Tag Archives: Hackers

Webbitez Bitez ► A Consumer Report

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Avoid this company at all costs
Ladies and gentlemen of the internets: 
I would like to warn the world about a Web Design company operating out of
Ireland called Webbitez. 
A year ago I met the owner Ian Christie through my
sister. In a general and casual discussion about the Not Now Silly Newsroom, I
mentioned how everyone told me I should abandon the Blogger platform in favour
of a Word Press template in order to better monetize my site. However, I stated
that what has kept me from doing so were the hundreds of posts already made,
which I would lose.
I’ve had this discussion with several people over the years. They all shrugged and said, “Oh, well.” 
However, Christie was the only person who told me that I would not have to lose any of my previous posts; they could be imported to the new site and he knew exactly how
to do it.
That’s when we entered into an agreement that he would build
my web site and import all my previous posts into the new site under my own
domain name. I paid him 50% of the agreed upon fee as a down payment, the
balance to be paid when the web site was finished. We shook on it at his
insistence.
I could go over chapter and verse of why, a year later, I’m
still trying to get a web site out of him, but it’s all water under the bridge
now. He has used my anger at his obstinacy and inaction to withdraw from the
project, blaming me for being rude.
I have every right to be rude. I have waited a year for my
web site to be finished and he has made excuse after excuse on why it’s not
been finished. Among those excuses are that he had to go to school to get his degree and that was
his first priority. Then why did he take on the project? 
However, my favourite excuse is that his server was
attacked by Russian hackers and he was forced to rebuild his clients’ web sites
at his own time and expense.
Aside from the fact that this is EXACTLY the service one would expect from
a web host, Russian hackers? Really?
Time after time I have attempted to resolve these issues and all I
got were cryptic responses. My direct questions went unanswered or he would point to
previous answers that didn’t really answer my direct questions. It was all passive-aggressive games.
However, today was the straw that broke the camel’s back. Six
days ago, while I was traveling, he told me the site was finished. Three days
ago I asked for the URL so I could see my site. After waiting a full 3 days I finally
sent the following message:

Please read this with an open mind,
something you’ve shown little inclination to do in our previous exchanges.

Had you treated me as a CLIENT from the
very beginning, we never would have had any of the problems we had. Instead,
you treated me like something you stepped in. I maintain that you would have
never have opened our LAST exchange the way you did had I been treated like a
CLIENT. Nor would you have tried to make all these problems about me, or my
rudeness. After a full year of inaction, I have earned the right to be as rude
as I need to be.

You said where you come from people don’t
discuss money. Where I come from people discuss money when they’ve been screwed
out of it.

You may consider my down payment a small
amount of money, barely worthy of your consideration. However, to me it was a
sizable chunk of my disposable income, which I actually made clear at the time.
It’s all relative, isn’t it?

However, even that shouldn’t matter. We both
entered into this agreement as intelligent men, or so I thought. There was even
a handshake at your insistence. Remember?

And now we have come to this latest
impasse. Several days ago you told me the site is finished. I asked for the
URL. I’m still waiting for a reply. Would you have treated a CLIENT this way?
Answer honestly, Ian. Would any of this have happened had you simply treated me
like a CLIENT, instead of a source of frustration?

In our last conversation you told me that
you will refund my down payment, but will withdraw all continued web support.
Will you also refund the money I spent for a year’s worth of my own domain
name, at your insistence, that I was unable to use? You further told me you
will not host my site, which will be an added expense I had not anticipated.
[Thanks for blowing my budget and making me scramble at the last minute to
locate a web host, something I have no experience in doing.] As well, you now
refuse to help me with the SEO, which was one of the things I was most excited
about. Furthermore, if you ever produce the URL to my site so I can simply take
a look after waiting all this time, I suspect you will present me with a fait
accompli, on which I have had almost no input and will not be allowed to
request any changes.

Just to remind you: I am the client.
Imagine you were a tailor. Would you have me in for a fitting or two? Or, would
you just present me with the garment when you were finished?

I honestly don’t
what game you’re playing now. I honestly don’t know why you wouldn’t just
respond to my request for the URL. Did I forget to say “Please and thank
you” or is there some other agenda here?

Just let me know what hoops I still have to
jump through so we can conclude this business transaction. Or, has it been your
intention all along to not conclude this business transaction and this is
merely your passive-aggressive way to get me to walk away?

Mr. Passive-Aggressive

He sent a return message that made it appear as
if he understood what I was saying, but then, very soon after that, he started in
with his passive-aggressive bullshit all over again.

