Negative Logic

Google has activated the sub domain calendar.google.com. It currently points back to the main site. Google tends to activate the domain before they release a new service. So that being said I think we will see Google Calendar some time soon.

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Alex’s plan is simple; sell one million pixels at one dollar a piece. The pixels come in packages of 100 thus making the minimum purchase 100 USD. Technically he is selling ad space, but a pixel salesman just sounds better. His site has a million pixel grid divided into 10x10 blocks. According to the rules you may buy as many pixels are left, in groups of 100. Then link those 100 or more pixels to your website. Some of the grid is already covered in ads and the rest is still waiting to be filled. Selling pixels isn’t easy but Alex sure makes it look effortless. In three weeks he managed to make $37,000 USD, enough to pay for his three years of college. At the time of writing this he has sold 116,800 pixels and for those of you just catching on that’s $116,800 USD.

If you ask me it’s an ingenious idea. It’s a “Why didn’t I think of that” idea. It sure looks like it has its opposition. I can’t find a valid reason to consider it a scam. As far as I am concerned as long as he keeps up his end of the deal ‘selling pixels’ isn’t a scam.

Visit milliondollarhomepage

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This post is intended to inform the reader of what is lurking in the archives. It is constantly updated.

Posts ordered oldest to newest:

Google Print halted
- Google Print gets halted due to copyright problems. Goes into how Google uses an opt-out system

Two very effective ways to prevent spam
- Don't wait for spam to over take your inbox. Prevent spam, the easy way.

Donate one dollar to Katrina relief effort, for free! (Old link, no longer relevant)
- Thanks Clorox

See the destruction first hand via Google Maps
- Google has added a red Katrina tab. This allows viewers to accurately see before and after.

Katrina brings out the worst and best in people
- Warning about Katrina scams and Katerina.com

Paypal locks somethingawful.com’s Katrina relief DONATION account!
- After seven hours of donations pouring in they had $19,149 then Paypal locked the donation account.

Google Talk- My opinion
- So, why doesn’t everyone just use one open network? Good question!

Today’s quick links
- A few interesting links

New ruling makes it illegal to refill Lexmark printer cartridges
- When you open the package you agree to the terms written on it, says new ruling.

Lets rip an iPod Nano open with a putty knife!
- A video of the insides of a Nano.

Google Blog Search, those words just go together nice...
- Google releases a Blog search tool.

Google Secure Access
- Google says it "allows users to establish a more secure WiFi connection".

Watch out Firefox, Opera is free and better then ever
- Opera goes free after 10 years of being adware.

Selling Pixels
- Alex’s plan is simple; sell one million pixels at one dollar a piece.

Opera is a web browser that has remained relatively quite. Its not new though, it’s been around for over 10 years. The buzz is about its recent decision to go free. I don’t think Opera will pull in as many Internet Explorer users as it will Firefox users.

I’ve been a Firefox user for a while now but Opera is looking good. I find that it is much more responsive and faster then Firefox. I will note that the new Firefox beta does make improvements in this area. I will seriously consider switching in the up coming weeks. Competition like this is great for everyone. I’ll get a review up comparing Firefox and Opera in detail tomorrow.

Email me your opinions- D.I.Z.D.A.Z+opera@gmail.com

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Google releases "Google Secure Access"

Google says it "allows users to establish a more secure WiFi connection". The details are sketchy at best, I'd recommend downloading it. That's if you can, some people are reporting that the page doesn't load or gets redirected to Google.com. We do know that it uses a VPN server. That's just about all we know...

It looks like they designed it for "certain Google WiFi locations in the San Francisco Bay Area". Google says it should work in other locations but it hasn't been tested. Early reports suggest it works just fine in other locations. Is this just more proof of Google's Wifi plans?

If you have any more information about Google Secure Access please email D.i.z.d.a.z+wifi@gmail.com Thanks :)

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Good news! I found my puppy! Well I never had a puppy but I heard mentioning puppies increased site traffic or does that only work for commercials? I do have good news though, three sweet words, “Google Blog Search”. Now before you run off to try it, here is what you need to know.

- Indexes any site that publishes a feed and pings an [major] updating service
- Checks site feeds “often” for new content
- Available in two different interfaces:
Google.com
Blogger.com

I know what every one wants to know, but is too embarrassed to ask. “How do you use this darn text box and search button”?!

