paypain

Paypal is a great service for internet purchasing and selling junkies like myself. Unfortunately, there are a few quirks that we all have to deal with, but I am starting to realize that there are creative ways to cushion the blow.

On such issue that I recently ran across was the fact that my wife had no way of transferring money from her Paypal account to my own without incurring a fee. Even though it was coming from her account balance, my account is a Premiere account, and apparently incurs fees regardless of the source. Now, you're probably wondering why we would be transferring money from her account to my own - why not just transfer it straight into our bank account? Well, that's another of Paypal's annoying restrictions. Even though my wife and I share a bank account, we can't have the same bank account tied to both of our accounts. Since I had the bank account in my account first, she couldn't tie it to her account.

However, for anyone else who may be running into this same problem, here's a solution. Create the two accounts - one for your spouse and one for yourself (as we already had). Set one account to be a personal account and add your bank account. Setup the other account to be a premiere account. When you're going to get a non-credit card payment, have it sent to the personal account. When you need credit card payments, send them to your premiere account. This way, you get the perks of the premiere account when you need them, but you can also get non-credit card payments with no fee via the personal account. And when you need to send money to your bank account, you can simply send it from your premiere to your personal account (for free) and then do an automatic withdrawal from your personal account to your bank.

When life serves lemons, make twisted lemonade.

credit card death

Over the years, my wife and I have gotten to the point where we now pay off our balance each month and never pay finance charges or late fees. It is a great position to be in, and one that I recommend to everyone. Of course, if *everyone* did this, credit card companies wouldn't have much of a future, now would they?

It definitely wasn't easy to pay off our debts. The first step is to stop spending. Evaluate all of the money coming in and going out, and determine what is necessary and what are impulse purchases. The impulse purchases need to be the first to go. Some people find that taking cash with you while shopping can assist in evaluating what you are spending when you go out, and can also help limit what you pick up (assuming that you don't take out the credit card to cover any overages). As I have mentioned in the past, you can also speak with one of those credit counseling agencies, who can often assist in getting credit card companies to lower their outrageous annual percentage rates. Yet another option which has grown in popularity recently is to consolidate your debt.

There are lots of places to find information on debt consolidation and how it can help those playing the "minimum payment" game with their credit card debt. One site that I noticed at PPP is called SecureLoanConsolidation.com and they specialize in assisting with Credit Card Debt consolidation.

Again, it isn't easy, and it may involve some major changes in your lifestyle, but eventually you will start to enjoy saving money as much (if not more) than spending it once you've managed to rewire your brain a bit.

blog - to move slowly

The word "blog" has always held a special place in my heart - primarily because I laughed my ass off when it began circulating the internet. It sounds like a word to describe moving at molasses speed, so it makes sense to me that Blogger aka Blogspot has been extremely slow for the last several days. I don't know what is going on, but at times it takes over a minute just to start displaying my blog or other pages within the "dashboard" area. All I can say is that I hope they nix this problem and things speed up soon.

None-the-less, I picked up a few new web domains and I am planning on eventually porting my posts over to them at some point in the not-so-distant future. This should resolve a number of problems - no more bitching about Blogger's speed or access problems (any problems that i have will be my own fault), I'll get to access a number of PayPerPost opportunities that require your own domain, and I can hopefully build better pagerank and linkability. only time will tell, but I have high hopes anyways.

global offerings

We Americans like to believe that we *own* the internet - that we invented it, made it what it is today, and that American-owned websites are the best in their field. Conveniently fitting into our overall bloated national ego, this attitude is likely the result of a few things. For one, we have people like Al Gore stating that it was his invention. Our search engines (like Google, et.al.) only serve up sites in our country, so we are fairly shielded from the rest of the world, and if most of us are graced with a foreign site in some other language, we usually don't stay long enough to evaluate it in any way.

So, when PayPerPost offered an opportunity for me to review an indian hotel booking site, how could I pass? Granted, the site is written in English and geared towards Americans, so I'm not exactly braving a new frontier, but it is always interesting to see how webmasters from other countries build an interface for Americans.

The site (INASRA.com) is fairly straight-forward. Like most online American hotel booking portals, you pick your destination and your travel dates and you are presented with the search results (conveniently in American dollars). One thing that you'll notice right away is that there aren't tons of annoying ads all over the page, like you would expect to see from an American based site like Orbitz. Once you receive your search results, you then have the option to filter the results even further by your requested amenities. I had to look up the word "penultimate" in the dictionary to find out what that meant, as there was a status block on the right side of the page stating that my reservation was in the "penultimate" stage. I discovered that this means the "next to last" stage of booking your stay. I'd recommend changing that wording to something more obvious like "you're almost done" or "only one more step to go" instead of "penultimate" as I have never heard anyone use that word before.

From a web user's standpoint, the site is quick, and easy to navigate. The branding is a little off, and perhaps it is a language barrier, but as an American, I have no idea if INASRA is supposed to mean something. Maybe it is an Indian word, or perhaps it is an acronym. In addition, I don't really understand what their slogan, "move on. live on," has to do with hotels. My only real complaint is that none of the hotels that I clicked on from the listings had photographs. One thing that I know about Americans is that we like to see what we're getting for our money when we're planning to travel, and a picture (although they can be misleading) is still worth a thousand words. (It can mean the difference between spending $25 more at another hotel.)

Overall, it's a genuine travel niche site (no fake affiliate search results detected), and highly recommended if you're planing on travel to India at anytime in the future.

weather vortex

Meteorology is a fascinating field of study. I can understand wanting to know the science behind the weather and climate. I can also appreciate the skill involved in attempting to predict the forecast. However, one has to wonder if there aren't some success rate statistics unknown to the general public for each weatherman (or lady) and their history of successful predictions. And, if there is a record somewhere, are meteorologists paid based on these records?

For example, when we lived in Colorado, we used to joke around and suggest that the industry's weathermen were sent to Colorado, because the weather was so erratic that it didn't matter what they predicted. We'd get snow one day and it would be seventy degrees the next. We've lived in some areas where the predictions were almost always wrong, and our current town seems to fall into that category as well.

Perhaps it has something to do with the variable terrain when compared to the point of prediction, or maybe this really is the best that man can get at predicting nature. History and climate patterns can only tell us so much. One thing is for certain, though. You never hear about out-of-work weathermen, which leads me to believe that there must be quite a bit of room for error in their predictions. It would be nice if the rest of our lines of work had that kind of margin of error, wouldn't it?

wifi defined

Speaking of wifi, it occured to me that not all of my readers might know what "wifi" is exactly, so I have decided to post a link to a quick definition of Wi Fi Hotspots as found on Encyclocentral. This encyclopedia site is a little goofy in the way that it lists its entries, and I think it has something to do with an automatically generated script that is writing the item teasers. This might explain why you have things like this: "JC Whitney finds that J.C. Whitney is among the largest direct marketers of auto parts and accessories."

So wait a minute? JC Whitney finds itself? Huh?

On the brightside, it's fairly easy to navigate and there isn't a whole lot of load time, but I get the feeling that the site was built to support the Google ads, instead of the other way around. Their definition of wifi was pretty accurate, though.

city wifi

I read not too long ago about a few college towns implementing free wireless internet in their community. As expected, there was quite a bit of push back from local broadband and DSL companies. After all, if everyone can get free high speed internet access via a wireless connection, who's going to pay for it? I think that they managed to get it approved though under the assumption that it was mostly being used for educational purposes, because it was for a college town.

This brings up an interesting case, though. In the past, free internet access was only available at places like the library. As wireless has become more prominent and affordable, it started popping up in cybercafes, airports, and hotels. So, what is to stop communities from implementing their own? Granted, there would be some sort of cost involved, but why not start a wireless company and pay for your costs by showing some advertisements at login? I'm sure that there are free wireless providers doing it right now, by showing ads while you are surfing, like the free dial-up companies were doing.

I wonder if it would be possible for a company to earn enough only by serving advertisements at login, and not while surfing...If so, that sounds like a doozy of an idea.

supplementology

Here's an interesting take on the whole "science versus religion" debate - it's called Supplementology, and is a new "religion" of sorts founded by a man named Rev. Sidney R. Smith. The religion is broken down into nine "norms", each one covering such topics as free will, spirit and matter, and the everlasting human soul. Rev. Smith even wrote a book on the subject, "Supplementology: Combining Religion with Science".

One of the "norms" is something that has been jokingly alluded to many times in the past: "Paradise and Hell are here and now, they exist only as mankind has created them on Earth and in the minds of mankind." Hence, the term "Hell on Earth" might not be such a farce after all. It's always interesting to see what other people believe in, and for those reaching obstacles in choosing a side in the religion versus science debate, Supplementology.org might just be the answer. Check out the Milky Way image on the top of their website - pretty cool with its little star flares peeking through. It's an unusual use of flash, but I dig it.

church and state

A local science teacher recently came under attack by some residents, reportedly for teaching the "creation" theory in his classrooms.

