What is a website?

Matt Probert wrote:
 > I'm feeling whimsical this morning, and started pondering the question
 > why do we publish web sites, and then, what is a web site?
 >
 > So, what is a web site?

a web site is an urban myth - there is no such thing outside of marketing
speak. The phrase is usually interpreted to mean a collection of documents
accessible via a web browser (UA of some kind).

 > Why do we publish them?

There cannot be a collective answer unless perhaps to mark territory - a bit
like dumping a load or spraying the perimeter of our own patch.

Other answers will vary from site/person to site/person.

--
William Tasso - <a style='text-decoration: underline;' href="http://WilliamTasso.com" target="_blank">http://WilliamTasso.com</a><!-- ~MESSAGE_AFTER~ -->
 >> Stay informed about: What is a website? 

In alt.www.webmaster a creature called Matt Probert once said:

 > I'm feeling whimsical this morning, and started pondering the question
 > why do we publish web sites, and then, what is a web site?
 >
 > So, what is a web site? Why do we publish them? Those of you who
 > administer low turnover vanity sites have probably never encountered
 > litigation, hate mail, hacking and denial-of-service attacks, but if
 > you have, or you run an e-commerce site, you'll understand my doubts.
 >
 > Anyone? Everyone?

Liquidcat.com (RIP) was a two fold project for me, firstly I wanted to put the
graphic skills I learned in the world of print and design onto the web, and
what better choice for me than music. I`m obsessed with music so chose a band
which were / are massive and started from there.

Within two years I had been to see Radiohead several times, interviewed them,
got loads of promo goodies, thousands of emails, guestbook comments and hits.
The best part for me though was noticing my site was getting linked from big
..com's other than Radiohead's official website. All the emails, comments and
hits made it worth while.

Now almost four years since I first started dabbling with websites, I've left a
well paid job with the Government, gone to be a student taking far less money
off the Government this time, eating beans and trying to get myself a degree in
'New Media'. Although what I really want to do is music videos, but I feel the
experience I have received through web design has channeled me to find elements
of design and different fields of design that I never really thought about or
looked at before.

Why do I do sites now? Well I have a blog that I use as a scratch pad for new
designs and PHP scripts, it was a dormant domain name I had, and as far the
rest of the sites I have... I don't really know. I just like pretty things!

Only bother I ever had was off a record label who threatned to sue me if I did
not take the lyrics to Radiohead tunes off my site. Thing is, I had Radiohead's
PR Manager's email address, and I contacted him and he sorted it out Shortly
after I got a very apologetic letter from Fasthosts and EMI D


--
Dale
<a style='text-decoration: underline;' href="http://www.oxygenkiosk.net" target="_blank">www.oxygenkiosk.net</a>
Listening to: Winamp stopped<!-- ~MESSAGE_AFTER~ -->
 >> Stay informed about: What is a website? 

Salutations:

Matt Probert wrote:
 >
 > I'm feeling whimsical this morning, and started pondering the question
 > why do we publish web sites, and then, what is a web site?
 >
 > So, what is a web site? Why do we publish them? Those of you who
 > administer low turnover vanity sites have probably never encountered
 > litigation, hate mail, hacking and denial-of-service attacks, but if
 > you have, or you run an e-commerce site, you'll understand my doubts.
 >
 > Anyone? Everyone?
 >
 > Matt


Well brother Matt - firstly - they say if you aren't getting any abuse, you
aren't doing anything useful..

I've noticed that you've been taking a beating and that the 'salad days'
may well be coming to end over at your most excellent:

<a style='text-decoration: underline;' href="http://www.probertencyclopaedia.com" target="_blank">http://www.probertencyclopaedia.com</a>

... for what it is worth, I like your site a great deal.. And that may be,
in the end, why people put up websites - which I define as being anything
other than a single http accessible content page, in which case one page is
OK too if it has anything important to say.

This technology of ours allows us (and them) to share out our view of the
world or some useful tid-bit or snippet of something that folks would
otherwise not find in/on the sunday fish wrap, airwaves or the local -
insert favourite stylish local cafe/bookstore chain here - with the kind of
ease that was unimaginable when I was a kid.

But with the paradox that almost NONE of it requires the same minimal peer
review that most publicly available world views or useful tid-bits/snippets
used to have to go through before anyone heard it somewhere other than in
an interesting chat over drinks..

What makes this otherwise complicated is that often - you then get to share
other people's world views regarding your own when they get to share yours
regarding theirs. And therein the hammer strikes the anvil as regards a
perhaps better, if sometimes frightening and annoying, planet. Time will
tell on that last points however..

