August 2007 ~ Advertising For Success

Beta Bloglines is Better

11:38 PM

Bloglines is one of the oldest and best online feedreader. Now, Bloglines has a beta release.

- please take one moment to subscribe to Advertising for Success feed via Bloglines. If you leave a comment with your blog URL, I will return the favor.

The Beta Bloglines is different from the original in that you now have:

* customizable start page;
* three different reading views (quick view, full view, three-pane view); and,
* drag-and-drop feed management.

Enhancements to be added to Beta Bloglines:

* Mobile Bloglines,
* Save, send and share a post,
* Edit feeds and settings,
* Use of disposable Email addresses,
* Upgraded developer APIs, and
* Ability to create a Link-Blog.

For more information, please see this post from Andy Beard: Bloglines - Why You Should Test Out The New Beta.

Make Your Own Magnets

4:57 PM

Now here is a great idea for all types of personal and business projects! Printz™ Inkjet Magnets in glossy or matte finish as brought to you by Printonit.com. These inket magnets are sold in sheets with a printable surface. These magnet sheets feed right through your inkjet printer and are easy to cut once printed.

You may print anything on these moisture-resistant magnets: photographs, poems or blessings, calendars or placards, photograph frames and business cards. Make your own baby picture magnets for proud grandparents and other family members.

Going to keep searching, searching . . .

4:14 PM

DoubleClick Performics recently released data from a study targeting moms and their search behaviors and preferences. Download press release from Performics here.

Of the nearly 1,000 moms surveyed

89 percent use the Internet at least twice a day
90 percent have been using it for more than seven years.
86 percent of respondents said search engines are the most efficient way to find information.

Center for Media Research - Daily Brief - read article detailing findings of survey

From the article:

The data illustrates heavy search engine usage in support of online purchases, offline purchases, coordinating travel and many other planning activities among moms.
70% use search engines to gather information before making any online purchase.

57 percent use search engines to gather information before making any offline purchase.

64% use search engines to find out where to purchase products offline.

With regard to purchases made in the eight product categories under study, 92% of respondents say search engines were helpful in providing valuable information prior to purchasing, and 79% say the same for the offline purchases they made.

Barometer Head : Pressure Dropping

3:41 PM

As I grow older, I am effected by a strange malady in which my head acts like a barometer. I am not lying. I can tell when the weather is changing because I get an awful headache and nothing will take the pain away until the barometric pressure drops.

I saw this website, the New York Headache Center, about headache treatment. My first thought was, "If I lived in NYC, I would need treatment for a whole other range of disorders." I think I will just learn to live with my barometer head.

Are Paid Links Evil?

2:50 PM

Quite a lively panel on paid links at SES San Jose this year. Matt Cutts declared paid links should be identified for the machine (Google bot) as well as human readers. This means that disclosing in the text that it is a sponsored post, putting advertisers under the heading of Sponsor, having a disclosure policy and blogging ethics posted means NOTHING.

SEOmoz | The Paid Links Debate Rages On - SES San Jose 2007 - read article.

From the article:

"Do paid links that pass PageRank violate search engines' quality guidelines?" And the answer, according to Matt, is that since 2005, Google has been explicitly clear that the answer is "Yes."

The following suggestions were made by Matt Cutts on how to say, in machine language, BOT, THIS IS A PAID LINK!!!:

Use a redirect through URL blocked by robots.txt
Redirect through a URL using a 302
Use Javascript to direct the link
Apply the rel=”nofollow” attribute to the link
Add the Meta Robots = "nofollow" to the page header

God help me. I wanted to be a do-follow blogger. After research and trial and error, I finally took the "no follow" attribute off comments on my blogs. Now I am supposed to put the "no follow" attribute on any link in a sponsored post on my blogs?

Does Google put "no follow" on their AdWords links? Does any major search engine tag their paid listings with "no follow"? I do not think so.

Hey Bot! FOLLOW THIS ...

Coke Zero : Life as it should be : Real taste, zero sugar

1:29 PM

Have you seen the site for Coke zero campaign, Life as it should be? The Coca-Cola Company has a new Coke for us to try. The tag line is Coke zero : Life as it should be : Real taste, zero sugar. I just saw Coke Zero for the first time the other day, but have not tried it yet.

The Coca-Cola Company has posted some black and white movie clips. You pick a clip and personalize it with the voice recorder by typing in what you want each actor in the clip to say. Once you have completed the clip, you may email it to your friends. The clip also remains on the Coke Zero site to compete with other clips to be the highest rated.

Try it! You know you want to.

BlogDay2007 is tomorrow!

1:17 PM

I have a blog post up at CoolAdzine for Marketers Blog concerning BlogDay2007. Discover new blogs tomorrow.

Is There a Packrat in Your Family?

1:15 PM

Oak Finish All Purpose Storage Rack from Coaster Furniture

This sturdy rack is Mission style and has five fabric baskets. The dimensions are 18" wide x 14" deep and approximately 50" high. I found it under the Accents category on the website of Home and Living.com, sponsor of this post. It is manufactured by Coaster Furniture. I am going to buy one for my husband. He is a pack rat and loves to store items in little spaces. Right now, all those spaces are on top of furniture in the bedroom.

