Still want a puggle?

This is a sweet picture of a vicious puggle, but it's also a great example of how to promote your blog through photography.

It's hard to sell pictures, but to give them away with your blog's web address on them? Priceless! ...or at least worth a few bucks on your Adsense account.

Making Cash Online

It happens to all of us once in a while. Whether you got a speeding ticket, you wanna go skiing this weekend, or you forgot to buy one of the books for a class you're taking, we could all use some quick cash.

Here are a few great ways to make some quick cash on the internet:

Sell all your old books, music and movies on Half.com. It's affiliated with Ebay, and your user ID for Half.com can also be used for Ebay. I use Half.com myself, and there's no easier way to make a quick buck.

They pay for shipping; you simply print out a shipping label and bring your book or movie to the post office. In some areas, you can even leave the package in your mail box with some money, and the postman will take your package and leave your change. Now THAT'S postal service.

Another quick way to make money on the internet is by reselling items on Ebay. See what's selling on Ebay, then check the prices at your local discount stores. Going-out-of-business sales are great places to find cheap stuff to resell on Ebay for a profit.

Perhaps the method of making money on the internet with the most potential for earnings is Internet Publishing. Create a blog about something that interests you and equip it with Google AdSense. Post all your interesting and original ideas, home videos, and political theories, get Google AdSense to accept your website, throw the html code on there and watch the money roll in! When you can make money in your sleep, you know you're doing somethin' right. Or something illegal. But anyway...

Always be on the lookout for what you have locally, whether your own creations or the best deals at your local stores, and throw them online for a quick buck!

Blog about your Major

Can't think of a theme for your blog? Why not post about your academic major?

Essays and thesis papers are great places to find material for posts. You're also likely to get lots of new ideas and inspiration from the assigned reading for your classes.

Let's face it, your major is your area of expertise and, hopefully, the subject about which you're most passionate.

Use that knowledge and passion to write top notch posts that people are gonna love.

The Post that Makes You Famous

When you've written a really great post, sometimes it'll be picked up by a big website that features the best blogs on the web, and by linking back to your site, you're bound to get a HUGE increase in hits.

But will you be ready to harness those hits for the long term?

I was fortunate enough to be featured as one of the "Best of the Web" on "Comment is Free," the official blog of the British newspaper, The Guardian. It wasn't an amazing post (you can check it out here), but it was something that fit their bill for the day, and it sent a ton of visitors over to my other blog.

If you want to make the most of your big break when it comes, you've got to be ready for it beforehand. You want to make your new visitors "sticky" by providing them with content that they'll want to come back and see over and over again.

Make sure you've optimized your Adsense ads, and always keep a nice, clean, attractive blog. And no matter what, keep writing and improving your content, because great content is what will keep new viewers coming back "again, and again, and again," to quote the evil emperor Commodus from Gladiator.

AdSense: Maximizing Revenue

One great way to make the most of your AdSense revenue is to use the "competitive ad filter."

This function is available within your Adsense home page, under the Adsense Setup tab.

You can add the website addresses of advertisers that you want to exclude from appearing on your website, normally because they are in competition with your own page.

However, as bloggers we don't really have that much competition showing up on our Google ads. I've seen a couple advertisements appear on my page for other blogs, but they're normally specialty blogs of some kind, and if a viewer wants to head over there it's no skin off my back.

Where this filter becomes really useful is in excluding advertisements that are low profit for you. I don't want advertisements that pay me one cent for a click, because why lose a viewer for a mere cent? It's simply not worth it. So as you identify advertisements that pay next to nothing for a click, consider adding them to your filter list.

Another way the filter can help to maximize your Adsense revenue is to weed out off-topic advertising. I make no attempt to do that here, as you can see from the Britney Spears and the Replacement Windows advertising... if I've written about it, you might see it pop up, making for some awkward combinations.

But it's alright to be smarter than me. If your blog is about race cars, filter out the ads about ballet and bicycling.

Helium for Writers: Article Deleted

I recently had an article deleted from Helium.com for "meaningless content." Keep in mind that I didn't create the topic, I merely contributed an article under the given heading of "The Names of the Magi." Other people were all serious, answering things like "Balthazar, Melchior and Casper."

