Category: Site News

Spam 2.0

Hey guys ‘n gals! Just wanted to warn you of a new comment-spam technique I’ve come to identify here at KUR. The M.O. goes something like this:

  • Spammer picks a random comment from a past post/thread
  • Spammer copies said comment
  • Spammer pastes said comment to the same post, with a signature link leading to what appears to be a harmless weblog
  • Ignorant KUR moderator (moi, that is) approves comment
  • Spammer happy!
  • Happy spammer turns harmless weblog into dubious link-fest

Lesson to be learned: be aware of “new” comments that already look familiar to you — the author/spammer’s signature link will be a dead giveaway, as their sites all look identical. I’m monitoring this closely so it shouldn’t be much of a problem. Still, if a comment you wrote shows up again, signed by someone else: you’ll know what’s going on. Feel free to contact me when that happens.

KUR: Now With Extra Social Buttons!

As you may have noticed from visiting previous entries, I’ve implemented a plugin which allows easy “sharing” of any given post to Delicious, Digg, Facebook, Stumble Upon and Twitter. You should see something like this underneath each single entry:

social!

If, by contrast, you’re seeing huge pixelated images, I suggest you refresh your browser window — that’ll do the trick.

Go ye and spread the word! 🙂

The Little Forum That Couldn’t

Back in February, I announced a new version of the KUR forums: newer, better software, and a nicer look to boot. That forum has since turned out to be an avid gatherer of dust and tumbleweeds — mainly I guess, because this weblog has become the de facto place to discuss topics.

And so, we say goodbye to forum.killuglyradio.com. Its predecessor by the way, now an archive of sorts, can still be browsed.

The top main nav “forums” link needed to be replaced with something else, so I brought back a golden oldie: Gilles’ (does that name ring a bell?) repository of field recording CD jackets/covers, which I have dubbed: the crypt.

Check it out!

One Year Old Scotch Milk

Today this weblog turns one (although technically, it’s to turn eight in July)!

Having made the switch in February 2008, we instantly lost a whole bunch of readers. The new KUR started out with about 12,000 views per month. We are happy to report a current monthly readership of over 28,000 views. That’s still peanuts, but at least the numbers are going up, not down. 🙂

Throughout the past year, two things have kept us going: your support and comments. 308 posts were made, harvesting 3853 comments — an average of 12.51 comments per post.

So, we say thanks to you, and here’s to another year! Commemorative screenshot here. Oh, and don’t forget to have a taste of KUR’s very own beverage over by the bar…

The Forum Is Dead, Long Live The Forum!

As of this moment, the forum located at killuglyradio.com/forum, has been shut down, although its archives can still be browsed. From its ashes, a new forum has arisen: forum.killuglyradio.com. Go register now!

For those interested, a couple of reasons why we made the move:

  • The old forum software had built up several security holes, the worst one of which allowed for mass, unmoderated registration attempts — this culminated in me having to turn off automatic registration altogether, leaving me with the chore of manually approving every single registration request.
  • The structure of the old forums was just too idiosyncratic. Give people too much options as to where they are to post their message, and they will stop in their tracks and not post at all — to become lurkers at best.
  • The new digs just plain look better (provided the color cyan does not give you seizures.)

So there you have it. If you’re at all interested at following KUR spin-off discussions, if you wish to promote your favorite underestimated band, if you want to chat about this or that TV or DVD series:

forum.killuglyradio.com.

…and don’t forget to register.

On Twitter

As you all know I’m a…

…recent father of a newborn child [who] behaves like an old man.
— bernard

Whatever.

Just wanted to announce I’ve had a Twitter account for some time now, where I post tweets: tiny messages with a 140 characters limit. Provided you signed up for a Twitter account, this service enables you to subscribe (“follow” is the term they use) and reply to these updates via most mobile devices as well as various desktop or web-based applications. Give it a go, it’s a lot easier than my explanation is making it out to be here.

I plan to use this Twitter gizmo for fast little updates on anything FZ related, announcements of new blog posts and such — but do expect the odd completely non-FZ-related banter every so often though.

Oh, and for my next “tweet”, I had this in mind:

@bernard: I twit, you twat.

Unfortunately, Bernard doesn’t have a Twitter account.

A Brighter Shade Of Green

As a member of Dads Without Sleep I can attest to the fact that it is of the utmost importance to stay creative during those sleepless nightly hours. Behold! I redesigned this site mostly in between — to quote my people — the soup and the potatoes.

Oh look. We seem to have broken the search form as well as a number of other things in the process, but that’s okay because you all will, in the end, get rid of your Windows machines and buy an iMac. No? Yes. Regardless: if you find anything weird around these parts, do feel free to drop me an email (address at the bottom).

So… how do you like the new look? Be brutally honest now…

Hot Poop Facelift

Remember Ye Olde Hot Poop?

Back when we received the C&D letter from the ZFT last December, Dr Sharl and I jumped through all kinds of loops to come up with an engaging lay-out, while at the same time attempting to appease ZFT’s scum lawyers. It was “panic football”, to be honest.

Well today I’ve fiddled about a bit with the look and feel of this now abandoned weblog — one which, mind you, had been running since July 2001. My aim was to line up its looks a bit more with current KUR aesthetics, while maintaining a feel for why exactly Hot Poop came to be terminated.

I was originally going to make it an all black/white affair, as if you were to be looking at an old family picture. Dr Sharl then came up with the notion of adding some sepia colour. And so here it is.

Hot Poop Sepia

A seven year work of love abandoned, derelict — gone but not forgotten.

Newman.

Way back in November 2006, we launched The KUR World Tour Book:

Remember those scrapbooks that were passed around when you were a kid? A friend would ask you to write or draw something in his/hers and then you’d give it back. Some of the pages would turn out rather cheesy, while others would consist of really cool doodles or collages.

With positive response from you guys, Sharleena and myself went and bought a (matter-of-fact) rather cheap sketchbook, filled its first pages with some introductory doo-dah, and off it went.

KUR Tourbook Cover

From there on, what can I say, really? Things went good, until they went bad.

The book is lost.

No doubt there’s a Newman in US Postal Services sitting on this book, creaming all over it at the prospect of a quick buck on eBay. Nnnnewman…
Luckily, the last recipient of the book –our good friend SOFA– made pictures of all pages before sending it on. Have a look (flickr link) — be sure to click the “All Sizes button”!

To all of you who received the book, doodled in it, then sent it on, and made it as spectacularly good as it is: you guys rock. Some samples:

SOFA KUR Tourbook Entry

Gnarly Artly

Detonator

Evaristo

Sharleena

Newman? We need to get in touch. I’ll make you an offer you can’t refuse.

Bring Out Yer (Gr)Avatar

Praise be! This weblog is now Gravatar enabled. Now you too can have one of those unique little personal images next to any comment you post here. All you have to do is sign up for an account with Gravatar, upload your image, and associate it with the email address you’d previously entered to comment here. Next thing you know, your avatar will appear next to your comments — retroactively!

So c’mon: bring out yer Gravatar…