Sunday, November 04, 2007

terribly early in the morning

Congratulations Mac Users - You’re Now Popular Enough For Malware, W00T!

I think I’ve made my opinion clear numerous times about the holier than thou, my computer is better than yours, Mac users.  I’m not talking about Mac users who have their ownership egos fully in check and know that their computer is only as good as the user, but the people who have annoyed me for years going on and on about how Macs are so safe, that they don’t get viruses, don’t get hacked, yadda yadda yadda.  All of us sane people knew that it was because Macs were only a small percentage of the computer market, and they were more expensive than PCs, so your average idiotic virus creating jerk wasn’t interested in bringing down like thirty-seven computers.  They’d rather ruin 37 million computers.

Congratulations, Steve Jobs, your marketing has worked.  Your computers are now getting more popular, so you’ve finally made them worthwhile to damage.  “Apple on Thursday confirmed reports of pornography Web sites where hidden software, once downloaded, could take control of an Apple computer.” The timing of the Trojan horse suggests there are more to come, say some computer and Internet security professionals. As Apple’s popularity rises, “the bad guys are taking Macs seriously now,” wrote Bojan Zdrnja, of the Internet Storm Center, which is led by the Escal Institute of Advanced Technologies.

Saturday, November 03, 2007

terribly early in the morning

A Very Late SuperZoo Blog Entry - The Claire Thomas Pet Accessory Mascot

I took a picture of this really cute pup at the Claire Thomas booth.  Unfortunately, they didn’t have anything I needed to buy, but the two people at the booth were super nice...and their dog, Baby, was really well-behaved and adorable.  So, this is my better-late-than-never blog entry.  Partially, it was late because I couldn’t remember what booth it was and the search engine optimization for Claire Thomas (I noticed the logo on the dog’s coat) company is abysmal.  Not only is their homepage not correctly named (it’s been named Petlovecnt.com, which isn’t something anyone will be searching for), they have a flash intro that makes things even worse, because search engines can’t tell that it’s a cute little movie with a dog pulling a sign that says “Claire Thomas”.  In fact, the name of the company isn’t mentioned anywhere important on the website.  It’s almost as though they’re trying not to be found.  Their domain name is terrible - tell me what you see in this name:  http://www.petlovecnt.com I’ll bet it’s nothing good.  What’s wrong with ClaireThomasPet or ClaireThomasPetLuxury...or something that I might think of later, after a little time and a little sleep?  I’ll bet that within a couple of days, I’ll rank in the top two for Claire Thomas Luxury Pet Accessories.  I may possibly even end up first, and there’s no way that I should be.  So, Claire Jing & Thomas G(?), if you’re searching for your product or yourselves, and you come across this blog entry, perhaps we should make a deal.  I have some ideas for you.  Easy to implement and they’ll do wonders for your web presence.  It’s a very nice looking website, it needs some very crucial SEO and translation work.

I just did a little research on the company, and while the above paragraph might sound a little harsh, I think it’s probably something the company needs to hear.  I realize now that I was talking to the owners of the company, and they’re from China.  The site needs to be rewritten a little bit, with some SEO done to it.  In addition, I think a new domain name is in order, with a redirect from their current domain.

That said, here’s adorable Baby, the Shih Tzu, wearing a fancy coat, collar, and leash, and sitting on a fancy bed.  All told, over $1000 worth of doggie accessories.  Whew!  How hard would I cry when Dante chewed that bed to bits?

the wee hours

The Times When I Regret Not Getting Around To Having Kids

Most of the time, in the past several years, I’ve been relieved that I don’t have children depending on me to get up early to take care of them, to pay for their new clothes, to worry about them when they’re sick, to make them cry by telling them that there’s no way in the world that I’m ever going to let them watch that whiny brat, Caillou, on PBS.  However, there are times when I’d like to turn back the clock (well, besides those other times when I’d like to turn back the clock) and do things a little differently, and add a couple of kids to the mix.  I’ve had several people ask me if I was going to have kids, and even expecting me to, knowing that Leigh-Ann and I would be good parents.  So, the times I really miss not having kids of my own?  Halloween, birthdays, Hanukkahmas, end of summer bbqs, watching little kids play sports (oooh, I would love to have my own little #7, but I did get the next best thing, my nephew choosing my number, which I thought was so sweet), reading together, and stuff like this from Nancy’s Anthony, “He woke me up at 4:00 a.m. to tell me “I think my turtle is mad at me because when I looked at his face, his face looked different, but when I turned him around he looked the same.” The turtle is a stuffed animal.

Maybe when we’re settled and not financially tippy, we should foster.  That way, we help a kid (or some kids) and we help us too.  Although, I would like Leigh-Ann to be closer to her nieces & nephew, since I was able to be around for the early years of my nieces & nephews.  It’s not fair that she’s missing their silly games, their hugs & slobbery kisses, and the fun of being an in-person aunt.  Fostering kittens is great, but they grow up way too quickly, and they never want to sit down and color with us.

Friday, November 02, 2007

evening

For the Toothpaste Connoisseur In Your Home

We’re pretty picky about the toothpaste flavors in our domicile, and we’re always looking for something new and tasty.  Generally, we lean toward cinnamon, but when we saw the Crest Nature’s Expressions Mint + Green Tea Extract, we couldn’t resist.  Even though I’m not crazy about green tea itself (except Green Tea Frappuccinos & Green Tea Frappuccino Chicks...hee! - what, you don’t name your favorite bloggers so your partners will know who you’re talking about?), Leigh-Ann likes it, and since I like green mixed with lots of sugar and I love to try new things, we brought it home.  It’s definitely a keeper.  It’s the most unusual good toothpaste we’ve ever tried.  (this was one of the nasty ones) If they’re on sale someday, we’ll have to try the other Nature’s Expressions (Citrus Clean Mint w/ a twist of lemon extract and Pure Peppermint Fresh w/ peppermint oil), but in the meantime, we’re on our second tube of the green tea one and haven’t tired of it yet.  I think they need to add at least one more, a version with cinnamon extract.

the wee hours

The Cheap Underwear Solution to Over-priced Jockey French Cuts

Oh, you know you come here for all the best advice.  This is for people who love French Cut Jockey undies, but don’t want to pay for the Jockey name.  I was going to say “last month, I discovered...”, but I realized that last month was October, and since I was shopping for new undies for my birthday, that would’ve been August.  Just where does time go, I say, where?  Anyway, back to underwear.  I love new underwear, but I don’t like frilly Victoria’s Secret stuff because I’m not a perfect size 3, and I don’t find it the slightest bit comfortable.  Pretty, yes.  But now that I’m not showing off my underwear to every passing boy or girl (like I ever did), I’m all about the comfort.  For years, the most comfortable and durable underwear has been Jockey French Cut.  I’m tired of paying $6.00 for a single pair.  So, I saw some Fruit of the Loom undies with the low low price of $4.50+ (can’t remember the exact price), and you get eight pairs!  Eight!  It’s the regular ol’ pack of six, but with two extras jammed into the package.  They’re not nearly as sturdy as Jockey, but they fit exactly the same (some of the patterned ones are a little snugger for some reason), and at less than a dollar each, they’re almost disposable.  So, those of us who don’t have Helly’s mom to buy us dozens of pairs of undies (size 7, French Cut, thanks) and you’re looking for cheap comfy undies, try the Fruit of the Loom Hi-Cuts at Target.  And if I’m wrong, well, you have some underwear that you can wear on wash day.