Squidtacular

Most Helpful Lensmaster of 2009!

2009-08-12T06:01:00.000-07:00

As promised, the first winner of the First Annual Squidoo Choice Award for the Most Helpful Lensmaster of 2009 goes to...A_Willow.

Willow, also known as Michelle, has been a huge inspiration for new and established squids. She selflessly gives of herself day in and day out. In between helping everyone out, Willow has managed to put together a remarkable 114 quality lenses to date. She's a Squid Angel, Giant and Purple Star recipient. She's also the team leader for Team WiWon and does the majority of work when it comes to helping new Squids create fifty quality lenses as well as helping encourage Giants make an additional 50 lenses to become Giant 100 club members.

Michelle exemplifies the attributes that make Squidoo such a wonderful place to make personalized mini-sites. She's a leader and a great person.

Thanks Willow for all of your hard work. You're truly awesome!

The next category being voted on is The Most Visually Appealing Lens. Voting runs untill August 14th, so get your votes in now. Let's keep the ball rolling and recognize another excellent lensmaster.

You can visit the voting lens here for all the details.

The Great White Shark: One of the Feicest Predators

2009-07-30T12:54:00.000-07:00

I love animals. My son and I will stay up late watching Animal Planet or National Geographic. Big or small, every animal has a right to live in their natural habitat. And all of them have unique abilities and ways of surviving that humans could learn a thing or two about.

Everyone who knows me knows that I’m a freak when it comes to wolves. They are far and away my favorite animals. But if I had to choose a second favorite, I’d have to go with the Great White shark. Sharks of all types are great. Besides maybe the Orca, very little can stand in their way. They have equipment developed over millions of years that help them hunt, catch and destroy prey.

It took me awhile, but I finally put my fascination with the shark to good use. Yep, you got it. I made a site dedicated to the Great White. I added awe inspiring photos and videos. I also included tons of information among other things. I hope you’ll stop by and have a gander. Maybe, just maybe, you’ll be impressed by this giant predator as much as I have been.

Top 15 Toughest Animals in the World

2009-07-28T20:15:00.000-07:00

I’m super proud of this lens. I was watching Jurassic Fight Club with my son, Daniel, when I started thinking about actual animals. I then asked my step-son, Josh, what he thought the toughest animal on the planet was and before you know it, we had a full-fledged debate going.

He thought the tiger was the toughest, and we began watching video after video on the subject. Before we knew it, it was 4am and we were both bleary eyed but content.

For the next few days I did a lot of research. I found stats on bite force, size and lots of other things. I then put together a lens that showcases what I think is the top 15 toughest animals in the world.

I’d love it if you joined me and let me know what you think!

Giant Challenge Starts August 1st

2009-07-10T06:05:00.000-07:00

It’s the beginning of another round of Giant Squid (Giant Squid 100) challenge; a time when new and established lensmasters try to reach new goals, new heights and new civilizations. Oh, right...that’s Star Trek. But hey, the new goals and new heights thing is pretty accurate, right?

As for me, I’m going to sit out this round. My eyes are still grainy and blurry from the late nights trying to reach fifty lenses, and I’m not too anxious to start that whole process over again. However, don’t allow my apparent laziness affect you, my Giant Squid hopefuls.

Instead of going for Squid 100 status, I’ve agreed to help out new Squids as they try to achieve their goals. I know I never would have made it if it hadn’t have been for the encouragement I received at team WiWon.

With this in mind, I’ve created a new lens on how to write basic copy for a Squidoo lens. Hopefully it will help lensmasters write copy quicker, making it easier to reach fifty lenses. The funny thing about this is that Willow, team leader of WiWon, asked me to make this lens, but I published it before August 1st, which is the official day that the challenge begins. It was meant to be for the first lesson on WiWon, but because I’m a dumbass, other groups found the lens and quickly published it on their team lens, making the lesson moot.

Don’t get me wrong, I’m honoured that other teams thought the lens was useful. But now I’m going to have to make another lesson lens, which isn’t such a bad thing. I just think it’s a bit funny that it got found so fast. I never saw that coming!

Sorry Willow. This dumbass teacher will not repeat the same dopey error twice in a row.

