Making Money Work

In the last week, I have been asked three times to give away significant amounts of my time and expertise to people who are putting on programs or putting together materials for a good cause. In two out of the three cases, the people asking were actually fairly rude and demanding about what they wanted from me. And by the third request-- which came this morning -- I snapped.

Why is it that so many people think authors can give away so much of their time for free? Where do they suppose we get the books that they ask us to donate? How do they expect us to fund the time that it takes to prepare for their event, to get to their event, to perform at their event? It's the craziest thing! I would never ask my dentist to work for free, or my lawyer, or my hairdresser, and yet people seem to think that it's part of an author's job to do programs and events for free. Maybe they mistake all authors for best-selling authors. Maybe they think that because Dan Brown and J.K. Rowling make so much money, all authors are raking in the dough.

I like it that people want me to show up. I think it's wonderful that they think I have something to offer. I appreciate that they are trying to support worthy causes.

But for the foreseeable future? I'm saying no. I am, after all, trying to write a novel....

Obviously the current job market isn’t looking so hot for anyone right now.  Most of us don’t have a trust fund to fall back on, and the state of our economy makes attending grad school a distant dream for so many of us.  With the pressure to land an entry-level position armed only with perseverance, savvy, and Bachelor’s degree in hand, the importance of choosing the right college major is more crucial now than ever  before.

In a recent article, Newsweek names the nine majors that lead to the “best” jobs.  The list includes majors along the lines of finance and information systems – things that have always been regarded as boring safe and prestigious.  I have to say, though, that the value of a career can’t be summed up by the median starting salary.  Sure, some people are actually passionate about construction management (hey, we don’t judge) and if you are, then of course this is the perfect major for you.  But for those of us who prefer to pursue skills that are slightly less mainstream (or that won’t make you want to bludgeon yourself with a calculator during your third all-nighter in a week), I say “why not?”

Throughout college, I remember seeing my peers who chose to major in things like biology struggle to stay awake during their work days while my Communications major (obviously not the most conventional) allowed me to spend the days of my internship interviewing high profile celebs at a major magazine. Win!

With that being said, we say “suck it, high paying jobs!” and have compiled 5 majors that put you on the path to career awesomeness.

1. Floristry: Cuyamana College in California offers this program.  Essentially a combination of botany and art, this major exists within the Ornamental Horticulture department.  Students pursue their Associate of Science degree by learning everything from planting flowers to designing wedding arrangements.  (Side note: where can I find a program that teaches me to devour…err…create Edible Arrangements?  If someone can find me one, I’m THERE.)

2. Arts and Entertainment Management: Drexel University’s Westphal College of Media Arts and Design is just one of the places where you can find this exciting major.  At Drexel students can choose a specialized concentration.  Depending on this and an individual student’s skills and interests, graduates can go on to become agents, managers, artistic/creative directors, and more.

3. Viticulture and Enology: Think an Ivy League education and alcohol are mutually exclusive?  Then you obviously haven’t heard of Cornell’s program.  Viticulture and Enology is basically just a fancy term for the study of wine.  Students within this major take courses that promise to make them experts on all things related to vino. I have to warn you, though – if you’re caught slappin’ a bag of Franzia with your dorm mates, you might get booted from the program.

4. Cartooning: It’s not exactly a college major, but this program is seriously cool.  For students who can’t see themselves in a traditional university setting but would still like to develop their skills after high school, The Center For Cartoon Studies is a god send.  One and two year certificates are offered, as is a Master’s program.  An education is Cartooning teaches all the essentials of the craft: from storytelling to drawing.  This institution, located in Vermont, promises to create master cartoonists, qualified to work at a variety of major media sources.

5. Film and TV Costume Design: FIDM offers this course, which not only teaches the fundamentals of design, but also includes plenty of info on how to navigate the industry and deal with other professionals. Who knows?  If you’re a fashionista in the making, this may be the very thing that could turn you into the next Patricia Fields (the super successful costume designer for Sex And The City.)  I mean, how much fun would it be to dress Blair Waldorf week after week?  This is one program that could definitely lead to an exciting career.

Of course, if you really want to have a fun career, there’s always Michigan….

Michelle Malkin » Good <b>News</b>: Dukakis Advising Democrats

Good News: Dukakis Advising Democrats. ... New Scapegoat for a Lousy Economy: Fox News is Hogging All the Success. September 28, 2010 04:34 PM by Doug Powers. 53 Comments | 2 Trackbacks ...

DNC Chair on Fox <b>News</b>: They are &#39;pushing&#39; for Republicans – This <b>...</b>

President Obama is at the University of Wisconsin trying to rally the Democratic base as November elections near. In a newly published Rolling Stone interview, Obama called it "irresponsible" to paint the base as unenthusiastic.

New York Times Backs <b>News</b>-Aggregation Software Company | Russell <b>...</b>

The New York Times Co. is joining a group of news organizations in backing the maker of software that helps publishers aggregate news, according to a person familiar with the matter. The company, called Ongo, filed a trademark ...

bench craft company rip off
benchcraft company scam

Michelle Malkin » Good <b>News</b>: Dukakis Advising Democrats

Good News: Dukakis Advising Democrats. ... New Scapegoat for a Lousy Economy: Fox News is Hogging All the Success. September 28, 2010 04:34 PM by Doug Powers. 53 Comments | 2 Trackbacks ...

DNC Chair on Fox <b>News</b>: They are &#39;pushing&#39; for Republicans – This <b>...</b>

President Obama is at the University of Wisconsin trying to rally the Democratic base as November elections near. In a newly published Rolling Stone interview, Obama called it "irresponsible" to paint the base as unenthusiastic.

New York Times Backs <b>News</b>-Aggregation Software Company | Russell <b>...</b>

The New York Times Co. is joining a group of news organizations in backing the maker of software that helps publishers aggregate news, according to a person familiar with the matter. The company, called Ongo, filed a trademark ...

bench craft company rip off benchcraft company scam

In the last week, I have been asked three times to give away significant amounts of my time and expertise to people who are putting on programs or putting together materials for a good cause. In two out of the three cases, the people asking were actually fairly rude and demanding about what they wanted from me. And by the third request-- which came this morning -- I snapped.

Why is it that so many people think authors can give away so much of their time for free? Where do they suppose we get the books that they ask us to donate? How do they expect us to fund the time that it takes to prepare for their event, to get to their event, to perform at their event? It's the craziest thing! I would never ask my dentist to work for free, or my lawyer, or my hairdresser, and yet people seem to think that it's part of an author's job to do programs and events for free. Maybe they mistake all authors for best-selling authors. Maybe they think that because Dan Brown and J.K. Rowling make so much money, all authors are raking in the dough.

I like it that people want me to show up. I think it's wonderful that they think I have something to offer. I appreciate that they are trying to support worthy causes.

But for the foreseeable future? I'm saying no. I am, after all, trying to write a novel....

Obviously the current job market isn’t looking so hot for anyone right now.  Most of us don’t have a trust fund to fall back on, and the state of our economy makes attending grad school a distant dream for so many of us.  With the pressure to land an entry-level position armed only with perseverance, savvy, and Bachelor’s degree in hand, the importance of choosing the right college major is more crucial now than ever  before.

In a recent article, Newsweek names the nine majors that lead to the “best” jobs.  The list includes majors along the lines of finance and information systems – things that have always been regarded as boring safe and prestigious.  I have to say, though, that the value of a career can’t be summed up by the median starting salary.  Sure, some people are actually passionate about construction management (hey, we don’t judge) and if you are, then of course this is the perfect major for you.  But for those of us who prefer to pursue skills that are slightly less mainstream (or that won’t make you want to bludgeon yourself with a calculator during your third all-nighter in a week), I say “why not?”

Throughout college, I remember seeing my peers who chose to major in things like biology struggle to stay awake during their work days while my Communications major (obviously not the most conventional) allowed me to spend the days of my internship interviewing high profile celebs at a major magazine. Win!

With that being said, we say “suck it, high paying jobs!” and have compiled 5 majors that put you on the path to career awesomeness.

1. Floristry: Cuyamana College in California offers this program.  Essentially a combination of botany and art, this major exists within the Ornamental Horticulture department.  Students pursue their Associate of Science degree by learning everything from planting flowers to designing wedding arrangements.  (Side note: where can I find a program that teaches me to devour…err…create Edible Arrangements?  If someone can find me one, I’m THERE.)

2. Arts and Entertainment Management: Drexel University’s Westphal College of Media Arts and Design is just one of the places where you can find this exciting major.  At Drexel students can choose a specialized concentration.  Depending on this and an individual student’s skills and interests, graduates can go on to become agents, managers, artistic/creative directors, and more.

