Terence J. Grant

Hey folks,

Things are a little busy here– off and on– nothing major to report.

Still here, still kickin’. It’ll probably pick up soon, but I’m in no rush.

Well, for something completely different, I’ve begun adapting a minimalist approach to life, and came across http://mnmlist.com/, which has its own minimal wordpress theme as well.

Part of what it does though is remove comments, search, sidebar, and some other things– all of which I think I’d like to add back in.

So I’ll see about doing that this afternoon.

Update: So far, so good!

I twittered about it once, but for some reason a Google search doesn’t come up with it, so here it is:
Free Burger Phenomenon: An abundance of free burgers that start flying your way once you start a diet.

Probably happens with foods other than burgers, but there’s no substantial evidence of this.

Back in the late 90’s, I had published a piece of software on a small web site. The software was MacSlomo, which emulated some classic arcade machines and ran on the classic MacOS. The website was a friend’s brother’s real estate broker site, of which I was generously granted a small piece of.

I started to get hits, it was pretty cool. People were genuinely interested I take it, and although it wasn’t an incredibly popular project, it did have its share of devoted fans. (Yea!)

And it was about this time I thought, well what the heck, why not do that banner ad thing, see if I could make some extra scratch on the side.

I signed up for a service called “Burst Media” and after having them look over the site and the legality of things, having the proper notices and disclaimers and such, I was approved and away we went.

So it was about this time, I had been working for Rockwell on contract for a while, and had been cut to part time hours due to budget reallocation or something. Unfortunately, this had also cut my hours completely in half, and of course I was earning less too.

To my shock and surprise, I got my first check based on banner ad impressions/clicks. Hot diggity dog, it was only like $30, but man, this meant I could eat out at the local sub shop (M.A.S.H. Hoagies), and more encouragement for updating the software, putting more resources into active development. All of this, and I’m only getting a few hundred visitors a month.

So fast forward a bit, not quite at the present, but FireFox comes out, and it’s got add-ons, better than Netscape’s plugins, and the world is filled with um sunshine, rainbows, etc.

Ads had become somewhat worse, somewhat more annoying, and somewhat more dangerous and obtrusive.

Luckily with FireFox, we eventually get this great add-on called “AdBlock”, and suddenly, bam, ads are completely gone. All of ‘em, the flashing ones, the obtrusive ones, and the ugly ones.

Hell, I even participated in this movement. A few years ago I published my own AdBlock list based on my browing habits. The benefit it had at the time was that current regexp based filters were blocking non-ad based items, and mine was a little more specific and had better results overall in terms of blocking.

I always felt a little bad about this, partially because I’m of the opinion that advertisin isn’t necessary a bad thing; it can be an expression of art just as much as any other medium. Also, it appears to me to be the foundation on which good things can be funded, if said items aren’t funded directly by some force.

So fast forward to the near-present. I did some ad testing via Google Ads on my wiki site, and I couldn’t believe it. Close to 4000 hits per month and yet barely $3 a month. Impressions are paying nothing, and clicks are barely paying anything.

10 times the hits for 10% of the pay; none of it actually getting paid out based on how Google Adsense works.

What a shame.

I’m rolling out a new look today for Tate Mode Entertainment; it kind of reminds me of Hulu somewhat, and I think it’s got a bit of a kick visually compared to the last look. There’s a few tweaks here or there that I’d like to iron out, and more media I’ll be putting up soon. Stay tuned!

Let me tell you about the funnest game ever on the iPhone. I never hear anyone else talk about this game, so I thought I’d introduce you to it a little.

It’s called Star Trigon, and it’s just great.

It’s a game made by Taito / Namco, interestingly two companies known since the classic game console days. It looks like one too– select your character and level and you’re right into the game.

Each difficulty level has a different set of stages.

A level starts up and your character spins around the planet over and over. You have no control over this. What you do control though is jumping off the planet. One touch and you go flying. Don’t go out of bounds!