Anyhow, if you’re a new Squid on WiWon team (or any other team for that matter) I wish you the best of luck. Have faith in yourself and your own abilities and good things will happen. If you need some inspiration, stop by my blog. Perhaps I can help in some way.

Giant squid and More!

2009-07-02T14:31:00.000-07:00

Man, it’s been an exciting day from the start!

I received confirmation this morning that I am now a Giant Squid. I was a little nervous. I had the bare minimum of 50 lenses to my name, which made me a little nervous. I mean, if just one lens was crappy, then my Giant chances were out the window. However, it seems that the powers that be liked them enough to grant me the Giant status.

Not only did I achieve my goal of Giant, but I had a nice email from James Maxey in my inbox this morning. James Maxey is an author and a while ago I approached him about doing an interview. I then used that interview on a lens.

Anyhow, he sent me an email asking for my home address because he’d like to send me a signed copy of his newest book!

How cool is that? I never expected that to happen, but James offered and I’m super happy to accept the book. I’d also like to mention that James Maxey is a great guy. I mean, in my lens I tried to be as honest as possible about James’s series, and one of the books didn’t impress me. Yet, James did the interview after having read my lens, which wasn’t at all flattering. I think it takes some serious guts to do that.

Thanks James for doing the interview. If you haven’t seen it yet, I recommend that you do. James answered my questions thoroughly, and if you like to write or are a reader like I am, you’ll really enjoy his interview. Here's the link: Dragon Age Series by James Maxey.

Last but not least, I finished a new lens the other day. I’m really proud of this one. It took a lot of research, but I think it turned out pretty good. If you’d like to check out my newest lens, click on this link: Best-Selling Female Bands of All Time

Thanks to the Squidoo staff for reviewing the lenses so quickly. I’m sure it was a lot of work, and I’m sure all of the new Giants appreciate your efforts on our behalf.

8 More to go!

2009-06-10T04:24:00.000-07:00

Most of the time it feels like I’m swimming against the current. When I decided to shoot for Giant Squid status a few months ago, fifty lenses didn’t seem like that much, but it sure as heck does now! I thought that it would be pretty easy, and that I could swim along at a sedate pace, but since then I’ve discovered that the river I’m swimming in has a very fast current, and I’m not all that good a swimmer.

My wife went to the sleep clinic last night. She had to spend the night hooked up to all kinds of monitors. Hell, she had 14 little sticky pads on her head! That’s not counting her legs and chest. And like the big baby I am, I had a hard time sleeping without her. As a result, I created 2 more music lenses that you might enjoy.

The first one is about Elvis and the second one is about my favourite rock star, Ozzy Osbourne. I plan on doing three more music lenses in the near future – one on Def Leppard, one on the Red Hot Chilli Peppers and another on Bon Jovi.

I figure the best way to get those ever elusive eight lenses is to do them on things I like a lot. The last remaining five after that will be book reviews.

I think I’m going to make it. It might not be pretty, but I’m going to eke out those last eight lenses and then I’m going to take a break and update the ones I’ve already created.

Meals on Wheels Hits Squidoo

2009-06-06T09:07:00.000-07:00

I don’t naturally think of myself as a super giving person. I try to give back to my community. However, I don’t have enough hours in the day to give back as much as I would like to.

This lens is an attempt to give back a little bit. It’s my first charity lens (it’s been a long time in coming) and I hope it gets some viewers and that it convinces them to either help out in the Meals on Wheels program, or another charity program in their community. I know I’ve had a blast delivering meals to the elderly and sick.

The Meals on Wheels program is in some trouble. It’s a shame, but soaring gas prices are making it more and more difficult to find volunteers. I hope this program doesn’t fall by the wayside because I think it delivers a needed service.

Come on over to my Meals on Wheels lens and learn a little bit more about the program.

The Race for Giant Squid Status

2009-06-04T05:58:00.000-07:00

The other day I was asked why I wanted to become a Giant Squid. I scratched my head as well as a few other unsavoury pieces of anatomy, and thought it over.

Why do I want to become a Giant Squid? Is it the acclaim or the special templates and powers you get? No, somehow I didn’t think it was either of those. Then it dawned on me! The challenge; it’s the challenge of creating 50 quality lenses that are judged by others to be good enough to enter the hallowed ranks of the Giants.

