It is a bit funny, I think, that you are currently browsing through one of my most recent computing projects while looking at other projects. This website represents perhaps the largest computing project I've ever undertaken.
Okay, okay. I know what you are thinking... "this website? Don't you mean another, better looking website?" Alas, no, this is the one I am referring to, but still, I am quite proud of it.
I never imagioned this would be as much of a time sink as it turned out to be. Nor did I think that it might a difficult undertaking. "I have put together websites before", I thought, "what's one more?"
I've had a rudimentry knowledge of html for a very long time, but when it came to making this site I found that my skills were sadly lacking. I also quickly discovered that html by itself wasn't enough to do the job.
After writing a few dozen pages I started to realize that I was going to need some help, but since this site is about me, I had only myself to choose from. The only thing I could do was to use some shortcuts such as saving an empty *.shtml file so that I could use that as a template.
Still, the work load was overwhelming. I am lucky enough to keep my files on a UNIX computer, since that allows me to write scripts to make mass changes. The first (and currently only) website related UNIX script that I've written is designed to add the proper DOCTYPE to the beginning of any page without one. This comes in handy if you have over fifty improper pages that would otherwise need to be corrected by hand.
The biggest challenge thus far in the creation of this site has been the incredibly slow Internet speeds. A "fast" upload speed over SSH occurs at 0.1 kb/s, but most of the time it is too slow to even register (0.0 kb/s). Between this and the random disconnects, updating or adding on to the site has become a painful hour long process.
Although I've yet to do this, it would save me half an hour to simply walk over to the library with the necessary files and do it there. It would probably also add a year on to my life expectency and ensure that I don't go through pre-mature balding.
Of course, the learning of new markup languages has been part of the challenge along with script writing and graphics editing. Believe it or not, the latter accounts for another huge chunk of time.
So, as you browse this site, enjoy it! It's been a long trip getting it to you, but here it is!
(c) 2005 Nic Reveles
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