Making Sense Out of the World

Dolphin popularity has never been higher than the attention this animal is getting today. I’m not sure where man’s interest in dolphins started, but I know in 1964 a TV show by the name of Flipper hit the air waves and everyone loved to watch Flipper. No matter how much trouble Sandy would get into, it seems Flipper was always there for the rescue. I would say Flipper started a lot of people’s interest in dolphins.

The blog Dolphin Bubbles is a great blog for anyone that does have a love for dolphins. Lots of great posts and pictures there for people to quench their thirst on dolphin knowledge and curiosities. It is an active blog with people leaving comments and sharing their thoughts on dolphins.

There is a dolphin game online that is very popular right now. It is called the Dolphin Olympics and I’m not sure how you play the game, but I know there are a lot of computer users that go play this game each day. A new version of Dolphin Olympics came out and this is Dolphin Olympics 2. I think I would like to try the original dolphin game first, before I gave the Dolphin 2 a try.

Some of the best fans in sports are Miami Dolphin fans and I wonder how much these guys love the animal. I’m sure the fans living around South Beach have no trouble finding dolphin merchandise and items to take to the game or to decorate the TV room, where they watch their belove dolphins play on Sunday. A warm sun shinning down through the clouds on a Sunday afternoon in Miami is a great way to watch an NFL football game.

Did Flipper start the popularity of dolphins? Dolphins are a very smart animal and lots of testing goes on to see just how smart they are. Perhaps we like them because they are smarter than us or we are just amazed at how human they can act or seem at times. Where ever the love for dolphins came from, it seems like it’s going to be around for awhile longer. They say dolphins are about 10 million years old and if they manage to survive another 10 million years, I’m sure humans will love them just as much then as they do now.

Popularity: unranked [?]

The red carpets were rolled out recently for the Oscars and many of Hollywood’s finest showed up. The celebrities were all well-dressed and it’s the fashion statement of the year for some. Lots of money goes into the wardrobe selections of these movie stars that get all dressed up for the Oscar awards ceremony. I was noticing some nice Rolex watches worn by some and this is certainly a fashion statement for the big time Hollywood actors and entertainers. I would love to own a Rolex watch, but I do know that the Seiko watches tell time just as good and they are much more affordable for us that don’t get to walk on the red carpet. You really don’t see the mega stars like Tom Cruise, Tom Hanks, or John Travolta showing off nice watches. It seems to be the actors that fall just under these great actors that have to prove their self to others. Be sure to check out next year’s Oscar awards and pay attention to all of the nice watches that get shown during this festive event in America.

Popularity: unranked [?]

It’s no wonder the financial sector is struggling so much and I think the big banks are directly to blame. Wachovia and Regions bank offer customers nothing and their customer support is the worse in the industry. They have lost touch with the human element of things and it’s all business to them. These banks don’t deserve a bailout and it’s easy to see why they are failing. They aren’t treating their customers like people and it’s became a numbers game to them. I know there are other factors for their struggles, but it’s the average “Joe” that has kept banks in business and now Joe doesn’t want to bank with them anymore.

Wachovia bank offers crappy customer service and support. Any little thing you do at Wachovia, you’re going to pay for it. They will tack on fees left and right for the smallest little things. Many long-time customers of Wachovia bank don’t realize just how much their fees have increased. Checking your balance at Wachovia can come with a fee for some, but the increased fees across the board is an attempt for them to gain back some of their lost money in these troubling times. Wachovia is expecting their customers to pay for their mistakes and it’s not a good situation at all over there. If you’re currently a customer at Wachovia bank, you may want to choose a better banking solution.

The folks over at Regions bank are no better. I was paid with a check from a Regions bank customer and they would not cash the check through the drive-thru. It doesn’t just stop with coming inside the bank to get your checked cash, they want your thumb print too! If you have a $1 check that needs cashing at Regions bank, be ready to get your thumb dirty and they don’t offer any wipes for you to clean your thumb after they have darkened for ya. Why would anyone want to go through a “finger printing” process to get a check cashed?

