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QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS
Q:Does HTTP put a length limit on the URL?
Q:Can you give a simple example of a stretchable
design?
Q:In HTTP, what is the difference between a get and a post request? A: Other than using different HTTP message formats, the major difference is in usage. A get request can be made by a hyperlink (with a query string attached at the end of the URL), an HTML form, or even from the browser location box. A post request must usually be made by submitting an HTML form. The length of a get request is usually limited by the browser to about 2K bytes. The post request has no length limit. Q: What is SSI? A: SSI stands for Server Side Includes. It is a way to embed commands in HTML documents that are interpreted by the server. The result is an HTML document with parts computed by the server. SSI can make HTML documents more dynamic.
Q: How do I find more information on MySQL and how to use it? Q: What is a persistent connection from PHP to MySQL? A: mysql_pconnect() is the PHP function call to create a new persistent connection or pick up one that has been created before. mysql_close() will close non-persistent links created by mysql_connect() or that link will automatically close at page exit. mysql_close() will not close persistent links created by mysql_pconnect(). Q: Why do most Web servers run on UNIX platforms? A: The Internet and Web evolved from networking based on UNIX, TCP/IP support from Berkeley UNIX sockets, and C language programming. All have deep roots in the UNIX system. A secondary reason is that the most popular Web server, the Apache server, is free and worked only on UNIX computers until very recently. A third reason is the availability of Apache and UNIX (Linux) as open source "free" software. In addition, UNIX server machines are robust and stable. NT servers much less so.
Q: Why do people say CGI is inefficient? A: Because each request to the same CGI program causes a new process to start. The creation and removal of new processes is expensive. Thus, CGI is not a good way to support heavily used sites where hits arrive within seconds of one another.
Q: What would be more efficient than CGI? A: There are many schemes. All rely on avoiding the creation and removal of new processes. Making the programs run as part of the Web server is one way, using the Web server to interpret codes is another, keeping CGI programs alive across multiple requests and avoid recreating them is yet another. This class will cover PHP and Java Servelets, two popular ways to supply CGI functionality and more efficiently.
Q: For recording digital video, is there a specific file format that is better than others? A: Yes I (Sanda) would go QuickTime because there are free players readily available for both Macs and PCs. And besides, its the best format for quality/bandwidth IMHO. Q: We can use a VHS video camera for some of the footage. Several of us have video cameras at home. Is there a model that is better than others for this type of work? Are there any special things we need to do while taking the videos to maximize the quality for internet use. A: As far as camera models are concerned, the better the camera, the better the quality of the video, in general. Re; special camera techniques for internet, not really, however they should follow standard videography principals while shooting; no fast pans, mount the camera on a tripod to eliminate camera shake, frame the shot as nice as possible, make sure the lighting is good, etc etc. When the video is recompiled for the web, the frame size is often reduced to near postage stamp size, these things become more important because the video size is so small. Q: I have a Sony Cybershot camera that will take short movie clips. What resolution should I use for video shots for the internet? If I use a high resolution mode, do your students and equipment have the capability to render it into internet usable files. A: Yes they are usable, but how good the quality is will depend upon the SIZE of the frame, not the resolution. Is it 72 dpi at 640x480, or 72 dpi at 320x240? Obviously the larger the frame the 'better' the video will appear. Also, is the cameral really taking 30 frames per second, or something less? Is the camera taking 24bit video or something less? All those technical things combine to arrive at the final video quality. Of course of equal importance is; how good is the camera operator? Give this camera to Cecil B. Demil and you'll get better video quality than I can get because of the natural ability of the operator. That intangible element is often the most important consideration of video quality. Q: Some Quick Time movies I have seen are taken by someone standing in one point and slowly turning around 360 degrees. Is this a good method, in your opinion? Or is it better to use a horizontal method? A: If its the only way, then so be it. However if you are doing a true panorama, I would recommend that you NOT use rolling video, but rather use QuickTime VR. The quality will be much much higher, it will be interactive instead of passive/linear, and the file size will be much much lower. (Paul says:) Generally, for footage intended for the Web, avoid camera movements (zooming, panning, walking, ...) as much as practical. Use a tripod and let the action happen in the frame itself as much as possible. This way the resulting image files can be compressed much better resulting in better effects on the Web .
Q: What is encryption? public key encryption? A: Encryption is a way of turning a piece of normal text into a jumble of meaningless codes. When information is encrypted it can be safely transmit over the open Internet. No one except the intended receipian has the key to decrypt the message. Normally, a message is encrypted and decrypted with the same key. In public key encryption, the information is encrypted with a key that is published (the public key) and when the coded message arrives, the receiver uses a private key to decrypt the message. Each user of the public-key system would have a key pair: one public key and one private key. The public key sysstem was invented by RSA and today the RSA system is still considered the strongest encryption protection.
Q:How to make Chinese or other foreign language characters
on graphics with PhotoShop? What software is needed to do this? A: There is Asian Language Support in adobe installation (most of their products, PhotoShop, Acrobat etc). Make sure you check that box when installing PS, then it should support Chinese characters, for example. Remember you still need Chinese input programs, such as NJStar, or TwinBridge, to input the foreign characters.
Q: What is SSL?
A: The secure socket layer is a way to make
the Web and Internet secure by employing encryption technologies at the
socket level. The URL scheme
Q: What are some of the DONT's for Web Design? A: Cool site checks for the following: 1. Image halos 2. Poorly kerned text. If you're not up on kerning, stop right here and don't come back until you get it. Do a search on Google. It's critical. 3. Poor visual hierarchy - upon first glance, the users eye should be able to find the most important thing on your page first, the second most important thing second, and so on. 4. Way-too-long meaningless Flash intros - like the old saying goes, just because you know how to do something, it doesn't mean you should. 5. Unbalanced or busy colors usage. Too many colors is almost always a bad thing. try t o limit your designs to contain 2-3 main colors, and an accent color or two. The cleanest designs normally have a couple of main colors, and one accent color. Past 3 or 4 colors, make sure you have a good reason to use additional colors. 6. Image jaggies 7. Fuzzy images 8. Scripting errors. Test your javascripts on at least NN and IE 4.x and above on PC and Mac, minimally. 9. Bad Flash detection routines. Sometimes Flash detection isn't done well and Flash tells you to go away even thought you have the correct plug-in. Make sure your Flash detection scripts are working and up to date. 10. Spelling errors. How can you be a serious developer if you can't spell. Use a spell checker. |
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