Behind The Curtain

I have not been able to do much posting on any of my blogs as I was side tracked by work (gotta eat), life (gotta love), site design (gotta improve) and cats (gotta get rid of them--just kidding).

This however doesn't mean that I have not been reading any posts lately. Here is what I caught a glimpse of around the web that hopefully will interest you.

Inside Adsense by Google has an interesting post about improve site layout in order to increase revenue. This could come in handy if blogging is something more of a hobby to you. ;)

Wayne Hurlbert over at Blog Business World mentions a free teleseminar, which I registered for and will have to remember to place in my calendar.

Darren over at Problogger.net mentions some much needed items on a sidebar. Recommended.

Duncan on The Blog Herald tells why Captcha is evil (I disagree but understand his viewpoint).

And last but not least Evhead, the founder of Blogger, references an interesting post on his weblog.

Right now, I am heading out to catch the President's State of the Union address. Blogs for Bush is liveblogging it for those without cable access.

Peace!

Where Did He Go?

I normally do not post about a weblog via blog directory (just see the previous post to understand) but it seems that PJ has dropped off of the face of the earth.

Due to some unavoidable technical difficulties [...] being too busy and [...] temporary loss of broadband connection I've been unable to publish very much recently. However, this has now been rectified and I'll be doing some catching up soon.

That was almost 14 days ago. PJ, where are you?

Another Blog Surfing Tool

I've submitted my site to another blog surfing tool called Blog Advance which is similar to Blog Explosion although not as large (at least not yet).

Although I could simply surf a blog directory to discover blogs, or even Blogger, there wouldn't be any surprise to it. Not only that, but running into spammers is not fun (and neither is their content).

This should broaden my "search horizon" and give me more blogs to brag about. Heh.

The Boys In Blue Love Fake People Too

My only advice for anyone driving in Colorado is never drive in the HOV lane, especially with fake passengers:

(From Someguy) Well Greg Pringle (53 years old) was busted yesterday in Westminster, Colorado for illegally driving in the HOV lane with his buddy, the mannequin. [...]

Apparently, the cops that patrol a particular section of HWY 36 near Boulder noticed this car in the HOV with a passenger that "didn't look right."

They saw the car again some days later and noticed that the passenger was just a manequinn (sic) wearing a baseball cap and a grey sweatshirt so they pulled over Pringle, cited him with a $115 ticket, and confiscated his mannequin.

Looks like the police in Colorado just picked up a nifty souvenir. Although I wonder if "the doll" would be an effective deterrent if parked inside a cop car outside of a bank. Hmm...

McDonalds Has A Blog?

(via One By One Media)

I do not know what is more surprising. A corporate blog speaking in semi-corporate talk, or the fact that Burger King has not copied McDonalds in cyber space (as they generally do in reality). Here is a snippet from their weblog:

At McDonald's, we don't grow, raise or produce food, crops or animals. We're simply a food retail company. But we do purchase a lot and so have influence on our suppliers. We try to use this influence responsibly.

In a nutshell, our approach is to work collaboratively with our suppliers so they can meet our expectations and advance our priorities. What's your view of this approach? For example, should we set across-the-board targets and goals for suppliers, rather than work with them to develop individual targets and goals?

I do not remember the last time I ate at McDonalds (as I prefer Subway) but if I were McDonalds I would continue to focus on the individual instead of the overall production as it tends to make you less of a corporate overlord. Wouldn't you agree?

Update: Fixed McDonalds permalink (silly me!).

Does Anybody Need $50?

This might be an excellent way for a blogger to earn some cash on the side besides the general Google Ads. Via One By One Media:

Affiliate programs are hot. People love to earn a little bit of cash from something you like or want to support. [...]

What's the bottom line? You get $50 per conference registrant (not including guests), we'll pay you in November by cheque or it can be applied to the cost of your own cruise!

You do not need to sign up in order to attend, although after reading a bit into the program I might be interested in taking a cruise with fellow bloggers. Although I do not see a price listed anywhere (can someone help me out?) .

I'll post more details if and when I'm approved. Right now, all I have to do is figure out where I am going to put the image link. :)

Note: You must be an active blogger in order to sign up for the affiliate program. So if you blog once a year, I wouldn't recommend signing up for this (via Blogonomics).

John McCain On 24?

Chad Evans hints that John McCain will be on the television series 24 tonight, which is coming on in a few minutes! McCain's appearance on the show however does not impress Chad very much:

McCain will appear in a few seconds of coverage tonight and I do not know what his role will be.

No word on whether he will come out in support of a 'Terrorist Bill of Rights' and push Jack Bauer to the back burner for his tactics to get suspects to confess.

It's quite likely he won't, therefore his appearance on the show will seem to nullify his anti-torture amendment he is so proud of considering torture is used in '24' during times of great need; so too is that the only torture I would condone.

Although Chad doesn't seem to interested in watching the show, I am. Unfortunately both televisions are occupied right now (sigh), so surfing the blogosphere will have to do for tonight.

Come On PETA, It's Just A Fur Scarf

Joanne Leyland, over at The Royalist publishes about PETA's rage over Camilla (Prince Charles wife) rabbit scarf.

...on Monday, when Camilla wore the very same scarf for a much more low-key public appearance, the animal rights group PETA (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals) publicly condemned the Duchess for "setting a terrible example" by wearing a scarf made of rabbit fur, calling her fashion statement "surprising and shocking".

PETA may be your thing, but since I am a meat lover (chicken, beef and Bambi) you probably know where I stand on the issue.

As long as the animal isn't endangered, you can wear it's coat all over your skin for all I care.

Ancient Radio Drama

I've never heard about this before, but Daniela points us towards an ancient radio drama called The Archers:

...the Archers have been on air for 55 years, therefore to find someone that has followed it since 1951 you are talking of people in their seventies.

For those that are not familiar with it the Archer is a radio soap opera broadcasted on BBC 4 and is sent in the village of Ambridge. I tried to listen to it a few times but as I was brought up in the age of TV, I found it hard to relate to any of the voices, I never know who's who.

Perhaps they will put it on XM Radio. Although I do have a hard time listening to a story, unless it's in music format (reading a book is preferable to me). :)

Good News For Diabetes Patients

A weblog focusing on Diabetes provides some good news for those suffering with the disease. Author Jo has the details:

A new drug which can be inhaled rather than injected has been approved for people with diabetes. Exubera can be used for people with both type one and two diabetes and is designed to offer adults an alternative way of taking their daily injections.

I know many relatives with diabetes, and although I have not asked, some of them probably take injections (or at least should). Breathing it in is a lot easier (and not as messy) as a shot, although I recommend contacting your doctor before quoting my weblog.

A Blogger Testing Out Blog Charm

A Blogspot user is testing out Blog Charm, which is blog publishing by Blog Explosion (a tongue twister, isn't it?).

Here is what Wayne has to say on his new site:

This Blog is a place to learn, to consider what is contributed and interact with each other concerning the understandings and insights God is giving each one for the benefit of us all. It is my hope that it will also serve as a catalyst to those who read it to seek all that God is and has for them.

He only has one post on here, but hopefully he will develop more.

I've considered switching over to Blog Charm (or at least hosting another site there) although they have yet to make the comment section "spam unfriendly" before I'll use it.

Update: It seems they have an anti-spam feature built in already. Silly me.

"White Trash" Blog Novel? Huh?

Update: No, I am not racist, (as I have friends of many colors) but that was the title of Fractual blog's specific post.

I am not sure if this is a blog novel or not but if so, Andrew Beatty writes a fairly interesting story:

The fact that Emma hung around with him and helped him with the work sometimes was another factor. Things with Melissa had been going south recently. He had been coming home later and later, seeing her less and less.

