geakz.com

Many are familiar with the tongue and cheek website Despair.com where you can order ‘motivational’ posters (and other schwag) which parody the serious propaganda posters found in many board rooms, schools and government institutions across this great land.

Have a great de-motivational phrase? Than you should wander over to bighugelabs.com and create your own sarcastic masterpiece.  You can upload your own photo, use Flickr, or a web URL.  Type in your title and phrase, choose your border and when done, you can download, email, upload to Flickr, or have a hi-res poster made just for you (cost involved for the later).

Here’s mine.  I used a photo my sister took.

Update:  You can also do this same thing at Despair.com’s website.

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I love soft pretzels.  I love pretzel bread. Which I like to call Bretzel. I like sandwiches on bretzel. But plain ol’ bretzel is a treat to eat on its own. There is a bakery in town that makes fresh, soft, bretzel sticks. I try to get some on the weekends. I discovered that the bakery in the small town where I work also makes bretzels in the shape of the traditional pretzel. I brought home a bag today. Not bad. Soft and slightly salty. Good salt is the key to good bretzel. The salt that comes with the store bought frozen “Super Pretzels” is really good.
What de-luscious bretzel bread encounters have you had?  Are you a closet bretzelholic?  Do share!

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Editor’s Note:

I was recently contacted by Eva Vespa of www.webhostingsearch.com asking if I would consider them for a  guest post.  A guest post? What!? Me?  Our ensuing email conversation went something like this:

Geakz: Are you a spammer?  Why would you want to guest post on my blog?  Geakz.com hardly has the readership you would be after.

Eva: We contribute to sites both large and small; part of it gives us a little oomph, and part of it gives the receiver blog/site a great article.  We’re also on digg and stumble upon but mainly twitter (@hostingsearch).  [Two examples of articles WebHostingSearch.com has provided other bloggers]:

http://elitebydesign.com/inspirational-political-websites/
http://sixrevisions.com/tools/6_tools_analyze_web_host/

Geakz: I would be interested in an article that would share the needed steps to allow someone to start their own, self-hosted blog – preferably with WordPress.   It would also be a plus if your article was an original to my site and not picked from a list of ‘canned’ articles being placed on other websites.

Eva: I can definitely work with that request as we have a couple writers in house that produce everything, then I edit and beautify it for publication.  About how long do you want the article to be?  And if you want us to include some images, what would be preferred size? I’ll throw it at the editors tomorrow and can get it back to you next week.

The ensuing article is what Eva and her team sent over.  I hope it helps anyone hoping to install a local Wordpress installation on their own machine!  It’s a great way to understand how Wordpress works  and offers a ’sandbox’ approach to blogging.  And if this inspires you to research hosting your Wordpress blog on a web Hosted service, make sure you utilize WebHostingSearch.com as a resource in finding the right company to host your masterpiece.  [Mr. Geakz received nothing in return for promoting this guest post.]

Hosting Your Own Wordpress Blog on Apache

Hosting a blog on your own local server requires two things:

1. Server software
2. A Content Management System [CMS]

Let us assume you choose the two most popularly used: Apache (server) and Wordpress (CMS).

Installing a Web Server and preparing it for Wordpress.

Apache is  freeware, meaning you can download it to your local computer without ever touching your wallet! The same goes for Wordpress, a CMS used by millions of everyday bloggers.  The following  steps will guide you through the initial steps to successfully host a Wordpress blog on your own server.

Note! Before installing Apache, make sure any other server application is closed.  Otherwise the installation will fail miserably. Also make sure you are aware of the safety risks of installing a web server on your personal computer before executing Apache.

1.  Install Apache
Start by downloading Apache HTTP Server version 2.2.11, over at Apache.org. Locate specific version Win32 Binary without crypto (no mod_ssl) (MSI Installer) and click on the link to the right. Follow the installation wizard and type in your server information:

• Network Domain: homeip.net,
• Server Name: homeip.net
• Email: your email.

Select the “For All Users-box” below and finish the installation. Your Apache files should be located on your C drive.

Then go to  http://localhost/ –  A message will tell you if the installation was successful.

2.  Install PHP & MySQL
So far,  you have a web server running on your local computer. But in order to make it compatible with Wordpress, you will also need to download and install PHP and MySQL, Wordpress’ two main components. Go to PHP.net and MySQL.com and download the software and install them on your computer. Make sure they are compatible with the Apache version you have installed.

