Fed Up with Irish Broadband
2007-10-12 15:32:33
This blog has seemingly turned into my rants and me -vs- the world combats! But in my defence I usually have something worthwhile to bitch about, such as today:
For the past three days, my internet has been patchy, not enabling me to blog, maintain my sites nor pay for recent purchases on eBay. And before I go into a ‘big one’ it’s no fault over at my end - but for the past three days Irish
Broadband has been ‘experiencing’ connection faults in my area;
Funny that, as it happens quite frequently, so Irish Broadband mustn’t have the adequete hardware and equipment for the job in question - which leads me to reconsider my contract.
When I signed up nearly three years ago, there was no minimum contract. But they then introduced a 6 month contract agreement to sucker people into having to pay them around €120 for shite internet for 6 months - it happened to my uncle; he ordered it thinking it was great and good value. A week later when he returned it t
Meteor = Sly Bastards!
2007-10-10 17:34:07
So what’s all this about? Well I’ve to recall back to December 2006, when a Meteor
rep, called to my 86 year old Grandmother’s front-door, doing the usual sales rep shite and somehow got my granny to invite him in.
So basically, he intimidated her into signing up for a Bill contract - she didn’t really have a clue to what she was signing upto, she just wanted him out of the house to be frank…and if you’ve ever had these at your house you’d know how difficult that is!
BUT, Meteor didn’t follow correct procedure in signing her up! The ported her O2 number over, to Meteor, then told her they’d sent her on a Sim Pack and a new mobile phone - which she has yet to recieve despite being billed every recurring month!
But, here’s the flaw. The number was and alwats has been in my name and my number. So, by rights, Meteor had no real authority to port the number over without my consent. She had already told them that fact, and they sai
Bed Bound Blogging!
2007-10-09 09:14:10
Sorry for the lack of posting recently, having been suffering from some internet troubles (Irish Broadband…need I say no more?), and also been struck down by this flu that everyone is harbouring!
Yesterday, I was sent home ‘no feeling the best’, and hit the leaba for a few hours thinking that it would do me good. Contrary! I roosed myself a few hours afterwards feeling crap and 10 times worse - you know the usual, headcold, sore throat, you can barely move. It stops the best of men in their tracks!
So I’m taking a day off today to recouperate. I must say this morning I was feeling dire, but this afternoon I’m feeling alot better. I think the Children’s Shows, Menopausal Women TV Shows, and ‘Home Under The Hammer’ have made me want to get better faster…like many others I can’t stand Daytime TV!
I was going to get some work done today, I’ve four sites that need to be online ASAP. But I need a day off, if it’s no
Read more: Bound
, Blogging
Plugins
2007-10-06 08:05:45
I’ve been fairly busy for the past couple of hours, mainly with the plugins which aid the blog to run smoothly and help my job of writing much much easier and hasle free - god knows sitting on your arse in front of a PC/Laptop is hard enough…without having everything done for you at the click of a button!
I’ve updated any out of date plugins (Vipers Video Quick Tags, All in One SEO, Slashdigglicious etc…) which have all had new versions compatible with the latest release of Wordpress (2.3).
I’ve also installed some new plugins, such as Post Avatar, which is why ‘Greased Up Deaf Guy’ is at the top left hand corner of this post and maybe a few others. I’ve also installed WP-Cache, but I’m having some difficulties in getting it setup, I’m leaving contacting Customer Support for as long as possible…I want to figure it our myself! Another great plugin I got is Google XML Sitemaps, a must have if you want to get your site a
Read more: Plugins
Smorty
2007-10-05 16:49:58
Blogging in itself, is a great way to gain income from something which you enjoy doing, Great for some extra money on the side, and to help with those hosting expenses!
There are plenty of people making a living from blogging, of course most of us will never achieve that status of income, but Smorty gives bloggers a way to earn some income online through some moderate effort!
