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Blog Update

This is just a brief note to let my readers know that I have updated this blog’s mobile site again. I only made a couple minor changes, both of which I think you’ll like.

The first change is a simply alteration to a setting. You should now be able to use pinch-zoom to change the text size. Don’t ask me why it was disabled; the original designer of the mobile theme thought it was a good idea.

Brow.si

I have also added a new taskbar called brow.si. This taskbar gathers some basic functions like sharing, changing the font size, and search into a single location. Yes, I did already have those features on the website, but I added this because it looked interesting but probably would not be a hassle for those who don’t want to use it.

I also added it because brow.si offers optional notifications. I thought someone might want to get immediate notifications when I post a new article. Personally, this isn’t a feature I would want with any website (it’s what news reader apps are for) but I know that not everyone will feel the same way.

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Comments


fgh May 24, 2013 um 5:15 am

Just for those unaware of your mobile site, what’s the URL? I could really use this now, since I’m trapped in a low bandwidth area.

Also, that Brow.si site does not seem to work (incomplete certificate chain I’m told by my browser; the same also just happened on your main site or some embedded content of it with a server www.assoc-amazon.com; did you change anything?).

Nate Hoffelder May 24, 2013 um 7:00 am

This link will (should) switch you to the mobile site:
https://the-digital-reader.com/?wpmp_switcher=mobile

And brow.si is still in beta, so they could still be working the bugs out.

fuy May 24, 2013 um 9:16 am

That seemed to work. Although clicking any article link on the mobile site seems to bring me back to normal mode. Anyways, that mobile version seems to be good for tiny screens only. At least did the layout look horrible on my screen. It would be nice if your site also had a version for normal screens but optimized for restricted bandwidth only. Call it mobile tablet version or somesuch. It’s just that I’m currently forced to use a 56k mobile connection. It sucks to browse the 2013 web with that speed. *shudder*

Nate Hoffelder May 24, 2013 um 9:39 am

You shouldn’t be kicked back to regular website when you view post; that is an bug. But since it’s not happening to me to I’m not sure I will be able to fix it.

And not to be obnoxious, but there is a minimal distraction way to read blog posts. It’s called RSS feeds.

I’m not trying to be obnoxious but with the rise of apps like flipboard and feedly there really isn’t much of a need for me to provide a distraction-free reading mode. Admittedly you can’t leave a comment from feedly or flipboard, and that is a downside.

Also, now that everyone has a decently fast internet connection there’s not much need for a low-bandwidth version of the website.

The mobile version of the site is really only intended for small screens and those readers that are on cell data plans. I was under the impression that not very many other readers need a mobile site. Based on what I have seen most devices with a 7″ screen size and up are now more than capable of displaying the full desktop website.

But I am looking at redesigning the blog theme in the next couple months. So I will take this under advisement.


Thomas May 24, 2013 um 12:45 pm

I’m not on the mobile version but I’m getting an "Internal Server Error" on most of today’s news items.

Nate Hoffelder May 24, 2013 um 1:36 pm

Blog posts here or links leading elsewhere?

Thomas May 24, 2013 um 2:11 pm

Blog posts here. Seems to be fixed now.

Nate Hoffelder May 24, 2013 um 2:24 pm

Yeah, 1And1 isn’t a terribly reliable webhost.

TBH there’s not much I can do about that other than switch to a different hosting company, and given the troubles I have had with both my current and previous hosts I don’t know that it’s worth the work.


john May 24, 2013 um 2:07 pm

blog alert: best buy deal of the day has the nook glow selling for $79.99 with free shipping.

Nate Hoffelder May 24, 2013 um 2:25 pm

Now that is a good deal:
http://www.bestbuy.com/site/Barnes+%26+Noble+-+NOOK+Simple+Touch+with+GlowLight+-+Gray/4858797.p?id=1218555765937&skuId=4858797&st=nook%20simple%20touch&cp=1&lp=2


Dlbroox May 24, 2013 um 7:54 pm

On the iPad, your site does a weird jumping thing I’ve actually never seen before. It moves as if it’s keeping time to a heartbeat. Up and down, I can’t explain it well. I think it started after the toolbar popped up and I started to scroll down.


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