'Webmaster of fun' looks to future of 'Net technology

Jack-of-all-trades, webmaster of fun that sort of describes Randel H. Hanes the Hanes behind Hanes' Desktop Network www.hanesdesktop.net. He is the type of computer person who, as he put it, has "played with computers since they were the size of Chevies."

"The computer is a toy," Hanes said in admitting he doesn't mind working 18-hour days, seven days a week, as sole proprietor of Hanes' Desktop Network.

"I played around with the Internet before it was the Internet. The concept of the World Wide Web didn't start until about 1989. The first viable browsers were about 1992 or 1993. Netscape came a little later. I've been playing with HTML since version one. I was writing Web pages directly in HTML coding," Hanes said.

Today, Hanes designs Web sites for customers. His clients mainly arrive by way of HD Network's Web site. Few are local; most are international.

Frustrated clients

"Some of my customers are frustrated people who tried designing their own Web sites with programs like FrontPage," Hanes said.

"At Hanes' Desktop Network, whatever can be done with a desktop computer, we develop it," Hanes said. At his Web site he gives an expanded explanation: "We design Web sites that utilize the latest techniques available on the Internet: animation and media, shopping carts, forms, client and server side interactivity."

Services Hanes offers include commercial art and advertising; Web site design, and e-commerce; music, animation and media; digital archiving; electronic publishing; illustrations for print; desktop publishing document templates; network design and consulting; and programming.

HD Network, a true e-business, with no brick-and-mortar storefront, has no employees. As indicated on the Web site, HD Network contracts "the talents and skills of several individuals from their own home offices."

Pool of experts

Hanes' pool of experts includes commercial artists and other programmers, as well as individuals familiar with foreign languages and cultures. Hanes said HD Network offers the option of converting Web sites into languages other than English, using people who know the language and culture rather than using translation software.

Hanes is a hands-on businessperson. "I always do the finishing touches. I have my hand in every project. The quality of what we produce is what my business is all about. I'm quality control as well as editor and everything else. I usually like to do most of the work myself," he said.

Accustomed to consulting with his clients, Hanes has plenty of practical advice on technology.

In Web design, he said, one thing not always considered is that because there are different monitors and browsers "out there," not everything is created equal and not all Web pages show up on everyone's screen as they do where created. This is one aspect Hanes checks out when he designs sites, he said.

File size is another factor in Web sites. Hanes warns that people at home may be shopping over slow modems, so clients should watch the amount of graphics they include in a Web site.

Operating systems

Hanes also recommends that people think about having multiple operating systems on their computers, because some software is made for Windows and some isn't. Most of his machines have more than one operating system, but his preference is Linux.

In one of his guises, Hanes "teaches his future competitors," as he put it. He admits to wanting to help people become more computer- and Internet-literate.

For example, through Ozarks Technical Community College's continuing education department, he expects to teach 14 computer- and Internet-related courses this summer. Also, through HD Network, he is setting up online courses on writing code and using programs in Web site design.

With little formal computer education himself, Hanes developed his own knowledge of computers, programming, programs and Internet applications through hands-on use and keeping his eyes and ears open to new developments.

To stay on the leading technological edge, he continuously seeks knowledge through periodicals and is "up at 5 in the morning, online, checking up with Internet news."

He said he does it to stay competitive. "I grasp hold of new technology almost as soon as it comes out, and if I can find it during the development stage, I try to get involved in that so I can stay at least as informed as my competitors in California."

Internet changes

Over the years Hanes has encountered many changes in the field. "The Internet used to be considered publishing, now it's converting to broadcasting," he said. He pointed out that some of the software he uses now is showing things in three-dimensions, where before 3-D was more for inpresentations, due to its large file sizes.

One reason for the change, he said, is that home connections are becoming much faster.

Hanes sees languages like HTML used in designing Web sites as slowly improving but with a lot of limitations still. More flexibility in what can be placed on a site, he said, has come from applications like QuickTime and Shockwave.

Hanes expects that due to the rolling blackouts and power problems in California, some of the businesses that deal with large server farms will start considering moving to more energy-funded areas like the Midwest.

Communications

"Other nations do business with U.S. Web designers because they want sites in mostly English," Hanes said. "Too, our technology and communications systems are usually more advanced than in other parts of the world, so those companies want to do business here. As their communication technology changes, we will slowly be losing that advantage to other countries," he said.

The incentive for big companies to work with designers in other countries, he added, will be lower labor costs.

In his own future, Hanes hopes to open a cyber-coffeeshop in Springfield. In one of his knowledge-gathering jobs, he worked in a restaurant, and he expects to apply both computer and restaurant know-how to make the cyber-coffeeshop a success.