a free way to trade links with other like minded sites.

Spottt’s categories are somewhat generic, ‘business’, ‘fashion’, ‘pets’ etc., the closest thing to web development was ‘tech’ so I chose that category. However 50% of the ads for ‘like minded’ sites involve pictures of women in various forms of undress. Now I love me the womenz, but I don’t think “dork who blogs about ActionScript and Ruby” belongs with the CeleZone or Desi Babes – Sexy Indian Hotties.

One of these Spottts is not like the others…

At least Crunch Gear shows up now and again, but I’d rather not have the Spottts which are visible only by black light.

However for the second post in a row I must declare shenanigans.

The other day it was Mosso’s ‘new’ hosting service that was really their old service downgraded and repackaged. Today it’s Network Solutions new practice of holding any domain you search for through their system ransom for five days. “Front Running” (registering a domain someone is searching for) is one of the dirtiest tricks on the intertubes. I wouldn’t be half as pissed if Network Solutions didn’t charge more than three times what GoDaddy does. If NS had lowered there prices instead of implementing this system I might have switched because as I mentioned they have a better interface than other registrars, now I’ll never use them.

See for yourself do a whois on networksolutionssucksballz.com and you’ll see it’s held for five days and can only be bought through NS.

Apparently it’s been going on for about a month now and the natives aren’t too happy about it.

Domain Registrar Network Solutions Front Running On Whois Searches
Network Solutions Holding Domain Names Ransom
Network Solutions PR Damage Control

Shenanigans!

[UPDATE] A safe way to lookup domains http://support.suso.org/dns/saferdomainlookup.php

Chow has also assembled his income-earning techniques into a 59-page web book downloadable at johnchow.com. Make Money Online is free, but it still makes money for Chow, thanks to its active web links that drive traffic to his site. It’s not a bad read, either; even if you don’t make blogging your career, there’s plenty there to help monetize your business blog.

I downloaded the booklet and it’s a mix of useful links and Tony Robbinsesque passages like the following.

Everyone has dreams and goals. The only difference between a goal and a dream is a goal is a
dream with action. We all have dreams; becoming financially independent, having a family,
helping charities, etc. However, how many of you have made a goal to achieve your dreams? If
you have, did you place a time limit on it, or did you just say “I’ll do it someday” or “I hope it
will happen”.

That reminds me of when I used to go every second weekend to stay at my Dad’s place in Richmond, BC (home of John Chow) and my Step-Mother would have my brother and I write down our long and short term goals, which is noteworthy only in the fact that we were three and six years old at the time.

Anyways I just implemented John’s tip about being more personal, in future posts I’ll delve into my brief addiction to Children’s Tylenol and why I have to sit down to pee.

I want my two dollars.

It’s derivative of the old USSR Coat of Arms for those of you born in the late eighties.

My favorite show lately is The Big Idea with Donny Deutsch. Donny is a fiery character so if nothing else the show is like a daily pep talk that gets you motivated to work after dinner rather than sit in front of the teevee. The show doesn’t focus too much on tech/internet but once you put yourself in an entrepreneurial mindset you’d be amazed how ideas just start popping up in your head.

And while Droid Sans Mono doesn’t suck as much as Courier Mono it can’t even touch Bitstream Vera Sans Mono bitches!

These are not your father’s Vietnam era veterans, they are the same age as you and me.

Study: 1 out of 4 homeless are veterans

Veterans make up one in four homeless people in the United States, though they are only 11 percent of the general adult population, according to a report to be released Thursday.

And homelessness is not just a problem among middle-age and elderly veterans. Younger veterans from Iraq and Afghanistan are trickling into shelters and soup kitchens seeking services, treatment or help with finding a job.

Some advocates say the early presence of veterans from Iraq and Afghanistan at shelters does not bode well for the future. It took roughly a decade for the lives of Vietnam veterans to unravel to the point that they started showing up among the homeless. Advocates worry that intense and repeated deployments leave newer veterans particularly vulnerable.

“We’re going to be having a tsunami of them eventually because the mental health toll from this war is enormous,” said Daniel Tooth, director of veterans affairs for Lancaster County, Pa.

The end of the year is coming up, if you’ve been a productive web developer you’ll need some tax deductions to reduce the amount the government takes from you. Why not make a donation to the NCHV throught Network for Good.

Paris was great but the highlight of the summer was Underworld at the Hollywood Bowl. Funking fantastic.

Comcast CEO Shows Off Super Quick Modem

Comcast Corp. Chief Executive Brian Roberts dazzled a cable industry audience Tuesday, showing off for the first time in public new technology that enabled a data download speed of 150 megabits per second, or roughly 25 times faster than today’s standard cable modems.

The cost of modems that would support the technology, called “channel bonding,” is “not that dissimilar to modems today,” he told The Associated Press after a demonstration at The Cable Show. It could be available “within less than a couple years,” he said.

The new cable technology is crucial because the industry is competing with a speedy new offering called FiOS, a TV and Internet service that Verizon Communications Inc. is selling over a new fiber-optic network. The top speed currently available through FiOS is 50 megabits per second, but the network is already capable of providing 100 Mbps and the fiber lines offer nearly unlimited potential.