There ain’t no party like a Twitter party.

Don’t believe me? You should; the Internet world can be broken down by the use of social media and networking, which touches every part of our lives from daily updates about what we are having for dinner to business marketing strategies. It is a world all its own, and one of the main figureheads of the Online Royal Family is Twitter.

Not only is it an easy way to transfer personal information, get news updates tailored to your tastes and potentially stalk every person you have ever dated but it is also a place where the famous and the fans (or anti-fans) can connect like never before. It is not uncommon to see people interacting first-hand with celebrities who would have once been impossible to contact.

Now, this might be considered a good or a bad thing. I know I have never been particularly interested in keeping contact with the “Real Housewives of New Jersey” cast or getting ultra-hip messages from underground bands. But there is no denying that some celebrity Twitter feeds are full of hilarious, interesting or just crazy statuses impossible to ignore.

Below are what I personally think are the 10 must-follow celebrity Twitter feeds for anyone looking for a laugh.

1. @GeorgeTakei

Famous for his portrayal of the Enterprise’s Sulu on the original “Star Trek” TV series, George Takei is loved by any geek worth his salt. His Twitter has become a platform for his political comments and causes, such as his current support of Warren Buffet and the Occupy Wall Street protests happening all over the country.

He frequently talks to fans one-on-one when he is mentioned, such as recently when he commented on someone’s tweet about having exclaimed that it was him when he was passed in the street. He is endearing, charming, blunt and sweet. What’s not to love?

2. @KanyeWest

While he has become an icon, Kanye West is not usually considered the most likable of people. He comes off as arrogant, often starts fights, is always ranting about “haters” and never seems genuinely apologetic for anything messed up that he does – which is exactly why he is so fun to watch.

It is like witnessing a wild creature in its natural habitat, except that instead of roaring and catching prey, he is bitching about people daring to question his talent and throwing off one-liners about how awesome he is.

3. @YokoOno

Ah, Yoko Ono … what can be said about her? I suppose we can start with her being completely insane. But she is also very genuine and positive and has a kind of zen-like quality that only seems to appear in the mentally ill. Some of my personal favorite, recent tweets: “Draw a window on the wall to remind you of the silkrain that makes things grow,” and, “The room of your own making: Be grand.”

4. @TheRealRoseanne

Roseanne Barr has done a lot in her life and has always remained a household name (though not always for the right reasons). Now, she is making a bid for president as one of the many fringe candidates making headlines.

But seeing her Twitter makes her likelihood of making it into the Oval Office seem a bit remote. She is genuine in her desire to change the country for the better, but she is also a little bit on the crazy side. Her rants tweeted every day are stunningly strange at times.

5. @Hodgman

You know John Hodgman from his PC vs. Mac commercials, where he wears a tie and never seems to measure up to the sloppy hipster Apple man played by Justin Long. But if you are lucky, you have seen him elsewhere, such as on “The Daily Show.” He is extremely funny and interesting, and his Twitter feed is no different.

6. @50Cent

50 Cent has gotten a lot of coverage for being a whiny manchild and fighting with every rapper who dares diss him. But he hasn’t gotten nearly enough for the good he actually tries to do. Believe it or not, he can have a pretty charitable attitude, and he deserves some respect for it. For example, right now he is helping the cause of providing 1 billion meals to people starving in Africa.

7. @OldSpice

Old Spice has become an unexpected cultural phenomenon on a global scale. After its “man your man could smell like” commercials hit the airwaves, its sales went up 200 percent, and it launched a major online media campaign.

Its Twitter is an ongoing part of that, and amusing updates are frequent – for example, this little gem: “Old Spice has the smells that turn men-children into Formula One driving kangaroo boxers and child-children into men-children. Be careful.”

8. @DarthVader

The infamous Sith Lord and leader of the Galactic Empire is now on Twitter! O

bviously, it can’t be “official.” But if you want some evil one-liners to start or end your day, Darth Vader has them. At the very least, it should appeal to the average science-fiction geek’s sensibilities.

9. @RainnWilson

It is always wonderful to find out that someone who is hilarious on a show is equally as hilarious in real life. Rainn Wilson is one of those people who manages to bring his sense of humor off of the television screen and onto your computer screen. He also sometimes gives us a touch of creepy, such as his tweets, “I’ve got Uggs made of human skin,” and, “Goodbye Qwikster. Now I’ll go back to using you as a nickname for my penis.”

10. @ConanOBrien

So many people supported Team Coco during the infamous fight against Jay Leno for “The Tonight Show.” During that time, Conan O’Brien showed some of his greatest comedy potential, and he has continued the tradition.

He doesn’t quite have the squeaky-clean image that late-night shows demand in the United States, which is only an improvement. My favorite recent tweet: “Excited for the Breaking Bad season finale tonight. My prediction: Something will not go as planned and meth will be involved.” Oh, Conan … are you ever wrong?!

There is such a huge list of celebrity tweeters now. What are some of your own favorites?

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Not only is Halloween a time to collect on your sweets but it’s also a time to show off your creativity.  I love Halloween and am obsessed with collecting costume inspiration, so I’m here to share my list of top Halloween costumes that I’ve collected over the years while trolling around on the internet.  Now, looking past all the stripper interpretations of bumblebees and hamsters (yes hamster) offered in stores, I’ve collected a series of clever and well made costumes most of which are for Halloween and kids (some are from cos play). Though not all of the costumes are current, they are amazingly constructed and unique. These costumes range from simple to such high quality that they belong in films. Be inspired and enjoy!

Snow globe it up by dressing as your favorite vacation destination.

A smart homemade interpretation of Firefox:

Possibly one of the best homemade Star Wars costumes I’ve ever seen. Mechanical moving parts and all. 

Even Celebrities love to go all out for Halloween.  Heidi and Seal are quite infamous for their elaborate original costumes.

A cute idea for the ladies: a smart twist on being a pregnant skeleton

Old Spice Man meme for the win:

There is something epic yet equally tragic about this costume. I guess it’s just me but when I was a kid, I don’t want to dress up as a chore.

Kaaaabamm! Imagine this creature coming to your door.

Simple because you see it all the time, but clever because you didn’t think to make it a costume.

I don’t believe this is balloon boy specific, but either way the idea is incredibly cute and clever.

 For those that love David Bowie:

Or for those that find Kim Jong-il a bit scary but crazy cute when it’s a baby:

Christmas Story!

Scary and elaborate headless costume of Marie Antoinette:

Imagine all the pictures you can take being in grey scale!

Becoming a piece of art is no easy task, but this costume inspired by one of Banky’s street art is so clever!

Bring 2D out into the real world, by becoming a comic book character.

Make up does wonders when you are pixelated:

Now what’s a costume list without at least one Darth Vader?

Dressing up your kid as the Goblin King from Labyrinth:

Or a more modern reference: Dwight from The Office

But we can go way old reference into the Clockwork Orange!

This costume is very effective in making this kid look creepy, but exactly like Edward Scissorhands.

A great couple outfit from Mary Poppins:

 Can this Hobbit be any cuter?

 This is an old homemade costume one from 2002, but still epic reference from Lord of the Rings. 

Seal and Heidi again being AWESOME with their unique alien superhero costumes.

I assume stilts are used for this cos play of the executioner from Resident Evil.

The Weeping Statue from Doctor Who:

Pay homage to your favorite reality stars: MYTHBUSTERS!!!

Be yourself in an old video game:

Yes, that man is in an 8 bit costume. I wonder how he walks.

Professor Utonium and Powerpuff Girls:

Ken from Toy Story Three:

The only case where trolling around in a white van is alright on Halloween… When you are Carl from Aqua Teen Hunger Force.

Taking your kids out trick or treating? Match up with them with inspiration from Pixar’s Up.

Kids dressed up as video game characters = epic parents win.

Go back to Sesame Street with Oscar the Grouch

Not certain if this is homemade, but it is an outstanding Megaman costume!

Olga from Hey Arnold!

Harry and Fluffy: clever way to incorporated you pet into your costume!

A Lego and Vampire: double costume point score.

As great as this costume is, moving around in this will not be fun.

Keep your kid contained in packaging!

A smart reference to the book Madeline:

Homemade: Indiana Jones Lego

An authentic interpretation of The Last Airbender:

Not exactly sure how this toy soldier moves.

Just imagine a taco crawling  on your floor.

Spaghetti Monster!

For some reason I love the idea of this Burrito wrapped baby:

Daddy Chef and lobster baby in a pot. Simply adorable.

For reaching the end of this list I give you a bonus costume: Nathan Fillion’s (from Castle, Firefly, Buffy…etc) video of  his Geeky homemade costume.

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Advertising has changed to such degrees in the last several decades that the past is barely recognizable. As a matter of fact, vintage ads that were printed between the ’20s and ’50s are so outrageous sometimes that you might feel like you are looking at a spoof of a real claim.

But what is truly shocking is that technically, we still see the same kinds of tricks used in today’s marketing world. The only things that have changed are the language and the tone of the overall message. Check out these vintage ads that are sure to make you feel dirty and see what I mean for yourself.

1. Wash the Fat Away

This is one of the most insane things I have ever seen. Could anyone honestly believe that a bar of soap could literally strip away fat and leave you thinner with each wash? How does that gel at all with even the most basic common sense?

What if you used too much or for too long? Would you end up emaciated? Would you just disappear? If you used another soap, could you put weight back on? So many questions, so few answers.

