What A Slacker!

People Pets and the Internet

Add comment May 2nd, 2009

Pets on the interwebs. Search any social network on the internet these days and you will most certainly find a bunch of pet lovers. Search MySpace, facebook or Twitter just a little harder and you will find the pets that belong to those very same pet lovers. Yes, there is a growing number of pets who blog or have their own web pages, and they connect with each other on these social networks.

Take my big boy Boris for example. I blog about him quite often, what is he does, his new toys, etc. When we first got him I even started a blog about his care and growth. Then we both got sick and the blog fell to the wayside. Recently I started dealing more with facebook and Twitter (as MySpace is yesterdays news) and found myself one night setting up accounts for Boris. So now you can follow the exploits of this kitty cat across the web via his blog (he took it over how), twitter and facebook.

I will continue to write about him here, as he is just too darn cote not too (besides he tends to ignore the fact that he has three older sisters who don’t play on the web — you know how it is for us older folks).

Old Writers Grant from the Speculative Literature Foundation

Add comment March 20th, 2009

Are you old and like to write sceince fiction stories? Then check this out.

“The Speculative Literature Foundation is offering a grant of $750 to any writer of speculative literature of 50 years or older at the time of application who is just beginning to work professionally in the field. There are no restrictions on the use of the grant money.”

Pretty sweet deal. Alas I have a few years to wait before applying.

Apply here: SLF Older Writers Grant

thnx Boing Boing

I Want It Wednesday: Complete Control of MY Facebook Content

Add comment March 4th, 2009

Last month (Feb 4th) Facebook changed their terms of service to state that users content would be stored, not unlike email, and, here’s the kicker, that Facebook had rights to your content. So by uploading images, videos, stories etc you were giving Facebook rights to use your content in any way they saw fit.

If I upload something for my friends (or even open to the public) I should have all rights and controls over that content. Facebook should have to come to me to use or profit from what I post before they use it.

I am not the only one that feels this way. Facebook has backed up their TOS to an older version and is now opening it up to discussion and voting (kind of) on Facebook via two groups you can join and post your thoughts about the new TOS. This forum is only open until March 29th so go give them a piece of your mind.

I Hate Browser Incompatibility

Add comment February 26th, 2009

It started out earlier today when my IE6 (I haven’t moved to 7 at work yet as I hate it at home so I tried to keep work from being faced with the same idiotic browsing issues I have here at home) when I got this weird error that the site I was working on had a script on it that was making internet explorer run slow. First time I had ever seen that error message pop up.

Even with all the crap that you get with microsoft’s browser I tend to use it the majority of the time. I know, I know. It is out of a force of habit. But every once in a while I open up Firefox and use it. At work I do this because some sites no longer function properly in IE6.

Anywho, remember how much fun Netscape was and how you had to bounce around from browser to browser because it could not do something the same as the other browser, well this is pretty much the same thing. Why can’t they all just get along?

Case in point this little blog does not work in Firefox but it mostly okay in MSIE7/6. No idea why, but if this looks screwy to you switch over to MSIE and then back again. Sorry.

So do I remove the offending video (I think it is the embedded CBS vids) or leave them there and let ya’ll figure it out? Either way I still hate the incompatibility issues in browsers!

Will Real Levar Burton Please Stand Up

Add comment February 3rd, 2009

I recently signed up for Twitter after hearing about it for a rather long time from all my techno geek friends. (You’ll see whataslacker’s Tweets over there on the bottom of the right-hand column there.)

Basically it is micro blogging at its best. You type a 140-character post, or tweet, and it goes out to all your followers (we don’t have many, so if your on Twitter check us out and follow us). One of the things I like best about it is that I can post from my cell phone when I am out and about. (I don’t have a smart phone or even internet access on my cell phone. I’m not really complaining because it is free; work pays for it.) I could even get the tweets from my friends right to my phone via text messages (thank goodness for unlimited texting).

So last night when I was on Twitter poking around to see who was there and who I might wish to follow I found LeVar Burton, yes the real LeVar Burton. Apparently someone had been impersonating him on Twitter for quite a while so he came in to clear his good name and decided to stay. He also found (like me) that blogging is not dead as many microbloggers would have you believe, because sometimes 140 characters is not enough to really express yourself.

