Console games are set in stone; basically, you get exactly what you paid for. You could have the artistic talents of Michelangelo, but without the ability to access the game files and make changes, it’s a moot point. You can only hope that the game developer releases updates to fix bugs, add content, and improve upon the initial release. Furthermore, you hope they don’t charge extra for it.

A perfect example is a recently released game called The Elder Scrolls: Skyrim. In and of itself, this is a fantastic game across all platforms: PC and console. I use this as an example because a game receiving this level of praise across the entire globe should require very little in the way of “improvement”. The game has received an almost perfect score from most of the game reviewing outlets, and stands as a new standard for role-playing games in general. One would think, then, that the ability to modify the game would be irrelevant. Yet that couldn’t be further from the truth.

Whether a game misses its mark and flops in every respect, or achieves the level of success that Skyrim has, there is always room for improvement. To be more exact, there is always room to make the game more to your individual liking. It could be something as simple as the graphic overlay utilized by the game to display your inventory, or how fast arrows fly, or increasing the number of objectives (see: Quests) in the game. It could also come down to the overall art-style of the game, or just how green the trees are. As stated above, with a console version of a game you’re stuck with what you bought. But with the PC, you have a global community of talented graphics artists and script writers standing by to make all these changes and more.

Almost any gripe you have about a game can be altered, or completely changed and removed, simply because you chose to play the game on the PC. With Skyrim, you can add more color to the environment, change the mechanics behind how your character levels, make enemies more intelligent, give your character super powers… the list goes on. If a patch breaks something, the players can fix it themselves. If there isn’t enough content in the game, the players can add more. And best of all… it’s free. The predecessor to Skyrim was Oblivion, and boasted approximately 200 hours of gameplay from start to finish. For console gamers, that would be the end of it- time to shelf the game. But on the PC, the modding community has easily added at least that much more content to the game. And again… for free. The monetary benefits alone make the PC version of the game a no-brainer.

Skyrim stands to achieve the same level of commitment from its community. The official tools necessary to make certain changes to the game have yet to be released, yet already the community is making drastic changes to everything from improved graphics to better gameplay options. Granted, this is all a matter of taste; perhaps you don’t like your water to ripple so much, or your arrows to fly in a straight line. That’s ok. Whatever you do prefer, it’s probably going to be available at some point.

But only if you play the PC version of the game.

Some will argue that console gamers get exclusive access to certain game titles. Well, sure. But there are also game titles released on the PC which console gamers do not have access to. The difference is this: PC owners have access to tools called “Emulators” which are programs that allow your computer to emulate, or pretend to be, a console, and therefore allow you to play a console game on your computer. Needless to say, console gamers do not have this option for playing PC-only games. In my mind, that ability completely destroys the necessity to ever own a console. Is it legal? What country are you in?

I also understand that a computer system can set you back a great deal more than a console can, but let’s not forget that a computer is also capable of a great deal more than any console. I would love to read a study on how many console gamers also have a computer in their home. If they do, then the price difference is a moot point. Whereas I own, and game, on my PC… yet have neither the need, nor desire, to own a console.

In the end, it comes down to getting what you want out of your chosen platform. If you find yourself perfectly content with games as they’re released from the developers, never wishing you could make it better- or even just different- in some way, then consoles are probably the perfect choice for you. But if, like me, you’d love to take a game with 200 hours of content and get 400 hours from it instead for the same monetary investment, or have the ability to make the game run smoother, look better, and play the way you want it to play, then do yourself a favor and invest in a gaming PC.

As for Skyrim, the game I mentioned earlier, see for yourself how it compares on the PC to what others are getting on their consoles. Visit my YouTube Channel and watch my in-game videos: My Official YouTube Channel

And to see where I’m getting my modifications (Mods) to the game for free, visit: Skyrim Nexus

I understand that many people do not like guns. I also understand many of the reasons people have for not liking guns: guns have been used to kill people, firearm accidents take many lives every year, and that they are dangerous weapons in the hands of both skilled and unskilled users. However, there is one reason, one argument, against the Right to bear arms which I do not understand.

I have heard many times, and read many articles wherein, people claim that our Second Amendment Right is no longer necessary. These people seem to believe that America has no use of civilian militias, that the very thought of combating the United States government is, in and of itself, an act of treason. I would like to set the record straight.

