Internet advertisers "hijacked" my website

OK, "hijacked" is an exaggeration, but that's how I feel.  A while back I tried out a few different companies that put ads on the site.  One of them is Bidvertiser.com.  I placed the ads along the side of the page.

The other day I suddenly noticed weird ad links included within the text of my blogs.  It looks like this (a screenshot of yesterday's post, click on it to enlarge):

Notice the dotted lines underneath the word "new" in the title and "how" and "version" in the text.  Those are ad links.  And they didn't just appear in yesterday's blog, they popped up all over the place throughout entries dating back the last few years.  I don't understand how it can be deemed OK/legal for the code I inserted in a specific box on the side of the page to magically turn into that.

It's like the virus in an outbreak movie that they think is under control, but then it mutants and kills everyone on the planet.  Luckily I nipped it in the bud and removed all Bidvertiser codes from the site.  Who knows if I'll ever get the $4.77 they owe me...


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What do you think of the new 'Point Break' movie?

For a 24-year-old film being remade as a big action-packed summer blockbuster, I guess this is exactly what should be expected:



I like how Roach from the original makes a cameo at the 44-second mark of the trailer.  What I don't like though, is the general mindset of these criminals in 2015.

In the Keanu/Swayze Point Break, the guys robbed banks to pay for their surfing habit.  In this version, they're trying to reset the world's economy, just because (or so it appears).  I'm not a fan of the whole "destroying money instead of stealing it" concept--it's very Fight Club/Die Hard 3-ish.  But at least in Die Hard 3, the villain only pretended to blow up the gold, then really did try to steal it after all.

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Jon Lester is officially the worst hitter in MLB history

Jon Lester set an amazing Major League Baseball record last night:

Jon Lester making history! pic.twitter.com/epA6bgFXjJ

— Baseball Tonight (@BBTN) May 28, 2015

Lester broke the 0-for-57 mark set by Padres's pitcher Joey Hamilton from 1994-1995.  Not counting towards the record, Lester is also 0-for-5 in the postseason.  The former Sox ace did receive a walk in 2010, however, giving him a career on-base percentage of .016.

Heading into yesterday's game, here's a chart of every ball Lester ever put in play:

Here's Jon Lester's laughable spray chart... Only one deep fly ball ever. pic.twitter.com/Jkejsx1ooF

— Daren Willman (@darenw) May 28, 2015

In the process of achieving this dubious honor, Lester actually put forth the greatest offensive showing of his career:



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Have you ever seen a padlock on a car door?

Click on the photo to expand.

I came across this amazing Jeep Grand Cherokee while jogging last week.

My first question is, can the cost, time and effort it took to install both the padlock, and the latch above, really be a better option than just getting the door fixed?  Especially when you consider the added annoyance of having to unhook and re-hook them every time you get in and out of the car.

Also, how does the system work?  Is the latch there just to keep the door shut while driving, while padlock prevents people from breaking in when parked?

Either way, you must have to open the window to lock the door after getting into the car--unless there's another makeshift contraption on the inside?  And if that's the case, why is the top latch there at all?  Was it just the first attempt at a solution before the superior padlock system was put in place?  So many questions...



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NBA's Conference Finals participants have gone a combined 161 years without a championship

Rick Barry's Warriors beat the Bullets in '75 Finals.

The Cleveland Cavaliers joined the NBA for the 1970-71 season.  In 44 years of existence, they've never won a title.  The Atlanta Hawks last won a championship as the St. Louis Hawks, 57 years ago in 1957-58.  The Golden State Warriors' title drought extends for 40 seasons, back to 1974-75.

And finally, the Houston Rockets most recently won it all 20 years ago, in 1994-95 (had the Los Angeles Clippers not choked away a 3-1 lead last round, they'd be in the West Finals with the same 44 years of ineptitude as the Cavs).

Combined, the four Conference Finals participants have played 161 consecutive seasons of NBA basketball without winning a championship.

There's also this:

No team in NBA's Final Four got out of first round last season. Elias says that's just third time that's happened in this league since 1951

— Marc Stein (@ESPNSteinLine) May 19, 2015

Regardless of how these playoffs turn out, it's clearly a break from the mold.

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NBA teams almost always make the wrong play in the final seconds of a tie game

Leading 104-103 in Game 3 of the Eastern Conference Finals last night, the Hawks stole the ball from LeBron James with 27 seconds remaining.  In my mind, there's an obvious play at that point--use up the entire 24-second clock before shooting.  Either A, the Cavs foul out of fear they'll run out of time, B, Atlanta scores with three seconds to go, or C, the Hawks miss and time nearly expires while the ball is being rebounded.  The best-case scenario for Cleveland is it gets the ball with only a second or two left, still trailing.

But no, Atlanta tried to score immediately, missed, and ended up fouling Iman Shumpert on the rebound.  Luckily for the Hawks, Shumpert hit just one of two free throws, and Atlanta got the ball again in a tie game with 17 seconds to go (although in reality, the Hawks' chances of winning probably would've been better had they fallen behind and then put real effort into attempting to score).

This time the Hawks did decide to kill the clock (as teams always do in that situation), and I immediately assumed they were going to lose.  It wasn't hard to predict they'd take a long jumper (how absurd is it to shoot a three when any basket wins it?), miss, and then fall in overtime to the home team that also happens to have the best player on the planet.

It makes absolutely no sense to me that using up the clock becomes a higher priority than actually taking a good shot.

As I was yelling all of this at the television, somebody said to me "I refuse to believe that we can really be smarter about this than an NBA coach."  Here's the difference though--coaches live in fear of what can go wrong.  There's no shame in losing in OT.  But if a club tries to score without worrying about the clock, then ends up getting beat at the last second when it could have forced overtime, the coach would get skewered.

Quick sidebar: LeBron, what are you doing with that ridiculous pose?  You didn't win the title.  You didn't win the Boston Marathon either.  All you did was get Game 3 at home in a series many people expect you to sweep anyway.

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Awesome Old Song of the Week: "I'm Gonna Be (500 Miles)" by the Proclaimers

Ok, a few things are going on here. One, the band played an acoustic version of I'm Gonna Be (500 Miles) at my sister's wedding last weekend, and now I can't get the song out of my head.

Two, I'm away for the weekend and forgot to bring my computer charger, so for the first time in the history of this website I'm attempting to write a blog on my phone.

And three, who knew the Proclaimers were around in 1989? They blew up after their song was on the Benny & June soundtrack in 1993, but apparently they actually released it in '88.



Also, this conveniently works as my Letterman tribute as well.


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