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Balloon Juice

Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

Innocent people don’t delay justice.

I’ve spoken to my cat about this, but it doesn’t seem to do any good.

Whoever he was, that guy was nuts.

Bad news for Ron DeSantis is great news for America.

Give the craziest people you know everything they want and hope they don’t ask for more? Great plan.

Since when do we limit our critiques to things we could do better ourselves?

Trump’s legal defense is going to be a dumpster fire inside a clown car on a derailing train.

“Why isn’t this Snickers bar only a nickle?”

They were going to turn on one another at some point. It was inevitable.

Schmidt just says fuck it, opens a tea shop.

Wow, I can’t imagine what it was like to comment in morse code.

No one could have predicted…

Russian mouthpiece, go fuck yourself.

Let’s not be the monsters we hate.

You can’t attract Republican voters. You can only out organize them.

Don’t expect peaches from an apple tree.

Seems like a complicated subject, have you tried yelling at it?

“Can i answer the question? No you can not!”

Jesus, Mary, & Joseph how is that election even close?

But frankly mr. cole, I’ll be happier when you get back to telling us to go fuck ourselves.

We’ll be taking my thoughts and prayers to the ballot box.

Too often we hand the biggest microphones to the cynics and the critics who delight in declaring failure.

You come for women, you’re gonna get your ass kicked.

Spilling the end game before they can coat it in frankl luntz-approved dogwhistles.

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You are here: Home / z-Retired Categories / Site Maintenance / Re-design Going Live

Re-design Going Live

by John Cole|  October 1, 20088:38 pm| 212 Comments

This post is in: Site Maintenance

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Hold your horses. Working on it.

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Previous Post: « A Worthwhile Open Thread
Next Post: Thar She Blows… Balloon Juice v. 3.0 »

Reader Interactions

212Comments

  1. 1.

    The Grand Panjandrum

    October 1, 2008 at 8:41 pm

    I fucking knew it! Jesus. Thanks for the warning. I thought all that brown acid was catching up to me.

    BTW read this over at Rolling Stone. Looks like the October Surprise just nailed Johnny Drama.

    The Make Believe Maverick. I love it.

  2. 2.

    dmsilev

    October 1, 2008 at 8:43 pm

    Well, that’s …different.

    Looks pretty good, except that all of the shortcut buttons are much too wide, so there are about 10 rows of them.

    -dms

  3. 3.

    Ned R.

    October 1, 2008 at 8:44 pm

    Yeah, the buttons are a bit curious — otherwise, really like it so far! There’ll always be some fine tuning to do (we’re going through a massive upgrade of software at work and kinks are still surfacing).

  4. 4.

    Svensker

    October 1, 2008 at 8:45 pm

    Dang, those are some big ass buttons.

  5. 5.

    4tehlulz

    October 1, 2008 at 8:45 pm

    Long buttons are looooooonnnnnnngg.

  6. 6.

    sf

    October 1, 2008 at 8:47 pm

    sweet!

  7. 7.

    capelza

    October 1, 2008 at 8:47 pm

    http://politburodiktat.blogspot.com/

    The Commissar had to move due to hackers and spam…

    He deserves the traffic. :)

  8. 8.

    Annette

    October 1, 2008 at 8:47 pm

    Designer says the buttons are on the List.

  9. 9.

    Comrade donovong

    October 1, 2008 at 8:48 pm

    holy shit. where am I?

  10. 10.

    Kim Jong Ted

    October 1, 2008 at 8:48 pm

    I can’t quite place it, but there was something about the old design that I liked better. It stood out more against the designs of most other blogs.

  11. 11.

    NonyNony

    October 1, 2008 at 8:48 pm

    I like it. Very readable!

  12. 12.

    Alan

    October 1, 2008 at 8:48 pm

    I like the basic look. But I sort of liked the comment numbers it briefly had while in transition.

  13. 13.

    dmsilev

    October 1, 2008 at 8:49 pm

    Testing the image shortcut button:

    Code looks right, though Photobucket is giving an “image not found error”, at least in Preview. Try submitting…

    -dms

  14. 14.

    SamFromUtah

    October 1, 2008 at 8:49 pm

    Hey neato! Love the font.

    Grand Panjandrum – I’m a bit out of touch. Does anyone read Rolling Stone anymore? I want that story to get spread around, is all.

  15. 15.

    debrazza

    October 1, 2008 at 8:49 pm

    Woah, comments are a bit odd with the long buttons. It reminds of me of the buttons on my mothers telephone and remote control. Geriatric much?

  16. 16.

    Halteclere

    October 1, 2008 at 8:50 pm

    Holy shit – I don’t know if all these tag options were available with the interim upgrade, but I’m now almost overwhelmed. Almost.

    I like the new look, and am very happy that I haven’t had issues accessing the site since the change.

  17. 17.

    JGabriel

    October 1, 2008 at 8:51 pm

    One suggestion:

    Turn off bolding in blockquotes – it totally throws off the emphasis from the author of the post to the writer being quoted.

    .

  18. 18.

    phobos

    October 1, 2008 at 8:51 pm

    True patriots are patient with button formatting.

  19. 19.

    dmsilev

    October 1, 2008 at 8:51 pm

    OK, image tags with explicit angle brackets (rather than the ampersand work-around) still seem to get eaten. Since the shortcut button just makes a standard img tag, one or the other probably should be changed.

    -dms

  20. 20.

    Tim in SF

    October 1, 2008 at 8:51 pm

    Woah…

    I like the blue. Nice. Soft, yet still masculine.

    The date icon next to the post is useful. Often I am reading and don’t know what day I’m looking at.

    There’s some bad aliasing on the balloon graphic. If you email the original art to me, I’ll fix it for you (redtimmy at gmail dot com).

    Maybe the archives should be in a drop down so that it doesn’t take up so much real estate.

