Tag: The Oatmeal

How to make websites that people read by the guy from The Oatmeal

Interesting. I hereby resolve to write more viral friendly titles on my posts in the hope I will make millions of dollars from the Internet and be as cool as this guy.

Tumblrweed: On restaurant websites

Hot on the heals of this comic from The Oatmeal

Comes this Tumblr “Never said about restaurant websites

Featuring examples like this:

“Good to know that your site is still under construction. I’m also glad you didn’t strain anything trying to publish your phone number along with that critical status update. Baby steps!”

“I think it shows how unique and progressive your restaurant is when you use 90% of the screen area for your theme and ambiance, and 10% for the information I actually came to your site for.”

“Thank you for the looped audio music on your website. It made the time I spent trying to find your phone number and address more bearable and eased my pain when the link to your menu was broken.”

You know what “industry” has worse websites than restaurants? Churches. That’s who. Just because you can do it, doesn’t mean you should.

See also: this XKCD comic

Beating up Bieber

The Oatmeal makes funny quizes. Like this one.

How many Justin Biebers could you take in a fight?

Created by Oatmeal

How many can you take down?

A lesson from The Oatmeal: Literally

Go here. Read this. Never annoy pedants again.

Rules for Email from the Oatmeal

I think the guy from the Oatmeal lives inside my head, or at least that his head is in a pretty similar place to mine. Here’s a list of emails not to send, and elements of email to stop using. I fought long and hard to have email signatures kept to a minimum and spam free in my workplace. You should too. Nobody ever reads a footer and thinks “oh, ok then, I’ll go to your expensive event”…

The Oatmeal on Irony

Hey everybody, look over here, a new Oatmeal cartoon. This one is on irony. Here’s the number one use of irony:

Their conclusion is that you shouldn’t debate irony – just like you shouldn’t be a grammar pedant – because chances are you understood what they meant and you’re just trying to look cool, informed, and right. And nobody really likes it when you do that.

What your email address says about you

Via The Oatmeal… where else. But what he’s missing is what the stuff before the @ says about you. Which is probably more telling. If you thought sk8erboi45 was cool (like the 44 people before you), or anything similarly asinine, then you were wrong. If I were the type of person who hired people I’d look no further than the email address on most resumes before dismissing 85% of the candidates.

8 Websites to stop building

Any website designers or aspiring dotcom millionaires out there. Listen up. The Oatmeal speaks…

The rest are here

Why I prefer email to phone conversations

Email you can do from the bathroom without fear of condemnation or suspicion.

The Oatmeal has ten reasons. I like this one.

Why printers are overrated

I’ve never had a good experience with printers. They never work. They are frustrating. And worst of all… they are expensive. The Oatmeal has an exploration of printer frustration – this is my favourite.

This graph – via Boing Boing Gadgets (and I think originally from Gizmodo) – compares ink prices to other liquids.

How to not be very good at Facebook

A comprehensive guide to how to be bad at Facebook. If you’re one of these people you may have lots of Facebook friends but the number who think of you as a real life friend is probably decreasing. From the Oatmeal (where else?) (thanks Ali).

This person will probably also correct you on your grammar.

This is me. But mostly about this blog.

Not just a half colon

The Oatmeal tackles all sorts of grammar issues for your edification and improvement. This time round it’s the semicolon. Check out the whole thing here.

The Oatmeal on oversharing

The Oatmeal has a little cartoon featuring ten things not to Twitter about. There, in cartoon glory, is a reminder about oversharing. Don’t do it people.

It’s a good list. Familiarise yourself with it. Submit to its authority.

How to fix your Homophonia

Are you scared of words that sound the same?

The Oatmeal’s resident genius is at it again. Clearing up English mistakes and helping you be less dumb.

First it was the brilliant apostrophe chartnow it’s words people commonly mix up (there are a few more).

How to annoy your designer

One day everybody will read The Oatmeal and I won’t be compelled to keep linking to their comics.

Until that day comes here’s the frustration that designers feel on any projects – it’s not amplified when you’re the middle man between designer and those wishing to have input – but I can relate.

Here are some of the many highlights.