I firmly believe that an unarmed society is at the mercy of its government. History has proven, time and again, that every single time the people place unquestioning faith in its leaders they get screwed. In 1770, William Pitt stated, “Unlimited power is apt to corrupt the minds of those who possess it.” A more well-known variant of this sentiment is attributed to Lord Acton who said, “Power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely.”

The point being, even though the United States has a very well thought-out system of government, it is not now, nor will it ever be, beyond corruption. We bestow power upon our leaders, and the fact that those leaders are elected does not diminish their ability to impact, and control, our lives. The Patriot Act of 2001, for example, increased the federal government’s ability to invade a citizen’s life based upon the assumption of wrong-doing. The government needs only claim one is a suspect to be able to intercept phone calls, emails,  medical records, and financial data.

Our ability to vote, our voice, was not enough to stop the Patriot Act from being implemented. It should make you question just how much power we’ve given our government, and whether or not our government understands that it still works for us and not the other way around. I believe two recent stories concerning our judicial system should also be of note: the recent story of Troy Davis from Georgia proves that we’ve given our judicial system the power to condemn a man to death based solely on hearsay (I base that opinion on every single news story I’ve read wherein they all agree that no physical evidence, nor DNA evidence, was ever produced linking Troy Davis to the murder), while the story of David Crowe of the same state was granted a Stay of Execution after having fully admitted his guilt.

How much more power do we need to give up to our government before people start to realize we need to be able to defend ourselves? It isn’t just about protecting ourselves, and our families, from criminals. It’s not about owning a gun “just because you can”. It’s not even about owning a gun because you like to hunt. It’s about making damn sure that the government never forgets we have the Right, and the ability, to say No More.

No more stripping away our Constitutional Rights, no more playing God with our lives by implementing, and enforcing, a hypocritical set of Laws, and no more invading our private lives because they can’t properly ensure our defense without treating us all like criminals or viewing us all as potential terrorists.

We are American citizens, and our government works for us. And should the day come when we, as a society, decide that the government has ceased working for us, and started working against us, we have the Right, and we require the ability, to bear arms in our own defense. Never forget, and never allow yourself to become convinced, that the government is somehow incapable of doing that very thing.

You should question when the government tells you not to bear arms, yet, itself,  has access to arms, and tells you to be against forming a peaceful militia, while it commands its own army. History has proven that, given the opportunity, it can, and will, use both against us.

I’ll keep this brief. Troy Davis was accused of killing a police officer in 1989. It is now 2011, and, to date, no physical evidence, or DNA, has been produced to link Troy Davis with the crime. None. Zero. And eye-witness testimony? Seven of the nine witnesses have recanted their testimony.

Hearing those facts, one would expect Troy Davis to be released… hell, one might even wonder why he was imprisoned in the first place. Yet on September 21, he was put to death.

I’m all for the Death Penalty. On the same day Troy Davis was executed, we killed James Byrd Jr. in Texas for dragging a man to death with his pick-up truck. It took 13 years to get it done, which I think was far too long for tax payers, but he’s finally gone. The difference? The evidence was overwhelming against James Byrd Jr and his buddies. The same cannot be said in about the Troy Davis case.

I’ve read news articles all across the Internet claiming that Troy Davis got more than his fair share of courtroom time, and even had his case reviewed by the Supreme Court. Why, then, was he executed? It wasn’t because the evidence supported it, that much is absolute fact. Which brings me back to “more than his fair share of courtroom time”. How do that many judges read this case and decide that Troy Davis had to die?

It needs to be said that the Death Penalty did not fail, here. Our people did. James Byrd Jr needed, and deserved, to die. He and his buddies dragged a man to death because of the color of his skin; they did so willingly, and with malice, and with cruelty in mind. I do not know if Troy Davis killed that police officer… but neither does our Judicial System, nor the many judges who reviewed the case and upheld the decision to execute him. Therefore, Troy Davis did not need, nor deserve, to die.

It’s time for accountability. Do not blame the Death Penalty, hold the people responsible for making such a negligent, and unjust, decision accountable. The system is only as good as the people we put in charge of it, and they all failed on this one. Supreme Court justices hold their position for life… I say it might be time to change that. They allowed a possibly innocent man to die, against the very rule of Law which states “beyond a reasonable doubt” and “innocent until PROVEN guilty”. This case proved that we’ve given our courts the ability to kill a man when there is reasonable doubt, and the power to treat a man as guilty until proven innocent.

