Lexi's Lounge

New image gallery available

2008-06-08T16:31:00.002-05:00

I've added more images to my Shareapic.net account. I now have images of buildings available for download.

If you're not sure how to download the images, just click on their thumbnails to get to the full view page, and then right-click to save the image to your computer. Please refer to my previous post for the Terms of Use.

Trying to get back into the swing of things

2008-05-20T08:19:00.001-05:00

Well, back into the swing of my hobbies at least. I finally came back to World of Warcraft, working on my hunter to get her to level 70 and acquire her level 60 mount. Yes, I am that slow; I'm enjoying the adventure that comes with the endgame, thank you.

I've also come back to photography. I purchased a Canon PowerShot G9 digital camera this past Sunday, and the camera has been really cool. It's an advanced point-and-shoot with features of an entry level DSLR. The best feature about this camera is that it can take pictures in RAW format. I never got to use a digital camera that could save in RAW, so this is a first for me. AND I LURVES IT SO MUCH. I seriously do not want to go back to jpeg. The only reason I would is to take pictures of not-so-serious stuff (ie catching people being stupid). As for pictures I would seriously consider microstock-worthy, it's RAW all the way. Holy Christ, the quality of RAW. The noise in the RAW images look more like film grain captured by a negative scanner. The only exception to this is when using a very high ISO setting, which is something that plagues all DSLRs or so I've read (in a lot of camera reviews).

So by now I've taken some pics with this lovely Canon PowerShot G9 digital camera, and I'm quite happy with some of the shots I've taken. Of course the lot of them come from our front yard, but hey, my mom has a green thumb. Her roses bloomed beautifully yesterday, and I had to get some photos. I actually thought some of these would be nice to share online. Even though they are of the overly done "nature/home garden" category, I wanted upload them anyway.

I will begin adding these pictures to a Shareapic gallery (for obvious reasons), and they will be available for people to download. Even if these photos are considered a high quality by stock photo agents, nature pics are not hard to come by, so I doubt submitting them to a stock photo site will produce any noticeable revenue. So I'm offering web-sized versions of my photos for free at Shareapic.net. The images are sized to a with of 600 pixels (may be small depending on the height). It's should be a good size to work with for many designers wanting to use them for web purposes. If a designer contacts me to request a larger pic, then discussion of payment will take place. That's the name of the game, yo. Here are the "rules":

I, Alexandria Long, have given consent for all people to download and use my photos in either personal or commercial projects. What you may NOT do with these images are:

Resell them as your own. If I find any of my photos on a stock photo site that I'm not a member of, you WILL be hearing from me. If I find them in printed stock photo catalogues or art books, you WILL be hearing from me.
Upload my photos to art and photo gallery/album websites and state that you're the creator. You in fact did not create them, and any credit for them should go to me (Alexandria Long). If I find my photos on sites such as DeviantArt, etc, then you WILL be reported.
Simply altering one or any of my photos DOES NOT make the result your photo. Anyone with a brain can play with Photoshop/Gimp/Paint Shop Pro filters. Using a photo as a design element in a project is fine, but filtering the photo to high hell for the sake of "making it mine" doesn't cut the mustard. Sale or unauthorized distribution of any altered versions of my images is prohibited.
Print them on tangible products such as coffee mugs or postcards meant for sale. Slapping one or some of my photos on a CafePress item and selling it is not cool. You are in effect selling my photos as stated in the first rule, so if I catch you, I will report you.
If I, Alexandria Long, were to sell to anyone larger, higher quality versions of my images, that does not give the buyer the right to sell the image. The buyer merely purchased the right(s) to use a higher quality image in whatever project they need it for. The buyer DOES NOT own the purchased photo, and therefore may not sell any of my photos.
If my photos were to ever be used in printed materials such as magazine or book covers, then credit MUST be given to the creator (Alexandria Long). I will also be looking further compensation when it comes to book covers. If you use a web-safe version of my image for a 'zine or book cover, expect to hear from me.
If my photos were to ever be used in online publications such as online news or blog websites, then credit should be given to the creator (Alexandria Long).

By downloading my images from Shareapic.net or Picable.com, you are agreeing to my terms. Even if you do find other more spectacular photos for free, I still have my rights as a creator.

I'm eventually going to move the T&Cs to their own page. After adding a few more photographs to the first Shareapic gallery, I'll link to it from the sidebar. For now, you can reach it by clicking here. This is the 'Home Garden" gallery, where all of my home's flower pics will go. More galleries should soon follow.

I'm changing the locks to my home!

2008-02-13T21:05:00.001-06:00

A while back, I had purchased a Xbox 360. All was well in the land of Lexi, as she blissfully played Gears of War, Guitar Hero, and Eternal Sonata. But soon all was not well. Some time after bringing my new computer home, I noticed that some of my belongings were on the floor - some dvd box sets that were on a shelf in my room. How odd, I thought. I put them back into their place, and as I stood upright, I noticed that my Xbox 360 has a nasty brown scuff on it. I had began thinking someone had knocked over my 360 and put it back like nothing had happened. But the scuff mark told plenty, but not everything.

I had immediately assumed that the cable guy who had been in my room a couple of days earlier had done it, and didn't bother to let anyone know he broke it. I raised my voice at my mother for not watching him while he worked. She assured me that he couldn't have done it, or else she would have heard it being knocked to the floor (the big white sucker IS heavy...). So I was stumped. It couldn't have been my brother. He assured me that no one had been in my room when he had company over. So what was I to do? I gave up on finding a culprit and accepted that my Xbox had keeled over. I called support, and in a few days, I received the packaging to send off my 360 to Microsoft's Repair Center. And then I waited...

