Google Cuts Off Live Writer from Blogger

 UPDATE: As of June 2, everything is working again. That was an amazingly fast fix given how low priority Blogger has been to Google and Live Writer to Microsoft. Didn't see an update to Live Writer, so I suspect that this is Google's initial fix.

Original Post:

As of May 26, Google changed the login method for external software to access Blogger, cutting it off from all offline editors other than Blogger's default browser editor. Since many of us use Microsoft's Windows Live Writer 2012 to create our posts, this has been a disaster. If you are like me and use a lot of inline images, this is especially problematic since the default editor is terrible at handling images.

Google blames Microsoft:

7:51 AM

Nick - Google Guide said:

Hi everyone,

We appreciate you coming here and letting us know about this issue. It looks like this error is a result of an authentication problem between Google and Live Writer. A long time ago, we announced we were deprecating our old authentication system and we encouraged developers to move to the new one (OAuth 2.0). It seems that Live Writer is still using our old system, which is causing the issue. We are currently looking into it, but we suggest that users also reach out to Microsoft to report the issue.

Thanks,

Blogger Suport Team

p.s. please disregard the previous official announcement.

Edited

However, all other blog editors are affected, such as Raven, Blogjet, and BlogFire. Until one or more of them change over access methods, posting to Blogger will be a great deal more difficult given the Microsoft ceased development of Live Writer in 2012.

In my case, it may prevent the movie review I finally finished writing today from ever being posted, since I can't get the images to work properly with the default editor. Short of learning to hand code HTML image sizing, it isn't happening for me.

So I have to wait for some kind of fix from somebody. If that doesn't happen, it will be time to explore Wordpress to see if it can replace Blogger for me.  Otherwise, I may stop blogging altogether.

This is more than annoying.

Another Infection

Back in February of 2013, I suffered from an e.coli infection that turned into an abscess. A recent bout of sinusitis has been brutal enough on its own and decided to morph into another abscess in the making in a peculiar turn of events. With my immune system abdicating all its responsibilities, the last few weeks have been miserable.

Currently on antibiotics for the throat closing sinus infection, so nothing new needs be proscribed. All that can be done is too apply hot compresses in the hopes of making the abscess form faster. Fun and games.

I still hope to post more often with actual content, yet life is not being very helpful toward that end.

AdSense is Nonsense

As part of trying to understand how the Web works, I have experimented with enabling ads on the site to see how they affect its presence in search engines or if they do at all. Making things easy for Google I opted to use their AdSense program and in the latest experiment tried one ad on the right hand sidebar. That way everything involved, Blogger, Google Search, and AdSense, would all be Google products.

So after a year of no profit with the latest attempt (due to the fact it will take around a decade to hit the cash out threshold), they send me a nastygram informing I’m in violation of AdSense:

Hello,

This is a warning message to alert you that there is action required to bring your AdSense account into compliance with our AdSense program policies. We’ve provided additional details below, along with the actions to be taken on your part.

Affected website: from-the-sidelines.blogspot.com

Example page where violation occurred: http://from-the-sidelines.blogspot.com/2011/11/few-war-movies-are-as-rousing-and.html?m=1

Action required: Please make changes immediately to your site to follow AdSense program policies.

Current account status: Active

My immediate reaction was wondering what in the world they were talking about. After visiting the page and seeing it renders as a mobile version with multiple ads, I rolled my eyes since I had no control over where the ads are placed with Bloggers default mobile version. In fact, I was astounded to see two ads, one each placed at the top and bottom of the post instead of only one as set.

Why is this annoying?

Violation explanation

​
AD MISLABELING: Publishers may not implement Google ads in a manner that disguises the ads in any way. For instance, publishers may not place ads under misleading headers or titles as this may confuse users into thinking the ads are actually site links related to that header. To avoid this issue, we ask that publishers use only "sponsored links" or "advertisements" to label ads. More information about this policy can be found in our help center at https://support.google.com/adsense/answer/1346295?utm_source=crs&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=notification#Placing_ads_under_a_misleading_heading=en&answer=1346295#Placing_ads_under_a_misleading_heading

There was no header labeling of the ads they inserted on their own into the automatically generated conversion of the page to a mobile friendly format. It is sheer idiocy to trust Google’s services working properly with one another which reminds me of the bad old days of IBM where divisions would war with each other. It is one thing to have one hand not know what the other is doing, but neighboring fingers?

