K1VRA Website Info
November 15, 2011
I recently completed a major re-write of K1VRA.com, using the latest website coding techniques (including HTML5, CSS3, & PHP) wherever possible. I hand-code my html using simple text-editing software which allows me to keep the code compact and fast. One of the unfortunate side-effects of using the latest web-standards is that sometimes it takes a little while for the browsers to catch up. For example, at the top of the page above the navigation, in addition to the title text you should see two large radio towers and two yellow and black Amateur Radio symbols. Some older browsers or browser versions will only show one of each, and there are some (Avant & versions of Internet Explorer older than IE9!) that may show no graphics at all! If you don't see all the images as described put your mouse here
for a preview of what you are missing. Do you really need any more proof that you should update your browser? It's getting a little long in the tooth and in the case of websites using the most advanced techniques, you will actually miss seeing some content.
I have kept the use of Javascript to a minimum. Because Javascript is a client-side language, it depends on your computer to run the code, which takes time. In the dim, dark, pre-historic Internet past, it may actually have had an impact on the performance of some older computers and for that reason a few people still actually disable it! There's no point in using it if you're going to turn it off on me, is there? Today, many, many websites use it to good effect. The fact is, except in extreme circumstances (or in the case of very old / very slow PCs), these days there's absolutely no need to disable it, but you just can't reason with some people (you ARE using an anti-virus program, right?). 
If you're like more than 99% of web users, Javascript is already enabled in your browser (it comes that way by default).
On the other hand, I DO use php. In fact, EVERY page on this website uses php in one way or another. The beauty of php is that it is a server-side language, which means the web-server actually runs the code and delivers the result to you in the form of a web page, a search result, etc. And because your computer doesn't do any of the work there is no performance impact. PHP allows me to use a lot of Internet "shorthand", so my web pages are smaller, have a more consistent look, and take up less space on my server but as far as your browser is concerned it doesn't know the difference. In fact, the only reason you'll ever know that I'm using it is because I just told you. Go ahead - look at the source code - just pure html5, baby. Nice!
Anyway, do yourself a favor. Upgrade! You won't see any "Best viewed with whatever browser" warnings here*, nor will I recommend one over the other (all I will say is, "Use a modern standards-compliant browser for best results!"). Web browsers are like people - some are better than others, and liking one over the other is a personal thing. In order to make sure my websites have a consistent look in any browser (including yours), I do rigorous code "validation" testing and actually test my designs in the latest versions of as many as 14 different browsers! I know, not everyone does that. But you've got to meet me halfway by using the latest version of whatever browser you prefer - come on, they're free! If you ever encounter a website that doesn't render correctly in your (now up-to-date) browser, do the webmaster a favor and let them know. He / she really does want everyone to see their websites exactly the way they were designed, regardless of which browser their audience is using, especially since they have no control over that. I know I do. I don't just create websites for certain people - I create them for YOU!
* Users of IE older than Ver. 9. IE 9 is the ONLY version of Internet Explorer that actually implements HTML5 / CSS3, but it is not available for Windows older than Ver. 7. Because of this, I will make a 'suggestion' for you - I know you love your IE but if you want to view modern websites correctly (and you're NOT using Windows 7), you MUST use another of the Top 5 Browsers until you are able to upgrade your O.S. IE versions 8 or older just can't cut it in the world of modern browsers, and Microsoft refuses to provide updates for them. Sorry. I can't help you - write to Bill Gates. Remember, they're all FREE!
If you have a favorite browser that you think I should be testing with, please tell me about it. I'd be happy to hear from you and possibly include it in my testing repertoire.
73 - Dick.