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| Hacktivist Vol 2 #1 |
© The Weirding, 2015
A rambling melange of pop-culture.
Showing posts with label internet. Show all posts
Showing posts with label internet. Show all posts
Monday, July 20, 2015
Thursday, April 18, 2013
Kevin Smith Joins HuffPost Live
Kevin Smith and Jay Mewes were on Huffington Post Live earlier to promote their upcoming cartoon flick when some head honcho offered Smith a job. The director of such notable comedy classics as Clerks and Mallrats graciously accepted, noting that he often watches the channel.
This should be epic. Kevin Smith is very much a "live and let live" type of person and the HuffPost Live on-air staff (the morning chick in particular - I don't learn "journalists'" names until they land their own talk show and book deal) are very much not. Ever true to their Internet roots, the HPL (no relation) crew is staunchly fundamentalist in their collective concern for all things "minority" and socially righteous. In fact, I would be downright shocked - and not a little disappointed - to learn that each of them was not gay-married to homely, overweight, transgendered, Muslim partners of one minority persuasion or the other. They Godddamn demand the rest of us to be!
If they are not, it is clear that they are homoislamofattransgenderphobics who also routinely malign pit bulls without true knowledge of The Facts.
I've been an outspoken critic of Fundamentalist religious practices and vocal supporter of equal rights for all, but HuffPost Live's brand of pious, sanctimonious Moralism can best be summed-up by the aforementioned hostess' immediate on-air challenge:
She folded her arms in a combative stance, pulled up a tweet some other celebrity had made against gay marriage, and implored of Kevin Smith, "Do you think [this male celebrity] should get on the right side of this issue?"
The fracas can best be foreshadowed by Smith's reaction: Taken slightly aback by her self-righteous indignation, he said something to the effect of, "Well, he's his own person with his own opinions..."
Hahaha! Silly funny man, you now belong to HuffPost Live; no one is 'their own man with their own opinions' there!
© C Harris Lynn, 2013
This should be epic. Kevin Smith is very much a "live and let live" type of person and the HuffPost Live on-air staff (the morning chick in particular - I don't learn "journalists'" names until they land their own talk show and book deal) are very much not. Ever true to their Internet roots, the HPL (no relation) crew is staunchly fundamentalist in their collective concern for all things "minority" and socially righteous. In fact, I would be downright shocked - and not a little disappointed - to learn that each of them was not gay-married to homely, overweight, transgendered, Muslim partners of one minority persuasion or the other. They Godddamn demand the rest of us to be!
If they are not, it is clear that they are homoislamofattransgenderphobics who also routinely malign pit bulls without true knowledge of The Facts.
I've been an outspoken critic of Fundamentalist religious practices and vocal supporter of equal rights for all, but HuffPost Live's brand of pious, sanctimonious Moralism can best be summed-up by the aforementioned hostess' immediate on-air challenge:
She folded her arms in a combative stance, pulled up a tweet some other celebrity had made against gay marriage, and implored of Kevin Smith, "Do you think [this male celebrity] should get on the right side of this issue?"
The fracas can best be foreshadowed by Smith's reaction: Taken slightly aback by her self-righteous indignation, he said something to the effect of, "Well, he's his own person with his own opinions..."
Hahaha! Silly funny man, you now belong to HuffPost Live; no one is 'their own man with their own opinions' there!
© C Harris Lynn, 2013
Friday, July 06, 2012
Intermittent Connection, Pt. Deux
So the intermittent connection problem finally got bad enough that they sent someone out to the house to check the connection. The technician gave me a wireless modem to replace the other one; I'd had a wireless router connected to it, and he said that may have had something to do with the connection problem. Otherwise, he said, he could find nothing wrong with it.
The next day, at 7am (almost on the dot), the connection went down again. It stayed down for a few minutes, just like it had been doing, then came back up. After an hour or so, it dropped again. This time, I was a little upset. They said they changed ports at the station - something they rarely do, a last ditch attempt at establishing a secure connection. Then they gave me the "problem customer" speech - about how they just have to refund some peoples' money because they can't do anything for them.
Part of this hinged on the fact that I had "a stack of tickets dating back to January." I was a little perplexed, seeing as how I had only noticed the problem over the last couple of months. I called the tech support line and learned that there was a ticket from January, a ticket from March, and about seven tickets from May to July.
Luckily, I haven't experienced a disruption in connectivity the past two days, but that's par for the course; it sometimes works for several days before it starts and stops all day long. However, I sincerely hope this fixed the problem. The problem that has been going on since May, not January...
© C Harris Lynn, 2012
The next day, at 7am (almost on the dot), the connection went down again. It stayed down for a few minutes, just like it had been doing, then came back up. After an hour or so, it dropped again. This time, I was a little upset. They said they changed ports at the station - something they rarely do, a last ditch attempt at establishing a secure connection. Then they gave me the "problem customer" speech - about how they just have to refund some peoples' money because they can't do anything for them.
Part of this hinged on the fact that I had "a stack of tickets dating back to January." I was a little perplexed, seeing as how I had only noticed the problem over the last couple of months. I called the tech support line and learned that there was a ticket from January, a ticket from March, and about seven tickets from May to July.
Luckily, I haven't experienced a disruption in connectivity the past two days, but that's par for the course; it sometimes works for several days before it starts and stops all day long. However, I sincerely hope this fixed the problem. The problem that has been going on since May, not January...
© C Harris Lynn, 2012
Friday, June 29, 2012
Intermittent Connection
Sorry for the delay between posts, but I've been fighting an intermittent connection the past several weeks. The DSL company sent me a new modem, but the problem has persisted. It goes down for up to five or more minutes at a time, then comes back up for an hour, two hours, or longer, then goes back down again. It appears to be better after the last complaint (I made earlier this week) but it's still touch and go.
Anyway, just wanted you to know.
