What is Cooking in the Food Topic

So, here we are folks!  Do you wonder, "What is Cooking in the Food Topic?"  Ah, the Top 100 of the Squidoo Food and Cooking Topic / Category! I don't know how many Squidoo lenses I might have authored which would fall into the food topic, but I can say that those have been some of my favorite. Favorite in the sense that I honor my grandma Julia Nagy for her love and for many of her famously delicious recipes. I've not shared ALL of those recipes yet, but may consider an ebook soon!

The Food and Cooking buzzwords ... Best is the top banana!  Next up is Cake quickly followed by Cupcakes!  Then, more buzzwords are Absolute, Chicken, Best-Ever, Easy, Salad and Decorating among others.  Fun, wasn't that?

The one Squidoo lensmaster dominating the Top 100 of the Squidoo Food and Cooking Topic / Category is rms Robin with 13 Squidoo lenses occupying a treasured spot in that Top 100 of the topic. Congratulations rms Robin!

Next up is Squidoo lensmaster Laddoo who has 6 Squidoo lenses occupying a spot in that Top 100 of the topic. Bravo Laddoo!

Holy Moly Batman and Robin, but I finally made the line-up here in Top 100 of the Squidoo Food and Cooking Topic / Category with a "humble" 5 Squidoo lenses occupying a spot.  Oh, that’s JaguarJulie folks and also there is Treasures-By-Brenda with 5 Squidoo lenses.

One Squidoo lensmaster, beeobrien has 4, followed by enslavedbyfaeries AND The-Cooking-Mom each with 3.

There are quite a number of Squidoo lensmasters each with 2 Squidoo lenses in that Top 100 of the Food and Cooking Topic / Category. They are: chefkeem, clouda9, Craftyville, danthemans, EbizTaxTips, EverythingMouse, hlkljgk, JonitasKalimpo, AND MiaBellezza.

Some 43 Squidoo lensmasters each have ONE Squidoo lens in that Top 100 of the Food and Cooking Topic / Category. They are: chefkeem, 24websurf, cbs, CherylK, CoffeeBreaker, DessertLover, DMedley, Euryale, flighty02, giddygabby, GonnaFly, GypsyPirate, HorseAndPony, Intuitive, JackieLee, Janet21, Janiece, jeffwend, jkvkdailey, Jodi_k, kab, Kate-Phizackerley, KimberlyDawnWells, kiwisoutback, LakeMom, melody-thacker, msbaby, mulberry, NAIZA, naturegirl7, nDee, Noadi, relache, riff999, Rockett, Sojourn, sonis, splendidbaker, stargazer00, susannaduffy, Sydp, ThomasC, Victoria_Neely, AND Wednesday_Elf.

Gosh, I'll bet YOU didn't know that there were that many TOP chefs at Squidoo, did you?  I do happen to see my favorite chef in that list!  He knows WHO he is!

Ladies and gentlemen, may I tell you honestly that I put off looking at the Squidoo Food and Cooking Topic / Category because many of my lenses used to rank much better in that food category.  But, things change you know?  Whilst the traffic, sales, clickouts and other stats MIGHT seem to warrant better positioning for those food lenses, something else seems to keep pushing those lenses down, out of the Top 100.  Maybe it is the absence of Squid Angel blessings or something? 

Those 5 Squidoo lenses of mine that were lucky enought to hit the Top 100 of the Squidoo Food and Cooking Topic / Category are:

• Stuffed Cabbage *
• Eight Layer Salad -- A Delicious Recipe
• What is Basa?
• Healthy Sandwich Recipes
• Chicken Red Curry -- Thai Style!

### TIME FOR SOMETHING ELSE ###

This is just one in a series of spotlight blog posts showcasing the many Squidoo Topics in the Topicability blog:

• What is Topicable in Shopping
• The Tops in SEO and Affiliate Marketing
• What POPS with Pop Culture and Celebs?
• Hey People! It's About the People Today!
• Spotlight on Parenting and Kids
• It Is All Local Folks Oh My!
• Computers, Gadgets and Tech Oh My!
• Do It Yourself this Summer

Day in and day out ... I've profiled the top Squidoo lens and boy are my arms getting tired! You know jelly bean?  Squidoo du Jour -- The Top Lens ... Curious about what's been on top overall? Or, maybe you are wanting to participate in THAT crazy Hey Monkeybrain debate of mine about Squidoo Stats -- Public or Private?

What is Topicable in Shopping

OK, OK already!  I surely do hear ya.  So  you want to go Shopping?  Sorry that I have taken a bit of a time to focus on this particular Squidoo Topic of Shopping.  To me, Shopping is like my middle name ... but the type of shopping that I do is not the traditional brick and mortar shopping.  I am an internet shopper and have been a personal shopper for quite a few people worldwide!

Turning our attention today to the Top 100 of Squidoo lenses ranking in that Shopping Topic / Category, I will HONESTLY tell you that I am a bit surprised that this Wordle resembles yet another Wordle.  Can you guess which one; i.e., which OTHER Squidoo Topic / Category has a similar wordle?

What Shopping buzzword jumps out at you?  Wedding?  Well, that is interesting I think.  I'm seeing Ideas, Best, Perfect, Fashion, Twilight, Party, Theme, Bags and perhaps Laptop.  Does any other buzzword POP for you?  That Wordle tag cloud can sure be interesting when imaging themes and topics, you know?

Here is our lens mosaic of the Squidoo lensmasters and their Squidoo lenses which occupy the most spots in the overall Top 100 in the Squidoo Shopping Topic / Category.

Today’s Squidoo lensmaster in the spotlight with 8 Squidoo lenses in the Top 100 of the Squidoo Shopping Topic / Category is EternalFlame. Congratulations EternalFlame! I don’t believe we have met yet?

Next up is enslavedbyfaeries with 6 followed by mulberry with 5. ClassyGals AND mynameiskate each have 4 Squidoo lenses in that Top 100 of Shopping.

Those Squidoo lensmasters with 3 each are babygirlboutique, GroovyFinds, SusanVillasLewis, AND TheLeftFitz. Nine Squidoo lensmasters each have 2 Squidoo lenses in that Top 100 of the Shopping Topic / Category: Bus_Stop_Toy_Shop, calendarsblog, CosmeticMom, fefe, Jump4Joy, Pixelrage, pyle_mountain, RickBasset, AND The_Party_Animal.

Forty three Squidoo lensmasters have nabbed ONE lens in the Top 100 of Shopping: 88shoppe, arncyn, Bargainista, bdkz, BigGirlBlue, cherrychavez, Christene, Christy_WYO, cjsysreform, dagsmith, daoine, ddixonart, Eddron, EllenC, EuroSquid, flowski, gods_grace_notes, Hope, ikea-furniture-catalogue, JaguarJulie, JasonE, JonathanStone, KokoTravel, LaToya998, leggleston24, Lou1842, missminny, nekoneko, Nibbled, ottoblotto, Papier, PatrioticTees, PoisonPinkLemons, sema, Senora_M, tandemonimom, titanium_knights, TShirtFrank, Victoria_Neely, Wii-For-Kids, wizzyfx, YesStyle, AND ZazzleEnchante.

Yours truly nabbed just one spot in that Top 100 in the Shopping category with Swimdresses -- Find the Perfect Swimdress That Suits YOU.

This is just one in a series of spotlight blog posts showcasing the many Squidoo Topics in the Topicability blog:

• The Tops in SEO and Affiliate Marketing
• What POPS with Pop Culture and Celebs?
• Hey People! It's About the People Today!
• Spotlight on Parenting and Kids
• It Is All Local Folks Oh My!
• Computers, Gadgets and Tech Oh My!
• Do It Yourself this Summer

Day in and day out ... I've profiled the top Squidoo lens and boy are my arms getting tired! You know jelly bean?  Squidoo du Jour -- The Top Lens ... Curious about what's been on top overall? Or, maybe you are wanting to participate in THAT crazy Hey Monkeybrain debate of mine about Squidoo Stats -- Public or Private?

