As 2009 draws to a close, I'm replete from holiday celebrations. A jolly season, this. September has Dad's b'day & the 'rents' wedding anniversary (22 this year!) Mom's b'day and Halloween in October, Thanksgiving feasting in November & then the big buildup & delights of Christmas followed by the countdown to the New Year! Wow!
This Pug had a fine time during the season and wants to wish all Pugs and Pug friends a very happy and healthy 2010.
Thursday, December 31, 2009
Wednesday, October 07, 2009
Happy Birthday, Mom
Today is my human Mom's birthday. Not surprisingly, the best greetings have come from my own online Twitter friends. We Twitter Pugs know how special our human parents are, especially those of us who have come from questionable backgrounds...the local impound facility in my case. A reminder that not ALL humans are suited to Pug ownership.
My Twitter followers/friends include several Pug rescue groups. I'm not really aware of what goes on out there, but Mom always gives us extra kisses and cuddles when she has been checking updates. Sometimes she's reduced to tears & that distresses me, but I'm a Pug and I recover quickly.
Since birthdays seem to have significance for humans, I'm going to try to give my Mom the gift of "living in the now" like I do.
Woof
My Twitter followers/friends include several Pug rescue groups. I'm not really aware of what goes on out there, but Mom always gives us extra kisses and cuddles when she has been checking updates. Sometimes she's reduced to tears & that distresses me, but I'm a Pug and I recover quickly.
Since birthdays seem to have significance for humans, I'm going to try to give my Mom the gift of "living in the now" like I do.
Woof
Wednesday, September 02, 2009
What Price Celebrity?
My PugPack friend, JennyThePug announced today that she and her puglets had a spot on the local news. I thought that was great and sent a congrats tweet to her. But then my Mom stepped in and filled my Pug ears with facts I did NOT want to know.
Popularity has ruined more dog breeds than it has helped. Sad, but true. Once a breed becomes popular, backyard breeders and puppy mills want to cash in on that popularity and start producing puppies like they are widgets in a hot widget market!
The general public grabs a fad and runs with it without researching the consequences. For dogs, that means they don't consider the drawbacks or responsibilities inherent in the possession of that animal. Pugs in shelters rose to new highs after the movie, "Men In Black" popularized Frank the Pug.
So what we gonna do? NOT gonna hide our lights under a bushel...we're just too terrific for that! Don't wanna give the impression that everyone should have a Pug! We're too special for that! So how do we balance popularity with quality?
I don't know.
Woof!
Popularity has ruined more dog breeds than it has helped. Sad, but true. Once a breed becomes popular, backyard breeders and puppy mills want to cash in on that popularity and start producing puppies like they are widgets in a hot widget market!
The general public grabs a fad and runs with it without researching the consequences. For dogs, that means they don't consider the drawbacks or responsibilities inherent in the possession of that animal. Pugs in shelters rose to new highs after the movie, "Men In Black" popularized Frank the Pug.
So what we gonna do? NOT gonna hide our lights under a bushel...we're just too terrific for that! Don't wanna give the impression that everyone should have a Pug! We're too special for that! So how do we balance popularity with quality?
I don't know.
Woof!
Thursday, August 27, 2009
A Puff of Smoke: when monitors die
My Mom's a pretty smart gal as far as academics go but she's a bit dim in some areas. Take today, for example. We were happily tweeting along with my twittermates when the monitor exploded. Ok, it was a mild explosion...no flying glass, just a sudden "whooshing" noise and then some smoke pouring out the top and back of the monitor. Whatever, the monitor no longer worked. Smelled pretty bad, too.
BigTimeBummer. We talking a 32 inch LCD combo TV/monitor. We can't use computer, Mom can't watch TV...can't vote Pugs on Tweeterwall!! Horrors!
First Mom thought; Wal-Mart & new monitor...out and back in 3 hours. But just bought a new refrigerator & don't need more credit card debt. Smart Mom.
Second Mom thought; have another TV/monitor upstairs that isn't used a lot, so could be used at least temporarily & don't have to spend money. Smart Mom.
Next Mom thought; don't wanna wait 'til Dad gets home to help move that 42 inch HDTV beast downstairs, so will do it alone! Dumb Mom!
Mind you, LCD monitors aren't all that heavy. But Mom's closer to 70 (about 10 in dog years) than 60 and she's not the strongest warrior among the 300! Wrestling 80 pound fragile items down 13 stairs is not wise!
I don't need to tell you, do I? She did it. Lifted it off the stand, got a trolley from the garage to take it to the top of the stairway, took it off trolley and walked it downstairs, then used the trolley to roll it to her room.
