Herro Flom Japan

Maybe you've heard that Secret Santa, who has been handing out cash anonymously for the past 35 holiday seasons in US cities, recently revealed his true identity. However, some ordinarily fair and balanced news outlets got the story wrong. He's not broke.

I received this e-mail over the weekend from Nick the Geek.

Hi Rich

Sorry for emailing you on a Sunday, but I really need your help. But it's not about me … it's about a man called Larry Stewart.

For the past 26 years, somebody the media nicknamed "Secret Santa" has been anonymously and quietly been giving away money to people he saw on the street that could do with a "leg up" …

It's thought that over the years he's given away $1.3 million - even at times when he didn't have much, he still gave …

Larry has decided to reveal his identity in the hope that others might also become "Secret Santas" and help those less fortunate.

Unfortunately, there's a problem …

Larry has cancer of the esophagus which has spread to his liver. He's managed to secure a place on a clinical trial for treatment at M.D. Anderson Cancer Center in Houston, but at a cost of $16,000/month not including travelling expenses …

He's not sure how long he can keep financing this treatment as his insurance company won't pick up the tab as it's a clinical trial.

I've setup a blog to help spread the word about Larry.

Please tell whoever you can and donate whatever you can to help Larry … we really need more people like this in the world.

Here's the blog:

helpsecretsanta.blogspot.com

I won't take up any more of your time.

Thanks for reading and have a great Sunday …

Cheers

Nick :o)

From a Google search, Nick seems a bit shady. Not entirely, just a bit. So I asked Larry if he was aware of this grassroots charity.

To Whom It May Concern:,

Please do NOT allow anyone to collect money on behalf of or for Secret Santa. I am NOT broke or destitute as some have implied. I only wish that the dollars I spend for medical care could go out on the streets to those in need.

Thank you for your “heads-up”.

Larry Stewart ~Secret Santa~

It's entirely possible Nick's heart is in the right place. Just a head's up because Nick seems to be promoting his charity blog pretty far and wide.

What bothers me is I was this close to donating $10, but decided to do a little research first.

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Tony and Andy LOVE zombies. They really like the idea of making themselves up as shuffling undead creatures and shooting some video.

But I just had an idea: Would other people with preteen kids around the world like to get in on the act?

Could a bunch of us work together to create a script, film our kids attacking their family, pets and neighbors and create the next blockbuster viral video?

Here's the catch: Somebody's gotta be in charge, not me.

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Four Eight more posts just like this one and I will have covered the costs of "research" for the hostess bar episode WHICH I HAVEN'T PUT UP YET BECAUSE I'M A LITTLE ANXIOUS ABOUT IT. I will. It'll probably take half a bottle of wine, but I will grow the balls to put it up. Soon.

Anyhow, as you may know, I've been wondering about how to make money off the blog, podcast and videocast without feeling like I'm whoring my family on one end and my listener/viewer friends on the other. (I really do think of you as friends, albeit imaginary ones who follow me around everwhere.)

There's a site called PayPerPost that will pay bloggers to shill for companies. I signed up for it, but never participated. ("I did buy it, but I went home and flushed it down the toilet.") Once I got to the place where they listed the advertisers, I was very turned off. Some will pay only for positive reviews. Even worse, some want positive reviews AND they DON'T want you to reveal that you're shilling for them. That's just plain evil, period. Not only that, if anyone ever found out that I was shilling unethically, my reputation would be ruined forever, and rightfully so.

So now there's a new site called ReviewMe that REQUIRES bloggers to add a disclaimer to paid posts. AND, if the product you're shilling for sucks, you can say so and still get paid. Will advertisers sign up? I think it's a good idea, as long as they're not selling useless crap. To me, it's just the same as Howard Stern or Rush Windbag shilling for Bose or whatever a few times every hour. If I do jump on the bandwagon, I won't do a paid post unless I've already put out a podcast or videocast. This way, I make money off ya'll without ya'll having to give it to me. It's a win-win situation.

According to my rankng in Alexa, Technorati, etc., I get paid $30 $15 per post. (Edit: ReviewMe takes half.) The more popular I get, the more I make, which gives me an incentive to put out more stuff. And I PROMISE I will not give out any false praise. There's only so much I'm willing to do for money.

Oh yeah, and if you sign up for ReviewMe today and blog about them, you're eligible for a $25,000 prize.

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You want subtitles, you make 'em. Create yourself a user account at Motiji.com and have a ball. There's a short writeup about Mojiti on Lifehacker.

P.S. Please be nice. I don't know if I can delete nefarious subtitles.

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I recorded a podcast on Monday night but haven't had time to clean it up and put it out. On it I talk about my visit to a hostess bar the night before. Ooooooooh. Bet you're all curious…

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