Uptick

In news of the probably not-so-exciting category, I’ve noticed a huge jump in scam related spammy email lately. My email filter does a pretty darn good job of filtering out the crap but I do often quickly scan thru it to catch any false-positives. So anyway, you probably remember the old Nigerian money scam and its many 100’s of variants. Usually written in poor English about someone somewhere in the world trying to access or “free up” millions of dollars from a deceased/deposed person of some sort and “if only you would help” you could have a small percentage (in the millions) for your time and effort.

What this tells me is that people are once again falling for crap like this. It could also just be unscrupulous souls trying to take advantage of the poor economy and people who are desperate for cash. While I’m sure the latter is part of it, these folks focus on scams that work. I get about 10-20 a day now which is a huge spike. Used to, I’d see one every week or so. To see this many all at once is scary to think about.

If you’ve been living under a rock somewhere just try to remember “if it sounds too good to be true, it usually is”. In other words, don’t be an idiot.  Of course, I prefer my granny’s version, “believe none of what you hear and half of what you see.

Pervasive

Another Dore Alley [1]Its officially called Up Your Alley now but locals still refer to it by its original name. fair has come to a close. Everyone I talked to thought this year’s fair was a bit subdued. A quick scan of Facebook and twitter afterwards revealed an over all consensus. For my part, I agree but it made it more enjoyable for me.

As ho hum as I was feeling earlier, I did have a good time. I even stayed beyond my normal 2 hour limit. I ended up hanging out with Chris aka @Wildcuddler from twitter and his friends @bucknsj and @puppychow79. Even better, they are both on twitter so now I get to stalk them. heehee. Seriously though, they were both very nice and made such an adorable couple. We were also joined by a tag-tail. [2]someone who attaches themselves to you or your group in the hopes of hooking up. *g* but even he was sweet and I rather liked having him along.

The event itself was a bit smaller this year. And while it did get crowded, it was so nice not being jam-packed in wall-to-wall bodies with barely enough room to breath. It might sound hot but after about 15 minutes of it, you get rather annoyed. Normally, I can go the whole circuit twice and be lucky if I run into 5 people I know. Not so this time. I ran into a whole slew of friends (and bloggers) in the span of about an hour. I ran into roblog and his hot husband entering the gates. Shortly beyond that I ran into Victor from v-hold and his scruffy hubby and then Wade from beyondbuffalo. There was @repete from twitter and his hubby, several random tricks from years past and even a co-worker. lol It was a whole stream of walk, stop, flirt, chat, flirt some more, then continue on your way. I even saw my ex. I ran into my flickr buddy Andy, who I totally have the hots for. His smile is even more endearing in person. Such a sweetie he was. I could go on and on but you know I am not a name-dropper …  heh heh

There was plenty of the obvious. A grope here, a smile there, a quick chest or butt rub followed by grunts and groans.  Oh yes, it wouldn’t be Dore w/o the blatant sexual innuendo and aggression. There was one beefy guy wearing ass-less chaps that I would have followed around like a puppy had he already not had a hubby in tow. Bastard. lol

**Interjection – I’m sitting at Firewood in the hood as I write this and I’m sitting next to a group of guys who are whining about not being part of the ‘pretty crowd’ yet they can’t stop talking about all the ‘hot’ guys they saw. I’m half tempted to lean over and point out the stupidity of their conversation. Its one thing to not go and ridicule but its another thing entirely to go and then whine about it because you weren’t the center of attention. And that’s forgetting for a moment that ‘pretty’ is a subjective term at best and two, if you’ve ever been to Dore or Folsom, you know the mix of guys is amazing. You see everything; freaks, cock, boobs, piss, average, bears, muscle, hair, smooth, porn, drag, leather, sex, etc. Oh did I mention porn? [3]That said, there seemed to be fewer porn boys out and about this year as well. It runs the entire gambit so going and then whining about not being ‘included’ just annoys me to no end. /rant **

Ok back on topic, sort of. I was particular struck this year by how pervasive our technology has become in our everyday lives. For my own part, I was twittering and texting at down times throughout the day. Of course, I had to stay in contact with the boy. Then there was the moto group, coworkers inquiring if my ass was hanging out, and random tweets and FB updates. I had 3 different random strangers stop me to tell me they read my blog, which tickled me to no end. (Eddy, Derrick, Paul, I told you I’d mention you!) I also met several folks who met thru the various online social sites. One might say, it was a cornucopia of interconnected web-addicts all decked out in leather, lace, and gear!

