Today I read a good discussion between Ko Lwin Moe and May at Mayvelous over what May said in the Myanmar Blogger Interview "We, Burmese are always slow starters". I tried to leave my comment there, but there was an error with Wordpress database. (May, if you're reading it now, yeah, there was an error whenever I tried to add a comment). So I thought may be I would edit my comment a little bit and post here.

Are Burmese slow starters and slow learners?

I strongly believe that we are not slow learners at all. If you're a Burmese and studying or studied overseas, you might have noticed that we rank among the top of the class. I have personally experienced praises like "Is every Burmese very smart?" from some of my friends. It's hard to say we're smarter than other countries because most Burmese students in other countries are selected group - who are craving for a good education and who have done well in previous studies. So I can't say we're smarter than other students, but I dare say that Burmese are not slow learners.

However, I'm afraid I have to admit that we are slow starters when it comes to adopting new technologies and ideas. We are not as innovative and creative as some other countries. I think it is mainly because of culture, religion & lack of support.

Firstly, we had been trained to give respect to the elder and we're supposed not to be against with their ideas. If you listen and do what the elder tell you to do, you're "polite and nice". Learning at school is also one way - we listen to whatever teachers say and they don't like being questioned by students. These are main barriers for innovations & new ideas. But I can see the situation has improved generation by generation.

Besides, Buddhism teaches us not to be greedy but to contend, not to show-off but to be humble, etc. I think the driving forces for innovations in history are mainly reputation, recognition and status (money, power, etc). May be some inventors simply wanted to help people, but they are rare. Unfortunately, Buddhism does not favour those factors at all, since they all lead to more sufferings according to Buddha. If you look at the story of "King Mindon" and "Crown Prince Ka Naung Min Thar" who produced and tested bombs, you will see the influence of the religion on every aspect of our lives.

I don't think I need to mention again how the government has neglected to support innovators over decades. Furthermore, parents hardly encourage their children for creativeness and innovations. If something is functioning well, we're not supposed to touch it in case we break it. (For example, before I left Burma, most relatives & friends discouraged me of studying abroad. Their reason was I could get a good profession and comfortable life in Burma already.) So lack of support from governments and people around us, and the attitude of majority to always follow "the old track" sucks out our will to innovate & search for new ideas. We even have a saying "Ah Hlyin Lo, Lam O Like" (The old track is the shortest path).

I'm not letting Burmese down here or giving excuses for our weaknesses. I just wanted to point out what I think major causes to our weaknesses are. We just need to acknowledge them and improve ourselves for the sake of our country. I would love to hear your views as well.

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Have you ever played any game that teaches you financial literacy? Are you wondering if such game exists at all? Yes, it does. But it isn't Monopoly. All you do in Monopoly is buy, sell and collect money. I've found a much better game than Monopoly, that can teach financial literacy & investment skills. It's so enjoyable to play that you won't even notice that you're learning a lot while you're playing it.

It's Cash Flow 101 game created by Robert Kiyosaki, the best-selling author of "Rich Dad, Poor Dad". Although I read about the game in "Rich Dad, Poor Dad", I didn't have a chance to play it until last week. Once I played a few games and became familiar with it, I've been hooked with it.

As the name suggests, it's all about cash flow, and you've to try to win the game by moving yourself from "Rat Race" to "Fast Track", and then achieving your initial dream. "Rat Race" represents active income (or) salary (or) wages, and "Fast Track" stands for passive income such as investments and businesses. Your financial statement is the most important tool to guide you through the game. You need to prepare and balance it at every stage.

Cash Flow 101: Rat Race
As you can see in the above picture, there are 4 categories in the financial statement: Income, Expenses, Assets & Liabilities. According to Robert, assets are the ones that put money into your pocket, and liabilities are those that take money out of your pocket. I believe this is the most important concept in Cash Flow 101 as well as in the real world. You might think you are buying assets but if the expense of your investment is higher than the income it brings to you, then it will be a liability for you (unless the prices increase and you can sell at a higher price in the future, in other words negative gearing). But Robert doesn't encourage negative gearing, since you might have financial hardship if you can't sell it for a higher price.

The game is quite similar to real life. There are Opportunities (to invest), Doodads (unexpected expenses), Paychecks (income), Charity, Child expenses, Downsize (job loss, etc). If you are in the "Rat Race", your income may be just a bit higher than your expenses. You're financially vulnerable in this stage, so you need to save more money to buy investments that will bring positive cash flow. The more assets you have, the higher your income will be. Thus you can invest more and when your passive income is high enough, you can get out of the "Rat Race".

Cash Flow 101: Fast Track
This is the screen shot of "Fast Track". There are more opportunities in "Fast Track". Although there are still unexpected expenses, the damage they can do to you is not significant. This is the life of investors and successful business people.

After you've been in the "Fast Track", you need to achieve your initial dream to win the game, such as buying a yacht, etc. The first person who achieves his/her dream wins the game.

Cash Flow 101: Winner
There are so many things to learn from Cash Flow 101 and all of them are essential skills for every one, but they are hardly taught at school. If you haven't played this game yet, I would recommend you to do so. There is a more advanced version called "Cash Flow 202" that includes bull market, bear market, etc. I can't wait to play it.

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DV 2007 Lottery Links

Posted by Swanie | 26.11.05 | | 0 comments »

For anyone who wants to apply for US DV 2007 Lottery, but hasn't done yet, here are the links. Only online submissions are accepted, and repeated submissions & applications that don't meet the criteria will be rejected. So be careful before you submit.

The following links are the official links and you do not need to pay for the application at all.

DV Lottery Homepage
http://www.dvlottery.state.gov

2007 DV Lottery Instructions
http://travel.state.gov/visa/immigrants/types/types_1318.html

Photo Validator
http://www.dvlottery.state.gov/photo.aspx

Good Luck, everyone!!!

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A Tale of Thaksin Shinawatra

Posted by Swanie | 25.11.05 | | 0 comments »

"Mercury ... is in a corner perfectly aligned with my star. Mercury is no good, so if it's not good, I am going to request not to speak. I'll just wait until next year to talk." (Thailand's prime minister, Thaksin Shinawatra, 20 Nov 2005)

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I wonder if the vibrator is comforting Katie or the foetus, and what it looks like.

Actress Katie Holmes was reportedly thrown out of a California cinema when a vibrating gadget she was holding disturbed fellow moviegoers.

The fiancée of actor Tom Crusie was holding a buzzing aid against her pregnant stomach, as she believes it is comforting to the foetus.

But it failed to soothe the nerves of audience members, who quickly tired of the humming device.

A witness says, "People didn't care that she was a star, they just wanted to see the movie." (source)

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Finally long awaited Xbox 360 is out now (released on 22nd Nov 2005) with all the greatnesses a game console could bring. The console is backward-compatible with all previous Xbox games, so you don't need to throw your favourite games. Xbox live is even better with the new generation console. Xbox Live Silver, available to anyone with an Xbox 360 or Xbox 360 Core System console, a hard drive or a memory unit, and a broadband connection, provides many free features, including messaging and downloads. The second level of service—Xbox Live Gold, with the option to play multiplayer games online—costs the same as your original Xbox Live subscription.

There have been long lines outside the stores for people looking to buy an Xbox 360. Because of its limited supply, it may disappoint some serious gamers too. Big American retailers, including Best Buy and Target , reported running out of the new console at most stores following its North American debut on Tuesday. As a result, many new owners are selling Xbox 360 on eBay for almost twice the retail price.

