When I arrived in South Africa, my thoughts quickly turned the wildlife.  Having grown up in the United States on a steady diet of the Discovery Channel, I knew I my first trip to Africa wouldn't be complete without seeing some African wildlife.  And not just any wildlife, I wanted to see the so called "big five," that is, a lion, an African elephant, a Cape Buffalo, a leopard and a rhinoceros.  To fufill this goal, I decided to head to Kruger National Park, one of the largest parks in the world.

As I set out to plan my three weekend trip to Kruger (this was a business trip, so time was limited), I began to hear that my dream of seeing all of the big five in such a short timespan was a bit optimistic.  I was told stories by people who had visited for weeks at a time, many years in a row without seeing all of the big five.  The missing animal was usually the leopard.  To expect to see all of the big five in two days of viewing was simply not likely, I was told.

Slightly saddened, but still excited, I set out early on a Friday morning from Pretoria to get to Kruger by mid afternoon.   After an amazingly scenic, twisty mountain drive, I arrived at the gate for the park.  Excited to get going, I immediately began scanning for wild life.  For a while, I saw nothing but dead brush (this was at the end of winter).  Then, suddenly, a giraffe appeared from behind a ridge!

My first real, live, big African animal!  A childhood dreamed fulfilled!  Not one of the big five, but I was beginning to become more optimistic.  As I was driving down the road, looking for more animals, an oncoming safari jeep flashed it;s headlights at me and rolled down the windows.  I pulled up alongside it.

Man In Jeep:  Would you like to see a leopard?

Me, freaking out inside:  Yes, I would.

Man In Jeep:  Go down the road, turn left, and travel for 1,700 meters.  There is will be one near the right side of the road.

Me: Thanks!

Now absurdly giddy with anticipation, I drive off down the road, watching my odometer carefully.  Sure enough, 1,700 meters after the fork, I see this amazing creature:

Now I'm officially thrilled.  After hearing all the stories of people never having seen a leopard after years of trying, I see one my first few hours in the park!  Quite an amazing feeling I must say.  On the way to my rest camp, I come across the first of many elephants I would see during the weekend.  Nothing says "Africa" to me like an elephant, so this was also an exciting site for me.  At this point, I've reverted to my childhood self who used to sit on the couch and read National Geographic all day.  Being there and seeing these animals was truly a dream come true.

Later in the evening, after settling into my rest camp hut, I join an evening game drive.  Happy to be able to focus on wildlife spotting rather than driving, I immediately start scanning around.  Not too much later, someone in our groups spots a white rhino:

Three down, two to go!  As night began to fall, it became harder to see animals on the drive.  We were using little spot lights, but weren't seeing much until...

Four out of the big five in one night!  I realized I had had quite a fortunate wildlife viewing experience for one day.  Still, I was feeling slightly disappointed that I hadn't see the Cape Buffalo yet.  Still, tomorrow was yet another game drive.  I went to sleep in my rest camp, and dreamed of what I would see the next day.

I went all the next day without seeing a buffalo.  I saw many other amazing animals, and enjoyed myself greatly. Still, the completist me wanted desperately to see this last member of the big five.  That evening, I grilled a steak outside, drank beer, and looked up at the amazing bright southern sky before spending my last night in Kruger.

The next day, I awoke early for a morning game drive.  I got to see an amazing sunrise, and quite a large number of interesting birds.  We pulled in close to a tree to get a closer look at an eagle, when we heard a rustling sound in the brush.  I pulled my camera up to my face just in time to catch this bounding from the bush:

At last, the illusive Cape Buffalo!  My big five quest was complete.  As I drove home, I was thinking how fortunate I really was to see all I saw.  I hope to return to Kruger someday and spend some more time.  I can highly recommend it as a destination for anyone visiting South Africa.  I spent very little for the weekend, and had one of the best times of my life.  If you choose to visit one day, I'm sure you will too.

