My son helped me with the first two pages, http://rockystar.com/index.htm and index2.htm. After reading an article in a computer magazine's Guide Series on Writing Web Pages, and HTML from IDG books, I taught myself how to write the pages and things exploded from there. I, hopefully, improved on the index2.htm page while leaving the introductory "warp" page as it was originally designed.

Web sites, such as about.com, and several sites dedicated to Java Scripts, helped with their tips on various aspects of web page writing. The design part seemed to come naturally.

As a science instructor at a local community college, I am somewhat organized and believe in the KISS theory, Keep It Simple Students. My pages follow this format. Maintaining a consistant appearance for each area my pages cover, e.g., Astronomy, Geology, etc., was common sense and allows for easy navigation.

I avoid the complexity of some pages and don't use the bells and whistles of others. This allows individuals with 28k or 56k modems to load my pages in their browsers with a relative fast speed. In case people want to use a browser other than the "Big Guy" in Washington, I have nine or ten browsers on my computer to be sure the pages work at least reasonably well in them.

I teach Biology, Chemistry, Geography, Geology, and General Physical Science. After my students started using the site, others found it. As a result, I had some requests for help in Mathematics. I manipulated some free Java snippets that dealt with various aspects of that subject to provide help for students in Maths. Soon, I received requests for a more complicated subject, Calculus, and was able to provide several links to Calculus pages that were availabe on the Web.

Where I go from here is not known. If I receive more requests, I will try to comply or refer to other areas that are already available on the Web.

I, personally, do my utmost to reference reliable sites to avoid problems with spam, viruses, etc. that could create problems for the users of my site.

I have been asked for advice from some of colleagues at work that have their own college pages. Such as, "How did you do that? or, "I don't want to bother with Java, can I do a mouse-over some other way?"

My site is akin to "The Never Ending Story."

As Rocky Star, Scientist on the Web and author of Rocky Star Science on the Web I want people to realize that Science IS fun!

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