December 31, 2007

Happy New Year from Aaron Cook Dot Com!

I'd like to wish everyone an abundance of joy and success for all of 2008 - and beyond!

And as Henri Martin Didon once said, "Citius, Altius, Fortius."
Faster, Higher, Stronger!
:)



Happy New Year Everyone!


OK kiddies, now repeat after me!


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December 29, 2007

Intense Debate Comment System - The Review (Part 1)

Intense Debate Comment System
The Review (Part 1)

As many of you know, I recently installed a brand new comment system on this blog. The new comment system is Intense Debate, and my reasons for using it are fairly obvious, I think. Simply put, Blogger's new comment system pretty much stinks, IMHO.

The Back Story

Recently, and without warning, Blogger (Google) installed a new Blogger comment system, a comment system that is, as I see it, extremely lacking and very shortsighted. It's almost as if Google doesn't understand bloggers (or blogging, for that matter) at all, anymore.

But since this is a site review of the brand new Intense Debate comment system, I won't go into the details regarding Blogger's recent comment system update. Instead, you can read about it in these blog posts if you're interested:

Blogger sucks more than ever not allowing extern blog links
Blogspot Blogger comment form change unfair to ALL bloggers
Blogger Changes Commenting System

Anyway, on with the review...

Intense Debate - The Features

The Intense Debate comment system offers several cool (and very useful) features that are sure to appeal to many (if not all) bloggers. But, in order to make this as simple as possible, I'm merely going to touch on some of the major highlights.

• Track Comments - allow your blog readers to track comments (and the people who make them) across multiple blogs.

Interested in the comments your friends make? No problem. If you'd like to be notified as to when, where, and what your friends comment, then you're in luck. Intense Debate provides this such functionality through RSS feeds for each user. Subscribers will be notified in their RSS readers with a direct link to view the context surrounding the comment.

Want to track your own comments? Done! Intense Debate also provides email notifications that will let you track your own comments across multiple blogs. This way, as soon as someone replies to one of your comments, you'll know about it!

User Profiles - learn more about commenters, and let them learn more about you, with user profiles.

Intense Debate allows you to set up your own personal user profile. Why would you want to do this? Simple. Whenever you leave a comment on a blog, people will see your personal avatar. And right next to your avatar is a "menu" button. This menu button gives everyone the link (URL) to your blog (or blogs), as well as the link to your profile on other websites. In addition, it gives them the direct link to the RSS feed for your comments.

For example, here's what it looks like in the comment section:


As you see in the above screenshot, anyone reading any of my comments can click the "menu" button next to my avatar, and from there, they can go directly to any of my blogs! They can also go direclty to my Facebook page, my MySpace page, my Intense Debate profile page, etc.

And through that very menu button, they can also subscribe to my blog and/or to my comments, as seen in this screenshot...


These are functions that I really like. And as far as I'm concerned, the more information bloggers can see about you, and the more you can see about other bloggers, the better! The only catch is that such information should be presented in a way that is both useful, and unobtrusive, to the actual reader. And the Intense Debate menu button, with its drop-down function, seems to do that quite successfully.

Threaded Comments - All discussions can be organized into threads, which makes it easier to follow a conversation.

Personally, I've always greatly preferred threaded comments to non-threaded comments. In my opinion, threaded comments not only make it a lot easier to follow what's going in a comment thread, but they also make it a lot easier to reply effectively as well. I mean, why have your reply fall directly under Barny's comment when you were actually replying to Fred's comment!?

Reputation/Comment Voting - Let your readers' commenting abilities be reflected in a reputation.

Each Instant Debate user has a "reputation" attached to his/her identity. This reputation is displayed whenever he/she makes a comment on a blog. The reputation value serves as a quick overview of a commenter's history, and is based on both the quantity and the quality of the comments he/she makes.

The Instant Debate comment system determines the quality of a person's comments through comment voting, which also serves to move the best comments to the top. This allows you and your readers to find the best comment content right away, while at the same time, bypassing the so-called "muck".

Many sites now implement this type of "voting" system, and basically, it's a "thumbs up" or "thumbs down" approach. Here's an example of what it looks like in an Instant Debate comment thread...


I definitely like the comment voting function, though I also recognize that it can be abused/gamed fairly easily. And this such vulnerability could definitely become problematic under the right circumstances. For example, let's say that you have some sort of influence over a certain number of people (and who doesn't!), and you ask/influence those people to either "thumbs up" or "thumbs down" a particular individual.

Obviously, the end result would be a very skewed, inaccurate and biased rating/opinion of that particular person and his/her comments. And such a rating could be very damaging, indeed.

I think it may somewhat force (or at least influence) a person to add more positive comments (and to refrain from negative ones) in order to retain a "good rating." And in the end, what good does that really serve? Will positivity replace truthfulness? Will the presence of an overall "rating system" influence a person's comments?

Well, I guess we'll see! All I know for sure is that there does need to be much more work and attention applied to this particular area.

Import Comments - You can import your existing blog comments to Intense Debate via the Import Comments tool (still in beta). And in the event that you decide Intense Debate is not for you, then you can also "take you comments with you" via the Export Comments tool (also in beta).