3. Viticulture and Enology: Think an Ivy League education and alcohol are mutually exclusive?  Then you obviously haven’t heard of Cornell’s program.  Viticulture and Enology is basically just a fancy term for the study of wine.  Students within this major take courses that promise to make them experts on all things related to vino. I have to warn you, though – if you’re caught slappin’ a bag of Franzia with your dorm mates, you might get booted from the program.

4. Cartooning: It’s not exactly a college major, but this program is seriously cool.  For students who can’t see themselves in a traditional university setting but would still like to develop their skills after high school, The Center For Cartoon Studies is a god send.  One and two year certificates are offered, as is a Master’s program.  An education is Cartooning teaches all the essentials of the craft: from storytelling to drawing.  This institution, located in Vermont, promises to create master cartoonists, qualified to work at a variety of major media sources.

5. Film and TV Costume Design: FIDM offers this course, which not only teaches the fundamentals of design, but also includes plenty of info on how to navigate the industry and deal with other professionals. Who knows?  If you’re a fashionista in the making, this may be the very thing that could turn you into the next Patricia Fields (the super successful costume designer for Sex And The City.)  I mean, how much fun would it be to dress Blair Waldorf week after week?  This is one program that could definitely lead to an exciting career.

Of course, if you really want to have a fun career, there’s always Michigan….

benchcraft company scam

Michelle Malkin » Good <b>News</b>: Dukakis Advising Democrats

Good News: Dukakis Advising Democrats. ... New Scapegoat for a Lousy Economy: Fox News is Hogging All the Success. September 28, 2010 04:34 PM by Doug Powers. 53 Comments | 2 Trackbacks ...

DNC Chair on Fox <b>News</b>: They are &#39;pushing&#39; for Republicans – This <b>...</b>

President Obama is at the University of Wisconsin trying to rally the Democratic base as November elections near. In a newly published Rolling Stone interview, Obama called it "irresponsible" to paint the base as unenthusiastic.

New York Times Backs <b>News</b>-Aggregation Software Company | Russell <b>...</b>

The New York Times Co. is joining a group of news organizations in backing the maker of software that helps publishers aggregate news, according to a person familiar with the matter. The company, called Ongo, filed a trademark ...

benchcraft company scam benchcraft company scam

Michelle Malkin » Good <b>News</b>: Dukakis Advising Democrats

Good News: Dukakis Advising Democrats. ... New Scapegoat for a Lousy Economy: Fox News is Hogging All the Success. September 28, 2010 04:34 PM by Doug Powers. 53 Comments | 2 Trackbacks ...

DNC Chair on Fox <b>News</b>: They are &#39;pushing&#39; for Republicans – This <b>...</b>

President Obama is at the University of Wisconsin trying to rally the Democratic base as November elections near. In a newly published Rolling Stone interview, Obama called it "irresponsible" to paint the base as unenthusiastic.

New York Times Backs <b>News</b>-Aggregation Software Company | Russell <b>...</b>

The New York Times Co. is joining a group of news organizations in backing the maker of software that helps publishers aggregate news, according to a person familiar with the matter. The company, called Ongo, filed a trademark ...

benchcraft company scam bench craft company rip off

Michelle Malkin » Good <b>News</b>: Dukakis Advising Democrats

Good News: Dukakis Advising Democrats. ... New Scapegoat for a Lousy Economy: Fox News is Hogging All the Success. September 28, 2010 04:34 PM by Doug Powers. 53 Comments | 2 Trackbacks ...

DNC Chair on Fox <b>News</b>: They are &#39;pushing&#39; for Republicans – This <b>...</b>

President Obama is at the University of Wisconsin trying to rally the Democratic base as November elections near. In a newly published Rolling Stone interview, Obama called it "irresponsible" to paint the base as unenthusiastic.

New York Times Backs <b>News</b>-Aggregation Software Company | Russell <b>...</b>

The New York Times Co. is joining a group of news organizations in backing the maker of software that helps publishers aggregate news, according to a person familiar with the matter. The company, called Ongo, filed a trademark ...

benchcraft company scam

Making Money Internet

Comments

Subscribe to comments for this post OR Subscribe to comments for all ReadWriteWeb posts

1. 
   
   
   

   One thing you're missing here: Craigslist started charging for the Adult Services section at the request of previous Attorneys General with the idea that adding a charge that required a credit card would curtail the use of the section for illegal activities.

   
   
   

   http://www.scattorneygeneral.com/newsroom/pdf/2009/craigslist.pdf

   
   
   

   Posted by: Collin |
   September 8, 2010 6:04 PM

   
   
















2. 
   
   
   

   Ah! Makes sense. Updating the post. Thanks for bringing that to my attention.

   
   
   

    Posted by: Adrianne Jeffries |
   September 8, 2010 6:14 PM

   
   
















3. 
   
   
   

   I'm baffled as to why craigslist didn't see the profit issue ahead of time. I'm 100% behind them, but raking in millions just doesn't look good, and makes them an easy target. From day one of charging for Adult Services, they should have been giving 100% of that money to organizations that work to prevent sex trafficking and child prostitution, to make it 100% clear that the money was for filtering, not for profit.

   
   
   

    Posted by: Brad Weikel |
   September 8, 2010 6:17 PM

   
   
















4. 
   
   
   

   I think this is a good thing to do for Craiglist. But I bet that some thousands or maybe millions of dollars will be taken out from earnings in the industry with Craiglist ready to censor. LOL. Thanks for the info.

   
   
   

   Posted by: WebHosting Guru |
   September 8, 2010 7:09 PM

   
   
















5. 
   
   
   

   I'm baffled how an article on ReadWriteWeb could miss the obvious question of free speech on the internet.

   
   
   

   What you have here is public officials (facing re-election) using their office as a pulpit, making legal threats they know to be unenforceable, and lying to the media in order to prohibit speech which they know to be legal. State AGs are literally using a public relations campaign to circumvent an Act of Congress intended to curtail their power against just *this* kind of electioneering. That the AGs happen to be exploiting victimized children in their media campaign is almost incidental to the larger attack on the law and Constitution.

   
   
   

   The Communications Decency Act protects electronic publishers from liability for content produced by users of the system. Absent that immunity there could be no Google, no Blogspot, no Facebook, no WordPress.com, no Digg or Reddit, no Twitter and no comments (like this one) on ReadWriteWeb.

   
   
   

   The moralistic campaigns against 4chan and craigslist all lead to one inevitable conclusion: the publishers of ReadWriteWeb will be criminally and civilly liable for the comments of this community.

   
   
   

   Here's a concept that's new: Has anyone ever substantiated the claims that Craigslist has ever been used for child or human trafficking? Is there even one demonstrable case of this occurring? If not, then the site may have just established millions of dollars in damages for a defamation suit against it's detractors. Yes, Craigslist is a public person, that doesn't mean they can't be defamed: they just have to prove damages.

   
   
   

   Posted by: Baffled |
   September 8, 2010 10:04 PM

   
   
















6. 
   
   
   

   Mobile phone carriers should be banned to provide a phone number to prostitutes as they are also making tons of money from an illegale activity.

   
   
   

   Same thing for people selling cloth, sex toys, etc.

   
   
   

   Posted by: idont |
   September 9, 2010 9:21 AM

   
   






















Frank Barry, professional services manager at Blackbaud and blogger at NetWits ThinkTank, helps non-profits use the Internet for digital communication, social media, and fundraising so they can focus on making an impact and achieving their missions. Find Frank on Twitter @franswaa.

Non-profit organizations are leading the way when it comes to creatively harnessing the power of social media. A report by The University of Massachusetts Dartmouth shows that the largest U.S. non-profit organizations continue to outpace Inc. 500 businesses and higher education institutions in their familiarity, use and monitoring of social media.

In fact, 93% of the top U.S. charities have a class='blippr-nobr'>Facebookclass="blippr-nobr">Facebook page, 87% have a Twitter profile, and 65% have a blog. Why does this matter? Because the rapid growth and adoption of social media is helping non-profits in their quest for change — they truly are using social media for social good.

But what about the little guys? The social web can give smaller players a big voice if they know how to leverage it. Here are three inspiring success stories of small non-profits who met or exceeded their goals with the help of social media.

1. Create a Video, Start a Movement

Darius Weems and the Darius Goes West project will inspire you. Suffering from Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD), Darius and 11 of his best friends decided to head out on a cross country road trip from Atlanta to Los Angeles, where Darius hoped to have his wheelchair spiffed up by MTV’s Pimp my Ride. Though his wheelchair did not get pimped by MTV on that trip, there was a far better outcome that even Darius couldn’t have imagined.

The 25-day trip resulted in memories, experiences and 300 hours of video which were turned into a documentary that has impacted thousands of people around the world. That very same documentary has now raised over $2 million for DMD research.

According to the Darius Goes West team, “We had offers from distributors, but, in the end, we decided to self-distribute our film. By opting to self-distribute, we bear the responsibility for marketing, but we also have the power to devote $8 of every DVD sale to promising DMD research.”

