Justin Germino Ramblings

I have been doing quite a bit of research for a comfortable and functional set of headphones that I can wear while working out while listening to music on my iPod or iPhone.

After doing quite a bit of research and keeping my budget to under $50, I decided to get the Polk Audio UltraFit 2000 Headphones and give them a whirl.

They fit very easily over the ears and are snug and secure, the sound quality is very good compared to generic earbuds like the default ones that come with an iPod, but isn’t as good as $99+ earbuds or $200 headphones, so don’t expect it to have that good of sound quality.

Where it shines is how easy it is to use while you are working out, I can run on a treadmill, use an elliptical or a rowing machine with ease while working out. The cord is long enough for you to wear the iPod or iPhone on your hip, but works even better if you can wear an armband holder for your iPod Touch or iPhone.

The headphones do have a microphone for talking on calls, but I had callers tell me they had a hard time hearing me, I didn’t get a chance to adjust or play with it much but this wasn’t my purpose in buying these headphones.  It does however have very functional and useful Play/Pause/Volume Down and Volume Up buttons directly on the right earphone itself.  This works well and allows you to instantly adjust the volume, or pause without even needing to touch your iPod or iPhone.

There is only 1 cord hanging from the left side of your head, and if you tuck the cord under your shirt and thread it through your sleeve it becomes non-intrusive and allows you a full range of motion without interfering with your work out.

You can easily bench, press, squat, run, or do any other machine exercise as I rotate through everything on the LA Fitness gym floor without having to adjust my headphones once while working out.

If you are in need for a good pair of workout headphones that go over your ear and block out more noise than generic earbuds than you won’t go wrong with the Polk Audio UltraFit 2000 headphones which get my recommendation.  I am still trying to determine if I can make the microphone work well enough to use it for phone calls.

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-Justin Germino

688 Articles were published in the past year on DragonBlogger.com which is nearly 2 articles every single day for the entire year.  This has made for a productive year where my site saw more profits than in any of the previous years.

DragonBlogger.com turns 4 years old on August 23rd and though it had more traffic in July/August 2011 compared to this year, overall it has more site traffic and more average earnings than in previous years.

This site has grown to where I now have 10 writers working as dragonbloggers who provide articles for the site and help interact with my audience.  I am really proud of these writers who have become more like team members and take a vested interest in their articles on the site, they often participate in our group discussions on Facebook and help jump on topic and article ideas when they are presented.

In store I plan on redesigning the share buttons for articles on the homepage, as well as continuing some minor performance based tweaks.  I also need to put some more advertising and revenue generation options on the mobile theme since 10% of my site traffic now comes from mobile browsers and that traffic isn’t being monetized very well right now.

-Justin Germino

When content is scraped onto other sites you may end up hosting AdSense ads on other sites without your knowledge, and though you may earn some extra income by accident when this occurs, it could end up getting you banned from AdSense if another site hosted your publisher ID ads and it violated Google’s terms of service.

I first read about this issue when WordPress theme creators would put their AdSense publisher ID coded into plugins or themes so that they would get a portion of AdSense revenue from ads hard coded in the footer of the website, or the plugin which defaulted a portion of % income to their AdSense ID by rotating ads showing their publisher ID a portion of the time.

They were banned when unsavory sites were using their theme/plugin which caused their AdSense account to be banned and it cost them a huge portion of income since your entire AdSense account gets banned instead of just the site that offended.

To help add security to your AdSense account and know exactly what websites serve up your AdSense ads you need to go into your Google AdSense settings and look at your Account Settings.

Here you will scroll down until you find the Access and Authorization section in your account settings.

You will want to check mark Sites authorized to show ads, then add all your domain names that you have AdSense hosted with your publisher ID.  If you are using BlogEngage make sure you also authorize BlogEngage as you can earn a portion of AdSense proceeds from your articles submitted there as well.

Now, save the changes and check your AdSense every day or two.  You may see a notification like this occasionally:

This means that others sites besides the one you authorized are displaying AdSense ads with your publisher ID, make sure you click and review the sites and either approve them (if you know and trust them) or deny those sites from using your Publisher ID.  You won’t get any AdSense revenue from those sites, but they won’t be able to publish ads with your AdSense ID and you won’t be at risk for being banned.

Note, you may see Bing.com, Google.com and various Google search engines as sites if you are using AdSense for Search.  You will need to allow these sites so that the Ads show up in your search results and you can still earn from them.

You will also want to allow Google Translate, since some users may visit your blog from another country/language and be translating your blog.

Securing your AdSense Account

How many other bloggers have restrictions on what sites can display their AdSense ads? 

How many of you have found other sites you didn’t know about using your Publisher ID?

-Justin Germino

I couldn’t believe it when I searched Amazon and saw that the Google Nexus 7 Tablet was being sold, this means you get a tablet far more powerful in every way for just slightly more than the Kindle Fire.

