{"items": [{"author": "Melissa", "source_link": "https://www.facebook.com/jefftk/posts/632047025572?comment_id=632047729162", "anchor": "fb-632047729162", "service": "fb", "text": "So I've tried this a couple of times and maybe half the time it works right of the back and half the time it does nothing. Right now I'm using Chrome on my mac. I've also used my samsung galaxy 4S. But this is really, really cool!!", "timestamp": "1382100638"}, {"author": "Jeff Kaufman", "source_link": "https://www.facebook.com/jefftk/posts/632047025572?comment_id=632048068482", "anchor": "fb-632048068482", "service": "fb", "text": "@Melissa: What happens when it does nothing? You enter the zip code, click the button, and it just sits there?", "timestamp": "1382101012"}, {"author": "Holly", "source_link": "https://www.facebook.com/jefftk/posts/632047025572?comment_id=632048911792", "anchor": "fb-632048911792", "service": "fb", "text": "Jeff that's what happens to me right now. (On my chrome 29.0.1547.76, mac 10.8.4)", "timestamp": "1382102137"}, {"author": "Melissa", "source_link": "https://www.facebook.com/jefftk/posts/632047025572?comment_id=632049345922", "anchor": "fb-632049345922", "service": "fb", "text": "Yup! Actually, the zip code disappears, as if I didn't do anything to begin with.", "timestamp": "1382102531"}, {"author": "Jeff Kaufman", "source_link": "https://www.facebook.com/jefftk/posts/632047025572?comment_id=632050373862", "anchor": "fb-632050373862", "service": "fb", "text": "@Melissa: you enter the zip code, click the button, the zip code disappears, and you're back with how the page looked when you first loaded it? If you then try again, does it work or is it broken until you reload the page?", "timestamp": "1382103406"}, {"author": "Phillip", "source_link": "https://www.facebook.com/jefftk/posts/632047025572?comment_id=632050618372", "anchor": "fb-632050618372", "service": "fb", "text": "02476 (arlington center) shows lexington and cambridge, but not concord. Given the frequency of some of those dances, the result is not optimal. You need a more dances link on the bottom that would show dances a little further away.", "timestamp": "1382103690"}, {"author": "Melissa", "source_link": "https://www.facebook.com/jefftk/posts/632047025572?comment_id=632050723162", "anchor": "fb-632050723162", "service": "fb", "text": "Jeff, I'll have to get back to you, it's worked the last couple of times I've tried (and with more dances listed, yay!!). Please hold :)", "timestamp": "1382103833"}, {"author": "Melissa", "source_link": "https://www.facebook.com/jefftk/posts/632047025572?comment_id=632050798012", "anchor": "fb-632050798012", "service": "fb", "text": "Actually, I CAN answer! It has worked after refreshing and/or closing the tab and going back to the site.", "timestamp": "1382103901"}, {"author": "Andy", "source_link": "https://www.facebook.com/jefftk/posts/632047025572?comment_id=632050892822", "anchor": "fb-632050892822", "service": "fb", "text": "Jeff, entering 77005 (Houston) gave surprising results - it started with Houston-area results, but also included results from lots of other states, as far away as Indiana.", "timestamp": "1382103991"}, {"author": "Jennie", "source_link": "https://www.facebook.com/jefftk/posts/632047025572?comment_id=632051037532", "anchor": "fb-632051037532", "service": "fb", "text": "I love it!", "timestamp": "1382104104"}, {"author": "Michael", "source_link": "https://www.facebook.com/jefftk/posts/632047025572?comment_id=632051282042", "anchor": "fb-632051282042", "service": "fb", "text": "I had a similar problem to Melissa's. Now it works; it must have had the original non-functional draft cached.", "timestamp": "1382104323"}, {"author": "Melissa", "source_link": "https://www.facebook.com/jefftk/posts/632047025572?comment_id=632051411782", "anchor": "fb-632051411782", "service": "fb", "text": "I've gone back to it half a dozen times and each time it's worked, so what he said :)", "timestamp": "1382104420"}, {"author": "Michael", "source_link": "https://www.facebook.com/jefftk/posts/632047025572?comment_id=632051536532", "anchor": "fb-632051536532", "service": "fb", "text": "I've been testing with New York zip codes, and it shows me two hits in \"New York\" -- and even clicking through to the CDNY page I still don't know where they are! And one in Brooklyn. So, if it's possible to scrape a little more location info, that would be helpful. Also, if it were easy to scrape the date/pattern info, that would be helpful as well. One of my CDNY hits eventually gave me the info \"no dance tonight\", after poking around their website for several clicks -- and I still don't know where the dance that isn't taking place would *be*. Also, I agree with the earlier comment about being able to expand the search.", "timestamp": "1382104562"}, {"author": "John", "source_link": "https://www.facebook.com/jefftk/posts/632047025572?comment_id=632051890822", "anchor": "fb-632051890822", "service": "fb", "text": "More surrounding dances should be listed and what about consistency in showing nearby dances? 02139 shows 3 Cambridge dances, 02130 shows the JP dance and the 3 Cambridge dances.
