Well, finally the other day I decided to venture out to see what was available now. Stumbled across InfiniteWP and was immediately intrigued because it was a self-hosted application with paid add-ons. So I downloaded it and set it up last night.

Since it’s a self-hosted application separate from WordPress, once you install and setup InfiniteWP, you then only need to install the InfiniteWP Client plugin to every WordPress installation you want to manage. It will then provide you with an API code you’ll enter into your IWP installation when adding a new site to manage. It’s that easy to get it setup.

I really like that the management part itself is free and the add-ons are on a paid model. Since I don’t have to worry about any monthly fees to use the app, I’m more inclined to actually buy some of the add-ons. Some of them I already utilize from WPMU like Snapshot (love the Dropbox integration!).

All-in-all, I am glad to have something local for managing WordPress–I really don’t enjoy having to utilize a lot of 3rd party resources to get the job done!

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The letter is from a supposed group called “Citizens for Effective Local Government” that, simply put, is threatening me to vote in this upcoming election or they’re going to announce it to the world via their website that I did not vote. I don’t really see how a threat to publicly “humiliate” me is enough to get my ass to a voting booth because guess what, I don’t really care. I was just really surprised that someone went through this effort (time AND money) to send out these letters.

Decided to look around a bit on this and according to Will County’s site List of Registered Voters/Voting History restrictions prohibits the user of voter information for commercial solicitation or other business purposes. The violation comes with a hefty Class 4 Felony which in Illinois. Have fun with that!

Illinois State Statute (10 ILCS 5/4-8, 5-7, and 6-35) prohibits the use of voter information for commercial solicitation or other business purposes. Violation of these restrictions is a Class 4 Felony.

Voter registration records are considered public information under the Freedom of Information Act. However, under the advisement of the Will County State’s Attorney, the County Clerk will only confirm if a person is registered to vote and what their voting history is. All other personal information is withheld pursuant to 5 ILCS 140/7(1)(b) as information that, if disclosed, would constitute a clearly unwarranted invasion of personal privacy.

The parties who sent out these letters definitely spent a pretty decent amount of money on the stamps. A 100 roll of the Forever Stamps costs $46. The list of “neighbors” that I had with my letter was 65 people. I don’t even want to know how many people received these. Then add in the time needed to fold each letter, stuff em in the envelopes.

All of that effort just tossed down the drain. Instead you could have put your money towards creating a positive campaign to motivate people to vote for tomorrow’s Election. According to a Southtown Star article, it looks like Will County Clerk Nancy Schultz Vootz has asked the Will County State’s Attorney to investigate into this.

The following is what was in the envelope, starting with the letter:

What if your neighbors knew whether you voted?

Why do so many people fail to vote? We’ve been talking about the problem for years, but it only seems to get worse. This year, we’re taking a new approach. We’re sending this mailing to you and your neighbors to publicize who does and does not vote.

The attached list included shows the names of some of your neighbors, showing which have voted in the past. After this coming TUESDAY APRIL 9TH ELECTION, we intend to mail an updated list and will be posting a list of non-voters online at www.frankforttownshipvotes.com

You and your neighbors will all know who voted and who did not. Think about where and when you’ll cast your ballot.

WHO YOU VOTE FOR IS SECRET, BUT WHO VOTES IS PUBLIC RECORD.

Unfortunately, the URL included in the letter for “frankforttownshipvotes.com” was not registered by the individual(s) who sent out all of these letters. Some young female, Corielle Heath, decided to squat on the domain as it was registered yesterday by her. The website is parked on-top of her domain (at least do a 301 Redirect to the post -.-) that goes directly to the post where she incoherently rants about the letter she received. I really wish she wouldn’t have registered the domain as that might have given this group of people a chance to register it and at least help out with any investigations.

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I had seen a few reviews over the last few days for ELF’s baked eyeshadow and I was kind of curious to try them out. Then of course I realized that if I’m going to get eyeshadow, I might as well pick up new blush, maybe some matte lipstick and anything else I could get for under $25. I initially was going to hold off because I have always saved my big “sprees” (because let’s be honest, $20 isn’t all that much) for e.l.f.’s 50% off everything but I have no patience.

