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1st (And Perhaps Last) Podcast

Here’s the first ThoughtfulConsideration.com podcast. I’m sure that it would (or will) get easier with more experience, but it took more work than I imagined. I touch on essentially two topics: what my first podcasting experience was like and the upcoming Carnival of Thoughtful Consideration.

I had hoped to make this available through a spiffy flash-based player, but until I find a product that functions the way I’d like, a simple link will have to suffice:

2006-12(Dec)09-Podcast-1.mp3

_start(FALSE, 'width=400&height=170&mode=3')

Update: I located a nice little (free!) online player at http://www.boriel.com/?page_id=12 which is what you see above, so hopefully you agree that it’s better than a simple link.

Enjoy!

Qustion(s) of the day:

Do you podcast? What tips and tricks can you offer this noob?

December 9th, 2006 | Category: Podcasts | 2 comments

Test Driving A New Theme

I love the simplicity of my previous theme Misty Look but I’ve really wanted to have three columns to work with. I’m test driving TripleK2 and so far I think I like it.

Here’s what it’s got going for it:

  • A cool javascript navigation slider at the top that lets visitors drag the button to go forward and back in my posts.
  • Text over my original picture which I put in place of the original one.
  • The colors are nice and I like the contrast between the links and the post text. Misty Look used a dark green for links which was very similar to the post text.

Here’s what I’m not particularly fond of:

  • The excruciatingly slow page loads. To partially mitigate this problem I followed these instructions over at TheUsefulBlog.com which cut page loads down to around 13 seconds (from almost 60!).
  • The bullets to the side of my link categories
  • The fact that it doesn’t display the hierarchy of my categories

As with any theme change, I have a number of customizations that I’ll have to bring over from my previous theme, but hopefully that won’t be too bad or take too long. That’s just part of the fun, right? The “moving in.”

December 8th, 2006 | Category: Non-Finance, The Net | 396 comments

Latest On Domaining

To be honest, it’s still not going as well as I’ve liked. Because of that I’ve decided to make some changes in my approach, hoping that they will turn the tide.

I received an offer through Sedo.com for one of my domains and I counter offered, but I haven’t heard back from them in quite a while. That’s disappointing because it would have been nice to have a little bit of income to counter-balance all the expenses.

While it’s impossible to hold Sedo.com completely responsible for my dismal earnings, I have switched to Moniker.com’s TrafficClub.com and so far it’s going OK. In about six days I’ve had around 200 page views (remember that I’ve purchased more domain names, so this isn’t an apples-to-apples comparison with Sedo.com) and $0.49 in earnings on five click-throughs. What you can compare with Sedo.com is the average revenue per click which was $0.06 vs. TrafficClub.com’s $0.098. One more thing to keep in mind is that Sedo.com’s average is skewed high by a single, uncharacteristic $0.25 click (most paid between $0.03 and $0.05) while TrafficClub.com’s more accurately reflects my average revenue per click.

Different parking services work better for different domain names, and you’ll see why based on these descriptions. TrafficClub.com’s approach is very different from Sedo.com’s. With Sedo.com, you have a lot of ability to customize the landing page including your choice of layouts, pictures, etc. You even get to select the keyword(s) which can be a really helpful feature. TrafficClub.com on the other hand, takes care of all those things for you which can be either good or bad. Another difference with TrafficClub.com is that they rotate the landing between four different ad networks and over time they’ll give more “air time” to the service that get the most click and/or is paying out the best.

I’ve continued to purchase domains based on research from DomainersEdge.com, and I’ve continued to use a mix of purchasing methods. Some I’ve back-ordered and had to go through the auctions at Pool.com and SnapNames.com.

Others I’ve purchased through the TDNAM.com auctions. Some of the auctions have had a strange end: I was the high bidder at a given price when the auction finished, but right as it closed, it said that I lost the auction. What’s weird is that it still showed my bid amount as the selling price, but I was no longer the winner. That’s strange! My primary complaint with TDNAM.com though, is that it takes them two weeks before they transfer the domain to your account. This has been really frustrating because I like instant gratification!