One of the unique features he has over at LeVarBurton.com is an audio version of the blog. Not really a podcast, but similar. It is Mr. Reading Rainbow himself reading his post to you. Pretty cool. So you can choose to simply read the blog, listen to it or do both at the same time. A very novel approach, I look forward to hearing/reading more from Mr. Burton.

So while I have always been leery of celebs on the web as more often than not it is an impostor or just an over zealous fan, I was glad to find the real LeVar Burton as well as fellow TNG alum Wil Wheaton on the web. Glad to see that some big stars out there are reachable even if only via the web. Thanks guys!

Review: Fly Fusion Pentop Computer

Add comment September 25th, 2008

LeapFrog FLY Fusion Pentop Computer is more than just a digital pen. It is an educational tool as well. It is made by Leapfrog so we adults that are using it sometimes feel like we are using a kid’s toy more than a productive piece of equipment. I would say that the fly fusion is geared more toward the junior high (oops I am showing my age there, I mean middle school) and high school crowds, but college students and adults can also use it.

As you write on special paper with the pen it scans your text into the pen then you download your notes to your PC where you can store, email, edit and organize them. You can get additional math and language programs for the pen as well. All your applications can be accessed through a control panel on the fly fusion notebooks. You can even play MP3s through the pen.

Since I’m not in school I don’t really need the added test prep or math programs, but the composition and language programs could be of some use. For the most part the pen work s pretty well. I do have to fix a few errors once my handwriting is converted to a word document, but I would need to proof read a typed document as well. For $ 79 you get the pen, a very thin notebook and $10 download card to use with the enclosed software so you can add games and other apps right away. If you head over to the online store you can pick up additional notebooks, ink, memory cards, a case and other goodies.

I bought the Target exclusive black pen because I thought it looked classier. Well it doesn’t any more because nothing else comes in black. So my pen now looks like Frankenstein. Also the ink is only about 2 thirds that of a regular pen so you’ll want extras right away and I have not seen the ink refills in any store just online. Ink is available in blue, red or green but not black. I like the pen it is nice to carry a tablet and pen with me instead of my laptop. If you do a lot of writing (blogging) you might want to take a look a the fly fusion for under a hundred bucks it is a handy tool to have.

Right now the FLY Fusion Pentop Computer is only $50 at Amazon.

I Want It Wednesday: Livescribe Pen

1 comment September 24th, 2008

Digital pens are so cool. I first saw the livescribe pen at Target and boy does it look sweet (I am writing this using the fly fusion digital pen), The Livescribe Pulse Smartpen looks to be more geared to college students and business people over the LeapFrog FLY Fusion Pentop Computer. Live scribe also records the audio as you write and it can be played back with just a tap of the pen on your tablet. With digital pens you don’t have to lug your heavy laptop with you just a pen and paper is all you need. Bloggers are going to love this new toy. Simply hand write your posts then upload them to your PC. Proof read and cut and paste, viola you’re all done. (If it works, but reports/reviews say the LiveScribe pen does not convert your handwriting to text just yet.)

Make Money Using Others Sites

1 comment August 20th, 2008

I just stumbled on this site that lets you make money simply by using their website. YouSayToo.com

Sign up, write your blog posts and reap the benefits of their adds. The more popular your content the more money you make. Might be a nice side blogging opportnity for some. at least it is worth a look-see, right?

Big Blogger Boo-Boo

Add comment July 8th, 2008

Well I guess enough is enough. They caught my little blog posts at work and called me on them. Even though I never said where I worked it was obvious to them or anyone who knows me that I was referring to them, I guess they did not like having a mirror held up to their faces. I really thought they would fire becoming yet one more casualty in the freedom of speech and right blog wars. Apparently I did come pretty close to getting let go. So I self censored. I edited my posts to remove any offending text (at least what I thought was offending any way) and I won’t post any more of my feelings when it comes to my job. So for now it is business as usual at least until that other foot drops and I finally become another blogger fired for writing their feelings online.

