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Category Archives: Ramblings
God works in mysterious ways – another example to share
We had such thunder and lighting last nite and I turned off my computer (did not unplug it and you should do that when it’s lighting) anyway when I got up I didn’t have any internet access and so here I set wide awake (well kinda wide awake) and no internet – so what does a person do – I call support at my provider and they put in a ticket for them to come out and check it out. In the meantime, I started cleaning as I am having another open house Saturday as the people that have given me an offer it’s pending selling their place. So my realtor was thinking another open house might get me another offer which would either be cash or pre-approved loan already.
So I got lot more stuff out to the garage sale and while sitting there waiting for it to stop raining, was feeling sorry for myself about my internet was down. Well like I said couple hours later the provider showed up and then brought his laptop in and plugged the wire into it and it worked – well I was shocked. So he did some testing in Dos and was satisfied that there was nothing wrong with my internet service. To my surprise he said your internet card must have went.
Again so shocked that he said that – and I said this computer is not even a year old yet (the positive out of all this – it is still under warranty yeahhhhhhhhhh well put a call into my local computer guy and then went about my day and got the garage sale open. To my surprise it stopped raining, cleared up and was an awesome fall day here. Still worrying about my computer, I got to thinking God what am I going to do if he don’t have a card in stock, what if being an all in one that it has to get sent in to get worked on – what am I going to do.
See I do have a plan B but my plan B was on it’s way to California as my boyfriend’s computer died and he is using mine for right now. Well as the day went on a guy stopped and we chatted some and he said I really don’t know why I stopped – as I love going to garage sales but I am getting ready to sell my house and move to Madison and don’t really need to be buying more stuff. Well we kept chatting and told him that I was also downsizing as I have discoverer that I really don’t need this big of a place as I live in my office because of me working online.
He say – oh and what do you do and you know me I love to talk about what I do and after telling him all about it I told him about what I did – then told him about what had happen this morning and he said hmmmm something just don’t sound right and wanted to know if I had done a system restore. Told him no and he said let’s go try it. So we went in the house and being that he had always wanted to work on the type of computer that I had – I let him proceed. Well the system did a restore and I was back.
Customers came to my sale so as we were walking back out – he said well I don’t know why I stopped really but glad I did and I said I know why you stopped – God sent you here. God wors in mysterious ways – if you don’t believe I’m sorry but I believe as this is just one of the many examples that I have seen Him work and I’m so blessed.
To All Traffic Exchange Owners – Through The Eyes of A Surfer
It’s really strange how the current events of today can turn into something positive – as most of you know I had server issues today and a person just don’t realize how this effects your day until it happens BUT I always try to find a positive and thus why I’m writing this post and gearing it to my fellow traffic exchange owners – through the eyes of a surfer.
What does a person do when their sites are down, their blog is down etc. – you get out there and visit other sites – surf as much as you can and I have to say it was quite an interesting experience and would like to share a few things that I noticed while surfing as a surfer today.
I’m not going to mention which sites I surfed but I will tell you some of the things that I did see and some of the things that just drove me nuts – I made notes so I wouldn’t forget to mention them all and here goes……….I ran across a splash page that like to drove me crazy – it blinked so bad that all my eyes could do was just jump all over the page to the point that I never did read anything on that page – what a waste of credits.
Do some of you like to test my eye site – I really had a hard time focusing my bifocals enough on some sites to be able to match the icons and the ones with dark images on a dark background – wow they were hard to pick the right ones. Now some of them may have been cute but why are you trying to make them hard to tell the difference – that is not making your site very user friendly.
Now I also seen some pages that ran in behind the chat box – never got a chance to see your ad – because I couldn’t read it all – do you ever test your pages? Yes, it was sites owners and not a promo for a product. AND while I’m on a roll here some of the sites with the loud videos made me jump right out of my seat – well I don’t know about you but I’m sneaking up on 60 and you could have given me a heart attack – so I muted the sound and didn’t hear one thing all the video said – if I did that – wonder how many others are doing that.