By midday Wednesday, nearly 7,700 Xbox 360s had sold on eBay at an average price of $US786 ($1065) , a spokeswoman for eBay said. The basic unit retails for $US300. A premium package that includes accessories and a hard-drive that allows gamers to play existing Xbox titles costs $US400. (Reuters)

Xbox 360 Console
Here are some of the Greatness Xbox 360 brings.

CPU 3.2GHz x 3
ATI Graphics Porcessor 500MHz
RAM 512MB
High Definition 720p, 1080i
Hard Drive (detachable) 20GB
miscellaneous
48 parallel shader pipelines
Supports DVD, CD, DVD-ROMs, DVD-R/RW, MP3, JPEG
USB x 3
Wireless Controller

I am sure Xbox 360 the greatest game console so far and many gamers will be satisfied with it. If you could grab a console for retail price before Christmas, I would suggest not to hesitate. You might be able to make money by selling it on ebay!!!

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When I posted this 18 year old Mayor on 11 Nov, I just did it because when I watched David Letterman's show, it was funny and interesting. But I didn't receive significant response until today. It is not that I've been obsessed with my site traffic (still not much compared to some great posts from a lot of bloggers), but when my work is successful to a certain extent, it pleases me.

This morning I checked my statcounter and was quite surprised to see I've received a lot of hits and it's still going. All of them came from Google, Yahoo and MSN. It's great to know that your favourite post interests other people too. Thanks all!!!

Here is the graph of unique visitors for Nov.

Swan Bros Stat

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After waiting for nearly 5 days since I joined Google Analytics, the first report is available now. It's quite frustrating that you have to wait for so long while Google kept saying it would be available in next 12 hours. I can understand that a lot of web masters joined Google Analytics in such a short time, and Google servers must have been too busy servicing new customers and collecting massive amount of data. But I think they should have guessed the amount of attention they would be receiving.

Anyway, what is my impression about Analytics report? I was very surprised to see such a complete report. They have more information about your site traffic than you would actually use. I've seen other free analysis programs and nothing can compare with Google Analytics. They have got statistics of how many new and returning visitors you have got, how many visits returning visitors made, how many visitors came from each referrer (such as search engines or those who linked to you), how many came from which countries/cities, how many visitors have java disabled, and many many more. I am sure such data will be helpful to promote your site and to check which of your efforts are working to what extent. I still can't believe that you can receive such analysis for totally free.

Google Analytics Report
There are some room Google Analytics can improve too of course, such as excluding my own visits from the report whether I use static IP or not, and the feature to choose any Time Zone (so far it uses only Pacific Standard Time). I would love to see the report updated within an hour or so if not within seconds as most counters do. At the moment the data for yesterday and today are still not available. But we can't complain much since it has been functioning for a few days only, can we? One thing I'm not so sure is the accuracy of the report. So far the total number of pageviews for any day is a lot lower than the numbers shown by the statcounter I'm using. I do trust the result from my statcounter since I can see the result of each visit within seconds, and I can disable the counter for my own visits. So I'll still stick to my statcounter while testing Google Analytics.

Overall, I'm quite overwhelmed with all the services Google Analytics will be providing and I think Google has done it again.

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Back Up Blogger Posts

Posted by Swanie | 18.11.05 | , | 1 comments »

Since I've got some problems with my blog yesterday, I've been wondering all the time "What if something goes wrong with Blogger and I lose all my post?". When I read about how LiewCF lost his previous blog (link), I didn't care that much about my blog. Now that I have experienced my first problem with Blogger, I'm very scared to lose even any of my current posts (so far about 30), let alone losing hundreds like others. Template is not a problem for me, since whenever I tweak my template a bit, I keep a backup with date, time and update descriptions.

So I searched Blogger help for how to backup all my posts, etc, and got some good news. There is a feature called "BlogSend". If you enable BlogSend, Blogger will email a post after you publish it. So with big mailboxes like Gmail, you don't need to worry about not having enough spaces for all the posts in the future.

You may be wondering what you do with all the posts in your mailbox if you lose Blogger posts. In "BlogSend", there is another feature to post from your email. That's right. You can email all the posts back to Blogger. They will be saved as "drafts", which you can publish later. I've just tested it and I'm in love with BlogSend.

If you want to enable "BlogSend",

1. Go to "Settings Email"
2. Type the email address you want to send. You can send to only one address, so if you want to keep multiple backups in different email inboxes, you can use Google Groups to create a mailing list.
3. (Not compulsory until you want to restore posts.) To enable posting from email, you need to create a Blogger email address. It's in the format of "YourLogInName.SecretNameYouChoose@blogger.com".
4. Save Settings and it's all done.


Here are some of the screenshots from my test.

First I sent from my email to check how posting from an email works. As you can see pictures can be posted with email too. But if you send a picture as an attachment, Blogger won't publish it. I copied the picture and text from a web site and pasted to my email.



As soon as I published the post, a copy of the post is in another email of mine. So the post is already backed up. When you post from some emails like Yahoo, you may need to remove the ADs that come along with your email, before publishing the posts.



Unfortunately you cannot back up comments or old posts with this method yet. I'll do some research and will let you all know once I find out. Please let me know if you have any tips. Cheers!!!

Note: If anybody needs a Gmail account, just let me know. I'm happy to send the invitation.

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Funny Basketball Picture

Posted by Swanie | 17.11.05 | | 0 comments »

A great picture of scoring 3 balls in one shot :D. I just feel sorry for poor Nelson.


basketball humour

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Lost Sidebar

Posted by Swanie | 17.11.05 | , | 0 comments »

What the hell!!! Just now I changed David Beckham's Photos in my previous post since the pics look crap. Then I republished the whole blog. And I can't see the sidebar on my Main page at all. I hate this sxxx. I have no idea what went wrong. Does anybody have any idea please??

Follow up-- Finally I had to delete that post and it's ok now. Don't know what happened? May be it didn't like making fun of DB.

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Latest Myanmar Ebooks

Posted by Swanie | 16.11.05 | , | 0 comments »

Kan Chun's ebook has been uploaded. Check in Myanmar Ebooks. I hope you all enjoy it.

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Funny Aircon Ad

Posted by Swanie | 16.11.05 | | 0 comments »

What a marvellous way to advertise aircons!!! Off vs On.



(Pic Source)

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For my Myanmar friends who haven't heard about Htoo Eain Thin's webpage, here is the link (in new window). There are his poems, albums, lyrics, artiles about him and his brief biography. Although the song links are not working yet, I hope we can listen to them in the near future. Please spread this news to all Htoo Eain Thin's fans.

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If you have been blogging with Blogger for a while, you might have noticed that Blogger automatically names "yourpost.html" from post title, and so it is not so flexible and you have no control over the file name you want. It omits common words like "a/an/the" and it concatenates the first 6 or 7 words separating each word with hyphen. So sometimes good keywords may be missed out. If you change the title, the file name changes too.

But according to some SEO tips, it's better to have keywords in both titles and filenames too. If that is true, for example in my 18yr old Mayor post, the file name won't be favoured by SE's. Wouldn't it be great if we could remove unnecessary words such as "a/an/the/for/but" etc and include more relevant keywords while leaving the title more meaningful as well as keywords-oriented? A little bit of SE ranking will surely make a difference in your blog popularity.

