The line for the Lois fan club starts right here
| Monday, Nov 28 2011 02:00 AM
Last Updated Monday, Nov 28 2011 02:00 AM
The Californian welcomes your comments and suggestions. To offer your input by phone, please call 661-395-7649 and leave your comments in a voice-mail message or send an email to soundoff@bakersfield.com. Please include your name and phone number. Phone numbers and addresses won't be published.
Reader: My wife Loretta and I have been enjoying The Californian ever since we moved to Bakersfield in '97.
It certainly didn't take us long to get hooked on Lois Henry's columns. Lamar Kerley's Oct. 31 letter, "Chairman of the fan club," was a delight to read, and we very much echo his comments.
In addition, we enjoy Henry's Travel Planner, and her sense of humor. A recent example from Bakersfield Life was "The Dining Divas' Great Pacifico Adventure." That was a fun read!
At the recent Kern County Water Agency celebration, we had the opportunity to meet and visit with Lois. She is truly a delightful gal!
So Ms. Henry, keep up the great work and consider Loretta and I members of your fan club!
Mike Schield
Bakersfield
Arthur: Thanks for your note. The Lois Henry fan club keeps growing!
The next two questions dealing with reading digital versions of our products are answered by Logan Molen , the senior VP who oversees The Californian's digital initiatives.
Reader: The elves at The Californian have been hard at work and have done a wonderful job in putting the news on my computer screen. Now I don't have to wait for my boss/wife to finish the paper so I can read the comics.
Might I could offer a small suggestion? The "dogeared" corner makes turning the page an easy touch, but scrolling up and down the page is a little harder. Maybe I'm missing something, but highlighting the tiny gold arrow isn't as easy as it might be. First the "arrow" icons could be bigger and closer together since you don't need to move your cursor down the page to read the bottom half of the page.
In my perfect world I would have the "dogear," the icon for the "Top half," and the icon for the "Bottom half" of the page in a 1 inch square area at the top-right corner of the page. You could turn the page, go to the bottom half, or back to the top half of the page by moving your cursor 1/4 inch in any direction almost without looking at the arrow.
Again, congratulations. You have worked hard and it shows.
Thank you for a job well done.
The Cantankerous Conservative,
Keith Stephens
Molen: Thanks, Keith, for the compliment and the feedback relating to our replica "e-edition" of The Californian, which is available for desktop and laptop computers, as well as the iPad. As to your question, I have a few responses.
First, your idea is a good one, and I'll pass it along to Olive Software, which powers our e-edition.
Second, I have an alternative that may save you a bit of time in the meantime. While there are other ways to turn pages in the e-edition, readers who use the arrow tool to scroll up and down can easily turn the page from that tool by simply moving the mouse about 1/8-inch to the left. When you do that, the edge of the page turns gray and a small message appears that says "Click to go to the next page."
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Reader: When I am traveling, I like to check The Californian online for hometown news. I even do that when I am at home sometimes. I recently purchased an iPad2 and very much enjoy the e-edition of The Californian. Since I have a one-year paid-in-advance subscription to the print Californian, I receive the e-edition free. You have done a great job designing this online newspaper for a tablet.
But I was "cheap" when I bought my iPad2. I did not buy the version with 3G. I must be able to access wifi when I am out of the area to read the e-edition. No big deal, I thought. I have an iPhone and I can check Bakersfield.com, the newspaper's website, when I need a "hometown fix" on the road.
The problem: When I check Bakersfield.com on my iPhone, an annoying pop-up ad comes on and blocks the text. Is there some setting adjustment I can make that will block these ads? These pop-up ads that slide from the side of the screen and promote other stories in The Californian have made it impossible for me to check Bakersfield.com on my iPhone. Thanks for helping.
Dianne Hardisty
Bakersfield
Molen: Dianne, I'm glad we can help you make the most of your subscription by staying connected to home while traveling. And thanks for the kind words about our iPad app.
In response to your note, we tweaked some settings on bakersfield.com so that the "flyout" banner promoting other stories will not appear on iPhones and other smartphones. We recognize smaller devices like smartphones are not conducive to such features.
But those "flyouts" will continue to appear on the iPad and larger computers. While we have received some criticism since launching the flyout feature earlier this year (and made improvements in response), the fact is the large majority of our readers find them useful in discovering stories they might have previously missed. We know that because they're clicking on the headline links in large numbers.
One other suggestion for mobile readers: Try our downloading our 661411 app for iPhone, Android or Blackberry or visiting 661411.com from your mobile browser to get "news on the go" optimized for smartphones. 661411 doesn't include everything published in The Californian or on bakersfield.com but it does feature top local headlines and blogs, classifieds, weather, local and Southern California traffic alerts, and other information optimized for smaller screens.
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Reader: Library Chief Investigated, PG&E gas pipeline, Hey GOP, Satire or Fact? and In God We Trust? (Sunday, Nov. 13) 11-all demonstrate The Bakersfield Californian's ability to focus the public's political, social, and intellectual mind. Amazing and strong issue.
Gilbert Gia
Historic Bakersfield & Kern County
Arthur: On this Thanksgiving weekend we are thankful for all our alert, appreciative and -- even sometimes -- critical readers. They all help us do better.
This column will appear online on Monday aftenoon. This feedback forum is designed to give readers a way to voice criticisms and compliments or ask questions about news coverage. Your questions -- which may be edited for space -- are answered each Sunday by Executive Editor John Arthur and other senior editors. Sound Off