The Tops in SEO and Affiliate Marketing

Thanks to that very special Squidoo lensmaster er Squidoo friend of mine who asked for a run-down on the Top 100 lenses and lensmasters in the Squidoo SEO and Affiliate Marketing Topic / Category! I sure do appreciate you taking time to make a personal request, and secondly, I appreciate the fellowship! Thank YOU.

For those of us who spend a lot of time on the internet, we undoubtedly get to hear lots and lots of information about SEO, search engine optimization, search engine marketing, researching keywords, and of course affiliate marketing.  People are always wanting to hear tips on how to be successful with affiliate marketing.  It can be a bit of a science, you know.

Well, nothing mysterious about who or what when talking about the Top 100 lenses and lensmasters in the Squidoo SEO and Affiliate Marketing Topic / Category! Here is that Wordle tag cloud which creatively summarizes all those 100 Squidoo lenses in that Top 100:

The buzzwords there include Free, Squidoo, Affiliate, Get, Best, Backlinks, Article, Traffic and URL. And, then a host of other secondary buzzwords.  Yep, FREE!  I sure do like free; i.e., free information.  You CAN find so much on the internet for FREE.

So, what about the Squidoo lensmasters with those lenses in the Top 100 of the Squidoo SEO and Affiliate Marketing Topic / Category?  Today's lens mosaic is presented just a little differently than previously.  The Squidoo lensmasters with the most lenses in the Top 100 are listed alphabetically and colorized by number.  See if you can figure it out.

Looking at all the various Squidoo lensmasters with lenses in the Top 100 of the Squidoo SEO and Affiliate Marketing Topic / Category, the spotlight is on Pixelrage who has 5 Squidoo lenses in the Top 100. Congratulations to Pixelrage!

Two Squidoo lensmasters have snagged 4 spots each in the Top 100. They are MrLewisSmile AND PotPieGirl.  Four Squidoo lensmasters have snagged 3 spots each in the Top 100. They are kiwisoutback, LuckySeven, monopoly, AND thefluffanutta. Six Squidoo lensmasters have snagged 2 spots each in the Top 100. They are Brandon_Vogel, draik, glenanail, Greekgeek, lisadh, AND Rajays.

There is a bit of a majority of Squidoo lensmasters; i.e., 63 in total, occupying one spot in the Top 100 of the Squidoo SEO and Affiliate Marketing Topic / Category.   You know, this brings up a VERY sensitive topic that often touches the nerves of Squidoo lensmasters worldwide.  It is not readily known if any of these are multiple IDs for more prominent Squidoo lensmasters as that information is not public information per se.  Some lensmasters have made suggestions on revealing that information and making it public; whilst others have said to keep it private.

These 63 Squidoo lensmasters are: 1SquidAddict, adwords-marketing, aj2008, amandakjones, Amitabh1702, AndrewMinalto, Avitosa, blogmoney, Chadrew, chrgr, Cinetech, creck, diamania, ejob, Elee, Energale, fefe, FreeBeeQueen, Giamatti, GPSglobal, henrymiller, hooman, inkserotica, JaguarJulie, JJC13, kameleon, kenc, Ladymermaid, laptopshopper, LindaJM, longestonline, lyrickat21, mommahawk, mulberry, N376, Neccia, OliviaH, oliviavanlogum, pmolinero, Police, PyrogenicMedia, redflea13, RedMarketeer, RinchenChodron, rleong, RyansCCS, Sadheeskumar, San1, sconsult, seowebdesigntips, ShaneB, sobriety, Steve-SEO-UK, StuartStirling, StyleCampaign, supermom_in_ny, tomj, triathlontraining, Trioman, wahguide, williamjfield, WorkAtHomeTruth, and Zacman555.

Hey Monkeybrain! I did happen to nab ONE spot in the Top 100 of SEO, quite surprisingly! Google vs Yahoo -- Which SIDE Are You On?

So, have YOU been following the spotlight blog posts of the Top 100 in the various Squidoo Topics?  Just in case you missed it, here are the rest of the topics that have been profiled on the Topicability blog:

• What POPS with Pop Culture and Celebs?
• Hey People! It's About the People Today!
• Spotlight on Parenting and Kids
• It Is All Local Folks Oh My!
• Computers, Gadgets and Tech Oh My!
• Do It Yourself this Summer

And, yes indeed -- day in and day out ... I've profiled the top Squidoo lens, for more than a year on Squidoo du Jour -- The Top Lens.  Curious about what's been on top overall? Or, maybe you are wanting to participate in my Hey Monkeybrain debate about Squidoo Stats -- Public or Private?

A special thanks to my Topicability readership base!  You know, I just presented my Squidoo worldwide readership base over at Jaguar Julie Blog On.  Did you catch it?  Oh, who is listening I wonder?

What POPS with Pop Culture and Celebs

Today in the Topicability blog, we are spotlighting the hugely fun and topicable topic of Pop Culture and Celebs! Ladies and gentlemen, may I say it was like rolling the dice to see if I get snake eyes or perhaps 2 sixes you know?

What I mean by that, I was thinking to myself, I wonder WHO will outweigh the other in the topics that occupy the Top 100 of the Squidoo Pop Culture and Celebs topic / category. Will it be Lady GaGa or will it be Megan Fox?  Gosh, and wouldn't that be a great Hey Monkeybrain debate folks?  That is, Lady GaGa or Megan Fox -- Who is the Bigger POP Star? 

Take a look at the first Wordle tag cloud:

Well, "Actress" was really popping out at me along with "Tattoos" ... so I opted to do a "scrub" of those titles in the Top 100 of the Squidoo Pop Culture and Celebs topic / category to see if we could zoom in on either Lady GaGa or will it be Megan Fox? Take a look at this second Wordle.

Yeah, yeah, I know! Tattoos are popping out at us. Oh gosh, YOU must surely know that I've talked about tattoos if only to do a singular Squidoo lens to debate Twitter vs. Tattoo -- Which is MORE Popular?

So, after the big old Tattoos, I'm seeing Lady next followed closely on her heels by Gaga AND Megan.  I honestly can't tell if one lady has the edge over the other one!  We can also detect Celebrity, Fashion, Twilight, Newest and Character along with a host of other topicable words/topics!  Wow, how cool to see so many topicable hot pop topics!  I enjoyed that.

Today’s Squidoo lensmaster in the spotlight is xtnshun! Congratulations to xtnshun for snagging 20 spots in the Top 100 of the Pop Culture and Celebs Topic on Squidoo! That’s quite an accomplishment.

Do you know that xtnshun has profiled many top Pop Culture icons over the years!

The next group of Squidoo lensmasters in the spotlight include wwkeen with 6 lenses; Tipi with 5, lou16 with 4, and both kab and wishfulthinking777 have 3 lenses in the Top 100 of the Pop Culture and Celebs Topic on Squidoo!

Six different Squidoo lensmasters have 2 Squidoo lenses each occupying spots in the Top 100 of the Pop Culture and Celebs Topic on Squidoo! These Squidoo lensmasters are BoomChi, CDT, Haiku, hanjee, JerryK, and SusanVillasLewis.

Forty-seven different Squidoo lensmasters each have ONE Squidoo lens hit the Top 100 of the Pop Culture and Celebs Topic: 80sGirl, arncyn, BecomeGorgeous, BigGirlBlue, bruzzbuzz, charlino, Cherrybomb2009, chrisdavidson83, Christene, CosmeticMom, dagsmith, durrob, enslavedbyfaeries, Flynn_the_Cat, Graple, isabella, j_barnhart4, JaguarJulie, Janet21, jasoncooper1, jingco, J-James25, JustBon-Crochet-Designs, juzd, KathyMcGraw, Kharadriisa, KimGiancaterino, mastermambo, Michelle_L, MikkiGVee, ojosazules, omegle, PotPieGirl, Recession-Proof, relache, rentap, SemperFidelis, shrink, SoyCandleLover-Maker, StephenC, Susan52, Suzie-Shine, teena22, Timewarp, Treasures-By-Brenda, triathlontraining, WindyWinters.

