1999 website

A distant relative told me he was able to locate my website. Not my current website, but the one from when I was in college. That's really a long time ago. I figured he was not deceiving me so I decided to find what I could. Thanks to the Internet Archive I could find it, albeit without the images or files linked (deleted long ago from the student shared drive, I think a year after graduation).

My first reaction was despite the Internet being "new" (in the popular sense) the forms of content on a personal homepage were not too removed from many personal websites active today; links to things found interesting, pictures, contact information. The developments since then were the interactive sort, messageboards and blogs, multimedia content (high quality audio and video), and games. However at its core the Internet began and remains words and pictures.

My second reaction was that I was not sophisticated in the manner the site was created. It was not my major but the website came about from an computer assignment so the basis for it was from lessons learned in a classroom. I know code came a long way since then (and my understanding of it), but it's still jarring to see blinking text on a website. Or multiple exclamation points. Or a website counter.

My third reaction is shock at the level of personal information I made available at that time. Subtracting out details I no longer care to share online, here is the text on my "about me" portion of the site:

I was born [birthdate] in [hospital name], in [city, state]. I am the youngest of three; [name] lives in [state], and [name] lives in [city]. [name] has a son, named [name], who - as anyone who really knows me could tell you -I am very proud to call my nephew. I attended [elementary school], [junior high school] (yes, it's been changed to a middle school), and [high school]. I did all kinds of activities and sports over the course of my years going to school in [state]. Somehow, the [university] accepted my application (obviously, I'm here now). I admit, I struggled for a while at first, but I've got everything under control. I switched from civil engineering to our business college. So, the grades are in order again, but I'm still searching for a career; Management is my major, but I am exploring consulting, not-for-profits, and unions.

As for who I am; I'm a generally good guy. I'm easy-going. I love movies. I like to waste my time playing stupid game like chess and spades. I love the Yankees. If you visit my music links page, you'll see that I have diverse interests when it comes to music. The Doors are my favorite band, but I do enjoy some Wu, Metallica, Pink Floyd, Mobb Deep, Bob Marley, Pearl Jam, or whatever I happen to be in the mood for.

My resume is available for those who seek it: click here.

Here's a picture of me and my girlfriend, [name]. We have a good time together.
For her web page, click here.

I also had my college mailing address and phone number and my parents mailing address and phone number posted on the homepage. I'm hoping this was before spammers designed tools to pull data like that from websites, but I fear I caused a bit of junk mail and telemarketing. I think there was not a clear understanding of the need for discretion and online privacy back then, identity theft and online criminals were not well understood.

My fourth reaction was surprise that I found it so important that I needed a complete listing of the movies I owned. Movies meant a lot more to me back then. Here's that list, and I still have maybe two-thirds of these VHS tapes:

* Donnie Brasco
* The Godfather Trilogy
* Goodfellas
* Ronin
* Scarface
* The Usual Suspects

* Blockbuster’s Great Crimes of the Century
* Hellraiser I & II
* Frenzy
* Night of the Living Dead
* Rosemary’s Baby
* The Shining

* Dragon: The Bruce Lee Story
* Enter the Dragon
* Faster Blade/Poisonous Darts
* Game of Death
* The Killing Machine
* The Last Samurai
* Return of the Dragon
* The Street Fighter

* Akira
* M.D. Geist Deathforce
* Wrath of the Ninja

* The Apostle
* Conan the Barbarian
* Dances With Wolves
* Devil’s Advocate
* The Best of the Doors
* The Doors
* The Doors: Dance on Fire
* Fear, Anxiety, and Depression
* The Fisher King
* Full Metal Jacket
* Monty Python and the Holy Grail
* One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest
* Raging Bull
* Shawshank Redemption
* Sling Blade
* Some Mother’s Son
* Taxi Driver
* The Wizard of Oz
* What About Bob?

On the other hand I enjoyed reading the quotes I posted:

"The fact is that none of us sees reality. What we do is interpret what we see and call it reality."
Stephen P. Robbins
Essentials of Organizational Behavior

"But all theories are false: they are just words or pictures on pieces of paper. Reality is always more complex."
Henry Mintzberg, Joseph Lampel, Bruce Ahlstrand
Strategic Safari

"The mind is its own place, and in itself
Can make Heaven of Hell, a Hell of Heaven"
John Milton
Paradise Lost (Book I)

"Man is born free, and everywhere he is in chains."
Jean Jacques Rousseau
The Social Contract

"Come forth into the light of things,
Let Nature be your guide."
William Wordsworth
"The Tables Turned"

"Little minds are tamed and subdued by misfortune, but great minds rise above it."
Irving

"It takes a wise man to discover a wise man."
Diogenes

"Whether you think you can or think you can’t - you’re right."
Henry Ford

"The journey of a thousand miles begins with one step."
Lao-tse

"Forever lost in forsaken missives and Satan’s pull
we seek the unseekable and speak the unspeakable"
Smashing Pumpkins
"Cupid de Locke"

"I drink the honey inside your hive
You are the reason I stay alive"
Nine Inch Nails
"closer"

The last impression I had is this website was not easy to locate and was not very interesting at all. I found it highly unusual that anyone would seek out such a thing. It is really amazing that there is anything left from such an old site that was not popular even when it was active. That brings home a real lesson about the durability of information posted online. It's a reminder to be diligent about the amount and level of information to share freely on a website available to the entire world.