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Balloon Juice

Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

One of our two political parties is a cult whose leader admires Vladimir Putin.

Only Democrats have agency, apparently.

They want us to be overwhelmed and exhausted. Focus. Resist. Oppose.

In my day, never was longer.

People identifying as christian while ignoring christ and his teachings is a strange thing indeed.

Not so fun when the rabbit gets the gun, is it?

Republicans don’t want a speaker to lead them; they want a hostage.

Balloon Juice, where there is always someone who will say you’re doing it wrong.

… pundit janitors mopping up after the gop

When you’re in more danger from the IDF than from Russian shelling, that’s really bad.

Fear or fury? The choice is ours.

fuckem (in honor of the late great efgoldman)

Our job is not to persuade republicans but to defeat them.

We will not go quietly into the night; we will not vanish without a fight.

The fundamental promise of conservatism all over the world is a return to an idealized past that never existed.

Whatever happens next week, the fight doesn’t end.

There is no compromise when it comes to body autonomy. You either have it or you do not.

The Giant Orange Man Baby is having a bad day.

Let me file that under fuck it.

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

This chaos was totally avoidable.

These days, even the boring Republicans are nuts.

Every reporter and pundit should have to declare if they ever vacationed with a billionaire.

Republicans don’t lie to be believed, they lie to be repeated.

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You are here: Home / z-Retired Categories / Previous Site Maintenance / Site Maintenance and Redesign

Site Maintenance and Redesign

by John Cole|  April 15, 20156:49 pm| 114 Comments

This post is in: Previous Site Maintenance

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The site is starting to bog down and get stale, so I am toying around with a redesign. So if you see random errors (more random than usual) that do not involve my spelling and verb tense issues and half finished thoughts, that is what the deal is.

My crack team doesn’t have what it takes to come up with something like this:

hrc404

BTW re: the redesign, we are working to make it more social media and mobile friendly, while still keeping much of the same feel of the current site. I know you all are like me and don’t like change, but shit happens.

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Previous Post: « Today in America’s Vibrant Confederacy
Next Post: Wednesday Evening Open Thread: Goofball of the Day »

Reader Interactions

114Comments

  1. 1.

    Keith G

    April 15, 2015 at 6:51 pm

    But where will you be keeping the server?

    That’s a mighty big bill.

    eta
    BTW Cole, shouldn’t that be “your quack team”?

  2. 2.

    Baud

    April 15, 2015 at 6:52 pm

    I don’t like the new design.

  3. 3.

    east is east

    April 15, 2015 at 6:56 pm

    Bring back the guy with the bullhorn. He was my friend.

  4. 4.

    Hal

    April 15, 2015 at 6:59 pm

    Just don’t use Marco Rubio’s people.

    Also, I saw a story trending on Facebook about a couple who had the first all female quintuplets since 1969 and clicked the link. Perusing the story links I came across this jem:

    6 hrs ·
    I HOPE THIS MOM & DAD ARE SAVED….soon and very soon the pre trib rapture will take place….if this couple are not saved, those 5 little babies will be going home with us to GOD and leave them behind. So lets hope they are SAVED…..ALL babies, and young children go home with us. You NEED to be saved/ready at the time of the pre trib rapture, or one gets left behind. BE READY…..~~~

    This is what you think of when you read a story about babies being born? It just caught me off guard for being so Debbie Downer meets Pat Robertson. This person must be a thrill at holiday parties.

  5. 5.

    srv

    April 15, 2015 at 7:00 pm

    @Baud: It’s like Benghazi and Iraq rolled into one.

  6. 6.

    Shell

    April 15, 2015 at 7:01 pm

    Hey, speak of the devil. I just posted this in the last thread…

    Question for the Balloon Juice blog masters. Suddenly today, when I try to log on to BJ, I get an error message along the lines of ‘can’t recognize..ad.stitcher..’ Can never get the whole thing cause my browser (Safari) then immediately crashes. It’s okay if I use Firefox. Has something changed with the website since yesterday?
    ReplyReply

  7. 7.

