Are Pro Accounts on Sponsored Tweets a Red Flag for Izea, Inc.?

Hey there.  I'm a big fan of Izea, Inc.  They have opened the doors for me to make some money while blogging and sending out tweets.  I have nothing but sincere thankfulness for them.  With that being said, the fact that they are now offering "pro accounts" on Sponsored Tweets is alarming.  If a monthly fee, you're twitter account will get this neat "pro account" symbol attached to it and will be pushed up the queue, ahead of basic accounts, when advertisers are looking for potential tweeters.  I understand that it's an optional service and it's not necessary, but the fact that they are offering it raises some red flags for me.

First off, I don't see the need for pro accounts.  At least on the outside, Izea is doing wonderfully.  Their many platforms are alive and active within the online community.  It's hard to find an online entity that is not associated with one of the many services that Izea offers.  So the fact that they are trying to squeeze out money for pro accounts tell me that 1) Izea is not doing as well as we think they are or 2) they've turned into a bunch of greedy bastards.  lol  I doubt it's the second one since they've all been more than awesome when I've spoken to them, so I'm more inclined to say it's number 1. Then again, it could be that the company is expanding and is looking for extra income to fund upcoming projects.  I don't know, but I'm not so sure if the pro account thing is the way to go.

I've always looked for Izea to come up with fun and innovative ways to make it easy for average Joes, like myself, to make some money online.  I really don't want to hear that Izea may be having some funding issues.  I'm hoping that my observation is wrong and that they're doing it only as a means to further fund their expansion not because they are strapped for cash.  Especially when you consider the amount of online companies that did not make it.  I hope you guys know what you're doing and the same fate doesn't come down on you.  Later!

Easy Games for Girls Online

Hey there.  I like to think of my family as a gaming family.  I have my genre of games that I enjoy (Bioshock, Final Fantasy, etc.), the boy has his genre (CoD: Black Ops, Left 4 Dead, etc.), the girls have theirs (Kinect Adventures, Dance Masters), and the wife enjoys side scrollers (Super Mario, Super Mario World, and other Mario related games).  lol  But when it comes to going online, the girls are the ones that are a little lost.  They like to play games and while they'll venture off to iCarly.com or Disneychannel.com, more often than not, they'll leave the site no more than 10 minutes later because they couldn't find a game that they enjoyed.  They just can't seem to find many girl games that are easy and fun to play.

While doing a quick search for easy girl games, I came across the site, http://www.easygirlgames.com.  Easy enough.  lol  One of the things that I really wanted to focus on, aside from being kid friendly, is the ease of getting into the game.  One of the things that seemed to irk the older kids is having to sit with my youngest daughter to explain how to play the game.  They wouldn't mind showing her, but since she wasn't too happy with certain games, the older kids would explain up to 6 different games to her.  I wanted to find one that was easy enough for her to understand on her own and I like that that is the case here.
 
I also liked that the fact that games ranged from extremely simple for the younger girls to not so simple for the older girls.  It gave me the impression that both my 5 and 9 year old can play games on the same site.  They even have some light hearted romance games called "kissing games" on there.  I don't know about those, though.  I don't want my young one to get any ideas.  These are definitely geared towards the older girls and come to think of it... I guess I'd rather have my girls play a kissing game as opposed to kissing boys.  *shudder*.  lol

I think girl gamers are cool so I want to encourage my young ladies to play.  I'm not pushing them, of course, and they're free to choose whatever genre of games they would want to play.  I get a special joy of hearing my young say, "You haven't passed Silent Hill yet, dad.  What are you waiting for?", or "Oh, look dad!  Final Fantasy stuff!"  lol  Later!

PSN Hacked

Hey there.  I know that the news of the hacking of the Playstation Network has been out for some time, but it's time to throw my 2 cents in.  I think it's horrible that Sony did not act swiftly to protect the information of their users.  I understand that they're looking into it, I understand that they haven't yet figured it out, what I don't understand is why they would wait well over a week before notifying their users that their private information may have been compromised.  That includes their credit card information!

