Son: “Dad, do aliens pick their nose?”
Dad: “Uh, wha- what?”
Son: “Do aliens pick their nose?”
Dad: (Thinks a minute, but just smiles, shakes his head and chuckles to himself.) “Ummm, no son. They don’t.”
Son: “How come?”

This is an example of an actual conversation I recently had with my 4 year old son. My wife and I are trying to teach him that any “finger in the nose” is a bad habit, is uncleanly and is something you just don’t do. We say, “when you nose itches, just rub it or go blow your nose.”

Now, you may wonder what Aliens have to do with this blog post. Well, my son has recently been infatuated with the demo of the Monsters vs. Aliens video game for the XBOX 360. Aside from his consistent inquiries as to when we are going to go buy the game, he wants to know why Aliens are “funny looking”, have weird colors, have lots of eyes and why that “Blob thing” can eat and eat and eat.

How or why he made the above correlation is beyond me. As the old saying goes, “Out of the mouths of babes…” That said, feel free to post some crazy things you’ve heard your children or other children say. I’d love to read about them!

The Amazon Discount Link Matrix – Up To 90% Off!

Let’s face it, Amazon.com is enormous. The Amazon Discount Link Matrix allows you to find the best deals on Amazon clearance items on a category by category basis. Each link searches Amazon.com for percentage off deals (90% off, 80% off, 70% off, etc.) within a particular category of products that are sold. Results are displayed according to reviews and bestselling status to assure buyers of quality products from trusted sellers.

Visit the Gold Box Deals Page

At the top left corner of most pages there will be a golden Gold Box Icon. Click it and you’ll see all four Gold Box features presented on one page. (The Deal of the Day, Our Best Deals, Lightning Deals and the Quick Picks sections.)

To purchase a Deal of the Day, simply click the “Add to cart” button from the Gold Box page or the item’s product information page. The price discount is available that day only, so be sure to complete the checkout process. Since savings can be quite substantial, you should get in the habit of checking this page daily. You might just stumble on something that you need.

On the same page, you’ll find Amazon’s Lightning Deals. The Lightning Deals promotion offers an extra coupon savings on a single featured item but only for a specific period of time. When no Lightning Deals are available on a particular day, you’ll see a message telling you to come back at another time. If Lightning Deals will be available that day but the start time hasn’t arrived yet, the deal will be marked “Coming Soon.” You’ll be able to see the product category for the deal item and a countdown until the deal starts, but you won’t see the exact item until the time arrives.

Check Out the Amazon Outlet: The Best Brands at Low Prices

Shoppers love bargains. Here you’ll find the on-line equivalent to a “bargain basement” where prices are slashed on excess inventory. (25 – 70%) It’s a pricing strategy that’s meant to move merchandise fast. Buy it before its gone, and you’ll benefit.

You can find this page by rolling over the “Today’s Deals” tab at the top of any Amazon page, and selecting “Outlet” from the drop-down menu.

Wait for The Friday Sale

Every week, Amazon offers you another chance to save. The Friday Sale offers special one-day-only prices on over 100 items. Get the best brands at the lowest prices and save 30%, 40%, 50%, and even higher every day on electronics, kitchen and dining products, apparel, home improvement items, and more.

You can find this page by rolling over the “Today’s Deals” tab at the top of any Amazon page, and selecting “Friday Sale” from the drop-down menu.

Frequent the Deals and Bargains Section

The Deals and Bargains page is your one-stop spot where you’ll be able to find the latest on sales, markdowns and special promotions. Do yourself a favor and visit this page regularly.

You can find this page by rolling over the “Today’s Deals” tab at the top of any Amazon page, and selecting “Deals and Bargains” from the drop-down menu.

Make the Switch to Super Saver Shipping

How do you take advantage of FREE Super Saver Shipping? It’s easy! Place at least $25 of eligible Amazon.com products in your Shopping Cart. (Eligible items will say “eligible for FREE Super Saver Shipping …” next to their price.) During checkout, select “Super Saver Shipping” as your shipping speed. Place your order, and enjoy the free shipping!

Register for Subscribe and Save

Why keep running out on items that you purchase on a regular basis? When you sign up to Amazon’s “Subscribe & Save” program, you’ll automatically receive a new shipment of the select items in intervals you choose while receiving an extra 15% off and free shipping.

Score a Used Item

You can always save a buck or two by purchasing a used item. Private sellers often sell their wares alongside new items. Just look for a link that says “# used” to see what is available. As always, used items are subject to Amazon’s safe buying guarantee.

