• my wife and I are expecting out third child – any day now
• my two daughters got a pony for Christmas and they want to ride all the time
• the Rotater has become a locomotive barreling down the track – sometimes it’s all I can do to hang on

Excuses, excuses, excuses

Those are only excuses and I’m not big on passing blame. My plan was to become more regular in my posting schedule this year and I would like to post a new article at least every other day – so far, I am a little behind on my agenda.

Reasons to click series

This series of posts that featured great stuff (articles, posts, sites, etc. that I liked) was shaping up to be very popular. Many readers wrote and told me how much they enjoyed the info, so I am resuming it today.

1. Awaken the Giant Procratinator Within!

Al has written an enlightening article endorsing the idea that procrastination is not always a “bad” thing. When used correctly, it can even increase your creativity and productivity.

2. How I Created a Legal Business Entity for only $125 and WITHOUT a Lawyer

Stephen Hopson writes about the things that he knows – his life. This is good information for anyone who is considering starting a new business or considering thinking of a changing their current business organization model.

3. Ripoff Report

If you have been the victim of a ripoff, either online or off-line, now you have someone to share your story with. You can also read about other schemes and scams that are happening everyday. Be alert – read the Ripoff Report.

4. 5 minute solutions

A wealth of video how-to’s to help you do everything you can imagine and some that you can’t.

Tags: procrastination, legal+business+entity, ripoff+report, video+solutions

1. We’re having a baby!

I’m not sure that everyone knows, but my wife and I are expecting our third child. You’d think that by now, I’d have all this baby stuff worked out and be completely knowledgeable about everything. And you’d be right. My wife on the other hand is full of questions because this will be our first baby boy. Where do you find out about:

• Pregnancy weight gain? I haven’t gained much but my wife seems concerned.
• Baby health
• When to call a doctor?
• Baby naming? It seems that there are some rules.
• Much more

…gurgle. That’s right. Gurgle is the name of an extensive site all about babies, having babies, naming babies, caring for babies and a whole lot more.

2. Hard to find 800 numbers

Do you need to contact a company and:

• can’t find their 800 number on their web site
• they don’t have a web site
• it’s just too much trouble to sift through the mountain of information

Click on over to HARD TO FIND 800 NUMBERS. Not only do they provide numbers, they also provide a way for you to submit helpful numbers that you’ve discovered.

3. My office is full of sticky notes

I use sticky notes. They’re surrounding me right now. In fact, the only thing that I use more than sticky notes is a yellow highlighter. Why don’t I use sticky notes for remembering that thing that I wanted to remember on that site I was checking out the other day? I can now that I’ve found MyStickies, a Web 2.0 application that is FREE.

I’ve started using it and it looks like it is going to be a great application.

4. A much needed history lesson

The passage of time clouds the memory. A little over two hundred years ago, our forefathers laid the foundation for a great nation. Eric Sanders at Brainwavers is on a mission to remind us of the true cost of our freedom to sit here and read or write about any issue that crosses our minds without the fear of being arrested, tortured and/or killed. Tune in for more.

5. Bold and shameless self-promotion

1StopForGolf has featured the Rotater as the “GOLF PRODUCT OF THE MONTH” in their most recent e-newsletter. The Rotater is a brand new, revolutionary shoulder rehabilitation and stretching device that has caused quite a buzz among those who have tried it.

Scott Kay and I formed our company (Joint Mechanix) a few months ago to promote, market and distribute the Rotater, which Scott invented to help him during rehabilitation from shoulder surgery. We have been to a number physical therapy conferences where the Rotater has received high marks and great praises. Though we have been receiving a number of testimonials attesting to the effectiveness of the Rotater, this is our first mention in the press.

We are also very proud to announce that we have been able to produce a “Pink Rotater” that is accompanied by our new “Strong Arm” attachment. This has been an “high-priority” project that will allow Joint Mechanix to help breast cancer survivors while at the same time allow us to help fund breast cancer research.

Tags: the+Rotater, 1StopForGolf, Brainwavers, MyStickies, hardtofind800numbers, breast+cancer, Pink+Rotater

That being said, here is this week’s installment of sites and articles worth your time.

1. Business and Legal information

Do you have business, patent, will, estate planning or other legal questions? If so, then take a look at nolo. This site is vast and deep, so make them one of your stops if legalities arise.

2. The rise of “neurolaw”

Dr. Vaughan Bell, a clinical psychologist in training and a contributor for Mind Hacks writes in his article“My brain made me do it” about a disturbing trend toward the use of brain scans as proof that a person is not responsible for their actions.

