You need wellies in Wellington, New Zealand..THIS is summer??

I apologize in advance for turning this blog into a travelogue, at least for the next two weeks. But you see, I never go anywhere. (well, unless you count BlogHer). Finally, after 20 years, my husband and I have taken a trip together. He is speaking at Linux Conference Australia and I came along for the ride. Well, actually more like a 12 hour plane trip to New Zealand. But if you absolutely cannot stand it, you can take the advice to the left and exit...in an orderly fashion.

I plan to record the stay for family and those who might care. I loaded the images smaller to make it easy to upload from New Zealand, but you can visit my flickr for the larger images. Most of the pictures are available larger. Just click on the pictures for more detail.

After twelve hours on the plane, we arrived in Auckland only to have to sprint to our connecting flight transfer to Wellington. We had little time to make our connection and were really out of breath (which meant I could curse my husband less for such a short layover). After a short hop, we landed in Wellington. It was raining and windy. It still is...and is scheduled to rain all week.

Our car picked us up and took us to the no-frills student housing which was a trip down Twenty-Something Lane about twenty years too late. We walked into our "room" to find a large stain on the floor of something nondescript, a sink, a rickety double bed with a thin coverlet, a stainless steel military-issue desk and an Ikea-type budget wardrobe. That's it. I have to tell you, after twelve hours on the flight to Auckland, and another hour to Wellington, it was too much for me. I cried. Go ahead, laugh. Ok, you suck. No, really. I am laughing about it now as well. But at the time? It wasn't funny.

The room has NO bathroom. I have to go down the hall to the bathroom and the shower. And the shower? Ack, don't get me started! It isn't a spray, it is a spigot, sticking out of the wall. And the hot water is non-existent. I washed my hair in cold water and it took a long time to get warm again. Clearly, this set up was designed by the Marquis Du Sade. Or his evil twin brother, Hector. I do have to say, the "common areas" of the place make up for it. There is a really nice tv room, a communal meeting area, an exercise area with recumbent bikes and a kitchen as well. And a giant chess board. How cool is that?

I have to give my JNerd a pass on this one, though. He wanted to be where the students were so he could hang out and get to know them. And it is his conference,not mine. He is in a select group of speakers here, there's a lot of competition for those coveted speaker slots. So I have to give credit where it is due. It's His Thing. I just let him do it.

The venue for the conference is beautiful. Located at the convention center, it is well-appointed for events. The main hall is daunting and amazing. It is also where JNerd is going to be speaking on Friday. Wow.

The town is quaint and picturesque. It's artsy. Because it is a student town, it is also a mecca for backpackers. There are a lot of very inexpensive accommodations here. The vibe is young, and funky. Everyone I have seen is physically fit and stylish. I on the other hand, brought summer clothes, because well, it is supposed to be summer here! But it is colder than my southern California winter. Go figure.

The food here is good, when you can find it. We had wonderful breakfast this morning. I am now ruined for pancakes without ice cream and strawberries.yes, ice cream on pancakes..who'da thunk? Dinner was a bit tougher. Being Sunday, most every place closes early. We had to walk quite a few blocks before we found the Belgian restaurant where we eventually were able to get dinner. Walking back, it was dark, and windy. But our bellies were full of delicious warm yummies to sustain us on the walk back to the hotel.

Dinner was passable: meatloaf sandwich, a bit peppery. But dessert was amazing. And I had the most perfect cappuccino to prove it.

Tomorrow, I join the Partner's Program for the duration of the conference. Wellington bus tour here I come. Nobody here but us tourists!

T, who is enjoying the first real vacation in 20 years

Wiiii Google??

Quick! Where is the ONE place on earth where you wouldn't expect to have wi-fi issues? I'll wait.

Give up? How about Google, in Silicon Valley? Yep. I am here all weekend for a conference (it isn't my conference, I am just the warm body that JNerd volunteered to man (woman?) the desk and tell people where to go. apparently I am supremely adept at this...who knew? Since the conference is literally in ONE room, there isn't much for me to do. So I was doing the tweeting, tumbling, facebooking thing. And I have no internet access. This is frustrating.

