It's a Jersey Shore Halloween (and MTV is cashing in)

Let's face it - Jersey Shore is not only the most popular Halloween costume of 2010, but also the best thing that could have ever happened to MTV. Undoubtedly, the cast from Jersey Shore has created a social phenomenon that has made everyone wish that they looked and acted like they were from New Jersey. Maybe it's the slick black hair, the fake orange tan, or the excuse to act without thinking. Whatever it is, Jersey Shore has brought MTV the fortune they have been looking for.

The Jersey Shore Lap of Luxury

The cast members from Jersey Shore (including Angelina "Jolie" Pivarnick, Jenni "JWoww" Farley, Michael "The Situation" Sorrentino, Nicole "Snooki" Polizzi, Paul "DJ Pauly D" DelVecchio, Ronnie Ortiz-Magro, Sammi "Sweetheart" Giancola, and Vinny Guadagnino) have boosted their personal earnings significantly throughout the seasons. From $5,000 per episode in season 1, to $10,000 per episode in season 2, to a reported $30,000 per episode for the upcoming season 3, these Jersey kids are making more than enough money to maintain their tanning and hair gel budgets.

GTL iTunes App

Mike "The Situation" Sorrentino set the tone for the negotiations on behalf of all of the cast mates in July of 2010 demanding from $24,000 to $47,000 per episode per cast mate. On top of the earnings they get from the show, the cast gets personal appearance payments for up to a reported $100,000 per appearance individually and they also get endorsements. The Situation's GTL iPod App is one of the top selling apps on iTunes. For a $5 one time fee, the GTL (Gym-Tan-Laundry) App will tell you the nearest gym, tanning salon, or dry cleaning store. You can then call the location or get directions with this app. The perks from simply being on the show seem to be paying for themselves.

MTV's Cash Cow

Although the costs of keeping the Jersey Shore cast mates rise each year, so do MTV's profits. The ratings for Jersey Shore are 5.1 for 12 to 34 year olds which is a 292 percent increase since its season 1 debut. Jersey Shore is also getting the best ratings MTV has seen in 8 years. In essence, MTV is actually underpaying the cast.

6.4 million viewers tuned in to watch JWoww take on Sammi in their highly promoted fight. These numbers were achieved even on top of Sunday night football which ultimately makes one think that Jersey Shore is unstoppable.

Viacom, who owns TV stations like MTV and Nickelodeon, has seen their stock rise 52 percent in the last year. Not only will they pay a dividend for the first time ever, but also there will be a $4 billion buy back. Viacom has not seen these numbers ever and can give thanks to Jersey Shore for making the high-end profits that they are experiencing.

The Jersey "Brand" Takes on Halloween

With the success of the Jersey Shore reality TV show, making a Halloween costume that corresponds with the most popular cast mates would only make sense. MTV has reportedly paired up with Rubie's costumes to make Snookie, The Situation, and Pauly D Halloween costumes.

Snooki's Signature Bump

Pauly D's Hair Do

You can buy Snooki's signature hair bump or Pauly D's spiked blow out hairstyle in wig form now, making your Halloween costumes easy and recognizable. Halloween stores are even known to "throw together" bags of Halloween costumes that represent Snooki's style.

According to the Wall Street Journal, Halloween stores that have sold out of the original Jersey Shore costumes will throw a pair of fluffy slippers, self tanner and an old  Amy Winehouse wig into a bag and call it a Snooki kit.

You can also buy a body suit of The Situation's abs, just like you can buy Batman or Superman's abs. MTV and Rubie's Costumes have the only patent on the textured abs costumes which gives them a leg up over the competition. Other competitors who are attempting to make The Situation Halloween costumes are forced to create costumes that have the signature 6-pack drawn on as opposed to beveled.

It is almost unbelievable how fast these Halloween costumes are selling out. Most stores no longer have any of the Jersey Shore costumes left and are scrambling to get their hands on more. In this year alone, the usual $600 million Halloween market is expected to increase to $1 billion this season.

Lady Gaga was reported to have been the number 1 costume of this Halloween season, but all three of the Jersey Shore costumes have already outsold the variations of Lady Gaga costumes. It looks as though every town will look like something straight out of Jersey Shore this Halloween.

When asked about the differing attitudes towards the Jersey Shore characters being the most popular Halloween costumes of 2010, Pauly D responded that it is "free publicity." In regards to people dressing up as him as a parody, he says that regardless of whether or not they are saying good things or bad, they are still talking about him and takes the Halloween costumes as a compliment, as he should.