I joined up last night, and had my blog reviewed and accepted in little to no time, and was able to accept posts and offers. The introductory rate at the moment is around $6.50, and is entirely based on your review credability, rankings and a few other factors - if you’re getting high rates on other services like this chances are you’ll get the same here.
Payments are dispatched at the end of every week, meaning you get prompt payment (via Paypal), ideal if you’re after some quick cash for those upcoming hosting bills! It’s unusual in that format, as usually payments are only dispatched on
ABC - Poison Arrow
2007-10-05 16:27:32
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xdwu52yfWxI
The band ‘ABC’ was formed in 1980 in Sheffield, UK, was originally called ‘Vice-Versa’ until lead singer Martin Fry came onboard, while interviewing the band for his fanzine Modern Drugs, he was taken on as their lead vocalist and the band was later renamed ‘ABC’.
The revamped band were pigeonholed as part of the ‘New Romantic movement’ of the time, which included the likes of Spandau Ballet, The Human League and Duran Duran .
Their first single, ‘Tears Are Not Enough’, made the UK Top 20 in 1981. Soon afterward. The above song ‘Poison
Arrow
’ was released in 1982, and was part of their debut album ‘The Lexicon of Love’. It reached #6 on the UK singles chart and #4 in Australia, it has also featured in the Rockstar game ‘Grand Theft Auto: Vice City’ which was set in 1986 (it can be heard on the station ‘Wave 103′ which features many 80
Tiger Tom Search Engine
2007-10-04 17:32:01
I was selected to review a new beta search engine, recently available on the market known as Tiger Tom Search
Engine
.
I’ve spent the past 15 or so minutes, playing around with this, establishing it’s limits, features, and basically going through it with a fine tooth comb.
I must say I’m impressed, I haven’t encountered any errors as of yet, the design is well layed out (could do with futher development, but it’s fine for now), but what really draws me to it, is the related search which configures for every search, and also has a widget on the home page with the most popular searches made.
It was a little slow compared to the ‘big cheeses’, but that was stated before you search. It could simply be the fact its still under development. But other than that, it has exactly what you want from a search engine, and the related searches are a nice bonus!
Try out a search for ‘madringo’ on it - tigertom.org.uk
Read more: Search Engine
A Flock of Seagulls - I Ran
2007-10-04 16:53:34
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uUjIA3Rt7gk
A Flock of Seagulls
was started in Liverpool in early 1979, by Mike Score (who was previously a hairdresser), who played Keyboard, Guitar and sang vocals. His brother Ali played drums, and friends, Frank Maudsley played bass, and Paul Reynolds who played guitar.
The above video, I Ran (so far away) was released in 1982, and is one of the songs the band is most accredited for (from the Album A Flock of Seagulls) and has appeared in Videogames, TV shows, Films, and Adverts and is still a much love classic!
Blasts from the Past!
2007-10-04 10:54:07
With the awful music being produced today, I’m a non-conformist when it comes to my music. I’d much prefer to listen to New Wave 80’s music, than this new R’n'B fandango - of course the yung wans love ‘Justin Trouser Snake’, and the fine piece of work that sang ‘Umbrella’, of course you get the odd few into the 80’s like myself.
I’ve decided to somewhat rejuevenate the oldies and classics for any readers of the blog (and any passing guests - you should subscribe here for up-to-date blog postings!). I would class my self as an anorak, but evenings going through both my and my dad’s CD, Cassette and in some instances Record collections is fascinating - it brings back memories. I wasn’t even a dirty thought in my Dad’s mind during the 80’s, but he’s always enjoyed listening to it, and you’ll always find that you like the same genre of music as your parents (within reason!) as that is what you
Quality over Quantity!
2007-10-03 16:21:53
I’m blogging more and more infrequently nowadays. Mainly, as I’ve been too busy with other projects (Motor Vehicle Preservation Society of Ireland & The Impulse Blogger namely). I’ve also been busy with curricular activities, school and generally being too tired to put in the effort of researching content for posts!
