About the Site
So, you are probably wondering why this site exists....much less who it is behind the darned thing.
Basically, this is to be a resource for those we know and love, as well as a bit of practice and therapy for me. I know I can make a website, I just need to prove it to myself. I might even get good at it...don't laugh.
A lot of this site is cludged and sometimes outright stolen code; though I adapt it, and credit those whose work I've taken. For instance, the primary CSS is from Open Source Templates. And the header image is from - of course - Miyazaki's Princess Mononoke. Can't have enough kodama images.
Beyond that...here is where I highlight a few of the recent changes and define what I use to make the site.
Site History
Originally this was hosted on GeoCities, then on an OSU server where I was working at the time. Eventually the site got hosted on Freeservers, but the costs and space issues were getting ridiculous. For the past few years, the site has been hosted by IonWeb, who have been very cool to work with.
I've play with various color schemes and menu systems. Usually it works, sometimes not so much.
First, the menu system. I scrapped the old Dynamic Drive HV Menu format and have gone with straight link code. Our even older stuff came from TwinHelix and just didn't update well to work with newer browsers. I liked it, just not the pain of making it work all over again.
Second, I been using a message board from Boardnation. The most important thing about it: no pop-ups or ads of any form. Then again, it doesn't get a lot of use either.
Next, the picture slideshows. I had a system worked out with Dreamweaver and Fireworks but it got a little complicated once you went past a couple menus so I have gone to this method using Arles Image Web Page Creator software from Digital Dutch. From there, I went to a hosted 4Images photo gallery solution. Lately, I find it is much easier to just upload to Picasa and Flickr.
Finally, the site design. I've more or less run the gamut on software. My original site was in Microsoft FrontPage. The second version was created in a strange combination of Macromedia Dreamweaver 3 and Adobe PageMill. The current incarnation is primarily done by hand in Notepad or EditPlus 2, with some initial code cleanup going through Dreamweaver MX 2004. However, I still do use a lot of Dreamweaver to make sure things work and to do the Slideshow page edits that I still need to upload. In addition, a lot of the design work was done in Fireworks with some graphics thrown together in it and Paint Shop Pro.
Site Links
Other people's pages are linked as a courtesy. We like to highlight what other people are doing and genuinely like a lot of the creative ideas out there. Please take a moment to visit them and check out the writing and artwork and rambling thoughts of those we know, both online and off.