Welcome to The Collective
By Glenn Tally
The World Wide Web consists of millions upon millions of web sites, many of which are nothing more than pointless dribble. Thrown together and mixed with fancy effects that are little more than wrapping, a person can travel through cyberspace for light years until they find a place where they feel welcome. On one such excursion I found my self lost in cyberspace light years from my final destination when I stumbled across a web entity that called itself The Collective (http://members.home.net/starchylde/), it pulled me in like a powerful tractor-beam, it asked me to join or suffer eternity lost in cyberspace. All they asked for in return was my knowledge, experiences and expertise to add to its own. In return I would be granted the knowledge of others in a cooperative and yet comforting environment. This proposition sounded most adequate - considering the alternative - and so I joined The Collective. Upon gaining entry into The Collective, I found myself looking at others just like me, all lost souls looking for a place to call home. A place where they felt comfortable to share their ideas without fear of criticism.
I know this sounds like something out of a Star Trek episode, but The Collective is not an evil alien species bent on assimilating others in order to gain perfection, it is much simpler than that. The Collective doesn't take people's creativity and make them mindless drones; it encourages everyone involved to express themselves. The Collective is a web site where friends can share their ideas, opinions and views on a variety of subjects from books and games, to movies and the web itself. The site was established by a group of friends so they could get their ideas published on the web.
The reason why I like this site is because of its simple design. Too many sites are out there which are just people playing around with Java Script because they think it looks cool. Well the truth of the matter is that excessive Java Scripting and complex code take away from what is really important about the web. And that is sharing knowledge in a universally accessible environment. This site uses simple coding techniques such as tables, in place of frames. The most complicated coding techniques are the removal of underlines from links which allows you to read the text much easier. There are few images on the site, the only one being the title. The color scheme is a simple contrast of white text with yellow links on a black background. Between the simple coding, the lack of images and the color scheme's simplicity, the collective appears as an eye-pleasing masterpiece. A masterpiece that allows the viewer to focus on the information, not getting wrapped up in the snazzy effects and bright colors that so many of the lame brained, name brand corporate site are notorious for. Keeping the site simple has given it a much faster load time, which makes it a much more enjoyable read not having to wait for the page to load.
Although this site is a compilation of many people's thoughts and ideas, it is edited and compiled by a single individual. The editor's name is Kyle Lewis and he is a good friend of mine and in my opinion the best web page designer out there because he focuses on simplicity, rather than getting wrapped up in endless special effect code.
In conclusion the main reason I like The Collective's web site is because it is simple in nature and design and because I feel it is a good forum for expressing opinions.