So instead of putting brain dead, mindless posts, I’ve laid off just a little until I’m able to continue posting as the norm. Once the two above mentioned websites are complete, I should have considerably more spare time to spend researching for posts and possibly forcussing on more online income and keeping logs - a number of people have asked me to report on a monthly basis with that months earnings and new methods of income. I hope to start this coming into November.
Of course, I don’t intend on being a sell out, making any mindless PayPerPost articles and taking fivers here and there. If I focus, I could earn more income doing sui
Read more: Quality
, Quantity
Get Lijit with a Widget!
2007-10-17 08:53:57
I came across this great little widget known as ‘lijit‘ a play on the word ‘legit’ me thinks, a must have for all social bloggers! It’s a widget for your blog, that allows people to search and find out most about your online presence (such as Flickr, Digg, Technorati, Twitter etc….). A handy little function in my opinion, as it allows your users to find out more information on you, and for you for find out information on your visitors or other websites/blogs you frequent.
As well as gathering all your social network and blogging sites, it also gathers your blogroll and tells you, your blogrollee’s Twitter, Flickr, Digg etc… Handy no?
It’s closely connected with MyBlogLog as far as I can gather, so that must mean Yahoo have their foot in the door if they’ve not invited themselves around for tea already.
But still, well worth checking out and tinkering around with! Lijit! - Visit my profile over at Lijit here
GameGoods
2007-10-16 15:36:32
I happen to know that some gamers read this blog regularly, so this post should appeal to you. I’ve undertaken another Sponsored Post, which appeals to my blog.
GameGoods, are a leading market leader of virtual goods for Massively Multiplayer Online Role Playing Games (MMORPG) such as World of Warcraft, Guild Wars and Lord of the Rings.
One of their leading products, is World of Warcraft Gold, which is virtual money for use on the infamous World of Warcraft to purchase essential items to aid you in building your player level such as Weapons, Characters, Quests etc…
I’m not gamer, I occasionally play games, but I haven’t first hand experience with GameGoods, but judging by their testimonials and professionalism they look like a trustworthy warcraft gold merchant. They’re also very competitvely priced, as I’ve searched around and they seem to be the best priced out of the other competitive websites.
And as it’s online, delivery is prompt, and t
I Hate Maths *this* much!
2007-10-16 14:55:09
Every now and again everyone needs to vert their frustration, although mine seems to be a daily occurance (I’m easily irritated in case you haven’t guessed!). I hate my blog being mainly comprised of me whinging about something - I’m egged on I suppose.
Today I came *this* close to losing the plot completely in Maths, towards a teacher known for provolking trouble. Like today, I’m not great at Honours Maths (I’m the first to admit that, I was great at Ord. Maths though), it also doesn’t help matters when your teacher is treating you like a ‘tard!
Such as every five minutes she was nit picking at my work, “Use better handwriting, Skip a line, etc…” I don’t mind criticism, in fact it helps me improve on my work. But when she’s storming through the work like a demon possesed, you have to jot down the work any old way to stop from being left behind - being a leftie doesn’t help matters as my writing style is awk
Top 10 Web hosting
2007-10-15 12:39:16
I have undertaken this sponsored posting for web hosting top10 from PayPerPost. As you probably know, I’m quiet fussy when it comes to Sponsored posting, so when I saw this opportunity I decided to take it on.
Top 10 Web Hosting, is a comprehensive collection of the best and favoured web hosts available on the internet. The major difference, is Top 10 Web Hosting also ranks and lists from high proforming, to budget, to payment preferences and anything else in between.
It’s a one stop shop for those of you on the market for hosting. It gives good accurate reviews, using a star ranking system, as well as detailing the high points of that host as well as it’s individual features.
They also have various methods to aid you in getting preimum hosting cheaper! Through coupon codes, as well as referals.
