John Chow - How to make money online

johnchow.jpgI recently reached the 200 mark in subscribed RSS feeds it was becoming unmanageable and I spent maybe 4 hours a day reading posts instead of making posts, not very productive.

Then I decided to clean out my subscription list and shrink it down to 10 feeds. It wasn’t as hard as I expected it to be. anyone that didn’t post in the last 3 months… gone. Anyone that post more then 50 times a day… gone. Anyones that hasn’t had an interesting post in 10 posts… gone. That left me with about 20 good solid feeds, it was very hard to get rid of the last 10 feeds but I was successful.

One of the feeds that I decided to keep was to John Chow blog. I really enjoy reading about his late schema to make money online.

A little while ago someone ordered a review of their site from his reviewme.com account, it was an affiliates scam. Instead of being all nice and a good boy he exposed his entire plan for what it was… after that post I was hooked.

Hes also from my home town (Vancouver) or pretty close to. I hope to run in to him one day on the street and say ‘hey I know you’ shake his hand and go on my merry way.

The main reason that I am making this post that I am sure I will get flamed for later is that he has this contest thats going on right now. Make a post about him and link to a few key pages and he will link back from his rank 6 home page. The reason that I waited so long to do a review of his site is that he is also almost at 100 site reviews, and I really want to be on that post, maybe I will get lucky.

To do a review of his site you have to post the following text in one of your posts.

John Chow dot Com is blog that helps you make money online. If you do a review of his blog, he’ll link to you so his readers can check you out.

23 Tips for writing good blog posts and articles.

writting.jpg I try to keep a list of good blog and article writing tips in my head while I am trying to write posts for you. I don’t always follow them all but I try my best.
In no particular order

  1. Use bulleted lists - Bulleted lists help a lot to break up paragraphs and make it easier for online readers. If you bold the fist part of the bulleted list it makes it a lot easier for the users to scan the article and determine if they want to read it.
  2. Good openings - Most articles should have an opening statement, statistically most readers never made it past the 2 sentence.
  3. Get to the point – Make sure the topic of the post is known immediately, if they have to read 100 words before they get to the point there probably going to move on.
  4. Write less - Not everyone has 8 hours to read Blogs a day, if you can write something in 200 words instead of 500, do it in 200 words.
  5. Split up big articles – If you can split up large articles in to mutable posts and link them to each other. It makes posts more manageable to read for the user.
  6. Write series posts – Write a series of posts forces the user to come back the next day to read the next article in the series. It can be good for splitting up large articles in to manageable chunks.
  7. Keep on subject – Try to keep on one subject, if you have more then one thing to say split it up in to two posts and link them to each other.
  8. Make head lines snappy, - Contain your whole argument in your headline. Check out National newspapers to see how they do it.
  9. Use sub headlines - Each sub paragraph should have a sub headline, to make it easier for the users to read.
  10. Write lists – Write top 10 lists, Top 5 lists, Top 23 lists, have you ever noticed how there is always a top 10 list on every magazine at the check out. Add numbers to the titles of posts its helps.
  11. Be useful – Write useful content that people will use and search for. Useful content gets bookmarked and websites that have lots of good useful content get subscribed too.
  12. Be unique – Add a person touch to all your posts, it gives the reader a sense where the writer is coming from. If they wanted bland articles they would read a manual.
  13. Add a quote – People love quotes, it make them feel smart to know quotes and a quote near the top of a post helps keep it memorable.
  14. Don’t over use quotes – things like, don’t put all your eggs in one basket has been used so many times that its lost all meaning, don’t use them. if you have to personalize it a little. Don’t put all your giant man eating lizard eggs in one basket.
  15. Use deep linking – Write articles that link to your old content, this can be useful for many reasons. When people steal your content you still have a link back to your own website, you can resurrect old dead articles, I have already talked about deep linking before in a pervious article.
  16. Link love – Create lots of context links that make it easier for the users to get more information about the subjects that you are talking about. Link to other bloggers, stroke there ego and hopefully they will post back to you. Never be afraid to link out.
  17. Give credit where credit is due – It you copied something from anther blog, tell your users about it don’t try to tip toe around it, it’s not worth it. Any pictures, text, media, or where you got the idea for the post in the first place. This links back to link love.
  18. Ask the user to get involved – Ask a question, ask for feedback, do a small non invasive poll, get people to comment and add there own point of view.
  19. Use pictures – Use pictures to break up an article, make sure there above the crease of the article (the first 200 words). People tend to scroll thou the article before deciding to read it and pictures help a lot in convincing them.
  20. Use paragraphs – One giant paragraph can be intimidating to the reader but if you break it down to smaller parts it can a lot little more digestible.
  21. Reward top commenters – Mention the name of a commenter that posted a good comment on an older post, give them some credit they work hard too.
  22. Don’t use the same word twice – its one of the biggest signs that you are an amateur, using the same words over and over and over again like a favorite word.
  23. Make posts timeless - Try not to put in words like ‘summer of 2005’ or other information that would give the sense that in a year this information is useless. Make posts timeless