    Baud

    April 15, 2015 at 7:02 pm

    @Hal:

    This person must be a thrill at holiday parties.

    I hope you are SAVED…because if YOU are not SAVED…this GUACAMOLE dip is coming home with me.

  8. 8.

    NotMax

    April 15, 2015 at 7:04 pm

    more social media and mobile friendly

    Translation: More cumbersome/troublesome for PC users.

    May not be the intention, but is all too often the result.

  9. 9.

    Corner Stone

    April 15, 2015 at 7:08 pm

    so I am toying around with a redesign

    The last time you killed Recent Comments.
    Who do you plan to fucking murder like a pay for play cop this time?

  10. 10.

    Woodrow/Asim

    April 15, 2015 at 7:08 pm

    As a techie, I 100% feel your pain. I’m working on a site for my life-partner, and it’s been very, very slow going.

  11. 11.

    Shell

    April 15, 2015 at 7:13 pm

    I guess Cole’s got more time on his hands now that Lovey moved out.

  12. 12.

    Hawes

    April 15, 2015 at 7:14 pm

    “Change? Fuck your change.”

    BJ Mance Rayder

  13. 13.

    JPL

    April 15, 2015 at 7:15 pm

    I assume this,

    I know you all are like me and don’t like change, but shit happens.

    means there will be no vote on the redesign.

  14. 14.

    Suzanne

    April 15, 2015 at 7:16 pm

    Just please make it work on iPads when it in the mobile theme. And bring back comment numbers in the mobile theme.

  15. 15.

    Villago Delenda Est

    April 15, 2015 at 7:18 pm

    The problem isn’t so much that shit happens, it’s when self-inflicted unforced error shit happens.

    You must be cautious.

  16. 16.

    east is east

    April 15, 2015 at 7:18 pm

    @JPL: There will be a free vote. Hangings will follow.

  17. 17.

    Steeplejack

    April 15, 2015 at 7:19 pm

    @Corner Stone:

    I loved “Recent Comments”! A godsend on the night shift.

    I’m sitting here waiting for some “last mile” delivery company—BumbleShip or something—to get me my little box of Amazon goodies in the next hour. USPS and UPS have keys to the building, but for the lesser outfits I have to scrupulously track the package on line, then amp up the spidey sense to 11 and be ready to race downstairs when they get here or else go into “We tried to deliver it, now let’s play tag for a while” mode. First World problems.

    One of the goodies is a (relatively) cheap gizmo to mount my cell phone on a dashboard vent grille for GPS-ing when I’m out and about. Bought one before that was awful, but this one was cheap enough, and the reviews good enough, that I thought I’d give it a shot.

  18. 18.

    Baud

    April 15, 2015 at 7:21 pm

    @Suzanne:

    Mobile numbers definitely. And recent comments. And date and time stamps on posts.

  19. 19.

    Violet

    April 15, 2015 at 7:23 pm

    make it more social media and mobile friendly,

    The social media part of this scares me. You kids get off my lawn with your Facebookings and Twitters and Snapchattery and Instagrammery.

  20. 20.

    SuperHrefna

    April 15, 2015 at 7:24 pm

    @Hal: They are everywhere and they are very, very unwell. Nothing is innocent of their bizarre obsessions. I used to hang out on Ravelry a lot and we got these kooks getting upset about knitting patterns of all things: I remember one completely hilarious instance when they declared a mitten pattern was satanic because it involved a little pocket you could put your train ticket in. Apparently Satan is all about convenience in knitwear.

  21. 21.

    BillinGlendaleCA

    April 15, 2015 at 7:24 pm

    do not involve my spelling and verb tense issues and half finished thoughts

    I’m sure your mother will alert you to any of these issues.

  22. 22.

    WaterGirl

    April 15, 2015 at 7:27 pm

    @Shell: I will repeat (from the other thread) that I am getting the same thing. Safari doesn’t crash for me, but I do get the error box. And the error box will not allow me to select the CANCEL button. My only choice is to click CONTINUE (hell no!) or ignore the box.

  23. 23.

    01jack

    April 15, 2015 at 7:28 pm

    @east is east:
    Yeah. Striped pants. Loved the striped pants.