2. Tipalet Dating Tip: Secondhand Smoke Is Sexy

Let’s ignore the obvious double entendre in the slogan for a moment and just look at the bizarre ad itself. Have you ever had smoke blown into your face? Even if you smoke, it is annoying. It stings the eyes, smells bad, and is considered extremely impolite in all circles.

So, in what fantasy land would doing this act as a method of seduction? In the world of Tipalet, which was telling men that if they demeaned their date by showing they weren’t even worth a basic consideration, they would melt for them.

Yuck.

3. 7UP – The Baby’s Drink of Choice

Breast milk and baby formula are fine, and fruit juice is a nice little treat. But why not give babies something they really want and throw some 7UP in that bottle? Everyone knows that empty sugar is great for a growing infant. As for that carbonation, don’t worry – it isn’t like small children have trouble digesting things or anything.

This kind of thing was done all the time in the past, especially with sodas and fattening items like butter. But it isn’t much different now. Just think of those prepackaged, sugary snacks that are sold on grocery shelves today.

4. Hook ‘em When They’re Young

Have you turned on a television lately? While publicly funded TV is light on commercials, regular child networks are chock full of ads for toys, games and even food. But do the companies really intend to market to children?

Nope. Actually, it isn’t the kids they are concerned with – children have no money. It is the parents. There are two kinds of ads for this purpose: One is to get children to badger their parents into buying something, and the other is to appeal to the parents themselves by making them think their children need something.

5. Show Her Who’s Boss

Can you imagine a commercial now that depicted a woman as a slave to her husband’s whims, just because it is a “man’s world”? You don’t have to, because there is a role-reversal tactic that is shown today, showing the man as a vapid and weak windbag who is inferior to his wife.

We can see in this ad for Van Heusen apparel where the idea comes from. Women were put upon for so long that it is technically acceptable by society’s terms to have her treat men the same way, if it is lighthearted enough. But both ideals are sleazy, underhanded and depressingly effective.

6. 4 Out of 5 Dentists Agree That Commercial Statistics Are Crap

You might be wondering what “procurable women” means. It was a more polite way of saying prostitute, and so the basic message behind the poster isn’t too outrageous. Essentially, it is saying that a lot of hookers have dangerous diseases, which is true. Most women who work on the street (and men, for that matter) have venereal diseases that can be passed to their clients.

But where did the 98 percent figure come from? I guarantee it never came from a study, because that number is insane. There are plenty of prostitutes, even today, with the threat of diseases like HIV, who are more or less safe. Research would also have to contradict such a strange number to begin with.

You can come up with any statistic that you want for anything, and it will probably be made up. That includes statistics used today.

7. Daddy Didn’t Leave Us Money – To The Orphanage With You!

A couple of weeks ago I saw an ad nearly identical to this, at least in guilt factor. It was a picture of a beautiful, innocent little girl in black and white, about 4 years old, looking at a flower and seeming sad and alone. She asks, “Daddy, if you died, who would take care of me and mommy?” It was an ad for life insurance quotes.

I am not making this up.

Looking at the version from the ’20s, it is obvious where this idea came from. There is no fear more potent than that of a parent when they think of their children. The idea of giving them up due to lack of funds, especially after the tragedy of losing a spouse, is horrifying. I can hear some of you rushing to get a quote right now.

8. Processed Sugar Is Nature’s Appetite Suppressant

Want to lose weight? Just start undereating, like this ad suggests. But if you worry about your will power, there is a surefire way of persevering. Just grab a tablespoon and start shoveling pure sugar into your mouth. That will take off those pounds!

There is so much wrong here that the mind boggles.

9. McDonald’s Hamburgers for Health

Lettuce? Healthy. Tomato? Healthy. Bread? Healthy. Cheese? Healthy. Potatoes? Healthy. Beef? Healthy. So, therefore, a combo meal from McDonald’s is healthy, right? It hits all the major food groups, after all, so like the ad says, it is wholesome food for your whole family!

This kind of mentality is probably a big part of why obesity is such a problem today. Slap some veggies on a burger dripping in grease next to a huge slab of french fries, and you are getting your five a day – or not.

10. Cigarettes Cure the Sick

Not only are cigarettes good for you but they will actually cure your lung conditions! You would think that inhaling the smoke of burning chemicals, tobacco, tar and poisons would be a bad thing for those who have asthma. But in the world of advertising, everything up is down, and left is right, which means cigarettes will help you breathe better, not worse.

The long list of things these claim to heal (I especially like foul breath) is insane.

I love it when my pits smell minty fresh. Even more than that, I love the feeling of the skin under my arms burning with the fire of a thousand suns as the alcohol in Listerine eats away at the delicate skin, so I have to walk around all day with my arms up like I am waiting for someone to toss an imaginary football.

Therefore, I am not at all surprised that people would be attracted to the idea of using Listerine as a deodorant. I plan on doing that for the rest of my life, saving literally 10s of dollars a year in the process.

So, What’s Your Point?

Mostly, I am snide and sarcastic and wanted to share that with you all. You’re welcome.

But more than that, I wanted to show that vintage ads were insane – and today’s are no better. They still use the same cheap tricks, strange suggestions and pushy tactics, and we still respond to them like monkeys jumping through flaming hoops – only not as awesome as that at all.

My conclusion is this: People will fall for anything, myself included.

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Google has moved leaps and bounds during the past 15 years to become the largest online conglomerate in existence. Not only does it have a wide array of features that grows every day as it expands to new technological concepts but it also owns popular websites like YouTube. It has even recently created Google+, its latest attempt at a social networking site to rival Facebook and Twitter.

But Google+ was a long time coming in social networking after a list of beta trials that didn’t quite work out. Concerns of privacy, hacking scandals and even just lack of interest managed to kill off more than one project. There were also many others that stuck around for a long while but were eventually dropped as new ideas took their place.

These 10 Google projects are some that made it off the ground but are now dead – some that died too soon and some long after they should have kicked the bucket.

1. Google Answers

Older Internet users will remember the days of the question-and-answer sites. Of course, they are still around but in a very different format than they once were. In April 2003, Google opened up its own version of the Q&A. It would allow users to ask questions and pay researchers themselves to find and provide in-depth answers.

But other websites began to pop up that were free and user-based. So when Google Answers shut down in November 2006, it was more of a shock that it lasted a full three years. There were no plans provided to relaunch it in the future, and it was clear that it was well and truly gone for good.

Since then, Google has bought Q&A service Aardvark. However, next to nothing has been done with it, and it looks like it might be yet another elephant graveyard.

2. Google X

March 15, 2005, is the date a mystery began that is still going years after it was yanked from the web. Put up with next to no hype, no explanation and no real reason, Google X lasted a single day.  If you look at the mirrors on the web of the site, such as on The Place For It All, you will see that it is extremely similar to Apple’s Mac OS X operating system user interface.

That, and the fact that it was no different in use from its original engine, was probably the reason that the next day it was removed and never seen again. Which poses the question: What was the point?

3. Google Lively

In July 2008, Google tried its hand at 3-D multiplayer games. Google Lively was, basically, a platform similar to popular sim Second Life, and it was actually a fair beta.

Created by Niniane Wang, it might have done OK if it continued to work on maturing and promoting it. But on Dec. 31, 2008, the New Year was brought in with the sound of an axe. Google Lively was chopped, and 2009 started with a ton of brand-new concepts.

4. Google Notebook

On Jan. 14, 2009, Google ended a service that was actually fairly popular. Google Notebook worked by allowing users to take “clippings” from other online sources and keep them all in one file, or “notebook.” This file was fully customizable and could be easily organized as well as accessed from any computer through your Google account. You could also share and collaborate, which made it good for many businesses at the time.

But in an interesting development, you can now use Notebook again. All you have to do is go to its main page, and you can use the newer interface. No updates on the application seem to be coming in the future, as far as we know.

5. Google Catalogs

It was clear back in 2001 that Google began running its catalog service, and it wasn’t until Jan. 14, 2009, that it shut it down for good. What was amazing about Google Catalogs is that hardly anyone seemed to know it existed.

Unlike its shopping feature that allows you to compare prices with direct links to sellers, this one was a separate search engine that ran through hundreds of American catalogs. You could then contact the store with the appropriate buying procedure.  Sometimes it was online, but usually, it was via phone or mail.

But catalogs barely even exist anymore, and most mailing material is nothing but advertisements. With online shopping more convenient (as well as cheaper) there is just no reason for catalogs, which is why Google finally pulled the plug after eight whole years of providing a service no one wanted.

It was the first of many projects to be stopped that year.

6. Google Print Ads

On Jan. 20, 2009, Google ended a 2-year-old project that most people could see would be a disaster from the first day. Google Print Ads was just what it sounded like: the selling of print ads in various newspapers and publications. Google would rent out space it had purchased to customers, which would have been a great idea – a decade ago.

In an age where print is dying fast, with newspapers moving more toward paid digital formats or sponsered free content, you would think Google could have avoided the mistake. After all, it’s the largest Internet empire; it should have known which way the wind was blowing. But a desire to expand into the real world led to a misstep that cost Google time, energy and money.

7. Google Shared Stuff

Google Shared Stuff sucked. It sucked the day the beta was unofficially launched, and it sucked on Feb. 25, 2009, when it announced it would be cutting the project short. It never even made it to a full version, and it was so badly made that it couldn’t even be used properly. That was despite the fact that it was a simple service used to bookmark videos and Knol articles.