Please comment with any other tips that you might have, I will add them to the list.

Del.icio.us bookmarks 2007-05-23 - 2007-05-30

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Crokinole - Table top curling

Crokinole_small.jpgCrokinole (pronounced croak-i-knoll, /ˈkɹokɪinol/) is one of the most memorable childhood games that I use to play with my family. Its basically miniature table top curling board but fun (unlike real curling).

There are Crokinole clubs and tournament’s in many major cities that met regularly and tons of books on the subject, even movies, but its still not a widely known game. Most people I talk to have never heard of it or seen anyone play it before.

The 2007 world Crokinole campiaship is coming up in June 2 2007 in Tavistock, ON, Canada.

The earliest known Crokinole board was made by craftsman, Eckhardt Wettlaufer in 1876 (not 1875 as previously reported) in Ontario, Canada. The first registered American patent suggests 1880 as the time when commercial fabrication began - first in New York, then Pennsylvania. The game was probably adapted from a16th century British game called shovelboard. Some people believe that Crokinole was an Mennonite or Amish game this is untrue. Yes, Crokinole has been very popular among many Mennonite and Amish sects throughout Canada because of the fact that the game was viewed as a rather innocuous pastime-unlike the perception that diversions such as card playing or dancing were ‘works of the Devil’as held by many 19th century Protestant groups. Also Eckhardt and his ancestors were Lutherans, not Mennonites.

What you need to play

  • Crokinole board with 20 stones
  • 2 or 4 players

How to play the game

The rules for Crokinole are well defined and can be found on the World Crokinole championships website.

Crokinole is most commonly played by two players, or by four players in teams of two, with partners sitting across the board from each other. Players take turns shooting their discs from the outer edge of their quadrant of the board onto the playfield. Shooting is usually done by flicking the disc with finger, though (rarely) small cue sticks, like those that would be used for billiards may be used. If there are any enemy discs on the board, a player must make contact, directly or indirectly, with an enemy disc during the shot, If unsuccessful, the shot disc is ‘fouled’ and removed from the board, along with any of the player’s other discs that were moved during the shot. When there are no enemy discs on the board, many (but not all) rules also state that a player must shoot for the center of the board, and a shot disc must finish either completely inside the 15-point guarded ring line, or (depending on the specifics of the rules) be inside or touching this line. This is often called the ‘no hiding’ rule, since it prevents players from placing their first shots where their opponent must traverse completely though the guarded center ring to hit them and avoid fouling. When playing without this rule, a player may generally make any shot desired, and as long as a disc remains completely inside the outer line of the playfield, it remains on the board. During any shot, any disc that falls completely into the recessed central ‘20′ hole is removed from play, and counts as twenty points for the owner of the disc at the end of the round. Scoring occurs after all pieces have been played and is differential: the player or team with higher score is awarded the difference between the higher and lower scores for the round.
Play continues until a predetermined score is reached.

* The photo of people playing Crokinole is from laughingboyottawa

Card game: Munchkin - Kill monsters, steal the treasure, and stab your buddy

munchkin_1.jpgPlay time: 1 hour
Players: 3-6*
Set up time: 5min
Ages: 16-up
Manufacturer: Steve Jackson Games
Category: Fantasy / Humorous / Role Playing Game

Munchkin is one of my favorite card games of all time, anyone that has ever played a d20 system such as dungeons and dragons can relate to this game. Its captures the essence of the dungeon and dragons experience with none of that boring roleplaying stuff.