This is simply a steal at this price and if you were in the market for a tablet, you should be picking one up right now!

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The Google Nexus 7 tablet outperformed even the iPad 3 in some tests done by Ars Technica largely due to it’s quad core processor and incredibly efficient GPU.  This tablet proves to be the best 7″ tablet to date and the price at about than the cost of a Nintendo 3DS means you get so much power for the price.  Why would you ever get a PS Vita or Nintendo 3DS when you can get a tablet with better graphics and more power for less?

Pick up a Google Nexus 7 right now!

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Guild Wars was probably my favorite MMO game back in the day and certainly the one I put more hours into than any other MMO that came out since. I actually was one of the few who never signed up for and played World of Warcraft, and Runes of Magic was my 2nd favorite MMO to date.

My 8 year old son who has been playing MMO’s for a while wanted Guild Wars 2 for his birthday so I pre-ordered both of us a copy (our Birthday’s are 5 days apart) and we both shall start investing in it together. I am considering getting a copy for my 5 year old who can play Wizard101 and a little bit of Runes of Magic, but still not quite capable of doing a full scale MMO yet due to his age so not sure if I should invest. The one problem I currently have is I am constantly torn between my older son wanting to play games with me that I certainly love but are too difficult for his 5 year old brother, and my 5 year old who still loves the younger games like Disney Universe, Skylanders…etc which his older 8 year old brother has grown out of (and most are only 2 player anyway).

So I am constantly dividing my time between my two kids playing separate games, the only one in common is Wizard 101 that we all play consistently. Eventually Oliver will catch up, but he sometimes thinks I like playing with his brother more than him, or that I play with his brother more than him so I am always struggling to keep the balance.

This is one of the main reasons why I plan to buy a Wii-U when it comes out at the end of the year, the Mario games are something my 5 year old just loves and are HIS thing, so I want to get the new one so we have some great me and him gaming and he feels just as included and knows I enjoy gaming with him just as much as his older brother.

They don’t realize how lucky they have it if their biggest complaint is which kid I spend more times playing games with 🙂

-Justin Germino

As I write this post I realize that I haven’t written a blog post on the WordPress iPad app since Easter weekend. I just don’t blog that much on my iPad and use it mostly for reading Google Currents, CNN, playing games and Facebook/Twitter…etc.

The WordPress app works pretty well for my smaller blogs that don’t required featured images, but I still find it difficult to use for DragonBlogger because the WordPress app doesn’t let you set a featured image (required by my theme) and inserting images into posts is still pretty cumbersome on the iPad tablet in general compared to the PC.

In fact writing in general on the iPad despite me using it for a full year now just isn’t as natural to me as the PC, though with a Bluetooth keyboard it definitely is easier but I just can’t get accurate or fast on the touch screen keys compared to a tactile keyboard. I may need to find a typing game for the iPad and practice to keep improving my skills. I downloaded one but it crashed and didn’t work, so will try to find one that is actually functional and good to review and tell my readers about sometime.

In the meantime, I have been pretty much in and out of hospitals with my wife for the last 14 days, and have been in the hospital for two days with her. This has been a difficult few weeks as is any family health crisis and my stress levels are at an all time high, I have mountains of emails piling up at my day job but fortunately in early July I brought on some more writers for DragonBlogger.com and they are good and get their articles in on time. This means I haven’t written an article in almost two weeks yet my site is loaded with quality content and unique perspectives from my writing staff which has grown from 3 back in January 2011 to 10 right now. My site actually churned out over 60+ posts last month on this site alone!

-Justin Germino

If you work from home or have your own office space, then you have the opportunity to create a work desk that will be as conducive as possible to helping you to work and get lots done. This is a great opportunity to increase your productivity, but at the same time it’s also a great way to create a really cool station that looks like something from a science fiction film, or from Dexter’s Laboratory. All men it’s fair to say love the idea of having a really impressive selection of hardware with lots of screens and blinking lights, and if your desk is really packed with gadgets you’ll find you actually want to be here and do more work.

The following are just some examples of cool things to invest in for your desk and they range from practical items that can help you at work to silly executive desk toys and things that are more for show. This is by no means a comprehensive list, nor is it focussed – it’s just designed to show you what your desk could be.

Multiple Monitors: First of all, if you want to feel ‘like a boss’ when you’re at work and multitask while glancing around at lots of screens like an RAF pilot, then having a lots of monitors is a great way to accomplish this and to be more productive while also enjoying the coolness factor. You can plug into two, three or more monitors and if you situate them around you, you can then spin round on your chair to see the different ones. This actually has many uses too – allowing you to bring up research on one screen while working from it on another, or letting you create spreadsheets and write documents.

Stress Ball: It’s simple and it’s not all that high tech, but it’s also a very good way to vent your frustrations when you’re on the phone to the boss.

