Wordpress Spam

by admin on May.03, 2010, under Rants

It comes in all forms, doesn’t it?

Snail mail, e-mail, blog comments… Just another rash of people that don’t care about you or what you’re saying at all, but expect you to care about what they’re saying. So they generously leave their links all over their comments… Comments, which, by the way, seem disguised cleverly enough to not get flagged as spam.

But when you get a comment that says:

Hiya, This is a great summation, I located your blog post checking google for any related theme and found this. I couldnt find too much other details and facts on this posting, so it was wonderful to find this one. I will probably end up being returning to check out a few other articles that you’ve written another time.

and then another one that says:

Hi, This is an excellent overview, I located your internet site checking google for any equivalent topic and found this. I couldnt find too much other tips and facts on this posting, so it was wonderful to find out this one. I’ll probably often be returning to check out other sorts of articles that you’ve written another time.

…it doesn’t take a quantum physicist to flag these as spam. I flagged the first one as spam before I even got the other one. Could you be more vague?

I love the ones that
A) have such horrendous grammar you can hardly tell it’s even English (and yet they still manage to get the same point across as the other ones: “I didn’t even read this, but here check my links out!”)
B) are completely irrelevant to the post. ie:

I have always thought like you but have never been able to explain that position clearly. You have given me insight and challenged me to move this dialogue the next step.

This in response to my post about the Newsboys “Born Again” video and how I was surprised how well Michael Tait fit into the band.

Really, I didn’t know I was so clairvoyant. Thank you random spammer, for this plug into my psyche. I’m so glad your dialogue can now continue.

I wouldn’t even give them credit for the effort of disguise.

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Turncoat

by admin on Apr.29, 2010, under Likes

Why Firefox really is better than IE.

My teacher calls it “Internet Destroyer”, and being a student entering the world of web design, I have heard over and over about the horror that is Internet Explorer. Maybe not so much recent versions as past versions. (An aside as a note to the world: upgrade, people. It takes maybe five minutes out of your invaluable lives. And that only if you’re stupid. Or “not that technically savvy” if you want me to politically correct.)

Sadly, the majority of users out there are on some antiquated version of IE. Why wouldn’t they be? In the PC World, it’s already included on the computer. Why go out and put in the effort to get a different browser?

I understand, because that was me until recently. I was fine with IE, even designing for it didn’t bother me because everything I was doing seemed to behave just fine. And there was some “feel” that Firefox had that I just didn’t like. It wasn’t familiar, and that’s what I’ll blame it on.

So why did I betray? I was looking for a feature on IE that it didn’t have. What was that feature? Ah yes, the ability to customize my toolbars at the top. I was suffering from wasted real estate due to 3-icon toolbars taking up the entire width of the browser, instead of being able to group these toolbars into one horizontal line.

That’s what sent me on my search. And I read that Firefox could do it. And not only could it do that, I fell into the wonderful world of add-ons! Flashblock, which automatically blocks those annoying animated flash ads on web pages, including the videos that rear their ugly heads and begin talking to you out of nowhere with no mute button. Web developer tools, Firebug, where you can examine the coding of any page on the web, dissect it, see how it’s done, a million other things I haven’t even played around with yet. Back up all your bookmarks remotely. (Special emphasis on this due to the recent death of my hard drive and subsequent loss of all my bookmarks.) Limitless customization for an awesome browsing experience I never got from IE.

I know recent version(s) of IE have their equivalent add-ons, but there was a reason why I never used them. It’s a vague memory, but I tried one and it interfered with loading new tabs or slowed something down… I don’t remember exactly, but I avoided them altogether.

And cherries on top too! Personas. No more boring browser window. As a designer, the ability to create my very own custom look for my browser window…priceless!

All that is why my perspective has completely polarized. I avoid IE like the plague now. Well, as much as I can. As a web designer, I will have an unending future of compatibility testing for whatever I build, but for my own personal browsing… Firefox all the way.

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Newsboys “Born Again”

by admin on Mar.23, 2010, under Uncategorized

I remember hearing on the radio about Newsboys long-time front-man Peter Furler would be leaving the scene. I’ve always loved the Newsboys and their style and message and I couldn’t imagine the band having any other lead singer than Peter. There was just no way it could be the same.