    The buttons for adding styles to your comments are a bit too big, just as wide as the text field.

  21. 21.

    SixStringFanatic

    October 1, 2008 at 8:51 pm

    Hey, this is very nice! Thanks for all the work that’s gone into this redesign and for whack-a-mole-ing the WordPress errors.
    As for tomorrow night, I plan to watch it with a big bag of popcorn. Hope I don’t choke like Bushie when she says something really stupid.

  22. 22.

    John Cole

    October 1, 2008 at 8:51 pm

    You kids settle down and let her finish. She will fix the comments in time.

    Christ. I will pull this damned car over right now.

  23. 23.

    t jasper parnell

    October 1, 2008 at 8:51 pm

    Geriatric much?

    Get off my lawn, ya loud mouth punk ya.

  24. 24.

    Not My Fault

    October 1, 2008 at 8:52 pm

    Is the comment text gray? or are my eyes going?

    I’d like more contrast, but other than that. … cool.

  25. 25.

    gbear

    October 1, 2008 at 8:52 pm

    Hold your horses. Working on it.

    So is that Annette posting as John? Does she get to headline now too? Can we keep her?

  26. 26.

    James Hare

    October 1, 2008 at 8:53 pm

    Been involved with a few of these myself — nice job on the redesign and a fresher/newer look. Kind of have to agree on the buttons, but that’s the sort of thing that can be fixed pretty quickly. A very nice start, at least.

  27. 27.

    r€nato

    October 1, 2008 at 8:53 pm

    I’m impressed!

    let’s test blockquote

    blockquote 1

    blockquote2

  28. 28.

    kommrade jakevich

    October 1, 2008 at 8:53 pm

    Toto, I don’t think we’re in WordPress Error anymore.

  29. 29.

    dmsilev

    October 1, 2008 at 8:54 pm

    Multi-paragraph blockquote test:

    With the first presidential debate completed and both candidates grappling with the turmoil on Wall Street in Washington, Senator Barack Obama is showing signs of gaining significant support among voters with less than five weeks left until Election Day, while Senator John McCain’s image has been damaged by his response to the economic meltdown.

    A CBS News poll released Wednesday found that Mr. Obama’s favorability rating, at 48 percent, is the highest it has ever been in polls conducted by CBS and The New York Times. At the same time, the number of voters who hold an unfavorable view of Mr. McCain — 42 percent — is as high as it has been since CBS News and The Times began asking the question about Mr. McCain in 1999, the first time he ran for president.

    Everything above this point should be in one blockquote. Preview looks OK. (text from here).

    -dms

  30. 30.

    Clor

    October 1, 2008 at 8:54 pm

    I’m surrounded by McCain/Palin signs here in my little corner of WI. It’s really depressing.

  31. 31.

    Not My Fault

    October 1, 2008 at 8:54 pm

    I just noticed. Links that I’ve already visited are absolutely invisible in the text unless I happen to mouse over them.

    Not a good thing.

  32. 32.

    capelza

    October 1, 2008 at 8:54 pm

    Christ. I will pull this damned car over right now.

    I bet…it’s a pretty damn big car. I really do like the banner, that’s what it’s called right?

  33. 33.

    dmsilev

    October 1, 2008 at 8:54 pm

    OK, multi-paragraph blockquotes still don’t work right.

    -dms

  34. 34.

    Товарищ НеинтереснаяСобака

    October 1, 2008 at 8:55 pm

    Yes, PUHLEEEZE make the text darker! The gray on gray is a bit harsh on the eyes (on a cheapish TN + film monitor, at least).

  35. 35.

    Annette

    October 1, 2008 at 8:56 pm

    So is that Annette posting as John? Does she get to headline now too? Can we keep her?

    Nope. Nope. You won’t have much choice since I expect I’ll be more closely monitoring this server than the other hundreds of servers we have given all the Chatty Cathies around here.

  36. 36.

    r€nato

    October 1, 2008 at 8:57 pm

    I see your designer did the site for Chris Muir’s shitty alleged comic strip, Day By Day.

    Funny thing… went over there and he has a whole bunch of blank, unsold ad space. Must be the liberal media conspiracy keeping him down. Either that or he’s very unfunny.

  37. 37.

    Ash Can

    October 1, 2008 at 8:59 pm

    Ooh. Shiny! Those buttons do go on forever, though, don’t they?

  38. 38.

    handy

    October 1, 2008 at 9:03 pm

    These big buttons bring to mind the classic Spinal Tap dirge. You know, the one that begins: “The bigger the cushion, the sweeter the pushin’.”

  39. 39.

    The Other Steve

    October 1, 2008 at 9:04 pm

    I want to see a bigger box to type my comments in.

    Otherwise, I think you’re on the right track.

  40. 40.

    DonkeyKong

    October 1, 2008 at 9:04 pm

    Wow, the site looks perky!

  41. 41.

    kommrade jakevich

    October 1, 2008 at 9:04 pm

    “Consistently Wrong.” Heh. Who do you think you are, Cornfederate Wankee?

    Really, this looks great. And those of us with [ahem] vision issues appreciate the larger font.

  42. 42.

    Stevenovitch

    October 1, 2008 at 9:06 pm

    Really, this looks great. And those of us with [ahem] vision issues appreciate the larger font.

    Hold down the ctrl and press the “+” button.

  43. 43.

    Stevenovitch

    October 1, 2008 at 9:07 pm

    (that works everywhere by the way)

  44. 44.

    PC

    October 1, 2008 at 9:08 pm

    Whoa.

  45. 45.

    capelza

    October 1, 2008 at 9:08 pm

    How did you all get your commie names?

    I want one! *jumps up and down*

  46. 46.

    MH

    October 1, 2008 at 9:08 pm

    Black text please! Not gray. Other than that, I like it.

