I haven’t posted here in a while. I haven’t posted under this screen name in even longer. Long enough that looking over some threads I realized there’s a whole lot of people I don’t know…or who don’t know me. And seems like some of the people I did know are either not posting much or gone. It’s weird leaving this place for a while and coming back. Like leaving home and coming back years later. But why is it that internet time seems to go much quicker than real time? I feel like I’ve been gone much longer than I really have...maybe something to do with the insane amount of traffic that goes on here in one day. I usually don’t talk that much in the real world.
Anyway, for anyone that doesn’t know, I stopped posting a while back under Strider. I was reaching my 4000th post but didn’t know what I wanted to do for it, and since I was pretty busy I was posting under one of my pseudonyms, Shonuff, for a while until I thought of a landmark post. But as I got busier there was more lurking and less posting. And since then I’ve had to stop posting and even lurking all together. But, this is my 4000th post(or to be acurate my 4001st), so I’m warning you now to be ready. If you’ve gone this far you’ve signed on for the whole trip. Don’t say I didn’t warn you.
For a while I was thinking about all the different things I wanted to do for this landmark. I didn’t want to do a long “this is me and this is why I love hatrack” thread(I already did one of those), but just wanted to have some fun and do something cool. Well, I couldn’t think of anything cool, and now, when I finally have some more time and want to start posting again, I realized I need to do this first. I guess you can say I owe some people a landmark before I can feel good about posting again. I’ve also realized I don’t care so much anymore about what I’m going to say and I figure I’m just going to babble about whatever I feel like till I decide to hit submit.
I don’t really know where to begin. I’ve had more go on in the last couple months of my life than I’d say the whole time leading up to it. I’ve somehow managed, all in a very short amount of time, to fall in love, act on my desire to leave my job and finally quit, take steps to figuring out what I really want to do with my life, devote a lot of time and energy to an idea I really believe in and start my own business with a friend, oh, and did I mention fall in love?
So needless to say, things have been good. Even if sort of hectic. I’ll explain. I’ve been working up in north jersey as an engineer for the last two years. Leaving college I can tell you I already knew engineering wasn’t for me. I enjoy it. Parts of it. And maybe it wasn’t just engineering as much as a lot of surrounding factors going into it. I don’t think I’m made for an office, 9-5 job, sitting in front of a computer all day. But those were really just little extras, that helped push my decision. The truth is I wasn’t happy in engineering and I didn’t want to stay any longer. If anyone remembers my last landmark post, I’m pretty sure I talked about it then. Sort of interesting I think. In my first landmark I told everyone I wasn’t happy and wanted to leave my job. In my second one I left it. I didn’t want to get complacent, get accustomed and 20 or 30 years down the line regret never taking a chance and quitting and pursuing something I loved. Well I still don’t have anything to pursue, but I figured if I didn’t go ahead with part A, part B would never happen. It’s just the way I work. But before I could quit I had to wait it out a bit, and that happened to coincide with my current project switching into high gear and bogging me down with tons of work. Sweet. Good timing. Added to the fact that during this time, the online business I’m working on began coming together better and this is turn required a lot of work.
So this online business. This actually has some connection to another thread here at Hatrack from a while back. I made a thread one day about this cool website idea I had where people could search for bar specials online. Where you would come in and search for your area. And the site would list all the bars in the area. And then you’d be able to narrow down by special type or day of the week and it would tell you what bars had what specials on what days. I thought this idea was just the coolest thing(and still do) and wanted to know what people thought of it and if they’d go. Well since then, I’ve told some other people about the idea and they all loved it. I checked for other similar sites out there and couldn’t find much. I came to one of my friends and asked him to be my partner in this as he was a business/marketing major and was working in sales and had started a small business before, and I just knew he’d be great for what we were doing. Well it turned out to be a pretty good decision. Besides the fact that we’re both slackers we’ve still managed to really get going on the business. So far the website is done. All the business end things are done. Promotional material is being ordered. We’re in the process of raising some start up capital and everything is in place to go. We just need to sign some bars up on the site and go live. For anyone curious, the website address is www.barspecial.com, the sites up now but password protected for a little longer. Don’t worry. You’ll hear from me when it goes live. Oh...and just because I’m already soliciting...we’re looking for investors right now. And if you were seriously interested I can send you an investors package in the mail.
