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It’s The (Other) Algorithm, Stupid! Understanding DiggRank

Posted by ardnet in November 29th, 2007 | no comment 
Published in Things I Got

Have you ever wondered what it really takes for a story submitted to Digg to get to the home page? Or why a certain story—even a really good, social media friendly story—never got to the home page? I’m frequently asked the question “Hey, my story has [number] of Diggs but it still hasn’t been promoted to the home page. Any idea what’s wrong?” And relatively less frequently I hear someone saying in amazement, “Wow, all it took was 29 Diggs and that story rocketed to the home page!” I’m always tempted to reply “It’s the algorithm, stupid!”

Digg has an algorithm?

Yes, just as PageRank and other algorithms are used to rank web pages by search engines, some social sites use algorithms to determine which stories become popular. Call it DiggRank, if you will. Let’s take a deeper look at what the Digg algorithm is and venture a few guesses about how it works.

What is the algorithm?

Unlike editorially driven sites like Fark or Slashdot where news is handpicked by a tiny group of individuals, socially driven sites use the votes aggregated by the community to decide what content gets promoted to their home pages to be viewed by the masses. At the same time, content promotion isn’t as simple as just comparing absolute number of votes that each submission gets and then promoting the ones with the most votes. There are several other factors that come into play. Some of these factors we are absolutely sure about, whereas others we can only venture guesses about.

Before we look at what factors may be taken into account by the algorithm, it is important to know that the algorithm is used to ensure that community participation is fair and that no one can unduly influence content promotion. Therefore, the algorithm is kept secret from the community to prevent people from bypassing or manipulating it.

So what does the algorithm take into account?

Having been a member of Digg for over 2 years and several other communities for over a year, I can confidently say that Digg’s algorithm is the most complex and therefore hardest to manipulate (though by no means is it completely fool-proof). Based on my experience, the elements Digg’s algorithm takes into account include:

Recent participation rank of user and followers. Depending on how successful you have recently been on Digg, subsequent successes may be more difficult. For example, I have had 7-8 stories submitted and promoted to the home page one day, only to see 3-4 stories get 100+ Diggs and not be promoted the next day. At the same time, if I decide to take a few days off, the “algorithm bias” seems to adjust itself and I have no problem getting good content promoted again. The rank and recent successes of a user are taken into account both when you are submitting a story and also while Digging (voting on stories). If you get a quick succession of Diggs from “high-value” users, you are likely to be promoted faster and at a lower number of Diggs, than if even dozens of new users Digg you. This, of course, is to ensure that the Diggs are of good quality and the community is actually doing its work by voting for good content and burying bad content.

Voting activity. The number of Diggs your story will require to reach the home page is directly correlated to the number of votes (Diggs) generally being cast on Digg at any given time and how your story compares to the average.

Submission category and activity in the category. Competition in some categories (Technology, Word and Business) is much fiercer than in other categories (Sports, Entertainment) and therefore it is much easier to submit and have something promoted in the Sports/Motorsport category than Technology/Tech. Industry News. Also, along with being compared to general voting activity on Digg, your content is compared more directly (and probably with more weight) to content in its category. For example, it is possible to have a story promoted at 50 Diggs even though it’s not high on the upcoming queue for all sections, as long as it is at the top in the queue for its category.

Speed of votes and diversity of voters. The faster a story gets votes, the lower the vote count has to be at which it is promoted. For example, a story may collect 120 Diggs over 24 hours and not be promoted. If the same story gets 90 Diggs in one hour it will almost certainly hit the front page. At the same time, however, it is incredibly important to have diversity in votes. Diversity helps prevent people from banding together into “voting-rings” (i.e. circle-jerks) and unfairly pushing their stories to the top. This is one of the reasons why you see stories from top-ranked users sit at the top of the queue for hours waiting to fulfill the algorithm’s diversity requirement (i.e. they are penalized for having a following of users that Digg every one of their stories).

