The New Hyperwest

Almost six years after I started hyperwest.net, I'm ready for a re-design and a re-purpose. In Internet years that means I'm a very old dog learning new tricks. Just buying a domain in 2001 felt big, even though millions of people were already on that wagon. Buying your own domain in 1997, that would have been pioneering; I just jumped on the wagon.

Tragically, up until a month ago, I was paying the same $15 a month I was paying then -- for 100 megs of space. I finally came to my senses, cancelled the Yahoo hosting and am now hosted for free. Plus I purchased three additional domains because the things are now like $10 a year. Get some domains now, it's the way of the future. Buy your name quick, before somebody else does.

At first, hyperwest just pointed to my personal home page and blog. I couldn't code worth shit so I was pretty limited in my designs. Soon afterward, I decided that I should use hyperwest to manage the dozens of blogs that were springing up in my friendosphere -- haha, that's a play on words, get it (cough, dork)?

Since that revelation to use hyperwest as a portal to reach other people's blogs and to share websites I frequented, it hasn't really changed. I used to have a ranking system -- based mainly on how often somebody posted -- but after awhile, everyone stopped blogging, even the Royals. Hyperwest became a repository for dead to almost-dead blogs. A blogging graveyard essentially. Sad isn't it? If hyperwest were a Wii, all my friends have left and are no longer wandering around or cheering from the stands. No more Miis.

But hey, I still had the strangers/people I stalked right? I've literally been blog stalking certain people forever. Ever since I discovered blogging (late 2000), I've had certain sites that I've religiously read. Only in the last few months have I even attempted to broach that real life/Internet life barrier. I liked to keep a distance between me and the people I read online. Usually I'm the first in line to meet and greet strangers but with these blog stalkees, I just thought distance was best. That bubble has burst, for the best, and hyperwest has no good use for it anymore. Especially when it's so much easier to just subscribe to feeds to keep up with updates.

The best thing to come out of all this blogging is that my West and East (Mid-West) Coast friends were introduced to each other prior to actually meeting. I got a childish thrill whenever friends would physically meet and say "Oh, you're High Entropy! You're Mr Filipno!" I loved it. Nothing is more fun than clashing disparate groups of friends; especially when they can be introduced by blogger codenames. I'm still waiting on dpma to make it stateside.

Anyway, that golden period is over so now I've decided to take hyperwest to the next logical level, as a blog that will replace all my other blogs. No more anachronic or diorama. No more movie or book blogs. No more little random blogs that spring up here and there. I'm ready to commit and stick with just one (blog).

The portal style is still available -- mainly because I love the highlighted bloggers' excerpts -- but it's being moved off the front page. I also used to have spotlights of people on hyperwest so here's a short sampling of those:

human amoeba. "a single-celled organism designed only to eat." the amoeboid is back. with a vengeance. after a ten month break, the mono-celled one returned to post one of the longest blog entries ever. with chapters, subtitles, themes, foreshadowing, the whole works, it was an epic blog and with it, the return of eric back into blogville. kick back, relax, have a sip of gummi berry juice, share the world of the amoeba. be prepared to be astonished, entertained, enlightened, tickled, and if that isn't enough, well...we got nothing better.

babiegoose. d-d-d-danger, watch behind you - there's a stranger out to find you. what to do? just grab onto some duck tales, oo-oo! not pony tails or cotton tails but duck tales, oo-oo! when it seems they're headed for the final curtain, bold deduction never fails, that's for certain, the worst of messes become successes! duck tales, oo-oo. crap. wrong fowl. but babiegoose is the home of ryan and lorie (they're engaged!) and they are more fun than ducks! and they have tales! go read their history and marvel at how two people found each other. go visit the site and just marvel. what are you doing here? go!

lil'ho. it's the lil'ho kids, turn away, this show is defnitely not pg-13. bring your fake ids and cheesy pick up lines please. with more sass, spunk, swerve, and stories, you'll be sure to want a lil'ho of your very own. she is the style behind dave's son and the morning wake up rooster-ette at hotel pan. she is your bread buttered on both sides and the cherry on top. she's like personality personified. she is your superlative. she just may be a popular game console, shhhh. and she downs a mean beer bong too. the lil'ho may like pink and baby blue but that doesn't mean she has to like you. oh by the way, her last name is ho. sickos.

couch banshee. what's louder than a siren? more opinionated than your mom? yes, it's christina. one half of the sloth duo masquerading as "the banshees," xtina had to be coerced into the blogosphere but now that she has settled in, she's on a blog roll. funny pun intended. blog roll! with an addiction to dvd sets and attention to pop cultural minutiae, christina is my lifeline for all facts real people wouldn't bother knowing. her rants and raves are gold but you may never know it since she may not deem you worthy. "i'm not anti-social, just a-social, there's a difference." for this couch banshee, target isn't just a store, it's a way of life.

And for one more blast from the past, "The Best Cartoon Ever Invitational Tourney," courtesy of (the now defunct) Pogiboy.