Do You Play Texas Hold'em?

Our family is not big on board games, but we love card games! My son and I started playing Battle when he was old enough to hold the cards and graduated to Blackjack when he was in his teens. We do not play for money, but we get a charge out of playing just the same.

My personal favorite card game has always been Blackjack. When I was single, I would go to Las Vegas and Tahoe and play Blackjack all night or until my $50 ran out. That was my rule: play until the $50 is gone, whether it takes 15 minutes of six hours.

My husband and I have wanted to learn to play Texas Hold'em for several months now. We are from Texas, after all! We play different card games when we camp, as it is a good way to socialize with other travelers. Wherever we camp, it seems like Texas Hold'em tournaments are all the rage.

We have been trying to learn the game so that we can play (and win) some of the tournaments. The seasoned RV card players have no patience for teaching the rules of any game to newbies. I guess they feel like "Why should I teach someone to play when all these other folks know how?" So, we are going to practice at home, learn to play each other and then we can play when we camp.



I found this site Executive Gaming, sponsor of this post, and they have entire home game packages, including Texas Hold'em. The Texas Hold'em player package includes:

• Texas Hold'Em Layout
• 100 Lucky Crown Chips
• Dealer Button
• Big Blind Button
• Little Blind Button
• Free access to online instructional videos.

I think we are going to order this package. The main selling point is the access to instructional videos. We want to learn exactly how to play to win. Did I say that already? LOL

We might even spring for the High Roller package or the Whale Level Texas Hold'em Package! I can imagine the look of envy in some of the other RVers' eyes when we set up our full-blown card game. Do you think those armbands and eye shades like they used in the Wild West would be too much!

Tags: Texas Holdem, card games, executive gaming

What Do Blog Readers Want?

Blog readers know what they want and will be regular readers of the blogs that give it to them, according to a blog readership survey conducted by WOMMA.

• 43.9 percent of blog readers say that writing quality is a key factor
• 51.5 percent say the quality of writing helps determine the credibility
• 43.6 percent say that the blog's subject matter is key
  
  
• 65.7 percent of blog readers read for entertainment
• 42.5 percent for personal interests and hobbies
• 32.5 percent for education and information
• 12.3 percent for work
  
  
• 30.8 percent of blog readers read more than three blogs regularly
• of these readers, 68.3 percent say they read them daily
  
  
• 67.3 percent of readers find blogs by following links from other blogs
• 22.9 percent use recommendations on blogs
• 19.6 percent use search engines

From Newsletter : Measurement and Metrics in Word of Mouth Marketing #2.28: 03.30.07

Tags: womma, what blog readers want, blogging

BlackScene is the place for meeting and matchup

If you are black, single and looking for some fun or serious commitment, you should check out BlackScene.com, sponsor of this post. BlackScene.com is the place for Black Singles to meet, chat and flirt with other ebony singles.

Be one of the first 5,000 people to join and your free membership will give you complete access. You may create a profile, upload your photographs, and then search for other singles in your area. If you find someone you would like to know better, you may email them or send them an instant message. If you like someone, you may add them to your Little Black Book with their permission, and you will have access to their private photos and other special things in that person's profile.

Before you join, please read the Online Safety Tips in the Q&A (FAQs) section of the website. This is a wonderful resource that will help you make the most of your BlackScene experience.

Tags: blackscene, online dating

Nissan Ad : Animal

You have to look at this Nissan advertisement. It will bring back memories of all the old black and white horror films you have seen. If you have time, take a look at the Mentos : Dog and SmashBar : Farewell to Arms.

This website proves that TV and video advertisements do not to have lots of special effects and computer enhancement to be original and funny.

Tags: advertisement, nissan, animal, veryfunnyads

Are You Looking for Leads in All the Wrong Places?

AIMpromote is an international provider of marketing integration and sales automation tools. Now you can track every lead, advertising campaign and promotional dollar spent with one integrated lead management, visitor tracking, and website analytical package.

The sales force automation, campaign tracking, website analytics and lead tracking modules of the sales management software work together, seamlessly tracking your leads from engagement to sale. Never lose another potential customer (lead) again.

Sign up today for a free, fully-functional 14-day trial of AIMpromote, the sponsor of this post. AIMpromote lead management may be integrated into an existing business or used solo to help your start-up become a success. You will find that AIMPromote costs less than the competition and offers far more features as part of their total sales solution.