© C Harris Lynn, 2012
Anyway, just wanted you to know.
© C Harris Lynn, 2012
Wednesday, September 29, 2010
Bluewater Biographies Tackles Facebook's Mark Zuckerberg this December
In December, Bluewater Productions is publishing a 48-page, giant-sized comic book biography based on the life of Mark Zuckerberg: Creator of Facebook, priced at $6.99. Written by Jerome Maida and penciled by Sal Field with cover art by Michal Szyksznian, it will be available from comic book stores and online retailers.Who is the real Mark Zuckerberg: The young billionaire creator and CEO of Facebook, who recently donated a generous $100 million to public schools in Newark, or the cold-blooded businessman who walks over people to get what he wants, as he is portrayed in the critically-acclaimed movie, The Social Network? The answer, of course, lay somewhere in-between, and Bluewater Productions is filling that gap by exploring the website's founder in the comic book medium.
"This is a fascinating story," says Maida. "I enjoyed researching it, because it's extremely compelling. Think about it: Mark Zuckerberg is the youngest billionaire on the planet and [has] created something that has already had a profound impact on the world -- yet, hardly anyone knows much about him. It's amazing!"
The road to success, Maida says, was not preordained, nor was it always a smooth ride. "Mark was offered loads of money at a young age and turned all his suitors down because, deep down, he knew he had higher goals than to work for someone else.
"Bill Gates offered Mark $1 million dollars while Mark was still in highschool, and Mark turned it down. I mean, how many high school kids will ever be made an offer like that? Very few. And how many would have the confidence to turn it down and pursue their own path? Very few, if any. But that's what Mark did."
Of course, he wasn't able to do everything on his own. He received help, to various degrees and in different capacities, from others, and few of these business relationships ended well.
"Rightly or wrongly, Mark dealt harshly with some people on his way to where he is today," says Maida. "As we see, [many people believe he betrayed them]. I try my best to be fair here; no one is totally innocent in this story, [and] I try to represent each of the major players' points of view."
"Bluewater is looking to tell unique stories -- not just those of celebrities," said publisher Darren G. Davis. "The first biography one-shot we are doing is about Father Yod and The Source Family, and Mark Zuckerberg will follow the next month. These books are not only good reading... [they] are also being used in schools and libraries. ”
© C Harris Lynn, 2010
Saturday, January 09, 2010
Health Update
The surgery went okay, I guess; the visit was horrendous and the bottom of my chin is still numb, forcing me to constantly clear my throat to avoid choking, but the procedure itself apparently went well. I'll get into the sordid details of my hospital stay another time - if I had to choose a single word to describe it, that word would be "unsettling." But I don't want to start the day off negatively, so let's move on for now.
I posted a time or two throughout the week, but it wasn't easy - between the meds and just lying around, recovering, I had to do something to keep from going mad. I have one or two things for the weekend, but I'll probably go dark again until at least Monday. I really have to give myself time to heal.
I am back on broadband and using Win7, so things will be cool again shortly. Again, for those of you who have access, you really need high-speed Internet. Dial-up Internet is literally a different world - comparatively, it's a third-world shithole; you really have no idea from the Web if you are still using dial-up. It costs at least double what you're paying your ISP for dial-up, but it is so worth it, and a lot of the posts I'll be doing from here on out will prove this.
If, like me, you are in a rural area and cannot get broadband from the usual ISPs, you can always try HughesNet or ask your satellite provider for a reference to one of their partners.
© C Harris Lynn, 2010
I posted a time or two throughout the week, but it wasn't easy - between the meds and just lying around, recovering, I had to do something to keep from going mad. I have one or two things for the weekend, but I'll probably go dark again until at least Monday. I really have to give myself time to heal.
I am back on broadband and using Win7, so things will be cool again shortly. Again, for those of you who have access, you really need high-speed Internet. Dial-up Internet is literally a different world - comparatively, it's a third-world shithole; you really have no idea from the Web if you are still using dial-up. It costs at least double what you're paying your ISP for dial-up, but it is so worth it, and a lot of the posts I'll be doing from here on out will prove this.
If, like me, you are in a rural area and cannot get broadband from the usual ISPs, you can always try HughesNet or ask your satellite provider for a reference to one of their partners.
© C Harris Lynn, 2010
Friday, December 18, 2009
What Up, Nerds?
I is up in the public Webspace because I am all out in the public. I've no idea why I'm talking like a Kardashian, either.
Anyway, I won't be home for a bit, I just thought I'd stop by and say "hi." Actually, I guess I should be updating things and stuff because this is technically the first time I've ever been online with this box.
© C Harris Lynn, 2009
Sunday, July 26, 2009
Former A.I. Contestant Killed in Car Crash
Alexis Cohen, the two-time American Idol contestant whose post-rejection rant became a viral hit, was struck by a car and killed in New Jersey. You probably remember her better as the chick who dressed up as that one chick in the crappy new Star Wars films.
Alexis Cohen was only 25-years old. Police are investigating the crash.
© C Harris Lynn, 2009
UPDATE: Police arrested 23-year-old Daniel Bark and charged him with vehicular homicide. I don't remember who this chick was nor why she became so popular, but the original video which made her famous is no longer available. - 2018
Alexis Cohen was only 25-years old. Police are investigating the crash.
© C Harris Lynn, 2009
UPDATE: Police arrested 23-year-old Daniel Bark and charged him with vehicular homicide. I don't remember who this chick was nor why she became so popular, but the original video which made her famous is no longer available. - 2018
Thursday, April 02, 2009
Some Technical Changes
I am still in the process of contacting everyone, but I need to let some of you know that the e-mails have changed. If you have a contact e-mail ending with TDS.net, please note that e-mail is no longer valid.
