Trawling the Net

Star Trek Online

2012-02-11T19:50:00.000Z

I've started playing Star Trek Online, so naturally my productivity is at a whole new low. Trying to decide between being a damage tanking cruiser or a damage dealing escort has taken up more of my time than I care to admit.

The game is amazing fun in space, but ground combat is very poor and is only "meh" at best. But if you can find a way of staying in space and never touching the ground of a planet, then the game is great fun.

Now...back to killing Borg.

Funding a Desktop

2012-02-03T11:46:00.000Z

I have given myself a goal. And part of that goal is actually posting to this damn blog. :(

I'm sorry I'm so very terrible at keeping up with things. I really, really am. With any luck, I'll manage to get at least one post a week done (preferably on Fridays when I have loads of free time) for this month, and then we can see where I go from there. I need to get this desktop of mine so I can start being creative again. A laptop just isn't cutting it.

Wish me luck folks!

Halloween Is Coming

2011-10-23T16:03:00.000+01:00

I've always loved Halloween, it's just a great time of year. Having the chance to scare the life out of children, dressing up, having friends over.... It's awesome.

I don't have many plans this year unfortunately. I'm very, very busy and will probably be spending all my time working for college, or trying to get another short story or two published. If I do have the time to spare, I can see myself having a few friends over for a scary movie night. Dressing up is mandatory, of course.

What will you be dressing up as? Or will you be dressing up at all for Halloween? Any parties, trick or treating or other fun stuff? Or do you prefer not to celebrate the event? Come, share. Let us get to know one another. :D

Going to a Concert

2011-10-19T15:53:00.000+01:00

I'm heading to a Concert in November, which overall is shaping up to be a pretty great month. The act Asethetic Perfection is performing in Dublin on November 19th, and I'm really looking forward to going. It's not often a band I actually like can be found in Ireland, let alone close enough for me to actually go on a date I have free. Needless to say, I'm proper thrilled about this.

My article writing has stalled. I burned myself out in September, and now I can't think of anything to write for either Triond or Factoidz. Hopefully my spark will come back before the end of the month so I can get something published before Halloween. Finger's firmly crossed anyway.

Getting Paid to Blog

2011-08-22T13:16:00.000+01:00

I've been asked a lot of times, "How do you make money blogging?". I usually find myself repeating the same thing over and over again on numerous different websites, so I figured it was time to finally do one big blog post and get it over and done with. Now, whenever I get asked that simple question, I can just direct people here and everyone can get every detail of my advice.

If you already have a blog, then skip down past the first few parts.

PLEASE NOTE: For about the past year I have been a terrible example of blogging for money. I've been busy and neglected my blog network and earning sites, and so please don't use my earnings as an example. I only manage to get maybe a week's worth of activity on any one blog every month, whereas a dedicated person working a month's worth of time can make much MUCH more than I do.

Setting Up a Blog
Depending on how professional you want your blog to be, will depend on how you set it up. In most cases, BlogSpot is more than enough for a blog owner. It offers loads of options for customisation of your blog, and is free to set up an account. It also allows you to purchase a domain name in the event that you want to have a www.yournamehere.com style URL, otherwise the standard blogspot subdomain should be plenty for your purposes.

Next up is deciding what kind of blog you want to write. I'll leave this up to you, but niche websites tend to earn the most when it comes to making money through your blog. If you write good quality, valuable articles for people to read and come back to, you'll make far more than a personal blog writer who every so often posts something interesting or amusing. Make sure whatever you write is easily understood by people who want to read it, is interesting and most of all that you enjoy writing about it.

Getting Viewers
Getting Viewers is the most important part of your blog, for obvious reasons. You need readers who will keep coming back to your blog to read your articles, so keep an eye out for what your readers like and respond to. Make sure your articles are interesting and well written, and FREQUENT. It's better to write up one slightly above average article every day than five really well written posts in a month.

Then you need to get your first viewers in to see your blog and know it's there. If you've managed your SEO well, then you should find a trickle of readers starting to pour in from Google and other search engines. This is your most valuable source of readership, and always, always keep an eye on what search terms people are using to find you and remember to keep those search terms in mind when writing your blog posts. Aim for a keyword density of about 2 keywords or phrases every paragraph at the very least. Preferably squeeze one in every sentence, but be careful not to oversaturate your posts.

Entrecard is a good way to get your first few viewers. Sign up to Entrecard and then look through the list of various categories to find the one which suits your blog the most. Visit a few of the blogs there and drop your Entrecard on their blog. This let's them know that you visited them and more often than not they'll visit you back to drop off their own Entrecard. Make sure to drop back on anyone who drops on you because it encourages people to keep coming back to drop their ECs. Then, using the EC Points you earn, you can buy advertising on people's blogs, getting you even more viewers.

Monetising Your Blog
And here's the part you were probably most interested in. After all, setting up a blog isn't that difficult, so why should you worry about that bit? Well then, here we go.

Affiliate Earning
One of the most common ways to make money while blogging. There are two ways I advise doing this if this is how you plan on making money while blogging.

Clickbank is one of the most used affiliate marketplaces when it comes to blogging. There are thousands of digital products for you to sell, and for each one you get a cut of the money made if it's bought through your affiliate link.
Amazon Affiliates (UK) and Amazon Affiliates (US) both offer great opportunities to earn through Amazon sales. This is fantastic if the blog you're doing involves reviewing books or movies or something similar, since you can include Amazon affiliate links in all of your articles.

Paid Links
Linkbucks offers a great opportunity, especially for Bloggers and website owners, in which you can make money just by sharing links. The ultimate way to make money through Linkbucks is by creating a script which you insert in the code of your website. This automatically converts every link on your web page or blog into a Linkbucks link type of your choosing, allowing to earn every time someone clicks off your website. Just insert the code once and you'll be making money in no time.

Paid Posts
SocialSpark is probably one of the best ways to make money while you're blogging. By accepting offers to write on your blog, you earn money by writing reviews of websites, products and services. SocialSpark pays through Paypal, so it's incredibly easy to join up. So long as you can keep to their terms and conditions, and write good quality posts, SocialSpark will prove to be one of the best income streams for you.

