Website Gets a New Look

In celebration of turning 16 this year, my website, Tabber the Red, got a new webhost and a new look. After someone said my 2020 website looked more like 2010, I decided it was time to refresh the site and breathe new life into it. After a lot of family emergencies and other personal interruptions, I finally purchased a new hosting company and a software app to give the website a makeover. 

You can view the new site at: http://TabberTheRed.com but if you miss the old site, you can view it at http://tabberthered.net and http://tabberthered.org 

I plan to update one of these URLs to serve as a mirror for the new site and keep one as a nostalgic reminder. 

Website Anniversary Gets Derailed

For those of you following my blog, and other platforms, know I have an official anniversary update for my website where I offer freebies and unlock goodies in celebration! 

Well, this year, I expected to do the same. I even changed my longtime Canadian webhost to a new one located in Australia. I also expected to use a new website builder instead of the builder I've been using for a few years.

Not only did the new website builder require a learning curve on my part, but I struggled to upload it to my domain since I didn't use my FTP(File Transfer Protocol) account this time.

My health has also been precarious, and I've struggled with my mental health this year because of it, and depending on the time of day, temperature conditions, what I eat, and how stressed I am, I suffer from flare-ups.

And then, one of my aunts died, and that caused my mental health to spiral. But I had to fortify myself physically and mentally for the trip to Jamaica. 

By now, it was November, practically 4  months passed my website's new look debut... But after almost 5 days with trying to self-tech-support, I did a back and forth with the website builder company via email. They proved very thorough and helpful. I probably won't use them for the website's next big look but I will be keeping them to make newsletters and other projects in the near future.

Textbooks, code, college, and Running Rabbit

CHAPTER TITLE: How I used Java code to create my library of Japanese publishers, and turned my professor on to Peachpit Press computer books
~~~~~
What does Java, phonebook manga, and what many may consider the deplorable state of college textbooks, have in common?

Let me start with a little story. 1996, I think I started my official Computer Art class. I credit this with getting me involved in Digital Art and Computer Design.

The professor reintroduced us to (what was the Mac model desktop at this time?) early-generation QuarkXpress <--- Man, I enjoyed that software!
(It's a desktop publisher, of sorts. This is before Microsoft Publisher and Adobe InDesign. And when many were using WordPerfect)

We all know that college gives us wonderful learning experiences, and we may or may not agree on the value of that education, but I think we can pretty much agree that most college textbooks are a HUGE RIPOFF.

Case in point: the professor introduced us to what I used to term 'The Running Rabbit Books' because I forgot the publisher.
These were inexpensive, yet comprehensive volumes written by various writers on any software application, operating system and code at the time.

Fast forward 4 - 5 years later:
The books (there were two used in class) proved so informative, that when I majored in Web Design, I bought the Peachpit books at Borders to supplement the required texts.

In one coding class, we had to build a database entirely from Java, highlighting favorite books. I was obsessed with Japanese phonebook manga (Brick-wide, dictionary pages amount, serial comics) and the scarcity of them in the North American/Canadian book market.

Our required textbook was rife with misprints and errors. To a coder, that's death. One colon, one comma, and the whole application refuses to run! Not to mention there are hundreds of lines of code to search for!

I used my Java Peachpit text, reading the highlighted code in red, and where one might run into problems. At one point, the professor stopped by the auditorium-length desk and flipped through my Peachpit Press book. He made a sound, asked me a question, I answered, and he said he may just use the series next term!

Oh, and I nailed the assignment.

God Bless Them, those books helped me get a B+ average in those IT classes!