It’s Write Now!

Last year I created my Blogging Resolutions For 2008! Surprisingly I completed many of these resolutions, even though I didn’t go back and check until now.  I guess there is something to what they say about writing down your goals.

Continued

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Over the river and through the woods may have once been the way to Grandma’s house. But these days Grandma could of just moved to a new house in a swanky new retirement community. If finding Grandma’s newest home is a challenge I would recommend the Garmin Nuvi 750 Portable GPS .

I am a recent owner of a Garmin Nuvi 255 which I absolutely love. I was lucky enough to get it free when I applied for a Discover card. But after seeing the features of the Garmin Nuvi 750 I think this would be my GPS of choice. In fact I’ll probably upgrade to this one pretty soon anyway.

So what’s so great about a GPS? Well you never have to worry about being lost again. Even driving in town you are free to zone out and not worry about missing an exit because the Garmin will remind you in time to turn. If there is an accident or a detour; no problem. The Garmin easily recalculates and has you on your way in no time.

The voice is loud and clear and you can use it while listening to the radio. Also it is very good about freeway exits. For example it will tell you to exit right but stay in the left lane which helps avoid a lot of confusion and last minute lane changes.

It is also very simple to use. Just plug it in and go it has an intuitive touch screen. And will give the address and location of stores, restaurants, gas stations, and most public attractions. Plus, it has a favorites button and a preset home button. So you will never be lost again. If you’ve never used a GPS, you don’t know what you’re missing. But once you have used one you will never want to drive without it.

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Image via Wikipedia

I hope everybody has a Merry Christmas, and takes the time to reflect on the things that really matter in life. So slow down and enjoy your Christmas. Speaking of Holidays… long time readers of my blog know that I’m a huge fan of the game Cranium .

If you are looking for a way to have some family fun and engage everybody and every part of your brain. You should really check Cranium out. You play in teams or groups so it brings everyone together. You’ll not only wake up your brain, but you will have moments of side splitting laughter.

My latest favorite version of Cranium is this one Cranium Wow Game.

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In case some of you noticed my site was down from Friday until Tuesday. This blog is hosted with DreamHost and they had a server problem, and somehow my site got lost in the shuffle.

They were really good about answering my e-mails and eventually things got sorted out. This is the longest outage I’ve seen and it could probably happen to any hosting provider. The good thing is my files weren’t lost.

If anyone is interested in a new hosting plan with DreamHost you can save 90$ with promo code Emma90. That means you could get hosting for one year for 29.40$ with no signup fee and a free domain thrown in.

This is a good plan for beginning bloggers or people wanting to test the water. It’s also good for those folks who have multiple hosting plans so that their sites will have different IP addresses. The only drawback for some would be that DreamHost doesn’t use cPanel. But unless you have a specific need for cPanel it’s not a drawback at all.

The DreamHost control panel, is actually easier to use then cPanel, and it has most of the functionality. Plus the one click installs and updates are actually faster then the ones you would get if you are using Fantastico. Which is what most cPanel users use for easy updates. In fact, DreamHost even has a one click install of OpenX, if anyone is interested in running their own ad server.

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This was a disappointing election for me. I know there are many people overjoyed about the election. Historically increasing taxes and increasing government spending has never spurred economic growth. In fact government revenues usually increase when taxes are lowered.

Hopefully stocking the bunker won’t be necessary and things won’t become as bad as many predict. One shining note, is maybe we can put all of the talk of race to rest. I’m happy for the African Americans who are old enough to remember being discriminated against. Maybe this election will be a reminder of how far our society has become.

I live in California, and the one proposition that I actively campaigned for and donated money to was the Humane Society sponsored Proposition 2. It was a moderate proposition designed to give animals in factory farms more room, so they can stretch out their limbs and turn around.

It’s unpleasant to think about what their current living conditions are for this proposition to even be necessary. And don’t even bother watching any of the videos.

Fortunately 2 passed by a large margin. Millions of farm animals won’t be subjected to entire lives filled with torture.

