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Happy 21st birthday to me! Actually my birthday was yesterday, but who wants to work on their birthday? Twenty was a pretty exciting year for me…I moved back to Southeastern Idaho, found my perfect dog, landed my dream job, went skydiving, bought a new truck, and started into school again with a renewed determination. Life has been busy, but to me busy means worthwhile!

I’m going to try something new this year, instead of the normal “New Year’s” resolution, I’m going to make some resolutions for my 21st year of life…or things to accomplish before I’m 22. Here we go:

1. Get into better shape. As of this writing I weigh in at 205 lbs per my cheap bathroom scale. I’m 5′9″ and a pretty beefy build…not large or husky or fat, just beefy. My ideal weight I believe was 165-175 back when I was in high school. My goal for this year is to get down to 175 lbs and not go above 185 again. More on this goal tomorrow.

2. Be organized. This is sort of a tough one for me. I have a strong urge to just set things wherever and forget about them. This year I’d like to make a spot for everything and keep it there.

3. Plan out my day. This goes a little bit with being organized. I need to start planning out my days better. To me this means planning out my 3 things to do for the day the night before and keeping a monthly calendar of important days (tests, family events, etc).

4. Financial responsibility. I have no idea if that’s worded right, but this encompasses building my credit, growing savings, and learning more about smart investing. Buying my truck was really my first major purchase, and with it I have an interest in building up a good credit so I can save myself money in the future.

My fitness plan will start tomorrow (and I mean it!), as well as my other goals. It’ll be tough to get through a whole year of doing all these things, but I believe if I can force myself for at least a six months that it will all become habits I can continue for the rest of my life.

When I first started this blog I had meant it to be just another John Chow look-alike blog, where I posted useless “tips” and hoped for large audiences to come pouring in. I lost my focus, got busy, and more-or-less let this blog sink into the shadows. But today I am resurrecting it.

I’ve thought a lot about what I really want from this blog lately, and I’ve come to a conclusion. Over the past couple of years I’ve learned a lot about my meaning of happiness and and what I want out of life. To reflect this, and because this blog bears my name, the shift in my blogging will be to self-improvement. This covers a wide variety of things including being happy, financial freedom, time-management, learning…and who knows how many other categories. You should expect to see posts about saving money, cutting down stress in your life, and eating healthy. I think this shift will help my writing to become more focused and less stressful.

Of course ultimately this blog is still all about one thing: Me.
In order to convey this shift in my blog I also wanted a new theme. I wanted a theme that had a photo-friendly header space and a three-column layout. What I ended up with was the Mandigo theme, which actually fit my bill perfectly. Here’s some features of the new layout:

• Rotating banner: With each refresh and page view the banner image rotates. Most of the banner photos are taken by myself, but a few were found on the internet (copyright free, of course).
• Random quotes: In the far right sidebar at the top you will notice “Inspirational quotes”. Like the header, these quotes also rotate with each page view, giving you new inspiration with each page!
• Flickr gallery: Directly underneath the “Inspirational quotes” are four thumbnails from my Flickr gallery. Clicking on any one of those will take you to my Flickr page where you can view all of my photos.

The overall point of all these features was to provide inspiration while at the same time a little relaxing scenery. I hope everyone enjoys this shift in my blog. Now everyone should subscribe to my RSS so you can come back and learn to live a happier life!

EverybodyGoTo is the blog of a web designer/internet entrepreneur by the name of Hyder (it’s the only name I’ve ever been able to find). Hyder has his start in the fashion industry, but is a self-taught web designer and graphic artist as well. His posts are generally about making money online, blogging, and web design. Hyder’s latest project is called Weborithm, the wordpress design company that brought you the re-design of JohnCow. This is a great blog with a lot of good tips in a wide range of categories.

Vanessa Fox. Nude. Relax! This isn’t a porn site! Actually, this is the personal blog of one of the great internet marketing females right now. Vanessa Fox is an expert in search engines and search engine marketing, and perhaps if you’ve been to any sort of internet conference lately you’ve heard her speak. She writes for several blogs and publications including the Official Google Webmaster Central Blog and Search Engine Land. To see her LONG list of credentials, check out her About Me page. Her posts on her personal blog, however, tend to be less professional and mostly entertaining, but every once in a while there is a gem of a post on how something works or how to get better rankings. Go check it out, her blog is definitely one to have in your reader.

