August 30, 2007

Spider-Plant Man - A Hilarious Parody

Holy screaming comedy sketches, Batman! This Spider-Man parody totally had me in stitches this evening. It's hilarious. Enjoy!

Spider-Plant Man - Part One


Spider-Plant Man - Part Two


About: Spider-Plant Man is a parody of Spider-Man that was made for Comic Relief in 2005. It features Rowan Atkinson (Mr. Bean) as Peter Piper/Spider-Plant Man and Rachel Stevens as Jane-Mary (his love interest, parodying Mary-Jane Watson). Jim Broadbent portrays Batman and Tony Robinson portrays Robin.

August 28, 2007

Free Live Chat For Your Blog!

If you've ever thought of incorporating live chat into your blog, then Geesee might just be your answer. Geesee is an embedded chat service that lets you and your blog readers communicate with each other, as well as with other online users.

Having a Geesee chat box on your blog will allow you and your readers to chat with each other in real-time, anytime.
It also lets your readers communicate across any number of web sites in common chat rooms that are organized by tags.

In other words, you can use Geesee to chat about any topic while you're here on this blog with people who are on other blogs or websites! Bottom line, Geesee is a powerful connector for thematic conversations all around the web. :)


How Geesee Free Chat Works

To give you an idea of how Geesee's free chat works, I’ve embedded a Geesee chat room window at the end of this blog post. And though I've only toyed around with Geesee briefly, I must say that I really like it so far!

But this isn't Geesee's first rodeo. The Slovakian startup actually had its prelaunch back in September of '06 - and "officially" launched two months later in early November. So they've had some time to work the bugs out.

Geesee Free Chat Availability

Currently, Geesee chat rooms can be used with: Blogger, WordPress, TypePad, PhpBB, MySpace, Firefox and Netvibes. More options will follow, as user necessity plays out.



Greet Your Blog Visitors By Their Location

If you'd like to welcome your blog readers with a special message based on their geographical location, then you might want to give IP2Phrase a whirl.

IP2Phrase™ lets you put dynamic and customizable messages on your blog that your visitors will see when they land on your page. For example, if Batman were to visit your blog, he might see a greeting that reads a little something like this:

"A special welcome to all of our great crime-fighting
friends from Gotham City!"



IP2Phrase™ simply translates your visitors' IP addresses into their geographic locations. So someone visiting form Los Angeles would see "Los Angeles" in the message, whereas Batman would see "Gotham City".

You can write your own greeting or use one of the default greetings. The IP2Phrase™ service is completely free and requires no sign up or registration. Just place a snippet of JavaScript code in your template and you're good to go. The only requirement is that you give a backlink to the IP2Phrase™ site.

The only issue I see is that at times your IP address is located in a different city than you are...depending on which location your ISP is using at the time. But that's no biggy. Even though my greeting was for a neighboring city it still caught my attention enough to write a post about it!

August 25, 2007

George Bush - What A Tard

First, I have some good news...my dad just called to let me know that he's no longer in the hospital. He was finally able to come home today. Woo hoo!

So after all the stress from this week, I needed to unwind a bit while I worked to catch up on emails, etc. And while I was online I came across some George Bush videos. I swear, he's got to be the biggest tard ever. But hey, at least they're a hoot to watch.

A Master Of The English Language


Bush Presidential Speeches Compilation

August 23, 2007

So How Was Your Week? Mine Was Craaaaazy!

So how's your week been? Hopefully it's been much better than mine, which has been extremely stressful and hectic!

I don't have a whole lot of time to get into the details now, so here's a quick "chronological breakdown" of what's happened so far this week...


1.
One of my best friends, who is like a dear sister to me (the sister I never had), was admitted to the emergency room earlier this week. But the good news is that she's fine now. Thank goodness! Long story short, she has Lupus, which at times leads to a whole slew of issues and complications and things that the rest of us are glad we don't ever have to deal with.