Don’t worry! I’ve got your back, with much time and effort I’ve got the “official” answer:

“Just type the word(s) you want to search for in the text box and click "Search." That's all there is to it!”

I’d like to thank the “Blog search FAQ” for that. If you ask me, Google is trying to imply something.

Heres the links

Blogger.com
Google style

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The Nano is Apples latest and smallest creation. It replaces the iPod mini, but this is old news. I'm defiantly going to be buying one, as soon as I can. That will make three iPods for me, why do I need three? Uhhh... Well anyways your not going to find me using a putty knife to rip my Nano apart. So It looks like your just going to have to watch a video of Kevin Rose doing just that. I'll get a review of the Nano up as soon as I can. I'm hoping for next Sunday.

If anyone already has a Nano please tell me what you think- D.i.z.d.a.z+nano@gmail.com

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Don’t I own that cartridge?...

When you open the package you agree to the terms written on it, says new ruling. The package says its single use only, its single use only. Its no secrete that having printer cartridges refilled is cheaper then buying new ones. I’ve always had mine refilled and haven’t ran into any problems. I guess I’m lucky for now I have a Canon printer, who knows if they will do the same.

If you ask me there is more then one thing wrong with the recent ruling. First of all, don’t I own that cartridge? It’s a corporate company telling me what I can and can’t do with my stuff. The possibility for abuse is, well scary. Is everything going to have “Don’t modify” or “Don’t resell” or something more restrictive on it? If the box agreement gets broken you’re in fact breaking patent and contract laws. I can see the contract part of it, but not the patent side. If anyone knows how patents got dragged into this, please tell me!

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Here some interesting links that I’ve found today. I don’t know how often I’ll do this, leave a comment if you hate or like this.

One free minute is a project truly unique, that’s for sure. Basically you call in and have one minute to say what ever you want. It will eventually get broadcasted over a 200 watt speaker in a public place. The sites easy to understand and contains the phone numbers to call.

Here is a great list of software that doesn’t require an installation. This is great for USB drives and stuff like that.

This is a great idea; add a corner to your site with a link to the Red Cross. It’s just another way to remind people to donate!

Example of corner:


If you’re looking for an online calendar this might be the one. It’s still in beta, but its looking good so far.

Here is yet another interesting concept, a reverse dictionary.

This CNN article goes into a little bit about Talk and desktop.

I’m going to end this list with a live cam feed in New Orleans. I believe it’s a datacenter still operating off of a generator.

So, why doesn’t everyone just use one open network? Good question!

This is my opinion on Google Talk. There’s nothing particularly special about the Talk client. Probably its most prominent feature is its VOIP capability. I find that this feature works great and the quality is amazing. This isn’t necessarily ground breaking technology or anything. It’s been around for years. It seems like a lot of people seem to think Google is trying to pass something old off as new. There is also a fair amount of people who don’t see what all the hype is about, understandable. For me the hype isn’t about the current client, its more about Google entering the I/M world. It’s more of what Talk could become. Talk may get compared to how Gmail entered the email world and has become relatively successful. I don’t think it’s really the best comparison, though.

There’s one big challenge Talk will face that Gmail didn’t. That’s the simply fact that Talk will have to get people to leave closed networks of friends. With email you can still email your friends if you’re using Yahoo! Mail or Gmail, it doesn’t matter. This is defiantly going to be hard. It seems to me what instant messenger you use is greatly influenced by were you live. Here in Arizona “instant messenger” means AIM. Hardly anyone but the tech literate know of MSN messenger or Yahoo.

So, why doesn’t everyone just use one open network? Good question! Jabber is an open decentralized network. The thing is Google decided that its Talk server would only communicate with pre-arranged, arguably more populated jabber servers. Jabber has the right idea, one decentralized network. It should work much like email; after all it wouldn’t be right if @gmail.com could only email other @gmail.com’s. That’s the way instant messaging is. Google simply messed up a good thing. The way it should work is as follows. I (someone@gmail.com) send an instant message to coolperson@jabber.com that message goes to the jabber.com server and then to coolperson himself. As you can see it’s similar to email, with its different servers and usernames. What Google did was close its server off to the rest of the jabber servers. All it did was create another semi-closed network. I guess semi-closed is an improvement over closed. It is federating with other jabber servers, but it still isn’t open. It’s going to be interesting if Google will open its doors to the rest of the jabber world or simply create another semi-closed network.

