little m

About Little M

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Bud's caricature

Notes from the Original Webmaster
February, 1999

by Bud Stolker

Two and a half years after we set up our small corner of the World Wide Web, Little M is still very much a work in progress. We opened April 1, 1996 (April Fools Day!) as the official World Wide Web site of Metropolitan Washington Mensa.

MWM is the local chapter of an international social organization. But since Mensa per se has no official opinions, Little M must serve some larger purpose. As much as I would like to report that we have found that purpose, I must confess that we are, alas, still looking.

While browsership is up from five hits per day initially to 15 hits per day as of January 1999, that's far fewer readers than we had hoped to garner. Two obvious reasons come to mind: The Web has exploded in the past 2-1/2 years, and there's more competition for eyeballs than ever. And we, the Webmasters, have been slow to update and maintain this site due to various personal and professional obligations. Staleness is a cardinal sin on the Web, and we have been guilty of it.

A third reason, while less obvious, may be apparent to those of you who browse our site regularly: we are not getting contributions (a familiar editor's lament). Send us more stuff, and this site will continue to grow.

As the Webmaster-a job roughly equivalent to magazine editor/publisher, I see Little M as a medium of expression for all local Mensans. It's a place to share with others whatever you might share at a Saturday night party, or at one of our Annual or Regional Gatherings: news, pictures, notices, recipes, jokes, bawdy stories-whatever. Little M has room for everyday detail and significant trivia, but it can serve too as a forum for intelligent comment and controversy. Its future is open, and we will comment occasionally in this space on our plans. (By the way, when I say we I am including our Associate Webmaster Supreme, one Mary W. Matthews, who has her own strong opinions about Little M. She and I will sound off independently, so don't be surprised if you read one opinion here and another elsewhere. We see that diversity as a healthy thing and invite you to join us by sharing your thoughts.)

What lies ahead? The Little M you see today is the core of what we modestly believe will be the best Mensa Web site in the world. We have gradually expanded, and will continue to do so. As the Internet grows, so shall we. We're just ramping up our interactive chat service. We plan to continue releasing a variety of interactive tools to let members post their own notices and even chat with each other. We may offer home page services and E-mail addresses. We may sell advertising. We may have members-only areas protected by password. Who knows-we may even put up a Mensa store. To a great extent we will be guided by you, our readers. E-mail is easy and fun, and we do hope you'll stay in touch.

Though we've been slow to implement these services, they are still very much part of our future plan.

Our Web page address is http://www.mwm.org. You can write to the current webmaster at littlem_webmaster@yahoo.com. Inquiries and issues not directly related to Little M activities, however, should go directly to our Membership Officer.

Web technology: We tried incorporating page frames as an experiment, but found that a significant number of readers objected. Many were browsing through America Online, which at the time did not support frames. America Online's browser now supports frames, as does Microsoft's Internet Explorer, and we may experiment with this technology again.

I've looked at Little M through the lens of Lynx, a text-only browser, and frankly, it looks awful.

Well, what should we do? We could push the technology even farther and get into Java technology or 3-D virtual space but we'd lose most everybody. Or we could go for bland and boring mostly-text and get lost among more graphically interesting sites. Our thinking right now is that we'll go with a good-looking but not super high-tech site and let you react to that.

Graphics: We're using pictures somewhat sparingly. 70% of Web users are dialing in with a modem, and large graphics are more annoying than enlightening at modem speeds. Various browser programs seem to display pictures with unpredictable results. We'll add graphics judiciously as we learn what works well on the Web and what you prefer.

Authoring tools: We're writing these pages primarily with Microsoft Word for Windows Version 7.0, using Jill Swift's ANT_PLUS shareware HTML engine.

Maintenance: This Web site was maintained by me-Bud Stolker-of Landmark Computer Labs (landmark@landmark.org) and Mary W. Matthews (wisdom@smart.net). We appreciate your comments and suggestions. Write us at the above addresses or just click on this address to contact the current Webmaster: littlem_webmaster@yahoo.com.

Original date: February 21, 1999.

Last Update: December 13, 2007.