Monthly Archives: October 2006

The Irish blogosphere is fired up!

tailrank-thinkhouse-thumb.jpg

Damien’s post yesterday about Thinkhouse PR generated enough interest among bloggers that the story appeared on tailrank.com! Good to see that the issue is being brought to a wider audience.

He updated his final post on the matter saying that he talked to the Data Protection Commissioner and they did not apologise to Thinkhouse PR so I guess that’s that.

No, one final update. It was a Google refresh after all. Adam Lasnik from the Google Search Quality Team commented that Damien’s post didn’t show in the search results, “due purely to algorithmic factor”. It’ll probably come back shortly in other words. Storm in a tea cup? Thinkhouse PR still spammed him and the investigation done was definitely flawed.

Thinkhouse PR – what's up?

As Damien’s post is missing from Google I think it’s up to the rest of us to spread the word.

Despite contacting them several times over the course of a few weeks Thinkhouse PR continued to spam Damien with product announcements and press releases. On August 23rd he sent a formal complaint to the Data Protection Commissioner and being a blogger, wrote about it too. It is this post that has disappeared from Google’s search. It might be something as innocent as a Google refresh or it might be banned.

If you live outside Ireland, please search for “Thinkhouse PR” and leave a comment here if you see Damien’s post on the front page. Thanks.

Tom has also covered this issue and found out that the Data Protection Commissioner apologised to Thinkhouse PR for investigating them.

Bizarrely, Jane McDaid of Thinkhouse PR in a comment on James‘ site said that the Data Protection Office had apologised for having to follow up the complaint!

Later.. Damien posted the letter he received from the Commissioner. They did investigate, but I think someone in Thinkhouse PR needs to come up with another reason. They stated that it took up to 2 days to remove a user from their lists. Unfortunately for them Damien received his last spam correspondence from them 14 days or more after contacting them. Someone should get a slap on the wrist for this.

We’re Hoff and running

035189100.jpg

John Arlidge of The Sunday Times interviews David Hasselhoff. The Hoff is traveling around Europe to publicize his new single, “Jump In My Car”. Have you heard it yet? It was played off the radio by pleading texts from listeners and laughter from DJs. The interview makes for a great read, he’s so full of himself it’s funny!

“What is Jump In My Car, my latest single out this month, really about?” he asks unprompted. Without pausing he answers his own question. “Essentially, it’s about driving along trying to get girls to jump in my car.”

Is that something he knows a lot about, I ask. He nods.

Just what does the star of Knight Rider and Baywatch get up to in his car these days? You’ll have to read this entertaining interview to find out!
Photo by Dwane Senior

Put it there!

After reading Ryan Tomayko’s explanation of REST I’m left wondering if I’ve ever used HTTP PUT. I don’t think I have. Have you?

Don’t be put off by the length of the page, half of it are the comments following the post. I have to agree with the people who complemented his wife on her patience. I can’t imagine many non technical people being interested in the arcane details of http and how the web works. Well done for explaining it well!

The Schneider Interview

Robert Scoble talks to Toni Schneider, the CEO of Automattic in this video interview about WordPress.com, Automattic and lots of other stuff. I’ve only watched the first 10 minutes, Toni talks about some of the features of WordPress.com – paid features, making money, adverts, fighting splogs and more.

Do you like Akismet? That’s covered too. Make sure you set aside some time today to watch this interview if you use WordPress!

Cool those aching fingers

Another advantage of the smcFanControl for cooling your Macbook is the nice breeze that rises from the keyboard as you type. It’ll probably work wonders for those sweaty sessions deep into the night when a deadline is fast approaching!

It cools your Macbook very effectively too, but I wonder what it’ll do to the life of the fan motor if it’s twirling around at 6200rpm all the time?

Cup o' tea and halloween brack

2006-10-13__mg_5500-s.jpg

It’s that time of the year again and one of the highlights is the traditional Halloween brack. If you’ve never had it, it’s a delicious fruit cake, usually with small objects hidden inside.
From the Wikipedia page on Barm Brack:

In the barmbrack were: a pea, a stick, a piece of cloth and a ring. Whovever recieved in their slice the pea, would be unmarried; the stick, would be a fighter; the cloth or rag, would be poor; and the ring, would be wed within the year.

The Halloween Brack is commonly known as “barn brack” but it’s properly called “barm brack”. I think I prefer “barn brack”.

How do you make it? It’s fairly easy, not that I’ve ever made one, but this recipe looks so simple I might be able to make it! A more descriptive recipe isn’t as simple. Hmm. Have you baked one?

Now, I’m off to have another slice! Yum!

I got the ring! I turned to Jacinta and asked her, “Will you marry me?” She took the ring, put it on her finger, looked at me and solemly said, “I’ll think about it!” before bursting out in laughter and eating her own slice of the brack. Ah yes. I love her! 🙂

Mac OS X – how to update /etc/hosts

Way back in the good old days of Linux and Windows it was much easier to update my hosts file. There it was, /etc/hosts or C:\windows\hosts, edit, save and the change becomes active.

MacOS X is a little more complicated. Once you update /etc/hosts you’ll have to update the Netinfo Database. That’s why I’m blogging this so I’ll remember it. This page documents the steps required but the important command is this one:

sudo niload -v -m hosts . < /etc/hosts

There is a GUI but it’s a little clunky and duplicating an existing entry isn’t the most elegant method of adding a new one. Especially when a warning dialog pops up!

Thanks Barry for suggesting a similar fix while I was in SF and getting used to my new laptop! 🙂

Close

Ad-blocker not detected

Consider installing a browser extension that blocks ads and other malicious scripts in your browser to protect your privacy and security. Here are a few options.

  • uBlock Origin is a free, open source, ad blocker for your browser.
  • Use pi-hole if you have a spare Raspberry Pi on your network.
  • Set the private DNS settings on your phone to dns.adguard.com to block adverts and trackers.