What was amazing was the notice in the press release from Google. It told users that if they wanted another way to share videos they could use the helpful little share buttons under each clip on YouTube. Or, of course, they could just provide a link. It’s amazing that the geniuses at Google didn’t think of that before trying to create Shared Stuff.

8. Google Wave

Collaborative editing applications are getting bigger and bigger. They allow people in and out of the office, or even across seas, to work together on projects by signing into a shared file and editing as they go. This has both pros and cons, but ultimately, it is seen in the business world as a great idea that is used quite a bit.

On May 27, 2009, Google created Wave. But the company did things like they always do in beta form: It made it invite-only. The invites were also very selective, and very few were released. This caused one major problem: People can’t collaborate if they are not all on board. So it flopped like crazy.

That is why on August 4, 2010, just a little over a year since its conception, Wave was shut down to new updates. Not that anyone cared. It was then bought and renamed Apache Wave.

Even though Google had that setback with the invite-only system, the company still used it for Google+. However, Google made the invites user-controlled, which might have helped this time around – that and the high school and college students who wanted a social networking site their parents weren’t on.

9. Google Health

When the announcement came on June 26, 2011, that Google would be shutting down its Health application, there were many tears. People ripped their garments from their bodies, shouting their pain into the heavens for all to hear. Alright, not really – no one noticed because no one knew that Google had a Health feature. If they did, I bet they wouldn’t use it.

The idea was that you put all of your health information (illnesses, symptoms, weight, medical history, etc.) into this platform. You then stored it all in that one place. This was supposed to help you to stay fit, find information, manage diseases and keep things for your medical professional when you went to the doctor.

It was also supercreepy. Who would just throw their medical history onto an application like that? Especially with Google, which freely gives search, email and even location information to anyone who asks? Isn’t it bad enough that it has Google Earth?

Apparently, the “impact wasn’t broad enough” to continue. I bet that is code for “people didn’t want to tell us about their colonoscopy.”

10. Google Video Player

You have probably used Google Video. It might have provided both success and frustration for you. It was far from complete and was as biased as its web search (even more so), but it has been there since 2005. Or it was, until Google announced on Jan. 28, 2011, that it was cutting it off.

This was pretty much expected. Google has YouTube, and so its video search had pretty much become yet another way of looking for YouTube clips. Hardly anything else came up, if anything at all. Keeping it going would have been a pretty pointless thing to do.

These are only some of the dead Google projects out there, as the company seems to come up with a new idea once every 14 seconds. What are some of your favs?

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It goes without the saying that comparing wealth and spending in different countries is almost impossible: people work, earn and even spend differently – moreover, their ways of life and views can be too different to compare.

However, we still try to compare because people move around the world and they want to know what they can expect in different corners of the globe.

Here are the 10 greatest examples of information graphics comparing money, spending and earning around the world:

1. U.S. Education vs. The World

U.S. Education vs. The World is a great informational graphic by MAT@USC that compares the United States’ education spend and performance versus eleven countries of the world. I love the smart use of a venn diagram that lets you see the differences between different countries at a glance. The colorful design here is a great example of how boring data can look fun when visualized.

The most interesting finding of the stats research and the visualization:

The U.S. is the clear leader in total annual spending, but ranks 9th in Science performance and 10th in Math.

Note: It is unclear what was the measure used to compare the countries in their math and science performance.

2. Most Expensive Cities of the World

Most Expensive Cities is the World is an interesting visualization by Home Loan Finder. The mot interesting part of the infographic is the comparison chart that lets you quickly compare the cost of living. The table works great as it picks very familiar things that are easy to recognize (like monthly rate and fast food).

The most interesting finding of the stats research and the visualization:

Based on the labor-cost-versus-pricing rate, Zurich seems to be the best place to live in.

Note: All the prices in different cities are estimated in USD.

3. Labor Cost in Different Countries

Labor Cost around the World is an ingenious and somewhat minimalistic visualization of how much labor costs in different countries. It also uses U.S. labor cost as the basis to compare all other countries against it. The visualization works particularly well due to the dark background color.

The most interesting finding of the stats research and the visualization:

To earn as much as an average American earns per year, an Indian has to work more than 24 years.

Note: “Minimum wage” here is the relationship of the countries’ currencies to the US dollar while it is correct to state that the true minimum wage has to do with what can be purchased by a person’s own currency within each specific country.

4. People’s Spending Around The World

What Your Global Neighbors Are Buying is a tree- and a pseudo-map visualization from The New York Times. The graphic visualizes how buyers all over the world spend their money. Boxes stand for different countries while the color and size represent the actual spending (2007). The map is interactive: you can roll over each box to see the actual number.

The most interesting finding of the stats research and the visualization:

Recreation is the most popular way to spend money – and it is true for most countries of the world.

Note: It would be great if the infographic also reflected gender differences. This article on Gender and Money via Rather Be Shopping offers a nice summary of how men and women spend money and shop differently. I wonder if these differences are true for all other cultures as well.

5. Life Expectancy & Retirement Years

Who spends the most years in retirement? is an interesting infographic from Flowing Data that overlays the average years in retirement across the world.

The most interesting findings of the stats research and the visualization:

In Mexico men tend to work up to the last year of their lives whereas women in Austria spend an average of 26 years in retirement.

Note: People who reach the retirement age are likely to live longer than the estimated life expectancy (The older you get, the longer your life expectancy because you already have avoided dying younger. ). This means that the time spent in retirement is generally longer than what this chart shows.

6. Wealth Distribution around the World

Wealth Distribution around the World via Live Silver Prices is an informational graphic that visualizes distribution of income across the globe. The darker the green color, the higher income level distribution.

The most interesting findings of the stats research and the visualization:

It is nice to see that countries like USA and Russia are at the same level.

Note: Although this map is entitled “Wealth Distribution”, it actually is based on the Gini Coefficient of income, not wealth.

7. Public vs Private Healthcare Spending Around the World

Public vs Private Healthcare Around the World compares health care costs and spending around the world.

The most interesting findings of the stats research and the visualization:

700, 000 of Americans are forced into bankruptcy because of medical bills every year.

Note: What these figures don’t take into account is that in the other featured countries of the world (apart from the USA), much of the medical schooling is paid for by the government whereas in United States most doctors finish their training with huge student loans – this largely affects the healthcare cost here as well.

8. United States vs. World Gas Prices

Are you also affected by the rumor that gas prices are the highest in the United States? This map infographic by Flowing Data will be a relief. Countries colored red typically have higher prices, while those colored green typically have lower prices.

The most interesting findings of the stats research and the visualization:

The gas discrepancy is enormous. Some countries, like UK, pay up to $9 per gallon, while others, like Venezuela, have incredibly low gas prices at 9 cents per gallon.

Note: The infographic is based on Wikipedia data and Wikipedia doesn’t have data for all countries, unfortunately.

9. Struggling Countries Around the World

This large infographic sums up enormous amount of information from the map overlay of the countries that donate most to developing countries to top recipients of gross ODA.

The most interesting findings of the stats research and the visualization:

According to Harper’s Index, two-fifths of the world’s total population is living in a “severely water-stressed environment.”

10. The Travel Global Spend

The Travel Gold Rush 2020 (via Timeshare Secrets) is s research study and visualization prepared by  Oxford Economics that illustrates the fast growth of travel spending across the world. The main news is that global travel spend is projected to double between 2010 and 2020.

The most interesting findings of the stats research and the visualization:

Europe is going to see the greatest increase in visitor traffic (~190 million incremental visitors), with Asia-Pacific experiencing the largest rate of growth (65%).

Are you aware of any other interesting global comparisons visualized? Please share them in the comments!

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Third World Construction Techniques

Clearly they don’t have to worry about OSHA requirements over there, or any of that meddlesome workman’s compensation or other actual safety rules. After all, safety is for wussies!

Bangladesh Brick Labor

Have you ever seen those ladies who walk around balancing all sorts of stuff on their heads to carry them long distances? Well, they’ve got NOTHING on this guy!

Pouring Concrete in Africa

Wow! This is kind of like watching a concrete waterfall – only in reverse.

Cement Throwing

I guess these guys don’t have enough shovels laying around to send the cement up the other way. So they just toss it in buckets.

Construction in Nepal

Seriously, watch this video and then I just want you to imagine for a second what happens is a guy like half way up the chain drops one…

Moving Sand

It’s like a human sand escalator. Only faster…

Building a Hotel in India

These guys clearly have no issues with putting the ladies to work doing heavy manual labor.

South African Cement Throwing

Who needs buckets to throw cement when you can just toss the whole shovel along with it?

Building a House in China

That is some nicely choreographed brick throwing.

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Dancing Kick to the Nuts Fail Picture

Lets all just own up to the fact that we LOVE to laugh at other people’s embarrassment and pain, Ok? I mean it doesn’t explain why these Japanese guys volunteer to be hit in the balls on a gameshow, but it explains why we love to watch their pain!

And speaking of funny, painful Japanese game shows, there was never an equal to MXC Most Extreme Elimination! Oh God, it kills me. But when you watch those videos all you want is to see people wipe out!

But I digress…. Today we’re here to get our fill of FAIL Pictures, right? Well, let’s get it on! Be warned, even 101 thumbnails will bog your browser down, so give it a few minutes for all the images to load, then choose any thumbnail to view the full sized version of the FAIL photo.

Have you got more Pictures o’ Fail? Leave a comment below and let’s see em!

