Top 10 Movies of 2006

As 2006 draws to a close, thousands of websites devote column space to their top ten films of the year. Most of these lists are fairly predictable, they list “deep” movies and independent films garnering Oscar buzz as the best of the best. Now while this list is solely the opinion of the author, you will find a film for you. So happy New Year and enjoy a great year of new movies.

10. Thank You for Smoking-This dark comedy from first time director Jason Reitman, son of acclaimed director Ivan, shows the inner workings of the tobacco industry. As the film follows the trials and tribulations of a tobacco lobbyist played brilliantly by Aaron Eckhart, you see that not only is this incredibly smart but has an amazing story to go with it. Amazing performance notwithstanding, probably one of the most intelligent films all year.

9. Mini’s First Time-A very little known dark comedy, this film came and went without any fanfare. Starring Nikki Reed of the indie drama “Thirteen,” Reed plays teenager Mini living with her drugged out mother and new stepfather (Alec Baldwin). When Mini turns to prostitution for fun and ends up seducing her stepfather they conspire to murder her mother. It’s an extremely funny movie with a rare amazing performance from Baldwin. Definitely a great revenge comedy.

8. Brick-The crime noir is alive and well, expertly captured in the indie film “Brick.” A crime drama/film noir set in a high school setting is nothing short of brilliant. A twist and turn thriller involving drugs, murder, and Joseph Gorden Levitt all brought to a wonderful conclusion. The movie is worth a viewing just for the great 50’s dialogue alone.

7. The Departed-So far “The Departed” has shown up on every best of list this year, this list is no exception. This film holds you on the edge of your seat until the very last minute. I’m not one who considers myself a Scorsese fan by nature, but this film definitely made me want to take a look at more of his films. Wonderful performances abound by Matt Damon, Leonardo Dicaprio, Jack Nicholsen, and Mark Wahlberg.

6. The Prestige-The first appearance on this list by Australian actor Hugh Jackman, I adored “The Prestige.” While the second film of the year about magicians, the first being “The Illusionist,” this was definitely the better of the two. Featuring great performances from Jackman and Christian Bale, playing rival magicians, they exuded amazing chemistry. A compelling story involving one of the more ingenious twists in recent years, I personally can’t wait for the DVD.

5. Hollywoodland-As a follower of the George Reeve murder/suicide story, I waited almost two years for this movie to be made. Told in flashback and showing all the different theories surrounding George Reeves death, this is a very tight true crime thriller. Diane Lane steals the show though as Toni Mannix, the jilted studio girlfriend and Ben Affleck walks away with his comeback. The film itself is ironic in the fact that Ben Affleck’s career is revived from playing an actor who supposedly killed himself after losing his career. Some call this film melodramatic, I call it Oscar gold.

4. United 93-The film-going public was divided between whether it was the appropriate time to show a film like this or not. Watching “United 93” makes you cringe, cry, and get angry all in one film. This film is so powerful it’s almost too much. Depicting the final moments of the final plane involved in 9/11 is enough to take you back to where you were when that fateful day was shown. With unknown actors in the roles and improve throughout, it is probably one of the most realistic film of the last five years.

3. The Fountain-I feel like I’m in the minority by saying this is one of the top three movies of the year, but I have never thought about a movie almost a month after I saw it. Another film starring Hugh Jackman, the film calls for him to play three separate characters all trying to save the love of their lives (Rachel Weisz). I could talk about this movie all day, but I sadly don’t expect a lot of Oscar buzz for this since not a lot of people understand the plot and the twist. But this film has so much going for it, an innovate story, beautiful imagery, haunting score, all of it. When the film comes to DVD, this is one that comes highly recommended.

2. Happy Feet-Who has seen this movie and hasn’t loved it, I mean “Happy Feet” is probably one of the most creative animated film ever, and fun for adults and kids to boot. Revolving around a little penguin with a special talent for dancing, it featured great vocal work from Brittany Murphy, Nicole Kidman, and Hugh Jackman (yes him again, but the last time I promise). The animation is top-notch, so much so you can’t always differentiate between what’s animation and what’s live action. Robin Williams is one of the main highlights of the film, especially as Latin penguin Ramon, whoever doesn’t laugh during his rendition of “My Way” is heartless in my book.

1. Half Nelson-The number one film of my 2006 was the little indie film “Half Nelson.” Starring Ryan Gosling as an inner city teacher addicted to cocaine, this film has a lot of heart and a truly touching story. Watching Gosling’s character Dan Dunne spiral out of control due to not only his drug addiction, but his idea that he can’t make a difference, is a performance worthy of an Oscar. Newcomer Shareeka Epps is also brilliant as the student who discovers Dunne’s addiction. As the two become connected by this secret, the line between teacher and student becomes blurred, and comes together to make a film that everybody should see.

So yes “Half Nelson” is the must see film of 2006. But there were five movies worthy of an honorable mention, they were: “Down in the Valley,” “Scoop,” “Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan,” “The Quiet,” “The Libertine.”

Links
Thank You for Smoking
Mini’s First Time
The Departed
Hollywoodland
Happy Feet
Half Nelson

"Alpha Dog:" From the Courtroom to the Screen

In researching movies, or just following the goings-on of the film world, there is always a time when you see a movie’s release and say “Hey wasn’t that movie already out or supposed to come out?” Movies usually get their release dates pushed if special effects aren’t finished, as seen with the film “Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow,” or if the movie isn’t good as seen by the supposed rumblings coming from the Karl Urban movie “Pathfinder.” That movie has gone to many bad test screenings causing the film’s release to be pushed till April. Then there is the special movie that has extenuating circumstances, a specific reason why it hasn’t been released, so goes the story of the film “Alpha Dog.”

“Alpha Dog” stars Emile Hirsch, Justin Timberlake and Ben Foster. The film revolves around local drug dealer Johnny Truelove played by Hirsch. Truelove lives in the suburbs of LA with his motley crew of friends including a friend played by Timberlake. When local client Jake Mazursky (Foster) can’t pay Truelove back, the gang decides to kidnap Jack’s brother Zack. After showing Zack the life of excess that the teens live, it becomes apparent to Truelove and his group that they have a problem. How the kids go about getting rid of Zack becomes the crux of this thriller.

Now a lot of comparisons have been made between this movie and the dark comedy “The Chumscrubber.” How this actually differs is that “Alpha Dog” is a true story, revolving around a true case that shocked California. Due to recent events, the story of “Alpha Dog” will hit the big screen January 12th 2007, a whole three years after it was filmed.

Now the actual story behind “Alpha Dog” revolves around drug dealer Jesse James Hollywood and his kidnapping of Nick Markowitz. Now trying not to go into details is difficult and it will subsequently ruin the movie. Suffice to say that Hollywood was finally arrested for his actions in 2005. Now while events and names have been changed this movie has faced a long uphill battle to make it to the screen.
Originally director Nick Cassavetes, director of “The Notebook,” had to reshoot the ending of the film to reflect Hollywood being arrested. Then Cassavetes was subpoenaed after it was revealed he had access to actual court documents. An injunction, trying to bar the film’s release, was ultimately rejected but the court proceedings kept pushing the film’s release. If one looks at the official Alpha Dog website, you can find in the “Making Of” section no mention whatsoever about the court proceedings or the real story behind the film. This could be because of the ongoing litigation with Hollywood.

Now three years is a long time between filming. Usually fans give up hope of the movie being released or end up not seeing it in theaters. This is not the case with “Alpha Dog,” a large group of fans actively promoted and talked about this film on the IMDB.com message boards. Production people close to the film, even director Cassavetes was on IMDB talking to fan and discussing the progress of the film. A large campaign of fans could be good for the movie, to actively promote. Having the director talk to fans to keep them in the know is also showing how much help this film needs.

In the end, how “Alpha Dog” does in theaters is all based on word of mouth, since the movie was made so long ago. Check out the film January 12th, a movie that has this much controversy around it has to have something special, don’t you think?

Links
Larry has promoted this film extensivly since it's start

MySpace at the Movies

How many people have a least one movie or movie character’s profile on their friends list? I know I have the whole cast of characters from the recently released film “John Tucker Must Die” and the entire cast from “Clerks 2” on my MySpace. It seems that the easiest way to promote your teen oriented films nowadays is to create a giant MySpace campaign.

MySpace profiles have popped up in the last year for virtually any and all movies coming to theaters. Indie films such as the Dixie Chicks documentary “Shut Up and Sing” has a MySpace, along with the horror franchise of “Saw” movies. MySpace profiles, in some cases, have become the “official websites” of a particular film, such as the New Line teen thriller “The Invisible.”

How many people have signed up for MySpace’s “Black Carpet” project? This is where you, along with a printout of your MySpace profile, are eligible to get into free movie screenings. This recently happened to great acclaim with the movies “Borat” and “Tenacious D and the Pick of Destiny.”

Other recent ways movies, conjoined with MySpace, are getting awareness out is through contests. I entered a contest for the film “Marie Antoinette” where I had to use pre-approved images and layouts to create the best “Marie” themed profile in order to win a shopping spree. While I didn’t win, that profile stayed up for a good month, allowing me to slowly absorb the fact that the movie was coming, and showing everybody who visited my site that the movie was coming as well.

And this is where the brilliance from this type of marketing comes from. Thousands of teens visit MySpace every second. Ask any movie promoter and they’ll probably say that the core demographic in terms of movie viewer ship is 16-25 and mostly female. Last August, a hard core campaign for the dance movie “Step Up” played out on MySpace. Not only did this allow the movie to become number one at the box office, something that none of the box office predictors counted on, but made thousands more aware of the film. Little known films such as “Shut up and Sing” have gathered awareness through grassroots MySpace campaigns.

It is also incredibly easy to promote a movie yourself. I know my MySpace profile has become an unintentional Mecca to the movie “The Invisible.” For those who don’t know, this film is a teen thriller starring “War of the Worlds” actor Justin Chatwin. After he’s attacked and left for dead, his body is in limbo and he must solve his own attempted murder before he dies himself. Now after seeing this film in theaters I knew I wanted to see it. Without my knowing it I have unintentionally made every person in my friends list, all ninety four of them, aware that this movie comes out January 26th.

How exactly did I pull this off? I have the movie’s profile on my Top Friends list; I have the trailer on my page along with a music video from the band Sparta cut with clips to the film. This is how easy it is to get viral marketing out to thousands of people. Any person who visits my page will now be inundated with info about this movie.

Fans can do this anytime they want, you don’t necessarily have to make a page in the name of the film. If you like a particular film, you can simply stick the movie’s poster on your page, or link to the trailer. With this type of marketing true dogs such as “Little Man” can become number two at the box office, something that actually happened with the help of MySpace. Or you can become like me and become obsessed with a film and hope that one day New Line will acknowledge how you helped make their movie number one…hint, hint.

Links to check out

The John Tucker profile
Clerks II profile
Shut up and Sing profile
Saw 2 profile
The Invisible profile
Step Up profile
Little Man profile
My "Invisible"-ed profile

Protecting your MySpace from phishing..

Good day! One of the reasons MySpace has been so successful is the ability for users to customize their pages. Granted, in order to customize your page, you need codes and sometimes back doors to change it drastically, but it's still something that drives MySpace usage. Recently, a friend of mine completely redid her page, changing her layout (including background, divs, text and more,) and it looked absolutely amazing. There was just one little problem when I checked out her page: all of the links on the page were changed to phishing links.

Before going further, I'll define phishing since the term isn't overly abound. Phishing is when links are changed to websites that try to steal your data, be it your password, your E-mail, personal information like social security numbers, credit card numbers or something else. Usually these sites will make mock-ups of other sites in order to trick users into thinking that it's still that site. Many phishing sites phish on MySpace by creating MySpace login look-alike pages. These pages closely resemble where you'd type your login E-mail and your password, and they're highly successful because MySpace users simply aren't educated about phishing.

