Entrecard has deleted my account with them. First time was when my site went down this weekend. They sent me an email saying that they deleted my account because it was in violation of Rule #10 of their blog quality standards: "URLs must be valid: Sites with URLs that do not work or are wrongly typed will be deleted." I myself didn't know that my URL was not working. It turned out that my webhost moved to different servers and even though I already changed the DNS in my domain registration, they still have some maintenance work to do. Anyway, my site was immediately restored yesterday so I emailed Entrecard, asking for reconsideration. Now, I get another email from them saying that my account will remain deleted because they reviewed my site and found it to be in violation of Rule #4 (Content must be original: Reproduced content does not provide the specific qualities we are looking for in the Entrecard network. This includes both sites that use legitimate reprintable content such as “free articles”, abstracts and public domain content as well as illegitimate, illegal content such as stolen content or scraped feeds. Duplicate content, such as posts that appear on two or more blogs belonging to the same person is also unacceptable.) and Rule #5 (No full-screen ads or popups: Blogs that include full-screen ads or popups will be removed. This includes any popup window that appears when the site has finished loading or when clicking to view an article. It is OK for links to display a popup window if the user clicks a link, e.g. FeedBurner email subscription, but popup ads or forceful messages asking people to subscribe without clicking anything are intrusive and therefore not allowed.). I'm sure I have disabled the full-screen ads in my site and I haven't put in any popups so I don't know why I'm in violation of Rule #5. I do recognize that I'm violating Rule #4 because of my News content (News Snapshots and Recent News) but I'm not about ready to give up that one. I visit my own site because that's where I read about the latest news happening around the world. Now I don't know if my readers like the layout of my home page. Would they rather see the blog part at the top? I might change the layout next year, move around some stuff and lessen the ads. But that's for next year; I don't want to change anything now. So I guess I would just have to let go of Entrecard. Maybe I'll reapply next year. Or maybe not. I'll miss my droppers though. I just hope they have BlogCatalog or MyBLogLog so I can still see them when they drop by.
To indulge my friend's request for me to blog less about my blog and more about me, I'm giving you all a peek at last weekend's misadventure:
Thanks to LJ and ice's comments on my Nuffnang 68 entry post, I found out that I was one of the 68 winners. I checked the Nuffnang site last week but they haven't revealed the winners yet and I forgot to check again this week. So I checked again today and indeed my site's url (linked to the entry post) was there. Thank you Nuffnang for choosing me as one of the winners! Now, how about that P500 cash prize? :D
My Kongregate check arrived last week and I was already able to deposit it to my Landbank Dollar Savings Account. It nearly got rejected by Landbank because they said they don't accept personal foreign checks. I said that before opening my account, I specifically asked if I can deposit foreign checks and they said that I could so they have to honor that. So they accepted the check and said that there would be a 45-day clearing period after the originating bank of the check (Wells Fargo) responds to them. If the originating bank does not cash the check (bogus account, no funds, etc), I will be charged $10; otherwise, I will just be charged $1 processing fee. So assuming I am able to cash the check, I would have $174 in my account by next month. Minimum amount to earn interest is $500 so unless I add to my savings, my money will just be sitting there. I don't want to close my account just yet so I decided I will just keep adding to my account whenever I have the money. Then I thought of a brilliant idea. Why not use this account to save up for that European tour I've been dreaming of?
So, I signed up in Nuffnang last week and now they already have a promo for their members. How cool is that! Bloggers just need to satisfy 5 requirements and be one of the lucky 68 who will be declared winners to receive P500 prize money:
1. Add an ad unit to your site for one whole month so people can distinguish that you’re not just a blogger but a Nuffnanger. - Check! Aside from the skyscraper unit on my right sidebar, I added a rectangle ad unit on my home page just above the blog section for extra visibility ;-)
2. You need to be an exclusive member of Nuffnang. - Check! I know that I'm an exclusive member of Nuffnang because I haven't signed up with any other ad network that originates from South East Asia (Seriously, is there any other blog ad network created by and for South East Asian people? Only Nuffnang comes to mind.)
3. Post an entry describing one feature of Nuffnang that you like best. - So here's the best thing I like about Nuffnang, being part of the Nuffnang Glitterati. Being an exclusive member of Nuffnang, I was automatically included in the Glitterati after only 48 hours from initial sign-up. What are the benefits of being in the Glitterati you ask? Better payment rates, shorter payment terms, advertorial opportunities that are not available to non-exclusive Nuffnangers, more seats in Community Events, higher priority prize allocation in Contests and eligibility to the use of Innit, a tool developed and hosted by Nuffnang to add the additional service of driving traffic to any Nuffnang blog. Nuffnang Glitterati, the best. Check!