  24. 24.

    BillinGlendaleCA

    April 15, 2015 at 7:28 pm

    @Steeplejack: Who ever it was(also Amazon last mile) that delivered the replacement battery for my wife’s S4 delivered it to my neighbor out in front. Good thing I ran into him walking the girls last night.

  25. 25.

    kc

    April 15, 2015 at 7:29 pm

    DON’T DO IT JOHN.

  26. 26.

    Roger Moore

    April 15, 2015 at 7:34 pm

    @Hal:

    This person must be a thrill at holiday parties.

    ITYM Christmas parties. They sound like the kind of person who deeply believes in The War On Christmas and will insist on attending only properly Jesusy parties.

  27. 27.

    WaterGirl

    April 15, 2015 at 7:34 pm

    Cole, if you’re listening… more threads would help with the staleness issue. (hint, hint) Seems like a lot of folks have stopped coming to the site because threads are often so few and far between.

    I have probably annoyed you with that, so it’s probably a bad time for me to ask for a pupdate, isn’t it?

  28. 28.

    JPL

    April 15, 2015 at 7:35 pm

    I’m streaming the Chris show and he is talking to Bob Graham about the Saudi connection for 9/11. I’m shocked that there was a Saudi connection. Actually he does know what he is speaking about. It’s sickening that Bush covered that up for a war in Iraq.

    also, I’m not shocked.. lol

  29. 29.

    mai naem mobile

    April 15, 2015 at 7:36 pm

    @Hal: When I hear about these multiple births I think.of the expenses and i don’t think they’re celebrities like before so I’m sure they aren’t getting sponsors like Pampers and J&J. The medical expenses. All on one income for several years.

  30. 30.

    Roger Moore

    April 15, 2015 at 7:37 pm

    @Villago Delenda Est:

    You must be cautious.

    The Balloon-Juice comments section. You will never fine a more wretched hive of scum and villainy.

  31. 31.

    Major Major Major Major

    April 15, 2015 at 7:38 pm

    That is the most culturally aware 404 page I’ve ever seen from a politician. She really is listening to Mook.

  32. 32.

    Steeplejack (tablet)

    April 15, 2015 at 7:38 pm

    I didn’t finish all my required preseason MLB research, so someone tell me if it’s still okay to hate A-Rod. I see he’s DH-ing in the Yankees-Orioles game.

  33. 33.

    SuperHrefna

    April 15, 2015 at 7:41 pm

    @mai naem mobile: Even if the medical expenses are covered, just image having that many kids and not being able to hand clothes down from one kid to the next. Or helping five toddlers tie their shoes all at once. Or living in a house with five hormonal 12 year olds.

    I honestly think doctors who implant that many embryos at once should be had up for malpractice. Or maybe taking a leaf from the ancient law that put an architect to death if their building collapsed and killed people, doctors responsible for mass pregnancies should be forced to move in and help raise the children they helped create,

  34. 34.

    SiubhanDuinne

    April 15, 2015 at 7:45 pm

    @Steeplejack:

    First World problems.

    Oooh, I’ve got a First World problem too! I urgently needed a replacement charger cable thingy for my iPad (old one broke beyond redemption yesterday) and I went to Target earlier today to buy a new one. They had in stock only one color, and it is truly disgusting: Bright day-glo bubblegum Pepto-Bismol pink. Every time I look at it, I want to barf a little. I mean, it works fine and all, but that’s hardly the point now, is it? Puts the whole anniversary of Lincoln’s death into perspective.

  35. 35.

    Librarian

    April 15, 2015 at 7:46 pm

    You should make it so that when you click on a link, it comes up in a new tab. I really would appreciate that.

  36. 36.

    kc

    April 15, 2015 at 7:47 pm

    @kc:

    Seriously, you can redesign all you want, but it’s no substitute for posting more pet pics. And other stuff.

  37. 37.

    Mike E

    April 15, 2015 at 7:48 pm

    Heh, on The Big Bang Theory Penny wore a Hillary ’08 t-shirt because she literally had nothing else to wear…much like the rest of us.

