I know I said I wouldn’t be able to post for a while but I have about half an hour to kill so I thought I’d post some articles and since I (and Pam Gaulin) have been in a DIY mood myself I thought posting some home improvement ideas would be a good idea.

I’ve never considered painting a radiator, but maybe that’s because I don’t have a radiator. If I did I would check out Uttini’s article How to Paint a Radiator. Or maybe I’d read Amy Whittle’s How to Build a Wooden Radiator Cover.

If you’ve ever wondered what sort of home improvement things you shouldn’t do then take a look at Steve Thompson’s article, DIY Home Improvements: What Not to Do: The Pitfalls of DIY Home Improvement Can Be Found in These Five Projects.

AC’s Amy Brantley has written an article for lovebirds about to take the plunge. Her DIY Wedding Projects article is perfect for the engaged couple looking to save a few bucks by having a DIY wedding.

I’ve been thinking about putting a screen door on my house lately and was looking for a way to build my own rather than buying a pre-made door when I stumbled across RS’s Vintage Screen Door headboard DIY Project article. Even though it doesn’t help me put a screen door on my house I thought it was interesting enough to link to it.

For more DIY projects see Associated Content’s Home Improvement Section.

Hi Everyone. I wanted to give you all a heads up. I’ve been super busy as of late and haven’t had a chance to work on the blog. I have tons of articles bookmarked that I plan to post about and new people to add to the spotlight.

I probably won’t be able to post or update things until the first week of August so I do apologize for lack of activity.

Have a great week!

Kelly

I left the threads for just a couple of days; when I came back I expected interesting,insightful,soul searching,funny and joyful threads. To my dismay they are in (almost) hibernation. And this while AC so loves our endless chatter! Admin.Mike said so himself; more or less. He wants more participation folks, not less! AC has well over 100.000 writers, and only a handful are active on the threads. Perhaps the other 99.990 are extremely busy lawn mowing, cleaning their house or smoking weird cigarettes, but surely there’s time to join in?

Joyful 324 is trying to find out what we do when we’re not writing. Since most of us seem to be the most creative at work, and so using the boss’ computers, it has become glaringly clear. We don’t have the time to write at home; instead we do it somewhere else and hope that nobody finds out.

Charlie had hoped that nobody in Denver realized it was a National Day: 4th of July to be precise. But since Sam keeps an eye on the calender this notion was dispelled of very quickly. Sam and staff will be putting their feet up and probably closing their tired eyes for the whole weekend. Or throw a party; I have no idea what they do in Denver when AC closes its doors.

And Crutnacker has probably seen more YouTube than he originally bargained for. To ask for songs that have your name in it will make people go absolutely wild, it seems . He has taken to listening to punk from now on and will re-appear with a Mohawk and safety pins in his ears. His new avatar will be for public publication soon. If he can find his camera, that is.

And Kelly is into needles as well; a new tattoo of intricate design has appeared on her arm. It shows that Kel is not afraid to go to great lengths and a lot of pain to get what she wants. And all this while she was also busy renovating her abode.

Well, that’s me for this week. Be nice to each other,

Mary-Jane

Personally, I always thought that going on-line was a safe thing to do; just chatting away with kind folks and so on. But last week it resembled the Wild West and thereI was sitting in front of the pc with a lasso in my hands. Not quite knowing what to do with it; I’m a Townie at heart and the closest I ever come to a cow is buying milk from the supermarket.

But all is well again and my mind, at least has turned to some other interesting subjects.

Chris Carmichael is absolutely fascinated by all those severed feet that seem to be appearing everywhere. The investigating reporters among us are thinking up all sorts of scenarios as to how and why. And leaving the (real) police-detectives scratching their heads and looking downright embarrassed. Because, why didn’t they think of all that?