I remember being in school and discussing several different theories, and although the creation theory never really came into play, "God" was passed around somewhat judiciously. I can actually see both sides of the story. One one hand, religious parents want their children to be free to express their beliefs in school while others don't want those beliefs unwillingly pushed onto their own children. Teachers can get into a pickle when they focus on either side too stringently, intentionally or not.

One belief is that teachers are not to be able to discuss any kind of belief in school. Others feel that if any religion is to be covered, all religions are to be covered. Talk about a tall order - all religions? In a more realistic expectation, others state that the most prominent religion theories should be discussed.

It's a shame that there isn't a comfortable way to cover both. After all, I believe that most people in this world have a bit of belief in both. They just don't agree on *how much* each one was involved.

outsourcing

Speaking of customer service, according to an opportunity on PayPerPost, here's yet another accounting business process outsourcing their needs to India. Again, what's the advantage here? How does this contribute in any way to American society? Does this help Americans with much needed jobs?

Maybe the company is saving a bunch of money by doing this, or maybe they are only outsourcing their accounting during "busy seasons" like tax time, but why not outsource it to an American company? We support enough foreign markets as it is. My biggest complaint with outsourcing, and it is based on personal experience, is when your position is one of the ones being outsourced and the company lies to you about why you are preparing data that can be ported somewhere else. I once worked for a corporation that had the nerve to make us work overtime for weeks to fulfill a "special project" with our accounts. They kept telling us that this was a sign of "job security" and they even mentioned things like potential stock options as a result of our efforts. When we finished the project, they announced that our reorganized information was being sent to a company in Florida so that it could be outsourced at a cheaper rate. They then laid off 65 out of the 70 employees in my office.

On the bright side - they helped secure lesser paying jobs for the company that was getting the outsourced business. Sure - that's a bright side. Not.

phone company billing

Why is it that the phone company is incapable of billing people correctly? Was there some ancient memo sent out back in the "Bell" days that stated that no baby bell could bill their customer properly? It doesn't matter which phone company you are referring to - every Baby Bell that we've had service with manages to screw up our phone bill - EVEN when I worked for one of them.

Some are worse than others. Some only mess things up when you go to make a change. With others, the only thing you can rely on is your bill unexplainedly changing each month. Calling them seems to be hit or miss. Sometimes you get a customer service person that is knowledgeable and helpful - at other times you get a moron. Why is it that companies that are so large refuse to hire decent help at respectable pay rates? I suspect that many of them are subcontracting their customer service to companies paying minimum wage and no benefits. What else could explain the fact that so many of their customer service people just don't seem to care?

video previews

If you're like me and you've become sickened by the movie theaters and their obnoxious non-movie related commercials mixed in with the previews, then you'll probably appreciate a site that I just found via PPP. Their slogan is simple, "Visit the new VideoDetective, where movies live on the web."

Now you can pick which trailers you want to see, and maybe show up fifteen minutes late at the cinemas and not miss anything. Whether you're looking for the latest Harry Potter trailer, or the latest installment of one of the many new movies that seem to be based on comic books, you'll likely find it at VideoDetective, a search engine for movie trailers.

The new Spiderman looks exciting, and I love the idea that they have found a way to incorporate Venom into the script, although it will probably be a stretch to see how they include the "Spidey Suit from outer space" into the storyline.

broadband chewing into wireless router sales

Several months ago, when we moved into our new home, I signed up for DSL and got a great deal from SBC/AT&T - $12.99/month for a year. Granted, this "introductory" price will change at the end of the year, but I'm not required to stay with them if I don't agree with the new rate at that time.

As is typical when changing high speed internet service, I had to buy a new DSL modem. Apparently the modem that I had purchased when I last had DSL from Qwest wasn't good enough, or they didn't support it. No big deal - AT&T provided me with a rebate that made my new modem nearly free.

I looked around before picking up this deal, and one of the things I had noticed was that every broadband provider that I had researched was offering a modem with wireless router capabilities. Although I didn't need a wireless router (I already had a nice Belkins one), I decided to go ahead and spend the extra bucks to have the router and modem in one. Why? So that if I had any trouble, AT&T couldn't try to pin the blame on my router. Makes sense, right? Sometimes spending a little more is worth it, especially if it means avoiding potential frustration with a phone company's tech support. This falls into a topic that I have covered in the past - the modern version of paying more for convenience.

None-the-less, I can't help but wonder if there are more people like me out there who have picked up a modem with wireless capabilities, and therefore didn't need to buy one separately. I wonder how much this is eating into the profits of wireless router manufacturers. If they don't have a deal established with a certain broadband provider, they may be in trouble.

Sure, wireless is still the "way of the future" (or really the "way of the now"), and there will be business users who still require wireless routers for adding more throughput and flexible connectivity to their existing setup, but for the most part I would be selling my stock in those wireless companies if I were you. We are on the verge of "he death of dial-up" anyway.

event planning

In my last post I spoke of towns doing their own planning instead of subcontracting everything to outside sources. One thing that will help, especially with particular events that need to be thoroughly planned out like conferences, would be to utilize an online event planning service.

Conferences are a great way for a city to gain a reputation for business friendly accommodations. However, on some occasions, visitor and conference centers waste time and expense by hiring multiple event managers to try and keep track of lists of attendees, and make sure that they will have enough provisions and supplies on hand for everyone. If they overshoot, they waste money on unneeded supplies. If they undershot, you end up with some very crabby attendees who want their money back.

RegOnline is one such software service that can take the hassle (and much of the cost) out of tracking the attendance and registration process that precedes conferences and large events. In addition to offering online registration, credit card processing, customizable forms and email notification, they also streamline the process by including oft-missed details like name badge generation, early-bird pricing, and management of room blocks and waiting lists. Heck, the price that you'd pay for hiring a bunch of temps to put together name badges would probably cost you as much as this service, and you'd still be left trying to manage your attendance lists and payment processing. The service can even handle group reservations.

You can view their site and online registration at regonline.com. As you can see, it is pretty easy to use.

Event planners who understand the advantage of having all of your registration data in one easy to manage place should check this company out. The time and hassle that it saves will likely more than cover the low cost per user registration (as low as $3.50 a person).

working for yourself

I'm often apprehensive about mentioning the benefits and independence that seems to go hand-in-hand with self-employment, partially because I don't want to "rub it in" for those suffering under the yoke of corporate cubicle-dom, and partly because I fear that I am somehow missing something and that any day now "the real world" will decide to strike me down and make me suffer for enjoying what I do.

However, there is no other entity that I feel "working for yourself" will assist, should they choose to take that step. This entity that I speak of is the small town. Too may towns blow tons of dollars on outside reports and community assessments by expensive "planning" firms who manage to sell the idea that they can give the small town the golden "answer" that will cure all of their problems by running study groups and interviewing a handful of residents for a few months.

Instead of wasting money on these types of reports, I suggest that small towns do as much as they can on their own. Read some books about smart growth, contact some free conservation groups who may be willing to lend a hand and/or some advice, and use the inside knowledge that only the residents can share to come up with your own solutions. Instead of blowing thousands of dollars of non-local event planning management teams, do some research on planning your own events.

Check for local talents before hiring outside marketing firms - it is a rare occasion that non-native folks understand the complexity of a town's offerings. They may be able to offer an outside opinion, but they don't know the history of the town and how these things have affected its life in the past. If you need an outside perspective, talk to your tourists and visitors. Talk to neighboring towns to get their understanding of what you have t offer - you may ind that it exposes lots of misunderstandings that you didn't realize you've been promoting over the years.

niche market = Web 3.0?

If Web 2.0 was all about blogging and community sites, Web 3.0 is likely to refer to the further drilling down of niche markets within these types of sites. The online dating market seems to be taking the lead, as there are sites for all kinds of specific types of people - rich people, fat people, Irish people, weird people, and here's yet another one for Jewish Dating.

Like many other new singles sites that are being launched, this site is free to use, and involves filling out a basic registration form to be listed. Also like other supposed niche market sites is the fact that the signup form doesn't even ask if you are Jewish. I guess that you are participating under the "honor system" which in my experience has never worked on the internet in the past - but who knows, maybe Jewish singles are more likely to tell the truth than the typical web user who likes to inflate their ego with exaggerated internet self-worth.

indestructable keyboard!

I just wanted to take a moment to plug a product that I have been using for several years that I find to be very useful and unique. It is called the "Virtually Indestructible Keyboard" and no, I am not getting paid to say that I like it.

I picked it up for around $25 and after a bit of searching, I see that it is still available for about the same price. Aside from the fact that I liked the idea of a keyboard that was "virtually indestructible", this thing is very portable. I keep it rolled up in my laptop bag, and take it wherever I go with my laptop.

It is flexible, made of a silicon-type product (almost like rubber). The keys are absolutely silent, and take a little getting used to if you're used to the usual clackety-clack of hard plastic keys. But it is very comfortable and one of those products that verges on groundbreaking, in my opinion. It is impervious to most liquids and they even make a new one that glows in the dark (mine is black). Check it out if you're looking for a nice portable keyboard that won't take up much space in your laptop bag.