Call your representatives: Congressmen, Governors, the White House. Let them know that we will not tolerate this massive abuse of power within our legal system. And we want accountability.

What if Man is simply the by-product of Nature’s great experiment? Imagine for a moment that every living creature on the planet came into being in a very specific order. I’m not talking about Intelligent Design, here, but rather trial-and-error.

We know for a fact that bacteria, for example, are very adaptable; they can adjust themselves based on their environment. One might wonder then if, given enough time, these bacteria might not combine to create larger, and more complex, life forms. And over the course of billions of years, these bacteria have manged to thrive in land, sea, and air.

So taking this into account, we look out upon the world and wonder at all of the animal life. Every species has a chartable, and thus predictable, list of habits associated specifically with that species. Once you study, and understand, how one crocodile acts, or responds to stimulus, you can know exactly how to deal with future crocodiles. The same works for birds, wolves, etc.

But then we have Man. What I find interesting is that many cultures through-out history have associated Man with multiple animal groups. One does not confuse a wolf with a leopard, yet Man can be associated with many different animals. The American Indians would quest to discover their Spirit Animal, the creature which best defined their personality, for instance.

Even today, we have a tendancy to associate people with various animals based on how those people conduct themselves. Someone might be called a weasel, or a work-horse. The question arises, then, if Man is not simply Nature’s next physical experiment. If one were to take a long, hard look at all of Man’s accomplishments, one would find that Man- unlike most animals- has managed to thrive on land, in sea, and in air. Hell, we’ve even gone to space. While we can’t breate in the ocean or in space, nor do we have wings with which to fly, we have been gifted with the ability to adapt to these environments due to our physical make-up (Giraffess can’t weild hammers, for example).

I believe our animal personalities are simply the remnants of code passed down through our genetic structure over the years as our physical forms have adapted and changed. The end result being that our physical form has finally leveled out (two arms, two legs, etc.), while our personalities remain in flux to provide stability within the species. Yet the genetic code has still managed to continue pairing specific personality traits with specific physical traits.

For example, muscular people tend to have more assertive personalities. Have you ever seen a man that reminded you of an ape: large muscles, swinging gate, etc? What kind of personality did that man have? In my opinion, the same stereotypes can be applied to most human beings.

Just for fun, take a look at this website: http://www.animalinyou.com/index.php

You’ll notice a link on the left titled “Take the Test!”. When you answer the nine-question, multiple choice test, try to answer based on how you’ve noticed others perceiving you, or treating you. Are you small or large in their eyes? Motivated, or lazy? I think you’ll be surprised at the answer you get on the test, and its description of you.

And for the record, I’m either a Bat, or a Snake, according to the website.

For starters, you no longer require a Gmail account to sign up! I have since closed my old account, and created a new one, since owning my own domain provides me all the email I need. This change was one of the major driving forces to cause me to leave “other” social networking sites in the dust.

Next, they removed the requirement to be invited to the program. In other words, it has gone public! I’m hoping to see a huge increase in the number of users over the next year or so as the word gets out. However, if you’d still like to be invited, simply click here: https://plus.google.com/i/wfxmBmH6Je0:S9gg8OR9I6U (Only 150 invites to go, though!)

I’m really digging the ability to separate people into multiple Circles for easy distribution of information. It’s fast, it’s simple, and it’s very easy to keep up with. And that brings me to the aspect of Google+ which I like the most: the interface.

The site for Google+ is clean. It’s not as “busy” as other networking sites, with news feeds appearing in a side-column, along with advertisements and other links I have no use of. Instead, the layout presents very easy-to-see buttons which you use to control what information appears on the screen. I love it.

My news feed is cleaner, as well. I can choose which Circles I want to read, and I’m not bombarded with “game updates” trying to get me to play some stupid advertising game. Like Myspace before it, Facebook has stared getting out-of-hand. And just as I left Myspace, I am now leaving Facebook behind.

Hopefully, Google+ won’t follow the same path to destruction.