It’s apparent that social media has played and continues to play a significant roll in helping to raise both awareness and money for DMD research through Darius and his friends. Here’s a snap shot of their social media footprint:

They’ve accrued close to 700,000 views on YouTubeclass="blippr-nobr">YouTube, collected more than 14,000 Facebook fans, obtained roughly 2,000 Twitter followers, and raised almost $45,000 through Facebook Causes and FirstGiving.

2. Empower Your Supporters to be Free Agent Fundraisers

Well known cycling blogger Elden Nelson did something incredible a few months ago — he raise more than $135,000 in less than 10 days for LIVESTRONG and World Bicycle Relief using his blog, Twitterclass="blippr-nobr">Twitter and Friends Asking Friends.

It all started when Nelson sent Lance Armstrong’s racing team manager, Johan Bruyneel, an open cover letter as if he were applying for a job.

Nelson, who dreamed of becoming a pro cyclist, reached out to Bruyneel, with low expectations on its return. But through the power of social media, Bruyneel did see it, and he challenged Nelson via Twitter and his blogclass="blippr-nobr">blog to raise $50,000 for LIVESTRONG and $50,000 for World Bicycle Relief. Nelson took on that challenge and completed it in less than two days.

Without the ability to quickly connect and mobilize his network using social media, this wouldn’t have been possible in such a shot amount of time. Nelson tweeted numerous times as the story unfolded, as did Bruyneel, @livestrong, @livestrongceo and @lancearmstrong. Those three accounts combined have over 3.5 million Twitter followers. Add to that the numerous blog posts, Facebook status updates and YouTube videos, and you get a social media-fueled fundraising phenomenon like we’ve never seen.

3. Raise Funds by Creating a “Heartspace”

Mothers Day 2010 brought about quite a few online fundraising initiatives, but none were more impressive than the To Mama with Love campaign created by the passionate folks at Epic Change and a host of great volunteers. The goal was simple — raise money to support Mama Lucy in her efforts to educate children in Tanzania.

Mama Lucy is a change agent who saved her own income and used it to start a primary school in Tanzania, believing that education is the key to transforming a country gripped by poverty. Over the last six years, Mama Lucy has grown the school from one classroom with fewer than 10 students, to a school that now serves more than 300 children at eight grade levels.

The initiative was simple but powerful. Supporters were encouraged honor their own mothers by making a donation and then creating a virtual scrapbook or “heartspace” on the site, including photos, videos, notes, and artwork. They could then share their “heartspace” with their mother, friends and family via Twitter and Facebook, or via a customized e-card.

Using social media as the primary communication and engagement mechanism, Epic Change was able to raise close to $17,000 and provide a safe home for 17 children in Tanzania, while also encouraging more than 300 mothers along the way. They did all of this in about a week’s time with a staff of two.

So you see, social media has truly enabled non-profits both large and small to reach out and make some real change. Tell us about the social cause campaigns you’ve donated to in the past in the comments below.

More Social Good Resources from Mashable:

- 5 Easy Ways to Support a Cause Through Your Social Network/> - 5 Trends Shaping the Future of Social Good/> - 10 Ways to Start a Fund for Social Good Online/> - How Social Good Has Revolutionized Philanthropy/> - 5 iPhone Apps to Help Fight Poverty

Image courtesy of iStockphotoclass="blippr-nobr">iStockphoto, AndrewJohnson

For more Social Good coverage:

class="f-el">class="cov-twit">Follow Mashable Social Goodclass="s-el">class="cov-rss">Subscribe to the Social Good channelclass="f-el">class="cov-fb">Become a Fan on Facebookclass="s-el">class="cov-apple">Download our free apps for iPhone and iPad

Weekly Search &amp; Social <b>News</b>: 09/28/2010 | Search Engine Journal

Hey there gang, it's time for another '7 Days of Search and Social' . Did ya miss me? Sure ye did. I was ill last week so for the first time, in a long time,

Obama Says Fox <b>News</b> Promotes &#39;Destructive&#39; Viewpoint - NYTimes.com

Fox News Channel responds to President Obama's sharp critique of the channel in a Rolling Stone interview.

Obama: Fox <b>News</b> Has A Point Of View That &#39;Is Ultimately <b>...</b>

President Obama hit out hard at Fox News in an interview with Rolling Stone. In the interview, which was released Tuesday, Rolling Stone editor Jann Wenner asked Obama, "What do you think of Fox News?

halloween costumes

Weekly Search &amp; Social <b>News</b>: 09/28/2010 | Search Engine Journal

Hey there gang, it's time for another '7 Days of Search and Social' . Did ya miss me? Sure ye did. I was ill last week so for the first time, in a long time,

Obama Says Fox <b>News</b> Promotes &#39;Destructive&#39; Viewpoint - NYTimes.com

Fox News Channel responds to President Obama's sharp critique of the channel in a Rolling Stone interview.

Obama: Fox <b>News</b> Has A Point Of View That &#39;Is Ultimately <b>...</b>

President Obama hit out hard at Fox News in an interview with Rolling Stone. In the interview, which was released Tuesday, Rolling Stone editor Jann Wenner asked Obama, "What do you think of Fox News?




Comments




Subscribe to comments for this post OR Subscribe to comments for all ReadWriteWeb posts









1. 
   
   
   

   One thing you're missing here: Craigslist started charging for the Adult Services section at the request of previous Attorneys General with the idea that adding a charge that required a credit card would curtail the use of the section for illegal activities.

   
   
   

   http://www.scattorneygeneral.com/newsroom/pdf/2009/craigslist.pdf

   
   
   

   Posted by: Collin |
   September 8, 2010 6:04 PM

   
   
















2. 
   
   
   

   Ah! Makes sense. Updating the post. Thanks for bringing that to my attention.

   
   
   

    Posted by: Adrianne Jeffries |
   September 8, 2010 6:14 PM

   
   
















3. 
   
   
   

   I'm baffled as to why craigslist didn't see the profit issue ahead of time. I'm 100% behind them, but raking in millions just doesn't look good, and makes them an easy target. From day one of charging for Adult Services, they should have been giving 100% of that money to organizations that work to prevent sex trafficking and child prostitution, to make it 100% clear that the money was for filtering, not for profit.

   
   
   

    Posted by: Brad Weikel |
   September 8, 2010 6:17 PM

   
   
















4. 
   
   
   

   I think this is a good thing to do for Craiglist. But I bet that some thousands or maybe millions of dollars will be taken out from earnings in the industry with Craiglist ready to censor. LOL. Thanks for the info.

   
   
   

   Posted by: WebHosting Guru |
   September 8, 2010 7:09 PM

   
   
















5. 
   
   
   

   I'm baffled how an article on ReadWriteWeb could miss the obvious question of free speech on the internet.

   
   
   

   What you have here is public officials (facing re-election) using their office as a pulpit, making legal threats they know to be unenforceable, and lying to the media in order to prohibit speech which they know to be legal. State AGs are literally using a public relations campaign to circumvent an Act of Congress intended to curtail their power against just *this* kind of electioneering. That the AGs happen to be exploiting victimized children in their media campaign is almost incidental to the larger attack on the law and Constitution.

   
   
   

   The Communications Decency Act protects electronic publishers from liability for content produced by users of the system. Absent that immunity there could be no Google, no Blogspot, no Facebook, no WordPress.com, no Digg or Reddit, no Twitter and no comments (like this one) on ReadWriteWeb.

   
   
   

   The moralistic campaigns against 4chan and craigslist all lead to one inevitable conclusion: the publishers of ReadWriteWeb will be criminally and civilly liable for the comments of this community.

   
   
   

   Here's a concept that's new: Has anyone ever substantiated the claims that Craigslist has ever been used for child or human trafficking? Is there even one demonstrable case of this occurring? If not, then the site may have just established millions of dollars in damages for a defamation suit against it's detractors. Yes, Craigslist is a public person, that doesn't mean they can't be defamed: they just have to prove damages.

   
   
   

   Posted by: Baffled |
   September 8, 2010 10:04 PM

   
   
















6. 
   
   
   

   Mobile phone carriers should be banned to provide a phone number to prostitutes as they are also making tons of money from an illegale activity.

   
   
   

   Same thing for people selling cloth, sex toys, etc.

   
   
   

   Posted by: idont |
   September 9, 2010 9:21 AM

   
   






















Frank Barry, professional services manager at Blackbaud and blogger at NetWits ThinkTank, helps non-profits use the Internet for digital communication, social media, and fundraising so they can focus on making an impact and achieving their missions. Find Frank on Twitter @franswaa.

Non-profit organizations are leading the way when it comes to creatively harnessing the power of social media. A report by The University of Massachusetts Dartmouth shows that the largest U.S. non-profit organizations continue to outpace Inc. 500 businesses and higher education institutions in their familiarity, use and monitoring of social media.