 It may shock you to hear this, but there are quite a few scammers out there on the internet.  Of course, there are the usual suspects:  identity thieves, hackers, and the infamous wealthy Nigerian prince.  Most  internet users are familiar with these scams, and have learned to avoid them. 

It seemed like a good idea at the time.

However, there is an entire class of scams out there on the intertubes that you may not even know about. Even if you do, you may not be aware of how they function.  These scams are carried out by unethical affiliate marketers, and are extremely widespread.  In this article, I'll be outlining how these scams work by dissecting five common examples you may encounter.  I guarantee you've seen many of these before, so you'll be getting a look “behind the scenes” to how these people ultimately getting paid by ripping you off.

Who Are These Affiliate Marketer People Anyways?

Affiliate marketing is a very common way of selling on the internet.  The basic idea is that vendors will offer a product or service for sale, and offer a commission to “affiliates” who can sell it online.  These sales are tracked by means of affiliate links.  The affiliate will place these links on their own website.  If someone clicks the link and purchases the product or service, the merchant will give the affiliate a percentage or lump sum for the sale as a commission.  It's a great system that rewards marketers for performance.

Overall, most affiliate marketers aren't bad people.  However, there are many unethical marketers out there who will “game the system” to separate you from your money in attempt to make as many commissions as possible.  They are often aided by unethical merchants who encourage their affiliates to sell at any cost.  These merchants compound the problem by not clearly disclosing the exact nature of their product.   To illustrate this, I will show some examples of some common internet marketing scams, presented in no particular order.

Scam #1: Craiglist Insurance Lead Scam

This was a new one for me.  I am currently in the process of selling a used car on Craigslist.  I received the following e-mail, seemingly from an interested party:

So, I replied letting her know that the car was indeed still available.  I received the following e-mail in reply:

Notice the link?  That's one of those affiliate links I mentioned earlier.  Let's see where that takes us...

This is what is known as a landing page.  It explains the offer, and usually asks for some information to get started, in this case, and e-mail address.  Now, I can't be sure, but this is most likely what is known as an “e-mail submit” offer.  That is, the affiliate marketer is paid whenever someone clicks their link and enters their e-mail address on the landing page.  

Now, I know nothing about the legitimacy of the insurance site itself (let's assume it's 100% legit), but what my supposed Craigslist buyer has done here is unethical.  Using false pretenses, they are attempting to get to fill out this insurance offer page so they can get the commission.  This is unfair to me, and unfair to the insurance site owners, as they will be getting faulty leads from people who aren't really looking for auto insurance.  Scams like this are common on Craigslist, and not just with insurance.  Keep an eye out for these affiliate links and landing pages coming from Craigslist e-mails, as they are probably out to get your cash, not to buy your car.

Scam #2: Social Networking Game Cash

If you're on Facebook, you've no doubt noticed the wide variety of games people like to play.  One of the most popular of these games, among my circle of friends at least, is Farmville.  In the game, you operate a virtual farm, and are able to earn and spend Farmville dollars within the game as you improve your farm.  So far, nothing wrong with this.  However, many users are looking for shortcuts to earn more Farmville money, and the game is happy to oblige them by offering them cash for completing certain “offers.”  These offers are all affiliate offers, some of them to legit services (such as Netflix movie rental, a very fine service I can highly recommend).  You subscribe to Netflix, the Farmville people get a commission for bringing them a new customer, and you get your in game money.  Everybody wins. 

Unfortunately, not all of the offers have your best interest in mind.  The most common type of scam here is the “quiz” offer.  You will complete some type of quiz (say, an IQ test).  To receive the results of your quiz, you will be required to enter your phone number and confirm a “PIN” number that gets texted to you.  Easy enough, right?  

If you go through with such an offer, you have just signed yourself up for a monthly reoccurring charge on your cell phone bill.  The agreement you actually entered was outlined in very tiny print below the fold of the page, which you probably didn't even know was there, much less read.  Now, you're out $9.99 every month until you can figure out how to cancel your useless “subscription.”  Don't fall for these sorts of offers just to get extra Farmville cash.  Enjoy the game, just don't fall for the special offers.

