At Least 30 Death Row Prisoners in Texas Have a Myspace

Crime victim advocates are upset that at least 30 Texas death row inmates have had pages on the popular Internet site MySpace created for them.

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Google under fire over racist blogs

Google is being accused of refusing to remove racist blogs targeting minority groups in Australia.

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Age of Protection Bill Moving Forward!

"Following 3 hours of heated debate on Monday, October 30, Bill C-22 passed second reading and was referred to the Standing Committee on Justice and Human Rights, despite opposition from the NDP. "

To send off your 1 click letter, go to
http://www.1clicklobbyist.ca/index.php?affid=216

"All it takes is 5 minutes to make a difference!"

Rose DesRochers

Google's blog hosting platform suffers outage

"After getting hacked this past weekend, Google's Blogger publishing service suffered an outage on Thursday morning that kept both Blogger.com and the Blogspot hosting service offline for two hours."

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A Fourth Person Contracts Botulism From Organic Carrot Juice

Investigators believe botulism toxin from bottled carrot juice paralyzed a woman, the fourth person thought to be poisoned by bacteria in the drink. Botulism poisoning symptoms include double vision, droopy eyelids, trouble speaking or swallowing and paralysis on both sides of the body that progresses from the neck down.

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Yahoo and Google Search Engines Combined

There's a new site out, that combines the power of Google and Yahoo search engines, and its called Gahooyoogle. You enter your search at www.gahooyoogle.com, and it actually splits the screen in two, showing results from Google on one side, and Yahoo on the other. Check it out.

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Jewelry made from Modified Ectoplasmic Giant Madagascar Hissing Cockroach

They are decorated with the finest Austrian Swarovski crystal. Each roach takes about an hour of painstaking work to achieve his final magical glory. All roaches are male to ensure sterility, and come complete with a leash set that clasps to the cockraoch's carapace to keep him from running amok

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PETA Upset at Roach Eating Contest

People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals wants Six Flags Great America to scrap its Halloween-themed cockroach-eating promotion.

A spokeswoman for the animal rights organization says the contest at the amusement park's FrightFest is "gratuitously cruel."

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Blogger Forum Switches To Wordpress

Since Google provides no (or little) support, frustrated users have been flocking to Bloggerforum for advice and technical help. But now apparently even the people at blogger-forum have had it with blogspot and have endorsed Wordpress as their platform of choice.

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Obscure Robert Frost poem discovered

NEW YORK - An unpublished Robert Frost poem, a tribute to a friend killed during World War I, has been rediscovered and will appear next week in the fall issue of the Virginia Quarterly Review, the University of Virginia announced Wednesday

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Rose DesRochers - Bizarre News

Home of the strangest, the most humorous, bizarre, extreme, weird, and off-beat news stories. News from top news sources, updated throughout the day. Start your day the Bizarre way!

http://www.rosedesrochers.net

Rose DesRochers

Safer Internet Day - Working to make the Internet Safe for Children

Canadians- We need your help

Please take a moment to sign this on-line petition which calls for the declaration of February 7th as “Safer Internet Day”. We hope the Canadian Parliament will make this declaration and dedicate that day’s government business to finding ways to make the internet safer for kids.

So far, 37 countries and over 100 not-for-profit organizations and corporations endorse “Safer Internet Day” where the issues of Internet safety are discussed in Parliaments, in the media, and among concerned citizens. Canada and the US are surprisingly absent from this list.

To sign the petition, please click on the following link:Creating a safer Internet.

To find our more about KINSA (or to help our cause with a donation), please click on the following link: www.kinsa.net

Please blog about the petition and send it to your friends and family. Together we can make the internet safer for children. I’ve done my part, won’t you do yours?

Rose DesRochers

Shawn and Rose DesRochers launch Blog Community

My husband and I have launched Blogger Talk Blog Community. Blogger Talk is a friendly fast growing blogging portal, offering bloggers support, advice, tools, tips and information about blogs and blogging. Blogger Talk is a community that is made up of those who blog for personal pleasure and those that blog professionally. At this time we have an interactive blog forum, blogging articles, blog themes & templates, blog books and a blog directory, and blog platform reviews and blog resources. New features that we will be adding are blog tools and blog tutorials, SEO tools to check your pagerank and backlinks,RSS Button Generator, Search Engine Submission, Robots.txt Generator, Online PDF Creator, Email Encoder and HEX & RGB Color Charts, free templates, free pagerank graphics and many more features.

The Blogger Talk Mission: To assist bloggers in not only improving their blog, but their blogging experience as well. If you are a blogger, why not join bloggertalk.net? It's Good to talk "Blogger Talk."

Rose DesRochers

Blogger Talk Review

A few days ago I was asked to write a review of the new blogger forum known as bloggertalk.net. This might sound like I'm already selling out to the highest bidder so early in my blogging carrier by agreeing to do so but that is not true. McDonalds and Sony paid me just as much for their reviews as bloggertalk.net. The truth is I am not getting paid for this (but I am still holding out for my own body weight in cheese) but bloggertalk.net is a site that I regularly use.

One of the first things you will notice when visiting the BloggerTalk.net forum is the friendly atmosphere. There are a number of regulars (including the sites creators) who are always willing to share advice and make new users feel welcome. The forum has already displayed very good spam control which has helped to build its community.

However, the site is much more then just a forum. It includes an extensive blog directory (which users can add to), a download a section with useful resources and regularly published articles about all aspects of blogging. All of which is put together in an easy to navigate site.

The site is still in it infancy (at the time of writing) but it is already proving to be a useful resource for bloggers of all levels; from beginners to professionals.

- Stuart

Rose DesRochers Locked Out

I can't access my blog "Rose DesRochers - World Outside my Window" from the new host for todays-woman.net as my ISP has not updated its DNS records. It's frustrating the heck out of me. So what my ISP is doing is pointing my blog to the old server. I think I'll scream as I'm having blogging withdrawals here.

Rose DesRochers

Rose DesRochers Review: Windows Live Spaces

Blogger Juha Saarinen has found out that ‘Windows Live Spaces’ censorships your thoughts. According to the blogger, apparently the word porn is prohibited on Windows Live Spaces.
(more…)

Support Team Nova- Mothers with Angels - Blogger Erin Monahan

On September 16, 2006, Blogger Erin Monahan will join others on a three mile course through Charlotte to raise money for cardiac research. Erin hopes to raise $3,000.00. Please join her fight against Congenital Heart Defects.