High profile people have displayed their displeasure with Sony for not sending out a notice right away about the breech in their network.  Instead, they announced that it was "maintenance".  Then the maintenance turned into "network issue".  And now, it turns out that an "unauthorized user" gained access to the network.  Unauthorized user meaning, HACKER!  If they knew from the get go that something was amiss with their network and info could have been stolen, they should have manned up and just let everyone know.

The console wars going on between Microsoft, Nintendo, and Sony may have played a part as to why Sony was so hush hush about it.  They don't want the negative publicity coming with a security breech but I think they may have hurt their image more by staying quiet over a serious matter.  Over 50 million users will be affected by this and that's a lot of people to upset.  I think this will be a black on mark on Sony for some time but will most likely recover, the way Microsoft did when they had their Xbox Live snafu.  The console wars are heating up and are fierce among the players.  Microsoft, Nintendo, and Sony all have an image to uphold and this incident will not only damage their PR outlook, but may damage the loyalty of their die hard fans, and that's something that will be hard to gain back.  Later!

Taking Care of Yourself

Hey there.  You know, I posted about the Lupus walk that will be going on later this year and started thinking about my health.  I have no idea when was the last time I went to a doctor.  Like, for anything.  I'm pretty proud of my immune system for keeping me healthy, or at least healthy enough to not have major issues.  I haven't had anything but the common cold or flu come my way and aside from that, I'm pretty well off.  However, a cousin of mine mentioned this weekend how he recently purchased some Medicare supplement insurance on the side, just in case.  I've been wondering if maybe I should do the same.

I already have health insurance through my job but my cousin mentioned to me how this third party insurance sent a nurse to his home to get him screened and what not.  I don't ever remembered being screen from my job insurance so it just makes me wonder if now is the time that I should go get checked out.  The last thing I need is to be the popular stone on FindAGraveMaker.com.  lol  In all seriousness, I guess I should take a second look at my health and start taking that extra step to keep myself healthy.  Later!

The 5th Annual Walk for Lupus

5th Annual Walk for Lupus Now!
Saturday, September 24, 2011
Los Angeles
Walk for Lupus Now

Hey there.  Help spread the word on the 5th annual Walk for Lupus!  The mother of a friend of mine suffers from Lupus and my friend has started her own fund raising team, Team Nancy, to walk and raise money for lupus research.  Let's help Team Nancy reach their humble goal of $100!  You can donate anywhere from $1 to infinity to help their cause and if you want to register to walk, or start your own team, you can find all the information here.  Thank for the donations, friends.  Every little bit helps!

Help Find the Perfect Teacher for your Child

This is a Sponsored post written by me on behalf of Kidzmet for SocialSpark. All opinions are 100% mine.

Hey there friends.  One of my fondest memories of being in elementary school was when I felt that my teacher "gets me".  I was a nerdy child, loved to read, kept to himself, and could say that I was a slightly distant from the other kids, but my teacher understood me.  She knew exactly what to say, what to do, and how to get me to interact and to push myself to get the best grades possible and I will never forget that.  I know now that if I was paired with a different teacher at that time, I may not have been as successful or I would have been in store for some very frustrating years.  That one teacher made a huge difference in my life and I was very fortunate to be a part of her class.  Now wouldn't you want your child to be paired with a teacher that "gets him/her"?  Based on my experience, I definitely would.  This is why I'm encouraging everyone check out Kidzmet.

Kidzmet helps you create a pairing portrait that you would be able to provide to your school's principal.  The pairing portrait will have your child's intelligence strengths, their personality, their cognitive style and their recommended teaching approach.  This is one extremely helpful tool to help pair your child to a teacher that excels in your child's strengths and learning style.  What parent would not want their child to be taught by a teacher that will "get it"? 

It's free, it's easy and if you're a parent, you should definitely check this out.  This short questionnaire could revolutionize the way schools select students for teachers.  10 minutes is all you need to help ensure that your child will succeed.  Check out a sample of the questionnaire here and a sample of the pairing portrait here.  10 minutes for your child now could save them hours of frustration later.  Later!