Tuesday, May 17, 2011

Just a short message to Facebook lightweights...

This isn't exactly a meaningful post to most of you, but it just irks me lately how Facebook users are so easily used lately on Facebook by those god damn javascripts. So, this is basically a bit of a rant post.

First of all, people, do NOT EVER go to a website and copy/paste something into your address bar that has "javascript:" at the start. Basically, this is saying to the browser "execute this javascript right here in this page." And in the case of Facebook, the executed script is most likely one of those things that will post on your friends' walls, chat up your friends advertising crap, and it may even steal your account information.

One of the recent outbursts of this kind of situation occured last night when I saw tons of my friends fall for the trick after visiting a webpage that claimed that if you "added this code to your address bar and hit enter, the dislike button on Facebook would be activated." That is bull sh*t.

If Facebook MADE AN OFFICIAL DISLIKE BUTTON, why the hell would they have you go to an external, non-affiliated website and have you paste an anonymous script into your browser? How dumb can you get? I mean come on.

Welp, sorry for that rant... I just had to say it.

Friday, May 13, 2011

Cool thing I learned from a Google I/O video (for Chrome users)

Are you using Chrome? Well, if you aren't, I suggest you do anyways; it's a great browser.

But anyway, I found something out whilst watching a Google I/O video (if you're a geek, these are also great to watch, they're about an hour long and on Youtube.) This little trick gives you the ability to add speech input to any textfield you meet on the Internet.

So, to test this out, make sure you have a mic nearby. But this is how you do it:

  1. Right click a text field (I suggest going to Google to do this)
  2. Click "Inspect Element"
  3. A window will appear at the bottom, the developer tools. Right click the automatically highlighted selection in the developer tools menu
  4. Click "Add Attribute"
  5. Now type in "x-webkit-speech" (no quotes)
  6. Hit enter.
Upon doing this, you should see a little microphone appear to the very right of the textbox you did this to. Click on that microphone, and it will prompt you to speak (this is where a microphone is needed). Once you're done speaking, it will then type it all out into that textfield for you.

Oh, I love Google.

Wednesday, May 11, 2011

Minecraft server hosting through Brohoster!

Hey everyone, just wanted to do a quick shout out to Brohoster, a service I use for my Minecraft server.

I play Minecraft a lot, and a while ago I used to use Xenon Servers, but they made me pay $15/mo for like 12 slots, or something like that. Their support SUCKED, it took them like 6 hours to reply to all of my tickets (regarding how much their service sucks), their servers tend to lag sometimes, they limit the mods you can install, and I just got very tired of them and dumped them.

Then about a month ago, I wanted another server! So I went searching, and found Brohoster. They have excellent support, my tickets get answered within the first 30 minutes. They also have an active Facebook team that tells you every little thing about what their doing, keeping their users constantly up-to-date. They treat you like a bro!

I'm currently paying for a 12 slot (recommend amount, it can be changed unlike Xenon) server for only $11/mo and it's really worth it. No lag whatsoever. They have several suiting plans that range from Bedrock -> Stone -> Iron -> Gold -> Diamond. Bedrock is at a starter price of $5/mo, too!

So, if you're looking to get a better host, or looking to create a server, please consider Brohoster. They treat you like a bro, not screw you like a hoe. :)

Poison Ivy Relief Spray... oh God, yes.

Yes, i'm complaining about my poison ivy again. BUT, this time it's a suggestion to all of you that may have or get poison ivy pretty bad. And that is, poison ivy relief spray. 

Basically, you just spray this stuff on any spot where poison ivy may be, and within 10 seconds it gets rid of all itching in that area! Considering I have it everywhere, I just had to do a few sprays around my body and BAM! the stinging itch is gone! I picked my bottle up at my local Walgreens, although i'm pretty sure it's sold in many other stores as well.

Facebook photo viewer... how to get around it.

Okay, Facebook users. You should know what I mean when I say this: the new photo viewer SUCKS. I don't understand why Facebook even added that disgrace. Sure, it's cool that it doesn't make you redirect new a new page and lets you continue viewing after looking at a certain picture, but come on... Sometimes it's just unbearably laggy and it's ugly to boot.

If you feel like I do, then here's how to use the old "photo viewer". It's really easy, too. Just simply open up a picture with the new photo viewer, click the URL you have in your address bar, and hit enter. It will get rid of the new photo viewer and send you to the old. Easy fix, but worth it.

Tuesday, May 10, 2011

Microsoft bought out by Skype?!?!

Well, f*ck. Looks like Microsoft has bought out Skype today for 8 billion dollars.

I don't know about you, reader, but I am very active on Skype daily, and I personally hate Microsoft; so I wonder what stupid, idiotic Microsoft stuff they're going to do to Skype now. Oh god. I was so pissed when I saw this on my local news station.

Looks like I won't be updating Skype if any new updates come out. Damn you Microsoft.

The glory of the Android. (Yes, this is a conversion post :D)

Before you read, yes, I am trying to convert you. Deal with it.

So, we all know what smartphones are these days. And we all know what an iPhone and Android phone is (or should.) But, which is better? This is actually a very conflicting war, just like the whole Mac v.s PC debate.

What do I think? I think Android blows iOS out of the water. Why? Well, because of how Open Source and free the Android platform actually is.

Here's an example: rooting your phone. We should all know what this is, on the iPhone it's called "Jailbreaking", and it is essentially hacking your device to have it to what it originally was not intended to do. And we also should know that Apple really, really hates people who jailbreak their devices. Apple is constantly updating it's security, un-rooting all iDevices in almost every firmware update; making it harder and harder every time to jailbreak.

As for the Android, I have yet to hear about Samsung, HTC, or any other companies un-rooting their customers' phones. They actually UPDATE the system and spend less time on un-rooting. I've had my phone rooted ever since I got it, over the few updates I've gotten, it's still rooted and working fantastically.
I'm an Android programmer, I make apps for the platform. I do not, however, program for the iOS platform. Why? Because Apple limits developers and their apps big time. On the Android, apps can do whatever the hell they want as long as the user gives the app permission to do so. Apps can interact with eachother, modify system settings, and so much more. As for the iPhone, apps are strictly not allowed to interact. Apple provides no such functionality, and they limit the possibilities of what apps can do with the phone's system.

Not only that, but an Android developers license only costs $25, with little moderation (if any.) As for Apple, a developer's license is $100, and apps are moderated by Apple to the extreme. Oh, and they also require all developers to go out and buy a Mac computer.
I mentioned Android being Open Source before, remember? Well, while this is quite true for Android, it is absolutely false for the iPhone. Apple has always been known to strictly lock-down their systems, not allowing many developers to develop the actual system themselves; only them. For Android, that is quite different. Google takes pride in developing Open Source software, and they treat developers much better than Apple does. Google let's you mess around with the source code of their apps and various other things while Apple keeps it locked down, Closed Source.