I mentioned in a previous post, how people who own cats annoy me, because they picture themselves as a kind of cat superhero. Coming to the rescue of their feline friends, where-ever the internet calls them. This latest gem comes from Darlene:

I desperately need to find someone to take 3 cats that have invaded my yard. While I have been feeding them, now that the warmer weather is here my Rottweiler has gotten wind of the cats and has broken thru my fence and ran away. Fortunately, thru a kind neighbor I was able to get my Rottie back, but I do have another neighbor that shoots stray dogs. So I cannot chance having my Rottweiler getting out of the fence again! Please, please help me!!! I will trap the cats (humanely) and get them wherever they can go to be cared for properly. One of them actually likes to be petted, so I'm sure if they are feral or not.

First, let me say I am unloading on Darlene, because she posted this comment in MY blog. I didn't seek her out. She came to me, like a Jehovah's witness, I gotta slam the door in her face. Her agenda annoys me. Darlene just has to say what she wants to say, and it doesn't matter that the Super Unit 5000 site isn't about feral cats, or cat issues, or cruelty to animals. I post about cats only occasionally, because I sell cat furniture. If she had any sense, call the local animal control agency. Or, I'm sure you're town has its own website, try the Pennysaver. Like, why post this random problem on my website? Are we supposed to guess what city she lives in? I like how she feeds the cats, and then can't figure out why those little rascals won't leave. Those darn cats huh? I bet she's the kind of girl to go topless, and wonder why people are staring. Jees, they're boobs, never seen boobs before? Anyway, her story is full of visuals, so let's see if we can make a comic out of it. [view image]

She tells a pretty good story. When you're reading it, you can picture the neighbor, dogs, fences... I could have draw dogs breaking through fences, or various ways she could trap cats. However, this is a story that would take up 2 or 3 pages. I limit myself to one page at the most, so I only have 9 panels to work with. I like the "Monacle Vision" myself, and the cat that looks like Hitler. Hitler is comedy gold my friend.

The irony, is while making this strip, I was taught a lesson also. I frequent the Comixpedia, a comic encyclopedia if you will, and noticed that there is a magazine. Every month they feature the cover of the magazine on the website. I thought they took open submissions for cover artwork. So I decided to make a cover for the magazine and have some good bragging rights. [view image]

I got an email a few days later, saying you must be invited to make a cover. There are no open submissions. Doh, lesson learned for me. What a total waste of effort that was... or was it? I wasn't taught a funny lesson, but no sense wasting the 20hrs of effort I put into a new character, and strip that would never be used right? I started thinking of different things to do with the Yambo character. Aside from an obvious "Lesson Learned" series of strips, one thing I might try, is "fan art". Many websites feature comics by other artists that are parodies or tributes to the original artist.

As an experiment, I'll see how many times I can recycle this comic as "fan art" or "guest strips" on other websites. This isn't a shortcut to making a comic, because it still take research into another artists characters that I'll have to draw. But I wonder what the response will be to unsolicited submissions? Fan art seems to have loose guidelines when it comes to characters and settings. But a guest strip, it seems to be important that characters and storylines are represented as faithfully as possible. But, I am curious to see what responses I get. How interchangeable are the comics we make? Here is an example I made for Sock'd.

I don't think Chris Kirk would mind me taking some liberty with the characters. But I took the time to size the comic specifically for the Sock'd site. All Chris has to do, is slap a title in the upper left. I didn't do this ahead of time, because I don't know what font he uses, and he'd probably want them all to match up.

Recycling fan art seems to break some unwritten rule of comcis. That anything you submit is supposed to be exclusive... But can anyone honestly answer why that is? Why should I take the time to draw anything as a tribute to your comic? I'm busy working for free on my own stuff. It still took 3hrs to make the fan art for Sock'd, even thought the idea isn't original. In fact, the Lesson Learned is a lot like Jeff Foxworthy's comedy routine "Here's your sign". So I'm not coming up with a terribly original idea to begin with. And panel 5, that is a screenshot of a Might and Magic landscape. So, I don't see why fan art has to be an exclusive comic strip.

I used to have a fan art gallery, but I don't know what happened to it. So, I'm starting a new one. The twist, is that this gallery is a gallery of one comics, done by me, in the style of someone else. At least if my art is rejected in the future, I'll have a place to put it, and that is a lesson learned.

