Is MySpace selling my email address?
This morning, while I was playing around on MySpace, I noticed a new banner image at the top of the page.
I’m not sure why it got my attention, but it did. Maybe it was flashing or something. Anyways… After a few minutes I checked my Hotmail account (same as MySpace login). I noticed an email with this subject line: “Flush Out 20 Pounds with Acai Berry”. The email was from acaiberry@AIDENTOKEN.COM. So, I went to aidentoken.com to see what it was. This was their homepage:
Please note you have received this email because you are currently on our mailing list.
Our records indicate that you have requested for information from one of our partners or affiliates. By entering your email address in the box below will promptly remove you from our lists and you will no longer receive emails from us or our affiliates.
I wonder if MySpace is one of their “partners”?
National Breast Cancer Awareness Month
As you may or may not know, October is national breast cancer awareness month. I know I’m a few days late, but I just found this image today and I thought it deserved to be posted.
National Breast Cancer Awareness Month
Homepage Advertising - MySpace Vs. Facebook
This morning, when I went to check my Facebook account, I noticed that there’s a really big difference between MySpace’s homepage and Facebook’s homepage. When comparing the two pages, the first thing I noticed on MySpace’s homepage was the ginormous flash commercial that spanned the width of the layout. There’s also many smaller ads tucked away throughout the page. On Facebook’s homepage, there doesn’t seem to be any advertising at all. Facebook’s homepage doesn’t require any vertical scrolling either when viewing as 1024×768. Check out the screenshots below:
Let’s play a game… Click on the MySpace screenshot and see if you can count the number of advertisements. Post your guess as a comment.
How to fix LinkEX and .htaccess conflicts
Last month I discussed using 301 redirects to avoid duplicate content and now I’d like to expand on that topic with something I just learned this morning. On a few of my sites, I’m using a script named LinkEX to trade text links with other sites. It seems that there is a conflict when using the 301 redirect method mentioned above with LinkEX. When I would try to login, the username/password fields would just reset. I knew the password was correct because it had been saved within Firefox. When I tried to use the password reset too, that field would just reset too.
After talking to the script creator for awhile, we figured out that this issue was caused by my .htaccess file and he provided me with a much better method of using the 301 redirects.
This was my old method:
RewriteEngine on
Options +FollowSymLinks
RewriteCond %{THE_REQUEST} ^.*/index\.html
RewriteRule ^(.*)index.html$ http://www.bfxmedia.com/$1 [R=301]
RewriteCond %{THE_REQUEST} ^.*/index\.htm
RewriteRule ^(.*)index.htm$ http://www.bfxmedia.com/$1 [R=301]
RewriteCond %{THE_REQUEST} ^.*/index\.php
RewriteRule ^(.*)index.php$ http://www.bfxmedia.com/$1 [R=301]
RewriteCond %{THE_REQUEST} ^.*/index\.shtml
RewriteRule ^(.*)index.shtml$ http://www.bfxmedia.com/$1 [R=301]
RewriteCond %{THE_REQUEST} ^.*/index\.asp
RewriteRule ^(.*)index.asp$ http://www.bfxmedia.com/$1 [R=301]
RewriteCond %{THE_REQUEST} ^.*/index\.aspx
RewriteRule ^(.*)index.aspx$ http://www.bfxmedia.com/$1 [R=301]
RewriteCond %{THE_REQUEST} ^.*/index\.cfm
RewriteRule ^(.*)index.cfm$ http://www.bfxmedia.com/$1 [R=301]
RewriteCond %{THE_REQUEST} ^.*/index\.pl
RewriteRule ^(.*)index.pl$ http://www.bfxmedia.com/$1 [R=301]
RewriteCond %{THE_REQUEST} ^.*/default\.asp
RewriteRule ^(.*)default.asp$ http://www.bfxmedia.com/$1 [R=301]
RewriteCond %{THE_REQUEST} ^.*/default\.htm
RewriteRule ^(.*)default.htm$ http://www.bfxmedia.com/$1 [R=301] |
Once we figured out the issue, he provided me with this:
RewriteCond %{THE_REQUEST} !/links/ [NC]
RewriteCond %{THE_REQUEST} ^.*/(index|default)\.(s?html?|php|aspx?|cfm|pl)
RewriteRule ^(.*)(index|default)\.(s?html?|php|aspx?|cfm|pl)$ http://www.bfxmedia.com/$1 [R=301,L] |
He added the RewriteCond with the “links” directory and he condensed the line with all the file extensions down to one line. Now, I’ve got to change all my .htaccess files to this new streamlined version.
If you’re looking for a good (free) link trade script, you need to get LinkEX.
How to quickly repair a bent CPU pin
I recently picked up the October 2008 issue of Computer Shopper for some plane ride reading. It included a “Special PC-Builder’s Handbook” section. This section had 75 quick tips for building computers. One of the tips that I really found interesting was that of fixing a bent CPU pin with a mechanical pencil tip.
Instead, obtain a mechanical (or drafter’s) pencil. It should have a tiny metal tube for a tip, through which it admits the pencil lead. Remove the lead and, in most cases, the empty tube tip will be the perfect size to fit over a bent pin, allowing you to straighten it with precision. This trick also works for bent pins on motherboard headers, or hard-drive or optical-drive edge connectors.
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