Live.com Spambot, I hate you.

Personal

A few weeks ago I read Jem’s blog “Live.com Fake SERP Referrals Are Pissing Me Off” but at the time never had the issue myself. Well, shortly after her post I’ve been having the Live.com spambot hitting up a couple of my domain with one-keyword search referrals. 100% of the Live.com “traffic” has been from spoofed referrals, and it’s not stopping.

I really don’t care to contact Microsoft in regards to the issue–I’m just going to go all out and block the bot from accessing those websites. I’ll end up settings up a robots.txt file, but apparently that might not be enough as some user(s) are still experiencing issues with the bot avoiding the robots.txt file; Time to dig up the IP addresses being used so I can deny those too.

If I honestly had some real results coming from Live.com’s search, I’d be apprehensive to blog anything associated with it, but so far I’ve yet to ever receive one legitimate search referral from it. I frequent my Mint statistics more than I should on a daily basis, so I can see what keywords I need to work on.. I just can’t afford to waste my time with fake hits. Stop skewing up my shit!

I found a nice little tutorial on block bots on various levels ranging from an .htaccess redirect that sends them back to their own site, blocking their IP address, and a couple other variations. An anonymous comment from another entry, Live.com’s Referrer Spam Has Left Me In Despair provides a snippet you can add to your .htaccess file to also block the bot, given that it seems to ignore any robots.txt settings.


SetEnvIfNoCase User-Agent "^msnbot" bad_bot
<Limit GET POST>
Order Allow,Deny
Allow from all
Deny from env=bad_bot
</Limit>

Present Crisis Avoided!

Personal

3133555915_286cbd4a5c_b For the first time in years I actually went Christmas shopping before Christmas Eve. Okay, so it was the day before but that still counts, right? I even went despite the fact that it had snowed 6.5″ throughout the day, and was still falling on the ground. Not to mention that it would eventually turn into sleet and add about 1.5″ of ice to everything.

My youngest sister Nicolle wanted to tag along, and even though I had to shop for her I was definitely looking forward to her company. Seeing as though her and I are the closest, and we always seem to have fun it was a no-brainer. We ventured out to Target so we could take a look around to see what was on sale, and played it by ear. Picked out a new coffee pot for my grandma, and was a nice one at that! Got a few odds-n-ends for the kitchen as little stocking stuffers for dad. For Nicolle’s gifts I found this cute gold makeup bag with two little cases to go inside of it… So that’s when I told her to run along and go buy us some Starbucks. Ended up filling it up with about $60 worth of makeup and a few hair accessories. Hopefully she’ll like it.

After that we headed off to Best Buy to pick up a thing or two, which I refuse to mention here for Armando’s safety! It should have been a 5 minute run but it turned into 30 minutes since we both ended up playing a bit of Guitar Hero: World Tour and Rock Band 2. By that time the snow was piling up even more, although it was starting to turn into sleet. We only needed to hit up a couple more stores, and I left my Paypal credit card at home, so we went back home. Spent 30 minutes shoveling our monstrosity of a driveway, and made our way back out. Went to Kohl’s and oh gosh, so many sales going on. 3133555599_894640c591_b

I’m a sucker for huge sales so I definitely spent time wondering around the entire place. Found some nice cubic zirconia earrings for her (she likes those huge ones, blech!) that were 60% off, and a Fantasy by Britney Spears perfume set that was 50% off regular price. Only person left for gifts at that point was just my dad. I was still a bit stuck on what to get him, but he was adamant upon having new sweatshirts, t-shirts, and socks so why deny the man some comfy clothes? T-shirts were $6 a piece (from $12), and some sweatpants that were 50% off. Although the one upset was that the set of Bobby Flay BBQ tools were slightly damaged. It was $75 normally, but again on sale for $30. It was almost too good to pass up, but Bed, Bath & Beyond was next door.

3134375934_ccca75f3f2_b I think my entire total at Kohl’s was just $97. Unfortunately I wasn’t able to use my 15% off coupon since it had to be with a Kohl’s charge card, which I didn’t have… 🙁 But hey, I did get $10 back, since they had a promotion for $10 for every $50 spent. I was still feeling like my dad’s presents were shortchanged compared to my mom’s new Tom Tom GPS so Bed, Bath & Beyond was next. Didn’t find much there especially since we were keeping on eye out for a Fiestware milk jug thingie but didn’t find such thing. Picked up some more wooden spoons (and ironically enough while dad was cooking some pierogi and smoked Kielbasa he asked where all the wooden spoons were!), a BBQ set, and silicone spatulas.

When we were waiting in line to check out, you can’t help but be completely focused on the items all around the endcaps of the registers. Candies, little random trinkets, those “As Seen On TV” items, and god knows what else. But my damn eye had to fall on the PedEgg. Yeah, seriously, how many other items have I seen on TV that I’ve wanted buy? The Magic Bullet, SmoothAway, ShamWOW (dad said he was buying this for mom as a gag gift but it was mainly sold out in stores! ha!), Debbie Myer GreenBag…. I could go on but you get the point!

