I'm a computer and video gamer from waaaay back. I remember when Pong came out. I owned a Fairchild Channel 1 video game system. That came out just before the Atari 2600 for you video game buffs. I played games on my TRS-80 model 1 computer in 1979. From adventure games and first person shooters to strategy and massively multiplayer online games, I've been there and done that. Computer and video games have a way... Continue Reading

What do people see when they look at you? Initially, they see your physical appearance. However, I believe our bodies are really a small part of who we really are. Man is a three-part being. We are body, soul and spirit. The body is just a casing (or an earthsuit as John Eldredge likes to say) to give our real selves something to walk around in during our brief stay on this planet. And yet... Continue Reading

I have to warn you now. This entry is not going to be pretty. But someone has got to say something. Anyone? Anyone? Bueller? Fine... sigh... I'll do it. Continue Reading

By now, you know that I am the creator of the world's most-talked about iPhone application, iFart Mobile. Although most people know me these days as the best selling author of "Twitter Power - How To Dominate Your Market One Tweet At A Time" and a successful internet entrepreneur, my staff and I eagerly jumped into iPhone development as soon as the app store launched. If you have been following me on Twitter, you are... Continue Reading

Apart from Twitter's own terms of service which prohibit obvious things like harassment, transmitting viruses and spamming other members, there really aren't many rules to the site. You can essentially use Twitter however you like. However, for people and businesses who want to use Twitter successfully (eg: build a following and grow their circle of influence), there are a number of best practices that can be observed. I cover many of these in my book... Continue Reading

Every time I go to a conference or take part in a seminar I meet a bunch of amazing people. I meet people who are experts at marketing. I chat to entrepreneurs who are wizards at search engine optimization. I swap ideas with other bloggers who are making six-figure incomes on the strength of their posts. Every one of those people is special. But they aren't successful because they're special. They're special because they're successful. Continue Reading

My team and I came up with the idea for an iPhone fart application in summer of 2008. We knew it would be a hit. We just needed to develop it. We took great pride in developing iFart Mobile. It was more than another iPhone application. It was a true entertainment machine with a unique interface. It didn't LOOK like an iPhone app. When we submitted the application to Apple, it was put "in review... Continue Reading

I'm at Will Rogers airport in Oklahoma City, getting ready to make the trek home to Colorado after a week of visiting with family and friends. I've had some time to reflect on the year and would like to take a stroll down memory lane. The year started with a crazy idea. I knew that others had dabbled with the idea of doing an Internet reality show, but no one had really taken the concept... Continue Reading

Last month I was in Atlanta for the Big Seminar. Now usually I'm not much of a morning person, but when I took a peek at Friday's schedule, I knew I had to wake up early... Over the past five years or so I'd been hearing the first  speaker's name over and over again... "Joel you've got to check out this young kid Jermaine. He's from the inner-city, but Corey Rudl is taking him under his... Continue Reading

I recommend a lot of products to people, and sometimes I get emails from readers complaining that they can't possibly buy everything I recommend. I don't expect you to. Not all of the products I recommend suit everyone. All of them though will help someone. If you decide not to buy a product I recommend, that's fine. Just make sure that you're not turning down something that could genuinely help your site to grow and... Continue Reading

Aloha! As you know, I am on vacation in Maui. As I write this, I am watching the sun rise behind the mountains, listening to the waves crash and enjoying the small birds that are landing on my balcony railing. Yes, it is just another day in tropical paradise. And yet, I am compelled to write... to share what is on my mind. Because with all the success I have enjoyed, I am reminded that... Continue Reading

I've been pretty lukewarm about Google's referral products. They've been pushing them pretty hard but I haven't been impressed. I'm not convinced that the Google Pack contains anything worth writing home about. I don't care enough about Mozilla to recommend that everyone downloads Firefox. And the commissions that Google is offering for its downloads just aren't big enough to take up real estate on my Web pages. I'd rather put together a joint venture with... Continue Reading

When Google takes action, they really take action. The forums have been buzzing recently with news that Google is in the middle of a content "quality initiative." There's nothing about it in the AdSense blog, but Jennifer Slegg of Jenstar.com has reported that a number of publishers have received emails telling them that they have "an unsuitable business model" and that their account will be closed within two weeks. They will be allowed to keep... Continue Reading

One of the things that I love most about attending seminars is hearing people's stories. Everyone has their own reason for wanting to set up an online business. For some, it's the pull of being their own boss and working on their own terms. For others, it's the push of a job they can't bear and a lifestyle they want to change. For a few people though, it's not much of a choice. They might... Continue Reading

