Cha-Ching!

Sand dollars are in the Echinoid (Echinoderms) class of marine animals. When alive, they are covered with a suit of moveable spines that encompass the entire shell. Like its close relative the sea urchin, the sand dollar has five sets of pores arranged in a petal pattern. The pores are used to move sea water into its internal water-vascular system, which allows for movement.

The name “sand dollar” is a reference to their round flat shape, which is similar to a large coin. Sand dollars usually eat tiny particles of food that float in the water. They hide by burying themselves under the sand.

The term “sand dollar” can also refer to the skeleton or test left when a sand dollar dies. By the time the test washes up on the beach, it is usually missing its velvety covering of minute spines and has a somewhat bleached appearance due to its exposure to the sun. There is even a Legend of the Sand Dollar. they are popular ornaments around Christmas and Easter because of the legend.

A man in a bar sees a friend at a table, drinking by himself. Approaching the friend, he comments, “You look terrible. What’s the problem?”

“My mother died in June,” he said, “and left me $10,000.”

“Gee, that’s tough,” he replied.

“Then in July,” the friend continued, “My father died, leaving me $50,000.”

“Wow. Two parents gone in two months. No wonder you’re depressed.”

“And last month my aunt died, and left me $15,000.”

“Three close family members lost in three months??? How sad!!!”

“Then this month,…” continued, the friend, “Nothing! Not a single dime!”

Cha-Ching!

When I was a kid, there was something magical about the night where we would all eat TV dinners on our TV trays infront of the TV. It was always a special event. We would dine on Salisbury Steak and Apple Pie while watching Brady Brunch. Nowadays, lunch or dinner around the TV is alot more common and not quite the “Special Treat” it used to be. In fact the need for TV trays is even more necessary now if you use your laptop while sitting on the couch.

The new Table Mate TV Tray is wonderful in that it has legs that slide under the couch so you that your not constantly bumping into it (and you can pull it right up to your lap) and it tilts and will hold up to 50 pounds. Buy it here and get it faster and $5 cheaper than on TV.

“Lords of Chaos” is a very well-written book that documents certain key events in the rise and fall of the Satanic movement in extreme metal. Beginning with a slight history of the proto-black/death metal bands of the ’80′s (i.e. Bathory, Venom, King Diamond, Slayer, etc…), and bringing the reader to the early ’90′s when the Norwegian black metal scene declared its supremacy, this book tells it like it was.

Everything from the church burnings (for which Samoth of Emperor was imprisoned), to Faust’s (Emperor’s drummer) murder of a homosexual fan, to the suicide of Dead (Mayhem’s vocalist), to the murder of Oystein “Euronymous” Aarseth (Mayhem’s guitarist) at the hands of friend and Burzum mainman Varg Vikernes, to the German band Absurd’s own transgressions in the following years, this book is pretty much a black metal historian’s dream. The philosophy is not elaborated on as much as it should, but there are several chapters that deal specifically with Anton LeVay’s brand of Satanism (right down to an interview with him) to several notes on Nordic/Viking mythology, and plenty of rare photos and interviews with key personalities in the scene, including Ihsahn (Emperor), Varg (Burzum), and even the guys in Cradle of Filth (a.k.a. black metal goes pop). It is definitely not for all tastes, and even fans of black metal may find it horrid to find that a scene that carries so much enjoyment also carried such terror and insanity. Not for the weak of heart. Other than that, it is an interesting read…

Coming up on my 2 year anniversary.
Wonder if anyone will notice?
Wonder if I’ll even get a review?
Wonder if I’ll get a raise?

This software sure could help around here.
Employee Appraisals and Reviews

Cha-Ching!

Okay so you’ve seen it peppered throughout my blog, but this new site called http://www.payperpost.com pays me to write blog entries. Yup, For example, I just made $10 for writing this one. It’s freaking awesome and it’s also forced me to write more often on my blog, so you’re benefitting from it too.

If you have a blog, I would HIGHLY reccomend that you go and check this out. If not, email your friends that do. Especially if your blogging daily anyways. Why not get paid to do it?

I’d like a lettuce, tomato and Munster on rye
All this cheese is gonna make me cry
Gorgonzola, Provolone
Don’t even get me started on this microphone

Cha-Ching!