I love a challenge. I love setting goals for myself that seem to be unattainable at the time I set them, and then doing it successfully. When I started my journey towards Giant status, I had only 15 lenses or so. I now have 36 completed lenses and one month (give or take a few days) to go to complete the final 14.

I admit, I’m a bit nervous about it. I’m not too sure I can complete that many lenses with everything else going on, but I’ll give it my best shot. In an effort to save time without sacrificing quality, I created three new lenses in the past couple of days that focused on writing. Writing lenses mean I don’t have to research them, and there is less HTML work because I think HTML makes a how-to lens look a bit tacky.

Anyhow, here are the three links. Stop on by and let me know what you think.

-My Zazzle Gallery

-How to Write an eBook

-How to Write an Article

For everyone else who is striving to become a Giant Squid: Good luck!

First Annual Squidoo Choice Awards

2009-05-28T05:50:00.000-07:00

Between debating on SquidU and work, I seem to have gone MIA from my blog for a while. While it might seem like that, I’ve also been cooking up something that I think could be truly huge on Squidoo. Yesterday I unveiled the first annual Squidoo Choice Awards.

The Squidoo Choice Awards is meant to be a fun, interactive way to highlight the very best lensmasters on Squidoo. These lensmasters make Squidoo the awesome place it is, and they deserve a little bit of recognition. Hopefully, it will also motivate new and upcoming Squids to sharpen their lensmaking skills in the future.

This whole idea came from the debate on SquidU. I didn’t agree with all of the points of view expressed (which is okay, of course) but it amazed me to see so much passion. I think that’s the foundation of Squidoo, and thus the idea for The Squidoo Choice Awards was born.

I’m very excited about this idea. Believe me; I had a mega-smile on my face when I finally hit the ‘publish’ button last night. Of course, the more people who know the better, so I hope you’ll mention the Squidoo Choice Awards on your blog, twitter it, and help cultivate some excitement over it. The more people who participate the better this award program will be.

If it turns out to be as successful as I hope, I will hold a similar contest every year!

So come on out to the lens and add your two cents. Currently, the categories are being voted on. Once that’s done, the voting will begin in earnest.

Thriller Movies and Religous Lenses

2009-05-19T07:24:00.000-07:00

I took a little hiatus from Squidoo for a bit. Well, I made another lens, but I didn’t really critique any lenses and didn’t visit the forum very much.

I suppose it might have something to do with getting back into my workout routine. It’s been a few weeks since I last worked out (been a bit lazy, truth be told) but I worked out 3 times in the last five days. I’m now paying for it with sore muscles. But, no pain no gain, I guess.

However, today I did do some critiquing. I managed to get my groaning body to sit in my computer chair and critique away. I ran across two excellent lenses. In fact, these two lenses are probably the best I’ve seen in a long while.

The first lens is called An Atheist View. It deals with atheists and explains religion from an atheist’s viewpoint. Whether you agree with the lens is a personal thing, but I think you’ll agree that this lens is excellent and thought provoking. It was created by lensmaster, Kylyssa, who is an extraordinary lensmaster. One of the best, I’d say.

The second lens I found was Faces of Death. The pictures were amazing, and there is a lot of content to read through. However, this lens truly rocks, especially if you like religious culture.

I just realized that this post is taking on a religious bent, which I didn’t intend originally. But hell, religion is fascinating, so we’ll go with it.

And finally, here’s a link to my newest lens, The Ten Greatest Thriller Movies of All Time. I put a lot of work into this one, but I think it’s fairly accurate. I know I had a lot of fun doing the research and putting the list together.

I hope you visit the lenses and enjoy them as much as I did!

Top Ten Horror Movie Lens

2009-05-12T08:06:00.000-07:00

I've been working hard on a few new lenses. One of them is still in WIP status, but I just released my newest lens, The 10 Best Horror Movies of All Time. I think it's pretty good and fairly accurate, but stop on by and give me your opinion!

In other news, it seems Squidoo is having trouble making payments to their lensmasters. There are a few who are getting a bit bent out of shape on Squidoo's forum.