AND come on – why do you add pages to another site that I have won something – click here – are you that desperate to get people to your site that you have to try and trick others – well I’m sorry all that did was just made me tune out your site. I want to see you tell me why I should click and come to your site – don’t play those games with me.
The other one that disappointed me was the Bonus Pages and how cluttered some of them are – it was even hard to know it was a page giving me a bonus. There was one site that I have to say made me feel honored to get that bonus because that is what they said on their bonus page and that was all – you know those pages are designed to thank your surfer for surfing the amount of sites they did – it’s not a page designed for you to put promos on – after all shouldn’t that be put in rotation like the rest of us do.
AND I know that I can be brain dead sometimes as my granddaughter tells me to wake up my brain sometimes but really – you want me to click here for a free $20.00 – you want me to click here for more info and not tell me why or what you have for me – well what are you hiding, what are you being so secretive about and why do you have to hide your products name, your sites name or even your name – hmmmmmmmmm
The other thing that I seen is long, long, long word searches – holy crap I would have had to surf all day to fill in all those letters and why for 10 credits – wooooohoooo thank you but no thanks – remember I’m there to feel special – I want you to thank me for surfing your site, for being an active surfer – if I don’t feel that way why bother to come back.
There were some positives – it wasn’t all bad – I did see one site offering to reward his members for promoting them – if he seen them promoting – wow that caught my eye and I wrote that site down as I thought that was so cool. Now you are going to ask how would that site owner know – well that was the other positive that I seen out there – pages with YOUR mug shot on them – now that told me that wow that person must really like that site, having good luck with that site and if I know that person – what do you think I’m going to do – I’m going to go check it out and see WHY he or she is promoting that site.
NOW the one page that I am going to show you that really impressed me because it was unique, this lady put herself out there, and I know she is an active surfer in alot of sites and why do I know – well she told me by this page that she did created and I have to say she did an awesome, awesome job and want to share it here with you Click here to see this site now
Oops one more thing……..back to the site that did impress me today with the bonus page I was going to leave you message through your contact /support BUT you know what I looked and looked and couldn’t find out how to contact you – do you have your doors closed to your members?????
So………….out of negatives do come positives – I’m challenging all other site owners out there – take a few hours and surf – I don’t mean to put up 5 – 6 tabs and just click, click, click – I mean surf – study the sites that you are seeing, study your site and look at it through the eyes of a surfer – I really think you will be surprised.
Do you know how to spot Phishing emails?
Over the years I have gotten some strange emails and can spot the Phishing emails pretty quickly now. Do you know hot to spot Phishing emails? Don’t really feel bad as I didn’t in the beginning either and believe me they are good at making them look like they are for real.
If you don’t know what Phishing is (pronounce fishing) is an email that is trying to get info from you (user names, passwords, credit card info) by pretending to be a legit company. I have gotten them impersonating my bank, Visa, Ebay, Paypal, Yahoo and I got one today from Yahoo so thought I would write a blog post quick to show you an example of one and what to do when you see one.
Dear Valid User,
We discovered series of illegal attempts on your mail account from different IP locations.This is for your own safety to avoid your account closed, you will have to verify your account now.
For quick access: VERIFY HERE (made this unclickable for this post)
After confirming, you will be able to continue using your Account.
Copyright 2012 Mail! Inc. (Co. Reg. No. 2344507D)All Rights
Reserved. Intellectual Property Rights Policy.
Now if you look at it close here are the clues for me – one it would not be valid user – it would be my user name or my real name. Never, Never, Never click any links in an email till you can verify the link and this is easy to do – you copy the email into a HTML editor and then look at the code and here is what I’m seeing for that Verify Here
<div id=”yui_3_2_0_21_13421388350642335″><span style=”color: #0000bf;”>For quick access: </span><a href=”https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/viewform?formkey=dEF5T1JoSUFSUk93YkJwOHlqMFVkSHc6MQ” rel=”nofollow” target=”_blank”>VERIFY HERE</a>
<table id=”yiv653306442bodyDrftID” border=”0″ cellspacing=”0″ cellpadding=”0″>
You will see that the link is a spreadsheet on someone account gathering your info. Kinda scary huh?
