When eBanking Gives You Headache

Last January 23 I withdrew $170 from my Paypal to my bank account. That was my first time to use the "withdraw to bank account option" in Paypal because I was used to having the "withdraw to card" option. I thought the "withdraw to bank account" option would be quick but it proved to cause some headaches for me. After seven days of waiting I recieved an email from Paypal. Here is the sad message : 

Dear Gumersindo Liston,

An electronic funds transfer from your PayPal account to your bank account was rejected today for this reason:

Invalid Bank Account Information

Our system was not able to process the transaction with the bank information listed on your account. You should contact your bank regarding the bank account information required for electronic funds transfers. If you still need assistance, you may email us through our secure server at https://xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Thanks for using PayPal, the world's #1 online payment service!
Sincerely,
PayPal

I immediately checked my Paypal and sure enough, the amount was back, but it was no longer $170, it became $157. I checked my Unionbank account online but I could no longer log in. It keeps saying "please enter a valid card number". It seems that my account has been locked. There is no way for me to ask for help because all the numbers listed in Unionbank's website sems to be "not yet in service". I was forced to get some time off from the office to visit my Unionbank branch. The guy there, who was kind enough to sincerely talk to me,  just asked me to leave him my email address. He told me that he will email the head office about this matter and the head office will just email me. Wow that was a real cause for headache. I did not even notice that he forgot to ask for my phone number and my account number. Now I am waiting, waiting, and nursing a headache. 

The Siterra System

Whatever business a company is into, whether it is corporate real estate, wireless technology, retail, oil and gas, or renewable energy, it surely needs site management software that helps a lot in planning, prospecting, acquisition, deployment and maintenance of high value assets. Corporate real estate companies will benefit much from having a reliable solution for managing multiple projects, reporting, administration and assets. Corporate real estate companies would easily optimize the management of their entire real estate lifecycle. Siterra Corporation, a leading web-based software solutions providers, can well be what your company is looking for for. With their web-based project, document and property management software, your company will be able to reduce costs with improve productivity. Siterra, with their superior Asset Lifecycle Management can provide your company with the right asset management application that is in line with your company's property portfolio. Their Assets Module includes project templates, storage for site-level maintenance and operations data, documents, manuals, training guides, scanned certificates, test results, photos and related attributes. It can also maintain accurate inventory,measure and compare current and maximum volumes and capacities of assets, update inventory management systems, and perform analysis and reporting on any asset or set of assets.

With 500,000 sites assets and leases for major corporations around the globe, Siterra should be your company's choice in promoting operational excellence and improving returns on operating assets.

Google Gears for Gmail

If you are using Gmail you will soon be able to go through your emails even when you are offline. As of this time this feature is available to US and UK users only, but in a week or so, Gmail users around the world will be able to use this feature. Watch the video above to understand better how you can enjoy this feature.

How To Hide Drives and Partitions

I got this somewhere, I think this would be helpful so I post it here.

Do you have data on a partition or hard drive that you don't want tampered with or easily accessible to other users? Well, you can hide any drive/partition in Windows XP, NT, and 2000. That means that they won't show up in Explorer or My Computer.

If you want access to that drive from your user account you should create a desktop shortcut before proceeding. Once hidden, you can still access by typing the drive letter and a colon in Start/Run—for example, "D:" will bring up a folder of the contents on your D drive.

The easiest way with Win XP is to use the TweakUI power toy from Mcft. Go to Start/Run and type in "tweakui" (without the quotes).

Go to My Computer/Drives and uncheck the drive/partition(s) you want hidden. Click "Apply" or "OK" when finished.

If you have XP but not Tweak UI you can download it HERE

For Win NT, 2000, and XP you can use the following Registry edit:

*Be sure to back up the Registry before proceeding

Open the Registry Editor by going to Start/Run and typing in "regedit" (without the quotes). Find your way to...

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Mcft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies

Click on "Explorer".

Double-click the "NoDrives" key in the right column. If you don't find a "NoDrives" registry key, just right-click in the right pane and choose "New/DWORD Value" then name the key "NoDrives".

You'll see a value like "0000 00 00 00 00". This is where the fun starts. The four sets of double zeros (after the "0000") are where you'll enter the values for the drive/partitions. Now, stay with me on this—it's not as complicated as it sounds:

The first column is for drives A-H, the second for I-P, the third for Q-X, and the fourth for Y-Z.

The values for each drive are as follows:

1 - A I Q Y

2 - B J R Z

4 - C K S

8 - D L T

16 - E M U

32 - F N V

64 - G O W

80 - H P X

So, let's say you want to hide drive D. In the first column you would put "08". For drive K you would put "04" in the second column.

But what if you want to hide more than one drive in a column? Simply add the values together: D+E = 8+16 = 24. So in the first column you would put "24".

Still baffled? If you have XP then go get TweakUI and save yourself the math.

Whichever method you use, you can rest easy knowing that the files on that drive or partition are less accessible to other users.

When You Want The Best Web Hosting Solution For Your Site

When you begin to take your online presence seriously you also think about being serious with your web host. Before I started experimenting with a self-hosted WordPress blog, I made sure that my web host is reliable. But it is not that easy to find out who is the best webhosting company. I took time to make a research in the web and I came upon Web Hosting Geeks, a website that provides independent reviews of the best web hosting providers. Through them I learned about the different cheap professional web hosting services under $10 a month. This is very important when you are just trying the waters of self-hosting a blog or a site. Their method of ranking webhosting providers is based on price-value ratio, host reliability, uptime, key features, bonus features, customer support, past and current user feedbacks, user-friendliness and hosting awards. I also learned a lot from their blog, which tackles issues like how to choose a domain name to SEM basics and beyond. It really pays to read up before diving into anything that is serious, like maintaining a website of your own.

How To Optimize Broadband and DSL Connections

I found this is one of the forums I frequent. I haven't tried it myself because I am satisfied with my internet connection. I guess there are those who would find something like this helpful so here it is:

These settings allow you to boost the speed of your broadband Internet connection when using a Cable Modem or DSL Router with Windows 2000 and Windows XP.

Open your registry and find the key below.

Create the following DWORD values, as most of these values will not already exist you will need to create them by clicking on 'Edit -> New -> DWORD Value' and then set the value as shown below.

DefaultTTL = "80" hex (or 128 decimal)

Specifies the default time to live (TTL) for TCP/IP packets. The default is 32.

EnablePMTUBHDetect = "0"

Specifies whether the stack will attempt to detect Maximum Transmission Unit (MTU) routers that do not send back ICMP fragmentation-needed messages. The default is 0.

EnablePMTUDiscovery = "1"

Specifies whether the TCP/IP stack will attempt to perform path MTU discovery as specified in RFC 1191. The default is 1.