Now that that’s out of the way…

I began smoking in High School (over 20 years ago) and went through between one to one-and-a-half packs a day. The warning labels were there, I was educated through school and the military, but I was addicted. Being in the military kept me in pretty good shape, but as they say: You don’t know what you’re missing until it’s gone. Or rather, you don’t know what you’ve been missing until you get it back.

I discovered electronic cigarettes around September of 2009. A few gas stations may have sold them before then, but apparently I didn’t get the memo. On a whim, I started looking them up and discovered an online forum dedicated to discussing electronic cigarettes: The E-Cigarette Forum. It was there that I learned about the different devices available, the Laws (and ongoing conflict between Big Tobacco and Electronic Cigarettes), and actual stories from people who were currently Vaping- the term given to the act of using an electronic cigarette. Thanks to the forum, a lot of the misconceptions surrounding Vaping were dispelled. For example:

1. Vaping is not just like smoking. Sure, you inhale the vapor like you would cigarette smoke… but you also breath air, and no-one argues that breathing is the same as smoking. And yes, there can be nicotine involved (there doesn’t have to be, though!)… but using The Patch, or chewing nicotine gum, also gives you a dose of nicotine, and it’s not “just like smoking” at all.
2. Vaping is not risk-free. Until proven otherwise by folks making a lot more money than I make, let’s just assume there might be risks involved with Vaping. I say this because I keep hearing how safe Vaping is. After researching, I have discovered that Vaping simply hasn’t been around long enough to determine its long-term effects. We know that cigarettes cause cancer, and many other issues, because we’ve been studying them for a very long time. So again, don’t let anyone convince you that Vaping does not cause you any harm; there is no proof of that.

What I do know, for fact, is that the e-liquid (or Juice, as it is called) which gets vaporized and inhaled does not contain the harmful chemicals found in most brands of cigarettes: like Arsenic and Tar. The Juice can come with Nicotine, but you can not only choose to get it without, most suppliers will also let you determine the level of Nicotine content the liquid contains.

What I’ve discovered, for myself, after having been Vaping for over a year as of writing this, is that my health has noticeably improved. As I stated above, I hadn’t realized just how much smoking had affected me: I’m no longer coughing up phlegm on a daily basis; I do not catch colds as often as I used to; my breathing no longer sounds like I’m struggling with every breath or like I’m drowning.

Also, I don’t smell like a smoker anymore; the scent from Vaping is very discrete- few people even notice it at all. And one more note on breathing: I don’t feel like my lungs are congested anymore; that is to say, when I mentioned the sound of my breathing, I should have also noted how my breathing feels. I don’t feel like there is stuff rattling around in my lungs with every breath.

All of that being said, you should realize that I’m under no illusions: I’m still addicted to Nicotine. I could cut down on the Nicotine levels and ween myself off of it- many people have- but I did not choose Vaping as a quitting device. I simply traded one habit for another in the hopes of improving my health. And while I don’t have a medical degree, I do understand that getting sick less often and having my senses increased can only be a good thing. Your mileage may vary, of course, as everyone reacts differently to all things, but I’ve noticeably improved since I stopped using cigarettes, and I’ve got a lot more money in my wallet as well.

If you decide to give Vaping a try, either as an alternative to cigarettes, or as a means of quitting Nicotine completely, I strongly suggest you do your own research. Start with the Forum I mentioned earlier as the folks there also make for an excellent support group. You can learn about the many different Vaping devices on the market, and learn which retailers are trustworthy, and which are crooks.

You’ll hear, or read, about devices called Mods; this refers to any device which is “invented” to do something more than what the initial electronic devices were capable of. The initial electronic devices were simply a long, thin battery which you would attach an atomizer to. The battery could be recharged, but once it died you had to buy a new one; they are still available on the market today through many different retailers. I did not go that route as I did not want to have to keep replenishing the device. Instead, I went with The Chuck as my first device. I’ll talk about it in-depth in just a second. First, I want to tell you why I skipped the Mall Kiosks and other online vendors and moved straight to a Mod.

The Chuck, as far as I know, is the only electronic cigarette device that allows you to customize the artwork. This was a very important step in my attempt to quit using analog cigarettes. (Get it? Analog refers to normal cigarettes as opposed to the digital, or electronic, cigarettes.) The more attached you are to something, the higher the odds you will continue to use that thing instead of setting it aside with the rest of the junk you’ve collected. And it worked. Once I received my wolf Chuck, I simply didn’t put it down long enough to pick up another analog. And with that, let’s talk about how the Chuck works.

