Learn Network Programming

But why learn network programming? At the time of this writing, I’ve been taking a course in Networks and we’ve already programmed quite a simple terminal based instant messaging client in C. You can join and login to a network, create buddies, and have conversations with them. If I was given more time, I would’ve implemented a gui but since we were given a one week period to work on it I didn’t have as much freedom as I had hoped for. I did use the following guide to understand network programming and I don’t think I could have found a faster and easier way to learn than this.

Beej’s Guide to Network Programming

How to install Ubuntu using VirtualBox

Today, we are going to teach you how to use VirtualBox to install Ubuntu using Windows. (This could easily be done on Linux, or a Mac too.) This is a great option for those of you who want to get a programming environment and those who want to avoid dual-booting your computer since it involves a great risk if done wrong. Virtualizing an OS is an easy task and it only takes a few steps. It should take a new user about five minutes to get going. So let’s get started.

What you need to virtualize Ubuntu on VirtualBox

Step 1: Create a new Virtual Machine

Getting ready to edit your template to make a website

In this part of our series you will start editing your template to make your website. Don’t worry, I’ll guide you every step of the way so you don’t get lost.

What do you need?

1. The BigSpaceLove template found on Free-CSS-Templates
2. A browser to open your website. (e.g. Internet Explorer, Firefox…)
3. A text editor to edit your website. Preferably one that supports syntax highlighting. Programmer’s Notepad is free and is what I’ll be using.

Start editing the template

Open up index.html using your text editor. If you remember the basic structure of a website we taught you can notice that it is the same way the html file is structured.

• The header contains “Website Title” and “Subheader, website description H2″ in this case
• The body is separated into a left section containing the content the and a right section containing the menu.
• The footer contains information about the person who created the template.

You will notice these sections are denoted with the following tag in the HTML document:

The <div> </div> tag

You can think of the div tag as a section within your HTML document. They will usually be named after the sections described above.

What is a website made out of anyways?

If you take a good look at a couple of websites, you might notice their structures share a couple of things in common. (If you are wondering why you need to know this, you’ll learn why really soon.) Each website usually contains the following basic elements:

• A header usually contains the logo of a website along with a brief description. Sometimes you may find a menu there as well.
• The main body or content which may take up most of the website which contains the content of the website.
• A sidebar which usually contains the navigation of your website.
• A footer which usually contains copyright and licensing information.

Not all websites follow this traditional structure. It all depends on what type of website you need to suit your needs.

So what is under the hood?

So, what makes a website a website? Under the hood websites are made up of different coding languages that serve different purposes. I’ll only describe the basic ones you need to be aware of and will be working with.

Don’t worry, you don’t need to know anything. I’ll help you every step of the way.

HTML

HTML stands for Hyper Text Markup Language. It consists of HTML tags that are used to mark up content and usually have a starting and ending tag. If you have worked with website development in the past, edited a profile on a social site such as MySpace you probably already are familiar with the basics of HTML. An example of HTML is below.

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Getting started on your first website

Ever wanted to create a website but had no idea where to get started? No worries, I’ll guide you through the simple process and it will require no prior experience. Is it really that easy? After you complete my series of tutorials, it sure will be. We’ll be using the template BigSpaceLove found on Free-CSS-Templates to create a simple personal website similar to my personal website.

You don’t need to know anything. I’ll even make sure you understand the fundamentals so you can continue learning more on your own afterwards. So no, you don’t need to know how to design a web page, or even how to code one.

This series will teach you how to make a similar website pictured above

Why would I need a website anyways?

First of all, a website might serve a great variety of purposes such as the following:

• You may post your resume, CV, or portfolio online to attract potential employers
• Might want to share a hobby
• Promote a product you are selling or endorsing
• Start a community
• Simply to learn!

In reality, the possibilities are endless. It’s actually quite a good skill to have and it can pay off. While I was in highschool I managed to create websites and get paid pretty darn well for it since people think its more complicated than it looks.
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Slickdeals never fails to amaze me. Today is a deal from The Geek Store offering a free download of their ebook Linux 101 Hacks. Simply go here and enter linuxrocks.

Linux 101 Hacks

An excerpt from the book…

There are a total of 101 hacks in this book that will help you build a strong foundation in Linux. All the hacks in this book are explained with appropriate Linux commands examples that are easy to follow.

You can visit the author’s blog over at The Geek Stuff. Some of his hacks are on his blog as well. So happy hacking!

I’ll check it out so I’ll tell you guys later how it went! So don’t let this deal slip!

Remember to subscribe to my feed for daily updates!

Synergy is a powerful yet elegant program that allows you to share a single mouse and keyboard with multiple computers regardless of the OS, each with its own display.
Why Synergy? I use a laptop that I take to school and takes notes on using Microsoft OneNote. When I go home, I usually put my laptop on my desk but I always thought it was so unproductive to switch from keyboard/mouse every time I needed to switch from my computer and laptop. Synergy allows me to set up the program on both my computers, and allows me to share my keyboard/mouse between both of them by simply rolling my mouse from one screen to the other.

Setting up Synergy

First, download and install Synergy.

On your host computer, the computer you want to use keyboard/mouse, follow these instructions.
1. Open up Synergy.
2. Click on Advanced.
2a. Choose a Screen Name and Port number. I chose Diego as my screen name, and left Port Number as is.
2b. Click ok.
3. Click on Share this computer’s keyboard and mouse (server)
4. Click on Configure.
5. Create two screens. I created Diego and DiegoLaptop(name of client).
6. Create 2 links so your mouse can travel to and from your screens. I left the percentages as 100%.

Secondly, on the client computer, simply download, install Synergy, and open Synergy.
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