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Subject: maybe you should update your site?
 
Hey Bart,

I was wondering what you use to put your pages together?  Dreamweaver, office, etc.
I'm assuming your going off of a template but I was curious what it might be or what your using software wise. 

 

The reason I ask may sound a little odd.  As far back as I go reading the site (99'ish or 00'ish) I only can recall
one time the look of the site has been updated.  I'm not the biggest fan of website design but I have had occasion
to do it since people don't seem to believe me that graphic design is a separate discipline from web programming.  :)

Yes, it's been a while since we changed things.
Most people change things for the sake of f-ing change.
If it's on the right, we have to move it to the left.
If it's a round red button on the right, we must change it to a square blue button on the left.
And we must do this because change is what keeps no-imagination web page designers in business.

I was bored tonight and reading the site it sounds like things are worse than usual financially.  I know my
design clients are all in the tank and my screen printing business is slow as well.  Since I haven't hit the powerball
(despite my best efforts) and I wanted to do something to help the cause I started doodling a little and thinking.

1:)  I was wondering if you'd be open to an updated look? 
Depending on what your comfortable with putting together the pages in I may be able to give you a template
to bring the site out of the 90's from a visual standpoint.  (No offense but it's not the prettiest thing on the net)
A fresh coat of paint and some layout tweaks might get you some more traffic and/or links. 

I'm not talking about anything crazy like Joomla, Drupal or HTML 5 (because I don't have it in me to take on
a project like that for someone) just something simple.

I'm open to a new look - I just don't want to shut down for a week to learn some new system
that the f-ing engineers will change next month because they have to have f-ing change shit to survive.

I've tried new web page building programs - they all suck.
I tried moving to Mac - but they have problems that are different from PCs.
If someone could build something that f-ing works, I'd be on it like Rush on Black, unwed mothers.
But America CAN'T build anything that works, besides Toyotas and Hondas, that is...

2:)  Have you thought about switching to a blogging format for the site instead of publishing distinct "issues"? 
I only ask because it seems like doing 8 to 10 posts a day would bring people to the page more often and bring
more page views and free you up time wise.  I know I find myself checking Josh Marshall and Duncan Blacks sites
more often because of that.  Kos is a different animal because of the number of people contributing, 
Tonight was the first time I can remember clicking on the bart blog and there re some good pieces of thoughtful
writing on there!  A stream of small posts and Toons ala Atrios blog and the occasional big essay might not be
a bad way to go.  Just a thought.

If my "sub-pages" attempt at generating revenue fails, I'll be ready to try something new.
Anything is better than quitting and going on Social Security, if there's anything left after Obama guts it.

Yes, I'm very jealous of those who work 2 hours a day and make 10-100 times the money I make.
 A few years ago, Kos was making something like $2M a month and he told that prick Russert,
"I hardly do any work on my page."   Yeah, color me jealous.

We need more Democrats with a set of brass balls and war hammers.  It sucks that Kos and Huffington suck up
most of the advertising dollars.  But the number of people getting pissed who want to see the Dem's sack up seems
to be growing.  Those seem like potential readers and where the readers go, theoretically, the dollars should follow.

Anyway I'm including a logo design and a first pass at a template for the top of the page for you to take a look at. 
Drop me a line and let me know what you think and about the software your using.....or to tell me to go F' myself!  lol

I just want to say thanks for the site. 
  Bantlis

 

 Bantlis, I like that look, but I'm not sure "the look" is what keeps people coming back.
 
 Like you said, there are a million pages more "snappy" than mine, but many of them super-suck.
 I HATE to go to some page that has so many things flying around the screen that finding shit is impossible.

 Microsoft and Google and Yahoo are perfect examples of this.
 My work is slowed down tremendously by all the shit that pops up that I don't want.

 If you mouse over something, a hundred balloons pop up asking if I need tickets to the f-ing moon.
 No, if I needed tickets to the f-ing moon, I'd go to gotothefuckingmoon.com
 Why can't the bastards produce a product and then leave it the fuck alone?

  All the old programs that worked - fast and perfect - and gone.
 Microsteal has made all programs that work incompatible with their new versions of Windows.
 Since Yahoo blackmailed me into downloading their new "We got whores who want you, Bart" upgrade,
 a sign pops up EVERY TIME I open a page telling me my page builder isn't compatible with their
"whores" Yahoo upgrade and that pisses me off.

 We have to remember that Microsteal, Google and Yahoo are NOT in the computer business or the Internet business.
 They're in the "You need our newest version" business because that's all their no-imagination engineers have.

 Assholes like Bill Gates can't stand being the richest bastards on the planet.
 No, they're compelled to invent newer versions of shit that doesn't work to replace
 shit that does work or they'll be considered yesterday's news and they can't have that.

 

 Thanks, I feel better now.
 But it pisses me off that computers push me backwards.
 I'm having to work twice as hard to put out a page that took just a few hours back in 2000 or so.
 Every time the sons of bitches "fix" something, it no longer works or I have to click and extra
 two hundred times a day (no exxaggeration)  to make shit disappear that I never asked for.

 Maybe that's why America is now #25 on every list you can find - we produce shit - that's all.

 Note to Microsteal:
 In every product you provide, PLEASE include a button to turn all that unwanted shit off.

 But tell you what - send me your blank template - let's see if I can make it work.
 I guess there's always one chance in 1,000 that the newer version will be compatible.

 

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