Pariah's Ponderings

Photobucket Sucks

2018-02-14T13:00:00.002-08:00

This is going to be a 'Douche of the Day' award post that I usually do on my Wordpress blog.

I was a happy Photobucket user for 11 years. That's a long time to stick with a service so they were obviously a good one. I was completely happy with the services provided on my free account and a couple of times, I made use of the print store in order to make custom gifts for loved ones for various occasions. Then all of a sudden, in 2017, they start sending me nagware. For those unfamiliar, nagware consists of popups/emails/messages etc that 'nag' you to buy their product. It's irritating, true, but not a deal breaker since I had a free account. I just unsubscribed to the nagmails and just put up with it on the site.

Then, however, Photobucket decided to do something I consider to be truly despicable. They made it to where you CANNOT download your photo albums (for backup or for account changes). They actually REMOVED the download album links. Why is that particularly awful? You've likely heard of something called ransomware, where criminally minded people will hack your system and hold your files for ransom. If you pay, you get your files back. Sound familiar? Photobucket has actually decided that holding people's cherished memories hostage will force them to upgrade to one of their paid plans. Sounds pretty messed up, right? But, Pariah..(you might say) that's a pretty seriously defaming thing to say about Photobucket. And you would be correct. It's something I rarely do (you can check to see how many actual 'Douche of the Day' posts I've made on my Wordpress blog to see that it's not often that I do this. That is how truly despicable I believe this to be.

Photobucket, you are no better than ransomware hackers and it's certainly morally deficient. Of course, since one can download each photo in their library ONE AT A TIME, they can claim they are doing no such thing..but let's not forget, they removed the download album links, which don't come back unless you upgrade your account. Super douchey. In addition to this ridiculousness, 90% of forum posted pictures just stopped working as Photobucket demanded 400 dollars for the privilege to see them. Many desperate and the more computer illiterate people have already likely paid their ransom. Someone made a Chrome extension for this issue and it lives here Photobucket Hotlink Fix. It's completely legit and working as of this post. I saw some small mention of Photobucket taking a back step and allowing people to hot link with the $99 plan but i didn't see that in the plan list so that I cannot confirm.

For the moment, I was able to download the photobucket phone app for Android that lives here but there isn't an iphone version. It is working at this time for downloading albums. They have a desktop app that lives here but I didn't test it and I am not sure whether or not the same capability exists (one would assume, but one never knows)

As for downloading my albums from the Android app, the process is straightforward, BUT i had to retry each album download many many times before the download would go through. That's always been an issue with Photobucket. Their website is slower than molasses sitting in a jar on a perfectly level table and always has been. Try to delete 5 photos? Maybe you will, maybe you won't. For my free account, how could I complain though? I did manage to get my albums onto my phone after scores of retries (I had about 20 albums but not that many pictures--maybe around 300) Download failure after download failure but I persevered and now have the pics backed up in my usual 3 point system (which Photobucket will no longer be included in) and then as soon as I was done, I deleted my account. There was the usual 'but whyyy' screen that popped up and I unloaded on them about their poor decision and how disgusted I was by their greasy attempt to extort their users, many of which had been users for a decade or more.

Which brings me to the inevitable..but Pariah, your account was free! You can't gripe about a free account! True enough, I say. I could have, and since have, gone to someone else. The thing is though, I had 10 delicious GB of storage with which to keep my pictures safe and sound and it was easy peasy to share, hotlink etc..everyone liked Photobucket (except for the slow website.) However, had Photobucket asked me nicely to pay a subscription of say, $3 a month, I likely would have done it. I TRUSTED them. I LIKED them. I trusted them and they pulled a ransomware stunt on me. So I am absolutely going to gripe about this and about their foot shooting idea that has probably cost them millions in the short time since this issue went viral. Consequences, you know?

To sum up, Photobucket, you have totally earned my Douche of the Day award. Enjoy it..it's worth about as much as your company will be after this. Even if you completely reversed your position and I had my 10GB of storage back with hotlinking all for free, I wouldn't come back. You screwed me and millions (yes, millions of people use --used?-- Photobucket) of other happy Photobucket users.