Advertising
The last thing (but still extremely important) for you to think about is advertising programs. Overloading your web page or blog with ads is a sure fire way to drive away visitors, so only throw these in once you've got a decent level of repeat readers. There are two services I can recommend here.

AdBrite: AdBrite is a good alternative to the extremely strict Google AdSense. I'd normally advise staying away from Google AdSense until you already have a very large readership and a top level (.com) domain name. AdBrite make for an excellent alternative.
Adgitize: I cannot recommend Adgitize enough for a blogger. An advertising solution aimed solely at Bloggers, Adgitize is one of the greatest services a Blogger can sign up for. They have so many ways to earn money on their service beyond just their advertising, and they reward Bloggers for being active members of the Blogging community and doing the things a Blogger should do. They also drive a small amount of free traffic your way! Follow this tutorial on making the most of adgitize.

So there you go! Those are all the methods I use to make money from blogging. And despite only actively blogging one week a month at most, I still make a substantial amount. You could easily make much more if you were careful and stuck to your schedule!

Getting a Job

2011-08-20T20:49:00.000+01:00

So my search for employment came up a bust this summer. I honestly don't know where I'd be qualified to work though, so I suppose that's to be expected.

Ideally I'm happy stacking shelves somewhere that I can understand to some degree the stuff I am in fact stacking. A game store (video games or tabletop) would be perfect, since I'm slightly OCD regarding shelving and really love gaming, so win-win.

I've not been able to get a job in the past six months, which is a shame. But being a full time student nowhere wants to hire me. The only place which called me back had to apologise because they were looking for full time staff all year around, and I can only offer my time during the summer. So I've been trying to make money online through various means, and none of them successful due to being away from my computer for long periods of time during the summer. As I'm sure you can tell, this blog slipped my mind completely. Adgitize earnings are down and I can't even remember the last time I dropped Entrecards on sites.

Oh well. Back to college, back to work....rather illogically. Let's see if I can keep posts coming more than twice a week for at least two month straight, eh?

Triond Earnings decreasing, Factoidz rising

2011-08-18T16:53:00.001+01:00

So I started focusing more on Factoidz after figuring out that maybe writing for multiple sites isn't such a bad idea at all. Another piece of motivation for doing this was watching my Triond earnings slowly decline towards lower and lower CPM values, which as you can guess unnerved me to some measurable degree.

I've decided that I love Factoidz. It is more limiting in its scope of articles than Triond, but the earning potential for the website is infinitely higher. It pays for loads of different things, offering bonuses to people who keep writing quality, well publicised articles and people who take up their article assignments. Combined with their Buzz It Up program and the fact that people are offered incentives to create quality backlinks to already existing articles, it certainly takes a great deal of the work out of the publicising of your article which is ever present in Triond.

I'd recommend signing up to Factoidz if you haven't already, and get writing!

Exams over, summer of unemployment ahead

2011-05-19T15:58:00.000+01:00

With the exams well and truly over, I can now settle back into a summer of unemployment and being constantly poor. Fun times truly lie ahead.

Silver lining means I now have more time to write Triond and Factoidz articles, which is handy for rectifying the lack of money problem I have. Hopefully, if everything goes according to plan. I hope to get at least one new article on each site every two days, ideally one on each every day for the whole summer. That should offer a huge boost in earnings from both websites, and I'll be sure to post payment proofs if people want them.

I don't have any holiday plans for the summer, primarily due to not being able to afford one, but I do plan on hanging out with my friends. I've already gone to the cinema twice to see new movies, and there are plans to go to the zoo. So supa fun socialising lies ahead. Hopefully I'll be able to afford it.

Into the exams

2011-04-23T00:20:00.000+01:00

I'm entering the exam period for my university, which means stress levels are really very high right now. Everything should be over in 3 weeks, which is fortunate. It's not too long a period of time to be worried over stuff...

Long time no Write

2011-04-04T12:49:00.000+01:00

Yeah, it's been a while since I last wrote here and a lot has happened since then. And by a lot, of course, I mean practically nothing at all. Google still hasn't given me back my blog, I'm still in college and I'm still broke. :(

I've written a few more articles for Triond, and beyond that fallen horribly lax in my other online ventures and communities. I hope to rectify that this month, after all it's a new monthly beginning, so why not use it to signal a new beginning for me as well.

Aspiring to be a Pop Star?

2011-03-04T22:55:00.000Z

Are you an aspiring pop star? Have you got the voice and the talent to be the next Leona Lewis or Alexandra Burke? Then Bodyform’s ‘Release Your Whoah’ competition is perfect for you!

Still Waiting on a Blog

2011-03-03T22:28:00.001Z

As I said I would in an earlier post, I set up a new blog for myself. This one niche based as opposed to being personal, and I finally got it set up on Thursday of last week.

Then Google shut it down.

Apparently it sparked warning signs in their anti-spam blog detection systems and they shut it down. Now, I don't know how that could have happened because I'd written one post and in it I had declared everything I was going to do. Even the schedule I'd be keeping to. Alas, apparently it was a spam blog and had to vanish in the ether.

I contacted Google about restoring it, and they said I would have it back within 48 hours. Well it's been almost twice that time now and I'm still waiting...

Not impressed Google. Not impressed at all.

The End of the Internet

2011-03-01T22:32:00.000Z

In case you were not aware, the internet is apparently dying.

I wish I was kidding about this, though I don't think it's going to turn out to be as big a deal as some people think it is. In the mean time read all about the end of the internet here.

What would you do if the internet ended?

Triond's February Bonus Over

2011-02-28T22:02:00.000Z

Triond's gotten into the pretty great habit of providing bonuses to people who write a large number of articles every month. They've done it every second month since about August 2010, and their best one yet is coming to an end.