You have probably picked up on the fact that I have been profiling the Top 100 of the various Squidoo Topics.  Here are the rest of the topics that have been profiled on the Topicability blog:

• Hey People! It's About the People Today!
• Spotlight on Parenting and Kids
• It Is All Local Folks Oh My!
• Computers, Gadgets and Tech Oh My!
• Do It Yourself this Summer

I've profiled the top Squidoo lens, for more than a year on a special Squidoo lens, Squidoo du Jour -- The Top Lens, in case you are curious what's been on top overall. Or, maybe you are wanting to participate in my Hey Monkeybrain debate about Squidoo Stats -- Public or Private?  

Hey People - It's About the People Today

The Topicability blog has been spotlighting the Top 100 Squidoo lenses and lensmasters and taking a closer look at who, what, when, where, and perhaps why and how. The cornerstone of Topicability after all is "to be topicable :: that which is relevant, of current interest, contemporary, spot-on!"

Today we are turning our attention to the People Topic / Category of Squidoo.  We are looking at the various Squidoo lenses which have secured a spot in that Top 100 of the People Topic.  As I normally am thinking PEOPLE and different people ... throughout history, in politics, leaders, celebrities, actresses, models, stars, criminals and then some more people, I found it surely interesting to see this was the Wordle tag cloud today for that People Topic / Category of Squidoo.

Looking at this Wordle tag cloud, what really jumps out at me is Wedding!  Oh wow.  Wedding is dominating that People Topic, isn't it?  Then I see Quotes, Speeches, Toasts, Signs, Free, Maid, Sample, Women, Father and Cheating.  Isn't that interesting?  I don't see too many PEOPLE there which I really think is quite odd indeed.  After all, isn't the topic of people pretty straightforward?

The Squidoo lensmaster in the spotlight today in the People Topic is EasyW who has 6 Squidoo lenses in the Top 100 of that category.  That's not quite as many lenses dominating a particular topic as we've seen in our previous blog spotlights for some of the other showcased topics.  All of these 6 lenses are on Weddings and related stuff.

Oh, and here is that Wordle tag cloud that is automatically imaging the various Squidoo lensmasters who have their lenses in the Top 100 of the People Topic / Category.

Two Squidoo lensmasters have 3 Squidoo lenses each in the Top 100 of the People category. They are hanjee and ThomasC.

Quite a few Squidoo lensmasters have 2 Squidoo lenses each in the Top 100 of the People category and I can say that a couple of them I do recognize! Heck I found my name on that list, quite surpringly! These Squidoo lensmasters with 2 lenses each include audreylai, chrgr, CosmeticMom, ihearthiki, Irenemaria, JaguarJulie, kab, monarch13, photos, Sadheeskumar, spirituality, squiddles.

My two PEOPLE contributions to this topic include  Gloria Steinem -- A Feminist Superhero #68 and Blondes Are SEXIER and Have More Fun #76!

A rather sensitive topic of discussion on Squidoo is that of multiple IDs. I am saving my discussion of this sensitive topic for another date. But, what springs to mind, is the fact that multiple IDs can hide the fact that the same lensmaster is in the spotlight, but under a different ID. So, I can’t help but think, when I see a particular “topic” like say “weddings” or stuff related to “weddings” and lenses ranking in the Top 100s, I honestly wonder which of those multiple IDs is the very same lensmaster?

Say!  You did know that TOPICABILITY is a portmanteau, right? Think of TOPICABILITY as:  Top + ic + ability   ...   OR   ...   Topic + ability   ...   I hope you get that.

The TOPIC of discussion has been the Squidoo topics or categories.  We've showcased Parenting and Kids, Local, Computers Gadgets and Tech, and DIY Do It Yourself ... here is a recap for you! I hope you enjoy them as I've provided lots of Wordle tag clouds and lots of image mosaic lists of the top lenses.

• Spotlight on Parenting and Kids
• It Is All Local Folks Oh My!
• Computers, Gadgets and Tech Oh My!
• Do It Yourself this Summer

And, you surely must know, by now, that I've profiled the top Squidoo lens, for more than a year on a special Squidoo lens, Squidoo du Jour -- The Top Lens, in case you are curious what's been on top overall. Or, maybe you are wanting to participate in my Hey Monkeybrain debate about Squidoo Stats -- Public or Private?

Spotlight on Parenting and Kids

Today, the Topicability spotlight is focusing on an important topic, Parenting and Kids.  Personally, I can think of NO other topic that should be at the top of our minds.  Where do we, as adults, turn for our introduction into life?  Our introduction into how to be good people, to treat our neighbor kindly, to be a better person?  How do we learn what is right or what is wrong?

Much has been said about the fact that parents should have a license to have children.  It is difficult to be a good parent these days.  Kids have to deal with so many more issues than when I was a kid.  Not only is there peer pressure, but there is bullying in school and bullying on the internet.  It is huge how the internet has opened up bullying to not only kids, but also to adults too!  Not only are kids being bullied, but adults are being bullied too!  Cyber-bullying today takes many shapes and sizes.  You think you are safe in your homes, but that is just not the case anymore!  I've sure seen plenty of it. OK, enough about that already.

I'm thinking, that the topic of Parenting and Kids on Squidoo should be able to address many of the topics from which parents would benefit.  How to be a better parent perhaps?  Or, how to raise great kids?  Or, how to talk to your kids?  Or, kids today need better parents?  Or, give that parent a license to have kids?  Well, you get where I'm coming from, right?

Here is a Wordle tag cloud which has imaged all the titles of the Top 100 Squidoo lenses in the Parenting and Kids topic / category as of June 24, 2010.  Those Top 100 lists are dynamic, and constantly changing, usually.  So, this is the edition as of June 24th!

Don't you just love Wordle? I love how you can visualize topics to make an analytical assessment of creative content, or something!  What pops out of that Wordle for you?  For me?  I'd say I am focusing in on Kids, Birthday, Coloring, Party, Pages, Printable, Crafts, and Supplies.

A huge wow and congratulations to our Pastiche aka Lee Hansen who nabbed 17, that’s SEVENTEEN spots in the Top 100 of the Parenting and Kids topic/category. That’s pretty huge folks.  Congratulations Lee!

Coming up second in the number of spots is Janet21 who commanded 8 lenses in the Top 100 of the Parenting and Kids topic/category.  Congratulations Janet!

Bravo to GonnaFly for securing 4 lenses in the Top 100 of the Parenting and Kids topic/category. Three Squidoo lensmasters have nabbed 3 spots in the Top 100 of the Parenting and Kids topic/category. These include: JJNW, WorldVisionary, and glossym.

We have 5 Squidoo lensmasters who each have 2 spots in the Top 100 of the Parenting and Kids topic/category. These include: aj2008, janices7, MiaBellezza, The_Party_Animal, Lou1842.

Here is that Wordle tag cloud image of all the lensmasters commanding Squidoo lenses in the Top 100 of the Parenting and Kids topic/category.  Our kids are the next generation to lead the people.  Thanks and a tip of the hat to these lensmasters who are writing quality content and guides to help parents be better parents.  Yes, indeed!

Forty-eight Squidoo lenses out of the 100 are attributable to 11 different Squidoo lensmasters.  There are 52 different Squidoo lensmasters who each have one Squidoo lens in the Top 100 of the Parenting and Kids topic/category.  No, I'm not in the Top 100 there yet.  We do NOT readily know which of those 52 different lensmasters are really multiple IDs for other Squidoo lensmasters who might already have other lenses in the Top 100.  Multiple IDs are really a major topic for another Topicability blog post folks!

The Topicability Index has been focusing on the other topics or categories of Squidoo. Did you catch those posts? If not, here is a recap for you! I hope you enjoy them as I've provided lots of Wordle tag clouds and lots of image mosaic lists of the top lenses.

