Ferrari. Lamborghini. Corvette. When we hear these awesome, expensive sports car names, the first thing that comes to most of our minds is how we will never be able to afford one.? The thought that often follows is a common one: how cool would it be to win a brand new, expensive car or truck in a sweepstakes or online contest?

Very cool, apparently.? Every year, many people actually win these types of cars in giveaway contests and sweepstakes, and all of them inevitably say that it’s an experience of a lifetime.? But regardless of what kind of vehicle you want to win–a Mustang, a Porche or a great truck from Ford or Dodge Ram–there are a few simple pointers you can follow to make it a little more likely.

The first bit of advice might be heartbreaking, but it’s the truth: it’s extremely unlikely that you will ever win an online contest or sweepstakes that offers a new car or truck as a prize.? Once you come to terms with that, and if you still feel like taking part, then by all means do so with great enthusiasm and optimism!

Secondly, remember that you can increase your chances of winning a new car by entering numerous sweepstakes at one time.? There is nothing that stops you from tossing your name in the hat for a bunch of different giveaways, and the more contests you add to the list, the better your chances of being a winner.

One thing that most people might not realize is that some sweepstakes make you pay the taxes for a new car if you are lucky enough to win one.? A lot of people simply can’t afford this kind of added expense, so it’s important to check the rules of any contest you are entering to see if you’ll be required to pay the taxes if you are a winner.

Shopping spree sweepstakes & contests are some of the most popular online giveaways today . . . and more stores are learning that it’s a great way to attract new customers and publicity.? In fact, the reason why shopping sprees are such a common type of promotion is that the companies who put them on usually make back many times the amount of money they actually put into it.

The reason why is simple: although there might only be one or two winners, the people who enter shopping spree contests are much more likely to visit the store and buy items . . . even if they don’t end up winning.? Publicity is worth a lot of money for big brands and stores, and online sweepstakes are one of the best ways to get people to promote your brand on the Internet.

So, how does this info help you become a winner of a big shopping spree?? Well, it’s important to keep in mind that these types of contests are being launched regularly every week, and you should be able to find dozens of opportunities at any given time if you pay attention to sweepstakes sites like Contest Blogger.

Secondly, you need to remember that while your chances of winning a single shopping spree sweepstakes are pretty low, you become more and more likely to win with every contest you enter (and hey, who says you can’t enter more than one at a time?).? In fact, some of the so-called “expert sweepers” who win thousands of dollars worth of free stuff every year aren’t any more lucky than most people . . . they just enter a ton of contests every month!

Shopping spree sweepstakes usually take one of a few different forms: the more common “gift certificate” themed contests, which simply award you a certain amount of money toward purchasing products at a given store; and the less common “timed spree” contests that let you go nuts in a store and shove as much stuff in a cart as you can in a predetermined amount of time.

Now here’s a contest that my 2-year-old daughter would love to win.? Head over to Musing Maniac to get your name in the hat to win one of six different Sesame Street-themed USB thumb drives.? The winner gets their choice of Abby, Grover, Elmo, Ernie, Big Bird or Cookie Monster.? Hey, where’s Oscar the Grouch?

Each USB drive comes with a full length movie and storage space for lots of videos, photos and written content.? Musing Maniac gives you several different ways to score entries in the contest, so go check it out.? A winner will be announced on September 15.

Here’s some exciting news in the online sweepstakes world: SweepstakesHub.com and online magazinge MyTekLife have announced a “strategic alliance” that will have them working together to offer sweeps and product marketing for major brands and companies.? Here’s more info from a press release:

“Under the arrangement, companies can have a product/service reviewed in MyTekLife while offering that same product/service as a sweepstakes/promotion at SweepstakesHub.com. MyTekLife will chronicle the user experience with the product of the sweepstakes winner in the magazine?s next issue ? bringing the brands’ promotions in the digital world and the consumer experience full circle.”

Sounds like a great arrangement that will help bring about a lot of opportunities for both product promotions and sweepstakes aficionados.? Make sure to check out both sites when you get a chance.

I’m a big fan of reCAPTCHA, which is a popular anti-spam Web tool that Google acquired last year.? Not only does the free service stop Web spam, but it also helps to digitize books and newspapers at the same time.

If you’ve spent any time online at all, then odds are you’ve attempted to decipher a reCAPTCHA image in order to register for a website or fill out a form.? And if you’re anything like me, some of the “words” that the tool offers up can seem to be all but indecipherable.

This reCAPTCHA image that I was hit with today while creating a new hub on HubPages, however, really takes the cake.? Check it out the screenshot (and no, I didn’t Photoshop or otherwise manipulate the image) :

The first word is “molocues,” and the second is . . . well, some sort of a mathematical formula, I think.? How the heck is someone expected to type that out on a standard computer keyboard?

Thank goodness for the “refresh” button on the reCAPTCHA form, which I find myself using more often than not when it’s time to decipher one of these things.? One of my coworkers swears that the answer to the formula is “1″, but I didn’t spend any time trying to calculate it.

What I did spend some time doing, though, is Photoshopping? a few other suggestions for equally perplexing images that reCAPTCHA might want to use in future anti-spam efforts.? Check it out:

If you can think of better ones, then roll with it . . . create a few funny reCAPTCHA images of your own and share them with your blog readers. In fact, if you drop me a note here on Contest Blogger, I’ll even put a link to your post right here for everyone else to check out.

We see a lot of online contest and sweepstakes websites here at Contest Blogger, but rarely do we ever discover anything that hasn’t been done before.? PlayTokens.com is an exception to that rule, and we suggest that all of our fans go and check it out.

Here’s what makes PayTokens.com different from all of the other contest sites out there: you can actually end up getting great free prizes from the site even if you never win one of the contests they showcase.? Here’s how PlayTokens puts it in their own words:

“New contests are listed on a regular basis on playTokens. To enter a contest, check out the contest page you are interested in. Verify the eligibility requirements and submit an entry for the final draw. The number of times you can enter a draw is based on the conditions of each contest.”

“Even if you don’t win the contests, playTokens.com offers you a way to earn playTokens. Once you have accumulated enough playTokens?, you can trade it in for one of our many great prizes.”

And from what we can tell, the prizes that you can buy with your earned PlayTokens look like they aren’t half bad.? Do us a favor and go check out PlayTokens.com.? We think it’s on the way to becoming a very popular site!