Thanks to Amit Agarwal's Hack and w.bloggar, I have more control over the file name and title now. The beauty of w.bloggar is it updates the title without touching the filenames. So you can change titles without worrying about having broken links with SE's or other people who linked you previously.

Here are the complete steps for the hack.

1. Compose your Blogger article with a title containing all the keywords (6 is the limit) and in the right order (e.g. X1 Yahoo Desktop Search)

2. Publish your post on Blogger.

3. Now open the post in w.bloggar, an offline blog editing tool, and change the page title to something more meaningful (e.g. Yahoo! Desktop Search getting closer to X1)

4. Click "Post & Publish". Congratulations! Your permalink filename is what you want it to be and no longer defined by Blogger.

I love w.bloggar!!! You can see that the title of this post and filename are different.

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Mg Wunna & Swe Minn Passed Away

Posted by Swanie | 16.11.05 | | 0 comments »

Two of most famous Myanmar cartoonists, Mg Wunna (the author of Tha Mane Paw Thoup) & Da Nu Phyu Swe Minn (the author of Myaing Yar Zar Tut Pi), passed away a few days ago. Most young Myanmar people grew up reading their comic books and their characters have been in the hearts of most people. They are so hilarious and entertaining that their deaths are a big loss for Myanmar comic fans. Full story here (Open in new window).

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"Women might be able to fake orgasms. But men can fake whole relationships."
Sharon Stone

"Hockey is a sport for white men. Basketball is a sport for black men. Golf is a sport for white men dressed like black pimps."
Tiger Woods

"My mother never saw the irony in calling me a son-of-a-bitch."
Jack Nicholson

"Clinton lied. A man might forget where he parks or where he lives, but he never forgets oral sex, no matter how bad it is."
Barbara Bush (Former US First Lady)

"I believe that sex is one of the most beautiful, natural, wholesome things that money can buy."
Tom Clancy

"You know 'that look" women get when they want sex?...... Me neither."
Steve Martin

"Having sex is like playing bridge. If you don't have a good partner, you'd better have a good hand."
Woody Allen


"Bisexuality immediately doubles your chances for a date on Saturday night."
Rodney Dangerfield

"There are a number of mechanical devices which increase sexual arousal, particularly in women. Chief among these is the Mercedes-Benz 500SL."
Lynn Lavner

"Sex at age 90 is like trying to shoot pool with a rope."
George Burns

"Ah, yes, Divorce, from the Latin word meaning to rip out a man's genitals through his wallet."
Robin Williams

"Women complain about premenstrual syndrome, but I think of it as the only time of the month that I can be myself."
Roseanne

"Women need a reason to have sex. ! Men just need a place."
Billy Crystal

"Sex is one of the nine reasons for incarnation. The other eight are unimportant."
George Burns

"As she lay there dozing next to me, one voice inside my head kept saying, "Relax... you are not the first doctor to sleep with one of his patients, " but another kept reminding me, "Howard, you are a veterinarian. "
Roger Matthews

"The big difference between sex for money and sex for free Is that sex for money usually costs a lot less!"
Brendan Francis

"It doesn't matter what you do in the bedroom as long as you don't do it in the street and frighten the horses"
Mrs. Patrick Campbell

"I am a marvelous housekeeper. Every time I leave a man I keep his house."
Zsa Zsa Gabor

"Behind every successful man is a surprised woman!"
Maryon Pearson

"If your life at night is good, you think you have everything"
Euripides

"If a woman seeks education it is probably because her sexual apparatus is malfunctioning."
Friedrich Wilhelm Nietzsche

"There's a new medical crisis. Doctors are reporting that many men are having allergic reactions to latex condoms. They say they cause severe swelling. So what's the problem?"
Dustin Hoffman

"Instead of getting married again, I'm going to find a woman I don't like and just give her a house."
Rod Stewart

"See, the problem is that God gives men a brain and a penis, and only enough blood to run one at a time."
Robin Williams

"According to a new survey, women say they feel more comfortable undressing in front of men than they do undressing in front of other women. They say that women are too judgmental, where, of course, men are just grateful."
Robert DE Niro

"There's very little advice in men's magazines, because men think, I know what I'm doing. Just show me somebody naked."
Jerry Seinfeld

"It's been so long since I've had sex, I've forgotten who ties up whom."
Joan Rivers

“You don't appreciate a lot of stuff in school until you get older. Little things like being spanked every day by a middle-aged woman. Stuff you pay good money for in later life."
Elmo Phillips

"Anyone who eats three meals a day should understand why cookbooks outsell sex books three to one."
L. M. Boyd

"For women the best aphrodisiacs are words. The G-spot is in the ears. He who looks for it below there is wasting his time."
Isabel Allende

"I blame my mother for my poor sex life. All she told me was 'the man goes on top and the woman underneath.' For three years my husband and I slept in bunk beds."
Joan Rivers

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Don’t Let Banks Rob You

Posted by Swanie | 14.11.05 | | 2 comments »

The other day, I saw some people complaining on TV about how banks are charging a lot of fees. A few years ago, netbanking was totally free, but now some banks are charging 30 cents to 50 cents for any online transaction whether you are paying bills or transferring from one account to the other. Their excuse is they have invested so much for more secure Internet banking. But I don’t think they need to charge customers more. They must be saving more money now because of online banking, since they can reduce the staff numbers. If you don’t believe me, look at the long queue at the banks. Whenever I go to any National or Commonwealth Bank, there will always be a long queue served by only 2 tellers. If they are always thinking about a better service, why don’t they employ enough tellers?

Since banking became an essential part of our daily life, those nasty banks have kept increasing all the fees and charges. Most of the banks in Australia offer very low interest rates for savings accounts (CBA & NAB offer 0.01% per annum interest). I’ve never earned more than 50 cents from those banks in any quarter when I had been their customer. To make matters worse, they charge hefty monthly account fees (more than $5 a month) plus transaction fees if you make more transactions than a certain number allowed, which most of the time is not enough. If you’re living in a country where you don’t have to pay such fees to banks, good on you. Don’t forget that you let them keep your money for “next-to-nothing” interest and you have to pay for withdrawing your own money!!! If you let $1000 sit in a savings account for the whole year without any transaction, what do you think will happen? It’ll surely be less than $1000 at the end of the year, since you’ll have to pay monthly fees.

No wonder National Australia Bank achieved 30% profit rise while Commonwealth Bank exceeded their profit forecast $3.65 billions. These greedy CEO’s and executives rip innocent customers off so that so that each CEO could take millions home as bonuses if the banks’ profits increase. In fact, the consumers have to pay for all those ridiculous bonuses and record-breaking salaries of CEOs’.

If you do not want the banks to rob your hard-earned money, here are some of the ways I learnt from my experience.

1. Do your homework and shop around

Just because you've been with the current bank for so many years doesn't mean you'll have to stick with them. If you don't know about the products being offered by other banks and financial institutions, chances are you may not be getting the best deal you should get. So spare some time to research about the charges & interests offered by different banks ,and "shop around" (it's a magic word for any customer).

My story - I did my homework and found out that my National & Commonwealth savings accounts were costing me instead of paying me, while other banks such as HSBC, ING Direct, Citibank offer more than 4.5% a year without any fees. Of course they do have some conditions about fees & interests. I'll discuss about them shortly.

