Favicons

Searching for the right term
Favicon. I didn't even know that that is what it's called-- the icon beside the web address on my browser (Firefox). To get the correct term I searched Yahoo Answers. This website is like a huge different form of forum where all kinds of "laypeople" can get answers from all kinds of "laypeople" like themselves. I know, why take advice from the non-expert? Well sometimes their answers are really short so you'll get the drift in a jiffy. And hey, I just want to search using "everyday" words when I don't have any inkling what the technical term is.

The keywords I searched for are: icon, beside, web, address. Bull's eye! The answer I wanted was third on the list of search result. To bolster my point that the people in Y!Answers are just every day people like me, the best answer went to this answer:

I'm totally lost with this question. In Internet Explorer's Address bar, there is no image except the Explorer logo before the URL. There is no thought balloon. Are you sure you mean the Address bar? Are you using a different browser?

Whadayaknow, the best answer went to the answerer who's just as confused as the asker. Looks like his contender is more reliable because she made the effort of citing a source which is in wikipedia. Here's a bit of her answer:

That's a favicon.

You need to use something like this in the site you want it to appear:

"HTML codes" (Sorry don't know yet how not to make the codes disappear-Gigi)

Check here:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Favicon

Yay! That's the term I was looking for. Favicons. Woohoo! I did go to her source but some experts say that wiki is not totally reliable all the time, so I googled my newly discovered term: favicon.

The first result is on www.htmlkit.com. I have encountered this site before and tried it's htmlkit software. I think it's helpful and user-friendly so I went ahead and tried its favicon.ico generator. I didn't have to download this software. I only have to upload the image file I want to see beside my own web address in the address bar, tab or bookmark. Voila-- I now have right image size and the right kind of file name that I can use as favicon.

What's the code again?
The next thing I want to discover now is how to make my favicon.ico file appear everytime anyone opens my website. So, I googled: how to add favicon googlepages. The first result was kinda helpful in some sense, but the code that he wanted his readers to add in their html would just make a mess.

First instead of "http://yourUserName.googlepages.com/myicon.ico" he should have indicated "http://yourownwebsitename.googlepages.com/myicon.ico" because my Username is totally different from my website's name. Aaargg! This kind of instructions, if you follow blindly, are confusing, disappointing and most especially time-consuming because you have to backtrack what you did to know what you've done wrong. Second, there is a much simpler code you can use that wouldn't show unwanted words on your web's title. I know, because the error I got just led me to more backtracking and researching on what went wrong. I later found out that the instruction for blogger was the right code.

Eventually, I did get the right code. I got the idea from a combination of codes from this sites and this site. When I finally posted the right HTML code with the right words--voila! There it is! A cute version of a logo I had appearing every time I open my site. Wow! What a rush from such a small feat!

My actual discovery: Can't really work with HTML codes without a dash of patience and perseverance.

Popular keywords, anyone?

Potential web discovery #1: free website
I've heard of Google pages, and I've heard of Yahoo GeoCities, these are just the two sites I know where you can build your own website. But what about others? Are there anything better out there other than these two I know?

When I'm researching on a technical subject that I know little about I usually first go to Yahoo Answers. Instead of typing a question and waiting for an answer, I just do a search first. Chances are, there's always another person who has posted the question I have in mind.

So, I typed these words on the search bar: best free web, clicked on the first result and discovered that the first asker just read my mind. His question went like this:

Which is the Best FREE Web Host??
I'm looking for a FREE web host. With the minimum of ads and banners, more space, free design (html, css), and that supports video and mp3 files. The one that is better balanced.

I know Free websites aren't the best option, I'm just looking for the most descent one. I wan't this site free in order to practice my web design skills but still looking good and proessional.

Thanks a lot

This guy just wanted a practice ground... Yipeee, I'm not alone in this task!

However, he only got one answer, which I wouldn't want to follow since the answerer pointed to his website to prove his point. For me, that's just dubious and I wouldn't want to take the time or risk to go to his website. So, I moved along and opened the other search results. Just the same, the answerers were giving never-heard sites. So I did a google search. Nope no good answers either. Then it dawned on me. I am searching for the three of the most popular keywords on the internet. I wouldn't want to be led again to some random sites that'll deluge me with more unwanted information. So I might as well stick to what I know, that is-- Google pages and Y!Geocities. I prefer the first one because based on experience the latter just has too many annoying ads in it.

Web discovery: Web search on popular keywords are a waste of time.

About Time I Get the Ball Rolling

First internet experience. I just realized that it has been a decade now since I was first introduced to the internet. It was back in 1997, in my MBA class that I first got to see what they call then as "information superhighway". I remember how intimidated I felt not only because it was my first time but I was also sharing a computer with a semi-cute, ECE graduate who has internet access in his office. Using a mere 386 computer where I used to work, I felt conscious of my naiveté to say the least. So in the end, it was not an actual internet learning experience for me. I just couldn't summon the courage in me to do any exploration in front of someone who was way more knowledgeable.

A breakthrough idea. Just last year, 2006, I had a light-bulb moment. I had an idea that for me is so big that I wanted to share it with younger kids through a WAP site. For days from then on, I woke up early in the morning to write down more ideas. I eagerly seized every break I had during work to research on the net what I should do for my project. It was a creative experience for me which I rarely had. It was exhilarating! I felt that it is a life calling for me to pursue it.

Information overload. Sadly, it has been a year now since I had that burning desire to do the project. To date, one lesson I learned from it is that no matter how much effort I put into the business planning process I couldn't go to the next level of implementation if I don't have the guts to put everything into action. My biggest stumbling block would be my lack of knowledge on how to create a website. No, let me correct myself. I can't say it's the lack of knowledge that stopped me because I have bought and read books on HTML and Photoshop, and made substantial research on the net. I think what has stopped me from pursuing my project is the information overload and there was just too many distractions. I search on a topic I want to learn and then when I stumble on a different but related topic I read it too, and then this related topic lead me to another subject matter I want to learn about until I completely forget to pursue what I've wanted to research on in the first place. Now that I've come to think of it, what I read on the net and on books are most of the time just the same stuff written over and over again. And I've been reading these rehashed information over and over again and I'll continue to do so until I used these knowledge and translate them into concrete actions so I can move along and go for better stuff.


My action plan. This is how I'm going to get the ball rolling. I'll begin creating my own website in Google pages and write a blog (this one) on my progress as well as how I got my information on the web. To rid myself of the distractions, I'll focus on a topic each blog post at a time. Although these posts may be instructional for others as I'll be talking about what I'm learning on the net, I won't pretend I'm an expert on any given topic. Every posts will just be a summary of my discoveries which I learned not just in theory but through hands-on experience as well.

I will begin each topic with a web search and work my way around the first few search results. What I've learned so far is that there are just so many sources on the web much of which are dubious and may need to be tested on before any of their advise or instructions be construed as gospel truth. Hopefully out of all my web discoveries I'd be able to pursue my light-bulb idea which I will share with this blog's audience in God's perfect time.