samwoodfin.typepad.com

Do People Really Pay This Much for a Domain?

I received a piece of snail mail, today, from Domain Registry of America, indicating that my domain, spuriousink.com, will expire on October 4th. The letter also, before getting to the meat of the matter, requests that I reply by June 25th.

Just for clarification, my domain isn't registered through Domain Registry of America. It's registered through a particular flavour of Yahoo.

The letter does state, in bold, that "This notice is not a bill." In fact, what it is, is a registrar wanting me to transfer my domain registration, and it'll only cost me $30 for the first year!

I paid $1.99 for the first year with Yahoo Domains. My renewal, if I don't transfer it, will be $12.95.

Are any of you actually paying $30 for year's worth of domain ownership? If so, God, why???

Spurious AdSense?

Most of it is, right?

I came across this post from Digital Inspiration while combing through my feeds, this morning. Did you know that you can ad AdSense to a parked domain? One that has no content, whatsoever? I didn't. I guess I should have, considering that I've landed on that sort of page a time or thousand. But it just doesn't grok with how strict the rules are for using AdSense on a site with actual content.

In any case, this is what my spuriousink domain would look like if I used it as an AdSense server, instead of forwarding it, here:

That's right! It's all ads for printer ink! How dull! If it had actually been drawing inks, I might have considered getting rejected by AdSense for Domains...

How did I get this preview? Well, Digital Inspiration provides a tool, just for that purpose, which can be found on the post linked above. They also have another nifty tool: the AdSense Sandbox, which allows a user to see what type of ads would be placed on their site, if they, indeed, chose to use AdSense. Here's a sample of ads that might appear on samwoodfin.typepad.com, if I were willing to go that route:

You'll notice a lot of generic blogging ads, but look a little closer. There's an upside to this post:

Google thinks my dog is cute!

I Wasn't Meant for Modern Medicine

I took an antihistamine, last night, and was completely out of it for about 12 hours.

What happened was this: I tried a coffee sample that I received in the mail. I won't name the coffee company, because it may not have been the antagonist -- I used to have this same sort of reaction when shopping at Venture -- but I will tell you that the coffee was wonderfully smooth, with a rich vanilla flavour. There was enough in the sample to make two pots of coffee.

I drank a few cups of it on Tuesday evening, and, that night, my left hand started swelling, itching, and burning. I drank three cups, last night, and it eventually felt like my hand was on fire. The redness was also spreading up my wrist. But this time, I was sure I hadn't eaten anything too carby, so that couldn't have caused the reaction. I considered that my left is the hand I smoke with, more often than not. I washed my hands like crazy and scrubbed the left armrest of my computer chair. Eventually, "inflammation is teh serious badness" made it's way into my brain.

I almost took one of Jerry's Benadryl, but they expired in January, so I opted for a Poly-Hist Forte from 2005, since a local pharmacist once told me that, as long as they're protected from moisture, presciption meds generally have a shelf-life of around seven years.

It wasn't long before the burning subsided. I had another cup of coffee -- because wasting coffee that good would be an utter shame -- and the burning started again, but only mildly.

By midnight, I was too tired to put the dog to bed. I got up at seven this morning, turned on the computer, and fell asleep at my desk. Then I wandered to the kitchen and fell asleep at the table. After a brief nap, I'm awake, but I'm still not completely with it. I'd hate to see what would happen if I really got sick...

If the symptoms don't return today, Folger's has found itself a brand new loyal customer. And narcolepsy has a brand new foe.

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Now playing: Thompson Twins - Don't Mess With Doctor Dream
via FoxyTunes   

Ted's Big Night Out

Shirts are available at my Printfection shop.

Of Things Broken

I don't allow my computer to automatically install Windows updates. Generally, I have it check for updates and ask me if I want to install them. But now, just because I like for my computer to actually work (and because, sometimes, I forget things), I've got automatic updates completely disabled. Why? Because of reports of Windows XP SP3 breaking systems.

I'm thinking that's not a great move on Microsoft's part. But, since it isn't currently screwing with my computer, I'm more annoyed with Google. Someone in Google's employ borked my Google Reader. The "Mark as Read" button has been replaced with one that says "Keep as Unread", thereby forcing me to re-work an old habit. I'm sure I'll adapt (even though the other method worked much, much better, and was one of the reasons I preferred Reader to the Bloglines Beta) but, over the past couple of days, trying to move subscriptions from one folder to another has resulted in error upon error.

