Toolbox:

So you are probably wondering how an average every day kind of guy like myself could possibly create such a masterpiece of a homepage. Well, this page will explain how the impossible was attained. I call it my toolbox, and I will open it up here and show you all of the tools in there and other secret weapons.

Hopefully others can use this information to help them also either start their own homepage from scratch or even improve it that much more.

Hardware:

My computers are not what you would call state-of-the-art multimedia blah blah, but it they are sufficient for your average day-by-day family needs, getting the work done. This is what I have:

• Inspiron 8200 UT with Pentium IV 2.0GHz + 15.0" UXGA.
• 512MB 266MHz DDR Memory (2X256MB).
• 40GB 9.5mm 5400RPM IDE Hard Drive.
• (Fixed) 8X DVD / 24X CD-RW Combo Drive with Decoder Sotware.
• 64MB ATI M9 Video Memory Card.
• 56.6k V.92 Capable Internal Modem & Adapter.
• Integrated 10/100 Network Card.
• Truemobile TM1150 PC Card (wireless).
• Logitech Optical Mouse.
• Win XP Pro and MS Office XP Pro.

• Dimension 4400 with P4 1.8GHz/256K 1024 MB266Mhz DDR RAM Memory (2*512).
• 80GB (7200RPM) IDE Hard Drive.
• 24 x CDRW and 16 x DVD.
• SW DVD Decoder for XP.
• 17" Performance Midnight Grey (P793) Monitor.
• 64MB Ti500 GeForce3 Video Card.
• Creative Labs SB Live Value Sound Card.
• European - Harman Kardon 395 Midnight Grey Speakers.
• 10/100 PCI WUOL Network Card for Dimension.
• MS Intelli-Explorer Optical 4 btn PS/2,USB.
• US - Dell Quiet Key (3 Hot Key) Midnight Grey Keyboard.
• Win XP Pro.

• Dell Dimension XPS T600r.
• Pentium III 600 MHZ.
• 448 MB memory (256 + 128 + 64).
• 15 GB IDE hard drive (5400rpm).
• 32 MB NVIDIA TNT2 M64 AGP video card.
• 28/48X speed IDE CD ROM.
• Creative Labs SB 64v.
• Logitech optical w/ MouseMan wheel.
• V17" TCO-95 monitor.

• Cloned True Green 80486.
• AMD 486 / 66 MHZ.
• 32 MB memory (16 + 16).
• 850 MB + 250 MB hard drives.
• VGA video card.
• Sound Blaster card.
• 15" Hyundai monitor.

• TrueMobile TM1184 Wireless LAN Router.
• HP OfficeJet G85 Mulit-functional printer, fax, scanner, copy.
• Iomega 100 Zip-drive.
• HP DeskJet 720C Series printer.
• Agfa SnapScan 1212P scanner.
• Logitech QuickCam Pro webcam.

• The computer KGISH is hooked up via a NextHub HA050 5-port 10BASE-T hub, XGISH wired and ZGISH wireless to the Wireless LAN Router which in turn is connected to the Hub, and via the Hub all to the Alcatel IDSN/ADSL Modem for Internet access.

Software:

There's a ton of software out there, and believe me I have an awful lot on my machine. However, I really only use a small subset of all this junk. Below I have listed the most important programs which I actually use regularly for my homepage:

• Homesite v5.0 - an advanced HTML-editor for those hard-core web designers who have had enough of WYSIWYG programs which just miss out on what is really required.
• Swish 2.0 - Flash-like and other special (pretty amazing) effects without having to use Flash. Creates all the cool flash effects you need for your web site in a fraction of the time it takes with other programs. Great stuff to play around with. Also in order to import my videos into Swish, I use the utility called V2F v1.0 which converts the videos AVI-format into the required SWF-format.
• TopStyle Pro v3 - a cascading style sheet (css) editor which contains everything you need to create flexible cross-browser style sheets. Integrates seamlessly into Homesite. I love this tool.
  
