HP Freshman 15 Promotion Starts Now!
10.18.08 - 06:06pm
Had a late start today so I apologize for delaying this. However, now you have the chance of winning a fantastic bundle from HP including an HP Pavilion dv4t laptop and a slew of other goodies. Shipping with the laptop is a docking station, printer, external hard drive, and a swank messenger bag. The rules are quite simple so read quick and start submitting.
The Rules
- You can only enter once.
- The contest is open to anyone! US winners may have to provide tax information.
- Email addresses from colleges will be given two votes. Be cool, stay in school!
- Winner will be selected at random using Random.org
The Task
This contest is very simple. Drop a comment down below with a suggestion on the blog design, a topic you’d like me to cover, or just tell me how your day is going. The contest will run till October 25th, 2008 at midnight EST. Visit Time.gov if you want to wait till the last possible second to submit your comment. Good luck!
Update!
First off I’d like to say thank you to everyone who has submitted a comment! There are just under 4 hours remaining so if you have for some reason been debating on posting a comment, do it soon. Any comments posted past midnight will not be counted. I suspect it’ll take me a day or two to sift through all the email addresses, remove any duplicates, and then randomly select a winner. Good luck everyone!
I love the simplistic design, but you it’d be awesome if you created a equally awesome logo :P
I think I should give you a redesign with rainbow colors.
Read the review and it was pretty good!
I would love if you could write about overclocking for starters and more “How To” posts and learnings from the weird stuff which you do!
Random comment is random…
I would like to also see a cool logo but maybe changing some of the grey to a blue.
My day is going very well! It involved staying in bed until 11am, which is a luxury I never allow myself, but I did as a birthday present to myself. Otherwise it is a gorgeous fall day here!
Well, your blog is very clean and neat, I don’t really have any suggestions, but if you really wanted one, you could make it a fluid width, at least up to a certain point. That might look nicer on high res widescreens. A topic I think you should cover is comparing the different netbooks, maybe review them and test them, but I don’t know if thats possible within your budget.
Good luck to everyone,
Andy
That Andy kid must really like ponies and rollerskates.
My day was pretty good, I got to go to the climbing wall for 6 hours the other day, that was awesome.
Today is a day that is filled with grocery shopping, cooking, and otherwise just relaxing… yay for the weekend.
As for the site… simple is good, but a splash of color here or there couldn’t hurt. I also agree with the suggestions about a new logo. And finally, I just wanted to say that I think the fact that you turn any flaming comments into comments about ponies and rollerskates is simply awesome… brilliant idea. :P
I second (third?) the calls for at least a splash of color (or two - go crazy!) on the site. Also, I would rearrange the pages at the top, since I don’t think Archives is really so important that it should be first.
Your blog could use a touch of uniqueness. At the moment, I will be perfectly honest if I say that if I would’ve scanned through a month ago, the design would’ve turned me off the blog. The website’s design should not be flashy, but simple and unique, with small touches to give it an identity (the blog could use a logo), because that is the first thing you notice when you enter a website and the truth is, whether we like it or not, first impressions matter a lot.
Yoda needs a laptop…so, yeah, random comment. :)
My day is going good so far…just hope Penn State pulls this victory!
:)
Design is good…like the simplicity and color scheme.
I like the minimal site design but it gets a little bland. Maybe change the color of the top bar to something that’s not black, or gray?
I’m not a professional blogger (heck, I’m not a blogger at all) or a designer so I doubt you want my input on what you need to do to improve the site. I really appreciate the clean look, more sites should try it. With that said, I do agree with the previous posters that you should come up with a logo for your site (your friend Paul has a nice one, maybe you can get the same person to design yours - that is if you can’t do it yourself.) You might want to change the colors too since you’ve always done black. Maybe you can bring the green back but feature it more prominently on the site.
Wait a minute, I said I didn’t have any recommendations. Oops. I’m sorry for getting carried away.
As for how my day went, it went pretty well. It’s Saturday so I have pretty much spent it watching college football games on television since my team (the Florida Gators) is off this week. I also used the time to browse the computer setups on UneasySilence and to read a few reviews on the new MacBooks and MacBook Pros. And of course, a little house cleaning never hurt anyone. Pretty relaxing day if I may say so.
Only suggestion is changing the header. Have Gomeler bigger, or create a logo that you can put there.
if people come to your blog, no offence I think they would be turned off because it’s not very appealing. dont go crazy just do simple things. maybe a little more colour?
and a toppic I would like you to cover is how to overclock a processor.
My day is going like any other day. Go to work, come home, and the rest of the usual stuff.
I just noticed that the numbering of the comments are off. Once they start getting into double-digits then the tens digit gets blurred into the background and you can’t really see it.
Hey bud,
I’m a bit depressed right now. I’ve realized a few very important things are going poorly.
One is XtremeSystems is slow.
Another is I don’t have access to a kitchen, and I’d love to cook right now. I just have a microwave in my dorm, but the dorm itself lacks a kitchen. I’d like to cook myself some mashed potatoes, peas, and two bratwurst. It’s a shame–I can cook, but only basics and ethnic foods.
And a third is my friend who probably has a leukemia or lymphoma (as i posted before). It’s a difficult reality–but oh well. With this latest, I have new-found focus and purpose for crunching, though I’m lacking big-time in the funds department meaning that the only system actually crunching is my E2140.
I agree with others who have suggested a more colorful design. and a logo and maybe more graphics on the front page would make it more visually interesting.
Well, my day has been an amazingly relaxed break. It’s a Saturday, midterms are finally over, and I have absolutely no homework. I’ve been vegging out to movies, just recovering from the grind of study.
hi!
my day was pretty ok…just catching up with some homework, enjoying the cool fall day =]
how was your saturday so far?
I like the simplistic design of this blog, been reading and keeping up with it for quite some time. Would like to see some blog posts about your overclocking endeavors and cooling system how-to guides. Thanks for the time you put into this.
I’m not one to really give great ideas on a layout, but I have worked with both html and php websites. What I have noticed is a lot of the websites are in a block type layout. Why not be one to try something new and maybe could start a small trend in the bloggers and make an octogon shaped page. I do like dark pages though as sometimes I am in a dark room at night and don’t like going to bright pages that brighten up the room. I go blind when this happens. But anyways, try making an octogon type layout where the words are hidden behind the octogon. *wonders to self whether this can really happen…..* …lol
The simplistic design and the colour scheme are both great. A simple logo would be an idea though, just something to give it a bit more oomph to the blog and maybe make the blog layout a bit wider as well as maybe having pictures on the main page with each individual posts to differentiate the posts and not just have a wall of text on the main page which makes it looks like a RSS feed at the moment
As for today? well in england its cold, foggy dark and well its night time! 0052 GMT at the moment and im doing pretty good thanks! Just watching Shanghai Knights
Oh yes and hello from England!
toodles
The design of the blog works fine as it is IMO but a little color wouldn’t hurt. As for what I’d like to see, I would be interested in reading a bit about how you got started in the overclocking/benching world and any tips you have for beginners. Keep up the good work.
I love the very pure design, but color could be brought by a colorful logo on the top of the page!
Go Random!
Hey, great site here!
I think that you should write an article about which laptops can have their graphics cards upgraded.
Well, as for your blog design, I think some color would be nice! Like…lime green. But that’s just me.
Update your phase change stuff! I love reading about subzero craziness.
I’d like to see full articles on the front page - I don’t like having to click on each one to read it. Reading them all at once would be way, way, way more convenient. :D
I am having a very good day.