"I think you enjoy it out there," she said to him one night, unable to keep the scorn from her voice. It was past midnight, Chuck had tried to be quiet coming in, but apparently she had been waiting up for him. She was lying in bed, blankets piled high to keep out the chill.

I won't ruin the ending for you, but Andrew reminds me of a blog novel written by Billy Jones. Both of them have the ability to make a characters boring life interesting to the reader without adding unrealistic adventure (at least thus far).

If it turns out to be a novel I'll add it to the sidebar and post a review about it on Saturday. :)

My Random Thoughts...

I've been thinking on how to relaunch Blog Novel Sundays without killing my schedule (as it ironically became full right after I started).

I think I will instead move the novels towards Saturday, which should give me enough time to blog about them.

But what will I do on Sunday? I have a few ideas. ;)

Google To The Left Of Me, Jokers To The Right...

...and here am I stuck in the middle with you?

Google over on their Official Blog Site gave an explanation as why they had to launch a local search engine in China.

(Official Google Blog) Google users in China today struggle with a service that, to be blunt, isn't very good. Google.com appears to be down around 10% of the time. Even when users can reach it, the website is slow, and sometimes produces results that when clicked on, stall out the user's browser. Our Google News service is never available; Google Images is accessible only half the time. At Google we work hard to create a great experience for our users, and the level of service we've been able to provide in China is not something we're proud of.

This problem could only be resolved by creating a local presence, and this week we did so, by launching Google.cn, our website for the People's Republic of China. In order to do so, we have agreed to remove certain sensitive information from our search results. We know that many people are upset about this decision, and frankly, we understand their point of view. This wasn't an easy choice, but in the end, we believe the course of action we've chosen will prove to be the right one.

Although I was not too thrilled about Google's decision to violate their own mission statement "Don't be evil," (something they humbly admit to later on in the article) their explanation as why they allowed their search engine to be filtered does clear up some issues regarding why they choose to play "internet nanny" (at least on a minor scale).

Some well respecting bloggers have decided to remove Google Ad Sense from their sites until they begin to provide "unfiltered searches" towards the Communist regime. Although they are entitled to their opinion, I will not be joining the bandwagon as Google is not as powerful as a government (despite the myths) and Congress is already addressing the issue as I type.

To be fair, Google has put a little disclaimer at the bottom of their Chinese site, explaining that results are filtered, although I think they should place that near the top IN RED to alert their current and future users.

I am glad that they are not placing Blogger, Gmail and (hopefully) even Orkut within the Red Dragon's grasp, as that would make me abandon Google forever.

Only time will tell whether Google searches will be liberated from governmental intrusion (both foreign and domestic). Until then, I hope we all learn from this sad situation and I pray it is a wake up call to Americans that our liberties are privileges indeed, as our brethren around the world can only view life through a filtered lens.

Who Says Men Can't Cook?

And from the looks of this site, it looks like they can make a pretty mean casserole:

I based this recipe off a dish in the Lodge Cast Iron Skillet cookbook. This is another great breakfast casserole you can make when the family is in town for a visit. Just a little bit of Mise in the beginning, and you're off to the races. OK, so there's a lot of chopping to be done, but that's all the prep that's required...

If these guys are that good, I wonder if they can teach me how to make Falafels?

Update: Blogger had a slight "hiccup" and this was posted twice. Removed the extra clone. ;)

Blogger Launches Online Cafe

Maybe I should think about doing this? More from the Jam Handy Blog:

I'm proud to (finally!) announce the grand opening of my new online store today, Seul Boy!! It's located on the CafePress site and there's a little something there for just about everyone: All-occasion cards, blank books/journals, T-shirts, Calendars, Stickers and more! Heck, there's even a thong or two! It was either this or go back to selling Grit magazine!

I'm not into thongs although Grit magazine doesn't look to pleasing either (is there a "choice C?").

Congrats to Mr. Handy! If you haven't already, visit his online cafe over here.

Jewish Synagogue In Germany

It's good to see faith in the blogosphere. And the Rabbi even provides a photo! (something his readers wanted)

I received several e-mails and phone calls where people asked why I didn't publish a photo of myself taken during the opening ceremony. OK, here is one.

Off topic: Ironically, German and Hebrew are two languages I am attempting at learning, although I'll need to put some extra discipline in that arena.

Perhaps I should just learn Yiddish instead? ;)

Baseball Blog Brings Bad News...

It's a sad day when nobody wants you around. Chad Gramling posts more over at the Baseball Blog:

(Referring to Jeff Bagwell) To me more than anything else, it's just amazing how bad they don't want me to play, said Houston's all-time leader in home runs and RBIs. They just want to collect their money. It's an awkward situation.

Astros ownership insists that recent medical results indicate Bagwell, is likely unable to play first base. Bagwell has has an arthritic right shoulder since 2001, but did not land on the disabled list until May 2005.

I am glad I am in the blog business instead of the sport arena. But if the Astros won't take him, perhaps Atlanta will. :)

Note: Chad seems to be doing a smart thing and specializing on a particular subject. Although I prefer football over baseball as America's new sports king, baseball fans like my dad would enjoy this site (that is if I can convince him to use the computer).

Why We Love Pets

Epiac explains why:

Pets are part of the family in all--if not most--of our homes. We shower them, dress them, party them, photograph them, comb them and the list of verbs disappears in the distance. Pets can be so cute that our love for them is increasing at an exponential rate.

And for those of you who really love pets, Epiac points readers toward a blog dedicated to displaying cute pets.

I'm not a cat lover, but I think this one is my favorite picture. What do you think?

When Kids Grow Up

And I thought every parent wanted their kid to grow up and move out of the house:

So. That's it, then. I'm the mother of a twelve year old. Sigh. Only one more year untill teenhood. Sigh. [...]

I may need a day or two to adjust to this.

While she sighs at the thought of losing her daughter to teenagehood (is it really that bad?), Tara wants everybody to check out Mystickal Incense Blog which has a pretty nice layout.

And did she mention a contest?

Another Cat Lover? Noooooo!

I guess us dog lovers are out numbered on the blogosphere (am I the only one?)

Anyways, here is a cute feline post from Reflections in the Mirror:

Usually, Socks is the sleeping sitter, but lately Abby has decided that if the chair is empty (or if Socks is in it) she will curl up and take a nap. My little Minx is coming along so well, at times I want to just walk up to her and give her a little pet. She would run if I did though.

This evening I held Abby for about 4 hours; she slept, purred, and was so happy to be in her little sleeping bag. I wish she would trust me a little more.

I wish my cat would run away from me (sometimes she does, although she thinks she owns my pillow). And she seems to demand food every morning before the sun rises from its bed. Oh well, at least she doesn't meow too loud.

Perhaps I can trade her on Ebay for a Minx? ;)

Somebody Needs A Huge Cup Of Coffee

But since she is in college, I'll sympathize with her--at least for today.

Today was a very wierd day indeed. Ever felt like the walking dead? Well that was me today after not getting enough sleep.. This morning I woke up and all my bones ached and clicked and eventually when I managed to drag myself out of bed to get to college I was already 10 minutes late. Thankfully though my college is just down the road so its not much of a hassle..

Her skin looks very great (blog skin-just in case you had any thoughts) and I love the layout. She had it recently redesigned, although the only thing missing is a permalink. Outside of that, I give the weblog two thumbs up for layout design. ;)

Advice For Thieves?

Looks like someone found an interesting video on Digg on how to make a pick lock. Sherlocks Envy gives the scoop:

this guy covers the process and tools required to make your own simple pick set. check out our lock picking links for further information geared towards lock picking. enjoy the video! (sic)

Video looks interesting although I wonder if the author has created a pick lock of his own? You can view the video over here.

Another Blogger With Money Woes

I'll forgive Matt Jones for loving the Seahawks, although he is apparently in need of some cash. Here are the details:

Please be praying for me and my financial situation as I have never been very good with money and this will definitely force me to figure things out. Luckilly my rent is payed up through end of term, but still having bills and having to eat will still make things difficult.

