June 2007 ~ Advertising For Success

Blog Your Blessings : Prayer for the White Man

9:11 PM

Prayer for the White Man

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

And now, Grandfather, I ask you to bless

the White Man.

He needs your Wisdom, your guidance.

You see, for so long,

he has tried to destroy my people,

and only feels comfortable

when given power.

Bless them, show them the peace we understand,

teach them humility.

For I fear they will someday destroy themselves

and their children,

As they have done so Mother Earth.

I plead, I cry.

After all, they are my Brothers . . .

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

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. Join us on Sunday as we blog our blessings.

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

Poipu, Haena, Kokee and Polihale

8:10 PM

Kalalau Valley

Each time I visit the website for Hawaii Travel and search for vacation home rentals + kauai, I pick another part of Kauai for my post. This time, I pick the southwestern area of Kauai.

At the end of the road of far west Kauai is Polihale State Park, the longest beach in Hawaii, located underneath high cliffs and blue sky. On the way to Polihale, you will first journey through Hanapepe Town, a renown artist enclave. Shop, eat and visit the Hanapepe Valley Overlook to view this gorgeous valley.

Plan your trip to Waimea Canyon, the Grand Canyon of the Pacific. Maps of hiking trails, information on guided hikes and the rain forest are available at Kokee State Park and the Kokee Natural History Museum.

For a place to stay, look at the Waikomo Stream Villas, which are close to Poipu. Poipu is the place of sunshine and beaches and it is centrally located to the southwestern reaches of Kauai. The villas have over 1000 square feet of space--including washer/dryer, tiled lanai, pool, tennis courts, natural stream, gardens and high speed cable Internet--all for $135 per night! The Villas are within walking distance of beautiful lagoons and bodysurfing beaches, close to shopping, restaurants and golf course.

Are you addicted to blogging?

6:22 PM

58%
Saw this on PJMommy and had to have one. I am not as addicted as I would have thought. That is good. It means I have a life?!? LOL

Baseball World Series Tickets on Sale Now

3:33 PM

The World Series celebrates America's national pastime, baseball. Contests between the American and National League date back to 1882 with the formation of a second major league, the American Association.

As major league baseball nears mid season, it is time to speculate on which teams will face off in the world series. The reigning 2006 champions, the St. Louis Cardinals, are preparing to defend their title. Will they play against the New York Yankees or the New York Mets? Will the Chicago Cubs or the Chicago White Sox make it into the playoffs?

In Las Vegas and online, bookmakers are already setting the odds. It is time to start making decisions and buying tickets. If you are looking for tickets to the world series, visit Ticket Solutions, sponsor of this post. Ticket Solutions also has tickets for the Major League All-Star games, held July 8-10, next weekend, in San Francisco at the AT&T Park.

Marketing Matters LIVE!

2:48 PM

The AMA introduces the new author series with Marketing Matters LIVE!, AMA's online radio program. The radio program airs every Wednesday, live, from 11:00am CT-12:00pm CT. All the shows are archived here for you to listen to at your convenience.

This new series features authors of today's leading marketing books and how you can put their forward-thinking ideas into practice. You now can be part of the show by calling in with questions for the authors or email your questions prior to the show.

Date: July 18, 2007
Time: 11:00 am CT-12:00 pm CT

Brothers Chip Heath and Dan Heath are the co-authors of Made to Stick: Why Some Ideas Survive and Others Die. The book has been featured in Time, U.S. News & World Report, People, Fast Company, Inc., on The Today Show, on NPR's Morning Edition, and in many other publications. Ever wonder why do some ideas stick easily and others struggle? And what can we learn from the ideas that do make it?

Finding Friends Online : What Do You Think?

7:08 PM

FriendFinder is an online social network with over 1.7 million members worldwide. The website is available in ten languages. Check it out; guests may enter FriendFinder and browse the listings, but you may not post a listing unless you join. However, standard member is free; you may chat, send instant messages, browse through member profiles and access the online magazine. There is also an upgraded membership with more benefits.

At FriendFinder, it is easy to meet people. There is an online magazine, blogs and adult chat rooms. You may browse by state or country. The site is user friendly. You may search for profiles by zip code, state, country or age. It appears that this site is for people of all ages and could be a good way to meet people.

My one experience with online dating was not a good one. Basically, I was a single parent and was craving some adult conversation. I had tried the Parents Without Partners route and that was a nightmare, with predators masquerading as single parents. If they were parents, there kids were older than I was! So, I decided to try finding someone online. I do not even remember the name of the site, but it was where you join and look at profiles. There were some search functions, but the site was not interactive.

I think I sent two messages. One man wrote back that he could not handle children. Another man said he was not into BBW, but was open to women with children. I wrote back and said I had no idea what a BBW was and made a few guesses (bare back women, blond but wow women, beautiful Black women, etc.). He wrote back and said, "No, it is big, beautiful women; another word for FAT." I decided online dating was not for me. I did not even know the acronyms. LOL!

Have you ever had an experience with online dating? Share it.

Please Support Karoke 4 Cancer

6:44 PM

Telecom Audit Can Save You Money

5:58 PM

Do you check your mobile phone bill? Is it helpful to know that your family uses text messaging more than the phone? Did you know directory assistance calls are $1.50 each? Who called China and talked for 20 minutes? This is an example of a VERY basic telecom audit.