All press releases, and press-related errata, should be sent to PRESS at theweirding.net
All material relating to the blogs should be sent to BLOGS at theweirding.net
All materials relating to advertising or advertisers should be sent to ADS at theweirding.net
Of course, replace the word "at" with the "@" symbol; I do not want the addresses receiving anymore spam than they all have been! I am currently using dial-up from the house and e-mail already takes 10-20 minutes to download!
I mentioned the situation elsewhere, but to recap, my internet provider for three years overcharged me nearly $100 on my last bill. Though they freely admit they are at fault, they insisted I pay the overcharged amount and wait for a credit on my next bill! Needless to say, I was somewhat offended. I don't have $114.00 to pay them, anyway.
Thanks.
© C Harris Lynn, 2009
All press releases, and press-related errata, should be sent to PRESS at theweirding.net
All material relating to the blogs should be sent to BLOGS at theweirding.net
All materials relating to advertising or advertisers should be sent to ADS at theweirding.net
Of course, replace the word "at" with the "@" symbol; I do not want the addresses receiving anymore spam than they all have been! I am currently using dial-up from the house and e-mail already takes 10-20 minutes to download!
I mentioned the situation elsewhere, but to recap, my internet provider for three years overcharged me nearly $100 on my last bill. Though they freely admit they are at fault, they insisted I pay the overcharged amount and wait for a credit on my next bill! Needless to say, I was somewhat offended. I don't have $114.00 to pay them, anyway.
Thanks.
© C Harris Lynn, 2009
Monday, March 30, 2009
Dial-Up Sucks
Ugh. I told you it would be this way for at least a little while and I was not prepared for it. Having broadband for over a year now... doesn't so much "spoil" you as force you to realize what the Web is supposed to be. However, my provider is unable to properly handle their record-keeping and/or is willfully looking to rip me off, and I refuse to go for it this time.
Anyway, nothing's going on, except for my being back on dial-up. I was just dropping-by to let you know that. Oh and that I may be doing the late-night thing for the next week or so - I just have that nite-owl "feeling."
You know what? Let me just throw this out there: I may try some new things. Nothing specific or anything like that, I just feel a bit daffy.
© C Harris Lynn, 2009
Anyway, nothing's going on, except for my being back on dial-up. I was just dropping-by to let you know that. Oh and that I may be doing the late-night thing for the next week or so - I just have that nite-owl "feeling."
You know what? Let me just throw this out there: I may try some new things. Nothing specific or anything like that, I just feel a bit daffy.
© C Harris Lynn, 2009
Friday, March 27, 2009
Still Away
Hey guys. I am still away from home and so am limited as to what I can do. However, I hate being away from this thing - it really does drive me batty - almost as much as I get sick of being here after a few weeks of that. All in all, I'm much happier blogging than not; let's face it, I need to run my mouth... about something, or nothing at all. I just need to blather and I've come to accept that about me. At any rate, a few PRs have come through that I figured I would go on and share with you while I am here.
Oh, we should be back to "near" normal next week. I say "near" because I'm not sure what speed I'll be at and that may be a problem. Long story short, my provider overcharged me 2-3 months in a row. They admit they overcharged me, but - get this: they want me to go ahead and pay the entire amount they overcharged me or they are going to cut my services! The "pro-rated amount," that is, the amount they overcharged me to begin with, will show up on my next bill!
To be frank, I do not have it. And - and I really would love to hear your thoughts on this - due to the nature of this issue, I really don't know if I would pay the full amount, even if I could! I mean, how nasty is that!? It's their mistake, they admit that, yet I'm supposed to pay what amounts to like three months' service at once or else!
If it seems like I'm always having issues with my internet service, it's only half true: I've never had any problems with dial-up services, but yes, every, single time I have added high-speed services, I end-up getting screwed. But Charter is known for screwing its customers; this particular company, TDS, I don't know about. However, I've had phone services with them for over three years now and never had a single problem! (Well, no problems that couldn't be handled - you know.) I had their high-speed services for about eight months before problems started too, so I can't say they've been all that bad a company, we just happen to differ here. After all, had I made a mistake on paying them, they sure as hell wouldn't credit me the difference to their loss!
© C Harris Lynn, 2009
Oh, we should be back to "near" normal next week. I say "near" because I'm not sure what speed I'll be at and that may be a problem. Long story short, my provider overcharged me 2-3 months in a row. They admit they overcharged me, but - get this: they want me to go ahead and pay the entire amount they overcharged me or they are going to cut my services! The "pro-rated amount," that is, the amount they overcharged me to begin with, will show up on my next bill!
To be frank, I do not have it. And - and I really would love to hear your thoughts on this - due to the nature of this issue, I really don't know if I would pay the full amount, even if I could! I mean, how nasty is that!? It's their mistake, they admit that, yet I'm supposed to pay what amounts to like three months' service at once or else!
If it seems like I'm always having issues with my internet service, it's only half true: I've never had any problems with dial-up services, but yes, every, single time I have added high-speed services, I end-up getting screwed. But Charter is known for screwing its customers; this particular company, TDS, I don't know about. However, I've had phone services with them for over three years now and never had a single problem! (Well, no problems that couldn't be handled - you know.) I had their high-speed services for about eight months before problems started too, so I can't say they've been all that bad a company, we just happen to differ here. After all, had I made a mistake on paying them, they sure as hell wouldn't credit me the difference to their loss!
© C Harris Lynn, 2009
Wednesday, January 21, 2009
Myer's Love Guru Gets Seven Razzies
The Golden Raspberries (called "Razzies") has been going since 1981. Founded by copywriter and publicist John Wilson in 1980, the nominations are announced one day before the Academy Award nominations and denounce the worst in the year's films, with categories for Wost Acting, Worst Picture, etc. This year, Mike Myer's Love Guru leads the way with seven nominations.