Win Prizes from Searching!

Wabbadabba is the search engine that gives away prizes like Plasma TVs and Amazon vouchers for doing something you already do: search the Internet. The wabbadabba search engine is powered by Yahoo.

Add Wabbadabba to your Firefox browser, set Wabbadabba as your start page or download the Wabbadabba toolbar. You can also invite your friends to use Wabbadabba. When one of them wins a prize, you win the same prize. Click the banner below to join. It just takes a second.


Edited: 8 pm : addition

I had to edit this post to add the latest search for prizes search engine. This engine is SearchWithKevin from Kevin Federline (K-Fed). This search engine offers you the chance to win prizes every time you search. You may win a 8x10 autographed picture of K-Fed, a K-Fed T-Shirt, an autographed Playing With Fire CD, or an entry into a sweepstakes for a special K-Fed autograph! Maybe he signs your body or tattoos your name on his body?!

The search engine site run by Prodege uses Yahoo results that rewards you for searching. Add Search with K-Fed to your Mozilla Firefox or Safari browser, download an Internet Explorer toolbar or plugin, or just bookmark this page:

I’m the best, I rule, come test my tools!

Help a man out of his money troubles . . . search with K-Fed.

Tags: wabbadabba, yahoo, search kevin federline, K-Fed, search engine

What if I do not want to drive to Houston?

Local: The Undiscovered Country

John Gartner on MarketingShift blog discusses local search and how it is being all but ignored by Google. He has several good suggestions for implementing local search. He also speculates on the monetary rewards of the first search engine to do so:

My blood boils when I think about the money that will be made when someone eventually gets this right. What the heck is taking so long?

I would have to agree with John Gartner. Back in October of 2005, I explored some of the uses of geolocation, just one use being local search:

Determining geographic locations using Internet Protocol (IP) addresses offers improved capabilities to web users. When you search, your IP address may be read so that local stores are returned first, after the paid ads, that is.

It is now March 2007. If I type in a search term that is a material item that I can handle and that is sold through stores, the search results should return that item in local stores first. If I type the search term, rv air conditioner, the first search result should be the store closest to where I live that sells rv air conditioners; not, first, Houston (150 miles) or, second, Celina, Ohio (1244 miles). The third result, CampingWorld, is a better match, but I still have to go to the website, find the item and then locate the nearest store (15 miles).

Now, I am not complaining, much, because the search process is much quicker than trying to find the RV air conditioner using the Yellow Pages. However, think about how it could be if local search became a reality. By now, I could be looking at types of RV air conditioners at the nearest store instead of finding the nearest store.

Someone is missing the market, BIG TIME.

Tags: local search, geolocation, john gartner, marketingshift blog

Are You Searching for a New Look?

If you are tired of redesigning your website or blog, yet want a new look for your blog or website, you should visit Flashtrue Layouts. Flashtrue Layouts sells professional ready-made web templates. They have two collections of video loops for website backgrounds or to use as headers for your blogs.

Flashtrue Layouts have Flash templates, Flash intros, osCommerce templates, corporate identity templates, logotype templates and PHP-Nuke themes, in most categories. You may also purchase WordPress blog templates and phpBB templates for forums and bulletin boards.

Flashtrue Layouts, the sponsor of this post, has many free resources like a links directory of related websites and free tutorials for PhotoShop, php, HTML, Flash and web design. They also have free downloads of icons, web templates, logos and more.

Tags: templates, flash, free downloads

Time for a Carnival!

The Carnival of the Blogging Chicks is up at the metablog for Blogging Chicks. Stop by and visit the blogs with posts that interest you. If you would like to join The Blogging Chicks; first, you have to be a chick/woman/female and complete this short form.

To view the complete Blogging Chicks blogroll, please click here. If you would like to read my entry, please visit my new environmental blog, Endangered Spaces.

Tags: blogging chicks, carnival, blogroll

Fluorescent Lights Save Energy and Money

Did you know that if every American home replaced just one light bulb with a compact fluorescent light bulb that we would save enough energy to light more than 2.5 million homes for a year? Use of one compact fluorescent light bulb would prevent greenhouse gases equivalent to the emissions of nearly 800,000 cars!