• Photoshop 5.02 - the best graphics tool in the world, of course. I would an old version and would love to upgrade it but I do not have the bucks right now.
• CSE HTML Validator v5.02 - is a fast, powerful, inexpensive, indispensable, highly user configurable, and easy to use HTML and CSS development tool that assists in the creation of syntactically correct HTML and CSS documents. Seamlessly integrates into Homesite.
• Color Schemer - free online version of the tool for deciding what harmonic colors are suitable for you site themes. Another more advanced color picker is AI-Software SmartColor which is a free tool specifically designed for web designers.
• PuTTY v0.52 - this is what I need to use for those Telnet sessions when the nitty-gritty Unix type of stuff has to be done the right way. Actually, it is hard to find a decent Telnet Client without having to fork out alot of money, so I was quite pleased to discover this fine utility which is free.
• LeechFTP - a freeware FTP client with some nice features, just enough and completely straight-forward which is great for getting the job done. I have also heard that SmartFTP is pretty good, but I have never gotten around to figuring out its fancy (more complicated) interface.
• ConquerCam v2.0.4 - low-priced easy to use webcam manager for grabbing images from your web cam, preparing them with various effects and uploading them to your web site. I use it for all my shots for the Official Cyber-Gish Webcam page.
• Xenu's Link Sleuth - a free spidering software that checks Web sites for broken links. Link verification is done on "normal" links, images, frames, plug-ins, backgrounds, local image maps, style sheets, scripts and java applets. It displays a continously updated list of URLs which you can sort by different criteria. A report can be produced at any time.
• Meazure v1.0 - free utility for measuring objects on the screen such as images, windows and icons, and capturing arbitrary portions of the screen. Another great tool which others might find a little easier to use is Cool Ruler v1.5.
• Moveable Type v1.4 - This is a fantastic web-based personal publishing system which I use for my Blog. It is designed to ease maintenance of regularly-updated news or journal sites, like weblogs. The Movable Type system runs on your own webserver, giving you complete control over your site.
• Easy Thumbnails - is a popular freeware utility for creating accurate thumbnail images and scaled-down copies from a wide range of popular picture formats.
• JBuilder 8 - Borland's comprehensive visual development environment for building Java applications, applets, JSP/servlets, JavaBeans, etc.

Technology:

Here is the list of technology stuff I either use alot, sometimes or am trying to learn in my pursuit to becoming a future famous web designer:

• HTML 4.01
• Javascript
• Perl CGI
• Server Side Includes (SSI)
• Cascading Style Sheets (CSS2)
• DHTML (using DOM)
• Flash (using Swish).
• Java
• XML

Inspiration:

I listen to alot of music for inspiration, in order to increase the flow of creative thought. I like modern rock and roll, seventies music, classical and lately so-called ambient music. Basically I either listen to my own collection of CDs, but mostly I get off on Winamp which allows access to all kinds of audio streams. My favorites are:

• Grrl radio - alternative 80s Indie.
• Mostly classical - like it says.
• Digitally imported radio - European trance techno dance.
• Tag's trance trip - a progressive journey into next generation radio.
• Blue mars - music for the space traveller.
• Cyro sleep - zero beat guaranteed.
• Monkey radio - grooving, sexy, beats.

All of these channels are available via Shoutcast. This is Nullsoft's Free Winamp-based distributed streaming audio system. Thousands of broadcasters around the world are available for all kinds of (interesting) music.

Hosting:

My host is called A+ Hosting and until now I have been pretty pleased with it. Performance is sufficient, down time has been zero, and great technical support. Got a great deal on their A+ Eternal package for a lifetime account ($25 per year and one time $169 sign up costs). Banner free, own domain name, 250 MB, anonymous FTP for up to 7 concurrent users, SMTP/POP3 server, SSI, CGI, (secure) FTP access, Telnet, etc. More than enough for me now.

Internet:

ADSL via an Ethernet/ISDN modem Alcatel Speed Touch using MxStream at 128 Kbit/s. I have built a home network with the other computers using Sygate Home Network.

If you want to learn more about how to set up your own home network and getting it to access the Internet, then you can check out How Home Networking Works.

Literature:

I am mostly a self-made web designer, having picked up most of my information through emails, forums, newsletters or just plainly surfing around all over the place. I have experimented with my new knowledge and tried out alot of new ideas, which I think is in the end the best way to improve one's skills. However, as a lover of real books I have purchased a number of stuff which I share with you here:

• "Web Design in a Nutshell" - Jennifer Niederst.
• "Javascript, The Definitive Guide" - by David Flanagan.
• "Essential CSS & DHTML for Web Professionals" - Dan Livingston.
• "Cascading Style Sheets 2.0 Programmer's Reference" - Eric A. Meyer.
• "Programming Perl, 3rd Edition" - Larry Wall et al.
• "CGI Programming with Perl, 2nd Edition" - Scot Guelich et al.
• "Perl Cookbook" - Tom Christainsen and Nathan Torkington.
• "XML in a Nutshell, 2nd Edition" - Elliotte Harold et al.
• "The Java Programming Language, 3rd edition" - Ken Arnold, James Gosling, David Holmes.
• "Effective Java" - Josh Bloch.

Links:

There are millions of links out there on the Internet and there is no way I can even get close providing an exhaustive list. However, the links which I happen to use the most are the following (in alphabetical order):

• A List Apart
• CNET Builder
• Cross-browser
• DevX
• Digital Web Magazine
• Evolt.org
• Doc Javascript
• Glish
• Google Webmaster Resources
• O'Reilly Developers' Hub
• Sitepoint
• Web Developer
• Web Developer's Virtual Library
• Web Monkey
• Web Reference
• Web Standards Project
• Website Tips
• Zeldman