Sooner or later, it has to happen - a true 'weedless' hook and lure!! I mean, I want one so weedless that I can carry a crank plug with two treble hooks on it around in my pocket without fear. As you'd imagine, people would say that is just wishful thinkin right there. BUT, I DO have a crank plug like that right now. And, I DO carry it and all its hooks around in my pocket just to show non-believers. Let's take a look-see at the photo and you can see the basic concept. [view image]

They took the concept of a simple tight spring, worked out a way to mount it to the hook and-- hocus-pocus-a weed guard that really does work pretty well. Anglers have been experimenting since time immemorial, trying to contrive a combination of hook and some type of guard that would keep them from becoming snagged. Plus, the device would have to allow the fish to become easily hooked, as if there were no hook protector present at all. We have all seen them come and go, with the styles involving nylon bristles and fine spring wire being the primary survivors.

Well, our friendly mailman brought us a sample of yet another try at snag-proof immortality this week. Via email, we had agreed to evaluate the devices and I am glad we did. This hook protection system really shows promise. Plus, there is a really innovative design.

In the final analysis, the 'Guard Hook' and the 'Guard Jig' devices work as well as any of the current models I have tried, possibly better. Plus, they allow hook point protection and reduce tangling. On the 'Guard Jig' side, the innovative design of the removable/installable guard arm spring is really a great benefit for tube jig users.

I'm supposed to be talking about cats today, but see, here's the thing. I've been doing some research into topics to talk about, and I'm so annoyed with "cat people" that it's difficult to muster the strength to even type this. What I find most annoying, is how they talk as if THEY are the cat, speaking for the person. "My owner loves me, and tickles me... hehehe" It's sickening really. I'm convinced that cat people are either crippled alcoholics, desperate to talk to ANYONE who will listen, or they're 10yr olds.

This poses somewhat of a dilemma for me. It is these very people that I depend on to buy my furniture. However, I cringe when I have to talk to them, or read their emails about what Mr. Wiggles did today. But the worst is when a feline friend passes into the great beyond. Gosh almighty, the eulogy of a cat is something I hadn't considered someone would actually take the time to write. I'm not faulting someone for loving their cat. What I don't understand, is why send these manifestos to a complete stranger... Why send them to me?

I think my problem, is I may have suggested to one person, that the best way to clean a cat, is with a fire hose. That was a joke, but it does make sense in a way. Have you ever tried to give a cat a bath? Well, the best way would be with a fire hose if you want to know. I guess that funny advice, just doesn't seem to register with crazy people, and they seriously think I use a fire hose on cats. Good grief, I can see you over the internet. You're mad at me now for making fun of you. You're plotting, making lists, and waiting. Well, I have it on good authority that cats do not make good snipers.

I'm speaking to those people that dress their cats in Halloween costumes and give them Christmas presents. I find putting clothing on cats both ridiculous and disturbing; ridiculous due to the concept of costumed animals, and disturbing because who has that much time on their hands, to design pet costumes?

Totally amazing observations about real life, are seeminly pedestrian events, that have amazing stories behind them. I think I saw the Virgin Mary in my pepperoni. But, I was so hungry I ate her anyway. I figured, I'd just ask God to forgive me {cymbal crash}. I've seen the movie Oh God, and he was in the park picking up trash, so why not a Jesus Pizza? I've heard, that after retirement, most people start a second career. Is it so blastphemous to suggest Jesus might enjoy a pie?

Since my interview a few days ago, I've gotten more email questions about webcomics and money. So, I will expand on what I said in the interview:
------------------------------------------------------

The two most important "things" that will make a successful webcomic, are having a comic worth reading, and consistency. These two things build off each other. If you don't have one, you don't have the other. If you don't have a comic worth reading, promoting it will be much harder, because you won't have the word-of-mouth boost. Consistency is much harder than making a good comic. The only way to measure consistency is calendar time, and most people just don't have the stamina for years of effort. Therefore:

Success = Consistency + Quality

The reader of your comic, probably doesn't care about why the comic is made, or how much it cost to do so. If you've never supported a comic in some way, by donating money, or clicking ads, why expect people to flock to your site and do it? So, anyone who wants to make money in webcomics, realize that the REAL money comes from someone who hires you to work on their stuff, and your own webcomic is training to get hired. The dictionary definition of succed means "to come next". So, to be a success means you have to do whatever is coming next. And this is all the more reason to promote your effort.

I kept track of the time it took to draw comics between January 1st 2006 -> 4/15/2006. If someone had hired me to develop content for them during that time period, It would have cost them roughly $36,000 to hire me. [more info on what was involved.]