GlobalMaxTcpWindowSize = "7FFF" hex (or 32767 decimal)

Specifies the system maximum receive window size advertised by the TCP/IP stack.

TcpMaxDupAcks = "2"

Determines the number of duplicate ACKs that must be received for the same sequence number of sent data before "fast retransmit" is triggered.

SackOpts = "1"

Enables support for selective acknowledgements as documented by Request for Comment (RFC) 2018. Default is 0.

Tcp1323Opts = "1"

Controls RFC 1323 time stamps and window scaling options. Possible values are: "0" = disable RFC 1323 options, "1" = window scale enabled only, "2" = time stamps enabled only and "3" = both options enabled.

TcpWindowSize = "7FFF" hex (or 32767 decimal)

Specifies the receive window size advertised by the TCP/IP stack. If you have a latent network you can try increasing the value to 93440, 186880, or 372300.

Exit your registry and restart Windows for the changes to take effect.

If you don’t want to edit the registry, here's a little TCP utility that is ideal...HERE 

Online Detox Store

If you are scheduled to go through drug testing and you are in doubt if you can pass it, I guess you'd be interested in a website I have stumbled upon a few hours ago. This website offers home drug test kits and solutions that can help you pass a drug testing easily. Whether it is saliva or urine drug test, hair drug test or blood drug test, they have solution that will help you. Check out Onlinedetoxstore.com, they have tests that you can do at home like THC Marijuana Cannabis Dip Strip Drug Urine Test, The Premium Detox 7 Day Comprehensive Cleansing Program, Quick Fix Synthetic Urine, ZYDOT Ultra Clean Shampoo and Conditioner, Fast THC Marijuana Detox Kit for People Under 200 Lbs, and many more. If you do not pass the home drug test do not worry because they also offer solutions that will help you clean up. They have natural remedies that increase your metabolism so that you will clean any of drug concentration out of your body. These are safe and will not have ill effects on you.

If you want to come out clean, be sure you come out clean; the solution is just a mouse click away.

The Art of Selling Out and the Ugliness of Sour Graping

I see women as one of the two greatest wonders of nature that is why I have the tendency to be drawn to women's blogs, click on their faces on Entrecard widgets and follow them (if they prove to be as good as how their EC's look). I think women bloggers are cute; you know, all those stuff of tweaking  and messing around with a blog's innards and trying to tamper with the technical side of things make women bloggers cute to my eyes. This is the reason why I follow more blogs authored by women than blogs authored by men like me. But I am digressing, my real topic is about the art of selling out and the ugliness of sour graping. One of the blogs I secretly  follow (yes, a woman's blog) has this post about people who monitize their blogs. It's not exactly about people but about blogs that are used by people to earn money. The title of her post is Blogging For Readers vs. Blogging For Income. The title intrigued me that is why I read it. By the way she stated things in that post, it seems that she was not really sure about what to say; she said, "Are these sites blogging for readers, or are they blogging simply to generate income? I've even come across a few sites that are no more than promotional pages for one or more products. Do these site actually get return viewers?". Oh, it was like a little jab to my face, I am one of those bloggers who monitize their blogs. What she failed to realize is that income does not come without readers. But her post and her questions are honest enough so I am not taking it against her. What made my ears ring are the comments made by those people who are not earning from their blogs, one of them even called those who have paid posts in their blogs as "stupid".  So I wrote a comment on her post that turned out to be longer than her article. Here is the comment I made : 

People have the right to "not write about products" and just "write about their thoughts" and not earn anything from their blogs. But this does not give them the right to disapprove those who put in their blogs sponsored posts every now and then to earn money. The blogosphere is a free world so no one should feel as if he or she is the only politically correct in that sphere.

As to the kid who said "My blog is solely dedicated to writing my thoughts and views etc and I write for myself - not an audience," here's what I have to say : don't blog! if you are only writing for your self then why publish your "thoughts" in the blogosphere? Write your "thoughts" in a piece of paper the good old fashioned way and keep it in your locker, just don't litter the blogosphere with your private thoughts. And why do you have Entrecard? And why do you drop EC's if you write only for your self? Having an EC is a sign that you want to have audience. 

I am one of those who earn much from my blogs, I do paid posts but I choose the posts I put in  my blogs. I earn big with my blogs but I also make it sure that people will get good things from reading my blogs. Just read the comments of people who pass by my blog,  they tell me that my blog is informative.

This issue is actually old, when PayPerPost came out in 2006, many people of "superior minds" critized the scheme. But PPP survived and the number one critic of PPP, the person behind the blog TechCrunch, even became Ted Murphy's friend. Ted Murphy is the brilliant mind behind PPP, by the way. 

Everything nowadays is ad-driven. Look at your journalists, your TV personalities, and those good writers of books, they do it for the money but they do it the nice way. Gone were the days of the claustrophobic I-am-writing-for-my-self point-of-view, everyone has sold out and selling out is good because it helps the economy. 

This is a free world, those who want to fill their blogs with what you call "trash" have the right to do it like the way you have all the right to "not put anything paid in your blogs". If those blogs with ads are really that bad, then people will stop visiting them and their Alexa Rank will fall and Google will kill their Page Rank. 

I am proud to have paid posts in my blogs and I am also very proud to supply content to other people's websites (bigger website!. Google likes me, I have a Page Rank of 3, Alexa says that my rank is within the top 100,000 in the world (my Alexa Rank is 97,444.)

This is a free world, let us be civil and stop whining about ads. Ads make the world go round. 

By the way, I earned $257.33 from my blog just this month of January, that is what I get from selling out.

When I visited the blogs of those who "do not monitize" their blogs, I saw that they have failed attempts to monitize their blogs; there are traces of monitization attemptes like badly placed Google Adsense blocks. That woman blogger who said "how stupid do they think people are" even has two Google Adsense blocks in her blog. So it means that she's attempting to earn from her blog but failed to generate enough income that is why she views those who are earning good in a bad light.  The grapes are sour when they are not in your hands. 

Dreamtemplate

It could not be denied that a website's template plays a very important role in its success. If you are a webmaster and you have access to 4,000+ templates covering website templates, flash, logos, vectors, brochure, office templates and more, you'll surely feel that success is just within a mouse click away. What move could be wiser than just paying $59.95/year and have access to thousands of templates worth thousands of dollars? Dreamtemplate.com makes this dream a reality. Whether it's a flash templates that you need or any all the web templates that will give the best out of your brand, Dreamtemplate.com has it all for you because they offer exclusive premium web content solutions for web developers and webmasters. Their templates are the creations of professional website designers and talented graphic artists who work all over the world to bring us only quality and profesional premium templates. Sign up for an account now and access the premium templates that you can only dream about if you do not have membership, so what are you waiting for hurry up to their site!