Gone are the days where ugly fluorescent light fixtures were mounted on the ceiling in shops and schools. Now you may see beautiful fixtures of all types that use compact fluorescent bulbs. Just take a quick look at these beautiful Wall Lights fixtures on Shop Premier.com.

This post sponsored by Shop Premier.com, where A Brighter Environment Awaits You.

Tags: fluorescent bulb, save energy, save money

Video portal to launch this summer

Yesterday, News Corp. and NBC Universal announced their joint plan to launch a video portal this summer. The site will feature content from over ten networks and two major film studios. In the beginning AOL, Microsoft Corp., MySpace and Yahoo Inc. will be the distribution channels for the content.

Although user-generated content can be uploaded and mash-ups of copyrighted material will be available, NBC Universal president and CEO Jeff Zucker said, "The focus here is on the premium content." He continued, "That's the value proposition here."

The new alliance will offer innovative advertising sales, both on-air and on-line. Post-launch, sites affiliated with founding companies, including iVillage and IGN, will also have the opportunity to become distribution partners.

Each distributor will have a branded embedded player to play the video content, which reportedly will include episodes from 24 and House, Heroes, My Name Is Earl, Saturday Night Live, Friday Night Lights and The Riches, to name a few. Viewers will be able to use personalize playlists, do video mashups, utilize video search and to form online communities.

According to Business Wire

News Corporation and NBC Universal are creating this strategic alliance at a time when Internet users and advertisers are embracing online video as never before. In January, there were 123 million unique video streamers and downloaders (comScore Video Metrix). In 2005, video streams totaled nearly 18 billion, and that amount is expected to triple by 2010 (AccuStream iMedia Research, 2006).

During a conference call with reporters, News Corp. president and COO Peter Chernin hailed the untitled venture as "the largest advertising platform on Earth."

Standard and Poor via Business Week had this to say:

This planned venture has prominent constituents, considerable assets and initial advertisers. But we are skeptical about its prospects, given multiple backers with potentially divergent agendas and priorities.

I believe that says it all, y'all.

Tags: largest advertising network, News Corp, NBC Universal, video portal

Get a computer when and where you need one

When I was a computer trainer, we would travel from site to site with a mobile lab. This was before wireless Internet connections, so we had to drag laptops, cables, printers, scanners and power supplies. It was enough equipment to fill up a 12-passenger van. It took hours to set up the learning environment.

Computer Rentals.com can supply you with the computers (PC or MAC) you require, loaded with the operating system and software you request. Your computer will be delivered and installed by certified technicians. Now that is service!

CRE, sponsor of this post, provides Los Angeles computer rentals and can help you out in most cities in California. CRE also rent audiovisual equipment.

Tags: computer rentals, mobile lab, laptop rentals

SEO is So Simple with Jill Whalen

This is an excellent article by someone who knows Search Engine Optimization:

High Rankings® Advisor Archives - Search Engine Optimization Newsletter - Jill Whalen
What’s Important to Search Engines and What’s Not » HRA - Jill Whalen

Sign up for the newsletter so you do not miss any information.

Tags: seo, search engine optimization, high rankings advisor, jill whalen

Where the Boys are ....

Meet thousands of fun and attractive men and women in your area by registering at a totally free website, Just Say Hi!

Join the free dating site and browse online personals from thousands of singles who have discovered the benefits of free online dating and matchmaking. This site looks like it might cater to the younger crowd, but you never know by just looking at pictures. Visit Just Say Hi! the sponsor of this post.



If you want to see serendipity in action, go to the website now and look at the newest member profiles.

The first one is glo_0516354 : Female : Age 55 : Titusville, Pennsylvania : im fun to be with well gee why dont u just find out for yourself.

Now look down the page until you see steelersfan_1634 : Male : Age 41 : Titusville, Pennsylvania : im 5'9 225 lbs good hearted none cheater m honest goodlooking and caring.

What do you want to bet they know each other. OMG, what if they were married! Its a small world after all.

Tags: free dating service, meet singles online

Easy Technorati Tags for Blogger

This wonderful blogger shows you how to use the FireFox add-on Greasemonkey and a simple user script to install a Technorati tag generator on the new (and old) Blogger. Simple, step by step instructions with screenshots.