The February bonus was a hard bonus to achieve completely. After all, there's only 28 days in February, and Triond was asking us to write 20 articles this month. Given my rather slow rate of article turnover, that was a hard to task to achieve, but I managed it on the very last day by going on a two hour blitz and turning over five articles. Which earns me a 20% bonus to my earnings by the end of the month, which is pretty awesome I think.

Skype vs MSN

2011-02-22T14:44:00.002Z

I'm beginning to see the appeal of Skype.

I've been a longtime user of MSN, and for about five years I never had need nor want to use Skype. After all, doesn't MSN have everything Skype has? Video calls, text conversations, sharing files. Besides, I didn't want to have to download something else and set up another account without dire need.

Then one of my friends moved away. And he used Skype, so I, naturally, got it too.

And it is so much better than MSN. It crashes less, it seems faster, the video calls are just better, not to mention they can manage multiple people in conversation over video at once. Skype even lets you know when a message has not been sent, and when precisely it does. MSN still drops messages all the time.

Long live the Skype regime, for it climbs the rubble of the old rule of MSN Messenger.

Christchurch's Pain

2011-02-22T14:21:00.000Z

For those who don't know yet, Christchurch, New Zealand was recently hit by a magnitude 6.3 earthquake. At least 65 people are known to have died (as of my writing this), and many more are missing. This great tragedy has rocked New Zealand, but it's at times like these that humanity becomes pretty damn awesome.

All across the internet, people are rallying to help the victims of the earthquake. Google has provided a great system for helping people find their lost loved ones here, and thousands have already pledged their support across Facebook and Twitter. If you're lost at understanding the terrible cost inflicted upon Christchurch, there's a website here which tracks - in real time - the series of aftershocks which have torn into the area around Christchurch.

My heart goes out to all those lost to the Earthquake, and to those who have had their lives forever ruined by this vicious disaster.

God bless Christchurch.

Ro2 Payment Proof

2011-02-21T13:04:00.000Z

After a month of on and off membership, I finally managed to reach payout over at Ro2. A full, $1.02 all to myself. Okay, yes, only getting a dollar after a month of membership is pretty poor. After all I earn at least ten times that a month on Triond on a bad month. But you have to consider I don't spend a lot of time on there. I only make 50 lines or so a day, and that's when I remember to login. I'm going to try and be far more active there from now on and see how I do. For now though, the Payment Proof!

New blogs.

2011-02-19T18:43:00.001Z

So I'm going to try and open a few new, more niche related, blogs. This blog transformed into a sort of personal blog of my own, where I give passing comments on anything which comes into my mind. I'm going to try and staart concentrating on more niche based blogs. On what niches, I don't know. There's a lot I have an interest in and might start writing about.

Zoonik is going to keep going. We have the domain name for at least another few months, and unless we manage to make the money required to keep the domain, it's going to die off. It'll be sad to see Zoonik go, since it's a good effort (and the most successful blog I've had), but it's just not covering its own costs, and neither of us publishers are actually able to put aside enough time to create good quality content for it. We might revive it in the future if the domain name is still free, but for now it's time to let it go.

I'm also going to renew my blogging career. From now on, I'll be posting blogs here every Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday to keep content coming fresh. There could be random blog posts in between, detailing new game news or other spur of the moment information. But the main blog posts will be occuring on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturday from now on.

Watch this space.

The New Samsung Galaxy S

2011-02-18T23:45:00.002Z

New Dead Island Trailer

2011-02-17T20:53:00.000Z

The new Dead Island trailer looks seriously impressive. A heart wrenching tale told from both the start and the end all at once (Memento anyone?), involving a loving family and their hotel resort. Oh, and zombies. Lots of zombies.

Delving deeper into Twitter

2011-02-16T00:06:00.000Z

As some of you may or may not know, I maintain an irregularly updated Twitter account, updated even more irregularly than this blog. As hard as that is to believe.

For the longest time, I never understood the idea of Twitter. It seemed to just be a cheaper version of blogging to me. Why would I want to know what someone is eating for dinner, and what their newest high score in Space Invaders is? I signed up and promptly forgot all about my account, letting it sink to general degradation save for the odd automated tweets from my Triond account.

Now though, a whole new life has been brought to my Twitter account. I've started tweeting again, and not just personal stuff. I tweet news as I find it (usually regarding real world and video gaming news), and am slowly gathering Twitter followers. It's a slow, arduous process, but I'm slowly beginning to see a value in having and maintaining a Twitter account, so I continue to maintain it.

Of course, Twitter is nothing without followers. So if you could kindly click this link here and do me a favour...

Make Money Being Social

2011-02-14T23:45:00.002Z

I wrote another article, which hopefully will do quite well. I am painfully short on money right now, so I have to get all the money I can. Please check out my article and spread the word about it? Please? I'll give you a cookie...

Make Money Being Social on the Internet

I play too many games.

2011-02-13T16:23:00.000Z

I play too many damn online games. Between Facebook and other games, I find myself in general just wasting away all my time in unproductive manners.

Not that I care. After all, these games are so much fun, and truth be told, I don't have a lot of productive stuff to be doing in the first place. I find myself spending most of my waking hours playing my Facebook games, or one of the myriad of other games I play online. My top two games on Facebook are easily Mafia Wars and World War: Total Domination. Outside of Facebook, I find myself playing more and more of Mafia Empire. It's a really simple game, and because you regain energy and bravery really quickly, you can keep playing all throughout the day.

As it stands, in all of those games I...well...I suck. I haven't really achieved much, but I still really enjoy playing. It's nice to not have to worry about college work, and instead just worry about my Gang's income.

What books do you read?

2011-02-07T23:59:00.000Z

Recently I started reading books again, since I have shelves full of the darned things which I've never so much as touched. I just finished His Dark Materials Omnibus, which was a long time put into a set of books. My next reading is a book which comes highly recommended from a friend, called Angels & Demons, from the author of the Da Vinci Code. Here's to hoping that it's worth the read. With all the spare time I have, it should prove useful.

What are some of your favourite books, or which books would you love to read?

Educate thyselves!

