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Richy's Random Ramblings

Poll: Color Quiz

[Color Quiz]A recent entry on KillUglyRadio pointed me towards the Color Quiz (or, as we would say here in the UK, Colour Quiz). You just select 8 squares of colours in the order that suits you – wait a couple of minutes – and then select 8 coloured squares again and then it gives you your personality test results.

Like most polls that I have previously done, I wasn’t willing to read too much into the results of a personality profile conducted using a bunch of coloured shapes – but the results are extremely good and practically spot on. I do agree that my ‘existing situation’ is “Readily participates in things that provide excitement or stimulation. Wants to feel exhilarated.” and the “stress sources” seem spot on as well – only things I don’t feel are quite right are the bits about my “restrained characteristics” (i.e. sex life). I would say the test is better than 50% accurate…

What about you? Take the test and see if those colored (sic!) squares can tell you a lot about yourself – is it accurate for you or did I just read a little “too much” into the results…

Search: Blog Listed On The ODP

After just over a month of waiting, my little blog has been granted a listed on the Open Directory Project in the Weblogs/Personal/R category (actually listed on 28th of December at 3:45pm UK time). It’s listed as “Richy C’s Blog – Random ramblings about life, the web, the ODP and interesting finds.”

Yes, I am an ODP volunteer editor and because I’m an editall I could have added my site to anywhere in the ODP I liked – but I decided not to. I just submitted my site in the standard way (on the 8th of November at eight minutes past midnight) to the most appropriate category, and then waited for an editor specialising in that area to come along and review my site. When I submitted my site, there were over 100 unreviewed sites in that category (and, yes, I did do a quick ‘spam cleanup’ by moving other sites to more appropriate categories and reviewing one or two others) and now the unreviewed count in that category is down to single figures! Congratulations and thanks to the editor that reviewed my site (you know who you are 🙂 !).

Many people “grumble” about how long it takes to get listed in the ODP, but this instance shows that it just depends on how “interesting” each category is to an editor. If you submit to a Business/ or Shopping/ category that is normally full of spam, inappropriate submissions, affiliate link farms and the like – then the human volunteer editor will feel “downhearted” at having to continually separate the wheat from the chaff-but interesting categories such as some Arts/ and Regional/ tend to ‘attract’ editors as they are actually really interested in the subject matter.

Some people, reading that, may think “Well, I’ll submit to a totally inappropriate category in Regional/ then and my site will be listed really quick in Business” – but it won’t work that way. Your site will be reviewed, marked “Not appropriate for this category” and then moved to a category in the Business ‘tree’. It will probably won’t initially go to the ‘best’ category for your site and will then sit in ‘limbo’ being moved around categories, wasting editors time, until it get to the category you should have submitted to in the first place. THEN it will be reviewed and maybe listed – having been delayed for what could be several months. Of course, widely submitting your site to any category and in bulk will quickly earn you the label of a ‘spammer’ and ensure that your site will not be listed – ever! Oh – don’t worry, we do have ways of telling if you are trying to submit a competitors website to get them banned…

If you want to help the ODP – then please consider becoming a volunteer editor for any category that interests you!

Joke: 12 Politically Correct Days of Christmas

[Bauble]May I present the slightly Americanised “Twelve Politically Correct Days of Christmas” (if I can’t, bad luck – ’cause here it is anyway):

On the 12th day of the Eurocentrically imposed midwinter festival, my Significant Other in a consenting adult, monogamous relationship gave to me:

TWELVE males reclaiming their inner warrior through ritual drumming,
ELEVEN pipers piping (plus the 18-member pit orchestra made up of members in good standing of the Musicians Equity Union as called for in their union contract even though they will not be asked to play a note),
TEN melanin deprived testosterone-poisoned scions of the patriarchal ruling class system leaping,
NINE persons engaged in rhythmic self-expression,
EIGHT economically disadvantaged female persons stealing milk-products from enslaved Bovine-Americans,
SEVEN endangered swans swimming on federally protected wet-lands,
SIX enslaved Fowl-Americans producing stolen non-human animal products,
FIVE golden symbols of culturally sanctioned enforced domestic incarceration,
FOUR hours of recorded whale songs
THREE de-constructionist poets
TWO Sierra Club calendars printed on recycled processed tree carcasses and…
ONE Spotted Owl activist chained to an old-growth pear tree.

Merry Christmas Happy Chanukah. Good Kwanzaa. Blessed Yule. Happy Holidays! (unless otherwise prohibited by law)*
* Unless, of course, you are suffering from Seasonally Affected Disorder (SAD). If this be the case, please substitute this gratuitous call for celebration with suggestion that you have a thoroughly adequate day.

News: Harry Potter and the Act Of Kindness

[J.K.Rowling and a heart of gold]Call me a sentimental old fool, but this article on BBC News nearly brought tears to my eyes. It is reported via the Sunday Mirror tabloid newspaper that J.K.Rowling (Joanne Kathleen Rowling) – the author of the famous Harry Potter series of books (see my previous coverage) granted a dying child’s wish.

Nine year old Catie Hoch was dying from Neuroblastoma (an aggressive childhood cancer) and when it became clear that little Catie only had weeks to live, JK Rowling read her the manuscript of the then incomplete “Harry Potter And The Goblet Of Fire” book.

Whilst I understand that she will probably be unwilling to do a similar act for every child (if you just think about the number of children that are Harry Potter fans and the number that could be seriously ill at this moment of time- it wouldn’t give her time to do anything else), it is still quite “touching” and thoughtful. Yeah, some people will probably scream “publicity whore” – but does it really matter to a dying little girl? It just about “makes up” the time when Warner Brothers (who own the film rights to the Harry Potter films) started threatening maintainers of various Harry Potter websites – some of those being children…