Here's a photo:

buzzmarketing

Following on the theme of guerrilla marketing, here's another golden nugget that is sure to impress. A guy named Mark Hughes apparently put Ebay's Half.com website "on the map" by renaming a town in Oregon from Halfway to Half.com. It makes me wonder how many other towns there are out there with .com in their name - I would assume that there aren't too many. And I'd like to see it stay that way, but I guess I'm just old fashioned. On the bright side, at least he is renaming inanimate objects and not other people's children. But I wonder how the people of the town felt about it. I'm sure Ebay wasn't complaining, though, as his tactics helped to bring in a colossal eight million registered users in just under three years.

Most successful guerrilla marketing campaigns seem to straddle a thin line between brilliant and ridiculous. Hughes is now offering his uncanny brand of guerrilla marketing expertise as a professional speaker. He also wrote a successful book on the topic titled "Buzzmarketing".

Now I'm off to look for sleepy towns that might be receptive to the idea of being renamed so that I can gain some readership for this blog. So if you seen "Occasional Editorialist, Wyoming" on your maps in a year or so, you'll know where I got the idea.

sell your kids...or their names

I know that this isn't recent news, but I recently ran across an article about a mother that agreed to name her child after the Golden Palace Casino. She sold the rights to the Casino via Ebay to name her unborn child for around $15k . Sometimes people truly amaze me with their stupidity. What remains to be seen is the reaction from her child, GoldenPalace.com.

I don't know about you, but if my mother named me something utterly ridiculous for a pittance like $15k, I'd probably bitch-slap her as soon as I was able to reach her face. I would think that something of that nature would be worth at least a good $50k, probably more. But it is all about ethics, I suppose, and the details of the deal. After all, if you were able to legally change your name once you were born, then I suppose getting some cash for having a crappy name for a day or so might not be too bad.

Guerilla marketing at its worst.

what happened to free?

Several months ago, my wife decided to finally go in and replace her cellphone. It was a broken fliptop model, with one side being held together by clear tape. She had been carrying it around for several years, much longer than most people, and definitely longer than most cell companies would like you to use it.

Back when we had gotten our first cellphone, you could get a rebate that made the cellphone free when you signed up with a one year contract. We were quite surprised when we went to replace it that the only phones that were available for free with a one year plan looked like Mardi Gras trinkets (and they'd probably work about as good as a trinket that had been thrown from a float in a parade). In most cases, you had to sign up for a two year contract to get anything substantial for free. With the ever changing world of cellular plans and phone features, I just couldn't see signing up for *anything* that required a two year plan. So we paid a bit for the phone. Then we returned it a few days later because the Verizon coverage was nonexistent.

Six months later, many of the celular providers are still offering the same deals. Wirefly is offering a free T-Mobile RAZR, but again is requiring a 2-year contract. on the bright side, the phones that they offer are pretty slick, and a step up from the freebies that you get with a one year plan. Even better, they are offering $50 cash back and a free bluetooth headset, in addition to the free phone. This makes signing a two year contract with them a little less intimidating. I also liked the fact that they don't try and sneak in a shipping charge at the end of the deal. When we tried to go with Verizon last year, they dropped a $9 shipping charge on us right before they went to swipe our credit card to pay for the phone and service plan. That may not sounds like a lot of extra money, but I like to know about every possible hidden charge before I sign up for any type of plan.



So although I'm still not that thrilled about what seems to be an industry standard two year contract requirement to get a nice free phone, I'll throw a few extra kudos to Wirefly for laying out the T-Mobile details in plain site (black and white) before you have to enter credit card information, and for making the deals a little sweeter than most of their competitors.

small town politics

I have recently been asked to apply to the local planning commission. Although I am flattered by the request, I also have to wonder if it would be social suicide. Being in a small town, I'm probably as qualified as the next guy to be on the planning commission, but I don't think I want to deal with the mudslinging and animosity.

Maybe the position would appeal to me a little more if I had a better understanding of what it involves. However, knowing that we are in a small town, I'd be worried about decisions that I would be expected to make. After all, every decision that you make has the potential to crush the dreams and hopes of your neighbors.

Local politics are alike a hot oven. Touching them can often lead to getting burned, but avoiding them results in the same old cold leftovers.

friday night...spent my pay

The internet has made life easier in many ways for us lowly consumers. We can communicate with people around the globe for virtually nothing (just the cost of internet access, if you pay for it). We can keep a journal (or blog) and share it with the world. We can publish books and sell at auction with very little hassle. However, as I have mentioned in previous posts, other services which I consider to be "bittersweet", like Payday Cash Advance Loans, are also becoming easier to find.

Consumers that have a good grasp on their spending limits and use paycheck advance services sparingly have nothing to fear, and a service like this one which features easy online cash advance with little paperwork to fill out and no fax requirements may be a godsend in your special time of need.

However, those that are still trying to grasp the concept of budgeting your income will have the same access to these types of services. It's really a shame, because we often rely on the services that offer these types of programs to inform the consumer of their benefits and disadvantages, and the latter can sometimes go untold or at least undetailed. Fortunately, some of the websites are honest enough to post even the most intimidating disadvantages on their website. I was suprised that this site even mentioned this cold hard fact:

"APR on payday loans average around 400% compared to 7% on ordinary loans and 12% on credit cards."

Needless to say, you better be sure that you can pay off these types of loans on time!

ps3 revenue?

While preparing taxes, how exactly would one classify the income made off of reselling Sony PS3 game systems during the holidays? That is one of the questions that came to mind during the holidays when my father called me to ask if there were any more PS3 gaming systems available at my local WalMart. His phonecall (and pursuing question) caught me offguard. Why would my father, of all people, be calling to ask me about the availability of PS3 systems in my area?

His reason for doing so became apparently clear when he informed me that he was watching these systems sell on Ebay for $8000 each - the mother of all arbitrage opportunities, aside from real estate. People were camping overnight in the parking lots of various retail stores across the country to get their hands on these $800 systems so that they could sell them at a hefty profit. My father spoke to one of these "early birds" in the parking lot, and the guy told my father that if all goes as planned, he will be able to buy one and resell it on Ebay to someone willing to pay ten times over the retail price so that they can be one of the "first" people to get a PS3.

The worst part about this whole "rabid consumer" scenario is that Sony planned on this happening. I was informed by the electronics department of my local WalMart that they were only initially receiving four of the units. It reminded me of the Cabbage Patch craze of the eighties, but you can imagine what consumers would be willing to do to each other for something that could be worth $7000 or more. Fortunately, I didn't hear about any skirmishes in my area.

I wonder how those idiots that paid $8000 for a PS3 during the holidays feel now that you can get one for less than $700? I am starting to understand why so many marketing firms operate under the belief that the American public consists primarily of morons who will attach themselves to any new fad if it is thrown at them often enough...

millionaire dating?

After the success of the Joe Millionaire reality show on television, how could I be surprised to discover a new dating website called Date A Millionaire?

With their catchphrase of "Find Your Sugar Daddy Today", there are so many questions that one must ask themselves as to the legitimacy of such a site. Here are a few examples...

Do millionaires really need to place an ad on an online dating website to find love? Like the infamous reality show, how can each single person be sure that they are only dealing with millionaires?

As far as I can tell, the signup process doesn't even ask if you are a millionaire or looking for one to date. So the "millionaire" angle may just be an angle to set them apart from other dating sites. Chalk this site up as another free dating service that may be worth checking out for you singles out there. Keep in mind, though, that anyone who is only out there to find someone to date that is a "millionaire" has some slightly out of whack priorities and may be a bit shallow. If you're the same way, then you may just find the perfect match at a site like this - or the worst. After all, if both you and your date are looking for a millionaire, and neither of you are millionaires, you may be starting off on the wrong foot. I guess you'll find out when you see what type of car they are driving and who offers to pay the dinner tab.

One other thing...you would think that millionaires would understand the basic concepts of spelling, punctuation and grammar, but some of the ads on this site sure prove otherwise!

real life jungle book

Thanks to Rudyard Kipling and Disney, the "Jungle Book" is a well known story among many different cultures. Other stories like Jumanji also purport the idea of children being able to live alone in a jungle, but we all know that it's just a story, right? After all, what are the chances of any child surviving alone in a jungle setting? Isn't the human mind too separated from the "instincts" of caveman-like survivalism?

Well, that's what I thought, until I ran across a new article from the BBC about a jungle girl in Cambodia. This young woman went missing when she was eight, and recently resurfaced in the jungles of Cambodia nineteen years later. She was found naked and walking in a hunched ape-like position. Her family claims to recognize her by a scar on her arm.

There are those who are skeptical about this tall tale, but the father has stated that he will have a DNA test performed to prove that it is the same girl that has been missing for 19 years.

Very strange, indeed.

canal-side pickup?

