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Someone needs to start an online gigantic cake business

Every once in awhile, there's something I cannot find on the Internet. Usually it's either something to do with lists of people's credit card numbers or food, and this item is no exception.

Melissa, a somewhat concerned reader, wondered where a person could purchase a cake that could be jumped out of. I had mentioned a cake like this in a previous column, thinking it was funny, because it never actually happened. I guess I didn't understand at the time the repercussions this could have.

Search engines are funny

Since I put my site up in July, I've been keeping track of how many people visit, including what pages they view, how long they stay on the site, the color of their hair, etc. Looking at the web statistics report is pretty funny sometimes because you can also see what people searched on to get to your site.

First book excerpt available

As you may or may not know, I'm in the process of writing a book. It was fun, but I'd like to finish it, get it published, sign some books and start working on the next one.

In the meantime, I'm going to provide you a few excerpts so you can see what I'm working on.

To set the stage for the first one, one of the book's main characters is meeting a blind date who happens to closely resemble her favorite celebrity.

Read the excerpt

Finding the email of a potential date

The Good Advice Committee had to answer an interesting question this week: Is it OK to email someone you are interested in dating, even if that person didn't give you his/her address personally? The committee members outlined a couple scenarios where this would be OK, and some that would be totally off limits.

The final decision was close, but in the end, the committee voted no, 3-2. Click here to read their opinions.

GAC: Finding the email of a potential date

QUESTION

Is it OK to email someone you are interested in dating, even if that person didn't give you his/her address personally?

AMANDA: NO

My opinion is no, unless you want to look like a stalker. The obvious response to the email will be, "So, how did you get my address?" And what will the reply to that be? "Oh, I decided to look at member directories at every email service I could think of to try to find out how to contact you." Talk about scaring someone off!

From the Archive

Upcoming book fair and student writing contest in Evansville

The newly created Midwest Writers Guild in Evansville, Ind., is hosting a book fair and sponsoring a student writing contest.

The Spring Book Fair will take place 9 a.m.-4 p.m. March 17 at the Washington Square Mall in Evansville. High school students (grades 8-12) must submit their work during this time. Here is the contest registration form.

Authors who are interested in participating in the event must complete this registration form. The cost is $20 for a partial table. Barnes & Noble will handle the transactions.

The ultimate hiking companion

There are a few things necessary when starting out on a long hike, regardless of the weather. You need a good pair of shoes, possibly boots. You need something to drink, most likely water. And finally, you need a peanut butter and pickle sandwich. Even the folks at the New York Times realize this!

Updates

I haven't had a chance to post much on my blog lately. I think most people know why I haven't ... baby on the way, new house, a bunch of new websites and a new book. Anyway, I don't want to quit on the blog completely, but I'll probably consider a new format at some point, especially since I will be contributing to the Spumoni Press blog as well. Until then, be sure to check out spumonipress.com, as well as my latest post - First year = crazy year.

Let's not forget about the Y1K crisis

Terry, an innocent bystander until he read one of my columns and emailed me, sent me a pretty good take on the prequel to the Y2K Bug, which, of course, is the Y1K Bug. It took me awhile to find the original author (remember, taking more than a minute to find anything on the Internet is way too long), but I finally did.

Augustine J. Fredrich begins the story with a dateline March 15, 999, in Canterbury, England. He writes:

Voting and commenting on search results: Good or bad?

Google has created a lot of neat stuff lately. OK, the company has created a lot of neat stuff for the past few years, including, most recently, a new web browser. But please, download Chrome on your own time, because I want to talk about Google's bread and butter: the search.

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