Yes, embarrassingly that is my score in the top left corner.
What starts out as a series of simple challenges soon dissolves into a combination of stress. The games don't get harder, paying attention to them all at once, does.
For the last week i've been using Spotify to listen to music. As ever, i'm late (fashionably so?) to the party, but the premise is simple- download the program, stream the music you want and pay for it every few songs by listening to an advert or promotion, generally only a few seconds long.
Following a mountain of both last.fm and more personal music recommendations over the last few years, Spotify's meant that I can try out new stuff -be it bands or genres- easily with no consequences. Once again there's the issue of digital vs physical music, but what i'm finding more and more especially as of late that i'm not too bothered- I don't care if I own the CD, because chances are, i'll never play or actually use it.
It's been an ongoing triviality, especially for me, but I think Spotify has finally put this argument to rest. Without gushing too much, I have enjoyed listening to music this week more than, well, ever, so it must be doing something right.
For the last week and a half i've been without internet. The kind of thing you dread, the whole "I hope this never happens" type of situation came, stayed, and most annoyingly, is still here. The remedy? Keep phoning customer care lines and shouting. The solution? GTFO as soon as possible and change ISPs. I've been kind of compromised for the last few weeks, but if everything goes to plan i'll be back proper on the 22nd. Assuming I don't blow up into a flaming ball of anger within the next few days. We'll see.
Help me.
Version 5 of Squarespace launched this past Monday.
I've been using Squarespace as both a blogging and photo-hosting platform for just under six months now, and after mere days of the 30-day free trial, it was a service I was more than happy to continue using and happily pay for. Things seemed as if they couldn't get any better, but V5 introduces a wealth of new features and options to the core platform. Regardless, it was only this week that I realised i've yet to expand on exactly why I moved to Squarespace full-time all those months ago, so here i'm hoping to do a review of sorts of some of the additions, along with some exposition on why Squarespace is my platform of choice.
The first reason is...well, Squarespace is incredibly easy to use. Okay, so that's something touted by all the other blogging sites, but here it is undoubtedly true. That's not to say Squarespace is simplistic or lacking in features, because it's a service that caters to users of all experience. If you have no idea about coding or design you can let SS worry about it; if you know a little you can apply your knowledge into editing or modifying what you've been given, while if you're even more advanced you can create your own theme, muck around in CSS and set up an all manner of domian forwarding and security options. Squarespace can be as easy as you like or can be the equivilent of building your own site from scratch and hosting from home, whichever your most comfortable with or want it to be.
The most enticing aspect of Squarespace for me was this ease of use, but SS can be a lot more than just a 'blog platform'. Galleries can be created, forums and message boards added, guestbooks integrated and online shops built. The added benefit is the ability for numerous administrators meaning your site can be a solo-effort or a team-run operation depending on the site's aim and function. Best of all was the storage- you can have anywhere between 0.5 to 20Gb, and you can increase or decrease your bandwidth accordingly. In retrospect I think I took too much of both, but it's nice to know they're variable. The prices obviously reflect your choices and the features you choose when you register, but no contract means you can change them, upgrade or downgrade whenever. Traffic and Subscriber counts are displayed in-house with the site's own Statistics page, while RSS feeds are generated from day-one. No need for Feedburner, Stat Counter or the rest, it's all here.
So that's Squarespace in a neat summary basically. V5 doesn't make any effort to deviate or alter from the site's and service's purpose, rather, it adds lots of new features to make the experience better. The interface is alone, one of my favourite things about the service. Navigation is now easier than ever with fast java script switching- buttons along the top of the page are there for easy clicking, Content, Structure, Style and Preview with fast links to the Help section (complete with video walkthroughs) and the overall management of your site for things like comment moredation, domain forwarding and audience permissions. V5 also has a re-designed content editor (Again, the main focus is the option of WYSIWYG -what you see is what you get, real-time editing etc) but site architecture is easily configured with drag and drop modules, and the ability to add, build, style or preview thanks to the constant presence of the four previously mentioned buttons.
The style editor has also been given a significant reworking, and like the content and post editor things are displayed entirely in real-time. Colours can be changed, fonts chosen, letter spacing increased, and most excitingly, sidebar and content wrapper width adjusted thanks to a nifty little slider. For the more experienced again, these things can be coded or manually decided, or ignored completely, if you want to make your own theme rather than edit one of the pre-existing ones. New functionality has also been added to how the site works- items displayed in your sidebar can only be displayed on certain pages for example, e.g the blog archive widget won't display when users are browsing the gallery. I found this incredibly handy, especially in the instance i've just mentioned, but with audience permissions it's nice that sections can be customised more individually now rather than a collective whole. Regarding Blogging, Tags can now be added as well as Categories, and "Share This" options with links to Digg et al are there if you want them, without any work required from yourself. "Publish this post on/enable comments on day X" have also been tweaked.
I realize i'm gushing (bet that makes a change, huh?) but Squarespace is seemingly the complete opposite of Blogger, and is exactly the kind of hosting/content platform I was looking for when I decided I wanted change, without taking the time out to learn 'how to build a website'. As a service it's easy to use, it's fun and exciting, and most importantly, it works great. Regarding V5 naturally there's been a few problems (and i've encountered one myself- sorted now thanks to support!), but the update itself completely reinvigorates and refreshes the service, and thankfully as a whole, Squarespace remains a web service that i'm more than happy to continue paying for.
Screens
MOO, as their site suggests, "love to print".
The cards have a matte-laminate finish, and despite their seeming small 28 x70mm dimensions, photos look great on them. The site doesn't designate any one use for the cards, and instead offer a handful of ideas and creative options for you to decide from or to get started with. With the option of text on the back of the cards i've made mine into mini-calling cards, or rather, personal hand-out url cards to anyone interested in seeing some of my photos, reducing the need of a pen & paper or an awkward follow-up email later in the day.
Obviously some photos will work better than others, but the small size means that bright/colourful photos will look neater than something laden with detail. The end result, a photo distinctly abstract and fun is a nice outcome. The added bonus, obviously, is the dual-function of the cards- this is not mere tedious numbers and names, but rather, a teaser of the rest of your gallery. Best of all, it's finally a chance to print photos... just for fun.
Gaming
