Randomn3ss

Last week I took part in a blog writing project over at fellow blogger Daniel’s site, the focus being tutorials. I feel that I write pretty good tutorials so why not submit one and see how well I do.

In total, 71 people submitted tutorials covering a wide range of topics. The interesting part is that those 71 writers will determine whom the winners are by listing a top list of tutorials comprised of those 71 articles. So, here are my three top tutorials from the project:

• How to write a letter of complaint to your bank. The power of a written letter has, in some ways, been forgotten with my generation and those younger. We do everything in the now via email, text message and phone calls if we have to be bothered to pick up the phone at all. The written letter, when done properly, holds a good amount of weight, in my opinion, more than an email letter. This tutorial covers how to approach your bank with confidence and in a manor as to not come off sounding like a jerk. Banks are, for most, a necessary evil, we all need them, hate the fees, horrible hours and staff who are usually slower than road kill. Six easy steps in this tutorial could lead to a well written letter to waive a fee, get you better customer service or even a shiny new pen!

• How to RSS like a rockstar. For more than 2 years now I have been attached to iGoogle RSS reader and have grown the number of sites I track via RSS to nearly 60, all separated won by categories. Sadly, many people still don’t understand what RSS is, how to use it or why it rocks so much. This tutorial covers all the bases from soup to nuts and will get you reading feeds in no time.

• How to list an eBay auction for maximum profit. So I’m a little vain. In the last several months this article has been read nearly 11,000 times, clearly a few people found it interesting. I put a lot of time and energy in writing what I’ve learned over the last 7+ years selling on eBay and think that this article should be in any top tutorial list.

From one blog linking to another, I found a contest run by Money Blogger where he is giving away a 3rd generation iPod Nano that he reviewed last year.  In order to be entered in the contest I, as a blogger need to write and publish an article, what I am doing now, telling you about his site, already done, and linking you, the reader, to his article announcing the contest where someone can Win an iPod Nano.

If you run a blog, feel free to enter, the rules are pretty simple and Dom will be picking a winner at random on February 8th.  As I’ve done before in similar situations where I’ve entered contests to win stuff, should I win, I will in-turn run a contest here on Randomn3ss to re-gift the Nano to one of my readers.  So wish me luck so that I can hopefully give this away to someone here.

So I know that some of you read me on this site and I really dig that.

But I also write for Recapist.com on the Famesters network. I recap three television shows: CSI: Miami, Law & Order: CI, and Miss America: Reality Check. Obviously, I only recap shows with colons in the title.

Anyway, I just finished a double recap for the first two Miss America episodes and although it’s really long and sometimes I got a bit bored with the narrative… I think it’s kinda funny.

To please my ego… click here.

I recently got into a debate with my buddy Jaxon over the fact that John Mayer was called one of the greatest guitarists (or some similar shit) by Rolling Stone.  I disagreed - since someone like Adam Jones from Tool was left out - but then I realized it’s not because I think John Mayer is a bad guitar player.

I think John Mayer is a douchebag.

No, I don’t like Your Body is a Wonderland, especially since it was allegedly written about Jennifer Love Hewitt, whose body is not a wonderland at all.  Unless by “wonderland” you mean “really well airbrushed in all of those men’s magazines and definitely NOT a size 2, even though she gave People Magazine a really misleading statement that sort of claimed that she was.”  Then, yeah, it’s a wonderland.  But otherwise, no.  And then he dated/didn’t date/hate-fucked Jessica Simpson who embodies almost everything that is wrong with mass media today (except for her huge tits, there’s nothing wrong with that, it’s more the underwhelming talent).

Basically, give John Mayer a guitar and tell him to shut the hell up.  This includes blogging.  John Mayer - you’re not allowed to blog.  Just keep writing those bluesy licks that people love you so much for and leave the writing to people like me, who work in retail and have nothing better to do in their off-time.  And if you need proof as to why you should shut up, please reference your recent blog on “douchebags.” 

