HTML

learnt some simple HTML on the net. It is not as difficult as I thought (I am referring to the basics only :] ).

For those of you who are, like me, not "digital natives" but "digital immigrants", it is natural to have a fear of the unknown:

Just go to the internet, type in some key words such as 'basic HTML codes', 'change blog template background', 'learn simple HTML', 'simple HTML tags' or something to that effect, and voila! you learn on your own.

It's a bit like solving a good puzzle ... By using our logic , we can figure out what each code means.... then try it and see if it works or if something else changes... then amend our misconceptions if any.

Or shall we compare it to learning a new language: by seeing where and how often certain terms appear, we can figure out the way to use a certain "word" in the Language.

The more I learn, the more I find the human brain amazing. No 'animal' can even do one of these things. Try imagining a chimpanzee to "invent" all these.

Can the chimpanzee even comprehend the movement of bytes across locales thousands of miles apart that are not even connected by physical wires?

Only man is capable of such complex creativity, including rocket science and constructing modes of transportation that carry him to outer space (but I digress). I believe there is a biblical basis for this -- only man has this complex creativity because only man is made in God's image and has some of His unfathomable creative genius.

Anyway, of course I did not create a fresh template from scratch in three days. I started by using a standard template found on Blogger and edited it until it looked nothing like the template I had started with.
> In three days (I had time available during those three days since I am on extended medical leave for a leg injury), I managed to figure out how to tweak the following by clicking on 'Edit HTML' in the 'Edit Template' tab:
- change top of background to any photo I find on the internet
- change background colour
- change bottom of blog page to add in any photo
- change relative size of the main part of the blog and the sidebar
- change the background of the side-bar to any photo
- change the colour of the words in the side-bar
- change the colour of the links in the side-bar so that they are not the usual (default) blue colour.
> I also learnt how to use "HTML tags" in Comments on Blogspot so that parts of Comments can be in bold or italics (very useful for highlighting certain points).
> I also figured out how to add the following components using 'Add HTML' in 'Page Elements':
- an animated picture (moving clouds)
- thumbnail of photographs in the side-bar
- a direct query form for those who want to contact me, without revealing my email address on the internet. However, my form is not working because I found out that I needed to download a PHP or CGI thingamajig and I don't really want to do so - though it's free for those who do.. It looks something like the this:

Name
Email address
Message
	Click on 'Send' button after composing your message.

I'm not a computer geek and I do not consider myself a techno-savvy person in any way. In fact, just a few years ago, I had a fear of computer technology (though that has abated). It's probably linked to man's (woman's) instinctive wariness of the unknown. So, this was quite a little "accomplishment" for me, though it may be quite easy for some of you! =p

Caveat:
(1) Nevertheless, I do think that too much time spent in front of the computer is not good for the brain or EQ of persons. Research has strongly suggested that our young nowadays may have shorter attention spans for tasks requiring sustained & deep thinking , in part because of their having grown up in digital environments.
Anecdotally, I find it to be true and would encourage my children (if I get married and have kids) not to be 'glued' to the computer (which is what many busy parents in our country like to do... They think it's a good way to 'occupy' Junior -- little do some pause to think that their wish may come too true for their liking and Junior will really become over-occupied with virtual reality before they realise that Junior no longer wants to do anything else.).....
However, to catch up with the world of technology since there are new technological discoveries every day, we must not be techno-phobes and must try to find a way to balance in this world.
(2) It is easy to become 'addicted' to the computer. Hence, we have to use technology wisely and understand its appeal but be very self-aware, self-controlled and careful not to become addicted to it :P