Today Big Brother 8 will start (the UK version)..
Expect nutters and loads of attention seekers.. after a few days the shells will crack and we’ll see they’re all human and just as boring as the rest of us 
It will be front page news for a bout 3 months, then they’ll disappear back into their normal lives, one of them a few hundred grand richer..
Love it or hate it, there is no avoiding this programme for the next few months 
John Chow has just launched his own ebook at a cost of just $97. 
Nah, it’s free 
I’ve had a quick read through it and tbh most of it is stuff i already know about..
He’s pulled most of it from his own blog posts and articles so there’s not much new stuff in it if you’re a regular John Chow reader.. That said, it is 59 pages in length and for a blogger starting out, this ebook is THE BIBLE 
John is probably the most successful blogger on the planet (financially), so if you’re looking to get some tips and make a bit of cash, it’s well worth the read.
I thought i’d scan and upload the exact marking sheet the driving tester uses.. just to help those learner drivers out there..
As you can see, i got 5 green faults, 3 blue.. the green marks were very harsh as i thought i did everything to the book. For example for the ‘rules/checks’ i answered everything correctly and promptly 
I can only assume that the green mark was for dropping the bonnet from too low a height or something stupid like that 
Then again, the green marks dount count so i can’t complain too much.
Everyone would love to pass with zero marks against them.. i guess i’m lucky i passed with 5 blue marks to spare, the fact i’m a young male and also the fact the pass rate is less than 50%
Today is one of those days that you never forget. Driving Test Day. It’s one of those days that you know is going to be historic in your life… you’ll be sitting in rocking chair in 50 years time telling your grandchildren about your driving test ‘back in the day’.. you’ll be teaching your son/daughter how to drive and be saying ‘When i was sitting my driving test…’
So it’s a pressure situation. Made even more daunting by the fact i’ve publicly blogged about how i expect to pass and how the test is too easy- before i even sat it 
So i was digging a large grave for myself before today. I also had to wait, by myself, for 25 minutes in a small room until i was called. That’s when you pass or fail imo, that’s a huge amount of mental pressure and the weak will fail in that room before they even sit in a car.
BUT, as always, i’ve an ability to cope with pressure and perform when i need to. When i was called in, she asked for my license – I forgot my license in the car – big mistake. The tester was not too pleased, but i ran out for it and back in. At this stage, i had just lost some respect from the tester and delayed us, so i knew i’d have to drive flawlessly to redeem myself. She then started machine gunning me with rules of the road questions.. all of which i was ready for.
Out we went to my car.. checking indicators, brakes, lifting the bonnet, explaining where the coolant/oil etc is and how to check for it.. We then drove off, winding our way around town, through a bypass (100km/hr), two roundabouts and a set of traffic lights. I was ultra-aware of pedestrians crossing etc.. and literally bent my body around at junctions etc.. to make sure she knew i was observing all around me. Again, totally un-natural and OTT – but that’s how you pass a test – by acting like a plank for 30 minutes.
The reverse around a corner manouver was on a road i’d never driven on before, but it was a very gentle corner so i had no trouble with that, and made sure i stayed well away from the kerb. The 3 point turn was perfect and done in 3 turns, even though it’s very tight. I was very close to the kerbs, but not touching – i’m a master at getting it just right
After that was a hill start. I actually forgot about the hill start, but she asked me to pull in and i was like WTF, another 3 point turn?! But she then just asked me to pull off and i made sure the car didn’t roll back. After that i knew it was plain sailing – that was all the ‘hard’ stuff over and i guessed i had passed at that point, provided i didn’t do anything stupid like run a red light or mow down pedestrians. So i kept my head and returned to the test centre.
A total of 3 blue marks (you’re allowed up to 8), so i was very comfortable indeed. One was for speeding which i would argue against as i was never doing more than 35mph, even though the limit is 30mph – that’s fairly harsh as there was a big tail back behind me and it really shouldn’t be a 30mph zone. I knew i was breaking the limit, but only by a few mph so it’s hardly ‘speeding’. The other two ticks were both for stopping/slowing down. I was probably too close to the cars in front when stopping, but again nothing majorly dangerous, i wasn’t sitting on their tailights or anything and i thought i could see their back wheels, but maybe I crept forward a bit before they had moved off so i’ll give her the benefit of the doubt.
So yeah – passed with flying colours. A total of 13 lessons ever – total drive time 13 hours Doesn’t mean much to me to be honest, but it will save me a few hundred €€€ in lessons and knock a bit off insurance in years to come.
Advice for any learner; keep it cool, relax, and be confident. Try and take a last ditch lesson before the test – just to keep you in test mode. It worked for me. I know this won’t help you, but the test really is too easy and it’s only a matter of time before it gets tougher. Consider yourself lucky to have a relatively easy test, in any other country, things would be much tougher.
My test centre, in Monaghan, has a 49.9% pass rate which means 1 in 2 fail. It’s the same nationwide Here i am saying the test is too easy – but it’s true. Any of my non-Irish readers, i can guarantee you you’d laugh at our test and system if you knew exactly how it worked. The fact i predicted i’d pass tells it’s own story. None the less, congratulations to me
Here’s my cert to say i passed…
Here’s a title that grabbed my attention on the google adsense blog..
“Accidents Happen” - exactly, is what i’m thinking to myself
Here’s a paragraph from the full article..
“As most of you know, our program policies state that publishers are not permitted to click on their own ads for any reason. For this reason, we’ve received many emails from publishers letting us know that they’ve accidentally clicked on their own ads. If you’re one of these publishers, we truly appreciate the efforts you’ve made to monitor your account and keep it in good standing. However, we do understand that an accidental click may occur from time to time, so there’s no need to contact us each instance this occurs.”
So now, adsense are saying not to email them if you click an ad by mistake.. pitty they don’t mention click bombing. But this is a big step forward for adsense.. it now means they are helping publishers and understanding that we aren’t all robots. Accidents happen – yes. But why then, are people like myself still being banned?
Adsense would be a much better system if they could implement some sort of click tracking script which allows publishers to see clicks and IP’s of those clicks. Publishers could then report any fraud themselves, and save themselves from being banned (not to mention save google wages and work). I wouldn’t have minded doing that.. it would have saved me and my earnings 