If your business uses telephones, modems, fax machines, 1-800 inbound, automatic call routing system, long distance, international calling, and Internet services, you need a telecom audit. You might want to visit NMA Maps, sponsor of this post. They provides Telecom Consulting. If you do not think you need an audit, check out the before and after map on their website.

I still do not know who called China!

Are You a Producer or Member of the Audience?

2:21 PM

It is easier than ever for anyone to create digital content. Yet viewers still outnumber video producers by millions.

UGC Users Outnumber Creators - eMarketer - read the article

From the article:

Globally, the estimated number of user-generated content users will hit 254 million by 2011, up from 128 million in 2006.

Not surprisingly, the number of people who create content . . . is expected to increase significantly as the user-generated content movement gathers steam, rising to 95 million in the US by 2011, up from 70 million in 2007.

John Horrigan of the Pew Internet & American Life Project said in a Clickz interview, "[The Web is] shifting now to user-generated content; it shows people engaging with the Internet in a number of different ways in their lives. It shows that people are pretty interested in using the technology to put something of themselves on the Internet, not just pull down information from the Internet."

Enter the Creative Media Awards today! MEDIA magazine is pleased to announce the call for entries for the CMAs are now open. You have 17 categories to choose from to enter. The deadline to enter your creative campaigns is Friday, July 27th, 2007 by 5pm EST.

Tu Ciudad Magazine

5:30 PM

Acccording to the US Census Bureau (October 2006), the Hispanic population reached 44.3 million, making it is the largest minority group in the US and the fastest growing. Marketers should learn a lesson from Tu Ciudad.

Wellness at Malibu Cliffside

3:48 PM

Cliffside drug treatment center in Malibu is a retreat where you may deal with addictions and issues while being treated with the respect and dignity. No locked rooms at Cliffside, sponsor of this post, just spacious accommodations and luxury. Drug rehab treatment is completely drug free; no medications are used to address the problem of drug addiction or alcoholism. The program uses nutrition, communication, detoxification and counseling to help clients achieve and maintain a drug free state. They also offer recreational activities such as beach walks and spa treatments such as facials.

Mobile Video : Will iPhone Change the Picture?

3:35 PM

Just An Online Minute » Blog Archive » Just An Online Minute… Study: Pre-iPhone, Mobile Video Still Has Far To Go-read complete post

From the blog post:

A new study by mobile research firm Telephia, released two days before the debut of the Apple iPhone, reveals that 8.4 million people in the United States subscribed to mobile video services during the first quarter. While that figure marks a 155% increase from last year's 3.3 million, it represents just 3.6% of all mobile subscribers.

Three Day Sale on All Window Coverings

3:19 PM

I really like the faux wood blinds. They look just like real wood blinds and are fully washable and unaffected by humidity, so they are perfect for bathrooms, kitchens and garden rooms. They are an economical alternative to wood blinds, too. Blinds Chalet, sponsor of this post, is having a 25 percent off sale on all window coverings. Sale ends Thursday. Use the coupon code 3DAY25 at checkout to ensure your savings.

Learn About Virtual Worlds in San Jose?

10:55 PM

Okay, somebody explain this to me. Why would you have a Virtual World Conference in the real world? I thought the idea behind virtual worlds was that you do not have to be in the real if you are in the virtual world. Is it because you cannot charge as much for a virtual conference? That is more likely to make more people attend, eh?

The entire conference could have been done over the web with VO-IP conferencing. Co-op World has had many virtual conferences. Podcasting, Business Expos, Dog Expo ... Just my 2 cents.

Virtual Worlds 2007 - Virtual Worlds Conference - produced by Virtual Worlds Management - read the entire article

Excerpt: Virtual Worlds Fall Conference and Expo takes place October 10-11, 2007 at the San Jose Convention Center. The event follows the highly successful Virtual Worlds Spring Conference which took place in New York in March.

Are You Ready for Synovate?

7:52 PM

Synovate conducts research of interest to Internet marketers worldwide. Let Synovate help you to identify new trends, to understand changing consumer perceptions, to gain quantitative knowledge of market conditions, and to determine how to apply market research to stay ahead of the game. Wherever your market, Synovate is there. Synovate has offices in fifty-two countries.

Visit Synovate.com, sponsor of this post, today. Subscribe to In: fact and Change Agent, two free market research publications they offer. Synovate also presents research reports and white papers on a variety of topics such as color and emotion, diversity markets, digital life and international marketing, to name a few. For innovative, global intelligence you can use, Synovate has the answers.

Blog Your Blessings Sunday : So Let It Be

6:35 PM

Loch Lomond, Scotland

If there is righteousness in the heart,

There will be beauty in the character.

If there is beauty in the character,

There will be harmony in the home.

If there is harmony in the home,

There will be order in the nation.

If there is order in the nation,

There will be peace in the world.

So let it be.

~ Scottish Blessing ~

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

Yahoo Admits Defeat in Search Engine Wars

10:14 AM

Yahoo steps back and Ask steps up to Google. Another episode in Search Engine Wars.

Search Engine Marketing Blog by ineedhits: Yahoo! Admits Search Defeat to Google?

These comments came from said Tapan Bhat, vice president of Yahoo!'s personalized home page at the Next Web conference in Amsterdam.

The future of the web is about personalization. Where search was dominant, now the web is about 'me.' It's about weaving the web together in a way that is smart and personalized for the user...

Tags: Yahoo!, Google, Ask, search engine wars

Throw Away That Spreadsheet

9:44 AM

Small business people tend to make due with what we have, using spreadsheet software to handle fixed asset accounting. With adequate control, management and measurement of asset utilization, your business can maximize the benefits from your investment in long-lived, tangible assets.

