Old Dog, New Tricks

For a couple years now, I've been amazed and over-joyed by all the great applications Google has been putting out there, for free.

The Firefox web browser with the Google Toolbar and Adblock Plus plugin is the safest, fastest, most spam-free way to browse.

Picasa is an incredible piece of photo organizing and editing software. And it lets you create online albums to share with friends and family.

Google Earth is .. well, if you don't know how awesome Google Earth is, how did you even find this page? Bloody savage.

So imagine my delight when one year ago I discovered that I could get PAID just for referring people to this amazing software. I'm usually pretty skeptical of any money-making schemes online, but this one was from Google, so I looked into it.

$1 dollar every time someone downloads Firefox or Picasa. Thats up to $2 a head. And trust me, Firefox IS better than Internet Explorer. Picasa IS better than any junk software that came with your digital camera. Google Earth WILL blow your mind.

So, why have I only made $25 in the last year? It's a gray area. If you know me, you trust me, and I can convince you to switch to Firefox in five minutes. I probably have you convinced already. But I didn't want to spend all my free time earning $12 (60 mins/hr x $1) an hour preaching the merits of Firefox to friends and acquaintances.

I wanted to make a bunch of money from helping strangers, fast. This is not so easy. People are very skeptical of anything you try to get them to click on, even if the click leads them to an official Google page before the download commences.

I was trying to eventually turn this post into a rant about the dumbing-down of the internet, the halt of information and thought, our disposable "just add water" society. Instead, I'm going to figure out how to get links for Firefox and Picasa on the side of this page.

Check it out!

UPDATE:

Google's "smart" advertising I love so much apparently read my blog and decided that since I made a post about a hangover, I'm an alcoholic, and you are too, and therefore all the ads on the right are about fixing that problem. And since I just used the A-word again, those ads will probably remain there a while.

I did, however find the link to the page I get paid from:
Click here for Firefox, Picasa, and the Google Pack