The Chuck

It allowed me to:

1. Use an easy to find Ultrafire 18650 rechargeable battery (which lasts a couple of days before needing to be recharged)
2. Switch up my method of Vaping on a whim: refill an atomizer cartridge, use a cartomizer, or Drip.
3. Change the voltage I Vape at by changing batteries and/or using a high or low voltage atomizer.
4. And, it’s durable as hell- minus the button.

Far and away, the major complaint with the Chuck is the button. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn’t. For a Mod that feels very sturdy and looks as good as this, you’d think the button could be a little… nicer? At any rate, after owning a Chuck for over a year, I can’t say I’d make the purchase again until the device gets an overhaul to ensure it works every single time… which probably means a new button system. I can’t stress enough, however, that if it wasn’t for the Chuck, and it’s awesome custom graphics job, I might still be smoking cigarettes.

You can check out The Chuck here:
The Chuck
Here is a photo of my Wolf Chuck!

The Silver Bullet

I also own a black Silver Bullet device which you can find here: The Silver Bullet
I love this device! While the Chuck does have my custom artwork, the Silver Bullet excels in every other category. The button has only refused to work one time, but that may have been an error on my part. Other than that, the device works every single time and does so extremely well. I can’t say that I’ve had a single complaint about this device. And yes, I’m including the button issue since the next button press worked like a champ. The device is sturdy, and the button is awesome looking and melds well with the device so the overall aesthetic is nice to look at. I have smallish hands for a guy and the device isn’t so large that it feels like a monster. The only thing “missing” from my Silver Bullet is a vent hole in the bottom of the device. Some users worry about a faulty battery “popping”, which in an enclosed system would cause a small explosion. Most Mods now come with vent holes to protect the user. Obviously, I haven’t been too worried about it. I would strongly, strongly endorse the Silver Bullet to anyone wanting to try a Mod.

 The ProVari

My next Mod, and the once I’m still using as of September 19, 2011, is the ProVari. If you can afford the price-tag, skip the rest and move straight to this device. Everything about the ProVari has been perfect, and it has never failed me once. I wish there were more to say, but that really does about cover it… it’s perfect. You can check it out, and order one, here: ProVape, Inc.

I’m looking forward to trying out other electronic cigarette devices in the future, and when I do you can rest assured I’ll post a review here on this page. But, as stated before, DO YOUR OWN RESEARCH!

In closing, allow me to share some websites with you. These are places I go online to do my own research, or online vendors I use to get my supplies. Happy Vaping!

The E-Cigarette Forum

Specific forum posts you might find useful:
1. Thread for new members
2. Ask the Veterans This is where people who have been vaping a long time answer specific questions.
3. Reviews on most of the electronic devices out there
4. Reviews on Juices and Juice vendors

Speaking of reviews, here are my three favorite Youtube channels for E-cig information and reviews:
1. Grimm Green
2. MoobyGhost
3. BigIceDog

I’m a HUGE fan of pre-filled Cartomizers because I’m too lazy to drip or keep up with refilling my atomizers. This is where I get my Cartomizers:
1. Vapor4Life (My favorite so far is chocolate)

Quick note about the Government here in the United States
The U.S. Govt. is trying to ban electronic cigarettes. The state of New York is number one right now in the fight. While cigarettes, and even alcohol, have been proven to cause death, they are easily accessible, yet electronic cigarettes are fighting a ban. I strongly urge everyone- even if, and especially if, you’re not a smoker- to contact your city AND state representatives to end the ban on electronic cigarettes. If you’re not a smoker, then you should want people to switch to electronic cigarettes. I’ve never had a single complaint about the smell or “smoke” from my electronic cigarette- not even from folks who claim allergy problems while being around smokers. This is an unjust abuse of government power to ensure the continued success of cigarettes and the money they generate. Help us put a stop to it! Here’s a useful website if you’d like to get in on the fight: http://www.vapebans.com

Two words:
FUCKING SAY SOMETHING!

How do you take a 10 minute clip and turn it into a 100 minute movie? Add lots and lots and lots and lots of empty silence. The great majority of this movie has absolutely nothing being said, and nothing going on. You just sit there… staring at the screen… waiting for something, anything, to happen.

