Thursday, January 31, 2008

GOOD THINGS GOING

I got interested in listening to Rhonda Vincent's record, Good Thing Going, after I read this review in a Swedish newspaper. It gave the record the highest score (6 dots on a dice).



[Editor's comment: Do you know about the origin of the word, bluegrass? Talking about this kind of music, please check out my friends, Rum River Blend, in Troy, Ohio.]

Tuesday, January 29, 2008

CLIPBOOK

Check out the social bookmark exchange site ClipBook.us if you like to spread the good word and at the same time have the possibility to get more traffic to your site and earn money. [Via 'Dat' Money.]

Related: My post, SPREAD THE GOOD WORD.

SMORTY

I have joined Smorty blog advertising network in order to get paid for blogging. It will be interesting to see if this could generate some money. I have checked out the account page and it is user friendly.

PROJECT WONDERFUL

I have set up an ad box powered by Project Wonderful.

COFFEE BUSINESS

Starbucks has been an inspiration for being a successful coffee chain, but you could see problems ahead due to the increased competition. [Editor's comment: Do you think Starbucks has lost its soul?]

Here are two excerpts from The Economist:

Mr Schultz says he wants to slow down the pace of expansion in America and to close struggling locations while accelerating expansion overseas. He also wants to improve the “customer experience” at American stores and streamline management. There is no “silver-bullet” he said, but rather a scaling back of the expectations of a company famously named after the coffee-loving mate of the Pequod in Herman Melville’s novel, “Moby Dick”. Ominously, Frank Starbuck comes to a sticky end when he eventually comes up against the great white whale. (Not enough froth, Economist, 01/08/08)


Analysts and investors welcome Mr Schultz's return because it shows the company is taking action to correct its drift. The main architect of Starbucks' expansion is seen as the best person to lead a return to the firm's roots as a specialist coffee shop with a local touch. McDonald's, by contrast, having just recovered from its own overexpansion, is venturing into a whole new market. May the best latte win. (Coffee Wars, Economist, 01/10/08.)


The Economist has started a blog and audio & video center.



Related: My post, WAKE UP AND SMELL THE COFFEE.

50 YEARS OF LEGO

Have you played with LEGO building bricks?


Related: My post, MCDONALD'S HAS BEEN IN BUSINESS FOR 50 YEARS.

Sunday, January 27, 2008

VASA ORDER OF AMERICA

I will send an application to become a member of Vasa Order of America. [Editor's note: Do you know if you have a lodge located in your area?]

Related: My post, COLUMBUS AND LEIF ERIKSON DAY.

Saturday, January 26, 2008

BLOG TRAFFIC EXCHANGE

I have started with Entrecard. Read Jim Kukral's post, Traffic Is B.S. - Influence & Attention Are Far More Important. Here is a excerpt from Robert May's post, How five years of blogging has changed me.

There is no way I could build Businesspundit from scratch to the traffic levels that it has today if I had not gotten such an early start. As I look at people who are much better writers and have much more interesting things to say than I do, I am reminded how much luck and timing matter in all things. (BusinessPundit, 01/23/08.)


Related: My post, TRAFFICSWARM.

DANA JACOBSON AND TOUCHDOWN JESUS

What's going on with all these religious pressure groups demonstrating all the time? [Editor's note: I am not for using foul language, I think it is a lack of vocabulary if you have to use the "f"-word and other swear words.] Could someone explain what a "roast" is and why it is common with this kind of behavior?



Read ESPN: A Classic Do-As-I-Say, Not-As-I-Do by Bob Parks and see if you agree with his angle against "liberal media bias"...

While she hasn’t been quoted as apologizing to Christians, or Jesus himself, it would appear Dana Jacobson has been “forgiven”, as she’s still employed, for now. She’s lucky she only went off on those intolerant Christians, because had she said the same thing about Muslims, she’d be in the Witness Protection Program today.

To think that an organization with as many liberal sports commentators as ESPN would even take such an action, instead of excusing it “free speech”, is notable. (Canada Free Press, 01/23/08.)




English posts that contain "Dana Jacobson" per day for the last 30 days.
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Thursday, January 24, 2008

ACTION HERO CHUCK SOBIETTI

I have received the first issue of Matamoros. I would describe the main character, Chuck Sobietti, as a combination of Mr. A and a member of Team America: World Police.


