Some Useful Coding Reference

Imp wordpress issues:

Unicode Issue:
http://wordpress.org/support/topic/183358?replies=31
Permalink Issue:
http://wordpress.org/support/topic/152699?replies=4
HTML:

Online Forums:
http://www.w3schools.com/

Tutorials and Resources on Styling Lists

http://css.maxdesign.com.au/listamatic/index.htm (exellent!)
http://www.simplebits.com/notebook/2003/10…sted_lists.html
http://www.meyerweb.com/eric/talks/2003/co…mug/commug.html
http://www.stuffandnonsense.co.uk/archives…icity_wars.html
http://websitetips.com/css/
http://www.w3.org/Style/CSS/learning
http://webdesign.about.com/od/css/
http://dorward.me.uk/www/css/

Rollover Effects

http://www.daleglaser.com/art/WebTips/06csshover.html (basic)
http://wellstyled.com/css-nopreload-rollovers.html (images; no preloads)
http://www.petethomas.co.uk/multimedia-css…-rollovers.html (images; no preloads)
http://www.cre8asiteforums.com/forums/inde…p?showtopic=723
http://www.designmeme.com/articles/cssrollovers/
http://www.smartwebby.com/web_site_d…css_styles.asp
http://www.ssi-developer.net/css/men…r-effect.shtml
http://www.entheosweb.com/website_design/css_styles.asp
http://builder.com.com/5100-6371-5279569.html
http://sophie-g.net/jobs/css/e_buttons.htm
http://www.gungfu.de/web/proj/testcase/cssRollover.html
http://www.usabilityandbranding.com/…overEffect.php
http://ecoculture.com/styleguide/r/rollovers.html
http://webpage-tools.com/css_mouseover.asp
http://www.velocityreviews.com/forum…r-effects.html
http://www.pixelmill.com/support/al1015/kb101543.htm

CSS Resource Lists

http://www.positioniseverything.net/
http://www.csscreator.com/css-forum/index.php (forum)
http://www.w3schools.com/css/default.asp (loads of tutorials)
http://www.htmldog.com/ (tutorials)
http://www.alistapart.com/ (loads of articles; CSS and various web design)
http://www.dezwozhere.com/links.html
http://cssvault.com/resources.php
http://www.ericmeyeroncss.com/links/resources.html
http://www.sitepronews.com/archives/2005/july/20.html
http://www.last-child.com
http://webstandardsgroup.org/resourc…urce_cat_id=11
http://www.wdvl.com/Authoring/Style/…Resources.html

Layouts

http://positioniseverything.net/articles/o…/onetruelayout/
http://www.maxdesign.com.au/presentation/p…youts/index.cfm
http://www.fu2k.org/alex/css/index.mhtml
http://www.thenoodleincident.com/tutorials…sson/boxes.html
http://wellstyled.com/css-2col-fluid-layout.html
http://css.maxdesign.com.au/floatutorial/ (float tutorial)
http://www.realworldstyle.com/2col.html
http://www.glish.com/css/7.asp
http://www.positioniseverything.net/easyclearing.html (floats)
http://www.bluerobot.com/web/layouts/
http://glish.com/css/
http://www.stopdesign.com/articles/absolute/ (positioning)
http://www.csscreator.com
http://www.cssdrive.com/index.php/examples/
http://www.domedia.org/oveklykken/

Box Model

http://www.brainjar.com/css/positioning/default.asp

http://www.redmelon.net/tstme/box_model/
http://www.w3.org/TR/REC-CSS2/box.html
http://www.ilovejackdaniels.com/css/box-model/
http://css-discuss.incutio.com/?page=BoxModel
http://www.quirksmode.org/css/box.html
http://jessey.net/simon/articles/003.html
http://www.tanfa.co.uk/css/articles/css-box-model.asp

Drop Shadows

http://www.alistapart.com/articles/cssdropshadows/
http://www.evolt.org/article/Simple_…dows/17/18583/
http://www.designmeme.com/articles/dropshadows/
http://www.communitymx.com/abstract.cfm?cid=15F35
http://phoenity.com/newtedge/drop_shadow/
http://nontroppo.org/test/shadow.html

Image Maps

http://www.alistapart.com/articles/imagemap/
http://www.frankmanno.com/ideas/css-imagemap/
http://cssplay.co.uk/menu/imap.html
http://www.webreference.com/programm…map/index.html
http://cssvault.com/cssjavascript/css_image_map.php
http://tutorials.alsacreations.com/imagemaps/maps2.htm
http://www.cybersaps.org/2003/12/CSS-image-maps.html

Link Styles

http://dbaron.org/css/1999/09/links

Inspiration (Pure CSS Sites)

http://www.csszengarden.com
http://www.webstandardsawards.com/
http://www.cssbeauty.com/
http://stopdesign.com/
http://www.adaptivepath.com/
http://www.alistapart.com/

