for now, at least.

I’ve had a lot of fun updating this blog since I started it nearly three years ago, but the time has come (at least, for now) to move on.

I started this blog back in January 2007 after returning from my first ever trip to CES. As lame as it sounds, that trip literally changed my life and ultimately the direction I wanted to take it. I met some amazing people during and shortly after that trip that showed me anything was possible and I could make one of my dreams a reality.

This blog has been online and active for 2 1/2 years which is an eternity in the blogsphere. So why am I deciding to end it now?

The first reason is time, or lack of. I don’t seem to have as much free time as I did when I started this adventure. I have since moved backed closer to all of my friends and have taken on additional review opportunities online. This gives me less time to devote to the blog, which needs a lot of attention and dedication to be successful. Not only do you have to update your blog frequently, it is also important that you read other blogs and comment there as well. Stuff like this helps to drive traffic to your own site.

In what seems to make very little sense, now that I have moved closer to my friends, I tend to do less “exciting” things and thus, there really isn’t as much interesting stuff for me to post here. Blog posts used to come naturally and I always had something to talk about or an opinion to voice, but that doesn’t seem to be the case anymore. I guess you can say I got boring!

When I started this site, social networking was still relatively new. Now that Twitter and Facebook have changed the way we communicate and share information online, I can simply share my experiences through these mediums instead. Feel free to follow me on Twitter or add me as a friend on Facebook and I will do the same.

I still have a lot of things I want to accomplish and unfortunately this blog is at the bottom of the list. I toyed with the idea of monetizing this blog and changing its focus or even starting a new niche blog altogether, but as I have said in the past, that just didn’t feel right. There are a lot of things about blog marketing and such that I would have to research beforehand and again, I don’t have the time for that right now.

For now, however, I am just going to keep on keeping on and doing the things I love. I still love photography and will continue to post pictures on Facebook and Flickr. I’m still a big Dave Ramsey fan and hard at working paying off all of my old debt. Heck, I might even change my outlook on being single LOL.

All kidding aside, I want to thank everyone who has stopped by, read a post and commented on something here. I am certain the site wouldn’t have lasted this long had it not been for the reader participation during some of the blog’s more active times. I will be leaving the site online as I feel there are some valuable posts that others could learn from.

Final blog stats:

769 total posts
2028 comments

Even after I swore I never would, I gave Twitter an honest try, I really did. In the short 24 days that I have been a member, it has pretty much been a disaster from the start.

My first day with Twitter was frustrating, as it appeared their service was having technical issues and I couldn’t do simple tasks like update my profile picture… or at times, even refresh my page. Then a few days later, I had a very strange problem where it seemed my account had been taken over… sorta. Some of my updates were still visible, and some of my followers and those I am following were listed, but most weren’t. It seemed they just disappeared.

I created a brand new profile but again, the same problems started popping up almost immediately. After some help from a friend, I changed my password and magically everything was back to normal. Odd.

Another week or so passed and again, the same thing happened, but this time, it was showing a different user’s name on my page. What? I reverted back to changing my password and again, was up and running as if nothing had happened.

The final nail in the coffin occurred late last week, when again, the same thing happened. In the above screenshot, you can see MY page on the right (my URL in the address bar), with “cracker_mandi” as the user name. The funny thing here is that those are MY updates listed below, although only a fraction of them. Now on the left side is what i found on Google as her cached page. It appears this is a real person… very strange.

But this time, I was unable to change my password, as I never received the password change notification email from Twitter. I did some research on Twitter’s page and it seems this is a known issue. I tried contacting Twitter about this but their customer service is a total joke, so no help there. It appears I am now permanently locked out of my account.

I really wanted Twitter to work as I think it could be a powerful marketing tool if used correctly, but after having so many problems in less than a month, is it really worth starting ALL over again?

Have you had any problems with Twitter like this or anything else that went unresolved?

UPDATE - Not five minutes after this post, I was FINALLY able to reset my password and everything is back to normal. Don’t know if I should even fool with it anymore…

I finally caved in and signed up for Twitter, something I said I would never do! Why did I finally give in and do this?

Unlike most people, I plan to primarily use it as a business tool. Social networks are very powerful and as I have said many times before, the majority of business (especially online) is based on who you know. It is this exact reason that I am a member of sites like LinkedIn.

