BubbleShare Closing Down November 15th, 2009

Looks like Bubbleshare will shut down it’s photo sharing site. I previously recommended the site on my other blog hosted here. However, to give a heads up warning to all those who did not receive the email, BubbleShare.com is shutting down November 15th, 2009. You must download all your pictures prior to this date or else they will be gone FOREVER!

Lest not forget the amount of comments left on here for those who did not know XDrive was closing down. Some users are still asking for their files 5 months after the fact.

As of November 15, 2009, Bubbleshare.com will no longer be available and all links to all albums and photos will cease to function (including existing links within emails, blogs, etc). To access your photos in the future you will need to download your photos prior to November 15, 2009.

To save your images to your desktop, simply click the “Download Album” link next to your albums and double click on original photos. Your photos will then be saved to your desktop.

Again, all photos and albums must be removed prior to November 15, 2009. Effective immediately, you will no longer be able to upload any new photos or albums.

We apologize for the inconvenience. It was our pleasure to assist you with your photo sharing needs.
Thank you.

Sincerely,
The Bubbleshare Team

Ask A Question

I have added the new “Ask A Question” module on the sidebar. Now I can personally answer some of your questions. After you post a question it will be added to queue, so don’t expect it to show up until the next day.

If I don’t have an answer to your question, it will most likely not show up. Also if you ask the same question someone already asked, it will probably not show up as well. On the “Ask A Question” module, you can click previous and next to see questions others have already asked.

Update: Comments System Back Up

I noticed there were no comments for a few days. This issue has been fixed, you can now comment on the site. Sorry If you haven’t been able to get help for the past few weeks.

Is Aim Going to Start Charging to Register Janurary 1st? Who is Mark Jenkins?

It appears that today, there has been an IM circulating around to every screen name. The message is as follows:

Dear AIM USERS, Because of our overloading of our servers, we are being forced to extract our non-active AIM users. Because this is a free service, AOL has exceeded the budget for the AIM service. We are asking that you send this exact message to 20 other AIM users to ensure us that you’re an active AIM user. Our system tracking devise will pick up this message to keep you on our active list. You have 72 hours to complete this task or your service will be cancelled immediately. Starting January 1st, 2009, we will be charging a small fee for registering of a screen name for AIM. Thank you for your time and for using AOL or AIM. Sincerely Mark Jenkins.

We regret to inform you that although we sent out a warning telling all aim users we are cutting accounts that we see are not being used regularly people have not been responding.So as warned we shall begin cutting accounts starting Friday July 18. Forward this message to 30 or your account as well shall be cut. Thank you for using AOL Instant Messenger

Dear AIM users, Because of our overloading of our a servers, we are being forced to extract our non-active AIM users. Because this is a free service, AOL has exceeded the budget for the AIM service. We are asking that you send this exact message to 20 other AIM users to ensure us that you’re an active AIM user. Our system tracking devise will pick up this message to keep you on our active list. You have 72 hours to complete this task or your service will be cancelled immediately. Starting December 10, 2008, we will be charging a small fee for the registering of a screen name for AIM. Thank you

Is this message True or False?

False! This is actually “chain” instant message to scare users into thinking they must send this message to everyone they know.

What happens if I send this message to other people?

AOL has been flagging this message as spam. This means that if you do send that message, you will likely get kicked off of aim and your account may be suspended. If your account has been suspended by sending this message, please login through my.screenname.aol.com and select forgot password.

In the future please disregard any IMs that are similar to this. Every few months, chain IMs are sent out giving false warnings about various things. Most of the time they want you to send it to everyone you know.

I don’t believe you, this must be true!

If you believe in every IM you get, you will most likely get your account stolen. There are people out there pretending to be AOL staff that will IM you for your password. Once you give it to them, the account is no longer yours and they can change your password in a moment’s notice. Besides, Mark Jenkins does not work for AOL, he is actually an urban artist.

Blocking AIM CRUSH, Free iPhone, and Virus Links in Aim 6.8

Recently, there has been a rise in AIM Spam links being sent out to everyone. Most of the messages go along the lines of:

Someone has an AIM CRUSH on you!
Click here – to find out who it is

I just got a free iPhone in the mail. Want to get your free iPhone? Go HERE and find out how!

I’ve got a bit of crush on you! But if you wanna find out who I am you gotta play along with my game! First, go here and you’ll find out more!

Somone special has sent you a –   – (kiss)
Find out who here

Although Spam messages are certainly not new. This recent influx has annoyed people to no end. You can essentially protect yourselves and other persons using AIM on your computer by trying out these methods.

If they have been annoying you, call up and complain to the “Mobile Messaging” company at 1-800-416-6129

Link Preview Plugin

Link Preview plugin is one of the first place winners in the Open Aim Top Coder Contest. Essentially Link Preview lets you preview an image of a website before you actually visit it. Now it certainly won’t protect you from viruses but you can use it to get an idea of where these spammy links are sending you to. More likely than not, if its an adult site you’ll be bombarded with popups as soon as you reach.

