Is This a Joke?

Today I got a mail from google saying that my blog has been identified as a spam blog! Is this a joke? This blog earns me highest adsense from google and I provide links to many of my old posts while applying for a content writing job. I haven't been active on blogger for quite sometime now, but that doesnt make my blog a spam blog. I don't know what gave them such an idea.

For my Brother-in law

I was wandering through the streets of edinburgh last week as I do frequently now a days. Walking is good for me and I enjoy it. Anyways This time I took the route through Haymarket station into Dalry road. Dalry road hosts a number of charity shops and one I particularly like is a mobility shop where I once went to buy mobility wheelchair for my brother-in law.
He was severly injured in a car accident three years back and he is now a quadreplegic. But being totally bed ridden hasn't broken his spirits. He does yoga regularly and roams around in the house in his wheelchair, cracking jokes with the family members.
He is also learning to use internet ( through some encouragement from yours truly), and I found a disability website for him, which gives lots of support and information to people with various disabilities.
The site has also got its own disability forum, where people can discuss their fears, their hopes, the treatment and procedures etc. Overall its a nice and helpful site and my brother-in law seems to have hooked on it.

Beat the Bad Credit

Today I chanced upon an interesting site which is somewhat of an expert in fixing bad credit, and opening a new window of fresh air for you. In this season of bad credits, one tries all solutions till one is forced back to the wall and take extreme steps. This site is there for your credit repair.
There are hundreds, may be thousands of sites claiming to repair bad credit, so what's different about this site?The thing that attracted me towards this site is their credentials. They have got a fully legal license from the state of Texas as well as a Fair Credit Reporting Act Certification from Consumer Data Industry Association. This shows that they are genuine.
The site provides free credit report evaluation and the credit report information is also provided free of cost.All you have to do is fill out a simple online form.
The site is based on the personal experiences of the owner Doug Parker in bad credit settling how to get a "clean" credit report.

Beware, A Bottle of Wine Can Land You in Jail, as it Did to Roxana Saberi

Thirty one years old US journalist and former Miss North Dakota Roxana Saberi has been detained by the Iranian authorities. Her crime: She bought a bottle of wine. She had rang her father on Feb 10 saying that she has been arrested and will be released soon. But her father hasn't heard about her since. Roxana Saberi was living in Iran for the past six years.
She certainly knew how sever are the country and its rules and regulations. She survived in Iran for six years which is no mean feat for a women with Western upbringing. Lets hope that Iranian authorities come clean with the reason why they have arrested Roxana Saberi, and release her soon.
Roxana Saberi has been a very good student through out her academic career. She majored in French and Communication. She did her Master's in Broadcast Journalism from Chicago and then Master's Degree in International Relations from Cambridge University in England.
Roxana Saberi

New Bloggers Should Stick to Google Adsense than Making the Site an Affiliate Farm

Let me tell you a secret about my affiliate marketing campaigns, I haven't made a single penny till date from my affiliate links. I must confess that I haven't done much with the affiliate links except putting the links in the sidebar or writing a post or two about some special affiliate product. My personal experience is that you need to have a niche site and not a blog to make money from affiliate products. May be I am wrong.
I have yet to earn my first $100 from adsense, but I am close to the finishing line, unless google decides to cancel my adsense account on some pretext. My experience says that new bloggers, who don't know the ABCs of affiliate marketing, should concentrate on google adsense ads. If they put too many affiliate links on their blogs, the reader may click those links, but not necessarily buy the product. It means that the click was wasted. If there had been only google adsense ads on that page the performance would be much better. The conclusion: Affiliate links distract the visitors away from the adsense ads.
affiliate marketing

A Surprise for Him this Valentine's Day

I am not as romantic as my husband. Generally the onus of celebrating special days like anniversary, birthdays, Valentine's Day and arranging gifts lie on him. I remember two years back I was struggling alone in a new city with a new job ( Hubby was in UK), he sent me a very pretty 22 carat gold necklace on Valentine's Day. I have always worn it since.
I have been thinking about what to gift him on 14th, and a lot of gift ideas have come to my mind. I have zeroed in on buying him an ipod. He is a real movie and music buff, and like 99.9 percent of the young generation, he also likes to listen to music while traveling to his office and back home.He had his cell for this purpose, but I have hijacked the cell for taking and uploading pictures for my blogs. ( The digital camera is without a data cable for the time being). It was very difficult for him to part with the only means of entertainment he has while traveling, but he did it for me. So I have gone and bought him an ipod. I will put it under his pillow later. I am also secretly knitting an ipod cosy. It will be ready in a by Sunday.
That was about me. Now tell me what you are going to gift him? An aftershave or a pair of sneakers?
Here is my list of cool gifts for men:
1. A baby: Announce that you are pregnant. Note the reaction on his face. If he is thrilled, it shows that he is ready for fatherhood and you two can begin thinking about creating your herd. If he is impassive or worried, tell him it was a joke and the relief he will feel on this disclosure is nothing compared to a thousand bucks tux you get him.
2. Video games: Most men are grown up kids. Make your kid happy by gifting him the latest video games in the market.
3. Plan a holiday: You don't have to worry about calling is office to check if he can take two days off this Valentine's Day. The Saturday gives you perfect opportunity for a romantic getaway. If you haven't had the time to make bookings, no need to worry. Get a room in a local hotel and spend the whole two days in bed with him.
4. Make him a tasty treat: Instead of buying that Valentine's Day cake, make it at home. I know it will be a lot of work and result may not be that gratifying ( you are the best judge of your culinary skills), but simply the effort on your part will make him go over the moon. And as they say, the way to a man's heart is through his stomach, so try it out and tell me.

