Well, it was bound to happen sooner or later. The effects of internet taxation that is.

As regular visitors here I am sure have noticed, I run quite a few ads here on the site. This is to help make a few extra bucks for the site as things such as hosting and domain registration are not free. So this is one reason I am a member of a few different affiliate programs. Including Amazon’s program.

Well, while going through my mail this morning, I received a rather alarming an email from Amazon in regards to their popular affiliate program.

We regret to inform you that the North Carolina state legislature (the General Assembly) appears ready to enact an unconstitutional tax collection scheme that would leave Amazon.com little choice but to end its relationships with North Carolina-based Associates.

snip…

But because the new law is drafted to go into effect once enacted – which could happen in the next two weeks – we will have to terminate the participation of all North Carolina residents in the Amazon Associates program on or before that same day. After the termination day, we will no longer pay any referral fees for customers referred to Amazon.com or Endless.com nor will we accept new applications for the Associates program from North Carolina residents.

So, it appears within the next few weeks, this shall pass. (North Carolina being a 100% Dem-run state since Reconstruction cinches that) And with that, the Amazon links here shall be removed as they will be useless.

Like California being a bell weather for a lot of a legislation that eventually gets passed nationwide, (nearly all of it counterproductive) this looks to be an early testing of the internet taxation waters. Just as this will make purchasing products online more expensive, it will also thin out the number of companies that will offer such affiliate programs, as it will be cost-prohibitive. Especially for smaller and mom-and-pop type sites. Which in turn will lead to less advertising for such companies and sites, less revenue and more layoffs in an already distressed economy.

As Plugs Biden said, “gird your loins”. The worst is yet to come.

For more information on other states and what they are up to as far as this subject goes, go to Performance Marketing Alliance.

For those of you who cannot get enough of Nosferatu, here are some upcoming performances:

Summer Festival 2009: Nosferatu the Vampyre

Cathedral Church of St Peter and St Paul
12th June 2009
Start Time: 9:00pm

A fantastic opportunity to see the classic black and white horror movie and one of the pinnacles of the German silent era of film-making.

Directed by Friedrich Wilhelm Murnau, the film has the genuine power to be creepy, odd, alluring, mythic and photographically beautiful. Max Shreck, in his most notorious role plays the monstrous Count Orlock, a vampire who comes out at night to tempt the living and, of course, to suck blood. Despite the film not being in circulation for many years, for breaching copyright laws, this did not hinder its much acclaimed success.

A late screening held in the Cathedral, chosen for its appropriate architectural setting will see live accompaniment to this renowned art film. Previously accompaniment for silent film could range from a piano to orchestra, depending on the size of the theatre. To bridge the gap between these two extremes an organist would occasionally accompany the film, as will Darius Batiwalla in our recreation. To appreciate this outstanding art form, additional screens will be erected either side of the film displaying the organist’s hands and feet, giving a closer look at the skill required to accompany such an event.

More details here.

Nosferatu: A Special Hallowe’en Presentation

Orpheum Theatre
Vancouver, Canada
Saturday, Oct 31, 2009 - 8pm

A Hallowe’en spectacular! The great 1922 Silent Film Nosferatu is the original Dracula movie. No charming aristocrat like later Draculas, this vampire is scary and macabre, a living corpse who feeds mercilessly on his victims. Hailed as one of the greatest movie adaptations of the vampire legend, aided by Max Schrek’s frightening performance as Count Orlock, Nosferatu will be presented with the music performed live by the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra. You’ll never have more fun being scared!

More details here.

As a few of you have noticed, the Nos Top 100 script has been having issues. Especially when you are trying to edit your account in it.

Ever since the site was moved to the new server last Fall, the topsite script has been an issue on both the front and back ends. As it is, there appears to be more code altering needing to be done to fit in with the PHP/mySQL version that this server runs.

Since the script itself is old and needs updating from time to time, sort of like an old appliance, I am considering using the gotop100.com service instead. Of course, in that case, all topsite members would need to reapply to join the topsite.

I shall make a decision shortly on that and shall let all topsite members know if there will be any changes.

Thanks.

Nos

To all Banner Exchange members:

Due to some migration issues, I will be altering some of the code in the Banner Exchange script as well as the portal pathing.

This may cause a temporary disruption in the exchange and therefore, the non-functioning of your banners appearing here and on other sites that share the script code.

I will probably be doing this over the weekend or sometime next week. (I have a couple of client deadlines to finish first).

I will shall keep you appraised of any changes that might be needed on your end.

Thanks.

Nos

As you have probably noticed, very little on the site has changed since the layout was put up in September. This is mainly due to having no time for this site due to a heavy volume of work via my business and it’s clients. When business picks up, unfortunately the less necessary and leisure activities have to take a back seat. And this site as one of them.

For those of you who have applied for the Nos Top 100 site and the Banner Exchange, I will get to your applications over the next week.

Thank you for understanding.

Nos