Inside the Mind of Suz

One of my best friends posted the following tweet a few minutes ago.

That tweet contained the following image:

And I have been livid ever since. Is this for real? Who is the managing editor who allowed this to be published?

I submitted a complaint to ESPN and I urge anyone reading this to do so as well. If enough of us say something, or draw attention to this horrible decision, I hope something will be done about it. Granted, I’m not holding my breath they’ll even acknowledge this, but what’s right is right.

You can contact ESPN here! Feel free to tweet and Facebook it as well. This is not ok.

Update: ESPN emailed the following to me this afternoon

Thanks for contacting ESPN. Last night, ESPN.com’s mobile web site posted an offensive headline referencing Jeremy Lin at 2:30 am. The headline was removed at 3:05 am. We are conducting a complete review of our cross-platform editorial procedures and are determining appropriate disciplinary action to ensure this does not happen again. We regret and apologize for this mistake.

Still doesn’t excuse the usage of such a term, with reference to an Asian American, but at least they did something about it.

I waited months to upgrade my iPhone to iOS5. I’m part of the Jailbreak Nation, so I wasn’t upgrading until there was an untethered jailbreak available. I don’t want to have to connect my iDevice to my computer every time I reboot. That’s no bueno!

So, with my freshly jailbroken phone running smoothly on iOS5, I decided to go ahead and set up my free iCloud account. Pretty neat! As someone who can’t afford to jump to all Apple products, I still own a PC, and we all know those things are prone to crashes and other random malfunctions that we don’t always know the cause of.

Previously, backing up your iDevice to your computer was the best option we could muster. But what if something happens to your computer? Looks like Apple took this into consideration with the inclusion of iCloud. It now routinely backs up your iDevice to iCloud for easy syncing and restoration whenever you need it! Read more »

I’ve been avoiding it for a while. Not because I thought it wasn’t going to be good, but because I was afraid of getting addicted to yet another social and online tool. I mean, I avoided Twitter for a while and now I can’t even get out of bed without checking it first, from my phone. (I know, I know. I have problems lol)

So, I got a friend to invite me and I gotta say, Pinterest is amazing! I haven’t dove head first into it just yet, but I’m teetering on the edge. I’m such a visual being. I can see myself being sucked in and then needing to check Pinterest before getting out of bed too!

I think it will change the way I look at things in day to day life, and when on the Internet. If I see something I like, I can easily “Pin It” and share w/ my followers and other users on Pinterest. I’m keeping an eye out for things that may inspire, clothing I’d wear, beauty products I want to try, and other visually pleasing images.

Do you Pinterest? Leave your link below! And, if you’re interested, you can follow me at pinterest.com/suzdawg.

Hey, I sorta rhymed that.

Anyway, the buzz going around the web these days centers around Google+, which I just described to someone as Google’s version of Facebook. Yes, I’m sure it’s much more than that, but for people who really don’t get it (that includes me!) that’s a good way to sum it up without getting too incredibly nerdy.

For me, my early experience with Google+ has been that of slight confusion. I honestly feel the same way I felt when I signed up for Tumblr last year. I was basically like “so, now what?” That’s my mindset now as well!

I think the biggest thing Google+ has going for it right now is that it’s “invite only”. Some disagree, but I feel like the exclusivity of the project is a big bonus. I didn’t really get what was going on, but dammit, I wanted an invite! That stuff works on me! So, I got one, and now I’m determined to figure out how to really use it.

So lately, I’ve been scouring the web for how-to’s and tips. I’ve already stumbled across several URL shorteners to give you a Vanity URL. (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6) So, that tells you that 3rd party developers are already on the ball. In my opinion, these companies need devs to get on board. Twitter would not be where it is without apps. So, when the devs come, you know you’ve got a pretty solid project; at least early on. And they’re doing this all without a public API released!

There is an official iPhone app awaiting App Store approval. I’m not holding my breath for that. Apple and Google don’t exactly get along, so it probably won’t be awesome. When the API is released, devs will make impressive mobile and desktop clients (hopefully).

So, if you’re on Google+, what are your thoughts? Think it’s going to stick? Or is it just hype much like dearly departed, though much-hyped, Google Wave and fledgling Google Buzz. (Remember them?)

I’m a known complainer, and really isn’t that a pretty good reason to have a blog? No? Well, I’m gonna use it ask a venting vehicle and today I’m looking at you, Dropbox!

I love the concept of “in the cloud”. Especially, if you’re like me and sometimes your computer’s hard drive craps out on you for no reason! And one of the main reasons I gravitated to Dropbox, to begin with, was how many platforms I could sync my files across with ease. Countless iPhone apps are being built/updated with Dropbox functionality, which also makes my life easier.

I download music, documents, and all sorts of files to Dropbox for safe keeping. Heck, my entire Nook Color library is backed up on Dropbox, as well as all of the pictures/videos on my iPhone camera roll! Better safe, than sorry, right?

However, a large problem arrives when you run out the 2GB of space that Dropbox so graciously provides you for free. Now, I’m not opposed to upgrading to a full account, but honestly, their plans suck! Read more »

I made the decision, a while back, to separate my personal Facebook profile from my online work and blog activities. Some people like to combine the two, and then once the personal profile is outgrown, graduate to the Like Page.

I’m taking a different path. I want to preserve my personal profile and keep it for connecting and keeping in touch with people I at least am acquaintances with, family, friends, etc.

