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I finally did it. I had been wanting to move my blog to it’s own domain off WordPress for quite while now, and over the long weekend, I finally decided to get it done.

I’ll be disabling this blog in the near future (to prevent it from stealing search engine ranking away from my blog’s new home), so be sure to update your links, bookmarks, feeds, etc.

I’ll see you at the new place!

 

Looking to Make Extra Money on eBay?

Okay, it’s been awhile since my last post. Been busy at work and with other projects. One of those projects is a total revamping of my How to Make Money on eBay site. So I wrote this article and submitted it to a bunch of article directories and blogs and whatnot to give my site an SEO boost.

Speaking of which, I do article writing and submission on the side for $100 a pop. This creates several hundred inbound links for your chosen keyword. So if you’re interested…

Anyway, on with the show!

For all of us there eventually comes a time when times are so tight financially, we wonder how we’re going to get by. The vast majority of us are able to trudge through it and eventually come out on top. But a few of us will end up with insurmountable debt that forces us into bankruptcy.

Others still never do overcome the hard times and seem destined to be stuck for the rest of their lives, barely getting by, living paycheck to paycheck. Regardless of which category you fall into, you’ve undoubtedly thought at these times, “There’s got to be some way for me to make a few extra dollars each month, just enough to take the pressure off!”

Thanks to eBay and the power of online auctions, literally millions of budding entrepreneurs have discovered the pressure-release valve of life by learning to make extra money on eBay.

The thing that has made entrepreneurship so difficult is that it requires a lot of time, commitment, and a thick skin to take on the constant rejection from potential supporters and insults you’ll receive from customers. Along with all that, it doesn’t hurt to have some big brass… well, you know.

eBay changed all that by acting as the middleman between the guy with the money (your customer) and the guy looking to take that money (that’s you, the entrepreneur!) In essence, eBay does all the heavy lifting of finding and bringing the customer to you. And they’ve become quite good in this role.

Today, eBay is one of the most visited websites on the Web. And the majority of those visitors are there for one reason: to buy something. All you have to do is list an item for sale. This is where most people get turned off. Fear of technology, of registering an account, of giving up one’s personal information — whatever the case may be. If you’re letting that stop you, you are really missing out on one of the greatest tools of the modern-day entrepreneur.

eBay’s strength is so powerful that even corporate behemoths like IBM sell on eBay!

The first step to making money on eBay is to just do it! Go to eBay, register, list an item, and you’ll quickly see just how simple it all is. Most people learn best by doing, so go forth and do.

Registration is a two step process that must be validated by clicking on a confirmation link that eBay will email you at the end of the process (so be absolutely sure that you use a viable email address during the registration process). The first step is to register as a buyer. Once you’ve done that, you can register as a seller.

Confused? Don’t worry. Click the “help” link on eBay’s site, then click “Learning Center”. The Learning Center is full of helpful animated tutorials that will walk you through the process of registration, step by step. It’s like watching over somebody’s shoulder as they register so you’ll know exactly what to expect when you go through the process yourself.

 

Berkeley Steps Over the Line

So I just heard that, if I’m hearing correctly, the City of Berkeley is trying to amend zoning laws to require military recruiters to obtain a permit and attend a public hearing if they wish to “locate within 600 feet of a residential neighborhood, hospital, school or park.”

Apparently Berkeley is worried about the national problem of pedophiles enlisting in the military and becoming recruiters.

Several protesters met just outside a Marine recruiting station, which I thought was really cool. In one fell swoop, the protesters get to conduct their protest and make known their desire to kick the Marines out of town, while at the same time thank the Marine Corps for fighting and dying to preserve their right to protest. It really touched my heart.

This has caused quite a stir, and I felt like I had to put in my two cents.

Okay Berkeley, we let you get away with “naked guy” once. But don’t think for a second we’ll allow it again! Look, nobody wants to see naked men running around town. The Marines must stay in order to prevent any other men from becoming foolhardy enough to take their clothes off in public again!

HOORAH MARINE CORPS!

