Technical Notes

(well, not too technical!)

HTML

We've made a point of using basic HTML (HyperText Markup Language) to keep our site as simple and generic as possible. This makes it easier to keep up with changing technology and helps ensure that the site will work with a wider variety of operating systems and web browsers. We've created our web pages using a number of tools over the years including Dreamweaver, BBedit Lite, and Claris Home Page. Photoshop and then GraphicConverter have been used to automate the process of creating the actual web pages in recent years.

CSS

Cascading Style Sheets were invented after we created this site. We do have plans to update everything (or at least the new stuff) to use CSS and comply with newer standards a little better, but that takes time. It'll happen eventually...

JavaScript

Kevin did a little experimenting with JavaScript for some pieces on the site. Since some JavaScript is browser specific and he's just learning, you may find some errors. If you do, please send email with your platform and browser versions so he can try to fix it.

Capturing Images

A number of people have asked how we took these pictures. We've used a variety of cameras and scanners over the years to digitize images:

Canon XSi Digital Rebel SLR purchased December 2008

Apple iPhone G3s purchased August 2008 - used for those occasional shots when you don't have a real camera with you.

Canon Digital Rebel SLR loaned to Kevin to try out July - November 2008 (thanks Mark!).

Canon PowerShot SD1000 Purchased April 2008 primarily for Jo's use.

HP PhotoSmart M437 purchased (refurbished) for the boys to use December 2007.

Motorola RAZR cell phone camera purchased August 2006 and used through August 2008.

Canon PowerShot 620 purchased November 2005.

Canon PowerShot S30 purchased August 2002. After a major repair in December 2004, it finally quit working completely in June 2006.

JVC GR-AXM700 Video Camera / Digital Still Camera used for most of the photos September 1998 - August 2002.

Apple QuickTake 100 and 150 digital cameras used for most of the older photos of the house through September 1998.

Some actual photographs were scanned using an Apple Color OneScanner (such as Julian's ultrasound pictures) or Microtek ScanMaker 4600 (such as Dylan's ultrasound pictures).

Editing Images

As with everything else, the process for editing images has evolved over the years. Many of the pictures are not edited at all -- especially the early ones. As the tools (and our skills) have improved, more editing has been done to crop and adjust the lightness of the pictures. And of course, they need to be scaled down to a size suitable for delivery over the web. Most of this work has been done using GraphicConverter or Photoshop, although a few other programs have also been used in some instances.

Domain Name and Hosting

Late in 2002 we purchased our first domain name (snoozerduck.net) for our family web site. Aside from giving us a name, it also allows us to move the site to different hosts on the web without having to tell everyone that it's moved again. For a period of time we even hosted the site on a web server at home!

Having our own domain name has the additional advantage of giving us each a permanent email address that we just forward to whatever email addresses we have at whatever ISP we're currently using. So, as with the web site, when we change ISPs, we don't have tell everyone our new email address.

If you're interested in learning more, feel free to contact Kevin about it.