She's actually the reason I donated my car to charity rather than selling it or trading it in when I bought my new car a couple of months back. By donating my car, a portion of its value went to the charity of my choice, which of course is the Lupus Foundation of America. So if you're looking for a very worthwhile charity, please do consider this one! :)

2. My dad was also admitted to the emergency room...just yesterday! For goodness sakes! But the good news is that he seems to be fine now as well. He's still in the hospital, however, but hopefully (fingers crossed) he'll be well enough to go home tomorrow...provided that everything goes according to plan.

*If you'd like to a "Get well soon!" message to my dad, just leave it in a comment and I'll make sure that he sees it. I know it'll make his day! :)

3. I was in a car accident today. Rear ended...while stopped at a stop sign! Go figure. But if that's not bad enough, the guy who rear ended me...as it turns out...HAS NO CAR INSURANCE! Yep, it appears that "Juan's" policy was canceled some time ago. Gee, how surprisingly nice.

This is a common problem, especially here in Florida. Uninsured motorists continually game the system. And they do it just like this:

They buy a policy so they can get their vehicle registration...but then they only make the first, initial payment, and that's it. So their policy is quickly canceled. But the state doesn't know that! So if you get into an accident with one of them then you end up paying for it out of your own darn pocket.

Sure, your insurance will cover the damages, but if you have a deductible (like most people), you have to pay it. And in this case, the deductible is $500. Nice. All this so Juan the f-tard can drive illegally on our Florida roads.

Grrrrrrrrr!

Yeah, so I'm still pretty ticked off. But what really gets me is that I wasn't just out on a simple joyride all by myself when he slammed into me (us). I was on my way to a park with my best friend's (see #1) two-year-old daughter for an afternoon of playing and exploration and fun.

And she was sooo excited to be going to the park. Even after the accident (once she had calmed down), while the police and firemen were completing their accident reports, she repeatedly said to them, "Park, park. I go to park. Aaron and me go to park and plaaay!" The poor dear thought we were still going to the park! :(

And for the rest of the afternoon it was much the same thing. Park, park, park. Also accompanied by: Firetruck, street sweeper, tow truck, car had accident, car has boo-boo, Aaron has boo-boo on head, car go boom, etc.

So that's that. And now my neck is tight and sore and Juan's Nationwide policy is as useless as tits on a boar. Just perfect. Yeah, so how was your week? Like I said, I hope it's been much better than mine! :P

August 21, 2007

Dell To Preinstall Firefox As Default Browser?



Yes, it's true. Dell is currently considering the option of preinstalling Firefox as a default browser on new Dell computers. According to Dell's IdeaStorm site, the option is most definitely being considered.

What Is IdeaStorm?

IdeaStorm (a twist on the word "brainstorm") is Dell's customer feedback site. It's their way of building an online community that brings customers closer to the creative side of technology by allowing them to share ideas and interact with other Dell customers as well as Dell experts.

As for Firefox, and having it preinstalled as a default browser, here's what Dell had to say:

Does what it says on the tin! Most people only use IE because they aren't aware of other browsers - they think Internet Explorer is the Internet! What would really drive take up of alternative browsers is if Firefox was pre-installed as the default browser so that when people look for the "Internet" in Windows, they are using FF.

Firefox On Dell Computers

Firefox has been working to achieve such an integration with Dell since sometime last year. It's part of their strategy to get Firefox "closer to the average user". Obviously, the ideal way to accomplish this is to eliminate the main step in the process of getting Firefox - the download!

And that, of course, means getting the Firefox browser preinstalled on new OEM (original equipment manufacturer) computers...especially Dell computers.

But why Dell? Simple. Dell is the biggest worldwide manufacturer and retailer of personal computers, as well as business and corporate PCs. So as Firefox sees it:

Getting Firefox installed by default on Dells will be watershed and should be one of the top priorities for the Firefox marketing campaign.

