Views Under Construction

reason to NOT use CLEAR internet

2010-07-16T21:04:00.000-07:00

UPDATE (December 2010):
I am still using CLEAR (but soon plan to switch to Time Warner). Service has been very poor (sometimes good and sometimes so poor that sites such as Pandora could not obtain the bandwidth needed to operate).
According to what I read on the CLEAR blogs, the service has been oversold in many areas, to include Austin Texas. At high use times they are intentionally limiting service to many users, yet instead of admitting this, they put users through the wasteful drill of disconnecting their router and re-booting their equipment, to troubleshoot the speed issues.
---------------------------------------

I recently decided I would try out Clear Internet.
I liked the idea of being able to buy it and get it all set up, and then move it from my apartment to my new house.
For this particular area it had decent reviews (although in some areas it has very poor reviews).

I purchased a modem, paid a sign up charge, and paid for the first month.
At this point I was into my commitment to try Clear for about $150.

Then came time to connect.

It seems that they are just not going to let me use the service, that I am paying a premium price for without agreeing to the following statement:

By providing this telephone number (whether wired or wireless) as part of our established business relationship, and regardless of whether this number is listed on the federal Do-Not-Call-Registry, you consent to being contacted by Clearwire (and/or its designated agents) at this number, for any purpose (including sales, marketing, and promotional offers) and by any means,including autodialed or prerecorded voice calls and text messages. You specifically acknowledge that you may incur, and will be sole responsibility for, charges relating to these incoming calls or messages.

I have seen sites that make every effort to get people to agree, even to go so far as to automatically default the choice to an X each time the user is returned to the page due to some omission.
However, this is the first time, I have ever seen a company, selling me a service at a premium price (with no discount over competing vendors), FORCE such an agreement on the customer.

Comcast Voice Over IP WARNING Do Not Purchase

2007-10-17T11:10:00.000-07:00

WARNING: If you are Considering Comcast Voice Over IP

Incoming Calls have a HIGH rate of just not coming through.

Initially I saw it as a relief from the flood of sales calls, and thought maybe my entry on the "do not call" list was finally taking effect.
Then I realized that people who had tried to call me, had been sent to voice mail, and my phone never even rang, to indicate an incoming call.
I also tried tests from my own cell phone, and the result was I was sent to voice mail without my phone even ringing.
My internet connection was working just fine at the time, for other internet activity.

The above problem has cleared up, I am not longer experiencing missed calls (that I know of). The sales calls continue to flood in.

Your Number will be Sold to Telemarketers possibly FASTER than you can get the number distributed to your own Friends and Family.

Before I had even distributed my new number to my friends and family, I started getting sales calls.
The sales calls have been flooding in at an increasing rate.

I did add the new number to the do not call registry, but that process takes longer than it took Comcast to have my number distributed to several Telemarketers.

I even got a sales call from a Comcast Competitor, for satellite Television. I was very tempted, but I boycott companies which do phone solicitations and NEVER allow the actual phone solicitation to lead to the my helping a company profit.
Why?
This is one of those externalities that companies are not required to pay for.
They NEVER compensate me for the time lost due to the interruption.
They take up the time of hundreds of people, and if they get just one sale after thousands of calls, they still profit. As for those who didn't buy; we are a non factor, something they care nothing about.
Do they care that I must turn off my ringer, which results in my phone being of minimal value to me. No they don't. They only care about that sale they might make.

My Advice:

DO NOT PURCHASE Voice Over IP from Comcast Cable
The price goes up to $44.99 very quickly. Vontage is so much cheaper.

So for now, the only service I really need from comcast in the internet (no one else is fast enough, in my area, at this time).

Finding a simple Counter Dilema

2007-09-22T17:03:00.000-07:00

My Counter Dilema, Deceptive advertising.

[update: I was actually impressed with the service I got from amazing counters, once I had emailed them. This doesn't address the issue of the deception in the sponsor choices, but at least they were quick to respond to my email, and willing to help me obtain a sponsor I was comfortable using.]

I recently did a comparison of several internet counter services. I was looking for simple counters, which did NOT include tracking. These exist and often consist of a simple image file (gif or png); which is updated by the site, each time the file is accessed.
I needed counter code which would not be rejected by sites which filter out script code and many useful dynamic html commands.

Any page which started throwing pop-ups was ruled out (I have some pop-up blocking turned on, and I don't want to do any further blocking).
Any page which started sending out irritating noises was ruled out. I use my computer to listen to music.

At one point I thought I had found the perfect counter site.
The site didn't send me into pop-up hell, or make irritating noises as the pages of their competitors seemed to.
They had a good selection of counter designs, including one which looked like LEGO (my favorite toy).
They offered a simple counter option, which consisted of a simple png file, so it was not going to be rejected by myspace and other web page hosting services which reject counters with any real content to them.

Of course I understand that advertising is what makes the service free, so I accepted that I would have to take an ad with my coutner.
I did not like the initial sponsor my counter was assigned. So I selected the option to choose a new sponsor.
Selecting a sponsor is a semi-random process, where I continually select new sponsor until I get the one I want. Several came up multiple times, before the list had completed. So maybe it is random with different probabilities assigned to different sponsors.
Going through their list of sponsors, I found several I actually do business with.
I even found a sponsor, for cupons, to a site owned by the company which employs me. But I continued through the list.
At one point I thought I found the perfect sponsor, there was a choice to choose the counter site (the one I was on) as my sponsor.
I thought this would be perfect; if someone is clicking on a link, next to my counter, why not take them to a site where they can get the same counter.

So I selected the counter site, and proceeded to the step which generates the code.

What did I notice?
While my sponsor link did say "amazing counters" hidden in there was an ad for Dell Computers. My counter image (which is much larger than my sponsor link) was turned into a link to a Dell Computer site, even after I did NOT select Dell as my sponsor.
While I have no real issue with advertising Dell Computers (although it is a major competitor of the company which employs me), I did not like the sneaky way it became my true sponsor, AFTER I choose to select something else.
Why was the counter site sneaky about this? Why even have amazing counters in the sponsor list, if selecting this leads to the assignment of a different sponsor?

After realizing that my sponsor was Dell, and not amazing counters (as I had selected) I went back to the sponsor selection.
I proceeded to look for a specific sponsor I had seen earlier in the list. After HUNDREDS of clicks, it did not come up again. I was about to give up and select another sponsor, which I was ok with.
I selected ToysRUs-cupons. Did this link take me to a site associated with ToysRus? Of course not. It was a general cupon site, with Dell on the top of the list.
If one scrolled down, ToysRus cupons were available, as were several of the other companies, I had seen cupon links for in the "select sponsor" process.
In the meantime, I had become just irritated enough, that I had used the "send us a message" functionality.
I went back to the "select sponsor" and continued the process.
Eventually, it came up, what I thought was a link to the company I work for (or at least their online shopping service). Maybe I hadn't noticed the word cupon after it before, and maybe that was what I saw before.
I went ahead and tried out the link (if I was going to have this link on my site, I needed to check it out). At least it was what it claimed to be, and the first cupons offered, were for the shopping site which sells the products made by the company I work for. (The links to get Dell cupons were off to the side).

