For anyone unaware, hotlinking is when you take a freebie and use the direct URL to it from my site on your wepage or listing, instead of downloading or saving the images and uploading them to host somewhere else. When you do this, your use of the image and page loads cost me bandwidth, which I pay for. I love doing freebies for you guys and will keep doing them, but all I do ask is that you host them somewhere on your own (your own server or a free image host like PSOHosting.com) and not cost me bandwidth to use them.

So if for any reason you are hotlinking freebies from here, please know that as of Sunday night, your images will no longer show. You are still welcome to use them, but you will need to download and host the images somewhere else, because your direct links will no longer work.  I’m posting this and will wait until Sunday give anyone a chance to replace their links without having any broken images on their listings or sites.

Hope you all are having a great year so far, and stay tuned for more changes and freebies in the works!

Just a quick note to let you all know that I have switched over all of my subscription services to Feedburner. In the past I was using Subscribe2, which served me well for the most part, but had a few quirks I didn’t care for and lacked some options I desire.

If you were a current subscriber, you will receive this post, as well as an email to confirm you’d like to receive the new subscription. This will be the last post you will receive on the old service, so make sure you click the link in the subscription email so you don’t miss out on news and freebies!!!

With the new service, you will receive only 1 email in the evening, no matter how many posts are made, and only on days where new content is added. So we won’t be cluttering your inbox.

If you haven’t subscribed, and would like to be notified when new freebies are released (a nice batch is currently in the works), new services are added, specials are offered, or other news or articles are posted, just enter your email in the box to the right and get your free cookie…I mean subscription. =P

Okay…we’ll throw in cookies…but only cuz we luvs ya. *giggles*

So exactly who the hell am I? Well I am an IT contractor who focuses on network design and engineering as well as security. I am in the process of completing my CEH (Certified Ethical Hacker) certification, and ultimately I want to be a CISSP. I am Microsoft Certified in various topics, along with Cisco and Linux. What does this mean to you? Nothing, all that you need to remember is that “Oh! Steve is that geek who writes on Sparklewhore.”

Computers and security in general scare the hell out of people. Not everyone is a computer expert. While some of you know quite a bit, others know only how to read email, post on a few forums, and access NF. The truth is, security and computers can be complex, but only if you allow them to be. The best advice I can offer you right now with regard to security is this, patch now, patch often, and update constantly. In better terms, what I mean is that if a program you use on the computer has a “check for updates” option. You should use it. Windows has “Windows Update” and “Microsoft Update” you NEED to use them monthly at the least, and always enable the automatic update options.

There are lots of so called experts what will scare the hell out of you with news and stories of updates gone wrong. For example, lots of news sites and forums reported on some of the issues with Vista and Service Pack 1 when it was released. There was a lot of advice given to people to avoid updating. The same advice is given on Patch Tuesday (The day Microsoft releases monthly security patches for Windows), where people are told to disable auto updates and not to install them.

What is missing from this advice is that almost all updates can be un-installed if the break something, and as was the case with Vista and Service Pack 1, most of the reported issues will never affect the entire populous rather only a small few will experience problems. Most of the attacks online, and Malware (Malware is defined as being a Virus, Trojan, or downloader that installs or causes malicious activity on your computer.) take aim at systems that are not fully patched. So when you got that Virus, it could very likely be because you disabled Automatic updates, and missed a critical patch for Internet Explorer that would have protected you.

I can cover as many or as few topics as you want. However, I will make sure to cover what you ask me too. I am a geek who is here to help you, not ramble aimlessly to see my writings appear online. If you have a question; Internet related, security related, or computer related, then ask me. You can use the comments to do so or email Lara.

I look forward to seeing what you have to say.
-Steve

]]> http://sparklewhore.com/and-now-for-something-completely-differenta-new-geek-speaks/feed/ 0 http://sparklewhore.com/zomg-its-stevewaitwho/ http://sparklewhore.com/zomg-its-stevewaitwho/#comments Fri, 29 Aug 2008 22:13:57 +0000 Lara http://sparklewhore.com/?p=224 Steve of course! *giggles*

Hey girlies! I know there hasn’t been a lot added to the site lately (bad Lara, bad bad!), but all that is about to change here soon. Part of that change involves me introducing you to one of the absolutely coolest people I know, Steve.

Steve has been a very close friend of mine for a long time, and is without a doubt, a geek god lol. His tech knowledge and experience constantly impresses me, and has been invaluable to me in the time that I have known him. During that time, he has not only shown the utmost respect for PSO’s and the business, he has also taken an active interest in what kinds of resources are available to us as PSO’s and the issues we often face with having to seek “adult friendly” assistance.

As most of you know, I tend to offer my clients more than just designs, coding, advice, tutoring, etc. Steve’s experience and knowledge in tech and more will bring a whole new level to Sparklewhore, and I couldn’t be more pleased that he has come on board with me.

