| Random Thoughts From a Confused Mind | ||||
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Saturday, July 06, 2002 ( 12:22 PM ) MB I hate pop ups. I can see where sometimes there may be one...on free hosted sites for example...but anymore than that is too many. Does anyone click on these things? I try to close them as quickly as possible and when I'm adding sites to JoeAnt, if there are too many pop ups, the site doesn't get added. Other things I hate on Web sites: Anything that blinks. This is just annoying. Too many banner ads. Same as with pop-ups, does anyone click on these things? Flash intros without the option to skip them. I have a dsl connection now, but when I had dial-up, I frequently left the site before the intro was over because nothing is that good and unique that it's worth sitting here and waiting forever for. Multicolored/multi-font text on the same page. Now that you've experimented and found out all the available fonts, clean it up and make it look nice. Sites where you have to mouse over the page to find the "hidden" navigation links. If the site isn't user-friendly, what's the point? "Adult" language on sites that aren't for adults only...buy a thesaurus if you're having that much trouble finding the right words. Weird and wild patterned backgrounds. It's too hard to read the text on them and they can take too long to load with a slow connection. Auto-loading music on sites that have nothing to do with music. It's possible I'm already listening to one of my MP3s or an online radio, or (with three kids at home) I would just prefer as little additional noise as possible. Chances are we don't have the same taste in music anyway and EVEN IF I do like the song, I don't want to hear some tinny wav version of it. I use IE and Netscape 4.7 (Netscape Classic). If the site doesn't work in Netscape, or makes the browser crash, you've lost me as a visitor. Spammy affiliate sites with no original content. There's more, but that's enough for now. What I do like: Clean, simple, easy-to-use sites with unique, interesting, or useful information or entertainment. Yeah, the second list is a lot shorter than the first. It's not that there aren't a lot of sites that I like, just that there are a lot of bad ones out there. What was innovative and attention-getting 6 months ago is over done and annoying today. Simple and classic looking doesn't have to mean plain and boring (think Coco Chanel.) Forget bells and whistles, content is what counts. No other medium offers so many people the ability to communicate ideas and information the way the Web does. Share what you know and what you think without detracting from it with useless clutter. Rant over (for now), back to surfing the Web. Permalink Wednesday, July 03, 2002 ( 4:21 PM ) MB I am "mocha. Intense, rich, and a little complex, you're as tasty as they come." To findout your flavor, take this quiz. I guess I must have been feeling a bit ambivilant when I took it since I love chocolate but I'm not a fan of coffee (I like the smell, I just don't drink it.) You can also find out the color or your aura. Mine is "a bright, rich Sapphire — which means you're a loving soul with advice and sympathy for everyone." I'm not too sure about that one.... And (sigh), my TV family is the Simpsons. I also found out that the car for me is a station wagon. I was really hoping for something a bit sportier.... I was really starting to doubt the accuracy of the results of these tests until I took the Celebrity Matchmaker one. It said: "Mary Beth, your match is Mel Gibson! Adorable? Check. Good body? Check. Sexy accent? Well, not anymore, but you could always rent one of his old movies. That's right — sigh-worthy Aussie import Mel Gibson is truly What Women Want, and he's your celebrity match! (Okay, so he was really born in New York, but we'll always think of him as the stud from Down Under.)" Who could argue with that? It's obvious these people really know what they're talking about. Permalink ( 2:30 PM ) MB I've been adding more recipes to my cooking site, including this one for Great Grilled Burgers: 1 lb. lean ground beef 1 small onion, minced 2 cloves garlic, pressed salt and pepper 4 hamburger buns 4 Tbl. mayonnaise 1/2 cup shredded lettuce 1/4 cup chopped green olives Mix together beef, onions, and garlic. Season to taste with salt and pepper, then form into 4 patties. Cook on grill until done. Spread the mayonnaise on the buns, top with lettuce and slice olives. Serves 4. Permalink Sunday, June 30, 2002 ( 10:14 AM ) MB Who's hot and getting hotter? Entertainment Weekly has a list of celebrities..I have no idea who most of these people are. Of the ones I do recognize, I find most of them more annoying than interesting. I feel old. I think I'll go back to bed. Permalink ( 8:33 AM ) MB Don't you hate it when you have to leave the computer to go do something useful and productive? Here's a way out of at least one chore, Bon Ami Bath Paints (Click on the link for a printable version): 1/4 cup Bon Ami or other non-abrasive cleanser water food coloring Mix cleanser with enough water to make a medium-thick paste. Add a few drops of food coloring. I mix this up in several small paper cups. When it's mixed up well, give it to the kids and let them paint the bathtub. They can make great finger-paint creations and when they are done, just rinse it off and the tub will be cleaner than when they started! Permalink |
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