Dilema 1)

Will I continue to have amazing counters as the counter service I recommend to people?
It is still my favorite online counter service. (OK, sneaky sponsor assignment is less undesireable than pop-ups and noise).

I could write my own counter service, and offer it to those who ask me where to get counters. But not today, and it will take a significant chunk of time to come up with a variety of counter designs.

If I do decide to write my own, For the short term, do I continue to use amazing counters?
Do I continue to recommend amazing counters.?

Dilema 2)
Assuming I continue to use amazing counters;
Do I select a sponsor which offers cupons for products sold by my own employer, or a site which pushes products made by the competition?

There was a time when this answer would have been obvious to me. There was a time when I cared if the company, which employs me, did well. There was a time when if the company did well, all the employees were rewarded.
But the company has made many changes.
The company no longer treats the majority of its employees as valued assets.
No longer do the majority of the employees have any vested interest in the performance of the company. There is a new philosophy that only a small handful of employees are really adding much value at all, and the rest of us are easy to throw away and replace.
They pay me (and pretty well). I do the work I am assigned, and struggle to maintain the same level of work habits I had when I felt more valued. I owe them honest work in return for that pay. My loyalty goes no further.
But for some reason, I just don't feel right having a major competitor as my counter sponsor, although I feel free to do so.

(I know it is easy to alter the code, and remove the sponsor, but I want to stay within the terms of service, if I am going to install code from another site).

The future of This Blog?

2007-08-13T18:54:00.000-07:00

I have no idea what I am going to do with this blog. Some how (and I have no idea why) this blog continues to retain higher Google rankings than any of my other blogs.
For this, I thank those who were kind enough to link to me. These links are the only explanation. I continue to read and enjoy each and everyone of your blogs.
I do still have a few political/economics based subjects I plan to explore and write about; but for now, my brain is taking a break from that type of thinking, and concentrating on more logical subjects.

When I was young, and expressed an interest in becomming a computer programmer, my Dad was concerned. I know this sounds strange, but at that time he had a good friend who had recently gone completely whacko. My dad was of the belief, that the cause was an inability to make the transition, from the completely logical world of the computer, to the illogical world that we are all required to function in on a daily basis.
I once wondered if I was at risk of the same fate. However, more recently I have had to acknowledge that it is not necessarily the lack of logic in other people's political/economical thinking which is the cause of my frustration with the subject; but rather the lack of logic in much of my own thinking.
I often resort to "gut feeling" or emotion, to form my view. This impedes with my logic. When I see this I try to then use logic, only to discover that there are too many unknowns to form any sort of conclusion I can really stick to once I see the data being used to support the opposite view.
There is too much information, and most of it is designed to manipulate how I think rather than just give me the facts.

I have two things in my head right now that I want to write.
One is my tax plan. I think I have a good idea, that balances what is "fair" with what is "economically workable" (Totally Fair didn't come out to economically workable).

The other is a myspace code generator, for a round table style friend space, to deal with the top friend issue. I have it all designed in my head. It uses multiple marquees to create the effect of movement around a circle.
(JavaScript would be so useful here, but I do understand why myspace blocks it. There will always be those who choose to use power for evil rather than good. Blogger does NOT block it, they block in on individual blog posts, but I was able to get it into my template, and then call it from a specific blog post.)

I will be moving some of my myspace related articles, that I had moved off of this blog, back onto this blog.
They will not show up at the top.
I will be using the ability to modify (lie about) the date, to attempt to put them in a logical order.
Perhaps a blog is not the best format for this sort of thing, but blogger is free, and I have already started down this path.)
Once they are all on the same blog, it will be easier to leverage the blogger search tool to search for specific items.

I am going to start a table of contents, on my side bar. It will take me a while to get it organized.

MySpace Band page, Custom Section below Top Menu

2007-03-03T10:32:00.000-08:00

MySpace 2.0, Custom Section above Main table, Below Menu

This strategy takes advantage of an html fluke that occurs, when one attempts to place content in a table, outside of a defined cell.
This forces the content above the table.
I have tested this in multiple browsers, and the behavior was consistent.

Place this code in the Bio Section BELOW any content you want to show in that section.

This code does force the friends to the bottom.
If you want the friends on the right, scroll down on this page, to find the solution.

Content in Bio Section goes here.

<i class=i>START CODE HERE
Template Code written by Eileen
<a href="http://www.msplinks.com/MDFodHRwOi8veGlpaS51cy9tczE=">MySpace Code  (Codes ?) and Tutorials by Eileen</a>
<a href="xiii.us/ms1">MySpace Code  (Codes ?) and Tutorials by Eileen</a>
</i>

</td> </tr></table>
</td> </tr></table>
</td> </tr>
<div class="myTopDiv" style="border:2px green groove; margin-right:auto; margin-left:auto; width:100%; ">

Top Div Content goes here.  <br><br>
If no height is assigned, div will auto size based on content as long as the content is not placed absolute within the div.

I am adding br tags to show how content takes up space, and sizes this div
<br>
<br>
<br>
<br>
<br>


</div>

<tr><td class="myB" colspan="4" style="text-align:center">
<div class="myBottom" style="text-align:center">

<table style="display:none"><td>
<table><tr><td>

<style>
.i {display:none;}

</style>

<i class=i>END code to create Custom Top Section</i>

Custom Section below Nav Bars, Above Main Table, keeping Friends to the Right

This code does hide anything in the interests area that occurs after the "Sounds Like".
You can easily re-create this content, if you want, since it is static.
(I can provide the code for that if anyone wants it).

This code goes into the Sounds Like BELOW any content you want to show up in that section.

Content in Sounds Like Section goes here.

<i class=i>START CODE HERE
Template Code written by Eileen
<a href="http://www.msplinks.com/MDFodHRwOi8veGlpaS51cy9tczE=">MySpace Code  (Codes ?) and Tutorials by Eileen</a>
<a href="xiii.us/ms1">MySpace Code  (Codes ?) and Tutorials by Eileen</a>
</i>

</td> </tr></table>
</td> </tr></table>
</td> 
<div class="myTopDiv" style="border:2px green groove; margin-right:auto; margin-left:auto; width:100%; ">

Top Div Content goes here.  <br><br>
If no height is assigned, div will auto size based on content as long as the content is not placed absolute within the div.

I am adding br tags to show how content takes up space, and sizes this div
<br>
<br>
<br>
<br>
<br>


</div>

<td class="myB" colspan="4" style="text-align:center; border:2px green dashed;">
<div class="myBottom" style="text-align:center">

<table style="display:none"><td>
<table><tr><td>

<style>
.i {display:none;}

</style>

<i class=i>END code to create Custom Top Section</i>

Cremation is not a Reversible Process

2007-02-24T19:36:00.000-08:00

As my siblings and I were signing papers, to have our mother cremated, we were told the following:
“I am required by law, to inform you, that cremation is not a reversible process”.
My response was:
“Really”, and I acted somewhat surprised.
At that moment we (my siblings and my self) began laughing.
We all picked up little pamphlets on funeral etiquette while we were there.

Hiding the Default Myspace Page

2007-02-04T18:54:00.001-08:00

[note added April 1 2007: it was this post, and the google query which led to my doing this, which started my myspace code tweak addiction. It was researching the answer to the particular google query, that lead to my having dreams about the layers and levels of the tables in the myspace code, and all the different ways to tweak them]

I am returning to an earlier theme, and creating a blog post based on the search engine queries which have been hitting this page.