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Ok, lets just start out by saying that Neg Dupree is my f’ing Hero! and yes, this is going to be one of those posts that is NOT kid friendly. Neg is a foul mouthed Brit who probably shouldn’t be let out in public. But MAN am I glad he’s free to roam the streets!

There is a TV show called Balls of Steel, and Neg produced a whole series of “Urban Sports” that ran on the show and… well, take a look at them for yourselves. Must be the funniest things I’ve ever seen. Whoop! Whoop! By the way, you can follow Neg over on Twitter, or Facebook as well as his personal site.

Neg’s Urban Sports – Urban Sprinting

Neg triggers security alarms in shops and provokes the security guards to chase him as he would try to run from the shop to the nearest burger bar as quickly as possible. He also screams his familiar battlecry “whoop whoop whoop whoop” while avoiding capture by the security guards On the second attempt at this, Neg was taken down on an escalator by the head of security who had retired two weeks before.

Neg’s Urban Sports – Stag Hunting

Similar to “Neg’s Burger Bowl Off”, Neg would instead of throwing burgers at one person throw them at a group of men on a stag night.

Neg’s Urban Sports – Swear Bingo

Neg knocks on people’s doors and tries to make them say swear words that are written on a 2×3 “swear bingo” card. When the person leaves, points are scored if a horizontal line of three swear words or a bingo if all six swear words have been scored.

Neg’s Urban Sports – Speed Smoking

Neg aims to take as many drags from a cigarette as possible in public places, where smoking is now illegal, before he is kicked out. Inspired by the changes to UK laws.

Neg’s Urban Sports – Make em Move

Neg stands or sits near locals and acts extremely strangely and madly; the shorter the time taken to make the people move, the better the score.

Neg’s Urban Sports – Big Stranger Rodeo

Neg jumps on a stranger’s back and rides them like a rodeo. The object is to stay off the ground for as long as possible.

Neg’s Urban Sports – Knock and DON’T Run

Neg knocks on a stranger’s door and tries to keep them standing there for as long as possible. If the person closes the door, Neg knocks again and the timer continues if they re-open it.

Neg’s Urban Sports – Keep em’ Out

Similar to Make ‘Em Move, the object is to deny someone access to an area entered via sliding doors, by acting “mental”. The more quickly he gets them to leave the area, the better. On Balls of Steel, Neg tells host Mark Dolan that the movie “Sliding Doors” inspired this Urban Sport.

Neg’s Urban Sports – Urban Skittles

Neg walks into a local building and screams at everyone to hit the floor whilst mimicking a gun/any other weapon under his shirt. For every person that hits the floor, a point is scored.

Neg’s Urban Sports – Big European Stranger Rodeo

The same as “Big Stranger Rodeo”, played on victims of various European nationalities. During the third attempt, Neg’s victim (an Italian) initially tried to shake him off, but decided to ignore him instead.

Neg’s Urban Sports – Red Carpet Run

Neg ‘crashes’ a red carpet event and tries to evade security for as long as possible. Neg was actually arrested during this shoot when he crashed Will Smith movie premier at Leicester Square.

Neg’s Urban Sports – My Ball

Neg finds some people playing a ball sport, be it rugby, football or basketball. He then takes the ball, and the longer he has the ball, the better the score. If Neg gets “clattered”, he fails and the score is void.

Neg’s Urban Sports – Neg’s Burger Bowl Off

Neg buys several items from fast food restaurants and throws them at unsuspecting people from the roof of a car while being driven around. The more the food cost, the more points obtained for a hit. This was the one Urban Sport where Neg took the Balls of Steel trophy. There was controversy as to whether his actions could be considered as assault.

Neg, if you ever make your way to Dallas, give me a ring and we’ll have some serious fun mate!

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You know Ladies, I’m here to serve. And with the summer coming up soon, I know you are all just itching to know what this year’s bikini trends are going to be. I’m really sorry guys! You’re gonna just have to sit this one out because I know you really want to read about cars and computers.

So, while the guys are off doing other things, all the sexy nearly naked hot chicks can get together in a big hot wet group and stare at the bikinis.

Never say I don’t offer a valuable public service!

By the way, Victoria’s Secret also put out a behind the scenes video from their bikini video shoot:

While we are on the subject of bikinis, I think you would be well advised to allow these ladies to do an excellent job of bikini-waxing YOUR CAR! Now that’s a business model that I think we can all really get behind.

Bikini Photos!

Did those models in the bikinis fly by a little too quickly for you? No problem. I snapped some screen captures so you can examine them in more details. Enjoy.

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Ok. You’re a blogger. You want to earn money from your website (don’t we all). I realize there are a lot of folks trying to tell you how to make money with Google AdSense (even though most don’t make jack squat), and even though I certainly make a lot more than average from Google AdSense, I actually spent a lot of time researching and testing Google AdSense alternatives in order to see if we could do a little better than simply putting Google ads on our sites.

Below you will find the best Google Adsense alternatives I could find, complete with a little description and a link to the provider, in the hopes of helping you put a little more cash in your pocket.

If you have any first hand experience with these please drop a comment below and let us all know. Especially if you can share some light on actually getting paid by these advertising providers. How long it takes, how much you made, and what your general impression of working with them would be most valuable! Also, please help me spread the word on this particular post since I know it’s something a lot of people are looking for.

1) Free PagePeel Plugin for WordPress

First of all, lets start this post out by explaining that funky little thing we’ve got going on up in the top right corner of the blog here. It’s a Free WordPress Pagepeel plugin called PeelEar. The author provides this plugin for Joomla and Drupal as well, in addition to the standalone script version you can use on a non-CMS based website.

I don’t suppose I really need to tell you what it does, because you can see! Essentially you create a little ad that sits in the corner of the site which is covered up until people decide to hover over it. Then it reveals it’s self. Brilliant! And you can link to anything you want. Feature a page on your site, a welcome video, or an affiliate ad! Whatever you want!

2) AdBrite.com

AdBrite, is a top competitor is to Google adsense. If you are looking for inline ads where words on your page become links to ads, AdBrite has got em! They also have interstitial full page ads that you can insert to intercept all of the search engine traffic that is coming to your site.

Oh, and don’t forget that AdBrite can overlay ads on the images on your site, giving you a way to make money off your blog that virtually no other competitor offers.

Bloggers can set their own ad rates, and you can approve or reject every ad or choose to have AdBrite auto accept ads. AdBrite also lets you place a “Your Ad Here” link to sell ads to your visitors, in addition to the AdBrite marketplace and sales teams.

The payouts are competitive and they are more accepting of smaller publishers like bloggers. Commissions are split with the publisher (blogger) getting 75% and AdBrite keeping 25%. Go ahead and give AdBrite a try, though realize that it can take a few days before the ads start being highly targeted. You just have to stick with it, but it’s a great alternative to Google AdSense.

3) BuySellAds.com

Over 750 successful bloggers use BuySellAds.com to power their online ad sales, and these ads are very different from all of the other providers listed. With BSA, you set a price for different ad positions on your site and basically auction off the spaces to anyone willing to pay your asking price to put them there.

You can set it up so that you have different sizes, different pages on your blog to sell, etc. And one of the most valuable things is having the ability to search the available inventory of ads and see what is selling and for how much before you start setting your own prices.

4) Clicksor.com

Clicksor is one of Google Adsense’s best alternatives. They pay up to 85% commissions, making them one of the top advertising payouts on the Internet. This is especially impressive since Clicksor offers context sensitive ads just like Google Adsense. Context sensitive ads show visitors ads that are related to the content on the page they are reading, which makes for a better fit.

Clicksor offers 15 day payouts on advertising on your blog and they offer text, image and multimedia ads for your website or blog. They also have:

• Flash Ads
• Animation Ads
• Banners
• Pop unders
• Interstitial Ads
• Text highlighting Ads

The only bad news is that when you sign up for Clicksor it takes a day or so for you to get approved and be able to start inserting code. But given the high payouts and the wide range of ad options available, I think it’s worth waiting to get in and see how these ads do on your blog.

Go ahead and sign up and give them a try.

5) Chitika.com

I really like the way Chitika (pronounced CHIH-tih-ka) encourages users to hide ads from normal visitors while showering search visitors with them. This is right in line with my philosophy, and if you want to actually see them here on my blog just go to Google and do a search for “lady gaga writhing”. I should be the first one. Follow the link to my site and look in the top right above the Woopra and Pretty Link Pro ads. You should now see a Chitika ad.

Chitika takes a different approach from the others and show targeted products from different manufacturers on your blog. If you write an article, you’ll see related and competitive links, and if people purchase these products you get a paid a commission. I’ve attached a screen shot of the earnings from the first three days after placing just that one tiny little link. As you can see, I’m getting paid $.05-.10 per click, which I suppose isn’t really that bad just to get started, though it will need to improve over time.

Chitika allows you to display targeted products based on what people searched for to get to your page and you get paid for clicks. It provides a robust comparative shopping experience for your visitors. Visitors will love the interactive search code — and it makes you money

Click here to give Chitika a try now.

6) AdToll.com (Peel away Ads)

AdToll is a CPC or cost-per-click alternative to Google Adsense. They offer a wide range of both payment options and advertising formats. One of their options includes Peel-Away ads similar to the first one that I mentioned at the top of this post, but served by AdToll.