I ended up ordering:

• Pigment Eyeshadow – Golden Goddess (#81222)
• Baked Eyeshadow – Enchanged (#81271)
• Baked Eyeshadow – Toasted (#81273)
• Baked Eyeshadow – Burnt Plum (81274)
• HD Blush – Superstar (#83232)
• Contouring Blush & Bronzing Power – St. Lucia (#83601)
• Makeup Mist & Set (#85023)

My total for those 7 items was $21 and with shipping, I was around $27. Since I was over $25, I also qualified for their limited time offer for a “Free Girl on the Go Collection.” For some odd ass reason, they advertised it as being worth $250 when compared to department store alternatives… Some of their products are perfect dupes for expensive name brands (MAC, Nars) but $250 is far too high but I won’t complain. The collection included 10 pieces which were:

• Little Black Beautybook – Warm Edition ($5)
• Little Black Beautybook – Cool Edition ($5)
• Lotion Wipes – Shea Butter ($3)
• Essential Blending Eye Brush ($1)
• Essential Eyeshadow Brush ($1)
• Mineral Eyeshadow Primer – Sheer ($3)
• Essential Liquid Eyeliner – Black ($1)
• Essential Lengthening & Defining Mascara – Black ($1)
• Matte Lip Color – Tea Rose ($3)
• Essential Shimmer Lip Gloss – Hope ($2)

All of that was worth $30 if I would have bought them individually from. Not bad at all especially since I was able to avoid buying the Matte Lip Color and Mineral Eyeshadow Primer since that free collection included it! Between my ULTA purchases and last weeks e.l.f.’s, I’m set on skincare and makeup for a few more months… at least until I use my $20 worth of Sephora giftcards. Not sure I can have that much of a haul so I might just buy one big ticket item that I’ve been drooling over (hello The Glinda Palette from Urban Decay!)

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Last week I finally decided it was time to use my gift card because they had some really good deals like: Buy 1 Get 1 Free for ULTA hair products; Buy 1 Get 1 50% off Mayebelline; and Buy 1 Get 1 50% off L’Oreal. Of course the biggest deal was also free shipping and a $10 off code if you spend $60. Before I even added anything to my cart, I had been spending a lot of time on /r/SkincareAddiction in an attempt to see what people are recommending for individuals that have oily/dry skin and also helping to reduce clogged pores (sebaceous filaments and not blackheads like most people assume) on my nose. I wanted to make sure I wasn’t just wasting money on name brand products!

Cleanser

First on my list was to find a cleanser that wouldn’t dry out my face and make it overproduce oil. So when looking through the cleaners, I had to make sure it was was free of salicylic acid and was listed as being non-comedogenic. Purpose Gentle Cleansing Wash is the item I decided on after reading reviews on the item’s page as well as various other forums. Paired with my Clarisonic Plus, it’s been really great. It’s lightly scented and scrubs away all my makeup (foundation, concealer, eyeshadow and mascara.)

Toner

I wanted to find a light toner with Witchhazel as that had been recommended for my skintype but wasn’t really sure what to go for. I was going to pick up Burt’s Bees Natural Acne Solutions Clarifying Toner but it was (and still is) out-of-stock. So I ended up settling on Formula 10.0.6′s Keep Me Clean Purifying Facial Wipes. While it only offers up 25 sheets, I figured it was something I would try out and see how my skin handled a toner. It’s a nice item I can just toss in my bag and use after a workout or when my face is feeling particularly grimey and needs a pick-me-up.

Masks

When I was a teenager, I used to buy these cucumber-scented masks from the grocery store for 50¢ because the best part of it was peeling it off and how cool my face felt after. The mask I went after was Queen Helene’s Mint Julep Masque. Despite the mask’s scent being mint, it’s not too overwhelming so it’s something I can deal with once a week. After using the mask, my skin felt refreshed, smooth(er), and left it feeling aired out. It was also fun smearing the gunk all over my face and feeling it dry on my face. A little messy washing off but it didn’t stain the washcloth I used.

