10 October 2024

Following a considerable period of inactivity relative to the Snyderstation website, during which I have been developing a strategy for dealing with the projected loss of support for Windows 10 one year from now, I have recently invested in a new Windows-11 system. In the coming year, I expect to go offline with my Windows-10 network, but to continue to employ this network to edit photo, video, and compact disk projects, while employing the new Windows-11 system online to further develop the Snyderstation website and to prosecute other internet tasks (such as shopping the web, viewing and authoring emails, and sharing large files via OneDrive).

To break in the new system, I have recently added a number of video files to the Videos section of the website. These include a three-part reedit of a cruise to the Abacos in summer 2007 (including an interim visit to a Wesleyan University reunion) and four new concert videos (a 2024 NACUSA video and three Jazz Vespers videos).

Cheers,

Russ

17 July 2021

I have decoupled the SHS53 reunion website from the Snyderstation website. This website can no longer be entered directly from Snyderstation, and it can no longer be exited directly into Snyderstation. It is now an independent password-protected website stored in the Snyderstation domain. It can be entered via the URL http://www.snyderstation.net/reunion (with username SHS53 and mascot password familiar to SHS graduates).

Cheers,

Russ

8 June 2021

I have recently discovered that the browser implementation of Html 5's video tag has undergone a minor transformation. In the past, an unnecessary and (for me) unwelcome default black border had encircled the video window. This black border is currently no longer a default feature of the presentation. Accordingly, I have been able to simplify my instructions for viewing video presentations, which had targeted the removal of this black border. The new instructions can be found below the video window on each and every video page.

This tranformation has also simplified the instructions for viewing audio files (as video files).

I have not evaluated these instructions for a wide variety of browsers. I have focussed on the Google Chrome browser, whose presentation I happen to like. But I believe the instructions also work for the Edge, Firefox, and perhaps other browsers.

Cheers,

Russ

11 December 2020

I have consolidated the html code for various elements of the website (with the exception of elements within the SHS Reunion subsite) and have updateded the presentation of videos and audio files. In particular, I have added a common set of instructions for viewing these presentations to the captions accompanying them.

The presentation of audio files no longer employs the audio tag. Instead, it now employs the video tag, giving a common appearance to the controls for both videos and audio files. Note, however, that this scheme requires that audio files must first be rendered as videos.

The accompanying video tracks can be simple, or they can be quite complex. An example of the former would be a series of high aspect fade-in/fade-out text boxes identifying various sections (movements) of the audio file, such as in Snyderstation's Musical Compositions subsite. An example of the latter would be a randomly generated HD kaleidoscopic display or a series of HD video clips from an excursion to a sympathetic recreational site.

I am also currently working on archiving the entire snyderstation website on 100 GB M-Disc.

Cheers,

Russ

27 September 2020

I have finally posted my comments on Donald Trump's first term and his coming reelection in Soapbox. (I'm sorry but the alternative that he not be reelected is so contrary to my sense of what is right for the country as to be unthinkable.) These comments describe Trump's very eventful first term (including the especially ugly, eventful, and historical year 2020), but are by no means complete. In particular they omit several events currently in progress or about to take place. That includes the coming debates between Trump and Biden, the looming senate battle to confirm Amy Coney Barrett as Ruth Bader Ginsburg's replacement on the Supreme Court, possible bombshell developments in John Durham's investigation of the Russia probe, the election itself, and a possible post-election battle to adjudicate challenges to the results of this election.

I continue to expand the Videos section of the website. To my chagrin, I have recently noticed an unwanted change in the appearance of videos playing back in the Google Chrome and Microsoft Edge browsers. There is now a thin black border outlining the playback of these videos. To eliminate this border, click the page outside of the video window, after starting the playback.

Cheers,

Russ

28 May 2019

I have now significantly expanded the Videos section of the website by adding some links to previously edited videos. In many cases, these links are presented bare, with little or no explanatory text. That situation will change as I gradually fill in the missing texts.

Additional links and explanatory texts will follow as current and future editing projects are completed.

Cheers,

Russ

26 April 2019

Following an hiatus of several years, I have finally made the effort to upgrade the site to HTML5, in particular, to upgrade the coding involved in the presentation of audio and video files. At the same time, I have simplified the structure of the site, increased the size and resolution of the widescreen video window, and reduced video storage by limiting video files to a single filetype, .mp4. (Audio files continue to be represented by two filetypes, .wav and .mp3.)

I am not happy with the appearance of the audio controls and hope that future developments in HTML markup and browser presentation of this markup will improve this appearance.

In order that I, personally, may fully understand the current markup for the HTML5 audio and video tags, I have entirely abandoned the use of Java script. (That is a bridge too far for me, at this stage of my life.) My profound apologies to Garth, whose Java script efforts made possible the prior elegant (but no longer functional) appearance of the video controls and who has kindly attampted to recreate a semblance of this appearance in the context of the HTML5 video tag. (Suffice to say that I have decided that I am OK with the current default appearance of the HTML5 video tag controls and no longer wish to improve this appearance at the expense of further complicating the code by introducing Java script.)