2011-02-05T23:30:00.000Z

There are a lot of common misconceptions in the world which people hold to be gospel truth. Things like the nature of evolution, the duplication of worms and the segregation of the tongue. You'll be surprised by what turns out to be nothing more than a horrid lie.

Here are a few articles I have which just go to show how much "common knowledge" is actually untrue...

New films

2011-02-02T23:58:00.000Z

I saw Black Swan last weekend. Have to admit, it was not at all what I expected. It was about a hundred times scarier than I had thought it would be. I was expecting some crazy romance about lesbian ballet dancers and I got....something else.

That said, I still thought it was a brilliant film, and I would thoroughly recommend going to see it if you haven't already.

New Lynx Excite Advertisement

2011-01-27T21:38:00.000Z

So sophisticated. So tempting. Even angels will fall. See for yourself – in the new Lynx Excite TV ad.

Why is it so cold..

2011-01-26T22:27:00.000Z

Seriously, what the hell is wrong with the weather lately. I've been frozen solid practically every day since before Christmas, and it shows no signs of getting better. I'm just glad there's no more snow closing everything down. And Ireland's not the only place hit, my friends in America are building up a staggering 2 inches of snow every hour. Let's just hope they don't die trying to get home from work.

Did 2012 start early, or did I miss a memo indicating it was the Day After Tomorrow. I just want things to get warm again, because I've had enough of this ice cold weather. I know I live in Ireland, so I don't expect sunshine all day and it to be hot enough to sunbathe and walk around in shorts and t-shirt, but it would be nice to not have to wear fourteen layers of clothing when I head outside in the morning!

Being Sociable

2011-01-24T19:17:00.000Z

I have a slight difficulty being social. Especially on the internet. I have a very hard time opening up to people I cannot see, and things like Facebook and RedGage don't really do anything to help me with this. Even MyLot doesn't really help, despite being less personal and invasive into my private life.

Chat sites, however, I find to be really successful and really work. I don't know why, but something about it being real time discussion makes it easier for me to be talkative. I'm still by no means as talkative as I am in person, but I'm much better and more active than I am on Facebook. Some of the people I've met on this one site I don't even know in person, but still ahve great conversations with them. I think that's why I do so good at it., Because I don't know them and probably never will, I don't worry about the impact it could have on my life.

So come join me in the chatroom. You never know, you might get to like me. ^_^

Developing New Hobbies

2011-01-23T10:58:00.000Z

I've been trying to find things to do with my life for a while now. Blogging has always been a hobby, albeit one I've not been great at keeping up with unfortunately. I've been trying though, I've just got a lot of blogs to look after at once. Some of them I've allowed to die, and others I struggle to keep alive.

Something I've recently gotten into is Warhammer 40,000, specifically the Chaos Space Marines. Something about evil walking tanks appeals to me, alongside the daemonic hordes of the Ruinous Powers. The one problem with this hobby is it's insanely expensive cost to keep up. A simple box of soldiers can cost upwards of twenty euro, and very often it does. Still, it gives me something to pass the time with, so I guess that's a good thing.

I've always been an avid gamer, and have developed a sort of compulsive need to complete every game I buy, no matter how terrible that game turns out to be.Much to my detriment, since gaming (alongside college) constitutes the single greatest drain on my time, and the single most successful distraction from productive work in my life.

What hobbies do you have? What do you use to eat up any spare time you might have in your life?

Going to the Movies

2011-01-22T16:30:00.000Z

Are you one of those people who likes going to the Cinema to see a movie, or do you wait for it to come out on DVD first?

Personally, I'd much rather go to the cinema to see a new movie which interests me. There's something about sitting down with a huge box of popcorn with some friends to watch a brand new movie which makes it so much better than sitting down in your own living room with a tiny television and maybe a packet of chips.

I can't go to the movies and not buy popcorn. It's part of the experience to me and I feel like I have to do it if I'm going to spending money on a cinema ticket. A lot of people think this is a waste of moneym, usually because they cost so much, and people just buy food outside the cinema and bring it in in their bags. I think that removes from the experience of shoveling your face full of popcorn and gulping down a big cup of splash cola.

What about you? What do you prefer to do when it comes to new movies?

Working away on Zoonik

2011-01-21T18:17:00.000Z

Zoonik is coming along nicely. The new year has meant that our posting schedule has restarted, with one post every day (mostly, we've missed two days so far). Because of that, most of my creative work has gone into Zoonik, and I've kind of abandoned posting to Triond or here.

For obvious reasons I can't say I'll post here more often, but hey... At least you know I'm still alive. :)

The Christmas Season is Upon us.

2010-12-19T17:45:00.000Z

So Christmas is here at long last. It's been a terribly long time since it was last here, almost a full year. Depressing to think that, isn't it?

Still, Christmas is here. My favourite part of the whole season comes on Christmas Day with the meal followed by a night of playing board games with the family. I never finish the food given to me at Christmas Dinner. Turkey is just so filling. Even completely ignoring the vegetables I'm lucky to finish my portion of Ham and Turkey. Usually because I take about three times the portion of everyone else, but the point stands.

What's your favourite part of the Christmas season? What habits do you stick to, what traditions does your family have? If any?

Bukisa Payment model changed

2010-12-14T21:07:00.000Z

So Bukisa has decided to change their payment model to writers. They once used a model similar to Triond, paying per views, but it seems they've either decided or been forced to change their payment system. Here's the announcement they made:

The Bukisa team is working hard to make Bukisa an even better place to be for our valued community members, including you. In 30 days, we will completely overhaul the current Bukisa Index system, replacing it entirely with the Google AdSense API. This means that you will use your own Google AdSense code to earn money from the advertisements placed within your content.

The reasoning behind this is due to spammers and people using bad traffic sources, which essentially robbed Bukisa of their income and therefore their ability to reliably pay their authors. Now authors must sign up for their own Google AdSense account before being able to earn money on Bukisa.

This is a shame, because I am unable (for numerous reasons) to join AdSense, which means no income stream for me. That said, at least now I've been given a great motivation to get working on my own website over at Zoonik.com.

