So, Glam or Geek?

MySpace Tries to Glam Up | Newsweek Tech and Business | Newsweek.com.

Definitely, Geek.

Don't order books from ...

... because they'll send you a book with the wrong ISBN tag and still claim that they sent you the right book. Let me explain. I wanted to order a Statistics book, the 7th ABBREVIATED edition. So I went on Half.com, and ordered it from them. Yet, when I received the book, they sent me the non-ABBREVIATED edition, but they put the ID tag complete with title that states it is an ABBREVIATED edition and the ISBN number that matches the ABBREVIATED EDITION. So to them, they sent the right book because the ISBN matches.

I tried explaining this to them, but of course they went by the ISBN sticker that they printed and insists that they sent the right book. I don't think that by sticking a ISBN sticker on a book that does not match the actually book qualifies as "WE SENT YOU THE RIGHT BOOK."

Of course, I had to pay my own shipping costs to get the refund.

It's not a good business practice to try to pass off certain books as others. I've ordered books from the Internet before. And "sometimes books have different ISBN numbers" aint's going to cut it either.

I'm getting angrier as I type this, so I'm going to stop now.

Yahoo revised

I guess Yahoo changed it's homepage again? Cuz it was weird to log into the net with all the changes. It's a lot packed into one page. A lot.

edit: ...and they changed it back.

My favorite place on the web

Makeup Alley. This place rocks! I've found my little piece of heaven on the vast Internet. Fun and resourceful. I'm going to consult them on products I buy from now on. Plus, it's a great place to find products to try.

This place is responsible for my increase spending lately. The site spoils me.

Love me, Internet

I hate that whenever I'm unhappy I always buy something on the Internet to make me feel better. Is this really my life?

Amazon and Ebay are my best friends now. I have a long wish list and whenever I'm pissed, I always search through it for things I want to buy. By spending money, I'm getting rid of all that self-hate and guilt. Too bad it only works for a while, then I get buyers guilt and hate myself for spending money. Oh, the cycle!

I don't want the Internet to be the one place where I can find solace, but a lot of times it feels like it. If the Internet were to vanish tomorrow, I'd curl up and die.

Don't worry, I'll cheer up in a bit and regret that I've posted such a revealing post that makes me look weak. It's the way my life rolls.

Firefox Add-ons? Yes, please!

Since I've upgraded to the 1.5v of Firefox, I've been going a little Add-on mad. I can't get enough of all the extras available for download. So far, I've added:

• Sage: I use Sage the least mainly because I use Kinja, I guess. But I have wanted to try out an RSS reader. Wizz RSS Newsreader is another one that I have read positive reviews about.
  
• Tabbrower Preferences: I used to have an old version with my pre 1.5v of Firefox, and loved it, so when I transitioned into the new 1.5v, I wanted to upgrade. Tab Mixer Plus is also excellent. I did download it and try it out. But I think familiarity wins here.
• Gmail Manager: I don't give people my gmail account often because it's so new, and I'm trying to limit my emailing activity to one main account, so I don't lose track of emails. But I think I might just have to break the rule on the one-email-account-only because the manager is so addicting. Nothing like waiting to see if you have mail.
• del.icio.us: I'm loving the del.icio.us extension. It beats going into my bookmarks every time I want to tag something. I have an icon on my menu bar that allows me to simply tag any web page I come across. Plus, there's even an icon that takes me directly to my del.icio.us page. Perfect.
• Answers: I've never heard of this search engine before. But their ALT-CLICK on a word to find the meaning is a revelation, and it will do wonders for my vocabulary. Usually, when I come across a word on the web I don't understand, I just ignore it, or maybe I'll be tempted to type it in my search bar and select dictionary.com to look up its meaning. But no more! Alt-Click is all that it takes.
• SearchPluginHacks: Finally, I found something to get rid of unwanted search engines. I took out Creative Commons because I don't think I'll be using it much. I did take out Answers before I knew what it was, but I think dictionary.com and Wikipedia will suffice as references. Plus, having Amazon and Ebay as search engines does little to limit the useless hours I spend surfing their sites looking for bargains and useless junk.

Unkymoods is gone

Aww. Just found out unkymoods.com is defunct. I loved that site. Used to have a mood featured in earlier incarnations of my blog. Now when I finally think I might want one again, the website's disappeared. Too bad.

I am Firefox enlightened

Mozilla Firefox released its full version today.

I downloaded Firefox, and I am typing this post using it. Wow. I am noticing slight differences. First off, the screen area seems so bigger, brighter, and cleaner. The way in which web pages are rendered is different as well. I finally get to see what my blog looks like outside of IE. (I notice that my blog is not center. My layout is messed up in the very top and bottom of the right side. And I'm hating the way Firefox loads my blog.)

I love playing with a new toy. I love figuring out all the hidden secrets. I think I'm going to really like using Firefox.

One of the biggest reasons I downloaded Firefox is the added security I wanted, and I'm hoping Firefox doesn't let me down.

UPDATE: Hopefully, this blog is more Firefox friendly now.

Adware/spyware peeps, you're so smart! I hate you!

Tonight I just discovered a "bundle" of adware/spyware in Windows. I presumed it's adware/spyware because it has file/application names like these: optimize.exe, setup_silent_17299.exe, and webrebates_auto_installsilent.exe.