 

Utah Flags Fly at Half Mast as a Prophet is Lost

Mormons around the world are in mourning today as news spreads that LDS church president Gordon B. Hinckley passed away.

As for me, I have to admit that at first I didn’t like President Hinckley. But over time, I grew to love him as one of my church’s most prolific, energetic, and lively prophets in recent times.

For many people, Hinckley was perhaps the most influential prophet in their lifetime. Now, prophets tend to stick around for awhile (Hinckley for 12 years) so younger folks such as myself haven’t been through that many, but each prophet in my time has certainly left their mark. One of the legacies Hinckley leaves behind is a massive temple-building program that more than doubled the number of operating temples to over 100.

Spencer W. Kimball is the prophet I have the earliest memory of. He is, of course, most well known for having the revelation that allowed all worthy men to hold the priesthood, something that he had wanted since before becoming prophet and something he spent a lot of time on his knees praying for.

Ezra Taft Benson was probably most well known for his ultra-conservative views. Unfortunately, some people decided to leave the church when he became prophet. They didn’t bother sticking around long enough to see his dramatic change. Some people (myself included) contribute his change to the fact that he was directly humbled by “the man upstairs.”

Howard W. Hunter is the shortest serving prophet in modern times. Prophet for just 9 months, his very short term of service left some to wonder why the Lord would let a man be His mouthpiece for so short a period of time. But Hunter is perhaps my favorite. When he spoke, it seemed the world stopped to listen. Maybe it was because his health was so bad, everybody knew he wasn’t going to be around for long. Nonetheless, when he did speak, it was a powerful treat to hear him.

As to Hinckley, I was beginning to think he would live forever. He was born the same year as my grandfather, but managed to outlive him by just over 11 years. Hinckley became prophet at the ripe ol’ age of 84, and many wondered how long he would stick around at that age. If anybody bet on it, I’m sure they lost.

Hinckley was also one of the most qualified persons to take the post. As a 2nd counselor to an increasingly unhealthy Kimball in the 80’s (and due to 1st counselor Romney’s failing health as well) Hinckley essentially lead the church during that time. The same happened when he was 1st counselor to Benson as Benson’s health began to fail.

If things go as planned, Thomas S. Monson will become our next prophet. With a very different personality than Hinckley, it will be interesting to see what direction he takes the church.

But for now, here’s to you Brother Hinckley!

 

Men Not as Smart as They Think

So when the results of this study came out, I’m pretty sure I heard a collective, “Well, DUH!” from the world’s women. I wasn’t sure what was going on at first. I probably just figured Oprah Winfrey said something really well-duh’ish on her show or something. But then I read this story from Newsweek, and it all made sense to me.

I wish I could say I was not one of those men. Testing in high school showed that I had a very logical thinking mind, and that I tended to be logical “to the point of splitting hairs.” Even as a child, I tended to do things based on what seemed to be the most logical path. It would be completely illogical for me to lie about my intelligence.

However, I do have a rather clear memory of speaking with my wife (then girlfriend) back in 1995 about her having taken a test based on real I.Q. tests with supposedly corrected scoring to provide a relatively accurate I.Q. score. I proudly proclaimed that I had an I.Q. of, get this, 140. Yeah. I had never taken an I.Q. test in my life, but there I was bragging about being some kind of super genius.

In my own defense, I didn’t realize that a score of 140 is as high as it is. That, and uh… I’m a man. I really didn’t have a clue what the average I.Q. score was back then. Not very logical of me, huh?

Anyway, the test my then-girlfriend-now-wife took was out of a book she got at the local library. I was so confident in my self-rating (again, hardly logical) that I took the test as my then-girlfriend watched. In the end, I counted up my score with a whopping 127.

Did I learn my lesson? Hardly. I went around telling people I had an I.Q. of 130.

So what’s the point? Well, I would disagree with the Newsweek story. Only problem is I just got done proving that it’s true… at least in my case. Yeah, not very logical of me, is it?

