MINDSAY SHORTCOMINGS

(or, Things I'm not really concerned about, but will elaborate on anyway.)

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Today is my day to illuminate a few of the shortcomings of Mindsay. "So what's new", you might say. OneWalrus bitching again. But this time I think I have some really valid points. Please take the 45-minutes and read this! (Ok, so it's only three-minutes reading!)

 

Last night I read a post by dismh8 (now gone). In the post it was explained that he was essentially leaving Mindsay because of its inferior abilities to modify and control. I believe dismh8 was primarily frustrated with the text editor. I agree.

 

Open up the text editor to write a new blog. Look at the size of this window. I have used or experimented with almost all the other blog services and none of them restrict and punish you with this skinny, ineffectual space. The window in this editor is only just a bit larger than the freekin' "Bully" banner advertisment. (Which by the way is very irritating every time I accidently pass my mouse over it and the trailer I do not want to see starts to play. That "accident-placement" is intentional.)

 

Let's compare the Mindsay editor with a couple others by pasting in identical text. Take a look at how much of the text is actually visible in the editing window, and how much space is taken up with superflous stuff.

 

MINDSAY EDITOR

 

 

 

BLOGGER (BLOGSPOT) EDITOR

 

 

ZOUNDRY EDITOR

 

 

Do you see the difference? In each editor window I have pasted identical text. Look at the difference of how much you can actually see.

 

 

Having been here at Mindsay for almost a year I have seen no improvements, or heard any annoucements for them. What I have seen instead are modifications and improvements to the stupid and meaningless "top-blogs" and the photo and video services. To me this is the equivalent of turning the radio up when your car engine starts making strange noises. The underlying, primary mechanics of Mindsay are being neglected while spinner wheel-covers and a pearl finish are being attended to and heralded.

 

Recently a new blog experiment called shhh was deleted by some malicious user. The same experiment has been going on for years over on blogspot

http://postsecret.blogspot.com/) without one incidence of deletion. Why? Because attention is given to the most essential services a blog should offer. Can the feature to appoint a single "administrator" to an account be that difficult? 

 

Finally, I would ask Brian and Adam to tell us what sort of keyword-scanning they are using on our blogs. It is beyond coincidence that Adam never visits my blog unless I include the name "Adam" in my blog.  What other words or names are you scanning for? (And then, even though that particular blog was asking him for  a response, I never got one.)

 

See, what did I tell you. Within an hour of posting with the name "Adam" in the body of my blog, there he is visiting.

 

Come on guys, think about giving some attention to this antiquated, restrictive text editor before you add more bells and whistles and ads. I'm not pissed, irritated or angry, I just think priorities are misplaced... what's new about that right!

 

P.S.

My 15-year-old son and I arrived early for a movie. While waiting in the parking lot he fired up his laptop for me to help him install Autocad Lt O7 for school. I had to comment how amazing it still is to me, to be able to have a computer in the front seat of your car. I told him, "If I had said I was going to bring a computer to school tomorrow in 1967, my friends would have laughed and asked how many semi-trucks would be bringing it.

 

It's true, but what amazes me even more is how many people today barely scratch the surface in utilizing what a computer is capable of.  I would have to go back to the automobile analogy. I believe that just as it is all to common for people to not have the foggiest idea of how their car works, the same applies to their computer.  I would implore readers to learn the mechanics of the machine itself. Also, I would strongly urge readers to dig behind everything you see on the surface of the web unless you're content with being subject to demographics, marketing and propoganda.  Look, it's like when you travel. If you really want to experience the truth of a place you have to get off the beaten path and be an explorer. (No pun intended.)

 

 

P.P.S. I am wondering why it was objectionable for the "community" members when a blogger was talking about how fucked up high they were, but it's ok for another blogger here to consistently make blog enteries such as "I sucked him off while he fingered my ass." ??? Just wondering?

 

P.P.P.S. How could I neglect to kvetch the top blogs. Today the emphasis is on spelling. If you can spell incorrectly in the first sentence you win!

 

P.P.P.P.S. The new "Find-People" feature is fun, you know, to "find" people.

 

Oh, enough already!

