the weeeeblog about nothing

I guess I missed this one a while back, but the Miami Herald published an article about iPod accessories, and mentioned MusicRip's CD to MP3 service.

Here's an excerpt from the relevant part of the article:
Aside from accessories, another support industry for the iPod is aimed at the technologically challenged, or those who think that downloading your music CD collection is too time consuming -- even though the average CD can be downloaded in seconds.

For a 200-CD collection, this process can get quite pricey. But it does open up the iPod revolution to people who may have thought Apple's amazing little machine wasn't for them.

Posted by Joe at 08:02 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Just thought I'd let you know that the Toronto Globe and Mail (Canada's equivalent of the NY Times) mentioned MusicRip's CD Conversion Service in an article on the front page of the tech section last week. I guess that makes up for not being mentioned in the recent DesignTechnica article :)

It is an honor to be mentioned right below a description of a rather "interesting" iPod accessory.

Posted by Joe at 10:22 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

I've been debating how to best enter the world of affiliate marketing (besides the adsense on my blog which you all click religiously). I've been dabbling in the whole domain parking thing since I'm sitting on a few domains that are not currently in use. I'm trying out a service recommended by my ISP called Sedo. Anyone know anything better? Anyway for all your car shopping needs, check out carfabulo.us

Posted by Joe at 11:16 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (6)

I'm heading to Vegas tomorrow to attend Affiliate Summit, an affiliate marketing conference (why do I continue to fraternize with spammers?). The really exciting part is that Sunday afternoon I've got my choice of going to CES or AEE across the street. Which will I choose?? :)

Anyway, in typical Vegas tradition, I'll be back in a few days exhausted and broke and not want to even hear the name of that city for a few months.

And don't worry... I'm bringing my camera ;)

Posted by Joe at 10:24 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Update: ok, i'm turning off comments because of the spam...

So, uh.... does anyone actually read this site? Am I talking to myself? I'd like each reader to post a comment (preferably not about a cheap online store for viagra), to let me know I've got an audience out there.

Posted by Joe at 09:23 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (12)

Just thought I'd let you know that the Peet's in Austin closed a while ago. I guess the main drag of campus wasn't the best place for a high end coffee shop. Oh well :(

Posted by Joe at 09:20 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (9)

I've always been very careful about spam and was pretty successful in avoiding it. One glaring exception has been MusicRip, since the previous owner put email addresses in plain text on the website.
But apparently spammers are really good at making and keeping New Years resolutions. In the past few days I've been flooded in different kinds of spam, some traditional, but more interestingly some in what appears to be new ways.

Comment Spam:
I managed to avoid this for so long, but when I logged on to write this entry, I had about 90 new comments. If you didn't know me, you'd think I really liked penis pills.

Work Email:
Lately I've been working with many more people outside the company walls, customers and vendors alike. Coincidentally I've begun receiving a few pieces of spam per day, mostly about the next hot stock. I really hope it's just a coincidence, and not unscrupulous marketers selling addresses.

Friendster/MySpace:
I've started to receive messages from new users asking me to visit their webcam site, or IM hotBaBe98837849695 on AIM, but most interestingly go to a "type4nano" site. Here's what the message looks like:

From: Jeanne
Date: Friday, January 06, 2006 3:38:00 AM
Subject: whats up bro
Message: dammit dude. i just went to the mall and bought and ipod nano like 2 days ago.

hit me up later and let me know when youre done.

This site utilizes humans to decipher captcha (those weird looking words you have to type in to prove that you're a human) and sign up for more fake spam users that way. I'd heard about porn sites forwarding hotmail/yahoo/gmail's captcha out when you sign up for their site, but this takes it to a whole new level. 75 words for a free nano! This is an interesting take on the whole Amazon Mechical Turk (wikipedia) Human Intelligence Task idea.

If you want to see the bleeding edge of technology, just take a look at what the pornographers and spammers are doing.

Posted by Joe at 08:50 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (10)