Buries received. This is quite straightforward. The more buries you, the longer it will take for your content to be promoted. If the Bury to Digg ratio (which is not 1:1; buries are weighted more heavily than Diggs) is too high, your story will completely be removed from the queue. That said, it is possible for a story to acquire enough votes to outgrow the Buries it gets. Each bury, however, can be taken into account as a certain number of negative votes, which increases the total vote count the algorithm will require from your story before promoting it to the home page.

Comments and comment ratings received. Participation in the comments can help push a story over the edge. People think that inserting “great article—thanks!” will help further their cause, while in reality these fake comments have the exact opposite effect. There is nothing easier than spotting a spammy submission with fake comments and burying it to oblivion. Naturally acquired comments (and ones that are voted up by the community), on the other hand, help tip the content promotion algorithm in your favor.

Misconceptions about Digg’s algorithm

Now that we have covered the basics of the content promotion algorithm, let’s examine some common misconceptions about Digg’s algorithm.

Wrong: An absolute number of votes is required. There is no absolute number. The number varies daily and even hourly. As mentioned before, the number of Diggs you need varies based on submission category, recent participation record of the submitter and subsequent Diggers, as well as the number of votes and the time in which they are aggregated and the diversity of the voters.

Wrong: You’re doomed if your story isn’t submitted by a top-user. There is no such thing as content being automatically promoted to home-page. Even the best content, submitted by the most consistent user can get buried if enough people don’t like it and Bury it. The algorithm tries to ensure a level playing field for all users (though this doesn’t always work), and in fact is sometimes harsher on top users than on newer ones.

Wrong: Number of friends is important. The number of friends you add on Digg is completely irrelevant. What Digg looks for is diversity in the Diggs a story receives. The fact that a user is your friend and votes for your story is irrelevant. Even if someone is consistently Digging you without being your friend, those Diggs are weighed less.

Wrong: There is a 24-hour window for success. This is true of most content: If your submission doesn’t get promoted within 24 hours it usually has no chance of being promoted later. However, a small number of submissions do get promoted—even 2-5 days after submission—if people continue to regularly show interest in them.

The Art of Smiling

Posted by ardnet in November 25th, 2007 | no comment 
Published in Things I Got

Too often we underestimate the power of a touch, a smile, a kind word,
a listening ear, and honest compliment, or the smallest act of caring,
all of which have the potential to turn a life around.

– Leo F. Buscaglia

Actually, there isn’t any art behind it. Just that you were born to be happy, and you can show this happiness with that beautiful smile of yours. C’mon! Let’s see it. Okay, good.

To some extent, we all know how to spot a genuine smile, basically this formula:

Genuine Smile = Crinkly Eyes

We are all sensitive to this genuine scale, so why then is it that when we cross paths with a stranger or casual acquaintance in the elevator, we give them a fake smile? That ‘polite smile’. You know what I’m talking about (don’t get me wrong, I do this too, unconscious at grocery stores, on streets, while waiting for something.).

The lesson? Smile with your eyes! Feel it genuinely and it will come out naturally.

Extras: check out this quick interactive quiz from BBC to test out your ability to spot the difference between a real smile and a fake one.

Side Note: I am now smiling as I write this article. I love it! Thank you for reading and allowing me to express myself creatively.

A smile is so simple, yet so powerful. Some noticeable effects of externalizing your internal joy are:

  • People will be attracted to you - I don’t mean sexually (well, maybe that too), but people will feel drawn to your energy. When you smile more, you will carry an aura and poise that will draw people to you. People will look forward to being around you, knowing only that they feel great around you. People on the street, at work, your friends etc. We all like and want to be around happy and cheerful people, right?
  • Optimistic - You’ll feel more positive about yourself and the world.
  • Happiness & Joy - A smile is an expression of happiness and joy in you. Like an upward spiral, a smile will boost the happiness you feel.
  • Healthy - A smile can affect your internal state, which can have physiological impact on your physical and mental health.
  • Approachable - A smile is so welcoming and will make people feel more at ease.
  • Making Other People Happy - A smile has the power to make other people feel good about themselves. It’s heart-warming and has the power to cheer up others instantly.
  • Smiles Are Contagious - Others can quickly and easily catch it and will experience the above ‘side effects’.

Take The Smiling Challenge!

