2009: An endnote with a hope for a new beginning

The past decade, and especially the year 2009 for many was a transformative period---with new hopes for family, life, social networking, etc..

There were more failures (call it missed opportunities) than successes (or accomplishments) by and large. What we have in hand is, the new decade, as a hope for the better...

For such moments of do-it-yourself strategies, there are many positive notes from a book in hand: Fire Your Shrink! by Michele Weiner-Davis, reading now. For example:

"There is no such thing as failure, only feedback as to how to modify your next step. One of the most important prerequisites to putting the program in this book to work is to adapt a trial-and-error philosophy about change. It is remarkably freeing to realize that there are only two ways you can really screw up. One is by not trying anything new for fear of failure. ... The second way to screw up is to ignore the outcome of something you tried: wasting time convincing yourself and others that it should have worked when it didn't. Remember, the proof is in the pudding. If it works, don't fix it; if not, do something different." (p. 57)

On the same shelf:

What is Your One Main Failure of the Year 2009 - Are You Ready for the Year 2010?

Philly Teacher: 2009: Reflections on a Transformative Year

New Year Greetings And A Hope For Happiness :: Mel Menzies

Welcome to the out-of-control decade
We have seen the future, and it doesn't belong to you
By Rik Myslewski in San Francisco, The Register: 31st December 2009

The 10 most intriguing people of 2009

Decoding the Decade
Repeat after me: Googlewhack, Bromance, Obamanation
Listen to The Globe's Ian Brown read the words and phrases that became part of our collective consciousness this decade

Amazon's Kindle (genre: e-book reader)

To be able to read you need literacy, information and a medium. Amazon facilitates all of the above. Let's stick to information (message) and medium (electronic book reader), i.e., Amazon's Kindle. The good news is, Kindle, is now available in Canada (it was US exclusive wireless e-book reader). In the following is a quick glance of the product:
Pros:

You don't need a computer or a connecting device - standalone, mobile via 3G wireless

Built-in keyboard -- helps in search, browse, notes, and navigation (back, forward, main home page)

Handy and light weight - just as holding a magazine

Lot of variety - Over 350,000 books plus newspapers, magazines, and blogs

Cons:

Pricey, starting @ $299 (No free Internet + taxes, if you are in Canada, for instance)

Wireless utility not available globally (i.e, outside US & Canada)

You can not add more memory

See also on the same shelf:

E-books take off on Amazon

News flash: the book isn't dead – yet John Barber, Tuesday's Globe and Mail,
Monday, Dec. 28, 2009

Kindle: Amazon's 6" Wireless Reading Device Price: $299.00

Amazon Kindle Wireless Reading Device (U.S. Wireless)

Stephen's Lighthouse: Kindle Comes to Canada

The E-Reader Explosion: A Cheat Sheet | Technologizer

Will tomorrow's libraries become more like museums of today -- A question for the coming decade

The Battle of Building Library's Digital Collection

Kindle guide to the the Internet Archive: More than a million free e-books for K owners to download @ TeleRead: Bring the E-Books Home

Blog Review: My Highly Recommended Money Making Programs

The best part of the WWW / Internet / E-Commerce / Web Marketing is: (QUICK / EASY / SIMPLE / ONE-CLICK) Money Making Programs. That is the background. Here we are trying to understand one blog: My Highly Recommended Money Making Programs. And, the click forward from another site, brought me to this: Mailboxmoney and then found a link to another site, stating Want a free laptop?
Ans. Yes, why Not. The process, get, set go. I clicked on the site mentioned to get a free laptop: http://www.notebooks4free.com
Reading the terms and conditions (notebooks4free), it sounds all clear, and more importantly, telling me not to cheat, That's Great. I move on to see if this is a really real scam free deal. The simple catch is: I get 18 referrals. Period. Nope, then complex catch is, two stops, as explained:

Do my friends have to refer anyone?

Only if they want their own free gift. To earn your
free gift, your friends do not have to refer anyone.

How do I get a free gift?

Our free gift program does not require you to pay any fees. You are only required to complete one offer from our sponsors, many of which are free...[read again: all items are NOT free]

Googling for this site (notebooks4free), I found the following:

McAfee SiteAdvisor @ User Reviews (12): One said: "hp Hosts has classified this as a phishing site. Keep clear." [HP Host site]

Yahoo! Answers. One said: "The next morning.... I got 20 new spam messages and the spam folder took more than half an hour to load!"

Note: The interesting (complimenting and supplementing the spree) is the: COMMENT POLICY @ My Highly Recommended Money Making Programs:

Comments on this blog are made DOFOLLOW for the Google Spiders.

Comments are moderated.

Spam will not be tolerated.

The design of the blog is cool, user-friendly, not overloaded with un-necessary content.
Bottomline, nothing is free. So have happy holidays, and relax.

See also on the same shelf:

I Want My Free Laptop Dot Com

The Top 10 Internet/Email Scams

A Pathfinder To Detect Spam and Forwarded Email Scams

WORK-AT-HOME JOBS: Internet Fraud or Gold Rush?
Major Internet Fraud Investigation Reveals Shocking Truth you Must Know before Choosing a Work-At-Home Program
"Are Online jobs the next big thing?
The reality is that the hopes and dreams of honest people trying to make a better life for themselves are being preyed upon and shattered, day-in and day-out.
A Shocking 81.4% of work at home sites were found to be Scams"

Tips for Avoiding Job Scams, from the Internet Fraud Watch

Google Adsense Appears Anywhere, Anyhow

Thinking about competitive intelligence I have a moment's reflection. The question here is: How do businesses deal with competitors, and how they avoid each other? I found a search engine. In this context, isn't it against benchmarks of best practice in business management that Google Adsense should not be seen where Google is invisible. A competitor of Google, a less popular search engine, shows results from all other sources (READ AGAIN: it is minus Google) and has Google ads, the search engine is called Minus Google

And, about this new born minus-google, a news headlines says: Finnish blogger amputates Google from Google: A road map for regulators of the future, By Cade Metz in San Francisco


And, another question is: Why Does Google Allow Ads for AdSense Ready Websites?

Search for something like "work from home", "Internet jobs" or "make money online" on Google and you’ll see a flood of ads promising easy money through the AdSense program.
If you have ever tried AdSense on a site, you probably know how tough it is to make that first dollar but these ads, which are surprisingly served on the Google network itself, make things look so simple. Just order an "AdSense kit" for a few dollars and the money will start rolling in. continue reading: Digital Inspiration.

See also: The Google-Yahoo! agreement and the future of internet advertising hearing before the Subcommittee on Antitrust, Competition Policy, and Consumer Rights of the Committee on the Judiciary, United States Senate, One Hundred Tenth Congress, second session, July 15, 2008.

  Any clue, or at least a response to this reflection?

Writers in News: Peter Watts and John Gribbin

•  Tiger Woods accident pushes up sales of physics book
•  Canadian sci-fi writer arrested at US border

John Gribbin Get a Grip on Physics,



Watts' books include "Starfish," "Maelstrom" and "Behemoth," known as the "Rifters Trilogy."