As some of my readers know, a while back I was invited in to help Dan out with his blog at swagcodes.wordpress.com – I’d help him by posting about it when a new code came out. What did I post? Even though SwagBucks has not updated their policy on codes, I didn’t post the actual codes but I posted that there was one and directed people to twitter or the SwagBucks blog, or wherever they needed to be.

One day I logged into WP.com to find that my personal blog was removed, swagcodes.wordpress.com was removed, and I was banned from the site for no given reason.

This really ticked me off because first of all, I had started out on WP.com – my personal blog still had all of my original blog entries (although I do have them here now too – Geek Dad started out on WP.com), plus the newly written entries, plus I used it to comment and needed my API key for plugins.

It didn’t stop there. My wife was banned and my brother in law was banned, too! It’s ridiculous and they took it way too far. Lynn emailed in and was unbanned, and she got her brother unbanned too, all with apologies from WP.com. What she managed to get them to do was great! So she asked about my account (they won’t reply to my emails).

Press START to continue »

Filed under: Blogging
Tags: « Aithyne • Blogging • Blogs • Customer Support • WordPress »
by N.G. Woosh
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You may or may not have noticed a lot of downtime yesterday here and on my other blog, N.G. Woosh on Free Stuff (same for Aithyne and her blogs). We moved to a shiny new server yesterday and went through the fun experience of changing our DNS information on the nameservers.

Everything should be back to normal now, but if you notice anything broken or acting funny, please let me know so I can correct it.

Thanks to all of my readers! You all rock.

Filed under: Blogging
Tags: « Aithyne • Maintenance • Move • Server »
by N.G. Woosh
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Filed under: Wordless Wednesday
Tags: « Car • Fire • Pictures • Smoking »
by N.G. Woosh
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Things can get pretty crazy sometimes. When they do, we tend to think into "What if?" and remember things we could have done differently.

Now I realize there are several different "theories" about time travel, and I’ve read (and watched) a lot of sci-fi but just go with it.

Think about your life now. Bad and crazy things aside, don’t you appreciate at least something? I’m sure you do – at least one thing. What if you could go back in time to change some of the things that led to the bad and crazy things? Wouldn’t it be great?

What if changing some of those things rippled through time to change the good things along with the bad? Would you be willing to go back and change those bad things if it meant losing the good ones?

Experiences count for a lot – good and bad. Never forget the good things you have, even in the hard times. And that’s coming from the guy who writes the Humor Rants.

Filed under: Life
Tags: « sci-fi • Thoughts • Time »
by N.G. Woosh
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WARNING: HUMOR RANT AHEAD. Exaggerated, pessimistic, and possibly offensive content ahead. YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED. MUAHAHAHAHAH. 

I’m sure this has been ranted about it a million times, but it remains true.

What is with plastic packaging? There is more plastic put into the packaging for things I buy than there is in or part of the things I buy.

On top of it, getting it open is a lethal hazard!  Not only do you walk away cut up like you just got out of a knife fight, the rest of the package that you’re left with (pieces of it? SHARDS?) might as well be weapons.

You want to start a fight? I’ll bring my PLASTIC PACKAGING. ROAR. I’ll win, too. You’ve opened this stuff before, you know not to challenge me on this. If for some crazy reason you don’t believe me, go open the toys and gifts for people on Christmas morning. You’ll see!

I’m no tree hugger but I’m not stupid, either. We’re wasting so much on packaging that we’re ending up with scars AND extra needless waste.

It’s like the company is saying, "As our customer, you DESERVE this item… but not until you fight for 3 days and come out with the scars."

Filed under: Humor Rant
Tags: « Packaging • Plastic »
by N.G. Woosh
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WARNING: HUMOR RANT AHEAD. Exaggerated, pessimistic, and possibly offensive content ahead. YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED. MUAHAHAHAHAH.

Why is it that when I go to buy underwear (boxers, since you asked) that I have to see what some guy(s) look like modeling with only his boxers on? Why? If sex sells, who exactly are you advertising to? I’m not gay, and I sure don’t look like that in these boxers. Nobody does. I’m pretty sure that guy’s wearing a different brand. I think the brand in the package "Steroids & Sock Stuffers, Inc." but who knows?

And I don’t dare make the mistake of looking to the left or right a little, because the whitey tighties are worse.

Is the advertising supposed to be for my wife because she’s supposed to buy these for me? That’s silly. What are you selling her, my boxers or an escort service? Seriously. Wait, is that what you’re trying to sell me? Both of us? I just want some new boxers.

I don’t want some guy’s junk in my face while I’m looking at boxers. Why would I want that? Is it a conspiracy? I think that the guys in marketing are confused. I really do.

Filed under: Humor Rant
Tags: « Advertising • Boxers • Marketing »
by N.G. Woosh
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Last night I was going through my old email address and forwarding a bunch of keepsake emails (mostly those with files attached) from before Lynn and I were married. She would send me graphics that she made for me, as well as pictures of her/us.

