What did you do this weekend to be a better geek?

Hello Cycle 41!  Since we are starting a unit on the Internet, I thought what better way to start things off than by finding your lesson on the Internet!  I am soooooo clever!

This is my blog.  I use it for class assignments, and my own general rantings.  If you start to miss me, you can just read some of my other posts.........

There are some folks that use their blogs as a money making machine - there is even a site called problogger.net, where the writer claims a six-figure income, and I know there are numerous books on the subject.  (As a matter of fact, I have seen a book written by a blogger based right here in Philadelphia - I kid you not!)  In addition to advertising, some bloggers get free coupons, gift cards and even free stuff just for reviewing products on their blogs.  It has become such a big business, that the FTC is looking into regulating bloggers.

If you like to write, but don't want the hassle of maintaining a blog site, you can get your work published in a variety of ways: Helium.com, ConstantContent.com, and AssociatedContent.com are all sites that will pay you to write for them directly, or provide a marketplace for your writing.

If you aren't much on the content side, but can (or want to) design and make good looking, functional websites, you may want to look into how to become a freelance web designer.  Working with content management software like Drupal, Wordpress and Joomla are all excellent entries into the world of web design/web building.

Of course, you can get yourself some space on the Internet and re-sell it (kind of like a digital middle-man).  Bluehost.com is a site I found that provides a tremendous amount of space and flexibility on the Internet for a very low cost (compare it to hosting packages provided by sites like GoDaddy.com).  The beauty of (and problem with) the Internet is that there are no licensing, business or expertise requirements to setup shop.  Anyone can pick a name, rent the space and hang their shingle in whatever field they want.  Got an idea on how you can leverage your special talents (no Perry, belching the alphabet is not a special talent) to make money on the Internet?  These are the types of sites that can rent you the space to do it......

If you are a social butterfly, you can get in on the money making game with social networks too.  Design a really cool template for MySpace or Facebook, and you can sell it for a modest penny or two.  Google "myspace templates" and see just how many sites there are......

Lastly, if you have no friends in this life (not mentioning any names of people in the back of the room on the typing tutor all day long...........ahem), you may want to try a Second Life.  In a virtual world, you can be anyone you want, even if you want to be a real-estate mogul or fashion designer.  Not only can you be rich and famous in your Second Life, but you could actually put some money in the bank account associated with your first (read NORMAL) life!

In some cases, without any special "skill", but a little bit of know-how, you can make money on-line at little cost and with little time and resources.  Certainly, you don't even need your own computer to make money online, although I wouldn't recommend that!  Now that I have pointed you to some of the options, it is up to you to see just how realistic these opportunities are.

YOUR ASSIGNMENT:  Using the links above, and using sites like Google and Bing to search for the italicized terms, surf the Internet, and find out more about the real opportunities that people have taken advantage of to make money on the Internet.  Look into as much as time allows...it's okay to "fall down the rabbit hole".  With the Internet, some things require exploring and meandering.  After you have had a look around, write me a one page paper about the opportunity that interests you the most, and how you could forsee yourself making money.  Look in depth - find out how people really do it.  Most information is freely available in some form, so formulate a complete plan - give me details about how you would make money, and the choices that you make.  Be sure to look up (using online dictionaries or Wikipedia) any terms that are new to you so that you can fully understand what you are getting yourself into......

Have fun.  See you later      
~PFunk

I am throwing out my TV

The other night I saw a commercial on TV that made me absolutely apoplectic. Brooke Shields was doing a commercial for a new prescription pharmaceutical to help grow thicker, fuller EYELASHES!

Is this what the world has come to? We have solved all the big problems that medicine can solve, so now we are looking into what we can do for people with eyelashe deficiencies? Please tell me this was originally an attempt to find a cure for blindness with an odd side effect. Please tell me that no one sat down and consciously set out to find the miracle cure for sparse eyelashes.

I am so perplexed by this. We have so many real problems in this country and this world, but we have no problem finding the next cure for limp linguine or thin eyelashes. Next will there be a test available to check for unibrow in utero? With prescription drug prices through the roof, and the justification of R & D, is this a signal of the coming apocolypse? This can't end well if people can't afford heart medication, but we can fund research and development of medical mascara.

Aaaaaaargggghhhhhhhh! Stop the stupidity, I want to get off!!!!

Hugh Douglas is not a credible reporter

As I was getting dressed and ready for work this morning, I had the tv tuned to FOX29 for local news. (Myphl17 looks like they are running it out of someone's basement - completely unwatchable).