  38. 38.

    SiubhanDuinne

    April 15, 2015 at 7:52 pm

    @Major Major Major Major:

    That is the most culturally aware 404 page I’ve ever seen from a politician. She really is listening to Mook.

    Beyond the silly family photo and groaner of a pun, I love that she says “Well, as long as you’re here, why not sign up to volunteer?” and provides a link so you can do exactly that. That’s smart.

  39. 39.

    SuperHrefna

    April 15, 2015 at 8:00 pm

    @SiubhanDuinne: Yes, it’s giving me some real hope that this campaign will be a good one. It’s smart, charming, and down to earth.

  40. 40.

    Major Major Major Major

    April 15, 2015 at 8:03 pm

    @Librarian: ew. No. Horrible for mobile.

    Or you could change the template so that the link rules automatically change based on device. That’s more interface design 201 than 101 tho, a little tricky.

  41. 41.

    Major Major Major Major

    April 15, 2015 at 8:04 pm

    @SiubhanDuinne: oh for sure. That’s the kicker at the end there. Very zeitgeisty.

    Incidentally, I’m currently having a beer at Zeitgeist.

  42. 42.

    gogol's wife

    April 15, 2015 at 8:05 pm

    @NotMax:

    Right. I’m dreading it.

  43. 43.

    bemused

    April 15, 2015 at 8:10 pm

    Bring back balloon guy. I miss him.

  44. 44.

    MomSense

    April 15, 2015 at 8:20 pm

    @SuperHrefna:

    Thankfully I missed that. Ravelry is my happy place online.

  45. 45.

    Quicksand

    April 15, 2015 at 8:25 pm

    @Steeplejack (tablet):

    I didn’t finish all my required preseason MLB research, so someone tell me if it’s still okay to hate A-Rod. I see he’s DH-ing in the Yankees-Orioles game.

    I’m no fan of A-Rod and I don’t really appreciate his personality or sportsmanship, but I’m utterly appalled at how MLB and the Yankees have treated him. So I want him to succeed beyond anyone’s wildest expectations and wring as much bonus money as possible out of ownership.

  46. 46.

    Major Major Major Major

    April 15, 2015 at 8:26 pm

    @Quicksand: designated hitter is bullshit. You can hate anybody who does it.

  47. 47.

    Bill E Pilgrim

    April 15, 2015 at 8:27 pm

    If “I decided the site needed a redesign” is anything like “I decided the floor needed mopping”, I can’t wait to hear what happens next.

    How do you write “then, with the bucket somehow on my head with all of the animals inside of it, we all went flying out the door…” in XML?

  48. 48.

    SiubhanDuinne

    April 15, 2015 at 8:28 pm

    @Major Major Major Major:

    Incidentally, I’m currently having a beer at Zeitgeist.

    Cheers!

  49. 49.

    NotMax

    April 15, 2015 at 8:29 pm

    @Wgogol’s wife

    Yup. “One size fits all” has eternally been a falsehood.

    Getting to the point that am shunning sites which utilize Facebook Social Plug-ins. Complete clusterf*ck.

  50. 50.

    Major Major Major Major

    April 15, 2015 at 8:30 pm

    @Bill E Pilgrim: surely you are aware that you already did

  51. 51.

    Mike J

    April 15, 2015 at 8:31 pm

    @Librarian:

    You should make it so that when you click on a link, it comes up in a new tab.

    It already does that for me. I just hold down control. If you add javascript to do it, you lose the ability to copy and paste links and is just a general pain in the ass.

  52. 52.

    geg6

    April 15, 2015 at 8:31 pm

    @Baud:

    I totally agree with you and Suzanne.

  53. 53.

    Steeplejack (tablet)

    April 15, 2015 at 8:32 pm

    @Quicksand:

    I hate the Yankees, too, so it’s not an either/or proposition.

  54. 54.

    Bill E Pilgrim

    April 15, 2015 at 8:32 pm

    @Major Major Major Major: Got me there.

