We certainly couldn’t say that our blog is focused. Three categories comprise most of our interests, but even that is far too broad for many potential readers. Readers like to have the same type of content day in and day out. Our blog is a stream of consciousness that bounces across too many subjects. Still we have found a few die hard readers and many readers will find one or two stories to their liking and then go about their way.

When we first added ads from Google to our site, we were far to concerned about how the ads would look on the blog. We didn’t want them to be distracting from our stories. What a ridiculous notion. There is really no point in adding ads to your site unless you are pushing ads directly in front of your readers. We still aren’t fans of popup advertising but we do believe in making our ads prominent on our site. The reality is advertising is woven through everything we do or see on a daily basis. Don’t be afraid to put your ads in front of your readers. They are used to advertising and won’t leave your site because of advertising as long as you use some restraint.

So, how much can you make? It depends on your audience and the traffic to your site. This past month we received our first check from Google for just over $100.00 which is the minimum check they will issue. So how long did it take? About three years (laughing).

If you intend to run a blog or site and make substantial money from advertising you must make your ads prominent. You also must make absolutely sure that you stay on topic, preferably a single topic. We don’t believe that the topic is necessarily important. However, we can tell you that some ads will result in a penny or two, while others result in several dollars per click.

Stay focused and have fun. Maybe some day we will cover our hosting cost.

I use the WordPress web site on a daily basis for researching tools and techniques for web development. I often look at the plugin repository to see if a tool is already available before heading off to develop new functionality.

Unfortunately, I find the search results from within the WordPress plugins area severely lacking. Luckily, you can use a prefix in a Google search to get better results.

Any Google search can be restricted to a specific domain name or even smaller subset of a web site. In our case, I want to search the WordPress web site’s plugin area. The plugins are located at http://wordpress.org/extend/plugins.

To execute a search you just type your search criteria followed by the site: prefix with the domain location you want to search.

Example:
related posts site:http://wordpress.org/extend/plugins
This will search for “related posts” in the plugins area of the WordPress web site.

Oh boo hoo. Each employee got an unlocked Android phone (Google’s answer to the IPhone) instead of their cash bonus. They also each got to keep their job at a company that seems to do everything right.

The biggest bonus I received from my last employer was a ham. Now that I think of it, it was a mighty tasty ham, but a ham nonetheless.

I hope that Google employees make it through the holiday. It must be really tough.

Firefox, Internet Explorer, Safari, and Opera are the currently the most popular browsers. Now we will have one more to add to the top of the pile.

Official Google Blog: A fresh take on the browser

Google Sky

New to this game possibly is Microsoft. Always one to stick their noses in numerous areas comes Microsoft Worldwide Telescope. At first glance the application seems polished and well integrated. I found the application to be a little sluggish in loading some of the imagery but that is where this application truly shines. It has an extensive collection of imagery from numerous sources. The downside from my perspective was that the application is so extensive. It was a little hard for me to know where to go. I could break down and view demos or for that matter read the manual, but I didn’t.

WorldWide Telescope

Both applications allow you to view the sky or earth. I found Google’s application to be slightly less complicated to use and more interactive on my system. The Microsoft tool certainly seems more feature rich. One note is the Microsoft application is still in beta and I have noticed some quirks. One quirk was that it has a tendency to control your cursor even if the application isn’t currently the foremost window. At any rate, two great tools to enjoy our wondrous Universe.