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Paul Youngson Trades Rope to Support Adults with Congenital Heart Disorders

Paul Youngson has undertaken an 18 month quest to trade a piece of old rope for something better. At the end of 18 months he plans to auction of the final item and give all of the proceeds to a charity that supports adults with congenital heart disorders.

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JonBenet Ramsey's Killer Found!

A man arrested in Thailand is being held in connection with the slaying of JonBenet Ramsey, U.S. officials said Wednesday.

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Rose DesRochers: Sex Sells

Apparently one blogger is appalled at the topics that I blog about. Her comment reads “In reguards to her recent posts, I’m appalled by the amount of sex she has on there. You find less sex on porn sites!”

(more…)

Internet Providers to Battle Child Porn

Five leading online service providers will jointly build a database of child pornography images and develop other tools to help network operators and law enforcement better prevent distribution of the images.

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Google's Blogger service unblocked (again) in China

Google Inc.'s free Web log service, Blogger, is once again accessible from Beijing without the use of a proxy server, indicating that apparent government efforts to block the site have been lifted.


read more | digg story

BookSurge possible target

North Charleston-based publisher BookSurge LLC said Wednesday that a hacker possibly infiltrated its computer system and gained account information on tens of it's customers.

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Psst! Secret JFK documents for sale

New email scam offers gullible web users access to supposedly secret KGB files on the JFK's assassination.

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Barmer man becomes father at 88

An 88-year-old Indian farmer, who has never heard of Viagra, became the father of a baby boy and has sex daily and wants more kids, The Times of India reported Tuesday.

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Chinese bar invites customers to take a swing

Stressed-out Chinese can now unleash pent-up anger at a bar that lets customers attack staff, smash glasses and generally make a ruckus, a Chinese newspaper reported on Monday.


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Rose DesRochers wants to give you $10.000.000.00

Dear friend, I’m Rose DesRochers. I am interested in your partnership in business dealing. This business proposal I wish to intimate you with is of mutual benefit and it’s success is entirely based on mutual trust. (more…)

AOL Releases Massive Amounts of Private Data

On August 6th 2006, American Online (AOL) took it upon themselves to release to the public domain an archive of their customers search habits over a period of 3 months.Contained in this list were social security numbers, credit cards and other personal information. The list also revealed some frightening findings. Read More

Rose DesRochers

The 10 STRANGEST statues you will ever see.

Make sure to look at #8. "Nude man attacked by babies."

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Hungry? A Restaurant to Avoid! China's first "penis" restaurant

The menu at Beijing
â??s latest venue for its growing army of gourmets is eye-watering rather than mouth-watering. Situated in an elegantly restored house beside Beijingâ??s West Lake, it is Chinaâ??s first speciality penis restaurant.

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Web Design Rip Off of Blogger.com

The owner of lease2purchase.com, Jeff Beaubien has ripped the design of blogger.com

read more | digg story

Hundreds expected to come to Masturbate-a-thon

Hundreds of Britons are being urged to attend what is being branded as Europe's first "Masturbate-a-thon", a leading reproductive healthcare charity said on Friday.


read more | digg story

Craigslist: An Information Age Black Market For Drugs, Sex

"Eric" sells marijuana online through Craigslist. Recently Eric posted an ad on craigslist indicating he was willing to trade marijuana for sexual favors from women. He isn't the only one. The online drug and sex trade has been booming for years, but never has it been this much out in the open.

read more | digg story

Soccer coach accused of raping girl he lured through MySpace.com

San Rafael police have arrested a De Anza High School soccer coach on suspicion of raping a 14-year-old girl he lured through MySpace.com.



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Sex Starved Wife Calls Police To Intervene

Police in the German city of Aachen received an unusual call for help late Wednesday when a woman telephoned to complain her husband was not fulfilling his sexual obligations.

read more | digg story

Photographer Sued By Plagiarist?

In a weird turn of events, it appears that photographer Kris Krug is being sued by another photographer who allegedly stole Kris' photographs.

read more | digg story

China’s flagship blog-site loses lawsuit, stirs debate

A year ago last June a university teacher found slanderous and defamatory insults directed at him in a blog of a former student that was hosted by Blogcn.com. The professor has successfully sued Blogcn.com. Read More

Rose DesRochers

Book and Movie deal: Paper-clip Blogger Kyle Macdonald

Kyle MacDonald has just landed himself a book deal with Random House and a movie deal with DreamWorks. Congratulations, Kyle!

Rose DesRochers

Rose DesRochers is Funny, Strange and Bizarre

I'm cross posting this from my main blog because I do believe that I'm funny, strange and bizarre in a good sort of way. LOL

Weird and Wacky News: Rose DesRochers is Funny, Strange and Bizarre

China blocks blogs by banned Tibetan writer - Chinese Censorship

Two blogs authored by Tibetan poet Woeser have been shut down according to Reporters without Borders. Woeser used her blogs - oser.tibetcul.net and blog.daqi.com/weise to share her poetry and essays, along with articles by her husband, independent writer, Wang Lixiong. Because Woeser dared to speak out in her writing against the government, she lost her job, her home and her security and now her blogs. Woeser did what many of us writers do, she started a blog to get her writing out there and for that she has been censored. It’s not right!
(more…)


Rose DesRochers

India - Information Technology Pulse: India Blogspot Blogs Blocked

India - Information Technology Pulse: India Blogspot Blogs Blocked

India bans access to blogs

Rose DesRochers: My French Name is

Your French Name is:

Alavda Chretien

What's Your French Name?

Kyle MacDonald: one red paperclip

On July 12, 2005 Canadian Blogger Kyle MacDonald set out to get a house with one red paper clip. He had hope to trade his paperclip up step by step until he got a house. Red More

Visit Kyle MacDonald's one red paperclip.