Love the blog.. I do think a little color would be good though. I wouldn’t change the design but maybe add a logo of some sort.
Love the blog, add a little bit of color and make an awesome logo.
The monochromatic design is great. I have appreciated the look since “Mission: Impossible” (the TV series) came on TV when color TV’s were new. Peter Graves’ character worked or lived in a place that was all shades of grey.
Dodgeball on 3 hours of sleep is a baaaad idea…
If you would like an honest critique of your website at first it comes off just a bit too cold and modernized. Why not give a pop of color or some sort of personalized mod on the side with personal updates! Hope I helped!
Oh and possibly full articles on the front page, or at least the latest article as a full story. Hitting that continue reading button gets tiresome.
As for my day. Just another boring Hp pavilion-less day. Wanted to get some schoolwork done downtown but no such luck unless i wanted to drag my desktop there.
Long boring day at work. A logo of some sort or a little bit more color.
This is my first time coming to your blog, but I love the way it looks; I like the simpleness to it.
I have no suggestions, because it’s not my blog/site, so I have no right to tell you how to design your blog.
As for my day, it always sucks, mainly because I’m always worried about whenever or not, am I ever going to have my own laptop. Anyway, thanks for giving people like me a chance.
Right, then, here you go.
1) Your reviews section seems to be blank. Until there’s something there, why not remove the link?
2) It looks like Gravatar hasn’t taken off very well, since almost all of the posts here have that blank icon. Are you seeing enough to justify using it?
3) My day’s going pretty well. Got called into work (yay, unpaid overtime), but that’s life, right?
I think that the site really looks nice; it’s very simple and looks clean and crisp (if you wanted to add a little “spunk” to it, you could always add a picture or two to your header, but nothing more than this). I have included my email address from school for two votes
-Barb :)
my day is going pretty good just came back from watching max payne wasn’t so bad actually :D
I think you should stick with grayscale and add a simple logo to replace the text on the header. There’s nothing wrong with black and white.
My day has been excellent. My family and I ate out at a sushi place to celebrate my birthday, and I got a slice of mocha cake! Yum.
I just ripped out my kitchen floor and have blisters on my fingers.
I think a picture would look nice in the header or some color.
My day went pretty well. I’m a bit disappointed that I didn’t get any work done for school. Will see to it tomorrow..err today since the day started.
The design is good, and the color schemes are comfortable, but the logo lacks inspiration and color.
Also, I would love an article on how to create the most awesome home network server with either Linux or Mac OS X, and have an intranet with shared calendars, shared files, online phonebook, webbased torrent client (Transmission with Clutch for OS X, rTorrent with wTorrent for Linux).
In other words, a complete home server DIY guide.
Neat blog design! I guess a nice, cute header would make it better. Thanks!
So far so good, I just need to finish my Biology homework… :(
Thanks.
I’m new to this site but obviously its catchy if it has this many hits and members! I do personally believe that more in depth quizzes and useless time wasting activities would also be fun. Quizzes help you to know who you are serving and what they like. Fun, useless time wasting things like digital designing a dorm based on camera phone shots as a contest are also cool. How do I know? well…i just thought of that one and now i think i’ll copyright the idea…lmao. But i do trully enjoy the site. Thanks
Yep, the layout design of the webpage is very user friendly. One suggestion, though, is to add more “categories” for each blog entry to be filed under. I noticed a number of entries are simply filed as “uncategorized.” It would be nice to have a few new subjects added in order to minimize the “uncategorized” entries.
Its very simple, but too simple,to the point it looks like a generic template. If you want to continue the minimalistic layout, try to liven up your header. Actually try to illustrate what your motto is “where there is no sense to the madness,” maybe some crazy convoluted maze of colors with a clearly stated logo.
plus the default blue thumbnails for the comments gets to repetitive and annoying.
I had a good day, went shopping with my Mom and had lunch at McD’s. I like your blog, it is very easy on the eyes!
Don’t mind the site design, however it needs work. Perhaps try using a textured background (rather than grey) to add a little more to it?
@Ryan Rasho, I aslo just came back from the Climbing wall, it’s pretty good fun. Only been going 3 weeks so far.
hello, i’m a designer and from what i’ve seen this site is pretty good,don’t use texture an color things, this site has its own charateristics. But I must agree with the logo, some advice,keep the logo simpleand euqual in colors like the site. maybe a little competition?
sorry 4 the crappy english
Your blog is simple…very nice :)
My day has been fantastic. I ate some crocodile on a pizza. It was interesting…
Site design is good. maybe can add a a topic discussing the comparison between mac and pc.
thanks
I like the clean design.
I’d recommend to go for some hot and imaginative topic like “the future of the video games”, as I just read at cracked.com. If you can make something original, it’s always a good read :).
7 am already 57 posts. Been up for 2 hours thanks to my 17 year old wiener dog who tends to get up early. Ouch.
Like the design. Maybe some tips on hacking your fav hardware (making them do more than they come out of the box with).
Good luck to all, more to me. I could use a new laptop to replace my 7 year old pentium 600.
Today, I get to work on a school project! Fun!!! Other than that, my day is awesome.
your blog is nice, it looks elegant. But you can add some colorful object to make it more shiny.
I like your “how to” categories. I suggest you to improve that segment.
I really want the laptop because i dont have one…
thanks
Heyyy. Here’s my suggestion; on the right menu, move “recent posts”, “recent comments”, and “categories” above the advertising. Just a thought ^^
Love your blog Chris, can’t think for any suggestions.
Hope to see you at CES in January.
my day is kinda hangovery… =)
want laptop, want =)
My day is a little stressful….too much work to do!!! Hope it gets better. Thanks for the chance to win. =)
I think you should add some color…something other than black, white and grey will be more exciting.
Blog design:
In the archives, articles have both tags and categories. Since your front page articles don’t have tags, I assume that tags were phased out but not updated for the archive.
My day:
Good so far. I’m baking bread. Cooking is like chemistry, but you can eat the results.
Topic idea:
I noticed in your archives that you were working on fixing a car up some months ago. Any updates on it?
Well heck, can’t miss this. I wrote my own blog software and just switched to Wordpress today, and was a bit disappointed by the look. But I have to say, your site is well laid out and makes me feel good about my room for growth in the future!
I just woke up at 12:10. I think it is time to wake & bake. >_>
It’s too early in the day to say what my day is like so far! I was going to say something about the logo, but it seems like -everyone- else already did, so I’m gonna sit on it.
I totally agree with the comments about the design and logo. Simplistic is the way to go with designs, but having a simple text logo is just really boring to me. Of course, the logo would do best to keep with simplicity but also add something else to the site.
My day is going great too, although I wish it were Saturday rather than Sunday, the weekend goes by way too fast.
Hmm well my day has been going good so far. I worked the A&M Tech game yesterday and the day before that I stayed up all night knowing I had to be at the game @ 8. so when I got back from the game I crashed and woke up today at 10 so today has been a good day, so far. Now study time, ugh.
Life is pretty chill. i gotta get a job and start my life… yay!… i love my macbook but im kinda mad they just came out with a new and really badass one. but yeah…
I, too, would like to see a nice logo, and also maybe a little color to spice up the design. The gray is professional, but it’s also a little boring (and a lot easier, IMO — I ended up just going black for my site, but due to lack of design talent rather than desire).
I always love your reviews… all the relevant information I would ever want to know… and then some!
I am having a good day, actually submitting college applications! A laptop sure would be help me out for next year financially!