I left my job at the beginning of October, I moved back to PA, in the Lehigh area(where I went to school), and I’m living in the same house as my business partner, where we’ve set up a nice little office for ourselves(ha…it’s cool having an office), and I’ve been spending a whole lot of time working on the website and the business. The bad thing is I have no income! Now the funny thing is I didn’t quit my job to devote my time to this. It was a part of it, but it wasn’t the *reason*, it’s just sort of all worked out this way, and I can’t say I’m not happy about it. But the real reason I quit was to figure out what I wanted to do. Whether I wanted to go back to school. And what for? Well those questions aren’t answered yet. But they need to be soon. Or at least I’d like them to be. Depending on how the business works out I might not need to worry about income or figuring out my plans for a bit, but that’s not something I want to count on. We can’t realistically expect to make all that much cash that quick, but we can dream can’t we? I know I do. So my point is I need to start thinking about that. And I will soon. As soon as I finish this post...
Where was I? Love? No? Well I’ll talk about it anyway. The last, but most certainly not least thing going on in my life is the first serious girlfriend I’ve ever had. And guess what? I met her at Hatrack. It’s odd meeting your girlfriend on the internet. Now, I’ve spent a lot of time on the internet over the years, but I was never really into chatting, and Hatrack was the first forum I ever found. So chatting with people I never met was a relatively new experience for me. Meeting them was pretty interesting too. Beginning to spend more and more time chatting with the same person every day was something I had never done. But I couldn’t stop myself…when I was at work I was looking forward to being home to talk to her. When I was home and online I was disappointed that she wasn’t on. We begin writing emails to each other to fill the time when we weren’t talking. This may or may not have been before I told her I had strong feelings for her. But it was after we met and my already sneaking suspicions that I was falling for her were confirmed. So emails led to meeting in person. And meeting in person led to first kisses, and first kisses led to our current state…I think I’ve mentioned it a few times in this post. And to think, I have Hatrack to thank for it. Well technically Grenme, but it all started with Hatrack. Anyway, her name is Kira, most of you know her as Leonide, and she stole my heart.
So yeah, as you see all is good. And I hope this explains my absence to anyone that was interested. I’m glad to have this done with. I can now go back to posting about books and movies and not being serious in the least bit. Thanks for your time Hatrack.
Just thought I should mention Matrix is out today and I’m totally seeing it!
And the real reason I made this thread was so I can post in the 24 thread again.
I’m hitting submit now.
Any questions or comments please post below and I will do my best to answer them at my earliest convenience.
p.s.- i've been gone so long i originally posted this on the other side! wow...i'm an idiot.
[ November 06, 2003, 11:36 AM: Message edited by: Strider ]
Posted by Sho'nuff (Member # 3214) on :
phew...thank god man. I was just supposed to be a gimmick and you turned me into a regular poster.
I will now slip back into obscurity.
Twinky, you happy now? Posted by eslaine (Member # 5433) on :
Good stuff Strider. Thanks.
Let's have 4000 more now. Posted by celia60 (Member # 2039) on :
yay! i'm so glad you quit that job.
Posted by Dan_raven (Member # 3383) on :
Congratz all around.
Gratz on your new business. I can't invest (liquid assets? what are those?) but when it's up I'll send all my friends there.
Gratz on you relationship. Yep, you used a whole post without using the R word. I won't let you get away with that.
and Gratz on 4000.
We'll miss Sho'nuf, but glad to have the old Strider back.
Posted by Leonide (Member # 4157) on :
Yeah, i stole it. And you can't have it back!
Muahahaha!!!
Posted by BYuCnslr (Member # 1857) on :
Ah, yes...heart stealing one of the very few forms of theft that are actually incouraged by society...and for good reason. Satyagraha
Posted by Strider (Member # 1807) on :
Celia, me too...
the funny thing is i quit so i wouldn't have to stare at a computer all day. And in the last month i've mostly been staring at my computer all day!
It's alright. it doesn't seem as bad when i actually enjoy what i'm doing on the computer.
[ November 05, 2003, 12:27 PM: Message edited by: Strider ]
Posted by saxon75 (Member # 4589) on :
I hear you on the engineering thing, man. But it does pay me enough to live on while I think about the books I'll probably never write. Congratulations on 4000, on your new business, and to both of you on finding each other. I have to say, you kids are an intensely cute couple.