Visit a Amazon “Coupon” Site

There are a countless number of web sites that have already done the dirty work for you. These sites aggregate all of the latest deals and present to you a listing of coupon codes and expiration dates for featured items sold on Amazon.com. The coupon codes can be for everything from a percent off a certain item to free shipping. A few of the more popular sites are:

• DealLocker.com
• DealCatcher.com
• Deals Plus
• RetailMeNot.com
• Savings.com
• Dealio

If you give a mom a muffin,

She’ll want a cup of coffee to go with it.

She’ll pour herself some.

Her three-year-old will spill the coffee.

She’ll wipe it up.

Wiping the floor, she’ll find dirty socks.

She’ll remember she has to do laundry.

When she puts the laundry in the washer,

She’ll trip over boots and bump into the freezer.

Bumping into the freezer will remind her she has to plan for supper.

She will get out a pound of hamburger.

She’ll look for her cookbook (“101 Things To Do With a Pound of Hamburger”).

The cookbook is sitting under a pile of mail.

She will see the phone bill, which is due tomorrow.

She will look for her checkbook.

The check book is in her purse that is being dumped out by her one-year-old.

She’ll smell something funny.

She’ll change the one year old’s diaper.

While she is changing the diaper, the phone will ring.

Her five-year-old will answer and hang up.

She’ll remember she wants to phone a friend for coffee.

Thinking of coffee will remind her that she was going to have a cup.

And chances are…

If she has a cup of coffee,

Her kids will have eaten the muffin that went with it.

After decades of neglect, the innards of these buildings begin to rot and decay from the inside out. Windows are broken, marble floors become stained and crack, steel beams rust, and paint peels like tree bark from the walls. Many times, the buildings are gutted by metal “scrappers” who pilfer copper and other metals that can later be sold for scrap. More often, squatters and addicts begin to inhabit these structures.

Personally, I’m concerned with the preservation of these buildings and the reversing of their degradation. Recently, I have come across two very different groups of people who share that kinship with me.

The first is a small group of photography acquaintances that call themselves Urban Explorers. Though this hobby is illegal (its trespassing basically), what I find interesting is that these “UE-ers” are in fact preserving these buildings in their own way. What do I mean? Well, think of it like this. Each time a “UE-er” takes a photo, a piece of that building is “capsulized” for posterity. And who gets to view these “capsules”? You do of course. On web sites such as Flickr, Photobucket or sites like LostAmerica.

The second group is the Preservation Alliance for Greater Philadelphia. Their goal is to “actively promote the appreciation, protection, and appropriate use and development of the Philadelphia region’s historic buildings, communities and landscapes.” Not only do they protect the past, they also try to build public good will and support for the distinctive historic character of the city of Philadelphia and the surrounding communities.

Now here is where it gets interesting. Recently, members of the Preservation Alliance have discovered that Urban Explorers are allies that share in their vision to save historic sites.

John Andrew Gallery, executive director of the nonprofit Preservation Alliance for Greater Philadelphia, called UE-ers “a pretty cool group” after he visited many of their web sites and message boards. He was quick to realize the “fabulous” potential for collaboration between them and advocacy groups such as the Philadelphia Preservation Alliance. “There are a tremendous number of historical buildings in Philadelphia,” Gallery said. “We need people out there finding these jewels.”

The collaboration seems to be working. UE-ers help project leaders keep aware of dumping, thefts, and vandalism on various properties throughout Philadelphia that the Preservation Alliance monitors. Also, UE-ers are often the first to find and document a building when it becomes abandoned. And when a historic building is razed, UE-ers have been known to offer actual photos and copies of documents that they have previously removed from the buildings they explore. In some cases, the photographs/documents are the only tangible items that are left.

Unfortunately, local buildings will continue to be torn down. But with the help of the Preservation Alliance and UE-ers, you won’t be able to erase the memories.

Addendum… each year the Preservation Alliance for Greater Philadelphia publishes its Endangered Properties list to draw attention to significant historic resources threatened by neglect or redevelopment. You can view the list by clicking the link below.

- The 6th Annual Endangered Properties List

Enter Wikipedia. Love it or hate it, Wikipedia (the free encyclopedia) is a useful resource. Go to the site. Type in a band’s name. Scroll through the results.

In many cases, there will be a discography that includes all of the band’s releases to AOR and other media outlets. Often, the single, the album where it came from, the release date and several charting positions are included. Using Wikipedia is a great way to find songs you may like without having to listen to a whole album.

