Angry Duck

I was just browsing through the Pets At Home dog toys as my pup has demolished her other ones so in dire need of some new toys to destroy. Anyway I came across the Doggy Doolittle Duck by Good Boy and had to laugh but also recoiled in slight fear! Haha the damn thing looks like its shouting and very angry. Think it would scare my wee pup rather than entertain her!

I had to share the picture of it!

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Yup its the end of the Summer but wait that doesn’t mean the end of alfresco cooked meals does it?

I say no, I’m Scottish and willing to freeze my nipples in the pursuit of chargrilled bbq perfection.

To help me attain these perfect Autumn and Winter barbecues I recently purchased the stainless steel pedestal bbq from Lidls for £34.99.

It boasts an adjustable chrome plated steel grill which can be moved very easily to three different cooking heights! The heat resistant bakelite side handles make this supremely easy and safe ta boot.

Cleverly the designer(s) have utilised the pedestal and integrated an optimal heat suction effect chimney.

There is also a removable ash collection tray which is quite small but functional as the majority of ash etc can be scooped from the top.

The wind deflector does its job and the cooking area at around: 46cm x 47cm is more than adequate. I had two full racks of big ribs, a large pack of chicken, some burgers and think I had corn on all at the same time! Kick ass! Also the heat distribution is very good with even the edges getting a good cooking heat (if you have used enough charcoal and spread it out right).

The full dimensions are approx. (cm): 92 x 65 x 48
Apparently it also comes with 3 year manufacturer’s warranty which is pretty confident of them!

I’ve cooked on a few barbies and this is by far and away the best I’ve cooked on! It can be used to cook for 2 or for 22 people no worries.

A total bargain for 35 squidlets. Crivvens this is a good BBQ and I’m gunna cook on it in the snaw! Yeeeehaaa.

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However she does like her wine so I thought perhaps a gift relating to this. A decanter perhaps? Mmmmm probably wouldnt get used and the ones I saw were a bit out of my price range! What a bout a nice glass and I can engrave it with something witty? Yes that was it, so I set about finding a nice crystal wine glass from a place that could engrave it for me too.

I think it was via a Google Ad I found I quickly navigated to the wine glasses section (the website doesnt look the best but its pretty easy to get around) where I discovered this glass: http://www.warwickcrystal.co.uk/shop/glasses/glass125.htm

Extra large eh, well that sounds about right, you could cram more than half a bottle in it!!

I added it to the cart and started the checkout process where I had to add the engraving text. Ahh time for something witty…….erm…..erm……erm. Ahhh I know you cant go wrong with a good quote! How about “Wine is bottled poetry” said by Robert Louis Stevenson. Now the thing about the website here is you can choose what font you want for the engraving, unfortunately you cant choose a different font per line (I wanted the quote in script and Bobs name just in normal font). However upon emailing them regarding this they told me just to add any instructions in the provided text area for them.

All good although I did have a slight issue in the checkout process where because of the route I took it brought me back to where I put my details in and it had wiped them all. No biggy though.

I paid for next day special delivery too because again as usual Id left everything to the last minute. Sorted….I thought.

The next day I received an email from Warwick Crystal saying that glass was out of stock and they wouldnt be getting more in until later that day meaning they would miss the post and so not manage the next day service. AAAAhhhhhhhhrgh, I hate shops that allow you to checkout goods which are out of stock (especially when you pick next day delivery)! They did kindly offer to use another (more expensive: http://www.warwickcrystal.co.uk/shop/glasses/glass105.htm) glass which I did look at but wasnt sure about the shape plus I was seduced by the over half a bottle of wine glass. Anyway I was desperate and said just go for the replacement glass as I need the glass tomorrow!

Give them their due the glass arrived the very next day, well wrapped and with complimentary choccys too! And the glass is sooo much nicer in your hand than in the photos. The engraving was just what I specified and exactly as I imagined it, very good indeed! There was a slight flaw in the glass but to be honest not that noticable really.

Overall I was really happy with the communication, customer service, delivery and the end product. I think the website could be improved looks-wise but hey its functional and Im being picky.

I would recommend Warwick Crystal and I will be using them again for the next birthday in the family.

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Check if you have the correct configuration in the plugin’s options, but most probably whatever you change in the options, the problem with the verification image remains.

