Google Checkout

When I set up my wife's online ethnic accessories store two months ago, it was not that easy. I used WordPress because I wanted it to be very unique. I built a template for the store from scratch and it took me days to set it up (I only put in an hour or two per day he he he). A lot of trial and error and a lot of learning happened during that time. I learned that the WordPress eCommerce plugin doesn't work well with Featured Content Gallery plugin that is why I ended up using Featurific plugin, which functions like FCG but is compatible with eCommerce plugin. Anyways, that is not what I would like to talk about right now, I just want to talk about something very good that Google has rolled out-- Google Checkout. This little gadget makes it very easy to set up an online store. According to Google the process is as simple as three easy steps:

1. Sign up for a Google Checkout account

2. Fill out a Google Docs Spreadsheet

3. Set up and insert you gadget

I haven't tried this yet but I am thinking about making an online store based on Blogger using this gadget. The gadget is embeddable anywhere in the site or blog and "No complicated coding or technical tasks are required," says Google on the gadget's homepage. "You can get your first online store up-and-running in under five minutes." I guess those Mommy bloggers like my wife who are planning to earn some extra cash out of selling things online would find this gadget very helpful. More on this later :)

Microsoft Yahoo

This day won't end without the Microsoft-Yahoo deal coming into completion. This Microsoft-Yahoo deal is a complex search and search marketing alliance. Would the alliance create something big enough that could be a perfect match for the big G? If we look at it through search market share, Microsoft and Yahoo combined would still be just around 40% against Google's 65% share of the pie. But as of now, we still do not know what the two giant companies are cooking up; the possibility of them coming up with something powerful is not really remote.

Marvel vs Capcom 2 Xbox 360

If you are a Marvel fan, you'd be happy to know that Marvel vs Capcom 2 will be available for download today on Xbox Live Arcade. This information came out through Capcom's Twitter account. Examiner has reported that for 1200 Microsoft Points, gamers would be able to pick the game up on the Xbox 360.

Watch out for the game's appearance at XBLA any time today. As to those would love to have it on their Playstation 3, expect some more weeks to be able to enjoy it for $15.

Gears of War 2 Dark Corners Release Date

Today, July 28th is the Gears of War 2 Dark Corners release date so Gears of War fans rejoice! A new single-player mission that didn’t make it into the original game and seven new multiplayer maps are featured in the new The Gears of War 2 Dark Corners map pack. It should appear on Xbox Live for 1600 Microsoft points for 1200 Microsoft points and the All Fronts Collection and for Dark Corners.

Fujitsu LifeBook U2010 Ultra Portable

The smallest notebook is not from Sony but from Fujitsu. Fujitsu LifeBook U2010 Ultra Portable is smaller than what Sony have so far.

The specs:

Atom Z530 1.6GHz CPU
5.6-inch display screen @ 1280×800 pixels with touch screen
1GB DDR2 533MHz
60GB HDD or 64GB SSD
Bluetooth 2.1
SD card reader
CF card slot
WiFi 802.11n
1.3MP camera

Battery Options:
2-cell Li-Ion 2900mAh: 3.5 hours on HDD, 4 hours on SSD
4-cell Li-Ion 5800mAh: 7.5 hours on HDD, 8.5 hours on SSD

Bundle software:

Microsoft® Origami™ Experience 2.0 Pack (Runs on Genuine Windows Vista® Home Premium Operating System only), Acronis True Image, Softex OmniPass, ArcSoft Camera Capture, Adobe Acrobat Reader, Sun Microsystems Java Runtime, Fujitsu UpdateNavi, Fujitsu Hardware Diagnostic Tool, Fujitsu Display Manager, Roxio Easy Media Creator, Microsoft Office Professional 2007 60-day Convertible Trial

And how would your wife find it when she crries it around? She'll say, "it's barely there" because it is just 1.34 lbs.