Today was a joyous occasion, for I had finally received a repaired Xbox 360 for my troubles. I hurried to my room, set up the 360, and turned it on. As I was creating new settings for the 360, the system recognized that there were already profiles on the hard drive. I proceeded to load my gamertag as the primary profile, when...it wasn't even there. Three profiles were already on the hard drive, and NONE of them were mine - a Brett, a Keem, and a Lakeem were the only profiles on the drive, and I was stumped to how they would've gotten there. I decided to recover my gamertag anyway to speed up the setup process. A few moments later, I began combing through the system to see what was on it. My game saves are nowhere to be found. My only downloaded game, Puzzle Quest, was not on the hard drive. As a matter of fact, by the time I made it to the media section of the hard drive, I was fucking pissed off. There's so much (c)rap music on this hard drive, and some vid about the Titanic, and yet none of my stuff (save my recovered gamertag and Puzzle Quest) is on this drive. This hard drive is not mine. As a matter of fact, THE XBOX 360 WASN'T MINE EITHER. I've been swapped!!! Someone came in with their own busted 360 and took my (somewhat) brand new system. OMFG?!?!

I know I sound a bit paranoid now. I began looking for suspects again. My sister would never do such a thing to me when she has her own systems (she has a Wii and I don't -_-), my brother hasn't had company over in a long time. My mother doesn't even know what a 360 is FFS. The only one who could've done it is someone who knew my Xbox was only purchased a few months ago, has easy access to the house at all times, and obviously dumb enough to think that they had to take my hard drive with the system just to use it. I know who my prime suspect is...I'm already pissed at that person. I will not name this person in case they find my blog. But know this...the suspect is not welcome in this house while I live here. I am already consulting with my mom to change the locks to the house. The worst part of this isn't having to start all over with my games - it's the fact that someone was so trifling as to take something they knew didn't belong to them from someone they grew up very close to.

Network Solutions - What you get (and what you don't) with DIFM Standard Design Services

2008-02-11T23:34:00.001-06:00

First of all, I'll start by saying that I've only been working at NetSol since September (check the archives). I am not an expert on everything at NetSol, nor do I claim to be with customers or potential customers. If you need help with any of our packages other than the Do-It-For-Me Standard Design Package, please go to networksolutions.com for the appropriate information.

And that's another thing... a lot of NetSol customers get to us by word of mouth rather than viewing our website and seeing what we have to offer. This can cause problems, as people who come to us as referrals tend to not read what's on the website, and even then some of the wording has come up rather poor for the DIFM Standard Design packages that are available. As I said before, I'd like to clarify what's included in the Network Solutions Do-It-For-Me Standard Design packages. As a web designer in this department, I will share as much information as I can. Let's get started with what our Standard Design packages are and what you, as a NetSol customer, can do with them.

A.: First we have the "DIFM Standard Design with Hosting" package. This package is for those who are 1.) new to Network Solutions (or having a website period) and have not purchased a web hosting package with us, or 2.) Have an existing website but want something that they can manage without knowing how to use HTML/CSS/etc., and don't mind having the existing website "recreated" through Network Solutions' ImageCafe application. This package not only costs $499.00, but it comes with a required monthly fee of $11.95 for web hosting.

B.: Second, we have the "DIFM Standard Design Only". This is a package for those who 1.) Already have web hosting with Network Solutions and have decided to have their website designed by our team, or 2.) Already have web hosting at some other hosting company, but would like to use our Design services. Web hosting does not come included with this package. If you make the mistake of purchasing this package and you do not yet have hosting, you can log into your Network Solutions account manager and purchase the appropriate web hosting from there. Or call our sales team, and they will happily assist you. The Design Only package costs $499.00, with no extra fee for hosting.

Both packages come with a default 5 pages. If you want more web pages than that for your website, you can purchase additional pages for $60.00 per page, or purchase an additional 5 pages for $200.00 altogether.

Here's what you can have with either package:

1. You can choose from a multitude of templates for your website's design. This does not mean that you're stuck with what you see on our samples website. In DIFM Standard Design Services, we customize your template to suit your needs... to an extent. Please note that there are limits to what can be done, as we work with existing layouts that are created for STATIC websites. By static, I mean the website will have to be updated manually every time there needs to be a change.

2. We do offer Flash animation with our DIFM Standard Design packages. HOWEVER, the animation is usually limited to simple text or image effects and image slideshows. Flash animations are also restricted to the content area of the website template (where you insert your website's text/images/videos/etc.). What can and will be done for the customer is at the discretion of the designer.

3. You can sell products through Network Solutions' DIFM Standard Design packages. During the design process, you will be limited to roughly 10-15 products per page, and you can only sell your products using PayPal. If you're looking for a package that offers you more by means of E-commerce, I suggest that you look to our E-Commerce packages.

Now, here's the bad news – What DIFM Standard Design does not include:

1. We DO NOT create Flash-only websites. As stated above, web designers in the Do-It-For-Me Standard Design teams only design websites that are to be maintained using Network Solutions' proprietary website editing application, ImageCafe. If a salesperson told you that you can have a Flash-based website, you've been misinformed.

2. Even though we do simple Flash effects, we do not do custom Flash website banners unless they are to be added to the content area. Please see above for what we usually do for customers concerning Flash animation.

3. Both "with Hosting" and "Design Only" packages come with only ONE round of revisions. There is no doing it over and over until it gets done right. There is only once chance for proofreading and changing any or all design elements within a Standard website. After that, the website will publish to your web hosting, and you will need to purchase modification time.

3. DIFM Standard Design websites cannot be integrated with other web applications or custom server-side programs (like a shopping cart system or lovey-dovey match-maker website complete with user registration and login functions). As stated above, the websites we create consist of static web pages that can only be used with ImageCafe. If you're looking for database functionality and dynamically-updated user content, the Standard Design packages are not for you. Our DIFM Premium Design service can be used to create a design for an already installed and configured web application. Note: Premium Design services cannot be used for the design of weblogs, such as WordPress, Movable Type, or Blogger. None of Network Solutions' design teams design blogs.

