A year ago, give or take a couple of weeks, I signed up with a certain company. They promised to never make me link to porn or questionable sites, and I agreed to link to whatever assignments they gave. For the most part, this isn’t a problem, but sometimes, it feels like I am in bed with the devil! See, the agreement means that they don’t really have to pay much attention to which blogs they pass which assignments, too. Like this week, for instance: I had a life insurance link for this blog which I managed to work into a post in what I considered to be a reasonably effective yet unobtrusive way, only to look down my list and see this: life insurance quotes, from a different sponsor. Yes, I just made a sentence with two colons. I have mad English Skillz, I tells ya. My point is, umm, duh! I have five blogs with them, and could they not possibly have spread those two links out? How do you advertisers feel about that? Do you think you are getting your money’s worth?

And over at their forum, which they have, but we aren’t allowed to quote it OR link to it, if you mention something like this, you are accused of trying to weasel out of your assignments, people volunteer to take your work, and the thread is locked and/or deleted. And yet there are still people going on and on about the wonderfulness of the company. Now, don’t get me wrong, the company is run by a nice group of people, and for the most part, I enjoy the work I do for them. But it would be nice to be able to express a concern or ask a question without the saccharin crowd coming after me with pitchforks.

Speaking of saccharin crowds, it’s interesting that all of them apparently hate the one paid blogging company that does take feedback from it’s users and also allows (no, encourages) it’s bloggers to pick and choose relevant topics. But, hey, I at least got the link in, right?

Now let’s discuss that one where they want me to create a logo and a business card, screenshot it, crop it, post it and tell how easy it all was for $7.50. Hahahahhahahahah, yeah right.

Man, am I just a little bit aggravated here. I guess it never occurred to DH that when I quit using the checking account, I could no longer do any shopping unless he gave me cash. Which he did not bring me any of. On the weekend before Christmas. Whatever. I’m just a little frustrated that whatever doesn’t get done will be laid squarely at my feet, not necessarily by him, but certainly by everyone else.

I worked my tail off today to get the last of the house cleaned so we could finally put up the tree, sat down in the recliner, not to relax but rather to work and plan what I needed to pick up this weekend, only to find out that I can stop planning my shopping right this instant. Umm, yay. I guess. Also, to get fussed at for not discussing things with him. In all the time that I was home I guess, because the date for Christmas fluctuates from year to year, and so it has to be ironed out afresh each December. Ummm-hmmm.

Well, at least my hair dresser can take paypal. I’m finally getting my hair cut that I desperately needed last week. As for the shopping, DH says Monday is soon enough to get that handled. I’ll let you all know how that works out for him.

Yet another not-so-boring article on the Google shenanigans

Let me ask you something. Before the rankspank, how did a site get PR? In general, it was assumed that the way to build PR was to get sites that had PR to link to you. I say assumed, because the algorithm that computes page rank is guarded more closely than the vaults at Fort Knox. So, anyway, and whatever. Previously observed examples of page rank attainment indicated that having people link to you would increase your page rank, particularly if their pr was higher than yours.

Now, since the rankspank, people have been asking questions about the implications of it, what it all means, where we go from here and offering all sorts of theories about protecting ourselves from further harm, and accusations that PPP is responsible for Google’s actions, and it’s just been a real wild ride around the internet. As you know if you’ve been reading here, I am taking a more relaxed attitude toward the whole debacle, using the benefit of my great age and wisdom (HA) to remind myself that these things typically work themselves out in the end, and that panic is rarely justified.

Of course, it helps that I’ve been paying attention to some of the sites of people I have blogged for in the past. Colleen and others are asking about the middle men who procure our ads for us, but I am going another layer deep and looking to the advertiser’s themselves. The folks I have blogged about still have their PR. Let me repeat that: the advertisers that bought buzz and reviews via paid blogging companies and that listed links via link sellers are still reaping the benefit of having done so. This rankspank is a farce, it’s purely cosmetic and as unreal as the basket of Maybelline I keep on my dresser. If the bloggers who made money from their blogs were truly ranked at 0 now, then all those advertisers would be left holding a page rank of…yeah, 0. Maybe 1, just for the sheer number of links involved.

The next thing people are saying is that Google will de-index us if we continue on running our little blog businesses. I don’t think so. Google is primarily a search engine, and they are at the top because they are the best. For now. But they are not the only engine in town, and if they de-index bloggers on any kind of massive scale, and people can’t find the information they are looking for, they will turn to those other engines. I’m seeing it already in fact, with more searches from Ask and Yahoo in my referrals. Google has hacked off more than just paid bloggers with their high handed tactics, and no matter what else comes if it, people still don’t like a bully, and that’s all this really is. Of course, if no one ever find this article, I’ll know that I was wrong. J/K

Let me wrap up by saying that this PR0 is quite the ego stroke for me. Google considers my business model such a threat to their business model that they had to give me a cosmetic rankspank. A rankspank that did not reduce my actual advertising value at all.