My Sunday so far has been great! First I got see a surprise/impromptu wedding this morning, and now I’m entering for a chance for a free laptop. A great start to the day.
As for website design, I quite like the simplicity of the page. If you do take suggestions to brighten it up, please don’t make it too cluttered. Also, I think there might be a problem with one of the links (?) — the “Reviews” section in the header takes you to an empty page.
I like the design, but you could probably do a little more customization just to give it that extra kick. Keep up with all the reviews you do. The more the better.
I like the current look of the site. It’s a blog site. It’s have to be clean but still professional. I like the grey and black. Maybe you can add some more graphics to it? A little header for exemple. Or is this eating much bandwidth?
Thanks for the dv4 review!
My day is going well - my roommate and I cleaned the kitchen and we’re probably going to bake cookies later once we feel up to it. I think we’ll make snickerdoodles.
In short, resting before going back to habitat restoration.
I think your site, like many other blog sites, could use a splash more color. I know I’m more likely to stay and look awhile at a site with more to catch my attention. So, a bit more color would be a small way of changing your site and making it different from the others, which could possibly increase your number of readers. =D
I like the clean coloring of your blog, but maybe you should use something more eye catching with the title bar.
I should be studying for midterms..but instead I am entering random sweepstakes..
I think that the color scheme to your blog is sleek amd simple just like the laptop, and should be kept the same.
How is my day going? Hmmmmm, I went camping on Friday and think I either sprained or broke my foot. So tomorrow, I’m going to have to walk the uphill mile to class. Other than that, I’m just enjoying the beautiful fall weather.
Hey everyone. Simple designs are always better when dealing with technology. That’s why apple is making so much money. The same is true for user interfaces and blogs. Technology is already complicated. We don’t need bad design to make it more so.
Rock on, like the design you got.
Change white in your design … grey is better to read when I have tired eyes :)
Cool design, however my husband owned an HP and just had to sell it because the motherboard fried. After talking to a few other HP owners, past and present, I found out that the HP DV 9000 series is notorious for that. Are all HPs like that?
Great Blog! It is very neat, clean and gives great tips and insight.
Best of luck to all!
I think you should add some more photographs to your “About” section. I’m always interested in something like that. :)
Greetings from Germany!
PS: This is my college email address. I wasn’t sure if you could recognize the german words in it.
My day has been OK, I guess just spent it cleaning my house, now I am going to head to work (blah), and after homework time for tomorrow!
and p.s your site is awesome, no complaints.
Jen
my day is good, and if i win, oh man it will be fabulous
The Skribit widget isn’t really much of an advertisement, right?
I do plan on buying a MacBook for college, so the HP (if I win it!) would tide me over with some modern technology until then.
My day has been ok. I got ‘Preventive and Social Medicine’ exam comming up and I’ve been studying like crazy. I still need to cover a dozen topics. So I’ll be studying some more.
Yup the site design is cool. It’s simple and the colour scheme is good too.
Yeah! I need a new laptop anyway!
As for my day, I spent most of it doing the Sunday cleaning ritual!
ani I cooked pasta for my baby!
My day has been uneventful so far - it’s still early morning here in Australia. I like the simple design of your site - overcomplicated flashy sites tend to annoy me.
On the design topic, you should get a more elaborated logo.
On the topic I would like you to cover, I’d say that I want to know more about Xgrid on an apple network,
Thanks
La QK.
I totally like the design of this blog! However, I feel that the grey background should give it’s position to a lighter and more web 2.0 color! (and for your info, this is a college address ;) )
I am having a wonderful day….I made some delicious brownies in a toaster oven…and now I have to study for a few hours because I have 3 exams this week….whoooo
Hey, even the madness makes sense sometimes. You just gotta know where to look. Like on your site, for instance. My day’s going great — pot of New England clam chowder on the stove, football, and a DVD for later. Oh yeah.
My day was alright but then I noticed ceiling cat was watching me. :-/
I’m having a pretty good day so far…just enjoying the nice fall weather and I actually woke up early enough to the see the sunrise today! It was beautiful…
The site looks really nicely put together. I love its simplicity, and the fact that everything seems very nicely organised so I can find whatever I’m looking for here.
Since I’m all the way down here at the bottom of the list, I noticed that once the comments get past 100, the numbers for them start to go off of the white, perhaps it’s just my computer, but this may need to be addressed, and that is my recommendation
I agree with what most other people have been saying, the simplicity is very good. The only thing I would change, sometimes it seems difficult to navigate around the site, almost as if the links at the top of the page are too few or not specific enough
Hi Chris,
My day has been fascinating. I scanned the brain of a schizophrenic, and as the day went on he became convinced by boss was an alien. If I win the laptop, I’ll tell you more. ;)
Your site is well organized and it is easy to find things via your categories. It is a little devoid of color, but I keep my blog pretty simple as well. The layout is fine, and you don’t have a lot of distracting stuff-I can’t stand blogs with all kinds of blinking ads.
Hmmm…my day-well I spent the entire weekend sick with another cold and am dreading work tomorrow. With the weather getting more seasonal and cooler, clients are already demanding their fuel assistance benefit and emergency deliveries making it for a difficult day when we tell them payments haven’t been processed for anyone yet. Blame Washington and the computer programmers for the state on that folks. Hope you had a good weekend!
Some more pictures would do wonders on this site. Seeing text block after text block gets repetitive and tends to turn me off.
I am so mentally drained right now that I have zero creativity.
I like the overall layout of the site, although I wish it were wider. Other than that, thumbs up!
My weekend started off with a bang. I woke up Saturday morning to find that my PC had crashed during the night with a nasty blue screen error showing on the monitor. I rebooted and windows immediately locked up. After an hour or so of trouble shooting I decided the best thing to do would be to format and reinstall XP.
A few minutes into the install an error screen pops up complaining about missing files. Some more trouble shooting and I discover that my optical drive must be the problem. I scavenged an old cdrom from my parts bin and was finally able to complete the install.
Set up everything the way I like it, clicked Firefox and got a connection error. Oops looks like the on board lan card is not being displayed in device manager. More trouble shooting and I surmise that the on board LAN must be dead. Grab an old PCI LAN card from the parts bin and finally get an internet connection a short while later.
Not sure what happened to cause these problems(Power surge maybe)but I seem to have got it working again. Not sure for how long though.
So in a nutshell that’s how my day went.
My local sports team lost today.
That is all…
My day is going well. Cheers.
Well, my day is going quite well. Rock Band II came out finally, so I’ve been rocking out with some of my friends. =P
I think a logo is in order though. I like the layout of the website. It’s very simple and clean, but most importantly, it’s not ALL WHITE. >.> Definitely get a logo though. That would really brighten things up.
You know a fly looking logo.
The site works very well with NoScript and FF3.1b1 which is tremendous. I have been finding sites left and right that randomly break if they do not have any scripts running. Do they let you muck around with the HP laptop at all? Curious what the site looks like running on it.
For a random comment suggestion, maybe make the links (Archives, Reviews, About, Contact) towards the top a little thinner since the height kind of stands out. Numbers also bleed off the left side when you get into 2 digits so maybe a little more to the right.
If the site was dreaming in black and white, would its nightmares be color?
My day has been great despite being uncharacteristically busy for a Sunday.
I found the DD-WRT article very useful. Thanks!
My day is not too bad… My best friend hates me and we got into a huge fight. It’s a big shame but what can you do I guess?
I’m happy, living a good life at school, I love food and stuff and yeah!
