This is really getting kinda sad. What used to be a great blogging community where users share ideas and communicate with each other — yes, I am referring to MyBlogLog — has now crossed over to the dark side… a more spammy side.
I rarely receive legit comments now. Most of the comments that I receive — if not all — are mass-sent, and contain one type of link or another.
Time to wake up, people: MyBlogLog is slowly phasing out. It no longer brings in a ton of traffic. Considering that most comments contain links, I rarely pay any attention to them now.
Anyone else noticing this?
29.Feb.08 
Blog Updates 
Comments (7)
To be honest with you, I’ve never really caught onto the fads and bandwagons (except for the interweb — which, without a doubt is an enormous bandwagon, but not a fad, but a trend that’s to stay for the foreseeable future). People used to be hooked onto Xanga, then Nexopia… you name it. Well now — or at least for the past two years or so — it’s Facebook.
Ahh… Facebook. The wonders of Facebook.
I didn’t sign up for Facebook in the very beginning. Didn’t sign up for it when it was picking up speed (and when every single bloody email contacts sends you invitations 
). Didn’t sign up for it when the — as some people now put it — “annoying” Facebook Apps emerged. Don’t planning on signing up for it anytime soon.
Questions? Comments? Philosophical insight?
18.Feb.08 Life Comments (7)
Spammers are becoming increasingly annoying and tricky nowadays by using Black Hat techniques to boost their websites’ search engine rankings (usually parked pages with tons of ads, which, in return = $$$).
A Little Background
At first, they targeted free blog hosts like Blogspot and Wordpress with automated blog generating programs to create hundreds of spam blogs at a time. These spam blogs would contain back-links to their websites, which improves their SEO. However, these spam blogs are so common now that they usually get suspended/deleted within 48 hrs or so of creation.
Spammers’ New Targets: WordPress MU
Individual blog hosts using WordPress MU are the spammer’s new targets now. The following is from a Black Hat SEO article:
There is a script available from Wordpress called Wordpress Multi-User (WPMU) that allows you to give your website visitors free Wordpress blogs.
Literally thousands of webmasters have installed this script on their servers.
That’s good news for us. Why? Multiple domains/IPs + free Wordpress blogs = extremely easy backlinks to our websites.
Solution to Prevent Spam Blogs on WordPress MU
Spammers find vulnerable WordPress MU blogs through a simple “Google Hack”. They enter the following search query:
“you’ll be blogging seconds later” inurl:wp-signup.php
This allows spammers to go directly to the doors of WordPress MU sites, enabling them to register spam blogs.
To make it harder for spammer to find your WordPress MU blog, simply edit the wp-signup.php file and remove the line “you’ll be blogging seconds later”. This will make it a lot harder for spammers to find your WordPress MU site and register spam blogs.
08.Feb.08 Blog Updates Comments (9)
I’m sure that I’m not the only one who finds tailgaters a real pain. Not only do they force anxious, fearful drivers to speed up, they also increase the chance of a car accident. Not cool, not cool at all.
I get tailgaters on my back all the time. Isn’t this ridiculous? I get tailgated for following the speed limit. I don’t follow the speed limit for no reason. I follow the speed limit primarily to keep a low RPM on my engine and save gas (an increase in 10 km/h in speed increases your fuel consumption rate by over 1% — not to mention driving like a jackrabbit increases your fuel consumption by as much as 30%), be safe (think about it, the limits are there for a damn reason: to keep you safe), and time the traffic lights.
Driving like a jackrabbit does not get you from point A to point B faster. I repeat, it does not get you to your destination faster. It only slows you down. Research has shown (you can looks it up), and experience tells that driving like a jackrabbit generally increases the the traveling time by 4 minutes. Think about it: if you drive like a jackrabbit, you apply a lot of unnecessary braking, which reduces your average speed. Dodging in and out of traffic also slows you down (common sense).
Following the speed limit also allows me to time the traffic lights. The traffic lights are designed so that at a certain average speed, you’ll sail through them all without a problem. If the speed limit is 50 km/h, and you go at 60 or 70 km/h, without a doubt you’ll end up at the red light before you realize it.
