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erupt.asia
flee.asia
fling.asia
fondle.asia
hijack.asia
invade.asia
perform.asia
picket.asia
provoke.asia
publicize.asia
pursue.asia
ransack.asia
reconcile.asia
salute.asia
sexguides.asia
smuggle.asia
snatch.asia
sniff.asia
spike.asia
terrorize.asia
threaten.asia
tickle.asia
travelsin.asia
undress.asia

Changing Amazon Associates email is incredibly convoluted and stupid.  At every other site, you change your  email by logging in, changing your email,  and verifying the new address (with a notice sent to the old address).

Not at Amazon!  They are very security-minded.  I had to add another user (me) to my account.  Then click the link in the email sent to the “new user” (me) and register a new account (for myself).  Next, I logged back in as “the old me” and confirmed the new user (the new me), and deleted myself (the old me).

After logging back in as “the new me”, I find “the old me” is gone and my email is changed.  Who’s programming this crap for them, Microsoft?

I had an idea several years ago for a web site that acted as an exchange for real and virtual currencies. I was never an avid gamer but, after discovering Second Life and IMVU, I realized how many people were spending (and earning) money in these 3D virtual worlds. While there are some companies (IGE and others) that facilitate buying and selling of virtual goods and currencies, there didn’t seem to be a true virtual/real currency exchange market yet. One that would provide daily exchange rates for directly changing one currency into another, virtual or real, for a small fee. Like most of my ideas, this was added to a very long “projects” list. I had a good idea, I was sure, but neither the time nor resources to develop it.

Fast forward to 2010. IMVU and myYearbook are the first partners of the new Currency Connect, “a service that allows virtual world and social networking site members to exchange virtual currency among partner websites.”¹ They don’t (as far as I can tell) offer exchange with real currencies, though. That would certainly involve regulatory compliances which would complicate matters. But how long can these virtual currencies, purchased with real money, be unregulated? Over two years ago, “Linden Lab, the company that runs the popular virtual world Second Life, announced… that all in-world “banks” must now be registered with real-world banking regulators.”² Dave Rosenberg noted, in his blog on CNet News last December³, that the door is open for much larger players to bring their huge user bases to the game. Certainly PayPal, Facebook, Google, Yahoo, and Microsoft could stake a claim in this, as yet, wide open territory.

Where does that leave me? Crossing yet another promising idea off my list? Probably. I still don’t have the resources needed for development. So I’m throwing this idea out into the blogosphere. Maybe someone with capital or connections can make use of it.

What do you think? Thumbs up or down?

¹ http://www.currencyconnect.com/FAQ

² http://www.freedom-to-tinker.com/blog/felten/second-life-welcomes-bank-regulators

³ http://news.cnet.com/8301-13846_3-10415702-62.html

Image courtesy of Pulsar Media

I tend to keep 40-60 tabs open, on average. I can run the latest Firefox on this box and it will have severe performance problems (the screen turns grey, desktop unresponsive) even with nothing else running. I have to restart Firefox 3 times daily. It takes a long time to reload, so this is a major inconvenience.

I am now running Chrome with 42 tabs, as well as Thunderbird, Gimp, Pidgin, 5 terminals, and 2 virtual machines (Ubuntu 10.4 using QEMU and OpenSuse 11.2 using Virtualbox 3.1) – all this on a fully pimped-out Compiz 3D desktop on a 24″ display – with outstanding performance from Chrome.

I love the Fox, but until it gets its act together, I’m using Chrome.

I was bored the other day (really, I was avoiding the pile of work to be done), and decided to create a fun site for funny photos.  To be accurate, photos with funny captions.  It will provide me with endless hours of amusement, keeping me off the streets and out of trouble.  I hope some of you will become contributors, too.  Right now, you can leave comments and alternate captions.  Email me to register an account.  I’d leave it open but for the damned spammers.  Check out WrongDotCom and let me know what you think.