Why Firefox Is Good For Dell

Why would Dell want to preinstall Firefox? For starters: a predictable, financial return. And in addition to that, the possibility of further branding (e.g. Firefox by Dell or Dell Firefox). Both of these - branding and financial return - could easily be integrated into a start page similar to the default Firefox page.

But the bottom line is still fairly simple: Google equals money. Everyone knows that, including Dell. And preinstalling Firefox as a default browser on Dell computers would definitely yield some awesome monetary returns for Dell. What type of returns, exactly? Well, according to Firefox:

After installing Firefox on new PCs, Dell receive a cut of the revenue stream from Google searches performed with Dell Firefox, while Firefox continues to receive a cut as well. This is a major selling point and there is major room for negotiation with Dell on this one. This business model could ensure the OEM, Dell, a revenue stream right down the line after the consumer buys the PC.

Your Intellections

So what do you think? Would preinstalling Firefox as a default browser be good for Dell? Would it be good for consumers? Why or why not?

Personally, I say yes and yes. Internet Explorer stinks compared to Firefox. So why not give consumers a better choice when it comes to browsers?

August 20, 2007

Will It Blend? - Light Bulbs

Got a bright idea? Well, it looks like Tom does too. He's about to blend up some light bulbs. Hey Tom, remember: Don't breathe that glass dust...you could get silicosis! :)



Share This Video
Flash Embed

August 17, 2007

Friday Night's Alright For Link Love! - Batch 2

Since my first Friday Night's Alright for Link Love! post was so well received, I've decided to make it a weekly addition to this blog.

So every Friday night...before I go out...I'm going to take the time to give some well-deserved link love to my wonderful blogging friends out there. Sound good? Well, I certainly hope so!

First up: Mike of Ordinary Folk. I'd like to thank Mike for bestowing upon me the Daily Blogger Award. Many thanks Mike. I appreciate it! :)

Now, if you've never been to Mike's blog before, then by all means, get your butt over there. And if you have, then get your butt over there again!

Oh yeah...and keep your sights locked on this guy. I guarantee that sometime in the very near future we'll be reading about him in the newspapers and such. There's no doubt in my mind that his Gummy - The Lovesick Alien cartoon will be picked up soon and become famous. :)

Next up: Bobby Revell of Revellian. What can I say? I have a lot of respect for this guy, even though I've only recently met him as a blogger.

Bobby is one of those rare individuals who happily puts others before himself. He cares very much about those around him. He looks out for them. He defends them. But when he's not out protecting their honor, he's exercising his creative side.

Bobby's been a writer for all of his life. He's written over 300 poems, hundreds of haikus and about 50 fiction stories. He sees art as way to honestly express himself. But what really drives him is helping to break down the barriers of race and religion. As Bobby says, "My biggest, most bothersome annoyance in life is racism. I for one believe that blogging and the social networks are doing a lot to combat this ridiculous problem. I see it helping more than any other single factor in history."

So be sure to make Revellian one of your regular reads. I guarantee that you won't regret it.

Speedlinking - August 17, 2007

OK, I'm running short on time here before I have to head out the door. So here's a quick list of posts that are interesting:

Five4All - Valentin's post One Video Clip, Plenty Of Meanings is sure to tickle your funny bone. It's a video clip of Monty Python's "International Philosophy" sketch where German philosophers take on Greek philosophers in a game of football (soccer for us Americans).

If you've never seen Plato, Socrates and Aristotle play soccer before, then now is your chance!

Brown Thoughts - Brown Baron's post Hollywood Movies Contribute To Ignorance Of Real Science? has sparked up a nice bit of conversation. So why not join in? At the very least, just drop by to say hello. Brown will enjoy it, and you'll be sure to find something very useful on his blog.

Pink Internet Marketing - Searching for God? You know...the almighty, omnipotent one? Well, Danielle's found him! And now you can actually chat with him...online! But just don't ask him about dogs, and whether or not they go to heaven. Seems he doesn't know the answer to that one. But hey, at least he's willing to find out. See: Searching For God In Google.

