Links: New and Improved

I’m experimenting with a new layout for the links, so let me know what you think of it. Email subscribers will have to click through to the site to see the listing.

And finally, inspired by a story of a bird encounter shared by Allein, let’s visit this lucky family in Australia who can feed wild parrots on their back deck, via Murray C.




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34 thoughts on “Links: New and Improved

  1. JenDeyan September 16, 2016 / 12:22 pm

    Well, that tears it. Pandas just put me over the edge. Canada, here I come!

    As for feedback, I don’t really have a preference. It’s different but not better or worse to me.

  2. AJ September 16, 2016 / 12:32 pm

    Feedback on links: either or, no preference for me. But it’s official, I am moving/retiring to Australia. Koalas, wombats, and now wild parrots!!! And those kids are so blase about the birds landing on them. What a cool childhood. I just about fell off my chair when I saw the sulfur crested cockatoos, love those birds. I always wanted a cockatoo, especially the rose breasted cockatoo, aren’t they just gorgeous!

    • Murray C. September 16, 2016 / 1:12 pm

      I thought briefly that it wasn’t real – I want to stroke that gorgeous belly!

    • Gigi the cat lady September 16, 2016 / 1:45 pm

      You be careful AJ, Koalas, wombats, kangaroos and wild parrots are what Australia uses to lure you in and then it hits you with deadly snakes and ginormous spiders the size of diner plates! Brrrr!

      • AJ September 16, 2016 / 5:34 pm

        Pfft, not a big deal. I’ve already lived in FL and put up with snakes, alligators, gopher tortoises plus all manner of various sized bugs. Big ones, small ones, some as big as your head! I swear if anyone wants to get over their fear of bugs, move to FL for a year and after that you won’t give a dang (bug, what bug??? as you casually kill one without even looking)

        • Murray C. September 16, 2016 / 8:16 pm

          “…Give ’em a twist, a flick of the wrist, That’s what the Showman said. There stands me loverlee wife so loverlee…. Etc,” AJ you know the song!?

  3. Ricky's Mom September 16, 2016 / 12:49 pm

    I miss the hovertexts, but if it makes your job easier, so be it. Other than that, I don’t have a preference; the new links layout certainly looks neat and attractive in Firefox on my laptop.

    • Laura September 16, 2016 / 1:11 pm

      Yes, that was the only thing that was less than great about the new layout. Most of all, though, thanks for accepting so much reader feedback on any changes you make. It really increases the sense of community here, which is already pretty remarkable for a blog devoted to cuteness!

      • Ricky's Mom September 16, 2016 / 2:35 pm

        Ditto to Laura’s “most of all.” You’re really nothing like that Mike, we’re so glad you’re that other Mike.

    • debg September 16, 2016 / 2:34 pm

      I like this new layout too–doesn’t take as long to scroll down the page. Captions and/or hovers always add new layers to your hilarity, Mike.

  4. Faye September 16, 2016 / 1:18 pm

    Links: much neater.

    I would love a rambunctious cat like that “unadoptable” one.

    I’m gratified to know that so many people cared so much for the squirrlios.

    And Australia. Truly magical.

  5. N. Fritz September 16, 2016 / 1:35 pm

    Looks slick, Mike! But I, too, would like to see your über-creative hovertexts on the photos!

  6. Gigi the cat lady September 16, 2016 / 1:36 pm

    The new layout is better on a large screen like my computer or iPad than on a small screen like my iPod touch where I can’t see the photos ins full unless I turn the iPod sideways but it’s not a big deal.

      • Gigi the cat lady September 16, 2016 / 3:10 pm

        Thanks for the fix of the pictures Mike, it’s perfect now.
        Also I love that the hover text are back.

  7. Jan September 16, 2016 / 1:38 pm

    That “problem child” kitty didn’t look too rambunctious to me… that video showed way less than Lily does in any given 5 minutes of the day! (Pet peev: People who adopt kittens and then expect them to not behave like kittens, grrrr.)

    I would love love love to be surrounded by wild parrots like that!

