Pointers on how to ask for a raise

I read a short article on how to ask for a raise at http://www.wisebread.com/4-ways-to-bug-your-boss-for-more-money-and-get-it and it is a good article.  But then I read this longer article and it was even better at http://www.businessballs.com/payrise.htm –though I think that they each have unique ideas and are probably best combined.

What made me think of this was when a co-worker pointed me to these pages: http://www.careerbliss.com/salary/senior-qa-engineer-salary-in-los-angeles/?q=senior+qa+engineer&l=los+angeles
http://www.careerbliss.com/salary/software-qa-engineer-salary-in-los-angeles-ca/?q=software+qa+engineer&l=los+angeles,+ca

Remember, like I said in the /about page, tracking your salary history denominated in silver “onzas” is a real eye-opener.