Sep 08
MoggyMe, Update, Web Design, Website
Over the summer I built a new website – Slightly Soton. Most of my blog readership I think knows the premise of the site already, but for those who don’t – do go check it out and have a ponder. The satirical news site launched on 1st Sepetember, and at 8 days in, some things have really stood out and I wanted to share my thoughts publically.
First of all, there’s this whole big thing about ‘secrecy’. It was never a secret that I was doing this. Infact, I have mentioned many times to various people all about the rough idea in the back of my mind… I just didn’t involve anyone in the production. When I first set up the Twitter and Facebook pages for the site a couple of days before launch, I didn’t bother trying to undisclose who was behind the project, I came out straight off (see this tweet here). I’d rather people focussed on what the content is rather than who the writer is.
The point of Slightly Soton is simple – something that people can chuckle at in their spare time. I only write well when I’m talking crap, so to me it makes sense. At the end of the day, if people read the content and they enjoy it, I’m happy. If they don’t come across it, or do and don’t like it – it doesn’t bother me.
Lots of people have tried comparing the site to the popular Wessex Mash from a few months back. Let me say this clearly; I am not copying the Wessex Mash, or at least not trying to. As I have said above – people know it’s me here – Pete and Mike kept themselves quiet because of the content they were writing. Nothing on Slightly Soton is out there to personally insult or slander people or organisation, and I will take responsibility for the stuff I write. If you are comparing SS to WM, you clearly haven’t understood the what SS is about.
Furthermore, it’s remarkable the response I’ve had from some people. Whilst some think it’s the greatest thing since sliced bread, I’m not going to lie in that I’ve had a few stroppy comments. One bloke, “Anon” submitted a comment complaining that the site was nothing like The Wessex Mash and he was unimpressed with the articles. Whilst a completely fair comment to make – he/she didn’t muster the balls to say who he/she actually was, nor did he/she leave an email address. And I do hope that “Anon” reads this post and understands where I’m coming from… I would have messaged back directly, but no email was given. And yes, that comment has been rejected.
In another few weeks I’ll update everyone on how things are going again. But I do enjoy writing this stuff and I shall carry on until I get bored of it. The most popular article by far is the Jesters and Sobar to join together for one massive night article, which swept around Facebook picking up 150+ likes, 473 unique views for that article, and over 1,500 page views for the entire site – in just 7 days. 78% of visits are new visitors, not returning, which only speculates the site is growing with readership. You can’t argue with figures like that, that’s while I’ll carry on and not get down by stupid arse comments such as the one from “Anon”, as I know people out there are enjoying it.
I’ll update everyone publicly on the site’s progress in a few weeks time. Until then, keep checking the site for updates, Twitter & Facebook. The latest article is quite a fun one: Solent students faired better in their exams than Southampton undergrads.
Aug 20
MoggyApple, Design, Mac, Web Design, Website
I found this pie chart on the Apple Website in the newly introduced Compare Mac section… and it seems they haven’t learnt from their previous pie chart cock up last year.
Can you see the mistake? I’m pretty sure that the Consumer Use section is more than just 37% when it is represented well over 50%!
Want to find the mistake yourself? Go to the Compare Mac’s section in the Apple Store and add a MacBook to compare – then scroll down to the Environmental Status Report section. It’s the middle pie chart below:
Apr 29
MoggyBBC, Politics, Web Design, Website
With the General Election coming in a month, many of the news websites have fantastic interactive map guides to the constituencies and the political party each MP represents. Here is a guide to the 5 best maps online:
Summary: My favorite is The Times, followed by Sky. They are both accurate, to scale maps with detailed information on each constituency. The Times more so because of extra features (such as the predictions) and it seemed to run a bit faster for me.
Jan 26
MoggyApple, Mac, Web Design, Website
Apple, the company of absolute perfection and absolutely no room for error, has buggered up… and I know it’s industrially sad of me to point this out… but I just find it weird.
You’ll notice there is a difference between the horizontal viewing scroll bars on the USA and UK versions of Apple’s Mac website. It appears that Safari only exists in the States, despite the Safari website on the UK section exists, completely normally. Bizzare right? Check it out (click for larger previews):
So there you go. Do I deserve a reward? Or is there some anal reason why this is meant to be?