I would invite anyone wishing to hear more about this to watch this video.

Scam #3: Free iPod/iPad/Gift Certificate Offers

These are very similar to the scam above.  The offer, often displayed as a banner ad, will promise a free item in exchange for completing certain offers.  The truth is, it is sometimes possible to get the prize promised.  However, you will have to sign up for so many different paid offers that you likely won't save anything in the long run.  In the mean time, you'll be spammed to death.  Not worth your trouble.

So, how are these people getting paid?  These offers work on a multi-tier system.  When you click on the banner and submit your zip code or email address, the affiliate (the one who's link you clicked) gets paid a small sum, usually around $1.50.  These types of offers are known as “zip” or “email” submits and are popular because it fairly easy to get some to submit the form and get paid.  Once you've submitted your information, the person running the offer then starts spamming you with further affiliate offers...ones that pay much more.  The idea is that they will turn a profit despite sending out the occasional prize to those brave souls who sign up for all of their offers.  They also have to pay out to their affiliates for the zip/e-mail submissions.  Even with all this, this is a highly profitable business model that sucks away tons of money from unsuspecting consumers who just wanted a free iPad.

Scam #4: “Obama Loans”

This one bothers me the most.  These scams advertise special loans or grants from the government, usually using Barack Obama's name somewhere in the ad.  The truth is, there are really no special loans or programs for individuals under the current stimulus package.  These scammers are simply peddling the same old  scammy loan and grant programs and trying to pass them off as special programs from the US government.  I find it highly unethical that these marketers are abusing economic hardship this way, often luring people into high interest payday loans.  Don't believe a word these people say.

Scam #5: Flogs and Acai Offers

This trend is dieing down a bit, but it was huge for a while. If you've spent any time online at all, you've probably seen an ad that reads something like this:

One Rule To A Flat Stomach: Obey

Learn How I Cut 37lbs of Stomach Fat in Two Months by Using One Old Rule

www.edwardsamazingweightlossblog.com

You click on the link, curious to learn the one old rule.  What do you find?  A blog purportedly written by our friend “Edward” who will tell you how he lost weight using two products: acai berries and a colon cleanser.  Going off of Edward's glowing reccomendation (he seems like a cool guy), you sign up for the free trial for these products to give them a spin yourself.  What do have to loose?

As it turns out, quite a lot.  You see, “Edward” and his blog are all fake.  You've stumbled upon one of many fake blogs, or “flogs” on the internet.  These are almost all promoting so called “rebill” offers.  These offers start you with a free trial, then hit you with a large monthly subscription fee that's hard to cancel.  Because they are highly profitable, those who run these rebill offers pay their affiliates very well.  These flogs were wildly successful for a while, since the blog format seemed credible, which increased sales.  Having a real person recommend a product is much more compelling than having a marketer with a crazy sales latter sell you the same thing.  These flogs capitalized on this, and made tons of cash by promoting not one but TWO rebill offers on the same page.  If someone signed up for both offers, marketers would receive somewhere in the range of $70.  Pretty nice, eh?  Not if you the guy who signed up, paying a huge monthly fee for your acai pills.

Fortunately, the FTC caught wind of this, and created some regulations that have reduced the prevalence of these types of offers.  Still, in their day, flogs and rebills were a highly profitable scam.

Be Careful

So, I hope this has given you insight into how some popular ad scams are being run, and how they make money.  Most affiliate marketers out there are honest business people  using the internet to make sales, but a few are out to mislead you out of your money.  Most of these scams can be spotted if you always read the fine print and use your common sense, so just be careful.  With that, thanks for reading, and happy browsing!