Well here is what you do – To report a phishing email, please forward the email to phishing@cc.yahoo-inc.com
Now some key things to watch for is the spelling, links in the email, threat – you account will be closed, and most of the time it’s popular sites – even have seen them from Facebook
If you enter your Google account or personal information as the result of a spoof or phishing message, take action quickly. Send a copy of the message header and the entire text of the message to the Federal Trade Commission at spam@uce.gov. If you entered credit card or bank account numbers, contact your financial institution. If you think you may be the victim of identity theft, contact your local police.
Hope that this helps make you aware of Phishing and to really watch closely. Some of the big companies have even been on the news making people aware of how clever these people are and how good they are copying the logos – so now when someone ask you Do You Know How to Spot Phishing Email – you can answer them with a yes or send them here to this post.
If you think that you might have gotten one or you get one – just go to Google and type in how to report phishing email from Ebay, from Gmail, from Yahoo, from Paypal, from where ever and you will find info on what to do and the steps that you should take to report. It is very important that you report them also as you are also helping someone else from getting ripped off.
It all starts with a Dream
Remember when you were growing up and went to your special place upnorth, by a lake, by a river, etc. – well as a person gets older those memories sure get in our head sometimes and make us think about things in life – and how it all starts with a Dream.
When I was growing up in North Carolina we would go visit relatives in the mountains every summer and to me that was the best – see they lived in a valley and there was no electric, no bathroom, and no fancy appliances. But you know I think back to those days and remember that they were some of my best vacations our family ever took.
We would have the best meals cooked on the old wood stove – wow can’t believe how those biscuits tasted and then having to run down to a nearby creek where they kept the butter and milk in – it was so cold and tasted so yummy. Then we’d heat up water on the wood stove to put in a wash pan – ole those good ole days.
You know after being outside all day it was great to get on the front porch and listen to the stories that the older relatives had to share. AND you know that before the nite ended you were going to hear one of those great ghost stories. Then you would have an oil lamp to take with you to get to your bed for the night and wow how you slept because you had been busy all day and not sitting in front of the TV or computer.
Remember how we use to chase lighting bugs all over and thought we had accomplished so much when we got a dozen in a jar and could watch them lite up. We’d even get the old ice cream machine out and kept turning that old crank till we had made some of the best ice cream that a person has ever tasted.
Don’t know about you but the ladies in the family always wore that little bun on the back of their head and one nite I got to watch one of my Aunts brush her hair by the oil lamp and wow it was all the way to the floor – and I know at breakfast the next day I would wonder how did she get all that hair in that little bun.
The reason for walking down memory lane here is to let you know as I have gotten older – I feel that because of all those memories of those visits to relatives in the mountains is the reason that I love the mountains, love the simple things, love heating with wood, love fishing and just being outdoors.
Now I know there are things in your life that has happened and it all starts with a Dream – take a look at your life and bet you will realize that you are either working toward your Dream or you are living your Dream. If you are Dreaming of working online, earning a living online, quitting your offline job – don’t let people discourage you. People that are successful had to have the same thought it all starts with a Dream.
Dream what you want to dream; go where you want to go; be what you want to be, because you have only one life and one chance to do all the things you want to do.
Anonymous
Are you making the right choices?
In the movie, “The Renaissance Man,” Danny De Vito’s character makes a profound statement…“The choices we make dictate the lives we lead.”
To paraphrase…“Where you are today is the result of all the choices and actions that you have made in your life.”
I ran across this today and thought wow this would make a great blog post and so here I am writing because this runs thru my head daily- maybe yours too – are you making the right choices?
People tend to blame a lack of success in life or the event in their life on “bad luck” or “poor timing” or other people. And yes, at times, that can be accurate. A heck of a lot of factors beyond our control can blindside us. In the long run, however, as long as we persist in our efforts, these factors tend to even out and De Vito’s statement remains valid.