I love animals and have a lot of compassion for them. But this goes beyond caring about animals. A society that has compassion and doesn’t allow abuses in the name of greed. Is a thinking and caring society. Passing these moderate measures are not only good for our defenseless animals, but it is good for our society as a whole.

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My original hosting is with DreamHost. But when I started creating multiple sites I got a resellers account with hostgator. The great thing about the reseller account with hostgator is you can have a separate account for each site, and they use cPanel. But it’s 24 dollars a month.

The best thing about DreamHost is they have great hosting, and one click installs and upgrades. They even give you one free domain a year and you can get great deals on your first year of hosting. For instance using a promo code like Emma90 can save you 90 dollars, so that’s an entire year of hosting for 29.40$.

Occasionally I consider consolidating and moving my DreamHost sites to my HostGator account. But it’s easier to pay for double hosting then going through the hassle of moving. But if I ever change my mind. Pat Doyle just moved her account from DreamHost to HostGator and changed her domain name.

I wanted to make a post about her post so I would have the directions handy, just in case. So here they are; How To Move a WordPress Blog.

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I enjoy reading Steve Pavlinas Blog. He has a unique perspective on personal growth and actually backs up his conclusions with all kinds of experiments. One could say Steve keeps an open mind.

When I found out that his first book Personal Development for Smart People was being published and he was looking for reviewers I jumped at the chance. I was excited when the book arrived in the mail. It was hardcover and a little bit thicker then I had anticipated.

251 pages, no pictures, and I had to wear my reading glasses. Like one of Steve’s Raw Vegan Meals, this book would take a while to digest.

The book is divided into two parts. Part one has 7 chapters focusing on the 7 Fundamental Principles of; Truth, Love, Power, Oneness, Authority, Courage, and Intelligence. Part two is the practical application of how these principles affect our Habits, Career, Money, Health, Relationships, and Spirituality.

When I read this, I kind of rolled my eyes, all of these abstract principles and applications. How is he going to pull this off? Well he found a way. Each principle builds on the other and they are all applied in the practical applications.

I found this book inspiring and encouraging. I felt and still feel motivated by reading it. Steve’s a smart guy and has not only devoted a lot of his life to personal development, but he is constantly experimenting to see if his conclusions are accurate.

To sum up my review of this book. I liked it! I was especially impressed with the principle of Truth. Such a simple concept. Being honest with others is a fine trait to have. Being honest with yourself is essential for building the life you desire.

You can use this principle along with your power of prediction to make decisions and create goals in your life. I already wrote about this principle in an earlier post about Making Better Decisions.

You can also use the principle of truth to guide your choices in life. How are you going to deal with your debt? How do you respond to an old friend or relative trying to get in touch with you? Do you attempt a career change?

If you are honest with yourself, and use the principle of truth your decisions and values will be aligned. You can trust your feelings and instincts to tell you if these things are in alignment. So many people are paralyzed with decision making, and yet we all have a fool proof method at our disposal.

I enjoyed reading Personal Development for Smart People: The Conscious Pursuit of Personal Growthand I intend to reread it, when I need motivation, for keeping my life in alignment. I would recommend this book to anyone who is encouraged by thoughtful discourse, and wants to gain control, of where their life path is leading.

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A common SEO method is to change the title of your WordPress blog to a keyword or phrase you are trying to rank for. Griz just recently created a post talking about this very thing on his How To Make Money Online For Beginners Blog, on this post he challenged us to do so.

I recently started a free book review section and thought I would attempt to rank for Free Book Reviews. Apparently this is a very competitive keyword and I currently rank number 502 for this term. Don’t be confused if you see Free Book Reviews where It’s Write Now used to be. It’s just an experiment with my ranking efforts.

Although, if I actually ranked well for free book reviews, I will probably have to take on some guest posters to help with all of the review requests. But for now let’s see how it goes.

Update:

Alright I probably don’t have to tell you guys this, but Griz was right. I changed my title from It’s Write Now to Free Book Reviews this morning and as of this evening (just a few hours later) my ranking went from 502 to about 150, just wait till I get some links.

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