The big banks just don’t care and they think their large numbers will support them. Our toughest times have yet to come and it’s time for the average folks to step-in and make a difference. Don’t use the big banks like Wachovia and Regions that could care less about you. Now is the time to switch to a good local or community bank in your area. It’s the big banks that have driven us into a recession and they don’t deserve our business any longer. You will find much better customer service with a smaller bank and they will take care of you like a person and not just another number on the books.

Popularity: unranked [?]

The housing market in London is heating up as the reported price increase reached 5% over the previous month for home prices. The economy has been fueling the new home starts and this has lead to demand outstripping supply. This has lead to a decrease in the number of days that it is taking to sell home in the UK from and average of 55 days to just under 49 days. While this is not a huge jump a few days can mean the difference in financing if you are timing the market. One area that I would love to live is in the area of Manchester. Manchester is home to some of the world’s greatest football players (soccer in the states) and their culture and way of life is one that many have come to now and love. But since I will probably not be moving to London or Europe anytime soon I have just found London Vacation Apartments that are well suited for the long and short term stays. Expertly appointed you can find anything from a 1-6 bedroom apartment or hostel. So while my goals of living abroad are put on hold we are certainly looking to plan an extended vacation across the “pond” to visit and relax another part of the beuatiful planet.

Popularity: unranked [?]

What comes to mind when you think of the Big Apple? I assume you said New York and that comes to my mind as well. That has changed with the latest IPhone that Apple has came out with. The new Samsung cellphones like the Behold are challenging this market leader with some new features in their new touch screen model. I have not seen a reason to this point to have one, and I think my nephew sold me on a few points the other day, that will make me get a cell phone.  While the iPhone is loaded with some nice features one of the key features that the Samsung holds is a 5 MP camera. This is a nice feature and one weak point about the iPhone for those that love to take pics with their phone to post on their blog or on sites like facebook.

If I want to go in style, the IPhone that Apple is marketing seems to be the way to go. It has a touch screen that will access the internet, not to mention it has video capabilities, and somewhere in there, is appears a camera is built in. It seems as if the touch screen phones are the newest and mot sought after features on any new phone. It will come down to how user friendly these devices are and can they function as phone which is their main purpose. Many of the phone today are so focused on the gadgets that the phone and call clarity can pay the price.

Popularity: unranked [?]

Update: The industry known as AutoSurf for cash appears to have died a slow death and more investigations are pending. We received two more emails on potential SEC investigations to the damages that were caused by several other online sites and possible settlements that are pending in the courts. This has been going on over the past few years and the appears to be no end in sight. If looks too good to be true, then it is! Did anyone see the SEC filing against a company called 12Daily Pro, and also named was StormPay. StormPay in an online payment processor similar to PayPal.While the settlement for end users hurt by the recent activities has not been settled, I felt it timely to throw some thought together around Internet Schemes and what to look out for:

It is an understandable that millions of people have ambitions, desires or passing wishes to have their own business. Let’s face it, countless millions of people are in jobs they do not really like, nor get any satisfaction from. Financially, they get by from to month to month, but cannot build up real wealth. With the economy still showing no sign of growth many people are looking for and are more eager to try a get rich quick solution. The ads and commercials on various topics on how to make millions on the internet appear to be growing by the week. Remember that any money that you invest be prepared to lose as most of them are geared to benefit only a few and not the many.

Popularity: unranked [?]

If you suffer from Sleep Apnea problems there is help available. You don’t have to continue facing these dreadful sleep patterns. A certified center that treats sleep apnea can help you get back to breathing normally while you sleep. In some cases sleep apnea has resulted in death, so this is a serious problem that needs to be treated as soon as possible. If you think you suffer from sleep apnea, make sure you seek help for your sleeping problems soon. There’s a good chance that a certified place in your area is available to help treat sleep apnea. Check with your family doctor to see where these centers are located.

Popularity: unranked [?]

Anyone looking for vinyl or wooden exterior shutters can find just what they are looking for at Larson Shutter Company. They are offering free shipping on their shutter products for any orders that are placed online and this will last until the end of the year! Shutters are not the only thing you will find here and they have a nice selection of shutter hardware, gable vents, and cupolas available. If you’re getting in the home repairing mood with the weather warming up, go check out all the great shutters that are in stock now. I know we have had the same shutters at my house for decades now and we could use some new shutters too! If we do get new shutters soon, I think I will go with the ones that are operational and not just the fixed shutters like we have currently.