  47. 47.

    The Other Steve

    October 1, 2008 at 9:08 pm

    Oh yeah, and fix all of these issues:

    http://validator.w3.org/check?uri=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.balloon-juice.com%2F%3Fp%3D11528&charset=%28detect+automatically%29&doctype=Inline&group=0

  48. 48.

    Comrade The Other Steve

    October 1, 2008 at 9:09 pm

    Not validating your HTML is just like voting for Hitler.

  49. 49.

    Fern

    October 1, 2008 at 9:09 pm

    Any chance of getting numbered comments?

  50. 50.

    PC

    October 1, 2008 at 9:10 pm

    I want a pony.

  51. 51.

    jagorev

    October 1, 2008 at 9:11 pm

    Looks beautiful. Well done.

  52. 52.

    kommrade jakevich

    October 1, 2008 at 9:12 pm

    Let’s take a little walk down memory lane.

  53. 53.

    Stevenovitch

    October 1, 2008 at 9:12 pm

    Hey look, I can make the numbers show up. Please fix this first by the way.

  54. 54.

    Stevenovitch

    October 1, 2008 at 9:14 pm

    oh sweet, fail. Is it fixed?

  55. 55.

    kommrade jakevich

    October 1, 2008 at 9:14 pm

    How did you all get your commie names?

    I want one! jumps up and down

    Just stick your favorite commie honorific in front of your name. Your first post under your new name will sit in moderation forever but if The Powers That Be release it you’ll be set.

  56. 56.

    Capelza Gradenko

    October 1, 2008 at 9:14 pm

    Does this work?

  57. 57.

    CCPC

    October 1, 2008 at 9:14 pm

    Looking good so far. Good job on the switchover.

    <img src=”http://moderateleft.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/09/chillout.jpg”/>

  58. 58.

    jake

    October 1, 2008 at 9:15 pm

    I don’t think switching back to a prior name is a problem. Lesseehere…

  59. 59.

    cleek

    October 1, 2008 at 9:15 pm

    i do like the look. but…

    please, darker text and smaller buttons. and smaller text.

  60. 60.

    inugai_kenzo

    October 1, 2008 at 9:16 pm

    categories & archives by month! woot! :>

  61. 61.

    Stevenovitch

    October 1, 2008 at 9:16 pm

    no, I just did it wrong. Please fix.

  62. 62.

    mrmobi

    October 1, 2008 at 9:18 pm

    Nice design! The 61-year-old eyes of this graphic designer likee very much.

  63. 63.

    Comrade Darkness

    October 1, 2008 at 9:19 pm

    Whoa, the king of kiosks made the formating buttons. Cool.

    A refreshing change. Thanks for your hard work, John.

  64. 64.

    Stevenovitch

    October 1, 2008 at 9:19 pm

    One more shot for posterity.

  65. 65.

    The Moar You Know

    October 1, 2008 at 9:19 pm

    Oh my God, it’s full of stars…

  66. 66.

    Г-жа demimondian

    October 1, 2008 at 9:19 pm

    I like the new design a lot. Much more readable.

  67. 67.

    caleb

    October 1, 2008 at 9:20 pm

    (logs onto site)……they warned me not to take the brown acid……

  68. 68.

    Rick James

    October 1, 2008 at 9:20 pm

    Oh my God, it’s full of stars…

    That’s me, bitch!

  69. 69.

    Mwangangi

    October 1, 2008 at 9:21 pm

    I need to get an auto-populater for my contact info, I’m lazy.

  70. 70.

    Comrade Darkness

    October 1, 2008 at 9:21 pm

    Your mother was a hampster
    who lived in New Hampsher
    Your father smelt of blackberries
    all smeared with elderberries

    Hm, the closing LI is awkward. Not that it comes up much.

  71. 71.

    The Moar You Know

    October 1, 2008 at 9:23 pm

    image:

    <img src=”http://i526.photobucket.com/albums/cc342/arbiterusa/PowerMetal.jpg”>

  72. 72.

    TheFountainHead

    October 1, 2008 at 9:24 pm

    Gah, the text is too big! My boss will be able to read this from the stairwell! Other than that, huge elitist thumbs up.

  73. 73.

    The Moar You Know

    October 1, 2008 at 9:24 pm

    Well, the ampersand trick still works.

  74. 74.

    kommrade jakevich

    October 1, 2008 at 9:24 pm

    Meeemorieees…

    I think this was my first Close Encounter of the Darrell Kind. Do you think he’ll come back now that Annette has banished WørdPressÆrror to the outer darkness?

  75. 75.

    mannemalon

    October 1, 2008 at 9:25 pm

    damn, pics and borders. life’s good.

  76. 76.

    Brian J

    October 1, 2008 at 9:25 pm

    Is anyone watching this train wreck of an interview that McCain gave to the Des Moines Register on “Countdown”? He seems rather testy with the people giving the interview. His answers, unsurprisingly, are ridiculous.

  77. 77.

    The Moar You Know

    October 1, 2008 at 9:25 pm

    Posting seems even snappier with this version. This is nicely done, although I can tell that in about five more years I’m going to be asking for the text to be darker. Goddamned aging process.

  78. 78.

    Joshua Norton

    October 1, 2008 at 9:26 pm

    Could I see something in red and a nice Tahoma Sans Serif please?

  79. 79.

    tripletee (formerly tBone)

    October 1, 2008 at 9:27 pm

    I can’t quite place it, but there was something about the old design that I liked better. It stood out more against the designs of most other blogs.

    I think it was the utilitarian Soviet gulag aesthetic.

    Really dig the new design – still simple, clean and functional like the old one, but a lot more stylish.

    My one major nitpick: #000000 for comment text, please? The dark gray gets hard on the eyes after a while.

    Not sure if it’s possible with this plugin, but a quote feature for comments would be swell too.

