Tonite starts days 7-8 of Pesach, so I will be largely off line until Thursday night.
Category: Meta
Light Posting for a While
Wednesday Night Through Saturday Night are the first two nights of Pesach (Passover), and Shabbos, and my frum (Orthodox) mother in law is visiting, so not much computer time.
I do have some stuff set up to auto-post though, as Forhorn Leghorn says, “For just such an emergency.”
I Guess that the AP Boycott by Blogs is Back On Again
Truth be told, I never ended mine, and have used alternate sources for stories where ever possible.
In any case, I try to post a link and a summary, and perhaps a sentence or two, which should fall under fair use.
The article, though is rather odd, as it keeps mentioning Google News and Yahoo, which runs no ads, and is a search service, which would generally be construed as fair use, and Huffington post, which licenses what it publishes from the AP.
On Travel This Weekend
Visiting my mother-in-law’s, so posting will be light to non-existent.
A Hipster???? I’m a Mechanical Engineer, for God’s sake!
Whiskey Tango Foxtrot????
I think that there are still a few bugs in this test.
My Liberal Identity:
You are a New Left Hipster, also known as a MoveOn.org liberal, a Netroots activist, or a Daily Show fanatic. You believe that if we really want to defend American values, conservatives must be exposed, mocked, and assailed for every fanatical, puritanical, warmongering, Constitution-shredding ideal for which they stand.
Take the quiz at www.FightConservatives.com
Bad Hair on My Blog
I got a bit of tech help, and costomized my favicons.ico, so now, on tabs, bookmarks, and the URL bar, you can see me in all my bad hair glory as a 16 x 16 pixel thumbnail.
I wish that I still had that much hair.
Things that I Will Not Talk About On This Blog
She Who Must Not Be Named, They Who Must Not Be Named, and what Michelle Obama chooses to wear, or for that matter, what anyone in politics wears, unless it indicates health issues (Cheney and heavy jackets and moccasins, for example).
That is all.
OK, Google™ Adsense™ is Just Fracked
I’m looking at my blog page, and I have a post excoriating David Frum, and what do I see beneath?
An ad. An ad for “free grants for Republicans”.
As I’ve said before, I do not vet my ads, but when I see something like this, I make fun of them.
This might honk off the sponsor, but their deal is with Adsense™, who should know better that to do ad pitches to ‘Phants on my site.
I’m not worried about the loss of revenue either…I’m generating about $11/month.
On the other hand, if one of you sees a similarly stupid ad, send me a screenshot, and I will make fun of them too.
As a side note, I thought that the ad for the RC model jet fighters was kind of cool.
(No link, just the picture, because the link could be as an inducement to fraudulently click through, which violates Google™ Adsense™ terms of service.)
Meta on Ads
I just saw an ad up on my site for a payday lender.
I find the industry, to be among the most pernicious of financial institutions extant, which is saying a lot.
Just a reminder, I do not vet my ads, they are separate from what I write.
Google Ads: There Are Still a Few Bugs in the System
OK, so a few days ago, I serve up an excerpt from a parody of Atlas Shrugged, so what does Google ads serve up?
Gifts for Proud Producers and Capitalists Everywhere!*
Ummmm….OK…I have nothing but contempt for Ayn Rand and routinely mock her and her followers, calling them “Randroids”, and in this case, I am spreading mockery of what she and her “Randroids” consider to be her magnum opus, and I get an ad serving a company dedicated to lionizing a horrible person and a lousy writer.†
Then again, perhaps the proprietor is mocking her too. There is a notice at the bottom of the page:
JohnGaltGifts.com is not in any way affiliated with or sponsored by the estate of Ayn Rand ®, the Ayn Rand ® Institute (ARI), Dr. Leonard Peikoff, or any other organization or company.
It appears to me that this means that the T-shirt and sticker maker is using the fruit of Ayn Rand’s intellectual output to enrich himself, which is specifically what Rand condemned.
If that’s the case, it’s a very subtle and sophisticated parody.
*I’m linking because I’m complaining, it’s only fair.
†While I have never read Atlas Shrugged, nor do I intend to, I have read The Virtue of Selfishness in 1980 as part of a philosophy of literature class in high school, and it was awful. Emanuel Kant was more readable.
BTW, The Blazer Browser Ain’t Great Either!
Trying to post via my cell phone is a pain.
The Blazer browser that comes with Palm OS is kind of limited.
Anyone have any suggestions?
I’m looking for better Javascript support, the ability directly bookmark a link, and the ability to view a page’s HTML.
Light Posting for a While
Visiting my Mother-in-Law for Thanksgiving.
I Got My First Check from Google™ Adsense
OK, it’s not really a check, I went with electronic funds transfer.
It’s ad revenue, and let me note that I do not endorse, and sometimes I mock, the ads that show up, so click if you through, you do so at your own risk.
I would also note that I am not attempting to induce you to click the ads that you would otherwise not be inclined to click. Advertisers do not appreciate fraud.
If there is any virtue that I bring to this endeavor, it is that I don’t harbor much in the way delusions of adequacy.
I hit $107.24 at the end of September, I just saw the EFT on the 27th..
Hmmmm…That’s $107.24 for 5857 posts over 17 months, or about 1.83 ¢/post… …Damn……A newspaper publisher would love me, but it makes me feel depressed.
I know, if I divide by the number of worthwhile posts…..That’s about $33.41 a post, which is reassuring, in a self deluding way.
You get a payment each time your balance breaks $100.
This payment I am spending on my anniversary dinner with my wife, which is delayed for lack of babysitting, once again proving that marriage is the single most expensive way ever devised to get laid.
I promise to have a beer at dinner, since I kind of sort of promised:
As to where the proceeds go, and at the rate I’m going I’ll get my first check around 2011, they will go to things like beer (or Slivovitz) for me, or taking my wife out to dinner.
And as much as I like Slivovitz, it really does not go with a good quality meal.
Depressingly Sober
Yesterday was Shmini Atseret. Tonight is Simchat Torah, which, along with starting a new job, has had me offline for the past few days.
We are going to a family friendly Simchat Torah celebration….No booze…..So I’m sober, and wishing that I wasn’t.
Oh well, in the morning, I’ll be sober either way.
The Dow Fell Below….
I had this ready yesterday, but I never thought that I would have to use it today.
It’s an obscure Dragonball-Z reference, which has been remixed over 1000 times on Youtube, here’s one video:
BTW, I’m done with Yom Kippur for the next year, but I’m still plowing through my oft-delayed taxes, so posting will be light for a while.
Light Posting for a While
I’m finishing my oft-delayed taxes, and Wednesday sundown through Thursday yundown is Yom Kippur, when I will be off the computer and fasting.
After taxes, 25 hours without food and water will seem like a relief.
Meta
I made a promise not to refer to They Who Must Not Be Named, and I intend to keep it.
Off for 2 Days
Rosh Hashanah, so I will be in Shul.
Back on Wednesday evening, so please, do nothing newsworthy until then.
Yea, like that’s going to happen after the bailout imploded….This may be the most eventful news days of the decade.
Credit Where Credit is Due
I think that Google® Adsense® got it right this time with my post calling bankers wankers:*
Back in December and January, when John McCain was spending money like…well…John McCain, every time I called him a sick, old man, adsense would serve one of his “Death Star” ads, but this time, when I posted something about whining bankers, and they served an ad for “My Name is Earl” and “The Office“, which seems most apropos.
Please note that this is not an inducement for my reader(s) to click on the ads, which is a violation of the Google® Adsense® terms of service.
*Hmmm….there is a rhyme there gotta try and make a rap of it.
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