Thank you for asking and thank you for this awesome opportunity!
As oppossed to the previous couple of days, today is great!
I finished cleaning the new apartemnt after a week of back breaking work. The classes are starting. I cooked a huge pot of stew so I don’t need to fight the masses in the student cafeteria to get some lousy meal. I cut my hair so now it’s fresh and fluffy in a couple of minutes. And I finally did some boadgaming - after waiting for one year for people who aren’t affraid of seeming uncool if they boardgame.
some of my humblw advices for your blog:
- make the RSS subscribe button bigger and more recognizable, so you’ll have more people reading your RSS
- why no digg or del.icio.us bookmark links below every article?
- i would suggest using another color other than gray black. your blog theme makes things kind of… down and depressed. also, according to my color book, black and gray/black represents tranquility, which doesn’t fit that wel with straight lines and does not fit well for a tech blog.
about my email, it’s my student ID, and i’m studying in Hoa Sen University (www.hoasen.edu.vn/)
thank you for this great contest.
I’ve noticed a trend of plain college sites ^^; There’s really nothing for me to say about it since others have said so before me. My day went by too fast. I saw lots of turmoil within my peers. Stress is unhealthy.
I hope I win!!! :D
My day is not good. I have lost my job. Now going to find another job again.
wish me good luck in my job hunting.
The blog design is simple, but i would like to see the Bolg with some nice Logo with facncy design AND some scripts running when you move the mouse over the someonce comment that will provide text box for entring the reply to that comment.
I like the simplistic design but it may be too simple. Maybe you could design a banner at the top and make the tabs (archives, reviews, about, contact) stand out more.
I have enjoyed your writing style in your review articles. One kind of article that seems to be missing is one that maybe teaches us how to overclock at multiple levels. Maybe a couple different articles from a beginner to an expert level.
*sigh* I’d rather be anywhere, but at work today. I wish I had the courage to quit and blog full-time. I know it sounds easy, but I know that even blogging can become soul sucking. Just ask Michael Arrington of TechCrunch fame. Well, I like your blog’s design. It’s not colorful enough for me, but the price to pay for pictures & color is heavier page loading times which I can understand. Well, I hope your day goes well. Cheers!
long day at work….
boring as usual, but that hp could make my days fly away in joy :)
attempting to keep up with the 3 year old.
and losing.
aarrrgggggggghhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!
More posts on the site perhaps?
Maybe a personal touch?
Thanks for the contest. Coolio
Hey there! Just working… wishing I had a laptop. It’d be so much faster and convenient :)
Productive blog related comment - love your sense of humor.
One topic you should cover is the though pattern of men, boys vs. women, girls. I think it is important and can be funny to expose what females think guys think about them compared to what guys actually think. It would be great entertainment but helpful if given form an honest stand point.
I like this site,easy to navigate.I,like many above would like to see a nifty logo made.But instead of that being my thoughts,I think I would like to know one of a few things.Why do college people party so much?And do you think people ever actually get into the fields they study for at college?
nice, simple, clean design
Stuck at work and feeling the effects of a hard weekend. Bad combo but I will survive. Thanks for the contest.
Just feeling overwhelmed by midterms and the like. Should be ok if I win a laptop though :)
Hmmm, if you were to add anything to the design I would say color, a little creativity goes a long way. Then also maybe add a little bit of humor, everybody likes to laugh every once in awhile.
My day is going fairly well - it would be better if i wasn’t at work :)
My day is going good so far. An HP computer package would make it GREAT! :-)
It am stuck between writing a paper about trascription factors and IDing 3 types of sedge. So my brain needed a vacation. So I found this.
Marry me
Asians can’t pass up potential free things :] Hope all is well mexican
Wow comment and win… what a great idea!
<(”<)(>”)>
I am not hungry and my bf wanted to make some mashed potatoes. That´s how my day goes so far…
Can I have my HP laptop now? :P
At my college co-op job just waiting for the day to be over. Really, really want to win that laptop.
Thanks for the cool blog.
Andrew
Dear Webmaster of Gomeler.com,
In entry to the contest, i submit the following:
1st: Your blog has an excellent design. I say this not to flatter you, but merely to praise the simplicity that is so often lacking in most blogs today. Each category of information that I would have intrest in is all held within a few neat tabs, and there is not an overload of information (to be flippant, clutter) to dispel my intrest. Keep it, and be distinct.
2nd: If I may be so bold to suggest anything to you, it is please, LINK UP WITH OTHER COLLEGE BLOGS. I had no idea this blog even existed until the contest. Why are you not on Cal Newports site? Or even a sidelink on the other sites selected for the contest? There is no use of having such good articles if men be deprived of reading them my friend. Do tell others of thyself.
3rd: My week has been horrible. I found out my mother has a tumor growing in her stomach the size of a three month baby, I learned I failed my second calculus test, one of my state grants fell through so now I have a past due balance to my school for over six hundred dollars, and I have successfully wasted four days of fall break where I should have been getting work done. Oh well, on the bright side is that there is a new day tomororw, and others are much more worse off than I am–and yet still did well.
Thank you for the oppertunity to enter…
-Sean M. Hobson
I think you’re a nice person.
I’m currently studing for a Bio exam I have today
I’m also about to get laid off because my company is going out of business .__.
i am going to win this contest. please.
Although I think this is a great blog, I’m really just commenting for the laptop. :)
I know many commenters have suggested a little added color, but I enjoy the simplicity of the layout. You can’t ever please everyone, huh? I think you should keep the color scheme the same.
I like the simple design of the blog, but a little bit of color could go a long way!
Alrighty. I’m using my student email address here, which I never use. I think I WANT THIS BADLY ENOUGH to remember to check that email, for sure.
My day is going alright. Got a cortisone shot at the doc’s office. That was fun. Oh, and I have a gazillion things to do. They’re all swirling around in my head because I’ve yet to jot down a to-do list. I ordered Getting Things Done and it’s arriving tomorrow (Amazon Prime is my FAVORITE). I can’t wait to read it! Haha. I REALLY need some help in the whole “getting things done” category.
Besides work (which I won’t get into because that’s precisely what I’m avoiding by commenting here), my biggest concern is my boyfriend’s birthday next week. I’m preparing lots of surprises! In advance. As a lifelong procrastinator, this is somewhat of a feat. (I’m a little surprised I’m entering this comment now instead of on 10/25 at 11:59 PM…) The surprises are awesome. My whole PLAN is AWESOME. It’s quite complex, yet so very simple. I’d love to tell you about it, but I want to send him over here to enter this contest, too. I doubt he’ll read through the comments, but just in case, I don’t want to reveal too much. Hmm. Now I’m getting a bit paranoid, because he has NO clue whatsoever that I even have a plan, let alone a whole array of surprises, so it’s imperative that he doesn’t read this. I’ll have to un-suspiciously monitor him while he’s commenting here, that way if he starts browsing the comments I can quickly distract him by taking my shirt off or something.
That’s enough about me and my day. I do have a suggestion or two for your blog. I’ve gotta say, you’ve got the content aspect down. I didn’t come here until the HP contest, but I likey what I see so far. In fact, your content is very sexy. Hehe. As for the design, I’m a big fan of simplistic design, your blog being a decent example. But I’m not gonna lie. Your top menu bugs me. It’s too thick. With the chosen font, it could be slimmer so there isn’t so much dead space around the words. As is, it gives the appearance of incompleteness, as though it’s missing something. (I don’t know, maybe having something else fill the blank space in the menu bar to the right of the words would help. What is that something? I don’t know. More links? An ad? Simply centering the links? I don’t know.) Anyway, the POINT is that the bar is too thick. Slim it down! The title font could use a slight change, too. Keep it a simple font as it is now, maybe just a little bigger or bolder, or a different, yet similar, font. Ha! How anal do I sound? But really, I think adjusting these two minor things could really improve the overall appearance of your blog, giving potential readers a better first impression.