2. Know how you need to use your bank account

Different people have different needs. Some just need to withdraw only 1 or 2 times a moth, whereas others may need 15+ withdrawls a month. Some prefer electronic Banking such as ATM, others rely mostly on online banking. Or some people might need cheque facility. So check your needs and choose the most suitable product for yourself.

My story - I mostly use online banking for paying bills and transferring money. But I would need to withdraw from ATM or EFTPOS 2 or 3 times a month. This account has to be my main transaction account & I would like a good interest too if possible. After a few days research, I found HSBC had 1 account that suited me perfectly. They offer 4.75% interest whenever you have more than $2000 in the account, free unlimited online banking in Australia, free unlimited number of withdrawls at HSBC ATMs, and 5 free withdrawls at non-HSBC ATMs. So I closed all my accounts with other banks and joined HSBC. Since then, not only I haven't had to pay any more monthly fees or transaction fees, but I also earn monthly interest that's not a joke like 50 cents for 3 months when I was with CBA.

3. Use your precious transaction quotas well

Every time you shop at supermarkets & post offices, use EFTPOS and withdraw some cash too instead of withdrawing later at ATMs. Even if there are any charges for electronic transactions, EFTPOS is cheaper than ATM to use. Some banks offer more free quota for EFTPOS than for ATM.

4. Keep an eye on your bills

Paying your bills on time will give you a good credit rating as well as will help you avoid late payment fees, which often are quite significant. If you don't want to forget to pay your bills, you can set up direct debit from your savings account and the money will be deducted from your account automatically. But you still need to make sure you have enough money in your account for those direct debits. If the money is deducted and you don't have enough balance, you'll have to pay "dishonour fees" that may range from $10 to $45 per item.

To sum up, banks are greedier than ever and they want your money. So if you're not careful, you may end up paying massive amount of fees, and you'll lose twice; once for not earning the interest you should be earning and another for having to pay the unnessary fees. The only thing we can do to defend ourselves against those big banks is to shop around and reward ourselves with the best deal we deserve.

Now I would love to hear what you think and what you have been doing to fight against big banks. If you live in countries other than Australia, please feel free to let me know about the situation in your country.

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On Thursday, Michael Sessions, an 18-year-old high school student, has been elected as the new Mayor of Hillsdale after beating the city's 51-year-old mayor by 2 votes (670 votes to 668).

Here are Michael Sessions' Top 10 Good Things About Being an 18-year-old Mayor, when he was interviewed by CBS' "Late Show with David Letterman" show Thursday:

10. Parents try to tell me what to do, I raise their taxes.

9. Every night, a different member of the City Council does my homework.

8. It's every teen's dream: the power to regulate zoning laws.

7. Goodbye, education budget -- hello brand-new Xbox.

6. I got a call from Demi Moore.

5. City Hall on ..."MTV Cribs."

4. I don't have to wait in line at Applebee's anymore.

3. School bullies now have to deal with the feds.

2. Only victory speech featuring the word "dude."

1. It's flattering when President Bush calls me for advice.

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iCels for iPods

Posted by Swanie | 10.11.05 | , | 0 comments »

Great news for iPod owners who have been unsatisfied with its battery life. What does 200hr playback sound for you? Yes, iCel has created 3 models (iCel 201, 202, 205) of portable power source, that can offer up to (50 hrs, 96 hrs & 200 hrs) respectively. They are compatible with Games, DVD players, InMotion and more.

The operation is very simple too. You just need to use a firewire to power your iPod from iCel. This is going to be another hot item for X'mas.



Visit iCel for more details.

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The Wrong Present and A Note

Posted by Swanie | 10.11.05 | | 0 comments »

A young man wanted to purchase a gift for his new sweetheart's birthday, and as they had not been dating for long enough, after careful consideration, he decided a pair of gloves would strike the right note: Romantic, but not too personal.

Accompanied by his sweetheart's younger sister , he went to Nordstrom and bought a pair of white gloves. The sister purchased a pair of panties for herself.

During the wrapping, the clerk mixed up the items: the gloves for the sister and the panties for the sweetheart. Without checking the contents, the young man sealed the package and sent it to his sweetheart with the following note:

"Honey, I chose these because I noticed that you are not in the habit of wearing any when we go out in the evening. If it had not been for your sister, I would have chosen the long ones with the buttons. I found short ones on her and they are easier to take off. These are a delicate shade, but the lady I bought them from showed me the pair she had been wearing for the past three weeks and they were hardly soiled. I had her try yours on for me and she looked really smart.

I wish I was there to put them on for you the first time, as no doubt other hands will come in contact with them before I have a chance to see you gain. When you take them off, remember to blow in them before putting them away as they will naturally be a little damp from wearing. Just think how many times I will kiss them during the coming year. I hope you will wear them for me on Friday night. All my love.

P.S. The latest style is to wear them folded down with a little fur showing. "


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Q & A about Men

Posted by Swanie | 9.11.05 | | 0 comments »

Q: What do you call a man with half a brain?
A: Gifted.

Q: What is the thinnest book in the world?
A: "What Men Know About Women"

Q: How many men does it take to screw in a light bulb?
A: One ... men will screw anything.

Q: How does a man take a bubble bath?
A: He eats beans for dinner.

Q: How many men does it take to change a roll of toilet paper?
A: We don't know .... it's never happened.

Q: What is a man's idea of helping with the housework?
A: Lifting his leg so you can vacuum.

Q: What's the difference between a man and E.T.?
A: E.T. phoned home.

Q: What did God say after creating man?
A: I can do better.

Q: What are the two reasons why men don't mind their own business?
A: 1. No mind. 2. No business.

Q: How is a man like a snowstorm?
A: Because you don't know when it's coming, how many inches you'll get, and how long it'll stay.

Q: Why is it so hard for women to find men who are sensitive, caring, and good looking?
A: Because those men already have boyfriends.

Q: How do men sort their laundry?
A: "Filthy" and Filthy but wearable"

Q: Husband: "I don't know why you wear a bra, you've go nothing to put in it."
A: Wife: "You wear briefs, don't you?"

Q: Why do women fake orgasms?
A: Because men fake foreplay!

Q:What is the real difference between men and women?
A:A woman wants one man to satisfy all her needs. A man wants every woman to satisfy his one need.

Q:Why do men like smart, sexy women?
A:Opposites attract.

Q:Why is psychoanalysis so much quicker for men than for women?
A:Men don't need to be regressed back to their childhood.

Q:Why are well-dressed men always married?
A:Because their wife chooses their clothes for them.

Q:Why are men such wankers?
A:Because they have a willy with a head but no brains that hangs out with two nuts and lives next door to an arsehole.

Q:What do a beer bottles and men have in common?
A:They are both empty from the neck up.

Q:Why can women never find their way to a man's heart?
A:Because they aim too high.

Q:Why are men so bad at sex and driving?
A:Because the bastards always pull out with no thought of who else might be coming.

Q:Why does it take three million sperm to fertilize one single egg?
A:Because they're too stupid to find the right way.

Q:What is the difference between men and premium bonds?
A:Premium bonds might mature.

Man: "God, why did you make woman so beautiful?"
God: "So you would love her."
Man:"But God, why did you make her so dumb?"
God: "So she would love a wanker like you."

One day God called Adam to him and said: "Adam, I have some good news and some bad news. Which would you like to hear first?""The good news," replied Adam."Well, the good news is I gave you a penis and a brain.""OK.." said Adam warily. "And what's the bad news?""I only gave you enough blood to operate one at time."

