HTML

Hypertext Markup Language as it is formally called, I had read about Hypertext in Byte Magazine and I said to myself what a cool way to organize a paper or an article where clicking on a hyperlink would bring you to a detailed discussion of that word or phrase that was linked. So, I was not totally ignorant about it altogether. When the Internet started to gain momentum I started seeing books on HTML starting to pop up in the bookstores along with the other Markup Languages like XHTML, DHTML, XML, VRML, RHTML and others. I thought this is good, there's so many sources of information. So I bought the thickest book on HTML.I figured this has got to be the granddaddy of them all. I scanned through the pages and it seemed easy but it entailed a lot of memorizing of terms and keywords that signified precise meanings.

I did not really plan to have a website right away so I was just taking it easy about learning HTML. I also read about Javascript and how it gave websites a way to be dynamic and interactive and this was more exciting news. although I had no inkling at the time that I would be in some trouble since it turned out that I did not really care for Java and Javascript. From surfing for tools in the Internet I ran acros PHP and how it has grown from a simple tool to a full-blown scripting language for programmatically getthing things done like working with a database. At this time I had not heard abot blogs and blogging. That fun was for the future.

Check out this site, where my blogs congregate.

What kind of website?

I did not really have a clear idea of what kind of website I wanted to make. They say imitating the living is flattery and it might be true but most original ideas generally spring from some old idea floating around and being part of everyday reality. One thing I did want to do was to bring my songs to the Internet; not just the old songs I used to sing but songs of my own invention. You could say it is an idea or desire that just would not go away. I have stopped writing songs now and of the many hundreds I had written I could probably just remember a few which is just as well, if I myself cannot remember them then who would want to listen to a song which is so un-memorable?

Last night I ran into a banner advertising for free Bulletin Board systems where you can discuss anything you care to discuss with your community. It would mean that you have a group with common interests. I signed up for my free site and it was very easy and painless to do for one who has not done it at all. One thing I noticed was that the whole site itself was not pretty. It was free, it was easy but it was just not pretty. I thought I should make something that looks nice and pretty like a flower or a sunrise. I did admire their technical skills and the fact that they are giving it away for free which leads me to wonder, they must be making their money in ways that I still have to discover.

Desire precedes creation...starting out

For a long time now I have harbored the dream of creating my own website, not the kind that you get for free where you do not have the freedom to do anything that you like. I do not dislike banners and ads because I know that they are very necessary to keep a website alive. But what I wanted was the freedom to show ads of my own choosing which would complement the website itself.

I did not want to sell anything nor to make a lot of money from the Internet. I do not know how they do it. I do dnot even know how this business of making websites work. At the time when the desire to create a website was sown in my mind I did not have a direct access to the Internet. I could go to an Internet Cafe and pay by the hour but the big problem was there was too many people and connections were very slow and prone to disruptions. There were only dial-up connections at the time. Surfing for materials online was not really so easy to do in those times.

I had had some experience with programming having started with a simple Applesoft Basic Interpreter where I would key in my program and enjoy watching it do stuff like adding two numbers together. I used an Apple II computer with 48K RAM and that was way cool at the time. The thought that I would be able to do even cooler things in the future made the business of typinig my progam every morning not at tedious as it really was. Tthere was only Basic and it suited me just fine.