The Web, Slot Cars, and Crimes & Misdemeanors

(or: How good can they be if they can't even spell their own name right?)

Normal Unc Rant Warning: think of this as a "Year in Review" Section, only a little more whiney and bitchy. Goes with the territory, I guess. Like it says on a lot of these pages, while the premise of this stuff is slot car drag racing, it occasionally travels rather far a field in pursuit of some points I think are worth considering. We're part of a big world out there, and the laws of business and reason that apply to it apply equally to our part of it. Like that State Trooper once told you, "Ignorance of the law is no excuse."

Oh, yes, it's also too long for easy reading, but that's what the "back" button is for, right?

On the occasion of the 1^st anniversary of this site a few weeks ago, I had the opportunity to reflect on what I’ve seen, learned, and not learned about slot car drag racing on the Web. There follows, in no particular order, some observations, comments, and mini-diatribes about the Web in general and about our little corner of the world in particular.

The Web

  The point of design, any design, be it graphic, architectural, automotive, whatever, is to convey a sense of something from the people who make it to the people who use or buy it. American business spends billions upon billions of dollars researching how people feel when exposed to advertising and product design; that feeling directly affects the consumer’s view of the value and quality of the product. So why do so many sites, ostensibly produced by real people for real companies, look like some kid did it after one too many hours of the Xtreme Games Repeat Marathon?

Maybe because that’s exactly who did design it?

  The same designers (or would-be designers) who constantly forgot that the idea of commercial advertising is to sell stuff are now doing Web sites. Hence, lots of eye candy and, generally, as little content as possible. As currently executed, the Web is an almost perfect example of the clear differences between viewing, seeing, reading, and understanding.

  Someone should also pull those designers off their ISDN or cable modem lines and force them to watch their pages load at 56k, or, God forbid, 28.8k. My rule of thumb: if your corporation is worth more than a billion dollars and your index or home page takes more almost a minute to fully load at 56k, fire someone. Today.

  The Badge of Honor, "HTML Authors’ Guild," seems to have about the same value as a roadside sign that says "Eat Here – Get Gas." Probably true, but no testimony to quality. The fact that you can do something says absolutely nothing about how well you can do it, at least as far as communicating ideas is concerned.

  "Webmaster" means what these days? The specific person who never returns e-mail? The person in the mug shot on the wall at the Inane Design Police station?

  When you get beyond "cute" and occasionally amusing, is there really any reason to have flashing, scrolling, or otherwise animated text?

  In the same vein, designing frame-based Web pages has now been made so simple that anyone can do it, and everyone is. So now we have what is already limited screen real estate broken up in two, three, or more segments, all of which are generally too small to contain what the designer wants to force-fit inside. It's a little like firearms: not everyone who wants to own a gun should own a gun.

Slot Car Racing and Slot Car Drag Racing on the Web

  Slot car racing is a relatively small niche market, and slot car drag racing is an even smaller niche of that market. So we’re not talking Internet IPOs here, just a collection of relatively small businesses, both manufacturers and tracks, and a limited number of hobbyists who devote time and space to the hobby’s facets – like this place, for example. You can’t (and shouldn’t) compare an Acme International Slot Raceway’s Web site to that of a Dell Computer or Ford Motor Company.

Except... on some levels, you should compare them. Honest.

  The level of comparison you, as an Internet browser/site shopper should use can be phrased as a simple question: "What’s the point here?" In the case of a purely commercial site, the answer is reasonably easy. In the specified case, the people who run a site either a) want to convince you to send them money, in return for which, they send you products or perform services for you, or b) want to convince you that their products and/or services are superior for whatever reason, and that you should buy them from the people who sell them in their behalf. Just like the real world. But when you get down to some elements of our slice of the pie, it gets a bit more difficult.

  What, for example, is the point of any given raceway’s home page? Taken as a simple offering of (some) information, a such a Web site can be very little more than a colorful but basic Yellow Pages ad: "We exist, we are in this segment of the hobby, and here is the means by which you can contact us." Swell. Why should I? What compelling reason does the site offer to cause me to return periodically or even add it to my "favorites" list? What interest does it create?