• It Is All Local Folks Oh My!
• Celebrating the Return of Traffic Oh My!
• Computers, Gadgets and Tech Oh My!
• Do It Yourself this Summer

By the way, I've profiled the top Squidoo lens, for more than a year on a special Squidoo lens, Squidoo du Jour -- The Top Lens, in case you are curious what's been on top overall. Or, maybe you are wanting to participate in my Hey Monkeybrain debate about Squidoo Stats -- Public or Private?

It Is All Local Folks Oh My

Hello folks. Today's Topicability blog post has hit the Local meter! What's local any way? According to my favorite Wikipedia, "Local usually refers to something nearby, or in the immediate area."

Well we are turning our attention next, quite randomly, to the Local topic/category of Squidoo. And, we are taking a closer look at the Top 100 in the Local topic/category as captured on June 23, 2010.

Yes, it is time for the Wordle tag cloud conceptualization of all those Squidoo lenses that made it into the Top 100 in the Local topic/category. Feast your eyes on this:

What jumps out at us?  Well, I think that would be Fargo, Park, Kabetogama, National, Voyageurs, North, Dakota, Squidoo, Best, Local and County for sure.  And, then some more stuff!  When I think of Local, I think Jacksonville, Miami, Orlando, Florida, Atlanta, and Georgia.  But, I really don't think any of those are in this particular Local Wordle today folks.

Holy moly Batman and Robin!  Hold that Local phone for a minute.  Check out this mosaic image!  Gadzooks, folks.  We don't know how she does it, [ah, but we really do but are being diplomatic about it all] but Tipi aka TipiGal has snagged 28 spots in the Top 100 of that Local topic / category!

Yes, today’s lensmaster that is hitting the spotlight is Tipi aka the TipiGal. It is a WOWEE that Tipi is scoring, laying claim to 28 Squidoo lenses in the Top 100 of the Local topic/category. That is huge domination folks!

Now, on to our next Wordle tag cloud ... Here is an automatically-generated Wordle tag cloud that has imaged all the Squidoo lensmasters who were lucky enough to snag a spot on the Top 100 of the Local topic / category!

Not to be out-done, though, are a handful of other Squidoo lensmasters. The lensmasters making the grade, or scoring multiple placements of Squidoo lenses in the Top 100 of the Local topic/category are: OhMe= 5, louiswery= 4, SemperFidelis= 4, and SusanVillasLewis= 3. And, these Squidoo lensmasters have 2 each: ChrisLloyd, Elsie01, KimGiancaterino, monarch13, pcuser, Ramkitten, and ThomasC.

We do have a number of Squidoo lensmasters who have each scored ONE lens in the Top 100 of the Local category.  You do know it has been a TOUGH NUT TO CRACK for months to get a lens in the Local category! And, I know what I am talking about folks. You see, I have quite a few LOCAL topic/category Squidoo lenses, but a spot in the Top 100 of the Local category has eluded me for months too!

I have ONE lens along with my Squidoo peeps: 1SquidAddict, aj2008, ArtByLinda, bobcrain, CDT, Christene, cleansweeping, daybreak, draik, EricOlsen, familymoves, Flynn_the_Cat, genglo, Hillandglen, hlkljgk, inkserotica, JaguarJulie, Janiece, JenOfChicago, Joan4, JonitasKalimpo, jptanabe, jsmyth, Kapalbility, KarenTBTEN, kiwisoutback, lumpy22, MikeTobias, MrLewisSmile, mulberry, naturegirl7, NatureMaven, NorthWestUK, OneFootPutt, Pastiche, PR_am, southshoretees, spirituality, steve866, Teddi14, triathlontraining, and WebSpinstress.

HEY!!! Let’s hear it for ALL those Squidoo lensmasters scoring a spot in the Top 100 of the Local topic/category!

Oh, by the way!  The Topicability blog has been concentrating on the TOP news of Squidoo lately.  You know, or have noticed, haven't you, that the blog is NAMED Topicability or Topicability, right? You did know that TOPICABILITY is a portmanteau, right? Here's what Wikipedia says about Portmanteau:

A portmanteau [plural: portmanteaus or portmanteaux] is used broadly to mean a blend of two (or more) words or morphemes and their meanings into one new word. In linguistics fields, a portmanteau is defined as a blend of two or more function words.

Think of TOPICABILITY as:  Top + ic + ability   ...   OR   ...   Topic + ability   ...   I hope you get that.

In case you missed my most recent Topic + ability blog posts, here is a handy listing to check out:

• Celebrating the Return of Traffic Oh My!
• Computers, Gadgets and Tech Oh My!
• Do It Yourself this Summer
• Who has got an eye on you
• The top eight Squidoo earners

By the way, I've profiled the top Squidoo lens, for more than a year on a special Squidoo lens, Squidoo du Jour -- The Top Lens, in case you are curious what's been on top overall. Or, maybe you are wanting to participate in my Hey Monkeybrain debate about Squidoo Stats -- Public or Private?

Celebrating the Return of Traffic Oh My

Some of you have been following the Topicability blog for over two years. Today, we want to THANK YOU readers! You know, writing a blog can be a very fulfilling experience. I wanted to have that experience, that fulfilling experience daily ... but something else interfered, well sort of.

You see, I have been engaged full throttle over at Squidoo, along with quite a few other Squidoo lensmasters. It's like a cult or something. It's like a huge social experiment or something. It's like something has gotten a hold of us. Our friends and families are signing up for a visit by the exorcist or something! Yeah yeah yeah.

Well, since Squidoo has become a significant part of so many lensmasters' days, some get their panties in a wad [an attempt at some humor to lighten the tension some are feeling] when the stats don't update .. you know, when the actual, true and accurate traffic stats do not post timely to the dashboards. You can usually find MANY a lensmaster behind those dashboards ... beep beep, be sure to signal you all when stopping and changing lanes. No backseat drivers, please!  Oh me oh my, my turn to drive, please!!

SO ... So, many of us will take time to submit bug reports. I love doing those because I was an ISO Internal Auditor in a previous life and I am one with bug reports and documentation ... but I don't want that to ever become like my job, you know?

The lastest on the Topicability Index is the fact that the traffic stats bug has been captured; the autopsy is complete! AND, folks traffic ... a drumroll for the fact that the true and actual traffic has returned to our dashboards. Curious I was ... so I took a peek.

Yes indeed! I can plainly see that traffic has returned to our dashboards ... take a look at the returning traffic to those top eight overall Squidoo lenses.  Here is a view of those top eight lensmasters' lenses courtesy of Squidaholic.  You can plainly see an uptick in traffic ... to some, it appears it is two times more traffic, or maybe more?  The mosaic image on the left showcases lenses #1, 2, 3 and 4 overall on Squidoo.  The mosaic image on the right showcases lenses #5, 6, 7 and 8 overall on Squidoo!

By the way, I've profiled the top Squidoo lens, for more than a year on a special Squidoo lens, Squidoo du Jour -- The Top Lens, in case you are curious what's been on top overall. Or, maybe you are wanting to participate in my Hey Monkeybrain debate about Squidoo Stats -- Public or Private?

Computers, Gadgets and Tech Oh My

Computers, Gadgets and Tech Oh My!! Good day everyone! On June 23, 2010, we presented the Top 100 in the DIY, Do It Yourself, topic on Squidoo. We hope you enjoyed that visual presentation and maybe got some DIY ideas for the Summer months!

Welcome to the Topicability blog post for today, June 24, 2010. It's Computers, Gadgets and Tech Oh My!  We took a moment, first thing this morning, to check out this category.

It was a random pick of the some 32 different topics or categories on Squidoo.  You see, we are able to look at the Top 100 in each of those categories ... you know that is some 3,200 spots which are competing against each other for a nod in the Top Tier of 2,000 spots!  That means, some 1,200 Squidoo lenses, which can make a Top 100 topic/category placement, just luck out of a Top Tier placement!  We're thinking all those spots need to be Top Tier; how about you?  Yes, no, or you are thinking about that?

