This newsletter has been produced to help you get the most out of the Internet,
and to keep you, as an Actrix customer, informed of developments and services within the company.
Past newsletters may be viewed at http://editor.actrix.co.nz/
Newsletters are now archived by article at http://editor.actrix.co.nz/byarticle/
Questions and comments about the newsletter can be e-mailed to editor@actrix.co.nz
Other inquiries should be e-mailed to support@actrix.co.nz

Saving a Web Page for Offline Use

Is there a website on the Internet that you visit frequently? If so, you may find it convenient to save that page onto your hard drive. By doing that, you can load the page in Internet Explorer without having to go online. Now, of course, this won't be a great help for say, an interactive banking page where you need to be online in order to interact with your accounts in real time, and it will mean that your web page will only be as up-to-date as it was at the time you saved it.

However, saving a page offline certainly has its uses. Perhaps you've found a site that has a long story on it, or a lot if information that you may not have time for when you first visit. By saving the page to your hard drive, you can bring it up again and read it at your leisure without having to spend time (and money) being online. Perhaps the Actrix newsletters themselves are an example you might want to experiment with.

Saving a web page to your hard drive is pretty easy. The simplest way is just to visit a page, and once it's fully loaded click the File menu and then Save As... This will bring up a Save Web Page box which you can use to select a name for the saved page and a location on your hard drive in which to save it (e.g. My Documents or Desktop).

Under Save as Type I'd suggest selecting the Web Page Complete option, though you can also select other options such as saving the text (html) only if you don't care about the pictures. Leave the Encoding box alone and just simply accept whatever Windows decides to put there. Click the Save button and the page will be saved on your hard drive at the location you specified. Perhaps the simplest thing to do here would be to save the page to your desk top. That way it will be easy to find and open. To do this, make sure you click the Desktop icon (pictured above on the left of the box, though other versions of Windows might have this icon appearing near the top right of the box) before you click Save.

A More Complicated and More Powerful Way

A more powerful way of saving web pages offline uses the Bookmarks feature I discussed in the June 2001 newsletter. The article on Bookmarks is available on its own here. You may want to consult that article in order to refresh your memory as to the advantages of saving a bookmark (or an offline web page) in your links folder so that you can add it to the convenient Explorer Links bar.

To save a web page for viewing offline:

1. Visit the page you want to save, and wait for it to fully load. In Explorer, you can usually tell when a page has fully loaded. Explorer hides the Address bar (the white window you type Internet addresses into) while it is downloading all a page's text and images and displays it when finished).
2. Click Favorites on the Menu bar, and then Add to Favorites. An Add Favorite box like the one below will pop up.
3. Feel free to edit the name of the Bookmark, and to select the Links folder for saving, if you think that's a good idea. (You may need to click the Create In button to get the folder list to display)
4. Make sure there is a tick in the Make Available Offline tickbox, and click OK.

And there you have it. Next time you want the page and you're offline, just open Internet Explorer, click the bookmark you made for it, either under your Favorites menu, or on your Links bar (depending on how you've chosen to save the bookmark). Your computer may prompt you to go online, but if you click the Work Offline button Internet Explorer will load for you the version saved on your hard drive without you having to go online at all.

Saving Deeper Links

Now, you'll probably notice if you do this, and if you haven't thought about it already, that this is only good for the single page you have saved offline. If you were to click a link on your saved page, Internet Explorer would immediately prompt you to connect, because it hasn't saved the linked page to your hard drive. There are a couple of things you can do here, though it may pay to think ahead a little before you choose.

Firstly, if you think there will only be one or two links off that page that you would like to be able to access offline, then you should simply click the link(s) while you are online, wait for the linked page(s) to fully load, and then save it/them in exactly the same way as you saved the main page. If you do this, you will find that when you load your saved main page offline, the links you also saved will work in just the same way as if you were online at the time.

Secondly, if you think you need to be more thorough, Internet Explorer will allow you to save all the linked pages on any page in one fell swoop. In fact it will allow you to go even further and saved linked pages off linked pages, but my recommendation is that doing so is a little risky, but more on that below.