Blackberry Curve 8520

Research In Motion (RIM) Ltd. has officially announced Blackberry Curve 8520, also known as the BlackBerry Gemini while still in production, will hit T-Mobile's network on August 5. What makes it worth watching out for? For starters, it boasts a full QWERTY keyboard, optical trackpad and, in a BlackBerry first, dedicated media keys -- integrated along the top of the handset -- that offer on-click access to music, videos and other content. It also offers access to BlackBerry App World for games, applications and other tools; expandable memory of up to 16 GB and future support for up to 32 GB; and BlackBerry Internet Service with support for up to 10 email accounts from providers like Yahoo!, Windows Live Hotmail, AOL and Gmail.

Apple Tablet

Financial Times has reported that Apple is working double time to launch a new tablet-like device in time for the Christmas season. Rumors have been circulating about the Apple tablet for almost a year now and Financial Time's article about it finally lends credence to to the rumors. According to Financial Times, the device is a "full-featured, tablet-sized computer" sporting a 10-inch screen. It will also have a WiFi capability which allows it to connect to Apple's online store.

High Speed Internet

What is the epitome of being in step with the times? Having high speed internet connection at home. In today's world, a home without internet connection is like a caveman's abode, totally not connected with the rest of the world. That's a joke but it can also be taken seriously. I could not imagine life without internet connection. And not just internet connection, it must be a high speed broadband internet because how else would you be able to enjoy the wonders that internet brings into your home if your connection is turtle-paced dial-up? Today's internet is multimedia rich so lightning speed internet is the only way to go. When it comes to internet provider, nothing beats Qwest High Speed Internet, the premier provider for High Speed Internet, Home phone and long distance phone, cell phones and cell phone plans, VoIP and many other communication services. Service wise and price wise, they are the best. For as low as $19.99 per month, you can have connection speeds that could run up to 1.5 Mbps upstream/896 Kbps downstream. Can you imagine the rich media that you would be able to enjoy with that kind of speed? The things that you'll get out of a connection as fast as that is way beyond the $19.99 you'd be paying for every month. And if you want speeds that can make other internet providers cry in envy, you can opt for the $25 per month package and enjoy the dizzying 7 Mbps upstream/896 Kbps downstream speed. and if that doesn't make you say "whew" you can try their $35 per month package that can bring you connection speeds up to 12 Mbps upstream/896 Kbps downstream.

In today's world connectivity is a must and speed really matters. It is time to get connected.

HP G60-458DX Notebook Laptop for $399.99

If you want a new laptop with good enough specs for an affordable price, it would be good to check out HP G60-458DX Notebook Laptop for $399.99. This laptop features wireless connectivity and a built-in webcam for fast and easy video chatting with friends and family.

Here's the specs:

- Intel Pentium 2Ghz, 4GB DDR2 Memory
- 250GB SATA Disk, DVDRW
- 15.6" LCD, HD TFT-LCD, Memory Card Reader
- Vista Home Premium 64-bit /w SP1

Escape the Working Room Walkthrough

Don't get a headache trying to escape the workroom because you can do it easily if you watch the Escape the Working Room Walkthrough video below.

Twitter 101 Guide for Business

Some moves can give us insights to a company's state of being. Yes, Twitter is one of the fastest growing social networks today but is Twitter management really feeling secured in where it is now? Well, just a few hours ago Twitter launched Twitter 101 Guide for Business, a guide to using Twitter. Is this a sign that Twitter is quite worried about its user retention problem? Twitter describes this new service this way:

Every day, millions of people use Twitter to create, discover and share ideas with others. Now, people are turning to Twitter as an effective way to reach out to businesses, too. From local stores to big brands, and from brick-and-mortar to internet-based or service sector, people are finding great value in the connections they make with businesses on Twitter.

I guess this is a fairly safe move on the part of Twitter. Many people do not really understand how powerful Twitter is so it is good to have a guide that will help those who do not understand the program.

92 Percent of Advertisers Use Internet Advertising

The internet is where the money is nowadays. A new LinkedIn Research Network/Harris Poll has revealed that a whooping 92% of advertisers are using internet advertising. This is good news to online publishers like me.

Going Online Wirelessly

Pew Internet & American Life Project has reported that 56% of Americans have accessed the Internet using wireless mobile devices like netbooks and smartphones. Wow, that's more than half of all internet users in the USA. Going online wirelessly is of course becoming the natural way of connecting to the world wide web. Mobile devices like smartphones and laptops are becoming ubiquitous, how else would people access the web except through what is there. People are also so hooked to the web that they want to connect to it even if they are on the go. This is not only in America, people in Europe and Asia are also going wireless. My brother maintains his blog using a Nokia mobile phone; as I am typing this post using my wired PC, my wife is accessing the internet using her netbook connected to our wireless home network. That's life in the 21st century, wireless.

