I signed up with Text-Link-Ads a while back and never got around to utilizing their services. I’ve always heard good reviews about Text-Link-Ads and never have I really seen a bad one. My only real apprehension towards their service would be the fact that Google’s Matt Cutts recently made comments on Google taking action against sites using paid links. Now I think it would be hard for them to combat this, but that’s another topic for another time. For now I’ll stay on topic with TLA.

So I was planning on using a small package that would consist of right at $125 in paid links for the month, so that I could use their “Starter Kit” coupon code to get $100 off (you must spend $125 in order to use the $100 coupon). After browsing through the sites they have available and coming to the conclusion that many of the sites that are available have stats and pricing that do not quite match up to my research on those sites, I decided to go with a customized proposal from a Text-Link-Ads representative. It only took about two hours for them to respond with my custom proposal. They even gave me a lifetime 15% off discount on any of the sites that were chosen in my custom proposal.

That being said, I signed up and now have four different sites linking to me. This is only day two of having my links live on these other sites, so I do not really have much in the way of statistics to report. However, at the end of the 30 day period, I will be evaluating the traffic sent to me and whether or not I want to continue paying for these links. I will report back here with the results once I have more statistics to provide. If you would like to stay updated, please subscribe to this blog using your email address in the right side column.

How many of my readers use Text-Link-Ads? What are your feelings towards their service and do you find it valuable?

On Wednesday, May 30th, 2007, Microsoft debuted its newest creation, Microsoft Surface, at a technology conference in Carlsbad, California. The unit is truly one of a kind, and as seen in the youtube video below, could help take the implementation of computers in our society to a new level. Surface is basically a Windows Vista computer built into an acrylic table with a 30-inch Touch Screen as the table top.

The unit uses a combination of cameras and its touchscreen to interact with surrounding objects. You can use your fingers or drag things such as paint brushes on it to interact with it and possibly draw or paint a picture. It will have the ability to react with not technological items, as long as they have some way of interacting, such as a barcode.

In the video below you will see two friends exchange songs with each other by simply placing their Microsoft Zunes on the table. They then use their fingers on the touchscreen to drag and drop songs back and forth between the Surface and the Zunes.

In another scene, a friend sits her camera on the Surface and it retrieves the pictures instantly. The woman then drags her photos around, arranging them, before beginning to place them into her friend’s cellphone, which has just been placed on the Surface. My favorite possibility for the Surface is a scene showing two people in a restaurant, and they are doing everything from browsing the menu to making purchases. They then place their credit cards on the table and separate their own bill, while using a virtual “gauge” on their credit card to calculate the waiter’s tip. The possibilities seem endless. What do you think about the Microsoft Surface? Do you think the initial retail price of $5,000 - $10,000 will be too unattractive to buyers?