Blog Your Blessing Sunday

A Blessing for Happiness

May everyone be happy and safe,

and may their hearts be filled with joy.

May all living beings live in Security and in Peace--

Beings who are frail or strong,

Tall or short, big or small,

Visible or not visible, near or far away,

Already born or yet to be born.

May all of them dwell in perfect tranquility.

Let no one do harm to anyone.

Let no one put the life of anyone in danger.

Let no one, out of anger or ill will,

wish anyone any harm.

The Buddha's Words on Kindness (Metta Sutta)

The Blue Panther Experience is host for Blog Your Blessings. Click this link, grab the blogroll code, add the code to your blog, leave a comment on Blue Panther Experience and post your blessing. Quick and easy!


Tags: Blog Your Blessings, Blue Panther Blog, Sunday post

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Latent Semantic Analysis

I am still on vacation at the beautiful Texas coast, but I have found time to do some reading that I want to share. Remember, I am, first and foremost, an Internet researcher.

Latent Semantic Analysis (LSA) and Latent Semantic Indexing (LSI) are increasingly important concepts in search engine marketing (SEM) and search engine optimization (SEO).

LSA is a statistical technique for extracting and representing the similarity of meaning of words and passages by analysis of large bodies of text. In addition to recognizing keywords on a page, LSI searches all documents in the index, looking for similar terms. Documents that have many words in common are considered semantically close; documents with few words in common to be semantically distant. This method of classification is almost human in its scope. The LSI algorithm does not know the meaning of the words, but recognizes patterns that emerge from semantically close words.

Why should you, as a webmaster or marketer, care about LSA and LSI? Google changed its algorithm and has achieved success with displaying natural search engine results, versus keyword-driven search engine results. With keywords, the search engine results will include only those documents containing these exact keywords. With Latent Semantic Indexing, the search engine results will contain documents whose content is considered to be semantically close to your keywords.

To be continued . . .

Tags: latent semantic analysis, latent semantic indexing, search engine marketing, search engine results, semantically close

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My Christmas Wish for You

May all the days of all your years left by God,
Be filled with every joy and grace;

May hope of heart and peace of mind
Beside you ever stay,

This is my only wish I have
For you on this Christmas Day!

Merrry Christmas and a Prosperous 2007

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Would You Like to Simplify Your Life?

Back in March I wrote Socialize This--Social Bookmarking Tool, a post on CoolAdzine for Marketers blog.

The Socializer is a tool for automatic submission of social bookmarks. At the time, I thought it was a neat tool and I added it to all my blogs. There were maybe five existing social bookmarking sites then.

This is a partial list of the social bookmarking sites today:

• Backflip
• BlinkBits
• Blinklist
• BlogMarks
• BuddyMarks
• CiteUlike
• del.icio.us
• Diigo
• Digg
• dzone
• FeedMarker
• Feed Me Links!
• Furl
• Give a Link
• Gravee
• Hyperlinkomatic
• igooi
• kinja
• Lilisto
• Linkagogo
• Linkroll
• Look Later
• Magnolia
• Maple
• MesFavs
• Netscape
• netvouz
• Newsvine
• PlugIM
• Raw Sugar
• reddit
• Rojo
• Scuttle
• Segnalo
• Shadows
• Simpy
• Spurl
• Squidoo
• StumbleUpon
• tagtooga
• Tailrank
• Technorati
• unalog
• Wink
• wists
• Yahoo My Web
• zurpy

Now, I truly appreciate Socializer! You have seen those blogs that have 25 to 50 icons for bookmarking each post. How would you like to have the same capability without the clutter? With Socializer, add one link to your blog and your readers may use any social bookmarking service they wish.

Socializer adds new social bookmarking sites as they become popular, so you will never have to worry about finding the correct code for each social bookmarking site and placing it on your blog. Add just one snippet of Javascript or PHP and its done.

On the Socializer site are plugins for Wordpress, Movable Type and ExpressionEngine. There are also detailed explanations for using Blogger, Blogware and Zen Cart.