Videography has become a dominant interest for me. At some point, I will be significantly increasing the video content of the site.

Cheers,

Russ

5 September 2016

Following a long period of site inactivity and in anticipation of the coming election, I have added a second commentary to the Soapbox section of the website. The previous commentary was in anticipation of the 2012 election.

I am expecting to upgrade the site to HTML5 sometime this fall, in particular to upgrade the coding involved in the presentation of audio and video files. Hopefully, this upgrade will support smart phones and tablets.

Cheers,

Russ

20 July 2014

I have increased the resolution of various videos presented on site, in both the Videos section and elsewhere.

Cheers,

Russ

20 May 2014

I have activated the Videos section of this website and started building a gallery of videos. This gallery will continue to grow as I complete new videos from backlogged and newly acquired source video.

Cheers,

Russ

28 March 2014

This website has been inactive for quite some time. In fact, I have much to add to the site and will eventually do so, but have simply not gotten around to it. In large measure, that is because I have been occupied with other pursuits and, early on, underwent two knee replacements, one in October of 2012 and the other in April of 2013. (Mechanically, the replacements went well, but, in both cases, the surgeries left me with a lingering insomnia problem, which has slowed me down far more than any lingering pain in the knees.)

In any event, I have recently joined the southern Oregon chapter of NACUSA, a national organization of composers and would-be composers. Coincident with this action, I have taken a string quartet that I wrote many years ago as an undergraduate at Wesleyan University and transcribed it for wind instruments.

The occasion has prompted me to activate a previously inactive section of this website, the Music subsite listed at the bottom of my home page. This subsite begins with a single Musical Compositions sublink, which in turn presents a synthesized rendition of this wind transcription.

Cheers,

Russ

20 July 2012

The snyderstation.net website was originally configured as a family website, with primary links to various members of the Snyder family. Alas, I have been the only member of this family with any true interest in developing his or her link. Accordingly, by mutual agreement, Russ Snyder's Home Page has now been promoted to the website root, the remaining sibling links have been eliminated, and snyderstation.net has been rededicated as a personal website.

In partial compensation for the elimination of the sibling links, I have added a Family link (currently inactive) to my home page.

I have also finally activated the Soapbox link. I do so with apprehension. I know that roughly half of you will not agree with me. Some of you will even be angry that we do not agree. But before you dismiss what I have to say, ask yourself, are you really so sure that you are looking at the issue properly?

Unfortunately (or fortunately, depending upon your point of view), Soapbox makes no provision for reader comments. So you can't fight back. (I know, it's unfair, but that's the way it is!)

Cheers,

Russ

1 July 2012

I have finally resumed the construction of this website, following an hiatus of almost two years (adjusting to our new Oregon surroundings). First order of business: simplifying the website's display of photos and videos. I have long felt that the horizontal rules previously bracketing these items were superfluous (if not distracting!). I don't know precisely why I once thought they were a good idea. Suffice to say, I no longer do. As of today they are mostly gone. (I have yet to apply this modification to the Reunion section of the site, which, coincidentally, also needs to be modernized and password protected.)

Next on the agenda is to begin several new webpages. One of these will be Soapbox, a mostly political blog. (If I don't start blogging very soon, I will miss all the action ... I can't believe what is happening in this country of mine!)

Cheers,

Russ

7 August 2010

Yes, well, it's taking a long time to get settled into our new home. Then I have to compile a wedding video and file last year's income tax return. The bottom line? It will be a while before I can return to reworking and further developing this site.

Patience, my friends. Moving is in fact a major disruption. But I will eventually get clear of it.

Cheers,

Russ

5 April 2010

Well, the long ordeal, which has extended well beyond the sale of Catspaw, is finally nearing its end. In the past six months, we have somehow managed 1) to buy into a retirement community in Medford, OR, 2) to find buyers both for Catspaw and for our Fort Lauderdale home of some forty odd years, 3) to conclude our affairs in south Florida and pack a 16' PODS container, an 8' UHaul trailer, and our two vehicles for the long trip west, 4) to dispose of a wide array of remaining possessions in as dignified a manner as we could muster, 5) to slowly cross the country from Fort Lauderdale to Medford in caravan, our Honda CRV and Toyota Corolla each towing a trailer (the CRV towing our Aliner camper and the Corolla towing the UHaul), with only two separations and two minor accidents enroute (one a flat tire), and 6) to begin to move into our new home in Medford.

We are still without a permanent internet connection, so I am not yet able to conveniently rework and continue to develop this site. However, that situation will shortly be rectified, and I expect to slowly resume this development.

We are in a totally new environment with much to offer us, and we look forward to making the most of it.

Cheers,

Russ

10 October 2009

Prior to the appearance of an initial ad for Catspaw in the Nov/Dec issue of Wooden Boat Magazine, I have completed the initial development of the Catspaw website and proofed the entire Snyderstation website. I'm sure there are still many residual errors in the text (in paticular, errors of punctuation); I will hope to catch these later.