I have some suggestions for myself, too. The first being, I should immediately stop this procrastination and get back to work…
It’s been an ordinary day all round. I didn’t win the hp notebook on any of the blogs that announced their results today. On the positive side i was able to complete much of the syllabus for my Engineering Economics exam on Tuesday 22.
I had no classes!!! And I was trying to mix some music all day
In my opinion this blog could use a bit more color, maybe in the top menu or something. Also maybe make either the width fluid or a little wider for those of us with wider screens.
Thanks for all the comments everyone! Two days and 152 comments. I figure we’ll crest right around 200 contestants which is about 180 more than I originally thought I’d manage to gather.
I’m glad to hear that for the most part everyone’s day is going pretty well. I might have to give stuff away more often so I can hear about your days ;)
I’ve been reading every comment along with the few contact forms I’ve received and I appreciate the feedback. Once this contest is finished I’ll start to implement some of your suggestions. I figure I shouldn’t tweak the website now just in case I break something, will play it safe and develop on the test server first and hopefully not destroy this site.
I myself had a pretty nice Monday and this week promises to get much better. Not going to lie, I don’t look forward to sifting through all these names and entering them into the random function but should be able to knock that out in half an hour or less.
Best of luck everyone and I hope a few of you stick around!
OK OK! I’ll enter the ‘contest’. Long time reader, @gomeler, first time caller. I’ve got 2 hours to go on this extremely short Monday, (except for the 30 minutes past 12:30 I had to wait for lunch), and then I go home.
SO, my day isn’t going too bad. Now for another latte.
Do I get 3 votes if I place my entry from (a)a college email address and (b)while in class? Hey, I am staying in school.
No? Oh well, I will take my 2 votes, my investment knowledge, and quite possibly a new HP laptop setup?
Hopefully so!
Oh yeah, about my day, it’s been busy and stressful - but it’s almost over.
I like the design overall - it’s pretty elegant. Comment numbers past the single digits run off the left edge in Safari, though, and I’d tone down either the darkness or size of the left-hand shadow and add one on the right to match. Oh, and the navigation bar seems just a little too high; take about .5em or 8-10px off it and the text would be centered, which would look pretty cool.
My day got abruptly better this afternoon when I realized that I could forestall a call from my boss asking about my progress by calling -him- instead. That sounds dumb, but it was a bit of self-actualization that changed something I’d been dreading into something I’d just taken care of. Then it got a little bit worse when the shipping status on my new Macbook Pro failed to change from “prepared for shipment” (as of last Friday) to, e.g., “shipped”. Called Apple and they were unhelpful - I think the guy was just looking at the exact same page on their website I was. Oh well; maybe tomorrow.
I’d love to see a “Popular Posts” section along with the categories section.
Excellent review! Very nice laptop. I want one! ;)
My day sucked! I was out in the rain all day putting up signs. Not cool!
I am trying to win the lap top :) I am having a good day. Going to a concert tonight, should be fun! Thanks for the chance to win!
Hi!
I think it would be cool to have an autumn colors theme (reds, yellows, oranges) for the blog in the spirit of the fall season.
I would like to read about the ideal laptop setups for a college student vs. a professional.
Anyway, my day has been great. I’m about to submit my first college application! Well, I recorded my college cd for piano with a recording engineer whose computer system was absolutely awesome. I’m really pleased with how it came out.
Hey, Chris, how are classes going? I’m ready to graduate ASAP and be done with this crap!
this looks like a great notebook. cant wait to see who wins it. it would be so cool if I won this to replace my crashing laptop.
I think a great start to spiffing up the blog design would be to just pick an accent color. The black and white is safe, but a little too safe. If you want to come up with a whole new color scheme and keep things fairly original, try one of these, http://designreviver.com/general/10-of-the-best-color-resources-and-tools/ . Have a good one.
Hey, its been a beyond busy day. Got home late (again) and decided to watch some TV only to find out my cable box isn’t working correctly. Way to go Time Warner!
you should make your heading a little more interesting… maybe a cool logo, or make it 3D!!! I love 3D, 3D photos, 3D graphic design… if its 3D, its cool!
maybe do a 3D logo GOMELER.COM with a little green gremlin peekin over the top! :P LOL
also 3D would be a cool topic to talk about! 3D art, 3D modeling, 3D photography….
need some help with it? I’m a graphic artist! :D
Nate
My day has been pretty long, Been busy with design homework. But, hopefully my night will be a lot better =D.
*Cant wait for Basketball season to start*
UW football has been such a disappointment
I have enjoyed reading the articles in this blog, but there is ont thing that bugs me. You have all of these really technical articles, but sometimes I feel like I do not know how to do some of the processes. Maybe you could write a couple of how to articles focusing around overclocking.
Keep up the good work!
Today is my day… It’s my glorious day!
The design is pretty simple, I think you need to do some little makeover.
1. a Gomeler.com favicon
2. a Gomeler.com logo
3. a Gomeler.com forums
4. a Gomeler.com… I can’t think of another… That’s all
Thanks!
My day has been great. Though I have two tests this week. One in fluid mechanics and one in Finite element analysis. Your blog looks cool though.
My day has actually been pretty bad but I did manage to pay off some of my sleep debt today. And I do agree that a logo would look awesome here.
I’m not having a great day, really. My bike was stolen yesterday and I had no luck canvassing the neighborhood. A laptop would probably cheer me up though :D
Also, some color in this blog would be pretty nice. I know you might be going for the modern look, but I think it’s a little bland, to be honest.
This is a really random idea. It seems like an interesting way to get people to visit your blog though, and my suggestion is to create and then add a flash game to your site so we can all waste even more time
just realized i didn’t post anything regarding winning the laptop hahah… i think a topic u should cover is how educated mexicans make money on the side via websites like urself :]
Hey, Gomeler. =] My day’s going swell, but it’d be going much better if I weren’t writing mid-term papers. This was a nice little two-second break from that.
Okay, back to the grindstone.
Enjoy the rest of the evening!
oh, drat. forgot about that student email part. >_<
there, better.
I think the site is cool to be honest. Simple yet functional. Would LOVE to have a laptop. Its horrible being stuck to a desktop!
I don’t understand the part in the rules where US winners MAY have to provide tax information. How does that come into play in this contest if you win….
You should do some more features on Vista because I seriously am struggling with it. And since any new computer I ever get will probably have it too, I’m going to need some help. Thanks!
I’ve got to agree that some sort of logo/image would look great on the site. Something colorful, if you plan to keep the basic color scheme of black and white.
My day was rather uneventful, except for having to scrape a thick layer of frost off of my car before leaving for class. Can’t say I was thrilled, considering I didn’t have my gloves or any sort of jacket/coat/hoodie with me. Why you gotta be so cold, New York? brrr!
The layout for your blog/site isn’t too shabby really. The only thing I don’t really care for is the size of the top banner.
I’d suggest either shrinking it a bit, or add in some type of image, maybe even some sort of add banner. While I would end up blocking the add banner, you need a bit of something else up there.
It’d be killer to finally own a laptop, let alone one with blu-ray! LoL
Luck everyone!!~!!
