Free The Animal

Well, I certainly hope you all here in America had a good Thanksgiving weekend and took the opportunity to express in word or deed -- or simply in terms of your time and presence -- thanks to those in your life that play a part in making it work. Personally, my thanks always goes to myself primarily, for getting my butt through another year (and this year especially, as I'm so much better off), and secondarily, to real people -- family, friends, colleagues.

So, for me, Thanksgiving is about celebrating all the Animals in your life, both rational and assorted furry critters -- both the ones we eat and the ones we befriend. I never want to short change any of their (or my own) contributions to my life by giving credit elsewhere. Enough said.

First off, a bit of admin. I'm torn about the advertising on the blog that appears on the right sidebar and also under the leading post or a direct link. I have turned down all specific requests for specific ads, as every single one that has approached me was "scammy" in my view. With Google AdSence, Google places so-called "relevant" content from its network of AdWords advertisers. Those advertisers pay Google, either by the click or page view, and I receive a little piece of it. It's no way to get rich. So far with the traffic levels here, it's pulling about $50 per month, which is more than it currently costs to serve up the traffic with my service provider. But I'm torn; because though my agreement specifies that I cannot personally click on the ads or specifically induce others to do so (click fraud), I can look at the ad, Google the name or simply copy the URL, and find out what it is. And I'll tell you: not a single health/diet related product or service I've yet checked is worth a shit. In my opinion: frauds and scams, which is a general statement, stipulating that there certainly are products and services that are not -- I just haven't seen any, yet. I know plenty of others have AdSence, and I'm moderately uncomfortable with the appearance of hypocrisy, but I'm also a realistic businessman. The bottom line is that if these people want to pay me to display their crap, let 'em. And let the buyer beware (the libertarian in me).

I still haven't decided, but am looking into several avenues whereby I can easily screen ads. Google has a new way to review ads either prior to them showing up or after they are already showing up. I've just activated it, but it'll take a while to populate the database so I can begin zapping frauds and scams. There's another option or two out there I'm looking into. I'm on it.

However, in the mean time, take note:

I IN NO WAY ENDORSE, RECOMMEND, OR OTHERWISE SANCTION ANY OF THE PRODUCTS AND SERVICES ADVERTISED HERE. IF AND WHEN I DO, IT'LL BE IN THE FORM OF A POST AND THERE WILL BE NO EQUIVOCATION. AS ALWAYS, IF IT SOUNDS TOO GOOD TO BE TRUE, IT PROBABLY IS.

Now, a bit of good news. Tomorrow morning I should have a guest post up on another blog, a very popular one. It's basically "my story," with an emphasis on pre and post-workout fasting.

I'll let you know when and where it appears, so stay tuned.