Popularity: unranked [?]

We didn’t hear too much about faulty voting places in the 2008 presidential elections. I guess the margin of victory for Obama was too great to cause too many concerns. They were a few issues that got brought up on election day, but they were pretty wide-spread for the most part. This wasn’t true for Homer Simpson and he had a problem with the voting system.

Homer Tries to Vote

I believe this could only happen to Homer from the Simpsons. We don’t really have voting booths that do this; do we?

Popularity: 1% [?]

Many good plans are now available for webmasters that are ready to make their web hosting choice. A website called Web Hosting Choice offers an easy breakdown on the top hosting companies. You can easily see what the best 10 hosting companies out there are as of right now. They rank these hosting companies based on uptime, tech support, reliability, and most importantly price. We all want to pay the cheapest price possible for our hosting choice and it’s easy to see how the companies rank against each other in terms of pricing. I wished I had the chance to look at this website before I chose my hosting company. I see that my company ranks number 5 on the list right now and perhaps I have some better choices in hosting too. Web Hosting Choice is great for someone looking to buy hosting for the first time or someone looking to change hosting companies. If you have a hosting plan already, go see where your company ranks and see if you are using one of the top 10 hosting companies right now.

Popularity: 1% [?]

Ok, I am here to set the record straight and debunk the myth of branding. In the early days they were some people that had a lot of success with branding. That advice got passed along and passed along and passed along; you get the picture. Today branding has gotten so diluted it doesn’t work as well as it once did. However, some people continue to pass on old advice and after enough people hear it, they come to believe it is true.

Don’t get me wrong, I’m not totally ruling out the branding process. There are some small benefits to branding a name or a picture of you. In fact, I will give you some helpful tips later on in this post, if you want to continue the branding road.

Too many people are failing online today and it isn’t because they are branding or not branding. The number 1 reason why people fail online with money making programs is traffic or visitors coming to your website. People don’t do enough to promote their self online and this is the biggest problem that needs fixed. Before you get all hyped up on trying to deliver more traffic to your website, keep in mind the 2nd most popular reason why people fail online today.

It’s the website or the service or product you’re trying to promote. It does no good to deliver tons of traffic to your website, if people are not interested in your program. It’s not good to look at the bottom line and see the potential earnings for a specific program. This isn’t what makes you money! It comes down to value and quality that wins people over and something that actually has some real benefits. Making money is a benefit, but that isn’t always enough to make you earn lots of money online. You have to believe in what you’re promoting, if you want others to follow. If your not sure that the product, service, or program is any good; chances are the people coming to your website won’t know either.

I wish things was as simple as putting your name on a few web pages and creating a “fame” for yourself online and this would attract hundreds of new referrals or customers for you. It just doesn’t work that way. If your buddy from high school opens up a gas station and sells gas for $2 a gallon, but the next gas station down the street sells it for $1.90 a gallon, where are you going to buy your gas at? Maybe you support your buddy from time to time or want to stop in to say hello; most of the time we find ourselves trying to save as much money as possible, so we go with the better price. Your buddy opening up a gas station in your local area is a form of real life branding and this process isn’t even effective in the real world with friends you know. How do you think strangers online are going to run to your programs, because they have seen a picture or your name somewhere else? Branding just isn’t that important.

What is important is doing something daily to promote your websites and get traffic flowing in. Make sure that traffic is going somewhere that offers value and quality. A good price for a quality service, product, or perhaps a money making program will be the things you want to drive traffic to. You don’t need your picture or name to help do this. You just need to put your website in front of as many eyeballs as you can.

Branding does offer a small benefit and every marketer should do everything they can to help generate earnings. You can focus on branding after you have a good website in place and are ready to start driving traffic to it. Since the market is so filled up with people trying to brand their face, try to be unique with your picture. Add a prop into the picture you’re trying to brand for yourself. Try to use more than just 1 picture too. 