    Question for my fellow iPhone-owning elitists: anyone having trouble with the comments entry form? I get terrible keyboard lag when trying to type a comment, and if I use the backspace key, it usually freaks out and ends up erasing the entire message. Didn’t used to do that on the old site (pre- server move and WP ugprade).

    You won’t have much choice since I expect I’ll be more closely monitoring this server than the other hundreds of servers we have given all the Chatty Cathies around here.

    Yay, Annette has been assimilated! Looking forward to some awesome horror stories on your new blog, btw. Hopefully some of them will star a client known only as “JC”.

  80. 80.

    Some new guy

    October 1, 2008 at 9:28 pm

    The buttons, what’s with the buttons?!

  81. 81.

    Keith

    October 1, 2008 at 9:29 pm

    I have not yet decided if this is change I can believe in.

  82. 82.

    handy

    October 1, 2008 at 9:30 pm

    ZOMG, who woulda thunk Katie Couric would be the coup for the Obama campaign that she’s turning out to be?

    She’s killing McCain with this stuff. I mean, this is Katie FLIPPIN’ Couric we’re talking about here. What the hell am I missing? I guess that Obama guy is just that good. Real good.

  83. 83.

    bend

    October 1, 2008 at 9:31 pm

    I am displeased

  84. 84.

    Delia

    October 1, 2008 at 9:31 pm

    Whoa. I go away for a few hours and this is what happens.

  85. 85.

    Joshua Norton

    October 1, 2008 at 9:32 pm

    I installed greasefire to work with my greasemonkey program in Firefox. It tells you what scripts are available for the page your logged into. This one shows a script to block out all John’s posts. Who do dat?

  86. 86.

    The Grand Panjandrum

    October 1, 2008 at 9:33 pm

    From the Rolling Stone piece I linked to above:

    McCain is sensitive about his physical appearance, especially his height. The candidate is only five-feet-nine, making him the shortest party nominee since Michael Dukakis. On the night he was elected senator in 1986, McCain exploded after discovering that the stage setup for his victory speech was too low; television viewers saw his head bobbing at the bottom of the screen, his chin frequently cropped from view. Enraged, McCain tracked down the young Republican who had set up the podium, prodding the volunteer in the chest while screaming that he was an “incompetent little shit.” Jon Hinz, the director of the Arizona GOP, separated the senator from the young man, promising to get him a milk crate to stand on for his next public appearance.

    A definite must read. A laugh a second.

  87. 87.

    mannemalon

    October 1, 2008 at 9:33 pm

    most importantly the “o” in John has finally been filled in with the background color. hurray.

  88. 88.

    tripletee (formerly tBone)

    October 1, 2008 at 9:33 pm

    Looks like the bolded boxquotes aren’t intentional – the opening [p] tag is getting misplaced before the bquote tag if a boxquote is the first thing in the comment.

  89. 89.

    The Moar You Know

    October 1, 2008 at 9:33 pm

    I can tell that in about five more years I’m going to be asking for the text to be darker.

    Ask and thou shalt receive and all that. Damn. I am seriously impressed with the service around here.

  90. 90.

    cain

    October 1, 2008 at 9:33 pm

    oooohhhh.. new design. I can smell the newness! How *exciting*!!!

    Great job, Annette! Glad you’ll be hanging out with the rest of us snarks.

    cain

  91. 91.

    Loneaok

    October 1, 2008 at 9:33 pm

    The real question: What the holy hell are you still doing with Pajamas Media?

  92. 92.

    Kim Jong Ted

    October 1, 2008 at 9:34 pm

    You kids settle down and let her finish. She will fix the comments in time.

    Why won’t she work for Red State!!?

    Why won’t the competent web designers work for big conservative blogs, dammit!! That’s why Red State’s design is shitty!

    Oh, and while I love the new graphic posting capability, I predict it’ll be gone by tomorrow.

  93. 93.

    BrownSugar

    October 1, 2008 at 9:34 pm

    You are just too darn cute John Cole..!

  94. 94.

    tripletee (formerly tBone)

    October 1, 2008 at 9:34 pm

    This one shows a script to block out all John’s posts. Who do dat?

    I think that was I Am John Galt, and it wasn’t originally intended for John’s posts.

  95. 95.

    MarkusB

    October 1, 2008 at 9:34 pm

    Woo! Categories, Archives, and… fun stuff. Whoops, better not touch anything.

  96. 96.

    The Moar You Know

    October 1, 2008 at 9:35 pm

    John: better replace your email address with a linked .jpg of said address, stat, or you’re going to get a tidal wave of spam.

  97. 97.

    cleek

    October 1, 2008 at 9:36 pm

    maybe full-width comment box and 1/4-width buttons?

    this little tiny comment box feels too puny to hold the amount of snark i have to share with the world.

  98. 98.

    Martin

    October 1, 2008 at 9:36 pm

    most importantly the “o” in John has finally been filled in with the background color. hurray.

    Agreed. That was driving me insane. Anyone who’s done design goes bonkers over stupid things like that.

  99. 99.

    The Moar You Know

    October 1, 2008 at 9:37 pm

    Good lord, if we get avatars I may pee my pants with joy.

  100. 100.

    Delia

    October 1, 2008 at 9:38 pm

    Okay. I know people were giving handy hints on how to work the code in previous threads, but it was interspersed with other comments and I didn’t follow and I don’t know where the handy hints are now and I want to know how to post images cuz I just tried and it didn’t work so could we please have a little permanent instruction link off to the side on how to work the code for compleat idiots or something?

    Annette? Somebody? Please?

  101. 101.

    John S.

    October 1, 2008 at 9:38 pm

    The flourishes around “Consistently wrong since 2002” are a bit much (not a bad idea, just not the best execution), but overall very nice.