My first day with Twitter was frustrating, as it appeared their service was having technical issues and I couldn’t do simple tasks like update my profile picture… or at times, even refresh my page. But that has all been cleared up now and I am starting to get the hang of things. I haven’t had a whole lot of time to mess around with it just yet but I do have a handful of followers already. With some more dedication, I am sure I can get a lot more followers in the near future and really harness the power of this social networking tool.

Feel free to follow me and check out what goes on in my daily life, and of course I will return the favor

Today marks the two year anniversary of this blog! It was on January 20, 2007 that I made my very first post to this blog. I started this blog just after attending the 2007 Consumer Electronics Show where I met some really beneficial people, like Bob Buskirk, a fellow tech site owner.

Since that time, this blog has seen 745 posts and 1940 comments over the past two years, which is pretty decent for a non-niche blog. I have really enjoyed updating the blog, sharing aspects of my tech site and personal life with my readers.

I have toyed with the idea of monetizing this blog or perhaps starting a niche blog (probably personal finance), but thus far, I haven’t acted on either of those ideas. We shall see what happens in 2009.

Updates as of late have been few and far between, which haven’t been on purpose. It just seems that I have less and less time to devote to the blog, but I will look to change that from this point forward. So, what’s been going on since my last update?

A CES 2009 No-Show

This was the first year since I started going to CES that I didn’t make it to Vegas for the annual technology trade show. I tossed around the idea of attending late last year but ultimately decided against it, mostly for financial reasons. CES is such a blast and equally as beneficial for my tech site, as I get to network and make new contacts with potential sponsors and other site owners which is invaluable. But, I didn’t let that get me down and did what I could from home and managed to secure a relationship with Intel, which is absolutely huge!

CES 2010 is definitely in my future, granted the show doesn’t go the way of COMDEX and cease to exist next year. Attendance was down this year but let’s hope they give it a few more years to rebound.

Ole Miss Wins 2009 Cotton Bowl

Ole Miss shocked the country and took Texas Tech to the woodshed in the 2009 Cotton Bowl on January 2, coming away with a 47-34 victory and proving once again that the Big 12 is overrated. The Rebs finished the season very strong, with a 31-13 win over LSU in the 1st annual Magnolia Bowl and absolutely dismantled Mississippi State 45-0 in the Egg Bowl. Ole Miss finished 15th nationally and is already being ranked as high as 5th in preseason polls for next year.

These accolades are well earned. After all, Ole Miss was the only team to beat Florida, the eventual National Champion. 2009 will be a great year for sure. Can you say SEC Champions?

Xbox 360

I told myself I would probably never buy another gaming console, especially a current-generation unit. They are just too expensive and I don’t play games enough to warrant the expense. But here I am, with a 360!

I ended up buying a Pro model from Josh after our last LAN party. He purchased two additional units for use at the party but turns out, we didn’t need them. I got a heck of a deal which is really the reason I bought it. And thanks to Left 4 Dead, I have actually been playing it quite a bit, as a group of about 5-6 of us play multiplayer almost nightly. If you are on Live and want to add me, just leave a comment with your Gamertag or e-mail me at: playafly187@ocia.net

Paying Off Debt

Since I started following Dave Ramsey about a year ago, I have cut out a ton of useless spending in my budget and have been working very hard to pay off debt that I have accumulated over the years. About 85% of my debt is student loans and I have been paying those off as fast as I can. I have only a single payment left on the one loan I have been attacking which is pretty exciting. My focus after that is the one remaining credit card balance I am carrying, then it is full steam ahead on my large student loan.

At first, it was really tough to cut back on unnecessary spending and trying to save money, but now that I have been doing it for almost a year, it is actually fun. I enjoy seeing how frugal I can be each month and how little I can get by on. Odd, yes, but it is very motivating.

Keeping Busy With Work

Many people wish they could work for themselves at home, create their own schedules and be their own boss. The reality is, it is tough. The reason I say this is because you are never “off work”. With a traditional job, once you leave the office, you are free. You don’t have to worry with work until the next day or after the weekend. When you work for yourself, you are always thinking about work and what needs to be done and when you are going to do it. I love what I do but it is pretty stressful and there is a lot of responsibility. I don’t think most people could do it.

Anyway, things with OCIA.net are still going strong. I have been focusing on attaining more sponsorships for the site, which means sharing the latest and greatest hardware with our readers. Things look bright for 2009 and I can’t wait to see what the year brings!

