Welcome to E.T.'s Home Page

If you don't want to read the drivel below and just jump to the pages of interest, here is a map of my site:

Conjunction Junction, What's Our Function?

This site started as yet another with no real purpose. A few years ago, my browser's bookmark file started to get unwieldy. Examining it, I noticed that it was just a simple HTML document. Since I wanted to reformat the bookmark file with headings for different subjects and such, I realized that I needed to learn some HTML. About the same time, my service provider at the time, SLOnet, was allowing users to set-up home pages. I wanted to be the first on my block to have a Web Site, so I decided to take the dive and teach myself HTML. I also decided to write a page about my home town (Santa Maria, California) because there weren't any yet, and I thought that it would be a very long time before the city put one up. Much to my surprise, both the Chamber of Commerce and the city had web sites within months of mine.

Some of the sources that I used to learn about HTML are the NCSA Beginner's Guide to HTML, an HTML Overview by Russ Jones, and Composing Good HTML, but the most comprehensive list of information I found was compiled by the Library of Congress, but that page apparently went away. I've also tried to avoid the Top Ten Mistakes in Web Design.

Although I don't have many pretty graphics yet, my pages should load faster. (Don't you hate waiting for pages to load?) As a courtesy to text-based browser users (and those of you with image loading turned off), I give text descriptions of the graphics that I do have. I also don't have separate graphic and text versions of pages, or use commands specific to one brand of browser. That kind of defeats the intent of HTML. I have seen this described as being "Multi-Browser Enhanced." I don't give a rat's ass what browser you use, it's none of my business. Unless they pay me, I'm not going to have a link to download anyone's browser, and maybe not even then. Although I use some newer HTML tags, I try not to use any that will break older browsers. I have viewed my pages with Lynx, Internet Explorer 2.1, 3.0, 4.0, 5.0, Netscape 2.0, 3.0, 4.7, and CompuServe Mosaic, and they look acceptable on all of them. I've even tried using the PC-based WebTV Viewer. Due to WebTV's narrow screen and my sometimes wide pages, changing to a smaller font in WebTV (if possible) is advised. I also don't have a bunch of links like "Click (here) for whatever." The idea is to have regular text with some of the words as links.

If I can help it, there will be no metaphors here about information highways, freeways, dirt roads, on-ramps, or cyber-anything. I've been using BBSs for about 15 years, and I had my CompuServe account for 9, and I don't know what CyberSpace is, or where to find The Information Superhighway (r). If you came here looking for that, I'm sorry, but I can't help you.

My pages have been validated for proper HTML 3.2 syntax by the W3C HTML Validation Service.

My pages are best viewed with a browser.

E.T.'s Home Page, a waste of resources since April, 1995

This page brought to you with the help of our fine sponsors:

[Big Ass Ham Logo]
Big Ass Ham
Remember, it ain't ham unless it's a Big Ass Ham.
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Hennigans Scotch
Hennigans goes down smooth, and you don't even smell.

Not sponsors, but worthy causes, nonetheless:

Written and copyright (c) 2008 by Eric Treankler
Questions, comments, and suggestions welcome.

Last modified: 31 AUG 2008

http://www.lospadrescounty.net/et/