Grumpus's comments (member since Aug 08, 2007)

Grumpus's comments from the Goodreads Feedback group.

What about audio downloads that don't have discs? I know my progress based upon the time. I know the total time of the book is 8:07:24 and if I'm 4 hours into the book, I know I'm at 50%. Therefore, I prefer the percentage option as that would work for both.

Yes, that's what I was hoping for. It just makes more sense to me intuitively. Thanks!

Yes, distance from me but within the zip it appears to be sorted by member number in descending order. Check out zip 23435 (my zip) and I'm down near bottom. Otherwise, I should be at the top, correct?

The "near me" function is working perfectly and I frequently refer to it and would like to request another tweak.

Currently, when looking at members within a ZIP the newest members are sorted to the top. I'd prefer to see the sort by member number in ascending order. Most of the newer profiles are not as detailed as more established members.

Aaaah, so much easier to find everything!

I think it is AWESOME. I was hoping for something like this for the same reasons as Ubik. Very nice. Thanks!

I believe you simply click "yes" a second time to deactivate the vote. Somebody correct me if I'm wrong.

Thanks, Otis!

Does it make the next release or the to-do list?

Just had this idea for the audiobook issue...what if on the "edit book" page (I guess that limits this to librarians), the wording for "number of pages" was simply changed to "length of book"? Then just have a small box to indicate whether the field represents "pages" (which should be the default) or "minutes" for audio. That way the math is not affected in the progress calculations and the text is easily picked up by the box checked.

I've done this with FDR's Folly on my profile under currently reading as an example. The progress bar shown is correct but the verbiage states "page" 352 of 566. Instead, it should read "minute" 352 of 566 which could be compensated for by the check box in the proposed "length of book" field instead of the current "pages" as discussed above.

Whaddya think?

I have been looking forward to this feature and the wait has been worth it!

I do have one concern...for us audiofiles (shameless plug), how are we to easily indicate our progress?

If we're designating the book correctly as an audio edition, then we don't get a "number of pages" which is used as the base for which the progress percentage is determined.

This wonderful progress bar stresses the need to have a field for "total minutes" for audiobooks. Further, while not needed for the progress bar, we would still like to have a field for "narrators name" as well. The ability to search for titles by narrator would be awesome.

We audiobookers know of the debate of whether listening really counts as reading but we are not the ugly step-sisters of Goodreads and feel strongly about having equal consideration.

To semi-quote John Merrick (The Elephant Man), "We are not animals, we are human beings, and Goodreaders like everyone else here!" :-)

Seriously, any suggestions to help us with the progress bar calculation and consideration in adding these additional fields is greatly appreciated.

I was going to create a new topic but I found Ben's comments (msg 4) hits on what I wanted to say:

"recent reviews for my books" is usually dominated by a few classics on my shelf.

I have nearly 300 books and enjoy looking at the recent reviews of my books to see how my opinions compared to others of books I've read. Among those on my to-read shelf, it helps me decide which to read next.

However, since I've read the Harry Potter series, 90% or more of the reviews there are related to those 7 books. I really don't care what others thought of Harry Potter. I hate scrolling through through the list to find the few other books I'm interested in.

I know Amazon has a box on their recommendations that says something like "don't use this for recommendations". It would be AWESOME if we could have a similar box here that that would eliminate books used for consideration from the "recent reviews of my books". Maybe under "edit review" there could be a box under the "this review contains spoilers" box for this purpose.

Overall, I would prefer a shorter list in this feature of books in which I have high interest than a longer list filled with books in which I care little.

Just an idea. Thanks for listening.

I can't find the "edit poll" feature that CLM referred to in Msg 10 and Sherri mentioned in message 12. Maybe I'm blind or just dense. Can someone help me out?

Its as I have indicated here in message 1. When I put in my zip, I used to see myself but now I can't find myself anywhere within 50 miles...nobody from my zip floats to the top like they should but did in the past.

http://www.goodreads.com/user/near_me?se...

Otis, this is still not working for me. Has the fix been applied? Is it just me?

I have to agree with Michael in Message 4:

maybe we give people the option of manually distributing their points? (this would happen after they've already selected the books they want)

I also agree with Altonmann (message 13)that the purpose of Listopia is to identify the lesser known, but highly regarded books.

In that light, I find it difficult for people to have 99 favorites. Listopia is not for ranking your all your books but to identify the cream of the crop among those you've read so that others can uncover recommendations to read or listen to--yay audiobooks! :)

Everyone is familiar with the Olympic medals of gold, silver, and bronze and win, place, and show in racing. Following that logic, I don't think people should be able to vote for more than 3 or 5 favorites. Personally, I'm not interested in a book that receives 25-22nd place votes. I'm looking for the top three or five.

So let folks rank 5 books and let them determine how many points to assign to each but totaling to 100. If I have only 1 favorite in a category, I give it 100 points. If I have 2 books I like equally, I can give them each 50 points, I can give my favorite 95 and the second favorite 5, you get the idea.

It may take more programming but this way I can put more value to the books I think are most deserving. Keeping the list to 5 also will provide better data for those looking for something new with the ability to see all books in the list if they want.

Is the "near me" feature working for others? When I enter my ZIP (23435), it no longer shows me nor anyone from my ZIP when it has in the past. Is it just me?

I'm experiencing the exact same thing as Lisa. I am missing book images but not profiles. It started a few weeks ago with just one missing cover but it seems to be spreading. If you look at my to-read shelf [www.goodreads.com/review/list/146952?shelf=to-read], I cannot see numbers 37,56,58,66,68. Can others see them? I am using FF and have not made any changes to the system during this time. It's a puzzler.

Yes, is there a way for moderators to remove them? I think someone should be able to post that an event is available at the authors page or the like not fill up a group page. Moderators should be able to remove them IMO.

I just found out that this Goodreads story made the Top 10 most viewed online stories on the day it ran (Jan 20)! Thanks to all who viewed it.

I work at this newspaper in Norfolk, VA and suggested to the news room that they do a story on Goodreads. Here is the story that Jim Washington did. I think Jim did a great job. Thanks Jim & Otis!