December 2007

 Google deindexing and reindexing of macewan.org - During December of 2007 Google deindexed certain sites. My sites, macewan.org, was one of those hit by the deindexing. From 1,000 straight down to the 200 range for 20 or so days before magicly bouncing its way back up. I just can’t say enough how much credibility Google has lost in my eyes. First there was the PR slashing of all blogs, followed by their obvious targeting of both Text-Link-Ads and Pay Per Post and their Posties then during the time of the doubleclick purchase they deindexed certain sites. DP members are well aware discussed at length the mysterious occrance. So this is ample documented proof from several sites.

Most of us know a friend or someone in the family that has opened an email attachment only to become the latest person to contribute their computer almost willingly to the zombie bot world. I used almost willingly instead of victimized because it’s been over 10 years of solid reporting by the main stream media that this occurs. If they just don’t get the message after 10 years then I say let them suffer - maybe then they’ll pay attention.

An example is the Storm Worm virus. “The Perfect Christmas,” “Mrs. Clause is Out Tonight!” or “The Twelve Girls of Christmas” all allowed you to assist in spamming your friends, family and office coworkers. How sweet. If you were forcing to purchase a PC because you’re just to lazy to discover how much better the Apple platform really is then do everyone a favor and understand you need to purchase an anti-virus program to not just protect your computer, but also the rest of the Internet traffic.

Don’t contribute to the problem…

JD recently touched on subject with the appropriately name Finding the guts to pursue your dreams, a better understanding of what I mean by taking the next logical step. Seems to be a popular subject as seen by Rowe taking a swipe at it last month. Some folks like the Economist even miss out on the details completely in their desire to jump on this wave of blog earnings review. Psst, she was fired because of her blog. That’s why they call it being dooced to get fired for writing about work on your blog.

The point is there is no right, proper or correct time to make the jump. There’s a feeling you get knowing that the time has come - a now or never feeling in your gut. That what I felt. The planning started in June of this year due to obligations with the family. Something had to change in order for me to spend time at home. So six months worth of planning went into the decision. Tuesday I leap.

I stand corrected. It’s much easier to work with the iPod on Ubuntu Linux if you are working with a Windows format instead of Apple format with that little green brick. I’m currently too busy with a project to explain how to fix this little problem so I’m issuing a raincheck. Don’t worry about the if because this is doable. Google around for hfsplus if you feel brave.

From the error messages I’ve encounted it appears that we’ll be reinstalling the filesystem on the iPod and working from there. I may even install ipodlinux if the mood stikes me. In the even you’ve run into these problems and have a suggestion please feel free to pass it along. As long as you’re not spamming I’ll approve the comment.

Is working from home working if what you do is really more of a hobby than work? Since 1995 my passion has been websites, Internet technologies and online advertising. Then in 1998 I picked up Linux, Apache, mySQL & PHP; collectively known as L.A.M.P. Ask anyone in my family and they’ll tell you how passionate  I am about LAMP and web tech I am.

“O how I laugh when I think of my vague indefinite riches. No run on my bank can drain it, for my wealth is not possession but enjoyment.” – Henry David Thoreau

For many people, the lure of working from home is too strong to resists. Being able to set up your own hours, your own schedule and your own your speed is an extremely attractive way of living to most people. Putting in the hours isn’t the hard part - converting them into profitable per hour payment can be difficult. Luckly my job at BCDC provided the training in this area.

But the thought of setting up your own web-based business can be a huge hassle if you’re not a geek. There are however the lucky few that have “Blog Coaches” to ease the learning curve. Which route do you take? There are literally thousand of differing ways to make a buck or fifty four hundred. You have to have a web design, a product and then you have to sell it, ship it and handle customers. Yuck, been there done that. A much easier way to work from home and run a web-based business is called affiliate marketing and this boys and girls is where the crazy cash is to be found.

Don’t get me wrong blogging for bucks is profitable on a month to month basis. My $2,800 or John Chow’s $27,000 a month is nothing to sneeze at. *Cough - I also work a full-time job* I’m not giving up my different blogs. I’m adding to the group by setting up a site that works as an affiliate marketing site. There are tons of different web-page building programs out there that walk you through every step of the process. Once you have a functional web site, you need to come up with a list of companies that will pay you to link to them. Many major websites like Amazon have an affiliate program that you can join and then get paid for simply linking to their website. It’s quite freaky logging into the different accounts and seeing $58 here $68 there -  $122 here $100 there. It’s a jaw dropping experience.

But if you really want to cash in, you don’t want a webpage with just a list of links on it. This may earn you a buck or two, but when most web surfers stumble upon these kinds of pages after a Google search, they tend to get frustrated and leave. The best route for you to go is to provide interesting web content that relates to the company you’re linking to. Value their time by providing value!

If you can’t write interesting web content yourself, there are many companies that will do it for you for a very reasonable price. Once you’ve got your content, you can weave your links throughout it. People will find your web page on search engines like Google, Yahoo and Ask.com and when they see the well-written content, they will hang around and read what’s on your site. Mayhaps they’ll kind enough to Stumble the page. They will, in most cases, click on the links provided and you’ll be counting the cash in no time flat.

While there is no guarantee that affiliate marketing will turn into a cash cow, with enough hard work, the odds are in your favor. When you combine a kickbutt site design with quality content and a good mix of interesting links, you are bound to get a good number of hits that will quickly translate into dollars for you. Give it a try, you might be surprised at how well it works!

Through the years with Linux I’ve provided a slew of howtos for Linux. How to install Google Earth on Linux and to get a certain webcam to worth with Warty. Trying to add an ethernet card to the system after a fresh install - here’s how to get Linux to recognize it and contect to the network.

Latesly you’ve noticed that tutorials have started disappearing to the point that they stopped. Some may have wondered if this is due to my new found love of all things Apple… no. There’s no secret that I’m a huge Mac fan. Microsofts Windows platform is simply a waste of money. They prey on the weak minds of the lazy - you can pick it up at Wal-Mart if you need one.

This all adds to the conspiracy groups thinking I have dropped Ubuntu in favor of Apple. Hrm, humanity v fruit… Well, the truth is that Ubuntu has simply grown in ease to the point that it just works. Hell, it recognizes hardware better than Windows. A testament to openly sharing information has lead to a world class operating system.