I asked him several times this morning for the URL that
would allow me to see my site. He kept saying I had the URL already. No, I didn’t.
I had the URL to a COMING SOON landing page. Finally, after asking for the URL
several times he admitted that:

As is your other blog, page has an admin section. You get access to that
when I suggested we talk Thursday you would have seen that. But you as always
jump head first and argue pointless issues. But yes I’m wrong.

But, you see, I never asked for admission to the Admin Section. I asked over and over again for the URL that would allow me to view the web site that he said was finished.

So . . . why couldn’t he have said this from the very beginning? Why did I have to ask over and over again to see my site and all he would do was answer with some cryptic bullshit about I already have the URL. No, I did not have the URL which would allow me to see my site, just the landing page.

And, let’s talk about that landing page, because it’s a perfect example of the kind of crazy bullshit I’ve had to deal with up to now.

Somehow I was supposed to be satisfied with this ugly page.
Last year, when this entire process began, I asked him to create a COMING SOON page for me. I was excited to be finally blogging under my own domain name and wanted to promote it. He never produced that page. 
And, he hung me out to dry with my readers because I promised month after month that a new site under my own domain was COMING SOON. In fact, I stopped mentioning it because it made me look foolish.
In fact, I stopped mentioning the entire project months ago. Originally we had scheduled a weekly Wednesday Skype (still in my calendar) to go over the web site. After a while he stopped answering my Skypes. Once I got hold of him and he went off on me, making me feel so guilty, that I didn’t contact him again for months. Because it seemed to be such an unpleasant task, I avoided it completely.
However, recently, I convinced him that I was truly the aggrieved party here and not him (and THAT took typing up a blue streak before he would finally admit that, paraphrasing, “Oh, yeah, maybe a year to wait for a web site might have been a tad over the line.”). That’s when I demanded an action plan (which in the end he didn’t stick to either) on when EXACTLY my web site would be finished. Then I demanded, as a show of good faith, he do the first thing I asked him to do a year ago: Give me a COMING SOON page. He argued against it, told me I didn’t need a COMING SOON page, but I made it a condition of going forward. I identified 2 Not Now Silly logo graphics that he could use on a COMING SOON page. I never assumed he’d use both of them. That was just stupid on his part.
This is the correct aspect ratio.

Stupider still was how he screwed up the aspect ration of both graphics. There’s nothing that crawls up my back faster than someone who screws up the aspect ratio of a graphic and he did it to two of mine. So, I told him that it wasn’t right and it was *NOT* something I would share with my readers. I had to explain it to him because he didn’t seem to understand what I meant by aspect ratio. 

However, he blew up. Again, he told me that a COMING SOON page was unimportant. And, how could I dare criticize something he worked so hard over. And, that making a COMING SOON page was just a waste of time when there was a web site to build that he already had a year to build.
I let it go. I said nothing in response. I thought a COMING SOON page was a dead issue. Then, without warning, he came back with a new COMING SOON page, despite telling me he wouldn’t bother. And, it was ugly, with a capital U. [See above.]
Why would I want a stained floor background? Why would I want an email sign-up, something we never discussed? Why wasn’t the whole thing centered properly on the page? Why wasn’t the email sign-up centered on that other part that wasn’t centered? Why are there several ugly symbols for my Twitter, Blogspot, and Facebook accounts? Why aren’t those ugly graphics hyperlinked so that they actually have a function? Why not my YouTube channel as well? Why wasn’t I consulted anywhere along the way?
While there was all kinds of wrong with this COMING SOON page, I kept my criticism to myself this time, because I had already seen how he was unwilling to accept any criticism from the CLIENT. Everything he does is so fucking great, you see. He made a point to tell me it had taken 8 hours of work, something that I could have done here in the Not Now Silly Newsroom in 2 minutes. TWO FUCKING MINUTES!!!

Today I offhandedly said I thought it was ugly, and he went nutz on me again:

ME: All I know is that when I click on [the domain name] I get the COMING SOON page. I don’t care about that ugly page. I want to see the web site. I need the URL for that.

IAN: Oh[,] man. Seriously[,] did you just type that? Ugly? Lol. Good man Headley. [sic] Keep up the insults from a man that is so great full. [sic]

BTW: He never seemed to spell my name right and, he’s absolutely right, I’m an ingrate because I dared insist on quality.
The IM continues:

ME: You expected me to share that COMING SOON page with my readers?

I have higher standards than that.

