Show Notes: Episode 151

  • Computerized Telescopes
    Ray Maxwell
    Electronics Engineer, Color Scientist, Teacher, Speaker

    If you would like to get started in amateur astronomy I suggest the following books and website:
    “NightWatch” by Terence Dickinson
    “Star Ware” by Philip S. Harrington
    “The Backyard Astronomer’s Guide” by Dickinson & Dyer

    Show Notes RELATED WEBSITE LINKS

    http://www.cloudynights.com

  • How the !@$& do I build a web site with CSS anyway?
    Dave Shea
    Designer

    There are multiple ways to design a web site with CSS. Graphic designers will usually start out with a mockup created entirely in a graphics program like Photoshop, Illustrator, or Fireworks, and then start slicing out the images and re-constructing it in CSS. This is a fairly traditional way to start; it allows you to work out your design ideas ahead of time, and commit to coding only after you know where you want to go.

    But there’s also merit to designing a site from the code up, and only using a graphics program to supplement it with images. With dynamic interactive sites it can be very difficult to show a page with multiple states as a flat mockup. Coding the design is an efficient way around this problem; instead of mocking up a state, you just write the code to do it, which has the added benefit of being your production code when you’re finished.

    Which approach you take depends on your working style. Some prefer the mockup route for total control over the visuals, where others prefer the coding route for more granular control over the interaction.

    Testing is a whole other jar of worms though. Browser compatibility issues still plague CSS design. Recent updates to major browsers have brought them much more in line with each other; it’s entirely possible to code a site that works flawlessly between IE7, Firefox, and Safari. However, going back a version or two, the task is generally much more tricky. The web design community has found various ways around many cross-browser issues, it’s just a matter of knowing where to look. Position is Everything is a great place to start.

    Show Notes RELATED WEBSITE LINKS
    http://positioniseverything.net
    a comprehensive IE bug fix site
    http://www.psdxhtml.com
    http://www.psd2html.com
    A couple of companies that you can hire to convert your Photoshop mockup to CSS for you. Many more exist, just Google “psd to html”

  • Removing Duplicates in Excel
    Bill Jelen
    www.mrexcel.com

    Removing duplicates in order to find a unique list of values was fairly difficult in Excel 2003. Three common methods:
    • Data – Filter – Advanced Filter. Choose Unique Records Only.
    • Use a COUNTIF formula to count if the value occurs previously in the column.
    • Use a Pivot Table

    Excel 2007 offers two new methods for dealing with duplicates. One works very well and one needs a little work.
    • Use the new conditional formatting to highlight duplicates, and then sort the red cells to the top. However, Excel marks both records in the duplicate, so you would have to go through and decide which records to keep. This could take forever.
    • Use the amazing new Remove Duplicates command on the Data tab of the ribbon. This feature can find unique values in one field, but also unique values from a combination of fields (i.e. every unique combination of customer and product).
    • Use care when using Remove Duplicates, since it deletes the duplicated records. Always use this on a copy of your data.

    I will post show notes at http://www.mrexcel.com/tip153.shtml

    RELATED WEBSITE LINKS (to be used on air and web)
    www.MrExcel.com

    PRODUCTS SHOWN (if applicable)
    Learn Excel 97–2007 From MrExcel – 377 Excel Mysteries Solved
    $39.95 in print, FREE in e-book at http://www.MrExcel.com/leobook.html