I’ve noticed that the Page Peel ads get a lot of traffic, so they can really earn you some good cash in addition to the other ads that you can place on your site. Go ahead and give AdToll a try, and let me know how it goes for you in the comments below!

7) ExitJunction.com (Exit Ads)

Now here is something very unique and specialized. Exit Junction can be used along side all the other Ad Networks (including Google Adsense), but what they do is essentially interrupt the browser’s natural “Back” button to place ads inbetween your site and the search engine for customers who came from the search engine and are just looking to go back.

So, what I mean is, the visitors who were leaving your site anyway, will be shown ads and you get one last bite at the apple to generate revenue before they go. Although this is a great Google Adsense competitor, it’s also a great compliment to existing Google ads and it won’t interfere with them at all.

In all fairness though, I do have some concerns about Exit Junction. They are not forthcoming about exactly how the revenue is earned, plus they take a long time to pay out revenue. This leads me to believe they are keeping a much bigger slice of the pie than their competitors. I did have a conversation via email with someone over there (they responded to me anonymously) as follows:

Hi guys. Just signed up and installed the code today on my site as a test for an article I’m writing on my blog (OneMansBlog.com). We’ll see how it does on the site and whether I keep it, but in the meantime can you please explain the revenue model to me? Although I added the code I don’t see anything anywhere on the site explaining where the ads come from, what the rev share is, or anything like that. I can send a lot of folks your way, but I have to have some idea of what to advise them the CMP or CPC or whatever it is, is going to net them for adding these ads.

Also, out of curiosity, why does it take so long to send payment for the ads? Nowdays even 30 days is pretty long. But it looks like you guys are pushing 60 days and beyond. That is a long time to ask people to wait for commission checks.

Looking forward to your reply.

Cheers,

John P.

We usually send payments net45 but but we say 60 just in case. With our ads most people are earning around $2/cpm but its not for all your traffic and only traffic from search engines get monetized.

So, that answer was pretty unsatisfying for me, but on the right I’ve attached a screen shot of the stats they are gathering and it is indeed working and generating a little money on the site. You do need a lot of search traffic for this tool to matter though.

Exit junction also covers all countries so go ahead and follow this link to signup.

8) ValuePopUp.com (Popups for Search Visitors)

Ok, all that stuff I just said about ExitJunction? Same thing with ValuePopUp, except that what it does is show popup ads to search engine visitors. So, it’s another method of placing ads on your site that only search visitors will see, which is always a good thing.

It comes from the same company that does ExitJunction, so the same lack of information applies. But if you are in the mood to show popup ads, I can’t come up with any reason not to give them the benefit of the doubt and at least try them on the site for a while to see if it makes more money for your website.

Summary

So, that’s about it for now. It should give you a wide variety of alternatives to choose from, and I hope you’ll let me know if you give some of these a try! By the way, a few of the links on this page are actually affiliate links because I’d like to see what happens from those. So if you don’t mind, follow them when you sign up so I can report back later and tell everyone if referring people is even worth it.

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I’m all for protecting the kids from seeing things they really shouldn’t be seeing, so I understand and agree with certain things not being shown on public television. But I also recognize that sometimes NOT getting shown on TV can actually be a huge benefit!

First of all, when marketers are free from the normal constraints of advertising sometimes they can come up with really “attractive” ads. And the ten banned commercials below are great examples of advertisements which obviously received excellent Return On Investment based on the sheer number of online views each one received. Indeed, these are the most popular of all banned commercials.

I don’t know about you, but I’d be happy to have one of my ads viewed as many times as the worst performing on this list…

10) The 7-Up Bottle

In all fairness, there is another video that should be in 10th place, but it’s so bad I can’t even put it on my blog. :-) So this one gets it with 4.8 million all time views!

9) Photograph

5.8 million views for this one. Is it because the hot chick is in nothing but a bra? :-)

8) The Durex Commercial

Nice! For 100 Million reasons… 6.9 million views

7) Bill Clinton Voodoo Doll

Wow! This one is just kind of in bad taste if you ask me. 7.1 millions views.

6.) Banned Super Bowl 2007 Bud commercial

A Guy and Girl skinny dipping in a pool. What could go wrong? 7.7 million views!

5.) The Gay Adam and Eve

Hmmm. Nearly 8 million views, and I think this one sucked.

4.) The Axe Shower Gel Commercial

Easy to see why this one got banned… Still 8 million views!

3.) Levis and the Blind

This Levis commercial was banned in the UK. Hard to believe. But almost 12 million views!

2) Four in One!

Ok. This is kind of cheating. It’s 4 commercials. But it’s been viewed 12 million times!

1) Use Condoms!

Over 18 million views. Wow. That is some awesome ROI on a banned commercial.

Well, that’s it! You got any other good ones?

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We all know that construction workers are crazy. I mean come on. You can’t stand outside in the sun all day wearing a hardhat, boots, gloves and overalls without frying your brain just a little bit! And now, we have real evidence caught on video that these guys are out of control!

The Tape Measure Ninja!

Just imagine what this guy could do with a gun!

The Human Nail Gun

Big Steve throws nails harder than anyone you’ve ever seen! What did this guy play with as a kid? Throwing stars?

The Old Nailgun Bullseye Trick

Speaking of nails, you ever heard about someone splitting an arrow in a bullseye with another arrow? Watch this…

Saws Are For Sissys

Of course, nail tricks are for wussies. Do NOT piss this guy off if he has a saw blade in his hand!

The 15 Ton Merry Go Round

Really though, are you truly playing around if you’re not using 15 tons of earth moving equipment? I submit NOT.

The Arm Socket Destroyer!

You thought that the last one was bad? This guy nearly lost a couple of arms!

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SEX SELLS! And Lady Gaga has apparently studied at the Lady Madonna university, did some graduate work at the Marilyn Monroe School of Fine Art, and then got her PHD in pole dancing! And apparently it’s paying off for her. The collection of 5 videos below have, as of this moment, been viewed a total of over 210 million times!

And why? Well, check out the 60 screen captures below and you’ll see! I was AMAZED by the rapid fire sexual imagery in each of the videos. Maybe I’m just old, but I’ve never seen so much stuff crammed into one video. Sexual situations of every kind conceivable. Lady Gaga having sex with two guys, Lady Gaga lesbian sex, Lady Gaga group sex, Lady Gaga touching herself in public. Yep. If you want your Lady Gaga, you get it in ways you can’t even imagine! (BTW – Lady Gaga is on Twitter)

Oh, did I mention? These videos, and hence this very blog post, are not really “child appropriate”. You’ve been warned.

Bad Romance

This first one, Bad Romance, has been viewed 65 Million times. Oh, and the screen capture you see here of Lady Gaga’s ass hanging out of her thong while dancing in lingerie and standing on a bearskin rug? Yeah, it’s from 4:19 in this video. Not that you were looking for that… right?

Just Dance

Lady Gaga’s video, Just Dance (featuring Colby O’Donis – who comes in around the 2 minute mark), has been viewed over 92 MILLION times! Good lord. But I don’t know why they bother even sticking him in there because this video is obviously only designed as eye candy to catch Lady Gaga in one of about 100 sexual poses. Hey, as I said… Sex sells!

Love Games

In this next video, Lady Gaga espouses the fine art of Love Games. I especially love the lyrical poetry reflected in the chorus “I wanna take a ride on your disco stick!” Sheer brilliance. And the video has been viewed 28 million times as a result!

Eh, Eh (Nothing Else I Can Say)

For this next one well… Lady Gaga – Eh, Eh (Nothing Else I Can Say) It’s been views 10 million times.

Paparazzi

And this final one, Paparazzi, has been drooled over 17 million times. Bringing our grand total for these videos alone to over 210 million views! And of course that is not counting the number of times these have been seen on MTV or other stations, so I’m sure it’s very, very safe to say that her videos have been watched over a quarter Billion times. Amazing.

After examining these videos I have to say that Lady Gaga is one hard working woman if nothing else. I mean there is a lot of performing, dancing, singing, wardrobe changing, and just about everything else going on here. So, like the music or not – its not difficult to see why she is creating such a stir.

60+ Photos from the Lady Gaga Videos

As I was saying, Lady Gaga is one hard working individual! And as evidence I submit the following photos which illustrate the tremendous number and variety of outfits, hairstyles, makeup, dance routines, sets, and poses she had to do just to make these videos. I certainly didn’t capture them all either. Just a smattering.

By the way, these are all around 1920×1200 resolution (just click through to the largest size) so you can feel free to use any of them as Lady Gaga desktop wallpaper if you want. I’m just sayin…

(Um, Miss Gaga, feel free to give me a call if you feel like allowing me to take some decent photos of you as opposed to the crappy screen captures below.)

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I was sitting around being lazy, and taking my sweet time to do it mind you, when I decided to check out some folks who do things a little quicker than me. In fact, I decided to find the fastest people I could, who were doing just about anything that people actually do fast!

So, we’ve got everything from talking to shooting to playing musical instruments! And I guarantee that no one out there reading this can beat these people at their game. Well, if you can let me know and I’ll come video you doing it! I’d love to be there with the records are broken.

Here is Bob Munden, who holds 18 World Records at gunslinging. You do NOT want to meet this guy in a dark alley.

Now, Jim Vonfeldt of Oregon and Howard Darby of Alberta might just have a little something to say to Bob. Though their times of .0275+ are slow compared to the .02 that Bob claims.

Now, thinking about having to go at it with one of these guys might leave your mouth dry. It’s OK, this little Japanese guy is gonna show you how to quench that thirst. He is the fastest drinker in the world!

