Contests
Updates & Contests
Jun 20th
Well, if you visited my blog between 2pm CST and 3:30pm CST you may have noticed that the header was looking weird at certain times of the day and the reason for that is because I do not have an “Under Maintenance” page while I work on certain aspects of my blog. I have changed quite a bit of stuff on the blog lately. Mainly I have tried to speed up the page loading process and so the Clicksor Ad is gone and the Google Referral Ad is now gone also. For some other changes, the footer of the page is now complete! I know, that some of you just like myself, didnt notice there was a footer until last week! So anyway, that is done and well, I have a new header and the reason for the new header is that even though the old header was great, it was just a little too dull. I hope this one is better than the last one, but you have to let me know what you think!
Aside from that here are some of the things that have happened in the past few days that I need to catch up on.
Ms. Danielle
Ms. Danielle from MsDanielle.com recently mentioned me on her blog! I had written a review about her blog for a contest she was running about a week ago and she liked some part of it so much that she actually published it as a block quote on her own blog. I feel I have won already! 
John Chow’s Monitor Giveaway
Well, he’s at it again. This time John Chow has kicked it up a notch and although the chances of winning are slim, I’m still going for it! John Chow dot Com, a blog that helps you make money is giving away a 24″ wide screen LCD monitor! To enter, you just have to write about it. This is my entry. Now give me the monitor! The contest is sponsored by BlueFur, who wants to let you know that they’re hosting Canada and the rest of the world.
CreateBusinessGrowth.com Contest
CreateBusinessGrowth.com is giving away $335 worth of podcasting gear away if you simply subscribe for their feed. I think its an interesting concept and to be honest, I really like the website. Christine, who is an author of the website, did view my website recently which was quite flattering! The great they are giving away seems great and I would love to try my hand at podcasting and I feel that hearing my voice could be kind of cool! I really love that microphone and that pop filter they are giving away. Boy that entire package is just great. Check it out!
JaKelDaily.com
The editor of JaKelDaily.com has a great blog and loves blogging and replied to my JohnChow.com Reviewed post asking me to take part in his review exchange. He has a pretty good PR and so if you want to get a free backlink just review his blog.
Backlink Exchange
I started the Technorati link exchange a while ago and that went quite well and now I wanted to do a backlink exchange. I dont expect you to write a 100 words nor do i expect you to write a completely new post to mention my blog in, but I hope that if you say at least 1-2 lines that it would be satisfactory. What I will do in return is provide you a back link and do a small review of your website. You aren’t limited to 1 or 2 lines but at least something such as the following would be good:
Enkay Blog is a blog about Technology, Business, Cars and Reviews. He will give you a free backlink if you review his blog.
Once you are done, just send me an email or comment on either of the posts and depending on the response, I will put up the reviews in batches or I’ll put them up as they come.
Well, hope you enjoyed the post and stay tuned I have some pretty entertaining news on the way!
My Ipaq is Dead
Jun 18th
Getting the Gift of iPAQ Sweetness
So back in 2001 my grandma gifted me a shiny silver iPAQ 3630 and I couldn’t be any happier. It was a 206Mhz processor unit with 32MB of RAM and 32MB of space on the device. I really liked having it around and used it for small school projects and such but when I got into college in 2005, that is when I started to use it on a daily basis. It would manage my contacts, calendar, pictures, everything. Then in 2006, it didn’t feel like turning on and of course after 5 years, the battery had died. So, I called Compaq and asked them for a replacement battery only to find out that the battery would cost $175. That kind of money for a battery didn’t seem to make sense so I went on the highly popular shopping website, eBay. I found a great replacement battery and it only cost $20 including shipping. I ordered the battery, installed it and it worked great.
