LWW Quotes: Game Over

Introducing Widgetbox...

If you are one of those who think your website (blogs included) is plain, consider jazzing it up with widgets. What is a widget anyway? To heck with the official definition. Surf over to www.widgetbox.com where many widget examples await you. Widgetbox is a directory and syndication platform for web widgets for blogs and other web pages. They work with TypePad, WordPress, Blogger, MySpace as well as most other blogs, sidebars or websites. No plug-ins are needed, and they're free! At time of writing, Widgetbox has served 98,351 domains and counting. There are so many choices that I guarantee you will be bedazzled. :P For those who are still not satisfied, you can check out e.g. www.google.com/ig/directory that is primarily serving iGoogle. But hey, those widgets can be used anywhere else too. =) PS.: Too many widgets will slow down the loading of your page. Enjoy playing with them, but use them sparingly and with caution. ^^

FREE reviews for your products, services, websites, blogs, etc

The world is in luck. I am now offering FREE reviews for your products, services, websites, blogs, etc. There are 2 main reasons why you want to request for a free review. 1. I help you spread the word and I am doing it for free. At time of writing, the readership of this blog may not be high yet. But, every bit adds up. 2. I offer you an objective analysis. If you are lucky, I may praise you. If not, I try to offer constructive criticism. Please note that if you only want to hear good things, this offer is not for you. It is okay though to specify which areas you would like me to emphasize. There are some reviews I will not undertake no matter what. Just contact me using this contactify form at http://www.contactify.com/10324 and we can discuss further. My free review offer is valid till otherwise cancelled on this post. =)

LWW Quotes: War

Write as if a million people are reading

"Hey, do you like blogging?" someone asked you. You replied, "Er, I don't know... my blog is boring and no one reads it anyway." Well, that is the wrong attitude. "Whatever your mind can conceive and believe, it can achieve." - Napoleon Hill This fellow may be long departed but his words are not without sense. Reflect on the quote. Whatever your mind CAN CONCEIVE and BELIEVE, it CAN ACHIEVE. This speaks of the limitless power of the human mind. Stuff it in a nutshell, whatever you can cook up - this dream, fantasy, hallucination or whatever you wish to call it - can materialize in reality. If you think I am spooking you, nah, I don't even have half of Potter's avocado-branded magic. Don't interrogate me either to ask if I have succeeded because my lips are sealed on this account. :-) Back to the issue of blogging, you have to take pride in your blog. You can perhaps emulate my routine of staring at my blog idiotically for several mins a day - you know, just drooling over it without any real reason. If you are not proud of this little website you have launched onto the world wide web, who will? If you don't gush over your own writing, who will? If you think your blog is just a prep kid's joke, then for once, yes, everyone will agree with you. The key is not how long your blog has been lurking in cyberspace or how many entries you have chalked up. No, it is not even to do with how many hits you get a day or how many "friends" you have amassed by virtue of your bulky guestbook. The key is simply - you. Y-O-U. If you want to be proud of your blog, first *be* proud. If you want your blog to be visited by a million surfers a day, then first start enjoying it yourself. If you want your blog to be no longer just boring, then etch a new blazing trail each day with your vibrancy. Whatever your mind can conceive and believe, it can achieve. Start blogging as if you have a million fans already. =)

Masterseek - New business search engine

Genie-in-the-lamp: Master, what is your command? Aladdin: Er... how many wishes do I have? Genie-in-the-lamp: You had 3, now left 2. Aladdin: What?! That wasn't a question! Genie-in-the-lamp : Yes, master, that was not a question. Your final wish? If I was Aladdin, I would be clenching my fists till they turn blue. Wishes from the legendary Genie in the lamp are so precious. Losing 2 wishes thus innocently is like mortgaging my house to buy an air ticket to Paris to see the Eiffel Tower only to be told that it had been torn down just the day before. Have you heard of Masterseek? Check it out at www.masterseek.com . This is a relatively new business search engine that has a Genie-in-the-lamp look-alike as its mascot. You may ask what the difference between this and Google is. Well, Google is more of a general search engine. No doubt it is just about the most powerful scent-sniffer in the online world, there are still perhaps times when a specialized tool works better. Masterseek's global search engine provides quick and free access to company profiles, contact information, and descriptions of products and services from more than 45 million companies in 75 countries. The figures are a bit staggering, aren't they? I ran 5 arbitrary searches to see what Masterseek turns up. And I compared it against Google's. Masterseek results Google results (1) Google (USA) Google Inc GOOGLECOM 1600 Amphitheatre Pkwy Mountain View CA 94043-1351 United States 6506234000 http://www.google.com (1) Google (USA) Google Inc. 1600 Amphitheatre Parkway Mountain View, CA 94043 phone: (650) 253-0000 fax: (650) 253-0001 (2) Ikea (Sweden) IKEA International A/S +46-42-267-100 (2) Ikea (Sweden) Casual search at homepage failed - all Swedish! (3) Siemens (Germany) Siemens Kapitalanlagegesellschaft mbHSeidlstr. 22-24 80335 Bayern München Germany (089)63632500 (089)63633600 kbc@skag.siemens.de http://www.skag.siemens.de (3) Siemens(Germany) Siemens AG Wittelsbacherplatz 2 D-80333 Munich Germany Central Office: +49 89 636-00 Press Office: +49 89 636 33032 Investor Relations: +49 89 636 32474 (4) Bank of China (China) +86-10-6601-6688 (4) Bank of China (China) Many, many phone numbers but no address. (5) SingTel (Singapore) 64816231 (5) SingTel (Singapore) Tons of contacts. I am inclined to think that Google still does a better job. Admittedly though, searching using Google requires a human mind and it took me far longer than that of a simple Masterseek search. Google has also been around for much longer and search is its forte. Hence, it is perhaps reasonable to give Masterseek more time to consolidate its databases. This experiment is also inconclusive since my sample is only as small as 5 arbitrary companies. You are advised to do your own experiments. ^^ My suggestions for improvement for Masterseek: (1) Be more proactive in consolidating your databases. Approach the companies actively instead of waiting to be approached. (2) Show a "last updated" date so that users can know how current your information is. (3) Have more uniformity in the way information is displayed. Just look at the different formats of the telephone numbers. (4) To make your site more professional, you might want to drop Google Adsense ads. If you really want the extra cash, strike a deal with them to let you display adsense ads like normal looking ads. Final words... for someone needing to search business information online, I would still encourage him to use both Masterseek and Google. What one may not find, the other may. It never hurts to have more than 1 tool in the bag. =)

