Updates to Tom's Website

April 21, 2006

Many of you know that my website was established back in late 1997. Most of us had dial-up access to the web and our operating systems, internet access speeds and web browser capabilities have improved significantly over the last eight and a half years. Changes have been no less dramatic in web hosting services by internet providers. Additionally, there have been times when I have lacked the time to research, purchase and take advantages of these changes.

The upside of all of this is that you have never had to change the URL address to see the photo's and stories I have posted for public consumption. The downside is there have been precious few updates or additions. Time and money as of late have merged to allow me to make significant changes. I know I've promised it in years past but I finally have found a service that will host my site with the space I need at a reasonable price with the update options I prefer. They also provide all of the backup, firewall and virus protection I feel I need. If you want more information on my website hosting provider, go to http://www.ipower.com/#. Yes, this has meant that you have had to change the URL to get to this site and, to date, 10-minute updates on weather conditions at my house is all we've had to show for that change.

I have also (finally) purchased a website development tool that relieves me of the drudgery of coding html by scratch. Time is still precious, but web space and development time and tedium are no longer a barrier. Updates will be made to http://www.whatstomup2.info as time permits. Minor changes will not be announced so if you are curious, check back frequently or call or email me.

But what about you? As the home page says, these are my virtual photo albums. There's no games, forums or other fancy internet options here, the website is still dedicated to providing you with access to photos of interest to me (and hopefully you), 7x24 without advertisements or delays necessary to locate and open the physical album. I'm not trying to sell you anything or gather information about you so there are no cookies used, no "spyware" snooping around on your computer while you are browsing my pages. The pages and pictures from the previous site remain in tact and are posted here in the same format and fidelity as they were (and will remain for a while) at http://web2.airmail.net/tbaker/. Up to that time, photos were cropped and compressed (lesser resolution) as a compromise to make downloading to your PC faster and (hopefully) a pleasant viewing experience with the hardware, software and connection speeds used by a majority of you at that time.

I now assume that your hardware, software and internet connections have undergone some "upgrades" over the last few years. For that reason, pictures posted from this point forward will be bigger and with greater resolution. Web pages will contain more pictures when they are logically connected. If this causes you excessive delays or difficulties with your viewing experience, please let me know.

My new web page development tool gives me more capabilities than I care to learn. The one I have seriously considered is "framing". I've thought about putting a frame on the left that lists all of my albums (Family, Cycling, etc.) even with pull-downs for sub-categories (FreeWheel '97, FreeWheel '98, etc.) but each of these options means I need to learn more about internet publishing and/or would take space away from the area on your screen to display the pictures and "Tom's biting commentary" I wish to provide to you.

Taking all of this in to consideration, I have opted to keep the pages simple (no framing, etc.) and provide more, higher-resolution pictures on each page. Unless there's a massive e-mail campaign for me to make a change in my basic layout, all pages will remain single-framed with logical links at the bottom of each to return to all higher logical pages of my "albums".

May 19, 2006

Directory structure has been added for all of the pages I plan to add at this time.

1.) Under ballooning, the pages for the Alpine 2004 Balloon festival have been populated (as well as the background page) but the links for the other festivals are under construction.

2.) Links for cycling events between 2001 and 2004 have been added. Only FreeWheel '01 and FreeWheel '02 have been populated at this time, the rest are under construction.

3.) Links for Systemware outings have been added but all are under construction at this time.

My intention is to populate all of the "under construction" links as quickly as time permits, starting with the cycling links, then the Systemware links and finally, the ballooning links. Within each of these links, I will start with the oldest event within the category and work forward. I will post updates here as they are made.

January 16, 2009

Weather page (http://www.whatstomup2.info/weather/wx.htm) update! My apologies to any and all who have been frustrated (as I have) and probably confounded about my local information. My "sending" weather station is powered by solar panels when sunlight is available and battery when solar panel input is not enough. Results on the "webpage" have been showing accurate information for the outside sending unit, ONLY WHEN THE SUN SHINES on the solar panels. "Outside readings when solar panels are not receving enough radiation have been "FLATLINED" at the last reading. This is because the "battery backup" failed a few months ago.

After replacing battery then disassembling unit to insure there were no "open electrical connections" in the cables or circuit boards, I began quest to resolve, efficiently. Vendor who sold me the weather station could not provide replacement parts for the malady. Efforts contact the manufacturer (http://www.davisnet.com/) have met a deaf ear over this time period. Tonight, I have "broken-down" (morally) and ordered a new weather station. It should be delivered next week and, weather and personal schedule permitting, 24x7 "accurate" weather information from my back yard should be available, again, by the end of the month.

I hope you enjoy these pages and please provide me with feedback on your opinions on how to make this site more enjoyable.