What blogs should I be reading?

Photo courtesy of Flickr user Izzard

There are 54 blogs on my reading list, and they are listed on my blogroll to my right. Is there something you're reading that I should be reading as well?

Share your favorite blogs or your own blog by leaving a comment! Be sure to tell me why you think I should be reading your suggested blog. I'm always interesting in seeing new blogs!

Epinions.com is still kickin' it after nearly 8 years.

I signed up for Epinions.com back in January of 2000. After surviving Y2K it seems safe to come out of my bunker, re-connect to the Internet and try and make some money.

Epinions.com is like a Consumer Reports by the every day Joe. Users write reviews about various products, give them a star rating, and other visitors can browse through all of the reviews before deciding to make a purchase. Epinions.com provides built-in price comparisons for each reviewed product, so it really is a one stop shop for someone who is in the mood for browsing and shopping.

If you were one of the lucky first ones to join the service, you made a killing off of your initial page views. I wrote 31 reviews in my first month, and with a couple of referrals under my belt I pulled down nearly $200.00.

Now that may sound like a lot of work for only $200.00, but believe me, those reviews were no sweat to write. Each one took me a max of 10 minutes of effort.

31 reviews x 10 minutes = 310 minutes or 5.17 hours.
$200.00 / 5.17 hours = $38.68 an hour.

If I wasn't working as hard as I was at my day job, I would have more time to write reviews. If I had known that I was really going to get paid I would have slacked at work and earned even more doing Epinions.com. (I had a bad taste in my mouth after a bunch of "paid to surf" and "paid to read e-mail" scams.)

The first check did come. I ripped open the envelope and was shocked to find my check for $125.09. I received checks every day that week, although none of them were as big as the first. Now that I saw this was legitimate, I decided I was going to dedicate more time to writing reviews and increasing my earnings.

Alas, it was too late by then. The bottom had fallen out, and earnings went down to "normal rates". Apparently all these big earnings were too good to be true, and just an opportunity to draw in users and reviewers.

I did go on to earn another $150 over the next 3 years, but it just wasn't the same as scoring $200 in my first month.

I haven't written a review in over 4 years, but my account is still active... and still earning. I logged on today for the first time in a while and noticed I have $8 and change sitting there. The minimum redemption balance is $10.00, so I might write a review or two for old times' sake. That, and to push my balance over ten bucks so I can get another check.

I'm finally on Flickr: Does that make me Flickd?

"Swan on the Lake" by Michael Beck

This image is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States License.

Well I finally did it. I signed up for a Flickr account and uploaded a chunk of my photography. All of the available Flickr features are going to take some getting used to, but from what I've seen so far, I am going to like using the service.

One of the more interesting features to me is the ability to specify specific licensing by picture. "Creative Commons" is becoming a big buzzword on the Internet lately, and Flickr gives you the ability to participate in it automatically.

"The Creative Commons (CC) is a non-profit organization devoted to expanding the range of creative work available for others legally to build upon and share. The organization has released several copyright licenses known as Creative Commons licenses. These licenses, depending on the one chosen, restrict only certain rights (or none) of the work." (From wikipedia.org)

I elected to make all of my photography available for both non-commercial and commercial use, so long as no alterations or derivative works are created from my photography, and I receive full credit for the photo.

You may have seen some of the Flickr photos I have used on this blog from other photographers. Each time I do I always make sure I give credit where credit is due by stating who the photograph is by, and linking to that Flickr user's profile.

You can see all of my photography on Flickr by clicking here.

Guitar Hero III for Wii: "Bulls on Parade" and in Mono

Photo courtesy of Flickr user danoxster

I already knew that Guitar Hero III lacked Dolby Pro Logic II support, although it was advertised as having it. But now to find out from a Joystiq article today that the music is in monophonic? That's ridiculous.

My sister and brother-in-law have the original Guitar Hero and Guitar Hero II and play it pretty regularly on their PlayStation 3. When I heard that Guitar Hero III was coming out for the Nintendo Wii, I was pretty pumped.

I have not bought a game on release day since Super Mario Brothers 3 for the Nintendo Entertainment System back in 1990. Usually I try to rent the games first, read reviews, or wait until friends buy the game first before I invest the money. In the case of Guitar Hero III for the Wii it appears to have paid off.

I don't have a surround system hooked up, but I have stereo on my television (who doesn't) and listen to digital music in stereo through Comcast quite often. If I popped this game in my Wii and started playing with monophonic sound I would notice the difference right away and I would not be pleased at all.

Activision is aware of the problem with the monophonic sound and say that a fix is in the works, but no timetable has been set.

