by RustedBucket on May 1, 2010
I’ve funded my E*Trade account with a couple thousand to play with. I’ve decided to spend some time playing with some penny stocks. Yeah, I know, but I like to live risky..
So why penny stocks you ask? Simple, the low cost of investments provides a nice way to learn more about the art of buying and selling, plus they can be fun and exciting if you’re able to pick a real winner that balloons 300%. Look at it like this, for a $1000 you can buy about 4 shares of Apple (AAPL) stock. The same $1000 could buy 100,000 shares of a stock trading at .01 (that’s a penny). Say that stock trading at .01 goes up 100% (which isn’t uncommon in Pennyland) to .02. You just made $1000. Not bad for something you can do in your underwear.
Of course, that’s not the norm, there are certainly opportunities to make decent money with the pennies. I know some traders that make between $3k and $10k each week doing this. But they have been at it for some time and have the experience to recognize trends and read charts, which most of us don’t have.
The biggest risk I see is getting stuck with a losing position or not being able to sell a position therefore tying up that investment money. At any rate I’m giving it a shot.
Do you or have you played the pennies game? If so, leave me a comment, I’d love to hear from you.
by RustedBucket on April 30, 2010
It’s been several months since I was let go from my development job of thirteen years. I’ve spent most of that time trying to decide what I want to do now. Having taken a great deal of interest in our own personal finances and management my retirement fund after rolling my 401k into a Rollover IRA, I’ve decided to take a stab at day trading.
Having worked in the financial industry for the past 13 years with not even a “thank you” to show for it, I think it’s time to put some of that experience to use in a manner that can potentially provide an alternative to the daily grind of a “job”. Plus, who doesn’t like making money from the comfort of their own home?
I know, there’s probably easier ways to do it, like spending time at the video poker machine at the corner Gas & Go, or maybe taking a few trips to Vegas. But the way I look it luck and skill stand a better chance in the markets than on the losing side of a Blackjack table.
I’ll be chronicling this adventure here and while it will most likely be a total bust, you never know, stranger things could happen. As a disclaimer for anyone following this mis-adventure let me be clear, I am no expert. I am not an experienced trader, there are elements to this industry I do not understand but I am sure that is the case with many who partake in this journey. You have to start somewhere right? There are plenty of “Hot Stock Picks” site out there, and any number of “experts” one can turn to for money management, paper trading can only do you so much. There’s also plenty of people that will be willing to tell you “it’s too risky” and to not jeopardize your hard earned money. To them I say, you probably don’t want to read my blog then because it will be a waste of your time. For the rest of you that have the ambition and drive to pursue such avenues in order to make a profit I say, “tally ho” and “good luck”.
by RustedBucket on February 15, 2010
A few people using this plugin have reported that it doesn’t work with BuddyPress. After some investigation it appears to be because BuddyPress has it’s own registration template and doesn’t use some of the standard hooks WPMU uses during the initial signup process.
Not a big deal however in order to make this plugin work with the default BuddyPress theme you will have to make 1 manual edit to a theme file. I couldn’t find any better way to get the necessary check into their workflow but it’s a pretty simple edit.
Jump to the main plugin page WPMU Block Spam By Math, use the download link to get the updated plugin (version 1.1) and scroll down to the instructions and follow the note for BuddyPress users.
Post any issues in the main plugin post.
by RustedBucket on January 11, 2010
by RustedBucket on January 11, 2010
I mentioned back in a post about the release of vBulletin 4.0 that it was a different animal and I didn’t expect to be migrating anytime soon. So much for famous last words, after having spent the better part of last week upgrading my Carrie Underwood forums to vBulletin 4.
I did get one thing right in that post, VB4 is definitely a different animal and after working with it on the dev board the default theme has grown on me. It’s simple and after 5 years of messing with forums, I’ve come to the real conclusion that splash does nothing but get in the way when things get busy.
If you’ve been using VB4 them you’ll be happy to know that the forum part of the software is still rock solid as ever. There’s a few things that have been changed or removed with the new templates but most seem to be oversights and simple plugins or template mods have been released to address those issues.