Gundoff: Malicious Link Question

Gundoff plugin essentially asks you if you really want to go to the link. Using bright red text and an ominous warning, the plugin will more likely prevent newer computer users from clicking on links. Still it won’t stop viruses, but at least you won’t get infected by accidentally clicking a link.

Blocking Them

The best way to not receive any SPAM from random screen names is to block everyone not on your buddy list.

• Click Edit
• Click Settings
• Click Privacy
• Click Allow only Users on my Buddy List
• Click Save

Now only people on your buddy list can IM you. We do know that certainly this is not the most effective way but this will do until someone out there creates a plugin that pre-screens all IMs and closes the conversation if it detects spam. Yes I know there is a plugin for this on Trillian but Aim 6 still needs one.

“Translate” message repeatedly sent through AIM Conversations

Well it seems the Translate plugin has struck yet again. First it was “orbidden” and now every message you receive in AIM says translate. For Example:

Me: Hello
You: Translate
You: Translate

So again with the same steps as before you will need to disable or uninstall the Translator plugin.

How to Stop AIM from repeating the word “Translate” with every IM

• Click on Edit
• Click On Settings
• Click on Plugins
• Uncheck Translator
• Click Save

May Calendar 2008

School is over and whether I pass or fail will depend on a mere decimal point. So without further ado, lets bring back life to this site!

May Updates & Planning

• Write Articles for Stylinprofile.com
• Patapon Creature Project
• Aim Top Coder Editorial?
• Yet another Sonic Game
• A post outlining Sonic Fanbase
• More Aim, more Sims 3, more Cities Unlimited
• Grand Theft Auto 4 Radio Stations?
• Deleting Front Page Blog Until Further Notice

June Updates & Planning

• Stylinprofile.com Launches
• Stylin Profile launches Facebook & Myspace fan Pages

Since I have not been working so much here, I’ve been posting on PSU Blog which you should just check out how small RPG games have blogs too.

PepsiStuff: Five bottle caps per mp3, too expensive?

The Pepsi Stuff contest launched a while ago. The sweepstakes cooperates with Amazonmp3, by allowing you to spend points to download a free mp3. I not really a big deal downloading free mp3s, but its a new frontier for major record labels making up for their mistakes with the RIAA.

Each mp3 costs 5 bottle caps. If you were to buy Five (2 Liter) bottles that would equate to $7.59 per mp3. It may be likely that a 2 Liter Pepsi bottle is on sale, which would typically end up with 1$ per (2 Liter) Bottle equating to $5 per mp3.

Now lets check the price for a (24oz.) 6 pack of Pepsi. The total price equates to less than $5.99. The twelve (12oz) cans costs around $5.49, but they only nets you 2 points.

Pepsi Cola Price Summary

• $7.59 per 1.00 mp3 (2 Liters)
• $5.99 per 1.20 mp3 (24oz 6 pack)
• $5.49 per 0.20 mp3 (12oz 12 pack)

If we decide that $1 should equal 1 point, then the only purchase that makes most sense in this chart would be the 24oz 6 pack, which appears to be the best deal in this situation. Now why is there such a dramatic decrease in points with the 12oz 12pack? Maybe they are secretly promoting their 6 pack bottles?

Points per Product

• 20 oz or 24 oz = 1pt
• 1 lliter or 2 liter = 1pt
• 12oz can 8 or 12 pack = 2pts
• 16.9 oz 12 pack = 4pts
• 24oz 6 pack = 6pts
• 32oz cup = 1pt

Now the question to you is:

Do you think these points are unfair, and will you be participating or boycotting this promotion and why?

There are others who agree with me. Maybe Pepsi should increase the points on some of them.

Stanford University Make3D converts 2D Images to 3D

Stanford University will become a new media startup company… well not exactly but its certainly looking that way.  They have brought together another project called Make 3D. Its purpose is to convert 2D images to 3D using complex algorithms. You will be able to walk through your image and view it at any angle. Its not 100% perfect and it can’t ever be considering its just a photograph where certain areas are stretched and wrapped around a 3D model.

Make3D joins VectorMagic in Stanford University’s student projects. This is not the first time that a project like this was attempted. Microsoft was previously working on a 3D Panorama project that stitched photos together creating a sort of collage that depicted every angle of a building. Carnegie Mellon University previously released a video on their own project but not much has been said about it since 2 years ago.

[via Make3D] 

read more

Nights: Journey Of Dreams Gameplay is Surprisingly Good!

Wow, ever since "Nights 2" screenshots were released to the public, many have been doubtful and skeptical about this game. One of its major pitfalls were its graphics, they looked terrible and washed out. I also concluded that this game might just be crappy remake to one of the most beloved Sega games out there. Opinions changed when Sega released some gameplay footage and its surprisingly better than what we’ve been shown. The trailer itself features Disney style footage and voice over with the help of Jim Cummings. The gameplay itself models very closely to the original game. Now the camera is on a diagonal right behind Nights. We also got a glimpse of how you’ll be closed into a field. Instead of a strip of land at the top and bottom, you are now enclosed in an arena, for example an island. The areas outside of the field are no longer purple, but have actual landscapes and backgrounds. The gameplay is a little different this time. You chase a little guy on a bird and take away his key, which you’ll then bring to your cage to unlock the next path. One viewer says he shed a tear after watching the footage. Good job Sonic Team, you may have brought back NiGHTS after all.