The Greening of Madison Avenue

12:56 PM

My, my, my. Things have changed on Madison Avenue. Until LiveEarth and a ground swell of support for acknowledging and countering global warming, most ad agencies would not work on a campaign having anything to do with the effects of global warming. In fact, the only environmental advertisements coming out of the large agencies were from the automakers and oil companies trying to green up their image!

Then The Alliance for Climate Protection, an organization formed last year by Al Gore, released a request for proposal (RFP) for a 3-5 year global multimedia campaign with projected media spending of $100+ million a year.

Advertising Age - Madison Ave. Warms to Climate Change

The Alliance's RFP is, as you might expect, part inspirational -- quoting Gandhi, M. Scott Peck, Erik Erikson, and of course Mr. Gore -- and part detailed description of the task ahead for the winner. That will involve convincing people to making the climate issue, which already has high awareness, a more actionable priority.

Honey, This Chair Spoke to Me!

1:45 AM

Century Oscar de la Renta Outdoor Collection

From the Oscar de la Renta Outdoor Collection
from Century Furniture

Are you looking for that one special piece of furniture that will complete the look of a room in your home?

I found a wonderful website, LenoirEmpireFurniture, sponsor of this post. They carry Century furniture and collections from other quality manufacturers. I did not know Oscar de la Renta designed furniture, but I was quite taken with the chair you see above. There is just something about it that says, "I would look so good in your kitchen next to the window."

I wonder if my husband will go for the chair called my name excuse for why we have another chair in a home full of furniture. LOL

outside.in from Austin, Texas

1:37 AM

Welcome to outside.in, a service that indexes content and uses geo-tagging to create ZIP-code-level databanks of searchable content, the best way to discover the people, places, and conversations in your community. Enter your city, neighborhood, or zip code in the field below the map, and start exploring your community.

outside.in currently tracks 3,350 neighborhoods in 54 cities. You can explore outside.in by entering location information into the field under the map, or just by dragging the map around. Zooming in and out also gives you a tighter or more expansive focus. As you explore, you'll encounter four major kinds of content: Neighbors, Places, Stories, and Comments.

Explore outside.in today. This is a perfect place to find out about a town you are going to visit, a neighborhood into which you hope to move, find entertainment options in a new town, you name it.

Looking for a B&B in Texas?

12:57 AM

I was looking for something different to do for my birthday this year and I found Texas bed and breakfast website. I went exploring and found a wonderful bed and breakfast, Blisswood, located in Cat Springs, approximately an hour west of Houston.

Blisswood is located on 650 acres and is a perfect place for weddings, anniversary parties, family gatherings and romantic getaways. There are packages for spa treatments, horseback riding, wedding proposals, wine lovers and tea parties, just to name a few.

Imagine my surprise when I read the following:

BlissWood proudly supports returning Iraq & Afghanistan veterans and their spouses, and as a thank you, will donate one free night of respite, Sunday through Wednesday nights, for "active" military personnel. Please call for more information.

Please visit www.iloveinns.com, sponsor of this post, to find the phone number for Blisswood. While you are there, take a look at all the wonderful B&B accommodations in Texas.

MBTI and MI, personality and learning style

12:35 AM

Below are the results from a quick personality test based on the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator. I have taken this test at several times in my life and each time I have a different personality. Today I am an INFP. Last time, I was an ESTP, I think.

Click above to go to MyPersonality.info.

On the right side of the graph above are the Multiple Intelligences that were developed by Howard Gardner. Also called learning styles, they are helpful in discovering the best way you learn.

Although I believe in the concepts of personality types and learning styles, I do not advocate using the results to do anything other than gain insight into the wonderful world of the human mind.

If you take the test, please return to comment and let me know what you think. This will give you a link to your blog from Advertising for Success.

Save Our Homes Portability Issue Big in FLA

5:27 AM

Homekeys is a unique real estate firm! If you wish the services of real estate professionals through the entire process of buying or selling your home, Homekeys will handle it.

If you wish to do it yourself (DIY), then Homekeys is your friend with access to the tools, knowledge and resources you need to buy and sell without a realtor.

Homekeys is the official Dade and Broward County Coordinators for Save Our Home Portability. Click the banner below to see what SOHP means to many Florida seniors who wish to sell their homestead, take the capital gains from the sale, and move out of Florida.

If you are looking for Broward county real estate, please visit Homekeys.net, sponsor of this post. Sign a SOHP petition while you are there.

A Gonzo Blog Rodeo

12:14 AM

The carnival sponsor is For Your Success.

The next Gonzo carnival,
England Goes Gonzo Carnival,
will be held on Monday. October 1, 2007
at Diary From England.

Onward to the rodeo:

Lisa Steptoe from Stories of a Traveling Diva writes her own Package Insert, complete with contraindications and dosing instructions.