Madden 10 Demo

Microsoft is realeasing Madden 10 demo a week earlier than what is expected. July 30th is the schedule of release of Madden 10 demo for Xbox 360 and PS3 but Microsoft is releasing Madden NFL 10 for Gold members of the Xbox Live. There are two Madden NFL 10 versions, the first one features the Cardinals versus the Steelers at the Super Bowl XLIII; the second on is a game between the Dallas Cowboys and the New York Giants in a snowy night game. Of course Gold members are very happy about this because their wait is cut short by a week.

Windows Theme Mockups for Firefox 3.7

I'm a Firefox user so it makes me happy every time there's something new added to this very good browser. Mozilla is on the process of perfecting Firefox 3.7. At Mozilla Wiki, they have shown some Windows theme mockups for Firefox 3.7 which look really got and got me excited for the coming of this new version. Mozilla explains some of what could be expected of Firefox 3.7 :

1. Embracing Glass: Toolbar and Tabs using Glass. Buttons translucent and slightly glossy to meld with the toolbar. Raised 3D lookachieve tactile "feel".
2. Page Button: Connect the Page button to the left side of the tab area. Directly connected to the Page.
3. Tools/Bookmark Bar: Connecting the Tools button to the side of the Window to emphasize the fact that it is used for customizing and changing the UI. Adding a button next to that to toggle the Bookmarks Bar which is turned off by default.

Solar Eclipse 2009 Live Webcast

Free TV : Ustream
Okay, I know that like me you feel quite envious of those people living in the areas where the shadow of the moon passes today. I live in the Philippines so what I get is just a little of the total solar eclipse today; how I wish I were in China right now! But I am not totally feeling as if I am missing out on a once in a lifetime chance to see a very rare phenomenon, I had my share of total solar eclipse experience in 1988, I was 16 years old then and the total darkness that we experienced during that time lasted 3 minutes and 46 seconds. When I think about that experience right now, which was more than 20 years ago, I still get goose bumps. I don't know why. That is why I am now very envious of those who are living in China and who are, as of this writing, enjoying the wonder and awe that a total solar eclipse gives. As for those who can't be in China or those places where the eclipse is visible today, here are some Solar Eclipse 2009 live webcast link :

http://eclipse.astronomy2009.org.cn/english/

http://sems1.cs.und.edu/%7Esems/index_Video.php

http://www.live-eclipse.org/

http://www.atlaspost.com/2009tse

http://www.exploratorium.edu/eclipse/index.html

http://www.saros.org/

Worst Failure Ever

The enemies of Barack Obama are using a different weapon to hit on him. Try doing a Google search using the keyword Worst Failure Ever and see what comes on top of the SERP.

Adsense Earnings for 17 Days

Last month I made myself believe that I could make a thousand dollars in one month with Adsense. It's actually just a dream. Of course I know that some bloggers can make a thousand dollars in a few days with their blogs; but they are A1 bloggers, bloggers with years of experience in the blogosphere. But there is no harm in trying. If others can make it, why would it be impossible for anyone to at least attempt it? So I worked doubly hard in the last 17 days and I guess I am nearing the realization of that dream now. I and my wife are running Adsense ads in four blogs--our main and oldest blogs (two with custom domain and the other two are just using Blogspot subdomain; all are running on Blogger, not WordPress). I have 15 domains but only two of them really matter as of now, the rest are just there, waiting for me to take care of them (I don't have enough time). I am not a stranger to WordPress though, I have six WP blogs, but I just love Blogger and I won't trade it for any other platform.

