Slowing the flow

Spam is a never-ending blight on the internet. I understand what motivates spammers to plant spam in blog comments and guestbooks. It’s simple, they want to earn some Google-juice for their site.  (Of course, they go about this in the most unethical and slimy way possible instead of just creating sites that someone might actually want to read, but I digress…)

What truly baffles me is that they waste a lot of time posting spam comments and guestbook entries on a site like mine. NOTHING that anyone adds to my site in any way goes directly to the site. It all comes to me for moderation first. This means that they are simply wasting their time. This doesn’t stop them however, so I’ve been working on ways to slow the flow of crap. Some of the changes are behind the scenes, but you’ll be seeing CAPTCHA syle verification fields appearing on my forms and an AKISMET counter on my blog showng how many comments the software has caught.

Any all all suggestions are welcome. Before you say it, I’ve already thought of rounding up these weasels and setting them on fire, but apparently that’s not legal. Go figure. Maybe someday our politicians will help out out with this problem. I’m not holding ym breath, though.

Posted by Michael in Site Updates

Slowing the flow

Spam is a never-ending blight on the internet. I understand what motivates spammers to plant spam in blog comments and guestbooks. It’s simple, they want to earn some Google-juice for their site.  (Of course, they go about this in the most unethical and slimy way possible instead of just creating sites that someone might actually want to read, but I digress…)

What truly baffles me is that they waste a lot of time posting spam comments and guestbook entries on a site like mine. NOTHING that anyone adds to my site in any way goes directly to the site. It all comes to me for moderation first. This means that they are simply wasting their time. This doesn’t stop them however, so I’ve been working on ways to slow the flow of crap. Some of the changes are behind the scenes, but you’ll be seeing CAPTCHA syle verification fields appearing on my forms and an AKISMET counter on my blog showng how many comments the software has caught.

Any all all suggestions are welcome. Before you say it, I’ve already thought of rounding up these weasels and setting them on fire, but apparently that’s not legal. Go figure. Maybe someday our politicians will help out out with this problem. I’m not holding ym breath, though.

Posted by Michael in Site Updates

Fire and Ice Photos

I just posted some of the photos I took last weekend at the Fire and Ice Festival in Mount Holly, NJ. This chili cook-off and ice carving competition was a fun a unique event. I got there after the chili cook-off was over, but I did make it to the carving portion and the dog sled demonstration.

Check out the photos here.

Posted by Michael in Photography, Site Updates

iSquint – Simple and Easy

There’s a lot of video out there, but who wants to sit in front of their computer and watch it. If you have a video iPod, you can convert almost any video to an iPod compatible format.

After wasting a lot of time on this in the past, I found an easy and simple way to do it. iSquint converts the video It has some options for more advanced users, but you can also just drag, drop and convert! It runs pretty quick on my Intel 2GHz MacBook.

Believe it or not even some podcasts aren’t in iPod format!!! This saves me from them. Download it at iSquint.com.

Posted by Michael in Technology

Scam artist Sylvia Browne strikes again

Everyone has probably heard about the kid, Shawn Hornbeck, who was kidnapped and recently found alive. It turns out that a few years ago, shortly after his kidnapping scam artist and phony psychic Sylvia Browne predicted it all. Well, that is except for the part about him being alive and recovered. This worthless woman told his parents that he was dead. It is truly beyond me why anyone gives this woman any attention or money. She prays on families of crime victims.

As I’ve said before, I can’t figure out why Montel Williams, who seems reasonably intelligent, gives this predator time on his sybdicated show.

Read more on CNN’s Anderson Cooper 360 Blog then head over to StopSylviaBrowne.com to learn more about the havoc this terrible woman has caused.

Stop Sylvia Brown

Posted by Michael in Randomness

Pogue’s Ode to the RIAA

David Pogue is a tech journalist for the New York Times. But in another life he was also a Broadway arranger. His latest tech song is a commentary on the RIAA. We all know that the RIAA will eventually destroy the music industry, but it seems even more obvious when it’s set to music! 🙂

I agree with the others who have commented on the post, I want an mp3 of it!

Check it in Pogue’s Posts.

Posted by Michael in Interesting Links, Technology

Pogue’s Ode to the RIAA

David Pogue is a tech journalist for the New York Times. But in another life he was also a Broadway arranger. His latest tech song is a commentary on the RIAA. We all know that the RIAA will eventually destroy the music industry, but it seems even more obvious when it’s set to music! 🙂

I agree with the others who have commented on the post, I want an mp3 of it!

Check it in Pogue’s Posts.

Posted by Michael in Interesting Links, Technology

Merry Christmas!

Here’s wishing you a very Merry Christmas! I hope that you and your family the best Christmas ever!

Posted by Michael in Life

Tracking Santa

As they do every year, NORAD will track Santa Claus beginning tomorrow morning. See, you knew the military had to have a fun side! 🙂

Check it out at www.noradsanta.com.

Posted by Michael in Interesting Links

The Story of Christmas

When you think of Christmas you probably think of Christmas trees, lights, Santa Claus, a blazing fireplace, gift giving, etc. But why do these images mean Christmas to us? Whether or not you believe the Christian mythology of how Christmas started, you should know that the holiday that we celebrate every December is a result of centuries of traditions from around the world coming together to form what we as a culture call Christmas.

To learn about all of these traditions and how they shaped our current Christmas celebrations, check out this great History of Christmas site put together by the History Channel. I stumbled upon it while looking for something specific, but wound up reading every page.

Enjoy! Merry Christmas!

Posted by Michael in Interesting Links