The game was invented by Steve Jackson an independent board game developer the same person that came up with the GURPS roleplaying system. Steve Jackson games are unique, easy to learn and most importantly fun, hes a genius and a personal hero.
The game is based around a group of Munchkin type player exploring a endless dungeon in search of treasure and experience. The object of the game is to be the first person to reach level 10 but its not that easy. All your “buddies” are also trying for it too and will do anything to stab you in the back along the way.

The game contains two types of cards, doors and treasure cards. If you kick down a door and defeat the monster behind it you get a treasure, if you can’t defeat the monster you get the bad stuff its that simple.

Monsters include; the 10th level Net Troll, 14th level Stoned Golem, 16th level Wight brothers, 14th Level Unspeakably Awful Indescribable Horror, 6th level pukachu

Treasure include; Really Impressive Title, Chainsaw of Bloody Dismemberment, Eleven-Foot pole, Potion of general studliness, and Potion of idiotic bravery.

There are many expansions in the Munchkin family that you can order from amazon or from your local games store.

Chess Puzzle - Submissions wellcome

chess.jpgHello

Over the past 2 months I have posted 30 chess puzzles and ~50 people have subscribed to the daily chess puzzle feed but in the last two weeks I have been letting the quality of the posts slip there has been at lest 4 bugs in the last two week and thats not fair to my readers.

I will no longer be posting regular daily chess puzzles any more. I will however post the really good ones that I come across every once in a while.

Feed free to submit any good chess puzzles that you come across. (FEN, PNG, ect)

Please contact me if you would like to take over the daily chess puzzle feed. I would give full credit for any puzzle that you submit and I have set up a bunch of tools to easily create the chess puzzle images from FEN numbers.

