FAQ
Phillip Harrington
- Who are you?
- I'm a thirty-something year old, male, programmer, musician, divorced father of two daughters who I don't live with. I'm from Watsonville, California, but spent four years in West Palm Beach, Florida, two and a half years in Phoenix, Arizona, and now I live back in Florida again, near Boca.
philsown.org
- Why do you have a web site?
- Because it is there. Or, to paraphrase Gene Wilder's character from The Frisco Kid, "I'm not a Web Nerd for nothing!" I have web hosting in general as a place to play, try things out, experiment, and remember why web programming is supposed to be fun. I express myself through this site as well.
- What Software Do You Use For the Cams?
- I use ConquerCam for the web cam, and Harmless Lion's SCWebCam3 for the desktop cam. Only works when they're on, which is hardly ever.
- Where did you get the idea for the name podo?
- "podo" is the shortened version of Phil's Own Dot Org. It's the name I was using to refer to this site in code and discussions with my other nerdy friends. I liked the sound of it; it reminds me of Frodo. The domain philsown.org is the second domain this site has been parked at. It was originally philsown.com. I had wanted Phil Zone ("You are going on a journey through sight and sound...") but "PhilZone" dot com was taken, and it had not yet occurred to me that for a personal page I should use dot org. Phil's Own possesive form of "PhilZone" was inspired in part by Lars Pind and his site, Pinds.com.
- What hardware/software/scripts do you use to create this web site?
- I'm running Fusebox on a Linux server that the good people at Cornerhost.com diligently support. I manage the site using my own neat web interface that is implemented in Fusebox PHP version 5. I programed it all in Zend Studio on my home computer, a Gateway 504GR with a 3 gig processor and two gigs of ram. For manipulating images I use PhotoShop, but Photoshop Elements has most of the features for about 1/4 the price.
- What resources have you used to learn how to do all this?
- I'm a self-taught web nerd who started out day one with a geocities web site and no knowledge of HTML whatsoever. If I can make a living being a web nerd, then anybody can. I highly recommend the following resources:
I'm also a documentation hound. Once I learn the language basics, I pour over documentation. It helps to have a place to experiment and projects to work on. No projects? Make some up for yourself. Build an online photo database. Build your own blog tool. Build your own comment system. I've done all these things at one time or another. Trial and error. Experience. It all ads up.
Another (patronizing) tip: get a job doing this kind of stuff. That will make you learn it fast :-) I hadn't written a line of ColdFusion before working at PAX, and that site was being migrated to ColdFusion entirely Sink or swim.
- Why all the dead links?
- I have changed this site so many times since I got it up and running. It's been on a bunch of different hosts, has used many different languages and has used a ton of different blogging/content management softwares. I hate breaking links, but I like change and I like trying new things. What can I say? Sorry about breaking your links, but change is a good thing. I'm not convinced that URLs should be permanent in the case of a goofy nerd playing around with software. I think many people starting out would agree.
- Can I link to philsown.org? Then will you link to me?
- This site is, as they say in Japan, "Link Free," if you will, meaning you don't have to ask permission to link here. I'm a link whore! Please link to me. As for linking to you, I'll only do it if I happen to like your site. Send me the URL!
If you've decided to link here, please feel free to skip the home page and deep link directly to the item that is most relevant to your page. One caveat, don't link your IMG tag's SRC attribute to one of my images. Copy it to your server first. "Thou shalt not steal bandwidth." is a commandment (#32 I think).
Web Nerdism
- Can you recommend a good web host?
- Yes. I recommend either Cornerhost or He.net. They're great. Yahoo Small Business is OK. Godaddy is OK... All of these I've worked with personally.
Photos
- What type of camera do you use?
- A Konica Minolta Dimage X50. I used to use a Kodak EasyShare CX4230, but it sacrificed it's casing outside my friend's apartment after the Grand Canyon trip (but held on long enough to deliver it's photos, like this one). I had the camera dock and everything. It was a breeze, but the Nikon is just as breezy, and small and cute too.
- What photography tips can you give me?
- First of all, ask a real photographer. Second, have fun with it. Also:
Christianity
- When did you become a Christian?
- I said the sinner's prayer and gave my heart to the Lord on June 7th, 1993. I prayed the prayer in the living room of the home my family lived in from the time I was about 11. My parents still live there.
- Are you still a Christian?
- Kind of... This is a complex question. The short answer is I think God is way bigger than all of our squabbling down here on earth.
This page has been viewed at least 1154 times, since we started counting, which was years after this page was up in the first place.