  • Smile at Strangers -You know those times when we cross paths with a stranger or accidentally catch someone’s gaze, and we (both) would suddenly look away in awkwardness or pretend we are looking at something else? Well, the challenge is to give them a big smile. A genuine smile, showing teeth and everything. Deepak Chopra talks about giving each person you encounter a small gift. I do this with a smile. Why not? It doesn’t cost us anything. Plus, it’s a lot more fun than feeling awkward and pretending you’re not there.I also love to see people’s reactions when you smile at them, and they aren’t expecting it. Some blush, and others are surprised and smile back, which makes me feel all warm inside.
  • Smile at Homeless People and Street Hagglers - I live in a part of downtown Seattle with lots of street hagglers and homeless people. People often ask me whether I get ‘harassed’ often. The answer is: sometimes. But they really are very nice, just like the rest of us. They too need attention and acknowledgment. So, give them a gift worth more than money.Next time someone asks you for money, don’t try to ignore them. Turn to them, smile warmly and tell them how you feel. If you don’t feel like giving money, just tell them “Sorry, I don’t have change now. Have a beautiful day!”Similarly, if something is trying to sell you something or ‘hitting-on’ you, simply turn to them, smile and say “No thank you.”I’ve found that it takes more energy to ignore and pretend to be very serious, than it is to smile. So smile! Make someone’s day!
  • Smile Fully -You know that half smile we give people when we’re trying to be polite? Like on an elevator, bumping in someone at the front door, or waiting in line. Why not practice giving them a real smile? It’ll be less awkward and you can potentially make someone’s day, or a new friend!
  • Smile at Work -Living under a routine, we can easily be in a zombie-like state when coming into work. We zip into work quickly following the same routines we’ve habituated. Our target is to get to work, and we can sometimes forget about the people around us, in other cubes/offices/departments. So, the challenge is to practice beaming with smile as you come into work. Smile genuinely with people you meet. Be completely pleased to see them. Make it a focus for the day, to bring more happiness into the lives of others. Ask them genuinely and infused with energy, “How are ya?” “How was your weekend?” Watch the smiles surface on their face.
  • A Small Compliment with Your Smile -When meeting or encountering people. Look for things you admire or like about them, however small, let them know. A small genuine compliment can go a long way to lift people’s spirits.

I’ve found it useful to be conscious of things that make me smile. You might want to spend a few minutes making a list of things that brings a smile to your face.

Some Moments That Make Me Smile are:

  • When Tommy (my eight pound Pomeranian doggie) does one of his tricks: spin in circles, playing dead, or his ‘moonwalk’ dance (that’s right, he moonwalks… *laughs*).
  • When I practice gratitude ‘sessions’
  • When I reach mini goals throughout the day.
  • When I read comments left by readers.
  • When savoring sweet taste of vanilla ice cream
  • When I do my happy dance, and make friends laugh with my ridiculousness.
  • When Adam (my partner) brings me food or chai in the morning as I’m working away on my laptop.
  • When my mother laughs

More Tips To Bring Smiles into Your Life

  • Smiling Journal - For two weeks, record the moments that brought out your wonderful smile. If you are ever feel down, flip through this book to be reminded of things that make you smile. Experience those moments and notice your state shift to a positive one. You cannot be both angry and smiling at the same time. I learned in physiological psychology that if the physical action conflicts with that of your feeling, the feeling inside will shift to match that of your outer sensation. One way to shift your emotion is to change your physiology.
  • Appreciation - Identify things that you are grateful for. Then focus on those things as much as possible.
  • Humor - Make a point to watch a comedy movie. To go a comedy club. Hang out with people who make you laugh.
  • Go On a Self Date - When we feel more connected with ourselves, we feel more joy and tend to naturally smile more.
  • Find Innocence - Observe a small child or a pet at play with total ease and freedom. Watch their innocence, enjoy their presence and yours. Are you smiling? Do you feel happy for them? That’s because you are connecting with the same innocence within yourself.

Now this is what I got when I take the quiz….

Not bad huh! Now, What about you…??