Allow me to comment on one such erudite paragraph from the aforementioned blog:

And “douchebag” was on the vinegary tips of everyone’s tongues this year. Trouble is, I’m not really clear on what it means, and I don’t know that anyone does. I know that I get called one. Pete Wentz from Fallout Boy, by measure of a google search, is a douchebag 11,100 times over, or the number of results that the search engine says exist. Zach Braff, who himself wrote one of the better films I’ve seen in the last decade is also frequently ‘bagged, as is some guy named Brody Jenner. In fact, if you want to go big, so is Michael Stipe, Bono (”supreme douchebag”), Thom Yorke, Will Smith and Brad Pitt.

John, don’t defend Pete Wentz.  Especially not since his current gf is your ex-gf’s sister.  It can’t be because you really think Fall Out Boy is that worthy of accolades.  The tunes are catchy, but Fall Out Boy is not the end-all be-all of music.  It’s not innovative or completely special (unless you are 14, paint your last two fingernails black, and update your MySpace layout on the daily).  As for Zach Braff… well… contrary to what you might believe, Garden State wasn’t that good; it was the quitessential emo-writer-I’m misunderstood because it’s easier to be misunderstood than to realize you’re just like everyone else movie.  Stop wasting your jizz on it.  Guys idolize the Natalie Portman character, but if you met her in real life, you’d tear your fucking hair out with all her high-maintenance, “but I’m different!” shit.  And I hear that Zach Braff treats common people like shit, so yeah, he’s a douchebag.  Lastly, Brody Jenner is a douchebag because not only is his popularity based on that of his dad, but he’s also famous for being the fake-boyfriend of a fake-TV “star.”  Douuuuuuche.

I’ve never heard a bad word about Will Smith (it doesn’t hurt that he’s from Philly and we love to see our own blossom as long as they don’t cause us to lose a Superbowl), so, no, not a douche.  Bono, Thom Yorke, Michael Stipe - music legends in the making, front-runners of their genres (except for the ZooTV tour, sorry Bono) and overall fucking artistic geniuses.  I’m not sure which misanthropes called them douches, but it wasn’t me or anyone else who is awesome.

You, John Mayer, have opened up a new can of worms with your foray into discovering the deeper meaning of “douchebaggery.”  I suggest you stick to the guitar.  However, if you need further assistance, call one of my many exes.  They can help you flesh out that definition.

Thanks to Just Jared for first posting here.

If you’re anything like me (and, seriously, who wouldn’t want to be?), you have several blogs in your Google reader and have them in order of which you read religiously and those you only skim on occasion. Well, after Randomn3ss, you need to add Webster’s is My Bitch to the list of those that you read on the daily. Brought to you by two Pajiba regulars (actually… these guys have contributed to several blogs, including Yeeeah! and Litely Salted), Stacey and Dustin, Webster’s is My Bitch provides scathing and smart celebrity-themed gossip. They start each post with a keyword and define said word by a star’s actions, stupidity, or series of stupid actions (as the case may be). The material is not only clever, but includes original news items and celebrity quotes; I don’t feel like I’ve read these posts already on Crazy Days and Nights or Dlisted, both of which tend to post celeb gossip material first. The crew over at WiMB has their proverbial shit together - go check it out and show them some comment love!

Um, and you should also keep reading here everyday because we’re the awesome-est. Thanks.

It’s been a fun time so far this year with Randomn3ss, it has grown from just an idea to a full blown site with a contributing staff, several articles that have been submitted and done really well on digg and a wonderful, steadily growing reader base. This article marks a bit of a milestone, it is the 500th article to be published in less than a year. I figured this would be a great time to share where and how some of these articles come from.

I read a lot of sites, mostly blogs, some forums, some just plain old websites, I enjoy learning and the weary path that becomes the internet, clicking from one link to another. A good portion of the sites that interest me have little or no way of contacting them, have articles that I feel strongly about, either for or against, or spark an interest in something I’d like to start doing, used to do, or will never do again. Randomn3ss allows me the ability to comment, create content and make rebuttals for all of these sites. Randomn3ss has also allowed me to share some of the knowledge that I have on certain subjects in tutorials or how-to articles. Sometimes I’m just so impressed with a band, artist or car accident, I want to share it. But where does all of this come from?

