Literally, the home page is where all the action happens. It's like the Inspector Gadget of home pages. There are JavaScript animations, "spinning" GIFs, and a few different Java applets. So if it seems to load really slowly the first time, it is partly because a lot of different files are involved, and partly because a sort of software engine--called a "virtual machine"--must be started in order for the applets to run. This only happens once for each time you start your browser. I'm a Java and Web developer, you see, and this page is my own little playground.

However, I take my applets seriously, for I've always felt the technology held great potential for the Web. Still do, I must say. Flash has come into its own, and it is good for presentations and for, well, "flash"; but applet technology is smarter, because it has behind it the power of a well made and seasoned object-oriented programming language. (If you don't understand my jargon, just go with Java applets are smarter than Flash. But, Flash does multimedia better. The two are complementary.) So I've developed some graphical interface code to render antialiased (smooth-looking) fonts that should look and feel the same in any browser. Then I've gone on to build some mostly-just-for-fun tools on top of that code.

On the left side of the page is the Menu applet, which in the first place is the main navigation to this site; and in the second place, it is an interface for storing and referring to your favorite bookmarks. (You must be logged in to use it in the latter capacity.) See this document for details on using the Menu.

The larger applet on the right, the one from which hangs the moon, is the Terminal applet. This is a multipurpose, command-line sort of interface, which can be used to log in to this site, among other things. The Terminal is described here.

And the smaller applet above that one is a gateway to the MetaCrawler "meta-search" engine. With it you can select from several normal search engines (and if you are logged in to VanCleve.com, your selection will be remembered), type in a search string and press <enter>. (If you don't see a caret at the bottom of this applet, click on it, and it should appear.) When I wrote this interface it seemed like a good idea, but I never use it much these days, since Google has become a sort of monopoly among search engines. I only keep the applet around because I dig the way it looks.

Incidentally, in the Menu applet itself, under "Applets", are some links which will open the various applets on this site, in a window of their own.

The big, lovely banner you see at the top of the home page has two panels which pop out on either side when you move your mouse cursor into those areas. In each of these sliding panels you'll see an expressive icon--or, if you like, a "smiley face". The one on the left is mine, and it's supposed to reflect my mood for the day, or hour, or however often I feel like changing it. The right-hand panel is supposed to reveal Mariposa's mood. Mariposa is my ex-girlfriend, who made all the graphics for the various icons you may see here. She is able to log in and change her "mood" any time she likes. This is all very frivolous, of course, but I thought it bore an explanation here.

Attached to the bottom of the Terminal you'll see an image of the moon. This actually changes to reflect the current lunar phase. The algorithm I use to calculate it is primitive, so if the image seems inaccurate, let me know. But I'm hoping it's close enough for government standards. You see, I've long held the suspicion that, as the astrologers agree, we are affected psychologically by the cycles of the moon--if not those of other celestial bodies as well, to a lesser extent. In my case, this is purely an empirical, scientific theory, not a mystical one. So I wanted a means of keeping track of our heavenly sister in order to try and notice correlations with my state of mind--to find out just what sort of lunatic I am, in other words. Of course, it also adds to the dynamism of this Web site, which appeals to me per se.

Just to complete this picture, the envelope icon extended from the middle of the banner is an email link by which you can contact me. Just left of the moon image dangles another, which may be any image that strikes my fancy on any given day. Call it the Image Of The Day, but don't expect it to change quite that often. Sometimes it is shrunk to fit into its alotted space, in which case you can click on it to view it at full scale. And over on the left, below the Menu applet, are some animated GIFs I ripped off from Id Software's Web site some years ago. If you click on any of those, they will ignore you and just keep blinking. Cool! And don't worry, Id Software won't sue me: I'm broke.