I’ve uncovered a working (at the time of this writing) coupon that will give you a 20% discount on your order. The code is hgc25, which you can apply at checkout. To sign up, use the 300×250 banner at the top of the sidebar or click on THIS LINK. MoreTech is now affiliated with HostGator, so by signing up through the aforementioned links, you’ll be supporting MoreTech as well.

A couple years ago I found A Small Orange. It’s a small, very solid web host with an odd name. There aren’t many bells and whistles with A Small Orange (henceforth referred to as ASO) but what you do get is stellar customer service. Their membership plans are cheap, ranging from $25 a year to $30 a month. Granted, you don’t get the loads of storage space, or that 1tb of bandwidth you’d never use, or the 100 mySQL databases you don’t need, but what you do get is a stable web host that responds quickly to problems. Quickly is an understatement, actually. I’ve gotten response times of 2 minutes in the past through their online ticketing system. 2 minutes! 120 seconds! Replies are always helpful. With ASO’s vanilla website, prompt service and non-corporate feel, you get the impression that you’re joining a friendly mom-and-pop shop, rather than a large, uncaring corporation.

In my experience, ASO isn’t a host that will clog their servers with accounts to save space and a little money. In fact, ASO stopped accepting new accounts for a time when their servers became clogged - until they were able to add new hardware to accommodate the influx of new customers. Servers usually have a light load, while new or upgraded hardware is added regularly. New accounts are placed on the most recently added servers. All-in-all, ASO is a very dependable, no frills web host with fantastic support and a non-corporate feel. In the list of hosts I’ve tried, they’re definitely at the top of the heap.

Disclaimer: No, I am not getting compensated for the above review, nor am I getting any kind of affiliate benefit. I know there are a lot of crappy web hosts out there and I simple wanted my readers to know which one I consider to be the best!

The big question to be asked is - why? Setting aside the obvious joy of passing an afternoon watching potato wrestling, a dog driving a car or any number of people hurting themselves, as well as the guilty pleasure of surfing the net at work, why do we feel the need to make ourselves into instant worldwide stars and collect our 2 minutes of fame? Why do we feel the need to watch?

I’m of the “wasting-time-at-work” variety myself, but I did some asking around just to see what people would say. A couple of people like to watch music videos, most people prefer the funny and outrageous videos. No one had any idea why anyone would post a video of themselves falling off a skateboard and landing hard on a stair railing, though a couple people suggested that posting videos of friends hurting themselves would be funny.

Whatever the reason, YouTube has become such a part of popular culture that politicians are jumping on the bandwagon and using it to promote themselves. Last Thursday, the Republicans threw a debate and we were all invited to come ask questions. The same thing was done last summer with the Democrats. It’s a modern day version of the town hall meeting, set up for a much larger village. On the surface, it’s a good idea. Real people asking real questions to get a feel for who these politicians are when they aren’t reading from a prepared mental script. Catch them off guard, we think, ask them if they wear boxers or briefs, see how fast they think on their feet.

The problem comes when a few thousand questions are sent in and there is only time for 34 of them to be answered. Surprisingly, all of the questions that were sent in were serious, versus the Democratic debate that featured a question asked by a snowman. Maybe it’s my doubting soul, but I’m very curious when the only people who had questions to ask were serious, conservative voters.

I’m interested to see what will come in the future as the internet becomes more and more the media of choice to reach voters and if it encourages more people to be interested in the running of the country. By the number of videos I found featuring stunts gone wrong and people applying themselves to the pavement with force, YouTube certainly encourages some sort of action. Then again, I’m not sure if it’s YouTube or gravity that’s having the most impact.

Article by Jenn

Why are Text Link Ads better than Adsense?

1. Google Adsense and other contextual ad providers only pay out when someone clicks an ad on your website, whereas with Text Link Ads there’s no click-through scheme. You’re paid a set amount if you display the advertiser’s link. This is a great model for low-traffic websites.
2. Adsense is stale. It’s so common, people have become desensitized to the “ads by Google” code. Personally, I tend to disregard sites with a lot of Google ads.
3. Because contextual ads require click-throughs, there’s less pressure for Webmasters to place ads in the perfect locations, as recommended by Google and their Adsense Heatmap. With TLA, just place your ad code in a visible spot and you’re good-to-go.

There are many ways to generate revenue through your website and while Google Adsense is the most prominent at the moment (and likely will be for a while, just because everyone knows Google), I think it’s hype and popularity is overshadowing other revenue-generating companies, such as Text Link Ads, who’s model may be better suited for certain websites.