Hello There, Ladies and Gentlemen...

Rob Williams · 05-05-2009, 09:53 PM

We recently introduced the newest member of our staff, Brett Thomas, who will be heading up our Senior Editor position. There, Brett will help both with site direction and also management. To help kick things off, he has a few things he'd like to share on some of the upcoming changes you can expect to see here at Techgage.

You can read the article right here, and discuss it here. In there, Brett mentions that we're open for both ideas for content and also suggestions to content we've published or are working on, and that's definitely the case. We have a site discussions forum for that very reason, so don't be afraid to use it!

Glider · 05-06-2009, 03:08 AM

While I'm new over here, I have to agree with Brett that the site could use a CSS update. If I could change 1 thing, I'd make the site span more across the screen. Now a lot of screen real estate is lost to the background...

Doomsday · 05-06-2009, 05:50 AM

GAMING STUFF!! reviews n previews!!

Brett Thomas · 05-06-2009, 09:57 AM

Yep, that's right, gaming is back on the map. It's more of a mid-term target but it's a key goal, so you'll definitely be seeing it. Not just reviews, though - I want to do technology previews and interviews with game designers to give an insight into how things are advancing aside from "Oooh pretty!"

I hope that you guys will take a minute to leave your thoughts on our roadmap, because we can't include ideas we don't have. So if you see something missing here, fill us in!

Rob Williams · 05-06-2009, 02:09 PM

Glider: Most sites out there use a fixed-width just like we do, and the reason is simply because many people who view the web still use super-old resolutions, such as 1024 and 1280. Most of these people are likely surfing from work where they're limited to what resolution they use, but it's the key reason we don't expand the site width-wise. If we did, those people would have to scroll left to right, rather than just up and down.

One possible idea is to offer an "HD mode" in the future though, where someone can click a link or edit it in their profile to change the site to a 1680px width, which is really the max I'd go. There's only so much content and boxes and such we can add before things look too cluttered, and we really don't want to run into an issue where there's a ton of whitespace.

Doomsday: Gaming content in the future is a definite, and you have no idea how much I've wanted to expand our game coverage over the years. At one point, I even went through exhaustive work just setting things up to expand for more gaming content, and I even went as far as to purchase extra domains in case I wanted to add a gaming sister site. Simply put, I want more gaming, and most of our readers want more gaming, so it needs to happen. Of course, there's a limit when there's limited manpower.

That said, we have a hundred ideas for cool gaming content though, so once we're set to shift some focus there, you should be seeing some really fun stuff.

Greg King · 05-06-2009, 03:06 PM

Excitement!!!

Ben · 05-06-2009, 04:33 PM

Quote:

"Hello there, ladies and gentlemen...
Are you ready to ROCK?"

Indeed I am. Unfortunely Cheap Trick isn't up my alley, but this is:

Greg King · 05-06-2009, 05:13 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Glider

While I'm new over here, I have to agree with Brett that the site could use a CSS update. If I could change 1 thing, I'd make the site span more across the screen. Now a lot of screen real estate is lost to the background...

This has been discussed in the past and I cannot agree with you more.

That said, not everyone uses a wide screen monitor and for those, the site looks solid.

Kougar · 05-07-2009, 07:40 AM

I admit there is a ton of empty space on my screen, but I use a 1920x1200 display so what would ya expect.

I think the present width is fine, some sites were (at least until recently) much thinner than this one which was ridiculous. It's just another reason I stack my tabs on the left edge of the screen with Opera.

Glider · 05-07-2009, 12:05 PM

Couldn't the CSS just scale? Instead of using a set width?

Ben · 05-07-2009, 12:14 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kougar

I admit there is a ton of empty space on my screen, but I use a 1920x1200 display so what would ya expect.

I think the present width is fine, some sites were (at least until recently) much thinner than this one which was ridiculous. It's just another reason I stack my tabs on the left edge of the screen with Opera.

Wow so you have a 1920x1200 resolution and you maximize your browser to use the whole thing? If so, why on earth did you pay for a monitor with that resolution if your only going to use one window at a time? You might as well have maxed out at 1280x1024. I use a 1680x1050 resolution and even with that I keep the browser window not maximized so I can have IM/IRC open along with whatever else I'm doing.

Greg King · 05-07-2009, 01:47 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ben

Wow so you have a 1920x1200 resolution and you maximize your browser to use the whole thing? If so, so on earth did you pay for a monitor with that resolution if your only going to use 1 window at a time? You might as well have maxed out at 1280x1024 then. I use a 1680x1050 resolution and even with that I keep the browser window not maximized so i can have IM/IRC open along with whatever else I'm doing.

I do what you do if I have to have multiple windows open at once but then again, Alt+Tab is a powerful tool as well. I too have a 1920x1200 monitor and like Kouger (I am assuming) I did not buy my monitor for web browsing.

