Vanity Sites
This is one. It isn't my first, it probably won't be my last. It is funny though how they go through fads. Everybody and their dog seems to have a website, actually my dog has had two. Making me a contributor to the clutter of the internet extroidnare! I have experience at it now even. I have no useful content. There isn't really anything that interesting rattling around in my head. Well sometimes there is but rarely does it need to get out. I would probably be far better served if I made my website into a big HIRE ME this is my resume page. But like resumes (see my blog from Sept 25, 2001 for my opinion on resumes) web pages are very faddish.

First somebody gets a good idea, (the personal web page) and a few geeks learn enough html to put together a list of handy links, funny links, etc along with maybe a picture of themselves. Then that gets to be easy, and every body has them... so the bar is raised, now personal webpages have become personal websites, with multiple pages and pictures and little animated gifts, and too noisy backgrounds. Then geocities comes along with site builder and other similar things and now everybody has sites dedicated to everything from their pets to cross stitching to how Wil Wheaton is the anti-christ. Then add music! Then webcams! Everybody had to have one of those too... so you could see them sitting at their computers, or the view of their living room etc.

Then the quest for simplicity and content rears its head, enter the weblog, a personal web page that actually gets changed, occasionally, frequently even. Still it is difficult you have to edit that html every day it is a pain. Along comes somebody wanting to make his life easy, he writes weblogger software, now everybody (even me) has one. From the technically inept right on up to web gods, and Wil Wheaton and me. My dog doesn't have a weblog because he is a terrible typist. Now we all get the opportunity to read each others diaries, like sneaking around your friends rooms in middle school except they really taped their diary to their locker. Still sometimes it has that feeling of prying into a complete strangers life.

Oh and hit counters, there is another tribute to vanity (note I have one at least I admit that I am vain, or a pathetic sheep). Not only do I air my half baked thoughts to the world on this page, co-located with my resume, so it probably isn't a good idea, after all we are talking MAJOR personality leakage which may not be good on the job hunt, since we all know individuals don't get hired, sheep get hired. At least webwise I am a sheep. But hit counters...they give me some feeling that hey somebody really is reading this stuff I write. I know at least one or two of my friends do. Sometimes they even leave comments, another recent nod to vanity on this site (added just in the last week) so not only can people read this tripe, but respond to it. Yeah... who would want to do that. Mark obviously, but I think he was just being nice. I did get one response from somebody I didn't know. So I guess there are people out their drifting across my weblog the way I drift across theirs.