Venice on the web
A semi-regular column

- John Patten, 07/02/02,  jpatten@veniceflorida.com

Got a comment? Make it here.

Related:
More Turmoil Hits Computer Department
-- Venice Gondolier Sun, 06/26/02
Venice Lays Off Information Systems Worker
-- Sarasota Herald-Tribune, 06/26/02
We Expect More - editorial
-- Venice Gondolier Sun, 06/29/02
Hunt Figures Drama Worth It - He made up the cost of battling his critics
-- Sarasota Herald-Tribune, 07/02/02

A quote on the web site you are about to see
"[Emergency Services Director Joe] Slapp did an investigation and contacted three or four companies that indicated there was somewhere between $30,000 and $40,000 worth of work on the disc."
-- City Manager George Hunt to City Council on June 11, 2002, referencing the Petra-designed stealth web site that you are about to see.

A note on the web site you are about to see
For background, see Where's The Web? -- PuterGate Version 2.0.

This is an out-of-the-box, ready-to-wear, pre-fabricated web site designed by Microsoft and called 'Tidepool.' It comes as one of the default pre-made web sites in the FrontPage software package, designed for ease of use for newbie web site designer wannabes. It's basically a learner's web site. All graphics, buttons, layout controls, etc., are pre-designed and ready to go, the idea being that you don't need to know anything about designing web sites in order to have at least a simple site like this online within hours.

There are two modification that were made: I was unable to get clearance from Sunline to reproduce several photos that Petra software had 'borrowed' from Sunline, so the outline of the photo is substituted to show you how it was inserted into the page (including the borrowed shading -- yes, that's the way the photos were used and laid out on the pages). There are deep-links to the individual graphic files on Sunline's servers. To be fair to Sunline, they didn't say no, I just got sick of waiting for them to return my calls, so I ended up with this workaround. It's generally considered bad netiquette to deep link like this, but it is legal. 

Also, the two input forms have been disabled -- the "Submit" buttons have been removed. This was done to prevent the capturing of any data.

No other changes have been made. Yes, that is the theme from Cheers used on the Emergency Services page; no I didn't put it there. I can't figure it out either -- did Norm become a fireman or a cop or something? I'm totally lost on whatever reference the 'designer' was grasping at here.

Again, the graphics in the site you are about to see are all designed by Microsoft, the layout is designed by Microsoft, input forms were designed using a Microsoft Wizard function in FrontPage, the photos were borrowed from Sunline.

The ONLY original work in the Steve Randall/Petra-designed site that you are about to see is the text. This is a public document, paid for and owned by the citizens of Venice. Since the public has, until recently, not been allowed to view it at all, It is being presented in its totality now under the guise of the public's right to know.

Hold your nose, turn your speakers way up
and click here.