Another thing project I’ll be working on for all you programmers out there will be tutorials. As you may have already noticed I did put up two HTML tutorials called The Basics of HTML part I and The Basics of HTML part II. They are the simplest of simple tutorials, but I had never written a tutorial before so I did those to kinda get a feel for it. I’ll eventually have tutorials in html, css, php, javascript(when I get good enough to write tutorials), java (applet related), and mysql. During the time that is required to create these tutorials I’ll start my learning of the rest of the languages available out there, like JSP, asp.net, perl, etc. so that I can offer good tutorials for them. Another tutorial I’ll be creating which is going to be the only language not dealing with web design and in fact, as far as I know, you can’t make any money with lol, will be mIRC scripting. I used to be a scripting genius when it came to mIRC. This was of course several years ago, but I think that with just a little refreshment I should remember most of what I knew. I can then offer tutorials and addons for your mIRC clients.

Just FYI I am a total believer in open source, so anything that I create you will be free to change it or modify it in anyway. Heck, that’s how I learned a lot of the stuff I know now is from modifying existing code. Anyway, once again I apologize in the lack of attention for the past 10 days, just been playing with php and javascript so much that I couldn’t find the time to update. Thanks for reading.

FROM: MISS REGINA SALIM
CUSTOMER SERVICE MANAGER,
INTERNATIONAL COMMERCIAL BANK (ICB) OF GHANA LTD.
TEL: 00233 246532623.

HELLO FRIEND,

MY NAME IS MISS REGINA SALIM. I AM IN CHARGE OF CUSTOMER SERVICE DEPARTMENT OF INTERNATIONAL BANK OF GHANA (ICB) LTD, TAKORADI MAIN BRANCH IN THE WESTERN REGION OF GHANA. I AM WRITING THIS PROPOSAL TO YOU IN
GOOD FAITH BELIEVING THAT YOU WILL RECIPROCATE THE KIND GESTURE.
PLEASE I AM WRITING YOU ON BEHALF OF THE GENERAL MANAGER OF MY BRANCH WHOM I AM WORKING CLOSELY WITH.WE HAVE A WELL PACKAGED FINANCIAL TRANSACTION THAT WILL BE OF IMMENSE BENEFIT TO YOU, MYSELF AND THE GM.
AS THE BRANCH MANAGER OF ABOVE MENTIONED BRANCH OF I.C.B. LTD; IT IS INCUMBENT ON HIM TO SEND A ROUTINE FINANCIAL REPORT TO OUR HEAD OFFICE IN THE CAPITAL CITY OF ACCRA AT THE END OF EACH BUSINESS YEAR. DURING THE COURSE OF BUSINESS REPORT OF THE YEAR PRECEDING LAST YEAR, (i.e. 2006), HE DISCOVERED THAT OUR BRANCH MADE ONE MILLION SIX HUNDRED AND EIGHTY
THOUSAND UNITED STATES DOLLARS ($1,680,000.00) WHICH THE HEAD OFFICE HAS NO KNOWLEDGE OF.
HE HAS PLACED THIS FUND IN AN ESCROW-CALL ACCOUNT WITH NO BENEFICIARY, AND HAS MANDATED ME AS HIS CONFIDANT TO NEGOTIATE FOR A RELIABLE OVERSEAS CONTACT WHO CAN PARTNER WITH US TO CLAIM THE MONEY.
AS OFFICERS OF SAID BANK WE CANNOT BE DIRECTLY CONNECTED TO REMOVAL OF THE MONEY HENCE THIS CONTACT TO YOU. THEREFORE I REQUEST YOU TO ASSIST US BY RECEIVING THE MONEY IN YOUR OVERSEAS BANK ACCOUNT. THE PROCEDURE IS VERY SIMPLE, FOR INSTANCE, AN ACCOUNT WILL BE OPENED IN YOUR NAME IN OUR BRANCH AND BACK DATED TO SUIT THE ARRANGEMENT. THE ACCOUNT SO OPENED WILL BE PUSHED TO DORMANT SECTION OF THE BANK AND YOU WILL THEN WRITE THE BANK REQUESTING FOR YOUR ACCOUNT TO BE REACTIVATED FROM THE DORMANT SECTION AND THE CREDIT BALANCE SENT TO YOUR OVERSEAS BANK ACCOUNT. I WILL GUIDE YOU THROUGH TO THE PROCESS.
PLEASE LET ME KNOW IF YOU ACCEPT THE OFFER SO THAT WE CAN NOW DISCUSS YOUR ACCEPTABLE COMMISSION AND THEN MOVE INTO ACTION.