LWW Quotes: Nonchalance

Foxit Reader 2.0 vs Adobe Reader 8.1

It used to be that PDF files were ruled by Adobe. Even if you can't write, you can read. Well, I mean, even if you don't have Adobe Acrobat Writer, you can download Adobe Reader too - since that is at least free. But let's face it, the reader is slow as h*ll and I wouldn't willingly open a PDF file unless I absolutely have to. When Gmail came out with that cool "View as HTML" thingy, I was elated. No more waiting for my computer to finish playing hangman just so I can read a PDF file! Then came Adobe Reader 8.1 - the relatively recent upgraded version that claims to be faster. If you have not done the upgrade and are currently using a non-latest version, I urge you to upgrade on the double. The claim that it is faster is not an empty one. It *is* indeed faster, so much so that I had difficulty reconciling the fact that this is still an Adobe product. :P Yet if you don't feel like using the Adobe Reader to read PDF files, what other alternatives do you have? I recommend Foxit Reader 2.0 that is likewise free for the basic functions that are likely all you need. You can take a look at the website - it makes many claims that I am inclined to agree with. For one, I like the lightning-fast speed. If I were to pit Adobe Reader against Foxit Reader in the past, I would certainly drop Adobe in favor of Foxit. Just the speed alone will decide my choice. But now, the situation has changed somewhat. With their new version of the reader, Adobe is as fast as Foxit. I installed both readers and tried them on quite a few PDF files. I cannot say for certain which is faster - both are similarly very fast. So it suffices to say that if you do not already have a PDF file reader installed, go for Foxit Reader 2.0 because it is "cleaner". But if you already have Adobe Reader installed, either upgrade to the latest version, or dump it and get Foxit Reader. Have fun flipping open PDF files like tossing pancakes. =)

LWW Quotes: Life

LWW Quotes: Existence

Utilize the price lists at Hardwarezone

Just that day, I got a call from a friend asking me if the price she was offered for a thumbdrive was acceptable. Me: So how much does it cost? Her: It's about S$40+ but I think I can push it down to S$43. Is the price ok? Me: Hmm... like I told you before, when I bought my Imation 1GB thumbdrive, I paid S$55 for it. But I remember noticing in one of the subsequent IT exhibitions that the price had gone down to S$30+. And since it has been some time already, the price should in fact be lower. Where are you anyway? Her: Sim Lim Tower. Me: Huh? What are you doing there? You should be checking out Sim Lim Square instead! Her: So troublesome... need to walk. Me: (Repeated the above) It's up to you. Walk a short distance and likely get a better price, or just buy it at S$43. My friend was in luck as I was at my desk then. I whipped up Hardwarezone's website and zoomed in on the price list section. I tediously smsed her the prices at several shops and their unit numbers. Half an hour later, she smsed me back to say that she bought the 1GB thumbdrive I bought at S$20.90. For those whose minds have not yet made the connection, the price she was originally quoted was more than twice that of her final purchase price. If she had foolishly patronized the shop at Sim Lim Tower, she would have been crying her eyes puffed by now. She could have easily bought 2 thumbdrives and still kept some spare change. :P So the next time you want to buy some gadgets, remember to check out the prices first. If you are getting them at Sim Lim Square, Hardwarezone is the place to research. Granted that 20 bucks for my friend's case may be a relatively small amount, still, I don't think anyone would feel happy to be "cheated" this way. In my opinion, this is a matter of principles. Oh, in case I forgot to mention, Hardwarezone is currently serving only Singapore, Malaysia, Philippines, Thailand and Australia. =)

Check out Freewebs

A friend of mine was telling me how she preferred Freewebs to Blogger. She was asking me to consider moving my blog to Freewebs instead. Without much thinking, I told her that the two are different. Blogger specializes in hosting blogs while Freewebs focuses on the "traditional" websites. After rattling off, I decided that I've better double-check to be sure. And so, I dropped by Freewebs and mine, mine, it sure blew my mind away! (And I seem to be the last one to know given that they already have 17 million members.) Freewebs is many things. It is more than a simple "free website offering". More, because it allows quite a few customizations that make it stand out among the crowd. Imagine the original version of a plain website, then add some bells and whistles like a blog, profile page, forum board, chat room, photo album, guestbook, mailing list, online payment tool, widgets, etc. Are you going to skip the rest of this post so that you can get a free Freewebs account right away? :P So you see, Freewebs is indeed not an average Joe. I have not got my account there yet and despite my hoo-ha over Freewebs, I may not get one in future too. The reason is that for now, a blog is all I need. There seems to be no urgency for me to uproot myself from Blogger just so that I can plonk myself down in another place and yet not change a whit. (I may change my mind tomorrow though LOL.) Before you rush off to get your free account, let me share with you some "imperfections" I have found in Freewebs - and I am assuming you will start with the free plan even if you will ultimately upgrade. - Free users are given an initial 40 MB of space only. - Only 500 Mb of bandwidth per month (meaning 62.5 MB really, or is it a typo error on their website?) - Accounts with no logins and no hits for 90 days may be removed for inactivity. - No access to ASP scripts, MySQL, MSACCESS, and PHP even for premium members. - CGI/Perl functionality is only available if you upgrade. So there. Weigh your own pros and cons and see if Freewebs is for you. =)