I'm sure that you've heard of "curbside pickup" before, but how about canal-side pickup? You're probably wondering what in the world I am referring to, and this one certainly comes from left field, but there was a recent opportunity on PPP for a Bulgarian real estate company on the web.

Since I know very little about Bulgaria, much less Bulgaria property, I decided to check out their site, just for kicks. Strangely enough, they have some designs for apartments that I have never seen *anything* like before. One in particular, features on site "water taxi" service via canals that wind around the property. Here's a photo:



Pretty cool, eh? It's like a cross between Sedona, Arizona and Venice. The property shown above sits at the top of a 65m cliff and even includes a curious amenity called a "snow room" - wonder what that could be. These are the types of things that make me long for world travel. There are so many interesting habitats and social structures out there. Who knew that they had these types of real estate developments in Bulgaria?

everybody wants a drupal

Or at least - everybody *should*.

It amazes me to see how many small businesses are still paying for web designers to put together static content sites for them. Sure, I can see it from the designer's pocketbook point of view - everytime the business owner wants a page updated, the designer gets to hit them with a fee. But CMS systems are so robust and easy to use now that the idealistic side of me says that everybody should get a CMS to call their own.

For example, I see local designers in my area charging several hundred dollars for static sites with predefined "pages". So, if you want a 3 page website, you're going to pay this much. C'mon people - the nineties are over!

Once you can get your mind wrapped around a good CMS system (like Drupal), and you've had some experience customizing it, tweaking it, and learning its little quirks and bugs, why not offer this as a solution for business owners? Do you really want to be on the receiving end when you get a picky customer who is going to call you every week so that they can change their "about" page? Can you truly justify charging them a fee to edit a few lines of code? Would you prefer that non-savvy non-HTML business owners try and wade through your code so that they can change an email address or something, and end up mucking everything up? Maybe you would, if you're now calculating what you would charge to "fix" a website for them.

I think that our job as designers and webmasters means more than managing other people's content. We should be creating websites that serve as more than just a static digital advertisement. Give your clients the ability to login and change the little things - like their content. Why are these features always reserved for corporate clients? Are CMS-based systems that hard to learn for some designers? Is that why so-called designers are still designing what are essentially boring "web brochures"?

Instead, create a site with a strong backbone focused on usability and complement it with a meaningful design. Use a CMS system to add functionality and save yourself time by not reinventing the wheel every time you need to build a site. Give the client the tools to manage their own content. Doesn't that make more sense?

If you're worried about missing out on reoccurring income from a CMS-based site, have no fear! There's always some new feature sitting around the corner that your client wants to load, and you never know when Drupal needs a security update. I'd also be willing to bet that no CMS-based site is unbreakable, and you may still have the chance to charge that bundle for "fixing" little things that get messed up by the users.

more budgeting

Speaking of budgeting, another obvious result of people's inability to budget is the recent surge in popularity of cash advance companies. Sure, some people are living paycheck to paycheck and are budgeting the best that they can, and in some cases these types of cash advance companies can come in handy, but many of the people who are using them are doing so because they have no idea how to maintain their budget.

I have heard of people who use these services weekly, and are constantly living one week behind their paycheck. Making things even easier for the budget-impaired are the Online Cash Advance companies. At one point the stigma of going to one of those physical cash advance places (which are usually in crappy parts of town) was enough to keep some people away from them. Now that this type of service is available online, they don't have to ever leave their home.

If you find yourself visiting a cash advance company on a regular basis, please get some help. There are many places that offer budgeting advice and assistance, including many online.

budgeting

Why is it that crippling debt has become so common in the United States? Is it because credit cards are so readily available to everyone and anyone with a social security? Is it because they send out credit card offers weekly and offer insane credit limits to people who just can't afford it? Or does it have more to do with the fact that so many people nowadays have no idea how to set up a budget and stick to it?

I've started to believe that credit cards are probably the largest reason for our country's debt. After all, kids get offers in the mail once they've turned eighteen - before they know how to budget and before they truly understand that paying off the minimum balance due is never going to pay off their debt.

In a way, the way that credit card companies "feed" on young adults reminds of the way that scam artists feed on the elderly. Both take advantage of an age group that often has trouble managing their own finances, and both have a tendency to not read the fine print.

global competition

Living in a small town, I hear too often about the effects of large corporations like WalMart and their effect on the traditional "Mom and Pop" type stores. When it comes down to it, the small business owner just cannot compete with the super-efficient operating costs of these huge corporations. They end up getting creamed in their own market when these large companies move into town.

So what about the internet? How is global competition affecting our traditional small business owners? That's a difficult question to find an answer. One one hand, you've got small business owners making more money on the internet than they could make with a brick and mortar store, and the overhead is non-existent. On the other hand, you either have to be very loyal to your local bank or their employees would have to be awfully nice in order for you to look past all of the banking opportunities available on the internet.

For example, you could visit an internet-based site featuring really cheap loans, like this one called Nice Loans was listed at PPP, and get immediate answers to all of your loan questions. If you were back home at your local bank, you'd likely be stuck in line, and then you'd be sitting with someone trying to explain what type of loan or account you were looking for. It's a rare occasion that they hand you all of their information, and then allow you the time to make your own decisions. That is the advantage of the internet. Surf on by at midnight in your underwear if you'd like, check out the deals that can be had. Sites like NiceLoans offer information and helpful tools like loan calculators and you never have to leave the comfort of your own home.

vista video woes

Microsoft is currently under fire for their "premium content protection" services that are included in their new operating system Vista. Check out an article from the BBC about it here.

The opposition is voicing concerns about automatic video quality reduction, as the operating system will actually prevent certain types of high quality videos from being played via certain devices. The idea behind the quality reduction, according to Microsoft, is that this will enable copyright holders to prevent their "premium content" video and audio from being output from "non-approved" devices. In some cases, it would be downgraded in quality.

What exactly are "non-approved" devices and what is "premium content"? This remains to be seen. Ultimately, the new operating system will rely on the actual content provider to indicate whether or not the content should be protected. Premium content will most likely refer to HD-DVD and blu-ray video sources.

As Peter Gutmann (computer science lecturer) stated, "...if consumers have gone out and paid thousands of dollars on high quality, high resolution, high definition displays and find the content is downscaled or there is no picture at all, they are going to be very unhappy."

sell more cell

The other day, I was chatting about the latest Motorola offerings, and how they paled in comparison with the new iPhone offering. I did, however, offer up a caveat that they are probably much cheaper, but I couldn't find a price. Well, I found the price for the Motorola KRZR K1 at Wirefly and, as suspected, it retails for about $150. MUCH cheaper than the iPhone. However, there are some pretty cool other cells that offer quite a bit more features and they are in that same price range, like the Palm Treo Multimedia Phones and Blackberry 8700c, both of which are the same price, before mail in rebates (which make them *free*).

So if you shop from a company like Wirefly, you'll quickly find that you can get these free cell phones after the mail-in rebate and they offer some really good guarantees, too. If you're not quite ready to plop down that $500 for the iPhone, you could pick up Palm's Treo 680 multimedia phone instead. Sure, it doesn't have the "supafly" mini Safari browser or the automatic screen rotating feature, but it is chock full of other useful enhancements like the Blazer web browser, and the ability to open and edit Word, Excel and PDF files. Considering that it appears to have most of the same features as the Motorola mentioned above (plus a whole lot more), it's a steal at the price of zero dollars.

barter town

I often wonder what the results would be if a town were to pool its efforts and dive headfirst into a bartering lifestyle. Granted, not everything could be had by trading. After all, few gas stations that I know take more than cash or credit. but in any community, even a small one, there are people with tons of different experiences and skills, many of which may fetch them a decent wage if it weren't for the crippling effect of income taxes.

So what would happen if a majority of a town's residents were determined to stretch their dollars further, and figured out a way to barter for as many of their goods and services as possible? For one thing, they would save a bundle on taxes, both income and sales tax. In fact, the deals that could be negotiated for everyday goods might even be better than the Wal-Mart deals that so many of us have grown accustomed to. You may not have the infinite choices that you have at superstores, but you get a personal interaction and wealth of knowledge that the vested minimum wage worker can't usually provide.

cards to cure the blues

In my last post, I mentioned the phenomenon of "new year's blues". Sending a quick note to someone to let them know that you are thinking of them is a great way to help out, and while we don't always make the time to telephone those that we *mean* to call, we can always find ourselves on our computers at one time or another during the day. In fact, just because you sleep all day and stay up all night on the internet is no excuse for not keeping in touch. You can still "talk" to your relatives and long lost friends via simple but personal methods like sending ecards.

Yahoo greetings offers all kinds of cards for every occasion, and for when trying to cheer someone up, cards for no occasion at all - just to say "hello". They're offering a free 30 day trial right now, so why not? Personally, I dig the talking ecards, as they seem to add a bit more character. You can simply type your own text and have their robotic voice say it in several different accents and pitches, or (best of all) you can upload your own digital voice and send it along with the card. With more and more grandparents getting on the internet these days, go send your grandma an eCard!

new year blues

We often hear that the holidays can be particularly depressing for many people who find themselves feeling lonely. The onslaught of the holiday anxiety and the fast paced speed in which many of us try to get "our shopping" done doesn't help. But I was recently reading that this depression doesn't just go away after Christmas. In fact, some individuals suffer from depression even worse after the new year has begun.

