Reviews and More

I’ve been looking into various affiliate marketing programs that might help me earn some extra money from my websites, but haven’t really found anything appealing. I’ve tried a few different programs, but the products either didn’t fit with what my readers wanted or the payouts were spaced so far apart that I hardly ever saw any money from those endeavors.

Today, I came across a press release about Adfinity.com and think that becoming an Adfinity affiliate sounds like something I should seriously consider. I was very impressed by what I read, and am particularly interested in this program because Adfinity promises to work with their affiliates to help them earn even more money. That kind of support was definitely lacking in other affiliate programs I tried, so I really have a feeling that Adfiinity will be different.

At any rate, here’s the full press release so you can judge the program’s merits for yourself:

Adfinity.com Relaunches Website, Announces Attendance at eComXpo Miami, FL (Adfinity.com) — March 2, 2007 — Adfinity, one of the fastest growing interactive advertising networks, has completed a full renovation of their website, Adfinity.com. The new website features greater information for prospective affiliates and online advertisers to learn more about what is available from this up and coming network.

Adfinity President Gennadiy Ryklin remarked, “Publishers are looking for an ad network that speaks to them and also speaks to the audience they serve. We approached this redesign to call out our strength in the young adult web marketplace. Throughout 2007 and beyond, we’re going to continue to expand our offerings in our effort to become the definitive advertising network for publishers serving the 18 to 30 year old demographic.”

Beyond the graphical update, the newly revised Adfinity site provides greater detail regarding core publisher opportunities, including the Ringtone and Mobile markets, rewards offers, online dating, and other sectors championed by Adfinity. The new Adfinity Blog will be launching shortly as well, featuring even greater insight for publishers in to how to promote specific offers and what is on the horizon for the firm. Additionally, the Adfinity team will be present and eager to speak with prospective publishers and advertisers during this spring’s eComXpo virtual trade show, occurring March 20-22.

CEO Joe Pantel conveyed, “eComXpo is a really unique experience for internet marketers, because it gives us the opportunity to speak with affiliates on a one-to-one basis, and that’s our focus. Every affiliate within our network is a partner, and we want to make sure that marketers everywhere know what we’re about.”

* * * About Adfinity.com Adfinity.com, founded in 2006, is emerging as the ideal affiliate network for a variety of audiences, including mobile and rewards affiliates. The key advantages to being an Adfinity affiliate include weekly payouts for partner performers, one-to-one support and guidance, and a wealth of lucrative offers. Publishers interested in signing up to Adfinity are welcomed to visit: http://www.adfinity.com/publishers.php Company Contact: Joe Pantel CEO joe@adfinity.com Press Inquiries: Dave Cole Director of Marketing dave@adfinity.com

I’m a huge football fan and love to keep up with news and notes even during the offseason. This is pretty easy to do for pro teams because sites like ESPN.com and NFL.com always have features about different players, coaches, and teams that I can read about. Keeping up with the college game is a bit harder because the offseason is so long and there’s usually a lot less happening on campus. But I’ve managed to find a site that does a fantastic job of providing fresh content: The Blue-Gray Sky.

The Blue-Gray Sky, or BGS, is a Notre Dame Fighting Irish site, and in my opinion, is one of the best around. There are several regular contributors/authors and all of them are equally talented at giving detailed analysis of nearly every aspect of ND football. They evaluate the players, the coaches, the opponents, and the schedule, and also breakdown entire games or specific drives during the season. I love the way they make YouTube video footage available right on the site, and also how they link to articles of interest from other sites around the net.

Overall, the Blue-Gray Sky is a must-read for all Notre Dame fans. I’ve been an avid reader for just over a year now and can honestly say that I wish I’d found the blog a lot sooner!

One of the goals I’ve set out for myself this year is to do a lot of offline promotion of my blogs. I haven’t actually gotten around to taking any action in that area yet, but I do have some preliminary plans.

For example, the first thing I want to do is print business cards with my name and blog URLs on them. This will give me a more professional appearance in other people’s eyes and that’s definitely the image I want to convey.

The only problem is that I don’t want to spend too much money on the endeavor, which is why I’m glad I found 123print.com. I can get 100 high-quality business cards for just $3.95 — a deal that other places just can’t compete with. Plus, 123print.com has an easy-to-use design wizard that allows me to customize my cards quickly and conveniently.

I’ve got to get a move on as far as ordering business cards goes. I think this will be one of the first tasks I tackle when I return from vacation!

I’m not a big fan of anime or animated films, but since I have strong connections to Japan, there’s really no way to avoid the subject. Every Japanese friend I’ve ever talked to about movies has recommend the works of Miyazaki Hayao, so I decided to rent a bunch of them and check them out. I started with Sen to Chihiro no kamikakushi, better known to the Western world as Spirited Away.

