New theme planned for the blog and possible use of CDN


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Viewing 33 posts - 41 through 73 (of 73 total)
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  • #33302
    Pan
    Guest

    Oh, I wouldn’t go quite that far, other than in the strictly monetary sense.

    They enjoy what must be an illuminating bird’s eye view of human nature, warts and all. Plus, I suspect they get to dine out occasionally on the stories they are able to tell of the extaordinary quirks of human psychology they witness (and perhaps analyse). At the very least I expect they get together ‘down the pub’ once in a while and have a darned good laugh amongst themselves, at the expense of some of us (and indeed, why shouldn’t they?).

    I also cannot imagine anyone who lacks a very thick skin (like, say, that of a politician) volunteering for the job of moderator.

    All the above is pure conjecture, of course.

    I would add that they ARE (very) occasionally rewarded by well-considered messages of appreciation, and grovelling apologies from those whose consciences force them to try to atone for the misdemeanours they have commited against said mods…

    __________________________

    “A rather tongue-in-cheek reference to some oldies (over 35) where it might be preferred that they clear out, making way for the exciting, dynamic new Millennials who (as any ful no) have all the answers, and are the only people whose opinions matter.”

    That’s good. Now I understand you.

    “Too subtle, sorry.” – Apology accepted. Very gracious of you.

    #33303
    Pan
    Guest

    Damn, this new format is tricky…

    My comment above is in response to glenn_uk, and is missing the first line (quoting Glenn):

    “From what I understand, the mods get no reward at all from the work they do here”

    #33304
    Pan
    Guest

    Thankyou for explaining the nesting limit.

    “be aware that things like noscript etc will block loading of the Google Fonts and a fallback will be used.”

    I am familiar with NoScript, but am not currently using that particular add-on. I AM using Adblock Plus. Plus I use the MVPS hosts file as an extra layer of ad/distraction removal.

    Can you please elaborate on the “etc” in “noscript etc”, and perhaps give us a clue as to how to go about entering ‘exceptions’ in add-ons like NoScript which will allow the free passage of Google Fonts, and any other scripts/urls necessary for the proper functioning of this new format?

    __________________

    “It might be an anomaly but percentage of mobile phone readership of the blog has doubled in the last 2 days.”

    Is that a good thing, or a bad thing?

    A comment like that does rather alarmingly add resonance to glenn_uk’s comment above about “clearing out the old farts” (I paraphrase, of course).

    __________________

    Finally, just out of curiosity, what IS “the second most popular web font in the world”? (In fact, is there a ‘Top Ten’ list, somewhere?)

    #33305
    Phil the ex frog
    Guest

    That some may like the softness of the orange is besides the point.This is a usability issue.

    Disregarding the difficulty some have with low contrast is no different that refusing to provide a ramp into a community hall. You exclude people by obstruction. This is both your loss and theirs.

    You wouldn’t exclude less able people just because the vicar and a couple of friends said they liked the stairs. You would tell the vicar he’s talking out of his arse.

    Get rid of the orange links. Make them readable for those of us with less than good eyesight.

    #33306
    Phil the ex frog
    Guest

    Pan
    “give us a clue as to how to go about entering ‘exceptions’ in add-ons like NoScript”

    Google has the answer of course. Well several answers. The most sensible one being – why the fuck would you install noscripts to then create exceptions to potential harmful scripts.

    A web site should function without scripting. It’s called HTML. HTML5 + CSS are unbelievably powerful these days. Scripting should only add bells and whistles.

    #33307
    Phil the ex frog
    Guest

    I meant to say:

    You would tell the vicar he’s talking out of his arise.

    #33313
    Node
    Guest

    Another great feature of this new theme is that clicking on a thread takes you directly to the last page of comments, unlike the previous one which took you to the first page whereupon you had to click through to the last. I reckon this feature is going to save me up to 10 seconds/day = 3652.5 sec/year = 61 mins/year.

    On the 18th March every year, I’m going to have an extra hour in bed in celebration of Darth Day.

    #33314
    Ba’al Zevul
    Guest

    I note that my relict but previously functional copy of Habbabreak no longer has an icon on the CW pages. It is still present in my add-ons screen as enabled, however. Habbabreak support was removed by Greasemonkey some time ago, but this may yet be an issue for Greasemonkey add-on scripts in general. In any case it forces me to view Ishmael’s posts. Any suggestions?

    #33315
    Node
    Guest

    One disadvantage of the threaded comments is that it’s hard to keep up with new comments – they are scattered all over the thread. There are solutions out there. Here’s a WordPress plugin called ‘Comments Since Last Visit’ which uses cookies.

    Comments Since Last Visit

    I appreciate it’s much easier for us to write wish-lists than for you to fulfill them, therefore this is not a demand or even a request, just an idea.

    #33316
    Darth
    Keymaster
    #33317
    Ba’al Zevul
    Guest

    Snag? Although Darth’s last post on this thread is listed as having been ~1hr and 10 mins ago, after Nodes @1156, it hasn’t yet appeared on my screen.

    #33319
    glenn_uk
    Guest

    Increasing the font size a good bit would definitely help, IMHO. Thanks.

    #33320
    Pan
    Guest

    @Phil the ex frog

    “why the fuck would you install noscripts to then create exceptions to potential harmful scripts.”

    Ahem … I asked YOU (the coders) if there were any exceptions one should create in order for this forum to function as intended.

    I assumed, quite naturally IMHO, that IF you were to supply me with any such exceptions, they would NOT be “potentially harmful”!

    I thought that was the whole point of exceptions – you only create an exception when you KNOW it is NOT a harmful one.

