Sparked up by Twitter

I have had twitter accounts for a while but have not really got 'into' Twitter in any meaningful way. This was mainly because I couldn't see how I could use it. However, I am now rediscovering Twitter, trying to connect it with Facebook and planning to use it to drive traffic to websites and blogs that I own.
I feel like I have just started out again, the same way I felt when I started blogging - connected to a community, all doing similar things. I remember well how I started blogging and connected with a few people and felt like part of a community - we all went separate ways, and for me blogging for the last couple of years has been a relatively 'lonely' (not in an emotive sense) pursuit. Interaction has been largely missing, but I can now see how the Twitter community can be used to interact and therefore drive traffic. Traffic is the illusive 'asset' that most bloggers and website builders seek. I am going to dive into Twitter to see if I can use it to recapture my enthusiasm for the social web, and to get some much-needed traffic coming my way.

Custom Jerseys

If you are part of a team of some type you can find custom jerseys here. There are all sorts of clothing available for all types of team activities. You can customize each item with your own team colors, and add accessories such as hats, caps or a sweat shirt for keeping warm.
Some items are available in custom colors, others allow you to add your own custom text, logo or other images. There is an online designer tool that allows you to create your own design before submitting your order. No need to settle for some 'off the shelf' design for your team - now you can have your own custom design printed and delivered to your home or business.

Internet security

Some Do's and Don'ts for internet users everywhere - you may find something on this list that you do, but shouldn't...

• Don’t re-use your email password - if you log into a third party site with your email address and the same password that you use for your emails (ie. your hotmail, gmail, etc..) that third party site has both your email address AND your password...
• Use two-factor passwords when you can  - I keep an 'offline' (ie. a notepad in my office) record of my passwords. I tend to have a list of about three or four different words and about three or four different numbers that I use - but I will still use totally random configurations just to keep things fresh - that's when you need a notebook or pother physical record (as opposed to a spreadsheet which might be accessed on a PC)
• Don’t use the same username everywhere people don’t realise that people can use Google to connect accounts accross all the different networks they visit, and then work out a way in. For instance Facebook can give visitors clues as to pets names childrens names, car type - all things that can give a clue to passwords. Forums will do the same, if you are logged into a Yamaha forum - what's the betting that one of your passwords is a favourite Yamaha model??
• Keeps plug-ins such as Flash and Java up to date as many of them are to guard against vunerabilities
• Be careful about who you friend on Facebook 
• Don’t trust public wi-fi - fine to use it now and again, but just be careful about what might be accessible on your laptop - and even worse, your phone (phones are generally less well-protected than computers)...

Florida beach rentals

Having spent the last few years holidaying within the UK, I am determined that we will get on a plane sometime soon and have a 'proper' holiday. I am quite keen to visit friends in New York, but have to admit that Florida beach rentals look quite attractive too.
Florida is one of those locations that has everything a holiday destination should have including a Disney theme park, Epcot and the famous Universal Studios to name the most prominent ones. These attractions coupled with low costs of property locally means that renting a property can be a realistic alternative to a hotel holiday.

LASIK in Chicago

Laser-Assisted In Situ Keratomileusis (LASIK) eye surgery is an area of health care that has boomed in recent years due to innovative techniques and the opening of many new facilities proffering the latest equipment.
The surgery uses a laser or blade to cut a flap in the cornea and re-shape the stroma. The flap is then replaced offering a patient a life free from spectacles or contact lenses.
The cornea is a part of the eye that helps focus light to create an image on the retina in much the same way that the lens of a camera focuses light to create an image on film..

A unique feature of the service offered by Dr. Stuart Sondheimer is his experience in all types of eye surgery - this experience and background means that he has the facilities and skills to offer the most appropriate treatment whether it involves surgery or not. The practice is spread over three sites in Chicago, and services offered include Macular Degeneration treatments, Glaucoma treatments, Cataract treatments and many other vital ophthalmic services. His facility is widely regarded as the most trustworthy lasik in Chicago.

Success rates in terms of percentage of patients having this type of procedure are typically in the high nineties, the procedure is not entirely risk-free which is why patients should seek the advice of a suitably qualified and experienced surgeon before deciding to have the treatment.

Autumn is coming..