Because a new year is often seen as a time of self-reflection, it can also be a time of "built-up expectations, disappointments from the previous year, coupled with stress and fatigue," as one article that I recently read stated. So, keep an eye out for your loved ones, and the not often loved ones during this time of the year. It can't hurt to send someone some extra attention now and then, and show you care for them. The elderly living alone seem to be especially vulnerable during this time of year. Go call your grandma.

motorola mediocrity

With all of the buzz around the new iPhone launch, it's easy to miss out on buzz for products from some of the more established cell manufacturers. Take Motorola, for example. Their new Motorola Z3 is a slick looking slim design that features Bluetooth, USB and PC sync, as well as a side-capturing camera that makes taking pictures a little less awkward. However, many of the bells and whistles that one might come to expect in an industry that is now competing with products like the new iPhone are absent. Sure it has an alarm, calculator, video streaming and mp3, email and instant messaging capability, but is any of this really revolutionary or groundbreaking?

Their KRZR K1 offering looks a bit fancier, but its looks are about the only thing about it that really strike me as impressive. It features a mirrored-steel and glass-like finish. It offers a calendar and phonebook that you sync with your PC, and a 2 megapixel camera for capturing photos and lowrez video. Again, nice features but nothing too unique.

Of course, money talks and I would assume that this phone would be quite a bit cheaper than something like the iPhone, but you get what you pay for. I tried to look up the prices on the website, but everytime I clicked on the "Shop" link it popped up a window that said it was redirecting me, and then just sat there. Sorry, Motorola. Mac's caught my eye this time...

mobile web majority?

A recent report indicates that there are now an estimated 2.7 billion mobile users. For website designers such as myself, this brings up a number of issues that need to be addressed with regards to delivering mobile content on the web. In fact, it is estimated that there are only 800 million personal computers, so one could even go so far as to say that there may be more opportunities in catering to mobile users than their land-locked counterparts. Of course, we need to take into account how many mobile users actually use their phones to access the web. At this point, only my most savvy friends have tried it, but as phones get easier to use and internet airtime gets cheaper, the masses will inevitably catch on.

From what I can tell, some new devices (like the Apple iPhone) are actually serving up full size versions of the web to mobile users, while offering the ability to zoom into content, rather than reformatting to fit into its tiny screen. But with iPhone's $500 price-tag, you can bet that even in a year or two, there will still be many users in the mobile community that will be using the traditional mini-version of the mobile web rather than the slick zooming phone browsers.

With 2.7 billion users out there just waiting to look at your webpage in an entirely different format, it appears that the time is now to make your website mobile friendly. Anyone who doesn't will be left behind and is sure to miss out on potential visitors.

For a good site with some intuitive advice on developing mobile content, I recommend checking out Cameron Moll's Authentic Boredom site.

anti-antibiotics

I've always been one of those guys who hates going to the doctor, and refuses to do so unless I feel like I just can't kick something. In most cases, the doctor prescribes me some antibiotics and a $40 cough syrup and I'm on my way to recovery in a week or so. However, there are side effects to this "one treatment cures all" approach.

For one thing, antibiotics aren't all they're cracked up to be. My uncle, for example, is convinced that the human body is slowly getting immune to many of our antibiotics and that we're going to have to continually enhance them to keep them effective. Personally, I have two problems with them. One is that I often wonder whether I would have gotten over the illness on my own in about the same amount of time. The other is whether the stomach ailments that follow a regimented dose of antibiotics are worth the so-called "cure".

Sure, you may have kicked the cough and the fever, but now your intestines get to try and re-establish themselves, since all of the "good" bacteria was killed along with the bad bacteria. It reminds me of that slogan that you often see at army surplus stores - "Kill 'em all and let God sort them out."

Since I'm getting annoyed with the ill effects of antibiotics, and also since I'm self employed and I am tired of paying so much for them with my much-to-be-desired health insurance, I have discovered that there are healthier and more agreeable treatments that rival antibiotics in their effectiveness.

One such product is called natural d-mannose, and it is a glyconutrient-based sugar product. It is free of additives and completely natural, meaning that your E. Coli issues will be dealt a swift blow the next time you use the restroom. No prescription is needed, and there are no nasty side effects like the possibility of developing bladder infections or cystitis. Since it is sold in powdered form, there are no huge nasty tasting "hoss pills" to try and swallow and it can easily be mixed with a drink of juice or water.

I'm always excited when mankind discovers (or rediscovers) natural remedies in lieu of doctor prescribed medication. As something of a consumer advocate, it also plays right along with my belief in getting the cost of health care out of the control of insurance companies and overpriced physicians.

new orleans blues

My last post reminded me of a time when home security was foremost on our minds. We weren't concerned so much with saving money on insurance - we were concerned with saving our own lives.

Now that we live in Arkansas, we often hear of the progress (or lack-thereof) of New Orleans after the hurricane aftermath. Currently, the city is gearing up for Mardi Gras again and is hoping to get some of their usual crowd to bring in some much needed revenue for the city. Many political leaders are also still waiting for additional government assistance to set the wheels back in motion.

My parents had a chance to visit the disaster areas a few months after the storm, and recorded much of their visit on videotape. It was just too hard to explain the situation in words, so my father opted to make a family "documentary" of sorts so that we could see what had happened to our once "home" town. It was vicious and devastating and for the most part, just plain unrecognizable.

In reality, I can't see anyone wanting to move back to New Orleans now. I know that there are die-hard natives intent on weathering the rubble and instability, but I just don't see the point. What was once a thriving cultural epicenter has been dying for the last twenty or more years, and the hurricane only reinforced the smell of death.

We moved away from New Orleans in 1990. After being jumped, robbed, held at gunpoint and shot at, our family decided that we had experienced enough of New Orleans' unique flavor. Although it was difficult to uproot our entire family and move someplace new and totally different, I am happy that we "escaped" when we did - storm or no storm. In fact, aside from an occasional interest in genealogy resources, I'm not sure if I ever want to return.

cheaper home insurance

Home insurance is one of those necessary evils that few people bother trying to save money on. It's generally pretty cheap compared to other types of insurance (health, auto), and few people shop around as a result. One easy way to save on your home insurance that is often overlooked is to pick up a decent security system.

Even if you think you live in a safe or "nice" part of town, you're not immune to thieves. After all, the "nice" parts of town just happen to be the areas that feature "nice" homes with "nice" toys like flat panel HD television sets and pricey home theater systems. In fact, I know of several people who live in nice parts of town that have been burglarized.

Another group of people that rarely go for any type of security or alarm systems are those living in townhomes and condominiums. After all, who would try and rob a condo, when there are neighbors all around, right? Wrong-o. In fact, condos and townhomes are noisier than their detached counterparts, and as a result, neighbors are often desensitized to noise. Condo owners often get robbed and although the neighbors heard a bunch of noise, they were so used to hearing noise that they never stopped to see who was making the noise.

One great little security system for those in condominiums and townhomes is sold by a company called LaserShield. The best part about it is that it is wireless - no annoying wires to run all around the room and tuck under the edge of the carpet so that you can hide it from your kids pets, guests, etc. It's easy to install, and available from all kinds of popular retail chains like Sears and Home Depot. With its keychain alarm and automatic response from an outside monitoring group, it provides a lot more security in an otherwise "iffy" world. Check with your insurance company to see if they offer a discount - they usually do. You may even find that the initial cost of the alarm system is negated by the annual savings you will get in your insurance.

Even apartment renters could use this type of unit, since it is portable and expandable. You could take it with you wherever you live.

ad liability

One of the forums that I visit quite frequently has recently begun serving up banner ads for sites that utilize spammy tactics to hook users into downloading so-called "free" utilities and products with piggyback trojans and spyware. Seeing how much damage spyware tends to cause to the average ungeek's computer, this raises an interesting ethical dilemma. Should websites be held accountable for the types of advertisements that they display?

In many cases, websites include a "Terms of Use" link somewhere on their site, usually in the footer. These legal disclaimers generally make some sort of statement that the site is not to be held liable for the content of sites that it may link out to. This blanket clause will probably protect websites from the legal liability inherent in displaying advertisements for malware-based businesses, but does it keep the users happy?

At this point, there are still enough "green" web surfers that don't know enough not to click on these types of ads. Most people know that when these popups or banners say something like, "Your computer is infected. Click here to fix it", you shouldn't click on it. However, there are still enough novice users out there that trojan horse viruses and browser hijackings are a fairly common occurrence (especially for users with crappy browsers like Internet Exploder). They may not figure it out right away, but eventually these users are going to discover where they got that nasty bug.