The Best and Worst Halloween Candy

Trick-or-treaters across America look forward to Halloween as a time to accumulate as much candy as possible. Aside from luring your trick-or-treaters with scary Halloween candy bowls, the candy is what either attracts people to or repels people from your house. So what are the best and worst treats? Here's how to make your house the most popular on the block with the best candy and how to avoid getting your house egged for passing out the worst candy.

The Best Halloween Candy

The best Halloween candies all have one thing in common: an interesting texture. Whether your Halloween candy is gooey, crunchy, or smooth, give your trick-or-treaters something that they can drool over. Trick-or-treaters generally like chocolate candies or sweet, fruity alternatives. If you want to be a popular Halloween hot-spot, it might be worth investing a few more dollars in the candy department.

Snickers - Whether you are passing out whole candy bars or just the Snickers minis, something about the caramel, peanuts, chocolate and nougats make Snickers the most popular Halloween candy. Studies say that gooey candies are most appealing to trick-or-treaters and Snickers only backs this theory up. Trick-or-treaters go out of their way to visit houses that pass out whole Snickers candy bars more than any other type of candy bar.

Nerds - Something about the sweet and tart mix of Nerds candies makes the masses of children go crazy, but that's what you would expect from Willy Wonka and Nestle. If you really want your house to be popular, go for the Nerds Ropes. These tangy, fruity, taffy-like strings have nerds stuck to the outside of them making for the perfect texture and one of the most coveted Halloween candies.

Reese's Peanut Butter Cups - Chocolate mixed with peanut butter creates bliss, and that is exactly what Reese's Peanut Butter Cups achieve. Pass out the minis or be really popular with the whole two-cup package. Either way, a Reese's Peanut Butter Cup will be a very hot commodity in the Halloween candy trade. Like their coy marketing campaign states, Reese's Peanut Butter Cups are "perfection."

Lollipops - From Tootsie Pops to Blow Pops to the rare and delicious Caramel Apple Pops, Lollipops are some of the most popular Halloween candies because they last a long time, and there is always a special surprise at the middle. Studies suggest that people enjoy Tootsie Pops because it is a more exciting alternative to the boring Tootsie Roll, as is the Blow Pop to the regular chewing gum. Regardless of the reason, lollipops are exciting, crunchy, chewy, and delicious all at the same time.

Hershey's Chocolate Bars - The most traditional can sometimes be synonymous with the best. It's a fact that kids and adults alike love chocolate, and Hershey's has mastered the art of chocolate. To be a very popular house, pass out whole chocolate bars. You can buy them early on sale at the supermarket for about $0.50 per bar. Too expensive for your Halloween budget? But the Hershey's mini packs complete with Mr. Goodbars and Krackle Bars. Those will also be a hit among your trick-or-treaters.

The Worst Halloween Candy

Are you paranoid of passing out the wrong type of candy to your neighborhood? Some simple tips would be to pass out actual candy as opposed to other imposters that call themselves candy. Stick to the basic candy staples and avoid the unpopular "gifts" some people pass out on Halloween.

Wax Candy - Those wax lips may be fun to play with, but when it comes down to the candy consumption, those are the first things to get thrown away. Wax is not candy, and ultimately it's not worth the money if it's just going to disappoint your trick-or-treaters. Plus, they don't taste very good. After wearing the lips around for a few hours and having your whole lower face turn red from the coloring, it is time to discard this "candy" and move on to the next house. Unless you want your trick or treaters looking like they all left your house with collagen implants, steer clear of the Wack-o-Wax Lips.

Licorice - This should be a no-brainer, but still some houses like to pass out black licorice. Halloween candy should not have to be an acquired taste, and the anise flavoring of black licorice is an extremely acquired taste, not to mention one that does not bode well with children. Unless your trick or treaters are 80 years old or the small percentage of the population who likes black licorice, do not pass it out on Halloween.

Healthy Alternatives - Trick-or-treaters will beg you to not pass out toothbrushes or any other healthy, non-candy alternative on Halloween. Passing out real candy is one of those Halloween traditions that should not be tampered with. If you are a dentist or a health-nut, resist the urge to pass out toothbrushes and apples. Kids go trick-or-treating to get candy and have a good time, not to be taught a lesson. However, it is acceptable to pass out toothbrushes along with candy.