Aloha_50 from In Praise Of The Female Form blog answers the question Why do I blog? with pictures of women in suggestive poses.

CyberCelt from CoolAdzine for Marketers invites y'all to join Bloggers United to Stop Abuse.

Jan from The Poodle (and dog) blog shares her story about a notorious hotel heiress named after the capital of France in The day the stats peaked.

Robert Hruzek from Middle Zone Musings officially kicks off his What I Learned From… project for September with What I Learned From... Change.

Sue from Nuttin' But Pimp asks a delicate question: What Happens When A Blogger Dies?

Anthony from The Lives and Times... of Anthony McCune writes a unique post about A Year of Bloggability.

Kilroy_60 from Fear And Loathing - The Gonzo Papers shares the interview with which he was named the Blog Village's Newest Featured Villager.

Naomi from Diary From England writes about A Wonderful Blogging Experience. She also shares information about England Goes Gonzo Carnival, the next Gonzo carnival, on Monday October 1, 2007.

Blog Your Blessings : Beauty

9:41 PM

From the webpage of Meteorology 10
Professor Jeff Gawrych, All Rights Reserved
DeAnza College

As I Walk with Beauty

As I walk, as I walk

The universe is walking with me

In beauty it walks before me

In beauty it walks behind me

In beauty it walks below me

In beauty it walks above me

Beauty is on every side

As I walk, I walk with Beauty.

Traditional Navajo Prayer

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

Ph.D. in Dieting?

12:24 AM

I started a diet a few months ago. I am still totally confused about weight loss supplements. Is Miracle burn better than Hoodia? Should you take two different weight loss supplements together? Does a patch work better than pills?

I found a website where you may read diet tips, shop for diet books and DVDs, find free trial offers, and research all the leading diet supplement products. The Diet Awareness Institute, sponsor of this post, has ranked all the dieting supplements so that you may compare them side by side.

I have decided to take the secret pill. It is called exercise and eating healthy. I think it may be safer, cheaper and easier than all this research!

Jason Calacanis - Mahalo

9:28 PM

screen shot of Maholo.com, new people generated search engine

Screen shot of Mahalo search engine results
for the term "advertising" on 8/22/07.
Right click to open larger version in another window.

Man vs. Machine is a great article about Jason Calacanis, the person everyone loves to hate. He is stepping back to a kinder, gentler time of personalized (read people-generated) search. Inspired by a "family and friends email" his wife put together about Kauai, where she an Jason were married, Calacanis has secured $20 million in venture capital and launched Mahalo.com: Human-powered Search.

I like the idea of human-generated search results. It brings to mind Apostolos Gerasoulis and AskJeeves.com (see blog post, Into the Realm of Search Engine Algorithms (CoolAdzine for Marketers, 10/28/2005).

On the other hand, Mr. Calacanis' wife planned her wedding on Kauai, my favorite Hawaiian island. Either she spent countless days finding perfect places to stay, eat and celebrate on the Internet or by driving around the island. Using this method to complete top 10,000 search terms may be a stretch.

Couple of things I found wonky on the web site:

Getting paid to write search engine result pages.
Most relevant search engine results came from "our friends at Google."
Find a term with no results, submit your email address and you will receive a "hand-written result for your search."
The use of metatags and choice of keywords: "Main Page,14 Soldiers Die in Helicopter Crash,2007 NFL Pre-Season Week 3,2007 VFW Convention,Amy Winehouse,Apple,Apple August 2007 Special Event,Arabic,Banana Peppers,Becoming Jane,Bentley"-will these be changed daily?

The funny thing is Mahalo resembles all those spam search engines that used to cover the Internet. Do you remember? People hand coded search engine pages with their affiliate links, put them on paid to promote (PTP) sites and paid people .010 cents to click on them.

It is indeed a fine thing to try to do things differently. Good luck, Mr. Calacanis!

The Newest Way to Market

9:28 PM

Whether you're looking to make money blogging or looking to give your company a bit of extra marketing help and increasing your search engine rankings with blog advertising, Blogging Ads is here to help you. For those bloggers looking to make a little bit of extra cash for doing something that they do all the time anyways there's really no reason to go and check them out. The guys at Blogging Ads will let you choose which ads you want to run on your blog, so you can make sure that you keep the overall look and feel of your blog, so you don't have to worry about running ads about flowers on your blog about the newest technology.

For those companies looking for blog advertising to put their company website over the top I think you'll be happy to know that Blogging Ads manually looks at each and every bloggers site before they'll approve them to run your ads. That means you don't have to worry about your company being associated with a blog with some questionable material on it. Whether you're interested in being a paid blogger or looking to promote your company, there's not a reason I can think of not to hit up the guys at Blogging Ads, sponsor of this post. They can help take your company to the next level while paying you for what you like to do anyways. It really is that easy.