I hope the prospective buyer for Catspaw will take the time to peruse the attendant materials and will find them instructive.

Cheers,

Russ

24 April 2009

I have converted over all the new pages to a more modern markup, employing style and div and eliminating many of the tags employed in the original markup, including font and table. Having finally caught on to the new scheme (and this took a while), I have to admit that it is much preferable to the old.

I have also significantly increased the size of the thumbnails on these pages ... to the point that one can appreciate them without necessarily having to enlarge them. And I have reorganized many of the pages, adding some new pages, and giving some of the old pages a somewhat different focus. In addition, I have inserted internal links beneath the title of some pages.

My primary goal, at the moment, is to complete and make public those subsections of the Catspaw section of the website that are necessary to place her on the market. Several of these subsections are currently close to complete. Others need the addition of some text and some photos. One subsection needs the addition of many photos.

I have spent some time looking at alternative fonts and font weights, but have not found any combination that I prefer to Arial bold. This font strikes me as a bit too heavy, but it's better than the regular alternative, which is quite a bit too light.

Cheers,

Russ

7 March 2009

Despite considerable progress, I'm still struggling with the Catspaw section of this website. Not only is there a great deal more that I would like to include in this section, I am having problems marking up what I have thus far managed to include.

As per usual, the technology has passed me by. Current html markup language is not the same as it was when I started using html seven years ago. Indeed much of the 'quirky' usage that peppers the Reunion section of this website is now, as they quaintly put it, "deprecated." Which means basically that current software developers don't like (for good reasons, I'm sure) some of the things former developers and users have done with the language and wish they weren't stuck with having to accommodate the resulting quirks.

Chances are, however, that, despite various invocations to get with the new program (some from quite close at hand), the older style markup will continue to be supported by browsers ... at least for a while. So why not just continue as before?

There are two problems why not. One is that eventually the old markup may truly become obsolete. The second is that, although the reunion pages currently render somewhat acceptably with all browsers (that I have tested), only Internet Explorer renders these pages exactly the way I had intended them to look. (The other browsers show occasionally significant anomalous vertical spacing.)

In fact this anomalous vertical spacing can be substantially mitigated by a minor reworking of the old code (primarily by closing all tags and treating the font tag somewhat differently). This is what you currently see in most of the new pages on the website.

The new video pages, on the other hand, introduce a more modern approach to this markup. These pages employ a module, authored by Garth, with several new tags: style, div, and script.

My guess is that these video pages are probably the only instance where the website will need to employ script. So I will make no attempt to incorporate this tag into my own vocabulary. But I can see the advantage in eventually converting over to style and div and have resolved to do so (consistent with the more immediate need to complete some level of Catspaw posting in the not too distant future).

The bottom line? The new pages in the website should continue to render in pretty much browser independent fashion. Eventually all of these pages will be reworked to reflect a more modern markup (which will not, however, appreciably change their appearance).

The reunion pages will probably not be reworked for a long time to come. In the meantime they will render best in Internet Explorer.

Cheers,

Russ

1 February 2009

Better late than never! As of today, I am finally starting to develop this section of the Snyderstation website, which website has been inactive for several years. I began the site with great expectations in late 2003, following some modest success with another site that I put together for the 50th reunion of my high school class from Swarthmore, PA (with considerable input from quite a few classmates).

I thought at the time that it would be useful and fun to have a window on the web, not only for myself, but for my entire extended family (myself, my wife Jody, our two sons Garth and Gavin, my brother Noel, and his wife Helen), with each basically free to define and develop his or her individual section of the site as he or she sees fit. Alas, no one, myself included, has previously gone beyond the dummy home pages that initially defined the site.

Garth and Gavin, who are both much more computer savy than I, have used the space privately for uploading and downloading files, but neither has touched his (public) home page. I suspect they are embarrassed by the primitive format of the existing dummy pages, derived from that of the reunion website, complete with its garnet school color. Or perhaps they have simply not yet felt a need to expose a public face. In any event, I hope that, at some point, they will decide to contribute something to the site (if only to show me how it should be done!).

As for Jody, Noel, and Helen, I suspect they have not done anything with their pages in part because they have more important matters to attend to and in part because they don't realize how easy it is to modify and expand the current site (if they stick with the current format). By starting to develop my section of the website, I hope to encourage their interest in developing their own sections of the site.

To jump start my section of the site, I have reconstructed the 2003 reunion website integral to this site. This section is accessed via the Reunion link at the bottom of my home page. For reasons of privacy, I have redacted all contact information from the original reunion website.

In fact, the primary reason for finally beginning to develop my section of the website is that Jody and I have decided it is time to part with Catspaw, our beloved traveling companion and second home of the past forty years. To begin to describe our life with Catspaw and to provide some details of her construction and history for prospective buyers, I am starting a section of the site devoted to her. In the next few months, I will be trying to add some substance to this section. It is accessed via the Catspaw link at the bottom of my home page.

Cheers,

Russ