I would LOVE to win this. I just found out that my laptop is now out of warranty! Oh noez!!
On side note, can’t wait to see the HP people at CES in January! I can’t wait!! WHOO VEGAS BABY!
About your blog design…
I like everything you have going on in the side column, and your articles are in a format that is very easy to read (on the eyes), but there is something I don’t like about the horizontal navigation bar you have at the top…maybe it too wide???
Hm..I’ld criticize the design but I’m actually quite fond of the simplicity and even though people say the top thing is too bold, i like it. but maybe the logo would be nice..unless it was a half-assed 5 minute one.
my day has been pretty good. i just can’t wait until friday..one because it is a friday and thus means rest and two because it is my birthday and i’m still young enough to enjoy those
Hey my day is going pretty well, it’s 2am and I’m procrastinating physics work. I was stumbling around with Firefox and I came across this contest. I would love to win that computer, it’s sick.
As for the site, I like reading articles on the last free software, preferably the ones that can replace the annoying software (i.e. songbird for itunes, or VLC for windows media player).
How my day is going? Well, the short version is, “I am having a shitty day”. The long version is I run out of money for school and I am hoping for a miracle so that I can keep paying my tuition.
One suggestion for the blog, you need a header image, it will make the site look even cooler.
My day is just plain boring… Finished my exams yesterday and now I’m just lying around jobless. Such a lonely day… and itz mine…
My day’s been great! Got a lot of things comin’ up this week (Mostly Midterms :| ), but A new laptop would sure help me a lot with all these papers and such. I’m stuck here at home on my old desktop. The portability of a laptop would surly help me get out of the house once in a while.
So i’ve stumbled on your blog today. I really like the simplicity of it. Compared to most, it’s easy to find your way around this site, but there are some things that you might consider:
1. Maybe you should add a Home button to the navigation bar instead of letting users click on the Title bar.
2. The search box to me looks just like a plain box. Probably add the word Search next to it?
3. I like the recent comments section to see where the current disscussions are happening, but it’s kinda located really down in the page (Does this make sense?). What I mean is that users have to scroll down in order to see them. This section should be placed near the top for easy acess.
4. I ‘m not sure if it’s easy, but is there a way people can sign up for this website so that you don’t need to re-enter your name, e-mail and website, for every comment?
5. Ok, last one. Um, a lot of people said to add colors, but it’s really up to you. It’s not a need to have feature, since the main part is your blog. =)
Keep up the hard work!
Well, my day is alright, but a bit bad…
Nice design and it’s cool to the eye, but I have a suggestion… Keep up… Just post regularly, and make the site always alive.
Can you write about “Your Current Tech Gadgets”? Yeah, just wanna know.
Thank you! Hope that beautiful laptop will be mine.
Today I’m helping my girlfriend finish an essay on Japanese traditional clothing, the kimono and yukata. The computer looks sweet by the way. I bet it could even finish writing this essay for me XD
I like the design of your sites,simple and nice, not too crowd of words.
Maybe you can design your own logo or banner, its would be nice.
As for my day, for some reason I woke up feeling very stressed out. Hopefully it’s not a sign of what is to come later on…
I was looking through some of the categories listed here and noticed that the 9rules category only list two, with the last one posted in 2006. I really enjoy reading inspirational material so I’m wondering if you have any plans on completing the list.
Good idea about the RAID.
There is a lot of wasted space at the top of the page. I would tighten the space around the buttons and in the header, or replace with a logo as has been suggested.
My day has been going well. Although I was tired this morning, I just found out I got 100 on my math midterm so my day is looking up now.
I hope your day is going well.
How about a rating systems that would be applied to comments as well as pieces?
Day is going well, thank-you (unlike the weather!)
Actually first time I read the blog. I love pauls so focus on some more mac topics
My day has been tough but there’s always he weekend to look forward to!
Suggestion about website, place more “frat” like colors in design?
The comment numbers in the triple digits fall off the left side of the page. I would also like to suggest a little color and maybe a banner or logo to match. You could add a few more menu items, and shorten the height of the menu a little. I love the simple design, it’s very easy to use.
well, try some blue instead of black, get a new logo.
My day is going great! Also, how do you type with boxing gloves on?
The design is simple and easy to navigate but something is missing from your header, maybe a logo or mugshot of the blog-owner or something and maybe it can do without the ads on the side, but i guess thats what proably helps keep the site running. Still new to the blog world, but AWESUM contest, good luck to everybody.
In case I don’t win, can you cover the topic on ‘how to build your own computer.’ One of my instructors gave me an old computer I can salvage because I’m on a budget.
Well I like the simplicity of it all, but I have to say there could be more colors involved besides gray. The shades are well balance, but balanced gray is still gray which is probably the most drab color in existence. I (arrogantly) suggest adding one or two unique colors to break the monotony.
As for the day,
I am having a rather challenging and difficult day, lots of tests and projects this week. Nobody said being an engineer was easy! They did say History would be easy though, and that’s just ignorant. History sucks, WAY too much reading.
Well, a day of animals being taken to the vet for injuries with unknown cause, tetanis and flu shots at the local pharmacy, plus the usual.
Beautiful day.
The design is fine. I prefer the minimalistic look. As others have already pointed out, there are a few minor things that you should probably fix such as the blank review page and the comment numbers.
yeah, I plan to go out and take some pics sometime around the golden hour!
I am good thank you, hoping to win! my pc is horrible, and this would be nice
I hope I don’t have to be a student to win, because I’m not, I’m adjunct faculty. But if I do win I’ll put it to good use in my quest to become techno-savy, as in, keep up with all of you. Learning about this site helps; I’ll tell all my students about it next class!
The HP promotion is an awesome way to bring some traffic.
I concur with a previous comment about the comment numbers trailing off the white pallet. Use your imagination about redesign, as this is your blog. Two suggestions: move the recent posts to the top of the page, I hate scrolling and a logo goes a long way, something unique to your tastes and symbolic of Gomeler. Don’t be afraid of trying a few redesigns with user feedback.
Keep up the great posts.
Just FYI, the numbering on your comments runs off the side of the page any time they get into the double digits, at least in FF3 on a Mac. Might be good to give those numbers a little more room.
one thing i like about the site is it simple and clean, but i would most definaly add some blue. blue is a color of trust. good luck.
Hey man, my day is going fairly well… it would be going REALLY well if I happen to receive a free laptop, so we’ll see how the week plays out.
PEACE
Oooh the space in here turns a different color when I clicked it. I didn’t expect that. I hope that when you’re redoing your site that you keep that feature I thought was neat.
Today is my beautiful day. I will go shopping with my friend.
Maybe you can design a logo or banner for Gomeler.
The day seems good, because today the best day. I am doing nothing today than spending all my time on my own, visiting different websites and blogs.
The laptop prize package is very great! I wish I can have them…
Gomeler.com, use a new and fresh theme… Try another colors…
My day is going pretty well. It’s a little cold out today though. It’s just remindng me that I have to go shopping for winter clothes.
I like the blog. Keep up the good work
Hello, I am going to be spending my day playing on my new computer. A computer using a suped up Radeon HD 4850 I actually bought from YOU.
As far as this blog/site goes I agree a lot with what other people have already said. You definitely need to get a cool logo for the top to replace the text gomeler.com. Also I would shrink down the vertical space for the links at the top, not a wholllle lot, just a little bit. Also if you could make it so that responses broke on to separate pages that would be nice because it took me about 5 minutes to scroll to the bottom of this page. You should set it to like 10 responses per page or something. Good luck!
my day is just starting…i hate that i am simply unable to sleep in. using my awake-ness to surf the web…
Hey, my day is going pretty good so far…..a brand new laptop would make it even better. I’ll cya around in Atlanta sometime. Later dude.
