Glad to help, John!
From John Aravosis at Americablog:
We’re going to soon be launching a major revision of the blog, and while we’ve been scheming on this for a good year, I’d like some input from you guys on two things.
1. Graphic design.
This is my weakest area of expertise. I can shoot a pretty photo, but I’m not good at creating beauty – I find they’re different skills (capturing vs. creating). I really could use some advice, suggestions, mock-ups of what you all think AMERICAblog 2.0 could or should look like. I’m talking graphically. The layout of the page, the colors, the background color, should I include any images and if so where, our logo?
Well, let’s see.
Above: Model to stand in for Aravosis, who in real life is a startling orange color and has no eyebrows. Not shown: blazing fireplace stuffed with money, giant billboard for constant Americablog fundraiser, servants polishing Bentley in garage
2. Substance.
We already have a VERY good idea of what we want AMERICAblog 2.0 to have in terms of the administrative interface, but also in terms of the content and tools we offer YOU. Meaning, enhanced commenting features, more video and audio offerings, enhanced use of RSS feeds, perhaps even diaries (i.e., the ability to create your own sub-blog on AMERICAblog), and more. Even though we have a good idea of what we want, I still wouldn’t mind hearing what YOU want. I’d love to see some mock-ups – I know a few of you sent these before, and I’d love to see more.
Above: a museum devoted to banning
What we want? Oh, you know. Trap doors in the floor to dump people into the basement crocodile tank if they say things Aravosis disagrees with. Just what everyone else has.
PS If you send me any suggestions, you immediately and fully relinquish any and all rights you may have to those ideas and you give me permission to use those ideas, without remuneration, in AMERICAblog 2.0. I don’t want to get sued for “stealing” anyone’s ideas 🙂
Oh, no problem. We’re happy to help for free, because the orchids need new pots and all. Wait, what’s this?
A friend called and asked a very interesting question regarding the story about the 26.5 million veterans’ records being stolen from a VA employees’ laptop computer.
How do you fit 26.5 million records on a laptop?
I’ve dealt with big databases on small computers before, and they’re a disaster trying to open, manipulate, etc. Let alone the sheer size of the databases even fitting on a laptop hard drive.
So my question for the geeks out there is this: How big a laptop would you need to contain, and manage, the records of 26.5 million people? And the larger question: Are we getting the full story here?
[doing calculations]
About this big, John.
It has to be really big to hold all the, you know, data bytes in it.
Since this is the first time I’ve seen mention of the VA thing on the blogs I frequent, I thought I should just point out that the records weren’t stolen from the laptop, the laptop was stolen. By thieving-type thieves. At the guy’s house. Along with the rest of his stuff. This is an important distinction, I feel.
I used to work for one of the largest business information sellers in Europe, and their database for Business Information Reports for the twenty odd million businesses they covered took up 200 Gigabytes which would fit on one of Toshiba’s recently announced had drive. An 60 Gbyte hard disk, which is faitly standard on laptops these days would allow 25 million records of over 1000 bytes, more than enough to cover most information you would wish to store about an individual.
Ahahahahaha! Stop it! Teh Banning Museum!! You guys are just mean. OK, this was pretty damn funny. I starting snickering at the photo of ‘John,’ but what really put it over was the photo of the Banning Museum. I prefer Pam’s blogging on gay issues, anyway. I stopped reading Americablog after witnessing one too many public meltdowns and associated bannings. Disclosure: I have never been banned from Americablog. Probably only because I never commented there.
That picture – cribbed from an International Male catalog? Or a John Leguizamo movie?
I got banned from teh greek site when I suggested the greek was soft on Andrew Sullivan because Andy was also greek.
I gave up when he demanded that Howard Dean be bound and gagged and chuckedin the nearest volcano. Way to piss on a hand stretched out in friendship, doofus.
I don’t think I ever got banned at Americablog (who really ever knows, though?), but I stopped visiting and commenting after the big McKinney blowout. Somebody has some unresolved issues with people of color. With blacks in particular, I mean. Maybe just black women? I don’t know, but the way that whole thing played out (with the bannings and everything) was really, really sad. And more than a little psycho. It was like whack-a-mole in the comments section, with little proto-racists popping up everywhere. Y-U-C-K.
The design is fine the way it is. I visit to read the content.
please. orchids don’t howl. they wilt. You would think the decadent Left would know this.