BEST REGARDS,
REGINA SALIM.

La carrera hacia la Casa Blanca, a un click de distancia http://www.starmedia.com/noticias/especiales/gobiernousa.html

Keep checking back for more scams.

CALL OF DUTY® 4: MODERN WARFARE™ COMING TO MAC

AUSTIN, TX – January 15, 2008 – Aspyr Media, Inc. announced today they will publish Call of Duty® 4: Modern Warfare™ for Mac, a gripping modern-day action-thriller that deploys players into heart-stopping battles across the world’s most treacherous hotspots. Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare delivers unprecedented high-definition graphics, piercing 5.1 surround sound and a dynamic community-oriented multiplayer experience. Developed by Infinity Ward and licensed by Activision, the game is expected to be available for Mac in May 2008.

Featuring a tense storyline, filled with plot twists, the title thrusts players into battle like never before. With amazing special effects, including rim-lighting, depth of field, texture streaming and character self-shadowing, players are enlisted into one of the most photo-realistic gaming experiences imaginable.

The community-oriented Call of Duty 4 multiplayer gameplay features a robust leveling system, variety of unlockable perks, hot-join and matchmaking, as well as create a class and party capabilities to ensure that players of all skill levels can join in the fun. Additionally over 100 challenges and a host of new game environments and modes deliver unlimited possibilities. Infinity Ward has also included Kill-Cam, a fan favorite feature that they created in Call of Duty 2 which allows for spectator instant replays.

Call of Duty® 4: Modern Warfare™ will soon be available for preorder through Aspyr’s website for only $49.99. For more information, fans can also visit the official Website, http://www.callofduty.com/.

Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare is rated “M” (Mature) by the ESRB for Intense Violence, Strong Language and Blood and Gore.

Electronic Arts has announced that Spore™ will be released later this year for the Mac as well as the PC. Chief Designer of Spore™, Will Wright, said “We couldn’t be happier to bring Spore™ to the Mac at the same time as the PC version. Spore™ is a highly creative game and I look forward to seeing what the players come up with to fill the universe they design.” The PC and Macintosh versions of this game will feature the full experience of cell through to space with editors for designing creatures, buildings and vehicles. The ability to play Spore™ on a Mac will be made possible through TransGaming’s Cider Portability Engine, with experience gained from the past EA Mac titles. You can read the full article EA Reveals Spore™ For The Mac at the Spore™ website.

Now, for all you apple lovers, their latest creation is called the MacBook Air. Between 0.16 to 0.76 inch thin and weighing only 3.0 pounds, MacBook Air sets new standards for ultra-portable computing. Out of the box, your MacBook Air can have all the software you need preinstalled. Mac OS X Leopard and iLife ’08 come standard, and iWork ’08 is available as an option. It comes with 2GB of memory and built-in 802.11n Wi-Fi2 and Bluetooth 2.1 + EDR. You can have it with an 80GB 4200 rpm PATA Hard Drive or with a 64GB Solid State Drive. To read more about the MacBook Air check out Apple.com.

Thanks for reading and continue to check back for further updates in the technical world.

I wake up at 5 am this morning to get ready for P.T. and after I grab a bowl of cereal I sit down to check my email. Got 2 new messages, one of them being from DreamHost. I check the other one first, just a subscription to a blog. Figure I’ll read it later when I’m not still partially asleep. I click on the email from DreamHost, and it’s another billing receipt. I had just gotten one a few days prior for this billing cycle. I look down to the bottom of the email and it shows charges for every month of 2008. Now, I only pay a grand total of about $14 per month for hosting/unique IP, but multiply that times 12 and it adds up pretty quick. Suddenly $152.90 is coming out of my bank account. Well, that sucks, luckily for me today just happened to be pay day.

First thing I did was check my bank account to make sure this was really happening. Sure enough, the charge went through my debit card and a big ol’ -$152.90 showed up right above my pay check deposit. Somewhat upset, I clicked back to my email and sent them a reply. I couldn’t even remember what I typed until I got home, because I was still quite sleepy when I wrote it. Here was the email I sent to them in reply to the billing receipt:

What is this???? I’ve always paid on a month to month basis and suddenly
your charging me $152+ ? I just received an email receipt yesterday for the
payment for this month, so what is all this for? Please explain because
you charged me more money than I have. I do not wish to pay for a full year
in advance, not yet anyway. Please get back to me as soon as possible.