What makes you smile? Who made you smile today? Share your joy and happiness in a comment! See you there. *smiles*

Source: http://thinksimplenow.com/happiness/the-art-of-smiling/

How to Be Naked like a Baby

Posted by ardnet in November 25th, 2007 | 2 comments 
Published in Things I Got

… And Just as Happy

Why is it that once we become adults, we become so serious all the time (generally speaking). We get so caught up in the hectic race of everyday life that we forget that we are here to experience joy, to experience Life. We forget to smile and enjoy the beauty of the present moment. I notice that I fall into the many demands of my life story. Recently, I have gotten so busy that a week can pass without realizing. I don’t get the chance to slow down once to reflect and to be present. I seem to fall into the pattern of constantly living in the future, running after that next goal or achieving that next task on my never-ending list of Todos. Let’s take this moment to slow down, just for a few minutes.

Small children and family pets (dogs, cats) can serve as great ‘Zen’ teachers. Have you observed them before? Try it. It is so beautiful to watch the innocence of a small child, or a dog. They are so present in the moment, stress-free, open to their feelings and are a bundle of joy. I tell people that my dog Tommy is “made of love” because from observing him, he really is! A fluff of positive energy, which serves as a constant reminder to be positive in any situation and to not take things so seriously. Live life, enjoy the moment.

I also believe that child-like innocence and creativity have a direct connection. I work with lots of artists and creative people, and I have found that child-like innocence are very common among all of them. The purity, the openness, and the awareness of the present moment are clearly shown through interacting with each of them.

We can guide ourselves back to the inner child in us. You ready? Let’s first start with some common traits and characteristics of our cute little ‘Zen masters’:

  • Trusting - Children aren’t cynical and they don’t expect disappointment. They have an innate trust of the world and other people.
  • Delight - Children are full of wonder and delight. They are amazed at and enjoy the little things. Seeing an airplane in the sky is an incredible thing from a child’s eye.
  • Present in the moment - There is no past or future for a child. They are fully engaged in the present moment.
  • Forgiveness - It’s possible to hurt a child’s feelings, but they won’t stay mad at you for very long. In fact, they may not get angry at all. Children have a refreshing ability to let go of the past.
  • Uninhibited - Children have not yet learned to care what other people think of them, so they are free to do and say the things they truly want to.
  • Strong emotion - Have you ever seen a child throw a tantrum? The truly amazing thing about children is that they feel and express emotions ‘fully’ - happiness, anger, fear - and then they move on. They feel and express the emotions fully and completely, but they bounce back quickly. Nothing is suppressed or held back.Children experience things to the fullest, but somewhere along the way toward adulthood, something changes. Through social conditioning, we start to act like other adults, how society expects us to act. We begin to care about what others think. We aren’t always present in the moment. We hold grudges. We stress about our daily problems and tasks, and we don’t get excited about seeing an airplane in the sky anymore.

Each of us will always have that child-like innocence somewhere within us, the part of us who is present, happy, positive, playful, joyous and compassionate. The following are six simple practices to help us free and get in touch with the inner child within us:

1. Being with the moment. Practice being present in the moment, by giving your full attention to each task you perform. I’ve come to realize that it really doesn’t matter what I’m doing, as long as I bring present in the act, I will find joy in it. Regardless of what you are doing, do it fully! Be aware of little details, relax your mind, and bring awareness into everything you are doing.

2. Explore. Practice seeing things from new perspectives. Imagine you are seeing and doing everything for the first time - everything will seem so much more amazing when you view life in that light. What do you notice in this moment doing this task that you haven’t noticed before? Look for small details to appreciate.

3. Laugh & Smile. Nothing can bring out the child in you faster than a good belly laugh. Rent a comedy, tell a joke, act silly with a friend, do a ‘happy dance’. Find something that’ll make you laugh.

4. Play. What did you enjoy doing as a child? Did you jump rope? Ride your bike? Climb a tree? Watch a trail of ants? What’s stopping you from enjoying those simple things now? Give your childhood pastimes a try. You might really enjoy them and brings back fond memories. If not, do something you consider playful as an adult. Pull a prank on a close friend, build a spaceship with Lego, draw with colored crayons, dance like no one’s watching, go to an amusement park, turn up the music real loud and start singing, slide around the house in your underwear.