So ... say hello to the wonderful tag cloud generating site, Wordle!  I surely do love my Wordle.  You know, a short while ago, I submitted a suggestion i.e. Requested Feature on the SquidU Forum for adding tag clouds to that very forum.  Oh, we had some interesting retorts, oh my!  Well, I'm still digging that idea despite some of my consistent followers who doth protest too much me thinks!  Hey, it's a good idea folks!

I was wondering, maybe you were too, what topicable lens might qualify for a spot in the Top 100 of the Computers, Gadgets and Tech topic/category. Of course I had to do another Wordle tag cloud.  I do better with analyzing some data when I can see a visualization like this.  Heck, a Wordle is perfect for visualization of data!

What is popping out at me in this Wordle visualization tag cloud are:  Photo, Best, Deleted, Top, Spy, Recover, Kindle, Editor, Card, Mac and a couple other techie ideas.

Congratulations to dagsmith who has commanded an amazing number of lenses in the Top 100 of the Computers, Gadgets and Tech category with 18 Squidoo lenses ranked in the Top 100 of that one category.  Here is a visualization of that for you -- oh, it's not a Wordle though.

Continuing through the Top 100, we have a few more Squidoo lensmasters who managed to nab multiple placements with their Squidoo lenses.  These include Pixelrage who has 5; JimH and Spyphone_Guy each have 4; jean99 and pkmcr each have 3.

Last, but not least, each of these Squidoo lensmasters have 2 Squidoo lenses in the Top 100 of the Computers category: Abseaz, Crysis, GiselleSanchez, JamesRyan, KimberlyDawnWells, margin-strategies, MrLewisSmile, mulberry, nukemdomis, str8ballin85, UltraMilk, and webseitler.

Oh ... and the final Wordle of today's Topicability blog post is a tag cloud visualization of all the Squidoo lensmasters with lenses in the Top 100 of the Computers, Gadgets and Tech topic/category as captured bright and early on June 24, 2010.

By the way, I've profiled the top Squidoo lens, for more than a year on a special Squidoo lens, Squidoo du Jour -- The Top Lens, in case you are curious what's been on top overall. Or, maybe you are wanting to participate in my Hey Monkeybrain debate about Squidoo Stats -- Public or Private?

Do It Yourself this Summer

We have passed the first day of Summer and are headed into another really long, hot Summer here in the state of Florida.  This afternoon, on my way home, I could smell a fire in the air.  You could see the smoky haze rising up from the steamy ground.  I'm not sure what was burning, or where the fire might be, but I know I'll hear about it on the news tonight.

Turning our attention to some hot news on Squidoo, today I have selected the DIY or Do It Yourself topic/category.  Looking at the variety of Squidoo lensmasters there, the very first thing that jumped out at me, was the fact that 3 Squidoo lensmasters DOMINATED that category, hands-down.  And, it is quite coincidentally the very same 3 who were recently profiled in another Topicability blog post, The top eight Squidoo earners and those same 3 dominated the top of the earner chart!

The roll call shows dagsmith with 17 lenses in the Top 100 of DIY, followed by pastiche with 11, and craftyville with 9.  Here is the line-up of their 37 lenses that occupy the Top 100:

Taking a look at the top 3 lensmasters, along with the other lensmasters who had multiple lenses in the Top 100, we imaged that in this special Wordle tag cloud:

The next set of Squidoo lensmasters with multiple lenses in the top 100 of the DIY category include GonnaFly with 4, EasyW and Hillandglen with 3 each, and then 2 each for these lensmasters:  frances, kab, Noadi, and Studentz.  Here is the line-up of their 18 lenses:

Rounding out the Top 100, are an additional 45 Squidoo lensmasters!  Congratulations to these 45 Squidoo lensmasters who each have one Squidoo lens in the Top 100 of the DIY Do-It-Yourself category on Squidoo for June 23, 2010:

alteredkat, bcarter, bestreviews1, Christene, ClassyGals, Color_Expert, Comfortdoc, craftsbyalice, crosscreations, Cyrano_Smith, DMedley, Edmands, flowergardener, freebieBest, hempnecklace, Jewelry_Girl, jhofman, JJNW, Ladybird, LeslieM, Mickie_G, NaturalMindset, paperfacets, Playstation3-helper, Playstation3-HelpOut, PopTopLady, scrapperkare, securesite, SewingSuccess, sewjr24, shauna7084, smallfry, sonis, SophiesFavors, Sugar, teg, theshrew, TruffulaTuft, valerief, VeeZoo, webseitler, WebSpinstress, WordCustard, WorldVisionary, XboxFixGuide.

I thought it would be fun to do a tag cloud courtesy of Wordle for all the Squidoo lenses that hit the Top 100 of the DIY category.  You know, to conceptualize what type of a topic is worthy of a Top 100 topic placement. Check it out!  What jumps out at me, are Photo, Wedding, Origami, ClipArt, Coloring, Graphics, Patterns, and Free!  These surely sound like winning topics for lenses, don't you agree?

Well, I surely hope that you have made some cool Summer plans!  And, if you are looking for some ideas for DIY projects, Squidoo sure has a lot of ideas!  By the way, I've profiled the top Squidoo lens, for more than a year on a special Squidoo lens, Squidoo du Jour -- The Top Lens, in case you are curious what's been on top overall.

UPDATE: Speaking of DIY, you may have heard that I launched a new Google blog Blondes that DIY? It officially launched in May 2014.

Who has got an eye on you

For those of us who are Squidoo lensmasters, we are naturally very curious about our visitors; about our traffic; and about who has got an eye on you i.e. us and our lenses! For the most part, we lensmasters like to keep an eye on stats and can often be found checking things out via the public stats of squidaholic.com. You know, I did a Squidoo lens in March 2008 which seems quite topicable today, Squidoo Stats :: Public or Private?

Squidaholic.com is precisely where we can check out those mysterious backlinks! You know, where it tells us:

Find out who is linking to your lens. Tip #1: Make sure all your other sites, blogs, MySpace pages and Twitter and Facebook profiles are pointing to your lens. Tip #2: Ask your friends to lensroll and blogroll you. Here are a few webpages that link to this lens, according to Yahoo.

Well, it was another lensmaster who had mentioned something about mysterious backlinks, so I opted to do my own poking around.  I started unofficially "studying" the mysterious blocks of backlinks that have been spotted on many lensmasters lenses via Squidaholic.com.  It was a very curious, "oh wow!"  I started spotting those blocks of backlinks on many "random" lenses.  However, what is funny, or WAS funny, was the fact that I  did NOT find those mysterious block of backlinks on any of my lenses!  Isn't that odd?

It was suggested in the forum not to worry about these backlinks and that said mysterious blocks of backlinks were attributable to lenses being "top lenses" that have appeared on the Squidoo home page or splash page as some call it.  HUH?  I was wondering ... you see I've had maybe one or two or three lenses that were "top lenses" and would have appeared on that splash page, BUT, my top lenses still did NOT have any mysterious blocks of backlinks.

On May 3, 2010, I commented in the forum:

I have been looking at some pretty interesting "stuff" that I've not exactly figured out, but I would say that something is definitely UP with the traffic being mysteriously DOWN in Squidville ... whilst I do see some UP spikes in traffic with pretty mysterious backlinks ... can't elaborate just yet ya know! I'm thinking HQ can surely get to the bottom of IT though!

On May 4, 2010, I commented again:

Well, may I say I do think backlinks have "some" impact on lensrank in that technically we hope for good backlinks because they provide more exposure for our work i.e. our lenses which hopefully translates into more curious visitors clicking through from those very backlinks to visit our work i.e. our lenses. Yes?

So ... as I was doing some "research" into backlinks, I couldn't help but notice a "block of backlinks" that seem to be mysteriously appearing, so says squidaholic, on quite a few lenses which have appeared in the top ranks of the categories ... so mostly seeing that same "block of backlinks" on the lenses which have experienced the HIGH traffic. Has anyone else noticed that? The "sites" listed in those "block of backlinks" don't sound like run of the mill sites that one would normally expect to see as a backlink ... you know?

