We all like to use the profile services that many people now offer. And why not? They make quick work of adding codes to our profiles or to our friends profiles. But how many of these “helping hands” sites are stealing the graphics they use? I’m not sure of that answer, but I do know of one site that does just that…Profile Jewels. It’s a pretty popular site, so I’ve bet many of you have heard of it, if not even used it (like I use to).

I came across that site sometime at the end of last year and had used some of their coding in some of my friends comment sections. Then in January, I happened upon some of my own tags. Well, of course I was flattered for someone to like my work in such a way as to offer it from their site! I kept looking through the site and lo and behold, my tags are everywhere! This person not only liked my tags, it seems, but loved them…I found a devoted fan! All told, there are 71 of my tags on Profile Jewels.

Well, on my own site, I have a Terms Of Use section that states my graphics are not to be distributed by other people. And what the owner of Profile Jewels, Valerie, is clearly doing is against my terms. If I would have found only a couple tags I would have passed right through without a care. But considering the amount she has on that site, I figured a link back to me wouldn’t be too much to ask. Apparently, it was.

I contacted Valerie (aka Shadow Wraith) about mid-January about getting a link back to my site on Profile Jewels. I even mentioned I would link back to her site…I have no problem with helping others get traffic. Apparently, she didn’t like the competition, because she pretty much snubbed me from the start. She seemed interested in me until she found out I was not the original artist of the art I used to make my tags. Once she knew I couldn’t sue her for use of my work, all bets were off and it took her forever to answer any of my messages to her. She even resorted to name-calling at one point! And all I ever asked for was a simple link…or if she didn’t want to link me, then the removal of my tags from her site. Is that too much to ask? I don’t think so…not with how many tags of mine she has on her site, and going against my original terms of using those tags.

So now it’s been about 2 months and she’s resorted to ignoring every message I send her. I know she hasn’t blocked me, yet, as my messages do get read. I had even contacted her co-owner of Profile Jewels. He said he’d talk to her about it and get back to me. No such luck there, either. He never got back to me and my last message to him is still unread, so I’m guessing I’ve been blocked. Last I looked on the site, he’s no longer a co-owner. So either she’s hiding him so no one else can complain about her theiving of graphics, or he’s no longer co-owner.

Because of all this, I’ve been boycotting Profile Jewels. I did like getting graphics from there, but I will not condone the theft of my graphics or anyone else’s. Who knows how many other graphics on that site are stolen? Who knows how many other people Valerie has snubbed and called names. I ask everyone who reads this to please do the same. Do not use any codes from that site, as you’d be condoning theft of other’s hard work.

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On a better note, I have decided to add codes to my site for people to use my tags on their profiles. Go to RavenMoon Designs, click on Link Ware in the bottom left corner. Then go to the Graphics menu, mouse over Sig Tags, and click Codes. You’ll find a menu for different sections of tags. All I ask is to leave the whole code (including the link) intact when you post the tags.

Let’s hope that no other site has as bad netiquette as Valerie has and would actually link to the people whose graphics they use.

Though this was a few days ago, I figured I’d give an update.
There was a big snowstorm that blew through here Friday through Wednesday…well more than one storm, but all consecutively. We got dumped on throughout the weekend and into the beginning of the week. Though the snow is awesome, and I’ve been waiting for it since winter started, the power outages aren’t so fun. We lost power Monday evening about 6:40…right as I was getting dinner done. Twenty more minutes and dinner would have been served. Then out go the lights, the stove…everything. We still had the propane camping stove and lanturn in the house from the last time the power went out, so I got those going so I could finish dinner.
We still don’t have a stockpile of firewood (so far we’ve mostly relied on the kerosene heater to get us through the cold months), and so having used all the scraps of wood last time the power went out, we didn’t have anything. The house stayed pretty warm until later in the night…and we bundled up in sweats, blankets and sleeping bags. We all slept out in the living room again, to keep what heat we produced concentrated in one area. The lights had flickered a few times right around midnight Tuesday…but never came back on.

Tuesday dawned and still no power. The house was a lot colder than the night before, so we decided to drive into town to get some starter logs to get a fire going with. Since it was early…about 7ish, we also decided on some breakfast. The drive into town was so pretty…the sun was peeking from behind the clouds and everything sparkled white. My camera battery had died a couple nights before, so unfortunetly I couldn’t get any pictures.
When we got into town, we were surprised to find that there was no power there, either. Jay used to work at the casino in town, so he knew they would have a back-up generator going…so we ate breakfast there…and got gas there, as it was the only working gas station in town (so of course, the whole town was there). We then stopped off at WalMart, hoping they would have a generator going, but no such luck. Off to Safeway…they did have a generator going…and a few boxes of starter logs left. We picked up what we needed, and headed home…running into the next storm the further we got up the mountain…and the closer to home.
While in town, we had heard rumors flying that the power should be back on by 1 or 2 in the afternoon. No such luck. Around 4:30ish the lights did the flickering thing again…on, off, on, off…until around 5, then they finally stayed on for good. That is, until about 9 that night…then they went off again until just after 10:30.

Now the storms have pretty much subsided, though we got some snow flurries all throughout Wednesday and some lingering through Thursday, and the power has managed to stay on (knock on wood). We have about 3 feet of snow on the ground, and it’s icy-cold out. The boys and I have been out in it a few times, running around and playing with the doggies. This is what we’ve been waiting for all winter…minus the power outages, of course.