Simplify your life and unclutter your blog with Socializer.

Tags: social bookmarking, Socializer, simplify your blogging life, use any social bookmarking service, eKstreme

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16 Things that Took me 50+ Years to Learn

1. Never, under any circumstances, take a sleeping pill and a laxative on the same night.

2. If you had to identify, in one word, the reason why the human race has not achieved, and never will achieve, its full potential, that word would be "meetings."

3. There is a very fine line between "hobby" and "mental illness."

4. People who want to share their religious views with you almost never want you to share yours with them.

5. You should not confuse your career with your life.

6. Nobody cares if you can't dance well. Just get up and dance.

7. Never lick a steak knife.

8. The most destructive force in the universe is gossip.

9. You will never find anybody who can give you a clear and compelling reason why we observe daylight savings time.

10. You should never say anything to a woman that even remotely suggests that you think she's pregnant unless you can see an actual baby emerging from her at that moment.

11. There comes a time when you should stop expecting other people to make a big deal about your birthday. That time is age eleven.

12. The one thing that unites all human beings, regardless of age, gender, religion, economic status or ethnic background, is that, deep down inside, we ALL believe that we are above average drivers.

13. A person, who is nice to you, but rude to a waiter, is not a nice person. (This is very important. Pay attention. It never fails.)

14. Your friends love you anyway.

15. Never be afraid to try something new. Remember that a lone amateur built the Ark. A large group of professionals built the Titanic.

Thought for the day: Men are like fine wine.. They start out as grapes, and it's up to the women to stomp the crap out of them until they turn into something acceptable to have dinner with.

by Dave Barry, Nationally Syndicated Columnist

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Blog Your Blessing Sunday

Hold on to what is good even if it is a handful of earth.
Hold on to what you believe even if it is a tree which stands by itself.
Hold on to what you must do even if it is a long way from here.
Hold on to life even when it is easier letting go.
Hold on to my hand even when I have gone away from you.

~Pueblo Blessing ~

The Blue Panther Experience is host for Blog Your Blessings. Click this link, grab the blogroll code, add the code to your blog, leave a comment on Blue Panther Experience and post your blessing. Quick and easy!


Tags: Blog Your Blessings, Blue Panther Blog, Sunday post

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Book a room at the world's first $500 million dollar underwater hotel

"A group of commercial developers is hyping the creation of the $500-million Hydropolis Undersea Resort. A sprawling 1.1-million-square-foot complex
—with lavish suites, a ballroom, a shopping mall and a missile-defense system to ward off terrorists." from, Popular Science. Check out the virtual video tour, pretty amazing.

read more | digg story

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Flogging and the Federal Trade Commission

Great article today on Gaming Insider from MediaPost. The fake blog that I wrote about a few days ago (Sony/PSP/Zipatoni flog) really has people upset. Bloggers and gamers all over the Internet are calling for action, patting themselves on the back and generally creating a huge buzz about it.

There is talk of the Federal Trade Commission becoming involved! If things are not confused already, lets bring in the government. Maybe there are a few other rights we can afford to lose, hey?

Sony took down the flog, AllIWantForXmasIsaPSP.com, which was targeted at gamers. You may view a mirror site here if you want to view the flog at its finest. I am not sure if the gamers are angry because of the fake blog or because the portrayal of the two supposed gamers on the flog was so very lame. You look and tell me.

Photograph from AllIWantForXmasIsaPSP.com

AllIWantForChristmasIsAPS3.com is a knockoff blog that portrays Sony’s PSP as an expensive, ill-conceived, inferior choice to other gaming machines. Warning, knockoff blog is a bit rough (R-rated).

Tags: full disclosure, blogging ethics, transparency in advertising, word of mouth (WOM) marketing

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Another Flog Brought to You by Zipatoni

Ad Freak spotted another fake blog (flog), brought to you by Sony and Zipatoni ad agency.