Visit FixedAssetSoftware.com, sponsor of this post, and download a 30-day free trial of any of their software packages. FAS also provides online training and on-site training, to ensure you get the most benefit from your fixed asset accounting software.

Buzz from Digital Hollywood

7:56 PM

David Berkowitz was inspired by Aaron Goldman who, at the Search Insider Summits, keeps a checklist of the buzzwords from the event and shares them.

MediaPost Publications - Buzz From Digital Hollywood - 06/19/2007

Brands: Branding, protecting brands, and catering to big brands were at the heart of the discussion.

Measurement: . . . measurement was a far more frequent topic of conversation than targeting, engagement, integration, optimization (by my count, mentions of measurement outnumbered all those other topics combined).

Google: The leading search engine didn't come out all that well in Hollywood, mostly due to privacy concerns, especially in light of the DoubleClick acquisition.

Get the entire scoop here.

A Smile is Worth a 1000 Words

7:35 PM

Many years of drinking tea, grinding my teeth, using my teeth as a bottle opener and other general tooth abuse has left my smile less than perfect. I was visiting the site of a charlotte cosmetic dentist, and discovered that the world of dentistry is a kinder, gentler place than when I was young. They have before and after pictures. If you have the money and want some help with your smile, visit Dr. Tom Farley, sponsor of this post, for help.

No More Pop Tarts, Fruit Loops or Rice Crispies

10:33 AM

I think this is a great idea as most of Americans, including children, are overweight if not obese. If advertisers put the same amount of savvy into advertising healthful foods, kids may eat better, have fewer cavities and reduce the risk of juvenile diabetes.

Advertising Age - Kellogg Move Bodes Ill for Ads to Kids

By agreeing to market to kids only the 50% of its brands that meet certain nutritional criteria, Kellogg has kick-started an industry trend expected to throw into play some $1 billion or more in marketing dollars.

What do you think? Will the kids miss the sugary cereal ads or will they just take it in stride? Let me know what you think.

Reno 911! Miami The Movie

9:38 AM

Well, I went to the website to check out the new DVD, Reno 911! Miami The Movie. These guys are funny in the Comedy Channel series, so I thought it might be worth a look. I played the Mayhem game because I like car games. This game is where you get a radio call and you try to make it to the scene of the crime. I played three times and each time, I lost my cruiser. I think I owed money to the city at the end of it. I know I did not have a salary at the end.

I decided to try my luck at Midnight Shooting. I guess I shot pretty good. My best score was 3500. For this game, they give you a different weapon and different crime scene each time. You may view the scene for a second or two and then it is blacked out. You have to memorize where the bad guys are and try not to hit innocents (children, the Pope, clown) or cops while shooting in the dark, literally. You have 10 shots each time. The last weapon is a rocket launcher and you are supposed to hit one specific building. I left downtown Miami in flames. These were some crazy games, but they were fun and I liked the Midnight Shooting one the best. At the end, I was invited to join the Reno 911 team, but I declined.

If you have ever seen the Reno 911 series, then you have an idea what is in store on the Reno 911! Miami The Movie DVD. In this movie, the team goes to Miami for a National Police Convention during Spring Break. The convention is attacked by terrorists and the Reno 911 team is called upon to save the day. Do they? You have to watch the DVD presented by the sponsor of the post, Fox.

Text Me, You Fool...

8:43 AM

Research Brief » Blog Archive » $273 Million Premium SMS Revenue is a Third of Mobile Content Revenue

According to the new Telephia Premium SMS Report, Premium SMS revenues totaled more than $273 million, making up 32 percent of mobile content revenue in Q1 2007. This report includes content purchased via premium SMS from off-portal storefronts as well as premium text messaging services, like voting/sweepstakes and chat.

For more information on this report and on Telephia, please visit the website.

Living on My Credit Card Blues

4:46 PM

When my son was in his early teens, I found myself unemployed. I had been working at the university on two different grants. All of a sudden, both of them were ending and, although we were desperately writing grant applications, it did not look like funding was on the horizon.

It was difficult to find another position within the university system because I was paid so well on the grant. No department could match my salary and personnel would not let me take a step down in salary. It was a Catch-22 situation.

Looking around town for a job was depressing. There is not much industry and the jobs for which I applied were highly competitive. The harder I looked for work, the worse I felt. I finally just gave up. We started living off my credit card. Having excellent credit, I had $10,000s in my line of credit on several different cards.

I found myself going online to compare credit cards, especially trying to find those 0% credit cards. I would hurriedly complete a credit card application so I could make balance transfers, and switch my debt from one card to another.

I worried about missing a payment, because all the credit cards would start charging the regular rate and not the special offer rate that I had acquired by shopping around. It was a difficult way to live. We survived for over three years through the manipulation of credit.

In the meantime, I went back to work for myself and started earning enough money to meet expenses, but wow, the credit card debt was up to $50,000! I had to take out a loan on my home equity so that I could relax about my debts.

Today, all my credit cards are paid off each month. If you have a need to compare credit card rates and perks, please visit Cardguide.co.uk, sponsor of this post.

Second Life is Too Much Like the First

3:55 PM

Well, I guess the thrill is gone from using dolls to describe ourselves and buying virtual real estate.

Virtual Worlds News: Are Marketers Pulling Out of Second Life?

