I would also like to start a website similar in concept to the original twowiresthin.com.

i.e. Just a page about me and whatever I want to put up, perhaps blogged with moveable type. I want to do the daily picture 'thing' ala JohnStone for personal motivation for myself.

Heres the problem: I'm very computer literate, but not so much with HTML.

I know I need:
a) A registered domain name
b) a hosting service (any recommendations?)
c) an FTP program
d) to design a webpage (either with notepad or frontpage or dreamweaver or whatever) (any suggestions?)

Are there any good tutorials on this process or any caveats people can warm me of? I'd hate to make someone elses mistakes if it could be avoided.

John has been an incredible source of inspiration for me, and I want to take some of what helped to make him successful and implement it in my own program.

Thank you, everyone.

-Allen

I think the most unique and smart thing John did was have what seemed to be a dedicated digital camera "locked" on a tripod - he never moved the camera or changed the lighting, and always stood in exactly the same place with the same pose againt a neutral back ground - so he could easily and quickly get his daily shots taken and "USB'd" to his computer for a quick update with minmimal effort and things to do/think about/change.

too many people try and fail to do this because the camera/subject placement/distance changes, the lighting and back ground change, and they end up with photos that have so many changing variables that it is hard to really see the subtle changes of your body.

If you can figure out how to pull off this aspect of what John did - you are most of the way there - the rest of building a website and what not isn't very tough.

I never read anywhere how john setup his cam but I made a stand for my digital cam from a light that holds it in the same place everymorning.

If your just startging out use Yahoo or tripod or whoever still offers free hosting these days..

To get a domain name, go to a registrar and register one. An example would be godaddy.com. As for hosting, it all depends on what you need. I'd suggest registering an account on webhostingtalk.com and asking for some recommendations there. WS FTP is a good, easy to use FTP program. As long as you tell it that you're using it for school, it's free. For webpage design, either use frontpage or find a free template site and download one from there.

i was thinking about trying the picture thing, i only have 1 camera and i cant leave it in the same place always because i use it for other things, so i put some tape to mark the spot where i use it for the pictures

as for the lighting, dont see how it could change too much, the light in the room is on or off, no adjustable brightness

i also know exactly where to stand, just have to try to get the same pose every time

time of day is a factor as natural light leaking in from windows will have a subtle effect regardless of how bright your artificial light is. :bb: