Squidoo vs. HubPages vs. eHow vs. Info Barrel (?)

Whether you are doing some serious article marketing, or writing for these sites strictly for the Adsense revenue share, I have seen a few threads here Pop-up about these particular website/companies. In my honest opinion, and in accordance with a few other factors, these websites at least appear to be very frequently. While each presents their own pros and cons, and deficiencies and functionality, I have seen many here that provide content to these particular sites.

I do have a few questions:

1) Which one is your favorite and Why?
2) Do you use any one of them in isolation, or do you use them in conjunction with another one?
3) I realize there could be a difference between whether one wants to strictly do article marketing, or utilize more of the Adsense revenue share features. Are there any different 'similar' websites that you would recommend and Why?
4) Do you prefer writing for one of these sites, as opposed to, say, your own blog or website? (the reason I ask is because, to some earning can be quite difficult from one's own website if they don't have some skill involved. At least these sites are so highly ranked that they have some pre-packaged favor and authority in Google already).

I'd like to get a gauge of which site everyone here gravitates to the most.

Feel free to answer one, or all of the questions. If you don't want to answer any of the questions, I'd love to hear what you individual experience has been with any one of the companies/websites in the Title.....if you'd like to share...

Thanks alot Warriors!