As per the request of one of the DanceNet readers, here are copies of the past ramblings of the DanceNet Webmaster.

• February 4, 2001:
  Thank you for coming by, but, alas, I have no Soapbox this week with which to entertain you. Maxwell Ho had indicated that he wanted to write a note before leaving town for the next few months; he wanted to thank the appropriate people and comment on his time here during the last two years. He's also busy at this time (we just finished shopping for his new computer) packing for his trip. Perhaps by next week, he'll write up something with his new toy (no, Maxwell. Put that hub back on the shelf! You don't need it!).

  Meanwhile, someone (who shall remain nameless) pointed out a difference between "advanced" dancers and "experienced" dancers. I had used both terms interchangeably but I realized that they were two separate things. Unfortunately, I got this note on Sunday (Feb. 4) so I didn't have time to think and write about it. I'd like you all to think about the distinction between the two terms and write to me about it. Do it early enough and perhaps I'll have something interesting with which to cause more trouble in next week's Soapbox.

  Meanwhile, I hope you all have a nice week.

• February 11, 2001:
  Someone who has their webpages hosted by this site told me that they got comments about how fast it was to get the information from this website and how easy it was to read.

  One of the "tactical strategies" used in the development of these pages was that I would type in every bit of HTML code to create the website. This meant that I knew why every little HTML tag was put into the file. When using applications to create webpages, you will find that you get files with extra "junk" put in. Some of this is important (like for W3C HTML 4.0 compliance), but many times a program will insert extra "junk" for itself that is not needed for W3C compliance and just serves to make the file larger. On the other hand, I'm always looking to see where I can cut back and make the files load faster.

  I use only generic HTML that should appear correctly in both Netscape and Internet Explorer (though I rarely test in IE). It's a long process but I'm going through each page on this website to make sure they conform to the W3C HTML 4.0-transitional standard which should assure that the files can be read in a variety of browsers. Both Netscape and IE have features that don't appear in their rival's application. Some of them cover "badly-formed" HTML code by assuming what the author had intended.

  I pay attention to colors and backgrounds (and images) to make the pages quick to download and easy to read. (Never red on blue or vice versa!) Images on generic pages (regularly visited) should not be more than 10K to keep the download speed down. Images on venue pages should be less than 50K so the reader doesn't get bored waiting for the image. I use size information for the images so the user doesn't have to wait for the picture to load before being able to read the text. Proper compression on the images makes the files download quickly.

  While this takes more time to download, I try to keep the calendar information all together. This allows the user to see all the information at one time, as opposed to checking the listings for each specific date. If a reader is looking at information for a specific date, they won't miss the events that might be happening the next day.

  However, I think that the most important aspect of the DanceNet website is the fact that it's updated regularly. I still find many websites that point to the old DanceNet location. This website gets updated every week, if at all possible (I'm typing this on the plane to San Francisco) because fresh information is what keeps readers coming back. I know of several websites that waited for readers to type in their information. This leaves only the most ambitious businesses entering the information and the other venues left out. At the same time, I think that many people lose interest in maintaining those kinds of websites fairly quickly.

  However, while I do spend a ridiculous amount of time on this website each week, it doesn't mean that I go looking for information to fill up the space. I get many venues sending me information every week so I don't need to hunt for it (even from venues that I'm not interested in). I don't go cruising through other websites for information and if I accidentally see something on a discussion forum, I assume that it's just rumor or gossip until I get an official notice from the dance promoter. If you see a Boston swing event not listed on this website, that's because the promoter didn't send it to me.

  The readers of this website can help out here by constantly reminding these promoters of the audience that reads this website every week. Listings here are free; it seems rather silly that any dance promoter would ignore the publicity that they could get by just taking a few minutes to compose an email message to me.

• February 18, 2001:
  A couple of weeks ago I asked for comments from my readers for their views of the difference between an advanced dancer and an experienced dancer. One way to approach this was to define the following categories: "non-advanced/inexperienced", "advanced/inexperienced", "non-advanced/experienced", and "advanced/experienced" dancer.

  I really got only one significant response, it being an interesting note. That note was rather clear on the writer's opinions, but I was hoping for more responses to get some sort of concensus.

  Lacking any additional responses, I tried to put together a sample of what I hoped might make my readers think not about what they are, but what they would like to be:

  • An Advanced dancer knows where to place his partner in a dance figure. An Experienced dancer will look at the spot where he is planning to place his partner.
  • An Advanced dancer knows how to avoid kicking or bumping other dancers around them, especially behind him. An Experienced dancer will dance with his feet under his/her body (no excuse for kicking another dancer).
  • An Advanced dancer knows how to flip his partner over his back and make it look good. An Experienced dancer knows how to keep his partner on the dance floor.
  • An Advanced dancer knows how to clear dance space around them without physical contact, threats, or dirty looks. An Experienced dancer is surprised to find that space has cleared out around him/her.
  • An Advanced dancer knows how to grab the limelight by being in the spotlight. An Experienced dancer can gather a crowd while dancing in a dark corner. An Advanced dancer can get your attention with flawless spectacular dancing in a jam. The Experienced dancer draws your attention to his/her dancing and you don't even realize you're staring.
  • An Advanced dancer remembers what it was like to dance as a beginner. An Experienced dancer remembers what it was like to *feel* like a beginner.
  • An Advanced dancer knows a lot of cool moves and how to do them. An Experienced dancer knows how to dance.
  • An Advanced dancer can show you a cool move. The Experienced dancer can teach you how to dance.
  • An Advanced dancer is rewarded by an awesome performance that brings the house down. An Experienced dancer is rewarded by the smile on his/her partner's face.
  Are you an experienced advanced dancer? My not-so-shy writer felt that there weren't that many people in that category, though he said that many fit in one or the other group. (No, he didn't say which category he was in.) I don't think that's important. On the social dance floor where I like to be, how your partner regards you is a lot more important than what your audience thinks.

  I remember dancing at the IC during November of 1998 with my friend, Judith. The place was thoroughly packed and we were dancing at the edge of the dance floor for safety. We were having a grand ol' time dancing with each other and somehow, space cleared around us, even though we hadn't done anything to cause it. Somehow, we caught the eye of an attending writer for Smithsonian Magazine who watched us for the rest of the song. I didn't know about the writer until afterwards; all I had wanted to do was make sure we had fun dancing with each other. Having fun got us mentioned in the Swing article in the magazine's March, 1999 issue.

  I consider myself an advanced-beginner or beginning-intermediate dancer. You can tell me if I'm an experienced dancer or not.

• February 25, 2001:
  Nope, no soapbox this week. Yeah, I'm slacking off. I've spent the week trying to upgrade my main computer to a new motherboard and it refuses to cooperate. That, of course, meant that I didn't do anything with dancing this week so I didn't think of something for this space.

  At the same time, about 8 pm on Sunday (Feb. 25), one of my friends (yes, I do have a few) mentioned a situation that I thought would be an excellent topic for the Soapbox, but I'm not about to huddle over my keyboard on a nice Sunday night to get the stuff typed in. Of course, my best stuff happens when I've had the whole week to make changes in it, so you'll probably see it next week.

  Several people have threatened to write for this column. I wish they'd hurry up.