Do you know what that title is? Well, if you know anything about search engine optimization, you’ll recognize it as a “keyword rich” title. I’ve been trying to move this blog up in the search engines a little bit, and I’m having a bit of success at it. I want new readers, and most of them will get here through search engines. My problem is that I am scatterbrained, and I forget to use knitting words in my titles, even when I am talking about knitting. Hello, Cass? Wake up and smell the Google. Yeah, I can go back and change the title, but then mu URL doesn’t match the post, and I hate that!

Some businesses catch your eye because of the name, and for no other reason. When I saw this one, I had to check it out, because Martin is a family name. Martin Worldwide is not about my family, though, and as far as I can tell, there is no connection. What they do offer is customized mailing lists, telemarketing lists and fax lists. They provide these to direct marketers, and here’s the kick: they’ve develop a database that identifies prospects with the most active, responsive, and impulsive buying history. That’s a little bit scary to me as a consumer, but I am sure the marketers love it. I’ve worked telemarketing before, and it is absolutely no fun. Having a call list of folks who were likely to buy what I was selling would have made it a tad less painful, I think.

There are awards I am familiar with, and apparently many more that I am not. As I was browsing for assignments this morning, I discovered that there are awards for banking. I read that A&L were awarded the “Best Current Account Provider” award in 2006 for their bank accounts. I’d never heard of such a thing, but it certainly sounds lke more fun than the awards I’ve been handing out lately, including best distance and worst stench. Yeah, I can joke a little bit now that the worst appears to be over.

Seriously though, this is a good idea, because it gives consumers more information on which to base their financial decisions, and more information when it comes to money is a good thing. I confess to being woefully uninformed in this area, and I probably need to correct that. Ignorance is not bliss all the time. So, where do you find the best financial advice? Do you look for awards and certifications, or do you rely on word of mouth?

If you are a knitter like me, I bet you have a ton of pictures and patterns saved on your computer. If you’ve been reading this blog for awhile, you will know I found out the hard way last year that back-ups are a real necessity. I lost so much stuff when this machine crashed that I came near to crying several times.

With that in mind, let me introduce you to online backup. IDrive will store up to 2GB of data for you for free. And, get this, your info is accessible as an always on mapped drive on your PC if you need it for a restore. Or any other reason. And if you need more space, you can get unlimited storage for just $4.95 per month. If I had had this back then……well, I’d have been a lot less frustrated, that’s for sure.

Effective immediately, comments on this blog are moderated. See this article on PR Theft for a full explanation.

Hey ya’ll! My friend Ang. needs some help. She’s trying to decide what colors to use for her new felted slippers. It’s not often you get to spend someone else’s yarn money, so please go give her your opinion.

Colleen is accepting donations for this year’s 3 day. She walks sixty miles every year to raise funds for breast cancer research. She’s halfway to her goal, so please help her out.

I read a press release tonight about a Chicago charity event, and thought I would share it with you. It’s a little off topic for this blog, but I know I have a few readers in the windy city with big hearts, so I am going to share anyway. International Profit Associates has organized a golfing event to raise funds for the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation.

I have a friend that I have known since I was a child who has Juvenile Diabetes. If you know anything about JD, you know that’s a mighty big statement I just made. I have a friend, not I had a friend. He was never expected to live past his early 20s, and I remember the stunned feeling we all had when he was diagnosed in his early teens. He’s my age, you see. He’s a minister now, with a lovely wife, and three beautiful children. And sing, oh can he sing!! He gives Christian concerts in teh area, and has recorded a couple of CDs. It’s because of research funding that he has been able to live a full life with his diabetes under control. That, and a bit of help from above.

Okay, maybe not exactly famous, but I have been interviewed by a friend of mine who writes for 411Press. Alli is such a sweetheart that when she asked me, I just had to say yes. And then the water thing happened, so I was a few days getting back to her. And then she was traveling, so it was a few more days before she got it published, but today!! it is up. I am so excited.

And the cool part? My hands didn’t cramp and no advertising pens ran out of ink during the answering of the questions!