The query of choice for this post is: "comment out" myspace
(In computer language talk, “comment out” means to enclose the code in comments so as to render the code non executable).

I wonder, was the person who entered this query looking to "comment out" myspace, so as to render the default code non functional?
Or were they looking for a way to comment the code they were adding?

I will cover both here.

MySpace does not allow any sort of "normal" or "standard" html or css syntax. This was the first thing I learned after I got over the barrier of figuring out where I was supposed to enter my customization code.

So I (and a few others who care to comment their code) have adopted the following techniques:
1) for html use a span, and assign it to class="off"
i.e.
<span class="off">COMMENT HERE</span>

2) Within a style block the following sort of works. It is more picky than the above, as to exactly what characters I can use within my comment.
{ your comment here }
If it evaluates to nothing understandable, by css, it is ignored.
Don't use the apostrophe or a single double quote. I am sure there are other characters which have caused a problem. I don't remember them right now.

Often people like to use the above as if their own initial is a class.
Or people who have seen someone else do a comment this way, will just copy the letter the other person used.

Hiding Page Content

If one didn't care about hiding the ad banner, or importing any of the default page content, it is very easy.

<style>
table, div {display:none !important}
</style>

I suppose you could still even get a div overlay onto the page, as long as you do it in such a way as to close ALL tables, so that your div was sitting above the table structure. Then your div would be at a parallel level to the display:none statement, so you could recover it.
But I don't cover div overlays in this article, so I won't go into that.

Hide Everything Except the Ad Banner

<style>
table table {display:none !important}
table div {display:none;}
div table div {display:block;}
</style>

The music page takes more code, due to that maroon nav bar. It has no class and is at a level where rendering it display:none would make it impossible to recover the ad banner. Put this code in your Bio:

<style>
table table {display:none !important; }
table div {display:none;}
form {display:none;}

div table.navigationBar {display:none;}
div table div {visibility:visible; display:block;}

div table {visibility:hidden;}
div table {height:auto !important; margin-bottom:-30px;}

table td{background-color:transparent;}
</style>

Now when you create your div overlay, I recommend that you still put your overlay one table deep, and then declare your div class display:block.
(I cover this in my div overlay article).

Related Articles:
Simple Div Overlay MySpace Band Page

Simple Hide Routines Friends And Comments without leaving excess whitespace

Band Page Top Area and Menus Including Maroon Nav Bar

Simple Hide Routines Right Side, Blogs, Extended Network

[ANOTHER BLOGGER BUG :-(
Posts sometimes loose ability to accept comments if I back out, without saving, while editing my posts. At first I thought I had modified while having comment ability turned off, I have now verified this is not always the case. Feel free to leave me a comment on another post.]

If The Smiley Talks, Exit Page

2007-02-03T00:24:00.000-08:00

The myspace advertisement collection has introduced a new member; The New talking Smiley ad. Unlike the old talking smiley ad, this one does not wait for the cursor to cross the ad path before blurting out its message. Visually obnoxious was not enough, the ads had to evolve so they could assault my senses in new and clever ways.

I say fight back. Please join me in my protest. Silence the Smileys. If the Smiley talks, Exit Page.
(I no longer watch Television stations which have sound effects on those pop up ads which pop up during the show.)

Someone else had another idea
Petition OnLine, A Petition to have smiley ads removed from MySpace

Consumers really have a lot of power, properly used, it can be the most powerful force in the marketplace.

Note:[added the next morning]
I just got a double smiley assault on myspace. One from the top banner, and one from the side banner. They were not even in sync, and it was like a very bad smiley duet.

Silence the Smileys.

[Update Sunday Evening after the Colts won the SuperBowl: The Smileys have been very quiet today, I have been in the myspace editor and mail several times today, and have not heard a single Smiley. Maybe they read my post :-) ]

Picture Placement and Alignment, MySpace or Blogger

2007-01-15T09:44:00.000-08:00

Alignment of Pictures and Text using html

Strategies for aligning images, or images/text combinations

1) Use of align property
2) Use of table cells (I actually like this, many don't)
3) float (I combine this with text-align)
4) Use of inner divs in an outer div, and absolute placement.

I use these strategies in Blogger, MySpace, general Web Design.

Method 1: align property
This is one of the most common methods used, if one wants text to the right, or left, of the image, which wraps around the bottom of the image if needed.

text to the right of our image. If there is enough it will wrap to the bottom of the image.

<div style="height:auto; width:150px; 
border:2px pink solid">
<img src="http://i17.tinypic.com/6b05ehc.jpg" align="left">text to the right of our image.  If there is enough it will wrap to the bottom of the image.</div>

text to the left of our image. If there is enough it will wrap to the bottom of the image.

<div style="height:auto; width:150px; border:2px pink solid">
<img src="http://i17.tinypic.com/6b05ehc.jpg" 
align="right">text to the left of our image.  If there is enough it will wrap to the bottom of the image.</div>

Text under image goes here. This text will stretch the length of the defined space, centered under a centered image.

<div style="height:auto; width:150px; border:2px pink solid; text-align:center">
<img src="http://i17.tinypic.com/6b05ehc.jpg" style="text-align:center"><br>
Text under image goes here.  This text will stretch the length of the defined space, centered under a centered image.
</div>

Text above image goes here. This text will stretch the length of the defined space, centered under a centered image.

<div style="height:auto; width:150px; border:2px pink solid; text-align:center">
Text above image goes here.  This text will stretch the length of the defined space, centered under a centered image.<br>
<img src="http://i17.tinypic.com/6b05ehc.jpg" style="text-align:center"></div>

If I want to put two pictures, side by side, with text centered above each one,
and control my spacing, I can create TWO of the above div blocks, and float them next to each other.
I use borders to show the boundaries of the divs. The borders can be omitted.

text here blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah

<div style="height:auto; width:150px; border:2px pink solid; text-align:center; float:left;">
text here blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah 
<br>
<img src="http://i17.tinypic.com/6b05ehc.jpg" style="text-align:center">
</div>

<div style="height:auto; width:150px; border:2px pink solid; text-align:center; float:left;">
text here blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah 
<br>
<img src="http://i17.tinypic.com/6b05ehc.jpg" style="text-align:center">
</div>

If I want more space between the two divs,
I can add a margin.

text here blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah

<div style="margin-right:30px; height:auto; width:150px; border:2px pink solid; text-align:center; float:left;">
text here blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah 
<br>
<img src="http://i17.tinypic.com/6b05ehc.jpg" style="text-align:center">
</div>

<div style="height:auto; width:150px; border:2px pink solid; text-align:center; float:left;">
text here blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah 
<br>
<img src="http://i17.tinypic.com/6b05ehc.jpg" style="text-align:center">
</div>

Method 2: Use of Table Rows and Cells.
This is the method I most often use. It is easy to code, and works well cross browser. With tables and cells I can easily control exactly where the content falls. But it is not good for "wrapping" the text around the image. For that align works better.