Realizing yesterday that I was leaving town again tomorrow, because I am just quick like that, I called Virgin Mobile to order a cell phone and service from them. The customer service rep assured me that the camera on the Slider Sonic was comparable to the one on the Wildcard, so I chose that one, even thought that QWERTY keyboard made me drool. I’d rather have good pictures, because I am a photoblogger, after all. I looked that over a bit more carefully after the kids were settled last night, and I can only conclude that Virgin Mobile lies. The cameras are so not comparable, with the Wildcard being the better one by several orders of magnitude.

When I ordered the phone, it was 10am on the west coast, so there was plenty of time to have the phone shipped out overnight, so I could get it today and activate, charge and program it in time for my trip. I paid extra for that overnight shipping. I was assured when I called back late last night to change my order to the Wildcard that my phone was on the way, and so my order could not be changed. When my phone was not here at 1:30 today, I called to check again, and my phone has not only NOT SHIPPED, it’s still marked as pending. So, Virgin Mobile not only lies, but they also steal.

At this point I was just about mad, and so I told the supervisor that I wanted a refund. Oh, no, they can’t possibly do that. Not even when they lie, not even when they steal, because Virgin Mobile is also a big fat hairy cheat. So, let’s recap: Virgin Mobile will lie, cheat and steal to get your money. They’ll tell you anything to get you to fork over your dough. And since I have had to call at least 4 times and spend a couple hours on the phone wading through their customer unservice, I’m gonna also say Virgin Mobile sucks.

FTR, I did warn that supervisor that I planned to let at least 300 people know how I felt about them, and I am pretty sure that I can go well over that with StumbleUpon and Digg. Will you help a girl out? Click it for me, wouldja? I need to go find a real phone. Grrrrrrrrr

*begin satire*
Over the past 24 hours, this reporter has watched the infrastructure of the internet dissolve. Thousands upon millions of people have folded up their laptops and walked away from the internets because they can no longer find information that is relevant to them. Visits to once popular blogs have faded away to nothing, and entire banks of internet lights are dark and dismal. The sound of the not-clacking keyboards is overwhelming in it’s unintensity.

And who is at the heart of this disaster? Why, it’s the mythical giant Google, internet monopolizer and pimp of blog whores everywhere. In a stunning move that has left the experts baffled, Google has reduced page ranks to nil, and reduced the amount of traffic they send to blogs by several orders of magnitude.

*end satire*

Or not, yk? Good grief, people, get a grip. The SERPs have not changed. I have seen so many people say they are changing this or that because of the page rank dip. PR is only worth what you can sell it for. If you write relevant, interesting material, people will read it. You give G too much power when you cower in the corner crying and begging for them to stop. Get up, for crying out loud. Get up and do what you do best–WRITE. That’s what got you into this “mess”, and your ability to write is what will get you out.

Or, lay there and take it. You decide.

But, please, quit crying.

It’s been a large day. I am trying to wrap things up for my Vegas trip. I’ve a bazillion loads of clothes to wash. Ok two. And then I have to pack and make sure the kids are packed, and I am tired and oh, whine, whine, whine. But tonight was my first pack meeting, and I want to tell you about it!

It went really well. I moved the meeting along at a right good clip, I only got flummoxed a couple of times and recovered quickly. In fact, when it was done, someone asked if I was a public speaker. No, LOL. I’m not. In fact, public speaking intimidates me. So, umm, Cass, why are you talking about the Cub Scouts here on this blog? Doesn’t this kind of thing belong on your parenting blog? No. No it doesn’t because this post is all about grownups, and not about the boys at all. In fact, I hope that the leaders’ boys are the only ones who ever know something has gone awry.

When we got ready to start the meeting, we discovered that our flag stands were missing. We just held the flags and then put them away and moved on with the meeting. After the main meeting, when I was having my den leaders’ meeting, we discovered that a bunch of other stuff was missing–the pinewood derby track and computer, some posters, but all stuff that had been there when we had our preliminary meeting. And I can’t get up with the guy from the church who we met with.

This same man had been so positive sounding on the 26th when I called to ask him a couple of questions, and update him on the pack plans. He said he’d ask a couple of the church members to sit on the pack committee. We talked about the pack meeting that was taking place tonight. I really thought …..

What kind of facility ……….. moves (one hates to say takes) cub scout stuff without getting in touch with the Cub Master? Our boys made those flag stands. To them, those stands are not just wood and nails, they were a gift to the pack. They are more valuable than the finest Ulysse Nardin watch. I just feel gut punched now. And I have no idea where we are supposed to go from here. But I tell you this: we will figure it out.

I got a flyer in my mailbox the other day about a new real estate tax the government of our county is trying to foist upon us. I believe I have already expressed that this area is growing faster than high rollers are flocking to the Wynn Las Vegas, and now, apparently, the county thinks those of us who were here from the time of Adam ought to pay for it. The tax they are trying to pass is on the sale of homes and properties, and it’s paid by the seller.