One of the big pluses I found is the theme editor has some incredible potential. If you’re big into creating or manipulating your own themes then it’ll take a bit of getting used to, but I was able to do the conversion with a minimal amount of template edits which should make upgrades a good bit smoother.
The upgrade process was really smooth. I jumped from VB 3.8.1 and it went as smooth as upgrades typically do.
The major stumbling block with the forum portion of the new software is the lack of available themes. vBulletin.org has a bunch of simplistic themes that are VB4 ready, but most of them are the typical gaudy things you’d expect (honestly I’m not sure why some people think a fire engine red forum, with a red background and orange fonts looks good).
If you’re waiting for your favorite premium theme to be converted and made 4.0 ready, plan to wait a while. From what I can tell with the ones I’ve used in the past, the developers are trying to stay with the tableless concept and I think that’s going to be a futile effort for some of them. Some themes out there just have to have tables in order to function properly across all browsers and while it’s great to not have to use them, does it really matter? Probably not. So my expectation is a few will get converted to tableless version but in the end most themers will simply convert their existing skins to work with the new templating system.
Feature wise, not a great deal has changed. There’s some advancements like the ability to embed video without the need for a plugin now, but the calendar still isn’t integrated into the forums. The new class structures also means major changes for plugin developers. Very few, if any existing plugins will work in VB4 and while a fair amount have been converted, I suspect that most are either still struggling grasping the new methods or just not bothering to. So if you’re planning to upgrade, you have to consider what plugins you have, which of those have been converted and which haven’t (and may not be).
Overall though, I am pleased with forum product. I have the CMS and blogs turned off at the moment but I hope to play with them a bit this week. The reviews in that area are all over the board so I’ll just to test it and see if it’ll do things I’d like to see it do.
Incidentally, vBulletin announced they are planning a scheduled release of VB 4.0.1 sometime later today. Hopefully this will address some of the little things that I had to chase down or that got left out. We’ll see.
by RustedBucket on January 4, 2010
If you run a WordPress MU installation then you’re more than aware of the growing problem with spambots out there creating blogs to simple load links back to their spam sites. New WPMU installations can expect to be found and attacked within a few days of going live and if you have an open registration process, well, be ready to spend a lot of time weeding out the spam blogs.
My WPMU site Stampin Corner started getting hit the day it went live and I’d see between 5 an 15 new spam blogs created every day. After searching around and trying several solutions intended to stop the bots, and getting frustrated none of them really worked, I decided to just modify an existing plugin that I use on my regular WordPress installations.
It’s called WPMU Block Spam By Math. It’s based on the simple, yet highly effective plugin Block-Spam-By-Math created by Alexander Grau. Where Alexanders plugin protects your blogs registration, login and comment forms from spambots, WPMU Block Spam By Math protects your new blog creation process and the new user creation process.
It’s a simple plugin really but I find it to be highly effective at what it does. By simply adding math question to workflow (something like “what is 5+2 ?”). I won’t say it’s 100% effective but after adding this plugin to Stampin Corner two weeks ago, I’ve not had a single spam blog created (knock on wood).
Installation is simple:
- NOTE: As of version 1.2 of this plugin you must have Buddypress 1.2.3 installed. For prior versions of BP you will need an older version of the plugin.
- Download the plugin from WordPress.org.
- Copy it to the wp-content/mu-plugins directory of your blog.
That’s all there is to it. You should now start seeing a dramatic reduction in the amount of spam blogs you see created. NOTE: This does not protect against those spammer who take the time to manually create spam blogs on your site. For those I recommend barbed wire and toothpicks under the fingernails.
BuddyPress Users
If you are using BuddyPress this plugin should still work fine unless you are using the default BuddyPress theme. If you want this plugin to work with the ‘bp-default’ theme you need to make a manual edit to create a new hook location. The process is very simple.
For versions of BP prior to 1.2.2
Open your wp-content/themes/bp-sn-parent/registration/register.php file.
Locate this line of code (approx. line 215).