Like I said, a good portion comes from simply reading websites. I am an avid fan of iGoogle for my home page slash RSS reader, it allows me to keep up with nearly 50 sites in different categories, I have one whole tab dedicated to blogs about blogging so I can try to be a better blogger. Say that five times fast! Other more organic articles, like the tutorials come from my own life. Among my group of friends, I am always the one taking photos, so I write about photography, same goes with computers, technology and eBay. If in any given short span of time, say a month, I get asked about a given topic more than twice, chances are I know enough about it to write an article, so I will. If I have great or horrible customer service, Randomn3ss gives me the soap box to stand on and tell everyone about it.

More content comes from forwarded emails, instant message conversations and social networking sites, I also try to stay up to date on news and stupid celebrity shit that I know is bad for me.

Lastly, I’ll write articles that people think I should write about. The contact page gets used now and again by readers to submit ideas and I am listed in a few press release sites that send me [mostly pure crap] press releases that I will publish from time to time.

As the first article states,

Expect a fair amount of complaining, concerns, and random thoughts on things that I encounter through my life, find on the internet and read in blogs.

I think I’ve lived up to that so far. I’d also say that all the writers who contribute to Randomn3ss have done so as well. Also like to give a big Thank You to all the readers who subscribe and comment here, it is all very appreciated.

In keeping with my passion for writing about blogs I read, the inspiration for this article was came from Chris Brogan’s article, 100 blog topics I hope you write about, #9 on the list, thanks for the ideas Chris!

On October 15th, 2007, more than 20,603 bloggers from around the globe writing articles about the environment, going green and bring awareness to how we can treat what earth a little bit better as part of Blog Action Day. Randomn3ss took part in this with several articles,

• Eco sex
• Who’s your green inspiration?
• I suck at environmentalism
• 7 surefire money saving green tips via reduction and maintenance

Additionally, we gave away a Nalgene Refill Not Landfill bottle that is reusable and recyclable. Part of the money spent on the bottle went to bring awareness to the issue of an average 8 out of 10 water bottles end up in land fills, not recycling plants, so use one you can reuse.

The total number of people that wrote articles is alarming though, so is the huge spike in activity of total blog posts for the day, which was the point of this whole thing. Visit Blog Action Day for a full recap of stats, but here is some info gathered by Blog Trends:

If you want to go through the 23,327 total blog posts made that day, use the Google Blog Search link and have it. I’m going to try to weed through them over the next few days and build a list of articles that I really like and share with everyone.

Overall, I think the event went very well, raised a lot of attention and hopefully made people open their eyes a bit more. Randomn3ss will be taking part in it again next year, and if you run a blog and want to participate, scroll to the very bottom of Blog Action Day and submit your name and email address to be notified in August of 2008.

Going green for me isn’t just about buying special light bulbs or buying reusable trash bags, it is more about reduction of the total footprint I have. Part of the reason is that I don’t have a ton of money to just take the working light bulbs out of my home and replace with the more energy efficient ones, part of the reason is that I feel I just over-use resources too often. Some of the things I’ve done include,

