Category: blogs

Change

I was looking back over my archives the other day and I was struck by how many bloggers have come and gone in the last 10 years. I miss reading their blog updates. It was a fun & new way to express yourself. And with sites like Blogger, WordPress, LiveJournal, Typepad, etc it was easy. For me, it was a natural transition from my attempts at keeping written journals to online. I figured I could kill two birds with one stone. One, I could teach myself to be more introspective and two, share my experiences with others.

I know many have succumbed to the pull of Facebook, twitter, etc. I can’t blame them but I find I use FB less and less every day. I’d abandon completely if I could. Every time a new funny saying or fake smart-ass gift card comes out, my stream is overwhelmed with it. No thanks. I still like twitter and Google+ but even they don’t really seem to hold my attentions much. Primarily, it becomes information overload. Important or significant details get lost in the minutia. I’ve been really slow to build circles on Google+ to avoid this. Granted, it keeps my stream pretty bare but thats ok.

Looking back, I got tickled at how often I blogged about absolutely nothing. I’d just sit down and ramble about nothing and make a whole post out it. lolol These days I tend to blog more when I have something to say. I still try to do daily journals to myself but I keep those private as not to overwhelm my subscriber base. I had tried just posting frivolous stuff via FB and Foursquare but I got bored with that too. Honestly, no one cares how many days I go to the gym, what I had for breakfast, what color my last bowel movement was, [1]TMI? lolol etc.

So I find myself coming back to my blog more and more these days instead. This way I can focus on what I really want to share. It may not always be overly important but that’s ok too. I figure if you really wanna know what I’m doing you’ll check here. I always seem happier when I’m blogging.

🙂

References

References
↑1 TMI? lolol

Bounce

Ok, gents. I’m getting several registered accounts on my blog with email bounces. I appreciate everyone who has signed up for subscriptions but you need to either use a valid email account or one that isn’t full.

I don’t like deleting accounts but if it continues I will have no choice. I’ll try to contact you, if I can, prior to deletion but I can’t micro-manage le blog so I am asking for your help. Please, puh-lease update your account if your emails invalid or you use an account where it might be full.

Thanks a bunch! 🙂

New

If you are a first-time commenter or new user, don’t sweat it if if your comments don’t show up right away. Once I initially approve a comment, future comments should show up right away, providing you log-in the same way.

Unfortunately, due to time constraints and the large number of s-p-a-m comments I get in the moderation que, it can take a few hours/days before I get to your legitimate one. I try to log on once a day but I don’t always find the time so bear with me.

🙂

Mobile II

I’ve been tinkering with converting my blog to an app on Android. No, I’m not taking up Android programming, you can find a few sites online that will convert and compile it for free, albeit ads included. So far, I’ve created three very basic but different versions. All three are just wrappers. [1]meaning it’s just wrapped in a user interface

The first one is via WP-Appmaker and I like it the least. It renders very well but has no push notifications so you have to manually update it anytime you want new data. IMHO this completely defeats the purpose. The only real option you have is to sort posts by category. Considering it forces ads on you (I understand why) it should include more options.

The second one is with JoeMobi and had the most potential. Creating the app on their site was very buggy and time-consuming. If you forgot to fill out a required field or it didn’t like what you were trying to upload, you’d  get an error. You think have to start all over from the very beginning. This one also renders w/ads but it includes push notifications. Push means the app would update itself anytime I post something new. It was also the only one that supported comments directly from the app vs having to link out to the web and then post a comment. Sadly, I couldn’t get the in-app new comment part to work. However, unlike the other two, you could see existing comments. It also works with a Blackberry if you have one of those.

The third one is thru Conduit. It’s not bad. Choosing or creating your own unique colors and layout were much easier to use for a novice. Unlike the others, it does not force ads on the reader. Conduit was the only free one to offer the option to include your twitter feed as a separate tab. This one would be perfect if they ever added comment support.

There were about 6-7 other sites that do the same thing but they were mostly geared toward businesses and charge some pretty hefty fees. I don’t have the money for such things right now. One worth mentioning was Mippin. It was unique in that you could tie in FB fan pages, twitter, Picasa, Flickr, etc. They charge a flat $99 fee for a two-device app. Sadly, it still doesn’t support comments.

Don’t get me wrong I’m not complaining about the 3 above as they are free! But, you also get what you pay for. I wouldn’t have minded the in-app ads had they given me the option to make a portion of the revenue after a certain point. Yes, I realize that’s how they make their money but ads for such basic wrappers is kinda overkill IMHO.