I'm not all that worried about it. I'll make pennies, which is okay, since I make lenses for fun, not to make scads of cash. However, after their recent glitch problem, Squidoo making late payments isn't a good sign. It doesn't boost confidence in their system, and perhaps Squidoo should have a serious look at how things are done in HQ.

Then again, Squidoo's been around for a while, and as long as I can still make lenses, I don't care!

I have noticed a lot of traffic from Yahoo lately, which is great news. Yahoo changed their algorhythm a while back and pretty much excluded Squidoo lenses from their search. They've since revised the way they rank pages, and it seems as though it's fixed now, which equals more traffic to our lenses.

It's great when I can end a post with good news.

Sock Capers, Lensmaster Tools and Jack Russell Terriers

2009-05-07T05:44:00.000-07:00

It’s a new day and I have a 50 page report due today. Man, I hate when deadlines sneak up on you! The good news is that I’m now at 26 lenses total in my bid to make Giant Squid. Cross your fingers for me, people.

I have three lenses to point to today. I didn’t make an entry yesterday because I was too busy, but that doesn’t mean I didn’t cruise around SquidU a bit in an attempt to find a few awesome lenses.

My first lens is by lensmaster SimeyC. Rush fan or not, he certainly has his act together when it comes to making excellent lenses, and yesterday was no exception. Simey actually came up with a lens called "How to incorporate cool widgets into your Lens", that shows lensmasters how to add cool widgets to their lenses. He shows you how to easily add quizzes, timelines, calendars, backgrounds and even music quickly and effortlessly. Not only will this help you make a lens that’s more useful to the reader, but it also helps make your lens stand out from the crowd.

Now...if we could only talk him into listening to REAL music instead of rotting his brain out with Rush.

On my quest to make Giant Squid, I am in the process of creating a whole line of dog lenses that I hope will rank highly on search engines because I’ll link them all together. It remains to be seen if my plan will work, but in the meantime I think I created a pretty decent lens on the Jack Russell Terrier.

And last bust certainly not least, I thought I’d end this post with a humorous piece created by Snozzle titled, Sidney Sock Goes Missing. I found this lens in the critique me section, and it made me chuckle. It also held my attention throughout.

I’ll admit I skim most lenses. I can read very fast, and can normally get the gist of a lens in seconds, but Snozzle’s lens was so good that I read it in its entirety and enjoyed every second of it. If you’re looking for a laugh, you should definitely stop on by his lens and give it a read.

How to Increase Traffic to your Zazzle Gallery and More

2009-05-05T05:51:00.000-07:00

Today’s a new day and I have news to impart!

Okay, Mother’s Day is creeping up, and my wife and I were wondering what we should get my mom. She has a Boxer named, Jesse, and she loves her to death, so we decided to make our own Jesse t-shirt, put a cool saying on it and order it. Since I’ve heard so much about Zazzle, I decided to try that out first.

After about an hour, we managed to figure it out and come up with a pretty good tee. If you’re interested, just scroll down to the bottom of this page and you’ll see it. I know, I know...it’s a pain in the ass, but that’s the only place I could place it for now.

Anyhow, I ended up making about 6 products. My wife has a fancy dancy camera that cost us a small fortune, so at least now it might see some use. I linked my store to the Boxer Squidoo page in the post below, and voila! I’m now a Zazzle clone. Not that I expect to sell anything, but like Squidoo, it was pretty fun to create something.

Right after that, I went to SquidU and ran across this cool lens about how to promote your Zazzle store. Even better is the fact that there are links within the Squidoo page to help bone heads like me do anything I want on Zazzle.

The page was created by kiwisoutback, and here’s the link for the page: 48 Ways to Advertise and Increase Traffic to Your Zazzle Gallery

If you own a Zazzle store and are unsure of what to do with it, this lens will be a really big help. If you have time, stop by my store by clicking here and have a look-see. Even if you don’t buy anything, your input is always appreciated.

Now I just have to learn how to graphic design, and I’m all set!

Beards and Boxers

2009-05-04T07:08:00.000-07:00

Lensmaster Sussannaduffy is well known at SquidU. Not only is she active in the community, but she makes fantastic lenses. She’s also prolific! She’s created 142 lenses from scratch to date. I’ve visited quite a few of them, although to visit them all would take a very long time.

