I'm a Mac user and I try to keep up to date with the latest technology, no matter what it is. I like a lot of indie/alternative rock and I can tolerate pretty much everything else as long as it isn't country music.
I'm sure you guys will get to know me a lot more through my future posts, arguments, and beliefs. Masoni and I plan to have mini-debates through posts which should be very entertaining. Feel free to introduce yourself through comments to this post. H.
[More after the fold.]
[Update 6.6.1 | 13 Oct]: (1) While I'm aware that making a premature jump from Update 6.5 to 6.6 went against all the updating conventions and self-imposed rules I have in place, I still believe it is essential to move on with the forward progression of new features. This incremental update is to announce divisions within updates, represented by lower-case letters in parentheses, like (a) or (b), followed by the update. This will probably come in handy when announcing multiple new upgrades with one mini-incremental update. Additionally, just a quick note: seeing as I posted 6.5 and 6.6 so close together, don't expect to see 6.7 for quite some time. Most updates will be found within this post for the next couple of months, and I'm hoping to put version 7.0 off until mid-2010. We'll see. Thanks, M.
(2 | 13 Oct): And here's our first exercise of the new divisions system, seeing as I have a multitude of exciting news to announce. (a) First, you'll doubtless notice the rearranged interface elements along the top of the blog's home page. The logo has changed and been shifted over, as discussed in the last update, and the social Google Friend Connect bar has returned in all its floating blue glory. (b) Next, there have been some major compatibility overhauls going on in the background over the last couple of days. Many HTML elements slowing down the loading of our main page have been altered or removed, providing a [hopefully] easier and speedier user experience. Additionally, the new mobile version of the site has been launched (available by navigating to http://masoni.mofuse.mobi or by clicking the gray rectangular button at left), with support for iPhone (as a nifty web app on your home screen) and other internet-enabled mobile devices. (c) Finally, there's a new commenting policy coming through the pipes which should be hosted and live through the link at right sometime this afternoon. Thanks for reading and enjoy your major update! M.
[Update 6.6.2 | 20 Oct]: (1) Thing is, I'm tired of the same old navy and beige we've been kicking around for the last few months. Playing around with the color scheme of late. Currently using a grayscale theme; might give something like green a try. I know, green! Feedback is always welcome and encouraged.
(2 | 20 Oct): (a) Having tired of the tried-and-true navy blue, I've switched the blog's color scheme to white and red, reminiscent of the old red-and-black theme from 2008-early 2009. (b) The logo has been switched to the squarish text logo, in red, because the circular "mra" logo grew tiresome over time. Perhaps that really was a failed experiment. (c) I'm working on some new themes and logos, so consider this red setup "limited edition." Relatively soon I'll have the new look live, and suffice it to say it's going to blow your mind. (d) Much more new content on the horizon from both Hollanes and myself, so stay tuned and don't touch that radio dial. This is C-Dog, out (a reference to video game Fallout 3. Don't worry if you didn't catch it, the fact only proves that you're not a nerd). M.
[Update 6.6.3 | 6 Nov]: (1) We've been slacking off thus far in November, so here's a preview of what we have in store. The new theme has launched, and it's very much a return to the old navy standard that we all came to know and love. The main banner logo is now centered and significantly larger, and there have been some tweaks to the members panel at upper left. Additionally, you'll notice that the "social bar" at top has again disappeared. More content is en route so stay tuned and don't touch that radio dial. M.
(2 | 10 Nov) I've posted revision 2.3 of our Comment Regulation Policy, (a) so I'd appreciate it if you'd review it and familiarize yourselves with it before posting additional comments. There are only some cursory changes to it, but it's nonetheless enough to warrant a new tenths place numeral. (b) What sort of changes do you think would denote a version 3.0? Think about it while reading the policy, linked to at left or above, if you don't mind terribly. Thanks! M.
[Update 6.6.3 | 6 Nov]: (1) We've been slacking off thus far in November, so here's a preview of what we have in store. The new theme has launched, and it's very much a return to the old navy standard that we all came to know and love. The main banner logo is now centered and significantly larger, and there have been some tweaks to the members panel at upper left. Additionally, you'll notice that the "social bar" at top has again disappeared. More content is en route so stay tuned and don't touch that radio dial. M.