It's just too risky to set up a building that might be defaced, blown up, or picketed by flying penises. It may be hard to convince users to stop in and check out the marketers' sites, but it might be even harder to convince them to leave them alone . . .

Blog Your Blessings : Father's Day

9:35 AM

Tree of Life

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Father's Day Blessing

May the Father of us all
bless our oul' fellas,
wherever hey might be,
at home in dear old Ireland,
or across the shining sea.

In heaven with the angels
or on earth still with us,
may God be good to the
dear old dad,
the one we love so much.

May gentle St. Kevin intercede
on your behalf and ask God
to grant you a simple life
filled with the music of nature,
the song of the birds,
a breeze through the trees, and
the lap of a wave on the shore.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

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

bla.st : Free International Web Directory

10:55 AM

Directories are a great way to promote your website or blog. bla.st is a new international web directory with a twist. Instead of the same old boring layout, bla.st uses cards to display your listing. Look at the bottom of this blog and you will see samples of cards.

Advertise and promote your website or blog on bla.st for free. If you have something to say, sell or service, try bla.st. You upload a card, add tags, URL, map reference and a tag line. If you wish to, you may pay a few cents per day to improve your card position on the page and to increase how often your card appears on the bla.st widget network.

Viewers may browse categories and search tags on the bla.st site or just discover your card on a widget. Needless to say, the better your card appears, the more clicks you will receive. All cards appear in both the main bla.st directory and on the bla.st widget network (like cards in footer of this blog). You are able to track clicks and views on the bla.st site and widgets.

You can use bla.st to find or promote any of the following:

Businesses
Websites & Blogs
Products & Services
Sales & Specials
Events
Non-Profits & Charities
Software

It is easy to get started and you do not have to be a graphic designer to have a card. Look at mine! It is not going to win any awards, but I may swap it out for another later.

Advertising For Success Blog card

So, what are you waiting for? You will need an image exactly 270 x 165 pixels in size @ 72dpi in GIF, JPEG or PNG format that is less than 30KB in size. They have a template on site so that you can download it and design your own card. Get started by clicking here to visit bla.st free international web directory.

Do Follow and New Blogger

12:00 PM

Have you seen the I Follow, Do Follow or D-List posts and blogrolls of blogs? These kind folk have modified the code of their blog template or have added a plugin to their blog that allows search engine spiders to follow the URLs of bloggers who leave comments.

If you are interested in becoming a Do Follow or I Follow blogger and you would like to know how to become one, check out this post from Andy Beard:

Ultimate List of DoFollow & Nofollow Plugins - Banish Nofollow From Comments and Trackbacks

There are a few issues with Blogger and becoming a Do Follow or I-Follow blogger. Blogger automatically puts a nofollow tag on every URL in the comments that are left on your blog. To make your blog a Do Follow or I-Follow blog, you must remove the nofollow tag from your template. That is easy and you may visit any of the links above for directions.

There is one thing that seems to have been left out of most explanations I have read about removing the nofollow tag on Blogger. Namely, removing the nofollow tags from blog comments and trackbacks only affect the post pages, where each post is shown on a page with the comments below the post.

You cannot remove the nofollow from the popup comment page where you actually type the comments. This is controlled by Google and you cannot change it. However, if you are a Blogger member, the link will take readers to your profile page. So, it is a link of sorts. Whoopie!

To see what removing the nofollow tag does, you should click on the title of a post, which should take you from the blog home page to the post page where only that post is shown. Under the post are the comments for that post. If you highlight the comments and View Selection Source, you will see see that there are no nofollow tags on the post page comments.

Okay, so you are officially a DoFollow or I-Follow blogger. Whew. Why all the confusion? Blogger has inserted NOFOLLOW/NOINDEX tags on every page, even post pages! What? Yeppers. This does not affect your DoFollow or I-Follow status. You are providing a pathway for links to be followed back to the commenter's blog.

I just wanted to bring this to your attention in case someone says "Your comments have nofollow tags on them." Show them the post pages without the nofollow tags. Now, if those pages have nofollow tags, you need to go back up and read one of the posts linked above.

Even on the post page, if you View Page Source and scroll to the bottom of the page, you will see Google code that begins like the code pictured on the left.

Click images to open a larger version in another tab or window.

Now look at the end of the third line of code and you will see the infamous NOINDEX/NOFOLLOW code:

Does anyone know a work around for the NOINDEX/NOFOLLOW tag pictured directly above? It is found on every Blogger page right before the end body, end html tags.

If so, please leave a comment. Share your knowledge with the technologically challenged. Like that? It suits me sometimes! LOL

Bring on the Night

7:46 PM

Unless you have slept through the past several months, you know that The Police are together again. The 2-disk compilation Police cd was released to kickoff The Police 2007 Tour.

Here are some of my favorite songs from The Police cd:
1 ualtofl
2 ouon ttxey
3 oylselno
4 nnebhg ttrhigoni
5 e etvekruaeyrhta boy
6 ycirysotnicn
7 irs a kut tnepwyonoifglos
8 as poidi sit larhitletrmernw
9 c rtdeleganbat a
10 esblnvisiun i

What? Oh, you do not recognize these? That is because these are the scrambled names of some of The Police songs from the compilation set. Do you like puzzles? Can you figure out the name of the songs?

Win a New York fly-away to see The Police live.

Give up? It took me awhile, but I think I deciphered the names of the songs. Check the song titles and see if I got them right. They must be titles of songs on The Police compilation 2-disk set.