To save a page for use offline and save all the other pages that your page links to:

1. Visit the page you want to save, and wait for it to fully load.
2. Click Favorites on the Menu bar, and then Add to Favorites. An Add Favorite box like the one pictured earlier in this article will pop up.
3. Feel free to edit the name of the Bookmark, and to select the Links folder for saving, if you think that's a good idea.
4. Make sure there is a tick in the Make Available Offline tickbox, and click OK. If there is a tick in this tickbox, you will notice the Customize button ceases to be greyed out.
5. Click the Customize button. An Offline Favorite wizard will appear.
6. The second screen of this wizard asks you, "If this favorite contains links to other pages, would you like to make those pages available offline too?" Make sure you click the dot into the Yes option.
7. You can select how far (or how deep) you'd like to go with the saving of extra links. I'd suggest you leave the figure in the Download Pages box at "1." This will save every page that your selected page links to, and it is probably enough. If you were to set the figure at "2 deep" it would then save all the pages linked to by the pages linked to by your main page. You're taking a big risk doing that in terms of the disk space on your computer's hard drive that may be consumed, and unless you're really familiar with all the sites and pages involved, I wouldn't recommend setting the figure beyond 1.
8. The next page of the Offline Favorite Wizard asks you how often you would like to synchronise this offline page. Basically you're being asked as to how often you'd like Internet Explorer to check whether the saved page has changed online and then save the updated pages over your old one(s). My recommendation here is that you choose the Only When I Choose Synchronize from the Tools Menu option. This means that Internet Explorer will only update and re-save when you tell it to.
9. The next screen asks you whether you want to password protect the saved page. Choose Yes or No, and then click Finish.
10. At this stage you will be returned to the Add Favorite box and all you have to do is click OK.

Once you've completed all these steps, you will still find that only the main page you first selected is saved on your hard drive. In order to save all the linked pages, you will need to go online and then click the Tools menu, and then the Synchronize option. Internet Explorer includes a little program called Synchronization Manager. When you click Tools/Synchronize, this program pops up and allows you to tick the boxes of the pages that you want to save. When you've done this and clicked OK off it goes. Within a few minutes (depending on how many linked pages it has to access and save) it'll come back and tell you the job is done. Simply go offline and test it to see how you go. My experience has been that this works pretty well, though occasionally one of the deeper links fails to save, and the graphics seem to be missing here and there as well. Even so, saving web pages offline remains a reasonably simple task that could save you time and money under certain circumstances.

 

Insight Through Extreme Brevity

Actrix JetStream customers, or those interested in ADSL technology generally, may be interested in this article by Auckland writer Juha Saarinen - RIP'ed Routing Turns JetStream into a Notwork

My thanks to Karin Wiley for sending in this article which appeared in the local Contact newspaper.

In Japan they have replaced the impersonal and unhelpful Microsoft error messages with haiku poetry messages. Haiku poetry has strict construction rules. Each poem has only three lines, 17 syllables: five syllables in the first line, seven in the second, five in the third.

Haiku is used to communicate a timeless message often achieving a wistful, yearning and powerful insight through extreme brevity - the essence of Zen.

Your file was so big. It might be very useful. But now it is gone. A crash reduces Your expensive computer To a simple stone. Three things are certain: Death, taxes and lost data. Guess which has occurred. Out of memory We wish to hold the whole sky But we never will. You step in the stream, But the water has moved on. The page is not here. Having been erased, The document you're seeking Must now be retyped. Serious error. All shortcuts have disappeared. Screen. Mind. Both are blank. The website you seek Cannot be located but Plenty more exist.

Chaos reigns within. Reflect, repent and reboot. Order shall return. Program aborting. Close all that you have worked on. You ask far too much. Windows NT crashed. I am the blue screen of death. No one hears your screams. Yesterday it worked. Today it is not working. Windows is like that. First snow, then silence. This thousand-dollar screen dies So beautifully. With searching comes loss And the presence of absence. "My Novel" not found. The Tao that is seen Is not the true Tao - Until you bring fresh toner. Stay the patient course. Of little worth is your ire. The network is down.

 

 

Actrix Revamped Links Page! The Actrix links page has recently been revised, refurbished and revamped. Old broken links have been removed or corrected, and many, many new links and categories have been added. The purpose of the Actrix Links page is to provide customers, particularly those new to the Internet, with a ready collection of resources to use or consult online. There are currently hundreds of links arranged alphabetically under the following categories: Buy & Sell Content Control Culture Dictionaries Downloads (General) Downloads (Programs) Games Genealogy General Sites HTML Help Internet Help/Info Kids' Sites Knowledge Macintosh Sites Modems Movies News & Media NZ Sites Online Stores Political Parties Reference Search Engines Security Software Updates Sports Tools Travel Universities Unix Virus Information Written Resources I am always interested in adding links (or removing them if they become broken), so please contact me with additions you may want to suggest, or if you find that any of the pages are refusing to load anymore. You can e-mail me at editor@actrix.co.nz with your suggestions or comments. Our basic policy for the Links page is that we'll include any link to any site, shop or service that we think is of general value to the Actrix customer community. We don't charge anything to include a link, but by the same token, we don't generally promote businesses just for the sake of it. The emphasis is also on sites that provide help or services for free. Why not surf on over to www.actrix.co.nz/links.html (or click Links on our home page) and spend a little time having a look at what's available? You never know what interesting stuff you may stumble across!