Sure you get the screw heads and the screamers and the almost limitless
hateraid bullies and scam artists.

But - they have always been the same - they just used a Gestetner stencil
duplicator or simply a can of spray paint until recently.

The main difference now is that instead of being able to isolate
individuals or groups and sometimes whole countries so that everyone ended
up dressing in menacing uniforms with colourful armbands - there is now the
potential for their evil to find locally available criticism and thusly,
sometimes, get nipped in the bud before their world view becomes a problem
that sees my kids dressed up in uniforms and marched off to put things
right (either locally or internationally)..

Well mostly..

On this business with Iraq - I'm afraid and very saddened to say that I
mostly agree with your published position. As brother Red will remember I
said it was a folly on the level of the Crimean adventure pretty much as
the first rounds went in and despite the fact that Saddam was/is everything
they say - I did not and cannot accept that military aggression by anyone
is acceptable without United Nations sanction - not matter how wallyfux the
UN is.

Now - e-commerce, often the victim of completely inappropriate
expectations, demands and marketing approaches - has it's legitimate place
online as well - as it can allow good and/or price competitive vendors to
meet interested consumers on a global and often much more cost effective
basis.

The problem here is, of course, that everyone from the Harvard MBA to the
Pitch at the Church Jumble mostly figure they 'know' how to make e-commerce
work and very rarely, if ever, bother to pay much attention to the fact
that the price of global reach is that they must now compete online on an
almost darwinian basis as that customer (you and I) have much more time and
interest in 'shopping around' for anything much more pricey than a Meal and
a Pint.. You know, as long as it doesn't weigh much more than a Two-Four
(Canadian expression for a flat of 24 litre bottles/cans of beer)

For example - you may well be able to buy oil for $27 a barrel USD
somewhere - but it is hard to convince anyone to send you 4 barrels to top
up your tank and it is remarkably complicated and expensive to ship 4
barrels of oil anywhere anyway..

Interestingly - many things that used to be valuable simply by being scarce
in a given region now set their price at the whims and vagaries of E-Bay -
whilst other things set their price very literally by what it is going to
ship them individually between given regions.. This terrified, and in some
cases has killed off, entire industries.. But - has made it much easier for
other (sometimes better, sometimes not) industries to flourish and expand
depending on duties and regulations (North American Free Trade my hat)..

If you've not read it yet, get a used copy of a book called 'In Search of
Excellence' from the late 80's.. Tom Peters I think.. It predates the
internet, makes no mention of it in early printings - but it's lessons and
examples are extremely relevant to online commerce if you can make the leap
while you're reading it..

Now - like most everyone working on the greater web - I made a very
surprisingly lucrative move from 15 years in traditional Electronic
Publishing and Information Systems Administration in the mid 90's to work
full time on the problem of public internet - where before it was simply a
way to pass around notes to fellow propeller heads in far flung places or
trade Dr. Who games and the like. I mean if you had told me 15 years ago
that the Internet would be anything other than a good way for BBS admins to
pass around mail and files in a closer cycle - I would have (did once) say
folks needed to step away from the bong for awhile..

And make no mistake - the internet was (and still is) viewed with
considerable consternation by many traditional business and programming
specialities who didn't/don't have the immediate technically specific
skills to make 'it' work securely and profitably online with or without the
good folks in Redmond and Armonk marketing the idea that 'anyone' can be a
webmaster and global business leader with the right licensing fees and
certifications..

And given that there are very few responsible controls (and very little
wisdom) regarding online marketing - the general public now feels much the
same about the internet in general as you are starting to feel about
keeping a public e-mail address open regarding your most excellent
encyclopaedia..

Now me? I'm looking around for a full time seat again somewhere having got
some very much needed personal technical time to work on an idea I have
regarding 'secure thin server' on W2K Pro.

Turns out it is possible using Open Source after all - I prove it everyday
as Radio Free Dexterdyne is nothing more (or less) than a carefully
configured set of background services running on my home workstation - an
antiquated P111 900 MHz clone on small office 1mbs pipe I use to do my
contract work (mostly actionscript Flash), the kids use to play games and
Mrs Dexter J uses for her stuff..

It has no firewall - yet it proactively returns worm probes to sender with
a shutdown command.. I reconfigured the system services and registration
files last year so that it has withstood all the attacks of this summer and
last winter without being breached once and so that it actually operates
even faster than OEM without a network card. It still feeds 8 hours of load
balanced RealAudio fixed stream to the Solomon Islands on 28.8 dialup in
about 6 seconds flat..