Okay so there is this online site that allows you to upload a photo of yourself and create free passport photos, which is great if you really need one. The cost to do so has always been WAAAYY overpriced. So on one hand it’s a great service, but on the other I can’t help but think about what mine would look like.

http://www.epassportphoto.com

What is OJ Simpsons e-mail address?

/// \ ESC

So last year I missed close to 2/3 of the Red Wings Games because my satellite TV provider – Dish Network – dropped the OLN network from their channel lineup. It seems that that OLN is owned by Comcast and had the exclusive re-broadcast rights for the games. So because of political reasons Dish wouldn’t carry the channel. This pissed me off to no ends. I even missed a couple playoff games because of this. All this after having to set out a season because of the salary disputes.

Well, it looks like they have come to an agreement for this season, so I should be able to see ALL the games this season.

Cha-Ching!

Here is a great sight that is dedicated to internet marketing. It’s set up as a marketing podcastbut also has separate pages or blogs for specific marketing areas (i.e. email marketing, search engine marketing, etc.) The podcast site has got some great episodes covering such topics as RSS advertising, marketing to women, and viral marketing. I haven’t had a chance to listen to but a few of them, but they are done very well. I’m going to have to catch up on them this weekend.

I’d like to see some B2B, children, and business specific topics, but overall, there iis a great mix here.

Internet Marketing Voodoo

A Buddhist monk walks up to a hot dog vendor and says,
“Make Me One With Everything”

Cha-Ching!

Here’s a neat idea. Most companies don’t have a training lab let alone enough spare computers lying around to set one up. So what is a company to do when they need to train a large group of individuals in new software, or just need to outfit a large group of people with laptops for a short period of time – say like a tradeshow? Here is a place that rents out laptops with preinstalled software (no licensing issues either!). The allow you to track your shipment and offer 24/7 technical support. Although they vision this service as a solution for companies needing a training lab, I can think of many other reasons to need multiple laptops for short periods of time. Oh, they also rent other equipment too!

RentQuick.com

“Whenever I talk to a band who are about to sign with a major label, I always end up thinking of them in a particular context. I imagine a trench, about four feet wide and five feet deep, maybe sixty yards long, filled with runny, decaying shit. I imagine these people, some of them good friends, some of them barely acquaintances, at one end of this trench. I also imagine a faceless industry lackey at the other end holding a fountain pen and a contract waiting to be signed. Nobody can see what’s printed on the contract. It’s too far away, and besides, the shit stench is making everybody’s eyes water. The lackey shouts to everybody that the first one to swim the trench gets to sign the contract. Everybody dives in the trench and they struggle furiously to get to the other end. Two people arrive simultaneously and begin wrestling furiously, clawing each other and dunking each other under the shit. Eventually, one of them capitulates, and there’s only one contestant left. He reaches for the pen, but the Lackey says “Actually, I think you need a little more development. Swim again, please. Backstroke”. And he does of course….” Read More

Written a few years ago by a hero of mine, Steve Albini.

Dude!

I just 6 months of Wired for only $5
And the same for Mac Addict.
If you read alot of zines, and hate the fact that you read them in 1 night, this is the hookup.

MagazinePriceSearch.com rocks!

The mystery of the sweaty ass-face apparition has been solved… it’s the rare Pringles Man stigmata!

Cha-Ching!

Here is a little ditty I did today. A little jingle for http://www.payperpost.com.

OK, so I’ve been doing SEO (Search Engine Optimization) in my line of work for several years. It’s a strange dance we developers have to do because just as you get the hang of it, Google goes and changes their algorithm and what used to work now doesn’t.

However, that is the easy part.

Getting clients to not only understand the necessity of SEO but the benefits can be a real challenge. It usually involves a hefty education type meeting with me throwing around acronyms and terms they’ve never heard of. Most clients that make it through the informational meeting usually will see the benefits and sign on. I’ve had great results with several clients and they now understand about google page ranking, link sharing, content richness and other organic SEO techniques that they can start to be proactive when writing copy and creating new content.

I cam across this SEO Glossary that explains allot of the acronyms and wording relating to Search Marketing extremely well. This comprehensive list is not only great to send my clients to; I even learned a thing or two.

Whose ever heard of the “Google Death Penalty“?