Rev. David B. Smith - copyright infringement

Rev. David B. Smith of Fighting Fathers Ministries is infringing upon the rights of several authors on his martial arts website. Rev. David B. Smith is modifying the articles, which he obtains from article directories. Read More

NameCritic: Pankaj Saini

NameCritic: Pankaj Saini

Pankaj Saini: Black-Hat SEO: Keyword Splogging

EzineArticle Author Pankaj Saini was infringing upon the copyright of several authors by scraping their content for his teen porn website. Read More

itisi: Pankaj Saini Uses Information from a Missing Childrens Site to Promote Porn#comments

itisi: Pankaj Saini Uses Information from a Missing Childrens Site to Promote Porn#comments

Things That Just Piss Me Off: Pankaj Saini

Things That Just Piss Me Off: Pankaj Saini

More info at Ezinearticles Author Pankaj Saini uses Missing Children Website to promote Teen Porn

Rose DesRochers

An ounce of prevention: Sex, lies and videotapes

An ounce of prevention: Sex, lies and videotapes

Desperate Times Call For Desperate Measures

Click here to see a handsome hunk and a bikini babe

Rose DesRochers

Rose DesRochers Thinks Blog Readership has declined

I hope that I haven't lost a lot of my readers as a result of my recent move from Blogger to Wordpress. I see that a few of you are still commenting here at Blogger. I ask you to please reply to my posts at my new blog instead. I'm only one click away. Come on! You can do it. You know that you want to click here.

Rose DesRochers

Rose DesRochers is Moving to WordPress

Rose DesRochers- Ramblings of a Mad Writer is moving to WordPress. In the past couple of weeks, I’ve been contemplating moving to my own domain todays-woman.net. I think it's now time to start the migration to WordPress. Expect a change to my blog as soon as things slow down in my life. Please update your blogroll, so that it links to Rose DesRochers- http://rosedesrochers.todays-woman.net , instead of Rose DesRochers- Ramblings of a Mad Writer. Also, please don't forget to update your bookmarks and I'll see you at my new blog. - Rose DesRochers

Some Interesting Facts- Blogs- Technorati - Optimizing Your Blog

According to David Sifry , Technorati is tracking nearly 27 million blogs and there are about 75,000 new blogs launched every day. Isn't that some competition? Lee Odden shares some great tips on optimizing your blog. Be sure to read his informative article.

Rose DesRochers

Tags:Blogs, Technorati, Blog

Just Stamp Sucker to my Forehead - Publish America

I had a book published by a print-on-demand and-based vanity publisher who identifies themselves as a "traditional" publisher.” There were many complaints about the company that I ignored.

My dream was to publish a book and the company preyed on those hopes and dreams.


The publishing company cheated me out of rightful royalties that I was owed. My first royalty cheque from them wasn’t even enough to buy a bag of milk.


I have finally been released from my contract and all rights to my book have been returned to me. I’m one of the lucky ones, as many authors still waiting to be released from their contracts would give anything to be in my shoes.



I take full responsibility for my actions. I should have listened to those who warned me not to go down this road. But, I chose to ignore author’s warnings and publish my book with them anyway.

It was quite the blow to be hit with the reality that I too had fallen victim.

Many authors believed that their dreams were being fulfilled, only to have those dreams crushed by a dishonest publishing company that will publish anyone.

Though the company is to be blamed for misleading authors, I should have done my homework.


In the end, it is only I who can determine what I’ve lost. In this case, royalties owed to me, a year of time wasted and some of my dignity for being a sucker.

But, I've learned a lesson the hard way.

Each day brings us a new lesson in this circle of life and what doesn't kill us can only make us stronger.

I've learned that everyday I'm still learning.

Though I’ve fallen victim, I haven’t given up my dream. I’m continuing to write and I am now searching for another publisher for my book.



Rose DesRochers

Related Links: Making Books - Article by Paula Span from the Washington Post

Publish Anything: The Saga of a PublishAmerica Author.

The Associated Press Critics and supporters debate success of fast-rising PublishAmerica

NBC-TV (New York) Publishing On Demand Can Cause Problems

Aspiring Writers Trash PublishAmerica

Tags:Publisher, Publishing, Vanity Publishing, Pod Publishing

Spring Love

The first thing that comes to my mind when I look at this photo is "spring love is in the air." Stephen is an excellent photographer. Be sure to check out his blog, Morphological Confetti.

© Stephen Bess 2006

Rose DesRochers on Social Networking Sites like MySpace

MySpace.com has gained a lot of attention lately. I've blogged about them in previous posts here at Rose DesRochers- Ramblings of a Mad Writer. Though they’ve been the subject of talk, I think that we need to take a deeper look at some of the criminal cases involving other social networking websites. At “Window’s to my World- Rose DesRochers,” I blogged about the threat of networking sites like MySpace, Xanga, Facebook and Friendster. You can read the post
here. Please share your thoughts on this.

Rose DesRochers

Rose DesRochers Busy as Bees

I apologize for the lack of posts in the last couple of days. I've been busy with Today's Woman Writing Community and home life. My husband's much needed surgery has been scheduled, so we've been getting things done around the house before he goes in. I have a busy week ahead. Wednesday afternoon, I go for a chest x-ray and that evening, my husband, daughter and I are going to see my son perform in his school's musical perfoamce of Honk, the hilarious new musical based on Hans Christian Anderson's classic story 'The Ugly Duckling' . Thursday morning both my husband and I have to have blood work done. So, I apologize in advance, if my posts are far and few between.

I will get around to visiting everyone’s blog, when I have a moment.

Rose DesRochers

Prayers Needed

My dear friend Debra Faulconer Baker has spent her life always thinking about other people. She is truly a beautiful and remarkable woman. In October of 2004, Debra was faced with something that changed her life and it has made many of us at Today's Woman Writing Community, realize just how precious life is. Debra was diagnosed with cancer in 2004. Today, two years later, Debra is now bedridden and fighting for her life.

Please remember Debra and her family in your prayers.

Rose DesRochers

The Parent-Teen Relationship - Calgon Take Me Away

Where do you draw the line with teenagers? "Won’t you give him a chance? So what if he’s one year older?" "It's so unfair!”

All teens and their parents deal with issues like this. I recall the many arguments that I had with my father. I bet that he secretly prayed that I have a daughter as bad as me. I think his wish came true.


I have a daughter who will be sweet sixteen in a few months. My husband jokes that she’ll come normal when she is in her twenties, we hope anyway. We try to pick our battles wisely, the ones that we know we can win.