Here's my deleted article:

The Names of the Magi

"Frank, Joe and Tom.

"Funny story, actually. For a while, Joe wanted to be called Armatron, because he was fantastic at doing the Robot, but Frank and Tom wouldn't go along with it so Joe eventually gave up.

"They were like, "Joe, we're Magi, you have to stop doing the Robot. It was funny the first time, but now it's just getting kind of awkward." So Joe reluctantly agreed. He WAS damn good at the robot, though. No one could ever take that from him.

"Later, it turned out that Joe had been severely dehydrated, so then the whole Armatron thing wasn't so funny after all."

Deleted for "meaningless content"?! Was it off topic? Yes. Ridiculous? Yes. Meaningless? Yes.

Curiosity Killed Your Account

It can be very tempting to click on your own Adssense ads. Believe me, I know.

I mean, what exactly IS the soulmate calculator? Will this link really help me find the love of my life? Is my automobile gay? And then of course there are the "free Britney Spears and Paris Hilton videos."

Well, your prayers have been answered and so have mine. The Google Preview tool is here!

Made specifically for AdSense publishers, the Google Preview tool allows you to right click on your own page, select Google AdSense Preview Tool, and a new window will open with your page, plus a selection of sample advertisements that you can actually CLICK on and see where they go!!

The advertisers won't be charged for any clicks within the preview tool, nor will you earn money per click or inflate your page impressions.

Woohoo!

Amazon Omakase and AdSense

Whenever you get advice online about what is allowed under the Adsense terms of service and what could get your account shut down, always take it with a grain of salt.

It's fine to seek advice from blogs and other websites, but when it comes down to it, "I read online that this was okay" isn't gonna get your Adsense account reinstated.

So if you're unsure about whether something is allowed on a page with AdSense, contact Google to be safe.

That said, I'm going to give you some advice on what is and what isn't okay to have an a page with Adsense. It's okay to have a product link as an Amazon Associate on the same page as targeted advertising from Google.

But, you can't make use of Amazon's new Omakase targeted advertisements on the same page as AdSense advertisements. This will violate the terms of service and could result in your account being cancelled.

It's always better to be safe than sorry, though, so again, email Google if you're unsure about something just to be safe!

Google Changes Adsense Graphics

Some of you internet publishers out there may have noticed something different about your Adsense advertisements.

Rather than the customary "Ads by Gooooooogle" along the top of an ad, new graphics such as "Google" in colored letters and sometimes just a big animated letter "G" have been showing up.
These vary by page impression, and sometimes have the effect of making your ads less "blended" than the simple "ads by goooogle" that you probably designed your layout around.

A big colored label makes the ad stick out more than a small, simple label, especially when the new graphic utilizes a white backround on a page with a black backround. I mean come on, that's a little pushy of Google if you ask me. But it appears that testing has shown these new graphics to actually increase click-through rates.

I think any increase in CTRs may actually be a short term phenomenon. Any time you change the look of an ad, especially the heading of an ad, you're bound to make people take a fresh look at it, and maybe even change their basic feelings about checking that advertisement out based on its new "introduction" to their senses. But like anything else that heralds an advertisement on a regular basis, the jaded web surfer is likely to tune it out because of all the junk ads on all the made-for-adsense pages out there.

So in the end, if it all comes down to making a nicely blended website with useful and integrated advertising, then publisher control will trump fancy graphics any day of the week. With the possible exception of Saturdays.

Penguin Society

Checkin' That List

"You've been bad this year, HAVEN'T you. But you won't need coal to keep warm where you're goin'. Hell."

Those Zany Family Circus Kids

Ah, the humor in everyday family life. So wholesome. So true.

We're Gonna Need More Cowbell

Just a little cowbell to brighten your day. You're gonna want some more cowbell, babies.

The Amish

I recently made a trip down to Pennsylvania, and I saw lots of Amish people there. Amish people rule.

They have a custom whereby the Amish teenagers are allowed to leave their Amish communities for a while and try out regular American living in big cities, partying and going crazy, basically like an Amish spring break. This custom is known as Rumspringa. And I mean these kids get DOWN, no holds barred, "let's see what this debauchery is all about" style.

