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Monday June 11, 2007 4:50 am Lethbridge Sunrise 5:24 Sunset 21:38 Hours of daylight: 16:14
A. Morning Musings
4:50 am It is +13 C with a high forecast of +19 C.
Here are the news.
CBC Headline: China floods kill scores, leave 600,000 homeless
At least 66 people have been killed in flooding and landslides triggered by heavy rains in China and nearly 600,000 have been left homeless, a Chinese news agency reported Monday. The scale of events in China is totally different than here.
Canadian Headline: N.S. premier brings case against federal budget to Toronto
Nova Scotia's Conservative premier will take his case against the federal budget to Toronto on Monday, telling Bay Street business leaders why he wants Ottawa to honour an offshore revenue deal with his province. Rodney MacDonald is calling on all members of Parliament from his province to vote against the federal budget. MacDonald said Ottawa is going back on its word by changing past agreements signed with the province over offshore revenues. MacDonald said his comments were prompted by a letter by Flaherty published in Saturday's Halifax Chronicle-Herald, in which Flaherty said Ottawa would not make any side deals on the Atlantic Accord. The accord, struck under the former Paul Martin Liberals in 2005, was designed to allow Nova Scotia as well as Newfoundland and Labrador to profit from their offshore oil and gas resources without fear of losing equalization money. Politics continues to make the headlines.
Australian Headline: (from The Australian): Disease a threat as floods overflow sewage systems
OVERFLOWING sewage systems and flooding have sparked fears of disease in the aftermath of the savage holiday weekend storms across the NSW Central Coast, the Hunter and Sydney. Water treatment plants throughout Sydney, the Central Coast and the Hunter Valley had been unable to cope with “unprecedented” rainfall on Friday and Saturday, NSW Premier Morris Iemma said today. Mr Morris Iemma said the situation was being closely monitored to prevent any outbreak of infection associated with the deluge. Many low-lying parts of the Central Coast were still waterlogged and sewerage systems were struggling to cope. There has definitely been a change to global weather patterns with more extreme conditions reported around the planet.
B. Actual/Notes
5:05 am The wind is still blowing this morning. I have the coffee brewing. Then I will continue my morning Dreamweaver activities as I hope to complete the chapter on cascading style sheets.
Technology 19
June 11
5:10 am I plan to carefully read and make notes for chapter 6 of "Dreamweaver 8" by Short & Green.
Here is a mind map of the overall book (with expansion of the subtopics for chapter 6):
I think that this is the key chapter for the book. Once I have the basic ideas of CSS and how they are created within Dreamweaver I am optimistic that the rest becomes detail.
Chapter 6 Cascading Style Sheets
This is a completion of the exercises begun yesterday.
Exercise 4 Creating ID Selectors
Done. This is the most complex set of steps for an exercise so far. No difficulties, but the number of options is becoming overwhelming.
This exercise set an ID selector for each cell in a 2x2 table. Each cell thus had its own set of style commands. Neat. The first step was to create an ID selector for the entire table and then add the CSS rules for the table. Then click inside each cell, create an ID selector for that cell, and add the CSS rules.
Exercise 5 Creating Class Selectors
Done. Easy.
"Class selectors are probably the most common selector (and the most often abused)." [p. 149]
Exercise 6 Creating CSS Rollovers with Pseudo-Classes
Done. Impressive. Just a few commands and I have a rollover image.
"Pseudo-classes are ... used to assign a style that happens only when an object is in a certain state." [p. 154]
"Pseudo-class selectors are one of the most powerful selectors. Not only can they style an element, but they can change an element's style based on user interaction." [p. 155]
Four of the most common pseudo-classes are:
- :link ( this style is applied to elements that have not yet been visited)
- :visited ( this style is applied to elements that have been visited)
- :hover ( this style is applied when the element is underneath the user's mouse)
- :active ( this style is applied when the user clicks, or activates, the element).
SUMMARY of the session:
6:20 am This was a great chapter. It will take some practice and review before this all becomes a habit, but the power is clearly there, making the effort worthwhile.
C. Plan
Immediate Literature Begin reading "Oxygen" by Andrew Miller Technology Read & make notes for chap. 6 from "Macromedia Dreamweaver 8" Science Read & make notes for "The Canon" by Natalie Angier Mathematics Write a paper on mathematics education Later Technology Make notes for chap. 4 of "Switching to the Mac" Learn how to attach a digital camera to my spotting scope Burn backup of images onto DVD Mathematics Read & make notes on The Humongous Book of Calculus Problems Continue reading "Algebra: Abstract and Concrete" by Frederick Goodman Read "Symmetry" by David Wade Make notes for "Mathematics: A Human Endeavor" ch 1 Read "Fearless Symmetry" chap 9: Elliptic Curves Model Trains Add ground cover to oil refinery diorama Follow tutorial for version 8 of 3rd PlanIt Continue assembly of coaling tower Purchase DCC system History Begin reading "Maya" Read Watson "Ideas" Philosophy Read & make notes for "Breaking the Spell" Begin reading "How Are We To Live?" by Peter Singer Literature New York Times easy crossword puzzles GO Complete reading "Lessons in the Fundamentals of Go" Puzzles The Orange Puzzle Cube: puzzle #10
Major Goals Learning Review week's pages each Sunday Review all pages for the month at the end of each month Technology Review & edit iPhoto files for 2006 Model Trains Become proficient with 3rd PlanIt software Install DCC on model train layout GO Learn to play GO at something better than a beginner level Drawing Learn to draw!! (I keep saying this, yet I have yet to put a pencil to paper). Mathematics Continue to play with mathematics. Literature Continue to read Literature Bird Watching Continue to engage in bird watching activities.
D. Reflection