Archive for December, 2007
December Earnings Terrible?
Dec 31st
I’m not sure if it is just effecting this blog or if earnings are down across the Internet during the month of December. I haven’t been noticing slow traffic, but CTR is down considerably and thus total earnings.
I am in the process of expanding my online earnings out of just this blog and my Credit Card comparison site. I will be launching a proxy network as well as a second blog that will be dedicated to the stock market and world economic topics.
I’ve learned a great deal about proxies on the Digital Point forums and was able to acquire a complimentary copy of a good Proxy eBook put together by a DP member. The earnings potential of proxies appears to be very high and does not necessarily depend solely on Adsense.
Good luck to everyone in 2008, I’m sure there will be many good things to come!
Technorati Tags: december, earnings, blogging, shaun carter, credit cards, 2008, new year, digital point, proxy, stock market, economics, ctr, google, adsense
Stop Spam and Save The Planet?
Dec 31st
With the environment taking center stage here in the US amidst the presidential race I got to thinking about how the advent of the Internet has affected the environment and how it has contributed to global warming.
The first thing that comes to my mind when I think about computers, servers, and electronics and how they relate to the environment is that they consume copious amounts of electricity, much of which is derived from heavily polluting fossil fuels. Now obviously the advances we have made as a society with the help of electronics are immeasurable, but there is one lingering sore within our technological advance and it goes by the name, SPAM.
Spam, or unsolicited bulk e-mail, is a cancerous growth within the Internet and the servers that power and route information across the vast information superhighway. The question on my mind is how much global computing capacity is wasted on spam and what is the environmental impact of that excess capacity?
It turns out my own webhost, DreamHost, has “gone green” by offsetting their emissions with REC’s, renewable energy credits. The validity and effectiveness of REC’s have been disputed because they don’t actually reduce emissions, they simply buy excess emission credits earned by low-emission manufacturers and retire them. Dreamhost‘s CO2emissions are equivalent to that of 545 homes. I imagine that in order to process the world’s spam it would take many more servers than what Dreamhost has and thus even more CO2 is emitted in order to send you the latest bulk advertisement for male enhancement and prescription drugs. I’d imagine that the global environmental impact of spam is likely on the scale of pollution generated by a small or medium size country.
By one estimate, in 2003 spam accounted for about 1/3 of all e-mail sent over the Internet in North America and the worldwide IT cost to corporations for dealing with it will have hit almost $200 Billion by 2007. In addition, lost productivity due to spam was over $20 Billion in 2004.
So, my question to the political candidates vying for my vote… What will you do to stop spam in order to help the environment?
Technorati Tags: spam, e-mail, shaun carter, environment, server, candidate, political, president, us, dreamhost, global warming, pollution
Lime Green Escalade Girl
Dec 31st
I’m watching a Deal or No Deal rerun on CNBC and it is the second part of a contestant who didn’t finish in time during the last episode. This 20 year girl, Zanny, has a lime green color fetish and they re-did the set and wardrobe for this episode to make everything lime green. It certainly is pretty cool that they would do something like that to keep the show fresh and interesting.
I’m rooting for her, but I don’t think I’d be caught dead inside her lime green Cadillac Escalade she plans to buy with her winnings!
Update: Now they just rolled out a decked out lime green Escalade as the bankers offer with what looks like a tight ass stereo and 24 inch spinners. Zanny takes the Escalade deal. Let’s just hope she’s got a stash of cash to pay the taxes on that $85,000 car!
Technorati Tags: deal or no deal, zanny, lime green, howie mandel, shaun carter, cadillac, escalade
Funniest Viral Videos Of 2007
Dec 30th
2007 was filled with a lot of drama, just like most every year before it. But cutting through all that crap were things that make you stop and laugh. Some of the funniest things can be found on social networking sites such as YouTube.
The Landlord
Soulja Boy Ballet
Dramatic Chipmunk
Miss Teen USA – South Carolina
So that’s the best of 2007. No matter how many times I watch The Landlord video I have to keep replaying it again and again… I think that will go down as one of the best Internet videos of all-time.
Technorati Tags: youtube, viral, video, 2007, internet, funny, soulja boy, miss teen usa, dramatic chipmunk, the landlord, will ferrel, shaun carter, social networking
My New Year Resolutions
Dec 30th
It’s that time of year when most people around the world make pledges to themselves (and sometimes others) to improve something (or everything) about their life in the new year.
I’ve never gotten on the resolution bandwagon in the past, but I think this year will be different because I’ve let certain parts of my life fall apart and they need to be put back together.
My Resolutions For 2008:
- Go to the gym at least four times a week.
- Learn to play the piano I purchased.
- Save an extra $100 per month.