As I trolled through SquidU, I found one of her lenses in the ‘Lenses I Like’ section and decided to give it a read. It’s about beards, which is certainly something I don’t give a lot of thought about on a day-to-day basis. I find beards itchy and they collect food, causing them to smell. I know if I were a girl, I wouldn’t want to be constantly scratched by a bearded man or have to kiss it.

Anyhow, stop on over to her lens if you’re interested. It’s well worth the read. Here’s the link: What is it with Beards?

If you love dogs, but especially Boxers, you might want to take a look at my newest lens, All about Boxers. I’ve tried to fill it with the basic information on Boxers, but I’ve added a poll, a duel and lots of neat, cute pictures that will pull at your heart strings. I’ve also included some funny videos of Boxers that I found on YouTube. On top of that, I’ve added some personal stories about my first dog, Burr, who was a Boxer-Collie mix.

I plan on adding to this lens a lot after the Giant challenge is over. I hope you give it a read and enjoy it!

Author Interview with D.B. Reynolds

2009-05-03T09:34:00.000-07:00

Well, like I said yesterday, I’ve completed the author interview portion of my Raphael lens. The answers are great, and I love doing author interviews. Maybe because I like to write, maybe because the answers are often fascinating, but whatever the reason, they intrigue me.

Do you like hearing what published authors have to say as much as I do?

If so, stop on by and give it a read. It’s already been lucky enough to receive an Angel blessing by Squid Angel, Spirituality. Man, she’s fast, since I only published it at 4am last night. Not that I’m complaining or anything. Hell, the more Squid Angel blessings the better.

Not only does the Raphael review have an author interview, but I put a lot of work into it. Reading the book was the easy part. Coming up with a colour scheme and design was the hard part. While I still blow at HTML coding, I think I’m getting better at it. I suppose the more I do, the easier it will become.

That’s my game plan!

Anyhow, suffice to say that I’m very proud of this lens. I hope you’ll stop by for a few moments and give it a quick read. On top of that, it's always nice to find a new author and help them succeed.

Rap, Book Review News and Blogs About Squidoo

2009-05-02T09:11:00.000-07:00

I’m pretty excited this morning. I read a vampire-action-romance book by new author D.B. Reynolds and she agreed to an interview. Of course, I will feature the interview on the brand new review lens I created last night. I’ll post the link here tomorrow!

If you’re a new author, an addicted bookworm like me or just plain love vampires, you don’t want to miss out on this interview. So stop on by tomorrow and take a look. Of course, if you have any comments about the lens and interview, I’d love it if you left a comment on my blog.

I’m partial to a few lensmasters, and mysticmama is one of them. Her lenses are always so freaking good!

As I was scrolling through SquidU, I ran across her “First Rap Song” lens, which explores the roots of rap music. Granted, rap and I aren’t friends, but it’s still a great read, even if you’re not a fan of that type of music.

Now for a personal plug. I’ve created a lens about this blog. I know, you may wonder why you’d have to visit such a lens when you’re obviously reading this one.

Let me help you out.

The lens isn’t just about my Squidoo blog, but everyone’s. If you want to do some Squidoo reading on blogs by lensmasters like myself, the links can be found on that lens. You can also vote for your favourite blog, add a link of your own or just read my insanity.

Sound like fun? If so, you can click on this link: My Favourite Squidoo Blog

Youtube featured Lens and Kudos

2009-05-01T05:37:00.000-07:00

I had a very nice comment left by the group master of Heavy Metal Headquarters, CDT, on my Top Ten Metal Bands of All Time yesterday. It had me grinning ear to ear. CDT was also nice enough to feature my lens on her group page and say that it was the best heavy metal lens she'd ever seen, and that included her own.

Here’s what CDT said about my heavy metal lens:

“This lens is superb and if I could give it more than 5*, I would :D

Not only have I accepted into my group, Heavy Metal Headquarters, but I've featured it as "Heavy Metal Lens of the Month" for May 2009.