All of my nerdery (yes, I made that word up) including, but not limited to, my blogs, web design work, podcast creation, or Beachbody business will go straight to my Fan page and not my profile. Granted, some things posted on my personal profile will be cross posted onto my page, but not visa versa. Make sense?

So, without further ado, please go “Like” me. It’s my birthday! No, really. It is! That would be the ultimate birthday present! Thanks, everyone!

TIP: For easy access, you can also click the little Facebook icon on the right sidebar.

I’ve been having problems with Google Reader lately as it’s not showing accurate unread items. I usually have 100+ new items when I log in. I just pulled up my GR account and it said I had 9 new items. This has been going on for a couple of weeks.

I know I have more than 9 new stories. To prove my point, I went to my “Music” folder and clicked on my feed for “Black Eyed Peas News from Google”. After a couple of seconds it pulled up 8 new items; items that were not included in the initial count.

Isn’t the point of Google Reader to tell me how many stories I need to read, and from which subscriptions? If I have to go through each one in order to get it to “check”, then I may as well just perform the news search myself — or visit the site — and skip using Google Reader?

I thought it was an issue with my computer, but I pulled up my GR account on my RSS app of choice, Feeds, and I get the same inaccurate unread count. What’s really good, Google?

In any case, I’m quite frustrated as I have a lot of subscriptions and GR is completely messing up my workflow with these recent errors. I’m not sure if they changed their code or what, but I’m not pleased. What used to be a very good system for me is now broken and I’m beginning to look elsewhere.

Here is a visual example using my Google News feed for Miss Candace Parker.

I see new items, but Google says there are none.

I’m going to try to set up a new account, using a different email, and see if that changes anything. If not, it’s na-na-na-na, na-na-na-na, hey hey hey….GOODBYE to Google Reader.

Does anyone have any recommendations?

I really don’t have anyone to blame but myself. I’m a sucker for a good deal. Yahoo! sometimes runs those $1.99 domain registration promos, and I usually jump all over them, and from multiple computers and accounts. (SlickDeal Nation has taught me well).

All is well and good until it comes time for the domain to be renewed. I never, ever, ever want to renew and stay at Yahoo! The plan is to take advantage of the one year reg fee of $1.99 and then move it to another registrar before I get charged the absolutely ridiculous $34.95 renewal fee. I mean, in this day in age, only Register.com charges that much. You can get a domain almost everywhere for less than $10!

The thing with Yahoo! is that they charge that renewal fee almost a month before the domain actually expires. They send you and email and let you know, just days before you’re charged, that you will indeed be charged. Those few days aren’t nearly long enough to go through the process of transferring your domain to another registrar. Or is it?

That is the experiment I will be taking on in the next few days. I got my “notice” yesterday and was informed my card would be charged Monday. I initiated a transfer to GoDaddy last night. Bought the transfer for $1.99 using a promo code I found online. Score! Then I went and unlocked the domain and retrieved the authorization code. I put all the necessary info into my GoDaddy account, and now I wait!

I did go through this a couple of months ago with a different domain. Except for that domain, I got an email alert 1 full month before my card was supposed to be charged, and not 3 days prior. I was able to send myself an email reminder via my handy dandy iPhone EmailItLater app, so I could start the transfer a week ahead of time. Smart, right? I would have done the same for this new domain, but wasn’t given the chance this time. Thanks, Yahoo! Bastards.

My big issue now is how long to wait before canceling my Yahoo plan. If I cancel it too early, I’m afraid the transfer won’t go through. But I’m not willing to wait too long, because while that domain is currently in use (no, not this one), I’m not willing to pay $35 for it. I’ll simply buy a new one and try to redirect visitors. Or maybe I can change the billing info? I don’t know. That would be shady, wouldn’t it? But then again, so is their domain renewal system and fee.

I have an add-on domain that also takes visitors to the same destination. I’ll give them that one as a head’s up just in case Yahoo! screws me over, which I’m pretty sure they will. I should let this experience be a lesson (and warning to others), but next time I see a $1.99 deal, I’ll probably bite again.

And so the vicious cycle continues.

I have often times perused the backend of my WordPress installations in search of a setting to alter to turn off admin notifications. I’m sure there are a lot of people who find it very helpful to receive an email every time someone registers at their blog. I am not one of those people. I find it extremely annoying.

Turning to Google, my BFF, I saw a couple of solutions that I wasn’t down with. One was creating an email filter to sent those notifications to a folder. Not good enough. Another option was to edit the WordPress code itself. I probably could have gone that route, but I’d rather not tamper with core WP files if I don’t have to.

My search then led me to a wonderful plugin called Register Plus. It gives you more control over what visitors to your site see when they register. It’s really neat if you want options like changing the WP logo to one of your own, of adding custom fields to the register form. However, in my eyes, the best feature is the wonderful checkbox at the bottom which asks you if you’d like to disable admin notification emails. Yes, please!

Get rid of admin notifications with Register Plus

We’ve all heard that it’s the small things that make life enjoyable. Well, sometimes other “little things” can get on your last damn nerves! I’m glad to have found a solution to this pestering.

So, I will now go about installing this on my more popular blogs. Thank you, Register Plus!

It’s the holidays, so I’d like to help put a smile on everyone’s face!

Behold the “Frog in a Blender” interactive game from Joe Cartoon. When I was in college my friends and I died over this. No, seriously. We incorporated some of the frog’s lines into every day conversation. It may not be that funny to you, but hopefully you get a chuckle!

Hey look! I’m spinnin’! I’m spinnin’!