All I Want for Christmas Is a PSP pretends to be a fan blog (run by a guy named “Charlie,” who says he’s helping his buddy Jeremy get a PSP for Christmas), but it’s a poorly disguised marketing effort—the URL is registered to Zipatoni. . . . “Charlie” keeps posting his denials, in pseudo hip-hop speak. More than once he writes, “yo where all u hatas com from... juz cuz you aint feelin the flow of PSP dun mean its sum mad faek website or summ... youall be trippin.” Pathetic. . .

Adrants has quite a bit to say about the fake blog (flog) that ad agency Zipatoni has set up for Sony PSP

Now take fake blogs. You've heard of them. Edelman knows all about them. They are the things marketers seem to think are the holy grail of this new social media thing. Let's get down with our customers. Let's "join the conversation." Trouble is, a fake blog - one that pretends (badly) to be all hip hop on our ass - is like an idiot that shows up at a black tie event wearing American Eagle cargo shorts and a t-shirt. The natural reaction to that is, "Who the fuck is that idiot?"

I just have one thing to say, floggers are damned. The name of Edelman is already written on the wall of hell, and I just consigned Zipatoni and Sony to the same fate. It is an insult to us, potential customers and fellow marketers, to lie, plagiarize, playact, pretend, and scam us with some fake blog written by an advertising agency.

Honesty is not optional and deception is always exposed. Ask Edelman, ask Zipatoni.

Hey, big time ad guys: if you need a set of blog ethics, you can use mine. You might also want to view and use the disclosure. On the other hand, you can remain in hell for all I care.

Tags: full disclosure, blogging ethics, transparency in advertising, word of mouth (WOM) marketing

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Lessons From the Center of Collective Intelligence

Why has collective intelligence become such a big deal? With the rise of social media (wikis, social bookmarking sites and socially driven news and content aggregation sites), it seems that everyone wants to get on the bandwagon.

read more | digg story

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Blog Your Blessing Sunday

Traditional Buddhist Healing Blessing

Just as the soft rains fill the streams,
pour into the rivers and join together in the oceans,
so may the power of every moment of your goodness
flow forth to awaken and heal all beings,
Those here now, those gone before, those yet to come.

By the power of every moment of your goodness
May your heart's wishes be soon fulfilled
as completely shining as the bright full moon,
as magically as by a wish-fulfilling gem.

By the power of every moment of your goodness
May all dangers be averted and all disease be gone.
May no obstacle come across your way.
May you enjoy fulfillment and long life.

For all in whose heart dwells respect,
who follow the wisdom and compassion, of the Way,
May your life prosper in the four blessings
of old age, beauty, happiness and strength.

The Blue Panther Experience is host for Blog Your Blessings. Click this link, grab the blogroll code, add the code to your blog, leave a comment on Blue Panther Experience and post your blessing. Quick and easy!


Tags: Blog Your Blessings, Blue Panther Blog, Sunday post

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Carnival of Blogging Chicks : Christmas Humor

Below is my entry for the Carnival of Blogging Chicks. I hope that everyone takes this in the joking manner in which I am posting. As a victim of depression and survivor of abuse, I have learned to laugh when I have a chance!

Christmas Carols . . .
for the
Psychiatrically Challenged



SCHIZOPHRENIA ~ Do You Hear What I Hear?

MULTIPLE PERSONALITY ~ We Three Kings Disoriented Are...
DEMENTIA ~ I'll Be Home For Christmas, I think . . .
NARCISSISTIC ~ Hark The Herald Angels Sing (About Me)
MANIA ~ Deck the Halls and Walls and Lawn and spare no cost . . .
PARANOIA ~ Santa Claus is Coming To Get Me . . .
PERSONALITY DISORDER ~ You Better Watch Out, You Better Not Cry, I'm Gonna Pout, and maybe I'll tell you why.