And Abby Johns is going to give birth to a panda. I truly hope that it’s going to be the smaller variety or else she might be in trouble. But Abby says it’s okay; she’s growing bamboo in her backyard to feed the bubba. And of course when you birth a panda, there won’t be any trouble raising it. No future school fees to think about and they’ll never talk back to you. And come neatly packaged in black and white fur with big cute black panda-eyes. The only problem might be that they climb trees and won’t come out.

Sophia Sanchez loves nature, but not all of its creatures. Everybody is covered in ticks at her place, including the kids. But I have the right solution Sophia: just concrete the whole place over and get some potted trees. It’s a great idea, because you’ll have a lot of parking space as well.

And CJ Mathis caused a small uproar with her Trojan mini-vibrator this week. AC is divided in two camps now: the people who can’t live with it and the people who can’t live without it. After hitting the Publish button CJ decided to post a thread about the sensitive subject and see who would be ending up blushing.

So far only 1 guy did, but surely he must have misread the thread and was confused in thinking it was the picture of the “bare behind” we were talking about. Admittedly it was an ugly one, and hopefully we won’t see any of those anymore, real ones or not so real ones.

Well, that’s me for this week! Be nice to each other! Mary-Jane

When Kelly asked me to be a contributor here, there seemed to be some expectation that I would facilely serve up the humor like so much cold hors d’oeuvres. An expectation nerve-wrackingly reinforced by her hyperbolic introduction of me as “the funniest man on AC.” As if I’m some sort of trained seal who can just stick a flipper down my throat and puke bons mots. I’m not an amusement-vomiting seal machine that can be turned on with the flick of a switch, dammit.

But I don’t like to disappoint. Not a Kelly, at least. So here’s my cop-out - er, solution. For my first trick, I will provide humor while simultaneously furthering our mistress’ promotional cause. Here’s my own spotlight of CP Will Wright, a man to whom I’m tempted to refer as my favorite AC humorist, though I’m generally hesitant to label favorites.

Yes, I’m posting links to a dozen pieces of content. Excessive? Perhaps. The dude’s got over 200, though, so cut me some slack. Spend half an hour or so reading them all, I promise, it’s laugh-inducing time well-spent. If you have to come back later for some, so be it. These are the funniest of the funny. I don’t mean to imply that his other content’s no good; Will has plenty of interesting, useful, and helpful non-funny articles posted too. But E cares not for interesting, useful, or helpful things. Read, readers, read. And enjoy.

Marriage and the Elimination of Manhood, Part I

Marriage and the Elimination of Manhood, Part II

Delaware: The Most Expendable State in the Union?

Stupid Movie Trends: Movies Inspired by Breakfast Cereals

McDonalds Employee Fired for Being Competent

Confessions of a Stay at Home Dad

Nice Things People Say when They Don’t Like Your Writing

Are You an Evil Genius? A How To Career Guide

Trouble in Spongebob Squarepants 2008 Presidential Campaign

AC Writters Strike: Who Needs Righters?

Truck Driving School for the Blind Overcomes Adversity to Graduate First Class

How to Craft Generic Self-Help Articles for Fun and Profit

With no announcement or warning, Associated Content started compensating their contributors for articles distributed via their web site partnership arrangements. We don’t have any official word so the following is early-observation conjecture.

Background
First, you have to know when submitting an article to AC, the author has several choices, one of which is “Distribution: Would you like to make this content eligible for distribution with approved AC partners?” This selection is only available under a couple of conditions:

1. The article must NOT be previously published.
2. If submitted as “Exclusive,” it is automatically eligible for Distribution consideration.
3. If submitted as “Non-Exclusive,” you have a choice in Distribution consideration.

Keep in mind, even non-exclusive submission are going to experience a publishing delay as a content manager must review them.

Distribution Payments
AC has been trying for a long time to figure out a decent way to compensate their contributors for articles sold to other sites. Since it is virtually impossible to track the amount of traffic these articles receive on the partner sites, it looks like AC has fallen back on a simple one-time payment for such articles. Reportedly, it is a $2.00 flat payment. At least, that is what the early returns are showing.