As a follow up to my post on Thursday and as a precursor to Super Tuesday tomorrow, I wanted to try and explain the difference between a primary election and a caucus. It turns out in speaking with our county clerk since Thursday that Idaho (where I live) utilizes both a Democratic caucus and a Republican primary. The caucus is tomorrow (February 5th) and the primary is May 27th, so it looks like I won’t be voting until May.

So what’s the difference? And why the two voting dates?

To answer the first question, a primary election is run much like the general election in November. Each person is given a ballot and that ballot is cast in secret. A caucus is usually where members of the political party gather into groups according to their candidate preference. I’m a little sketchy on the caucus process, but my understanding is that this is not a private ballot, nor is it very accurate, but merely to get an idea of who the delegates should support. The state laws usually govern whether the voting process is opened or closed, meaning that if you vote in one election/caucus you cannot vote in another (closed).

Each party can choose to have either a caucus or a primary election and when it takes place. In Idaho, the democratic party has chosen a caucus to be held on February 5th and the republicans have chosen a primary election to be held May 27th. Both of these elections are open in Idaho, meaning I could go to the democratic caucus tomorrow and also vote in the primary on May 27th.

I still encourage everyone to get out and vote. This is going to be a very charged election.

Well it’s been a while since I’ve done this, but I’m here to get back into the swing of things. Let’s do this.

Stock Trading To Go -  This is a GREAT investing site run by Blain Reinkensmeyer. Blain started investing when he was 15 years old using the money from his lawn-care business. The site is well laid-out and written, very easy to understand for the beginning investor. As well as great articles written by Blain, there are several other writers that include:

• Jack Haddad is an MD and has an MBA. Jack is a hedge fund manager and a very successful trader. His posts are usually live-action trade reports, where his trades usually make up thousands and tens of thousands of shares.
• Sean Hannon is a CFA and CFP as well as the president of Covestor.com . He has been a financial planner and advisor for individuals for over 10 years with a solid record of out-performing the market.
• Karl Wiebe doesn’t actually have any credentials listed on the site, but his articles are very informational. His articles give great tips and strategies for your everyday trading.

My other favorite site for today is Mike’s Money Making Mission. Mike is an early retired guy from the UK that got his start in money-making in 1985 with Herbalife and multi-level marketing. He eventually went on to start some kind of magazine business and, doing quite well, retired early. He now is dabbling with making a full-time income using only free blogs such as Blogger, and again he’s doing pretty well. This site is a great read if you’re looking to get started making money online with blogs or even affiliate marketing. You can read how he got started Here.

Check these sites out and start making a little money today!

Next to election day in November, this Tuesday is the most important single day in the 2008 presidential elections. Super Tuesday is when the majority of states across the U.S. hold their respective caucuses and primaries to decide which candidate from both the Republican and Democratic parties will be on your ballot come November.

Now whether you’re Democrat or Republican or even Green party, you have to admit that the United States is in sad shape. We are not well-liked by a majority of the world right now, the value of our once all-mighty USD is now paling in contrast to other currencies, health care and social security are in crisis, and our personal liberties are becoming fewer and fewer. Which one of our candidates do you think is going to address all of these problems?

The few (or maybe many) of you who have heard of the man already know what I’m leading up to, and don’t click away before you read the rest of this article…but I’m talking of course about Congressman Ron Paul (M.D. by the way), who is one of four Republican hopefuls left in the race. Unlike the other candidates (including on the Democrat side), Dr. Paul has worked his entire career to end the ever-growing power of our federal government and restore our country to what the Founders envisioned, a nation conceived in personal liberty. Also, unlike the other candidates, Ron Paul is probably the most qualified presidential candidate to run for office when you review the facts:

1. Ron Paul has served (and is currently serving) in congress for 10 terms, leaving a legacy of arguably the most solid voting record in politics.
2. Ron Paul was raised in an average family and used his own money and grades to pay his way through medical school at Duke University. He is not the legacy of a wealthy American super-power family, but comes from average roots, just like the rest of us.
3. Ron Paul served as a Captain in the US Air Force as a flight surgeon. After the Air Force he specialized in obstetrics and gynecology, delivering over 4,000 babies in his 30 years of medical practice.
4. Ron Paul has taken a special interest in economics for several decades. Some of his writings on economics have been published by the Ludwig von Mises “Ultimate Foundation on Economics” as well as others.
5. Ron Paul has served on the House Banking committee, House Committee on Financial Services, and the House Committee on Foreign Affairs.