    Actually the first casualty seems to be the edit function, I was going to change it to how do you do that in XML, but edit was gone not after the promised 4 minutes, but next time I reloaded.

  55. 55.

    Mike E

    April 15, 2015 at 8:32 pm

    @bemused: The mobile version has a teeny tiny version of megaphone man.

  56. 56.

    Mnemosyne (iPhone)

    April 15, 2015 at 8:34 pm

    @Suzanne:

    I need scalable fonts on the mobile version. My eyes are too old to have to read that itty-bitty font all the damn time. Also, get off my lawn.

  57. 57.

    geg6

    April 15, 2015 at 8:34 pm

    @Mike E:

    Yep. Best thing about the mobile site.

  58. 58.

    Mike J

    April 15, 2015 at 8:34 pm

    @efgoldman: The NL is much, much, much, much more likely to get the DH than the AL is to get rid of it.

  59. 59.

    Major Major Major Major

    April 15, 2015 at 8:37 pm

    @efgoldman: you’d be hard pressed to find somebody who feels more than me that we have standards for a reason. DH just always bugged me. So does javascript, but I still write it.

  60. 60.

    Major Major Major Major

    April 15, 2015 at 8:38 pm

    @Bill E Pilgrim: xml is turing complete if you count xslt :)

  61. 61.

    Roger Moore

    April 15, 2015 at 8:39 pm

    @Quicksand:

    I’m no fan of A-Rod and I don’t really appreciate his personality or sportsmanship, but I’m utterly appalled at how MLB and the Yankees have treated him.

    This. Unfortunately, you see this kind of stuff all the time in sports. Once people have decided a player is a bad guy, everything he does is interpreted in those terms. He can do exactly the same thing that somebody considered a good guy is doing, but it will generate totally different reactions because of who’s doing it. Worst of all, sportswriters will bend over backward to justify all kinds of awful behavior toward the guy because they think he deserves it.

  62. 62.

    Cookie Monster

    April 15, 2015 at 8:41 pm

    Current mobile theme is awful; can’t long-press to open links in another tab, which is something I do all the time…

  63. 63.

    Mike E

    April 15, 2015 at 8:41 pm

    @geg6: Worst: no bottom of page toggles to get back to the top/navigate to previous and next threads.

  64. 64.

    NotMax

    April 15, 2015 at 8:41 pm

    @Major Major Major Major

    The problem being that on way too many carelessly slapped together or ineptly tested sites, javascript writes you.

    (Not you personally, the collective you.)

    NoScript rules.

  65. 65.

    Bill E Pilgrim

    April 15, 2015 at 8:43 pm

    I wouldn’t give most DHs more than a C, C plus plus, tops.

  66. 66.

    Roger Moore

    April 15, 2015 at 8:43 pm

    @NotMax:

    The problem being that on way too many carelessly slapped together or ineptly tested sites, javascript writes you.

    On Soviet website, Javascript write you!

  67. 67.

    Hal

    April 15, 2015 at 8:44 pm

    That Hillary, always trying to upstage someone…

    https://vine.co/v/euIJZXteuMB

  68. 68.

    Major Major Major Major

    April 15, 2015 at 8:44 pm

    @NotMax: I shed no tears when Eich got fired for the prop 8 thing. I think I shed like anti-tears, because I saw nothing wrong with his firing and it got rid of the guy who wrote the ECMA spec.

  69. 69.

    scav

    April 15, 2015 at 8:45 pm

    All I hope for is a way to opt out of the mobile-optimized version: I generally hate them. But sera sera.

    OT happy tidbit of old-news for those needing follow-through: Puppy-kicking Des Hague, former CEO of Centerplate, sentenced for animal cruelty. The penalties imposed by his former employers were far more harsh, but at least something is on the books. Now if we can only get LEOs to take their treatment of people as seriously this side of the border.

  70. 70.

    RandomMonster

    April 15, 2015 at 8:48 pm

    Have all pages default to ‘Hilllvetica’: http://talkingpointsmemo.com/livewire/hillvetica-clinton-font-rick-wolff

  71. 71.

