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Mr_D_and_HotTart
Over 90 days ago
Bisexual Male, 56
Bisexual Female, 61
0 miles · Hereford and Worcester
Forum
I'll start off by saying I was never on the Wigan list, and the reason I hadn't put my name down for it is purely to do with geography, and the fact that there is a hell of a lot of geography between me and Wigan!
I have immense respect for NWC, and indeed all organisers of major Munches, and I trust her judgement completely. However... that trust has come about through a long history of munch attending (and indeed oranising) over the years. This sort of trust isn't something that I would expect a newcomer to the site to have, which brings me to my main point: The original purpose of Munches was to be a way for new arrivals to the swinging scene, or indeed non swingers who were considering the lifestyle to meet and talk to swingers socially. Nowadays, Munches have a tendency to be a piss-up for the regulars, but I think we shouldn't lose sight of their role as ways for newbies to made welcome and to see and disuss what they might be getting themselves into.
I've always (apart from in the special case of when I was actually vetting attendees for a munch I was involved in running) had a relaxed attitude to journalists getting into munches, because there isn't actually any scandal there. Some people meet up in a pub, have a laugh, drink a lot, and a few go home and shag each other... in other words exactly what you'd see in any lively town centre pub on a busy night. There will probably be more snogging and less fighting, but apart from that, nothing to write a story about... but new attendees don't know that. Newbies are generally scared witless, often so scared they don't even turn up. Having a self-admitted journalist or two there will not assist newbies in overcoming their fear, and it's for that reason, and that reason alone that I wouldnt be happy with people attending for any purely journalistic purpose: I'm ok with it, the organisers might be ok with it, but it's a real stretch to expect timid newbies to be ok with it.
I have immense respect for NWC, and indeed all organisers of major Munches, and I trust her judgement completely. However... that trust has come about through a long history of munch attending (and indeed oranising) over the years. This sort of trust isn't something that I would expect a newcomer to the site to have, which brings me to my main point: The original purpose of Munches was to be a way for new arrivals to the swinging scene, or indeed non swingers who were considering the lifestyle to meet and talk to swingers socially. Nowadays, Munches have a tendency to be a piss-up for the regulars, but I think we shouldn't lose sight of their role as ways for newbies to made welcome and to see and disuss what they might be getting themselves into.
I've always (apart from in the special case of when I was actually vetting attendees for a munch I was involved in running) had a relaxed attitude to journalists getting into munches, because there isn't actually any scandal there. Some people meet up in a pub, have a laugh, drink a lot, and a few go home and shag each other... in other words exactly what you'd see in any lively town centre pub on a busy night. There will probably be more snogging and less fighting, but apart from that, nothing to write a story about... but new attendees don't know that. Newbies are generally scared witless, often so scared they don't even turn up. Having a self-admitted journalist or two there will not assist newbies in overcoming their fear, and it's for that reason, and that reason alone that I wouldnt be happy with people attending for any purely journalistic purpose: I'm ok with it, the organisers might be ok with it, but it's a real stretch to expect timid newbies to be ok with it.
couple of quick easy-fix things... the text on this button 
isn't properly smoothed, and as for the sticky, I can't help thinking snot isn't the most appropriate bodily fluid for the site, maybe white not green for this graphic? 
There seems to be unnecessary duplication on the clubs page, instead of links to
"View by Club Name | View by Club Location | View by Club Rating" and then column headings of
"Club Name Location Reviews Star Rating" underneath, why not just make the column headings clickable to go to the sorted results?
isn't properly smoothed, and as for the sticky, I can't help thinking snot isn't the most appropriate bodily fluid for the site, maybe white not green for this graphic? There seems to be unnecessary duplication on the clubs page, instead of links to
"View by Club Name | View by Club Location | View by Club Rating" and then column headings of
"Club Name Location Reviews Star Rating" underneath, why not just make the column headings clickable to go to the sorted results?
The overall design is nice, but there does seem to be a bit of tweaking needed to make everything perfect - the text size of posts is too small, as many others have noted. I can make it bigger in firefox, but that makes the side bar text huge.
If you took the "!" away from the "Welcome !" at the top right my name would fit in without wrap-round, which would be nice.
I'm surprised to see "Real Wife Swaps" still there in the left menu, it refers to something that finished at least a year ago, if I'm remembering correctly. How about putting a direct link to the "let's meet up" forum there, like the one to the Cafe that's already there?
Lastly, there seems to be a lot of wasted space in the forum between the righthand side of avatars and the lefthand size of the actual message, could this gap be closed up a bit?
If you took the "!" away from the "Welcome !" at the top right my name would fit in without wrap-round, which would be nice.
I'm surprised to see "Real Wife Swaps" still there in the left menu, it refers to something that finished at least a year ago, if I'm remembering correctly. How about putting a direct link to the "let's meet up" forum there, like the one to the Cafe that's already there?