I've long believed, as do many others, that as commercial entities, raceways are essentially geographic in scope; exclusive of level of competition and quality of facility, they initially attract racers from within a predictable distance radius. They become the track for a number of people, and a track to everyone else. That perception can, however, be altered, and that distance radius extended if the level of interest is increased.

  How does creating interest make a difference, particularly regarding a track's Web site? Many of us have discovered that given a choice between two equidistant tracks with similar facilities, we tend to favor the one where we, for want of a better term, have more "fun" (however we choose to define that idea). If and when our track choices are limited, we tend to support those activities and events at our local track that we believe will be more "fun" (for a selected number of others, one substitutes the phrase "level of competition," and the same circumstances apply). Why then, you might ask yourself, do most track Web sites seemingly ignore the reason a vast majority of us participate in the hobby in the first place?

  I firmly believe that the most obvious omission most track sites have, at least regarding attempts to increase interest, is an absence of elements that involve people, rather than facilities, inventory, or physical location. Granted, it's a pain that requires considerable work. Trying to flesh out a sense of the activities that go on at a track isn't the easiest thing to do, but I know from experience (however limited) that the benefits are well worth it.

In a sense, it's a regenerating activity, in that it tends to both encourage and support local racers, who enjoy seeing their names and pictures on the Web, while at the same time offering an invitation to other racers outside the normal geographic "draw" area to join in. For those well beyond an actual "attendance" radius, a site that reflects these things tends to draw more repeat visitors, and consequently heightens awareness of both the site and the track involved (which, from the perspective of a business, is almost universally a Good Thing) In my opinion, it's pretty much a win-win deal. Why then, if the method is simple and the cost is minimal to affordable, do so many tracks that already have a Web site ignore the opportunity to make it more attractive and productive at the same time?

The Gritty Details, Avoidable and Otherwise

  I really hate to sound like your least-favorite high-school English teacher (well, actually, no, I don't), but having a site riddled with spelling and grammar mistakes makes the site author look like, well... an idiot. Every word-processing and decent Web-authoring tool I've ever seen has a spell-checker built in, which has clearly been disabled in the case of way too many slot car Web sites. Granted, some site hosting locations like this one, GeoCities, provide site construction tools that omit them. However, Web site construction is probably the primary Internet activity that should never be done on the fly, and there's no reason why even a bucks-down builder can't cut-and-paste from a word processor. Unless, I suppose, the builder doesn't care what image the site projects.

  Grammar and syntax are a little trickier, but hey, how bright do you have to be to remember the difference between simple plurals and singular and plural possessives (e.g., slot cars, slot car's, and slot cars')? Or "to" and "too"? "Your" and "You're"? Having mentioned this, of course, virtually guarantees that at least one similar glaring error will appear in this document. Hope I find it before you do.

  The point here is simply to emphasize that if one presumes that a Web site is intended to reflect not only the value of its content but both the ability and intention of its author(s) and owner(s), one might further presume that those parties should actually give a **** about how it was executed. Remember, we're not talking about your little cousin Bobby here, and his personal site about his junior soccer team. This is a real-world application of the old phrase "consider the source." When the "source" is trying to convince you of something or, better yet, sell you something, and they represent themselves (as an entity) as being worthy of trust and belief, don't you think it would be in their best interest to present the best face possible?

  I don't know about you, but I tend to be pretty lenient about dead or stale links. It seems some non-commercial hobby or special-interest sites have the half-life of Berkelium (4.6 hours, if you want to time them), so it's not all that unusual to get the dreaded "File Not Found" message if the links aren't checked at fairly regular intervals. Which, uh, of course, um, I've never been guilty of or anything. I have to say, though, that if a site only has five or seven links on it in total, and two of them no longer work, some one is not paying attention. Ever wondered why that happens?