4. We do not add any more than 20-30 products to a DIFM Standard Design website. That is about as many products a designer in the Standard team will add to a website during the design process. This is because a.) The entire process is supposed to take 3 weeks, with the second week designated for the web designer to complete the overall look of the website and add content that you send to him/her, and b.) as stated above, your products are limited to about 10-15 items per page. Purchasing additional pages during the design process for the sake of adding more products will cost you more in the end, and c.) It is difficult to maintain a manually updated web store through ImageCafe. If you have more than 30 products to sell at any given time, you should look into E-Commerce.

5. Blog functionality is not included with either DIFM Standard Design with Hosting or DIFM Standard Design Only packages, nor is other type of application. It just isn't. ImageCafe overwrites all files that you upload to your web hosting. According to a recent update in ImageCafe, it should now be possible to publish ImageCafe-created websites without it deleting everything else on the web hosting package. However, you are warned of this possibility while working within ImageCafe. If you want to be able to add custom pages that are not created in ImageCafe, you are advised to find some other way to maintain your web pages (i.e., Dreamweaver, Expressions Web, etc.).

6. If you purchase the Standard Design Only package for the sake of creating a website that is to be hosted elsewhere, Network Solutions requires a "take-away" fee of $25 per page. So if you have a regular 5-page website created by our team, and you'd like to host it someplace like GoDaddy, then the price for doing so would be $125.00. The reason for this is because if the website is to be hosted by Network Solutions, we own the website. It was created for use in ImageCafe, which was created and is owned by NetSol. If you purchase the take-away, then a designer will clean the website of all of ImageCafe's proprietary code, package the website into a zip file, and email it to you. What you do with the website at that point is up to you. And that leads to another thing we don't do...

7. We do not do file transfers to or from ANY web hosting provider. You must transfer your own website files to your NetSol/GoDaddy/Earthlink/etc. web hosting or have someone who is more web-savvy to assist you in file transferring.

8. Concerning the submission of web content to the designers – web designers in the DIFM Standard design team WILL MOVE ON in the design process without your content. During the first week of the website design process, the client must put together all content that is to be included in the website prior to being published. It is recommended that all web content be sent via emails no larger than 5 megabytes so that the emails will be received by our servers. We do allow for content to be sent via fax or postal mail, but keep in mind that once you agree to the "Web Asset Submission" deadline, you must meet that deadline, or else the designer will design a site that has no content. If you communicate with your designer during the final week of the design process and send him/her the missing content, he/she will then add that content to the website along with any aesthetic changes needed prior to the website going live to the internet.

If you have a dire situation in which you cannot submit anything on time (i.e. tragedy in the family, emergency surgery, or emergency business trip), please notify your web designer as soon as possible. Once the designer is aware of your situation, he/she will hold your project for a maximum of 60 days. Any time after that, your website project will be deleted. Let your designer know when you'll be able to resume the project before the 60 days are over. If you start your website design project 7 days before, say, leaving the country for a vacation or business trip, please reschedule your web design consultation for a later date if it hasn't already been done. Once we conduct the design consultation, that is the start of the design project, and as said, we will move on without assets being submitted to us. DO NOT start your website design project in the mist of you not being available for communications. You may appoint a trusted person to take care of the website project in your stead.

9. There are some third-party solutions to overcome the limitations within ImageCafe, such as more complex web forms. We can configure web forms that are provided by services such as Bravenet.com or JotForm.com. However, we do not handle support for third-party solutions. For example, if you consent for your company's online job application form to be created using Bravenet's web form services, you must go to Bravenet.com for help on issues concerning web forms.

10. DIFM Standard Design websites are created to be compatible with Internet Explorer 6 or later, or Mozilla Firefox 2.0 or later. We try to make sure we code our websites to be valid with today's web standards, but we do not test our sites in any other web browsers besides the aforementioned.

11. Post-Publish Changes: Once your website has been published to your web hosting, any emails sent to DIFM will be sent to a closed project activity, and no one will read it. Do not try to contact the designer of your website if you need additional changes. Instead, contact our Modifications team to request more changes to your website. Once your round of revisions is complete, the website will publish, and the website design project will be considered complete. If you manage to "break" the code that holds your website's design together, don't call and ask for your website's original designer. All design requests that are post-publish must go to Modifications. If you decide to change design elements within your website yourself, then that is your choice. We are not obligated to fix it for you for free if you delete something by mistake. Be careful when editing your ImageCafe-created website.

Last, but not least...

DIFM DESIGN SERVICES DOES NOT PROVIDE TECH SUPPORT FOR ANY APPLICATIONS. If you are having technical trouble (not design/content trouble) with ImageCafe, you should ask for tech support, not someone in design services. If you have trouble setting up mailboxes, you must ask for tech support. If you have trouble reaching your new website via a link within your email, you should ask for tech support first. If you're having issues with your website's domain(s), contact tech support. If you have a question concerning the billing of your website, do not ask to speak with someone in Design Services. You should speak to someone in sales instead. If you want to know your FTP account information, contact someone in hosting, not DIFM Design Services. Please make sure you assess your issue(s) properly so that you will know where to direct your support call.

That's about it for now. The most important thing to all of this is to READ THE INFO ON NETWORKSOLUTIONS.COM. If you have questions concerning something that you can't find on the website, call the sales team. It is important that you know what you're about to or already have purchased. Do not purchase DIFM Standard Design just because it's the cheapest package. You'll get what you pay for and then some, but you'll more than likely not get everything you WANT with it. Do your homework first!

Shameless plug: The Mill

2007-12-04T11:46:00.000-06:00

Just thought I'd chime in. One of my clients has an online fudge store, and I want to share it.

