DataGrabber UPDATE – May. 12, 2011

Greetings DataGrabbers,

One of my proudest accomplishments growing up was learning to juggle. Yes, juggling. It seems so silly now, but as a kid I got this book on how to juggle, and I spent weeks practising. I’d get 2 balls going but the elusive third just wouldn’t make it to my other hand; and when it did, it inevitably dropped on the next toss. I remember getting so frustrated and wanting to give up, but in the back of my mind I rationalized that other people can juggle so why couldn’t I? And then the moment happened and I was juggling all 3 balls continously in the air. It was an unbelievable moment. I felt like I could do anything now. I was amazed. My family and friends were impressed (and surprised!). I consider it such a ‘proud’ milestone because it was something I initiated and accomplished all on my own and through great persistance and struggle as a very young kid. It seemed surreal that I could do it without ‘grown-ups’ helping me. To this day, I think about it and still juggle occasionally when I feel down or frustrated that I can’t do something. It’s become motivational therapy for me *laugh*… but it’s effective.

This past month I’ve been juggling a lot – figuratively AND literally. In my personal life, our family has moved and still undergoing a bit of a renovation at our new place. The feeling of being ‘unsettled’ is something I loathe. With 2 kids, it’s an added challenge. But the biggest stress was dealing with a recent attack on the DataGrabber.org site (the timing of which I suspect was no accident). Many of you found the site offline as a result at times. I do apologize for the – understandable – frustration not getting the site to load. After all the work on DataGrabber.org by myself and the amazing volunteer team, I was determined to get the site back up and running. It’s not unusual for a popular and controversial site like DataGrabber.org to be attacked by some wise guy with a misguided moral rationale or just plain criminal anarchist. But fighting it was and is an ongoing struggle. Let me tell you, I spent a lot of time feeling like I did as the kid who couldn’t figure out juggling!

While the pursuit of the attacker continues, I cannot elaborate much further except to promise you that I’ll do everything in my power and within my limited resources to keep this site up and running forever. I don’t care much for even acknowledging the cause of the downtime (as I don’t want to give a soapbox to our illustrious attacker) except for the fact that I received a lot of emails critical of my ‘adminstration’ of DataGrabber.org. I suppose the assumption was that I was negligent in allowing technical glitches to interfere with the site. I can take valid criticism pretty well (I encourage it!), but to preserve whatever one may think of me or my reputation, I can honestly say it had nothing to do with me or my hosting or my server or my maintenance of DataGrabber.org… …. at least not THIS time… *chuckle*. I don’t take offense to any of the emails I got (believe me, I shared the same anger and frustration), but I thought you all are owed the truth.

But such is life. If my goal was to become a better juggler, I’d dare say I’m making progress there – unintended as it may be!

On to better things… thanks to our DataGrabber Updater Volunteers for continuing to update with the new submissions despite the recent challenges. I’ve been able to keep up-to-date and will keep updating all the DataGrabber lists! And thank you to all those Submitters! You’re the heart and soul of DataGrabber.org. We love ya for it!

I’m still plugging the Facebook Wheel of Fortune Cheats if you have not used them as of yet. This list is growing faster than the weeds in my backyard! Go see!

Let’s take a quick peek…

The DataGrabber Forum continues to grow! We passed 1300 members which is truly staggering! Keep posting, submitting, and conversing. I also love feedback, criticism, jokes, whatever floats your boat in the forum. My dream is to see it thrive as a community far beyond data posting. So share your life story! I promise I’ll listen, comment, and contribute too! 🙂 I love meeting people and making new friends!
Our email VIP lists is nearing 3900 subscribers. This is an honour and a privilege that humbles me always!
More updates were done to Family Feud, The Price Is Right, and Wheel of Fortune. Keep it up!
Who Wants To Be A Millionaire Facebook Game is growing leaps and bounds. The data we’re gathering is excellent and extensive! This is YOUR initiative. This is a game you wanted to see on DataGrabber.org… so we all made it happen. If there’s more games you’d like to see strategies, tips, tricks, hints, cheats, answers and lists for, don’t hesitate to suggest them in the FORUMS. You could be the catalyst for a whole new section on DataGrabber.org!
Don’t forget to spread the word about DataGrabber.org. More people equals more data and better data and more support for our cause! Be polite, and pleasant, but unapologetic in your use and support for DataGrabber.org. 🙂
We’ve added an Amazon.com slider to some pages of the site. This was by request as we get a lot of people asking if the various game shows the Facebook games are based on are available on DVD or in other gaming formats. I encourage you (if you’re interested) to purchase these by clicking the Amazon product links for the DVD of your choice. Full Disclosure statement: When you make a purchase from Amazon through the slider on this site, we do get a tiny commission from the sale which of course helps me pay for the site, its maintenance and security. It’s totally up to you though – you can always go straight to Amazon.com directly if you prefer. We added the slider more out of convenience for members looking for these items rather than the tiny revenue potential of sales commissions.

I’d love to hear if you have any similar “juggling” or other skill stories to share! Thanks again for your patience, kindess, and support. It means a tremendous amount to me and all the volunteers! Go to the FORUMS!

Keep Playing. Keep Sharing. (Keep Juggling!)