Somewhat surprisingly (maybe?) it feels like a console game as well, even with the touch screen interface. Your mission is to create triangles around the little yellow alien dudes to save them. If you’re not quick, the lines disappear and the planets (temporarily) explode. And if you’re really slow, you run out of oxygen, and it’s Game Over, man.

Scoring is largely based on time, so not a lot to think about; but look stoic as you do so.

Yeah, like that. Levels get harder of course. Yikes…

It’s easy to get the hang of it, and it’s really easy to get involved in a game, especially if you’re out and about, waiting for somebody. Oh I dunno, perhaps you’re waiting to pick someone up or something. Whatever. It kills time, so it’s all good.

Overall, it gives you a good feeling. Even the stoic guy is excited.

See? It’s so happy, maybe even the scared yellow dudes will cheer you on.

You should try it.

Health has been on my mind– well really on my mind… well REALLY with a capital r-e-a-l-l-y since about January when I started experiencing what I could only describe as a simultaneous burn-out and random feelings of sickness that would appear on and off.

So part of what I wanted to do this year, though I know it wasn’t going to be able to go full force until June or so, was to focus more on health and let the rest almost be damned. Life’s not worth living if you’re not alive, right?

And hell, I’ve done it before, I can do it again. And um, finally? (Wait am I doing a list here?) Ok, and finally, like anything else, just try and stop me.

Alright, so as it stands I’m in the middle of the midwest– perhaps unsurprisingly there’s not much to do around here, and other than housing developments and such, it’s pretty empty. On the plus side, this means it’s also nice and quiet, with no distractions. Not really wanting to commit to a gym just yet, so I decide I’ll just start walking.

I estimate this is about mid-June at this point; so I start walking the neighborhood and the neighboring housing development. Not to waste too much time, I just make it an hour walk; half hour there, half hour back.

After about the second day or so I measure the walk and I’m doing about 1.6 miles per day. After about the first week I can just about estimate where to stop and turn around and still maintain an hour walk.

To quell the boredom occasionally I kick a rock the entire way and back. It’s the challenge of it. By the third day of doing this I’m kicking it sideways in kind of a sliding step fashion. And ya think, “eh… this has to be a different muscle group or something, right?” Got bored of that too.

Someone says, “Wow, it must be interesting watching you from a window.” Sure, but that’s not the point.

Then I start walking on the curb in the housing development; the curb they have is very small and angled on one side so it’s as if you’re walking on a gymnastic balance beam; not nearly as intense or olympic, but a challenge in terms of figuring out how to balance at a stable pace, or even going faster than that. I’d say if you have the opportunity, you should try it.

Before I forget, one of the nice things about this particular housing development is that it’s small, self-contained (only two entrances), and only about 2/3rds complete. The empty part of the housing development is walled in by– literally– a corn field. That’s how we roll in the midwest.

Okay, so what do you do when you get bored of balance walking on a curb? How do you keep it interesting? Well, it hit me yesterday:

Why not do the whole route backwards?

Yep, so that’s what I did. I walked almost the entire 1.6 miles completely backwards. A couple surprises followed.

First thing I noticed was that my quads were burning; I guess this was really surprising because I don’t think you typically feel this on a standard walk. This is something you might expect from a squat or a press.

So at about the halfway through the walk I realized that I was burning up– sweating more than usual; like a raised metabolism or something– as if this were an intense aerobic workout. Not quite something you get from a standard walk; more like something you’d expect from something a little more complicated.

Okay, cool; so it’s a little more intense than a standard walk, it’s interesting, and somewhat challenging.

Someone might say, “Wow, it must be interesting watching you from a window.” Sure, but that’s not the point; it’s the challenge of it.

Well, I’ve thought about it for a few weeks now, and I’m somewhat proud to say that I’m out of the part-time bookselling biz as side gig.

I had about 33 books left (out of the original 150) that just weren’t selling, I kept a few, and gave the rest away to GoodWill.

What’s interesting is that I imagine that the books I have in my personal collection wouldn’t sell very well anyway, even though some I think have very useful and valid information. I’ll probably eventually list some of them on Amazon.com, but who knows, maybe they’ll just be giveaways or something.

