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.