Random Redesign

I updated the CSS yesterday to get the current incarnation of the design in place. I had attempted something similar a while ago but the layout was too inconsistent across browsers; this one seems to play nicer.

No real reason for the change other the the desire for something different.

And it’s fun.

Design Updates in Progress

If you know me at all, you know I can’t leave well enough alone, be it rearranging furniture at home or changing design and layout here.

I’m tweaking the CSS as I figure out what I want it to do, so if something appears out of place, don’t be suprised.

Email Spam Poetry

Perhaps email spammers were inspired by SatireWire‘s Annual Poetry Spam Contest, and have adopted more “creative” tactics for evading spam filters. So far this morning I’ve received 3 emails containing random prose.

They’re HTML formatted messages with references to images on domains that don’t currently resolve, so I don’t get to see what they’re selling. Links on the images pass my email address in a GET request to those servers so they can either verify it’s real, or just display more advertising. It’s just another automated system emailing thousands of addresses with randomized sentences, only to deliver those linked images, hoping to lure a tiny fraction of the receivers.

1:58 AM

What is the answer? It was time… I can never describe the walk back to my truck. What is the answer?

I’d thought it was sad to hate the forest the way she’d done. I don’t know how he found that place. He extended his hand by way of introduction. This was a place without the internet, without email, without the rush of business meetings and untapped desires.

Why do guys like you and me know what a duvet is? (I’d seen something really weird. :) What are we going to do tonight? I asked. I’d walk down to the stream, look around, and take a deep breath.

I’m evil. I didn’t have to say: can we change the meeting from 6 to 11? My kids have a music recital and I dont want to miss it for the world. Don’t do that, the cat pointed out. My job was to apply the formula. I was just thinking.

3:28 AM

He wanted to know more. I’ll tell you what happened next. It was time… That could well be the answer.

(I’d seen something really weird. :) Are there a lot of these types of accidents? I’d walk down to the stream, look around, and take a deep breath. Can you tell me the answer? she asked.

Just tell me your answer, even if it sucks. There were many examples of animals all around. It was time… What are we going to do tonight? I asked.

A house full of condiments and no food. The continuation of our species matters more than you can imagine. It is the single most important thing we can do. This was a place without the internet, without email, without the rush of business meetings and untapped desires. Hi, I said to all the animals. Love, and hate, are powerful emotions.

5:34 AM

Suddenly, he disappeared. Love, and hate, are powerful emotions. There were many examples of animals all around. But under the circumstances, I’d do it again.

And someone was waiting for me, just around the corner. I’d thought it was sad to hate the forest the way she’d done. I want you to hit me as hard as you can. I’m cold, you said, staring at the continuation we had to feel through yesterday.

(I’m loving the way you walk with me so quietly, contentedly.) This was a place without the internet, without email, without the rush of business meetings and untapped desires. We’re going to regret this, my friend said. Thick walls are important.

This is what I like, I’d tell myself. Suddenly, he disappeared. I’d seen many of the same things I’ve seen before. (Things were looking worse.) He wanted to know more.

It’s a cute ploy, and as much as I hate spam, I like the unrequested prose. It was a pretty funny start to the morning.

Procrastination

When I’ve neglected posting for a while, say, a month, you might expect the thing to bring me back would be incredibly insightful or witty. You could imagine the entire time I was gone, time was spent planning and researching something amazing, and my silence would be broken with something that will be worth the time away.

You might not know me very well.

Sometimes there’s a point where you’ve procrastinated something long enough, starting again is overwhelming and intimidating. I can’t deal with that kind of pressure. Consider this a placeholder till the next post-procrastinated post.

Back to popping Bubble Wrap! (thanks Bryce)

URL Trick and Too Much Time

I didn’t think anyone would bother, but someone cared enough to take the time to exploit the SnipSnap referral backlink list that is displayed under each snip. This was done by tweaking a link to this site to add extra markup to the request, creating a referral with additional markup in the URL. When that link was used to request a page from this site, the server read that referral and associated it to the snip to be displayed. “Hacker” tag included:

While the banklinks were interesting, I’ve taken them off until I have the new release in place to tweak a little more to prevent such silliness.

Never trust the user. :-)