2001 was my first full year of being a web-publisher. I was able to spend the early months working on the site in the state of being unemployed and not really looking for work. I was in the process of enhancing my web skills when I went and got employed back in print. Several personal projects that I wanted to get up I never quite got the time for. After the corn fritter page was done (or 3/4 finsihed, I was never happy with the info section) I concentrated on learning PDF.

Whilst this helped me greatly, professionally, for indevelopment I attempted to author a pdf based project that was not feasible in the long run. I managed to learn the ins and outs of Acrobat and Magilla Distilla, though.

It was lucky for me that I now had enough material to be a valid web-archive, which in turn would shape its own form.

I learned what my audince is, in a sense. I've got diverse tastes and my work reflects this. The best hits I get are for the interviews: Sam Kieth alone gets around 50 search engine hits each month and is linked at Maxx fan sites. Critter and AnalogX are high up there, too. There is a passage in the Critter interview where the phrase "dreamweaver serial" must be mentioned, for I get loads of requests for that.

I have an article that uses a 1960s comic book advertisement that claims "You can be taller insantly". I get hits by people entering "be taller" at google. 2001 was the year that indevelopment met google. I do throw them plugs throughout but they have been the most reponsive search engine for indevelopment.

My audience is one that is looking for the unusual and the diverse: areas that I am interested in. Not in the whole but in its parts.

I've also realised the role that one can begin to play as a webhistorian. I went searching for the Melbourne band Peachfuzz and found there is an American band by the same name. I'm writing a page now on the Melbourne Peachfuzz, because I get hit by google and because it helps to document my history.

Looking at my record collection I realised I had singles that I coud never find on Napster - the sorts of songs that you might remember from the radio (3rrr if you're from Melbourne) and have not heard in years. (Bear in mind, I do have diverse tatstes). I've done a couple of pages for the 2002 revamp in order to archive and preserve my history and the influences on me.

I've learned to simplify the structure and get rid of frames. Unfortunately I like to indulge in flash and flash buttons so I hope you can forgive me. I promise that every page will have plain html links too.

The 2001 indevelopment birthed on 01/01/01 so it seemed fitting that edition 2002 should be set for 02/02/02.

Grant McDonald.

Author: Grant McDonald www.indevelopment.org