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Win the StOP Award, from CCCP
This site has won many awards, view them on my awards page 1 and awards page 2. 
  the StOP award logo 
 		 What constitutes good  web page design is a matter of taste to some degree. While it is difficult or impossible to judge beauty or Prettiness (but we do it anyway), there are a few practical aspects, which can be judged objectively: Structure, Originality, and Performance of a web page.
The Central Committee for Cool Places (CCCP)  has created the StOP award, to be given to the precious few web sites that excel in these categories. Excel means just that. The StOP award is not easy to get. If what you're after is just a bunch of more or less pretty award banners to put on your page, you can find lots of those elsewhere. Read the description below, and, if you think your site qualifies, apply for the StOP award!
  • Structure

    • You know from experience that big and bloated web pages are evil. Scroll down slowly, read everything on the way, recognize the subjective significance? No way! Most of the contents of such pages is simply lost to the viewer. Therefore, the content must be split into multiple pages. But this does not necessarily improve things much. Proper navigation and orientation elements are needed to create structure! Some sites excel here. Others are just a convoluted multi-page jungle, where the only easy way is the way out! 
  • Originality

    • Everybody creates a personal home page these days. The main motive should be content - do you have anything to say, sell, show off? Something unusual or entertaining, interesting or intriguing, clever or crafty, funny or comical? Alas, many pages have no content, others just repeat things the authors found somewhere else on the net. Second hand ideas, facts, graphics, and sound. Once in a while though, we come across an original page, well worth a bookmark. 
  • Performance

    • You know these pages, and you hate them: You stumble on a link, click on it, and then, wait. A title line shows up. You wait. An oversized image slowly appears, then, nothing. After 3 minutes, some more images. Another wait for 3 minutes, some background midi file starts to yodel. Eventually, if you're patient enough (I'm not), you see the content (the text) pop up. All of this can be avoided! Image height and width specifications delays loading of images, so the text comes up first. Multi-page structure cuts down on individual page size. Sparing use of graphics helps! Avoid background music! Avoid large background images! And so on. 
  • Prettiness

    • Beauty is very hard to judge. Often, many of us agree on what is pretty or butt ugly. Equally often, our tastes differ radically. In web site design, prettiness is most often achieved through use of graphics. More graphics can yield more beauty. Yet invariably, an abundance of graphics destroys performance. Our personal opinion is that performance should not be sacrificed for aesthetics, but you might disagree. Anyway, Performance and Prettiness are usually conflicting objectives, it's almost impossible to excel in both categories at the same time.
There are four different awards being offered by the CCCP. Samples of all four awards, are at the bottom of this page. The winners, to this date, are: So, if you have a site that excels in these areas, fill out the application form! You are not sure yet? You need more detail? OK, ask yourself these questions:
  • Are my pages well structured?
  • Is my content original?
  • Do my pages perform well (load quickly)?
  • Is my site pretty?
    • We know it is between difficult and impossible to judge beauty objectively. So, if you think you've got a pretty page, and we happen not to agree - well, that's tough. But then, we just might like it, too!
    • Just one warning: We hate background music on web pages. You might think it sounds pretty - well, we don't think so, ever. Don't even think of applying for any award here if your pages use background music.
No page can meet all of above criteria, but if the answer to most of the above questions is yes, you have a good chance to win a Silver StOP award. If your site is outstanding in most respects, you can get a Golden StOP Award! If you still feel like filling out the application form, go ahead now! The Central Committee for Cool Places, including my friend Chatterley and me, will have a look at your site. If you win, we will email our decision right away, and tell you how to place the award on your page 

But these awards will not be given to just anybody who applies. Be prepared to hear some tough criticism about your site. By applying for the award, you ask for it! If your site qualifies in some, but not enough criteria, we might ask you to improve your site in specific ways before you can put up the award banner.  The Silver Award for Structure, Originality, and Performance

the StOP award logo 
From the Central Committee for Cool Places  (CCCP), this site has received the Silver StOP Award, for its Structure, Originality, and Performance!
The Silver Award for Structure, Originality, and Prettiness
the StOP award logo 
From the Central Committee for Cool Places  (CCCP), this site has received the Silver StOP Award, for its Structure, Originality, and Prettiness!
The Golden Award for Structure, Originality, and Performance
the StOP award logo 
From the Central Committee for Cool Places  (CCCP), this site has received the Golden StOP Award, for outstanding Structure, Originality, and Performance!
The Golden Award for Structure, Originality, and Prettiness
the StOP award logo 
From the Central Committee for Cool Places  (CCCP), this site has received the Golden StOP Award, for outstanding Structure, Originality, and Prettiness!
This site has won many awards, view them on my awards page 1 and awards page 2.
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