All this and more can be found at our Experts123 Halloween Guide containing the answers to all of your Halloween questions.

Are you an Experts123 paid contributor and a Halloween expert? We have some Halloween articles that we'd like you to write! Log-in at www.Experts123.com or sign up at www.Experts123.com/contributors/apply to choose some of these Halloween articles. These titles are bound to get a ton of traffic since Halloween is one of those hot topics each year.

Halloween Titles:
Minnie Mouse Costume
Disney Princess Costumes
Belle Costume
Hippie Costumes
Boys Costumes
Little Mermaid Costume
Jester Costume
Snow White Costumes
Women's Costumes
Cheerleader Costumes
King Costume
Costumes for Sale

The Best Halloween Costume Ideas of 2010

2010 has been a year where pop culture has exploded and encompassed the masses. From music to films to reality television, popular culture has provided a smorgasbord of inspiration for Halloween costumes. Not only are we going to predict the top Halloween costumes of 2010, but we are going to tell you how to make these costumes yourself.

Pauly D is one of the most
popular costumes this year.

Jersey Shore

It's hard to believe it, but dressing like someone from the cast of MTV's hit reality show Jersey Shore might just be the hottest Halloween costume of 2010. The most popular costumes from the cast would be Pauly D, Mike "The Situation," and Snooki, but dressing as any type of "Guido" would suffice for a Jersey Shore Halloween costume.

There are 3 main ingredients to a Jersey Shore Halloween costume: orange tan, dark black hair, and designer clothes. Bring on the bling. You want to drench yourself in gold. At many Halloween stores, you can buy a Snooki or a Pauly D wig or The Situation's abs.If you want to make your costume hilarious, consider buying orange paint or dark foundation to really make it look like you fake baked at a tanning salon.

Go Gaga for Halloween

Lady Gaga

Every day is Halloween for music sensation Lady Gaga.The queen of pop is all about reinventing herself and makes for a great Halloween costume inspiration. In order to dress like Lady Gaga at home, watch a music video or performance to get some inspiration and try to mimic one of her ensembles.

To make a Lady Gaga costume, you will definitely need these three things: sequins, sunglasses, and cigarettes. You can even combine all of these. Lady Gaga enjoys painting her face in interesting ways, sometimes creating a mask-like illusion. If you are going to go Gaga, do it big. Never hold back.

(If you really are feeling avant garde, you can try recreating Lady Gaga's meat dress for Halloween.)

LOST - The Dharma Initiative

Dharma Initiative jumpsuits
make a very clever and unique
Halloween costume.

LOST might have wrapped up its final season earlier this year, and we might have not completely understood what exactly happened, but we do know that dressing up as someone from the Dharma Initiative is one of the coolest Halloween costumes of 2010. Dressing as a Dharma employee might be one of the most relevant costumes of the year simply because LOST was such a phenomenon.

To dress like a Dharma employee, you could buy the jumpsuit online. But if you are looking to do it yourself, you can always buy a jumpsuit at a thrift store. Your jumpsuit can be tan or navy blue if you want it to look authentically Dharma. As for the logo, you can always paint it on, buy a Dharma sticker, or buy some iron-on papers and print out the logo to iron it on your jumpsuit. Make sure to look relatively disheveled because the Dharma employees hardly looked like they had showered within the last week. Match your jumpsuit with a pair of hiking boots.

Vampires are making a come
back in pop culture and
Halloween costumes.

Vampires

With the obsession with True Blood and Twilight this year, it is expected that the surge in vampire costumes would happen. No longer will vampire costumes be an older man who fears garlic. Vampires have had a Hollywood make-over, and so have the vampire Halloween costumes.

If you are looking to dress up like one of the Cullens for Halloween this year, it might be one of the easiest and most recognizable Halloween costumes. Vampires now appear to be regular people, only a little bit more pale with vampire teeth. Buy some translucent powder and a set of vampire teeth from your local Halloween store to complete the look and use some red food coloring to drip some blood off the side of your mouth to make sure people know you're a vampire (if they hadn't guessed it already). Make sure to wear darker colors from your wardrobe.


Harry Potter

Voldemort will undoubtedly
be a popular 2010 costume
with all of the Harry Potter hype.

