Overshoes

The weather in the UK has hit unprecedented levels recently. In previous years, I used to think it was cold when the car external temperature gauge alarm 'pinged' at 4 degrees C to warn me that driving conditions could be affected by the weather. However, for weeks at a time recently, we have endured below zero temperatures this winter, and I have started to think of 4 degrees as being quite mild....

This has led many people to consider winter strategies. Items such as gloves, scarves, car screen scrapers, overshoes and hand warmers are piled up by the door. Winter tyres, snow socks, grit and a shovel in the back of the car are now considered normal rather than 'over the top' reactions to a 'bit of snow'...

We have seen some spectacular snow scenes whilst driving around the country, but while acknowledging the power of winter, and it's undoubted beauty, I would still rather it wasn't so darned cold!

Matouk

I have always preferred natural linen products over polyester mixes as I find them far more cooling to the skin and comfortable either to wear, or to sleep in.
Although linen is supposed to be difficult to launder, I happen to think that the benefits of materials such as matouk far outweigh the difficulties. I never wear anything next to my skin that is not 100% natural cotton because the comfort it affords is far superior in my opinion, to any other fabric. I also insist on natural bed linen for exactly the same reason - a personal nightmare of mine is to stay in a hotel that has polyester sheets on the bed , as I can guarantee that I won't be able to sleep in it.

Blogging pains

I got a bit of a shock the other day when one of my blogs suddenly stopped being displayed. I don't know what the problem was, but it seems that it's back up again now - but I took some drastic action and exported the whole thing into a new site....
I figured it would be possible to export the blog and sure enough there is an export function in the settings. It downloaded an XML file to my PC. I started a new blogger blog and uploaded the XML file - all my posts were live and intact. I copied over some of the sidebar content and activated one of those new blogger templates that have been around for a little while now.
I am VERY pleased with the way it turned out. In the settings, I simply entered the 'dot com' domain that I wanted this blog to use, and because the domain was already 'pointing' at the blogspot servers, it instantly identified the new site.
I have always been in the habit of hacking some of the template settings, and I have yet to see what changes I need to make in the HTML editor, but my overall first impression of the new blogger templates has been very pleasant. They are quick and easy to edit, apply themselves very quickly and give very pleasing results. If you want to see the facelifted blog, feel free to visit my 'reallytraveling' travel website.

Green Cleaning Supplies

One person taking a responsible attitude towards preventing the deterioration of the planet cannot make a significant impact. Even an entire nation would not be able to stem the tide of pollution, greenhouse gasses and general mis-management of the earths resources.
However, everybody can play their part simply through the use of cleaner fuels, green cleaning supplies, lower energy bulbs and energy-efficient appliances for example. Leading by example, the various governing bodies of the world have a duty to promote goods and services that prolong life on this planet.
In the UK for example it is now virtually impossible to find a bulb that is NOT low-energy, many common sizes sell for a fraction of the cost of a 'old-school' bulb. These are the kind of initiatives that will help us all to preserve the planets resources for generations to come.

Oxycontin Detox

It is already a long-established fact that pain-killers, when taken for a sufficient length of time may prove addictive. Those who have a high propensity to become addicted, may find themselves dependent after taking prescription drug or strong pain-killers following an injury.

This has become enough of an issue for special clinics to be set up just to carry our procedures such as oxycontin detox. Helping those people who have become dependent on their medication to kick the habit.

Polaris Sportsman ATV Parts

Looking for Polaris Sportsman ATV Parts or parts for any other ATV/ quad bike?
There is no doubt that the internet has created a truly global economy where end-users rarely have to deal with local dealers who add their own cut to their prices. In many cases, we can now deal direct with the manufacturers, or a main dealer rather than a local outlet who may be four or five rungs down the distribution ladder.
This bodes particularly well for small businesses who intend to offer refurbishment and repair services in their locality. There is a service local to me that offers repair of quad bikes and can also make your ATV road-legal. The proprietor is able to import the parts himself at trade prices without having to deal with expensive middle-men.

Affiliates

More affiliate news... I love affiliates because they are part of my favourite online earnings group: 'passive' earnings - you stick 'em up and just wait for the money to come rolling in.

Of course, it's not that simple, your affiliate banner needs to be well-placed - on a relevant site with relevant content that your 'punter' can easily find. You need to be working your niche, and find ways to drive traffic...but that's it in a nutshell. I don't pretend that traffic is easy to find, but there are a myriad of ways to get traffic - but of course I am not going to give away too much.

The reason that I am not giving tactics away is that I have been moderately successful promoting one of my domain registrant services 1and1 internet (see the banner below). Since putting this banner up (not the one below, another one elsewhere) I have had about 4 small payouts which probably covers the cost of the domains that I have registered with 1and1...
The reason it is so easy is that 1and1 actually offer great deals (honestly) I don't have to try and persuade anyone, this is an affiliate that sells itself. To my mind, the best affiliates are ones that you have signed up to yourself.

Receipt Printer

Whilst most computer-users have access to a printer, when starting a business, it may be advisable to purchase a receipt printer.
This simple device will generate professional looking receipts as opposed to having to print out full A4-sized pages on a conventional office printer.
Some receipt printers can even print stickers for attaching to customer orders, statements or other paperwork.
Naturally, the initial outlay for a professional business receipt printer is more than you would pay for a domestic printer, but running costs are low and this sort of equipment creates the right impression for a working environment.

Trimedisyn

Trimedisyn is a supplement that is designed to be taken during preganancy. There are a lot of these type of supplements on the market, but trimedisyn has an impressive array of ingredients:

• COQ10
• Marinol DHA
• Ginger Root
• Inisitol
• Choline

The combination of which is designed to reduce the risk of pre-eclampsia, aid and even accelerate the growth of brain tissue, and reduce the effects of nausea. As ever, we would urge that any medication taken (especially during pregnancy) should be approved by a medical practitioner.

Epiduo Review

An epiduo review for you:

The Science Bit -
Epiduo contains:

• adapalene 1%
• benzoyl peroxide 2.5%

Usage and side effects-

• Retails at over $200
• Commonly used once a day
• Can cause irritation, redness, scaling, dryness, stinging - may be relived with moisturizing lotions.
• Seems to work for some people, but for others the side-effects neutralize if not negate the positives.

Please note that we believe all medication taken should be prescribed or at least approved by a medical practitioner.

Make money online

The phrase to make money online can mean a variety of things depending on your perspective and your expectations. I am by nature probably slightly pessimistic with relatively low expectations, so for me, I am quite happy with the level of earnings I can make online. I am also not reliant on this income stream, it is just extra money for treats (munny4hunny...).
So, the question 'can you make money online' can elicit a number of different answers depending on who you ask.

• At level 1, you will find those who have tried the 'get paid to click' or 'get paid to read emails' and discovered that only paltry amounts are available. [earning maybe $2-$5 a week]
• At level 2, you may find those who have invested a little more time and set up a blog for 'get paid to post' and maybe even affiliate marketing etc. [earning maybe $10-$20 a week]
• At level 3, you may find those who have set up websites to sell something directly or via a drop-shipper, or even have an eBay shop.[earning maybe $25 to $100 a week]
• Beyond that (I don't regard myself as beyond level 3 yet), you will find those with a bit more entrepreneurial spirit who have developed services that are accessed by hundreds or even thousands of online users.