The loss of Bukisa is a terrible thing to happen to its many members, though the AdSense changeover could offer far more earnings to those able to use it. It's just a shame that the questionable actions of a few member had to ruin the experience for many more. I wish all those staying with Bukisa the best of luck with their future on the site.

Return to true form.

2010-12-12T18:08:00.000Z

So I'm back....again. I'm sorry I left, but a lot has changed in the interim. I have a job for the Christmas season, I've managed to push through and not drop out of college (which surprised me).

I'm back now though. Hopefully for an extended period of time, without massive, unannounced absences. So let us move forth into the future and see what it brings us.

I return

2010-10-08T12:29:00.000+01:00

So I've been away for a very, very long time. For which I apologise. But I've started writing again, which means I should start blogging again. Finger's crossed.

A lot has happened since I last graced these pages. I've written more articles, got my own website up and running and also returned to college. With any luck, I'll soon have plenty of fuel for my creative fires and I shall be posting with increased frequency on each of my sites. For now though, I bid thee fare well.

^ _ ^

RedGage Featured Content

2010-08-07T16:17:00.000+01:00

It's been a while since I last updated this whole "Regarding RedGage" thing, and since I've only just gotten my laptop back from the tech support people, I figured now would be a good time to write about a (not so) recent success story of mine on RedGage.

RedGage allows people to post blog pieces, and I cross-post every "Regarding Redgage" blog post that I make on Net Trawler or Triond to RedGage. One of these posts was Featured. For those that don't know, the RedGage moderators frequently scour the submitted content for the best pieces of their user's creativity. These selections are then featured on the site, earning a bonus dollar prize, as well as getting many more views than they would normally.

My featured piece netted me $3.35, which is massively more than I've earned for anything else on RedGage. It helped cement RedGage in my head as a legitimate paid social networking site, compared to Yuwie or others. The Featured aspect is also extremely useful in motivating members to put their best efforts into the site, compared with the subpar submissions you can find on Triond. The fact that Featured items are guaranteed to earn a large bonus is much better than the somewhat haphazard success of Triond's Hot Content list.

The secret to earning your payout on RedGage is in continually getting yourself featured. No matter what you put up, it's unlikely to get enough views as to earn you the payout of $25. Keep writing good content, or put up amazing and moving pictures and you're sure to get featured. Get featured enough and RedGage pays.

50 Things to do in University

2010-07-26T15:30:00.001+01:00

University is a great time for a young adult. It's all about setting yourself free, finding out who you are and other such similar cliches. Everyone has a goal for Uni, be it simply getting a degree in something or just making new friends and learning new skills. There's a lot to be done in university, which is why I wrote a list of 50 things one should at least try to do before their time is up.

So visit the list and let me know how many of the items on this list you've done. No need for specifics unless you want us knowing what you've done. That could be embarassing.

50 Things to do in University

Zoonik: Everything. Ever

2010-07-20T22:58:00.000+01:00

It's alive.....IT'S ALIVE....IT'S ALIIIIVE!

After two weeks of preparation, Zoonik has finally gone live. It's an informative/entertainment blog run by both myself and a friend. Currently, I'll admit, most of the content is stuff we've already posted over on Triond, but there is a method to our madness.

Recently, both myself and my friend had an epiphany. We were putting a lot of time and effort into writing for Triond, and we learned a lot from the community there. We though now it was time to take the next step, which was starting our own website. Not only was the earning potential much higher, but it meant we didn't have to deal with some of the less respectable practices of Triond. So we're slowly moving the most relevant stuff from Triond to Zoonik, and soon we'll start writing exclusively for Zoonik.

It would be great if people could spread the word about Zoonik, since if we can start getting enough traffic, we plan on opening some kind of submission system, where people would get paid for submitting articles to the site. Nothing's concrete yet, but we're hoping for it, and every view our site gets ensures we're more likely for that to happen.

Working a New Website

2010-07-15T23:39:00.000+01:00

So for the past week or so I've been working on getting a new website up and running. The Release is tomorrow (hopefully), which means I'll be posting a link to it. Just in case you were wondering why there's been no posts here as of late.

It's an everything website really. Less personal than here, so I'll keep this place alive and well. It's an informative website, so it should provide plenty of interesting stuff for everybody. I'll alert you all as soon as it's finished!

Wrapped Up: World Cup Humour

2010-07-08T13:56:00.000+01:00

As much as it pained me to see Germany go crashing out of the world cup, this video (although outdated) did manage to get a few chuckles out of me.

Wrapped Up: World Cup is basically a comedy series that does what it says. It wraps up each stage of the competition in a relatively simple style. Check it out for yourself:

Blehness to the power of Bleh

2010-07-07T23:48:00.000+01:00

You know those days that are just plain bleh? I'm having one of those.

It's not bad, just....bleh. No inspiration for anything, no words or stories coming to my mind. Just endless amounts of being lazy, wasting time and looking at the clock. I've gotten nothing productive done today, and yet I feel compelled to at least try. Just...not to try very hard is all.

Bleh to it all.

A Personalised Holiday Match Maker

2010-07-06T21:08:00.000+01:00

If you could have your Facebook profile compared to any holiday destination, have you ever wondered where you'd wind up?

Let me explain...

Okay, so I recently got pointed to a new Facebook Application, called the Halifax Holiday Matchmaker. It's pretty much exactly as it sounds, and is very simple to use. Click the link, allow the application to access your profile and well....that's it. It will tell you where you should go on holiday. Simple as that. It's pretty damn clever, and not to mention useful. Not like those ungodly Facebook Games which just waste time. This app scans through your profile and using the power of technology, will tell you where you should go for your next vacation. That's a pretty damn impressive Facebook Application right there.