The biggest problem that we are battling is her dating habits. She doesn’t allow her heart to mend from one relationship before she is on to the next.


It just isn’t her. It’s that baby booming age group. In high school, dating has been replaced with random hookups that in turn result in meaningless relationships. She is unable to be independent. Her self esteem is pretty much null.

I've heard some individuals say that teens will follow in their parents footsteps. Well, I don’t believe it, as my husband and I are about to celebrate our 17th anniversary and we still act like newlyweds. We’ve had people say to us, I can’t believe you still hold hands.


We’ve told our daughter that her dating habits are not healthy and we’ve set down the age restriction rule and right now we’ve told her that it’s best she doesn’t date at all. Her past relationship wasn’t healthy and it reflected on grades in two of her classes. Thank goodness that one teacher is giving her the chance to pull up those grades.




Anyway, it just feels that everyday is an argument about something.


Don’t get me wrong, she’s a good kid. She doesn’t cut classes. She doesn’t drink or smoke, though she did try the smoking. She goes to church. She’s polite to her elders.
But, she sure tests her limits with us. I feel like I’m always counting to ten backwards.



I know that some parents avoid the conflict by giving in. They let their children make all the decisions. These teens have no guidance. They pretty much rule the house.

We’ve set standards with our daughter and we enforce the rules. We have expectations and they are not set to high.

I know that with any teen and parent relationship that there is bound to be conflict. It's normal for teens to try to test the rules. But sometimes I just want to scream, “Calgon, take me away!”




Now, my daughter will read this blog entry and say, “I’m driving Mom nuts, my plan is working.” She’ll be in a mental hospital by forty.”



Rose DesRochers


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Rose DesRochers on Accepting Critique Advice

You can please some of the people some of the time, but you can't please all of the people all of the time.




You write the way that you do and if people don't like it, let it run like water off a duck’s back.

As a writer you’ll soon be able to tell the difference from reviews that are helpful and those that are hurtful. There is nothing worst than reviews from the perfectionist who is so full of themself, that they nitpick every detail of something that you’ve written. To them your work is a mess and you have no talent.



But as the wise old saying goes, opinions are like assholes, and everyones got one. And if opinions are like assholes, in the Writing Community there are quite a few.




Remember, for every one person that dislikes your Writing, there will be two people who love your writing. In this line of work, like any, everyone wants to be a critique and the sad part is some of those critiquing are in no place to critique. Listen to those trying to be helpful and take the rest with a grain of salt.

Rose DesRochers

Tags: Writing , Writing Community

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Another Case of Spring Fever

I was reading a blog entry by Cathy and she was listing things that she wanted. One of the things on her list was for her boobs to disappear, so that she could feel pretty in a tank top. This reminded me of an exercise that we learned as young girls. It was supose to make our bust grow. It went something like this. We must, we must, we must increase our bust. The bigger the better, the tighter the sweater, the boys depend on us. I wonder if we reversed the chant, if it would have the opposite effect. We must, we must, we must decrease our bust. The smaller the better, the prettier we look in a sweater, it’s all up to us. If that doesn’t work, there is always surgery to decrease your bust size.

Rose DesRochers

Don't Quit Poem

If you've been on the internet for some time, like I have, you've most likely have run across an instance or two, where some individual is claiming to have written something that they didn’t write. Ah, plagiarism.

Today’s Woman Writing Community has received and continues to receive numerous emails from individuals with claims of authorship to the “Don't Quit Poem.”

Now, there also have been several claims of authorship made throughout the internet for this poem that is believed to be in the public domain. One individual even went as far as to register dontquitpoem[dot] com. That same individual also sent me a number of harassing abusive emails, after I wrote an article about the poem. One email told my husband and I to go kill ,because the world wouldn't miss scum like us and another email sent by the same individual, was an invitation to come to New York, where he would personally kick the crap out of us both.

In my opinion, this guy needs more than anger management classes. What do you think?

The poem is believed to be in the public domain. The “Don’t Quit Poem” can be found on the back of St Jude Holy Cards, like the one pictured here.











In my possession is a keyring, with the poem on it. I received the keyring as a gift when I was in my teens.









Some of the claims received are, Jeff Lief reports that the poem was written by his father Ben Lief in 1929, when he was 19 years old. Kelly Burke claims the poem was written by her mother. Joe David Harrison and Gerard Haughey both claim to have written the poem. Robert Ellis claims the poem was written by his grandmother, Betty Naimo Rich of Wakefield MA. Tommy Collins claims the poem was written by his father, Frank Collins while in hospital in Birmingham in 1952. George Munchinsky claims that Alice Enzie Zimmerman wrote the poem in 1948 at the age of 15.

What never ceases to amaze me is just how far some individuals will go to have a piece of the pie.

Despite the claims, this poem is still one of my favorites. It reminds me not to give up. Quitters never win and winners never quit.

Don't Quit!


When things go wrong as they sometimes will,
When the road you are trudging seems all uphill,
When the funds are low and the debts are high,
And you want to smile, but you have to sigh,

When care is pressing you down a bit,
Rest, if you must, but do not quit.
Life is queer with its twists and turns,
As everyone of us sometimes learns,
And many a failure turns about,
When he might have won had he stuck it out.

Don't give up though the pace seems slow -
You may succeed with another blow.
Success is failure turned inside out,
The silver tint of the clouds of doubt.

And you never can tell how close you are,
It may be near when it seems so far.
So stick to the fight when you're hardest hit -
It's when things seem worst that you must not quit.


- Anon


Rose DesRochers

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Technorati Tags: Plagiarism, Content Theft, Copyright Infringement

International Library of Photography

The International Library of Photography! Enter online to win cash prizes!


Thanks, but I’ll pass on that.

The Photography Contest that Hunts for Innocent Photographers

Today's Woman Writing Community has received, and continues to receive, numerous complaints regarding Circle of Photographs, a company that operates under many names including Arts and Kids, International Library of Photography, Circle of Photographers, picture.com, freephotocontest.com, photomuseum.com, and International Society of Photography, just to name a few.

Circle of Photographers states that their mission is to promote photography and photographers through technical workshops, improvisation cessions and contests. An independent panel of experts reviews photographs based on the following criteria: technical quality, composition, flow, texture and light. Amateurs and professionals compete for publication and for a prize of $5000. This is a free contest, open to all and based on merit.