Now, 17 days after I told my self that "I will make a thousand dollar in the month of July from Adsense" my earnings seems to tease me into believing that there is really a good chance of making it. In the last 17 days our earnings reached $487.78 which is $28.65 average daily earning. The biggest earnings that we got in one day was $87. In the last few days the earnings danced around $35 a day. Today we earned around $62.39 but I guess it will hit $65 or more because a few hours is still left before the cut off time. Below is the screen shot of our earnings in the last 17 days. What do you think, would we make it to the thousand dollars for the month of July? I guess we'd be $100 short. But there is August, and September, and the many months to follow, we could attempt again. As of now, we'll work harder to get to that $1000 in one month with Adsense. You too can do it. Don't you know that it took me one whole year to get my first $185 from Adsense, but after that, earnings just sort of come. But of course it requires a lot of hard work, lots of readings, lots of sleepless nights, lots of trial and errors. Life is like that, one needs to work hard to reach the top.

HP Mini 2140 Netbook

HP Mini 2140 netbook is the smallest 10-inch netbook around but it has many features that you do not normally find in netbooks as small as this one like the full ExpressCard/54 slot. It comes with hard drives up to 160GB or an 80GB SSD. Specs: 1.6GHz Intel Atom N270, 128MB Mobile Intel 945GM, 1GB DDR2 SDRAM 533MHz.

Send Your Name to Mars

If I am given the chance to go to the moon I will gladly grab it. If a chance to go to Mars is offered to me I will probably think twice because Mars is too far and the lenght of time it takes to reach the planet would probably drive me crazy. But I would gladly send a part of me to Mars if given the chance. Now this chance is being offered to me and you and everyone. NASA is giving everyone the opportunity to send their name to Mars. A Mars Science Laboratory rover will be sent to Mars in 2011 and along with that rover is a chip which will contain the names of those who want to have their names included. So, do you want your name to be in that chip? Then just get to the Send Your Name to Mars page and fill out the form there.

But before you head down to that direction it is important for you to know that the form in that page looks funny; for one thing, the form accepts nearly anything, even very long entries. And there is no captcha.

Someone has commented about this in Reddit:

“It appears that the input is unbounded. One could then send a somewhat long Base64 encoded binary messages to mars. I’m sure there is SOME bound somewhere but it doesn’t appear to be on the form. I create a 4k first name and it took it as input. What to send…. Perhaps a map to my house? Perhaps the lyrics to my favorite song? Fibonacci sequence? Prime numbers? Hm.“

Highly Critical Security Hole in Firefox 3.5

Secunia, is a Danish computer security service provider best known for tracking vulnerabilities in thousands of different kinds of software, has reported a highly critical security hole in Firefox 3.5. Here is how Secunia describes this vulnerabilty:

SBerry has discovered a vulnerability in Mozilla Firefox, which can be exploited by malicious people to compromise a user's system.

The vulnerability is caused due to an error when processing JavaScript code handling e.g. "font" HTML tags and can be exploited to cause a memory corruption.

Successful exploitation allows execution of arbitrary code.

The vulnerability is confirmed in version 3.5. Other versions may also be affected.

Mashable.com has given a "temporary fix" for this hole while Mozilla is still working for a solution to this vulnerability:

Type about:config in Firefox‘ address bar, and set “javascript.options.jit.content” to “false.”

Microsoft Office 2010

Microsoft has announced something new and interesting today, Microsoft Office 2010. What's new with this one? Well, for one, it will include web-based versions of Word, Excel, Powerpoint, and OneNote. That's obviously something to compete with Google Docs and in this I think Microsoft could have a good chance at winning the heart of users.The menu system is also updated in the new versionas shown below:

If the ribbon menu system of MS Office 2007 impressed you, then this one will also make you happier. Office 2007 brings an improved and more intuitive ribon menu system.

Another improvement is more powerful multimedia editing featrue. One to watch out for here is the new in-video editing capability in PowerPoint. Image editing also see a lot of boost. Though you can not do the graphics stunts you can do with Photoshop, what is in MS Office 2010 can make you do a lot with multimedia editing for presentations.


More enhancements on the area of real-time collaboration and communication are also seen in Office 2010. Security settings are also given new things to be happy about.

And here's a video about Microsoft Office Web Apps:





Microsoft Office 2010 will start to be available next year.

Modern Warfare 2 Prestige Edition

Modern Warfare fans, brace yourselves because Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 Prestige Edition is here! What's in it? Well, the usual stuff plus goodies that make it really prestigious like a "fully functioning NVGs -- night vision goggles," special casing, and an art book. Check out the video below.