3. Increase your creativity

Roger von Oech at Creative Think writes a very compelling article on how to find new ideas (hint: they are not is the same places that you always look).

4. Plugins to help your WordPress blog

Mark O’neill’s article at makeuseof – Another 10 must-have plugins for your WordPress blog, lists some of the often overlooked, but useful plugins that you might be able to put to use. I am going to check out the Subscribe-Remind for soupornuts.com.

That’s all for now. If you know of any cool stuff that you’d like to make soupornuts readers aware of, then leave your thoughts and suggestions in the comments. Thanks and have a soupornuts day.

Tags: reasons+to+click, legal+info, neurolaw, creativity, wordpress+plugins

How many times have you needed to:

• contest a credit card statement
• talk with technical support
• have a unique question answered

…and you couldn’t because you did not get through to a real “live” person? Frustrating, isn’t it? Well no longer.

GetHuman.com is a web site that provides you with the telephone numbers and the directions that you need to put you in contact with a real, “live” human being.

2. Manage and view multiple email accounts from one interface

It is easy to get addicted to life online. This leads to multiple ways to communicate with people, which eventually results in a big headache. Fuser is an online service to manage your email and social network messages.

3. Get rid of your “bad” habit

Scott Young has a great article, “Tips for Breaking Bad Habits and Developing Good Habits” that has been published on Pick The Brain.

4. Daylle Deanna Schwartz posts an article about me and the Rotater

I have been corresponding with a great writer, Daylle Deanna Schwartz, for a couple of weeks. This past week she published one of my articles on Lessons from a Recovering Dormat.

Daylle also wrote a very flattering post entitled “Shake your Head and get your Butt Movin” about my promotion of the Rotater. Daylle is living proof that your life changes when you become willing to change it.

Tags: reasons+to+click, soupornuts

1. Learn a foreign language for free on the internet.

Manga Beta has launched with eleven courses, including:

• Spanish
• Russian
• French
• Italian
• Mandarin Chinese
• German
• Japanese
• Brazilian Portuguese
• Greek
• English for Spanish speakers
• English for Polish speakers

Each course offers over 100 lessons. Don’t put off your desire to learn a new language any longer. The price is right and think about how you may be able to translate that skill into extra income.

2. Do you enjoy telling all your friends about your latest great purchase?

ThisNext is a social networking meets the home shopping network web site. Basically, when you discover some product on the web, you are then able to recommend it (write a review) and share it with the world. I am definitely interested in trying this site. It makes good sense to see what other people are saying about a product before you buy it.

3. Blogs about blogging

Do you have a blog? Are you thinking about starting to blog? I’m sure that you have a million questions. I know that I did and still do from time to time. What do I do? DailyBloggingTips has as great article ( Top 25 Blogs about Blogging ). I use it as a blogging quick reference guide.

If I have a question, I go to all the blogs listed and look through their articles. Sooner or later, the answer will come.

4. Patriotism

Eric Sanders wrote a powerful article on his feelings about the American flag – The American Flag, My American Flag. All Americans should take a moment to remember that freedom is not free, it has been purchased in blood.

5. You don’t need Microsoft

How do you like having the rug pulled out from under you? Have you ever sat down just as someone yanks the chair away? That really pisses me off. Kinda like when a software company puts a trial version of their software on your new computer and it is usable for only 60 days. This happened to me with Microsoft Office.

But you know what? There are alternatives – and get this – they are free. MakeUseOf.com has a list of 6 free Office Suites That Are Not Microsoft.

I personally like Open Office, but I am unfamiliar with the others that they chronicle.

Hey, I’m tired of paying a Microsoft tax every time that I boot up my computer. I have been researching some alternative operating systems. Currently, I like Ubuntu and hope to have it installed on an extra hard drive so that I can make an easy transition. Any thoughts from you guys out in web land?

Okay, that wraps up this edition. How about a little feedback. Do you guys like this segment? Or is it a waste of my time and talent? Let me know what you think.

Tags: reasons+to+click, blogging, language+software, patriotism, Office+suites

1. My new theme

My new theme is “Pop blue 3 columns” from www.blogohblog.com. I did a little customizing on it and introduced a couple of bugs during the process that caused my blog to go hay wire. This was entirely my fault and when I had a little time, I was able to go back and discover that I had inadvertently miscopied some code.

I contact Bob at www.blogohblog.com and he was more that courteous and helpful. If you are in the market for something a little different, then check out the WordPress themes he has to offer. To see his theme list – click here.

