Ubiquitous

Blogging Money & Traffic - My Experience Part 2

// March 15th, 2008 // 10 Comments » // Online Experience, Review

In Part 1 of Blogging Money & Traffic, I gave a detailed review of some of the popular paid blogging websites out there, including PPP, Smorty, ReviewMe, Sponsered Review and many others. This time, I’ll be delving into the two other big components of the e-market: advertising and traffic. Being more of a personal blog, Ubiquitous only tried out a fraction of the available websites, so feel free to suggest others.

TRAFFIC

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Popularity: 6% [?]

Blogging Money & Traffic - My Experience Part 1

// March 8th, 2008 // 16 Comments » // Online Experience, Review

Everyone wants to jump on the bandwagon. Few succeed. If those white-collars claim that the corporate world is a cut-throat business, then the going-ons of the blogosphere is just down right nasty. Recently, I decided to try out a wide selection of paid blogging and traffic gaining websites, hoping to find the golden nuggets hiding in various corners of the internet, and of course, make a few quick bucks while enjoying myself. What I found was a bit surprising and overwhelming. And what I experienced left me stranded on an island - unsure of whether I should continue toiling or pack my bags and get out asap.

On a side note, you know those lists floating around with titles like 10 Great Paid Blogging Sites? It irks me to no ends that some of these get their descriptions right off the services’ websites. If they were ever in politics, they would know that what individuals and companies don’t say on their websites are what counts the most.

Part 1: PAID BLOGGING SERVICES

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Popularity: 8% [?]

Cashmere Mafia

// February 23rd, 2008 // 13 Comments » // Fashion, Review

Yep, that’s what I’m watching on Stage6 when I’m not blogging.

If I haven’t mentioned it already, I’m a huge TV watcher. Before school and all that stress came along, I knew the days in my week by what show was on TV. Survivor, Big Brother, The Bachelor, For Love or For Money, Friends, Everybody Loves Raymond, House, the list goes on. What I didn’t know was that my love of fashion and TV sitcoms can come together in the newest show to hit ABC: Cashmere Mafia.

The show blurb describes it self as “A group of successful female executives who have been friends since college turn to each other for guidance as they juggle their careers with family in New York City.”. You can see a preview here. I admit, I got hooked on the preview because Lucy Liu was in it. Then I saw all the stunning clothes these ladies put on, they’re absolutely gorgeous.

I have to also admit that the plot is nothing totally new and it competes directly with the other new release Lipstick Jungle (there’s a whole controversy on how the creators of these two shows were once very close friends and then… fall out). However, I like the close friendship these ladies share and the producers’ attempts to at least portray somewhat realistic scenarios in the high corporate business world in New York. People have called Cashmere Mafia “Sex and the City for the thinking women”, and it couldn’t be more true.

P.S. - 28 Books in 2008 has almost 40 participants! Join today!

Popularity: 3% [?]

Shopcart! A New Necessity

// February 23rd, 2008 // No Comments » // Review

I’ve always looked at sites like Amazon and Ebay with awe. Even those small commercial companies that provide easy shopping cart services online earn my respect. Now, here comes a site called Ashop Commerce that provides ecommerce software like complete shopping cart softwares for company owners who have a headache when it’s time to implement this feature. Ashop provides the entire package with Rich Text Editor, product and category reports, gift certificates, discount coupons, currency conversion and more. There is really no need to look anywhere else on the net after giving Ashop a try. The interface is easy to navigate, easy to use, and fantastic to look at. Not only does it give programmers and web designers the ease of mind and the flexibility they need, it also provides great usability and convenience to eager customers. So for all you entrepreneurs out there, this is a great resource that you most likely won’t regret trying.

Popularity: 2% [?]

10 Facebook Apps and Why I Use Them

// February 11th, 2008 // 11 Comments » // Online Experience, Review

Nowadays, you say the words “Facebook application” and people will turn their heads and glare at you. Seriously, try yelling it out in a crowded hallway and see how you can escape unscathed from menacing looks and gestures. Sure, there are those annoying, spamming, I-don’t-give-a-damn-What-I-Was-In-Another-Life applications, but on the other hand, there are some applications that I really can’t do without. Here are the ten that I’ve had on my profile for a while now.