I’m sticking with my theory that Hollywood is doing this to us on purpose. They want our expectations to drop so dramatically with new stories that we’ll bite at the bit for all the re-hashed content coming out. Personally, I’m just getting tired of going to the movies. I see a commercial on T.V. and think, “Wow, this is going to be exciting”, but then I pay my $10 for a movie ticket and feel like I signed up for some kind of sleep experiment.

The “Story” was actually very cool. Ryan Gosling plays a professional getaway driver that gets caught up in a very unfortunate event. There was so much potential in that setup that it actually saddens me to think about how they botched it. There were a couple of good driving scenes (Notice I only said a couple, and even those didn’t last very long), and a couple of very short action sequences. Other than that… BOOOOOORING.

The movie also starred Ron Perlman (one of my favorites), but like Conan the Barbarian, he ended up being wasted in what could have been an epic movie role. I hereby give Ron Perlman permission to kick the Director in the fucking balls. Twice.

Allow me to take a moment and mention the acting in this film. The cast was awesome. Seriously, the characters were all played extremely well. You just didn’t get to see very much of it because of all the silence. And waiting. Lots and lots of waiting. I feel sorry for the entire cast… I can only hope they got a nice paycheck out of the deal.

But speaking of money, don’t pay for this movie. Write to the studio and demand they get a refund, instead. While you’re at it, demand they team Ron Perlman up with someone who knows what the fuck they’re doing for a change. This movie sucked major balls, and I would advise everyone to even avoid watching it for free when it finally comes to T.V.

Halloween is coming, and that means getting prepared with all the snacks your talk-of-the-town Halloween Party is going to require. You’re probably running through old recipe books, and scaring up internet sources, trying to find just the right goodies to make for the holiday festivities. Well, your search is at an end!

I’ve compiled a list of some of my favorite snacks to devour when I’m not gliding around the party nibbling on necks. Now, I’m no gourmet chef, myself, so like you I’ve had to do my research. These recipes come from all around the world and I’ll be providing links to the geniuses who actually crafted these Halloween health killers.

Time to eat, Drink, and be Scary!
I hope these suggestions come in handy for you during the holiday season. Happy party-goers make for easy prey. And remember… if they aren’t screaming by the end of the night, you aren’t having enough fun! Enjoy!

There are two kinds of writers who will tell you to never write for free: those who already make enough money to feel like all of their work is cash-worthy, and the writers who are starving because they “just can’t catch a break”.

That being said, let me add: never write for free as part of a negotiation. If someone else is trying to convince you to write for them with no compensation… they’re simply negotiating a price. Which means, of course, that it is NOT in your best interest. It comes down to the amount of work you do, compared to the compensation. So yes, there will be times when writing for free is definitely in your best interest. But those times will come when it’s you who decides to write without asking for money, and not when someone else “suggests” it.

How can you tell?
You have to compare being a writer to being a politician. They all have a base of operations, but they rarely stay there. They’re out and about shaking hands and being seen because it’s all about exposure. He might get paid to do an advertisement for a product, since the product’s company is surely going to earn money for his efforts, but he’s not getting money for shaking hands because that, in and of itself, is the payout.

And that is your answer. If a publication asks you to write an article, you need to ask yourself if there is money to be made. If you allow them to convince you to work for free, are you getting screwed out of your share? Remember, even though writing that article may get you some exposure, you don’t want to set up a precedent that you’re desperate enough to work without being compensated.

So when is it in my best interest?

The best times to write for free are those hand-shaking opportunities.
First, go to where the readers are. In our technological age, you can reach a great many people by visiting websites for radio stations, or the official forums of known authors, or newspapers, etc. Stop by occasionally and leave your opinion. Make sure it is well-written, and always on topic. (Never, ever show up just to toot your own horn.) By writing a few well thought-out lines on a topic, you have the power to generate interest in your writing. Play devil’s advocate on a topic, with a small bit of text, and you could find yourself being offered a paying gig to do a full write-up.

But at the end of the day, it’s the interest you are after. You want people to get used to seeing your name, to get used to reading your opinions. And then, searching you out.

Have your own base of operations.