Other Cool Stuff

http://www.cssplay.co.uk
http://www.imaputz.com/cssStuff/bigFourVersion.html (scrolling table)
http://www.bigbaer.com/css_tutorials/css.i…e.text.wrap.htm (image wrap; very intense coding though)
http://www.quirksmode.org/ (browser compatibility issues)
http://www.456bereastreet.com/archive/2005…_tricks_part_1/ (tips & tricks)
http://www.456bereastreet.com/archive/2005…and_properties/
http://www.alistapart.com/articles/goingtoprint/ (CSS for print)
http://www.killersites.com/articles/newsle…r_Nov3_2003.htm (CSS for print)
http://members.aol.com/jbjtutor/css/pagec_27.html (inheritance)
Tools
http://www.snapfiles.com/get/cascadedtp.html

History of Computers

The history of computer development is often referred to in reference to the different generations of computing devices. Each generation of computer is characterized by a major technological development that fundamentally changed the way computers operate, resulting in increasingly smaller, cheaper, and more powerful and more efficient and reliable devices. Read about each generation and the developments that led to the current devices that we use today.

First Generation – 1940-1956: Vacuum Tubes:
The first computers used vacuum tubes for circuitry and magnetic drums for memory, and were often enormous, taking up entire rooms. They were very expensive to operate and in addition to using a great deal of electricity, generated a lot of heat, which was often the cause of malfunctions. First generation computers relied on machine language to perform operations, and they could only solve one problem at a time. Input was based on punched cards and paper tape, and output was displayed on printouts.
The UNIVAC and ENIAC computers are examples of first-generation computing devices. The UNIVAC was the first commercial computer delivered to a business client, the U.S. Census Bureau in 1951.

Second Generation – 1956-1963: Transistors:
Transistors replaced vacuum tubes and ushered in the second generation of computers. The transistor was invented in 1947 but did not see widespread use in computers until the late 50s. The transistor was far superior to the vacuum tube, allowing computers to become smaller, faster, cheaper, more energy-efficient and more reliable than their first-generation predecessors. Though the transistor still generated a great deal of heat that subjected the computer to damage, it was a vast improvement over the vacuum tube. Second-generation computers still relied on punched cards for input and printouts for output.
Second-generation computers moved from cryptic binary machine language to symbolic, or assembly, languages, which allowed programmers to specify instructions in words. High-level programming languages were also being developed at this time, such as early versions of COBOL and FORTRAN. These were also the first computers that stored their instructions in their memory, which moved from a magnetic drum to magnetic core technology.
The first computers of this generation were developed for the atomic energy industry.

Third Generation – 1964-1971: Integrated Circuits:
The development of the integrated circuit was the hallmark of the third generation of computers. Transistors were miniaturized and placed on silicon chips, called semiconductors, which drastically increased the speed and efficiency of computers.
Instead of punched cards and printouts, users interacted with third generation computers through keyboards and monitors and interfaced with an operating system, which allowed the device to run many different applications at one time with a central program that monitored the memory. Computers for the first time became accessible to a mass audience because they were smaller and cheaper than their predecessors.

Fourth Generation – 1971-Present: Microprocessors:
The microprocessor brought the fourth generation of computers, as thousands of integrated circuits were built onto a single silicon chip. What in the first generation filled an entire room could now fit in the palm of the hand. The Intel 4004 chip, developed in 1971, located all the components of the computer – from the central processing unit and memory to input/output controls – on a single chip.
In 1981 IBM introduced its first computer for the home user, and in 1984 Apple introduced the Macintosh. Microprocessors also moved out of the realm of desktop computers and into many areas of life as more and more everyday products began to use microprocessors.
As these small computers became more powerful, they could be linked together to form networks, which eventually led to the development of the Internet. Fourth generation computers also saw the development of GUIs, the mouse and handheld devices.

Fifth Generation – Present and Beyond: Artificial Intelligence:
Fifth generation computing devices, based on artificial intelligence, are still in development, though there are some applications, such as voice recognition, that are being used today. The use of parallel processing and superconductors is helping to make artificial intelligence a reality. Quantum computation and molecular and nanotechnology will radically change the face of computers in years to come. The goal of fifth-generation computing is to develop devices that respond to natural language input and are capable of learning and self-organization.

First Generation Computers

General

• First generation computers are characterized by the use of vacuum tube logic.

ABC

• The Atanasoff-Berry Computer (ABC) was the first electronic digital computer.
• The ABC was built from 1937 to 1942 by by John V. Atanasoff and Clifford Berry at Iowa State University.
• The ABC used binary arithmetic.

Colossus

• The Colossus computer was developed in secret by Great Brittain during World War II, and was operational in 1943.
• Colossus was used to decode German messages.
• The existence of Colossus was kept a secret until 1970, by which time it had been disassembled.
• Due to the secrecy under which it was developed, almost no details of the construction or architecture of Colossus are known.

