Logo Design Contest

Finally a competition has reached The S-Bend. And it is a very simple one.

A Logo... a symbol that is recognized as the face of a company, or in this case this blog. Everyone needs one, but most are of poor quality. Today is the day that this will change, or at least in the near future.

The Competition
What do you have to do?
Design me a logo which I can use. It should radiate the feel of The S-Bend. Something fairly simple would suffice, but if you want to be really extravagent, that is your decision.

The Prize
Their are two sections to the prive, although I'm sure they are not as fancy as you were hoping (eg. I am not giving away any money!). The first stage is that I will put your design on The S-Bend as a feature point, and as many times as possible. I'm sure this could be a bragging point amongst friends.
The second section involves merchandise. When I have chosen the winner, then their design will be placed on T-Shirts, Mugs, Caps, and all kinds of other fun stuff. I will be using CafePress for this task (take a look at my store --Caution: it is still in development--).
So, there is nothing you will actually be getting if you win, except for the honour, and the sense of worth that naturally come with it.

How do you enter?
This too is very simple. You can either email me with your contact details and the design at russegan_7@hotmail.com or you can leave the same things in a comment at the bottem of this page.

So, get too it, start creating. Anyone can enter with any image they like (as long as its your own and not copywrited). Have fun!

Categories: Design, Contest, Competition

Religious Bloggers

I have been astonished at the amount of blogs that are dedicated purely to religion, by religious fanatics (maybe this is too strong a word). Sometimes I feel as though another Christian Crusade is happening... not to destroy the infidel, but to completely saturate the industry.

Even the alias' of some of these people astound me

• Modern Day Magi
• Puritan Belief

Why people feel that they need to spend 80% of their day quoting the Bible puzzles me. Go ahead and be with your God, but don't bore me with centuries old quotes. Call me a heathan or a heritic if you want. Condem me to hell if you feel like it, but leave me be!

Categories: Religion, Bloggers, Rants

Infamous Cartoon and reaction stereotypes Muslims

There has been a lot of controversy surrounding a cartoon portraying the prophet Mohammed, but it is the reaction to this that really concerns me.

Numerous deaths, several embassy fires, and world wide discontent.
Media generalization, public views about Muslims, and a 'social ban' on offensive material.

There is no need to start beating and killing people just because you disagree with a drawing made by someone who is the same nationality. Yet, in turn, the media should not be showing all people of the Muslim faith as violent and destructive. There are people in every culture, including ours, that are social misfits (eg. thugs, criminals, murderers).

Even so I have heard reports of people trying to convert all Muslims to Christianity. This is absurd, impossible, and above all insulting!

To be told that everything you believe in is false is an event that I can only imagine, an event that no-one should experience in our culture.

Freedom of Religion!

Stop the violence, leave the beliefs. Religion has nothing to do with this... this is revenge.

Categories: Cartoon, Events, Rants

Greenpeace: Saving the environment or useless and destructive behaviour

Greenpeace have campaigned to stop all environmental harm to the world for decades. They have chained themselves to trees, and crashed into ships, trying to accomplish this seemingly impossible goal. While their course is just, their methods are not.

These 'protectors' of Mother Nature have been doing something that many people are not: being a nuisance! They have not actually done anything in all their years of existence.

Greenpeace are merely a means of promotion: they are in the news so often that the public has no choice but to be informed of what is going on.

In the news recently Greenpeace has been ramming Japanese Whaling ships. Why?
If the most powerful politicians in the world cannot stop whaling by diplomacy, then how will destroying your own boat help?

While Greenpeace's intentions may be good, their methods are not. Rather than saving Earth, they are becoming a global menace.

Categories: Greenpeace, Rants

Google Adsense

Since the beginning of the S-Bend I have used Google Adsense in an attempt to make it worth while to continue blogging. Yet, after 3-4 months work I am yet to see anything for my trouble. You have to reach $100 before Google sends a cheque to you, and I am far, far from this. This is probably one of the reasons for such a high minimum.

Google realizes that many websites will not make the cut, and therefore it gets free advertising, where the advertisers still have to pay Google, while Google gets it for free.

The main reason that I am not making any money, is that no-one is clicking on the ads (hint-hint), and that is a direct result of no traffic coming from Google itself. Ranking high in Google is becoming a cut through industry, and is almost impossible to do so without proffesional help... help that costs money... money that I do not have.

It is getting increasingly difficult to run a blog without spending any cash at all, and Google Adsense is helping to destroy many smaller sites and new blogs with its capitilist tendencies!

Categories: Google, Adsense, Rants