Harry Potter is soon releasing the final two movies to end the Harry Potter saga, which means that Harry Potter costumes will be all the rage this year. You can dress like Harry, Hermione, or any one of the other Hogwarts gang, or you can dress like quite possibly one of the most popular Halloween costumes of the year, he-who-shall-not-be-named, Voldemort.

In order to dress like Voldemort for Halloween, you will need to start with a long black robe. Some good ideas for this robe would be an old graduation robe that you have laying around (or that your parents have laying around). You can also get the bald look by buying a bald cap at a Halloween store. While you're there you can look for a wand, or just whittle a stick from your back yard into a believable wand. Make sure to use some dark make up to make your eyes look shadowed and sunken in, like Voldemort's.

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This year, Halloween costumes are all about pop culture references. You can either buy expensive costumes at a Halloween store, or make your own for more effort but less money.

Related Halloween Questions
How did Halloween start in America?
What does Halloween represent?
What are some good group Halloween costumes?
How Are Zombies Created?
What year did Halloween start?

How to Ask a Question

Sometimes on question and answer encyclopedias like Experts123, there are a lot of questions that fail to get answered. How do you make sure that your question isn't one of them? Simple. Follow these easy steps to make sure that your question isn't skimmed over.

Be specific.

Make sure you give as much necessary information as possible. It is important to not be too vague, but also not too specific at the same time. There are many questions that are asked on Experts123 that are as vague as "How do I get there?" No one knows what you are referring to besides you. Make sure you add enough information in the title of the question to give enough clarity to someone who will be able to answer it. However, don't be too specific necessarily. Try to make your question useful for the rest of the Experts123 community.

Asking "How do I get to New Mexico from Washington D.C. with my pet bird and my horses from Lubbock, Texas?" is unnecessary. That type of question can be broken up to three different questions:

1. How do I get to New Mexico from Lubbock, Texas?
2. How do I transport a pet bird cross-country?
3. How do I transport a pet horse cross-country?

You don't want to overwhelm your potential answerer and you don't want people to overlook your question for being too specific.

Be concise.

When you are asking a question, you want to give as much information as possible in as little words as possible. Confusing? Well, it's just a matter of thinking through what information exactly you are looking for. Put some thought into how you want to word your question. Like mentioned before, if your question is in too much detail, break it up into multiple questions. The chances of someone answering your question are much higher if your question is shorter and more concise.

Use correct spelling and grammar.

Make sure to proofread your question. Capitalize at least the first letter and make sure you are using correct spelling and grammar. Be careful to catch homonyms because they can confuse someone looking to answer questions (ex: wear vs. where, except vs. accept, their vs. there vs. they're, bear vs. bare).

Classify your questions with the correct topics.

Choose a topic that already exists when possible by choosing from the list of topics that appear as you type. If the topic you want is not in the system, you may add it as a new topic.

Read more at: How do I choose topics for a question on Experts123?

Use common sense.

When asking a question, think about whether or not it is capable of being answered easily. Otherwise, it might be overlooked by other users. For example, sometimes on question and answer sites, students submit their homework in order to get the answers from other people.
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So now you know how to ask the perfect question, but to summarize, here are the cardinal rules of asking a question online:

1. Don't ask more than one question per question.
2. Think whether or not your question is worded well enough to be answered easily.
3. Be specific about the information you are looking for.
4. Spell check and proofread!
5. If you have more clarifications, don't put it in the text title--use the description space below.

If you try to follow these guidelines, the chances of your questions being answered are much greater.

10 Ways to Lower Your Electric Bill and Conserve Energy

Conserving energy is both good for the environment and for the pocketbook. With the recent heat wave that has struck many cities across the United States, electric bills have undoubtedly skyrocketed. These late-summer heat waves have lead to a spike in activity of local air conditioning units and with winter around the corner, cold-weather cities will start cranking the heaters.

To give an idea of how hot it has been, sunny southern California has been hit with record highs: downtown Los Angeles has hit a record high of 113 degrees Fahrenheit. Air conditioners that have not been turned on for years due to lovely ocean breezes have been dusted off in order to make their inhabitants comfortable.

But with these spikes in activity comes spikes in spending. When it is hot, your appliances work twice as hard to make you feel comfortable. Here are some tips to beat the heat while still saving money.

1. Turn off the Lights

It's simple: turn off the lights when you leave the room. Aside from knowing that it is not energy efficient to keep lights on when you're not even using them, lamps will heat up a room and make it that much harder to cool it down. Even though it does save you money when you turn off the lights (and a noticeable difference, too), it is just in the "Good Citizen Handbook" to conserve energy and turn something off when you're not using it.

