As a side project, I’ve been rewriting the site. Originally, I didn’t want to use WordPress as a web framework. I was a “webmaster” (back when that was the term), and I still enjoy creating websites. However, I wanted to create content before creating a layout. The problem I had with making a site, and why my sites died over time, was that it was too much to design the site. create content for the site, and maintain everything else I like to do. I installed WordPress, helping me get into the rhythm of content creation, and I can still use it while I work on the real layout.

After a while, I started embracing WordPress. I learned to create WordPress themes and PHP functions. It was working, but with all of the security issues that both WordPress and PHP have, I wasn’t completely happy. There was still a lot of HTML necessary for each post, defeating the purpose of why I used it in the first place. I started putting together my site code again. The only stumbling block was comments. Very few people have commented on my site, and I’m OK with that. The question was whether or not I should write or install code to handle comments.

Today that question was answered for me. Over the course of last night, every single page of my site was spammed. It all got through my filters. Really, after handling it, I don’t care anymore. People tend to email me rather than comment on the site. Now, that will be the only option.

Update your blacklists with these douchebags who deserve a DDOS:

• Feedcastz2
• Fivezonez2
• Gabsterz2
• Jabbertypez2
• Leeboxz2
• Rhymaiz2
• Skipflyz2
• Skyzzz2
• Snappointz2
• Toplinkz2
• Wordlistz2

The spam seems to come from these networks:

• 176.61.142.0/24
• 46.29.252.0/23

Image Credits

http://www.glasbergen.com

My friends and I go to trivia at the tavern every week. If you’ve never been to a trivia game at a bar, the person running the game asks a question, and you have the length of a song to answer it. Occasionally, the person who runs our trivia game plays “Nightcall” by Kavinsky and Lovefoxxx. I looked it up, and found out that it’s the theme to Drive. I got curious and watched it.

It’s frickin’ awesome!

Originally, I heard “crime drama” and “Ryan Gosling” and said “fuck that!” After trivia, I read a synopsis of the movie and became intrigued. It’s not like most movies or TV shows that bill themselves as “crime dramas.” I assumed Ryan Gosling only did movies like the Notebook. I was wrong.

The main character, who I’ll call Driver because I don’t remember him actually being named other than “Kid,” falls in love with his neighbor, Irene. She’s married, but her husband, Standard (Is that really a name?), is in prison. When her husband is released from jail, he decides to leave his life of crime because “second chances are rare,” but someone wants him to do another job for him. Driver decides to help Standard so Standard can move on with his life with Irene. The problem is that the criminal is (indirectly) Driver’s boss. Chaos ensues.

In spite of my girlfriend hating on this movie the entire time, I thought it was great. It was realistic without being “gritty” in the Hollywood sense. Ryan Gosling (Driver) plays a stoic character very well. There were one or two lines that didn’t work well, like when Driver tries to be a tough guy near the beginning, otherwise I thought the characters were cast and fleshed out well.

I know there are some people who might watch this because Christina Hendricks is in it. Don’t bother if that’s your only reason. She has about two minutes of screen time. She’s really a minor character.

On the other hand, if you like Bryan Cranston, Ron Perlman, or Albert Brooks, you’ll probably like them in this movie.

I know that there is a line going around the Web that the whole movie is just Ryan Gosling staring at the camera. I disagree. Gosling’s character doesn’t talk much, and when he does, he thinks before he says anything. Granted, Drive was more slowly paced than a typical modern movie, but I don’t care. The characters were developed well, and the plot was interesting. I can’t ask for much more. All in all, I plan on recommending Drive to anyone who is looking for something more than a typical ADD or T&A movie.

Drive has substance and potential to be remembered. Watch this.

I just finished reading David Thorne’s I’ll Go Home Then, It’s Warm and Has Chairs: The Unpublished Emails. I read his first book, The Internet is a Playground: Irreverent Correspondences of an Evil Online Genius, and I enjoyed it very much. I enjoyed the new book even more.

The first book is mostly an adaptation of the emails posted on his website, 27b/6. The new book also contains some of the website, but as its title says, contains much more.

If you don’t know David Thorne’s humor, the praise on the back cover of the book might help.

“Brilliant, original, and astonishingly funny. Fills that empty space on the bookshelf between David Sedaris and Douglas Adams perfectly.”
- Donald Matthews, The New York Times

“It is my most fervent wish that David Thorne finds a highly skilled psychiatrist post-haste.”
- Ella Johnson, Chelsea Handler fan

“Five stars. And maybe an air punch like the moody guy does at the end of The Breakfast Club.”
- David Thorne, Unbiased reviewer

The “About the Author” page is another email correspondence of Steven Leckart of Wired magazine asking Thorne for press materials to include in a review. At one point, Thorne replied, “I would highly recommend waiting until it is downloadable free from Pirates Bay.”

If you would find a multiple-page short story about a bored, lonely computer written solely to troll a head hunter, this book is for you. The book is full of subtle humor and shaggy dog stories. The anecdotes of things Thorne has done that should have killed him are interesting as well.

You may want to buy a copy before Halloween. The book comes with a free Halloween mask of Whoopi Goldberg.