Image source: Matamoros Comic at MySpace.

AMERIGO VESPUCCI

Did you know that America is named after Amerigo Vespucci?

Check out Marina's post, America! Land of free sex?, for a history lecture.



Related: My post, COLUMBUS AND LEIF ERIKSON DAY.

FIDEL CASTRO

Fidel Castro had near-death experience in 2006... [Editor's comment: Did you miss the coverage of the "election" in Cuba?]

Related: My post, CASTRO PROPAGANDA TV.

CREATIVE CAPITALISM

I think that creative thinking and capitalism goes hand in hand, but what is Bill Gates proposing? Check out Davos Conversation for more information.



UPDATE 01/25/08: Read Kendall J's post, Bill Gates - Apologist for the Welfare State.

SCRATCHBACK AND EGO TIP JAR

I have added an EGO tip jar. It is powered by ScratchBack. [Editor's note: Jim Kukral has said that the top spot list widget will come in different sizes later on. Right now it is a bit too wide for the template.]

Related: My post, CYBERTIPS.

Tuesday, January 22, 2008

BEARISH US ECONOMY

Is the US economy going downhill? Here is an excerpt from the article, Desperate measures:

The deepening gloom about the economy may well warrant such an aggressive response. But the timing is puzzling. There is more than a whiff of panic about slashing rates little more than week before a scheduled meeting. The Fed statement issued with the decision rationalises the cut as a response to “downside risks to growth”—the phrase is repeated twice in six short paragraphs—and cites recent gloomy data on housing and jobs. Yet the economic news has not grown any worse in the past few days and, given the time needed before monetary policy affects spending, the added urgency seems odd. (The Economist 01/22/08.)

Recommending reading:

Are We the Greatest Threat to Global Prosperity? by Jonathan Hoenig of SmartMoney.
The "R" Word and Franchising by Joel Libava of the Franchise King Blog.

Have you read Alan Greenspan's book, The Age of Turbulence?



Related: My post, MARKETS DON'T FAIL!

UPDATE 01/24/08:

[Editor's note: Check out Jonathan "CapitalistPig" Hoenig at 3:18 in the video clip "Very Mad Money" by Jon Stewart of the Daily Show.]

MUSLIM PRESCHOOL AND TERRORISM

From The Local:

Police arrested two people on Tuesday for allegedly defrauding Stockholm taxpayers of millions of kronor, on the pretext that the money was to be used to finance preschools. The money was allegedly transferred to accounts in Africa and the Middle East, in a case that is reported to have links to a terror financing probe. (The Local, 01/22/08.)


Related: My post, TEACHING SHARIA IN STOCKHOLM.

GOING POSTAL IN GOTHENBURG

In the news: Armed Robbery Goes Postal in Sweden.

Things are going postal in Gothenburg... Al Gore is here to receive a "tree hugger" prize and an armed robbery happened at a mail center.

Sunday, January 20, 2008

WAKE UP AND SMELL THE COFFEE

Nespresso by Nestlé has figured out the "barista culture"... Related: My post, STEAMY COFFEE BUSINESS.

UPDATE 01/22/08: Read Darren Rowse's post, My Search for the Perfect Cafe [And What it Taught Me about Blogging]. [Editor's note: I made a comment.]

PATS AND SUPER BOWL XLII

In the news: Patriots march on to Super Bowl with defeat of Bolts - USA Today.

Will you watch the Super Bowl XLII game on February 3? [Editor's comment: I still remember one TV ad from 1999...]



Related: My post, NEW ENGLAND PATRIOTS.

NAME OF THE ROSE

Yesterday I went to Jonsered to meet a friend. We took a walk and then paid a visit to the home of the Franciscan Friars. We talked about the situation in the Middle East. I had brought Black & White World I & II as reading material. One of the brothers had read Atlas Shrugged and I gave him a copy of a pamphlet with Ayn Rand's essays on man's rights and the nature of government from the Virtue of Selfishness.

I asked about Thomas Aquinas and Aristotle and if they have seen the movie, The Name of the Rose.