The Mill - Ice Cream Cafe & Fudge Factory

The fudge looks really good, and there is free shipping until 2008. So if you're looking for a sweet holiday gift, check that site out.

Another new beginning

2007-11-13T21:37:00.000-06:00

So Lycos.com's junk mail filters are complete failures and managed to block any emails I've received from OneDollarHost.net (if I did in fact receive any) about my web hosting service expiring. Long story short, I may have lost a lot of server-side files that I never bothered to back up onto my computer.

It's mostly the web scripts that I've been using that I didn't get to make back ups of, including some edits I've done to my image gallery CGI script (ouch). Any images or files that I've uploaded from my computer prior to the expiration are backed up on my computer still (yay). Most of my stuff is saved, but starting over is a bitch. For one, my site is completely broken. As I write this, no one but me can even see the website right now. That's right; I'm still live on the internet.

I've jumped ship from OneDollarHost.net to HostMonster.com. It was a hefty purchase of $143, but the domain transfer was free. I don't have to renew my domain until February of next year, so I'm good on that until then. Anything to keep from paying $15/year for a domain name. The domain "lexislounge.net" will be transferred to HostMonster as the winning registrar by November 18. For the meantime I changed the name servers to reflect the new hosting, so before the domain transfer is approved and done, the domain should start working again. Emphasis on "should". If not, then I guess no one will be seeing Lexi's Lounge until Nov. 18 or later.

Right now I'm using one of Blogger's older templates. It's simple, and no one has to look at icons of broken images (damn you, Red X!). I've lost a little bit of functionality, what with the updated version of the image gallery being lost and all. The new version of Lexi's Lounge is still in the works, and I'm glad I have a lot more to work with. I actually have access to a lot of cool features only the cool hosting companies shower users with, so I'm going to try to have some fun with this. As for my drawings and designs, I plan to use Lightbox 2 to handle the galleries or something flash-based. I want to start working on illustration again and actually take protecting my work more seriously. That's all for now. See you all in a few days. *waves*

So far, it's good

2007-10-29T07:57:00.001-05:00

I've been on the job for about a month now. Things can get pretty busy around here, and because of it, I had to find a good pace I could work at. Not only do I do web design, I do design-related support over the phone. Sometimes it's not design, but more software/account/internet-related.

One lady thought something was wrong with her web site no updating when it was really her browser loading a previously saved version of her site. She told me that telling her these things is what we get paid for...No, it's not, but it doesn't take much time to tell someone to ctrl+F5 when trying to reload their website in a browser. It is not my job to tell someone how to use the internet.

I have a rant, but I want to save it for when I can better word it (as if, lol). It will be called "The Do's/Don'ts at Network Solutions". Even though the most important stuff is described at Network Solutions already, some people either skim through it or have more questions about specifics that aren't explained on the site. As I am new here at Network Solutions I don't know much, so I'll be updating that Do/Don't list as time goes on.

Moving along

2007-10-03T14:57:00.001-05:00

My car died. The mechanic my sister relies on actually isn't very reliable, and has ignored numerous calls from my mother to schedule a time when he can work on my car. I will always love my Eagle Talon as it was my first car. However, because of the sudden breakdown and numerous major things wrong with it, I can't put anymore money into it. Now that I'm working, I can't wait for some slack mechanic to decide if he wants to work on the Talon. It's more appealing to find another used or certified pre-owned car, and I assume that I will be searching for one this weekend. I'm holding out on that bum keeping his ass wherever he dwells during the day.

At work, lots of perks and no jerks

2007-09-20T12:50:00.000-05:00

I'm enjoying myself at Network Solutions so far. It's only my first week, but I already like this place a lot. The culture is very friendly here, and this NetSol location is rapidly growing. From what I hear, it's mostly guys here, but the group of new hires that I'm in has only one guy. Not that he's complaining. :P

I've been hired as a designer for the Standard web design team. Basically I work on a lot of web sites for individuals or small to mid-sized businesses. The usual turnout rate for a standard package is only a couple of days. All the code is handled without my need to touch it unless there's some customization requested by the client. This is good, as it should help me concentrate more on the actual layout design. Hello, Adobe.

One of the new hires hinted me to www.sxc.hu, which is a free resource for stock photography. People can share their photos and others can download what they need. At least I won't have to come out of pocket for great photos to use whether for myself or for someone else.

Time to go. My lunch break is over, so it's back to training. Can you believe I actually have a final exam? D:

Job get! Da na na naaaaaaa!

2007-09-14T14:57:00.001-05:00

I've been hired by Network Solutions as a web designer. The interview went very well yesterday. The lady who interviewed me told me she'd get back to me in a few days, but she called back today with the salary offer and other documents I needed to fill out. Sweet! No more credit card debt, I can buy a new car, and I can save up to buy or rent a place of my own...life is good right now. ^__^

Publish your Blogger blog to Livejournal (Part 2)

2007-09-10T19:55:00.003-05:00

Testing the Blogger-to-Livejournal cross-posting technique I posted about previously. It should work. If you have a mailing list and it uses Blogger's BlogSend Address setting, you may just have to cross-post to your LJ blog the long way. The method I found out is supposed to be a "set it and forget it" method. Here's to hoping, eh?

EDIT: It works! Blogger2LJ cross-posting is a success.

Publish your Blogger blog to Livejournal

2007-09-10T00:24:00.001-05:00

I've wanted a way to post this blog's entries in it's own separate LJ blog, not my personal LJ, because it can increase readership. I don't have many LJ friends, but if I did, then I would like to accommodate their desire to not have to leave their LJ comfort zone to view what's going on in my life.