Earning via the internet is undoubtedly one of those activities where the more you put in, the more you can get out of it. You can certainly make a living at it, but you would probably have to work longer hours than if you had a regular office job - even quite a menial one... However, if you set your sights high enough, you may reach a plateau where little more effort is needed (passive income).
The beauty of earning online is that it can be a voyage of discovery, and everybody takes a different path. You can't really discuss online earnings without referring to schemes that are 'packaged' to appeal to those who want to make a quick buck - my advice would be to ignore all those schemes, they will just charge you for information which is freely available (a lot of it on this blog!). Paradoxically, charging money for selling information of this kind is in itself quite a big online money spinner, but most of those doing it are pulling the wool over their customers eyes by not telling them that they don't need to pay for it. There is a certain irony in a scheme that promises you income, but actually only guarantees income for the one selling it.

Forehead wrinkles

Since age started to catch up, I have noticed several symptoms all coming at once. These include a certain thickening around the middle, a few tiny grey hairs, some age spots and forehead wrinkles. To be fair, like most men, I am not to concerned about showing my age, as that distinguished look works well for men (so I am told). I have even recently started wearing glasses, and have no qualms about that either - rather that than stick bits of floppy plastic in my eyes!

Of all these symptoms, it is the wrinkles around my eyes that I think age me the most, and the receding hair-line of course. I can handle the hair with my trimmer, but I think I am stuck with the wrinkles unless I start using some sort of preparation on my face. I don't think I am quite ready for treatment yet either via a bottle or via the surgeons knife..

Best Ab Workout

Since middle-age set in with a vengeance, I have been looking for the best ab workout that suits my lifestyle. I used to do sit-ups for fun when I was younger, but don't really find the time to do them nowadays. I am lucky in that I am fairly trim, so a good workout would probably keep me in good shape, but that six-pack of youth seems to have morphed into something akin to a bowl of porridge.
However, it's never too late, and I do quite a bit of strenuous exercise - I just need a bit more discipline to put a bit of shape back into my torso.

Digital SLR cameras

Often regarded as the perfect combination of 'old school' photography with new technology, digital slr cameras are now becoming more affordable.
I was always keen on photography as a youngster, and even had my own dark-room, but all the equipment I had was handed down, and I never had the money to by a single lens reflex camera.
I still have one of my old cameras somewhere, and I bought a digital camera about 7 or 8 years ago when they were still quite expensive. Since then it has stopped working and I bought a cheap replacement. Recently however, I was given a better camera, but still crave an SLR. I always check out the prices, and I am sure one day, when I have some disposable income, a digital SLR will be added to my collection.

Theater seating

Although I am not really ready to install theater seating in my home, I fully appreciate the cinema experience without having to leave the house. It all starts with a decent AV system, a set of surround speakers, and from then on you can write a blank check...

For many enthusiasts, creating the perfect theater experience in the home, takes a lot of research and inevitably soaks up a lot of hard-earned cash. Once you have started on the track of building the perfect A/V system, why not top it off with real seats designed to maximize the home cinema experience.

Still addicted to eBay...

When the majority of ones on-line earnings arrive via PayPal, it is just too much of a temptation to flick between PayPal and eBay all day... Rarely a day goes by now when I am NOT bidding for something or other. I have reached to the stage where I am actually disappointed if there is nothing in the 'bidding' section that I am not actually 'winning' - to the point where, if I have been outbid on something I immediately go and look for the same thing to bid on again....

I think a normal response might be to re-evaluate the situation and say 'OK, I won't be able to buy that within my price-range' - instead, I am continually bidding and being outbid in the vain hope that I will win the item. I suspect this is more of an automatic response, a desire to be constantly active in auctions than of a deep desire to purchase the given item.

You know how sometimes you see something and bid on a whim? well when I get outbid, the desire to have that item somehow increases, it is no longer a whim - it is a deep-seated desire to own that item. These are worrying signs that indicate to me that eBay and the pursuit of the unlikely bargain have (to some extent) taken over my life.

I am going to try and wean myself off - I am bidding (and winning) three items at the moment, when I am outbid (or maybe even win...), I faithfully promise myself NOT to bid on anything else for at least a week!

That way, I should be able to direct some funds into my own accounts rather than boosting the funds of PayPal and eBay...

Surveillance

The Wikipedia definition of surveillance is observation from a distance by means of electronic equipment, and it may be carried out by individuals, organisations or even on a national scale. Modern technological progress has made discreet 'observation' possible to everyone through deployment of affordable and readily-available cameras and recording equipment.

It is truly remarkable just how many hidden cameras are deployed on our streets, in stores and at other commercial premises. Decades ago, this type of activity was only open to large organisations, but increasingly has become available to everyone through reduced prices of electronic components, and the increasing influence of the internet in purchasing state-of -the-art equipment. In the meantime, police and local authorities have increased their coverage ten-fold over the last few years.

Domestically, a range of devices from multi-camera digital recording stations to cameras hidden in 'coke' cans, or other household items can be purchased for less than a hundred dollars - a small price to pay for household or small-business security. Installing good security equipment can lower your insurance premiums' also having a system that is visible to prospective intruders can in itself prove to be a very effective deterrent. Added to this, there is a certain amount of peace of mind to be had from knowing that your property (and even your family) is adequately protected.

How to buy acne treatments

If you want to know how to buy acne treatments, then there is plenty of advice online. Remedies for embarrassing conditions are often featured on the web, because site-owners know that internet-users will be far happier searching for a solution online rather than talking to a local chemist or even their doctor.
However, caution should be exercised when making any online purchases especially if there is medication involved. Ideally you should consult a medical practitioner before taking medication of any type, but if you choose to purchase online, ensure that you are fully informed about possible side-effects, and that you are purchasing form a reputable trader who has a publicly displayed physical address as well as an online store

January

There is something refreshing about January - the start of the calendar year, a time to evaluate the last 12 months and make plans for the year to come.

There is something optimistic about January, and more than any other time of the year, this is a great time kick back and formulate your strategies.

What has worked over the last 12 months?

What is falling away?

What is up and coming?

What new ideas can be exploited?

This is a mindset that we should be using all the time, but if it is a while since you last took this approach, then the New Year break offers an excellent opportunity to do so.

Giving Up

New Year is a time for resolutions, but sometimes will-power alone is not enough, especially when it comes to giving up cigarettes. Nicotine patches have been successful over recent years, but there is a new innovation that is proving equally effective.

Electronic cigarettes are now widely available, and investment that could save you a lot of money in the long run if you have an expensive tobacco habit... The latest cheap starter electronic cigarette kit on the market even has a USB charging facility... They come in varying levels of nicotine so that you can gradually wean yourself off the drug.

A new era of frugality

For several years now, my family has been practising frugal living ever since we had our first child and began to rely on just my income to support our small family.

Internet income has helped to ease the tight spots, and specifically has enabled us to take the occasional holiday. It is not just holidays that have been sacrificed over the years, we don't eat out much or go to entertainment events like we used to when we had two incomes swelling the coffers.

I believe that what we have done is quite impressive, but maintaining the frugality is difficult as every so often, the frustration breaks out and money gets spent which is not easily covered by our reduced income. Maintaining living standards becomes increasingly difficult when wages are static, yet prices of household essentials are rising. Welcome relief arrived in the form of interest rates cuts which has meant significant spare income - however, I have taken the step of using this excess to overpay our mortgage. The reason I have done this is that eventually I know the interest rates will return to 'normal', and if we were to get used to spending this extra income, it would be painfully difficult, if not impossible to cut back when the rates begin to rise.

During the financial 'crisis', we have overpaid our mortgage to the tune of £3000 so far, this not only relieves the pressure of having an endowment mortgage, by reducing the principal rather than just paying the interest, the already low interest is falling even further.