It becomes clear that the only remaining copy of Aristotle's Second Book of Poetics is somehow related to the deaths. William deduces, thanks to a scrap of parchment with hastily written notes, that all of those who died under mysterious circumstances had read the book. His investigations are curtailed by the arrival of Bernardo Gui of the Inquisition, summoned for the conference and keen to investigate the deaths. The two men clashed in the past and the zealous inquisitor has no time for theories outside his own: that The Devil is responsible – and torture will reveal the truth. (Wikipedia The Name of the Rose on Answers.com. Wikipedia Copyright © 2007 by Wikipedia. Published by Wikipedia.)

Saturday, January 19, 2008

ZAZZLE

Zazzle is included on TechCrunch's top list. I have added an EGO keychain to the store.

UPDATE 01/22/08: Postcard and stamp are the new products.


make custom gifts at Zazzle

CAFE SPICE NAMASTE

My photo at the Indian restaurant, Café Spice Namaste, is included in the fourth edition of the Schmap London Guide. [Editor's note: I will add the guide widget to my blog.]

Friday, January 18, 2008

LATE LATE SHOW TOM CRUISE PARODY

Check out this hilarious Tom Cruise parody by Craig Ferguson of the Late Late Show.

SNAP SHOTS

Text announcement by Snap.com:

Introducing Snap Shots from Snap.com


I just installed a nice little tool on this site called Snap Shots that enhances links with visual previews of the destination site, interactive excerpts of Wikipedia articles, MySpace profiles, IMDb profiles and Amazon products, display inline videos, RSS, MP3s, photos, stock charts and more.

Sometimes Snap Shots bring you the information you need, without your having to leave the site, while other times it lets you "look ahead," before deciding if you want to follow a link or not.


Should you decide this is not for you, just click the Options icon in the upper right corner of the Snap Shot and opt-out.



Enhanced with Snapshots

ILLUSIONS OF ENTREPRENEURSHIP

I better read The Illusions of Entrepreneurship by Scott Shane. I got 40% at the quiz.

BLUE CHIP PITCH

I have to practice on my Elevator Pitch...





LINDESKOG DOMAIN

Due to several reasons, my own Lindeskog.com domain elapsed and is now taken over by a company called "A Rite Tern LLC". They have put up some kind of "landing page" for different stuff according to the header and meta tags ("Homes for Sale" - "Apartments" - "Dating Services" - "Chat Rooms"). I don't know if I could get hold my domain name again. I will ask Doug Shuman, Senior Vice President, of Register.com how they come up with the price of $5488 for my surname / last name / domain name...

Related: My post, OPEN ID.

NEWSTEX

I got an email from Newstex that they are not interested in re-syndicating my blog. [Editor's note: I missed to include my full RSS feed at some point, so they excluded my blog due to their technical requirement for being selected. I sent them an email after I have changed my RSS feed, asking if they wanted to syndicate my blog again.] They have a greater demand for blogs with lengthier blog posts. Read Anita Campbell's post, Bloggers: Does Size Matter?

You Are a Pundit Blogger!

Your blog is smart, insightful, and always a quality read.
Truly appreciated by many, surpassed by only a few


Related: My post, WHAT KIND OF BLOGGER ARE YOU?

Thursday, January 17, 2008

200000 VISITS

Scroll down the right column and check out "stats"... Visitor # 200,000 came from Olean, New York. Related: My post, MILESTONES.

Tuesday, January 15, 2008

BUZZING AUDIO ADS

It will be interesting to see if audio ads will catch on and become a popular addition to traditional text ads.

Here is an excerpt from Kelly K. Spors's article, New Services Help Bloggers Bring in Ad Revenue. [Via Pay Per Play blog.]

Audio and Video

Starting Feb. 1, San Diego-based V2P Communications is offering five-to-eight-second audio ads, called NetAudioAds, that will automatically play when a visitor lands on a blog or Web site. Publishers sign up for the free service and V2P then lines up advertisers, who bid on rates they will pay to have their ads played on a given blog. Bids generally start around $14 per 1,000 plays. Blog publishers get a 25% cut of the ad revenue.

About 25,000 publishers have signed up so far, says Michael Knox, V2P's co-founder, and several large companies and 2008 presidential campaigns have expressed interest in becoming advertisers through the service. A site that gets 2,000 unique visitors per day with an advertiser paying $14 per 1,000 plays might earn $28 a day, or $196 a week. (Wall Street Journal, January 15, 2008.)

[Editor's note: I have signed up for having Pay-Per-Play audio ads on my blog.]