Myers himself received a Worst Acting nod, and so did most of his co-stars (including Jessica Alba of Fantastic Four fame). Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull got a nod for Worst Prequel, Sequel, Rip-Off, or Remake. Paris Hilton got three nominations for her film "work," and Eddie Murphy -- who led last year (along with Hilton) with six nominations -- got two for his work on Meet Dave.
Unlike the Oscars, the Razzies are open to the public and this year's contenders were chosen by ballots from nearly 700 members from 20 countries.
© C Harris Lynn, 2009
Myers himself received a Worst Acting nod, and so did most of his co-stars (including Jessica Alba of Fantastic Four fame). Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull got a nod for Worst Prequel, Sequel, Rip-Off, or Remake. Paris Hilton got three nominations for her film "work," and Eddie Murphy -- who led last year (along with Hilton) with six nominations -- got two for his work on Meet Dave.
Unlike the Oscars, the Razzies are open to the public and this year's contenders were chosen by ballots from nearly 700 members from 20 countries.
© C Harris Lynn, 2009
Thursday, June 05, 2008
DSL-acious
Woohoo!
We are once again back and running at full-steam. Well, theoretically. Basically, the DSL is up and running, but it's a new connection so it's still a little wobbly. So far so good, so knock wood.
I know it's only been two weeks since I've been on dial-up, but it's just completely two different worlds. Again, I don't care if you have to sell your baby to afford it, if it's available in your area, you have to have high-speed. You can always get another baby.
Tonight is one of the best episodes of Supernatural's last season (Bad Day at Black Rock), but since I've already seen it twice, I'm going to be watching Last Comic Standing. If you haven't seen it though, it really is one of the best episodes of the third season, hands-down. This one and the one with the ghost ship were fantastic. Tonight's Smallville is okay...
I have so many press releases that have backed-up that I will probably go about getting things back together tonight and then schedule a full day of stuff for tomorrow. If I can keep my eyes open long enough, I have a great advance review to get out to you. I also have another review to do, but I was waiting for the print version to get here so I could do a really in-depth one.
Other than that, you might not hear from me again tonight, because my entire life has basically been on-hold for two weeks and I have a lot to do. And my kitten is driving me nuts.
© C Harris Lynn, 2008
We are once again back and running at full-steam. Well, theoretically. Basically, the DSL is up and running, but it's a new connection so it's still a little wobbly. So far so good, so knock wood.
I know it's only been two weeks since I've been on dial-up, but it's just completely two different worlds. Again, I don't care if you have to sell your baby to afford it, if it's available in your area, you have to have high-speed. You can always get another baby.
Tonight is one of the best episodes of Supernatural's last season (Bad Day at Black Rock), but since I've already seen it twice, I'm going to be watching Last Comic Standing. If you haven't seen it though, it really is one of the best episodes of the third season, hands-down. This one and the one with the ghost ship were fantastic. Tonight's Smallville is okay...
I have so many press releases that have backed-up that I will probably go about getting things back together tonight and then schedule a full day of stuff for tomorrow. If I can keep my eyes open long enough, I have a great advance review to get out to you. I also have another review to do, but I was waiting for the print version to get here so I could do a really in-depth one.
Other than that, you might not hear from me again tonight, because my entire life has basically been on-hold for two weeks and I have a lot to do. And my kitten is driving me nuts.
© C Harris Lynn, 2008
Agenda
Morning guys. I would have been here earlier, but the DSL tech is supposed to be here between 8 and noon and it's 11:00 now, so... I can't even get in the shower or anything until he shows up because I don't want to miss him.
Plenty of press releases to catch-up on and some other stuff, but I can't get into anything I can't stop when he arrives and since it's so close to the end-time, I'm just... stuck. But even if it is a late-start again today, I'll eventually get some of this out to you tonight and tomorrow and will likely have a full weekend, as well.
In the meantime, enjoy the archives and I'll see you in a few!
© C Harris Lynn, 2008
Plenty of press releases to catch-up on and some other stuff, but I can't get into anything I can't stop when he arrives and since it's so close to the end-time, I'm just... stuck. But even if it is a late-start again today, I'll eventually get some of this out to you tonight and tomorrow and will likely have a full weekend, as well.
In the meantime, enjoy the archives and I'll see you in a few!
© C Harris Lynn, 2008
Sunday, June 01, 2008
I Hate Dial-Up
I told you the other day how I was happy to have the opportunity to be back on dial-up, just so I could see how everything loads. I take that back: dial-up sucks.
It's just insane to think I ever managed to get anything done this way! Pictures time-out loading, simple sites take so long to load that I can literally type the URL, get up, wash a sinkful of dishes, go check the mail, come back, and still sit for another five minutes!
If you are one of the very few who lives in a rural area where high-speed or broadband is simply unavailable, I sincerely sympathize with you - I was one of you until very, very recently - but if you are not, then you have no excuse not to get high-speed Internet. None. I don't care if your baby has to starve, if you have to sell your car, I just do not care; do whatever in the world you need to do to get high-speed access right now! This is just ridiculous.
There is a new addition to my household: a beautiful kitten whom I've yet to name. I'm about 95% certain it's a boy. He's a completely wonderful and welcome addition, even though I think he killed one of my plants when he pooped in it.
I'm pretty sure I'm having meatloaf and pinto beans for supper tonight, then I'll put on a huge Crockpot of chili tomorrow. I am supposed to have a doctor's appointment, but I really don't think I'll go - just reschedule. Just way too much going on this week for me to do that and now that I have a baby in the home, I can't just up and go whenever I want.
Plenty to come today, though I have no idea what it will be.
© C Harris Lynn, 2008
It's just insane to think I ever managed to get anything done this way! Pictures time-out loading, simple sites take so long to load that I can literally type the URL, get up, wash a sinkful of dishes, go check the mail, come back, and still sit for another five minutes!
