Tag: Housekeeping

It’s My Birthday, So…Buy a T-Shirt (Please!)

RPadTV Extreme

Today is my birthday…and the website is having monetization issues…so I’m busting out the begging cup. As some of you know, I was “exposed” on a recent Breitbart article by some misguided troll that believes I’m part of a secret group of videogame journalists with a left-wing agenda. As irresponsible and inaccurate as that assertion is, the troll has a lot of readers and has managed to rile them up. There have been threats of pranks, hacks, swatting, and more to people on “the list.”

A day after the article was posted, RPadTV received the most fake login attempts in the (almost) five years it has been live. My Google AdSense account was also suspended for unusual click activity; this part has me in quite a jam as website and video advertising through AdSense is hugely important to the site. I’m looking for other solutions, but none of them are as lucrative as Google AdSense…so I’m kind of stuck. (For the record, I have no way of proving the Breitbart clown and his readers are responsible for the site’s current situation, but the timing is suspicious. Also, it appears that I’m no longer on “the list.”)

While I’m figuring out what the hell I can do to monetize the site and keep the content going, it would be awesome of you to pick up one of these RPadTV t-shirts. It would be a nice stopgap solution for the site, help fund my Vapecon USA 2014 coverage, and buy me some time as I move content over to another video service. Plus, it’s my birthday and it would make me happy (yes, that was shameless begging). It would really help the site and me out, AND you’d look awesome in an RPadTV t-shirt. So please, give it some thought.

RPadTV Fundraiser Shirt: RPad 3:16

RPad 316 Shirt

To help fund RPad.TV’s coverage of ECC 2014, I present to you the RPad 3:16 t-shirt! A “stunning” example of “stone-cold” fashion, the t-shirt’s front proudly reads, “RPad 3:16.” The back of the shirt is a nod to the site’s vaping coverage and the trip I’m trying to raise money for, so it reads, “www.RPad.TV Says I Just Vaped Your Ass.” WWE fans will understand the play on words. For vaping fans that don’t watch pro-wrestling, please be assured that I don’t actually vape ass or recommend vaping ass. The RPad 3:16 t-shirt is printed on Gildan Athletic Performance t-shirts that are great at keeping you cool and wicking sweat away from your body. Look cool, feel cool, and support RPad.TV by picking up a shirt today (please)!

(Do note, that this is a timed print run and will only be available for 10 days.)

Spring Cleaning: RPadTV Mod Sale!!!

To help RPadTV reach the next level quickly, I’m having a sale on the RPadTV Mod. From now until May 4, 2014 11:59PM PDT, the RPadTV Mod will be available for $85 shipped. Serial numbers will be chosen at random for the sale. For information and specs on the RPadTV Mod, please hit up this post. When you’re ready to buy, please use the PayPal button below. 

 

Remember, RPadTV Mod owners get five additional entries for every 2014 Vaping Giveaway they enter. I have lots of fun prizes lined up for the rest of the year and you can increase your chances of winning AND support this web site by picking up a mod. As always, your readership and viewership are immensely appreciated.

Vaping Diaries #161: Get Your RPadTV Mod!

Edit: Price cut to $60 + shipping! No number selection at this price.

Ladies and gentlemen, here’s the RPadTV 2013 fundraising mod. The RPadTV mod is limited to 100 pieces and sales proceeds will be used to expand RPad.TV’svaping content. While I love making content for this site, it can get expensive. With your support, 2014 will be the best year ever for RPad.TV. Here are the official particulars on the RPadTV mod:

  • Type: Mechanical Mod
  • Manufacturer: EHPro
  • Body: Stainless Steel
  • Contacts: Silver-Plated Copper
  • Accepted Batteries: 18350, 18490/18500, 18650
  • Engravings: RPad.TV logo, site URL, and serial number on the main tube. Thank you inscription and RPadTV face on the bottom cap.

