Scuttlebutt Pipeline

Welcome to Scuttlebutt Pipeline! If you're new here, you may want to subscribe to my RSS feed or sign up to receive email notifications of new entries.
Also, don't forget to check out Fifty for the Fall, your chance to win $50 cash - no strings attached!

It seems to be getting harder and harder to find a humorous blog to read that isn’t afraid to poke fun of things but at the same time doesn’t cross the line into the derogatory either. If you enjoy reading blogs that will make you laugh and poke fun at some of the stupidest things people have done or are doing then you need look no further than Skirmisher, a blog whose catch line just so happens to read: Devoted purveyor of the strangest, craziest, most delicious crap.

There are a number of articles here that had me cracking up over, some I even nearly injured myself from laughing so hard. Their articles are witty and hysterical, I for one will never think of the phrase “stopped dead in your tracks” quite the same way after one particular article.

There are of course some that tried my gag-reflex, such as the article entitled “Placenta Goatse” Is Not Even The Grossest Part Of This Story which gives a nice large accompanying picture. Apparently one man and his family feasted upon his wife’s newborn baby’s placenta. That one had me thinking just three words: “what the f**k?” There are some seriously wacko people out there and Skirmisher will bring them to you for laughs. Enjoy.

You know it seems to be getting harder and harder to find some decent personal blogs to read. What is with the influx of teeny-bopper blogs? Am I the only one sick of stumbling upon blogs iwth large images of celebrities, itty bitty text that strains the eyes, and peeps tlkng lyke thiz?

If you feel as I do the perhaps I can direct you towards Thinking-Outloud.com. T-O.com is Kim’s personal blog that contains a number of witty and intelligent posts, couple this with an elegant and beautiful design and there is no reason why you shouldn’t be returning on a regular basis. I strongly recommend you drop in and say hello.

If you are a serious blogger (or webmaster) and you care about what could happen to your files someday I’m sure you’ve taken precautions by backing up your site/blog’s information right? There is an old adage that is highly relevant here, don’t put all of your eggs in one basket. It’s true too, it’s never a good idea which is why if you back something up you should have at least two backups. Should something happen to one then there is another one to cover you. Now I’m going to say two words that may very well change how you think about backups: Online Backup.

Idrive.com has been one of the best places to go to in order to create a safe place to stash your online backups of your sites. They have always been one of the best sites to entrust your files with and now they have created a plan, entitled IDrive-B, that is geared towards bloggers. The accounts remain free unless you should so choose to upgrade, but now these plans are better geared to suit the needs of your average blogger and personal site owner.

I have to confess, until I stumbled upon Pixie Tail I had no idea that a dream diary existed. Oh I know what they are mind you and I have even been encouraged to make one of my own, but I had never known that anyone had published theirs online. That was kind of surprising to see actually. The diary is owned a run by Cynthia Blue and is primarily made up of her dreams as well as sleep patterns and history. There  are some interesting reads here though I must confess to not being comforted by the fact that even some of her weirdest dreams look normal compared to mine.

With many turning to sites such as SponsoredReviews in order to earn a bit of cash it’s not surprising that many are resorting to less than ethical blogging standards in order to keep a steady flow of income rolling in. The site that allows advertisers to buy reviews is offering up this concise but helpful guideline for all bloggers to take a gander at.

Many of the guidelines are a rehash of basic ethics and responsibility, such as the hiding or cloaking of affiliate links, failure to disclose ect. But there is one that was listed that that surprised and impressed me to see published. It’s soemthing I talk about regularly on my personal blog and I’m always amazed at the amount of people that are shocked that I will have to pay taxes or that I should pay taxes on the income I’ve received from my online jobs.

Respect Tax Law: bloggers and webmasters tend to equate online money with tax-free. Under the U.S. Law any income you make is taxable. If you win money playing online poker you will need to pay taxes. If you earn money through donations on your site you will need to pay taxes. The key factor is whether your blog is a hobby or a business. There is no definitive answer for this question, but a good starting point is whether your earnings are higher than your expenses. Do not forget to take into consideration the contributing writers as well. If you pay them more than $600 yearly you will need to file a 1099 form. You can read more about the Tax Law on the IRS website.

Thank you SR for publishing this.

[sponsored post]