<?php if ( 'completed-confirmation' == bp_get_current_signup_step() ) : ?>
BELOW this add this line of code:
<?php do_action( 'bp_before_current_signup_step' ) ?>
For versions of BP 1.2.2 and newer (tested on 1.2.3)
- Simply install/upgrade the plugin
I completely skipped 1.2.2 but since it was reported the plugin wasn’t working correctly on that version I’m going to assume the problem was the same. If you are on 1.2.2 and still have problems upgrade to at least 1.2.3.
It appears BP is now able to bundle their default theme within the plugin directory and in doing so added a new hook which I had to manually add in previous versions. This update applies to an unaltered install of BP 1.2.3, if you have the older BP default theme in your wp-content/themes directory you should be able to delete it then activate the new default theme which resides in wp-content/plugins/buddypress/bp-themes/bp-default. (NOTE: This plugin will no longer work properly using the older default theme if you’ve upgraded BuddyPress).
There are NO manual edits for this version of BP just be sure you have downloaded and installed version 1.2 of the WPMU-Block-Spam-By-Math plugin. It should as simple as auto updating Buddypress and updating WPMU-Block-Spam-By-Math to the latest version (download from Codex or use link above) then switching your theme to the new Buddypress default theme.
FAQ
- Does this plugin work with the regular Block spam By Math plugin?
Yes, you can run both. I use the regular WordPress plugin on my WPMU site as well to allow individual site owners the option to add the protection at the blog level.
- Does this plugin work on regular WordPress?
No. This is only targeting the WPMU new blog signup and new user signup functions. If you need WP registration, login and comment protection I recommend you get the Block Spam By Math plugin.
- Change I change the math questions?
Yes, just edit the two rand functions in the plugin file to generate whatever type of numbers you want.
- Does this plugin work with BuddyPress?
Yes. See the Buddypress note above under installation. You have to perform a manual edit in order for it to work with the default Buddypress theme.
Support
If you like this plugin and want to support me, leave a comment or check out my donations and support page!
by RustedBucket on January 1, 2010
Just got back a little while ago from seeing the James Cameron’s epic Avatar. In a word, the movie was BRILLIANT! Yes, that’s right, it was that good. I seriously think I’m ranking it #2 right underneath the Lord of the Rings Trilogy on my all time favorites list. It’s great when directors are allowed to take their time and and just create. Cameron doesn’t disappoint. So what was so great about it?
Well to start with the imagery is absolutely amazing. A gorgeous visual masterpiece that is both stunning and breathtaking. It’s certainly all about special effects and they are impeccably accomplished, never once did I feel like something was faked (remember Anakin slicing the apple in Attack of the Clones). The detail spent in building the Pandoran world alone is worth sitting through the 160 minutes. Another plus was that not once was any one thing in Cameron’s world made to call attention to itself. Everything fit, it all flowed seamlessly and the actors did incredible jobs inferring raw emotion into their Avatar characters.
There’s three versions of this movie, a regular cinematic version, a cinematic 3D (or what they call REAL D 3D and an IMAX 3D version. We saw the cinematic 3D version and for the most part it was excellent. I’ll be going back to see it again in IMAX because the sensory immersion should be well worth it. People say 3D and just roll their eyes, remember Jaws 3D or any of your favorite horror movies that were done in 3D. It always seemed cheap and gimmicky right? Not this movie. Sure you can tell it’s not true 3D but it’s very minimal and after the first few minutes you hardly notice it. Even the subtitled translations of the Na’vi native language seems completely natural. If I have one complaint about the 3D it’s the peripheral field of view, that’s where I noticed the typical 3D glimmer but it was minimal. I also think the IMAX version will compensate for that, we’ll see.
Something else about the 3D effect is how Cameron expertly weaves it into the movie. Rarely is it “in your face” and those moments were suttle, perfectly executed where a raindrop might slash off to the side or a leave floating in the wind. No rockets shooting “at” you or flying monster trying to eat you.
Pandora itself is a spectacular visualization of the imagination. You’ll want to go there, probably move there. Everything about it is in a nutshell “perfect”.