I open a table.
If I want stuff aligned horizontally, I put it in the same row.
If I want stuff aligned vertically, I put it in the same column.

i.e.
Suppose I want two pictures, with text in between them, all in one row.
I use the following:
<table>
<tr>
<td><img src="PIC-URL"></td><td>TEXT </td><td><img src="PIC-URL"></td>
</tr>
</table>

TEXT

Suppose I want two pictures, one above the other, with text next to each picture:
<table>
<tr>
<td><img src="PIC-URL"></td><td>TEXT</td><td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><img src="PIC-URL"></td><td>TEXT</td><td>
</tr>
</table>

[IF using Blogger You want to remove all the carriage returns between the html tags. I wait until I am done with the code before doing this. It is easier to edit with the carriage returns in it, because I can see each row. ]

Method 3:Use of Float

Method 4: Use of a Div and placement within the div
This method has the BEST accuracy for placing stuff, so it has the same spacing and placement across different browsers, resolutions and dpi settings.
This method takes more effort to code.
You need to know the sizes of stuff.

1) Create the outer div. This will act as the container for the images and any text which goes with them. You will need a position statement for this div, even if you are not going to move it anywhere.
<div style="position:relative; top:0px; width:106px; height:106px">
<img src="PIC-URL" style="position:absolute; top:2px; left:2px">
<img src="PIC-URL" style="position:absolute; top:2px; left:54px">
<img src="PIC-URL" style="position:absolute; top:54px; left:2px">
<img src="PIC-URL" style="position:absolute; top:54px; left:54px">
</div>

Below is an example using a 50x50 jpg img file, I stored on tinypic:
<div style="position:relative; top:0px; width:200px; height:106px; border:1px silver solid;">
<img src="http://i17.tinypic.com/6b05ehc.jpg" style="position:absolute; top:1px; left:2px; height:50px; width:50px;border:1px pink

solid">
<span style="position:absolute; top:1px; left:55px; width:145px; height:50px;">
TEXT NEXT TO TOP PICTURE</span>
<img src="http://i17.tinypic.com/6b05ehc.jpg" style="position:absolute; top:51px; left:2px; height:50px; width:50px;border:1px pink solid">
<span style="position:absolute; top:51px; left:55px; width:145px; height:50px;">
TEXT NEXT TO BOTTOM PICTURE</span>
</div>
The result of the above is this:
(I am pasting the actual code in the blog post, instead of a screen shot).

TEXT NEXT TO TOP PICTURE

TEXT NEXT TO BOTTOM PICTURE

Have image enlarge as mouse hovers over it. (This was asked in a discussion forum, and after I posted the answer there, I was looking for a place to add it to my blog, and this article seemed like the best fit).

<a class="myHover" href="http://i11.tinypic.com/5ylv12h.jpg">
<img class="myhovImg" src="http://i11.tinypic.com/5ylv12h.jpg"></a>
<style>
a.myHover:hover img {filter:none;}
a.myHover:hover img {width:50px; height:50px;}
</style>

Have a Nice Day; Thank you for Visiting :-)

codes ? Is not code plural already? Prior to myspace I had never seen the word code pluralized to codes, when discussing software source code (or is it source codes?). Put text next to image. Myspace code for putting text next to picture.
How to put an image on left side of text.
How do I get writing with Picture on the side of writing
align picture on left side and text on the right side for myspace
different image on mouse over on myspace
myspace picture captions
myspace hover effects
myspace hover codes
place image to side of text on myspace
images side by side
image with text next to it

mySpace image effects hover change mouseover

2007-01-14T17:56:00.000-08:00

Image Effects

For more css hover effect examples see the following:
css hover effects and pop up simulation

Change Image on MouseOver without Using JavaScript

To cause a picture to change when the mouse hovers over it, without using javascript (which myspace filters):

Pseudo code:
- Create a container div. This will be positioned relative (or absolute) and will act as the outer positioned container for your image.
It must have positioning, even if you want it in the exact location you create it. This allows the images to be placed absolute within it.

- Use an image as a link, and create a link.

- Create a 2nd link, using your second image (the image which will show when the mouse hovers over the 1st image)

- Use style to do the following:
- Position container div, you can use relative 0, if you don't want to move it. Position is necessary for it to act as a proper outer container.
- Position the 2nd link image in the top left corner of the outer div
- Position the 1st link image in the top left corner of the outer div.
- Style the 1st image to turn invisible when hovering over.
- Style the 2nd image to turn invisible
- Style the 2nd image to visibility:visible when hovering over.

(It is probably possible to just have the top image go from visible to hidden, but I like to set them both rather than worry about layering order. The below code worked in the 5 browsers I tested it in).

The below code is a sample. It uses two small 50x50 images. The links go to my web page.
Change the image links to the URL of your images.

<i class="off">!-Change image when hover over-!
!code author:Eileen <a href="xiii.us/v">mySpace code Tutorials</a>
</i>

<div class="Div0">
<a class="img1" href="http://www.msplinks.com/MDFodHRwOi8veGlpaS51cy92"><img src="http://i17.tinypic.com/6b05ehc.jpg"</a>
<a class="img2" href="http://www.msplinks.com/MDFodHRwOi8veGlpaS51cy92"><img  src="http://i24.tinypic.com/2u3w3s3.gif"></a>
</div>

<style>
a:hover img {filter:none;}
div.Div0 {position:relative; top:0px; width:50px; height:50px; border:1px pink solid;}
a.img2 {position:absolute; top:0px; left:0px;}
a.img1 {position:absolute; top:0px; left:0px;}

a:hover img {filter:none;}
div.Div0 {position:relative; top:0px; width:50px; height:50px; border:1px pink solid;}
a.img1 {position:absolute; top:0px; left:0px;}
a.img2 {position:absolute; top:0px; left:0px;}

a.img1:hover img{visibility:hidden;}
a.img2 img {visibility:hidden;}
a.img2:hover img {visibility:visible;}
</style>

css mouseover popup hover myspace

2007-01-13T23:06:00.000-08:00

css Pop-Up simulation using hover

The concept is this:
When the user moves the mouse over a specific place on the page, the style of some (or multiple) elements changes.
With this one can simulate a pop up effect, or a change effect.

Quick Links for those who do not want to read the whole article:
Change to New Image on RollOver
Resize Image on Hover Example
Have Image or Text disappear on Rollover
Image or Text Appear (Pop Up) on RollOver
Have text popUp under an Image on Rollover
Image or Text PopUp in a Different Location (than the rollover location)
Multiple Images, Where the image which pops up is dependent on where the mouse is
Multiple Images, where the image which pops up is dependent on mouse location, Where images are part of a link

In order for these effects to occur, the element the mouse moves over must be a link.
(It can be any link, even one going nowhere or back here).

The way this is accomplished is via the css style command and the pseudo classes that are built in for links.

The link tag <a> has the following pseudo classes:
link
visited
hover
active

The link can have a different style assigned for each of these classes.

A very simple example of this would be to change how the link text looks, when the mouse hovers over it.

Source for below link:

<a class="myLink1" href="http://xiii.us/v/">Eileen's Test Link</a>
<style>
a.myLink1 {color:hotpink; font-weight:bold; font-family:comic sans ms;}
a.myLink1:hover {color:purple;}
</style>

Eileen's Test Link

Have Image or Text disappear on Rollover
In the next example I will use a copy of the same link, and turn it invisible, when the mouse hovers over it.