DEPRESSION ~ Silent anhedonia, Holy anhedonia. All is calm, all pretty lonely.
OBSESSIVE COMPULSIVE ~ Jingle Bell, Jingle Bell, Jingle Bell Rock. Jingle Bell, Jingle Bell, Jingle Bell Rock... (YOU GET THE IDEA)
BORDERLINE PERSONALITY ~Thoughts of Roasting in an Open Fire
PASSIVE AGGRESSIVE ~ On the First Day of Christmas My True Love Gave to Me (and then took it all away)


Tags: Blogging Chicks, Carnival of Blogging Chicks, laughter

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Google Click Fraud Funding Al Qaida & Hezbollah Terrorist Groups

At the Chicago SES, Jim Hedger is holding a press conference which is making public the investigative report that Google is serving Adwords & Adsense adverts on Google properties and the sites of AdSense members who are connected with Al Qaida, Hezbollah and other terrorist groups, benefitting from revenue which is originated by Google advertisers.

read more | digg story

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Carnival of Blogging Chicks : Laughter

Carnival of Blogging Chicks is being hosted by Of Making Many Books this week. The theme for this Carnival will be:

Holiday Laughter or Laughter in General

Stop by Of Making Many Books on Sunday and visit the carnival. No better way to spend a Sunday in my opinion.

Tags: Blogging Chicks, Carnival of Blogging Chicks, laughter

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Looking for Deals Online?

If you wish to save money this shopping season, you may want to visit NCNatural's Adventure Resources--Your Guide to North Carolina Nature, Entertainment and Culture.

To help support their travel site, they have put together a great list of online coupons for online retailers that ship to North Carolina (and the rest of the USA).From Adidas to wine, you will find a selection of Online Coupons here that will save you time and money. The site is updated on a daily basis with offers from hundreds of merchants.

Here are just a couple that I found: Vision Direct offering $25 off $75 purchase or free shipping with an order of $99. There is also Toshiba offering free upgrade to XP Pro and Office Small Business 2003 on Toshiba Satellite M110 laptop.

Tags: NC Naturals Adventure Resources, online coupons, sponsored post

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2007 May Be "The Year of the Scent"

Consumers groups on behalf of individuals with diabetes, allergies to chocolate and obesity, quashed a Got Milk? outdoor ad campaign that released the scent of chocolate chip cookies around bus shelters. The Metropolitan Transit Commission yesterday ordered the scent strips removed.

While reading about this,I found some interesting facts and figures. Did you know that currently 83 percent of all commercial communication appeals only to one sense--our eyes, but 75 percent of our emotions are influenced by what we smell.

According to AdAge:

Mars has recently used scent technology to spread the aroma of chocolate around its M&M's World retail outlets and put Pedigree dog-food-scented stickers in front of supermarkets and pet stores. Pepsi spread the smell of black-cherry vanilla with People magazine inserts and store displays for Diet Pepsi Jazz.

According to Wired Blog, Table of Malcontents:

Digiscents, Inc. is developing the iSmell Personal Scent Synthesizer, a device that will let smells be transmitted through the Internet, and consequently allow us all to finally smell Goatse.cx or Tubgirl. And the Aroma Geur lets you smell the radio... including Rush Limbaugh, Howard Stern and Tom Bell.

According to ScentAndrea, marketers are using scent to differentiate their brand and help sell more product. ScentAndrea predicts that 2007 will be the Year of the Scent.

Since scent is the closest sense linked to memory, people recall smell with up to 64% accuracy after one year. TodayÂ’s consumers are more likely to buy a product that has a scent attribute that is familiar and pleasing. In a recent vending machine test 60% more chocolate was purchased when scent was used. And it sold out in 24 hours!

Past uses of scent technology include:

• Chocolatine consists of a . . . chocolate, vanilla and orange fragrance and with a jar lid that actually encapsulates and disperses a scent identical to that of the cream.
  
  
• Last Valentines' Day, the Australia Post released a scratch and sniff stamp featuring a rose for cards and letters. The stamp bears the image of a classic red rose in full bloom, and when scratched it gives off a sweet rose scent.
  
  
• To promote the second season of Weeds, Showtime placed a scent-strip ad in the August 24 issue of Rolling Stone that smelled like marijuana. Seems like it was a toss up between Patchouli or ganga scent.
  
