A few small changes to Almost Fit, and an apology
In case you haven’t noticed with my references to software analogies, occasional odd conversational mannerisms, and interspersed star trek/star wars/80’s TV quips, I am a bit of a geek. While my wife has worked hard to reform my lifelong social and fashion ineptitudes, at heart, I still want a lightsaber.
I may also fly stunt kites. And know a thing or two about 3D animation.
As part of this curse, I also tend to like to read the stats of my blog, even down to the nitty bits of mindnumbing server data, looking for clues about well, you all. Don’t worry, I don’t know anything about what you did last summer.
That is my other hat - the security software engineering hat. But I digress.
No, for Almost Fit, what I find most interesting is [geek alert!] a) errors in the logs [and thus why I am leaving my current hosting company soon], and b) [geek alert at DefCon 5!] patterns in the configurations of the computers that visit the site. Again, nothing personal is to be found there - it’s all fascinating minutia like the number of Windows computers vs. Macs that visit, and so forth.
So here’s the apology: Somehow, for months now, it has escaped my attention that 76% of the visitors to Almost Fit have a screen resolution of 1024×768. Being geekish and all, all of my computers at home (yes, multiple - I had as many as 6 not long ago, that I actually USED…I may need an intervention) had the biggest screens I could afford, with resolutions set to extremely high numbers. Prior to today, this site’s layout was not ideal for 76% of the people stopping by. OK, let’s be honest - it looked like crap, and was difficult to read. For this, I sincerely apologize.
But I am changing my ways. If you noticed that Almost Fit looks slightly different, it’s because I’ve essentially reduced the size of the header image and moved things around a tiny bit (whoops - there goes that geek gene again). I hope it helps. And I’ll try to do better in the future. In the coming weeks I’m hoping to complete an overhaul of the site, and hopefully it will be received as an improvement. And if not, I may have to sponsor a “big monitor” contest.
Photography on Almost Fit
I wanted to mention a word about the photographs on this site, as I’ve had several folks comment on them (favorably). All photos on the site were taken either by me or by April, unless otherwise cited/noted. We are both artists, so photography is one of many manifestations of that.
At any rate, if you are interested in reusing the photos on your personal blog or purchasing high resolution versions, please see this page on our photographs. I’ll be setting up a portfolio site soon as well, which will show a much broader spectrum of photos that are available.
Back to the salt mines. Thanks for reading.
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you never need to apologize to US.
yours in a tremendous amount of jealous with regards to your computer skillz,
M.
I must have a computer screen like the other six in your house because your site has always been beautifully designed and easy to read for me. In fact, yours is one of the blogs my design nazi hubby called “nice looking.”
However, this tweaking looks just as good, and I’m glad the other 76 percent can see what I’ve been seeing.
p.s. I have a confession. I have a HUGE crush on Jean Luc Picard. Whew. I feel better after getting that off my chest.
I’m usually reading the site at 1280×1024, unless I’m at home, then I get to see it in 24″ of 1900×1200 beauty. Not that I would expect you to format it for that, unless you are really nuts
And I was wondering about the photographs, ever since I started reading you site I have been extremely impressed with the quality of your pics. I figured you had some top-secret collection of ultra high-res pics, but the fact that they are actually shots you and your wife have taken, wow! And I may take you up on purchasing a high-res version of the seafood market pic that was one of the original banners on the site, not sure why, but I really like that shot.
Keep up the great writing and top quality artwork, and I’ll keep coming back.
LOL Let me just say that in my house we have 4 computers and my 2 year old daughter’s favorite doll is an ewok. So, I guess you can say I have a geek family!
Anyway, I look forward to seeing the new changes on your page.
No need to worry about being a geek. I think I speak for many of your readers when I say we all have some level of infatuation with technology. Also, I know that as the author of the site you want to make it as good as possible for everyone that reads it, but I don’t think you need to fret over the resolution of the screen. I tend to not notice things like that, because I visit sites for their content. The reason I continue reading this site, is because I thoroughly enjoy what you write, and I think that is the case for everyone. Having said that, I won’t complain about any improvements
@Mizfit: Thanks MizFit - BTW, I was going to leave a comment on that whole kettlebell article, but holy cow - you had over a hundred comments in a few hours! I figured I was yet again, too late to the party… And what a party!
@FBG: I’m glad the layout is working for ya. And funny story…my nephew who was about 5 at the time was rather enamored Ro Laren. (Wow I REALLY upped the ante with that one….
)
@Adam: Thanks for the positivity on the photos. If I could take photos for a living, I probably would. And maybe I will, who knows! I have, of course, put the cart before the horse a bit as usual since I have no idea what I’d even charge, but I’ll post more on it in the coming weeks if you’re still interested. Boy do I need to get my act together.
@Rachel: Ewok! That is awesome! (Ok, I’m calming down now.) - I mean, wow you are strange.
@Tom: Thanks for the balancing point of view, and the kind words as well. I really appreciate it, and it’s definitely motivation to improve. Thanks again.
Hi Jeremy, my girlfriend always call me a geek but reading your post and see what you could find, I don’t have any idea how to do that, however, I knew that you could but I don’t even know how to start.
About the layout for me works right and I doubt that I ever going to have and that’s because I have a matrox box installed on my laptop so I can hook up 2 monitors (21 inches, so I believe that’s one of the reasons why she calls me a geek).
I wish you good luck with your weight loss and I will be following your blog.