Lastly, there seems to be a lot of wasted space in the forum between the righthand side of avatars and the lefthand size of the actual message, could this gap be closed up a bit?
NewToTrot was someone I didn't really know very well, just a few chats at Munches really, but thinking back, I can't think of a single comment or gesture she made that wasn't friendly and positive.
Mids, obviously the SH mob may not be the people you want to talk to right now, but when the time is right, you know you've got pages and pages of friends here you can lean on.
Mids, obviously the SH mob may not be the people you want to talk to right now, but when the time is right, you know you've got pages and pages of friends here you can lean on.
Thanks to Sarah for another great Notts munch, they really do manage to get bigger and better each time... even if this was the 2nd one in a row where I was a bit Ill, and did such a bad job of doing the rounds and saying hi to everyone that at kicking out time I found myself in the middle of a bunch of people I'd neve met before being ushered out into the (ahem) bracing night air.
I'll skip the usual name checks and recall 2 choice moments from the eveing for the benefit of those who were on other floors (or on the way home) at the time...
Firstlythe odd moment when a strange christmassy feeling came over me... far-off sleigh bells hinted that Santa was eleven and a half months early. They came closer... jingle jingle jingle... then fade away... Hmm, I must be drunk? No, I haven't had a drink all night as I'm a bit poorly. So what was that festive feeling? I turn round and realise that Jas just walked past back of my chair.
Secondly, I'm sure we've all experienced the 'everyone in the room suddenly stops talking and one voice rings out with an embarassing phrase' effect, but never with quite such a phrase as (in a very concerned and caring tone) "Don't worry, you poor thing, I've got a strap on and I'll do you up the arse."
See you all next time!
I'll skip the usual name checks and recall 2 choice moments from the eveing for the benefit of those who were on other floors (or on the way home) at the time...
Firstlythe odd moment when a strange christmassy feeling came over me... far-off sleigh bells hinted that Santa was eleven and a half months early. They came closer... jingle jingle jingle... then fade away... Hmm, I must be drunk? No, I haven't had a drink all night as I'm a bit poorly. So what was that festive feeling? I turn round and realise that Jas just walked past back of my chair.
Secondly, I'm sure we've all experienced the 'everyone in the room suddenly stops talking and one voice rings out with an embarassing phrase' effect, but never with quite such a phrase as (in a very concerned and caring tone) "Don't worry, you poor thing, I've got a strap on and I'll do you up the arse."
See you all next time!
Bladerunner (in the director's cut) is an amazing film, that is tangentally related to the book. The filmmakers wisely took the concepts and characters and ran with them rather than dealing with the 'what is reality/what is humanity' issues in a way that the book does. Most of Philip K Dick's novels are unfilmable, which is why I'm constantly surprised by the number of the them that have been made into films. A Scanner Darkly worked well, but wasn't really mainstream, but Total Recall had the quiet geeky main character played by Arnie! I'd love to see 'galactic pot healer' bade into a film someday. The Hitchhiker's Guide worked fairly well, but it suffered from the definitive visual version already having been made by the BBC.
I'm getting the same message. I don't want to seem ungrateful, but after so many months of development time beyond the original promises, you'd think that the number 1 most complained about bug in the old software wouldn't be present in the new version!
The really sad thing is that this is so incredibly easy to fix! All that needs to be done is to kick the old 'ghost' login when a new one is connected rather than show this useless and frustrating message.
If SH is paying external developers for this software, then I'd seriously consider withholding the cash until basic bugfixes are complete.
The really sad thing is that this is so incredibly easy to fix! All that needs to be done is to kick the old 'ghost' login when a new one is connected rather than show this useless and frustrating message.
If SH is paying external developers for this software, then I'd seriously consider withholding the cash until basic bugfixes are complete.
Well, at the risk of injecting some serious discussion into a rather silly thread...
I can understand disliking Rocky Horror, but not lumping it in with Grease, Dirty Dancing and so on. That's like trying to file Airplane with Airport 74, or Priscilla Queen of the Desert with Mad Max.
The plot of Rocky Horror is paper-thin, and the effects are cheesy... but that's all part of the parodying of the low budget horror genre, the genius of the film is in the acting, the way it deals with sexual (and indeed transexual) awakening, throws every horror cliche into the mix, has some great tunes, hilarious gags... and the fact that it's the only socially acceptable excuse for men to wear women's underwear in public might have something to do with it too.
Performed live, there is always room for new twists, and of course audience participation. I loved Nigel Planer as the Narrator switching into character as 'neil' from the young ones when heckled:
"oh no! I'm being hassled by a chick!... It least I think it's a chick..."
I can understand disliking Rocky Horror, but not lumping it in with Grease, Dirty Dancing and so on. That's like trying to file Airplane with Airport 74, or Priscilla Queen of the Desert with Mad Max.
