Oh Costco, what would we do without you? Even when you’re out of the normal 96 pack of kleenex we’d normally buy, you still offer us the smaller 48 pack. Thanks for being there for us Costco!
The 20 Most Bizarre Craigslist Ads of All Time
“Below we present a selection of some of the most bizarre adverts, requests and personals listed on the site – from the elderly woman looking for a lodger to live in her bathroom, to the man selling 1,300 Pope hats. While some were undoubtedly posted as pranks, they still reflect the spirit of a website that proudly keeps itself open to all internet life.”
This list made me laugh and laugh hard – there are some amazingly funny things on this list!
The Moment of MMA Truth: Taking a Punch
CagePotato has a great collection of MMA fight photos that show the exact moment many fighters take a punch – it’s amazing the things our eyes see but our brain simply can’t process because it happens so fast. This is what you get when you have dozens of photographers around the ring, all snapping away with high-end DSLR cameras: the exact moment of truth when a punch lands. Some great pics!
The Loving Look
Wired’s Artifacts From The Future: DNAMatch.com
This is just sheer brilliance. Check out the above image broken down into smaller pieces at Wired – every bit of text adds to the concept. So clever and well-executed!
.mx Domains = Highway Robbery
I was on Go Daddy today and saw that they were accepting registrations for .mx (Mexico) domains. A cool domain name popped into my head: tex.mx (Tex-Mex), a style of food that I think is absolutely fantastic. I thought I’d register it for fun, in case somewhere down the road a Tex-Mex restaurant chain wanted it and I could retire with my family to a small island somewhere. A regular .com domain is $11.99 CAD for me to register. A .mx domain? “Just” $661.80 per year. What a bargain! I don’t get this – I thought everything was supposed to be cheaper in Mexico. 😉
I Was Trying to Reason With Software (or “How JustHost Does Bait and Switch”)
The past month, I’ve been on the hunt for a new Web host for a few personal domains. I have an account with 1&1, but they have a limitation on how long CNAME entries can be, so I need to look elsewhere. I signed up with BlueHost, only to discover their horribly limited control panel software didn’t do what I needed, so after three days I cancelled my account. Next I tried WestHost, quizzing their pre-sales people on exactly what I needed before signing up. They said they could do what I needed, so I signed up. Again, they had horrible control panel software that didn’t do what I needed it to do – the pre-sales people either didn’t understand my questions, or they weren’t being honest with me. So I cancelled my account with WestHost. It’s frustrating to waste time with this, but I’m thankful that both BlueHost and WestHost have simple cancellation policies and I got a full refund.
So I went on the hunt for other Web hosts, this time for ones that had better control panels. I’m not looking for “cheap” – I’d happily pay $10 to $15 a month for the account – but what I need is something powerful and flexible and based around the concept of multiple domains. I was looking at JustHost.com, and decided to sign up with them because they use Cpanel, which I’ve used on my own server before. I was going through the sign-up process, and on the second phase it asked me about adding upgrades to the account. One of them for for SPAM Assassin. I was a bit confused, because SPAM Assassin is free software that virtually every Web host out there uses. And JustHost wanted to charge me $19.95 for it:
In another browser tab I looked at the list of features, and sure enough, SPAM Assassin was listed:
So which was it? When I was clicking around the JustHost site a chat window popped up, so I thought I might as well ask them about this. Here’s the transcript of that chat:
* * * * * * * *
Connecting to Agent…
You have been connected to Amber
Amber Says:Hey Wait! We would hate to see you go without seeing what’s made us Award Winning Web Hosts. So just this once I can give you a 20% discount on our unlimited hosting. That’s a $24 saving! To take advantage of this one-time offer just CLICK HERE
Amber Says:When you are ready just say “Hi” and we can get started….
You:Hi there, I have a question
Amber Says:Hi my name is Amber thanks for visiting Just Host today!
Amber Says:Is there anything I can help you with? Or if you would like to check out our last minute 20% discount, please CLICK HERE!
You:I’m in the midst of signing up now, and I’m confused about something….
Amber Says:Signing up for hosting with Justhost couldn’t be easier! If you want to sign up now just CLICK HERE and complete our simple 1 page order form!
You:on the Features page, it lists Spam Assassin and there’s a check mark next to it, seeming to indicate that it’s included in the package
Amber Says:Unfortunately we cannot accept checks or money orders. We only accept Visa, MasterCard, American Express, and Paypal
You:Yet as part of my sign up package I’m being offered Spam Assassin for $19.95/year….
Amber Says:You get a free domain for life, free instant setup and you can host unlimited domains, plus, much much more.
Amber Says:Today only I can offer you this special 20% discount so you can sign up for just $3.95 month. Just CLICK HERE to get this today only offer!
You:are you reading what I’m writing? I’m asking you a question
Amber Says:Please repeat your question
You:You don’t have a scroll bar?
Amber Says:Would you like to sign up for our most popular hosting plan for just $3.95 / month?
You:No, I’m asking a question. Let me repeat it…
Amber Says:Ok Great!! To sign up for the $3.95 a month offer CLICK HERE
You:http://www.bestbuy.ca/catalog/subclass.asp?logon=&langid=EN&catid=24930
You:sorry, ignore that
You:on the Features page, it lists Spam Assasin and there’s a check mark next to it, seeming to indicate that it’s included in the package
Amber Says:Unfortunately we cannot accept checks or money orders. We only accept Visa, MasterCard, American Express, and Paypal
You:Yet as part of my sign up package I’m being offered Spam Assassin for $19.95/year….
Amber Says:You may not have noticed but I am actually just a virtual agent, so I dont fully understand your question.
Amber Says:You can try asking me again and re-phrase your question, or why not contact our freindly phone support team toll-free at: 1-(888)-755-7585 they should be able to assist you further
You:A virtual agent. I’m talking to software. I assumed I was talking to someone who might as well have been software.
Amber Says:A virtual agent, basically means i’m not real,,, BUT that doesnt have to be a bad thing
You:Trust me, it’s a bad thing.
Amber Says:Sorry I can’t understand your question. Please can you repeat it for me?
[chat disconnected]
* * * * * * * *
And that’s how I started off my day today: trying to have a discussion with software. 🙂
Daddy and The Little Man Playing Xbox 360
Object Collection: Blank Generic Parking Ticket
Blank generic parking ticket.
[Download high-res version, transparent PNG]
Be sure to check out the whole Object Collection category to find more scanned objects. These objects are free for personal use, but commercial use is prohibited without permission. Please see my Creative Commons License for further usage details.
Logan Dunn…One of Many
I decided to do a search for Logan Dunn in Google to see where his name ranked, and sure enough, this blog is the #1 result for those two terms. But there are a lot of other Logan Dunns out there – including that cool Lex Luthor-looking dude above. I wonder if it’s even possible to name your kid something unique? I guess Trogdor Dunn would be unique enough to qualify… 😉