    Bill E Pilgrim

    April 15, 2015 at 8:49 pm

    @Major Major Major Major: I once had a touring complete. Well almost complete, I lost one of the hubcaps.

  72. 72.

    Mike E

    April 15, 2015 at 8:51 pm

    @Steeplejack (tablet): Hate the game; not the player. Sez spiteful Philly fan! Heh.

  73. 73.

    SuperHrefna

    April 15, 2015 at 8:52 pm

    @MomSense: Oh we turned it into a very merry knitalong, the Mittens of the Beast KAL :-) You can read about it here: http://www.ravelry.com/projects/knit2gether/subway-mittens

  74. 74.

    muddy

    April 15, 2015 at 8:54 pm

    @SiubhanDuinne: Paint it with nailpolish.

  75. 75.

    RSA

    April 15, 2015 at 8:57 pm

    @Hal:

    Just don’t use Marco Rubio’s people.

    Try Rand Paul’s people instead. DocDawg, writing on Daily Kos, describes Paul’s funding Web site, which displays a rotating banner of the most recent donor’s name and home town. DocDawg scraped the page at couple-of-minute intervals for a few days and built a statistical picture of the demographics of Paul’s donors. Not a rigorous piece of work, but clever and interesting.

  76. 76.

    Roger Moore

    April 15, 2015 at 8:59 pm

    @efgoldman:

    Arte Moreno (the Angels owner) is trying to break Josh Hamilton’s mega-millions deal, too, even though Hamilton didn’t do anything in violation of his contract, baseball rules, or the CBA.

    And people are perfectly happy to back him doing it, even though it’s patently obvious that the only reason he’s trying is financial. Hell, people will even say straight up that it’s fine for him to try to weasel out of the contract because Hamilton hasn’t lived up to expectations. Those same people would roast a player if he ever tried to get out of a contract because he had outperformed expectations and could get more as a free agent.

  77. 77.

    max

    April 15, 2015 at 8:59 pm

    @muddy: Paint it with nailpolish.

    Eats plastic. Wrap it with electrical tape.

    At any rate, if I remember correctly, Cole, there was a site update not but a year or two or three (?) ago. I figured that experience was enough.

    max
    [‘Fine, can we have less power blue?’]

  78. 78.

    Steeplejack (phone)

    April 15, 2015 at 9:04 pm

    @Cookie Monster:

    Long-press works for me—mobile site, Chrome, Android. Maybe the problem is specific to your platform or browser.

  79. 79.

    MomSense

    April 15, 2015 at 9:05 pm

    @SuperHrefna:

    Oh my. All that drama over mittens? Wonder if they’ve stumbled on the wee willie warmers yet.

    In one of the linked discussions they were talking about all the signs that the rapture was coming any day now–and that was seven years ago!

    I’m happy to find an atheist and agnostic group on ravelry.

  80. 80.

    BillinGlendaleCA

    April 15, 2015 at 9:09 pm

    @MomSense:

    All that drama over mittens?

    We’re still waiting on mittens tax returns.

  81. 81.

    Violet

    April 15, 2015 at 9:10 pm

    @max: Yeah, electrical tape. There are so many colors of it out there these days, you can make it pretty much whatever color you want.

  82. 82.

    MomSense

    April 15, 2015 at 9:11 pm

    @BillinGlendaleCA:

    heh

  83. 83.

    Violet

    April 15, 2015 at 9:27 pm

    @efgoldman: There’s paisley duct tape.

  84. 84.

    Violet

    April 15, 2015 at 9:32 pm

    @efgoldman: And the one I linked was only one of many paisley duct tape options.

  85. 85.

    Major Major Major Major

    April 15, 2015 at 9:37 pm

    @Violet: will use always for everything

  86. 86.

    Gin & Tonic

    April 15, 2015 at 9:38 pm

    @Violet: OK, you’re talking about wrapping a charger cable with colored electrical tape. As opposed to spending a whole $3.99 to buy a new one in a better color and, for that price, having it delivered to your door by a uniformed, unionized employee. How long will you spend wrapping the thing, and how useless will you make it when you’re done?

  87. 87.

