[DiscoPower]

Has there been a drop in audience here on GAF for Tested after they sold out? Wondering because of their ugly ass new website, and that that should be Will and Norm up by the Header :(

Being serious.

[WoodenLung]

Has there been a drop in audience here on GAF for Tested after they sold out? Wondering because of their ugly ass new website, and that that should be Will and Norm up by the Header :( Being serious.

Pretty much never visit the actual site anymore, go to their youtube page and download their podcasts with hotlink from here, the site is fucking terrible, that the design is ugly is the least of its problems. Taking away useful features so you can't find shit without going to youtub first is just the kind of stuff that makes you not want to go there.

[DiscoPower]

Pretty much never visit the actual site anymore, go to their youtube page and download their podcasts with hotlink from here, the site is fucking terrible, that the design is ugly is the least of its problems. Taking away useful features so you can't find shit without going to youtub first is just the kind of stuff that makes you not want to go there.

Did Will and Norm even have a choice in the decision? I wonder how they feel after the fact.

[Megasoum]

Did Will and Norm even have a choice in the decision? I wonder how they feel after the fact.

They probably didn't have a choice in the whole buyout thing but it's still a former Whiskey guy who redesigned the website. It's not an excuse to completly shit up the website.

[Mr. F]

Has there been a drop in audience here on GAF for Tested after they sold out? Wondering because of their ugly ass new website, and that that should be Will and Norm up by the Header :( Being serious.

Giant Bomb was my first exposure to Whiskey Media so I spent a lot more time on there than any of the other sites (:lol AnimeVice). That said, I used to visit Tested quite a bit through the Whiskey Media family links at the bottom of the GB page, whenever a headline caught my attention.

Since the buyouts I don't really visit anymore, but I continue to listen to the podcast and when there's a piece of content mentioned on there that seems interesting I hop over to the website to check it out in full.

[Jintor]

I still podcast but I haven't bothered with their site for months now.

[Neverender]

I check the site every now and then, but whenever I watch a video it's really jumpy and stuttered so I just go to YouTube anyway.

[hillsighed]

I used to visit the site and forums every day. I've been there probably 5 times since the buyout.

[slaughterking]

Listened to last weeks episode. It's good to have Gary back.

[numble]

Because it then encourages all the separate committees (like FINA, UCI, etc) to make sure their individual events are as physically and observably different as possible. If any discipline is allowed an unlimited amount of medals, you're just going to see the same thing over and over again with minor alterations. It will also free up time and budget so sports like archery can get more than 1 single and 1 team event.

They handle a handful of swim races in the time it takes for 1 match between two archers.

[bkfount]

Has there been a drop in audience here on GAF for Tested after they sold out? Wondering because of their ugly ass new website, and that that should be Will and Norm up by the Header :( Being serious.

Their podcast is still essential listening in my week, but I don't go to the site much anymore. The site isn't only busted, but they aren't putting out the same kind of content they used to. Where's the quick looks or apps of the day/week? The new focus on science is great, but they need more than articles.

I'm a fan of Will and Norm, so as long as they're featured in content that shows their personalities, I'll stick around. I don't care who has their faces pasted on the top of the site, it's been explained why that is the way it is.

[eznark]

Right now the articles just feel like curated content that I generally find elsewhere in my RSS feeds. However, when they do do original content I'm glad I still pay attention. I'm kind of hoping they'll get back to testing stuff in written form once stuff worth testing comes out.

Podcast is still fantastic. Live audience is a terrrrrrrrrrible idea.

[big_z]

Pretty much never visit the actual site anymore, go to their youtube page and download their podcasts with hotlink from here, the site is fucking terrible, that the design is ugly is the least of its problems. Taking away useful features so you can't find shit without going to youtub first is just the kind of stuff that makes you not want to go there.

yeah i only visit the site to get the podcast. the site is janky and the few pieces of original content they do now shows up on youtube so i watch there.

same goes for giantbomb. i youtube the videos because the ads are shorter, the videos actually play smooth with much higher quality and i dont have to deal with the piece of shit site.

i know when youre dealing with management every time you want to do something it can slow the process compared to doing it yourself. but still half a year and both sites cant seem to get their shit together, pretty sad.

[panda21]

yeah i only visit the site to download the podcasts now

i'm not sure the content is that different than it used to be (they still do android apps of the week i think?) but the site is such a mess i really can't be bothered to try to read anything or watch videos there.

[slaughterking]

I'm subscribed to their YT channel and listen to the podcast each week (direct download link usually provided by this thread). So I can pretty much avoid the site completely, even though I never really visited the site or read their articles to begin with. Which is not to say that they are bad or worse than they used to be. It was just never something I was ever really interested in.