Thirst quenched? Ok. How about some entertainment. Here’s Grammy nominated banjo player Todd Taylor.

But you say you’re not exactly into Banjo? You prefer a little rap? Daddy Freddy has got it covered.

With all of these records we’re breaking we’re gonna need someone to certify them! No problem, this little Japanese lady has got us covered.

Speaking of little Japanese folks. This guy can take his clothes off WAY faster than you. No matter how excited you are.

That performance definitely deserved some applause! So we’ve got the world’s fastest clapper to take car of that!

You know, we’ve seen a lot of people do some amazing stuff today. But just to demonstrate the amazing potential that some people are born with, here is a little 3 year old Chinese girl solving a Rubik’s cube in under 2 minutes. I couldn’t do that in 2 years!

Let’s wrap it up with what some men might think is a complete nightmare. Fran Capo, the fastest talking woman on Earth!

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I gotta admit, that old TV show CHiPS from the 1970s helped me fall in love with motorcycles. There was something really cool about the fact that they were chasing people down on two wheels. But really, we never saw Ponch or John do anything amazing on their motorcycles. It might have left one wondering how useful of a tool one of those big bikes actually is.

Well, this post should give you all the reason you’ll ever need NOT to run from a motorcycle cop. To say that these guys are well trained is an extreme understatement. Here now is a collection of police motorcycle competitions that demonstrate what it’s really like to be “one with the machine”.

Police Motorcycle Competiton Good Solo Run in Charleston, SC on July 21, 2007

Police Motorcycle Competiton Partner Run in Charleston, SC on July 21, 2007

Japanese Police demonstration at motorcycle meeting 2005

Portsmouth Police Motorcycle Rodeo – Four police officers spend the most time possible inside a 10 by 30 foot box.

Turkish Motorcycle Police Teams called The Dolphins

Oakland, CA Police Motorcycle Competition

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I was entertaining myself for hours this evening while perusing all of the crazy ways man has invented to move himself from point A to point B. After we mastered the most efficient methodology, apparently we turned our attention and energy towards also creating the most inefficient methods possible.

Why would we do this? Well, beyond the very basic primal need for horsepower… I’m guessing there was either a bet or a dare behind most of these creations. Either that, or they built em to attract the chicks!

Let’s kick this off with an 1,100 pound machine by Jake Lyall called the RIOT (Re-Invention Of The) wheel. Lyall’s monowheel is unusual because it does not use the rider’s weight to provide the reaction to the engine’s thrust on the wheel. Instead the rider is outside, and the reaction is given by a lead-weighted Honda 80cc 4-stroke scooter engine suspended from a central shaft, driving through a sprocket attached to the wheel spokes.
A separate 450-pound counterweight keeps the rider hovering above the ground at the front. Steering is done partly by precessing a 65-pound gyroscope to give yaw, and partly by the rider shifting his weight.

Next is the WL-16IV, for Waseda-Leg No.16 Refined IV, a walking chair developed in a Japanese university.

The McLean Monowheel is possibly the most famously impractical machines anyone ever created. I mean really, what is the point? (Other than the fact that it’s totally cool, and I want to ride it!)

Mojo Motorsports builds the 30 MPH Revolution. It’s available now for $1,000 including shipping… if you’re brave enough to ride it.

This “thing” is like a giant motorized baby buggy. If anyone has any info about it, please share. It would be awesome to see the plans…

The Frankenscooter was built with the purpose of being “…AS RATTY, UGLY AND FUNNY LOOKING AS POSSIBLE”. I think they succeeded.

The Timberjack Walking Machine is used in to fell lumber. As I understand it, it’s from a defunct division of John Deere. Wonder if I can pick one of these up on eBay?

The Hubo FX-1 was made by the Humanoid Robot Research Center of South Korea. The development concept is that the robot can walk naturally with carrying a person or a load of 100kg, so the lower body takes after legs of human and the upper body takes after a chair.

In case you ever felt your legs were getting too much exercise riding a bike the normal way, you can pick one of these up and pedal backwards.

The Mondo Spider was made by a group of Canadian artists: Jon Tippett, Charlie Brinson, and Alex Mossman. They all live in Vancouver, BC. You crazy Canadians! Eh?

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I was perusing YouTube as a walk down Old Skool memory lane and decided to share some of my favorite Rap songs of all time. Yeah, that’s right. John P. loves rap music, so wacha gonna do? What? Don’t be a hater!

For all of you playas out there who loved the Yo! MTV Raps days, I’m gonna kick it for you old skool style – welcome to the new Yo! OMB Raps! With your host… Johnny P. This is a journey into sound.

Dr. Dre, Snoop Dogg – Nuthin’ But A G Thang

First up we’ve gotta open with my boys Dre and Snoop Dogg. Nuthin but a G Thang is definitely one of the greatest classic of all time. It’s about the struggles of a wealthy white boy growing up in Manhattan and trying to find his way in the world of finance – NOT! Don’t make me bust a cap! Just watch the Dogg do his thang. Oh, and visit Dre’s Website.

Nuthin’ But A G’ Thang is available for $0.99 on Amazon.com.

DJ Jazzy Jeff & the Fresh Prince – Summertime

Now that Dre and Snoop got you all bow, wow, wound up, kick back with DJ Jazzy Jeff and the Fresh Prince (aka Will Smith) and relax cause it’s summertime.

Summertime is available for $1.29 on Amazon.com.

House of Pain – Jump Around

Ahh, yeah. The original Irish (and Latvian) gangstas makin you bounce. I came to get down, I came to get down, so get out ya seat and Jump Around!

Jump Around is available for $0.99 on Amazon.com.

Slick Rick – Children’s Story

Slick Rick drops a little rhyme that you might not ought to share with the kiddies before bed time.

Children’s Story is available for $0.99 on Amazon.com.

Public Enemy – Fight the Power

Flavor Flav was a freak then, and he’s a freak now. But it doesn’t really matter cuz you gotta fight the power! (Wait, I AM the power! Oh well… visit the Public Enemy website.)

Fight The Power is available for $0.99 on Amazon.com.

Heavy D & The Boyz – Now That We Found Love

You done fightin? Well, for those of you who are lovers, not fighters, here’s Heavy D to tell you what time it is.

Now That We Found Love is available for $0.99 on Amazon.com.

Kool Moe Dee – Wild Wild West

Damn, boyee! Kool Moe Dee isn’t even from Texas, but the boy is gonna hit the Wild Wild West anyway.

Wild Wild West is available for $0.99 on Amazon.com.

LL Cool J – Mama Said Knock You Out

Look, he may not want to do it. But since his mama said… his mama said… his mama said… LL Cool J is gonna have to knock you out! That’s because Ladies Love Cool James!

Mama Said Knock You Out is available for $0.99 on Amazon.com.

Beastie Boys – Sabotage

We could pretty much serve up anything by the Beasties because all they do is make gold records, but here is a classic because we need to Sabotage this article boyee! Oh, and go sabotage their Website while you’re at it.

Sabotage is available for $0.99 on Amazon.com.

Ice T- I’m Your Pusher

Yo. It’s time for me to pump up the volume. So for all you Law & Order fans out there, here’s what the original Ice-T was like before he became a cop on TV. Oh, visit the Website.

I’m Your Pusher is available for $0.99 on Amazon.com.

Kool Moe Dee – They Want Money

They Want Money is available for $0.99 on Amazon.com.

Too Short – Life is…..Too Short

Yeah, I also remember how it all began…

Life Is …Too $hort is available for $0.99 on Amazon.com.

Snoop Dogg, Dr. Dre – Who Am I (What’s My Name)

One more time with the Godfather of Rap. What’s his name? Snoop D to the O to the double D, G. Bow wow wow yippie yo yippie yeah, you better go and visit his Website today!

Who Am I (What’s My Name)? is available for $0.99 on Amazon.com.

Rob Base and DJ EZ rock – It Takes Two

Right about now, you’re about to be possessed with the sounds of Rob Base and DJ EZ Rock!

It Takes Two is available for $0.99 on Amazon.com.

Coolio- Gangster’s Paradise

If you don’t watch this video, you AND your homies might be lying in chalk! Now visit his Website.

Gangsta’s Paradise is available for $0.99 on Amazon.com.

Marky Mark & The Funky Bunch – Good Vibrations

Before Wahlberg decided to become a big shot movie star, he was making the chicks drool with his “good vibrations”. Word.

Good Vibrations is available for $0.99 on iTunes.

MC Hammer – Can’t Touch This

Yo! What you think? You know you can’t touch this! By the way, it’s Hammer time over on blogspot, and don’t forget to drop the Hammer on Twitter.

U Can’t Touch This is available for $0.99 on Amazon.com.

Kool Moe Dee – I Go to Work

Enough with all this playin. Now it’s time to go to work!

I Go To Work is available for $0.99 on Amazon.com.

Vanilla Ice – Ice Ice Baby

I don’t care what you think about Robbie VanWinkle now, back in the day he was the shizzle! White boys can’t dance? Talk to the hand. And while you’re at it, visit his site, beeotch!

Ice Ice Baby is available for $0.99 on Amazon.com.

Eric B. & Rakim – Paid In Full

Eric B is going to wrap up this edition of Yo! OMB Raps because frankly I’m Paid in Full and I gots to get back to my jobby, job, job. If you DIGG this to the front page then ther’ll be a nuther edition. Othewise, I guess I’m outta luck fool!