But amazingly, 99 percent of the Amish kids return to their communities to live in the Amish way, with no electricity, no TV, no cars, no NOTHING. And anything that happens on Rumspringa... well,

Animal Lovers

Saskatoon makes no apologies for it. They like eating meat. Period.

Save Money: Insulate Your Home

You're gonna think I'm crazy, and maybe I am. But I'm telling you, insulating your home is fun.

Every drafty window you seal, every door frame you patch up, is money in your pocket. How tight can you make your house this winter? You just gotta try it to find out. Plus, saving cash is always fun.

Now, I prefer the duct tape method, because it's fast, effective and awesome, but I''ll get to that later.

There are plenty of inexpensive ways to insulate your home, using things you have around the house or can easily obtain at Home Depot.

The biggest loss of heat from a home is through the windows, especially skylights or windows on the north side of the house. If your windows are old and drafty, you could save big bucks by replacing them. New windows are so far superior to the old windows present in many homes that they'll easily pay for themselves in heating costs.

You can help to improve the insulating quality of any window by sealing around the edges of the frame with clear silicone. You'll need a tube of construction grade silicone and a cheap silicone gun from Home Depot. Squeeze a generous amount into the gaps around the frame and those cold, annoying drafts are sure to stop.

If you plan on keeping your windows closed for the winter, you might want to consider buying a window insulating kit. It consists basically of adhesive and oversized saran wrap. The saran wrap is stretched across the window and secured around the frame of the window. It's so clear and smooth, you won't even notice it's there. Seriously.

This method works well for skylights, too, which are the biggest single cause of heat loss in a home. Heat rises and escapes out the skylights, so if you're going to seal anything for the winter, seal those skylights!

Here it is, my favorite method of home insulation. Duct tape. If you need a quick fix for a drafty window, get out a roll of duct tape. Cover the gaps around the frame with strips of tape, and also make sure to seal the gap around the track where the window moves up and down inside the frame. You're gonna fall in love with duct tape ALL over again when you see how well this can work.

You can also save money on energy costs by insulating the hot water pipes in your basement. Pipe insulation can be found at Home Depot, and is cheap and easy to apply. Cover all your hot water pipes, including the pipes that feed your forced hot water heating system. Now sit back and watch the energy savings roll in, you brilliant, brilliant person.

Always be on the lookout for drafts and gaps around doors and windows, and winterize any doors and windows that won't be in use until Spring.

You must be psyched. Insulating RULES, and now you've got some insulating to do.

Vacations: It's About That Time

It's gettin' cold, and it's bound to get colder. Everybody's less healthy in the middle of winter, and the best way to make the rest of the season tolerable is to take a vacation someplace warm.

Arizona is home to a colorful variety of natural beauty, sports and leisure activities, and vibrant historical sites.

Whether you're the adventurous type or simply looking for a beautiful and relaxing getaway, Arizona has something for you.

The golf enthusiast can find many world-class golf courses suited to any skill level in the Phoenix-Sedona area, designed by golfing greats like Jack Nicklaus II, Hale Irwin and Robert Trench Jones, Sr.

Got a history buff in the family? See the spot where Wyatt Earp and Doc Holliday fought one of the most famous gunfights in history at the OK corral in the legendary town of Tombstone, south of Tucson. Or plan a visit to one of the many authentic ghost towns dotting the desert sands of the Mojave Desert. This area of Arizona is also home to the battlegrounds of the famous Native American chieftains Cochise and Geronimo, as well as many US Army outposts that date from this time period.

Tucson itself is home to a bit of television history as well. The Tanque Verde horse ranch is the working luxury ranch/resort where the hit comedy "Hey Dude" was filmed. It's certainly worth a look, and you can go for a horseback ride through the desert at sunset while you're there.

If you're looking to make your fortune digging for gold, the Superstition Mountains may be the place for you. Less than an hour's drive north of Phoenix, the Superstitions are the home of the famous Lost Dutchman's gold mine, which is still sought after by modern day prospectors.

