PLEASE READ ME

Welcome Purpose To Start Copyright Disclaimers Technical Android Access Contact Find Version

Opening Words

Welcome ! I hope you enjoy browsing through my web site. Most of the points raised below will be familiar to, and understood by, most of us. They aim to be what you might call "Common Sense" and indeed, will be relevant to many web sites. However, I think I am being curteous to you, my visitor, if I try my hardest to nip any slightest possible misunderstandings - especially in the legal, safety and copyright domains - in the bud, before we have even the least hint of a situation that could potentially blossom out of control. It is of course always nice to keep life simple and amenable!

In advance, Many Thanks!

Purpose

The aim of my web site is to share my experiences - in picture and text - with you, the visitor. Unless overtly based entirely on my personal and individual experiences, my web pages are also designed to support the aims of the clubs and societies to which these web pages make reference, either pictorially or textually, in the headers and subsequent content of the relevant web pages.

Preliminary

It's nice to get some basic things seen to first of all. Updates and validity, coming to this page and searching for topics are all considerations which I hope you can allow me to broach at this juncture! In advance, Many Thanks!

Updates: This "Read Me" page may be updated occasionally as required. The date and time of the latest update are deemed to be the "version" of this page and are to be found at the bottom of this page. The contents of the latest update to (version of) this page will be deemed to supersede the contents of all earlier versions of this page. The date and time are Greenwich Mean Time (GMT) or British Summer Time (BST) as appropriate, as explained in the Date and Time Used section below.

Coming to my Website. You can reach my website by various means as explained in "Access" further down this page.

Searching for items on this page: The number of items on any website's "Read Me" page can eventually start to blossom. That's life. However, by keeping my main menu categories in check, I have tried to head off this challenge. The menu at the top of this "Read Me" page gives ready access to the main sections of this page. In particular, the "Find / Quick Search" facility may help to expedite your search. In addition, you may also find your browser's "page content search" facility useful.

Technical

Technical considerations are based on experiences using the Windows® PC operating system which provided - and still provide - the development environment. However, these web pages should also be accessible using an Apple® PC. Using Android® may involve some additional considerations which will be aired in the next main section after this one.

Technical issues that could impinge on your enjoyment of these pages, include:

date format,
date and time used,
navigation and browser tabs (browser windows),
internet connection speed, and
web page loading time and required space,
need for manual page refresh,
the version of your browser,
your machine operating environment, the
screen resolution and the
screen colours of your PC which you are using to view my pages,
zooming.
camera technology.
sound clips and
video clips are further aspects.

As you see, I have tried to suggest in this section possible remedies available to you, should you need to take cognizance of any of the above - and other - operational issues.

Date Format: For compatibilty with our "right to left, smallest first" (Arabic) approach to representing numbers, as well as providing a compact and computer-friendly approach, I use the Swedish way of representing dates. Thus, for example, "25th December 2008" becomes "2008-12-25". Where obviously appropriate, I stay with the conventional (in the British Isles and much of the EU but not the USA), but arguably clumsier and more drawn-out, approach (i.e. day/month/year). I don't anticipate any confusion!

Date and Time Used: Greenwich Mean Time (GMT) and British Summer Time (BST) are the times to which my PC are set. In addition, the date is obviously relevant. The existence of the International Date Line (in the Pacific Ocean) forms an additional - usually detailed - aspect. The UK date and time form the reference for this and other web pages on my site, unless otherwise stated. This information is given at the foot of each page. For this "Read Me" page, date and time are of course relevant for the update information, otherise known here - interchangeably - as the "version" information.

Navigation and Browser Tabs (Browser Windows): For pages on this web site, please use your browser's return button - top left - to get back to the previous page. Thankyou! Any external link will - to foster web safety - open in a separate window (with a new tab) as shown near the top - centre to centre right - of your browser; to return from the external web page, of course, just click on the relevant "X" on that external page. This "Read Me" page which you are looking at, is linked internally and so, like other internal pages, will NOT appear in a new browser tab.

Speed of your Internet Connection. The pages on this web site were originally tested with a connection speed of 7.0 to 7.5 Mbits/second. This speed range was, according to the BBC web site in November 2012, the U.K. average for domestic web connections. This year, 2020, average domestic web speed is probably at least 29 to 30 Mbits/second. Web speed will of course impinge on page loading time and page refresh rates mentioned immediately below.

