The Many Happenings

This is a guide for many of you out there who is either having trouble starting their own blog, or have a blog that seems slow in terms of unique traffic. This guide will give you tips and tricks and introduce you to the world of SEO otherwise known as Search Engine Optimization. And in relation to the title, I promise I’m not personally claiming to be an SEO Samurai or anything, I’m just saying that if there ever happened to be one, he would probably operate in these ways. Thought you’d catch me on an ego-trip, didn’t you?

The first thing the SEO Samurai would do would be to install or sign up for a search engine optimized blogging platform, such as Wordpress or Blogger. With both services, you can sign up for free on their respective web-site, and make your blog live in several easy steps such as naming and registering it. However, with Wordpress, you can also download their software and install it on your own server. The pros of doing this is that you can optimize it even more by adding many plugins that aren’t normally offered on the online version of the platform. Hosting is very cheap nowadays, and having your own install of Wordpress will make you stand out from the rest because of your distinctive look and features.

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So here is the first contest of many on The Many Happenings, and it’s extremely easy. I am willing to give out 500 of my Entrecard points each week to the user who wins with the best image submission. Each week there will be a different topic, based on a “best of,” and all you have to do is email me with your submission, drop your Entrecard on mine (on the right), and you can win 500 Free Points. The first topic is:

Coolest Desktop.

So that’s it. Just email me a full-res screenshot of your computer’s desktop, (Windows, Mac, or Linux,) along with your first name and your Entrecard username, and the winner will be notified. Good luck everyone!

Technorati Tags: Contests, Mac, Linux, Windows, Desktop, Entrecard

Edit: Sorry guys, email links are now fixed.

So today I went to order my Wacom Bamboo Tablet on Amazon that I have been wanting for a while. The price was right, there was free shipping, and I had a $10 gift card from a Zune survey that they had us do in the early stages of the new version of their software. So I placed it in my basket, went to check out, applied the gift card, and then this happened. The picture will tell you the rest of the story, and I promise this isn’t a Photoshopped screenshot.

Yeah, I technically had a gift card worth $9,999,999 and it was applied to an order a little over $60. I actually stopped to stare at it for a second, as I probably will never even see, own, or even smell that amount of money in my life. I would have canceled the order, taken that new gift card number, and probably ordered something a tad pricier, but before I hit submit order the ethical side of me would have kicked in, I’m sure.

I would end up telling Amazon about it before I spent more online than anyone else has, ever, but still, this was a pretty funny experience. After changing my shipping options it went down to a measly $10 which is what was really on the card, but I’m sure glad I captured the image before I went back to the normal and poor self that I am.

Technorati Tags: Amazon, Glitch, Wacom, Tablet, Bamboo Tablet, PhotoshopAmazon, Glitch, Wacom, Tablet, Bamboo Tablet, Photoshop

So far, Qassia is very intriguing. It claims to be an “intelligence engine,” or a closed community of blogs where users share links and “intel,” or information with each other. When a user reads and refers the intel, they gain Qassia bucks, which they get to spend on backlinks, other sources of traffic, or integrate it with their ad revenue sharing program somehow. This is definitely a good idea for users with new site startups.

Once you sign up you immediately get a user account, where you can add your sites and other info. You also get a referral link to invite your friends with, and if you do, you receive $100 QBucks. But if you sign up within the next 12 hours from this post and refer someone, because of the closed beta, Quassia has upped it to $500 QBucks. So here is an invitation for you, (click the link and then Sign Up so I get the refer credit and you get the closed access,) and we can all test this together. Enjoy.

I am going to be using this service for The Many Happenings, and I will write updates as they happen. I hope the service is worthwhile - it definitely seems like it is.

Technorati Tags: Quassia, Closed Beta, Traffic Exchanges, SEO

We have received over 500 unique pictures over the last couple of days on FixUpMyPic, and we are extremely honored to have such a turn out; especially this early in the site’s age. Some of them unfortunately couldn’t be returned due to extremely low quality or resolution, but over 90% have been fixed and uploaded into the gallery. We hadn’t expected this many photos so fast, but since we did, the coding team is now rapidly working on a few updates. This information won’t go on the F.U.M.P blog because it may encourage users to wait. When the update is applied, it will happen immediately, and the user will be able to use all the new features.

We have created a PHP based system that will almost automatically fix the user’s pic and give it back to them. A human will still glance at it to make sure it is appropriate, but the turnaround time will be less than an hour. The user will upload a pic, select which effect, colorization, or frame they want, (or a combination of any of them,) and within an hour they will receive their fixed pic.

Though the majority of our users will use this new system, there will still be the option to upload it directly to one of our professionals. It will be the exact same way as it is now. Upload a pic, describe how you want it, and within the normal 24 hour period it will be sent to them. However, the first option will be more appealing, as it is extremely faster and will have almost every option one would want.

This is the first major update to the site, and as always in a beta, there will be more to come. We hope the users enjoy the FixUp option that we are now giving them, and we look forward to the process being faster and more efficient to everyone. This update will be applied within the week, and I’ll update this post when it happens.

Technorati Tags: FixUpMyPic, FUMP, F.U.M.P, Beta, Patch, Photoshop, Update, Projects, News, PHP