"Venomous Kate" argues in her post, Audio Ads And Earning Money At Readers’ Expense, that an audio ad played automatically could be received as intrusive in its nature. [Editor's comment: I have to wait and "hear" how the reactions will be... The audio ads should start streaming in beginning of February.]

Related: My post, PAY PER PLAY MEDIA.

TIPPING POINT AND DOMINO EFFECT

I am getting thirsty for a pint of Guinness... [Via InstaPundit.]



Have a sip and read the following: Rube Goldberg machine. Cheers!

LITTLE GREEN FOOTBALLS AWARDS

Fallaci category: General David H. Petraeus.
Fiskie category: Keith Olbermann.



For more information, read Charles Foster Johnson's post, The 2007 Fiskie and Fallaci Winners!

TOM CRUISE AND SCIENTOLOGY

Have you seen the video with Tom Cruise receiving a medal from the International Association of Scientologists? Will you read Andrew Morton's book, Tom Cruise: An Unauthorized Biography?

Related: My post, THE CHURCH OF LAFAYETTE RONALD HUBBARD.

NO STUPID ANSWERS

I have added an AnswersBox to the Resources category. I want to add stuff to my blog so it could become a home page / portal for some of my readers. I use my blog as a start page for checking out my fellow bloggers. I will start to read blogs through RSS feed more in the future, now when I have started to use Netvibes as my start page.

I have registered a profile on WikiAnswers. [Editor's note: I will ask D.R. how you could compare and contrast WikiAnswers with his advanced vocational data base (KYDB.se).] Check out No Stupid Answers blog.

Wednesday, January 9, 2008

OWN LABEL

I will test to print the new EGO banner on a hood from OwnLabel. I wonder what Micael Dahlén, author of “Think Inside the Box ” would say about OwnLabel's slogan "Strong Brands Are For Weak People". In the section titled, Fill the Box, he has a chapter called The Power of the Brand. [Editor's comment: Do you think Chaka Khan could have a chance against the other candidates in the presidential race? ;) Hillary Clinton is "banking on becoming the president"...]

EGO POOR CAPITALIST

Randy Gage is recommending Larry Winget's book, You're Broke Because You Want to Be: How to Stop Getting By and Start Getting Ahead, in his latest newsletter ("Randy Rants"). As a "poor" capitalist, I have added the book to my wish list.

My Amazon.com Wish List

[Editor's note: Maybe it could be a belated 2007 or an early 2008 X-mas gift...]

SAFE ONLINE SHOPPING

How will people conduct online auctions in the future? It has to become safer to shop online in the future. Read this "cautionary tale for anyone trying to unload a laptop in an online auction" by James A. Martin of PC World. I think that a new way of approving the goods at the delivery will improve the whole supply chain. One example of this method is created by a company called Spidexa Technologies. [Editor's note: Full disclosure: Blue Chip Café & Business Center has become a checkpoint station.]

WINE WORD OF THE DAY

I have added the "Wine Word of the Day" widget by Answers.com. See under the Good Life category. Talking about wine, my friend Eszter has told me that I have to visit the wine district of Villány.

SCHAMP LONDON GUIDE

I got an email that my photo taken at Cafe Spice Namaste Indian restaurant in London is under consideration for being included in the Schmap London Guide.


Tuesday, January 8, 2008

PURSUIT OF HAPPYNESS

Have you seen The Pursuit of Happyness? [Hat tip to J.E.] I enjoyed it very much and it gave me great fuel for my soul. The American dream, pictured in a true sense and with a happy ending. Here is an excerpt from Scott Holleran's review.

The Pursuit of Happyness, based on events in Chris Gardner's life, casts Smith as a man attempting a remarkable realignment of his values, his goals and his life.

In a time before cellular phones and voice mail, struggling father and aspiring businessman Gardner (with Smith's son, Christopher, as his kid) aims to think his way out of poverty, adopting the optimism inspired by a Founding Father's noble phrase from the Declaration of Independence. "How did Thomas Jefferson know to put pursuit in?" the destitute Gardner wonders, embracing the idea that happiness is earned. (Box Office Mojo, 03/16/07.)