2. Run Your Fan, not the AC

On your air conditioning thermostat you may realize that you have an option to run the fan through the vents while your air conditioning is off. This circulates the air and removes the stuffy, humid atmosphere while costing you a fraction of air conditioning.

3. Use Your Appliances Less

You probably wonder why your house's interior temperature increases a few degrees during dinner time. The oven and the stove are the most heat-producing appliances in the house. Try using the microwave to cook dinner or just the stove top briefly. Or try eating raw veggies or making a sandwich. Also, try hang-drying your clothes instead of putting them in the dryer. It is amazing how much electricity your dryer uses.

4. Use a Dimmer

For the lights in the rooms with the most traffic, consider installing a dimmer. Even turning down the lights half-way while the family is watching tv can save you a few dollars a month.

5. Replace Your Light Bulbs

Go around your home and replace your old light bulbs with compact fluorescent light bulbs. They produce less heat, last longer, and use 1/3 of the energy of regular light bulbs.

6. Seal Up Your House

Whether you live in a cold weather city or a hot weather city, seal up your house to avoid over working your heater or air conditioner. It's amazing how cool a house can stay on a hot day when none of the cool air leaks out. Make sure your windows stay closed in extreme weather conditions, that there are no cracks in the sealing around doors and windows, and that the traffic in and out of the house is minimal.

7. Avoid Energy Sucking Vampires

No, we're not talking about those vampires, Twilight fans. We're talking about your wall outlets. When you aren't using that phone charger or hair straightener, unplug it! Leaving an appliance plugged in actually sucks energy even while you're not using it.

8. Clean Out Your Fridge

Clean the outside and the inside. The dust that accumulates under your fridge and around the coils actually makes your fridge work twice as hard to keep it cool. Cleaning the dust off of these will boost the efficiency of your appliance. Also, clean out the unwanted food inside your fridge. The more food you have in your fridge the harder it is to keep it cool. Clean out the unwanted leftovers that you probably won't eat anyways. Finally, tell your roommates or kids to choose what they want from the fridge before they go in to get it. Sitting in front of the fridge with the door open sucks so much energy and lets out all of the cold air.

9. Replace Your Thermostat

If you still have an old thermostat, upgrade to a digital thermostat. You can control the exact interior temperature of your house and schedule it so that it does not turn on while you are at work or while no one is home.

10. Embrace the Natural Light

Instead of turning on all of the lights in the middle of the day, open the blinds and embrace the natural light! Not only does this save you energy, but also makes you look and feel better. It has been proven that if you expose yourself to a little bit of sunlight you will feel rejuvenated and look fresher.

Drive Traffic and Make Money: The Secret is Internal Linking

Stop wasting time with low quality inbound links and cheap directories with millions of useless links that may or may not drive traffic. There are more quality ways to drive traffic, increase your pagerank value and make more cash.

Online content writers, including the revenue-share contributors on Experts123, look for ways to gain an edge over their competitors--to get people to click on their articles over the other related ones showing up in the Google searches. Writing the article is not enough unless you have a prominent fan base. Online writing now consists of two parts: writing the article and promoting it.

Maintaining an edge over the competitors can be done through increasing SEO and creating quality internal links between your articles (whether they are on the same site or different ones). This can not only be applied to your Experts123 articles, but also to any online articles in general.

To see how to easily increase your SEO, check out our other blog entry "Increase Your SEO Rankings."

Being an internet superstar does not happen overnight. You have to work hard and build quality links, but in the end it is worth it because your traffic will be more consistent and of a higher quality.

1. Stop Using Low Quality External Links As the Only Source to Drive Traffic

It may seem logical to plant links to your content anywhere that you see relevant information. However, these links are not always "do follow" links (counting as legitimate backlinks which increase your SEO ranking) and they are not all going to be quality links. Scattering your links wherever you see relevant also makes it seem like you are spam. Some sites, which have an approval process for outside comments and links, may recognize your efforts as spam regardless of how relevant your content may be.

Attempting to link externally should not be entirely overlooked, but it should not be the only source of traffic. For example, if you have your own blog and an expertise column on Experts123, feel free to post links to your Experts123 articles on your blog, and post the link to your blog on your Experts123 profile.