At this point, we don’t know if the payments may vary by partner or if AC is marching forward on some sort of traffic-based compensation from the partners. There has been no official announcement from AC about this new policy. Were all just guessing and hoping. The good news is, AC seems dedicated to finding new ways to fairly compensate their authors.

Hungry much? I know I am and apparently we have almost as many talented chefs on Associated Content as we have writers. check out these recipe ideas.

Quick Holiday Potluck Recipes - These easy recipes will have you in and out of the kitchen quickly. One of these delicious dishes will be perfect when you are in a pinch, whether you need an appetizer or a dessert. Each recipe will be ready in 30 minutes or less.

Summer Sizzler: Break the Ice with These Summer Beverages -Summer is here and it’s time to entertain. Impress your guests with these new and improved ideas for serving up fun in a glass. This can be tried all year round. Your guests will be asking you again and again to bring out the ice.

Fourth of July Desserts and Treats - What quick and easy Fourth of July desserts and treats can you offer at your Independence Day barbecue, picnic or potluck? Here are a few of our favorite quick and easy Fourth of July recipes, sure to make guests march to the picnic table for heaping helpings.

How to Make a Really Good Cold Jalapeno and Cheddar Dip -Making a really good jalapeno and cheddar dip at home is a simple and easy task. It will be very easy for you to create your own family tradition from the basic example listed.

Two Special Potato Recipes to Enhance Any Meal -Two other delicious tasty ways to prepare potatoes are the classic Scalloped Potatoes and Potatoes Au Gratin. This can add a special touch for any meal any time of the years, and is even especially great for holiday meals.

Piper’s Perfect Pizza - An easy, step-by-step instruction on making your own, delicious, healthy homemade pies.

As of yet there is no official airing date but as soon as there’s news I’ll post an update.

We recently had another content producer let us that she was picked up by the Huffington Post. I can’t find the post or remember who it was at the moment so look for a post about it soon. It just goes to show that you never know who is logging in to AC and reading your work.

How many times you tried to inflate an air mattress with a hair dryer? I confess, I have done it many times. I wish I’d had a Coleman Electric Quick Pump. Steve Helmer gives a great review of this handy gadget.

I’ve never had to repair the heating element on my stove but if I ever do I’ll be looking to Kimberly Ray’s article on How To Fix the Heating Element on an Electric Range.

When I think of electric guitars I think of Eddie Van Halen or Jimmy Hendrix. I wouldn’t have the first clue how to play one let alone buy one without some guidance. Content Producer Timothy Sexton shows the way in his article What to Look for When Buying Your First Electric Bass Guitar.

Stay safe this summer by following Emma S.’s Summer Electrical Safety Tips. She gives great advice on what to do if a power line falls on your car, you come across someone struck by lightning and hazardous flooding conditions.

Reasons To Use an Electric Fireplace
What You Need to Know About Electrical Safety and First Aid at Home.

Shayne Dayton presents an interesting point of view about the impact global warming is having on the development of hybrid cars and brings up the idea that Porsche was Electric 100 Years Ago; So Why Not Now?

You won’t feel the same way about your toothbrush again after you check out the Dr. Fresh Electric Toothbrush Review by Lisa Riggs.

My #1 goal with this blog is to spotlight every single active content producer on Associated Content.  In one form or another.

That is an enormous task.  It suddenly dawned on me that I have no system for keeping track of all these people.  So far what’s here is what I’ve pulled from doing random searches and from gathering those I already know.  I don’t think that’s going to continue to work.

So I need help.  I really need everyone to throw links my way.  Even if you don’t necessarily like someone but you can live with their content please, please send me a link.

If anyone has any ideas on how I can achieve this, I’m extremely open to suggestions. I’m doing this because I get a huge kick out of it. I love it.

I’m also open to more of you making guest posts so if you have something to say shoot me a PM  or leave me a comment.

Some of you are signing up in the “Cps Popping In” box and that’s ok because it lets us see your avatar and what not but that is not the sign up link for here.  That is the signup link for mybloglog.com.