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After seven hours of donations pouring in they had $19,149 then Paypal locked the donation account…

Somethingawful is one of the internets largest communities. Its main site is currently down because its server just happened to be located in New Orleans. The owner nicknamed “Lowtax”, decided to help out. The SA (SomethingAwful) community isn’t new to helping out. They have previously raised 22,000 dollars to get armor plating for our US soldiers. Another 6 grand was raised and donated to buy toys for children with fatal diseases in hospitals.

After seven hours of donations pouring in Somethingawful had $19,149 then Paypal locked the donation account. That’s more then three thousand an hour. The reason for the locked account? Well this may be a shocker “We have received more then one report of suspicious behavior from your buyers”. Wait a second, they aren’t selling anything! Not only did that successfully stop the thousands pouring in every hour but it jeopardized that the money would even reach the Red Cross.

The plan was to raise awareness, have people donate, send them free merchandise and donate all the money to the Red Cross. The only reason SA used Paypal was to get shipping addresses to send the free merchandise. Not only was SA going to pay for the free stuff but Lowtax donated three thousand out of his own pocket. All Lowtax wanted to do was donate the money to the Red Cross. So he requested that Paypal donate all the money in his still locked account to the Red Cross. That sounds easy enough, right? Nope! Paypal claims it can only donate through United Way. Lowtax and the SA community objected to letting this happen. United Way has a less then perfect reputation, only receiving two stars on charitynavigator. The smart, humane, sensible thing for Paypal to do was to unlock the account and/or donate all the money to the Red Cross. Instead they choose another path, an appalling path. The account remained locked with little costumer support and few options. In the end all the money was refunded to the donators. The SA donation run never saw its full potential because of Paypal. I urge everyone to stop using Paypal after what they did. After all Paypal sucks!

Please spread the word!

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Katrina scams are starting to hit the internet at an amazing rate. These scammers are simply the lowest life forms we have on this planet at this time. They are taking money from people who think it's going to help the relief effort. The money will not go to the relief effort but straight into the scammer’s filthy pockets. There is only one way to stop these fraudulent attacks, make sure you donate to well known charities and organizations! There are reports of Katrina related emails being sent out enticing people to click links; in turn infecting computers through an Internet Explorer exploit. With attacks like this floating around be VERY careful what gets clicked or downloaded in Katrina related emails. Legitimate charities will not send out emails asking for donations. It doesn’t stop at the internet either, be very concerned if someone contacts you via phone asking for donations. It’s always best if you make the contact as opposed to them calling you.

Now to good side of this post. The website katrina.com has been owned by a web designer for years. She found that a lot of people who didn’t know about search engines found there way to her site looking for information. Not only did she turn down a 5 thousand dollar offer on the domain but she turned it into an online resource for victims and people looking to help. This might not seem like much, but it is. She did something that will help the greater good when she could have made a profit. We need more people like her on this earth, that’s for sure.

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Google Maps has added a red "Katrina" tab. Switching from Katrina to satellite view, viewers can accurately see before and after. It’s obvious that the victims of this natural disaster will need donations. I urge everyone that can do even the smallest of things to help out. If you’re looking for a place to donate both truthlaidbear.com and instapundit.com have put together extensive lists of charities. Google earth users may also find Katrina imagery here.

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Clorox is donating one dollar on your behalf for free. They will donate up to 100,000. As far as I know it doesn't say how much they have donated so far. It doesn't require your name or email address. Simply check "Yes! Donate one dollar on my behalf". Again here is the link :)

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No one likes spam; here are two very effective ways to prevent spam.

1- This is probably the best way to prevent spam using Gmail. Any time a site asks for your email simply add a +something in your address. Like this D.i.z.d.a.z.8.9+spam@gmail.com that address will point directly to my account. If you start receiving spam from one of the +something addresses simply create a filter to send it to the trash. Also note that you can add periods in your name were ever you would like. There isn’t a limit on how many +something address so I would recommend using one per site.

2- This one is for Firefox users, download this extension. Basically it will create an address that looks like i4sg0qko38me264@jetable.net. That address will then forward mail to a specific address. The @jetable.net address expires after a set time period; 24 hours to 8 days. So if spam does start coming to that address it will be bounced back to the sender. Once you have downloaded and installed the extension go to a form right click > Get jetable mail > enter your full email address. Settings are located under Tools > extensions > double click get jetable mail.

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