4. Share to your readers the experiences in signing-up at Nuffnang, like on how to register, be an exclusive member and how to post an ad unit. - Check! I've already told you about where to sign-up in my first post about Nuffnang, but just in case you've missed it, it's at http://www.nuffnang.com.ph/blogger-registration. Just complete the registration, add your blog to the "Blog Manager" then post an ad unit to your blog by getting the scripts from "Add Ad". Make sure you're not connected to any other local blog ad network and after 48 hours, you'll be an exclusive Nuffnanger. Easy, ain't it?
5. Send the link of your entry to email address nuffnang68@gmail.com - I'll do this right after I publish this post. Check!
To prevent another check from going to waste because I was not able to cash it, I decided to open a dollar savings account with Landbank. I looked at other banks' websites and even went to the banks' branches but all of them require a minimum initial deposit of $200. It was only Landbank which required $100 minimum initial deposit so I went with this one. Now with my Landbank Dollar Savings Account, I'll be able to deposit my Kongregate Weekly Loot Challenge winner's check of $75 when it arrives in the mail 3-4 weeks from now. Sweet :)
What can I say, it looks like I really am lucky when it comes to raffle contests. Although I don't always win the grand prize, I still manage to win in the major prizes, if not the consolation prizes. Take for example Kongregate's Weekly Loot Challenge. I played the Achilles game and earned a raffle ticket by doing 60 kills on Survival mode. Then when I checked my email this morning, I found out that I was one of the 9 winners of Fallout 3 game! I do wish they ship to the Philippines though. If not, I'll still be entitled to receive the cash equivalent of the game's actual retail value. Click here for the forum discussion at Kong. :)
I bet you've been wondering what I've been up to these past two weeks. You won't believe it but I got my self coded as a Manulife agent. What does this mean? This means that after training for two weeks and passing my licensure exams from the Insurance Commission, I can now offer financial planning services to anyone who might be interested in planning a secure financial future for themselves and their loved ones on the areas of family protection, savings, education and retirement. I'm really excited about this new development in my life because I've always been interested in personal finance and investing and by being a Financial Security Adviser, I can now share this passion to every one who is willing to meet with me for a financial planning interview. In fact, I met with my former classmate from elementary last night and I was able to enlighten her on the benefits of having insurance protection. Imagine, she already has an insurance policy but she didn't realize its importance until last night (her agent must not have been good, I dare say)! Tonight, I'm meeting again with a former colleague and tomorrow, with a former classmate from high school. Right now, I have a lot of prospects but once my contact list runs out, I'll be doomed. That's why I must not forget to ask for referrals from the people I meet. And also, a little self-promotion does not hurt.
I don't usually post YouTube videos but this one delighted me so I thought I'd share it with you guys. Dobie lives in California, is married to a Filipina, and sings great in Talagog!
If you enjoyed that, you can check out the other related videos of foreigners singing tagalog songs. Blame it on Magic Sing (Karaoke Microphone), on the OFWs scattered all over the world or on Filipina wives of foreign nationals. It's becoming a worldwide phenomenon and I'm loving it!
Looks like I forgot to put a payment hold order on another one of my online revenue accounts, Google Adsense. They sent me an email the other day with the following excerpt:
"We've recently sent you a Personal Identification Number (PIN) via standard mail. You should expect to receive it within about 2-4 weeks. Once you receive your PIN, you will need to enter it into your account in order to become eligible to receive AdSense payments. To enter your PIN, simply follow the instructions included with your PIN mailer."
Anniversary payment, check! Turnover fees, not yet. But I did get to see my unit! :) I went there last Monday, which was a holiday here. Being a holiday, there were no people at the information office who can help me with the processing of papers for the turnover. At least the guard at the reception had the key to my unit so I was able to check it out. I'll describe it so you can imagine. It's 23 sq.m. with a rectangle layout. Upon entering, you have the kitchen to the right and the toilet and bath to the left. Walk straight ahead and at the end of the room, you have the windows facing the UST field.
So here's the breakdown of the parts we've ordered for the restoration of our 1969 Ford Mustang Boss 302.
Ebay - www.ebay.com:
Despite what my former classmates and my boyfriend tell me, I never really considered myself a nerd. I just love learning new things that's why I can watch Discovery Science all day, I tell myself. The realization just hit me this past Holy Week vacation. After finishing The Lord of Stormweather, the last book of the Sembia series of the Forgotten Realms, I got down to scanning another batch of my postcards. After that, I went through my stamp collection to pick out what I can use for trading. As if those weren't nerdy enough, I then turned to my coin collection to organize them and and put them in the coin albums I purposely bought for this coin-organizing vacation. As I was sliding each coin into the slots in the album, I found myself enjoying the whole experience and that's when I realized, I really am a nerd. I said it out loud and a big smile crossed my face.