Tech Corner - Want to add a little life to your blog? Then how about a voice? Benedict Herold's post Transform Your Blog Into Podcast Using Autocasting will show you how to do just that. As Benedict points out, "Podcasting would allow readers to listen to your post while they are working in parallel. Thus it would help the author to convey their complete story to their reader rather than readers scanning the post text."

Bush Mackel - Increasing AdSense Revenues. Sheesh, need I say more? Well, just in case I do, here's what I have to say...Well worth the read! These tips that Bush got from one of the biggest AdSense gurus are great...and they're simple. So if you want to increase your AdSense earnings, here are some things to keep in mind.

Elvis Presley - Once The King, Always The King

Yesterday marked the 30th anniversary of Elvis Presley's death. Elvis Aaron Presley was born on January 8, 1935 and passed away on August 16, 1977.

So here's a little tribute post to The King. It's a collection of quotes about him made by other famous musicians. It's pretty interesting to see what a huge influence he was on these artists - the biggest names in the music industry.


Bono - "Elvis is like the Big Bang of rock 'n' roll. It all came from there."
Bruce Springsteen - "Elvis is my religion. But for him I'd be selling encyclopedias."
Frank Sinatra - "I'm just a singer. Elvis was the embodiment of the whole American culture."
Bob Dylan - "When I first heard Elvis' voice I just knew I wasn't going to work for anybody; and nobody was going to be my boss...Hearing him was like busting out of jail."
John Lennon - "Nothing really affected me until I heard Elvis. If there hadn't been an Elvis, there wouldn't have been a Beatles."
Paul McCartney - "When we were kids growing up in Liverpool, all we ever wanted to be was Elvis Presley."
Johnny Cash - "Elvis was such a nice guy, and so talented and charismatic...He loved cheeseburgers, girls and his mother, not necessarily in that order."
Mick Jagger - "He was a unique artist...and original in an area of imitators."
Keith Richards - "Before Elvis, everything was in black and white. Then came Elvis. Zoom, glorious Technicolor."
Jim Morrison - "Elvis is the best ever, the most original. He started the ball rolling for all of us."
B.B. King - "His phraseology, his way of looking at a song, was as unique as Sinatra's...Had Elvis lived, there would have been no end to his inventiveness."
Elton John - "If it hadn't been for Elvis, I don't know where popular music would be. He was the one that started it all."


Some Cool Elvis Facts

• E
lvis was a big fan of the British comedy troupe Monty Python and would often act out their skits in front of his friends.
• Elvis' very first Ed Sullivan Show appearance, on September 9, 1956, was seen by an estimated 55-60 million viewers. That's at least 21 million more viewers than the last American Idol finale had.
• Elvis loved giving Cadillacs as gifts and would even give them to strangers. One day, when Mennie L. Person, a Memphis bank teller, was admiring his Cadillac he appeared and asked her if she liked it. He then took her to a nearby showroom and told her to pick out any car she wanted.
• Elvis had a black belt in karate and was so passionate about the martial arts that he gave his instructor $50,000 to build a karate school in Memphis, Tennessee.
• According to a recent poll by CBS television and one by CNN/USA Today, approximately 45% of Americans consider themselves to be Elvis fans.
• Elvis is the most impersonated celebrity of all time. It's estimated that there are over 50,000 people in the world who make a living as Elvis impersonators.
• More people (1.5 billion) tuned into Elvis' Aloha From Hawaii concert than watched the very first moon landing (1.2 billion).

August 15, 2007

Increase Your AdSense Earnings - Monitor Keyword Density

As a rule, Google doesn't release exactly how they determine which AdSense ads are served on a particular page and which ones are not.

But they do make it very clear that what matters is your text content, not what's in your meta tags.

It's for this reason alone that you want to keep an eye on your keyword density when writing and serving AdSense ads on your pages. A good, free tool that will help you do just this is the Keyword Density and Prominence Tool.