    Oh, and holy shit, man, send me that balloon graphic so I can do a proper clipping path on it!

  102. 102.

    cgp

    October 1, 2008 at 9:40 pm

    Maybe we’ll get posting points and you can reach up the echelon of great democratic leaders, like on powerlines’ forums.

    I am of course, mocking powerline, and begging that this not be an option.

    The natural highest democratic leader would be Barbara Boxer right?

  103. 103.

    Martin

    October 1, 2008 at 9:40 pm

    John, your state is starting to really stand out on Nate’s map. All that blue with this odd blob of red. You gonna let VA and OH get all the glory?

  104. 104.

    Scrutinizer

    October 1, 2008 at 9:41 pm

    Me likey the Palin article in the Rolling Stone:

    The truly disgusting thing about Sarah Palin isn’t that she’s totally unqualified, or a religious zealot, or married to a secessionist, or unable to educate her own daughter about sex, or a fake conservative who raised taxes and horked up earmark millions every chance she got. No, the most disgusting thing about her is what she says about us: that you can ram us in the ass for eight solid years, and we’ll not only thank you for your trouble, we’ll sign you up for eight more years, if only you promise to stroke us in the right spot for a few hours around election time.

  105. 105.

    MarkusB

    October 1, 2008 at 9:41 pm

    It’s looking good, no doubt. John Cole should have a fantasmexcellent blog just in time for the end of the world. Good times!

  106. 106.

    Rick Taylor

    October 1, 2008 at 9:41 pm

    Whoo! First impression; I like it. Except the buttons and the text used in composing a message are both waaaay too big.

  107. 107.

    Scrutinizer

    October 1, 2008 at 9:42 pm

    The buttons aren’t too big.

  108. 108.

    tripletee (formerly tBone)

    October 1, 2008 at 9:43 pm

    Good lord, if we get avatars I may pee my pants with joy.

    vader_noooooooo.gif

    I vote “no” on avatars. Useless clutter IMO.

  109. 109.

    kilo

    October 1, 2008 at 9:43 pm

    Annette says:

    Nope. Nope. You won’t have much choice since I expect I’ll be more closely monitoring this server than the other hundreds of servers we have given all the Chatty Cathies around here.

    You’ll come for the WordPress Error, but you’ll stay for the pedantic snark.

  110. 110.

    cleek

    October 1, 2008 at 9:43 pm

    The buttons aren’t too big.

    no, not any more.

    but when they were each the same width as the text box, they were.

  111. 111.

    Dulcie

    October 1, 2008 at 9:44 pm

    Oooooohhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh – pretty!

    Love the new format. I leave the house for thirty minutes and come back to the new site!

    Annette – you did good.

  112. 112.

    Delia

    October 1, 2008 at 9:44 pm

    On the night he was elected senator in 1986, McCain exploded after discovering that the stage setup for his victory speech was too low; television viewers saw his head bobbing at the bottom of the screen, his chin frequently cropped from view. Enraged, McCain tracked down the young Republican who had set up the podium, prodding the volunteer in the chest while screaming that he was an “incompetent little shit.”

    McCain has some great antecedents here. Did you know that Stalin once had a photographer shot for making him seem short? But of course Stalin was never a POW.

  113. 113.

    handy

    October 1, 2008 at 9:44 pm

    Ohhh, whydya go and deflate those adorable buttons?

  114. 114.

    DannyNoonan

    October 1, 2008 at 9:45 pm

    I’m digging the redesign. Not that my opinion matters. But forgoing the Soviet-era modeling and breaking out some color was a nice touch.

  115. 115.

    cleek

    October 1, 2008 at 9:45 pm

    I vote “no” on avatars. Useless clutter IMO.

    and more strain on the server!

    why ask it to spend 20K serving a picture when it can give us 50 comments for the same workload ?

  116. 116.

    TheFountainHead

    October 1, 2008 at 9:45 pm

    Now it says “I am Spartacus” on the screen no matter where I scroll. Nice touch.

  117. 117.

    MarkusB

    October 1, 2008 at 9:46 pm

    Please to bring back comment numbers?

    I am holdin mah ponies.

    kthxbai

  118. 118.

    PC

    October 1, 2008 at 9:47 pm

    Now it says “I am Spartacus” on the screen no matter where I scroll. Nice touch.

    Well, bugger. They blocked that feature. Taking away all the good toys :(

  119. 119.

    comrade jack fate

    October 1, 2008 at 9:47 pm

    Not bad. Loaded before I even clicked on it.

  120. 120.

    Delia

    October 1, 2008 at 9:48 pm

  121. 121.

    t jasper parnell

    October 1, 2008 at 9:48 pm

    Stalin was never a POW

    He was exiled to Siberia where he chased tail. Coincidence? I think not.

  122. 122.

    Delia

    October 1, 2008 at 9:49 pm

    Yeah, the numbers on the posts were a good idea.

  123. 123.

    TheFountainHead

    October 1, 2008 at 9:51 pm

    Seconded for numbered comments.

  124. 124.

    Comrade Scrutinizer

    October 1, 2008 at 9:51 pm

    Avatars, no likey.

  125. 125.

    Comrade Scrutinizer

    October 1, 2008 at 9:51 pm

    nother vote for comment numbers

  126. 126.

    Kim Jong Ted

    October 1, 2008 at 9:51 pm

    “I am Spartacus” follows me down the thread as I scroll, staying just under the top of the visible page. Weird. (FF 3.0, fwiw)

  127. 127.

    Г-жа demimondian

    October 1, 2008 at 9:52 pm

    Jeebus, Jake — warn us before you let Darrellness loose in here, man.

  128. 128.

    Annette

    October 1, 2008 at 9:52 pm

    Dulcie @ 111

    Annette – you did good

    Not me. I’m a network monkey, not a design monkey. I’m just here for the systems administration (and the test load times).