It's all set up and working well. Impressive, Mom...but not very smart!
Woof!
BigTimeBummer. We talking a 32 inch LCD combo TV/monitor. We can't use computer, Mom can't watch TV...can't vote Pugs on Tweeterwall!! Horrors!
First Mom thought; Wal-Mart & new monitor...out and back in 3 hours. But just bought a new refrigerator & don't need more credit card debt. Smart Mom.
Second Mom thought; have another TV/monitor upstairs that isn't used a lot, so could be used at least temporarily & don't have to spend money. Smart Mom.
Next Mom thought; don't wanna wait 'til Dad gets home to help move that 42 inch HDTV beast downstairs, so will do it alone! Dumb Mom!
Mind you, LCD monitors aren't all that heavy. But Mom's closer to 70 (about 10 in dog years) than 60 and she's not the strongest warrior among the 300! Wrestling 80 pound fragile items down 13 stairs is not wise!
I don't need to tell you, do I? She did it. Lifted it off the stand, got a trolley from the garage to take it to the top of the stairway, took it off trolley and walked it downstairs, then used the trolley to roll it to her room.
It's all set up and working well. Impressive, Mom...but not very smart!
Woof!
Monday, August 10, 2009
Way Too Much Drama!
The new tweeterwall "Animal Sanctuary" got off to a roaring start. Most of the Pugs from the former 6+ pages of entrants where schlepped onto the first couple of pages of the new competition, the species were separate & it looked like a real fun for all was brewing. I put on my Pug cheerleader hat, grabbed a pair of pom poms & started trying to pump up the enthusiasm in the PugPack.
All was well for a couple of days except for an occasional grouse about so many Pugs. Really, there were no more than had been there before, they were just bunched up together. Then the inevitable cheats who use vote bots started slipping in. They're not too hard to recognize if you've been around for a while & Mom's been on the Internet since '95.
A vote bot can be set to automatically vote for any candidate in any kind of contest. Couple of weeks ago there was big brouhaha about vote bots used in Big Brother TV show voting. The candidate who is receiving the votes does NOT have to be the person who uses the bot. Most entrants with a bot will use it rather quietly and just gently slide themselves up in the ranks. However, like I said, the pattern is rather easy to detect. We saw at least three in use and of course we talked about it in the PugPack.
One Pug mom decided to report the cheating. She turned in names to TPTB. Now, on Twitter, if you use the ampersand ( @ ) in front of a screen name, the person can see what you've tweeted because it shows up on his replies page. In less than 24 hours, the woman who reported the cheating had a vote bot (or bots) turned on her. Set to run at an exceptionally high rate, sometimes generating over 400 votes per hour, it was obvious what had happened.
Naturally, those who didn't know her thought she was doing it herself in order to win. They had no idea that she was totally unaware of what was going on. When she found out she immediately applied to TPTB to have herself removed from the competition. No doubt just what her attacker intended...her withdrawal or her eventual removal by tweeterwall. I tried to spread the word, but there were still contestants who thought she was cheating.
All this upset just took all the fun out of the game. Another PugPacker decided he'd had enough and he withdrew also. I couldn't help but agree with him, but didn't want to give the cheaters another victory, so it took me a while to make up my mind. In the end, I, too decided to withdraw. As I told a friend, when it ceases to be fun and starts generating anger, it's time to go.
Rumors are still going 'round & the story gets mixed up, so I'm making this blog entry in hopes of setting the record straight. The Pug with more than 21,000 votes was NOT the cheater. She was the victim. She tried to do the right thing by reporting the names of suspected cheaters to tweeterwall. Other Pugs who withdrew did so in support of her and because it was no longer fun.
It's all a bit sad, but fortunately I'm a dog & I live in the now, so I lift my leg on the cheaters and waddle off to sniff another interesting landmark! Life is good!
Woof!
All was well for a couple of days except for an occasional grouse about so many Pugs. Really, there were no more than had been there before, they were just bunched up together. Then the inevitable cheats who use vote bots started slipping in. They're not too hard to recognize if you've been around for a while & Mom's been on the Internet since '95.
A vote bot can be set to automatically vote for any candidate in any kind of contest. Couple of weeks ago there was big brouhaha about vote bots used in Big Brother TV show voting. The candidate who is receiving the votes does NOT have to be the person who uses the bot. Most entrants with a bot will use it rather quietly and just gently slide themselves up in the ranks. However, like I said, the pattern is rather easy to detect. We saw at least three in use and of course we talked about it in the PugPack.