I wouldn't be complaining about this if Activision had not advertised Dolby Pro Logic II support for the Wii version of Guitar Hero III. But to go from no Dolby Pro Logic II support to no stereo support at all? Unacceptable.

People paid for the product, got lied to, and now it appears they got hosed even more. Activision owes it to these customers to fix this problem quickly, and let consumers know when they can expect a fix. In the meantime, I'll be spending my money on Super Mario Galaxy.

Google Reader Trends: Which blogs pull my interest

I am a huge fan of Google Reader, and have been using it since the end of September. One of the features I've been fascinated with since the beginning is the ability to see your reading trends over a rolling 30 day period.

I've been taking a look at my personal reading trends and found some interesting things.





Mashable by far puts out the most content out of any of the blogs I subscribe to (60+ feeds and counting), yet only 21% of their 28 posts a day actually get read by me. With Mashable I am typically looking for cool new websites like Pinger.com that perform a valuable function for free. I tag those sites as web tools.

Lifehacker falls into the same category as Mashable for me. I'm typically scouring for for that handy site or piece of software that is going to improve my daily life in one way or another. (Note to self: Do you think that's why they call it Lifehacker? Captain Obvious at your service.)
As you can see, Lifehacker is hitting the mark with me 26% of the time.

As a blogger I am always on the lookout for tips on how to run a better blog and improve my writing. ProBlogger by Darren Rowse is one of the premier places to find those tips. And with a read rate of 71%, ProBlogger grabs my attention much more often than not.

It would be interesting if Google Reader would compile trend data on all blogs and release it on a regular basis, much like the Bloglines Top 1,000 Blogs list. While it is very easy to see your own blog's trends through services such as Feedburner, it would be a enormously helpful measuring stick to see which blogs in your niche are getting the most eyeballs on their content.

Which blogs get the most attention from you?

Tickets Prices High in Hockeytown

Photo courtesy of Flickr user DetroitDerek

Leading into this season's home opener we had an impressive streak of 396 consecutive sold-out regular season games, dating back to December 10, 1996. But that all ended when the Red Wings failed to sell all available tickets for this season's first game.

Is it because the Red Wings haven't been playing well recently? I'd say making the playoffs for 15 consecutive seasons begs to differ.

It's a number of other factors. The Detroit Red Wings did not lower ticket prices after the lockout of 2004-05, which many teams around the league did. That left a bad taste in the mouths of a lot of Wings fans. With the Detroit Tigers playing as well as they have been these past two seasons, that's been a big draw on Michigan's entertainment dollar.

The biggest factor of all: the bad economy here in Michigan is keeping fans away. For a family of four to go to a Wings game, the cheapest seats you can find are $22.00 plus a TicketMaster "convenience charge." Tack on gas and parking... by the time you get drinks, hot dogs and snacks, you are looking in excess of $150.00 for an evening out for that family!

If the Red Wings want to fill those stands again their management needs to drop prices, and give away more seats to schools and charities. Empty seats do not make the Red Wings any money, but if they let someone in for free to fill that seat, they're going to have to pay for parking to get there, and chances are they're going to get hungry and thirsty during the game. making $15-$30 is better than zero any day of the week in my book.

Bloglines: Dogs better than Cats?

Bloglines released their list of the top 1,000 blogs based on subscription totals and while scrolling through the list I came across this little coincidence.



While both have experienced nearly identical growth recently, it appears that DogReader has the edge over About Cats.

Does this mean that there are more dog owners than cat owners? Does this mean that dog owners are more tech savvy than cat owners? Or could it mean that cat owners are too busy loving and caring for their little princes and princesses to take the time to subscribe to a blog about their species of choice?

Maybe it means nothing. The coincidence in placement on the list was too good not to mention, though.

What do you think it means?

Computers booting in just 4 seconds?

Photo courtesy of Flickr user "The Quux"

DownloadSquad posted an article today about miniature operating systems that could have your system up and ready for watching movies or browsing the web in just 4 seconds.

This is done by having a stripped down operating system built right in to the motherboard.

Not only can you start using your computer that fast, your real operating system such as Windows Vista or XP would be loading up in the background.

I can't tell you how much of my life has been spent waiting for various computers running one version of Windows or another to boot up, and I'm sure the total time spent would sicken me. Cutting out that waste of time is a huge gain in my book, not to mention the energy savings for folks who would hardly ever turn off their systems due to this lengthy boot process.

For as much time humans have wasted on booting up over the decades this is one of those advancements that make you wonder why someone didn't think of it sooner, like automatic shower cleaners or pasta pots with a lid for draining out the water.