Shampoo & Conditioner

I’m hardly picky about what I wash my hair with. I’ll generally try anything out there because my scalp tends to generally adapt well to anything I wash my hair with. One thing is certain though is that my hair loves to be frizzy as hell. If I let my hair air dry, it turns into this scary frizzy mess that I absolutely cannot stand. I’ve never used any of ULTA brand hair products, so I’m trying out Ultimate Smooth Shampoo and Ultimate Smooth Conditioner. It rinses out rather well but I’m not entirely sure if I’m noticing less frizz or if I’m forcing myself to feel like it’s less frizzy.

Misc. Items

So with the above items, I was around $29 spent so far so I had another $30 to spend. I figured since I had my main products already purchased, I’d splurge with the rest of it on some miscellaneous makeup items. I’m a fan of designer makeup but drugstore brands also have some really great dupes–even better since they’re almost always an affordable price (yeah, NAKED2 palate, I’m looking at your $50 price tag!) I’ll just make a quick list of what I spent the last of my $30 on since there was no real special reason other than to replace items I have now with a newer product (since I replace them every ~6 months).

• Essence Gel Eyeliner Brush
• Essence Gel Eyeliner
• Maybelline Oil Control Loose Power
• Maybelline PureStay Power Foundation SPF 15
• L’Oreal HiP Studio Secrets Shadow Duo (Cheeky)
• L’Oreal HiP Studio Secrets Shadow Duo (Wicked)
• ULTA Ultimate Brows Shade & Shaper Pencil
• Nyx Hi Definition Photo Concealer Wand

I probably saved another ~$15 right there. My total was $64 (before taxes) so I was eligible for free shipping and with the $10 off a $60 purchase, my grand total was $59.29 ($4.63 for taxes, yuck!) I only had to pay ~$9 out of pocket but very well worth it! Of course, what I didn’t mention was I spent like 3 hours putting my entire list together because I wanted to make sure I was buying items I really wanted.

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A few years back, there was a YMMV deal I found on Slick Deals for Office Max that had a Western Digital My Book Essential 1TB external HD on clearance for $13.50. I checked stock for two stores that were in a 20 mile radius and they both had two in stock. I lucked out at the store closest to me and was able to pick one up. I was pretty excited to have been able to pick up this deal and I still use that HD to this day.

Lately though I’ve been really into freebies. I stalk Slick Deals’ Freebies, /r/Freebies, GoFreebies.com and AbsurdlyCool.com to receive free samples and coupons to receive free items. There are some that have fine print that you have to watch out for but for the most part, the community does a great job with feedback on the validity of the product being offered up.

My other challenge is to try to go as crazy with coupons as I possibly can. I haven’t really tried yet but I’ve been bookmarking a bunch of sites that I can reference and utilize to get it started. I’ve been putting it off because my printer has been out if ink for awhile and I don’t have any binder to organize everything–those coupons would end up getting lost in the first few hours :P.

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The main title I’ve been playing for the last few years has been an MMORPG called Rift. Actually, it’s weird saying “few years” because it still only feels like I’ve been playing this game for a few months. Anyway, so as my experience grows in the MMO world, I have come to realize relying on just your keyboard for some insane keybinding combinations is really awkward. There’s only so many ways to combine Shift and ALT with letters and numbers. So.. a friend of mine kept telling me that I needed to buy a Razer Naga. The price was the main factor that prevented me from investing in the Naga.

Eventually, I caved in. I bought the Razer Naga and I do not regret it at all. It’s made my gaming and work life much more productive and easier. I admit that I was completely hesitant to drop more money on a Razer product but so far, I am proving myself wrong. They might not have reliable keyboards (at least for the Lycosa series) or controllers, but damn do they make good mice. My Lachesis went through a lot of uh, abuse and usage. My Naga just gets a lot of usage from work and gaming but it’s held up really well. My only qualm? I wish it was a little easier to dismantle to clean it out (on the inside) but I can’t complain.