In fact, 93% of the top U.S. charities have a class='blippr-nobr'>Facebookclass="blippr-nobr">Facebook page, 87% have a Twitter profile, and 65% have a blog. Why does this matter? Because the rapid growth and adoption of social media is helping non-profits in their quest for change — they truly are using social media for social good.

But what about the little guys? The social web can give smaller players a big voice if they know how to leverage it. Here are three inspiring success stories of small non-profits who met or exceeded their goals with the help of social media.

1. Create a Video, Start a Movement

Darius Weems and the Darius Goes West project will inspire you. Suffering from Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD), Darius and 11 of his best friends decided to head out on a cross country road trip from Atlanta to Los Angeles, where Darius hoped to have his wheelchair spiffed up by MTV’s Pimp my Ride. Though his wheelchair did not get pimped by MTV on that trip, there was a far better outcome that even Darius couldn’t have imagined.

The 25-day trip resulted in memories, experiences and 300 hours of video which were turned into a documentary that has impacted thousands of people around the world. That very same documentary has now raised over $2 million for DMD research.

According to the Darius Goes West team, “We had offers from distributors, but, in the end, we decided to self-distribute our film. By opting to self-distribute, we bear the responsibility for marketing, but we also have the power to devote $8 of every DVD sale to promising DMD research.”

It’s apparent that social media has played and continues to play a significant roll in helping to raise both awareness and money for DMD research through Darius and his friends. Here’s a snap shot of their social media footprint:

They’ve accrued close to 700,000 views on YouTubeclass="blippr-nobr">YouTube, collected more than 14,000 Facebook fans, obtained roughly 2,000 Twitter followers, and raised almost $45,000 through Facebook Causes and FirstGiving.

2. Empower Your Supporters to be Free Agent Fundraisers

Well known cycling blogger Elden Nelson did something incredible a few months ago — he raise more than $135,000 in less than 10 days for LIVESTRONG and World Bicycle Relief using his blog, Twitterclass="blippr-nobr">Twitter and Friends Asking Friends.

It all started when Nelson sent Lance Armstrong’s racing team manager, Johan Bruyneel, an open cover letter as if he were applying for a job.

Nelson, who dreamed of becoming a pro cyclist, reached out to Bruyneel, with low expectations on its return. But through the power of social media, Bruyneel did see it, and he challenged Nelson via Twitter and his blogclass="blippr-nobr">blog to raise $50,000 for LIVESTRONG and $50,000 for World Bicycle Relief. Nelson took on that challenge and completed it in less than two days.

Without the ability to quickly connect and mobilize his network using social media, this wouldn’t have been possible in such a shot amount of time. Nelson tweeted numerous times as the story unfolded, as did Bruyneel, @livestrong, @livestrongceo and @lancearmstrong. Those three accounts combined have over 3.5 million Twitter followers. Add to that the numerous blog posts, Facebook status updates and YouTube videos, and you get a social media-fueled fundraising phenomenon like we’ve never seen.

3. Raise Funds by Creating a “Heartspace”

Mothers Day 2010 brought about quite a few online fundraising initiatives, but none were more impressive than the To Mama with Love campaign created by the passionate folks at Epic Change and a host of great volunteers. The goal was simple — raise money to support Mama Lucy in her efforts to educate children in Tanzania.

Mama Lucy is a change agent who saved her own income and used it to start a primary school in Tanzania, believing that education is the key to transforming a country gripped by poverty. Over the last six years, Mama Lucy has grown the school from one classroom with fewer than 10 students, to a school that now serves more than 300 children at eight grade levels.

The initiative was simple but powerful. Supporters were encouraged honor their own mothers by making a donation and then creating a virtual scrapbook or “heartspace” on the site, including photos, videos, notes, and artwork. They could then share their “heartspace” with their mother, friends and family via Twitter and Facebook, or via a customized e-card.

Using social media as the primary communication and engagement mechanism, Epic Change was able to raise close to $17,000 and provide a safe home for 17 children in Tanzania, while also encouraging more than 300 mothers along the way. They did all of this in about a week’s time with a staff of two.

So you see, social media has truly enabled non-profits both large and small to reach out and make some real change. Tell us about the social cause campaigns you’ve donated to in the past in the comments below.

More Social Good Resources from Mashable:

- 5 Easy Ways to Support a Cause Through Your Social Network/> - 5 Trends Shaping the Future of Social Good/> - 10 Ways to Start a Fund for Social Good Online/> - How Social Good Has Revolutionized Philanthropy/> - 5 iPhone Apps to Help Fight Poverty

Image courtesy of iStockphotoclass="blippr-nobr">iStockphoto, AndrewJohnson

For more Social Good coverage:

class="f-el">class="cov-twit">Follow Mashable Social Goodclass="s-el">class="cov-rss">Subscribe to the Social Good channelclass="f-el">class="cov-fb">Become a Fan on Facebookclass="s-el">class="cov-apple">Download our free apps for iPhone and iPad





corporate reputation management

Weekly Search &amp; Social <b>News</b>: 09/28/2010 | Search Engine Journal

Hey there gang, it's time for another '7 Days of Search and Social' . Did ya miss me? Sure ye did. I was ill last week so for the first time, in a long time,

Obama Says Fox <b>News</b> Promotes &#39;Destructive&#39; Viewpoint - NYTimes.com

Fox News Channel responds to President Obama's sharp critique of the channel in a Rolling Stone interview.

Obama: Fox <b>News</b> Has A Point Of View That &#39;Is Ultimately <b>...</b>

President Obama hit out hard at Fox News in an interview with Rolling Stone. In the interview, which was released Tuesday, Rolling Stone editor Jann Wenner asked Obama, "What do you think of Fox News?

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Weekly Search &amp; Social <b>News</b>: 09/28/2010 | Search Engine Journal

Hey there gang, it's time for another '7 Days of Search and Social' . Did ya miss me? Sure ye did. I was ill last week so for the first time, in a long time,

Obama Says Fox <b>News</b> Promotes &#39;Destructive&#39; Viewpoint - NYTimes.com

Fox News Channel responds to President Obama's sharp critique of the channel in a Rolling Stone interview.

Obama: Fox <b>News</b> Has A Point Of View That &#39;Is Ultimately <b>...</b>

President Obama hit out hard at Fox News in an interview with Rolling Stone. In the interview, which was released Tuesday, Rolling Stone editor Jann Wenner asked Obama, "What do you think of Fox News?






http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/07_18/b4032066.htm

http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/07_18/b4032066.htm

http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/07_18/b4032066.htm

http://money.cnn.com/magazines/fortune/fortune_archive/1999/10/25/267811/index.htm

http://money.cnn.com/magazines/fortune/fortune_archive/1999/10/25/267811/index.htm

http://money.cnn.com/magazines/fortune/fortune_archive/1999/10/25/267811/index.htm

http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/07_18/b4032066.htm

how to manage personal finances

This post is from staff writer Sierra Black. Sierra writes about frugality, sustainable living, and getting her kids to eat kale at Childwild.com. This post is part of Book Week at Get Rich Slowly.

Since my twin victories of paying off our last credit card and funding a summer of travel, my husband has begun to show interest in personal finance.

It’s not that he wasn’t supportive of my efforts before — he just preferred to support them from a safe, ignorant distance. A distance from which I handed him an envelope of cash each week to do the grocery shopping, he didn’t ask too many questions, and somehow we were climbing out of debt. He was more than happy to adopt any frugal-living strategy I suggested, as long as he didn’t have to think about the Big Picture.

That system worked, but I longed for more active participation from him. Not only because I wanted us to share equally in the journey toward financial freedom — I do want that — but also for a selfish reason. I wanted him to participate because he’s better at this stuff than I am. He’s a whiz at spreadsheets. The man has a Ph.d in Physical Chemistry. You don’t get one of those without doing a few math problems.

Lately, I’ve been getting my wish. My husband has been talking with a financial advisor at the university he works for, and having clear, honest conversations with me about our money.

This seemed like the perfect time for me to read Mary Hunt’s How to Debt-Proof Your Marriage.

Relationship first

Hunt’s book covers the basics of personal finance and debt destruction, with a special focus on doing it as a couple. Before she even begins talking about financial management, Hunt talks about strengthening the foundations of your marriage. You can’t have financial harmony without emotional intimacy, she says.

I couldn’t agree more. It’s clear in my own marriage that spending time relaxing together on vacation helped my husband and me both chill out and have better conversations during our family finance meetings too.

Hunt and I part ways in the chapters about how to achieve that emotional intimacy, though. She bases her prescription for marital bliss on traditional gender roles. She includes chapters for each sex on how to make deposits in the other’s Love Bank — a metaphorical bank of goodwill made of small, loving gestures.

