In honor of my friend Jenny’s 100th Cache Find,  I custom built a cache and stashed it at the Racoon River park. Very pretty views — the sound of the birds singing and water ebbing. Such a nice serene place only 15 minutes from home and 15 minutes from downtown Des Moines. This was the [...]

One of the volunteer coordinators asked me if I would be interested in helping out with Pet Therapy during my weekly volunteering at Childserve. Most def! Got there at my regular time and recruited Josh to help me pick out books to read. We used our imagination and pretended that we were in race cars [...]

Here in Part 3 we will add Javascript to verify that a Contact Name was filled in before the form goes over to PHP to be processed. This is called client-side validation, since the checks are taking place within the same web page as the form. Again, it’s just a quick check, so we’re not [...]

I was looking forward to this all day! I spent the afternoon downtown Des Moines enjoying the Irish Day festivities and then drove north to Childserve to spend some time volunteering. It is beyond words how enriching and fulfilling it is to spend time with kids. My first time volunteering here and I was a [...]

In Part 1 we setup the actual contact form using basic html form tags and form elements. Here in Part 2, we are going to setup the PHP code to receive the data (or info) from that contact form. Open up your html editor and create a new PHP page. Enter the following code bits, [...]

This weekend I did some volunteer work for a local non-profit by constructing an online form in php that would email from their website. I’m going to simplify that form and walk thru a tutorial to help you build your own online php forms. Part 1 will walk you thru setting up the actual form [...]

I am so excited! I just got word that I will be leading children on a compass treasure hunt at the Brenton Arboretum for Earth Day! Yeah! Geocaching with compasses with kids – can’t get better than that! I plan to teach them how to use a compass, track coordinates, and use items in the [...]

Jen and I out for a quick lunchtime cache. This one located right in the heart of downtown Des Moines – yup right next to the state capital building. I had found this one a few days ago, which reminds me, sure enough just as I’m putting this cache back in it’s spot, I see [...]

In part 1 of this tutorial series on Bezier curves, we learned the basics of using the Bezier tool, also known as the Pen Tool, in Inkscape to create new stroke paths. In part 2 on Bezier curves, we learned how to add several nodes to an existing stroke path, creating a multi-curved arc on [...]

This tutorial will teach you how to create your own ringtones from mp3′s and then transfer the files to your cellphone over the air with text messages. Awhile back we learned how to transfer your own legally purchased mp3′s to your Verizon cellphone and be able to listen to music without having to purchase songs [...]