  129. 129.

    tripletee (formerly tBone)

    October 1, 2008 at 9:52 pm

    why ask it to spend 20K serving a picture when it can give us 50 comments for the same workload ?

    If all 50 comments are by Paul L, though, a Duke lacrosse picture would be more succinct and less annoying.

    Not bad. Loaded before I even clicked on it.

    The new server came with a flux capacitor.

  130. 130.

    Mike H.

    October 1, 2008 at 9:56 pm

    I dig it.

  131. 131.

    Conservatively Liberal

    October 1, 2008 at 9:57 pm

    The new BJ format washed my windows and fixed my cat, and the cat wasn’t even broken!

    Impressive.

  132. 132.

    The Grand Panjandrum

    October 1, 2008 at 9:57 pm

    I am Spartacus.

  133. 133.

    kommrade jakevich

    October 1, 2008 at 10:00 pm

    You’re really going to let this rabble of miscreants, deviants and maniacs post avatars.

    Wow.

    Better slap a Double Plus NSfW rating on this bad boy and just … walk away.

    -kommrade j.

    p.s. I like this comment box layout.

  134. 134.

    Polish the Guillotines

    October 1, 2008 at 10:00 pm

    Whew. Moving in the right direction.

    Agree with:

    No bold in blockquotes (or at least reduce the font size).
    Please bring back the numbers. Very helpful.
    No thank you to avatars.

  135. 135.

    Polish the Guillotines

    October 1, 2008 at 10:01 pm

    And stop the preview from lying to me!

  136. 136.

    Ed Drone

    October 1, 2008 at 10:02 pm

    The new server came with a flux capacitorOscillation Overthruster.

    And the site owner is named “John.” Does this mean anything?

    Hmmm….

    Ed

  137. 137.

    Ed Drone

    October 1, 2008 at 10:03 pm

    Hmmm… Strikeout doesn’t seem to work so well, does it?

    Ed

  138. 138.

    LiberalTarian

    October 1, 2008 at 10:05 pm

    Oh yay. Boxes back. I am not geeky enough to be quick on the uptake with the new features yet. Little by little I guess.

  139. 139.

    kommrade jakevich

    October 1, 2008 at 10:06 pm

    But does it have a Large Hadron Collider?

  140. 140.

    Stuck in the Fun House

    October 1, 2008 at 10:06 pm

    Wonderful big, really big comment box. Annette working her magic. I have no, none, nada complaints about the new site. It’s terrific!!!

  141. 141.

    John Cole

    October 1, 2008 at 10:06 pm

    test

  142. 142.

    John Cole

    October 1, 2008 at 10:07 pm

  143. 143.

    John Cole

    October 1, 2008 at 10:07 pm

    blah

    BLAH

    blah blah

    BLAH BLAH BLAH

  144. 144.

    TheFountainHead

    October 1, 2008 at 10:07 pm

    Can I microwave popcorn with the new site? Cause that would be cool. And almost as useful as Sarah Palin.

  145. 145.

    tripletee (formerly tBone)

    October 1, 2008 at 10:08 pm

    But does it have a Large Hadron Collider?

    The October Surprise is going to be Rove firing that puppy back up in the hopes that the resultant black hole will prevent Democrats from getting to the polls.

  146. 146.

    kommrade jakevich

    October 1, 2008 at 10:08 pm

    Psst! Demi:

    “In other words, the left is dishonest as hell.”

  147. 147.

    Martin

    October 1, 2008 at 10:08 pm

    Since we’re on geek talk… New webkit inspector in the nightly builds of Safari. Javascript debugger and profiler, resource profiler, temporarily disable individual style properties, lots of goodies. Might finally get to ditch Firebug.

  148. 148.

    JimPortlandOR

    October 1, 2008 at 10:10 pm

    Help! My scroll finger is going to need physical therapy! Less blank space/lines in each comment would look better and reduce scrolling.

    But, great improvement! I likey….

  149. 149.

    PC

    October 1, 2008 at 10:10 pm

    <span style=”float:left;”>imma chargin mah lazer</span&gt

  150. 150.

    b. hussein canuckistani (comrade)

    October 1, 2008 at 10:11 pm

    No to avatars, yes to comment numbers, if anyone wants our feedback.

  151. 151.

    tripletee (formerly tBone)

    October 1, 2008 at 10:11 pm

    underline

    Fail

    (UL is short for “Unordered List.” U is underline.)

  152. 152.

    kommrade jakevich

    October 1, 2008 at 10:12 pm

    The October Surprise is going to be Rove firing that puppy back up in the hopes that the resultant black hole will prevent Democrats from getting to the polls serve as a better, less creepy and far more intelligent Vice Presidential candidate than the Blood Countess from Alaska.

    Fxd.

  153. 153.

    tripletee (formerly tBone)

    October 1, 2008 at 10:13 pm

    Fuck you, lying preview!

  154. 154.

    rawshark

    October 1, 2008 at 10:13 pm

    Weird

  155. 155.

    John Cole

    October 1, 2008 at 10:13 pm

      blah

      blah
      blah

  156. 156.

    Matt

    October 1, 2008 at 10:14 pm

    Simultaneously my Ubuntu desktop just redesigned itself, while running. Now that’s unsettling.

  157. 157.

    Scott H

    October 1, 2008 at 10:14 pm

    Yayness for comment numbering (particularly in place of avatars).

  158. 158.

    TheFountainHead

    October 1, 2008 at 10:14 pm

    OMG! OMG! I just learned a new internet tradition!!

  159. 159.

    Г-жа demimondian

    October 1, 2008 at 10:15 pm

    “In other words, the left is dishonest as hell.”

    Running away with my fingers in my ears.

  160. 160.