Posted by Strider (Member # 1807) on :
kids?
okay old timer. Posted by Kama (Member # 3022) on :
Posted by twinky (Member # 693) on :
'bout time. Nicely done. Posted by saxon75 (Member # 4589) on :
quote:okay old timer.
Darn tootin'!
::shakes cane at Strider::
Posted by Dan_raven (Member # 3383) on :
PS.
Gratz to Leonide too.
Posted by Zalmoxis (Member # 2327) on :
Congrats.
--- Is there some kind of master list of Hatrack couples somewhere? There's so many of them now that I'm having a hard time keeping track in my head. Is Hobbes dating Annie or :Locke? Who is brinestone again? Is Lalo pursuing Pat or Scott? It's all rather confusing.
Posted by Strider (Member # 1807) on :
Hobbes is dating Locke?
sounds like a match made in heaven.
Posted by Leonide (Member # 4157) on :
Thank you very much, Dan
You know, Zal, every now and again another Hatrack couples thread surfaces...you should start your own! Everyone's dying to know what's going on with the Ralphie/dek/T_Smith saga
(is that too obscure a reference? Sometimes my obscur-o-metre is way off.)
Posted by Dan_raven (Member # 3383) on :
I, for one, am not dieing to know about what is going on in the Ralphie/dek/t_smith circle.
(I would rent the video though)
Posted by Zalmoxis (Member # 2327) on :
I think that full confessions should simply be made in this thread. No need to clutter the board.
Videotapes should be sent to Dan who will not, I'm sure, convert them to mpegs and make them available on KaZaa.
Posted by MyrddinFyre (Member # 2576) on :
Cool Posted by ClaudiaTherese (Member # 923) on :
Awwwwwwwwww ...
Posted by T_Smith (Member # 3734) on :
quote: Everyone's dying to know what's going on with the Ralphie/dek/T_Smith saga
::Scratches head:: ::confused look::
Um...
Oh ya....
::looks around::
Huh?
Oh der, I just remembered that practical joke. I can't believe I deleted it. Well, better a well written joke being deleted than to actually have people believe it. Although... I am going up there a week from Friday.
Wait a minute... wasn't this Strider's thread?
Yes, I believe it was.
Strider, I'm glad things are working the way they are for you. When I saw that you posted, I said aloud "Finally!" And hey, thumbs up to love! Posted by Raia (Member # 4700) on :
It's amazing how it is possible to meet such wonderful people on Hatrack... It's such an incredible place in that respect! (And in many others, of course!!) (((((you know who you are)))))
Congrats, Strider!
Posted by Noemon (Member # 1115) on :
Congratulations Strider, Leonide! I'm so glad you guys have each other.
Posted by Marek (Member # 5404) on :
Congadulations Strider, that is so cool, and is it just me or do alot of people seem to be meeting on Hatrack laetely. It really is a great place to find very wonderful people. (((((You know who you are)))))
(I think most of the people in this thread probably know you are too)
Posted by Zalmoxis (Member # 2327) on :
I don't.
This is why we need a list. I can't keep track of all you people's couplings and uncouplings and clumps and clusters and twisted relationships -- not to mention all the siblings and parent/child relationships. And yet these things impact the tenor and tone of the board.
All I'm asking for is a weekly e-mail update. And while you're at it, it'd help if there was also info on who is mad with who and who was flirting with who in chat, etc.
This T_smith guy seems pretty connected maybe he should do it. Or Annie and Hobbes could do some cutesy thing and include photoshopped art with it.
Posted by Leonide (Member # 4157) on :
quote: We begin writing emails to each other to fill the time when we weren’t talking. This may or may not have been before I told her I had strong feelings for her
You wrote me only one email prior to your telling me you liked me. If anyone wants to read that email, or the conversation, I have them saved. As well as almost every convo/email of import since that time.
Posted by Hobbes (Member # 433) on :
Wait, I'm going out with this uhhh.... guy? Must've missed the memo.
Hobbes
[ November 05, 2003, 06:30 PM: Message edited by: Hobbes ]
Posted by Jon Boy (Member # 4284) on :
Zal—Brinestone is my wife. She used to go by Diosmel Duda. T_Smith is my little brother, and my triplets are Annie and Katharina. Narnia is Annie's twin. I am Mini-Pat, and I'm also Icarus's clone.