I also read another domainer’s post which indicated that he liked 1and1.com as a registrar. The $5.99 domain names are nice, especially since it includes masking your WhoIs information. It may simply be that I didn’t poke around enough, but I didn’t see any bulk management tools so I ended up having to change all the DNS information one domain at a time. That was really time consuming, even though I’d only purchased 15 or so domain names.

As always, I’m open to suggestions, so please send them my way!

December 7th, 2006 | Category: Finance, Investing, Etc., Misc. Investing | One comment

The Carnival of Thoughtful Consideration

For several months I’ve been sharing my ideas about a variety of subject that I really enjoy. There’s so much to see, experience, and learn in life that I want to know what you are thinking about too. For that reason there’s a new blog carnival in town!

The Carnival of Thoughtful Consideration is your chance to share what you know and think about with the rest of the world. Here are some of the topics to be thinking about:

  • Financial
    • Budgets and Saving
    • Education
    • ID Theft and Credit
    • Jobs and Employment
    • Misc. Investing
    • Net Worth
    • Personal Finance
    • Retirement
  • Non-financial
    • Blogging
    • Digital Photography
    • Language
    • Misc. Humor
    • Organization
    • Personal Development
    • Relationships and Parenting
    • Technology and Software
    • Book Reviews

I’ve never hosted a blog carnival before, so I may end up needing to change the format. Presently, bloggers will submit posts each week on any of the above topics. Depending on how well that works out, we may try:

  • Picking a single category for each carnival
  • Having a carnival be either “financial” or “non-financial”

Please let me know if you have any suggestions. Submit your posts now at BlogCarnival.com for the next edition!

December 6th, 2006 | Category: Carnival of TC | 4 comments

Memo: Jane, Our Employee Of The Month

TO:             ALL EMPLOYEES
CC:             Company President, Company CEO
FROM:         Company CFO
DATE:         December 5, 2006
SUBJECT:    NOVEMBER 2006 EMPLOYEE OF THE MONTH JANE SMITH

Dear Ladies and Gentlemen:

Many fishermen headed to the Alaskan ocean last August to catch halibut, but November’s employee of the month “hatched” her own secret plans. Not unfamiliar with “cutthroat” competition, Jane Smith hooked a blue shark and persuaded it to tangle up all the other lines, thus deftly eliminating all competition! (note to self: check for other EOTM candidates tied up with 50-lb test line in the closet . . .) Fishy conspiracies aside, Jane’s creel of personal attributes includes composure, organization, and logistical skills which make her a “reel”-y obvious choice for this trophy . . . er . . .recognition.

We lured her on board in February 2004 as Bob Jones assistant, and she now serves as one of our transportation coordinators. The bait of her salmon-colored resume may have landed her the job she was angling for almost three years ago, but she set the hook with her ability to coordinate and locate the various resources that keep our transportation department “swimming” along.

She’s no stranger to “chumming” around with co-workers as evidenced by these “fish stories”:

  • Even with trucks being tight (like sardines), she keeps a positive attitude and never cuts bait
  • Her positive attitude and levelheaded demeanor have added to her outstanding contributions
  • She’s able to befriend almost anyone, making our work environment a lot more pleasant and fun (and less “crappie”)
  • She’s got the best laugh and a quick smile that can make even an old “crab” chuckle
  • Jane has an amazing work ethic that makes her a valuable member of our team – we’re lucky to have her! (she’ll “tackle” anything)
  • Jane is no catch and release! She’s essential to our organization and kicks “bass”!

Jane and her “buoy”, Dennis (a real “keeper”!), live out near the foothills while Dennis ties off his bachelor’s degree at our local college. Dennis will then don hip waders for law school — we’ll assume Jane didn’t know about that ambition before she went for him, hook, line and sinker. Jane has also motored slowly back onto the “school” (get it?) scene to troll for her own degree. Jane netted a trip to a local NBA game with Dennis. She must have been a good luck charm because her team reeled in a win at the buzzer (note to self: be sure Jane is there for our next trip to Las Vegas). We didn’t just pick her “on the fly”, Jane is a perfect fit for this award.

Please take a minute to congratulate Jane to let her know how proud we are to have her “perch”-ed on our mantel (or team, or whatever).

December 5th, 2006 | Category: Misc. Humor, Non-Finance | 5 comments
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