Aug 27
MoggyBBC, Internet, Media, Web Design, Website
On a day-to-day basis, I, and I’m sure many others of you do too, read the news. I commonly read mine online, brought forward to me either by RSS feeds or Twitter feeds – or by looking at my Safari homepage, currently set to Guardian.co.uk.
If you know me personally, you will know how much of a picky person I am, and here I will tell you why I picked the Guardian for my homepage out of all the other news sites to compare. I hve compared the layout of The Guardian to two other media sources; the BBC and The Times.
BBC News Online
I have always been a supporter of the BBC, and I shall say that for specific news stories, I read the BBC News online articles by choice. However, I dislike the BBC Homepage. Firstly, the whole thing just looks crammed in my opinion. I dislike the way that those eight ‘other top stories’ on the right don’t even get a description… and compare this to the ‘also in the news’ section and the ‘video and audio news’ section which have far less important stories, but are granted a thumbnail. Don’t get me wrong, the content on the BBC is great – but the layout and the homepage… not so.
Times Online
I rarely use the Times Online website, which is strange for me considering the Times is my favourite newspaper. Strange right? Well, I don’t read the online articles out of choice, nor is it set to my homepage, nor do I have any Times-related RSS feeds or updates of any sort. However, I thought I’d bung it in for comparison. I do rather like the layout, though see that big white space above the logo… yeah, thats a big banner ad – thankfully it’s not showing as I have an ad-blocker plug-in installed. Also see that space in the bottom right, yeah, that’s an ad too. I know companies like Times Online have to make money somehow, but I honestly hate large obtrusive adverts. Then there’s just the general feel of Times Online, it just looks… bland, plain, boring. Compare it to the Guardian, below, which makes better use of colour. And then, the layout, it hosts the biggest crime of all. When I’m scrolled to the top, excluding the ‘most read’ box, I can only see a maximum of 4 news stories. Just 4.
The Guardian
And then we have the Guardian, my current favourite. The page is vibrant and attractive, unlike The Times it is colourful and mildly exciting – and I can see more than just 4 stories! There are no obtrusive ads, and the column on the right is small and out the way in my opinion.
And then, finally, as it’s worth a mention – the Media Guardian section is fantastic and hosts great content – one of the real great reasons why I use The Guardian for online news reading.
Aug 15
MoggyDesign, Fonts, Software, Web Design
Here are 4 free, clean, slick and modern fonts you may want to download and install… for free.
Bastardus Sans – download
Blue Highway – download
Sansation – download
Union – direct download link, and bold direct link
Enjoy. Share some of your own in the comments below if you so wish.
Jun 14
MoggyInternet, Technology, Web Design, Website
In this post I will list the sites that I use to get extra code for great features on mine and other websites. All are pretty easy to use (just read the instructions on their websites) and you should be fine. Enjoy.
DynamicDrive
Geeat site full of DHTML stuff, and a GREAT Ajax and Javascript section. You may notice some of the scripts I’ve used on my site.
DHTML Goodies
A site full of DHTML goodies (as the name suggests… well.. duh!). Similar set up to DynamicDrive.
Script Asylum
Another site full of great scripts worth checking out. Has a really good games section which is a bit of fun.
MiniAjax
A nice library of an expanding collection of really pretty looking DHTML and Ajaz scripts from around the net. Lots of misc. scripts. Worth checking out if your fetching ideas.
DHTMLsite
Another site of great scripts. Not quite as popular as some of the others, but still very good. 300+ tutorials.
Kazaap
I personally didn’t take a liking to this site, but you may enjoy it a little. It’s got some pretty cool animated header creators… and all the effects seem to be a little more basic than a few others I’ve seen.
Sohtanka (css/xhtml)
Awesome blogger for web design. Check out the css/xhtml section of the blog for some great tutorials and scripts. Some nice animation with jQuery here.
JavaScriptKit
Sister site to DynamicDrive, but has a lot of scripts not found there. Worth a look.
Flowplayer (jQuery Tools)
Not so much a script library – but has some really good tutorials into making some really nice web 2.0 tabs, tooltips and other designs. I learn’t a bit from here.
Enjoy!
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