And of course, no American vacation is complete without a trip to the Grand Canyon in the northwestern corner of the state. The views here are spectacular year round, with horseback treks to the bottom of the canyon and rafting trips down the mighty Colorado River making this a vacation destination the whole family is sure to love.

And hey, there's nothing like a good, inexpensive domestic vacation and a few days of sun to get us through till Spring! Arizona rules.

Writing for Cash: Helium

Massachusetts-based Helium.com is an up-and-coming website that allows writers to post their articles and get paid for the ad revenue that they generate.

The revenue is based on targeted advertising through Google Adsense, but the exact figures on what a single page impression earns a writer is not revealed.

The idea is that as Helium grows, it will become a source for information-seekers, and that through their writer-based ranking system, the best articles written by the best writers will "rise to the top."

Helium is in its earliest stages, though I see a few potential problems on the horizon that will have to be sorted out. For example, the quality of writing on Helium is frequently low, as articles are not weeded out for quality except though the ranking system. Some articles appear to have been written by non-native speakers of English and some consist of a single word: yes.

Another issue I see developing is that there is no incentive to be accurate in your articles. If it sounds good, it will "rise to the top" and earn more money, whereas an article featuring accurate information but consisting only of a couple sentences may drop in the rankings. I don't necessarily see people going to Helium as a source of information when there are 10 articles on "the dangers of chocolate for dogs" and 5 of them say chocolate is alright, 5 say it's poisonous, and of those only 3 use paragraphs and punctuation.

But only time will tell whether Helium is a financial success or not.

There's no doubt, though, that Helium is free and fun to use. You can write and receive feedback on your efforts, and earn some money in the meantime. It's also a great way to come up with ideas to post to your own website, and since the rights to everything you write remain yours (you grant Helium non-exclusive rights to your work), you can do whatever you want with it.

So there's really nothing to lose, and lots of experience and good times to gain.

Stupid Movie Review: Apocalypto

The Movie Review in Question

First of all, I'm not defending Mel Gibson per se, I'm attacking a stupid movie review, linked above.

Of Mel Gibson's new movie Apocalypto, Bruce Kirkland of the Calgary Sun writes:

"As a filmmaker, Mel Gibson is an 'anti' and not a 'pro' person, so his films are violent, brutal and reactionary.

"In Braveheart, he was anti-English (with good reason, if you look at the English conquests through Scottish eyes). And in The Passion Of The Christ he was anti-Semitic (his recent alcohol-fuelled, anti-Jewish rant was no surprise). "

Hold up. All this proves is that Kirkland is an "anti" and not a "pro" movie goer. For me, Braveheart was pro-Scottish and The Passion of the Christ was pro-Christian. (Well, The Passion was more complicated than that, since there were many positive portrayals of Jewish people and one supreme portrayal of a bad Christian, ie Judas; it was more a movie about good and bad than Jewish person or non, but it's an extraordinarily violent interpretation of an historical event, and one which I wouldn't recommend seeing more than once, if at all. But that's a subject for another post.)

But I mean, is Kirkland kidding? What does it take for a movie to be "pro"? The rise in Scottish nationalism and pride after the release of Braveheart was immense; the "anti" factor, the rise of hatred for the English? Non-existent.

Kirkland continues:

"Once the chase [sequence in Apocalypto] is on, any pretense that Mayan culture will be explored is thrown out. Gibson portrays Mayans only as brainless, bloodthristy savages. "

Pretense of exploring Mayan culture? Was he expecting a documentary? I'm sure we're all distraught and concerned that Bruce Kirkland's expectations were violated, and Mel Gibson has probably taken note. But I wonder how Kirkland would carry his theory of Mel Gibson as an "anti" film maker into all this. Anti human sacrifice? Anti allowing-the-killing-of-one's-family?

All art is a story of oppositions, and hence the dynamism that compels us to the artistic experience: good versus evil, light against dark, "anti" and "pro." The story where everyone is the hero is no story at all. Ever seen a movie before, Bruce?

I don't know if Apocalypto is a good movie or not, but man, watch out for those contrived, disingenuous movie reviews that want to keep you from a movie you might actually like.