If you enjoy RPad.TV’s vaping content then kindly consider picking up an RPadTV mod. The money will be used for:

  • More Frequent Content
  • More Giveaways
  • Event Travel For More Interviews
  • Equipment Upgrades For Better Videos
  • Server Upgrades For Better Site Performance

The RPadTV mod can be yours for a donation of $100. You can pay via PayPal (donation button below) or PopMoney (use the contact form in the upper-left corner to arrange PopMoney payments). If you want to select a serial number then kindly donate $120 (again, use the contact form to see if the number you want is still available). These mods will be gifted to donors on a first-come-first-serve basis. The donation prices above are for U.S. readers only. As an additional thank you, owners of the RPadTV mod will get additional entries in all 2014 giveaways.

Now, I’m not going to lie to you and tell you that this is the best mod in the world. It’s a good mech, but not a great one. Certainly you can get a better mod for less than what the donation costs. However, I’m hoping that enough of you enjoy RPad.TV content and believe in the site enough to pick one up. The thing to remember is that you’re not buying a mod — you’re supporting a web site you like and getting a limited edition mod as a gift. Besides, this mod has my face on it! *joke*

Completely Unreasonable Goals
In the spirit of Kickstarter, I’m listing some stretch goals. I don’t expect these to be taken seriously…but if you’re incredibly wealthy or have a rich uncle, then please check them out.

$1,500: For a donation of $1,500 you get the mod and a video on your favorite American mod or juice vendor. A cameraman and I will fly out to your favorite U.S. company and film a segment (or more!) on the company of your choice. Please list three companies so that arrangements can be made.

$3,500: For a donation of $3,500 you get the mod and a video on your favorite mod or juice vendor from anywhere in the world. A cameraman and I will fly out to your favorite company and film a segment (or more!) on the company of your choice. Please list three companies so that arrangements can be made.

Okay, back to reality! If you’re not interested in picking up an RPadTV mod and would like to support the site then please buy yourself something from Amazon using this link. If you are interested in getting an RPadTV mod, I can’t wait to hear from you! And please, tell your friends about this fundraising venture. With your help, RPad.TV’s vaping content will be better than ever.

Friday Housekeeping: Happy Fourth Birthday RPad.TV!

Wow, where does that time go?!? Ha! Today is RPad.TV’s fourth birthday. It seems like yesterday when I was going through a bout of depression over G4tv and RPadholic N8R convinced me to start my own blog. The site has had lots of ups and a handful of downs. It has changed a lot (mostly for the better, I think) and the focus has shifted a bit. Obviously I’ve been posting a lot of vaping content for the last 11 months and I’ve been writing more general entertainment articles. The former is because I’ve been largely unsatisfied with the vaping content that’s out there and the latter is me just posting whatever is on my mind.

While I’ve met so many of you through videogames, I don’t post as much gaming content as I used to. Part of it is because that I often work as a consultant for publishers and can’t write about that stuff. Part of it is because I don’t get nearly as many content opportunities in gaming as I used to. That’s somewhat understandable since I’m one guy working on a very small blog. Still, it’s disheartening. I’ve been writing about games since 1996 and made tons of PR contacts over the years. While I expected many to completely forget about me since I’m no longer working for a large outlet, I hoped (rather naively in retrospect) that I’d get more support for RPad.TV. It’s incredibly frustrating when PR people that I’ve known for more than a decade won’t let me attend local events or attend local demos. Honestly, part of the reason that I don’t pursue gaming content as much as I used to is because I know I’ll end up getting pissed off and annoyed. Between the lingering effects of my 2012 surgery and my always-ready-to-flare-up skin, I’ve largely given up dealing with most videogame PR people because I don’t need all that noise.

Then there’s the mobile phone coverage. I’m just completely bored by the market. There are only two types of phones I’d buy — Apple iPhones and Google Nexus phones. Everything else bugs me, partially because of silly things the hardware manufacturers do and mostly because of the garbage American carriers pull. The mobile-phone space (hardware, anyway) hasn’t interested me in a few years.

Still, the four-year mark of RPad.TV has me missing all the gaming content that I used to post. I’m going to try to do more, whether I get support from PR people or not. I miss writing about games for the site and I miss talking about games with all of you. With that in mind, kindly join me in an RPad.TV birthday wish for the site’s videogame content to rise again!