(Click to enlarge photo)

The Import Comments tool allows you to do just that - import your blog's previous comments (from WordPress, TypePad and Blogger) to Intense Debate. But one word of caution...it's still in beta. I repeat, it's still in beta!

I was gutsy (or silly?) enough to try it out myself the other day, and honestly, I kinda wish that I hadn't. The overall result? Well, let's just say that not all of the comments made it through successfully. Some comments seem to have been lost completely, and some, well, I have no idea where the heck they went! So my personal advice is to hold off on importing comments for now. Just wait until that function is thoroughly out of beta.

I'll elaborate more on the comment import situation in my upcoming Intense Debate - The review (Part 2) post.

Intense Debate - Overall Conclusion

Overall, I'm quite impressed and pleased with the Intense Debate comment system. As of this writing, I haven't encountered anything specific that would prevent me from using it here on this blog indefinitely.

The Intense Debate comment system offers several cool and useful functions that I like (and appreciate) as a blogger. Installation was a snap, and it's definitely added something greatly positive to this blog, in my opinion. But of course, my opinion is just that - my opinion.

Intense Debate - Your Thoughts?

So what do YOU think? Do you like The Intense Debate comment system? Do you not like it? What are your thoughts? Please share.

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Major Aaron Cook Dot Com Updates!

December 26, 2007

Quote of the Week - Aesop on Friends and Enemies

"A doubtful friend is worse than a certain enemy. Let a man be one thing or the other, and we then know how to meet him."

Aesop (620 BC-560 BC)

December 24, 2007

Happy Holidays From Aaron!

Aaron Cook dot Com™

Ho Ho Ho! I'd like to wish everyone a very safe and
wonderful holiday season full of joy and happiness.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

Shine on,
Aaron

December 22, 2007

Major Aaron Cook Dot Com Updates!

Just wanted to let everyone know that I'm in the midst of doing a few major site updates here on the Aaron Cook Dot Com™ blog. So if you see a few things that look different, new or not quite finished yet, well, that's why!

Basically, I'm updating the entire structure of the site so I can incorporate a brand new commenting system - a commenting system that is worlds better than Blogger's (ahem) new commenting system - Intense Debate.

Bottom line, Blogger's new commenting system (if you can actually call it that!) simply doesn't cut the mustard with me...at all! And I'm quite sure that many of you agree!

I'll elaborate much more on this later, but right now I'm knee-deep in HTML. Anyway, I just wanted to let you know what was going on in case you were wondering. :)

Update: (12-27-2007) I decided to reinstalled the Intense Debate comment system so that all comments from all posts would have it. Originally, I had only installed it on new posts that didn't have any comments. But after thinking more about it, I decided to try out the Import Comments function and put Intense Debate on all my blog posts, old and new.

Overall, the comment import process went OK. But I did encounter a problem - not all comments were imported successfully. For example, there were 10 comments for the Happy Holidays From Aaron! post, but they've ALL disappeared. The 9 comments that are there now actually belong to THIS post!

Also, it seems that anonymous comments didn't make it through the import process either, so I've lost some past comments. Something to think about it you plan to use Intense Debate and import your comments.

All in all I definitely recommend Instant Debate. I think it's a pretty awesome comment system. I'm just not entirely happy with the Import Comments function as it stands now. Obviously, there are still a few bugs to work out. But hey, that's why that part is still in beta!

Related Blog Posts

Intense Debate Comment System - The Review (Part 1)

December 17, 2007

Speed Painting - Bumblebee (Transformers)

Since everyone enjoyed the last post on speed painting, here's another one for you! This particular time-lapse video is of a digital painting (done in Photoshop) of Bumblebee, the well-known and well-liked Autobot from the Transformers.

It's a total of 16 layers in Photoshop, and it took the artist Nico Di Mattia a total of 19 hours to complete it. The songs in the video are "Battle Without Honor or Humanity" from Kill Bill OST, and "Autobot/Decepticon Battle" (Performed by Vince DiCola) from The Transformers The Movie: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack. Enjoy!

Speed Painting - Bumblebee (Transformers)

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December 12, 2007

New Scrolling Ads in Google AdSense!

I just saw the following two Google AdSense ads displayed here on my blog. The ads themselves appear the same as any other AdSense ad, except for one tiny difference - two colored arrows that your site visitors can click in order to actually scroll their way through the ads. Pretty nifty!

Here's the first version (with small arrows):

Aaron Cook Dot Com™

And here's the second version (with larger arrows):

Aaron Cook Dot Com™

You'll notice that each AdSense ad has a set of arrows located at the bottom, on left-hand side of the ad. By clicking these arrows, your site visitors can "actively scroll" back-and-forth through the ads to see more AdSense ads that they may be interested in.

Obviously, no word yet on how this actually affects AdSense CTR (click-through rate), but I must say that it's an enhancement that may very well help to increase your AdSense earnings. Guess we'll just have to wait and see!

December 11, 2007

WidgetBucks International CPM Ads Just Launched

UPDATE: WidgetBucks is no longer recommended by this blog!!!

WidgetBucks has just announced the launch of their CPM (cost-per-thousand impressions) WidgetBucks ads program.

