8 Ways to Sunday

Here’s a handy shortcut for that oh-so-trendy “vector graphics look.” A nice time-saver for an otherwise time-consuming effect, though the results can look a little messy.

Opera Software, makers of the Opera web browser, are giving an ad-free version of their program away free of charge today as part of their tenth anniversary cellebrations. Get ‘em while they last!

(Props: CNet News.com)

Updates

• 9/21/2005 @ 6:24 PM — With new version 8.5 Opera has gone all add-free, all the time. Premium support is still available for those willing to pay. The company says that a transition to freeware was made possible by search engine revenue.

Just a quick update before I hit the sack: new photos from my trip to Tucson have been posted in the photoblog. Look under the “Tucson Trip 2005” category.

I keep meaning to post more extensively, but haven’t found the time. Will try to do better over the next couple of weeks.

Men’s magazine Perfect 10 has sued Google for allegedly infringing upon its copyrights by displaying the mag’s nude pics in Google Image Search results.

This is an obvious grab for money. Google clearly states in its help center that there are ways to keep the Google indexer from snapping up your images. I use the technique myself; it’s not hard. Google also provides recourse for those who feel their copyrights have been infringed upon, by providing a way to notify Google and get your pictures removed from Google without resorting to a lawsuit.

Norm Zada, founder of Perfect 10, claims that Google’s indexing and display of sexually explicit images is part of a big conspiracy to draw web traffic and convert it into millions of dollars worth of advertising revenue. Never mind that SafeSearch is enabled by default, blocking such adult content. Clearly, what Zada is most interested in is those advertising millions.

(Props: The Unofficial Google Fan Club)

The site is back in action after two days of down time. According to TextDrive support, someone was hammering my site with bogus traffic. The hits came from six different IP addresses and had no user-agent string (the part of an HTTP header that says what computer program is visiting the site).

I’m not sure who I might’ve pissed off enough to warrant a mini-DDOS attack. So far I’ve only been able to think of one possible culprit — a comment troll who may’ve been annoyed by my response to his claim that I’m a pathetic beggar for raising money for my mother’s health care.

Whoever the culprit, the site is back up for now. I expect to post further updates tomorrow.