Happy Birthday to the person that stuck with me through the worst time of my life.

I haven’t been too enthused to try going to the movie theaters yet. I already get bitchy enough when people stare at me. Oh boy don’t even get me started on that! I’ve had people literally just stand and stare at me while I’m getting into/out of the wheelchair and car… It’s an awkward feeling but at the same time ridiculously infuriating. Unfortunately not much I can do about ignorant folk but just deal with it for a little while longer.

Aside from the general woes my only issue right now is my financial status (read: broke). I’ve been busting my ass off with trying to land some remote gigs but have just not been able to hook any real good offers. I’m laying myself out there for just about everything but as I should have expected the job market is still bleak. I would just like to be able to have money in my pocket to ensure that I’ve got cushion should I have an emergency I need to fund.

Please 2 be given me j0bz peeps!

A few days ago I randomly felt inspired to work on a new theme and I actually stuck with it. I’m known to work on something and get as far as coding out the header and then quitting on the rest of it. I just don’t like working for myself as I start to hate it a few days later. I’m very pleased with myself as I’ve finally gotten a theme done that isn’t just tweaking a premade.

I decided to go more on the CSS3 route with some features (eg: rounded corners) as I am an ass backwards developer. I am still trying to force myself to work in Photoshop to get a PSD going then to code it up. Unfortunately I prefer the code out the framework then shove in colors and images. Truthfully it’s a method that’s worked out okay for me so I suppose that’s why I still stick with it.

Oh I almost forgot! I have finally? switched domain names. I was ridiculously bored and hated atourworst.org. I had registered a few other domains along with icupcake.org, but ultimately this was my winner. Atourworst.org should now entirely redirect to iCupcake.org; There are going to be some errors here and there but I have it set to log and email them to me so I can fix as I see them. The biggest will be images in posts, so I’ll get around to that momentarily. If you spot any problems, let me know. For what it’s worth, this was not designed to support >IE7. Don’t bother checking in there ;)

Today I had my 30 day follow-up with my orthopedic doctor to get my wrist cast off and to check on my hip and tibial plateau. The good news is that my cast came off, and I had a little more mobility than he expected. The bad news? Looking over the xray for my wrist he noticed that I have about a 4.5mm gap by one of my carpels. He said this is because I have some sort of torn or damaged tendon. Either way, there’s a high chance I’ll be referred to a hand surgeon to have it repaired or reconstructed in the next few weeks. This is all pending though since I go in next week for an MRI on the wrist. I’m hoping it’s not too bad but seeing as though it’s been 3 months, surgery seems likely.

My knee is doing perfect as far as healing goes. The only noticeable thing is some calcification forming over one of the pins, but it won’t affect any mobility as it’s on the inner side of my leg. The biggest disappoint during my appointment was my hip’s poor recovery. It’s been 11 weeks post-op, and the piece of broken femur that’s re-attached with three pins is still not fusing with my original femur. As such, I have to wait another 30 days for my next checkup, and still cannot do any physical therapy to start walking again. I’m also stuck wearing my hip brace for a long time, as he mentioned he’ll have me wearing this while I’m going through PT.

The only real good news was that he was comfortable enough to allow me to increase the weight-bearing status of my right leg. I can put up to 30lbs of weight (or pressure) on the leg. So while it wasn’t what I wanted, it’s still something I can deal with. I was really just hoping to be able to start PT this month, so by October 6th (my best friend Amy’s birthday) and October 11th (Steve’s birhday) I’d be able to go out and have some fun to celebrate their birthdays. But alas, my extreme dance moves will have to be put on hold for awhile!

Other than that I’ve been quite busy with my hosting company, and two other side projects of mine. My goal right now though is to start getting back into freelancing full-time as my cast is now off. Reason being is not only has my money dwindled quickly (insurance, bills, yadda yadda) but all of my bills from being in the hospital have been coming in like crazy. I do have health insurance now which thankfully covers almost 90%. I still have a lot of bills to be processed but my biggest one ($235,000) is actually being processed right now so this is my main bill I’m worried about.