2. Use Relevant Keywords to Make a Good Title and Increase SEO

For a great example on how to construct a good title, read "How to Make the Perfect Title."

3. Quality Content Helps Linking Internally

If someone reads one of your articles and likes it, chances are they will want to read more of your articles. When promoting your work, don't expect to promote your main page and have the traffic trickle down to the lesser pages. You do not want to waste time promoting questionable links, nor do you want to waste time promoting on irrelevant sites. If someone is searching for chocolate chip cookie recipes, they are more likely to click on your article about the best chocolate chip cookies you've ever eaten rather than your blog's home page. Focusing traffic makes it of a higher quality.

The key is top spend a lot of time making your content of quality and linking your separate articles to each other. If you are in fact creating fantastic content, you can point traffic to relevant pages with keywords.

Make yourself the expert: you want your content to reflect that you are the go-to person for this information. It is more important to rank higher with fewer links, than rank low with a lot of links.

Link your content from within through relevant keywords and synonyms. If you link to all synonyms in your articles with other articles on the same website (or similar ones that you publish your content on), you will show a lot more relevance more quickly.

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What is important is to focus on quality over quantity. You want to promote your most important links to your content. No more do you have to post your content on related sites and hope that it will be published or hope that people will click on it. If you provide the links within your content to your other related content you will be able to get more traffic and make more money. Tweet it, post it on Facebook, blog about it--get those links out there through related sources. Once you get the traffic to your one relevant page, the traffic will branch out to other related pages and traffic will trickle up as opposed to trickling down.

Twitter and Social Networking Websites: Get More Followers

Twittering or tweeting has become a main form of communication between the masses and celebrities, news outlets and people looking to build their following (and their egos). If you don't have a Twitter account yet, you are missing out on the chance to tweet, re-tweet, follow and mention millions of other people and create these social networking connections that feel more personal than a simple blurp on the face of the internet.

Trends travel quickly on Twitter. It is more simple than Facebook and easier to use too. The Twitter profile is relatively sparse with only forms for your username, name, website and short tweet-sized description (140 characters or less). From there you can create short little 140 character status updates to let people know where you are, what you've stumbled upon on the internet or whatever pops into your mind. However, the question is: is there a method to the Twitter madness?

Twitter followers are the coveted number of people who care what you're tweeting about. If you "follow" someone, their tweets will show up in your home feed along with the other people you follow. Generally, the more followers you have, the better your Twitter reputation will be.

Get Followers on Twitter: Reciprocate the Love

A lot of people believe that in order to get followers on Twitter, you must mass follow a ton of people in hopes that they follow you back. The people then who do not follow you back, you can unfollow. This theory is false, and if you participate in mass following and unfollowing you can get banned from Twitter.

The key: Follow those who follow you. This has been successful on both personal and business Twitter accounts. People want to be followed. This way you are not following random strangers who could or could not care about what you are saying, and taking a gamble that they will follow you. These people are already following you. Chances are, if you follow them, they will continue following you.

Some people might just want followers and not want to follow other people in return. This is completely acceptable behavior and chances are the percentage of your followers will actually care more about what you are saying. However, if you are not willing to take a chance on other people, people might be less willing to take a chance on you, and it will take longer to build up your follower-base.

Making a List on Twitter to Filter the Tweets You View

Twitter is about meeting new people and networking. It does not matter if you do not personally know all of your personal Twitter followers. Plus, it is easy to make Twitter lists to sort the people that you are following. For example, Twitter lists can be made that incorporate: new friends, old friends, professional tweets or celebrities.

1. Along the right side of your Twitter toolbar, you will see link labeled "Lists." Click on it. "Lists" will take you to a screen of lists that you follow, and lists that follow you. 
2. Click on "Create a New List."
3. From here, you can label your list and select from the people you follow to follow through the list.
4. Now, you can click on this list to follow the tweets of only the people on this list.

Beware of Mass Following and Mass Unfollowing

As fun and carefree as Twitter feels, it still has some rules that when broken can ban you from Twitter. Be careful of mass following and then mass unfollowing when you are not immediately followed back. A lot of people will follow you and then unfollow you when you reciprocate. It is acceptable to unfollow them in return with apps like Twitter Karma, but be careful that you do not do too much following and unfollowing in one day. You can get marked as medium or high risk on Twitter and then eventually banned if you do not stop the behavior.


