Vimo is a site that specializes in "comparison shopping for health".  While I'm not interested in shopping for health insurance, I am interested in the site's other function:  Rating doctors and dentists.  I have an opinion about most things, and my horrible experiences at doctors' and dentists' offices are certainly no exception.  I reviewed one of my doctors here and one of my dentists here.  By far, my biggest complaint of these people (except my current dentist) is their amount of disrespect for my time.  Here I am, a healthy person taking time out of my day for a voluntary physical checkup, paying these people so that I can sit around in the waiting room.  And then after I sit around in the waiting room, I sit around in the smaller waiting room in only my underwear.  Jerry Seinfeld was right:  "There's no chance of not waiting.  That's the name of the room."  But anyway, Vimo is a pretty easy-to-use site and it's good to be able to see what people think about a doctor or dentist before scheduling an appointment.  The only bad part about the site is that you have to register in order to submit reviews.  But they only ask for your name and email address, so it's not too bad.  On the plus side, reviews can be submitted as "Anonymous" in case you don't want the health care mafia knocking at your door. 

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Along the same lines as Digg and the new Netscape, linkcritics (Quality News, one link at a time) is a site where readers submit, discuss, and rate links.  It's a really new site, so there isn't much content yet.  But the links currently on the site are interesting and unique.  One benefit of its current lack of hugeness is that readers don't have to sift through 200 articles a day like on Digg.  The site also claims to not be plagued by rigging problems (like the whole User/Submitter fiasco).  The site's powered by Pligg, the open-source package for making Digg clones. 

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Airline WiFi is one of those things that could potentially be pretty cool.  To be able to access the internet while flying in a plane at 30,000 feet would be a nice little benefit.  For an airline to offer it at no charge would be absolutely unheard of.  Airlines don't give anything away for free, so this would be no exception.  I doubt I'd be willing to pay money for it, but if it were conveniently included in the cost of my ticket, I wouldn't be too upset (unless it was like $50 extra).  The "Guide to Airline WiFi" has some information about Boeing's Connexion service and a list of airlines which currently have it.  Unfortunately, Boeing stopped offering to install this service, so the only planes that'll have it are the ones that currently have it installed.  Their prices are kind of high, starting at around $10 per hour.  I've already stated my position on paying for internet access, so I highly doubt I'd be willing to pay such a high amount for a single hour of access.  But again, if the price was conveniently "hidden" or paid for by my employer, I wouldn't have a problem with it. 

At the same time, airline WiFi could potentially be bad.  Email and internet are one thing.  But AIM?  VOIP?  It's annoying as it is when little kids are playing loud video games and people are watching movies with the sound on (and no headphones).  And sure cell phones aren't allowed, but with VOIP, people would be able to easily talk on the phone via their computer.  I think part of the reason cell phones aren't allowed is because plane rides are bad enough as it is; nobody wants to be forced to listen to somebody's phone conversation. 

To be honest, I doubt airline WiFi will ever exist in America.  We're constantly in a state of regression due to fear of terrorism, so I'd imagine that in a few years, planes won't have windows, bathrooms, drinks, or even seats.  Passengers will be drugged as they walk on the plane and then placed in sealed, compartmentalized containers.  Actually, that doesn't sound too bad. 

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Prosper is a peer-to-peer (or people-to-people) lending network, meaning that an average Joe can use the website to loan money (with interest) to another average Joe.  It sounds like a pretty crazy idea at first, but when you think about it, it's actually kinda cool.  People with money can make more money by letting other people borrow it.  And people without money can borrow money from someone other than a big, stinky bank, usually at rates lower than a normal lender would charge.  The rate is actually up to the lender.  This other site, www.utopialoans.com, is a group that exists within Prosper that provides information and advice to borrowers and lenders using the Prosper service.  Plus, they currently have a group contest whose goal is to earn the highest number of points by listing new loans, closing existing loans, and referring new people to the program.  The one with the most points at the end wins cold hard cash. 

