MAY 7, 2006 Note from David: We need help automating this site. GoLive CoAuthor using WebDAV is under consideration, but this approach is not ideal either. What I lack is expertice. Your help is needed as I'm not going to be able to keepu up with updating the site, and want to come to see fresh material myself.
Finally, I want everyone to be able to post without going through me.
NOTES ON THE CREATION OF THIS SITE
The basic storyline and structure and general primitive, beat up aesthetic has now been set. These are the elements:
1) Long lead-in (w/shortucts from index.html), meaderings to Pasadena as is (but drawing from a stack of 50 variables--not layers, but from a collection that makes the 8 or so pages in a different experience for a long, long time.
2) Blue alley-blue sign-in, then Alley and music load (w distant train sound).
3) Alley is a long ever changing, perhaps customizable, you see who's on and who's planning on showing up later, who's on, news, but all of it broken up from usual look of a PN site. It's far less boxy, far less orderly, many ~150x150px and ~150x300px (or whatever new standard size works best) pictures on the edges. I also want to maintain the frenetic pace of those awful 90s style banners flashing by. I think the dark grey insanely fast ones really add a nice energy to the page, they're ebar in the way that they're trippy to look at.
4)Trippy transition to main room (you can side step it), perhaps video, grainy... Remember I've got a TON of video. It works well when it's very griany too..
5) The main room, similar, but more evolved than it is now. Similar, but of course different as they'red be all kinds of different strurtrured content. There are BTW, more pix to come (tons more)...
6) Rooms off the main rooms, as they are now, different, new rooms added, others taken away, Whatever.
One of the main things the site has going for it is that it really breaks almost every rule of tasteful web design: the lead-in is insanely long, you don't know where to go, it scroll forever, black backgrounds, scrolling text....etc..
Aeshtetically, it is essential that the site not be like other sites. It must have an ATMOSPHERE that completely envelopes you, both visually and in the audio of the juke. That wall of text on most PN sites must be broken up. Instead of compact, (which is usually just what I want as you dont have to scrolll), the idea is to break that rule and make each page a long scroll broken up by visuals, video, flash, ART. I'd love it if a person could just post their remark and see it go up as a scrolling off sort of headline. There's also certain 'roughed up,' worn at the edges quality to the layout...nothing quite lines up just right i a way that has a random coolness to it... And thenagain, some if it is just due to my lacking webskill.
It's night, so the backgrounds are very dark with long passages on white cells held in dark muted colored backrounds.
Ok, I've rambled on. That's the artistic vision as I've been buidling it up, trying to evoke the essence, hopefully as we all remember it.
I am not completely married to any of the above statements, I could be talked out of any aspect I'm sure and my mind is open to other ideas and interpretations. So far, though, I'm happy to say that the site's received a universal 'spot-on' and thumbs up near as I can tell.
Guests will be not be able to go beyond the main room.
Ok, for now. Let me know what you think of all this.
DavidW
May 5, 2006
David,
I asked the guy I mentioned to you on the phone about potential
web services companies. He tends to use Linux and rolls his own
code, so these sites (below) may not pan out to anything useful
for us.
Bill is working at Idealab! right now, but he's done A LOT of
web sites. My favorite is this game at http://www.villaintycoon.com
The java services at that site are down right now but you can look
at the HTML.
--
Tim H
----- Forwarded message from Bill > -----
Well, I don't use Adobe GoLive, but I was given suggestions about some
cheap hosting options that (hopefully) wouldn't involve someone actually
having to configure anything.
http://site5.com
Cheap as all get out. They *may* have shell access, or at least some
people on staff that could work stuff out for you if you gave them the
software. They also support Ruby On Rails in addition to the normal
perl/php/python.
http://1and1.com
Also very cheap, a friend of mine uses it, and for the money he thinks
it is worth it. No shell access that we could find, and the stats were
basic, but they do seem to support MS hosting as well as Linux,
Microsoft Sharepoint, etc, so they have experience supporting paid for
software. Also, he says they respond quickly to issues, as they have some
poor 24/7 dude sitting in the NOC.
----- End forwarded message -----