I won't link you to my Facebook results, since my identity be all secret and stuff. But here are some other examples so you can see what it's like:

My Squidoo Lenses

2010-06-30T22:17:00.000+01:00

So I decided to start a Lens on Squidoo and see how useful Squidoo actually is. Lots of people have testified as to the potential of Squidoo, not for earning money, mind you. Rather, Squidoo serves as a great way to drive more traffic to your already existing websites, or to get referrals for programs. Right now I'm using it to publicise my Philsophy articles, so with some luck my articles should be seeing an increase in views soon enough.

Anyone who want so to see it, can browse my lens which is titled Philosophy: The Gift of Thinking

I've always been very wary of Squidoo, for a variety of reasons. Not least of all is that it seemed like a cheap thing to me. Back when all I was concerned about was making a cheap buck without effort, Squidoo seemed to be quite useless. It required actual effort to make money?! MADNESS!

But now that I've matured, I can see the true usefulness of Squidoo is in its publicising and link generating prowess, not in its money making potential. So, with this new frame of mind developed and solidified, I once more venture onto Squidoo....wish me luck.

Three Wordpress Template Sites

2010-06-26T23:51:00.002+01:00

Finding good Wordpress templates can be hard, but these three websites offer the best templates the internet can provide.

Elegant Themes

While it does cost money to join Elegant Themes, it’s only $19.95 for a full years subscription. During this year you can download as many themes as you like, use them on as many websites as you would like. As well as this, if any new themes are released during the year you can also download these. The themes are truly amazing. Beautifully designed along with a whole range of features such as featured content and thumbnail images, Elegant Themes I the best place to get themes for your wordpress site online.

Philosophy Hurts My Head.

2010-06-23T22:32:00.000+01:00

I recently started writing some descriptive and informative articles on Philosophy. Philosophical schools of thought, scenarios, problems and so forth. I've got about five written up and hope to write more over the course of the next week. I'll be letting you know when they're done and I'll make sure you can all take a look.

Philosophy has long fascinated me, even though I find it so confusing at times. It's just something I usually find myself thinking about when I'm bored. So with this I hope to find other interested parties in the blogosphere who enjoy Philosophy.

CloudCrowd: Make Money on Facebook

2010-06-21T22:26:00.000+01:00

CloudCrowd is part of a new wave of outsourcing projects to hit the internet. Employers use numerous people to perform micro-jobs, work which takes mere minutes to complete, to get their tasks done. With CloudCrowd, people can do this even within Facebook.

CloudCrowd allows people to perform tasks, such as reviewing website classification, editing text or transcribing audio, and get paid for it. Task payments range from $0.01 to a full $10, and can be performed numerous times. Normally the higher paying tasks require you to take and pass a Credential Test. Be careful when taking these, as you can fail them and there is currently no way to retake them (though CloudCrowd are currently working on a way to allow people to retake failed tests).

There's no limit on how much or how little work you can do. Work for an hour a day at 2AM or for three hours starting at 2PM, it's entirely up to you. All you need is a Paypal account and a Facebook account. Once you have these it's a simple matter of adding the application to your profile.

Good luck and happy working!

Nothing to See Here

2010-06-20T11:10:00.002+01:00

Just claiming my blog on Technorati with the code: QRQ4575KSQPE

Nothing to see here, move along. Move along.

Writing Reviews for Money

2010-06-20T10:40:00.000+01:00

Recently I signed up for two websites which both serve to pay writers for reviews. I've only just started using them, but both come highly recommended so I have high hopes as to their legitimacy.

The first website is Sponsored Reviews. This website is designed specifically for Bloggers (such as myself) in mind, providing a way for those bloggers to get paid for reviewing a myriad of different things. One of the integral parts of this service is the actual integrity of the blogger. Reviewers are told to give truthful reviews on their charges, even if their opinion isn't exactly flattering. Bloggers are either approached directly, or they can search the Marketplace for possible jobs, and payout is every two weeks.

The second is Review Stream. Review Stream is far more open, allowing absolutely anyone to write reviews and get paid for them. The current pay rate is $2.50, which means for every quality review that gets accepted, you get paid $2.50. In the event that your review isn't top quality, but is still accepted, the bulk rate applies which is one fifth the current buying rate. You can write on literally anything, from web hosting companies to video games. It's a great opportunity, and is less restrictive than Sponsored Reviews.

So there you have it. I'll give my thoughts on these websites further down the line, perhaps after my first payment. Until then, keep checking back.

Just Joined Entrecard

2010-06-18T23:38:00.000+01:00

I just recently joined Entrecard. A friend of mine in the real world has been blogging for some time. While he doesn't religiously partake in the Entrecard community, it had helped him find interesting blogs ever now and then, and I can only hope I get the same sort of output from it.

I've not got the time to drop 300 cards a day, but I do promise that - to the best of my ability - I will drop back onto you if you drop onto me. And I will stop and take a look at some of your posts and if I like them I'll leave a comment.

Join Entrecard and join the community.

Looking for Links

2010-06-17T12:17:00.001+01:00

I'm looking for people with whom I can share blog links. If you want to participate, feel free to grab my code from below. Image links will be reciprocated with your own button/image link, and regular text links will also be reciprocated in kind.

Don't forget to leave a comment if you did link to my blog, otherwise I won't know who did or didn't. :O

Come join me at MyLot

2010-06-16T21:25:00.000+01:00

I recently started posting to MyLot again, joining in discussion and so on. While the pay rate isn't that fantastic, the discussions are well worth it. Learning how to make money online, discussing your favourite music, your writing hobby....There's so much to talk about with so many different people, it's thrilling.

I'm on it for at least an hour every day just to talk to people, it's not even a case of wanting to earn money anymore, since the discussion and advice people offer in the relevant section is worth more than any single website could be on its own.

I seriously hope you come join MyLot, and become part of the community.

Self-Publishing

2010-06-15T23:35:00.000+01:00

I've been looking into self-publishing some short stories of mine, but I'm having trouble deciding where to publish them, Once I've picked one place I'd like to stick with that same place through thick and thin.

Lulu has a stigma attached to it, but has a large community and lets people setup their own shops.

Wordclay is new and very expensive.

Cafepress is just....well...crap.

