Tag: help

blog on blog, five song friday, school

another class complete and 5SF stuff

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As of yesterday, I have successfully completed my Peds class. Whew!! That was rough at times, and I am just glad it’s over. I still have two more clinical days, but they shouldn’t be so bad. Now, just to start studying for Pysch’s first test, and get prepared for OB to start up. School work, it seems, is never done.

I know that I spoke about this in the past, and even found a temporary solution, but it looks like the 5SF might be dead for real this time, kids. I can’t add files to grooveshark anymore, and they never have what I want to post. Also, I can’t figure out how to use this plug in without it giving out my file storage area (which was the problem before, and caused my bandwidth to disappear), so I think I might just have to give up. I wish I could figure out something else, but honestly, I’m just so busy right now that I can’t do it on my own. Any solutions that I could figure out fairly easily are welcome. If not, there’s not much else I guess I can do right now; it’s disappointing, but it’s reality, unfortunately.

blog on blog, five song friday, tragic, venting, well?, wtf?!

major bandwith theft and the fate of the 5SF

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It seems that it is always the few that have to ruin it for all of the others. So you may have noticed that as of this morning, none of the audio links work on this site anymore. This is a direct response to an email that I received from my hosting company that said that I was about to exceed my 400GB bandwidth quota for the month. Naturally, I was quite surprised, because I rarely ever approach 60GB transfer a month for the entire site, so I went to see what was going on.

Apparently, some people in another country, specifically the sites listed at the bottom of this post, think that it’s okay to just steal bandwidth. Well, unfortunately, since they have been stealing from me, and specifically from the mp3s that I used to do the 5SF, you guys are going to suffer; I am not going to offer audio anymore until I figure out a way to do it without leaving the back door open for these motherfuckers.

I didn’t know it, but the application that I use(d) for embedding audio gives you the URL of the file if you do a view source, a fact that I was unaware of until today. I don’t know how I missed that before, but apparently, I did. I don’t know a everything about permissions, but in order to use the plug in, you need to enable execute; which allows you to just steal the bandwidth if you know the file’s URL (which again, the plug in stupidly provides). Blocking the access to the folder is not enough it seems, and as such, drastic action had to be taken.

So what does this all mean for you? I’m extremely pissed off, and very sad to say that it potentially means the end of the 5SF. If I can’t find a way to block the use of my files elsewhere, while still making them available here, I won’t be able to post audio anymore; and what’s the point of doing a post about music if I can’t make it available for you to listen to? I don’t see youtube as a viable option, especially since I stopped using it early on in the 5SF because of the stupid rules about embedding certain videos and not others.

I really don’t want to stop doing the 5SF, so please, if you have ANY way that I can post the audio without having assholes steal my bandwidth, step up to the mic; the fate of the 5SF seemingly rests with you. The plug in that I was using was the pixelout audio player plug in, and as of writing this post, I haven’t been able to spot a way that I could hide the URL of the file; which would obviously be necessary to continue using it in the future. Again, any and all help would be most appreciated.

Here are the sites that were stealing my bandwidth: Fuck you, assholes!
http://blog.rayli.com.cn
http://img.kaixin001.com.cn
http://blog.qooza.hk/keng029
http://220.181.38.82/

is it just me?, listen up!, shiny stuff, well?, wtf?!

windows activation required

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I have a problem with my PC… can you help?! (And if you say, “get a Mac”, you should “get a life”, because I have one.)

So I noticed my desktop background was gone the other day, and I also noticed a new notice from Windows Vista on the right side of the tool bar, where the process icons run. This new process is asking me to “activate” or “validate” Windows, and when I click on it, it warns me that my key is not valid, which is completely not true.

I bought this computer a couple of years ago, and I have no idea why all of a sudden, Windows Vista would decide that the key was no longer sufficient. If anyone has ran into this problem, can you share your solution?
PLEASE NOTE: Solutions should not include:

  • Buying a new key for Windows Vista: because I shouldn’t have to pay for something twice.
  • Contacting the manufacturer of the PC: because last time I contacted the manufacturer of my PC, they simply noted I was out of warranty and wanted $59 an hour to “solve my problem”; which I got a friend to fix for free.
  • “Revert to XP”: because the damn PC came with Vista on it, and except for constant issues with iTunes, I hadn’t had any issues with Vista up until now.

I have not put in my key (that is located on the side of the PC), because I am afraid that it will invalidate that key (I am using logic to come to this conclusion, because that key should be the one that is already on file on the PC, because, again, it was the version of Vista that came with the PC), and I don’t want to risk ruining my current, legitimately paid for key. I am wondering if this is some virus or some issue/update/problem that does have a fix out there that I am just not presently aware of.

Any help is much appreciated.

"pointless", all about me, is it just me?, music musings, venting

my tender, tender ear canals

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I have extremely tender and sensitive ear canals. You know how you get those “in the ear” ear phones, and they have different sized inserts “for everyone’s comfort”? Well, even the smallest ones hurt my ears.

