Everyone always talks about recaptcha and how it is helping so much. I guess it helps to translate old written works. But I hate recaptcha so much. It is notoriously the most difficult and annoying of all the captcha options. I do not like it at all.
I wrote earlier that Apple Shoots Self in Head with Disasterous iPhone 3g Launch
. But amazingly it didn’t seem to phaze the Mac users. Maybe they are just use to catastrophic failure. Over 1 million iPhones sold in three days despite huge problems. I guess they think it will all work eventually. I am amazed at the loyalty here. Apple should have not lowered the price these fans would have paid it.
Cellphone Confusion. I am pretty confused about which cell phone to get. I want the iPhone 2 but I hate AT & T and contracts and I know if I just continue to wait we will see phones with open source operating systems and unlimited everything for much lower costs. But how long do I have to wait? 2 years? 5 years? I don’t know. What do you think?
How is this possible? The price of text messaging is going up. In the last 4 years text messaging rates have doubled from 10 cents a message to 20 cents a message. What a freaking rip off. Do you know how little it costs in terms of bandwidth to send a text message? Like .0001 KB! This is the biggest ripoff since gas prices. The corruption and price fixing in the cell phone market needs to be addressed by congress. These companies are bullshit and corrupt.
First take a look at my post Junk Mail Death Blow. Now let’s say you want to take things even farther.
The below five companies are the largest sellers of American household data. By getting removed from their lists you can cut down on junk ads and mailings even more: (thanks to Junk Busters)
Click on Write to get a preformatted letter.
You know what pisses me off? Getting no “real” mail each day and just getting those blasted ads and credit card offers. Well now you can deal a Junk Mail Death Blow by doing the below 2 steps (or 3 if you are really aggressive):
1. Stop receiving preauthorized credit card offers:
Stop Credit Card Offers Opt Out Prescreen
This is provided by the credit agencies. Yes it is free. It requires your Social Security # which the three credit reporting agencies already have. It can also be done by phone. Note the difference between the 5 year and permanant which must be done by mail. If you are not sure about this web site try calling one of the three credit agencies and asking them how you can opt out of getting mailed those credit card offers.
2. Stop receiving junk mail from the 2,500 members of the Direct Marketing Association:
Stop the Direct Marketing Association
Please note that the Direct Marketing Association requires a Credit Card for Address Verification. Make sure you select permanant opt out of all mailings. This is free. There is an option to mail in a card and a check for $1. If you have a PayPal account I recommend you download their toolbar temporarily to generate a one time use credit card number for use on the Direct Marketing Association site.
I completed both of these.
Both sites have https:// which is reassuring.
3. If you want to get really aggressive then contact the mailing/marketing/owners companies for all those “add mailings” places. If they refuse to stop sending you junk file a complaint with your state attorney generals office. And you can read this page: Take the Battle Against Junk Mail Even Farther
Reference: Hate Junk Mail? Tell Firms to Stop
The below screenshot was taken from Pages 1-4 of Digg on 7-25-08:
You can clearly see skored with 3. msaleem has 2 and MakiMaki has 2.
Now lets take a look at their stats:
skored:
42,870 Dugg
351 Comments
1,985 Submitted
801 Made Popular
40% Popular Ratio
3 Friends Invited
49,457
msaleem:
70,388 Dugg
1,845 Comments
4,699 Submitted
1,500 Made Popular
32% Popular Ratio
0 Friends Invited
122,024
MakiMaki:
30,534 Dugg
233 Comments
1,561 Submitted
540 Made Popular
35% Popular Ratio
0 Friends Invited
35,601
There are some startling patterns to be found here. The Digg algorithm has historically placed weight on reputation. It has been documented in the past (see below links) that “top diggers” submit 10-20 percent of the stories that appear on the front page of Digg. Prior to the Recent Digg Algorithm Change msaleem had over 1,200 articles appear on the front page. But has the Digg Algorithm Change designed to level the field failed? What do you think?
Read more about the Digg Controversy.
I am a huge fan of manga and really all Japanese animation and movies. I am pretty excited because 
DeathNote will be in theatres for two days very soon. DeathNote will be playing in theatres on Tuesday May 20, 2008 and Wednesday May 21, 2008. To find where DeathNote is showing in a theater near you and to order advance tickets take a look at the Fathom Events site. This should be a really great movie. DeathNote was created by Tsugumi Ohba and is about a student who finds a supernatural notebook. Find out more on Wikipedia.
This mother’s day I want to do something special for my mother. I am tired of just buying her a card or getting her a gift card. Truth be told I think she is tired of this as well (although my mom would never say anything). I want to get one of those personalized mothers day gifts for my mom. I have a picture of her holding me as a baby and I want to turn this into a piece of art for her.
I am thinking of a framed watercolor work of art from Photofiddle. What do you think?
My home insurance has saved me from financial ruin. A few years back I had extensive water damage to my home from a pipe bursting. Half of the house was destroyed and the water damage would have cost a fortune to fix and I never would have been able to sell my home. Fortunately I had full coverage for water damage on my home insurance. Home insurance is very important and everyone should have it. If you need home insurance please take a look at the Online insurance quotes here.