If you are one of the very few who lives in a rural area where high-speed or broadband is simply unavailable, I sincerely sympathize with you - I was one of you until very, very recently - but if you are not, then you have no excuse not to get high-speed Internet. None. I don't care if your baby has to starve, if you have to sell your car, I just do not care; do whatever in the world you need to do to get high-speed access right now! This is just ridiculous.
There is a new addition to my household: a beautiful kitten whom I've yet to name. I'm about 95% certain it's a boy. He's a completely wonderful and welcome addition, even though I think he killed one of my plants when he pooped in it.
I'm pretty sure I'm having meatloaf and pinto beans for supper tonight, then I'll put on a huge Crockpot of chili tomorrow. I am supposed to have a doctor's appointment, but I really don't think I'll go - just reschedule. Just way too much going on this week for me to do that and now that I have a baby in the home, I can't just up and go whenever I want.
Plenty to come today, though I have no idea what it will be.
© C Harris Lynn, 2008
Friday, February 29, 2008
Read the Entire First Issue of Pax Romana for Free!
Maybe Marvel's online comics experiment is a good thing? Image Comics announces that Jonathan Hickman has decided to release the first issue of Pax Romana online to coincide with the second issue hitting stands. This is an official Image Comics press release:29 February 2008 (Berkeley, CA) - THE NIGHTLY NEWS' Jonathan Hickman will be releasing the first issue of his all new miniseries, PAX ROMANA, to coincide with its second issues, due in stores next week.
"I'm extremely proud of PAX ROMANA," said creator Jonathan Hickman. "It's enough of a departure from my first project, The NIGHTLY NEWS, that I had concerns about how it would be initially received. The fact that we printed more copies -- the fact that we sold out of those copies -- has been wonderful."
Last year, Jonathan Hickman's second miniseries, PAX ROMANA, debuted to critical acclaim, hot on the heels of his debut, THE NIGHTLY NEWS. While PAX ROMANA has a very different approach than its predecessor, a sold-out print run and subsequent praise once again solidified Hickman as a creator to watch out for.
PAX ROMANA #2 (OCT072016), a 32-page full color comic for $3.50, will be in-stores March 3rd, 2008. The entire first issue can be found here.
© C Harris Lynn, 2008
Tuesday, January 15, 2008
Google PR Updates Underway
It appears that Google is once again busy telling people how they can use the Internet and what they can and cannot do with their blogs and websites. In case you missed it the last go-round, Google took it upon themselves to let the rest of us know which advertisers we were allowed to use and which we were not, as well as which advertising methods we are allowed to employ. Luckily, Google AdSense remains "whitelisted" - which was obviously good for... well, Google.
While there is a sector of the Blogosphere that dislikes those of us who monetize our blogs, I could care less about them. There is still a large sector of the Internet audience that despises its current form because everything online isn't free and free of advertising, and I could care less about them. My position on this matter is simple: I spend a lot of time blogging and webmastering and I should be allowed to try and recoup that time, money, and effort anyway I can, so long as it is moral and ethical and aboveboard. And receiving a small amount of compensation in return for writing ad copy is a very ethical, very aboveboard way in which this is done. If you disagree with me or the practice in general, then you're in luck: there are several billion other websites and blogs out there that you can visit!
If you don't like the fact that I have a monetized blog, you do not have to read it, but you shouldn't try to keep me from doing it! I don't come to where you work and knock you off the pole, so don't come stirring-up trouble for me!
Google is apparently upset by tags such as "sponsored" and "paid post" and so forth - and that is effing stupid! They are lying their collective, monopolizing ass off when they say that paid posts are "misleading" because they are targeting blogs with tags that clearly define paid/sponsored posts! The only way these posts can be considered misleading is when they do not contain tags which delineate them as being paid spots! In fact, that is why I have not changed my tags or tagging scheme: while Google may continue to unjustly penalize me for having the audacity to try and make an honest living through any means other than Google AdSense, I would feel worse misleading my audience by deleting the tags which tell you which posts are sponsored.
It's called "ethics" - that thing which Google forwards as the reason for bullying the rest of us.
Further, I'm extremely interested to see how Google tries to justify it this time. Last time, they claimed we were "passing along PR" by "selling links" - which is a total lie; writing full posts is writing ad copy, not simply slapping a link on a page and promoting it - the way Google does with their paid search engine results. Since Google stripped most of us of our PR, we have no PR to pass along! The fact that certain other bloggers and webmasters take the low road and use misleading, and simply bad, forms to do the same things I do is not my problem - what are you Google, the Decatur County, TN police department and DA!? You're certainly doing whatever the hell you want and harassing the living shit out of me and other decent, honest netizens! Just because these streams of monetization can be abused doesn't mean that everyone who uses them should be punished; that's like saying none of us should drive because some people drive drunk.
I am paid to review and promote sites and products.
I receive products to try out and give my opinion on and I am asked to visit sites and discuss them. No, I am not an expert on most of these things and I do not pretend to be, but I absolutely do spend at least a few minutes checking out whatever it is I am promoting - if for no other reason than to find something to discuss! If I disagree with whatever it is I am asked to review, I do not accept the review; this is why you will not find any posts promoting Aruba on any of my blogs or websites. Further, even these lines can become blurred, since I sometimes receive items to review for which I am not paid (advance copies, etc.). In fact, I recently had a row with one big-name advertising firm when they did not understand that an official Marvel press release containing an active link was not a sponsored post!
Besides all of this, no one really understands what is going on with the whole Google PR thing. As others have stated, several blogs and sites that do not have any sponsored posts or advertisers have been downgraded, while others openly flaunt the rules and have been upgraded! Further, there's still the matter of AdSense: blogs and sites utilizing AdSense were not penalized, while other sites using similar programs from different companies were... strange how that works, no?