One Pug mom decided to report the cheating. She turned in names to TPTB. Now, on Twitter, if you use the ampersand ( @ ) in front of a screen name, the person can see what you've tweeted because it shows up on his replies page. In less than 24 hours, the woman who reported the cheating had a vote bot (or bots) turned on her. Set to run at an exceptionally high rate, sometimes generating over 400 votes per hour, it was obvious what had happened.
Naturally, those who didn't know her thought she was doing it herself in order to win. They had no idea that she was totally unaware of what was going on. When she found out she immediately applied to TPTB to have herself removed from the competition. No doubt just what her attacker intended...her withdrawal or her eventual removal by tweeterwall. I tried to spread the word, but there were still contestants who thought she was cheating.
All this upset just took all the fun out of the game. Another PugPacker decided he'd had enough and he withdrew also. I couldn't help but agree with him, but didn't want to give the cheaters another victory, so it took me a while to make up my mind. In the end, I, too decided to withdraw. As I told a friend, when it ceases to be fun and starts generating anger, it's time to go.
Rumors are still going 'round & the story gets mixed up, so I'm making this blog entry in hopes of setting the record straight. The Pug with more than 21,000 votes was NOT the cheater. She was the victim. She tried to do the right thing by reporting the names of suspected cheaters to tweeterwall. Other Pugs who withdrew did so in support of her and because it was no longer fun.
It's all a bit sad, but fortunately I'm a dog & I live in the now, so I lift my leg on the cheaters and waddle off to sniff another interesting landmark! Life is good!
Woof!
Tuesday, August 04, 2009
We'll be right back after this short break!
Finally finished out the August round of Tweeterwall competition. Not a moment too soon for these tired little paws. Now we'll wait for the results to be posted so we can toast our victories and curse our defeats.
Personally, I'm delighted to have been in the top 20 this go-around. Actually, I think I'll finish up in the number 8 slot. I'll know more later. I still don't have any idea who nominated me, but it's not really important, I suppose. Best part of the whole contest was the camaraderie with Pug friends, the enthusiasm shared by a few really dedicated participants and the fun of watching Pugs come together for a "cause." For those reasons, the August competition was much more enjoyable than was the one for July.
I'll have updates shortly.
Pugs Rule!
Woof!
Personally, I'm delighted to have been in the top 20 this go-around. Actually, I think I'll finish up in the number 8 slot. I'll know more later. I still don't have any idea who nominated me, but it's not really important, I suppose. Best part of the whole contest was the camaraderie with Pug friends, the enthusiasm shared by a few really dedicated participants and the fun of watching Pugs come together for a "cause." For those reasons, the August competition was much more enjoyable than was the one for July.
I'll have updates shortly.
Pugs Rule!
Woof!
Thursday, July 30, 2009
Dog Days? I Don't Think So!
Now, I'm not sure where that phrase, "dog days of summer" came from, and I'm not sure what it is supposed to mean. But I can tell you this, from a dog's point of view, that there haven't been many days this summer that were good or enjoyable for dogs. Actually, since summer was official on June 21, there have been NO "dog" days here. Just too darn hot, too darn dry.
Can't lounge in the sun out on the deck. I'd fry! Pug Fritters NOT appealing! Can't amble through the grass snurffling all the interesting scents. There is no grass. Somehow, ambling through stickly prickly pine needles just doesn't do it for me.
Pug Sigh.
Mom to the rescue. She's got me tuned in to Twitter and gets me all excited talking about the Tweeterwall contests, Puppia harnesses, bully sticks and all manner of conversational delights with the PugPack. Mostly I just listen, but by golly, sometimes a bit of her enthusiasm inspires me to do a Pugtona around the living room.
So maybe I Will survive the "anti-dog" days of this summer...with a little help from Mom, the internet and my PugPack friends!
Woof!
Can't lounge in the sun out on the deck. I'd fry! Pug Fritters NOT appealing! Can't amble through the grass snurffling all the interesting scents. There is no grass. Somehow, ambling through stickly prickly pine needles just doesn't do it for me.
Pug Sigh.
Mom to the rescue. She's got me tuned in to Twitter and gets me all excited talking about the Tweeterwall contests, Puppia harnesses, bully sticks and all manner of conversational delights with the PugPack. Mostly I just listen, but by golly, sometimes a bit of her enthusiasm inspires me to do a Pugtona around the living room.
So maybe I Will survive the "anti-dog" days of this summer...with a little help from Mom, the internet and my PugPack friends!
Woof!
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