Interview with Joe Jenett - Part 2

[Internet Brothers] We never cease to be amazed at the creative interactive genius you inject into your web presentations. You have obviously understood from the beginning that people like to be able to talk back and play a part in the evolution of content.

[Joe Jenett] People are the web and I guess that many of them enjoy the web on the same level as I do. "Genius?" — I'm not so sure about that — but the interactive component of the medium has always intrigued me. If you don't provide the means to interact in just the right context, most users will not participate. I've been lucky in discovering some of the contexts that do work. Colorspeak really brings things out of people — it's almost magical. The interface was designed to keep the color they choose in front of them, and it really does work in stimulating meaningful responses. These people are communicating directly to me and telling me exactly what I want to know. It's even more effective than a face-to-face discussion of the color would be.

[IB] You are an acutely gifted digital artist, yet you don't display much of it on your web sites. Is there a particular reason for that?

[JJ] Though I do display some of my art-type stuff on my personal site, I really don't consider myself to be an artist. I'll admit that creativity is a part of my soul that I feel fortunate to have enjoyed my whole life, but if it's art you want, go see Ann Snowberger's site, or visit suffocate.org. My art really has more to do with page layout, conceptualizing content, and programming ... I am blessed with certain creative gifts (as every living human is), but it may just be a matter of labels that prevents you from "seeing" it in my works. Whatever gifts I may or may not have will definitely show up — that's part of the magic of personal expression.

[IB] In your Monday Man vignette, you describe the angst suffered by a talented part-time web developer who must weigh the security of food and shelter from his corporate career against the joy and pleasure derived from his passion. Boy can we relate. How is Monday Man these days?

[JJ] He is much happier than the days in which he wrote the Monday Man series. At that time, I was working full-time in a job that had little room for creativity, and part-time doing the webthing and wishing I could be doing that full-time. Now, I do the webthing full-time, and I'm a happy camper. My full-time job as a web designer pays the bills, and all of the projects I've shared with you here are totally non-commercial and produced for the fun of it. I love what I do all day now and Monday Man is someone I remember well and do not miss.

Cool — people actually do read that stuff...

[IB] The majority of your sites' features are driven by intricate scripting that helps deliver their interactive capabilities. Colorspeak, i2k, and iNSPiRiT are particularly intriguing. You seem to thoroughly enjoy this aspect of web development.

[JJ] I really do — that's part of what's so cool about the web — and I do find experimenting with scripts to be most enjoyable. Colorspeak is probably the most elaborate scripting I've done. It combines JavaScript and Perl just right, and effectively provides my side of the interaction with the visitor. The scripts used for i2k and iNSPiRiT are relatively simple. Both of those projects are more concept than anything else. It's the concept that turns it into unique, interactive content.

[IB] You recently discovered, however, not all web hosts are up to handling the interaction.

[JJ] It really wasn't so recently that I discovered it — but it was very recently that I finally moved on resolving the problems. The web is full of access providers and presence providers all claiming to be the best, but only a very few live up to the claims they make. You really have to be careful in picking your providers, and sometimes, only trial and error will lead you to the right one. Just last month, I moved all of my sites to a new server and it's the best thing I've ever done — for my visitors and for my own well-being. My sites have been functioning flawlessly since the move. My former provider really sucked and I should have made the change last Summer, when all the problems started.

The Internet Brothers have implemented hierarchical menus for navigation. Easier done than said.

The hierarchical menus were created using Peter Belesis' © Dynomat DHTML scripting tool from Webreference. Give them a visit, you'll like what you learn.

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"These people are communicating directly to me and telling me exactly what I want to know."