From matt.mattarn@gmail.com Thu Jan 18 22:11:55 2007 Received: with ECARTIS (v1.0.0; list llg-board); Thu, 18 Jan 2007 22:11:56 -0800 (PST) Received: from wr-out-0506.google.com ([64.233.184.232]) by chain.digitalkingdom.org with esmtp (Exim 4.63) (envelope-from ) id 1H7mya-0004CC-JP for llg-board@lojban.org; Thu, 18 Jan 2007 22:11:53 -0800 Received: by wr-out-0506.google.com with SMTP id i31so355153wra for ; Thu, 18 Jan 2007 22:11:47 -0800 (PST) DomainKey-Signature: a=rsa-sha1; c=nofws; d=gmail.com; s=beta; h=received:message-id:date:from:to:subject:in-reply-to:mime-version:content-type:content-transfer-encoding:content-disposition:references; b=qB08USKQT4M3cQY5SE1xaSV1t75HltQxjkmmdfmKokPNckuJuL4XuHodPiF7Smju/nSrh/n/J9tJQDjKbzFpzLmvYsMVJ8Ac2p5KeFMHeQn6a90K4Z4JCtDG89XoCqAxy7FgRvunUEhHlB2MTl/Tt26mCtmdLhjiH1ssg/JlIl0= Received: by 10.90.71.12 with SMTP id t12mr2327766aga.1169187107357; Thu, 18 Jan 2007 22:11:47 -0800 (PST) Received: by 10.90.116.5 with HTTP; Thu, 18 Jan 2007 22:11:47 -0800 (PST) Message-ID: Date: Fri, 19 Jan 2007 01:11:47 -0500 From: "Matt Arnold" To: llg-board@lojban.org Subject: [llg-board] Re: [lojban.org #2084] Your site. In-Reply-To: <20070118221000.GH21920@digitalkingdom.org> MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1; format=flowed Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Content-Disposition: inline References: <5b5069e80701181314w2ce9a997ubf4c9ccd3ca61f09@mail.gmail.com> <20070118221000.GH21920@digitalkingdom.org> X-Spam-Score: -2.5 X-Spam-Score-Int: -24 X-Spam-Bar: -- X-Spam-Report: Spam detection software, running on the system "chain.digitalkingdom.org", has identified this incoming email as possible spam. The original message has been attached to this so you can view it (if it isn't spam) or label similar future email. If you have any questions, see the administrator of that system for details. Content preview: I searched Rob's email really hard for a grain of truth-- with a magnifying glass. Without trying to emulate his attitude, I can convert his mountain of lead into a tiny nugget of gold. For a long time, I have been giving serious thought to our need for a little bit of imagery at the top of the homepage. We don't want to get away from true nerdiness, of course. But by using "nerd stuff" as a pejorative, the phrase for which Rob is so ineffectively groping is really "dry academia". We do need to avoid the dry academic look. [...] Content analysis details: (-2.5 points, 5.0 required) pts rule name description ---- ---------------------- --------X-archive-position: 281 X-ecartis-version: Ecartis v1.0.0 Sender: llg-board-bounce@lojban.org Errors-to: llg-board-bounce@lojban.org X-original-sender: matt.mattarn@gmail.com Precedence: bulk Reply-to: llg-board@lojban.org X-list: llg-board I searched Rob's email really hard for a grain of truth-- with a magnifying glass. Without trying to emulate his attitude, I can convert his mountain of lead into a tiny nugget of gold. For a long time, I have been giving serious thought to our need for a little bit of imagery at the top of the homepage. We don't want to get away from true nerdiness, of course. But by using "nerd stuff" as a pejorative, the phrase for which Rob is so ineffectively groping is really "dry academia". We do need to avoid the dry academic look. Don't worry, I don't want to turn it into a garish circus! But a classy touch of art or a photo would turn it from looking like a thesis paper to looking like the cutting edge of cool. Just a touch, at the top of the page. Imagine a scale of one to ten in which one is "thesis paper" and ten is "garish circus". The part of lojban.org visible above the cut (where you can't see the blog) is at about two. It should be at three or four. I can purchase tasteful and vibrant photos from istockphoto.com for only about a dollar or two apiece. I'm still trying to find suitable ones. -Eppcott On 1/18/07, Robin Lee Powell wrote: > On Thu, Jan 18, 2007 at 01:15:36PM -0800, Rob Phillips via RT wrote: > > > > Your site blows. In fact, it blows big monkey balls. I don't > > know how to say or stress this in 'lojban' so I'm going to say it > > again in English: your site is a web design abomination. The > > first thing that comes to mind when you hear 'lojban' is loser or > > nerd. If your site reflects the sentiment of 'boring nerd stuff' > > then your whole organization is doomed to forever fall into this > > category. I, personally, do not care whatsoever about 'lojban,' > > your goals with it, or your incredibly horrible website. This is > > just my complaint that even if I wanted to read some of the text > > on the home page, I wouldn't be able to do so without a burning > > sensation in my retinas. FIX THIS. I am not a web designer. I > > am, however, someone who views web material everyday, and I know > > the difference between a good site and a bad site. > > Wow. You really know how to get people to do what you want, don't > you? Yep, being pointlessly insulting out of the blue is > *definately* how you get on in this world. > > > Add color. Change the background to something other than the harsh > > white so that it does not hurt to read. Also, the navigation > > setup is simply boring. > > And what insightful, useful suggestions! > > 1. Yes, clearly google.com, ibm.com, yahoo.com, paypal.com and > ebay.com should all take away their horrible white backgrounds. > :-| FFS, learn to configure your browser or turn down the > brightness on your monitor or something. > > 2. This may surprise you, but "boring" is completely useless > feedback, for two reasons: navigation *should* be boring, and it > doesn't tell me what elements you'd want to see changed. > > > It is understandable that you would go for a simplistic design > > that fits the material, but this one failed, and it will continue > > to fail as long as it turns readers away. > > Actually, Lojban users have been increasing continuously since I > took over as webmaster. This is my second site redesign, and I got > many spontaneous compliments since I put it in place. I interact > with users of the site every day, and you're the first person to > provide such... helpful feedback. No-one else has said anything > similar. > > -Robin > > -- > http://www.digitalkingdom.org/~rlpowell/ *** http://www.lojban.org/ > Reason #237 To Learn Lojban: "Homonyms: Their Grate!" > Proud Supporter of the Singularity Institute - http://singinst.org/ > > >