The code for my link looks like this:


<a class="myLink2" href="http://xiii.us/v/">Eileen's Test Link ii </a>

<style>
a.myLink2 {visibility:visible; color:purple; font-weight:bold; font-family:comic sans ms;}
a.myLink2:hover {visibility:hidden;}
</style>

Eileen's Test Link ii

Notice that when the mouse hovers over this link, the text goes away.
Also notice that it seems to get confused, as the text goes away.
(I will cover how to clean this effect up later)

[note to self: put link to cleaned up example here:]

Image or Text Appear (Pop Up) on RollOver
In the next example I will start with invisible text, and have the text show only when the mouse hovers over it.

The code for the below link (including style):

<a class="myLink3" href=" ">Eileen's Test Link iii </a>

<style>
a.myLink3 {color:white; font-weight:bold; font-family:comic sans ms; line-height:25px}
a.myLink3:hover {color:purple;}
</style>

hover your mouse between the lines:

Eileen's Test Link iii

Notice that instead of visibility:hidden I colored the text to match the background color. Had I used visibility:hidden, it would not have been there for the mouse to hover over it.

If you have a background image, with multiple colors, this may not work for you.
However you could place a clear gif or other container in the link area, to get a working roll over effect. I will cover more details later in this article.

[note to self: add cleaned up example and link to example here]

Change to New Image on RollOver
Change Image on MouseOver without Using JavaScript

To cause a picture to change when the mouse hovers over it, without using javascript (which myspace filters):

Pseudo code:
- Create a container div. This will be positioned relative (or absolute) and will act as the outer positioned container for your image.
It must have positioning, even if you want it in the exact location you create it. This allows the images to be placed absolute within it.

- Use an image as a link, and create a link.

- Create a 2nd link, using your second image (the image which will show when the mouse hovers over the 1st image)

- Use style to do the following:
- Position container div, you can use relative 0, if you don't want to move it. Position is necessary for it to act as a proper outer container.
- Position the 2nd link image in the top left corner of the outer div
- Position the 1st link image in the top left corner of the outer div.
- Style the 1st image to turn invisible when hovering over.
- Style the 2nd image to turn invisible
- Style the 2nd image to visibility:visible when hovering over.

The below code is a sample. It uses two small 50x50 images. The links go to my web page.
Change the image links to the URL of your images.

<i class="off">!-Change image when hover over-!
!code author:Eileen <a href="xiii.us/v">mySpace code Tutorials</a>
</i>

<div class="Div0">
<a class="img1" href="http://www.msplinks.com/MDFodHRwOi8veGlpaS51cy92"><img src="http://i17.tinypic.com/6b05ehc.jpg"</a>
<a class="img2" href="http://www.msplinks.com/MDFodHRwOi8veGlpaS51cy92"><img  src="http://i24.tinypic.com/2u3w3s3.gif"></a>
</div>

<style>
a:hover img {filter:none;}
div.Div0 {position:relative; top:0px; width:50px; height:50px; border:1px pink solid;}
a.img2 {position:absolute; top:0px; left:0px;}
a.img1 {position:absolute; top:0px; left:0px;}

a:hover img {filter:none;}
div.Div0 {position:relative; top:0px; width:50px; height:50px; border:1px pink solid;}
a.img1 {position:absolute; top:0px; left:0px;}
a.img2 {position:absolute; top:0px; left:0px;}

a.img1:hover img{visibility:hidden;}
a.img2 img {visibility:hidden;}
a.img2:hover img {visibility:visible;}
</style>

Adding Complexity Using Multiple blocks inside Link

In this example I am going to wrap an outer container (wrapper) around the link.
This cleans up the fuzzyness (as I call it) that I notice in example ii.
Notice that example ii sort of comes and goes, as the mouse hovers over it.
Compare that to the results below.

The follow code was used for the below link:

<div class="myDiv5">
<a class="myLink5" href="">
<span class="span5a">Eileen's Test Link v</span>
<span class="span5b"></span>
</a>
</div>

<style>
{! needed to make this work in IE !}
a:hover div, a:hover span {filter:none;}
{! get rid of default link underline !}
a {text-decoration: none}
{! position div and give it size so it can act as a wrapper !}
div.myDiv5 {position:relative; top:0px; left:0px; width:200px; height:30px;}
{! position link and spans inside the div; all same size and all placed in top left !}
div.myDiv5 a.myLink5, 
div.myDiv5 a.myLink5 span {position:absolute; top:0px; left:0px; width:200px; height:30px;}
{! style behavior when NO hover !}
a.myLink5 span.span5a {display:block; color:purple; font-weight:bold; font-family:comic sans ms;}
a.myLink5 span.span5b {display:none;}
{! swap style on hover !}
a.myLink5:hover span.span5a {display:none;}
a.myLink5:hover span.span5b {display:block; color:magenta; font-weight:bold; font-family:comic sans ms}
</style>

Eileen's Test Link v

Now I am going to use the same Technique, to CHANGE the text on hover
The code for the below link:

<div class="myDiv5">
<a class="myLink5" href="">
<span class="span5a">Eileen's Test Link vi</span>
<span class="span5b">Eileen's Other Test Link vi</span>
</a>
</div>

(Note: I used the same classes, and therefore the same style commands, as I used in the previous example)
What is different, is that instead of making my text go away, I make it change. I change BOTH the actual Text AND the text color.

Eileen's Test Link vi
Another TEST LINK vi

Have text popUp under an Image on Rollover
Popup Text Underneath an image, when hovering over the image

No you should NOT; Said the Fish in the Pot

Hover over the above image to see the effect.

The code, I used to obtain the effect, is below:

<div class="fishdiv0">
<center>
<a class= "hoverTest" href="http://xiii.us/xfs/">
<img src="http://i28.tinypic.com/2e1d1lc.jpg"><br>
<span class="popUpSpan">No you should NOT; Said the Fish in the Pot</span>
</a>
</center>
</div>

<style>
div.fishdiv0 {width:250px; height:auto}
a:hover img {filter:none;}
a img {border:0px !important;}
a.hoverTest {width:200px; height:auto; }

a span.popUpSpan {visibility:hidden;}
a:hover span.popUpSpan {visibility:visible; display:block; border:1px silver solid}
a span.popUpSpan {color:magenta; font-size:13px}
a:link, a:hover  {text-decoration:none !important;} 
</style>

Image or Text PopUp in a Different Location (than the rollover location)
Make something "pop Up" elsewhere on the screen when hovering over a link.
In this example, an image pops up, somewhere else on the screen, when the mouse hovers over the link.

To do this, I am going to create some boundaries, to use as an outer wrapper.
This is not for the link (as I did above) this is because I have no idea where this example will actually fall within my article.
I want the image to show up (without the need to scroll).
So first I am going to create a boundary, to serve for our example.
The magenta dashed border, outlines the boundary for this example.
Pretend that is either you page, or a wrapper div you are within BEFORE you create your link.

I am now inside of the div which is acting as my pseudo page for this example.