1. Maintaining my car. While my civic is 18 years old, it still routinely gets 34+ MPG; this is partly due to the fact that I take very good care of it. Regular oil changes, checking tire pressure every 6-8 weeks and cleaning / changing the air filter every year all lead to better fuel economy. I also try to run errands all at once, rather than stopping somewhere on my way home only to go to another store an hour after being home. Mapping where I drive often results in less miles, thus less fuel is burned.
2. Turning off electrical items not needed. For more than 20 years I have been falling asleep at night to glowing of a television screen and the sound of some stupid show. Simply teaching my body to fall asleep without the television on saved me 30 minutes of power usage. Same thing goes for cooking dinner or washing dishes, I turn off the TV in the other room, along with the lights.
3. Maintaining my laptop. These seems odd, but since buying a Macbook more than a month ago, I rarely charge it, running off battery power more than 90% of the time I use it. Part of the reason I chose a Mac was because they have amazing battery power, often given me close to 5 hours of usability per charge. Laptops charge faster when they are closed, either in sleep mode or turned off, so that is when I charge mine. Keeping it plugged in while working on it can cause it to take five times longer to charge, wasting electricity.
4. No more bottled water. In making an investment for a better cup of coffee I bought a Brita water pitcher. This has drastically improved the taste of my tap water and I will no longer be buying bottled water. Simply filling a bottle, like the Nalgene one we are giving away is going to not only save money, but also reduce the amount of waste I produce.
5. Doing full loads of laundry. Sounds simple enough, but I wait until I have a full load of laundry, almost always use cold water and pull the clothing immediately from the washing machine when it is done. Many of my collared shirts are hang dry, reducing the amount that goes into the dryer, which I make sure to keep the lint trap free and clean at all times.
6. Keep the freezer full. I have a 19 cubic foot fridge, I admit that it is much larger than I need, but it’s mine regardless. I have no reason to keep it stocked full of food, partially because I prefer to buy fresh as often as possible and only what I can eat in a few days, but if you keep the freezer full it will maintain a constant temperature longer. Doing so means that the fridge will need to kick on far less to keep things cool. Simply fill empty soda or juice bottles (plastic only) with water, no close than 2” from the top. Screw the top on tightly and put them in your freezer. The frozen water will help maintain the temperature, thus starting the cooling process longer.
7. Open and close the shades. In the summer, I keep the shades in my home closed for the majority of the afternoon, not because I don’t like the sunlight, but because it can raise the temperature in my home as much as 10 degrees within an hour. Even with the shade closed, the light filters in more than enough to light nearly my entire home. In the winter, I open them during the day to help the sun come in to naturally help heat everything and close them at night. Doing this has helped reduce my energy bill by about 10%.

The upside to these simple changes in life is that it will also reduce the money you spend on nearly every aspect of your life and cost you nearly nothing.

There’s been a lot of hype in the blogosphere about this Blog Action Day, which is pro-green/environment/not global warming.  Of course, blog action day also falls during the month of October, wherein I am also to be aware of breast cancer, fire prevention, and Halloween.  That’s a lot of shit to recognize, but I feel like today’s thing is probably a good thing to participate in.

However - I suck at being green.

It’s not that I’m not absolutely conscious of how bad we’re f-ing things up here on good ol’ planet Earth… I am.  I even took Environmental Ethics in college with kids who had lived in co-ops and made compost piles and shit.  I learned a lot from them.  But it’s the entire “putting it into practice” thing that I’m not too great at.  I figure though that a lot of people are kind of clueless about how to go green, so while you read the articles of my comrades for their information, you can read my for its pure cynicism and entertainment value.  Without further ado, here are my newest resolutions I plan to follow in order to reduce my footprint:

1) Stop throwing my cigarette butts out the car window.  Although I don’t like it when my car smells like smoke, it’s also not fair to the earth to keep throwing barely-degradable ordinance out of my car to the street.  Cigarette butts always seem to accumulate in gutters and around doorways and it’s kinda gross.  So, when I’m out, I’ll find a trash receptacle or just put them back in my pack until I can throw the whole thing away.  My car is another story - I think I’m gonna keep half a water bottle in my car and throw my butts in that.  Then, I will leave it in the cupholder so the next drunk ass friend I take home accidentally swigs out of it.  Pro-environment and hilarious.

2) Stop peeing in the shower.  Although this is definitely a guilty pleasure, I am sure that it is responsible for the near-extinction of beluga whales in the waters surrounding Japan.  Either that or rampant illegal poaching, whatever.