A Gonzo Blog Rodeo (Carnival)

8:13 PM

will be hosted here at Advertising For Success
Wednesday, August 29, 2007

Round up your best post on blogs and blogging:

Some examples for topics:

Why do you blog?
What has been your best or worst blogging experience?
What do you blog about and why?
Share your 1st blog post?
Share your 100th, 200th, 500th or 1000th blog post.
Share your experiences with carnival hosting on your blog.
. . . anything you want to share about blogging.

E-mail submissions as soon as you wish (with Gonzo Rodeo in subject line) to:

Submissions will be accepted NOW through 11:59 PM on August 27, 2007.

Rodeo Rules:

One post per blog.
Only English language posts will be accepted
Family-safe content ONLY--no sexual or suggestive pictures, no profanity.

Cut and paste the following into your email for each submission:

Name or Nickname shown on post:
Blog Title:
Blog URL:
Post Title:
Post URL:

Please submit complete URLs and check them to make sure they lead to the post you submit.

7 dirty words you should not use

7:39 PM

This is some good information for email marketers. If you want your email message to get past the spam filters, you should read this article.

From the article The Seven Dirty Words You Can't Say in Email Subject Lines (Plus 100 Others You Shouldn't Use, Either) - Articles by Marketing Profs:

100% free
0% off
act now
all words that relate to sex or pornography
all words that related to cures or medication
amazing
anything that looks like you are YELLING (read complete article)

Mother's Milk or Muscle Milk?

6:45 AM

I was reading an article the other day about muscle milk. This article said that muscle milk is the first product patterned after nature's ultimate anabolic food--mother's milk. I could not believe it! Supposedly, after years of study, the magic within mother's milk is now available in muscle milk.

I just cannot get this picture out of my mind of a muscle-bound bodybuilder following his mom around saying, “Oh, mom, just a little suckle. I have a bodybuilding contest tomorrow and I am out of muscle milk.” LOL

Blog Your Blessings : Mother Earth

11:26 PM

Gracious God,
open our hearts and eyes to the wonders of
your presence among us in all forms of being.

Help us to reach beyond ourselves so that our love and concern embraces all creation that shares this universe with us: people of every nation, animals of every species, all forms of vegetation, the planets, stars, and all the elements.

We pray this in union with the incarnate Word of God in whose image all was created.

May you be blessed throughout the ages and for all eternity.

Amen

From the Carmelite Prayer for Mother Earth

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

Let the Sun Shine Into Your Teen's Life Again

4:13 PM

light shining through trees onto the green grass below

Echo Malibu Photograph

Is your teen totally out of control on drugs or alcohol? Is the joyful nature of your child buried under depression or riddled with anxiety? When you do not know where to turn, you may want to visit the website of Echo Malibu, sponsor of this post.

While each adolescent drug abuse and mental health treatment program is unique to the individual client, they all include elements of physical, emotional, social, family and social health as well as education goals. This is a holistic approach to wellness and is used successfully in many aspects of health.

Although the term empowerment has been overused in some contexts, in Teen Rehab programs, you cannot help a person who is powerless. First, you help the client find the freedom to choose to be healed and whole, then you empower them to find the way back to complete mental and physical health.

Blog Against Abuse

2:32 AM

September 27th, 2007

Join the largest group of bloggers to ever blog about important causes of abuse. On September 27th, 2007, blog about some sort of abuse that you would like to see ended, forever.

Spread the word among all the bloggers you know.
Direct them to the community challenge on BlogCatalog blog.
There are badges that you may post on your blogs on this thread.
Let other members know of organizations that are involved in putting an end to abuse.
You will receive a link to your Blog Post from the Blogcatalog blog when we list everyone who participated.
You get to use your blog for an important cause.
You get to create blogging history.
Maybe we can change the face of abuse on that one day.

Causes close to my heart

These are the abuse issues that I plan to blog about on September 27, 2007.

Save Darfur on Texas RV Travel blog
Stop Violence against Women on CoolAdzine for Marketers blog
Reporters Without Borders on Advertising for Success blog
Environmental Issues on Endangered Spaces blog

roomster.com cures roommate worries

6:59 PM

apartments, roommates & sublets

You know that sinking feeling you get when your roommate moves out, leaving you with days to come up with next month's total rent (and probably the utilities for the past month)? Cure that feeling quickly by registering and using roomster.net.

roomster is an online finder service for apartments, sublets and roommates in the United States, United Kingdom and Canada.

roomster.com uses Google maps, quick links, instant messaging, zodiac signs, gender, pictures and profiles of roomster.com members, and pictures of the offered properties for an ease of use not to be found elsewhere.

Below is a screenshot of the home page of roomster.com, showing the cities in which roomster.com is available. There are also pictures of the latest roomster.com members.

Click to open a larger view in a new window.

Below is a screenshot of the simple form you complete to join roomster.com and begin your search for the perfect roommate or apartment.

Click to open a larger view in a new window.

Below is a screenshot of the quick multipurpose form you may use to post your profile, search for roommates and search for apartments.

Click to open a larger view in a new window.