[LiK]

started listening to Whitta's return and I cannot keep going with earbuds. i feel like Gary has something in his throat and I want him to clear it so badly. Looks like i'll watch the video podcast later with speakers instead. :3

[bionic77]

Right now the articles just feel like curated content that I generally find elsewhere in my RSS feeds. However, when they do do original content I'm glad I still pay attention. I'm kind of hoping they'll get back to testing stuff in written form once stuff worth testing comes out. Podcast is still fantastic. Live audience is a terrrrrrrrrrible idea.

Just read the stuff that interests you.

I do agree that the site design needs to change to makes things easier to find but I am still enjoying their content and while I get your complaint that some of the stuff feels like an RSS feed, occasionally it is news to me so I don't mind it.

They need more people working there. I enjoy most of what Will and Norm do and a lot of Adam's stuff as well (Jaime's first video was a little boring), but they need more content.

[wolfmat]

The tech things going on right now don't interest me that much, so I just listen to the podcast, and that flies in via iTunes, so I don't have to ever look at the site. As soon as tech news hits though, I'm usually on Tested to read about it.

The podcast is the best thing the site produces in my opinion.

A lot of interests of the guys bore me to death, like Lego, Star Wars, operating systems, props or the Makerbot. So I don't see value in going through the news posts at this point.

I have to confess I also used to go to the site for the App of the Day thing because that was really entertaining to me. But I suppose that's not really feasible or interesting anymore.

There's been a shift in the audience, and I'm an artifact of that.

[Revengeance]

I still visit the site occasionally. I think/hope that the awesome tested original content will start to kick back up once everything is up and running in the new office. I still believe.

Podcast remains awesome.

[Antiwhippy]

I thought the recent content has been pretty awesome, especially the modernist cuisine stuff.

[eznark]

I thought the recent content has been pretty awesome, especially the modernist cuisine stuff.

100%, but that's all been video right?

[Antiwhippy]

Isn't that just pretty much status quo? Before the buyout the only major content I can remember from tested were the videos and podcast. Their articles/editorials/reviews are incredibly low in frequency since forever, and they still seem to do quick looks of new tech that comes their way. Also honestly they could never really compete with other tech sites imo.

Their content is somewhat more diverse now I feel.

[Chuck]

I just relistened to the famous 'bag of raccoons' conversation from last year. Laughed my ass off.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fEW17s4EQeE

[Zefah]

The initial renewal really soured me on the site and I haven't visited it in months. I still love the podcast, though. I also click a lot of the YouTube links that get posted in this thread.

I should probably start going to the site again to show my support.

[jediyoshi]

Pretty sure Norm and Will could carry on an entire podcast building off each other but prefacing every single statement with "No, but". There's some masterful 1upsmanship last episode.

[eznark]

Oh man, the people in the office I am in today have just discovered the Louie CK "everything is amazing and no one is happy" bit. They've played it like five straight times now. I feel like I'm sharing an office with Whitta!

[HamPster PamPster]

I pulling an HD Joey and I'm trying the 10 push ups every hour while in the office

[bionic77]

I pulling an HD Joey and I'm trying the 10 push ups every hour while in the office

10 an hour is not much.

I would suggest trying to do 20 burpees an hour if you have the space and can get away with it.

But 10 pushups is still better than nothing.

Oh man, the people in the office I am in today have just discovered the Louie CK "everything is amazing and no one is happy" bit. They've played it like five straight times now. I feel like I'm sharing an office with Whitta!

The worst thing was that Susan Boyle video on YT. Don't remember what year it was, but man it seemed like every woman was watching that video non-stop for a good few weeks.

[Chuck]

So they posted their new Macbook Pro quick look:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=npkarrzHMbc

I think it's a bit weird how it seems Will is trying to dumb down the explanation of things in the first half but then moves on to talking about cores and threading. It's also odd when Will randomly interjects and forces Norm to stop talking. These are usually much better when they just stick to a script.

[Megasoum]

I think it's a bit weird how it seems Will is trying to dumb down the explanation of things in the first half but then moves on to talking about cores and threading. It's also odd when Will randomly interjects and forces Norm to stop talking. These are usually much better when they just stick to a script.

You ever listen to the podcast? He does it all the time and it's super annoying.

[CrunchinJelly]

What watch is Gary wearing in the podcast?

[Chuck]

A new episode of This is Only a Test is LIVE!



EPISODE 134 - DUDES TALKIN' ABOUT LINEN - 8/9/2012

On this week's show, Joey gets tempurpedic, Will eats a donut, and Norm doesn't know how to properly use sheets. All that, plus the Curiosity Rover landing, the Apple/Amazon vulnerabilities, Best Buy going private, Steam selling stuff that isn't games, and another episode of fake outtakes. Enjoy!

• Direct Download (02:07:51)
• Video Podcast
• Podcast Site
• iTunes
• RSS

[eznark]

Three straight gold medals for soccer powerhouse America.

