Start of sesse.net

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You're using a browser that can't display the CSS I use on my page correctly. Most of the site will still work fine, but the site will be dull. You have been warned. Browser upgrade recommended -- after all, there are lots of browsers that can handle CSS properly now, and has been for several years.

Every home page has to start somewhere. I'd rather mine [see me] didn't (and if you do a Google search for my real name (Steinar H. Gunderson), you'll probably find that there are lots of other links to me than just this page). When creating [see creation] a home page [see the Internet and the technical stuff...], there are solutions that spring to mind. A home page is a way for people to get to know you (sometimes more than you want yourself!), and to almost everybody, one actually wants to be a different person [see me]. No matter how we try, we can never escape the roles we play, or to use a cliché: The masks we wear. Sometimes, I get downright embarrassed when people I know visit my home page -- perhaps I did not want to take exactly that approach in getting to know that person (or vice versa), or perhaps I didn't make it in a fashion `working' for especially him or her? People are different...

Thus, I've decided to lay my home page out in a bit of an unusual way, although you might not notice the difference at first sight. It is organized as what has been popularly known as a "mind map" or "brain map". No subjects are more important than others, and they are connected to each other in a web-like fashion... or at least that was the idea. However, even this won't satisfy most people; some people do like to read entire home pages, preferably from start to end (isn't it weird how some people can't relate to unstructured things?), so I had to adjust my specification a bit. Thus, there are `relations' and `subtopics', even in the chaos of thoughts you will probably meet here. There's even a site map that you can look at to make sure you don't miss anything, or just use if you feel comfortable browsing a page that way. (In addition, there's a search function if you're looking for something specific, but nobody seems to care according to the server logs ;-) ) As I said earlier, people are so different, and they like to relate to information in different ways. (And yet, many still won't like the page. I guess I can't keep everybody happy, you are free to turn your browser to somewhere else.) And a very important part of it all is selecting a design that scales well -- I want to be able to add information and topics continuously, without limiting myself to a small set of topics, pages or ideas... (Some have pointed out that the site looks a lot like Everything2, but there is no connection. The same goes for WikiWikiWeb, but although my page is not a wiki (since nobody but myself can change it), I think it bears some resemblance to the Wiki concept. Of course, both E2 and wikis are attempts to organize quite large amounts of information, just like this page, so it isn't really all that surprising that the style is similar. After all, they all lend a lot from traditional encyclopedias.)

Of course, as I am constantly developing myself, this page will gradually get out-of-date, as I just don't have the time or interest to keep this page alive and updated all the time. (I still write quite a lot; it just ends up somewhere else than this page.)

Regarding the design, I try to keep it as simple as possible, simply because `more is less', not mentioning that simple designs often are easier to adjust to different browsers. I'm not a designer [see artistic], but more of a writer [see writing, language and communication], so this page contains very little graphics, and might seem slightly dull to you. However, if you want to get to know me in some way, simply try to browse around. There's plenty of text here to read, and you might even find some of it interesting.

Are you still reading? Did you expect some conclusion, or possible some main menu to keep you started? Go explore! ...and enjoy the ride. (Oh, and by the way, the `last updated' box refers to the individual page you're looking at, not the site as a whole.)