This is a painless process for finding an apartment, room, roommate or sublet. roomster.com also has lots of information to help you with roommate agreements, adding roommates to your lease, and tips for getting along with your new roommate.

Find your next home without stress by visiting roomster.com, friendly sponsor of this post.

Earn Clams and Buy a Car in Whyville

6:28 PM

Whyville

Whyville is a 3D online world, aimed at kids ages 8 to 15. It is a virtual world that educates kids about everything from viruses to global warming, from how to build cars to personal finance. The population of Whyville is 68 percent female from 140 countries. Whyville is fun and serves the real life purpose of teaching science.

In Texas, Whyville recently received grants totaling $440,000 from the Texas Workforce Commission to build Whyville Biotech and Whyville Advanced Manufacturing Center (San Antonio Express News online 8/6).

Welcome to Whyville! - visit Whyville

From the site:

You can even start your own business, buy a car and give your friends a ride, write for the town newspaper, or run for a seat in the Whyville Senate.

Everything Whyville!: 6/3/07 - 6/10/07 - visit blog

From the blog:

. . . The general consensus among Whyvillians (the citizens of the virtual community of Whyville) is that earning a good salary and thus procuring a large number of clams to spend on face parts or other goods is essential for fully participating in the Whyville. . .

Do Not Make Me Angry

9:41 PM

We wenting camping this past weekend. We had JUST hooked up our trailer to shore power, water and septic and unhooked the van. I had turned the air conditioner on in the trailer and we were taking a much-needed rest. Next thing we know, there was a huge truck pulling a fifth-wheel trailer stopping in front of our trailer.

We went outside and this red-faced person was yelling, "I am not trying to be ugly, but that is our space." I simply said that I was not going to unhook everything and hook the trailer up to move to another space, especially if that space was going to be claimed by someone later.

He got out of his truck and slammed the door. He threw his keys into the bed of his pickup truck so hard that they bounced off the truck bed liner and landed on the ground. "Well, I will get the d*mned ranger," he yelled, and he stalked off.

A few minutes later the ranger came by. We did have to move! Out of all the camping spots we could choose, that the ranger told us we could choose, we happened to pick the only spot that had reservations.

After we unhooked and hooked up and unhooked and hooked up again, we finally got to relax. I saw that red-faced man looking around the back of his pickup and yelling at his wife about the keys. I never said a word. Make me move and your day goes downhill fast. LOL

Search Engines and Your Privacy

5:03 PM

If you have ever wondered what the search engines do with the information they gather on their users, you will find some of the answers in the CNET News.com article below.

In their own words: Search engines on privacy | CNET News.com

To help our readers evaluate the privacy differences between AOL, Ask.com, Google, Microsoft, and Yahoo, CNET News.com sent them a survey on August 6. We've published their answers--in the companies' own words . . . (read this article)

My thoughts:

Notable is Ask.com, who plans to introduce AskEraser at the end of the year to totally wipe out your virtual footprints. Otherwise, you must logout and clear cookies if you do not want to leave tracks that may be stored for up to 18 months. Some search engines use behavioral targeting, some without allowing you to opt out.

As a marketer, I am excited by behavioral targeting from both an advertiser's and a searcher's viewpoint. The more information the searcher discloses, the more personalized a search result will be.

As a private citizen, I set my browser to empty cookies whenever it closes. If I am logged in, I try to remember to logout of Yahoo or Google before searching. I will use AskEraser when it is available.

Your Thoughts:

The information search engines retain may include user's search request, IP address, browser type, browser language, the date and time of the user's request, and one or more cookies that may uniquely identify a user's browser. If you are logged into your account with a search engine when you conduct a search, more information is saved.

What is your opinion about the retention of privacy information by search engines? Will you do anything differently when you search? Do you believe the search engines were totally honest with their answers?

Do you like Yo Momma Jokes?

11:45 PM

Just because Wilmer Valderrama doesn't have you on his show doesn't mean that you can't share your yo momma jokes with the world. MTV recently launched an online companion to the television show at yomomma.tv that lets you battle other users, upload videos of your best yo momma so thin jokes, and vote on other users jokes. Check it out today both on myspace and on the yo momma website, but watch out for some guy calling himself Jesus on the site - apparently he's got some world class yo momma jokes just waiting to be used on somebody.

Visit yomomma.tv, sponsor of this post, and give it your best shot.

Blog Your Blessings : Star Nations

10:02 PM

May Mother Earth guide your feet.

May Father Sky keep his arms around you.

May Grandfather Sun warm your cold days.

May Grandmother Moon Keep the Glow in your heart.

May the Star Nations Light the way to the next destination,

and the Great Spirit always keep you shielded from the pain.

Blessings to you.

Native American Blessing

View the
August 12, 2007 Perseid Meteor Showers
Link to NASA for more information.

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

Real Estate Could Get Boost from Technology

2:32 AM

I have been looking at becoming involved in the real estate business. Not so much going around listing and selling homes, but becoming a Internet and technology specialist for some of the local Realtors.