Prayers are greatly appreciated and all those millionare readers of my blog, the donation button is on the right.

Although I am not a millionaire, Matt does have Google Ad Sense, although I noticed it was in the worst position ever (at least according to Google's Advice).

I recommend he try adjusting his page as well as insert more ads (hint, hint) to improve his financial situation.

What's Up With Blog Tagging?

It looks as if Melissa has been tagged (is this happening to everyone?) which basically means you have to bear your soul to the public about the vanities of your life. Here are some of hers:

Four Jobs I have had:

1. Grounds keeper of a small private air strip.
2. Waitress of a hotel restaurant.
3. Do-it-all girl at a sports radio station.
4. Administrative assistant at a number of manufacturing plants.

[...]

Four TV shows I love to watch:

1. Unwrapped (Food Network).
2. Buffy the Vampire Slayer.
3. The "L" Word.
4. Whatever I happen to run across while flipping channels.

[...]

Four Albums I can'’t live without: (using CDs instead)

1. City of Angels Soundtrack.
2. Panpipe music.
3. Madonna's Bedtime CD.
4. CD collection of Classical music.

Whoever invented this game, has probably influenced the blogosphere in more ways than Hugh Hewitt and Instapundit.

I myself was tagged by The Black Kettle (over on Hidden Nook) and I think I will take time to respond back to him lest he begins to hate me.

Soldier Going Off To War

GI Gotti is heading off to Iraq in a few days and unfortunately will be unable to post while in transit (probably for security reasons).

I love his site layout, as it sets the mood upon arrival. He does post an interesting quote on his weblog which caught my eye:

-To live is to suffer, to survive, well that defines the meaning of life.-

I think I can relate to this, as I was sick last night (wasn't pretty, but I feel better now). I think I will book mark him as he may have some interesting stories to share once he comes back.

A Blog Novelist Dream Come True!

It looks like I finally have a financial incentive (along with other bloggers to begin posting over at my blovel (or is it called blook?)

The Blogger Buzz reported that the Lulu Blooker Prize is offering money for blog novels, ranging from $1,000 to $2,000 for the grand prize. I have some modifications to do on my site, but I think I will submit it tomorrow. :) Cheers!

Get Paid To Blog? (Blog Explosion)

It seems as if Blog Explosion is entering the "blog business" and they have some lucrative features for those seeking employment through blogging:

BlogCharm will be introducing a whole new way for bloggers to enjoy building a blog and get paid doing it!

Our question to bloggers everywhere...
Why should blog hosts keep all of the revenue when it is the bloggers that do all of the hard work?

So far the features look pretty good and the WYSIWYG editor looks similar to Blog Spirit from the inside.

They even give users full customization of the site, something very rare in the blogosphere--at least for free versions--and will allow people to install Google Ad Sense within.

They won't be rolling out the ad compensation plan until March 1st, although the commission is high (around 50%) so it should be interesting.

The only thing lacking about the site is a trackbacks (or even backlinks) as well as CAPTCHA (or word verification). The latter is especially important because of spammers (may they rot in you know where).

If they would implement these two features, I might consider switching over...or at least starting a serious blog over there. ;)

What can I say, I love blogger!

Feeling Lonely?

It looks like Stapha has an interesting post about "feeling lonely."

It really starts to get interesting when we are alienated and we alienate others. Why would we do this? What is it that we believe in so strongly to ostracize ourselves from the people around us?

In my case, it is my future. I believe that by sacrificing more of myself ahead of time to learn more, to achieve more, that I can accomplish much more sooner and grow wiser and closer to God because of it.

I didn't expect to have to struggle against those closest to me to achieve it. Why do I perceive those that are closest to me to be the biggest threat to my accomplishments.

Gee, I don't know, but one thing I've learned is that friends are very important. Although you can't take most of them with you, keeping the ones that "keep you on track" are the most important.

Besides, if you dump all your friends your pretty much going to be insane (as people, like bloggers are social creatures). :)

Note: Hmm...posting on any weblog has been rather a hassle lately (as you can see by the midnight publishings). I think I'll post some interesting news that I discovered, then hit the sack tonight...I need to find a career blogging all day. Sigh.

I Could Be Wrong, But Is This Theft?

(Hat Tip: Jim)

Wayne Hulbert from Canada has posted a great article over at the Blog Business World. A reader pointed out that his content was posted (in full) over at the Lewiston Web Consulting site, word-for-word, including the technorati links.

A domain search reveals that [Editor's note: Name removed. See second update for details.] is the owner of the site (or at least has registered it via Go Daddy) and doesn't even credit Hulbert for the post.

Unless Hublert is working for Lewiston Web Consulting, this is nothing more than copyright theft. Blog theft seems to be happening more frequently, as The Blog Herald reported template theft earlier on their site.

Although content theft is probably expected in the blogosphere, it is surprising how brazen some people posting items that are not their own.

Update: Here is an image of the post, just in case it disappears over night.



Update 2: (Feb. 2) The Blog Herald picked up on the story (after I emailed him on the day I discovered this was happening to Wayne).

The author of the site IS NOT A splogger, (something I originally assumed) and I have removed his name from the post since he graciously shut down the site and apologized to Wayne Hulbert via email.

I am leaving up the other links as a mini memorial to what has happened here although this incident has given me an idea on how to combat blog theft in the future. (I'll have to work this out legally, but I'll post later about this if it goes through) Stay tuned for details.

Problogger Comes Home To Google

Darren who blogs over at Problogger.net has decided to switch back to Google Adsense after finding Yahoo Publishing to be a "bit unsatisfying."

Ad relevancy and usefulness - YPN was regularly serving me ads that had no relevance to the topic of this site at all.

While this impacted the earnings as less people clicked--my main concern with it was that it impacts the usefulness of the ads and look and feel of the blog. ie it doesn't look very professional for ads about pet grooming (I saw one of these yesterday) when your blog is about making money from blogs.

Darren lists two other reasons why he decided to leave Yahoo Publishing, with the second having something to do with text ad size (really?) and the last with the "Advertise on this site" link.

I've never been a huge fan of Yahoo outside of Flickr, but some bloggers have reported doing well on them.

Problogger Comes Home To Google

Darren who blogs over at Problogger.net has decided to switch back to Google Adsense after finding Yahoo Publishing to be a "bit unsatisfying."

Ad relevancy and usefulness - YPN was regularly serving me ads that had no relevance to the topic of this site at all.

While this impacted the earnings as less people clicked--my main concern with it was that it impacts the usefulness of the ads and look and feel of the blog. ie it doesn't look very professional for ads about pet grooming (I saw one of these yesterday) when your blog is about making money from blogs.

Darren lists two other reasons why he decided to leave Yahoo Publishing, with the second having something to do with text ad size (really?) and the last with the "Advertise on this site" link.

I've never been a huge fan of Yahoo outside of Flickr, but some bloggers have reported doing well on them.

Sundays Becoming Evil

No, not Sundays in general, but Blog Novel Sundays. Ironically, my schedule has become cramped with other activites so I'll have to consider doing Blog Novels at another day of the week. Sigh.

An Over Reactive Mother?

Better be over reactive, than under reactive, especially when your child is sick:

The Potato was pretty sick last night, and I'm dragging today. [...]

The fever had broken by the time I fell asleep, but I didn't want to move him. I know all parents hate it when their kids are sick, but I'm scared as hell of fevers.

The Bee (note: her daughter) was not quite three when she had her first febrile seizure. [...]

She and landisdad were on the couch watching tv when he noticed that she was unconscious--I was at the other end of our family room.

Although I am not a parent, having my nephews and nieces sick makes me sort of paranoid as an Uncle, so I can sympathize with this lady over here. The story ends happily but you will have to check it out as I won't spoil the details here.