Capture Web Pages to PDF in Chrome Firefox, IE, Opera, or on your iPhone

With PDF Download, you can now easily convert any webpage to PDF with just simply dragging bookmarklet link onto your browser's Bookmarks toolbar, and wherever you find a web page to convert, simply click Save Page as PDF and wait a moment to receive your PDF copy. I tried it my self and converted the very webpage of PDF Download and was really impressed by how quick it was and how the formatting of the web page remained intact after the convertion. 

San Diego Public Relations Firm

What comes up when two public relations professionals who are friends and who are among San Diego's most trend-savvy professionals join together to run their own business? It is no other than a select-service boutique agency specializing in restaurant, hospitality, travel, tourism, design and consumer products public relations and marketing. That's what J Public Relations is made of, that is why it no surprise that it was a good move to those who have decided on doing it to have awarded San Diego Public Relations Firm, J Public Relations the task of building a buzz for the largest and most exclusive restaurant and nightlife destination to ever open in San Diego’s Gaslamp Quarter. Among JPublic Relations' achievements are landing national account for Hard Rock Hotel. The secret to their success is knowing how to stick to what they know, primarily taking on clients in the high-end retail and entertainment realm. When it comes to public relations in San Diego area, it is clarly JPublic Relations to tap.

How to Burn .MKV to DVD

Lately, many video files with file extension .mkv began to circulate in the net. This format is becoming popular in download sites because of their very small size compared to other formats like .avi or .mpeg or .wmv and despite its small size the quality of videos in this format is very good, almost as good a the original .avi. MKV or Matroska Multimedia Container is an open standard free Container format, a file format that can hold an unlimited number of video, audio, picture or subtitle tracks inside a single file.

To watch on PC with softcoded subtitle: VLC media player(freeware)

To burn MKV to DVD with softcoded subtitle : ConvertXtoDVD 

Tips to watch subtitle .SUB and .IDX format :

VLC Media Player:

1. Keep all the files (.mkv, .avi, .sub & .idx) in the same folder

2. Play normally with VLC media player , go to VIDEO on top of VLC and choose SUBTITLE TRACK at the dropdown menu and select the appropriate subtitle .

ConverXtoDVD:

1. “Add” the .AVI file from the movie folder into the ConvertXtoDVD (the .IDX and .SUB file extensions should follow automatically providing all of them have the same exact file name). For non techie : FILE-NAME.FILE-EXTENSION

2. “Convert” and “Burn” normally

3. Use the button on your DVD or the remote control to select the appropriate subtitle for your viewing.

Discover San Diego

One of the best things that the internet can offer us is social connection. People from different walks of life converge, commune, and connect through the internet. With the connections we make through the internet, we are able to make good judgment and more informed decisions when it comes to things like what place to visit, and how to spend leisure time. DiscoverSD knows this and use the power of the internet to help achieve their goal of making available as much information, as many reviews, and as many methods of easy interaction between residents and visitors as possible on one easy-to-navigate website. With the help of blogs, articles, reviews, ratings, articles, discussions, and comments, San Diego, America's finest city, continue grow and include more neighborhoods, more business types, and more attractions for the community. If you take a look at San Diego entertainment calendar, you will see the abundance of activities-- a sign that the city is bustling with life, great new businesses, events, and services. New and great ideas are always welcome at DiscoverSD, wheter these are feature requests, multimedia and content contributions, business opportunities, and promotional partnerships.

Discove San Diego now through DiscoverSD. check out the events for this month and the months to come and join in the community and connect with with the place and its people.

Withdrawing Money Again

For the second time this month I am withdrawing money from my online earnings. Last January 6 I withdrew $190 from my Paypal account to my Eon Cyber account. A few moments ago I withdrew $170 from Paypal, this time I followed The Lady Programmer's advice to withdraw Paypal earnings using the "withdraw to bank account" option in Paypal. According to her the process is quicker and free; there will be no charges because the amount I withdrew is over P7,000. A while ago I had $227.50 in my Paypal, now what is left is $50+. I intentionally left the  $57.50 so that I have quick money to spend online if ever I'd need to buy something very important like another domain for my wife's online store (it'd be up soon, I am still working on it). The next batch of money from online earnings will be coming into my Paypal starting the first week of February. 

I have no plans of withdrawing money from my Paypal but my son is somewhat sick and we'll be bringing him tomorrow morning to the doctor. I know that it will take three to four days for the money to be reflected in my bank account and become withdrawable but it is good to have money coming in times like this, just in case things get worse. 

The Scariest Pet Contest

Do you have a pet? If so, is it cute? Is it big? Is it funny? Or, is it scary? If your pet falls under the category funny and scary, then you are in for something good. This morning I stumbled upon EnergizedSeller's Scariest Pet Contest. In this contest all you need to do to join the contest is to make a reply to the contest thread in the EnergizedSeller's forum and then upload the image of your scary and funny pet. The pet pictures uploaded to the site will then be judged by the members of the forum. If your pet picture is voted the winner, you will receive $500 gift certificate to Lowes or Home Depot (your choice). Here is the directions for uploading photo:

Hit reply
Type a short message and/or the pet's name
Click on the "insert photo/media" icon next to smiley face
Click "browse"
Click the "upload file" tab, "choose file" and then select the file on your computer.
Click the "upload file" button.
Click "OK"

After you upload your pet's image you can look around the site. Probably it would be good to check out their 101 Home Selling and Staging Tips which will help you become good at selling your home. If you are not planning to sell your home now, the information you get from 101 Home Selling and Staging Tips will surely be useful to you in the future. You can download the report in their site and become a true Energized Seller.

How to Obtain Genuine Product Key (good for 6 months) for Microsoft Windows 7 Beta

I am not one of the 2.5 million people who were lucky enough to download Microsoft Windows 7 Beta installer when it was given out but I was able to download it via a torrent (with awful lot of seeders that I was able to get a good download speed of 176 KBPS average). The installer I downloaded (ISO)  is genuine and unaltered Build 7000.0.081212-1400 64-Bit (I know how to check this out). Now, I am planning to install the new OS tomorrow in my office PC and probably next week to my home PC after I back up my files. My system at the office and at home meet the system requirements for Windows 7 so there is no problem about it. I was also able to find a tutorial on how to obtain a genuine serial for the installer which will enable you to enjoy Windows 7 Beta for six months, complete with updates and fixes. Here is the link to the tutorial : Windows 7 Serial

Movies Planet

I and my wife love watching movies but we do not go to movie houses to watch films, we just watch movies in our computer. Movies are important part of our lives, they inspire us, they stir our imagination, they give us a lot of lessons and most of all, they give us little ways of escape from the daily hustle and bustle of our daily lives. Wheteher its action, drama, romance, comedy, or sci-fi, a good movie always has a room in our hearts. But we are really suckers for drama and romance, i guess probably because we see ourselves in the characters in those romance movies! The magic of the internet makes it possible for us to enjoy one or two good movies every night. Watching good movies is our way of learning more about us, about our world, and about almost anything. We love to watch movies for free. I am saying "good" movies because before we download or watch a movie, we read different reviews about it, hear feedback from others who have watched it and if possible, watch trailers. I know where to download free movies. Have you heard about Moviesplanet.com? It is a site that allows you to find all your favorite genres, actors, actresses and directors and see what they've been up to. You can also check out all the new top box office hits, see "what's new" around the movie world. Actually, this site is a very alive community of movie lovers, with integrated user profiles, private notes and instant messaging, polls, forums, chat and more! If you become a member you can also get real-time movie recommendations from devoted movie lovers, just like you. If you like, you can watch movies online in MoviesPlanet.com. You will sure enjoy being part of this community. Who doesn't want free movies? I guess everyone loves movies, especially good ones.