However, there is one part of the story that I agree with: Men of average to below average intelligence tend to overestimate their smartiness by the largest margins. Well, yeah! Isn’t it always the dumbest guys that think they know everything? And can you blame them? They’re not smart enough to know that they don’t know anything!

Although, based on this famous quote from Socrates, if you realize your own stupidity you’re actually a genius:

True knowledge exists in knowing that you know nothing.

Yeah. Not very logical is it? Socrates thought he was pretty smart by realizing that he knows nothing. But if he knows nothing, then how does he know that? Because by knowing that you know nothing, you know something. It’s a paradox worse than all the crap they pulled in those Back to the Future movies!

I know nothing… except that.

 

Stu Emerges from the Computer Dark Ages

Finally, after a three-year hiatus, I’ve decided to upgrade my computer. Just for the record, this is the first time I’ve gone more than a year without upgrading since my college days.

For the geeks, here is a comparison of my old and new parts:

Motherboard: nForce4 to nForce650i
CPU: Athlon64 3200+ (1.8 GHz) to Core2Duo E6550 (2.33 MHz)
Video: GeForce 6800 to GeForce 8800GT @ 700 MHz (both 256 MB RAM)
RAM: 1 GB to 2 GB (both running dual channel @ 800 MHz)

Basically, we are looking at a processor that is (based on benchmarks) about 3x more powerful and a video card that is about 11x more powerful. Here’s a comparison of the two systems using 3DMark2006 as a benchmark:

Based on 3DMark, overall the new system is about 6x more powerful. Unfortunately, I didn’t have as much money as I would have like to spend on this, otherwise I would have gotten a much faster quad core CPU and a 512 MB overclocked GeForce8800GTX.

Nonetheless, I’m just happy I’m able to crank up the image quality in Ghost Recon 2.

 

The Other Side of “Don’t Tase Me Bro!”

So “Don’t tase me bro!” was the #1 phrase of 2007. That’s great and all, but as somebody who writes for a living, what I really wanted to know was what phrases were at the bottom of the list?

Why do I want to know you ask?

I once read that the best way to get people to your blog is to write about stuff that is highly controversial and/or polarizing. By doing so, every crazy person on the planet will converge on your blog and you can just sit back and watch the blood fly!

So I figure, “Hey, if I use the most hated phrases in the world on my blog, maybe I’ll catch me a few new readers to add to the three or so (including me) that I already have!”

Sweet plan, eh? Luckily some other guy that writes for a living did the research so I could steal it from him.

So get ready for some blood, because you are about to experience a perfect storm surge of post 9/11 decimation where wrong is the new right!

Webinar – Look, I’ve participated in and helped manage several webinars in my time. So to this I say, “Shove it up your —” well, you know.

X is the New Y – I have to contribute this to doctors. Who else but people who know everything (otherwise, how could they have gotten a doctorate?) could have come up with something so witty? I say that college drop outs are the new geniuses.

Organic — This is on the list not so much for it’s stupidity, but for it’s overuse. Since I work in online marketing, where we use the term “organic” to refer to natural search engine results, I have to agree with this one. Look, there’s nothing organic about computer programs! That doesn’t happen until the 24th century.

Decimate – I know what you’re thinking. To decimate means to utterly and completely destroy. Wrong! You can thank the news media, who supposedly know what they are talking about, for confusing your understanding of this word. “Deci” is one tenth (think decimeter), and decimate originally meant to take one tenth of something. But today it means to destroy most, but not all, of something.

Maybe it has it’s origins from Australia? If you destroy nine-tenths of a mate, you are left with one-tenth of a mate, or a deci-mate. Maybe the media should start using the term “decamate,” which I hereby declare means to completely destroy 10 times over. Now that’s what I call a perfect storm of destruction!

Post 9/11 – Uh, I’m not sure why this made the list. How are we supposed to refer to the time frame in which Thankgiving, Hannukah, Christmas, and that fraud of a holiday Kwanzaa as? Post 11/3? I don’t think so.

Sweet – Sweet! Hey, how come “dude” didn’t make the list? DUDE! Along the same lines, “It is what it is,” a distorted form of “I yam what I yam,” made the list too. What, nobody’s a fan of Popeye?