Does it always work? Not really. There is definitely a dearth of information from some of the more obscure bands and albums that are less contemporary. But Wikipedia is a good start…

Use A Spelling Variation
A lot a domain names can be created by a simple spelling variation. For example, say your business is in crafts and you are in the market for a new web site. You go and try to register simplecrafts.com. The registrar comes back and says the domain is not available. Hmmm… what can you do? Why not try simplekrafts.com? (Notice the ‘k’.) A simple spelling change can often lead to the domain name that works for you. And despite what you may think, a domain name doesn’t have to be a combination of actual words. Other examples might be the use of ‘tru’ instead of ‘true’, ‘blu’ instead of ‘blue’ or ‘craftz’ instead of ‘crafts’. I could go on and on… you get the idea.

Use Alliteration
Ahhh, alliteration. I knew my 10th grade high school English class would come in handy. Alliteration is a stylistic device, or literary technique, in which successive words begin with the same consonant sound or letter. Maybe its just me, but a domain name that uses alliteration is always easier to remember. It’s catchy and often used by many marketing firms in their ad campaigns. TastyTacos.com will always be easier to remember than DeliciousTacos.com. Some classic examples include Coca-Cola.com and SesameStreet.com.

Use Rhyming
Rhyming is another technique that is used to make a more memorable domain name. When I was creating my list of possible domain names for this blog, I knew I wanted the domain name to include the word ‘type’. I tried as many combinations of words that began with a “t” to go along with ‘type’ (alliteration, see above), but most of those domain names where already registered. I then decided to check out this site. RhymeZone.com is a very helpful web site that allows you to enter your ‘keyword’ and it returns, you guessed it, all of the words that rhyme. To RhymeZone’s credit, you can also look up synonyms, antonyms, homophones etc.

Use Adjectives & Adverbs
Nothing describes your domain name better than the clever use of adjectives & adverbs. Say you are in the scrap metal business. You might want to ask yourself… what is your biggest seller? Say it is iron. Well, what do people think of when they think of iron? Perhaps rust? Perhaps strength? Or maybe
i-beams? Using various adjectives & adverbs might lead you to try: rustyjunk.com, thejunkheap.com, mightymetals.com, etc. In each case, an adjective is used to describe something (a noun). FTR, it might be a bit harder to incorporate adverbs, but I’m sure it does happen.

Use A Play On Words
Marketing companies often ‘make-up’ words to either describe or name their products. Of course, the same can be done with domain names. What I do is that a keep a list of words that can be added to any domain name. For example, I recently wanted to purchase a domain name for a bicycle forum. Unfortunately, all of the obvious choices were taken. What did I do? I tried bikeaholic.com and biketopia.com. ‘Aholic’ and ‘topia’ are just two simple examples of what can be done. If you come up with any others, let me know… I’d like to add more to my list.

Use Places or Locations
Just like many of the examples above, the addition of places or locations may help you find your perfect domain name. Instead of Widgets.com, why not try WidgetShop.com, WidgetCorner.com, WidgetWorld.com, WidgetPlace.com, WidgetSite, or WidgetPlanet.com. Create a list of places or locations. Take the focal point of your domain and add combinations of words from your list. See what works for you. The possibilities are truly endless!

Use A Domain Name Builder
There are numerous Internet sites that help users create a domain name. They uses databases of words and phrases to match what you search on. Of course, once you find a domain name, they hope you register the domain name through them. Some of the better ones include http://www.makewords.com and http://www.nameboy.com. I have used them both and like anything that uses a ‘formula’ they work, but only so well. Give them a try though… they are a great place to start.

Use A Domain Name Auction Service
As a last resort, you can always *pay* for a domain name. If that is the case, you might want to try an domain name auction web site or a service that specializes in allowing you to register expiring domain names. Don’t expect instant gratification though, sometimes the transaction can be a long, arduous process (several months). Though, in the end, you may obtain a killer domain name. For a detailed example of what it takes to obtain an expired domain name, read Mike Davidson’s excellent blog entry.

Some of the more popular auction sites are:
- www.snapnames.com
- www.enom.com
- www.pool.com
- www.afternic.com
- www.tdnam.com
- www.sedo.com

Final Notes…
When creating a domain name, keep it short and sweet. I try to keep my domain names less than 12 characters long and never more than 15. Who wants to do all of that typing? Also, don’t forget that a dictionary or a thesaurus are your friend. If you have anything to add, please feel free to leave a comment below.