We have a term around here for employees of Stardock.  We call ourselves Stardockians.  Makes sense, right? Well, one may wonder what a Stardockian is.  In a current blog by Zoomba (who is becoming a Stardockian) I mentioned that he already seems like one. Stardockian is more than just an employee.  We have a whole company culture around us that makes us a bit of a "family".  For instance, I was just in a car accident.  "Stardock" sent flowers to my house and ...

Random things about Karma... that you may not have ever wanted to know: - I have only hit two animals in the 19 years that I have been driving: one was a skunk when I was 17, the other was a couple years ago when I hit a bird while driving my sister's mini-van.  How do you miss a bird? - My ears are pierced 6 times (well...more than that, but those are the ones I use).  4 on the left, 2 on the right. - I haven't slept more than 4 hours straight in over a month. - I sleep wa...

So, if it seems like I fell off the face of the Earth for awhile, it's mainly because the last month has been crazy-busy for me.  So, instead of going into a long story about everything I did, I figured I'd just post random pictures with brief descriptions.  In April, I went to the RetailVision Show Which is only a few blocks from the Alamo Armadillos are funny I got hit on by Eddie Money I went on vacation with my husband We took a cruise and saw a...

The right bar on this main page is not always updating.  The web team knows about it, and will be fixing it once they get to it in the queue.  So, even though your new article doesn't show up over there, it doesn't mean it didn't post.  Please do not repost an article simply because it's not showing up as new in the list. The main page may have issues through the day as we are working on it.

Loss: My family has had a lot this month.  My husband lost his Grandma a couple weeks ago.  We had to have our 10 year old dog put down last Friday, and I just found out that an Aunt is going to die in the next few days.  It has been a month filled with sadness and loss.  It seems like we just start feeling a bit better about something, and WHAM! something else hits us. Pain: I have auto-immune diseases which are painful.  However, it appears that emotional pain can...

I am seeing a bunch of hit and miss posts about issues that people are having.  However, it is impossible for the web programmers to find the reports in this fashion.  Though Cordelia can relay the messages, she can't actually fix the issues (as can none of us expect the web team). So, please post your issues here.  *BUT*, when you do, make sure that you are giving every detail possible.  A "this site is acting odd" report will get us nowhere.  Post when, where, and h...

I have recently read a bunch of threads that are nothing but pure harassment of fellow bloggers.  These type of threads are completely in violation of the Terms of Use of this site. If I see these types of threads in the future, they will be removed from the forums. This type of behavior is not acceptable.  People should be able to blog here without being harassed.

A few people have figured out that you can go to www.wincustomize.com and create an avatar that will show up on this site.  It is actually a code bug that the programmers have left.  If it is abused, it will go away, however. With that, I need to remind people that you are actually uploading to wincustomize.  With that, you are doing so under the terms of Wincustomize.  One of the terms of use states: "(a) upload, post or otherwise transmit any Content that is unlawful, ...

It seems that there are a lot of things that we could do to reduce our need for oil, yet we are slow to change our ways. We all know that we can make fuel out of corn (ethanol) and we *could* have many cars that run on it.  Yes, it is not as efficient, but it is possible.  However, the other day, I found out something that I didn't know- we can make plastic out of corn. I was looking for some unique products for trade show give-aways.  I was looking at travel mugs (mainly be...

Every year around this time I look at my life and what I have accomplished.  I try to keep things in perspective.  I hear so many people who only talk about what they haven't done (which I have a huge list of, too) but seem to lose track of what they *have* done. This is the "cliff notes" version of this years evaluation: - Today is my 9th wedding anniversary with the man I adore. - In about 3 weeks I will be 33. - I only have a 2 year degree, but I never let that stan...

Back in December, I wrote an article called "I'm Disappointed": http://karmagirl.joeuser.com/index.asp?AID=58691 Well, here I am again with many of the same thoughts.  I will admit that I was guilty of getting a bit into past flame wars.  It's sometimes hard not to when you moderate a site and people send nasty emails to you, and you can't simply walk away from the site for a few days when you moderate.  But, I have mellowed out over the years, especially wher...

To be perfectly clear, this is a "personal" blog and is no way related to moderation. However, being that I moderate, I try to look at issues from every angle that I can, and try to see all view points. There is a current trend that makes me very sad.  I have very little faith in humans being a kind species to begin with, but lately I have been losing even more faith. What is going on?  What is with all of the oneupmanship of "he said, she said" around here?  Why are ther...

I am starting to see a trend.  A trend that almost always lead to disaster and a huge flame war. This is what happens: Blogger 1 writes something. Blogger 2 responds with something Blogger 1 doesn't like. Blogger 1 Blacklists Blogger 2 Blogger 1 writes the "last word" Blogger 2 starts a new thread in response to the "last word" The flames begin. 1) Let's try to avoid that 2) If you have to respond on a new article, or flames have started on your thread, please take it o...

After much consideration, I decided to change my presence on JoeUser.  Why is that?  Because, life is too short to deal with things that you don't have to. So, I would like everyone to meet "JavaBrain".  JavaBrain is a nickname that I used prior to becoming "KarmaGirl".  I quit using it because people always assumed that I was a male Java programmer.  (Java being for coffee, not programming).  Why is JavaBrain now important?  Because JavaBrain is now my admi...

I want to make something perfectly clear about the forums- they are moderated because they are syndicated.  The admins of this site have the right to decide what will be allowed on the forums because of this. Articles that we do not feel are appropriate for the forums will be hid.  This is not censorship of your blog, as the article will remain on your blog.  It simply will not show on the forum. If you don't want moderation, please do not post your article to the forums. ...