Recommending reading: My post, RED OR BLUE STATE OF MIND [Editor's comment: I have to visit San Francisco]. Here is an excerpt from my post, RESTORE THE WORLD TRADE CENTER:

I have stored a framed poster of Bryan Larsen's painting, A New Height, at a friend's place in Ohio. I look forward to the day when I once again could place the poster on a wall in my future home, somewhere in the Land of Opportunity - America... (EGO, July 17, 2004.)

Monday, January 7, 2008

SHOWDOWN WITH IRAN

After watching the documentary, Showdown with Iran, my view is still pessimistic about the situation in the Middle East and I agree with the report that the "U.S. efforts to install democracy in Iraq have served to strengthen Iran's position as an emerging power in the Middle East."

Have you watched the countdown clock lately? [Editor's comment: I think it is time for shock therapy...]


Five Minutes to Midnight

Related: My post, IRANIAN ANIMATED NUKE MOVIE.

Sunday, January 6, 2008

HEADS UP FOR EGO BLOG

What do you think of the new EGO banner made by John Cox? I have uploaded the new header in a PNG (Portable Network Graphics) file format. [Editor's note: Blogger didn't accept the Tagged Image File image format. The blog description (Reason - Egoism - Laissez-Faire Capitalism) is still valid, but I had to remove the headline for the new header.]



You could support my blogging by ordering stuff with the new EGO image from EGO Online Store at CaféPress and a new store at Spreadshirt in the near future.

Support This Site

UPDATE:

I have now created SpreadShirt stores for Europe and North America.



From Lindsay's post, Reminder - Save 20.08%.

Just a reminder about the New Year, New You promotion.

20.08% off all orders from December 31 - January 14. Valid on all orders over $10. Use coupon code newyear08 (Candaian code: CADnewyear08). Shipping charges not included in discount. (SpreadShirt Blog, January 5, 2008.)

Saturday, January 5, 2008

CLINTON IN NEW HAMPSHIRE

I see that Hillary Clinton is visiting my old student place, Manchester, New Hampshire. I never had pizza at Gala Café & Pizzeria on 967 Elm Street.



Related: My posts, MTV CHOOSE AND LOSE ON MYSPACE and LIVE FREE OR DIE IN NEW HAMPSHIRE.

PIROZHKI

In order to follow next week's theme ("Russian Christmas or 12th Night") for the Carnival of Recipes at TehnoGypsy, I have decided to publish a recipe for pirozhki (Russian) / pierogi (Polish) / pirog (Swedish).

The recipe originates from Finland.

Pierogi for 4 people.

Pie crust / dough
  • 125 grams of margarine
  • 3 deciliters of flour
  • 3 tablespoons of cold water

Filling
  • 100 gr. smoked pork or ham
  • 2 carrots
  • 1 piece of celeriac
  • 2 dl of water
  • 1 tablespoon margarine
  • 1 pinch of salt
  • 2 hard boiled eggs
  • Allspice
  • 2 pinches of marjoram
  • 2 tablespoons of sour cream

1 egg for the "coating" of the surface.

Turn the oven at 225 degrees Celsius. Mix the ingredients for the pie dough, work it well and then let it "rest" as you prepare the filling. Cut the pork / ham. Coarsely grate the carrots and the celeriac. Put the carrot and celeriac in some water with 1 tablespoon of margarine and 1 pinch of salt. Let the "stripes" rinse off. Boil the eggs and chop them. Mix meat, vegetables, the chopped eggs, spices and the sour cream.

Roll out the dough (couple of mm thick) and cut out big, round plates in sizes of circa 10 - 12 cm in diameter. Add about a tablespoon of the filling on every plate and fold it as a crescent. Press the edges together with a fork and coat them with an egg. Put the good stuff in the oven for circa 12 minutes.

Serve them with salad and beer. [Editor's comment: End the meal with a shot of Unicum. Cheers!]

UPDATE 01/16/08: Read Technogypsy's post, Piroghi - the other kind just for Martin.

TEXT SIZE

I don't know why the font text size is now smaller in the posts. I wonder if the new feedflare features have something to do with it. I have to look into this and see if I have changed the template by mistake. [Editor's note: Please tell me if you could read the text in a good way.]

SPREAD THE GOOD WORD

I have now added an "Add to Mixx" feature to the blog posts. I learned how to add it by reading Will Kern's post, Teaching an old dog new tricks. I also added "Twit This!" so I could figure out how to use Twitter on a daily basis.

