FAQs:
1. General

1. What is the point of all this?
2. What does [insert section name here] contain? Example: What does "Stuff" contain?
 
2. Website

1. Something is broken/wrong/misspelled. What can I do?
2. Who is the webmaster?
3. How can I contact the webmaster?
4. You're site crashed my computer?
5. Do you have a site map?
6. Do you have a search function?
7. RSS or XML feed questions?

7A. What is RSS?
7B. How do I use RSS?
7C. How is RSS different than an e-mail newsletter?
7D. How is RSS different than a Web site?
7E. How do I get a news aggregator?
7F. How do I use a news aggregator?
7G. How do I unsubscribe?
7H. Which RSS feeds should I subscribe to?
7I. Who else do you read?

8. FIREFOX questions?
8A. What is Firefox?
8B. What is so special about Firefox?
8C. Where do I get Firefox?
8D. How do I switch from my current browser to Firefox?
8E. Are a lot of people switching?
8F. What features does Firefox offer?
8G. Have you ever had any problems?
8H. Why do you care so much about Firefox?
8I. I've switched and I love it. How can I help?

3. Personal

1. Who is Derek Walden?
2. Any pics?
3. Why should I care?
4. You are a strange, strange man; what's with all your crazy ideas?
4. Other

1. I need an answer to something not asked here?
Answers:
1. General

1. What is the point of all this?
No point. I often have no point; its part of my charm. Strictly for recreational purposes.

2. What does [insert section name here] contain? Example: What does "Stuff" conatin?
Are you telling me my "A Few Good Men" quotes didn't help you figure out what I was trying to tell you. That hurts. The sections contain the following. Also, you know you could just, I don't know, go look at them.

  • Home- my BLOG homepage. This includes my most recent posts from the past 7 days.
  • Stuff- totally random things to indugle my every whim and fantasy. Look for pictures, maps, or long-term projects.
  • Archived Stuff- a collection of all my outdated posts and other things that were once funny
  • FAQ Stuff- you are here now
  • Contact Stuff- my contact information
2. Website

1. Something is broken/wrong/misspelled. What can I do?
An exercise in basic logic operators:

If something is broken, then email the webmaster.
If, and only if, facts are misstated and you have some credible source to support you postion, then email the webmaster.
If something is misspelled, then I did it on purpose. If I did it on purpose, then there is no reason to email me. But since I know you are going to anyway, here is the webmaster link again.

2. Who is the webmaster?
Any title you see on this site refering to someone in my "staff"... yeah, they are all me.

3. How can I contact the webmaster?
Well, you could go to the Contact Stuff page or just click any of those links directly above in question #1.

4. You're site crashed my computer?
AWESOME. When you get it working again, email me and tell me all about it.

5. Do you have a site map?
This function is currently under developement.

6. Do you have a search function?
UNDER DEVELOPMENT. For now, try this OR go here.


7. RSS or XML feed questions?
This section will answer your questions regarding RSS or XML site feeds. A great deal of my answers here have been taken from other RSS help websites. Thank You.

7A. What is RSS?
Depending whom you ask, RSS stands for "Real Simple Syndication" or "Rich Site Summary." An RSS file contains headlines, summaries and links that are formatted in XML (eXtensible Markup Language) so that they may be read by a program. Derekwalden.com publishes its own RSS feed at this address: www.derekwalden.com/blog/rss.xml An RSS feed allows users to subscribe to the feed and have headlines and stories delivered directly to their computers.

7B. How do I use RSS?
The most common use of RSS is viewing news with an RSS reader, also known as a news aggregator. There are three types of news aggregators: stand-alone programs, e-mail-integrated applications, and Web-based aggregators. The program I personally use is Mozilla: Thunderbird, an email intergrated news reader. I love anything and everything Mozilla and strongly recommend FireFox for your web-browsing (die Internet Explorer, DIE!), and Thunderbird for your email and news aggregator.

7C. How is RSS different than an e-mail newsletter?
E-mail newsletters are usually delivered at a time chosen by the publisher. RSS gives you more control by always being available and staying updated. You can download my posts whenever you want. Another advantage RSS has over e-mail is that you don't have to supply an e-mail address to get the headlines.

7D. How is RSS different than a Web site?
RSS is usually a slimmed-down version of a Web site. My feed will include images and links, but not any background or website formatting. It is derekwalden.com LITE.

7E. How do I get a news aggregator?
I STRONGLY recommend Mozilla: Thunderbird. It is simple, powerful, and easy to navagate.

But if it's not getting the job done, here is a list of news aggregators (I have not tried and know nothing about):

7F. How do I use a news aggregator?
Consult the instructions. Beyond that, basically you are going to "subscribe" to a news feed (or post feed in this case). Once you are subscribed, you can download the posts directly onto your computer via the aggregator.

7G. How do I unsubscribe?
Just click the "unsubscribe" or "delete" button in your news aggregator.

7H. Which RSS feeds should I subscribe to?
That is totally up to you. I think you should subscribe to mine. Here is a list of some of my favorites, but beyond that, do what you will:

7I. Who else do you read?
Check my daily reading list here.



8. FIREFOX questions?
Firefox is taking over the world. Say goodbye to your pop-up ridden, spyware invaded, adware filled Internet Explorer (IE) browser. Firefox is a gift from Heaven.
The following FAQs are my opinions based on 6 months of using Firefox.

8A. What is Firefox?
Firefox is a web browser (like Internet Explorer or Netscape Navigator). Much like IE or NN, Firefox serves as a program which connects personal PCs to the World Wide Web.

