Anyway, here are a handful (not in any kind of order though):

• People are very interested in cutco knives cost.
• They also want to know where to buy ferrero rocher raffaello chocolates.
• The stranger than fiction watch is still a hit, even though the movie is a couple years old already.
• Readers are also looking for cheap hotels new orleans, but they won’t find that info on my site. I’ve written about cheap hotels and New Orleans separately, but for some reason, people are still finding this site when searching for all those terms together.
• And finally, bed bath and beyond bankruptcy is still a hot topic even though it was Linens ‘N’ Things that went out of business.

Ok, now I’ve got to figure out how to SEO my site based on what people are searching for. Any ideas?

The top search here at Chronic Consumer remains “bed bank beyond bankruptcy“, which was a big story back in April, and I guess continues to be a hot topic.

Other big draws include “monster energy hoody” (another post that was written a long time ago), “josh beckett pedroia necklace” (this is for Phiten necklaces, which received a lot of coverage during the baseball playoffs), Mac memory (regarding the new MacBook Pro that was announced), and “asso soap” (for all those acne sufferers out there).

I’m surprised that I have gotten so much mileage out of a few of the posts I’ve mentioned, especially since I don’t write for the search engines and don’t do any meta tags, keyword stuffing, or anything like that. Heck, I probably couldn’t have gotten the 28,000+ views I’ve had for my Bed, Bath & Beyond post if I had sat down and really tried to do it!

Blogging is a strange business, that’s for sure!

But one question I wanted to pose to you out there is: What are your favorite discount travel websites? Where do you go for the lowest prices on airfare, the cheapest hotel deals, and the best rental car rates? I’ve pretty much tried all the big sites that are advertised on TV, but actually haven’t had much luck with them, as their rates for the places I want to go to are not much cheaper at all.

Are there any good sites out there that consistently get you the lowest rates and biggest discounts available? If so, please let me in on the secret!

Showfax.com is actually geared towards actors — specifically, those who want to audition for guest starring roles in weekly episodic series. The site gives wannabe actors access to “sides”, which are the script pages for a specific guest role on a series, thus allowing them to prepare for their auditions with the latest scripts.

Sides are grouped according to the regions where auditions will take place, and currently includes the following: Los Angeles, New York, Chicago, Toronto, Vancouver, Texas, and the Southeast. If you’re looking for an audition, you simply click on the region closest to you, which then brings up a new menu of role types, such as Episodics, Pilots, Features, Movies of the Week, Commercials, Plays, and a bunch more.

Click again on the type of production you’d like to appear in, and you get a screen listing all the sides available for all the different projects currently in production. You can then click on the production name to see the various roles available, and when you’re ready, you can download the script in .pdf format.

I’m not an actor (aspiring or otherwise), but I’ve still found Showfax to be very helpful. As I said, I can use the script pages to write more accurate recaps for my favorite shows, and, since episodes are usually written several months in advance to actual air date, I can kind of get a glimpse at what’s coming up on the shows I watch. Unfortunately, Showfax doesn’t publish entire scripts, so I just get bits and pieces of info.

For example, here’s a script page from the Bones season 4 opener, which has yet to air:

As you can see, the character Zack Addy is back in the opener, a development I wasn’t expecting since he was revealed as a killer in the S3 finale. From the sounds of the dialogue, it seems that Sweets (the psychologist) will be making a habit of visiting Zack in the criminal mental facility, so maybe Zack will still be a regular after all. Again, this is info I wouldn’t have if not for accessing the script on Showfax.com.

Showfax can also be used as a tool for aspiring screenwriters who are interested in finding out how certain television shows format their scripts.

A one-year membership to Showfax, which gives you access to 25 downloads per day, costs $68. I think this is a very reasonable price for all the scripts that are available, but then again, I don’t know if similar free services exist, so you might want to check into that possibility.

Alternatively, you can download individual sides without having to pay for a yearly membership. Individual downloads costs between $2 and $4 each, so it seems that going for a membership is a much better deal, especially if you’re going to access lots of sides.

Overall, Showfax.com seems like a terrific resource for actors and writers (and even just television enthusiasts) alike. The sides are updated frequently, downloads are quick and easy, and membership fees are affordable. Check it out today!

I graduated from high school more than 15 years ago, and have since lost touch with most of my classmates. Every once in a while when nostalgia strikes, I think of how nice it would be to reconnect with a few of my old buddies to exchange an email update or a phone call.

My generation (I’m 34) missed out on the MySpace and Facebook craze, so hardly anyone I know is on those sites. Plus, places like Classmates.com charge recurring membership fees to be able to view email addresses, which is something I don’t want to get into.

So I decided to try the online version of Net Detective to see if I could use their resources to help me find what I wanted. A one-year membership costs just $29 and permits me unlimited lookups during that time period. Not a bad deal — or so I thought.