Graphics Tablet: If your job has any element of design or artistic creation involved, then having a graphics tablet is a great way to capitalize on this by being able to draw straight into your computer. At the same time a graphics tablet will give you a cool alternative to a mouse that’s very precise. They just look good too.

Remote Control Car: Want to annoy other people in the build or office? Want to deliver someone a message? Using a remote control car is a great way to bring some fun to your office and a nice little distraction. If you get one with a web cam then you’ll have even more fun with it harassing your co-workers.

Lava Lamp: A lava lamp can provide just the right feeling of calm and at the same time looks very high tech and ethereal in your office. Another even more high tech feeling alternative is to have a plasma globe, or even a virtual fish tank which will give you something else to stare at hypnotically and to bring your cholesterol back down.

Organizers: The best folders, paper trays and organizers for your documents should help you to avoid losing your files and at the same time make it almost ‘fun’ to sort through them as you get kicks out of how well filed everything is.

Trevor Smith is a freelance writer and a blogger. He writes for GreatGiftsForMen.com and is a technology lover. Through his posts he advises about various technologies, reviews upcoming gadgets and sometimes talks about the use of gadgets which will make your work a lot more organized.

There are few things I like more than being completely overwhelmed to
where I don’t have a handle on everything. Summer is usually more
hectic for most people, especially my family because there is peace
and less hustle when the kids spend most of their time in school.

But compound the issue with numerous work and home life stresses and
this strange disappointment in my own blogs recent performance and I
feel a little demoralized. Ironically I just had a vacation in the
first week of July and I need another vacation.

The good news is school starts next week, most of July stresses are in
the past and Guild Wars 2 comes out soon. My gaming habits are
changing and I find it more fun to play games with my kids than to
play “adult” games like The Secret World anymore, it isn’t that its a
bad game, it is a very good one, it’s just I feel isolated and alone
at night playing and have become used to having my boys gaming with me
in the same room.

I bet I have serious empty nest syndrome when my kids move out, but
have at least a decade before I have to deal with it.

-Justin Germino

I needed a fan that would circulate air into my office from the hallway, with 3 laptops and a home PC my office was like a furnace and even with my upstairs thermostat set to 76 degrees, my office topped out at 85 easily on most days because of the heat being generated by my computer equipment.

When I saw the Vornado FA1 42″ Tower Fan on sale at Bed Bath and Beyond I decided to pick it up and give it a whirl because my other fan had broke (the power button didn’t work) and I needed a new one anyway.

The fan is very tall and fairly light weight for the size, installing the base wasn’t a big deal you just attach 2 half circles and screw them into the bottom of the fan.  The plastic feel of the circle is the same quality as any other fan and not overly tough, but the fan will not fall over if you bump into it either.

The fan in action provides more air flow vs. any other tower or standing fan I have tested when it is set at the highest setting.  The volume of the fan is comparable to floor fans with the same type of airflow design which isn’t overly loud, but you can have the fan a good distance away and still feel the airflow which helps compensate for noise.  I keep the fan on at night near my bed moving it from my office and can sleep with the fan on full blast without an issue.

The lower settings seem almost a waste because it does pass very little airflow at the lowest settings, the 2nd to highest setting seems to be the best airflow for the volume point.  It does circulate the air very well however and has a wide conical range of airflow that extends and is felt easily 10-12′ away from the fan.

This is the best tower fan I have tested to date, but at it’s price it isn’t cheap.  There are floor fans that can produce more power (some Vornado floor fans have more airflow as well) but they also have a louder volume.  The design and appearance of the fan is one of the better I have seen on a tower fan as well.

Overall if you need a powerful tower fan, I was not disappointed with the Vornado FA1 42″ Tower fan.  It does keep my room much cooler.

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I can’t believe when I read how Hesham Zebida’s 2 blogs including FamousBloggers.net which is a pretty popular one were stolen by a hacker who then tried to resell the blogs back to him.

If you are a blogger, you NEED to read his story on how his GoDaddy account was hacked, and his domains transferred out of his account without him even realizing it until it was too late, now he suffered site outages and had to have numerous cases open with GoDaddy to resolve the problem, this is a crime and will likely involve a criminal case as well.

Read his article here:  http://zebida.com/main/domains-stolen/

It is imperative that bloggers use extremely secure passwords for their hosting provider accounts and take extra care with installing any applications on their PC’s.  I don’t know how his account was compromised, but if any hosting provider has level 2 (One Time Password) authentication it should also be enabled and requested.

Secure passwords 10+ characters long including Uppercase, Lowercase, Special characters and numbers help slow down attacks, but if there is a Trojan installed on your computer or a keystroke logger that records as you type then you are going to be compromised no matter what.

Having at least 2 antivirus anti-spyware programs to cover your bases is recommended, as in my opinion 1 alone is not enough anymore.

Meanwhile, head on over and wish Hesham a speedy recovery for his domain names.

-Justin Germino