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Free Pixel Advertising

Posted by Swanie | 9.11.05 | | 3 comments »

Since I wrote Million Dollar Idea ,I've been searching for some pixel-advertising sites where I can advertise my blog for free. Advertising with them will help my blog in terms of SE ranks & traffic. Here are a few great sites where I added. Some links have been up & running, and I'm very hapy with that.


Here they are.

Pixel Your Page
Free Million Pixels (Very quick!!! Once you verify your email, it will upload your link straightaway)
Free Pixel Advertising (Thanks to Mike's suggestion in comments)
Like 5
Million Pixel Page (Limited time only)

I hope they will bring more traffic for you. Please feel free to ask Q's or tell me what you think about them.

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Complete Chitika Tips

Posted by Swanie | 8.11.05 | , | 5 comments »

I have always been a fan of Chitika eMiniMalls and now that they have updated it for channel reporting and other great changes, I welcome the new Chitika with full support. But we need to use all of the features efficiently to reap all the benefits it offers. Here are some of the tips and tricks I use with Chitika and I hope they will be useful for you too whether you are blogging just for fun or money. But who wouldn’t love it if they can earn some money while you’re blogging for your enjoyment?

If you are not familiar with Chitika and don’t know what it is, it’s some kind of advertising to your visitors on your blog. You earn some money when the visitors click on the ads. Just a click isn’t worth a lot but if you receive a lot of traffic, it may be something for you. Click Here if you want to open an account with Chitika eMiniMalls.


1. Using Chitika and Google Adsense Together

Although Chitika can be contextual or non-contextual depending on your choice, Adsense can only be contextual meaning that Adsense ads will be something related to the contents of your blog. Google doesn’t allow any other contextual ads to be placed on the same page as Adsense. So if you want to use Chitika and Adsense together, you need to make Chitika non-contextual.

Here is how to do use Chitika and Adsense together
ch_non_contextual = 1;

Place this line inside the Chitika code before the “mm.js” line. ‘1’ means non-contextual and ‘0’ is contextual.


2. Changing colours of Text, Background and Border Colours

This can be done from Chitika code configuration page. It’s highly recommended that you use it. Many bloggers believe borderless ad with white background is the most effective one if your site’s background is white. Try to make it look like it’s a part of your blog instead of an ad. Make the text and title same format as the way you did in the content. You’ll be more successful.

This is how to change formats for Chitika Text & Title

ch_font_text = “Arial Narrow, Comic Sans MS”;
ch_font_title = “Arial, Verdana”;

Place those codes in the Chitika code to change the format and change the font types to whatever is suitable for you. The second type is selected when the first is not available. So it’s good to have a back up type.


3. Choosing Products/Keywords to show up in Chitika

There are so many categories to choose in Chitika eMiniMalls(click here for complete categories). By choosing the right products to show up to your readers will get you far. Choose something related to your blog if possible. After that, choose something which is hot in the market and might look appealing to your audience.

Rotating keywords and using a new set after some time is a good idea too to avoid from ad-blindness.


4. What if you want Chitika Contextual Ads?

Sometimes, you should use contextual Chitika rather than non-contextual (assuming that you’re not using Adsense at all in your blog). You don’t want to advertise Canon products when your particular post is about Sony. If audience sees the relevant ad just after or while they read about a product, they will be more likely to click on the ad, especially when they become hooked after reading.

Here is how to place a product related to the title in Chitika
Replace

var ch_queries = new Array( “ipod”, “xbox);
var ch_selected=Math.floor((Math.random()*ch_queries.length));
ch_query = ch_queries[ch_selected];

with

ch_query = ‘<$MTEntryTitle$>‘; (if you’re using MT)
or
ch_query = ‘<?php the_title();?>’; (if you’re using WordPress)
or
ch_query = "<$BlogItemTitle$>"; (for Blogger)

Visit my demo site for some examples. Note you do not need to worry about inserting ch_non_contextual = 1; in this case, although it won’t make any difference even if you do.


5. About Chitika tabs
Before, people used to worry about using Chitika search tab and Google search on the same page. But Google has clarified that it’s totally fine. If you do not want to include the Chitika search tab, you can include ch_nosearch = 1 ; in the codes, alternately you can select it from the Chitika configuration page when you generate the code.

By default, the default tab of Chitika is “Description”. You can change it to “Best Deals”, “Search” or “Reviews” too.

Here is how to customise Chitika tabs
(Note: Use only one & use the exact case that appear on Chitika)

ch_default_tab = “Best Deals”; (note “Best Deals” not just “Deals”)

ch_default_tab = “Search”;

ch_default_tab = “Descriptions”;

ch_default_tab = “Reviews”; (it may not work if there is no review for the product)

(note if you use different case, there will be a duplicate of the tab)


6. Channel Reporting

Now you can see which Chitika ad is performing better than the other by using channels.

Here is how to set channel reporting.

ch_sid = ‘xxxx’;

Replace xxxx with a short description you want and insert it in the Chitika Ad code. (eg. 'Sidebar at main page'. Thus you can check the stats for that channel in Chitika report.


7. Chitika Alternate Ad

As I posted about Chitika's Audit, you will not get paid for clicks from invalid countries such as China & many Asian countries, etc. So for visitors from invalid IPs, you might be better off to replace Chitika with different ads that will probably pay you.

Here is how to alternate ad with Chitika

If you're creating new Chitika codes, you can set the alternate ad at Chitika. For your existing eMiniMalls, you can add the following line to the code (anywhere after the line with ch_client but before the line with /script). You need to replace the XXXX with a valid URL like "http://yourdomain.com/alternateAd.html".

ch_alternate_ad_url = "XXXX";

The replacement Ad should be same size as the actual Chitika Ad, otherwise it will be cropped out.


8. Use the helping hands of your affiliate

You can recommend others to join Chitika if they haven't. When they join and start earning, you'll receive 10% of what your affiliates earn in the next 12 months, without taking a cent from what your affilliates earn. It may not be a lot but I'm sure most people will be happy to be your affiliates if you introduced them to Chitika and give suggestions, especially when they won't lose a cent from their shares regardless of whether they are your affiliates or not. It's just a matter of helping each other.

Happy blogging!!!


Note: URLs to Chitika in this post are affiliate links. If you sign up by using those links, and I'll be rewarded with some commission. However, you will not lose a cent from what you should earn at all. It's paid by Chitika for advertising Chitika eMiniMalls.


Ref: ChitikaTips & Problogger

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Recommended Links

Posted by Swanie | 8.11.05 |

This is a list of blogs/sites I visit frequently.

Arloo
Blogger Buster
Nyein Chan Yar
LiewCF
Mayvelous
Micro Persuasion
Myat Thura/Bamarlay
Myo Thwe Lin
NYI LYNN SECK 18+ DEN
Problogger
Quick Online Tips
Global Gateway

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There are a lot of intresting stories about the origin of company names. I would like to share some of the names in IT, since I believe we all are quite familiar with them.

Here they are!!!

Yahoo got its name from a word invented in Gulliver's Travels because the founders considered themselves yahoos.

Xerox comes from the Greek root xer meaning dry for dry copying.

Larry Ellison and Bob Miner, the founders of Oracle, got the name from a project code name they were working on for the CIA, which was to give the answers to all questions. Although the project did not finish, Larry and Bob saw the opportunity to take what they had started and market it.

Motorola, orginally called Victrola, was changed when radios started being manufactured for cars.

