10 years online!

Today is a bit of a milestone for this website. It is officially 10 years old. The very first version wouldn’t impress many today, but at that point, it was pretty decent for someone who had no formal training in web programming. If you would like to find out for yourself, go on and have a look at the site as it looked then.

The software behind the site has changed several times, as have the ambition level and the design. But I think my aim behind the site is the same as always. I created the site out of fun and I still keep it for fun. Back then, I didn’t have much content. In fact, the site was predominantly a set of links to other sites. With time, I added more and more jokes, but back then – with nothing but static pages – I eventually had to give up. It was too difficult to update.

I don’t have any jokes on the site anymore. The primary content is in this blog and in my photo album. And here, the world has changed dramatically. The blog may be on my site, but the actual page creation is courtesy of Blogger and the photo album is created by JAlbum. I put in the raw photos and raw text. The software makes it presentable.

In the last few years, the internet has taken a dramatic turn. It is no longer the domain for programmers and other variations of geeks. Instead, the geeks have made software that allows other (more normal) people to use the web. They use the social aspect without worrying about the technology. My friend Matthew is a guru in this field, and he can take a fair bit of credit for me having a blog… and for finally adding the comment field. To many today, that is a just a fact of life. For me, it was a bit of a challenge. I had to accept that people other than myself could write comments that would appear on my site.

Like I said at the beginning, this page was created and is kept alive because I find it amusing, not because I really use it as a tool. But maybe that will change.

I have had fun with my baby website this past decade. Perhaps I will soon have to take the biggest step yet. Not one of technology, not one of design, but one of intent. Perhaps it is time for this site to be a real tool for communication and sharing of ideas rather than my personal playground. What do you think?

Site, Version 5.0

After more than a year with an outdated message on my dear website, I am finally launching another version. We are talking more than cosmetics, though.

Design: Away with the warm but obsolete reddish colourscheme, in with the neutrality of gray but with photograph backgrounds.

Technology: Gone are the days of tabel-based layout. Now, we are talking CSS. And to prevent the news from growing stale, this site uses Blogger to keep the news fresh. JAlbum will help me keep the photos fresh and constantly increasing.

It has taken a while, but for now, I am satisfied with the outcome, also because I can make changes more easily to the whole site.

Some people have gone to great lengths to contact me even though no address was available on the site. No more. I now have a bit of help to those who want to let me know their thoughts. Simply go to the contacts page.

So much updating, so little time. And possibly, this is a sign of an early mid-life crisis for tomorrow, I turn 30.