Why called trycontra? Something like findcontra or where contra would be better.", "timestamp": "1382104883"}, {"author": "Anne", "source_link": "https://www.facebook.com/jefftk/posts/632047025572?comment_id=632053477642", "anchor": "fb-632053477642", "service": "fb", "text": "Kate Fais, Loren: CDNY needs to make our website clearer, based on these reactions!", "timestamp": "1382106219"}, {"author": "Marcus", "source_link": "https://plus.google.com/115811589251174483775", "anchor": "gp-1382106269894", "service": "gp", "text": "I noticed that Juneau AK (99801) gets a huge range of dances, some over 1,000 miles away, while my own zip code (02144) doesn't even get dances in Concord or JP that are commutable by public transit.", "timestamp": 1382106269}, {"author": "Jeff Kaufman", "source_link": "https://www.facebook.com/jefftk/posts/632047025572?comment_id=632053777042", "anchor": "fb-632053777042", "service": "fb", "text": "@John: \"02139 shows 3 Cambridge dances, 02130 shows the JP dance and the 3 Cambridge dances\"
Currently it always shows the three closest dances and then any other dances that are about as close.
\"Why called trycontra?\"
It's for people who want to try contra.", "timestamp": "1382106553"}, {"author": "Anne", "source_link": "https://www.facebook.com/jefftk/posts/632047025572?comment_id=632053931732", "anchor": "fb-632053931732", "service": "fb", "text": "But Michael, the home page of CDNY.org lists upcoming dances. When you click on the specific dance, the details for that dance unfolds, including location.", "timestamp": "1382106640"}, {"author": "Loren", "source_link": "https://www.facebook.com/jefftk/posts/632047025572?comment_id=632054011572", "anchor": "fb-632054011572", "service": "fb", "text": "We should also alert Josh as he is interested in improving the site. Thanks Annie.", "timestamp": "1382106727"}, {"author": "Jeff Kaufman", "source_link": "https://www.facebook.com/jefftk/posts/632047025572?comment_id=632054460672", "anchor": "fb-632054460672", "service": "fb", "text": "@Andy: \"entering 77005 (Houston) gave surprising results \"
Good catch! I was using array.sort, which in javascript is alphabetic, which made things all sorts of broken.", "timestamp": "1382107124"}, {"author": "Jeff Kaufman", "source_link": "https://www.facebook.com/jefftk/posts/632047025572?comment_id=632054525542", "anchor": "fb-632054525542", "service": "fb", "text": "@Anne: what matters isn't \"is there a way to get the information\" but \"does a visitor find what they're looking for\".", "timestamp": "1382107211"}, {"author": "Anne", "source_link": "https://www.facebook.com/jefftk/posts/632047025572?comment_id=632054615362", "anchor": "fb-632054615362", "service": "fb", "text": "@Jeff, Completely agree, so we do plan to work on it!", "timestamp": "1382107297"}, {"author": "Jeff Kaufman", "source_link": "https://plus.google.com/103013777355236494008", "anchor": "gp-1382107304429", "service": "gp", "text": "@Marcus\n\u00a0\"Juneau AK (99801) gets a huge range of dances\"\n
\n
