Six days of pool came down to a 45 minute final match that saw Dennis Orcollo of the Philippines defeat Ralf Souquet of Germany to claim the title at the Predator International 10-Ball Championship at the Riviera Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas, NV. The international event boasted representatives from dozens of countries and [...]

Cha Stuns Van Boening! Fisher & Ouschan Advance to Final 32 By Sally Lee In an amazing comeback performance, Yu Ram Cha overcame a 8-4 deficit to defeat former World 10-Ball and US Open Champion Shane Van Boening. Cha was one of the three remaining women left in the event with the monumental task of qualifying for [...]

Gomez Makes Statement in US Debut: Van Boening & Orcullo Fall at Predator International 10-Ball Championship By Sally Lee Filipino Roberto Gomez has completely crushed his first opponents to qualify for the Final 32 man elimination rounds. Gomez should be seeded #1 with a 11-0, 11-2, and 11-1 wins. Ozone Billiards presents the 112 top [...]

Federal Communications Commission representatives will be at Placer County Library branches today and Friday to provide information about converter boxes, antennas, converter box coupons and other issues related to the transition from analog to digital television reception.

FCC representatives will be at the Auburn Branch Library, 350 Nevada St., from 2 to 4 p.m. today and at the Rocklin Branch Library, 5460 Fifth St., from 1 to 3 p.m. Friday.

Over-the-air broadcasts will be in digital signals beginning June 12. More information regarding the digital transition is available at www.dtv.gov.

– Cathy Locke

Fallen Heroes Galore: Archer, Souquet, Feijen Upsetted at Predator International 10-Ball Championship By Sally Lee 32 ranked players were seeded in the event, with the top 16 getting a bye. It still didn’t help a few of them.  Major casualties on the winners side today on Day 2 of the 9th Annual Predator International 10-Ball Championship. Current #1 [...]

Ouschan and Villarreal Strike First Blood at Predator International 10-Ball Championship By Sally Lee Among the full field of 112 players at the 9th Annual Predator International 10-Ball Championship, there are 15 women who have decided to brave up against the vastly male fielded event. On Day 1 of the event, two ladies struck first blood against [...]

Rachel Campbell, left, and twin sister Sarah are co-owners of the Sacramento blog TwinSoup.com, which makes enough money that Rachel was able to quit her job in commercial title sales. But Sarah continues to work as a real estate agent.

Work for Rachel and Sarah Campbell entails opening up their laptops wherever they happen to be – at a coffee shop, in a spa or even poolside, but not in some drab office cubicle.

The 29-year-old identical twins blog about the shopping, eating and goings-on around Sacramento on their Web site TwinSoup.com. And, unlike the majority of bloggers out there, they make enough money doing it that Rachel was able to quit her day job.

Just 28 percent of bloggers worldwide make money, with $200 a year being the median revenue for U.S. bloggers, according to the media company Technorati. Only about one in four bloggers say they're doing it for the cash, and about half have advertising on their blogs to bring money in.

"Most people do this as a labor of love," said Jennifer McLean, Technorati's vice president of marketing.

TwinSoup is headquartered in a fourth-floor office at downtown Sacramento's rehab-chic RetroLodge, at 11th and H streets. But the converted motel room is mainly an address. The twins and their interns are more likely to hold meetings at the Naked Lounge coffee shop across the street, and writing happens everywhere else.

"We have a conversational style," Rachel Campbell said. "So sometimes it's easier to write as you're talking about it with someone else."

The blog is modeled after DailyCandy, and the twins post once a day, dishing on new restaurants, social events and eco-friendly threads. They target local women who like to know about the latest trends, events and hot spots. Last week, the blog focused on Mother's Day gifts.

"We really just felt it was something missing," said Sarah Campbell. "Sacramento has a lot going on, but it doesn't get out there."

Since launching in January 2008, the blog has registered 2 million page views, with about 15,000 unique visitors a month. Ad sales are enough that four months ago Rachel Campbell quit her job in commercial title sales; Sarah still works as a real estate agent.

"Capitalism has a wonderful ability to co-opt anything," said Kevin Wehr, an assistant professor of sociology at California State University, Sacramento. "If you are a good enough writer and you can deliver a set of eyes to the screen, then you have a market."

Still, the majority of bloggers, including many locally, don't do it for the income.

On "Hunter Angler Gardener Cook," Hank Shaw writes about food that doesn't come in a package – meat he killed himself, and vegetables and fruits he either raised or picked up at a farmers market. He's been nominated for best food blog by the James Beard Foundation but still earns only about $20 a month through links to books on Amazon.com. There isn't a single ad on his blog.

"My blog is my house on the Internet," said Shaw. "If I have some outside advertiser in my house and they're not as trustworthy as I am, I think that really damages my credibility."