3) Start moonshine/brewery operation in order to recycle old beer bottles.  A must since Lower Merion Township barely has a recycling program.  At least, my apartment complex doesn’t believe in it.  And I am not sure where to take my cans and bottles and I am not sure I feel like holding onto them either (because I like in squalor and on the third floor).  Actually, maybe I should just move back to upstate New York so I can turn my beer cans in for money.  That was awesome and justified buying lots of beer in the first place.

4) Use rechargeable batteries in your vibrator.  Less physical waste from your standard disponseable batteries, especially in such a heavily-used appliance.

5) Reuse my coffee grounds.  You can just, like, run water through again the next day, right?  Wait… no… wait.  That’s gross, right?  Yeah, it’s gross.  I think the earth can handle coffee grounds.  Sorry, Earth.

6) Make a family of merkins from all unused hair shavings.  If you don’t know what this means, go to urbandictionary.com.  I hear the bassist from Noosphere has one.

In the meantime, I think that both you and I should check out this link (courtesy of fellow Randomn3ss scribe Ms. Libertine - thanks!) and see what other (aka actual) ways that I and my fellow lazy bastards can go green.  You should also check out Lo’s piece and Ms. Sabotage’s as well.  They are much more informative than me.  I’m off to sow my merkins.

Today is Blog Action Day! A day where fourteen thousand blogs will discuss one issue by trying to make an impact on 15 million readers. The topic? Environmentalism.

I feel that a lot of people don’t know what “going green” means. According to Wikipedia it means

…a concern for the preservation, restoration, or improvement of the natural enviroment, such as the conservation of natural resources, prevention of pollution, and certain land use actions.

The concern I feel most people have is where to begin. There are plenty of simple tips to get yourself started. Every little bit counts whether its taking less time in the shower or changing your light bulbs. A few examples can be found right here on Randomn3ss, “Going More Green“, by Lauren. Or rent the infamous movie by Al Gore, An Inconvenient Truth.

However, I digress. My topic is about sex. Now I can imagine the puzzled looks on everyone’s faces. Yes, I wondered myself how anyone can green up their sex life. Well, it can be done. Let’s explore it further.

I got these tips from Treehugger, a website that has a plethora of environmental topics.

1. Sex Toys - Most sex toys contain chemicals called phthalates, a threatening chemical that’s been banned in children’s toys since 2004. It is especially said to be dangerous in sex toys because of the warm and moist places they are deposited in. So, instead of purchasing a unsafe toy it’s suggested to buy a more natural companion. Trying out a toy made of glass, metal, silicone, hard plastics, or elastomers is a safe bet. Instead of wasting batteries look for a rechargeable toy. Fun Factory is a neat place where you’ll find Lily, Lelo & Acuvibe.
2. Lubricant - Looking at the labels helps choosing a more natural lubricant. Avoid using any petroleum (save the fossil fuels), artificial scents, flavors and colors. A good choice is Babeland’s water based lubricant.
3. Condoms - The phrase, “reduce, reuse and recycle” is an angelic symphony to any environmentalists ears. However, this does not apply to condoms. We all know that a baby free environment means using a safe and reliable form of protection. Nothing beats the good ol’ latex condom. However, they are still determining whether or not a latex condom is biodegradable. For a biodegradable option lambskin is an option to protect against conception not STDs. For vegetarians (like me) and vegans a good source is Glyde condoms. Any condom that is polyurethane is not biodegradable so try and stay away from them. Another excellent tip is not to dispose condoms down the toilet, it will clog the pipes, treatment plants and rivers.
4. Green Date - Homosexual, bisexual, heterosexual and asexual are terms we’ve heard of to describe one’s orientation or style. What about ecosexual? They exist and in large numbers. If you’re looking for a companion that doesn’t chomp on animals, recycles and uses organic toothpaste you can find a match on Green Singles, Green Passions and Human 2 Human.
5. Dress Eco Sexy - Looking and feeling sexy can make for some naughty antics. Why not save the environment while you’re at it? There are products for men and women. Peau Ethique has some cute and comfortable undergarments along with Bueno Style, Butta and Green Knickers. My ultimate favorite is Enamore which has gorgeous, sexy clothes and lingerie.

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