If a woman living on a farm wants to take a picture of her self and her horse that would be an example of a good prop. She could go by the name “HorseGirl” and sign up with that screen name for everything she joins. When people see HorseGirl and the picture of her with the horse, they will identify with that person. The horse lovers or animal lovers will love the fact that she added her horse in the picture and this can help lead to new customers or referrals. Adding one of your small children into the picture will also help and people that love kids may be more willing to follow you. You also look trustworthy when you are in the same picture with a child and this can create a trust as you are trying to brand yourself. They are some small benefits to branding, but no one in the early stages of marketing should be focusing on this out-dated piece of advice. Branding is not important and will not determine if you’re successful online or not. Traffic and quality that the website or referral page offers is what will make or break you online today. The people that say “branding is important” it’s not their fault for passing on this advice, they are just going on what the big gurus have passed down over the years. Branding isn’t as effective as it once was and some people may be losing some valuable time trying to brand their picture or name online and it really isn’t necessary.

Popularity: unranked [?]

It seems like the winters get colder and I guess as we age we don’t take the cold weather as well anymore. I wish I had a routine like the birds do and fly south for the winter. I would love to go to South Florida and spend a winter in Miami. There are a lot of good Miami hotels to choose from down there. I would probably select the Holiday Inn Marina Park that is located on the Port of Miami. This hotel is located just outside of the main city area of Miami and is close to American Airlines Arena where the Miami Heat plays basketball. I wouldn’t mind being a season ticket holder and watching all the Heat’s games down in Miami for the winter.

Everyone knows that Miami is full of night clubs and there would never be a shortage of entertainment. I would like to dine in some of the nice restaurants in the early evenings and then go find the nightclubs late at night. The perfect night in Miami would consist of a good restaurant to eat at around 6 o’clock, take in a Heat’s game at 7:30 and hit the nightclubs after the game around 10 or 11 that night. Miami, Florida is certainly one of the U.S. cities that I could learn to love a whole lot with the sports and entertainment this southern city offers!

If you think a trip to Miami sounds right for you, be sure to check out TravelToday.com for the best hotels and motels. They helped me find a place that was near American Airlines Arena. I’m sure they can help you find the perfect accommodations for your stay in Miami too!

Popularity: unranked [?]

Some of these warm days in winter time make me think about fishing. I can just feel that fishing time is near as the weather starts to warm up. I love to fish and I will fish for just about anything. I like to sit at the river and cast a line out with a worm on it and wait for the tug. Just sitting there watching the end of your pole and hoping it makes that strong jerk, so you can reel in the big one. That is what I love most about fishing. I do throw the lures from time to time too, trying to snag a big bass that might be swimming around in the river.

Got to keep the fish! The only thing better than fishing is actually eating them. The people that go fishing with me usually string them up, so we can take them home and clean them. I do think the water quality is poor in my community now and probably not too safe to eat the fish. I just love eating fresh fish and it’s probably my favorite food.

I don’t get a chance to go out in a boat much or fish in a private lake. That is really the best way to teach kids about fishing. If you can go to a private lake where they bite just about every cast, that will usually keep a child fishing long after they have become adults. I need to get my nephews out more often and take them fishing. If I can teach them to be good fishermen, then they can go out and catch them and bring them to me for eating. Make sure to take your kids out if you get a chance to wet a hook anytime soon.

Popularity: unranked [?]

A Background Check is something everyone can do and for so many different purposes. I think our kids are the things most valuable to us and all parents want to do whatever it takes to protect them. Doing a simple background check from your computer is a good way to keep an eye on them. You don’t actually do a background check on your child, but you do it to the people you trust with your kids each day. We can’t be with our children 24 hours a day, so a background check is another tool parents can use for parental supervision. How well do you know the basketball or soccer coach? Do you know anything about the teachers that you rely on for your kid’s safety and to learn from? If you use a babysitter from the neighborhood or found them from an ad online or in a newspaper; how well do you know them? A background check or a basic people search will be helpful for parents that are seeking trust from other adults. It isn’t hard to run a background check on someone and I hope your child’s safety will benefit from a background check.