Microsoft comes from MICROcomputer SOFTware then changed to Micro-soft until the current name came into usage.

HP founders, Hewlett and Packard tossed a coin to see whose surname would go first.

Apple got its name after Steve Jobs threatened employees that he would call his company Apple if they didn't come up with anything better.

Java was initially thought to call Oak, but as the name was already registered, they named it Java, the name Americans give familiarly to coffee.

Centrino is a blend of the words "center" and "neutrino". The name brings to mind scientific concepts that make this name sound very active and alive. The new name suggests a small, fast, powerful device.

IBM is an abbreviation for International Business Machines.

SUN is an acronym for Stanford University Network (or Networking).

Google came from the word 'Googol', which was coined by Milton Sirotta, nine-year-old nephew of U.S. mathematician Edward Kasner in 1938, to refer to the number represented by 1 followed by one hundred zeros, reflecting the company's mission to organize the immense amount of information available on the Web. While registering for the domain name, one of the founders Sergey Brin mispelled it.

Gordon Moore and Robert Noyce wanted to name their new company "Moore Noyce". But the name sounds like "More Noise", which is not a good one for electronics obviously. They then used the name NM Electronics for almost a year, before deciding to call their company INTegrated ELectronics or "Intel" for short. However, Intel was already trademarked by a hotel chain, so they had to buy the rights for that name from the chain.

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Free Myanmar Ebooks

Posted by Swanie | 7.11.05 | , | 23 comments »

You need Adobe Acrobat Reader 5.0 or above to read the ebooks. Download here if you do not have one yet.

Note: Please feel free to give feedback about the books & to report any broken link. Thanks for visiting us.


U Kyaw Thein
Mogok Sayadaw's Biography & Meditation (9 MB)

U Sun Lwin (U San Lwin)
ရတနာသံုးပါးကို ယံုႀကည္ကိုးကြယ္ဆည္းကပ္လာသူတစ္ေယာက္အေႀကာင္း (About A Person Who Has Become A True Believer of Yadanar Thone Par)

Chit Naing
Law Ka Zat Khone Paw Hmar (1.02 MB)

Chit San Win
Inventor Edison (741 kB)
Living with Stress (1.36 MB)
Lu Nge Myar Ka May Kya The (850 kB)
Quality (717 kB)

Dr. Aung Khin Sint
Love-Making (ဖို + မ ဆက္ဆံေရး) (3.9 MB)

Dr. Aye Kyaw
Pregnant Mother (886 kB)

Dr. Hla Phe
About Your Interesting Body 1 (1.2 MB)
About Your Interesting Body 2 (1.0 MB)

Dr. Mg Mg Nyo
Money-saving Meals & Nutritions (1.41 MB)

Kan Chun
Interphyee & Saing Saing Ma Saing Saing (7.52 MB)
Doe Doe Dauk Dauk Humours (1.40 MB)
About Men that Every Girl Should Know (1.40 MB)

Khin Mg Toe(Moe Meik)
Jokes about US Presidents (640 kB)

Khin Mg Zaw
Inventions (11.0 MB)
Science & Technology (10.5 MB)

Luu Du Daw Amar
Myanmar Mahar Gita (2.7 MB)

Mg Mg Myint Thein
English for Computer Users (950 kB)

Mg Mg Tun Aung
About Diabetes (interview with Dr. Tint Swe Latt) (3.45 MB)

Mg Thein Lwin
Stories of Shakespeare (2.4 MB)

Min Thein Kha
Tarrot Bay Din (1.1 MB)

Myint Soe Hlaing
Everyone has a chance for growth & other motos (1.38 MB)

San Zarni Bo
A Chit Bay Din (746 kB)
A Chit Lak Khanar (810 kB)
Round-the-year Love (1.7 MB)

Sayar U Mg Mg Than
Inga Waitzar Saung Par Myar (1.76 MB)

Soe Moe Naing (University)
Htee Bay Din (1.46 MB)

Than Myint Oo
Strategies for Love & Money (646 kB)

Thein Paing
Naing Ngan Yap Char Kha Yee & Bay Din (1.19 MB)

U Aye Mg
Genetics & Environment (2.59 MB)

U Thein Mg
Aids To Learners of English (793 kB)

Zin Aye
Hnit Thet Sayar Har Tha Myar (791 kB)

Zin Thant
How to advance your life by mastering reading 2 (811 kB)

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Mr Angry & Mrs Calm

Posted by Swanie | 5.11.05 | | 0 comments »

I found a very interesting optical illusion at Jess's Blog. I think I should blog here in Swan Bros.


If you are near to this picture, Mr Angry is on the left and Mrs Calm is on the right. If you view it from a distance says about 10ft, they switch places!"

Try it, it works.

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Geography of a woman

Posted by Anonymous | 5.11.05 | | 2 comments »

Different people has different ways of describing the geography of a woman. Unlike others, comparing the geography of a woman to different parts of the world make it a lot more intersting.

Geography of a woman:

Between the ages of 15 and 20, a woman is like Africa.
She is half discovered, half wild.

Between the ages of 20 and 30, a woman is like America.
Fully discovered and scientifically perfect.

Between the ages of 30 and 35, a woman is like India&Japan.
Very hot, wise and beautiful.

Between the ages of 35 and 40, a woman is like France.
She is half destroyed after the war but still desirable.

Between the ages of 40 and 50, a woman is like Germany.
She lost the war but not the hope.

Between the ages of 50 and 60, a woman is like Russia.
Very wide, very quiet but nobody goes there.

Between the ages of 60 and 70, a woman is like England.
With a glorious past but no future ...

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How much is your blog worth

Posted by Swanie | 5.11.05 | | 0 comments »

A few weeks ago, I found a tool at Business Opportunities Blog powered by Technorati to calculate how much your blog is worth. Many bloggers have been quite excited to check their blogs' worth. So I wondered what's so exciting about it and gave a try to check some big bloggers

www.problogger.net is worth $0.00
Hmm, the Problogger receives 20,000+ unique visits every day and it's Alexa rank is 9471 when I'm writing this.

So I tried Google.com and here is the result.
www.google.com is worth $99,720,910.14

I think the results are very ridiculous. I would have been happy to pay a lot more than that (since google is a multi-billion dollar bussiness now) for both sites. Checking how much a web site is worth is not as simple as a click of a button. Even two sites receiving the same monthly traffic may not be worth equally. Neither can links alone approximate the price.

So my conclusion is there is nothing to be thrilled about this tool. It can't give any figure no where near true worth in most cases. It's just another fun game.

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Since I started blogging here, I tried to search for blog & RSS directories where I can list my blog. Fortunately thanks to aripaparo.com , I found the list of many blog directories. But since the original author of the blog hasn't been able to update the list for a while, some links are no longer active and some need difffernt links to join. So I have tested, updated the list, and added some I found too. I hope it will help many people.

If you have some info about good blog directories I missed, or broken links in this link, please feel free to contact me.