  It happens because Web sites, if done properly, are not "set-and-forget" devices. I suspect some of the major surprises most Web site authors encounter is how difficult it becomes to put fresh content on their sites, and, generally, how to prevent those sites from becoming "stale." Not to mention precisely where that content comes from. For whatever reasons, this can become a niggling chore, not to mention a verifiable pain. Unless there is a point to all of it, one that the author or authors truly want or need to make, it quickly become evident that having an "active" Web site can be more effort than it's worth.

About Life Here at Unc's Pothole on the Information Superhighway

  Not that you need to hear this, but I originally envisioned the construction of this site as about a two-year project. Done as a job or business project, three to four months at most, even if I goofed off a great deal of the time. But it's not a job, it's an aspect of my approach to a hobby, and not the only one I have, at that. As a result, I work on it when I feel like it, or when I bored with something else. When I do bash away at it, I always work from a simple original outline which has remained essentially unaltered. At the top of that piece of paper are two words: "resource" and "credibility."

  To me, "resource," in this context, means a collection of pieces of information that offer the possibility of offering me either a) something I don't know (which is a lot), b) something I may have known but have forgotten (which, similarly, is also a lot), or c) access to further "resources." I looked at a number of slot car and slot car drag racing sites before I started this one, and was struck by how few of them offered anything beyond "We have really neat stuff, and you should buy it." and "Here I/We/They am/are! Impressive, huh?" There wasn't really very much constructive information there to be found (promotion, news, and results may be information on many levels, but they're basically who and what, not why and how).

This specific "resource," as originally (and currently) envisioned, was/is aimed at the beginning to intermediate slot car drag racer (and, like skiing and driving a real car, a great many people who consider themselves in the "expert" category are exceedingly misinformed). I recalled the vast amounts of misinformation I was exposed to, and, perhaps more critically, the absence of basic information available on which to make decisions. So I started this dive with those premises in mind, and you're reading part of the result (granted, not a very productive part if you're looking for a gear ratio solution for your Factory Modified or some such). Just a facet you can read or skip as you choose. As you may have noted, there are a lot of blanks to fill in around here, so I'm certainly not lacking for stuff to do (to which you may be mentally adding "So why don't you get off your ***, stop this editorial ********, and write something we can use!?" Good point, bad timing. I'm on a roll here, and you know how I am when I get that way, right?).

  "Credibility" could be taken interchangeably with "trust." Throughout this site, things are normally presented either as suggestions, examples, or occurrences. You, the reader/viewer, are encouraged to consider both the source and the suggestion from your point of view, rather than mine. If there's anything I truly want to communicate, it's a way of thinking about things, a perspective, rather than a method. I try to treat the reader/viewer as an adult, no matter what their actual age might be. I'm not selling anything here, and never will. If I decide to try to sell you something some day, it'll be some other site, and I'll expect you to apply the same level of examination and skepticism to that one as you would to this one, or any other site, for that matter. To do otherwise, it seems to me, would compromise the basic point (there's that word, again) of this place.

  That point, in my opinion, is not better served if I waste your time trying to impress you with what a great racer, master builder, and/or all-around slot car drag racing hot shot I am. Which is why I'm actually a little embarrassed about the Section heading that reads "Some of Unc's slot cars, records, prototypes, and competition results." Why should you really give a **** about what I've done? You shouldn't, unless and until I can somehow communicate the why and how of it so that you can figure out how to apply it to what you might do. Which, you may note, is what I'm actually trying to do here. Slowly. Have patience.

  Having said the above, some of you may occasionally wonder why I come across as an arrogant *******. Mostly, it's because I am an arrogant *******, and it show through this altruistic shell now and then. I write like I speak (which those of you who have never met me can verify by asking those who have), and I speak like I think. See: labyrinthical. I just am this way, sort of like your crazy cousin Bubba, but with an attitude problem.

