Category: Randomness

For those you won’t want to pay for a legitimate photographer for your project, there’s a great round up of free stock photo sites here. Most of the photos there are have restrictions on commercial use, but they may come in handy for personal, non-money-making projects (but if you need something original, get a stock collection or hire a good photographer).

I’m well behind on my blog reading and have about 2000 unread entries in Feeddemon that I’ll get to at some point. Meanwhile, I have a pile of links in there that I’ve flagged in the past that I’ve been meaning to read, just haven’t had a chance to or they didn’t always merit an entire blog entry. So I don’t forget about them or lose them, they’re getting blogged here (and just watch the Trackbacks fly). So here you go (in no particular order)…

• A Good Discussion on Community/Wiki News
• Dane’s got a bunch of good ones: Distressed PhotoshopTutorial, and a a few good search engine optimization articles.
• Codenovice points to a bunch of great sites for blog templates as well as has the MT subcategory tags on file, and a bunch of other useful MT links.
• Contentious has a great deal of wonderful grab bags of links on e-learning, Media and Journalism, Net and Society, Wikis, Blogging, Webfeeds, Podcasting, Tools, and Writing and Editing. I only wish I had the time to dive through all those links.
• Based on an MT entry’s primary category, it can have a unique template.
• Mezzoblue always has a pile of great links especially in his dailies. Like Open Source is Like Sex, CSS Compatiblity Chart, and marking up data tables in CSS.
• In the future if I ever get around to create a site to aggregate all the Central Oregon Blogs I read, I might go this route
• If you want a good deal of RSS reading material, Nick has a pile of them, as well as a link on RSS Bandwidth saving techniques.
• An Interesting read on how WiFi is affecting Web site content.
• Scriptygoddess always has good stuff. Like this CMS comparison chart, using your MT Template in WordPress, another handy color tool, a gallery of FavIcons for inspiration, and a very cool Colorzilla extension for FireFox.
• A handy Google Cheat Sheet from the SEW Blog.
• I respect the Cub Scouts less and less every day thanks to SEB.
• Movalog Side Log comes up with the MT-DSBL plugin which is an open proxy comment filter for MT that should help combat spam even more. The main part of Movalog has some great links on customizing error messages in MT 3.12x, linking to a couple of very handy Mozilla sidepanels: EditCSS and Web Developer. He also has info on setting up scheduled posting, and skinning the administrative interface with dutchpink (a great admin interface that I might try here).
• Lastly, the 6A ProNet has a couple good article on creating a blogging business strategy.

OK, there’s a few less entries flagged in my RSS Reader. Now to actually read some of the unread ones…

Because today is Father-Daughter Take a Walk Together Day.

If you’re looking to make a break in the movies, read on…

(more…)

Who knew O’Reilly’s Programming Perl could be so stimulating? (Not Really Safe For Work)

A friend of mine just e-mailed me this, and I figured I’d spread the word for her. This is a non-paying gig, but if you’re looking to just get some screen time, this might be your chance:

Volunteer Extras Needed for One Day Shoot on “Caught in the Act”

(Starring: John Corbett “My Big Fat Greek Wedding”, Sean Astin “Lord of the Rings” and Amy Smart “Road Trip”)

Tuesday, June 1

We need all types of people, 16 and older.

**Please tell your friends**

If you are Available please respond to the email address:

[email protected]

In your email please include:

Your First and Last Name, Phone Numbers, Email Address and Age.

*A confirmation email will be sent back with the location and call time*

This is a non-paid, volunteer position. Due to continuity issues, we ask that you are willing to spend the entire shoot day with us. If we establish you in a scene early in the day, it may be necessary to match your scene late in the day.

The scene will take place in a theater setting. We ask that you wear clothing reflective of attire worn attending a play at a local theater. Please no shorts, t-shirts, tank tops or summer attire. We are not allowed to show logos, names, loud colors (avoid red, white & black) or stripes. Please dress in calm, earthy tones, and bring a coat if you don’t mind.

The days can be long and sometimes there are long ‘down’ times. We ask that you bring things to help pass the slow time (while we are setting up equipment in between shots). IPODs, games, books, homework, magazines, knitting etc. are all good examples of things to bring.

You will be asked to sign a photo release. We will not be providing lunch, so please bring your own lunch.

We will need cooperation while on the set, but hope this will be an educational and exciting experience. Please never hesitate to ask questions. We want all of you to have a good time and a joyful experience.

Looking forward to seeing you on the set!

Heather Jenkins

Volunteer Extras Coordinator

Update E-mail on 5/30:

The volunteers extras shoot date has been rescheduled to Sunday, June 6th. I

apologize for any inconvenience this may cause you.

Due to this change I need to update the “confirmed” list with accurate

information regarding your availability. Please send an email as soon as

possible with “June 6th” in the subject heading. Make sure in the email to

include the first and last names, email addresses and ages of all the people

this applies to and a “Yes or No” concerning their availability for the June

6th date.

We are still accepting volunteer extras, and the new date should allow more

people to participate. If you know anyone who may be interested please pass

on the info.

Again, I apologize for the last minute change.

Just a random thought. I just faxed a two-page document to Hong Kong. Thankfully, it was on the company dime, but I can only imagine what it cost.

It took me a while to figure out how to dial it properly. When I did it the first time, I dialed it wrong. I quietly heard screaming in a foreign language on the other end after they heard the fax tone coming from my end. Needless to say, I got it right the 2nd time.

Anyway, carry on…

I’ve always liked Timex’s Ironman line of watches. I had the original Timex Ironman 100 up until last year after about 8 years of hard abuse it finally broke (it survived three fairly nasty bike wrecks, but finally bit it when it got a little over-watered — go figure). I’ve always had good luck with them, which is why I continue to buy them.

About a month ago, my new watch broke. Being that it was on warranty with Timex, I e-mailed them, they gave me an address to send it to, and they told me it would cost $7.50 to fix and ship it back. I received the watch back a couple weeks later with the bill for $7.50 and while one problem was fixed, another cropped up. I e-mailed Timex, telling them that I wasn’t about to send back my watch again to have it fixed.

Their support reps e-mailed me back today, told me they’d be shipping me a brand new watch, along with a pre-paid mailer to send back my old one (assuming the one they send me works OK and I’m satisfied with it). Now that is how customer service is supposed to be, and I give kudos to Timex for taking care of me like they should.

It’s refreshing in to be well taken care of after I’ve spent literally months trying to get this item from this eBay dealer (TelePlus in Houston, Texas). First, they send me the wrong headset, so I send it back (at my expense), they send me the wrong one again (after sending it to the incorrect address twice), and then they want me to foot the bill to ship it back to them for my refund when they had already said they’d have UPS come and get it. It was probably the most unpleasant eBay experience I’ve ever had. Needless to say, they’ve been given negative feedback from me, and I certainly won’t be dealing with them anytime soon.