Predict Baby Eye Colour in Decoded Pregnancy

My first Decoded Pregnancy article was published a day after they launched into cyberspace.

“What Eye Color Will My Baby Have? Math For Pregnancy Prediction” covers the odds for your baby’s eye colour. That, of course, depends on the parents as well as the luck of genetic inheritance.

Can Genetics and Math Predict Baby Eye Colour?

“Simple Baby Eye Color Predictor” : image by Mike DeHaan

My expertise is with the math for a “baby eye colour predictor”, but the genetics portion is fairly simple research.

I was amazed at how many people seem to be searching for ways to predict different characteristics about their yet-to-be-born infants. Maybe there are a few more articles in the works for those topics.

Publicity for Baby Eye Colour Prediction

As always, I publicize this article with a Canadian twist in DeHaan Services. “Predicting Baby Eye Colour during Pregnancy” adds some pointers for Canadian women looking for non-medical support from a trained professional.

As well, in my Blog of Writing, “Preview of Three Pregnancy Predictors“, my clear-eyed writing tip explains how the word “three” was what I intended, and why the article only discusses predicting baby eye colour during pregnancy.

(Updated June 22, 2013): Just as an experiment with this WordPress site, I’ve applied “full justification” to all the text of this article See “A Weebly Tip to Justify Text in an Online Blog” for more details about how to justify text in online articles.

Toronto Casino Consultation Links and Background

To paraphrase a commercial, “I don’t often add an article on this site, but when I do, I think it’s an important topic”.

In January of 2013, an important topic for the Canadian city of Toronto is whether to allow the Ontario Lottery and Gaming Coporation (OLG) to build a casino in downtown Toronto.

Good or Bad Idea: a Casino in Toronto?

“Toronto Skyline from Billy Bishop Airport” image by beachdigital (George Socka)

My latest DeHaan Services post, “OLG Proposal and Links to Toronto Casino Consultation“, provides links to the background documents, my comments on some of that information, and the extremely useful link to the online feedback page.

As a bonus, it even lists the dates for public consultation meetings on the subject of the proposed Toronto casino.

As always, my articles are publicized in my Xanga blog (“Background for the Toronto Casino Proposal“) as well as with a writing tip in my Blog of Writing (“How to Respond in the Toronto Casino Consultation“).

The Math Making a Business Case out of the Casino Proposal

(Added Jan. 20, 2012): My Decoded Science article, “A Sample Case Study of Math for a Casino Business Proposal“, uses simple mathematics and spreadsheets to analyze part of the OLG proposal for a casino in Toronto.

The main focus is on the “hosting fee” which OLG pays to every municipality where they have a gaming facility, such as slot machines or table games.

Toronto published a report about the bid, which included a range of possible hosting fees. My article grew from reviewing the official report and the background data. I pre-publicized my Decoded Science article in “Preview of Math for the Toronto Casino Proposal“. It was a pre-publication preview because it included my original artwork: the spreadsheets showing the hosting fee and other calculations discussed in the text of the main article.

This is an important civic issue about the role of gambling in an urban setting; whether it constitutes a regressive tax on gambling addicts or merely an entertainment activity for discretionary spending; and how to examine a business promise for feasibility and consistency.

2011 MCC Quilt Auction at Black Creek Pioneer Village is a Toronto Event

The New Black Creek Pioneer Village Relief Sale Web Site has Opened

Please head for the official site of the Ontario Toronto Mennonite Festival (Black Creek Pioneer Village Relief Sale).

This Event was a Success on Sept. 17, 2011

My DeHaan Services blog includes the category, “Toronto Events”.  See you next year!

2011 MCC Quilt Auction and Relief Sale at Black Creek Pioneer Village, Toronto

My “The 2011 MCC Quilt Auction and Relief Sale Event at Black Creek Pioneer Village” article promotes this Toronto event. It is an important annual fundraiser for MCC, an international aid and relief organization.

“Hand-Made Ice Cream”

My article also introduces MCC as well as Black Creek Pioneer Village. Tourists will find the directions, date and time, and cost information especially useful.

Although this Directory puts my article simply into the “article” category, it happens that I invest time and effort into the annual MCC Quilt Auction and Relief Sale at Black Creek Pioneer Village as a volunteer.

Crude Oil Prices and Refined Gasoline Costs

Do Crude Oil Costs Give Consumers Gas Pains?