Del.icio.us bookmarks 2007-05-16 - 2007-05-22

bookmarks for funvill
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  • Adventure games
    Adventure games, as a category, have done reasonably well for us–partly, of course, because there are few high-budget, major release adventure games any more (although Dreamfall, which we sell as an affiliate, is one such). So adventure game fans pretty Tagged as: [tag]game, Adventure, [/tag]
  • EFF: Legal Guide for Bloggers
    EFF created this guide, compiling a number of FAQs designed to help you understand your rights and, if necessary, defend your freedom. Tagged as: [tag]blogging, legal, law, blog, reference, copyright, blogs, [/tag]
  • Pilon Ambient Energy Lights Field of Florescent Bulbs
    Hundreds of people are flocking each night for a close-up look at Richard Box’ artistic display of 1301 fluorescent bulbs that are lit by the overhead high-power lines — just from the ambient energy surrounding the lines. The display, called “Field,” whi Tagged as: [tag]art, electronics, interactive, light, project, electrical, Design, electricity, [/tag]
  • Thingamababy: Show and Tell: Jacob’s Ladder as a 12-Gauge Steel Sculpture
    The blocks in his ladder are 12-gauge steel sheets forged to put a bend in them, secured with used bicycle chains obtained from local bike shops. The base is a large metal gear found at a scrap and salvage yard. A wheel crank located at the top of the scu Tagged as: [tag]art, [/tag]
  • Mechanical Music Box Set
    Make your own music box melodies with this mechanical music box set. Comes with hand-cranked music box, one pre-punched music strip that plays the “Happy Birthday” song, 3 unpunched strips (48cm), a hole punch, and instruction manual to have you creating Tagged as: [tag]music, gift, DIY, Gadget, mechanical, MusicBox, box, wishlist, [/tag]
  • MAKE: Blog: Make your own mechanical music box
    Make your own music box melodies with this mechanical music box set. Comes with hand-cranked music box, one pre-punched music strip that plays the “Happy Birthday” song, 3 unpunched strips (48cm), a hole punch, and instruction manual to have you creating Tagged as: [tag]music, projects, DIY, musicbox, howto, [/tag]
  • LH Top 10: USB thumb drive tricks - Lifehacker
    Is that a gigabyte in your pocket? And are you putting it to good use? The explosion of USB thumb drives gives anyone the ability to take some serious file storage space along with their house keys. Developers and road warriors have come up with all sort Tagged as: [tag]tools, software, productivity, freeware, PC, utility, usb, [/tag]
  • MAKE: Blog: Oscilloscope art
    If you’ve got a dual channel oscilloscope handy (got mine for $49 on ebay), you can create some amazing imagery using the X-Y mode setting and/or ADD setting). All you have to do is feed a separate signal (like a sine wave and a triangle wave for example Tagged as: [tag]art, [/tag]
  • Lists: Why paper to-do lists work better - Lifehacker
    Here’s the thing: I really enjoy web-based list managers such as Remember the Milk, but for some reason, every time I log on to see my to-do list, I get sucked into the Mysterious Funnel of Time Wastery, which kind of defeats the whole purpose. Thus, my w Tagged as: [tag]productivity, lifehacker, todo, [/tag]
  • MAKE: Blog: Homebrew lava lamp
    Here’s my home made lava lamp. The container is simply a gallon jug wine bottle. Because of this, a friend once referred to it as the “White Trash Lava Lamp.” The wine was Ernest and Julio Gallo, if I remember correctly. I do remember that it stank to hig Tagged as: [tag]projects, DIY, lamp, [/tag]
  • NOTCOT: Lucifer Matches
    Lucifer, by Feel Addicted. (Yes the same guys that brought you Hotdolls on .org, the designer sex toys for your pups.) This is one of the most gorgeous implementations of matchbooks i’ve seen in some time. Interactions from shaking the match out (remini Tagged as: [tag]design, cool, gadgets, matches, tools, gadget, shopping, [/tag]
  • Make - Plans for a simple noisemaker/instrument?
    I need a circuit that makes noise when it’s supplied electricity, but that makes a lower or higher pitch noise depending on the resistance so that keys of a piano could be simulated with just one circuit and six switches with different resistors attached Tagged as: [tag]music, toys, projects, [/tag]
  • Boing Boing: Diodesex
    Diodesex: macro-focus photos of electrical diodes bent into tiny pornographic scenes. NSFW Link (ZOMG you got me fired from my job in the diode secks factory!) Tagged as: [tag]nsfw, photography, sex, electronics, [/tag]
  • Boing Boing: Hugo nominees announced
    This year’s Hugo nominees are out — congrats to all the great nominees! It’s amazing to see great books like “Glasshouse,” “Rainbows End,” and “Blindsight” on the ballot, along with stories like Ian McDonald’s “The Djinn’s Wife,” Bill Shunn’s “Inclinatio Tagged as: [tag]books, scific, [/tag]
  • SpirEvolution
    If the Tribune’s coverage is any indication, Chicago has Spire frenzy, as Santiago Calatrava unveiled the “final” design of the 2000′ tower on Monday. While my schedule doesn’t permit a long post on the design, at first glance Calatrava has made improveme Tagged as: [tag]buildings, [/tag]
  • MAKE: Blog: Book sculptures
    Tim Baker’s book sculptures along with a lot of other effects, projects and more Tagged as: [tag]books, sculpture, art, [/tag]
  • Geek With Laptop
    A website with a reall nice theme, and some wordpress plugins Tagged as: [tag]blogs, [/tag]
  • Creative photos by Chema Madoz | haha.nu - a lifestyle blogzine
    Creative photos by Chema Madoz Tagged as: [tag]photography, art, photos, photo, fun, cool, [/tag]
  • Drinking game: One Big Chicken | ABlueStar
    The person who knows all the phrases begins, one phrase a time. The game follows the same routine as the Twelve Days of Christmas. So, the sixth person in the circle would have to repeat the sixth phrase, as well as the previous five. If you mess up a ph Tagged as: [tag]drinking, drinkinggames, [/tag]
  • Random drinking game generator | ABlueStar
    While doing research for an article that I was writing on the drinking game King’s cup. I found that most drinking games all have the same sort of rules. Draw a card, roll a dice then follow the rule associated with that card or dice. I started a colle Tagged as: [tag]drinking, games, drinkinggames, fun, [/tag]
  • Finding a good web host | ABlueStar
    Selecting a good host basically comes down to three things, Disk space and transfer, Reliability, and the host Company. Tagged as: [tag]webdev, webdesign, [/tag]
  • Dice 10000 | ABlueStar
    I have been playing this game for as long as i can remember, it was one of the first games my parents ever show me and its very simple to learn. This game is most commonly known as Dice 10,000 but I have heard it called Boxcar, Foo, Zilch, and Crap Out, Tagged as: [tag]games, dice, [/tag]
  • Pig - The classic dice game of probability | ABlueStar
    Pig is often used as a simple and fun way of teaching probability concepts in middle school. What are the chances that you will not roll a one on your 1st round, 2nd,3rd,20th 100th, etc. But Pig is not only for middle school kids it is also used in some c Tagged as: [tag]games, dice, probability, [/tag]
  • Klondike - Dice poker | ABlueStar
    Klondike is loosely based on poker and originated in cheap casinos on the American frontier. Its really easy to play if you know anything about poker, and even if you don’t its still pretty easy. Tagged as: [tag]games, dice, poker, [/tag]
  • Twenty one - Dice jeopardy approach games | ABlueStar
    This game is absurdly easy to play, but it a good game to explain what jeopardy approach games are. In a jeopardy approach games, the object is most closely approach a goal score without exceeding it. Tagged as: [tag]games, dice, jeopardy, [/tag]
  • I Believe In Harvey Dent Too
    Tagged as: [tag]batman, teaser, Movie, [/tag]
  • instructables : The Ice Bulb
    I got the idea for the Ice Bulb from the frozen water balloon instructable. My mind wants to put LEDs inside everything these days :) The Ice Bulb is very cheap and simple to make and the result looks amazing. This instructable will be to basic for a lot Tagged as: [tag]led, projects, diy, cool, interesting, light, art, [/tag]
  • Barbudi - Mexican gambling | ABlueStar
    Barbudi is commonly found in many Mexican casinos and clubs but probably originated in middle east. When the game is played in a casino the dealer takes a small percentage of the winnings because the game is evenly matched. It can be played by any number Tagged as: [tag]games, dice, [/tag]
  • Snakes and Ladders - Game to reach Nirvana | ABlueStar
    The board is arranged in numbered a grid with a number of snakes or ladders connecting two squares together. The size of the grid varied from publisher to publish, but most common boards that i have seen are 10×10. I have seen boards range anywhere from Tagged as: [tag]games, history, snakesandladders, dice, [/tag]