"CPM ads for non-U.S./Canada traffic have successfully launched on WidgetBucks! This solution gives publishers the opportunity to earn revenue, per impression, for traffic that comes from countries other than U.S. and Canada."

How To Implement The CPM Ads

Important: In order to begin earning revenue from ad impressions on international traffic, you'll need to replace your existing WidgetBucks ad code with new WidgetBucks ad code.

"To update your widget(s), simply click "Copy HTML" within the "Customize Your Widget" page for that widget and re-paste/replace the code block into your site. The updated code -- which has been greatly simplified and reduced in length -- can also be replaced directly into the Blogger, TypePad or WordPress blogging platforms."


CPM impressions and ad revenue results will start showing in your WidgetBucks account on Wednesday, Dec. 12th. CPM rates will vary depending on the geographic location of your site visitors. CPM revenue, PPC (pay-per-click) revenue and referral revenue data will each be updated on a daily basis, and will be available by noon Pacific Time the following day.

According to WidgetBucks, here's how it works once you've updated your WidgetBucks ad code:

"At the time a user visits a page containing the widget, we will sense the geographic location of the visitor. If they are in the U.S. and/or Canada, the user will see the normal WidgetBucks widget. If the user is outside those two countries, then our system will determine a country-specific CPM ad to display. We are currently working with advertisers covering hundreds of countries and offering thousands of creatives to ensure optimum monetization."

Updated MyWidgets Page

Also rolling out tomorrow is an updated MyWidgets page. This updated reports page should make it easier when it comes to checking your ad and referral stats. The new MyWidgetss page will include tabbed navigation for all three revenue streams (PPC, CPM and referrals). Here's a look at it...


This new WidgetBucks interface gives you a breakdown of PPC and CPM impressions, expanded referral data and integrated blog headlines to keep you up-to-date with things happening at the WidgetBucks camp.

All in all, some pretty good changes coming from WidgetBucks, and I expect to see some more good things down the line. It you haven't tried WidgetBucks yet, you can sign up for a free account here. You'll also get $25 deposited in your account just for signing up!

December 10, 2007

SWITCH...

A man becomes the central figure in a tug-of-war between telecoms. LOL, this is a great video (film short). It was written, produced and directed by Jeremy Seville of Cinema Saville. Enjoy!

SWITCH

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December 8, 2007

Is Yuwie A Scam? - The Real Answer...

OK, so I've gotten a few emails recently asking me whether or not Yuwie is a scam, and whether or not Yuwie is actually paying any of its members any money. So...

Is Yuwie A Scam?

YES, Yuwie is a scam!!! Yuwie is a great big HUGE scam! Run, run, run! Run for your lives! Yuwie is definitely a very nasty and dangerous scam! Run! LOL.

But seriously, folks...No, Yuwie is not a scam. Not even close, my friends. How do I know? Easy. First of all, I know scams pretty darn well. I know pyramid schemes and I know Ponzi schemes - both inside and out, upside and down. So it's pretty hard to get one past me if it is a scam.

And secondly, I happen to know first-hand that Yuwie has already sent checks out to several Yuwie members. And Yuwie has paid ALL of them on time. For example, here's a copy of my friend's Yuwie check. I hate doing this sort of thing (always have), but hey, sometimes it's the only way to prove it to some people.


That was his October Yuwie check. His subsequent Yuwie earnings have since increased quite a bit - as have a lot of other peoples'. For November, his Yuwie earnings jumped to $166.90 (see pic).

So it's pretty apparent that Yuwie is shooting up like a mad rocket. It's simple to use, simple make some extra money, and most importantly, it's a whole lotta of fun!

Yuwie vs. MySpace and Facebook

It's been about two months since I first joined Yuwie, and I can honestly say that I'm more than happy with the Yuwie service thus far. At the time of this writing, there's really nothing that I would deem to be a negative.

The only issue I had when I first joined Yuwie was the speed of the site. Things were a tad slow, especially when a lot of people were on. But that was remedied a few weeks ago with the addition of several new and faster dedicated servers.

My Personal Yuwie Page

Aas far as social networking sites go, Yuwie is definitely my top choice - money or no money. Overall, I feel that the user features are much better organized and whole a lot easier to use.

But beyond that, the Yuwie members themselves seem lot friendlier and much more willing to help you with anything, whether it's related to Yuwie or not. So there's really no comparison. If I were left on a desert island and had to pick just one social networking site, I'd definitely choose Yuwie, no question about it.

For more in depth information on Yuwie, check out my Make Money With Yuwie post. And if you have any questions or suggestions, be sure to let me know! The Yuwie team definitely listens to what the members have to say. In fact, Yuwie has already implemented several things that were suggested by us members. Further proof that social networking has just gotten a whole lot better.

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December 5, 2007

WidgetBucks Payments Go Out Early!

Ads Suck. But Theirs Don't.

UPDATE: WidgetBucks is no longer recommended by this blog!!!

WidgetBucks is now distributing October earnings to publishers - nearly 10 days ahead of schedule. The initial wave of PayPal payments went out on Monday, while the remainder will go out over the next couple of days. Checks are being processed and mailed early this week as well, including those that are being sent to international publishers.