IAN: No I don’t. When did I say that? Nobody shares a coming soon page but if you knew anything about SEO you would know why it’s there. [After telling me several times it was unneeded.] Regardless of what I say I’m just wrong. So I’m wrong.

As is your other blog, page has an admin section. You get access to that when I suggested we talk Thursday you would have seen that. But you as always jump head first and argue pointless issues. But yes I’m wrong.

And even spending a day on that graphic for you, you insult insult insult. Read your messages, that’s all my fault. Despite what I have said u continue to be an asshole.

So my point of drawing a line, well if that’s drawing a line and deliberately offending my work….yes, I’m wrong to be offended for doing something for you for free and my time. Yes, indeed I’m wrong. Not you, you, you are a totally innocent bystander. By me explaining why we are at this juncture is excuses to you. Please

let’s move on.

Trying to move on you’ll note that he finally provided his rationale for not giving me the URL that I had asked for time and time again this morning in order that I could see my site. In a very roundabout way,
without actually coming out and saying so — which is how he passive-aggressive answers everything — he told me that I wouldn’t
get to see the site until he was damned good and ready to show me
because – – and get this:

Read
my messages. Read the one i sent last week where I said we would go
through it together. That we needed a window to look at it TOGETHER. You
have no clue how to view it and that was the purpose of the window.

Are you kidding me, Ian?

WTF? I have no clue how to view a web site?  Are you fucking kidding me, Ian?

Or, did he just want to sandbag me with a fait accompli on Thursday? Did he want to give me no time to click around on MY SITE and get a feel for it from my readers’ perspective? There is no logical reason why he couldn’t answer me all those times I asked for the URL. There is no logical reason why he thinks I need a tourist guide to look at my own web site.

Then, on Thursday, maybe we could discuss what is right and what is wrong with the web site designed without my input and without my ever having seen it.

This is what really sticks in my craw. All morning I asked for the URL to view my site. He *NEVER* gave me the URL. He just kept telling me I already had it. Like it was a fucking treasure hunt. Eventually I figured out ON MY OWN that he was talking about the COMING SOON page.
That’s just another one of his passive-aggressive games.
He did the same thing the last time we texted. He said he needed some info. I said what info. He said it was upthread. I kept looking for it, but couldn’t find it on a thread miles long. I kept asking specifically what he info he wanted and he kept telling me it was already answered. It became another one of his fucking treasure hunts. He falsely insisted I knew exactly what he was talking about. After I finally found it and answered he said, “See, you knew all along.” If I knew all along I would have answered when he asked!!! When I said, “You could have just told me,” he said that he didn’t want to patronize me by cutting and pasting it. What kind of shabby excuse is that for his passive-aggressive behaviour? Had he patronized me with a cut & paste, it would have saved us almost an hour’s worth of argument. [All saved for posterity. Feel free to request the text file.]
Today, I never asked for the COMING SOON page. I asked to see my web site. I asked to see it many times. It took a very long time before he FINALLY told me that I couldn’t see it until Thursday, as per his previous message. Why couldn’t he have started there instead of playing another one of his passive-aggressive games where we kept going around in the same circle over and over again?
Here is what I consider the punchline to the whole story: I never told my sister what had been occurring with her friend Ian. It had nothing to do with her. However, recently she told me she was thinking of going to Ireland. Because I already knew that Ian Christie had passed another production deadline and that I would probably be forced to blast him when I returned home, I decided to bring her into the loop, so she wasn’t sandbagged. She thanked me for the info, told me that blood was thicker than water, and asked to be kept up to date. 
What made him think my sister would take his side?

Today, when it all started to go sideways — almost immediately — I informed her as it happened. Neither of us could believe how crazy Ian had become. When I finally told him we were done and our business was concluded, my sister asked whether she could take a crack at him. At that point it was FREE KICKS, as far as I was concerned. Her message sent him into spin cycle.

First he said to me: “So now you turn *** * *** against me. That’s low mate. Low.” 

However, after he realized just how badly he had messed up, he started begging us to reconsider, because my sister is so very important to him. He should have treated her brother with a little more respect then. All I ever asked for was for him to fulfill his promises to me. Seems simple.
Neither my sister, nor I, would answer his IMs, nor would we accept his numerous Facebook calls, which just seemed to make him crazier. He seemed to think he could have a rational explanation for a year’s worth of crazy.

He has now blamed me for destroying his friendship with my sister. Ian Christie has no sense of personal responsibility whatsoever. It’s always the fault of someone else.