All in all, Prosper sounds like a pretty cool service.  In terms of security, their website has some good security information and looks to be legitimate (VeriSign Secured).  In terms of price, they charge different percentages for borrowing and lending, and they have a few different delinquency fees.  The service is kinda cool in that it resembles eBay's method of selling and bidding:  A borrower lists an amount, a time period, and a maximum interest rate; lenders look through these listings and "bid" a certain amount for a certain time period at a certain rate; at the end of the listing period, the bid with the lowest rate is selected, and payments are automatically deducted from the borrower's bank account (that part I don't like).  Interesting idea. 

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PayPerPost is trying another rewards program for its members called Postie Patrol.  They basically show up at your house or your job and offer you a chance to win some cash by performing a trick or playing a game.  I think it's a mildly good idea, but it's totally unfeasible.  It's like that Ricola Mystery Cougher thing.  There's no way they're gonna go anywhere but a big city, and even then, it's like a needle in a haystack.  I'd love to see these people show up at my door, but that kind of thing doesn't happen to me.  I don't win things.  I'm not a winner.  Except that one time I got a free Coke with an under-the-cap thing.  That was awesome. 

But I think it's interesting that payperpost keeps giving money to its members.  The posting opportunities I've taken so far have only been "internal" offers, meaning they're things that drive more traffic to PayPerPost.  The real purpose of their service is to drive traffic to other people's sites.  The big problem with that is that the advertisers who use PayPerPost are horrendous.  Why would I want to promote a video on how to change a light bulb?  Why would anyone ever look at a website that talks about top real estate agents?  These things are stupid, and the websites they point to lack even a shred of useful information.  I'm pretty sure they're all part of some sort of social experiment to see how many people will perform a stupid task for a few bucks. 

As far as PayPerPost being the end of "responsible blogging", I've already stated my opinion:  Things won't change.  But what I see happening in the near future is a bunch of blogs filling up with paid links to other useless sites whose sole purpose is to generate hits.  Oh wait ... yeah, I guess that does mean the end of responsible blogging.  Ok, maybe the critics are right. 

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I've tried several different blog ad services in the past week, so now I'm fully qualified to make an expert opinion.  And by "expert", I mean "elementary". 

I've noticed that there are several attributes that set each blog ad service apart from the rest.  For me, those are style customization, content customization, payout amount, loading time, and profitability. 

Google Adsense isn't very good with any of these.  Their clunky javascript and forced styling makes customization difficult (though not impossible).  Their content is based on the content of your site, though it's often only related to a single post on your site, making it unrelated to all other content.  The minimum payout amount is $100, which I'm incredibly far from reaching.  Loading time always seems to be pretty long.  I always notice that I wait for pages to load and when I look at the status bar, it says, "Waiting for http://pagead2.googlesyndication.com..."  Profitability also seems to be relatively low.  I've gotten upwards of a whole entire $1 on a single day (wow a whole dollar!), only to fall to $0.10 the next day.  So basically, unless you're running a site with 10,000 visitors a day, AdSense probably isn't your best bet. 
My rating:  1/5 stars

Adster is an interesting alternative because, instead of context ads, they sell advertising space on your blog.  You tell them how much you'd like to get paid, and they try to find you someone willing to pay that amount.  The problem with this is that no one wants to pay to advertise on my blog.  So until someone offers to pay, they display random pay-per-click ads.  The random links are often adult-oriented or gambling related, so I wasn't too pleased.  I just found out that there's an option to disable adult ads, but I don't think they should be enabled to begin with.  So anyway, the style was relatively customizable, the content was relatively customizable, the payout amount was a minimum of $5 (can be changed), load time was ok, and profitability was ok. 
My rating:  3/5 stars

AdBrite is similar to Adster in that it tries to sell advertising space, but in the absence of bidders, displays contextual link ads (based on your choice of context).  The style is extremely customizable.  Content is very customizable, based on certain categories of products or services you'd like to advertise.  Payout amount is set at $25 and can be raised or lowered.  Loading time is good.  Profitability is pretty good. 
My rating:  4/5 stars