    SiubhanDuinne

    April 15, 2015 at 9:40 pm

    @muddy:

    Ha! It’s 5′ long!! And I’d need primer, and two coats of enamel.

    See, the First World problems, they just keep a-comin’ and a-comin’…..

  88. 88.

    SiubhanDuinne

    April 15, 2015 at 9:43 pm

    @Gin & Tonic:

    As opposed to spending a whole $3.99 to buy a new one in a better color

    Please tell me where I can get a cable for $3.99. I spent $20 bucks for this one, and was thrilled because they usually cost $30.

  89. 89.

    muddy

    April 15, 2015 at 9:44 pm

    @max: “Eats plastic” – oops! Once I made a sculpture out of styrofoam and tried to paint it with spray paint. I guess latex would have been the better choice.

  90. 90.

    Gin & Tonic

    April 15, 2015 at 9:46 pm

    @SiubhanDuinne: That’s why I included a URL in my previous post.

  91. 91.

    NotMax

    April 15, 2015 at 9:51 pm

    @SiubhanDuinne

    Well under ten bucks at Home Depot. Their prices on cables of all sorts are surprisingly good.

    With a hot pink one, if you do misplace it, gonna be easier to spot it.

  92. 92.

    muddy

    April 15, 2015 at 10:00 pm

    @efgoldman: I’ve messed up watch faces with bug spray too.

  93. 93.

    Suzanne

    April 15, 2015 at 10:03 pm

    It would also be nice to be able to copy text while using the mobile site.

  94. 94.

    Violet

    April 15, 2015 at 10:04 pm

    @Gin & Tonic: Well, she might have some black electrical tape lying around, in which case the cost would be almost nothing. Otherwise, she could buy some in whatever color she wanted and then she’d have electrical tape to use another time.

    @NotMax: I agree, the hot pink one is way better because you can see the damn thing. Won’t disappear like white or black.

  95. 95.

    Suzanne

    April 15, 2015 at 10:08 pm

    @Mnemosyne (iPhone): The mobile site is crappy. I can’t copy text from other comments, it doesn’t show post numbers, and it just sucks.

    However, on my iPad, the regular site is unusable in portrait mode. Instead of the site just scaling to fit the regular width and showing more of the page below, the middle column instead shrinks while the two ad columns on the left and right stay the same size. THE MIDDLE COLUMN IS THE CONTENT. It shouldn’t scale! Each line ends up being just a few words long! It works in landscape orientation, but not portrait.

  96. 96.

    Baud

    April 15, 2015 at 10:11 pm

    @Suzanne:

    I can copy text on the mobile site. Is that an ipad limitation?

  97. 97.

    Gvg

    April 15, 2015 at 10:19 pm

    a lot of the cheap iPad cables don’t actually work which I find kind of annoying. I have had success without paying Apple prices at the Att store and Home Depot. Home Depot also had a 6 ft version which I really wanted. I don’t understand why Apple thinks 3 ft is ever a good idea.

  98. 98.

    Ed

    April 15, 2015 at 10:20 pm

    I read it in feedly. I only go to the site for the random quotations at the top and to comment ( rarely ) . Some color might be nice.

  99. 99.

    Violet

    April 15, 2015 at 10:21 pm

    @Baud:
    Yeah, I was thinking the same thing. I can copy it on my non-Apple phone. Copy and paste.

  100. 100.

    Baud

    April 15, 2015 at 10:24 pm

    @Violet: Me too. Copy and paste. I didn’t realize Apple didn’t permit that. That would be frustrating for mobile site users.

  101. 101.

    joel hanes

    April 15, 2015 at 10:29 pm

    @NotMax:

    Getting to the point that am shunning sites which utilize Facebook Social Plug-ins.

    Firefox and NoScript are your friends.

  102. 102.

    Mnemosyne (tablet)

    April 15, 2015 at 10:33 pm

    @Baud:

    There does seem to be a specific “iPad Theme” since that’s what it says at the bottom of my screen with the on/off switch. And it has all of the limitations Suzanne is complaining about.

  103. 103.