Of little interest to the local HR exec's apparently - doesn't even impress
the dweebs much (a least by some of the random hate mails I sometimes get
here) and scares the pants off those brothers and sisters of ours who have
been suggesting that spending a million dollars on house server
infrastructure and Linux retraining is a 'great deal' for their
organization..

To add insult to injury - apparently I should have taken a microsoft
certification sometime during my 19 year career installing, managing and
operating systems from Redmond and Armonk for fun and profit.. Arggggg..

But - on the bright side - I get to put my very strange personal collection
of lost tunes from years gone by out to strangers, fans and pals world-wide
legally and get a fair bit of very nice fan mail in trade.

My search engine port for W2K is being downloaded and installed in the most
remarkable places with little or no support time from me and when someone
does pick up my ticket full time again - I can run their entire e-commerce
system from their own network and bandwidth without resorting to IIS to
pull it off and less expensively than they can buy collocated e-commerce
services for and such that it is easy to migrate to heavier server
infrastructure if the need arises one day..

Brother Matt - I take the view that people should put up web sites because
they want to actually do or say something that is of importance to them and
perhaps others - which is why I am so adamant on the subject of real cross
browser/cross platform single design HTML. If there is money enough to
support it on it's own merits or it finds funding or profit because of it's
usefulness to others - all the better.

I've never run a web site that didn't cover it's own costs at the end of
the day and even ran one that made more money in a year than I make in
five. That's a personal thing for me though - it's a scoring 'scoring
system' if you will..

But - in the end sir, first and last - you do web sites for exactly the
same reason the evil screw heads and the screamers and the hateraid bullies
and scam artists do it - but you as are doing something actually useful,
interesting and honestly entertaining and constructive - you will still be
there in 3 years 8 times out of 10.. ..

Cheers mate - don't let them get you down - that's what the delete key and
brief visits to a Solicitor for advise are for..

--

J Dexter - webmaster - <a style='text-decoration: underline;' href="http://www.dexterdyne.org/" target="_blank">http://www.dexterdyne.org/</a>
all tunes - no cookies no subscription no weather no ads
no news no phone in - RealAudio 8+ Required - all the Time

Radio Free Dexterdyne Top Tune o'be-do-da-day
Big Sugar - All Over Now
<a style='text-decoration: underline;' href="http://www.dexterdyne.org/888/140.RAM" target="_blank">http://www.dexterdyne.org/888/140.RAM</a><!-- ~MESSAGE_AFTER~ -->
 >> Stay informed about: What is a website? 

"Matt Probert" <www RemoveThis @probertencyclopaedia.com> wrote in message
news:3f7011b4.11990734@news.ntlworld.com...

<see subject>

It's something that Jerry Muelver will make for you if you ever cross him!
--
Charles Sweeney
www.CharlesSweeney.com
 >> Stay informed about: What is a website? 

"Matt Probert" <www RemoveThis @probertencyclopaedia.com> wrote
 > I'm feeling whimsical this morning, and started pondering the question
 > why do we publish web sites, and then, what is a web site?
 >
 > So, what is a web site? Why do we publish them? Those of you who
 > administer low turnover vanity sites have probably never encountered
 > litigation, hate mail, hacking and denial-of-service attacks, but if
 > you have, or you run an e-commerce site, you'll understand my doubts.
 >
 > Anyone? Everyone?
 >

A website is a computer program, but thanks to hypertext the collective is an electronic
primordial soup, sensing, calculating, storing data, interacting, deciding, effecting..

Herc


We excerpt this passage from the 1946 story
"A Logic Named Joe" reprinted in Machines That Think

They're still findin' out what logics will do, but everybody's got
'em .... You got a logic in your house. It looks like a vision
receiver used to, only it's got keys instead of dials and you
punch the keys for what you wanna get. It's hooked in to the
tank, which has the Carson Circuit all fixed up with relays. Say
you punch in "Station SNAFU" on your Logic. Relays in the tank
take over an' whatever vision-program SNAFU is telecastin'
comes on your Logic's screen. Or you punch "Sally Hancock's
Phone" an' the screen blinks an' sputters an' you're hooked up
with the logic in her house an' if somebody answers you got a
vision-phone connection. But besides that, if you punch for the
weather forecast or who won today's race at Hialeah or who
was mistress of the White House durin' Garfield's administration
or what is PDQ and R sellin' for today, that comes on the screen
too. The relays in the tank do it. The tank is a big buildin' full of
all the facts in creation an' all the recorded telecasts that ever
was made -- an' it's hooked in with all the other tanks all over
the country -- an' everything you wanna know or see or hear,
you punch for it an' you get it. Very convenient. Also it does
math for you, an' keeps books, an' acts as consultin' chemist,
physicist, astronomer an' tealeaf reader, with a "Advice to
Lovelorn" thrown in.<!-- ~MESSAGE_AFTER~ -->
 >> Stay informed about: What is a website? 