If you're planning on engaging in any sort of travel, insurance is a must.  Travel insurance covers many things, including missed connectons, lost luggage, theft, and other travel disasters.  However, the most important aspect of a travel insurance policy is the medical coverage, as  it can be very costly if you become sick or injured in a foreign country where your regular health insurance will not apply.  You don't want to be financially ruined should anything unfortunate happen to you on your trip.  If you're an adventure traveler, you need this insurance even more, given the higher risk activities you partake in with your travels.  

As far as hobbies go, dirt biking certainly isn't the cheapest game in town.  Not only do you need an expensive bike, you also need to pay for transportation, safety gear, repairs, and sometimes the occasional medical bill.  It can be a drain on anyone's wallet.    Never fear, though, there are ways to save money.  By following these tips to find cheap dirt bikes, you can be out riding and still have enough cash on hand to pay your rent this month.  Happy days!

The first step to finding yourself a cheap dirt bike is to decide on what you want.  Narrow in on brands and models.  This way, you can begin to familiarize yourself with the current going prices for your given bikes, making your search much easier.  Be sure to pick an appropriate bike for your budget and skill level.

• Buy and sell on eBay.  If you have time to buy from garage sales and Craigslist, you can find items selling below what they sell for on eBay.  You can then photograph and list these items for sale.  If you do your homework, this can be very profitable.
• Similar to the above method, if you can buy broken items (such as laptops, iPods, cars, bicycles, and more), fix them, and sell them on eBay or Craigslist for a profit.
• Cultivate your talents and offer them up for an hourly rate as a freelancer.  This is one of the best ways to make money, but also one of the hardest. Still, being a successful freelance can be very rewarding.
• Learn how to make money online.  You can create websites centered around a topic of interest, and sell products or advertising on them for money.  Or, sign up here at World Wolf and start earning money for articles today!
• Create your own product and sell it.  This can be a physical or information based product, sold online or offline.  If your product solves a real problem for people, people will buy it.
• Ask for a raise.  Sure, this might not be what you were expecting, but for many people this is the quickest way to earn extra money.
   

If you're traveling to Japan, you will most certainly want to take advantage of the country’s amazing train system.  You can rent a car, but the quality of the trains in Japan makes this somewhat unnecessary.  Trains go everywhere, come and go regularly, and seem to always be on time.  It’s really quite impressive, even compared with western Europe’s excellent train system.   The Japanese Shinkansen (“bullet trains”) form the best high speed rail network in the world, make flying within the country an unnecessary option.  The bullet trains will take you where you need to go at speeds of up to 300 km/h.  Pretty snappy.

However, the system suffers from one major flaw:  it’s extremely expensive.  A round trip ticket on a Shinkansen train from one major city to another can cost you as much as a plane ticket on a low cost airline in the US.  Last I checked, a round trip ticket from Tokyo to Kyoto ran about $250, a very steep price.

However, there is hope, and that comes in the form of the Japan Rail, or JR pass.   JR passes are rail passes that give you unlimited travel on all Japan Rail trains.  This includes the Shinkansen trains  (except for the very fast Nozomi trains, but the next step down is quick enough) , as well as many others.  The pass applies for a certain period of time, and is pretty much always a better deal than buying single tickets unless you are staying in one place for a while.  These passes are only sold to visitors from outside Japan, and must be purchased outside the country.

The process of buying one of these passes is somewhat confusing, but  that’s what this article is here to help with!  Let me break it down step by step:

1. First, you will need to find a sales office.  These can be find online quite easily.  There doesn’t have to be one in your area, you can work with them over the phone
2. Once you have found your sales office, you will most likely be sent an order form that you will fill out and fax back with your payment information.
3. In a few days, you will receive your pass voucher in the mail.  This is only a voucher for a pass, not an actual pass.
4. Fly to Japan (or take a boat, whatever works for you).
5. Find a JR sales office.  There will be a list of these that you received with your voucher.  Go into the office and swap out your voucher for a pass.  You can do this whenever you want, so wait until the day before you actually need a train.  The offices open later than you would expect, and the pass you get starts the following day (from what I could tell), so plan ahead on this.  Get your pass the day before you need to take your first JR train.