Hugh Douglas is a great personality, and excels at breaking down sports highlights (not so much with the reading scores part), and they are looking to see how much they can do with him. However, Hugh Douglas is NOT a credible reporter.

This morning's segment featured Hugh in a E85 Flex Fuel Chevy Avalanche going over all of the great features. Having previously shopped for one (WAY USED), I can tell you it is an innovative, roomy and powerful truck. It also goes for $56,000 new. Hugh, being an ex Defensive End (hint: one of the higher paying positions on the football field), went on at the end of the segment to talk about how that truck was a great buy for the money. You know, for the guy towing his boat to the shore.....

(Aside to GM executives: the old rule of thumb was to spend a couple of times your annual salary on a house, not a car. Get in line with reality - I will buy one off the used car lot in 5 years and pay less than 20k for it. Probably less than 15k. This is why automakers suck. And FAIL.)

Are you kidding me? A former pro athlete telling me that the big rims and chrome accents make that truck worth 56k? A guy who made that kind of money in a week, telling me that I should sell my wife's WIC checks to put money down on one of those. Ridiculous, and not the least bit credible. Meanwhile the blonde car model is doing Sports......

I guess my biggest problem with it is, I understand the difference in what is a good value for my money, what fulfills my needs, and what is a waste. We are a country that was nearly toppled from debt and overspending. Credit is tightening, and with new rules, credit card companies are going to look for new ways to get the advantage on consumers. I understand this, but a lot of people do not. Just like the results from last nights reality show is not news, the reality show is not reality. People are so hypnotized by the television that they don't understand that their reality is nothing like television. There are stories about how the economy is struggling, but there is no education for people to improve their own circumstance. Athletes and entertainers are paid exorbitant sums of money, spend ridiculous amounts on sunglasses, shoes, cars, and are then held up as the standards that our children should aspire to.

And when the "crisis" is over, the schools and the media will go back to failing people again - failing to educate, and selling the same snake oil reality that nearly ruined the people on the other side of the cameras.

Onscreen keyboard too! With smiley faces no less! Too much fun. Great update! O:-)

Update!

I am so excited!  I just got an update to my phone, and there were a couple of small differences right off the bat, but the first BIG one I noticed is.......A Camcorder! Yay! Finally video capability comes to the G1. I tried market apps, but they were a little weak. I am very excited to try it.  Can't wait to see what other goodies are in here. Thank you Android!

Post heading

Not just SMS, but e-mail too. This will be good for sending those cool (or cute) pics on the go!

Tweet!

More cool ways to blog.....text message. Guess this is blogger's answer to tweets. Works 4 me!

Hatin on Jon and Kate

After reading all of the drama (and blistering that they were getting) on the front page of practically every news source, I watched for the one and only time "Jon and Kate Plus 8".

I could see why she is not viewed as a very sympathetic person, and I really, after a bit, didn't have much for him either. What kind of "reality" do these two live in? They have furniture in one room that costs more than all of the furniture in my house. Who gets their birthday cake made at Charm City, while Duff entertains their kids? (HEY DUFF - Can I stop by with the wife and kids? I really screwed up her birthday and mothers day and could use a save. Call me. pfunk) Who has dinner with Emeril? This is not reality anymore. It was reality when they struggled to put diapers on the babies. It was reality when 6 completely helpless children needed their parents to care for them, hold them, feed them. It was reality when they were part of a community that supported them, and they appreciated the help.

Is it any wonder their marriage may be on the rocks? (don't really care, I truthfully am not a fan of our voyeurism culture as ironic as that may be.) He mentioned about how they used to work as a team, could fill each other's gaps, you know - parent like a married couple. Now either she is out of town doing book signings (which, why are the pictures she was signing of her and not her kids, which - she insisted - is what it is "all about". No one would care about her at all if she didn't have all those kids), or she is jetting across the country for spa treatments (they have them in Philly and New York too. Probably one in Reading, couple in KoP). When she gets back to town, he runs off. Snow boarding in Park City? What about Blue Mt? Jack Frost, even frickin Vermont - When you live in rural PA, Park City is for celebs.

Turn it back into a reality show - instead of the "reported" $47,000 per episode (next week is #100 btw) that they are getting, how about it gets put into a trust fund for the children that cannot be touched until they are 18?

No there is no more reality there, and they deserve all the pain and misery they receive for their selfish exploitations. There are plenty of real people who raise kids and go through struggles every day - comes with the territory. These two are just spoiled, ungrateful, miserable people whose children are on a fast track to infamous.

Time to turn off the cameras - then the reality really comes home.