1. Fall Out
2. Next To You
3. So Lonely
4. Bring On The Night
5. Every Breath You Take
6. Synchronicity
7. Walking in Your Footsteps
8. Spirits in the Material World
9. Regatta de Blanc (missing a "g")
10. Invisible Sun

My favorite of these songs is:

Bring On The Night

The afternoon has gently passed me by
The evening spreads its sail against the sky
Waiting for tomorrow, just another day
God bid yesterday good-bye

Bring on the night
I couldn't spend another hour of daylight
Bring on the night
I couldn't stand another hour of daylight

The future is but a question mark
Hangs above my head, there in the dark
Can't see for the brightness is staring me blind
God bid yesterday good-bye

Bring on the night
I couldn't spend another hour of daylight
Bring on the night
I couldn't stand another hour of daylight

I couldn't spend another hour of daylight
I couldn't stand another hour of daylight

This song was released in 1985 for the documentary of the same name. The film captured the excitement of the recording and launch of Sting's solo album. Sting had help from some wonderful jazz musicians, in both the documentary and the song. Joining Sting were Kenny Kirkland on piano, Brandon Marsalis on saxophone, Darryl Jones on bass guitar, Omar Hakim on drums, and Janice Pendarvis on vocals. This song fused rock, reggae and jazz into something else: Sting.

Tired of Late Night Male Enhancement Ads?

9:19 PM

Normally, the TV goes off at 11 pm at night when the male enhancement advertisements begin. However, with Cuba Gooding, Jr., a low key approach, and a very funny storyline, this commercial will give you a big belly laugh. It is not x-rated, but it may confuse young children. Use your judgment in deciding who should view this ad.

Tags: Cialis, Cuba Gooding Jr., different strokes

The telecommunications equipment you need at a price you'll like

12:30 AM

With the cost of telecommunications equipment going up, it's hard to figure out how you and your company can afford to upgrade your current equipment. Fortunately, companies like First Point Inc. have an amazing selection of new and refurbished equipment that they can sell to you at a great discount. What's the point in paying new equipment prices when you can get the same quality from a telecom reseller that offers the same warranties and guarantees? First Point Inc. has the equipment you need for the prices you want.

Blog post sponsored by BloggingAds.

Blog Your Blessings Sunday : Open Our Hearts

11:48 PM

Clear Fork Creek
Lockhart, Texas
Photography by Eileen Trainor, All Rights Reserved

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Creator, open our hearts
to peace and healing between all people.

Creator, open our hearts
to provide and protect for all children of the earth.

Creator, open our hearts
to respect for the earth, and all the gifts of the earth.

Creator, open our hearts
to end exclusion, violence, and fear among all.

Thank-you for the gifts of this day and every day.

Native American - Micmac - Alycia Longriver - 1995

World Prayers - Prayer Wheel

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

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

Process information faster and better

5:08 AM

The time sensitive nature of the mortgage industry demands quality solutions for computer networking. Dallas mortgage brokers have relied on a variety of companies, such as BNC, to help them handle their networking needs without having to hire an expensive in-house IT company. For those brokers not based in Dallas, computer service is still available. I can understand the need to save money for both yourself and your clients, which is why I think you'll appreciate the quality, cost-effective methods that BNC can offer to you and your company. Save both yourself and your clients precious time by upgrading your current systems with high quality networking and software solutions provided to you by an industry leading consulting firm.

Blog post sponsored by BloggingAds.

. . . And They Did Not Get a Picture!

6:23 PM

My neighbors stopped by for a visit today. It was good to see them. They were telling me a story of their son's latest adventures in skateboarding. He was skateboarding down at City Park and someone was having a family reunion in the pavilion. Rather than staying away from the danger zone, he had to be cool and skate through.

The floor of the pavilion is that really slick and shiny concrete. When he tried one of his tricks on the floor, his skateboard went one way and he went the other. He landed on one of the folding tables that held the food for the reunion.

There was potato salad, beans and BBQ all over the floor. My friends had to go down there, apologize, have a BBQ lunch catered in to replace the one on the floor and pay the deposit the family lost with the park service because of the mess. Oh, yes, they also had to buy a new table to replace the one that bit the dust on the concrete. I told them to visit BestFurnitureOnline.com, sponsor of this post.

Am I evil? I was glad someone's teenager besides from mine were in trouble You know what is really sad? They did not even get a picture!

Afterworld Mobisodes a Viral Success

6:15 PM

Advertising Age - MediaWorks - 'Afterworld' Seeks to Make Its Mark on Third Screen

His new 130-episode raft of two- to three-minute mobisodes was picked up by Sony Pictures Television International in April, and, amazingly enough, deals are being inked with cable and phone companies to distribute it this summer around the world . . .

Someone had to do it first. Check out the Afterworld website. Day one is embeded above.

Free Vacation : Active Duty Military Only

6:04 PM

Missouri Partners, Inc., developers of Branson real estate, are donating 500 free two-night stays at StoneBridge Village, a Branson area golf resort community to active-duty US military personnel on leave from the Middle East.

Active duty US military personnel who would like to take advantage of this free offer should call (417) 335-3518, option 1. Reservations will be accepted until January 1, 2008 for stays occurring before February 1, 2008. The vacations will be given on a first-come, first-served basis, and are based on availability. So call now.

Visit, StoneBridge North.com, sponsors of this post, to see what Branson has to offer you.