    Comrade Peter J

    October 1, 2008 at 10:15 pm

    Vote NO on Avatars.
    Vote NO on Images.
    Vote YES on Comment Numbers.
    Vote YES on the New Design.

  161. 161.

    Polish the Guillotines

    October 1, 2008 at 10:16 pm

    The numbers are back! Hellz yea, boyee!

  162. 162.

    Dennis - SGMM

    October 1, 2008 at 10:16 pm

    I like it. Clean and easy on the eye.

  163. 163.

    kommrade jakevich

    October 1, 2008 at 10:16 pm

    And the award for the most sarcastic addition of numbers to a blog’s comment section goes to…

  164. 164.

    Polish the Guillotines

    October 1, 2008 at 10:16 pm

    But they’re violating the comment’s airspace.

  165. 165.

    Punchy

    October 1, 2008 at 10:16 pm

    test….testy…..TESTICLES….

  166. 166.

    TheFountainHead

    October 1, 2008 at 10:16 pm

    ZOMG, the numbers are growing!

  167. 167.

    handy

    October 1, 2008 at 10:17 pm

    Holy mackerel, those post numbers are HUUUUGE!!

  168. 168.

    SamFromUtah

    October 1, 2008 at 10:17 pm

    IMO – lose the “recent comments” thing, move the blogroll back over to the top left if possible, and sub the recent post links for the categories links.

    Um, please.

  169. 169.

    Dennis - SGMM

    October 1, 2008 at 10:18 pm

    But they’re violating the comment’s airspace.

    Like Putin looming over Alaska.

  170. 170.

    TheFountainHead

    October 1, 2008 at 10:18 pm

    Wait, wait, it gets better!

  171. 171.

    TScheisskopf

    October 1, 2008 at 10:19 pm

    As one web weenie to another, John, nice stuff. Your designer did a fine job. The new server is something of a delight as well.

    Now, back to your regular programming of snark and weisenheimers.

  172. 172.

    Punchy

    October 1, 2008 at 10:20 pm

    numbers are all jacked up, at least on mah lappy

  173. 173.

    Polish the Guillotines

    October 1, 2008 at 10:20 pm

    Man, this is awesome! Every refresh brings a new surprise. It’s like eating Neapolitan ice cream with a blind-fold on.

  174. 174.

    Dennis - SGMM

    October 1, 2008 at 10:20 pm

    Wait, wait, it gets better!

    Funniest fucking thing I’ve seen all year. Thank you!

  175. 175.

    kommrade jakevich

    October 1, 2008 at 10:23 pm

    But they’re violating the comment’s airspace.

    Win.

  176. 176.

    BettyPageisaBlonde

    October 1, 2008 at 10:23 pm

    I like alot. Very nice.

    But… the post numbers once they reach triple digits – and that definitely happens ’round these parts start leaching over into the comment space (at least here – FF3.03).

    Other than that, it really does look quite lovely.

    Evidently I must have missed the whole giant button thing because they look fine from my vantage point.

  177. 177.

    BettyPageisaBlonde

    October 1, 2008 at 10:24 pm

    And… boom. The comment numbers have been fixed.

    That’s actually even more impressive! I rock!

    Well, not really.

  178. 178.

    Comrade Fedorovich Stuck

    October 1, 2008 at 10:25 pm

    Obama up 9 points in new Pravda poll (NYT’s)

  179. 179.

    PC

    October 1, 2008 at 10:26 pm

    I love this new format

  180. 180.

    Comrade Peter J

    October 1, 2008 at 10:28 pm

    Obama up 9 points in new Pravda poll (NYT’s)

    Actually it’s just a CBS News Poll. But still 9 points :D

  181. 181.

    Juan del Llano

    October 1, 2008 at 10:29 pm

    Christ. I will pull this damned car over right now.

    Now where have I heard that before?

  182. 182.

    Polish the Guillotines

    October 1, 2008 at 10:29 pm

    I love this new format

    Most definitely. Stylish, yet neither piggy nor lipsticky.

  183. 183.

    cain

    October 1, 2008 at 10:29 pm

    OK, so Annette didn’t do the design, so I thank the nameless person for the new design.

    I expect someone to come up with a drinking game tomorrow. At the very least, when to sniff from our bowls. :-)

    cain

  184. 184.

    Товарищ НеинтереснаяСобака

    October 1, 2008 at 10:30 pm

    Holy shit? Peggy Noonan actually appeared sane on the Daily Show! I’m guessing that that’s mostly because Jon did 95% of the talking in the interview, but still.

  185. 185.

    PC

    October 1, 2008 at 10:30 pm

    <span onMouseOver=”hi = false;meh=function(){if(!hi){hi=true;h=document.getElementById(‘foo’).innerHTML;str=h;l=h.length;s=”;document.getElementById(‘foo’).innerHTML=”;for(var i=0;i<l;++i) {s+=”+h.substring(i,1)+”;sp=document.createElement(‘span’);document.getElementById(‘foo’).appendChild(sp);sp.innerHTML=str.substr(i,1);};sps=document.getElementById(‘foo’).getElementsByTagName(‘span’);setInterval(update,100);}};update=function(){for(var i = 0; i < sps.length; ++i) {ra=ra+rs;ga=ga+gs;ba=ba+bs;r=Math.floor(128+Math.cos(ra)*127);g=Math.floor(128+Math.cos(ga)*127);b=Math.floor(128+Math.cos(ba)*127);sps[i].style.color=’rgb(‘+r+’,’+g+’,’+b+’)’;}};r=Math.random;pi=Math.PI;ra=r()*pi*2;ga=r()*pi*2;ba=r()*pi*2;rs=r()*.1-.05;gs=r()*.1-.05;bs=r()*.1-.05;meh();” id=”foo”>So what does it take to get a party started?</span>

  186. 186.

    cain

    October 1, 2008 at 10:30 pm

    I’m not sure if the recent comment section on the sidebar is useful.