Here is what worked for me. Open the file wp-content/plugins/dd-formmailer/dd-formmailer.php using whichever editor you prefer (I use Dreamweaver).

Go to line 1125 or search for the line:

/wp-content/plugins/dd-formmailer/dd-formmailer.php?v=1 

Does your current permalinks structure include the /index.php/ part in the path? Then add this to the line above, so it looks like this:

/index.php/wp-content/plugins/dd-formmailer/dd-formmailer.php?v=1

Hey presto you verification image (hopefully) appears. Remember and Ctrl+F5

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Normally Id reply by email with some prices off the top of my head, but most times by the time I got back to them they had already advertised elsewhere that day and they’d keep me in mind for the future. I could see a potential market here but the process wasnt working for me or my potential advertising customers! Everything done by email then Id have to manually add their banner etc! Mmmmm nae chance, my time is valuable and its just not worth it.

There must be a better way, I thought. After a quick search I found exactly what I was looking for: OIO Publisher

OIO offers everything I needed to completely manage and automate how visitors advertise on my sites. In fact it offers even more!

Here is a quick run down of OIO’s features:

• Fully automated sales – once setup the advertisers do the rest!
• Run 3rd party ad networks alongside your own ads – Google, Commision Junction etc
• Install as a WP plugin or a standalone application
• Sell banner ads, text ads and even paid reviews/posts
• Display ads using PHP or Javascript code
• Show default ads until the slots are purchased – no blank ad spaces
• Convert visitors into sales staff with OIO’s inbuilt affiliate program
• Create custom purchases allowing you to sell digital products i.e. graphics, themes, sounds, video etc
• Multiple payment gateways supported – including Amazon, Google, Paypal and Alertpay
• Create unlimited “zones” or areas on your website where different ad sizes can be displayed
• Setup your ads to be purchase per day, per click or per impression
• Click and impression tracking, plus weekly ad reports emailed to advertisers
• OIO even have their own marketplace similar to Buysellads

Well as you can see that is a wealth of functionality and I’ve probably missed some!

I think one of the key features of this is that its not just A WP plugin, its a standalone program where just one install could run and manage the advertising on multiple websites. So install OIO once and have it manage and display ads on any number of websites! That really is a useful function if you dont want or need to have a single install managing a single website.

The other stand out feature of OIO is being able to place multiple ad sizes/types anywhere on your website (just setup a zone in OIO admin and add either the PHP or JS code in your website code to display the ads in that zone) and keep displaying your third party affiliate ads and Google ads.

If you want to trully monetise your website then OIO is a tool you just cant live without.

So how much would you expect to pay for this? £100? £300? WRONG its just $47!! You could make your money back easily in a day if you have a popular enough website!

Thats not all! Use the discount code below and get $10 off that purchase! It is truly amazing value for money!

Get OIO Publisher here!

October Coupon Code: MIST-THEPATH

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After 3 days of speaking to the frankly useless Orange Tech Help, various speed tests and my own fiddlings I finally stumbled upon a solution.

So lets cut to the chase because if you were as frustrated as me then you are on the verge of telling Orange to stuff it and have a big tantrum.

The fix:

Log into your router (If you installed the Netgear CD then there should be a link on your desktop which will open a path similar to: C:\Users\YourName\Desktop\Router_Setup.html). You will now be on the router’s summary page (see the first picture below). AT the bottom right there is a link that says “Router Login”…..click it!

Now unless you changed it the standard login info is: User: admin – Pass: password

On the left hand side menu click “Wireless Settings”. Under the heading “Wireless Network” you will see a “Mode” option, this is probably set to 150Mbps, change it to “g & b” (see the second picture below).

So thats: router admin->Wireless Settings->Wireless Network->Mode->g & b

Hey presto you have uploading power once again (mwahahahahaha). Now please note I was supplied a Netgear Wireless-N 150 ADSL2+ Modem Router – model DGN1000, so if you have a different router the path to the settings may be different but hopefully the result will be the same.

Now for a small rant at the Orange Tech Help: Why is all you can do to help is do a speed test, or ask me to do a speed test. I had already said the speed test I did earlier was fine! This obviously pointed to the router or a firewall problem or something else……but no no “We will do a speed test”. Rubbish! Waste of 5p a bloody minute, the guys have all the tech knowledge of an Orangutan’s nipple.