While webmasters may have their legal assets covered, their user base isn't going to put up with this type of abuse for very long, and as soon as they wise up and know where they received the virus from, they are bound to take some form of revenge. Some may just never return. Others will tell their friends and acquaintances about how a once trusted site is now serving bad ads that cause serious damage to computers. Some may go even further and try to sabotage the remaining user base of the site.

In a nutshell, I guess what I am trying to say is this - watch out, webmasters. Random advertisements are easy to serve with very little maintenance, but the time that it will take to get your visitors back will likely outweigh the time that you save by not screening your advertisers. Consider yourself warned...

more spoofing tools

Recently, I discussed how annoyed I was at mail drop centers that offer reshipping services so that businesses can "spoof" their receivers (thereby rendering product refunds and returns virtually impossible). Complimenting the "spoof" mailing services are the online incorporation businesses who allow customers to incorporate their business in a state that they don't live or conduct business in. And now, we turn to the telephone for further propagation of the "spoofing" trend.

A new company called www.SpoofCard.com is offering a service in which callers can disguise their voice, set their own fake originating caller ID number, and record the conversation for later retrieval. When will it end? We used to have one of those sales call blocking services enabled on our home line and it always made me mad when a telemarketer would bypass the system and enter in a bogus number to get past it. Now, anyone can do it.

Although the site is promoting this as a "fun" thing to do, I prefer to think of it as yet another tool for identity-spoofing scum. Thanks for nothing.

virus plays antivirus

I received a phone call from my father tonight. He was a bit frustrated, as he was waging war with the latest viral infection on his PC. Sure, I sent him advice a while back and told him that he needed to quit using Internet Exploder and start using Firefox. I gave him a list of free antivirus, anti-spyware, and hijacking repair tools that he needs to download. The problem - it's too late.

After working over the phone with him for nearly an hour, we've determined that one of the viruses taking refuge in his PC is the dreaded spySheriff virus. Okay, technically it's not a virus, but it is malware of the worst kind. This is a true wolf in sheep's clothing, as it advertises itself as an antivirus tool. Nothing could be further from the truth.

My father managed to install Spybot S&D and AntiVir, but the spySheriff (and whatever else he has hiding on his machine) are preventing them from scanning. In addition, we found that spySheriff has disabled Windows Firewall and Antivirus protection. I absolutely loathe these types of malware, and wish I could hunt down the bastards that created it and watch them die a slow painful death.

Unfortunately, that is no more than a pipe dream and, instead, I get to sit on the phone with my father for several hours trying to walk him through a confusing, difficult, and time consuming removal process. It's truly amazing how intelligent these viruses are becoming. AntiVir did manage to blow away a few other trojan horses, but the spySheriff is still holding its ground.

With any luck, I'll be able to start singing "I shot the sheriff" soon enough. In the meantime, when you're surfing the internet, if you get a popup that says your computer is infected, by all means NEVER click on the window to let them "fix" it.

google and duplicate content

I've often wondered how Google manages to watch for duplicate content when content is being produced so quickly on the web. It's common knowledge that Google penalizes sites for using duplicate content, but I am curious how they determine just who is copying who. Is it simply based on which site was indexed first? In other words, if I wrote a 100 page website chock full of information and hadn't been indexed yet and someone else copied the entire thing to their website and they get indexed first, who does Google penalize? Would they penalize my site if it was indexed later because it assumes that I am copying content from the other site? Or do they have some way of determining that the content in question is in fact my own and that they can then go back and penalize the site that copied it from me?

I also wonder how they determine ranking for sites that utilize canned copy from affiliate catalogs in their site? How they they determine who had the affiliate copy text on their site first? In fact, let's throw the affiliate basis of the argument out of the window. Let's say we are talking about two big online stores...let's say Target.com and WalMart.com, who are carrying the same item for sale - a widget. As far as I know, neither of these companies write their own item copy for their online catalogs (but I could be wrong). So let's say that they took the actual manufacturer's description of the product and copied it word-for-word into their online catalog, which is probably what the manufacturer intended. So, you end up with two stores selling identical products with a description that is identical. As a consumer searching for that product, which site comes up first in the results?

Does one of these large online retailers get penalized for having the same copy as the other? And if so, how do they determine which one gets penalized for "copying" the description and which one is awarded as the original "author" or publisher of the description on the internet? It's all very confusing and Google isn't exactly the most verbose company when it comes to describing their specific algorithms (for very good reason), so I guess we'll just have to come up with our own best guesstimate. For big companies like WalMart and Target, dropping a few places in the search engine listings for one item in their catalog isn't going to hurt much. But for you and me, it could mean the difference between making a living or striking out. In the end, it could mean that the "passive" income from selling affiliate products isn't so passive at all, if we need to rewrite product descriptions so that they are "our own." And if someone copies us and gets their page indexed first...let's just hope that it doesn't happen.

I believe that there are probably some sort of contacts pages on Google for reporting this type of a problem, but I for one have *never* received a response from Google for any correspondence that I have sent them. This is a little scary since I spend quite a bit of money with their Adwords program each month.

digg sellouts

As the fallout dust is still settling from the launch of services like PayPerPost and ReviewMe.com, and the integrity of the blogosphere has come under fire, other services are following suit.

According to the MyContentWebsite blog, Digg is the latest service to be unassumingly monetized in this fashion. His blog states that people are actually selling "diggs" for as low as 10 cents each now. For a site that depends on its users honest interest in a site to accumulate diggs, this will likely introduce a new set of ethical debates. Some may argue that PayPerPost's service is doing the same thing with the integrity of Google or Yahoo's organic listings, but search engines at least have their own algorithms to determine search rankings and their listings aren't solely based on external links that could be inflated by services such as PPP.

Digg, on the other hand, is entirely based on their ability to rank sites based on the number of "diggs", so it will be interesting to see how the site will fare with users and investors as the "payfordiggs" model becomes more widespread. I would imagine that the first step to be taken would be to make paid diggs against their terms of service, and to cancel any account (and its diggs) for trying to profit in that way. This would take care of the bigger problems, but there would still be underground diggs that could be bought, and will probably be a source of constant headaches for the managers of digg. however, if its kept underground, it is also kept from public view, and therefore, from the view of users and investors/advertisers.

The MyContentWebsite blog features quality website content covering topics such as programming, design marketing, advertising, and (of course) web content. A newcomer to the scene, the blog has been around since October 2006, but its articles cover a number of topics useful to internet marketers, web designers, content and site builders, and anyone like myself who dabbles in all of the above.

laptops online - why bother?

Since when did online retail stores start charging sales tax? My wife and I were trying to shop for a new laptop today, and were quite disgusted to find that big computer names like HP and Dell are now charging sales tax. So, figure an extra $50 or more into your price. I know that online stores with local brick and mortar counterparts have always charged tax, but since when did everyone else?

I called HP to find out when this change took effect - the customer service rep told me that they started charging tax on online orders in February of 2006. I guess it has been a while since I purchased anything online from HP. I should also mention that the guy was fairly rude to me on the phone. I asked him why they would charge me sales tax when there isn't an HP store anywhere near my home. He claimed that HP now has "offices" in nearly every state. Of course, I can't very well drive to an HP "office" to buy the product, can I? So why charge me sales tax on it? Even worse, the tax that they were going to charge was a whopping 10%! They also charge $69 for shipping...which probably costs them $8 via UPS or Fedex. Paying such high tax and shipping on internet orders basically negates any cost savings over driving to your local WalMart or BestBuy. Plus, you get the benefit of easier returns if you buy it locally.

Aaah...but as the HP rep informed me, I get to "customize" my PC if I buy it from their website. So, I was going to have them upgrade my RAM for about $30 and then pay an additional $120 for tax and shipping, when I could just buy the stick of RAM somewhere for $20 and "customize" a store-bought PC myself (and not have to pay for shipping)...

Adding insult to injury is the fact that computers no longer ship with backup discs. You have to pay another $20 if you want that. That's probably not HP's policy - more likely Microsoft, but you know how cheap it is to manufacture a backup CD. In all honesty, it really disgusts me that sales tactics are still so underhanded in our "web friendly" world. All of the companies I looked at served me up bogus prices that included mail-in rebates and "instant savings" but failed to mention the ridiculous tax rate until right before checkout.

I did try and order a customized HP desktop several years ago and it arrived DOA. I returned it promptly and got my refund, so I didn't complain. Since then, I have owned an HP Pavilion desktop and laptop and have been satisfied their products. However, this recent bout with their online shopping interface (and the follow-up call with the rude sales rep) sure leaves a bad taste in my mouth.

affiliate marketing firsts

Here's a guy who shares my sentiments regarding affiliate marketing. Check out Neil Shearing's blog, particularly one of his entries on affiliate marketing and you'll see what I mean. His blog covers all types of money-making internet ordeals. With regards to affiliate marketing and Adwords, he reveals much of what I have suspected - that the "real money" to be made is on the undiscovered keywords. Once again - you have to be first at something to be truly successful. Aside from that approach, you can also do your day-to-day balancing act with your PPC costs and affiliate sales, but they are rarely static or predictable from my experience.