Wordsmithing — No, wordsmithing is not what I do… BECAUSE IT’S NOT A WORD!

Check out more phrases that made the list.

 

An Open Letter to My Favorite Restaurants

Dear My Favorite Restaurants,

Recently, Men’s Health magazine trashed you for no good reason. That came as no surprise to me, since they don’t have anything better to do but put others down so all those hot-bodied guys they use as models can feel better about themselves (now, did I just say that because I’m a closeted gay, or just make you wonder if I am? hmm…)

However, your reaction to said report was rather disappointing. To that, I have but one thing to say: Stop Being Embarrassed About Having Yummy Food!

Okay, I get it. Your food is packed full of calories, trans fats, artificial flavorings, and radioactive materials. I don’t care! Serve me up a 50,000 calorie dish! I can only eat a tenth of it anyway.

Serve me up some incredibly unhealthy garbage! If it tastes good, I’ll eat it and come back for more.

So Red Robin, you got trashed because you don’t provide nutritional information on your gigantic gourmet burgers. Look, I’m okay with that! I’m not ordering giant burgers because I’m watching my weight or because I think they’ll prevent cancer.

Outback Steakhouse, stop trying to hide the fact that your cheese fries have nearly 3,000 calories. It’s how you say “yummy fries” in Australian, right? I get it! I want to eat fries like an Australian. Bring it on!

Hooters… I don’t go there for the wings, okay? I don’t care that it’s unhealthy, or gross, or anything else. However, you really ought to tell that hairy-armed, mustached waitress to shave or something.

And Arby’s. You put artificial flavoring in your “all natural” chicken strips? Well hold on while I puke up the thousands of chicken strips I’ve had over the last 15 years… so I can taste them again because they are so good!

And Fuddruckers, how dare you even consider putting up nutritional information about your one-pound burgers. Look, I’m a small guy and can barely get down a quarter pounder. But if I ever decide to try and take down a full pounder, it will be because I’m trying to commit suicide. Suicide by burger… mmm.

And Papa John’s, you aren’t making any attempt to put more healthy options on your menu? Well why should you? You only have the awesomest pizza IN THE WORLD! Don’t you dare touch your already perfect pizza. Change one ingredient and I shall never return! Unless, of course, the change is to put the incredibly-unhealthy-but-oh-so-sumptuous garlic sauce right into the pizza so I won’t have to dip it anymore. That would make the perfect pizza even more perfect.

And finally, my most oft-visited restaurant, Burger King. First, props for bringing back the Burger King in your commercials. I love that guy! Second, why in the world are you phasing out your french toast sticks?

So the fools at Men’s Health outed you on the fact that each stick contains 4 grams of fat. Once again, I’m not eating fast food for the health benefits. You’re being sued for not removing trans fats quickly enough? What happened to this being a free country?! I don’t need some idiot government watch dog to protect me from myself. If I want to freakin’ eat french toast sticks covered in hot lard, then that’s my freakin’ choice!

Every restaurant everywhere, be proud of your unhealthy-yet-yummy food! I’ve already quit eating at McDonald’s because they got rid of the super-size option and made their once delicious fries more healthy (and disgusting).

Somebody, please, stop the insanity!

Sincerely,

Lover of Unhealthy Foods

 

More Cellphone Photos

Well, it’s been awhile since I last posted. Yep, it’s been a little crazy busy lately. But now that I get a nice four-day weekend, I figured I’d put a little sumthin’-sumthin’ up.

Longtime readers may be wondering where my anti-Christmas rant is for the year. Well, like I said, it’s been busy. But this and this ought to suffice.

In the meantime, I think it’s time for another cellphone pictures post.

First up: Here’s a picture of a Murcielago I happened upon on my way home from work one day.

That huge blob at the bottom of the photo? My finger. Yeah, I’m an idiot. Luckily, my fingers didn’t get in the way of this next one.

I saw this ‘57 ‘Vette on my way back from lunch one day. I stopped and asked the owner if I could take a picture.