Updated multiple word Technorati tag creator for Blogger (Firefox 1.5, Greasemonkey 0.6.4) with added features - A Consuming Experience


Previous related posts on CoolAdzine for Marketers:
Technorati Tags Generator | Tagging helps us Organize our Universe

Tags: adding Technorati tags, tagging, how to tag, tag generator, Greasemonkey

Click and Comment Monday

Here is how I use click & comment Monday. Start on a blog. You are here, how about my blog? If you like a post on my blog, leave me a comment.

Visit one of the blogs on my blog roll or the BlogLog. Leave a comment somewhere on their blog. Click a blog on their blogroll and comment on that blog if you like it. Repeat.

You can skip blogs, leave comments on more blogs, follow a blog roll or just Stumble around the Internet. Try to click and comment on at least 5 blogs if you have time. I guarantee you will find some cool blogs and you will increase your readership if you do this on Mondays, but only if you want to find new blogs. We are trying to get away from the "here for c&c monday" comments.

To be added to the official C&C Monday blogroll, visit Cat.


Tags: Click & Comment, click and comment Monday, visit blogs and leave comments

YouTube & Google Sued by Viacom

This week, Viacom filed a suit against Google and YouTube in the US District Court for the Southern District of New York. The amount of the suit? $1,000,000,000!

The lawsuit claims that approximately 160,000 unauthorized video clips, such as SpongeBob SquarePants and The Daily Show With Jon Stewart, which are the intellectual property of Viacom, have been viewed over 1.5 billion times on YouTube.

Viacom is also seeking an injunction to prevent further copyright infringement.

... some entities, rather than taking the lawful path of building businesses that respect intellectual-property rights on the Internet, have sought their fortunes by brazenly exploiting the infringing potential of digital technology ...

Until this suit is settled, it would probably be a good idea NOT to download and embed any YouTube content on your blog or website. I have already noticed many clips on blogs and websites that are no longer available.

Tags: google, youtube, viacom, copyright infringement

SPLOGs on Parade

Great post about the continuing problems of SPLOGs in the blogosphere.

Pings, Spings, Splogs and the Splogosphere: 2007 Updates

Does not seem like anyone has a plan. You may be curious about an entire SPLOG Network I found. See Advertising For Success: SPLOG Network Uncovered

Tags: splogs, spam, splog network

Search Guy Sheds Light on SEM

Chris Copeland is the Search Guy at SearchInsider (MediaPost). Today, he looks at Yahoo and Google from the viewpoint of advertisers and sheds light on what is happening in the world of search engine marketing.

MediaPost Publications - What's On The Minds Of Advertisers? - 03/16/2007

Panama release from Yahoo:

The new platform has lived up to its hype and seems to be giving large advertisers a boost in click-through rates while drops in CPCs are being reported.

Google and click fraud report:

Until the approach to click fraud changes on some level and a standard for auditing is adopted, the latest announcement and low percentage will remain a dubious report.

Tags: search engine marketing, google, yahoo, click fraud, panama

Disney Family is Latest Parenting Portal

Disney Family is the latest parenting portal. Emily Smith of Disney states the importance of user-generated content for parenting sites:

. . . because the community will ultimately decide whether content is relevant, we believe the site will remain on the leading edge in terms of helping parents with information and advice.

A Nickelodeon study released in January 2007 found that 98 percent of parents are online.

The kids are using the Internet, too: 71 percent of children under 8 years old; in the 8-9 age group, 58 percent go online; 70 percent of children age 10-11 are surfing; and, a whopping 82 percent kids between 12-14 are online.

Other top parenting portals are Kaboose, BabyZone, FamilyFun, BabyCenter, MyFamily and About.com Parenting

Advertisers should remember that parenting sites are not the only way to reach mothers, since they are defined by much more than just motherhood. Moms go online to blog, to shop, to bank and pay bills, to socialize, to read reviews, to view the news. Moms today (ages 24-54) are much more sophisticated than their mothers were.

Read eMarketer's Moms Online: Parenting with Web 2.0 report.

Related posts:

Read about the misconceptions of marketers about single moms (February 18, 2007) on CoolAdzine for Marketers and Women are changing the online marketplace (May 14, 2006) on Advertising for Success.

