Buy This Not That Book Review

by in Featured on Jun 8th, 2022

Hi everyone, Sydney from Untemplater here. I was lucky to get my hands on an early release copy of Sam Dogen’s upcoming new book Buy This, Not That. And I’m thrilled to give you a sneak peak into what the book is all about. Let’s dive in shall we?!

Overview: Buy This, Not That Book Review

In this review, I’ll cover the following topics:

  • Who is Sam Dogen
  • Topics covered in Buy This, Not That
  • Why you should read it
  • What other people are saying about it
  • How to order your own copy

About The Author

Sam Dogen is the founder of FinancialSamurai.com and has been writing about personal finance topics since 2009. What I love about Sam is he writes everything from firsthand experience, which is rather rare these days.

Too many bloggers, websites, and authors in the personal finance arena are impersonal, out of touch, and dry. I work in online media so I know of countless examples of articles that are written by outsourced freelancers with no personal expertise in the topics they write about.

Most of them are just googling and copying what other people have already written. How misleading and lame is that?

Read More
Featured

DirecTV Takes the DVR to The Next Level

by in Product Review on Jun 24th, 2013

Guest supporter.

Whether you are hoping to find a way to catch your favorite program when you can’t be home or you want to record that awesome game happening today so you can watch it again, DVR service is something many people want and need to have in their homes. A DVR, or digital video recorder, provides a simple, easy to use tool that makes it easy for users to record programming at virtually any time. And now, DirecTV is making it even easier for users to have access to this must-have device. You’ll never have to miss a show again.

What Is DVR?

A digital video recorder is a device that allows the user to record programming for later viewing. Depending on the type, these will record video into a digital format, such as to an SD card, USB flash drive, or disk drive. The latest devices are incredibly easy to use. Users simply access the DVR system through their television or computer (again, depending on the type and the location it is used in) and toggle through a set of programming options. Nearly all television shows available through programming are listed.

Once the individual finds a television show he or she is interested in, with a few clicks to set it up, the device will automatically begin to record that show at the set time. The process works similar to VCR setting, a common way to record television shows in the 80s and 90s. However, this is more advanced providing individuals with access to these shows virtually at any time the user wants to watch them. And, the quality is much better than older methods.

How Has DirecTV Made It Even Better?

Users who have DirecTV (and those who want better DVR service who switch to this provider) will find that they have an improved method to viewing programs later. The company now offers the ability for satellite subscribers to stream recorded content, not to just televisions, but also to PCs and to any iOS devices they have. This is all done over a WiFi connection. WiFi connections, which can be accessed both inside or out of the home, provide the user with the capability of record anywhere there is a WiFi connection.

Users with DirecTV now can stream this content virtually anywhere. Additionally, the company is working on the same type of service for Mac and Android devices later this year.

What does this mean to the average user? It means that users get to take their DVR content with them anywhere. They can connect to DVR’ed content in the car, at home, at work, or even in the middle of a busy mall. Now, there is always a way to watch the content you want to watch, as long as there is an Internet connection to allow for it.

This feature allows DirecTV users to have access to content faster, easier, and on-demand. The GenieGO, as the device is called, allows users to fast forward commercials. It allows for use of Sling technology and Hopper features, both of which enhance the experience of the DVR user.

Product Review

Infolinks Review: Not Bad, But Your Readers May Start Hating You!

Infolinks Contextual Advertising Review

by in Lifestyle on Aug 20th, 2012

I have a high tolerance for pain. All throughout the 2011 tennis season, I played injured with excruciating tennis elbow, a sprained left ankle, a torn left meniscus, and loose cartilage in my right serving shoulder. You should have seen me. I looked like a robot with my ankle braces, elbow guard, and knee sleeves!

When the occasional opponent would ask what was up with all my gear, I’d half jokingly respond that I just liked keeping warm. I never revealed my ailments, because I didn’t want them to get a mental edge on me during battle. But, anybody perceptive enough could tell that I was playing with pain.

Due to my tolerance for pain, I also have a higher than average tolerance for blocking out unwanted ads from my web surfing experience. Nothing really bothers me about a website if the content is good. I certainly wouldn’t complain to the webmaster to change anything of his or hers. Suggest perhaps, but not complain.

After reducing the number of Infolink ads per page to one (max is twelve) on Yakezie.com a couple months ago, I forgot they were there until one blogger complained about them in the forums, which started a chorus of further complaints.

I already decided a couple months ago that Infolinks wasn’t worth it on Yakezie.com. It may or may not have slowed down site load time, and I was already getting some complaints. That was when I decided to just go into the dashboard and slide the ad count down to one from the existing five per page. I would have just taken out the code, but I didn’t have the brain power then to figure out where I had first installed the script.

Given I didn’t realize I had Infolinks installed, I took it off after the latest complaints. I share with you some of the pros and cons of the product.

PROS OF INFOLINKS Read More

Steve Jobs: A Book Review!

Who Is Steve Jobs And What Was He Like?

by in Featured on Jan 16th, 2012

Steve Jobs, by Walter Isaacson

Initially, I was hesitant to offer my review of the Walter Isaacson biography on Steve Jobs, titled…..wait for it….. Steve Jobs.

Wouldn’t one of the Yakezie brethren who is an Apple aficionado be a better book reviewer-for this book?

After some thought I came up with several reasons why me,  a non-Apple addict, would be better:

  • I’m unbiased regarding the company, it’s products and founder.
  • I am old enough to have lived through the storyline-with Jobs only a couple of years older than I.
  • I purchased one of the first PC’s, notebooks, and PDA’s available.  I have lived though all the changes in technology described in the book.