Uk weather remains undecided as the summer holidays are well behind us and everybody barring the students are back at the grind-stone. We leave a remarkable summer of Olympics in our wake as we face the mundane challenges of life in the vague hope of an 'Indian Summer' starting in the next few weeks.
The economy as a whole is in back-pedal or treading-water mode with little hope af any dramtic change any time soon. The general concensus is that the summer of sport in the UK has been a great success, and that gives us a positive attitude that we can take into our family and business lives, engendering a sense of satisfaction despite the uncertain economic future.
On-line earnings remain possible but it is getting harder to justify the effort needed to pull in the few dollars that are available. Having said that I have had a good result with my currently favourite affiliate - I often get a few payouts sometimes of around £2 or thereabouts every month or so, but I have just received notification of an impending £20 payout coming my way soon. The only issue I have with this is that the affiliate scheme doesn't have any tracking, so I am not even sure where the clicks are coming from... £20 will be a nice boost to earnings, and with another Adsense payment just around the corner, I will have some decent figures to add to my earnings.
I have just completed my tax return for the year just gone, but suspect that this mught be a 'plateau' year or even a dip year for me in terms of annual earnings.

Stunning Drums

When I was younger I used to play keyboards in a band, but before that I really wanted to be a drummer. Me and my friends would congregate in our school music room at lunch time and found all sorts of wonderful kit including some stunning drums. I would sit at the kit and knock out a rhythm and other friends would play guitar (I think one was a flautist too).
It was only when I offered to pick out the notes on the piano to help tune the guitars, that the others realised I could play piano...(whereas it was failry well established that I couldn't play drums!)
Since then I stuck to the piano, but I still would have loved to have been a drummer.

Holidays

The Summer holidays are now over in the UK, but I have allowed myself a few extra days off from my day job to catch up with things at home.
I have not blogged for the last few weeks as I have been away on a 'frugal' holiday in a friend's caravan for a short while. We have done the same holiday for the last few years, and although it should be saving us money, I always seem to spend a fortune whilst we are there..
At least I can add more stuff to my travel blog now, although posts there have been sadly lacking since we have more or less stopped traveling since we are a family of three and not just a care-free couple any more.. (not that I would swap!).
I need to do a catch up on my financial blog too - judging by that stats supplied by blogger, although this blog gets more visits, my financial affairs blog gets a better ratio of visits compared to number of posts completed - I should therefore, in theory be trying to get more quality posts put on there to drive up traffic.
Online earnings have been quite slow this year, but I am aware that if I could rationalise my approach I could probably boost earnings, it's just a case of whether I can find the time to put the work in, and whether the returns will justify the effort. Nonetheless, the online earnings quest will continue...

Masonry screws

If you have ever done any serious DIY, you will have at some point got frustrated with the fiddly combination of masonry drill, screw and rawl-plug. When you emerge from your store of screws and drills,  usually at least one of the three components is the wrong size. Some years ago, I discovered the genius of masonry screws. The masonry screw needs only a matching masonry drill bit - the double thread ensures that a rawl-plug is not needed. No more drilling and drilling to make the hole a bit bigger so you can force the plug in - no more tightening the screw only to find the plug won't hold - no more driving hard with blistered hands before discovering that the plug was too short..
True DIYers everywhere salute the humble masonry screw, and always have a few hidden away for those awkward tasks.

Catering equipment

In an effort to maximise revenue, my wife has recently begun a business making cakes for local individuals and businesses. Like any business activity, there can be a fine balance between making a profit and making a loss.
As well as the ingredients for the cakes, a calculation of energy used in cooking and distributing the cakes has to be taken into consideration. Other cost considerations are the catering equipment which has to be of a high standard, and associated costs such as website and business card production. Naturally, website costs are low as I have created a website for the business and we also set up an associated Facebook page.
This type of business allows a stay-at-home mother to work in her own environment and still be available to do the 'school-run' and even look after a child when school is out for whatever reason.

The downside of the interactive web...