  My one concession to the dictates of basic market research is in answer to the question "What do most people want to see?" To which the response, most commonly, is "People and cars and numbers and stuff." Oh. Ok. So there's a section about people and cars and numbers and stuff. Since it's about my home race track, it sort of lets me off the hook Never let it be said, however, that Unc doesn't know how to give viewers what they want.

  Regarding the content of this site: I learned a long time ago that most everybody has a busy life in one way or another; despite the best of intentions, there are a million other things to do besides write stuff for some guy's Web site. Hence, I anticipated that an overwhelming majority of the content on this site would probably have to be self-generated or discovered on my own. To this point, with the exception of a few pictures, it has been. I don't anticipate a change in that area anytime soon, so if you're looking for the next big breakthrough here, I wouldn't get my hopes up just yet.

  Sure, I have axes to grind; some of them even have figurative blood on them. I occasionally go on about my opinions here (this article, for example, may make up in length what it lacks in charity), and will probably do so again. But I try to keep that to the premise behind the problem or the prevailing attitude, rather than the specific entity. Mostly. Until now.

Unc's Slot Car Site Hall of Fame (or: The Guy in the Glass House Throws Stones)

At the risk of seeming petty (and, oh gosh, that possibility really makes me nervous), I've noted, below, a few of my favorite examples of the various "set-and-forget" and "blind leading the blind" theories of site management in our segment of the hobby. The names have been omitted because... well, just because.

  Take, for example, a major slot car site where the name of the business was misspelled in more than a few places. In some of the logos, too, and for quite some time. Years, almost. That's finally been fixed after, I presume the biennial site review. As it's clear the site was built with site-authoring software that has both a built-in spell checker as well as a "find and replace" function, I guess they never felt like it needed anything. Probably a major waste of time to check your site more often than once every two years, huh? Good to see that all the rest of the spelling and grammar mistakes have "survived the cut," though.

  Another one of my slot car favorites is a clearly commercial site that a) not only takes forever to load, but, b) loads several inoperative applets that sit there and "X-image" at you while you're wondering what you did wrong. As a special bonus, it also loads honest-to-God incomplete large images, at that. Understand something here: being the neo-geekazoid that I am, I have almost every buyable and downloadable reader, player, extension, plug-in, and extra component known to non-commercial man. I've looked at the site using three different browsers on four different computers. I've read the HTML code, analyzed the pictures, and I can't figure out how to do that, even on purpose, without actually messing up the picture in an image manipulation program.

So what am I supposed to think? It doesn't look that way on someone's computer or the person who created the site never bothered to check it after publishing it? Guess what my choice is. And what else, one may reasonably ask, do they lavish this level of attention to detail on? Stuff I'm supposed to buy from them?

  Then there's the commercial site that hasn't linked about a third of its available pages to each other in any fathomable way. If you have the right link or URL you can view the sections, some active, some not, but you can't access the other parts of the site from within those sections. And we're not talking firewalls or archives here, but simply a site with really ****** internal navigation.

  Which, I suppose, is not quite as bad as one site that has internal links to, in effect, "hyperspace." I'm not certain what pages the author thought he was linking, but it sure wasn't within his own site. What's more confusing is that they actually pull up an FNF screen on two different ISPs. That's reasonably hard to do within one site at one location, but, as demonstrated at this site, clearly not beyond the scope of a dedicated site builder. Again, this is from some one who clearly states his intention is to sell me something. Care to venture if he has shipping problems?

So. That's the end of this rant -  for this topic, this time. Trouble is, writing it caused me to think about some other aspects of this hobby and allied businesses, all of which make me slightly nuts, and besides, I still feel like bitching. This is not a good sign. I suppose I should make some sort of promise that the next long written piece will actually have something to do with slot car drag racing, huh?

Ok, I promise. Trust me. Would Unc lie to you? Never, right? At least, not yet? So while you're feeling so warm and fuzzy, why don't you just slip one or two twenty doll... uh...ahem.

Woo, woo! Just a touch of Slot Car Web Site Fever there, I guess. Relax - it'll pass.

re<g>ards,

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