INFORMATION OVERLOADThe background to my web pages.
The falling standard of television is partly to blame for this web site.
This site has grown and changed as I've learnt to do new things with it. It's moved host, it's changed name and it's developed into it's current form more by evolution than design. In that way it's more like a medieval city than a web site, which explains the smell at the height of summer. As it stands it's a bit of a dumping ground for random ideas, pictures, semi-professional wafflings and various other brain flotsam from this place I call my head. I suppose it's also become something of a shop window (complete with dead fly. Can you find it?) for my writing / photographic / design etc. skills, on the off-chance that a passing genius may come across it and be so impressed that the offer me a job writing / photographing things / making web sites. I know. I know. But it's important to have dreams, right? Much of what I've learnt to do with site design I've tried for a while and rejected. Some eye catching things you can do with JavaScript are nice enough, but if you spend all your time going 'hey, cool' then you'll likely miss the message of the page in question. That's my story and I'm sticking to it. The Flash animations which are dotted about are, on the other hand, totally justifiable. Not just as decoration, but as an integral navigation and fun element to my pages. And as a warning, of course. Remember this on the way in?... | |
 The HTML guts of the site were
created with the aid of The Complete Idiots Guide to Creating a Web Page
by Paul McFedries (ISBN 0-7897-2256-9), plus the HomeSite 4 software by Allaire
which came free with the book.If you click here you'll visit the writer of this books web site. Paul (good name) McFedries knows a thing or two, and no mistake. Yes indeedy. Aha. Yep. |
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The graphics (like the semitransparent Waffle-link-icon, right)
were either photographed or scanned in by me, and then edited with a paint and draw program. I tend to use MGI
PhotoSUITE Platinum 4 to make GIF's, and a thing called Camera Access by FlashPoint Technology
(c. 1997, can you imagine?!) for working with JPG's and BMP's. |
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The Flash animations (the link to the right will take you to a nice one)
were only possible because of another Complete Idiots Guide, this time
to Macromedia Flash 5, by David Karlins (ISBN 0-7897-2442-1) and the desire
to impress a girl called Bengy. Latterly I've been using Sams Teach Yourself Flash 5 in 24 Hours by
Philip Kerman (ISBN 0-672-31892-X) to gain a deeper understanding of this very complex
tool. Bengy remains unimpressed. |
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The rest was just
time, effort, desperation,
experimentation, inspiration, constipation and far too many sugary drinks.
I looked at other peoples sites (and right-clicked for code, when I wanted to)
and saw how to do things. I then totally ignored them and went my own route.
I left the stuff I thought was interesting and useful in and binned the rest. If I have one
message for aspiring webmasters and mistresses, I'd say 'Do your own thing, in your
own way, about something you love, and remember, it's supposed to be fun!'
I accept it's quite a long message. |
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