Well, this post is long enough so I’m calling it quits! :P

I don’t remember my accident (for further clarification since people are morons, “accident” implies just that, and in my defination accident is when Robert Slager of Slager and Son Masonry hit my vehicle while I was making a left hand turn, at 55mph with no attempt to swirve in the rather large intersection) at all. I remember 10 minutes beforehand where I had been at a stop sign answering a call from my sister Morgan. I told her I was on my way home and that I’d talk to her in 10 minutes or so since I wasn’t too far away. Next thing I know I’m waking up and hearing a man’s voice praying to the Lord for him to look over me. Then a huge wave of pain spread throughout my body. I couldn’t open my eyes, but my “guardian angel” noticed I was conscious and asked for my name, then phone numbers for my parents. He told my I had been in a bad accident and that the paramedics were on their way.

Everything else was a blur that night. From the time I was removed from my car to getting to the ER, it felt like 15 minutes had gone by. In actuality it took 1 hour to extract me from my car, and another 15 minutes to drive to the hospital. I had been in so much pain that I was in and out of consciousness. After a short time in the ER, I was finally able to open my eyes and at that point just kept asking for my parents. I then remember the nurses telling me they were going to cut my clothes off, and I said the least expected thing. I told the nurse she couldn’t cut off my tops because they were my favorite t-shirt and undershirt. It’s a bit of a blur trying to remember everything that night. I finally got to see my parents, my sister Morgan, and Steve. My best friend Amy wasn’t there yet, but she came while I was in surgery.

Forewarning: the rest of this post is unbelievably long.

All of my fractures were open fractures, and as such I was immediately taken into surgery after numerous x-rays and CT scans. I had a fractured left wrist, a fractured left foot, fractured right tibula plateau, and a dislocated right hip. Along with the fractures I had severe facial lacerations, the most serious being on my right forehead. I had a laceration that went through my galea which exposed my skull. My first surgery went well, and I do recall waking up from it and immediately feeling more pain. During recovery after the first surgery, my hip dislocated again, and immediately I was put back under anesthesia to fix it.

My first week in the hospital I slept majority of the time as I was on a constant morphine drip, along with other antibiotics. I didn’t eat, barely drank and was barely coherent for the plethora of visitors that came to see me. I remember some here and there but others its a blur. By week two I was a little more active, talking to my family, and friends. One night while two fantastic nurses were helping to wash me, my right hip dislocated again. The next day was a bit of a rush because my original ER Surgeon came in to tell my parents that he did not have experience dealing with the rare fracture I had. He had a few options which were to transport me to one of three hospitals in the Chicago area (which instead of 15 minutes from home I would have been 40-80 minutes from home) or to try to find a surgeon that would take on my case.

He ended up bringing in a surgeon within the hospital’s network so I didn’t have to be transferred. This surgery wasn’t too bad, and recovery was okay aside from being completely incoherent again from the anesthesia. Fast forward to the weekend and I took a turn for the worse. From June 19th-22nd I had 2-3 fevers a day which spiked to 103 each time. On Monday afternoon while I was watching tv with my mom, I ended up spiking a fever that was 99F one moment, and then 103F within a minute. I was shaking because I felt so cold, which in turn made my heart rate jump to 180, and my breathing go short and shallow.

The nurses that were handling me called a code on me and then about 6 other nurses and a general physician came in to assess me. During this time I was put on a rebreather versus my naval cavity tube, and wheeled down for a CT scan of my lungs, and abdomen (gallbladder.) After CT, I was transferred into an ICU room instead. I then was met by a general physician, and an infectious disease doctor. The urinary tract infection I previous had (from prolonged catheter usage) escalated into a kidney infection, and I also developed a blood infection. I was put into ICU because my infections were worsening, and well, I was in critical condition (again.)

That Tuesday was probably one of my hardest days ever. I woke up and had a difficult time breathing with my nasal tube. Eventually the nurse put a mask on me, but that wasn’t helping me breath and my O2 stats were under 85. I was then placed on the re-breather again but it just wasn’t helping. I felt like I had run miles and was trying to catch my breath but it would not come back. At that point my respiratory physician told my parents and I that I had two options left. I would be put on a BiPap machine to assist me with breathing. If that failed the only other option was to sedate and intubate me.

