Sunday, March 28, 2010

Go Take A Hike e-Newsletter - March 2010

In This Issue:
  • Goodbye Dark Days of Winter
  • Over 12 Inches of Snow Equals Snow Shoeing in Central PA
  • The First After-Work Hike of the Season
  • Trail Maintenance - Giving Back to the Trails of PA
  • Hiking on the Web - Otzinachson Regional Group of the Sierra Club
  • Deal of the Month - Free Shipping

Goodbye Dark Days of Winter

First allow me to apologize for not sending out a newsletter in a number of months. During winter it is a bit hard to find time to get out and hike, be it the weather or lack of daylight. Here is an article I penned back in January, thinking to send it out in a newsletter at that time.

The months of December, January, and February are not the best months for those of us that enjoy the outdoors. Sure, activities abound during the winter months: skiing, both downhill and cross-country, snow shoeing, and even winter hiking. As a matter of fact, I feel that a positive attitude and finding opportunities to participate in outdoor activities is key in maintaining an optimistic view during the cold, dark days of winter.

These past few months have not made it easy to be optimistic; temperatures in the single digits and not enough snow on the ground to even make a decent footprint in. Though I try to venture out during the winter months, to either hike or snowshoe, this winter has not been cooperative with regards to outdoors adventures.

So here we are, a few day before the day of the Ground Hog, and personally I have not visited the woods of William Penn since October. Not because I didn't want to, but life sometimes gets in the way. Also the weather this year has not cooperated much. Just like last year, we haven't had the opportunity to enjoy a January thaw, and the bitterly cold temperatures has provided me with more than enough excuses to not venture out and explore the trails.

So, if the rodent in Punxsutawney predicts an early spring, will that give us reason enough to head out to the trails and hike? In-and-of itself, probably not. But it would be a spirit lifter, giving us hope of an early spring, even if we have snow on the ground well past his 6-week prognosis.

For me, February is like looking through a frosted window. Spring seems to be a glimpse of something fleeting, which seems distance, but within grasp at the same time. February is winter's last hurrah. It will be cold and we will have snow, but winter's time is limited. And for those of us that try to be optimistic and enjoy the outdoors during the winter, our wait will soon be over. Soon we'll see warmer temperatures, longer days, and more opportunities to hit the trail. Soon, the hiker's of Pennsylvania will be back on the trails in full force.

And on that note, we'll say goodbye to the dark days of winter, hello to spring and look forward to many opportunities for exploring the trails of Pennsylvania.

Over 12 Inches of Snow Equals Snow Shoeing in Central PA

This winter is an oddity compared to most recent winters. This winter we actually got some snow. And with snow comes the opportunity to snow shoe. Much more strenuous then hiking, but more fun as well, snow shoeing requires a good 6 to 8 inches of snow on the ground. With a recent snow storm, we were lucky enough to end up with over 12 inches of snow laying on the ground. Not wanting to miss an opportunity like this one, I decided to take a day off work and venture out into the woods of Rothrock State Forest and do some snow shoeing.

[READ THE TRIP REPORT AT PAHIKES.COM]
The First After-Work Hike of the Season

Back when I began hiking I was interested in getting involved with the trails of Pennsylvania. One of the first things I did after I started hiking was to joining the Mid State Trail Association and requested to be a trail overseer. I was appointed a section of the Mid State Trail just south of the Pennsylvania Furnace Road. It was spring time and I needed to check out the trail to see what needed to be done. I asked Tim if he'd be interested in hiking this section of the trail with me. He agreed and our first after-work hike of the season was on the section of the MST that I maintain.

[READ THE TRIP REPORT AT PAHIKES.COM]

Trail Maintenance - Giving Back to the Trails of PA

There is nothing like hiking a trail, free of obstacles, with brush cut back along both sides of the trail, and bright orange blazes greeting you at every turn. Some believe that the trails in Pennsylvania are maintained by the Commonwealth. Unfortunately, this is not the case.

