EckerNet.Com

Okay lately dealing with comment and trackback spam is a daily chore for all bloggers. Big and small. It’s like taking out the trash except on a daily basis.

Even with MT-Blacklist there are always a few that get through. Bloggers everywhere are continuously experimenting what ways to fool the spammers. It’s a blogosphere-wide problem.

Which is why I was surprised shocked when I received comment spam from a BLOGGER one day. That’s right, another blogger, spamming one of my comment areas. I was pissed. Seriously pissed.

One of our own!? This defies every rule in the book! Black instantly became white. Up was down. Cats were dogs. And I could hear Hillary Clinton ranting about the evils of socialism.

I sent the blogger an email indicating in no uncertain terms what I thought of their action. And I tonite I was going to do a post publicly flogging them. Until I went to the site and read this:

It has come to our understanding that there are numerous blogs that have been spammed with links pointing to this site. We aren�t quite sure why this is all happening, but we are working on resolving this issue at the moment! Thanks!!!

Um…..huh?

Er, well, you see….could you…uh, huh?

For the record the site in question is http://www.secretcanyons.com/ and I’m not directly linking to them because I don’t want to help their google ratings but the bloggers mantra is always provide a source.

But part of me feels bad. Part of me is convinced this is simply a scam. Especially considering they took down their comment/trackback features now.

But I’m uncertain what to say or think. Is this a new trend in spam?? If so what possible purpose does it serve the spammer?

Stumped? Well here you go….here is a walking definition of the term clueless.

Mark McGowan, a London-based performance artist, used his house keys to scratch 17 randomly selected vehicles parked near Glasgow’s Botanic Gardens in March and another 30 cars in Camberwell, south London. He took photographs as he scratched the cars and the pictures are going on show next weekend as part of Glasgow International, the city’s first commissioned festival of contemporary visual art.

Not convinced??? Let’s continue with the story and I’m sure you’ll understand.

“I’m looking at car keying as a social investigation, within an art context. I was looking at why people would do it. There�s obvious reasons, like jealousy, people getting back at people, or spurned lovers. But some of it is also mindless vandalism. I suppose I’m just putting a different twist on it and calling my car-keying art.”

I see….so this social investigation….did it involve any, um, what’s the word?? Um, investigation?!?! Or just mindless vandalism? How exactly did you understand why people do it?

He added: “I know some people will just call it vandalising cars but I think it’s art. I do feel guilty about the people�s cars I scratched. I didn�t think about just targeting one group of people or one group of cars - randomness was quite apt.

Yes in much the same way that a serial killer is random and people just call it murder. Oh wait, IT IS. But I’m glad you feel guilty enough. Hopefully enough to stand up for what you did.

“My feeble excuses are that if I didn’t do it then somebody else would and that the people who have had their cars keyed have taken part in an art project.”

Wow, how can one argue with that?? I’m sure I’ll stun the police with my intelligent wit when I use that when robbing the bank. I’ll invite Fort Know to participate in an art project!

McGowan, 37, hopes that car-owners attending the exhibition, which will open next Saturday in the Wasps artists� studios on Glasgow’s Hanson Street, will not recognise their vehicles in the pictures. “I wouldn’t like to get in trouble for it,” he said. “I don’t want to start to a social experiment or art project on being in prison.”

Oh good, he’s a coward too. Here’s a hint, it’s neither a social experiment nor a art project, when you are breaking the fucking law.

He attacked the cars at night and in the early morning to avoid detection.

Aaaaah, the habits of any true social researcher.

McGowan has hit the headlines before with other projects. In 2003, he protested against student debt by using his nose to roll a monkey nut for seven miles to 10 Downing Street.

To defend the full English breakfast, he sat in a bath of baked beans for 12 days, with two chips stuck up his nose and sausages wrapped around his head. In Milan, he pulled a television set from the central train station to the home of Silvio Berlusconi, the Italian prime minister, using his ear, in a stunt designed to highlight government control over the media.

Okay, how do any of these have anything to do with anything?

In summary, I’d like to invite Mark McGowan to participate in a social experient on art. Of course, the uneducated and uncultured amongst you will probably just call it a public flogging but that’s your fault. I’m trying to enlighten you….honestly.

We have a new pope and anyone that was hoping for women priests any time soon is gonna have to wait awhile.

Welcome to the reign of Pope Benedict XVI. While, I’m not religious, I was raised Catholic and still maintain a great respect for the church and it’s teachings. And this certainly speaks well for maintaining the traditions and teachings that are the Roman Catholic Church.

And the relaxation of teachings and traditions is one of the reason I gave up on the organized religions in general. I could never buy into the idea that even though the basic tenets of a religion are passed down by God, they are open to interpretation and they evolve over time.

So yeah for someone who is going to protect what the Roman Catholic Church is.

From the What-Did-You-Expect Department:

The unceremonious ouster of three people from a recent White House Social Security event in Colorado has critics wondering how far President Bush will go to ensure friendly, sympathetic audiences at his town hall-style forums and rallies.

[…]

But Linda Coates, a Fargo, N.D., city commissioner with an openly liberal background, said the administration is going way beyond protecting the president from hecklers and security threats. In fact, she found herself on a list of North Dakotans “banned” from a February Bush rally days before the event.

Ok consider for a moment. This is the same party that things a protest is dressing up is creating big paper-mache statues and wearing Bush masks. This is the same party whose idea of intelligent debate is to assualt conservative speakers by throwing pies at them.