Then they said that Michael Tait from DC Talk — whose style and message I’ve always loved too — would be stepping in to take his place, and I thought… wow, that seems so strange but that might totally work.

And hearing their new single, “Born Again”, it totally does. I just dug up their video tonight and watched it, and I think it’s pretty cool.

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SPCA Pets

by admin on Mar.23, 2010, under Uncategorized

About 6 months ago, my husband and I adopted a rat terrier from the Humane Society. We could have opted to get a dog from a local pet store, or looked up private sellers/breeders to see what was out there, but we really wanted to support the Humane Society and get a dog that was really in need of a good home.

Anyone who would ask me where a good place to get a pet from is, I would immediately tell them the Humane Society. They have so many different pets there, and what you pay goes towards keeping the shelter running. Not only that, you’re more likely to get a very healthy pet for your money compared to a pet store. The Humane Society vaccinates and makes sure the pets are healthy before allowing them to be taken home.

They even make sure the pet’s behavior is evaluated and put them through training if need be. We had to wait a few extra weeks to pick up our little dog because when she was evaluated, the only thing she didn’t score well on was guarding her food. So they kept her a little longer to put her through a program that would retrain that behavior.

I was a little leery about dealing with that issue when we were t old about it, but her disposition in every other area was off the charts. The staff there was extremely informative and made sure we were aware of exactly what we should do to keep up her training.

The funny thing is, even from the first day we brought her home, she has never showed any aggression when it came to guarding her food, and I have pet her while she’s eaten and had my hands right next to her face and even in her bowl to guage her reaction and she couldn’t care less. In fact, she doesn’t even like to eat unless we stay next to her.

You can easily find your perfect pet from the Humane Society, even if it isn’t a puppy that you’ve had a hand in training since they were born. I wasn’t too excited at first about getting a dog, because I was much more of a cat person. Dogs just seemed much needier, smellier, dirtier, louder, and slobberier (yeah, I made up that word). But Katie really changed my mind about all that. I highly doubt there is any other dog that could have “converted” me. Now, she’s like my little shadow. Even if my husband is awake and maybe watching tv or working on the computer, she will sit by our bedroom door waiting for me get up.

Yep, now I get why they’re called man’s best friend.

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Caution v. Stupidity

by admin on Mar.22, 2010, under Uncategorized

Who hasn’t sat behind the wheel of their car and yelled at their seemingly oblivious fellow commuters for doing one dumb thing or another as if they can hear you and will straighten up their act? I have. Pretty much every time I drive. Growing up in rural upstate New York, traffic was virtually non-existent. Since moving to Jacksonville, it’s a whole new ball game. I’ve become so good at predicting exactly what drivers will do, it’s scary. Or maybe not so much. I just think of the dumbest thing that they could possibly do, and they always oblige.

Yeah, I admit I need to check my temper at times. It’s not like I know exactly what that other driver is going through. Maybe they’ve had a bad day, or they’re lost. I admit I need to show more empathy at times, and admission is the first step to recovery, right? Right.

But honestly, there are some things that — no matter what kind of day someone is having — there is absolutely no excuse for aside from laziness and inconsideration, or maybe brain damage.

Like a turn signal. Do I always use mine? No. I don’t use it when there is no one else on the road around me. But if there’s another car, you bet I use it. I give the benefit of the doubt to the other driver that they know what it means.

It’s twice as bad when, for instance, you’re cruising along on the highway, and the ding-dong in the next lane decides to whip right over inches in front of you. The least they could do is signal that they’re about to do something extremely retarded and attempt to kill you.

The same goes for drifters. If I’m seeing someone on the road just drifting between lanes constantly, I’m not very likely to let them get in ahead of me if they suddenly need to. Especially if they don’t use a turn signal. I can guesstimate as to the stupidest thing a person can do, but really, I can’t read minds. Use the signal.

And mergers…come on people. Why would it take you eons to merge into traffic when there is a space? I can’t count how many people I’ve let in ahead of me, and they just kinda drift along until the road falls out from beneath their tires before they finally slip in. That’s not caution. That’s stupidity. And that causes traffic.

