People are always thinking about it

As if we didn't know (link)

The Ultimate Guide to Sudoku

Yesterday was an amazing sudoku day. I spent a lot of time on www.websudoku.com, and I came up with amazing results (well atleast by my standards). I completed the easy level with a best timing of 4 minutes 11 seconds. But the best part was that I managed to complete one of the games at the "Evil" level. It took me almost 45 minutes to complete it, but it was a satisfying victory none the less.

I would like to clarify here that though you would have heard that people complete the puzzle in like a minute flat, but let me tell you, anybody who completes it in less than four minutes is a bloody freak. So 4:11 is the best non-freak timing that you can get.

Anyways, sudoku has taken over the world, probably like the craze of the rubik's cube, which hit the world when my dad was about my age. Here is what Google Trend shows us about sudoku and the rubik's cube. (link)

Solving a sudoku puzzle takes no more maths than eating an ice cream. If this is your first time, the here is a list of the strategies you could try using.

1. The first step is to look at each digit and try to complete it across the board.

2. Now after you've filled up all the places you could, you try to fill out all the numbers in each of the nine boxes.

3. After you can go no further, complete all numbers in each row and column (each has 9 digits).

4. In both of the above steps, if there are two digits left, it's not much of a problem. But if say there are 3 or 4 or even 5 digits left. The easiest way to go about it is to find out the remaining numbers, eg. 1,3,5,6. Now look at each empty slot and if you can find three of the four numbers in that row or column, then you know what number to put there.

5. After you've hit a dead end with all of the above, try each slot and see what all numbers can fit into each slot. Many times, you would find that even though a number can be placed in a lot of slots in a group, in one particular slot only one number can be placed eg. in the right top corner only number 3 can be placed.

6. If you've exhausted all possible alternatives, this is the last way to deal with it (atleast as far as I know), if you find a number can be placed in two places in a box, substitute the number in one of the places and try to find out what other numbers can thus be solved. But one thing you need to remember is that even if all the numbers fit correctly, you have not found the correct solution, you can be sure only if you find something wrong. Then you replace the first number you have substituted with the second number, which would definitely be correct now.

That is all I think. Now just start up, and if you manage to better my score, let me know. Happy sudokuing :)

Making money on niche markets

Read a nice article about making money on niche markets...


For the young and enthusiastic people keen on earning loads of bucks online, niche markets is a perfect hub. Affiliate marketing with niche markets are especially designed to suit the select few who are simply opposed to the idea of commuting several hours five days a week to earn their livelihood. In this business, you are free to work from home and earn commendable benefits at the same time. Above all, you can do all this at your own convenience, selecting your own time and making an affordable investment.

Fine, but you need not be under the false impression that affiliate marketing is just a piece of cake. To establish yourself in this field, it would cost you a lot of hard work and concentration. You will also pick up skills with time and experience.

If on the contrary, you belong to the camp wherein people conceive of affiliate marketing as something too tough and consider splashing some AdSense ads on a page a much easier pursuit, you will need to be reminded of the money you can earn out of affiliate marketing.

Read the whole article here

Should you use Adbrite on your blog?

Shai Coggins, one of the smartest bloggers you would ever find, writes about the good and bad points about using Adbrite on your blog.

The Good:

It’s a good way to start in selling ads on your site. There are different ad formats available. And, there’s the option to set up various ‘zones’ if you have different web properties and charge different ad rates on different zones.

The ability to choose between running a house/network ad and/or just ads that get sold on your site. You can even opt to run alternative ads if they don’t meet your revenue requirements. For example, you can run an AdBrite ad code on your site and set AdSense as you’re alternative. This is a good way to make sure the ad space on your site doesn’t get wasted, if you know you can earn more from AdSense (or other ad programmes).

The Bad:

The returns are not that good, and they put up interstitials too

Link