On May 5, 2010, I said this:

Hugs ... yes indeed ... you have tuned in to that "block of backlinks" that have me perplexed in Florida today ... It is a hot and sticky day too! What's pretty odd ... I did lots of research to undercover those, but could NOT find them on my lenses ... but on many a top lensmaster with the top traffic or top 100 lenses. That got me to wondering ... how come that block was on so many lenses? The law of averages would dispel such an interesting observation as more than sheer coincidence ... you know?

Hello, it was June 22, 2010, and my traffic was dipping into obscurity, as it has been doing for quite a few other lensmasters.  On top of all that, a former TOP traffic lens of mine, which was "targetted" [or whatever else you want to call it] for others to possibly emulate and get some traffic, well that lens started abruptly on its descent into the abyss, and will soon be a R.I.P. lens, oh my!  TYVM people of Earth!  Thanks for thinking of me in that way.  You really rock!

SO IT WAS TIME FOR SOME OFFICIAL BACKLINK RESEARCH!

I spent this morning capturing actual data. What I did? I picked, at random, one guy and one gal. I picked one each of their lenses to analyze for the block of backlinks. Both of these lenses, I am guessing, MUST surely have hit the splash page of Squidoo, although, no offense intended, they are NOT your typical top ranking lenses. I think there was some divine intervention at play. But, regardless of that ... I looked at each and every backlink available to me through squidaholic.com for these two random lenses.

I captured all the pages of backlink data. Using first a Word document, I got the data into two streamlined, separate tables. Next, I transferred the data to Excel into separate worksheets. I stripped and scrubbed to get the data to be apples to apples, rather than apples vs. oranges ... oh, that's a Squidoo lens folks that I did a while back and YOU might enjoy it ... or maybe not.  ;)

Then, I started sorting and tabulating to identify alphabetically the backlink websites, along with the frequency of backlinks; i.e., if they were providing more than one backlink for said "top rated" lens. Last but not least, I merged the backlink data into one worksheet and looked to see if the frequency of backlinks agreed between the two random lenses.

FOLKS! I cannot make this stuff up!  It seems, this must have been a backlink "test" that was rolled out to specific lensmasters and specific lenses.  Not mine -- and I'm not sure if that is good or bad.  Maybe you can tell me?  What I cannot make up is the FACT that each and every mysterious block of mysterious backlinks JIVED between the two lenses ... i.e., with frequency!!!!  I have alphabeticized those blocks of backlinks, and color-coded by frequency; i.e. 1/1, 2/2, 3/3, 4/4, 6/6.  Yep, some were providing not only one, but two, three, four and even six each backlinks to those two top rated lenses!

What the heck? So, were you and your lenses included in this block of backlinks test? Have you experienced a massive influx of traffic? Have your clickouts zoomed off the charts? Have your sales spiked upwards?  Are you noticing any upticks in Google PRs. What do you make of all this?  I wonder if the "test" is still actively going on?

I find it very interesting, to say the least. Happy Tuesday everyone. It's gotten quite hot and sticky here in Florida and we will be having some nasty thunderstorms really soon.

Something is amiss at Maus Haus ... First it's a scream in the night, then a vanishing houseboy. But when his old girlfriend disappears, something has to be done. Qwilleran, Koko, and Yum Yum set out to solve the mystery--and find a murderer! --The Cat Who Saw Red!

The top eight Squidoo earners

Isn't the internet wonderful?  Well, I think the internet is wonderful.  Where else can you Google something to find an answer to something that might really interest you?  I remember back when I first found Wikipedia.  Oh, I absolutely love Wikipedia in what it represents.  A free encyclopedia of information ... no more hunting that Funk & Wagnalls Encyclopedia ... that was the reference books which we owned when I was a young one!  I see from the Wikipedia reference that "the last printing of Funk & Wagnalls New Encyclopedia was in 1997!"

I also absolutely love Squidoo!  Squidoo has given me the greatest pleasure I have ever known when it comes to the free opportunity to write about my interests, hobbies, passions, and expertise.  I've been a member of Squidoo for what seems like an eternity in internet time ... over 4 years.  Prior to Squidoo, I maintained the top personal home page on ThirdAge for several years.  I created my first web page way way back on the CompuServe OurWorld platform.  I've not embraced any other writing site like I have embraced that of Squidoo.

When I received an email invitation from BzzAgent to join Squidoo on March 21, 2006, I really had no idea what was in store for me at Squidoo.  Squidoo has come a long way in the past 4+ years; I'm glad I was along for the ride!  You know, I wasn't motivated to write because of the opportunity to earn royalties and an income; I wrote because that's what I do ... I write; I express ideas; I like to stimulate conversation and thinking.  It is then, I sincerely think, an added blessing, that there have been royalties too!  It is like icing on my cake.

Today's Topicability blog post is a follow-up to a previous blog post of June 2, 2010 entitled, "The rock and roll of lensrank." Be sure to check out that post for a data chart of the top 12 Squidoo earners which we spotlighted as captured on May 31st ... namely Dagsmith, Pastiche, craftyville, MiaBellezza, rms, GonnaFly, Mulberry, Jimmie, spirituality, kab, noadi, and kiwisoutback.

On June 17, 2010, I did a bit of research that looked at more than 300 lensmasters to compile information for this article.  I looked at the stats which are public information.  This list does not include the added royalties from sales each of the lensmasters have made from their lenses.  That is information private to Squidoo and each of the lensmasters.  Those sales royalties are like gravy on your meatloaf or my award-winning meatloaf!

It was mentioned on the SquidU Forum that three lensmasters earned over $1,000 in the recent monthly payout and that a good number exceeded $500 in monthly royalties.  That's fabulous to think you can earn more than a little change for doing something that you absolutely love to do!  I'm personally looking for a $5,000 monthly payout.  That would make hubby happy, I think!

So ... say hello to the top eight Squidoo earners in the spotlight today ... the top row would be our top earners! Across the top, left to right in descending order of earned royalties: Dagsmith, craftyville, and Pastiche.  Second row, left to right in descending order:  MiaBellezza, Mulberry, and rms.  Last row, left to right in descending order: GonnaFly and spirituality.

So take two ... did you wonder who was number 9 on that list. Hmmmm?? Yes, that's right ... you guessed it!

Here is some of the captured data that put these lensmasters in the spotlight:

The chart details the number of lenses in the Top 100 overall on Squidoo, along with a breakout of how many lenses each lensmaster has in the top tier and tier #2.  The top tier is the cream of the crop of Squidoo; the top 2,000 quality lenses by lensrank.  The second tier encompasses lenses with lensranks from 2,001 to 10,000.  When you think about the over one million lenses on the Squidoo platform, tiers one and two positioning equates to a "holy purple cow" and a "wow" respectively!  Oh yeah!

An interesting stat on the chart is the percentage of the total number of lenses which are in the two top tiers.  To have one-half to three-fourths of all the lenses a lensmaster has authored occupying one of those two tiers is pretty amazing!  I think it is also interesting to see just how many lenses an author has authored; the more lenses authored = the more lenses in the top tiers!  And, it is also interesting to see just how many other people's lenses these lensmasters have rated.  It is good to see community spirit and participation too!

Well, thanks for dropping by today.  We hope you enjoyed the show!  And, I hope I didn't put anyone to sleep.  Oh ... by the way ... Here is my Squidoo lensmaster referral if you care to join and see if you can get your lenses into those top two tiers! Tell 'em JaguarJulie sent ya.

UPDATE: Alas! Squidoo is no more and the allure of being a top-earning Squidoo lensmaster has shifted. Now everybody is over at HubPages. Some of the fun and games have transferred over as well. But, it will be a short time before shenanigans are routed out and dealt with appropriately by HQ. Oh, I was there at HubPages for a minute and then POOF! I was gone. Retired from the rat race.