A Struggling Writer? Try Triond

I have been with Triond since September 2007. Triond is a site that pays you to write original articles. They pay according to the number of page views your article gets. The pay is miserably low ( I am talking about my articles, you can earn a lot if you are talented:), but they are very punctual in their payments. Every 15th of the month I get whatever pennies I earned the previous month. You can upload original photos too and you will get paid if somebody do look at those pictures.
I had long forgotten about Triond, didn't even care to check paypal whether they are paying, because I know they are. But I had stopped writing for them. Simply because I thought if I have to write an original article and get pennies for it, then better write it on my blogs so that I get rich, original content here, and eventually a good page rank.
But I was so wrong in not writing on Triond. Today, out of the blue I remembered about Troind, and logged into my account. I checked the money earned. It never crossed four dollars any month for those fourteen articles and photos that I have there. But I couldn't believe my eyes when I saw that one of my articles had a total earning of $10.49! It got me thinking. This article is written on an unusual topic, Skeleton Leaves,it has a niche audience, the people interested in crafts. There is very little information on it. That's why those who searched information regarding skeleton leaves, they landed on my article. ( I later used this article for my crafts blog and get a lot of visitors there too).
When I look for writing jobs in different forums or job boards, I feel disappointed and disheartened. The clients are willing to pay $0.5 for a 500 hundred words original article! I can't sell myself so cheap.
If you are going to write and give away 500 words article to get $0.50 ,its better to write on Triond. You will earn money from your articles throughout your life or as long as the site is around.
I am off to write some interesting stuff and getting it published once again at Triond.

More Wordpress Themes Converted into Blogger

I am in a little hurry, I have to rush to drop my daughter to school, so just adding two more templates.
WP-Polaroid Blogger Template: The template has got the classic web 2. This template is a good option for affiliate marketing or advertising. It has Three 125 × 125 ad slots where you can put your ads or affiliate links. You can download the WP- Polaroid blogger template here. But first you will have to register with eblogtemplates (for free) before downloading the template.

Blue Jeans: This one is for those who like to work on dark backgrounds. I myself is not a fan of dark or black templates. They make me feel low and depressed and I have to strain my eyes too. Anyways many people may not think the way I do. So here is a dark background wordpress theme converted into blogger. Blue jeans have been developed by infocreek, which provide very nice and professional templates. Blue jeans is available in two and three columns.You can find the demo Here, and to download this template go to this Page

Why didn't I think of it before!

I was going crazy as my forgetful husband has misplaced the USB cable of our camera. I haven't been able to upload photos since I started blogging again. Its very frustrating when you are not able to include the pics in your posts and you have to wait for ages for them to be delivered. Today, out of the blue I got the idea that I can take snaps from my husband's cell phone! It was such an obvious thing to do, but it never occurred to me before. I have persuaded my husband to let me use his mobile phone till he get a new USB cable. I clicked some pictures from the cell today when I went shopping.

I Have Been Busy With My Dad's Site

I have been busy setting up my dad's site, his blog to be precise. My father is a surgeon by profession. But he is a write r by heart. He has been involved with various social works for thirty years. He is so full of energy and new ideas. He has recently taken to blogging.
The platform is the updated 2.7 wordpress. But dad is encountering an unusual problem. He can't see the publish button in the dashboard. More over there are no image/video icons while writing the post.
Today I spent two hours on gtalk chatting with him. Poor dad, he was so excited about starting his own blog. But this unexpected glitch has slowed down his writing spree. I think the problem is related to multiple users. Lets see how it turns out. Otherwise I will look for alternative like blogger platform for self hosted blog.

Ceiling Fans Galore

One of the ceiling fans in our home has suddenly stopped working. My father- in law is a junior engineer in irrigation department, but his hobby is to mend electrical appliances and equipments. He is always busy repairing one thing or the other. But this time even his genius has failed. The ceiling fan is beyond repair.
Now we have to go to the market and check some fans.
I am not particularly inclined to go out in this cold. But it will be a headache when summers come and we are without fans. So I did a quick search on the net, to select some fans and order online.
I found this site which has some elegant and beautiful fans on display like the hunter fans. The selection is worth a look and the rates are reasonable too.