Elearning

I'll let you in on a secret: the job I have now is not my dream job. Though with this present job I get a good enough pay and I get to have my own office, I am not really happy with it because this is not what I love doing. My dream job is related to arts. I would love to be in the field of web design & graphics. Yes, for years I have dreamed of becoming a web designer & graphics artist but I know that it would be quite impossible to achieve if I would just do the learning of how to become a good animator on my own. Since 2005 I have collected tons of books and videos that teach how to use different web design and graphics software. I learned the basics but I know that what I have learned so far would not be good enough for me to be hired in the field I want to be in. I know that I need help from the outside, I need to be guided properly and placed on the job.

Last night I came upon Learn.com, is an Elearning site. But it is not just a common elearning site, it is the worldwide leader in on-demand workforce development and productivity with more than 50 million end users around the globe. They have a wide suite of Software as a Service (SaaS) applications that can fully automate the pre-hire to retire® lifecycle within any organization. In short Learn.com will give professional training and then when you get the skills, they help you land on your dream job. I have browsed on their site and found the course I wanted, Web Design & Graphics - Building Your Site with Images. With this course I would be able to create color schemes, backgrounds, GIF transparencies, and imagemaps for a Web site. I believe that when I finish this course, I would be able to get more web design jobs.

Battlefield 1943

Is there something special about today, July 8th? Today is the day that EA and DICE launch the downloadable shooter Battlefield 1943 for Xbox 360. Actually it is now live, priced 1,200 Microsoft Points. But if you want to try it first before buying, you can get the free trial. So what are you waiting for, go grab it now.

How do meta geo tags influence search results?

How do meta geo tags influence search results? Well, Google's Matt Cutts has the answer:

Google Chrome Operating System

Google has just announced through the Google Official Blog something that could kill Microsoft--the Google Chrome Operating System. Here's part of Google's announcement:

However, the operating systems that browsers run on were designed in an era where there was no web. So today, we're announcing a new project that's a natural extension of Google Chrome — the Google Chrome Operating System. It's our attempt to re-think what operating systems should be.

Google Chrome OS is an open source, lightweight operating system that will initially be targeted at netbooks. Later this year we will open-source its code, and netbooks running Google Chrome OS will be available for consumers in the second half of 2010. Because we're already talking to partners about the project, and we'll soon be working with the open source community, we wanted to share our vision now so everyone understands what we are trying to achieve.

Speed, simplicity and security are the key aspects of Google Chrome OS. We're designing the OS to be fast and lightweight, to start up and get you onto the web in a few seconds. The user interface is minimal to stay out of your way, and most of the user experience takes place on the web. And as we did for the Google Chrome browser, we are going back to the basics and completely redesigning the underlying security architecture of the OS so that users don't have to deal with viruses, malware and security updates. It should just work.

Google Chrome OS will run on both x86 as well as ARM chips and we are working with multiple OEMs to bring a number of netbooks to market next year. The software architecture is simple — Google Chrome running within a new windowing system on top of a Linux kernel. For application developers, the web is the platform. All web-based applications will automatically work and new applications can be written using your favorite web technologies. And of course, these apps will run not only on Google Chrome OS, but on any standards-based browser on Windows, Mac and Linux thereby giving developers the largest user base of any platform.

I am excited about Microsoft's reaction on this. This looks like the beginning of the end of Microsoft.

How Much is iPhone 3GS from Globe Telecom?

I know that many pinoys out there are into Nokia but I know that they could not resist the iPhone 3GS. How much is iPhone 3GS? If you have Php38,850 you can have the 16GB iPhone 3GS from Globe Telecom.

Here is the official price of the iPhone 3GS from Globe Telecom:
iPhone 3GS Prepaid Kits
iPhone 3GS 16GB – Php38,850
iPhone 3GS 16GB – Php42,250

Globe Regular Postpaid Plans (iPhone 3GS 16GB)
Plan 500 – Php29,500
Plan 800 – Php25,350
Plan 1200 – Php23,100
Plan 1800 – Php19,050
Plan 2500 – Php11,850
Plan 3500 – Php3,950
Plan 5000 – Free
Plan 7000 – Free
Plan 10000 – Free

Now, do you have the bucks to spare?

