Thats right!! Last months contest was such a hit I’ve decided to do it again! However, this time, I’m using a cool new site to help me do it. ContestMachine is an online contest site that will host your contests for you. They offer free and paid accounts with the obvious benefits for paid accounts (more contests per month).

This month, all you have to do is register for the contest through the widget. Thats it. One lucky winner will receive a Pound of Carolina Morning Blend Coffee (whole bean or ground, your choice) and 1000 Entrecard Credits! A second winner will receive 500 EC Credits. How freaking cool is that??

Oh yea, here’s the widget!

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Google announced on their analytics blog the other day some exciting changes coming to the program. Including information on searches and some other changes to the way they gather information. I highly recommend checking the post out, it could affect us all!

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What? I must have read that wrong. Win a Domain? Yep, and Hosting for a year!! Wait! A domain and hosting for one year? What do I have to do?? Easy peasy lemon sleazy… all you have to do is write a post on the importance of owning your own domain and drop a link in the comments at TopHostingCenter’s page for their contest. Easy as pie.

MMMMM… PIE! Blueberry pie is good, so is pumpkin but nothing beats the deals you get on web hosting plans at TopHostingCenter. They’ve worked hard to develop a line of hosting plans geared specifically towards bloggers and the blogging community and what they have to offer is pretty good. $4.95 monthly, comes with 250 GB disk space and 3000 GB bandwidth, free site builder, non-stop support, instant updates with no hidden costs, and much more. The plan also comes with 100 MySQL databases and PHP 4 so you can build as many blogs as you want, social networks and other powerful web applications. When you compare that with other plans available, theirs is hard to beat.

If you’ve been thinking about getting your own domain for a while but didn’t know where to start, check out TopHostingCenter for some amazing deals and some good guidance as well.

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Linuxtracker.org is pleased to announce the availability of Ubuntu 7.10 (Gutsy Gibbon) - Desktop CD i386 on the linuxtracker bittorrent network. For faster downloads, more accurate statistics and to see all of the available torrents, please visit http://linuxtracker.org. This is the desktop live CD. Leech it, burn it on CD and share it!

read more | digg story

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In honor of the amazing drought the south is under…

Thirteen ways to use less water!! In no particular order… Let your grass go brown! its almost winter anyways. forget watering it. forget mowing it. let it grow and go brown. there’s no better feeling than running barefoot over dead grass. Well, except for running barefoot over nice, luscious green grass. Take Shorter Showers! The governor here in Georgia has declared October as take shorter showers month. You can also go the old military trick of turning the water off while you soap up. Sure, the burst of cold water when you turn it back on can be invigorating, but just think, you’ll be doing your part! If its Yellow let it Mellow! If its brown, flush it down! One of the easiest ways to conserve water is simply not flushing after going. They did it out west several years ago and “If its Yellow let it Mellow! If its brown, flush it down!” became the mantra of many. If you go number 1, let it sit. If you go number 2, flush it. Shower with a friend! Why waste water twice? Shower with a friend was an idea of Neal Boortz in response to the Take shorter showers idea. Personally, I like this one better if you have a shower big enough, why not shower with a couple of friends? collect shower water! thats right. put an empty cat litter pan or empty bucket in the shower with you and collect that good water. You can then use it to water container plants out side or gardens. We’ve been doing this for a week now and it actually works pretty good (we fill the bucket between two showers) Install low flow shower and sink faucet heads. These are in place in a lot of the newer homes already and almost everyone you buy today is a low flow faucet. They work by putting a little more air in the water flow making things a little bubblier for you, but they also help with water use. Not only will you help conserve water, but you’ll also see a lower water bill! Add a Rain Barrel to your downspouts! Did you know that a thousand feet of roof area can collect 625 gallons of water in a good one inch rain?? And rain barrels are easy to make as well. Cut back plants that wilt or show die back to reduce their need for water from the roots. MULCH! two to three inches of good mulch will help retain water near the roots and keep plants from drying out. Plus, it helps protect against weeds and other intrusions. Refrigerate a bottle or glass of water instead of letting a faucet flow until the water runs cold. Reduce dishwashing. Use rubber spatula to scrape dishes clean to limit pre-rinse. Let really dirty pans or dishes soak to speed washing. Most newer dishwashers don’t require pre-rinsing. Limit dishwasher use to full loads. Use a glass for rinse water when brushing teeth instead of letting the faucet run. Shave the same way. An electric razor also saves water. Wash only full loads of laundry. You’ll not only save water, but energy as well. Links to other Thursday Thirteens are in the comments! (leave your link in comments, I’m a dofollower!)

Get the Thursday Thirteen code here!

The purpose of the meme is to get to know everyone who participates a little bit better every Thursday. Visiting fellow Thirteeners is encouraged! If you participate, leave the link to your Thirteen in others comments. It’s easy, and fun! Be sure to update your Thirteen with links that are left for you, as well! I will link to everyone who participates and leaves a link to their 13 things. Trackbacks, pings, comment links accepted!
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2.5

There was a lot of uproar over Ann Coulter’s recent comments on “The Big Idea with Donny Deutsch”. So much so that people all over have been calling for her head. I’m not sure if it was that serious, I haven’t heard the interview, but I’m willing to bet that whatever she said it was said with a bit of sarcasm mixed in for fun. ABC News had an interesting piece the other day pondering whether Ann was a nutter or a marketing genius. As her agent said

No one has been reluctant to book [Coulter], and we’ve had as many requests as ever — probably more,” Coulter’s publicist, Diana Banister, told ABCNEWS.com

Can it be wondered why? Her comments were just what the religious right wanted to hear and probably elevated her to demigod status among them. Personally, I wonder if I could arange a speaking engagement where she talks about her favorite sexy lingerie…

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There’s a new study out that proves that swearing might just be good for the work place. Apparently it helps workers release tension and blow off steam. Something that can greatly reduce stress in the work place…

Prof Yehuda Baruch, one of the researchers, said: “Our study suggested that, in many cases, taboo language serves the needs of people for developing and maintaining solidarity, and as a mechanism to cope with stress.”

He also added that in certain cases (around clients…) profanity needs to be watched. So I guess the next time your budgeting software dumps you out with out saving, go ahead, use that four letter word. We won’t tell.

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