    Villago Delenda Est

    April 15, 2015 at 10:36 pm

    @efgoldman: Or, as he’s known in the Puget Sound area, Pay-Rod.

  104. 104.

    Villago Delenda Est

    April 15, 2015 at 10:38 pm

    @Major Major Major Major: If you hate Edgar Martinez, well, that’s your problem, not his.

  105. 105.

    Suzanne

    April 15, 2015 at 10:39 pm

    @Baud: Yeah, on the iPad and iPhone, you can’t copy text, but only on this mobile site. Every other mobile site seems to have this shit worked out. But I use the mobile site because I prefer portrait orientation to landscape, and the regular site on portrait orientation is unusable.

  106. 106.

    Cervantes

    April 15, 2015 at 10:45 pm

    @Baud:

    Is that an ipad limitation?

    Not here.

  107. 107.

    delk

    April 15, 2015 at 11:09 pm

    @Shell: The identity of the website “audiocdn.stitcher.com” cannot be varified .
    This certificate for this website is invalid. You might be connecting to a website that is pretending to be “audiocdn.stitcher.com” which could put your confidential information at risk. Would you like to connect to the website anyway?

  108. 108.

    pattonbt

    April 15, 2015 at 11:35 pm

    Maybe better trolls? BOB, Matako, etc.? Pray for another young energetic Democtratic firebrand to join the D primary race and re-live 2008 all over again?

    Otherwise it’s probably just GOP primary / general election clown car antics to keep things afloat (and prayers that whichever D emerges wins).

  109. 109.

    Rachel in Portland

    April 16, 2015 at 12:14 am

    John, I am just an old lurking mom, but I just love you and your site, and good for you for attempting a refresh. Just saying.

  110. 110.

    James E Powell

    April 16, 2015 at 12:58 am

    If I use Chrome, the site freezes before it is completely loaded.

    If I used Explorer, it stalls for 10 seconds or so before I can scroll.

    This is something that began about a year ago, maybe a little more.

  111. 111.

    NotMax

    April 16, 2015 at 12:59 am

    @joel hanes

    Well, duh.

    Of course use those, and have for many years; the point is that Facebook Social Plug-ins still freezes up the site for 90 seconds or more.

  112. 112.

    daddyj

    April 16, 2015 at 2:31 am

    John, please, please, please, please, please don’t go the route of presenting just headlines to your mobile users. Marketing pukes and SEO juju men love making us lab rats press the little levers, ’cause it gives them numbers for PowerPoint, but it sucks for users. Listen to the suits and your site becomes a wasteland of “click crack” headlines that lie about story content (cough! Salon cough! Slate).

    Scrolling is easy on a smart phone, even for the fat-fingered!

    In the last mobile push, even well-intentioned sites, not under the sway of SEO-Svengalis, fell prey to the they’re-just-mobile-users-feed-em-the-first-50-words-and-make-em-click-for-more mentality. I’m looking at you, Hullabaloo (but only on desktop because I can’t abide it on the phone).

    Start with any “responsive web design” (RWD) WordPress theme. All the recent WP installs provide good RWD default templates. It looks like you are already using RWD in the current site, but it’s not optimized for tablet/iPad users. Your sidebars should start to get out of the way or consolidate at about 900px instead of 650px. This is tricky for BJ because of the ad content in the sidebars and banner, but it can be done.

    Remember: everything can scale! You can even increase body font size on the narrowest device widths, which I see some folks here are asking for.

    I do this for a living; would be happy to beta test.

  113. 113.

    samiam

    April 16, 2015 at 12:56 pm

    You can say at least one depressingly postive thing about Hillary. The “if it ain’t white it ain’t right” crowd won’t have a problem with her. That picture is about as honkey white as you can get.

    Of course a lot of the haters get their energy from a potent mix of politics, race, and gender. So take away one with her but add another.

  114. 114.

    Aleta

    April 16, 2015 at 1:28 pm

    Perhaps a feature that would automatically enter animal comments, since the cats type theirs while I am trying to read. (The evergood dog just helpfully scrolls up the Ipad screen with his nose.)

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