And I don’t know about you, but I haven’t quite adapted to the Kindle/e-book lifestyle, so it looks like I may have to carry some books around with me anyway. I have an iPhone, so in theory I could do this, but quite honestly I don’t know if I could really do it in practice.

It’s convenient, sure, and I think what appeals to me about books is that I can flip through them fairly easily, and they don’t require electricity; besides, I understand that they don’t do PDFs anyway! How in the hell.

On the other hand, the convenience of carrying a library in your pocket or on a laptop is so tempting.

Argh, it’s just frustrating. I want to live out of a suitcase, dang it.

Now with that said, I do intend on completing the Amazon.com article series I started; but just keep in mind that I don’t have my own book warehouse anymore.

Can one survive simply on bargains?

In this season of the Japanese TV Game Show Denpa Shōnen, a woman named Funako Tsubaki is given the opportunity to win a trip to Tokyo DisneyLand by proving that bargain hunting for groceries really is cost effective.

Everyday Funako is given a stack of grocery bargain fliers, and must choose a random dinner recipe out of a box called “本日のメニュ” (literally “Today’s Menu.”) Given the items in the recipe, she must mark the best deal in the fliers, buy the items (enough for a family of four) at the marked price, come home, and cook the meal.

Sometimes there are three items to buy, sometimes four, and sometimes more. And the bargains are everywhere, at different shops, everyday. Wasting money on gasoline defeats the purpose of bargain hunting, so she rides a bicycle. However, sometimes deals are 25 miles away or more.

The meal she cooks also serves as her food for each day. If for some reason she cannot purchase an item at the lowest price, she forfeits the meal and must try again tomorrow.

Does she have the determination to make it?

Well, you’ll just have to see for yourself– I was hooked by the second episode (there’s six, total.) I think you will be too.

Episode 1:

Click the [CC] button near the volume button once the show actually starts for English subtitles.

Episode 2:

Click the [CC] button near the volume button once the show actually starts for English subtitles.

You can watch the rest of the episodes (again, there’s just six) on Hulu via this link.

Again, make sure to turn on [CC] for English subtitles.

This is the second article in a four part series on selling books, music, electronics, and other items on Amazon.com.

I myself have been selling on Amazon.com since April 2008. You can see my account here, and order from my storefront here.

Although Amazon has a very well rounded help system, I thought I’d write these articles as I have a pretty good rating (4.9 out of 5.0) and a few good tips if you’re interested into getting into this yourself.

Last time I talked about signing up and listing your items, and how Amazon.com gives you a storefront to sell your items. Well guess what? Your apartment, house, or room in your house is now your warehouse. So it’s important that you store things properly so that their condition stays the same, and things are easily accessible.

Amazon does offer you the option of having them hold your items in their warehouse, called “Fulfillment by Amazon.” With this service, they store, package, and ship your books directly to the buyer, but the catch is that they also charge you for this service, particularly if your items don’t sell quickly. So let’s not do this.

The method in which I store my items is what I like to call “ready to ship,” meaning that if I get an order, I can probably ship it same day if I have the time, or even next day. This is important because Amazon does require you ship within two days to the buyer; and if you get very busy with other things, it can be very difficult to package items as you go.

Getting an item ready to ship is fairly straightforward, but the key to doing this right is to keep the cost per item low as well. To find out what your real profit after everything is said and done, we’ll take a look at the amortized price of storage. Here’s what you might need if you had say, 50 books; this is approximate what I have left at this point:

• $7 – 25 Pack of 10.5×15 Inch Scotch Bubble Mailers
• $7 – 25 Pack of 8.5×11 Inch Scotch Bubble Mailers
• $10 – 208 count Ziploc Gallon Storage Bags
• $3 to $12 – 3M Packing tape dispenser
• $6 to $10 – Scotch/3M 4 Pack Packing tape
• $1 – Pair of Scissors
• $4 to $12 – Pack of Sharpie “Micros”
• Free – Cardboard (any size of box or flat pieces)

These prices are based on approximates, and all items can be found at Sams Club; they tend to be the cheapest for office supplies, and is one of the only places to get Ziploc bags in bulk. You can also get pristine cardboard boxes of varying sizes for free there as well.