You need to make sure people can find you. That means choosing a location online. Obviously, you’ve found my base of operations since you’re reading this on my official website. Take note that I have multiple topics and categories on this site… you need to give people a reason to keep up with you. If you only write about one specific topic, odds are that you will end up becoming repetitive (and have followers lose interest, entirely), or you’ll never get the number of followers you desire in the first place because your writing is too limited.

When done right, writing for free can become the best investment you’ve ever made in your career.

By now, you should have at least one email address. Odds are, that means you are familiar with SPAM, otherwise known as Junk Mail. You know, those stupid emails you keep getting, but never asked for. Today, I’m going to teach you a way to help cut down on how much SPAM you actually receive.

I will assume here that you have no idea what you’re doing. You will be relying on Tech Support to help you out. Don’t worry, though… what they’ll be setting up is extraordinarily easy, so you shouldn’t run into any problems. This is, after all, what they get paid for.

Step one: Get your own Domain!

Most people assume that having your own Domain means you run a website- this does not have to be the case. It’s like owning a storage unit… sure, it exists, but you don’t have to put anything in there. The benefit is that you can put stuff there if you like: family photos, family tree information, whatever you want. But you are by no means required to.

The reason to purchase your own Domain is so that you have complete control over your email. I’ll explain why in a second. But for now, just realize that owning your own Domain means that you can not only have whatever email address you like, you can have multiple email addresses without having to login to different accounts to access them all.

To purchase your own Domain name you should go through a reliable web hosting service. And by “reliable”, I mean that they have a good track record for Up-time (their servers aren’t crashing and losing information), their Tech Support is top-notch, and they allow you to create as many email addresses as you want.

Actually, when you sign up for your Domain, I would strongly suggest you do it over the phone. If you don’t plan to run a website, you don’t need to pay extra for web space. Make your intent to not require web space clear when ordering so you don’t get charged more than you need to be paying. Some web space is almost always included in the lowest tier package available, and you should not require more than what it gives you.

I use a company called Site5 to host this website and my email. Thus far, they’ve been extraordinary.

My Host: Site5 Web Hosting

Step two: Playing by the rules!

We’ll assume that your Domain Name is: MyOwnDomain.com. Since you can have as many email addresses as you want, it’s time to put that to good use.

You will have a “master” email address. This is the email address that ALL of your emails go to by default. It’s called a “Catch All” address. Your hosting company may have to turn it on for you, so be sure to ask.

This is how it works: let’s say your master email address is: Master@MyOwnDomain.com.

If someone sends an email to Spam@MyOwnDomain.com, it will still arrive in your Inbox because all emails sent to your Domain automatically get re-directed to your master email address. (You should never, ever give out your master email address unless you explicitly trust the source: parents, best friend, etc. And even then, I would argue to never do it, regardless.)

Instead, make up email addresses based on who you are giving it to. Let’s say you’re signing up for a newsletter from Microsoft. When you fill out the request form and it asks you for your email address, simply put:
Microsoft_Newsletter@MyOwnDomain.com

Or maybe your credit card company wants your email address. Assuming you use Visa, you would give them:
Visa@MyOwnDomain.com

Congratulations! You now have an immense amount of power over what emails you actually have to deal with. And that power comes from the use of Filters.

 Step three: Setting up Filters!

Filters are your best friend in the whole world… at least, where email is concerned.

This is where you may require the most help from your hosting company’s Tech Support. Filters are extremely easy to setup… if you know where to go and how to do it. Some Tech Support people are more than happy to walk you through the process, others prefer to just do it themselves. Either way, you’ll be up and running in no time at all. It really is that easy.

The first thing to learn about filtering emails is that you have four areas of control:

A. The “TO” section.

This is the email address the email is sent to. For example, when you send someone an email, this is the box you type their email address in. The purpose of checking the “TO” section of the email is to ensure you are only receiving emails for email addresses you’ve actually given out. Many spammers, and identity theft criminals, like to flood domain names with random emails addressed to random recipients. Therefore, if you haven’t created an email address for Bob_Marley@MyOwnDomain.com, you should never attempt to open any email sent to that address. This filter will help you with that by sending those emails straight to your trash can.

So, the first Filter you should setup (or have Tech Support setup for you) is:
Write down the email addresses you have given out. Assuming you’ve given out Microsoft_Newsletter@MyOwnDomain.com and Visa@MyOwnDomain.com, you would create a filter to send any email not containing those addresses in the “TO” line directly to your trash can. Or, better yet, just delete them completely.