When we went to sell my husband Michael's home last year, I was amazed at how few of the area Realtors could be located online. I was also amazed that nothing had changed since the last time I purchased a home, 18+ years ago. Everything still has to be done by hand, including the forms.

Hardly any of the local Realtors are taking advantage of the technology available, like virtual tours, 360-degree views, hot spots for information on appliances and amenities, digital photographs that show what people want to see.

I am going to contact a GMAC real estate agent first, as GMAC is the sponsor of this post. I will take it from there.

Save the Internet and Net Neutrality

1:02 AM

What do you think about Free Speech and the Internet?

Read these notices below. Whether you agree with what Pearl Jam had to say about our President, I think you would agree they had the right to sing it without being censored.

Concert Webcast Raises Censorship Issues

When rock band Pearl Jam sung the lyrics, "George Bush, leave this world alone," at a music festival over the weekend, AT&T edited the lyrics from its "live" Webcast -- a foreshadowing of things to come without a Net Neutrality law.

Dionne Searcey, Wall Street Journal

AT&T Drops Pearl Jam's Call

Pearl Jam complained that AT&T delivered less than the band's full performance during its Lollapalooza Webcast by censoring a lyric about George Bush, and fueled the forces arguing for Net Neutrality.

Jon Healey, Los Angeles Times

Lollapalooza Webcast -- Sponsored or Censored by AT&T?

After concluding their show at Lollapalooza, Pearl Jam fans informed the band that portions of the performance were missing and may have been censored by AT&T during a live Webcast.

Pearl Jam

How does this threat to Internet freedom affect you?

Small businesses—The little guy will be left in the "slow lane" with inferior Internet service, unable to compete.
Innovators with the next big idea—Startups and entrepreneurs will be muscled out of the marketplace by big corporations that pay Internet providers for the top spots on the Web.
Bloggers—Costs will skyrocket to post and share video and audio clips—silencing citizen journalists and putting more power in the hands of a few corporate-owned media outlets.
Google users—Another search engine could pay dominant Internet providers like AT&T to guarantee another search engine opens faster than Google on your computer.
Ipod listeners—A company like Comcast could slow access to iTunes, steering you to a higher-priced music service it owns.
Online shoppers—Companies could pay Internet providers to guarantee their online sales process faster than competitors with lower prices—distorting your choices as a consumer.
Telecommuters—When Internet companies like AT&T favor their own services, you won't be able to choose more affordable providers for online video, teleconferencing, Internet phone calls, and software that connects your home computer to your office.
Parents and retirees—Your choices as a consumer could be controlled by your Internet provider, steering you to their preferred services for online banking, health care information, sending photos, planning vacations, etc.
Political groups—Political organizing could be slowed by a handful of dominant Internet providers who ask advocacy groups to pay "protection money" for their Web sites and online features to work correctly.
Nonprofits—A charity's website could open at snail-like speeds, and online contributions could grind to a halt if nonprofits don't pay Internet providers for access to "the fast lane."

You can help make the internet faster, more open and accessible to all. Tell Congress to preserve Net Neutrality and help ensure that the benefits and promise of the Internet are available to all Americans and not just those who can afford DSL.

Sign the petition and send a message to Congress

Call your members of Congress

Write a letter to your hometown newspaper

Support the SavetheInternet.com Ad Fund

Promote SavetheInternet on your blog or site

Tell five friends to join the fight for Internet freedom

Take action today!

Wisdom of Invisible Crowds and BT

12:58 PM

MediaPost Publications - Targeting Relationships - 07/25/2007

We try to pay close attention to the way people interact with the pages they visit. We look at how quickly or slowly they scroll across particular pages, what terms they highlight or right click to get more information about a given item, their link density. Other areas like click path and time spent that elucidate engagement are also increasingly important to us. (read complete article).

This is an interesting article about behavioral targeting and provides some insight into what BT can do for your website. Phil Leggierre (Behavioral Insider, MediaPost publications) interviews Mike Svatek, marketing director and product manager of Baynote, a firm that provides content guidance with

the Wisdom of Invisible Crowds™--the implicit, emergent behaviors of website visitors who are anonymous and unknown to each other-- to guide like-minded website visitors to the most useful content and information.

How To Read Only Relevant News

7:22 PM

Thoof should be your source for personalized news. Why?

Thoof is a source for news and information from across the Internet. If it is blogged, written, videotaped, published or syndicated, it is on Thoof.

Thoof has an algorithm, a computable set of steps to achieve a desired result; the desired result is a customized home page displaying only the type of information you wish to read.

Thoof is similar to Stumble Upon, except you do not have to rate items thumbs up or thumbs down. It is similar to Digg, except you do not have to dig or bury items. Unlike Stumble Upon and Digg, you do not have to register or login to use the service.

Your experience with Thoof will be better if you sign up and login because it will enable your personalized home page to be saved for you. Otherwise, you will have to start over next time you visit Thoof.