Also, this place is locked up tighter than Fort Knox! Security at all doors, badges for everyone, restricted access and ONE room we can actually be in. What the hell are they doing here, discovering cold fusion? Lighten up, Google. You're a web-based computer company. You aren't protecting the Hope diamond.

I would have taken a picture, but would you believe no pictures or video is allowed on their campus? And since Google makes my panties wet world go around with gmail, blogger, maps and my G1? I best play by the rules with the good kids here. See Google? I can too play nice! Well, actually, there is nothing more to see here… you can move along now.

What? You want me to throw you a bone? Don't you realize how much I rely upon my G1?? But ok, I suppose it won't hurt… two words:

Lava Lamps Giant ones. (yeah, so that's more than two words, sue me. Google's Awesome cannot be contained in mere two word containers.

updated to add: coffee at Google is amazing, you grind your own beans. There is a machine that pours it for you, plus drip coffee, plus fresh-made espresso. I think I am going to move here. Wonder if the couches in the lobby are comfortable for sleeping?

T, who at least gets a short vacay from Responsibility

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Survey Says... (can you take a second to answer a question for me?)

We're close, right? I mean, you read, you laugh, you cry, you... aw, hell...here's the deal. I am taking a survey, PLEASE, weigh in. If you read and don't comment, could you just once, comment?

I am trying to figure out the comments system I want to use on the blog. I recently uninstalled CommentLuv, in order to update it and ran into a problem. It's not a serious problem, but my comments are in limbo land right now..all of my old comments aren't showing, though I am assured by tech support they are still there. I just have to make the time to reinstall some things. That brings me to my question:

Should I bother? Which comment system do you prefer?

I liked Comment Luv because it parses your last blog post and gives a clickable link so it hopefully brings you blog traffic. A number of blogs I love use it very successfully. But they are Wordpress, and it plays better with Comment Luv.

But I found the number of comments went down after I installed it.

1. Would you prefer not to type in your info and URL? (it doesn't save it, or spam you or anything else, just pulls that last blog post in to show as a link for you).

Do you like the existing Blogger comments, as primitive as they are? Would you like to be able to link your last post, or does that even interest you?

T, who loves CommentLuv, truth be told

April Fool's Day & Get Me Some Earplugs, STAT

scroll to the bottom for list of April Fool's Day pranks online...after you read the post, of course...

Just in time for April Fool's Day..my little daughter decided to come out of hiding.

JBean has a new past time. For hours, she will take pictures and make videos with Photo Booth on the Mac. Today, I managed to upload a couple of them to YouTube for your torment enjoyment. Now that I know what I am doing technically, be ready for more videos.

If you think this is bad, keep in mind I listened to this for 3 hours. She was having so much fun, I didn't have the heart to stop her.

Still here? Ok, then, try this one. Something about bunnies, kangaroos and bears that eat people. And spiders. There's spiders in there, too.

T, who figures maybe she will learn something about tech by playing

Throughout the day, I will be updating the April Fool's Day goofiness I find on the web. If you come across stuff I haven't updated, put it in comments w/ link and I will add it.

Guardian To Ceasee Publication and Switch To Twitter
Identi.ca Aquires Twitter
Google Introduces CADIE
Think Geek, Unicorn Chaser, Squeez Bacon, Tauntaun Sleeping Bag, Buzzword Wristband
smellr (like flickr, but for your nose
Kodak's New Camera
Boards.ie Aquired By Facebook
Qualcomm Convergence goofiness
Introducing Opera Browser Face Gestures
YouTube Rolls Out New Layout
Gmail Goes Auto-Reply
Google Chrome in 3D
Warner Bros. Aquires Pirate Bay
Hotel.com Announces Rooms On the Moon
IE To Offer Mozilla-Based Plug-Ins
Internet Reboot Today
Expedia Books Flights To Mars
Add Some Shine To Your Website
reddit Changes Its Layout
Woot, pay $3, a million dollars shipping
Facebook To Acquire Twitter, All Traffic Will Go Through Facebook
Flying Scotsman to Get Makeover
Firefox Changes Add Ons to Change-Arounds
Text N Walk app Released
Wikipedia Gets Into the Spirit
Some Curious Science Discoveries At NewScientist
World's First Flying Hotel
Turtle Wax Moves to Free-Range Turtles
An oldie, but a favorite, about penguins

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THAT'S How Much I Love YOU!

