I did a search on the address, and found a number of blog posts all saying the same thing: on or around March 25, 2007, SiteMeter quietly accepted an unspecified amount of money and, in return, started embedding specificclick.net cookies into the pages of almost every SiteMeter account holder.

To date, the SiteMeter crew has said nothing about this outside of a few blog posts—nothing about specificclick.net is mentioned on SiteMeter.com, except for a vague “we’re adding new features” bit o’ hype that fails to mention how the new features are going to be collected.

Shane over at AskShane.org said it best:

Screw Up? Don’t Try to Hide

• Admit you screwed up.
• Say what you’re doing to fix it.
• Offer some kind of appropriate compensation.

Because SiteMeter has used me to infect y’all’s computers, it’s the least I can do to point you to something that’ll show you how to remove specificclick.net cookies and block them forever.

Remember when I told you about IconBuffet? Well, I’ve been digging their Free Deliveries for a while now, and when I heard that Oslo Buzz was on sale for only $5, I had to get it!

Why? Well, partly because I’m that kind of geek. Mostly, though, because I’m going to be redesigning this-here blog, and I want Oslo Buzz to be a part of that redesign.

I want to share the love, too, so I’m giving away Free Deliveries to anyone who wants to join me in my icon addiction! Here’s how to get your free icon pack:

Just leave a comment here, making sure you fill out the e-mail address box correctly. (I’m the only one who can see your e-mail addy, so don’t worry about spam harvesters!) I’ll pick one I think you’d like and send it right away!

For all you non-Squidooers, there’s been quite a controversy stirred up by the abrupt switch (made without notice) in AdSense placement on user-created lenses a few weeks back. (Whew!) In the midst of seemingly universal opposition (outside of the Squidoo offices, of course), they have announced things will stay as-is until August 1st, at the earliest.

I got a note from someone who was surprised to see a competitive product at the top of his Squidoo lens. He was miffed, actually, not surprised. What surprised him is that his sales went UP after the ad appeared.

So, no promises about what happens next to our ads, other than that we’ll keep trying new things and letting you know about them and listening to your feedback. But for now I wanted to share the thinking with you.

— Seth Godin, 2 Cents on AdSense

Well, at least now we’re hearing more of the thinking behind the scenes. We’ll see what happens. Me? I figure August 1st is far enough ahead that most folks will just be tired of arguing the issue. Quite a few “lensmasters” at that point will have only ever know the ads as having top-placement on Squidoo lenses anyway. Maybe it’s just not worth it…

I can’t help but wonder about a project that, just a month or two out of beta, is already selling out and ignoring their biggest fans and promoters.

Wow, I like this! At least, I think I like it. It’s always hard to judge a parody when you’re unfamiliar with the original. I’ve been looking all over the Internet for the Cowboy Bebop intro theme this thing is a parody of, but I can’t find it.

“Class? Anyone? Anyone?”

UPDATE: Silly me! The guy included a link to the Cowboy Bebop intro on this piece’s profile page!

Kneon Transitt loves Floyd Gottfredson’s Mickey. Kneon loves the man’s work so much, in fact, that he’s started a Gottfredson fan club!

This is wonderful news, and ties in well with Gottfredson’s impending Eisner hall-of-fame induction! These are exciting days for mouse fans… maybe we’ll put those ducks back in their proper place!

Be sure to check out the fan club site! It’s a great resource for learning (or learning more) about Floyd Gottfredson’s work. Nice job, Kneon!

The CCK website is live!

Go check it out now, and download Bill Kittrell’s sermon from January 29th — it’s a great look at what consititutes true Biblical fellowship.

I’ve got to give Chris Hornsby credit: he’s done a great job, even if it is 100% Flash. (The Print feature is definitely a nice touch!) Now if they could just integrate a sermon podcast …

• Kneon Transitt is now blogging. Sweet!
• I have finally seen Disney’s The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe. It was good, except it seemed they couldn’t decide who to have up front: Peter or that lion dude.
• We moved servers. Hosting is now graciously provided by Plus Web Design. No longer do I need to beg for mercy from some fly-by-night operation that doesn’t know the meaning of the phrase “customer service.” (Thanks, Joshua!)
• Easter sunrise service at Beachmont, followed by an Easter cantata at Hanover First Church of God and hours of fun with the family. Good stuff!