On a side note, for multitasking, there is no better option than multiple monitors.

Rob Williams · 05-07-2009, 05:17 PM

Running a web browser full-screen on any resolution above 1680x1050 looks silly in my opinion. I remember the first time I tried out a 30"... I loaded up MSN (which was 1000px at the time), and it was truly hilarious. Most sites now stick to 1280x across though, so it's pretty much a standard. Personally, I run a Firefox plugin that allows me to scale my browser to a specific width/height, so what I do is simply adjust it to 1280x across and all the way down to the "start bar" (around 1170px).

That allows me to see the proper width for sites, but I get a lot more height-wise, which is nice for reading.

Rob Williams · 05-07-2009, 05:19 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Glider

Couldn't the CSS just scale? Instead of using a set width?

It's not that simple :P How are we supposed to fill up all of the whitespace that's inevitably going to appear? No site that I visit currently does a loose-width scheme, and I'm not sure how one could be properly done. If we allowed people to run whatever width they'd want, then our article paragraphs would begin to look like sentences. I still think 1680x would be possible, but we need a lot more content before that can happen (I don't want "ticker" boxes that look like they're never updated).

ChuckR · 05-09-2009, 03:12 PM

It would be nice if a site also addressed systems/components for non-gamers.
I plan on having built a system for Video/Database/Mathematica, etc. type applications.
With eye problems a monitor/card recommendation is something I could use. This slant on reviews would be a nice addition.
Best of Luck

05-05-2009, 09:53 PM	#1
Rob Williams Editor-in-Chief Join Date: Jan 2005 Location: Atlantic Canada Posts: 13,231	Hello There, Ladies and Gentlemen... We recently introduced the newest member of our staff, Brett Thomas, who will be heading up our Senior Editor position. There, Brett will help both with site direction and also management. To help kick things off, he has a few things he'd like to share on some of the upcoming changes you can expect to see here at Techgage. You can read the article right here, and discuss it here. In there, Brett mentions that we're open for both ideas for content and also suggestions to content we've published or are working on, and that's definitely the case. We have a site discussions forum for that very reason, so don't be afraid to use it! __________________ Intel Core i7-990X EE @ 3.43GHz, GIGABYTE X58A-UD5, Kingston 12GB DDR3-1333, NVIDIA GeForce GTX 680 2GB Kingston HyperX 3K 240GB SSD, WD VR 1TB, WD 2TB, Seagate 2TB, LG BD-ROM, ASUS DVD-RW, Corsair 1000HX, Corsair H60 Cooler Corsair 800D, Dell 2408WFP 24", ASUS Xonar Essence STX, Gentoo (KDE 4.10, 3.7 Kernel) "Take care to get what you like, or you will be forced to like what you get!" - H.P. Baxxter <Toad772> I don't always drink alcohol, but when I do, I take it too far.

05-06-2009, 05:50 AM	#3
Doomsday Tech Junkie Join Date: Nov 2008 Location: KHI, PAK Posts: 1,539	GAMING STUFF!! reviews n previews!! __________________ PSU: Corsair AX850 - Case: Cooler Master HAF X - CPU:Core i7-2600k - Cooler: Cooler Master V6 GT - Motherboard: Asus Z68 Maximus IV Extreme Z - Memory: Corsair Vengeance 8 GB-1600Mhz - GPU: AMD MSI R6970 Lightning - HDD: WD Caviar Black 1TB, Seagate 2TB Barracuda Green - SSD: Intel 520 Series 120GB - K/B: Razer Lycosa Mirror - Mouse: Logitech G700 - MouseMat: Steel Series 4HD - LCD: Samsung 2333SW 23" - Speakers: Creative Inspire M4500 4.1 - Headset: Logitech G35 7.1 "Do not look at a man's prayers nor his fasts, rather, measure him by how well he deals with others, the compassion he shows his fellow man, his wisdom and his integrity" - Umar Ibn Al-Khattab

