History

My personal site originated back in 1999 with hand-carved HTML in Notepad, done only as an exercise to learn HTML. It's undergone a few changes over the years: a Flash front-end on a couple versions and then a full-on coversion to a Wordpress blog site. Now this site, which I've transformed to play with the latest HTML and CSS, just shows that it's come full circle. I've preserved what files I could and present them in the gallery here. The Flash files are active for you to check out, but not linked. The rest are stills of some sample pages. I did not include the Wordpress site because I didn't create it, and sadly, I don't have anything from the very first site.

Design and construction

My plan for this website is to not try to make it look the same or as close to the same as possible in different browsers or older browser versions. I am, however, designing the site so that it degrades gracefully and is at least useable in older browsers. In other words, be backwards compatible but not down to every feature.

More and more CSS 3 features are being supported by browsers fairly rapidly. As that happens, I plan to remove "-moz" and "-webkit" from my stylesheets. My rule of thumb is to use these "semi-hacks" but not resort to full-fledged CSS hacks like ones used to support IE6 and IE7. So basically, if I write the style according to the CSS spec and it doesn't work, I'm leaving it.

To see how your favored browser is handling features of CSS 3 and HTML5, go to When Can I Use… .

What’s with “China Watch”?

People who know me know that I have this… thing about China. Like many Americans, I’m frustrated that everything we buy today is made in China. Our manufacturing has migrated there for the cheap labor, and the product sent back here as cheap (price and quality) goods. And so many of us are indifferent to that fact. Ever try to find something not made in China let alone try to find something made in the USA? (If not, give it a try next time you go to buy shoes.)

But the idea that they produce cheap goods and push US-made stuff off the shelves is not the crux of the matter. To me, it’s that the US is so entrenched economically with a country whose human rights and environmental violations are nothing short of appalling. Don't be deluded that because Mao died years ago China is no longer an opressive regime. When they hosted the Summer Olympics in 2008, I wondered what actually had changed about China since Tiananmen Square almost 20 years before. Anyone who keeps up with the news would realize the answer is “nothing.” It seems the faster our world moves, the shorter its memory grows.

That said, It’s important for me to add that I hold no ill feelings against the Chinese people. Only those that govern them. As someone who has met numerous Chinese natives and expatriates, I have yet to encounter one who has not been cordial, diligent, and respectful toward others (the last of which is waning among us Americans). Which is why I find it abhorrent that a people with such qualities and a culture and heritage to be proud of spend each day in opression not unlike the days of the former Soviet Union.

I could easily go on about the environmental issues, but I think that area of China’s dark side is more visible. This often presents itself on our shores in the form of recalled products, like all those lead-tainted toys for just one example. For goings-on within China’s borders, Google "China environmental issues" and dive into what comes up.

So getting back to the original question — what’s with that China Watch page? It’s my way of calling attention to the newsworthy events that show the true face of the Chinese government in hope that our government stops doing business with those that are the antithesis of what our country was founded on. Quixotic? Maybe. I’d rather think of it as grass-roots.