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It started with a Web search. The search,
ultimately took me to Justin's Links. The film Home Page
will be the narrative of my journey, an inherently linear
experience. But no need to wait 'til it comes to a theatre
near u. Just hit the links of your choice and blaze your own
non-linear path through some of the homiest destinations on
the Web. Happy trails!
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John's excellent New Yorker article, Home on the
Net, is what first got me hooked on the subject of
home pages. He placed it in a larger context, and
used a travel metaphor that resonated with meaning.
It's where I first learned of Justin, too.
"Have you talked to this kid, Justin Hall?
You should, he's great. He's really done it all on
the Web. And he is a cyberstar."
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Justin is a 21 year-old prodigy who has the single
most compelling site I've found on the Web. Justin
puts his entire life online in graphic detail. His
sexual experiences. His father's suicide. Hundreds
of poems to a former girlfriend. College lectures.
Friends. Family. Dreams. Nightmares. Secrets.
Everything gets revealed.
"I get accused, you're just using the truth,
my truth, to add to your ratings, or using my truth
for your hits. And it's really hard, because I feel
like the most compelling stories are fucked up
people's fucked up shit."
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Josh Silver
my step-son
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Josh is a classmate of Justin's at Swarthmore U.
Not everyone on campus appreciates Justin exposing
their private lives to the world at large. They're
not exactly pals, but Josh agreed to act as my
intermediary.
Josh- "Is Justin generally liked?
Ehh!... I think many people are suspicious of him,
in the sense of putting people up on the Web."
DB- "So how come you have no interest
in the Web?"
Josh- "I wouldn't say I have no
interest. I use it to get baseball stats."
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Feed is a highly acclaimed Web 'zine. It not only
has truly intelligent content but is one of the few
sites to use hypertext links in a playful and
imaginative way.
Steven- "How would you feel if you
were going out with someone like Justin, who was
doing stuff like that?"
Stefanie- "I'd censor him... Well, it
depends--"
Steven- "Depends on how your
performance was evaluated?"
Stefanie- (laughs) "Right."
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When I asked people in the know whether a female
Justin exists, a number of people said I had to
contact Jaime, who's considered one of the coolest
designers in all of Webdom. Turns out she's not a
bit like Justin, but she is a character.
Coincidentally, her latest project has been
acquired by Julie Petersen for HotWired.
"It's great that (Justin's) using the
internet to empower himself, but he's got this
whole thing going on where he's, like, trying to
help the world, you know? I just don't need another
Jesus Christ, you know?"
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Aliza's Webgrrls and Cybergrrl sites have helped
thousands of women get online. She's an equally
well-linked, self-publishing success story, but
otherwise stands as a stark contrast to Justin's
cult of self.
DB- "Has being Cybergrrl gotten in the
way of relationships?"
Aliza- "Why? Because being a
superhero, nobody's good enough for me?"
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One of the 4 founding members of HotWired, Julie
was Justin's boss during a semester's internship.
Julie's personal home page,
Awaken, has
been justly celebrated for its' highly literate Web
musings.
"I'm trying to take my entire body and my
entire soul and my entire mind and squish it down
into a couple of web pages in such a way that
someone will stumble along it and it'll, sort of
like a landmine, explode in their face, and they'll
have me all over them, and they'll go, "My God,
what hit me?!?"
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Howard is a noted author, esteemed spokesperson on
virutal community, and so famous he stars in Kinkos
commercials. Justin interned for Howard at
HotWired, and refers to Howard as his guru. Howard
calls Justin his guru, too. Justin has left school
to help Howard launch Electric Minds.
"I've had some privacy issues and we've had
discussions. I think someone's gonna punch him in
the nose and then he'll realize where his right to
reveal ends."
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Carl
and partner Joey Anuff used to work at HotWired.
Then they began secretly publishing Suck. Their
hilariously scathing commentaries on the media and
internet culture quickly made Suck one of the Webs'
most popular sites. They came under scathing
criticism themselves when Suck was bought out by
HotWired.
"I think selling out is a very amiable goal.
It's one of the few available to the independent
publisher today."
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Carl- "So, admit it, wouldn't you sell
out to finish your documentary?"
DB- (long pause)
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Copyright © 1996-1999 D.B.
Block. All Rights Reserved
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