However, a google search for International Library of Photography returns a message board with nearly 100 messages posted regarding consumer experiences with the company. It would appear that the folks of poetry.com (International Library of Poetry) are now preying on photographers in the same manner that they preyed on innocent poets.

Poetry.com has brought so much publicity that 20-20’s show did a documentary on them in 1998 , where a bunch of second graders submitted poems and poetry.com announced that they were all winners.

Now the International Library of Photography are using the same familiar tactics that they did with poetry.com.

It makes me wonder what is next for the company.

Rose DesRochers

Related links:

The Poetry Contest that Hunts for Innocent Writers
International Library of Poetry Contests
International Library of Photography thread, part 2
BetterPhoto.com Q&A: Trouble with International Library of Photography
International Library Of Photography- Today's Woman Writers Warnings




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Tags: Photography, Poetry

POD Publishing - The Slush Pile

Print on demand publishing is wonderful. If we look at the positive side of POD publishing, it is a service that makes it easy for anyone to write a book and have it published. If we look at the negative side of POD Publishing, there are a large number of poorly written books being published through such services as lulu- a print on demand publisher. It is unfortunate that so many books are making it to the slush pile. Sadly many POD publishers are in the business of solely making money. It is very unfortunate that so many poorly written and crafted books are being published. These books are giving all POD publishers a bad name.

It makes me wonder, what kind of impact will POD publishing have on the overall book industry in the next five to ten years.

Writing a book is no longer a big deal. Everyone is doing it. Someone once said that everyone has a book in them. My question is this. Can they write?

On a positive note, I’ve finally been released from my Publish America contract and all rights to my book have been returned to me. Here is to hoping that I have a better experience choosing a pod publisher the next time around. One thing I plan to do is hire a professional editor. Wish me luck!

Rose DesRochers

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Tags: Writing, book, POD Publishing, books

VibraPen - Reciprocal link exchanging

Todays-Woman.net has a page rank of 6. I constantly get reciprocal link requests. Last week, I received a link exchange request from a webmaster, who claimed that I would benefit from a link exchange with an adult novelty shop. She said that our sites were related. They are? How is adult novelty and writing related? Maybe she thought that some of our female writers would benefit from the “VibraPen- personal vibrator pen.” - Rose DesRochers

Richard Simmons on Who's Line

This is one of the most hilarious things that I've seen in a long time.

It is a segment from "ABC's Who's Line is it Anyway" featuring guest star Richard Simmons.

Rose DesRochers on Blogging - Gaining More Blog Readers

Throughout various blogging communities, a frequently asked question by all new bloggers is “how to I gain more traffic to my blog?”

1. Optimize your posts for search engines. Use your keywords in the title of your post.

2. Submit your blog to Dmoz, Yahoo Directory and blog directories.

3. Claim your blog at Technorati.com.


4. Ping the search engines and directories after you have updated your blog. Be sure to bookmark pingomatic.com, so that you can ping a number of services at once.

5. Post often. Not only will your visitors return; you’ll draw the search engine robots and spiders right in.

6. Write and submit articles to various ezine directories on the net. Include your link in your author byline. Like my example below.

About the Author

Rose DesRochers is a published poet and freelance writer. Rose has been writing poetry for more than 20 years. She is also the founder of http://www.todays-woman.net/ , a supportive online writing community for men and women over 18. She is also the Assistant Administrator of http://www.invision-graphics.com/. Rose DesRochers's blog : http://rosedesrochers.blogspot.com/


7. Use FeedBurner.com to publish your RSS.

8. Read and comment on other blogs - I spend a great amount of my time involving myself in the blogging community. I pop into a number of blogs and offer feedback and take time just getting to know my fellow bloggers. It’s both fun and rewarding. In doing so, I have managed to build a small readership and I’ve made some new wonderful friends.

9. Add a link to your blog in your email signature.

10. Add other bloggers links to your site. But, don’t beg other bloggers to link to you. If someone likes your content then they’ll link to you.

Have fun with your blog and don’t forget to use a counter to track your visitor stats. http://www.sitemeter.com/


Please feel free to add your own tips. I’m sure that there are many that I’ve missed.

Rose DesRochers

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Rose DesRochers Thoughts - Fair Use of Copyrighted News Materials

There is a great deal of confusion surrounding posting news articles on ones website or blog in there full entirety. Some consider it to be fair use. Posting the first paragraph, first few sentences, or a quote from the article is considered to be fair use. Posting the full article without permission from the source, is actually in fact a copyright violation. If you’re posting full articles , you may be opening yourself to a copyright infringement lawsuit. The chances of being sued are most likely pretty slim, by why take that risk. Respect copyright on the web. Link to the article, but don't reprint the article in it's full entirety without written permission.

Related reading: A California Court Shoots Down a Website’s Fair Use
10 big myths about copyright explained
Judge Rules Against Free Republic Web Site on Fair Use

Rose DesRochers

MySpace - Teens at Risk

Some parents use the internet as an electronic babysitter, while other parents are clueless to the dangers lurking on the internet.

Parent needs to realize that things happen, and it could very well happen to their child.

Educate yourself about safety on the internet.

In recent weeks, stories surrounding the popular networking site, "MySpace" have been the talk of many online blogs and news outlets .

In a press release, Connecticut Attorney General Richard Blumenthal called myspace "a parent’s worst nightmare."

I agree!

Quoting from an article by Susan Shultz.

In an interview with The Darien Times on Tuesday, Blumenthal said he was encouraged by the response of myspace.com executives. The executives initiated the meeting after Blumenthal issued a strongly worded press release on Feb. 2.“My office has received numerous complaints over the last month that minors can easily post and view inappropriate and sexually suggestive material on myspace.com, possibly in violation of state law,” Blumenthal’s statement said. He added that the site posts no warnings that pornography and adult content are present, and suggested that the site’s content could be criminal. Read More


In the latest news, surrounding MySpace:

Police Use 'MySpace' Site To Nab Rape And Robbery Suspects

Predators' Web expands, need for vigilance rises

Congressman Addresses Changes in MySpace for Minors' Safety

MySpace linked to Westford rape case

Connecticut Asks MySpace to Provide Blocking Software

MySpace Arrest: Woman Accused of Harboring Runaway

MySpace is a dangerous place.