So the key is to keep moving, continue looking for that next hidden jewel in the marketing world, and keep your competitors guessing. So much for passive income, eh?

On a side-note, I am finding it refreshing that there are so many decent money-making blogs, like Neil's, where you can find actual information and advice on affiliate marketing. It sure beats the hard sell sites that throw fifty pages worth of text into one page in an attempt to sell you an e-book on how to make thousands of dollars a day by working for 5 minutes a week.

first, best or else

There is one saying that keeps showing its ugly head as I try to make a living off of the web. My friend works for a film company out of Boulder, CO and his boss told him this quote. I'm sure you can relate, if you haven't already heard a version of this before...

You're either first, best, or you're ***ed.
(Insert any explicit word into the *** and it still works.)

This is something that has haunted me for years. I ran into this with every step of my life. Educational performance as a child. Making art and music. Designing websites. Affiliate marketing. You name it and it probably applies. There is no value in mediocrity in this country (except with mainstream radio). For those that manage to latch onto the latest idea before anyone else, or learn how to do it better than anyone else, heaven-on-earth awaits.

For the rest of us, we are awarded life as proles.

finding venture capital

When looking for venture capital for a startup, many business owners do not know where to begin. There are the obvious routes - friends, associates, local sponsors, and then there are the more difficult to find investors. So how do business owners go about finding these investors?

One tool that business owners may find useful would be to use an investment research firm like Growthink Venture Capital Research. This is a company that I discovered at PPP which provides monthly paid access to investor databases. Using their site, business owners have the option of drilling down lists of investors by industry type, location, and individual managers, as well as a number of other options. By catching a glimpse of their investment history, startups may be able to find investors who would be interested in their own company.

The company offers an online demo of their service. Their service also includes database interaction for investors looking for business ventures to invest in. In fact, by searching for what fellow savvy investors are getting into, the database could also be used as something of an investment trend analysis tool.

Web 2.0verused

A client recently sent me some examples of web 2.0 logos that she found on the net. Most of them are slicker versions of well established corporation brands, like McDonald's and UPS. Although I must admit that I am fairly taken by the look of Web 2.0 designs, I am also starting to feel a little foolish for liking them. After all, never before have I seen such a cliche design style that is so widespread. It may look nice toay, but it's only a matter of time before it gets boring and needs to be reinvented.

In fact, if there isn't one already available, I'd be willing to bet that there is a Photoshop plugin being developed as we speak just to create Web 2.0-styled versions of existing logos. They could call it the "Web 2.Overused" plugin. You know what I mean - a filter that applies glossy reflective effects over gradient-enhanced brands while also applying a slight reflection of the logo beneath it, as if it were sitting on a piece of glass. How trite can you get?

thin as a blade

With some of the websites that I have produced in the past, I have had clients whose online business needs dictate dedicated redundant servers in a monitored and physically staffed hosting location. In many cases, some opted for collocated servers, but many businesses couldn't get past the idea of paying for an entire rack for 1U or 2U server unit. Sure, they could just pay for a space or two, but then they could be "sharing" a rack with anyone - something that certain overly nervous business-owners can be a little wary of. One idea that a few businesses I knew chose to participate in was a rack "coop" idea, in which several businesses might pool their money to rent a locking rack that their servers could be mounted in, without the concern of "unknown" other business technicians getting into the rack and possible "messing with" the wrong server.

As large scale telecommunications and data networking trends continue to fit more and more traffic throughput into smaller physical storage spaces, the "coop" idea has an even greater advantage for businesses who might want to rent a rack space, share the cost of the common cards of a server unit, and purchase their own "blades" or cards instead of full rack modules. Of course, you need to make sure that you trust your coop partners!

Large corporations, on the other hand, can take advantage of this "blade" technology to mount an entire office worth of PCs in one central cabinet (or two, if they are looking for redundancy). One such company currently offering this type of "blade PC" technology is a company called ClearCube. With their current Thin Client offering, they allow a corporation to maintain PCs in a secure location, away from self-appointed "tech-savvy" employees who might otherwise install non-approved devices in their PCs (like DVD burners) or try to take their PCs out of the office.

One common misconception with small form-factor PC blades is that they don't carry powerful processors like their bulky desktop brethren, but the ClearCube cards carry Intel Dual-Core and Xeon processors. Best of all, these systems can be managed remotely and accessed via web browser by users, as needed.

drupal subfolder help

Lots of business and community sites are being developed using Content Management Systems these days, and I have found that Drupal is one of my favorites. As a web designer, I once held the belief that CMS applications were a waste of time and that you were limited to blocky cookie-cutter designs. When I first started using them, simple layout twaks seemed to take forever. However, over the last year or so, I have grown to appreciate the hard work and community efforts that have gone into making apps like Drupal so robust. While basic layout changes may take longer, the amount of time saved for the database interaction skills of drupal is colossal.

Unfortunately, I haven't found any CMS app on the market that is actually *easy* to configure, but for the most part they are easy to use. If you want them to look unique and get away from generic bloggy-looking templates, you're going to have to do some digging and get your hands dirty.

My initial approach was to blow away most of the inherent CSS and rewrite the code so that I had a good grasp on what all of the various tables and cells were named. However, this proved to be a daunting unraveling process and I found that I was wasting a bunch of time trying to reinvent the wheel. Lately, my efforts have instead fallen somewhere in the middle, when it comes to the layout of my Drupal-based sites. I tweak it as needed, but try to keep most of the source code intact. This proves useful for finding quicker answers to technical questions on the drupal homepage, and it also makes upgrades a little less nerve-racking.

One common feature that can be a headache in Drupal is when you are deciding to setup your installation in a subfolder on a domain, and have another domain name that you want to point to it. The first thing to do is to setup your DNS nameservers with the registrar of the parked domain. Then, you go into your control panel at your hosting company and setup an "add-on" domain for the parked name to be pointed at the subfolder. From there, it gets a little tricky. Drupal has this nasty login bug that often makes users login twice - once for the domain with the WWW prefix, and again for the domain without the WWW prefix. So, I go into the htaccess file and uncomment the rule that forces all WWW inputs to be rerouted to the domain without the WWW. And the last step of the rerouting (which I usually forget) is to go into the settings.php file in the drupal installation "sites" subfolder, and set the default URL to your new domain that will be pointed to your subfolder install. From there, it should work well.

If not, you may want to search the drupal.org resource base, as there are a few other Rewrite rules that you can fiddle around with in your htaccess file.

Good luck with your drupal installation and configuration. I hope that this helps some of you, as it was a common problem for many of my drupal installs, and I couldn't find these easy steps detailed anywhere in logical sequence.

designer jewelry

Recently, I posted a "date night" idea for you "creatively challenged" gents who are looking to impress your lady with a fancy evening out on the town. I mentioned the opera, complete with opera glasses, and of course the obligatory horse-drawn carriage ride.

I also mentioned a "special gift" but didn't go into too much detail. One idea that a friend of mine recently told me about was to buy a wedding band-enhancing piece of jewelry. Many couples get married at such a young age that the bride doesn't always get the ring she truly desired, due to the cost. So, some husbands find that buying a complimentary ring for a notable wedding anniversary present makes for a good "special gift" at the end of a date.

Of course, you could always head out to the typical mall dealers, but I'd personally recommend going for some designer jewelry if you can afford it. One of the big names right now is Michael B, whose work is available on the internet from fine jewelry stores like Calvin's. I discovered their site via PPP and some of their designs are spectacular, albeit expensive. But you get what you pay for when it comes to jewelry.

Three of my favorite designs on their site are:

This ring which would go well with my wife's Victorian-styled ring.

This necklace, because my wife and I are suckers for the fleur-de-lis design.

And this ring, because I haven't seen too many designs that are able to pull off the "chainlink" approach in such a tasteful, elegant, and very feminine way.

Check them out if you are like so many couples who weren't able to get the wedding rings you truly wanted when you were wed, because you were just starting your careers and didn't have the money.

iPhone unveiled

In case you haven't heard about it yet (and you'd have to be a true luddite like myself not to have), Mac just announced their new iPhone.

Normally, I'm not "taken" by new technologies like this. Lord knows we have enough cellphone bell and whistle technologies coming out on regular occasions. In fact, I have made a conscious decision to try and *not* have a cellphone. So far, the experiment has been going well, for over six months a now. The only times I miss it are when I'm driving on lonesome country roads and thinking about how many miles my car has on it (and how likely it is to act up).

However, this new iPhone is pretty slick. If I had to pick up a new cellphone at some point in the future, and I could afford the $500 pricetag, I would definitely look at one of these things. After p[laying around with Mac's little flash presentation on their website, these are some of the cool new features that make this one stand out:

- built-in iPod, camera, maps, safari web browser
- push button menu for navigation, no "pointer" needed
- phone automatically adjusts display brightness based on available lighting
- screen automatically swivels vertical to horizontal if the phone is turned sideways
- screen automatically shuts off when you hold it to your ear to talk on the phone, saving battery and not drawing too much attention by illuminating ear hair

Like I said, I truly have become something of a luddite as I have gotten older, but this little toy has piqued my curiosity. Check it out if you get the chance and are in the market for a new phone (and can afford it).