If you haven't yet tried WidgetBucks you might want to give it a look-see. I've been using them in a couple of different places on the Web and am happy with the results I've seen so far. On average, the RPC (revenue-per-click) has been almost double what I'm used to getting with Google Adsense, so that's a pleasant surprise in itself.

When you sign-up with WidgetBucks, you'll automatically receive a $25 bonus into your account, which is pretty cool. And WidgetBucks offers a referral program as well. WidgetBucks affiliates earn a 10 percent referral fee based on the commissions earned by the people they refer. Affiliates receive the 10 percent referral fee for the full 12 months after the new member joins.

WidgetBucks Offers CPM Ads

WidgetBucks will also be offering CPM (cost-per-thousand impressions) ads sometime early this month. This will allow bloggers and site owners to monetize their international traffic.

"At the time a user visits a page containing the widget, we will sense the geographic location of the visitor. If they are in the U.S. and/or Canada, the user will see the normal WidgetBucks widget. If the user is outside those two countries, then our system will determine a country- specific CPM ad to display. We are currently working with advertisers covering 100
countries and offering thousands of creatives to ensure that site visitors will be monetized for your benefit."

And that's certainly good news considering the recent policy change to stop paying on clicks that resulted from international traffic. The change was implemented due to non-converting clicks (to sales) by users geographically outside the U.S. and Canada. Some website owners were upset over the change, but in the end, the bottom line is this: An ad network must maintain its network quality. If it doesn't, no merchants will advertise on it.

So the CPM route is the perfect way to go. It's a win-win, both for merchants and for site owners. The clicks that merchants pay for will have higher sales conversions, and the international traffic that sites receive will earn them guaranteed revenue, as opposed to nothing at all. In addition, higher sales conversions should also translate into higher RPC (revenue-per-click) as time goes on.

All in all, it looks like some pretty good things are taking place at the from the WidgetBucks camp, and I'll definitely keep my ears open for anything new.

December 3, 2007

This Just In - The Official Yuwie Press Release

Good news in Yuwieland. The official Yuwie press release just went out today and I think it's pretty clear now why there's so much excitement going around regarding Yuwie, the free social network that actually pays you for using it.

Here's an excerpt from the press release. You can catch the full Yuwie press release here on my Yuwie blog.

Yuwie Press Release

Norma, Okla. (PRWEB) December 3, 2007 -- Yuwie.com, one of the Internet’s newest social networking sites, today announced the details behind their innovative and highly successful new online business model.

“MySpace and Facebook have already proven how business can make money from the efforts of end-users,” said Korry Rogers, founder and CEO of Yuwie. “Yuwie is proving that both businesses and end-users can finally share the $100 million per month advertising revenue that floods into the social networking market today.”

Rogers explains that Yuwie’s business model is based upon two core tenants: 1) End-user participation is free – no sign-up fees or subscription fees are required, and 2) Yuwie currently distributes well over half of the site’s advertising revenue back to participating end-users. Not only are Yuwie’s end-users paid for the traffic generated for their own personal page, but also for the traffic generated by friends they refer to the site, in addition to traffic generated from their friends’ subsequent referrals (for up to ten (10) layers or generations of personal referrals).

"The revenue potential for end-users is striking and very exciting once you start to run the numbers;” explained Rogers. "If someone only refers three of their friends, who refer three of their friends through ten levels, that one person will ultimately collect a percentage of advertising revenues from about 88,000 end-users, which can translate to about $8,800 per month for that person – every month."

Photo Sharing and Video Hosting at Photobucket

The Power of Yuwie

Yuwie checks have already gone out and a handful of folks made $100 or more last month. And with a 10-level payout structure, the potential is obviously enormous! And smart people are recognizing that fact. For example, check out what Bobby of Revellian Dot Com mentioned about it here on my blog:

"The one really good thing about Yuwie is that the payments are recursive. I like the idea that though I am just starting, any money I get will be the same or more each month...that sure beats the hell out of a one time payment...There really aren't too many plans that pay recursively so Yuwie is a good program for something long term. It may take a while, but Yuwie isn't doing anything but growing:)"

And Bobby is definitely right about that...

Yuwie Members So Far
As of Dec. 3, 2007 9:57 PM EST

• Total Yuwie Members: 307,209
• New Yuwie Members This Month: 7,012
• New Yuwie Members Today: 2,458

So my friends, don't wait on this one. The sooner the better. Yuwie is making a lot of people very happy and there's no doubt that you could make a lot of money with this!

For more in depth information on how you make money with Yuwie, check out my make money with Yuwie post. And if you want to see my actual Yuwie page, stop by here. Anyway, thanks again for reading and I hope to see you there!

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My 400th Post! The Teddy Bears Play Punk Rocker

Well friends, this is my 400th post on this blog! Woo hoo! To celebrate it, I was initially going to write something eloquent and profound. But as most of you know, I've been extremely pressed for time these days, and spending a lot of time writing just isn't possible.

But have no fear! This is probably way cooler anyway. Plus, it pretty much sums up not only how I feel personally, but how I feel about all of you. You're all so incredibly AWESOME! And so, I share this with you. Now turn your speakers up rock on!