I hope this clears things up.
Posted by Zalmoxis (Member # 2327) on :
Again, my point, Hobbes. This is exactly why there needs to be a memo.
Posted by hansenj (Member # 4034) on :
*ahem*
<---Is also Narnia's--less known--twin. Posted by Hobbes (Member # 433) on :
*Sends Zal a memo* Yah, we're going to need you to be here on Saturday.... Yahhh.....
Great post Strider.
Hobbes Posted by Jon Boy (Member # 4284) on :
Sorry, Jennie. I knew that I was forgetting something. I guess we really do need a memo. . . .
Posted by Hobbes (Member # 433) on :
Or maybe a gossip column...
Hobbes Posted by Zalmoxis (Member # 2327) on :
JB and Hobbes: see, I knew you guys would come around.
[stage whisper]Jon Boy -- I knew all that stuff. I actually do pay attention. How else would I know what to joke about?[/stage whisper].
Posted by Annie (Member # 295) on :
Congratulations, Strider! And best of luck in all of your goals!
And I think Hatrack loves are so much more entertaining when only subtley hinted at, don't you? *wink wink*
Annie Posted by Zalmoxis (Member # 2327) on :
Ummm. Sure. You two are after all the king and queen of subtlety.
Posted by Hobbes (Member # 433) on :
Really? Cause I thought it was pretty obvious...
Hobbes Posted by Annie (Member # 295) on :
*subtley slips Hobbes a kiss* Posted by Zalmoxis (Member # 2327) on :
Clearly, Annie is the one in the relationship with the most funny.
Posted by Raia (Member # 4700) on :
Zalmoxis, they are indeed overly subtle, but I'm frankly amazed that you haven't figured out what Marek (or I, for that matter ) is talking about...
Let's see if you can figure it out, just from this thread.
And btw, subtlety is not exactly my strong point either!
Posted by Strider (Member # 1807) on :
Hey! You two! You know who you are. Stop hijacking my thread.
This thread is about ME! ALL ME! Posted by Marek (Member # 5404) on :
I thought it was about Leonide too
and sorry about that, but we have already been told to stop hijacking the last post thread, but I'm sorry
[ November 05, 2003, 09:47 PM: Message edited by: Marek ]
Posted by Leonide (Member # 4157) on :
He was just teasing, Marek, and also referring to Annie and Hobbes. Apparently they can't wait the...what is it, ten days now? to flirt with each other in person.
Posted by Annie (Member # 295) on :
eight days, thank you very much. Posted by Trogdor the Burninator (Member # 4894) on :
*burninates all who shamelessly flirt on the internet*
Posted by Frisco (Member # 3765) on :
Thank you, Greg, for corrupting that sweet, sweet girl.
I knew you could do it, if anyone could.
I'm gonna put that picture of her chugging beer out of the pitcher on my desktop today, if only because it has become a bit of metaphorical foreshadowing.
I miss you guys.
Posted by Leonide (Member # 4157) on :
I hate beer!
Just for the record.
And we all should totally do something. Somewhere. at some point. Any ideas?
Posted by Frisco (Member # 3765) on :
Are you guys coming to Boise any time soon? Posted by Leonide (Member # 4157) on :
why didn't i know about this??
Posted by Frisco (Member # 3765) on :
Some other guy has all your attention, apparently.
Posted by Leonide (Member # 4157) on :
No mo Eddie.
That troubles me.
Posted by Leonide (Member # 4157) on :
*love bump*
Posted by Dan_raven (Member # 3383) on :
(who doesn't love a good bump now and then?)
Posted by ana kata (Member # 5666) on :
I claim Narnia too! She's my acolyte! And that makes her fellow acolytes with all my other acolytes, Erik Slaine and Toretha and Human and The Rabbit and Anna and Black Fox. Then from there you have my two daughters, Saudade and Jaiden, and then one really should account for all the siblings through Bernard. JaneX (hi sis) finally gave me a complete list of those. Pod is one and kwsni and Black Fox again and who all else? Darn! I'm forgetting them! And don't even talk about grandminions! I have more of those than I can count. Myr and T_Smith and Apostle Radio (prolixshore) being prominent among them. We should definitely make a huge family tree showing all the relationships. I wonder if PAF can be extended for connections like minionship and acolytism? We really need to work on that. Posted by T_Smith (Member # 3734) on :
Not to mention Grand Minion-in-Laws, and Great-Grandminions...