The challenge for 2011 will be to maintain frugal living by minimising waste and maximising value whilst still trying to have as normal a family life as possible. Not everything we do is governed by tight purse strings, but lack of available funds certainly has an impact on much of our lives. Nevertheless, we believe that by living within our means now, we have a better future in store.

Glass tiles

I recently had to visit a builders merchants for some copper pipe, and whilst I was there I bought some plumbing fittings as part of a gradual bathroom upgrade. We still have some lead pipes under the bathroom floor that I would like to replace.

I also need to get a shower and then work out where I am going to fit it. I would be quite keen on glass tiles to separate off the shower, but I don't know if we have the room for it as I definitely want to retain the bath...

Post-Christmas fallout

There is a ton of waste paper all over the house, some credit cards to be paid off and we are still waiting for some Amazon books to arrive - we must have just endured Christmas!

I actually bought quite a few books this year - I bought three for my wife, but decided to keep one of them for myself because I had flu and wanted something to read whilst confined to bed. I have already read one of the other two as well!

We also had a bit of a nightmare over Christmas and the kitchen had a burst pipe, one of the results of which was a damaged cookery book. The book was one of our favourites, so I immediately got on-line and found a bargain replacement - this is the one we are still waiting for...

Baby Carrier

I wish we had the benefit of a ergo baby carrier when our little one needed carrying around the place. We did borrow something similar, but it had seen better days and was not put together as well as this.

I am thinking this would make a fabulous gift for someone with or expecting a little one. It comes in a variety of attractive colours and can be worn either on the back or on the front. Most importantly... it's washable.....

Military Knives

If you're the outdoors type you will be interested in the spyderco military knife from the Spyderco Store.

If you didn't get all you wanted in your Christmas stocking, you might want to get on-line and snag yourself one of these top of the line titanium knives to help you chop up your vegetables, or ward off a curious bear whilst camping in the woods. (Waving a knife at a bear is not actually a serious suggestion, although the 4 inch blade on the Spyderco could probably do a fair bit of damage!)

Earnings December 2010

Although the financial year runs from April to March, I usually account for my earnings in calendar years and am reporting a profit of a little over £1250 this year.

Since I have started making significant amounts, it is all reported for tax too.

An Adsense payment and some affiliate income has boosted December to become the second best month of the year.

The steadiest income is from paid posting, the majority of which comes from PayU2blog, although every so often, I do get the odd opp from others companies.

Profitability for December was helped by a practically nil-spend. I am trying hard to limit spending, but it is very tempting when most payments arrive via 'Paypal' to then go onto eBay and buy lots of little things for myself and the family. In a way, this spending prevents me from feeling the need to spend hard-earned 'real' cash from my 'day-job' so I allow myself the indulgences. However, every so often I need to remind myself that the money could be better used paying off credit card bills, and am worried that the enjoyment of spending Paypal money is counter to the 'thrifty-living' philosophy that I have being living by since I became the only earner in the house.

At least my spending is relatively moderate, and this year we have once more paid a chunk off the mortgage by overpaying whilst the rates are so low. I have a feeling that interest rates are due to rise over the next 12 months, so the overpaying will have to be trimmed accordingly. Nevertheless, since the onset of the financial crisis, I think we have managed to pay off an extra £3000 off our mortgage due to the ridiculously low rates (we have a tracker mortgage which is only a fraction of a percent above base rate). Even if we have to stop the overpayments, the benefits of this boost to the mortgage should be significant in the longer run.

I am already churning over some new projects in my head and would like to create some quick and easy websites using some of my internet knowledge and experience which could turn into passive earners. With any luck, I will be reporting improved passive earnings next year - passive earnings are my favourite!

Personalised cards

For years, specialised greeting card shops have been driving up the cost of greetings cards to a level that has got a lot of people making their own. Supermarkets have helped by bringing prices more into line with what people can afford, and to be fair, if I haven't got time to make a card, I will buy one from the local Supermarket.

However, for that special occasion, printed personalised cards can make an event extra special, and they don't have to be excessively expensive if you get them on-line. Whether you are looking for special invitations, baby shower thank you cards or some other sort of card - consider a personalised card to make a bigger impact.

Last post of 2010

This will probably be the final post of 2010 as there are some payments due on the very last day of the year, it will probably be January by the time I am ready to total up December earnings.
I have reached almost 950 posts on the Munny4Hunny blog, and will have to do something special for the 1000th post next year. Admittedly, many of those entries are paid posts, but that is what this blog is all about after all. In total, I have posted over 1760 posts on blogger-hosted blogs over the last four years. I have also built a couple of websites to fill out my online 'portfolio' of money-making projects.
So far, I have failed to locate a goose that lays golden eggs, but I have both earned and learned during this time. It's probably fair to say I have learned more than I have earned, and my ultimate online project has yet to come to fruition. Using the adage 'do what you do best' I have formulated and nurtured ideas over the last 12 months - If only I can find the time, I have plans to create a group of websites that should give me increased 'active' and passive revenue streams - just that elusive resource of 'time' that seems to be missing...

All that remains to be said is 'HAPPY NEW YEAR' - I hope your new year will be fruitful, rewarding and joyful.

End of year trophies

It's the end of the year and I am planning a trophies and awards evening for our football team. I have put together a few ideas, a quiz, fish and chip supper and the award ceremony itself.
There is a lot to organise including putting a quiz together and finding some suitable trophies. We would have gone for a Christmas time event, but it gets so hectic at this time of year that we have put the event off to the end of January.
I'm not expecting any awards myself, but hopefully someone will propose a vote of thanks for the hard work of the organiser!

Merry Christmas

At last!

Time to put your feet up for a few days, get together with friends and family and just relax. If I have a message at Christmas it's this:

Try to make someone else's Christmas enjoyable, and you will be surprised how good it makes you feel.

We all have someone, a spouse, sibling, child or parent that we can give a boost to this Christmas - Forget presents, it's always the thought that counts....

Earnings Update

I am not far off finishing another year of internet earnings supplementing my normal wage, and I am going to make a slight change to my earnings report.

I have added another column giving me three distinct income streams and three distinct outgoing streams. I have added 'passive earnings' to my income, this is to cover contextual ads and fixed ads plus any affiliates that come in during the year. I have a few payments that didn't really fit into my previously rather 'narrow' descriptions of 'blogging income' and ' cassette to Cd conversions' - this additional column covers all other income including eBay Partnership which paid me recently, and Google Adsense which should pay me at the end of this month.

Outgoings remain as before

1. PC equipment and web hosting costs
2. paypal fees
3. postage

...make up the three basic outgoing streams - an amended graphic with the new column will appear by the end of December - I have taken the new column as far back as April the start of the financial year.

Cigars at Christmas

Christmastime is one of the few times that it becomes acceptable to smoke, at least to smoke cigars, it is rarely acceptable to smoke cigarettes at all nowadays.

However with the decline of the tobacco industry as a whole, you will often find better cigar deals online than on the high street.

This is true of many industries, and cigars are no exception. In the past, I am sure hotels and pubs used to sell a great deal of cigars, but again with the hostelry industry also in decline, online sales are probably out-stripping pub sales.

So, if you are thinking of adding a few cigars to uncle Albert's Christmas stocking, take a peek at online deals and have them delivered to the warmth and comfort of your home this Christmas.

Mens Clothing

I rarely get the chance to buy any men's clothing for myself nowadays as our income is always ear-marked for other more 'important' purchases. However, every so often I do splash out and when I do it is usually in one of two ways.

Either, I am looking for some quality items from a good quality clothing retailer (inevitably at 'sale' time), or I shop at the local supermarket for utility clothing which is cheap, but of reasonable quality.