I pay for this site, so it would make sense to make use of it. That and I like using Blogger more than LJ. Atom and RSS feeds are available here for anyone to subscribe, but there's no way to add a feed reader to a LJ account. I've read that it's prohibited to use embedding tags and javascript in one's layout. If I wanted to broadcast my RSS feed to my LJ account, I'd have to upgrade to "Paid" status. Not that it's needed. All you need is a LJ Plus account the current email address you use for your Blogger account.

Since this is about appeasing your LJ friends, I assume you already have a LJ account. If you don't have one, make an account and make sure that it's a "Plus" account. LJ members with basic accounts can't email entries to their blogs via email.

1) Go to the "Mobile Post" settings page of your LJ, and under "Allowed sender addresses", add the email address you associate with your Blogger account (it's in your "permission" settings if you've forgotten).

2) Under "PIN", create a pin number that is NOTHING like any password or PIN you've ever created. You don't want people guessing your LJ password based on your PIN number. If they do, they will gain control of your blog. Jot down the PIN just in case you forget it.

3) Change any of the Default settings to your liking. click "Save Settings". Now your Mobile settings are complete. Your LJ email address will look something like this: "username@post.livejournal.com", substituting "username" for your own LJ name of course.

4) Now remember the PIN you've created? You need this in order to post to your LJ blog via email. To do this, you'll need to either put the PIN in your email's subject, body, or in your LJ email address like this: username+PIN@post.livejournal.com (the "+" sign is needed). I don't suggest using the PIN inside of the subject or body.

NOTE: The subject and body of the email are the same as the subject and body of your Blogger blog post. If you put the PIN in either the subject of body of your blog post, the PIN will show up for the public to see in your Blogger blog, and that's not what you want. Use your LJ PIN inside your LJ email address for better security.

5) Copy your LJ email address (including the PIN). Go to your Blogger blog's "Email" settings. In the BlogSend Address box, paste the LJ email address. Save your settings.

6) Make a test blog post to your Blogger blog and publish it.

If it turns up at your LJ blog, then congratulations! You've successfully bypassed the need to pay Livejournal for web site feed broadcasting. All of your LJ friends can see what you're up to whether you post at Livejournal or at your Blogger blog. If it doesn't show up at Livejournal, then check your settings to make sure everything is right.

My bank hasn't been good to me.

2007-09-07T16:51:00.001-05:00

Or my mom for that matter. Yesterday my mother asked me to pay our home's electric bill at the supermarket. I said "Whoa. Why pay money just to pay your bill? Why not use the online banking?". She explained she didn't have time to go to the bank to deposit it and the $1 extra to process the payment would go to her gas tank anyway. So I complied and paid the bill. All was well, except for the fact that my mother's story was half-assed.

Today Mom told me she got into it with the bank teller about cashing her check against her savings in order to deposit the money into her checking account. The teller told Mom that she can't do that. My mother told her that she could and always have without complications. The teller told her that the check have to be one from our bank in order to be cashed and then deposited. Upset, my mother told her it was none of the her business (putting it lightly, Mom cussed the lady) what she does with the cash she now has in her hands, and if she wanted to put it in her checking account, then she can do so. She didn't bother to get the manager, but she was so upset, she just left the branch.

I don't know where such a policy would come from, but I don't know if I can call bullshit on its existence either. I've been through the same situation, except I didn't argue with the tellers. I can't say for sure it's policy, because it's occurred at the same branch. If it's policy to not deposit cash from checks that are not from the same bank, then the tellers should explain WHY. There was no "why" for me or my mom. Maybe they have a problem with people bringing in bad checks, but there are other ways to deal with that already. There's no need for the bank to inconvenience customers who may need their checks to be cashed in order to have money in their accounts for bills.

I'm sort of glad that I applied to work at Convergys. The place may be crap, but at least they understand the convenience of direct deposit. Not like it matters. The bank I'm doing business with now may lose it soon. Seriously, they've literally took my money (only $4.26 but still MINE) and they keep charging me $5.00 every month out of my savings just so I can have savings. I'm debating getting rid of the savings account altogether.

What bank am I talking about? I've decided not to say unless it pisses me off more. If I find that the "policy" doesn't exist, I will be back to edit this blog entry. The next time someone Googles the bank's name, this blog may pop up in the results.

Updated the store

2007-08-31T17:24:00.001-05:00

The Meteos-themed tee shirt has been removed from my Cafepress store for a long time now. I don't feel comfortable selling it because even though the shirt design is mine, the Meteos Geolyte character in the design is not. That and the design itself needs some serious revisions before being submitted for sale again. I bought a test shirt, and the design as it is now looked horrible on the dark (black) t-shirt.

For some reason, Cafepress decided to let members with basic stores sell framed art prints. So now I get to sell my paintings, the few I have that are worthy for sale. I only have one painting ready for print at this time. Click here to see it at the shop, or click the "store" link in the web site menu. I would like to find a better way to make the painting more affordable, though I feel the price is standard for oil art prints. If anyone knows a better place than Cafepress to use for art prints, post a comment.

Things are looking up

2007-08-28T11:06:00.001-05:00

I won the Self-Study Cover Design Contest held by St. Louis Community College. Yay! Now I'm just hovering around my mailbox for the nice $250 check I should be receiving soon. I'll also be posting my concept design here. Too bad the colors will be changing to complement other recent printed material being sent out by the college. The package being sent out has some nice rich colors, so I'll be looking forward to the changes my design will be going through for the final production.

A friend of mine sent me an email containing a freelance opportunity here in the city. It's a web design job, and according to the email, they may or may not be looking for the designer to do any real coding. I'm pretty good with HTML/XHTML, and I've been researching CSS more extensively nowadays, but I can't do a lick of javascript. The lack of coding may be a relief, but we'll see. There weren't many details in the email, but I should know for sure once I email the person in charge of hiring at the agency.