 

Axioms For The Internet Age

1. Home is where you hang your @.
2. The e-mail of the species is more deadly than the mail.
3. A journey of a thousand sites begins with a single click.
4. You can't teach a new mouse old clicks.
5. C:\ is the root of all directories.
6. The modem is the message.
7. Too many clicks spoil the browse.
8. The geek shall inherit the earth.
9. A chat has nine lives.
10. Don't byte off more than you can view.
11. Fax is stranger than fiction.
12. What boots up must come down.
13. Windows will never cease.
14. In Gates we trust.
15. Modulation in all things.
16. A user and his leisure time are soon parted.
17. Oh, what a tangled Web site we weave when first we practice.
18. Speed thrills.
19. Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day; teach him to
use the Net and he won't bother you for weeks.

 

Interesting Sites (Click the picture links to access the sites)

Please note: Actrix supplies links to these sites for your interest and possible use. We cannot endorse or take any responsibility for their contents. Got a site you think would be neat to share with other readers? Let me know and receive a free Norrie the Nerd chocolate bar courtesy of Actrix!

Map Zone New Zealand www.mapzone.co.nz/home.jsp - This page presents the user with a remarkably useful and well-organised system for finding your way around New Zealand.  Click the area of New Zealand, then the city, and then the suburb etc etc. Each time the map becomes more detailed until finally you can zero in on the very street in question - and it seems to be good for anywhere in New Zealand. You can also choose to be presented with the locations of banks, ATMs, petrol stations, schools and fast food outlets. You can also type an address into the search field and it will show exactly where on the street the house is. Thanks to Ivan Shew for sending this link in.

Free Games and Tools! www.programming.de/ (then click the "My Programs" link on the top left) - Here you'll find two dozen or so free downloadable programs for Windows. Many look very useful, or at least a lot of fun. I've personally used the world time clock without problems, but am yet to try some of the other downloads. There are timers, calculators, simple games, and you are positively encouraged to take them for free. This site's meta description is as follows: "Hobbyist programmers and newbies who want to learn Windows programming in C++ the fun and easy way can find examples, sourcecode and inspiration here. Great Freeware programs and games for everybody." However, forget about the programming unless you're really interested. Try some of the downloads. Usual disclaimers apply, though. It all looks pretty safe, but you download anything at your own risk.

Charity Mall www.charitymall.org.nz - The Charity Mall Trust, a non-profit organisation has launched this web site with the sole purpose of raising funds for New Zealand based charities through affiliate marketing programmes. When you follow hyperlinks from the CharityMall site to participating online merchants and buy something, you earn affiliate commission (2%-30%) in the form of donations to your favourite charity. Participating merchants include Amazon, TradeMe, FlyingPig, Dell NZ, etc. Shoppers can currently choose to support any one of five NZ charities: World Vision, The Cancer Society, The Fred Hollows Foundation, WSPA and the SPCA. TCMT is keen to add more NZ online retailers. If that's you, they can be contacted via their web site. Thanks Anton DeWaal for sending this one in.

HTI Free Literature www.hti.umich.edu/p/pd-modeng/ - This page links to two separate databases of Modern English works of literature that are available freely online. Examples include the Koran, various Bible versions, novels by famous authors and a whole lot more. There is also a set of three search functions at the site which allow you to search the various texts for words or phrases.

Write Once Read Many http://theworm.virtualave.net - This site provides a place where the online community can gather to share their words. Those words can be in the form of a story, poem/lyric, review, or experience. Anyone can have their stuff published there, so the quality of the work varies widely. No "adult" content is allowed. Click the "Submit Your Work" button to, well, submit your work.

Recipes.Com www.recipes.com - Recipes.Com functions more as a discussion forum than as a simple source of online recipes. Use their search feature to find a thread (series of posts) on the food item or recipe of your choice, then see what others have said or suggested, and contribute yourself, if you like. It's free.

