What's the deal with OtherSpokane?

Your humble editor as resolved to drag this simple website kicking and screaming into the future.

Let me take you back. December 31, 1999. 11:59 p.m. Many people around the globe thought the entire e-world was about to collapse, causing world-wide panic, food shortages, and roving bands of cannibalistic punk rockers foraging for lunch.

But I was ready. I had a big bag of rice, a pack of beef jerky and two bottles of R & R. I was friends with many of the potential cannibal hoard, and knew that if they hadn't eaten me by then, I was probably safe. And, I'd already been in a state of panic since the mid-Seventies.

Instead, I had Issue One of The Other Spokane ready to go at the push of a button. As you know, when the clock struck midnight, the only thing that fell was the ball in Times Square. Civilization survived. The rice lasted me until 2005.

And The Other Spokane was born. It was pretty bad. But remember the world back then: waiting minutes for the page to load, Nokia phones, the Spice Girls.

It was all a crazy, haphazard, experimental hobby. Having designed newspapers and a tabloid-style magazine, I enjoyed experimenting with the layout. And, as I learned in brief flirtations with button-up journalism, it’s much easier to get your stories and photos published when you own the medium.

Up to this point, I have used a nearly 20 year old program to create and edit the site. That’s right, Frontpage 2000. The problem is that it was not mobile phone compatible, and turned OtherSpokane to barely readable Lilliputian text.

So, changes were made. Also, I’m going to a more typical blog-like deal-bobber, which I can easily update from my phone. On my phone, on the road - where I plan to be spending more time.

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