. If you read the verbose mode of Mandriva there is a reference to ClamAV. Grisoft also has a Linux version of the ever popular AVG Free for Linux.

None of this detracts from the fact that Linux is far more resilient to viruses. Sadly though there is no solution to human error relied upon by most phising attacks…

Wot! Not Vista? | Free Software Magazine

My daughter and her cousins obviously missed some friends because they fired up the computer and started “chatting” to them through MSN. A guest, who was glancing over their shoulders while doing this, decided to show off his knowledge of computers and said “Ah – I see you have got Vista then…”

After some initial uncertainty, I have really warmed to the 3D desktop in Mandriva 2007, still need to turn down the menu effects though as they are a little overbearing.

Now if only I can impress my Mac loving friends with the desktop options…..

Creating Passionate Users

When I teach Java, I always teach it using nothing but a simple text editor and the command-line. I do advocate tools for development, but never, never, NEVER for someone who doesn’t understand Java at a fundamental level (compiler options, packages, namespaces, access modifiers, etc.)

It amuses me that I write this post in the code view of Performancing because the WYSIWYG view doesn’t give me the results I want. A good understanding of the fundamentals of any subject is so important, whether it is computing (my job), accounting (my old, rather hated, job) or music (my passion outside of job). Still it often seems like the hard way to begin with even if it is easier in the long run. The most helpful book I ever read about programming, that actually got me started when so many had failed, had no code at all in the first chapter. Rather, it explained the concepts of what a computer is and what programming is for. Armed with that knowledge getting started was so much easier. A much better approach than the books that make people write a program without explaining what goes on behind it.

What’s Special About This Number?

0 is the additive identity.
1 is the multiplicative identity.
2 is the only even prime.

Everything you never know about numbers. I’m speechless, but I won’t be learning them for parties….

Frets on Fire is a game of musical skill and fast fingers. The aim of the game is to play guitar with the keyboard as accurately as possible.

A fun and free alternative to the Playstation version, although it’s not as much fun with a keyboard as the mock guitar. One word of warning, some slight swearing in the tutorial, nothing much by rock and roll standards but parents may want to check first.

WindowsXPUnderQemuHowTo - Community Ubuntu Documentation

QEmu can run an OS inside another OS - for example, Windows under Linux. QEmu uses kqemu, an acceleration driver included in Ubuntu 7.04 Feisty Fawn to run Windows at usable speed.
Ubuntu 7.04 Feisty Fawn also includes a new version of rdesktop that can be used to start individual desktop apps from the VM on your normal desktop.

Useful for those essential apps not yet available for Linux. Or maybe for testing web pages in IE when using Linux for development.