"|-|erc" <usemyonlineform.RemoveThis@wwwadamskingdom.com> wrote in message
news:cxScb.125$lk1.4809@nnrp1.ozemail.com.au...
 > "Matt Probert" <www.RemoveThis@probertencyclopaedia.com> wrote
  > > I'm feeling whimsical this morning, and started pondering the question
  > > why do we publish web sites, and then, what is a web site?
  > >
  > > So, what is a web site? Why do we publish them? Those of you who
  > > administer low turnover vanity sites have probably never encountered
  > > litigation, hate mail, hacking and denial-of-service attacks, but if
  > > you have, or you run an e-commerce site, you'll understand my doubts.
  > >
  > > Anyone? Everyone?

making a website is very much like making love to a beautiful woman...
---------------------------------------------------
Hung Diep
New Media Designer
<a style='text-decoration: underline;' href="http://www.intro-spect.co.uk" target="_blank">www.intro-spect.co.uk</a>
0795 6576 319


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 >> Stay informed about: What is a website? 

Barefoot Kid wrote:

 > making a website is very much like making love to a beautiful woman...

A euphemism filled with errors and inaccuracies.

1. Making a website can often be dull and uninteresting (especially when
the tedium of cutting n' pasting content begins), whereas love making
is not.

2. It is acceptable to fall asleep in the middle of coding, whereas in
love making it is not.

3. You can make a website on your own and not be frowned upon, whereas
making love to ones self is generally not considered good.

4. Taking money for making a website is considered an honest and healthy
income, whereas taking payment for love making is not.

5. Love making is about physical attraction, but with website building
content is king!

6. HTML doesn't get upset if you use the wrong element on occasion, but a
women does if you use the wrong name during love making.

7. Technical nerds can easily acquire a website, but it is more difficult
for them to get a woman

8. HTML coding goes hand in hand with coffee drinking, but during love
making coffee can cause scalding.

9. It is acceptable to get up at 3am to do more work on your website if
you cannot sleep. Try rolling your partner over at that time of night
and requesting sex.

10. Quick and dirty code if often the best way to get a website working as
soon as possible. Quick and dirty love making, however, is not usually
appreciated.

Anyway, that's my list of reason. I'm sure there are plenty more, but I
really should get on with /some/ work today! )

--
Dylan Parry
<a style='text-decoration: underline;' href="http://www.webpageworkshop.co.uk" target="_blank">http://www.webpageworkshop.co.uk</a> - FREE Web tutorials and references
Now playing: The Corrs - Radio<!-- ~MESSAGE_AFTER~ -->
 >> Stay informed about: What is a website? 

Barefoot Kid wrote:
 > "|-|erc" <usemyonlineform.TakeThisOut@wwwadamskingdom.com> wrote in message
 > news:cxScb.125$lk1.4809@nnrp1.ozemail.com.au...
 >
  >>"Matt Probert" <www.TakeThisOut@probertencyclopaedia.com> wrote
  >>
   >>>I'm feeling whimsical this morning, and started pondering the question
   >>>why do we publish web sites, and then, what is a web site?
   >>>
   >>>So, what is a web site? Why do we publish them? Those of you who
   >>>administer low turnover vanity sites have probably never encountered
   >>>litigation, hate mail, hacking and denial-of-service attacks, but if
   >>>you have, or you run an e-commerce site, you'll understand my doubts.
   >>>
   >>>Anyone? Everyone?
 >
 >
 > making a website is very much like making love to a beautiful woman...

woman? Where can I download that?


Matthias<!-- ~MESSAGE_AFTER~ -->
 >> Stay informed about: What is a website? 

In article <pan.2003.09.26.12.07.32.295589.TakeThisOut@webpageworkshop.co.uk>,
Dylan Parry wrote:
 > Barefoot Kid wrote:
 >
  >> making a website is very much like making love to a beautiful woman...
 >
 > A euphemism filled with errors and inaccuracies.
 >
 > 1. Making a website can often be dull and uninteresting (especially when
 > the tedium of cutting n' pasting content begins), whereas love making
 > is not.
 >
 > 2. It is acceptable to fall asleep in the middle of coding, whereas in
 > love making it is not.

<additonal funny bits snipped>

You forgot: Telling others your a webmaster is acceptable. Telling your
significant other your a master of anything is a mistake.

kb<!-- ~MESSAGE_AFTER~ -->
 >> Stay informed about: What is a website? 