Favorite File Manager for Windows 7

2017-12-13T01:51:00.001-08:00

Most people that use Windows tend to just use Windows Explorer as their file manager. A vast number of people likely don't even realize that there are other options. Windows Explorer is painfully limited in features, especially lacking the tabs that 95% of file managers utilize. In my line of work, I have to compare, browse, edit, move, delete and rename vast numbers of files. Windows Explorer just can't handle the task.
I ended up using FreeCommander file manager, which had all the features I was looking for with extensive customization options for the user interface and a built in viewer that could be used inside the window I was working on. That was actually the most difficult feature to find as I discovered later.
After a while though, I became very frustrated with FreeCommander's 32 bit free version. It became slow and often froze. So I decided to comparison shop, so to speak. My requirements were few but necessary: I had to be able to customize every aspect of the user interface. I didn't want the horrible ribbon style that some developers used from Microsoft applications. I just wanted toolbars that I could customize as I chose. I also had to have an internal viewer that would preview media in the opposite pane of the file chosen. This was ridiculously hard to find. Another had-to-have was dual pane viewing, so I could open a folder in one pane and move files to a different folder shown in the other pane. The final requirement was that it had to be free. I'm ridiculously poor. Therefore, the following file managers were not tested by me in any way, due to them being anywhere from $20-$90: xplorer2, Altap Salamander, Directory Opus, and XYplorer. I've heard great things about them all but unless I win the lottery, I'll never know for myself.
I nearly chose MultiCommander but the internal viewer opened in a new tab and I wanted it to be in the pane instead.
These are just some of the file managers that I eliminated due to not having one of the features I listed: TotalCommander, Double Commander, Nexus File Manager, Midnight Commander, Q-Dir (for those of you who like 4 panes) MuCommander, OneCommander, UnrealCommander, Fman and File Voyager, the last of which was my second most liked after MultiCommander.
Then I discovered one that I loved and once I ran it, I was completely and totally happy. So which one was it?

Free Commander, the 64bit portable version that can be had by donating $5

Irony, right?

The Confederate Flag and Its Impact and Influence on Millenials

2015-06-21T19:54:00.001-07:00

It's been an unsettling week as once again, some post high school dropout with a chip on his soldier and a too-easily acquired gun decides to end lives. This time, some loser douche decided to invade a church and kill several people who weren't pale enough for him. This has led, most unfortunately to a whole lot of sheeple deciding to blame everything in the world, except for this young guy. What some people just can't seem to wrap around their heads is that sometimes people are just born wrong. This guy probably has instances as far back as early childhood of things that should have alerted someone to the fact that he's cracked in the head. But the sheeple persist. So, now we have this movement going on called #takedowntheflag, where civil authorities are being besieged by people in droves demanding that Confederate flags from the Civil War be taken down from government buildings. Apparently, that was what set the guy off. A flag. No, that's just what he chose to wave around as a symbol that apparently he was somehow judge, jury and execution for people who can get a tan. A flag did not, in any way, contribute to this guy's disgusting action in Charleston. His hate was what fueled his actions. Where did the hate come from? The inside of his own head. That's where everyone's hate come from. No flag did this to him. He was fucked up in the head and this is how he manifested his crazy. He also waved around flags from at least 2 other countries. Apparently, flags were a thing for him. So, how about those Confederate flags? Here's my take on that.

The Confederate flag is a symbol for the Civil War, and the flag of a long defunct 'country'. The only flags that should be flying at any government building are the United States flag and the state flag (as well as the flag for visiting dignitaries. The Confederate States are gone; therefore, the flag should not be flown. They should be displayed as preferred by private citizens if they wish to fly one at their residence or business. Officially, they should be removed and displayed at any history museum. Do I agree that the Confederate flag is only a symbol that racist rednecks throw around because they like to hate on black people? No, absolutely not..there are a lot of history buffs out there and folks that wish the South had won for other reasons. I do agree that the Confederate flag should not be displayed at any government building. The reason I have outlined and it is based purely on logic and standard protocols rather than outrage over what some whacked out reject did while waving the damn thing around. It's long past time for the Confederate flag to be retired to museums, businesses (if they wished) and private citizens.