Loading Time and Web Space: To maximise the use of available web space and ensure acceptable page loading time, I have reduced the size - and consequently the resolution - of each original picture from the original 16, 12, 7.2 or 3 MP (Mega Pixels) to 0.2 MP or less. In a few cases - where this helps to put the message across - the size of a picture may exceed the stated target 0.2 MP.

Refresh?: If you have accessed my site before and a particular page now gives unexpected display effects or is unable to create a link to elsewhere on my site, it could be that your Browser has an older version of the page in question. Hopefully, a quick press on your Browser's "Refresh" button should cure things.

Your Browser - how will it digest my pages? I have run my web pages (ericweb.online) with the following browsers in the table immediately below. These browsers and their attributes, including my subjective speed assessments, were current as of the dates shown in the aforementioned table. Of course, the browsers are being continually automatically updated, even without my direct knowlege. So these browsers may not be current by the time you read this page. The "speed", as mentioned, is my subjective assessment and may not necessarily apply directly to systems and environments other than my own. The "Norton Identity Safe Toolbar" indicates the safety of websites appearing during a Google® search. The said Toolbar can readily be installed on all the Browsers referred to, except "Microsoft Edge®"; the installation of the toolbar on "Microsoft Edge® is unclear. For the record, the environment under which I am now running the browsers is described in the section below on the Machine Operating Environment.

browser	version	speed	date	Norton
Microsoft Edge ®	99.0.1150.46 (Official build,64-bit)	faster	2022-03-20	?
Mozilla Firefox EU®	98.0.1 (64-bit)	fast	2022-03-20	yes
Chrome®	99.0.4844.74 (Official Build,64-bit)	fast	2022-03-20	yes
Microsoft IE® 11	11.1358.14393.0 (11.0.43)	slowest	2017-07-13	yes

version

Machine Operating Environment: Importantly for you, the visitor to my website, these pages, which I have created within a Windows® environment, should display and work successfully on most modern PCs.

As an aside, but for the record, I initially developed and executed these pages using two HP® netbooks clocked at 1.50 Ghz and 1.65 Ghz respectively and each with 2 Gb of RAM and each running the Windows 7 Starter® operating system.

Subsequently I used an HP Pavilion® 11 x360 PC, with (1) processor type: x64 INTEL® Celeron® CPU N2820 clocked at 2.13 GHz, and with (2) 4GB RAM, running under Windows 10® Home.

Now I am using an HP Pavilion® 14bf-0xx Laptop, with (1) processor type: Intel® Core™ i5-7200U CPU clocked at 2.50 Ghz and with (2) 8GB RAM, running under Windows 10® Home. So far, I have found these to be very good PC arrangements in terms of hardware, software (including excellent backward compatibility to a vast amount of good, tried and tested, software) and cost.
Screen Resolution: The pages on this web site were designed for a screen width resolution of 1024 pixels, such as is available on most present day netbooks. This resolution gives a text line length which is reasonably comfortable for reading - i.e. not too long.
- Very Wide Horizontal Resolution of Computer Screen: If your computer screen has a width exceeding 1024 pixels (e.g. 1280 pixels), then the web page will be centred and the left and right parts of the display will appear as dark brown, which should be more comfortable on, and more relaxing and aesthetically pleasing to, your eyes than stark black.
- Very Narrow Horizontal Resolution of Computer Screen: If your computer screen has a width of less than 1024 pixels, then you will need to use the horizontal scroll bar (slider) at the bottom of your browser to help you to see all of a given page; however, the wide page margins which I have employed should be helpful in this context.
- Horizontal Resolution of Computer Screen Less than for Attached Monitor: This will give additional right and left black margins on your monitor screen. If, in this case however, you adjust your monitor in order to map the narrower (eg. 1024 pixels) native display of your computer on to the full width (eg. 1360 pixels) of the monitor, you will generally end up distorting the display picture that appears on the monitor, so that everyone and everything now looks fatter and squatter. This humorous effect is sometimes seen in public places such as supermarkets, where, for example, the latest news is being shown to the public.
- Any more Screen Resolution Scenarios? There probably are!