This tool will show you your keyword density and keyword placement (prominence) and give you detailed feedback on such important areas as your:

  • Header data
  • HTML code
  • Page elements
  • Outgoing links
It will also warn you if it detects possible stopwords, adult words and "poison words" that could negatively effect your AdSense earnings.


Bottom line, this is a great tool to keep handy. And it'll really make you happy when you see your AdSense earnings increase!

August 9, 2007

It's The Seven P's Blog Meme!

I was just tagged by the lovely Danielle of Pink Internet Marketing for the Seven P's blog meme, which was created yesterday by Bucky, the West Virginia blogger behind The WVb blog.

I do my best on this one, however, I must warn you! I'm a little worse for wear! See, I had an incessant bout of insomnia last night - which means that I've been up nonstop since 6:00 a.m. yesterday. And just to give you a little point of reference here, it's now 4:01 p.m. the following day.

Holy disrupted circadian rhythms, Batman!

Yeah, so here we go. And I'm gonna get a little creative on this one as well. I'm going to answer each word by using just a single line from one of my all-time favorite quotes. Neat idea, eh? Yeah, my sleepless, acorn-of-a-brain thought so, too! :P

Passion - to appreciate beauty
Purpose - to leave the world a little better
Pursuit - to find the best in others
Position - to have succeeded
Pummeling - endure the betrayal of false friends
Progress - a redeemed social condition
Personality - to laugh often and much

The Famed, Misattributed Quote


The following quote is often attributed to Ralph Waldo Emerson (and sometimes Robert Louis Stevenson), however, that's not correct. It's actually an adaptation from a poem written in 1904 by Bessie Anderson Stanley for a contest covered in Brown Book Magazine.

In fact, no version of the quote has ever been found in any of Emerson's writings. Nonetheless, here's the quote...

"To laugh often and much; to win the respect of intelligent people and the affection of children; to earn the appreciation of honest critics and endure the betrayal of false friends; to appreciate beauty; to find the best in others; to leave the world a bit better, whether by a healthy child, a garden patch or a redeemed social condition; to know even one life has breathed easier because you have lived. This is to have succeeded."

The "Real" Success Poem


Success (What is Success? or What Constitutes Success?)
By Bessie Anderson Stanley

He has achieved success who has lived well, laughed often, and loved much;
Who has enjoyed the trust of pure women, the respect of intelligent men and the love of little children;
Who has filled his niche and accomplished his task;
Who has never lacked appreciation of Earth's beauty or failed to express it;
Who has left the world better than he found it,
Whether an improved poppy, a perfect poem, or a rescued soul;
Who has always looked for the best in others and given them the best he had;
Whose life was an inspiration;
Whose memory a benediction.

Tagging - The Fabulous 7


For this blog meme I'm tagging the bloggers who've most recently visited this blog. And what better a way to show my appreciation than to give a little link love. Of course, this meme doesn't require that I tag "seven" people, but since it's called "The Seven P's" that's how many I'm choosing.

So the Fabulous 7 are: JessicaTheCat, Terence Culkin, Bush Mackel, Valentin, Terence Chang, The Rich Blogger and Cristian Raiber.

August 8, 2007

Will It Blend? - Easy Cheese



Ha ha, here's another "explosive" Will It Blend video. Easy Cheese in the blender...can and all. Need more iron in your diet? Tom's got the answer!



Share This Video
Flash Embed

Gmail And Yahoo! Mail Hacked - How To Protect Yourself

In front of a live audience at the Black Hat security convention, Robert Graham (CEO Errata Security) showed how it was possible to hack into popular email programs like Gmail, Yahoo! Mail and Hotmail without using any passwords. All he needed was an IP Address and username.