Most Windows 7 Installations Will be 64-Bit

Some "reliable" source inside Microsoft is saying that there are good signs that majority of Windows 7 installs will be 64-bit. This is because 25% of Vista installs near the end of 2008 were 64-bit. It is predicted that when Windows 7 comes out, majority of its install will be 64-bit. The age of 32-bit computing is nearing its end, blame it on the cheap DDR2 DRAM. Jon DeVaan, Senior Vice-President of the Windows Core Operating System Division, says,. "From our point of view we believe that we have accomplished the tipping point in terms of 64-bit adoption. Now, this happened to a large degree because memory prices are coming down, and another dynamic that we've seen in the United States is that the retail channel is looking to use RAM upgrades as a way to boost margin. So what that means is that 64-bit machine run rate is increasing rapidly, and that means our ability to support those 64-bit machines fully in the broad ecosystem is a really important thing." 

At home, I am using Windows Vista Ultimate 64-Bit. I am planning to try out Windows 7, probably I will install it next week after I back up my files. I got a legit serial for Windows 7 beta, it will allow me to use Windows 7 Beta for 6 months. I will make a post later today about how to get your own Windows 7 serial from Microsoft.

Building Your Home?

Thinking about finally having your dream home this year but could not just decide on how to go about it? well, you are not alone because many families today are working hard to have their dream home but when they finally have the money for building the house, they realize that it is not that easy to find the right firm to help them build it the way they want it without burning holes through their pockets. The most important thing learn about companies is their track record. If you are planning to have your dream home somewhere in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida, or anywhere else, probably it would be good for you if you check out Tom Smith Development, a company that has been building elegantly appointed homes since 2005. Their three good years in the business of home building in existing urban sites prove that they are a company that build with care and thought in mind. You can see in their designs that they could build on timeless and traditional architechture that blends in harmoniously with urbanization. Their home boast of elegant interior designs, appliances, and upscale decorations. Visit their site now and let them help you make your dream home a reality.

Hacked Windows Mobile 6.5 beta Leaked on the Web

Microsoft has yet to unveil Windows Mobile 6.5 Beta but a hacked version of it is now circulating in the net.  A poster at xda-developers has put up some files and instructions for making a build of 6.5  on an old-school HTC Blue Angel, a device that dates all the way back to 2004.  Watch the video and see for your self.

Your Business and Your Online Presence

The future of your business depends on the kind of web presence that you have. If you have the web muscle to flex and show your strength in the internet, your business will easily climb high on top. The secret of the success of your business' website is in the VPS. If your website does not demand all the resources of a physical dedicated server but is a step higher than shared hosting, probably you need a dedicated server that is affordable. Here's a tip: try Rapidswitch.com, they can provide you with a service that allows you to to make use of a privately segmented section of a physical server where you can install all your own applications and software. Yes, they can give it to you. And its light on your pocket, you can check out their VPS starter, its just £1 per month, all with these features : Based on OpenVZ technology, RAID 10 SCSI hard drives for fast disk performance, Multiple quad-core CPUs on host, Provisioned within minutes, Choice of Linux distributions, and Free reinstalls.

Photoshop Text Effects

I have shared to you some great but easy Photoshop lesson I've found in the net earlier, now I am sharing some more but this time it is about great text effects. Just click on the link for each one to go to the site of the tutorial.

Supernatural Text Effect

Grass Text Effect

Advance Glow Effect

Starcraft Text

More to come...

Dennis Carey

Many companies today need the perfect executives, executives with real talent that the company could really use. Looking for the perfect executive and knowing that you are facing one when you are facing one is a tough job. A company must have someone to do it for them, someone who specializes in the recruitment of CEOs and corporate directors, someone who has lots of experience with seaching for directors, someone who has good knowledge about CEO succession assessment projects, someone who believes that in talent and has the talent when it comes to defining the combination that would best fit an organization or a company. Have you tried Dennis Carey? Known for his professional expertise in the area of executive recruitment, Dennis Carey is the 'IT' man when it comes to finding the best managers for your company. This guy is the sure answer to your company's executive needs. Know more about the profile of Dennis Carey here.

Free BitDefender Total Security 2009 Serial

My office computer started to act weird yesterday, really really weird. I made an antivirus scan but my Eset Smart Security did not detect anything malicious. I uninstalled Eset Smart Security  and tried for the first time BitDefender Total Security 2009. I chose BitDefender after reading a few reviews of the top performing antivirus software in 2008. BitDefender came out on top on all of the reviews so I decided to try it. I downloaded the trial version (30 days). I made a virus scan of my drives and sure enough it found many malicious software and virus in my hard drive. There were about six rootkit and some trojans. Bit Defender is light on my computer and it seemed to really perform well. Its ins and outs are easy to learn. The problem is that I do not want to shell out a few bucks to buy it even if i am falling in love with it. So I did a search for a serial for the software and I was lucky enough to find a post from a blog whose name escapes me about how to get a free serial for BitDefender Total Security 2009 the legal way. I want to share this with you, here is the link to that blog : FREE 210 Days BitDefender Total Security 2009 Genuine License Key.  

This is not a paid post, I am posting this here because I just want to share this with all of you. 

GPS Tracking Solutions

The use of tracking devices touches some controversial issues. We know that tracking devices are useful in fighting criminality and terrorism but when these devices get into the hands of the bad guys, they can be used to further some unlawful activities. Tracking devices are made with good purpose in mind but some people have quite the knack in using good things to do bad. But despite these facts, tracking devices like GPS Tracking are really needed by the government, law enforcement agencies, corporate and small business. Tracking people and things, when backed by law is okay, but when people are tracked maliciously, it is not acceptable. If I find out that I am being tracked, I will surely feel very very uncomfortable and see the situation as a great threat to me and my family. This is probably because I haven't done any crime that warrants tracking. If an innocent man finds out that he is being tracked he will surely see it as a sign that someone wants to destroy him or kill him. But if we look at it on the positive side, GPS Tracking is good especially if the reason for tracking is for the security of the one being tracked, like your wife's car or any of the members of your family. Some companies find good use of tracking technologies with erring employees. GPS Tracking technology, if put to good use could make the world a more secure place.

