This isn’t my upcoming theropod lip post(s), but it is good news for those of you who have asked for more content on the Skeletal Drawing Blog. It’s also good news for general usability of the website, and I’m taking a stand against ads that track you.

Permia Sponsorship

First off, I want to thank announce/thank Permia for becoming a sponsor of SkeletalDrawing.com blog posts. One of the reasons I’ve worked with Permia is because they are dedicated to getting the science right whenever possible.

It might sound like that should be a forgone conclusion for a paleontology-related project, but having worked on commercial projects from small local items to full blown film and television productions, I can assure you their level of dedication is the exception rather than the rule. As part of their commitment to promoting paleontology they have volunteered to support science posts on this website. This means you can expect more regular content, which should be a dramatic departure over the extremely irregular pace of blog posts the last couple of years.

Aside from being excited about bringing new content to readers, I’m also pleased because this is a really easy recommendation for me to make. Sure, I work with them, but I also personally use their products all the time. I wear them so often my students instantly recognize me from a distance on campus, but the shirts and hoodies have held up remarkably well. Also, we’ve discussed the possibility of offering savings or other opportunities to Skeletal Drawing visitors, so keep an eye out for that.

No more ads, and streamlining the website

When I created this version of the website, which I dub SkeletalDrawing 3.0 (if you are a connoisseur of old/bad web design you can check out past variants right here) I added Adsense ads to it. The idea was to try and raise a little money to cover hosting the website. But I strongly dislike intrusive banner ads, so I made sure they were small text ads, mostly hidden on the lower right part of the webpage. Of course that also meant it didn’t make any money (this is presumably why so much of the web is filled with obnoxious ads). So I’ve decided I will be removing them in the coming weeks (basically as soon as I have time to comb through page headers and remove the code). This should make for faster load times and less data usage (both are probably more relevant to mobile users). To further improve your experience I’ve also removed all Disqus suggested features, so comments should load faster and generally result in more streamlined experience. Over the summer I will also reassess whether there are more significant ways to improve the website for users. If you have a suggestion I’d like to hear it.

Patreon

Become a Patron

I am also on Patreon. That support is tied directly to producing new skeletal reconstructions, not to content on the blog per se - although for obvious reasons more skeletal drawings can also result in additional content here (and certainly for the skeletal drawing galleries). As a thanks to my supporters there, not only do they get to see many skeletal reconstructions first, I also put up sneak peaks of upcoming topics from time to time.

That’s all I have for today, but look for theropod lips coming very soon!