I’ve included links to the apk files for all three versions I created. If you’re on an Android device, just select the links below. As mentioned, they are very basic but feel free to play with’em, if ya like. Also keep in mind, you’ll have to click the allow unknown installs on your Android device before it will let you install them. There is NO SUPPORT with the apps. If you don’t like, simply delete’em off your device. They are too basic to cause any problems but I can’t guarantee they’ll work with old versions of Android.

 

The WP-Appmaker version

 

The JoeMobi version

 

The Conduit version

 

If I ever decide to upgrade them, I’ll post a new update.

References

References
↑1 meaning it’s just wrapped in a user interface

Comments

So I’m considering disabling my janrain plugin and switching to Intense Debate. I’m taking feedback from anyone who has used Intense Debate as an end user and/or on your own site.

This really only affects folks that log in via universal log-ins like Google, OpenID, Twitter, etc. Those of you who have your  own log-ins here, won’t be affected. [1]This means you still have access to all the “private” stuff I post from time to time. heehee  The janrain plugin is easy to install but the back end setup takes more programming knowledge than I have to keep it running correctly. Plus, every time one of the big players update their api’s I end up having to start over with fixing it on my end. I don’t really have the time to screw with it. I like janrain because everything remains in-house, meaning all my comments are stored in my blog, not on someone else’s servers. This removes any problems with people not being able to comment if afore mentioned other servers go down.

There are a variety of comment management systems out there. I don’t like Disqus as I always have problems trying to use their platform from mobile devices. For whatever reason, the log-in mechanism never seems to go thru. Even worse, the comment box doesn’t seem to come thru as an actual box so I can’t activate the keyboard to type. Since about 70% of how I access blogs these days is thru mobile devices, I sure as hell ain’t planning to shoot myself in the foot. lol

Intense Debate seems to be very tightly integrated with WordPress. Instead of trying to hold all my comments, they sync with my WordPress installation. In simple terms, they keep comments added thru their platform on their servers but they also sync with my WordPress installation. In a nutshell, this means I get to keep my old and new comments. And, if I ever decide to ditch the platform I still keep all my comments. But wait, there’s more! I also don’t have to worry about mobile comments as my mobile plugin uses the WordPress built in comment system, which gets synced! I remember way back when I migrated from Blogger to WordPress, I lost all my comments. They didn’t have an import-comment function then and to do it manually was more headache than I wanted to research. Intense Debate also offers a variety of log-in options built into their platform. That means I don’t have to manage it on my own. You could still leave comments via your favorite universal long-in.

The only problem I can foresee is a user conflict if/when I switch over. Even when using universal log-ins, WordPress creates an internal user account on my blog tied to your email. I don’t know if a different platform like Intense Debate would understand if it’s the same user account or try to create a new one, which would generate a conflict. I sent Intense Debate an email asking how it would work since I couldn’t find anything in their FAQ or support pages.

Wish me luck!

References

References
↑1 This means you still have access to all the “private” stuff I post from time to time. heehee

Banned

Someone got banned by my spam blocker today. lol Apparently, his IP address was being used to hammer my admin account in an attempt to crack my blog. tsk, tsk! heehee I’ve removed the ban as I know it wasn’t him but I’m tickled it was his IP address. [1]A prime example of why you should never use your default admin account in WordPress.

As a reminder, if you find you can’t access le blog, email me and I’ll look into it. A good first-step is to try to access it from a different location or internet connection. Spammers often hijack open wifi points and/or unsuspecting users and use their computers to do all their dirty work. I see it time and time again sadly. While few sites are truly hack-proof, a few precautions go along way to keep out the bad guys.

Don’t randomly open links/files in emails that you weren’t expecting, even if it is from someone you know. If you use Chrome, they do a good job of blocking malware sites but it’s never 100% foolproof.

Don’t fall for “your account as been locked or suspended, here click on this link and verify your info…” scams. You can do like I do and manually type the link into your location field of your browser of choice. That way you know you aren’t being spoofed.

On a follow up to that, most email clients allow hover functions. Meaning if you hover the mouse over a link it shows a tiny pop up window that displays the actual link. If it is different, in any way from the one displayed, don’t click it.

When you aren’t using your computer/laptop, shut it down . The old adage about ruining your pc by turning it off/on too much is really nonsense. You’d have to do this a 100 times more than the average user to really cause a problem.

At the end of the day, do like my Maw-maw always said, “believe none of what you hear, and half of what you see.”  In other words, if it sounds suspicious don’t just click it like an idiot.  lolol

Oh, and welcome back Brett.

References

References
↑1 A prime example of why you should never use your default admin account in WordPress.

Knock

So I’m checking my blog stats the other day and my log-in tracker was so long it almost crashed the browser. lol Apparently, a crack engine [1]code for a rogue server trying to crack user passwords w/repeated random attempts over and over and over… burned thru over 500 attempts to log into my blog via the default admin account. As mentioned in a several previous posts, one should always disable this default and create a separate more secure one. Anyway, the default account has been locked for some time so all the attempts failed. I’ve since banned the IP’s, not that it does any good as they just rotate thru those too.