The code for my actual Link (including style) is this:


<a class="myLink7" href=""><span class="span7">LINK TEXT HERE</span> 
<div class="myHimg"><img src="http://i24.tinypic.com/35ndmx3.gif"/>
</div></a>

<style>
{! needed for IE !}
a:hover img {filter:none;}

a.myLink7 img {border:none}
a.myLink7, a.myLink7 span.span7 {width:194px; height:24px;}

a.myLink7 div.myHimg {display:none;}
a.myLink7:hover div.myHimg {
 display:block; position:absolute; top:0px; right:0px;}

</style>

LINK TEXT HERE

When you hover the mouse over the link, a pop up image should appear in the top right of the section surrounded by the dashed magenta border.

The above concept can be expanded, to show a different image, if the mouse is hovered on a different part of the screen.

Multiple Images, Where the image which pops up is dependent on where the mouse is
To do this, multiple images are used and displayed one at a time in the same location.
The images are all rendered NOT displayed (or hidden) until the link is hovered.
As the link hovers over a particular link (which can be text or an image); only the image associated with that link, is rendered visible.
[note: If using display:none, for "hidden" images, it is not necessary to give them placement until they are displayed. If using visibility:hidden, position the images (stacked on top of each other), so they only take up space in the same location they will show when displayed. If there is NOT enough space taken up (by something) you may see a shift in other page contents when the image "pops up".]

The code used for my "Fish" example:

<div class="fishDiv">Hover over Each of the below Text Lines and look to the right:
<a class="myLink10" href=""><span class="span10">ONE FISH</span>
<div class="myHimg"><img src="http://i11.tinypic.com/87bwz8z.gif"/></div></a>
<a class="myLink10" href=""><span class="span10">TWO FISH</span>
<div class="myHimg"><img src="http://i11.tinypic.com/6t0o4f6.gif"/></div></a>
<a class="myLink10" href=""><span class="span10">RED FISH</span>
<div class="myHimg"><img src="http://i4.tinypic.com/866mxaa.gif"/></div></a>
<a class="myLink10" href=""><span class="span10">Blue Fish</span>
<div class="myHimg"><img src="http://i14.tinypic.com/87025ar.gif"/></div></a>
</div>

<style>
a.myLink10 img {border:none}
{! needed for IE !}
a:hover img {filter:none;}
{! size div which contains space for links AND images to show on hover !}
div.fishDiv {width:700px; height:150px; position:relative; top:0px; left:0px;}
{! size each link !}
a.myLink10, a.myLink10 span.span10 {width:200px; height:20px;}
{! render images not displayed; I use same class for each image div !}
a.myLink10 div.myHimg {display:none;}
{! style hover so that only the instance of the class which is being hovered shows !}
a.myLink10:hover div.myHimg {display:block; position:absolute; top:20px; right:0px;}
</style>

Result:

Hover over Each of the below Text Lines and look to the right:
ONE FISH

TWO FISH

RED FISH

Blue Fish

Resize Image on Hover

The code used for the above:

<a class="myLinkI1" href="http://xiii.us/v/"><img src="http://i17.tinypic.com/6b05ehc.jpg"></a>
<style>
a:hover img {filter:none;}
a.myLinkI1 img {width:auto; height:auto;}
a.myLinkI1:hover img {width:150px; height:auto}
</style>

Multiple Images, where the image which pops up is dependent on mouse location, Where images are part of a link
The below example shows how you can make the "pop up" image act as part of the link being hovered, so that the image remains visible as the mouse moves from the initial hover point to the "pop up" image.

The magenta borders, during the "pop up" show the boundaries of the link area.
The pink background, to each text link, shows the boundaries of that text link.

To make this work in IE6, I had to make my "pop up" image the background to the div, which defined the hover area. I did NOT have to do this to make it work in FireFox.
What was strange, was that in IE6, the div I defined for the hover area, which was larger than the actual image, worked as a link, EVERY WHERE EXCEPT where the actual image resided. Altering the z-index did not seem to help.
So I opted for the background-image solution.

<div class="fishDiv">Hover over Each of the below Text Lines and look to the right:<br>

<a class="mylink11" href="http://xiii.us/v/"><div class="linkText">ONE FISH</div>
<div class="hoverArea i1"></div></a><br>

<a class="mylink11" href="http://xiii.us/v/"><div class="linkText">TWO FISH</div>
<div class="hoverArea i2"></div></a><br>

<a class="mylink11" href="http://xiii.us/v/"><div class="linkText">RED FISH</div>
<div class="hoverArea i3"></div></a><br>

<a class="mylink11" href="http://xiii.us/v/"><div class="linkText">BLUE FISH</div>
<div class="hoverArea i4"></div></a><br>

</div>


<style>
{! set the image for each link as a background image !}
div.i1 {background-image: 
url('http://i11.tinypic.com/87bwz8z.gif');}

div.i2 {background-image: 
url('http://i11.tinypic.com/6t0o4f6.gif');}

div.i3 {background-image: 
url('http://i4.tinypic.com/866mxaa.gif');}

div.i4 {background-image: 
url('http://i14.tinypic.com/87025ar.gif');}

div.hoverArea{
background-repeat: 
no-repeat;
background-position: center right; 
}


a.mylink11 img {border:none}

{! needed for IE !}
a:hover div {filter:none;}

{! size div which contains space for links AND images to show on hover !}
div.fishDiv {width:700px; height:170px; position:relative; top:0px; left:0px;}

{! render hoverarea NOT there when not in state hover !}
div.hoverArea {display:none;}

{! show hoverarea on hover; define size of hover space!}
a:hover div.hoverArea {display:block; width:500px; height:170px; border:3px magenta solid;} 

{! I want the hover to be active in the entire space; z-index keeps this below text for other links !}
a:hover div.hoverArea {position:absolute; top:0px; left:0px; z-index:1;}

{! by having a higher z-index this remains on top allowing the mouse to move to a new link !}
div.linkText {position:relative; top:0px; z-index:999}

{! size each link !}
a.mylink11, a.mylink11 div.linkText {display:block; width:100px; height:20px; background-color:pink}

</style>

Hover over Each of the below Text Lines and look to the right:

Hints for Video Posting Part 1

2006-12-10T19:13:00.000-08:00

Hints for Embedding Video in Blog Posts

(The code examples assume the viewer, of the video, has the required flash plug-in. Most have this, as it is a standard plug in which is provided for free).

Note:
If using this guide for myspace, myspace will add additional attributes. Just let them do this (well you have no choice, if you try to remove them they will add them back). The additional attributes are harmless, they will not prevent the video from playing. Just paste in the minimal code I show here, and then let myspace add their code. So far this has always worked for me.

This guide is designed to use, when the usual methods (of just taking the code they give you and following the instructions of the video site, or sending the code via the video site) do not work for you.
This is an alternate, more versatile method, for posting videos in either blogger or myspace (or other web pages)

The method covered here uses the object tag, and does NOT use an embed tag. Many sites generate code which uses the embed tag, either nested in the object tag, or without an object tag.

I will use the object tag and avoid the embed tag.
Here is a simple code block, which includes the minimum amount of code required, to place a flash video on your blog, which will work in multiple browsers (including IE and Firefox) using the object tag (without the embed tag).

EXAMPLE 1:
[This is a basic example, for this to work you must replace the X with the address of your video/player.]

