A FOND FAREWELL

To CColotexan, who passed this week. By all accounts, he was a great guy and lots of fun. CColotexan was the Puke’s room’s official nudist.

Goodbye, CC, you will be missed.

ABOUT IP ADDRESSES AND STATISTICS COUNTERS

All websites have Tracing an IP address will lead the snoop to your internet service provider and no farther. The snoop can ascertain the state and city of your service provider, but not your name or home address, etc.

The exception would be if the IP address belongs to your personal web site for which you own the domain name. In this case the snoop can look up your domain info and, if you do not have a privacy option protecting it, see your name and address and possibly your phone number.

(2) is definitely a more serious situation and has plenty of illegal overtones. Keylogger programs are expensive and generally used by professionals and businesses, typically to monitor the activities of their network computers, which is perfectly legal.

It is illegal to use keylogger software for the purpose of obtaining an individual’s personal info and passwords through remote hacking of a computer. However, this is one of the most common approaches used by amateur hackers today. Many amateur hackers have gained familiarity with keylogging programs and remote computer access through their line of work, most notably in the Information Technology (IT) fields.

Using the IT tools of one’s place of employment to track and hack is absolutely a crime and prosecutable, even if you own the company. Got that herlicker?

* * * * *

There are ways to thwart IP tracking. I mask my IP with a nifty little program called Easy-Hide-IP. I can connect from anywhere in the world and assume that location’s IP. Unfortunately, I didn’t start using this program until after the snoops had traced my real IP. I paid for Easy-Hide-IP. I have not found a good free IP masking program that does not slow down your pc internet connection.

Happy hacking, snoops!

MOTH BALL POGO NAMES

Lately there have been a lot of Pogo names showing up in the Pukes room that have a fair amount of tokens, an old join date and look legit, but may not be. These are what I call “mothball memberships” because they are member names that a regular roomie has had stashed away to use as a clone. I’m pointing this out so’s ya don’t get taken in by a bushwhacker or wolf in sheep’s clothing. These mothball names probably belong to people that are up to no good, so pay attention!

The mothball names have a few characteristics in common that make them stand out. Usually, but not always:

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  Not many tokens in relationship to the length of membership
  
  


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  Very few badges
  
  


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  A brief and ho-hum profile
  
  


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  No “Send Message” button on their profile, which means they are using a guest pass. ( Guest pass users do not have access to Pogo mail.)
  
  

IMITATION IS THE SINCEREST FORM OF FLATTERY

“Usually said ironically when someone tries to gain attention by copying someone else's original ideas. “

From "Random House Dictionary of Popular Proverbs and Sayings"

Giving up on the weird and irritating karaoke performances where she  dumped shitloads of song lyrics into chat and made it impossible for anyone  else to get a word in, Bella now has a new ploy for attention: copying the funny “sister wives” shtick that was popular with some regs awhile back.

Bella’s copycat game is getting all the ladies in the room to “marry” each other and, as she did with the karaoke spiel, bella floods the room with this fantasy, drawing in all those around her, willing or not, and dominating chat once again.

As usual, bella seems to be the only one interested, so this copycat routine should die out real soon. If we’re lucky…

Yeah, I know, bella is just trying to have fun, but gimme a break. A sense of humor like hers needs to be dealt out in small doses. Being in the room when she’s on one of her rolls is like being the captive audience of a bad comedian.  Maybe she should take note of how many people leave when she’s performing. Last night they were dropping off like flies.

UNCHAINED MELODY

Everyone is sharing favorite music in the Pukes room tonight and someone mentioned Unchained Melody.

That brought on a rush of special memories for me because in my teens I lived in Newport Beach for two years and the Rendezvous Ballroom on Balboa Blvd. was walking distance from our apartment. The Rendezvous was a famous dance hall in earlier decades, and in the 60’s it was a hugely popular teen club. Dick Dale and the Del Tones were the birth of surf music and headlined at the Ballroom, and the Righteous Brothers, Beach Boys, Jan and Dean and Duane Eddy were regulars there. We hung out at the Rendezvous every Friday and Saturday night, dancing and having a blast with our friends. There was an upper level balcony on three sides of the dance hall with cozy tables and candlelight.

Dick Dale and the Del Tones and the Beach Boys did surf tunes and the Righteous Brothers did their awesome love songs. I remember the hilarious routine the Righteous Brothers fumbled through, changing outfits for every song and sometimes doing it right there on stage in Keystone Cops confusion, shoes, socks and jackets flying everywhere.

And, of course, one of the songs the Righteous Brothers crooned was Unchained Melody, and it always cast a dreamy spell on the entire ballroom. I can still remember swaying to Unchained Melodies with Richard Voight, my tanned and blonde surfer god.

So, here’s Unchained Melody from my generation, and also an earlier version from the 50’s, done by The Platters, one of my all-time faves. Enjoy!

Unchained Melody - Righteous Brothers

Unchained Melody – The Platters

An early history of the Rendezvous Ballroom  LINK

THAT ANNOYING POPUP

TJ, the Original Gnome of the Pukes room, has little to say most times, but he has an annoying habit of popping up unexpectedly to drop a snide remark or make an arrogant comment. Tink or OC was wondering if there was a popup blocker for popup A-holes. Wouldn’t that be great? Maybe someone could borrow the other Teddy’s hammer…

That same gnome was referred to recently as a pot puffer. Someone then said, it’s dangerous to smoke while sitting on the pot because of the potential for flammable gases. Be careful, Ted, you might singe that beard or char that lil weenie!

PUKES LOSERS

IN THE SPOTLIGHT…

MEET kimogino, one of the latest sick clones created by some demented, sorry excuse of a human being who derives joy and pleasure from another person’s suffering and pain.

With a few exceptions, it’s usually next to impossible to narrow a clone down to a specific person just from the clone name they picked or the way they chat, because the more experienced cloners are getting really good at imitating the chat styles of other Pukers. However, there are some specifics about this clone that might narrow the choices down to just a few people.



The person who created kimogino

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  Has extreme hatred for Dances OR
  
  


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  Really, really wants to impress Judie with a show of loyalty and thinks this is the way to do it
  
  


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  Has severe mental, emotional and social problems
  
  


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  Uses extremes that normal people consider off limits to attack and humiliate others, such as illness, personal tragedy, physical handicaps and death of a loved one
  
  

There are just a handful of people in the Pukes room who fit this profile, and most of us know who they are. You can bet that kimogino is one of them.