"Dylan Parry" <dylan.TakeThisOut@webpageworkshop.co.uk> wrote in message
news:pan.2003.09.26.12.07.32.295589@webpageworkshop.co.uk...
 > Barefoot Kid wrote:
 >
  > > making a website is very much like making love to a beautiful woman...
 >
 > A euphemism filled with errors and inaccuracies.
 >
 > 1. Making a website can often be dull and uninteresting (especially when
 > the tedium of cutting n' pasting content begins), whereas love making
 > is not.
 >
 > 2. It is acceptable to fall asleep in the middle of coding, whereas in
 > love making it is not.
 >
 > 3. You can make a website on your own and not be frowned upon, whereas
 > making love to ones self is generally not considered good.
 >
 > 4. Taking money for making a website is considered an honest and healthy
 > income, whereas taking payment for love making is not.
 >
 > 5. Love making is about physical attraction, but with website building
 > content is king!
 >
 > 6. HTML doesn't get upset if you use the wrong element on occasion, but a
 > women does if you use the wrong name during love making.
 >
 > 7. Technical nerds can easily acquire a website, but it is more difficult
 > for them to get a woman
 >
 > 8. HTML coding goes hand in hand with coffee drinking, but during love
 > making coffee can cause scalding.
 >
 > 9. It is acceptable to get up at 3am to do more work on your website if
 > you cannot sleep. Try rolling your partner over at that time of night
 > and requesting sex.
 >
 > 10. Quick and dirty code if often the best way to get a website working as
 > soon as possible. Quick and dirty love making, however, is not usually
 > appreciated.
 >
 > Anyway, that's my list of reason. I'm sure there are plenty more, but I
 > really should get on with /some/ work today! )
 >
 > --
 > Dylan Parry
 > <a style='text-decoration: underline;' href="http://www.webpageworkshop.co.uk" target="_blank">http://www.webpageworkshop.co.uk</a> - FREE Web tutorials and references
 > Now playing: The Corrs - Radio

u have too much time on ur hands...
--------------------------------------------------
Hung Diep
New Media Designer
<a style='text-decoration: underline;' href="http://www.intro-spect.co.uk" target="_blank">www.intro-spect.co.uk</a>
0795 6576 319


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 >> Stay informed about: What is a website? 

On Fri, 26 Sep 2003 13:07:33 +0100 Dylan Parry
<dylan.DeleteThis@webpageworkshop.co.uk> broke off from drinking a cup of tea at
the lunatic asylum that is the yellow pub to write:

 >Barefoot Kid wrote:
 >
  >> making a website is very much like making love to a beautiful woman...
 >
 >A euphemism filled with errors and inaccuracies.
 >
 >1. Making a website can often be dull and uninteresting (especially when
 > the tedium of cutting n' pasting content begins), whereas love making
 > is not.

It isn't ?

 >
 >2. It is acceptable to fall asleep in the middle of coding, whereas in
 > love making it is not.

It's not?

 >
 >3. You can make a website on your own and not be frowned upon, whereas
 > making love to ones self is generally not considered good.

but it does me good like it bloody well should!

 >
 >4. Taking money for making a website is considered an honest and healthy
 > income, whereas taking payment for love making is not.

Yes it is! It's the oldest profession of all time.

 >
 >5. Love making is about physical attraction, but with website building
 > content is king!

Said the man with a small ........

 >
 >6. HTML doesn't get upset if you use the wrong element on occasion, but a
 > women does if you use the wrong name during love making.

Here comes the rodeo position!

 >
 >7. Technical nerds can easily acquire a website, but it is more difficult
 > for them to get a woman

Er, see 4. above

 >
 >8. HTML coding goes hand in hand with coffee drinking, but during love
 > making coffee can cause scalding.

You haven't lived <g>

 >
 >9. It is acceptable to get up at 3am to do more work on your website if
 > you cannot sleep. Try rolling your partner over at that time of night
 > and requesting sex.

Or refusing it.....

 >
 >10. Quick and dirty code if often the best way to get a website working as
 > soon as possible. Quick and dirty love making, however, is not usually
 > appreciated.

I appreciate it! Any takers?

 >
 >Anyway, that's my list of reason. I'm sure there are plenty more, but I
 >really should get on with /some/ work today! )
 >

ROTFL!

What's her name?

<BG>

Matt

--
The Probert Encyclopaedia - Beyond Britannica
<a style='text-decoration: underline;' href="http://www.probertencyclopaedia.com" target="_blank">http://www.probertencyclopaedia.com</a><!-- ~MESSAGE_AFTER~ -->
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