Yandex Web Browser

2015-01-18T15:50:00.002-08:00

On my Windows 7 computer, the one I work from, I need a good, fast reliable browser as part of my workflow. I recently got rid of one that I really loved for a while, called Torch Browser. Torch has a lot of great extras, such as music and video players, torrent downloader, facelift for facebook; basically it's great for play. Don't get me wrong, it was great but my focus on this computer is productivity and I need a web browser to match. I like using Chrome based browsers as well as Firefox, but I hate having Google involved in everything (like this blog *grumble*) so I go for alternative browsers based on Chrome, minus the Google. (Sorry, Google dear, but you brought this on yourself) I was a rabid fan of Opera prior to what I like to call the Operocalypse, where Opera gave up everything that made it stand out from the rest (and made it the best) to yet another Chrome clone. I have it, out of habit, but only use it on my most secure sites; it sits idle 90% of the time. When it tries to be more awesome like the old Opera I will likely use it again.

My search for a daily use browser led me to Yandex Web Browser. I had tried it once, very briefly about a year ago and uninstalled it; I don't remember exactly why but something about it was a deal breaker at the time. Loving my Yandex mail as much as I do, I thought I'd give Yandex Browser another try. When I installed it, Yandex transferred my extensions over from Torch, which was a great surprise. Only two things didn't work right. As it turns out, Yandex uses the same extension system as Opera so I was able to download what I needed, including a vital extension called Download Chrome Extension. This extension enables the user to download any extension from the Chrome web store. Using this I was able to reinstall my Evernote web clipper with no problems whatsoever. Likewise, no issues with my Raindrop.io extension or Adguard Adblocker. The things that make it different are few but interesting. First is the tableau. This is the name given to the new tab page. Mine looks like this. As you can see, there are 4 choices: Tableau (which it's on when you hit the new tab option), Downloads (showing a list of all your downloads), Recently closed (History) and Extensions (showing all extensions and browser settings). This last is my favorite. So much easier to get to the extensions list this way. They are grouped according to type. Underneath is a 'speed dial,' which allows shortcuts to favorite sites and bookmarks. As you can see, I have the Yandex Help page for when I first started using Yandex, I was confused about a couple of things. The other is to my Start.Me page, which contains all my bookmarks, so I can access them all from any browser. For those of you who prefer more traditional bookmarking/speed dials, you will have a lot more than just two. The background is changeable as well. Here's a screenshot showing the various items.

So far, the only thing that bugged me at first (now I don't even notice) is the lack of a home button. I like to have my Start.Me page as my home page. So as a workaround, I added it to the bookmarks bar and anytime I want to 'go home' I just click that. Usually though, I keep my Start.Me page open in a tab, which is pinned (right click on the tab to select pin) It's simple to use and I can use all the extensions I have with any other browser I've used. Yandex Web Browser has been my default browser now for about a month and I have no desire to change at this time.

Review of All Natural Products

2015-01-18T13:12:00.000-08:00

As noted in my other blog, Thoughts From The Outside, I went on a all-natural mission to detoxify my life. In part this change came about due to my dad's bout with cancer, but also it was something I have wanted to do for a long time and that was just my extra boost. I started reading first about the 'no-poo' movement, which involves all natural alternatives to washing one's hair without using commercial shampoos, which are laden with cancer causing ingredients. After several tries of various things, all of which are chronicled in my other blog, Thoughts From The Outside, I settled on one company for all of my all natural needs.

I discovered a wonderful, family owned company during my lengthy search for quality, effective all natural products. They are called Chagrin Valley Soap and Salve Company, located in Cleveland Ohio. They sell lots of amazing, all natural products like (obviously) soap and salve, also shampoo bars, deodorant, lotions and lip balms. When I buy from Chagrin Valley, I don't have to worry that there is anything in ANY of their products that will cause cancer, skin irritations, or harm the planet. I have been busy trying their sample bars of many different soaps and shampoos to see what I like best. Every time I get paid, I'm making a new list of things to try. I can't say enough good things about Chagrin Valley Soap and Salve Company and highly recommend them. Once you try their products, you won't go back.

