A Wrinkle With Time

Wed, August 25 2010

I Do Not Use Google Friend Connect

Tue, August 24 2010

and here is why:

I have two Google accounts for a necessary reason that I do not wish to outline here. The one that I use the most has no associated Blogger account. I have no reason to create a Blogger account with it. In fact, I left Blogger for a reason (it sucks). Thus, “joining” any sites via Google Friend Connect does me, as a visitor, no damned good. That’s right, there is no way for me to see joined sites. No way for me to use GFC to catch up on your feeds. You don’t show up in my Google Reader.

Sucks to be me, if I do want to remember your blog. I still have to bookmark it or add it to some other service. Kind of defeats the purpose of GFC, doesn’t it?

But let’s think about the implications of this. It means that I am registered as a follower but I am not actually following your blog. But if I’m participating in some sort of giveaway, I’ll keep doing it because what you don’t know, doesn’t hurt you.

Suck to be you because now your numbers don’t really mean as much as you thought they do. And you’re kind of insulting all the non-Blogger users out there, even though I’m pretty sure there are far more non-Blogger users in the grand scheme of the Internet.

It doesn’t just stop there. These numbers are the ones that advertisers and sponsors are using to judge the popularity of your blog. But, wait, didn’t we already establish that these numbers are pretty much useless?

Sucks to be them when they’re not getting as much exposure as they expected.

Of course, you can use an alternative widget. Blog Catalog and MyBlogLog offer options but that sort of negates the purpose of using a service that almost everyone already has an account for.

So what options have you left? You can contact Google and ask if they could hook up us non-Blogger users so that your followed blogs show up in Google Reader. I won’t. I had to contact them when they fucked up my domain when I did have a Blogger account. And it took, like, 2 months for them to do something about it (because I’m pretty sure there was a 2 month queue of other domain owners who had the same problem). I’m not even going to bother.

You could rely on the slightly less accessible Feed Burner statistics to track those who watch your feed. Those numbers are probably more accurate than Friend Connect followers. Google has also acquired that service but, unlike Friend Connect, it seems like it’s still functional.

As a WordPress User, I use an awesome feed statistic plugin to track my followers (yay for internal service!). Domain owners have a plethora of statistic and server report tools available to them including AW Stats or Webalizer. None of those require a hideous gadget on your website, either.

Any if you’re an advertiser or sponsor you should probably be looking at Google’s PageRank for the website or the Alexa ranking instead of the number of GFC followers. Neither of those are a popularity contest and they both rely on actual data about the website, its visitors and links–y’know the things that actually exist and mean something.

The fact is, Friend Connect is a pretty good idea but Google has royally fucked up the implementation and we all should be smart enough not to use it until Google does something about that.

Hamilton Beach 4 Quart Oval Slow Cooker

Thu, August 19 2010

I write a lot of negative reviews. I am, quite simply, a discriminatory person. I tend to like things a certain way. I focus on presentation and function. I have quirks. But really like the Hamilton Beach Slow Cooker that I was able to review for CSN Stores. In fact, this slow cooker may be changing my life. I hate to cook. I’m a lazy chef. This small appliance really is the answer to my cooking prayers. I don’t know why I didn’t get one sooner.

I love that I can take a few minutes to throw everything in the pot and walk away for several hours without thinking about it once! It’s minimal effort for the maximum output. The first recipe I made with my crock pot was probably the best meal I’d had in months and it was so easy. I didn’t have to stir or flip or add more ingredients or anything. If you’re new to crock pot cooking, the manual has a couple basic recipes, including roast, too.

The second thing that I love about this model is that the stone container within the metal base is removable. So when my food was done, I carefully lifted it out (with potholders!) and set it on a trivet. It easily doubles as a serving container–unlike some styles.

It also makes cleaning much easier because I can simply put the stone container in the sink and don’t have to worry about not getting the cord wet. I’ve wiped down the outside of the metal base with a Lysol wipe, when it needed it.