And from his very own website…

He has never voted to raise taxes.
He has never voted for an unbalanced budget.
He has never voted for a federal restriction on gun ownership.
He has never voted to raise congressional pay.
He has never taken a government-paid junket.
He has never voted to increase the power of the executive branch.

He voted against the Patriot Act.
He voted against regulating the Internet.
He voted against the Iraq war.

He does not participate in the lucrative congressional pension program.
He returns a portion of his annual congressional office budget to the U.S. treasury every year.

If you want to learn more about the President our country needs, then check out a few of these sites (only the first one is affiliated officially with his campaign):

• Ron Paul for President 2008
• Intro to Ron Paul
• The Ron Paul DVD
• YouTube
• MySpace
• Facebook

Whomever you support though, make sure you get out and vote on February 5th, 2008 at your local precinct!

Wow…a whole two months since I last posted anything. Between school and working I have had almost less than zero time to do the stuff I really want to do. Do you ever get so busy you just feel like you’re running all the time? Anyway, I suppose I should at least post a little update about what’s been going on the last two months, so here goes.

Internet Stuff

I’ve been reading a lot lately and trying to really sink my teeth into CSS, XHTML, and PHP. It’s been really interesting to watch my learning curve. Because I’ve been so busy and because I’ve set myself back a little bit by deciding to learn PHP/CSS/XHTML better, I haven’t accomplished as much in the last month as far as final product goes as I would’ve liked to. I’ve got some really big plans in my head right now, for three sites in particular. Another thing I did recently was upgrade my webhosting from just a basic plan to a larger reseller plan so that I can manage my sites a little more easily (hopefully), but migrating can be a bit*h. I’ve had a lot of downtime the last week because of it. Oh well, life moves on.

New Toys

While scouring eBay one day (I do get a little free time), I noticed that Dell Latitude laptops were going very cheap in particular. So, on a whim, I decided to bid $200 on one and guess what…I won it. It’s only about a year or two old and is in sweet condition, it was a heck of a steal I think. I’ll make a full review a little later I think :).

School (Ugh)

So as you gathered earlier (I hope), school has been in full swing for me and it’s kind of killing me. I don’t think I’m doing poorly in my classes, but between the 18 credits (I dropped them down to 12 right before mid-term), working three 12-hour shifts a week, and trying to keep up with internet stuff and everyday life…it’s a killer! I think for next semester I’m going to have to scale some things back a little. BTW, my advice for anyone considering college (because if you’ve been through the shock already, you don’t really need this advice), do all you can to avoid working while going to school. I realize it’s a necessary evil for most, but it’s so much easier if you can devote all your energy to studying.

New Year

As 2008 is approaching, I like to kind of think about what I want to accomplish in the next year. Usually I put this together into some sort of list for myself, but this year I think I will post the list on here. It’s not done yet, but it’s coming along so watch out for it.

Well that’s it for the moment. I’ll try and be more dilligent about posting, but I can’t really guaruntee anything

In lieu of Cool Music Tuesday, I thought bringing everyone a cool music gadget might just get us through this Tuesday (that and I just have way too much going on this week to do a bunch of music bios). Usually I’m pretty on top of things when it comes to Apple releasing new products, but somehow this one snuck up on me. Apparently Apple released sometime in the last week a new iPod…the iPod Touch.

The Zune Just Wet Itself

I’m pretty sure the folks over at Microsoft were just thrilled (sarcasm) when they heard about Apple’s latest brain child. Wi-Fi music sharing? How about fully functional wireless internet browsing, streaming video, and the ability to download music right from your MP3 player. All of the above without ever connecting to a PC? Not to mention, this latest iPod comes with the breakthrough touch technology that’s featured on the iPhone. In fact the iPod Touch seems to be nothing more than an iPhone without the GPRS antennae. I think it’s safe to say that the Zune can now, officially, be declared defeated. iPod Touch goes above and beyond anything we as consumers have seen before. Apple has set the standard again.

The Nano Goes Square

Not only did Apple unveil a great iPod touch and give some polishing accents to the iPod Classic, the Nano got some well-deserved attention as well. Instead of the familiar stick-of-gum we’re used to seeing, the Nano just got square. Why square? Well to fit the new widescreen for viewing movies. That’s right, you can now watch video on your iPod Nano! And the price didn’t change either…Bonus!