I have never felt so scared, vulnerable and close to death as I did that day. I felt as if though my time was coming to an end and that I had only been kept alive from my accident to see my family and friends one last time. The BiPap was hard to adjust to for awhile but eventually I was able to breath with it and felt safe again. At this point I was also given diuretics to remove the excess fluid from my body which had finally made its way to my lungs causing my breathing failure. The next day I felt like a completely different person. I got my appetite back and perked up. Towards the afternoon I was able to do 30 minutes off the BiPap then an hour on, and eventually in the evening I was off of it entirely.

Friday I was finally cleared to go back up to the sixth floor where I was roomed originally. For the next few days I had doctors in and out to check on my progress. I eventually learned that my kidney infection was a result of e coli, and my blood infection was from the Pic line I had. It took a few days for my infections to clear through but later that week I was cleared for my tibial plateau surgery for June 30th.

My surgery went through well but the worst part was that my right leg was put into a CPM 2 hours after surgery. Now aside from the fact my leg was cut open and stuffed with cadaver bone, pins and a metal plate… I had not moved this leg in over four weeks. The pain was unbearable having my leg lifted into the CPM. When it was turned on, it was set at just a 30 degree angle and I was screaming in pain. Physical therapy planned for me to be on the CPM for two damn hours. The most excruciating pain I have had to endure–even worse then the initial pain from my accident and 3rd hip dislocation.

After suffering that torture for an hour my nurse heard how painful it was for me (I’m also quite sure the rest of the hall heard me), and how the morphine wasn’t working she gave me an injection of Tordodal and twenty minutes later I felt amazing and passed out for four hours.

My last two weeks in the hospital were a blur of watching the same tv shows over and over again and grueling physical therapy. The first time I tried to sit up in my second week in the hospital I barely made it for a minute. I was dizzy, lightheaded and had no strength at all. The first time I stood up I was using the aide of a platform walker and managed to last for 20 seconds. Each day I gained more and more strength. My record prior to leaving the hospital was 3 minutes. I fought for that time so hard, because every muscle in my left leg had atrophied, and I am unable to use my right leg. Because of the tibial and hip fracture/dislocation, it is in a non-weight bearing status until mid-September.

Having been home since July 9th, I have gained so much of my strength back. I can hop around using my platform walker, sit in my wheelchair for 13 hours (which I actually just did the other day and without needing any vicodin!), and have a lot more strength in my right leg, although I am still unable to put any weight on it. Despite what I’ve gone through, I’m okay with it and have accepted everything. I’m lucky and grateful for the nurses I had that I’ll never forget, and especially for being able to come home to a house that’s been prepared for me. My dad built a ramp on our main walkway and in our greenroom so that I can get into the house. The floor leading into my temporary room was redone so that I could maneuver it myself.

I look forward to the day when I can start walking again and truly turn my life around.

I’d go into so much more detail but I’m typing this from my iPhone right now.

I suffered a fractured left wrist, a fractured left foot, a severely fractured right tibula and knee, and a displaced and fractured hip ball. The right side of my face had deep lacerations.

I’ve been in the hospital since the accident. Have had three surgeries for my hip so far with one of those fixing my wrist and foot fractures, and stitching my face.

In an hour and a half I’m going into my fourth surgery to fix my fractured hip. I’d write more but my tummy hurts and I’m thirsty (but I can’t eat or drink before this surgery).

So until then.. Wish me luck.

The past few months have been pretty decent. My previous relationship ended, only to have someone else come back into my life again (on my accord.) May 8th I celebrated my 23rd birthday with my best friend Amy, Steve, and another good friend, Davia. Although the best part was receiving a text from Steve telling me I had a delivery. So I went to my front door only to open it and see a package from ProFlowers. I opened it up and it was a gorgeous bouqet of 24 roses that were yellow, pale orange, pale pink and red. This alone was probably the only thing I needed to enjoy the rest of my birthday. We ended up going to Houlihans for dinner, and then to Durbins for drinks and good times.