The Hamilton Beach 4 Quart Oval Slow Cooker is also super easy to use. There’s 3 settings: warm, low and high. So you can cook your food and keep it simmering and warm all day, too. I love that!

There are a few points that do not make this particular model the best for all cooks, however.

• It’s only 4 quarts. This isn’t an issue for me as all of the recipes I’ve made could easily serve 4 and only filled the pot about 1/2-3/4 of the way full but you can’t make a Thanksgiving turkey on this, either.
• The lid does not seal tightly. It sits pretty lightly on the cooker, I don’t think a lot of heat is escaping but it’s definitely something to consider if you need your crock pot to travel.
• Speaking of travel, the removable pot actually kind of works against that. I mean, it’s not a huge deal to remember to grab the handles at the base, instead of the actual pot, but you could easy grab the wrong ones and drop the base or burn yourself.
• There’s no medium setting. Really, you can adjust for this pretty easily but I just thought I’d mention it.

But considering that this specific model is less than $30, you could do a lot worse. CSN Stores has many crock pots, however; even if the crock pot I own isn’t the one for you. Kitchen appliances are really just one department of consumer goods available from CSN Stores and their 200+ related websites.

Bodycology: A Study in Yum

Thu, August 12 2010

A while back, I contacted the folks over at Bodycology about doing a few. After all, I told them, I’ve already reviewed some of your products on my site. It’s a match made in heaven. My contact told me they’d send out some samples right away. Send, they did!

Sometimes, a company says samples and they mean it. A tiny aluminum pouch full of enough lotion to moisturize a finger. But the folks at Bodycology sent me full sized tubes and bottles of 3 different products. 3! This review is definitely thanks to them!

So the first item I’m going to discuss is the one that’s making my hands smell delicious: Vanilla Cupcake Body Cream. It comes in a giant 80z tube with yummy looking cupcakes pictured on the front. The cream itself is slightly darker than white and the back of the tube describes it as an indulgent mix of buttercream and vanilla scents. Indulgent? Yes. Smells exactly like vanilla cupcakes? Hell yes. It makes me hungry but I love it.

It’s a bit thick for use on your hands, though. It will make you sweat and is a bit slippery. But I cannot help but use it. It’s best use is to provide moisture to extra dry spots like knees or elbows, in my opinion. The scent is also very young and fun. And fairly strong. It would probably be best for a teen or young adult. For some reason, I just don’t think it’d be great in the work place but maybe I’m weird.

The Sweet Petals hand and body lotion has a bit more adult scent that would be perfect in any setting. It’s a mix of berries and sweet pea. If you’re a fan of sweet pea scents, then you’ll love this. I enjoy sweet pea but the hint of berry makes it more interesting.

This lotion is a bit lighter than the body cream which makes it perfect for your hands. The bottle I received has 12 fl ounces and a press-top cap for dispensing. It’s a lighter off white than the Vanilla Cupcake cream.

The Cherry blossom body mist is the last Bodycology product I received to review. Of course, it’s a new product in the line (as are the others I mention in this post). It comes in a typical spritz bottle with images of cherry blossoms on the front. I am usually not a big fan of this scent by any brand but I’ve been wearing the mist instead of my normal perfume. It’s floral and a bit perfume-y.. like powder scents. It’s quite mature and not as fun as the Vanilla Cupcake scent but it’s fresh and clean.

You can find descriptions of all these products and scents at the Bodycology website and connect with the company via Facebook or Twitter. If you’re torn between any of the products, there’s an on site quiz that recommends one to you, too. If you want to smell the scents for yourself, you can check out Bodycology products at Walmart, Walgreens and some grocery stores.

I really enjoyed all of these products and want to thank Bodycology for allowing me to review them. I definitely have all my lotion needs met for the next year or so. d= If I had to pick a favourite, it would be the Sweet Petals lotion.

Masterfully

Tue, August 10 2010