Yes, hits have been off since Google unfairly removed us from their engine listings, but RSS subscribers have risen slightly. And regardless, I blog for myself and y'all - not Google - so one of the cool things about this is that it has forced me to work harder on marketing and promotion outside of Google, which I sincerely hope they think about, because I'm not quite certain that was their goal. In so doing, I have met some great bloggers and readers that I did not have the time to meet previously, because I was so busy learning and working on "SEO" and improving my "PR" and trying to get "top placement" and all that happy horseshit.
All Google has done is make everyone very upset with them. I have used the Google search engine only once since November and never installed the Google Tools which came with my new computer - I deleted them. I removed my website from all the Google services with which it was registered and am working on switching over to a rival ad network.
Of course, nothing I alone do is going to cause Google to lose any sleep and I am not going on some sort of campaign to try and get others to follow my lead. But I have something Google can't offer: quality content. And seeing as how they unfairly blacklisted my quality content, along with that from many, many other quality blogs and websites, more and more people are starting to complain about the amount of spam, repetition, and generally useless results from their engine.
And Google did that to themselves.
© C Harris Lynn, 2008
While there is a sector of the Blogosphere that dislikes those of us who monetize our blogs, I could care less about them. There is still a large sector of the Internet audience that despises its current form because everything online isn't free and free of advertising, and I could care less about them. My position on this matter is simple: I spend a lot of time blogging and webmastering and I should be allowed to try and recoup that time, money, and effort anyway I can, so long as it is moral and ethical and aboveboard. And receiving a small amount of compensation in return for writing ad copy is a very ethical, very aboveboard way in which this is done. If you disagree with me or the practice in general, then you're in luck: there are several billion other websites and blogs out there that you can visit!
If you don't like the fact that I have a monetized blog, you do not have to read it, but you shouldn't try to keep me from doing it! I don't come to where you work and knock you off the pole, so don't come stirring-up trouble for me!
Google is apparently upset by tags such as "sponsored" and "paid post" and so forth - and that is effing stupid! They are lying their collective, monopolizing ass off when they say that paid posts are "misleading" because they are targeting blogs with tags that clearly define paid/sponsored posts! The only way these posts can be considered misleading is when they do not contain tags which delineate them as being paid spots! In fact, that is why I have not changed my tags or tagging scheme: while Google may continue to unjustly penalize me for having the audacity to try and make an honest living through any means other than Google AdSense, I would feel worse misleading my audience by deleting the tags which tell you which posts are sponsored.
It's called "ethics" - that thing which Google forwards as the reason for bullying the rest of us.
Further, I'm extremely interested to see how Google tries to justify it this time. Last time, they claimed we were "passing along PR" by "selling links" - which is a total lie; writing full posts is writing ad copy, not simply slapping a link on a page and promoting it - the way Google does with their paid search engine results. Since Google stripped most of us of our PR, we have no PR to pass along! The fact that certain other bloggers and webmasters take the low road and use misleading, and simply bad, forms to do the same things I do is not my problem - what are you Google, the Decatur County, TN police department and DA!? You're certainly doing whatever the hell you want and harassing the living shit out of me and other decent, honest netizens! Just because these streams of monetization can be abused doesn't mean that everyone who uses them should be punished; that's like saying none of us should drive because some people drive drunk.
I am paid to review and promote sites and products.
I receive products to try out and give my opinion on and I am asked to visit sites and discuss them. No, I am not an expert on most of these things and I do not pretend to be, but I absolutely do spend at least a few minutes checking out whatever it is I am promoting - if for no other reason than to find something to discuss! If I disagree with whatever it is I am asked to review, I do not accept the review; this is why you will not find any posts promoting Aruba on any of my blogs or websites. Further, even these lines can become blurred, since I sometimes receive items to review for which I am not paid (advance copies, etc.). In fact, I recently had a row with one big-name advertising firm when they did not understand that an official Marvel press release containing an active link was not a sponsored post!
Besides all of this, no one really understands what is going on with the whole Google PR thing. As others have stated, several blogs and sites that do not have any sponsored posts or advertisers have been downgraded, while others openly flaunt the rules and have been upgraded! Further, there's still the matter of AdSense: blogs and sites utilizing AdSense were not penalized, while other sites using similar programs from different companies were... strange how that works, no?
Yes, hits have been off since Google unfairly removed us from their engine listings, but RSS subscribers have risen slightly. And regardless, I blog for myself and y'all - not Google - so one of the cool things about this is that it has forced me to work harder on marketing and promotion outside of Google, which I sincerely hope they think about, because I'm not quite certain that was their goal. In so doing, I have met some great bloggers and readers that I did not have the time to meet previously, because I was so busy learning and working on "SEO" and improving my "PR" and trying to get "top placement" and all that happy horseshit.
All Google has done is make everyone very upset with them. I have used the Google search engine only once since November and never installed the Google Tools which came with my new computer - I deleted them. I removed my website from all the Google services with which it was registered and am working on switching over to a rival ad network.
Of course, nothing I alone do is going to cause Google to lose any sleep and I am not going on some sort of campaign to try and get others to follow my lead. But I have something Google can't offer: quality content. And seeing as how they unfairly blacklisted my quality content, along with that from many, many other quality blogs and websites, more and more people are starting to complain about the amount of spam, repetition, and generally useless results from their engine.
And Google did that to themselves.
© C Harris Lynn, 2008
Tuesday, January 08, 2008
Yahoo! Launch - A Review
So I got the high-speed access thing, right? I've mentioned that, have I? Well, for those who tuned-in late. So I was surfing around today because I wanted to find at least one radio station I can just leave on in the background while I work and the cable station just ain't cutting it.