Tags: Disney, parenting portals, moms, marketing

Compare Credit Card Blues

No one wants to admit that their finances are out of control. We have all experienced more money going out than coming in. In 2001, I was working on two grants for the local university. As luck would have it, they both were going to end, one in May and one in July.

I am not good at dealing with uncertainty, so I found another job and switched employers in April. It should have worked out okay, but my boss had not leveled with me about the working conditions, had not told me that he had alienated the entire IT department, or admitted that everyone that worked for him was looking for a job. I lasted six weeks and that is only because I wanted to finish the project on which I was working.

I could not find another full-time job, so I worked temporary jobs and started living on my credit cards. I had excellent credit, so I had $1000s in my line of credit on seven different cards. By October, I was going online to compare credit cards, especially trying to find those 0% credit cards. I would hurriedly complete a credit card application so I could make balance transfers, and switch my debt from one card to another.

I worried about missing a payment, because all the credit cards would start charging the regular rate and not the special offer rate that I had acquired by shopping around. It was a difficult way to live. Finally, I took a loan on my home equity so that I could relax about my debts. Most of my credit cards are now paid off each month. I have learned my lesson, I think!

Tags: credit, transfers, zero interest

Search engine marketing to become more complicated

Brad Bostic, co-founder of next-generation search firm ChaCha argues that truly personalized targeting of search users cannot be based on algorithm, but requires a new emphasis on the human side of the search interaction.

soon hundreds of thousands of human guides . . . interact with search users to make sure they’re able to find what they’re really looking for by delivering search results customized to each user’s needs

While I know the personal touch is always a good idea, I just cannot see how this is going to work. Will a little chat box popup with your search engine results? Hopefully, it will NOT be one of the virtual characters.

Read about it here on the Media Post's Behavioral Insider Blog:

Behavioral Insider » Blog Archive » Beyond Keywords: New Dimensions In Search Behavior

If you figure it out, would you come back and explain it to me? LOL

Tags: behavioral targeting, search engine marketing

Enforce Your Acceptable Internet Use Office Policy

Emergency Medical Service personnel in Austin were found to have been viewing porn on company time (3/12/07). Evidently, while waiting for 911 or other emergency calls, they were watching hardcore porn on the computers at their office. Some of the offenders have been EMS workers for 10+ years.

Some Austin EMS workers could lose their jobs for viewing internet porn on their computers at work.

EMS Director Richard Harrington says they first noticed the problem a few weeks ago. Harrington says they’ve been reviewing computer logs going back to September of last year. some employees could be demoted or suspended---and others could be fired for violating city policy.

If you have ever wondered what your employees, children or spouse might be viewing on the Internet, there is a software program that can track the online behaviors of any one. Using spy software is the only sure way to know exactly who is viewing what. If the Austin EMS had spy software, they would have caught these EMS employees six months ago.

In a world where there is porn on the Internet and people with no scruples about using work computers for viewing these sites, spy software may be the best solution.

Marketing Your Band and Your Music

If you are in the music business, then you should attend SXSW Music festival and conference in Austin, Texas. SXSW Music Festival ~ March 14-18, 2007 ~ Pete Townshend of The Who is keynote speaker for the 2007 Music Conference.

Each March SXSW Music presents new opportunities to make your vision reality. Musicians and the companies they work with have used SXSW as a cost-effective way to promote themselves since 1987. They come back year after year because SXSW works! It's a potent method to connect with press, radio, and other music industry players.

Attic Jam, a collaborative series of performances and webcasts featuring notable songwriters, will be performed by Townshend and Fuller on Thursday March 15. Check the website for SXSW Music events.


Tags: SXSW, South by Southwest Festivals, Austin, Texas

Where the Wild Things Are: Kids Driving

I have decided I am going to invest in a Driver's Education DVD program for my son and all his friends. My son does not drive, but he needs to learn. He plans to just go down and take the test and get his license when he turns 18. He does not want to be bothered with driver's education. All of his friends have cars, but not one of them can keep one for more than three months.

In the past year, my son's friend #1 (male) has wrecked three work pickup trucks for his uncle. He was then given a car by his father; he was caught driving without a license within 24 hours. My son's other friend #2 (male) has been arrested twice for driving under the influence, so he has lost his license, hopefully for good. Then #2's girlfriend (female) started driving him around, but she wrecked her car because she was text messaging while driving!