I also love the people who practically stop in the middle of an intersection while turning. Regardless of your speed, if you’re aimed at the curb while turning, you are going to hit it. Slowing to a crawl isn’t going to help that.

And finally, speed limits. Unless it’s snowing, or there’s a hurricane outside your window, or there’s ice on the road, ten miles under is not being cautious. It’s just stupid. If you’re that afraid, get off the road. And keeping the same constant speed — let’s say 45 — through all speed zones (whether it’s 30 or 55) is not a happy compromise. Learn to read, or –again — get off the road. I don’t encounter that one down here as much as I did in upstate, but whatever.

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Creativity in the Realm of Games

by admin on Mar.22, 2010, under Uncategorized

I wouldn’t call myself a gamer, but I have played a few here and there. My husband, he’s definitely a gamer. He’ll play pretty much anything, which is what lead to me eventually trying some out. But I’m much pickier than he is. What a game has to have in order to catch my attention is creativity and originality. And based on what I’ve seen, those two qualities are actually pretty scarce.

I’ve never understood why, when there are literally no limits, everyone seems to stay trapped inside these little boxes full of everything else that’s already been done and overdone. It seems they want to copy the success of others, so they copy exactly what’s been done. Really, nothing kills creativity quite like that mindset.

I can understand how this would make sense to a degree though; not so much concerning design but mechanics. I’ve read about and tried some different games where they overhauled the mechanics instead, boasting a new intuitive interface that would bring a fresh flair to gameplay. But that’s like reinventing the wheel. Maybe a bell or whistle added on here or there would successfully add to the gameplay, but when it’s a complete redesign of a system that’s been tried and true, it seems to me that all that energy could have been better spent on an engaging storyline, or countless visual aspects. A lot of the more successful games I’ve heard about/read about are based on storylines from books or movies, and people find that appealing. They love being a part of the story they know so well.

However, I remain a huge fan of originality; seeing what’s never been seen before, storylines that haven’t been told yet. It saddens me to see how people limit their imaginations sometimes.

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Favorite Tools & Resources

by admin on Mar.21, 2010, under Reference

The more stuff I get to work on for school, the more tools I seem to discover that I had no idea existed before, either through my own exploring, or tips from friends or teachers. I hope to continously update and expand this list as I come across more.

  • Obviously, some of my favorite tools to use are the Adobe programs. I find myself most often in Photoshop, Dreamweaver, Illustrator, and Flash, with a little After Effects. Even though they are pricey, no matter how much I use them, I’m always learning something new.
  • A nice alternative to Photoshop is a program called Gimp. Since I have Photoshop, I haven’t explored this one in depth, but the interfaces are very similar, and probably the biggest draw: Gimp is free.
  • Another program I haven’t explored very much, but at first glance I’m very excited by, is called Audacity. This program is used to edit audio, and like Gimp, it’s totally free.
  • Just last week, my friend Nina introduced me to Aviary, a website where you can do image, audio, and effects editing and screen capture among other things. Your files are saved and shared on the website.

