The Art of a Meaningful Comments

I'll be the first to admit that I don't always write the most remarkable comments, but I'm seriously going to try to include something more substantial into all of my comments. Why? Comments can help artists create better music and give them the confidence to upload more songs. Also, good comments can get a song noticed that may otherwise go unnoticed. Remember, a link to your comment will show up in the subscription pane of your subscribers.

There's an art to writing a great comment. Inane comment banter is easy. Just take a look at the average Digg comment or the comments left on Perez Hilton "First! " It's an asinine comment free for all over there). YouTube comments? Here's a grand example: "ok i think u're f**ked and ur getting Mac and Pc mixed up Macs r the best PC's SUCK ASS!!!!! U NEED TO DIE NOW!. "

So, you're pretty clear on a bad comment - but how can you ensure a meaningful, clever and/or creative comment?

1. Make sure you have a point, whether it's positive or negative. If you can't think of anything to say, don't say anything. Here are some ideas of what you can put into valuable comments:

   - What aspect of the song did you like most and why? What didn't you like about the song?

   - What emotion did the song convey to you?

   - Does the song touch on a taboo subject that makes you uncomfortable?

   - Did the song bring up a memory for you or remind you of another song?

   - Is the subject matter, inspiration or instrumentation something you are particularly fond of?

2. Grab their attention. Write with personality and don't be afraid use this little guy if you can't think of another word for 'great'.

3. People like humor, so write something witty, as long as they are about the song or topic at hand.

4. Check your spelling and punctuation. You don't want to people to think you didn't make it past the 5th grade, like the moron who made the YouTube comment above.

5. Ask a question to get feedback from the artist or other listeners and artists. Add to the conversation.

6. Captain obvious says: "Even if your comment is negative, don't be mean spirited". Real men don't start flame wars. Showing tact and an open mind will win you friends and respect.

Remember that guy KosmikRay, the master of creative comments? Let's take a cue from Kosmic... a tribute to the man... the legend. Write some creative comments about songs

2 more achievements

Just an update to D's last post on the topic

	groupie Added May 29 show your love by max bumping songs eligible beginning at level 5 level 1: 50 songs level 2: 100 songs level 3: 250 songs level 4: 500 songs level 5: 1000 songs
	godlike Added June 2 revive a song to the homepage level 1: 1 songs level 2: 5 songs level 3: 10 songs level 4: 25 songs level 5: 50 songs level 6: 100 songs

Four Achievements added to the site

In the past two weeks, four achievements were introduced to the site. These achievements allow an alternative way to earn points beyond the basic point gains earned from other people bumping songs after you do.

The achievements are still being tweaked and a number of the level requirements have been tweaked since their initial release (For instance, the level requirements for Sensei of Soul were increased from what it was initially released with and the Disc Jockey level 1 requirement was also raised from its initial release value of 5 listens). Below are the current values as of now (including known point values).

	listen up reach a play count milestone level 1: 5 plays, 100 pts earned level 2: 100 plays, 250 pts earned level 3: 1000 plays, 500 pts earned level 4: 5000 plays, 1000 pts earned level 5: 25000 plays	Added May 10
	sensei of soul first bump a song to the homepage level 1: 1 songs, 100 pts earned level 2: 5 songs, 250 pts earned level 3: 10 songs, 500 pts earned level 4: 25 songs, 1000 pts earned level 5: 50 songs, 2500 pts earned level 6: 100 songs	Added May 12
	disc jockey earn points when others listen to your radio level 1: 25 listens, 100 pts earned level 2: 100 listens, 250 pts earned level 3: 1000 listens, 500 pts earned level 4: 5000 listens, 1000 pts earned level 5: 25000 listens	Added May 18
	lewis & clark bump songs in under-explored genres (classical, blues, country, hip-hop, jazz, r&b, reggae) level 1: 50 bumps, 100 pts earned level 2: 200 bumps, 250 pts earned level 3: 500 bumps, 500 pts earned level 4: 1500 bumps, 1000 pts earned level 5: 5000 bumps	Added May 21

T61 Shuffle Script

As we all know, shuffle is a feature sorely lacking from thesixtyone.com. Not at all happy with the situation, I've whipped up a Greasemonkey script that makes shuffle a reality. Interested? Read on.

Since many of you will be new to Greasemonkey, I should say a few words. Greasemonkey is a Firefox add-on that basically allows a user to install scripts that act on the websites they visit. In our case, a Greasemonkey script can "monkey-patch" the t61 code to do what we want it to. You can install Greasemonkey at its add-on site and learn more at the wiki.

The script I've made will add a shuffle link to the right of the previous button. Once enabled, it will shuffle within your current playlist, whether you are playing the hot list, your recently added, or someone else's. Nifty, eh?

Caveats are as follows:

• Turn off shuffle when listening to the radio. Radio is not yet supported, I'll work on something clever for this.
  
• I've had to change the prev/stop/next links to make room for the shuffle link. Just be aware that these have changed, I think they're still pretty clear.
• You can't yet shuffle across multiple pages of a playlist (which, sadly, is just recently added and the hot page lists). This will be addressed in a future version.
• At some time the developers of t61 will get around to implementing a shuffle of their own. In that case, you will likely want to disable this script.

To install the script, simply click on the script link below after you have the Greasemonkey add-on installed and it should ask you if you want to install it. Say yes.

t61shuffle.user.js

Alternatively, you can use the extension. This is unsigned, firefox will definitely complain, and I don't know how upgrading will work (I'm not so versed in the world of extensions), but for those who would rather go this route than installing Greasemonkey or can't install Greasemonkey for whatever reason, here it is:

thesixtyonecomshufflesupport.xpi

Going forward, I plan to update this script with some nifty features as well as updating old ones. I've got a script that fine tunes rack genres (so I can say I want to listen to everything but dance and electronica, for example) that I will be posting soon. I've got a few other ideas as well. Do you have an idea for a script? Something you want changed/added? Let me know!

New Genres?!

I just noticed that new genres have been added at T61. I've seen hard rock, ambient, industrial and alternative / indie rock. It's not on the menu or in the Browse genre pulldown menu, and there is no mention of it yet on announcements section of the forum. This is an interesting development.