Hiatus Day

I'll be taking my traditional end-of-July break in blogging for the next two weeks. Updates will be on a "when I feel like it" basis until Monday, August 3, which marks the start of the TWENTIETH EDITION of the URI! Zone.

The end of July has generally been the time I improve the website with critical features like autoplaying MIDI files and animated llama GIFs. Here is a snapshot of the creative process, taken in July 1997, showing all of the elements that go into maintaining my mediocre modicum of website magic.

• A: High school era science fair ribbons, constantly reminding me of previous successes.


• B: Giant glasses which allow me to see more without moving my head.


• C: Netscape Navigator 3.04 Gold running at 1024x768 for rendering state of the art backgrounds that make it impossible to actually read any text.


• D: A Gateway Pentium computer with 3.5", 5.25", CD-R, and tape drive for transferring files on several media. One might even call it MULTImedia.


• E: A drafting ruler for converting inch measurements into pixels in Paint Shop Pro.


• F: An HP Laserjet 4 for printing out hardcopies of the website for when the Internet is down.


• G: A full-sized flatbed scanner capable of holding a high school yearbook in its maw like a hungry, hungry hippo.


• H: A ZIP drive for holding up to ONE HUNDRED MEGABYTES of files.


• I: Video games for downtimes (since I ran things like a startup and took breaks every hour for team building purposes), including Diablo 1 and The Pandora Directive: A Tex Murphy Adventure.

If there are any new features you'd like to see in the upcoming new edition, or types of posts you'd enjoy reading, share them in the comments section!