To sign up or register look for the LOGIN box on the left hand side below the Random Cp Blogs box.

I moved both boxes to help eliminate confusion. Sorry for mixing you up.

Kelly

Nobody ever gives the AC staff an award, or at least I don’t think they do. So I decided to make one up myself. I dub thee, AC Sam our best AC staffer award because even though the entire team works very hard you have really put a face on Ac and for that I thank you.

Welcome everyone to Ac Spotlight. I started this blog because I found it difficult to separate AC stuff from my regular blog. The two just don’t always mesh.

I like to list articles on my blog and share them with as many people as I can. I get a kick out of it. But my blog could be offensive to some so I decided I’d put together a blog to highlight all the content producers that’s nowhere near my other blog.

I wanted it to be a place where other CPs can contribute and everyone has a chance to be noticed; even if it is in a small way. Plus I get the chance to hobnob with the best of the best and that’s always cool.

My goal is to put every single active content producer in the spotlight. Hopefully all of us will discover new writers at AC. I encourage all of you to share links to other content producers so I can get them up on this page. Feel free to leave a comment or send me a private message on AC.

Mary Jane’s gossip box is about to blow up with all new gossip she keeps sending me. Don’t be surprised if she hits you up on private messages. And she says she’s openly taking submissions.

The Barefoot is a contributor. Who’d a thunk it? I wasn’t so sure I would be able to persuade him into scribbling something here so when he said yes I was ecstatic. I’m looking forward to reading all of his posts.

The AC Spotlight embraces the E with irregular doses of EMohrman. Gotta love him, he’s the funniest man on AC. E has agreed to impart his bullshi…uh, words of wisdom upon us whenever he gets a notion to post. I wish he would/could post weekly but, well, you know E. The fact that he’s even willing to post here is amazing! I’m flattered!

We know her as a tough as nails seasoned content producer, and I believe she is. Angie has graciously agreed to give us a piece of her mind. I’m really looking forward to Angie’s posts on financial matters. I hope to learn some new things because I need all the help I can get.

Momie has lots of kids. Boy does she ever. And because of her extensive experience with rugrats she has tons of information for work at home moms. Now Momie is also contributing to the AC Spotlight to help the WaHMs even more.

All the boxes in the sidebar that list articles are RSS feeds which means they automatically load from AC’s database of articles.

The Random CPs block rotates a snapshot of one of the blogs listed in the CP Blogs box every time you refresh the page. If you want your blog or website to be included in the blog roll and random cp snapshots give me a shout. The only requirement is that your blog or website be about writing in some form.

The AC Spotlight box isn’t quite so random. I’m just grabbing Cps and posting them as whatever category I found one of their articles in. If anyone knows of a good image and text rotating script let me know. Oh wait I think I can do that with an image rss feed. I’ll have to look into that.

It’s all free publicity. I love giving it away. I can’t say that this blog will get you mega page views but I can say, at least your efforts have been noticed.

Anyhow, welcome everyone. I hope you all enjoy being spotlighted.

Kelly

This is by far the best thread you will ever read. If you’re trying to learn the ropes of being successful at Associated Content then visit this thread posted by Michy.  Michy has brought many CPs into the light and as long as her thread remains active, she’ll continue to cause more growth amongst CPs.

Click here to visit Michy’s Thread

Pam Gaulin recently posted an unofficial challenge for June. The rules are simple; publish 100 articles in the month of June. Pam doesn’t specify whether or not these published articles have to have received upfront offers or not but that got me thinking.

In case you’ve never sat down and figured out how much money you can make on Associated Content think about this.

Let’s say you submit 5 articles a day, 25 a week and get your 100 articles published with offers. If each of those offers is at least $5 you would make a whopping $500. (I’m horrible with numbers so somebody correct me if I’m wrong)

Granted writing that many articles can bring your page view average down however if you write well written articles with good keyword density and ad alignment AND you promote them your page view average should come back up.

Someone once asked if you could make living writing for Associated Content and so I thought I’d bring back a few articles to point out that it is possible.

