My Websites


Amazingly enough, the first version of "Dan's Home Page" (you are here) was put up on the web at this URL before I had an Internet account or graphical web browser that I could view it with (In those days my only access was through a text-based dialup account from the local library.) From the very beginning of this whole web thing, I was never really content to sit back and browse -- I always wanted to do more, to create content for everyone to see and (hopefully) enjoy.

I've had the pleasure of creating some interesting sites, not only for myself "for fun", but for start-up companies individuals and Fortune 500 companies as well. Highlighted below are some I'm most proud of:

MafiaMob.com
Mafia Mob.com is my current big project, having occupied my free time for the better part of 2 years. As you might gather from the name, the site is a online game about being in the Mob. New players join a "family", earn points by playing games, and take out "hits" or "contract kills" on other members. Some, apparently, find this quite addictive, and after almost a year of operation, there are more than 3,500 registered (and paying) members. As head programmer, my job was to turn design specs from the site owners into working site features:
  • More than 15,000 specialized lines of ASP code in several dozen game functions (ex: "make a hit", "list families", "family business", "buy information", etc.)
  • Normalized MS SQL Server 2000 database with three-tiered design.
  • Interaction with Cybercash (now Verisign) transaction software to accept credit card transactions on the fly.
  • Message board/chat room/IM application/buddy list features
  • Complete site automation + admin features.

DansJP3Page.com
Dan's JP3 Page is the latest my seemingly never-ending series of movie websites -- this one tracked news and rumors surrounding the release of the third Jurassic Park film up until the theatrical debut (and now, several months afterwards). I just get a kick out of running these sites, and like my TLW page (see below), this one was pretty successful, with more than 1.5 million hits and counting. Besides combining my programming skills (I wrote a message board for the site, voting booth, "fan fiction" section, etc. -- many of which can be downloaded below), I also got to exercise my journalism skills, even conducting a hard-hitting interview with JP3 star Sam Neill and chatting one-on-one with the film's director, Joe Johnston several times via e-mail. The site is still operating today and has many active users.

ASP Scripts
Here are some ASP scripts (written in VBScript, for the most part) which I've used on some of my websites, yours for the taking! Note that before you e-mail for help, to install these scripts on your website, your server must support ASP (ask your server admin if you're not sure):
  • Voting Booth (2kb zip) - The easiest and most versatile voting booth script around. Supports integration with your site and poll expiration dates.
  • Message Board (11kb zip) - A simple but functional message board app. Users can post new messages, reply to the message, bump messages to the top, and edit messages. Use with the login/off script (below) for added functionality.
  • Login/logoff Script (4kb zip) - Lets users create an account with password, then greet your visitors and restrict or grant access to site sections.
  • Simple Search Engine (2kb zip) - Searches thorough a directory on your server for a phrase specified by the user.
  • Story Comment Script (2kb zip) - Useful for news websites, allows users to comment on a story.
The following scripts are available for licensing at very reasonable rates. Please contact me for more info and pricing or if you want to try out live versions of the apps below. Custom modifications and/or installation is also available.
  • IM Application - Full-featured Instant Messaging application with easy installation on any ASP-based website. No Java or app to make your users download. Displays number and username of online users, allows users to send real-time messages or leave offline notes. Buddy list app (included) requires integration with Access/SQL Server database.
  • Web Hosting Application - Give out websites to your users with no fuss! Allows users to upload files into their directories, delete/edit/move/create directories, and set file quotas. Admin script makes adding new users easy.
  • Custom Apps - Have an idea for a web-app? Drop me an email and we'll chat.

Older Sites
Ahh, the old junk. Why the heck did I do some of this stuff? Boredom, most likely. But it's funny to go back and look.
  • Dan's "Wing Commander" Page and the Official WC Movie Page (2/97 - 1/98) - I started this site when I heard that the my favorite computer game series, Wing Commander, would be turned into a big-screen motion picture. Since it combined two of my favorite subjects, namely, computer games and movies, I figured it would be a perfect topic for a new website. I could never have guessed what would happen next: The site was going along pretty well, and I was doing a pretty good job keeping up with the latest news on the movie. Then I received an e-mail from someone at Digital Anvil, the production company behind the film. They wanted me to design the Official Website for the movie, and flew me down to Austin (where the company is located) to talk about it. Well, to make a long story short, several months later the website was completed (and is located at www.wcmovie.com), and I found myself back in Austin at world premiere of the film.
  • Dan's "The Lost World: Jurassic Park" Page (12/97 - 9/99) - Before my JP3 page, Dan's "The Lost World: Jurassic Park" Page was a website I created which tried (successfully, if I might add) to keep up with the latest news and rumors about the sequel to Steven Spielberg's 1993 classic adventure movie, Jurassic Park. With an estimated 500,000 hits in a little under three years, this site was quite successful.
  • The WinNuke Relief Page (12/7/97) - A bit outdated now, but "Why WinNuking is Lame" was a site I started in frustration after being "WinNuked" several times. I guess it worked, as I still receive positive feedback about this page on occasion.
  • Dan's Quake Page - Like everyone and their brother, yes, I did have a Quake page at one point. My was one of the first daily-news type pages for Quake, though eventually, the "big" Quake pages like Blue's News (then "Blue's Quake Rag"), Redwood's Quake Page, and Slipgate Central forced me to change my focus; instead, I concentrated more on my Quake Launcher utility, DQL.
  • Steve Neuman '96 (5/1996) - You say you've never heard of the 1996 presidential candidate Steve Neuman?! Well, perhaps that's because Steve Neuman was a 17 year old kid in my Propaganda class at Randolph High School. For the "mock election" part of the class, the "Steve Neuman '96" website was essential to the campaign, the first website in the long history of propaganda class at RHS. For awhile, the site even had it's own domain, http://www.neuman96.org/.

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