Now that the server transition seems to be complete, I’ll get back in the swing of things!

“Ain’t nothin’ like the real thing, baby…”

Check this out: as of 11:30AM EST, searching for “SBlounskched” on Google gives you some interesting results; namely, my site is ranked #1 (higher than the Strong Bad e-mail that “SBlounskched” came from)!

It just goes to show you… blogs are destined to take over the world!

Does my blog have the kiss of death or something? Why is it that my implementation of some tool (for instance, YouTube) happens shortly before their site goes down? That can’t be good for my credibility.

Oh well, once they’re back up you should see unique user icons in the comments section of my posts (rather than the “favatar” site icons I had before). Those user icons are called Gravatars (Globally Recognized Avatar), and you can use them anywhere. All you need to do is go to their website and set up an account (e-mail address and a unique password). Then you upload an image, and each time you comment on a gravatar-enabled site (providing your e-mail address) your gravatar will appear.

One more reason to not comment anonymously: if you do, you get the angry “I need a gravatar” monkey beside your comment, and all your friends will mock you nercilessly!

Ah, my favorite guilty pleasure. Homestar Runner.

So it doesn’t have much to do with the church, or my family, or politics. Oh well. That stuff would be worth very little if you had to sacrifice all joy and pleasure for it, now wouldn’t it?

Do yourself a favor and have a good laugh at the expense of American (un)culture; check out The Brothers Chaps’ latest, lampooning just about every single candy promotion over the past twenty years in their debut of “Sblounskched!” — the newest chocolate bar to hit the shelves… like a brick.

You’ve got the munch, />the crisp and the crunch, />livin’ in the gutter with grandma…

When coach puts you in, />you gotta go for the win. />Y2K turned out all riiiight!

SBLOUNSKCHED! You can do it! />SBLOUNSKCHED! Crunchy chew it! />Who’s got the money?!?

You got… SBLOUNSKCHED!

Ooh, these are so neat!

IconBuffet has this nifty new service called Free Delivery. Think of it like those tables in grocery stores where food samples get handed out, only it’s icons that you’re getting, and you’re allowed to pass the icons you get on to five other people (provided they sign up, too).

Yep, it’s a promotional tool to get your e-mail address on their mailing list. Oh, well.

Now, at the risk of losing major points in manliness, I have to admit that I’m a sucker for cutesy icon art like this. Back in my message board admin days, I was the guy who constantly added more and more emoticons. The current default smilies here are a thorn in my side, and eventually I’ll begin tweaking them. In fact, IconBuffet may be just the inspiration I need to do that…

Oh, and I’ve got Tower Grove Promenade if anyone’s interested.

A note to my visitor(s) from 65.125.25.# (GRAY HAWK SYSTEMS/DOJ-FBI): The proper way to run a site-specific search on Google would be to enter “site:techtrack.gov” (without the spaces). You’ll be happy to find Google hasn’t indexed your precious classified site. As you found from your botched search, though, quite a few server logs have made note of your visits.

Yep, “Big Brother is watching you.” That is, once he finds his glasses.

Like the plant that served as Jonah’s shade, MyWikiMap (formerly CheapGas) was up this morning, but has shriveled in the scorching heat, leaving so many desperate commuters gnashing their teeth in anger.

It’s got a lot of potential, though, so keep the site bookmarked. It cross-references geographic data with Google Maps, giving you a wonderful graphic representation of the search results.

Other sites of a similar vein that I’ve found so far:

• GasBuddy: okay, but mainly a mega-site that refers you to more local sites.
• GasPriceWatch: Ugly. Map links go to Google maps, though, so that’s a plus.

Image: “Jonah and the Vine” (Historiae celebriores Veteris Testamenti Iconibus representatae, 1712. Pitts Theology Library Digital Image Archive)

That was a few years ago, and I’ve lost touch with most of the gang. So the other day, I started Googling them, and here’s my “reunion list” so far:

• Aaron Greene: [Blogger]
• Rebecca Greene: Waynesburg FCA
  | [Xanga]
• Kim Kelley: [Xanga]
• Audrey Morgan: [Xanga]
• Jen Rhodes: [Xanga]
• Holly-Beth Smith: [Xanga]
• Josh Stratton: Littlestown Chapel
• Nick Upchurch: [Geocities] | [Livejournal] | [Flickr]

If anyone can add to the list, please do!