Getting signed up and entering the site were both very quick, easy processes. Once in, I spent a bit of time looking around at all the different options available for my basic membership. I had access to:

• People Search (look up a person by name and city)
• Neighbor Search (look up an address to find info about neighboring properties)
• Search by Phone Number
• Business Search
• Social Security Validation (just checks to see whether or not an SSN is valid)

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In addition, the site offers articles about how to search for info the right way, as well as a guide to getting your hands on your FBI file (through the Freedom of Information Act) if you’re so inclined.

I’ve been using Net Detective online since the end of May, and I have to say that I’m not overly impressed by my experience.

First of all, the basic People Search function is flawed. For one thing, you MUST enter a state to search, which means you can’t search the entire U.S. at once. This is fine if you have a general idea of where the person lives, but if not, then you’re stuck doing a brute force state-by-state search until you come up with a hit.

A second problem with the People Search is that you can’t enter a city or zip code. This sucks for those times when you DO know a bit more about where the person lives, but don’t have an exact address. For example, say I’m looking for a John Smith and know he lives in Woodstock, IL. On Net Detective, I have to search for John Smith in ALL of Illinois, which of course returns hundreds of results that I then must sift through — whereas there might be only a couple John Smiths in a small town like Woodstock. So the option to enter a city/zip is really necessary here.

The Neighbor Search function is also faulty. In many cases, this search simply returns information about the property that you listed in your search — NOT the neighboring properties, which is what it’s set up to do. I’m not sure why anyone would need Neighbor Search anyway (I was just checking to see what it was), but I still think it should actually work properly.

And finally, the search results that I’ve gotten from Net Detective haven’t been anything that I couldn’t come up with by simply using the Google White Pages or Yahoo! People Search. Basically, if I can’t find a person on Google or Yahoo, I won’t find them with Net Detective either. If I can find them with Google or Yahoo, then yes, they will be on Net Detective — but what’s the point of that? The only difference I can see is that Net Detective sometimes gives a more detailed address history, especially if the person you’re looking for has held several addresses in the same state.

Overall, I wouldn’t recommend purchasing a membership to Net Detective. Although they say they use more powerful tools than free online searches, that has not been consistent with my personal experience. I say save your money by sticking to the free people searches!

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If you’re a pet lover like I am, then I know you’ll be interested in a website called ZooToo.com. Even though I just discovered ZooToo a couple of days ago, it’s already becoming one of my favorite sites! That’s because it’s a very active social networking site devoted to people who love pets of all kinds, from the usual dogs and cats to fish, birds, horses, reptiles, and more.

It’s free to register on the site, and once you become a member, you can do things like create a profile, upload pictures of your pets, participate in lively discussions, engage in “Pet Wars” to see who has the cutest pet on the site, or enter photo contests. Best of all, you can meet new people and make tons of friends who have the same interests as you!

And if you need even more incentive to join ZooToo.com now, check this out: they regularly have different promotions designed to benefit pet shelters and animal rescue groups across the country. It’s social networking for a good cause… you can’t beat that!

For example, I know a lot of people like to buy diet supplements and pills online because of availability and price. However, there are so many products on the market today that it can be tough figuring out which ones are worth paying for and which ones aren’t. So my advice is to read a few reviews before plunking down your money for Leptitrex, Phentermine, or similar items. ResearchDietPills.com is a good place to start for finding these types of reviews, and you can go on from there.

As someone who has been disappointed with many diet supplement purchases in the past, I can tell you that I’ve saved a lot of money by reading reviews first!

Web hosting is one of those services that you never actually think about until you need it. It’s only after you decide to create a website that you start researching hosting options, at which point you’re positively bombarded with information. There are so many different services and hosting packages available these days that it’s practically impossible for a newcomer to sift through all the offers to find the best one — which is where Web Hosting Geeks comes in handy.

WebHostingGeeks.com is a site that provides comprehensive ratings and reviews of all the top web hosting companies out there. Web Hosting Geeks goes beyond simple price comparisons to break down exactly what you’ll be getting for your money, such as data transfer limits, web space, email accounts, and even Google AdWords credits. Moreover, you can also read comments and reviews from actual customers to see what it’s really like to deal with a particular hosting company.

In addition, Web Hosting Geeks has published a number of informative articles to help would-be customers navigate through the process as painlessly as possible. For example, their article about How to Choose the Best Web Hosting Service is a great place to start if you’re doing this for the first time.

All I can say is I wish I had found WebHostingGeeks.com back when I signed up for hosting a couple years ago. If I’d had access to all the information on that site, I likely would have gone with a different provider and would have saved myself some money along the way. Now I just have to wait until my current contract is finished before switching over.

Don’t make the same mistake I did. Be sure to check out WebHostingGeeks.com to discover the best and most affordable hosting package for your needs!