|
|
 Webmasters
- Jouni Paakkinen
Jouni Paakkinen is arguably the only webmaster to have attained
celebrity status through his page. He's been around the web as long as
many other webmasters have been alive. SNPP consistently ranks among the
big contenders. |
| |
How are things in
merry old Finland?
Fine, thanks! Summer 2006 was the hottest
and driest of the century. I also became a dad, so it's been special.
Your Simpsons internet history could fill a book, so
how about a short synopsis of who you are in the community?
I joined the community in late 1994 when I started visiting
alt.tv.simpsons. After a lurking period, I started posting in 1995. I
also
had a small Simpsons site called "The Simpsons Character Poll". The
results of the poll are still available at The Simpsons Archive
(http://www.snpp.com/guides/favchars.html).
Later on, I joined Simpsons-L, a moderated mailing list operated by
snpp.com. I became a moderator of the list in early 1998 and
immediately also took part in the site maintenance. Brian Petersen was
just starting to redesing and revive the site. I helped him in revamping
the documents and also recruited lots of new maintainers. The documents
got updated and the site also grew considerably over the next few years.
When Brian Petersen resigned as webmaster, I took over.
Are you a fan of Futurama? Any favorite episodes?
Looking forward to the return?
Yes, not as much as the fan of The Simpsons, but I'm a fan. I
recently watched Anthology of Interest, part II and the video game
parodies were
hilarious. Naturally I'm looking forward to the show's return!
A lot of fans have noted that the last episode
capsule update was close to a year ago. Are you done with these
much-acclaimed pages or on a break?
There is only one guy, Benjamin Robinson, doing the new
episode capsules. When he's busy, it means that there are no new
capsules. Unfortunately the capsules are not the only section of the
site without updates. Many of the maintainers started when they were
students with lots of time on their hands and were also enthusiastic
about the show. As the show has kept running, they have graduated and
gotten jobs, started families, etc. and their interest on the show might
not be just as big as it used to be. As a result, people don't find time
for their Simpsons documents anymore. Another problem is that it has
proven extremely difficult for me to find replacements, who would do the
job properly. Whenever I start recruiting new people, there are lots of
people who are very eager to join SNPP. But then majority of them never
produces a single update. That is very frustating for me and probably
somehow reflects the change in the audience and the fan community. It's
not easy to find people interested in the meticulous text-based work we
do. All they want or can do is image editing, designing and such and
such.
How do you feel about the current state of the
community?
People come and go and there are lots of short-lived sites,
that offer
exactly the same stuff as the others. Truly new innovations are rare,
and
when they occur, they tend to come from the old geezers. The community
is alive, no doubt about that, but it's different now. Not many long
time
members around to "glue" the group together, while before there were
lots
of members everyone knew from a longer period of time.
Same question but about the new episodes of The
Simpsons?
I really disliked seasons 9-11 (and 12), mainly for the
portrayal of Homer
and the action-driven episodes. The more recent seasons have been ok.
The pace is slower, which I like. There are not as many funny moments as
in the earliest seasons, but Homer doesn't irritate me very often, and
that's a very big plus.
Which sites do you visit on a regular basis, both OFF
and non?
Right now, very few. Almost none, really. Simply because I no
longer have time for The Simpsons. When I do visit, I go to No Homers
Club, The Simpsons Folder and The Simpsons Channel.
Other than The Simpsons what are you interested in?
I have a (kind of) home theater and I'm into DVD movies. I
also do some
educational materials independently and for publishing houses. And I
surf
the Internet whenever I have a chance.
Which webmasters do you speak to outside of the NHC
forum or a.t.s. newsgroup?
Nowadays frequently only with Jukka. I also talk to some of
the SNPP guys every now and then.
Is there currently an over-emphasis on designs in the
community?
Well, that's been the case for quite a long time already.
People don't pay
attention and concentrate their energy on the content, just the cover. I
sort of understand that if the thing you're mainly interested is web
design
and not The Simpsons. But when you spend most of the time tweaking the
looks and don't offer anything worth visiting we haven't seen a million
times, I don't see the point. But that just me. I'm old.
Which defunct sites do you truly and honestly miss?
Evergreen Terrace,
Maggied.com, The Simpsons Sourcebook and The Homer Archive etc. for
the memories. For content, some of the smaller sites like Flim
Springfield and Eric's Simpsons Flash Gallery were fresh and fun.
Jonah's site with all the unofficial guide pages was an enormous effort
from one guy, like Chad's ICBIASS.
Are you looking forward to the 18th season of The
Simpsons?
Yes, always. While the show isn't as exciting for me as it
used to be, a
new season is always something special and I always watch and record
every new episode when it's aired here for the first time.
Parting words?
Don't have a cow, man. |
|
Home
OFF
-BK Lounge
-Books
-DVD Texts
-Food
-Grammar
-I & S Guide
-Lit Refs
-Match-Ups
-MIA
-Protagonists
-S18 Stats
-Seven Sins
-Showrunners
-Springfields
-Stubs
-Tattoo
-Trees
On the Web
-Buttons
-Choice 06
-Choice 07
-Community
-Graveyard
-Halloween
-Linkspaedia
-Tips
-Webmasters
Year 3000
-GM Exhibit
-Grades
-Prelims
-Six Feet
-Textbook
Real World
-About
-Accolades
-Contacts
-Disclaimer
-Legal
-Mission
-Support |
|