All said, it was a good event. Fun, frolic, and friends all at one time. What’s not to like? [4]Oh, there will be a forthcoming ‘post’ in a few days about other activities, so you know what to do. It was a nice end to my rather uneventful but extremely well-timed vacation as I go back to work tomorrow. I’m back on my new (old) shift which I’m very excited about.

And how was your weekend?

References

References
1 Its officially called Up Your Alley now but locals still refer to it by its original name.
2 someone who attaches themselves to you or your group in the hopes of hooking up. *g*
3 That said, there seemed to be fewer porn boys out and about this year as well.
4 Oh, there will be a forthcoming ‘post’ in a few days about other activities, so you know what to do.

Sub-scribe!

When attempting to leave a comment, you will now notice a tiny checkbox below the “add comment” button.

I added a nifty little plug-in that allows users to subscribe to a particular post’s comments. [1]Keep in mind this has nothing to do with subscribing/registering as a user. So now anytime you comment on a post, follow up comments will be emailed to you, if you so choose. This is a post by post option and you have to post your comment for it to function.

I find this a very useful feature on other blogs as it saves me the effort of having to track other user comments to my replies. I figured why not add it here as well.

I had a little confusion this morning as it only shows the checkbox if you are NOT the administrator. I kept thinking it wasn’t working. Live and learn.

References

References
1 Keep in mind this has nothing to do with subscribing/registering as a user.

Blog Update

work file

check blog version – check

try internal update function – check

check plugins – check

check login script – check

check filter – check

delete htaccess file from image directory after plugin update – check

delete temp files

*update* – Ok, color me stupid. This was a private ‘to do’ file. Not sure exactly how I managed to publish it. lol Needless to say, I successfully upgraded my blog to 2.8.

Real?

So in very uninteresting and completely mundane news, I joined realjock.com last week. I thought it might be fun to try and interact with other guys who enjoy working out.

So far, I’m not that impressed. Besides being an obvious hang out for those dealing with internalized homophobia and the ever emotionally stunted “straight acting” types, no one really seems to actually interact that much.

The site is designed relatively well and does have some good tips/guides for working out and building muscle though. The forum is decent as well. I guess its the best to be expected considering. I’ll give it a whirl for awhile and see what develops.

Hack

I hacked one of my old plug-ins and finally got it to work with the new template. This just means my categories are back as a link, up top. The blogroll will be back shortly as well. I also added a new log-in feature directly to the home page. This hopefully simplifies the login process as well as giving visual clues to users to know when they are actually logged in or not. [1]Are you logged in? You should be. *EG*

The great thing about WP 2.7 is it is much more widget and hook friendly. The bad news is it is much harder to do manual hacks. There are pros and cons to be both approaches but I like tinkering with the code.

Someone complained the links to the old blog were broken but they look fine to me. I’ve tried a variety of browsers and can’t seem to get a failed link. If you experience trouble, email me.

References

References
1 Are you logged in? You should be. *EG*

Stimulating…

Well, I’m doing my part to “stimulate” the economy.  I just received my new laptop today.  I decided to go with something a tad lighter this time.  I read some great reviews for the Lenovo Y650 series.  I’ve never owned a Lenovo. [1]IBM sold them their laptop division a few years back.  I can tell you this sucker is super slim & light.  I lost an inch of screen real estate but so far I’m not missing it! 

It also arrived a day early so I got a nice surprise this morning.  heh heh  I noticed right off how small the box was and was a bit confused thinking I must have ordered something else and just forgotten. 

I’m definitely impressed so far.  True to its description it has a very slim profile.  My laptop bag feels almost empty now when I’m carrying it. lol  Even better, I get a free upgrade to the full version of Windows 7 when it comes out later this year!  I think I mentioned I have the beta version on win7 on my old lappie right now.  I’ve gotten a little spoiled actually.  Win7 is all the things Vista should have been, IMHO.  I highly recommend upgrading when you can. 