Ok so you get the picture, visually the movie is beyond excellent. So what about the story itself? There’s been a lot of hype about the underlying themes the story implies. It’s all true, everything you’ve heard. Every tree hugger story, liberal, white man conquered the Indians story is absolutely true. At least from a moralistic viewpoint. Avatar is every movie you’ve ever seen. It’s absolutely Dances with Wolves, it’s every video game storyline, every novel and every big budget movie plot line. Whatever your moralistic and/or political viewpoints are, this movie has it. However, none of it matters.
If you can’t shed a tear for how the Na’vi are treated then there is something most definitely wrong with you. Seriously, I can’t think of another movie, aside from the three Lord of the Rings movies that even remotely compares. Braveheart and Gladiator are in my top 5 as well, yet even they don’t compare.
Avatar is worth every minute you sit there. Long yes but not drawn out with meaningless filler and you hardly notice the length. I’m sure there will be numerous folks who disagree with me but in my opinion it’s just extraordinary and I think it will break Titanic’s Oscar record as well.
So after all that, if you skipped way down here to read the last few lines the best advice I have is (as with most movies) turn your brain off before you go in, don’t worry about what the movie “might” be trying to tell you, just sit back and enjoy it.
Overall I’d have to give it 5 out of 5 stars.
by RustedBucket on December 31, 2009
All three of the major search engines offer some kind of website service. The most popular being Google Webmaster Tools. Yahoo offers Site Explorer and Bing has Webmaster Center. All three require that you verify your site and offer various methods to do so. This plugin uses the meta option and inserts a meta tag in your sites section of your site.
If you’ve used WordPress.com then this will look familiar since it’s based on that tool.
Installation is simple:
- Download the plugin from WordPress.org.
- Copy it to the wp-content/plugins or wp-content/mu-plugins directory of your blog.
- Enable the plugin in your admin panel.
- An option for Webmaster Tools will appear under Tools.
- Enter the verification code for each service you wish to use
FAQ
- Where do I get the verification code?
Go to either Google Webmaster Tools, Yahoo Site Explorer, or Bing Webmaster Center, find the option to add/verify a new site then select the meta option. You be provided with a piece of code and instructions to add it to your site.
- What do I do with the code once I have it?
All you need is the actual content= code, the plugin will automatically format the meta tag when it inserts it.
Ex.: Google will give you a piece of code like this: <meta name='google-site-verification' content='dBw5CvburAxi537Rp9qi5uG2174Vb6JwHwIRwPSLIK8'>
You want to copy the code: dBw5CvburAxi537Rp9qi5uG2174Vb6JwHwIRwPSLIK8 and paste it in the input box for Google.
- I’m using WPMU but I don’t want the plugin automatically activated for each site. Can I just put it in the wp-content/plugins directory so each blog owner can choose whether or not they want it activated?
You sure can. Just be sure not to copy it into both locations.
Support
If you like this plugin and want to support me, leave a comment or check out my donations and support page!
by RustedBucket on December 30, 2009
If you’re using WordPress MU you may have run into a problem where new users aren’t added as subscribers to the main blog (blogid: 1). Some may prefer it this way but I ran into this issue on Stampin Corner because I also wanted users to be able to post in the help forums which use BBPress. For some reason nobody could post in there, and it turns out this was the reason.
According to the developers BBPress is a bit behind handling this integration and it’s assumed at some point it will. That said, I got around this irksome problem by creating my own little plugin. (Actually I maintain a custom-functions plugin for just this type of thing). It’s pretty simple really, just create a new file in your mu-plugins directory and this code to it.
//--------------------------------------------------------//
//---Hook-------------------------------------------------//
//--------------------------------------------------------//
add_action('wpmu_activate_blog', 'add_new_user_to_mainblog', 10,2);
add_action('wpmu_new_blog', 'add_new_user_to_mainblog', 10,2);
//--------------------------------------------------------//
//---Functions---------------------------------------------//
//--------------------------------------------------------//
function add_new_user_to_mainblog($blog_id, $user_id) {
add_user_to_blog( '1', $user_id, 'subscriber' );
}
Basically all this is doing is using the hook wpmu_activate_blog to trigger the function add_user_to_blog. WPMU also has this habit (not sure why exactly) of removing an existing user from the main blog when they reated another new blog. Not a huge deal again but problematic if they haven’t logged into BBPress already. So the second add_action triggers on wpmu_new_blog to add the user back.