I have removed the "Digg It" application due to the negative attitude floating around on such type of sites. [Editor's note: You could still use Digg It and other services, if you use the "Add This!" bookmark function.] I will keep the StumbleUpon feature, because you never know when a new visitor will find this place. I am still using the Sphere gadget to find related content to my posts.

The whole idea is to get more organized and inform people what I am up to at the moment. I will start to use Netvibes as my start page. It is a similar service as iGoogle, but I think you could use it for more stuff.

Thursday, January 3, 2008

MIXX IT UP

In the news: Social media start-up Mixx sets self apart via "ultra-personalization" - Network World.

I have created a profile page on Mixx. If you have a smart filtering system, you could end up with a great source of personalized bits and pieces in one place.


Add to Mixx!


Related: My post, IGOOGLE.

WWJD WITH A GPS

"Trettodag jul" ("thirteen days after Xmas" in Swedish) is on January 6. In Sweden you celebrate Xmas on December 24, so that is why you say thirteen days, instead of Twelve Days of Christmas. It is time for Jesus to jump in his car and show up for his manifestation. [Editor's comment: I wonder if YHWH, a.k.a God has installed the car with a GPS... What would Jesus do?]

First read Brendan Miniter's article, What Would Jesus Drive? What kind of silly question is that? and then read Onkar Ghate's piece, "What Would Jesus Drive?" Campaign Shows Greens' True Mystical Colors.

It is Thor's day (Thursday) of thunder, so here comes a great excerpt from Edward Cline's hard hitting post, Hoary Old Chestnuts.

I rarely bother to beat dead horses. God is a dead horse, although religion is not quite as dead as most atheists believe, because it is alive and snorting and being harnessed to contemporary American politics. That is religion’s special danger; churches of all stripes and sects are enlisting their congregations in the army for various welfare state, environmentalist, and collectivist crusades. Their primary object is to resurrect the country’s alleged “Christian” values and rid that “Holy Land” of the infidel, the atheist, and incidentally clean up the earth, stop global warming, and herd everyone into a welfare state corral. It is God’s will, they say, to take care of the lame, halt and poor by impoverishing the healthy, the independent, and the industrious. (Rule of Reason, January 3, 2008.)


I have added The Portable Atheist: Essential Readings for the Nonbeliever and Sparrowhawk Companion to my wishlist.

My Amazon.com Wish List

Robert Tracinski is endorsing Rudy Giuliani in the latest issue (Vote for Rudy. Support the Defense of Freedom over Religious Politics.) of The Intellectual Activist Daily newsletter.



With the opening of the primary season—tonight's Iowa caucus isn't a real primary, but it is the first test of candidates' support among grass-roots activists, and thus it will have an impact on the primaries to come—now is the time to give TIA's official endorsement for the Republican primary.

I say that this is my official endorsement, because it has been clear where I've been leaning, unofficially, for most of the past year: I support Rudy Giuliani as by far the best candidate for the Republican nomination. He is the only candidate who will promote the influence of what I call the "secular right": support for free markets, a strong national defense, and strict separation of church and state. (TIA Daily, January 3, 2008.)


[Editor's note: Please vote in the Pajamas Media Presidential Straw Poll. Scroll down the right column and look under the section EGO poll.]

[Editor's comment: Have you heard about Betty Bowers & her "invisible running mate"? ;)]

Related: My post, CHOOSE OR LOSE 2006.

UPDATE 01/04/08:

Men of Hope by Mike Allen of Politico.com.



From Ari Armstrong's post, God Wins in Iowa.

The big winner in the Iowan caucuses is Jesus Christ. Mike Huckabee and Barack Obama are the two most religious -- politically religious -- candidates of their parties. I'm surprised that those candidates came in first. However, I don't believe that they'll win the nominations (though I think it likely that Obama joins somebody else's ticket). Indeed, I would be stunned if either candidate made it to the general election. If both make it, that will demonstrate that this country is in worse shape than I thought, and that we are likely headed toward more expansive religious-based politics. (Ari Armstrong, January 4, 2008.)


UPDATE 01/06/08:


God's Candidate by John Cox.

In the news: Onward superstitious soldiers! Is Huckabee God's choice tomorrow in Iowa? - "Deadline USA" - The Guardian Blog.