I decided to watch the film with subtitles so that I’d be able to hear the original Japanese dialogue as well, and because I’ve heard a lot of complaints about people trying to watch the dubbed version. Anyway, here’s what happens.

The story involves a young girl named Chihiro who is none too pleased that her family is moving. As they are driving to their new home, her father takes a wrong turn and they come upon a strange sight: a restaurant stall with no one manning it. Chihiro’s parents begin to eat, and soon end up gorging themselves. Chihiro herself doesn’t partake, but instead wanders away. When she returns, she’s horrified to discover that her parents have been turned into pigs.

Chihiro then encounters a boy named Haku who gives her something to eat so that she doesn’t fade away into nothingness. She then accompanies Haku to a strange and magical spirit world where she will have to work in a bath house run by the huge witch Yubaba in order to have a chance to release her parents from the spell. Yubaba agrees to let Chihiro work for her, but demands that she change her name to Sen (which is a play on the kanji characters that make up the name Chihiro).

The rest of the film deals with the various creatures and adventures Sen has while in the spirit world. As you might expect, Sen triumphs in the end and finds a way to save her parents and make it back to the regular world intact.

My Reaction: I was surprised by how much I liked Spirited Away. I thought the story was engrossing, and the world that Miyazaki created was simply amazing. There was obviously a lot of hype surrounding this film (it’s one of the highest-grossing domestic movies in Japan and it won the 2003 Oscar for Best Animated Feature, so I was worried that I might be disappointed by what I saw. And while it’s true that I didn’t go crazy over Spirited Away and instantly become a fan of animated films, I did soften a bit towards the whole genre.

Overall, I give Spirited Away 7.0 stars out of 10. It was pretty good as far as animated features go, but wasn’t the best I’ve ever seen.

I really love gadgets and cool toys, so it should come as no surprise that Brookstone is one of my favorite stores. I enjoy shopping there both in person and online, and try to visit either the mall location or the website at least once a week to check out the new products.

Recently, I’ve been using a great strategy that has helped save me lots of money. When I’m in the bricks and mortar store and see a product that I like, I won’t buy it right away. Instead, I’ll go home and check the Brookstone website to see if the same product is available online. If it is, I immediately head to couponchief.com to find the latest Brookstone coupons, which I then apply to my order. I usually end up getting the exact product I want for much less than I would have paid at the store, all thanks to CouponChief!

I recommend using that strategy the next time you go shopping. CouponChief.com has coupon codes for tons of different stores, so I’m sure you’ll find discounts for whatever you’re looking for. It’s a great site and I can’t imagine shopping without it!

Like most of the other young women in my college lit classes, I felt a certain affinity towards the works of Sylvia Plath. I think it’s a stage many people go through, just as high school kids idolize Holden Caulfield (The Catcher in the Rye) or Dean Moriarty (On the Road). But when I consider Plath now, I remember her not so much for her works as for her short, tortured, tragic life. That’s why I was anxious to finally watch Sylvia, the 2003 Christine Jeffs film starring Gwyneth Paltrow in the title role and Daniel Craig as her husband Ted Hughes.

Plath, of course, was an American poet and writer who went to Cambridge on a Fulbright scholarship. While there she met fellow poet Edward “Ted” Hughes, and they were soon married following a whirlwind romance.

Even though Plath is the better remembered partner of that relationship now, back then Hughes got all the attention from the literary world. His poetry was well-received and he was expected to do big things. As a result, Sylvia allowed herself and her own writing to be relegated to the backburner while she supported Ted’s career. She held down a teaching job at Smith, kept house, and took care of the couple’s two children while Ted wrote and had extramarital affairs.

Many critics have said that the strain of Ted’s affairs exacerbated Sylvia’s depression and contributed greatly to her suicide. That’s certainly the angle that Jeffs took in this film, making Ted out to be a selfish jerk. I think he got the short end of the stick, however, since Sylvia had attempted suicide several times before the pair met.

The film pretty much follows along the standard timeline that anyone familiar with Plath’s biography would expect. There were no surprising scenes, no twists along the way, and, frankly, no new insight given into Plath’s life.

My Reaction: As I said above, I am interested in Plath’s life and am familiar with her biography and her works. Even so, I found Sylvia to be rather boring and had a difficult time staying focused on what was happening. Plath’s struggles and turmoil were internal and it’s nearly impossible for that to translate well on film. Don’t get me wrong, I think Paltrow and Craig (every bit as convincing as a disheveled poet as he was as the super-suave James Bond) were excellent in this movie. It’s just that the plot was rather lacking. Plath’s life was meant for books, not film.

I can’t imagine a non-Plath fan getting into this movie at all. I give it just 5.5 stars out of 10 and suggest that you pick up The Bell Jar or a print biography instead if you want to learn about Sylvia Plath’s life.