Russia Freezing Its Anatomy Off!

And to think I was planning on visiting Russia too. I knew it was cold there, but I didn't realize how cold it was:

Temperatures on Friday hit minus 29 C and weather service officials say the daytime temperature could reach minus 20 C not earlier that the beginning of February. This winter is the coldest in the capital Moscow since 1978-1979, when temperatures reached minus 38 C.

Apparently people are dying from this storm according to Richard's post. You have my sympathies if you live in the land of "father winter."

Why Dogs Are Better Than Cats

Richard points us to an interesting article about dogs who can detect whether a patient has cancer or not:

Last week there was a report floating around in the popular news on the ability of dogs to detect cancer within humans by the way of their olfactory system i.e, they could smell a persons breath and determine if the person had cancer.

The Today show for instance had a segment on it, and showed a dog correctly sniffing out a vial containing a cancer patients breath, out of about 10 such vials.

That definitely is good news to hear, as this not only proves why dogs are more valuable than cats, but also will enable doctors to be able to quickly tell if a patient has recovered or not.

Note: For all the cat lovers out there, no blog hating. I have two cats of my own (but still am seeking a canine friend of my own).

If You Are A New York Fanatic...

...of sneakers that is, then according to this blogger the Alfie Rivington Club is having a sale.

30-70% off- but this sale isn't at Alfie's super secret location. Instead it's being held at 161 Bowery, near Broome St., fourth fl. The sale is from now until 1/23 from noon-6.

I'd fly to New York, but EBay is definitely cheaper.

A Blogger Birthday

A corporate blog is about to become two years old:

We can't quite believe it ourselves, but February 10 is Flickr's 2nd birthday.

We're having a bash that night in San Francisco and you're invited. Stay tuned for further details like venue and time (details we're currently hammering out).

Flickr is a photo community that is a cross between a forum and a weblog. Either way, its one of Yahoo's greatest features (perhaps their best) and if your around the area, let me know how the party goes. :)

Is Ad Placement Important?

Google's Ad Sense team apparently has some advice for bloggers (and webmasters) about how to generate more revenue which in turn will help them generate more revenue.

As a general rule of thumb, ideal ad placement lies in a region balancing the left to right (emphasis towards the left), and top to bottom (emphasis towards the top) portion of a page. Article based pages are an exception, as placing ads directly below an article can lead to a greater number of readers clicking through.

The number of ad units you choose to display can also affect ad performance. While some sites perform well using the maximum 3 ad units per page, it's important to maintain a balance between content and ad display -- the optimal number of ad units per page varies for different sites.

As you probably can tell, I am not exactly following this rule for several reasons. I did consider placing my side bar on the left, but I have found that it can potentially slow down a web page (unless you have two sidebars of course).

Although moving the ads above may help, although I am going to have to do some "htmling" in order to make it work (last time the site looked bloated). Cheers!

Evil Bums

No, I don't hate poor people or those who fall into hard times. But after reading a post from Lady Buggin, I am "slightly enraged" at this person's deception:

I saw a woman at the end of the offramp today begging for money, holding up a sign that said something like "I'm in hard times, my kids have no food, been evicted, ect ect ect." This woman looked better dressed than I've ever been.

She was wearing a very nice raincoat, which obviously came from a nicer store than I could ever afford to shop in, she was talking on a cell phone, and while I was sitting there, she reached into her Louis Vitton bag (yes, I could read the d*** LV logo all over the outside) and grabbed a bottle of watter (not generic $.69 water like what I buy either) and drank it. I wished I would have had my camera to document her stupid ***. (sic)

People who fall into hard times should be taken care of and you should help them out if you can (unless you suspect they are using it for drugs, etc.). People who merely take advantage of public generosity should be fined.

Although if that happened we probably wouldn't have any politicians.

Terrorist Attack? False Alarm

After power went out in a store, Carla had a random thought of the worst, although it turned out to be a false alarm. It was a good thing too, as this would have been too close for comfort. More from her blog site:

Yes, now I know that was a stupid thought. Al-Qaeda was going to attack a Target in [an awesome city], South Carolina. I'm not saying that it's not completely and totally out of the realm of possibility, but I think there are other cities that are higher on the list.

The darkness didn't last as long this time--thank God--and once the lights came on and it appeared they were going to stay on, Hubby grabs the cart and asks, "Do we need anything else?"

She posts something early on about Wal Mart, advice the company may want to look into. Either way, she made it out alive and kicking, along with her "hubby." Don't you love post 9-11 America?

Since When Do Cell Phone Companies Work Together?

Wow, this has surprised me, although it may be beneficial for those who enjoy the ease and mobility as opposed to searching for a pay phone. Justin has the scoop:

Nevertheless bidding has begun to wire all 277 subway stations in New York City. The contract for now only includes wiring the platforms but does take into account discussions on how to later expand the networks into the tunnels.

Cingular Wireless; Verizon Wireless; T-Mobile, a unit of Deutsche Telekom and Sprint Nextel teamed up to submit one of the bids, according to Cingular spokesman Clay Owen. Cingular will take the lead on the project if awarded the bid, Owen said.

I am glad Sprint was mentioned, as I am seriously considering their services (for business reasons, as well as personal). Perhaps when I visit New York in the future, this entire network will be setup already.

Switching To Word Press

No not me, but Meg has decided to make the switch towards Wordpress:

I have decided to switch to wordpress, I like the controls, look and layout better than here. Nothing bad, just not really thrilled with this look and donÂ’t have the money to invest in a website of my own at the moment.

Why Meg, why? You can do soooo much with blogger than with the free Wordpress account (which only lets you alter the page after you go pro--which puts it third behind Mod Blog. Oh well, you can check out her new site over here.

Coffee Only Semi Evil

Besides destroying your body, Audrey has listed another helpful use of coffee.

Did you know that you can save used coffee grounds and use them to feed and fertilize your indoor plants or anything you grow in an outside garden?

It's easy to do. Save them up and then pick out your plant and spread them around the base of the plant just before it rains or you are going to water. It allows for a slow release of nitrogen.

Although I am not into gardening as much (who has the time? Blogging is more fun!) I will keep this tip in the back of my mind. I guess now I'll have an excuse to visit Star Bucks after all!

Note: No, I don't hate coffee drinkers, I just loathe coffee. I am a tea person, so no blog hating here.

Too Old, Too Fast?

Dana gives her account on violating the "parent-kid rule:"

There is this unwritten rule that exists between parents and children. It sneaks up on you when your kids are, oh, about 9 or 10 1/2.

I had to find out the hard way:

YOU CAN NO LONGER REACH FOR THAT HAND TO HOLD.

Although I am not a parent, I am an uncle, and I have found two exceptions around the "no hand rule"---candy and allowance money. ;)

Note: This only works if you are a girl and only until they reach eleven. Otherwise, God bless!

Advice For Actors...

And for those aspiring to be actors. Donald Foley answers audition questions posted by readers on his site. I think my favorite is question number three:

3. Is it possible, that sometimes the best actor/actress for the part doesn't get cast for whatever reason?

Oh Yes, you could be the best d*** actor in the world, but if you look like the directors x-wife, or their most hated teacher from sixth grade you could get passed over for someone less talented. [...]

One just has to look to Hollywood to see the truth in this. I won't mention any names, but there are some actors who are in very big movies, getting paid big sums of money, to give only mediocre performances.

I can think of several movies that were destroyed by bad acting (i.e. Star Wars, early episodes) although I won't give my personal views over here. Either way, if you are an aspiring actor, Don has some excellent advice, ranging from rejection to meddling of directors.

A Unique Job Seeker

It looks like C-8 had an unique experience encountering a person seeking employment at her company:

"Y'all doin' any hirin'?"