Although Thoof was just released from beta, the developers are working hard to add usability features. New features allow you to add items to your favorites, view all entries by a particular person or from a specific source, and add a ThoofRank Badge to your blog or web page containing the stories you submit to Thoof.

The ThoofRank is a measurement of how interesting your story is to readers who have read similar items. Your ThoofRank, calculated as a percentage of interest relative to other, similar, Thoof stories, is displayed on your ThoofRank Badge.

Below is a ThoofRank Badge from one of my other blogs so that you may view it.

Total E-Commerce Reaches $95 Billion during First Half of 2007

9:57 PM

On July 31 comScore released a report on U.S. e-commerce spending for the second quarter of 2007 Compared Q2 2006.

Retail E-Commerce Climbs 23 Percent in Q2 Versus Year Ago

Online Sales of Video Games, Consoles & Accessories Explodes

The top-gaining e-commerce category in Q2 versus year ago was video games, consoles & accessories, which jumped 159 percent on the strength of Nintendo Wii and PlayStation 3 sales. Sport & fitness also saw substantial gains (up 58 percent), followed by consumer electronics (up 51 percent) and event tickets (up 44 percent). (read entire article)

Games and Gadgets Driving E-Commerce - eMarketer -read article

eMarketer analyzes data from leading sources and looks for trends to share. You may want to read that article as well if your line is e-commerce. What is incredible to me is the ratio of consumer spending levels with confidence in government levels. Personally, I have put off buying some big ticket items until the economy shakes out.

Halloween in August?!

3:30 PM

Rob Zombie, a well-known musician and director (House of a Thousand Corpses and the sequel, The Devil's Rejects) has turned his talents to reinventing the 1978 cult classic movie by John Carpenter, HALLOWEEN.

The movie certainly has the right actors to make a great horror film: Malcolm McDowell, a man who is extremely scary in his own right, in the starring role of Samuel J. Loomis; William Forsythe, the consummate bad guy of all time, brings his badness to the role of Ronnie White; Scout Taylor Compton, rising young Hollywood star, plays Laurie Compton; Udo Kier, ultimate horror master, will bring his considerable talent to the role of Morgan Walker; and Sherri Moon Zombie, the wife of Rob Zombie, brings depth to the role of Michael's mother, Deborah Myers.

Rather than a remake, Rob Zombie promises a totally new Halloween the movie. Fans will recognize Michael Myers, portrayed by Tyler Mane, the giant knife-wielding, mask-wearing maniac. Zombie shows us the young Michael Myers, played by Daeg Faerch. Is Michael the proverbial bad seed or did something happen in his childhood to turn him into a homicidal maniac? Why did Michael kill his sister? What causes Michael to escape on All Hallows Eve and return home?

Perhaps you will find the answers when Halloween the movie comes out on August 31!

Watch the trailer here:

Real Taxes on Virtual Transactions

8:46 PM

The best things in life are free, but sooner or later the
government will find a way to tax them.
~Author Unknown

The following article is how HM (His Majesty's) Revenue and Customs is looking into taxing the wealth that some British citizens are making on Second Life. Can the Internal Revenue Service be far behind? So, I guess if you are investing in the virtual world, you would do best to stick to virtual T-bills. LOL

Tax office tackles growing trade in virtual items for real money - Independent Online Edition > Business News

Direct from the article:

HMRC has a bot, known as Xenon, which trawls the internet in search of people who using the web to trade but not paying taxes. He said it was possible that Xenon could track down someone who was making substantial profits through a game such as Second Life. (read complete article)

I leave you with this:

The more you earn, the less you keep,

And now I lay me down to sleep.

I pray the Lord my soul to take,

If the tax-collector hasn't got it before I wake.

~Ogden Nash

Why Bother Going Through Apple?

1:20 PM

Sure you love your iPod, but after a while the earbuds that came with it just aren't enough. When you're ready for something new, instead of going to Apple for some replacements check out Quiet Headphones for a great selection of iPod headphones that are sure to have you bobbing your head to the music in not time. Not only are the iPod earphones from Quiet Headphones designed with the iPod in mind, but these noise isolating Etymotic ER6 headphones will ensure that you hear only what's coming through your iPod, not what's going on around you. Check out Quiet Headphones, sponsor of this post, and their great selection of iPod earphones and I'm sure you'll be happy that you went with them instead of going through Apple.

You Are Never Alone Blessing

10:04 PM

$gold and turquoise colored fractal image of 8-pointed mandala enclosed by gold objects off each point$ Fractal from Julian's Fractal Page
All Rights Reserved

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

In Time of Sorrow

May you see God's light on the path ahead
When the road you walk is dark.
May you always hear,
Even in your hour of sorrow,
The gentle singing of the lark.

When times are hard may hardness
Not turn your heart to stone,
And may you always remember
You do not walk alone.

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

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

Searching for More Content for Your Blog?

5:19 PM

This summary is not available. Please click here to view the post.

Payday Loans

9:53 AM

A payday loan is a loan to cover minor financial problems that occur between paychecks. This is a short-term loan meant to tide you over until your next paycheck.