Let's have SEX

SEX. Did I just use that 3-letter word? MORE SEX. Ok, guess I really did use that 3-letter word. I was reading this article by the Daily Mail titled "Sex for the motherland: Russian youths encouraged to procreate at camp". Well, that's quite a mouth full admittedly and I had to prevent my jaws from dropping (figuratively) when I came across it. This article which I have mirrored here called to my mind a scene of mass orgy where young lads and ladies couple together in unbridled lust. For some people at some places, having the chance to participate in such an event might be a saliva-dripping opportunity. Yet I am not quite sure if this is the participants' idea of "fun sex". After all, this camp takes place in Russia and under the supervision of the Russian government. We (non-Russians) all have our own idea of what kind of place Russia is. I for one would not count her as one of the countries I like to stay and live in. I have my own whining about Singapore, yes, but I still would not want to make a swop and live there instead. No way! :P In Singapore, the government has an official stand that encourages procreation too. But we have not yet had a similar camp like Russia's. The unimaginative me just cannot imagine our government shepherding teens just out of puberty to a mass camp and asking them to surrender the condoms they are secreting and just have wanton sex. Of course, I am exaggerating a bit here for I doubt the affairs at this Russian camp were taken to such a primal extent. Yet the message was clear. As the organizers at the youth camp's mass wedding put it, "Remember the mammoths, they became extinct because they did not have enough sex. That must not happen to Russia". Remember to check out the full article here. Safe sex journey. :D

Do you ever get tired of the Lemon Tree?

I have always enjoyed the version of "Lemon Tree" sang by Fool's Garden . I have their original CD which I bought at a real bargain. But, I still quite like this youtube version that is spiced up with very interesting pictures by mikemillenium17 . Check it out below. I hope you enjoy it as much as me. ^^ And here's the lyrics for those who want to sing along. =) (I took it from www.lyrics007.com .) I'm sitting here in the boring room It's just another rainy Sunday afternoon I'm wasting my time I got nothing to do I'm hanging around I'm waiting for you But nothing ever happens and I wonder I'm driving around in my car I'm driving too fast I'm driving too far I'd like to change my point of view I feel so lonely I'm waiting for you But nothing ever happens and I wonder I wonder how I wonder why Yesterday you told me 'bout the blue blue sky And all that I can see is just a yellow lemon-tree I'm turning my head up and down I'm turning turning turning turning turning around And all that I can see is just another lemon-tree I'm sitting here I miss the power I'd like to go out taking a shower But there's a heavy cloud inside my head I feel so tired Put myself into bed Well, nothing ever happens and I wonder Isolation is not good for me Isolation I don't want to sit on the lemon-tree I'm steppin' around in the desert of joy Baby anyhow I'll get another toy And everything will happen and you wonder I wonder how I wonder why Yesterday you told me 'bout the blue blue sky And all that I can see is just another lemon-tree I'm turning my head up and down I'm turning turning turning turning turning around And all that I can see is just a yellow lemon-tree And I wonder, wonder I wonder how I wonder why Yesterday you told me 'bout the blue blue sky And all that I can see, and all that I can see, and all that I can see Is just a yellow lemon-tree

Better to forget completely or remember wrongly?

One of my friends was remarking how a mutual acquaintance is currently in Philippines. Him: She's in Philippines now, didn't you know? Me: Eh... no. How did you know anyway? I didn't know you two are close... Him: Don't you remember that email she sent? She said she was in Philippines! OOPS. Did I forget something again? I quickly dug out *that* email and re-read the content. Hmm... she did mention she was in Philippines... how can I not recall this at all? But wait, the email says something else too... she was in the Philippines FOR HER SUMMER VACATION. So what happened was that while I completely forgot about the Philippines bit, my friend remembered a distorted version of it. My friend thought that she, an American, had long migrated to Philippines. What a big boo-boo if she reads this! :P Is it then better to forget something completely or remember it wrongly? Naturally if I get to choose, I would rather remember everything correctly. However in this case for instance, it is clearly better to forget completely than remember wrongly. Remembering part of it and knowing it is incomplete is fine - at least you have a general idea and know that you just need to verify it. But remembering incorrectly and thinking it is correct is disastrous! So in order of decreasing preference, I think it is better to: (1) Remember everything correctly. (2) Remember the gist of it and knowing your knowledge is incomplete. (3) Remember incorrectly and thinking you are right! That's why it is useful to store information you think you might need later on. Today, much of our communication is via emails. If you are using Gmail like me, you can take advantage of Gmail's inbuilt search engine. Say you had this conversation with someone offline and you think the information will come in handy. As soon as you get online, pen down all you need to remember in an email. Then very importantly, spend at least 5 to 15 seconds to put down all variations of keywords that come to your mind. It is worth pointing out here that if you can't find the email, it is as good as useless. Do be reminded that Gmail search is unfortunately still not as powerful as Google search vanilla. Where appropriate, I would suggest you put down both the plural and singular form of the word. And if need be, put down both the abbreviation and the long form. Stick to this "storing routine" and you will do just fine. :-)

Check out Bloggerwave

Who said two is company and three is a crowd? Utter crap! :P I had signed up for Blogsvertise and P-cannot-be-named earlier and I am still not contented. ;-) Check out Bloggerwave that also pays bloggers to blog. Unless yours is the top ranking kind of blog, there are likely not too many opportunities available to you. Like my blog for instance, it is still relatively new and unestablished. I have been checking both Blogsvertise and P-cannot-be-named regularly but sadly, there isn't really any real opportunity I can accept and get paid for. Enters Bloggerwave . And that's why I say it is a situation of "the more the merrier". With this third company, I hope to secure more opportunities to display my flair in writing (LOL). So don't say I am hoarding "my precious" to myself - go check out Bloggerwave and sign up for a free account today. :D

Opening contest for Newbiegen

Newbiegen is now officially launched! Newbie Generation is a forum board that has sections dedicated to online earning. YES, ever wondered how you can earn some extra money with your spare time and bandwidth? Then join us at Newbiegen to explore together the various ways we can fatten our purses. :-) There are absolutely no charges involved and we even have plans to reward active members once things get settled. Besides discussing online earning, you can also talk about anything and everything under the sun. You can make friends too, chat and make merry, and we even have a very robust section for forum games. To kick things off, we have an opening contest which you can read more from here . There are cash prizes of total US$100 up for grab so hop over to Newbiegen and start by getting yourself a free account. There is nothing to lose and much to gain! PS.: We are like a baby who is starting to crawl (but dreaming to fly ^^). If you join now, you would be a pioneer of sort in this forum. Now who doesn't like to be a pioneer? :D

How to take a screen shot?

If you laugh at the above title question, you are probably computer-savvy. Well, at least you should be passingly adequate in terms of computer knowledge. You can skip this post then. :P For the rest of you who need a leg up, follow me closely. :-) Basically, you can take screen shots with or without tools. If you are wondering why you should install a program (the tool) when you can go fuss free, the reason is that a tool is supposed to help. No, that is not a trick answer. The right screen capture program does help to make taking screen shots a breeze. Especially if you need to take them often, I would suggest you install one. For those who want to go fuss free, here's how: First, go to the screen where you want to snap a picture of. When you are there, press the "Print Screen" button on your keyboard. Yes, that button is not without use. Just press it once, then open up an image-editing program such as the Paint program that comes pre-installed with Windows. (If you are not using Windows, you are probably savvy enough to write your own screen capture software... so shoo! :P) After Paint is launched, press Ctrl-v. This is the paste command that will work with your earlier Print Screen which is similar to a copy (you know, copy... paste ^^). After pressing Ctrl-v, you should see the previous screen you have captured. Just save the file and you are done. To make things even sleeker, do an Alt-Print Screen instead of just Print Screen. Holding down the Alt key while pressing Print Screen will let you capture the *active* application specifically. This means that unnecessary items such as your taskbar or IM buddy list will not be captured as well. Go experiment. :D As for those who want to install a screen capture program, you can check out e.g. www.download.com to make your selection from the many choices. Allow me to list 5 FREE screen capture programs below. They are listed in no particular order. 1. Screen Print & Capture 32 2. MWSnap 3.74 3. Gadwin PrintScreen 4.2 4. Ace WINScreen 4.5 5. Print Screen Replacement 1.3 Personally, I am using Screen Print & Capture 32 and I like it quite a bit. To help you further, I will guide you through the installation of this program (though you probably don't need it! :P). This FREE 2.67 MB program is created by Provtech and you can read the official specs here. Currently, it is compatible with Windows 98/Me/NT/2000/XP. So run along and download it now. Once you are done, unzip it to somewhere you can easily find. Then, double-click on the setup.exe icon to start the installation. Click OK. Click that button. Change the directory if you want though I would suggest you just stick to the default. Press Continue. Viola, done! :D Now you can run the screen capture program using the ScreenPrint32 link. I think you would likely use the "Capture Active Window" and "Prompt User for Capture Area" settings most often. And see how you can choose from any of the 4 popular formats - GIF, PNG, BMP and JPG. There is quite a bit of customization available so you can play around and have fun. From now on, whenever you have the program launched, pressing Print Screen will immediately give you your screen shot at the location you have selected, and using the settings you have chosen. :-)

Self Destruct Message

I came across this self destruct message service from here and thought it is pretty cool. Check out www.sdmessage.com to try it out for yourself. The name of this service seems to be... er... Self Destruct Message (SDM). So just take it literally at face value. :P Basically, you get the option to fire off a quick memo to someone without the hassle of logging in to your email account. It may be that you need to rush off quick and don't want to wait for the recently-slowing gmail to load. It may be that you are surfing on an unsecured network and don't want to risk exposing your email password. It may be that you really want to utilize the self-destructing option. Whichever, what this free service does is to send your message to your intended recipient as a hyperlink in an email. So the recipient will receive an email supposedly from you and he will have to click on the link to view the message that is only visible on the site for 60 seconds. There are 2 things though that I don't like about this service. Firstly, they collect and keep all our IP addresses. Secondly, their privacy policy also says that SDM reserves the right to communicate with everyone who has used this service "from time to time about important notices" and that "these communications are mandatory". 2 privacy ouches here. I admit that I read their privacy policy only after doing my experiment. So it seems that many people will be unknowingly captured in their mammoth mailing list. And sorry, there is no (easy) opt-out option available. This is only my first day trying this service so I have not had the chance to receive any mailings from them *yet*. I will be posting again if they start spamming me for fun. *hmph* Another word of caution is that you should use your discretion when sending possibly sensitive information over this service. Period. PS.: I have tested another similarly simplistic service at www.destructingmessage.com but the 2 test messages I sent appeared to have wandered lost. *gasp* New request: I would like to see a character counter too. Since there is a character limit, it would be more convenient if our character quota is shown dynamically decreasing as we type. This should be simple enough to implement. :P

Library@orchard closing by Nov 2007

Nov 2007 will see library@orchard shutting its doors at Ngee Ann City forever. I read this news with a mixture of sadness, anger, and amusement. Sadness because I have always enjoyed the convenience and accessibility of this well-stocked branch. Anger because a small voice in me cries out "How can they do this without asking me?!!" Amusement because a small part of me thinks NLB is just getting its just desserts. You see, I have had occasions to liaise with NLB regarding renting of rooms and let's just say that they drive hard bargains. I am just guessing that they are not renewing their lease at Ngee Ann City because the rental price has gone up. Of course, I might be totally off the mark. :P Before I go on, can somebody tell me how I am going to survive without a library at Orchard for 3 years? According to this article which I have mirrored here , "Dr N Varaprasad, Chief Executive of National Library Board said, 'We are very excited about our move to the two new possible locations, which will help us to meet the evolving and diverse needs of the youths and instil a stronger sense of learning culture amongst them.'" Well, he is excited but I am not. In my opinion, the location at Ngee Ann City far surpasses the others. For anyone going to town by train, he just need to drop off at Orchard MRT station then walk a short distance to the library. On his way, he can even check out Kinokuniya Book Store that is just below. Plus the fact that Borders, and even Popular, is just nearby, this makes Orchard a vibrant center for books and reading. But of course, now this situation will change and definitely, we are all very excited about the move. Mooch.

