FarmVille is interesting for the fact that I don’t recall seeing any display advertising and upon double checking, sure enough there is none. The game appears to derive revenue solely from selling Farm Coins and Cash used for upgrading your virtual farm. While I have never paid money to add things to a Facebook app, I’m sure many people have and in turn create a nice revenue stream for the creator, Zynga.

Zynga was recently featured in The Wall Street Journal because of FarmVille’s success. The article mentions that after only two months, FarmVille enjoys having 11 Million active users and that money is earned through online advertising and in-game purchases. I’m still confused as to where the in-game advertising is though.

Adam Nash published a blog post about the economics of FarmVille which is a very interesting analysis of the inside mechanics of the game and will surely help out not only hardcore players, but newbies as well. Another more detailed economic analysis of FarmVille’s Trees was calculated by Pablo Paniagua.

The picture at the top of this post is my farm, that I have since modified and will be changing again after saving up to upgrade the size. The game is entirely pointless, however it is a great relaxation tool and a way to kill time.

[tags]zynga, farmville, wall street journal, virtual farm, facebook[/tags]

eRepublik has garnered awards and recognition from all over the Internet including Tech Crunch, Webby Awards and LeWeb 3.

I’ve made it to level 6 with a little effort and hope to see some of you join me!

[tags]erepublik, shaun carter, strategy game, sim, online game[/tags]

I am taking many pictures and will be posting about my trip here over the coming weeks. In the first two days of my trip I have been to Los Angeles, Beverly Hills, Long Beach, Manhattan Beach and Hollywood. I’m looking forward to four more days of fun in the sun!

[tags]bs buy, best buy, shaun carter[/tags]

HD Televisions

Blu-ray – GPS – Digital Camera

$128 is a great price for a Blu-Ray player. I opted to purchase a Playstation 3 recently that I will use as my primary Blu-Ray player. I was able to purchase a brand new PS3 for UNDER $250 with no catch! I’ll be sharing with you how I did it in a later post, so keep checking back.

Computer – Printer – USB Drive

This computer would be a great gift for a student, although I will warn you that each store will have a VERY limited quantity of this item available. Typically fewer than 10 or 20 will be sold depending on the annual sales volume of your local Walmart. People have typically begun camping out the night before for computers on Black Friday. I will be picking up one of the 4GB flash drives for $9 though.

Xbox 360 Bundle

The Xbox 360 Arcade is listed at regular retail price, but includes a free Guitar Hero 3 game and guitar, a $75 value. Personally, I wouldn’t want the “Arcade” version of the Xbox 360 because of its limited features but this could make a great gift for younger kids who are not hardcore gamers.

Video Games

Movies

Toys

Jackets

Hoodies

[tags]walmart, black friday, shaun carter, xbox, playstation 3, hoodies, jackets, hdtv, lcd, plasma, gps, digital camera, desktop, computer, printer, usb drive, video games, ps3 games, xbox games, blu ray, movies, toys, shopping[/tags]

I do not answer calls from numbers I do not recognize, in my opinion if it is important the person calling will leave a message and I can call them back. But nine times out of ten, they never leave a message and I”m left scratching my head as to why this number is calling me everyday for the last week.

But now there is a website (Harassing Caller Report) you can report your annoying calls and lookup the calls others have received to try to find out who is calling you!

Last year I found a terrific “evil jester” costume at a local store that I wore to a haunted house at the Boys & Girls Club that I volunteer at. In fact, that particular costume was so scary that I had to remove the mask to avoid freaking out the small children walking through the section I was in. The costume was relatively inexpensive, costing about $40 from the store I purchased it at. Some things I just prefer buying in person and Halloween costumes are one of those things. Not only can you save money on shipping charges, but you can try it on, or at least see how it looks versus trying to imagine it from a small picture on a website.

However, sometimes you can find some incredibly good deals online that could even save you a considerable amount of money after including shipping and handling charges. But, in that event I still like to see the item in person before placing an order for the exact model online at a cheaper price. Use Halloween Adventure to find the best deal for what you’re looking for this year!

Santa Monica

Written by Art Alexakis

Performed by Everclear

I am still living with your ghost
Lonely and dreaming of the west coast
I don’t want to be your downtime
I don’t want to be your stupid game

With my big black boots and an old suitcase
I do believe Ill find myself a new place
I don’t want to be the bad guy
I don’t want to do your sleepwalk dance anymore
I just want to see some palm trees
Go and try and shake away this disease

We can live beside the ocean
Leave the fire behind
Swim out past the breakers
Watch the world die

I am still dreaming of your face
Hungry and hollow for all the things you took away

I don’t want to be your good time
I don’t want to be your fall-back crutch anymore

I’ll walk right out into a brand new day
Insane and rising in my own weird way
I don’t want to be the bad guy

I don’t want to do your sleepwalk dance anymore
I just want to feel some sunshine
I just want to find some place to be alone

We can live beside the ocean
Leave the fire behind
Swim out past the breakers
Watch the world die

[tags]everclear, art alexakis, greg eklund, craig montoya, shaun carter, rock, music, lyrics, santa monica, davey french, sam hudson, josh crawley, brett snyder[/tags]

I have chosen a Seiko watch for it’s very sharp looking exterior and great price. I’ve always preferred wearing formal dress watches all the time versus those fancy digital or chronograph versions. I like the Gold Plated Dress Watch as well as the Titanium Blue Dial.

Not only does Blue Dial offer watches from Seiko, but Citizen, Movado, ESQ, Bulova, Swiss Army, Gucci and more. They make it easy to browse by brand or type of watch and also have a special/clearance section where you can pick up some great deals.

If you prefer not to order online, you can also call their 800 number and place an order 24 hours a day using any major credit card.