My question is…what the hell are you expecting?!?! Your party has already shown a clear and consistent inability to behave appropriately. You have the right to free speech so feel free to hold up your signs with whiny ass slogans outside. Feel free to write a rambling nonsense-filled letter to your local communist rag newspaper. Feel free to call your local radio station and whine complain. Whatever.

But don’t expect others to provide a forum for you. And when your party has shown that it doesn’t police it’s own members from physically attacking the opposition, they are certainly not going to hold the door open for you.

Reminds me a kid who after acting up all day in classes whines that it’s unfair he not be allowed outside for recess.

Interesting day at work today. Found out that some information I had been told awhile back, and had assumed was public information, actually was potentially top secret information. Moments like that always give me a warm fuzzy feeling.

Fortuanately, I’ve never shared the information with anyone. It was just one of those chunks of information you find interesting and then never really think about again.

Now I get to await my visit from the Secret Service who are undoubtably bringing me a shipment of cyanide pills.

Should I disappear suddenly, could someone stop by my place and let my dog out?? And if you could forward my mail to Guantanamo Bay that would be great. Thanks a bunch, your a pal.

The following conversation happened over the phone with a friend of mine recently:

Me : Well I have to pick up Sadie (my puppy) from the babysitter at 6ish and that’s up in St. Paul, then I have to get her fed so I probably won’t be free until almost 8.

Friend : What about this weekend?

Me : Well we have puppy kindergarten on Saturday and then I’m gonna see if I can get her tired so she’ll sleep while I play poker with the guys.

Friend : Ok….

Me : And then sometime Sunday I was gonna try to set up a playdate with the neighbors. Not sure when yet. I dunno.

Friend : Kevin….you’ve been domesticated!

*sigh* *sob*

** LOST **
My dignity
Last seen at the dog breeders
Reward offered

Blogging will be light to non-existant until Monday or so.

Tomorrow I host the 2005 CDTL Poker Championship at my place. I hope to regain the title that was so wrongly stolen from my at least years event.

I was the original and reigning champ until last year when it was won by Nick Spilman. Curse his name!

To be honest I really should have won it last year. But I underestimated an opponent (Cathy…or Kathy if you want to piss her off) which hurt me pretty bad. Although I’m fairly certain I was tricked. She was a new addition to the table last year. She rode with me up to the event and the entire car ride (an hour or so) she was having me explain the rules of poker since she had never played before.

Then at the table she comes out of the gate like a freight train, which I took for beginners luck at first. Finally, I realized that even if she is new, she was damn good. By that time I had lost several big pots to her. While I eventually did knock her out, by that time I has in too bad of shape and Nick was able to push me around the table.

I seek only to regain my title and get revenge.

Tomorrows table includes:
Jason
Andrew
Nathan
Nick
Corey
Myself

Possibly:
Cathy
Greg

A challenging round up. Much fun to be had. Much beer to be drank. Much poker to be played.

To the winner, cash and pride. To the losers…well they get to play with the puppy while the others continue to play.

Wish me luck.

I finally did it.

I finally ditched the regular wired router and bought myself a wireless router. I’m very happy with it so far. It’s got 4 ethernet ports in the back so I can still keep 2 of my PCs on a wired network in my office. Then the laptops can wander around the house on the wireless. Pretty decent encryption capabilities and it allows VPN passthrough which I’ll need to connect to work.

Very happy with it so far. So I can get a sense of it’s range, I started out by putting it in just about the worst position in the house. Put it in the bottom of a cabinet in the far corner of my office, which is located in the far corner of the house. I still get a useable signal out on my deck. I’m happy.

So now I can blog while on the couch watching TV my puppy. Now I can blog in the stairwell while feeding my puppy. Now I can blog from the deck while taking my puppy out for bathroom breaks. Now I can blog from the toilet in the bathroom which is the only place I can hide from my puppy.

So you could say I finally bought a wireless router for my puppy. I hope she appreciates it.

HEH! Get back to work! You gotta work more!

Millions on welfare depend on you to support them.

Millions more are too lazy to work so you gotta pick up their slack.

Millions don’t believe in personal responsibility so you gotta help fund their mistakes.

Millions have decided that being a baby factory is a noble career, you have to support all those kids for them.

Millions feel you should share the wealth…nevermind that these people have no wealth because they don’t work for it.

Yeah it’s tax day…when all these dreams come true.

*sigh*

It’s always a struggle to get excited when I receive my tax refund each year. I mean I should be happy right? I just got a check for thousands right? I mean I can buy quite a few guns with that!!! But then reality sets in. It’s money I earned months ago but the government decided it could find a better use for it than I could.

I hate today.

Apparently I am being considered as a court jester by St. Kate of the MAWB squad. Well, I suppose things could be worse.

I mean if they truly do take over the world, at least I’ll be a part of the court. And if they don’t, well, then I just put up with her yelling at me all the time.

However, if I am to consider her a second-mother twice removed (whatever the hell that means…SPEAK ENGLISH) I think that means I get to whine until she gives me stuff.

So here I go…when you divide up the world, could you annex North Dakota and let me use it as my private hunting reserve??

Please….pretty please!! St. Kate!!! I want it now!!! Now Now Now Now Now Now Now Now Now!!!

….damn, I’m good at this. I should never have grown up.

Please!!! Now Now Now Now Now Now Now Now Now!!! Ice Cream!!! I want Ice Cream!! NO!!! I’m not going to bed!!! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! No bed…

*snore*