SMRT, please allow non-sitting rate for train fares?

From time to time when I am bored, I will check out the STOMP (Straits Times Online Mobile Print) website. Let it be known that I subscribe to the Straits Times and Lianhe Wanbao. I read 2 papers daily, am hooked on to dozens of RSS feeds and search online occasionally for interesting news I have not yet come across. STOMP, in my humble opinion, is like the English version of Wanbao. Waobao compared with the Straits Times/Zaobao is like the busybody nosey parker compared with the well-read intellectual. Of course, this pair of analogies is not 100% correct but you get the point that Wanbao contains relatively frivolous news. Pretty much like STOMP. Almost every time I look at "Singapore Seen", I will see news related to transport. Not transport as in whether the stock of ComfortDelGro is bullish or bearish, but transport as in people eating or making a nuisance on trains/buses, or people not considerate enough to give up seats. Just a while back, I even chance upon a ridiculous incident where a girl wearing shoes with 3-inch heels was upset over not being given a seat. Just because she was "extraordinarily adorned", she felt snubbed when the guy in front of her did not act gentlemanly by giving up his seat to her. I know I am starting to get carried away here but let me just say that we are already in the age where there is equality between the sexes. Whether you are male, female or amoeba, I believe you pay the same fare on trains and buses, ceteris paribus and assuming age = adult. If you are sick, pregnant, elderly or inconvenienced somewhat, those who are considerate may offer you their seats *if* they notice you. Though it is true that some people will start to look or act busy when such opportunities for volunteering seats appear, there are also others who genuinely do *not* use Eveready batteries and keep looking out for new friends on board. If you are *not* sick, pregnant, elderly or inconvenienced somewhat, belonging to the fairer sex does not automatically entitle you to any consideration from others. It does not matter even if you are a drop-dead gorgeous babe. At least for me, the maximum respect I would accord you is what I would give to a fellow human being. In case you start getting defensive and want to brand me as being ungentlemanly, please do not. That is either unlady-like or piggishly chauvinistic. There is one exception I can think of though - if you are on a date with me, it is arguably proper for me to be traditionally gentlemanly. There is a time for everything and the circumstance must be reviewed on a case by case basis. ;-) Hmm.. looks like I got carried away nevertheless. :P Allow me to address the subject topic proper. SMRT, please allow a non-sitting rate for train fares. You see, I no longer feel safe in Singapore. It used to be that I believed I was sheltered and protected by the Singapore government. However, ever since the STOMP website was set up, I began to see pictures of fellow human beings (not to mention dogs, cats, monkeys, snakes, roaches, etc) being put up. Most, if not all, were taken and broadcast via STOMP without the express permission of those featured. I feel NAKED and EXPOSED. Everywhere I go, I suspect someone is snapping a picture of me with her mobile phone camera. If I walk fast enough, at least the picture will be blur and I might not be recognized. The worst part though is when I travel on trains. It is a huge area in the carriage, yet an enclosed one. Everyone can see one another in the same compartment and I need to look left, right, center at all times to ensure I am not captured on disk. What happened to privacy laws in Singapore? Were those people featured even asked whether their photos can be placed online? It doesn't even matter whether they were truly in the wrong or that they just happened to be next to someone being highlighted. The point is what happened to our privacy rights? Given a choice, I wouldn't want to find myself on STOMP! Thank goodness I have been wearing my invisibility cloak each time I ventured out. But I digress again. So why should SMRT allow a non-sitting rate for train fares? Because I no longer dare to sit on any seat. I know I used to offer my seats to the elderly and needy. I know I do not eat on trains. I know I do not blast music like a disc jockey. But still? What happens if I happen to fall asleep on my seat? Will someone accuse me of closing my eyes just when a pregnant lady materializes? What happens if I get too engrossed reading my book? Will someone accuse me of not giving up my seat to the 90 year-old man looking down at me? What happens if I happen to open my legs a little wider for just a fraction of a second when someone decides to go trigger-happy? Will I be accused of taking up 2 seats when I am paying only as much as the next guy? So you see, to make certain that I will not get free publicity at STOMP, I have been STANDING just to play safe. And so, since standing will be less comfortable than sitting, SMRT, may I request that I pay half price when I travel on your trains? If you want to, you can always observe me through your surveillance cameras and confirm that I am a good boy. With the GST increase and how various companies and businesses are cashing in on this, I think the cents saved each journey will definitely come in handy. Thank you SMRT for considering this! Cheers. :D