Can anyone else recommend anything else for me to use. Do you have experiences with any of these sites? Which is the best, what alternatives are there?

Paid to Post Forums

2010-06-14T21:13:00.000+01:00

Getting paid to post on forums is a fantastic opportunity, since all you need are an ability to write and a sociable personality. There are vast numbers of these websites all over the internet, but not all of them are reputable. In fact, 9 out of every ten are scams. Here are three which are trustworthy, pay by Paypal, and have an active community. Play your cards right, and you might end up earning quite a lot from them.

Read more...

RedGage for Sharing Content

2010-06-13T16:41:00.000+01:00

One of the most impressive benefits of RedGage is their Importing feature. Granted, right now I am having trouble importing my Blogger posts onto my profile, but it's nothing to major.

Using RedGage to crosspost your content from other blogs or your Youtube account (if you make videos) is a great way of building up your content stockpiles, as well as earning some money. The way the website is setup allows for a fantastic sharing opportunity. New content appears in users News Feeds (if they have added you as a friend), and every day the RedGage moderators surf through new content looking for stuff to Feature.

Featured content gets numerous extra views, as well as earning a bonus depending on the quality of the content. Photographs seem to do best in this regard, frequently being featured and earning good bonus amounts.

RedGage also allows you to share links with your friends, so you can link to websites you create, or articles you write, and earn money when people view those links.

The RedGage community is very friendly, and is very responsive to content. People leave friendly comments, and are very helpful as to how you can improve. One user even gave me support when I said I wished to start drawing, offering help if it was needed. Thank you pFloydean!

In short, if you create an kind of original content, RedGage is a great way to expand your audience.

Regarding RedGage

2010-06-12T16:18:00.000+01:00

So I recently signed up to a website called "RedGage". What RedGage purports to be is a one-in-all social networking website. People sign up, make friends and socialise just like Facebook or MySpace. The difference comes with RedGage's importing and earning features.

Importing allows people to automatically sync content from their blogs, twitter and facebook over to RedGage and vice-versa. Helps you build content in multiple places all at once with little hassle. It's also great for spreading the word across the internet.

RedGage also provides earning potential for people who actively use the site. You get money for each unique view on your content, as well as bonuses for getting features. Payout is at $25 through a Visa Gift Card, and every payout after your first tops up the Gift Card. Certainly is a simple and hassle free way of getting your money.

Though the real aspect of RedGage comes from the social scene. Filled with friendly people, RedGage is a wonderful place to share knowledge and your photos/writing/videos. Think of it as just another Facebook, without the time wasting games.

Facebook Games

2010-06-11T23:37:00.000+01:00

Recently I've found myself playing a ludicrous number of Facebook games. Mafia Wars, World War...loads (though I stay the hell away from Farmville and its ilk). It's crazy, and such an enormous waste of time. I start playing and the next thing I know the day is over and I've done nothing with my life. It's kind of embarrassing that I allow myself to be so easily distracted.

What Facebook Games do you play? Any good ones you can recommend (like I don't have enough as it is). Oh, and if you need help in your games, feel free to add me on Facebook!

Trying to Stay Occupied

2010-06-08T16:50:00.000+01:00

Have you ever had a day where there just seems to be nothing to do. This is one of those days.

I've spent the past few hours in front of my computer and have nothing to do. Messed around on my two social sites, read a few articles, but now I've got nothing. Considering that I think of myself as a writer, and I can think of nothing to write about, this is bothersome.

So I've kept myself occupied until inspiration strikes by playing Facebook games and by browsing the new social site I signed up to. Chatting with friends, reading blogs....it's all well and good but when I want to get work done it's kind of annoying.

How do you readers defeat writer's block? Any tips?

Website Creation Tutorial and a New Blog

2010-06-06T12:25:00.000+01:00

I finally managed to get most of my website creation tutorial up and published. Those of you who follow me on Twitter or Triond will have probably already at least seen links to them. I don't pretend to be some expert at creating successful websites, but I do try to help as best I can.

You can find the first article here, and then follow them from there on out. Leave a comment if you like them, I'd love to know what you think. Any hints and tips, some things you may want me to explain in future articles, or if enough suggestions are given, I can do a Tutorial Version 2.0!

Also, I started a new blog on game design. Game Design is something I've been researching (and doing) for nigh on five years now, on a solely non-professional basis. I figured I'd share my knowledge with the masses. Again, I don't profess to me some expert on the matter, but I do share what I can. Please check it out, it's fairly bare at the moment, but that should change in the coming days.

Worlds first music video

2010-06-02T13:58:00.000+01:00

So, the first music video ever. Pretty special eh? Found this little gem and thought I'd share it with you all. The band is Marina and the Diamonds, and the song is titled 'I Am Not a Robot'. So, without further ado, here it is:

Website Creation Tutorial

2010-06-01T16:20:00.000+01:00

So I recently started writing a series of articles which can help you through the steps of setting up a profitable website within 12 months. Unfortunately, if I were to say you could be making money in weeks, I'd be lying. Without an extraordinary amount of luck, a website simply doesn't get the amount of traffic needed to become successful and profitable overnight.

I'll post here when the full tutorial is done, along with links to the numerous chapters. I'll also post a list of links to websites I recommend for use during the process (hosting, domain name purchasing, etc)

Mass Effect

2010-05-23T17:53:00.000+01:00

Mass Effect is quite possibly one of the greatest games I've ever played. With a well developed storyline and an exceedingly in-depth and thought out universe, Mass Effect shoots ahead of the competition. I was far, far too late in getting into this game, a fact I have now rectified.

Following Commander Shepard on his journeys across the Milky Way Galaxy, Mass Effect combined third-person shooter combat with the game mechanics of an RPG. Choose your team, upgrade their weapons and their skills. Further, the game offers a choice between 'Paragon' (good) and 'Renegade' choices, and on multiple occasions the choices you make in game have a direct effect on the game world.

The only downside to Mass Effect is how short the main storyline is. I completed it in less than eight hours playing time. Though the abundance of side quests and Easter eggs ensures that the game can be played long after the story is complete.