Once this technology is in place I certainly will be an early adopter.

Reliving my childhood: Super Mario Brothers 3 released for the Wii Virtual Console

Finally it's here on the Nintendo Wii Virtual Console. The game I loved to death as a Nintendo Entertainment System (NES) fanatic, and still my favorite installment of the Super Mario Brothers series: Super Mario Brothers 3. Nintendo released the title for the Wii Virtual Console today.

I remember when the game came out there was such anticipation for it in the metro Detroit area that you could literally call every major retailer in a 20 mile radius and nobody would have it in stock.

All I wanted for my 12th birthday was Super Mario Brothers 3. I'd been reading up on it in Nintendo Power, and seeing previews and commercials on TV. Forget Reebok Pumps, I had to have Mario!

My mom gave me the phone book and let me call every store I could think of. I dialed the phone for two hours straight and I was striking out all over the place. Then I decided to take a shot in the dark and call Kohl's Department Store. I didn't think they even sold video games, let alone have Super Mario Brothers 3. To my surprise they did, and they just received 20 copies in stock. I asked them to place one on hold but because they were so hot, they refused. The race was on.

Mom, little brother Randy and little sister Wendy hopped in the Beckmobile and shot off down M-59 at 60 miles per hour. Would they have any left when I got there? What do I do if they don't? My mind was racing faster than my mom was driving.

We pulled up to the front of Summit Place Mall and the Kohl's entrance. My mom let me out of the car to race inside and get my hands on a copy while she parked and got the little ones out.

Adrenaline kicked in and I felt like the Flash running to the door, complete with blurred tunnel vision. I ran past the registers and began to scout out the electronics or toy department. Where in the world is my game?

And there, to my left, in a glass counter display case was that unmistakeable yellow box with a giant raccoon Mario on the front. They still had Super Mario Brothers 3 in stock. I trotted up to the counter and waited until the clerk helped someone else complete their purchase of the same glorious game I was about to get my hands on.

"Can I help you, son?" asked the clerk.
"Yeah, can I get a copy of Mario 3?" I replied in the same manner as Ralphie from "A Christmas Story" telling Santa he wanted an "Official Red Ryder Carbine-Action Two-Hundred-Shot Range Model Air Rifle!"
"No problem," said the clerk as he unlocked the case with his key-on-a-coil and took a copy out.

By then my mother came walking in with little kids in tow and we bought the game.

Once out in the car I pulled the game out of the plastic Kohl's bag and sat there in a moment of silence as I ran my fingers along the shrink wrapped seam, taking in the newness and crispness of this bold yellow box. Then I ripped off the plastic and started thumbing through the illustrated instruction manual, imagining myself bashing bricks and shooting fireballs once again.

After enduring 12 miles of anticipation and "you know you have to wait until your birthday on Friday to play that" jokes, we were finally home.

I don't remember if my feet ever touched grass or carpet on my way to the television and the Nintendo. All I remember is pushing the cartridge in, having it turn on without having to blow into the cartridge for once and then the curtain lifted to one of my favorite games of all time.

Super Mario Brothers 3 shaped the way I looked at video games to come. It seemed like no matter how many times you beat the game, you always came back for another round since there were so many paths you could take. It was a challenge to find all of the secrets, and to see how many different suits and special items you could collect.

Now that Super Mario Brothers 3 has come out for the Wii Virtual Console I'm sure I'll be investing many more hours rediscovering why I thought this game was so great. Ever since I first got my hands on a Nintendo Wii there are 4 games I have been waiting for on Virtual Console: Super Mario Brothers 3, Baseball All-Stars, Guerilla War, and Super Mario Kart.

One down, three to go.

Waiting for Flint Flight

Photo by Michael Beck via T-Mobile Dash

We had a 2 1/2 hour layover in Atlanta during our flight from Sarasota, FL. On the way to Atlanta my brother, father and I were seated in the same row in coach.

When I tell you it was cramped, that is a gross understatement. My brother and I aren't exactly little men, so as the lucky soul who got window seat my experience could best be summed up as a bodycheck in slow motion.

We weren't about to repeat that mistake, so I inquired about first class seating for our group. Airtran offers such an upgrade for $40 from Atlanta to Flint.

The catch: they only had one upgrade available for first class on this flight. Now a dilemma: do I sit and suffer in the back of the plane with my family, or do I take the upgrade for myself?

Well, I just waved "hello" to my brother and dad as they walked past me down the aisle headed to their coach seats with the rest of the riff-raff. Now hello leg room!