FrogBucks Croaked!

Just read this on GFY: Frogbucks is Gone? WTF happened?

Too bad; I really liked one of their sites. As usual I can't help but feel a bit smug.

Posting Requirements

While I understand boards that require a minimum number of posts BEFORE you can post URLs, IT REALLY DRIVES ME FUCKING APESHIT.

If someone makes a "spam me with . . . " request and I invest 30 minutes registering, making a suitably-sized avatar, filling out my profile, and entering a modestly-sized signature it just pisses me the fuck off when they want me to also go making a bunch of fake-o posts so that I can have the fucking HONOR of responding to someone's request.

Whatever.

To Live is to Fly

I ran across this factoid in this year's green issue of Vanity Fair in an article on falconry written by Robert F. Kennedy Jr.:

Eighty percent of raptors die during their first year trying to master the art of killing game. Those that survive possess an extraordinary ability to learn from experience.

For some birds and some businesses, you just don't eat if you don't take risks and high-speed suicide plunges. Fly fast and probably die . . . or don't eat and die for sure.

I'm not saying that I respect everybody who has managed to make it past a year in this industry, nor am I saying that crazy-ass high-risk stunts are necessary to succeed in internet porn, nor am I saying that those of us who survive possess raptor-like skill and awe-inspiring talent. Instead I'm comforted by the thought of being part of that 20% not because I'm so full of wild daring, skill, or smarts but because of luck, tenacity, and choosing to commit. And because it's something I was born to do, and if I were to lose everything doing it that wouldn't be a personal failure, it would simply be the probable cost of learning to fly.

Flash Bullshit

Jesus -- I don't know how many programs I've clicked on and closed a second later because they had some stupid flash bullshit loading. I want to see a sponsor's list of sites IMMEDIATELY (or usually one click away from a fast-loading home page).

Is ANYONE impressed by these elaborate time-wasting flash intros? Does ANYONE say to themselves, "oh wow -- their sites are going to convert really well for me judging from this exquisite flash presentation!"

I guess I am just one of those old fogeys who goes to websites with clear notions of what I want to find, and that's usually INFORMATION and FAST. I don't like being bombarded with bullshit or diverted with slow downloads I didn't ask for because someone thinks it's impressive or "entertaining".

GFY: a Dangerous Website

I'm at my mom's house for Easter and have sequestered myself in the guest room to do some "work". Upon trying to visit GFY I got a WARNING in red letters from PC-cillin:

You have attempted to open a dangerous Web site.
Credibility: Dangerous
Category: Adware / Joke Program
Suggestion: Close your web browser window and do not reopen this web site.

Oooh, I'm totally infecting my mom's computer with dangerous GFY web-germs!