"It's a really slow time of the year for us, but you can fill out an application if you want," I offer, ever so helpfully. I turn around to get the application folder I have on the table behind my desk and when I turn back around, I realize that the guy only has one arm. Well, one and a half, to be exact and the half is right at my eye level and suddenly, I can't tear my eyes from it.

"I used to work here and I'm lookin' for some work..."

She later on mentions a joke which I would place here, but people may be up in arms about the comment (note: no pun intended).

Independent Christian Voice?

I came across this site via a Blog Explosion ad (yeah I click on them, as they are generally more interesting than the ones you search across).

They claim they are neither democrat or republican, just religious. And for those who care, they have an interesting story to share.

Got To Love Those Apples!

Emily Zasada has a beautiful drawing of an apple on her blog site.

I'd post the image here, but then she might sue me.

Note: It seems as if the item is no longer available on Ebay to buy. Oh well.

Marry A Dentist?

Dentist are really scary people. After all, would you want someone in your mouth with sharp metal objects making strange noises? This girl is definitely braver than I, but she does have her reasons:

I went to the dentist yesterday and I have come to conclusion that I need to find a husband that is a dentist, since I need a small fortune of dental work done.

You see dental hygine is not on the top of my list...wait a minute...that sounds really bad...I meant acutally going to the dentist regularly.

I brush, floss and gargle pretty religiously 3X a day. My teeth aren't perfect but you can't really see the flaws badly.

Lysie, I feel for you. I don't think I'd ever trade places with you, but I hope you win one of those "you've won a free dentist appointment" thingies out there. Heh.

Poem On Society

Lindsay has written a beautiful poem About 'Society':

Being on the outside and observing
People taking what they can get deceiving, lying, stealing, cheating
Some think it is admirable
But where do you fall?

(Note: this is just a snipet)

Her poem looks very nice, although her site would look nicer without the Nav Bar, although you barely notice it when viewing the layout. I wonder if I should start a listing of poetry?

Behind The Curtain

I've been working "behind the scenes" so to speak on the email subscription side of this blog. I was running into some problems before with the subscriptions (they simply stopped) but they should be back online across all of the family blogs.

If you are having problems with the subscriptions, get a feed reader post here to let me know.

Update: Still not working. Oh well, I guess I will mess with it tomorrow. Cheers!

Revisions Of The Law? (Faith Blog)

Over at In The Outer, Bloke posts about grace in what Christians consider to be the Old Testament:

Hosea was commanded by God to take an adulteress as his wife. Hosea got married to his new wife. They have a couple of kids together, and then she left him and returned to her adulterous life. Either she became a prostitute, or she acted as if she was one. [...]

In fact, she went as far as to make herself a sex slave of another. The Scriptures said that God instructed Hosea to seek her out, and to buy her back, bring her home and love her as his wife.

I read somewhere (back in Sunday school) that they use to stone people who engaged in that behavior. Oh well, it's good to see that people believe in a God of grace--as we all have probably committed a few mistakes here or there in our lifetime.

A Wine Journal?

It looks like we've stumbled across a wine journal written by Vivian which is a weblog:

...dedicated to every aspect of the wine life for the next generation!

Here is an excerpt from Vivi's Wine Journal:

The first 100% Zinfandel port that I'’ve ever tried and I was hooked immediately. Its a deep, rich port with a blackberry syrup taste that is absolutely delicious. It fills the palette with an explosion of flavor and yet manages not to overwhelm with sweetness. An absolute must for after dinner drink relaxing by the fire.

Sounds great! I'd order some but unfortunately I am not too much into wine (I've tasted a little champagne, but I don't think Vivian talks about that here).

Blog Awareness (Does The Public Know?)

Well, after reading this article I guess you know what I am going to be doing a local meeting.

(Blog Business World) What is not so obvious is the level of blog awareness among the general mainstream population. In fact, many people are not aware of blogs, even though they might even read blogs themselves.

They just might not know that what they are reading is a blog. While that might seem farfetched to many bloggers, it's not that outlandish to non-bloggers. After all, don't many people think bloggers are only self absorbed navel gazers anwayway?

Although not an official "job" of mine, blogging is becoming a secondary source of pleasure, if not income. I guess when I am out talking to other entrepreneurs this week, I could ask them about how familiar they are with blogs in general.

Deaf And Mute Blogging Too (China)

This is some great news to come across. Hopefully we can have something similar develop in the US.

(Blog Herald) The Hongkou District government in China is paying for hearing and speaking impaired to learn how to blog, in an effort to improve understanding between the disabled and the outside world.

According to The Shangaihai Daily, the blogging course, which is expected to start in the middle of this year, will be part of regular vocational training courses organized by the Hongkou District Deaf and Mute Association.

This is a plus for the hearing impaired as it will be interesting to see what thoughts lie within their cerebrium. So far twenty people have signed up, but hopefully more will join the program.

I did notice however that the link on the news site is incorrect (Shanghai Daily) as there is no "www" infront of it. The correct link is blog.cndeaf.com and for those of you who can not read Chinese, an English translation can be found here.

That Shaggy Dog! (Great Chapter)

The second chapter of Shaggy Dog has definitely surpassed the previous one. Here it seems our hero (or main character) is attempting to turn around his life when something he doesn't expect happens:

"You must be new in town," said one of the guys drinking beer at the bar. "I bet you think you're a real hotshot with your shaggy dog hair, leather jacket, and piece of shit motorcycle."

"Yeah, shaggy dog," laughed one of the others.

"I ain't nobody," answered Danny realizing the guy was drunk, and looking to impress his buddies. Gee, thought Danny, I thought people quit giving guys crap over long hair back in the seventies. Here it is two-thousand and one, and this clown is starting it all over. If I'm lucky I can get out of here without a fight.

"Well Mr. Nobody," the drunk yuppie continued, "you look like a tough guy. Let's see how tough you are."

I love the chapter ends (you'll have to read it for yourself as I am not going to give it away here) but also how Billy Jones (the author) is able to take the audience down memory lane without boring everyone with the details (something I must learn to do).

There is more to this story and I encourage everyone to read the next chapter.

Harry's Adventures (Chapter Two)

If you are in the mood for a subtle chuckle, Harry's Adventures makes a great read.

(Doctor Pepper the driver) "Fact is I hold vegetables and plant life in a higher reverence than animals. I try not to eat them, or kill a flower by severing its stem from the ground for selfish visual pleasures with no concern for the life of the nonviolent plant.

"Consider too how you don't see vegetables or plant life hunting down and killing each other like the savagery you see in animals. You even see this crap in the same species. Big fish eat little fish. Big birds, like hawks, prey on small birds. Dude, if I were an itty bitty sparrow and one of those humungous hawk mothers swooped down on me, I'd say, hey, Dude, check it out: feathers! wings! a beak! I'm one of you. Spare me, **** it!"

Although some may not appreciate the humor in the scene, the author does have a way at intertwining the humor within the story and fusing it with a secondary character. This is trickier than it seems (although easier than romance) and something I tried but thought the joke got away from the story.

Note: I think I will study this authors technique more and fuse it within my own blovel.

Back Towards The Mara

Chapter Two of the A messy affair at the Mara starts off pretty strong by introducing the main character:

The word "bride" even unpronounced and still in my mind sounded rather strange. Had you told me just one month ago that I would be married and on my honey moon in Africa I would have laughed so loud that the dead would have woken up.

Although I loved the first chapter, this one was not as good, although the beginning and ending were okay, the middle sort-of fizzled out on me.

This may have to do with adding romance to the story, a quick way to end any novel (not to mention a movie). Romance is the trickiest part to add to any story because if the picture isn't painted perfectly, the whole scene can look childish (i.e. fake, unrealistic, dumb) and stand out like a sour thumb.

I may try adding it to my stories, although I'll see how Chris goes about it before attempting on my own.