I wanted to put extra emphasis on my latest Suite 101 article, “Is Demand for Scarce Crude Oil the Only Cause of High Gas Prices?“.

“Worship the Oil Derrick” by skampy

When we drive up our demand for dwindling reserves of crude oil, we know this may drive up the price of gasoline. Does anything else contribute to setting gas prices? Can we drivers possibly reduce our own gas costs, or the price of gas at the pumps? Or does OPEC completely control crude oil prices, and thus set gasoline prices worldwide?

Promoting My “…High Gas Prices” Article Elsewhere

At first the heading was “Promoting “…High Gas Prices“; that did not carry my message.

I always promote my online articles by publicizing them in two of my other sites.

DeHaan Services simply notes the article in “Linking Gas Prices and Crude Oil Prices“. This publicity mainly serves to let readers know that I provide copy writing services (among others).

My Blog of Writing‘s entry “Crude Oil Prices and Gas Prices are the Keywords” continues my tradition of including some writing tips for Internet authors.

Introducing the DeHaan Fitness Site

My recent “DeHaan Fitness and Weight Control” blog on Blogspot was launched without being properly welcomed here in the DeHaan Directory. That’s a shameful admission in an age when all content must be promoted and cross-referenced to within a centimetre of its digital life.

Primary Purpose for the DeHaan Fitness and Weight Control Site

To quote myself, my primary goal for that site is to “help visitors with useful fitness and weight control information”.

Accidental Cross-Training Led to a Deliberate Article

My “Fortunately Running is Cross-Training for Cycling” relates how I, a runner, came to be involved in a 100Km (Americans should think “60 miles”) bicycle ride with a group of friends. My article includes comments and a tip on cross-training.

 

"Mike DeHaan as a Cyclist" by Roger Horst

So I took advantage of that experience to write an article. It is important to freshen every web site with new content. Fitness is very relevant to that site, and personal experience as a participant can be a refreshingly helpful perspective when someone becomes too comfortable as a “coach” or “trainer”.

Temporary Tests for MCC Black Creek Pioneer Village

I’ve added a new page, with sub-pages, and changed the WordPress theme from “Spectrum” to “Elegant Grunge” while I prepare to copy the MCC (Mennonite Central Committee) Toronto Mennonite Festival (Black Creek Pioneer Village Relief Sale) (BCPV) site from another platform to WordPress.

MCC (Canada) is a Mennonite relief organization. The BCPV Relief Sale is one of their many fund-raising events, held every September in Toronto.

My apologies to anyone who dislikes the change. It is necessary because the “Spectrum” theme does not support sub-pages, at least not without tweaking.

Plus a New Permanent Page

I am also adding the “Directory of DeHaan Web Sites” page to this site. This is a no-brainer; it perfectly fulfills the purpose of this site.

So, why has it taken me over a month to think of doing it?

Web Design Tip: Remember to do the obvious, especially after getting past the tricky technical tasks.

WordPress Web Design Tip

Two really important web design decisions are:

• How many columns?
• How many sub-pages?

Some bloggers may hardly notice whether they are dealing with one, two or three columns; at least, not at a conscious level. It is a pretty obvious feature, so it will get some attention. This site has two columns.

The number of sub-pages can be critical to business sites. A blogger might get away with the main blog, plus an “About” page. A business might want “About”, “Sales”, “Service” and “Contact” as separate main pages, and then a series of sub-pages for each. For example, “About: History”, “About: Founders”, “About: Community Involvement” may follow under “About”. Each product line might have a separate sub-page under “Sales”.

For an information site, such as the MCC BCPV site, it is important to organize the pages to lead visitors to easily find the information they need, while also supporting casual browsing from page to page.

You could refer to my DeHaan Services site for an example of three columns and sub-pages under “About”.

Two New Posts at Decoded Science: Curcumin and Fibonacci

The Claims for Curcumin

My “Brief Survey of the Health Benefits of Curcumin” was my first article in the Health section of Decoded Science. As noted in my Weebly article, “Curry Versus Cancer via the Curcumin in Turmeric“, this D.S. article was actually one of three based on research into turmeric, curcumin and related health claims.

"Powdered Turmeric Spice" by Cherrie Rhodes

The Fibonacci Sequence

I also followed up in the Mathematics section with “Introducing the Fibonacci Sequence“.