Chess Puzzle #34 - White to move, Mate both black kings in 2

White to play W.B.Rice 1912
What to play and mate both black kings in two.

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Chess Puzzle #33 - White to move, do not mate

White to play
A lot like the last puzzle but slightly more challenging. What moves must White play to force a stale mate

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Chess Puzzle #32 - White to move, do not mate

White to play,
Most likely you have seen this puzzle before, its one of the more common teaching problems in chess programs.
Its white to move, what is the only move that white can do that could NOT CAUSE Check mate

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Del.icio.us bookmarks 2007-05-04 - 2007-05-15

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  • Say No to Crack » Blog Archive » Inflatable Missile Balloons
    Looking for a way to get some attention on the highway? Try these helium-filled missile balloons: Tagged as: [tag]funny, missile, balloons, [/tag]
  • What Do You Do When Someone Steals Your Content « Lorelle on WordPress
    Having been the target of copyright thieves, and working with writers, authors, and photographers on copyright protection and laws for over 25 years, I thought I’d talk a little about what to do when someone steals your content. Tagged as: [tag]copyright, content, blog, blogging, articles, [/tag]
  • Seen in Vancouver
    Seen in Vancouver is a photo blog containing the top images from the Seen in Vancouver flickr group. To have your image included for possible publishing on Seen in Vancouver simply upload your favorite pictures that you have taken around Vancouver to our Tagged as: [tag]for:jimic, vancouver, photography, [/tag]
  • Nerdy Shirts :: The Most Awesome Shirts in the World
    Tagged as: [tag]tshirts, clothing, geek, shopping, [/tag]
  • MAKE: Blog: 1000+ Fluorescent lights powered by overhead cables
    Hundreds of people are flocking each night for a close-up look at Richard Box’ artistic display of 1301 fluorescent bulbs that are lit by the overhead high-power lines — just from the ambient energy surrounding the lines. The display, called “Field,” whi Tagged as: [tag]for:jimic, photography, art, [/tag]
  • Drinking game: Kings cup | ABlueStar
    A classic drinking game that evolves filling a cup (the kings cup) with random shots of liquor for the unfortunate loser of the game. As with all drinking games the point of the game is to get drunk. Tagged as: [tag]games, game, drinking, drinkinggames, [/tag]
  • Ablurstar - Random drinking game
    Generate a random drinking by freshing this page until you find one with a set of rules that you like. Each player picks a card from the face down cards and follows the rules below. Once done the turn order goes to the left. Mob rules – majority always Tagged as: [tag]games, game, gamedev, drinking, drinks, kingscup, [/tag]
  • Finding a good web host | ABlueStar
    Selecting a good host basically comes down to three things, Disk space and transfer, Reliability, and the host Company. Tagged as: [tag]webdev, webdesign, [/tag]
  • How to make dice, and a brief history | ABlueStar
    Next time you are stranded without a pair of dice and your guests are already on there way, try printing off a few of these origami paper dice. A little glue or tap and a printer is all you need. Tagged as: [tag]game, dice, paper, papercraft, games, [/tag]
  • Which Feed Reader is Best?
    Which Feed Reader do you use and Why? Are you a Google Reader fan? A Bloglines junkie? Do you prefer NewsGator, Firefox Live Bookmarks or Netvibes? Or do you prefer to follow blogs via MyYahoo or iGoogle? Which one do you use - why? Tagged as: [tag]blog, rss, feed, webdev, [/tag]

