Mickey Z
Cool Observer
Wednesday, October 12, 2005
Here's a ton of stuff to challenge your bandwidth
I’d like to thank Tom “Crazy Eyes” Cruise for doing what needed to be done.
Last Christmas I bought my whole family 7 Deadly Spins...this year I am going to tell my wife that I am doing my x-mas shopping early and order them all 50AR. I highly recommend this course of action to to all for better, more interesting Holiday dinner conversation, guaranteed.
morning, mick.
Posted by JOS on from Puerto Rico 10/12 at 06:27 AMMorning, JOS. Thanks for the shopping spree. I’d love to hear from some of the folks on your Xmas list, re: what they got out of 50AR. Thanks again.
Btw, here’s the NY Post take on what the Yanks should do: http://www.nypost.com/sports/yankees/29366.htm
Posted by Mickey Z. on from Astoria 10/12 at 06:36 AMThe site loads slowly when I’m browsing with my full privacy stuff. Then, it’s as slow or sometimes slower than when I’m on dial up. With cable, as right now, it loads plenty fast. Graphics put a heavy load on bandwidth and can be expensive for the site owner. Load times are also increased by having external images load. The servers for ads are often throttled back—though the sense of making ads cause people to bail escapes me—and are sometimes down altogether. One way to be kind to people with a dial up connection is to make use of the excerpt option, if your blogging software has it, and try to limit the total number of kilobytes on the front page to around 100 kbs.
50AR is sitting in my Amazon basket, and waiting to have enough stuff alongside it so my order qualifies for free shipping.
Posted by Harry on from 10/12 at 06:48 AMThanks, Harry. Do you think I have too many graphics on the site? Also, how do I know whether the front page is 100kbs?
Posted by Mickey Z. on from Astoria 10/12 at 06:54 AMThe easiest way to determine how large the front page is, if you’re using Safari on the Mac, is to hit the URL of your page and then check the activity window. The menu bar on top will have say “Window”, and you just click through to where it says “Activity”. That brings up a window in which you can see the measure of each image as it loads. Your Tom Cruise GIF is 697 kbs and the BBQ image is 216. I;’d guess your whole front page is somewhere around 1 megabyte today! That’s going to be tough waiting for someone on dial up. The Amazon images are tiny, so there’s no problem with them, and their ad server is working today.
Posted by Harry on from 10/12 at 07:09 AMGood morning all...Yes, Mickey I have had problems getting on the site since you’ve added all of the graphics. I thought that it was just me. I am on slow dial-up.....What a great photo of you in front of the mike. Mickey, you are a rather handsome dude. .......Is Lee really a lawyer? I am in constant need of legal help these days........50AR’s is the perfect holiday gift. I have quite a few relatives who could benefit from it...BTW the northeast has been hit pretty hard with flooding. I have a little water in my basement, nothing serious for me but others have been seriously affected. A 39 year old lawyer in the law firm defending me in the criminal case jumped into a swollen creek to save a 6 year old boy on Sunday. Both bodies were recovered on Monday. Tragic. I had a special level of respect for him because he became a lawyer without going to law school. He studied, worked hard, and passed the Bar.
Posted by RMJ on from Churchill 4 Prez Hdqts 10/12 at 07:15 AMRosemarie, one of the things you can use to speed up your page load times a little is Privoxy. You can set it to remove most of the extra stuff people put on their pages.
Posted by Harry on from 10/12 at 07:21 AMWhat a truly tragic story, RMJ. I’m sorry to hear it. If you don’t mind me asking, how does one become a lawyer without attending law school?
Harry: I removed some GIFs and replaced them with smaller JPGs. I guess I’ll have to restrain myself in the future.
Posted by Mickey Z. on from Astoria 10/12 at 07:31 AMHarry, thanks for the tip......Mickey, Vermont is one of several states that allow “reading” of the law. Usually the lawyer-to-be clerks in a legal office. It generally takes a little longer than going to law school but is an option for those without the money to do so. It was a plan that my daughter had but then she got married and had a baby instead. Also, it is something that I had considered for much of my life but now am glad that I did not do it. With my views of the judicial system, I would not have lasted 1 week before I lost my license to practice.
Posted by RMJ on from Churchill 4 Prez Hdqts 10/12 at 07:40 AMYeah, folks have told me I should be a lawyer for years. I’d never make it through the schooling and like you, RMJ, even if I did it the longer way, who knows how long I’d last?
Posted by Mickey Z. on from Astoria 10/12 at 07:49 AMThe law was made for one thing alone, for the exploitation of those who don’t understand it, or are prevented by naked misery from obeying it. - Bertolt Brecht
as for the speed on the site i am lucky because i use the computers in the uni (work, not student!)and they are lightning fast on any sites and downloads and all. makes broadband look incredibly slow.
just saw a fantastic short film (about 10 minutes) which was part of the official selection at the sundance film festival. its called ‘planet of the arabs’ and its worth watching. free download http://www.jsalloum.org/videos.html
Posted by michael on from scotland 10/12 at 09:31 AMYour welcome Mickey!
Glad I could contribute.
Posted by Luna_C on from the Delta 10/12 at 09:42 AMMickey, not only is the site slow for those of us with little bandwidth (about 90% of the world), but it hogs up a lot of memory and makes it difficult to view for those of us with old machinery (I only have a pII 600 mhz machine). Also, sometimes the page is fucked up, with the advertisments on the right being aligned on the left OVER the text so that you can’t read it. I use linux and Mozilla. Also, is it really necessary to have so much advertisement on your blog bag? It would be nicer without.
Still, I keep coming back ‘cause I like what you have to say. Jah bless.