Principal worries Web sites such as Myspace.com are dangerous

MySpace Shunned by Advertising Panel

Third man held in MySpace sex liaison


Authorities nationwide have expressed concern that MySpace places children at risk for abuse. Authorities say that many parents are clueless about their kids "MySpace profiles."


Furthermore, many kids know the safety rules, but they choose to ignore them, placing themselves at risk.


Parents need to ask questions and be more concerned about their children's online activity. The problem is now a days, teens are fearless. All to often teens look at warnings as "it won't happen to me."

A situation where teens think that they can gain popularity by networking with strangers has become a dangerous hobby.

Rose DesRochers


Tags: internet, news

You too Can be an Artist

Have you always dreamed of being an Artist, well now you can. Express yourself with the Art Pad, where you can create art as unique as you are. Here is my painting.


Thank you to Evergreen Links for this fun finding.

Rose DesRochers

Storynest -Site of the Day

Storynest is an impressive collection of poetic Flash and Director works and sketches. Among my favorites were Keats, Stream of Time, and The Loading of Time.

This website is worth exploring. There is a lot there, therefore I recommend that you spend some time surfing the pages.

Rose DesRochers

Pedophiles Trolling in MySpace Raise Alarm

I read a recent column by Stephen Dick , editor of The Herald Bulletin and as a parent just let me say that I'm appalled. Steven Dick comments that MySpace and such sites are good because they allow a free flow of information and conversation.

What the?

Finish reading my thoughts at Window to my World.

Please do share your thoughts.

Rose DesRochers

Poetry Community : The Good, the Bad and the Ugly

In the case of online writing communities, you have the good, the bad and the ugly. I would like to think of myself as one of the good gals, a positive asset to writers if you would.


My Hard Work Has Paid Off

It seems that some of my hard work has paid off. It has been a long road. I have worked hard and put in many long hours at todays-woman.net and I am grateful to have the support and friendship of other individuals in the writing industry.

Results from user feedback like the review left by L. Jody Kuchar makes administrating Today's Woman Writing Community all the more worthwile.

Thank you Jody and I wish you great success with your writing endeavors.

L. Jody Kuchar wrote:


As in all of life, eLife (web based work) has its good and its bad. Recently I have had the pleasure of meeting the good through the website Todays-Woman.net and Rose DesRochers. Under no obligation to assist, Ms. DesRochers assisted myself and a number of other author/poets in 'outing' some of the bad; a plagiarist with pathological tendencies. I stumbled across Todays-Woman.net by chance while researching an out of business print publisher of poetry anthologies. Over the course of most of a week, Rose DesRochers facilitated the research of locating places where the 'poem thief' was posting stolen works. She was also instrumental in providing pivotal copyright information to myself and many others who found their words with the plagiarist's own copyright attached to them. Ms. DesRochers has also given expert and constructive advice to this novice ePublisher, for which I can not express how helpful this information has been and will no doubt be in the future. I highly recommend all writers, and possibly visual artists to explore Todays-Woman.net and join the community. Collaboration in any format is a beautiful thing, and Todays-Women.net collaborates in an administrative way that is simply unavailable except to perhaps, those willing to pay for university coursework.

Rose DesRochers

Paris Hilton - Real Beauty?

Beauty is in the Eye of the Beholder

I feel old. I don't know why. Maybe it’s because when I look in the mirror, I no longer see an attractive young woman looking back at me.

Maybe I'm being melodramatic, but its media’s image of the female body that has made me feel insecure. In today’s society plus size and full figured women are constantly classified as unattractive. Media idea of "beauty" is Paris Hilton and Carmen Electra.

The increasing pressure for women to be slim is sickening. According to marketing executives, "physically attractive" and "sexually desirable" means anything below a size five. Ok, maybe I'm exaggerating a bit, but still, it is a real disappointment when women start judging their own appearance by the media’s standards of beauty. I already know what you're thinking.

"Rose, looks aren't important; it's what's on the inside that counts."

Well, tell that to media whose definition of beauty is based only on physical appearance.

"Beauty is in the eye of the beholder, Rose.”

I don't believe it.

So tell me, what it means to be attractive, desirable, and sexy, and the long list of other words that are attached to media's definition of beautiful.

What is Beautiful?

I would like to hear men’s perspective on this, as well as the ladies.

Where does beauty lie? It lies within the heart.

Tell that to the world.

Now is your chance to speak out against media’s image of women. What are your thoughts?

Rose DesRochers

What's For Dinner?

My dear daughter put that plastic fork down and step away from the stove.

Tonight for dinner, my 15 ½ year old made home made spaghetti. It would have been delicious had she drained all the water off the noodles. She also overcooked the green peppers. With that said, please pass the TUMS®.

I'm so glad to see those cooking classes at school are really paying off.

Envy and Jealousy: Big Ugly Monsters

Cute picture isn't it? But, there is nothing cute about Jealousy.


Holding anger is a poison. It eats you from inside. We think that hating is a weapon that attacks the person who harmed us. But hatred is a curved blade. And the harms we do, we do to ourselves. - Mitch Albom, "The Five People You Meet in Heaven"

I am sitting under the clouds of darkness, yet the sun is shining.

Why must society be made up of such hatred, jealousy, and dislike.

Though I hate to admit it, I’ve been jealous at one time or another. We all have!

However, I've never allowed my envy to turn to hatred.

Some individuals really do take the jealous thing to the utmost extremes.

I’ve seen first hand, how jealousy can develop into hateful malicious acts, abusive behavior, and false rumors.

It’s been an extremely eye-opening experience for me to see just how ugly jealousy can become.

People like this certainly don’t impress me.

Isn't it funny though that the ones who dislike you the most , spend every free moment of each waking day, talking about you. If they hated you so much, why is it that they create so much attention towards you.

You would think that they would avoid you at all cost. But, they can't and they won't. They actually think that they are getting to you. When the truth is that you are likely getting to them, more than they would like to admit.

If you weren't getting to them, then why can't they move on with their lives.

I guess some people feel the need for this unhealthy behavior because it makes them feel bigger. I guess when your life is that meaningless, you need something to fill the void.


It is a matter of jealousy and controlling really. Maybe they need someone to blame for their problems.