Enjoyable way to get rid of nervousness

Public speaking is one of the most fearsome fears for human beings. If animals, plants, fishes, birds and bugs can speak, perhaps they might get nervous like us too. :P Most of us, when faced with crowds, start to stutter. We might have butterflies in our stomachs and our legs might turn jelly. We might get tongue-tied and the million and one things we could have said elude us. Yet why is this so? Very simply, because we get nervous! It all boils down to fear. I know the greatest fear of all is the fear of fear itself. But hey, even this subset of fear - the fear of public speaking - is a considerable foe already. Yet why do we fear public speaking? Few of us spend a full day without even uttering a single word. And many of us talk a lot. Yes, even conversing with friends counts as talking. Since we talk so much, doesn't it seem strange that public speaking remains one of the greatest fears? My humble take is that underlying this fear of public speaking is a more primal fear - the fear of being embarrassed. It's back to the ego of Man. We are scared of what OTHERS might think of us if we do not perform. We are scared of what OTHERS might think of us if we forget our lines. We are scared of what OTHERS might think of us if we cannot make ourselves understood. We are scared, we are concerned, we are worried... whatever! They are all one and the same. The common denominator is that our ego might be bruised if we fail. Let's assume that we lose the attachment to our ego. Let us no longer be concerned about what others may think of us. Let us just assume that whatever we do, the consequences do not matter. Let us.. JUST DO IT! If you are able to put aside your ego, you will discover that there is actually nothing to be scared of when you stand in front of a 1000-strong crowd and address unfamiliar strangers you have never met. So what if you forget your lines? So what if you say something wrong? So what if people start throwing rotten eggs at you? It doesn't matter! We can say SO WHAT? because we simply do not care anymore! Once we put aside our ego, we are unfettered by any negative preconceived ideas we might have of ourselves. We are free... and we are free to perform! For those who think it is too hard to put aside your egos, I would suggest you take it one bit at a time. Take it slowly but gradually try to achieve what you set out to accomplish - simply standing unconcerned in front of crowds and saying what you started out to say. If you think it sounds hard, it doesn't! You just need practice and perseverance! :-) For those who can't wait, here's a very effective shortcut to get rid of your nervousness: I want you to imagine yourself standing in front of a crowd. Let's take it slow in the beginning and put the number at 30. Imagine that you are standing in front of 30 people right now. If you can imagine better with your eyes closed, go ahead. Now, imagine that this nasty person in front of you is showing you a black face and you are scared out of your wits just looking at him. What I want you to do now is to strip him. Yes you heard it right. STRIP HIM. He is wearing a jacket and tie on top of his long sleeves shirt and pants. I want you to imagine him WITHOUT his jacket. Take it off for him or just imagine it gone. Then, I want you to remove his tie. And then, I want you to unbutton the top of his shirt. And then another button. Heck, just remove his shirt altogether. HECK, take off his pants as well. So right now, he is left in his undies only. It doesn't matter even if he has a body like Brad Pitt's. Just go ahead and give him a potbelly. Stay focused, don't lose the scene. This guy with a big potbelly is now standing in front of you in only his undies. If you want to, remove his hair as well and make him bald. Now look at this guy carefully again. Compare the man in this scene with the previous stern guy. Are you still scared of him? Of course not! He looks more comical than frightening now. This "stripping" process might seem long because you are doing it for the first time. But once you get used to it, you can strip the entire audience in a fraction of a second. ^^ Now answer my question honestly. Is it possible for you to remain scared when speaking to a crowd of naked people looking embarrassed themselves? NO! And so, you have it! - the shortcut to getting rid of your nervousness. The next time you stand in front of a crowd doing your presentation, remember to strip everyone clean. I have to warn you though that you should not strip them too slowly. You don't want to get sexually aroused and you don't want to end up laughing hysterically too. :P Now that wasn't too hard, was it? :-) Note: Check out some myLotters sharing their experience on nervousness and public speaking. Click here.

Review of LOOP extension for Firefox

If you are always printing PDF files, check out LOOP for Firefox - the new kid on the block for off-the-fox PDF conversion. The PDF (Portable Document Format) used to be the exclusive domain of Adobe. Then, if you are not willing to fork out the cash, you can only read but not create PDF files. But since quite a long while back, many alternatives to Adobe Acrobat Writer has sprung up. And among them, we have many free choices such as the in-built version in OpenOffice and PDF printers such as the CutePDF which I am currently using. So how exactly is LOOP different? Let's talk about webpages. For OpenOffice, we would need to first do a manual copying of the web content and then paste it into OpenOffice Writer. Following that, we have to save the entire document in PDF format. Alright, so 2 quite tedious steps here. For CutePDF, we would just print the webpages like how we would print on our physical printers. The difference is that we print to CutePDF instead of spooling to the real printer. This is just a one-step pretty-effortless process. As for LOOP, you get to play with an icon on your navigation toolbar. One of my complaints is that we need to log in to our LOOP account before printing is possible. Creating a LOOP account is quite a breeze but I find the need to log in each time I need to print PDF files to be quite a chore. In this sense, it is not as clear-cut as e.g. CutePDF. Another complaint is that though we can remove the files after printing, there is no certainty that the files might not be backed up somewhere. Those concerned about privacy may be worried about this possible breach. If I am printing a sensitive document, I would need to accept the risk of it being intercepted by LOOP. But of course, I am just trying to be paranoid here - LOOP is likely not doing anything "extra". :P I also find the "add url" option handy yet inconvenient. Using LOOP, we can just browse to a page and click "add url" for auto-conversion of the webpage. However, what I would love to see is for us to paste the URL directly to LOOP for it to do the printing. If I already know the URL, I would rather just print straight than having to visit the page first. Since an advantage LOOP boasts is background printing, it makes more sense not hogging up the bandwidth going to a page we just want to print but not view. As for why I like LOOP, it is the option to arrange/reorder the pages I print. OpenOffice can do this but CutePDF can't. However, I don't see how this option can be very useful (though it is definitely nice to have). There is also the option to combine multiple sites into 1 PDF file. This is certainly more useful since if I use CutePDF, I would need 10 files for 10 pages instead of a neater combined 1. Using OpenOffice, rearranging is possible though I would say that printing PDF files for webpages using OpenOffice is a rather unorthodox way of getting things done. Now let us look at printing PDF files for non-webpage files on our computer such as a Word or PowerPoint document. For OpenOffice, the format we are printing from would need to be "compatible". If you can't open it, you can't print it. As for CutePDF, it would be a clear winner over LOOP unless you need the file-combining option. While experimenting with printing a discussion at myLot , I managed to compare the difference between LOOP and CutePDF. You can see the LOOP result here . As for the CutePDF one, see here . To begin, LOOP set the default viewing to "fit page" unlike CutePDF which uses "fit width" - which I feel is better for reading the details. Whichever, even after I apply "fit width" to the LOOP's version, I find the text relatively smaller than CutePDF's. In fact, I find it too small to read easily - I need to manually enlarge the text size to read. Another peculiar thing is that though I am logged in to myLot , LOOP prints an unlogged-in version. This means that LOOP is not really printing in a WYSIWYG manner. LOOP wants you to go to the URL in question, then it will use this address and go to it itself again to do the printing - this is the only possibility I can think of for the page to be printed unlogged-in. I must give credit though that at least for this experiment, LOOP prints so much nicer and neater than CutePDF. For those who do a lot of PDF-printing off webpages, I think LOOP is worth a look. You might like it better than a normally PDF-printer. If you need to combine and rearrange pages often, this is also for you. For me though, I find needing to log in a hassle and I don't want an extension installed that I won't likely use often. So for now, I think I will give LOOP a miss and stick to CutePDF. I might install it again when I next need to combine pages and that's about it. :-) Update: Tracy Powell from Drawloop Technologies has replied to some of the questions I raised in my review. You can click on the comments to read it. :D