At the convention, Graham was able to hijack someone’s Gmail account during his unscripted demonstration.
The attack is actually quite simple. First Graham needs to be able to sniff data packets and in our case the open Wi-Fi network at the convention fulfilled that requirement. He then ran Ferret to copy all the cookies flying through the air. Finally, Graham cloned those cookies into his browser – in easy point-and-click fashion - with a home-grown tool called Hamster. -Source TG Daily

The attack is able to hijack sessions in just about any web application that uses cookies. He was able to successfully break into the big three: Gmail, Yahoo! Mail and Hotmail.

As Graham stated, “I see ten people’s cookies on my screen, I just need to click on the guy’s IP address and I’m in. Once you get someone’s Google account, you’d be surprised at the stuff you’d find."

How You Can Protect Yourself

What can you do to safeguard your email, especially in public Wi-Fi hotspots? Be sure to use a secure login (HTTPS instead of HTTP) every single time. This
will send your credentials over an encrypted Secure Sockets Layer (SSL), which will encrypt your login session and prevent your cookies from being cloned.

For Gmail: Use https://mail.google.com/mail/
For Yahoo!: Click the "Secure" link below the "Sign In" button.
For Hotmail: Click the "Sign in using enhanced security" link on the sign in form.

If you have any login pages (for any type of online account) bookmarked, be sure to check and see if they have secure login pages available. Then, update your bookmarks to those pages.

August 7, 2007

Holy Yellow Amphibious Sports Cars, Batman!

Everyone once in a while there comes along a vehicle that receives endless "oohs" and "ahhs" from its onlookers. And the Hydra Spyder, made by Cool Amphibious Manufacturers International (C.A.M.I.), is definitely one of them!

With its 450-horsepower Corvette LS2 fuel-injected engine, and its 5-speed Tremec TKO high performance manual transmission, ain't no catfish gonna outrun outswim this puppy! I mean, Spyder!




Holy Hydro-speeding Land Cruisers, Batman!

Look at that Spyder go!






But if you want one of these bad boys, be prepared to shell out at least $155,000. That's the starting price. But it's probably well worth it since the Hydra Spyder comes with:

  • Berkley Marine Jet with power trim & steering package
  • Computerized air ride retractable 4-point front & rear suspension
  • Stainless steel Sidewinder exhaust system
  • Full engine instrumentation package
  • 4-wheel disc brakes
  • 265/70R 17" wheels
  • Convertible top
But Wait, My Tight-wearing Superheroes - There's More!

Now, you couldn't properly call yourself a "cool" amphibious vehicle manufacturer if you only made but one amphibious model, right? So how about something a little more spacious...something we can fit the whole family in, perhaps?

Enter, The Terra Wind RV

The Terra Wind RV motor coach is the world's very first luxury amphibious motor home. Yes, I kid ye not. This is a fully-loaded, floating, cruising, we-can-party-anywhere-biatch, RV!



Luxury Beyond Luxury

The Terra Wind RV is sure to fulfill your every desire while on the road...or water, for that matter. For example, it comes fully equipped with neat things like:

  • 8-Jet jacuzzi/tub
  • 42" plasma TV
  • 600-watt surround sound stereo
  • DVD, VHS and CD players
  • GPS Navigation System & Onboard computer
  • Marbled floors & shower
  • Leather furniture
  • Mirrored ceilings (no comment)
  • Granite counter tops
But Wait, That's Not All!

So you want something a little more, shall we say, YELLOW...and tour-like? Then how about the Hydra-Terra?

And no, this model isn't a joke, folks. Both Royal Caribbean and Celebrity Cruise Lines have agreed to sell amphibious tours on Hydra-Terras.

But much more importantly, they're also being used as search and rescue vehicles. They're completely U.S. Coastguard approved, and meet all regulations for passenger vessels, as well as those from the Department of Transportation.

Driver side and passenger side airbags? Yep, got 'em!

Very cool. Yet, I can still only think of one thing when I look at the Hydra-Terra in action. And that is...

Holy Rocketing Banana Torpedoes, Batman!


For more detailed information on these rad, amphibious vehicles, check out Cool Amphibious Manufacturers International. Their site has lots of great photos of these and other amphibious models.