Make a Living Writing for Associated Content by Amy Brantley

Can You Make a Living Writing for Associated Content by Lee Andrew Henderson

An interview with Carrie Freeman by Joniv

The Unofficial June Challenge thread

The web’s greatest enemies are word processing programs. They do violent and unpredictable things to web forms. With a little knowledge you can avoid hours of heartache and destruction.

Now don’t even start with the, “but every web site on earth needs to work with Microsoft Word.” The worldwide web standards are not controlled by Microsoft. Just because you happen to use MS Word for everything is no reason for the rest of the world to conform to your limits. Arm yourself with a little knowledge and get with the program.

KISS it
“Keep is Simple Stupid,” is the best advice you can take away from this article. Use a very basic text editor to write things you plan to paste into a web form. Articles, résumés, and feedback rants are all examples.

Why are word processor so heinous?
Programs installed on your PC have access to the PC’s operating system, font definitions and formatting options. They also use proprietary codes to work their magic. Web servers do not have these nifty attributes. They expect you to provide plain text. When your text contains codes the web form can’t decipher, horrible, nasty things happen.

If you have dodged the bullet until now, chances are you were just keeping it simple when typing in Word. Trust me it will bite you eventually.

A little HTML goes a long way
The web runs on HTML. Just learning a little bit can be a life-saver. There is absolutely no reason to not learn the basics. Having a “mental block” is not an excuse. HTML is too easy. You need only know a hand-full of tricks to simplify your life.

1. Hypertext Markup Language is all about putting tags around your text which make the browser do certain things. HTML tags are inclosed in less-than and greater-than signs. To mark the end of what you want the tag to do, you use less-than, slash, tag, greater-than. Seriously, it’s that simple. For example <b>make it bold</b> gives you make it bold.

2. Know the basic tags: b=bold, u=underline, i=italics. That will cover 90% of your formatting needs.

3. Hyperlinks are simple. HTML has a multi-tasking tag called the anchor. You use it to create many things, but the one you’ll need most is a hyperlink. The format is: <A HREF=”http://thebarefoot.wordpress.com”>My Blog</A>. This leaves the words “My Blog” for the reader to see, but if they click on them, their browser goes to the address. So the results are: My Blog. (Note: the tag is case-insensitive.).

Why should you listen to me?
I know. I know. Some say this is all too difficult to bother learning, but I promise it will save your text one day. Some say, “Word has worked so far,” but I promise it will get you eventually.

I happen to be the technical weenie for a site which process hundreds of résumés each day. About once a week, we get notice of someone whose résumé won’t transfer correctly. One hundred percent of these cases have been people who pasted word-processor documents directly into the web site which houses their résumé. If you’ve ever been perplex by Associated Content not displaying your article correctly, just think how these poor people feel when the window to apply for the job is closing in a few hours and they have no résumé to send.

All you Word die-hards, I’ll be looking for you in the AC forums. It’s just a matter of time before you post in a panic.

Associated Content is home to all kinds of writers, from novelists to poets.  Here’s a shout out to just a few of the many many poets that can be found on Associated Content.

Kady the Hippie Woodstock - A poet whose titles include, Free Space, Lazy Kitty, I Want to Love, Hello I Am Dork and I Refuse My Indoor Toilet.

Pure Writing -  This is a content producer that is all about poetry.  Titles include, Waste Time, You Lied, Your Soul is Cold as Ice, Rewind Time, Like the Sun and  I Walk Through LIfe.

John Gugie - John wishes Associated Content paid for poetry so much so that he wrote a poem about it called, If AC Paid for Poetry.. .  His other poetry titles include, So Cold Outside, The Road Back to Us, The Mask Falls, Ode to MacGyver,  End Days and Go it Alone.

Stephanie Modkins - A long time content producer, Stephanie has more than enough page views to earn her spot as one of the top 1000 Cps. Her poems include, Memorial Day Haiku, She is More Than Wonderful, “The Poem I Never Wrote” and Short Poems for Black History Month.

