Experimenting with Adsense and Keywords
I have been looking for tools and tips to optimize advertisements from Google Adsense on this blog without making it obtrusive and clutterred. As is readily apparent, this is a work in progress.
I don't want to hang the readers out on the visual equivalent of dead air; I also want to bring as much motivation and creativity as I can to the information presented here. I beg your indulgence over the next few weeks while I tweak some things around. I don't want to completely whore it out just to attract the most lucrative ads, but I do want to see if I can strike a balance with the ads and some informative and hopefully entertaining content.
Today, however, I am experimenting with the functionality of Adsense and the way it targets ads based on content. I may kick the tires with Chitika in the future; I'll burn that bridge when I come to it.
The reason for the test is that I found some sites that spoke about search terms that purportedly paid the highest amount per click. I took a look at some of them; most appeared to be focused at very specific information and didn't seem like the kind of topics that would normally come up in a blog like this one. Then I started to wonder what would happened if you just shoehorned some of these terms into a regular blog, trying desperately to make it appear like a legitimate entry while simultaneously hurling one's ethics out of the nearest open window.
It would have to be something like being a lawyer in Chicago being chased down the street by an attorney from New York, who ironically wants to inflict injury of a personal nature on you. Or really, a lawyer from an reasonably large city: Las Vegas, Miami, Jersey City... the list is endless.
I could also be likened to someone trying to perform Lasik surgery on you with a flashlight and a magnifying glass. And don't get me started on the mesothelioma. What the heck is mesothelioma, you ask? Essentially, it's a cancer caused by exposure to asbestos. It attacks the cells that produce the lubricating fluid that protects most of the internal organs. That's messed up.
There. This phase of the experiment is concluded. I feel I must go wash now.
Scott Sigler's Cow Prophecy Comes True Twice in One Week
In "Life Imitating Really, Really Horrifying Art" news, writer and podcaster Scott Sigler put out a story called "Ancestor" last year. The story revolves around a biotech company's quest to meld bovine and human genetic material to reproduce a common Ancestor , in this case a creature from which to harvest transpantable organs to lower the risk of rejection.
This week, there have been not one, but two stories in the news about experiments going on RIGHT NOW that were presaged in his story: One is a story from WIRED on an effort to genetically resconstruct what they estimate to be the missing link, the common ancestor to pretty much all mammalian life. The scary part kicks in with the educated guesses needed to bridge the gaps in gene sequences that there are almost no way of knowing for sure, the Rumsfeldian "known unknowns".
The other story was about a Dutch company called Pharming who have already combined a human gene with bovine genes to produce a cow that gives milk with high levels of human lactoferrin, a protein that helps babies fight off infections. ( Um, it also naturally occurs in human breast milk; seems like a solution looking for a monetizable problem, but that's just me.)
Is Scott Sigler psychic? A prophet? Or just deeply, deeply sick and twisted ?
P.S. If life starts imitating his current podcasted story, "Infection", I'm grabbing me a hazmat suit and heading for the nearest gun store. Check out the story and you'll see what I mean.
Sebastien Foucan, David Belle and Parkour, The Art of Movement
Parkour, also known as the art of movement or freerunning, is a disicpline / philosophy / physical pastime that involves movement through an environment, preferably littered with obstacles, as quickly and fluidly as possible. It was pioneered by Sebastien Foucan and David Belle, and inspired by the physicality of David's father Raymond. Parkour places an emphasis on balance and agility, but also self confidence, mental discipline and overcoming personal fears and boundaries.
Some of the basic techniques involve running, jumping, rolling, and climbing using nothing other than hands and feet. (A film called "Yamakasi", featuring some of the original practitioners of parkour, has a an opening seqence where a group of young men scale the outside wall of a thirty-plus -story building without harnesses or painted-out wires.) Although not advised while given all suitable disclaimers, some of the video sequences available show skilled traceurs jumping gaps between buildings, multi level cat-like leaps and dive rolls. (They are quick to point out that these moves are not intended for beginning traceurs, but only as a demonstration of what a mind and body can do when in tune with each other and pulling in the same direction.)
Although a split occurred that took the two originators in different directions, both still practice and promote the growth of the practice of parkour. Foucan focuses on the philosophy of stretching one's limits in parkour as a physical metaphor where mastery of one's own fears and capabilties leads to finding ways over around and through everyday obstacles, and reaching one's goals. David Belle has gone on to establish the Parkour World Association (PAWA) as a means to demonstrate parkour in different parts of the world and spread its popularity. And it seems to be working.
Parkour has been featured in commercials, movies, television shows and documentaries, and has inspired traceurs (practitioners of parkour) to start clubs all over the world.
Mur Lafferty's Podcast, "I Should Be Writing" : The Aspiring Writer's Kick in the Pants
Mur Lafferty publishes a weekly podcast aimed at writers, both published and unpublished, (OK, mostly unpublished) with advice and tips on avoiding and/or destroying writer's block, dealing with rejections, staying motivated, and continuing to hone their craft with the goal of getting published. Mur has been published in several places, and her first published fiction story will be part of the Escape Pod podcast next month.
Timothy Albee, Creator of "Kaze, Ghost Warrior"
Could you put together an animated pilot film? Two thousand of miles from your previous animation work location? In the Alaskan wilderness? In six months? For $5000? By yourself?
Timothy Albee did it, partly to tell a story steeped in the ways of the bushido honor code.
Partly to put a thumb in the eye of the corporate animation industry and prove that a quality project could be completed in a short amount of time without a giant budget, and with a small team (a team of one, in this case).
The result was "Kaze, Ghost Warrior," a 22-minute animated short depicting a world populated by anthropomorphic animals in a land reminiscent of feudal Japan. He created the story, the 3d models and animation, even the music and all of the voices. At the same time, he produced a book on the process of low-budget, high quality 3-D animation, a lip-syncing tool (with the aid of KURV Studios) and a rendering technique to draw realistic looking CG fur in a fraction of the time it would normally take.
Steve Pavlina and the Million Dollar Experiment
Steve Pavlina began writing about some the beneficial habits he formed that helped him to make his game business, Dexterity.com a success. This writings provided the springboard for his personal development website, Stevepavlina.com. The subjects of his writings range from the practical (developing self-discipline, goal-setting, increasing your personal productivity) to the metaphysical (do we create our own "world" based on our beliefs? meditation, find your purpose in life).
One subject he recently wrote about was the intention-manifestation model of goal achievement (as opposed to the cause and effect model). In a nutshell, the idea is that the power to achieve goals ultimate derives from making the decision to have your desired result come about, then consciously being aware of the opportunities and resources that manifest themselves to aid you reaching your goal.
As an experiment to see what kind of results can be found using the intention-manifestation model, he has initiated the Million Dollar Experiment. The goal is to generate $1,000,000 of additional wealth by putting the intention out and maintaining awareness of any synchronistic or coincidental opportunities that may come about, and use them to help reach the goal.
Either he's crazy or he's onto something. An abundance of additional practical info on personal development and time management make this site definitely worth a look.