Utility

1. 30 Boxes is the critically acclaimed personal calendar that lets you get organized and easily share all or parts of your schedule. I have all of my appointments, due dates, major events posted on this little box in the sidebar. The long to-do list sometimes forces me to get off Facebook when I scroll past it while checking my wall posts. I really like how it automatically incorporates my Events on the calendar.

2. Last.FM Music sorts all your friends by musical taste and turn your ‘favorite music’ into a playlist of full-length tracks. I was a pretty enthusiastic Last.FM user to begin with (their nifty charts are AWESOME), but even better, the FB apps has the added feature of playing a Personalized Radio which is only available to subscribers in the Last.FM software. Too bad music played here isn’t recorded in the charts, but at least it lets me discover new tunes based on my tastes.

Interactive and/or Aesthetics

3. Free Gifts allows you to send gifts for free. With Free Gifts, most of my friends don’t bother with the ridiculous $1/gift FB application. In my humble opinion, the free gifts are just as, if not more appealing (now that they’ve added a point earning system to let you buy special gifts). Sure, these pixel things may not be that meaningful, I still love all the notes/random stuff that my bf/friends take the time to send.

4. Graffiti lets you draw graffiti for your friends. Graffiti was one of the earliest “drawing” applications and it was an instant success. I was initially really into this app and drew pretty pictures on all my friends’ walls, but I eventually got lazy and now just wait for the ones my artistic tablet-owning friends create for me, like above, <3 Jacki!

5. Big Photos lets you choose an unlimited number of photos from anywhere to display on your profile. Even though I’m not a fan of the clumsy interface on this app, I love the simplicity of the idea and the statement Big Photos make. I really wanted my profile to stand out and display what I’m into at the moment without making people read too much, and Big Photo is the answer. I currently have a To Watch List cover: The Kite Runner, 27 Dresses, and The Other Boleyn Girl.

Competitive Games

6. Fantasy Stock Exchange lets you buy or short stocks on the NYSE, Nasdaq, or AMEX in real time and build an exciting portfolio. My second install of this app lasted a lot longer than the first, mainly because my portfolio is worth $31+ million and picking up steam. It also results in me handing around the CNN Money site for hours at a time looking for investment opportunities. Real time has its disadvantages though, for my school schedule conflicts with the EST market openings.

7. Tower Bloxx lets you drop blocks to make a tower that swings back and forth - more than three misses and you’re out. I had to keep at least ONE flash game here to satisfy my gaming needs. This game is simple but addictive… and I. JUST. NEED. TO. CLIMB. a few more steps on the friends high score ladder!

Useless Time-Wasters

8. Horoscopes gives updates every-other-day covering all zodiac signs. Wow, how fitting for this category, especially since apparently 82 of my friends added this app. I like its simple and elegant skin and amusing predictions. Interface isn’t too cluttered, horoscopes aren’t too far-fetched, perfectly useless, it stays!

9. Friends for Sale! lets you buy and sell your friends as pets. I can’t believe I added this application either, let alone keeping it for this long. Maybe it’s the exhilaration of coming near the top of friends list (currently worth a meagre $30 000, thanks to the mad bidding between bf and another male friend, heh). Yes this app is shallow, yes it’s pointless, but oh what the heck, it’s all worth it when I make my friends “bitchslap” each other.

10. Typing Speed measures your current speed, lets you practice to get faster, and compares you with your friends, and all of Facebook. I use this app for all my all-nighters, nothing like 30 seconds of furious typing to wake up the brain. My current high score is 110 wpm, 6th out of 16 friends, and faster than 96% of FB users. Must… type.. FASTERRRRRR!

And in keeping with minimalism and simplicity, all of my non-utility apps are put in the Extended Profile. Yes, I waste time on Fb, yes, I intend to make my profile aesthetically-pleasing even if no one else cares .

Popularity: 8% [?]