Some reasons for payday loans are your home air conditioner breaks in the middle of summer, or your car throws a timing chain, or a family emergency which requires you to purchase air tickets NOW.

A payday loan will usually put between $1000 and $2000 dollars in your pocket until your next paycheck. You will pay a pretty amount of interest, but you will have the money in hand within hours of applying. Visit, QuickerCashAdvance.com, sponsor of this post, for more information or to apply for your payday loan.

Going to Florida in the Fall?

11:09 PM

Walt Disney World’s Magic Kingdom had more than 16.6 million visitors last year! Epcot, MGM Studios, the Animal Kingdom and Universal Studios and Islands of Adventure are also located in Central Florida.

If you are planning a trip to the Orlando area in the fall, you should visit the MoreMouse.com website. Florida rental vacation homes are a much better deal than hotels. Why would you settle for an economy Disney stay when you could stay in a 3-bedroom home with pool?

Visit Lowery's Vacation homes, sponsor of this post, at www.MoreMouse.com for more information.

Abuse of the Do-Follow List

4:02 PM

I received a comment today:

Everytime I come on this site, I find great information. I really wanted to say that today 'cause I never have the time to comment. So I stopped by and left you a praise comment fast. Keep up the good work.
All you do here always serve me in a way or another in my blogging activity. If you want to know, I currently make $1,500 to $3,000 every month since september 2006, and I operate a blog called [deleted] wich is about "make a lot of real money online" and aims to be a REAL-LIFE case study, where I reveal all day after day. If you want to see it, go to [deleted]

This is a spam comment, one of many I receive each day. I decided to follow the URL and guess what I found? A blogger who is violating the principles of Do-Follow and teaching others to do so.

His working page is copied right from Courtney's D-List. Of course, I left him a message telling what I thought about this scheme. You may see his reaction here. I left a message for Shawn, the comment below mine, on his blog as well.

This problem of spam comments is why a lot of bloggers are dropping off the d-list and putting the no-follow tags back on their blogs. I am going to think about it now. Thanks, Vendredi and Shawn.

How Do You Say "Thank You"?

12:57 AM

Heart-Shaped Stress Reliever Ball

Promotional items are a great way to tell your customers "Thank you for your business." Find these important tokens of your appreciation at Empire Promos website, where you will find a great selection of Promotional Products.

Sometimes, trying to find unique Promotional Gifts that are useful as well is difficult. Not so at Empire Promos! The site is organized where you may find Promotional Items by category, by search or by price. There are great promotional gift ideas for any price!

For example:

For less than $1, I found a bookmark that features 3X magnification with a handy ruler and a ribbon.
For under $3, I liked the eco-friendly cotton promotional tote with logo printed on it.
The under $5 category had eco-friendly sports bottles with flip-top lids.
For just over $5, pick up a nifty mouse pad, with wrist rest, removable ruler/calculator, and a storage compartment.

Map Display Travel Alarm Clock

My favorite promotional items are travel clocks, stress toys and mini-tool sets. Find these and more at EmpirePromos.com, sponsor of this post.

Is RSS the Best of Web 2.0?

11:25 PM

Interesting summary by eMarketer of a survey that you may purchase on their site. It seems RSS is reported to have substantial business value by 23 percent of survey respondents; 1-in-3 said they used RSS for marketing, but 14 percent did not measure the use of RSS at all.

RSS is the life blood of bloggers, but I would expect marketers, both online and offline, to use RSS feeds. What can you do with RSS? I think I will explore this further in my next post. I am not a RSS-guru, but I think I can steer you to ways in which you may use feeds to provide content, to pull feeds to your site, to serve advertising and to gain subscribers.

Is RSS the Best of Web 2.0? - eMarketer - Read the summary

From the summary:

RSS, like any emerging media, is not for every marketer. TV networks use it with other Web 2.0 tools to reach Internet users. Techies like it because it is flexible and low-maintenance. Learn more about how consumers are using new media.

The Only Picture Frame You Will Ever Need

8:41 AM

Have you ever seen a digital photo frame? Digitalframez.com is an online store that specializes in the digital photo frame, a device that displays your digital pictures and short movie clips stored on the digital memory card of your camera.

The digital picture frame uses a 5-in-1 card reader to access your photographs, which may be stored in JPEG, MP4, DivX, AVI, MPEG1, MPEG2, MPEG4, MP3, WMA and WAV formats.
You may also use a USB cable to upload the pictures to your lovely new frame. In fact, you may even upload videos you have made with your cell phone.

There are small stereo speakers built into the frame, complete with an infrared remote control, so you can lay down a soundtrack for your pictures. Can you imagine what a neat gift this will be for newly married couples, or couples with a new baby? Do you know someone who travels? How about proud grandma or grandpa?

Please visit Digital Framez, sponsor of this post, for all the information you need. You may choose from 7-10 inch display frame size, in either aluminum coated (silver) or white or clear acrylic (plastic).

Social Profiles

Popular Posts

Labels

Blog Archive