When you have what it takes to succeed in life and they don't, it creates jealousy. When they learn that they can't control you, it creates anger. When jealousy turns to hatred, it creates an individual who would like nothing better than to see you fail. This person will then stop at nothing to bring you down.

Further thoughts at Rose DesRochers- Web Columnist


Rose DesRochers

Brain Test: Find the Man in the Coffee Beans

You’ve seen this image before, no doubt. It’s been circulating around the internet for a while now.

Can you find the man?














Doctors have concluded that if you find the man in the coffee beans in 3 seconds, your right half of your brain is better developed than most people. If you find the man between 3 seconds and 1 minute, your right half of the brain is developed normally. If you find the man between 1 minute and 3 minutes, then the right half of your brain is functioning slowly and you need to eat more protein. If you have not found the man after 3 minutes, the advice is to look for more of this type of exercise to make that part of the brain stronger!!! And, yes, the man is really there!!!

According to truthorfiction.com, they’ve not found the origin of the picture or any documentation that it is a reliable test for "brain development."

I checked snopes.com, but couldn't find anything about this. Maybe, I missed it. If you find anything at snopes about this , do let me know.

Nonetheless, I still found this interesting. It took me a little over three seconds to find the man.


Thank you Penny for the forward.

Rose DesRochers

In Memory of Terri Schiavo

Blogburst in Memory of Terri Schiavo

Topics: Remembering Terri

On March 31, 2005, Terri Schindler Schiavo died of marked dehydration following more than 13 days without nutrition or hydration under the order of Circuit Court Judge, George W. Greer of the Pinellas-Pasco’s Sixth Judicial Court. Terri was 41.

It was nearly one year ago that Terri Schiavo’s feeding tube was removed for the purpose of ending her life. Nearly one year ago her legal guardian obtained a court order in public view to purposefully bring about her death by withholding the most basic of necessities. Yes, nearly one year ago Terri began 13 days without food or water.

We invite you to join us for a Blogburst in remembrance of Terri Schiavo beginning March 18th (or earlier). Over the 13 days we are asking our friends to write about Terri's life and death, link to her family's foundation (Terrisfight.org) and affirm the intrinsic dignity of human life.

---

My Comments: Helplessly, the entire country watched this heart-wrenching, devastating story, which I feel received too much media coverage. Today, my heart and prayers go out to the Schindler family. It is hard to make an end-of-life decision for the ones that we love. However, I do believe that Terri is in a better place now. May she rest in peace and may God be with her parents as they greive the loss of their daughter.


Rose DesRochers

The Good Die Young - Poetry Shortens Life

"A poet is someone who is astonished by everything."-- Anonymous


It is said that poets die younger than any other artist. In 2003, a study appearing in a November issue of Death Studies found that poets died younger than novelists, playwriters and nonfiction writers. The study was performed by James C. Kaufman a PhD of California State University. Kaufman believes that poets die younger because they are more likely to suffer from mental illness, such as depression. The study showed that Non-fiction writers lived 67.9 years, novelists lived 66.0 years and playwrights 63.4 years, while poets averaged only 62.2 years.

Personally, I don’t think that poetry shortens one life’s span. I do believe that poetry reflects a deep emotion. Most poets that I have met have some sort of rooted pain that comes out in their writing. Furthermore, poets are able to empathize with others pain; therefore we are able to take that pain and turn it into poetry.

Maybe as poets, we feel too much.

I hope to live until I'm 70.

Though the study might show that poets die younger than any other type of writer, I’m certainly not going to start worrying.

Nonetheless, I found Mr. Kaufman’s research interesting.

Rose DesRochers

Free Blog Header Graphics

Enhance Your Blog With a New Header

Invision-graphics.com has just uploaded a bunch of blog headers and will be adding four or five new ones a week. The blog headers are free for personal and not commercial use. If you decide to use any of the blog headers provided by invision-graphics.com, you must link back to invision-graphics.com. If you can't find what you're looking for, please let us know.

Rose DesRochers

Blog Addiction - Missing Blogger?

I apologize for the decline in the number of posts over the last few days. I had become physically ill and spent a good part of one day kneeling before the porcelain God. Yesterday, I had to gather myself together as we celebrated the end of March break with a trip to the arena. My children had such a good time that they skipped Sunday school today, so that they could go skating again. I think that God will forgive them. After all, it doesn't matter where you pray, all that matters is that you live your life as God attended. With that said, I survived March break, I definitely feel better, and I’m back blogging.

Rose DesRochers

Poetry as Art Form

Thoughts and Opinions on Poetry from a Mad Writer

" Painting is silent poetry, and poetry is painting with the gift of speech."-- Simonides

Poets use a pen in the same way that artists use a brush. A poet starts with a blank canvas and unto it he/she paints a masterpiece with words. Since beauty is in the eye of the beholder, readers of poetry will have a difference of opinion as to what they consider to be works of art. Personally speaking, I admire the work of all poets.

Rose DesRochers

Kudos to Moderators

Administrating a website can be a full time job. Sometimes things just slip through the cracks and it is those small things that pose the biggest problems. I’m the founder and administrator of a writing community that has 800 + members. In addition to administrating Today’s Woman, I’m co-administrator at invision-graphics.com and forum moderator at isnare.com.

Often times when you have a community as large as Today’s Woman, you need help running it. That’s where moderators come in. In the most successful of communities moderators play a very important roll. Moderators are a great asset. They enforce rules when administration isn’t around and keep the community running smooth. No one wants to join a community where chaos is taking place.

Today’s Woman’s staff is made up of three administrators and four moderators.

One of my moderators “cparker” is a respectful young man, who is a born leader. He constantly keeps conversation moving smoothly in the forums, he goes that extra mile to assist others members, and is a frequent visitor to the website.

Recently Cparker alerted me about a member that had signed up at Today’s Woman. In this user’s profile was a link to a very disturbing website. Somehow I had missed this. However, cparker spotted this and reported it to me immediately.

Communities could only exist through the help of dedicated moderators like cparker.

Moderators deserve some credit and a round of applause. If you are the member of a community, please take some time today and thank a moderator. They are volunteering their time and deserve some kudos.

I just want to thank all the staff of Today’s Woman. It is your hard work and dedication that has made our community a success.

Rose DesRochers

Self-Publishing and the Desire to be a Published Author

Trust Me, I'm a traditional publisher.