Trails in Pennsylvania are maintained by volunteers. Leading these cadres of volunteers are various hiking organizations. Organizing many trail maintenance outings is the Keystone Trails Association. If you'd like to give back to the trails of PA, join the KTA and it's member organizations on a scheduled maintenance weekend. No experience required. Learn more about about these trail maintenance events at the Keystone Trails Association website.

[LEARN MORE ABOUT TRAIL MAINTENANCE AT THE KTA WEBSITE]

Hiking on the Web - Otzinachson Regional Group of the Sierra Club

If you live in central or eastern Pennsylvania, the Edward Abbey Hiking Society, part of the Otzinachson Regional Group of the Sierra Club, leads many hikes and outings. Visit their website to learn more about the Otzinachson Regional Group of the Sierra Club and to see what upcoming hikes the Edward Abbey Hiking Society has planned. This is a great opportunity to participate in guided hikes and meet fellow hikers.

[VISIT THE OTZINACHSON'S WEBSITE]
Deal of the Month - Free Shipping

A new season of hiking is upon us and here is an opportunity for you to stock up on trail guides, maps, and new hiking gear. Until the end of April, you can take advantage of FREE SHIPPING on orders of $25 or more at The Hiking Spot. Simply use coupon code FREESHIP25 during checkout to take advantage of this free shipping offer. Limited to one free shipping coupon code per customer. Offer expires 4/30/2010.


Only one coupon/coupon code per order. Some coupons can only be used once. Other restrictions may apply. This exclusive Deal of the Month offer is only valid for "Go Take A Hike" e-Newsletter subscribers.


[GET YOUR FREE SHIPPING AT THE HIKING SPOT]
 
   
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Tuesday, March 2, 2010

Google AdSense Newsletter - March 2010

Hello,

Welcome to the March 2010 AdSense Newsletter. We hope you enjoy the updates about the new AdSense interface and upcoming webinars!

Table of Contents:

• New features and fixes in the new AdSense interface
• New webinar schedule announced

New features and fixes in the new AdSense interface

Back in November, we announced a new AdSense interface designed to give you more insight into your performance, more control over the ads that appear on your sites, and more efficient account management. We've been busy working on the new interface and wanted to share some updates, including new features, things we're currently investigating, and fixes.

Over the last few months, we've heard from publishers that the new interface is more intuitive and easier to navigate than the old interface. In particular, we've heard that the new graphs and metrics, including the ability to compare performance over time, are especially useful. If you haven't spent much time in the new interface, we encourage you to try it out. If you're already using it, please keep sending us your feedback. The feedback we receive from you, our beta testers, directly influences what we work on. You can submit feedback to our team by clicking the 'Feedback' link in the top right corner of your screen while signed in to the new AdSense interface.

Thank you so much for beta testing the new AdSense interface. Keep the feedback coming, and stay tuned for future updates on our blog!

What we've added:
• Cents now included in estimated earnings on the Overview page in the new interface.
• Compare two date ranges in your reports to see how your revenue has changed over time.

What we're working on:
• Increasing speed and improving latency to give you greater efficiency in managing your account.
• Increasing row limit throughout the interface (viewing ad units, channels, reporting).
• Reducing (and eventually removing altogether!) the occurrence of generic error messages like the following:
"We apologize for the inconvenience, but we are unable to process your request at this time. Our engineers have been notified of this problem and will work to resolve it."

What we've fixed:
• Corrected an issue with the 'since last payment' calculation. The Estimated Earnings amount on your homepage now accurately shows 'since last payment' amount, calculated from the 1st of whichever month the last payment was made.
• Resolved the problem where some Internet Explorer users saw a security-warning message when using the new AdSense interface.

New webinar schedule announced

We've just announced a new webinar schedule for the next month. In our upcoming webinars, we'll highlight changes you can make to your ad implementation in order to maximize your AdSense revenue. We'll also answer your questions live during each webinar.

To sign up for our webinars, please visit the webinar schedule in our Help Center (https://www.google.com/adsense/support/bin/answer.py?answer=22045). Even if you're not able to attend the live sessions, we'll make sure to upload each webinar recording within 24 hours of the event.

Thanks for reading,
The AdSense team


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