Whenever you visit one of the MySpace layout websites, you're sure to find numerous pre-made layouts. These layouts look superb and professional, and are very attractive to users are looking for the newest, most fashionable layout for their page. Usually associated with these are numerous links to the site where you obtained the layout, often at the top left corner of your page, but as well there can be some extra baggage, such as phishing links. These links are there to trick people into hitting them and logging in (a repeat occurrence is that the top links to home, browse, search, etc. will be phishing links.) Your friends are at risk of having their information stolen if you leave the links like that.

So, how do you protect yourself and your friends from phishing on MySpace? If you use pre-made layouts, check all of the links on your page to see if they lead to a site that is NOT MySpace, even though it might look like it. Check the address bar; if the URL does not contain myspace.com, it is likely a phishing site. If these links are on your page, ask a knowledgeable friend to make you a profile or find a different layout and test that one as well. Also, phishing comes in the form of bulletins that entice you to click a link, such as free laptops, cell phones and more. If those bulletins are being sent from your profile, change your password immediately. If those bulletins are coming from your friends' profiles, advise them to change their password. Don't click any links to sites from bulletins advertising anything free, and tell your friends not to as well.

If you add anything new to your profile that contains links, such as glitter graphics or add-ons like falling text, check your profile to see if any of those links take you to something resembling a phishing website. These can add links around your page to phishing websites, so be sure to check your whole page. Always be on the lookout for suspicious things on your profile, and if your friends have them on theirs, be sure to alert them. The most obvious target for phishers is the populous that is unaware of phishing and won't know the difference. The most important things for you to do to avoid phishing are to know what it is and to be vigilant and to spread that knowledge and vigilance. Feel free, as always, to E-mail me personally with any questions at bluestar42 at gmail DOT com.

Want To Make Some Extra Cash?

Want a fun, easy way to make extra cash? Check out Cash Duck. You only need to be 13 or older and live in the US.

Read a tutorial on how to make cash on Cash Duck here.

Sign up by clicking the image below.

Free Ipods: Fact or Fiction?

Hey Myspacer's! So what do you all think about the Free Ipod sites that are all over the place? Can people really get an Ipod for nothing? Well... maybe.

Some people actually have actually been successful in getting their free ipods. Here's how most sites work.

You register (usually using someone's referral link) then complete one offer. Offers vary from site to site, but they include things like Blockbuster, Netflix, Video Professor, True.com, etc. Usually they just want you to sign up for a free trial where you pay S/H or for a one month thing and then you can cancel.

After you've completed your offer, you get a certain amount of friends (varies from site to site) to sign up under you, complete an offer and then submit boom, your Ipod's in the mail. Or something like that. ;-)

Anyway, so yours truly decided to sign up as well. Just to see if it was really true.

Here's my referral link: YourFreeVideoIpods

Let's see if it'll actually work. If you sign up under my referral link and complete an offer - I'll replace my link with yours after mine has been completed... and leave it up until yours is completed as well.

If anyone has any ideas or tips, feel free to comment. Thanks!

Any Bloggers On MySpace?

If you're a blogger you should check out Payperpost. Payperpost is a cool and easy way for bloggers to make money blogging. They pay you to blog about products and services that YOU want to. Want to learn more? Check out this article written by a Payperposter that made it's way on to digg.



Can You Really Get A Free Ipod? YES!!

MySpace or Yours is still here!

Just a quick note to let you know that MySpace or Yours is still around. I (Becky) have been extremely busy and Jeremy is back in school now and busy as well. I'm working on getting some new posts written up and continuing to keep you informed about the latest on MySpace. Thanks for your patience!

Can You Really Get A Free Ipod? YES!!

10 Tips for Promoting Your Blog or Website on MySpace

Are you lost when it comes to promoting your blog/website on MySpace? Check out 10 Tips for Promoting Your Blog or Website on MySpace to find out how to best utilize your MySpace for promotional purposes. Whether you're a blogger, band, celebrity, business, etc... these tips can help you take full advantage of your MySpace profile.

If you have your own website, you know how confusing online marketing terms can be - especially if you're new to this. That's why I love Apogee Search! They have an awesome online marketing glossary with every conceivable term you could think of. If you're involved in any kind of online venture, reading through this glossary is a must!

Can You Really Get A Free Ipod? YES!!

Check out these MySpace articles!!

Just published a bunch of new MySpace articles on Associated Content!

MySpace Comedy: Where The Comedians Are - click to read!

My Favorite Blogs About MySpace - click to read!

MySpace Codes: How To Hide Anything In Your Profile - click to read!

Where to Find the Hottest MySpace Layouts - click to read!

Where to Find Free MySpace Trackers - click to read!

Top 5 Most Popular MySpace Groups - Film/Television - click to read!

If you're 18 or over and interested in writing for Associated Content - sign up today!

Can You Really Get A Free Ipod? YES!!

The Multiple Personalities of Tom...

Here's a fun group where group members post pics of different "Tom's":

The Multiple Personalities of Tom Have you seen Tom lurking around on profiles, but it wasn't Tom? Then you've seen one of his multiple personalities. This is a group with many different Toms.

Visit the group for more pics and links to profiles with pictures of Tom!

Can You Really Get A Free Ipod? YES!!

Get the Free MySpace Guardian Toolbar

What if there was a toolbar that let you do all this?

• Automatically log-in to MySpace!
• Tracks emails, invitations and friend requests
• Notifies you when friends add to your page
• Search using your favorite search engine
• Make/Receive Skype calls from your toolbar
• Communicate with your friends with video

Along with these added features sure to calm parent's fears:

• Map Sexual Predators in your neighborhood
• Find Sexual Predators with photo search
• Send Predator maps to friends
• Report Suspected Predators
  

MySpace Guardian helps protect parents and children from potential predators on MySpace. If this sounds like something you'd like to have, head to MySpace Guardian to download the toolbar today. (Thanks Randy!)

Can You Really Get A Free Ipod? YES!!

Professional MySpace Stalker?

These days, you can get paid for almost anything. Get paid for blogging, get paid for shopping, get paid for trying out new products, etc. But what if you could get paid for just being on MySpace?

