Skeptographers.com

Dashboard and Navigation Update

Good morning,
We just wanted to pass along some quick notes about the updated navigation bar and dashboard that went live tonight.

The new navigation bar (seen once logged in) will further be expanded to include other shortcuts and information as those new features become available. As of right now, it is mostly a cosmetic update, though a few segment related shortcuts were added in.

The dashboard also got a facelift as part of this update. It will now group your active segments by those requiring action or those pending review. It also includes information on expiry dates, but that feature isn’t being enforced yet.

On the right hand side of the dashboard the New and Notable section is also starting to show more information, though this area still isn’t as ‘smart’ as we plan on making it. In the future the dashboard will get better at listing segments that have been recently flagged/voted/commented on, revised, etc. and list why it is being shown on this list. Right now this section is mostly being generated by the ‘last update’ time on a segments which often does not take the previously listed factors in to consideration.

The Skeptographer Production Team would also like to take this opportunity to welcome all of the new website members who’ve signed up this week and to thank the few hundred of you who have downloaded our pilot episodes so far.

TAM7 Project Update

Hello Skeptics and TAM7 Attendees,

Welcome to The Skeptographers website. We’re now online, visible to the public, and in possession of a pilot episode. Many of the Skeptographers (and the production team) are at TAM7 in Las Vegas. There’s still a little bit of last minute work to do (such as adding the RSS feed), so you’ll be seeing new features and information on the website throughout the weekend.

So, why do you care that The Skeptogaphers exists? We’re hoping to provide the worldwide skeptical community with an opportunity to participate in a regularly released podcast as much, or as little as they wish. Instead of just listening the same group of podcast hosts every week, we want to give you a chance to get involved with the Skeptical Podcast community too.

Do you not have the time for your own podcast, but want to get your voice out there? Are you new to podcasting? Do you just want to write segments for someone else to record, or record segments that someone else wrote? Perhaps you perform skeptical-themed music or comedy? Or maybe you’d just want to help review segments before they get approved. The Skeptographers will give community members many ways to get involved.

Simplify Web Design With These Awesome Ideas

Just by comparing a few websites, you can easily see that they are not all the same. You will find that there are major differences in the appearance and useability of these very different sites. If web design is something that interests you, as a great way of sharing your videos and podcasts, we can help. Continue on for some helpful tips.

Avoid wasting time by programming your domain and user name into your file server. Doing so ensures that every time you log on, you have the option to quickly select your customized settings. This can be a real time-saver.

Make sure you have enough details on your company page to allow your visitors to know more about who you are and what you can offer them. Most websites don’t have very interesting copy in this area. Make yours exciting and interesting! Let people see who you are by sharing your educational background, career moves and future goals.

Visitors want to have access to a website quickly, which is why your pages should load easily. Your visitors are more likely to lose interest in your website and leave the page if they have to wait for a few minutes before having access to the content.

Make sure that your clients can cancel an action when they need to. This includes completing forms, enrolling in email newsletters and searching the site to find certain information. Forcing your user to complete an action they don’t wish to will ensure they never sign up for anything on your site again, nor are they likely to return at all.

Use Photoshop to create professional looking graphics for use on your website. Using this type of program can assist beginning web designers in creating sites that look professional, extremely quickly. Although a copy of Photoshop represents a significant investment, the time it will save you and the improvement it will make in your results can easily justify the program’s cost.

You should always be ready and willing to learn new things during the process of designing your website. Once you master any facet of web design, move on to another. This could slow down the process of site-building, but you’ll be rewarded with information that you need to create dozens of sites once you learn it.

You may not come up with the next big thing on the web. Only one site in a million enjoys that sort of success. A good design will attract more visitors and there is no reason why your website could not be as successful as a site like Twitter. Use what you’ve learned here and get started today!

Sensible Travel Tips

Some tips on how to start with traveling makes a great start for beginners. The following article contains some very useful advice designed to make travel planning easier and more successful. It is important to plan well in advance, so that you can enjoy yourself, and gain some valuable education along the way.

If you are going abroad and transiting through different countries, find out about the visas you need. Obtain the correct visas for each country you will be visiting. Some visas will not give you access to certain countries. Consult your travel agent, as well as the embassy’s website corresponding to the country in which you are going.

Beware of emails concerning travel deals. Unless you specifically asked for the emails, don’t open them.

If you want to adjust faster to a different time zone, try to stay awake until 8pm local time. Though you may be exhausted, succumbing to sleep earlier than you should may end up making your jet lag worse because you have not allowed your body to recalibrate. So adjust as fast as you can to the new time zone, so you’ll get over being jet lagged faster.

Get a nice sum in the local currency before you leave to save time. Many times, currency exchanges have restrictive hours, and you might not be able to get local currency when you arrive. Generally, larger banks have access to all foreign currency and will be happy to exchange with you while you are still in your country. By doing this, you will be able to start buying things and having fun the moment you land.

By now you should have learned some good advice about getting the most from your travel. Remember that this collection of tips cover the basics of traveling: find out more about your destination and apply this advice to your particular vacation.