Still a garbage country til they win cricket though.

[Chuck]

Was hoping Gary would be on for the Curiousity talk, but Joey is a good third chair.

But...I'm not sure why they're explaining the MSL stuff they way they are. We know what happened. I don't know who would be listening that wouldn't.

[Jintor]

About sodding time! I was going crazy

[Megasoum]

Three straight gold medals for soccer powerhouse America. Still a garbage country til they win cricket though.

If the ref hadn't robed Canada of it's win in the game against the USA team they wouldn't have a gold right now...

[Chuck]

Video Podcast up.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ReYeezUeDGU

[mike23]

If the ref hadn't robed Canada of it's win in the game against the USA team they wouldn't have a gold right now...

Oh please. There were a dozen calls that were made when they shouldn't have been and calls that should have been made that weren't for each team.

This is soccer. If you want to see accurate refereeing, watch another (any other, really) sport. Has there ever been a game of soccer that didn't have an abundance of bad or missed calls? At least neither team had players taking blatant falls. That's a bit of a rarity.

[firehawk12]

Okay, maybe I'm a savage... but you're supposed to put a sheet between you and the duvet? That sounds like a horrible way to sleep. :(

[PjotrStroganov]

Okay, maybe I'm a savage... but you're supposed to put a sheet between you and the duvet? That sounds like a horrible way to sleep. :(

You mean a duvet cover?

[panda21]

i might actually just have to listen to a Joeycast, but this is dangerous uncharted territory. i like my testecast to be whittarded.

[Anatoli Bacharach]

FYI, the podcast made me decide to turn on 2-step auth on my Google account. While the setup was a little bit of a hassle, it was nowhere near the ordeal that Will went through -- probably because i don't run a tech website and thus don't have like a million different devices to create passwords for.

[Megasoum]

WTF Norm?? You don't want to bring an ipad to the toilet cause you find it gross but you change your bed sheets once a month? WTF...now that's fucking gross.

[eznark]

WTF Norm?? You don't want to bring an ipad to the toilet cause you find it gross but you change your bed sheets once a month? WTF...now that's fucking gross.

.

[HamPster PamPster]

I should have been an Olympic athlete :(

Also, Will on a turnip farm. I have no idea if thats joke or not

[willsmith]

I should have been an Olympic athlete :( Also, Will on a turnip farm. I have no idea if thats joke or not

We had a big garden when I was a kid.

[xxracerxx]

Okay, maybe I'm a savage... but you're supposed to put a sheet between you and the duvet? That sounds like a horrible way to sleep. :(

Sheets are godly. I love to just sleep with a sheet on when it is the perfect temperature and the fan is blowing.

[joeyjoejoeshabadoo]

Okay, maybe I'm a savage... but you're supposed to put a sheet between you and the duvet? That sounds like a horrible way to sleep. :(

If you are using a Duvet cover you don't need the sheet between you and the comforter. If you just have a comforter use a sheet.

[willsmith]

Hey GAFers,

I think we can all agree that the current Tested design isn't awesome. It was a crazy rush job, put together in two weeks, and we simply didn't include a bunch of important stuff, like categorization, notifications, PMs, RSS feeds, and a whole bunch more that I'm forgetting.

Over the last few months, we've restored a bunch of the missing functionality (PMs, notifications, user blogs, quoting and replies, RSS, mod tools, etc). Next on the list, we're going to restore categorization to the site, fix the podcast page (include video and audio versions, as well as links to RSS, iTunes, and a direct download) and refresh the overall look and feel of the design.

As I said before, none of us were particularly happy with the previous design. Because everything happened so quickly, Norm and I weren't involved with the current design at all until it was too late to make real changes, and by then the engineers had to move on to the next project. We've fixed the small stuff, and the big changes are coming next.

I wanted to solicit feedback from you guys while we're mapping out changes. Consider this a companion to the thread over at Tested. Feel free to post suggestions, comments, and critiques here or there. I can't promise that we'll address everything, but we'll address as much of it as makes sense. We don't have any plans to change the mix of content on the site.

Here's are the big things that are already on the list.

• Categorization of all content (videos, news, etc)
• Podcast page to include video + audio, unify comments, add links
• Contrast for reading to be improved, no pure white background
• More posts/page on forums, article comments
• More granular search options
• Image/Video embeds in comments/forum posts
• Promote great user content (forum posts, userblogs) to homepage
• Attach articles/videos/user blogs to forums
• pin threads to top of boards
• Bring polls back to forums
• Jump to last page on multipage threads
• Add Will and Norm to the site header

[eznark]

We had a big garden when I was a kid.

Hearing about your youth makes me wonder how you grew up to be so soft. Plowing fields, raising trees, living the life of a Tennessee farmer...yet unable to do push-ups in consecutive days.

Strap on those toe shoes and hit the gym, Smith!