In conclusion, whether it's for PC or XBox, Mass Effect is a game you cannot afford to miss.

Get it on PC here: Mass Effect
Get it on XBox here: Mass Effect

Microworkers

2010-05-08T16:15:00.000+01:00

Microworkers is a relatively well established service for On Demand micro-jobs. It's a great way for people to earn extra money online by performing small jobs. Jobs range from simple "Tweet out an article" to more complex (but better paying) requests. Members earn money when these jobs are completed and the advertiser has reviewed the applicant. If accepted, the money is paid into the workers account. Payout is made to Paypal.

Having used Microworkers for little under six months now, I can say that while the promise is there to earn money, actually completing jobs is a difficult task. Some of them are simple enough, but the better paying ones can be complex or simply cater to a very small market of Microworkers. For example, right now there is a "Tweet a link" job, but it requires that you have 5,000 followers on Twitter or you won't get paid. Another job requires you to write a one thousand word article on knitting.

I wouldn't rely on Microworkers as a massive money earner, but it certainly provides a good way to earn money on the side. Also, the longer you are on it and the more jobs you partake in, the more jobs you'll find yourself able of doing to earn money. A lot of them are very similar, so once you can do one correctly, a lot of new opportunities to earn money on Microworkers open up.

Call of Duty: Black Ops Revealed

2010-05-01T10:56:00.000+01:00

Recently it has been announced that the successor to the massively successful Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 is to be released on November 9th, 2010. Titled Black Ops, the new Call of Duty game will be made by Treyarch and is slated as being an entirely new take on the Call of Duty games.

Read more, here.

Cyber Nations

2010-04-29T22:39:00.001+01:00

Cyber Nations is a free persistent browser-based nation simulation game. Create a nation anywhere in the world and decide how you will rule your people by choosing a government type, a national religion, ethnicity, tax rate, currency type, and more in this geo-political nation simulator. Build your empire by purchasing infrastructure to support your citizens, land to expand your borders, technology to increase your nation’s effectiveness, military to defend your interests, and develop national improvements and wonders to build your nation according to your choosing.

Cyber Nations is an Internet game designed to simulate nation building and management and will require you to exercise your management skills on a day to day basis. You can play Cyber Nations with most modern web browsers that have JavaScript enabled.

AdBrite

2010-04-27T20:32:00.000+01:00

AdBrite is one of the best alternatives to Google AdSense available on the internet. Showing both CPM and CPC ads, AdBrite also offers the chance for advertisers to buy ad space on a website of their choosing, providing unparalleled control over their target market.

For those looking to earn money from AdBrite, it offers numerous ad types, ranging from banners and text ads to intersitials and inline advertising. If for some reason Google AdSense won't accept you (likely, given how strict they are), then AdBrite is most definitely the best choice of ad provider for your website.

NeoBux

2010-04-25T12:43:00.000+01:00

Looking to earn some spare cash with minimal effort? Neobux has consistently proven itself as the best Pay-To-Click website on the internet. Sign up for free and start clicking away. Every click earns you between $0.01 and $0.02, and after reaching the payout limit you can request to be paid all the money in your account. Payment is automatic and instant (or within five minutes anyway), so there's no hanging around.

And if you think that's too slow, NeoBux offers a referral system for people to refer their friends. Earn a share of all the money earned by all your referrals, helping you gain more money faster.

So sign up to NeoBux today!

Shadow Warfare

2010-04-24T12:07:00.000+01:00

Shadow Warfare is a type of online game known as a PBBG. A Permanent Browser Based Game. Players interact as Shadow Warrior, choosing from four separate classes and whether to be good or evil. You fight demons to level up, train your abilities to get stronger and hire a workforce to fund your growth as a warrior.

Complete Quests, fight each other, join a cult, travel to various other islands. There are so many choice as to what you can do and how you can go about achieving victory, and the best part is how simple the game is. You can play it for five minutes at work, or an hour at home. Dedicate as much or as little time as you want!

For those who are bored at work, or bored at college (like me), this site is the game for you!

Shadow Warfare

Guerilla Mail

2010-04-17T19:48:00.001+01:00

Are you sick of having to sign up to sites you’re only ever going to use once, and then you get spam to your email inbox for the rest of your life? Well, this website has the answer.

GuerillaMail gives you a disposable email address. The address only lasts 15 minutes, andduring that time you can read and reply to any emails that you recieve in the inbox. You never have to worry about spam again!

Create an account. Register to a site using your disposable email. Discard the email. Simple and effective!

GuerillaMail

Splinter Cell: Conviction

2010-04-16T17:36:00.000+01:00

Only recently released on April 13th, 2010, Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell Conviction is the sixth installment of the Splinter Cell franchise, and brings with it a whole host of new game mechanics, such as the "Mark and Execute" feature, and the "Last Known Position" feature.

It has been warmly received by reviewers, scoring 9.3 out of 10 on IGN and 8.0 out of 10 from GameSpot. Stealth elements seem to have taken a back seat, and the game is very short, but the addition of a co-op campaign ensures that players can work with friends to try new strategies, prolonging their enjoyment of the game.

If you're a fan of the Splinter Cell series, this is definitely worth checking out.

Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell Conviction on Xbox
Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell: Conviction on PC

Prank Dial

2010-04-11T11:20:00.001+01:00

Are you stuck in work, while your friends or family are on holiday? Well, you can have the last laugh with this website. Simply change a few of the settings (such as voice, what’s said and even the number that will show up!) and send them an automated prank call! It’s safe, easy and entertaining. No longer must you be bored while others are having fun! Interrupt their days to have your own bit of fun!

PrankDial

Youtube: Chemical Party

2010-04-05T12:59:00.000+01:00

Ever found learning chemistry difficult? Ever spent entire weeks trying to learn chemical reactions? Well this video shows it in an entertaining and easily understood manner, perfect for helping you learn all you need to know.

Or you might just double over in laughter, it's all good.