Twitter: Social Networking for Business and Personal Matters

Twitter is a fun place to meet people and promote yourself. You can have multiple Twitter accounts to promote different businesses or niches that you may be interested in. Like all new social networking sites, it takes awhile before you will feel comfortable to take the Twitter training wheels off and have a consistent following. So be patient and tweet quality material, and your follower base will grow!

Related Links:

Using Twitter to Support Charities

Multiple Twitter Accounts

How to Set Yourself Apart on Twitter

Should I Mass Follow on Twitter?

Twitter is the New Black

Tweeters tweet about genealogy resources

iTunes Ping Review: Will Apple Dominate Social Networks?

Ping attempts to be "the social
network for music"

Automatically installed into every iTunes 10 is Apple's new social networking feature: Ping. Introduced by Steve Jobs as "the social network for music," Ping attempts to connect you to artists and other listeners and broaden the music you listen to and are introduced to.

The real questions lie behind Pings competitors. With a "follow" feature similar to that of Twitter and music channels that rival popular sites like Pandora and Last.fm, will Ping monopolize social media?

Ping's Features

Similar to the likes of Facebook and Twitter, Ping gives all users a "newsfeed" of the music the people they are following are both buying and listening to. Ping also keeps up with your habits, recording everything that you listen to, turning it into trends, and projecting it to the users that follow you. Now everyone will be able to see the kind of music you are listening to, and the type of music you prefer.

Ping is very successful at driving iTunes sales. With a reported 160,000 people who have already signed up for Ping, iTunes expects its sales to skyrocket even more than they already have (iTunes has just sold it's 12 millionth song).

The End of Pandora and Last.fm?

While Ping does let you see what others around you are listening to and influences consumers to buy specific music, Ping does not provide the features that Pandora and Last.fm provide. It has yet to develop a way to see what others are listening to as they listen to it, and it is nearly impossible to search for artists and your friends.

Find your favorite radio stations on
Pandora.com and listen to full songs.

Ping also seems to pull from your iTunes purchasing history instead of your iTunes playlist history making it difficult to accurately suggest music. Not all music is purchased over iTunes (sometimes illegally, sometimes through artists' sites) and only having suggested music based on what you have purchased is neither user-friendly nor desirable.

What sites like Pandora and Last.fm sincerely hold over Ping are the radio stations. On Ping, you can only hear 30 second snippets of songs, as opposed to on Pandora, where you can hear entire songs.

As a "social network," Ping falls short of Twitter and Facebook as well. There is no way to integrate your other social networking sites into Ping. You have to update you Facebook and Twitter statuses completely independently of your Ping status, which is almost discouraging considering all of the social networks the majority of America already belongs to.

Don't Completely Discount Ping...

While Ping does not completely uphold its "social network for music" reputation that Steve Jobs is trying to promote, Ping is a fantastic marketing strategy to promote iTunes sales. It encourages people to purchase songs on iTunes that their friends are listening to.

Plus, recommended songs and friends' feeds are completely automated. If you're going to be on iTunes anyways, why not give Ping a try? It has been shown that friend-recommendations are more accurate than any other kind. Ping helps pinpoint the kind of music that fits you, even though it has not created a social networking atmosphere quite yet.

A Look at Spiderman 4: Who is Gwen Stacy?

With the announcement of Emma Stone (Superbad, Easy A) playing Gwen Stacy in the upcoming Spiderman flick chronicling the life of young Peter Parker who will be played by Andrew Garfield, we here at Experts123 only thought it would be appropriate to do some chronicling of our own of young Parker's love life and tangled love web (since only hardcore comic book fans know the true story of Spiderman's relationship with Gwen Stacy).

Spiderman 4 will begin shooting as soon as the A-list cast has been selected. It is supposed to look at the early life of Peter Parker, as opposed to the 3 movie blockbuster series that chronicled Parker's post-grad life.

Spiderman was originally created to give teens a superhero they could identify with. Parker's obsession with his inadequacy lead his comic book fans to be able relate. He was an average kid: a smart science whiz and an orphan who lived with his aunt and uncle. Peter Parker also struggles in love.

Emma Stone to play Gwen Stacy
in Spiderman 4

Who is Gwen Stacy?

Peter Parker meets Gwen Stacy while studying at Empire University. He initially ignores her advances, and she becomes bored and dates others. Nonetheless, their aptitude for science and intellectual abilities bring them together.