Today I am going to count my blessings just because finally, I feel that my prayers are being heard. The first quarter of the year has passed by so quickly and as I reflect back, I realize that I have so much to be thankful for already in the past three months.
1. Career. Take a look at the update I've made at this post (striked through items 1 & 2) and you'll know what I'm thankful about with regards to my career. Yes, I've been promoted, and although I don't have my own parking space, it's as good as having one already coz I can now reimburse my parking fees. After 8 years in the IT industry, I am finally at the senior level. I could have reached this level sooner but by jumping companies almost every year for several years, I missed out on my promotions. Well no regrets; I have learned from all the companies I have been to and I'm happy where I am now. It's just too bad that my promotion didn't translate to a substantial increase (last year's merit increase was even higher in terms of percentage, compared to what I got now) because upper management changed (thus budget policies also changed). But I did get an additional benefit of insurance coverage so that's still something to be thankful about. Also, our bonuses will be given out next payday so that gives me peace of mind about my upcoming condo annual payment. It's still short of what I need but I'm sure I'll be able to find ways to procure the remaining amount.
This is more of a reminder for myself, but if it benefits you as well then I'm happy to have helped. Actually, I just got this from one of my mailing lists so if anyone knows where this article came from, feel free to post a comment so I can acknowledge the author properly.
Stress is one of the deadliest curses of the modern age. The most dreaded diseases that afflict man like chronic nervous tension, heart trouble, and cancer have been found to be stress-related. Stress is caused by leading a fast, complicated, and nerve-wracking lifestyle. We constantly find that there is neither enough time nor resources to do the things we want or need to do, leaving us feeling agitated, harassed, frantic, and continually on edge. To be able to cope with the growing complexity and pressures of life that confront us daily, we need to de-stress by slowing down and voluntarily simplifying our lives. Voluntary life simplification is not about being miserable, poor or deprived. It is about knowing your true values, goals, and priorities so you can focus on them, and discard all the other matters that just add tension and confusion to your existence. Don't let stress wear you down. Discover through thoughtful analysis of your values, lifestyle, and goals what is "enough" or just "perfectly right" for you. With voluntary life simplification, you can save your health and sanity, and maximize your capacity to savor and enjoy life.
Most anniversaries are looked forward to with excitement and anticipation but for me, the one that's coming up on April 8 is one I highly dread. The reason is because that's when I have to make my anniversary payment of P150,000+ (approx. $3750) for my condominium property at the University Tower. Aside from my monthly amortizations, I still need to make lump sum payments every year for a period of five years. I'm just on my second year so I still have a long way to go. The only good thing is that my anniversary payment date falls around the time bonus is given out at my company so that gives me a little breathing room. Still, the amount is no joke for an office worker like myself so I still have to ask help from my mother when my earnings come up short of the amount I need to put up.
So there's another rally happening just outside our office building. They call it an inter-faith prayer rally, maybe because they're tired of calling it people power. Clearly they can't call it EDSA (4, 5 ... n) anymore because it's not happening along EDSA but along Ayala Ave (holding rallies at the EDSA shrine has been prohibited after the failed EDSA 3). The whole of Ayala Ave and part of Paseo de Roxas have been blocked off to traffic to accommodate the multitude of people who have gathered to call for the resignation of Pres. Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo. The deposed Pres. Joseph "Erap" Estrada was reported to have been with the first wave of protesters who have arrived. In a wicked twist of fate, the two political figures have traded places with Erap calling for the other's resignation now (back in 2001, it was Erap who was being asked to resign and refused to step down, leading to his being ousted and eventual impeachment). But it seems that Erap is not the "hero" this time around but Rodolfo "Jun" Lozada Jr., the witness to the ZTE-NBN deal. What can I say, the Filipinos just love the underdog. Or we just love to rally. Either way, the whole thing is causing a great turmoil in the political scene. Yet, this does not seem to have affected the peso which has reached an eight-year high at P40.25. Crazy happenings indeed!
To learn more about what started it all and to be updated with the latest proceedings, click here.
I've finally come around to scanning my postcards over the weekend. These are just the postcards which I've received as member of the great Postcard Crossing Project, Postcrossing; so they're not my complete collection yet. But it's a start. Can't wait to upload my coin and stamp collection as well; just need to find the time.