Writer's Block and a Deadline

2013-10-29T14:52:00.000-07:00

Everyone has something they are good at; I'm a writer. I have been hired as a freelance writer on multiple occasions, to the benefit of both parties. I have written many different types of custom writing for various clients, depending on their needs and my knowledge of the subject they need written about. Sometimes, though, after a long while of not doing much on the writing front, my skills can get somewhat rusty. Enter every writers nightmare: writer's block. Sometimes inspiration can be difficult to come by so it's necessary to have several sources at hand to give a boost when needed. If ever I get stuck on a particularly technical piece or with a subject I know little about, I can always get a professional to write my essay. I can always turn to writers with advanced postgraduate degrees and professional business experience to help me get a paper that I can use as a source for my work. It's nice to know that I don't have to worry about anyone else having the exact same resource I do; each paper is custom tailored to every client, complete with revisions and editing if necessary! Now I consider PoweredEssays.com to be one of my biggest tools for research and source material. No more writer's block for this author.

For anyone getting login errors recently (Linux)

2012-11-16T19:26:00.001-08:00

For those random people having random issues with logins lately..it may not be your Linux distro. Apparently a nasty bug has creeped into ext4, which is causing all kinds of mayhem. Make sure when installing a new distro, you mount your /home directory as something besides ext4 in order to keep your data safe. See this link, scroll down to the Section entitled Tips and Tricks (by Robert Storey) to see more of what's going on, in case you are affected. Not a lot of people are at this point, supposedly just randomly. The chief maintainer of ext4 is working on a solution now.

For anyone getting login errors recently (Linux)

2012-11-16T19:25:00.001-08:00

Shopping for work pants

2012-07-11T21:06:00.001-07:00

There is one chore in all my world that ranks right up there with going to the laundromat as "things I hate to do the most" and that would be shopping. I admit, I'm a girl and I don't like to shop. Unless it's rummaging, which doesn't qualify as shopping in my view. Every so often, though, I have to work up the will to go to actual stores and hunt around for a pair of pants to wear at work. Dockers, a brand introduced by Levi Strauss & Co., has been providing classy jeans and work pants since 1986. With fits ranging from Classic to Slim, there is a pair for everyone. Check some different styles out here! I'm just not a fan of going from store to store, trying on pants.

Every time I do this, I end up feeling crappy about my figure. I don't have a butt, my legs are too skinny and my waist is far too wide for the rest of my little self. Therefore, as one might imagine, shopping for pants is not a happy time for me. Shirts aren't so bad. If I'm having a 'feeling fat' day, then nothing makes me feel smaller than a giant tee shirt. If I'm having a 'lookin' good' kind of day, then a slim fit tee shirt fits the bill. Everyone seems to have a particular style that they adhere to. Except me of course. I don't try to be difficult about it, but it always seems like I have a different clothing style for every mood I have. Mostly, I wear black. It's easy to match, suits my dark personality and sense of humor. On the other hand though, I might see someone wearing a flowered skirt that I think is cute. The woes of being a girl who hates to shop!

It Could Happen To You - YouTube

2012-05-08T15:58:00.001-07:00

Share this everywhere!!! Help people wake up from ignorance and fear.

via youtube.com

The Big Birthday Party

2012-04-17T19:24:00.002-07:00

Recently, my boss told me that her son is about to have his very first birthday party. I am amazed at all the work this seems to involve. Not only do you have to get the must have presents perfect for the boy who is about to turn one year old, but also there is a lot of thought involved about how to plan a party where lots of other small children are going to be. Most of them will be between one and two years old. This can be pretty chaotic if you ask me!

Another thing I noticed is that in addition to gifts, a lot of attention is being paid to preparations for games and invitations. I guess it is pretty important to keep that many small children occupied and happy, unless you want to hear a lot of crying and screaming!

I did notice that my boss spent a lot of time picking out just the right birthday invitations for her son's party. When she asked me for help in choosing a design, I was happy to help. I got pretty hooked on going through them all, trying to find just the perfect one. I think this birthday party is going to be a great success! There is even going to be a caterer!