I am not making this up. It is too stupid to be fiction. These kids do not know how to drive. If they completed Driver's Education in school, they must have cheated. For $34.95, I can purchase Rules of the Road, a Driver's Education DVD that contains seven interactive video lessons.

The course covers: Driver's Education Basics, like do not text message while driving; City and Residential Driving Lessons, like how to yield the right-a-way to other drivers instead of playing chicken; The Driver's Exam, like how to pass it the first time; Highway Driving, like do not speed through 5 counties with an expired inspection sticker; Safety Tips for Normal Conditions, like driving with your eyes open and your head clear; Hazardous Conditions, like do not drive when friend #1, #2 or #3 are on the road; and Drug and Alcohol Awareness, like do not partake and drive...AGAIN.

This is an award-winning course and you may purchase it from Vat19.com, the sponsor of this post. The only downside I saw is that this course does not take the place of certified Driver's Education. That is okay. They all need remediation. LOL

Second International Podcasting Expo

The Second International Podcasting Expo will be held April 20-21, 2007. Register now as sponsor, exhibitor or speaker.

This virtual event brings together people from around the world who are interested in podcasting. Whether you are an experienced podcaster, a beginning podcaster or if you are simply curious as to how to get started, this Expo is for you.

The public is invited to attend three open seminars, browse the exhibitor halls and participate in live podcast events free of charge. To attend all events, virtually, purchase your 2-day admission tickets today.

Curious about the business of podcasting, read information here or read more information here.

Tags: podcasting, Second International Podcasting Expo, podcast

Lead Management Tool from AIMpromote

How much of your advertising works? 50 percent? 25 percent? Could you segment what is working for you from what is not?

As lead management strategies, processes and technologies develop, they become more readily accessible to smaller businesses and to Internet marketers, enlarging if not leveling the playing field, legitimizing the efforts of marketers who use creative ways to generate leads and create brand awareness, and providing statistics for reliable ROI-based reporting and analysis.

Lead management is the process of capturing and analyzing leads. The ultimate goal of lead management is to convert that lead to an interested consumer and then to a new customer. With lead management technology, marketers are able to demonstrate the value of advertising campaigns with charts and statistics, providing hard math on which to base continuing marketing strategies.

AIMpromote is a leading international provider of marketing integration and automation tools. AIMpromote provides web-based on-demand lead management software, which is simply the most feature-rich lead management solution available. This is a single solution totally customized to meet your marketing needs.

Best known for lead management and website analytics software, AIMpromote is offering a free 14-day trail of their lead management software. You will need to register, but there is no software to download or install. The full functionality of web-based software is just one reason that AIMpromote.com is the fastest growing provider of lead management tools.

You should visit the website of AIMpromote, sponsor of this post and view the comparison chart of enterprise-level features available in the three leading lead management system providers. You may decide that AIMpromote is the clear winner in this comparison. They offer free setup, reasonable price and all the included features of lead management, website integration and Internet marketing, reporting, sales force and marketing automation, user management and authentication, support and consultation.

Visit the forum for users on the website. Try AIMpromotion for free and see if it will work for you.

Search Only Mommy Blogs

scribbit: A Custom Search Engine for Momblogs | A Blog About Motherhood in Alaska

Michele from scribbit has set up a custom search engine, powered by Google, that searches 1500 mommy blogs. You know you better listen to MOM.

Technorati tags: mommy blog search engine, search mom blogs, 1500 mom blogs, custom search engine, powered by Google

You Could Wake Up in Malta Tomorrow

Malta! Narrow cobblestone streets crowded with Renaissance cathedrals and baroque palaces. The countryside is spotted with the oldest known human structures in the world. With 7,000 years of history, the Maltese Islands are steeped in culture and heritage. Why don't you book your malta holidays from the United Kingdom today?

The arts have always played a large role in Maltese culture. The National Museum of Fine Arts, housed in an exuberant Rococo building dating from the 1570s, exhibits some magnificent art, ranging from the early Renaissance to modern times. Artists are encouraged through support and exhibitions in public areas to celebrate their efforts. Theatre and music are also very popular in the Islands. Many theatres and open-air venues offer an enormous variety of plays, musicals, operas and both classical and modern music concerts.