SEO - what's your hat color?

If you have been operating an internet business for any short amount of time, you've probably heard the term "SEO" before too long - Search Engine Optimization. Business owners who are looking for an extra edge in the world of organic search ranking, or who are tired of the cost of unpredictable and expensive PPC campaigns might look to an SEO company to help their company optimize their website and get closer to the top of listings like Google or Yahoo.

Unfortunately the web is peppered with accounts of businesses whose organic ranking was actually hurt by unethical "black hat" methods used by their SEO contractors. There are many different SEO companies out there, each with its own stance on white hat versus black hat techniques. And like any ethical debate, there are many who fall in-between with their practices.

If you want to be sure that your SEO money is going towards a worthy and long-lasting cause, your best bet is to check references and reviews before selecting an SEO company. Most "fly-by-night" startups won't have a proven track record, and therefore should be avoided, regardless of any guarantees that they may offer. Instead, find yourself a company that has been around for a while, with posted examples of previous clientele. One such example that I noticed at PPP is the company SERR.biz, started by Michael Zittel, who has been dealing in SEO since 1999. They also post a copy of their code of ethics directly on their site. If a company's SEO promises sound too good to be true, and they don't detail their SEO ethics policies in any way, you should probably avoid them.

SERR.biz also offers SEM PPC services for those who haven't found their place in the organic listings just yet.

Sponsor post commissioned by Serr.biz

humans need creativity

I have spent the last six months or so working intensely on starting my own business. Focusing on getting everything up and running and profitable, I often found myself working long hours...many more so than I used to work when I wasn't my own boss.

I also found that many of my creative hobbies went largely ignored. I am happy with where I am at. I am no longer stressed about survival as I once was. In fact, stress is probably the last thing on my mind right now. However, I have been feeling like something was missing for the last few months. What could it be?

I have determined that those silly little hobbies are more than just silly - they're also therapeutic to a certain degree...which means that ignoring them makes me feel like something of a psychotic without therapy.

Today, I broke out some old musical instruments and had myself a ball. I soon discovered that creativity is like riding a bike. You might leave it locked away in the dark at times, but you'll always remember how to ride it when you need to. And much like riding a bike (as opposed to highway driving), it gives you the chance to slow things down a little and notice the little things that you were missing while you were speeding along with your more non-creative ventures.

hidden creativity

Living in a small town, I am quickly getting to know most of the other "webhead" people who have interests in things like web design, web marketing, and SEO. Many businesses use whomever they can find to design their websites and media campaigns, with limited success. Although I am a 100% believer in utilizing local resources when at all possible, I *don't* believe in using them if they are going to harm your ad campaigns or image due to inexperience or incompetence. So, many local businesses often look to the internet to fill their creative needs.

There are many sites on the net that offer freelance classified listings, but few offer advice or assistance in coming to terms with freelancers. As a result, many deals turn ugly due to the non-techie's ability to discern true and viable "geek speak" from hollow promises. Fortunately, there are services being launched that have recognized this problem and are now implementing quality reviews of the listed freelancers.

One such service, that I found via PPP, is called Hiebe. In a nutshell, they offer services that assist with project outsourcing. What this means for the average business owner is that you'll finally find the creative talent you need, and be able to pick and choose based on specific details like ratings and awards. Business owners can post their projects, and creative types can post their portfolio. They offer creative professionals the opportunity to post their services in several different mediums, from web design and animation to videos and photography, and more.

Check it out. You may not end up "supporting your local scene", but you'll at least know what you're getting into and have more than one or two choices to pick from.

return of payperpost!

After a slight weakening the number of opportunities, PayPerPost has been busy capturing the interest of new advertisers. The number of opps seems to have quadrupled overnight. Very nice, indeed.

It's also refreshing, as I was a bit concerned that their new blog demographics filters might start limiting the opps for blog newbies like myself. I could still use a bit more readership here, as I'd like to see the pagerank ascend a bit, but for now I'll just have to have patience. I tried signing up for feedburner, at the recommendation of a blogitive rejection notice, but so far haven't seen much traffic from it.

This blog did make PayPerPost's "blog of the day" last week, which was a nice surprise. Here's to having fun and making some extra cash!

360 reviews

In a recent post, I discussed the benefits of performance review software, and how it can often take that "edge" and "grudge" off of the traditional review process. There's a new service called Appraisal360 that I just saw at PPP that sounds like it would work even better.

"Why is it better," you may be wondering. There are two main reasons that I can see. The fist and foremost important idea that they have incorporated into their service is the "360 review" which means that you also get to review your boss, just as they review you. I can't tell you how often this seemed to make performance reviews less intimidating during my last corporate career. They also promote the benefits of continual and/or routine evaluation, something that I had also plugged in my last post about performance reviews. End of the year reviews just don't work, unless they are compiled from routinely recorded performance notes and evaluations. So, I heartily recommend trying out 360 feedback from Appraisal360.

The other nice thing about their service is that it is a "pay as you go" service, so you always get access to their latest and greatest offerings, without having to pay costly software updates.

google and blogger

Boy, just when you thought SEO was going to be difficult, a company like Google decides that they're going to start indexing Blogger-based blogs almost immediately. It was quite a surprise. I started a few new blogs, and figured it would take the ussualy quarter of so to get them indexed, but they have all been indexed right away.

Might this have something to do with the fact that Google now owns Blogger? Hmmmm...
:)

None-the-less, I really can't complain. In case you are wondering why your own blog hasn't yet been indexed (if it's served on Blogger or Blogspot), you may want to sign up for a Google account and add the URLs to your webmaster tools there. That is one step that I failed to mention that may have also helped to get them indexed so fast. But I have other URLs that I had submitted via the Google webmaster tools before I submitted my new blogs and those sites still haven't been indexed. So, I am convinced that Google is automatically indexing all Blogger blogs right away.

If you know how difficult indexing can be, all I can say is - take advantage of it!

high class evening

Over the years, I've become more and more creative when planning special evenings with my wife. It's not very often that we find babysitters and make special plans, so when we do, I try to make it a "once-in-a-lifetime" event. For example, on one occasion, I went with a Caribbean theme. We started off with dinner at a Jamaican restaurant (Caribbean Breeze, which since closed down), and I (of course) played Harry Belafonte in the car. We ended our date at a special performance of Caribbean music, as adapted by a local orchestra. It was a fun night and we had a blast. A little pricey, but like I said - it's a rare occasion that we get to do this, so make it count.

Here's a similar idea that you might want to try out. First, rent a tuxedo, buy her a fancy dress and take her to an opera house in a limo. Personally, I'd shoot for an old Rolls for an added "old world" touch of luxury. Then in the tradition of "going all out" and trying to truly follow the opera theme, why not sit in balcony box seats and pick up a pair of real opera theater glasses for her? You know which ones I am talking about. They are the same ones you have seen in movies. At first, I thought that the only place you might be able to find some would be at an antique shop or Ebay. Good luck on finding working ones, though. In fact, I had almost given up on this idea, or at least placed it on the backburner for now.

Then I happened across a binocular store on the web that was listed in the latest list of PPP opps. Much to my surprise they actually carry new theater glasses. They are blue and silver with the little arm attachment like you have seen in the movies. For some reason, I never thought to search a binoculars store for theater glasses. None-the-less, this Eagle Optics store has a large selection and offers free financing for 90 days for all orders over $200. So you get to cushion that blow to your wallet for this high class evening on the town.

While you are at it, why not finish off the night with a carriage ride, roses, or a special gift? I know that it sounds a little corny, and I'm not usually one to "dress up" like this for just one evening, but she'll appreciate it and it will definitely be a night to remember.

program for life

Why is it that every time I start to get comfortable with a programming language, somebody else has to come along with something better? Ugh!

As I have spent the last few years becoming a devout PHP follower, I have managed to avoid falling into the trap that is known as "trying to stay on top of web programming developments". So now, I find that things like Ruby and Ajax have quickly become the buzz words on the net. Honestly, I am starting to think that it's all a horse race to determine which programmers get paid more. Some Japanese brain grabs a bunch of his favorite programming tricks from other languages, bundles it, and "whoila", I get a new learning curve. A few years back, anyone with COBOL experience was sure to make a bundle right before the turn of the century, but sure to hit the street shortly after as companies revamped to replace the antiquated backbones of their infrastructures with sturdier languages.

How long before this happens to us lowly PHP programmers? Only time will tell, but seeing as there are still people developing webpages using plain old HTML, I think our future is still bright, even if it means we don't make as much as the Ruby guys eventually do. But it is definitely hard to predict, at least from a standpoint of being someone who taught himself enough to make a buck, but isn't interested in following every web language trend.