Handy to have bookmarked should you decide to port host, or you’re looking for a host for an upcoming project!
web hosting top10
How Simple Life Would Be Without the Internet
2007-10-15 11:59:11
Appologies, I was having some internet woes recently with some connectivity issues and some other technical jargin. Seems to be all sorted now - I can resume the wreckoning…or something like that
While I was living in the stone age (that seemed like an eternity) I got to thinking - what would life be like without the internet?
Now I know not everyone has internet access, but I’d say most people in the developed world would have some form access to the internet. Leading me to think of how worse off the world would be without it!
Think of it, we wouldn’t have as many references, long term friendships either found online or else through other means would be formed or maintained, the economy would be worse as many businesses rely on the internet as another form of income (through online orders etc…) and not forgetting people who own businesses on the internet itself.
Without the net we’d have no internet ’something from nothing’ success storie
Read more: Simple
, Internet
Wild Goose Chase!
2007-10-22 17:51:32
I told you’s I write about where I was on Saturday, well I’m sure you’ve guessed right I was arsing around with my usual shenanigans ‘On the Buses’.
Steve left it tight - tight as a nuns c**t as he’d say, and contacted me at 9:30 on the Saturday morning telling me he’s on his way. He generously left me an hour and a half to get up, have breakfast, have a shower, and batton down the hatches. Made it with minutes to spare.
We set sail for Navan around 12:00 with all crew on board. Where we arrived around 1:00, to pick up RIB 4407, a 1987 Beford Plaxton Paramount which was owned by an operator in the area. We left their yard at 1:30, making good time.
The first major encounter was at a fuel station near Dunshaughlin. We blocked it for a good 15 minutes. Taking up an entire lane, and blocking the entrance. Wasn’t our entire fault, some blame was laid on a eegit Brennans Bread delivery man. I spent the entire break trying to fix the boot door,
Just a Quick Note!
2007-10-21 18:49:32
Sorry for not blogging the past two days, I’ve been away for most of the past two days - messing around with buses…then arsing around with cars. Don’t worry, I’ll have the a post up in the morning of how ‘eventful’ Saturday was - including photos!
But anway, this post is just another Alexa rank update notification, we’ve been promoted to rank 753,808 which is a great achievement having our rank changed a day and a half after it had been promoted beforehand!
It looks like we’re overtaking our expectations. If things like this continue, we’ll meet and surcome to the anticipated ranking! It made my day slightly better after a frankly shite weekend!
I’ve tomorrow off, so normal postings will resume in the morning. It’s 12:48am at the moment, I’m wrecked and ready for bed - at long last!
Read more: Quick
Alexa rank gradually improving!
2007-10-19 16:26:55
It’s been just over a month now since I first submitted my website for ranking on Alexa
. It went from 2,275,750 then to 821,344 now - which in my opinion is progress of sorts. For a months work, from someone who hasn’t a clue what he’s doing!
Now that I’ve achieved my goal of 6 figures, I want to improve on that! I’d like to get down to around about 500,000 in the next few weeks. Of course like everything, the higher you rank, the harder it will be to improve upon it to the next rank above it.
I won’t be able to do what I’m doing at present, as in sitting back, making no effort for promotion and letting the visitors come to me. I’ll have to go to them, gain more backlinks, comment more on others blogs, and of course write more louring content!
As many say, it’s what you make it! What ever work I put into it, I should get back with my rankings, possibly an increase in earnings from sponsored posts due to my improved rankings, and w
See you’s on Monday…
2007-10-26 09:11:15
Right well I’m upta my usual haunts this weekend, spending some time “on the buses”, so obviously I doubt I’ll be able to get a internet connection down in this place - I think there’s dialup but I’m not insulting myself by using it (that’s right…I’m a Broadband snob!).
As usual, the blog is going into Lock-down, to stop the spammers going to town on the blog while I’m away.
If I can get online, I might do a progress report…maybe
Read more: Monday
Yet Again - Alexa Rank Improves!
2007-10-24 17:29:25
Alexa like us! Maybe it’s all the blogging we’re doing about them, about them improving our ranks multiple times during the week!