The word "publish" is defined as "put into print." Furthermore, publishing is the activity of putting information into the public arena.

The word "Author" is defined as the writer of a book or article.

What is your definition of published author?

Since when does being published only refer to books?

I'm rambling; I'll cut right to the chase. I recently read a comment on an unmentionable blog that has sent me on a researching frenzy.

Are you interested in finding out what my research revealed?

Then, read more!

Rose DesRochers

Don't Kiss Me, I'm Not Irish - Happy St. Patrick's Day

Don't Kiss Me, I'm Not Irish. But, I would just like to wish my readership a very Happy St. Patrick's Day.

"May you always walk in sunshine. May you never want for more. May Irish angels rest their wings right beside your door." - Irish Blessing

Brought to you by Today's Woman Famous Quotes , which are available in RSS format. Syndicate our daily quotes on Bloglines, My Yahoo, Blogrolling and Google .

Rose DesRochers

Growing Concern Over MySpace and Cyber Predators

At “Window to my World,” I blogged about the dangers of predators and the growing concern over network sites like myspace. I invite you to check it out. Read More

Rose DesRochers

I'm a Loser Magnet

I have come to the conclusion that I’m a loser magnet. No, I'm not the loser. I just attract losers, like a magnet.


Last Sunday, I received an article submission typed in all caps. I sent the author of the article an email asking why he had submitted it that way. I then received an email from him that was both rude and vulgar. That wasn’t even the worst of it. He then sent me an email asking if I cyber. Wow the nerve of some people.


Rose DesRochers

Woman Sells Ad Rights to Pregnancy on eBay.

There certainly are some bizarre and humorous auction appearing on Ebay.



Francis, 21, auctioned off the advertising rights to her pregnancy on eBay. The winning bid of $1,000 went to a California Internet company, giving it exclusive rights to temporarily tattoo its brand-name on Francis's belly and broadcast the birth of her daughter live on the Internet. Read More

Rose DesRochers

Weird Wacky News - Protesters Assault Officials With Manure

And now for your weird and wacky news

Two masked protesters disrupted an informational meeting Saturday at City Hall and attacked two state agriculture officials with cow manure. No one was seriously injured, and the pair of assailants escaped. Read More

Well, isn't that just crappy?


Pardon my language!

Quote: Before you get hit with a bucket of shit, be sure to close your eyes.

Protecting Your Child - Say No to Children's Pictures on the Web

Let me just repost an old post of mine.



According to the "National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children," more than 20,000 images of child pornography are posted on the Internet every week.

Demand for pornographic images of babies and toddlers on the Internet is soaring. More babies and toddlers are appearing on the net and the abuse is getting worse. It is more torturous and sadistic than it was before. The typical age of children is between six and 12, but the profile is getting younger.-- Prof. Max Taylor, Combating Paedophile Information Networks in Europe


The U.S. Customs Service estimates that there are more than 100,000 Web sites offering child pornography - which is illegal worldwide. -Red Herring Magazine, 1/18/02

I don't consider myself paranoid, but I don't post my children's pictures on the internet and you shouldn't either.

We all have cute children and are proud of them. But parents, please use some common sense and consider what could happen. Keep your child safe and out of the arms of child predators.


Please take a moment to visit these websites.

Say no to children's pictures on the web

Stop child molestation- one woman's personal story

If you must show off those photos, please consider placing them in a protected area on your website.


Rose DesRochers

New Blog Directory

Two weeks ago we added a blog directory to Todays-Woman.net. By submitting your blog to Todays-Woman.net, you will have the opportunity to gain more exposure and increase your blog's traffic. All submissions will be reviewed by staff. You can submit your Blog by contacting me through our feedback form. Please feel free to add a post to your online diary, journal, or weblog and let other bloggers know about this new service.

Rose DesRochers

Accepting Criticism - Part of the Writing Process

People ask for criticism, but they only want praise. - W. Somerset Maugham - English dramatist & novelist (1874 - 1965) – More Quotes like this at Today's Woman Writing Community - Your one stop source for Famous Quotes.

I’m new to freelance writing and have found it to be a learning process, like any writing. I’ve also learned that an unprofessional poorly-written essay or article reflects badly on the writer.

"Being a writer" is about receiving rejection. Unfortunately, many writers are unable to accept criticism or rejection. Most of us take criticism or rejection very personally. Critique is a process. Through it we are able to identify both our strengths and weaknesses. If you are able to accept criticism, you’ll be able to get your writing to the quality that is required for publication.

It isn’t always easy to catch the mistakes that you’ve made in your own work. If you have someone that can review your writing and point out your mistakes, I recommend doing so.

A well written article makes all the difference in the world.

Don't take criticism personally. Look it as a way to improve your writing. Support and encouragement along with criticism has made me a better writer.

Mary Bucholtz, has written an excellent article on her personal experiences as an author and her professional roles as a journal editor and book series editor, with a special focus on common mistakes of first-time authors. I highly recommend reading this informative article. Read article

Rose DesRochers

MySpace Prank Results in Sex Crime Arrest

FONTANA, Calif. - A group of boys who posed as a 15-year-old girl for an Internet prank ended up helping police arrest a 48-year-old man who tried to meet the fictitious teenager for sex, authorities said. Read More

This is just another sad example of what can happen at sites like myspace. It is more the reason why parents need to moniter what their kids are doing online.

Rose DesRochers

Googletestad -What It's All About

The term "googletestad" appears to be popular in both searches and results. According to Wikipedia, Googletestad appears to stand for Google's Test Ad, which is used for live testing of their AdWords and AdSense pay-per-click (PPC) advertising system.

In my opinion, this is an unusual keyword. But surprisingly and strangely enough, according to the WordTracker keywords report for Tuesday, February 28, 2006 googletestad resulted in 1980 searches. When using Overture's free online Keyword Research Tool, the phrase googletestad had 19567 searches done in January. Some internet users believe that googletestad might be an automated software that helps you improve your ranking for some keywords. But according to agoogletestad.info the software does not exist. No one knows for certain how the term googletestad become so popular, but the truth is oddly enough googletestad is a very popular keyword on search engines. I guess for now Googletestad will remain just one of those bizarre and unsolved mysteries.

Rose DesRochers