Genesis: . . . About the Site . . .

<BODY BGCOLOR="#000000" TEXT="#FFFFFF" LINK="#51A2A2" VLINK="#408080" ALINK="#000000"> <CENTER><A HREF="menu.html">menu</A></CENTER> <P>   </P> <CENTER> <TABLE BORDER=0 ALIGN="center" WIDTH="60%"> <TR> <TD> <CENTER> <IMG SRC="fredpatched.jpg" WIDTH=150 HEIGHT=185 BORDER=0 ALT="[Picture of Fred]"> </CENTER> <H1 ALIGN="center"><IMG SRC="about.jpg" WIDTH=273 HEIGHT=52 BORDER=0 ALT="About GENESIS"></H1> <P>   </P> <FONT FACE="Arial"> <H3 ALIGN="right"><FONT COLOR="#D7D7FF">From Fred, the dad</FONT></H3> <P> From time to time, people come by in a truck and offer to paint or repaint your name on your mailbox or your address on the curb. You are torn between the desire for privacy and the apprehension that your friends will not be able to find your house when they come to dinner. <P> My son, who is something of an Internet wizard, has offered to design me a web page, putting me in somewhat the same quandary. I am already overwhelmed by communication in various media, and one more avenue of connection is alarming to one who is entering the phase in his life when he wishes to sit on a mountaintop and contemplate the bamboo leaves. </P> <P> However, my son tells me that a sufficiently informative page may satisfy the appetites of the idly curious, while sorting out and giving a welcome to true soul mates. So I have agreed to expose myself, and hope that my son's formidable satirical gifts will be held in check while presenting his father to the cyberworld. </P> <P>   </P> <HR NOSHADE COLOR="#51A2A2" SIZE=1> <P>   </P> <H3 ALIGN="left"><FONT COLOR="#D7D7FF">From Ben, the son</FONT></H3> <P> It has taken a long time to push my dad onto the Internet, even though the rest of our family uses it quite often. He simply resisted the notion, even though he was paid to write about the 'Net a few times. After we got him an Internet account for Christmas and he saw some of the web design work I was doing, though, he buckled and let me build him a site. </P> <P> I am hoping that readers won't find the site design in itself self-indulgent or arrogant. It really isn't intended to come off that way. I figured I had a lot of good photos of my dad to scan and, since the site would be a personal site, plenty of photos would be appropriate. Besides, it's hard to get more arrogant than <A HREF="http://www.benturner.com/">my own site</A>. </P> <P> When I started to design the site, I wanted to make sure the purpose of the site was clear. Besides the obvious, getting paid, I wanted to do the site because it would be a good introduction to the 'Net for my dad. His friends, who often call when he's not home, leaving me as the sole secretary, could find the essays, documents, or whatever they wanted at a web site, since it's much more accessible than Fred is. </P> <P> But even though friends of Fred will find the site most interesting, the site also strives to attract new readers to Fred's works. That does not mean the site is a marketing ploy, however -- it's more like a contribution to the beliefs and ideas behind the Internet. </P> <P> The site uses valid and cross-platform HTML for the most part, allowing a wide variety of readers to experience Genesis. At the same time, I wanted to see how far I could take my design skills without limiting my scope to just one or two browsers (although only Netscape Navigator supports certain Javascript, and only Microsoft Internet Explorer supports backgrounds in tables). I am aware of connection speed issues, and I am aware that Genesis is heavy on the design and layout side, as well as on content. I wanted to show Fred what could be done on the Web without putting <EM>too</EM> much on the site. If you don't want to download all the excess layout, it is recommended that you disable image-loading in your browser. I hope you enjoy your visit. </P> <P>   </P> <P ALIGN="right"> Designed like a fan's page<BR> by a fan and son,<BR> <IMG SRC="bensig.jpg" WIDTH=85 HEIGHT=87 BORDER=0 ALT="Ben"> </P> </FONT> </TD> </TR> </TABLE> </CENTER> <CENTER><A HREF="menu.html">menu</A></CENTER> </BODY>