Image by greggoconnell via Flickr

There have been some great comments lately on Send Chocolate, and since I really believe in the community of blogging, I wanted to be able to expand upon the discussion. So I added Comment Luv to the comments. This allows you to showcase your next post, which I think is pretty cool. So, please, take advantage of it. The only negative, if you could call it that is that now Blogger members won't have their pretty little icons showing. But, you can participate however you choose:

Guest, w/ name and no registration

Guest, include name and info, without registering

Register w/ Comment Luv which takes 5 minutes, I swear, that's all. Then you can put your picture and all sorts of stuff in.

I even enabled video comments, so let's see how that goes.

I can even allow integration with Facebook, but I am still thinking on that one.

I did this so that we can enjoy the conversation, so don't let me down! Comment. Also, this way I can get you more information if you need it.

T, who is excited about this change

Scraping the Bottom for SEO

Chances are, if you are a regular at Twitter, you are aware of the mystery of the strange followers with "tweets" that don't make any sense. You know the ones: Maggie668 (not a real account) starts to follow you. You click over to see who she is, and find a picture of a girl, probably a party girl. She's cute. What does she have to say? Her tweets don't make much sense, they are in four languages! The ones in English are barely coherent. What's going on here? Is she drunk? This account is most likely a bot "scraping" tweets off the public timeline, and attributing them to user in question. How many people is she following? How many follow her? And Why would anyone do this? Bottom line? Money. Isn't it always?

First a quick crash course. What is the most popular Internet buzzword right now? SEO or Search Engine Optimization. There is a ton of money to be had out there for people who are good at it. Companies will pay to to raise their page rank in the search engines. The higher the rank, the earlier you appear in the Google results. It isn't enough to google esoteric terms. You want to be associated with keywords that define you, your brand and bring visitors to your blog or business website. It is all about who drives the traffic. This is where Twitter comes in.

Say "Joe" comes in and starts an account at Twitter. He gets a couple of followers, but really doesn't follow many people. In his account, he has a link to his website. Meanwhile, new accounts start popping up all over, usually female, with names like Brittany, Maggie, Karen. The accounts have no links to any outside sites, so it is impossible to check out who they are. They post content but that content is really from the public timestream in order to appear to be tweeting. At first glance, everything seems fine. They follow a ton of people, a percentage follows back. Here's where it gets confusing. Stay with me, now... Once they have a great many followers, they all follow "Joe". Joe's website, an online gambling site,or a monetization site, jumps exponentially in its SEO. Every follower of "Joe"and friends of followers of Joe now gets to display Joe's link. It's right there in the picture bar. This is potentially thousands of indexed links for search engines. Now, the originator of Joe's account goes back to prospective clients and says, "Hey, I can raise your rank", and points to Joe's website. Little companies trying to break through believe it and pay money to increase their SEO. With the scraper bot, the originator of Joe's account wins clients. This is really just another form of spamming.

Why does it matter?

1. They are stealing your data. The things you say to your friends are harvested into someone else's account and passed off as their words. If you are a frequent user of Twitter, this affects you. Don't believe me? Go to summize. Enter your Twitter name, or even some keywords for things you have tweeted. What do you find?

2. They are using Twitter bandwidth in order to scrape your info. You know our friend the Fail Whale? We see him more frequently due to the heavy use of scraper accounts. That hurts us all.

