Source
r/carlhprogramming•
CarlH

CarlHProgramming Update : HigherComputingForEveryone.Com Online!

Hello Everyone,

While it is still very much in the construction phase, the website: http://www.highercomputingforeveryone.com is now online, and functional. The course content has not yet been published, but will be soon.

My goal is going to be to operate this without fees, ads or obstructions, and to rely on donations as so many of you have requested. I will be putting the existing course material from this site onto the new website over the next several days (schedule permitting), and following that, I will be expanding on the course.

Thank you everyone for all of your support, encouraging comments, and overall contribution to this project.

Posted Mar 26, 2010, 9:20 AM UTC · edited

24165
bassetthound136•

Great, thank you so much for all your effort!

30
centx•

+1

-6
wuts•

Who upvotes this shit?

-7
ZeppelinJ0•

Who downvotes this shit? Well, if you haven't you should.

-3
[deleted]•

Please get rid of the AJAX. A site like this simply doesn't need it and this just makes it harder (but in no way impossible) to save the content, something very useful for those who don't always have a network connection.

26
[deleted]•

In your words, what is AJAX?

1
[deleted]•

In this case, <a onclick="load stuff from server and then use innerHTML to set it">.

2
FlagCapper•

Needs an easy way to browse all lessons instead of just a "next" button from 1 to infinity.

21
CarlHOP•

Yes, that is one of my gripes about Reddit. Once the lessons got past ~100, there was just no way to keep this organized. That is part of why I had to build a website for this in order to continue it.

Once I am finished, it will be very easy to navigate lessons, to look up specific topics (ex: pointers), and more.

15
[deleted]•

Even an index of lessons in the course would make it a ton easier.

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[deleted]•

[deleted]

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[deleted]•

[deleted]

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[deleted]•

[deleted]

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ZeppelinJ0•

If you need any help with the website, I'm sure somebody from Reddit could help. Even using a simple JSP would let you dynamically keep an index of your lessons making it easier to browse :)

1
theinternetftw•

I like the layout Carl, but is there a reason you're killing the back and forward buttons with javascript? It also makes it hard to bookmark lessons.

Edit: Also, I've just made what might be the first donation. Hopefully one of many. Good luck!

14
CarlHOP•

Good point. That is an unintentional consequence of the method I am using for displaying content. As far as bookmarking goes, I plan to have "Bookmark this lesson" links, as well as an internal site-tracker which will help people keep track of their progress.

9
elsand•

You might wanna look into one of the many history manager-plugins avaiable for the various javascript frameworks.

The History plugin (for jquery) is fairly simple to use. It un-breaks the back/forward button via hashtags and lets you define a callback to allow deeplinking / bookmarks. Check out the demo.

17
centx•

not being able to forward and backward is pretty bad, I just wanted to see if I had read all of lesson one, and had to find the home button, then click on lesson one, instead of just backing

Lessons looks good though

3
CarlHOP•

Same here in trying to review my own editing :) I will be fixing that in the near future.

3
theinternetftw•

You probably already have a few ideas for adding URL info to each page, if that's the direction you're going to go in. But I'm betting one of the easiest ways that would also let you keep the way you've set up making lesson html files is the way a website called thesixtyone.com handles it.

If you visit that page and use the menu in the top left, you'll see that they use # links to send javascript queries, letting you avoid leaving the main page, but still bookmark and use browser foward/back buttons. I'm no javascript guy, but it seems straightforward.

edit: it seems elsand is a javascript guy, and explained it much better than me. Also, a little googling revealed this history manager that works with prototype.

2
exist•

Donated. I appreciate all the hard work you have put into the lessons, the website, and most of all, us. :-)

11
CarlHOP•

I have big plans for this that far exceed what is possible on Reddit. At some point, resources permitting, I want to expand the lessons from simple text to higher-quality content with illustrations, animations, etc. Thank you (and others who have donated) for helping to make this possible.

6
indivisible•

Available for content modding and syntax highlighting etc if you need a hand.

7
ZeppelinJ0•

And thank you for putting forth th effort to do this, you clearly know programming beyond just programming and actually understanding the computer is so much more beneficial in writing good code

1
foolman89•

You know i wouldn't mind seeing ads on the site to help pay for it.