(2 | 10 Nov) I've posted revision 2.3 of our Comment Regulation Policy, (a) so I'd appreciate it if you'd review it and familiarize yourselves with it before posting additional comments. There are only some cursory changes to it, but it's nonetheless enough to warrant a new tenths place numeral. (b) What sort of changes do you think would denote a version 3.0? Think about it while reading the policy, linked to at left or above, if you don't mind terribly. Thanks! M.
(3 | 17 Nov) Great success - we've reached and surpassed 62,000 visits and 22,000 unique visits since our last check. Crazy bojangles! That places the current count at 62,100 / 22,069 / 296 / 41 / 107. Hoorah! M.
[Update 6.6.4 | 8 Dec]: (1) (a) We've passed up both the 63k and 64k visit count milestones, in addition to the 23k unique count milestone. Current count is 64,049 / 23,681 / 298* / 42 / 107. Is it just me, or are these things getting less exciting as the years go on? (b) *As for the number of posts, I don't believe I'll be jumping the gun and posting Update 6.7 in commemoration of post number 300, so perhaps there will only be a little blurb at the bottom of whatever post that ends up being with a link to the mini-celebration coming up in this post. We'll keep you posted. M.
(2 | 15 Dec): (a) Given that these incremental updates and their miniature kin are intended more to satiate my obsessive-compulsive disorder than actually be read, I've implemented the "[More after the fold.]" feature to hide their complexities from view in the default pages. (b) To see them, if you actually do read them, simply click on their links and be automagically redirected to the full posting. Isn't technology cool? (c) In additional news, expect the 300th post to arrive within the next few days, and with it a great deal of jubilation and fanfare. Whoopie! (d) Also, for the sake of prolonging this mini-incremental update even further, and for the sake of earning more letters further down the alphabet, anticipate some subtle HTML alterations aimed at speeding up the page's load time dramatically. Let me know if you notice any changes in overall snappiness! (e) And, finally, it should be officially noted that these letters are called "micro-incremental updates," making the order of size "update," "incremental update," "mini-incremental update," and "micro-incremental update." Just for the sake of continuity, you know. M.
[Update 6.6.5 | 20 Dec]: (1)
300th post!
The newest post, "Walt Whitman and the American Identity," published live at about 2:38 PM ET on December 20, 2009, is the 300th post in the history of Masoni Raves About. Thought this milestone required notation and documentation. M.
(2 | 20 Dec): (a) Our newest numbers are 64,667 / 24,174 / 300 / 42 / 107 as of December 20, 2009 at approximately 2:43 PM ET. (b) My newest goal is to beat or tie the record of posts from 2008 with the remaining days of December, which was 113 posts. That adds up to 7 new articles in eleven days, but based on my ability and proclivity to post multiple large posts in a single day, over the span of a few minutes, I should be able to at least tie the record. (c) As those intentions should suggest, expect a slew of new content from both Hollanes and myself leading up to the new year, and [hopefully] continuing thereafter. M.
(3 | 20 Dec): (a) Additionally, a couple of other things I forgot to mention. First, as to the date of the somewhat-overdue Update 6.7 - I can't promise anything. I'm going to wear out the micro-, mini-, and regular incremental updates before considering posting another update, unless, of course, something major should come up before that happens. (b) So, don't expect much of anything until at the very earliest late January or early February, or, perhaps more likely, around March. (c) Should I stick to my word and wait to post 6.7 until months from now, that would make version 6 the longest-standing in Masoni Raves About history, potentially (and almost certainly) extending more than a year. (d) Second, about a minor, and since retracted, design change to the overall appearance of the site. Late last week, for a few hours in the afternoon, an experimental design change was live on the page, making a new incarnation of the navigation bar visible to all visitors. (e) I'm still considering this change, seeing as it would make site navigation and direction much easier, but I took the feature down some mere hours after making it live. Expect to hear more about that in the future. (f) Fourth, and finally, I don't believe that the [More after the fold] feature introduced in 6.6.42a&b will continue to appear on the site, and I may even retroactively remove it from the posts it currently affects. Again, I'll keep those few of you interested enough to read my update technobabble posted. M.