I am "giving" away US$65 per person! :-)

PLEASE NOTE: THIS OFFER HAS CURRENTLY BEEN MOVED TO THE REFRIGERATOR. KINDLY CHECK BACK IF YOUR INTEREST REMAINS DETECTABLE AFTER X DAYS. If you are interested in the why, OGF seems to be having a field day partying without us. Easy money, ladies and gentlemen... Here's the deal: There are 3 referral links below that you can use to sign up as my referral. You can be my referral on 1, 2 or all 3 sites. Link 1: http://paypal.ordergiftsfree.com/?referral=19039 Link 2: http://coke.ordergiftsfree.com/?referral=19042 Link 3: http://nocreditcard.ordergiftsfree.com/?referral=19045 After signing up, you need to complete offer(s) amounting to 1 credit each for link 2 and 3. As for link 1, you need to complete 2 credits total. After you are done, simply email me using the online form at http://www.contactify.com/10324 with your registered email address there, the offers you have completed for the respective credits, as well as your PayPal ID. Once I confirm that everything is in order, I will send you the money via PayPal. Sign up as my referral using http://paypal.ordergiftsfree.com/?referral=19039 and complete enough offer(s) worth 2 credits in total and I will send you US$40. Sign up as my referral using http://coke.ordergiftsfree.com/?referral=19042 and complete enough offer(s) worth 1 credit in total and I will send you US$20. Sign up as my referral using http://nocreditcard.ordergiftsfree.com/?referral=19045 and complete enough offer(s) worth 1 credit in total and I will send you US$5. So all in all, if you do all 3, I will send you US$65. That's it, no tricks at all. :-) For link 1 and 2, you will likely need a credit/debit card. Most offers require only a token sum and many are in fact free trials. Those in the USA/Canada are the most fortunate in this aspect since most offers are available only for them. If you stay elsewhere, no harm checking out the offers too. Make sure you are able to complete enough offers to get the necessary credits. I will not pay unless you can give me the credits required and sign up using my referral link. Important: Do not reverse the charge on your card because that would be cheating!!! (Offers dealing with free trials are exceptions. You can cancel the trials before the trial period ends if you do not wish to continue with the service.) For link 3, you will NOT require a credit/debit card. If you are going for more than 1 of my 3 offers, you are strongly suggested to use back the same email address. And very importantly, you can't earn credit by doing the same offers you did before - even though you are doing them on a different site. If you need any clarifications, feel free to contact me using the form at http://www.contactify.com/10324 .

XtraSaver... BEWARE!!! - Part II

Okay dorkie, here's an update on my earlier post on Standard Chartered's XtraSaver account. You can read the first post here . After lodging my complaint with the Monetary Authority of Singapore, I received a call from Standard Chartered on the third day. I know I had several missed calls on both the first and second days following the complaint so it is possible that MAS and/or Stanchart had been trying to contact me even before. Whichever the case, this lady from Stanchart's Customer Service Experience (not sure if I remember the name correctly but the department sounded something like that) called me and gave a pretty sincere-sounding apology. Based on my *extensive* public speaking experience, I did not detect any hypocrisy from her so I was somewhat mollified. She conceded that the "no minimum sum" carrot was indeed advertised with the XtraSaver product. As mentioned in my first post, the staff I spoke to earlier said that my account was closed because it was at $0 for more than 60 days. In a way, this is still correct but the manner it was said made the information misleading. The staff probably was not 100% informed himself and this lady agreed that they had to step up on their staff training (so they said when dealing with my previous complaints regarding other issues). So she explained that more correctly, this was in fact something that was applied across the board - not only at Stanchart. There is an alarm that will go off when an account has $0. When this happens, the account will be terminated after a period of inactivity exceeding 60 days. She cited an example that when an account did not have the minimum sum and a fall-below fee kept being deducted, the account will ultimately reach $0 and will thus be terminated. I wonder if this is some MAS requirement but she was quite reluctant to say more. I agreed to "keeping" the XtraSaver account after she asked if I would like it reinstated (yet remember the previous staff saying bank accounts once closed cannot be reinstated?). Then she suddenly mentioned that accounts that were closed for more than one month cannot be reinstated. Mine was closed for about 4 months already so it would be difficult. However, she would try to see what she can do. In addition, she said she would tag a special flag to my account in the system so that it would never be closed again even if it is at $0. Part of me wants to test this out (lol) but I guess communicating with them again if it does not work out would take too much time. Besides, my heart has taken enough nastiness so I don't want to risk it. :P She also brought up 2 scenarios. If she did not succeed in getting my account reinstated, she would make it as a new application i.e. I would have to tolerate a new account number, card and cheque book. In this case, she would either do a taped conversation with me to confirm that I still want the account, or send a courier to get my signature. She did stress that the latter would be the worst-case scenario. The next day, she called me again (she said she did so I assume that the missed call was hers). I then received the sms confirmation that my account has been reinstated. I haven't yet checked if the card and cheques are viable, but at least when I logged in to Internet Banking, my XtraSaver account was back on the radar. From this incident, I am at least happy to know that MAS is not a flowerpot. A complaint to MAS indeed does get looked into and I continue to have faith in the Singapore government. As for Stanchart? Bleh.

Standard Chartered's XtraSaver account... BEWARE!!!