How to make dice, and a brief history

dice.jpgDie (plural, Dice) - A die is usually a small six sided cube, made of bone, ivory, or most commonly plastic, that is marked with one to six dotes on each of its faces. The cubed dice have the advantage of being balanced in such a way that any side should have an equal chance up landing face up.

The oldest known dice where probably divining sticks made from twigs that where rounded on one side and flat on the other. These divining dice or sticks where used to tell your future depending on what way the land. Pyramid-shaped dice where found in the royal burial tombs of Ur more then 5,000 years ago. Both four-sided, stick, and cubic dice in both ivory and bone flavors have also been found in Egyptian tombs.

teetotum.jpgSometimes a was used instead of dice. A teetotum is a four or six sided top that is spun with your fingers, the sides are marked with numbers or dots so that the number that lands down when the top stops spinning determines the value of the dice. its shape is similar to a dreidel. The teetotum probably originated in Germany during the middles ages and was used to predict the future.

Sometimes in medieval England, dice where thrown on a dice board. The board was divide in to six spaces and a funnel was mounted above the board that the dice where dropped in to it. Instead of using the value found on the dice, they used the value of the squares where the dice landed.

Dice are a essential part of many game, and are needed for everything from Boxing to Yahtzee. A pair of misplaced dice can destroy your plans for the weekend, I know its happened to me many times.

Next time you are stranded without a pair of dice and your guests are already on there way, try printing off a few of these origami paper dice. A little glue or tap and a printer is all you need.

6sides.gif

[PDF] [GIF]

paper_teetotum.gif

[PDF][GIF]

I have heard good things about Does God Play Dice by Ian Stewart it might be worth checking out.

Chess Puzzle #31 - White mates in 16

White to play, White mates in 16 [O.T.Blathy]

This chess puzzle came from a book I just recently picked up from amazon called
Book of Extraordinary Chess Problems: 120 Unusual Puzzles by Stephen Addison.
A suggested read for anyone interested in chess problems.

Its a little easy but still a pretty good.

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Finding a good web host

I am often asked who is the best web host?, what web host do you use? and what makes a good web host good?

This question gets asked a lot on the internet and there are lots of other people that also have written articles on selecting a good web host, but I have yet to find a good article that explains why one host is better then anther.

Selecting a good host basically comes down to three things, Disk space and transfer, Reliability, and the host Company.

Depending on what you want to do with your website you might have different requirements.
For example:
if you wanted to create a photo gallery of all your 30 gigs of pictures you have taken over the last 10 years I suggest finding a host with a lot of free disk space and lots of monthly transfer. although i would stay away from the hosts that advertise unlimited space and transfer.
If you wanted to create a blog I would suggest one with good reliability, with a company that has been around for years and isn’t going anywhere soon.
For a business website or online store reliability should be at the top of your list followed by customer service.