Obviously it is the first type of clothes shopping that I prefer, and with new year sale time coming around again, I am sure to be on the lookout for a couple of new items to put into my wardrobe in the next few weeks...

Still looking for slide-show feature

Having given 'Lunapic' a positive write-up, I find that it no longer works!!

I checked and it seems that the images are hosted by photobucket, so I tried them too... Their system works well, but I noted that the show does not work in Google 'Chrome' - not only that, but I can't assign a URL to the show - if I click on it, it takes me to the photobucket site - which is NOT what I wanted...

Admittedly, I have only tried free services, but even so, I would be happy with a low level of self-promotion for the service - I certainly don't want the slideshow to 'take over' and drive a lot of traffic back to itself.

I will continue to look for an alternative, but might have to end up with a coded solution after all...

Affiliate payout!

I have spent a lot of time sowing internet 'seeds' that have not yeilded any fruit, as anyone else that has attempted to make some online cash will have done.
Every so often, these can suddenly deliver a huge unexpected bonus as has happened this month with 'linkworth'. Linkworth is a comprehensive package which caters for all type of web site monetisation systems. From simple paid posts to fixed banner adverts and imbedded keyword linking - Linkworth offers a whole host of monetisation tools.
I had taken a few paid posts, but had not yet reached payout and had more or less forgotten about my balance. However, I have also added some affiliate links in my 'Livewyre.NET' website and unbeknown to me, a few users have signed up via this method. When sign ups reach a certain level of activity, I get a payout $50... this took me straight over the minimum payout level and I scooped $74... which is a very nice bonus this close to Christmas... with any luck, I will get an Adsense payout at the end of December too...

Rubber stamps

Despite the technical innovations in the modern office, there is still a place for good old rubber stamps.
I know of two instances where this 'old school' technology is still being used. I work in a fairly 'advanced' office, but we still use a rubber date stamp to indicate when documents have been 'scanned'. In a much smaller business, I know of someone who has just bought a rubber stamp to mark invoices 'paid'. Another use that springs to mind, is a date stamp indicating when postal items were 'received'.

I am sure that the date stamp in particular will remain a useful item for the foreseeable future.

Cheap auto insurance

A new year is coming, and new ways to save money must be thought up... One idea I have been thinking about for a while, is to save on income tax by replacing my company car with a private vehicle.
If I were to do this, it would be essential to keep the running costs low in order to ensure a saving is make over all. I would need to secure some cheap auto insurance and ensure that the vehicle were not one that would need a lot of expensive maintenance in order to make the swap worthwhile.

I need to offset the potential savings (tax) with the potential costs (maintenance, insurance and road tax) to ensure that I will not end up spending even more money...

Headphones

I get through headphones on a fairly regular basis, as I use headphones a lot with some of the audio work that I do. I prefer the type of headphones that cover the ear and give a high degree of comfort during extended periods of wear.

When I am converting cassettes to CD's for a client, I can be wearing headphones for an hour or more, so as well as a need for good quality audio, the requirement for comfort is of paramount consideration when I am looking to buy a new set.

Winter Illness

The real big drawback to Winter is not so much the cold weather, as the propensity to get a really unpleasant illness on the run-up to Christmas, or even worse, over Christmas itself.

In the past I have been unwell as soon as the holidays start, this time I have got in early... I started with a heavy cold for just over a week, this then developed into raging flu (apparently likely to be a swine-flu variant) which I have now had for four days. All this would be bearable, if other Winter incidents hadn't come calling at the same time...

Burst pipes! I have never had a burst water pipe before, I have had joints that leaked or pipes that I accidentally nailed or screwed, but never yet a burst pipe.. That all changed a few days ago when I was virtually comatose in bed trying desperately to blank out the world to be alone with my flu. A hot water pipe in the kitchen ceiling burst and I had to drag myself out of my sick bed to rip down a section of the kitchen ceiling and isolate the pipe. Not a job to relish at the best of times, especially not when in the midst of a flu fever, raging headache and sundry other debilitating symptoms...

All fixed now, testament to what we can do when put to the test...!

DNA testing

I never would have considered dog dna testing, but yesterday, I came across a site offering this service to dog owners.
Primarily, this is useful for pedigree dogs to ascertain the quality of the breeding, but is also useful for providing possible inherited disease screening. Finally, the third possible use of DNA screening for dogs is to identify other inherited traits which may be significant if you are planning to breed your animal.
Of course, once you have registered the DNA of your animal, there is added security because the DNA trace of your dog will be unique and should your animal be stolen, a recovered animal would be easy to identify.

Roadside Assistance

It is important to have a roadside assistance plan that closely matches your needs. In many cases, insurers offer roadside assistance as part of an auto insurance deal to give the appearance of a value-for-money package. However, in may instances, the assistance offered is minimal, and may not suit your needs.

For instance, I know of someone who had such a deal, and their car broke down about 100 miles away from home and 120 miles away from their destination. The roadside assistance only offered recovery within 50 miles of the breakdown, so the traveller was left being able to neither get home, or get to their destination. In this case, the cover was inadequate - it is always worth reading the small-print if you buy a package in this way, otherwise go shopping for the deal which suits you best.

Free Slideshow

I have been looking for a free service that will host a slideshow for a website, I couldn't get to grips with 'flikr' and 'photobucket' insist on advertising their service alongside the slideshow. In the end, I looked up questions on yahoo answers and found a suggestion for a site I had not heard of before. If you need animations or a slideshow for a website, don't want to pay, AND don't want to advertise the provider... then you can try: 'Lunapic'

It worked great for me, although not all the transitions work as they should, a simple slideshow was easy to create. I pasted the code into my site, and was well pleased with the results. The photobucket results were better quality, but as this 'job' isn't going to earn me anything, I was reluctant to pay for the non-advert version. I reckon I owe 'Lunapic' a review and a link, so here it is...

Effective diet pills

It seems to me, that you can spend a lot of time and money looking into the most effective diet pills on the market - and in many cases, you could be wasting your efforts.
Not only that, but there are always risks associated with taking any medication, especially ones that claim to have a dramatic effect on your metabolic rate.

My advice is always to get solid medical advice from an independent medical professional before embarking on any treatment that has not been prescribed by your doctor.

Television Antennas

For decades there has been little technological advancement in television antennas. However, recently with the advent of digital TV and HD, antennas have been developed to keep up with the new technology. In many cases, the humble indoor aerial is now more than adequate for picking up digital channels in some areas.

I know that in my own region, I am managing to pick up all the free-view digital channels via indoor aerials hidden away in the loft of my house.

Compression Stockings

Not quite the type of stocking that you expect Santa to drop his presents into, but you may be searching for compression stockings online this Christmas if you know of someone that is suffering from Lymphedema, or similar condition.
Lymphedema is a lymphatic obstruction that can cause swelling, hence the need for compression garments.
Compression garments are also supposed to help prevent blood clots or DVT for those that are susceptible to such ailments - and may be particularly handy for those who frequent aeroplanes...

Earnings November 2010

This months earnings were heavily supplemented by paid to post income that was completed in the closing week of last month, and was paid at the start of this month - so despite the healthy(ish) profit, things have been quite quiet. Added to this, I had a £22 pay out from eBay partnership, even though they are supposed to pay out at £25... ( I added this to the 'blogs' total, but the earnings were not related to blogs, so maybe I am going to have to add a new column...)

Earnings from placing eBay adverts on one of my sites have not been great, but this site costs me very little now it has been built, so any income is good... Added to this, I am due an Adsense payout at the end of next month...