More Ways To Make Money Blogging

Add comment June 5th, 2008

A new company has arrived on the scene that lets you make money from blogging. It is called Bloggerwave. Really easy to sign up and be approved. Once you are you will almost immediately be able to pick a topic to blog about and make money from the sponsor. It is based in Europe, but is available to bloggers around the world.

OMG They Should Be Called PainPerPost

Add comment May 29th, 2008

PayPerPost is a really good way to make a few extra bucks each day writing sponsored posts, but sometimes they can be a BIG pain in the butt. I recently wrote a really great post about something I feel passionately about and just because I link my post to the companies and products involved in the legal case PPP decided it was a sponsored post. Well guess what? It was not!

The post entitled The Litter Box Wars: LitterMaid vs SmartScoop is completely my content and not sponsored (although I would have liked a 500 word article to have been sponsored it was not). I completely adhered to their rules that “each PayPerPost post must be immediately preceded and immediately followed by at least one non-sponsored, original content post”. (Duh, did that!) Yet they won’t pay me for the sponsored post I did for them.

Maybe they need to take another look at the post. Or maybe we bloggers aren’t allowed to have an actual opinion unless they are dictating it to us? This lawsuit is against a company that I admire and I feel strongly about. So strong in fact, that I took it upon myself to utilize SocialSpark.com to help get the word out via a BlogUBack Spark on the site. Now I am left wondering if they will pull my blog Spark from that site? Are we not allowed to get people to help us fight the fight through their system? We’ll have to wait and see.

Oh and for the record this post was not endorsed by PPP in any way shape or form (just in case they try to pull this same crap on me for my next “job” with them.

Big Fat Stupid Heads

Add comment May 28th, 2008

I have been informed that my sponsored post will not be paid because the yutzes over at PPP think my little tirade about big corporations like those behind the Littermaid litter box trying to kill the little guy like the fine folks over at OurPet’s is a sponsored post.

I link to both parties so which one is doing the sponsoring? I have no affiliate links in the post so how am I being paid? Perhaps they need to open their eyes and look at the links in a post before saying that you don’t get paid for your hard work today because we see links in your posts. Did you read the post? Did you follow the links? I doubt it or you would have realized it is what it is, a valid original content, non-sponsored post. This little police action of theirs has actually tick me off.

If I had been sponsored I would have said “oh well they caught me” and just remove the unpaid post from my blog but this is war now. So now I stick this rant about them in between my sponsored post with them and my non-sponsored post that they cannot see is not a paid post.

The Almighty NoFollow Tag

Add comment May 28th, 2008

As bloggers we all become relatively aware of the nofollow tag. We might not know what it means or why we use it but we know about it. For most of us the nofollow attribute is automatically added to the links people post in our comments. This is to help us stop comment spamming. (I know you know what that is. What blogger hasn’t opened their admin to see a ton of nonsense and links to gambling, insurance or porn sites.)

Well, the rel=”nofollow” added to the html of a standard link tells a search engine not to follow that link. By not following the link they will not count that link towards that sites link popularity. Has this knowledge stopped the spammers? No. Does it hurt you or your blog? No. It does, however, hurt the people you would like to be linking to. Therefore I do not recommend using the nofollow tag in your posts if you wish to give that person some internet props and help out their link popularity and ultimately their page ranks.

It seems all the major search engines (Google, Yahoo and MSN) have agreed to honor this new tag. Although it appears that is not the case and it is largely ignored.

My advice to you is to make sure all your hard work in getting reciprocal links is not destroyed by those two little words. Be sure you request a link back to you that is does not contain that particular little snippet of coding. Why anyone seeking links or articles to drive traffic or exposure would choose to use that tag is beyond me.

Check out the Search Engine Journal’s article 13 Reasons Why NoFollow Tags Suck for a better explanation why you don’t want or need this tag clogging up your html code. But as a blogger the best defense against comment spamming is to moderate your comments carefully to keep that junk from even hitting your site. Your readers will appreciate being able to actually read the comments instead of all the ping backs and scrolling nonsense text.