    • Gigi the cat lady September 16, 2016 / 1:52 pm

      That kitten is an angel compared to what Mia and Bindi put me through when they were kittens, they killed all my plants by climbing on they and having fights. Pulled down my drapes and chewed the corners of books!

      And I loved every crazy minute of it! ❤️?

    • Brouhaha September 16, 2016 / 3:16 pm

      Agreed about “problem child”. My kitty is like that all the time, demanding attention and going straight for naughty if I don’t do my duty. She’s 2 years old now, and no sign of stopping. *sigh*

      • Debkb September 16, 2016 / 6:57 pm

        I’ve got a 6 year old that’s just as playful and spunky! Can be a bit tiring sometimes.

  8. hilz September 16, 2016 / 1:47 pm

    I like the new layout better, but would love to see the hovertexts added as previously mentioned 🙂 Then, perfect!

  9. Emmberrann September 16, 2016 / 2:08 pm

    I haven’t been able to get the hover texts at all on my Samsung Galaxy 6s at all. And I feel like I’m missing out on a big part of the fun. Is there something I can do so I get them, and if so, what?
    I also want to thank you for giving us so much to balance out the awfulness that seems to make it into the headlines. I send gratitude and admiration for your creativity and weirdness. (You even made it into my “gratitude journal”!)
    So, thanks for being here, Mike!

    • Not That Mike The Other Mike September 16, 2016 / 2:10 pm

      The hovertexts are the same words that appear in the captions below each picture. So if you can see those, you aren’t missing anything.

      • Emmberrann September 16, 2016 / 4:51 pm

        Thank you, and thank heaven’s. ?☺

  10. D B September 16, 2016 / 2:37 pm

    The new layout makes for less scrolling (which someone else has probably mentioned), which is nice.

    And the comments about the Australia video makes me think of Bill Bryson’s book about Australia, In a Sunburned Country, in which he remarks often amusingly on the disturbingly large number of deadly fauna in Australia.

    The video itself makes me think how there was once a native parrot in eastern North America, the Carolina parakeet, but they went extinct I think around 1900? But there are of course still feral populations here (and in the UK, and in Europe!). Parrots are such social, fractious, goofy, smart birds, they’re fun to see in the wild.

    • Murray C. September 16, 2016 / 3:19 pm

      I love that Bill Bryson book – love ALL his books.

    • benvolio September 16, 2016 / 3:38 pm

      It’s really not a good idea to feed wild birds–it makes them dependent on humans.

      “The Wild Parrots of Telegraph Hill” is a wonderful book about a flock of cherry headed conures in San Francisco. Made a great movie too.

      • D B September 16, 2016 / 4:47 pm

        The parrots of Telegraph Hill were the the exact feral parrots I was thinking of! I went up because I thought it would be neat to see the parrots, and also of course to see Coit Tower (beautiful murals) and for the view. I looked for a bit, saw other interesting birds, but no parrots. I was about to leave when a screeching ruckus broke out overhead; two parrots had been sitting right there the entire time, but as their green is such a perfect match for foliage and they’re so still when they choose to be, I never saw them. These two had started wrestling over who was going to stand where on the branch.

  11. Phred's Mom September 16, 2016 / 5:36 pm

    New layout just fine, Mike.
    MY IPad mini is happy with it
    as am I.?

  12. Ricky's Mom September 16, 2016 / 6:20 pm

    Love the new hovers! Thanks NTMTOM!

  13. Nancy September 17, 2016 / 7:09 am

    My only comment is regarding hovertexts. I never knew you had them!!! I no longer have a computer so all my internet/email is on smartphone or Kindle, and hover text doesn’t appear on either. Is there any way I could join the fun?

    • Not That Mike The Other Mike September 17, 2016 / 7:38 am

      The hovertext and the caption underneath each picture are always the same, so on devices like yours that don’t have a mouse pointer, just look under the photo.

      • Nancy September 17, 2016 / 8:33 am

        Thank you!!!

  14. Faye September 17, 2016 / 9:02 am

    Hi Mike, the whole site is looking fantastic. Links are easier to see and use. ?

Comments are closed.