By Margaret Wong
www.kimble.org is the home page of Kimble, nickname of ex-Hacker
Kim Schmitz. This site is extremely media enriched as it is entirely
created through Flash and contains various shockwave movies for the
entertainment of through traffic. Its critical downfall lies with
the shortfalls of viewers using lower bandwidth connections. However,
the push toward higher speed connections should remedy future troubles
viewers might have with his site.
The primary purpose of www.kimble.org is to entertain and introduce
the viewers to Kim Schmitz. Though Schmitz did not create the site
himself, his personalization is clear. In a somewhat conceited way,
the site has the feel of a high-tech game, enabled by Flash technology,
and teases the curiosity of the viewer. Filled with animated graphics
and audio captions, Schmitz's goal to entertain is certainly successful.
This site is an expression of his personality and connections. The
introduction, with the aid of a mysterious voice caption, says "Legends
may sleep . . . but they never die!". The use of special fonts,
florescent blue images of a hard drive on black background enhances
the mystique of the site. Strongly associating himself with secret
societies and the mysteries of the hacker networks, Schmitz entices
the viewer to further explore his already very intriguing site. More
personal information is revealed as links to photos of his life, his
possessions, and loved ones is found in chronological order. But most
importantly links are provided to his businesses: www.megacar.com,
www.dataprotect.com, www.monkeybank.com, and www.kimvestor.com.
As far as his self proclaim of success, he has a no holds barred
approach. A spinning 3-D "K" when clicked on reveals a cartoon
representation of Schmitz and the audio caption voices "Kimble
Rulez!". His shockwave movie, "Kimble Special Agent"
expresses his love of Linux and dislike of Bill Gates. Ironically,
in news releases related to Schmitz, he has been proclaimed as the
Bill Gates of Germany.
What all this comes down to is an excellent multimedia expression
of the personality of Schmitz. Though it does not serve as much to
advertise or advocate specific items, its very existence on the web
has revolutionized the web experience for the average surfer. Static
web pages often lack excitement when compared to Schmitz's site, and
maybe, with the surge of high speed connections, access will no longer
prove to be the obstacle of bringing excellent web creativity and
content to the intended audience.