Shortly after I received an auto reply email saying that they would respond to me within 24 hours. So I went to work, hoping that things would work out during the day. When I came home that afternoon and checked my mail, I had a new message from DreamHost. Here is what it said, and btw, only DreamHost would send an email like this. I expect any other company would send a message saying they would investigate the matter further and respond within 4-6 days or something:

Hi Dustin!

Ack. Through a COMPLETE bumbling on our part, we’ve accidentally attempted
to charge you for the ENTIRE year of 2008 (and probably 2009!) ALREADY
(it was all due to a fat finger)!

I’m really really realllly embarassed about this, but you have nothing
to worry about. Please ignore any confusing billing messages you may have
received recently; I’ve already removed all those bum future charges on
your account and already refunded the $152.9 charge on your
credit card.

You should get the money back on almost immediately, within a day or
two max, and there’s no need to contact your credit card company or bank
for the refund.

Again, I feel terrible about this whole thing.. there will be a blog post
soon at blog.dreamhost.com fully explaining how this bug was even allowed
to happen..

Thank you very very much for your patience with this.. we PROMISE
this won’t happen again. There’s no need to reply to this message unless
of course you have any other questions at all!

Sorry again,
Josh!

I actually laughed to myself when I read this. Naturally, I went to the blog to see what they had to say there. You can read that here: DreamHost Blog. By the time I checked out the blog there was already over 300 replies to it. It’s amazing how such a simply mistake can balloon into such a big one. I wonder how many people decided to give up on DreamHost because of this? Oh well, it’s on them I guess. They’ll just have to be more careful in the future. Thanks for readin’.

-TributeK

I’m not writing this article to explain to you about Vegans and what they do. I’m writing it to express my opinions on the subject. I’ll begin by saying that when it comes down to it, I’m against veganism. Although I follow many Vegan eating habits, because I’m not doing it for the reasons that real Vegans do it for, I’m not a vegan. I simply choose to follow a Vegan diet for health and weight reasons. I’ll start off with the most broad way to express why I am against veganism.

I believe in the natural cycle of life that has been on Earth since the beginning of, well, life.

When I watch the discovery channel or read about ancient animals and bacteria going all the way back to the beginning, I can’t help but believe that creatures surviving by eating other creatures was the true intention of nature. It’s been this way literally forever. Some animals are designed to live off of plants, others evolved to live off of other animals, and that’s the way it is and always will be. Who are we to suddenly say that evolution has been wrong and that living off of the meat from other creatures is wrong. Why is it wrong? The answer to that question doesn’t exist, because it isn’t wrong. It isn’t wrong for us to survive off of other animals. And survival is what it all comes down to in the end, right? That is the nature of any life form, to survive, no matter what.

Survival is completely dependent upon nature, in my opinion. Herbivores survive by eating plants because it’s not only the most plentiful food source but they evolved multi chambered stomaches to handle it.. Carnivores survive eating other animals because they were designed to do just that. This then leads to evolution into smarter creatures. Almost any scientist that studies animals will tell you that your average carnivore is MUCH smarter than your average herbivore. They have to be, because they’re food source isn’t nearly as plentiful, and it doesn’t just sit and blow in the breeze waiting to be eaten. I feel, without a doubt, if there were never any carnivores, we wouldn’t be here today. There would be no need for animals to evolve and become smarter if they had nothing to worry about but eating grass and other plants the next day. On top of that, if there were no carnivores, the population of the rest of the animals would get out of control. It’s kind of like natures own way to keep all the species in check, so that they don’t overrun the planet.

For me to say that I don’t eat animal products or use animals for anything would be absurd. It’s part of life! We use animals to survive because we were meant to do that. I understand that there is a line which is often crossed, however, when it comes to survival, nothing is unethical. Now, I know that this is a very controversial topic, which is precisely the reason I’ve started it. I’m interested in hearing from anyone who wants to state their opinions. Comment away, though beware, if I get the feeling that you didn’t read the entire article and are not “looking before you leap” into this conversation, I’ll simply ignore your comment. =P

-TributeK

-TributeK