 

 

   

Pablo

©2006

 

 

 

 

>.) Site Meter
 
   

 


 
 
aostrow on
Re: MINDSAY KVETCHING - Editing Window, Computer Usage + Content ?'s
We had never had the issue with the size of the text editor brought to our attention before, but seeing it next to the other services, it looks like this is something we should improve, and we will as soon as possible.  You should always bring issues like this to our attention so we can prioritize them with the dozens of other things we are constantly working on for MindSay.

-Adam

xflowerchildx on
Re: MINDSAY KVETCHING - Editing Window, Computer Usage + Content ?'s
you're my new hero

and look at that, you got a response!
onewalrus on
Re: MINDSAY KVETCHING - Editing Window, Computer Usage + Content ?'s
Thanks, now I can get up and use the bathroom.

Actually, Adam did respond to me, but only with some provoking and then still not to the question and evasive.

A couple quick questions... how did you happen upon my blog? Where is Washburn?

I like your flower power design. Very hip and mod like an old tv show call Laugh In.

xflowerchildx on
Re: MINDSAY KVETCHING - Editing Window, Computer Usage + Content ?'s
Haha... Well I guess he is just a mysterious guy....

I'm not entirely sure how I came to read your blog. I guess I have a bad memory.

Washburn is in North Dakota.

I got the design off of mindsay. I'm too lazy to make my own.
aeschylus on
Re: MINDSAY KVETCHING - Editing Window, Computer Usage + Content ?'s
onewalrus ...

I love your blog ... you keep pulling me into new things to think about. I'm still struggling to read it at a natural size though. Same as you have problems with that text editor, when I pull up your page all the entries are cut off on the right, and because I often use a text-to-speech reader, sometimes my reader gets totally stuck on the pictures. But good points about the text editor, although I like having one in the first place.

I don't know much about the design progression here, as I'm new, but I'll tell you there are some out there a LOT worse. I just blasted at Yahoo Answers yesterday for such a horrible navigation system I couldn't find anything! and when I did I couldn't find where to go back to.

And now that I know the secret of catching Adam's attention, think I'll use that (I keep forgetting those guy's names).

Ummmm ... Can we bring back the Browse button, please please please??? There are at least three ways here to browse those "interests" not counting the Wiki pages, but no way just to browse the posts as they are entered.

And I did search the Find People page for "old lady" and I got one match, as follows:

Sex: chicken mrs love girlfriend babe girl bride lover lass maiden lady gal bird miss kitten mistress doll chick
old lady
dame broad mama maid debutante mate companion inamorata matron moll nymph paramour gentlewoman

So, can we have the Browse function back, Adam ... please???

aeschylus
onewalrus on
Re: MINDSAY KVETCHING - Editing Window, Computer Usage + Content ?'s
Thank you Aeschylus (are you Greek?) for the compliments.

I think the reason my page gets cut off is that I'm using a screen resolution of 1024x768. I design everything for full screen viewing.

While I thought it was a rather obvious lacking (the tiny text editor), Adam Ostrow replied that he has never heard any complaints. I do not imagine they will be changing it any time soon.

While I enjoy the novelty of the new "find people" feature, it is just that, a novelty. The script which runs the map is very resource intensive and buggy. In addition, I think a lot of people would rather not have it known where they are in the country. And you are correct, the change makes if more difficult to simply browse.

Thanks for visiting,

Pablo

aeschylus on
Re: MINDSAY KVETCHING - Editing Window, Computer Usage + Content ?'s
Hehehe!

are you Greek?

No, I'm an eccentric old lady. The story of Aeschylus (and my nick) was my first post ...

Who Is Aeschylus, and Why Should I Care?

I understand why changes are slow though. I'm trying to put together three domains before end of year (no competition Adam ... LOL, just love that trick), and figuring out something takes extra time just so you don't have to undo and redo things. For me, navigation is vital, even if it means I have to mirror a site to provide accessibility.

I've been looking more at the fact more and more people are accessing with other than a laptop or desktop too, and I think I would like to just adjust to being an old lady with her knitting and online games (which I have never been).

I'll bug you one of these days to find out how you do things. I have a tendency to write webmasters and ask how they did something or whatever. I get a lot of nice replies back, actually.

aeschylus
onewalrus on
Re: MINDSAY KVETCHING - Editing Window, Computer Usage + Content ?'s
RSS... that's all I'll say.

 
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