Imagine what would happen to the economy if suddenly millions of MySpace users were getting paid to hang out on MySpace. Wouldn't that be something?

Still, if I could pay someone to do something MySpace-related, it would be to cyber-stalk people for me. Ok, let me explain...

Now that MySpace has given its users the option to make their profiles private, it's gotten a bit harder to "stalk". Let's say your ex-boyfriend/girlfriend has a private profile. Now you can't secretly read their blog, comments or scope out their friends list. In fact, the only way to do that is to send a friend request and get them to ACCEPT it... and since doing that would most definitely "out" you...that's not going to happen.

But what if there were professional MySpace stalkers? Their job would be to either get themselves added to that persons friend's list or to find someone who already is who can give you the skinny on that persons profile. Their services would be in demand for sure.

This is all hypothetical of course. It's not like I actually stalk anybody on MySpace.

And if I did, I certainly wouldn't tell you... ;-)

Can You Really Get A Free Ipod? YES!!

Popular Car & Racing Groups on MySpace

Street Racer

Group Leader: Mike
How Many Members: 53,000+
Popular Forum Topic: Imports vs Domestic

Mustangs and Fast Fords Club

Group Leader: Dannon
How Many Members: 42,200+
Popular Forum Topic: Fast as shit ranger.

Car Communities

Group Leader: CarCommunities.com
How Many Members: 32,900+
Popular Forum Topic: Your favorite car

Import Tunerz

Group Leader: Ricky
How Many Members: 28,700+
Popular Forum Topic: Integra vs. Honda Civic

Underground Street Racers

Group Leader: -Ryan- GT
How Many Members: 26,000+
Popular Forum Topic: real racers input, fwd, rwd, or awd

Get info on Car and Driver Magazine here!

Can You Really Get A Free Ipod? YES!!

Suspicious Behavior from Profilepeep

A while back, I was contacted by a Profilepeep user who asked me to help spread the word about suspicious behavior from the owner of Profilepeep. They claimed that after registering for Profilepeep and inserting the code into their profile, they received frequent visits to their profile from the owner of the site and were subscribed to profiles with no info. The user also suspected that the owner had gained access to their account through the cookies placed on their computer from the tracker.

When the user posted their concerns about the tracker program on the site's forum, the comments were promptly deleted and no explanation was offered. This same user now suspects that the owner of Profilepeep may be involved in another MySpace tracker site called whospy.net.

Read "When Spyware Performs as Advertised", a blog post on the Washington Post for more information on how these programs work and what they do to your computer once you install them.

Is it really worth it to have your browser freeze up and have everything you do online be tracked by God knows who JUST to be able to maybe see who is checking you on MySpace?

Can You Really Get A Free Ipod? YES!!

New Look!

MySpace or Yours has a whole new look! What do you think?

I haven't updated this blog very much lately, but I've been working on a MySpace tracker project that I hope to release very soon. That is, if people are still interested in MySpace tracker information. ;-)

I will tell you this though, if you're using profilepeep or whospy.net - don't bother. Both are thought to be run by the same guy, running the same scam (more on that later).

If you want to be among the first to hear the news when it's announced, you need to be sure that you've added the MySpace or Yours profile to your MySpace friends. So do it now!

To those of you who have emailed me with MySpace tracker questions and issues, I'm sorry for the delay, but I really appreciate your patience.

Can You Really Get A Free Ipod? YES!!

Automatically Track Your Friends' Top 8

The power of MySpace's Top 8. Yes, it does matter if you're in it or not... well, to some people anyway.

Now you can automatically track anybody's Top 8 using FeedYes.com. Simply sign up for the service and track any changes through your favorite RSS reader.

It's bound to save you tons of MySpace stalking time... if that's what you want. ;-)

Find out when your friends become single

Singlestat.us lets you check the relationship status of anyone on MySpace. I know, I know ... you can do that on your own. The point of his service is -- he'll send you an email notification when their relationship status changes. And if you mention singlestat.us in your profile, the service is free.

Definitely worth a look for any MySpace stalkers out there.

Guy loses job for posing as his boss on MySpace

The details are a bit sketchy on this story but here's the gist of it. Bill Poon worked at a local burger joint for about a year -- last September he used a pic of the president of the company he works for as his MySpace pic and left comments on some of this co-worker's MySpace pages. In April, he gets called into a meeting with HR and his supervisor and is bacially fired because they consider what he did "identity theft".

Identity Theft? Really? Come on. I have no idea what burger joint this is, but do they really not have anything better to do than to be checking up on some burger-flipping, 20-year old's MySpace page? It wasn't like anybody was going to believe he was really the prez of this company. It was a joke!

Anyone else feel the same?

Can You Buy Friends on MySpace?

We've all heard of friend-collecting... people who whore themselves out and run train after train in an effort to up their friends list on MySpace. But this guy is taking it one step further. He wants to pay you to be his friend. According to Aaron Nimocks MySpace profile:

Every week starting July 1st 2006 I will randomly pick one person in my friends list and mail them a check for $50! Stay tuned for more details. To qualify for this I must not know you. Plain and simple.

Utterly Boring reports that Aaron's goal is to reach a million friends. Good Luck!

The MySpace ADDiction - MySpace Add Me Groups

What's a great way to add lots of new MySpace friends? Try posting your "Add Me Button" or "Whore Me Code" on one (or more) of the many MySpace groups dedicated to adding more friends. Whether you're a MySpace band or business trying to promote your site or just a regular person trying to rack up thousands of friends.... posting on Add Me Groups is fast and effective.

One thing to remember about posting on these groups -- pay close attention to the rules of each group. Some only allow you to post in specific forum threads, while others only want you to post bulletins. Follow the rules or you risk being kicked out of the group.

