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Vol. 1/No. 11
06/29/1998
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Archive of
volume 1, number 11 for June 29, 1998. Go back to
current issue.
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Web Design for Beginners
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So like everyone else today, you want to create your own website. Maybe so
you'll have an online resume, or you just want to share your interests
and hobbies with the rest of the net. But the problem is, you don't know
the first thing about writing HTML (Hypertext Markup Language). This guide
won't teach you how to create a homepage, but what you should do
and think about before attempting to do so.
Believe it or not, creating a good website really doesn't require a great deal of technical
skill. The most important aspect of a site is its design and structure. And
with full feature webpage editors like Microsoft Frontpage or NetObject
Fusion, you don't even need to write a single line of HTML; the editor will
generate it for you automatically. But if you really want to learn
web design, I'd recommend you stay away from webpage editors initially.
The best way to learn HTML is by manually coding it, line by line. Sure
it's bit harder and a lot more tedious, but once you have a firm grasp of
the syntax of HTML, there's nothing you cannot do.
If you have some programming language background, then learning HTML should
be very easy. And the best way to start is by looking at someone else's
HTML source code. For example, in Netscape, just go to View / Page Source,
and go to View / Source for Internet Explorer. You can learn a lot by
examining another person's HTML code. Or you can purchase a book and
go from there. It shouldn't take you more than a week to pick up HTML.
Two of the most powerful tag available in HTML is table and font. Make
sure you completely understand these two tags first.
Once you understand the syntax of HTML, it's time to think about
the design of your site. If you look at most personal webpages, they are
laid out with no design in mind. You've got LARGE font and blinking
text all over the page. There's no balance for any of the graphic elements.
You don't have to be a Photoshop wizard to create nice, clean graphics.
Besides having a clean layout of a page, it's always a good idea to spend
some time thinking about the overall color scheme. A good website should
have a consistent layout and color throughout.
Also, remember a good rule of thumb to follow is no more than 50-60K of
data per page. This includes the source page itself and all its associated
graphics elements. If you find yourself going over 60K per page, then it's
time to think about breaking it up into two pages. Of course, there
are always exception to this rule, but follow it and you'll make life
easier for people using 28.8K modems.
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Selecting the Right Voodoo2 Card
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Ever since 3Dfx released their second generation Voodoo2 chipset, it seems
like every graphics card maker is jumping onto the Voodoo2 bandwagon. At last
count, there's at least six different companies making Voodoo2 based
cards. So how can you tell which card is best for you? Below is a list of the
most popular Voodoo2-based card on the market today. But before you run
out and purchase one, keep in mind that the Voodoo2 chipset requires a high
powered CPU for optimal performance. Ideally, your CPU should be at
least a Pentium II/266 or higher. Otherwise, you won't be using the
Voodoo2 chip to its fullest. (Click on the name of each card for complete
specs.)
Canopus Pure3D II - If you have the money and need to get
the card with the most bells and whistles, then look no farther. The
Pure3D II comes equipped with a heatsink and fan unit to cool off
the Voodoo2 (perfect for overclocking) and a TV out port. In addition,
the length of the Pure3D II is aproximately one inch shorter than
most Voodoo2 cards. This is one of the rare Voodoo2 that doesn't simply
follow 3Dfx's reference board design.
Creative Labs 3D Blaster Voodoo2 - Creative Labs was the first
manufacturer to release the Voodoo2 card. Their card is pretty standard;
nothing flashy about it. And it's pretty much based on the 3Dfx reference
card. It does come bundle with a few games like Ultimate Race Pro and
a limited version of Incoming.
Diamond Monster 3D II - Likewise for the Diamond card. Nothing
really special about it. It's pretty much like the Creative Labs 3D Blaster.
Metabyte Wicked 3D - The Wicked 3D claims a 40% performance
boost compared to other Voodoo2 cards. Metabyte's engineers claimed
they have tweaked the poor lighting and transformation routines in
Direct3D to provide a 40% performance increase. But testings have shown
that this simply isn't the case. The performance of the Wicked 3D is
no better or worse than the other cards. So in the end, it's just another
Voodoo2 card based on 3Dfx's reference design.
Quantum3D Obsidian2 - Quantum3D
is actually a 3Dfx spin-off. 3Dfx would provide the chipset and Quantum3D
would design and manufacture the boards. Because of its close relationship
with 3Dfx, you'd think Obsidian2 boards would be the best performers.
Sadly, this isn't necessary the case. Although the Obsidian2 has TV out
like the Canopus Pure3D II, it cannot compete with it in terms of
features.
So which Voodoo2 is right for you? If you just want a decent Voodoo2 card
then go with either Diamond or Creative Labs. Both are solid performer
with a good price tag, But if you want more features and can afford it,
then go for the Pure3D II or the Obsidian2.
