The internet giants like Amazon, ebay & Google only make small tweaks to their sites, rather than design overhauls. The reason for this, is that it gives visitors a sense of familiarity. Over the years my blog has had many designs (see Geeky Post: Website Development). I love the current site design of my blog, but like any design their are flaws and things that could be improved.
So here’s a list of minor tweaks I’ve recently made to the design and functioning of the blog:
WordPress Menu functionality added.
Booklist pages now have book image covers, along with a link to Buy The Book on Amazon. Pages include: Book List 2014 & Book Lists.
Older Book Review blog posts now all have had image book covers.
Rearranged layout of comment form, including: changing title to ‘Your Comment’ and adding ‘Name:,’ ‘Email:’ & ‘Website:’ labels before respective textfields rather than after.
Removed spam-stopper Plugin, which required an extra question on the comment form to confirm that you’re human. This was removed as already have Conditional CAPTCHA for WordPress which is sufficiently effective. This overall makes commenting/interacting on my blog easier.
On comments, Authors websites (appear as link on their name) open in new window/tab.
On sidebar, added an Amazon banner that isn’t java based. This increases compatibility with Apple devices, such as the iPad and the iPhone.
On sidebar, shorted About Me section to less than 50 words (46 words to be precise).
Track Your Happiness.org is a new scientific research project that aims to use modern technology to help answer this age-old question. Using this site in conjunction with your iPhone, you can systematically track your happiness and find out what factors – for you personally – are associated with greater happiness. Your responses, along with those from other users of trackyourhappiness.org, will also help us learn more about the causes and correlates of happiness.
Fifty times I was sent emails with a link to a questionnaire about my current state of happiness. First it collated what day it was (I think collating the time would have also been useful), asked where I was, asked what I was doing and whether I had to do or wanted to do what I was doing. Here were my results:
Happiness Report – WeekdayHappiness Report – LocationHappiness Report – ActivityHappiness Report – Want to or Have to do what I’m doing?
Then I was asked about how focused I was feeling and how productive I was being. Here were my results:
Happiness Report – How Focused am I?Happiness Report – My Productivity
Then I was asked about the amount of sleep I had got the night before, along with the quality. At the time I wasn’t sleeping well. Here were the results:
Happiness Report – Amount of SleepHappiness Report – Quality of Sleep
There are a few human errors in this data. This was because on a few occasions, I checked the wrong box or clicked the wrong ratio button and clicked the next question button, before realising the error (a Back button would have been useful and eliminated these human errors).
In terms of data analysis a flaw is that the data is self-reported. That said, I don’t know how else you could measure something that’s as subjective as happiness is.
I really enjoyed taking part in this study and I found the data interesting. Some of the data I already knew – such as the amount & quality of sleep I was getting, but some of the data surprised me – such as how much time I was doing different activities.
The most surprising realisation for me was that the more I thought about happiness, the happier I became. So if you want to be happier, try thinking about happiness more and consider Tracking Your Happiness.
I banned myself from Facebook and Twitter for a week. I felt like social media was taking up too much of my time and that it was too accessible (being available on my phone, tablet, through the internet, etc.). I used the week to reevaluate my relationship with social media: how I use it, how often I use it and what I use it for. What I learned about myself, Facebook and Twitter was fascinating.
My Relationship with Social Media
The week off social media has caused me to realise a few things: 1. Facebook & Twitter are the main sites I visit on the web.
2. I hate incorrect information on the social media sites along with hateful comments/status’/groups. As an example, my friends were sharing a group called KGT (Kill Gays Today) on Facebook, with good intentions. They were sharing it to encourage people to report it, so that it would get banned. But having seen a few of these hateful groups shared recently, I honestly just don’t want to see another. Ever.
3. I check social media, while doing other things at the same time. This means that social media wasn’t taking up as much time as I thought – and – that giving them up didn’t give me a load of free time back.
4. Checking social media distracts me from activities were I need a high level of concentration, such as writing. So I did benefit for a whole week of not being distracted while writing.
5. I had to stop myself throughout the week from habitually checking Facebook & Twitter, which made me realise that I use them daily.
6. I found myself making excuses to myself to check them and then forcing myself not to, behaviours common with a developing addiction.
7. I found out that I do like seeing what people are up to without having to speak to them.
8. I love unique content people create and share on Facebook & Twitter, but sometimes I just wish there was more of it.
Facebook’s Sneaky Tricks
Facebook used sneaky tricks to try and make me go on it. First in a week it gave me 30+ notifications, all cleverly worded to make me feel like I was missing out. I had posted a status update saying I wouldn’t be on for the week; yet friends continued to message me, tag me, etc. This caused me to question how many of my friend’s actually see my status updates? I realised that I felt more identifiable on Facebook, so was more likely to be cautious about what I post/share on there.
Twitter’s Lack of Appeal
I have to admit that I barely noticed not using Twitter. I only received 3 notifications all week. My pet hates on Twitter are: the 140 character limit, the shameless self promotion by some, the lack of pictures/photos and the bad filtering of my home page feed. I actually realised I could live without Twitter in my life, if it wasn’t for the number of Publisher’s Publicists on there.
Giving up Facebook and Twitter has made me more aware of social media’s limitations and the temptation to overindulge. I love the unique content people make and share; so I shall be the change I want to see. Later on in the year I’ll be sharing/tweeting some of my short stories I’ve been writing, and continue to share my journalism articles with you all.
Russell Tovey is an actor and my eye candy. He’s sexy, funny and there’s just something about him. So I thought I’d share some photos of him that I found online (click on any image for full size):