Following are links to the most popular Add Me Groups on MySpace:

Add Me Group
Members: 87323

The 'In' Crowd
Members: 36209

MySpace Whores
Members: 16494

Add To Friends Network
Members: 11431

Whorespace
Members: 9635

The MySpace Whores
Members: 5859

MySpace Friends
Members: 3035

Add Me Cuz I Rock
Members: 2904

*wAnNa NeW fRiEnD*
Members: 2115

Anyone and Everyone Add Me Group
Members: 1876

ADDiction
Members: 1648

MySpace Friends
Members: 1081

Want More MySpace Friends
Members: 1146

1000+ Friends!
Members: 848

Get your Whore Me Codes:
Picgames.com
MySpaceSupport.com
FreeCodeSource.com

For more info on adding MySpace Friends read:


Coming soon... MySpace ADDiction - Friend Trains

Free MySpace Trackers -- sort of...

No, it's not a magic MySpace tracker like some sites claim to have. But here are a few links to real sites that will help you get some information about who's viewing your MySpace profile.

I've included links and a short summary of what each stat counter/tracker does. If you have any questions, please direct them to the owners of the respective sites. Thanks!

createblog.com

• Supports Myspace, Xanga, Livejournal, and more
• Up to three trackers per account
• Daily and monthly totals (unique + pageviews)
• Individual hit details (username, destination, referrer, location, ip, time of visit)
• Top visitors, destinations, and referrals
• Different timezone support
• Public or private stats (viewable to everyone vs yourself)
• geostats! (updated 5/5)
• Very very easy to use!
• FOR MYSPACE, ONLY SUPPORTS UNIQUE HITS AND PAGE VIEWS

geo visitors
This tool will automatically detect where in the world visitors are coming from when they visit your site. It's pretty much a map with little colored dots displaying where your last visitors came from.

web tracker
Straightforward guide to configuring Statcounter (invisible web tracker) for social networking sites; like Myspace.

Save time: In case you're wondering what kind of information you would be seeing from people that visit your profile do this: Go to the Statcounter site. Click on "DEMO" at the top of the page. Then use the side menu to navigate through all the features. What you see there is pretty much what you'll see.

trackers.arecool.net
A free version of this tracker is now available to those who don't wish to spend money or simply cannot. This free version comes up with an advertisment for this site in order to compensate. This tracker works by subscribing people who view your profile to your blog. When someone is subscribed to your blog, you can find a link and pic of them by clicking on your "My Readers" link inside of "Manage Blog". This tracker is a little more advanced than older ones. It not only will subscribe a person the first time they view your page, it will subscribe them every time they view it.

Add Me Page / Associated Content Profile

To all Bloglet Subscribers...

Those of you who had previously signed up to receive email notifcations everytime new content was posted to this blog, may have noticed that nothing has been sent out lately. There seems to be an issue with the email notification service that I was using. So I think it's time for a switch.

I have now signed up with Yutter.com and after an initial test phase, it seems to be working just fine.

So what does this mean for you? Well, if you want to receive all the latest MySpace info in your inbox, simply sign up using the form located in the sidebar of this blog.

If you are already a subscriber, I'll be importing all the email addresses (several hundred) into this new program. You should receive an email asking you to verify -- it'll come from myspaceoryours@gmail.com. So there's no need for you to sign up again.

Any questions, you know where to reach me. Thanks!!

Could It Really Be True?? A Working MySpace Tracker?? Find out Here!!

Does a working MySpace Tracker really exist? Some of you are saying...yes.

Apparently, whosonmyspage.com is working. I'm assuming this is different from whosonmyspace.com - the one that made you sign up for TagWorld before you could get the code.

Anyway, I've received various comments from people saying that they have been using it successfully. I started to sign-up for it (not that I'm really interested in who's viewing my profile, because at this point it doesn't really make a difference) and it looks like it might be legit. It didn't ask me to give my MySpace password, or require me to set up an account with a competing site. I didn't install the code on my profile though, so I can't say for sure that it works.

This profile tracker is set up so that the only way you'll know who is viewing your profile is if that person is also registered with the site. If they're not, they'll simply show up as Anonymous. So of course, they want you to tell all your friends about it and encourage them to sign up as well.

If this profile tracker really is working... I really think it's only a matter of time before MySpace blocks it as well.

One other thing... people are starting to complain in a major way about all the bulletin spam that is going around saying, "Sign up for this MySpace Tracker!", etc... and yet when people try to post warnings about signing up for bogus trackers -- those bulletins are sometimes blocked.

This happened to me... and to at least one other person (a super-cool guy) who tried to warn his friends about the dangers of falling for those types of claims. When questioned, MySpace would only respond that allowing such bulletins would be a "security risk". Yet don't we all receive at least half a dozen bulletins touting the latest "MySpace Tracker" on a daily basis?

If you want to post a bulletin referencing a post on this blog or just this blog in general, try posting just a link. These types of bulletins seem to go through just fine. And to all of you who have posted bulletins with a link to my blog or another article regarding MySpace Tracker scams - Thank You!!!

If you're using whosonmypage.com or another profile tracker, I'd really love to hear about your experience with it. Please feel free to leave me a comment if you have any more information regarding MySpace Trackers or email me at myspaceoryours DOT gmail DOT com.

Can You Really Get A Free Ipod? YES!!



Add Me Page / MySpace Confessions

Any Skaters on MySpace?

Now skaters can get up-to-date rolling news on their MySpace pages for free! Roller Warehouse, a California skate company, will provide you with the HTML code to input into your profile.

Not only that, but you can get a 5% discount off any RW order just for displaying the rolling news ticker on your MySpace profile. Simply leave a comment with your website address letting them know that it's on your page.

Visit the Roller Warehouse blog, Aggressive Skate Blog for the code and additional info.

MySpace or Yours Add Me Page / MySpace Confessions / Index

Code for MySpace Add Me Button

To get your own ADD ME button, copy the following html code (don't forget to replace YOURFRIENDID with your MySpace Friend ID #) and paste it into bulletins, your MySpace profile or wherever!

<a href="http://collect.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=invite.addfriend_verify&friendID=YOURFRIENDID" target="_blank"><img src="http://i.myspace.com/site/images/addFriendIcon.gif" border="0" /›‹/a›

MySpace or Yours Add Me Page / MySpace Confessions / Index

Code for MySpace Send Message Button

To get your own SEND MESSAGE button, copy the following html code (don't forget to replace YOURFRIENDID with your MySpace Friend ID #) and paste it into bulletins, your MySpace profile or wherever!