There are many good tracking applications that are designed to fit every uniques situation, you can check them out at BrickHouseSecurity.com, they have gadgets like T-Trac XS Internet GPS Car Tracking System, a top-rated Real Time GPS Tracking device is ideal for car and long term asset tracking over the internet. This gadget has 30 day battery life. You can find more of this kinds of tracking devices at BrickHouseSecurity.com.

Hide Folders More Efficiently In Windows

If you have sensitive files that you'd like to hide effectively in a computer that is accessed not only by you (like an office computer), I guess you'd be happy to learn about this free software I've found, Free Hide Folder. It's actually very easy to hide a folder with Free Hide Folder. It takes only a few mouse clicks. First, you need to run Free Hide Folder, locate and select the folder you want to hide, and then click Hide Folder button to hide folders. 

Cheap WOW Accounts

Okay, I know that you are one of those who love this massively multiplayer online role-playing game World of Warcraft and I know that you want to have one of those pre-leveled, high-end secured WoW Accounts. It happens that I know where to get some cheap wow accounts and I am not talking about an auction site. The site I am talking about is BuyMMOAccounts.com; they have been selling WoW account since 2007. The WoW accounts they are selling are actually owned by them, a legitimate company. You can call them at 866-519-1188 to make sure that you get the WoW account that you have been wanting,the kind of WoW accounts that are protected and guaranteed from being reclaimed or disabled. Check them out now!

More Cool Photoshop Tuts

Here are more cool Adobe Photoshop tutorials that are really useful to veteran and novice graphic artists. If you are new to Photoshop, you'll be inspired by the beauty of these creations and the ease of how they can be done by you. If you are a veteran Photoshop user, you'll still find these tutorials useful, it will give you new perspectives. 

How to Craft a Classical Guitar from Scratch in Photoshop

Create A Realistic Wine Bottle Illustration From Scratch

More to come folks...

Problems with File Extensions

It happens to us every once in a while: file extension problems. Most of us do not know how to handle this kind of problem, and I know that many computer users do not bother themselves with knowing about file extensions. Do you know that most of the file extension problems that we have are caused by registry error? Windows registry is very important, once it has problems, your computer's operation will be affected. Most software that you install (especially media players and image viewers and editors) make themselves the default viewer, editor or player of certain file types. When you uninstall these software, they do not always change back the registry associated with them to what it was before they were installed. This can cause problems with opening of some files. Of course the best thing to do when this happens is to fix that entry in the registry. But the registry is a tricky place to tamper with, one fatal mistake and your computer could stop working. There are tools that are available to help us fix registry errors associated with file extensions. If your problem is with file extension DLL, or file extension PPS, or file extension dmg, or whatever file extension problem it is, a registry scan with will always help solve the problem. There is a site that can give your computer a free registry scan and fix, it is ComputerFileExtensions.com. You can check them out now so that you can bookmark them so that when you have the need for a registry fix you have somewhere to run for help to.

CG Art or Real Photo Image?

Which one is of the three images is computer generated? Is it the planet? The LCD screen? or the watch? If you are good you will know that all of the above are CG art and done in Adobe Photoshop. Yes, no image above came from a snapshot, they were all made from scratch using Photoshop. If you have the patience and the drive you can create images like the ones featured above, they are actually quite easy to make. Here are some tutorials I've found : Create a Watch, Realistic LCD HDTV, 3D Planet. 

Check out these tuts and I am sure you'll be addicted to Photoshop, like me :P

Low Level Laser Therapy

Our hair is our crowning glory. The way one's hair is done could be a great factor on one's overall appearance. Because our hair is important you should not be surprised at how much technological knowldge has been poured on it. Surely the technology for hair care and hair growth is now very advanced. If you are suffering from some kind of balding despite your youth, you'll be happy to know that there is now a technology that can stimulate hair growth naturally. Have you ever heard about California Low Level Laser Therapy? Yes, they have the technology that can effectively stimulate hair growth using Low Level Laser Therapy. The procedure involves a beam of light that is absorbed by the scalp tissues which will cause blood to flow to the area around the hair follicle. The blood that will flow to the area around the hair follicle will carry nutrients need for hair growth. This is a natural way of growing hair and there is absolutely no bad side effects because the procedure does not damage living tissues. There are many good effects of Low Level Laser Therapy which you can check out if you visit is AventiHair.com, the website of the company that has this wonderful technology for growing back hair naturally. You may contact them for a free microscopic hair and scalp analysis (and I am sure you won't like to miss their One Complimentary Laser Hair Treatment).

4 Windows XP Maintenance Tips

These past few days are among the busiest in my life. I could hardly update my blogs. But I need to update and put in good content so I am now posting something that I have not written. I found a good article written by Liz Vasilyeva, a free-lance writer who writes about technology, traveling, music, cultural events. This will help a lot of you out there who uses Windows XP.

4 Windows XP Maintenance Tips 

Computers are like pets – they need care. We all want our computer to be fast, efficient, and responsive, but when it starts slowing down, most people just get mad at it. Well, don’t. Just give it some good care. The maintenance tips in this article will help you make your XP computer faster, safer, and more stable.

Reduce Recycle Bin Size

Nowadays hard disks are pretty large, so the default 10% for the Recycle Bin is way too much. Most users would be OK with 5–10Gb, which will usually be from 2 to 5% of the hard drive space.

To reduce the size of your Recycle Bin do the following:

Go to Desktop

Right–click on the Recycle Bin icon

Select Properties

Use the slider to choose the required percentage

Click Apply, then click OK

Turn Off Remote Desktop And Remote Assistance

Windows XP has services that make it possible for other people to access your computer remotely. They are handy if a computer is part of a network, but there is always a danger that hackers may use them to access your computer. So, if your PC is not part of a network, it’s best to turn them off. Here’s how:

Go to Start – Settings – Control Panel

Double-click the System icon

Select the Remote tab

Uncheck Allow Remote Assistance invitations to be sent from this computer

In the same tab click Advanced

Uncheck Allow users to connect remotely to this computer

Click Apply, then click OK

Don’t worry – you will be able to access MSN, Skype and other similar programs. Turning off Remote Assistance and Remote Desktop doesn’t affect them in any way.

Run Windows XP Chkdsk (Check Disk) From Time To Time

Windows XP chkdsk is a tool that should be run from time to time. It will scan the disk for errors, fix logical errors, detect and mark bad sectors, so that Windows will no longer try to use them. This way it can prevent your computer from becoming unstable.