And that’s it.  The sales process is quite low tech and drawn out, but once you have your pass you pretty much just show it to the rail officers at the gates (there is a special gate on the side next to a window where you can do this).  You will be able to get right on pretty much any train.  Best of luck in your travels on the wonderful trains of Japan!

Many believe that choosing your audio interface is solely dependent on the quality of the DAC (Digital Audio Conversion) involved. If a user decides to get Pro Tools, for example, he or she may think that this will result in the best sound output possible. This is not so – the DAC is the most important aspect of your audio interface that largely influences the quality of sound you can get. However, there are also other components in the mix, and as such, you still need to consider these. For one thing, a card may have excellent digital audio conversion and a substandard driver. You will not achieve the sound quality you expect with a setup like this. In the current AI market, some manufacturers release cards that have subpar drivers.

What is Best for Your Audio Interface?

Sound enthusiasts and engineers concern themselves with acquiring the components to produce high quality sound from audio conversion. They may purchase outboard DACs that are attached to the digital input and output ports of a soundcard. In effect, the direct connection bypasses the soundcard’s built-in DAC system. For the best audio output quality, using an outboard converter is key. Third-party devices such as these may be added to an S/PDIF (or digital I/O) format interface or soundcard.

Here are some of the best audio interfaces for a home studio:

The Tascam FW1884 for PC Users

Everything necessary for good quality conversion and output is in this package. More than enough analog I/O, a FireWire interface, numerous MIDI ports, and a surface to control and track the software’s mixer are just some of the features of the Tascam FW1884. The entire system may be upgraded with the addition of converters and separate pre-amps. You can expand the control surface with, well, and FE-8 expander that allows for 8 more channels. This package will also work with a Mac computer system.

The MOTU (Mark of the Unicorn) 828MK3 FireWire 24/96 Audio Interface for Mac Users

The MOTU interface has been recommended as the audio interface of choice for many Mac-using sound enthusiasts. Many PC users report that this is true for their systems as well. It works well with LogicPro, and again with a PC, with USB 2.0 and FireWire-compatible technology.

RME Fireface 800 FireWire Audio Interface for Professionals

More than a couple of years of development have resulted in the RME Fireface 800, which is possibly the most significant FireWire AI of our time. It permits use of true FireWire 800 technology, allows up to 192 kHz sampling rate, and offers a maximum of 56 channels for recording and playback. This setup is for high-speed performance for high-end systems.

The MOTU 24IO 24-Channel Audio Interface for Professionals

This MOTU audio interface works with a hard disk recording system that is host-based. With it, you can edit, master, mix, process, and record projects comprising multiple tracks, all by using your computer. Its 24-bit and 96 kHz analog input and output allows for high-quality data output and management. It is cost-efficient and space-saving as well.

Analog to Digital (A/D input) and Digital to Analog (D/A output) converters are pieces of hardware which manage the Input and Output (I/O) in your audio interface. Even the most high-end Macs or personal computers use very basic, low-quality converters, which are the same ones incorporated into cheap computer systems.
 
You can upgrade your audio interface by choosing from a wide range of stand-alone interfaces available in the market. These outboard interfaces typically allow for more I/Os, improved A/D/A conversions, and additional features such as volume knobs. The hardware unit that has I/O jacks is also known as the ‘interface’, ‘breakout box’, or simply, the ‘I/O’. The archaic label ‘soundcard’ conventionally refers to circuit boards that needed to be affixed to the PCI slot of a computer. Many of the computers sold today do not have slots for PCI, thus rendering PCI soundcards useless. A FireWire or USB will solve the interface issue, as it takes the place of the soundcard.
 
A USB or FireWire interface gives you the flexibility of ‘hot-swapping’, as well as being able to transfer files to notebook computers. The slower USB 1.1, which works at 12 MB per second, may not work properly under the load of several channels, while FireWire technology operates at 400 MB per second. FireWire 800 is much faster at 800 MB per second, and USB 2 is more efficient than its previous version at 480 MB per second. PCI may operate at decent speeds, but the technology is inconvenient to use.
 