Sample Math:
So, I was asked about how much money you can make in comics. Look at the problem from another angle: How much would an average webcomic artist need to make per year? You need to honestly calculate how many hours you spend on webcomic production. Then pay yourself an annual salary, of $10-100 for an hourly rate.

Creating webcomics is skilled labor. That should pay at least $25/hour. If you work 40 hours a week, (and be honest -- don't count reading comics and surfing the forums) then you'd earn:

* $ 50,000 a year @ 40 hours x 50 weeks x 25 dollars.
* $100,000 a year @ 40 hours x 50 weeks x 50 dollars.

I spend 6-9 hours a week on webcomic production. But like most freelancers, you won't get 40 hours x 50 weeks of work. You'll spend lots of time on promotion, business, lost effort, idleness, etc. I charge $150/hour because I do productive, billable work only a fraction of my total time.

Advertising:
In my opinion, there is no excuse for not spending at least $10 a month into advertising your comic, even if it's a crappy comic. If you're not old enough to get high paying job, anyone with a bank account can make $10 on the web in an hour. In this post I proved this assertion, and verified through paypal it works. Throw $10 into advertising for 10 months, and get a boost in traffic without out of pocket expense for promoting your comic. You will get better results with small, consistent effort, than spending $100 in one month. It will take trial and error for each individual creator to see what works.

I've bought a print advertisement in DJ Coffmans Yirmumah #3 book, plus a sponsor banner on his site for a total of $110. I also bought a banner ad on BadBloodComics website for $2. It was totally worth it, and essentially "free" advertising, because I've made back the money I spent, with my own comic. Start small, and be consistent. Get to it people!!

The American Academy of Pediatrics estimates that children in the United States watch about four hours of television every day. They recommend that children under age 2 should not watch any and older children should watch no more than 2 hours a day of quality programming. They said the number of young kids watching TV is much greater than expected. [MSNBC]

What is quality programming? If you really want to break down what this article means to say: Ninety percent of everything on TV is crap to begin with. But this article states the kids are mostly watching DVDs and educational programs, so why would the recommend NOT watching these things? If you have kids, you know they watch these DVD's over and over again. If they've seen it once or twice, and never watched it again, that's attention deficit. I've seen my roommate's kids watch Finding Nemo, like fifteen times now. I haven't even seen Star Wars that many times.

What bothers me most about these "news" stories is that they report on inconclusive studies, and give the impression YOU are doing harm to children. Even though the experts have no idea what is going on.

A second study suggested ... We don't know from the study whether it is good or bad... We don't know that it is bad but we don't know that it is harmless...

Come back to me when you have an answer. If you want to know what is rotting kids brains, look no further than American Idol, or countless other shows like it. Sports figures are always portrayed as heroes. Should everyone focus so much on trying to be a professional sports player, or a Paris Hilton? I think many people confuse icons, celebrities and heroes because they have lost sight of what makes a hero different from icons and celebrities. If you don't know, It's all you're fault.

Kids who watched less than one hour of TV per day were twice as likely to go to college as those who watched three or more hours per day.

Holy leap of logic... Maybe they go to college because they actually have parents that don't work two full time jobs. Maybe one stays home and doesn't drop them off with baby-sitters. Or... really there are 100 different explanations how TV watching has no correlation to college. Obviously, the solution is to have a doctoral degree in TV watching. That way, turning into a couch potato is actually a celebrated achievement.

I'm not sure how new this is (the history of the Wikipedia article suggests it's pretty new), but Clickable Culture points to a beta release of IMVU, a 3D instant-messaging client. At first glance, I'm not sure whether this is a useful new tool, an unnecessary addition to IM or just a very limited version of immersive worlds like Second Life and There - what do you think?

Wikipedia: IMVU is a graphical instant messaging client that features animated interactive 3D avatarsRegistered members receive their own homepage, the code of which is built in similar fashion to typical Myspace homepages. According to Tony Walsh of Clickable Culture, the software for the IMVU standalone client, seems to operate as a layer on top of existing IM applications, such as MSN, and uses small browser windows for much of its interface. IMVU also has a credits-currency system which is partially based upon physical, real-world money; such serves as the basis for the economy which financially drives the IMVU project, which is currently in beta. First-time users are given 1000 credits (play-money) to buy additional content. More credits can be purchased for real-world money.

Anyone using this have an opinion? I'm not sure whether I really want to add this to my growing lineup of IM clients (Meebo is the latest find). The idea of an economy within an IM client is very intriguing. Throw in some revenue-sharing and user-generated content and you might be on to something. One of the annoyances of using someone else's PC is that you often don't have access to all the software that you have become accustomed, if not reliant on. This is even worse on machines in net cafes or work PCs that are restricted.