If you enjoyed this post, please Digg it!

August 6, 2007

Are You A Desperate Blogger?

Rocky Tayaban of Blogging Mix wrote a good post a few days ago that asked the question, "Are you a desperate blogger?" In his post he detailed what he called The 9 Acts of Desperation. Here's the basic rundown:

The 9 Acts of Desperation

1. Create lots of free blogs and link to your official blog.
2. Fake your own comment and use positive feedback.
3. Create numerous accounts with Digg, Reddit and Delicious then submit and vote your own post.
4. Nominate and vote for your own blog.
5. Fake your traffic.
6. Pick a fight with other bloggers to become controversial.
7. Steal concepts and ideas from other bloggers.
8. Lie on your title, site description, etc.


Terence Chang even added a few more of his own.

So Am I A Desperate Blogger?

Thankfully, I've only been guilty of one of them. Well, sort of. I do have a Digg account and I have submitted posts of mine in the past. But I don't see that there's anything wrong with that. It's not unethical at all. It's just another way to reach new readers when you've got a really good post to share.

But what about faking comments? Luckily, I haven't felt the need or desire to resort to that. But it does continue to be a hot topic of debate among bloggers. Here's what Darren Rowse of ProBlogger had to say about it:

I’ll be honest and say that on my first blog I did do a few fake comments in the very very early days. I used them in the same way that you’re suggesting here - to get conversations going and to make the blog look a little more active.

Though it's important to point out what he says right after that.

So I understand the temptation to use them - however I can say from my experience of them that they didn’t work very well for me and the conversations that I had on my blogs in the early days that had a more lasting impact were natural ones with real readers.

Your Intellections

So what are your thoughts? And where do you draw the line between being "desperate" and just plain actively promoting your blog? We all need to self-promote; there's no doubt about that. And if even you've done some of these, is it really all that bad?

I mean, there are certainly a lot more evil things being done by bloggers these days. I won't mention any names, of course, but most of you know at least one person I'm referring to (hint: evil).

So where do you draw the line? And is it really all that bad to be little desperate (for lack of a better term) when you're first starting out? And lastly, how many licks does it take to get to the Toostie Roll center of a Tootsie Pop?

New AdSense Ad Units Spotted!

Today I noticed a new type of AdSense ad showing up on my blog, so I took some screenshots. They're regular ad units, but they've got some extra links in them.

Here's what the ad looked like on my blog.


And here's the actual ad itself. As you can see, it's got some additional links below the black text.


Now the question, is what will this do for our CTR? And what kind of ads are they? For example, when I hovered my mouse over "RSS Feed" I saw this:

javascript:gurl('ChBGtsWPAAvTQo4U1MgRmVlZBvxCfEgtDigBSLTkrw4')

Apparently, when they're clicked on, a new ad displays in the same ad block. But I don't know this for certain. It was stated in a comment I had read on another blog and I'm about to click on my own ads to find out.

August 4, 2007

We're All Number 1 On Technorati!

Well, there seems to be a bit of a glitch on Technorati today. As you can see in the screenshot below, my Technorati rank is 1 and I'm in the top 100. Woo hoo! Man, if only that were true!


Yes, everyone is number 1 right now. So I say party hard while it lasts! :)

August 3, 2007

Friday Night's Alright For Link Love!

So it's Friday. And what better way to celebrate the weekend than to give out a little well-deserved link love! So with no further ado, here are some wonderful bloggers who definitely deserve a mention and the attention...

Bush Mackel talks about the good, the bad and the ugly regarding his blog and how he's managed to triple his page views and unique visitors. So be sure to drop by and see if what's helped him might also be able to help your blog. And don't forget to wish him well for this month too!


Bobby Revell of Revellian shares his appreciation for the recent award he received. And in his usual, very caring way, he tells why Jean is the best. Bobby is truly a great guy, and there are few people in this world who are as sincere and appreciative as he is. So drop by his blog and say hello. You'll be glad you did.