5. Run. If there’s one thing that children are good at, it’s running around (or skipping). They seem to have a never-ending supply of energy. Find a park and try for yourself. (And I’m not talking about exercising. I’m talking about running around for no purpose at all except to have fun.) It’s energizing, right? Combine running with laughing and hilarity will ensue! I periodically do this with my dog. We do this in the apartment too. It’s fun!

6. Practice acceptance and forgiveness. Children have the right idea with this. Not only will practicing forgiveness benefit those around you, it will greatly increase your own peace and inner harmony. Feel your feelings, but then let them go. Let yourself forgive others.

So, you’re probably still wondering about the title, huh? Well, I don’t know what you’re thinking, but I don’t mean butt naked … I’m referring to naked metaphorically, for dropping your inhibitions.

What do you think? What make you feel in touch with the inner child in you? Share your thoughts with us in the comments. We’d love to hear from you.

Source: http://thinksimplenow.com/happiness/how-to-be-naked-like-a-baby/#comment-840

In All Fairness… Internet Explorer Still Stinks

Posted by ardnet in November 24th, 2007 | no comment 
Published in Things I Got

Yup!! IE is still stinks. Sometimes I got a hard time to design web template with CSS in IE, just like I want it in Firefox.

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If you’ve been paying attention, you’ll have caught the subtle (and not-so-subtle) hints that SitePoint has been quietly working on a series of references, beginning with The Ultimate CSS Reference.

What hasn’t been revealed (until now) is that this reference will be released not just as a slick SitePoint book, but also as a freely-accessible Reference section right here on sitepoint.com! Our aim with this project is to produce the definitive CSS reference, both on the Web and in print.

Obviously, a big part of assembling this reference has been compiling browser compatibility information. And although our hard-working authors might disagree, one of the trickiest parts of the project has been determining how that information should be presented.

The Inherit Issue

A good example of this is the inherit value, which according to the spec is supported by all CSS properties. A little over a year ago, David Hammond’s site that rates browser standards compliance generated an uproar on Chris Wilson’s blog when it counted the lack of support for inherit as a point against IE for each and every CSS property.

Our reference will similarly indicate the level of support for each property in each of the major browsers, but what level of support do we indicate for IE, which doesn’t support the inherit value? Do we count this as a failing in IE’s support for each and every property, or do we set that aside as a single unsupported feature, and rate IE’s support of properties in the absence of inherit?

On the one hand, declaring that IE fully supports a property when one of its supported values doesn’t work could be seen as misleading. On the other hand, if the best support level we can list for any property in IE is ‘partial’, then you can’t tell at a glance when IE does fully support a property (within the limitations of its CSS implementation), and our reference becomes that much less useful.

After lengthy discussion with the authors, we decided to treat inherit as a separate unsupported feature, and to list properties that would work perfectly in IE if not for inherit as fully supported. The vote was certainly not unanimous, but I felt like we were doing the right thing by IE—giving the work that Microsoft did in IE7 a chance to shine.

Except … it didn’t

position property compatibility table

In ignoring inherit when rating property support, our intention was to enable the many newly-supported CSS features in IE7 to show up in our compatibility tables.

After all, IE7 now supports position: fixed across all elements, completing (except for inherit, of course) support for that property. And IE7 introduced plenty of other new features, such as support for the child selector (>). It would be nice for our compatibility tables to reflect this, we thought—naively, as it turns out.

Once the authors had compiled all this compatibility information, what we discovered was that arguing about the difference between ‘partial’ and ‘full’ support in IE had been an academic exercise … because the vast majority of CSS features are too buggy in IE to rate either!

The position property does support fixed in IE7, but setting this property to anything but static causes that browser to mess up the stacking of overlapping elements by incorrectly establishing a new ’stacking context’, so we are forced to rate this property as ‘buggy’.

And Microsoft did implement the child selector as a brand new feature in IE7, but even in this golden age of standards, this new feature came with obvious parsing bugs (e.g. A > /* comment */ B will fail to work).