I've never encountered such an AWESOME Heavy Metal lens :)

Anyway, for me, Judas Priest are my number 1 by a loooong way. I saw them as recently as Feb 09 with Megadeth and Testament supporting - all 3 bands were incredible, but Priest were in another league entirely m/

In fact I love all the bands on your list, but I eat, sleep and breathe metal so I'm biased :)

I'm a BIG fan of Death, Black and Folk Metal, including bands such as Amon Amarth, Slough Feg, Thyrfing, Akercocke, Finntroll, Skyclad and Akercocke to name but a few...but of course being a Brit, I also have a soft spot for Maiden, Motorhead, Venom, Saxon etc....

You said to drop names - hope that's enough to be going on with :D

You ROCK m/”

Thanks CDT! I felt very honoured. It will definitely motivate me to continue creating lenses at Squidoo.

Now down to my second order of business, which is adding my next featured lens. This lens I found in the critique me section at SquidU. It’s called Lens on Youtube, and it shows you how to create a video that will help you promote your lenses.

I think that’s a great concept, and I might use it in the future. The lens is very easy to follow, and full of information. I personally hate lenses that have lots and lots of sales modules and no information. They drive me up the wall, and you’ll never find one like that on this blog.

Anyhow, nice job lensmaster, jamiew23! Your lens is Squidtacular.

Squidoo Update and Heavy Metal Lens

2009-04-30T09:58:00.000-07:00

Yesterday Squidoo announced that they were having problems with the lens ranking system and their tech had been on holidays. He’s back now and people are feeling at ease with the fact that Squidoo isn’t going to sink beneath a tidal wave.

However, many people have expressed their displeasure at the fact that Squidoo didn’t make the announcement for nearly a week, letting every lens master stew and wonder. Others have said that it doesn’t matter and it will be fixed soon.

I’m of two minds. I wasn’t very worried, although I would have loved to have been able to join groups in that time. But I do think that Squidoo should have said something sooner. It looks bad when a large site or company like Squidoo lets people hang wondering. A quick note at SquidU would suffice to put everyone’s worries to rest.

I suppose the main thing is that it’s being taken care of now, so everyone can get back to making lenses!

I never stopped. I now have four WIP lenses, and I just unveiled a new one today, which is titled Top Ten Metal Bands of All Time. I’ve made a few lenses on music over the last few days; some of them have been ridiculed, but whatever. Hell, a little bit of controversy is okay by me. In fact, I relish it. It’s nice to see people become emotional about their music. It helps motivate me to create more lenses on the subject.

Personally, I love music. Next to writing and reading, listening to music is my favourite thing to do. There are so many great bands out there, and it’s extremely challenging to come up with a list. I spent hours coming up with the heavy metal list, but I’ll bet there are a lot of people who would disagree with it. Then again, many would agree.

If you’re interested in having a look-see, stop by and give it a read. If you don’t agree, make sure you let me know. I really do love reading your comments. For me, it’s one of the things that makes Squidoo worthwhile

The Grand Opening of Squidtacular

2009-04-29T05:34:00.000-07:00

Welcome! This is the grand opening of Squidtacular – the blog that will feature an assortment of the best damn lenses created on Squidoo. Periodically, I will update this blog and add new lenses that I run across at Squidoo.

Drop a line. Follow this blog. Leave a message to let me know you’re reading, or let me know if there’s a lens that you think should be added to this blog. After all, back links help a lenses search engine rankings, so the more back links you have (including this blog) the better.

And you don’t have to recommend your lens either. You can always recommend someone else’s. Maybe you ran across a lens that helped you. Maybe you found one that was insightful or just plain funny. Whatever the case let me know and I’ll have a look and see if it’s ‘worthy’ enough to be added to this blog.

In the meantime, here’s the first lens I’d like to feature. This lens helped me out immensely just recently, and if you’re a new Squid and you’re trying to figure out how to create some cool backgrounds or effects, this lens is for you.

I recently went on a search for HTML help codes (because I’m a bonehead when it comes to HTML) and while I ran across some great lenses, none of them were as great as this one. Sojourn created the lens, and it’s set up so that you can just copy and paste the codes you need and add them to your own lens.

How cool is that!

Believe me; if I can do it, you can too.

Here's the lens link: HTML Examples and Backgrounds

I hope it helps you out as much as it helped me. It's truly an exceptional lens.