So anyway, enough bragging from us - the rank has improved slightly to 741,784
Still, a welcome transition all the same!
Read more: Again
, Alexa
About Time An Post!
2007-10-24 17:24:10
Well, as they say, you wait for a bus and two come at the same time - well today I’m not talking about buses (shocker no?), but instead finally getting my mail delivered after for some astranged reason a backlog!
Greeting me when I got home were 4 letters, and 5 parcels! And no bills! Finally my eBay purchases are starting to come in! Recently I’ve bought mobile phone chargers (£1!), 2GB SD Cards (£10!), Models, and a few other bits and pieces. Even local purchases have had moderate delays in delivery. The only one not delayed was the Memory Card I bought on Tuesday - 1 Day Delivery you cannot fault!
I also recieved a few freebies! I got a free Pedometer, from One Small Step - funny, I can’t even remember ordering it! It’s a lot better than the Kelloggs one, which I have a drawer full of! One thing that surprises me, is the one I recieved looks completely different to the one displayed on their websites!
Click here to get your FREE one - Although you must liv
Bovine Blog Redesign Competition
2007-10-23 14:27:35
It seems that ever generous Mr. Cow in association with the nice people at Weborithm are offering to anybody who can persuade them enough - an entire blog redesign worth $449. How nice eh?
To be honest, I don’t need a blog redesign - considering I haven’t designed it in the first place. I’m happy as it is, but I am trying to generate some awareness (or something along those lines) of the offer - fair competition and all that!
Basically to win, all you have to do is blog about how great you and your blog are and why you deserve a new blog redesign. I suppose the “Because I’m Worth It” catchphrase can come into some moderate use here!
I suppose I better blog about how great I am! Warning, I don’t intend on holding back on being modest - well maybe a little! I was never any good at bragging - I’m not saying I don’t brag…I’m just saying I’m no good at it!
So why do I deserve a blog redesign?
My blog is using the de
Dreadful Dial-up But I’m Not Complaining!
2007-10-27 18:19:48
As per my last post, you may guess that I’m spending my weekend…and some of my week down here in Cork, “on the buses”. Luckily this time I can get some internet access in the form of a phoneline. It’s Dial-up, but I cannot complain as it’s internet after all - I must not announce that I formally retract the previous statement about being a Broadband snob!
I got a nice little pick-me-up tonight when I logged in to find my Page Rank has improved (having expected a decrease in rankings!) from Pr3, to PR4, still a nice surprise. Wasn’t expecting any sort of increase whatsoever in the recent crawlings,but sure every little helps!
Now as for me, I’m off to my leaba for a good nights kip - been a busy “exciting” day of “funfilled” activities, and Ireland’s bestest ever breadrolls. Although I’ll write all about that when I’m at home at comfortable suroundings with Broadband!
My Blog is worth $12,419!
2007-11-04 15:03:30
I’m as surprised as you are! I tried out a small tool today, to find out how much my blog is worth - I’m curious to see what my head rambles are worth. Turns out, it’s around the $12,419 mark (around €8,500).
Many bloggers recently have been seeing how much the fruits of the labour, is worth after many months of hard work and dedication!
My blog is worth $12,419.88.
How much is your blog worth?
The Google OS (gOS)
2007-11-04 08:45:09
Suppose you’ve already heard (I’m always behind on these developments…), but there has been a ‘break through’ with OS (apparently!). Google
OS, or gOS as it is formally known is an ‘An alternative operating system for the masses’ combining popular Google Applications and Ubuntu into one package - oh and it’s Free!
And I must say so myself, it looks pretty nifty from the screenshot:
Of course it has the Ubuntu look to it, with just some Google Apps added to it. But it looks perfect for the inexperienced PC users, as it has access points on the desktop to lead to the widely used online services and applications - from the favicons I can make out: gMail, Meebo, Google News, Facebook, YouTube, Wikipedia, Blogger, Skype and a few others.