Here’s an interesting look into my work (although this incident happened at my previous job). An intro might help. Since I worked in the marketing department of this company, I had gone out and purchased Cory Rudl’s (may he rest in peace) Internet Marketing thingermajinger lesson book thing. It cost me $200.

Well, our biz dev manager worked out a partner deal with these guys, went up to Canada to visit them, and received two free copies of an updated version.

After screaming, “What the hell?!” I grabbed my $200 copy and threw on the ground, picked it up and threw it again. The pages all came flying out of the binder. My coworker, Ryan (aka Buck as most of us call him), was not happy that I was making a mess of the workplace, so he grabbed all the papers and threw them all over my cubicle. Nice!

Speaking of Buck, this is what happens at my former work place when you decide to go on vacation:

Yeah, so Buck and I had worked up to 4 weeks of paid vacation, but you have to really think hard about whether or not you actually wanted to ever use it.

As long as we’re on the subject of childish behavior…

So I’ve been teaching Sunday School to teenagers in the various wards I’ve lived in for the last 3 out of 4 years. In my previous ward, one of my students grabbed my phone and snapped this photo while I wasn’t looking:

Sorry for embarrassing you Britney. She is actually a very pretty girl when she’s not making faces. No, really!

And just to show that teenage behavior is the same no matter where you live; in my new ward, another one of my students stole my phone and snapped this beautiful picture of my hand.

Remember the biz dev manager that resulted in the death of my Internet Marketing thinger manual? Well, he broke his ankle a while back, and I had the pleasure of being among the first to sign his cast.

As long as we’re on Jared, the biz dev manager; he often gets to go to free Jazz games where one of the partners he works with owns a suite. At one game, while he was stuffing his face with all-you-can eat shrimp and crab legs, I was up in the nose bleeds with my good buddy Brad.

And yes, we really were in the nose bleed section:

And finally…

I have to apologize to Senator Edwards on this for a rather unflattering photo of him, but I was trying to hurry and snap this before it changed.

This occurred during a democratic presidential debate several weeks ago.

I think the look on Edwards’ face makes it clear what his thoughts on the matter are: “What the hell is a positon?”

So there you have it folks. A nice long post to make up for a long absence.

Edit: 12/28/2007

One sweet show-winning Mustang for good measure:

 

Stu Approves Mitt Romney’s Faith in America Speech

In the past, I’ve criticized Romney for is perceived embarrassment at being Mormon. I later apologized. And now, I am glad to have read the transcript of Romney’s Faith in America speech made earlier today.

And I have just this to say: “Yes, Governor Romney, that is good enough for me.” Because, you know, Mitt reads my blog all the time don’t you know? And, uh, you know… he seeks my advice all the time and stuff. Yeah, I’m that important.

My greatest fear, though I felt sure he wouldn’t dream of doing it, was that he would attempt to distance himself from his Mormon faith in order to better secure the next step in his bid for the presidency, which is to gain the Republican nomination.

Rather he, as I hoped he would, reaffirmed his Mormon faith, and iterated its importance to him by saying:

[Some people] would prefer it if I would simply distance myself from my religion, say that it is more a tradition than my personal conviction, or disavow one or another of its precepts. That I will not do. I believe in my Mormon faith and I endeavor to live by it. My faith is the faith of my fathers - I will be true to them and to my beliefs.

He cemented that fact by following up the above statement with:

Some believe that such a confession of my faith will sink my candidacy. If they are right, so be it.

Good on you Mr. Romney! Mitt went on to iterate that, as president, he would serve the people of America – all the people, not the Mormon Church leadership:

We separate church and state affairs in this country, and for good reason. No religion should dictate to the state nor should the state interfere with the free practice of religion.

[As governor of Massachusetts] I did not confuse the particular teachings of my church with the obligations of the office and of the Constitution - and of course, I would not do so as President. I will put no doctrine of any church above the plain duties of the office and the sovereign authority of the law.

So far, the response from the press and media has been positive. It will be interesting to see how things play out in the next few weeks.

For the full speech, checkout the transcript.