Life is Delightful

I was initially impressed with the way Postie works and jumped onto it to install & configure it for this site. Well, I followed the instructions and did everything to install it correctly. It worked well, but I then stumbled upon a major challenge: how to configure it to suit my requirements?

I first thought of using my Yahoo email id (because the server details were readily available). I provided my personal Yahoo email (which I use frequently) for testing Postie and ran manual fetching, Postie was displaying a few messages on the screen (refer the screenshot). At first, I did not understand even a single word of it, but Postie was continuously “deleting” emails from my mailbox. It stopped at around 700th email because it ran out of memory. I was wondering what has happened until now - whether Postie had fetched all emails and posted them on my site, or it had actually deleted those emails… Worryingly I checked my Yahoo mailbox and to my horror, Postie had actually deleted those 700 emails from my mailbox - permanently deleted, forever!!!

I cursed Postie like anything, but there was hardly anything that I could do to retrieve those emails. I would advise a caution: While using Postie, DO NOT USE your personal email at all - it permanently deletes all the emails as it fetched them. Instead, create a dedicated email which will be used only for the purpose of posting on your site.

I was using cPanel email id, so I first contacted the administrator to get the protocol and server address. Then I created a dedicated email address for this site and tested Postie. Testing showed it worked, but the post was actually not “fetched”. I ran Postie manually, but it also did not succeed. It gave some strange errors…

After going through a few threads in Rob Felty forum, I came to know about the “Authorized Emails” field under “User” tab - I entered the email address from which I will be posting on my site and then tested it again - it worked like magic! Later I entered all the emails from which I may be sending posts on this site: my work email and personal email. Now it works perfect! I just need to study the various parameters provided by Postie - like :start, :end, etc.

You can download Postie plugin from the official Wordpress Plugin Directory.

<< Nintendo Wii Top 10 Games (# 1-5)

Here is the list of TOP 10 most preferred Wii games…

6) “Resident Evil 4 Wii Edition” My Rating: 91 (out of 100) Published: 2007 The Wii is one of the most family-friendly consoles around. Sometimes, however, you want to put the kids to bed and hack and slash your way through an old-fashioned horror fest. “Resident Evil 4″ delivers that in a game that adapts beautifully to the Wii’s motion-sensitive controls.
	7) “Okami” My Rating: 90 Published: 2008 A modern classic refurbished for the Wii, this game pairs beautiful visuals with an intriguing adventure.
“Metroid Prime 3: Corruption” My Rating: 90 Published: 2007 This classic adventure franchise, based on the adventures of space-traveling bounty hunter Samus Aran, gets updated controls that perfectly complement Nintendo’s Wiimote.
	9) “Little King’s Story” My Rating: 88 Published: 2009 This game isn’t available in the United States yet, but it has gotten strong reviews in other countries. It’s a game that shows that third-party developers understand the formula that has made Nintendo so successful: cartoonish and friendly graphics, quirky game play that’s easy to pick up, and challenging action that will leave gamers satisfied.
10) “Zack & Wiki: Quest for Barbaros’ Treasure” My Rating: 87 Published: 2007 This offbeat adventure and puzzle game was one of the first titles that wasn’t developed by Nintendo to make the Wiimote seem intuitive.

When it debuted, the Nintendo Wii - Shigeru Miyamoto’s baby - was hit with a lot of skepticism. After all, the slim white console didn’t have the kind of processing horsepower boasted by heftier consoles hawked by Microsoft and Sony. Worse yet, the console relied on a quirky, motion-sensitive controller that required developers to rethink the way they designed games if they wanted players to get the most out of the console. At a gaming conference in 2007, one developer famously ranted that the Wii was little more than a pair of GameCubes “duct-taped” together, exhorting Nintendo to make a console that “doesn’t suck.”

But Nintendo’s Miyamoto loved the new console, and that was enough. Quite a turnaround after the disaster that was the GameCube. Overnight, Nintendo went from worst to first in the competition with Sony and Microsoft for console supremacy. And, as it turns out, Nintendo was just getting warmed up. “Super Mario Galaxy,” released in 2007, and “Super Smash Bros. Brawl,” released in 2008, won critical acclaim. Here is the list of TOP 10 most preferred Wii games…

1) “Super Mario Galaxy” My Rating: 97 (out of 100) Published: 2007 The plot is simple: Mario has to save the princess. But the trip is pure Nintendo: zany, original and loads of fun.
	2) “Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess” My Rating: 95 Published: 2006 One of the first games to appear for the Wii. The use of the Wiimote can feel tacked-on at times, and there are few elements here that will feel new to fans of this franchise. That said, it’s an unforgettable adventure.
3) “The World of Goo” My Rating: 94 Published: 2008 This deceptively simple game involves moving maneuvering globs of goo into pipes. Simple, right? Wrong. Before long, you’ll be building ever more elaborate structures, dumping hours of time into this deceptively cute little game, which can be found in Nintendo’s Wiiware online store.
	4) “Super Smash Bros. Brawl” My Rating: 93 Published:2008 It’s an adventure game. It’s a fighting game. It’s a videogame fanatic’s delight. This game pits a motley array of game characters from wildly different franchises against each other in fun, and funny, sparring matches. Bonus: The game also offers an hours-long adventure you can play alone or with a friend.
5) “Rock Band 2″ My Rating: 92 Published: 2007 The Rock Band gaming franchise is a lot like the Wii itself. “Rock Band” gives players a collection of instruments and some simple instruction, and challenges them to make music together. Much like the Wii itself, it’s not about graphics or button mashing as much as it is about getting together with friends.

Nintendo Wii Top 10 Games (# 6-10) >>

<< Another SPAM EXAMPLE

Here is one example of such a online spam. When you click on this authentic-looking link, you would be taken to some strange spamming site…

Please SPREAD the word. Note that YAHOO and any other email service provider (like Hotmail, Rediff) WILL NEVER contact you with this type of information. DO NOT encourage spam and DO NOT click on any link in an unknown email… If you do so, you may lose all your precious data to spamsters!

<< continued from PART 5 of this series…

I have recently penned down a few pointers that will help all of us to achieve what we dream with relatively less pains. Note that these are based on my own experience…

Hi readers and buddies,

I thank you for visitng my blog and being supportive. I always tried to bring to you the most entertaining articles about general life, general entertainment, and tips to make money online. However, due to certain unavoidable reasons, I could not devote time to update this site. I aplogize for my brief disappearance (well, it was for more than 4 months… ). But in the New Year, I pledge to be more consistent in bringing good quality material for my readers, and to ensure that this site remains as the top-of-the-mind recall whenever “general entertainment” and “make money online” queries come to you…

Having said all this, I thank you again for all the support. Happy New Year to you and your beloved ones… Enjoy reading - Life Is truely Delightful!!

While Pune & Mumbai (in Maharashtra) were down with SWINE FLU, I, my wife, and a few friends decided to make a trip to the ever-green KONKAN to enjoy the long and much-deserved weekend. You know, I always wanted to drive in the beautiful roads in Konkan and experience the beauty of nature all by myself. I have travelled there by train but there is a different pleasure in driving than going by rail…We simply loved this great trip. It was rejuvenating, thrilling, and much more relaxing. I will share some of the very interesting pictures in two posts (as they will be too many for a single post)!

To be continued…