Agent To The Stars (Second Chapter)

I don't want to give too many details about this second chapter, but here is a little snippet that might make you curious:

In the conference room sat Carl, an aquarium, and a lot of empty chairs.

"Tom," said Carl. "Good of you to come."

"Thanks, Carl," I said, "Good of you to have the meeting." I then turned to the table to consider probably the most important decision of the meeting: Where to sit.

John (the author) has done a great job going over the psychology of the character Tom. The "little man" in his head is an interesting way to visualize the emotions of Tom, a great technique to use that not only saves time writing, but also keeps the readers attention. So far the second round of this story is really good.

Rad Decision Has Interesting Twist

In chapter two, the Rad Decision takes an interesting turn in the story:

It was a slushy winter day, and Vitaly's father had pointed out the ragged figures trying to sleep on heating grates. [...]

"Remember this, Vitaly Fedorovich. You may hear America called a land of opportunity. But theirs is an opportunity to starve. It may have had its moment in the sun, but the United States is crumbling now. And our Soviet Union will continue to grow stronger because the Party cares for all the people." [...]

There was only one way -- Socialism -- and it must prevail. It must.

I love this turn of events in the story! The author James Aach, has an ability to change the direction of the story without totally destroying the piece of fiction. So far Rad Decision is proving to be an excellent read throughout the second chapter.

Revisiting Simon of Space

Chapter two of Simon of Space is even funnier than the previous one. It also reveals more into Simon's condition.

"The prettiest nurse in the whole ward is named Randa.

She isn't the youngest nurse and it's fairly certain she isn't the sweetest, but there is never the less an air about her that penetrates her calm and efficient manner, relaying uninterruptibly that she is every moment a woman." [...]

She turned to leave. "Listen," I called. "Can I ask you something?" She paused tolerantly so I asked, "Has what happened to me ever happened to anyone else before?"

She arched her brow. "Only in the movies, honey."

One great thing about Matthew Hemming (the author) is his ability to draw humor out of the characters without making the story cheesy. Also, I love his first-person-perspective style of having the main character keep a journal of events on what is happening in his world.

The Miller

Another great blog novel to read! Here is an excellent piece written by Josh over at "The Miller:

"Tonight's the anniversary. You know that right?" O'Reilly had that solemn look on his face that a cop has to have when he stands over a dead body. The pre-dawn soot had started to snow down, the tarp that covered the tiny form turning from off-white to blackish-brown. "Suppose we do our part, and let these boys take her back to the cooler, till Doc can examine her."

Tonight marks the twentieth anniversary of these murders. A hundred and twenty-five that we know of have disappeared in those twenty years."

I love how the introduction starts out "dark and deep" and leaves you wondering about the murder--all the while expecting a great story. Will add this to the sidebar and I look forward to reading more chapters later on.

Little Time For Blog Novel Sunday

Unfortunately I do not have much time for Blog Novel Sunday to go over some of the newer stories around the blogosphere. Instead, I think I will review most of the previous blogs (chapter two) as well as one new one worthy of mention. Stay tuned.

Blogging Taking Off In Nigeria

It looks as if our African brethren are starting to make their presence known in the blogosphere.

(The Blog Herald) Blogging is at long last starting to spread across Africa, with the recent launch of Nigerian Bloggers, a blog aggregator covering...well Nigerian Bloggers.

The site current has 129 members and continues to grow as blogging starts to become more well known in the country.

I've already added this blog to the sidebar, along with some bloggers from Saudi Arabia. If anyone knows of any bloggers from other nations, let me know by posting here.

Benjamins? What Benjamins?!

Oh, they mean those Benjamins! The Adsense team (God bless their souls) has a special link that will show you how far away you are from your next payment or first $100 check.

(Inside Adsense) On your Reports Overview page, click on the dropdown menu for reporting dates to see this option listed. If you haven't yet received your first payment, it appears in the dropdown menu as 'all time'.

If you already have, it shows up as 'since last payment'. Now you can easily see how close you are to hitting the $100 mark!

So for those of you who do not have Google Ad Sense, now is the time to GET IT!! Why you ask? Because it works!

The Hill House Blog?

I could be wrong, but this family seems to have traded either a website or an email list for a blog.

The Hill House Herald is no more, replaced by the
Hill House Blog

You got something to say, well share it with us all.

This appears to be their second post already, and since they seem new to the blogosphere, they may be in the mood to spice up their template (note: I keep repeating that phrase over and over again. Alas, my blogger phrase cliche).

Recommended Templates:

- ThErE'S 1 In EvErY FaMilY (preview here)
- my WEIRD family and ME (preview here)
- Pink {Family Portrait} (preview here)
- lovable beautiful--royal FAMILY (preview here)**

** Ignore the title. Despite what you see this template is safe (after all, this is a family focused blog site here). Cheers!

A New Blog Is In Town

And apparently I've came across her very first post!

Her name is Robyn, and her dream job is teaching in middle or high school in a physical science class. Although to make it perfect, it would have to be close to home. (I wonder if she has tried Google's Orkut as there may be offers inside of there).

Anyways, she seems to be a fan of technology, and since she edited her first post, I think it would be great if she could edit her blog to make it more distinct!

Template Recommendations:

- Paris White (preview here)
- a technofreak's blog (preview here)
- phones are evil (preview here)

Although if she wants a "teacher based template" she can always do a search here.

Another Baby Blog? With Child Art?

It must be a a blogger thing.

Oohhh! What do you think of my first ever blinkie? Please have a quick look [...] I know it's a bit rough at the edges - but it IS the first one I've done and considering I had no idea how to make one just about an hour or so ago, I have to say that I'm quite pleased with it!!!!

Cute blog, but I don't see a binky anywhere on her site. Maybe I've been blogging too long in the blogosphere.

Well, anyways, her young ones do some pretty cool artwork for their age, which you can purchase over here.

Note: Check out this cool bib. :)

Congratulations! (It's A Girl)

Not for Beth the blogger, but rather for her friend:

"My longtime friend, Amanda, had her baby girl yesterday!!! They have named her Reagan Makayla."

To this day and for the rest of eternity I will never know how women go through all of that to have us. Anyways, this is one thankful blogger for them going through the trials.

Anyways, if anyone has a heart desires to, congratulate her new friend for giving birth to a little girl!

Advice For Every Business Person

Originally from Life Hack, Justin gives advice on how to be a good business leader.

1) Take Responsibility
2) Listen
3) Sorry folks, but you are going to have to visit his site to see the rest (it's about blog respect, you know). Cheers!

Your So Vain...

No, I'm not going to sing the finishing line. But this post is about Brandi Grant, who seems to have vain peers:

Yes I feel okay. Just because you see me with no make up doesn't mean you have to find some way to tell me I look like crap. I know it. I can't help it.

It's not my fault the power went out at my house last night and that it didn't turn back on until right before I left for work this morning. It's not my fault that I had to take a cold shower this morning. It's not my fault [...]

Okay, I think we get the point. I am not going to ask what she looks like (as I want to live) although I can say she does have a fabulous template design. Another great one to check out (simple yet eloquent).

I wonder if I should reward everyone who has a beautiful looking blog. But all I have to give are Orkut Invites. Sigh...

Does Marriage Really Shorten One's Life?

This blogger thinks so.

Marriages shorten women's average life span by 7 years, in comparision with un-married women. For men, the reversal is true. Marriages elongate their life's span up to 7 years.

I guess it's good to be a guy after all!

Note: Just kidding, not blog hating here.

Vacation To Athens...

This blogger must be excited!

Did I mention that my vacation time for my Athens trip was finally approved this week?? After finding out, I bought an Athens travel guide, and I'm going to read that to find out what I can do once I'm there.

Of course I'm there to help others, but in the late afternoons and evenings, we have free time. Apparently we are within walking distance of the Acropolis! So cool.

