Build Date: Sat Jan 17 17:00:11 2026 UTC
Mommy, why does that bad man of the future have a Spock dildo up his butt?
-- Ben Franklin
Ugly Web Page Tells How to Create Ugly Web Pages
2000-07-08 14:35:36
Reacting to all of the gratuitously ugly web pages on the world wide web, Patrick Lynch and Sarah Horton, along with the Yale University Press, have published the Web Style Guide: Basic Design Principles for Creating Web Sites. They've also put together a web site devoted to promoting the book. There's just one thing though, the web site is just plain ugly.
Pages with brown, blue, and black lettering on white and gray backgrounds. Page titles that use a smaller point size than body text. Advertising plugs to sell the book everywhere you look (sometimes more than once on the same page).
The introduction helpfully points out "Most of the design advice and technical information contained here on optimizing graphics in Web pages is tailored to recent versions (2.0 or later) of both Netscape Navigator and Microsoft's Internet Explorer."
Hello? Anyone home? 2.0 versions of Navigator and IE are NOT recent versions. You'd think that people who wrote an ENTIRE BOOK about web design would know this.
The introduction continues "There is little here of benefit to users of text-based Web browsers, as the primary focus of this manual is on graphic page design."
Well golly gee guys, thanks. Do you REALLY THINK that people are out there combing the web looking for style tips to make their pages look better for users using LYNX? Did you REALLY NEED to point this out, or are you just so used to being long-winded Yale blowhards that when you start typing you just can't help but point out the painfully obvious?
The site continues with such mind-numbing gems as "Graphic user interfaces were designed to give people direct control over their personal computers," "research on the needs and demographics of your target audience is crucial," and "The goal is to provide for the needs of all of your potential users, adapting Web technology to their expectations, and never requiring the reader to simply conform to an interface that puts unnecessary obstacles in their paths." Well DUUUUUUUUUUUUUH!
About feedback, they have this to say: "Testing your designs and getting feedback from users is the best way to see whether your design ideas are giving users what they want from your site."
Here's some feedback for you Patrick Lynch and Sarah: Your site sucks ass!
T O P S T O R I E S
The Crossroads are real and The Blues is a place; The enduring myth of Robert Johnson (More...)
California Glory Hole attracts huge crowds
A glory hole at Napa's Lake Berryessa is drawing huge crowds. According to Chris Lee, the general manager for the Solano County Water Agency, the glory hole hasn't been active since 2019, and only restarted operations on Feb 4. (More...)
Republican State Senator busted after soliciting a teenage girl
Republican State Senator Justin Eichorn of Minnesota was arrested for soliciting a teen girl on Monday just hours after he introduced a bill proposing "Trump derangement syndrome" (TDS) as a form of mental illness. (More...)
Parents claim measles is not that bad after having only one child die
The parents of a Texas girl who died from the measles are defending their decision not to vaccinate their daughter. "She says they would still say 'Don't do the shots,'" an unidentified translator for the parents said. "They think it’s not as bad as the media is making it out to be." (More...)
Delusional rich man tries to fire town staff
"I'm mayor now" said write-in mayoral candidate and founder of Pirate’s Booty Snacks Robert Ehrlich after losing the election for Mayor of Sea Cliff, NY. Then he tried to take over the Village Hall and fire everyone. (More...)
Musk claims Xitter security is staffed by idiots
Earlier this month Xitter experienced a massive outage. In an interview, Musk told Fox Business that he believes the attack came from "IP addresses originating in the Ukraine area." (More...)
C L A S S I C P I G D O G
Eavesdropping on Geeks: 'Star Trek: Discovery' vs 'The Orville'
If you broke into Pigdog's top sekrit headquarters, spying on their mysterious mix of weird science and old-skool geekiness, you'd overhear this conversation: (More...)
Our team of crack journalists went insane, and made the drive from Concord, California to Concord, New Hasmpshire on Interstate 80. Read the insightful observations of our intrepid travelers made on their journey into the heartland. (More...)
Australian Troops Set for Days of Debauchery to the Tunes of Kylie Minogue
This weekend Australian troops in East Timor will be able to put their feet up and push all the images of mass graves and charred remains from their minds as they relax to the giddy melodies of Kylie Minogue - including exclusive unplugged performances in the militia-ravaged and blood-spattered border towns of Balibo and Suai. (More...)
It’s election night. My wife and I are holed-up in this hotel that my political party has rented out for the evening. Outside, people are being violently beaten for whom they voted for. Is this South Africa? Perhaps we’re in Haiti or some Southern state during the 60’s. Of all the places where this sort of thing happens, it’s mind-boggling that we are in Portland, Maine. (More...)
One of our star reporters was sent to Comdex by his employer. El Destino reports live from the biggest, geekiest trade show in the world. (More...)
The Walken / Country Bear Conspiracy
As has been recently reported in the PDJ, Christopher Walken, evil s00per villain extraordinaire, will be appearing next month in Disney's newest release, The Country Bear Movie. Always playing some wicked and very disturbed badass in movies like Sleepy Hollow, Illuminata, The Prophecy I, II, III, Pulp Fiction, Batman Returns, The Milagro Beanfield War, A View to a Kill, The Dogs of War, Heaven's Gate, and The Deer Hunter, Walken is unsuprisingly a big favorite in the PDJ news room. (More...)