Anyway, internet friends: I have reams of archived
conversations with this monster. Feel free to ask for them. Meanwhile, I suggest you steer clear of
Webbitez. I am an extremely dissatisfied customer and would hate to see anyone
else get screwed over by Ian Christie – I mean, those nasty Russian Hackers.

Headlines Du Jour ► Tuesday, December 2, 2014

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Hello again, Headliners! Today’s birthday belongs to director Penelope Spheeris. Among the other Headlines Du Jour of yesteryear:

Here is today’s Headlines Du Jour:

FERGUSON FOLLOW-UP:

MORE OF THAT GOP OUTREACH:

MORE EXCITING EPISODES OF COPS GONE WILD:

GUNS, GUNS, GUNS:

OUR WIRED WORLD:

CLIMATE CHANGE:

FREE THE WEED!!!

IN INNER SPACE:

IN OUTER SPACE:

VIDEO DU JOUR:

Headlines Du Jour is a leisure-time activity of Not Now Silly, home of the
Steam-Powered Word-0-Matic, and your rest stop on the Information
Highway. Use our valuable bandwidth to post your news comments in
today’s open thread.

Headlines Du Jour ► Monday, February 17, 2014

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As we celebrate the birth of Jerry Lewis-muse Kathleen Freeman, let’s take a closer look at a few Headlines Du Jour from yesteryear:

• 1753 – In Sweden February 17 is followed by March 1 as the country moves from the Julian calendar to the Gregorian calendar.
• 1801 – An electoral tie between Thomas Jefferson and Aaron Burr is resolved when Jefferson is elected President of the United States and Burr Vice President by the United States House of Representatives.
• 1819 – The United States House of Representatives passes the Missouri Compromise for the first time.
• 1933 – The Blaine Act ends Prohibition in the United States.
• 1959 – Project Vanguard: Vanguard 2 – The first weather satellite is launched to measure cloud-cover distribution.
• 1965 – Project Ranger: The Ranger 8 probe launches on its mission to photograph the Mare Tranquillitatis region of the Moon in preparation for the manned Apollo missions. Mare Tranquillitatis or the “Sea of Tranquility” would become the site chosen for the Apollo 11 lunar landing.
• 1996 – In Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, world champion Garry Kasparov beats the Deep Blue supercomputer in a chess match.

Now that that’s over with, let’s take a gander at today’s Headlines Du Jour:

BOYCOTT THE SOCHI OLYMPICS!!!

Russians “brutally” arrest former Italian member of parliament at Sochi Olympics

TODAY IN HEALTH CARE:

Hospital charges shown to vary widely
Some bill more ‘because they can’

FREE THE WEED!!!

New details emerge on Colorado
marijuana operators raided by feds

Deep pockets and personal stories underpin Florida’s medical marijuana push

HACKING DU JOUR:

Kickstarter Hacked, Credit Card Data Safe

PHONE HACKING IN THE NEWS AGAIN:

Murdoch’s ex-British paper boss Brooks to start phone-hacking defense

LOOFAH LAD IN THE NEWS AGAIN:

Would Fox News’ Bill O’Reilly be a good president in 2016 or not?

FOX “NEWS” IN THE NEWS AGAIN:

Why would a Michigan medical clinic block Fox News?

WHEN THE MITT HITS THE FAN:

THE “O” IN GOP STANDS FOR OH! STOP!! MY!!! SIDES!!!!

Election Thief Karl Rove Says Chris Christie Is What We Want In a President

PASS THE POPCORN!!!

Reviled by Republicans,
Ted Cruz is ‘So Hated,
He’s Going to Need
a Food Taster’

REAL ESTATE CORNER:

Al Capone’s gangster mansion on the market in Miami Beach

CONSTITUTION CORNER:

Top Ten Reasons Why You Should Not Talk to the Police


CRACK MAYOR CORNER:

Rob Ford’s Toronto: where the buck doesn’t stop

If Ukrainians can protest their leader in weather even colder than Toronto’s, why are Torontonians content to let Rob Ford be mayor?

STAR TREK UNIVERSE:

Michael Dorn Confirms He’s Working on a ‘Star Trek: Captain Worf’ TV Series

CBS developing new CSI
and EMS related Star Trek
television shows

TODAY IN RELIGION:

Pastor dies after snake he was handling bit him

DYLAN IN DECLINE:

Bob Dylan and the Ethics of Market Fascism

VIDEO DU JOUR:


Headlines Du Jour is a leisure-time activity of Not Now Silly, home of the
Steam-Powered Word-0-Matic, and your rest stop on the Information
Highway. Use our valuable bandwidth to post your news comments in
today’s open thread.