I propose a ratings systems. Comments will be rated by John as follows:
1—Banned.
2—Not banned, but I notice it’s been a while since your last contribution.
3—Not banned.
U R MEEN
I propose the new Americablog be designed as an enormous Paypal button that takes over your entire screen and won’t go away until you have dontated the going market price for a kilo of the finest truffles.
Inside, a Google Maps animation allows readers to follow John on his travels throughout Europe and North America, with occasional prompts to Americablog visitors to make donations of various denominations (indicated whenever there is an imminent purchase of a rare hothouse bulb suite by John at an orchid festival in Holland, the dinner bill coming due at Chez Panisse in Berkeley, an urgent need for crisp $100 bills at an impromptu coke session in Cannes, etc. etc.)
In the comments section, commenters will be vetted by an intricate sarcasm-detecting algorithm based on the genome of the Toy Poodle.
Demogenes – Sweet.
It could be like a mini RPG. Help Jon choose what he’ll be buying with all the money you just sent him. In fact, he could charge monthly, and call it an MMORPG, just make it one huge chat room with people writing their suggestions in all caps.
GET THE JETSKI, ORCHIDS SUCK.
My suggestion for a new logo for AmericaBlog 2.0 is here.
Full disclosure: I was banned from AmericaBlog for — get this — leaving a comment disagreeing with John about the scope of the Constitution’s Speech and Debate Clause.
[…] John at AmericaBlog wants help designing his logo. I couldn’t resist. Gavin at Sadly, No! has some other suggestions for “AmericaBlog 2.0″ […]
Clif, there are some things I can understand, but if you criticize a man’s perspective on the Speech and Debate Clause, you criticize his soul.
[…] Call the Emubulance! E.M.U.T.s to the scene! […]
Oh, you didn’t.
Oh, you did.
YOU DID!
Disclosure: I have been banned 4 times at A-Blog.
PS If you send me any suggestions, you immediately and fully relinquish any and all rights you may have to those ideas and you give me permission to use those ideas, without rEMUneration, in AMERICAblog 2.0. I don’t want to get sued for “stealing� anyone’s ideas
fish? Are you and Aravosis the same person?
HAHAHAHA Self n4ildz0rz!!!!!!!!!!!!! ARAVOSIS rEMUnerated!!!!
… I stopped visiting and commenting after the big McKinney blowout. Somebody has some unresolved issues with people of color. With blacks in particular, I mean. Maybe just black women? I don’t know, but the way that whole thing played out (with the bannings and everything) was really, really sad. And more than a little psycho. It was like whack-a-mole in the comments section, with little proto-racists popping up everywhere. Y-U-C-K.
FUCK YEAH!!!
I was so fucking mad at that rat bastard for what he did to Cynthia McKinney. After everything she’s done for the progressive cause and all battles she’s had to fight and all the shit she’s had to endure for the high crime of being Black, and he has the fucking nerve to call her a “nutjob”? Shiiiiit. Fuck you, John. And to think I actually donated money to your site last year when Atrios put out the call on your behalf. If I had only known your true “colors”.
Arsavosis 2.0? I didn’t realize that much more Guckert news was pending.
/FREEBIRD!
What the fuck is that last photo?
Was John overly critical of McKinney? Perhaps. But, face it, she’s often her own worse enemy:
“On April 23, 2006, as reported by WGCL’s Renee Starzyk, McKinney forgot she was still wearing the microphone after she was interviewed about the scuffle with the police officer. Her off screen comments were captured on tape. She was heard saying, “Oh crap, now you know what… they lied to Coz and Coz is a fool.”[28] She was referring to one of her aides, Coz Carson. McKinney realized the embarrassing mistake and returned on screen with the microphone, this time with instructions on what parts of the interview CBS 46 was allowed to use, “anything that is captured by your audio…that is captured while I’m not seated in this chair is off the record and is not permissible to be used… is that understood?” Her comments were aired on CBS and eventually across the nation.”
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cynthia_McKinney
Here’s a clue for you Cynthia…take off, or turn off your fucking microphone! And, failing that, don’t try to act like the Marie Antoinette of DeKalb County.
Is there a Yahoo! Group forming for people who have been banned at americaBLOG ?
[…] Haha the aliun is a orange humanoid! Did the wingnut gravybeasts eat your eyebrows, aliun? […]
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