Visit My Blog Buddy: Doris

Doris has a few blogs I'd like to mention. She and I have been having the same PPP isues lately and it is really hampering our blogging. Of course I should be using this time to promote my blog as well as promote the blogs of others. So no better place to start than with the ones that Doris has created.

She has a very nice looking blog called A Meeting Place for All Home Office Women that is really clean looking and has a great design. The title is a bit misleading becasue I'm not a Home Office Woman and I still get some good info from her. This post: Do you know the value of your time? really caught my attention today as I was reading her blog. I have a bad habit of trying to figure out stuff that I have no clue about and it takes me forever to get it done. Why do I do it? I'm stubborn and cheap I guess...lol Outsourcing for some of the things I do certainly should be something I think more about.

Her personal blog, Life...Passion...Travel&More started out as blog where she and her family took thier 1st family trip to New Zealand in 2005, but she has just kept blogging on it and turned it into a pretty nice blog that she uses for everything now. It has been around for a long time now so there are many many things to read about.

Another great, great looking blog is her Live Life...Organics&Your Health site. The site content is very good too. She has an enormous amount of Organic Living tips and articles that are quite helpful to her readers. Take a look at Doris’ 13 Favourite Healing Herbs and leave her a few coments.

Online Tax Preparation

There is really no need to file tax returns through snail mail anymore. Online tax preparation software is readily available and the ease of use is simply too hard to pass up. You can get the returns done much more quickly than on paper simply because you can correct mistakes with out having to start over on your form. Tips during the preparation come in handy online, but aren’t available doing it the old fashioned way. Many Americans miss key opportunities to save money by doing the paper form simply because they may not be aware of something they may be missing.

Liberty Tax Online has extended their previous coverage to all 50 states. The only restrictions to the free tax filing system are:

1) You must be between the ages of 20 through 57
2) Have an AGI of $52,000 or less
3) And you do not have a foreign address return

If the criteria is met you can get Free Tax Preparation Software on their site. You will be able to prepare all your forms online where they will be saved and have been authorized by the IRS.

Included on the site is a unique scenario creator. This feature will allow you to create 3 different “what if” scenarios to find the amount that saves you the most on your taxes. This software alone will probably save you more than the low cost of the software.

All Federal tax return filings are completely free here. State tax filing, print and e-file is only $12.95 with no hidden costs or fees. Get them done online, saved, copies printed, and filed right away with the best possible refund opportunity.

Don’t mess with the paper trail and the scrap sheets anymore. Go online and get everything saved there. Get it processed with out finding an envelope and stamps. Make the form easy to read if you tend to have bad penmanship.

Alexa Rankings

I started to look into Alexa a bit today because it is being used by some advertisers as a benchmark for websites. Funny thing is that when i looked into it I found that the ranking itself is so easily manipulated by a site owner that I can't see why anyone would ut any credence into their ranks. Just take a look at this simple Google search I did and see for yourself:

Manipulating Alexa

An enormous amount of information comes up and is readily available. Software use to manipulate it, tricks to manipulate it, and anything else that people have figured out to crack the system. Doesn't sound very reliable to me. The Top 10 is legit I'm sure, but the Top 5oK? I don't have any confidence that is the case.

Give an eCard

Egreetings.com has an assortment of funny birthday eCards, Valentine eCards and eCards for many other occasions. The site is really easy to use and has a lot of excellent choices for anyone you could hope to delight, surprise, or even offend. The selection is spectacular and I actually have gotten this sexy birthday eCard (pictured below) before. Surely you can't go wrong with an animated eCard for someone you care about. They have a 30-day trial membership available, but a yearly membership is only $13.99 where you can send unlimited eCards over that time. With the membership you can actually have the card scheduled to send on a specific date so you don’t forget. Even if you do forget there isn’t a quicker way to get the cards out than to use an eCard. It is certainly better than running out to the store to get one at the last minute. With the blizzard we have here today you wouldn’t catch me outside at all.

ADDITIONAL NOTE TO READERS: If you choose to sign up for a free trial membership, you will be asked to provide personal information including your name, mailing address, email address and credit card number. Your personal information will not be distributed to other parties and you can opt-out of receiving any newsletters from Egreetings during this sign up process.

Giulliani Files Statement of Presidential Candidacy

If he runs he'll win. I have no doubt about it. Who's going to beat him? He's like a mascot of the country. It's over. Don't bother even voting.

Poker Forums

Playing poker is a game that requires practice and knowledge about the game. A lot of people claim it is all luck. Those are the guys that lose a lot. There is some luck involved, but the skill gives the same guys an advantage over the amateurs time and time again.

A Poker Forum is about one of the best ways to learn the game and get some tips. Discussing play with other players helps you learn how to tell what the situation is when you run acrossed it in a real game. The more time you spend discussing the game the better prepared you are when you go to play it.

Super Bowl was kind of boring...

Maybe it's because I don't care for either team, but it had no excitement for me. I guess I just wasn't into it. Now we get to see more Payton Manning ads though. His ads are always pretty funny. Now we get to hear about She-li every waking moment and how he needs to win the Super Bowl.

MINT Credit and Gift Cards

In 2003 MINT introduced mint credit cards in the UK. Interestingly enough this card is with out a bottom corner. It is the first time in 37 years that a change has been made to the credit card in 37 years in the UK. This card has a 0% interest rate on balance transfers and purchases until December 2007. PErfect to get your debts paid down much quicker than with your current cards at high interest rates.

In September they also introduced the MINT Gift Card. These are pre-paid credit cards that can be used almost anywhere. Instead of using a gift voucher from a certain store, it is much easier just to give a MINT gift card and let the person you give it to buy something from nearly anywhere.

Visit My Blog Buddy: Marisa

Marisa is another one of the people that helps me a lot on how to grow my blogs. Marisa’s Dandelion Patch is a blog with great insights and interesting content. She's a wife, mother and grandmother that says she is opinionated, but contradicts herself frequently. She may do that, but she has never steered me wrong.

Interestingly enough I was discussing The Great Spank Debate yesterday with a friend of mine. He is a truck driver and I guess he felt a need to hear some spiritual words this week during the crazy blizzards we have had. He ended up listening to a guy that wrote a book about parenting who has sold millions of books and was suprised by what he had heard. The speaker was talking about how children at a very young age start to challenge you for control and what they can get away with. He mentioned that if a kid comes up and hits you for instance that you should spank them. Marisa says that she gets a ton of hits because of this keyword so she decided to tell you how she feels about it, how it makes her feel, and why she doesn't really advocate it.

Her other blog, Scribble on the Wall, is tagged: "Taking Notes on My Journey Through the InterWeb". This blog hasn't been around too long, but it is steadily growing and will be a great source for you so add it to your feeds. Reading the blog I found a great tool from her post Scrutinize My Website. It is something that I started using right away and I can certainly agree that it is an awesome tool indeed.