8B. What is so special about Firefox?
Firefox can replace Internet Explorer as your personal web browser. If you are like me, then you hate seeing all those damn pop-up advertisements. You also hate that IE allows hackers to steal your personal information, add junk programs to your hard drive, and ultimately crash your system. Now imagine a web browser where you get no pop-up ads, no spyware, and no system crashes - That browser is Firefox.

8C. Where do I get Firefox?
You can download Firefox 1.0 from this website. It is a self installing 4.7 MB download. As an open source program, Firefox is, and will always be completely free.

8D. How do I switch from my current browser to Firefox?
The switch to Firefox is so simple. Once you download the Firefox installer, locate the program and run the installer. The installer will load Firefox and ask you if you would like to import all your IE Favorites (bookmarks), saved passwords, and other information. That's it. Now you're ready to enjoy some hassle-free browsing.

8E. Are a lot of people switching?
You have no idea... Firefox was downloaded over a million times in the 24 hours after its initial release. On January 24th, 2005 (76 days after its release) Firefow registered 20 million downloads. Press coverage has included USA Today, Wired Magazine cover story, and Forbes. Firefox is non-profit. In an amazing display, they collected enough donations from users to run a full 2 page ad in the NYTimes with the name of every donor (4pt print). Since its release in November, Firefox had managed to capture 5% of the total browsing market where IE once held 98% (Jan 21 2005 PCWORLD article). PCWorld Magazine gave Firefox 4.5/5 stars, the highest it gave to any browser rated in 2004 (link).

8F. What features does Firefox offer?
Firefox is leaps and bounds ahead of IE in terms of security, user interface, and speed. Check out just a few of the things I love about Firefox:

  • Tabbed Browsing - I like viewing multiple pages at once, but I hate having all those windows open. Tabbed browsing allows me to open multiple web pages all in the same window, by opening each one in a new "tab." Just right click any link and select, "Open in a new tab." Firefox indexes your open tabs directly under the status bar. I love this feature.

  • No more Pop-ups - I was running 2 Pop-up blockers on my computer when I was using IE and I still got tons of pop-ups. With Firefox, I get only the pop-ups I allow. Firefox is so good, when I first started it actually blocked a spellchecker pop-up from blogger.com. This is a pop-up I wanted to see, so I went into the controls and very easily blogger.com to the list of sites I would not like blocked from pop-ups. So not only does it stop (almost) all pop-ups, but the interface for allowing pop-ups is so easy to use.

  • Speed - Firefox is a streamlined version of NN. All this means for me is that it is wicked fast. The program is small, light, and very quick. Pages load like lightning.

  • Security - I run Ad-Aware and SpyBot S&D on my hard drive once a week. Since installing Firefox, my ads and spyware has become virtually non-existent. Running IE, I was removing 30-70 mal-ware programs per week. Now, I probably remove 3-5 items (and I think they are old programs that remain from IE that regenerate). Firefox's security is amazing. Also, when an internet trojan came out last last year, Microsoft issue an IE patch 6 months later. Open source developers from around the world developed and implemented a patch within 36 hours. Open source just allows for this kind of response time.

  • Other Features - I have been using Firefox for 6 months and have had 0 problems. I am still discovering additional functionality I didn't even know existed - integrated search bars and live RSS updating just to name a few.

8G. Have you ever had any problems?
Sure, but they have been minimal. Firefox is a continued work in progress. My problems have mainly been surrounding plug-in features that I had yet to install at the time. I installed the plug-ins and that fixed the problem. My only other gripe is that other places are slow to abandon IE. Yahoo! mail has a feature in IE where you can compose email in HTML (colors, sizes, fonts, etc). They have yet to write that platform for Firefox, so it just drops me into regular text composing. No big deal, but I sent Yahoo! an angry email complaining.

8H. Why do you care so much about Firefox?
I swear for me as a web-site developer, finding Firefox was what I've heard described of lost souls finding Jesus. Leaving aside that I think Microsoft has monopolized everything in the PC world, Firefox is just better. My web browsing got to the point where I was closing so many pop-ups that it wasn't fun anymore - it was painful to surf the web. So I found Firefox. And it's not a little better, it's phenomenally better. There is a line in West Wing where the President asks about the new intercom system.
BARTLET
What was wrong with the old way?

DEBBIE
Oh, this is better.

BARTLET
How?

DEBBIE
You don't care, sir, it just is.
That's Firefox. It is just better.

8I. I've switched and I love it. How can I help?
You're now part of "The Converted." Rejoice. Go to Speard Firefox and jump onboard. Post a link to Firefox on your website using buttons you can find here. Also feel free to leave any comments regarding Firefox on a blogging post I wrote (link). Keep spreading the word - WE LOVE YOU FIREFOX!
3. Personal

1. Who is Derek Walden?
The guy behind the guy. Also the guy who does the thing.

2. Any pics?
Sure. Here are some random ridiculous photos from previous blog entries:

Me on top of Wooly Mammoth



Me on 20 yard line, Ohio Stadium, Michigan Victory!



Me and Darth Vader pumpkin



Me helping Steve rappel

3. Why should I care?
Absolutely no reason at all. If you don't know me (even just a little) then this entire website could prove to be a colossal waste of your time. But I can't spell. So maybe that will prove to be funny for you. Some people like it.

4. You are a strange, strange man; what's with all your crazy ideas?
Thank you, and what an excellent question. Most everything I post comes right from my old noggin. Often I think of something, discuss it with my friends (also strange, strange people), and then pawn off their good ideas as my own.

Everyone has stupid random ideas about absolutely crazy shit. I just share mine (and my friends) with the world. The world, or the three people who visit this site.
4. Other

1. I need an answer to something not asked here?
Shocker- email the webmaster.