WYGIWYG

As you can most likely tell, I have caved in and generated this pre-fab website using Squarepace, a "customizable" website hosting service.  After losing a laptop last year with all of the files for my previous site, I have now decided that I should abandon my dreams for internet autonomy and self-sustainablity for the safety and simplicity of an online WYSIWYG template based website. 

I find it sad that as the capabilities of browsers, codes and personal computers are developed and expanded the consumer web-design programs and services available become outmoded and prohibitively over-complicated to compete with the rich-media experiences that can be bought with effect packages, design firms, and streaming content providers.  At PETA, my place of work, we are shifting our video players to the current Flash video server systems, and it amazes me how complicated and difficult it is, even for a large, established and savvy organization.  The individual stands little chance, unless they want to make web-design their profession and spend hundreds of hours learning every interation of Actionscript, HTML, Java, CSS, etc. that trickles down the development ladder.

Don't get me wrong — I'm very glad that this particular service (Squarespace) exists.  They have taken some pains to provide options that are otherwise unavailable to the self-publisher at a reasonable cost (like embedding video and an admirably versatile design interface) but the overall feeling from moving from my tediously and laboriously hand-made and hand-updated HTML and Flash site to this is depressing.  As a microcosm of my generation, web 2.0 has reproduced the real-estate market's shift from ownership to rental. 

Alas, I must maintain a storefront, a facade, an archive of my toils outside of commerce and industry.  So enjoy, look around, and forgive the suspiciously familiar proportions, structures, and the faint smell of formica.