Mike Wheeler of Ordinary Folk just just started something new on his blog. He's combining link love with a little Friday humor. It's a great way to introduce people to the many different comic artists on the web and tickle your funny bone at the same time! Sounds like a winner to me!


Brown Baron has a good warning post about a new type of malware that's been discovered. The W32.Deletemusic worm spreads via removable flash drives and deletes all of your MP3 files. So head on over to Brown's blog to find out more about it. Oh yeah, and be sure to backup your music files! Btw, thanks BB. That reminded me to run a virus scan. :)


Danielle of Pink Internet Marketing shares some good, useful tips for using AdSense Referrals 2.0, which has just recently come out of beta. So head on over to the land of pink and give Danielle a nice big hello. She's a great person and great blogger. Plus, she loves chocolate and garlic roasted mashed potatoes. Bonus!


Valentin of Five 4 All has a great video post about Romania, his home country. There are a lot of cool things most people don't know about Romania, and this neat video should change that. So give Valentin a visit. He deserves it. He goes out of his way to comment on peoples' blogs and interact with them, and he always has something clever to say. Not to mention, he's pretty darn funny!

August 2, 2007

You Can Take Your Racial Slurs And Stick Them!

Current Mood: A little ticked off. And here's why: I'm bothered by the fact that so many people still use racial slurs quite frequently in their everyday lives, and that they use them ever so nonchalantly, as you'll soon see...

Here's the back story: I was checking my site stats earlier, when I noticed that someone had found their way here via a Google search. Now, while that's not at all out of the ordinary for this blog, the search term they used most certainly is. It's a racial slur...both derogatory and stereotypical.

The Racial Slur - Dot What?

Yessiree, someone was searching on Google for a Seinfeld character, and the search term they used was (and I quote), "DOT HEAD FROM SEINFELD." Yes, my friends, some dilrod was actually searching Google for that. How lazy, pathetic and insensitive can one be?

Dot head? Come on, that's just so utterly lame. What a pudding head this person must be. Anyway, here's the screenshot I took of the page so you can actually see it for yourself. Just click the image to enlarge it.


As you can see, this narrow-minded nitwit actually used those sad words when searching for a Seinfeld character. And not only that, but he/she was "SHOUTING" in the search box as well. Methinks someone needs a really good smack! Anyway, the whole thing just kinda set me off, which of course made me want to blog about it.

As for the search itself, there were 195,000 results, and this blog happened to come up in both the #1 and #2 spots. But there are no racial slurs anywhere on here! No way. Google just ranked me there, I suppose, because of the "dot" in the Aaron Cook dot Com blog title, and because I've mentioned Seinfeld here a couple of times.

Babu Bhatt - The Seinfeld Character

Based on my knowledge of Seinfeld, and of the Seinfeld characters themselves (Seinfeld freak alert!), I'm simply going to assume that this person was searching for the Pakistani character named Babu Bhatt, which was played by the very talented Brian George.

The Babu character is probably best known for waving his finger, while saying to Jerry Seinfeld, "You bad man! You very very bad man!" As seen here in this DVD screenshot. This is Seinfeld season 7, episode #24, at the 19:54 mark.


This episode was titled "The Café" and it was the first actual appearance of Babu Bhatt. He would later appear again in "The Visa" (season 4) and "The Finale" (season 9).

Season 9 was the final season of Seinfeld. "The Finale" was the name given to the final two episodes of Seinfeld, which aired on May 14, 1998 to an audience of over 76 million people.

Yeah, so, that's that. I suppose perhaps I shouldn't get so irritated over things like this. But c'mon, it's just plain pedestrian. And of all the words to use when searching for a TV character, why choose to use those when there are so many other pertinent words available from which to choose?

Share Your Doozies With Everyone!

Anyway, I'm curious. What are your thoughts on this subject? And what odd search terms have landed people on your blog? I know I've seen some "real doozies" in my time, but this is the first racial slur that has landed someone here.