I bought some headphones, so that accounts for most of the outgoings this month. As you can see, my total profit for the (calendar) year has just tipped over the £1000 mark with a month yet to run - I think declared earnings for last (financial) year were about £800, so I think we are going in the right direction...

I have a spare 'pay as you go' mobile phone that I use as a contact number for various internet projects, I am thinking of moving this to a cheap contract and funding it from earnings - this would get me a much funkier phone, so I am quite tempted... maybe I'll treat myself after Christmas...

Lipofuze

The latest in a long line of fatburners: Lipofuze.
I can't tell you if any of these medications work as they say they will, but I do know that weightloss will come as a result of changing lifestyles rather than popping pills. You may find that a fat-burner helps to get down to a specific weight, but in order to keep that weight off in the longer term, you will need to introduce your body to a reasonable diet and a reasonable exercise regime.

You should consult a healthcare professional before considering taking any type of medication that has not been prescribed by your doctor.

Goodbye Ellie

I have been blogging and trying to make a little extra on the internet since about 2006. Back when I started, I hooked up with a number of people who were all investigating the potential of the internet - some of whom I am still in contact with 4 years later.

It has been fascinating to see how these different characters have been able to express themselves using the broad canvas that the internet offers. Each person has started from a similar point as me, and has ploughed their own furrow along strands of the world wide web.

One such individual was Ellie Harrison (AKA. Elmyra Jemison) of one of my favourite blogs: ThePinkC. Ellie was an original 'Geek girl', establishing the rights for girls to love gadgets too... Her writing style was both friendly and knowledgeable, her posts were always well thought-out and shared her personality as well as her experiences.

Yesterday I found out that Ellie had suddenly and unexpectedly passed away, she had not long turned thirty.

I cannot say that she was a close friend because internet acquaintances have a different connection than that of a conventional friend, yet I held Ellie in high regard, and I will miss her comments on my blog, the occasional e-mail, constant twitter updates and reading her contributions to the blogging world.

Her sister 'HarriMac' was a regular contributor to ThePinkC, and has vowed, along with other members of her family to continue posting on Ellie's blog. It's hard to express grief for someone you only know via the internet, but as a 40-something man, I don't mind admitting that I shed a few tears for Ellie. My heart goes out to her friends and family, I am finding it difficult to write any more for now... Goodbye Ellie, God Bless...

Geographical Internet

The internet has moved on from being 'global', and with the proliferation of mobile devices is beginning to bring the focus back to 'local' once more. You wouldn't need to enter the search term personal injury lawyer Tucson if you are in the locality, search engines are concentrating on prioritising local results using a combination of IP address and global positioning technology.

Not all services need to be local, for instance mail order goods could come from anywhere, but personal services such as a lawyer, medical practitioner etc.. would benefit from the priority of geographical search results.

Snow!

Snow fell yesterday in my part of the world - I cannot remember the last time we had snow falling in November...

I love it when the snow falls because usually everything grinds to a halt, and true to form, roads were blocked and many workers had their weekend put on hold whilst they battled homewards.

I have chopped up some wood ready for the fire and am prepared to 'batten the hatches' against the adverse weather.

Usually we just have a smattering of snow which disappears in no time, but it looks like this stuff is here to stay for a few days. Although no snow has fallen today locally, it has been cold enough for most of the existing snow to remain in place.

All bodes well for a 'White Christmas' around these parts...

Diet Pills

I am fairly wary about the way in which I approach blogging about diets and supplements, as I am concious of some of the diet pill side effects.
My own personal view is that medication should only be used as an extreme measure where short-term effects fit into a longer-term plan. the longer term plan must incorporate sensible eating (healthy food in manageable quantities) and exercise appropriate to the individual. The exercise should gradually increase until the required level of fitness is reached.

The reason that medication cannot form part of a long-term plan is two-fold:

• Firstly, the cost of long-term medication will be prohibitive
• Secondly, the likelihood and extent of side effects increases with each dose.

Medication or even surgery may be able to help in some small way, but in the end, long term weight loss it is all about desire and self-control.

Affiliates

Affiliates is one of the ways that anybody can make money online with their own website. I have dabbled a little, and can say that the surest way to make money with affiliates is to have a good niche and know how to be able to promote a site within your niche.

There are general affiliate sites that run schemes from all types of affiliates, and there are specialised services, such as offered by www.sharewealth.com.

Sharewealth specialise in the Health & Beauty sector, so if you have a site or are thinking of creating a site on this theme, maybe you should be hooking up with them.

Whatever your niche, it is going to be more productive to hook up with an affiliate program that is specifically suited to your chosen industry than to use one of the more wide-ranging affiliates.

Slow November

This month has not been as active as I would have liked, mainly because I have not had many cassette to CD conversions to do this month. Ironic as I built up stocks of CD's last month and have enough to do quite a number of conversions.

I have been working on a website for a local business and am re-thinking my Wordpress strategy. I had thought that I would use WP as my standard website building tool - but having had some work commissioned, I very quickly found that it was far easier to get what I wanted by using Dreamweaver rather than using the WP platform.

For the future, I want to be be able to build sites quickly using WP so I think I need to keep pushing the learning curve in this direction for a while - it is clear to me that although I have had some success with WP, I am nowhere near being able to quickly adapt it to my specific needs. At least with a WYSIWYG like Dreamweaver, I get the functionality that I want even though I don't get the aesthetically pleasing design...

I have completely reworked my 'WebSiteTastic' website (using Dreamweaver!) and gone for a much simpler look altogether - it is about as 'spartan' as it could possibly be now, and I will keep it like that until I am ready to promote the site properly.

Paid-to-blog has been sporadic, but I have had a couple of extra posts this month from one of those sources that occasionally sends in a worthwhile opp., however, the mainstay paid-to-blog remains 'PU2B'...

Houston auto repair

I need to have my car serviced at the moment and am faced with the perpetual problem of who can be relied upon to do a good job at a reasonable price. I don't like taking the car to a main dealers, for instance if I had a ford expedition the last place I would take it for servicing would be the local Ford franchise. This francise used to charge £85 a hour 5 years ago, I dread to think how much they charge now. (They also tried to service my car even though the exhaust pipe had fallen off...but that's another story!)

Having the service book up to date is vital, because that will tell you when you last had your timing belt replaced, and hopefully therefore...when you will need a new one. An unscrupulous mechanic may try and charge you for unnecessary work including expensive work on your braking system or water pump. Having just had a very large bill for work on my braking system, I am definitely looking for an alternative garage to carry out the servicing on my vehicle.

If you are looking for a reliable garage, then ask around friends for auto repair companies like Houston Auto repair that they have used and found to be reasonable. There are also some online schemes that offer ratings and feedback for local companies online, so looking for prospective services this way might give you an insight - The company I usually use had one feedback, and it was not at all complementary...

Don't you just hate spam?

Not the reconstituted meat variety, but the tons of unsolicited mail that carries a message of mischief, malice and downright criminality. The biggest insult is that they are hoping you will be vulnerable to their clumsy advances... The bank that I don't have an account with, and doesn't even know my name is telling me that my fictional account has been compromised... For that reason alone, I have vowed never to have a HSBC bank account, just so I don't even have to filter the emails that have HSBC in the title...

What can we do about it? Well, so far the best defence I have found is to have a gmail account - I have had a gmail account with googlemail for a couple of months now and have not had a single bit of junk mail. I do not leave the email address 'lying around' in forums and other places that might allow it to be picked up by spammers, this of course helps...

I like the way that gmail presents emails as 'threads' like in a form, and I also like that you can forward your mails (for free) and even filter mails and just have selected mails forwarded. So, in return, I am posting in favour of gmail - for free!