It has always been something that I have had to “deal with”, but I have been able to avoid the problem for a long time, since I got my awesomely amazing Bose around-the-ear noise canceling headphones. However, since getting lobes pierced last week, I haven’t been able to use my headphones, because they touch my ear lobes, and as such, I have fallen back on my in the ear phones. Ouch, ouch, ouch. I didn’t realize how much they hurt, because I have never had to use them for extended periods of time before.

I even tried using my friend’s amazingly nice Bose in the ear phones, but those hurt too!! I can’t be the only one out there with sensitive ear canals, so I wonder, if you have this problem, what ear phones are you using?? Let me know, so I can run out and get them today; because I can’t live without my music, and having to shove these devil’s swords in my ear is torture!!!

all about me, is it just me?, listen up!, mixed media, music musings, music suggestion, venting, well?

please don’t stop the music *clap clap*

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December is rapidly approaching, and I am narrowing down my picks for my year end “best of music 2007” December blog-a-thon. I don’t even know if anyone will care or not, but I am excited. I also need to get back into my old podcast, which I haven’t done in ages… I guess I’ll have to put that on my list.

Either way, I have been listening to music non-stop, because there have been some great CDs come out in the past few weeks, many of which will make my year end list. There is just so much to absorb! I think that I like music, and sharing it, because it really is one of the only things that can truly make me feel good. I also really love being surprised by something, and it being really good. There really is nothing like hearing a really amazing song; it gets me energized, and totally takes me to a good place. I love that, and that very thing has been happening a lot lately. 2007 has proven to be a good year for me, musically, and I look forward to blogging about that next month.

One thing, however that is a cause of much strife and grief for me, is my last.fm profile. I don’t know why, but I find myself kind of obsessing about it, and lately, even more so. After iTunes decided it wanted to delete my playlists, the last.fm client decided it no longer wanted to scrobble my ipod tracks. This SUCKS, because I listen to music all day at work, and I really want those tracks on my profile. I have tried reinstalling iTunes, and the last.fm client; both with no luck. If there is any advice or help that anyone can give me, I am all ears; I like last.fm, and I like the whole idea of it, and want to actually use it!!! Help!

Other than enjoying the hell out of some great pop records (Shayne Ward, Kylie Minogue, Girls Aloud, Sugababes, etc.) in the recent weeks, I have been slowly counting down to the end of this semester. I am so ready to have these two classes under my belt, and I hope that once I am finished with them, I will regain some of my momentum. They have just both been demanding, and frustrating. I can’t wait until the next two weeks are over! Let’s hope that next semester (and all subsequent following ones) is much better!

I also made some color/border changes to the blog template… thoughts?

all about me, well?

buying a computer may just be…

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…one of the most stressful and frustrating things that you can do in life. I have been looking for several hours at different features, different prices, and different brands, trying to make a choice that I won’t regret. What I have found out, other than realizing that I don’t really want to buy one, is that there is absolutely no solid consensus on which brand/model is better, and why. Even consumer reports finds that the difference isn’t significant between the top brands (with of course, the exception being Apple).

While I would love to get an Apple, I simply cannot afford it, and I sit here scratching my head, wondering which PC would be the best for me. I have had HP in the past, and only started to hate it once it started getting slower and slower. That was a result of time, I know, but the damn thing still works, and it was purchased in 1998. So I guess that is saying something personally for HP. BUT, James has a Dell, and loves it. No complaints. Other people want to piss on Dell, so there is no consensus as to which of the two is better. And then you have to consider that there is Gateway, eMachines, IBM, etc, out there, that may or may not be any better; again, can’t seem to find a consensus.

Overall, buying a new PC, something that I thought I would really look forward to, as my slow ass laptop leaves me more frustrated with every click of that iTunes icon, has turned out to be a solid example of frustration. Major frustration. I am going up to Best Buy to see if I can make any progress with a Geek Squad person, but I am sure that they are just going to try and up-sale me on a system that I don’t need.

Are there any computer experts out there that have a definitive word as to which computer would make for the best purchase? I don’t do any gaming with my PC, and I use it mostly for photo editing, mp3s, and the internet. I also tend to watch videos, but that is usually late at night, if you know what I mean. I don’t need anything super powered, but I want something that will run pretty fast, and do it every time. I want a machine that won’t break the day after the service plan expires, and I want one that will actually run the fucking “standard” Windows Vista. Do you have any answers to quiet my frustrated mind?

An appropriate response will not include any of the following:
“dude, just buy an apple.”
“I hate _______.”
“I have never had a problem with mine, but I haven’t really heard anything else either”.
“have you checked consumer reports?”
“get a ____, I work there!”

Alright, there it is. Let me know what you think. It should also be said that I have a Toshiba laptop which has been a gem of a computer, but they don’t seem to do much in the way of desktops, which is what this whole quest is centered on finding. I just hope that I can find something that will make me happy, and not take my wallet through the ringer in the process.

HELP!

BIG ASS UPDATE: So, um, should I just say FUCK IT, and go with a Mac Mini? I mean shit, it is only $50 more than the HP I am looking at. Seriously. Who thinks that is the best idea?