The Hummingbird Spy Cam

AeroVironment, a company that develops and produces Unmanned Aircraft Systems has unveiled the Hummingbird Spy Cam. This spy camera looks like a hummingbird and flies like a hummingbird. Pentagon has recently given the company $2.1 million to continue the development of the hummingbird spy cam.

As of now, the hummingbird spy camera model can fly 20 seconds at a time. This is quite far from what a real hummingbird can do but this shows that it is possible to build a robotic hummingbird that really flies. Pentagon wants AeroVironment to develop “an approximately 10-gram aircraft that can hover for extended periods, can fly at forward speeds up to 10 meters per second, can withstand 2.5-meter-per-second wind gusts.” If perfected, the hummingbird spy camera could be a a very good spy tool. Watch the video below and see how the present hummingbird spy cam fares.

Big Fish Games Announces Faunasphere

Big Fish Games has announced Faunasphere, a browser-based casual MMO where players get to take as one's own and care for some bizarre, far out, freakish but cute creatures known as Fauna. Players can collaborate to build and explore beautiful virtual worlds in this game. The game is free to play but of course it features micro-transactions and premium membership to enhance the game play experience.

Powerbook Medic

Got problems with your Mac? Need some parts? Well, there's a place in the web where you can have your Mac repaired and where you can buy Mac parts. Why try repairing your Mac all by yourself when there is a company that can handle that for you without compromising your machine? Now powerbook repair is not that much of a problem because of PowerBookMedic.com. But it is not only powerbook that they can repair, they also do a lot like Macbook, Powerbook, iPod and iPhone repair. They also sell parts of the above mentions gadgets. They also offer upgrade services and free diagnosis and free round trip shipping.

Windows 7 Family Pack License

Someone cared to read the license agreement of recent leaked RTM branch builds of WIndows 7 Home Premium and discovered this "Installation Use and Rights":

b. Family Pack. If you are a "Qualified Family Pack User", you may install one copy of the software marked as "Family Pack" on three computers in your household for use by people who reside there. Those computers are the "licensed computers" and are subject to these license terms. If you do not know whether you are a Qualified Family Pack User, visit go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?Linkid=141399 or contact the Microsoft affiliate serving your country.

What does it mean? Well, it's clear that you can install the Family Pack on three computers. Don't mind hoping that this is also good for the Ultimate and Pro builds of Windows 7 because the above wordings in the license agreement does not exist in the Ultimate and the Pro license agreement.

Mac vs PC 2

Mac vs PC 2. Who wins in this fight? See the trailer.

PayPerPost v4.0

This post sponsored by PayPerPost

Blogging has given me so much in the last 16 months. Life became easier after I discovered for myself the wonder of blogging. Blogging gives me fulfillment, it gives me a sense of achievement, and it gives me good money, really good money. Would you believe me if I tell you that if I count everything that I have earned since I started earning from blogging last year, I'd be counting six figures in Philippine peso? For a person who is not that well acquainted with the ins and outs of blogging, this could sound impossible, but for those who understand the inner workings of the internet and blogging, this thing is nothing unusual.

Being able to express one's self for the world to see and getting good money out of it is indeed a wonderful thing. I have multiple sources of online money but one of my biggest sources of income this year is undeniably PayPerPost. When I first joined PayPerPost, I did not really expect to be earning that much from it, but as opportunity after opportunity from PPP came my way, I realized how good a money earner it is. Now I am really excited to let you know that PayPerPost has grown even bigger, they have introduced PayPerPost v4.0. What makes PPP v.4 something to be excited about? Well, unlike the older version of PPP, there is no need for me to check on my PPP account every now and then for open opportunities because this process is eliminated in version 4. In PayPerPost v. 4 advertisers get to choose the best blogs for their opps. Whenever you get chosen by an advertiser to write a review, you'll be informed via email and you'll be given 3 days to take action. I like it this way because it's a more relaxed arrangement, no need to worry about opps closing down on you. PayPerPost v. 4 is still in the alpha stage so we can expect a lot of improvements to come in the next few months.