One good thing it has going for it, is it’s plug and play interface. It is already configured to work with your iPod, and already had applications you’d expect of any OS, such as Word Processors
It Arrived!
2007-11-02 12:34:12
The new DELL has finally arrived, I settled for the Inspiron 531 - AMD Athlon 64 X2 Dual Core Processor 5600+, 2048MB Dual Channel RAM , 320GB (7200rpm) Serial ATA Hard Drive with 16MB DataBurst cache, 128MB ATI Radeon HD 2400 Pro graphics card, 16x DVD +/- RW Drive, and 19″ DELL Widescreen monitor (yes I just copied and pasted from the website… )
The only thing, is DELL in their moment of wisdom never sent a Keyboard or Mouse (even though it was supposed to come with one) - not a big deal, I’ve tons of them here at home.
Guide to becoming a Priest!
2007-11-09 17:54:01
Ever fancied becoming a priest? Not in the usual sense though! There are many services online, that allow you to become an ordained minister online - allowing you to proform weddings, baptisms, etc… Although, I don’t think you could walk into your local church and proform a Sunday mass!
Some people may see this as disrespect for the Catholic church, but I don’t see why - this online service, simply allows you to proform a wedding service for a friend or relative, should they want a more unusual wedding ceremony!
Some of the websites which you can become ordained online:
Spiritual Humanism - Free!
Universal Life Church - Ministry in a Box
Although, I’m not entirely sure if becoming ordained online, is valid in Ireland or any other European countries. So, I suggest that you check it out before you go proforming a friends wedding!
Read more: Guide
, Priest
PageRank Down?
2007-11-08 13:17:57
Just noticed this evening, all my sites are now reading PR0, I got a bit of a shock when I saw the button on this site at PR0 - I thought Google had decided to “sock it to me” and other bloggers, and derank us to PR0.
Upon futher ‘investigation’ I found that any site I typed into the PageRank
checker came up PR0. So I’m under the assumption that their datacenters are down - but all of them?
Could possibly have some implications for bloggers, who are required to have certain ranks, and stats to partake in various revenue earning thingys…lets hope this PR issue is solved!
09/11/07: Still down
(Although, I could be bullshitting, and it’s actually my PC that’s messed up…)
HostBidder
2007-11-07 13:33:16
So what am I on about, you may ask? Well HostBidder has been around for quite a while on the amature webmaster scene - aiding many budding webmasters, including myself! Another good think for the majority of readers to this site, is that it’s run by an Irish guy, Fergal Crawley.
Bascially, HostBidder’s main focus would be on supplying free top level domains (TLD’s), as well as Money via Paypal, to its members, through points which you accumilate through posting on the forums and participating in ‘Points Exchanges’ - selling your services in exchange for points - View more here.
I discovered HostBidder back in March 2006, but never registered until the following May. When I joined, I knew something about webdesign and web authoring - Blogging, Forums, and Earning Money Online were completely new to me!
It is through HostBidder, and it’s domain registration service HBDomains which madringo.com has been on since June 2006. Surprisingly, earning points t
Christmas comes earlier every year!
2007-11-13 15:51:05
I’m sure most of you will agree with me, that Christmas
comes
earlier (or so it seems to) every
year. I’m sure you’ve all noticed that Tesco and other supermarkets are stocking up with the Bumper Christmas packs of food that could feed a small army, the smell of artificial trees fills the isles, and the sight of those ’selection boxes’ is tempting!
The advertisements are on the telly already, and the christmas ’sales’ are beginning already. But, nothing says Christmas to me, other than the Coca-Cola ad, with the trucks coming over the hills all lit up - it’s been on TV since I was knee-high, and it’s when that advert appears you know the festive season has truely begun. Incase you haven’t seen the ad I’m on about, here it is:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NRzqgmvcBzc
I’ve even had Christmas carolers at the door - two weeks after Halloween! They didn’t get a homely response from me, basically told them it
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