Easter morning. New beginnings. A reminder that although the world seems somewhat messy, there is hope. I must confess. I enjoy marshmallow peeps, coloring easter eggs and baskets filled with goodies. But the Western world's twist on Easter is not what it is really about any more than Santa Claus has anything to do with Christmas. No, Easter means much more. Continue Reading

Everything has changed. I remember when I first discovered computers. I was in high school when Radio Shack came out with their TRS-80 Model I personal computer. I remember going to the store and staring at it... ogling it... feeling the power of its keyboard... Hey, I guess I just wasn't into girls yet. That time came along eventually as well. ;-) Oh, those were the days. Continue Reading

Deck the Halls with boughs of holly... Jingle bells, jingle bells, jingle all the way... Frosty the Snowman, was a jolly happy soul... You'd better not pout, you'd better not cry... You get the idea! Christmas is coming! And you can spice up your AdSense blocks with a little holiday cheer using their "themed ads". Want to know how? Continue Reading

Omakase is a Japanese word meaning 'leave it up to us'. It is commonly used in Japanese restaurants for a meal where the chef uses their experience and knowledge to select and prepare the meal for a customer without specific directions. And with the beta launch of Amazon.com's new contextual ad service, Omakase takes on a new meaning. DId you just say, Amazon.com and contextual ad service in the same breath? Yes... yes, I did. Continue Reading

Did you know that I have been doing business online since 1995? Many people assume that I came out of nowhere with my AdSense training materials, but the fact is that I've been online creating profitable websites for eleven years now! (Wow, has it been THAT long?) One of the ways I generate revenue is with affiliate programs, that is, where I make a commission on products that I sell for OTHER merchants... Continue Reading

The other nght, several Internet marketers departed from the conference room at the Hawthorn Suites in Orlando to enjoy each other's company away from the seminar setting. Destination? Universal Studios CityWalk... Continue Reading

There's only one thing I hate worse than email spam. It is junk fax spam. I got a fax machine so that I could send and receive important documents for my business. I use it for this purpose maybe once each week. But my fax machine is active far more frequently due to fax spam. I HATE junk faxes! So I decided to do something about it. Continue Reading

It doesn't always feel like Christmas in Oklahoma. The temperature on Christmas Eve peeked at 58 degrees. There is no snow on the ground. It's a far cry from my childhood in the freezing Chicago lakefront suburbs. And yet, Christmas really has very little to do with snow. It has little to do with jingle bells. And it has little to do with the materialism which drives our economy at this time of year. Continue Reading

I received an 8 1/2" x 11" envelope today addressed to my business. Real official looking stuff. I open it up and it is a notice of estimated cash payment and claim form for a class action suit. Apparantly, my company is a member of the Class in the Visa Check/MasterMoney Antitrust Litigation. Don't ask me how I got in the class. I have no idea. The cash payment that I am entitled to as... Continue Reading

Liberal democrats and the mainstream media have been incredibly quick to bash President Bush and the Federal Government for their handling of the rescue efforts in New Orleans. Sid Blumenthal, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. , and Molly Ivins shots off condemnation pieces within 24 hours of this tragedy, revealing their true colors once again. Hillary Rodham Clinton is calling for a 9/11-style investigation of Katrina, seeking to point fingers and cause disruption for the President... Continue Reading

We are in the process of designing a new home which we intend to build this year. A few years ago, we bought two acres of land in our city. We have been holding on to it and think the time is ripe to place a home on the property. My father is an architect, so he is drawing the plans. Thanks Dad! But I thought it would be a fun thing to play with... Continue Reading

I love Amazon.com. Even though I probably shouldn't shop there due to the amount of smut they sell, I still love shopping there. But they really ticked me off today. I ordered a copy of Better Homes and Gardens Home Designer Suite 6.0 a couple weeks back. We are thinking of building a new home and I wanted to get an idea of what it might look like. Well, the program was not what I... Continue Reading

It is political correctness and anti-God behavior gone nuts. From the Reuters news wire... LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - A California teacher has been barred by his school from giving students documents from American history that refer to God -- including the Declaration of Independence. Steven Williams, a fifth-grade teacher at Stevens Creek School in the San Francisco Bay area suburb of Cupertino, sued for discrimination on Monday, claiming he had been singled out for censorship... Continue Reading

Some sites I have recently bookmarked... Oklahoma City Astronomy Club - My son has become increasingly interested in the planets and stars, so I believe I am going to look into checking these folks out. American Oddities - You have got to see this unusual collection of photographs of homes and office buildings. What's My IP? - Need to know your IP address? Not sure what an IP address is, or why you would need... Continue Reading

