[@776]
HOTlink

Some teen on myspace.com decided to hotlink a picture from my blog. Apparently she's extremely popular, because I started to noticed a serious increase in my bandwidth usage.

I don't really give a hoot about hotlinking, except when I see my bandwidth jump by 3 folds. Here's what I added to my Apache configuration to block the worst offenders:

<Directory "/path/to/images/blog">


RewriteEngine On
RewriteCond %{HTTP_REFERER} ^http://([^/]+)myspace\.com/.*$ [NC,OR]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_REFERER} ^http://([^/]+)bobpitch\.com/.*$ [NC,OR]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_REFERER} ^http://([^/]+)shopping-news\.com/.*$ [NC,OR]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_REFERER} ^http://([^/]+)forumfree\.net/.*$ [NC,OR]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_REFERER} ^http://([^/]+)mongsr\.us/.*$ [NC,OR]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_REFERER} ^http://([^/]+)allcumfacials\.com/.*$ [NC]
RewriteRule .*\.(gif|jpg|jpeg|png|bmp|mov|mpg|avi)$ - [NC,F]
</Directory>

I don't really want to block everyone, as it would cause problems with web-based aggregators, like bloglines, etc.

Since there are no reasons to hotlink images from my scrapbook, I also added rules to prevent it altogether:

<Directory "/path/to/scrapbook">


RewriteEngine On
RewriteCond %{HTTP_REFERER} !^http://([^/]+)thauvin\.net/.*$ [NC]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_REFERER} !^$
RewriteCond %{HTTP_REFERER} !google\. [NC]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_REFERER} !yahoo\. [NC]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_REFERER} !search\?q=cache [NC]
RewriteRule .*\.(gif|jpg|jpeg|png|bmp|mov|mpg|avi)$ - [NC,F]
</Directory>

I still let Google, Yahoo and people using Google's cache through.

[@450]
D-Link DSM-320RD

I succumbed to the pressure and just purchased a D-Link DSM-320RD. We also ordered a Nordic Track C2300 treadmill. I really want to be able to stream video while breaking a sweat in our bedroom. We'll see how it works. If I don't like it, I can always return it.

[@437]
Snocap I found this interesting article on Snocap, Shawn Fanning (of the Napster fame)'s new venture. Conceptually not a bad idea. A registry that can identify songs and impose DRM restrictions as specified by the authors/publishers. I can see how that would be appealing to P2P networks operators, but I fail to see how that would attract the users. Seriously, if I'm going to use my computer/bandwidth to offer songs to be legally distributed on a P2P network. I am the distribution channel. I want a kickback. We all know that'll never happen. What a concept though! Getting paid for legally sharing your music collection… [@395]
My Next Phone?

I'm impatiently waiting for the release of the Nokia N80, now that it has been FCC approved. Of the flocks of phones that have been announced recently, it is undoubtedly the one coming the closest to my dream phone. I don't specifically look forward to shell over $500 for it.

[@683] I'm not sure but it looks like the USB port is located at the top. I also noticed that it is smaller than my 6630, though thicker/heavier. The only thing really missing is a standard headphone jack.

[@976] Looks like I got Darla convinced too.

[@042]

More Rachel's Vids

Looking for music videos on the net is a nightmare. Most places only stream short samples. I guess it makes sense now that music videos are considered an art form. People are more than willing to pay for them. What's next? Downloadable TV ads for $1.99 on iTunes? That being said…

So Good	I Said Never Again
Sweet Dreams My LA Ex	More More More
Funky Dory	Public Service Announcement

[@621]
Come & Get It!

[@407]
Happy Thanksgiving!

[@798]

NeatReceipts

I just bought a NeatReceipts scanner. I spend most of the weekend scanning 3 months worth of receipts. Overall it's not a bad product. The scanner is pretty good and seems to be doing a decent job at parsing the vital info (date, amount, payment type) from most legible receipts. It's even smart enough to learn about new retail stores, etc. The software is really the weak link. It does an okay job at storing the receipts info, but the interface is really dense. The search feature is pretty much useless. You can't even search the notes field, etc. The Pro version of the software looks a lot better, at least from the screenshots on the website, but I just found out that they won't have an upgrade path from Classic for a few months.

[@838]

They just sent me the pro version. Wow… What a difference…

I'll just have to wait until they have a converter to be able to import the receipts I have scanned so far.

[@584]
U.S. Mobile

Russ is looking at the state of the U.S. mobile phone market.

As I said in the comments section; the problem is that Nokia & co. have yet to produce a phone that is really compelling to the average consumer. 99% of the U.S. mobile consumer market doesn't care about phones, as long as they're free or dirt cheap.

Xbox 360 Russ also bought a Xbox 360. He just found out about its Media Center Extension abilities.

I was seriously considered buying one too. Not that I play a whole lot of games. But I've been looking at ways to stream videos wirelessly from my PC to a TV. Unfortunately the Xbox doesn't support the xvid (or divx) format, which is a pretty big limitation in my book.

I've also been tempted to buy a D-Link DSM-320RD, except that I've returned every single D-Link product I've ever bought. It hasn't gotten very good reviews either. But it's the only box I've seen that supports both WPA and the xvid codec.