Posted by Ralphie (Member # 1565) on :
quote: Everyone's dying to know what's going on with the Ralphie/dek/T_Smith saga
Nathan is staying with us in a little over a week.
More later.
(Greg - you remain one of my favorite Hatrackers, as does Kira. You guys both RAWK, and when I'm not able to post most here it's people like you guys I miss the most. Thanks for the landmark. )
Posted by Megachirops (Member # 4325) on :
Congratulations, and great post!
Posting under a different name for an extended period does give you a different perspective, doesn't it? Newbies don't know that they should worship you, and oldbies who've been gone for a while want to know who the heck you are to address them without bowing and scraping!
quote:And we all should totally do something. Somewhere. at some point. Any ideas?
How 'bout GreNMEcon II in the spring?
Speaking of which . . . were the two of you already an item before we met you, or were we involved in your coupleness?
Posted by eslaine (Member # 5433) on :
*adulates ak*
Posted by Leonide (Member # 4157) on :
quote:Speaking of which . . . were the two of you already an item before we met you, or were we involved in your coupleness?
You all definitely had a hand, as we'd never met each other before GreNMEcon.
Tell Cor it probably happened while she was showing us both the wonder of SIMS. She'll like that
Praise be to GreNME!
Posted by Strider (Member # 1807) on :
Ralphie, you're awesome. And not just because you said nice things about me. Just because you are.
Ic, almost didn't recognize you. You look different. Did you lose some weight?
i'm totally up for another Grenmecon. you heading to AC again?
[ November 11, 2003, 10:53 AM: Message edited by: Strider ]
Posted by Leonide (Member # 4157) on :
As fun as AC was....would it be at all possible for us to all meet in a more age-neutral location?
*whimpers*
Posted by Strider (Member # 1807) on :
Stop whining and just get yourself a fake already.
I mean, what else is there to do in jersey anyway? Commute somewhere? Get stuck in traffic?
Posted by Zotto! (Member # 4689) on :
Awesome post, Strider.
Posted by Ethics Gradient (Member # 878) on :
I thought the next get together was in Sydney. Posted by Ethics Gradient (Member # 878) on :
Oh, Strider, you're a pretty cool dude, dude. Posted by Strider (Member # 1807) on :
cool enough to fly me out to Sydney?
Posted by Ethics Gradient (Member # 878) on :
Via freight, sure Posted by Pixie (Member # 4043) on :
Congrats on the landmark.
...And on being with Leo. I always thought you two would be good together so it's pretty neat to hear you guys are together. Also...
Yay for that new online business! I remember thinking it was great idea the first time you mentioned it here so best of luck with that and I hope things keep going well. Posted by Leonide (Member # 4157) on :
Pixie, you should see all the crazy stuff he's got going on with it now!
My question is, why hasn't he posted a link to the site here on Hatrack when it's been off password protection for almost a week?
(Barspecial.com, folks)
Posted by Strider (Member # 1807) on :
well there's not much to do yet as we're building content and a customer base. But everyone is welcome to look around and see what they think, and remember that it's still a work in progress! Well, not the site itself, but we'll be adding content and features over the next month or two.
If you want to see our example packages search for ZZ and TEST.
When we've got more content and start pushing the site with advertising, I'll be sure to post the link again.
Any and all comments welcome.
And thanks Pix, on both accounts.
Posted by fugu13 (Member # 2859) on :
Some suggestions for the site, from a technical perspective.
1) do some search engine tuning. Add the appropriate meta tags, particulary a description (otherwise your search engine results will look silly) and some keywords (don't make stuff up, google's good at noticing keyword stuffing, but judicious keyword choices will help your rankings)
2) add a preload script for those rollovers. You can find them all over the web, but if you don't have one dial up users are going to find your site hard to navigate. I'd be in favor of ditching the rollovers altogether, myself, as the navigation bar is unclear unless you roll over them one by one, and they being rollevers doesn't aid in any way: you're not trying to sell web design, you're trying to get people to browse your site.