My day/week/month is going really well. Here’s what I have going for me in October:
-I spent 3 days camping at the Grand Canyon
-I was accepted to present a workshop at a state-wide professional convention
-I had a birthday
-I had a negative PET scan and my oncologist said that I’m doing well enough that unless I have symptoms, I don’t need any more PET scans! (My one-year-anniversary is in November.)
-my boss has started being receptive to things that I have to say
Today, things are swell. I was able to carpool this morning (happens 3-5 days per week but hasn’t happened until this morning this week). Things at work so far have run smoothly. I have a big presentation that will be videotaped coming up in about an hour; I’m ready and looking forward to it! And I have a highly tasty lunch waiting for me.
Life recently has been great :)
well, I am still angry at Steve Jobs and at Apple for dropping firewire support on the new macbooks.
I also agree with the new logo thing! also, try shinier, brighter colors!
:D
I like your site, its simple and user friendly but I didn’t like that I had to scroll so far to get to this form, maybe you could break the comments down to another page after it gets to maybe 10 or 15. Thats my two penny.
I have to thank procrastination for leading me to your blog…
My HP 530 notebook blue screened on me last Saturday at 5:30 am; I go to school online so my heart ceased to beat until my bestest geek salvaged what he could.
The design of Gomeler.com is very stoic and stable, which is not by any means a criticism. It just makes me wonder where is the madness of which no sense is made?
I would like to see more DIY and How-To posts similar to the DD-WRT firmware replacement–practical and fairly easy. Maybe something like building a media server or putting old laptops to good use.
The header area could be a little sexier. But I love the simplistic color scheme.
You spelled “categories” wrong in the sidebar; it’s not “catergories.”
My email’s from a college! I had a good day because I’m done with midterms.
My day is going great!
Hey, maybe i can win. i did need a new computer anyways, with mine breaking again. how did you get to host a contest like this?
I am seaching for some idea to write in my blog… somehow come to your blog. best of luck. Eugene
My day was great!
I’m having a good day because I just finished my midterms!
Looking at the numbers of the comments, I notice that they are falling into the fading border. You might want to fix that.
So my day was pretty awesome today. And as for the design of the site: I really like it the way it is, but the logo does leave something to be desired so if you were to change something, then I would say upgrade the logo.
Hope you’re having a good day to!
Hi
This blog is pretty cool, I like the colors. It looks classy and is easy on the eyes. One thing though is there are too many comments and the comment number is too long to fit!
I really do like the design of this site. You should so get shirts, b/c I would so want one!!
More Color on the site!
My day has been great! I think the only thing missing is pics to go with some posts, a la Gizmodo. Just a thought!
How about trying out a desktop Linux distribution and telling us what your experience is. My favorite is Linux Mint as everything just works. Or you could try any of the other popular distributions.
Gomeler dude. I have read lots of ur reviews they r all great. I know u do nice works. Can u do one more review. If u can. Do a review on how to get around with girls and what r your experiences. Most of us needs that. Its more technical than design of a processor.
Jokes apart. your blog design is good, It just needs some colour change. blue and white or, something that looks more colorful.
And about review I need Review on robots, Different, as many as u can do. And Ya one more thing. If u can discuss or talk about, Personal Satellite assistant, That has been developed by Nasa, That would be great.
Why hello there ole chap. I think your blog could use some pizazz. I’m a graphic designer (just starting), and I’d love to make a header for you. You’d be helping me start my portfolio, so it’s not charity.
a popular posts plugin would also help users find your best posts.
Also you should email others within the college blog niche, and ask them to trade blogroll links with you. I’ll definitely trade with you if you are interested. Take care buddy!
I like the clean, simple design, but I would definitely use a banner or a picture for the header! :P
As for my day, it’s been good so far, but I’m not looking forward to next week… it will be full of college work!
Well the top where the name is seems so plain. maybe a cool logo from photoshop would be cool. Oh and pictures by the blogs instead of just after in the “read more” section would be nice to add! :)
Hm… I should really be doing my homework right now, but since I just love procrastinating, I’m not! Hooray!
I’m all for the simplistic design, since its a blog its easier on the eyes when reading, but the dark color kind of gives a gloomy feeling. You could maybe make it blueish gray or something. The only thing that looks a bit off is that your margin on the table you use for blog is too small so it allows some words to come out of the actual table.
Also the drop shadow on the side would probably look better on both sides while increasing the spreading size. And maybe the top navigation bar would look better if it was glassy instead on dented in. The glassy look would give a nice professional feeling.
You should definitely add one highlighting color to this design. Ibrahim is on the right track.
My day is going beautifully! I cancelled the classes I was meant to teach and went to listen to a taoist master, instead.
I don’t have any suggestions for the blog, it looks great! But my day is going great. It’s beautiful weather here!
I want the computer.
well, I think you really should get a new logo :D, I love the simplicity of the design!
My boyfriend always says “Simple is the new sexy” and I agree, I think you shouldn’t over complicate the layout. Don’t you want us to focus more on what you are saying rather than the design?? well just my thoughts, would love it if I won!!:)
A logo and a different, non-dark based theme.
I like the simple but I have to say maybe one color, a dark and not bright one would be nice.
I think a lighter and more modern theme would be nice. :)
Not sure if this is within your scope, but I’d love a post on how to shop for cheap hardware. As to layout, gray and white looks a little..ascetic shall I say? Blue would be much better and still sleek and elegant.
I think a new logo that’s eye catching is in order. The colors of it should compliment the layout colors.
I think the layout is a bit too simple, it’d look great with a bigger banner or some cool designs!
Everything below the menu/header is great, however the logo, menu bar and transition between the site and background are room for improvement. As for my day, I had an assignment due today which I had not finished that kinda ruined the day but hopefully tonight’s fun will make up for it. I’m using my uni email for the 2 entries in the hopes that it is not made public. Cheers!
Give a brother a new laptop!
I like how you kept your design plain and simple. I think the top menu could be a little more rounded because as of right now the blog is like a big rectangle with smaller rectangles inside.
My day is going well so far, I only wish I had gotten more than 5 hours of sleep.
I like your design. The most important is your site. not everyone has an enthusiasm like you guys to start blogging. I really appreciate such people and encourage them to keep going that way. However, I am a marketing student, so i really pay attention to small details.
First of all, You have lovely name, but I don’t know the meaning of it. So here comes the slogan that you have. It is grey and hardly seen on the right. So everyone who enters your site should associate it with something. I know the name is really important but the slogan is also vital. It should stand out but less than your name or logo.
The consistency. I could see that you have G (in green) in your web-site icon. I really like it. But I could not find it in your web-site. More over, i like the colors of the icon, so you could work on the logo design with the same colors. More over it is good to have grey background and have letters in green. I don’t how it will work out but you may test it. Instead of blue avatars for users you may use green ones.
The rest of it is good.
some words about content.
I guess you should pay attention to the trends. if you have record of your visitors from google analytics or any service like this. You can use it in the way. so what articles are popular and what are not. I prefer topics related with hacking. I mean to do things in different ways as it is accepted. for example, hidden options of applications, hidden options in hardware and etc. I am really interested in that kind of things. Because i already know how to type on word, but for example I could not know how to use word for different purposes. I think it is only for typing. Maybe there are people who use it for note taking, or for other things.
