[liff] @SJKPDX, Now With Extra Added Facebook

3072.

I was finally allowed to shift my Twitter profile to the new Facebook-esque style. I did this because I love not being able to tell if I'm on one or the other, apparently.

Twitter me at @SJKPDX. 

[writing] As Far As You Know, I Wrote Earthsea

2946.According to an idiot online expert system, I come off in print like one of my idols:

I write like
Ursula K. Le Guin

I Write Like. Analyze your writing!

I was thinking of putting this in my sidebar but I'm leaning toward not doing this thing. It's an interesting thing, kind of like getting a lottery scratch ticket and finding I won a grand, but it's a distraction, really. The decision is governed by rules of which I'm not aware, which are coded by human developers who layer their own assumptions thereunto. Also it's crufted over by advertising, so the ulterior motive is maybe the profit one and not all that hidden.

It's kind of easy to have an algorithm tell you your writing has Ursula K. LeGuin's voice and figure you've achieved something.

The object of my writing is maybe to be inspired by UKL, but not to be a clone of that.

My diary calls. 

[net_liff] We're Guessing God Hates Anonymous Now: WBC's Facebook Page Hacked

2922.This is still in progress as we speak; so consider this breaking, but sometime last evening, that amoebic karass that everyone thinks they understand called "Anonymous" has hacked into and replaced images on … sittin down? … the Westboro Baptist Church's Facebook page.

Here's a screenshot as of the time of this posting:

The replaced profile information is a scream.

And there's also this:

As Mom Always Said™ … couldn't have happened to a nicer bunch o'people. Now you can point and laugh at Westboro with even more gusto. Heck, this is more aweseomer than that person who put up the gay-colored house across the street from Westboro a couple months back.

While you can see the carnage, it's at Westboro's FB page. 

[blog] A Most Unique Mea Culpa: Sorry CookingSchools.Net Is Sorry

2921.We receieved the most memorable, so far, in its way, of communiques here at Home Base today.

Some time ago, we linked to and shared, via this blog, a very witty and very true infographic we found, lord only remembers how at this point, extolling the virtues and benefits of Sriracha - the famous Rooster Sauce, that Thai/Viet style red sauce in the big plastic bottle.

It's an acquired taste. One should work on that. But I digress. The infographic is at this entry hyar.

Today I got an email from on Jack Pritt, saying he was writing on behalf of the site that (I understood) originally released the graphic: CookingSchools.net (I'll not link that right now; why anon). The missive read, in part, as thus:

My name is Jack, and I'm contacting you on behalf of CookingSchools.net today. That makes this seem like a spam email, but I promise it's not. We recently lost our ranking with Google because they changed their standards for webmasters. In the past, we, more or less, pushed links onto people, begging them to please link to us when we thought that their sites would add value to ours and vice versa. It is this pushing that got us into trouble. We behaved in such a way that even the links on good quality sites aren't what they should be. It is our fault entirely.

So, apparently, CookingSchools.Net is a bad actor, at least by the lights of  Google, who de-ranked them a bit because they were way too needy with people who linked to them.

For the record, I linked there because, well, they created that nifty graphic. Honest-to-Ra-truth. But, they've been shilling so much, I guess, that Google took a dim view, and they're doing damage control there.

Well, if that's really what's been going on, then good on them for being so sincere and owning it and all. It's so easy not to own what mistakes one makes on the 'net, and so easy to make them … so, as per Jack's request, I've delinked the entry to CookingSchools.Net from that blog posting. I have, however, left the credit in the narrative.

Because … well, they created it, not me. And it doesn't seem to be a spam site or anything like that, so cut'n'paste from the text here if yer curious.

And so it goes.

[net_liff] Mahtab Zargari and the Yoda Soda

2812.I've rhapsodized at length about Mahtab in the past. If you've not been introduced, let me explain.

Mahtab Zargari is this precocious little 8-year old girl who has a passion for food. Yes, I know, what kid doesn't? But, unlike most kids, she makes the greatest little show out of it.

Mahtab's Big Kid Cooking Show is now at 11 episodes; she's covered things like making hummus wraps (yes, and "Yoda Soda") in the little-kid way but with a big-kid approach and a comfortability with the camera that is unmistakable. It's hard not to be sweet on young ladies, but I say, sirra, if you don't fall for Mahtab and her food act, then you must have a heart of stone. You must.


Here, after a too-long wait, is the anticipated 11th ep of Big Kid Cooking Show, where she assembles a glass of Yoda Soda from the Star Wars Cookbook.