After racking my brains for a CSS feature that would have newly achieved ‘full’ support in IE7 without being afflicted by bugs, I happened upon the dimension properties. width and height had serious bugs fixed in IE7, and IE7 added support for min-height, max-height, min-width, and max-width. And as of the current draft of our CSS reference, these properties are listed with ‘full’ support in IE7! Hooray!

Sadly, a little research has revealed reports of a bug in IE7 that affects all of these properties. We have yet to confirm this bug, but if it’s the kind of thing that will impact real-world use of these properties, they’ll lose their ‘full’ rating as well.

Internet Explorer Still Stinks

All this adds up to Internet Explorer making a very poor showing in our compatibility tables, despite us going out of our way to give it a fighting chance.

CSS features that we can honestly list as having ‘full’ or even ‘partial’ support in IE are few and far between (color is one, font-size is not). Most of them are ‘buggy’, even in IE7 … and we expect even more IE bugs to come out of the woodwork once we release the Web version of the reference for public comment.

Obviously, with IE7 Microsoft made great strides in correcting the most glaring and painful issues that plagued developers in IE6. But the unavoidable truth revealed by this reference is that Internet Explorer is still miles behind the competition.

Perhaps the new layout engine and other improvements coming in IE.Next will make up some of the difference … or perhaps Microsoft just isn’t interested in fixing (and in the case of IE7, avoiding) bugs that aren’t painfully obvious.

by: Kevin Yank

Source: http://www.sitepoint.com/blogs/2007/11/22/in-all-fairness-%E2%80%A6-internet-explorer-still-stinks/

Amazing Way to Tie Your Sneakers

Posted by ardnet in November 20th, 2007 | no comment 
Published in Things I Like

I actually already found this article before, now this is a chance for me to put it in my blog, something that i wanna do long long time ago. And i think it is really cool, i think this article can change my look little bit :P

Here you go…

1. The lace is run straight across the bottom and emerges through both bottom eyelets 2. The laces then go straight up and are fed into the next set of eyelets up the shoe 3. The ends are crossed over and are fed under the vertical lace section on the opposite sides of the shoe before going straight up and into the next set of eyelets up the shoe 4. At the top set of eyelets, the laces can once again cross over and pass under the straight section as shown. This not only looks consistent with the rest of the lacing but also forms a High Lace Lock, which tightens the lacing even more firmly.

1. The lace is run straight across the bottom and emerges through both bottom eyelets 2. The ends are looped back under the lace where it feeds under the side of the shoe 3. The ends are then crossed over each other, then they go under and out through the next set of eyelets up the shoe 4. Steps 2 and 3 are repeated until both ends reach the top eyelets.

1. The lace runs straight across the second set of eyelets from the top of the shoe 2. Cross the ends over and feed into the fourth set of eyelets, skipping the third set 3. Continue down the shoe, two sets of eyelets at a time 4. At the bottom, run the laces vertically between the bottom and second from bottom eyelets 5. Double back and work your way back up the shoe through the vacant sets of eyelets.

1. The lace is run straight across the bottom and emerges through both bottom eyelets 2. The left (red) end is spiralled up the left side of the shoe, with the end fed under and emerging from each eyelet 3. The right (orange) lace is spiralled up the right side of the shoe, at each eyelet looping through the left (blue) lace in the middle of the shoe before feeding under and emerging from the next eyelet.

1. The lace is run straight across the bottom and emerges through both bottom eyelets 2. One end of the lace (orange end) runs straight up the right side, is fed into and runs straight across the second set of eyelets 3. Both ends now run straight up the left side, each skipping one eyelet before feeding in two eyelets higher up 4. Continue running both ends across the shoe, then straight up two eyelets at a time 5. At the top of the shoe, the laces end up on the same side and the shoelace knot is tied at that point.

1. The lace runs straight across the bottom and the ends are fed into both bottom eyelets 2. One end of the lace (orange end) runs straight up the right side, emerges from and runs straight across the second set of eyelets 3. The other end (red end) runs diagonally underneath and, skipping the 2nd set of eyelets, emerges from and runs straight across the 3rd set of eyelets 4. Continue running each lace diagonally across and up 2 sets of eyelets until one end (orange in my example) reaches the top right eyelet 5. The other end (red in my example) then runs straight up the left side to emerge from the top left eyelet.