There is a slight disadvantage, though – Check Disk may require a lot of time to perform its task. It depends on many things, like overall PC speed, number of files and folders on the disk, amount of RAM, and disk size. So it’s best to run Check Disk only if you don’t need to use the computer for some time.

Also Windows XP chkdsk wants exclusive access to the computer. In most cases it will ask for a reboot and will run right after the reboot, so you won’t have access to your PC. Of course, you can always interrupt the process, but it’s not a good idea.

To run Check Disk do this:

1. Find the My Computer icon on your desktop and double-click it

2. Find the disk you want to check, right-click it and go to Properties

3. In the Properties dialog box go to Tools

4. Click Check now

5. A new dialog box will appear, check both options and click Start

6. Most likely you will get a message that Check Disk wants exclusive access to the disk and wants to start right after your reboot. Click OK

7. Restart your computer

Defrag Regularly

Badly fragmented disks can cause a lot of problems, like general system slowdowns, slower startup and shutdowns, and even computer crashes. Basically, your hard drive is the slowest part of your computer and file fragmentation makes it even slower.

Windows has a built in Disk Defragmenter. To use it go to Start – Programs – Accessories – System Tools – Disk Defragmenter. Like any other defrag utility it gathers file fragments that are scattered all over your disk and writes them into adjacent clusters.

But to be honest, I never use Windows Disk Defrag – it takes quite some time to do its job and skips too many files.

The good news are that there are good free defrag utilities available for download. The ones I like are Auslogics DiskDefrag and Piriform Defraggler. Both are from trusted developers and do their job great. Personally, I like the Auslogics one better, because it doesn’t need time to analyze the disk, so it’s very fast.

The Calling Card Solution

I have an aunt who is now based in the United States. She's quite close to one of my girl cousins so they always communicate. I asked my girl cousin about the long distance phone call rates from the USA to the Philippines. She told me that she doesn't have any idea because it is our aunt who always calls her from the USA. She told me that probably it is quite cheap because our aunt calls her often and they talk long. So my cousin asked my aunt about the rates and my aunt told her that she uses international calling cards. "Do you know about GetMeCallingCards.com?", my aunt asked her, "I am using their cards". She explained that GetMeCallingCard.com is one of the biggest retailers of phone cards. All the major vendors of phone cards are in their list and customers can call from 153 countries around the globe using their phone cards. So now, everytime I or my couin has to cll someone abroad, we think of GetMeCallingCard.com.

Understanding Your Web Traffic

If you are a newbie blogger or if your blog is for personal use only and you do not intend it to generate income, you probably don't care about things like website traffic, hits, unique vistors, pageviews, impressions, and all those "dizzying" stuff on the technical side of blogging. But if your blog is aimed at generating income, and you are dear serious about it, it is a must that you understand your web traffic. There are some terms that you need to understand to get you going, here they are : 

Hits. This is the total number of files loaded when a single page is requested from the web server. If you take good note of that statement, you will understand that "hits" should not be used as basis for judging a website's traffic. Look at this : If there are ten images, one CSS file, and one Javascript file in a webpage, every time a user loads it, it will get 12 hits (10 for the images, 1 for the CSS file, and 1 for the Javascript file). If you have 500 hits in your webpage in a day, it could translate to 10 or so unique visitors, which means that there was not much traffic. The more files you have in your page, the more hits it will have, but that is not traffic.

Pageviews. This is the calculation of how many times a page is viewed. If a visitor clicks on "Older posts" link in your Blogger blog after staying in your home page, you get two page views. If he goes back to the home page after he is done with the Older post" you get the third page view. If you divide the total pageviews with total number of unique visitors, you can have a good picture of how many pageviews are made by each visitor.

Impressions. If you have Google Adsense or Adbrite in your blog, you know that impressions is the count of how many times a element, like image, text, or video, appears on a web page. Impressions are usually counted in bulk, by the thousands. If one company pays $1 per Cost Per Thousand Impressions, you will get $1 every time the ad unit is viewed 1000 times.

Visits and Unique Visitors. This is the number of different people with different IP addresses that visited your web page. This is where you should base your traffic.

Earn Your Degree Online

In today's very competitive world a college diploma is not enough. If you want to get ahead and continue to work your way to the top you must have a Master's degree (and if you still have the strenght to go on, a Ph.D!). But it is not that easy to juggle your job, your schooling, and your blogging; 24 hours in a day is too short a time to do everything there is to do in this fast-paced world. A guy I know in the office wants to add another Master's degree to his name but his work is eating away his time and he knows that he'll find it difficult to put in some time every week for his schooling, he'll surely find it difficult to do the commuting and interrupting his busy schedule with classes and campus visits. I told him to try distant schooling instead. A few search with Google led us to Ashworth College, a school that is accredited by the Accrediting Commission of the Distance Education and Training Council (DETC). What is good about it is that Ashworth College offers online schooling and they have master's degree curriculum, they have a good faculty, excellent administrative procedures, and their policies are frequently reviewed to ensure that they continue to meet the DETC's exacting standards of excellence.

Distant learning is always practical, it saves a lot of time. The guy I know in the office is now eager to get on with his schooling because he found a good chance at it despite his busy schedule with Ashworth College Online.

Hotmail Does Not Work with Chrome

I would like to know if it is only me or are there those who are also experiencing this. I am using Hotmail and I have noticed in the past two weeks or so that some of the functionalities of Hotmail do not work with Chrome browser. I could not send any mail from Hotmail if I use Chrome. But when I use Firefox there is no problem. Now, just this morning a bigger problem is beginning to show itself; I could not open the mails in my Hotmail Inbox. With Firefox everything's normal with Hotmail but with Chrome Hotmail is useless. What is this? Am I the only one experiencing this or is there a tweak in Hotmail so that it will go back to being usable with Chrome. I haven't tried it with Internet explorer because I do not even use IE. 

Top Blog Platform Used By Top 100 Blogs

In a recent study done by Royal Pingdom, WordPress came out as the blogging platform that is used by most of the the top 100 blogs in the world. The top 100 blogs include big name companies like the New York Times . 27 of the top 100 blogs use WordPress. The second blogging platform of choice is Typepad with 16 out of the top 100. The pie graph above shows the findings of Royal Pingdom. As you can see Blogger is at ninth place.

Well, WordPress is really cool, I know it because I have started two WordPress blogs which you can find here and here. I am working on the two as of now and they will become quite some blogs in a month or two. But this doesn't mean I am leaving Blogger. I still love Blogger.

