Another facelift

iNove WordPress Theme. Gone but not forgotten

WordPress, how I love thee!

The iNove theme I’ve been running this site with for a considerable amount of time has done a fantastic job. It’s been a decent balance of swishy graphics and open space for lengthy, ranty content. The time has come, however, for a change.

I’d been looking out for something rather spacious and generous with how it presents text. So many sites seem to use teeny-tiny text in cramped spaces. I can understand that you need to keep a lot of supplemental content on major sites, your “Follow me on Twitter” icon, your adverts and so forth.

As for me, I have none of that concern. Just a nice spacious bachelor-pad of a website to lounge around in and do as I wish. Hey, it’s not like anyone ever visits this place directly anyway, right?

The issue I face is that many of the typography-centric WordPress themes were a little too spartan in their design and, more often than not, completely monochromatic. Yes, I could play with the CSS and tweak another’s theme to suit my own ends but I’m not sure I have the energy and I tend to find that if you ever upgrade your modified theme with a new release of the original you have to take care to re-apply your edits. It rather dents the convenience of snap-on, snap-off themes. Even more so given the convenience with which WordPress lets you install, preview and apply them.

So, if you’re reading this in your RSS reader go and have a quick visit to the actual koffdrop.com site. See? I even linked it for you just now. Aren’t I nice? It’s graphics-lite so will load reasonably quickly and I’m sure it’ll add a momentary splash of colour to your day.

And if you’re wondering why anyone should give a hoot about typography then there’s hundreds of designers that’d like to talk to you. But, perhaps a more immediate example will give you an idea of the impact it can wield:

The Perfect Gaming News Website

I’ve expressed on more than one occaision my utter disdain at the state of the games media today.

A lot of this stems from watching all these hack ‘journalists’ letting their egos and bias get in the way of what’s most important – the information. Reading some new article presented as a 800 word fictional short-story depicting two people talking in a pub about a piece of information is 95% ego. If you want to write fiction then you’re in the wrong career. If you want a break from copy and pasting PR statements then, by all means, get another job. Don’t think your effort at ‘proper writing’ in the completely wrong context is what anyone actually wants to read. It’s like watching some no-hoper audition in X-factor claiming ruining an iconic song, crashing, burning, looking like an idiot and then claiming they sing their way instead of the proper way because “I make the song my own”.

There’s the point.

There’s you.

And there’s about 50 miles between the two.

I even read a recent article on one of those “gotta post everything” games blogs asking its readers if games were being spoiled by having too much information about them made available too early. At no point did the author ever consider that the gaming websites such as their own play a fundamental part in the oversaturation of information. No – it was everyone else’s fault but theirs.

Lack of accountability. What a cushy number that is. “But I’m just the messenger, I’m not to blame”. Bullshit and you know it.

…and breathe

So, out of nowhere comes a gaming news website that has no ego and no bias. Hell, there’s not even a flock of so called gaming intelligensia to argue over each other’s misinformed guesswork after every post.

It’s just a picture, a statement and absolutely nothing else. Draw your own conclusions. Think for yourself. What a lovely change from the rest!

http://www.allgamesbeta.info

That I should live to see this day..

That's one small tweet for a man, a giant tweet for mankind. ENLARGE YOUR PENIS NOW!

Space. Endless void. The remote inky darkness of a cold vacuum. Now with the added thrill of some nobody telling you what he just bought for lunch in Starbucks.

Nostradamus, it seems, has nothing on Douglas Adams.

Given the way technology has evolved since the dawn of time with discoveries like the wheel, fire and the astounding feat of visiting other planets, I can’t help but feel this is very much a step back towards the primordial soup.

Day of the Cat

I’ve always been a cat person, a trait I possibly inherited from my parents. There’s always been pet cats around me – since growing up, moving out, visiting family. They’re everywhere. It’s just as well I’m rather fond of them.

In fact, it seemed that we were pretty much the only people we knew in the area that didn’t a pet cat. Not that this was a factor in Dexter’s arrival into our first-floor flat last week. Dexter’s found his way into our home courtesy of a rescue centre as the poor fellah had a rough start in life. Fortunately he was found, looked after and is in good health today. He’s a handsome devil too.

Although Dexter is still wary of big clumsy humans and unfamiliar environments it hasn’t stopped either of us putting on silly high-pitched voices and coo-ing at him and making encouraging sounds at almost anything we see him do.

Pathetic isn’t it? 😀