Going through this week’s flyers, I noticed a common thread among many of the advertisements that arrived in my mailbox. This isn’t a new phenomenon, by any stretch of the imagination, but it is an interesting observation nonetheless.

Most people will know that Super Bowl XLIV is scheduled ot happen this Sunday in Florida, pitting the New Orleans Saints against the Indianapolis Colts. This is a big deal and it’s easily one of the most expensive days for television advertising. What happened with the flyers is that they were trying to avoid paying the Super Bowl-related royalties.

Instead, nearly every flyer I saw featured some football-related motif, as well as references to things like the “Big Game” rather than to the “Super Bowl.” The relationship was very clear and very obvious, but there was no wording that involved the Super Bowl, the NFL, or other similar licensed content.

How do you feel about advertisements that use this implied connection rather than paying for the official licensing? I don’t mind it, but I do find it a little funny that they would try to do this.

Are you offering some kind of free download on your website or blog? Maybe you’re giving away a free e-book for marketing purposes and you want to know how many people have downloaded it thus far? The trouble is that Google Analytics may not supply this kind of information for you.

To overcome this mild shortcoming, you may want to consider the DownloadCounter WordPress plug-in. This plug-in will track the number of times a file has been downloaded from your site, giving you an accurate representation of how well that product is doing and how popular it has been.

This doesn’t work automatically with all files, of course, as you could be overwhelmed with the amount of stats available. Instead, this plug-in can automatically generate a special link and code that you then embed in your website. You can manage your chosen files through the administration page.

More information can be found on paran0id’s blog. The plug-in has not been updated since 2006, but it still seems to work for most current users. Here is the direct download link, which is also representative of the links the plug-in creates.

Whether you’re willing to accept it or not, it’s that time of year again. It’s typically in your best interest to deal with your income tax return sooner rather than later, but it’s also important to educate yourself about all the potential benefits and rules that you can use in your favor.

If you run your own small business out of your home and you have a room in your home that is dedicated to this purpose, you have a home office! Assuming that you keep all your receipts and you have everything properly organized, this can open up a world of tax write-offs and legitimate expenses.

In addition to things like stationery and web hosting, you can also legitimately write-off a portion of your home expenses as home office expenses. The best way to do this is based on your square footage. Let’s say that you have a 1000 square-foot condo and you have a 100 square-foot home office. Using this information, you can legitimately write off 10% of your mortgage interest, heating bills, and other similar expenses.

As always, since I am no accountant, you should check with your preferred tax professional if you have any questions or concerns. Better safe than sorry!

The netbook has taken the world by storm, because these little devices are able to offer a laptop-like experience in a smaller and more affordable package. Taking a similar approach to the desktop computer world is a device called a nettop. One of the most popular takes on this new niche is the Asus EeeBox.

Coming equipped with specifications and features that are much like its netbook counterpart, the Asus EeeBox is also affordably priced. You get the standard 1.6GHz Intel Atom processor, 1GB of RAM, 160GB hard drive, and Windows XP Home. You can likely install Windows 7 Starter in there if you prefer too.

Further still, the EeeBox comes preinstalled with Asus Express Gate. This is a pre-boot environment that allows you to check email, surf online, play music, or chat with friends without having to enter the full operating system. The small size of the EeeBox also reduces energy usage by about 90% compared to a typical PC.

The Asus EeeBox EBXB202-WHT-X0081 Desktop PC is currently on sale on Amazon for $279.99. This represents an $80 savings over the regular price and there is an additional $30 mail-in rebate available if you buy before the end of this month.