I have been looking to hire an additional reviewer and have taken a chance on two people in the past several months, both of which have screwed me over and basically stole the review items without doing any work. Its frustrating when someone with no morals comes along and throws a monkey wrench into what you have worked hard to do just for a free product. Its even more frustrating when you see these people move on to the next site they plan to scam.

On that note, if you are into the tech scene and think you might be interested in writing for my site, shoot me an email and we can talk.

I have also been doing some freelance writing for another tech site based in Mexico, Techspot. Things with this site have been going really well and I have had a good time reviewing for them and look forward to continue our relationship in 2009.

Texas Pickle

I had never heard of a Texas Pickle until just recently. Adam had been telling me about then for a while and finally decided to make a batch.

Basically, you take jalapenos, remove the insides, fill with cheese then wrap the entire thing in bacon. Bake in the oven or cook on the grill and you end up with what you see above!

I love trying new foods and the Texas Pickle was no exception and in fact, it was very good. I am not a huge fan of spicy foods but once gutted and cooked, the jalapeno was not spicy at all. I would recommend you give them a try sometime for sure.

And with that, I’m off to go make dinner…

Many of us focus 100% of our marketing efforts in the online venue, but it is equally as important to build your brand and get your name known offline as well. Whether you realize it or not, there are a ton of offline promotional ideas out there. Some can be a bit more expensive than others, like t-shirts for example. But, you can still find some excellent promotional items for next to nothing - enter BICPromoPens.com.

The team over at BICPromoPens.com specialize in one thing - yep, you guessed it: BIC promotional pens! Promotional pens are a very cost-efficient way to advertise nearly anything - your business (both online and offline), blogs, or just about any other service or product that you can think of. Unlike a business card, a flyer or an ad in the yellow pages, useful items like pens and t-shirts won’t be tossed in the garbage and will be used frequently… each time, reminding the user of your business / product!

BICPromoPens.com sent over 20 of the BIC Tri Stic Promotional Pens you see above. Like all of their pens, you can customize it by specifying the trim and barrel color, as well as adding up to four lines of text. This style of pen can be had for as little as $.54 each!

Next up is the Brite Liner Grip Highlighter, again, fully customizable with four lines for your message and of course, your choice of ink color. These highlighters start at $94.each, with bulk orders receiving a nice discount!

If you have a bit of a bigger budget or want to really impress and showcase yourself as a professional, the BIC Executive Carbon Fiber Pen is what you are looking for. This is an extremely high-quality pen and it writes just as elegantly as it looks! This will certainly be replacing my current pen for use at my desk.

BICPromoPens.com even included this nice Polo style shirt! Talk about a complete package - I won’t need to purchase another pen for a very long time… well, that is until I order some for my tech site and this blog.

Founded in 1945, BIC has stood the test of time and are the most well know pen manufacturers in the world, so you know they offer a quality product. If you are in need of some offline marketing material and are on a budget, I would certainly recommend you check out BICPromoPens.com. They have literally hundreds of different models and styles of pens to choose from!

The only question that remains… is, what am I going to do with all of these pens?

Link exchanges are a great way to get your blog noticed by new readers from other blogs and do the same for some of your friends / readers. If you would like to exchange links with my blog, just post a comment and we can do the deed

I recently conducted a blogging case study (completely by accident) and decided it would be fun to share my results here with everyone.

About this time last year, I started adding new blogs to my bookmarks list. These were blogs that I enjoyed reading and covered a wide variety of topics: personal, technology, financial, etc. Basically just stuff that I was interested in.

I have tried to keep constant with most of these blogs over the past year, but I didn’t have enough spare time to visit each one every day, every week or even every month.

So, fast-forward to present day. A couple of days ago, I decided to check back in on some of these blogs and see what all I had missed in the past few months. To my disappointment, many of these blogs were either no longer updated, or simply no longer existed at all.

Last year, I added a total of 62 blogs to my bookmarks list. As of just a few days ago, over 25% of these blogs are now defunct. By defunct, I mean either A) the blog has not been updated in the past 60 days or B) the blog no longer exists. So why are a quarter of the blogs I use to visit no longer around?