Unhappy Ending
About a few days ago I pulled out my iPAQ and I noticed black dots all over the screen. I was a little freaked out because it was something my grandma gave me and even if the newer Pocket PC’s were better, I still wanted to use my old iPAQ. So anyway, the screen had black spots all over it and the case of the ipaq was glued to the body of the PDA. On closer inspection it seemed like something that burst inside the case. I quickly pulled out the screwdriver and was surprised to see the rear case of the iPaq almost fly out as soon as I had unscrewed one screw. I found out that the replacement battery had bloated to about 5 times the original size causing the screen to develop black spots! I removed the battery and threw it away but now my iPaq is as lively as it could be, turned off. I will still keep it because it has sentimental value attached to it but anyway, here are some pictures of the bloated battery.
As you can see from the pictures above, when compared to the original battery, this battery had swelled up and totally ruined my lovely handheld device!
Erik Karey’s Blog Review
On a lighter note, Erik Karey is hosting a contest on his website. He is in the blogging business and is on his way up the ranks to becoming an online entrepreneur. He talks about several ways to make money online from affiliate marketing as well as Adsense. The best part about it is he also talks about other things that would help increase the life of your blog and your readership. For starters lets break the review of his website down into a few parts:
Appearance
Erik is using one of my favorite WordPress themes called Non Zero Red (3 Column) and if you visit his website you will realize why it is one of my favorites. The design is very pleasant and the colors are vibrant but subtle. It has a very nice shade of gray and the layout of the blog is very well done. His categories are well organized and aren’t a hassle to go through.
Content
I read quite a few of his posts and they were very well written. Its obvious that he has done his homework and knows about the subject that he is talking about. This is very important in blogging. He gives great advice and the fact that he interacts with his readers by asking them for feedback and relating to them also helps bring readers back to the blog. I’m already subscribed to his feed for my daily intake of blog news!
Suggestions
One thing that I noticed right as the page loaded was that there isn’t a “Contact Me” button on the top navigation. The page does exist as it is listed under the “Pages” tab but the button should be added to the top level navigation to be easily visible as I had to look for the button initially. Another thing is that the sidebars have a lot of great widgets such as most popular posts, search, recent posts, etc. but its a little difficult to notice that once the page is first launched. For example, not that my design is perfect in any matter but once you load up the page you will notice my top navigation, the first post, a list of 10 recent posts, my RSS button , a calendar, etc. What this allows the reader to do is that at the first glance they will see the titles for your posts and if they see something they like then they will most likely click on it. Obviously, these suggestions are very minor because it doesn’t make it a bad experience for the reader in any manner. Only thing that could be done is to maybe reduce the space between the RSS button and the Contest image and that would eventually pull up the “Recent Posts” to a point where its visible.
Overall
Overall its a great blog of course, lots of great information and if you are wondering this wasnt a paid review. Erik is actually giving away a Palm Z22 Handheld if you review his website. So I think you would know the reason for me entering this contest. The Palm would be a great replacement for my little old iPAQ and although I am not going to throw my iPAQ away because of what it means to me, its not useable anymore! Thats why I have my fingers crossed and I am hoping I win this new Palm! I want to thank Erik for the opportunity and I hope you liked the Erik!
Online Opportunity Contest
Jun 15th
I promised Jay that I would talk about his contest again due to the fact that he hasnt gained much exposure considering he is giving up $100. I know that this could be a stupid move on my part considering that I could ruin my chances of winning but hopefully its well worth it plus, in my mind I am already using the $100 to buy a domain and two years of hosting!
Anyway, so here goes. Jay has a blog called OnlineOpportunity and he provides you guidance and helps you make money online. He really has some great posts so even if you aren’t considering signing up for the contest, please be sure to check it out as it is a great resource for those of you who wish to monetize your blog. What I really like is that his design is very pleasing to the eye and the content is laid out well. He connects with his readers on a group basis as well as a one-to-one basis, if you don’t believe me, then why not comment on one of his posts and you will receive a reply within a day! He started up this contest recently where he is going to give away $100 if you write a review of his website on your blog. I have already entered before and this new post is just in good faith. Well, if I haven’t convinced you yet, then maybe the following video will convince you!
This is a lotto prank where a bunch of friends get together and trick their other friend into believing he won the lotto when he actually didnt. The reaction is priceless!