ADDICTED TO BLOGGING

I am 87% addicted to blogging... [Via Gus Van Horn.]

87%How Addicted to Blogging Are You?



Related: My posts, WHAT KIND OF BLOGGER ARE YOU? and FUTURE BLOGGING.

Wednesday, January 2, 2008

PAY PER PLAY MEDIA

Would you listen to an audio commercial on this blog? [Editor's note: I have signed up for Pay Per Play Media, but I will not promote it actively until I have researched it a bit more. Have you heard anything about the affiliate program?]

Read Paul Rushing's post, PayPerPlay: The Next Generation of Intrusive Internet Marketing.

Related: My post, TEXT LINK ADS.

English posts that contain "PAY PER PLAY" per day for the last 30 days.
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Tuesday, January 1, 2008

EGO BANNER

From my post, MISCELLANEOUS STUFF:

I have updated the EGO template with some new features. [Editor's note: A nice upgrade of the layout will occur during next year. It will be a top of the line thing and the perfect "icing on the cake". For a "mysterious" clue, read my post, WARCRAFT...]


Drumroll...

From John Cox's post, Banner Rough:

Martin Lindeskog hired me to do his blog banner for his site, http://egoist.blogspot.com/. I thought it might be interesting to show the steps in its production.

This is the sketch I came up with after having read his suggestions. (John Cox Art, January 1, 2008.)



EGO Banner Rough

Related: My posts, EGO ONLINE STORE and INTERVIEW WITH JOHN COX & ALLEN FORKUM.

UPDATE 01/02/08: Step 2: Blog Banner in Progress.

I establish where the black tones (cityscape and other details) are in relation to the "finished" color pencil outline of the figures. (John Cox Art, January 2, 2008.)




UPDATE 01/06/08: STEP 3: PRESTO!

Done. Added Martin Lindeskog's blog name for a touch of pizzaz. Me likey. (John Cox Art, January 5, 2008.)


MATAMOROS

Allen Forkum is informing that John Cox's comic book is available.



From the post, About Matamoros:

Part political thriller, part war story, and part “classic” action comic book, Matamoros follows one of America’s heroes in the “Long War” - an ordinary guy who discovers that only extraordinary situations exist when the enemy is a protean entity which refuses to adhere to the laws of war or the laws of civilized nations.

Written by Sleet and Darius LaMonica, and illustrated by John Cox of the Cox & Forkum political cartoon team, Matamoros is the first comic book focusing on the U.S. military’s fight against radical Islamists. (Matamoros Comic, December 11, 2007.)


From the book:

LAST DAY FOR BUSH

Bush's last day in office is on January 20, 2009. Please vote in the EGO poll (scroll down the right column).



[Editor's note: I don't endorse this "backward" site...]



Check out the carnival "This is not my country, but it is 2008" at Hell's Handmaiden.

EVAN WILLIAMS

I put back the Twitter application on the blog after I had read the article, The accidental innovator. Here is an excerpt from the article.

The irony of trying to plan accidents, and orchestrate their frequent occurrence, is not lost on Mr Williams. So he tries mental tricks. One is to ask “what can we take away to create something new?” A decade ago, you could have started with Yahoo! and taken away all the clutter around the search box to get Google. When he took Blogger and took away everything except one 140-character line, he had Twitter. Radical constraints, he believes, can lead to breakthroughs in simplicity and entirely new things. (The Economist, December 19, 2007.)

The article gave me inspiration for my future work with creating a physical "mash-up" of the third place for small business owners and members of a new type of online community. [Editor's note: I am interested in getting in touch with fellow entrepreneurs in order to discuss my future business plans for Blue Chip Club members.]

English posts that contain Twitter per day for the last 30 days.
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WORLD TIME SERVER

I have added a couple of features by World Time Server on my blog. Go to the Resources category and get the current time for a country or a city. I have added the local time for Gothenburg, Sweden, under the Globalization! section.

Link: International Atomic Time.

GOOD LIFE

Starting the new year with a fresh good life post. Here is a recipe for tapénade from Food & Wine magazine.



I have to test a different way of consuming Guinness... Read My Second-Favorite Way of Consuming Guinness by Salma Abdelnour at Mouthing Off blog. [Editor's note to Gus Van Horn: Have you tested it?]

Related: My post, GOOD LIFE WEEKEND 16.