The Teddy Bears Play Punk Rocker

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November 28, 2007

Hump Day Humor - Monty Python Meets Star Wars!

Star Wars: Episode III 1/2

After turning to the dark side of the Force, Darth Vader takes his very first "official" position on the forest moon of Endor. His position? Guardian of a tiny bridge...over a small stream...for unknown reasons. LOL.

The Black Knight (ahem)...I mean, Darth Vader...goes toe-to-toe with King Arthur and his trusty surf Patsy in this hilarious mashup of Star Wars and Monty Python and the Holy Grail.

Watch this epic battle unfold...as swords become light sabers, and men become women...testing the very bounds of reality as we know i...

Okay, okay. So no men actually become women here (thank goodness!). But swords DO become light sabers! And that, my friends, makes this video very fun to watch! :)

Monty Python Meets Star Wars

November 26, 2007

Domona Lisa - The Mona Lisa Domino Project

OK, so you've got some creativity, a whole lot of free time on your hands, and 4,519 colored dominoes just lying around the house. Now what?!?

Well, how about the Mona Lisa domino project! Yeah, this is totally awesome to watch. Gotta love time-lapse video!

Domona Lisa - The Mona Lisa Domino Project


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November 24, 2007

Speed Painting - Jack Sparrow and Optimus Prime

One of the things I really enjoy watching online is speed painting. Well, technically it's not really speed painting; its "time-lapse video" of painting (digital painting with Photoshop), but in the online world it's commonly confused with, and referred to as, speed painting. Nonetheless, it's darn cool to watch.

So here are two really cool speed painting videos I've enjoyed in the past. The first digital painting is of Captain Jack Sparrow and the second is of Optimus Prime (as if I really had to introduce either of them). :P Anyway, it's just plain amazing to watch these. Hope you enjoy 'em!

Speed Painting - Captain Jack Sparrow


Speed Painting - Optimus Prime

Note: Don't forget to check out Yuwie! Yuwie is definitely going very well. Bottom line, I couldn't be happier with it. :)

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November 21, 2007

Hump Day Humor - Chuck Norris and Guitar Hero III

Well, it's Wednesday again. Bleh. So how about some hump day humor to brighten up your day? Yeah, sounds good to me! :)

So to start off, here's the latest Will It Blend? video. In this video Tom Dickson presents Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock, the recently released guitar-based music video game.

But there's only one problem...it doesn't play any Beach Boys tunes. So he's decided to get his revenge...and blend it! And as Tom says, "This is what you get for not having The Beach Boys."

Oh yeah, and he also does a little guitar-smashing action as well - Pete Townsend style. Yeah, rock on! :)

Will It Blend? - Guitar Hero III


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Chuck Norris Web Searches

Since last week's Hump Day Humor - Chuck Norris Facts And More post, I've been getting a bit of extra blog traffic due to some "Chuck Norris" searches in Google, Yahoo! and a few of the other search engines. So far, the two main search terms that have been landing people here most consistently are:
  • Chuck Norris dot com
  • Chuck Norris pee in snow
LOL. So here are a few more entertaining Chuck Norris facts. And let's see what other Chuck Norris search terms will bring people here this week! :)

Chuck Norris Facts

1. Chuck Norris can slam a revolving door.
2. Chuck Norris counted to infinity - twice.
3. When Chuck Norris does a push-up, he isn’t lifting himself up; he’s pushing the Earth down.
4. Chuck Norris' tears cure cancer. Too bad he's never cried. Ever.
5. Chuck Norris can divide by zero.
6. Chuck Norris IS allowed to talk about Fight Club.
7. Switzerland isn't neutral; they just haven't figured out which side Chuck Norris is on.
8. Chuck Norris CAN believe it's not butter.
9. Chuck Norris once had a near-death experience. And Death now refuses to come near him.
10. (My personal favorite for the week) Geico saved 15% by switching to Chuck Norris.

November 18, 2007

I Am Alive! Hip Hip Hooray!

Well, as most of you already know, I was pretty sick recently. From what? I dunno. All I do know is that I had all the signs of food poisoning...yet, I cannot figure out what I ate that made me sick...twice. And since the incubation period for foodborne illness can range anywhere from a couple of hours to several days, I'll probably never know.

Nonetheless, I'm feeling much, much better today. I still feel pretty weak from not being able to eat hardly anything for the last week or so, but that's par for the course.

I did manage make it out to the grocery store yesterday, even though I didn't feel like going anywhere at all. But since I'd chucked all of the open food in my refrigerator, there wasn't much left here to chew on, so to speak. So a trip to the grocery store was absolutely crucial.

Plus, I managed to down some yogurt and a nice turkey sandwich afterwards. So I felt worlds better. :)

A Great Big Thank You!

I'd like to sincerely thank all of you for your kind and caring comments and emails wishing me well. It's so wonderful to realize that people who know me only through the rapid pulses of light on a cathode ray tube or LCD screen can actually care so much. Bottom line...you guys (and gals) rock!!!

A Few Important Updates

Since it's been about a week since I last posted, and since the natives have also been getting a tad bit restless, I figure it's a good time for a quick update on a few things here in Aaronland.