The plot of Rocky Horror is paper-thin, and the effects are cheesy... but that's all part of the parodying of the low budget horror genre, the genius of the film is in the acting, the way it deals with sexual (and indeed transexual) awakening, throws every horror cliche into the mix, has some great tunes, hilarious gags... and the fact that it's the only socially acceptable excuse for men to wear women's underwear in public might have something to do with it too.
Performed live, there is always room for new twists, and of course audience participation. I loved Nigel Planer as the Narrator switching into character as 'neil' from the young ones when heckled:
"oh no! I'm being hassled by a chick!... It least I think it's a chick..."
Initial thoughts...
The cam windows are no bigger than before, wasn't larger cams one of the main improvements we were promised?
The wide pixel font used for the member list is hard to read.
Far more user names could be visible without scrolling if the gender icons were smaller.
Looking through the cams is now much less user friendly, as you have to go over to the right to choose one, then all the way over left to turn it off once you see it's another close-up of willy-wobbling, then all the way back over to the right to choose another one. How about a drop-down menu of all available cams on the 2 viewing windows?
Smileys overlap each other, and appear when they have not been selected, so if you type "brb lol" you get 2 smileys on top of each other, not the letters you typed.
Bold, italic and underlined can't be applied to individual words, they affect everything on that line
The 'play' button on 'my video' is highlighted in green even though my camera is off. Shouldn't it only be green when it's on?
The cam windows are no bigger than before, wasn't larger cams one of the main improvements we were promised?
The wide pixel font used for the member list is hard to read.
Far more user names could be visible without scrolling if the gender icons were smaller.
Looking through the cams is now much less user friendly, as you have to go over to the right to choose one, then all the way over left to turn it off once you see it's another close-up of willy-wobbling, then all the way back over to the right to choose another one. How about a drop-down menu of all available cams on the 2 viewing windows?
Smileys overlap each other, and appear when they have not been selected, so if you type "brb lol" you get 2 smileys on top of each other, not the letters you typed.
Bold, italic and underlined can't be applied to individual words, they affect everything on that line
The 'play' button on 'my video' is highlighted in green even though my camera is off. Shouldn't it only be green when it's on?
Probably the flash settings, apple-click anywhere in the chatroom window, then make sure your i-sight is chosen as the video source and flash is set to allow it to be used in the little pop-up menu that appears.
For the benefit of other Apple users, and a certain somebody who I told this to months back but clearly hasn't sorted out their Macs yet
if your cam doesn't work with SH, try the drivers avaialble from ioxperts, they cost $19, but there is a trial that cuts out every 30 minutes for free, which is good for peope who want to check if it works (or ones who only go into chat for a 5-minute hamster-stroking session I sppose! :-) )
For the benefit of other Apple users, and a certain somebody who I told this to months back but clearly hasn't sorted out their Macs yet
if your cam doesn't work with SH, try the drivers avaialble from ioxperts, they cost $19, but there is a trial that cuts out every 30 minutes for free, which is good for peope who want to check if it works (or ones who only go into chat for a 5-minute hamster-stroking session I sppose! :-) ) Quote by fabio grooverider
they don't put speed camera's in places where accidents haven't taken place.
If the police say that enough, people will believe it. How did the new A13 have SEVEN cameras on it the day it opened? Were there accidents 20 feet above the empty field where the flyovers were going to be built, or is this claim an outright lie?
Quote by fabio grooverider
i am sorry, but i am stuggling to find a reason for why people feel the need to speed in the first place
Because speed limits are arbitrary. Speed limits are not chosen by people with any expertise in what is safe and what isn't, they are generally set by councils who want to placate local residents who bought a house next to a busy road, and don't give a damn about through traffic, because they don't have a vote in their borough, or by 'speed camera partnerships' who know that they will make more money if they put their cameras in places where it's perfectly safe to go much faster than the limit.
On my local main road, accidents went UP when the cameras came in, because people were going into the back of drivers who didn't know the limit, were doing a perfectly legal speed, but decided to do an emergency stop down to 29 'just to be safe' when they saw the dotted lines.
Simply, it's because the budgets are thousands of times lower. While there are maybe 50 hollywood big budget films a year, the porn industry churns out thousands upon thousands of films and clips, and the vast majority of them have had less money spent on them than an Australian daytime soap spends on catering.
The American Vivd label has made a few big budget films (I think 'Pyramid' was hyped as the biggest budget hardcore film ever?), but % of porn 'Actresses' would be proper actresses if they had the talent to actually act. The very few who have crossed over to the mainstream generally make terrible films ('Showgirls' anyone?).
The American Vivd label has made a few big budget films (I think 'Pyramid' was hyped as the biggest budget hardcore film ever?), but % of porn 'Actresses' would be proper actresses if they had the talent to actually act. The very few who have crossed over to the mainstream generally make terrible films ('Showgirls' anyone?).