3. It's just bad Netiquette. yes I hate that word, too. But it is much easier to type than "Internet Etiquette.Which I typed anyway...well, now I am too lazy to go back and kill "netiquette." Just like you don't use someone else's bandwidth to host pictures unless they allow it, what the scrapers are doing is effectively stealing.

So What Can You Do?

1. BLOCK scraper accounts. Keep up with new followers, block suspicious accounts. If enough people block the user, it alerts Twitter, and they investigate the account.

2. Don't blindly follow. Check to see who you are following, and why they are following you.

3. Contact Twitter and ask they to address the issue of scraping. I know Twitter has enough in the water right now, that Whale barely floats. But if they are going to grow, they need to figure out how to deal with these issues. Twitter at its best is a Community. As a member of the community, you and I have a responsibility to better it and work towards improving it.. Nothing Orwellian here, simply a little Good Neighbor practice.

By blocking these followers, we all benefit. Less scrapers mean less down time for Twitter. Their servers are less taxed. Now, I know, if you are like me, the ego boost of watching that number go up on the righthand side of your page is something you like. I love getting new followers. But if the followers in question aren't real human, but bots who care nothing for your wit? Why bother? It says nothing about me or my ability to entertain. The bots will follow anyone. My numbers dipped a bit when I blocked the bots, but now the people following me are, well, people who might actually want to hear what I have to say.

In the end, those who game the system will always game the system. But at least we send a message tweet? that we are on to their game and that it won't happen on our watch.

T, who is glad that is settled

*many thanks to GeekMommy for helping me figure this out

Technorati: twitter, SEO, search_engine_optimization, social_media

I can't HEAR you!

If I haven't updated it is because I have been dealing with Apple Tech Support. We bought JBug a MacBook for graduation, and literally 6DAYS later, the sound is wonky. There is no external sound coming out the speakers at all, but the headphones work. When the headphones were taken out, the computer thought that external speakers were working, we just weren't getting any sound. So I tried some stuff and checked more stuff online some stuff about internal input and that wasn't my problem exactly and then called tech support. So after hours online, PRU reset, PRAM reset and an reinstall OS w/ preserve settings, it is decided by me and tech support: return the thing. (after going through three techs) So frustrating. Today after church, I braved the Apple Store they are very busy on weekends I talked to a really nice Assistant Manager and they exchanged the computer. I love Apple again, I guess. Haven't opened the new one yet to see if everything is ok, but I see no reason why it wouldn't be. After all the tech fixes we tried, I figure I lost about 5 hours to this problem...and that is time I should have been blogging. if I haven't updated, at least now you know why, right?

T, who hates dealing with tech support

So Now That You Know What I Do With My Time

13 Reasons I like twitter Better Than facebook

1. 140 characters...short and sweet

2. When you add a friend, you don't need permission

3. you can have followers without having to follow them

4. it is just about instantaneous, so you can have conversations

5. NO applications to download!

6. no spam (you can always block a follower)

7. With twitpic, you can add pictures

8. has a great interface, and with free software like twhirl and Twitterrific, you can update from your desktop; sites like twittervision, twistori and Tweet Wheel give new perspectives

9. Don't have to hold your friends hostage to interact with the site

10. CONTESTS! pbloco, twittertowin, etc.

11. can update or check updates with your mobile phone

12. interesting links can be sent and clicked upon..can feed your blog URL through

13. Community, the best part.

T, who loves the social media thing

Get the Thursday Thirteen code here!

The purpose of the meme is to get to know everyone who participates a little bit better every Thursday. Visiting fellow Thirteeners is encouraged! Comments are LOVED! If you participate, leave the link to your Thirteen in others' comments. It’s easy, and fun! Trackbacks, pings, comment links accepted!

Technorati: Thursday_Thirteen, meme, social_media

More Cool Mac Toys

A 17 year old created a touch table for the Mac. I WANT one. He lives in Utah. Wonder if he is homeschooled?

Don't You Want This, Baby?

What cool toy do you really want?

T, who loves toys

Technorati: tech, Mac, toys