Now I’m gonna get the hell outta his way and let him introduce himself lol.

Below are links to 3 screenshots of the templates. The screenshots are marked with a light watermark and will not show button animation, so one button from each is featured with the screenshot. Anywhere you see “Flirt Name” or “Spoil Name” your name will be implemented, as well as where you see “SparkleWhore” on the seduction template.

*Please excuse the funky thumbnails, click on them to see full size images including header.

#1

#2

#3

Templates are sold on a first come first served basis. To purchase a template, send an email to me at SparkleWhore@gmail.com with “Template #” in the subject line noting the number(s) of the templates you are interested in (#1, #2, or #3). As long as the template is still available, you will be contacted back shortly to get your customization information and to make your payment. Payment must be received before customization may begin. PP is preferred. To pay via NF, cost would be $36 per template. Please let me know in your inquiry mail how you wish to pay. =)

The sets come in 2 colors, one for the girly girl in all of us all, pretty in pink, and one for our darker side, a monochromatic set with a hint of red wickedness. So wicked or sweet, your choice.

Each set is available in a zip download below, and includes all 11 buttons.

Download Pink Set

Download Red Set

If you like this button style, but are interested in other colors or text, hit me up with an email at SparkleWhore@gmail.com and we can work out a custom order all special just for you. =)

If anyone has contacted me and not gotten a response due to this error I sincerely apologize. Every email that has come through to me has received my attention, so please know it was only a matter of not getting it.

The form will be removed shortly and I will try to work in some time to replace it here soon. =)

Soon you will see a new category on the site called Sparklepedia. One of the plans for the site is to start writing a few tutorials, as well as articles on information you may find useful such as tips on editing your listings and more. Keep an eye out for that to roll out this week. =P

Link exchange and updates:

I will also be doing some updates to the links on the site and recommended sites. If you have a site that you think may benefit by a link or link exchange, hit me up through the contact form or at Sparklewhore@gmail.com.

Portfolio:

The portfolio will be undergoing a work up and updating. I’ll be getting some fresh examples up you all here soon.

IMPORTANT NOTE – Hosted images over 90 days will be deleted:

In the works will also be a cleaning of the content stored on the site. As many of you know I often allow clients to keep images hosted on the site until they can find hosting of their own. Unfortunately the list has grown so much that I cannot keep track of who has found hosting and who has not. Any images that have been stored over 90 days will be taken down, so PLEASE, if for some reason you are still using SparkleWhore.com to host your images, transfer them to a new host or contact me to work something out. I will do one more reminder post before I begin housecleaning to give you all notice as to when they need to be down by. If you need a hosting option and do not have a domain, I recommend PSOHosting.com. You can host your images there for free. =)

There are some more things in the works, but that’s all for now. =)

2.5.1 has over 70 bug fixes, as well as includes an important security fix and other performance enhancements. One of the things I was very pleased to see was addressing of the media upload bugs. Recently a large number of blogs (my own included) experienced a series of issues with the new media uploading that 2.5 implemented. Despite a number of adjustments, I never was able to workaround the HTTP upload errors that 2.5 seemed so fond of. In the end I elected to install a plugin that basically replaced the standard uploader and that has worked well so far.

The good news is, according to WordPress.org, these issues have been addressed. The bad news is, on at least 1 of my blogs I have whole new upload errors. So in the meantime I am continuing to use the Flexible Upload plugin. So far I have been able to upload and insert media with no issues using the plugin and highly recommend it as at least a temporary fix for any of you still experiencing issues.

The Flexible Upload Plugin can be found here: http://wordpress.org/extend/plugins/flexible-upload/

Also included in the 2.5.1 update according to WordPress.org are:

Performance improvements for the Dashboard, Write Post, and Edit Comments pages.

Better performance for those who have many categories

Media Uploader fixes

An upgrade to TinyMCE 3.0.7

Widget Administration fixes

Various usability improvements

Layout fixes for IE

Another interesting thing to note on the upgrade is the implementation of SECRET_KEY in the wp-config file. Since 2.5 your wp-config.php file allows a new constant called SECRET_KEY which basically is meant to introduce a little permanent randomness into the cryptographic functions used for cookies in WordPress. You can visit this link we set up to get a unique secret key for your config file. (It’s unique and random on every page load.) Having this line in your config file helps secure your blog.

I haven’t had a chance to research that yet and what all it could mean for your blog, but it’s on my list of many many things to do lol.

So when you get a chance, you can download the most recent WP update at: http://wordpress.org/download/ or read more about the changes here: http://wordpress.org/development/2008/04/wordpress-251/

If you’re not comfortable updating your WordPress yourself, I do offer services for that. Just hit me up through the Contact Me page and I will work you in.

Happy upgrading!