Use People Friendly Language Always

5:41 PM

I was surprised by Isaiah Washington's use of a politically incorrect term at the backstage of the Golden Globe Awards in January. It appears that he has lost his career as well as his cool. This is unfortunate, but words have more power, especially when used by role model.

'Grey's' boots Isaiah Washington - CNN.com

Isaiah Washington has lost his job on the hit ABC medical drama "Grey's Anatomy," five months after creating a furor with his use of an anti-gay slur.

So, it is not just Mr. Imus that gets called to task for saying the wrong thing when a microphone is present.

Always use people friendly language and you do not have to worry if there is a live mike.

Bees in my Helmet and Bugs in my Teeth

5:12 PM

My first motorcycle was a 350 cc two-stroke Yamaha. It sounded like an angry hornet and was extremely top heavy, but I loved it. I wore a helmet, but did not really see the need for the face shield or goggles because I wore glasses. Then, in one day, I was hit in the mouth and eye by bugs and a bee got stuck in my helmet. The aftermath of this encounter was not pretty. I had 2 bee bites, a swollen eye and lip, and a major case of road rash. Oh, yeah, my bike did not look good, either.

Now I always wear motorcycle sunglasses or goggles, like they have at ADS Sports Eyewear, sponsor of this post. I also wear a helmet with a face shield. No more bees in my helmet and bugs in my teeth.

What is a Bonnaroo?

4:41 PM

If you are like me, you never go to live concerts but music is still important. AT&T BlueRoom will be streaming the Bonnaroo concert live, June 15-17, 2007.
Also, if you missed the Coachella you can catch performances from Crowded House, The Lemonheads, Ozomatli, CSS, Of Montreal ...
Listen to Bonnie Raitt, Brad Paisley, Jon Cleary, Marcia Ball, Buckwheat Zydeco and more performing at Jazz Fest.

Home and Living Furniture

1:57 AM

I discovered this neat site called HomeAndLiving.com. They have all types of home furniture, everything from kitchen tables to outdoor seating. For some reason, it looks like most items have free shipping, too. That is a blessing because you usually pay almost as much for the shipping as you do for the furniture.

While you are there, take a look at the Emily Crib M4791, which is a 3-in-1 Convertible Crib by Da Vinci Baby Furniture with Free Shipping. This is a wonderful gift for someone expecting because the crib becomes a toddler bed and then a regular youth bed.

Visit Home and Living, sponsor of this post, for some great deals on furniture for all rooms in your home.

Real Estate and GMAC

1:34 AM

GMAC Real Estate Online is a very helpful site if you are looking for information on how to buy a home. From making an offer to closing on a new home, you can find out exactly what to expect at each stage of the real estate process.

GMAC Real Estate Online, sponsor of this post, has community data, such as schools and demographics. There are several helpful tools and mortgage calculators on site to help you decide what would work for you.

Rent vs. Buy
Monthly Payments
What Can I Afford?
Variable Mortgages
Amortization
Extra Payment Savings
Refinancing
Savings
Credit Card Payoff
Be a Millionaire

No COPS show filming for Austin PD

1:14 AM

I personally think it would be a good idea. Someone needs to be checking on some of the cops. We do not have a problem like LA, but it is upsetting. There is a lot of racial tension in Austin because a cop shot a young man in the back, twice. This happens more often than it should. It was one of the reasons for the dismissal of the last police chief.

"One of the things in our policy is we don't shoot at fleeing suspects," Ellison said. "We don't shoot at cars fleeing cars. You have to know that you're in danger for your life or someone else's. If it looks that someone is running away from you, then that person may not be a danger. So if it looks he shot him in the back, and he's running away, then of course it looks inconsistent with policy.

Ack! Spyware Hiding in My Registry

4:34 PM

I will never forget the first time I experienced spyware. I was working for a university, and one of our servers at the center was hacked. We had eight websites on that server. At first, we thought it was a virus. Then we believed we had successfully quarantined the virus. Then I noticed that the server was communicating with off campus computers. We shutdown that server down and switched to the backup server. Then, we had to monitor the backup server for any suspicious activity. It took 2 days to get the primary server cleaned up and online again.

A few days later, I noticed the computer in my office was acting wonky. I ran antivirus scans, but could not find anything wrong. Finally, I Stumbled Upon the website of Webroot Software, sponsor of this post. I used the online scan and found spyware hiding in my registry.

Spyware can compromise your privacy and corrupt your computer. You really need anti-spyware protection like Spy Sweeper from Webroot Software, sponsor of this post, to block spyware from entering your computer. Spy Sweeper can even find and eradicate spyware using root kit technology to hide in your registry or systems files.

Spy Sweeper software has been winning awards for the past two years. Now, for a limited time, the software is on sale. Backed by free tech support and customer service, you cannot go wrong.

Virtual Worlds Business News

12:29 PM

Virtual Worlds Weekly - Volume 1, Issue 15 - June 6, 2007
http://www.VirtualWorldsWeekly.com

Virtual Worlds Weekly News

Meet-Me Virtual World Announced in Japan
Top 5 Pay-to-Play Virtual World Games
Korea Establishing User-Created Content Censorship Rules
Relay for Life Raises $75,000 in Second Life
Virtual World 125,000 Kids Fight Obesity in Whyville
Nexon's MMO Dancing Game, Online Audition, Hits 100,000
85 Major Brands in Second Life
Virtual Worlds Fall Conference Hotel Discount Set
Cyworld USA to go mobile next year
Centric and Metabirds Partner to Expand Asian Position
Icarus and Vivox Partnership to Bring Five New Clients
Who's New to Second Life

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Announcements

>> Early Registration is now open - Virtual Worlds Fall Conference and Expo - October 10-11, 2007 - San Jose
>> Virtual Worlds Fall Conference Official Hotel Discount Set - book your room now.

