An Ad Challenger to Google and Yahoo?

Yesterday's New York Times ran an interesting story about a new online advertising firm that has been winning some customers from Google AdSense. The company, Quigo Technologies, runs contextual texts ads (those ubiquitous short "Ads by Google" that appear around articles and blog entries) but unlike Google, provides a much more transparent experience for advertisers.

The Times article notes that some big advertisers such as ESPN.com and FoxNews.com have moved to Quigo because the service gives them more control over where their ads run. Yahoo and Google's model, on the other hand, gives advertisers little say on what sites they would like their ads run on, and according to the article, doesn't even give advertisers a list of the sites where their ads do run.

"Quigo, by contrast, gives advertisers not only the list of specific sites where their ads have appeared but also the opportunity to buy only on specific Web sites or particular pages on those sites," says the Times. "It also allows media company sites like ESPN.com and FoxNews.com a chance to manage their own relationships with advertisers."

Google downplays the influence of Quigo, as you'd expect. But the article quotes a Google spokesperson as saying that in the coming months their advertiser reports will begin listing the sites where each ad runs.

Should be interesting to see how this all shakes out. I've seen a number of odd and inappropriate ad placements on Web sites, and I think the options Quigo brings to the table can only help advertisers, bloggers, and readers.

Dress-Up Games for the Instant-Messaging Age

Back in the early days of the Web, avatars consisted of simple smiley faces. Today, avatars have become sophisticated, animated images that can be customized to suit the user's personality.

With so many girls online these days, it was inevitable that their love of dolls and dress-up games would find its ultimate expression in designing stylish avatars and cartoon dolls (dollz). What I didn't know was that there was a whole community of girls devoted to dollz and avatars.

A Web site called The Doll Palace lets users choose from a huge number of dress up games, so girls can create their own personalized avatars to use in chat programs, forums, or even competitions. These games for girls go far beyond the old dress-up games of changing a doll's dress or hair style.

The Doll Palace offers a seemingly endless variety of dollmaker tools and options for playing fashion games. You can start with a certain style or look, including fantasy and fairy dolls, celebrity dolls, dolls with holiday themes, hippies, and dolls in Goth and Emo themes. With dolls in the "Guys" category, girls can play tomboy and dress up like a soldier, weightlifter, or even Superman.


Then users can choose from a mind-boggling variety of body styles, hair colors and styles, faces, tops, pants and skirts, and other clothing--and wings. And that's not even mentioning the shoes, bags, and other accessories to choose from. Add in backgrounds, furniture, and other items, and you've got a complete scene.

For Academy Awards season, for example, users can choose the right background for their dollz--at the podium for an acceptance speech, out on the red carpet (with or without cheering crowds in the background), standing next to the huge Oscar statue, etc.

The Doll Palace also has forums and chat rooms where users can discuss dolls and the challenges in creating them and ideas for crafting specific designs. All in all, this site offers an amazing variety of options for girls who want to play dress-up games.

Chimps With Spears? Just Don't Let Them Have PCs

Are chimps getting ready to take over the world? A report in the March 6 issue of Current Biology says that researchers in Senegal saw wild chimps biting the tips of sticks, then poking them into the holes of trees to jab small primates called "bush babies" and pull them out.

Chimps are pretty close to humans, genetically. They've already been taught a number of not-so-stupid human tricks, like recognizing colors and patterns, pointing to sequences of pictures to "talk," etc. Now they're figuring out spears on their own. What's next--knives? pistols? assault rifles? rocket-propelled grenades?

Here's a scarier scenario: Chimps using computers. There's always been that tired old saying from Philosophy 101 class, if you have an infinite number of monkeys sitting at an infinite number of typewriters (yeah, it's an old saying), eventually one of them will type up a Shakespeare play. Well, maybe the animal is really a chimp, you only need one of 'em, and the time is now.

Chimps are smarter than monkeys, and they know better than to write something with as little earning potential as a play; they've probably heard about how many unemployed playwrights there are. And no self-respecting 21st-century chimp would be caught dead using a typewriter.

No, what's scary is these hairy fellows finding PCs and the Internet. Before long they'll be mimicking human behavior and becoming bloggers, spammers, chat junkies, and online shoppers. In the digital age, the language problem is no big impediment to using the 'Net, because it's not like anyone online uses the King's English. How hard can it be for the average chimp to pound out stuff like LOL, BCNU, ROFLMAO, and I <3 Britney?

Like that famous New Yorker cartoon says, on the Internet, no one knows you're a dog. Or a chimp. Once our simian cousins start spamming and blogging and buying stuff online, the human race is going straight down the tubes. It won't be long before we're all dressed in loincloths and chains, and conversing with primates named Cornelius and Zira.

Find Quality Steiner Binoculars for Every Purpose

Nothing brings you closer to the action than a good pair of binoculars. And binoculars from Steiner are more than just good. These fine German optics have been known for quality and precision for more than 50 years and have models that are great for outdoor, marine, military, and birdwatching purposes.

And if you're going to buy top-quality Steiner binoculars, you'll want to buy them from an expert optics dealer. Sure, you can find binoculars at all kinds of stores, but how much is the sales person or Web site really going to know about them? Eagle Optics has the great low prices you want, but features the selection and exceptional customer service you'd expect from a knowledgeable optics store. What's more, Eagle Optics gives you free financing on orders over $200.

Steiner offers a number of specialized model lines, and you'll find them at Eagle. For example, there's the Merlin line for the birder, naturalist, or hunter. The Night Hunter models with extra-bright images for long-range wildlife viewing. And the Peregrine line provides a great combination of portability, color reproduction, and light-gathering ability.

No matter what size or magnification you're looking for, Steiner and Eagle have the right pair of binoculars for you needs.

Take a Nap--It's Good for Your Heart!

Now this is the kind of health advice I can really get into following!

From an Associated Press news article last week:
"A six-year study of nearly 24,000 Greek adults found those who regularly took midday naps lowered their risk of dying from heart disease by more than a third." The effect was most pronounced in adults who worked, and was less pronounced in persons who were not employed. It's thought that napping helps the people process thoughts and reduces stress from the working day.

"Afternoon siesta in a healthy individual may act as a stress-reducing habit, and there is considerable evidence that stress has both short- and-long-term adverse effects on the incidence and mortality from CHD (coronary heart disease)," said one of the doctors involved in the research.

I've always liked taking naps during the day, how about you? Will you nap more as a result of these findings?

Well, I'm off for a healthy nap... I can just feel my heart getting healthier as a doze off to sleep ... zzzzzzzz....

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