Catching up for the week.

I have been really busy over the last week, so I have not had a chance to post here until now.

Work is going great! I am settling in and I am making good progress and learning a lot. I would like to say I have been making the same progress with my HTML studies, but just haven't had time to sit down with the Head First HTML with CSS & XHTML book lately. I am hoping get in so study time over this weekend. Even though I have a job, I still want to develop and improve my skill set, and I definitely need to clean up my web sites. I also will continue to develop my interest in web accessibility.

I am going to drop the Apache, PHP, and MySQL studies for now, and start up with C# shortly. Studying C# will not only help me at work, but also may be beneficial with my robotics work using Microsoft Robotics Studio (MRS) from what I have been told. I will be using the Lego NXT system to start with because it can be used with MRS and it's easy to work with.

Given that it's now "that season" in the Seattle (cloudy, rainy, dreary) I'll be taking my astonomy interest inside and play with some of the free astronomy programs that come with Ubuntu as well as working with the Astro Link Blog and the Cloudymidnights Blog. I'll also be playing around with my CoCo, though I'll be posting more about that on the 8-Bit Retro Computing Blog.

I think I'll be busy for quite some time. Cheers! :)

Not bad after a week off from studies.

I was pretty much able to pick up where I left off a week ago, and start getting a good grip on CSS.

It's pretty amazing how having each page reference a style sheet can add so much flexibility and streamline the design process. I can definitely see how this will help in the retooling of all of my sites, plus any projects that come my way in the future.

After some correspondence with one of the experts in accessibility, I have decided to forgo the HTML vs. XHTML debate for now, and stay focused on learning XHTML. Down the road HTML 5.0 will make itself know, but I need to learn the basics and focusing on XHTML is the best course for me now.

Done with Chapter 6 and moving to XHTML

I finished Chapter 6 of Head First HTML with CSS & XHTML over the weekend, and I can definitely say I learned a lot about web standards and compliance.

It was interesting to use the W3C Markup Validation Service to check the code samples in the book, as well as my own sites (miba51, cloudymidnights, and urbanspelunkers) I wasn't surprised to find that all three of my sites had bugs, but I am still going to hold off correcting and updating my sites until I am done with book.

Since I am paying for hosting those sites, I might as well use them as part of my portfolio with cloudymidnights emphasizing accessibility, and urbandspelunkers to experiement with style.

I am now starting Chapter 7 and diving in to XHTML and hopefully in a couple more chapters I'll begin working with CSS. I wish I were making faster progress, but there are other priorities, and at least I am making progress on many fronts right now.

I scapped out 4 old PC hulks I had lying around, and I have two or three more to scrap out by the end of next weekend. My place is looking more organized than it has in years. Who knows, I may actually get some of my other projects off the ground. It's amazing what you can accomplish once you define and narrow your focus.

Coming up for (but just for a little bit)

The job search is plugging along and I am starting to make some good contacts. I am still staying positive and working toward my goals.

I've been networking with some great people in the accessibility field and I have found some great resources that will help me move forward. I am impressed at how helpful people are in sharing information about accessibility.

My studies have been going in spurts. As I have stated before this is due to the time I am spending on my job search, but like my job search I am making progress. I am currently on Chapter 6 of Head First HTML with CSS & XHTML and I hope to finish it by the weekend.

I am finding that HTML seems to just come naturally to me and even though I haven't started working with CSS I have been able to understand the few examples that have been listed in the exercises.

Even though it's a cloudy day today, I'm feeling pretty positive about where I am heading.

Something's missing! Look to the left.

If you look over to the left you will see that the "Free Books" comment and link are missing. That's because someone came over today and picked up a bulk of the books. What was left wasn't worth trying to find a home for so they are now residing in the recycling bin. All of the non-fiction books are heading off to a used book store tomorrow. I am finding as I become more focused on my goals, getting rid of stuff I don't need is becoming easier.

Studies are going slow, but I am still moving forward. I believe that clearing out a lot of stuff will provide a better study environment, and help me move towards my goal so things should pick up. I'm also starting to do some research on web accessibility for the visually impaired, and I am gathering a lot of information which I hope to incorporate in to my upgrades to the Cloudymidnights site.

Since I have Tron running in the background at the moment, I guess I'll end this entry with a good old fashion "EOL"

Turning 50 and looking forward to the future.

Since today was my 50th birthday I decided to take a break and didn't get much done. I did do some studying, but nothing worth writing about and most likely I will reread the sections tomorrow.

I was planning to write about another job opportunity, but I realize that for the most part it is already listed, and actually is the first two opportunities I listed.

Because I want to help people, I think it would be great to find a job working with web accessibility applications for the visually impaired, and this fits right in with the second opportunity I listed as well as the purpose of the Cloudymidnights site and blog that I run.

It is even possible to test web accessibility applications on or for embedded systems such as PDAs and other devices. I have the embedded systems experience, and I am learning web development (albeit a little slower than I like, but hey!, I have to find a job right now)

Both the embedded systems testing and accessibility testing fit right in with the goals of my purpose. The science writing can be something I can do on my own separate from work, though eventually I may end up writing for a living (or at least some pocket change)