Acne Scar Removal

Acne is not only embarrassing and uncomfortable when you are going through puberty, the scars can remain right through to adulthood in instances where it has affected the skin badly.

Although most people get away with low level acne, some youngsters do suffer quite severely, not only on the face, but also on the back and on limbs.

Of course, it is the facial scars that are the ones that are likely to have the deepest psychological effects throughout our adult life, the good news is that there are acne scar removal programs to help limit the effects.

HD ready?

Now I am NOT an early-adopter, it's not like I don't trust or like new technology - I just don't believe in paying through the nose to be the first in line to have the latest gadget. I have no pieces of technology with the prefix 'i' for example, marketed by a certain Steve Jobs.

I am quite happy with the wonders of Nicam Stereo, and do not feel the desire to buy 7.1 surround sound. And now hard on the heels of extremely large expensive TV screens, comes High Definition...

I have recently started to wear glasses and am coming to terms with the adjustments, in poor lighting I sometimes struggle, even though I am long-sighted. So this thought occurred to me this weekend..

"why would I need high definition TV if I don't even have High Definition eyesight?"... just a thought....

Laptop Insurance

If you don't have laptop insurance, then you probably should (assuming you have a laptop!) consider it. The usefulness of the laptop lies in the fact that it is portable, and that introduces three problems that will affect laptops more than dektops:

• Your laptop will spend time in your car, on a train and in your bag - places that make it vulnerable to theft
• Your laptop is slim and lightweight, at some point you are going to drop it!
• A laptop comes out of the bag, is snapped open, snapped shut, bumped against things and generally will suffer more wear and tear than a desktop can even imagine

If you can see sense in the points above, you can see why you should be considering insurance for your laptop.

Get yourself in trim

Here's a Christmas gift idea for those who would spend time at the gym, but can't afford the membership fees. Reebok Easy Tone running shoes apparently put stresses on your feet whilst running that automatically tones your leg muscles. The off-balance effect is supposed to make your feet correct your balance, thus putting muscles under extra strain than is experienced during conventional running.

Added to which, being Reebok, they look pretty cool too...although I should say that apart from being cool, Reebok have a good pedigree when it comes to serious sports footwear. I bought my first Reebok shoes more than 30 years ago when they were only known within athletic circles (I actually lost them after a few weeks, but that's another story).

Home Network

Home PC systems and networks are now about as complex as business systems of just a few years ago. Our systems are networked, mostly via wireless networks, not only including PCs and laptops, but also integrating gaming and entertainment devices.

Most of these devices do not demand an individual network server with dedicated operating system, yet servers may take much of the strain of a home system in the future, removing much of the computational stress from the individual components of the complete home entertainment network.

I can see a future where a house could have anything from a single 1U server tucked away under the stairs, to a complete 'clean room' with stacked servers like something from a Sci-Fi set. The future of home computers and how they will finally merge into a complete home entertainment system is still being formed.

October 2010

Although the total profit for this month is quite low in comparison with recent months, I have bought new 'stock' this month totalling almost £50, the turnover was around £120 so I am reasonably happy with these figures. I think I will just fall short of payout for Adsense next month, so may have to wait a little longer for that income-boost. A lot of paid to blog opps in the last week or so which will get paid at the beginning of November - I am predicting that it could be a bumper paid to post month for me in November... (on the strength of the last weeks work alone!). I had an 'seoblogreview.com' opp this month which helped to boost the earnings, they tend to pay more than some other services, but they do need at least three links and plenty of text...

I am still getting cassette to CD enquiries, so am expecting to be able to make a bit out of this during November too (a couple of decent 'jobs' are on the horizon, but you can't count your chickens before they're hatched!). If next month is quiet, then I expect to be able to make some headway on projects that are sitting there waiting for my attention...

Fixed Ads

One of the last strings to my 'internet earnings' bow is fixed adverts. These are placed on fixed pages and pay a set rate every month. Currently I have just three of these that remain active which gets me £5 a month - not a lot, but it's passive income so ratio of effort to earnings is well worth it.
In the past I have had loads of these running at any one time, earning me more like about £30 a month at the peak. I used a couple of companies, but to all intents and purposes, they were run by the same organisation, and only the parent group survives intact as far as I can tell. Nevertheless, when I have a few more sites running I fully intent to maximise on this type of income if at all possible, in the meantime, I am happy taking my £5 a month...

Weight Loss Tips

If you're looking for fast weight loss tips there are plenty of resources on the internet. The trouble is that 'fast' weight-loss is not always the best way to lose weight. 'Fast' implies abnormally quickly which means that the chosen method could have unwanted side effects.
A proper weight-loss program should be looking at the longer-term results rather than short-term. Speed should not really be a factor when it comes to losing weight healthily.

Coupons

Ways in which to save a bit of cash are always welcome at this time of year, so now could be a good time to see what coupons are available to help you with your Christmas purchases.

Often, there are vouchers and coupons available for some of the most popular Christmas items including Hi-Fi equipment, mobile phones, laptops, cameras and HDTV's.

Every little counts when it comes to making a saving, but it's important to bear in mind that with these types of offers, you have to spend to save. Don't be fooled into paying out MORE just because you are saving more - try and make the coupons work for you to save your over-all expenditure.

Under Eye Creams

Whether you are looking for the best under eye cream, or the latest piece of electronic kit in your quest for the perfect Christmas present, a combination of online and offline shopping will probably get you the best deals.
Online shopping usually gets you the best prices and provides a lot of additional information, but offline shopping (in your local mall or shopping centre) carries less risk and enables you to actually touch the product and maybe even 'try before you buy'.

With online services, there is always the risk that the product may not be quite what you expected, and you should always use reputable retailers.

eBay Partnership

I had a go at eBay affiliates a long time ago, but didn't really get anywhere with it - I recently signed up again, this time directly with the eBay Partnership. I had an idea for a website that would be suitable for this type of advertising, and sure enough in a very short time, got some returns. Since then the goal-posts have been moved a little, firstly a minimum payout was imposed (£25 - or 25 of whatever your home currency is), secondly there was a patch when earnings flat-lined. I am not sure what the glitch was, but it inspired me to change the existing flash-adverts that I had, and within days the earnings came back online... I have lost a couple of months earnings with this glitch, but at this stage it is nothing too dramatic.
This is a revenue stream that I would like to exploit in the future, so getting to grips with it now is helping to form my future plans.
In short, the scheme allows me to place contextual, graphical eBay ads directly into my pages - the site I have built assumes that the visitor will be interested in the eBay adverts, and sure enough, they seem to attract enough interest to prove worthwhile. Again, like the paid to post schemes, given time, this is a model that I could repeat using similar themes with slight variations to capture different search terms/keywords. Right now, this site on which I use the eBay partnership ranks extremely highly for it's niche keyword - this keyword when used as an eBay search shows adverts which interest the visitors, some pages in the site have more specific keywords and again, the adverts shown on the page match perfectly with the page content.
I wouldn't necessarily recommend this for bloggers, but if you think your site could be used to drive traffic to eBay, it's worth thinking about signing up.

Creatine

The trouble with creatine powder is that you need to keep taking it to benefit from the effects. Like a lot of medications, it provides short-term results which substitute for a lifestyle change. To get longer-term effects, a proper exercise and diet regime needs to be worked out.

This applies to medications for weight-loss or muscle-enhancement. Another concern is that taking any medications over a long-term may introduce side-effects. It is always advisable to read up about any possible effects especially when the medication has not been prescribed.