05-06-2009, 02:09 PM	#5
Rob Williams Editor-in-Chief Join Date: Jan 2005 Location: Atlantic Canada Posts: 13,231	Glider: Most sites out there use a fixed-width just like we do, and the reason is simply because many people who view the web still use super-old resolutions, such as 1024 and 1280. Most of these people are likely surfing from work where they're limited to what resolution they use, but it's the key reason we don't expand the site width-wise. If we did, those people would have to scroll left to right, rather than just up and down. One possible idea is to offer an "HD mode" in the future though, where someone can click a link or edit it in their profile to change the site to a 1680px width, which is really the max I'd go. There's only so much content and boxes and such we can add before things look too cluttered, and we really don't want to run into an issue where there's a ton of whitespace. Doomsday: Gaming content in the future is a definite, and you have no idea how much I've wanted to expand our game coverage over the years. At one point, I even went through exhaustive work just setting things up to expand for more gaming content, and I even went as far as to purchase extra domains in case I wanted to add a gaming sister site. Simply put, I want more gaming, and most of our readers want more gaming, so it needs to happen. Of course, there's a limit when there's limited manpower. That said, we have a hundred ideas for cool gaming content though, so once we're set to shift some focus there, you should be seeing some really fun stuff. __________________ Intel Core i7-990X EE @ 3.43GHz, GIGABYTE X58A-UD5, Kingston 12GB DDR3-1333, NVIDIA GeForce GTX 680 2GB Kingston HyperX 3K 240GB SSD, WD VR 1TB, WD 2TB, Seagate 2TB, LG BD-ROM, ASUS DVD-RW, Corsair 1000HX, Corsair H60 Cooler Corsair 800D, Dell 2408WFP 24", ASUS Xonar Essence STX, Gentoo (KDE 4.10, 3.7 Kernel) "Take care to get what you like, or you will be forced to like what you get!" - H.P. Baxxter <Toad772> I don't always drink alcohol, but when I do, I take it too far.

05-06-2009, 03:06 PM	#6
Greg King I just kinda show up... Join Date: Jul 2005 Location: Indiana Posts: 2,081	Excitement!!! __________________ "It is far better to grasp the universe as it really is than to persist in delusion, however satisfying and reassuring." - Carl Sagan System: Intel i5 2500K \| Gigabyte GA-Z68XP-UD4 \| 16GB G.Skill DDR3 \| Crucial M4 128GB SSD WD 1TB Black x1 \| WD 2TB Green x 1 \| XFX Radeonn HD 6850 \| Corsair H80 Water Cooler Fractal Design R3 \| Windows 7 Ultimate x64 \| Dell 2410 x 3 @ 1920x1200 ESXi Host: Intel i7 920 @ 3.0 GHz \| Gigabyte GA-EX58-UD4P \| 24GB Patriot DDR3 \| WD 1TB Black x 2

05-07-2009, 05:17 PM	#13
Rob Williams Editor-in-Chief Join Date: Jan 2005 Location: Atlantic Canada Posts: 13,231	Running a web browser full-screen on any resolution above 1680x1050 looks silly in my opinion. I remember the first time I tried out a 30"... I loaded up MSN (which was 1000px at the time), and it was truly hilarious. Most sites now stick to 1280x across though, so it's pretty much a standard. Personally, I run a Firefox plugin that allows me to scale my browser to a specific width/height, so what I do is simply adjust it to 1280x across and all the way down to the "start bar" (around 1170px). That allows me to see the proper width for sites, but I get a lot more height-wise, which is nice for reading. __________________ Intel Core i7-990X EE @ 3.43GHz, GIGABYTE X58A-UD5, Kingston 12GB DDR3-1333, NVIDIA GeForce GTX 680 2GB Kingston HyperX 3K 240GB SSD, WD VR 1TB, WD 2TB, Seagate 2TB, LG BD-ROM, ASUS DVD-RW, Corsair 1000HX, Corsair H60 Cooler Corsair 800D, Dell 2408WFP 24", ASUS Xonar Essence STX, Gentoo (KDE 4.10, 3.7 Kernel) "Take care to get what you like, or you will be forced to like what you get!" - H.P. Baxxter <Toad772> I don't always drink alcohol, but when I do, I take it too far.

05-06-2009, 03:08 AM	#2
Glider Coastermaker Join Date: May 2009 Location: Belgium Posts: 139	While I'm new over here, I have to agree with Brett that the site could use a CSS update. If I could change 1 thing, I'd make the site span more across the screen. Now a lot of screen real estate is lost to the background...

05-06-2009, 09:57 AM	#4
Brett Thomas Senior Editor Join Date: Apr 2009 Posts: 164	Yep, that's right, gaming is back on the map. It's more of a mid-term target but it's a key goal, so you'll definitely be seeing it. Not just reviews, though - I want to do technology previews and interviews with game designers to give an insight into how things are advancing aside from "Oooh pretty!" I hope that you guys will take a minute to leave your thoughts on our roadmap, because we can't include ideas we don't have. So if you see something missing here, fill us in!

05-07-2009, 12:05 PM	#10
Glider Coastermaker Join Date: May 2009 Location: Belgium Posts: 139	Couldn't the CSS just scale? Instead of using a set width?

05-09-2009, 03:12 PM	#15
ChuckR Obliviot Join Date: May 2009 Posts: 2	Review Slants It would be nice if a site also addressed systems/components for non-gamers. I plan on having built a system for Video/Database/Mathematica, etc. type applications. With eye problems a monitor/card recommendation is something I could use. This slant on reviews would be a nice addition. Best of Luck

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