I hope Jay has fun on her trip! And hopefully she will post some pictures for all to see!

Silence...A Beautiful Blog

No matter how many times I surf the blogosphere, I'm always amazed at the template designs I see! Brilliant!

This blog, called Silence... has a very simple yet elegant layout. One of the best that I've seen thus far!

Oh, for those of you who can not read Portuguese, a translation can be found here.

Committee to Protect Bloggers Needs Managing Director

Committee To Protect Bloggers has served the blogosphere by alerting readers to the abuse of citizen journalists.

They have taken on governments as well as major corporations and have made the public aware of those giving weblog owners the short hand of the stick (or at least beating them with it).

Now it appears that they are in need of our help:

If any of you are interested in the position of managing director of the Committee to Protect Bloggers, or know anyone who might be, please contact me.

I'm trying to keep the organization going, as I think there is a role for it to play. However, I have to ease up, so, if I can find a Managing Director, I'm going to make myself "Executive" Director, meaning I can meddle but I don't have to work.

This job isn't for slackers and if interested you should check out the site for details.

Google Analytics Sends Out Invites

For lovers of Google and Blogger, this comes as good news.

(Blog Herald) Loren over at Search Engine Journal reports that Google Analytics is sending out invites to the service after it initially had to turn away would-be users due to high demand.

The service doesn't seem to be as fast as Site Meter, although that could change in the upcoming months. So far I've included the code inside of this weblog and three others: Hidden Nook, Colony Worlds and Inside Orkut.

I have several more posts to finish on my other blogs, but if one is looking for an invite (if any are available) post here and I'll see if I can get you inside.

Dr. Phil Audio Blogging?

First Bill O'reilly and now Dr. Phil.

(Blog Herald) Everyone's favorite TV advice giver, Dr. Phil, will be providing unscripted "audio blogs" as part of a deal with online matchmaking site Match.com

Subscribers who pay $12.99 a month for Match.com's "MindFindBind" premium service will get access to Dr. Phil's tips on dating and relationships, both via video, audio blogs and written form.

That should be fun to see. Although I wouldn't be surprised if Opera came out with something similar later on.

The Witching Hour

A very in depth (and almost poetically scary) post by "She."

Midnight. The witching hour. That moment when the clocks hands come together at 12. The change of days. One day ends - click- the next day begins.

One moment that signifies beginning, middle and end. Perhaps that is why we are fascinated by it, enthralled by it's power. It is the halfway point between dusk and dawn - darkness half over.

Darkness most full, most complete. The sun is furthest away, it's light and warmth fully retreated from us.

There are two more paragraphs over at her site. Almost reminds me of the twilight between Halloween and All Saints Day.

Cowboy Bull Riders

I am not sure if this blogger is a profession one, but he sure does have a strong interest in the sport:

The first round for this weekends event in SC has been posted. Bulls such as Neon Nights, Moody Blues, and Night Life are the veterans to the sport. [...]

Then there are the younger bulls such as Andy Capp, Night Moves, and Semi-Automatic that will provide their riders with less knowledge, as many will have never even heard of them, leaving the cowboys to wonder what dirty tricks might be thrown their way.

Sounds dangerously fun (well, for us guys that is). I wonder if he will provide some photos on his blog as all the ones on Google Video appear to be fake.

She Dares Us...

...to comment on her blog.

Say hi, if you're reading. I'm pretty sure there aren't too many of you, but prove me wrong. Dare you.

Hmm...could we remedy the situation? Three things I recommend:

1) Change layout template (via BlogSkins.com). It may keep readers on longer, as well as make the stay more enjoyable. This blog skin (preview here) may suit her needs, although there are thousands to choose from.

2) Register on Blog Explosion (and similar blog directories). Why? It draws traffic towards your blog, as well as search engines too.

3) Get Google Ad Sense. It works!

Well, those are my three suggestions. How did I do?

Is The Bible Sexist?

It looks as if a blogger is upset about what she discovered in the Bible (in reference to Ephesians 5:23-31):

I believe that this doctrine is not only false, but harmful to my confidence and my marital relationship (in this instance, this is not a euphamism for sex!).

All the love in the world wouldn't make up for the lack of a friend in a marriage of equality. Neither me or my husband would want for me to subject myself to him "as the church is subject unto Christ".

Probably a controversial passage, although I generally thought that the Bible made everyone equal, with some harsh words for husbands who slack off, and setbacks for those who don't respect their wives.

Is the bible sexist? I not going to debate this here, (as I don't want to attract trolls) but like all books, if you don't enjoy or agree with it, then don't read it. Pure and simple.

Water, Water, Blogosphere?

While not intentional, I came across both of these blogs while surfing blogger. Both of these blogs give advice on water, which I did not realize was full of details.

I would post more, but I don't want to bore you to death with what they had to say.

Hotmail Blues? Get Gmail!

It looks like a blogger has become fed up with using Hotmail.

Simply put, Hotmail sucks ***! The long explanation is I am not receiving emails to my hotmail account. Nor are some that I have sent reached their destination. (The husbands work email particularly)

My apologies, if you have not received a response, it's somewhere in cyber-space, and I'm giving up trying to figure out the problem for today.

Ironically, I've been getting errors whenever I try to send an Orkut invite to a friend who has a hotmail address (and no, this blog isn't offering orkut invites, although the sister site is).

Perhaps it's time she switched over to Gmail? Here is some propaganda to convince you.

Note: She has a very nice blog layout. I'm almost jealous.

Five Days To Feed Lounge Release

Olliethemagnet seems very excited about its release.

For those of you who don't know, Feed Lounge is a feed reader that many people use to read blogs, news, etc. It's sorta like reading email without the spam.

I was in much anticipation over feed lounge until Google Reader came out. Although some bloggers may disagree with me, I view any reader (or email box) that uses folders as a waste of time. Labels are the future!

On The Road Of Life...

Avoid bad memories: (from Safafenix)

I DROVE MY CAR HOME FROM WORK TODAY.

I WILL NEVER DRIVE ON THE ROAD I HAD THE ACCIDENT ON AGAIN..

NEVER NEVER NEVER.

I don't blame her. Would you?

20,000 Pesos? Hmm...

When cleaning out his garage, Steve (who blogs at American Drifter) inherited 20,000 pesos from a box. But how much is 20,000 pesos worth? (permalink not available)

20,000 pesos. When I was in Mexico last year I can remember going to the ATM and withdrawing 1,500 pesos and that being enough money to last all weekend - and I am talking having a good time and spending a lot of money - I think it was about $120 at the time.My bubble got popped when I looked at the date on the bill: 1988

Well, I guess some money is better than no money. I wonder if he will use that towards server hosting? Hmm...

Die Hard Kobe Fan

NBA Talks discusses about a die hard Kobe fan:

Bryant fanatic forever and would be willing to argue 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 360 days a year, until the time is through (okay, enough of that) with any Kobe-critic or a Kobe-basher out there. [...]

You bet this guy will gonna get into your nerves once you started to exchange arguments with him regarding his beloved #8.

I am not a Kobe fan either (actually I am not even into basketball) but I will take note on Bryant, lest he talk my ears to death about Kobe.

Note: He could spice up his skin template. I think these recommendations would suite him well:

- basketball (preview here)
- basketball.totally.rox (preview here)
- score (preview here)
- Da Basketballer (preview here)

Of course there are plenty of other basket ball templates to choose from. Cheers!

Blogger Unhappy With Alito

Rich, over at Uncommon Sense, doesn't seem to be too thrilled about Alito:

Cause he's going to rubber stamp your every grab at government power. If the analysis and reportage I'm seeing is anywhere close to accurate, this is the worst-possible sort of justice. I'd rather take my chances with a lefty that's skeptical of government and its motives.

Although my opinions differ, its good to see some descent in the blogosphere. But with the way things are going, I wouldn't be surprised if Alito was confirmed.