Well atleast Im enjoying very good speeds for my area, although downloads speeds are capped at peak times

I searched and searched google for a solution and didnt find it so I hope this helps you out.

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Sellers post gigs ads also know as micro jobs. On A Few Bob these range from £5 – £100 (sites like fiverr have one price of $5 which limits the kinds of jobs offered). The jobs themselves can be anything from logo design to grass cutting. Silly gig ads can also be quite popular like sending postcards from where you stay or singing happy birthday over the phone!

Once the jobs are live people can purchase them, contact is made between the buyer and seller. Job gets done and the sellers balance is credited with the sale (minus the A Few Bob’s commission at 10%). Once the seller reaches £30 they are paid via Paypal. Easy huh.

A Few Bob’s commission is only 10% compared to fiverr’s 20%! So a good deal and a new cool UK marketplace.

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Buyers of course can pick up some good deals as Fiverr is limited to ads at $5. This means sellers can only advertise at this rate so getting your grass cut for that price would be a pretty goo deal (especially if you have a large lawn). Other sites offer sellers the chance to sell services for larger amounts too.

Anyway I liked the idea of this marketplace so much that I decided I wanted my own site doing exactly the same thing. The search for a decent clone script began. There is no shortage of options out there. I think I found around5-6 which looked OK. However some just didnt look right, others were way to pricey.

I finally clocked one over at PHP Valley (thankyou google ads) and it looks fantastic (pretty similar to Fiverr as you would expect being a clone script), had all the features and it was a very reasonable price. So I bought it as soon as I found it, downloaded it and got to work.

The script is lightweight but has the features you need. It was very easy to install and setup. I suddenly realised that everything was in $’s and I wanted £’s!! I emailed the creator and asked how much it would be to change it from $ to £. Nothing was the reply and he emailed me the fix within 30mins! Excellent service I think you will agree.

There are some cool features with the software like the fancy ajax popup login box and the fact that sellers can advertise services from $5 or £5 up to 100 (every multiple of 5 is available). The whole site is easy to operate from a users perspective, accounts are easily created, then users can start posting/editing/deleting “gigs” as they see fit.

The software is being actively updated and once purchased, updates are available for free.

You really cant go wrong with this script, its a low cost, the support Ive had was great and it looks/works great out of the box!

I would like to see some changes and updates though (which the owner is more than willing to hear):

1. A proper dropdown menu bar in the admin screen. I find the second level menu annoying.
2. An MVC framework used for the coding. Makes it sooo much easier to follow.
3. I think the CSS for the template was autogenerated by one of these website builder things. When I was editing it I found it pretty difficult to work with and its not the way I would code the CSS. If the owners wanted me to work on the CSS for them Id be happy to get involved.
4. Id like to see an option for sellers to “Cancel” or put a “Hold” on their gigs if they cant carry them out at that point. Just now they have to delete them and then re-post them.
5. A refund system would be cool. So if refunds were to be issued in some cases then it would be cool if a refund could be issued to the users account. So instead of issuing a Paypal refund you simply add the funds into their website account with you and they can use it to buy more gigs.

Overall though an excellent script at an excellent price and a quick and easy way to start a new business. I love it! Its been fun playing with it anyway. Whether my website takes off, who knows? Its still a cool website.

So have a look at the demos here and buy it!! Fiverr Clone Script Download

• A Few Bob – The UK fiverr alternative – UK Gigs Marketplace

It all works fantastically untill I used the same technique on another site which used more Pages than Posts. There are two parts to the problem that happened on this site.

Firstly the “Reply” link (allowing you to reply to a specific user comment) didnt work and once the first comment was made on the page the comment form would disappear!

The fix to these bugs are as foloows:

1. In your comments.php theme file replace:

with this

2. In wp-includes/comment-template.php at line 1012 change:

$comment = get_comment($comment);
$post = get_post($post);

to:

$comment = get_comment($comment);
$post = get_post($comment->comment_post_ID);

Upload the updated files and hey presto the comment form shows on pages with a comment and you can now use the “Reply” link to respond to specific comments. Ahhhhhh the world has been put right once again. Incase you are wondering no1 above fixes the comment form disappearance and no2 fixes the Reply link bug!! Enjoy!

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