Referrer Spam - an annoyance and a problem.

Lately I have been getting hundreds of pageviews per day, as compared to mere tens or twenties. It's pretty weird, and considering that most of them have been from RUSSIA...well, I finally decided to check it out.

Searching on google for the actual source of my pageviews, I found that one of my top sources, a site known as domar [dot] ru, (DO NOT VISIT), is a spamming site. Here I found an explanation of what is going on (WIKIPEDIA link). Bottom line, there are not actual page views happening, but the website is requesting my site and then disconnecting before the connection is complete. But by clicking on the link of the spammer's site, which I did, it increases the number of links that link back to the spammer's site, increasing its ranking in web searches done with search engines, like google.

By clicking on the site a couple times and finding nothing (in the sources tab of blogger, which was a big mistake), I encouraged this site, domar, to continue using my blog as a host for its parasitic activities. Now, I'm not exactly sure what the implications of this sort of thing could be, but to be on the safe side, I think I'm going to move this website in the not-too-distant future to a more secure spot.

I'll do some more research and see if this could have any bad tidings for my blog, and to see if this is a problem with any other blogging services, like wordpress or tumblr, etc.

So, don't expect many more updates on this blog, except to notify of other developments...but this site will always be here.

Vikram

Brother Deluxe 262TR - French-keyboard typewriter.

Some Random things I had laying around, part 2: Eberhard Faber Mongol 482 and Crayola crayons.

LINKS: "I, Pencil" ; "How It's Made: Pencil"

1953 Royal Quiet Deluxe.

Some Random things I had laying around, part 1: Levenger and Goethe Institut backpack

Hi blogosphere, here's the first part of a two part post in which I cover some things I had sitting around my room  which I discovered recently.

LEVENGER CIRCA NOTEBOOK

First up we have ourselves a green Circa notebook that I got for free from the Chicago flagship Macy's Levenger section. On the back of every catalog they send us, there's a little code on the back that says, "Turn this in for a free Circa notebook from our State Street store!"

So I did, and this is what I got. Can't say I wasn't a little disappointed when I saw how small the pages were (about the size of a medium Moleskine, presumably the "medium" version) but I was pleasantly surprised to find some RHODIA paper inside, along with some standard Levenger Cornell-notetaking and graph paper.

The system actually does work; I tried taking out all the Rhodia pages and putting them back in (the guy at the store who assembled the notebook put in some of the Rhodia paper upside-down) and the pages do stay in securely even after the removal. No fraying along the connector edges at all.

If they were not so expensive, and if I wasn't on a student's budget, this would be on my to-buy list.

GOETHE INSTITUT BACKPACK

When I got the first-place trophy for the German Spelling Bee at the UIC German Day last month, they also gave me a small "token" prize; last year I got a "Creative Switzerland" shirt, and this year, I got this backpack. Of course, when I first saw it, I was happy it was yellow, (as that is my favorite color) but was not entirely sure what it was. 

When I got home, I unfolded it, and lo-and-behold, it was a backpack! Portable folding backpack. Pretty cool stuff. I've shown pictures of each stage in the unfolding process.

Nifty, huh?

That's all for today! Stay tuned for more, when I talk about two old-faithful pencils and an alternate use for Altoids tins!

--Vikram

Two New Pencil Videos

Hi blogosphere,

I just completed uploading two more videos about pencils I have, this time about woodcase ones.

The first one is a basic overview of the progression from Eagle to Berol to Sanford, finally to Papermate, explained with the pencils themselves as guides.

The second is just a view of some of my interesting and/or vintage pencils, including the Mephisto Copying Pencil by L & C Hardtmuth and the Eberhard Faber Mongol 482.

Watch if you so desire. :-)

Busy / Jazz Band / German Spelling Bee / other...

Hallo alle,

Tut mir Leid, dass ich nicht so viel gepostet habe...

Sorry I haven't posted that much in a while. But with AP tests coming up and new topics in Physics, Calc, German, Lit, and Euro coming up at breakneck paces, it was inevitable that I had to kind of take a break from blogging.

But though I haven't been posting that much, believe me, typewriters are still alive and well around me. I talk to my friends about them nearly every day, and they never cease to be amazed at how I a) collect them and b) use them.

But in other news,

Competitions and festivals are fun. Especially when they come up within mere weeks of each other:

---On the 11th of February was the ETHS Jazz Festival, and we've got another gig coming up on the 7th of this month at the Chicago Jazz Showcase. Check us out if you're in town! (We're the Niles West High School Jazz Ensemble.)

---Yesterday, the awesome Leap Day, was the German High School Day at UIC, where high schools from around the area compete in various divisions, like City Guide (on-stage acting "tour" of a German-speaking city), Poetry Recitation, Essay Recitation, Skit, and my favorite, Spelling Bee. This was my third year competing in the Bee, and I got first place for the second year in a row, (on the word "Österreich," German for Austria). Quite fun because of the fact that we spell according to the German standard
alphabet, in which "a" is pronounced "ah," "b" "bay," and so on. (Trophies after the jump.)

---For WYSE, Worldwide Youth in Science and Engineering, we've got a competition on the 9th of March; this is an academic competition in which contestants from various schools take two multiple-choice tests each in English, Math, Physics, Chem, Bio, Engineering Graphics, or Computer Science. I personally compete in the English and Engineering Graphics divisions. It'll be fun.

To add to all that, I've got an audition tomorrow for the University of Illinois' Marching Illini marching band; I play clarinet, and I've been practicing for this audition for a while. That should be great fun as well; I thoroughly enjoyed the marching band in high school, and once I'm out of here, I look forward to continuing performing in the stands and out there on the football field, for thousands upon thousands of fans.

Final summation: Been pretty busy these past few weeks, and plan on keeping busy till the AP tests are finally done come May. Till then, I'll post intermittently, but will continue checking comments!

Also...who in the typosphere / blogosphere speaks German? I'm interested in learning more about some of the nuances only native speakers could know, like idioms, etc.

Wenn Sie Deutsch können, oder wenn Sie jemand kennt, der Deutsch kann, dann könnten Sie mir bitte eine Email oder was schicken? Vielen Dank!

--Vikram