So here's the problem that I have with it besides the obvious: It's like another slap in the face from adware/spyware creators. Spyware people: I already stupidly got tricked into downloading your crap. Now you choose to label your vicious files like that? It's so blatantly obvious that you're killing me. They are mocking me. Taunting me. I know anything with "silent" in it is not good. Duh! Couldn't you make it harder for me to find? Could you? It's like a cat and mouse game with you people, eh?

Well I'm here to tell you that you have won. For now. I have to live with this until I get to ditch this computer for a brand new one. Ha. Ha.

My computer has more than its share of ad/spy ware, as far as I'm concerned. I don't know if it was like this all the time, but ever since I got doped into downloading from Internet Optimizer, I have had problems. Whole bunches of other adware/spyware are nesting comfortably on my computer, and I'm freaked out. I know it's there, but I can't get rid of it myself. Ad-aware isn't detecting adware/spyware that Yahoo! Anti-Spy is listing. That sux.

I find files with weird names that I’m sure are adware/spyware, but I don't want to arbitrary delete files. I'm not a computer geek.

Now, spyware is taking over my life. I constantly worried that it's messing up my computer by sending its hosts important information about me over the net. It's all I think about when I'm on my computer, and when I'm surfing the net. I'm more sensitive to my computer’s behavior than ever before. I cringe when it gets too loud or IE is too slower. Signs of spyware I think. Not good.

Yahoo! Toolbar with Anti-Spy

I've just installed the new Yahoo! toolbar with Anti-Spy. [I used to have Google -- I downloaded it because I used google to look up anything and everything.] I'm testing this thing out. It detected a whole bunch of stuff Adware didn't. I deleted most of files Anti-Spy said were adware or spyware, but I'm still hestitant to fully trust it. I'm afraid I'm deleting files that will mess with my computer. We will see if everything is all right after I reboot and start up again. If I don't post anything again, then you'll know what happened.

Edit: My computer is pretty fragile right now. That's why I was worried about the installation and deletion of files. Somtimes the start up just won't complete and shuts off after a click. So on the third try, my computer went through start up properly and arrived at my desktop. Thank God. I hope it starts up find the next time I turn it on as well.

What I liked about Google: Obviously, the blogthis! feature. I also the fact that I could look up words from dictionary.com by typing words into the search bar. The hightlight text feature was also fuctional. The pop-up blocker was pretty effective.

Yahoo! toolbar assessment so far: The main reason I downloaded this is because of the Anti-Spy. I don't like that the "search web" button is so big -- it takes up too much space compared to Google's "go."
**********I'm thinking about changing browsers as well. I read arguments for and against IE, and arguments for and against Firefox or Mozilla. I'm still thinking about it, but I think I'll wait awhile.

screw "internet optimizer" for giving me a second chance

I hate ads. Now they have ads on pages. For example, if you click on an article, then an ad will appear seemingly out of nowhere. It’s like you've clicked on the wrong link, but then a few seconds later, a tiny message appears to tell you to click here to continue to go to the link that you wanted in the first place.

This happen as a response to pop-up blockers that virtually everyone has installed already.

The evil ad people decided that they must find another way to trick us.

An off shoot out of ads and pop up blockers are dangerous, deadly viruses, Trojans etc that can be triggered by clicking on the ads or clicking out of them.

Here is why I’m on this subject. I was on the net, in the middle of something, then a whole bunch of ads popped up, including the one that I'll curse till my computer's dying days. Here’s what it said:

evil. evil. evil.

I was in a hurry to close all the windows, so I stupidly clicked on the big box that says "close" on that box, and it's one of those moments where you know you've messed up the moment you do something without thinking. I knew I was screwed. I got tricked. I didn't read all the tiny text. I was too impatience, and they were counting on that. What followed, even a day after, is that I have to constantly run Adware to get rid of some pretty serious stuff that is clogged up on my computer. By clicking that box, I have opened myself up to hijacks, Trojans, viruses, and a load of crap. What’s worse is that I don't think it's fully out of my system. That box of evil, I’m calling it, keeps coming up. So do random pop ups that are connected to that.

My question is, “where was my google tool bar to rescue me?”

I'm putting on PSA to warn everyone not to click on the big "close me down" window at the bottom of that screen. After encountering this box, run Adware right away because the chances are that it somehow managed to get into your computer anyway.

I know it's partly my fault, but sometimes, it's just easier to blame the other person, and I'm doing it in this case. Screw Internet Optimizer and its offspring for giving me a "second chance at an installation." Thanks a lot, guys. Thanks for trying to screw with my computer, and installing crap to try to hijack it.

Screw you.

the subservient chicken | designing woman

For those of you who are control freaks, I mean those who love to control other people, here's a link for you. For those of you who love poultry, here's a link for you. For those of you who are just plain weird, here's a link for you...

The Subservient Chicken.

But please, refrain from commanding the creepy looking chicken to do naughty things. Remember the chicken has feelings too. But if you insist, then make it a good one.

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I love bloghoppin' because many bloggers have such neat sites. There are so many well-designed blogs out there that I'm so envious. I like my site all right; it works for me, but I can't help but wish that I were more techny savvy, so I could spruce up my layout.

I'm used to blogger and its ways, but there are other services out there that offer so much. Movable Type and Type Pad create really good-looking designs. I can't believe I just used” good looking.” 20six is also good. I like their designs and set up. A lot of features.

I see a lot of professional looking blog designs, and I want that. It's so neat, clean, simple, streamlined. It makes everything simpler. I think my design/layout is cute. Cute being the word that I want to stay away from. I guess I'm just bored with this "pink haired troll" design.