With the economy as it is today and so many people losing their jobs, gas prices skyrocketing, and going to the grocery store is crazy these days – how is a person not blame what is going on and all the circumstances around us – well you can if you want – and whine just like most out there or you can really take a closer look at your life. If you dwell on the issue and don’t move on and find a solution you will stay stuck – so I’m going to give you an example in my own life.
As most of you know I have been self-employed for many years and have had to pay for my own health insurance. When I got divorced six years ago – my payments were $600.00 a month and have been paying that with increases thru out the years and just got notice the other day that it was going up again – this increase would put it to $702.00 per month and that is when I finally said enough is enough. So where did that decision leave me – without insurance yes- like so many people in the country.
BUT did I let that get me down, did I whin about it, did my life stop because of it and was it the right choice – well for me at this time the answer is yes it was the right choice. See I believe that God has a plan for each and everyone of us and sometimes we need to pay closer attention. See I was trying to stay in control of my life instead of letting God lead me and listen to Him I let myself get in the way and tried to do things how I thought they should be done. So the moral to this story is that I found different health insurance and it’s only costing me $85.00/month and I have to say that I have been blessed.
If you don’t think that the power of prayer works then I feel sorry for you. I normally keep my faith and religion out of my business BUT with the way things are today and all the stories that I hear online and even offline – I just felt it was time to speak up. When I ask you “are you making the right choices?” I hope that you are relying on your faith in God to get you thru – he is there for you and yea maybe the solution to your problems that you are having is NOT what you had pictured BUT there is a solution if you will just let Him guide you.
Last but not least – are you making the right choices with your business – are you taking it serious – are you just chasing the money – are you taking action or do spend your time online in chat rooms keeping up with the latest gossip – are you out there helping others??????? I personally found that my life online sure turned around when I started getting serious about my business, when I started helping others, when I stopped chasing the money – joining the hottest new thing out there, when I started keeping my appearances in the chat room to a minimum, and when I started to use that time more wisely and wrote more blog posts instead, doing more with what I already was a member of, started learning places to meet other business owners, etc.
This is all working for me and each and everyone of you will have choices that will be suited to YOU and your life – just keep asking yourself “Are YOU making the right choices?”
Notifications on Facebook
Does the notifications on Facebook drive you crazy? I know they do me especially since they fill up my email box and most of the time it’s someone just spamming a group that I’m in. Well my friend, Philippe Moisan, did a blog post the other day and there was my answer. Often times a person gets so busy that they don’t take the time to learn the things that they should and I feel that he did such a great job for people that are just starting on Facebook – but he also made it easy for us seasoned Facebook users. I really recommend that you read this post
Facebook for online marketing beginners
This was just a true blessing for me yesterday when I read it as I didn’t have to spend hours trying to figure out how to turn off those pesky notification and after watching his video – it was so simple then to go and get rid of them. The reason that I feel this is so important is that once you have done this – you will ONLY get the notifications that you want to get and just think the time it will save you going thru your emails and deleting 12 emails from same person that is just spamming groups.
After doing that yesterday, I found that there were still alot of emails in my file today and guess my brain had gone to sleep as duh……………..I have two accounts and only did the one. So what I have been doing instead of delete all of them – I have been opening the email – scroll to the bottom and click on View on Facebook. This will take you directly to the group that it came from and then you can turn them off and make sure that you go to setting and unclick sending them to your emails.
Ohhhhhhhhhhhh life is going to be less stressful for me as do you know how long a person can take deleting all those emails. So thank you Philippe for doing those videos and the lesson here people that even tho you think that you are wasting your time doing videos on simple things – here is proof that you are not. You have to keep in mind that not only do the newbies need to have some guideline BUT us seasoned marketers sometimes need to see shortcuts that we just don’t have time to look for.
Now I know you are just chomping at the bit – so click on the link above and watch Philippe’s videos – bet you will be surprised at what you learn. And if those notifications on Facebook was driving you crazy like they were for me – now you know what to do.