\nI had a sorting bug. \u00a0Juneau now doesn't give an absurd number.", "timestamp": 1382107304}, {"author": "Todd", "source_link": "https://plus.google.com/112947709146257842066", "anchor": "gp-1382113498455", "service": "gp", "text": "Tried the site twice, once yesterday and once today. Both times it just sat there doing nothing when I clicked the button. Using Chrome for Win7.", "timestamp": 1382113498}, {"author": "Alex", "source_link": "https://www.facebook.com/jefftk/posts/632047025572?comment_id=632063522512", "anchor": "fb-632063522512", "service": "fb", "text": "I echo the suggestion for a \"more dances\" link which pops up three more. Also something more about location & frequency for each listing. I recant my former demands of complexity; those belong somewhere, but the hook to this site is its simplicity.", "timestamp": "1382114070"}, {"author": "Jeff Kaufman", "source_link": "https://plus.google.com/103013777355236494008", "anchor": "gp-1382115228650", "service": "gp", "text": "@Todd\n\u00a0Have you refreshed it since trying it the first time?\n
\n
\nWhat zip code?", "timestamp": 1382115228}, {"author": "Todd", "source_link": "https://plus.google.com/112947709146257842066", "anchor": "gp-1382115306858", "service": "gp", "text": "I hadn't, no, and now it works!", "timestamp": 1382115306}, {"author": "Jeff Kaufman", "source_link": "https://plus.google.com/103013777355236494008", "anchor": "gp-1382116325546", "service": "gp", "text": "@Todd\n\u00a0That's a downside of doing everything on the client.", "timestamp": 1382116325}, {"author": "Vivian", "source_link": "https://www.facebook.com/jefftk/posts/632047025572?comment_id=632067569402", "anchor": "fb-632067569402", "service": "fb", "text": "I copy/pasted a zipcode and it told me \"Sorry, I don't recognize that zip code.\" ... turns out because I'd copied \" 02139\". Perhaps strip spaces?", "timestamp": "1382117070"}, {"author": "Jeff Kaufman", "source_link": "https://www.facebook.com/jefftk/posts/632047025572?comment_id=632068512512", "anchor": "fb-632068512512", "service": "fb", "text": "@Isaac: fixed!", "timestamp": "1382118071"}, {"author": "David", "source_link": "https://www.facebook.com/jefftk/posts/632047025572?comment_id=632068627282", "anchor": "fb-632068627282", "service": "fb", "text": "Emphasis to go early for the lesson? A short word of encouragement in general?", "timestamp": "1382118135"}, {"author": "Phillip", "source_link": "https://www.facebook.com/jefftk/posts/632047025572?comment_id=632070518492", "anchor": "fb-632070518492", "service": "fb", "text": "Dreaming here; it would be nice if there were a standard set of \"fields\" that scraping sites could grab. IF we could get most dance listings in that form those dances should hopefully see more traffic.", "timestamp": "1382119680"}, {"author": "Phillip", "source_link": "https://www.facebook.com/jefftk/posts/632047025572?comment_id=632070558412", "anchor": "fb-632070558412", "service": "fb", "text": "I wonder if you could get more data by also scraping band sites?", "timestamp": "1382119713"}, {"author": "Alex", "source_link": "https://www.facebook.com/jefftk/posts/632047025572?comment_id=632070797932", "anchor": "fb-632070797932", "service": "fb", "text": "Jeff, do you need any help? It seems to me like there's a lot of interest in this sort of resource. I'm sure I'm not the only one who's willing to lend a hand.", "timestamp": "1382119851"}, {"author": "Vivian", "source_link": "https://www.facebook.com/jefftk/posts/632047025572?comment_id=632072260002", "anchor": "fb-632072260002", "service": "fb", "text": "Alex Krogh-Grabbe: it's on GitHub[1], so we can propose edits to it. Non-technical people can propose edits to the list of contra dances[2], and technical people could fork it to try fancier changes, if Jeff Kaufman thinks that's a good system.