Crutnacker - Known as a jokester Crut’s poems include, Say Cheese - a Poem by My Daughter, A Poem for Scrapbooking Widowers, Trying to Get Tickets for Hannah Montana — a Limerick and George Bush’s Economic Outlook.

3lilangels - This stay at home mom writes poetry like, Daddys Precious Gem, Mothers: Make Them Feel Special Show They How Much They Mean to You, Eternal Love, Three Little Angels Taking a Bath and Precious Babies.

I have included as many new CPs as I could verify from the Best New CP thread. If you have links to any of the nominees that I left off please post the link and I’ll get it put into this poll. Thanks - Kelly

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Here are a few articles you may or may not have already discovered on Associated Content. Enjoy!

Choosing the Perfect Tent for Your Vacations - Choosing the perfect tent for your vacation is important as an inadequate or unsuitable tent will lead to a lot of misery when you are out camping. The wide range of tents available can be very confusing. Here a some useful tips for choosing the perfect tent for your vacation.

Online Business: Dealing with International Clients - What You Should Keep in Mind - Good relationship and effective and clear communication will ensure a dedicated staff. Any insincere staff might pull your whole business down overnight if he feels the grudge against you personally.

Homemade Chicken Casserole Recipes - Here are 3 different homemade chicken casserole recipes, including a Chicken Cordon Blue Casserole recipe! Try it for dinner tonight!

Shopping on Ebay: Confessions of a Neurotic Shopper - The nature of neurosis is that it describes a propensity in many of us to continue to do things that don’t work. It is, in a nutshell, the failure to learn and correct our behavior as a function of experience. I confess to being a recovering eBay neurotic.

DIY Wedding Projects - Whether you want to save money or just make your wedding more personal, DIY projects are the perfect solution.

How to Start a Compost Pile when You’re Lazy or Inept - Written from a fellow gardener who could never get a compost pile going, this article is about how to compost for the lazy or inept.

The Top Ten Ways to Fight Boredom in the Emergency Room - The dreaded wait in the emergency room has driven many patients over the edge. This article might help to save a life one day. Here are the top ten ways to fight boredom in the emergency room.

How to Save for Retirement when You Are Short on Cash - Saving for your retirement when you are short on cash is not easy if you have to deal every month with money problems for paying your bills.

Preventing Dry Hair - Dry hair, being a very common hair type, benefits from external treatments such as herbal conditioning oils, as well as from a diet that includes beneficial foods. Beware of so-called beauty treatments and fashion trends.

When writing for an online outlet such as Associated Content, it is sometimes difficult for WAHMs to figure out a fair balance between parenting and working. As a mother to 6 wonderful children, 4 of which are at home with me 24 hours a day, I have had to learn how to parent and make money both at the same time. At first it was hectic trying to find a way to make it all work. Some say you have to choose between an income and raising children. I know firsthand it’s possible to choose both without neglecting either.

Since writing for AC can mostly be done at any time of the day, this is one of the easiest ways to get the best of both worlds. The first thing I would suggest, and what helps me most is to leave the computer on all day. Take care of the children’s needs first, of course, and then at each free moment when you are not needed, be on the computer writing, submitting, or promoting articles. When I say take each moment, I literally mean pretty much every moment you aren’t tending to the kids or house. This sounds like a stressful way to work, but I soon realized it actually made things alot easier. The kids don’t have to feel as if I am ignoring them, yet I can still get work done. I actually find I get more work done in a day by doing things this way than I did with a set schedule.

Another thing that helps is to stick to promotion, research, and submission during the day where possible. Actual writing can occur at night and during nap times or other times the children are sleeping or away. If your children are school-aged and are not home schooled, you can write during the times they are at school. I admit that sometimes I write while the children are awake, but I get much more done when I can sit down to write without interruptions. If you do write while the children are around, be prepared for interruptions. Consider this beforehand to avoid stressing when it does occur.