It's easy to use gentle terms to describe her act … adorable, sweet, cute all come to mind, and they're all, in their way, true. However, Mahtab's got more going for her than just being a charming young lady. It's also easy to dish off a term like passionate, but how many 8-year-olds have you heard of that are still starring in such a charming series of Internet shorts that they've been doing since they were four?

She's literally been doing this for half her life. In this ADHD world, that's not just an achievement, it's a minor miracle.

And that's why I'm still sweet on little Mahtab. Assisted by her doting dad, she's a picture-perfect example of someone who's lucky enough to find her passion early. She plainly enjoys what she's doing, and when she speaks to the camera, it's like a friend is speaking to you.

We know not what this bespectacled gem has up her sleeve for the future, but we presume that what she wants, she'll pretty much get.

If you want to see the previous 10 episodes in the series, look here: http://bigkidcookingshow.podbean.com/ . She has a Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/mahtabzargari, and yes, you should like it. 

[net_liff] Search Terms of Endearment

2772.The strangest search terms cause hits here. Witness:

You read it right. The missive about two back titled The Bridges of Marion County turned up in someone's Yahoo! search where the terms where (ahem):

marion county constipation protocol forms

Yah, baby.

I didn't know you had to fill out forms to do that. When it happens to me - not that it happens often, mind - it just sort of happens. 


As far as 'protocol', my guess is a lot of hard cheese and drywall should do it.

[net_liff] SOPA/PIPA Stopped … For Now

2759.The past day of protest may or may not have had anything to do with the new reluctance on the Congrefs's part. But some of the rules have seemed to have changed: A thing that was a sure thing is still a possible thing, but not a sure thing anymore.

It's important that one Senator who supported PIPA - Sen. Rubio (R-Florida) and two Representatives who supported SOPA (Terry (R-Ind), Quayle (R-Ariz) have pulled support. To me, it's important that they're conservative Republicans. It's no longer politically safe to do.

However, it's not over until it's over, as Yogi said, and the legislation is shelved, but only for now. Perhaps they think that they just have to tinker with it, I don't understand why. It's simply a bad idea.

Given that online piracy is a disease, SOPA/PIPA is curing the disease by killing the patient. We, as a nation, cannot say with a straight face that we promote free enterprise and, at the same time, make it impossible for free enterprise to flourish.

TechCrunch has a very good overview of the whole magila at this link hyar.

We're safe from SOPA and PIPPA for the moment, though, which means we can blow off some steam by making jokes about it. Such as:

So sweet, so pretty, and so very dangerous to a free and open internet.

Word.

[net_liff] SOPA? Why Does You Hates Us, Congrefs? (NOW! With Creator-Approved Piracy!)

2754.As it turns out, I'm just not smart enough to block out this entire blog, and even though I'm not the most popular destination of the Intertubez (I've kinda made my peace with this (no, I haven't)) eventually there comes a time when you do have to say something.

The Oatmeal has invited everyone to 'pirate the shit' out of the following animated GIF. It explains it all in terms that anyone should be able to get. If you don't like The Oatmeal, you're uncool and should have your Internet connection downgraded to dialup, but that's just me for you.

What I don't understand is where Congress (or, as they called it in the days of the founding of our republic, Congrefs) got the idea that we want this stuff. I didn't say, gee, Congrefs, when you go into session next year, could you please come up with a law that will turn me into a criminal just for linking to someone's site, and make it impossible for me to say, start a business without having to have a legal team the size of the First Army to make sure my legal i's are crossed and my t's are dotted?


I didn't say that. Did any of you? Didn't think so.

So much for all that. If you want to pirate The Oatmeal's animated GIF, go here (http://theoatmeal.com/sopa), and we really recommend that you read this short, comprehensible FAQ produced by teh Google: https://www.google.com/landing/takeaction/sopa-pipa/ and note that Google and Wikipedia both blacked out for the day, and imagine what it would be like to have to deal with an Internet like that, because if we get stuck with SOPA and PIPA, that's just what we'll have ... all the time.

Piracy is a problem. SOPA and PIPA are not the solution.

[net_liff] Some Facebook Cover Images If You Don't Have One Yet

2733.I enjoy the new Facebook Timeline. Visually, it's a winner, being much more visually engaging than the old profile views. And the banner - the 'cover image' - across the top can make it all hum, in a visual sense.

You may not have any idea what you'd want to have as a banner. Well, Bart Grootveld is showing off 25 of them that he considers sexy, views such as this:

They're all sized to fit the new cover photo banner area, so there shouldn't be any cutoff.