Yuwie: Yuwie is going very well. I couldn't be happier. The Yuwie earnings report for October came out just a few days ago, and I'm happy to report that I made $0.46 last month.

I know, I know...that little bit of change isn't a whole heck of a lotta money. But hey, it's certainly not bad considering the fact that I didn't do anything different on Yuwie from what I've been doing on MySpace and Facebook all this time! And how much have they paid me? Nothing! Zero, zilch, nada! The cheap bastards. :P

And the fact that my Yuwie earnings have more than doubled since last month is also pretty damn cool. Overall, my Yuwie earnings have increased by 130%...right on the nose.

With such rapid and continual growth, it doesn't take a brain surgeon to see why I'm so pleased with Yuwie. Bottom line, you WILL make money with Yuwie. And the amount you make will definitely increase each month if you work on referring people.

So my suggestion is to join Yuwie right now. For Pete's sake, if you communicate with anyone online, in any way at all, then you'll definitely make money with Yuwie every month. And quite possibly, a lot of!

Blog Traffic: Two words...Nose and dive. OK, so technically that was three words...but you catch my drift. Bottom line, not updating my blog for the last week has definitely affected my blog traffic. And by definitely, I mean definitely. And by blog traffic, I mean, "Hello...Is there anybody out there?" -Think Pink Floyd. ;)

So don't forget, kids...be sure to update your blog regularly! EVEN IF YOU'RE DEAD!!! LOL. Otherwise, your blog traffic will do the Ole, dreaded "nose and dive" routine. :P

My Blogging Friends: Since I haven't been online much at all during the last week, due to my being sick and all, there's really not a whole lotta new stuff going on here in Aaronland at the moment.

But instead of just ending this blog post right here and now, I'll share some of the recent updates from our fellow blogging friends. To note: this portion of the updates section will also take the place of this week's Super Link Sunday post, which obviously isn't gonna happen today since I'm still playing major catch up. And as we all know, blog posts don't write themselves! Unfortunately.

Ordinary Folk Things By Mike - Well I'll be cornhobbled and dipped in shellac! :P Things By Mike has finally become...now wait for it, folks...Things By Mike! Yes! And with a slight redesign as well. So don't forget to update your bookmarks and blogrolls!


IslamCrunch 2.0 Launches - My good blogging friend Mikael Pittam has recently launched IslamCrunch version 2.0. IslamCrunch version 2.0 comes complete with a fully redesigned and customized template, as well as a brand new member to the team...Sidi Abdullah Alaydrus. So be sure to check 'em out!


Bush Mackel - A brand new blog design! Yep, Bush Mackel, the famed Link Love Loser Award winner (SLS batch #4) has a brand spanking new blog design up now! So whattaya think? Be sure to stop by Bush's blog and check it out! :)


Well, that about wraps it up for now. Thanks for reading, take care of yourself, and as always...Shine on.

November 12, 2007

Aaron's Status - Not Well

Very sick. Not able to post now. My apologies to everyone.

November 8, 2007

Date Rape Drug Found In Kids Toys

Gee, you think it's time for toy companies to stop doing business with China?! I mean, how much more needs to happen before the toy companies smarten up, act responsibly, and stop doing business with these jokers? I think this definitely falls under the category we know as GMAFB.

Date Rape Drug In Kids Toys

November 7, 2007

Hump Day Humor - Chuck Norris Facts And More

Since it's Wednesday, otherwise known as "hump day", I figured I'd post a few funny things to help brighten up your day and bring a smile to your face. So first, here's a video of Frank Caliendo, a great comedian and definitely one of the best impressionists around these days.

In this clip he does George "Dubya" Bush, Bill Clinton, Scooby-Doo, John Madden, Al Pacino, Robert Di Nero and a few others. Very funny. Frank Caliendo is definitely a very gifted comedian.

Frank Caliendo - Awesome Impressions

And to go along with my Will It Blend? - Chuck Norris post from a couple weeks ago, here are some great Chuck Norris facts I put together. They're definitely pretty entertaining.

Chuck Norris Facts

1. Guns don't kill people. Chuck Norris kills people.
2. There is no theory of evolution; just a list of animals Chuck Norris allows to live.
3. Chuck Norris does not sleep. He waits.
4. There's no chin under Chuck Norris' beard. There's just another fist.
5. When Chuck Norris wants popcorn he breathes on Nebraska.
6. The quickest way to a man's heart is with Chuck Norris' fist.
7. When the Boogeyman goes to sleep each night, he checks his closet for Chuck Norris.
8. Chuck Norris can kill two stones with one bird.
9. When Chuck Norris runs with scissors, other people get hurt.
10. Some kids pee their names into the snow. Chuck Norris pees his name into concrete.

Find more Chuck Norris facts here.

November 4, 2007

The Latest Odd News...

Here ya go! The latest U.S. news. Weird, interesting...and always up-to-date! So check it out...

NOTE: The news videos may take a few seconds to load...so just be patient...

The Latest News Videos


Make Money With Voxant News Feeds

You can embed a Voxant news feed video on your own site and make money. $7.00 for every 1,000 plays - guaranteed CPM (cost-per-thousand-impressions). Just click the "embed" button on the video above, click the "Agree & And Copy Code" button, and place the code on your site!