Your operating system must be compatible with the interface you choose. Your software must be able to identify the presence of the interface. Many Macs have USB or USB 2, and FireWire (IEEE 1394). PCs have either USB or USB 2 as well as FireWire. FireWire 800 is just now starting to be introduced and is not very widespread in its adaptation yet.
 
Regardless of the interface you have, the right cable is integral to your audio interface. The cable will connect your computer to the amplifier. Many amplifiers for consumer electronics utilize RCA jacks. Your output jack may be the round 1/8-inch mini – in this case, purchase a 1/8-inch-to-RCA adapter. Professional variants use XLR jacks with three pins.
 
If you do not have an amplifier, or it is located at a greater distance than cable length can reach, look for speakers that are USB-powered, like SoundSticks from Harman Kardon. These speakers attach using the USB port and work without an amplifier. Bose and Polk Audio also have non-USB speakers. CRT monitors require you to employ shielded speakers. AirFoil sends the audio to Apple’s Airport Express, for use with Mac computers.
 
Be sure to inspect your interface, and the number of physical inputs and outputs that it has for analog. Most companies state that their interfaces have so-and-so number of inputs, although some of these are digital, including ADAT and S/PDIF. ADAT inputs are necessary for additional mic pre-amps. To this, ADAT-output external mic pre-amps may be added. You can choose from the ADAT-interfaced Focusrite OctoPre, or Presonus Digimax. If you wish to do large amounts of audio recording for whatever purpose, consider acquiring more hard drive storage, plus a reliable backup system.

Choosing the best audio interface is the key to excellent home studio recording. The success of your studio does not bank solely on the soundcard you use, as this hardware unit also manages sound output and input from and to your computer system.
 
You can take your pick from so many products on the market, and most of them can give you high-quality recording capabilities at reasonable prices. With so many to choose from, how do you know what to buy? Here are a few questions, as well as some hints and tips, which will help you select the audio interface solution you require.
 
Do you use Apple’s Garage Band? With the aforementioned program, you can make do with the built-in soundcard, plus a specialized adapter for using musical instruments. One tool you can add to the rest of your equipment is a set of plug-and-play USB microphones from Samson. These microphones allow even the novice sound engineer to harness the full potential of Garage Band. A more sophisticated and high-end option would be ONE (by Apogee) for one-channel interfaces at $249.
 
What number of inputs does your setup require? This depends on quite a few factors: the kind of music to be recorded is one. This will then dictate if you need one, two, or more inputs. Lower-priced audio interfaces often allow for a lower number of inputs. The minimum recommended number of inputs would be two for mic pre-amps. With this, you can record one instrument (such as a guitar) and vocals at the same time. The most basic setup for proper drum recording would require a minimum of four inputs for the pre-amp. One input is dedicated to the kick drum, another for the snares, and a couple of more inputs for stereo overhead recording. The more inputs you have for drum recording, the better the overall sound quality will be.
 
Is Pro Tools compatibility necessary? Many in the recording industry use Pro Tools by Digidesign. Recording will be convenient if all your tools are compatible with this utility. However, the simplest Digidesign product can cost a relatively large amount of money. The MBox 2 Mini only has one mic input plus a couple of line inputs, but it will set you back by $329. The next step would be the Digi 003, which allows 8 channels at $1600. Take note that you do not need Pro Tools hardware (and the high tag price) if you want to use different recording software. Pro Tools does not function without a Digidesign interface.
 
Will you use USB or FireWire? USB products can be purchased at lower prices than those of FireWire. USB is fine for one or two-channel recording. However, if you want to record with a higher number of channels, FireWire is necessary, as USB technology does not have the large capacity that FireWire has. FireWire is safer for sustaining larger amounts of data due to its higher bandwidth. The most sophisticated professional audio interfaces typically have dedicated cards for interfacing with the main computer.