What’s new in the blogosphere? A little bit of everything!

Chris Bibey is a fellow freelance writer who I greatly respect, which is why I think his recent post on writing rates is noteworthy. He asks whether your rates are negotiable. You typically can’t haggle at Best Buy, but nearly everyone does it when buying a new car. For freelance writing rates, I think the negotiation has to be a two-way street. I’ll agree to a lower rate if you’ll agree to higher volume or some other incentive, for instance.

RT Cunningham chimes in the recent Katy Perry controversy regarding the segment she had on Sesame Street with Elmo. Many parents are up in arms about her choice of outfit, but RT disagrees. In his post on cleavage and augmentation, he says that it was likely just one big publicity stunt. If that’s the case, it worked.

Miss 604 lets us know about the upcoming haunted trolley tour in Vancouver. Every Halloween, visitors are taken around the city to visit “real” haunted houses and hear murderous tales. The regular price for a ticket is $35, but if you quote “Miss604″ while booking, you get five dollars off for tours between October 8 and 15.

Dragon Blogger recognizes that technology plays a very important role in our lives, so you shouldn’t take these purchases lightly. As such, he describes some tips on how to buy a laptop. Are you paying attention to the processor, battery life, screen size, memory, and other important features? An extra $100 investment can go a long way!

Joseph Planta approaches a rather touchy subject in his recent interview with Ezra Levant. They touch on the hot topic of Canada’s oil sands, looking at “our hypocrisy when it comes to our oil consumption, where we purchase it, and who benefits from it.” Levant wants to use the oil sands, but Greenpace and others think otherwise.