When I bought my Nook last winter, I was hoping to buy e-books at lower prices than hardbacks and paperbacks. But prices aren’t necessarily lower in the digital world.
Despite owning a Nook, I’ve recently splurged on two hardbacks and a paperback. They’re very different novels by three long-established, bestselling authors.
A significant development in the world of blogging! WordPress is beta testing a new advertising feature called WordAds. You may have noticed test ads both here on “Work In Progress” and on my other blog, “Ocean City Blog” AKA “Maryland On My Mind.”
The ads are usually sophisticated videos and can be seen at the bottom of the most recent post on my home page, and also at the bottom of specific posts you click on to read. If you have feedback to offer on the new adds, please leave a comment. As with Internet advertising in general, a blog or Web site needs a LOT of traffic to make more than coffee money through advertising, and that’s only if you buy your coffee someplace cheaper than Starbucks.
— John Hayden
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Last November WordPress.com announced the launch of our WordAds program, whereby WordPress.com sites can partner and share revenues on ads sold and managed by WordPress.com. Since its beta launch, WordAds has grown to over ten thousand sites. WordAds has been a success because bloggers can focus on content and building their audiences while handing off the time-consuming role of advertising optimization to the WordAds team.
Today, we’re launching a new homepage for the WordAds program: WordAds.co. Here, you will find our application page as well as FAQs and a discussion forum. Moreover, most WordPress.com sites can now launch WordAds on their site within days of application.
To celebrate the successful launch of WordAds, we sat down to interview one of the program’s first sites at MyNintendoNews.com. Not every WordAds site has the visitor volume to earn significant revenue, but sites that work to develop their audience can now earn good…
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“Bring on the populist battle we have been waiting for. The 1% vs the 99%.”
Jonathan Taplin (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
The quote is from Jon Taplin. Everyone who’s serious about the 2012 election and the continuing economic crisis would probably appreciate his blog at http://jontaplin.com. I know his savvy essays have helped me understand what a political and economic predicament we’re in.
Human Trafficking Clip From NPR
Today on NPR’s “Tell Me More,” a brief but informative discussion about “human trafficking” — more accurately, “modern slavery” — throughout the world today, and also in the U.S. Please click below to hear the 11-minute conversation.
http://www.npr.org/v2/?i=155431942&m=155431935&t=audio
(Photo credit: 401K 2012)
Slavery is the oldest economic system in the world, and the most persistent. Just as surely as accounting and lawyering were not the first professions, capitalism and communism were not the first economic systems.
Slavery is also, I believe, one of the oldest forms of social structure. I imagine the tribe was the first social structure, closely followed by enslavement, but it might have been the other way around.
It is said that Satan goes by many names, and I believe that slavery also goes by many names.
The world has hardly ever been secretive about slavery. It’s been openly practiced from Biblical times to modern times. Continue reading
Mitt Romney’s reaction to WaWa is, in his own words, “Amazing!” The part about WaWa is near the beginning of this three-minute video, and especially at the end. You have to endure a fascinating anecdote about a dentist and government bureaucracy in between, but it’s worth it.
Mitt Romney appears to be a very knowledgeable CEO in the high-finance business, owner of many mansions and cars, a man who loves dogs and so on. Continue reading
Thank God! Finally, a hand reached out in humanity and compassion to innocent young people! It’s limited compassion, but it’s a step toward forgiveness of young people persecuted for doing nothing wrong except being the children of their parents.
President Barack Obama is announcing today a reprieve for 800,000 children of immigrant parents. No deportation for two years, for those who qualify.
The hand of compassion the President offers by executive order is temporary. A two-year reprieve. The young people will continue to live in anxiety about the future. And they will carry a sorrowful burden of worry about their parents and grandparents. The two-year reprieve offers no “path to citizenship.” Not for the children, and certainly not for the adults. These young people remain children without a country.
What will be the backlash? Will Americans demand that parents and grandparents be deported as a sacrifice for the lives of their children? Is President Obama sacrificing his presidency? Can Republicans tolerate a little compassion?
The irony is that these children of hard-working immigrants can play a critical role in the future strength and greatness of the United States.
— John Hayden
Sunflowers in Traill County, North Dakota. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
North Dakota landscape (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
North Dakota is a happening place. I wish I had time to write a full update to my 2009 post on the geography of frugal living in North Dakota, which continues to attract readers every day. Clearly, frugal living is not the central issue in 2012.
Much has happened in the past three years, and I imagine the changes in North Dakota must be fascinating. This week’s news that North Dakotans will vote on whether to eliminate property taxes gives a hint of what’s going on. While most states struggle with unmanageable budgeting problems, and some totter on the edge of insolvency, North Dakota is apparently flush with revenue.
North Dakota’s prosperity seems entirely connected to the booming energy industry. The state has the lowest unemployment rate in the nation. I imagine that workers are flocking to the state, and housing must be in short supply.
The Northern Plains: Big sky, flat prairie. It’s easy to forget that people live and work here, too.(Photo credit: Matthew Bietz)
Any comments from folks on the scene in North Dakota would be welcome. All the positive news raises a few questions:
Anyone with answers or opinions is welcome to comment.
You want to know more about North Dakota? Of course you do. You can go right to the source.
— John Hayden
Map of North Dakota (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
North Dakota state population density map based on Census 2000 data. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
“We so often hear that the world is running out of water. People are dying from lack of water. Rivers are dewatered from lack of water. Because of this we need to take shorter showers. See the disconnect? Because I take showers, I’m responsible for drawing down aquifers? Well, no. More than 90 percent of the water used by humans is used by agriculture and industry. The remaining 10 percent is split between municipalities and actual living breathing individual humans. Collectively, municipal golf courses use as much water as municipal human beings. People (both human people and fish people) aren’t dying because the world is running out of water. They’re dying because the water is being stolen.”
— from “Forget Shorter Showers: Why personal change does not equal political change,” by Derrick Jensen in “Onion” Magazine. Profound and eye-opening! To read the full article, click here.
BLOGGING TIP NO. 101. NO MATTER THE TITLE OR CONTENT OF YOUR BLOG, YOU CAN GET MORE ‘HITS’ BY INCLUDING A PHOTO OF YOUR CAT. HERE SHE IS, LOLA, THE BLACK CAT WITH THE LONGEST WHITE WHISKERS IN THE WORLD. Photo by Lola’s personal staff photographer.
Thanks for reminding me! Yes, besides changing the blog theme (the appearance of the blog), I’ve also fiddled with the name. Again! The old theme, in case you’re wondering, was called “Twenty-Ten,” and the new theme is “Chunk.” Both are great themes, available free on WordPress.com.
When I started this blog back in 2009, I thought I had a great name: “Life After Sixty.” I was going to focus on — you guessed it — the life and times of those of us who’ve passed the big SIX-OH, with special attention to living simply and cheaply frugally after age 60.
Before long, I started writing more and more about dysfunctional politics and economic meltdown. (I know, “Boring”). I had this inspiration for a new name: “Dispatches from ConsterNation” It sounded like a cool name. Catchy. Maybe it was just a phase I was going through. At least it was better than “Boring.”
Now, I’ve shifted the focus again. The revolution in publishing — the surge of Indie publishing and Ebooks — fascinates me. Continue reading
Living Simply And Still On The Grid 