About my day. today I bought used book for 15 pounds, so i saved 30 pounds. currently there is credit crunch so my saving is really noticable. Additionally I have found a lovely group of four girls for my Buyer behaviour assignment. They are from russia, Bolgaria, Saudi Arabia and Cameron. so very international.
Good luck with your project. and I wish good luck to everyone!
Hey Gomeler,
Just an email change/update, since I’m not sure on which email I put in. Post #19 on Saturday the 18th. Good luck picking someone!
Looks good Chris!
Good Luck
My day has been good so far :P , hanging out with my boyfriend, it’s a lovely cloudy day… but it would be so much better if I had some sushi!!!
I’m going to agree with the other posters who think you should liven up the appearance of the blog! A header image, or a logo, and while I like that the site isn’t junked up with ads of anything, having the links/categories on the side would make the site easier to navigate!
I think the website is beautiful. The only thing that would make it better would be a huge picture of me.
I’m into web design, and I must say I really dig the gray color schemes, they look so clean and professional, so I wouldn’t change that… maybe adding a little banner, a picture with the sites name… that would color it up a little… :P
Cross fingers!
The design looks great. I realized some other commenters suggested having the full text of the article instead of only part of it. However, maybe you can do a mix, like the format of the Google Reader: clicking the title would bring up the full text of the article, but you’re free to view as many full text articles on the same page. However, I don’t have html background, so I’m not sure how complicated this would be.
I like the varied stories and the diy topics. Maybe, include a basic underlying idea of the blog? (or as it is “where there is no sense to madness” allows an open ended pieces to be included).
My day has been going all right. I’ve been trying to study for a biology exam, although I only to get so far sometimes…
My day has been okay. It’s about to get better. TGIF! I like the web design so I can’t think of any particular suggestions.
Loved this website!
I love this website like I love men
Laptop!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
How about a mobile version of the site!
My day is going pretty well! It would be even better if I won this laptop, though… ;)
I think your site is great!
Just the right amount of helpful articles and randomness.
I do think adding a cool looking title bar at the top of the site where “Gomeler.com” is would give you the chance to add color but still maintain the overall simple design.
I would love to read a post about websites, gadgets, or anything else that are unexpectedly useful to college students.
My day has been busy but it’s the weekend now, time to properly celebrate my birthday from Thursday!
Today’s my lucky day… i just needed to tell someone.
Thanks for being here.
ps… i LOVE ponies and rollerskates!
Simplicity is a virtue. However, I do believe you need to do something about your logo, like others have mentioned. Just a suggestion, maybe you can insert a picture of a person with a laptop on his lap inside the letter O.
Another suggestion is to provide a list of popular posts. That way, visitors can quickly notice your much appreciated work.
The third suggestion is- I think somebody has mentioned it- to provide referral links to others sites that you visit often or believe your visitors might be interested.
And lastly, is there anyway that you can setup a reply thing under the comments. What I mean by that is if I were to reply to somebody’s comments, I would like to have my comments shown directly beneath theirs. That way I don’t need to refer their names and others don’t need to go back and see what they have commented.
That’s it for now. :)
Wow, it’s October 25 at 2:50 AM and I’m still studying for the California bar exam. Panic is already setting in while the exam is in February 2009. You would think that with the exam being so far away, there is enough time for everything. WRONG. There is a moral character application, a bar examination application with fees, a Live Scan fingerprint card with a fee, and a laptop fee to take the exam with my own laptop ( which I don’t have so I keep looking on the internet for a way to get one cheap..Free would be nice too ).
Top it all off, the first Sunday in November is the end of daylight savings time so be ready to get out of the library in the dark and hope to not get mugged by someone in the city.
A free gym membership would be cool but so is meeting an understanding girl who doesn’t mind that I can’t spend time on the holidays. There are no holidays for bar exam takers.
Anyway, for your blog, I guess what I expected to see was a counter. It appears that a counter exists on every site and there must be a reason for it. I didn’t see one here. If I missed it, I’m just totally exhausted from studying. Maybe I need to borrow more money to buy another bar review course.
I’m done with my rant.
My day is fine, but it would be more awesome if I won a computer. ^___~
Hi Chris
Nice page you have here, but it definitely needs some updates.
For example ‘categories’ on the down-right side of page doesn’t get you anywhere! All I got is error ‘bummer - 404 error’ :-)
So the reviews section is empty. But hey it’s o.k. if you work for legitreviews… I’m sure that you don’t have to write reviews of your own. But it’s not nice to see an empty section.
And last but not least, it would be nice to have some sort of navigation or articles on the left side of this webpage. It looks empty because of it. Include some sort of navigation, or archives of older articles….. anything
So that’s it from me for now. I know that I haven’t been as nice as other people here commenting. It’s like everyone would like to win on this with positive comments.
Love the page!
As for my day.. it’s not starting off too well! It’s raining.
I really like the simplicity of the page. It’s very aesthetically pleasing :)
As for my day… It’s finally going (relatively) well… I just got over a cold, finished midterms and can finally get back to my ’stumble’ addiction.
Please change my above e-mail address to rrichardson11@student.gsu.edu.
Suggestion for the blog design: reduce the hight of the menu and introduce a logo. “Gomeler.com” looks too plain. :)
Hey Chris,
I’m digging the new blog design. Admittedly I hadn’t had a chance to stop by in awhile, but did so after I caught your tweet. A few suggestions I have: (1) Pad the comments out a bit from the left. I wouldn’t expect to see 100+ comments on a post frequently, but the third digit gets cut off the page none the less. =) (2) The nav links at the top are huge, but at the same time nondescript. Adding a bit of color, perhaps a thin border at the bottom of the active parent page, would make them more noticeable. Some sort of indicator of the parent or ancestor page would go a long way towards making he navigation a bit more understandable. (3) The “Recent Posts” section in the sidebar might be more useful if it were moved up the page, above the AdSense.
Nitpicking aside, great job on the new design, sir. In terms of topics, I think it’d be awesome to do a intro/guide on overclocking. I’m a novice at it myself, even after building and working on PCs for just under 15 years now. God, I’m getting old. =)
Later, and good luck to everyone.
Nice review… I’m glad I made it in time to beat the deadline, I could really use this laptop. As for my day it’s going pretty good after all it’s the weekend!
A very depressing day coupled with hours of studying for midterms. I really wish I get this laptop.
Ha! Glad to see you exceeded your predicted 200 entries.
I like the look of your site, but for small glitches (at least under Firefox), such as item numbers for this list pooching (techie term) out to the left side of the white background.
Day here on California’s Central Coast was fantastic; low 80’s at the beach.
While no longer a student, I nevertheless am glad to have discovered your site.
Today was a very restful day, thankfully.
I just found out what I got on my last Accounting exam. It was 90 + 9 points curve, which comes down to 99! The class average was 68 without the curve. I don’t think the exam was that hard, but my friends told me otherwise. I guess they didn’t study hard enough. This made my day.
hey Chris
nice blog site mate
keep it up :)
dinos22 :)
The simplistic design is so nice, really nice Laptop. I know i have no chance to win it , i just want to suggest to u to cover the theme “parallel programming with CUDA”: the use of GPU processors to make computer more poweful.
When will you be announcing the winners?
Soon I hope.
before the site goes down again?
Sorry the website died, I had been watching my bandwidth consumption and I ended up running out within the last 12 hours of the month. Don’t normally use the full 25GB so it was a first.