Speaking of coding, it's time that I learn Javascript. It's been a standard language to create many useful tools in not only web sites but weblogs. Bloggers use javascript to hack their blog's layouts in order to create a more individual look and add better funcionality to their blogs. And I'm not talking about adding some cutesy analog clock to your site; I'm talking adding a fully functioning calendar hack that links to all of your blogs current and past entries. I've picked up a javascript book from the library. It's pretty big, and I may not get through all of it. I plan to find better working examples on the web that will help when I can't understand something in the book.

I've been looking at CSS more and more lately. I want to improve on the little bit of what I already know. I'm going to challenge myself by implementing a CSS-styled no-tables layout in my next site revamp. It intimidates me a bit. I love having very graphical web design, and I didn't mind using tables to create image borders for my content. But if there's a better way of presenting my site without all the nested html, then I'm all for it. As simple as my current layout is, it's all a bunch of manhandled mess. That and it's beginning to load slower, and that's a no-no. It's time that I catch up with everyone else who's been doing web design for as long as I have. Frankly I don't want to remain ignorant when there's so much to learn, so it's time I change my attitude and habits.

I also want to use Flash again for my web site. My copy of Koolmoves has been sitting idle for far too long. I've just now started using it to create a digital portfolio I can present to prospective employers. It feels good to play with Koolmoves again. Now there's a slide show tool that I'm using to create separate slides for my work (design, photography, etc.). The portfolio flash site itself will be simple, because I plan on turning the swf file into a projector file that I can email to employers as a demo reel so they can save it locally. it's also been time that I separate my opinions from my work.

Before I go, I want to share a site that provides free hosting of MySQL databases. FreeMySQL.net is totally free, and the admins don't restrict your use as long as it doesn't violate anyone's rights or break laws. You can give them donations to help keep the service free. There are sites that offer free PHP and MySQL hosting, but if you've met your database quota (should there be one), then FreeMySQL.net is a good place to host the rest of your databases.

Making your Google Group strictly a mailing list

2007-08-24T02:03:00.001-05:00

Though it's much known around the web, you can use a Google Group (or Yahoo! Group, whatever you like best) to create a mailing list for your web site visitors or blog readers. I don't know about other blogging platforms, but it works very well for Blogger. If you don't know how to make a Group mailing list, Blog*Star Rat has a straight-to-the-point post about it. Basically, you'll use your newly created group's email address as your BlogSend addy in your Blogger settings. That way, posts are received by everyone who is invited or signs up to your group.

You can also use the Group's email address for blog comment notifications. However, there's one problem to solve. Let's say you've set your Group's access settings so that only Group managers can post messages. That means only you control what's posted via email to the Group. This makes your Group a mailing-list-only type of Group. So you're getting your Blogger blog posts in your Group, and everyone who's a member is getting email versions of your blog posts. Most excellent! But wait! What about your comments?

The address that sends the Blogger comment notifications to your email address is "noreply-comment@blogger.com". That address is not an address of one of your members, nor should it be. If you do subscribe that "noreply" email address in order to post blog comments to your Group, you're going to get EVERYONE'S blog comment notifications. So, what can you do? If you don't already, it's time to put your personal or blog-designated email account's filter/rule feature to good use.

First of all, go to your Blogger blog's Comments settings. Scroll down to the email notification box. If you still have your personal email address in the box, you're good. If not, then type it (or an address made for receiving blog notifications) in the box and save your settings. No need to republish if you're a FTP user. Now go to your email address' account settings page. Go to your filter/rule settings page and click the link or button that opens the "create new filter" page. Once there select the "From" and "contains" options as the filter's conditions and paste "noreply-comment@blogger.com" in the input box. Then select or add the action "forward to this address" and paste the email address of your Group into the address box. Save your new filter. Test the new settings by posting a comment on your blog.

If all goes well, you will receive two new blog comment notifications: one from the "noreply" email address and the other from your Group's email address. You can create a new email filter to auto-delete one of the two emails unless you don't mind. Now you have a Group-turned-mailing list that sends email versions of both your blog posts and comments. That way your readership can keep up with the news and discussions even if they're not at your blog site. It would be nice if your readers could discuss things on your Group, but you didn't add the comment feature to your blog just so it would sit and look useless. Until that time when your blog is so popular that the discussion simply can't be contained in the commenting system, it's my opinion that the Group remains strictly a mailing list.

Blogvertise paid me!

2007-08-15T18:43:00.001-05:00

Not only did I finally get paid for my opportunity on Blogvertise, I got two more payments from PayPerPost.

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Image hosted at Shareapic.

Altogether my paid to blog payouts total out to $39.50. Not bad for some extra money. It certainly does help when you're between jobs, looking to get back into college, and need gas in your car. Oh yeah, and paying off that credit card bill too.

Blogging for cash isn't hard, but it's not something that everyone can make a living off of or get rich from. I'm certainly not making enough to make it out of my mom's house, and no one will ever become wealthy doing this. Nonetheless, this is something that everyone can do. It's good for companies, individuals, and the bloggers who are willing and able to blog about them.

Alright...Who sprayed the Bolt-B-Gone?!

2007-08-15T11:48:00.001-05:00

Looks like I came to the party a whole day late. Yesterday, the once much loved, much fun community named Bolt, has ceased to be. Affective as of Aug. 14th of 2007, Bolt, Inc. and Friends filed for bankruptcy. I don't know if I should laugh, shed a tear, or play the world's smallest violin.

Perhaps I'll do all of those things. First of all, fuck you, Bolt, Inc. You just had to try to "keep up" with the competing social networks, but instead made Bolt into something far less desired: Yet Another Myspace Clone. While every Bolt veteran appreciated that the original community was not dumped completely for the sake of the Boltfolio mash up, it remained a stain in the minds of all of us who loved Bolt for what it was. Change is only good when there is a need for it.