Paid In Full is available for $0.99 on Amazon.com.

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Today I’ll be attending WordCamp Dallas, which Charles Stricklin and I jointly organized. We’ve got a whole line up of fantastic speakers including Matt Mullenweg, Jonathan Bailey, Cali Lewis, Liz Strauss, Lorelle VanFossen, Chris Smith, Aaron Brazell, Jacob Santos, and Mark Ghosh.

If you’re one of the WordCamp attendees and you happen to be sitting in the lecture hall reading along as I stand here on stage, well… deja vu! Otherwise, for my normal readers here comes a list of 45 Ways to Power Up Your Blog!

Incidentally, the actual video of this lecture is available here. It seems to now have some historical significance because of the introduction of Woopra in the last three minutes.

For the sake of keeping things organized, I’ll tackle these tips by category and also attempt to cram in as many links to additional resources for each tip as possible. If you happen to have a link to add to a particular tip please drop a comment below with the link and where it should go.

This post is by far the most comprehensive article I’ve assembled on blogging. It does make reference to a few of my previous posts, but much of this information is brand new. One other little warning… a lot of the tips presented below are only available to the stand-alone version of WordPress. If you are running a different blogging platform (I suggest you change it), or if you are on the free WordPress.com platform, you may have to seek alternatives.

Search Engine Optimization

Yes, It’s Still Important

To get us started, check out the article I wrote for Lorelle called Why Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is Still Important. The impetus for this article was the fact that so many WordPress themes were claiming to be SEO friendly, but so few people understand what that really entails.

I don’t trust most of the SEO information out there, but I do trust these links:

• Improving Search Engine Rankings
• Are You Missing Out By Not Practicing SEO Techniques?
• Matt Cutts on Whitehat SEO tips for Bloggers (Video)

Use English Naming Conventions for Images

“NOT a Hot Asian Chick!”

Every image on your site should be named exactly what it is – in English.

• So instead of “img0001.jpg” rename it to “Cute-Dog.jpg”.

Also, use the alt text for descriptions of all images, and Title element for all hyperlinks. These are legal ways to increase the keyword density of a page – but make sure you aren’t cheating! The descriptions must be accurate or you may incur the wrath of the Google anti-spam team!

Descriptive, Accurate Titles are Key

Article titles should be extremely direct, concise and keyword loaded. Fancy titles will not bring hoards of traffic, and even worse it will negatively impact Google search results since the title is heavily weighted in the algorithm.

• Bad Example: Break out the Weber and Impinge the Chickens!
• Should have been: McDonald’s Chicken Sandwiches are Mechanically Branded

Use TITLE Elements on Hypertext Links

Use the TITLE element on every single hypertext link on the site. The title will show up when a reader hovers the mouse over the link in most Web browsers for an added description, but the words will also be noticed by the search engines and contribute to higher search results.

Pick the Right Theme

Be very, very picky about your blog’s theme. Having a solid SEO underpinning is far, far, far more important than the eye candy. I have major criticisms for the vast majority of themes out there. My Rapid Access theme may not be the most attractive, but I get thousands of visitors each day from search engines – and a lot of people tell me they wish they could get more search traffic.

You definitely don’t have to use my theme, but at least read through the features when you’re evaluating another one and pick one with as many of the features as possible.

• Rapid Access Theme

Your Web Host Affects Your Traffic

Purchase a faster server. No shared hosting! At least a VPS or dedicated server. Search rankings are affected by site performance, especially server downtime. And sites like StumbleUpon, which can deliver significant traffic, will stop sending it altogether if the server is unresponsive for even a very short time.

Bottom line is that if you’re serious about building a large following you need to either invest in a little infrastructure, or go with a completely hosted blog like WordPress.com.

• Incidentally, Layered Tech’s Virtual Private Servers run on The Grid, powered by 3Tera, and offer complete physical redundancy for about $50 per month. There is not another provider on the planet that can say that!
• If you send me an e-mail and tell me you heard about it here I’ll make sure you get a special deal on a Grid-based VPS.

Host Your Own Images

Serve photos off of your own server, or lose the google image traffic to Flickr (or wherever the photos are). I realize that image hosting can bog down your Web server, so get a faster server (see this tip in the SEO area too)!

Use a Sitemap

A sitemap is like a table of contents for your blog. It helps search engines find every single post you’ve got, but they would take a long time to generate if you had to do it by hand. Luckily the Google XML Sitemaps plugin takes care of this issue automatically.

• Get the Google (XML) Sitemaps Generator for WordPress

Usability Tips

Most of these tips are adapted from Jacob Neilsen’s Top 10 Weblog Design Mistakes article.

Author Biographies

Unless you’re a business blog, you probably don’t need a full-fledged “about us” section the way a corporate site does. That said, the basic rationale for “about us” translates directly into the need for an “about me” page on a weblog: users want to know who they’re dealing with.

It’s a simple matter of trust. Anonymous writings have less credence than something that’s signed. And, unless a person’s extraordinarily famous, it’s not enough to simply say that Joe Blogger writes the content. Readers want to know more about Joe.

Author Photos

Even weblogs that provide author bios often omit the author photo. A photo is important for two reasons:

• It offers a more personable impression of the author. You enhance your credibility by the simple fact that you’re not trying to hide. Also, users relate more easily to somebody they’ve seen.
• It connects the virtual and physical worlds. People who’ve met you before will recognize your photo, and people who’ve read your site will recognize you when you meet in person (say, at a conference — or the company cafeteria if you’re an intranet blogger).

A huge percentage of the human brain is dedicated to remembering and recognizing faces. For many, faces work better than names.

Links Should Say Where They Go

Many weblog authors seem to think it’s cool to write link anchors like: “some people think” or “there’s more here and here.” Remember one of the basics of the Web: Life is too short to click on an unknown.

Tell people where they’re going and what they’ll find at the other end of the link. Generally, you should provide predictive information in either the anchor text itself or the immediately surrounding words. You can also use link titles for supplementary information that doesn’t fit with your content. (To see a link title in action, mouse over the “link titles” link.)

A related mistake in this category is to use insider shorthand, such as using first names when you reference other writers or weblogs. Unless you’re writing only for your friends, don’t alienate new visitors by appearing to be part of a closed clique. The Web is not high school.

Showcase Top Articles

Hopefully, you’ll write some pieces with lasting value for readers outside your fan base. Don’t relegate such classics to the archives, where people can only find something if they know you posted it, say, in May 2003.

If you notice, I’ve showcased some of my more popular posts in the footer of this blog. Other people use the sidebar. And some people use a widget from a service like SpotPlex which dynamically lists the most popular content.

You Need Your Own Domain Name

Having a weblog address ending in wordpress.com, blogspot.com, typepad.com, etc. will ultimately limit your options, and make businesses appear unprofessional.

Letting somebody else own your name means that they own your destiny on the Internet. And the longer you stay at someone else’s domain name, the higher the cost of going independent. It only costs $10-15 per year to get your personal domain name and own your own future.

As soon as you realize you’re serious about blogging, move it away from a domain name that’s controlled by somebody else. The longer you delay, the more pain you’ll feel when you finally make the move.

Content Authoring

Track, Test, and Respond

You must use a detailed statistics tracking service, preferably one that gives instant feedback, and watch which articles are getting the most traffic. You’ll learn which ones are most appealing and it should help you figure out why. You can do a lot with that information like putting targeted advertising on those pages, writing more articles like that one and linking to them, etc.
I recommend the following services:

• MyBlogLog – my personal primary stats tracker due to it’s simplicity and performance.
• Performancing P-Metrics – my backup that I turn to for much more detailed information.
• Google Analytics – offers some additional tools for ad tracking and is free, but only updates daily.

Check Your Topic Digg-ability

Dan Zarrella has created a fantastic tool, called the Link Attraction Factors Keyword Tool, to estimate the effectiveness of a given topic towards attracting social media. He has also made available a WordPress plugin to integrate the tool directly into your blogs authoring page.

So for example, when it comes to the 2008 election, the candidates names in titles stack up as follows:

• Hillary Clinton: 89.58 (29.96%) more links than the average.
• Barack Obama: -6.5 (-2.17%) less links than the average
• Ron Paul: -27.5 (-9.2%) less links than the average
• Dennis Kucinich: -43.33 (-14.49%) less links than the average
• John McCain: -89 (-29.77%) less links than the average

So and article about Hillary that goes popular on Digg would be most likely to get links, while John McCain clearly bores everyone to tears.

Write Authoritative Content

I believe in really researching things and making content information rich. Just getting keywords in the content won’t do any good if the search engine bounce rate ends up being 90%+. People won’t stick around long enough to read any of your other articles – so make sure you ask yourself this question every single time you publish something:

If this was the first article I ever read on this site, would I come back for more?

Review Everything

Do complete and thorough reviews of products you like or dislike. Then put Amazon links on the page. This does three things:

• Helps people who are looking for reviews before they purchase.
• Gives you something to write about.
• Actually earns some cash from Amazon affiliate links. (I made over $1k last year from only 5 or so articles with Amazon links.)

Always Include At Least One Image

“Yeah! A Hot Asian Chick!”

I recommend including an image at the beginning of every single post to help set the theme of the article. In my blog I generally include thumbnail sized images which link to larger versions, and I like to alternate floating them to one side or the other of my content. Another alternative example of image use can be found on WebUrbanist.com where the author’s strategy is to use one large image, or a combination of smaller images, that precedes the content area.