  
• Scent strips had never been used for a laundry brand. Using them for Snuggle was so unexpected that it caused readers to do a double take and question their own judgment.
  
  
• The aroma of fresh baked CinnaPretzel will permeate the air from SnackWorks'tradeshow booth at ShoWest. SnackWorks is using a revolutionary new scent dispensing technology by ScentAir Technologies.
  
  
• Hasbro bottled fresh, just-out-of-the-can, eau de PLAY-DOH aroma into a limited-edition fragrance as part of a year-long celebration of Play-Doh's 50th birthday.

So, if you want to be successful at marketing, add the sense of smell to your marketing. Just be careful what you use. Make sure it is organically grown, with no additives or preservatives. The scent of chocholate, nuts, shellfish or milk should not be used. All items must be kosher. You would not want to cause an allergic reaction in one of your potential customers.

I can visualize it now, dodging around atomizers, slipping under scent triggers, hoping to be able to remain scent-free just long enough to get to the deodorant in the back of the drug store.

Now cheating husbands have an excuse: "Honey, I just went to the drug store..."

What about the poor dieter, walking past all the smells: hot dogs, chocolate, popcorn, pizza. It would be dieting HELL.

I think I will pass on scent marketing. We are assulated from every angle with advertising: tv, radio, magazines, cell phone, Internet, email, billboards, bus stops...

Let it stop here. Leave one sense inviolate, forever. LOL

Tags: Year of the Scent, Scent Technology, leading consumer by the nose

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Internet Authority in Scientific Research

According to a national survey conducted by the Pew Internet & American Life Project in collaboration with the Exploratorium, 40 million Americans use the internet as their primary source of news and information about science, and 87 percent of online users have at one time used the internet to carry out research on a scientific topic or concept.

For Americans with high-speed Internet connections, the internet is as popular as TV for news and information about science. Young adults with high-speed connections at home rely more (44 percent) on the Internet for science news and information, compared to television (32 percent).

Over 70 percent of Internet users say they turn to the internet for science news and information because it is convenient; 65 percent say they have encountered news and information about science when they have gone online for a different reason.

The study found that 87 percent of online users have used the Internet to look up the meaning of a scientific concept, answer a specific science question, learn more about a scientific breakthrough, help complete a school assignment, check the accuracy of a scientific fact, downloaded scientific data, or compare different or opposing scientific theories.

When asked about stem cell research, 2/3 of respondents said they would find information on the Internet; 59 percent said they would use the Internet to find information on climate change.

From the press release:

Users of the internet for science information also report better attitudes about the role science plays in society and higher assessments of how well they understand science. Specifically:

• 78% of those who have gotten science information online describe themselves as "very" or "somewhat" informed about new scientific discoveries
• 58% of remaining internet users says this
• 48% strongly agree that to be a strong society, the United States needs to be competitive in science
• 33% of remaining online users strongly agree with this
• 43% strongly agree that scientific research is essential to improving the quality of human lives
• 27% of remaining online users say this
• 59% of Americans have been to some sort of science museum in the past year, such as a zoo or aquarium, natural history museum, science or technology museum, or planetarium
• 49% of internet users have gone to a website whose content is devoted to science, such as the Smithsonian's website or NationalGeographic.com.
• The report also shows a relationship between the two behaviors: those who have gone to a science museum are more likely to visit science websites, and vice versa

Note: The Exploratorium website is a great beginning to any scientific project, with links to many educational sites and sources. Check out the science behind skateboarding, surfing, baseball and other sports; space weather; faultlines; robots.

Tags: Pew Internet, Exploratorium, scientific research, [tagname], science in news

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Buzz Words at Search Insider Summitt

The information in 1-10 below was taken from The Buzz At The Search Insider Summit (November 29, 2006). Aaron Goldman, Director of Client Strategy and Development for Resolution Media, attended the Search Insider Summit and kept a running tally of how many times a particular buzz word was mentioned. His sense of humor and scorekeeping gives us a very unique look at search engine marketing.

