overidon.com Central Database for Overidon Omnimedia

Many people including myself have been having a problem with an exercise in Codecademy called, “One more function” in the section of “The Method” within the module of “FizzBuzz++: Return of the Modulus” – There is a simple trick which can make this process go much faster.

The trick is to use multiple browsers. I use Firefox as my primary browser and I was getting this strange error on several of the “Projects.” The error said something like “SandBox error” or “Sandboss is undefined” or something to that sort. I’ve found that switching between Internet Explorer and Safari browser can help with that strange error.

If you need help with 1.7 here’s my answer to the first half, and then I borrowed the code from another dude who made a phenomenal ternary code for the final segment.

Here’s some code which gives a successful “Next Exercise” operation:

//begin code

var comedy = {

schadenfreude: function() {
userResponse = prompt(“How was your day?”);
autoResponse = (“Oh, well it’s a good thing that “) + userResponse + (” happened. Let me make cakes made out of ice cream.”);
return autoResponse;
},

irony: function() {
userResponse = prompt(“Do you like to be a hero?”);
autoResponse = (“Your path will cause you to eat cheese.”);
return autoResponse;
},

// comment code – deletable
// begin code from the dude who I borrowed from
// note how excellent his ternary operator/statements are
// I love how he used the || to make the “or” side perfect
// end comment code
slapstick: function(n) {
return(n == “Murdoch” || n == “Gates”) ? “Pie!”:(n == “Hollande”) ? “Flour”: “Make Up!”; }

};

console.log(comedy.slapstick(“dig”));

//end

Guitar Tuner (Acoustic and Electric)

http://www.howtotuneaguitar.org/

Piano Chord Finder

http://www.gootar.com/piano/

Piano Chords

http://www.list-of-chords.com/D%23-minor-7th.php

Guitar Chords

http://www.chordbook.com/guitarchords.php

This is an addendum to our previous article, “How to make 25 dollars with your blog.” If you are new to blogging and need a place to start, read that article. If you are a little more comfortable with blogging and already have one cooking, then this will cover more advanced concepts.

When you monetize your blog, you will have several options for making money. You can sell products, do affiliate advertising, do adsense-style advertising, do text-links etc…The list goes on an on.

This articles only covers one thing. That’s Google AdSense advertising. I would expect that advertising through yahoo and others would be similar.

Let’s begin.

You already have a blog. You already have articles. You already have fans. You already are tracking your stats at least once a week. (preferably once per day)

The big debate is on number of ads vs traffic.

I decided to go the route of less ads. This is because I originally had a three-column site. But I changed overidon.com to have only two columns. It looks much better on small devices like an iPhone or an iPad. Also the site looks less cluttered.

I also switched from having multiple ad blocks, to having just a single area for ads on the left. That actually worked out better for me. I began to get clicks on my left ad block even though I hadn’t been posting as much.

Pop up ads annoy me. So why would I use those ads on my person site? It doesn’t make sense to do anything to your own blog that you wouldn’t enjoy on someone else’s.

I was approached by someone to do in-article text link ads. You need to be very careful when doing that. One company seemed legit but then they backed out. Another company was not legit after I did my research on them. You need to have the third eye of wisdom when accepting money from anyone.

Your blog is your baby. Remember that.

Overidon.com hasn’t been around for as long as the first post to now. In fact overidon.com has been a website of one form or another since approximately 2003.

That being said, I have had to pay for web hosting on the site since 2003. That’s racked up to about $1,000 – so I’m definitely still in the red here.

But in all fairness, overidon.com has only been a consistent blog since 2009. And I’ve spent about $400 on hosting and domain renewals since that time.

So right now, you could say I’m $297 in the hole. I am perfectly happy with that.

Making 103 dollars wasn’t easy. It took roughly 2 years of AdSense revenue to generate that money. Also, I’ve heard of sites that got in trouble with Google for breaching some point of the terms of service and then they didn’t get paid. So you really need to make sure you read the entire terms of service. Read the whole thing, cover to cover. I spent hours reading it. I also read any changes in the terms of service.

So how did I make 103 dollars with my blog?

Well, I made anywhere from two to eight dollars per month over the past couple years. I know two bucks per month isn’t a lot of money to sneeze at. But the truth is. I’d be doing this anyway, even if I didn’t have an ad. So the idea that I got next year’s hosting paid for is a very nice thing.

I told my friends to read my blog when I talked to them. If there was an article that I thought might stimulate the mind of a friend I’d tell him or her. I didn’t get business cards made till a few months ago. Most of the spreading of the word happened through facebook and word of mouth. Also google searches for keywords that appeared in my articles helped drive about 40 – 70% of the traffic, depending on the month.

If your blog is not a variety blog like mine, then you can still make money. Actually, you’ll probably make even more money than me if you choose a specific genre of information. The most important thing is that you love what you do and you’d do it even if you didn’t get paid. Trust me, that will shine through in every sentence.

People know when you’re losing emotional content momentum in an article. That will make it so you lose repeat visitors. Also, don’t steal anyone else’s content.

The main thing to know about making 103 dollars with your blog is that you need content. Overidon.com had approximately 550 posts as of August, 2011.

By having 500+ posts of good content, you will have a better chance that articles will last the test of time. If you just regurgitate what everyone else is saying, you’ll never get the hits long into the future. That’s why it is important to have original content with as much individual style, opinion, research, original photos, video content…the works. Every little bit helps.