I’ve removed AdSense from the site and doubt I’ll experiment with it again. After removing the ad block on the side no ads render on the mobile version too. I pity anyone who tries to make money off of webpage ads these days if penalties are handed out so capriciously.

Somehow I don’t think the whopping $5 and odd cents theoretically earned by the site will be missed.

Spring Surprise

The surprise being that this post is actually going up.

Though the fact that I’m wearing a T-shirt today is surprising after last week’s snow storm that dumped more than eight inches on the property.

Last time I posted was nearly a month ago. How time flies when you aren’t having fun. While February was tough on my health, March pushed me to my limits with no spare energy for anything constructive. That, of course, includes writing.

Spring Is Coming…

…Or so the weather forecasters claim.

Temperatures are finally supposed to go above freezing for the highs this weekend and I desperately need them to. It has been a cold, harsh winter making my bones ache constantly. Thankfully, things have been rather busy the past month thereby causing time to fly and writing to fall by the wayside.

Lately we have been traveling to Gunderson Clinic quite a bit due to testing being performed on Dad to see if something can be done so he’ll be able to eat food again. So far we know that liquids pass through but not solids, so nothing has changed there except for the fluids transiting more easily than last year.

The Sound of Spam

More referral spam from Russia and the Netherlands cluttered my Blogger stats in Fevruary. Adding to the mess is the loud blast of spam from http: // ranksonic . info / krawler . pho?refToken threatening to blow the doors down on my blog for the past month. Join me as I explore the links you should never click on…

Let’s start with spam from RanKSonic since it is clogging up Statcounter as well as Blogger’s stats. Of course, it is SEO spam claiming to be able to boost traffic to your website. Hey, if they were that good at it, would they be spamming blogs to get business? Of course not.

Scrolling down to the bottom of the page, I tried several links since there was no way I would sign up for the shady service. Terms of Service and Privacy Policy produced 404 errors like the one above, while About Us just took me back to the top of the home page.

Inspires great confidence in their understanding of webpage design, doesn’t it?

Definitions Matter: IOM Report on ME/CFS

Being a sufferer of Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (CFS) means dealing with skeptical doctors, a lack of public awareness, and a very confusing diagnostic process. The last is a much bigger problem than even sufferers understand for it is the doctors being confused as well.

So I applaud the new diagnosis method proposed by the Institute of Medicine of the National Academies here in the United States. While I haven’t read the full report yet, the outlines and video presentation depict a much more streamlined (and dare I say it, more accurate) list of symptoms for diagnosis.

Quoting from the Key Facts PDF:

There are five main symptoms of ME/CFS:

1. Reduction or impairment in ability to carry out normal daily activities, accompanied by profound fatigue;
2. Post-exertional malaise (worsening of symptoms after physical, cognitive, or emotional effort);
3. Unrefreshing sleep;
4. Cognitive impairment; and
5. Orthostatic intolerance (symptoms that worsen when a person stands upright and improve when the person lies back down).

The first three are mandatory and one of the latter two is needed to fulfill the criteria for diagnosis.

I suffer harshly from the first four and haven’t been tested for orthostatic intolerance. Lately, number four has been particularly bad, hence my not posting much. The last few days have been especially challenging making coherent sentences a challenge even when speaking. Today is better, thankfully.

Also in the report is a proposal to rename the disease to Systemic Exertion Intolerance Disease or SEID. Doesn’t roll off the tip of the tongue, does it? However, it is bang on what the illness is really about and, most importantly, replaces “syndrome” with “disease” which is important in the medical world.

Note that this report has nothing on treatment and is confined to diagnostics for doctors and researchers, so please don’t get your hopes up on a treatment being developed quickly or even at all. What this report does is add legitimacy to the illness which is vital for extensive research to be done like Stanford’s findings last year of physical abnormalities in CFS patients’ brains.

After over 25 years of having this miserable illness, I’d given up any hope of advancement in any way or form from the medical community. This may be more than a glimmer.

February Already?

“Tempus fugit,” said the Romans and indeed that observation still applies two millennia later. January turned out to be a bear of a month to get through, so next to nothing got done other than what was required. Hopefully, things will get easier as the temperatures warm and winter weather slowly departs.