= Download Nights Gameplay Footage =

Happy Birthday Sonic June 23, 2007

Sonic the Hedgehog’s Birthday was June 23.
 You can watch /b/tards celebrating Sonics birthday
on this Special Sonic Birthday Celebration Video.

Zero Day Vulnerability on the Loose

Its been really quiet on the Internet Explorer 7 security front. Not much major news has been going on and it seems like Microsoft finally made a secure browser with secure measures in place. All that changed in a flash when an exploit was found to affect all versions of Windows. Who would think that curson animations we see so much on Myspace and other fabulously badly designed sites would turn up to be the next great exploit.

 You can download the Patch at eEye Research

Jamster Ads on Aim

Some of the best comments ever.

"Couldn’t find how to turn off the blasted RAP music advertisements on the top of the AIM – it comes on without warning and it’s LOUD. " ~Concerned

"These Jamster ads, where you roll over it to hear the music, are so annoying that my team at work has decided to stop using AIM. I can’t work with annoying Rap music blaring out of my machine everytime I accidentally roll over an ad" ~Worker

"Those ads don’t even actually require a direct rollover. Anywhere near the ad and you get loud rap music. It not only makes me want to stay as far away from Jamster as possible, but also makes me want to shut down AIM so that I don’t have to deal with it! " ~Techie

"Our Company uses AIM to talk between co-workers.  Anytime I go to close or minimize another program, that ad thinks I’m rolling over it.  I love the AIM radio, but I have to turn it off because the rap songs go on and on." ~Salary Man

"It is not needed to have these audible advertisements.  It is a real problem, that both yahoo messanger and MSN LIVE do not encounter.  I recommend finding a solution and fast." ~Home User

"Now, if it had been a 300 ad playing the theme music from the movie, that’d be a little better. Only because that movie rocked." ~Movie Lover

"I was awaken at 2 in the morning by my computer shouting out this sound, my family almost had a heart attack!" ~Family Member

"These Jammster ads are noise pollution, sound graffitti." ~Haterade

"I get so pissed when i’m on AIM and listening to great music that I can really soak in, I turn the volume up and them some Jibbs s**t or Young Joc pops up. I WANT TO KILL THE THING. Usually you can click out of it and get a different ad, but it doesnt go away. I have no idea who’s on because I don’t keep my buddy list up, i’m so scared of jumping 3 feet every time the hip hop flips on." ~Classics

"AIM users are forced to listen to this nasty spoon noise, with no way of avoiding it.  So much for parental controls." ~Spoons

"I was in the other room, playing a video game when all of the sudden I hear HORRID music coming from my room. I couldn’t figure out what it was at first, until finally I maximized AIM and found that the dumb little Jamster ad had started a dumb rap song that’s not even good. Sure I don’t like rap (who uses AIM that does?) but some of these songs are just dumb and it ANGERS me how they just start playing while I’m not even in the room!" ~Teenager

Jamster Must be Paying AOL some Good Money..
Well the Jury is out! Jamster needs to get tha steppin!

"I’m in college, and nothing ruins working late night on a paper more that Jamster blaring at top volume through my room at 4 am. Me and my roomate are ready to take a hammer to AIM every other second. WORST set of ads EVER!" ~Future President!

JAMSTER! YOU ARE RUINING OUR CHILDREN’S FUTURE!

Insider Tip!
Add 127.0.0.1 ar.atwola.com and 127.0.0.1 ads.web.aol.com to HOSTS file!
Aim Pro and Aim Lite do not have Advertisments, use them instead.

Bumped.org now Hosts Blogs.

Bumped.org now hosts blogs. Start your own Blog Today!
In addition to blogs we now have forums. Both are lightweight and easy to use.

Aim 6.0 Plugin Status

Message for Mercedesxlane: You added an extra character in your link and is redirecting visitors to the wrong post.

The actual link is

http://bumped.org/tek/2009/05/25/second-sims-3-leak-now-claims-to-be-final-version/

1. No we do not provide the link to the actual download and we are just reporting the event.

2. The post did not say the “buggy pre-final” leak is the final version, instead it says another group released a new leak and is claiming that their leak is the final version. It’s too early to tell right now over what has been fixed in between the first and second leak.

3. Yes you can expect a patch to  fix bugs, that has already been verified on three different sites. We do not know what bugs will be fixed inside of the patch at this time.

It appears all Aim 6.0 plugins through the Aim Gadgets package such as: Myplaylist, Buddy List Ops, Buddy Icon Maker, etc… are down. You will have to wait until they are reactivated again. This means you’ll be unable to Save Buddy List, Display Songs in your Buddy Profile, and Set Buddy Icon through the Actions Menu.

–Aim Gadgets Plugins are Now Working Feb 05, 2007
–Aim Gadgets Plugins are Not Working Feb 12, 2007
–Aim Gadgets Plugins are Now Working Feb 12, 2007