But, hey, who needs usability when Reader's giving me some cool new eye candy for my shared items? Seriously, the sea theme is pretty awesome...

Giving Vox a Go

I'm sure I've mentioned several times that I'm very, very happy with my move back to TypePad, but you know -- if you've blogged -- that some posts just don't have enough meat to fill that big blog platter.

So, we micro blog. Some of us do, anyway. I've tried it at Tumblr, but I like it when readers at least have the option to leave comments. I've tried it with Twitter, but it's just too hard to keep track of conversations, there. I'm doing it at Pownce, which isn't confusing, at all; but it's (currently) very difficult to make social connections on that service, and I wonder what effect the shift further into file-sharing territory will bring.

Today, I signed up for Vox. It isn't exactly a micro-blogging service, but I don't see why it can't be. I haven't posted yet, but have already added someone to my neighborhood, and -- glory be -- that Voxer reciprocated! Friendliness aside, Vox has certain features integrated (media libraries, for example) that I'm kinda digging. As an added bonus, it's a Six Apart project, and it has a lot in common with TypePad, including themes that are released over there before they make the short trek here.

Did I mention that Vox has an import tool? God only knows what sort of trouble that could get me into...

How about you, dear reader? Do you keep everything in one location? Or are you blogging, microblogging, tumbling, etc.?

An Unexpected Positive of Moving My Blog

Don't be deceived. Blog-moving isn't easy. For me, it's a pain-staking process, and one that, generally, never gets to done. I've already talked a bit about the positive aspects of moving back to TypePad; but, if you're a cautious mover, there are good things about blog-moving that have nothing to do with where your blog is hosted, how much maintenance it requires, costs, or SEO.

Cautious movers tend to read posts while moving them. It slows down the process, certainly, but it also pushes brain-buttons that most prolific bloggers will have forgotten existed. For me, there were several moments of embarrassment and frustration, but there were also good memories and ideas that had slipped my mind. And, at the risk of sounding egotistical, I also managed to inspire myself.

A couple of summers ago, I took really good care of myself. My diet was on the extreme edge of strict, but my blood glucose levels were normal. I got plenty of exercise, and I became more environmentally- and financially-responsible, in the process. Nearly all household errands were ran via my yard-sale bicycle. I saved gas. I saved money. I lost weight. I saved time, in a sense, by getting exercise via performing mundane chores.

But last year, with two trips back and forth to New Mexico, and with Jerry's paralysis, my bicycle spent the entire summer locked away in my bedroom. I didn't ride it. I scarcely even looked at it. It didn't matter. I had bigger fish to fry, and -- something I'm sure a lot of you can relate to -- the oil was running low.

But reading back over some of my older posts, I realized how much better I felt when I was taking care of myself. When I was saving money, burning calories, and feeling the wind between my toes on that hunk of metal and rubber that's given me back nth times what I payed for it.

About half-way through the move, I walked my bike up to the nearest air station, and filled up the tires. I rode it home, thighs quivering, heart pounding, and spirit soaring. I'm not fit enough, right now, for two-wheeled grocery-getting. But I'm in training, and, within a couple of weeks, I'll once again be saving gas and burning fat.

Maybe you don't care about bicycles or exercise. Maybe you don't want to move your blog. But if you have the time, I encourage you to go back and read the things that you posted one, two, however many years ago. You may just find a piece of yourself that you forgot existed.

New Product Line, Anti-Social, Available at Zazzle

Yup. That's the kind of day I've had...

Watching Season 2 of Lost on DVD

I rented the discs this afternoon. As luck would have it, I also found the remote control for the DVD player. It's been missing for over a year. Of course, it was on my computer desk! And, yes, it was covered by the mountain of art scraps piled on my scanner!

Can I get a "Yay, cleanliness!"? Or at least a "Boo, Jack!"?

Now hush and pass the popcorn...

Printfection Freaking Rocks!

Today, I got the $2 t-shirt I ordered from Printfection. It's this t-shirt, except that, for the $2 promotion, only front designs are allowed. When I finally got to get a peek at the shirt, I was  beyond impressed. The lines were perfect, the material wasn't thin, the print was high-quality, and the colors matched my own. Even my itty-bitty signature (just above the lizard's left thigh) printed out perfectly.

And, now, I'm jealous. I ordered the shirt for my mom, because she said she wanted one. Now, I get to watch her wear it, instead of wearing one of my own.

Oh, well. At least I have a living, breathing billboard.

I just hope she learns the shop's URL...