Monetization through AuctionAds may be a way of paying your hosting costs and right now they have an offer where if you sign up as a new member you will automatically receive $25.00 paid into your Paypal account. These relative ads show what is being offered on eBay as a live feed and it’s a perfect compliment to your site if your dealing in products. Even so previously signed up members can also earn the $25.00 if they have never received a payout. The unfortunate thing is, you have to have a PayPal account and the balance has to reach $50.00 before a payout.

If your site is not product driven then the return may not be as lucrative but everyone has an angle where they can add the necessary keywords into the code to drive relevant ads to the blog or website. Even talking on a personal blog allows you to insert keywords for that post. Unlike Adsense, there is no restriction on the amount of ads you use. Once you have an account you can use the code on as many of your blogs or websites that you like, just like Adsense. The beauty of this system is that most people like to browse eBay for deals so why not serve up relevant material to your post and Try AuctionAds. The worse case scenario is, if it’s slow to earn commission your still $25.00 closer to the first payout. Continue reading Free Money with AuctionAds →

With the winter storms just around the corner, fall is an ideal season where the vigors of summer growth can be cut back to reduce the likelihood of falling limbs. This annual prune back not only reduces the stress to the trees by allowing the wind to pass through but can also bear dividends to the carver. The larger than normal limbs of four inches in diameter can be cut into twelve to twenty inch lengths and left naturally to dry out. The time span for the timber to dry out to a stage of being usable can range from three months to six months as a minimum, although I like to leave it longer, depending on the environment where being stored. In my instance it is the garage, unheated.

With my own cuttings I stand them on end allowing a natural frow of air to dissipate the moisture. I also leave the bark on so that the drying out process is not too fast so as to prevent cracking. By standing the logs on end gravity plays a big part in the drying out process with the moisture falling to the bottom of the log and the top drying out. In this instance regular rotation will allow an even purging of the fluids and a less likelihood of cracking. Once the two ends feel as dry as each other the logs can then be stacked horizontally until needed. Continue reading Wood Bonanza →

Carving of late has taken a backward step, work consumes every available minute leaving me with a very tired body but the brain is always active during the daily commute thinking of new ideas or methods to use in my carvings.

It just struck me a few days ago that a carving should not be restricted to just timbers that you would associate with a regular tree but what if I were to use the outer casing of the seed pod from a Queen Palm. Here in Southern California Queen Palms are one of the basic choices for the landscaped garden and you often see the fruit hanging from the stem like large green grapes before they ripen to a bright orange. The seed casing is a single 24-30 inch leaf that protrudes up from the main stem until it splits open to reveal the small flowers that will eventually produce the fruit. While the fruit is developing the casing is starting to dry out, this you can observe by the color change. The leaf starts out as a silvery green color but as the moisture retracks the color changes to a pale silvery sand shade and the casing twists like a propeller.

I’m fortunate enough to witness this event in my own garden where I have several varieties of palm tree including the queen palm. During one of the “Tidy the garden weekends,” which I rarely do, apart from cutting the lawn, my wife is the expert with the garden. It was time to remove all the old palm fronds that had started to accumulate and being of a height where you had to get the ladder out, it was of course my job to do. I had noticed the accumulation of palm seeds that had already changed to orange and had started dropping onto the driveway causing a mass of flies to gather and feast on the fruit. I’ve been told that the actual fruit is edible but have not tried it myself and to be honest have no desire to anyway. Continue reading The Queen Palm (Syagrus romanzoffiana) →

With last weeks “Developing Goals for your Blog” now finished at Problogger, it’s time to consider what has been most beneficial to me for my growth in the world of blogging. I can say that I’ve spent many an hour browsing over all the fine entries and reading further into quite a few of the websites. The vast array of topics, ideas and general information will undoubtedly send your mind into total overload therefore it calls for me to make frequent revisits for the information to actually sink in.

Looking at my meek attempt at blogging goals is quite mundane compared to a lot of the entries but that is what is so fascinating, there is so much to learn. Surprisingly though my goals are not that far removed from quite a few of the other postings. Continue reading The Influential Top Blogs →

Over on Darren Rowse’s Problogger Blog a new “Community Writing Project” kicks off this week with the subject matter being “Developing Goals for your Blog“. This innovative idea brings the world of Pro-blogger and amateur blogger head to head with undoubtedly the novice blogger having the most to gain through quality readership.

This unselfish and caring attitude towards his readership only cements his place at the top of his profession and at the same time gaining additional converts to his own blog on how to make money via blogging. Continue reading Sustaining Quality Readership →

After the stunning debut of the Camaro Concept at the NAIAS, the General Motors Icon improves it’s presence by winning one of the EyesOn Design awards for best concept implementation. These award are judged solely by designers and the chief judge this year was Tom Gale who knows plenty when it comes to design, after all he was the head of Chrysler Design when the stunning Dodge Viper and Prowler made their debut. Now if that isn’t enough to persuade ‘The General’ to go forth with haste to productionize this baby then maybe things are more desperate than is being publicized. Continue reading Camaro Wins EyesOn Design Award →

Monday saw the unveiling of the Camaro Concept at the North America International Automotive Show in Detroit with its sister vehicle being shown at the Greater Los Angeles Auto Show moments later. This vehicle takes its cues from the ’69’ Camaro but with a modern interpretation giving it a fresh look without being too retro. This is purely a market reaction exercise for GM with no firm commitment as to when a production version would be ready.

For the loyalists this was a bitter sweet moment after the demise of their beloved vehicle during the 2002 model year when it was announced that the Camaro would cease production due to deminishing sales leaving the Mustang with the majority of the pie. Continue reading CAMARO AT LAST!!!! →

I subscribe to a business blog called “Entrepreneur’s Journey” by Yaro Starak an Australian entrepreneur who’s latest point is only too true. As a small business or individual trying to make your mark in the world of big guns the best way to promote, is to promote yourself. Instead of using the big corporation line of talk such as “we” or “us” you should refer to your business as “my” or if an individual “I” Continue reading Sound Advice →

It has to be total insanity to live in Southern California and have to commute 48.25 miles to my place of work as stated by mapquest and to top it all, it suggests a 56 minute commute. Come on! Let’s get real and update this to suit the ridiculous amount of traffic that’s on the road. The fact is, when I leave work, be it 2pm or 7pm the commute is anywhere between two hours to three hours in length. You might say move closer to your place of work but why would I give up a beach side community that is within easy reach of most major attractions. Continue reading The Proverbial Red Dragon! →