Like all the other "premium" channels (think: HBO, Showtime, all the movie channels in general), the Music Choice cable "radio" station gets a playlist and wears it the hell out over the course of like 2-3 months; they change their "favorites" quarterly, basically. Now, if it's a good set, then it's okay, but when it's crap (like it is currently), then it's a real pain. I mean, I'll turn it on when there's nothing on TV - which is far more frequent than it should be for $75 a month - but when they're playing the same old shit I've heard 49072358 times and don't like to begin with, what's the point?
So I headed over to Yahoo! Launch and checked them out.
For starters, they don't have a very good selection of general "genre" stations. They cover all the bases, but stay on the soft side of everything. The hardest band they have in their Metal category (that I noticed) is In Flames. Don't get me wrong, In Flames is pretty "hard" for whatever that's worth, but even when they grind, they're more melodic than heavy, and that just doesn't cut it for me. The other "heavy metal" or "hard rock" choices are like Foo Fighters, Stone Temple Pilots, etc. - basically what mainstream pop stations consider "heavy" and/or "metal," when they really aren't much of either. Regardless of the fact that I like these bands, they are not what I consider heavy metal; when someone says "heavy metal," Stone Temple Pilots is not the first band that comes to mind, and is not at all what I mean, you dig?
The cool thing about Launch is that you can customize your station. The bad thing, again, is the choices you are given. In fact, in this customization process, they don't even list any metal bands - not even the aforementioned In Flames! - they don't even have a Metal category for this process, just a Rock category. So I get to choose from "favorite" bands like Stone Temple Pilots and so forth - I mean, they don't even list classic rock bands like Led Zeppelin or ZZ Top, etc. - and the program is supposed to tailor-fit what you hear accordingly.
So I chose, I think, Foo Fighters, STP, Metallica, etc. and the first song that comes up is Avenged Sevenfold! Nothing against Avenged Sevenfold or their fans, but not exactly my cup o tea and certainly not too similar to my choices - not exactly dissimilar, but not what I was going for and without more choices, I don't think Launch can customize a playlist that keeps me from hitting fast-forward on just about every other song. Also, Launch does not work with Firefox for Windows! That really sucks.
Overall, I'd give Yahoo! Launch a 6 out of 10, but it's the first one I've looked at, so I may have to adjust it later. It's alright - possibly one of the better ones out there, I don't know - just not good enough.
Up next is my ISP's offerings, as well as whatever extensions I find for Firefox.
Also, Viacom just signed a deal to make MTV videos available online through several sites, including DailyMotion, GoFish, Comcast's portal, and more. Viacom owns MTV. Details are sketchy at this point, but they will probably offer whatever is in heavy rotation and most likely will develop a platform allowing you to choose videos from their library, develop a favorites list/playlist, and customize a random "channel," like Launch.
Like all the other "premium" channels (think: HBO, Showtime, all the movie channels in general), the Music Choice cable "radio" station gets a playlist and wears it the hell out over the course of like 2-3 months; they change their "favorites" quarterly, basically. Now, if it's a good set, then it's okay, but when it's crap (like it is currently), then it's a real pain. I mean, I'll turn it on when there's nothing on TV - which is far more frequent than it should be for $75 a month - but when they're playing the same old shit I've heard 49072358 times and don't like to begin with, what's the point?
So I headed over to Yahoo! Launch and checked them out.
For starters, they don't have a very good selection of general "genre" stations. They cover all the bases, but stay on the soft side of everything. The hardest band they have in their Metal category (that I noticed) is In Flames. Don't get me wrong, In Flames is pretty "hard" for whatever that's worth, but even when they grind, they're more melodic than heavy, and that just doesn't cut it for me. The other "heavy metal" or "hard rock" choices are like Foo Fighters, Stone Temple Pilots, etc. - basically what mainstream pop stations consider "heavy" and/or "metal," when they really aren't much of either. Regardless of the fact that I like these bands, they are not what I consider heavy metal; when someone says "heavy metal," Stone Temple Pilots is not the first band that comes to mind, and is not at all what I mean, you dig?
The cool thing about Launch is that you can customize your station. The bad thing, again, is the choices you are given. In fact, in this customization process, they don't even list any metal bands - not even the aforementioned In Flames! - they don't even have a Metal category for this process, just a Rock category. So I get to choose from "favorite" bands like Stone Temple Pilots and so forth - I mean, they don't even list classic rock bands like Led Zeppelin or ZZ Top, etc. - and the program is supposed to tailor-fit what you hear accordingly.
So I chose, I think, Foo Fighters, STP, Metallica, etc. and the first song that comes up is Avenged Sevenfold! Nothing against Avenged Sevenfold or their fans, but not exactly my cup o tea and certainly not too similar to my choices - not exactly dissimilar, but not what I was going for and without more choices, I don't think Launch can customize a playlist that keeps me from hitting fast-forward on just about every other song. Also, Launch does not work with Firefox for Windows! That really sucks.
Overall, I'd give Yahoo! Launch a 6 out of 10, but it's the first one I've looked at, so I may have to adjust it later. It's alright - possibly one of the better ones out there, I don't know - just not good enough.
Up next is my ISP's offerings, as well as whatever extensions I find for Firefox.
Also, Viacom just signed a deal to make MTV videos available online through several sites, including DailyMotion, GoFish, Comcast's portal, and more. Viacom owns MTV. Details are sketchy at this point, but they will probably offer whatever is in heavy rotation and most likely will develop a platform allowing you to choose videos from their library, develop a favorites list/playlist, and customize a random "channel," like Launch.
Thursday, December 06, 2007
It's Official
So I'm checking my e-mail today when I see it. It was just setting there, mocking me. The subject line read:
Girls don't like you because you have a little dick.
I chortled and started to delete it when I took a look at the sender. It was a doctor - Dr. Someone Something, I don't remember - a doctor, y'all. A chill walked slowly down my spine.
With all the spam we receive in our e-mail boxes daily (112 this mail run), it heartens me to know that at least one doctor is taking the time out of his busy schedule to tell it to me like it is.