When I met her online she lived in Texas, so pictures and webcam were a huge help for us.

Anyway, I felt like I was invading the past and tampering with a time that’s done. Obviously that didn’t stop me from taking what I wanted, but it reminded me of watching Doctor Who and reading sci-fi books that have to do with time travel. It was so nice to remember all of it, but it was strange too.

Seeing pictures of us back then was crazy, too. We were younger (no, really?) and we looked it. Lynn ages well (like the rest of her family) but you can still tell a difference, but especially so with me. We went from being kids to having a kid.

In the end, I’m much happier now than I was then. We’re together now, and we have a family together. I wouldn’t have it any other way.

Time is strange.

Filed under: Life
Tags: « Aithyne • Doctor Who • Past • Time »
by N.G. Woosh
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Have you ever thought to yourself, "Man, I’d love to stalk this guy and find out what kind of stuff he keeps up with online. He sure talks about his RSS reader enough."? Well, now you can!

I’ve made my Google Reader stuff public. You can now see what Blogs I’m reading, or the Webcomics I’m following. I add/remove things occasionally, and hey, if you’ve got a blog or a webcomic with an RSS feed (who doesn’t these days?) let me know! I might be interested. My RSS reader is never too full.

Every once in a while I might think, "Hey, I should share this!" when I read something in specific. Don’t get too excited; I haven’t shared anything yet.

Filed under: Me
Tags: « Blogs • Google • RSS • Webcomics »
by N.G. Woosh
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First I have to start out by saying that I have decided that the biggest reason people put money into Bluetooth headsets is so they can talk to themselves in public without looking like total idiots. Blue blinking lights on the side are a bonus for realism.

Now that I have that out of my system, Lynn told me I was supposed to blog about this so I guess I will. =P

So I’m supposed to order a pizza and call from Lynn’s phone. Apparently they record your info and pull it up from the caller ID. I had no idea.

I ask Lynn if I put it under her name or mine (first, last is the same) and she tells me it should just go under our last name.

So I make the call. Mostly painless, but hilarious. The man answers and asks if I’m Mrs. -lastname- – I can understand some things but I think I sound manly on the phone. Anyway, the conversation with him goes like this:

Pizza Guy = PG
Me = Me

PG: Mrs. -lastname-?
Me: Sure, why not.
PG: Would you like what you ordered last time?
Me: What did I order last time? Don’t worry about it, I just want a LG Pepperoni on Wheat.
PG: I never deny my customers.
Me: What?
PG: That’ll be *insertwhateverthepricewashere*.

I’m not a jerk. Well, this doesn’t make me a jerk. This makes me hilarious. So some fun things I said to Lynn about the situation, and possibly what I could have said to totally make the situation more fun:

Me: Took three years and a move to Mass. but he finally made an honest woman out of me.

Me: I should walk in and say my husband sent me
Me: Yeth this is mths -lastname-
Me: Like, I’m like
Me: Here for like
Me: My pittha
Me: Should I pay cash or offer him "services"?

Also, you should be following me on twitter or FriendFeed. Why? Well, then you’d get to see updates from me like this one. Isn’t that worth it? No? Follow me anyway.

And there’s my semi offensive post for the evening.

Filed under: Life
Tags: « Humor • Pizza • Twitter »
by N.G. Woosh
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I mentioned in my last post that I had purchased a cheap Bluetooth headset that wasn’t working out. After testing it again, I was reminded that it sounds like what you would expect rocks rattling around in a tin can to sound like. After careful consideration (who am I kidding, I tossed it back in the box) I decided to return it. What about a headset though? For safety I should have something hands free in the car, and a wire is too much hassle. Also, I just want a Bluetooth headset (a geek dad and his toys).

I remembered that RadioShack and Staples both reset their sales ads today so I went looking online and found that Staples had knocked their Jabra BT3010 down to $19.99. I gave them a call and they had it in stock, so we headed over to pick it up. It’s pretty nifty – not the top of the line, but for $20 it’s just what I needed. Answer button and volume up/down buttons. It has some great designs (33 of them) that come with it so it just doesn’t look like every other Bluetooth earpiece out there. Really, go look it up! I chose the Space Invaders design for it.

How awesome is Space Invaders? Very. The very fact that I have Space Invaders on my Bluetooth earpiece makes it great. Just because you can’t win at it doesn’t mean it isn’t awesome.

This thing fits in my ear so well that I don’t even have to use the ear clip (it’s removable). I chose to keep it on for the security of "just in case" – I’d hate to see this thing take a plunge and hit the cement or something. It also comes with a nifty lanyard that plugs right into the mini USB charge port in case you don’t want to walk around with a Bluetooth earpiece on all day.

I’m not saying "run out and buy this" but I am saying I’m glad I did. It sounds good, holds a good signal, fits right, and looks great. Flaws may be revealed later after some more use, but I’ve tested it a lot today and I’m satisfied.

Filed under: Life
Tags: « Bluetooth • Earpiece • Jabra »
by N.G. Woosh
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