Hack Your Car's Electronic Brain

If you want your car to have a power boost, do not think that lowering the suspension and installing a hot camshaft will give it a good power boost. Adding things like free-flow exhaust won't help either. The best thing to do is to have a performance chip installed in it. Yes, the best way to a better car performance is through its electronic brain. Performance chips can help your car gain more horsepower and lower fuel consumption. The power boost and fuel economy is achieved by performance chip by obtaining optimium performance from the engine and increase fuel economy because the engine runs at its optimum levels.

If you want to hack your car's electronic brain so that you can get more power from it while saving a lot of fuel, you can check out EnginePerformanceChips.com. They have engine performance chips and performance parts. All their products are specifically picked by their trained team of technical engineers to work specifically for the make and model of your car.

Create Your Own Image Mosaic

"If an image is worth a thousand words, an image mosaic is worth a million". That's what you'll read on the page that generates your image mosaic at Click7.org. And indeed it is so true, it's worth a million fun and it is free. I tried creating an image mosaic from one of the many picture in my hard disk and I got hooked, I created several of them. The  slick online generator that automatically created the mosaics from my uploaded images really worked fast. Processing only took a few moments and my completed images were there already, ready for downloading. 

Image mosaic is made of hundreds of scaled-down images to form an image that if viewed from a distance (For full effect stand about 5 meters away from your computer and look at the resulting image) would look like a normal image with somewhat extraordinary grain of some kind. If you look at it closely, you'll realize that it is actually made of many images.

All images used in the construction of images mosaics are fetched from Flickr and copyright of their respective owners.

Acai Berry, Anyone?

Probably you have been hearing about acai berry but you are not quite sure about it. If you are a health buff you should know acai berry. This wonder of nature has been used for generations by some tribes in South America as food which gave them many health benefits. Acai berry helps boost energy levels by providing all necessary vitamins. It also contains various minerals that are need by our body in order to stay healthy.

Acai is a berry that can be found in the Amazon rainforest. It is fast becoming known as a food that can help cure many diseases. Aside from that, it also helps maintain health. Acai has omega fats, amino acids, electrolytes, antioxidants, protein, and different vitamins. Some people call it "nature's perfect food" because of the many wonderful effects it has on our body. When taken regularly it helps keep one fit. There are many products nowadays that are made from acai berry, so they are worth checking out.

Vista Tip : How To Add "Take Ownership" Context Menu

Some people are annoyed by some of Windows Vista's characteristics. Though these things are there to help protect the user's security many users want them out. One annoying thing about Vista is the fact that many of its folders are protected from changes; you cannot just delete a file or add a file to some folders and most of the time you do not know how to get around with with. Do you know that it is possible to add a "Take Ownership" context mune so that all you need to do is just right-click on a folder you want to "own" and select "Takeownership" from the context menu? This can be achieved with a registry tweak (which is quite tricky if you are not very familiar with tweaking the Registry). But if there ready made .reg file that you can download for free from MintyWhite.com. The zip file contains two .reg files, the first one is the Install TakeOwnership.reg and the second one is RemoveTakeOwnership.reg. You can download the file from here, it will take one second to download. Open the zip file and extract the contents to a folder of your choice. Double click on the InstallTakeOwnership.reg. To remove the ownership of a folder, just double click the second file RemoveTakeOwnership.reg.

The Quickcert Advantage

The best career path to choose today is the one that leads to the world of Information Technology. In the this digital age, certified IT professionals are in-demand and earn big. To be able to compete in this field, you must have certifications. If you are aiming for MCSE 2003 certification, then get your self-study training and certification materials only from Quickcert, the company that can provide you with a state-of-the-art training course that is guaranteed to prepare you for your exams and a successful career as an MCSE. You will have the edge with Quickcert because their trainings are led by expert instructors and are designed for self-study. The expert instructors at Quickcert are not only certified in their area of expertise but also has years of experience neatly tucked under their belts. Quickcert is also a Microsoft certified partner so you are sure that thy can be trusted with leading you to a good future as an IT professional.

With Quickcert your learning experience will be enhanced with PowerPoint, Flash animations, charts, graphs, graphics and other relevant course materials. This means that you'll learn with the help of multimedia presentations, demonstrations and laboratory learning, practice tests and exam simulator. Aside from that you are guaranteed access to their staff of training and support professionals for one year. Their staff can be contacted via phone or email.

Check out their site now and start building that road of yours that lead to the coveted certification.

Windows 7 Public Beta

On January 9th, Windows 7 Beta will be made available for download from the Microsoft Windows 7 website.  This download will be open for a limited period of time. Only 2.5 million downloads will be given so if you are keen about trying out the newest Windows you shoud be early at the site on January 9. 

Best Deals at Autonet

I have a cousin (on my father's side) who is now based in the United Kingdom. She communicates with me always and yesterday, because she believes in my so-called "expertise" in doing research in the net, she asked my help in scouring the net for a good insurance company that she can use to insure her new van. Well, I found one very good company. If you got a van and you want to get a van insurance you might want to check out this website, AutonetInsurance.co.uk. They have the kind of van insurance that my cousin was looking for. I learned that that Autonet Insurance Group is reputed to give high quality insurance, one of which is van insurance. This company has resources that allow them to add true great value that goes beyond product supply to create an unparalled customer satisfaction. I also learned that Autonet Insurance Group is one of the UK's largest independently owned insurance brokers. Through the years they have forged a strong connection with many of the leading insurance companies in the United Kingdom. They make sure that they every policy they give is designed to fit the requirements of the policy holder.

If you visit their site, you will learn much about different kinds of insurance policies they have. Their website is very useful to anyone wanting to learn how to get the best deals not only on van insurance but also on other policies like business insurance, bike insurance, car insurance, motorhome insurance, home insurance, and many more. Check them out now.

Blogger has a new Geotagging Feature

Those who are using Blogger would soon enjoy a new feature added to Blogger's new post editor called Geotagging. This cool new feature is now being tested on Blogger in draft, a special version of Blogger where new features are tried out before they are released to the public. With Geotagging feature, users of Blogger can add a location to their blog posts. Geotags give readers a way to browse posts near a specific location, just like the way time stamps help readers find posts from a certain date or time. You can learn more about Geotagging feature in Blogger in Draft.

Ecologically Friendly Timekeeping

The days of January come by so fast and in a few days we will be in February. Valentines day is just a few weeks away, I bet you are now thinking about what gift to give to the one you love. I know that it is not easy to choose the perfect Valentine's Day gift because you want to be very sure that it will make your sweetheart happy. How about something that will keep your lover in touch with nature, something that is eco-friendly? I suggest you give your partner Citizen Eco-Drive Watch. This watch is more than just a gadget for keeping time, it has something that others do not have, it uses the simplest, yet most technically advanced power generating and storage system and its also has great features like time dial ring, sailing bezel, compass bezel, tachymeter bezel, flight calculation bezel, and unidirectional rotating bezel.