The Love Bank is an adorable idea, one I’m tempted to put into practice here in my own home. I’m pretty sure I won’t be making my deposits to my husband’s Love Bank by biting my tongue when I disagree with him, though. Likewise, I don’t expect him to express his love for me by bringing me flowers and handling all the tough decisions for me like the natural leader of our family should.

Hunt is a generation (or two) older than I am, and what works for her marriage is so foreign to my young, feminist mind that it was actually a little hard to read. But leaving aside the details of how you get to an intimate marriage, though, she and I agree wholeheartedly that it’s important to get your emotional needs met before you can effectively work together with your spouse to manage your finances.

Money second

The personal-finance half of the book will be familiar to most GRS readers. Hunt advocates an approach similar to Your Money or Your Life and Dave Ramsey’s Total Money Makeover, one that begins with calculating your net worth and tracking your expenses. From there, she covers the basics of setting up an emergency fund, creating a spending plan, and starting a debt snowball (though she uses different terms for these steps).

Like her ideal of a healthy relationship, Hunt’s financial advice seems a little dated in places. A lot of it has to do with how to organize your three-ring binders, or how to painstakingly accomplish by-hand calculations that Mint can do for you in a few minutes. If you’re a devotee of the pen-and-paper approach, though, her chapters on how to track and plan your spending are rock solid and detailed enough to easily follow.

The one thing in this book that made me want to put it down, run to my office, and implement it on the spot was, in fact, her filing system. Hunt takes a few pages to go over exactly what personal records you should be keeping, and outlines an elegant effective way to organize them. I spent an hour tearing apart my filing cabinet yesterday as soon as I read those pages. I may not want my marriage to look much like hers, but I’m delighted to have made over my filing cabinet in Mary Hunt’s image.

Different views

There are a few areas where Mary’s financial advice deviates from the usual Get Rich Slowly formula. One is the matter of the debt snowball. She encourages readers to start saving 10% of their income towards an emergency fund immediately, while still paying the minimums on their credit cards. Only after saving up a fully funded six-month emergency fund would Hunt advise you to roll those savings into your credit card payments.

Given the relative interest rates on credit cards and savings accounts, this approach will almost certainly cost you money. If it works for you psychologically, though, by all means pursue it. No matter what order you do them in, the key steps of tracking your spending, creating an emergency fund, and snowballing your debt payments will lead you to financial security.

Another place where she breaks with conventional wisdom is in her savings and spending ratios. GRS readers are familiar with the Balanced Money Formula that encourages us to use 50% of our money for living expenses, 30% for fun and 20% for savings. Hunt advises 10% for giving, 10% for saving and 80% for spending.

The order of those percentages is vital to her. A devout Christian, Hunt feels that all the money that comes into your life is a blessing from God, and promptly giving 10% of it back to God shows you can be trusted with this blessing, and more of it will come your way.

I’m not a Christian, but I admire Mary’s faith and devotion to charitable giving. It’s a goal of mine to give 10% of my income. I’ve written about that here before, and readers made a persuasive case for waiting until my debts were paid before giving so much away. For now, I give a modest amount and look forward to giving more in the future.

I think that for Hunt, the psychological benefits of giving 10% and saving 10% before you make any spending decisions at all outweigh the financial benefits of paying off your debts as fast as possible and then beginning to accumulate and donate wealth.

It’s an interesting approach, and one that might work for a lot of people. Particularly if you’re a devoted Christian and looking for a personal-finance book that reflects your values, you’ll find a lot of good in How to Debt-Proof Your Marriage. If you’re looking for a book that’s totally focused on financial savvy and relationship skills, though, this might not be your best bet.

From Hotline (HT: Mataconis):

O'Donnell, a perennial conservative candidate in Delaware, is challenging moderate Rep. Mike Castle (R), the clear favorite of the GOP establishment. But she has come under fire recently for her personal financial problems. Reports have surfaced that she owed $10K in back taxes, defaulted on her mortgage and holds outstanding campaign debt.

Levi Russell, a spokesman for the group, told Hotline On Call that the group was not aware of O'Donnell's personal financial problems before it endorsed her.

"We don't know the exact situation," he said.

When asked if the group discussed the issues with O'Donnell, Russell responded: "No we haven't. We don't really have any contact with the campaign or the candidate."

We have blogged before reasons why we support Mike Castle over O'Donnell. But this report raises even more questions, such as:

1. If the Tea Party really stands for fiscal conservatism, why would they endorse somebody who can't even manage her personal finances?


2. Does it give you confidence in the Tea Party that they go around endorsing people without having any contact with the candidate? How do they know that this female version of Harold Stassen is really worthy of such an endorsement?


3. Christine O'Donnell has run for office 4 times. Her sole victory was an uncontested Republican primary.


4. In 2008, O'Donnell lost the Delaware senate race to Joe Biden by 65-35. She later falsely claimed to have won two counties in that race. Biden's percentage of the vote in 2008 was the largest of any of his senatorial campaigns.


5. In 2008, one of the great Democratic landslides, Mike Castle beat his Democratic challenger for Delaware's sole Congressional seat by 23 points. Castle has won 13 consecutive state-wide races as a candidate either for Governor or Congressman. He's way ahead of the Democrat in the polls while O'Donnell trails the Democrat by 10 points.

As a student of Delaware corporate governance, I am firmly convinced that Delaware needs quality representation in Congress if it is to fend off the creeping federalization of corporate law. As a big tent Republican, I'm inclined to support smart, electable, centrists like Mike Castle over someone like O'Donnell. The perfect must not be allowed to become the enemy of the good. Especially when the supposed perfect candidate is pretty seriously flawed and probably unelectable.

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Early Critics Weigh in on Benu : Good <b>News</b>/Bad <b>News</b> : Eater SF

After slaving away in the internationally acclaimed French Laundry kitchen with one Thomas Kellar for years, Corey Lee is on his own now at Benu. If you've never heard of...

Eddie Fisher dies at 82 | EW.com - TV, movie and music <b>news</b> | <b>News</b> <b>...</b>

Pop idol Eddie Fisher died on Wednesday due to complications from a recent hip surgery, his family announced on Thursday. He was 82. Fisher, father to actres...

Scripting <b>News</b>: Angelgate in a Nutshell

Recent stories. Twitter links. My 40 most-recent Twitter links, ranked by number of clicks. My bike. People are always asking about my bike. A picture named bikesmall.jpg. Here's a picture. AFP news pic. Calendar ...

Early Critics Weigh in on Benu : Good <b>News</b>/Bad <b>News</b> : Eater SF

After slaving away in the internationally acclaimed French Laundry kitchen with one Thomas Kellar for years, Corey Lee is on his own now at Benu. If you've never heard of...

Eddie Fisher dies at 82 | EW.com - TV, movie and music <b>news</b> | <b>News</b> <b>...</b>

Pop idol Eddie Fisher died on Wednesday due to complications from a recent hip surgery, his family announced on Thursday. He was 82. Fisher, father to actres...

Scripting <b>News</b>: Angelgate in a Nutshell

Recent stories. Twitter links. My 40 most-recent Twitter links, ranked by number of clicks. My bike. People are always asking about my bike. A picture named bikesmall.jpg. Here's a picture. AFP news pic. Calendar ...

big white booty

Early Critics Weigh in on Benu : Good <b>News</b>/Bad <b>News</b> : Eater SF

After slaving away in the internationally acclaimed French Laundry kitchen with one Thomas Kellar for years, Corey Lee is on his own now at Benu. If you've never heard of...

Eddie Fisher dies at 82 | EW.com - TV, movie and music <b>news</b> | <b>News</b> <b>...</b>

Pop idol Eddie Fisher died on Wednesday due to complications from a recent hip surgery, his family announced on Thursday. He was 82. Fisher, father to actres...

Scripting <b>News</b>: Angelgate in a Nutshell

Recent stories. Twitter links. My 40 most-recent Twitter links, ranked by number of clicks. My bike. People are always asking about my bike. A picture named bikesmall.jpg. Here's a picture. AFP news pic. Calendar ...

personal finance and budgeting

Are you a fan of the GTD personal productivity system? Well if you like "Getting Things Done," here's GFD, Getting Finances Done, which shows you how to map David Allen's same principals to managing your personal finance and achieving your financial goals.

Applying GTD principles to your personal finances - Part 1 [Getting Finances Done]

It's hard to beat an excel spreadsheet for quickly shifting between a granular and top-level view of your personal finance situation. Here's reader Lauren's account balance spreadsheet she made to keep track of her expenditures, past, present, and future, and itemize her budget.

Download Lauren's Budgeter (XLS)

1. Scroll to the current month.

2. Enter your current balance in the "Starting Balance" box at the top left.

3. Enter your credits and debits on the appropriate dates they will hit your account. Use positive numbers for money getting added credits, and negative numbers for when it's getting taken away.