<a href="http://mail.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=mail.message&friendID=YOURFRIENDID" target="_blank"><img src="http://x.myspace.com/images/sendMailIcon.gif" alt="Message Me" border="0" /›‹/a›

MySpace or Yours Add Me Page / MySpace Confessions / Index

Cool Businesses on MySpace

Many entrepreneurs these days are setting up MySpace profiles for the added promotion. If you have an online business, blog or website -- you need to be on MySpace.

Take advantage of the social networking features available on MySpace - blog, sharing photos, links, email, etc... and watch traffic to your site grow.

Here are a couple of people/business doing it the right way:

Realitycheck
One of the top bloggers on Blogger Party, Realitycheck's celebrity gossip and hot debate blogs can now be seen on Associated Content, Blog Critic, Wise Orb and most recently with The Latest Celebrity Gossip on Blogger. Check out her MySpace profile for links to her blogs!

Arielle
Arielle is a 21-year old college student who has her own online store, Arielle's Gifts, where she sell trendy tshirts and gifts. She also runs a popular MySpace Group, The Trend*Setters where other entrepreneurs can promote their online businesses. Arielle's open-mindedness and acceptance of ALL people is reflected in her merchandise... check it out!

Reggie
Reggie is a graphic artist, film maker and photographer from South Bronx. He designs Hip-Hop, Zodiac and Custom logo t-shirts. Unlike most zodiac designs, his are high-concept 3-D designs. Check out his store - Zodeax Wear!

Retro MySpace Layouts

If you're into retro layouts or just feeling a little nostalgic -- here are some cool MySpace layouts for you :P

Aladdin - Princess Jasmine

Beauty and the Beast - Princess Belle

Hello Kitty

My Little Pony

Ninja Turtles

Little Mermaid - Princess Ariel

Rainbow Brite (1)

Rainbow Brite (2)

Visit these sites for more retro MySpace layouts:

CreateBlog.com / mylayouts.cc / myspace.nuclearcentury.com

MySpace Confessions / MySpace or Yours Add Me Page

More Hot MySpace Layouts!!

I stumbled across a cool site with some really HOT MySpace Layouts. Here's a few of my favorites:

Alexis Bledel - Gilmore Girls

Alyssa Milano

American Idol Will Makar

Angelina Jolie (1)

Angelina Jolie (2)

Jessica Alba

Kill Bill Vol. 1

Laguna Beach

Lindsay Lohan

Rose McGowan

Scarface

Visit CreateBlog.com for more MySpace Layouts

MySpace Confessions / MySpace or Yours Add Me Page / MySpace Layouts

MYSPACE TRACKER UPDATE

OK, so I wrote a post a couple days about MySpace Tracker scams. Since then I've gotten some emails and comments about other MySpace Trackers out there. So here's the latest:

There are no working MySpace Trackers out there right now

Profilesnoop, Whosonmyspace, MySpaceplus, etc. -- all not working.

There are ALOT of MySpace Tracker Scams

There are a lot of people trying to make money from the huge demand of MySpace Trackers. I've seen postings on eBay and Stormpay -- DON'T BUY THESE! MySpace Trackers are blocked so quickly these days, you're only throwing your money away.

trackers.arecool.net is offering a MySpace tracker for $5.00 via Paypal. But here's the thing - they offer NO guarantee that the tracker will work and not be blocked by MySpace so you're basically only paying for access to their forums.

I feel like I'm starting to sound like a broken record... but I really think that the best advice is to just sit it out and wait. MySpace is going to install it's own profile tracker (maybe) or someone will figure out how to program a tracker that works for more than a couple days in a row. But you're only wasting time and money by buying into the scams.

Can You Really Get A Free Ipod? YES!!

Read the latest MySpace Confessions!!

Have you read MySpace Confessions? I've added two new entries by some great writers with very interesting stories... see for yourself!

On the subject of MySpace - by Corey Taft

At school, why do I occasionally downsize my MySpace computer screen when I feel somebody might be watching?

A typical stroll down any computer lab at my school of choice- CSU-Los Angeles, still reppin Golden Eagles, bitches,- and I notice that every student has MySpace. Every student! Not just the computer nerds or other selected stereotypes. Everyone!

And yet, here I am, making my MySpace page smaller and smaller in hopes that people don’t judge me.

"Look at him. He’s a loser." Read the rest here...

Read more from Corey Taft at http://blog.myspace.com/taffyboy

Cheating On MySpace....Not Such a Great Idea...by ModelMom

I just went in to get my hair cut today by one of my best friends who happens to work with another friend's ex.......and the reason he is the "ex" is because of me. I got the silent treatment from this guy the entire hour and a half that I was in the salon.....and I didn't know if I should laugh or feel very uncomfortable. After I left the salon I couldn't help replaying the scenario that went down just a few months ago with this guy and how I came to "ruin his life".

A few months ago I busted my friend's boyfriend cheating on her. How, you ask? Well, I have a profile on MySpace, like pretty much everybody else on the planet and their dog does. During one particularly uneventful evening I was going through my list of friends and clicked on her boyfriend's picture to see what he was up to and that is when the proverbial excrement hit the fan. Read the rest here...

Read more by ModelMom at Adventures of a Model Mom

GO TO MYSPACE OR YOURS INDEX

Beware of MySpace Tracker Scams!!

There has been such a rush lately for MySpace tracker information that it was really only a matter of time before spam and scams started showing up.

A couple days ago I received a bulletin from someone on my friend's list. The bulletin said something like this...

"Want a MySpace tracker? Re-post this bulletin and type in MySpace Tracker, MySpace Tracker and information will be sent to you."

Ok, now that one was harmless enough. Of course, no one is going to send you any information just because you posted a bulletin... all you're really doing is creating bulletin spam and looking stupid. ;-)

But then there was another bulletin that actually included a link to a website that claimed to have a working MySpace tracker. So I checked it out... I was directed to a website that consisted of a single page. No contact info, no email adress... just a simple, no-frills page with a form on it. The form asked for your email (the one you use to log onto MySpace) and your MySpace password.