1. Branding-27 mentions

It seemed like a single panel did not pass without someone offering up a new way to harness the power of search for driving brand awareness, preference, or purchase intent.

2. Integration-24 mentions

Speakers and attendees alike were in agreement that search cannot live in a silo, and the most effective marketing programs incorporate and are informed by search.

3. Engagement-13 mentions

With the focus on search as a branding tool, engagement emerged as the key metric for measuring the impact of search on purchase intent.

4. Assists-9 mentions

. . . term Yahoo has introduced to speak to the ability of certain keywords to . . . assist a conversion event . . . anything that puts hard data against softer search metrics will help us fight the branding battle.

5. Mobile, Local tied with 8 mentions each

Certainly, the engines are all improving their local capabilities and enhancing the user experience with smart features and maps. However, it's the wireless carriers that hold the power as mobile content improves and WAP-supported handsets and Web sites proliferate.

6. Long Tail-4 mentions

From describing keyword selection to content availability, the Long Tail has become the analogy du jour of media and marketing insiders.

7. E-mail-2 mentions

Craig Swerdloff from Return Path described how basic e-mail strategies can be used to improve search performance and vice versa.

8. Click Fraud-1 mention (tied wth 9 and 10 below)

It seems click fraud has become something of a non-issue, as most search agencies and internal marketing teams already have strategies in place for monitoring and acting on it--just like any other variable that contributes to poor campaign performance. And, clearly, the engines are working tirelessly on stopping it.

9. Truthiness-1 mention (tie)

Stephen Colbert fans will applaud Chris Heuer from Social Media Club for using this term as he recommended best practices for leveraging social media. Take heed, floggers!

10. Relevance-1 mention (tie)

Collectively, we need to find a way to make all advertising as relevant as search. Then we can flip the script and move from talking about how search can be used for branding, to how all media can be used for searching.

Tags: Search Insider Summit, Aaron Goldman, Resolution Media, buzz words, search engine marketing

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AIDS Awareness Day/Week/Month/Year

Meet the iPod nano (PRODUCT) RED Special Edition. Apple will give $10 of its purchase price to the Global Fund to fight AIDS in Africa. Just introduced, the iPod nano (PRODUCT) RED is an Apple Store exclusive and will not be sold through other retailers.



If 50,000 people buy iPod nano RED = $500,000 to fight aids. Spread the word and remember someone special this holiday season.

Sleek, lightweight, and just $199, the 4GB iPod nano (PRODUCT) RED delivers everything your customers expect from the world’s best-selling digital music player. A brilliant, 1.5-inch color display. Up to 24 hours of battery life. Seamless iTunes integration that lets you import CDs and shop for songs, podcasts, and audiobooks on the iTunes Store, then sync them in minutes. All in a durable aluminum enclosure that tells the world you have chosen to join (RED) and to help stamp out AIDS.




Tags: Product RED nano, fight AIDS, not available in stores, iPod nano

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Stereotypical Purchasing for Christmas

A study from BIGresearch, commissioned by the National Retail Federation (NRF) to find out what parents are buying for their children this Christmas.


TMX Elmo is the top choice for boys and Barbie is the top choice for girls. This appears to be stereotypical and I wonder if we advertise to girls different than we advertise to boys? When does the difference begin? TMX Elmo is a gift that is liked by both boys and girls. Why do legos not appeal to girl children (or their parents)? Why are more iPods being purchased for girls than boys?

Get all the information from eMarketer.

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Blog Your Blessing Sunday

I arise today
Through a mighty strength:

God's power to guide me,
God's might to uphold me,
God's eyes to watch over me;
God's ear to hear me,
God's word to give me speech,
God's hand to guard me,
God's way to lie before me,
God's shield to shelter me,
God's host to secure me.

~Bridgid of Gael~

The Blue Panther Experience is host for Blog Your Blessings. Click this link, grab the blogroll code, add the code to your blog, leave a comment on Blue Panther Experience and post your blessing. Quick and easy!


Tags: Blog Your Blessings, Blue Panther Blog, Sunday post

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