(Note: Unfortunately I keep running into political web sites. Although I don't mind seeing them, this blog was not designed for poliblogging, as this one is. I'll have to adjust some settings to get on the "everyone" boat.")

Blogging Man 2007 Convention

Hopefully this will be in my area (or I'll be able to afford it) but Matthew over at Liberty Just In Case is organizing a blog conference:

Some exciting stuff is on the horizon that both Mark and I are involved in. I just finished the first planning meeting for the first ever national Bloggers Conference (how I got in on the ground floor, I don't really know...luck has a lot to do with it).

All I can say right now is WOW. It is amazing how fast a thing like this comes together (and how fast it HAS TO come together).

And it looks like some famous faces will be there, including Hugh Hewitt, Sharon Hughes (Talk Radio Host of Move America Forward), Jay Stephenson and many other well known faces. Should be quite a party!

A Blogger Needing Cash?

Although the economy can bring blessings to some people, to others it brings setbacks. James, who blogs over at The Left End of the Dial is asking for tips:

January's typically a difficult month monetarily for me and my family, and this month has been compounded by a combination of an unexpected expense plus some extra work that I had counted on falling through. If you read this blog and have a little change to spare, I'd be most appreciative.

He offers a tip jar (via Pay Pal) and if there are any wealthy bloggers out there reading this post, you may be able to help out.

(Note: I wonder if he has thought about Google Ads?)

Surfing Blog Explosion?

Yeah, so I was getting bored surfing blogger (although they have many good bloggers out there) but this is Blogger Delights with me, a blogger, delighting in other bloggers content, layout and interesting thoughts (as long as they're family friendly that is).

Although it is getting late (past mid-night where I am from) I think I will surf the Blog Explosion directory and see what new blogs pop up.

But before I can do that I'll have to edit my ad unit there (not Ad sense, but on Blog Explosion). Cheers!

Iran Launches First Koranic Blog Festival

(Hat Tip: Blog Herald and The RAW Feed)

Although I don't mind, I don't think Jihad Watch is going to enjoy this.

(First International Quranic Blogging Festival) The growth of blogging in Iran has surprised media and communication circles, so much so that Iran has been mentioned as the capital city of the bloggers. [...]

We are going to hold a competition with international scope in order to help expand presence of the holy Quran on the internet and we would like to have all the faithful especially the youths at the competition: the First International Quranic Blogging Festival.

Should make for an interesting festival. I wonder if the Christians, Jews and other faiths will launch a similar festival?

Blog Safety For Kids

The Blogger Buzz points us towards a unique site that discusses blog safety for kids and parents alike. Here are some helpful hints for teens:

Avoid postings that could enable a stranger to locate you. That includes your last name, the name of your school or sports teams, the town you live in and where you hang out. [...]

Avoid getting together with someone you "meet" through a blog unless you are certain of their actual identity. If you do meet them, arrange the meeting in a public place and bring some friends along.

There are more tips for parents, teachers, kids, etc. so go take a look at BlogSafety.com. And yes, they even have a weblog of their own (powered by Blogger of course!).

Section Targeting By Adsense?

It looks as if the Google team has made it easier for your Ads to scan the content you want, instead of, per say, unrelated items on your page (like your name).

(Inside Adsense) With section targeting, you can help us determine what parts of your content are important so that your site can show more targeted ads. [...]

Also, we want to make sure your ads are as effective as possible,so our technology detects whether section targeting will improve your results and implements automatically only if you'll earn more revenue.

You may be only comfortable doing this if html is second nature to you (with me its third, but I am getting the hang of it). Otherwise this may be up your ally.

Who knows, maybe I'll try it out with this site. Cheers!

Blog Explosion...And Star Wars (Revelations)

Yeah! I just found out that my blog was accepted in the Blog Explosion directory! Although I love the other directories out there (such as Blog Wise which has the largest to my knowledge), most do not enable you to actually surf other blogs, but only provide static links.

I like to thank Rachel (from the Blog Explosion Team) for including this blog, as I can now surf Blogs in their directory, instead of via Blog Spot on the home page.

Well, I think I am going to call it a night for now, but for those Star War fans, here is a treat for you to enjoy! Cheers!

A Blogger Returns...

Back to blogging that is:

I have not blogged in a LONG time.

It's been awhile eh? Had to get through the crappy feeling holidays. And besides, I've been busy, and i guess sarah has been too. Wait let's not even assume, she is just too good for us computer nerds.

Well, I guess it is good to see a blogger return (after all, who has the heart to abandon their beautiful blog creation?).

Shawn later on mentions that a friend of his is looking for a job. I know that people are offering jobs inside Orkut, but if anyone could help out Shawn's friend, they would both be grateful.

Patrick J. Fitzgerald Has A Blog?

Is it me or is the world getting smaller?

For those of you who don't know who Patrick is, a Google News search will enlighten you.

Marine Wife Of Eight Kids?

Well I know some people would be like "what in the world," but the truth is, big families are great! Unless of course you are sick:

I have been so sick this year. To the point I am just saying, Ok Lord what do you want me to learn from this? [...]

What is crazy is I will feel fine for 2 or 3 days and then do something like go out grocery shopping or what ever and the next 2-3 days I am wiped out and sick! I am trying to force myself out more but it seems to make it worse.

Well, I can sympathize with this lady, as being sick is no fun (it is probably even worse as a parent, something I have yet to experience). Hopefully she can get better as she sounds like she has a great family. :)

Best New Year's Resolution Ever

(Hat Tip: No Regrets)

Hands down, I think this is the best New Years Resolution across the blogosphere:

So, that gay-bashing, economy-worshipping, Bush-believing idiot over there? Love her/him. That contemporary church that keeps stealing our members? Love 'em. Every one. That unbelievably stupid, worthless, frustrating teacher? Love her/him.

That jack*** "friend" who gets every ounce of my effort and returns none of the niceties? Love her/him. I've got to do it; at least, I've got to try. It's what makes the most sense, even though it's tricky. Trickier than Faith or Hope.

Love is probably something everyone needs more of, especially in the blogosphere, as people can become heated up over the dumbest items (as politics is a hot topic now-a-days). Great post Stuart! Now, if only I could market that phrase on a bumper sticker...Hmm... ;)

Heh! Cute Baby! (Video Blog)

No matter how many times they may throw up on you, babies will always make me laugh!

(Note: Her video is powered by Cast Post which you can connect to your Blogger account. It would be cool if the blogger team did something similar with Google Video)

Creative Blocks Suck? Hmm...

It looks like Jen is stuck with nothing to write about:

I've just got too much to do. Therapy tomorrow, prenatal appointment Thursday. Site concepts need to be done soon, I was hoping by Wednesday. So I sit here staring at the screen with no luck. I decide to blog but it's not really helping.

I just have to forge ahead, but it's so hard when I feel so worn down.

Well Jen, one thing I always do whenever I have writers block is work on the template design (Blogskins.com recommended). I find doing that motivates me on future posts, because after I am done designing, I feel the urge to write as well.

Also coming up with a "blog mission statement" might narrow down what you have to write too.

Darren, over at Pro Blogger has a list of ways to overcome writers block. Cheers!

The Word "Chokuegambo?"

Well, it seems I learned a new Japanese word today:

The Japanese word "chokuegambo" describes the wish that there were more designer-brand shops on a given street.

Reading this on Cecily's blog made me wonder: what words have Americans created that somehow hint at cultural predispositions?

Nicole mentions "super-size." Would "metrosexual" be another one?

(Note: No, I haven't seen the show and have no intention either).

Coalition for Darfur?

For all of those curious on what is happening in Darfur, this would be an excellent resource to use.

I am debating on adding to the my blog site (not this one, but my other one) as regional focused blogs tend to become "hot" when interest builds around the blogosphere.