Thursday, October 19, 2006

Make money with your blog

Performancing has come up with a new ad network (see the top left adblock), that's being billed as similar to blogads. Unfortunately for the rest of us, blogads is by invite only these days. So, I would recommend signing up with Partners, now, while they are accepting everyone.

What I like about it
It only takes a tiny bit of code to get started. Also, the split is laid out for you right from the beginning. 70% for you, 30% for them (unlike adsense for instance, where you never know what the split is). Also, you get paid CPM (per 1000 times your ad is shown). Your pricing can be set by you, or you can let them use auto-pricing. That way, you and your advertiser know up front what to expect.

Another nice feature: You get paid by paypal at the first of the month. No waiting for checks.

Also, you get to approve any ads being shown on your site. In other words, you are in complete control of your content.

What I don't like
The option for multiple ads would be nice. Being able to tell your advertiser where the ad is going to show up and being able to do different pricing based on location would be a nice feature (above the fold is usually worth more).

Beta Testing
You can see the temporary testing ad in the top left of this page. I like it's look and it seems to fit well into my design. Unfortunately, they don't have any advertisers, yet. But I'm sure that will change quickly. In the meantime, I would recommend signing up today. Get in at the beginning before this takes off and it becomes 'by invitation' only.

Monday, October 09, 2006

Patriots sign WR Gaffney

Good news for a team carrying only three wide receivers. But will it be enough to pick up this offense? I know Miami has a good defense, but except for when the defense placed them in perfect position (or the pass interference call), the offense was not able to move the ball. This team has become one-dimensional. Stop the run and it's all over.


ESPN.com - NFL - Patriots sign WR Gaffney, cut Sullivan, Poteat

The New England Patriots addressed their lack of veteran depth at wide receiver on Monday, signing free agent Jabar Gaffney.

Gaffney, 25, worked out for New England coaches and personnel officials on Friday, along with veteran free agent wide receivers Kevin Johnson and Charles Rogers, and was deemed to be the best of the trio.

Gaffney played four seasons with the Houston Texans and signed with the Philadelphia Eagles as an unrestricted free agent this spring, but was released at the end of training camp.

To create a roster spot for Gaffney, the Patriots released defensive tackle Johnathan Sullivan, who had not dressed for any of the team's five regular-season five games this season. The club also released veteran defensive back Hank Poteat, who has been on and off the roster several times the past three seasons, and was re-signed two weeks ago.

Tuesday, October 03, 2006

Papa Jackson is gone?

I just don't understand this move. Am I missing something? Papa Jack delivered for three years the best hitting offense in baseball. Ortiz recently stated Papa was responsible for delivering home runs 51 and 52. And they don't renew his contract?

And listening to his interview this morning, the breakup was not mutual at all.

I know that when baseball teams fall apart, coaches often feel the brunt of the blame. It makes the head office look like they're doing things to 'fix' things. But replacing Jackson as hitting coach doesn't make things better. It doesn't change the injury plagued season for the starting pitchers. It doesn't fix the horrible ERA numbers from your top two pitchers. It doesn't make Wakefield and Wells and Clement magically feel better. It doesn't bring Arroyo back to fill in when your top starters went down.

And it certainly doesn't help you bring in a closer for next year.

Losing this year was bad. Hurting your offensive power for next year is worse.

BostonHerald.com - Boston Red Sox: Sox start to clean house: Jackson, Wallace lose jobs

The fallout from a disappointing, playoff-less season began yesterday for the Red Sox, as the club chose not to renew the contracts of hitting coach Ron “Papa Jack” Jackson and pitching coach Dave Wallace.
Manager Terry Francona stressed the two coaches weren’t to blame for the Sox decline this season; it was simply a matter of needing a change in both areas moving forward.
While it was announced as a “mutual decision,” there were indications both coaches wanted to return.

Monday, October 02, 2006

Says it all

I think this says it all about yesterdays game over the seemingly powerless Bengals: Defense was stationed for success - The Boston Globe

``We didn't go into this conceding anything," said Hawkins, who played much of his career in Cincinnati before coming to the Patriots last season and switching from cornerback to safety. ``We're playing with a bunch of veteran guys. I was the third-youngest guy we had in that backfield and I've been around nine years. We have experienced defensive backs who have covered a lot of receivers in this league.

``It took us a couple of series to settle down, but once we did we made some plays when we needed to and got some turnovers. I wouldn't say we're a great secondary, but we understood playing on the road you had to withstand the initial surge and not let it kill you. We stood up. We held."


At the end of the day, the Bengals went 2 for 11 on third down. It looks like the bend don't break defense is back.