[1] https://github.com/jeffkaufman/trycontra
[2] https://github.com/jeff.../trycontra/blob/master/dances.json - sign up and press \"edit\"", "timestamp": "1382120663"}, {"author": "Don", "source_link": "https://www.facebook.com/jefftk/posts/632047025572?comment_id=632072579362", "anchor": "fb-632072579362", "service": "fb", "text": "I just tried it from Keene, NH (03431), and it caught the Nelson and Brattleboro dances, but not Peterborough or Greenfield. Also, it gives information that's way too incomplete. Nelson, Monday is fine; Nelson, Saturday is not enough. It really needs to include which weekends the dances are going on (eg \"every\", \"1st\", \"2nd & 4th\") I know the pages the site links to give this information, but if the information matches there will be less confusion.
That said, I'd like to add a *huge* thank you for doing something like this - simple, easy and accessible. Way to go!", "timestamp": "1382121033"}, {"author": "Mac", "source_link": "https://www.facebook.com/jefftk/posts/632047025572?comment_id=632074380752", "anchor": "fb-632074380752", "service": "fb", "text": "Possibly useful mission creep. Do you just want to point to dances, or perhaps recruit newbies with a broader spectrum of input? Perhaps have a second button: \"What is Contra\". This could have multiple links to things like Doug Plummer's \"Crowfoot in Tacoma\" video,
http://vimeo.com/7808945
or Chattahoochee Country Dancers' 11 (!!) video instructional series,
http://www.contradance.org/html/new_dancer_info.php#video
Maybe not have more than a half dozen links to avoid saturating visitors. There have been lots of threads around the net on \"best\" contra vids. Lotsa possibilities. Perhaps an essay on what to expect while learning. \"Newbies have exactly two responsibilities: Smile a lot, and get pushed around gracefully.\"", "timestamp": "1382122562"}, {"author": "Alex", "source_link": "https://www.facebook.com/jefftk/posts/632047025572?comment_id=632074595322", "anchor": "fb-632074595322", "service": "fb", "text": "Mac, I have a YouTube playlist for that purpose here: https://www.youtube.com/playlist... I will check out those videos and see if I want to include them. It could definitely use a few more.
I was thinking about something like this for Jeff's site, but I think it is too much mission creep. Maybe a sister site, \"thisiscontra.com\" or some such?", "timestamp": "1382122743"}, {"author": "Mac", "source_link": "https://www.facebook.com/jefftk/posts/632047025572?comment_id=632076256992", "anchor": "fb-632076256992", "service": "fb", "text": "My other favorite is Frank Hsieh's video from Scout House 1/2/09 with Anna Patton's wailing clarinet. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=beOFeIIk4KY", "timestamp": "1382124085"}, {"author": "Joshua", "source_link": "https://plus.google.com/101983167127145471687", "anchor": "gp-1382125791830", "service": "gp", "text": "Offhand, I'd say \"Specify a character set\". \u00a0You know that specifying a character set early for your HTML documents allows the browser to begin executing scripts immediately.\n
\n
\nOh, were you talking about content? \u00a0:)", "timestamp": 1382125791}, {"author": "Jeff Kaufman", "source_link": "https://www.facebook.com/jefftk/posts/632047025572?comment_id=632082010462", "anchor": "fb-632082010462", "service": "fb", "text": "@Alex, Phillip: I added a \"more dances\" link.", "timestamp": "1382128327"}, {"author": "Alex", "source_link": "https://www.facebook.com/jefftk/posts/632047025572?comment_id=632083068342", "anchor": "fb-632083068342", "service": "fb", "text": "I've thought for a while that CDSS should do something like this, too. I wonder if it might be possible to tie in with them somehow? Maybe they could have something more full-featured, or maybe they could help out with the maintenance of this in some way?", "timestamp": "1382129024"}, {"author": "Phillip", "source_link": "https://www.facebook.com/jefftk/posts/632047025572?comment_id=632085533402", "anchor": "fb-632085533402", "service": "fb", "text": "@Jeff