Last Night I Was Tron.
Mar 5, 2007 Blog General
Last night, I was Tron. No, I didn’t have a random series of geek dreams again, I was actually hard wired into a Master Control Program (MCP) and monitored and tested for about 7 1/2 hours.
Ok, so I actually went to a sleep clinic for sleep study. They had about 40 electric nodes attached to my head, face, chest, arms and legs. All of these were were attached by wire to a breadboard interface. There was also an infrared camera watching my every move and an oxygen mask (called a CPAP) that forced oxygen into my lungs. I was so wired, I felt that if I moved at all that a Michael Curry puppet would come to life. I got over it, and soon I was tossing and turning through my normal sleep routine within my new nest of wires.
The sleep study went well. I fell asleep almost instantly (amazing what total blackout darkness will do to a body’s sleep timer). I struggled through the night though during the first half of the study. I woke up a few times and had a hard time going back to sleep. It didn’t help much that one of the monitors would pop off my face and the technician had to come in and mount it down with twice as much tape as the time before. (I knew I should have shaved before I went to the clinic.) Finally, at about 2 in the morning, they brought in the CPAP machine and mask. The turned it on and I was out like a baby. I loved it! I woke up very refreshed and energized. I’m seriously considering looking on ebay for one of my own. (Is that legal?)
When I woke up this morning I looked at all the wires coming out of my face and body and told the sleep technician “Man, I feel like I’ve been in Tron all night.”
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Buying Links In Directories
Mar 4, 2007 Search and SEO
I used to be under the impression that the only web directory links worth buying were the lifetime links. The one time fee for a lifetime of value was the only thing that logically made sense to me.
Late last night I started thinking about why one would buy anything other than a lifetime link from a directory. I hate paying the Yahoo annuals, even though I feel it is a necessity. And whenever I saw a “subscription” option on smaller directories I usually passed and went straight for the lifetime.
As you may know, I’ve been playing the site-flip game where I buy a site for a value, work on it to build up its content, incoming links, and traffic, and then sell it off for a much higher markup.
It’s taken me two months to realize this (some things are too obvious). When it comes to buying links for my site-flips, instead of buying lifetime links I can buy monthly (or annual) subscriptions and save a large portion of my upfront costs.
Now obviously if I’m going to be keeping the site, I always buy the lifetime option. But if there is any chance that I might sell it in the near future, I’ll buy the subscription link. And if it is one of my flagship sites, I’ll even consider upgrading to a “sponsored” link for the exposure depending on the directory I’m working with.
So, there you have it. Don’t always assume that a lifetime link is always the best option. Sometimes a subscription link makes plenty of sense too.