Parents or even employers can learn some valuable information about a background check. A public record is kept on everyone and this is information that anyone can access. You can do a criminal search and find criminal records on people that have committed crimes in the past. You can determine if those crimes are severe enough to make a decision on a sport’s coach, babysitter, or for that next employee you’re looking to hire. You can do a people search anonymously with the services from BeenVerified and a basic people search is less than 2 dollars. You can obtain all sorts of information like address history, if they are on a terrorist watch list, sex offender, birthday (for age verification), marriages, maiden names, previous crime records, and other things that would be helpful in learning about someone new. I hope all parents take steps to protect their children and a background check is a good way to provide kid safety.

Popularity: 1% [?]

I think the NBA did something a little bit fishy over the NBA All Star Weekend in Phoenix. The Dunk Contest is something special or it can be when the league’s best dunkers participate. They have been down years for the dunk contest and I think in 2009 it was certainly down. I couldn’t figure out why the judges were scoring Dwight Howard and Nate Robinson so high and letting the other two dunkers get low, undeserving scores. Dwight Howard’s dunk on the 12 foot rim and coming out of the phone booth was certainly the most entertaining dunk of the evening. However was it the best?

If you look at the hardest dunk that was performed all evening long, there was no doubt that Rudy Fernandez of the Portland Trail Blazers had the best dunk! His dunk with Pau Gasol throwing it off the back of the backboard and Rudy catching it with one hand and reversing it on the other side of the rim was spectacular. Not many guys in the NBA could perform that dunk and it deserved a 10 from each judge and should have been a 50 dunk. Kenny Smith from TNT said that he would have scored better if he would have did it the first time or in the first couple of tries. Oh really? Well Dwight Howard had several lob attempts with his first dunk. He simply stood out of bounds and threw the ball up and once it bounced off the ground, he threw it down with authority. Dwight received a 50 for his dunk and Rudy got a 42? I didn’t understand at this point how Rudy scored so low and Howard so high.

Soon we would see the phone booth and the extra rim being brought in for Dwight Howard’s 2nd dunk. Nate Robinson who started the competition in the blue Knicks uniform changed out into a green Knicks uniform, green shoe, and used a green basketball to dunk with for the rest of his attempts. The NBA wanted to see the tallest dunker and the shortest dunker go at it in the finals. The judges gave such low scores to Rudy Fernandez and J.R. Smith, which it made it impossible for one of them to advance to the finals.

The NBA fixed the contest! The 2009 Dunk Contest held in Phoenix, Arizona was rigged to have Dwight Howard and Nate Robinson face off against each other. The judges were in on this and that’s why they gave such low scores to the other guys. Rudy you got robbed and everyone NBA fan and player knows this and your dunk was great. It deserved a 50 and I would have liked to see more of your dunks. Unfortunately the NBA had already plan to see Nate Robinson be the kryptonite to Superman Dwight Howard. I live just north of Atlanta where Dwight Howard played his high school basketball. I am a Dwight Howard fan and wanted him to win the 2009 Dunk Contest and repeat as champion. However, he didn’t deserve a 50 on his first dunk attempt and the NBA fixed the dunk contest in Phoenix. If Howard doesn’t make it to the finals, the NBA could not have the shortest guy and the tallest guy dunking it off.

All NBA fans everywhere should be upset with the NBA for rigging the contest in Phoenix. I can’t believe they would stoop to such low measures to design a championship match with Dwight Howard and Nate Robinson. We want to see the best dunks and whoever wins it; wins it! The NBA All Star Weekend was going so good for the NBA and its players until the dunk contest was fixed. It’s no surprise that one of their referees got caught fixing games and was suspended. I guess the referee that got caught fixing games was only taking pages from David Stern and other members of the brass that are suppose to be in charge of the NBA.

The NBA lottery held each summer is not even live on television either. I wish they would let the ping pong balls go live on the air and we can see with our own eyes which team wins the lottery. Since the NBA does this behind closed doors, I guess we can only assume the NBA lottery is fixed too. You also have to think about LeBron James leading a poor Cleveland Cavaliers team to the finals a couple of years ago. That team wasn’t good enough to make the finals, but perhaps the NBA wanted their golden child LeBron James to have a chance to win a NBA title. The lottery, LeBron playing in a finals, and now Rudy Fernandez getting a low score for the best dunk on Saturday night in Phoenix, leads me to believe that the NBA game and events surrounding it are all fixed!

Popularity: unranked [?]