ENIAC

• The Electronic Numerical Integrator and Computer (ENIAC) was developed for the U.S. Army to calculate ballistic tables.
• ENIAC used 19,000 vacuum tubes and 1,500 mechanical relays.
• ENIAC consumed almost 200 KW of power.
• ENIAC performed decimal arithmetic, in contrast to the binary arithmetic performed by computers today.
• ENIAC did not run from a stored program, but was programmed using patch cords.
• ENIAC was completed in 1946, and was operated until 1955.
• ENIAC cost almost $500,000.

UNIVAC I

• The Universal Automatic Computer UNIVAC I design was begun in 1946, and the first working unit was finished in 1951.
• The UNIVAC was the first computer designed for commercial sale.
• The UNIVAC I had 5200 vacuum tubes, weighed 29,000 pounds, and consumed 125 kilowatts of electrical power.
• The memory of the UNIVAC I was mercury acoustic delay lines.
• Numbers were stored in excess-3 binary coded decimal form.

The IAS computer

IBM 701 Computer

• The 701 was IBM’s first commercial computer.
• The first IBM 701 system was installed in 1953.
• The 701 was designed for scientific applications.
• The 701 was comprised of 11 compact and connected units.
• The 701 had a word size of 36 bits.
• The 701 had 2048 words of electrostatic storage, and 16,192 words of magnetic drum storage.
• The 701 had 4 magnetic tape units for secondary storage.

Brief Early Computer Timeline
Date	Event	Description	Arithmetic	Logic	Memory
1942	ABC	Atanasoff-Berry Computer	binary	vacuum tubes	capacitors
1944	Collosus
1946	ENIAC	Electronic Numerical Integrator And Computer	decimal	vacuum tubes	vacuum tubes
1947	EDVAC	Electronic Discrete Variable Automatic Computer	binary
1948	The Baby	Manchester Small Scale Experimental Machine	binary	vacuum tubes	CRST
1949	UNIVAC I	Universal Automatic Computer	decimal	vacuum tubes	mercury delay lines
1949	EDSAC	Electronic Delay Storage Automatic Computer	binary	vacuum tubes	mercury delay lines
1952	IAS	Institute for Advanced Studies	binary	vacuum tubes	cathode ray tubes
1953	IBM 701		binary	vacuum tubes	mercury delay lines

What is an interrupt? Part-1

The concept of “Interrupt” is purely based on common-sense. To give you an example, imagine a parallel port in your PC being connected to a printer. During a print operation in progress, the CPU supplies characters to the parallel port (to be passed onto the printer) at a periodic rate. Say, the parallel port runs out of data after printing 1000 characters. Now the parallel port starts to “starve” for more characters. The processors job is to identify the hungry parallel port and feed it with more characters. Here comes the concept of “interrupt”.

“Interrupt” is a signal used by an I/O device (like a parallel port) to inform the CPU that it has to feed the parallel port with more characters. As soon as the interrupt signal (an output of the I/O device) is received, the processor devotes it’s attention towards the corresponding I/O device. In the above example, the CPU then does a “write” operation to the parallel port.

Similarly, an interrupt could be signalled by an I/O device (say a floppy disk-controller) indicating that it is completely filled with data and hence the CPU may initiate a “read” operation, to retrieve the data.

Usually, the microprocessors have only one input request line. Hence it is not possible to connect all the interrupt request lines from various I/O devices directly to this single input. They are rather connected to a device called interrupt controller.

How does the interrupt-signaling process occur?

New Internet Explorer 8 Beta- What’s New?

Six months after Beta 1 hit the streets, Microsoft releases Internet Explorer 8 Beta 2 to brave testers. The new beta includes features that make it look like a viable choice of modern browser, like a smart address bar (sound familiar?), tab grouping, private browsing, find in-page, suggested sites related to the current page, and more. Let’s take a look at what’s coming out of Redmond in the browser arena.

IE8 Beta 2’s Most Useful Features
Smart Address Bar: IE 8 beta 2 includes a Smart Address Bar, that, like Firefox 3’s “AwesomeBar,” drops down suggestions as-you-type a web site URL gleaned from your favorites, feeds, and history. Unlike Firefox, IE 8 includes headers so you can see where each suggestion comes from.

Tab Grouping: Ever open a bunch of links from a single page in new tabs, and then lose track of which tabs came from what page? IE8’s got a nifty “tab grouping” feature that colors your tabs based on their source. Here’s what a few tab groups—one from Lifehacker, one from the MSN homepage—look like.

InPrivate Browsing: What with the Smart Address Bar pulling up every site you’ve visited recently in plain view in its History suggestions, there may be times when you visit a site and have the browser forget it ever happened. IE 8 beta 2’s “InPrivate” browsing mode adds an icon to the address bar, and forgets you were ever at a web page when it’s enabled.