Stuck on the toilet oh my

We have finally come to the end of a series of blog posts ... and for that I am particularly thankful. We've taken a pretty close view of the premium sponsored result ads from Chitika. In a sense, we will now show you that there seems to be perhaps a bit of an improvement.

We had been stuck on the toilet, oh my! What do I mean by that? Well, a couple of days ago, I searched on "toilet seat" within Squidoo. And, it was those two keywords which got stuck for the next couple of days, despite all attempts of protest and clearing the caches, rebooting, and trying other keyword searches!  So, that is the title of this blog post today, "Stuck on the toilet oh my!"

From June 15, 2010, here is Exhibit A:

Take a closer look at those results. I'm hoping that they can get to be more right; more precise; more helpful; more spot-on and relevant. How about you? Do you have any feelings about that? Yes, no or maybe?

And, now for a couple of days later, here is Exhibit B:

So, that Exhibit B was taken two days later, on June 17, 2010 and after the cache had been cleared and new keywords had been searched. Funny, I do have a sense of humor about all this, not a wicked sense of humor, but a sense of humor no less! Why is that crazy Chitika ad stuck on the toilet? Oh me, oh my! Well, at least it is getting a little more relevant you know.

You know, I know, because I do talk about A Quiet Toilet by Comfort Seats and take 2, Quiet Elongated Toilet Seats by Comfort Seats.  So, I get the subtle humor of it all that the toilet ads keep playing out for me day in and day out.

For me, if I am going to sit on it, give me a quiet, elongated, pale pink toilet seat by Comfort Seats!  Ah, what's the etiquette about talking about toilets in public I wonder?

By the way!  I want to tell you just how thrilled hubby and I are with our Comfort Seats elongated toilet seats.  You see, we have a pale pink one in our guest toilet, I originally wanted HOT PINK to go with the fuchsia-painted walls, but I thought that would be a bit too much.  The pale pink looks absolutely marvelous, my dears!  And, in our master toilet, we now have the pale yellow.  Ah, that color reminds me of the lemon sherbet color that I want to paint the master bedroom.  Now, to find time for that!

Have a great day everyone.  May your day be a blessed one ... and may you not get stuck on the toilet ... oh my! If you do, make sure the fill valve and toilet flapper are working properly for a good flush.

Would you prefer a green bean recipe

So, today we are searching for something different! Keeping in mind those premium search results from Chitika are ready to showcase our search with valuable, premium search results.

For those of my readers following along, we previously were talking about That is just plain wrong I say! In that Topicability blog post, we were discussing how I was searching for Stuffed Cabbage ON Squidoo, not on Google, and how I arrived at the Chitika premium sponsored search results that looked rather wrong.  I was searching on Squidoo in the search field to pull up my lens-HUB, Stuffed Cabbage of ALL things! That was the day that I was told there were NO search results available on Squidoo for Stuffed Cabbage and would I like to create a lens?

And, here we are at Monday, and the beginning of a new week for us!  I thought, I'll try something new!  I ventured to that search box on Squidoo and typed in "green bean recipe" and lo and behold, I found several lenses talking about "green bean recipe" that were recently updated, today of all days, June 14, 2010.  Well, that was more like it!  Actual lenses on "green bean recipes!"

OK ... so I went back to my lenses and refreshed.  Oh wow!  There in my premium sidebar column, to the right of my lens, I spied the premium sponsored search results of Chitika.  Hey, don't take my word for it!  Check it out for yourselves!

So, what do you think? Interesting eh? Take a close look at those websites ... not something you would expect to find for being an authority or expert on green bean recipes? Maybe ... maybe not?

Have a great Monday!

That is just plain wrong I say

What the heck is that I am wondering? You see, I've talked about the sidebar that I love so much. It is some really prime real estate that aligns itself to the right column, i.e. sidebar of our Squidoo lenses. OH, and there is also sidebar on our blogs too you know?

Well, here I was minding my own business today ... and I dropped by another lensmaster's lens. I don't know why I didn't notice THAT earlier, I guess I wasn't looking for it. There in that right sidebar column was this series of 3 Chitika Premium Sponsored Ads er Results. Well I surely beg YOUR pardon, but get it right will you!

This is shameful. We lensmasters pride ourselves on our quality content lenses which occasionally will merit the awarding ... drumroll ... of that purple star. Yes, once in a blue er purple moon it might happen.  And, we pride ourselves in getting Google traffic from being placed high in Google's search results.  What can TOP that high placement?  Why ADS!  Sponsored ads ... ads that are paid for i.e. paying for clicks on top traffic topics.  Stuffed Cabbage, my friends seems to have arrived in the mainstream ... and this is actually kind of funny!  You know?

So, why am I sounding a bit peeved? I'll come back later and share the other blog post about why all those ads for stuffed cabbage as that's just what I am asking once again. Who moved my cheese? Who STOLE my traffic? Why WOULD someone want to steal my traffic for Stuffed Cabbage of ALL things?

This is actually kind of funny ... you know ... and probably you are thinking IT IS FUNNY, well funny until it happens to you and your topics.  Ciao!

Holy Purple Cow Purple Stars

OK ... perhaps I should rephrase the title of "Holy Purple Cow Stars" to actually read something like this:

Holy Cow! Purple Stars!!!  And, that's what I'm talking about.  I used the cow in reverence to our founder, Seth Godin, and I use purple because, gosh darn it, he's written about purple cows and we have purple stars on the Squidoo platform.  Ah, get it?

On January 20, 2010, in an attempt to stimulate thoughtful and constructive conversation on the purple stars and the purple star program, I posted a thread to our SquidU Forum.  Here is a paragraph from that thread:

Wow, I'll bet we have well over a thousand purple stars now! Gosh, remember when we were all chattering about the effect of those purple stars? Well, I am very proud of each and every one of you who have been so awarded a purple star or many purple stars! Wow! What a job that must surely be to evaluate all those purple star nominations to determine whether or not a lens is worthy of a purple star.

Say, speaking of that ... we have Bonnie and Robin [only] reviewing the nominations and awarding those purple stars? Right? Gosh, I'm thinking maybe we could have a Purple Star Review Committee to help out -- you know, we have so many groups and group activities and what not that occupy a lensmaster's time.

Well, my conversation, appeared to me, to get a bit testy although it wasn't meant to have people getting defensive, going on the offensive, and taking sides about whether or not they thought the purple star program was working.  Suffice to say, though, that my thoughtful discussion did seem to lead to some "improvements" and changes! Yes it did.

Many a lensmaster began to trumpet the swell program with purple star topic lenses! And, even those purple star topic lenses garnered purple stars for said lensmaster(s)! Oh yeah. Then, we celebrated the anniversary of the initiation of purple stars with a day to award purple stars to non-giant lenses. Oh yeah! And, as of today, we have now celebrated a couple more special occasions with actual purple star queens handing out purple stars. Oh yeah!  Thanks Susan for the swell job.  I tell you WHAT!  I sure wouldn't want the responsibility of determining which lensmasters' lenses deserved the purple star.

You see, we can nominate our own lenses for a purple star. However, I've always felt a little weird about nominating myself or my work. So, I do believe the very last lens I did nominate for a purple star was in December 2009 for a lens that was really a project lens. I've surely nominated MANY other lensmasters lenses and am happy to say that I do think all my nominations have garnered purple stars for those lensmasters ... and I do think only one of those lensmasters guessed that it was me who did the nomination.  I like to be a bit quiet and humble about those nominations and do get a big smile when they guess it was me.

On the other hand, I do believe out of all my purple stars, I've figured out the ONE lensmaster who has nominated my lenses.  And, I still can't believe it's been only one lensmaster to thank for nominating my lenses for a purple star.  I surely appreciate my friend and fellow lensmaster, Janet, who has reminded me that we should not draw our worth from purple stars ... you know, purple stars don't define the caliber of our work, but it sure can be nice when everyone else is getting them ... you know ... to actually be included too.  ;)

So ... here we are today.  I obviously had too much time on my hands this Saturday as I was multitasking ... doing the laundry, editing my lenses, reading my email, chatting on the forum ... that I was curious after our last celebration of purple stars ... to take the time to do a descending order tally to see WHO is getting those purple stars.  OH, and what a surprise!  Holy Cow! Purple Stars!!!  I did NOT expect to find a guy on top.

