Message to MySpacers Everywhere

Ok people, I know you’re not web designers, but let me share a couple secrets with you..

1) The purpose of a web page of any kind, even one on MySpace.com is to be read. Therefore, putting light grey text on a light grey background doesn’t work. (The same goes for putting text over a background image where the color of the text and the colors of the image intersect.) It’s ridiculous how many MySpace pages out there are simply unreadable because of background or color choice. You can’t tell me you don’t notice it. Have you ever tried to read your own MySpace page? You must have noticed that every other work blends into the background. Come on.

2) Somewhat related to #1, even with good color and background choices, a page can be made unreadable by another MySpacer mistake : the overloading of a page with plugins, slideshows, images, videos, and audio(music). If my dual-core Intel processor starts to choke simply by browsing to your MySpace page, you might want to thin out your content a little. Hell, I’ve come across several pages that by simply trying to scroll to a part of the page has a delay of 5-10 seconds or more on it. K.I.S.S. Really, less is more. Again, you can’t tell me you haven’t noticed. If my computer screeches to a halt, so does yours.

So there you have it. Another MySpace gripe. So why the hell am I even on the thing you ask? Well, it’s kind of a necessary evil. I’m a blog guy, as you can see since you’re reading this, but I have many a friend that only use MySpace. If I want to keep up with the happenings in their lives, it’s off to MySpace I go. Also, MySpace is really handy for contacting people you’ve been out of touch with for a while. That doesn’t mean I’m not allowed to complain about it’s crappy UI, and some of the ugly pages I’ve come across. 😉

Yes, I have a Tattoo

No one ever sees it because it’s under my sleeve (fatties should not wear tanks), but I do have a tattoo. It’s my old band’s logo.

Bottom Dollar Blues Band Logo

Ruckus Gig a success!

My band’s last gig, (see previous post) was somewhat of an experiment. We’ve played at Ruckus Pizza for 4 years, and during those 4 years, we’ve always used our own mixer. (Our bass player at the time, Stewart, owned a rather complex PA.) Last Friday, for the first time, we used Ruckus’ PA, and for the first time both guitar amps were plugged directly into the PA using their speaker-voiced line out connections. The result? That gig was the best sounding gig EVAR. The crowd reported that they could hear everything clearly, and just as important, the band could hear themselves.

The gig was a blast. Thanks to everyone that showed up!

My Band Plays This Friday!

My band, High Fidelity has a gig this Friday at Ruckus Pizza on Avent Ferry Rd. We should start playing by 10:30. Come out and have some fun with us!

Verizon Can’t Do Math

My friend Bill found this on Digg probably and posted it on his blog. It’s such a perfect example of corporate stupidity that I had to post it too.

Basically, the story goes that this poor guy, before crossing over into Canada, asked Verizon what their data plan rates were. He was quoted .002 cents per kilobyte. Suspicious of such a low rate, he asked the Verizon rep to verify it, and put it in his account’s notes. She did so, and he went about his merry way into Canada and used his data plan. When he got his bill later, he was charged $.02 a kilobyte and had a bill of over $70. He tried to explain the situation to Verizon’s billing department, and wackiness ensued. Read the transcript HERE.

You’d think that people would realize by now that if a computer geek tells you your math is wrong, you might want to believe him.