<object type="application/x-shockwave-flash" data="X" width="320" height="240">
<param name="movie" value="X">
</object>

(You can alter the width and height as needed).
(I did not include a classid. I believe I should need one, but this seems to work without one, and my goal is to start with the minimum code needed, adding additional attributes later).

To make the above work, replace X (both occurrences of X) with the address of the site's video player/video. The arguments needed depend on the specific video player for the specific site. (The reason this is needed in two places is because of non standard compliant browsers).
(I will explain how to find this address value, for a few of the popular video sites, later in this post. It is NOT usually the same address you are using when you view the video on the hosts web site.)

Here is an example using a video I found on myspace:
(I will explain how determined the value, to use in place of X, later in this post).
EXAMPLE 1A:

<object type="application/x-shockwave-flash" data="http://lads.myspace.com/videos/vplayer.swf?m=1563789883&type=video" width="320" height="240">
<param name="movie" value="http://lads.myspace.com/videos/vplayer.swf?m=1563789883&type=video">
</object>

Here is an example using youtube:
EXAMPLE 1B:

<object type="application/x-shockwave-flash" data="http://www.youtube.com/v/pn2aGpje5QA" width="320" height="240">
<param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/pn2aGpje5QA">
</object>

To insert the code (shown above), into my blog, I paste the above code into the blogger editor.

(I tried both the post editor and the html editor. They both worked. However do NOT switch between them while working with the code).

For myspace you can insert the code into any of the provided data boxes, depending on where you want the video to show up.
OR, if you are using an overlay, or some customizing method where you have control over the absolute location of each element on your page, you can do this instead:

<object type="application/x-shockwave-flash" data="http://lads.myspace.com/videos/vplayer.swf?m=1563789883&type=video" height="400" width="430" style="position:absolute; visibility:visible; left:50%; top:1130px; margin-left: -431px; width:430px height:400px;">
<param name="movie" value="http://lads.myspace.com/videos/vplayer.swf?m=1563789883&type=video" />
</object>

In the above example, I added a style clause to the object tag, to indicate the absolute page position, to place the video.
You will likely want to modify the top px value, depending what is on your page. You can modify all of the px values.

Here are some links to my results:
myspace video implemented, on blogger: click here

myspace video implemented on myspace: (you will need to scroll down to get to it)
my myspace page

youtube video implemented on blogger:youtube video test

In all of the above cases, I have inserted the complete address of the video (the video itself rather than a web page where the video is displayed with other junk).
To use this technique, you need to be able to determine this address.
Each video site has their own video player, and their own way of accessing it and passing it the needed arguments to play the video.

Hints for determining the web address to directly access a video (and player):
MySpace:
You need the video number. You can find this in the address string used when you play the video on myspace.
When I played the above video, through myspace, it went to this html address:
http://vids.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=vids.individual&videoID=1563789883
I want the number after the "videoID=".
In the above example this is: 1563789883

To access the video directly (without the rest of the stuff on the video page) I use this address string:
http://lads.myspace.com/videos/vplayer.swf?m=I&type=video"
where I=the number of the myspace video.
In my case this:
http://lads.myspace.com/videos/vplayer.swf?m=1563789883&type=video"

Now I use the above string to replace X in my [EXAMPLE 1](above):
EXAMPLE 1A:

<object type="application/x-shockwave-flash" data="http://lads.myspace.com/videos/vplayer.swf?m=1563789883&type=video" width="320" height="240">
<param name="movie" value="http://lads.myspace.com/videos/vplayer.swf?m=1563789883&type=video">
</object>

Google Example:
The address to directly access a google video is as follows:
http://video.google.com/googleplayer.swf?docid=D (where D=the docid of the video you want).

To find this docid value, I need to look at the address which google video takes me to after I select my video.
For example; I selected a video which took me here
(it includes my search terms in the address, don't let that confuse you)

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=2064435391498284090&q=Disney+Christmas

Notice the docid value in the above address.
Replace the D, in the example above, with this docid value.
i.e.
http://video.google.com/googleplayer.swf?docid=2064435391498284090
Now you have the address string needed to access this video directly. Try it, put the above address into a web browser and see what you get. Notice you see the video, without all the other stuff from the google video page. This is what you (most likely) want to place on your blog.

Now take the code from [EXAMPLE 1]

<object type="application/x-shockwave-flash" data="X" width="320" height="240">
<param name="movie" value="X">
</object>

Replace the X (both places) with the address of the video.
Now cut and paste this code into your blogger editor and Publish.

<object type="application/x-shockwave-flash" data="http://video.google.com/googleplayer.swf?docid=2064435391498284090" width="320" height="240">
<param name="movie" value="http://video.google.com/googleplayer.swf?docid=2064435391498284090">
</object>

To view the result: google-video-test-1

YouTube Example:
YouTube stores their videos here:http://www.youtube.com/v/D (where D=the id for the specific video).

To find the value of D, look at the address in youtube while viewing the video.

For example, I selected a video which took me here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gm_zqcg9onY
The number I want is after the v=.
(Pick any video, go to it, and look at the web address. Notice the number after v=).
I insert this number in place of the D.
http://www.youtube.com/v/gm_zqcg9onY
Try placing the above address into your web browser. Notice what it does.
(Youtube actually converts this to a string, which has the player and passes the file with a bunch of arguments to the player. We could use this long address string, but instead I will let YouTube do this work for me, since it will).

Using my EXAMPLE 1, I start with this:

<object type="application/x-shockwave-flash" data="X" width="320" height="240">
<param name="movie" value="X">
</object>

Now I replace X with my video address, giving me this:

<object type="application/x-shockwave-flash" data="http://www.youtube.com/v/gm_zqcg9onY" width="320" height="240">
<param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/gm_zqcg9onY">
</object>

I paste the above code into my blogger edit box giving this result:
youtube-test-1

DailyMotion Example:
This site provides the html code to embed a player (with the video) on your page.
It is way more code than I would use, but if it works for you, why not just use it. It does contain an embed tag (inside an object tag).
However, if you are having trouble with this code, or just want to simplify your code, we can use the same technique we used in the above examples. However we need to find our video id. In this case, the video id is NOT in the web address we are on, when we view the video, making finding it more difficult.

I selected a video which took me to this web address:
http://www.dailymotion.com/visited/search/Hilary%20Duff/video/x4zoy_hilary-duff-someones-watching-over

What I need is this:
http://www.dailymotion.com/swf/2Vfh94CKBjTl1YAa
This is where the video is, and if this address is used, dailymotion will build the needed address string (which is actually quite long, and involves the location of their player which they then pass a whole bunch of arguments to). (If you want to see where dailymotion stores its video player, and how it passes the arguments to make it work, place the above address into your browser and see what it does with it.)

I need to place the above address string into my EXAMPLE 1 as follows:

<object type="application/x-shockwave-flash" data="http://www.dailymotion.com/swf/2Vfh94CKBjTl1YAa" width="320" height="240">
<param name="movie" value="http://www.dailymotion.com/swf/2Vfh94CKBjTl1YAa">
</object>

I then paste the above code into my blogger post editor hit publish, and I get this:
dailymotion-test-1

Here is the base code, with a video game swf file in it:

<object type="application/x-shockwave-flash" data="http://www.flashgamecodes.com/swf/marioRampage.swf" width="512" height="307">
<param name="movie" value="http://www.flashgamecodes.com/swf/marioRampage.swf">
</object>

I then paste the above code into my blogger post editor hit publish, and I get this:
swf Mario Game

So far this has been tested on 3 browsers and 2 operating systems. So if you are using a browser where this does not work, please let me know.

