bookmark_borderBlogging as Income

Personally, I dislike the advertising on blogs that I visit. Google ads aren’t too bad, because they typically are geared toward whatever the site, or that post, is about. But still…I dunno. Folks make money when someone simply clicks on one of the ads. You don’t have to buy anything for the owner to earn.

I have no intention of using Google’s AdSense on any of my sites. I can’t really explain why, I just don’t want to. However, I am an “affiliate” with several software companies. I have bought their software and liked it so much I became a kind of virtual saleswoman for them.

What happens is this: you click a link on this site which takes you to a product page. That link contains my i.d. number. If you decide to purchase anything while you are on that site, then I get a small percentage of that sale. I get nothing if you simply visit.

Why am I telling you this? Simple. I don’t like stealth. I am not comfortable with the idea that if I click a link on a site, that person earns a bit of change (pennies, probably). If I like and know the person, I am more comfortable with it (such as Georganna over at Writer’s Edge). Why? I don’t know that either. I’m weird that way. Besides, I am there to read their content, not find their content amongst all the text ads, or worse, damn banner ads. So by telling you up front, you know what you are doing when you click a link. If the link ever leads to some way that I will earn money from it, you will know. Like I said, I don’t like stealth.

Below are the companies and their software I support.

From Iconico:

icon for WebTools Pro | Right click here to download trial version (732 KB)

icon for Screen Calipers | Right click here to download trial version (1.01 MB)

Icon for Screen Compass | Right click here to download trial version (799 KB)

Icon for HTML Text Extractor | Right click here to download trial version (608 KB)

Icon for Screen Protractor | Right click here to download trial version (868 KB)

Icon for Data Extractor | Right click here to download trial version (607 KB)

Color Pop (there is no trial version)

ProFantasy Software:

Gecko Tribe, LLC

In the sidebar, down near the bottom, is a section called “Affiliations”. Those links have my i.d. attached to them. On another page, Iconica (where I moved all the graphics that were in the sidebar), are graphics and links with my i.d. attached to them. Again, they are under the heading of “Affiliations”. Also on that page, as well as the footer of each page, is a little icon for Dreamhost, the company that hosts all my sites. One button will allow you to donate to the cost of hosting this and the other sites. Another button takes you to where you can find out more about Dreamhost. If you choose to sign up with them, I get a percentage of that too.

Oh, and if you see anything on a link that says no clicks or 3 clicks or some other number of clicks, that’s a plug-in, not a sales thingywhatsit. It tells me how many people have clicked on any link within a post. I can tell rather quickly which post was read and utilized the most and which must’ve been a yawner.

There. That’s all of them. Now, how about a group hug?

bookmark_borderHurricane Emily

Latest Advisory from the National Hurricane Center:

000
WTNT65 KNHC 180658
TCUAT5
HURRICANE EMILY TROPICAL CYCLONE UPDATE
NWS TPC/NATIONAL HURRICANE CENTER MIAMI FL
300 AM EDT MON JUL 18 2005

SATELLITE AND RADAR IMAGES INDICATE THAT THE CENTER OF HURRICANE
EMILY MADE LANDFALL JUST NORTH OF TULUM MEXICO NEAR 0630Z…230 AM
EDT THIS MORNING. THE ESTIMATED INTENSITY AT LANDFALL WAS 135
MPH…CATEGORY FOUR ON THE SAFFIR-SIMPSON SCALE. THE NORTHERN
EYEWALL…WHERE THE WORST WEATHER WOULD BE EXPECTED…PASSED
DIRECTLY OVER COZUMEL.

May God watch over them.

Satellite Imagery:
Color Infrared (0645UTC) | B/W Infrared (0545UTC)

bookmark_borderCountry Living continued

Good Gravy! Do you know how hard it is to find a non-well type of pump? We called a few professional places and got prices that were outrageous. We called Home Depot too and they could get it in by the 11th. So then, shudder, we went to Lowes and found what we needed for a good price ($157). Tomorrow we cut the old one out, clean up the connections that are left, then put the new one in.

Yes, I said ‘we’. A friend of ours, a great all around good feller, came and took a look at it. He just put one in at the farm he manages so he had good advice. So, we are going to give it a try. We have the pump and after getting the old one out and all that, we’ll go to the hardware store to get all the pieces parts.

Used to, I was able to tackle stuff like this with out hesitation. I rebuilt a carburetor of my ’84 Jeep Grand Wagoneer by using the diagram in the box and the Reader’s Digest Do-It-Own-Damn-Self book (aka Reader’s Digest Fix-it Yourself book). That is an experience I am putting into Butch Girls. The wonder of doing that, putting it all back together, then turning the key…it is exhilarating. And since I used to fix a lot of our own stuff (cheaper to buy a book than to pay someone to do it for us), it is not difficult to come up with projects for Kelly to do. And helping Grace with her carburetor just fit right in.

Anyway, just thought would update. Gonna have fun tomorrow!

bookmark_borderTest Run

This is the first attempt to use WordPress blog software. The install was easy since 99% of it was done by DreamHost. Now, let’s see what this program is capable of.

So far, not too bad. Kinda odd though. Now, just to figure out how to change the font colors in the right hand side bar. Can’t see most of it.