  • I’m always hitting up CNET when I’m in need of little utilities here and there; zip readers, video converters, audio converters, audio extractors. You can find just about anything there to fit what you’re looking for, and they’re all tested spyware free. I’ve used several programs from here and have never had any issues.
  • Back on to audio, Freesound.org has a ridiculous amount of free sound files you can explore, download, and use in your projects. Flashkit also has a bunch, but I always find myself gravitating towards Freesound. It’s much less ad-swamped and I like their search function better.
  • Stuck with another drab research paper? This online MLA Citation Generator does exactly what you’d think: generates MLA citations for you in the correct format. All you need to do is choose the type of source you need to cite, fill in the information, and it does the rest for you.
  • If you’re working more with visual effects, specifically After Effects, Video Copilot has awesome tutorials. The site blew my mind when I first visited it; probably because I watched a 45-minute tut that was way beyond my skill level at the time, but still, you can learn a TON from here.
  • AEtuts is another one I’ve heard is pretty good for visual effects but haven’t gotten around to exploring yet. You can find a list of other visual effects resources here
  • Just a general tip, never underestimate the power of forums. I have found countless answers and solutions to problems I’ve encountered on projects just by browsing forums and posting in forums.
  • This is how I learned Photoshop. I kid you not. I would search for a type of effect I wanted to do, and in the process of the tutorial I would learn a dozen other things.
  • A free alternative to Microsoft Office is OpenOffice. I’ve used it, and it’s pretty solid. It’s also compatible with MS Office file formats so you can save for MS Office, and open other MS Office documents.
  • A set of 1,500 free fonts to download, or find individual fonts at DaFont.
  • Fellow college students looking to make a few bucks back on those useless books you were stuck purchasing, look no further than Bookscouter.com. This site compares 30-some odd different book vendors so you can find which place will give you the best price. It also has reviews of each place so you can avoid the less-than-legit ones.
  • Since discovering the glory of Firefox addons, I’ve uncovered several that are invaluable tools, and nice enhancements to the browser. One of my new favorites is SamFind. My favorites bar was getting awfully cluttered, and I wanted a way to condense the many links I use on a daily basis. SamFind lets you replace the space-gobbling default link with just icons that you can customize yourself. There’s a lot more features to SamFind that I haven’t even explored either. But it’s space-saving feature was plenty to impress me.

I could probably go on forever listing the tons of tutorial sites and tools and resources that are out there and not even scratch the surface. Suffice to say, the knowledge is out there, the tools are out there. Just go get ‘em!

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“Obamacare”

by admin on Mar.20, 2010, under Healthcare Bill

Apparently the big thing this weekend is the vote on the health bill we’re all sick of hearing about. Well, I’m sick of it anyway. The fact they call it Obamacare though is pretty amusing.

I was watching the news last night and they were droning on about it, and the first thing I have to ask is, does anyone actually know what this thing is about? Because both sides seem to have completely different stories.

They’re trying to pass it unconstitutionally, using bribes and favors to ‘buy’ votes. It passed in one house but not the other, so they’re revamping it to pass in the other, which is unconstitutional because the bill has to be identical in each house for it to go to the president to become law. It’s also unconstitutional because it involves the government mandating that citizens buy a good/service or else pay fines.

But no, wait, they’re not passing it in that form. They’re passing it as a tax law and the government has every right to tax its citizens. It’s all about helping those 40,000 people a year who die due to a lack of health insurance.

Really. Does anyone actually know what it’s all about?

What confuses me is, those who don’t have health insurance probably don’t have it because they can’t afford it. Right? So, I don’t get why they would support a law that would require them to buy health insurance or pay fines. I thought you couldn’t afford it? That makes no sense, so maybe I’m missing something here.

What I love is when they tell you the miracles a bill will perform, but they conveniently don’t tell you how. As for me, based on what I’ve seen and heard so far and the fact that I just don’t quite get it and doubt that anyone out there really does get it, it’s not something I support. If you’re going to radically change a system, you have to make sure the average Joe gets it. When you can’t even do that, maybe passing a new law is the last thing you should be worried about.

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House Training Your Husband Spouse

by admin on Mar.18, 2010, under Uncategorized

I can tell you what does not work.

  • Hiding his stuff… does not work.
  • Coercing the dog to devour the socks left on the floor.
  • Refusing to wash his dishes. Does not work. He just uses the ones I do wash.
  • Refusing to wash all dishes. Definitely does not work. And leads to a very ugly kitchen very quickly.
  • Stacking all afore mentioned dishes/socks in a very obvious location for him to see and hopefully take the hint. Apparently, that just emulates his natural environment. Doesn’t work.
  • Issuing threats to start stuffing his pillow with afore mentioned dirty objects. Don’t know if this works, as I fear the consequences of trying.
  • Threats themselves…don’t work.
  • One would think the obvious act of gently asking would work. It doesn’t. Because man forgets. Unless repeated once a minute until response is observed. But even I don’t have the tolerance for that.

So what does work? I haven’t discovered that yet. I’m beginning to think it’s an ill-fated quest with no resolution, but I’m open to suggestions.

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