Male Enhancement

One of the most common themes of spam email is male enhancement. This indicates that there must be a large market for such products especially online. It is fairly obvious that the 'discreet' nature of purchasing goods on the internet is ideal for products of this nature. However, it is always advisable to seek proper medical advice over any medical condition you might have before simply purchasing a remedy online.
You should also ensure that your online retailer is reputable, check that they are a properly registered company with a genuine address and contact details.

Medical Assistant School

Adult education is often carried out on-line nowadays anything from theological college to medical assistant school can be found offering online courses to willing students.

The advantages of this type of education are obvious, studies carried on at your own pace and at your own convenience suits those who are already working, and may have significant financial commitments.

The more traditional model of the teenager leaving home to study has been augmented by this more practical alternative that resonates with older individuals who may have families and a mortgage to support.

Paid to post

Right back in 2007, the aim of this blog was to investigate possible earnings from the internet, and primarily the various paid to blog programs that are available. Whilst various companies have come and gone, there are still a couple of companies that offer decent earnings purely from paid to blog opportunities.
Please refer to my monthly earnings for a breakdown of how much can be made this way. I would say that if I had more blogs (and considerably more time), I could probably multiply this several times over (and in fact, information on how to do this is often 'sold' as part of an internet money-making package - don't buy it - read my blog instead..). I often mention the services that I use, so a quick intelligent search through my posts will tell you all you need to know. I spread posts around a few different blogs at the moment, and sometimes get specific offers to create a post for a particular niche. On the whole, I will do posts for as little as $5 where the requirements are simple, but will look for $10 to $15 for more demanding posts. I do not do posts for less than this (everybody has a limit right?)...

Dark Circles

Well Hallowe'en may almost be upon us, but dark circles of another kind may be the bane of your life if you are looking for eye creams to correct your facial flaws.
There seems to be a bewildering array of face creams on offer, and at vastly differing prices - all of them claiming to make radical improvements to your face. However on the 'face' of it, the majority of products seem to be little more than glorified foundation cream to cake over the top of the offending dark patches.

Other products offer remedies that go a little deeper, so look very closely at the ingredients if you plan to buy anything that you expect to dispel those dark circles.

Christmas Garland

October is not yet finished, but I saw my first Christmas decorations this year through a living room window on my way home from work this evening. I have heard of families who are already getting their Christmas trees ready for assembly, and others are no doubt preparing the christmas garlands and Christmas candles.

I have long been of the opinion that Christmas should really start with Advent, so I won't be getting the baubles out until December starts...

At least none of those really garish house adornments have hit the streets yet, but it wont be long I'm sure before the flashing Santa's are out!

Affiliates

Affiliates can be a good way to make some extra income, and you can read more about effective affiliate marketing on Livewyre.NET. I have had some success, but earnings have been very sporadic. I remember when I started, I had nothing for months and months, then got two 'sales' within hours of each other and got paid about $70... this encouraged me greatly, but I have never really got into a groove with affiliates and I do regard it as something of a missed opportunity.

I have tried a few in my time, never had much success with clickbank, and never really understood their reporting... The one service I have found effective is 'ShareASale', although I tend to have long periods of inactivity with affiliates, this is the one service that has come up trumps for me - and again, it's passive income so why wouldn't you?

I have never really got into using PPC to generate leads, and so have never really tried to exploit this market fullly, but nonetheless, affiliates can generate earnings if you can find affiliates that are closely linked with your niche. ShareASale have an extremely wide range of affiliates available with very wide ranges of earnings. I have earned from ones that pay a couple of cents to others that pay in tens of dollars - each one has it's own payment matrix.

If you think this is something that could work for you, check out the article on Livewyre.NET linked above, and then sign up with ShareASale and see what they can offer that fits in with your niche - you have nothing to lose, they provide a variety of banner you can place on your pages, if you get sufficient traffic, and the affiliates is well in line with your visitors interests, you may well start a new revenue stream.

Barcode Scanners

My boss has been talking about getting a barcode scanner for work. He thinks it will help with stock control with new products that we are selling.
In the main, we have sold large high-cost instrumentation in the past, but recently we have expanded into smaller low-cost items that may lead to high-volume turn-over.

In order to speed up the system and allow the sales team to know exactly what we have on the stock shelves, we have been thinking about a barcode system that will be used to scan deliveries coming in and out to keep everything up to date. We are also considering implementing an online e-shop, so having 'live' stock level figures would be very helpful in informing clients how long it will take for them to receive their orders.

Even though the company is only small, technological developments allow even the smallest companies to have a big market presence, and this type of automated stock control could then be implemented into our other product areas - which could make things a lot easier to control!

It's coming...

As winter rears it's head, thoughts turn inevitably to... Christmas, and it is my intention to start my Christmas shopping as early as possible. I will no doubt be blogging about various present ideas, some will be conventional, but many will probably be a bit off-the-wall...

My gift idea for the day is the chair slipcover perfect for protecting your chairs from the ravages of small children and pets.. or even larger children and clumsy adults. We have had covers on chairs since our little one was born - it does give you considerable peace of mind.

You can use covers not only for protection, but to spruce up a 'tired' chair or sofa, maybe your old suite does not fit in with your newly planned colour scheme? Chair covers are an inexpensive way to transform your living space.

Oooops!

The picture here is my printer scanner in bits... stupid thought he would print off some sticky labels even though one of the labels wasn't properly affixed to the paper.. within seconds it was not attached to the paper at all, but it was well and truly attached to the inner workings of my printer!

Quite prepared to chuck the thing if my 'repair' didn't work, I set about the printer with my screwdriver and a certain amount of misgivings.. After about 10 minutes or so, with about a dozen screws lying around my feet, I finally removed the paper, but not before inadvertently removing a ribbon cable that did not look like it was going to easily slot back into place..

I battled with the ribbon cable eventually forcing it home, gathered up my screws and put it all back together again. it's a testament to Hewlett Packard that the whole thing went nicely back together, and worked! Hats off to HP, not all manufacturers are bothered about making repairable goods nowadays, and although HP did not exactly make it easy for me, a bit of determination and invention was all it took to correct my stupidity, now where did I put the rest of those sticky labels....?

Surveys

I used to do a few of these, but mostly have become a bit disillusioned with them - I am left with just two that I use now;
YouGov: Payout of £50, will take a long time to reach - at least you get paid small amounts for 'non-qualified' surveys which is better than how 'Ciao' treats its surveyers...
PureProfile: This has a lower payout at £25, but it will still take time to reach this level - again, you are rewarded even if you turn out to be not suitable for the survey

Both the above are decent honest schemes, but you will have to put a lot of work in to get anything out of them - I don't really intend to carry on with them once I have reached payout, as I can probably make better use of my time. I have also used dNeero surveys in the past and Ciao, both of these started well, but have turned into useless schemes after a while - having said that I have been paid out by them, but I wouldn't go back...

Reward Cards

reward cards can be a big help in the drive to save money, however you should be careful about how you view the card. Firstly, there is the danger of the 'spend more to save more' philosophy - you must ask yourself: 'in taking advantage of this extra reward point offer, am I going to spend more than I normally would?'. In essence, by being attracted to offers that involve gaining points on your reward card, has your weekly expenditure increased? or can you forfeit another purchase? the biggest rewards are offered on luxury goods, ie. stuff you don't need!

Secondly, you should be aware that using the reward card helps the shop to build up a profile of what you buy. You will get vouchers for more expensive dog food if you tend to buy a cheaper brand - all clever tactics to get you to increase your spending.

Reward cards are great if you can take advantage of them without unwittingly increasing your spending.

