Will I create developer contests?

There is nothing much on my website yet (www.themadcomputer.com), since I still have a bunch to create. However, you can sign up for a TheMadMail account meanwhile.

There is a good chance that I will be putting up developer contests on my website using my TheMadMail PHP system.

These developer contests will be put up so that you can send me a URL to your JavaScript, HTML(5), or CSS(3) creation. When the spaces have filled up I will select who's the winner and their creation will be put up on my website and possibly receive some prize.

But I did say "chance," didn't I? If I am to add developer contests onto my website, I need to make sure that I get enough visitors. The first contest may be very slow because of this. I'm thinking that I should maybe allow 10 spots at first, and see how quickly they fill up. Or maybe even fewer.

We will see. If you have any good suggestions, comment here!

Ideas!

Hi guys! Things are going well right now and I'm thinking up cool ideas for my website and anything that has to do with my website. I'm trying to give my website a new look and a purpose and my website right now is sort of "closed."

But that should change soon. I am going to give my site some usefulness, not just have it up for entertainment. And I'm thinking of even updating TheMadScript, because it could use some new methods to make it more useful.

You will be able to post some content to my site through my recent email program, TheMadMail. Stuff like your own how-to with JavaScript, and if I can get more visitors to my website, developer contests. And maybe even more.

I'll be back soon!

Closing of TheMadComputer.com for a while

Hi guys, I have finally thought of a good use of my website, www.themadcomputer.com, so it will be redesigned and changed. Please note that my website will be "closing" temporarily.

What I mean by "closing" is that when you visit the website, the only page you get is a page telling you that the website is being used. I once did this before because I was remodeling the website and I didn't want anybody to come on during the process of that.

Some of the new features may possibly be:

• Developer contests
• Submit a JavaScript lesson to be published on my website (I would validate it first)
• And more

So we'll see what these features are. TheMadMail will also be in the new TheMadComputer.com.

Just wanted to let you know. TheMadComputer.com is closing, but the blog will still be open.

A quick reminder...

Hey, just so you know, if you want to receive my emails, please sign up for a TheMadMail account! Developer tips, and important TheMadComputer news. Also, if you sign up for a TheMadMail account, you get to provide feedback for my website, www.themadcomputer.com!

Game about hacking?

So I have officially started my new game. It's about hacking (no, not real hacking). It's going to be the game with a goal that saves your progress.

A basic description of the game is: you create and own an operating system that you want to sell on the market. But you have one thing that you must do, and that is to conquer some other operating systems and reach the highest "level" of the game. Then your operating system is ready to sell on the market. I'm still thinking about some new features, but I wrote down some useful ideas on a notebook and paper.

Please note that the game is designed for Google Chrome. So far I have not tested it in other browsers yet but I will soon. If it works in other browsers, perfect then. It uses HTML5 DOM storage for saving data. It is also powered by JavaScript, as always.

So I'm sitting down at the computer coding my game right now. Thought I should stop by and tell you what I'm up to before going back to work.

What am I doing?

Remember when I announced Save the Cave, and that it didn't come out for a long time? That's because I kept thinking of ideas for it, and putting it off too.

And remember when I finally announced that Save the Cave was being worked on and that a couple of levels had been finished? And that it took me only a few days to make the whole thing?

I started working on Fights and Blood, my upcoming game, but I'm now going into planning mode where I don't code much and I just think for a while. I need to plan for this upcoming game because my coding skills are limited and I need to make sure that I know all of the coding required for the game. So I won't release Fights and Blood for a while now.

What am I doing at the current time, though? I'm thinking of working on TheMadScript sometime soon. Get version 3 or something like that out and make it a better language. I don't know. We'll see.

I've also thought a couple of times of making a game engine, but you know how much work that would be.

And then there's another thing. Something that I've thought of a couple of times in the past month. TheMadOS. I can't decide on that one either.

So what am I doing on the computer these days? Planning. Playing an HTML5 game called Private Joe every now and then. Playing Beat the Boot and Angry Birds less and less as time goes by. Writing music. Checking out to see if anybody's signed up for my newsletter (go ahead and sign up on my home page at www.themadcomputer.com).

Developing or Writing?

If you look at my About Me page, you'll notice that it says that I like to write if I have the time. Well, I am writing a book right now. I started it very recently, and I'm a little too over-excited to do developer business at the moment. But I will continue developing sometime soon--as long as I can work out a good schedule. I will continue to post my Tip of the Day.

So, yeah. Just give me time and I'll come out with Save the Cave and that surprise that I was talking about. Thanks. :D

Tip of the Day

One of the most efficient ways of making sidebars is: using CSS and the "table" element, and then inserting an iframe that shows a separate page, which would be your sidebar's content. You can do the same.

The coding below is the start of what you'll need:

<table>
<tr>
<td>Your left sidebar here</td>
<td>Your main content here</td>
<td>Your right sidebar here</td>
</tr>
</table>

So you should get the picture by now. Then we will add CSS to control the left and right sidebar's width, and we'll use CSS for the "iframe" elements inside the left and right sidebars to make the iframes as big as those "td" elements. That's what I did for my coding.

The "table" element should be set to as wide as you want, using CSS.

Just a tip. It's easier than doing lots of "div" elements. Hopefully useful. Your feedback is welcome.

Tip of the Day

Don't create the website just for your browser. Make sure that at least the website is supported in all major browsers.

What I mean is: don't design your website with technologies that are supported in only certain major browsers. Your site needs to display the same on all 5 of the major browsers. Those are:

• Microsoft Internet Explorer
• Mozilla Firefox
• Google Chrome
• Safari
• Opera

Do not worry about Netscape. Netscape has left because of nobody using it. Just only focus on the browsers shown above. I use Google Chrome, which continues to increase in popularity. Also remember to use the latest standards.

Some useful tips below (using today's standards):

• When aligning elements to the center, the CSS coding "margin:auto" should be used. For it to work in Internet Explorer, add a !DOCTYPE declaration that will work in IE.
• If adding HTML5 video or audio to your website, make sure you also have an older way of playing media on your website. For example, the "audio" and "video" element both allow you to tell when they are supported in a browser or not. Just insert text in between the start and end tags. In the text should be a link to the same video, just done in a way that all browsers will support it. If you don't understand what I'm talking about, ask me in the comment box.
• In the future, browsers will not support the "font" tag.
• It can be useful to look up what to and what not to use when making a website. You even want your website to work in IE6.

This should be a useful tip for you. Most experienced developers already know this stuff.