3-Column Blogger templates

Default Blogger templates are a bore. Why stick with them when you can find many free ones on the web?

As far as templates go, I favor the 3-column type. If you're the type who likes to accessorize or pimp your blog, a 3-column template is just for you. It is also recommended for those who want to fill their blogs with ads. Having too many ads with a 2-column setup will lead to a cluttered look, not so with 3 columns.

But if you're aiming for that minimalist look, the 3-column template is definitely not for you.

I really like the 3-column layouts created by Isnaini. I've been using it for my other blogs for a long time. But there are other great templates out there. You can search the web for 3-column templates - there are many lying around.

What's Your Halloween Personality?

What Your Halloween Habits Say About You

The scariest thing on Halloween is you! You definitely don't want any kids in costumes crossing your path - and you're willing to scare away any who do. You are an overachiever and quite popular. You'd save the world if you could. Your inner child is stubborn and a bit bossy. You fear those closest to you finding out who you really are. You dread people discovering your secrets. You're prone to be quite emotional and over dramatic. Deep down, you enjoy being scared out of your mind... even if you don't admit it. You are a traditionalist with most aspects of your life. You like your Halloween costume to be basic, well made, and conventional enough to wear another year.

Wanna know what yours is? Click here.

The NBA season begins!

I'm a big basketball fan, so the new NBA season is welcome news. And because I'm obsessed with the NBA, I have joined four fantasy leagues this year.

My favorite is the Yahoo Fantasy Sports. I have 2 rotisserie (aka roto) leagues and 1 head-to-head league in Yahoo. In roto, you add up all the stats to decide the winner of the league. For example, if you have 12 teams in your league and you lead the category of steals, you get 12 points for that category. 2nd place gets 11 points, 3rd gets 10 and so on. You add up all the points garnered in each category to determine your ranking in the league. In head-to-head leagues, you play against someone in your league for a single week. The points garnered will determine the ranking for the playoffs for the season. Whoever wins the playoffs will be crowned the champion.

I used to favor head-to-head, because there is variety in the opponent you play every week. However, it is frustrating to play because even if you end up being the first at the end of the regular season, it doesn't mean squat if you somehow get unlucky in the playoffs (e.g. your players all get injured, busy schedule, etc). A manager who somehow gets lucky (e.g. sudden surge of his players, weak brackets, add/drop strategy) can win the championship even if he has had an ugly regular season So I am now more into roto because it entails more deliberate thinking (i.e. there are only a limited number of games that you can play for each position). Plus, the stats are tallied for the whole season. Thus, you cannot win the championship by just pure luck.

NBA has its own fantasy games, but I'm not a big fan. The pages are slow to load, the instructions are confusing, and the service is generally unsatisfactory. But I joined one league because it has a different format, a points-based league. It is similar to roto, so I am intrigued. If it's good, then maybe I'll stick around. But if it's not, I'm staying with Yahoo.

Frustrating BlogMad

I subscribed to BlogMad about a week ago, in the hopes of generating more traffic to this blog. The interface of the site is user-friendly and straight-forward. I could choose to surf blogs of other members to earn credits; play games; wager some of my credits for a chance to win the lottery pot. It's the kind of website that I like. but there is one BIG problem,:my blogs have not been activated ever since I have joined.

I wouldn't raise too much fuss if BlogMad says that the activation would take 2 weeks or so. I can accept that. But BlogMad indicates that the activation will only last 24 hours. I've waited more than that. I've emailed them about the problem, but there is still no response. And without my blog being activated all my hard-earned credits will go for naught.

Have I given up hope yet? Not yet, but I'm getting there. Just another email complaint and if there is no response, that's it.

But I have to give it to the website though. It has stayed faithful to its name: BlogMad is truly maddening.

Doppleganger?

Here's a pic from icanhascheezburger.com:


How cool is that!

Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince Trailer

Anticipation is building up for the 6th installment of the Harry Potter film series, although it will not be released until July of next year.

From the looks of it, Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince looks like another visual treat. David Yates (Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix), who comes back as director, will most likely present another dark tone. Although many did not like how he directed the Order of the Phoenix, I think his visual style will suit well the maturing characters and the darker plot of the film series.

Pay-to-click sites:different perspectives

Here's a page from Helium which has several posts about pay-to-click websites. They talk about their experiences - good and bad - for our perusal. So if you're interested or skeptical about click-to-pay sites, the posts in the link may be of help.

How much is your blog worth?

One way of earning money through blogs is to sell them. BankAholic, a blog focusing on banks, finances, insurance and general economy, was recently sold for $15 million dollars. Heck, even a five-month old Malaysian blog can be sold for $10,000. Of course, your blog must actually have some value.

So if you were to sell your blog right now, how much would it be? Here is a link putting a monetary value on your blog by the number of other blogs link to yours.

My blog is worth $0.00.
How much is your blog worth?

Which means, I can give mine for free.

Is Neobux a scam?

I chanced upon Neobux while searching the web for ways to earn money online. Since I'm in front of the computer everyday, I thought that I might as well earn money while web surfing.

Neobux is a pay-to-click site - which means that I will get paid every time I click on the ads flashed on the screen. It seems like an easy way to earn money, right?

The thing is, an ad click will only earn you 1 cent. Moreover, the number of times that you can click per day is limited (e.g. 10 times per day). In other words, this gig will not earn you oodles of money.

However, there are ways of squeezing just a few more pennies from this kind of site. If you are an active referrer, you can benefit from the clicks that the person you referred makes. So the more people you refer to the site, the higher your earnings will be.

But will the site pay up? That I'm not sure of. But I snooped around, and from the tetimonials I've read, the site pays its members on time. So that is a good sign. I'll be chronicling all the things that will happen with my Neobux account, and you'll be the first to know if it's the real deal or not.

Blogspot's cool gadgets

Bloggers may have noticed that more gadgets can be added to their blogs. I think this feature is brilliant, since you can add gadgets that will compliment your blog. I tried putting a Hangman game (see the right side of the panel) just for fun, and it works perfect!

Cancer freebie

Cyanide & Happiness @ Explosm.net

Passports will be needed to buy mobile phones

Times Online reports that, "Everyone who buys a mobile telephone will be forced to register their identity on a national database under government plans to extend massively the powers of state surveillance."

Whatever happened to right of one's privacy?

Next thing we'll know, we need to have a license in order to surf the net. Far fetched, I know. But it could happen.