It is huge to see a friend and fellow lensmaster, EditorDave at the top of the purple stars tally!  Huge congratulations to EditorDave for garnering eighteen purple stars.  That is truly amazing.  EditorDave has got some of the most enthralling lenses.  I was just remarking, I think yesterday or the day before, about the komodo dragon pictures.  OMG!  Now that is one fella I wouldn't want to encounter in a dark alley ... the dragon!!!

So, to all my interested readers and lensmasters, here is that descending order purple star tally, from most to least, and presenting the lensmasters alphabetically by number of purple stars earned thus far.

CONGRATULATIONS everybody!

• 18 -- EditorDave
• 17 -- KimGiancaterino
• 14 – BigGirlBlue, drifter0658 , kiwisoutback
• 13 – Sylvestermouse, Treasures-By-Brenda
• 12 -- janices7, kab, tandemonimom
• 11 -- aj2008, enslavedbyfaeries, Evelyn_Saenz, Greekgeek, Heather426, OhMe, stargazer00
• 10 – chefkeem, JaguarJulie, Ramkitten, skiesgreen, Susan52, WindyWinters

• 9 -- boshemia, Christene, clouda9, Comfortdoc, ElizabethJeanAllen, Spook, Stazjia, The_Party_Animal
• 8 -- 24websurf, bethd821, j_barnhart4, Joan4, kimmanleyort, LindaJM, mbgphoto, NanLT, naturegirl7, Norma_Budden, Pastiche, pkmcr, susannaduffy, ThomasC
• 7 -- BevsPaper, ChapelHillFiddler, lakeerieartists, makingamark, MeltedRachel, Mickie_G, monarch13, mysticmama, paperfacets, quippingqueen, sandyspider
• 6 -- _Joan_, CDT, ClassyGals, CoolFoto, Crystal_Booth, Frankster, hlkljgk, Jimmie, jptanabe, KathyMcGraw, lisadh, luvmyludwig, MiaBellezza, mukunda22, Pukeko, spirituality, thefluffanutta, WhiteOak50

• 5 -- a_willow, AndyPo, arncyn, badmsm, Barkely, EverythingMouse, GrowWear, Janet21, Kate-Phizackerley, Ladymermaid, LoKackl, mulberry, Noadi, SemperFidelis, Sojourn, TheGreenerMe, theraggededge, Tipi, tirial, WhitePineLane
• 4 -- 0ctavias0fferings, ArtByLinda, AslanBooks, BFuniv.com, CleanerLife, daria369, dc64, gmarlett, Gordon_Hamilton, GroovyFinds, GypsyPirate, HorseAndPony, Jewelsofawe, JoyfulPamela, Laniann, LeanneChesser, LizMac60, lou16, mbrownauthor, missbat, poddys, relache, Rob_W, Romaxx, ronpass, Squidster, strayspay, SusanVillasLewis, triathlontraining, vallain, Victoria_Neely, WebSpinstress, WordCustard
• 3 -- andreaberrios, BarbRad, bdkz, Bradshaw, Chadrew, CherylK, CreativeArtist, daybreak, DMedley, draik, EelKat, Ener-G, flowergardener, happynutritionist, inkserotica, jkvkdailey, JohannTheDog, Mac33, Macs, Margo_Arrowsmith, Michey, N376, NAIZA, ottoblotto, partybuzz, Peggy707, poutine, rms, seashell2, SoyCandleLover-Maker, voodoomama, Wysiwigs

• 2 -- AddaptAbilities, AllThingsMichigan, anthropos, awelldressedbullet, azpoppy, boutiqueshops, Brookelorren, Caseyfern, CCGAL, charlino, crosscreations, CrypticFragments, dagsmith, Dkprincess6, eclecticeducation, EternalFlame, Euryale, flighty02, flowski, Flynn_the_Cat, Freaknoodles, genglo, gkygrl, GonnaFly, GramaBarb, hmsweaver, Irenemaria, jbdkz, jeffryv, JJNW, johndilbeck, JustBon-Crochet-Designs, Karendelac, katiyana, Kylyssa, Laddoo, LakeMom, LauraSchofield, lisakleinweber, LotusPetalYoga, Loyalis, Marelisa, Margaret_Schaut, michaelgibbons, MikeMoore, MissMerFaery, mosaic, NancyOram, nyfamily5, Pantherart, papawu, Pixelrage, prosperity66, Rajays, RichLeigh, rockycha, sandralynnsparks, Shar, SimeyC, smange, squidoohelp, steveffeo, sukkran, The_Homeopath, thesuccess, Tiddledeewinks, TrinaSonnenberg, unique_freak77, vanidiana, vbright105, Webcodes, whitemoss, XP

• 1 -- 4U2C, AdrienneJenkins, aidenw, Aldric_Chang, AlishaV, allthatiscute, alteredkat, amandaquerque, athomemomblog, AtHomeSource, babygirlboutique, Barrie, bcarter, bechand, beeobrien, bernadette1, blondeheroine, Bob_Druwing, boredofeducation, burgessvillian, ByRoy, Carmel_Aaron, cary_quirkoutcom, Charlyjl, chloecavanaugh, Christopher_Scott, Clairwil, confetta, CosmeticMom, daoine, d-artist, Dawn_Mathisen_aka_Candle_Dawn, ddixonart, Diamond_Wizard, Donnette, ebay-grandma, EbizTaxTips, Eclectic_Muse, Ecolicious, ElleDeeEsse, emmalarkins, EuroSquid, fefe, flipflopnana, gods_grace_notes, grannysage, grayth, groovyoldlady, guardianstar77, GypsyOwl, hollandnumerics, HotbuttonPress, icjackson, imaginemdd, IntuitiveHealer, JanaMurray, JanTUB, Janusz, jeffwend, JenniferAkers, JenOfChicago, JimH, kajohu, KarateKatGraphics, KathrynDarden, kcbaker1, kellywissink, Kelsey-Budden-16, Kharadriisa, KimberlyDawnWells, KNicholls, Lady_Gotrocks, lollyj, Lou1842, lwhitelaw, Magicality, marsha32, MeganCasey, MobyD, motorpurrr, MrLewisSmile, Mrs_R, MsSnow4a, mynameiskate, nDee, nightbear, nightcats, Not-Pop, ohcaroline, OneFootPutt, oneskms, only1bub, PatinKC, PeopleLive, Photahsiamirabel, PJ_Deneen, pmolinero, puzzlemaker, pyle_mountain, QueSea, Rewards4life, RickBasset, RinchenChodron, rksmythe, rlmodranski, RMJ1940, Roving_Band, Samanthie, Sammie, SandraRose, Sarah, seedplanter, seegreen, SeeMyHealthyHairGrow, SherryHolderHunt, ShirlW, shwetashah, sirkeystone, SquidooKimberly, StaciJansma, Superwife, Tallguy2, TeaLady, Teddi14, The_Health_Lady, TheLeftFitz, thrivingmom, Tiffany, TopMovieSoundtracks, Trekkiemelissa, tssfacts, Twmarsh, ulla_hennig, Vacation-In-My-Head, Vladi, Waxing-Lyrical, weavz, webnh, webseitler, WeddingZazzle, Wednesday_Elf, WendyKrick, WhippetTalk, WhitneyWells, WhitU4ever, Winter52, xtnshun, ZachG

As of June 5, 2010, the list shows 1,267 purple stars have been awarded in total.  The majority of purple stars have been awarded to lensmasters who are giant squids.  The purple star is awarded to lenses with quality content. There are only a limited number of purple stars handed out on a weekly basis.  Many, many more lenses are deserving of purple stars.  To be awarded a purple star, your lens must be nominated!