-Tyler

 

Being able to comprehend what one reads is an awesome skill. This technique is simple to do but it works. The trick to it is that it is very counter-intuitive because it seems too easy.

Have you ever noticed that you remember lots of little details on things?

Let’s say you are a sports fan. You can remember RBI’s and touchdown records like a human computer.

Let’s say you are a video or computer gamer. You remember statistics on how characters and items work. You know exactly what realm to go adventuring in for the best EXP and coolest quests.

Let’s say you are an avid comic book reader. You know about every superhero his or her special abilities and their back-stories.

The truth is, you actually have an EXCELLENT memory. It’s just that your memory appears to be selective.

Here’s how it works.

When you get information, your body and mind are doing all sorts of things. There are emotions pumping chemicals through your circulatory and endocrine system. Neurons are firing. And also you may be interacting with friends or family or even co-workers and so there can be social things happening as well.

As you get information, how you get that information directly affects your comprehension. If you are feeling pleasure or excitement, perhaps even a burst of adrenaline…then the chances for comprehension go way up.

Think about those sports stats, if you see your favorite baseball player hit a foul-ball and you happen to catch the ball in your hand…do you think you’ll remember that game or the player or even the run breakdown per inning? Of course you will. This is because you are both consciously and subconsciously attached to the information.

So let’s apply this to reading.

Many people read books and have completely different reading styles. My father likes to skim books. He does this especially for historical fiction. He reads them and enjoys them. But his comprehension is hit-or-miss. Sometimes he even borrows the same books over again because he forgot about them entirely. This is happening because of the motivation for reading the book. For his case, he reads the book as a way to relax after a long day of work.

But if you’re reading this, you want to improve your comprehension for all things that you read. This includes books, online information, blogs, manuals, non-fiction books, histories…everything.

The key is to read everything…I mean EVERYTHING, as if you are reading it for maximum pleasure. This may seem really strange. How can reading a book for school be maximum pleasure?

The most important thing to think about is not the book you’re reading, but the state your mind is in when you read it. You need to figure out your favorite places to read. Do you like reading with music or without? Do you like being alone when you read? Are coffee shops fun places to get reading done for you, or is home better?

When you think about the above questions, don’t imagine that you’re reading something for work or school. Imagine you’re reading something that is a piece of information that you really WANT to read. Something that will bring either happiness or excitement in your life.

Let’s say you don’t read all too often. But you’re a businessman or businesswoman, and you just got some interesting statistics for a business opportunity. This could be extremely profitable for you and it could make your retirement run much more smoothly if you play your cards right. Visualize how you’d read every word and savor the information so you can talk to the potential investor or client in detail about the opportunity. The more you comprehend, the smarter and more capable you’ll appear to both your client and yourself. But since you’re sincerely interested in this information, you savor each line and diagram and are truly enjoying yourself.

Would you read a document like that while trying to drive cross-country with your angry kids who just got from soccer practice? Probably not. It’s too important.

You’d probably take that document and go to your personal study and relax. Maybe put on some music or bring some tea or chill water with you. Maybe you’d bring the document to a coffee shop and order your favorite drink…so what if it’s expensive and fattening…this document is worth it. “I can always go to the gym later…this is important.”

As you read this document, you’re not just reading letters on a page. Your whole body and mind is engaging the information. Consciously, your eyes are reading the words and your mind may be hearing them internally. But subconsciously, the entire setting, your mood, and the vibes of the whole experience is sticking to you.

What people don’t realize, is that the subconscious side of comprehension is just as important as actually reading the words.

Here’s where things start to get even more strange. You don’t even need to understand everything you read.

Actually, it can be better for your comprehension if you consciously are completely dumbfounded by what you’re reading. Subconsciously, what is happening is that your mind puts the information in a little box.

Imagine the box as an, “I don’t quite get this info yet” labeled box. Your subconscious mind LOVES this stuff. Everyday life is completely mundane and even the most complicated things these days are lined out to such scrutiny that there’s little mystery anymore. But it isn’t this way for your subconscious. The part of your mind that doesn’t get to directly participate in the day gets a tremendous amount of entertainment by NOT knowing things. And the more it doesn’t know something, the more it will tinker with those ideas during the day and during sleep.

So here’s the most important part of this Subconscious Reading Comprehension technique. When you get to something in an article or book that you don’t understand. Don’t trip up on it. Don’t even mark it. Just read it a couple time over. And then when you realize that you don’t understand the information on that page…say to yourself, “Hmm! That’s interesting. I haven’t the foggiest about that.” (you can add whatever dialect or accent you choose here)

Then after you have correctly identified something that you are 100% sure that you do not know, then continue reading. Your subconscious mind will store everything and will probably thank you for the extra puzzles to play with.

What will happen is that when you re-visit the information at a later time, you will recall things that you didn’t think you actually understood. Books and articles from other sources will help to fill in the gaps. Then when you pick that book up again, it will not seem remotely as complicated or arcane at all.

Highlighters, pens, notes, are all great…but the best knowledge is the one that is comprehended without external tools. You shouldn’t need a mnemonic for memorizing answers for a test. You should have mastery of the subject matter that flows comfortably from the mind to the pen.

The truth is, scientists have good ideas about memory. They know what parts of the brain control memories and how damage to those centers can affect things. But we actually have just started to scratch the surface of how memory works. Any reputable scientist on this subject matter would say human memory requires much more research before we master the subject in a similar way to how we’ve mastered Newtonian Physics.

I hope you enjoyed this article and it was fun to read for you.

-Tyler