Screen Colours: These pages - especially the digital photographs therein - really require "32-bit colour" (8 bits each for red, green, blue and transparency) for maximum effect. Most modern computer displays support 32-bit colour.
Zooming: The pages on this web site should be "zoom-proof", except that when zooming above 100%, wide pictures may be pushed off-centre to the right, although they will still be accessible for viewing by sliding the horizontal scroll bar (slider) at the bottom of your browser in the appropriate direction.
Camera Used: Taking pictures depends on at least two aspects:
1. Artistic Aspects - these are often separate issues from the technology used to take the picture. Artistic aspects include giving a picture, where possible, depth, frame and context.
2. Technology - in this sense photograhers could, with some justification, consider the tools they have to work with. Since 2006 we have seen great technological improvements in cameras for everyday use. Improvements cover resolution, speed, adaptation to ambient conditions such as lighting - and more.
These are the cameras I have used since 2006 for the pictures I have taken, including those for my web pages.
```
 years    brand        type	    picture   first used   last used    pixels     MP
-------  -------  ---------------  ---------  ----------   ----------  ---------  ----									
2006-08  Sunplus		   SUNPxxxx   2006-07-08   2008-04-15  2058x1536   3.2
2008-11  Samsung  S730             S730xxxx   2008-04-12   2011-04-26  3072x2304   7.1
2011-12  Fuji     FinePix A245w    DSCFxxxx   2011-05-04   2012-10-13  4000x3000  12.0
2012-..  Canon    PowerShot A1300  IMG_xxxxx  2012-10-21   present     4608x3456  15.9
```
Images on the web pages are, for spatial reasons, restricted to typically 512 x 384 pixels. However, newer cameras will produce improved quality images and also make it feasible, by post processing (e.g. with GIMP®), to concentrate on a small area of an originally higher resolution image.
Sound Clips. Above, in the Browser Table, you see the versions of the browsers which have been used for this web site. One or more of the browsers may have been automatically updated since I created the table. The browsers are able to play sound clips. The sound quality will, of course, depend, amongst other things, on the quality of your loudspeakers or headphones. On the left side of the rectangular "sound clip" display, use ">" to play, and "||" to stop, the sound clip. The left cursor (e.g. disk, square or rectangle) lets you start the clip in any position you wish, and the right cursor (e.g. disk or square), where available, is for volume control. All nice and easy! Of course, as with all content on this web site, disclaimer and copyright considerations (see below) also apply to sound clips.

Video Clips. Above, in the Browser Table, you see the versions of the browsers which have been used for this web site. One or more of the browsers may have been automatically updated since I created the table. The 2.13 Ghz laptop with the browsers in the Browser Table give a good video playback. Of course, as with sound clips and indeed all content on this web site, disclaimer and copyright considerations (see below) also apply to video clips.

Android

When using Android® v9, it should be realized that in the "miniature" display environment of smart phones, font size is important. I have found the following two steps to be helpful when viewing my pages in such a miniaturized display environment.

Android OS Settings. Go to "settings/display/advanced" and set both "font size" and "display size" to default. Makes life easy!

Individual Browsers on Android. Proceed as per table below, going, in the individual browser to "settings/accessibility". The result section, in the following table, compares what you see under the Android® OS with what you see on under the PC-based Windows10® OS. The question is, "When compared to viewing my web pages in a Windows10® environment, are page layout and relative font sizes maintained on the Android9® smartphone?".

browser	aim for	set %	result
Firefox®	font size	100	keeps layout and relative font sizes
MS Edge®	text size	50	keeps layout, but text enlarged
Chrome®	text scaling	50	keeps layout, but text enlarged

Of course, when viewing a web page either the "thumb - pointer finger" or the "pointer finger - middle finger" gesture can be used to alter the size of what you see on the web page. The above are my initial findings. They are NOT written in stone, but are given here in order to try and be helpful!! There may be better approaches!!

Accessing My Website

Quick Website Access. It's always nice if you, my visitor, come back to my site from time to time. In this context, if you have visited my site via http:\\www.ericweb.online, you may like to know that you can also access my pages using ONE of the following:
1. "http:\\tinyurl.com\halloeric",
2. "http:\\tinyurl.com\ericspages", or
3. "http:\\tinyurl.com\es-pages".

Access using Google® Search. As stated above, it's always nice if you, my visitor, come back to my site from time to time. Should you unfortunately have forgotten all three of the possible URLs, you can do a search using Google®. In this search engine, set up "Advanced Search" and in the slots "all these words:" and "this exact word or phrase:" you can try ONE of the following three possibilities:
1. "ERIC'S PAGES - WELCOME",
2. "Scharf" and "Eric's Pages", or
3. "Atrium" and "Sagax Rex"

Disclaimers

Disclaimers, such as you see below, are common to most web sites. These issues include content, web safety, links to external web sites, Formatting of external web sites, tracking cookies, language aspects, legal domain and local social customs, and technical and artistic aspects. In addition, the vast majority of pictures on the web site - whether digital photographs or clip art - are created by me; in this context I am happy to enjoy the creative (such as it might be) freedom of an amateur.

