Here's a style tip for you:
NO FRAMES.

The Perkins page returns.

Yes, it's true. My page has been reborn. Aren't you glad to see it?

And so different than before. Well, sort of. Different color scheme, different layout, different server....same concept. And that concept? Another idiot with his personal Web page, where he can post and publish things to his heart's content--things about which nobody else in the whole wide world really gives a rip. That's what concept. Just me, wasting time, money, and bandwidth again. Glad for you to visit.

In case this is your first time here, I'll catch you up. A little over two years ago, while in graduate school at Auburn, I began to really learn in earnest about the Internet, the World Wide Web, and HTML. More importantly, I began to learn how easy it was to actually put all that knowledge together to create--you guessed it--a personal webpage. I discovered all I needed was a little time (which I had) and server space (which I also had, courtesy of Auburn's Division of University Computing). So, 'round January of 1996, I put up my first Webpage.

Boy, was it heinous-looking.

I mean, I think about it now and cringe. A few crude self-created .gif files, an annoying background that I thought was "neat" and appropriated, a collection of useless links. And worst of all, a message saying "Hi! Welcome to my little corner of the 'Net! My name's blah, blah, blah..." And everything was all jumbled together in a fashion that, in retrospect, reminds me of a poorly-planned yard sale--you know, a yard full of useless trash that everybody in the whole neighborhood can see.

And I just left it sitting there on the server, for about six months. Even got a couple of emails from 'Net surfers who stumbled across it (thankfully, they didn't offer any critiques).

Now, after a time I began to get a little more Web-savvy--surfing it, that is. I found sites I liked and instead of just aimlessly cruising around, I would look for useful and entertaining things--as opposed to the "lets see where this link goes" approach I had been using. I discovered search engines. I discovered other people's personal Web pages. And gradually, I came to have a weak understanding of style.

And then, to my horror, I realized my Webpage was really crappy. I mean, it was downright annoying. When this realization dawned upon me full force, I hastily took down my page, posted up a message that essentially said "Coming soon" and then let it be. This was around May of 1996; my intent was to take a systematic approach to my webpage construction and have it up in full force within a couple of weeks.

Didn't happen.

Come on, it was summer! I quickly realized the last thing I wanted to do was sit in front of a computer (I had my own Gateway by this time) when every reasonably normal human being was outside enjoying him/herself. So I just let that page sit there while I played (and went to class occasionally). Internet, shminternet. Toss me a beer.

But always in the back of my mind I had this nagging need for a Webpage (don't ask me why). So at the beginning of fall quarter, before my classes really started to kick in, I set to it in earnest.

(still interested? Read on... )