3.   Install Wordpress
Now it is time to download and install Wordpress.  Head over to Wordpress.org and download the latest version. Extract the Wordpress files and transfer them to your servers root directory. Open wp-config-sample.php and configure the MySQL database details and rename the file to wp-config.php. Save and refresh your browser window.  Go to http://localhost/wp-install.php and finish the installation.

It’s as easy as pie!  You now have your own WordPress blog hosted on your own server.

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Those of you scratching your heads, wondering what the devil Madoff’s Ponzi scheme looked like, head over here to download a PDF of the Plea Allocution of Bernard L.Madoff.

And if you want to track what other’s are saying/writing about this try out Twendz.  A unique way to track – in real time – ‘the buzz’ on anything being Twittered.  From their website:

twendz is a Twitter mining Web application that utilizes the power of Twitter Search, highlighting conversation themes and sentiment of the tweets that talk about topics you are interested in. As the conversation changes, so does twendz by evaluating up to 70 tweets at a time. When new tweets are posted, they are dynamically updated, minute by minute.

Type in ‘madoff’ (or any other item of your liking) in the search box and watch the flow of Twitter comments and links scroll by.  Really cool website.

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Snorkle Boy Lives!

I thought this issue was interesting on two (2) counts:

1) Wired wrote an article on prepubescent super heroes.
2) It features my own child.

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I’ve been meaning to write about this for some time now.  A little sumpin’ sumpin’  that gets under my skin.  Another fine example of a lousy user interface experience.  Also known as ” L.U.I.E “  (pronounced ‘Louie’).

I like the convenience of Verizon’s web based texting service.  It’s just plain quicker for me to type from my keyboard than on my phone, especially when I’m sitting at work on my PC.   Sometimes I have more to say than my clumbsy thumb feels like tapping out on a tiny phone keypad.

Introducing the Verizon “text message security code verification box”!  Let the trumpets sound! We’ve all seen and used these at some point.  Yes, even on blogs.  Peck in the alph numeric code like chickens eating feed to prove we’re humans and wah-la, the message is on its merry cyber way.  Why do we have to jump through these hoops?  To keep spambots out of your cell phone inbox.  See an example below from Verizon’s website…

This should be simple enough, right?

WRONG!  Evidently that is a capital “I”.  ( I <– this is what the capital letter should look like with the upper and lower horizontal whozits protruding over the vertical whatzit. Whatever font Verizon is using makes it non-distinguishable between a lower case “l”).  This is the equivalent of unisex alphabet.  Or letters that have not gone through puberty yet.  Alas, I have failed the human being test and  I let out a goat-like utterance.  Next I get to enter a new code!  Of course this same ambiguity appears with the letters ‘X’, ‘S’, ‘C’ ‘Z’, et-frigging-cetera.  Numbers are the only safe bet here.  But Wait!  Is that a zero or a lower case  ‘o’?  ‘Nuff said.  You get my point.

And what’s up with those wonky horagonal lines?  Are they supposed to make me distinguish between both capital and lower case letters?  They don’t. They get in the way and make me feel like I’m in some carnival fun house or my chair’s missing a caster .   You can do better than this Verizon.  Really.

This topic is now open for discussion.  Thoughts?

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Hat tip to Mz.Geakz for hipping me to ThisIsWhyYoureFat.com.

Although I am not one to tout an optimal BMI, I’m also not one to indulge in the obscenely disgusting meals showcased at this website.  A photogallery that is at once gross, absurd, funny and tragic.  You’ll definitely get a laugh at the pictures,  while reading the  list of meat laden and deep-fried ingredients that make up these edible heart attacks.

Here’s a short list of what I found to be ‘over the top’:

Mega Double Stuffed Oreo (pictured)
Cheesecake On A Stick
The Hamdog
Deep Fried Mars Bar
Turbaconucken
French Fry-Encased Hot Dog on A Stick
Sloppy Joe On A Krispy Kreme
Double Bacon Hamburger Fatty Melt
Corn Dog Pizza
Deep Fried Peanut Butter-Covered Brownie Wrapped in Cookie Dough (Salmonella warning)
Sloppy Joe On Krispy Kreme

You get the idea.  The list goes on and on.

You can also submit your own photos here:  http://thisiswhyyourefat.com/submit

What are you waiting for?  Feast your eyes.

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