    Sorry for not being Kevin Mitnick, or whatever you were expecting…

    _________

    BTW, I NEVER use Google. There’s simply no need to expose oneself to such invasive corporate surveillance, when there are so many other great search engines out there.

    #33325
    Ishmael
    Guest

    I’ll be glad not to post on this vindictive persecuting blog again.

    Goodbye.

    #33326
    Herbie
    Guest

    The light orange is horrible, AND difficult to read.

    Can you change it to dark blue, please.

    Thanks.

    #33338
    Phil the ex frog
    Guest

    Baal

    Habbabreak will not function with the new theme. Welcome back to the real world.

    #33347
    Pan
    Guest

    Sometimes it’s good to take a recharge break.

    #33348
    Pan
    Guest

    Let your final search on Google be “search engine”.

    It’s the start of a great adventure!

    #33349
    Pan
    Guest

    “Welcome back to the real world.”

    The trouble is reality can get really subjective, if you let it.

    #33350
    Ba’al Zevul
    Guest

    Ok. The new layout dilutes the troll a bit, I suppose. But a block/fade option would be good to reduce the tendency to reapond ad infinitum to intentionally provocative, distracting or plain moronic posters. Please consider it.

    #33351
    Phil the ex frog
    Guest

    I furiggin hate google so would be more than happy to be convinced there is a worthwhile alternative. Maybe I’m just not aware of it.

    I thought all the search engines rely on the results of the giants. E.g. Duckduckgo heavily markets it’s open source aspect but barely mentions their proprietary side (and the limited benefits of their privacy angle doesn’t impress me). It’s still an incorporated money making machine serving a slight variation of the same results. A poorer variation in my experience – so what’s the point?

    #33352
    Phil the ex frog
    Guest

    I suspect anyone wanting to disrupt will simply ignore the threading anyway. Pretty much like the thread subject is ignored. Trolls tend to just post on the newest thread irrespective of the subject.

    #33356
    glenn_uk
    Guest

    The current setup has the latest page displayed first. The later the post, the more off-topic it’s likely to be, so any newcomer sees the most recent contributions to a discussion which has long since lost the plot.

    I hate google too, and want as little as possible to do with that monster.

    You might like this: (“Ad giant”!)

    Hand in glove: Google and the US State Dept

    Analysis: Release of more Clinton emails reveals extent of ad giant’s cosy relationship
    Hand in glove: Google and the US State Dept

    #33357
    Ba’al Zevul
    Guest

    Thanks for the link to Google nastiness. Trouble is, I find Google useful, largely because it can time-filter its results. OTOH, I am beginning to suspect that those results are tampered with, and possibly maliciously tailored to what Google would like me to see rather than what I want to see. Before I order the tinfoil, someone please tell me I’m wrong.

    #33373
    Pan
    Guest

    You are not wrong!

    If you want reassurance of that fact, then read “The Filter Bubble: What the Internet Is Hiding from You” by Eli Pariser (for starters).

    “The Shallows: What the Internet Is Doing to Our Brains” by Nicholas Carr is very good, too.

    #33389
    Phil the ex frog
    Guest

    I did a quick search for these books only to find google have extended their explicit removal of results. I’m pretty sure it used to happen only on EU tlds. Now it also happens on .com.

    At the bottom of this .com page:

    “Some results may have been removed under data protection law in Europe.”

    https://www.google.com/search?q=The+Shallows%3A+What+the+Internet+Is+Doing+to+Our+Brains%E2%80%9D+by+Nicholas+Carr&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8

    #33390
    Phil the ex frog
    Guest

    Darth

    Can we also get back the allowed html tags examples that used to be under the comment entry box. i.e. for blockquote, em, bold etc

    #33391
    Phil the ex frog
    Guest

    Sorry, I should have said please. At this time in the morning it’s easy to forget you volunteer.

    #33403
    Ba’al Zevul
    Guest

    You’re right. I used to use .com for exactly that reason. It looks as if Google is effectively ignoring the request to use .com and simply relaying what the .uk version wants to give you. The results are very similar now. Wonder if spoofing your IP would help? Tor?

    #33408
    Darth
    Keymaster

    It is supposed to be displayed. Don’t know why it is not being shown but will look into it. Hadn’t actually noticed until you mentioned it.

    #33413
    Node
    Guest

    Here’s Eli Pariser doing a live audio-visual (speech with slides) presentation of “The Filter Bubble”

    Starts at 4.00, finishes about 45.00, then some questions and answers.

    #33414
    Pan
    Guest

    Something to get you started –

    https://www.startpage.com/

    hover over “enhanced by Google” and you will see this message:

    “Your searches are private here.
    When you search with StartPage, we remove ail identifying information from your query and submit it anonymously to Google ourselves.
    We get the results and return them to you in total privacy. Your IP address is never recorded, your visit is not logged and no tracking cookies are placed on your browser.”

    Read this too:

    https://ixquick.com/eng/ixquick-merging-with-startpage.html?hmb=1

    It goes without saying that a paid-for VPN should be everyone’s SOP these days, doesn’t it? (Everyone who’s paying attention, anyway).

    There ARE other search engines as well. Smaller sometimes, but also more ethical, specialised…

    And youngsters may not be aware of the usefulness and benefits of Web Directories – they still exist too.

    But I’m not going to do ALL the work for you…

    Internet ‘research’ is your friend – Google isn’t!

    #33415
    Darth
    Keymaster

    Closing topic and reopening new one as paging settings are not being respected by bbpress for threaded forum posts. The page just gets longer for ever.

Viewing 33 posts - 41 through 73 (of 73 total)
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