Oh and I switched to a 64-bit OS.  The reason being the 64-bit version doesn’t have the memory cap on RAM like the 32-bit version does. 

The old Dell lappie is still in excellent shape.  I haven’t decided if I want to sell it or not.  TFA expressed an interest so we’ll see.  I’m currently transferring stuff from it to the new one.  I’ve had a NAS for years now and am getting better and better at using it as my primary storage.  Makes things a lot easier when transferring files. 

Anyway, so far I’m loving the new one.  Hopefully, it will stay that way. 

References

References
1 IBM sold them their laptop division a few years back.

Anal-Who?

No, not that.  Get your mind out of my gutter.  heehee  I’m referring to analytics.  I’ve been using Woopra for some time now to track my blog stats.  With the new version, they have a nifty plug-in that incorporates easily into my blog dashboard.  

Its fun examining the new blog stats.  And nothing like some dirty talk to boost my clicks. lol  I’m always tickled how many people read about my wild antics.  That pesky brettcajun is currently in the lead in referrals.  Of course, now that Large Tony has a new blog going, he is gaining fast and looks like he is trying to reclaim his title of top dog.  In a big surprise, Obliquity65 is bringing up a respectable 3rd place. 

I’m really surprised at how many oversea clicks I’ve been getting.  While most of my clicks still come from inside the country, I am noticing more and more international clicks.  Canada, Germany, Sweden, Australia, hell even Singapore.  lol  Who da thunk it?  

Google is still the top search engine, no surprise there.  twitter and Facebook have really begun to generate a lot of blog traffic as well.  I’ve currently left my blog open to being indexed by the search engines but if the junk gets to high again, I’ll nix it.  

It seems I’ve settled into a core group of about 150 regular readers off and on.  Lord only knows why you stick around.  Gluttons for punishment I say. heh heh  Anyway, thanks for tuning into my madness on such a regular basis.  I am hoping to meet a few more of you in person this year.  Of course, if you find yourself headed to SF, give me a shout.  My schedule isn’t always the most conducive but I do try.  

 As usual, I promise nothing beyond my normal blunt opinionated self.  That will have to do. *g*  I’m getting better at dragging the camera around w/me though.  I’ll try to continue including random pics for excitement.  

Ok, enough babbling.  I’m off to get my hooves clipped and polished before TFA arrives tonight.  And no, I will not be posting any of those details. lol

Bitten / Kudos

The blogging bug has definitely bitten me again (as if you couldn’t tell). I guess the new blog and template has inspired me. heh heh

I’ve been tinkering w/using Google’s “Friend Connect” to allow people to sign into my site. It was pretty easy to setup and it worked well. Unfortunately, it only seemed to complicate the process. Their sign in doesn’t actually create a new user account on my blog, which of course means no control over content and access. Users would have to double register to truly be listed as “user”. I’ve since disabled it. I guess my blog really isn’t a social mecca anyhow. lol

In a slightly different vein of thought, a big thanks to everyone for the birthday wishes.  I was very humbled by all the kind words and emails I got.  I might have mentioned I have a 4-day weekend this week and have been a total slug so far.  Well, besides the gym anyway. lol  TFA arrives tomorrow night.  The only thing planned, besides the obvious, is to check out the new Underworld flick.  I’m a big fan of the movies so far.

Tonight, my buddy kristaki drug me out to some of the local gay bars in the gaborhood.  He is straight but grew up here so totally cool.  His fiance has a whole contingent of gay friends as well.  Sadly, the group seemed to like all the bars I hate. lol  I wasn’t miserable but I certainly wasn’t overly excited.  kristaki and I were in the acadamy together and we could pretty much have a good time anywhere.  We actually ended up splitting off from the group and wound up at Sparky’s gorging ourselves on chili cheese fries.  Even though we didn’t really do anything exciting I had a blast.  I don’t get to see him as much now that he is on the force and has a blushing bride-to-be.

So now I’m home feeling like a bloated heifer.  Ugh, I ate too much.  Tomorrow is definitely gonna be a cardio day!