| About Us |
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| About Us really
is the technical term
to cover the amount
of people who have
worked or work for
the website but as
always of late it
has been more of a
one man team who has
brought these pages
to your attention. |
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Being a Tupac fan
for several years
now I always had an
interest in learning
more about him and
the biggest resource
for information was
the internet, so when
I got connected to
the internet early
2000 there was definitely
many many hours spent
reading. I was always
intrigued by the alive
theories and did actually
have a spell where
I was swayed into
thinking one day I
would turn on the
news and see Tupacs
alive and well.
However it soon became
apparent that the
theories were just
that, but back then
when I was more naive
I believed alot of
what I read online
and took on the opinion
that everything on
the internet was legit.
These days it's easier
or atleast it seems
that way for anybody
to get some free space
and post some information
which could be truly
false and mislead
alot of people.
But going back to
late 2000 I had got
myself some free web
space, I wasn't even
quite sure how either,
I signed up for a
service and could
hardly believe I had
an internet address
which I had the rights
to and what could
be accessed by anybody
at the click or two
of a button. So that
was the start really
of what would become
my interest in web
design and creating
my own guide to Tupac
online. My first website
which was on a free
service however was
not connected with
Tupac it was more
a learning curve website
with alot of 'this
is my page' and 'this
is a picture of my
favorite football
team' so it was pretty
pointless to a visitor
unless they was intrigued
by me.
But as a few months
rolled on I wanted
to create a single
page about Tupac on
my website and display
a few images. I went
searching the web
for some good images
and found myself on
a Tupac website, I
emailed the web master
and asked if I could
use his pictures,
at this time I thought
the pictures was his
property (showing
my lack of knowledge).
He emailed back and
we spoke a few times
and eventually it
would result in me
working for him as
a news poster and
I also had the privilege
of changing the question
of the day. It sounds
pretty simple but
at the time it was
something I enjoyed
being involved in,
there was only one
issue however which
I wasn't sure about.
After a few weeks
the novelty factor
of working for this
website wore off simply
because I wasn't interested
in being the person
who did one small
aspect of the website,
I wanted to be the
person who decided
everything, the look,
the content, the features
everything was what
I wanted to decide.
I also had a difference
of opinion with the
administrator on the
design, sure he could
do whatever he wanted
with his website he
paid the bills at
the end of the day
but I felt his design
was not what you would
come to expect of
a Tupac website. Around
this time I was looking
at other Tupac website's
and some of the designs
was really attractive
and made me interested
in visiting the website.
This could be traced
to current day in
which I am really
interested in graphic
design and presentation
of content, anyway
I started planning
to build my own website
from ground up but
a few problems would
arise.
The first problems
I encountered when
I set out to create
my own website was
the design, because
im very concerned
when building sites
about the look being
clean but also a design
which visitors would
find easy to navigate
ultimately and remember
because they liked
it. My knowledge of
building websites
was limited because
in the past Id only
ever used free site
builders which basically
did all the hard work
for you. So after
many months of practice
and experience my
skills started to
improve slightly,
well atleast to a
point in which I could
put something online
which was useable.
I registered at a
forum which would
be probably the most
enjoyable interactive
forum I have come
across still to this
day. I don't know
why maybe it was because
I had more free time
back then than I do
now and it was more
time posting which
ultimately got me
more familiar with
the group of people
posting on a daily
basis.
After a year and a
half on this forum
unfortunately the
administrator had
to close the forums
because of certain
issues and that was
the end of that era
so to speak. But this
prompted me into action
to create my own website
and try to continue
the same style which
these forums had used.
So I registered the
domain Str8Ballin.com,
I actually spent alot
of time searching
for free domain names,
as you can imagine
alot of obvious domains
which was connected
to Tupac was taken.
It must have been
fate or some real
good luck because
one night I was listening
to the album Thug
Life and while str8ballin
was playing I ran
a search on the name
and it was free so
I registered it.
From then on I worked
on designs and had
big plans for the
site but the site
was put on the shelf
for a few months because
I started working
and didn't have enough
time while doing that
job to work on a website.
After a few weeks
I decided to open
the website just as
discussion forums
for people to interact.
A few old people registered
and the site was gradually
growing in recognition
which was good because
I had run no advertising
it was all purely
from people passing
the word around.
After a year I put
a new design to the
website, there was
actually two designs
used which were only
different in color,
they can be seen below. |
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Click
thumbnail
for full size
image.
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From that point
the website has changed
slightly with a new
design and the forums
have attracted more
visitors. Last year
the forums merged
with o2deathrow.com
becoming the forums
for both websites,
from then the website
adapted a Deathrow
Records style which
can still be used
today.
Still my goal of the
website is to keep
it online and keep
it running, I don't
have ambitions to
ultimately create
anything too big as
my personal life at
the moment fits well
with what I want to
achieve from the website.
In hind sight the
more popular a website
becomes the more attention
and work it needs
to keep up with the
visitors demands.
I have no objections
against the website
expanding, just that
the current setup
keeps the site how
it was started as
my 'hobby' and something
I work on when I have
free time. Figures
and visitor amounts
don't really bother
me as creating the
site as a tribute
to Tupac has been
worth the months of
creating and entering
content into the website.
Hopefully visitor's
will find the content
of good interest and
I can continue to
deliver information
about Tupac for some
time to come, its
always a great thing
to learn more about
a topic from whatever
sources but I feel
its even more of an
achievement if you
can deliver that information.
Creating the website
knowing somebody could
benefit from the information
I publish on the website
is worth the effort
I put in alone.
At this time I would
like to thank forum
member 2Die4 for helping
gather some information
for the website, I
would also like to
praise HitEmUp.com,
throughout the construction
I visited the site
to clarify certain
details and found
it a great resource
of information.
Jay
2pacinfo.com
Webmaster |
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