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The Triumph of Death

Why those background colors?

Table of contents

The topics discussed below are:

Why use background colors?

In the framed portion of this website different categories of pages have different colors. These match the colors used for the links to the right of the poem's lines. This serves as a navigational aid; its a hint as to what you are reading. Also, because there are so many small pages and they can show up in a couple of different frames, a change in colors helps notify you that a new page has been downloaded and where it is displayed.

But why use those colors?

The colors are considered to be "web safe colors." I'm going to let the Web Developers Journal explain why web safe colors are good:

What Are Web Safe Colors?

Web Safe, or Browser Safe palettes as they are also referred to, consist of 216 colors that display solid, non-dithered, and consistent on any computer monitor, or web browser, capable of displaying at least 8-bit color (256 colors). The reason why this palette contains only 216 colors, instead of the maximum 256 colors, is that only 216 out of the basic 256 colors will display exactly the same on all computers.

Source: All You Need To Know About Web Safe Colors
http://www.webdevelopersjournal.com/articles/websafe1/websafe_colors.html
March 10, 2002

For more information use this Google.com search for web safe colors:

Search for "web safe colors"

But why are those colors so ugly?

Why are they so ugly? Because the colors are determined by mathmatical values instead of by someone's judgement as to beauty. If you look at the color values listed below you will see only values of 00, 33, 66, 99, CC or FF being used for each color value given as a set of RGB (red, green, blue) combinations.

What colors are used where?

These are the colors used as backgrounds at this site:

#FFFFFF - Unframed pages
#FFFFFF - Poem page
#FFFFFF - Explanation pages
#FFFFFF - Definition pages
#FF99CC - Help pages
#66CCCC - "Xref" (cross references) pages
#FFFF99 - Eliot's notes
#CC9966 - Allusion pages
#FFCCCC - "Draft" pages
#FFCCCC - "Origin" pages
#FFCCCC - "Change" pages
#FFCCCC - "Compare" pages
#CCCC99 - Questions pages
#CCCCCC - The gray commentary pages
#FFFFCC - Commentary pages
#FFFFCC - Biography pages
#FFFFCC - "Poetry" pages
#CCFFCC - Miscellanea pages
#CCCC66 - Supplementary texts
#CCFFFF - Encylopedia pages
#CCFFFF - Extra pages

What are the web safe colors?

These are them. Not a great selection.

#000000
#000033
#000066
#000099
#0000CC
#0000FF
#003300
#003333
#003366
#003399
#0033CC
#0033FF
#006600
#006633
#006666
#006699
#0066CC
#0066FF
#009900
#009933
#009966
#009999
#0099CC
#0099FF
#00CC00
#00CC33
#00CC66
#00CC99
#00CCCC
#00CCFF
#00FF00
#00FF33
#00FF66
#00FF99
#00FFCC
#00FFFF
#330000
#330033
#330066
#330099
#3300CC
#3300FF
#333300
#333333
#333366
#333399
#3333CC
#3333FF
#336600
#336633
#336666
#336699
#3366CC
#3366FF
#339900
#339933
#339966
#339999
#3399CC
#3399FF
#33CC00
#33CC33
#33CC66
#33CC99
#33CCCC
#33CCFF
#33FF00
#33FF33
#33FF66
#33FF99
#33FFCC
#33FFFF
#660000
#660033
#660066
#660099
#6600CC
#6600FF
#663300
#663333
#663366
#663399
#6633CC
#6633FF
#666600
#666633
#666666
#666699
#6666CC
#6666FF
#669900
#669933
#669966
#669999
#6699CC
#6699FF
#66CC00
#66CC33
#66CC66
#66CC99
#66CCCC
#66CCFF
#66FF00
#66FF33
#66FF66
#66FF99
#66FFCC
#66FFFF
#990000
#990033
#990066
#990099
#9900CC
#9900FF
#993300
#993333
#993366
#993399
#9933CC
#9933FF
#996600
#996633
#996666
#996699
#9966CC
#9966FF
#999900
#999933
#999966
#999999
#9999CC
#9999FF
#99CC00
#99CC33
#99CC66
#99CC99
#99CCCC
#99CCFF
#99FF00
#99FF33
#99FF66
#99FF99
#99FFCC
#99FFFF
#CC0000
#CC0033
#CC0066
#CC0099
#CC00CC
#CC00FF
#CC3300
#CC3333
#CC3366
#CC3399
#CC33CC
#CC33FF
#CC6600
#CC6633
#CC6666
#CC6699
#CC66CC
#CC66FF
#CC9900
#CC9933
#CC9966
#CC9999
#CC99CC
#CC99FF
#CCCC00
#CCCC33
#CCCC66
#CCCC99
#CCCCCC
#CCCCFF
#CCFF00
#CCFF33
#CCFF66
#CCFF99
#CCFFCC
#CCFFFF
#FF0000
#FF0033
#FF0066
#FF0099
#FF00CC
#FF00FF
#FF3300
#FF3333
#FF3366
#FF3399
#FF33CC
#FF33FF
#FF6600
#FF6633
#FF6666
#FF6699
#FF66CC
#FF66FF
#FF9900
#FF9933
#FF9966
#FF9999
#FF99CC
#FF99FF
#FFCC00
#FFCC33
#FFCC66
#FFCC99
#FFCCCC
#FFCCFF
#FFFF00
#FFFF33
#FFFF66
#FFFF99
#FFFFCC
#FFFFFF

What colors are used where? (reprise)

#FFFFFF - Unframed pages
#FFFFFF - Poem page
#FFFFFF - Explanation pages
#FFFFFF - Definition pages
#FF99CC - Help pages
#66CCCC - "Xref" (cross references) pages
#FFFF99 - Eliot's notes
#CC9966 - Allusion pages
#FFCCCC - "Draft" pages
#FFCCCC - "Origin" pages
#FFCCCC - "Change" pages
#FFCCCC - "Compare" pages
#CCCC99 - Questions pages
#CCCCCC - The gray commentary pages
#FFFFCC - Commentary pages
#FFFFCC - Biography pages
#FFFFCC - "Poetry" pages
#CCFFCC - Miscellanea pages
#CCCC66 - Supplementary texts
#CCFFFF - Encylopedia pages
#CCFFFF - Extra pages



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