Virtual Worlds Weekly Contact Information

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Meet-Me Virtual World Announced in Japan

Word has surfaced in IT Media News (Japanese) of a new 3D virtual world out of Japan apparently named meet-me and funded in part by trans cosmos. meet-me (at least in this article) is being positioned as similar to Second Life. A Google Translate provides some attempt at translation. From what we can tell from the Google translated article:

- expected to be released this winter
- no adult content (women and children welcome)
- replicates real world Tokyo
- replicates shopping - so there will be some type of ecommerce or transaction economy.
- Runs on Windows Vista but plans call for other platforms including mobile phones
- The real world seems to effect the virtual one - If season and also the weather the actual world reflect should have made, in Tokyo the cherry tree has bloomed, and the cherry tree blooms in the hypothetical space, if the rain falls in Tokyo, the rain falls in the hypothetical space, that - - it makes the shape which was said.
- Users can build a range of items including houses

more information

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Top 5 Pay-to-Play Virtual World Games

MMOGData.com, by Phil White, is here to fill the void left when MMOGChart.com stopped updating. The site has data on MMOG Absolute Contribution, MMOG Active Subscriptions, market shares, and MMOGs broken down by genre, revenue model, and subscription levels. White admits that there are gaps and flaws in the information since he's just starting out, but it's already looking like a handy resource for anyone in the space. There's a lot you'd probably know already, and World of Warcraft is still eating up most of the market share at 68 percent, but there are some graphs that will be most interesting to watch in your RSS feed. For example, there are 12,974,412 total pay-to-play active subscriptions in March 2007. That's down from 13,087,766 in February, which was the last in a fairly steady nine-month climb from June 2006's 11,161,777. But some things never change:

Top 5 Pay-to-Play Games
1. World of Warcraft 8,500,000
2. Lineage 1,377,371
3. Lineage 2 990,574
4. Final Fantasy XI 500,000 (No new data after August)
5. Everquest 176,500

More data and an explanation from Phil White

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Korea Establishing User-Created Content Censorship Rules

The Korean Ministry of Information and Communication announced on Monday a set of of basic guidelines for user-created content. 51.1 percent of Korean Internet users upload user-created content, but apparently half of the users are uncomfortable with the content being posted. It doesn't look like the Ministry has posted the rules on its English website yet, but we'll let you know when we see them. Rules will take into account user opinions, the Korea Herald says, through this website (currently non-functioning).

It's not clear through the story what sort of content this will apply to, but a Korea Times story discusses existing regulations about user-created political videos. Those restrictions are being lightened, though. Massively popular Korean MMO MapleStory, however, sponsors contests for user-created content, so it will be interesting to see if the decisions affect them.

Check out Raph Koster's take for more analysis.

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Relay for Life Raises $75,000 in Second Life

The American Cancer Society's Relay for Life began in 1985 when one surgeon ran around a track to raise $27,000. In 2005 Second Life joined with the ACS to create a Virtual Relay for Life. In 2006 they raised $41,000, leading them to raise their goals to $75,000 for 2007. The group announced yesterday that they've met their goals, even though the walk-a-thon is still almost two months away. In the overnight event between July 27th and 28th, look for the avatars to be strutting around the 96-acre park through virtual realizations of Mexico, New York City, Paris, Sweden, and South Africa. For more information or to donate, check out their site. Donations have dropped off a bit (see graph) since the group met their goal, but there's plenty of time left to join in.

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Virtual World 125,000 Kids Fight Obesity in Whyville

The WhyEat program launched by Whyville in 2005, through a partnership with the University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio, is a virtual nutrition product allowing users to experience the effects--positive and negative--of lifestyle and eating choices. Collectively, Whyvillians have made more than 3.5 million trips to the virtual Cafeteria and eaten more than 8.5 million food items. 20 percent have found their avatar negatively altered by a poor diet and had to visit a virtual dietitian or complete virtual exercise to slim down. Every day nearly 125,000 users eat virtual food and live a virtually healthy lifestyle. 45 percent of WhyEat participants saw changes in their real-life habits due to the program. more here

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Nexon's MMO Dancing Game, Online Audition, Hits 100,000

Nexon America, the North American publishing arm of South Korea's Nexon Group, announced that their MMO dancing game, Audition Online, has reached its 100,000th user. The free-to-play game, which pits users in dancing contests against one another, earns revenue through microtransactions in its Fashion Shop. Users can buy new faces and outfits with either points earned in the game or Nexon Cash bought online or in Target stores. Audition Online still has a way to go before catching up to Nexon's MapleStory, which has more than 3 million registered North American users. more here

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85 Major Brands in Second Life

K Zero, a metaverse consulting and implementation company, has some interesting information up on brand entry into Second Life. According to their research, 85 organizations with high global awareness had a presence in Second Life at the end of May 2007. While U.S.-based brands led the way initially and still control almost half the space, an increase in Western European registrations has paved the way for brands more familiar to them. Initially the majority of organizations had globally recognizable brands, but K Zero sees an increase in Tier Two companies that have strong recognition mostly in their own sectors. Technology companies have taken the lead with a 21% share ahead of media organizations with 17% and professional services and retail brands tied for third at 12%. more here

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Virtual Worlds Fall Conference Hotel Discount Set

Virtual Worlds Fall Conference and Expo has announced a special discount hotel rate has been established for conference attendees at the San Jose Marriott. The San Jose Marriott is directly connected to the San Jose Convention Center where Virtual World Fall takes place. VW Fall attendees pay only 209.00(USD) per night when they register online here or call 1-408-280-1300 and reference "Virtual Worlds" and you will receive the discount. Virtual Worlds Fall Conference and Expo takes place October 10-11, 2007 at the San Jose Convention Center. VW Fall is produced by Virtual Worlds News parent Virtual Worlds Management.