Now that we know we should follow the speed limit, the question is: how do you deal with the damn tailgaters? I get tailgaters all the time. The golden rule is: stay in the slow (in my case the right) lane; they can pass if they want to. Don’t ever speed up just because they’re pressuring you to do so. Also use some common sense: don’t go too much below the speed limit. Some people say that you should follow the flow. But if the flow is higher than the speed limit, you simply should not follow it because it burns up your gas and increases your chance of crashing into a tree and killing yourself. Remember, following the crowd isn’t always the best choice: there are those who would vote Bush.
I designed a slick bumper sticker not long ago:
I’ll get a pic of it on my car once it arrives. You can find the tailgating bumper sticker here.
02.Feb.08 Defensive Eco-Driving Comments (11)
I have to admit it, I’m obsessed with keeping my car nicely tuned, in good shape. But the thought of going to the mechanics’ is a huge pain! Com’on… I mean you gotta book and appointment and go there and all… Anyway my car’s about a month overdue for an oil change (not a good thing! - change as soon as the mileage or date comes first on your little windshield) and a few days ago I decided that it was about time I do something about it. Since changing the oil by myself is not any option, I needed to find a reasonably-priced mechanic/oil-change-place in Vancouver that’ll get the job done.
I considered many options. Price, customer service, time…etc. and have concluded that you should always do some research before heading to a local shop. In my case, I ended up going to the Vancouver Downtown Toyota Dealer (free car wash! 
:D ) :
(Note: the prices listed below are for a single oil and filter change)
Mr. Lube - $43.99 + tax - Do not go there! From all the horror stories I’ve heard while browsing around the net, I’d really suggest you not to go to Mr. Lube. I hear they try to up-sell you like crazy (e.g. create problems that don’t exist), especially if you are someone who seems to not know a lot about cars. Another thing you should keep in mind is that the people who change your oil at Mr. Lube are not qualified technicians. Even through Mr. Lube changes your oil in only 15 min without an appointment, they’re price is way out there. Some people’s thoughts on Mr. Lube:
“The reason for managers leaving Mr.Lube was that Boston pizza bought out Mr.Lube and the only concern they have is high profit returns. The company is now run by Ex- Bell Canada employess who themselves do not know where the oil goes in their cars. ”
“In BC, Lubeworld is now mainly operated by ex Mr. Lube managers.
Lubeworld and Great Canadian Oil Change are actually part of the same company since Great Canadian is the franchise arm of the company. Since the managers left in 2006 there has been a huge turnover of qualified employees from Mr. Lube going to Lubeworld and setting up shop there. My friend included. Morale is just horrible at Mr. Lube which probably explains their 1/2 price next oil change promotion. They are definitely hurting and losing customers. So just be careful where you go. There are some good places around. “
Nah… I guess I’ll pass on Mr. Lube. Look at their price! nearly $50 for an oil change?!
Jiffy Lube - $38.99 + tax - not much to say really about these guys. Just another one of those lube places.
Minit-Tune - $32.88 + tax - now this one really caught my eye. The price is quite reasonable, and the place is a few blocks away. Even better, they have a special coupon on their website that does all the regular oil change plus tire rotations for only $32.88. Not bad eh?
Dealership - Downtown Vancouver Toyota - $34.95 + tax + FREE CAR WASH - now that’s what I’m talking about! Not only is this a dealership with certified, Toyota-trained technicians, not only do they offer a pretty damn good price, but they also give you a free car wash! What else can you ask for? Coffee and paper? I’m pretty sure they got your coffee and paper there too.
So basically I ended up calling and making an appointment with the Toyota Dealer. Their service was quite friendly and professional. Dropped off my car. Picked up my car. Nice and sparkly car. Me so happy
Total charge? $43.06. Considering that the car wash was included free of charge (hand-washed, by the way ), this is a pretty decent price.
01.Feb.08 Defensive Eco-Driving Comments (6)