Writers for SacRag.com, a local news, gossip and entertainment blog, have a similar take.

"It's just a hobby," said Dan "Stickie" Scott, a 36-year-old who is job hunting after finishing graduate school in public policy.

"We have 10 writers, and all of us were born and raised in the area or long-term residents, so I think we have a unique perspective," Scott said. "We're not here reporting the news; that's a million other people's jobs. We're here to provide a personal perspective on the news."

At 4 years old, SacRag.com is one of the longest running local blogs and gets about 7,500 unique visitors a month. Last year, the writers got a share of ad money for the first time – $100 each.

"It was a little bonus," Scott said. "I used it to pay off my beer debt."

Josh Thompson, a student at Sacramento State looks at his Facebook page on Feb. 18, 2009 at the Student Union.

Facing a tough job market, Facebook "friends" and LinkedIn business associates are clicking a well-worn adage and dragging it into their virtual worlds.

That old chestnut says: Getting a job is not about what you know. It's about who you know.

Since online networks put millions of potential contacts at the fingertips of job seekers, why not mine them?

Sharon Fredrickson of Sacramento made it work for her.

"My job search lasted all of 2 1/2 weeks," said Fredrickson, who searched in January as the economy slid.

She was looking for a position in sales and account management. When she got a lead on a company that might be hiring, she logged on to her Facebook and LinkedIn accounts.

"I just jumped on Facebook and found out who was on there," Fredrickson said.

If she found a company executive on Facebook, she could make a friend request and start a dialogue about employment. She was able to use LinkedIn to send messages as well.

While job postings often refer applicants to human resources departments, "I totally bypassed them," said Fredrickson, who now works in the Bay Area for CMPro Services, an Arizona firm that shows companies how to maximize profits.

Even in state government, where hiring is constrained by rules, Facebook comes in handy.

Sam Delson, deputy director of the state Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment, used it to post information about a position he was trying to fill.

The bad economy brought out more than 100 applicants.

Most came from the standard personnel board listing, but "some of our strongest candidates came from our recruiting effort."

In the end, two of the five candidates interviewed, and the one who was tentatively hired, came from the posting that Delson sent to Facebook friends, who passed it on to their friends.

More than 100 million people a day log on to their Facebook pages, the company says.

That's how networking works.

The online networks – MySpace, Facebook, Plaxo, LinkedIn and others – were not created especially to facilitate employment.

Facebook was started in a Harvard dorm room and initially served teens and college students for social communication.

LinkedIn was designed for the work environment as "a way to stay in touch," said Krista Canfield, LinkedIn's spokeswoman.

Only one-fourth of Linked-In's 39 million users are looking for work, which actually makes the site more useful for those who are job seekers, she said.

They can approach those who already have jobs at potential employers for information about work environment, benefits, contacts.

The online networks aren't a one-stop employment tool. They are just an aid to extend the employment search, but their uses are limited only by job seekers' creativity.

In fact, using them creatively may help a candidate be more memorable.

"People are looking for out-of-the-box thinkers," said Fredrickson. "It allowed me to actually be one and show that."

Twitter is another outside-the-box tool, said Stephanie Chandler, local author of several books on business and marketing.

Someone looking for employment can use it to send out short bursts with qualifications or innovative ideas appropriate to their field.

"It's just a great platform," Chandler said. "You want to stand out right now. It's the worst job market in my adult life."

But you want to stand out in a good way.

Hiring executives may use the same networks to research candidates.

"They want to know the kind of person they are hiring," Fredrickson said. "That allows them to see a little of what your personality is … as long as you have a good personality."

If your Facebook profile reflects a bad attitude toward work or your LinkedIn résumé is full of misspellings, that's a liability.

Experts also stress that going online doesn't replace old-fashioned networking and follow-up.

Scott Olling, an art director, will check out prospective clients on LinkedIn but goes in person to offices to introduce himself.

"I contact them the old-fashioned way," he said. That personal touch will stick in their mind more than an e-mail.

He mines LinkedIn for information on the company and on acquaintances that he and the prospective client may share.

"It's now a real tool," Olling said. "Two years ago, it was a toy. Now, it's a must-have."

Appleton Takes Masters Crown at First Attempt Darren Appleton, the reigning World 10 Ball Champion became the third ever Englishman to win the PartyPoker.net World Pool Masters title following a fighting 8-4 win over Holland’s Nick Van Den Berg at the Riviera Hotel in Las Vegas. The 33 year-old, who converted to big table pool in recent [...]

J. Pechauer SE Open / Gainesville, FL by Lea Andrews Attendance at the May 9-10 stop of the J. Pechauer Southeast Open Tour was up from last weekend as competitors eschewed a weekend with Mom for a weekend with the South’s heavy hitters. Dana and Art Rogers, owners of The Art of Billiards in Gainesville, FL, [...]