August 27th, 2010
Spam: spæm
1. Trademark. a canned food product consisting esp. of pork formed into a solid block.
2. Noun. A disruptive, esp. commercial message posted on a computer network or sent as e-mail.
I get a lot of spam, as I am certain anyone stumbling across this post does, as well. I usually identify, select, and delete without much thought. However, I often receive spam from our Fisticuff Design web site and, I have to admit, I find it pretty amusing receiving emails attempting to sell us on web development services.
I mean, I receive a lot of emails. Some from potential or existing clients. Some from job seekers. It is one thing when freelancers contact looking to be an additional resource (it is always good to have reliable assets available in a pinch), but it’s a whole different scenario if you are trying to sell a web developer a new web site. It seems to me it is much like trying to sell TG Lee Dairy a gallon of milk.
Now I realize that it is entirely unlikely that the “person” sending the message even exists or actually visited our web site. I am sure it is originating from a web crawler / bot / whatever that is sending this to as many email addresses as it can before the powers that be shut it down. For me, though, it does not really diminish the comedic value.
Well, I am simple folk and I suppose I am easily amused.
Posted in 2010, Fisticuff Design, Freelance, Web Design, graphic design, humor | No Comments »
June 9th, 2010
Back in March 2008, I posted an entry, The Price You Pay, about a web design company that stole not only the overall style of our Fisticuff Design site, but also many of the graphical elements that Rene and I put time and energy into creating. What is worse, however, was the verbatim copying of all of our source code and structure.
Following the initial post, we contacted the design company who offered to pay us. This was certainly not about money, for us, it was a matter of respect. Needless to say, we declined and asked that they simply do the work they were originally hired to do, create a unique website for their client. They did not.
At the time of this initial post, we did not feel the need to contact The Flying Steamshovel, directly. Perhaps we should have, but we felt Empire New Media (the thieves) should own up to their actions of their own accord. No such luck.
Fast forward to August 2009. I received an email from The Flying Steamshovel expressing their concern for the way our post made them look and asked that I remove direct mention of their name in the text. Which I agreed I would do IF they agreed to redesign their website. To quote them,
“what matters here most is making things right on our end.”
and
“The General Manager of The Flying Steamshovel is on board with making major changes to the website, as soon as possible.”
Feeling good about humanity, I decided to uphold my end of the bargain, and referred to The Flying Steamshovel as TFS so that their customers would no longer find my blog when searching for their British Columbia based pub.
Well, it is now June, almost one year later and there have been no updates to the look of The Flying Steamshovel website. I think as a whole, Rene and I have been quite understanding and generous in allowing either Empire New Media or The Flying Steamshovel to rectify the situation. So today, I returned my blog post to its original text.
With that, I would just like to implore all web designers to just do your own work. If that is beyond your ability, then perhaps you are in the wrong line of work.
Posted in 2010, Fisticuff Design, Web Design, bad form, blatant thieving, copyright infringement, dishonesty, empire new media, stealing, thievery | No Comments »
February 16th, 2009
Here’s a pretty cool little update. Recently, two of my photographs were chosen for use on Schmap, an online travel guide using the Yahoo Maps API to highlight cool sites to see, places to eat and sleep, and much more. It seems that they use quite a few photos for each locale, so it may or may not be such an honor, but I choose to see as one!
A statue outside of The Art Institute of Chicago
My photo of a moose at Skansen. An open air museum and zoo in Stockholm.
Posted in Uncategorized | No Comments »
November 15th, 2008
Last night we watched Endeavour’s launch from our apartment. I have to say it was pretty freakin’ sweet. This is the second I have witnessed at night. The first was so long ago, I barely remember what it felt like. It was amazing how well we could see it (well, it looked like a giant flame) from more than 40 miles away. Daytime launches haven’t got a thing on the night! Unfortunately, if I heard correctly, this was likely to be the last nighttime launch before the end of the shuttle program in 2010.
I posted some photos on Flickr. Although, the photos did not turn out ideally, (what do you expect from an amateur at night?) you can still get some idea how incredible it was.
Posted in 2008, orlando, spaceshuttle | No Comments »
November 11th, 2008
With all of the nonsense out there that we come across day in and day out, why is it such big news that Barack Obama is getting a dog for his family. Certainly, mention it once. Maybe talk about it briefly when it materializes. I get it dogs are cute. But is it really something to spend more than a week discussing? Is there nothing more substantial to take up headline space on MSN.com?
Of course, I am just one guy who is probably just jealous that his guinea pigs did not make it to the international news spotlight. But I am working on it.
On the bright side, talk of the Obama’s future pet has pushed some of the “Dancing with the Stars” headlines out of the spotlight. Whew!
*Disclaimer: Don’t let the sign fool you, I am an Obama-ite.
Posted in guineapigs, humor, lilu and nila, pets | No Comments »