That may be awhile, as I was snowed in yesterday and didn’t make it to church. Great irony could be found in the fact that I had asked to be covered for my Sunday school lesson the week before due to a forecast of snow that didn’t arrive. So of course the boy that cried wolf (NOAA) wasn’t listened to this time and I awakened to heavy drifting across our steep drive.

The World Is Burning–So What?

The first post of the year 2015 is something I actually started awhile back and forgot about. Lately I’ve been pondering how people deal with life’s challenges along with how much behavior is influenced by external pressures. Stress fractures in society are increasing in size and quantity while people seem less equipped to deal with them. That’s the backdrop for what I began writing last year and updated for this post…

Russia slowly undermines and takes away chunks of Ukraine, China bullies its neighbors and lays claim to vast swathes of sea, Islamists are wreaking havoc in France and Africa, illegal alien minors including gang members are flooding over the border with Mexico, Iraq lost territory to terrorists and Iran sent troops in, and the United States has the most corrupt and incompetent leadership in its history. Yep, it is business as usual -- if you are a student of history. Unfortunately, most people are not.

2014 in Retrospect, 2015 Looms

New Years Eve is upon me much faster than expected since life has been complicated of late. Of course, it has been for the entire year so I should have expected 2014 to end that way. To sum up the year it was a relentless grind.

Starting off with my father’s cancer battle, 2014 proved to be a bad year demonstrating 2013 was no fluke. Life got harder, so the blog didn’t get the attention planned for it, along with many other things.

Normally, I write a post with statistics for the blog, however this year I’m discontinuing the practice. Why? It is clear that growth is dead. Other than the front page and one post on spam, the top twenty pages viewed all were originally published in prior years.

Suffice it to say that visits decline by a quarter thanks to Google’s constant screwing around with their algorithms and my producing fewer posts. Having matured, the Web is now a pay to play business rather than the bold new frontier of the past.

Good thing the blog wasn’t created to garner wealth or fame!

Christmas Eve 2014

Hard to believe it is the 24th of December, yet here it is. Though Christmas has degenerated into a materialistic if not secular holiday, a little of the real spirit has manifested itself here and there.

Helping keep things in perspective is the kitten I rescued a few weeks back. Ragnar the Viking Kitten (as I’ve dubbed him) has responded well to antibiotics and now terrorizes the house with great glee. He was big for his age to begin with so his growth spurt has been impressive since getting healthy. Consequently, the little tiger feels like he can throw his weight around which has led him to discovering what being disciplined is about.

It is something he takes to heart. His wetting my bed in retaliation for our being out for an entire morning got him a smacked rump to accompany a nose rubbed in his own product. Since then, nary a problem of peeing where he shouldn’t. Rags doesn’t like me being angry with him which is a rare quality in an alpha male.

Still, the varmint likes to climb me when playing video games, especially ones where I’m playing online and talking to friends. Yes, he has gotten me virtually killed like a proper ravager out viking should. So far he’s winning that battle.

Other than that, Rags is an utterly endearing kitten filled with love and affection. He’s very grateful to have a warm home, kitten chow, and people to sleep on. Unexpectedly, he turned out to be good with the somewhat terrifying two year old niece of mine. She’s not a huge fan of cats despite being around ones in her house, yet she and Ragnar hit it off after awhile.

In turn, I’m grateful for his presence that has breathed new life into the household. Due to his attitude, I’m trying to improve mine and get some of the holiday spirit going. In the end, it is all about being with the ones you love, right?

At least as far as the secular side goes. There’s a lot more to it when you understand the immense gift given to all of us when the Savior was born.

So a merry Christmas to all, may you find that which is truly of value and share it with others.

Spam for Christmas

It seems that the dark elves responsible for pumping out unwanted spam of all kinds have the Christmas spirit of giving right now. Unfortunately, they completely misunderstood the true meaning of the season and are bent on raking in money for themselves.

Whether it be email or Blogger referral spam, the filters have been tested to the breaking point in December. Earlier, I posted an update on seoairport suddenly returning with a flood. A new approach that I haven’t seen outside of emails showed up too and that’s what I’ll be covering in this post.