Over the past few months, I have helped several family members, friends and associates remove spyware from their computers. Often, people don't even realize they are infected with this insidious stuff. All they know is that their computers are running slower and those blasted pop up ads just keep coming. My son didn't know any better when he clicked on a popup ad for "free smilies". He meant well, but that one click managed to... Continue Reading

Do you have a fax machine? If so, has your number been released to the spammers of the fax world? Once it has, your fax machine will never be the same. Junk Fax has cluttered my fax machine for nearly two years. I get several junk faxes a week, promoting the latest penny stock, travel club or health insurance scheme. I have been throwing away the faxes as the removal numbers at the bottom seem... Continue Reading

The 4th of July. Independence Day, 2004. Time to barbeque and enjoy fireworks with family. But how many of us pause to take in the true significance of this holiday? How many of us remember the freedoms that so many died for? How many recall the courage of our Founding Fathers who risked their very lives in order to follow that which God had called them to do? America. A city on a hill where... Continue Reading

Earlier this year, I went to my local T-Mobile store and purchased a Sidekick, a unique cell phone and PDA that is pretty slick looking. T-Mobile has a 14-day trial period, so I took advantage of it, not really sure if I would want to keep it. Plus, I had already decided that I would be returning this phone as I found I could get it cheaper on Amazon.com. The phone retails for $350, but... Continue Reading

The Emmy Award-Winning "Amazing Race" has not been victorious in the ratings race. In fact, there was a question of whether or not CBS would bring it back for another season. I am thrilled to announce that they have indeed renewed the show and the premiere of Season 5 is to take place on July 6th. My Tivo will be capturing every moment. Eleven teams of two, bound by some sort of relationship (father/son, best... Continue Reading

It happened. It was bound to sooner or later. Actually, it happened right on schedule. When I was a young lad, a teenager, I remember thinking that forty was a long way off. I did the math in my head and realized that I would be forty in the year 2004. Wow, that was an eternity away. Welcome to eternity. Yesterday was my 40th birthday. I took the day off from work (do I really... Continue Reading

I hate dealing with insurance. When you pay a premium, you are betting that you will need to make a claim. With health insurance, you are betting that you are going to get sick! About eight years ago, I bought a policy with Fortis, one of the world's largest banking and insurance companies. At that time, we decided that all we needed was a major medical policy. So we choose a $2500 per person deductible... Continue Reading

Admittedly, my tastes run a bit eccentric. I don't enjoy odd films just because they are odd. Maybe I am odd. Anyhow, I ran across a documentary that I just had to have. It promised thrills, excitement and all the fun that is inherent in a National Spelling Bee contest. For real! Spellbound is a fascinating and fun film that follows eight children in their quest to become National Spelling Bee Champion. The eight children... Continue Reading

I am WAY overdue on this entry in my 15 Best Movies Ever series. Sorry about that, but I wanted to watch the film again before writing about it and recently got around to it. I know, I know. You were checking my blog every other minute just hoping the review was forthcoming. Wait no longer! #9 is a love-it or hate-it film by Monty Python alumnus Terry Gilliam. The only American in the troop... Continue Reading

Interesting things you find online. Ever heard of a structured settlement? Lets say you had a large sum of cash due you from a lawsuit or personal injury case. A structured settlement is "An agreement in settlement of a lawsuit involving specific payments made over a period of time. Property and casualty insurance companies often buy life insurance products to pay the costs of such settlements." Receiving large sums of money at once can be... Continue Reading

Not be confused with my groundhog day rant a couple weeks back, this entry concerns itself with the title of the Bill Murray film from 1993. Caddyshack was funny. Ghostbusters was trendy. The Razor's Edge was dramatic. But Groundhog Day is Bill Murray's finest hour and comes in at #10 on my list of The 15 Best Movies Ever. Groundhog Day is the story of Phil Connors (Murray), a cynical weatherman who feels he is... Continue Reading

I was listening to talk radio this morning on the way to work and the host began discussing a story that I had heard about on the Glenn Beck Program the day before. The story centered around a Cleveland, Ohio TV news Anchorwoman and some indiscretions that occured when she was in Florida with her husband several months earlier. Essentially, this "anchorette" got blotto and entered a wet t-shirt contest at a local bar in... Continue Reading

Another great Walmart story brought to you courtesy of the "whats-in-it-for-me" crowd... A Mt. Pleasant Township couple wants Wal-Mart to pay for foot and toe injuries they claim were caused by canned goods and condiments that tumbled from an overfilled plastic grocery bag. According to a two-count civil lawsuit filed Wednesday in Westmoreland County, Brenda and Ronald Sager contend a plastic bag they brought home from the East Huntingdon Township store last month was deficient... Continue Reading