When you’re explaining it to Tech Support, simply tell them: “I would like any emails not addressed to Microsoft_Newsletter@MyOwnDomain.Com, or Visa@MyOwnDomain.com, to be sent directly to my trash can.”

As time goes on, you’ll end up giving out quite a few email addresses. Just remember that every time you give out a new address, return to your Filter and add the new address to it. It only takes a minute and saves you a great deal of headache down the road. And don’t worry about forgetting your email addresses, they should be very easy to remember since they’re all designed around who you are dealing with. Trying to log into your Visa website? Use:
Visa@MyOwnDomain.com, for example.

B. The “FROM” section.

This is the address which has sent you the email. The problem here is that there are ways to fake the “FROM” section. It may look like the email came from your credit card company, but it really didn’t. Lucky for you, you know exactly what email address you gave your credit card company so your first Filter will catch most bogus emails. That being said, this next Filter is your second line of defense.

Once you receive a legitimate email from your credit card company, write down the information in the “FROM” section of that email. Or, you know, get Tech Support to help you out. Either way, you will want to add a second tier to your Filter. The first tier checked the “TO” line to ensure the email was addressed to Visa@MyOwnDomain.com. The second tier should then verify that the “FROM” line matches the information you just wrote down.

For example, all emails from Visa may come from their automated service with an email address like: Automated@Visa.com.

What happens at this point is that every email you receive will get checked twice: once to make sure it’s being sent to an acceptable email address, and secondly, that the sender’s information is also legitimate. So the filter will look something like this:

Is the email sent from Automated@Visa.com AND is it addressed to Visa@MyOwnDomain.com? If not, throw in the trash can. If so, move to the Inbox.

C. The “SUBJECT” line.

This area is a bit tricky. Spammers are learning that certain words are better for getting your attention, and they’re putting those words in the Subject line. For example, it may read, “Regarding your account”. Well, no-one wants to have their account shut down, right? And what if it’s in regards to your bank account?

Starting to see how people are getting fooled by these malicious emails? Worse yet is when they copy the Subject line of an actual company email in the hopes that you recognize it and immediately trust any links within the email. Your best bet is to just leave the Subject line alone. Your first two Filters will go a long way to reducing your junk mail, and there is less room for errors.

D. The “BODY” section.

This is the meat of the email, the box where you actually read the email message. There is a great deal of leeway here. Normally, you wouldn’t set filters based on this information because your first two filters will catch just about everything. That being said, maybe you don’t ever want to read emails with curse words in them, or specific words like “Viagra”. If that’s the case, you can have your Filter system search the emails and trash them if they contain those words.

Be careful, though… if a friend sends you an email which just happens to have those words in it, it’ll go to the trash and you’ll never see it.

When speaking to your Tech Support, simply tell them you would like to send any emails containing the words you don’t want to see directly to the trash can. It’s an easy Filter to setup.

Congratulations!

So there you go. Your new Email Filter System should now be throwing away just about every bit of email you didn’t want to deal with. Sure, it’s not a free system since you’re paying yearly for your Domain name, but the cost of a Domain name is only a few dollars a year. Compare that to the headache of dealing with SPAM emails, and attempts to retrieve your personal information by unscrupulous sources.

A side benefit of this system is this:
The nature of this system means you know exactly what email address you gave to each individual or company. Thus, if you start noticing that you’re receiving a lot of shady emails to your Ebay@MyOwnDomain.com address, you now know that either Ebay has sold your email address to someone, or that email address has been compromised.

Another benefit of this system is Folders. Utilizing your new Filter system, you can create separate folders for each email address. Instead of having to search through all of your emails for everything from Microsoft, for example, you can simply have those emails go directly into their own Microsoft folder. It’s tidy, it’s fast, and it works.

This system may not catch everything thrown your way- god knows those spammers are a clever bunch- but I can guarantee you it will make their job quite a bit harder. The more shady emails that get sent directly to your trash can, the less likely it is you will end up clicking the wrong link and inadvertently giving away your precious credit card information, social security number, or clicking on someone’s attempt to retrieve your login information! Not to mention the time you’ll save by not having to sort through
countless hacking attempts and unwanted advertisements.