3134219629_75df7e8043_b So I ended up picking up the PedEgg. I only did that because a month or so ago I was in her room while the infomercial came on and was just watching it in awe… Primarily due to all the shavings that they’d dump out of that damn PedEgg. Although the reaction wasn’t as classic as when we saw the infomercial for the Kinoki foot pads which looked like your feet was on it’s period… All in all I’m pretty ecstatic with the gifts picked up, so I’m hoping everyone likes it. I think I’m most looking forward to my mom’s reaction to her GPS, since she thinks she’s not getting it! K well it’s time to finishing wrapping up the presents, and then off to take a shower (so you know, I don’t look like shit when I’m forced to open presents on video camera…)

Christmas shopping is stressful

Personal

The worst part about Christmas is picking out the right gift for someone. My mom’s gift was easy. She’s horrible with directions, and always ends up calling me to help her find her way to her destination. So of course the gift I got for her (and I believe it’s safe to write about it, since she’s too busy to read my blog) is a Tom Tom GPS unit. I researched for a few weeks on pricing, and was dead set on the widescreen version which was almost $100 cheaper on Amazon.com than in stores and other retailers. But the day I went to buy it, it was sold out. FANTASTIC! So I went to Wal-Mart and spent about $130 since it was on sale there, although not the widescreen model.

The hard part now is finding Dad something comparable to the gift I got to my mom. So that means no sox, undies, shirts, sweatshirts.. I need (yes, need, as in I still have to shop for him…) to come up with something that’s going to be resourceful for him. The problem is that my constant nagging for a list from him, has done no good as I have nothing to refer to… He owns his own construction company, but any tool you can think of, he’s got. I think that’s why I’ve procrastinated shopping the past few days (and even right now) is that I have no clue what to buy. Everyone keeps suggesting to finish his company’s website, but I’ve had to put that aside since I’m at a block for it… Maybe a “Under Construction” (lol) animated GIF icon? O.o

My grandparents are quite easy. It’s always a joint gift, and usually my dad goes all out anyway. But my grandma is in dire need of a new coffee pot. She’s had her current one for god knows how many years (probably as old as I am!) so I’ll be replacing that for her.. And then it’s just my two younger sisters (14, and 17.) I’m all for stupid little gifts leading into something better.

Morgan loves horchata so when I was at Wal-Mart the other day I found this package of the stuff that requires only the liquids (milk or water I think) so I got that for her.. Now it’s just a matter of figuring out what else she needs. Or perhaps maid service to clean up the room that literally has no floor since it’s all covered in clothes..?

Nicolle was another easy one. She uses my makeup bag all the time. I get woken at 5:30am sometimes to hear her ask “Can I pleeease pleeease pleeease use your makeup?” To which I yell at her grouchily to get out my room and “No you can’t!” Though that doesn’t stop her seeing as though after the last word is out my mouth I’m fast asleep again. So I’ll be getting her a nice little makeup bag with all the makeup she’ll need, so she can stop bothering me about it.

The other person that I have to shop for is my boyfriend Armando. But he reads atourworst.org so he’s crazy if he thinks I’m gonna write about it. All I know is that I think it’s a super-dooper awesome idea, and he’ll just have to sit there and wait until either Christmas Eve or Day to get his gift. Although I’m sure it’ll be Day since I think he has family plans on the Eve.

So this just leads me back to my dad. He always seems to spoil my mom around Christmas (and us kids.) I just wish I knew the perfect gift for him so I could return the years of lame gifts he’s gotten over the years.

Favorite TV Shows of 2008

Personal

Over the years I haven’t been active with TV series namely because I always forgot about them. I’d watch the first couple episodes and then I’d forget about them until years later. “Hey, I’ve never seen that episode!” Hell, even being on the internet I was lazy with downloading. But this is probably the first year that I’ve paid the most attention to new series and seasons. I think the biggest reason is namely for streaming services being so popular. Hulu, Fancast and Surfthechannel have been the primarily websites I’ve been going to, so I can stay up-to-date! Hell, I think what excited me the most was that Netflix now seems to have current episodes for shows available for streaming. Even more awesome since the new Xbox dashboard has Netflix integration. Woo!

key_art_fringe Fringe – Fox – Action / Drama / Science Fiction
Oh my if there is any show that I need to keep watching, it’s Fringe. Being a Lost fan (and inevitably a JJ Abrams fan), there was no way I would miss it. I think what keeps me enjoying it is not only just the sci-fi aspect (X-Files anyone?) but the fact that Joshua Jackson is great in this show, as is the actor who plays “Walter Bishop.” Gotta love an old guy with witty quips. Fringe definitely keeps you on the edge of your seat wanting more.