"Floral Fibonacci Number" by Mike DeHaan

Fibonacci numbers arise in a variety of lifeforms, including flower petals. The Fibonacci sequence is a gateway to several important concepts in mathematics. This article explains how to calculate Fibonacci numbers.

I publicized this article in my DeHaan Services home site in the blog post “The Fibonacci Sequence at Decoded Science“.

Business Tips for Freelance Writing

Note that I use a variety of blog sites to publicize and provide backlinks to my freelance articles. The hope is that these links will drive traffic to the articles, whether by people who read and click through, or by giving more “search engine credibility” to the original article.

The Tesseract is Published at Decoded Science

Today my first article, “The Tesseract: Folding and Unfolding a Simple 4D Hypercube” was published on the new site, “Decoded Science“.

"Eight Cell Tesseract Image" by mmhydrazinen04

My article provides an easy introduction to the tesseract, with some fascinating visuals.

Freelancer Tips

This tip for freelance professionals comes in two parts.

First, look for new opportunities. Decoded Science was started by one of the Suite 101 writers who believed that there was a great business opportunity in starting a new, tightly-focused web site. This would be especially true since Google’s “Panda” (or “farmer”) change in late February had penalized Suite 101, among other sites.

Second, build good relationships with peers. Several of Decoded Science‘s first contributors are freelance writers who regularly submit articles to Suite 101. The invitation to collaborate in the new venture depended on being recognized in a previous setting.

The Launch of the “DeHaan Fitness and Weight Control Blog”

What is the “DeHaan Fitness and Weight Control Blog”?

My new blog, “DeHaan Fitness and Weight Control Blog” has been launched on Google’s Blogger platform.

When is it Available?

Today, May 6, 2011, witnessed the first blog post and the first draft of the “About” page.

What Does it Cover?

So far, so little. The three goals of that blog site are: to serve readers with interesting and useful information about fitness and weight control; to promote DeHaan Services, which customizes fitness and weight control programs; and to point to other articles on related subjects.

Why Mention the “DeHaan Fitness and Weight Control Blog” on this Business Page?

The business tip is: Add a blog to publicize your business. Try to build readership, even if it is outside of your primary business site.

Why not simply blog on the DeHaan Services site? First, because these articles should target two audiences: local Torontonians living in the Beach or Little India who may become in-person clients; as well as readers interested in the fitness and weight control topics. Second, to provide more links to more articles that I write elsewhere. Third, this site should also become monetized in the future, so even general readership should add to my revenue stream.

Remember that search engines reward intelligently constructed links, and also reward sites with topic-specific URLs. Setting up a blog for a specific niche can provide healthy marketing at no cost in cash and a little in time and effort.

Monetizing Blogs with Kontera

I recently signed up with, and began using, Kontera for in-text advertising in my Weebly Writing blog and on the DeHaan Services site.

Kontera serves context-smart advertising by creating a link on key words inside the text of an article. Each ad is shown with double-underline and a colour that may be adjusted to contrast with the site’s usual link colours. Kontera also supports fine-tuning: one may refuse ads from specific sites; one may turn off advertising in specific sections of the article or page; one may tune the density of the ads.

Comparing Kontera with AdSense

Kontera differs from Google’s AdSense advertising, since AdSense places advertising boxes outside the text, usually in the margins of the page. Kontera and AdSense may co-exist on one page, since they use different areas of the web page.

Like AdSense, Kontera does not support pornographic or spam sites. Unlike AdSense, however, Kontera is willing to work with any site regardless of how poorly it has been visited.

Notes on Kontera

As mentioned, one Kontera account can serve advertising on multiple sites. For the publisher to track performance by site, they give a different account/site number for each.

One surprise is that Kontera wants to know your site’s topic; by default, that topic will apply to all your sites. I have not asked them to support different topics for the different sites. For example, I chose the “health” topic for DeHaan Services because it anchors my fitness and weight control business. That means, however, that when I add a blog post about an article on the Sacred Ibis, Kontera will not feed ads into it.

Since this DeHaan Directory is a non-premium WordPress blog, I am not permitted to monetize it with Kontera…or with AdSense, or by any other means.

Mike DeHaan (Credit: Action Sports International, during a race)

Hint: Pursue the Opportunity

If you write and publish online, with control over your own headers and footers so you are can monetize this site, consider adding Kontera in-text advertising.