3) fix the rather jagged logo. It doesn't look professional the way it is.
4) make it possible to search by zip code. Your searches are far too broad (for instance, I get every bar in new york city when I browse to there, which isn't really practical). Looking at your search results, I'm betting you'd have to refactor your database in order to do that. Do it soon, or redoing it will be a huge hassle later on. Heck, you could even do a "nearest bars" feature with a radius search, though that would involve paying out for access to one of the map databases for commercial use.
Posted by fugu13 (Member # 2859) on :
Oh, and the search functionality should be consistent. Add a submit button to the state page, instead of auto submitting. I realize its not necessary, but in a given user interface widgets should function consistently.
Posted by Strider (Member # 1807) on :
thanks fugu...i'll address some of them.
1)i know...i just started researching all the search engine optimization stuff last week. and i had no idea how involved or complicated it was.
2)true...but they're just so snazzy! they do take unbelievably long for dial up though.
3)yeah, i'll give you that one. the guy we have doing the graphical stuff doesn't like it either. it was done by someone else..
4)we've been talking about changing the search options, for areas that are too broad. or maybe adding another listbox to narrow down places like new york and philly into smaller areas. eventually i'd like to maybe have a pictoral map that you can click on to narrow down your area. and we've thought of doing the distance search too, but that does involve money that we don't have yet. although honestly, i haven't researched how much that would cost. the database is actually set up to handle lots of this sort of stuff, cause when i was setting it up i foresaw alot of possible changes eventually and made extra tables and fields that i thought would eventually be beneficial.
5) how bout taking away the submit for the county?
again...thanks for your suggestions. if you notice anything else, more are welcome. i enjoy constructive criticism. especially considering i want to make money. Posted by Strider (Member # 1807) on :
and seriously, who still uses dial up?
on a more serious note, i'm betting the percentage of people in our target market that actually do use dial up is pretty low.
Posted by Strider (Member # 1807) on :
fugu, i thought most search engines don't even look at meta tags anymore?
Posted by fugu13 (Member # 2859) on :
Taking away the submit for the county would be semi-okay, but then you'd still have the other list boxes using a submit button, and they need to. Consistency consistency consistency.
Search engines have greatly devalued meta tags as increasing search significance, but it has far from happened completely. Particular the description tag, which search engines use in their results, and is thus extra important. Even google still uses the keywords, though. A keyword appearing as a commonly used word to link to your site will increase your ranking on that keyword. So you should at least have a few keywords, like bar, clubbing, specials, drink specials, drinks, beer, mixed drinks, and maybe a few more.
For making sure its more cross platform you might discover what your markup is compliant with and put a schema statement at the beginning of your pages.
Remember that your target market is people who are looking at deals at bars. You never know who might have dialup ;-) . Plus, even on my rather quick dsl the rollovers have a noticeable delay. You need a preload script to get rid of that.
Another thing that would help your load times considerably (and save on your server bill) would be to optimize your images. I downloaded one of your menubar images, opened it in photoshop, chose save as, and saved it as the same type (jpeg), not very lossy.
Now check the sizes. The original is 11.6 kilobytes, while the one I made is 4.5. If the images are downloaded a mere five thousand times a month (this will hopefully be a quite conservative estimate), and similar savings are true (the savings will likely be much greater, I didn't put any effort into this optimization at all) for the other images in the menu bar, that's around 400 MB of transfer! And five thousand is likely to be a very conservative estimate as a regular visitor throughout the month would easily download each of those images 10 or 15 times, so once your site takes off expect to save several gigabytes of data costs a month.
Oh, and give me a bit and I'll be happy to clean up the logo for you. If you know the font, that would help, but I should be able to work ok-ish from the current verison (unless you have a higher res one somewhere).
Posted by fugu13 (Member # 2859) on :
*bump*
Posted by Strider (Member # 1807) on :
fugu, sorry i didn't see this earlier. good bump.
let me digest everything and get back to you.
Posted by Raia (Member # 4700) on :
quote: and seriously, who still uses dial up?
*sniffs*
Posted by Leonide (Member # 4157) on :
hand me a hankie, Raia, cause mah boyfriend just made fun of me, too.