• Anthony Baggett did a nice post on How to Position Images.
• Digg now allows images in posts to be attached, and it helps!

Be Creative!

Yeah, it’s easier said than done isn’t it? I wrote an article called 16 Tips for Blog Idea Brainstorming a while back that still applies. But the key theme here is that it doesn’t really pay to write about the same old things everyone else is covering.

There are already a million articles on the iPhone, does the world really need one more? How much attention do you really think your article is going to command when you have to compete with TechCrunch? Instead, focus on things you know and try to tell a little story with your post. Keep it concise, but work in some humor, philosophy and facts. The blogosphere will thank you for original content.

When you’re done with all that, you might want to fast forward to the lecture I did the following year called, “Make More Money with WordPress, Social Media and Analytics“.

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I have to start this article out with a story. I was talking to a young guy, who shall go un-named, and he was relating the tale of a date he went on with a girl he really liked. He was smitten with her, but unsure as to whether the feeling was mutual. The story went something like this:

One of my friends introduced us at a party last week. After e-mailing back and forth a few times we decided to meet at a bar after work. When I arrived, she was waiting for me and asked if we should go to the bar or get a table? I figured it would be quicker to go to the bar so we did. She had a Coke, and I got a beer.

After we hung out at the bar for about 30 minutes she mentioned that she was hungry, and there was a Subway nearby so I suggested we go grab a sandwich. She thought that sounded great, so we met over there and ate and chatted for about an hour. This chick was awesome! She even paid for my beer at the bar, and picked up her own dinner at Subway! She’s supposed to e-mail me about going out this weekend.

My dear, cheap-ass friend. Trust me, she’s not interested. Young guys always make the mistake of thinking that just because a lady is laid back and seems to enjoy hanging out, that it means she’s actually content. No, my little naive buddy. Every woman – without exception – enjoys being treated specially, so you must make a concerted effort to romance them.

Here are 14 tips on how to be romantic. HINT: Meeting a girl at Subway to watch her eat a sandwich she paid for is not on the list!

Ground Rules

First, the basic rules. These are the things that your Grandfather would have done for your Grandmother (if he had any class whatsoever), and they apply no matter if this is your first date, or you’ve been married for 50 years.

• You must always offer to pick her up.

  Go out of your way to let her know that, not only is it not a problem, but you’d really enjoy having her company for the drive. The only way you should not be picking her up is if you barely know one another and she might be more comfortable meeting you somewhere public.

• Open every single door for her.

  Buildings, cars… whatever. When opening the car door present your hand to help her out. See, you already get to touch her!

• Pay for as much as you can.

  Don’t suggest a restaurant where you can’t afford the tab! Don’t go drinking if you can’t tip the bartender! And unless she absolutely insists on contributing – don’t let her. Oh, and if she does pay, find a reason to stop for ice cream, or flowers, and insist on paying. Tell her you had the money set aside for tonight, and you intend to spend it!

• Dress nice.

  No matter how long you’ve been together, women don’t want to be seen with a slob. How you look always matters – no matter what anyone ever says. Ever.

I’ll make a huge assumption that you’ve got those bases covered, and now we’ll move on to my patented Cyrano de Bergerac-like Romance tips. Enjoy. Or better yet, make sure she does!

14 Ways Geeks Can be Romantic

1. Be extravagant occasionally.

   People say “be spontaneous”, but thats a load of crap. You must combine spontaneity, with extravagance! It’s not good enough to just be spontaneous. An unexpected kiss is spontaneous, but not remarkable. An unexpected bouquet arriving at the office, for no particular reason, is truly memorable.

2. Shower her with gifts.

   Seems obvious right? But it’s not. Chocolate and flowers will only work for so long. And lets face it, lingerie is mostly for you. What you need to do is think of things that she would really enjoy. Examples: exotic bubble bath, a silky soft robe, delicate earrings, etc. Take her to the mall and shop with her and listen for hints. Come back later and buy them when she thinks you’ve forgotten!

3. Touch her… not there, you idiot!

   Women already know that men generally have only one thing on their mind. Show her you care by running your fingers through her hair, softly touching her cheek or rubbing her shoulders.

4. Cook for her.

   And don’t give me any crap about “I can’t cook!” You don’t think other guys were born with a spatula in their hand do you? It takes practice. So find out what her favorite dish is, find a recipe, and make it until you can make it well. Then make it for her! Oh, and be sure it is something you can serve with wine or Champagne.

5. Take her somewhere – but make it a surprise.

   Personally I’ve gone so far as to pre-arrange a surprise vacation with my wife’s boss at work. She didn’t even know I’d done it, but I came to pick her up for lunch, and drove her to the airport and hopped on a plane. If your budget doesn’t allow this, take her to a local park, the place you met, or somewhere else special.

6. Send her to the spa for a day with her girlfriend.

   It’s going to cost you about $200 for her to get 2-3 treatments (plus another $200 for her girlfriend if you pick up the tab – and you better), but after manicures, pedicures, facials and massages, those ladies will be in a great mood! Combine with number 5 and you’ll be a God!

7. Try to pay her at least one compliment a day.

   Praise her in front of people. If you have children, tell them “You have a great mom. She is so beautiful, or talented, or such a great cook, etc…”

8. Buy her edible undies.

   If your lady has a great sense of humor buy her candy underwear. According to the manufacturer it’s “Sweet & Sexy”, and “made of approximately 330 fruit-flavored candy pieces, and has just 60 calories so don’t worry about it affecting the diet”.

9. Send her Love notes.

   But not via e-mail you geek! If they aren’t handwritten, they don’t count. Period. So, take your time, find some nice paper or blank cards, and write her a letter. Leave it somewhere she’ll find it when you aren’t around, and she’ll be happy all day until she sees you again.

10. Create a photo scrapbook for her.

    Look, if you haven’t invested in a quality digital camera yet, you better get one now! And start turning it in your lady’s direction. It’s a great way to make her the center of attention, and can be combined with number 8 quite handily. Then as a bonus you can go home and create a custom photo book using LuLu.com or Shutterfly.com.

11. Watch a chick flick with her.

    Here are 76 prime Chick-flicks. Pick out a few DVDs at blockbuster and present them to her for a quiet evening at home. While you’re at it, combine this one with number 5 above.

12. Slow dance to romantic music.

    In fact, make her a CD with the following songs, and dance to at least a couple of them when you give it to her:

• Right Here Waiting – Richard Marx
• Have You Ever Really Loved a Woman – Bryan Adams
• True Companion – Marc Cohn
• All I Want is You – U2
• You’re Beautiful – James Blunt
• Lady in Red – Chris DeBurgh
• Wonderful Tonight – Eric Clapton
• Wicked Game – Chris Isaac
• No Ordinary Love – Sade
• Sexual Healing – Marvin Gaye
• Cant Get Enough Of Your Love, Babe – Barry White
• In Your Eyes – Peter Gabriel
• Fields of Gold – Sting
• You’re The First, The Last, My Everything – Barry White
• Hello – Lionel Richie
• Unforgettable – Nat King Cole
• Time After Time – Cyndi Lauper
• How Sweet It Is To Be Loved By You – James Taylor

13. Take her to Hawaii and/or Santorini.

    Either one is going to cost you a fortune, so you’re going to have to save up for a while. But the bottom line is that every woman deserves to see these places – so you better be the man that takes them!

14. Write I love you on at least 100 post-it notes.

    When she’s away from home, put them all over the place. Make sure you hide some of them where they won’t be found for weeks, months, or even years. Jacket and pants pockets, every drawer in the house, purses, medicine cabinets, etc.

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Tom Barr shot me over a a link to a Gong Show video along with a suggestion to look into finding some old 70′s TV shows to share with those of us that were actually around back then, as well as a few of us that were not…

It amazes me how much of the old stuff you can actually find floating around the Intertubes. Who the heck is digitizing all this content? Anyway, I’m not going to complain. Below I’ve got clips from CHiPs, The Dukes of Hazzard, The Gong Show, Knight Rider, The Muppet Show and more. Enjoy!

The Gong Show

To kick things off, The Gong Show was the American Idol of it’s day. Contestants performed in front of a panel of celebrity judges who would either watch an entire act, or sound a big gong to stop the unbearable ones. Here is a little compendium of the hilarity (beware: there’s profanity at the end):

The Dukes of Hazzard

Now, the Gong Show might have been the worthless talent show of the decade, but one of the greatest TV shows around was the Dukes of Hazzard. It had it all… car chases, moonshine running, and Daisy’s hot ass hanging out of her shorts. (Did you see the General Lee race the Gran Torino?)

Knight Rider

Speaking of cool cars, let’s not forget about Kit from Knight Rider. I wanted a Trans Am with digital instrument cluster so bad when I was a kid that it hurt. (Don’t forget the Knight Rider Theme Song – Beatbox Edition.)

CHiPs

Oh, and we had more than cars on TV. Don’t forget Ponch and John’s Harley Davidson motorcycles from CHiPs! Here is a montage from the very first episode of the TV show.

The Muppet Show

We also had some great shows for kids. For example, Jim Henson’s Muppet Show was such a great show that adults loved it as much as kids! Here is a classic episode featuring comedic genius Peter Sellers (of Pink Panther fame).

Compilations of 70′s TV Shows

And to wrap things up, here are two little compilations of other TV shows and movies from the 1970′s:

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