Updates to the blog!

First off, a WAP version of the Patio is now accessible here. Put simply, it uses a lightweight variant of XHTML designed for earlier mobile phones and cellular networks. It uses this WordPress plugin.

And also, the Patio itself has gotten a fresh coat of paint with that sweet, sweet Aero flair. I came across the theme on an archived version of the WordPress theme index, though you may still find it here. (Good luck finding it through much other means, as browsing WordPress’s theme index for anything but new, overly modern stuff is rather difficult past Twenty Ten.) I tweaked it just a little bit, and man is it looking spiffy, complete with working Start menu.

I like it. It strikes as just enough to have that early personal weblog feeling to it while being distinct. And really shiny. I’m not sure if I’ll keep this look, in case I come across another theme that matches the general feel I’m trying to accomplish with this blog, but it’s likely going to stick around for a while.

The first version of dotcomboom (the site) was brought upon the world in March 2018.

May saw the iconic(?) graph paper look (something I “borrowed” from the earliest site of an old acquaintance from earlier long-winded group stuff back in 2016 and 2017) ditched in favor of some public domain photography from a content producer I used to watch, and shortly there-after run through a program to make it all pixel-y. Also introduced was a project I had done in node.js called Neohitz, hosted on a site called Glitch, that sought to replace the image-based hit counters and modified date indicators everyone else on my old webhost was using with something more “modern”; that is, if you consider document.write('blah') modern. The jukebox also got removed by the 11th.

Some work was done separating the main navigation from the more minor stuff.

This stuck around until June, when it was tossed for no CSS at all, and very(!) shortly after that, an orange take, which also got restyled shortly afterward.

July saw the introduction of my personal favorite layout of this time, one that I’d use elements for many months to come. I’ll note that this was around the time I began to write and use what would become AutoSite Legacy, then just called AutoSite.

Going into October, I pulled a 180 and moved the whole site to a Bootstrap template for the meme.

Later in October, I came back with a new version of the previous layout. The banner at the top cycled randomly through screenshots of The Powder Toy with some JavaScript.

This would be the final layout on my old web host.

The Dreamhost Era

dotcomboom.somnolescent.net launched as The Snake Shack (with a rather embarassing intro text) in December. This version of the site stayed until March or so and can still be accessed here if you’re brave enough.

July saw a comeback of the earlier layout with a new theme, featuring a hue-adjusted version of the old banner and Hypercard snakes (graciously ripped by mariteaux).

This lasted through October, when the site got another overhaul with the water.css framework.

That brings us to today:

Pages have been added, and things have been tweaked with since, with the blog being formally launched in late January. As for the future? Anything can happen, so keep your eyes peeled.