If you want to check out the rest of the lineup, head on over to www.apple.com/itunes to see the whole iPod family lineup.

In what appears to be the largest mass-prize giveaway in blogging history, David Airey is celebrating his blog’s one year anniversary by giving away over $4000 in goods and services. David is a great logo designer and blogger, but how he managed to get all these services and bloggers involved seems a small miracle in the making to me. You can check out how to enter for yourself Here. Now, take a look at this list of prizes!

• Professional logo from David Airey. Add a touch of professionalism to your business with one of my logo designs.
• Custom WordPress theme design from Nate Whitehill of Nate Whitehill dot Com. It’s vital to set yourself apart from the crowd, and Nate will help a great deal with your very own custom WordPress theme. By the way, Nate Whitehill is the one who recently redesigned both John Chow and Shoemoney’s blogs.
• Personal marketing / advertising plan from Maki of Dosh Dosh. Maki is an expert where blog advertising is concerned, and he is kindly donating his time to help you make the most of your new custom blog.
• One year’s hosting and blog setup from John Boardley of I Love Typography. John has kindly donated his time and will do everything you need to get your new custom blog hosted on one of Media Temple’s dedicated servers.
• Signed copy of Blogging Tips by Lorelle VanFossen of Lorelle on WordPress. David bought this book himself, and it contains excellent blogging tips for beginners to pros.
• A second logo design from Tara Roskell of Graphic Design Blog. You only need to visit Graphic Design Blog to realise that Tara really knows a lot about great design.
• Website critique from Randa Clay of Randa Clay Design. If you want some expert advice on how to improve your website design, you won’t be disappointed by this offering.
• One hour SEO consultation with Lyndon Antcliff of Cornwall SEO. Lyndon will conduct a Skype consultation with the winner of this prize, and he comes highly recommended for search engine optimisation and linkbaiting.
• $60 of books from Amazon courtesy of Darren Rowse of ProBlogger. Is there a book you’ve been meaning to buy on Amazon? How about getting it free? A great donation from a professional blogger.
• Logo / blog header design from Jonathan-C. Phillips of Smart Wealthy Rich. Jonathan has donated his expert skills to help your blog stand out from the crowd.
• One hour blog optimization consultation with Daniel Scocco of Daily Blog Tips. This consultation will cover design, SEO, monetization and blogging strategy, from the author of one of blogging’s most useful resources.
• Revolution Premium WordPress theme package (personal package) from Brian Gardner, WordPress designer and consultant. Brian’s WordPress skills are second to none.
• Blog review and email interview published on Make It Great! with Phil Gerbyshak. The man to ‘make it great’ will critique your blog and feature you on his very own PR5 blog.
• Behringer Podcastudio USB Podcasting Kit, kindly donated by Fraser’s Affiliate Marketing Blog. Looking for a new way to express yourself? Ever wanted to be a famous producer? Then podcasting is the answer and the BEHRINGER PODCASTUDIO USB bundle has all you need to make high-quality podcasts and home recordings.
• $25 via PayPal courtesy of Gayla McCord of Mom Gadget. Free money! Who doesn’t want free money? Very kind of you Gayla.
• 2GB USB storage key x 3 courtesy of Jamie Clague at Terinea Weblog. Three USB sticks will make up three separate prizes, with free worldwide postage. Jamie, Edinburgh Computer Services, has also kindly donated his valuable time to helping with the prize draw administration.
• Full blog review with deep links and images published on Blog-Op with Chris Lodge. Chris knows how to piece together an excellent blog review, giving you an added insight into the impression your website is giving.
• Blog review from Aaron Russell of miLienzo. Aaron has been coding WordPress themes for a while now and certainly knows his stuff where blog design is concerned.
• Expert WordPress blog help from Lakshmi Mareddy of Chilligavva. Have you ever had any ideas for your blog that you haven’t been able to incorporate? Lakshmi has kindly agreed to offer her WordPress skills, helping you out with either code or graphics.
• Blog review from Hock Ng of Marketing Tools Review. Hock will focus his review on your blog content, design, SEO and usability.
• Blog makeover from Charles Jordan of The Queer Chef. Charles is proficient with design for the Blogger platform, and can also design WordPress. He’ll tantalise your taste buds with one of his blog makeovers.
• Blog writing consultation with Ben Yoskovitz of Instigator Blog. Ben has offered his expertise to review 3–5 of your articles, providing tips and giving suggestions on writing, plus a quick guide to social media and how you can benefit from it.
• Two 45 minute coaching consultations with Mark McGuinness of Wishful Thinking. Mark specialises in coaching creative professionals, and is a real expert in his field. The first session will involve goal setting, with the second session reporting on progress and making adjustments.
• 4 hour business growth consultation with Rebecca Caroe, via telephone / Skype, or face-to-face in London / Cambridge. Rebecca is a business growth consultant for creative agencies, so if you’re looking to expand your company then this is the prize for you. If you want Rebecca to visit your offices simply pay her travel expenses.
• Tele-Coaching with Tammy Lenski. A one-hour, private telephone consult with professional mediator and conflict coach Tammy Lenski. Figure out how to deal with a challenging client, strengthen your contract negotiations, or confront difficult conversations with more confidence and success. Free call within the U.S., via Skype outside the U.S.
• One hour product launch consultation with Design Translator (DT) of Design Sojourn. Whether you’re launching a line of t-shirts, custom furniture, electronics, or any other product, DT will lend you his product launch expertise.
• Blog improvement or monetization advice with Easton Ellsworth of Business Blogwire. You choose, do you want to generally improve your blog or do you want help making money from it? Easton has kindly offered his help.
• Two premium quality books designed and produced by David Hyde of david the designer. John Hinchcliffe, internationally acclaimed designer-maker, is the subject of the richly illustrated first of two quality books. Crafts in the 20th Century is the second book kindly donated by David.
• Copy of Brand Aid by Brad VanAuken of The Blake Project. Brand Aid is a practical how-to guide on building winning brands. Derrick Daye was kind enough to offer this great prize.
• Watercolour print from Ed Roach Watercolours. Ed has quite a talent, and will graciously ship your favourite print from his watercolour studio.
• 728px by 90px banner ad for 30 days above the fold on The Blog Experiment, courtesy of Sara. This is quite a new forum for bloggers, but already there are approximately 5,000 posts! You must supply your own artwork.
• 125px by 125px image ad for 30 days on Smart Wealthy Rich. An excellent donation from top blogger, Jonathan.
• Ad icon located site-wide in the top left of Blog-Op, courtesy of Chris Lodge. Another kind gift from a fellow blogger in Scotland.
• 30 day text link ad shown site-wide on Contest Blogger. This is a great way to advertise your very own blog contest. Blogging is about giving something back, so get your contest featured.
• 125px by 125px image ad for 30 days on Freelance Folder. Another superb offering from Jonathan a.k.a Smart Wealthy Rich
• Lifetime membership to the paid membership site that Andy Beard, WordPress SEO and Niche Marketer, will launch on Andybeard.eu (eta and value yet to be determined). If the prize winner already qualifies for membership (some people will), then Andy will kindly come up with an alternative prize.