Placing the Video in a Div

<div class="myV1" style="width:320px; height:260px;">
<object type="application/x-shockwave-flash" data="X" width="320" height="260">
<param name="movie" value="X">
</object></div>

Replace the X with the address string for your player/video.
Replace the px values with the height and width of your video. Do this for both the video. Use the same size for the div, if you want to use the div to add a border, or otherwise want your div sized tightly around your video.

The class is optional, but very useful if you now want to add additional style.
If you are putting the video on a myspace page they (the myspace code police) will add additional parameters.
The following style block places a border around the div. It also contains a few lines for positioning (Remove either both or one of them).

<style>
{!-put border around div-!}
div.myV1 {border:2px hotpink solid}

{!- Use ONE or NONE of the next 2 blocks -!}
{!- 1:Place Div is absolute location on page-!;
 !-change px values as needed -!}
div.myV1 {position:absolute; top:200px; left:50%; margin-left:200px;}

{!-2: Use relative placement if that works better for you-!}
div.myV1 {position:relative; top:0px; left:0px; right:0px;}

</style>

To be covered later(or Not): Adding additional param tags to the object for more advanced functionality. (It turned out NOT, no real interest here. Besides, blogger fixed the embed tag bug, and many of the video sites changed the code the generate to use the object tag instead).

Were our ansestors Illegal Aliens?

2006-11-22T19:07:00.000-08:00

[I borrowed (without permission) the above comic from drybones.blogspot.com Click on picture and it will bring you to the drybones blog site. There is another Thanksgiving comic there as well.]

Were some of our ancestors Illegal Aliens?

Previous posts of mine related to Illegal Aliens:
Economic Issues and Illegal Immigration

The 2nd Worst Argument used in the Illegal Immigration Discussion

I would be more impressed with the whole Turkey Pardon thing if the President had ToFu for Thanksgiving

2006-11-22T01:26:00.000-08:00

(Photo does not necessarily show the same turkey which was Pardoned).

Economic Issues related to Illegal Immigration

2006-11-19T20:07:00.000-08:00

Economic Issues related to Illegal Immigration:

Interesting article published by the Council on Foreign Relations:
Immigration Nation

My own stance on illegal immigration is still being formed. It changes from day to day as I read and think about more information.

How much do immigrants contribute to production?
Do they take jobs away from people born in the United States?
Do we lack enough labor to do the needed jobs without Illegal immigrants?
Does the strain on public services cost more than the benifits?
How much illegal immigration can we afford?
Other economic issues and questions related to the subject?

Right now I am just attempting to separate the economic discussion from the moral discussion.

I believe it is economics, not religion or other moral values, which shapes how most people feel about immigration. I believe some of it is even selfish (not necessarily wrong).

"What is it about the word Illegal you do not understand"

2006-11-18T22:02:00.000-08:00

“What is it about the word Illegal you do not understand”.
“Illegal is Illegal period”.

This argument has been floating around for a long time, and I have often heard it when discussing the subject of illegal immigrants. Usually it is accompanied by statements similar to this:
“What good are any laws if you do not enforce them?”
“Throw open the gate to the jails and prisons let them all out.”
“What next, allow murder, rape”.

The purpose of this post, is to begin a discussion about the validity (or lack of validity) of the above argument as it relates to illegal immigration. I am not attempting to discuss the economic issues related to illegal immigration.

For those who would believe that the above arguments are valid, when discussing illegal immigration, I ask the following questions:

1) Are all laws equal?
2) Is there ever (or has there ever been) a situation where it is o.k. to break the law?
3) Were the Pilgrims illegal aliens? What about other European colonies in the Americas in the 17th and 18th centuries?
4) If you believe in God, how do you think God wants you to treat illegal aliens.

If anyone answers, or indicates an interest, I will make my arguments.
(I actually made a stab at this in another discussion after someone accused me of not understanding what "Illegal" means. However the blog owner wished to return the discussion back to answering a more specific question, as was her right to do so).

Some History of This Blog and How it Got Its Name

2006-10-31T13:11:00.000-08:00

SOME History of this Blog, and How it got it's Name

At one point I had this on my side bar. My Side Bar is way too crowded.
It is now a post with an old date (way older than the article) with a link on my side bar.

At one point, this was going to be a semi-political blog. I was going to discuss subjects I cared about becoming more aware of. This is the reason for the name

"Views Under Construction".

My initial purpose was to use this blog to continue discussions which had merged off track, while responding to other people's blogs. (Not that I am anti discussion-hijacking completely, but at some point it becomes very irritating to the blog host.)
As a side benefit I figured I would get a chance to practice writing. When I was in college, I intentionally avoided classes which required much writing (unless it involved writing computer code, which I have always enjoyed). Now I have decided that writing is a much more valuable skill than I previously thought.

At some point, my combination of a few political posts, and a few technical posts related to Blogger, lead to my blog showing up (rather high in the rankings) for things my blog did not cover. When I first noticed this, I thought it might be fun to base each post on the queries which were hitting my blog. OK, I admit I was just playing around with the rankings and trying to see what would happen.
But if someone landed on my blog, seeking that answer, then they didn't get the answer they needed, with the posts which showed up before mine. So by providing the answer, on my blog, I figured it was adding some value.

As I was researching some of the answers I got caught up in this whole myspace customization thing. I keep telling myself I am dropping it and moving on to something which is a far better use of my time, like writing widgets for facebook.
Seriously, I could use my time to attend Grad School; something I often tell my Boss that I really don't have time for.
(My boss, makes regular attempts to convince me I should attend grad school).

As for my current view of political blogging:

I found the below quote on Scott Adams'(author of Dilbert) blog page which best describes it:

"If you think that disagreeing and offering excellent reasons for your thinking will change anyone's mind, you might be new on this planet."

Some Humor

2006-10-30T14:27:00.000-08:00

I like political humor, right humor, correct humor, incorrect humor, left humor and most other types of humor.

WARNING: Below links contain humor which some may find offensive. These cartoons do not necessarily reflect my personal views on any person or issue.

WireTapping Humor [speakers on]

This makes fun of both major Political Parties. This my favorite by this guy.
No Place Like Home [speakers on]

For more of Walts animated (often musical) cartoons:
walt handelsman cartoons

This is a humorous article which attempts to explain why Democrats are less likely, than Republicans, to resign (or be asked to resign by their colleages).
Mark Foley Falls Victim To Fitter Species [sound not needed]
The more I read this one, the less certain I am that I like it. I did laugh the first time I read it.

Is George W. Bush Stupid? I am really glad no one has taken my speech (and other social) blunders and clipped them all together like this.
Here is a clip which may make you laugh (It made me laugh).
Is Bush an Idiot
I don't think Bush is stupid, but maybe he could benefit from an English Immersion Program.

Here is another humor piece I found:
Trading places with Mormons