I was impressed by Meebo because I could log into meebo, and access all the instant messenger services. It's a cool little site that bulges with AJAX. You get a pretty reasonable IM client all within your web browser, without all the Flash and Java applet complications. It just works!

You can just specify the login details for the IM network(s) of choice and it logs in for you. If you wish, you can create a Meebo account, which saves all the IM details, and so you can login to your usual accounts with a single username. You can't do anything other that basic chatting, like web cams, file transfers, etc. But I don't do those things anyway.

Occasionally, I post job scams, and what to do about them. Hopefully, someone sees this, before they give away all their personal information. The latest scam, is TooSpoiled.com Where to report Spam & phishing complaints to the ISP and spam@uce.gov http://www.us-cert.gov/nav/report_phishing.html Report fraud & fraud attempts to your local police / FBI office, and online at Internet Crime Complaint Center http://www.ic3.gov/ . In any way always include a copy of the mail's full headers. ---------------------------------------------------------

Most likely you found this site, because you got an invitation that you weren't too sure about. Your gut feeling was correct. It is all a big scam.

The main con-artists behind it are named Ayman Ahmed el Difrawi (aka Alec Defrawy aka Alex Simon aka...) and his patsy Michael Fomkin, allegedly with Ralph Edward Bell and Cortes Randell on the background. They used to be together in a line of modeling scams from Emodel.com (BBB / press) up to Lou Pearlman's Wilhelmina Scouting Network WSN / Trans Continental Talent TCT (BBB) and Fashion Rock (BBB). Just use any search engine to dig up tons of well-documented dirt. Scamming and twisting the truth is all they know.

See the Better Business Bureau report about Impact 210 Worldwide aka TooSpoiled.

"Complaints report that the "job" is actually a commission sales position and many consumers do not get their paychecks." - "Based on BBB files, this business has an unsatisfactory record with the Bureau, because there is a pattern of complaints, and the business has not corrected the underlying reason for the complaints."

This deceptive Defrawy "business model" comes down to:
1 - cheating hopefull job-hunters into acting as very cheap or even free labour
2 - making them ignorantly spam and scam masses of hopefull consumers, to sell "opportunities" with less chances than entering a lottery.
4 - having them recruit new marketeers and recruiters
5 - have the system running fully automated and self-supporting.

Lead generation for the SPAM databases started early 2005, using an ever changing line of fictious company sites. Currently running: Instant Human Resources, USA Voice, Ask America, Good Grade Zone, Kasamba Careers

See the scammer's pathetic efforts to promote the (then still future) scam TooSpoiled, trolling with six aliases in one board topic, lol! But alas! SPAM still works. See Alexa.

Google Adwords, Monster, Careerbuilder and Employmentguide have banished Defrawy from being their customer. Yahoo Hotjobs recently removed all 1200 job ads.

Address on Impactww.com and Toospoiled.com is 447 Broadway, 4th Floor New York, NY 10013, but reportedly they moved out of this posh Soho office without previous notice, leaving the employees without their last 2 weeks pay. Then they operated from Brentwood TN (a Nashville suburb) for a while and did the same. Current whereabouts most likely one of Defrawy's Orlando offices, like the one on 2295 South Hiawassee Road, Suite 308, Orlando, Florida 32835 .

Don't let it be. Report to the authorities and ISP. Only massive complaints will work!

last updated 2006-11-05

I've been writing about job scams recently. Yes, the "get paid to...(GPT) offers can be scams. Anything can be a scam. Buying houses, cars... anything. But the offers DO pay, if you do it right. Don't try and make a living at doing them. That is where most people are going wrong. Shoot for weekly food money, or your electric bill. An extra 2-3k a year is totally worth it! Certainly more is possible. Here is how:

Don't answer the ones that randomly arrive in your email box. What you need is a place where all these offers are collected in one place, and tested. When they're all collected and tested, it very easy to find which ones to do, without having to figure out if they're scams, or if you'll get paid or not.

Step #1: Where To Go
The place I use that collects and tests the offers is called Tresure Trooper. It worked better than I expected, and I'm please with the customer service. So there is no reason for me to go elsewhere. There are a few other services like it, but I've not bothered to check them out. Maybe I will in the next few months, just because I've had a good experience with something I was totally convinced was a scam at first.