SXSW Music Conference Panel Spotlight

WHAT DO YOU WANT FROM LIFE?
Friday March 16 : 2-315PM
Room 12 : Austin Convention Center

This will be a good session for artists and producers in the music business.

Panelists will include:

• Tom Morello, Harvard-educated guitarist and social activist for Rage Against the Machine
• Britt Daniel, lead singer-songwriter with Spoon
• Matt Hales from the band Aqualung
• Dave Faulkner of legendary Aussie psychedelic garage band the Hoodoo Gurus
• Corey Rusk, owner of th Chicago indie label Touch & Go
• Lynn Barstow, from KROX Austin
• Karen Glauber, President of HITS magazine, moderator

Stay tuned for more information on SXSW Music panels and sessions.

Build your business with professional video brochure

Are you looking for a cost-effective method to build your small online business using YouTube, MySpace, or Google Video? Would a professional movie brochure about your business or service fit your marketing plan? Have you considered the impact of a professional movie in mp4 format that would be available for viewing on your website or downloading to a video player like the iPod?

Video brochures for historic sites, golf courses, RV parks ...

You could engage Marketing Small Business to create a mp4 video brochure or movie for your small business. This movie, or video presentation, will showcase your products or introduce your service to the online community. Imagine your customers viewing your best presentation via your website or downloading it for sharing with other members of their community. Feel the pride knowing that your business is putting its best virtual foot forward.

Marketing Small Business agency provides most standard marketing services, as well as the more unique movie marketing service. The agency team includes marketing planning experts, search engine marketing specialists, web designers, creative designers, database marketing experts and PR specialists, all with experience on some of the leading small business marketing campaigns in the UK.

In addition to producing movie brochures, MarketingSmallBusiness.co.uk designs high-quality, web sites and improves traffic to your site by article marketing, online marketing and search engine optimization.

Business owners who would like to receive a free search engine ranking report tto tell you exactly where your site falls in current Google and Yahoo! search results, should visit the website.

** Remember: a picture is worth a 1000 words **

LoudLaunch - Compensating bloggers for their unbiased opinions, reviews, and analysis. View the LoudLaunch campaign release this post was based on.

Males Misread by Marketers

Picture credit

Just a few days ago, I wrote a post about how marketers are missing the market on single moms. This article tells the story from the male side.

Advertising Age - Male Activists Want Volvo to Award Ad Account to Euro

'Idiots and clowns'

Mr. Sacks said "a lot of us in the fathers' movement are upset" that dads are portrayed in advertising as "idiots, clowns," while "the wife is always right."

Tags: marketing to men, dad mythsdumb dads, stereotyping men

AT&T, Apple and iPhone

What is the deal? First AT&T became Cingular, now Cingular is becoming AT&T again. I have been trying to determine what exactly happened with AT&T. As far as I can trace it, BellSouth combined with SBC to form Cingular. At the same time, SBC purchased AT&T and took the name, AT&T. Then, AT&T acquired BellSouth and changed the name, Cingular Wireless, to AT&T. I think.

It is funny to a person who grew up with one telephone company to keep track of all the mergers and buyouts. When I was young and first became aware of the telephone, it had a rotary dial and our telephone number began with an exchange (a prefix of two letters). Ours was UNderwood-xxxxx. There was also only one telephone company in Texas, and that was Southwestern Bell. Come to think about it, there were Bells all over the country. This constituted a monopoly, so the FCC made them disassemble. I guess.

Well, it looks like AT&T may be one entity named Cingular / AT&T. There has been talk about plans for AT&T to introduce the iPhone from Apple as their first brand under the new AT&T, yet Cingular is the only provider of record for the iPhone. Maybe it is just me; but it appears that waiting until the iPhone was available would have been the better time to launch the new AT&T. They could have done a visual with AT&T and Apple, with the A morphing into each word.

Apple made computing easy, I truly believe that using an iPhone is going to be intuitive and easy. The iPhone is a small and lightweight handheld device, which combines cell phone, widescreen iPod and Internet communication (email, web browser, maps, and search). iPhone comes with a new user interface with touch controls and software that allows you to control everything with just your fingers. Any fingers!

I have a problem using my cell phone because my eyesight is not all it should be. I really want an iPhone. I just hope that AT&T does not change their name again before it ships. LOL

Ultimate Blog Party Going On Now!