A while back, I logged in to Standard Chartered Internet Banking and got the shock of my life. I was trying to transfer money from my e$aver account to XtraSaver so that I can use my chequing facility. You can imagine my horror when I realised no trace of my XtraSaver account at all. It is as if it has never existed - which is plain ridiculous since I am holding an XtraSaver cheque book and have received e-statements for it before. It is a good thing though that I tried to transfer the money before writing the cheque. Otherwise, the cheque would have bounced and I would have been made a laughing stock. Despite the ludicrous situation, I decided not to jump to conclusions. I called up Standard Chartered on their hotline to confirm what was happening. The thankful part was that I didn't have to wait too long before speaking to a human. I first verified that their Internet Banking system was indeed up and running. Then, I explained my situation to the staff. After the tedious verification of my identity, he told me that my XtraSaver account has been closed. Yes, CLOSED. What a joke. If I have closed my XtraSaver account, I am sure I would have remembered. So I asked him WHO closed MY account? He said he cannot just grab the information there and then and have to check the documents. So I told him YES, I WANT to KNOW. Then he went to check. I am not sure if he was just efficient or that he was lazy to start with. The impression he initially conveyed was that the check would take some time. However, he popped back on the line rather quickly and informed me that my account had apparently been closed for quite some time already and that was because I had not maintained a minimum balance of $1. My memory may be rusty at times but I remember clearly that NO minimum balance was required when they were advertising this product shortly after the launch of e$aver. Guess what the funny explanation he gave me was? He said that if we compare XtraSaver with POSB's savings account, at POSB, a minimum of $500 is required. So I asked him simply if without POSB, Standard Chartered would not exist. He changed tack. He then explained that a dollar is required to open an account but no minimum sum is required thereafter. He cannot seem to understand that NO minimum means NO minimum. If you need a dollar, then your minimum is one dollar. Don't you think it would be simple, professional and polite enough for Standard Chartered to contact me to check if I really want the account closed? Even if I can't spare a dollar, I am sure I can beg at Orchard Road and get that dollar for them. Take a look at http://www.standardchartered.com.sg/cb/deposit/dep_xtrasaver.html - you can see clearly from the table of charges that the "Monthly Minimum Balance" is $0. I am not saying Standard Chartered will get sneaky and amend the page but let's just say that in case the page is down for maintenance, I have mirrored it at http://www.divshare.com/download/1202904-93d . This NO minimum balance for XtraSaver is further confirmed at their FAQ at http://www.standardchartered.com.sg/cb/deposit/dep_xtrasaver_faq.html#b17 . I quote, "No, there is no need to maintain a monthly minimum balance and there is no "fall below" fee." I have mirrored this FAQ at http://www.divshare.com/download/1202910-ada . So you see. Standard Chartered has clearly stated that NO minimum sum of money is required for their XtraSaver account. I am not sure if they are confused themselves about their products. On the e$aver page, I concede that it was mentioned that the account will auto-close if the balance remains zero for more than 30 days. But e$aver is not XtraSaver and XtraSaver is not e$aver. If I want an apple, I won't ask for an orange. Further, does it strike you as strange and unprofessional how an account can be closed without even the account holder being notified? And when I asked for the account to be reinstated, the staff claimed that it was not possible - "unlike credit cards". He said I have to submit a new application if I want the account back. Wow, isn't it cool? When you feel like it, you kick me - a customer - away. Then you look at me in mock pity and tell me I can come feast at your feet if I start grovelling. Enough is enough. This is not even the first time Standard Chartered has spoiled my day and threatened to burst one of my arteries for fun. They are irresponsible in their marketing of their XtraSaver product and if any of you happens to be a victim too, I urge that you lodge a formal complaint so that disciplinary action can be taken against them. I have lodged my complaint already with the Monetary Authority of Singapore. You can do so too using their online form at https://secure.mas.gov.sg/apps/wcmaweb/WebForm/WebCompForm.do . Alternatively, you can write to: Monetary Authority of Singapore Consumer Issues Division Market and Business Conduct Department 10 Shenton Way MAS Building Singapore 079117 Fax : (65) 6225-9766

Visit Ibiza Island in Spain

We have now marched into the month of July and for those who took their holidays in June, it is time to pull up your socks and start working again. But hey, though that is what the "right" mentality should be, it should not stop us from dreaming about the future... how about the year-end holidays? *GRIN* As the old saying goes, "All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy". So, it is never too early to start planning for another holiday. Yea! ;-) Ever been to Spain? - nicely tucked in Southern Europe, proudly hosting some 45 million people? Ever been to Ibiza Island in particular? In Catalan, Ibiza i s also known as Eivissa. It is one of the two Pine Islands and one of the Balearic Islands located in the Mediterranean Sea. From Wikipedia : "The Island of Ibiza is most famously known for its summer parties, with thousands of people flooding in for the big summer club nights. Famous clubs include Space, Pacha, Privilege(ex Ku), Amnesia, Eden and Es Paradis. They are hosts to parties of international fame such as Cream, Manumission, etc. It is also home to the 'West End' party district of Sant Antoni, a rite of passage for many partygoers." The best way to see Ibiza is to rent a car and zip around the island. After all, the place is only 45 km long and 25 km wide. Ibiza Spotlight suggests 4 tours that will allow you to enjoy the island to the fullest. You can refer to the site for more information. But hang on, did we forget something? Something very important?? Yes, the hotel! Don't forget we need a place to sleep! Wouldn't do good for us to be bitten relentlessly by the mosquitoes at night or be gobbled by some stray leopards. J/K. :P Check out CheaperthanHotels for a directory of cheap hotels on Ibiza Island. Having fun is cool. Having fun without spending unnecessarily is even cooler. Take your pick from these cheap hotels in Ibiza - there are many special deals available so it is hard to be disappointed. :) Budget rates at Ibiza Island hotels begin from as low as EUR 18. And for those preferring 5 star luxury accommodation, prices start from EUR 216. These are the prices at time of writing and hotel rates may fluctuate from time to time. Specifically for San Antonio hotels, you can see http://www.cheaperthanhotels.co.uk/Spain/Ibiza-Island/San-Antonio . For San Jose Ibiza hotels, see http://www.cheaperthanhotels.co.uk/Spain/Ibiza-Island/San-Jose . So now, we are all set for our holiday at Ibiza Island. Arrange your schedule and we are ready to go! ^^ PS.: Please be a responsible vacationer and do your own due diligence.