What makes a good web host?
Reliability and uptime should be pretty high on you list of priorities. If your users can’t view your site it will not matter how fast or how much space or transfer you have they will go somewhere else. There are plenty of websites that monitor up time for websites and hosts. For this article I am going to use uptime.besthostratings.com

Web host Uptime Estimated down time per year
GoDaddy 99.9% 8 hours, 45 minutes, 35 seconds
ICDsoft 99.9 % 8 hours, 45 minutes, 35 seconds
HostGator.com 99.8 % 17 hours, 31 minutes, 12 seconds
Bluehost 99.8 % 17 hours, 31 minutes, 12 seconds
1and1 99.6 % 1 day, 11 hours, 2 minutes, 24 seconds
Dreamhost 99.2 % 2 days, 22 hours, 4 minutes, 47 seconds

Why doesn’t anyone have 100% uptime?
Computers need to be updated every once in a while, security patches, hardware/software updates. People find bugs in programs all the time and these problems need to be resolved as soon as possible to prevent malicious people from hacking web servers. That’s the official answer, the most common reason that most web servers don’t have 100% uptime is that bad stuff happens such as someone accidentally pushing the red button cutting power to the data center, fire, wind storms, tornadoes, bugs chewing at the cables, massive power outages that last longer then the reserve generators can last, Godzilla and Mothra attacks, etc.

99.9% uptime is nothing to laugh at, basically 99.9% means that your site will be unreachable for approximately 8 hours of the year, thats really not that bad. Even still, Murphy’s law decrees that the 8 hours that you are down will be when you need it most.

Some companies like Google and Wal-mart spend millions of dollars to get 99.999% uptime (less then 18min downtime) these companies need the extra 0.099%. Just think how much money Wal-mart would lose if there servers went down right around 6pm ie prim time for shopping. They could stand to lose millions in sales and irritate there customers.
A good article on the subject can be found at 37signals - dont_scale_99999_uptime_is_for_walmart

How long the company has been around
If the dot com burst of 2000 taught us anything is that you can guarantee a internet company will be around forever. Companies get bought, sold, traded, and go bankrupt all the time. Once a company goes under your website and its data could be gone over night. Even if you have backups setting everything all over again can be a pain full experience.
When looking for a host you want to find a company that has been around for a while. 5 years is a good amount the company should be stable enough to trust. You can use the Whois records to get a good estimates of when the company was created. I suggest using whois.sc

Dreamhost 1996
1and1 1997
GoDaddy 1999
ICDsoft 1999
HostGator.com 2002
Bluehost 2002

A few other things that could help

Chess Puzzle #30 - White mates in 2

White to play, White mates in 2 [V. Kovalenko 1968]

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Random drinking game generator

While doing research for an article that I was writing on the drinking game King’s cup. I found that most drinking games all have the same sort of rules. Draw a card, roll a dice then follow the rule associated with that card or dice.

I started a collect all the drinking games rules that I could find that work with a “draw an item and follow the associated rule” type system. Then I put them all in a database and created a script to randomly generate a drinking game.

Random drinking game generator

Feel free to make any suggestions

Chess Puzzle #29 - White mates in 2

White to play, White mates in 2 [H. Lehner 1874]

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Chess Puzzle #28 - White mates in 2

White to play, White mates in 2 [L. Valve 1943]

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Chess Puzzle #27 - White mates in 2

White to play, White mates in 2 [Gy. Schifferi 1928]

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Chess Puzzle #26 - White mates in 2

White to play, White mates in 2 [T. Kaedos 1971]

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Chess Puzzle #25 - White mates in 2

White to play, White mates in 2 [G. Zahodyakin 1967]

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Chess Puzzle #24 - White mates in 2

White to play, White mates in 2 [Z. Zilahi 1929]

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Chess Puzzle #23 - White mates in 2

White to play, White mates in 2 [N. A. bakke 1972]

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Chess Puzzle #22 - White mates in 2

White to play, White mates in 2 [N. A. bakke 1972]

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Chess Puzzle #21 - White mates in 2

White to play, White mates in 2 [Gy. Bakcsi - L. Zoltan 1993]

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Chess Puzzle #20 - White mates in 2

White to play, White mates in 2 [Gy. Bakcsi 1973]

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