Pinch me. I must be dreaming. As if suing McDonalds for hot coffee isn't bad enough, check out this story... Cable TV made a West Bend man addicted to TV, caused his wife to be overweight and his kids to be lazy, he says. And he’s threatening to sue the cable company. Timothy Dumouchel of West Bend wants $5,000 or three computers, and a lifetime supply of free Internet service from Charter Communications to settle... Continue Reading

I just LOVE that this clown is going to be the Democrat nominee for President! Bush is going to cream him. And they poked fun at Bush for appearing in a flight suit. How about this bozo with a cheese hat? LOL Here are some quotes attributed to King Cheesehead... "I wish we were so smart to have figured out the Internet thing” - Newsweek August 11, 2003 "We've gotten rid of him [Saddam Hussein... Continue Reading

Yesterday I told you about Barbara Feldman and SurfNetKids.com. Barbara sent me a copy of her ebook, How to Add Games to Your Web Site, and I am suitably impressed! If you run a web site for kids or teens, or if you just want some free cool content for your own site, you owe it to yourself to pick up a copy of Barb's ebook. Imagine adding crossword puzzles, jigsaw puzzles, arcade games and... Continue Reading

Our time at the Conwell Inn has been great. The room is very nice and they have had some sort of breakfast downstairs every morning. When I took the dog out this morning, I was pleased to see a hot waffle iron and cups of batter. I surprised Mary and the kids with fresh waffles to get the day off on the right foot. Unfortunately, Mary hasn't felt good the past couple of days, so... Continue Reading

So long New Jersey. Hello Pennsylvania. For the second time on this journey, we are in Pennsylvania. The first time we passed through the west end on our way to Niagara Falls. This time we are stopping for four nights in Philadelphia. There is so much history here and we are going to attempt to squeeze as much in as possible. I had a very hard time finding a place to stay in the city... Continue Reading

We got to sleep in a bit this morning. After the kids did their schoolwork and I did some work, we went to lunch. Next stop was the John Fitzgerald Kennedy Museum and Library, south of the city. It is a beautiful building designed by I.M Pei. I was only two years old when President Kennedy was assasinated, so this was a great opportunity to learn more about this man that was much loved and... Continue Reading

We started the day at Ro and Kyle's Bed and Breakfast. What great people these two are, and what a blessing it was to spend the night with them, enjoying good food and conversation. They are planning on driving to Boston on this weekend to spend more time with us exploring the sites. We hit the road around noon and set course for the Boston area. We weren't in a hurry and figured that we... Continue Reading

We left Jacksonville, MO around 11 am and set course for Beardstown, IL, made famous by the Beardstown Ladies Investment Club. Our visit had nothing to do with investing. We visited friends, Carla and Rick Simmert. Carla is a blessing as she is the person God had in place to take over Mary's web site, SafeHaven, when Mary no longer had the time to give it the attention it needed. We spent a couple hours... Continue Reading

This just in from the Washington Post... Recording Industry Sues File Swappers The Recording Industry Association of America (news - web sites) (RIAA) today said it filed lawsuits against 261 people accused of trading copyrighted songs on the Internet. The group also said that it would not sue file sharers who promise in writing not to do it again. The lawsuits, which were filed in federal courts across the country, are the RIAA's latest tactics... Continue Reading

What's that? You like your greasy cheeseburgers and french fries? Gasp! Don't you know you are contributing to the ongoing trend of obesity in America? And don't you realize that you are responsible for the exploding costs in health care? What kind of person are you, anyway? You should be punished! Or so say the liberal, wacko extremists that want to find another way to place restrictions on your Constitutional freedoms. Fortunately, they have lost... Continue Reading

Yes, it's true. I have been a Presidential Advisor. At least that's what Mary tells me. About 10 years ago, I was shopping at Best Buy on Central Expressway in Dallas. It was the holiday season, so the store was packed with people. I meandered my way into the software aisle, and there HE was. Who, you ask? None other than then-Governor-elect George W. Bush! He has recently won the election for the Gov seat... Continue Reading

It was touch and go early this week as the shocking news hit the wires. News so terrifying, so insidious, and so darned ridiculous that many were questioning whether or not the pod people had taken over. Of course, I am speaking Stephen Joseph, the moron (re: attorney) in San Francisco (where else?) who filed to BAN Oreo cookies in California. Why? He said the popular cookie contains a life-threatening compound called trans fat. EEEEEEK... Continue Reading