Content: The information I provide on and/or through my web pages, is on a genuine best efforts basis, but I cannot guarantee the accuracy of this information, in whatever form it may occur. A list of such forms includes: text, translated text (however translated and from whatever language translated), pictures, film and sound (audio), but I do not guarantee that this list is complete. I hereby state that I am not responsible for any loss in financial terms, medical and/or health terms, or in terms of any other personal assets, of anyone, arising from such person or persons accessing, looking at, reading and/or using, for whatever purpose, my web pages and the content of, and/or available through, these pages which are located on the web site "http://www.ericweb.online".

Web Safety: I have, to the best of my ability, checked these pages (which are located on the web site "http://www.ericweb.online") - and downloads from the said pages - for viruses and general safety, but cannot guarantee 100% such safety. This also applies to the execution and/or use on your computer of (e.g. ".exe", ".txt" or ".gpx") files downloaded from the said pages. The Norton on-line monitoring anti-virus system has also automatically given these pages a clean bill of health. However, those (1) accessing, looking at, reading and/or using my web pages on the web site "http://www.ericweb.online", and/or (2) running on their own computer(s) (i) media (e.g. audio) files downloaded from the said web site, (ii) executable files downloaded from the said web site, or (iii) files created from source files downloaded from the said web site, do so entirely at their own risk. This is fair, because no commercial agreement and/or financial transaction takes place between (1) the visitor to, and user of, this web site and its contents and (2) the creator and content manager of this web site. In this context it is useful to remember the conditions under which individuals execute on their computers free open source software including, for example, GNU software.

Other Web Sites - Content: I am not responsible for the content of any web sites to which my pages may make links. However, to the best of my ability, I try to ensure that such external web sites are respectable, safe and reliable. Please note that to foster web safety, external links will open in a separate window (i.e. with a new tab).

Formatting of External Pages. I am not responsible for the formatting of external web pages to which my site may make links.

Tracking Cookies: This web site has been designed NOT to generate or place on your PC any cookies. Cookies are chunks of data that enable an external web site to find out about your personal web-based preferences. As such, this site is therefore not subject to the requirements of the EU cookie legislation introduced on May 26, 2012. Of course, I cannot control the cookie behaviour of external web sites referenced from my pages. You will find that some browsers give you the option of ensuring that the browser automatically removes cookies generated during a browser session when you exit your browser. Another option is that you can instruct your browser not to accept any new cookies from external web sites and not to allow the use by external web sites of any cookies that have been already downloaded from external web sites. A further option is that you can also remove from your PC or Tablet unwanted cookies from such external sites by using your security software (e.g. Norton® or McAffee®).

Language Aspects. Here there are issues which include variations in English used in different parts of the globe, spelling, grammar and syntax, use of spellchecker facilities and translation of a web page written in another language.
- Type of English. Whilst not purporting to be in any way an expert in matters linguistic, I try, in these web pages which are written in English, to conform to the English used and spoken in the British Isles. Versions of English used and spoken in different parts of the world can vary in terms of meaning and shades of meaning attributed to particular words; for example, the English meaning of the word "solicitor" is certainly different from its meaning in the USA!
- Spelling, Grammar and Syntax. The message relayed by the contents of a web page may sometimes survive poor language usage and wrong spelling. However, this may not always be the case, and by neglecting these language issues, I would be relinquishing my duty of linguistic care to my readers, for some of whom English may not be their first language.
- Spell Checking. To assist matters, I use the spellcheck facility in MS Word®, but despite best efforts, I can not guarantee completely correct spelling, grammar and usage. Of course, there is the usual issue of "typos" which spellcheckers, if appropriately used, should catch. However, we should also not forget that into the linguistic melting pot also go proper nouns and colloquial words (e.g. "howzat") and colloquial expressions, some of which may not be recognised by spellcheckers.
- Translation. Some of my web pages may occasionally be written in a language other than English, for the benefit of a particular readership, or because it may sometimes be easier to write in another language! On the web you will find translators of web pages written in other languages. An example is a set of translators provided by Google®. To use this facility, call up the Google® search engine. Instead of using a search word or theme, just use the URL (web address) of the page you wish to be translated. Google® will find the page, if it can, and, having found it, will ask you if you wish the page to be translated. Translation is almost impossible to automate accurately for all but the simplest situations; however, the Google® translators do reasonably well, even though they can sometimes produce "strange results". Users of the Google® Chrome® browser will find that this browser already has direct access to translators.