key_art_sons_of_anarchy Sons of Anarchy – FX – Action / Drama
Oh wow, I don’t even know where to start. SoA is about an outlaw motorcycle club that seems to loosely use the theme from Shakespeare’s “The Hamlet.” It’s definitely not my usual favorite (hello crime drama and sci-fi) but this has been an intense show. It had a short season (13 episodes) and is already over, but definitely give it a try if you’re looking for something new to get into. Can’t wait for next year!

key_art_life Life – NBC – Drama / Suspense / Crime
Cop dramas really do suck me in. Life is about a framed cop trying to tie together the pieces of the crime that put him in jail for 12 years. The first season goes more into the backstory, where as season 2 starts to really get more into his role of Detective, as well as other characters in the show. I love the eclecticCharlie played by Damian Lewis (Dreamcatcher anyone?). Hopefully the completion of the backstory doesn’t take away from Life.

key_art_kitchen_nightmares Kitchen Nightmares – Fox – Food / Reality
There is honestly nothing better then getting the charm of Chef Gordon Ramsey ala Hell’s Kitchen mixed in with real people. Kitchen Nightmares brings Chef Ramsey to the heart of failing restaurant’s to show them the err of their ways, to help them from their emotional and financial struggle. It helps you to really understand the inner-workings of family-owned restaurants, and also shows you what you never see–their kitchen. You also can’t deny Ramsey’s classic catchphrases.

key_art_my_own_worst_enemy My Own Worst Enemy – NBC – Action / Drama /Suspense
Christian. Slater. That’s all I need to say. I definitely won’t deny that I watched this show based primarily on the fact I’ve harbored a crush on him since Gleaming the Cube. The show started off fantastic–father finds out that he’s a split personality created by the people he works for. It’s sort of plateaued after he’s made of aware of it, but it’s been intriguing to see him deal with “waking up” as his spy alter-ego, and vice-versa. Hopefully it gets better before the season is over.

Aside from those shows I’ve always been watching:

  • ER – With this being the last season, ever!, it was no doubt that I’d watch it. I think what really gutted me the most was the episode when Dr. Green made an appearance. Albeit for a flashback, but it was definitely a fantastic episode, and made me realize how many years I’ve been watching this show. Sad to see it go, but they’ve done a great job. Never cried so much while watching a tv show either (Life After Death).
  • CSI (Las Vegas) – I think the biggest hit I’ve yet had again has been the loss of Warrick in the first episode of the season. I read some spoilers that definitely were not right, so it was a huge shocker to me. This season has been nothing short of intriguing, so I’m hoping that with the loss of Grissom but the addition of Dr. Raymond Langston (Laurence Fishborne), will keep the intesity of the season it had with the original cast. I
  • The Office – For awhile there I felt like Pam was going to stay in New York forever and never go back to Jim. But now we’ve got her back, and hey look, Toby too! Some episodes have been lackluster while some have been hilarious. Honestly, nothing beats the continued Jim and Dwight hilarity. The entire cast keeps me coming back for more.
  • House – Knowing that each episode is going to feature an ailing patient with 25 different prognosis’ sounds like I wouldn’t watch more than one episode, but somehow the show keeps me coming back. I think with the variations on the storylines of the characters have definitely made it more impacting. I definitely can’t deny that I’m on the other side saying “What the hell is wrong with her?!!!” after the 5th [wrong] diagnosis. Damn you Dr. House, damn you.

So what shows you are currently watching, whether old or new. I’m always up for getting into a new show (except Heroes!) so I’m all eyes.

Is It Really December Already?

Personal

I can’t believe that it’s already been almost two months since I last blogged. I honestly don’t know why I lack the motivation to keep writing blogs here, but hopefully I can get back into the groove.

The same design has been up here at atourworst.org , and well I honestly think that was the problem. So I decided to go ahead (and against my better judgement) and put up a new theme (albeit premium, and not something I even did myself.) I’m at a bit of a time constraint and lacked motivation so it was really the only thing I could do to get the ball rolling. It’s by no means permanent but at least it’s somewhat decent?

Christmas is coming up in a couple of weeks, and I really need to get on the ball and get Christmas gifts situated. I’ve got an idea of what to get my mom and dad, so now it’s down to just picking up something for Morgan and Nicolle. Of course I’ll be getting my boyfriend Armando something too, but since I know he reads this, I’ll be damned if I just let you know about my sekrutz. All I know is that I’ve been feeling really.. family-y this season so I’ve been conspiring with my youngest sister to cook a Christmas Eve dinner. We haven’t done anything on Christmas Eve since I was maybe 10’ish? We typically celebrate on Christmas Day.

Well, I think that’s enough for a quick post. Here’s to hoping that I can try blogging semi-regularly. I’ll probably shock myself if I even open up WordPress again this week…