Text Link Ads is really nice, but sort of elitist.  Like Adster and AdBrite, they sell advertising space on your blog.  But unlike those two, they don't display ads if no one is paying.  So after a long site approval period and other associated wait times, I'm still left with no ads.  Their code insertion (and optional WordPress or other blogging engine plugin) is quite easy and seems to be customizable.  I don't know if content is customizable.  Payout amount is $25 for a check, and unlimited for PayPal.  I don't know about loading time, and I don't know about profitability.  I'd really like to give these guys a more thorough review, but their system just isn't set up for "little guys" like me.  To their credit, their website is beautiful. 
My rating:  2/5 stars

PayPerPost keeps coming up in my posts because they're the best money-producer I've found.  Instead of displaying ads, they let the blogger write about certain topics and products that an advertiser pays the blogger to write about.  In addition to stupid spam-like advertising such as "Online Shopping with Coupons" and "Wedding Invitations and Stationery", the site also has opportunities to write about things that are relevant to me.  Their blog gives people a sneak peak into the minds of the people who run it.  One blog post suggested that advertisers allow bloggers to be either positive or negative in their reviews, saying, "While I know the concept sounds a bit scary, if you give Posties (our bloggers) an opportunity to be completely open you will get higher quality posts and more posties will take your opportunity."  What a cool concept.  It's also an easy way for publishers to cheaply advertise on blogs.  Their blog has a bunch of other content and behind-the-scenes information about these crazy people and their successful idea.  As for a review:  Style customization is N/A, content customization is great, payout amount has no minimum, loading time is N/A, and profitability is quite high for people who can't make big money with context ads. 
My rating:  5/5 stars

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In addition to some of my recent money-making schemes such as advertising and PayPerPost, I've gotten into a similar system:  Referral/affiliate programs.  Many of the products I've tried and have been happy with recently have some sort of way of referring customers to them by rewarding the referrer.  1and1 is the site I used to register this domain and a few others.  They offer a good service at consistently low prices (despite my sometimes negative feelings).  Dreamhost is my web host.  I've been pleased for several months now (despite a few hiccups).  AdBrite and Text Link Ads are my two current advertisers, though I haven't yet made my final decision about either of them.  Amazon.com has an affiliate program (and a simple script to generate pretty referral links).  And of course, PayPerPost has a referral program for you to make money while making me money.  The only difference is that you need to enter my email address in the referral box when you sign up.  It's not too complicated.  Despite some pretty negative opinions about PayPerPost, I'm still keeping a positive attitude.  Most people's objections to the system stem from the fact that money can bias a writer's opinion.  Are there ads in newspapers and magazines?  Yes.  Are their ads on TV and the radio?  Yes.  Yet we trust those freaks to give us "fair and balanced" news and opinion.  It's no different with this.  But like I mentioned previously, I refuse to accept money offered in an attempt to change my opinion.  So anyway, sign up for PayPerPost and make me money. 

Update (2006-12-12 9:10am):  PayPerPost has a newer, simpler affiliate program.  Just click this affiliate link and sign up. 

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PayPerPost is an interesting yet controversial new web service that pays bloggers to write about certain topics or products.  TechCrunch recently wrote about this new form of blog advertising, giving some details about venture capital and other mumbo jumbo "grownup" ideas.  I personally think it's a great idea, as long as people are honest.  Unfortunately, judging from all of human history, people aren't honest, so this will most likely eventually turn into another spam advertising platform where someone with a lot of money will pay for someone else to write positive things about their negative product/service.  It sucks, but that's how it is.  However, on the positive side, this can be a really cool way for bloggers to get some money and advertisers to get their product known.  Several times in the past, I've written about products that have blown me away with their effectiveness and/or ease of use.  I sometimes jokingly put a little note at the end of my posts saying something like, "Hey I just advertised your product because I really like it.  Feel free to send me some money."  I don't think that would ever actually happen in real life, but maybe PayPerPost will change that.  TechCrunch says that the controversy stems from "the fact that advertisers can mandate that posts be positive on the product".  This is essentially bribery:  An advertiser is paying a person to give a positive opinion.  To makes things clear, I won't be accepting bribes.  PayPerPost has a very simple "choosing" system.  You can choose to write about a certain product, or you can choose not to.  It's quite simple.  I won't be letting my violent, greedy love of money get in the way of expressing my hateful, erroneous, and mostly irrelevant opinions. 

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