Voxant News Feed Setup:

1. Click the embed button located on the news feed (seen above)
2. Enter your email address and click I Accept. Then click Next.
3. Choose which size video player you want, and click next.
4. Click the Copy button to copy the code.
5. Paste the code on your blog and on ANY other website.
6. Then, go here to complete the registration: http://www.thenewsroom.com/register

Important: Revenue numbers are tracked by your email address, so don't forget to register afterwards with the SAME email address! Happy money-making!

Shine on,
Aaron

Super Link Sunday - Batch #7

Super Link Sunday - Batch #7

Listen to the audio commentary!

Hello! And welcome to the seventh edition of Super Link Sunday!

Super Link Sunday is where I take the time to feature some of the more noteworthy bloggers and blog posts I came across during the week.

But for this week, I'm gonna do things a little bit differently. See, I've been a little (understatement!) pressed for time lately. In addition, I've also been dealing with a whole lot of stress due to some personal goings-on.

But beyond all that, there's another really good reason why I'm doing things a little bit differently...so we can all help out a fellow blogging friend!

Super Link Sunday All-stars All-star

No doubt, the blogosphere is an amazing place. It's a place where we can all share our personal thoughts and opinions with the world...as freely as we want to. It's also a place where we can read the thoughts and opinions of others, choose whether or not to agree with them, and then comment about it! :)

And while there are many things that make a up good blogger, there's one virtue that I think is perhaps the most important of all. And that's the willingness...the desire...the drive to help a fellow blogger!

And that's why this week's Super Link Sunday All-star section is devoted solely to one blogger: Buch Mackel of the aptly named BushMackel.com.

Why? Well...first of all, Bush is a pretty cool guy (as far as I know :P). And secondly, he was Super Link Sunday - Batch #4's Link Love Loser Award winner! But thirdly, and most importantly of all, it's because he just launched a brand new website that he's trying to promote!

Enter, Noob Alert.

Gaming News That You Actually Care About

Noob Alert is a brand new website from our good friend Bush Mackel. It was founded in order to provide gaming news that matters. And it definitely does that!

Its goal? To create a sense of community that not even World of Warcraft can provide. Sounds good to me!

So let's all do our best to help Bush in his latest endeavor. Pass along the word in any way you can. And don't forget to give Noob Alert a Stumble and Digg! :)

Btw, Bush...I think you might really be able to capitalize on this if you start some sort of meme entitled, "You Might Be A Noob If..." and have people contribute their noobnessness to it! It's obviously a spin-off of Jeff Foxworthy's "You Might Be A Redneck" tagline, but trust me, that stuff works!

Leave A Comment Get Some Link Love

'Tis true! As part of Super Link Sunday, every single person who leaves a comment here on my blog gets some special link love in the upcoming week's SLS post. Btw, thanks to all of you for your wonderful comments!

Here are this week's awesome commentators:

Oscar (5), Bush (4), Erina (4), Mark (4), Tom (4), Bobby (2), Muse (2), Opal (2), AntiBarbie (1), Bucky (1), Heidi (1), Speedcat (1), Todd (1), Valentin (1)

*If you left a comment here this week and I didn't list you, please let me know!

Well, that about sums it up for this week's Super Link Sunday post. Do take care of yourself. And as always...Shine on!

Note: Don't forget to check out Yuwie! Trust me, it's AWESOME! If you haven't joined it yet, then be sure that you do!

But don't join Yuwie under me. Make sure to join it under one of my awesome Yuwie friends here:

Oscar Petersen
Bobby Revell

They're both very dear to me, and I can guarantee that they'll be more than willing to help you out with anything you need. Bottom line, they're AWESOME! :)

October 31, 2007

Happy Halloween From Aaron Cook Dot Com!

I'd like to wish everyone a very safe and happy Halloween! And for those of you who are in the spooky spirit of things, here's a special Halloween game for you to play. Try not to get ripped (or is that R.I.P.ed) apart by the evil zombies!!! Mwah ha ha.


And now for something completely different...

Why Pets Hate Halloween - Part II
HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!!

October 30, 2007

Why Pets Hate Halloween - Part I

I think the images pretty much speak for themselves. LOL. Though, I will note that I notice there to be an extreme lack of cats present in these Halloween pet photos. Quite simply, cats will not stand for this kind of nonsense! :P

Anyway, here's the answer to why pets hate Halloween...

Why Pets Hate Halloween - Part I


For part II of Why Pets Hate Halloween, go here. Lots more photos of pets dressed up in Halloween costumes. Poor little fellas.

The Rhett & Link Halloweenkast

Here's an entertaining video of the comedy duo Rhett & Link wherein they discuss trick-or-treating "harvesting" candy, and which costumes are acceptable to wear when you're out celebrating the harvest season.

They also do a great bit on the Internet phenomenon known as ghost-riding (a.k.a. "ghost-riding the whip" and "ghostin'"). But in true Rhett & Link comedy style, they do it with a rather funny little twist. :)

Rhett & Link Halloweenkast


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October 28, 2007

Super Link Sunday - Batch #6

Super Link Sunday - Batch #6

Listen to the audio commentary!