I am old enough to remember the hype around 'Web 2.0' some years ago when interaction started to creep into websites. The practice of leaving comments on articles and starting conversations crept into our lives and we ended up with the facebook generation that has bought us life lived out on a page...Social media suddenly took flight.
Now, I find Facebook a great way to keep in touch with far-flung friends, but I notice that other people tend to use it as a forum for discussion, which could be positive, but in my experience often results in insulting 'troll-like' behaviour. This is the downside of the interactive web, you give people a voice, and they will abuse it. This is why countries like the UK do NOT have 'free speech' as a right - it's because we understand that some people just shouldn't be allowed to voice their opinions as they don't have the social grace to understand how an inclusive society works. One of the worst offenders that I have seen is Yahoo where they allow users to comment on news - and they do just that. For example, I was just reading an article about recent lottery winners, comments were peppered with petty ill-disguised jealousy, some chose to roundly abuse the winners commenting on their appearance and suggesting that the male of the couple could now get himself a younger wife... No doubt, very funny if you are currently on school holidays and just graduating into long trousers, but of course each comment carries equal weight once it is posted. Added to this is then the opportunity to give a thumbs-up or a thumbs-down to each comment - this interactive feature is subject to the same inane activity. One poster remarked 'Fair play to them, I really hope they enjoy it..' within a short time, two people had give a thumbs-down to this pleasant even-handed comment suugesting that there are at least two people reading the comments who hope that the happy couple DON'T enjoy their win.
I would prefer to stay out of these stupid spats, but I'm afraid I did jump in with 'What idiot gives a thumbs down for that?' (I got a thumbs up, but expect worse to follow..).
My feeling is that I know exactly why people do that, it's because we have some incredibly small-minded people out there - the internet makes it worse because the idiots who are too scared to be rude to your face are really brave when you don't have a chance of finding out who they are. I assume that the 'trolls' mask their identities, and if you are going to take part in these discussions, then I recommend that you do the same. By calling them 'trolls' we are lumping them all together, but in reality we are talking about a range of people. Some are ignorant, biggoted people, some are just idiotic nasty kids - both of these look the same on the internet and can be spotted by bad spelling and grammar. Others are sociopaths who have no idea of how to behave or interact with others, some have deep-held but basically flawed beliefs (conspiracy theorists and the like) who just love to bang their drum. Many are probably an amalgamation of the above.
This is the price of Web 2.0, you can't really stop it but I would offer the following guidelines:

• Don't put stuff in your online profiles that might be traceable (email addresses, phone numbers etc..)
• Don't get too embroiled in an argument because it may turn out you are arguing a serious point with a couple of 11-year olds... be prepared to walk away from the discussion if things are going in an unsavoury direction.
• Mark down or report posts that go againt the TOS of the site concerned - blow the whistle on the trolls.
• Be caureful about linking your comments into other social medai sites (loads of places like Yahoo will do this if you are not careful) -

criminal background check

The employment market has changed over the last decades, and now a background check such as can be got from criminal background check easybackgrounds would not be an unusual request. Employers can afford to be more careful about who they employ, and are more likely to look into an applicants background before employing them. In some jobs, this would now be part of the normal vetting process in contrast to how appointments may have been made previously.

Great year of sport

The 2012 Olympic games has proved a thrilling event for the local GB crowd as well as as a global sporting spectacle, with little more than the closing ceremony to come, the games has proved successful on all levels.
The support has been tremendous with sell-out crowds at many many events, everyone (apart from the sulky few) in the UK have been well behind the success of the games even though many were skeptical before they began.
We have enjoyed great sights including a couple of World Records broken, some legends (Usain Bolt to name one) established as kings (and queens) of their sport, and a generally wholesome and safe experience was had by all.
Congratulations for the London Olympic organisational team, the GB team participants, all other nations that took part and the supporters than came from near and far to make the event so special.
Right, when does the football season start?

1200 and counting

I have just posted my 1200th post on Munny4Hunny which seems like quite a lot even in 5 years. This is the most prolific of my blogs, so no surprise that it has many more posts than my others, still 1200 is quite a lot... Things have changed over the years, and in the main, potential earnings have slowed down.
Paid posting has changed since the days when Pay Per Post were the 'Daddy' and hours were spent trawling for opportunities on a daily basis to find the 'fattest' opps. Google has responded especially to viral linking which enabled bloggers to 'game' technorati links. Inevitably, like the dot-com's, the bubble burst but we have not been left completely without opps.

It used to be quite acceptable to mention the paid to blog companies alongside the paid posts, but with paid posting becoming increasingly twitchy about upsetting Google, this is no longer encouraged - making it diffcult to discuss paid blogging on a blog that actually includes paid posts.

There remains the question over whether Google should be so picky about paid posting when it has it's own 'Adsense' scheme for companies to advertise themselves on web-sites and blogs, but that's an argument I have examined a few times, and I'm not one of the 'Google bashers'who believes they are harbingers of evil, but I do beleive their stance is somewhat contradtictory and slightly monopolistic. Nevertheless I continue to be paid for Adsense and other adverts, so I continue to be happy for everything to carry on as it is... They also own blogspot and allow us to use it for free, so it's all good...