Posted by august on from sta. barbara 10/12 at 10:27 AMabout that bono thing. who knows where the truth lies.
http://www.commondreams.org/news2005/1011-11.htmPosted by tm on from under ice 10/12 at 10:29 AMThanks for the video link, Michael. I loved it and will post it here...probably on Friday. I think tomorrow’s post will be more light-hearted (and interactive).
August: Sorry for the ####-ups. I’m not sure what I can do but I’ll try.
TM: The crazy thing about that Bono story is how easily we believed it. His reputation speaks for itself.
Luna: Thanks again.
Posted by Mickey Z. on from Astoria 10/12 at 12:48 PMLove this post and all its graphics, links, etc. And welcome Harry, RMJ, JOS, Mickey of course and the rest of the gang!
The last graphic reminds me of a scene in ‘Fawlty Towers’ where Basil Fawlty aka John Cleese repeatedly bangs his head on the table ..
Thanks for a great site Mickey! My first (or second) stop on my morning surf across the Internet.Posted by Helga Fremlin on from Daylesford, Australia 10/12 at 01:24 PMAnd Mickey, your site only loads marginally more slowly than other sites but that might indeed be due to the graphics. Please keep them coming, though - they always surprise/delight yours truly! I am on broadband btw.
Posted by Helga Fremlin on from Daylesford, Australia 10/12 at 01:31 PMOh, and one last thing: I agree with RMJ, Mickey - you really are a ‘rather handsome dude’. You know what to do if you ever come down under with Michele ..
Posted by Helga Fremlin on from Daylesford, Australia 10/12 at 01:35 PMThanks, Helga. I’m tempted to say I’ve already come down under with Michele...but this is a family website.
Posted by Mickey Z. on from Astoria 10/12 at 02:32 PMunicef bombs smurfs
commercial: http://tinyurl.com/9ymq4
Posted by tm on from under ice 10/12 at 02:59 PMThanks, TM. I’ll post this on Friday, too. It’ll be a double feature.
Posted by Mickey Z. on from Astoria 10/12 at 03:17 PMTakes a couple of minutes to load on my dial-up (only thing available in my English hicksville), but the pics add so much meaning to the site to make the wait worthwhile. I think of it like my old ZX Spectrum.
The rat-mouse thing almost makes me paranoid, I haven’t been in a maccy-dees or burger king in so long, maybe they’re running the Territorial Army (UK national guard) or apparently succesful Royal Marines ads in there? This gave me heart though.
http://www.sundayherald.com/48048
Don’t know if my namesake in scotland can confirm this, but I assume the traditional recruiting base being depleted is those big working-class scots.Posted by Mew on from England 10/12 at 05:40 PMSo your site is a FAMILY WEBSITE, Mickey?? Is news to me ..
Thanks for making me laugh!Posted by Helga Fremlin on from Daylesford, Australia 10/12 at 05:45 PMHey Mikey Mew...long time, no hear. Sorry about the slow loading but I’m pleased to hear you think it’s worth the wait. Basically, unless I’m inundated with complaints, I’ll continue with the images...but be cautious about size.
And you, Helga: Shhh...I have to call it a “family website” to skirt the censors. We all know better.
P.S. I just heard from Mudge. He’s had computer issues and will return soon. In the meantime, he sends his love.
Posted by Mickey Z. on from Astoria 10/12 at 05:53 PMIt has been a while hasn’t it, I usually stay mute unless drunk, a form of alcoholism perhaps? And I know what crap I spew when drunk, so, no hear from me. I dunno, I just started on Zen and the art of motorcycle maintenance, borrowed from my sister whilst working down in London, and the seemingly random intellectual curveballs (see, I’ve been trying to understand your recent yank sport-talk) put me in mind of your site. Keep it up!
Posted by Mew on from England 10/12 at 06:07 PMWhen us Yanks start talking about the Yanks, it must seem even siller to you than us.
Hope to hear more from you, Mew...intoxicated or not.
Posted by Mickey Z. on from Astoria 10/12 at 06:10 PM“Who are they playing? My god, its Gone With The Wind all over again...”
Just let me try to explain the recent ‘Ashes’ cricket series between England and Australia. Err, then again, maybe not. We won. Though approximately 91% of the nation has no idea how…Still, while we’re on Australia, here’s this...http://www.compfused.com/directlink/940/
scary huh? Thats how your country is being presented to the rest of the (english-speaking) world. Edited for maximum stupidity as it no doubt is.Posted by Mew on from England 10/12 at 06:38 PMOdd coincidence, Mew. I just found that link, too. Tomorrow will be movie day here.
Posted by Mickey Z. on from Astoria 10/12 at 06:52 PM“P.S. I just heard from Mudge. He’s had computer issues and will return soon. In the meantime, he sends his love.”
good to hear that...hello all. I’ve got a lot a catching up to do here today…
captcha: space
Posted by JOS on from Puerto Rico 10/12 at 07:47 PMMew, about your enquiry - i am by no means a nationalist or anything like that (see my review of mickeys book at spinwatch.org) but there are some facts about recruiting in the UK and they all seem to point to scotland, being the junior ‘partner’ in this ‘union’ getting the shitty end of the stick (or is that the sticky end of the shit!)
firstly, for our yank friends… scotland has 80% of the land mass of england however, it has a population of 5 million and england has a population of 50 million. thats a 10 to 1 ratio. depsite this 27% of scots mobilised in World war 1 were killed as opposed to the UK average of 12%. in world war 2 scots were a third of the UKs soldiering deaths and in korea (yes we did go there but not to vietnam which was the only time the UK have said no the US since WW2) it was one in 4.
that said, our troops no longer need to worry but unfair orders from london because we just get them from washington instead.
Posted by michael on from scotland 10/13 at 06:58 AM
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