Web Presence
I've been making goofy web sites like this since 1996. My first site, Gordon´s Way Rad Cool Groovy Web ´Zine O´ Fun, was actually mentioned in a Wall Street Journal article, Preserving Way Rad Cool Groovy Web 'Zine and Other Notable Sites or something like that. I'll have to scan it and post it here so you don't have to take my word for it.WRCGWZOF's first feature was a crossword puzzle in Javascript. The second feature was a joke page which featured every joke I received in email. Other early features included The complete Knowledge of Humanity, a tongue in cheek attempt at something like Wikipedia or Everything2 (neither of which existed back then as far as I know). Back then the web was new and exciting and I was in web rings and site fights and all sorts of fun self promotional adventures. I launched a web ring sort of thing called Catapult, the concept being that it would launch you to a random other site that shared a category with the site you were visiting. I also started an award page. That was actually a really good way to drive traffic to my site. When someone was given the award, I made a graphic that could be displayed on the winner's web site, with a link back to my award site of course.  To this day, I can easily be convinced to do something exceedingly goofy like GordonLudlow.com/munist, which was Eric Rane's idea. Eric is a coworker. On that particular afternoon, he was a co-non-worker. Sometimes I come up with my own goofy ideas, for example my Hot or not? page. And there's more. I also ran the web sites IsPornLegal.com and Spank the Monkey's Hardcore Movie Review, neither of which exists any more. IsPornLegal is now registered to someone else, and you would be advised not to visit it. If you do, you'll be assaulted by pop ups and software trying to install itself. When the domain was mine, it was a php/mysql database driven site that attempted to answer the question of whether or not pornography is legal. It's an interesting question, because as it now stands in the United States the legality of any sort of communication, expression, art work (or smut) depends on whether or not it is considered obscene according to community standards. Basically, you don't know whether or not you're breaking the law until the jury tells you. No matter what your view of pornography is, you can't think that's a good thing. Laws should be better defined than that, don't you agree? So, isPornLegal.com was a questionnaire that you filled out with your zip code and which things you do or don't consider obscene, everything from swim suit models to snuff films. Then you could see what probably is or probably isn't legal based on the answers of others in your zip code, city or state. At the time, I neglected to ask if the questionnaire itself was obscene. I'm sure some would think it was because it contained words like "anal fisting" and "bestiality." Consider if isPornLegal.com were considered obscene. That would make it illegal to determine what is legal. And there's more. When I was between jobs one summer, Sue and I launched a would be online empire, dante93 Inc. We're going out of business, but we've still got stuff for sale... |