cpd2009 Wrote:I found a way to email Ganz Customer Support to inquire about those stupid video ad boxes appearing in the game window. I had no problem with the standard ads before since those aren't nearly as distracting or annoying as the streaming video ones. There is a way to turn off third party ads and just get ones for Ganz stuff, but it requires paid Gold membership, and I don't have extra funds at the moment.
It's entirely possible I may just get a standard PR reply, but I should at least try. The video ad is for a TMZ-like gossip show or something which has no place on Webkinz to begin with. One obstacle remains in the way of potential success... I need a Webkinz secret code and I misplaced mine at the moment. I'm sure I will locate one since you just need one from any pet you purchased.
One more thing... nearly all the canned Corned Beef in the USA is imported from South America for some reason.
So I noticed with most imported corned beef. Makes me wonder if Brazilians do have a thing for corned beef or something.
As for Webkinz, it would definitely be a disservice for them to allow mature ads on their site like the trashy gossip thing you mentioned. And I'm not even surprised with the semi-automated replies as well - American Girl/Mattel is notorious for that as well, hence the rant made by a blogger who felt that the latter company doesn't give a say or two about customer feedback or criticism.
AdBlock Plus. It's not about depriving a site off it's revenue stream, it's about blocking streaming ad shit like those and thus conserving my (crappy low) quota on my mobile broadband.
RAMChYLD Wrote:AdBlock Plus. It's not about depriving a site off it's revenue stream, it's about blocking streaming ad shit like those and thus conserving my (crappy low) quota on my mobile broadband.
I do use AdBlock Plus mainly because when I try to read news stories from Google News, it usually leads to a news site that has animated Flash advertisements over on the right side, and when it comes to reading a news article, such ads can be distracting. Whats worse is that some sites resort to full page ads that cover the entire page right as you begin to read the article (such as those horrid PageGrabber ads), and ABP does away with those.
However, I disable AdBlock for some sites I frequently visit as a few are small operations that actually depend on the ad banners to help keep their sites running. If I block them there, I usually get a message in the normally-empty ad space pleading with me to turn it off. In order for me to do that though, the ads must not be too numerous and they shouldn't resort to DHTML popups or those PageGrabber things. On the other hand, sites like a DBS satellite forum I frequent use ads for revenue, but they are so numerous. Attempting to use ABP on said site eventually prevents you from viewing the site.... at least that was the case a few years ago. Nowadays, I let the page load a bit, and hold the ESC key to prevent all the ads from loading up.
Thus, it's a double edged sword for me. On one hand, ABP helps clear clutter from news sites I go to from Google News, while on the other hand I don't want to use it for sites I frequent as I don't want to cut off their funding. As with Webkinz, they offer a way to turn off the third party ads, but that requires the paid membership. If I just use ABP and block all ads, I feel like I'm doing something illegal even though it really isn't illegal... mainly because I'm doing something I would normally have to pay to do. (ABP=Free option, Webkinz Gold = Legit option to turn off third party ads)
Yeah... I'm in constant conflict with my morals.
Well, I have reactivated Lilly after an almost five or six month slumber. So many updates.... and..
I'm just going to re-install Mavericks to a clean slate, and upgrade her to Yosemite. If I want to give Lilly one more try, I should start fresh. I don't have documents to back up since they are all on my other systems, so...
Off I go....
feeling extremely sleepy.
Finished with the Mavericks reinstall and it's updates. Now, time for Yosemite. It's going to take about two hours to download... it's a 5.17GB download!
I am going to have to leave Lilly update as I sleep. I shall attend to her when I awake.
Just got home from work, think I'll take a nap because I'm extremely tired. Stayed up until 5AM last night messing with Kiki III to test out something.
Yosemite is up and running on Lilly, and all appears to be working fine except Window Transparency. Lilly has an Intel HD Graphics 3000, and the transparent dock and menus are working. The windows aren't though, and that is one feature I was looking forward to. I am in the midst of Googling the issue, and apparently some transparency effects won't work with older Intel IGPs. I find that odd since Windows 7 had Aero and about as much transparency as Yosemite, and that is an older OS! Greta has an Intel HD3000 IGP (along with discrete GeForce 610m) and she handled Aero just fine.
Maybe it's just a temporary issue, but if not, then I shouldn't be so upset. Other than the window transparency, I do like how Yosemite looks, especially the UI font.
Screenshots coming later.
Honestly, I didn't see any difference. I didn't even know about this window transparency thing.
As I am posting this, we are currently without any power. We have battery backup power to our fiber router, but I can't be on for too long this evening.
It was very strange how it began. Instead of going out, the power was half the voltage it should be. Lights were dim, my computers (sans Greta) shut down and other electronics either shut down too or were acting strange due to the low voltage. Out of safety I turned off all my power strips in case of voltage spikes.
Greta still has battery power as well as all my portable gaming systems, and all are fully charged to boot. May as well get used to it as lights are going to be out all night long.