change
Time For Change
Time For Change
The Hobbyist Machine Shop website has served well on the Internet as encouragement for new home machinist getting started in the hobby. The ton of email (if it could be weighed) sent to me confirms this statement.
The web site was built through the years with several HTML editing tools. First was HoTMetaL Pro which many years ago went out of existence. I switched to Adobe GoLive and then to Macromedia Dreamweaver. Adobe purchased Macromedia and there was an inside battle between GoLive and Dreamweaver as to which program would be Adobe’s HTML flagship. Dreamweaver won out and is still my WYSIWYG HTML editor.
HTML5 is the newest version of HTML, created to do battle mostly against Adobe Flash. Adobe counters with Adobe Edge, a new HTML5 animation editor. I don’t do much direct FLASH editing so HTML5 is not a big deal with me (yet).
I’m getting off track, back to my story. I have been using a freeware CMS (Content Management System) web publishing tool known as Joomla. It is a graphic intensive creative and web display product written in PHP . With today’s high speed backbone and much faster user computer systems this high overhead system has been working well for me on many web sites I manage. It stores information in a MySQL database and builds the pages dynamically. Enough black magic, it just works.
Joomla and all CMS systems have a very good “back end” management system that doesn’t exist with standard HTML web sites. It is much easier to maintain all the information in a standard form. This THMS BLOG website (using WordPress and my own template) is a CMS system and works in very much the same way as Joomla.
My secret weapon to building CMS templates is Artisteer.
Bottom… Continue reading
TEDEX Forum
This blog is only a few short of 1000 members as of this writing. I believe many signed in to exploit the BLOG. It is a dead end if that was the purpose.
I am the only author in this site, but members are permitted to comment as they see fit. The first comment is held for me to determine who you are and if the comment is on topic. The spam filters work very well and I delete a lot of known spam. If I let you through the first time, I don’t moderate after that. But I can shut down anyone who is not pure in heart (intent) at any time.
I also run a Bulletin Board called TEDEX. I shut it down from (open) new memberships about a year ago. Same reasons. It is a nasty world out there. I trimmed it down from hundreds to just 43 contributing members.
TEDEX has more user features. Lots of folks like the BBS format better than the BLOG. On TEDEX you can start your own threads, post pictures and have a whole lot more interaction.
I just did something with TEDEX I said I wasn’t going to do. I unlocked the registration again. I’ll see how it goes. If you have an ugly email address or ugly user name, don’t expect to get in. I respect real people with real names. Reasonable “handles” are OK but be sincere in who you are.
I am willing to host a blog with many author contributors. I am thinking about a new challenge R&D project I am looking into I call RoboBoat. There is a post in TEDEX about the subject. The blog would be a society or forum for developing this topic… or it could just live in… Continue reading
A Visit to My Personal Machine Shop
I keep judging my shop’s quality. I consider, “Is this as professional as it should be? What are the right tools for me?” I feel it is so much a personal decision; I will never see or believe an answer from anywhere but within my own desires. If I am doing machining just for the challenge and personal pleasure to myself, no one else can tell me what’s right for me. One thing a personal machine shop is… is that it is personal. So be it… it is then a personal machine shop.
Is there a difference between a hobbyist’s machine shop and a personal machine shop? I think it is mostly just a difference in title, but that little change in thought from hobby to personal does make some subtle change in impression. To me it removes the vision of play and non serious application of time. It sounds a bit more “professional”. Maybe even to the imagined ability of producing professional grade work. The roles and actions have not changed at all. It is just word crafting to create subtle changes in how some people relate words to meaning. It is the basis of how “political correctness” works. What’s the difference between garbage man and sanitary engineer?
I have never had a hobby where quality wasn’t important. Many hobbyists find a way to maintain the very highest standards and output from the skills and equipment they have and can afford. Hobby machinists for example, can generally produce with a far better standard than is needed for professional work. Even with “hobbyist” machines.
I feel describing my shop as a “personal machine shop” can be an image enhancement to the non hobby person. The same reason the personal computer (PC) is now seen as a professional tool. The… Continue reading
Change to New URL
I had to take a lot of time away from my pursuit of machine shop pleasures. There was a cyber DDoS attack on the shared IP address I use for a lot of my domains. More details are over on my personal blog, Ramblin’ Dan. Let’s just say my shared Internet address was very busy for a few days.
One of the things I did was to give this blog its own web address. This site used to be a sub-domain of TEDatum (THMSBlog.TEDatum.com) on a shared IP address, but now has its own identity (THMSBlog.com). Note the TEDatum is gone in the middle.
It’s a bit of work to make that change (switch IP addresses) and it was actually a nice (?) learning experience. The old URL with the TEDatum will continue to work but I suggest if you have this site book marked, you change to the new shorter URL, just in case there is another DDoS or someday I forget and remove the cross link. Not likely to forget, but I am getting older…
I don’t know why the attack started and persisted so long. I assume what I do here is pretty innocuous to most folks. However I do not know who or what else may have been on the shared IP. Just roll with the punches and they won’t hurt so badly.
New Look Again
Some of the blog “regulars” may have noticed the look of this site has changed a bit. We are still running inside WordPress but I built a new template using Artisteer. Today it is possible to do something that looks this good without directly using HTML, a special language to create web pages.
There is some very minor use of HTML for “tweaking” for a little more (but unnecessary) personal touch.
I hope it looks good to you too.