Steve and I went to a park for a picnic on Monday after dropping off his Macbook Pro at the Apple store to get fixed. It was a gorgeous day out, and what made it better was that he ended up asking me to be his girlfriend. One thing I have to admit is that I have honestly never had a guy ask me out to his face. Majority of the time it was maybe through the internet, or a text message but nothing as great as this. Things have only gotten better since then. He’s the first boyfriend in my life to have actually taken the time out to hang out with my friends, and receive the seal of approval from the one person who mean everything to me, my best friend Amy. My mom and dad love him, and he’s gotten along quite well with my siblings.

Aside from that we’ve been up to so much. We went and saw Star Trek last weekend, and went to the Angels & Demons 12:01am showing on Friday. Last night we went out with my friends and his brother and friends to a local bar and had an absolute blast. I believe Friday we’re going to the 12:01am for Terminator Salvation so that’ll be flipping sweet.

So, how’s that for actually updating my website and actually writing about something personal rather than some bullshit iPhone jailbreaking, or what software alternatives I’ve come across. I’m definitely going to try to update this more… That and I’m actually working on getting this site fixed up and active again.

After that I decided I wanted to try to find other replacements for some of my software. I’ve replaced iTunes with Songbird (Windows XP or Vista), although the main factor being that iTunes was not too fond of Vista 64bit. My favorite part is that it’s built around Firefox so I can download other add-ons to enhance my experience. It’s linked to my last.fm account (which is integrated already), and I’ve got a few others like coverflow, showing last.fm data about the artist playing, and a few others for skinning. It has no CD ripping or burning features yet, although that’s on their to-do list. That was another problem with 64bit and iTunes, the CD rip/burn was inoperable. :|

My HD capture card came with proprietary encoding software from Arcsoft which was really lacking in any major functionality. The biggest problem was that encoding took longer than it should have. Armando, ended up finding an awesome free alternative to it, Super ©. It’s perfect because I needed to be able to encode to MOV with H264 video and AAC audio, and be able to chose the resolutions for it and fine tune a few other specs. Encoding is also about 75% quicker than what I experienced with Arcsoft’s prepacked bologna.

Majority of my interest in trying out new software has mainly developed after I joined Wakoopa.com. It tracks the software (and webapps) that you use, and charts them for you. They do have up a recommended section for you and while it’s in beta, it hasn’t given me some decent choices. Majority of those were based on popularity and I was already aware of, so from just randomly browsing other users’ profiles I was able to find some other software to look at.

Other than the few I’ve changed over I still haven’t (or won’t) find alternatives to my main programs like Photoshop, After Effects, Intype (well technically this replaced Notepad++), and Firefox. :P

• How to Jailbreak iPhone 3G [...] With Quickpwn 2.1 for Windows
• Step-by-Step Guide to Jailbreak Your Phone Using Quickpwn (Windows)
• How to Jailbreak your 2.xx 3G iPhone (Mac)

It’s not really pertinent to include the steps of what I did with Quickpwn. It was a matter of plugging the iPhone into the USB port, and letting the software recognize the phone. Then you just follow the instructions listed (holding the power button a few seconds, then power+home, then home), and voila, it boots up with your jailbroken iPhone.

You’ll want to backup just in case something goes awry during the process. However, I had no problems at all. Apps, contacts, and all files stayed in tact and no corruption. The main purpose for doing this was because I wanted to take advantage of a bunch of apps that are available through Cydia. Installer.app is included as well, but I prefer what is offered through Cydia at the moment.

One thing I would recommend before you download any app on your device, is that you google it online. I didn’t do this, and had some issues that I can’t resolve unless I restore my iPhone. There are some that are going to be buggy, and might not work entirely as it should, and there are some that are going to interfere with other apps that may be loaded as well. One website/forum I have been relying on heavily to find out any issues or recommendations has been modmyi.com which has a bunch of mods for iPhone, iPod, Mac and who knows what else. They are also very involved with apps through Cydia, so there is definitely a chance you can get help for something, or even request an app.