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Cyworld USA to go mobile next year

From GigaOM: We hadn?t talked to the Cyworld US team in awhile, so we stopped by their San Francisco offices this week to play catch up. The South Korean social network that launched in the U.S. last August, told us they are planning on launching a mobile application for the U.S. market in the first quarter of 2008. The company also told us it currently has 250,000 members and is growing at about 22% per month. Rest of the article here: gigaom.com

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Centric and Metabirds Partner to Expand Asian Position

Centric, a Los Angeles-based social media and virtual world development firm, and Metabirds, a Tokyo -based virtual world development company, are joining forces to expand their capabilities and presence in Second Life. Centric is also the first Western development partner for HiPiHi, and this move further solidifies their position in Asia. Metabirds specializes in corporate and community builds for Japanese Second Life users. Both companies expect the partnership to take them in new directions.

We'll be meeting up with Ken Brady, Centric's Director for International Strategies, and Naoyoshi Shimaya, CEO of Metabirds, in Second Life tomorrow to talk about the partnership and their goals. Keep an eye out for the interview tomorrow afternoon. more here

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Icarus and Vivox Partnership to Bring Five New Clients

Vivox, a provider of voice integration for virtual worlds, announced yesterday that they would integrate the Vivox Precision Studio with the Icarus Developer Tools Suite. Icarus Studios was the first studio to design a toolkit from scratch to meet the unique needs of virtual worlds developers. The partnership has already brought in three new undisclosed clients with two more in the works, all Fortune 100 companies, David Gardner, Executive Vice President of Icarus, tells VirtualWorldsNews.com. more here

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Who's New to Second Life

Comcast establishes an island with design and build help from Millions of Us, reports 3pointD.com.

Costa Cruises simultaneously launches cruise ship in real life and Second LIfe, reports Luxist.com.

The Long Now Foundation will be bringing Brian Eno's 77 Million Paintings art exhibit to Second Life, from
3pointD.com.

NBA Commissioner David Stern will simulcast his State of the League Address in Second Life on June 7, from The Electric Sheep Company.

The Chicago Cubs

11:31 AM

My brother wants to go to Chicago to see the Cubs play. My sister-in-law is furious at him because her idea of a good time is NOT going to Chicago OR attending a baseball game.

I told her that there had to be lots of other things to see and do in Chicago, but she would not be soothed. So, I told her that VividSeats.com, sponsor of this post, is a good online source for cubs tickets. Now, she is mad at me! LOL

Leave Paris Alone

10:49 AM

I feel sorry for Paris Hilton. At The 2007 MTV Movie Awards she looked shocked when the crowd cheered the proposal that she go to jail early. Then the host, Sarah Silverman, suggested that the bars of the jail cell should be painted to look like penises so the heiress will feel at home.

I do not follow her antics, but she reminds me of Anna Nicole Smith. Paris is rich and beautiful, but she seems to make all the wrong choices. Everyone follows her around with a camera, hoping to find her snorting something or drinking something, and I think it should stop.

We just saw what total emphasis on beauty, sex and money did to Anna Nicole Smith. Do we want Paris to be afraid to go to a hospital and to die alone in her home? I hope that this time at home will give her some time to get her life together. I do not think she will miss being in the limelight.

Macho Mailboxes

9:27 PM

We live outside the city limits. Not quite in the country, but close enough for mailbox baseball. Late at night, when everyone is asleep, young men in cars bash mailboxes with baseball bats. The bats were wood, now they are made of aluminum so they do not break.

It has been awhile since we lost a mail box, but I guess our number was up. We awoke yesterday to find our mailbox laying in the ditch, crushed beyond repair. Rather than just going to Wal-Mart to buy another, we decided to look around for something different, something a little more rugged than the standard mailbox.

We visited SeattleLuxe, sponsor of this post, to look at baseball-bat resistant Mailboxes. They have them! How about a solid-steel curb vault? If we really wanted to be cruel, we could pick a heavy-duty mailbox that is constructed of 12-gauge high-strength steel. These mailboxes will support up to 21,780 pounds!

Can you imagine some kid leaning out of the car window, bashing mailboxes to beat the band. Then, when he hits that 12 gauge steel mailbox, the bat action would stop. It would probably break his arm. They could not even run over the mailbox because it would total their car! We probably will not spend the $350+ for one of these, but it was nice fantasizing about it. LOL

eBay Buys StumbleUpon

8:29 PM

With approximately 2.3 million users and approximately five million recommendations daily, StumbleUpon is one of the most popular new ways to discover content on the Web.

eBay Acquires StumbleUpon

“StumbleUpon is a great fit within our goal of pioneering new communities based on commerce and sustained by trust,” said Michael Buhr, senior director, eBay. “StumbleUpon’s downloadable toolbar provides an engaging and unique experience to its users, but it is the similarities in our approaches to the concept of community that make it such a compelling addition to eBay.”

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