Do you ever get frustrated with how tied to your computer you are? Unless you tote your laptop around with you EVERYWHERE, more than likely you’re constantly in a state of wishing you had something from your home computer with you. Well, I think I’ve got just the solution for you. It’s called PortableApps. No this isn’t a paid post, nor is it sponsored in any way. I just tried this last week and really like it, so I’m spreading the word.

What is PortableApps? It’s a set of open-source software that installed onto a flash drive. Some you may have heard of, like Firefox, some you may not have, like Nvu or GIMP. All of these free softwares perform like software you’re already familiar with: Dreamweaver, Photoshop, Notepad, Outlook, and many more. All these apps run right from the flash drive, no need to install them on a computer. The best part of all, you can store all your personal information on the flash drive without leaving any behind on the host computer. That’s right, all your bookmarks, settings, and files are saved on the flash drive as well. All you do is plug in and have access to all your files and programs without leaving a thing behind on the host computer.

I did this last week just to try it out. I went to Wal-Mart and got a 2GB flash drive for $15. The whole PortableApps folder takes up about 325MB of space, so I have over 1.5GB of space left on the drive for files and settings to be saved. This is nice because I can carry this little drive around anywhere, it’s only about an inch long, and I have everything I need anywhere I go. The only downside, the PortableApps suite only works on Windows. Even so, I’d encourage you all to go out and give this a try.