This works very nicely. The only suggestion that I don't think is scope creep is a toggle for a map. It's interesting that I think of Amherst and Greenfield as closer than the NH and CT dances that show, hence my thought about the map toggle.", "timestamp": "1382130602"}, {"author": "Jeff Kaufman", "source_link": "https://plus.google.com/103013777355236494008", "anchor": "gp-1382133421869", "service": "gp", "text": "@Joshua\n\u00a0Fixed!", "timestamp": 1382133421}, {"author": "Josh", "source_link": "https://www.facebook.com/jefftk/posts/632047025572?comment_id=632091266912", "anchor": "fb-632091266912", "service": "fb", "text": "Is there a way to make this a widget that dance organizations can embed on their pages? I always like looking for dances when I'm going to be traveling and this seems like a great way to do that.", "timestamp": "1382134242"}, {"author": "Jeff Kaufman", "source_link": "https://www.facebook.com/jefftk/posts/632047025572?comment_id=632091526392", "anchor": "fb-632091526392", "service": "fb", "text": "@Josh: Could you explain more how embedding this lookup in an existing page as opposed to just linking would be helpful? It's kind of large to download the data it uses if most visitors to the site aren't going to interact with it.", "timestamp": "1382134383"}, {"author": "Mac", "source_link": "https://www.facebook.com/jefftk/posts/632047025572?comment_id=632091910622", "anchor": "fb-632091910622", "service": "fb", "text": "@Josh: This is mission creep to aid experienced dancers, as well as newbies. I think it's great mission creep, but it needs to be recognized for what it is.", "timestamp": "1382134643"}, {"author": "Josh", "source_link": "https://www.facebook.com/jefftk/posts/632047025572?comment_id=632091935572", "anchor": "fb-632091935572", "service": "fb", "text": "I feel like fewer clicks to get to the tool makes it more likely to be used and therefore more useful. And the small, clean design would allow it to fit nicely into a larger webpage. Having to download a lot of data could definitely be an issue, though.", "timestamp": "1382134669"}, {"author": "Greg", "source_link": "https://www.facebook.com/jefftk/posts/632047025572?comment_id=632094315802", "anchor": "fb-632094315802", "service": "fb", "text": "Martha Edwards: Check this out. Let's put it on our website.", "timestamp": "1382136122"}, {"author": "Alex", "source_link": "https://www.facebook.com/jefftk/posts/632047025572?comment_id=632096581262", "anchor": "fb-632096581262", "service": "fb", "text": "Links are definitely better than embedding.", "timestamp": "1382137714"}, {"author": "Chris", "source_link": "https://www.facebook.com/jefftk/posts/632047025572?comment_id=632103622152", "anchor": "fb-632103622152", "service": "fb", "text": "I think the zip code for the Canyon Contra in the Bay Area/Sacramento California area dance (http://www.canyoncontras.com/) is buggy.", "timestamp": "1382142572"}, {"author": "Jeff Kaufman", "source_link": "https://www.facebook.com/jefftk/posts/632047025572?comment_id=632120827672", "anchor": "fb-632120827672", "service": "fb", "text": "@Chris: fixed!", "timestamp": "1382153510"}, {"author": "Bil", "source_link": "https://www.facebook.com/jefftk/posts/632047025572?comment_id=632181565952", "anchor": "fb-632181565952", "service": "fb", "text": "I often fly places where I don't know the zip code and I'm really lazy and probably won't bother to look it up, but if there were an easier way...", "timestamp": "1382219286"}, {"author": "S.", "source_link": "https://plus.google.com/113757148057552366706", "anchor": "gp-1382225727175", "service": "gp", "text": "Irvine, CA (92617) produces \"Sorry, I don't recognize that zip code\"", "timestamp": 1382225727}, {"author": "Jeff Kaufman", "source_link": "https://plus.google.com/103013777355236494008", "anchor": "gp-1382239671885", "service": "gp", "text": "@Sarah\n\u00a0fixed!", "timestamp": 1382239671}]}