Name: 2RSS
URL: http://www.2rss.com/
Description:RSS Feed Directory
Add your blog here: On front page
Note: Requires RSS Feed

Name: Blogarama
URL: http://www.blogarama.com/
Description:Small search engine
Add your blog here: http://www.blogarama.com/index.php?show=add

Name: Blogdex
URL: http://www.blogdex.net/
Description: Hot topics listing and search engine
Add your blog here: http://blogdex.net/add.asp
Note: Requires email confirmation

Name: Bloghop
URL: http://www.bloghop.com/search.htm
Description: Small search engine
Add your blog here: http://www.bloghop.com/account/join.htm

Name: Bloghub
URL: http://www.bloghub.com
Add your blog here: http://www.bloghub.com/cgi-bin/add.cgi

Name: Bloglines
URL: http://www.bloglines.com/
Description: Search and aggregate RSS feeds
Add your blog here: No submission process, users add feeds they wish to track

Name:Blogpulse
URL: http://www.blogpulse.com/
Add your blog here: http://www.blogpulse.com/submit.html

Name: Blogstreet
URL: http://www.blogstreet.com/search.html
Description: Metasearch
Add your blog here: http://www.blogstreet.com/bin/add.cgi

Name: Blogwise
URL: http://www.blogwise.com/
Description: Categorized Blog search
Add your blog here: http://www.blogwise.com/submit

Name: Bloogz
URL: http://www.bloogz.com/
Description: Blog search engine
Add your blog here: http://www.bloogz.com/man_en/add_your_url.php
(I don't recommend it)

Name: Daypop
URL: http://www.daypop.com/
Description: News oriented search
Add your blog here: http://www.daypop.com/info/submit.htm
Note: Requires your site to be "frequently updated"

Name: Eatonweb
URL: http://portal.eatonweb.com/
Description: Blog search engine
Add your blog here: http://portal.eatonweb.com/add.php

Name: Feedster
URL: http://www.feedster.com/
Description: Blog search engine using RSS feeds
Add your blog here: http://www.feedster.com/add.php
Note: Need RSS feed

Name: Globeofblogs
URL: http://www.globeofblogs.com/
Description: Blog search engine
Add your blog here: Click "Register" in upper-right corner of front page
Note: Strange site, requires extensive classification of blogs

Name: LocalFeeds.com/GeoURL
URL: http://www.localfeeds.com/ , http://www.geourl.org/
Description: Blogs and headlines by geographic region. GeoURL is by lat/longitude while LocalFeeds is by ZIP or country.
Add your blog here: http://www.geourl.org/add.html (for both)
Note: Complex instructions, you must edit your blog's meta tags prior to submission.

Name: LSBlogs
URL: http://www.lsblogs.com
Add your blog here: http://www.lsblogs.com

NEW! Name: Memigo
URL: http://www.memigo.com/
Description: Customized news portal
Add your blog here: http://www.memigo.com/users/join
Note: RSS needed

Name: NewsIsFree
URL: http://www.newsisfree.com/
Description: Search for RSS feeds
Add your blog here: http://www.newsisfree.com/contact.php

Name: Popdex
URL: http://www.popdex.com/
Description: Hot topics listing and search engine
Add your blog here: http://www.popdex.com/addsite.php
Note: "Fast Track" if you link to Popdex

Name: RDF Ticker
URL: http://www.anse.de/rdfticker/findchannels.php
Description: Search and aggregate RSS feeds
Add your blog here: http://www.anse.de/rdfticker/addchannel.php

Name: Read A Blog
URL: http://www.readablog.com/
Description: Blog Search Engine
Add your blog here: http://www.readablog.com/AddFeed.aspx

Name: Rootblog
URL: http://www.rootblog.com/
Description: RSS Aggregator
Add your blog here: http://http://www.rootblog.com/Ping/
Note: Can also be pinged automatically with every post.

Name: RSSFeedsDirectory
URL: http://rss-feeds-directory.com/directory/
Description: RSS Directory
Add your blog here: Not clear

Name: Search4Blogs
URL: http://www.search4blogs.com/
Description: Blog Directory
Add your blog here: WIthin each category
Note: A lot of adult blogs. (I wouldn't recommend it if you don't want your blog to be associated with such blogs)

Name: Search4RSS
URL: http://www.search4rss.com/
Description: RSS Search Engine
Add your blog here: Not available, must be added by site owners.

Name: Sindic8
URL: http://www.syndic8.com/
Description: Search and aggregate RSS feeds
Add your blog here: http://www.syndic8.com/suggest.php?Mode=data
Note: Need RSS feed

Name: Technorati
URL: http://www.technorati.com/
Description: Index of links between millions of blogs
Add your blog here: http://www.technorati.com/ping.html
Note: Programmatic interface available as well.

NEW! Name: Waypath
URL: http://www.waypath.com/
Description: Keyword searches and "find similar" searches
Add your blog here: Automatically adds blogs through a spidering process.


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Car Buying Tips

Posted by Swanie | 4.11.05 | | 0 comments »

Here is a good story of Chandler Phillips, a journalist, who went undercover as a car salesman. He learnt all the tricks & traps in the industry, and explained about the people he met: good & bad salesmen/saleswomen. He gave very good recommendations and presented in such a way that it's enjoyablee to read.

Buying a car is not an easy task, especially in these days when the price of a brand new car drops as much as 30% once it leaves the dealer. So here is the summary of his recommendations.

1. Use the Internet
2. Don't be in a hurry
3. Walk away from any deal/salesperson you don't like
4. Know the numbers
5. Shop around
6. The deal's not done until you drive off in your new car
7. Always remember that it's your money

Please visit Edmunds Site for the full story. I hope it helps you when you buy a car next time.

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Here is how POLITICS work

Posted by Anonymous | 4.11.05 | | 1 comments »

Ever wondered how POLITICS work? Here is a small joke that I received from a friend via email. I hope you enjoy it.

SON : Dad, I have to do a special report for school.
Can I ask you a question ?

DAD : Sure Son, What's the question?

SON : What's POLITICS?

DAD : Well Son, let's take our home as an example :

I make all the final decisions on important matters.
So let's call me MANAGEMENT.

Your mother spends most of the money,so let her be
the GOVERNMENT.

We take care of you and your needs. So let's call
you the PEOPLE.

We shall call our maid Clara, the WORKERS.

And we call your Baby Brother, the FUTURE.

Do you understand what POLITICS means now?

SON : I'm really not sure Dad. I'll have to think about it.

That night awakened by his baby brother's crying,
the boy went to see what was wrong.

Discovering the baby had seriously soiled his diaper,
the boy went to his parent's room and found his mother sound asleep.

Not wanting to disturb his mother, he then went to the
maid's room. He peeked through the keyhole, and saw his
father in bed with the maid.

The boy's knocking went unheard by his father and
the maid. So he finally returned to his room and went back to sleep.

The next morning at the breakfast table;

SON : Dad, I now think I understand POLITICS.

DAD : That's great Son! Please explain to me in your
own words.

SON : Well Dad! While MANAGEMENT is screwing the
WORKERS, the GOVERNMENT is sound asleep.
the PEOPLE are being ignored and the FUTURE is full of shit.

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Time's Coolest Sites 2005

Posted by Swanie | 4.11.05 | | 0 comments »

Here is a list of Time Magazine's 2005 Coolest Websites. Everyone has got different taste so you might not agree with some of them. But it's worth having a look. May be we can learn from that how to make our sites cool. This year blogs have their own category (hurrah!!!!). Clicking each link will take you Time's review on each site.