First, about the author:  Walter Isaacson is a former CNN chairman and former CEO of Time Inc.  He is Harvard educated, worked in journalism his entire career, and has written biographies of Einstein, Benjamin Franklin, and Henry Kissinger.  The Steve Jobs book was written with Jobs cooperation-indeed, he approached the author himself.  Supposedly, Jobs agreed to no veto or editorial power over the contents.

The book is well written and an easy read.  To tell the story of Jobs’ complete life, the cast of characters is large. Mr Isaacson identifies the importance of those he included and what influence they had on Jobs.

For purposes of a complete review, I divided the book into general sections:

Jobs early life. Read More

Featured

Media.net Contextual Advertising Review: Getting Steadily Better After A Tough Start

A Google Adsense Alternative You Should Look Into

by in Featured on Nov 13th, 2011

Media.net is a contextual advertising platform like Google’s Adsense, but not really. As a blogger, I’m always interested in anything new that can compete with Google since Google is a monopoly. If you depend on Google too much for revenue or traffic, you will likely feel some pain sooner or later.

It’s good to experiment in blogging because you never know what works until you try. In fact, it’s the same thing with anything in life. So when Media.net contacted me about their product, I said why not!

In this post you’ll learn why Media.net has great potential, but still needs work to become a successful advertising platform. You’ll also learn what not to do if you are trying to build momentum and a good reputation.

THE PROS AND CONS FROM A PUBLISHER’S POINT OF VIEW Read More

Featured

A Book Review: The Art of Non-Conformity

by in Lifestyle on Oct 21st, 2011

By Dr Dean Burke, The Millionaire Nurse Blog

A Book Review: The Art of Non-Conformity

The Art of Non-Conformity by Chris Guillebeau.

(Details about a signed book giveaway at the end)

Reviewing a book after it’s been out a year rather than the week it debuted, now that could be nonconformity……

That’s my story and I’m stickin’ to it…

Actually this is the first free e-book I downloaded from my local library on the Kindle.  (Sorry Chris…)

Why I read it: Read More

Interview with Bethany and Scott Palmer: The Money Couple

Book Review & Contest Giveaway

by in Personal Finance on May 12th, 2011

By, Barbara Friedberg editor-in-chief of BarbaraFriedbergPersonalFinance.com where she educates, inspires, & motivates for wealth in money and life. Learn personal finance from a real life portfolio manager.

I had the opportunity to chat with Bethany and Scot Palmer, authors of First Comes Love Then Comes Money; A Couple’s Guide to Financial Communication, for some “pre-interview” background information. As I’m interested in others (and just plain nosey), I wanted to uncover some dirt which wasn’t in their book.

Here’s what I found out from the Palmer’s.

On regular occasions, after meeting with couples, drawing up financial plans, and believing they were all set, many couples returned a few years later, with problems. Many of these returning clients WERE GETTING DIVORCED. This troubled and perplexed the Palmer’s. They realized that their practice was a microcosm of this trend reported in the Washington Post; 70% of couples who divorce, cite money problems as the cause. Read More

Book Review & Giveaway: Enchantment by Guy Kawasaki

by in Personal Finance on Mar 5th, 2011

Enchantment by Guy Kawasaki

A book review by Dr Dean Burke (@DrDeanBurke) from  The Millionaire Nurse Blog

I was excited to get a review copy of Guy Kawasaki’s newest book, Enchantment.  The book is being released March 8th.

I have been getting his tweets @GuyKawasaki for some time, and knew he had varied interests. And have heard him interviewed and read about him at Success Magazine.

A little about Guy’s background:

He was born in Hawaii, and went to school at Stanford.  He learned to sell in the jewelry business, and was hired by Apple Computers early in his career. At Apple, he developed his chops in “Evangelism” with sales and marketing!

Since his Apple departure, he has been involved in many aspects of the tech world and venture capital.

The VC folks loan  money for a stake in a small company-taking huge risks for even huger (yes I made that up) rewards!

He is also the co-founder of Alltop.com-you’ve seen those ubiquitous Alltop badges- and Enchantment is his tenth book!  Note: He was also offered a position as the CEO of Yahoo when it was still under a couple billion market cap and turned it down.

The Book-Enchantment by Guy Kawasaki: Read More

  • Untemplater: Congrats on getting so many consecutive features on Google News! That’s phenomenal! Writing on...
  • Untemplater: You nailed it. I also believe great marketing is very helpful in the beginning but it’s really...
  • Jamie: Awesome insights thanks! I’ve been a big fan of Sam’s for years. Really exciting that he’s...
  • Untemplater: There are so many overpriced ecourses online it’s crazy. They use very aggressive marketing tactics to...
  • Andy: Thousand-dollar e-courses are a total scam. You can learn everything online for free. Shame on people who sell...
  • Untemplater: There are a lot of bloggers out there who focus on small stuff like should you or should you not spend...
  • Derek: It’s fascinating how some bloggers continue to just mindlessly pump out affiliate content. It’s clear they are...
  • Untemplater: Lots of valid points! So true that bloggers are a minority of overall readership, so blogging to much...
  • Bingo: You are spot on. Most of our bloggers are white people living on the coasts, where half the population of...
  • Financial Samurai: Hi Jim – Nice to hear from you. It was too much work running Yakezie. Too many people wanted...

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