Quote by SteveClarke
Avoid search engine optimisation companies,
...just like most FTSE companies do?
Poor advice Mister_Discreet, which is a shame because the rest (particularly the phrase targetting) is spot on.
There are a lot of cowboys out there, but there are also a handful of respected SEO agencies servicing some of the biggest companies in the world.
There are indeed a handful of SEO companies that are respected, but unless you ARE one of the biggest companies in the world, they are probably out of your budget range. I stand by my advice and if you have reliable proof that most FTSE companies use SEO,i'd love to see it. The ones I work with dont.
Avoid search engine optimisation companies, or anyone who 'guarantees' to have you in the top 10 for a particular search. Everything they do is either simple common knowledge stuff or things that the search engine companies hate. Trying to trick your way into the rankings is a quick way to paying a lot of money to be blacklisted!
The search engine to concentrate on is Google. Try various searches that your customers might use, and make sure your pages include those words, preferably in close proximity. If you make widgets in inverness, don't have the word 'widget' on your home page, and your the word 'inverness' only on a contact details page. if widgets are price sensitive, make sure the word 'cheap' appers nearby, since 'cheap widgets inverness' is a likely search.
Look at the little bit of text that google pulls out of your page and shows on it's results page. If there's anything negative there, re-write it!
Search engines like lots of content (and so do potential customers!) - my business site went up the rankings when I wrote a few general 'hints and tips' articles and added them to the site.
Make sure your site is readable by search engines, if you use flash (especially for navigation) then the engine might not be able to see your content.
Lastly, think about the look and feel of your website. It may be that people are finding you, but deciding to go elsewhare because your website puts them off. A website should be there to give a potential customer a reason to contact you, not to boost your CEO's ego!
The search engine to concentrate on is Google. Try various searches that your customers might use, and make sure your pages include those words, preferably in close proximity. If you make widgets in inverness, don't have the word 'widget' on your home page, and your the word 'inverness' only on a contact details page. if widgets are price sensitive, make sure the word 'cheap' appers nearby, since 'cheap widgets inverness' is a likely search.
Look at the little bit of text that google pulls out of your page and shows on it's results page. If there's anything negative there, re-write it!
Search engines like lots of content (and so do potential customers!) - my business site went up the rankings when I wrote a few general 'hints and tips' articles and added them to the site.
Make sure your site is readable by search engines, if you use flash (especially for navigation) then the engine might not be able to see your content.
Lastly, think about the look and feel of your website. It may be that people are finding you, but deciding to go elsewhare because your website puts them off. A website should be there to give a potential customer a reason to contact you, not to boost your CEO's ego!
Well, the first thing I'd say is that we are not the right people to be asking for relationship advice. Swinging works for some people and not for others, and by asking us, you are asking a highly impartial group of people.
Having said that, think long and hard about how difficult it would be to live a secret life forever... how worried you would have to be about the possibility your wife happens to look through the list of pages youve been viewing, or smells perfume on your clothes, or finds a half full packet of condoms... or any one of a million other things.
I'm not going to spout morality at you, or imorrality for that matter, or give you the go ahead to shag around that I think you are asking for. What I'm going to suggest is simply that you should talk to your wife about this.
Women are often better than men at confronting and working out these emotional issues, and I'd give decent odds that if you are feeling the need for more spice in your sex life then so is she... maybe swinging would suit both of you, or maybe you have a very understanding loving wife who understands there is a difference between sex and love, and that you love her but want to have sex with other people. If she's violently against the idea, then you'll know exactly how much hurt to someone you love that you would be risking by going behind her back.
Having said that, think long and hard about how difficult it would be to live a secret life forever... how worried you would have to be about the possibility your wife happens to look through the list of pages youve been viewing, or smells perfume on your clothes, or finds a half full packet of condoms... or any one of a million other things.
I'm not going to spout morality at you, or imorrality for that matter, or give you the go ahead to shag around that I think you are asking for. What I'm going to suggest is simply that you should talk to your wife about this.
Women are often better than men at confronting and working out these emotional issues, and I'd give decent odds that if you are feeling the need for more spice in your sex life then so is she... maybe swinging would suit both of you, or maybe you have a very understanding loving wife who understands there is a difference between sex and love, and that you love her but want to have sex with other people. If she's violently against the idea, then you'll know exactly how much hurt to someone you love that you would be risking by going behind her back.
Quote by Steve_Mids
and you want all this by when ?:
Well the promised delivery date was last March, wasn't it?
It's nice to be on the other end of unreasonable software dealines for once :twisted:
Seriously though, I'm well aware this thread would have been far more useful to the developers if it had happened a year ago, so consider my posting a wishlist for version 3.0!
