Well as you may notice it has been a while since I have updated the blog. Believe me I’m not going to quit blogging, but I just needed a break. I hate it when I go through my bookmarks and see that sites have not updated in a while, so to my loyal readers I’m sorry for that. With everything in life you need to take a break once in a while and the past week I took a break from blogging, I still had a lot going on so taking blogging out of the picture really helped with a lot of other things.
ThinkComputers
I have been really working hard at ThinkComputers. Usually the summer time is the slow time for the site, but we have just as many products in as during Christmas time so it’s just as much work. It’s kind of a bummer since it is summer, but it’s by business and if I want it to grow I have to work hard at it. We have some really great reviews coming up too. We just posted a review of the Lenovo IdeaPad U110 11.1-inch laptop, make sure you check it out. It is the perfect laptop for a blogger or mobile user.
Personal Time
Since I took some time off from blogging it gave me extra time to myself. The biggest problem being a writer is burnout. I don’t want to get burnt out and not update all of my sites, so I decided it would be best to take blogging out of the mix and I think it worked out well. It was one less thing to worry about. It is nice just being able to relax and not think about all the things you have to do.
Cleaning!
Over the past few weeks my place has turned into a mess! I just had so much to do that the little free time that I did have I just felt like relaxing. Well because of that my place was a mess and when you are living in a mess it really hurts your motivation. So I took an entire day and cleaned my entire apartment. I even rearranged my office to give it a new feel, which should really help with my motivation. Stay tuned for a blog post about that.
If you are feeling crushed with work and are always stressed take one thing out of the mix. I really didn’t think that just not blogging for a week would help, but it really did.
Time has listed their 50 best websites of 2008. Now reading through the lengthy list of sites will maybe give you an idea for a new site, but do these sites make money? Valleywag went through the list and found out how each site makes money online, very interesting. No surprise that Google Adsense is used by most, following that private ad sales, then Yahoo, then finally Microsoft, which only 1 of the 36 sites that actually are ad supported uses. Here is a short list, head on over the Valleywag for the full list.
- Ad-supported:36
- Google ads: 18
- Microsoft ads: 1
- Yahoo ads: 2
- In-house ad sales teams: 3
- Sell goods: 2
- Sell physical goods: 1
- GasBuddy — Google AdSense and a display ad.
- Howcast — Google Adsense.
- iliketotallyloveit.com — Google Adsense
- Omiru — affiliate accounts with vendors such as Amazon and Bluefly
- PsychCentral — Google Adsense.
- TripKick — ValueClick banner ads.
- Wikitravel — Google Adsense.
- Yahoo! Answers — Yahoo display and search results.
- Zeer — Google AdSense
- Afrigadget.com — run by volunteers.
- AskMen.com — Google search ads and Google AdSense.
- ConcreteLoop.com — Google AdSense
- Health.com — Display advertising, served by DoubleClick, sold by Health magazine.
- PopSugar — display ads, sold internally.
- ProFootballTalk — Sponsored by Sprint, Valueclick display ads.
A while ago I talked about Twitter, if you still do not know what Twitter is make sure you check that post out. I got a Brightkite invite a while ago and while I did not really fully understand what it was I of course went to check it out. I really like how with Twitter I was able to let people know what I am doing when I am out, but unless they are from the area where I’m at they have no clue really where I am. That is where Brightkite comes in.
Getting Setup
Brightkite is all about where you are, that is why they call it the location-based social network. Once you create an account you can setup your profile with all your information. Make sure you put in your mobile number and your Twitter information (under sharing). Once you are all setup then you are ready to check in. Britekite is based on where you check in at. You do not have to be specific, for example you can put Pittsburgh, PA and it will just check you in at Pittsburgh. But if you want to be specific you can be too.
Mobile Use
Like I said I like to update my Twitter when I’m out, but I can do the same thing with Brightkite when I’m out through text (remember Brightkite will update your twitter status). To check in all I have to do is text @ “My Location”, example: @ Pittsburgh, PA. It is really that easy. Say you are at a restaurant, but do not know that address. Brightkite has a built in business search, so if I’m at Pho I can text: ? Pho Minh and it will list the top 5 closest businesses with that name and once I select one I can check in there. Once checked in at your location you can text: say “your message”, example: say at pho! You can also upload pictures to Brightkite, they will provide you with an e-mail address to send pictures to. When you send pictures the title of the e-mail will be the text in your tweet, like this one. If you click on the Brightkite link it will take you to a page with the picture and a Google map of the location that I sent the picture from, very cool!