An addition of a video channel and music channel for aspiring film makers and musical artists was a lovely idea, but if it was integrated into the existing Bolt [pre-Pornfolio/IP Theft-Gate], there wouldn't have been such a backlash coming from the community that you pissed on. Yes, you said "Fuck you guys, we like money more." to us, and went after MySpace when you clearly didn't have to. In my opinion, MySpace clearly did not surpass the greatness that was Bolt 1. It already had craploads of content that MySpace doesn't even have YET, and the community was far more involved.

Sure, I joined the new community site, thinking it was something that would co-exist with Original. Luckily other Bolt members saw the end coming and chewed out Bolt Inc. for it. Others followed, others were noobs, but the day did come. The day Bolt Inc. closed the original Bolt site (along with its other sister communities) was the day that Bolt died for thousands of loyal members. So at that point, I did shed a tear. Bolt was my first and favorite social network, and it was the coolest one I have ever gotten the chance to be a part of.

Now I laugh at the social network companies that made the dumbest moves possible. Going all Web 2.0 wasn't very profitable for you guys. I can sympathize with that. 2.0 is the way to go, but making a social network a Swiss Army knife of sorts isn't exactly my idea of making a web site great. Afterall, being greedy is what got you, Bolt Inc., into trouble in the first place. You did not take responsibility for the actions of the idiot users who exploited Boltfolio, causing you to sell out in the end, and yet getting almost bought out by GoFish (wow, even GF didn't want you) still didn't help you with your money woes. And so I play the world's small air violin for you.

I'm now using MySpace (*sigh*) to network and keep up with a few family members of mine. I'm a new member at Yuwie, which is a newer community that should prove popular and profitable to both the creators and users. I never really did like MySpace, so Yuwie may turn out to be much more fun. Heck I might even give Facebook a try due to PayPerPost linking opportunities there. So goodbye, Bolt. Who knows if you'll ever come back. Just know that no one will be holding the door open for you when or if you do.

Las Vegas just took over your Mac

2007-08-14T16:42:00.001-05:00

Ahh, poker. It's a game of skill, bluffs, and battling to keep your cool. It's a game that has a big payoff, and it definitely has a lot more to do with being brilliant than being lucky.

And just when you've finally started scaring your poker buddies into avoiding poker night, ya get all depressed instead of being proud of your achievement. "Well now who am I going to play poker with?", you sulk. Oh, stop your blubbering. Online card games have been around for quite some time. "But I have a Mac, not a PC!", you sob even more. I told you to stop your belly-aching. PokerStars, the hottest game for online Poker playing (not to mention playing to qualify for some of the biggest poker tourneys around) is about to hit the Mac harder than Fat Joe hitting the Vegas strip.

PokerStars has the largest poker room available than any other online poker game. There are more people to play which means more chances to win, which means more changes at world wide recognition, which means more chances to line your pockets with that popular green stuff.

PokerStars for Mac has its own site to tell you guys more. It's updated frequently, so if you want your poker fix, make sure to bookmark it. Perhaps in time you'll be showing the PC poker boys what you and your precious dual core Mac are made of. Hopefully it's cojones of steel, and then gold after all of your wins.

Mac PokerStars

This is a Sponsored Post.

I need your praise! (and possibly your rejection --;;)

2007-08-14T10:15:00.001-05:00

Picture.com is a web site for people to submit photos that they take and get recognition for it. The staff there hold monthly contest, and my photo was picked to be a finalist in one of them. Yay. I'm waiting to hear on the progress; the contest I'm in is supposed to announce the winners this summer. While that's going on, the Picture.com staff has added another aspect to their site: visitors can rate other people's photos. I got the link to my photos rating page the other day, but I'm posting it now (because I didn't check my email until today o.o;;).

Click here to vote at Picture.com.

Click that link and rate my photo using the vote thingy above the photo. You can rate it good, mediocre, or just bad. Just please be honest with how you feel about it.

ReviewMe paid me! :D

2007-08-02T19:15:00.001-05:00

Looks like I missed a payment. I thought I read that ReviewMe had a minimum amount of $25 before payout. I'm wrong apparently, as I've been paid by the company yesterday.

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Screenshot is hosted by Shareapic.

According to ReviewMe's FAQ page, payments are done monthly, and there's no indication of a minimum amount. I suppose the minimum amount may be for the check payment method. It doesn't look like it though. I recommend ReviewMe to people who aren't able to use PayPal. If you would like to get your web site reviewed at ReviewMe, click here to sign up.

First payment from Opinion Outpost

2007-08-02T17:11:00.001-05:00

Have you ever thought about how annoying those old hags and meddling college students would be when they walked around trying to get people to participate in their surveys? Well, now it's not so annoying. Nowadays people can get cash for doing paid surveys. It's usually quick, easy, and done at any time of the day. When you want to do it. That's how it is with a paid survey site like Opinion Outpost.

In my first couple of days there I made $5.50. I'm an impatient wench; I decided to withdraw my $5.50 since the minimum payout is $5. I just received my check today.

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Screenshot hosted by Shareapic.

It's awesome to get cash for REAL surveys, not email submissions that merely offer you deals on stuff at other people's web sites and stores. I don't mind completing email submissions; money is money. That and that's what junk email accounts are for. :P But with email submissions, you get at the most $1.00 per submission. Yay. Sure it all adds up, but Opinion Outpost provides authentic marketing surveys that help with product and service analysis. It pays much more than doing email submission surveys.

Even though Opinion Outpost's payout is only $5, I'm going to try my best to just let the money build up in my account and then withdraw it. I want to see a nice fat check instead of a $5 check. Who knows. The money all adds up in the end anyway, regardless of where it sits.