1. The lace runs straight across and emerges from the third set of eyelets from the bottom 2. Both ends run straight down and are fed into the second set of eyelets from the bottom 3. Both ends again run straight down and emerge from the bottom set of eyelets 4. Both ends now run straight up along the outside and are fed into the fourth set of eyelets (the first vacant pair) 5. The ends are crossed over each other, then they go under and out through the next set of eyelets up the shoe 6. Repeat step (5) until both ends reach the top.

1. The lace is run straight across the bottom and is fed into rather than emerging from both bottom eyelets 2. The ends are crossed over, then inserted into the next set of eyelets up the shoe 3. This process is repeated until both ends reach the top eyelets and end up inside.

1. The lace runs straight across the bottom and emerges through both bottom eyelets 2. Skipping two sets of eyelets, cross the ends over and feed into the fourth set of eyelets 3. Both ends now run straight down one eyelet and emerge from the third set of eyelets 4. Continue up the shoe, each time crossing over and going up three sets of eyelets, then straight down to emerge from the next set of eyelets below.

1. The lace is run straight across the bottom and emerges through both bottom eyelets 2. The ends are twisted together with one complete twist in the middle of the shoe 3. The ends then continue across to the opposite sides, where they go under and out through the next set of eyelets up the shoe 4. This process is repeated until both ends reach the top eyelets.

1. The lace runs straight across the bottom and emerges from both bottom eyelets 2. Cross the ends over and feed into the 4th set of eyelets up the shoe (skip past 2 sets of eyelets) 3. Both ends now run straight up and emerge from the 5th set of eyelets 4. Cross the ends over and feed into the 2nd set of eyelets up the shoe (skip past 2 sets of eyelets) 5. Both ends now run straight up and emerge from the 3rd set of eyelets 6. Cross the ends over, feed under and emerge from the top set of eyelets (skip past 2 sets of eyelets).

1. The lace is run diagonally and emerges from the bottom left and the top right eyelets 2. The top (red) end of the lace is zig-zagged from the top set of eyelets down to the middle eyelets in a similar manner to the Shoe Shop Lacing 3. The bottom (orange) end of the lace is similarly zig-zagged from the bottom set of eyelets up to the middle eyelets.

1. Start with two pairs of different colour laces, preferably the wide, flat variety (I was lucky to receive two such pairs with my last runners!) 2. With one colour (orange in my example), lace the shoe using either Straight (Fashion) or Straight (Lazy) Lacing 3. With the other colour (red in my example), start at the bottom of the shoe and weave the lace in and out of the other lace until you reach the top 4. Fold around the top lace and head back down, weaving out and in until you reach the bottom 5. Continue across the shoe until you’re out of room or out of lace, whichever comes first 6. Tuck all the loose ends of the laces into the shoe.

1. The lace runs straight across the bottom and emerges from both bottom eyelets 2. Cross the ends over and feed into the 4th set of eyelets up the shoe (skip past 2 sets of eyelets) 3. Both ends now run straight up and emerge from the 5th set of eyelets 4. Cross the ends over and feed into the 2nd set of eyelets up the shoe (skip past 2 sets of eyelets) 5. Both ends now run straight up and emerge from the 3rd set of eyelets 6. Cross the ends over, feed under and emerge from the top set of eyelets (skip past 2 sets of eyelets).

1. Take two different colour laces, each a tiny bit longer than the correct length for the shoes 2. Cut them not quite in half, but offset by two or three centimetres. See below for how to calculate the difference in length between the two halves 3. Tie one shorter piece of one colour (orange in my example) and one longer piece of the other colour (red in my example) firmly together and trim off the excess. For extra security, add a dab of glue. Use the remaining pieces to make the bi-colour lace for the other shoe 4. Pull the longer (red) end out through the bottom right eyelet, feeding from inside the shoe, until you reach the joining knot 5. Now lace the rest of the shoe as per Straight (Fashion) Lacing.

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Well, how’s that? pretty neat huh?!

Source: http://www.sneakerfreaker.com/

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