Friday Housekeeping: YouTube Woes

Sorry for the sporadic content. I had this grand plan of alternating more ECC video features with written videogame/nerd content…but the recent YouTube backend update killed that plan. While I love Google’s mission to civilize the Internet (Will McAvoy ™) by moving YouTube to Google+ comments, the preparatory update has apparently ruined the ability to monetize new videos. Many people that rely on YouTube for ad revenue are pissed off. I recently made the decision to stop using Blip.TV and use YouTube exclusively. Yeah, I’m kind of regretting that one. *sigh*

Anyway, I have five ECC videos that are edited and uploaded to YouTube, but I’m not going to make them live until I can put advertisements on them. The YouTube monetization issue has been happening for at least 36 hours. In classic Google fashion, there’s nothing I can do about it. I love many things that Google does, but that company has always sucked at support. Amazingly, it has managed to go from suck to completely useless as far as YouTube Partners are concerned. I used to be able to email YouTube Partner support, but now that right is reserved for elite Partners only. As a lower-case partner, I’m stuck with automated help systems that aren’t the least bit helpful and complaining on Google’s product forums, which apparently aren’t read by Google employees that work on YouTube.

I better stop. I’m getting angrier as I type. I don’t feel like editing more features either. Meh. I’m going to go read comics.

Sunday Housekeeping

Sorry I’ve been MIA! Last week was kind of nuts. I had some consulting work for a large company and that meant giving the same presentation four times to four different groups of suits. It was repetitive, but it was a paycheck. I also had a lovely out-of-town visitor from New York. It was wonderful catching up with her. Lastly, I have a bunch of assorted health issue. I have an infection on the outside of my ear that may or may not be a big deal. Between the location of the infection and the antibiotics I’m taking, equilibrium has been an issue. It’s like having one of the side effects of being drunk without the benefits of being drunk. The meds seem to be working and hopefully it’s just a simple thing that will go away soon. The other deal is that I have a growth underneath one of my fingernails. I was told that it needs to be removed and that a biopsy has to be performed to make sure it’s not cancerous. For someone that makes money playing games and typing, having hand surgery is scary in general. If it turns out that I’m dying because of finger cancer then…I’ll just have to laugh. That’s just silly. :)

Happy Birthday Justin Leeper!

Most of you know my excellent friend Justin Leeper as a former videogame journalist for Game Informer and a former writer for the stellar SmackDown vs. Raw series. In addition to penning the book Still Man Fights, Justin has been working in Hollywood as an actor and stuntman. Let’s take a trip down memory lane and revisit Justin’s days as a pro-wrestler. Below is a match between Helmut Von Strauss (Justin) and “Kamikaze” Ken Anderson (Mr. Kennedy in WWE). Skip to the 9:15 mark for the introductions to Justin’s match and let me know what you think (please!).

Check Out PaulSemel.com (Please!)

My excellent friend Paul Semel has started a blog named PaulSemel.com. It’s full of wonderful articles about wonderfully nerdy things — comics, movies, music, toys, videogames, and more. He’s new to the whole blogging thing and I’d appreciate it immensely if you paid his site a visit. If you have extra time, please leave a comment on one of his stories. Naturally, you can tag that comment with “Sent by RPad.TV!”

Paul’s current stories include Monsters University, Batman: Arkham Unhinged, John Coltrane’s Sun Ship: The Complete Sessions, and The Smashing Pumpkins’: The Aeroplane Flies High Deluxe Edition.

Fun fact: Paul used to be an editor at a magazine named Gene Simmons’ Tongue.

Edit: He’s the guy I mentioned in Pacific Rim. You should absolutely make fun of him for not liking the movie.

Housekeeping: Comment System Change?

Hello guys and dolls! I’m strongly considering dropping Disqus and going back to WordPress comments. Since the site switched to Disqus, the service has gotten slower and slower. On the other side, WordPress comments have improved. In addition to being able to log in with your old-school RPad.TV account, WordPress comments now allow Facebook and Twitter logins. Naturally, before making a big change like that, I want to get your input. Please, please, please let me know how you feel about changing back. Thanks!