That all said, if you don't mind getting paid to complete surveys, Opinion Outpost is a good program to sign up for. And no, I'm not getting paid by O.O. to blog this. I'm not a member of their affiliate program....yet. I just thought I'd throw that out there.

My Birthday weekend

2007-07-31T00:08:00.001-05:00

My birthday had come and gone on July 28. It was wonderful. The highlight was going out with my boyfriend and having sushi and drinks. We had a table outside in the nice warm weather, so we got to watch the sun set as we were sitting there. We experimented with sushi we've never eaten before. I liked all of it for the most part. Now for presents, I didn't get much, but it's to be expected. I'm not a little girl anymore. If I count what my boyfriend got me at Otakon, I got a $50 copy of the original Famicom "Mother" cart (aka "Earthbound Zero" everywhere but Japan) and a Phoenix Wright t-shirt reading "iObject". Cute. As for money gifts, my mother gave me $100, one of my uncles gave me $25 for lunch (thank you!), and my grandparents also gave me $25 (Another free meal? Woot.).

I do believe I jinxed my boyfriend by saying "This day has been great, and nothing bad has happened". "What do you mean?", he asked. "I mean I'm glad nothing has spoiled the day for me." I replied. Well, on the way back to his friend's place (I so wanted to play "Gears of War"; I miss that game.), his car's engine began to overheat. We exited the highway and parked at the nearest gas station. He couldn't find what was wrong, but he didn't want to risk taking me home without a more thorough inspection. So basically I crashed with him at his friend's place.

Even with a clearer look in the daylight and driving around he couldn't pinpoint the problem. He took me home and had his car towed back to the dealership from there. After watching several episodes of "Samurai Champloo" (Bless that wonderful Dish Network DVR receiver, I've got almost every episode.), we left the house in my car and had dinner at Imo's Pizza. Then to walk off the food, we went to Best Buy where my bf purchased a copy of Quake 4. I watched him play it before going home, and now I want to play it. I honestly wasn't into FPS games back in the day, but they look really fun now. I might pick up a copy eventually. I have too many games to finish. And credit card debt. *slaps hand for thinking of splurging*

So that was my birthday weekend. It was fun, and my boyfriend's car is fixed. Whatever it was, I hope it wasn't serious and is covered under the warranty. As for me, I need to look into getting a new car, as mine is on its way out. Sure I could replace the engine, but what for? The body is fucked (partially my fault). With dents, rust, and faded paint, I do not want to rack up more debt to fix the inevitable. It's time for something that was made in the new millenium. RIP, 1992 Eagle Talon. And before anyone bothers to ask, no it's not a TSI model or has turbo or anything like it. It was a regular old stock manual transmission model that got me from destination A to B.... while letting my lead foot do all the work, hehehe.

Lexi got paid! Woohoo!

2007-07-27T16:55:00.001-05:00

Today I checked my PayPal account just to confirm my pay from PayPerPost. Not only did I get my 2 scheduled payouts, Smorty paid me yesterday too. I didn't get an email confirmation from Smorty, but that's ok. It's all there. So if any of you guys were ever doubting that PayPerPost or Smorty pays, here's my proof that they do:

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Screenshot hosted by Shareapic.

I also have $7.50 waiting to be transferred to my PayPal from PayPerPost, and I have a $6.00 payout coming from Blogvertise in August (Damn 30-day wait. I need that money now! lol). I've been approved for a $5.00 assignment done at ReviewMe, but their payout is $25. So far, all completed transactions have come to $16.00. After my Blogvertise payment shows up, It'll come to $29.50.

I've been a member of these places for less than a month, and so far I've made enough to fill my gas tank and then some. These programs are not bad at all; I suggest to others to give it a try. The pay may seem small, but it all adds up in the end. Eventually I'll make more with PayPal's Money Market program, because I gain interest for letting money sit in my account. It's like having a savings account, but without the monthly maintenance fees and/or low balance penalties.

If you would like to join the above mentioned programs, but you don't already have a PayPal account, click here to sign up. If you have a checking/savings account but don't want to provide PayPal that info, you can withdraw your funds via checks. To make payments to companies or individuals, you must provide PayPal a credit card, debit card, or bank account information. PayPal's a free service, it's easy to use, and if you qualify for the Money Market program, you earn interest on money saved in your account.

That's all I have to say right now. In a couple of hours, I'll be on my way to see the theatrical release of The Simpsons. How awesome-sauce is that?

Some of the "tightest" Mega Man mixes you'll ever hear

2007-07-24T22:47:00.001-05:00

I grew up playing video games, and I still play them. Some of the coolest games around are much older than the freshest gamers in the gaming industry. This includes the almighty ORIGINAL Mega Man series of video games. If you're my age and know anything about gaming, you gotta know about playing a Mega Man game. Not all, just one or some. If you don't know Mega Man, go to GameFAQs.com, because that site is one of the best sites to look up video/computer game information.

Now moving on for those who are on the same page as me [pun not intended]. There's this guy who has a MySpace page, and he's a rapper called Random.... WAIT! Don't go! I'm not finished yet! *huff puff* So yeah, he's a rapper, BUT, he's an underground rapper who gets much respect from both the rap and gaming communities. One of his latest albums consist of him rhyming to his own remixes of classic Mega Man background songs. Go to his MySpace page and listen to "Shadowman" and "Grow up".

"Grow up" is my favorite on his MySpace music playlist; I wish I had some funds to buy his album (yup, me's still unemployed, I'll get to that later). But I WILL purchase it. That's a promise to myself. If there is any birthday present I'll enjoy more, it would probably be playing Random's "MegaRan" album over and over and over again. That and an 8gb Meizu portable media player. I'll be hinting to the loved ones for that.

P.S.: I just Googled "Mega Ran". Good LAWD! This dude's album is reviewed, blogged, and interviewed all over the place. Go, RandomBeats!