Bubble Machine

Summer 2012 is a pretty exciting time, and what better time to have a wedding or a big party for all your friends.You can have your own dj bubbles at your party, get a big rig in and rock the house, or just have a quiet BBQ at home with family and/or friends.
I have to say, as I get older, the smaller and quieter a party is, the more attractive I find it... up to a point of course...

I would never advocate having a loud BBQ unless you can hold it in a secluded location, but nothing wrong with a bit of bunting, some funky lights and your very own bubble machine to set the right atmosphere.

On yer bike

Recently, my frugal living has been taking some serious knocks, and deciding to re-fit the home office didn't help. Really the whole thing is down to attitude and resolve, my resolve has softened somewhat lately and credit card bills have grown again.

I don't really know how this issue will be resolved accept by some 'austerity measures' of my own - however this week (in this glorious weather we have been having) I have been cycling to work. I recently 'invested' in a bike from eBay because my little one has learnt to ride her bike and we have been cycling around the locality. What better then, than to use this 'investment' by using it to travel to work (it takes less than 15 minutes to get to work, regardless of whether I go by car or by bike..). The summer months are ideal for this because the traffic on the roads is quite bearable, the journey to and from work when the schools are in, is a very different matter..

One other way that I can get some capital back is by monetising all the laptop parts that I have after my experiment with laptop fixing. I have a fairly large stock of saleable items that just need sorting out. We are getting another 'free' holiday this year courtesy of a friend with a holiday home - although a free holiday always end up being quite costly because you can't really go on holiday without spending a bit of cash...even if it costs nothing to go in the first place.

Time for a change

I was recently prompted to look at this blog and see if I could 'streamline' it a little. There was a suggestion that side-bar text-links can become a problem because they are in every 'page' and they generate hundreds of 'spammy' looking links. I was reluctant to remove them at first, but I figured that this blog could probably do with a spring clean so why not remove all of the clutter from the sidebar.

My foray into the blogger template editor has resulted in a slight colour scheme change (grey to contrast better with the bright red), and a thorough 'weeding out' of the sidebar.

This is post no:1198 on Munny4Hunny, and marks yet another facelift, although only a very subtle one compared with ones I have been though in the past. The image included here is one of the first banners that I designed for this blog over five years ago. A lot of text has been typed since then, and a few dollars have been amassed too.. which makes the whole project that much more worthwhile.

Spanish Weather

It is not often that you can compare UK weather with spanish weather, but this week is turning out to be one of those freak occurrences that British weather likes to throw our way every once in a while. We are now entering Summer holiday season with the schools breaking up, and many UK families will be setting their sights on the Spanish coasts where the weather is more reliable than what we are used to at home.

Offering up to 14-day forecasts, the 'SpanishWeather.net' website could prove to be a valuable tool for working out whether 'the rain in spain will be mostly on the plain' or if it's shorts and tee-shirts all the way for the duration of your holiday. The website offers some background information about Spain in general as a holiday destination, and then goes on to offer 3,5,7,10 and 14 day forecasts for hundreds of locations around Spain. It also offers average monthly temperature and rainfall data for each of these areas - in fact I would go as far as to say that nowhere on the 'net is such a comprehensive set of weather data available in such an accessible format.

Summer is coming to the UK

Just in time for the Olympics... we are finally due for some scorching weather next week after what seems like months of continual rain. I watched the GB football team on TV last night bravely taking on Olympic favourites Brazil in their first ever game (GB have not had a team at the Olympics before as the separate nations that make up GB have always retained their own identity and therefore not been able to compete). GB lost 2 -0 but for a first ever performance, there were some positives to take from the game...

This year, as a family, we had not had any solid plans for a vacation, but we were offered a week in a very plush mobile home at the end of August just last week, so now we have something to look forward to. I am seriously considering putting some cash aside next year for a visit to Disneyland Paris as a treat for my daughter, but we'll see how that plan goes...

Stroller website

Although (when our little one was a toddler) we didn't get our stroller from a stroller website, we certainly had good use out of it.
The reason that it was so useful is that we had a fully-loaded pram with covers and all-sorts, but for quick trips, the stroller was so much lighter and easier to handle that it quickly became a favorite of ours.
The stroller was so much easier to collapse and stick in the back of the car than the full pram, that we ended up rarely using the pram at all.