10/10 – Would buy another Razer Naga

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A preview of the Star Wars – A New Hope mood icon set:

Confused	Crazy	Creative	Intimidated	Scared

Livejournal Mood Icon Installation

1. Download the rar file above.
2. Extract the files to your computer, then upload the folder /sw-anh/ to your website.
3. Open up ljmood-skeleton.txt in a text editor. You will need to find and replace the URLS of the images, to match the location of the images stored in your account. You will only need to replace the main website and directory=-you can keep the image names as is.
4. Log into your Livejournal account, and visit your Admin Console. From there you will need to enter in moodtheme_create “a new hope” “star wars” and then click on “Execute.” The ID number that they give you (eg: 12345) will need to be copied, as you will need to reference this later.
5. Back to yourljmood-skeleton.txt file, you will need to replace any instance of “#####” with the ID number that was provided to you after you executed the command.
6. Copy the entire edited ljmood-skeleton.txt file that now contains your icon’s URLs and ID number, and past it into the Admin Console, and click on execute.
7. Go to your Custom Mood Theme Editor and select the Star Wars: A New Hope theme from your moodlist to use activate it for usage with your account.

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]]> http://jordanriane.me/resources/star-wars-a-new-hope-livejournal-mood-icons/feed/ 0 http://jordanriane.me/reviews/razer-onza-te-and-the-issues-it-has/ http://jordanriane.me/reviews/razer-onza-te-and-the-issues-it-has/#comments Sun, 24 Apr 2011 20:40:32 +0000 Jordan http://icupcake.org/?p=1024 I honestly was hoping I wouldn’t have to write another poor review on a Razer product but unfortunately I feel I have to. I’ve had my Razer Onza Tournament Edition for exactly one month now. I had been looking forward to it since it was announced at 2010′s CES. I pre-ordered it the second it... Read more »

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]]> I honestly was hoping I wouldn’t have to write another poor review on a Razer product but unfortunately I feel I have to. I’ve had my Razer Onza Tournament Edition for exactly one month now. I had been looking forward to it since it was announced at 2010′s CES. I pre-ordered it the second it was made available in January, so you can say I was definitely excited for it.

I got used to the controller fairly quick but the first issue that arose from the controller: Serious feedback from any mic being used with it. I tried it out with a pair of Astro A40s, Tritton AX 720s and then just the official Xbox 360 headset. Two of the three had severe feedback–it was bad enough that the feedback would output to people in my XBL party. The Xbox 360 feedback was only audible [to myself] when people were talking. It would pop/crackle when someone started talking and hiss/pop once they stopped talking. It was passive enough that I just did my best to ignore it. It sucked having to stop using headsets I dropped insane money on because of feedback.

That issue started the minute I used the controller unfortunately. If that was the only problem with it, I’d be content and deal with it. But it wasn’t. Two weeks ago both of the analog sticks started to have response issues. I should note that I had absolutely no slowturn issues at all. I ran the test and it passed 100 across the board. The issue I had was that the analog stick would just stop sending out a signal that it was still in use. While I was playing Modern Warfare 2 MP, a perk I often run with is marathon pro. That gives me endless sprint. So all I need to do is push/use the left analog stick and I’m running non-stop. Well, that definitely didn’t happen. I would constantly stop as if some invisible wall was spawned in front of me.



Then when I’d try to sprint again I would only be able to move what can be construed as 2-3 steps before I’d have to let go of the analog stick and then push it forward. This is frustrating because despite unplugging the controller (and eventually restarting my 360 Slim) the issue was still present. So not even 20 minutes later, I started to have issues with the right analog stick. It had the seem lack of response–it would stop accepting that I was moving the analog around and stick to the last position it was in.

Knowing all of the frustration I went through with my Razer Lycosa, I knew that I was not going to live with it and deal with it. I want a controller that works! I love the Onza TE, especially being able to map the buttons AND change the tension for the analog sticks is a GODSEND! The controller is slick, light-weight and response time with the buttons is amazing. I just am not going to use it with the analog stick issues. Whether or not it’s a bad controller or the entire batch, I’m hoping I can get an exchange for the Onza TE as soon as possible.

Going from the Onza TE to my old Xbox wireless controller is brutal!