Now all that is left to do is order the balloons and the miniature pony that is going to be the 'surprise' for the kids. I wonder if a one year old should have a pony at his birthday, but I'm sure there will be a few children there old enough to enjoy a ride, not to mention all the moms will have several adorable photo opportunities!

Counting on some extra wine storage

2012-04-17T19:20:00.000-07:00

Guest post written by Mimi Lawless

We don't have a whole lot of room in our kitchen. So we decided to bump out the room a little bit in a big remodel. That's giving us all kinds of room for things in our kitchen that I've never thought that we would have room for. But that doesn't mean that I haven't been thinking of all of those things to add in my kitchen and making mental notes.

One of the things that I was thinking about is some kind of wine storage in the kitchen. While I was looking for some info on that, I saw some information on sears cabinet refacing and I added that to the list of all of hte things that we're going to do in the ktichen.

I think that we're going to do with a little wine fridge right beside of our regular fridge so that everything will be the perfect temperature and keep from taking up extra space in our regular fridge, which is a bit of a problem now.

I just posted a link to Totsy on my blog for anyone interested in saving money for kids, moms and the whole family.. http://pariah73.blogspot.com/

2012-03-15T18:27:00.001-07:00

I just posted a link to Totsy on my blog for anyone interested in saving money for kids, moms and the whole family.. http://pariah73.blogspot.com/

2012-03-15T18:22:00.000-07:00

Artsy Neighborhood

2012-03-15T18:02:00.001-07:00

Guest post by Jewel Cole

My boyfriend and I thought it would be nice to move into an artsy neighborhood, but the more time we spend here, the more we realize we totally don’t fit in. At first, the street festivals and art shows were fun, but now we are just sick of all of the hipsters and crowds that come in from other neighborhoods. There is never any parking on the weekends, and we always wake up to garbage in the streets that doesn’t get cleaned up for days. Sometimes there are positive new things that happen like farmers markets and animal adoption events, but it is just exhausting. I get angry at how people behave and have realized that maybe we are too old to live in a trendy area. We decided that we are just going to spend more time at home instead of trying to be involved in all the activities. We signed up for a directv promo, and we hope that will keep us entertained until we save enough to buy a place in a different neighborhood. We don’t want to move right now, so I guess we will just have to deal with out bad decision for a little bit longer.

Due to the now defunct status of Amplify (cries) I have to use Shareaholic to share web clippings (well, links anyway) and surprisingly, I can now use Pixelpipe for crossposting.

2012-03-11T22:03:00.001-07:00

Due to the now defunct status of Amplify (cries) I have to use Shareaholic to share web clippings (well, links anyway) and surprisingly, I can now use Pixelpipe for crossposting.

2012-03-11T21:58:00.000-07:00

Classing up our living room with a bar cart

2012-02-16T16:16:00.000-08:00

Guest post written by Natalie Rickman

I'm at the point where I really want to make my home my own. I spent a lot of money on it so that I can actually call it my own and now's the time to decorate it to wear it actually looks like a place that I would live. I really love retro style and I thought that it would be a fun idea to buy a bar cart to use in there.

When I was online looking around for a reasonably affordable bar cart, which can be kind of hard to track down, I came across some info on Sears cabinet refacing. I really hate my kitchen right now and would love to give it a makeover, so I'm going to start there.

I foudn this one amazing looking bar cart that was exactly what I had imagined in my mind. It was a little more expensive than I had wanted to pay, but I found a coupon code for it and bought it with that. No turning back now!