Genealogy.Org www.genealogy.org/ - This is one more of the many Genealogy sites around. It's a particularly useful one, though, in that it serves as a set of links to many other similar sites. There are links to searchable databases of names, obituaries, immigration lists, family tree builders and so forth. If you're into Genealogy or think you might want to have a go, - this might be the starting point for you.

Sport.Com www.sport.com - Pretty much what you might expect for a site with that address. Sport.Com features various pages dedicated to many of the main sports. A brief description is given for each, as well as a series of thumbnail links to photos and Quicktime movies of the particular sport in question. Most pages also have a link or two to other sites dedicated in one way or another, to the sport in question. If you don't have Quicktime installed on your computer you will prompted to download and install it - but only if you click a movie link. You install anything at your own risk, but Quicktime is generally regarded as a safe and reliable product.

Free Jigsaw Puzzles www.freejigsawpuzzles.com/ - Here you will find free online jigsaw puzzles of nature, animals, flowers, underwater scenes, cartoons, NASA graphics and more. For most images you can choose whether you'd like traditional jigsaw pieces or squares (which are a little harder in some ways. You can choose the number of pieces too. Some of the puzzles could take a little while. If you're worried about being online too long, wait for the puzzle to fully download, and then go offline.

Sorted www.sorted.org.nz - You've probably seen this site advertised lately on TV. Sorted.Org.NZ offers financial planning advice and calculators. "When you want to get sorted on money matters, use your mouse. Get your debt, investments and retirement sorted." It seems to be a free service run by the Retirement Commission, and may just be an excellent starting point for advice on how to make the most of your money, and to get on top of debt. Lovely site in terms of design, by the way, and some of the calculators are great - e.g. calculate your net worth!. Start with their "Getting Started" section. You can even save your details and keep track of them using the "My Plan" feature

Scoop! www.scoop.co.nz/mason/ - In their own words: "Scoop is a Wellington based Internet news agency accredited to the New Zealand Parliament Press Gallery. It specialises in providing news and commentary **raw and fast** and is made up largely of what Scoop likes to call "disintermediated" news - that is news without a spin put on it by a journalist. That said, Scoop, we like to think, is more than just an ultra fast news agency, it has a purpose... "

Rock's Back Pages www.rocksbackpages.com - Rock’s Back Pages claims to be "the ultimate rock & roll library online – an ever-growing archive of legendary interviews, classic features, and groundbreaking reviews by the best rock writers of all time." Unfortunately, to get the full benefit from the site, you have to become a member (at $34.95 U.S.). While I don't necessarily recommend you do that, I would point out that there are a lot of free resources that you can see or read for free. The latest feature on Pink Floyd, for example, is well documented, well-written and reasonably thorough. Astral Weeks (This week in Rock 'n' Roll History) is also regularly an interesting read. Please be aware that content at this site changes regularly, so within a week, articles mentioned here may have changed. A free Actrix chocolate bar sent out to anyone who can tell me who made his first concert hall appearance, at New York's Carnegie Chapter Hall on 4 November, 1961! Email me at editor@actrix.co.nz with your answer and let me know your postal address.

 

Bringing It All Back Home

Thanks again if you've read this far. In closing I'd like to publish a letter from a non-Actrix customer commenting on one of my reviews of the browser Opera. Bjoern is quite right, but I guess the issue for users is more what they have come to expect from a browser rather than whether the browser is behaving according to W3 standards. I guess the issues are complicated.

Take care through November,

Rob Zorn
Actrix Newsletter editor
editor@actrix.co.nz

I would like to comment on your review "A second night at the Opera" (available at http://editor.actrix.co.nz/byarticle/opera2.htm).  In it, you write:

'Opera used to fail to display "alt tags" (the little yellow windows with writing that pop up when you mouse over an image) and unfortunately, it still fails to do so.'

Actually, Opera is the only browser who is doing this *right*, according to the arguments presented in this article: http://www.htmlhelp.com/feature/art3.htm. Look for the header 'ALT text as "tooltips"'.

ALT attributes (not tags) are by definition not supposed to be tooltips  - they are *alternative* texts, to be shown only when the image in question is unavailable.

Opera does display the correct attribute, TITLE, as tooltips.

MSIE [Internet Explorer] displays TITLE as tooltips, but it is still in error as it also   displays ALT as tooltips, which can and will cause confusion and encourage incorrect use of the ALT attribute.
--
Bjoern Braendewall