Many things trouble their relationship initially. Gwen Stacy is the daughter of Police Captain George Stacy, who falls to his death in a fight with the Green Goblin--leaving Gwen to blame Spiderman. Gwen also pressures Peter into marriage which puts a toll on their relationship, but eventually she moves on and they move in together in New York City to plan for their future.

However, Gwen dies suddenly from the whiplash of Spiderman's web catching her when the Green Goblin throws her off of a bridge. Never before had the loved-one of a superhero died so suddenly.

Her death lead to a lot of important developments in the world of Spiderman: Mary Jane Watson (a close friend) becomes more serious and becomes better acquainted with Peter Parker, leading to eventual marriage (and we all know how that story ends even if we haven't read the comic books).

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All in all, Spiderman 4 will look into the life of Peter Parker during his relationship with Gwen Stacy who is a lesser known love interest in the shadow of Mary Jane Watson. As the spotlights begin to shine more on the production and casting of Spiderman 4, undoubtedly more will be commonly known about Gwen and her relationship with Peter Parker. But as of now, little is known about this woman of the comic books in comparison to Mary Jane Watson.

Have questions? Ask them on www.Experts123.com. With a hot topic like this, you are sure to get some interesting answers.

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A Nobel Prize for Graphene

So it's been announced that the University of Manchester professors Andre Geim and Konstantin Novoselov. Geim and Novoselov have successfully isolated graphene from graphite to identify its behavior.

But the question that has been entering everyone's head is: what exactly is graphene? How were these professors chosen?

What exactly is Graphene?

"Carbon, the basis of all known life on earth, has surprised us once again."

Graphene is a 1 atom thick sheet of carbon atoms in a honeycomb lattice. It is made out of carbon atoms and their bonds. Since Graphene is only 1 atom thick, it is about 0.142 nanometers. Stacked together, graphene makes up graphite, and is also the base for charcoal and fullerenes. It is referred to as a "two-dimensional material" because of its thickness (or lack thereof).

Graphene has a handful of potential applications such as acting as a sensor for gas (since its size is so small, it is good at detecting absorbed molecules indirectly), acting as nanoribbons that can be cut into a particular pattern to give it electrical properties (as a semiconductor for example), acting as transistors , or acting as integrated circuits (since it has a high carrier mobility and low noise). There has also been optimism that it can be used as an anti-bacterial against bacteria like E. coli and keeping foods fresher longer.

Graphene is dense and conducts heat and electricity. Not even helium can pass through it. The two scientists, Geim and Novoselov, isolated the graphene by peeling it "off of a graphite crystal using Scotch tape."

How does the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences decide a winner?

The Norwegian Nobel Committee (made up of 5 independent members) have been choosing the Nobel Peace Prize recipients since 1901 ( the government was banned from sitting on the committee to avoid political influence in 1936). Records of nominees can be kept confidential for 50 years. Nominees are accepted from a select group of individuals and then investigated by the NNC.

Sometimes the Nobel Prize can be given to someone who has yet to complete their work, but is making great headway. The NNC choses a list of 5-20 people and then attempts to reach a unanimous decision by October. If the unanimous vote is not reached, then the majority vote decides the recipient.

Previous recipients of the Nobel Physics Prize include Albert Einstein (1921) and Otto Stern (1943).

(complete list)

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Presidential Cheerleaders (They've Got Spirit!)

Did you know that four of our previous presidents were cheerleaders?

George W. Bush, Ronald Reagan, Dwight D. Eisenhower, and Franklin D. Roosevelt were all cheerleaders.

Give me a "W"
George W. Bush was a very popular cheerleader at Phillips Academy (despite his low presidential approval ratings). President Bush was the head cheerleader in high school and participated in skits where he dressed up like a woman and made fun of rival schools.


Let's go, Reagan!
Ronald Reagan cheered at Eureka college in Illinois before staring in countless films and becoming the President of United States and inventor of Reaganomics. A man of many talents, he also played on the football team and cheered for the basketball team.


Fight, Dwight.
Famous Ike, who was very close to becoming a famous football star, chose to be a cheerleader instead at West Point College. After earning the letter "A," West Point's greatest football honor, Eisenhower was no longer able to play football for the Army, so he chose the next best thing: to be a cheerleader.


Let's Make a Deal
Franklin D. Roosevelt, supporter of the "New Deal," was also a cheerleader at Harvard

George W. Bush

Ronald Reagan

Dwight D. Eisenhower

.