*fiercely hugs dial-up*
Posted by Raia (Member # 4700) on :
Awwwwww... (((((Leonide))))) S'ok, we girls will stick together!! (((((Leonide and dial-up)))))
Posted by rivka (Member # 4859) on :
Move over, gals. Is there room for a third on the pity-couch?
Posted by Strider (Member # 1807) on :
okay, i'm back. girls, you're going to have to stop feeling sorry for yourselves and make a stand. Get faster connections!
quote:Taking away the submit for the county would be semi-okay, but then you'd still have the other list boxes using a submit button, and they need to.
yeah, but the different lisbox sections are like completely different searches. especially if i add more choices to narrow down the area, and more choices for the special search eventually. I could have one top section that automatically submits, opening up a new box each time. and one large bottom one that has multiple simultaneous choices that need submitting because you have to pick more than one.
quote:You need a preload script to get rid of that.
i don't really know what a preload script is. but i can either research it, or you can tell me if it's easy to explain. i'm sort of winging all this.
quote:Another thing that would help your load times considerably (and save on your server bill) would be to optimize your images.
good advice. i'll get someone on that.
quote:Oh, and give me a bit and I'll be happy to clean up the logo for you.
well, i have a guy doing graphics. and we've been talking(arguing) about the logo. he doesn't like the current one on the site. for some of your reasons and more. but i'm not pleased with the ones he's been doing. we have like another 6 images for the logo. i'm trying to find a mix between the one on the site, and the style of these other ones we have. so far it hasn't happened. anyway, my point is i appreciate the offer, but we have nicer looking images, that clear up the stuff you're talking about, i just want them more in style like the one on the site, with the flash, and the faded/layered letters.
oh, and btw, feel free to keep the suggestions/criticism coming. i know there's alot of stuff i don't know that could be improved, i just happen not to know it.
[ November 19, 2003, 01:00 PM: Message edited by: Strider ]
Posted by Leonide (Member # 4157) on :
i love you.
Posted by fugu13 (Member # 2859) on :
all a preload script does is, when your page loads it tells the browser to load and cache all the rollovers right away, before they are rolled over. This means they appear instantaneously, instead of after a delay.
new logos are always good. if you're tuning your graphics, might as well play with the saturation/color balance of the group of people in the top bar.
Posted by Strider (Member # 1807) on :
thanks fugu, i took care of the preload script.
And we're working on the logo and optimizing the images.
oh, question, for keywords, do you think i should put states in as keywords to? Like throw in a New Jersey, Pennsylvania, New York. Or even for biggers cities have Philadelphia, New York City, Boston?
or do i trust that if someone searches for Bars or specials in Boston. it'll find the site just from bars and specials.
Posted by fugu13 (Member # 2859) on :
I'd suggest putting as keywords "boston bars" and "new york bars" and such.
Also, make sure you use language in your text that is almost keyword-esque. You should mention all the important words, such as bars, and the names of some of the big cities, and drink specials. Google places high weight on in text words.
Posted by Strider (Member # 1807) on :
Oh, and Kira, I love you too. Posted by Leonide (Member # 4157) on :
good to know.
And know we must stop, because we're already teetering dangerously at the edge of the Annie/Hobbes Blatant Flirtation and Shameless Self-Promotion Pit of Despair.
[ November 19, 2003, 05:47 PM: Message edited by: Leonide ]
Posted by Strider (Member # 1807) on :
you started it.
and learn how to spell!
Posted by Leonide (Member # 4157) on :
I....I meant know. Like a commandment. "Know ye that thou must cease thine shameful promotion of thyself, for if thou wouldst teeter perilously close to the pit which breatheth fire and despair, thou shalt be consumed by it."
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I didn’t want to get complacent, get accustomed and 20 or 30 years down the line regret never taking a chance and quitting and pursuing something I loved. Well I still don’t have anything to pursue, but I figured if I didn’t go ahead with part A, part B would never happen. It’s just the way I work. But before I could quit I had to wait it out a bit, and that happened to coincide with my current project switching into high gear and bogging me down with tons of work. Sweet. Good timing. Added to the fact that during this time, the online business I’m working on began coming together better and this is turn required a lot of work. ![[Hat]](graemlins/hat.gif)
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Must've missed the memo.![[Dont Know]](graemlins/dontknow.gif)
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) is talking about... ![[Confused]](confused.gif)
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