  187. 187.

    Polish the Guillotines

    October 1, 2008 at 10:31 pm

    Evidently I must have missed the whole giant button thing because they look fine from my vantage point.

    It was part of the initial Shock & Awe portion of the redesign. From the looks of things, I’d say we’re into the Surge and well on the way to victory with honor.

  188. 188.

    Stacy

    October 1, 2008 at 10:32 pm

    OK, so Annette didn’t do the design, so I thank the nameless person for the new design.
    I expect someone to come up with a drinking game tomorrow. At the very least, when to sniff from our bowls. :-)
    cain

    Nameless?? *sulk*

  189. 189.

    TheFountainHead

    October 1, 2008 at 10:32 pm

    So what does it take to get a party started?

    Around my place? A bottle of tequilla.

  190. 190.

    Comrade The Other Steve

    October 1, 2008 at 10:33 pm

    Whew…

  191. 191.

    Polish the Guillotines

    October 1, 2008 at 10:34 pm

    Holy shit? Peggy Noonan actually appeared sane on the Daily Show! I’m guessing that that’s mostly because Jon did 95% of the talking in the interview, but still.

    I think ever since the “hot mic” incident she’s pretty much at liberty to be rational.

  192. 192.

    MarkusB

    October 1, 2008 at 10:35 pm

    Rockin’! I will now release my ponies.

  193. 193.

    MarkusB

    October 1, 2008 at 10:36 pm

    Thank you, Stacy! :-)

  194. 194.

    ninerdave

    October 1, 2008 at 10:37 pm

    Wow. Great freaking job you guys.

  195. 195.

    Bad Horse's Filly

    October 1, 2008 at 10:38 pm

    Just a lurker who wanted to say, really nice format changes. And it loads so fast now.

    Now John, get back to work with the election snark – you’re my only hope for sanity in this mess.

    Obama/Biden ‘08
    January 20, 2009 can NOT come soon enough

    Posted this in another thread, seems more appropriate here.

  196. 196.

    ninerdave

    October 1, 2008 at 10:38 pm

    And so speedy!!!

  197. 197.

    slag

    October 1, 2008 at 10:38 pm

    Very nice. Clean. Readable. Quick to load. Glad to see you weren’t spending that $800 on hookers and blow…for once.

  198. 198.

    cain

    October 1, 2008 at 10:38 pm

    Thank you, Stacy! :)

    cain

  199. 199.

    tBone

    October 1, 2008 at 10:38 pm

    It was part of the initial Shock & Awe portion of the redesign. From the looks of things, I’d say we’re into the Surge and well on the way to victory with honor.

    Within 3 months, 6 at the most, Stacy will have turned the corner in the battle against comments section insurgents.

  200. 200.

    ninerdave

    October 1, 2008 at 10:39 pm

    Balloon Juice version 1.0.

    Compare.

  201. 201.

    Bad Horse's Filly

    October 1, 2008 at 10:39 pm

    Wow, block quote didn’t work like it did in previews. Now I feel like a stupid lurker. ;-)

  202. 202.

    flavortext

    October 1, 2008 at 10:40 pm

    Sans-serif? Noooo!

  203. 203.

    PC

    October 1, 2008 at 10:41 pm

    Within 3 months, 6 at the most, Stacy will have turned the corner in the battle against comments section insurgents.

    IBD

  204. 204.

    TheFountainHead

    October 1, 2008 at 10:42 pm

    Hahaha, PC gets the PoTD.

  205. 205.

    ImJohnGalt

    October 1, 2008 at 10:44 pm

    This one shows a script to block out all John’s posts. Who do dat?

    It was me, based on a challenge from Michael D. I’m a little ashamed of it now.

  206. 206.

    Scott H

    October 1, 2008 at 10:45 pm

    In comparison to the redesign, I’m pretty sure Balloon Juice version 1.0 will resemble my first Geocities home page – so, I am not even looking back. Pillar of salt, and all that.

  207. 207.

    A la lanterne les aristos

    October 1, 2008 at 11:31 pm

    Ooooh… everything looks lovely now. The site is very nearly perfect.

    Now if you could do something about the comments… y’know… uh… content-wise…

  208. 208.

    Dulcie

    October 1, 2008 at 11:55 pm

    Thank you, Stacy! :)

    cain

    What cain said. Mega cudos to you!

  209. 209.

    bago

    October 1, 2008 at 11:55 pm

    PC made a recursive script that blows the site away. Might want to ensure no JS gets parsed.

  210. 210.

    PC

    October 2, 2008 at 1:10 am

    PC made a recursive script that blows the site away. Might want to ensure no JS gets parsed.

    LIES!

    (it was supposed to make some pretty colors happen, but, feh. And it was on a timer.)

  211. 211.

    Jeff Eaton

    October 2, 2008 at 9:26 am

    Why won’t the competent web designers work for big conservative
    blogs, dammit!! That’s why Red State’s design is shitty!

    You know, just to clarify that story… I’m a pretty
    liberal person, an I’m a core developer for the software they were
    running before their new redesign. I’ve helped build sites like
    FastCompany.com, MTVUK’s web site, all of the artist web sites for
    SonyBMG… I offered to help them with whatever problems they were
    running into. I’d hate for them to think the Open Source world is
    inhospitable. They said thanks, but no thank. Turns out, the real
    story is that they had found volunteers — but the lead volunteer
    had his own blog engine of choice and refused to work with their
    existing one. Every time I hear the story again, I laugh…

  212. 212.

    Jeff Eaton

    October 2, 2008 at 9:27 am

    Hmmmmm. Something funky happened with that blockquote. Whoops!
    Great redesign, though — ironing out the kinks is never fun, but
    the look of the site is really smooth. Nice work!

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