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]]> http://jordanriane.me/reviews/razer-onza-te-and-the-issues-it-has/feed/ 43 http://jordanriane.me/personal/super-busy-the-last-few-months/ http://jordanriane.me/personal/super-busy-the-last-few-months/#comments Fri, 25 Feb 2011 20:26:32 +0000 Jordan http://icupcake.org/?p=1005 I have severely neglected my blog again :(. Around the time school started, I picked up another part-time job that is more like full-time and is pretty demanding of mine time. So between school work and work work, I have been absolutely swamped this year. It’s not necessarily a bad thing but I haven’t been... Read more »

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]]> I have severely neglected my blog again :(. Around the time school started, I picked up another part-time job that is more like full-time and is pretty demanding of mine time. So between school work and work work, I have been absolutely swamped this year. It’s not necessarily a bad thing but I haven’t been able to do any fun coding on my site or work on any of my own projects.

Right now my weekend looks like it will be full of Adobe Flash for my midterm project that’s due Monday and a website for the website competition through JJC which is due by March 11th. Not only that but I also have a client I picked up over the week, so I’ve got his site I need to do. Blargghh, no time for anything anymore.

Either way, I don’t mind it so much but sometimes I feel like I never get ~me~ time anymore to do whatever I want. Perhaps this is what I can use to justify the fact that I want to purchase the Astro A30s for myself. Kind of tired with my current headset and wouldn’t mind having these. I almost bought a new 23″ Acer LED but I stopped myself for some reason. I suppose I felt that since I still have a secondary monitor that’s 19″, that I don’t need the 23″. Pfft.

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]]> http://jordanriane.me/personal/super-busy-the-last-few-months/feed/ 4 http://jordanriane.me/personal/its-back-to-school-for-me/ http://jordanriane.me/personal/its-back-to-school-for-me/#comments Wed, 12 Jan 2011 06:11:13 +0000 Jordan http://icupcake.org/?p=996 I made the decision to finally go back to school (again) after setting aside my grievances with learning material I more than likely already know. I have wanted to earn my Associate (in Applied Science) and then my Bachelor’s degree for quite some time but it just didn’t feel like it is something I really... Read more »

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]]> I made the decision to finally go back to school (again) after setting aside my grievances with learning material I more than likely already know. I have wanted to earn my Associate (in Applied Science) and then my Bachelor’s degree for quite some time but it just didn’t feel like it is something I really needed to do. I was going to go back for the Fall 2010 term but had some issues with classes I wanted (one was canceled and a replacement wasn’t possible due to scheduling conflicts). So I pushed it back to Spring 2011. Eesh, 2011.. That’s 7 years after graduating high school!

Since I’m pretty much a ‘freshman’ level (I’ve only got about 16 credits from the classes I took back in 2007) a lot of my courses are more rudimentary but I’m sucking it up and taking advantage of what should be an ‘A’ for the class. Ionly took four classes for a total of 12 credits as I didn’t want to go too crazy since it’s been quite some time since having a full school load. I’ve got a Flash CS4 class, Photoshop CS4 class, Adv Web Design and an E-Commerce class. Of the four the only one that will actually be new to me is my flash class. I’ve never enjoyed flash (and the last time I even attempted it was probably 2006) so this will be a nice little addition for me. The photoshop class is definitely going to be something I already have experience with but I decided that I would like to LEARN how to be more efficient with it. I’m ass backwards when it comes to working with it. What I should be able to do in ~10 minutes with various tools within PS, I probably take ~20+ or more since I do it the ‘hard way.’

Adv Web Design and E-commerce are other Major Core requirements for my AAS so I’ll be trying to make the best of it since these are two I am very knowledgeable in. If anything I can take all the pride in being a teacher’s pet or something ;). So here’s to promising myself to not act like a spoiled know-it-all like I did in 2007 when I wrote this: It should be easy for a webdesigner taking rudementary webdesign classes, right?. I’m here to take the class no matter what my skill level is or isn’t so I can get a good grade, finish through 68 semester hours and receive my Associates in Applied Science so I can be that much more bad ass.

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