Enjoy the footage of my tomatoes and the other plants growing on my back porch -- they're truly wonders of urban nature. Keep your fingers double-crossed that the pigeons don't get my tomatoes before I do.
BTW, I saw the system requirements for the Flip Mino after I ordered it. It says that OS 10.5 is required, but so far it's working without the upgrade. Thoughts on taking my G4 Powerbook to the next level? I can't decide if it's worth the trouble.
We tried another Peruvian place this week at a listener's recommendation. After this meal, I'm willing to upwardly revise my opinion of Peruvian cuisine. Listen to the podcast for details.
I took a series of shots from the Madison station downtown today. Because of the walkway over the tracks, this is a great stop to take photos of the new Trump Tower. I also love it because I can spot most train lines while I wait for the Brown Line.
I'm not sure I like the new building, but since it dominates the skyline I think I need to get used to it.
What's wrong with this picture? Check the domain in the image and then check the content. Yep. That's Chicago Bites content that's been harvested and reused on another site.
If you go to the offending site, our content is no longer there. That's only because we are diligent in monitoring our content and presence online and proactive in taking action when our content is misused.
How did I catch this and deal with it in under an hour?
- I had previously set up comprehensive Google Alerts on my name, screen names, site names, and common misspellings. Alerts were set to "as-it-happens".
- I look at alerts as I get them. At minimum, I scan them daily.
- I click through every link to see where it takes me. I've found that it's not enough to look at the summary.
- When I saw the Chicago Bites content on this site, I sent an email. However, I didn't know who checked that email or how frequently they responded to inquiries. It was also doubtful the email went to a decision-maker.
- So I did a whois look-up on the site to find the site's owner and contact information. The information was listed.
- I took a few minutes and screamed at the name on-screen. The importance of venting cannot be stressed enough.
- I called the owner and politely asked him to take the content down. He did. It was all very civil.
There were other options if this hadn't worked out. It's possible to find the ISP of a site even if other information is private. Hosting services are pretty good about enforcing TOS clauses. Additionally, this site used Google Ads. I had the option of contacting them and demonstrating how this site was in violation of Google's TOS. Since I took screen shots, I may still do that as a public service. Ours is probably not the only site that's been harvested.
We put too much work into our site and creating original content to have others take it and reuse it word for word, image for image, mp3 for mp3. I strongly recommend monitoring your on-line presence because you never know if you'll see your site on someone else's.
La Cabeza and I went on photo safari in Ronan Park this week. I always forget it's in my neighborhood, which is a shame because the bike path is so nice. I can't wait to head over there tomorrow and take a spin. On the way back, we snapped some photos of the Sanitary Pumping Station. It's a nicely ornate building that seems out of place given its function.
Check out my photo set here & LaCabeza's photo set here.
I wrote a quick review of Swirlz Cupcakes for Chicago Bites. Swirlz makes some pretty cupcakes, but I think my cupcake loyalties lie elsewhere.
1) Didn't say anything about the podcast or comment on the review
2) Talked about the dishes she liked at her restaurant
3) Plugged events at her restaurant
I think it's fine to leave a comment and identify yourself as a representative of the restaurant. I appreciate hearing from the places we've been and what they think of our reviews. However, it's not cool to resort to blatant promotion. It won't past muster.
1) Say nothing substantive about the photograph you're commenting on
2) Use obnoxious animated graphics that make me want to tear my eyes out
3) Advertise your obnoxious site repeatedly in the comment
4) Repeat steps 1-3 over and over again on several of my photographs
Banned!
We reviewed one of my favorite restaurants this week, Noon-O-Kabab.
What can I say? Perfect kababs, hummus, baklava! Go eat, now!
LaCabeza and I took a Southside spin that included the 18th Street Railroad Bridge, Chinatown and the Amtrak Lift Bridge shown here. We had a fabulous meal at Joy Yee, talked to Metra track workers, and enjoyed the hell out of a beautiful day.
Check out my Flickr set here & LaCabeza Grande's Flickr set here.