I wanted to see what would happen so I used the info from an old MySpace account that I had created awhile ago. I filled in the information... even my password and clicked Submit. This message appeared "Site down for maintenace. Check back shortly."

Now do you really think the site was down for maintenace? Probably not... Most likely, whoever created the website was just trying to acquire as many email addresses and MySpace passwords as possible. Or maybe even a specific MySpace password for someone on his friend's list. For what? Who knows... (And no I'm not going to post the link here.)

The point is, you really need to be careful. Don't believe every claim about MySpace trackers that you hear, no matter how "desperate" you are to know who is viewing your Myspace profile. You should never enter your personal email, MySpace or password information into something that you're not sure about.

If you absolutely have to sign-up for it... create a dummy MySpace account and use that info instead. A little caution and common sense goes a long way.

As far as actual MySpace tracker news... I came across a couple tracker sites that I hadn't seen before, but haven't had much time to actually go in and see how they work, although it's doubtful that they do actually work. I'll be posting more MySpace tracker news soon though... so stay tuned.

MySpace or Yours Add Me Page / Tanna Frederick on MySpace

GO TO MYSPACE OR YOURS INDEX

ProfileSnoop News & New MySpace or Yours Blogs!!

Well I have good news and bad news... let's start with the bad.

ProfileSnoop is not working anymore.
It seems like a never-ending cycle, doesn't it? Sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn't. I kept getting emails from people requesting the ProfileSnoop code... or emails telling me that when you sign up you're immediately re-directed to LoiteringAllowed.com. So, I finally made time to look into it today.

Yes, when you sign in and try to get your stats code you're directed to LoiteringAllowed.com. Once there, you have to post 30 comments in a variety of forum threads. Only after you've done that, are you allowed to even view the ProfileSnoop threads. Someone is obviously working very hard to get you to "loiter" around in their forums. Anyway, I'm sorry, but there's really nothing more I can tell you at this point. My own Profilesnoop code hasn't worked for a while now... so it looks like MySpace may have blocked this one again... or maybe the code didn't work in the first place.

I'll keep posting more MySpace Tracker news here as I get it. Now for the good news...

The MySpace Add Me Page
The first MySpace or Yours spin-off blog is here!! It's called The MySpace Add Me Page. This blog was specifically created to make it easy for you to add many, many new MySpace friends. It's just getting started, so take a look at it and if you want your own MySpace profile to appear on this page... follow the easy instructions.

MySpace Confessions
Tomorrow I'll be launching the 2nd spin-off blog "MySpace Confessions". This one will be all about your own personal stories about MySpace - the addiction, the stalking... all that good stuff. ;-)

We have a great article to kick off "MySpace Confessions" written by a very talented writer, Kerri Wood. Take a peek at her blog WritingSucks... and stay tuned for her article, "Just Add Me", debuting tomorrow right here on MySpace or Yours!

If you want your site/blog featured on MySpace or Yours, click here for more information.

Good TV on MySpace!!

Want to laugh more? Want to have more fun? Cool. You want to kick it with the Good TV crew. Good TV is Seattle and the world's live 1 hr variety show. Called a cross betwixt Dr Phil and Wayne's World, Good TV proves the point the "non corporate media" is cooler that "corporate media"

Hosted by the infamous underground comic and social satirist Dan "Major Pixel" Kemmis, Good TV is a rare mix of sublime off color commentary, useful information and funny, free spirited media mayhem.

Good TV is on MySpace for 2 reasons. To make more pals and to get feedback so we can hone the show. Please be our pal, and please offer your 2 cents!

New Good TV live Tuesdays at 6:30 PM live on www.scantv.org

Or watch Good TV when you want by visiting www.video.google.com and looking for Major Pixel and Good TV.

Watch Good TV Now:

Skit comedy "Turning Japanese" / Good TV Pixel busts a Talent Scam /
Fremont Fair Art Cars / Love, Google Video & MySpace

Finally... MySpace or Yours on MySpace!!

I finally had some time to put together a
MySpace profile for MySpace or Yours.

There isn't a lot to my profile right now, but I'll be adding more to it soon.

Get the latest MySpace Info!!



click picture to see profile




Get a WHORE ME code

More Cool MySpace Groups!!

This time we're talking about the coolest Companies/Co-worker MySpace Groups:

Free Gas

How many members: 6800+
Why join?: All members who join this group get a $500 gas card for FREE! (No idea if this is true.)
Most interesting forum thread: None that I could see ;-)

Starbucks HQ

How many members: 2100+
Why Join?: Because you work at Starbucks!
Most interesting forum thread: "Rude customers"

Blockbuster Whores

How many members: 1800+
Why Join?: Because you're a previous or current Blockbuster employer.
Most interesting forum thread: "Secret Blockbuster Training Video"

Old Navy Employees

How many members: 950+
Why Join?: Duh...
Most interesting forum threads: "Am I underpaid?" and "Strangest Customer request"

Hollywood Video Dudes and Chicks

How many members: 900+
Why Join?: This group is "for those who wake up early to be at work at 9am and don't have a break until 5pm. OH YEAH WE KNOW!"
Most interesting forum threads: "You know you work at Hollywood Video when..."

Interested in writing for MySpace or Yours? Click here for more info!!

Spice up your MySpace Photo Album

Have you ever wondered how to change the background in your MySpace photo album? Or maybe you're like me...and you've tried and failed?

Well, here's an easy step-by-step tutorial on how to do just that!

Change Background In Photo Album

Visit MySpace Junky for more cool tips!

Sports Betting / American Idol Gossip / Flavor Flav / 8th & Ocean

The Hottest MySpace Layouts!

Looking for the hottest MySpace layouts for your favorite TV shows and artists?