I hope by now that everyone knows not to open an Adobe Acrobat (PDF) attachment from a stranger when they get one in their inbox. This has been a way to deliver trojans and viruses onto PCs for many years.

So it was surprising to see referral spam that linked to PDFs including one hosted on Amazon’s cloud service which arrived as s3 . amazonaws . com / pdf-1ydO / qyR20YHDImN9.pdf on my Blogger stats page.

Why would anybody use such a discredited way to get hits? Another referral and a little digging provided me with a theory.

Remember to not click on links such as these, leave it to security pros and madmen to investigate. In my case, it is the latter though a virtual machine and an anonymous routing service were employed to keep my PC uncompromised.

SEO Spam or Fear the Penguin

One of the most irritating con jobs on the Net is selling links to people desperate to get traffic to their websites. This is part of what is known as “black hat SEO” with SEO standing for Search Engine Optimization. So it was rather interesting to get two false referrals from seoairport . com / site / product / in my Blogger stats today. UPDATED: December 2014 has seen a massive amount of hits from seoairport . com / site / recommended with no end in sight. New screen captures added at the end of the post.

Firing up the trusty virtual machine, I checked it out. Remember folks, don’t click on strange links and leave that to daredevils or those of us with more than one operating system on a machine. The name told me what to expect out of the site and I wasn’t disappointed.

The home page above is of basic design, which will be important later on.

So I Was Driving Along a County Road…

And I saw what looked like a dead cat with a kitten nestled up to it near an intersection. A half mile or so further down the road I turned around when I saw nothing moving in the rearview mirror. Stopping the car and getting out revealed no dead cat, but three kittens huddled together for warmth right at the edge of the road. They were completely lost and crying for their mother.

Concerned for their safety, I managed to corral two and carry them across the road to the farm where I suspected they belonged. The third eventually followed me to the safety of familiar territory while one jumped off me when the dog residing there started barking. However, one was just fine with me carrying it and was comfortable nestled in my arm.

Talking to the surprised owner of the property it turned out their barn cat mother had taken them hunting. His surprise was my carrying them, since he had tried wooing them and never been able to lay a finger on the critters.

Looking at the purring kitten looking back up at me, I realized that another four legged denizen was going to be added to our household.

Not the best picture, but I had the wrong settings on the camera again. He’s a pretty little cat with a face like a bobcat and quite a bit bigger than his siblings. Fairly sure he’s a he, since it is the old semicolon ; rather than colon : formation in back.

Paint it Black Friday

Normally I like to post something about being thankful around Thanksgiving, however I’m in no mood to do so this year. It has been the kind of year where every blessing has revealed a Faustian twist behind it souring things considerably. Suffice it to say that actively working on being grateful has been a task and as of this week I’m completely depleted of the emotion.

A large part of my foul mood has to do with having been ill for several weeks with an upper respiratory bug that only now is clearing up. Much more aggravating is continued problems for Dad involving a leaking feeding tube. It was replaced on short notice Monday and now is worse as of yesterday. So he isn’t able to feed at all at the moment while we wait for a return call from the department involved.

Well, it looks like we have to go in, no surprise. I’m suspecting an infection thanks to discharge I just saw. Going to be another long day if we can get out in the first place. Tractor path is going to get used, methinks.

The Pipes are Freezing, Danny Boy

Struggling with an upper respiratory infection made last week difficult, yet the cold weather has been just as frustrating. Today’s fun was finding the hot water lines frozen, the fan used to duct air from the basement into the crawlspace broken, and a window mysteriously out allowing wind directly in.

How that window came to be lying outside is baffling, for there is no way the wind could have sucked it outside, frame and all. We’ve had the opposite problem with windows blown in before which makes sense. I’m wondering if a varmint came in through the cat door and couldn’t figure its way back out. That’s a longshot, a Twilight Zone kind of improbable, due to the location having nothing to climb up to the window in question.

With the temperature at 10 degrees F (-9 C) and a wind chill of –1 F (-18 C), it will take a long time to thaw the pipes. In fact, the thermometer is dropping with the sun setting so it is going to be very cold tonight with wind chills of up to – 20 F possible. Hard to believe it is the middle of November.

I may have to make an emergency run for a fan tonight if things don’t improve within the next couple of hours. If this is what autumn is going to be like, I don’t look forward to winter.