4. The green "Total" will change to reflect your total overall balance.

Use it as is, compare it to your own, or mod to fit your own needs.

Lauren says it's "quite nifty," and also uses it as a calendar.

Here's the excel code for the totaler for those who like to look under the hood:

TODAY();_8_10)

+SUMIF(_9_10d;"

big white booty life

Diane Sawyer: ABC World <b>News</b> Goes Home: Looking for What Works in <b>...</b>

We at ABC's World News are heading out to search for innovative ideas that are helping turn the economy around. Real change is often born out of a simple act. And one ripple can lead to a powerful transformation.

Bad <b>news</b> for green technology | Watts Up With That?

Super magnet production has also been shipped over to China http://www.chinamagnet.in/i-News-229212/The-development-and-applications-of-Rare-Earth-Permanent-Magnetic-Materials-244616.html. Over the last 10 to 20 years companies have ...

Apple&#39;s MobileMe <b>News</b> details how iWork for iPad works with iDisk

The details were posted on MobileMe News, the blog of the MobileMe team. Windows users can point a browser to me.com/idisk and upload existing Microsoft Office documents. Once the documents are in the cloud, they can be opened from the ...

Diane Sawyer: ABC World <b>News</b> Goes Home: Looking for What Works in <b>...</b>

We at ABC's World News are heading out to search for innovative ideas that are helping turn the economy around. Real change is often born out of a simple act. And one ripple can lead to a powerful transformation.

Bad <b>news</b> for green technology | Watts Up With That?

Super magnet production has also been shipped over to China http://www.chinamagnet.in/i-News-229212/The-development-and-applications-of-Rare-Earth-Permanent-Magnetic-Materials-244616.html. Over the last 10 to 20 years companies have ...

Apple&#39;s MobileMe <b>News</b> details how iWork for iPad works with iDisk

The details were posted on MobileMe News, the blog of the MobileMe team. Windows users can point a browser to me.com/idisk and upload existing Microsoft Office documents. Once the documents are in the cloud, they can be opened from the ...

big white booty

Diane Sawyer: ABC World <b>News</b> Goes Home: Looking for What Works in <b>...</b>

We at ABC's World News are heading out to search for innovative ideas that are helping turn the economy around. Real change is often born out of a simple act. And one ripple can lead to a powerful transformation.

Bad <b>news</b> for green technology | Watts Up With That?

Super magnet production has also been shipped over to China http://www.chinamagnet.in/i-News-229212/The-development-and-applications-of-Rare-Earth-Permanent-Magnetic-Materials-244616.html. Over the last 10 to 20 years companies have ...

Apple&#39;s MobileMe <b>News</b> details how iWork for iPad works with iDisk

The details were posted on MobileMe News, the blog of the MobileMe team. Windows users can point a browser to me.com/idisk and upload existing Microsoft Office documents. Once the documents are in the cloud, they can be opened from the ...

Making Money Ebay

This post is part of Mashable’s Spark of Genius series, which highlights a unique feature of startups. The series is made possible by Microsoft BizSpark.. If you would like to have your startup considered for inclusion, please see the details here.

Name: Off & Away

Quick Pitch: Members bid in auctions on stays in hotel suites for up 99% off retail rates.

Genius Idea: How many five-star hotels have you stayed at? Of those, how many of those stays have been in the resort’s most prestigious suite? And how many of those stays have been for two nights or more? If your answer is greater than zero, then this post isn’t for you, money bags. The rest of us, though, might want to try our hand at the innovative auction site Off & Away.

Off & Away promises unheard of discounts on luxury suites (up to 99% off retail prices) at top resorts in the U.S. and Mexico. These aren’t the economy rooms you can find on other travel sites. There is one giant catch — one that applies to all auction sites, including eBay, the granddaddy of them all. You must be the highest bidder when the auction ends in order to seal the deal.

Off & Away auctions start off cheap to begin with. Each new bid raises the auction price by $0.10, and each auction runs for a limited period of time. Once the time runs out, the highest bidder wins the auction. The process sounds simple enough, but Off & Away throws a few curve balls into the typical online auction format, making the auction experience a quirky ride that will likely get your blood pumping.

First, you’ll need to buy bids if you want to participate in auctions. Each bid costs $1.00, and you can buy as many or as few as you want. You can then use these bids during actions, but you’ll want to keep in mind that each bid is essentially costing you a buck.

Off & Away gets especially interesting when a hotel deal is just seconds away from going to the highest bidder; this is when the hidden bidders come out to play. Once the auction reaches the final two minutes, each new bid resets the countdown clock to 20 seconds and raises the auction price by $0.10.

Let’s say a resort stay is ready to go to the highest bidder for $49.50 with just seconds left on the clock. A lurking user could pop in with one second remaining, submit a bid, reset the clock to 20 seconds and raise the price to $49.60. Bidding continues until the rest of the bidders give up and allow the auction clock to run down to zero.

To say the formula is a catalyst for frenzied competition between stubborn bidders holding out for the best deal till the very end is a huge understatement. In my own experiences, the bidding competition that happens in the last few seconds can extend an auction for hours — it’s an exciting, adrenaline-enthused experience that often results in disappointment. Most of these hotel deals are so remarkable that your desire to win will outweigh the potential risk of defeat.

The good news is that your used bids don’t completely go to waste. Each used bid can be applied towards $1.10 off another room at the resort in question. You’re obviously not getting the suite experience with these standard room offers, but it’s still a decent consolation prize.

But Can You Really Win?

I’ve tried my hand at a few auctions to no avail. Just the possibility of a win is enticing enough to lure me in and compel me to use my prepaid bids, but I’ve yet to reach the finish line. I’ll keep trying though, and that’s in no small part due to the genius formula cooked up by CEO Doug Aley and team.

Aley assures me that eventually I will win — and that you will too. Earlier today he penned a blog post with tips on how to win. He recommends picking auctions that are less competitive and strategizing ahead of time about how and when to bid. Of course, he also recommends stocking up on bids, but that’s a no-brainer strategy that also works to the startup’s advantage.

Off & Away’s continued success will be dependent on helping more users win. After all, who wants to spend money to buy bids that essentially just go wasted?

Risk Versus Reward for Hotels

The quality of hotel stays offered through Off & Away is impressive to say the least — these hotels are the hotels we only dream about staying at. With the price of sale totally dependent on site users, we questioned Aley about the risk-reward potential for hotels who use the service.

“We have special deals worked out with our hotel partners that ensure that they don’t field any of the risk. Beyond that, our hotel partners and customers know that just because an auction goes for an incredibly inexpensive price doesn’t mean there weren’t a lot of people lurking that were interested in the room. Many times, we have a group of people that are just ’saving their bullets’ for what they think is the end of the auction, only to see their chance to bid slip away,” explains Aley.

Off & Away is a Seattle-based startup that’s raised $1.35 million from Madrona Venture Group and additional private investors. The site’s pedigree includes a staff of travel veterans from Amazon and Orbitz. As the startup evolves, look for it to reduce total auction length and introduce better ways for members to apply bids used on lost auctions for better deals.

Sponsored by Microsoft BizSpark

BizSpark is a startup program that gives you three-year access to the latest Microsoft development tools, as well as connecting you to a nationwide network of investors and incubators. There are no upfront costs, so if your business is privately owned, less than three years old, and generates less than U.S.$1 million in annual revenue, you can sign up today.

For more Tech coverage:

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This video can be downloaded from here;
http://www.mediafire.com/?fvv4bf2ssvk...
Please feel free to mirror it, but if you do please also included the links contained in this description.


The Show:
The show will start at 4pm (BST) on Saturday 18 September.
It will be shown here;
http://www.blogtv.com/People/dprjones
To see what time that is where you are go to;
http://www.timeanddate.com/worldclock...


The Charity:
If you want any information about the charity please contact me or watch my previous videos or go to one of the websites, some are which are;
MSF(UK)
http://www.msf.org.uk/
MSF(US) (Doctors without Borders)
http://www.doctorswithoutborders.org/
MSF(Australia)
http://www.msf.org.au/
MSF(Canada)
http://www.msf.ca/

The MSF(UK) youtube channel is here;
http://www.youtube.com/user/msfuk


How to donate:
On MSF's recommendation I have set up donation pages at the following sites;
Justgiving;
http://www.justgiving.com/dprjones24h...
THIS SITE ACCEPTS DONATIONS THROUGH PAYPAL
Firstgiving;
http://www.firstgiving.com/dprjones

Both these sites provide an effective, safe and secure method of making donations. You will not get junk e-mails not will your details be distributed.
The pages are open now if you want to donate. They will also remain open for a further 2 months after the show.