That’s a good question, and there are probably several answers. I would suspect several of these blogs jumped into existence simply to make a quick buck. As the owners soon found out, making money online takes a lot of work. Others probably just got tired of not being successful - and by that, I mean not having a strong following. Updating a blog is not much fun when nobody ever comments on your posts. Still others may have become too busy in their personal life to continue updating their blog, which is fine.

But, for the life of me, I don’t know why people just totally abandon their sites! If you don’t plan to update it any more, make a post saying so! You at least owe it to your readers to explain why you won’t be updating the blog any longer. I have seen this countless times in the computer hardware website scene, and it’s a real shame. I have seen countless sites (really good sites) come and go, with no explanation. One day, they are seemingly doing great, the next day, they cease to exist or are simply left for dead.

Have any of you seen some of your favorite sites come and go? Or perhaps you are guilty of abandoning a site yourself? Speak up, let’s hear it

Social networking sites aren’t anything new, but some of the newer ones are just plain stupid. Example: Twitter.

For those of you who don’t know, Twitter is an “update” system for your life… yeah, how lame is that? The whole purpose of the site/service is to allow you to make continual updates throughout the day of everything you are doing. You just ate a hamburger? That’s great. Going shopping or mowing the lawn? Congrats. Going fishing or simply watching TV? Hope you have fun. News flash: I COULD CARE LESS ABOUT YOUR DAILY ACTIVITIES!

Umm… no, basic updates are not meaningful. Again, I don’t care that you are eating soup, running late to a meeting or partying. If you are running late to a meeting, the last thing you need to be doing is playing on your phone, updating your twitter. How about get in the car and drive to your meeting?! And, if you have enough free time to keep an eye on what everyone else is doing in their lives, well… that says a lot about what you are doing (or more so, NOT doing).

The only thing good about Twitter? It is a stalker’s dream come true.

Now, before you ask, I can already hear some people saying, “Well isn’t a blog essentially the same thing?”. No, not even close. Blog posts are meant to be informative and entertaining. I don’t publish posts unless there is some substance to it: humor, informative, educational, etc. I gain nothing by knowing you just washed your car.

Do you use Twitter? Surely I am not the only one that thinks this is one of the worst ideas ever…

LuLuGal over at How I Save Money has tagged me for a six word memoir. Just as she claims, I am not good at poetry (thx to Keith for my EPIC poetry in high school LOL)… but here goes:

Live on less than you make.

Here are the rules:

1. Write your own six word memoir
2. Post it on your blog and include a visual illustration if you want
3. Link to the person who tagged you in your post
4. Tag at least five more blogs
5. Leave a comment on the tagged blogs with an invitation to play

Leo Chiang
Thomas De Maesschalck
Tyler Ingram
Bob Buskirk
Derek Semmler

April 1. I always seem to get suckered into falling for at least one prank each year, simply because the prankster does a good job at convincing me that whatever it is “could” be true. I have seen a lot of really good blog posts and some not-so-great ones in the past few years. So, instead of trying to pull one myself, I am going to give you some tips on how to create a successful April Fools post.

It Must Be Believable and Original

A post about you hitting the lottery or finding buried treasure isn’t very believable simply because things like that are extremely rare. Your post needs to have at least some sort of credibility to it, something that could actually happen and wouldn’t raise suspicion immediately. For example, a video post from Shoemoney describing how to make $1,000 in one hour is credible, because he is a well known blogger who makes a lot of money from the internet.

Lead Up To The Planned Post

In the blogging world, its good practice to make posts as frequent as possible (a few per day is optimum). If you do this, then completely stop a few days before April 1, your readers will begin to wonder “what’s up”. This can help add to the suspense of your post when you do post it.

Posting Early: The New Fad?

What better way to catch someone off guard than to publish your post a day early? My buddy John pulled this stunt by releasing his John Chow Blogger Cola a day early. The majority of the comments so far have “figured it out”, but some seem to have totally fallen for it. By posting early, this leaves John totally open to post something even wilder on April 1!

Get Your Friends To Help

The odds of you pulling off a successful prank can increase greatly if you get your friends involved. Have someone do a guest post on your site, announcing something tragic, like a motorcycle accident, then take it one step further and have a few others post comments with their condolences, prayers, etc. This will get your readers thinking, “hey, maybe something bad DID actually happen”. So evil!

These are just a few ideas that you can use to help create a really great April Fools post.

Have you ever pulled off a prank of “epic proportion”?