Arts and Entertainment

A party mix of amusements, from virtual art galleries to TV trivia to talk radio for your iPod, plus some of the best humor writing on the Web.
Aardman Animations
The Complete Review
Opus 1 Classical
New York Public Library's Digital Gallery
The Museum of Online Museums
Orisinal
McSweeney's Internet Tendency
Ze's Page
Podcast Bunker
Mercora
TV.com

Blogs

For many Netizens, Web logs—reading them, writing them, or both—have become a way of life. So this year, they get their own category. See box for tips on how to keep up with all your favorites, plus tools you can use to build your own.
Overheard in New York
Jalopnik, Autoblog
Go Fug Yourself
PostSecret
MoCo Loco
Bayraider
Allen's Blog
Chocolate and Zucchini
Boing Boing
Anonymous Lawyer
Dooce Chromasia
SportsBlogs Nation
Lifehacker
Gridskipper

Lifestyle, Health and Hobbies

Eat better. Share digital photos. Network with your neighbors—or your neighbor's dogs.
Flavorpill
Cancer Nutrition Info
Flickr
ZooZoom
Food 411
CNET Digital Home DIY
The Living to 100 Life Expectancy Calculator
Dogster
I-Neighbors

News and Information

New ways to search the Web—for fast facts, for jobs, for anything—plus a variety of online resources where you can learn more about the law, public policy or your home entertainment system.
Blinkx.tv
Identity Theft Resource Center
Answers.com
OhMyNews International
Indeed, SimplyHired, Workzoo
FindLaw
Public Agenda Clusty

Shopping

Our picks in this category range from the general to the specific. You'll find a price-oriented search engine and the best place to buy shoes; a far-reaching travel portal and ground zero for gag gifts.
Sidestep.com
Craigslist
Shopzilla
Woot!
Archie McPhee
Zappos.com
Complaints.com

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Million Dollar Idea

Posted by Swanie | 3.11.05 | | 0 comments »

In the past few months, there has been one hot innovative and creative marketing idea from a UK guy called Alex Tew. His idea is to sell the space on his homepage (total 1 million pixels) for a dollar a pixel, but minimum purchase must be $100, as you know anything less than that size is hardly noticeable. The money will fund his education.


It may sound funny and impossible. But he is one serious guy and he proved that it's not only possible but also successful by selling 50% of it in only two months. Wow!!! $500k in two months. Have a look at the screen shot of his homepage. You can visit The Million Dollar Homepage here.

He and his site has been very popular since then and he received media attention too, such as inviewed by BBC, etc. No doubt that there are a lot of copycats as well. About 500 sites so far. Some tweak the main idea a bit and sell like a brick or a cricket, etc. The original concept is Alex Tew's. There are a few sites that are honest and give credit to Alex. But many sites are just not cool at all. They copy the style, graphics, and pretend that it's their own idea. http://www.fivemilliondollarhomepage.com is one such example. She copied everything, and couldn't even create a banner relevant to the site name. Well we'll see how far she can go. Internet community does not accept such dishonest people.

Congradulations to Alex Tew and I am sure you'll be able to sell all the remaining pixels in no time. I would like to see more innovative ideas from you in the future. Here is the status of Alex's pixels and it's updated everytime pixels are sold.

Million Dollar Pixel Page progress report

I hope you like his idea as much as I do. Thank you for reading.


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3D Stereo Images

Posted by Swanie | 3.11.05 | | 0 comments »

Since I was young, I have been quite fascinated with 3D Stereo images. It's always great to see kind of art, and thrilling to uncover the secrets hidden behind. You don't need any special glasses to see them but you need to master the technique of doing crossed-eyes. With practice and experience, you'll master it easily. Here are a few Stereo images I like to share.






Please visit Gary Priester's site for more 3D images.

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Bugs that won't take no

Posted by Swanie | 2.11.05 | | 0 comments »

We human beings are often accused of playing odd games of love, but new research suggests insects are far more creepy when it comes to sex.

A study by the Australian Museum has uncovered a rare mating practice, known as traumatic insemination, in distantly related insect speices. TI is a practice involving male hypodermic genitalia piercing and ejaculating into the female body cavity, rather than the female genital tract. University of Sydney scientist Nikolai Tatarnic, who is researching the topic said "It's basically a strategy for the males to get past female resistance to mating. So instead of using the normal route, they stab them in the side of the body and the sperm travel through the bloodstream to the eggs".

The practice was found in plant bugs as well as genus cordromius (miridae), a tiny bug measuring 2-4 mm in length which can be found on Sydney waterside plants. The scientist said that to look at the insects are rather boring until you start looking at their naughty bits.


So humans taught these bugs or they taught humans such game of sex??

(source mx wednesday nov 2, 2005)

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X-Reflect See Through Glasses

Posted by Swanie | 2.11.05 | | 1 comments »

Everyone be aware now!!! X-Reflect Glasses that can see through your clothes are in the markets now.





So Who Are The Best Candidates?

  • swimwear, silk, and all types of synthetic materials
  • in USA (summer time) in public areas
  • 1 out of 20 for normal clothing
  • approximately 70 out of 100 swimwears
  • approximately 45% of swimwear allow see through as though seeing through glass.


Features

  • 40 GB built in recorder
  • USB Interface


How It works

Under normal light, the visible and infrared lights can pass through some type of material covering an object and are reflected by the object's surface. The reflected visible light is too strong and saturated to see, so the covered object surface cannot be visible by naked eyes.

However, with X-Reflect Glasses, the reflected visible light is filtered out and only the reflected infrared and the required light is captured using special made sensitive cameras inside the Glasses. Thus the covered object surface will be visible.

Some materials completely blocks the naked eye from seeing through it. But with these Glasses , you can see through it.

How much is that?? Introductory price is $2400. Anyway, governments should prohibit illegal use of such equitments for the safety of the innocent.

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I am sure most of you will agree that having to format your computer because of viruses, unstable patches, system crashes, etc, is such a great pain, especially if you don’t have separate partitions for system and data files. Even if you keep data and system files separately, having to reinstall all the necessary software to previously running stage is for sure not an easy task. It involves a lot of downloading and installing hot fixes and security updates in Windows. I myself use Windows 2000, and it still takes a long time even though I created a Windows 2000 CD with Service Pack and hotfixes. When the OS is up and running again, you have another hassle in downloading and installing virus definitions and updates for antivirus and security software.

A few months ago, I found a very simple but great tool, and since then it has helped me through many nightmares. With Acronis True Image, I could back up my entire hard disk, C: or D: or whatever you name it. Here are some tips to help you save a lot of headache and time.

  1. Next time if you have to reinstall the operating system, let it be the last time you have to suffer. Install the OS, and then update all the service packs and hot-fixes, until the system is up to date.

  2. Then install other security software such as Norton and McAfee, and update all the virus definitions.

  3. Install MS Office, Adobe Acrobat, Media players, Instant Messengers and all the software which are must-have for you.

  4. Then use a disk imaging software such as Acronis True Image to copy and save the disk image. I’ve tried Norton Ghost but it’s not as simple to use as Acronis. Great things about Acronis are very easy to use and you can create GUI based bootable CD or Floppy which makes disk-imaging and restoring easier beyond your imagination.

  5. Save that image (or) images safely. You can create many CD size images or 1 big image, and then store in CD or DVD. I keep all the images in a separate partition so that I can restore it faster, but even restoring from CD or DVD normally takes less than 30 min, while it would generally take you about a day to install without such disk images.

Now with the help of the images you created, you can relax now. Play around with registry files or whatever you like to the OS and drivers. You can restore everything back within about 30 min. If it’s not great, what is then?

Acronis supports hard disks of any size. You can download Trial Version here. Or purchase here. It is one of the must-have software for me now.

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