The schedule of the hosts and co-hosts:
This video contains the best information that I can give at the moment. There are likely to be some minor changes before the event. I'll be posting an update video nearer the time with a full schedule.
For the avoidance of doubt, Michael Shermer will not be on the show, but was kind enough to provide the clip used at the beginning of this video.

The e-bay auction:
If you have any items that you wish to donate then please contact;
http://www.youtube.com/user/Proportio...

The MSF's got Talent competition is open until 12th September. Please watch the video below for details on how to enter. NOTE, mirroring of the video is no longer a necessary requirement.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F6PKQz...

Wild <b>News</b>

Over 500 Tourists Visit Gorillas in the DRC - Great news coming out of the Virunga National Park, they hit a record 500 tourists who came to visit this past August -- Read more. Rhino Poachers Arrested - South African police arrest 11 ...

Phil Pruitt Joins Yahoo! <b>News</b> As Politics Editor

USA Today Deputy Managing Editor/News Phil Pruitt has left the newspaper to join Yahoo! News as its new Politics editor.

Bookninja » Blog Archive » <b>News</b> roundup

News roundup. I'm in Manitoba, Canada's Minnesota, for Winnipeg's THIN AIR authors festival. So I'll be sporadically blogging from my very nicely appointed hotel room (they know how to treat the authors here, perhaps because when you ...

robert shumake

Wild <b>News</b>

Over 500 Tourists Visit Gorillas in the DRC - Great news coming out of the Virunga National Park, they hit a record 500 tourists who came to visit this past August -- Read more. Rhino Poachers Arrested - South African police arrest 11 ...

Phil Pruitt Joins Yahoo! <b>News</b> As Politics Editor

USA Today Deputy Managing Editor/News Phil Pruitt has left the newspaper to join Yahoo! News as its new Politics editor.

Bookninja » Blog Archive » <b>News</b> roundup

News roundup. I'm in Manitoba, Canada's Minnesota, for Winnipeg's THIN AIR authors festival. So I'll be sporadically blogging from my very nicely appointed hotel room (they know how to treat the authors here, perhaps because when you ...

This post is part of Mashable’s Spark of Genius series, which highlights a unique feature of startups. The series is made possible by Microsoft BizSpark.. If you would like to have your startup considered for inclusion, please see the details here.

Name: Off & Away

Quick Pitch: Members bid in auctions on stays in hotel suites for up 99% off retail rates.

Genius Idea: How many five-star hotels have you stayed at? Of those, how many of those stays have been in the resort’s most prestigious suite? And how many of those stays have been for two nights or more? If your answer is greater than zero, then this post isn’t for you, money bags. The rest of us, though, might want to try our hand at the innovative auction site Off & Away.

Off & Away promises unheard of discounts on luxury suites (up to 99% off retail prices) at top resorts in the U.S. and Mexico. These aren’t the economy rooms you can find on other travel sites. There is one giant catch — one that applies to all auction sites, including eBay, the granddaddy of them all. You must be the highest bidder when the auction ends in order to seal the deal.

Off & Away auctions start off cheap to begin with. Each new bid raises the auction price by $0.10, and each auction runs for a limited period of time. Once the time runs out, the highest bidder wins the auction. The process sounds simple enough, but Off & Away throws a few curve balls into the typical online auction format, making the auction experience a quirky ride that will likely get your blood pumping.

First, you’ll need to buy bids if you want to participate in auctions. Each bid costs $1.00, and you can buy as many or as few as you want. You can then use these bids during actions, but you’ll want to keep in mind that each bid is essentially costing you a buck.

Off & Away gets especially interesting when a hotel deal is just seconds away from going to the highest bidder; this is when the hidden bidders come out to play. Once the auction reaches the final two minutes, each new bid resets the countdown clock to 20 seconds and raises the auction price by $0.10.

Let’s say a resort stay is ready to go to the highest bidder for $49.50 with just seconds left on the clock. A lurking user could pop in with one second remaining, submit a bid, reset the clock to 20 seconds and raise the price to $49.60. Bidding continues until the rest of the bidders give up and allow the auction clock to run down to zero.

To say the formula is a catalyst for frenzied competition between stubborn bidders holding out for the best deal till the very end is a huge understatement. In my own experiences, the bidding competition that happens in the last few seconds can extend an auction for hours — it’s an exciting, adrenaline-enthused experience that often results in disappointment. Most of these hotel deals are so remarkable that your desire to win will outweigh the potential risk of defeat.

The good news is that your used bids don’t completely go to waste. Each used bid can be applied towards $1.10 off another room at the resort in question. You’re obviously not getting the suite experience with these standard room offers, but it’s still a decent consolation prize.

But Can You Really Win?

I’ve tried my hand at a few auctions to no avail. Just the possibility of a win is enticing enough to lure me in and compel me to use my prepaid bids, but I’ve yet to reach the finish line. I’ll keep trying though, and that’s in no small part due to the genius formula cooked up by CEO Doug Aley and team.

Aley assures me that eventually I will win — and that you will too. Earlier today he penned a blog post with tips on how to win. He recommends picking auctions that are less competitive and strategizing ahead of time about how and when to bid. Of course, he also recommends stocking up on bids, but that’s a no-brainer strategy that also works to the startup’s advantage.

Off & Away’s continued success will be dependent on helping more users win. After all, who wants to spend money to buy bids that essentially just go wasted?

Risk Versus Reward for Hotels

The quality of hotel stays offered through Off & Away is impressive to say the least — these hotels are the hotels we only dream about staying at. With the price of sale totally dependent on site users, we questioned Aley about the risk-reward potential for hotels who use the service.

“We have special deals worked out with our hotel partners that ensure that they don’t field any of the risk. Beyond that, our hotel partners and customers know that just because an auction goes for an incredibly inexpensive price doesn’t mean there weren’t a lot of people lurking that were interested in the room. Many times, we have a group of people that are just ’saving their bullets’ for what they think is the end of the auction, only to see their chance to bid slip away,” explains Aley.

Off & Away is a Seattle-based startup that’s raised $1.35 million from Madrona Venture Group and additional private investors. The site’s pedigree includes a staff of travel veterans from Amazon and Orbitz. As the startup evolves, look for it to reduce total auction length and introduce better ways for members to apply bids used on lost auctions for better deals.

Sponsored by Microsoft BizSpark

BizSpark is a startup program that gives you three-year access to the latest Microsoft development tools, as well as connecting you to a nationwide network of investors and incubators. There are no upfront costs, so if your business is privately owned, less than three years old, and generates less than U.S.$1 million in annual revenue, you can sign up today.

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This video can be downloaded from here;
http://www.mediafire.com/?fvv4bf2ssvk...
Please feel free to mirror it, but if you do please also included the links contained in this description.


The Show:
The show will start at 4pm (BST) on Saturday 18 September.
It will be shown here;
http://www.blogtv.com/People/dprjones
To see what time that is where you are go to;
http://www.timeanddate.com/worldclock...


The Charity:
If you want any information about the charity please contact me or watch my previous videos or go to one of the websites, some are which are;
MSF(UK)
http://www.msf.org.uk/
MSF(US) (Doctors without Borders)
http://www.doctorswithoutborders.org/
MSF(Australia)
http://www.msf.org.au/
MSF(Canada)
http://www.msf.ca/

The MSF(UK) youtube channel is here;
http://www.youtube.com/user/msfuk


How to donate:
On MSF's recommendation I have set up donation pages at the following sites;
Justgiving;
http://www.justgiving.com/dprjones24h...
THIS SITE ACCEPTS DONATIONS THROUGH PAYPAL
Firstgiving;
http://www.firstgiving.com/dprjones

Both these sites provide an effective, safe and secure method of making donations. You will not get junk e-mails not will your details be distributed.
The pages are open now if you want to donate. They will also remain open for a further 2 months after the show.


The schedule of the hosts and co-hosts:
This video contains the best information that I can give at the moment. There are likely to be some minor changes before the event. I'll be posting an update video nearer the time with a full schedule.
For the avoidance of doubt, Michael Shermer will not be on the show, but was kind enough to provide the clip used at the beginning of this video.

The e-bay auction:
If you have any items that you wish to donate then please contact;
http://www.youtube.com/user/Proportio...

The MSF's got Talent competition is open until 12th September. Please watch the video below for details on how to enter. NOTE, mirroring of the video is no longer a necessary requirement.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F6PKQz...

robert shumake

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Phil Pruitt Joins Yahoo! <b>News</b> As Politics Editor

USA Today Deputy Managing Editor/News Phil Pruitt has left the newspaper to join Yahoo! News as its new Politics editor.

Bookninja » Blog Archive » <b>News</b> roundup

News roundup. I'm in Manitoba, Canada's Minnesota, for Winnipeg's THIN AIR authors festival. So I'll be sporadically blogging from my very nicely appointed hotel room (they know how to treat the authors here, perhaps because when you ...

robert shumake

Wild <b>News</b>

Over 500 Tourists Visit Gorillas in the DRC - Great news coming out of the Virunga National Park, they hit a record 500 tourists who came to visit this past August -- Read more. Rhino Poachers Arrested - South African police arrest 11 ...