Citizen watch company was established in 1924. The people who started it chose the name Citizen because they wanted it to be "close to the hearts of people everywhere". In the last 85 years, Citizen has slowly but sure expanded into the giant that it is now and every citizen of the world probably knows about the company's product--the citizen watch. Since 1986, Citizen has been recognized as the world's largest watchmaker. It is not only the company's size that makes it number one in the realm of timekeeping, it is also the fact that Citizen and technological advancement goes hand in hand.
So why not check out citizen watch and give your sweetheart the perfect gift this Valentines day.

Vista to Windows 7 Upgrades Starting July 1

Yes, on July 1 beginning July 1, 2009 new computers purchased will be eligible for the no-charge update from Vista to Windows 7.  Yes, it will only apply to new computers purchased on or after that date so the computer you are using now in reading this is not eligible :P  

Here are more rules that will make you sigh :

End users must purchase a new PC that is pre-installed with an eligible Windows Vista OS. Retail boxed Vista versions likely won't qualify.

Your computer must have a valid Windows Vista COA attached.

The only Windows Vista® versions eligible for the program are Home Premium, Business, and Ultimate. Vista basic users are out of luck. 

The Insurance Forums

My wife told me about a website, insurance forums, that she found and said that I should check it out because we might have the need to take some insurance policy in the near future, stock knowledge is important in things like that. I did not immediately check it because I am not really very keen about things like insurance. Then a while ago I remembered what she told me so I visited Insurance Forums. At first glance it is obvious that the site is quite new (I have years of experience with forums so I know in just a few seconds if a forum has many active members) but despite this fact, the forums in this community are quite helpful. I went deeper into the site and learned a lot of things about insurance from the threads of the members. When i visited the site there were 117 registered members (quite a small number for a forum) but I know that this forum has a future because it is well-strucured and the quality of threads and posts are really good; it seems that the members are well-informed in the area of insurance. This site will be a good resource for people who want to learn about the ins and outs of insurance, I learned a lot from it.

Cashing Our Again

After the somewhat disastrous withdrawal of money yesterday, I again made a withdrawal of funds from my Paypal account to my Eon Visa card (we overspent during the holidays that's why we're hitting on my blogging earnings now). This morning my wife called up the Union Bank branch here and the person she talked to was kind enough to explain that it will take around 3-5 days for the missing funds to be returned to my account. I could not wait for the amount to be returned so i made a new withdrawal. I am now crossing my fingers and hoping that things will work smoothly now unlike what happened earlier.

Here's the sceen shot of my new withdrawal from Paypal :

Pepperjam Search Marketing

If you want your business to thrive you must understand and make use of the power of the internet. If you understand the power of the internet you understand how your business needs search-engine marketing. You need the help of a company that can provide you with the best services that range from PPC Management to search engine optimization. The company you need to tap is Pepperjam, a recognized world leader in Seacrh Engine Optimization services. Pepperjam should be your internet marketing and search engine marketing agency if you want your business to lift off the ground.

Pepperjam will help you maximize your business' organic search engine traffic with their dedicated on-site and off-site search engine optimization principals. Pepperjam's team of SEO experts will help you with the basics of on-site optimization so that your business' website will stay on top of the search engine results. And when your site is fully optimized, they will help you with link-building, the secret formula to almost every successful brands in the net. With Pepperjam, your site's off-site linking campaigns will be more effective. Pepperjam knows what is involved in link-building--a delicate balance between art and science.

So if you want your website to have the edge over your competitors, have the Pepperjam SEO team come over and add wings to your site. Check them out now.

A Blog for Your Business is a Must

More WebProNews Videos

If you are a wise businessman you know that you have to keep yourself updated to what's going on around you. If you are up-to-date you know about blogging and you know that your business needs a blog to keep it afloat. There are many of reasons why your business must have a blog especially in this time of  recession.

Jennifer Laycock of Seacrh Engine Guide explains that consumers have less money to spend and therefore research their purchases more. The best way to research is to surf the net. Blogs come up in the search. If your company doesn't have a blog, you'll be left behind.  If your company has a blog, you can compete with other big companies on a global level because of your blog. 

Here are the reason why your business must have a blog, according to Jennifer:

1.    Showcase your personality

2.    Create a feedback cycle

3.    Build a loyal community

4.    Create an emotional investment

5.    Increase your credibility

Watch the video above for more of this.

Do You Want to Be the Next XML Superstar?

If you think you have the XML chops that could make you the next XML superstar? If you think you're good enough, why not join search for the XML superstar, a programming contest for students and professionals alike. In this competition there are five different contests, each offering its own recognition and set of prizes. Don't think that this contest is only for experts in the field of XML because there is a place here for those who are just beginning with XML. And if you are a hardcore programmer with deadly DB2 skills, well there is also a contest here for your kind, this is where you can measure how good your XML chops are. Why not join the contest now? But before you can join the contest you need to complete a five-question quiz about XML (which you can complete even if you have no prior experience with XML but you are smart enough). The quiz can only be taken once.

Register now so that you can join any of the following contests:

* Video Contest: Invent a creative use of XML, XQuery or DB2 and record yourself doing it.

* Gadget Contest: Develop a downloadable gadget or widget leveraging DB2.

* Query Contest: Use XQuery to find five answers. The best queries win the best prizes!

* Ported App Contest1: Port or develop a new app for DB2. Enter as an individual or assemble a team.

* XML2 Contest: Win by building useful, user-friendly XML apps from scratch. Enter as an individual or assemble a team.

Problem With My Eon Cyber Account (Part 2)

After the long wait the money I withdrew from Paypal last December 26 was finally reflected in my Eon account. When my wife went to the ATM (RCBC local branch) to withdraw money the ATM informed her that there was no enough funds to cover the amount being requested. So she checked the account balance and was disgusted upon finding out that the balance is only P666. That is P2000 less than what was supposed to be in there. My wife had no choice but to withdraw the remaining P600. When I checked the transaction history of my Cyber account online it showed that immediately after the Paypal money was reflected, a withdrawal transaction was made which amounted to 2,000. Who made the withdrawal? This is fishy. I tried to phone the local Union Bank branch but nobody answered the phone (or is the number listed in the telephone directory no longer their number because when I checked their website the branch number shown is different from what is in the directory). P2000 is a small amount but when it disappears out of thin air it makes me feel bad. And when no one answers the phone when you need some clarifications, it makes me feel even worse. Below is the screen shot of the transaction history.  

But I guess there is also a problem with the ATM of RCBC where my wife made the withdrawal because the machine gave her error messages during the withdrawal process (the reciept says : withdrawal 2,6000 error : transaction void). She has kept the reciept given out by the ATM. I went to the RCBC branch and filed a complaint. I will also email Union Bank. What makes me mad is the fact that a small amount as P2000 could bring so much hassle.