Simple as that. Of course, this doesn’t handle getting any existing users set as subscribers so you’ll have to do those manually or write a script to do it, but any new users should get added just fine.
WPMU Block Spam By Math
by RustedBucket on January 4, 2010
If you run a WordPress MU installation then you’re more than aware of the growing problem with spambots out there creating blogs to simple load links back to their spam sites. New WPMU installations can expect to be found and attacked within a few days of going live and if you have an open registration process, well, be ready to spend a lot of time weeding out the spam blogs.
My WPMU site Stampin Corner started getting hit the day it went live and I’d see between 5 an 15 new spam blogs created every day. After searching around and trying several solutions intended to stop the bots, and getting frustrated none of them really worked, I decided to just modify an existing plugin that I use on my regular WordPress installations.
It’s called WPMU Block Spam By Math. It’s based on the simple, yet highly effective plugin Block-Spam-By-Math created by Alexander Grau. Where Alexanders plugin protects your blogs registration, login and comment forms from spambots, WPMU Block Spam By Math protects your new blog creation process and the new user creation process.
It’s a simple plugin really but I find it to be highly effective at what it does. By simply adding math question to workflow (something like “what is 5+2 ?”). I won’t say it’s 100% effective but after adding this plugin to Stampin Corner two weeks ago, I’ve not had a single spam blog created (knock on wood).
Installation is simple:
That’s all there is to it. You should now start seeing a dramatic reduction in the amount of spam blogs you see created. NOTE: This does not protect against those spammer who take the time to manually create spam blogs on your site. For those I recommend barbed wire and toothpicks under the fingernails.
BuddyPress Users
If you are using BuddyPress this plugin should still work fine unless you are using the default BuddyPress theme. If you want this plugin to work with the ‘bp-default’ theme you need to make a manual edit to create a new hook location. The process is very simple.
For versions of BP prior to 1.2.2
Open your wp-content/themes/bp-sn-parent/registration/register.php file.
Locate this line of code (approx. line 215).
BELOW this add this line of code:
For versions of BP 1.2.2 and newer (tested on 1.2.3)
I completely skipped 1.2.2 but since it was reported the plugin wasn’t working correctly on that version I’m going to assume the problem was the same. If you are on 1.2.2 and still have problems upgrade to at least 1.2.3.
It appears BP is now able to bundle their default theme within the plugin directory and in doing so added a new hook which I had to manually add in previous versions. This update applies to an unaltered install of BP 1.2.3, if you have the older BP default theme in your wp-content/themes directory you should be able to delete it then activate the new default theme which resides in wp-content/plugins/buddypress/bp-themes/bp-default. (NOTE: This plugin will no longer work properly using the older default theme if you’ve upgraded BuddyPress).
There are NO manual edits for this version of BP just be sure you have downloaded and installed version 1.2 of the WPMU-Block-Spam-By-Math plugin. It should as simple as auto updating Buddypress and updating WPMU-Block-Spam-By-Math to the latest version (download from Codex or use link above) then switching your theme to the new Buddypress default theme.
FAQ
Yes, you can run both. I use the regular WordPress plugin on my WPMU site as well to allow individual site owners the option to add the protection at the blog level.
No. This is only targeting the WPMU new blog signup and new user signup functions. If you need WP registration, login and comment protection I recommend you get the Block Spam By Math plugin.
Yes, just edit the two rand functions in the plugin file to generate whatever type of numbers you want.
Yes. See the Buddypress note above under installation. You have to perform a manual edit in order for it to work with the default Buddypress theme.
Support
If you like this plugin and want to support me, leave a comment or check out my donations and support page!
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