After leading the pack for several weeks in the Amazing Race Asia 2, Marc & Rovilson finished with a very disappointing 3rd place at the very last leg. The Chong sisters, Pamela & Vanessa, finished at 2nd place and Adrian & Collin finished 1st place and went on to win the $100,000 cash prize. So much for my fearless forecast. Oh well, guess I'll just have to wait for the next season and hope that there are strong contenders for the Philippine team.
If you missed the season finale or wanna see the episode highlights, click here.
I've been religiously following The Amazing Race Asia so I'm excited to know who will emerge the victorious team when the finale airs on Thursday. During the early parts of the race, the strong contender was the tandem of Marc and Rovilson (Philippine team) but at this point, it's really anyone's ballgame.
So I bought their new CD, Exile on Mainstream, and decided to visit their site. It was bustling with activity! There's News about the band's interviews, guestings and tour schedule; Links to the bands MySpace and YouTube channel; the Forum is brimming with fan's postings; the Store is packed with MB20 merchandise and the Bio is updated with the band's story of how they were able regroup and come up with their latest album.
In preparation for my walk down the aisle next month, I decided that I should get a hair rebond treatment. I did it last week and availed of the services of Tony & Jackey Salon Timog Branch. I went there on a Saturday at around 4pm and the place was packed with Koreans and Non-Koreans alike. I also noticed that all the hairstylists are Koreans so I heaved a sigh of relief when I saw that all the assistants are Filipinos; I figured that it would be easier to communicate to the Korean hairstylist with the Filipino assistant acting as mediator. The receptionist is also Filipino so I went up to her and asked how much for a haircut and hair rebond. She told me that the hair rebond would be P3000 (around $75 with the current conversion rate) using the Korean brand of hair chemicals and P5000 using the L'Oreal brand. Haircut would already be included in the charge. Given that haircut alone costs P500, I figured that P2500 for my hair length (shoulder-length) is reasonable enough so I told her that I'll get the Korean brand treatment and have my hair cut by Shine.
This is an answered prayer for all Filipinos who have been trying their hand at making money online. Just last year, PayPal opened up receiving funds for Philippine-based PayPal users and enabled withdrawal to credit card accounts but this new addition to the PayPal services available for Filipinos is way much better. More good news is that there is no charge for withdrawal amounts over P7000 while withdrawal amounts less than P7000 will incur a nominal (and very minimal, I may say) fee of P50. For more information and step-by-step instructions, click here.
My friend from college, Naz, joined an an Adobe-sponsored Flash Lite game development competition on Playyoo.com and I think his game is fun! You can try it out for yourself by playing it in your browser or downloading it to your phone. The game is called UFO Catcher: Barnyard Abduction, and you can access it here.
Without even advertising it, I got a client for my host reselling business. Well, the client is my best friend, but that still counts. But hear this, just yesterday, a coworker asked me about webhosting and domain registration because she has a friend who is interested and I said I offer both services. She said she will tell her friend and get back to me. So that's another potential client. It's so exciting to see events unraveling without expecting them to, really! But I've decided that I will give the Universe a little help by sharing my web hosting plans here. If you're residing in the Philippines and you want to have your own corner in the vast Internet space, I can provide webhosting services for you and I'll register your domain to boot. Just give me a shout and I'll handhold you 'til you're ready to set up your own website. Here are my rates:
As much as I want to post the pictures of my USB paper shredder and Bao Ding balls, I can't because I have no camera. My Canon digicam is at the service center again because it won't power on. The person at the service center told me that it could be because of the fuse or the board. I hope it's just a blown-out fuse, which the guy estimated a charge of P1500 for replacement parts and labor). Otherwise, it would seem a smarter idea to buy a new digicam than having the board replaced. I will know by the end of the week if my digicam has a chance of being revived. I really hope my digicam pulls through because I have two weddings to attend on March and I want to take pictures and have my pictures taken as well with my digicam.
1. Coins - Last month, I was invited to an open auction hosted by the Bayanihan Collector's Club, Inc. Though I didn't have any plans of joining the auction, I went anyway because my friend told me that there were also items for sale in the booths. True enough, there were a variety of knick-knacks, stamps, postcards, coins, and antique items for sale at bargain prices. I bought myself a 3-piece set of coin albums. It was secondhand so I got it for P1,200 (approximately $30).
I could never grasp the concept that "Happiness is a decision" or that "You can choose to be happy" but somehow, I can understand Joseph Campbell's "Follow your bliss" philosophy. For me, deciding on what I want and going ahead to get it makes me feel empowered whereas forcing myself to be "happy" when I'm in a sad or frustrating situation just makes me feel all the more depressed.
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