I decided to start things off with a brief history of how I got started in the world of computers, programming, graphic and website design. I believe this will depict the learning curve involved for those of you who have the drive, motivation, time, and energy to decipher things on your own.
I think the first time that I was exposed to a computer was back in 1993. I was
in 9th grade high school and they had a lab with brand new Apples...man they were these big monster computers with the 5 1/4" Floppy disks which could only hold like...two letters and nothing else. Now a days you can carry your whole computer in your pocket!
In 1994 one of my friends introduced me to the PC, showing me how Windows 3.1 worked and how you could use it to chat and meet people all over the world. This was a very important moment in my life, I realized then, at only 16 years old, the power and impact that technology would be bringing on humanity for decades to come. I am still amazed today in 2009.
I think the first time that I was exposed to a computer was back in 1993. I was
in 9th grade high school and they had a lab with brand new Apples...man they were these big monster computers with the 5 1/4" Floppy disks which could only hold like...two letters and nothing else. Now a days you can carry your whole computer in your pocket!In 1994 one of my friends introduced me to the PC, showing me how Windows 3.1 worked and how you could use it to chat and meet people all over the world. This was a very important moment in my life, I realized then, at only 16 years old, the power and impact that technology would be bringing on humanity for decades to come. I am still amazed today in 2009.
In the next few years to come, I used the computer on and off to do different things such as writing documents, phone conversation recording (I loved taking stuff apart), chatting, exploring the Internet etc. At that time the computer wasn't necessary in order to do your homework. Today it has become a necessary tool.
It wasn't until 1997 or 98 that I was compelled to get into website design. The reason was simple; I was playing guitar in a band and we needed a website and we understood it could help us get more gigs and hopefully more fans.
I don't remember exactly how it happened, but I do remember that I did a lot of research and tried many different tools and programs in order to build the site. One of the first things that I was up against was the domain name; how do you get a domain name; then how to build the site; and then how to post it on the internet for everyone else to see. I will go over all these things in detail in the next chapters. This is only a history of how I got started.
I remember my first domain being a .org, the reason was that the .com was not available so I bought the .org without knowing that a .org meant an organization, usually a non-profit organization. There was nothing cool about a rock band having a .org website address, trust me! but nevertheless we used it for a couple of years to promote ourselves.
I built my first website in Microsoft word simply because I realized you could do this. I realized later that this wasn't a really good tool to design websites. I noticed when my pages wouldn't work correctly, images weren't showing, and content was all over the place. I later tried other cheap programs which I don't even remember their names. There was also a time where I used front page which I remember being a decent program. It wasn't until about 2001 that my friend gave me a copy of Macromedia's Dreamweaver 4 and Flash 5. Now, these tools made a huge difference in terms of production time, capabilities, ease of use, and accessibility. I still use these tools today.
It wasn't until 1997 or 98 that I was compelled to get into website design. The reason was simple; I was playing guitar in a band and we needed a website and we understood it could help us get more gigs and hopefully more fans.
I don't remember exactly how it happened, but I do remember that I did a lot of research and tried many different tools and programs in order to build the site. One of the first things that I was up against was the domain name; how do you get a domain name; then how to build the site; and then how to post it on the internet for everyone else to see. I will go over all these things in detail in the next chapters. This is only a history of how I got started.
I remember my first domain being a .org, the reason was that the .com was not available so I bought the .org without knowing that a .org meant an organization, usually a non-profit organization. There was nothing cool about a rock band having a .org website address, trust me! but nevertheless we used it for a couple of years to promote ourselves.
I built my first website in Microsoft word simply because I realized you could do this. I realized later that this wasn't a really good tool to design websites. I noticed when my pages wouldn't work correctly, images weren't showing, and content was all over the place. I later tried other cheap programs which I don't even remember their names. There was also a time where I used front page which I remember being a decent program. It wasn't until about 2001 that my friend gave me a copy of Macromedia's Dreamweaver 4 and Flash 5. Now, these tools made a huge difference in terms of production time, capabilities, ease of use, and accessibility. I still use these tools today.
Showing the world my website wasn't as difficult as creating it, and it hasn't really changed much since, other than pricing has gotten a lot cheaper. I paid for hosting, downloaded a free ftp program and that was basically all I needed.
I attended and graduated from three different technical institutes in a 5 year span. It took a lot of hard work to learn all the in's and out's of web designing, development, layouts, graphics, audio, and so much more. It has taken me thousands of hours in front of a computer, reading, researching, exploring, testing, but you know, I love doing that, and I will continue to this for a long time, if not for the rest of my life.
I attended and graduated from three different technical institutes in a 5 year span. It took a lot of hard work to learn all the in's and out's of web designing, development, layouts, graphics, audio, and so much more. It has taken me thousands of hours in front of a computer, reading, researching, exploring, testing, but you know, I love doing that, and I will continue to this for a long time, if not for the rest of my life.
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