Hello and welcome to the sixth edition of Super Link Sunday!

Super Link Sunday is where I take the time to give out some well-deserved link love by featuring some of the more noteworthy posts, blogs and bloggers I came across during the week.

But First...Some Happy Birthday Wishes!

I'd like to take the time to wish my dad a very happy Happy Birthday! Yep, my dad turned 60 years young today! Love you, Dad! :)

To see some really cool pics of where I grew up, and of the countless sunflowers and cosmos he planted in front of our house this summer, check out out this post:

Pictures From Home - The Perfect Cheerer-upper!

And now, back to our regularly-scheduled programing...

Super Link Sunday All-stars

Impressive would be an understatement - "Every so often I love to scour the web looking for new music from artists I’ve never heard of. Believe it or not I’m not always looking for metal either. Years ago I used to play a lot of acoustic and classical guitar, so naturally one of my loves is acoustic guitar. Today I stumbled onto one of the most impressive acoustic guitarists..."

How You Can Test Everything On Your Blog - "Test Everything! does exactly what it says. Going from site to site in an endless effort to check things about your blog is a thing of the past...There are quite a few CSS and HTML validators to choose from. SEO tools abound too..."

Why leveraged income is the best kind - "I read a lot of 'make money online' blogs. I appreciate them all, as I have learned quite a bit about how to blog. But, when it comes to making money I almost feel a little sorry for some of them...Even “successful” bloggers who have hundreds or even thousands subscribers seem to be very proud of earning a couple hundred dollars from adsense. Personally I just can’t get my mind around the concept of getting paid only once to advertise somebody else’s..."

45 Best Freeware Design Programs - "In a previous post I gave you a list of 85+ Free Killer Resources Every Designer Should Know, which had a great response. Now, in the same line, I have smashed 45 Freeware Design Programs among literally thousands and thousands. It was a great quest, and it was worth it. No, it won’t replace your..."

Leave A Comment Get Some Link Love

'Tis true! As part of Super Link Sunday, every single person who leaves a comment here on my blog will get some special link love in the upcoming week's SLS post. Btw, thanks to all of you for your wonderful comments!

Here are this week's awesome commentators, listed in alphabetical order:

Andrew, AntiBarbie, Bobby, Dave, Erina, Hernan, Kristina, Mark, Mike, Muse, Opal, Oscar, Tish, Todd, Tom, Ty, Valentin

*If you left a comment here this week and I didn't list you, please let me know!

The Link Love Wild Card

In Super Link Sunday - Batch #3 I introduced the Link Love Wild Card. This is where I randomly pick a blog and "hand" out some link love. And since it's totally at random, it'll most likely be a blog I've not come across before.

So let's deal the cards, shall we? This week's Link Love Wild Card is:

VirusHead - VirusHead is a blog written by Dr. Heidi (a.k.a. VirusHead). According to her about section, VirusHead is a blog where, "a humanities Ph.D. posts on viral themes, politics, religion, culture, and daily life."

Though I've not yet had the time to thoroughly explore Heidi's blog (as the Link Love Wild Card is chosen totally at random), VirusHead looks to be a pretty interesting place. In fact, and as far as I'm concerned, any blog that uses the description, "Mutating bits of contagious discourse, because language is a virus," must be, at the very least, interesting!

So be sure to drop by Heidi's blog and say hello!

The Link Love Loser Award

Also recently new to Super Link Sunday is the Link Love Loser Award. This is an award that I reserve specifically for bloggers whom I can't stand, really hate and totally despise - but of course, only on Opposite Day! ;)

Lasts week's Link Love Loser Award recipient was the, "Nothing worth reading. Nothing worth seeing. Nothing but a vast collection of, 'I'd rather chew glass than read this mindless drivel' drivel" blog of Valentin.

This week's famed Link Love Loser Award goes to:

MeAndMyDrum - OK, so where do I start on this one?! Sheesh. First of all, just check out the blog's name...MeAndMyDrum. Yeah, and this from a guy that got all over Valentin last week for not being able to afford an "e" at the end of his name.

Yeah, you should talk, Mark! You can't even afford SPACES for your blog's name! Never mind the fact that you only have ONE freakin' drum! Any decent blogger would have at least one extra drum on hand in case the drum head broke! Not to mention other important drumming components like, say: symbols, hi-hats, tom-toms, a kick pedal, a throne, etc.

But nooo, not you! It's just YOU and YOUR DRUM!

Honestly, I'd like to spend more time on this one, but I simply don't have the time to devote waste on these ONE-man, ONE-drum bands anymore. Those days passed long ago...back when I learned how to use a telephone and ask people, "Hey, how much for that drum kit?"

Collective Applause

So let's all give a big, rhythmic round of applause for this week's Link Love Loser Award winner! And be sure to leave a comment to let Mark know how much you truly hate his blob...I mean, blog....On Opposite Day! ;)

Also...don't forget to Stumble (and/or Digg) this post! -Especially if you were mentioned in it! Stumbling and Digging any post that links to your blog means more traffic for you! :)