9
ksd1•

I agree with this. Maybe you should look into google adsense?

3
niconiconico•

I just donated $25, and I've set up my schedule to remind myself to donate $10/month. Please tell me if there aren't enough people, because in that case I'll donate $25 instead. I'm a college student, so this money isn't exactly easy to get.

8
ragnaruss•

Needs a picture of you on the about page :D

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[deleted]•

[deleted]

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[deleted]•

[deleted]

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TheJosh•

Why is everything next next next next? Needs an index, otherwise great work and I just donated $50USD.

3
piratelax40•

He explained above that he has plans to make both an index, bookmarks, as well as an internal site tracker so you can easily keep track of your progress. I think he just got the site up to show that its up and running and let people start experimenting, but it's in no way a done deal.

2
Moeri•

Donated. It's only 2$ but it's all I had left on my paypal. Thanks for helping out a poor student with his programming! I bookmarked your website!

3
freshmas•

Why wouldn't you want ads? I'm not saying annoying flash ads are okay, but each page needs at least one section devoted to advertisement. Look at the ads on reddit as an example. Ideally, these ads will be personally vetted for and related to your field rather than provided by an automated advertising network. You should also have an Amazon referral account to get kickbacks from purchases.

Also, I do not find the page layout easy to read. Layout and typography are going to play a huge role in determining how many people find your lessons inviting and easy to follow.

The introduction section along the top is broken up arbitrarily rather than as a way to add meaning through structure. It looks neat in three equally sized columns, but I found the experience of reading it frustrating.

The text on the page is too small. I tried enlarging it through my browser, but the entire layout was enlarged, breaking my horizontal scroll.

The forward and back buttons are a basic and integral component of web browsing, and so are direct links to content. I'm sure this is a result of your javascript framework, but the impression I get is that you are afraid of giving up control and thus not my friend.

I have taken care not to be too harsh, as I know this is an early draft of your greater goal, but it seems as though you are trying too hard to use a certain technology rather than focusing appropriately on the usability and presentation of your content. Strive for clear and friendly design, or many people will not read enough to realize how valuable your content is.

Perhaps you should look to Drupal or some other content management system?

3
meepmoop•

The world needs more people as generous and willing as you.

2
X-Istence•

In Safari when I load the page in a background tab (by clicking on it with the middle button) or in a new window the onLoad JavaScript handler is never called (or so it seems, because the main content does not load, and clicking on any link doesn't accomplish anything until I refresh the page).

Not sure where the error is, but figured I'd let you know.

http://i.imgur.com/nuX4q.png

2
MindStalker•

The basic font on the text of the lessons is hard to read, sure I can zoom it, but it just doesn't feel comfortable. Anyone else feel this way?

2
[deleted]•

Just put my "first" $10 in! Thanks Carl!

2
poizonous•

I really think you should have some ads, just keep them unobnoxious

2
Taffaz•

Looks good, can't wait till it's fully functional and the new lessons start appearing.

1
CarlHOP•

Just published lesson one :)

2
strout•

Awesome. It looks like you lost some formatting (some bolding), though.

Edit: Not headings. I meant what Artmageddon said.

1
CarlHOP•

It seems fine on my side, but I fully expect some issues like this until everything is finished. Could you post a link to a screenshot? Also, which browser,os,etc you are using?

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Artmageddon•

I'm using Firefox 3.6. Not sure what strout meant by headings, but looking a lesson 1, a few boldings would be nice on key parts like "How humans count", "How computers count" and "So lets go back to counting in binary:"

To me, it will kind of break things up nicely so they know when a particular point has been made. That's just my opinion, though.

3
[deleted]•

Looks good. Is there anything that we can do to help? Obviously payment would be nice, but anything else?

1
CarlHOP•

The best way to help is by participating, helping to answer questions, and helping to spread the word so this can grow.

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[deleted]•

Cool. Might I suggest releasing a template for the format you want the lessons in. Then let the people of reddit format all your lessons on here for you. This will also open up possible contributors for other languages.

Edit: removed unnecessary use of word "can"

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inckil•

Thank you very much.

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