I have a couple few problems with this. First, since when did the seller pay the sales tax? This makes the tax an income tax and not a real estate tax. The state already gets it’s share of our income.

Secondly, we already pay property tax every year, and that makes this tax double taxation.

Thirdly, there are no exceptions to this tax–not for churches, not for seniors, not for anyone. Since when do we tax God? I’m laughing too hard at this idea to properly elucidate my response to this, but behind the laughter I think my main emotion is horror.

Fourthly, this is going to make it even more difficult for the working poor to afford housing in this area. Do you think the cost of housing isn’t going to rise even more if this tax is passed? Of course, I have no doubt in my mind that this last effect is the ultimate plan behind most of the decisions of the town council. The working poor make them uncomfortable, see. Which is downright laughable, since I personally know that several of them grew up without twopennies to rub together. Talk about getting above your raisin’.

Ok, I’m about done here. I’ll be voting on election day against this tax. And maybe against the idiots who put it on the ballot while I am at it. They clearly no longer represent me.

In which we consider whether a bottle of Dawn dishwashing liquid is payment for a blog post, or if it is rather a sample on which to base an opinion which one might express in such a blog post, complete with the biting humor you have come to know and love.

My friend, Elizabeth received a bottle of Dawn dish detergent in order to review it. Now, PPP has decided that she was in fact PAID for the review with this soap, and they are therefore not going to pay her for the review she did though them for another product. Bear in mind that Elizabeth’s blog is built solely on consumer reviews, that’s what it’s always been, even before it was accepted for PPP. Here’s how PayPerPost justifies their decision:

A sponsored post is any post for which you received something (cash, goods or services) in exchange for writing the post. In this post you say, ” I received a free bottle of Dawn Simple Pleasures in exchange for this review.” This leads me to believe that you would not actually be writing the review if you were not receiving something for it, i.e. you did not write this post because you tried a new product and decided to share your thoughts. Because of this, I do have to uphold the rejection as this is in violation of our Terms of Service regarding Interim posts. I do apologize for any inconvenience this may cause and thank you again for blogging with PayPerPost.

Needless to say, I totally disagree with their assessment of the situation, and here are various things I have said in the past two days to support my position that what Elizabeth received was not a payment.

How can they send you a bottle in exchange, if you do the review after? What if you did not write about it? Will the P&G police come take it back?

and

You were paid in………….dish soap. Clearly, this is a product in high demand, and everyone wants dish soap, and you are liable to get mugged on the streets of New York for your dish soap. Be careful not to let anyone see how much dish soap you have they will be jealous!

It’s FREAKING DISH SOAP. It’s not a payment, it’s a sample.

and

They pay in cash, which I can then use to purchase things like shoes and food. Unlike you, who are now apparently content to work for dish soap. How’s that working out for you? Doesn’t it get a little messy to measure it out when you buy things?

and

Re:dish soap, I am still trying to figure out how you are going to spend that.

I was laying awake last night as I often do, being a relative insomniac, and I though to myself: Self, if hamburger went on sale for 2.49 a pound, and Elizabeth wanted to stock up, and she might, having a family of five, and all, why she’d only need to haul TWENTY bottles of dish soap down there to the store to get 20 pounds of hamburger meat. And just right there, I realized how MONEY came to be such a popular way to PAY people.

and

Food I might could understand, since it does constitute a rather large segment of most people’s budgets. Dish soap is really pretty negligible on the budget list, generally less than 1% of the budget.

But, totally I would blog for gift cards to grocery stores so that I could choose dish soap OR food depending on which I needed at the time.

and

And, oh by the way, I’m totally blogging this. No charge, You can keep your soap

Now, PPP has done some totally asinine junk in the past few months, in their quest to build a good, dependable, literate stable of bloggers, and I have mostly kept my complaints on the boards and off my blogs, because it should mostly be internal business. You may have noticed fewer posts through their market place on this blog, as I have come to certain decisions about them, but I have avoided calling the whole wide world to witness their stupidity. But this latest thing that they have done, to declare themselves the arbitrators of blogging payments, is just beyond the pale. Would you work for SOAP? Would anyone you know actually work for household cleanser?? No, I didn’t think so.

PPP is failing miserably at obtaining and retaining quality bloggers because they are failing to be proactive. They accept far too many marginal blogs, and then when those blogs get worse instead of better, they try to fix it by making a new rule, by reacting. And the bloggers who get pinched by that are the good bloggers. The bad ones don’t care — they will just continue to write a semi-coherent post for PPP, then some claptrap about the color of the sky (usually blue, occasionally grey, duh) or Phoenix real estate exactly 4 sentences long and then another post for PPP. And because they are technically within the rules, their posts get approved, and they write for PPP another day. Good bloggers, like yours truly (ha), who write 902 (currently) words and then throw in a link like I just did are then left with a choice: write another huge article that takes an hour or more so they can write a $10 (at best) post for PPP, write a short piece so they can write a post for PPP, or stop at the $5 they will get hassle-free for the real estate link and move on.

Which do you think I will choose, after 994 words?