One app that I would stay away is called Kate (RiPDev). Prior to configuring i I went to make a call only to have the mobilephone.app crash on me after 5 seconds of loading. It kept doing this repeatedly since at first I though it was a bad jailbreak, but then I remember I installed Kate. So I went to remove the app, only to still have to problem. Perplexed, I added it back. I then went and googled mobilephone.app, and one of the first results was from modmyi.com: mobilephone.app crash. Someone mentioned that Kate was the culprit on their phone and provided suggestions on how to remove it.

I’ve been through a bunch of threads and have been unsuccessful at this point. Granted, I did get mobilephone.app working once I applied a trial license to Kate. However, once that trial expires you receive no warning and then you better get used to things crashing again. I’ve tried a few of the fixes to undo Kate’s fuckup, but none of them worked, and I didn’t want to resort to restoring. So I went ahead and just purchase a license for it, but don’t go through the trouble I did. Just stay away from it altogether.

Granted, the largest advantage of having Kate installed was being able to modify a lot of settings on the phone (but I should mention that there are certains apps that will achieve various effects–you just need to search for their names to get ‘em.) But with Kate you can have 5 icons in your dock (there’s another app that can do this, but I don’t know it off hand), change the icons used for a good portion of apps, add privacy settings (eg: no content shown when a text message is received), and a bunch of others I have yet to take advantage of. So if you are interested in paying for the app, there is a chance is will be of value to you. Otherwise you get a short trial (I think a week) so if you don’t want to pay for it, skip out on it.

Some of the other apps I have downloaded and enjoy:

• Winterboard – Theme modifications ranging from fonts, colors, images, etc.
• iBlacklist – Filter incoming calls and SMS
• dTunes – Like iTunes but free; Search and stream and/or download MP3s, stream videos, and download torrents
• myFox – Safari replacement; Quicker, support for full screen, and other options
• Qik – Video streaming/broadcasting
• Pushr – Pushes Camera Roll to Flickr (pixelpipe for other mediums in the Appstore
• Make It Mine (MIM) – Changes carrier & Timestamp
• StatusNotifier – Show notifications in status bar
• – Set goals for weigh loss and track food intake (calories, nutrients, et al.)
• Snapture – Camera with extra features and support

]]> http://icupcake.org/jailbreaking-your-iphone-3g-or-itouch/feed 10 http://icupcake.org/jailbreaking-your-iphone-3g-or-itouch http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/atourworstorg/~3/tILhjHsYF1c/livecom-spambot-i-hate-you http://icupcake.org/livecom-spambot-i-hate-you#comments Sat, 27 Dec 2008 20:55:09 +0000 Jordan http://www.atourworst.org/?p=460 A few weeks ago I read Jem’s blog “Live.com Fake SERP Referrals Are Pissing Me Off” but at the time never had the issue myself. Well, shortly after her post I’ve been having the Live.com spambot hitting up a couple of my domain with one-keyword search referrals. 100% of the Live.com “traffic” has been from spoofed referrals, and it’s not stopping.

I really don’t care to contact Microsoft in regards to the issue–I’m just going to go all out and block the bot from accessing those websites. I’ll end up settings up a robots.txt file, but apparently that might not be enough as some user(s) are still experiencing issues with the bot avoiding the robots.txt file; Time to dig up the IP addresses being used so I can deny those too.

If I honestly had some real results coming from Live.com’s search, I’d be apprehensive to blog anything associated with it, but so far I’ve yet to ever receive one legitimate search referral from it. I frequent my Mint statistics more than I should on a daily basis, so I can see what keywords I need to work on.. I just can’t afford to waste my time with fake hits. Stop skewing up my shit!

I found a nice little tutorial on block bots on various levels ranging from an .htaccess redirect that sends them back to their own site, blocking their IP address, and a couple other variations. An anonymous comment from another entry, Live.com’s Referrer Spam Has Left Me In Despair provides a snippet you can add to your .htaccess file to also block the bot, given that it seems to ignore any robots.txt settings.


SetEnvIfNoCase User-Agent "^msnbot" bad_bot
<Limit GET POST>
Order Allow,Deny
Allow from all
Deny from env=bad_bot
</Limit>



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