Legal Domain and Local Social Customs: These pages have been created, to the best of my ability, in accordance with the laws and accepted social customs prevailing in England and Wales at the date and time of the latest update of this page. These legal and social aspects should also accord with those prevailing in other parts of the world where individuals may wish to access my web pages. Obviously, despite best efforts, I cannot be expected to have a detailed familiarity with all the social customs and legal systems in other parts of the world.

Technical & Artistic Aspects: The vast majority of pictures on the web site - whether digital photographs or clip art - are created by me; in this context I am happy to enjoy the creative (such as it might be) freedom of an amateur. The pictures are generally either "holiday snaps" or other "personal snaps", and I make no substantial claims to any photographic competence, technical or artistic. However, inevitably, the original 16, 12, 7.2 or 3 Mega Pixel pictures (see Camera) generally do give more of what I am trying to convey. Should you be interested in any particular picture, I can usually furnish you electronically with a copy of the original, unless requested or obliged otherwise, by a person or persons appearing in the said picture or by the nature of the subject of the said picture. The size of the original picture is likely to be anywhere between 4 and 6 MB, especially since I have often used minimal JPEG encoding to maximise technical quality.

Copyright

Legal issues are always best appproached, in the first instance, on a common sense basis. It is invariably nicer, easier and more convenient for everyone if we can keep matters at that level! Copyright, as I have tried to explain below, covers two aspects: (1) my material, which forms the bulk of what you see on this web site, and (2) material which comes from other individuals or parties. There are also the associated issues of registered trademarks and potential commercial use.

Copyright: Normally accepted copyright rules - which I'm sure are familiar to most of us - apply. If you wish to use the pictures or other content on, or closely associated with, this web site - for what such pictures or content may be worth - please always quote the source. This, of course, as I'm sure you will appreciate, shows courteous consideration to those appearing in the pictures and also to the photographer (usually me!). Of course, please do not modify the pictures, or use them in illegal or otherwise inappropriate contexts. It is, however, fair that for potential commercial use stricter criteria should apply. In advance, Many Thanks!
Outside Material: Most of the text and pictures on my web site has originated from me. In the few cases where any text or pictures belong to, and directly originate from, others, I have tried to ensure that such material is clearly identified. Permission to use such material should of course be sought - directly or through me - from the originators thereof. Again, Many Thanks!
Trademarks: Where trademarks are used on this web site, they are normally followed by the "®" character. Whilst the use of such trademarks, by parties other than the respective owners of the trademarks, may be - from the point of view of publicity or otherwise - beneficial to the aforesaid owners, such use is nevertheless carefully controlled by relevant laws.
Commercial Use: As mentioned, my web site and its contents have largely been created on an amateur and "hobby" basis, partly to support the aims of "leisure time" organisations, such as those to which I belong. However, should commercial organisations wish to use any of the content on this web site for financial profit, then it is fair - in line with web sites of a nature similar to mine - for some financial appreciation (as well as appreciation in the form of references to my site) to be negotiated and arranged in advance with me, as the owner of this web site, using the contact facility given below. In advance, Many Thanks!

Contact

Contact: You can contact me using {To Be Confirmed}. However, please note that for security reasons:

Emails received may be discarded unopened if they
- have attachments, and/or
- they appear in any way suspicious (e.g. source, contents, links).
You may, where appropriate, wish to use my private email address.

In advance, thank you for your understanding!

Postscript

I hope that you have found this page useful. It can be referenced from most of the pages on this site, should you wish to refer to it at any time. Please enjoy my web site!

Quick Search

A B C D E F G L M N O P Q R S T U V W Z

Welcome ! The number of "Read Me" terms and concepts has inevitably grown over the years. If you wish to pinpoint a particular topic, I hope that you find this "Quick Search" section a helpful addition to the menu at the top of this "Read Me" page. Remember that after finding and reading your topic, your return from this "Read Me" page will be via this "Find"section.

Windows10, Google and Android are registered trademarks (®) of their respective companies and organizations.

Thank you for visiting my "Read Me" page!