Which Websites/Blogs Do I Hate The Most?

1969.The ones that have a music track ... that plays on loading, whether you're in the mood or not.

DSL is easier to get than ever, but music still consumes enough bandwidth that you're slowing the load, and on older computers, you'll notice.

Moreover, I know what I like to listen to when I'm websurfing ... I'm already listening to it (right now, I'm listening to Deutsche Welle via iTunes as part of my person German immersion program. It's amazing how much I understand ... but it call goes so fast). So, when I'm working on something and your horrid jangly geetar rawk crashes through it, it pisses me off.

Proud of your music? Great! We should all have something we should be passionate on. DONT PLAY IT AUTOMATICALLY ON LOADING OR I WILL HATE YOU. Give me a link if you want me to sample it, but don't get all hurt if I don't listen. I like what I like. It's not personal.

But if you load up and fling your music at me when I load your site and make me look all over the place for the mute button, I'll think twice about coming back to see you again.

Wow me with design. Don't puncture my eardrums with your music.

K, Thx.

Technorati Tags: web design, digital design, online design, blog design

Opening The Science Fiction Museum's Blog

1966.There can be a cool, world-class Science Fiction museum in Oregon.

Oregon has contributed towering talents to the genre: Ursula K. LeGuin, Robert Sheckley, Kate Wilhelm, Damon Knight ...

For a very long time now, a very good friend of mine named Ed who lives down in Salem has nurtured a dream. He has the most amazing collection of Science Fiction memorabilia you've ever seen. Collected over a lifetime of being an enthusiastic fan, he's assembled a collection that truly celebrates the future as seen through the past, or as we like to say, preserving yesterday's tomorrow.

Where I come in is I'm designing (or rethinking) the website. I'm starting out basic and bestowing a clean, organized appearance to it. From there, we want to take it up and out.

The website, http://www.sciencefictionmuseum.org, is in the process of being reborn. Not the entire website is redesigned ... yet, but I'm doing it on a page-by-page basis.

Don't let the newness of the site and the counts fool you. SFM has been developing for more than 10 years now. I may or may not amount to much, but I'm giving it the best push I can.

There is another site I'm shepherding, and its the blog I've opened for posting breaking information to the SFM website. It's http://thesciencefictionmuseum.blogspot.com, and an RSS feed from that is embedded in the SFM website, so we have an effective newswire going.

I really want to help Ed realize his dream. I'm giving what I can (yes, another pro bono job). But if you saw what I've seen, you'll realize it needs to be seen. If any reader of this here blog cares to visit, that'd be nifty. If you care to donate, because this is something really worth bringing to fruition, there's a donation link on the home page (which contains contact information for Ed if you'd like to send encouragement).

At the very least, if you think kindly of me, Ed, and this dream, at least help spread the word.

Ad astra per ardua, my peoples!

Technorati Tags: Samuel John Klein, The Science Fiction Museum