Work Experience

Nowadays it is not at all unusual to find yourself having worked for several employers half-way through your working life. I 'spoke' to a friend via Facebook the other day, he has been working for IBM for his entire working life (30 years) whereas I have had seven employers in that time. I have worked for the family firm, large utility companies, companies with only three employees, have had two healthcare industry jobs, and now work for a small firm again...
I find that the experiences gathered in all these completely different environments make me better at what I do. Being able to draw on an array of experiences equips you for most eventualities that working life throws at you...

Google Adsense

Many bloggers have a fairly negative attitude towards Adsense, mainly because it is very difficult to make anything from Adsense on a blog.

Before you consider using Adsense, you should understand that you will probably only get any results if your blog is sufficiently specialised (niche), and the niche is one that is profitable.

In my experience, it is easier to get results from a good niche website than it is from a blog, but Adsense on a website has it's drawbacks:

An Adsense click on your site means that you 'lose' your visitor - you are effectively paid (sometimes a lot, sometimes a little) to drive your customers to another site. If you are in some sort of business, that may well mean that you have sold a potential customer to a competitor for the price of a click.

You can 'filter out' competitors from your site, but I take the philosophical view that the price paid for the click is 'passive' earnings meaning that you didn't have to lift a finger to get the money - entering into a transaction with a visitor involves effort and investment on your part. When you compare the amount earned with the effort expended, Adsense clicks are infinitely 'better' because they involve no effort on your part whatsoever.

If I earn passively from a competitor, then I am happy to regard that as income every bit as valid as income earned from a direct transaction with a client of my own.

YouGov Surveys

I have not been over-enthusiastic about surveys recently, as reaching payout on and of the 'half-decent' survey sites is hard going. However, I had a fairly long survey to complete for YouGov last week, and the reward was almost immediate (well, it took about a week...) a £5 amazon voucher was enough to restore a bit of faith in surveys at least temporarily...

The voucher has already been spent, but it was very gratefully received. YouGov offer surveys for amounts that vary from £0.05 to £1.00 on the whole, (£0.05 is the usual payment for a survey that you start but get filtered out...). They also do 'prize draw' surveys where you don't get a set payment, but you get entered in a draw. I don't do those as a rule, and the main drawback is the time it takes to reach payout for the 'normal' surveys. However I always say that it pays to have many 'strings' to your internet earnings 'bow', and surveys could well make up one of your sources of cash.

Bad Back!

I have been seeing a chiropractor for years now to help me to live with back and neck problems. The problems are not very severe, but do give me uncomfortable nights on occasions. Fortunately, the chiropractor is a good friend and charges me 'mates rates'. The last time I went to see him, we started to talk about memory foam mattresses because I had been waking up with considerable back pain.

Now, the problem is that you always think that memory foam mattresses are very expensive, but he suggested a couple of options:

• Look around for a promotion, there are always promotions for these products if you take the time to look
• Try just a memory foam layer on top of your existing mattress as a compromise
• Most companies offer a no quibble guarantee that allows you to try the mattress for a month or maybe even longer, then return it and get your money back if not entirely satisfied.

I am actually due to see the chiropractor tomorrow, no doubt, we will continue the discussion then...

Disability Insurance

I have been reading up on how disability insurance works in the US. There is a process for applying for Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI), and often, applicants need help to take them through the process.
There are organisations that are set up to help potential applicants to complete paperwork and get the award that they are properly entitled to under the US social security system. Allsup.com are one such company who only charge a fee if the claim is successful. The awards eventually received are paid for through taxes, so the recipients must have paid into the 'FICA' tax system.

Orlando

For years now I have been thinking about a Orlando vacation, especially when the nights draw in and the temperature drops to the zero mark as it is threatening to do now in the UK.

Even the best of our summers pales into nothing compared to the Florida sunshine and East Coast scenery. Of course, the attraction of Orlando is not limited to the weather and the scenery, theme parks are what Orlando is famed for, and the reason that this region makes such a good vacation spot for families.

I look forward to the day when our dreams of such a vacation an start to become a reality...

How to survive winter

Everybody has misgivings about the onset of winter, however for some, the lack of light during winter has serious depressive effects. However, modern civilisation is fortunate in that it can provide us with summer produce even in the depths of winter. There are a couple of ways in which we can bring the summer into our homes:

• Placing fresh flowers or floral centerpieces around the home.
• Having plenty of fruit on show and available to eat.

Supermarkets are full of this stuff all through the year regardless of season, and you can fool your senses into ignoring the winter effects by surreptitiously promoting summer.

Heated Mattress Pads

Heated pads are big favourite in our house, we have several types, beginning with the ones you can put in the microwave to the sort of heated mattress pads that you plug in to the mains.

They can be great for those who suffer with chest problems, or those that easily feel the cold. The one we have has an automatic shut-off so that if you fall asleep, it will turn itself off after about 15 minutes. It also has three levels of heat, and is generally a bit more sophisticated that the 'electric blankets' of old...

I have often been known to 'borrow' the various devices littered around our house to ease my bad back, or to ease my chest if I have a cold.

Monthly progress

This month has been busy in some ways, but earnings are likely to be down. However, I am getting quite a few enquiries for cassette to CD conversions, and have bought some stock to cover projected needs based on the enquiries. This is a big turn around compared to the first half of the year when pickings were meagre and enquiries where scarce. Some of the investments made this month will (hopefully) come to fruition in the next month or two. Added to this, there will be another Adsense pay day on the way soon (again, mostly from the cassette to CD site).

Acne

In formative years, acne can be a real problem for some youngsters causing discomfort and embarrassment. However what may be considered just acne on chin in youth, may turn into skin problems that persist into adult life. In some cases, corrective procedures are offered to adults in order to remove marks from the face caused by acne whilst growing up.

Acne is so common that virtually everyone will suffer to some degree or other during their youth, usually young males suffer more acutely than females since it is a male hormone that triggers the reaction.

Gadgets

I remember that my first ever digital mobile phone was a Samsung. I think that was probably the first time I had come across the brand, but yesterday I was browsing for cheap netbooks and the brand cropped up again. We are thinking of offering a netbook with some products that we sell at work. The netbook would need to be inexpensive, but at the same time, it would have to be a recognisable quality brand. Samsung is one of those brands that is reliable and offers every-day usable no-nonsense quality - that phone I had was certainly well constructed. At the same time, it is not one of those brands that has 'fashion' value, where the manufacturer relies on the goodwill associated with the brand to charge extra. Apple is certainly one company that is not frightened to charge extra because of the strength of the brand image. Personally, I do not buy 'image' as it has no real value, I prefer to buy 'functionality' and 'quality' where it is on offer...

Back problems

I have found that my back problems can be considerably eased by changing the type of mattress that you use. For years, we just had a standard cheap mattress, but a few years ago, we went to a mattress sale and got an orthopaedic mattress. I am now thinking of going again and looking for one of those memory foam mattresses this time. I am not sure I can afford a complete mattress, so I may look just for a mattress 'topper' so we can take advantage of a layer of foam on top of our existing mattress.
Whatever we end up spending, if it gets me night after night of undisturbed sleep, I don't care how much it costs!

Backup update

Well, it's just as well that I have my backup system in place as my main hard-drive has disappeared from 'My Computer' today... I have one 500GB SATA drive on one of my PC's which holds the data files from my cassette to CD conversions. This is no longer showing, but fortunately everything is backed up using my new system, so I am not too concerned.

There is every chance that the power cable has come out as the SATA cables on this system have a tendency to drop out, and yesterday I disconnected a floppy drive - I am assuming that I have been a bit clumsy during this process... I don't have to worry either way as I am quite safe in the knowledge that I have lost no data (as long as nothing has gone wrong with my backup drives!).