The Ultimate Blog Party
5 Minutes for Mom
March 2 - 9

I am late reminding y'all about this, so you need to visit before the 6th to register for the prizes, but the party goes on until the 9th. What is the party about? Women, from work at home moms to scrapers and artisans. You will find a wealth of information and blogs that are full of like-minded folk. Click, connect, discover ...

Making Money in Real Estate Interest You?

While we were in Trinity, Texas waiting for a radiator for our 1987 Ford Van to arrive by bus from Dallas, I was bored, so I started reading the ebooks I had downloaded and not read.



This free ebook was written by a firm that represents a group that invests in preconstruction real estate. It discusses preconstruction investing and the risks associated with buying investments like preconstruction condos.

While investing clubs are a way to mitigate any potential loss by spreading the risk over a group of individuals, recent market conditions are causing some investors to be unable to sell their preconstruction units.

The Texas coast is a hot real estate market. Yet, in Corpus Christi, Galveston and South Padre Island, you will find many condos for rent, by the day, week or month. Most of these vacation condos were built on speculation and usually, they were overbuilt, with the number of units far exceeding market need.

Take a look at the ebook, it is free and you may request more information by email. The website offers a group buying concept that can help to mitigate the risks and offer greater profit potential. By the way, if making money in real estate interests you, they are looking for investors.

Click & Comment Monday

Here is how I use click & comment Monday. Start on a blog. You are here, how about my blog? If you like a post on my blog, leave me a comment.

Visit one of the blogs on my blog roll. Leave a comment somewhere on their blog. Click a blog on their blogroll and comment on that blog if you like it. Repeat.

You can skip blogs, leave comments on more blogs, follow a blog roll or just Stumble around the Internet. Try to click and comment on at least 5 blogs if you have time. I guarantee you will find some cool blogs and you will increase your readership if you do this on Mondays, but only if you want to find new blogs. We are trying to get away from the "here for c&c monday" comments.

We want you to react, interact and gain something from the entire process. Of course, you may also continue to litter the blogosphere with "here for c&c monday" comments. Just do not be surprised if you are damned. LOL

To be added to the official C&C Monday blogroll, visit Cat.


Tags: Click & Comment, click and comment Monday, visit blogs and leave comments

Please read a post below this one and comment on it. No comments allowed on this one. Sorry.

Do You Need a Dedicated or Colocated Server?

I have been looking for one solution for my two websites and four blogs. The blogs are currently on Blogspot (Google) and hosting is free. However, I would like more control over the design and functionality of my blogs. I am also not happy with my current web host provider, who will remain nameless, for my two websites. They keep changing servers and I lose uptime each time they do. The only reason I stay is that my websites are uploaded and they work. It is the easy path. LOL

There are about four choices today for web hosting. In a shared server environment, the web hosting company owns and manages the server, upgrades, maintenance and support. You pay a set amount per month, with extra charges for options you may choose, like extra bandwidth or storage, extensions or security certificates. Virtual hosting is a method that web hosting companies use to host more than one domain name on the same computer, sometime with the same IP.

In a dedicated server environment, the web hosting company also owns the server, but only your website(s) or blog(s) is/are hosted on the dedicated server. Usually there are no additional charges, just a flat rate per month or quarter.

If you want complete control of your server configuration, you will need a colocated environment, where you own the server. If you do not have a server, most web hosting companies will build a server to your specifications or you may find them online. There are usually two costs associated with colocated servers, rental fees and connection fees.

Choose Hosted Solutions, with a data center like the Colocation Data Center Charlotte, who provide their customers with the best managed hosting experience. Hosted Solutions operates four Data Centers in three key markets, all interconnected by a fully redundant private network built to ensure 100 percent connectivity.

Tags: colocated server, data center, dedicated server

Online Video : Too commercial, too inconsistent, too many and too much!

ClipBlast!, an online video search engine, commissioned Synovate to conduct a survey to find out what people hate about online video.



Does Online Video Need a Program Guide? March 2, 2007


What you should learn from this survey:

If you produce video, it should be of high quality.

The trailers, clips, mobisodes or short movies should be properly tagged.

Advertisements should be kept at a minimum, consider incorporating the brand into the clip rather than splicing ads into your video.

Tags: online video, clipblast, emarketer