I'm often hard on the medical, scientific, pharmaceutical, scientific, pornographic, entertainment, sequential art, black American, and white American communities - and for good reason - so it really makes me stop to think about my position on these things when an honest-to-goodness medical professional takes a pro-active stance and steps-up to fight the good fight.
My name is MD, and girls don't like me because I have a little dick.
I guess it sometimes takes a professional who isn't afraid of a little backlash to put things in perspective for us.
Thank you, Dr. Someone Something - thank you for this very private, unsolicited e-mail, and all the pills you suggested that can help me with my problem.
And thank you, Internet. I do want to slim down! I do want to stop smoking! I do want to drive my women crazy with s'ex_ual desire! And I would have no idea how to do it, were it not for the thousands of bulk e-mails I receive weekly, which lead me to just the right sites, filled with Google AdSense boxes full of information on where to start a blog and how to buy penny stocks. Who woulda thunk such things can make me have a bigger dick and lose weight?
Here's to progress:
Girls don't like you because you have a little dick.
I chortled and started to delete it when I took a look at the sender. It was a doctor - Dr. Someone Something, I don't remember - a doctor, y'all. A chill walked slowly down my spine.
With all the spam we receive in our e-mail boxes daily (112 this mail run), it heartens me to know that at least one doctor is taking the time out of his busy schedule to tell it to me like it is.
I'm often hard on the medical, scientific, pharmaceutical, scientific, pornographic, entertainment, sequential art, black American, and white American communities - and for good reason - so it really makes me stop to think about my position on these things when an honest-to-goodness medical professional takes a pro-active stance and steps-up to fight the good fight.
My name is MD, and girls don't like me because I have a little dick.
I guess it sometimes takes a professional who isn't afraid of a little backlash to put things in perspective for us.
Thank you, Dr. Someone Something - thank you for this very private, unsolicited e-mail, and all the pills you suggested that can help me with my problem.
And thank you, Internet. I do want to slim down! I do want to stop smoking! I do want to drive my women crazy with s'ex_ual desire! And I would have no idea how to do it, were it not for the thousands of bulk e-mails I receive weekly, which lead me to just the right sites, filled with Google AdSense boxes full of information on where to start a blog and how to buy penny stocks. Who woulda thunk such things can make me have a bigger dick and lose weight?
Here's to progress:
Wednesday, December 05, 2007
Under Construction
I will get more out to you as the day progresses, but for now, I need to go in and do some technical stuff. Give me a few hours, then you might want to clear your cache and cookies and reload the site. These are mainly cosmetic changes - moving some graphics and things around - but there is one specific thing that I wanted to point-out:
For as much as so many people bitched and claimed they were going to put up a fight against Google's blatant strong-arming of PPP and those of us affiliated with them, I am the only blogger I've seen throughout the entirety of the Blogosphere who kept his PPP badges and links up for this long; everyone else caved-in immediately.
But my decision to remove these badges is not specifically because of this - prompted by Google's mob tactics, yes, but I had been thinking of this for a long time beforehand because no one has ever reivewed any of my blogs, so they're really just outgoing links that do nothing for me. I take that back, one guy did review one of my posts, but I never received any money for it and do not know if he did, either.
I also want to chastise PayPerPost, because I gave them until today to see if they were going to be able to support me and anyone else who decided to stand-up for them (if there are any - I haven't seen or found anyone else), and they simply haven't. I understand it's going to take some time for their new RealRank system to come into its own, and I am not ending my affiliation with the company because I sincerely hope they win-out in the end and things go back to normal, but for now, the advertisers simply aren't using RR; advertisers are still going by Google's PR, so I'm in a no-win situation here and PPP has offered me no kudos, no incentives - nothing - to continue supporting them in such a manner (leaving my badges and banners up).
Not only has my PR dropped and hits gone down because of my association with PPP, I'm not receiving any offers from the company, so I'm just getting fucked all the way around.
I don't see it as my having given-in; I see this as a corporate war where the real casualties are ignored - which is redundant. This is why I hate American industry and corporations, in general, and why I decided to start publishing my own works online, as opposed to traditional methods.
I have no doubt that visits will pick back up in time, but for now, I'm suffering and no one else is, so I have to do what's best for me and me alone.
For as much as so many people bitched and claimed they were going to put up a fight against Google's blatant strong-arming of PPP and those of us affiliated with them, I am the only blogger I've seen throughout the entirety of the Blogosphere who kept his PPP badges and links up for this long; everyone else caved-in immediately.
But my decision to remove these badges is not specifically because of this - prompted by Google's mob tactics, yes, but I had been thinking of this for a long time beforehand because no one has ever reivewed any of my blogs, so they're really just outgoing links that do nothing for me. I take that back, one guy did review one of my posts, but I never received any money for it and do not know if he did, either.
I also want to chastise PayPerPost, because I gave them until today to see if they were going to be able to support me and anyone else who decided to stand-up for them (if there are any - I haven't seen or found anyone else), and they simply haven't. I understand it's going to take some time for their new RealRank system to come into its own, and I am not ending my affiliation with the company because I sincerely hope they win-out in the end and things go back to normal, but for now, the advertisers simply aren't using RR; advertisers are still going by Google's PR, so I'm in a no-win situation here and PPP has offered me no kudos, no incentives - nothing - to continue supporting them in such a manner (leaving my badges and banners up).
Not only has my PR dropped and hits gone down because of my association with PPP, I'm not receiving any offers from the company, so I'm just getting fucked all the way around.
I don't see it as my having given-in; I see this as a corporate war where the real casualties are ignored - which is redundant. This is why I hate American industry and corporations, in general, and why I decided to start publishing my own works online, as opposed to traditional methods.
I have no doubt that visits will pick back up in time, but for now, I'm suffering and no one else is, so I have to do what's best for me and me alone.
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