There are a few that I don't consider sexy; there's realistically-shaded versions of favorite image-macro memery such as the Y U No Guy, the Forever Alone Guy, and the Me Gusta Guy. Actually, I find them kinda disturbing. But someone might like 'em.

They're all here: http://www.bartgrootveld.com/design/25-sexy-facebook-timeline-banners/. Yeah, there're 25 of them.

[net_liff] What Yelp! Needs … More Cormac McCarthy

2729.What Yelp! needs? A voice with style, with gravitas (which is a veggie I think I had on one of my salads recently), with world-weariness and the ability to see through lies.

I mean, of course, Cormac McCarthy:

Four stars.
I am going to remove a star, he said.
Please don’t mister.
Don’t move. It’s better if you don’t move.
Please.
It’s important you know why. Do you understand why this is happening?
Oh God.
It is because I clearly shared with you my condition. I cannot countenance gluten. And yet I see croutons here. Do you see them as well?
Yes. I’m sorry.
Do you understand that sorry does not remove the croutons?
Yes. Oh God.
Good. Then we can agree your action has changed the course of the universe in some infinitesimal but irrevocable way. To remove the croutons would not remove the action. You see?
The waiter closed his eyes.

That was Cormac at Chili's. Rating: four stars. Read the rest, and here's the whole thing.

[teh_funnay] Why Is This Man Applauding?: Juxtapostion Funnies #2

2721.Sometimes one wonders if the newsy-feeds are trying to mess with our heads. I think so, myself:

My guess? That's got to be an Arsenal supporter.

[net_liff] Lamest. Phishing. Attempt. Evar.

2641.In fairness, Phishing is a pretty lame thing all around. And the trend seems to be that of a growing thing … you know, like a rash or similar … but so many people are doing it that the creativity has been spread very thin.

In that wise, here's the … current … official lamest try ever. This is a screenclip from my email.

Yep, boyz and girlz, that's it. That's all. They aren't even trying to spoof a g-mailish address anymore, at leat they remembered to call it "Google Team", but the subject and the message body don't even matchup.

Is my Gmail Account Active Yes or No ? 

You sent it to me using Gmail, genius. What'ya think?

Geeze.

This Handy Chart Should Explain Everything:

1951.It's all so very clear to me now.




Clicky here to embiggen.

Technorati Tags: teh funnay, reddit, digg, 4chan, humor, net_humor, graphic humor

Shout Out To Followers

1939.The new Blogger service called "Following" means you can actual visible supporters, and I (suprisingly enough) have gathered a few.

I want to thank you all for stepping up and saying I'm worth keeping tabs on:

• Dale, of Faith In Honest Doubt, who's just plain fun to read.
• Stan (Dinglemunch) and his wife Nicole (Coley Boley), our favorite expat Milwaukiean and his life's love. I really should read you guys more than I do. You're quite good.
• Smoky Banjo, a very funny fellow I met over at MyDamnChannel
• Dustin Williams. This fellow was very much a pleasant surprise, because I've never met him. He lives in Memphis (yes, the one in Tennessee)
• Dan Christensen. This is a real find, this one. He writes the blog TriMet Confidential, and he's a bus driver. Fascinating human stories, very loose "story-teller" vibe. People should read this. Get to know the routes from the other side. You've heard that the life of a TriMet driver is an interesting one, well, now you'll understand how.

I know not how the last two of you found me, but I'm glad you did. Thanks for the encouragement!

Photobucket Sabotage?

1926.Did this happen to anyone else?

Photobucket hosts some of the content I use as illustrations here. Eariler today, I noticed a problem  with my header image ... it wasn't loading. So I tried going to the album in PB that hosts it and found that Firefox was being redirected.

Not anything else. Tried Opera and Safari. Just Firefox.

The redirection took me to a page that swore that my hard drive was infected and that it needed a cleaning, and a download sheet that I couldn't opt out of.

But after I cleared private data, it stopped. I of course reinstalled Firefox.

Not a problem since.

BTW, Crackers? Do I have your attention? Yes, most people have WindowsXP, but not everyone, you savvy? If you're going to have a fake virus scan display take over a web browser, we OS X users can tell a WinXP interface when we see it. At least make the effort to make the infterface experience look all OS X-y, okay?

Not only did your hack not work on me, it makes you look like you're phoning it in.

C'mon, you dips ... a little artistry, yes?

Technorati Tags: photobucket, crackery, hackery, system exploits

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