In this Treasure Trooper screenshot, you can see they're alphabetically organized, and it tells you generally what you must do to get paid. Do the offer, and when you see a "Thank you" type message, STOP right there! Many surveys will keep going, but you're then working for free. The payments will show up on Treasure Trooper in a few hours.

Step #2: Get An Email Account
The next thing you need is a specific mailing address just for these offers, because they will spam you like you've never thought possible. There is an offer on Treasure Trooper for "iwon" which gives you 50cents to create an email account. That should be the first offer you complete. It not only shows you how the process works, but you need a valid email you can access, because some offers want you to to confirm completion.

As you can see from the description, if you want more money, you have to give up more information. The higher value ones usually require a credit card, and probably want you to buy a trial period of something. Like, AOL Internet service for example. When you cancel this trial period, you get a refund, and the refund is usually twice what you paid to signed up for. One guy made $422 in a few hours. However, he planned it that way. Not for deception, but an experiment to see how much he could make in the shortest time period. So, be realistic starting out, and shoot for food money.... Actually, if anyone had a software program that reminded them what offers they're supposed to cancel, it would awesome! Wow, great idea, I should make one.

Do maybe 20 minutes of time a day. That way, it takes less time to complete, and it won't feel like monotonus work. I garuntee that if you try and do 50 offers a day, you will last one day! What you need is small consistent effort. Remember, they only pay out once a month, so it doesn't make sense to burst out of the gate, doing a shitload of work, and having to wait a whole month to get paid. Before long, it's the end of the money and a nice surprise that money arrives, which is more motivating.

Another interesting thing, is when you complete an offer at Treasure Trooper, they have a shell game where you can win a prize. It's three clams, and you have to guess which clam has the pearls. You're supposed to trade them in, but oddly, I don't want to part with my horde of pearls. What the heck is wrong with me, they're not even real pearls, damn that's weird.

Anyway, here's a previous posts about how to get started: (scroll halfway down this page)

I need to update this, since I've been paid a few times since then, but here is the older I got paid:

Oh, one more thing. When you get all these spam emails, only respond to the ones that need you to verify something. Don't even bother emptying this email box, unless it's full. They will flood this email address with other offers, but if you follow those offers, you WON'T get paid. They just want to try and get you to do more work, for free. That's why the Treasure Trooper system and others are nice, because you'll know EXACTLY what needs to be done, in order to get paid.

{NOTE: Slashdot doesn't allow me to post the pictures, so you'll have to goto my website} This is a size comparison of my old cat climber on the right, and the carpeted tubes I made on the left. The old unit is almost 6ft high. Side View. I guess If I placed the tube going along the wall, underneath the upright tubes, then it would be also 6ft tall. Laying down the tubes in interesting angles. Notice the "S" shape placed under one tube, which forms a little hiding place. Stood on end, the concrete tubes will hold 300lbs. A slightly different arrangement: The bottom 10inch tubes placed in a "V" shape, with a 12inch tube laying between them. This time, the "S" shape is used to prevent the bottom tube from rolling. Laying them down like this, I can almost sit on it with my full weight of 200lbs. I crushed a concrete tube trying this, but the good news, is that even if you crush the concrete tube, you can push it back into shape. So, they will take quite a bit of damage from children I guess.

This article is an analysis of comics typical on the web, and what is wrong with them. There is a great deal of information to be gained, by looking at amateur comics, and see what they're doing wrong. I want to know specific details about the cartoon I'm reading. The story, how long it took to draw, what is the situation based on in real life? It's boring to read why your dog ate the homework each week. http://blog.superunit5000.com/2006/12/17/comic-review-chronically-unoriginal/

Producing each unit, materials, shipping, isn't hard. But it is very time consuming and takes a whole day to make one. The most difficult part though, is trying to demonstrate this is the Lego version of cat furniture.

The US Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice has said she is unwilling to answer a US House of Representatives subpoena about Iraq's pre-war weapons. I don't see how she CAN'T and not expect public outrage. Maybe that is what she wants? As Secretary Of State, I believe she is required by law to abide by the subpoena. That's not to say that she doesn't have a point in that the house doesn't seem to be asking new questions, but rather, wants to put her on the stage for grandstanding purposes. Nevertheless, that doesn't mean that rice can ignore the subpoena so long as she's legally required to abide by it. This is not about justice or the truth, it's about politics. And politics is largely about perceptions. If they engender a perception of themselves among the public as being exempt from the same laws they demand we obey, they are doing actual harm to our nation's best interest. In a republic, we deserve confidence in our leaders. We are their employers. If we don't trust our employees, we should terminate their employment and get people we can trust.