The Latest Linux Mint- with KDE

2012-02-04T20:57:00.001-08:00

I'm currently downloading the latest offering from Linux Mint 12, 64 bit with KDE. Normally this wouldn't be that big of a deal news-wise but with the fiasco known as Gnome 3, everything has been turned upside down as Clem and the gang try to keep their loyal fan base from scattering to the four winds as the majority of Linux users have been suddenly left out in the cold. Lefebvre shows his usual genius by creating a brand new desktop that has gotten rave reviews even in its beta form. Other Linux users, such as myself, have suddenly been turning to other desktop environments in the wake of the chaos caused by Gnome's sudden and intense desire to copy Unity desktop which, outside of newbs, is useless for most end users. Add to that the new Gnome project policy of "we don't care what our users want" and its no surprise that even the most loyal Gnome 2.x users are now looking at KDE in a more "how you doin'" kind of way. In about an hour I will be testing out the new Linux Mint 12 KDE fir myself. For the last two months I have been 'in limbo' thanks to the Gnome 3 mess and I have been using Chakra Linux in order to try out KDE to see if I could tolerate it. It has come a long way since the last time I tried it and fir the most part I have been enjoying it so I think I will be right at home using Linux Mint 12..I sure hope so anyway..In the meantime I do recommend giving Chakra Linux a try..its Arch based so you know you will get the most bleeding edge everything..

MUSIC61832 Page

2012-01-26T21:01:00.001-08:00

via firstgiving.com

check this out folks..Music61832 invites you to take the plunge!

Love wife's cooking

2012-01-17T20:42:00.000-08:00

I appreciate the guest post, Emerson Moses

My wife is probably the best cook I have ever known. When I was younger, my mother made everything out of a box. We practically lived off Hamburger Helper and Better Crocker. There is nothing wrong with that, but I was not used to good, homemade cooking. My wife’s mother, on the other hand, has always been an elaborate cook and I am sure that is where my wife gets it. However, I have seen her searching through our direct tv northern virginia guide looking for cooking shows. Perhaps she is getting it from Paula Dean or Rachel Ray. Wherever she is getting her skill and inspiration, I am just glad she is cooking for me. I should probably try and make her Hamburger Helper sometime and see what she thinks. Believe it or not, she has never even tried it. It is hard for me to imagine never having the stuff. I am sure it will be a shock for her when you consider what she is used to eating.

A Rare Rave

2012-01-04T15:47:00.001-08:00

I know..I'm quite famous for my rants, both long and short, but today I'm going to do a rare Rave instead. So today's Rave is about the French fries at the McDonalds in Georgetown Illinois. They are always fresh, always hot. Not once in the 6 months since I have moved to this town have I ever gotten anything less than steaming hot French fries, no matter what time I go in there. Not to mention their service is fast too.

short rant

2012-01-01T02:07:00.001-08:00

I really think I might be going slowly insane from waiting for Linux mint 12 KDE to arrive. I'm starting to wonder if I am going to have to abandon Mint entirely for a while until the SICK JOKE that is Gnome 3 gets a massive fix. I'm not really a KDE fan but I'm willing to give it a shot..in the meantime I'm distro surfing again..sigh.

My New Job

2011-12-12T19:12:00.000-08:00

This guest post from Hong Alexander

Nobody would have guessed a few years back I’d be running my very own bed and breakfast. I was all about the big business world and it was tough for even me to imagine me doing anything but climbing the corporate ladder. I can only imagine what my family thought when I first told them I was going to do this! Anyway, here I am looking into Texas Electricity Providers and satin bedding and you know my life is totally changed for the different. I love that each and every day I get to interact with new customers and that I can make my own decisions about how the business is run. There’s something to be said for having your own business and being able to be flexible and you know, I can’t think of anything else I’d rather be doing. I mean, I love that I made such a big decision for my life and I’m thankful I’ve had so much support to get me where I am today.

New look for Blogger

2011-11-18T22:35:00.001-08:00

URL: http://pariah73.blogspot.com/

I post all the time to my Blogger account..in fact, I use it to make a few bucks here and there. However, it's rare that I actually log in to my account, so when I did, I noticed there is a whole new look and feel to the settings and there is now a template designer. Of course, as I get bored easily, I like to change the looks of all my blogs, sites and everywhere else I am after a while. I took the opportunity to use my own artwork as the background for my blogger page, so check it out (yes that is MY artwork on the background, isn't it purty!) Sorry for the urine-yellow of the font but otherwise my posts would barely be legible. Make sure you drop by and leave a comment, criticism or just say hey!

See this Amp at http://amplify.com/u/a1ik14