Headlines Du Jour ► Saturday, January 18, 2014

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In yesterday’s exciting episode of Headlines Du Jour, I lamented that my headline-collecting robot drones had not shown up. Now I know why. They’ve become supreme overlord to your home appliances. The first two headlines describe the latest adventures of my former-headline-collecting robot drones. In the meantime, I’m taking applications for interns all over again.

Refrigerator Used By Hackers In Cyber Attack
Internet-connected home appliances are infected by a large “botnet” over a two-week period.

Hackers Use Refrigerator, Other Devices to Send 750,000 Spam Emails


SCIENCE IS COMPLICATED:

New study shows chimpanzees capable of communicating
through gestures and pointing to achieve a common goal


FOX “NEWS” IN THE NEWS:

Fox’s Elisabeth Hasselbeck: Are male-wussifying feminists a national security problem?

Ann Coulter: Fox & Friends Won’t ‘Put on Conservatives Who Can Put Two Sentences Together’

ANOTHER EXCITING EPISODE OF COPS GONE WILD:

 

Houston cops cuff and detain man for an
hour for giving change to homeless person


FREE THE WEED!!!

Harry Reid signals support for
medical marijuana use


FREE THE WEED HYSTERIA!!!

Nancy Grace: People on pot shoot
each other, strangle each other,
and kill whole families


FROM OUTER SPACE:

On Mars, A Rock Appears
Where There Wasn’t One Before


THE COMPANY HE KEEPS:

‘Hannity’ regular Erik Rush calls for military coup against Obama


OSCAR WORTHY!!!

’20 Feet From Stardom’ Gets Its Turn in Oscars’ Spotlight
How legendary record man Gil Friesen’s documentary about backup singers wowed the film world


OSCAR WORTHY???

‘MITT’: Five Big Revelations About Romney In The New Documentary

VIDEO DU JOUR:

Headlines Du Jour is a leisure-time activity of Not Now Silly, home of the
Steam-Powered Word-0-Matic, and your rest stop on the Information
Highway. Use our valuable bandwidth to post your news comments in
today’s open thread.

Headlines Du Jour ► Sunday, January 12, 2014

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When Headlines Du Jour is outlawed, only outlaws will read Headlines Du Jour. Let’s get right to it, shall we?

BEST HEADLINE DU JOUR:

Pimp Suing Nike for $100 Million After He Stomped Man Nearly
to Death with Jordans

LGBT NEWS:

U.S. Government Issues LGBT Travel Alert For Olympics

ROGER AILES IN THE NEWS:

Biography Of Fox’s Roger Ailes Alleges Sexism, Anti-Semitism

Roger and me: How I got berated by Fox News
Channel’s boss

ANOTHER HACK ATTACK:

Neiman Marcus is latest victim of security breach
Customers’ card information stolen and unauthorized charges made

TODAY’S EXCITING EPISODE OF COPS GONE WILD:

Los Angeles woman who fell from moving police car says she was sexually assaulted by cop

SO GLAD WE’RE LIVING IN A POST-RACIAL SOCIETY:

The racism at the heart of
the Reagan presidency

White professors still dominate Bay Area
colleges as student bodies grow more diverse


Franklin McCain — of ‘Greensboro Four,’
who defied whites-only barrier — dies

FREE THE WEED!!!

Faces of Pot: The Vapour Lounge

Marijuana case filings plummet in
Colorado following legalization

STOP THE PRESSES!!!

NYC Mayor Bill de Blasio lambasted for eating pizza with a fork

IN THE ART WORLD:

Renoir found at flea market returned to museum by Virginia court

OUT OF THIS WORLD:

Planetology comes of age
Those who study planets orbiting other
stars now have plenty of data to play with

Rare, Eclipsing Binary Asteroids Discovered by Undergraduate Astronomy Class

Scientists spot hypervelocity stars escaping clutches of galaxy

TODAY IN BEATLES’ NEWS:

Paul McCartney And Ringo Starr May Stage Beatles
Reunion On ‘Late Show With David Letterman’

VIDEO DU JOUR:


Headlines Du Jour is a leisure-time activity of Not Now Silly, home of the
Steam-Powered Word-0-Matic, and your rest stop on the Information
Highway. Use our valuable bandwidth to post your news comments in
today’s open thread.