Grey's Anatomy (1) / Grey's Anatomy (2) / Desperate Housewives

Shakira / Rihanna / Daddy Yankee / Anastacia

Jessica Simpson / Pink / Gwen Stefani / Kelly Clarkson

Mariah Carey / Ciara / Jennifer Lopez / Mario

Mischa Barton / Rachel Bilson / Elisha Cuthbert / Brad Pitt

Kanye West / Bow Wow / Juelz Santana / Jay Z

Visit these sites for MORE hot MySpace Stuff:
MySpace Train / MySpace Toolbox / Free Page Graphics / Whateverlife

Technical Difficulties Yesterday :(

Due to a technical difficulty (ok, ok, my mistake), yesterday's post did not go out to all of our Bloglet subscribers. Sorry about that...

If you haven't already read it, here is the link to 'Is ProfileSnoop Working Again?'

Also, if you're interested in writing an article for MySpace or Yours, you can get more info here.

The problem should be resolved now and hopefully you won't miss any more MySpace or Yours posts.

Thanks!

Most Popular TV Shows - MySpace Groups

This time I'm focusing solely on MySpace groups about your favorite TV shows.

The Hills:

How many members: almost 100,000 members (and counting)
What is the show about: The Hills will follow "LC" (from Laguna Beach) as she continues her life in LA.
Most interesting forum thread: "Which Laguna Beach character does the person above you most look like?"

The O.C.:

How many members: 100,000+
What is the show about: Ryan and Marissa and everyone else -- if you don't know,then you obviously don't watch.
Most interesting forum thread: "Who is the hottest guy on The OC?"

The Simpsons:

How many members: 45,000+
What is the show about: Homer Simpson, Bart Simpson, Marge, Lisa and Maggie. The Simpson is the longest-running comedy series ever -- 17 years strong!
Most interesting forum thread: "Character you can't stand!"

The Family Guy:

How many members: 87,000+
What is the show about: About a family guy -- I've never seen it myself ;-) But it's one of the most popular groups!
Most interesting forum thread: "Best Family Guy quote ever!"

American Idol:

How many members: almost 11,000
What is the show about: Duh... it's American Idol - if you don't know about Simon, Randy and Paula... and Chris Daughtry, Mandisa, Ellio Yamin, Katharine McPhee and all the rest then you've been living under a rock -- or you don't watch the show ;-)
Most interesting forum thread: "Pick on Pickler"

Grey's Anatomy:

How many members: 2600+
What is the show about: Pretty much about a bunch of surgical interns working at a Seattle hospital who take turns sleeping with each other... Meredith Grey, Dr. McDreamy, George, Cristina, Izzy, etc.
Most interesting forum thread: "Greys will reveal which character is gay"

Don't see your favorite show? Not to worry, there are 27,551 film/televion groups on MySpace, so you're bound to find yours.

Want to make money blogging? Click here to find out how! It's FREE!!

Is ProfileSnoop Working Again?

It sure looks that way. I received this email today:

www.profilesnoop.com is back in action with 2 new tracking codes. We 
are the largest myspace tracker website out there member wise with 
159,280 members as of this email. Just go to www.profilesnoop.com and 
login to your account and click get code and follow the directions 
it's 100% FREE.

If you forgot your password that's ok just signup again and get the code.

www.Profilesnoop.com has also become a myspace resource site by 
teaming up with www.myspace-themes.com and www.myprofilestuff.com in 
order to offer some of the best codes, glitters, layouts, and more so 
you can customize your myspace profile.

We have also moved the support forums to a new forum for general 
discussion at www.loiteringallowed.com and have had an overwhelming 
response so far from the profilesnoop users with over 1300 new posts 
a day and growing fast.

On behalf of myself and the other websites I'd like to thank you guys 
for remaing loyal to ProfileSnoop.

Want lots of new MySpace friends? Visit the MySpace Add Me Page!!

So here's how it works --

1) Create an account with ProfileSnoop if you don't already have one.

2) Log in to your account. On the left-hand side click on GET STATS CODE.

3) Read the directions carefully. There are 2 different codes. The first one
involves creating a blog group. Once you create a new blog group in MySpace,
get your blog group ID (in the address bar - it'll be a six-digit number).

4) Replace the '123456' in the code with YOUR BLOG GROUP ID.

5) Copy the entire code and then paste it into your WHO I'D LIKE TO MEET
section.

6) If you choose the other code, just follow the directions, but remember
to replace YOURNUMBER with your FRIEND ID before cutting and pasting.

The directions are pretty easy if you just read them slowly and take it
step-by-step.

Read other peoples MySpace Confessions here!!

One other note about their new forum at loiteringallowed.com. You're not
able to read any of the ProfileSnoop forums unless you post (get this) 30 posts
in their other forum threads, ranging from movies and music to pets.

This time ProfileSnoop has added lots of new links to cool MySpace stuff
on their page, including generators, bots, layouts, etc.

So try it out and let me know if it works for you.

We'll see how long it lasts this time.

Add Me Page / Tanna Frederick on MySpace / MySpace Confessions

MySpace Trackers! MySpace Trackers! Here's The Latest...

Who's viewing me on my MySpace? That's what everyone wants to know.

Unfortunately, there is still no working MySpace tracker.

They keep being shut down by MySpace.

Here's a rundown of the MySpace Trackers who have tried... and been shut down:

ProfileSnoop: Worked for a while, but has been shut down at least twice by MySpace. Currently, I still have this one on my profile, but it doesn't work. :(

MySpacePlus: This one I haven't tried, but from what I've read on message boards, it's also NOT working.

WhosOnMySpace: I HIGHLY recommend you NOT even try this one. It's just a SCAM that Tagworld is using to gain more users, by riding MySpace's coattails. Check it out if you want, but once you see it doesn't work - delete your Tagworld account as well.

I think that if people keep asking for a MySpace Tracker, MySpace will have no choice but to give in or start allowing outside programs to inside of MySpace. Of course, that's just my opinion.

Remember, Friendster had a lot of backlash when they initially started allowing people to see who had viewed their profile. The biggest problem was that it was retroactive... which meant that even if you'd viewed someone's profile PRIOR to their "Who's Viewing Me" feature...it still showed up.

If you know of any other MySpace Trackers out there, feel free to leave a comment.

Can You Really Get A Free Ipod? YES!!