2. Are you backing up your blog?

Back up Blog Online with …BlogBackupOnline is a great article from average joe blogger describing a new online service that does just what it says.

3. Financial success on minimum wage?

Is it possible to achieve any degree of financial success while earning minimum wage. Trent at the simple dollar has ten tips that make a great deal of sense.

4. Entrepreneurs, what’s your bottom line?

Helaine Iris has authored an article entitled “What’s YOUR Bottom Line?”. Helaine makes the case that no business has only one bottom line, but instead a multiplicity of areas that all contribute to the overall success of any business. Her article reminded me to always be mindful of the human element in your business dealings.

5. Success wanted: Failure required

If you want to succeed, you must be willing to risk failure. If you stand against the wall, you’ll never get to dance with the pretty girl – no matter how badly she may want to dance with you (unless she takes the initiative). You will never accomplish very much in life if you don’t get in the game and that requires that you take a risk.

Jon Wesley’s article “7 Ways to Overcome the Fear of Failure” offers a fantastic menu of items to help you overcome your fears.

6. Brain exercises

SharpeBrains.com posted an article (Brain Wellness: Train you Brain to be Happier) that may open your eyes to the degree of control that you possess in determining you attitude.

Tags: blog+backup, financial+success, bottom+line, success+vs.+failure

This is my initial offering of “reasons to click”, which will be a series of posts that highlight web sites, blogs, articles/posts and videos that I’ve come across and consider to be “click worthy”. Take a look and give me your opinion.

1. The suicide of someone that you know is shocking.

It rocks you to your core. What could I have done? Why didn’t I see it? What should I have done? These questions and many more will confront you as you try to understand.

Tina Fukuchi at Public Spark posted a great article – Why do people commit suicide – that addresses some of theses questions. This is definitely an article that everyone needs to read.

2. Are you looking for help with your blog?

Have you ever seen a really cool blog or web site and thought, “I’d like to try that on my site”, but didn’t know how to start. I had this problem recently – How do you put all those links at the end of each post without having to key them in every time?

Fortunately, or by the Law of Attraction, its the same thing to me, I came across Average Joe Blogger. Nathan Snipes has some great articles about blogging and how to make your blog better. How to manually add Social Book marking links provided me with the raw information and a detailed map of how to do what I’d been trying to do for some time. Thanks Nathan.

3. A couple of new blogs.

Developing a new blog is hard work, especially if you have no idea where to start or how to start. It’s a lot more than just writing articles/posts. There’s the admin, finding ideas, theme development, building a readership as well as defining your writing persona.

Eric Sanders recently did a couple of guest posts on a blog that I co-author called My-Tool Talks. Eric has exceptional writing skills and having been bitten by the “self-expression” bug, has started a blog called Brainwavers.

It’s still developing (in fact, as I went over there just now, I could see that he was having trouble with his theme – but his text was still there and that’s the important part). Eric has the skills to create something special, given a little time and encouragement. Check out Brainwavers.

Brad Baggett has a new blog going a Juice of Champions. Brad is a connector. He is one of those people who “knows people”. In my endeavors to spread the word about the Rotater, Brad has put me in touch with a bunch of people who can help me that I could never have met without him. Thanks for your help Brad. Give him a click, you won’t be disappointed.

4. The Desiderata series.

Bob Clubbs at every, every minute has rounded up a number of the bloggers from Priscilla Palmers’ List of Personal Development Blogs to participate in the dissection of the Desiderata.

The Desiderata, a poem by Max Ehrmann, is quite thought provoking. Bob has asked for bloggers to volunteer to take one of the verses and expound upon it. My contribution to the cause will be posted on October 2.

Take the time to see how different minds look at the thought-provoking work.

5. A free online money management tool.

Take a look at this free money management software and see if it can help you get a grasp of your finances. Peruse Mint’s testimonials.

6. A couple of inspiring videos.

I originally posted an article about Nick Vujicic in an article entitled “Video of an incredible person doing normal things”. Please visit Adam Khoo’s site and see the video for yourself.

Adversity University is an inspiring blog that has recently come to my attention. Not only is the blog inspiring for what it has to say, but the author, Stephen Hopson, leads an inspiring life. Take a look at this video and you’ll feel the power of this motivational speaker.

Okay, this is the first installment of “soupornuts’ reasons to click”. If you have any sites or blogs that you would like to add to the list, then post them in the comments. Let me know what you think. – Chris

Tags: motivation, inspiration, reasons+to+click, inspiring+videos