Phil Pruitt Joins Yahoo! <b>News</b> As Politics Editor

USA Today Deputy Managing Editor/News Phil Pruitt has left the newspaper to join Yahoo! News as its new Politics editor.

Bookninja » Blog Archive » <b>News</b> roundup

News roundup. I'm in Manitoba, Canada's Minnesota, for Winnipeg's THIN AIR authors festival. So I'll be sporadically blogging from my very nicely appointed hotel room (they know how to treat the authors here, perhaps because when you ...

Im Making Money

Diddums. Casey Affleck admits that he ‘went broke’ filming his fail movie with Joaquin Phoenix. The movie, I’m Still Here, was filmed over two years and was revealed to be a fake documentary-style movie that Affleck thought anyone with two working eyes and ears would be fooled by. The film showed Phoenix, who would have made interesting material without the pretentious/ staged nature of the movie, doing coke/ hookers and getting pooped on. Or, as I like to call it ‘Wednesday’.  That’s some mid-week pAArtying and moviegoers agreed. Affleck’s movie went up against his big brother’s movie, The Town (which topped the US box office and opened on Rotten Tomatoes to a 93% fresh rating), and only took $96,658 in its opening weekend. Sucks to be the less talented brother, and there’s something I never thought I’d say of these two. Speaking to The Telegraph in the UK, Affleck says he came clean about the hoax everyone knew about so as not to permanently damage Phoenix’s reputation. The movie was supposed to be a cynical look at Hollywood and its trappings. Not poop.

Casey Affleck has admitted that I’m Still Here, his hoax documentary about Joaquin Phoenix, was a “planned, staged and scripted work of fiction” that nearly bankrupted him. Affleck said the project was an essay on celebrity culture. “It was pretty much all within the realm of possibility: people use prostitutes, people use drugs, especially in Hollywood. We didn’t take it so far that it wasn’t believable,” he told The Daily Telegraph. “Having something at stake is a great motivator and once this thing became public for me that was very helpful because there was no question: I had to see it through, no matter how long it took. I went broke. I hadn’t worked for more than a year, and I was pouring money into the movie. I had to stop for a month to do The Killer Inside Me. If I hadn’t, I wouldn’t have been able to finish the film – I was out of money. There was a lot at stake financially and, if we had left [the hoax] there, it would have been very damaging to Joaquin’s career.”

Casey Affleck, Joaquin Phoenix: I’m Still Here mockumentary movie trailer.






I work in a very old building. Its right in the middle of downtown, and spans almost the whole city block. The floors are built on wood, which is on dirt, with no concrete foundations. We're basically ready to collapse in on ourselves.



My boss (the owner of the business) has worked out a deal with the owner of the building so he, another manager and myself will be compensated while the whole block's floors are dug up and fixed, which will be about two weeks.



I'm trying to think of some sort of short term work/money making idea I can do for the two weeks, as right now I basically live paycheque to paycheque with a very small savings. I'd like to be able to build up my savings a little bit and have some extra holiday money.



The work I do now involves cooking and I'm an assistant manager, but I'm open to almost anything (except maybe construction as my knowledge there is pretty limited). I guess I'm looking for average-person-jobs



I don't really want to hand out resumes and then just quit after two weeks but I'm not sure who'd hire on such a short term.



I also don't plan on becoming rich or anything, but anything to add into my savings would be great.





Any ideas mefites?

Premier League football <b>news</b> from the Barclays Premier League <b>...</b>

Check out the latest Premier League football news from the Barclays Premier League.

Phil Pruitt Joins Yahoo! <b>News</b> As Politics Editor

USA Today Deputy Managing Editor/News Phil Pruitt has left the newspaper to join Yahoo! News as its new Politics editor.

Real-Time <b>News</b> Curation - The Complete Guide Part 3: Types And <b>...</b>

What's more important? To save editors time and abilities in finding and reporting the most relevant stories so that they can dwell more on content production, or to leverage to-the-max the power of new media technologies such as.

robert shumake

Premier League football <b>news</b> from the Barclays Premier League <b>...</b>

Check out the latest Premier League football news from the Barclays Premier League.

Phil Pruitt Joins Yahoo! <b>News</b> As Politics Editor

USA Today Deputy Managing Editor/News Phil Pruitt has left the newspaper to join Yahoo! News as its new Politics editor.

Real-Time <b>News</b> Curation - The Complete Guide Part 3: Types And <b>...</b>

What's more important? To save editors time and abilities in finding and reporting the most relevant stories so that they can dwell more on content production, or to leverage to-the-max the power of new media technologies such as.

Diddums. Casey Affleck admits that he ‘went broke’ filming his fail movie with Joaquin Phoenix. The movie, I’m Still Here, was filmed over two years and was revealed to be a fake documentary-style movie that Affleck thought anyone with two working eyes and ears would be fooled by. The film showed Phoenix, who would have made interesting material without the pretentious/ staged nature of the movie, doing coke/ hookers and getting pooped on. Or, as I like to call it ‘Wednesday’.  That’s some mid-week pAArtying and moviegoers agreed. Affleck’s movie went up against his big brother’s movie, The Town (which topped the US box office and opened on Rotten Tomatoes to a 93% fresh rating), and only took $96,658 in its opening weekend. Sucks to be the less talented brother, and there’s something I never thought I’d say of these two. Speaking to The Telegraph in the UK, Affleck says he came clean about the hoax everyone knew about so as not to permanently damage Phoenix’s reputation. The movie was supposed to be a cynical look at Hollywood and its trappings. Not poop.

Casey Affleck has admitted that I’m Still Here, his hoax documentary about Joaquin Phoenix, was a “planned, staged and scripted work of fiction” that nearly bankrupted him. Affleck said the project was an essay on celebrity culture. “It was pretty much all within the realm of possibility: people use prostitutes, people use drugs, especially in Hollywood. We didn’t take it so far that it wasn’t believable,” he told The Daily Telegraph. “Having something at stake is a great motivator and once this thing became public for me that was very helpful because there was no question: I had to see it through, no matter how long it took. I went broke. I hadn’t worked for more than a year, and I was pouring money into the movie. I had to stop for a month to do The Killer Inside Me. If I hadn’t, I wouldn’t have been able to finish the film – I was out of money. There was a lot at stake financially and, if we had left [the hoax] there, it would have been very damaging to Joaquin’s career.”

Casey Affleck, Joaquin Phoenix: I’m Still Here mockumentary movie trailer.






I work in a very old building. Its right in the middle of downtown, and spans almost the whole city block. The floors are built on wood, which is on dirt, with no concrete foundations. We're basically ready to collapse in on ourselves.



My boss (the owner of the business) has worked out a deal with the owner of the building so he, another manager and myself will be compensated while the whole block's floors are dug up and fixed, which will be about two weeks.



I'm trying to think of some sort of short term work/money making idea I can do for the two weeks, as right now I basically live paycheque to paycheque with a very small savings. I'd like to be able to build up my savings a little bit and have some extra holiday money.



The work I do now involves cooking and I'm an assistant manager, but I'm open to almost anything (except maybe construction as my knowledge there is pretty limited). I guess I'm looking for average-person-jobs



I don't really want to hand out resumes and then just quit after two weeks but I'm not sure who'd hire on such a short term.



I also don't plan on becoming rich or anything, but anything to add into my savings would be great.





Any ideas mefites?

robert shumake

Premier League football <b>news</b> from the Barclays Premier League <b>...</b>

Check out the latest Premier League football news from the Barclays Premier League.

Phil Pruitt Joins Yahoo! <b>News</b> As Politics Editor

USA Today Deputy Managing Editor/News Phil Pruitt has left the newspaper to join Yahoo! News as its new Politics editor.

Real-Time <b>News</b> Curation - The Complete Guide Part 3: Types And <b>...</b>

What's more important? To save editors time and abilities in finding and reporting the most relevant stories so that they can dwell more on content production, or to leverage to-the-max the power of new media technologies such as.

robert shumake

Premier League football <b>news</b> from the Barclays Premier League <b>...</b>

Check out the latest Premier League football news from the Barclays Premier League.

Phil Pruitt Joins Yahoo! <b>News</b> As Politics Editor

USA Today Deputy Managing Editor/News Phil Pruitt has left the newspaper to join Yahoo! News as its new Politics editor.

Real-Time <b>News</b> Curation - The Complete Guide Part 3: Types And <b>...</b>

What's more important? To save editors time and abilities in finding and reporting the most relevant stories so that they can dwell more on content production, or to leverage to-the-max the power of new media technologies such as.