Speaking of, I did notice quite a few regular user log-ins. I was a little surprised at how many of you still use your old trusted log-ins here. Since I am single again, you can expect some use to come from having said log-ins. hehehe.  I’ll be posting in said areas again from time to time.

On a side note, my buddy Large Tony has a new blog link. He decided to retire his West of Mayberry for the newer Third Leg. hehehe  If you’re a fan, update your links accordingly. Large Tony has been my biggest referral generator for months and months now so it’s the least I can do to return the favor. Not to mention he is an all around good guy. Here’s to another year of funny, insightful, poetic, and often erotic posts from Big T.

References

References
↑1 code for a rogue server trying to crack user passwords w/repeated random attempts over and over and over…

Oopsie

While I don’t worry much about my blog comments, I have been a little surprised by the absolute lack of any comments at all lately. I discovered today that would be because the last 5 posts got sent to the draft folder on my server instead of being published! lolol I guess in the switchover back to a PC [1]more on that later my xmlrpc file on the server got confused. I reset the file and it seems to have corrected the problem. I’ll roll out the posts over the next week or so vs all at once.
In doggie news, Cooper [2]he now has his own Google+ and FB profiles, links to follow. is adjusting quite well. His behavioral problems have all but disappeared. Ironically, the one thing we thought would be an easy transition has been the hardest…his potty training. After the first week, he took to peeing (and sometimes poohing) on the carpets when we weren’t around. We tried a few techniques but have finally started to crate him when we aren’t home. The poohing has stopped but the pee episodes still occur. I hate doing it but he needs to learn the rules. This is the most effective method and given time will make him happier. He has clearly been in a crate before as he didn’t whine at all the first night he spent in the crate. December 22 will be his first full month with us and I couldn’t be happier. [3]I expect many of you to remember 11.22.11. Notice the cute pattern? He is a joy to have and be around and brings me lots of smiles. I look forward to him being there when I get home at night. No matter how awful my day has been, seeing him always makes me happy. I’m not sure who gets the most out of the time we spend together, him or me. hehehe
We’ve noticed Cooper definitely has some peculiar habits. One of the funniest is when he crawls off the sofa. He uses just his front feet and literally drags his back-end off onto the floor. Its hysterical to watch. Other times, when he lays down he will walk next to something, like the sofa, and literally just throw himself sideways onto the floor. His newest habit is crawling over me up onto the arm of the sofa to look out over the room. It took him a few tries to get his balance right so he wouldn’t fall. He only seems to do it when I’m actually on the sofa. I like the fact he has odd habits, it makes him more unique in my eyes.

References

References
↑1 more on that later
↑2 he now has his own Google+ and FB profiles, links to follow.
↑3 I expect many of you to remember 11.22.11. Notice the cute pattern?

Heavy Roller

Well, my listing today on Amazon and I have ten, yes count them, 10 whole subscribers! lolol I didn’t really expect anything major mind you. 🙂
I also discovered changing the RSS feed being pushed to Amazon is very VERY easy. I was a tad worried how I could mantain control over certain types of content that isn’t necessarily for public consumption. *snicker* You very long time readers know what I mean.
I also have a lot of random drivel that I don’t share. One of the ways I keep myself blogging is I try to log on at least once a day (or so) to post my meanderings, basically “dear diary” sort of stuff. While completely boring and mundane, it keeps me talking not only to myself but to you. I didn’t want all that cluttering up everyone’s stream.
Annnnyway…. I just tweak the feed link on my dashboard for Amazon and hit publish. I can custom string basically any category [1]or not that I want. *whew* So far it has handled pretty much everything I’ve thrown at it. I added categories, hid categories, etc and it worked. Most excellent.
I’m also trying to expand my list of blogs I read again. It’s been so long since I’ve followed anyone new, I really need to start blog hopping [2]jumping from blogroll to blogroll exploring friends of friends of friends, so to speak again. I really miss having personal blogs to follow and keep up with. I’m down to about 10 and that’s fewere than my first month all those years ago.
On a side note, I’ve been checking my site analytics and after filtering out FB, Google, and twitter, Large Tony is still the number one referal to my blog. And ironically enough, brettcajun was a distant second. I guess I should pop over and thank them for having such loyal blog jumpers. hehehe And speaking of Brett, he is ever the attention whore of the blog world. 🙂 It seems he and Jimbo are having a war to see who can flame the other the most.

References

References
↑1 or not
↑2 jumping from blogroll to blogroll exploring friends of friends of friends, so to speak