About the Site

Established 2 July, 2009

Programs Used

• GIMP 2.6.6
• Netobjects Fusion
• FileZilla
• Windows Movie Maker

Best of all, the first three programs are free open source projects!. I don’t know about Movie Maker, because it came with my computer, but GIMP, NetObjects and FileZilla are fantastic if you don’t want to blow money on expensive web design programs like Dreamweaver, Photoshop, and so on. GIMP = Photoshop, NetObjects = Dreamweaver, and FileZilla = SmartFTP. They’re all open source. I love free things, haha.

About SGO

Why did I choose shotgunOPERA as the name of this website? Well, I first heard the phrase in Linkin Park’s ‘Bleed it Out.’ The entire phrase goes “Shotgun opera, lock and load/Cock it back and then watch it go.” Aside from being really awesome lyrics, the connection I immediately made was to my favorite television show, Supernatural (as the boys are always using shotguns to repel vengeful spirits and the like). Ergo, the phrase immediately became cool in that zany brain of mine, and I wanted to make a site with that name.

I started SGO with a free webhost. It seemed like it wasn't all that bad a deal at first... except for annoying limitations: small bandwidth, slow FTP uploading, and an overall nightmare to hack it. I'd still recommend it to those who are just starting out though. I learned a helluva lot of things while tinkering around on my free domain. However, the cons quickly outweighed the pros and I realized that as my site grew, my bandwidth lessened. Luckily, I came across the TOTALLYFRIGGINAWSOME lovely and talented Kayla of Shattered Memories, who kindly offered to let me be one of her hostees.

And so I was able to do what I initially set out to do in July 2009: create graphics, media, and fanfiction, and share it with the world. Hopefully I will be able to continue doing so for a very long time.