About FredericBull.com

Technical Details

FredericBull.com is entirely Java, HTML, CSS, and a little Javascript for client side things that can't be done via CSS (or that I haven't figured out how to do yet). The goal is to avoid frameworks and cookie-cutter tools in order to create something unique to myself.

This is an eternal work in progress. As I write new content and have new ideas I add to it and modify it. As I find errors or typos, I will fix them. Themes, layouts, and navigation structure will evolve as the amount of content increases and I get new ideas.

This site is also reachable from FredBull.com & FredericBull.net

Minification

I am 'minifying' my served pages by default. This means that I remove spaces, newlines, and other unnecessary characters that have no impact on the appearance or functionality of the page. This is great for your browsing experience; smaller files take less time to transfer, load faster, and have less impact on your other online traffic. However, if you're trying to see how a page is constructed, or how a Javascript or CSS element works, this 'minified' HTML is exceedingly frustrating to read.

If you wish to disable the minification for a request I have provided a parameter, 'no_minify', to disable minification for that page request. It matters not what you set the parameter to. For instance, to disable minification on this page, access it using the URL:

https://fredericbull.com/about.jsp?no_minify

Most form results pages, though possibly not all, will respect the 'no_minify' option when it is enabled on the proceeding form submission page.

Privacy Policy

My privacy policy is simple. My code stores no data beyond the life-cycle of each HTTPS request/response and no cookies are required. The server infrastructure is sitting on the Google Cloud, which does log some data about each request. I am also using Google Analytics, which tracks how many users I get and how they navigate the site. You can find their privacy policies on their respective sites. I share no data with anyone else.

Opinions Expressed

Opinions expressed here are my own. It's my site after all!

Content Usage

Everything on this site, unless specifically stated, is developed and owned by me. If you would like to use anything from my site please contact me to ask permission first. I love to share, but hate being ripped off. If you ask permission I will feel like I'm sharing and act accordingly. If you don't I will feel ripped off and act accordingly.

How I got into this stuff

I am 38 years old and a long time resident of Salt Lake City, Utah. I've worked with computers my entire life, learning DOS through the mid 80's, Basic in the late 80's and early 90's, and moving on to C/C++ and Java in the late 90's.

I got my start doing computer support and repair. Very quickly started building them and it wasn't long after that when I started to program them. Programming became a favorite activity, and before long I was building simulators for just about anything I could think of a way to quantify, and robots to automate every task I could think to automate. I still recall the feeling of wonder I had the first time I made a PC loop to a million. The amazement as seemingly impossible tasks were suddenly not only possible, but were simple to create, and gave near instant responses.

I was hooked!

Why did I create this site?

Since then I've written a lot of code in a lot of languages to accomplish more tasks than I could ever hope to recall. Just about everything I do on a computer gives me ideas for how I can get the computer to do more work for me. And this is what drove me to create this web site. I realized that over the decades I have developed many many tools that eventually got forgotten or lost. I found myself coding solutions that I knew I had coded before but had been lost in the inevitable shuffle of life. I needed a place to put them, and at the same time, I wanted to follow through on a long-standing idea to start putting them online for others to use.

But just putting tools online isn't good enough! That's why, in addition to the tools, I am building an assortment of information on the relevant topics. This will be an eternal work in progress, and will grow as time marches on! My goal is that for every tool I have, I will provide enough information to learn what it is for, and how to use it.

What do I do when I'm not in front of a computer?

I have to be honest, I probably average 80 or more hours a week in front of a PC, but I do get away from them from time-to-time. I'm a die-hard weekend warrior!

In the summer I am an avid fly fisherman, backpacker, and all around outdoors man. My typical Saturday or Sunday involves getting up around 4am, driving for an hour or two and spending my day struggling against currents in search of beautiful trout and the tranquility of nature. Utah is a wonderful place to find trout. I can't think of anywhere I'd rather be in the summer.

In the winter I am an avid skier. As soon as there's enough snow to run lifts I break out the skis and get to it. I've been doing it longer than I can remember. Growing up in Utah it's not uncommon to learn to ski at the same time you learn to walk, and I was no exception. I'm a powder hound with a passion for the steep and deep! My resort of choice is Snowbird, but I usually make it to an assortment of the local spots each year, usually Alta, Brighton, and Deer Valley. Utah is a wonderful place to ski, arguably one of the best in the world. I can't think of anywhere I'd rather be in the winter.