I think these three goals are achievable without causing me undue hardship and they should improve my health, physical appearance, financial stability and renew my love for music. The going to the gym part is simply because it is costing me $35 per month whether I use it or not, so I might as well get my money’s worth.
Technorati Tags: new year resolution, shaun carter, health, finance, music, savings, piano, gym
Speedway Gas Discount In Michigan
Dec 29th
I stopped by Speedway the other day to hit the convenience store and struck up a conversation with the girl at the counter and she happened to bring up that the gas discounts they offer customers are being outlawed by Michigan.
There are a couple other states out there that forbid discounting gas prices through a membership program and I am now hearing that Michigan is soon to become one of them. So, when I got home I hit Google and began searching for any record of this upcoming atrocity and couldn’t find anything relevant so I am somewhat relieved.
When you take a look at the Speedway “Speedy Rewards” program, you see how easy they make it to get some big discounts on your gas purchases. I happen to also have the Speedway Credit Card which (until the law supposedly changes) gives me an instant 5 cents off per gallon right at the pump and also significant bonus points for every dollar spent, including a 10,000 point signup bonus.
My only question is, “Why does a state government care about a company giving gas discounts?” The only possibility I can think of is if the state tax on gas is based on a percentage of the price charged, well as it turns out Michigan not only taxes a flat 19 cents per gallon for Gasoline purchases, the state’s 6% sales tax is also part of the posted price at the station.
So let’s say in Speedway’s case, they are discounting an average of 10 cents per gallon, this results in a loss to the state of .6 cents per gallon. I can’t find any statistics as to how many gallons of gas Speedway sells in Michigan, but for every million gallons sold at a discount the State of Michigan is “losing” a pathetic $6,000. But when you consider how many tens or hundreds of millions of dollars The State is generating in tax revenue from the $3.10/gallon prices of today versus the $2.20/gallon price of a year ago, why should they care about a retailer offering a discount and keeping gas just A LITTLE more affordable for Michigan consumers.
So I am awaiting a notice in the mail from Speedway to announce the change for 2008, in the meantime I need to decide what to do with my 29,369 points… I think I’ll save up for the $100 Speedway Gift Card which is like getting a month’s worth of free gas!
Technorati Tags: speedway, speedy rewards, credit card, points, rebate, discount, gasoline, car, shaun carter, gift card, google, membership
Ringtone Domain For Sale
Dec 25th
I have just put a Ringtone domain of mine up for sale at Digital Point. RingtoneSupercenter.com was never developed but is a great name for a ringtone affiliate landing page. I don’t have any expertise in ringtones and never got around to learning so I thought it would be best to sell it to someone who can fully exploit its potential.
Head over to Digital Point and check up on the bidding.
Technorati Tags: shaun carter, ringtones, domains, digital point, affiliate
Win a RuffPC From John Chow!
Dec 24th
John Chow is potentially giving away a RuffPC to one of his readers. Check out the contest terms and get entered to win a new RuffPC laptop.
Technorati Tags: shaun carter, john chow, ruffpc, laptop
Increase Your Adsense Earnings With AdsBlackList.com
Dec 21st
I have just begun utilizing AdsBlackList.com to help optimize Google Adsense by eliminating low paying ads from the ones that get displayed on my pages. ABL is a free and paid service that will list all of the Made For Adsense and Low Cost Per Click pages for your particular niche and allow you to input those address into the Competitive Ad Filter feature in your Adsense account.
Some sites struggle with generating more than a few cents per click from their Adsense ads and it may be because you are not properly blocking the junk ads from showing up. While I don’t have too much of a problem with low paying ads on this blog, it has caused me problems before on other websites I manage and using the competitive ad filter that Google provides can be very beneficial in not only increasing your earnings per click, but also your click through rate as better, more legitimate ads will begin displaying on your pages.
Technorati Tags: adsense, google, black list, filter, shaun carter, cpc, epc, ctr, blogging, make money online, optimize
Quixtar Not Paying Bonuses?
Dec 20th
The news out of Quixtar has been pretty slim lately as I think the TEAM dispute has gone into arbitration, which will be a closed door process. We may never know how it turns out. But for now TEAM is operating as a leadership development organization that is, for the time being, not affiliated with any particular company. Although I think that may change once the 6 month/2 year waiting period is over for Orrin Woodward and Co.
I found an interesting post that documents an e-mail exchange with Quixtar and a Platinum TEAM IBO where a Quixtar employee claims that bonuses and achievement trips are only awarded/paid at the company’s discretion and that TEAM IBO’s are not getting them even though they qualified under current standards.
Technorati Tags: quixtar, amway, team, team of destiny, ibo, shaun carter, orrin woodward, bonus, commission, platinum