Real Social Networking
Something really interesting happened when I went to the Penguins vs. Flyers game back on May 18th. Of course I was using Brightkite and I checked in a Mellon Arena. About 15 minutes after I checked in a got a text message back from Brightkite saying another user checked in at the same location and how I could chat with them. So I decided to say hi to the other user and we were chatting all through the game. It was very cool, that is real world social networking for you!
Other Features
For iPhone users Brightkite has an iPhone site at http://i.brightkite.com and I really like it, although I rarely use it, texting works fine for me. Just like on Twitter you have your stream with all of your friend’s updates, but also you have and Around Me stream that will list all of the updates from users that are around you, so it makes it easier to add them as friends. Also you can see all of the places that you have checked in at, Brightkite will even display them on a map, which is really cool.
Invites Anyone?
Brightkite is still in beta, but right now I have 5 invites so if you would like one please comment at the bottom of this post, make sure you include your e-mail since that is how I will send you the invite. If you are already a Brightkite member make sure you add me as a friend!
It has been a while since I had my last Pho, and that experience was not authentic according to John Chow. He said you need to go to small place not a place in a Vegas hotel. I have been craving Pho, especially since the guys go each week. Now there are not many Pho places to choose from in Pittsburgh, but I had heard good things about Pho Minh so fellow ThinkComputers staff writer Colin and I headed down there for dinner.
Pho Minh is right on Penn Ave. in Bloomfield. It is not very big at all, walking into the place there are maybe 20 seats at most. We seated and our order taken right away. I ordered the normal Pho, but with added steak. Colin ordered Pho with beef and chicken (next time I will remember the names). Both our orders came out very quickly and steaming hot!
After the first taste I knew I would be coming back to Pho Minh. The Pho I had in Vegas did not even compare with Pho Minh. The broth was extremely tasty and not bland at all. Well I’ve only been to 2 Pho restaurants, but this one is my favorite so far.
I had never had tea before unbelievably. Colin said I should try it so I did. While being a little bland it was good and if it’s filled with caffeine I’m all for it! I brought the Flip Utra along with me to Pho Minh and Colin took this short video…
Colin and I plan to make this a weekly thing, maybe start a Dot Com Pho Pittsburgh? If anyone is interested in joining us be sure to contact me and I will let you know when we are going again.
I have received many e-mails and comments wanting to know what my daily routine is like. The thing is because I’m my own boss my routine changes all the time and it can be different each day depending on what I’m doing. Although my Sunday’s usually are always the same. I use Sunday as sort of a catch up and relax day. It is always good to have at least one relax day a week. You can’t be working 7 days a week, you will eventually get burnt out.
Relaxing
I never set an alarm on Sundays, I just sleep in till whenever I feel like getting up. I usually try to catch up on my blog reading on Sunday too. I have about 20 blogs in my bookmarks that I enjoy to reading so I usually sit out on my deck, enjoy the weather (if it’s nice) and read blogs for a few hours. Sundays for me also means a nice big lunch. Since I have more time on Sunday’s I usually make a big lunch that takes a while to make. That way I can sit and enjoy eating, not rush through it.
Catching Up
As I said I do not do a lot of work on Sundays, but I do get some work done. A lot of the time I get behind on e-mails, so I use the weekend to get caught up on them. I also use Sunday to research blog topics and article topics for ThinkComputers. Another part of Sunday is spent doing little tweaks to my websites like adding new features or redesigning. As many of you know ThinkComputers usually posts 5 reviews a week so I prepare Monday’s review on Sunday night. So it is not a lot of work on Sunday, but it is nice to be able to be productive in a relaxed atmosphere.
I recently got a Flip Ultra to review on ThinkComputers so I decided to make a video of my outside “workstation” (old computer chair), and show you the view from my apartment. If you enjoyed the video please let me know and I will continue to make more of them.
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