All things considered, the performance level of all these cards is
pretty much the same; probably within 5%+/- of each other. Some cards
allow you to overclock the memory speed from the default 90MHz to
100MHz and beyond. But all you will gain is a few more fps (frames per
second). And for the memory configuration, you can either get the 8MB or
12MB version. Even though the 12MB costs a little more, I'd opt for more
memory. Games uses large texture will take advantage of the extra 4MB.
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Beyond SDRAM
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Moore's Law states that processing power will double every 18 months.
And since the introduction of the Intel 8088 processor, this law has never
been broken. But increasing the performance of a processor also
requires increasing the bandwidth of the memory subsystem.
Here's a brief look at the past, present, and future memory technologies.
Fast Page - The standard type of memory for 486, and early
Pentium 60/66/75/90 (still remember those?) systems. Back then, fast page
memory was sufficient to keep up with the processor.
EDO - Extended Data Output. EDO delivers about 10%-15%
performance increase from fast page memory. The read cycle from memory
and CPU is shorten. EDO became the dominant memory when the Pentium
100/133/150/166 (non-MMX) appeared on the market.
SDRAM - Synchronous DRAM. With the advent of the Pentium MMX
and Pentium II processors, memory technology took another leap in terms
of raw speed. SDRAM coordinates the input and output of the memory
and the processor. Makers of SDRAM claim a performance improvement of
50% or more over EDO memory. But in the real world, the performance is
only about 20%. Currently, SDRAM is the dominant memory type, for both
the 66MHz and the new 100MHz (PC100) bus.
SDRAM II (DDR) - Double-data rate SDRAM aims to double
the performance of current SDRAM. DDR allows the processor to read
from memory on both the rising and falling edge of the clock. Currently,
no Intel or third party chipset fully supports DDR.
RDRAM - Rambus DRAM. This is based on the technology developed
by Rambus, Inc. Intel have selected RDRAM for their future processors,
IA-32 (Katmai) and beyond. RDRAM uses a narrow data channel clocked at extremely
high speed to achieve high performance. The Nintendo 64 game console uses
Rambus as its primarily memory interface.
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Using Windows 98's System Configuration Utility
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Last issue covered the main troubleshooting tool for Windows 98; namely
the System Information (SI) utility. From
the Tools menu of SI, the user can launch a variety of other troubleshooting
tools, one of which is the System Configuration Utility (SCU).
Among other things, SCU allows the user easy access to the system's
CONFIG.SYS, AUTOEXEC.BAT, WIN.INI, SYSTEM.INI, and the Startup folder.
In addition, the SCU allows you to configure Windows 98 bootup behavior.
Either a normal startup with all device drivers loaded, or an interactive
mode in which the system will prompt the user before loading each driver.
The Advanced Troubleshooting area allows the user to set the video
back to standard VGA 640x480x16 colors, without have to go into
Display / Settings / Advanced / etc. Just check the box and the next time
98 restarts, it will default back to standard VGA mode; this is great
for troubleshooting display driver problems.
SCU also gives the user the ability to move startup programs in and out
of the Startup folder. The best thing about this feature is, you can put
a program back into the Startup folder with a single click of the mouse.
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Joke of the Week
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Computers Versus Cars
Bill Gates, CEO of Microsoft, reportedly compared the computer industry
with the auto industry and stated "If GM had kept up with technology like
the computer industry has, we would all be driving $25 cars that got
1,000 miles per gallon."
Recently General Motors addressed this comment by releasing this
statement:
"Yes, but would you want your car to crash twice a day?"
1. Every time they repainted the lines on the road you would have to buy
a new car.
2. Occasionally your car would die on the freeway for no reason, and you
would just accept this, restart, and drive on.
3. Occasionally, executing a maneuver would cause your car to stop and
fail and you would have to re-install the engine. For some strange
reason, you would accept this, too.
4. You could only have one person in the car at a time, unless you
bought CarNT. But, then you would have to buy more seats.
5. Macintosh would make a car that was powered by the sun, was reliable,
five times as fast, twice as easy to drive, but would only run on five
percent of the roads.
6. The Macintosh car owners would get expensive Microsoft upgrades to
their cars, which would make their cars run much slower.
7. The oil, gas, and alternator warning lights would be replaced by a
single "general car default" warning light.
8. New seats would force everyone to have the same size butt.
9. The airbag system would say "Are you sure?" before going off.
10. If you were involved in a crash, you would have no idea what happened.
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In the tradition of the What's Hot/What's Not or Wired's Tired/Wired
list.
| O F F |
O N |
| SDRAM |
RDRAM |
| 3Dfx Banshee |
3Dfx Rampage |
| CD-RW |
DVD-RAM |
| AMD 3DNow! |
Intel KNI |
| Unreal |
Quake Arena |
| Voodoo2 SLI |
nVidia TNT4 |
| Deep Impact |
Armageddon |
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Coming up in next week's issue...
Do you have an idea or a topic you'd like to see in the upcoming issue
of virtual edge? Just drop an email to calvin@premiopc.com.
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Please direct any comments or corrections to Webmaster
Copyright © 1998 PREMIO Computer, Inc.
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