Things like the scissors and Sharpie Micros you might already have on hand, and you can probably find use for them beyond just selling books online so you can ignore these costs if you like. I would stay away from the standard Sharpie markers since the felt tip is too big and they tend to bleed. Depending if you have CDs with your books, you may also want to invest in some “CD/DVD Slim Jewel Cases.” Since this is not the norm though, I won’t bother going over this.

The system I use is based (somewhat) on how Amazon.com ships books from their warehouses. Whenever you order a book from Amazon, it comes shrink-wrapped in plastic, attached to cardboard, and shipped inside of a cardboard box. In this way they maintain the quality of the book, and protect from any possible water damage during shipment. I like this system, and I do my best to emulate it.

The first step after you have listed all of your books is encase each book in either one or two Ziploc bags. For textbooks, you may have to use two since they tend to almost quite fit, but are unable to close. If you’re able to seal it, then you’re good.

If not, use two bags– for instance, one covering one the bottom of the book up, and another from the top down. Then tape the bags together tightly using the packing tape.

When taping bags, I use a packing tape dispenser with a grip, though I manually pull the tape out and cut it with a pair of scissors, since the dispenser is really meant for packing boxes. I also use two pieces of tape in a cross pattern to tape the bags together. I tend to use pieces of tape twice the length of the front cover of the book.

Next, if your book is a paperback book, take a piece of cardboard and cut it to the size of the book. Then attach it to the back of the book with two pieces of tape– one top to bottom, and one side to side.

So at this point you’ve either got one of these situations:

• Textbook in a Ziploc, sealed
• Textbook in two Ziplocs, taped
• Paperback in a Ziploc, sealed, taped to a cardboard backing
• Paperback in two Ziplocs, taped, and taped to a cardboard backing

So break out the Bubble Mailers and get a Shapie Micro. 10.5×15 Inch size fits almost all textbooks, and 8.5×11 Inch fits most small paperbacks. Put each book in an envelope, but don’t seal it.

Where you see the portion of the envelope where you can seal it, write the name of the book, plus edition, below it. This will help you find the book somewhat easier when you start to get orders.

So let’s talk about the amortized cost per book- we have the envelopes, the Ziploc bags, and the tape to consider.

• The envelopes are roughly $7/25 = $0.28 per book.
• Assuming we use two Ziploc bags per book, $10/104 = $0.10 per book
• Let’s go nuts and assume we use all of the packing tape for say, 50 books (including shipment). $6/50 = $0.12 per book

So that’s $0.28 + $0.10 + $0.12 = $0.50 per book for storage costs, which is not too bad at all. In fact everything is overestimated but the envelopes– it’s the only known stable cost. So for each book, your cost is half a dollar, and you’re not only ensuring quality storage, but safe shipment as well.

Amortizing the other materials– the packing tape dispenser, scissors, sharpies, and let’s say gas and wear and tear on your car– let’s just bump it up to $1.20 per book. Going back to the “basement price” I stated in the last article, now we know we need to make at least $1.20 to break even on the storage materials. Even though $7 may seem high for the basement price, there are some hidden costs we haven’t talked about yet.

Remember as well, the other reason your storage price per book is so low is because you’re shopping for these items ahead of time, and in bulk.

Once you’re done with everything in the storage process, I suggest dedicating a (perhaps an empty or near empty bubble mailer) box to your packing materials. We’ll be using some of them during shipment, and some things are easy to lose, like the Sharpie Micros.

So where to store your books exactly? Well, this is up to you. I like to keep them compartmentalized in boxes, and I often keep them out in the open, however I do like to keep them in a closet when I can as well. One reason to use boxes is that the books, once in plastic, tend to slip around, so they’re not that great to just stack on their own… they tend to fall if you do that.

Well, that’s it for now. Next time we’ll talk about the shipment process, what you need to know, and the additional costs you’ll incur during shipping.