I saw my blog traffic jump by a huge amount yesterday, with most traffic coming from Stumbleupon, and I wondered how I could check who had reviewed me, and what they had said. I found a webpage on Stumbleupon that links to this information. It doesn't seem to be directly accessible from your user account but I found part of the answer in this post. You need to build a URL using a base URL of: http://www.stumbleupon.com/refer.php?url= plus the page URL, eg http://stephenbaugh.com/2008/09/the-guy-that-turns-her-light-off/ This means the full URL would be http://www.stumbleupon.com/refer.php?url=http://stephenbaugh.com/2008/09/the-guy-that-turns-her-light-off/ To View More >>

In business there are no magic bullets, but this idea is so powerful it certainly feels like magic. I ran into an old friend yesterday, and it reminded me of a series of seminars I ran a few years ago that contained a section on how to increase profits. Especially when times are tough, it's great to be able to break things down into some simple rules that allow you to know where to focus, so I'll share this very simple but powerful idea with you now. Gross Profit is calculated on an "averaged basis" as: (Total number of clients x Average number of visits per year x Average sale x Average margin) To View More >>

Someone asked me the other day what Twitter is ... I swear my jaw almost dropped. So from the Twitter FAQ ... What is it? Twitter is a service for friends, family, and co–workers to communicate and stay connected through the exchange of quick, frequent answers to one simple question: What are you doing? Bloggers can use it as a mini-blogging tool. Ok I must admit when I heard of it myself, there was a bit of a yawn and disinterest stuck around for quite a while ... but for some reason a month ago I decided to go have a more serious look ... and I must say, it is strangely addictive. LOL not To View More >>

One of the things I like about myself is the ability to appreciate other peoples craft and skill. I came across this a number of months ago on youtube and found myself drawn into Takagi Masakatsu's moving paintings and the description of how he works. You have to admire someone not only blessed with great observation, but also the ability to recreate what he sees in a new medium. I liked his closing quote, in talking about seeing colour and light in the world ... "In a sense I am not expressing anything that is not already there" To View More >>

I just came across a very cool blog post on the Neatorama website covering the history of some big tech company logos. Sounds a bit dull but it's actually really interesting and includes some very cool stories. I didn't know this, but from the post was amazed to learn that Ronald Wayne, along with Wozniak and Jobs, actually founded Apple Computer. In 1976, after only working for two weeks at Apple, Wayne relinquished his stock (10% of the company) for a one-time payment of $800 because he thought Apple was too risky! Just imagine ... today that stock would be worth billions. LOL Now I have been To View More >>