The Topicability of the Top 100

It is the middle of May and the halfway of the month for determining average lensrank for May 2009. That helps to determine if lensmasters will have lenses in the top tier that might pay $10-$12 for that coveted spot. The second tier pays much less at $1.30. The third tier earns about what a simple click might earn $0.08. One year ago, there were not nearly as many Giant Squids as there are today clammering for a top spot. Also, one year ago, to be a Giant Squid 100 Club member, well you could probably count those members.

Today, there are so many Giant Squids that occasionally when I am making visits to lenses I encounter a Giant Squid that I have met for the first time! I find that so interesting as I thought I knew all the Giant Squids. For me, it is a little tougher to guess who exactly might be a Giant Squid 100 member -- but I'm thinking WE Giant Squid 100 Club members might be earning our own badge to sport on our profiles.

I'd vote for an orange badge as the giant badge is purple to match the purple star. Giant Squids earn a yellow star for their lenses once they achieve that distinction because of 50+ quality content lenses -- you can see that yellow star on the profile. The purple star is for a special lens that was 'judged' to be a Giant Squids' stellar lens. I've only got one of those so far for my Stuffed Cabbage lens -- now HUB!


FYI, yesterday was a payday for Squidoo lensmasters. Some lensmasters have shared with other lensmasters how much they have earned in royalties for the month of March. I haven't shared my stats online but have kept them private. I've run a debate about how much of our stats should be public. It is my opinion that some things should be private. If I publicize that I have made $2,000 in one month on my The Journal of the Traveling Squid lens, I'm afraid that might encourage more journals to be traveling around the world ... or maybe not. ;) Or, it might encourage other lensmaster in the U.K., Europe, and the U.S.A. to jump on board the project! Yeah!!!

So, what about that topicability of the Top 100? Well, I am super thankful that I have ONE of those lenses in the Top 100 -- Yep, only one. But it is my most important lens because it celebrates my grandmother Julia Nagy, my Hungarian heritage, and pretty importantly what grandma taught me to make -- Stuffed Cabbage -- thank you grandma!

This morning, I took a look at the Top 100 and am thrilled to report that some of our fine lensmasters who are also GSOs, Giant Squids, Giant Squid 100 Club members, and Squid Angels have MORE than one lens in that coveted Top 100 spot! Wow -- isn't that amazing? I've added the number after the dear lensmasters' names to indicate how many Top 100 lenses they have today -- the middle of May. I'm not sure if any of these are a second ID for a Giant Squid which would skew the numbers for those with more than one lens in the Top 100.

• a_willow
• airabongco
• aj2008 - 2
• awelldressedbullet
• bdkz - 3
• boredofeducation
• bruceeisner
• Chadrew
• chefkeem
• Christene
• Cinetech - 2
• ClassyGals
• Color_Expert
• Comfortdoc
• CoolFoto
• Crystal_Booth
• dagsmith
• debnet
• ekurit
• Ener-G
• enslavedbyfaeries - 2
• Evelyn_Saenz
• EverythingMouse
• flowski
• Frankster
• Greekgeek - 4
• GypsyPirate - 2
• hmsweaver
• JaguarJulie
• Janet21
• Janiece
• Janusz
• JimH
• Jimmie
• JJNW
• Joan4
• kab
• KathrynDarden
• katiyana
• KimberlyDawnWells - 2
• KimGiancaterino
• KinHK
• kiwisoutback
• Kylyssa
• LindaJM
• luckycharms
• Mac33
• Marc_Sandford
• MiaBellezza
• MobyD
• MrLewisSmile
• mynameiskate
• N376
• Noadi - 2
• OhMe
• Pastiche - 2
• Pixelrage
• relache
• rmoore
• rms - 4
• SemperFidelis
• sewjr24
• spirituality
• Squidster - 2
• Susan52
• susannaduffy
• SusanVillasLewis
• tandemonimom
• tdove
• The_Health_Lady
• thefluffanutta - 3
• TheGreenerMe - 2
• ThomasC - 2
• Tipi
• Treasures-By-Brenda
• Victoria_Neely
• x3xsolxdierx3x
• xrayspecs
• zuzanna

P.S. So, what are YOU waiting for? Are you a Squidoo member yet? Join me on Squidoo and start having as much FUN as I am having! Who knows, if you keep at it, you might just become a Giant Squid or a Giant Squid 100 Club members or even someday a Squid Angel. At the moment, I am a Squid Angel OTL -- out to lunch or retired, but hoping to earn those wings back so that I can bless lenses.

In closing, Blessings to YOU! That has been my tagline when I was a working Squid Angel. ;) Peace you all.

The Topicability of the Purple Star

The topicability of the purple star ... in the titles of lenses. Well it was just another Wednesday morning for me until I ventured into the SquidU Forum to find that yikes, my Stuffed Cabbage lens was a hot topic of discussion in that a star symbol had been inserted into the title of the lens after the title of "Stuffed Cabbage."





To help you determine how you would like to weigh in on the debate about showing special characters in lens titles, I have included a snapshot of the Stuffed Cabbage lens with the open shadowed star design that I currently employ on my twitter profile. Thus far, I have heard no comments one way or the other on the appearance of the stars on my twitter profile. So, I can't weigh in with the scientific evidence about that.

However, a few lensmasters have mentioned that browsers other than FireFox do not recognize this special shadowed open star! Hmmm -- must fix that!


OK -- so this snapshot above of my Stuffed Cabbage lens uses a special character star that I believe should image correctly in browsers other than FireFox. It doesn't quite have the impact of the other star and it is definitely not purple -- haven't figured that one out.

Well, the purple stars are being handed out now at a rate of 21 per week -- we will be close to one hundred lenses I think by the end of this week. I've got ONLY one purple star while there are lensmasters with 2 purple stars and quite possibly some of these lensmasters may earn a third purple star in the near future. I'm holding my breathe for a second one although I did NOT nominate any of my lenses this week.

So, what do you think? Like any of these stars in the titles? Actually, thinking about it ... I know I did happen to see a registration mark or a copyright mark on a lens title for a trademarked product. I think those special characters should be allowed to be used!

By the way! You wouldn't believe how many other lensmasters started employing the asterisk in their lenses titles. Good to see so many jumping on the star bandwagon.