Public Markets Of The World

Amazing Magic Wallet

2011-09-05T15:29:00.000+10:00

Amazing Magic Wallet

Handy Folding Leather Wallet

Just insert your banknotes into the wallet and flip. Your notes lock securely into the the bands of the wallet.
Four credit card slots.
Quality cowhide leather. Colour black. In stock

Price $15 plus $2.95 postage anywhere in Australia.
Payment: direct payment to bank account.
Drop me an email. walletss@yahoo.com
I will give you a reference number to quote with your payment.
Delivery within 48 hours via Australia Post.

Android Gingerbread Tablet for $150

2011-07-26T00:25:00.000+10:00

I thought I would mention that there are a bunch of no brand tablets on the market that are running Android 2.3 Gingerbread .
I was at the Pantip Plaza mall in Bangkok today and spied the device which included a physical keyboard as a freebie. The processor was the same processor as used by the Samsung Galaxy Tab.

Top Money Earners From Google Adsense

2011-07-25T00:28:00.000+10:00

Here are the three top money earners from Google Adsense

1. Markus Frind – PlentyOfFish.com – $300,000 per month

If you haven’t heard of this guy yet you should check out the website plentyoffish.com. He is the person who created this free online dating website from his appartment all by himself. His website soon become one of the largest dating websites online. I have actually tried out his website myself and can see how it can be interesting and attract a lot of visitors. The graphics and layout of the website is nothing fancy at all but the functionality is all there and its fast to use.

2. Kevin Rose – Digg.com – $250,000 per month

Kevin Rose started Digg.com in December 2004. It is a social marketing site that is mostly news, video, and pictures that are submitted by users for other users to read about and view. Basically what happens is you can signup for an account and you can submit a “news story” and other people can view it and if they like it they can “Digg it” and this boosts the rating of the post. If it gets enough Diggs it will appear on the Frontpage of the site and will get tons of traffic. Digg has both Google Adsense ads and Federated Media ads. It is estimated that he earns roughly $250k a month from Adsense alone.

3. Jeremy Schoemaker – $140,000 per month

ShoeMoney is considered to be one of the greatest Internet Marketers out there. He is very good with search engines and knows how to setup his sites to get optimal traffic to them. In one of his best months with Google Adsense ShoeMoney earned $132,994.97. You can imagine it was probably pretty difficult for him to cash a check of that size!

Unlike most of the other Google advertisers ShoeMoney makes his money from hundreds of sites and thousands of domains.

Optus My Tab Bargain

2011-07-24T14:37:00.002+10:00

The stores are now awash with various android tablets and even the lesser equipped models represent excellent value for the buyer on the lookout for a bargain.
After evaluating the pros and cons of buying an extra tablet, having already acquired an ipad, I settled on a 7 inch Optus My Tab.
The tablet was made for Optus by ZTE who make various tablets under different names.
I chose this tablet for the following reasons.
Form factor: The seven inch screen makes the device feasible as an eBook reader. This is especially handy in low light situations.
Portability: It is reasonably light and can fit into a jacket pocket without the need to carry a bag in every situation.
It functions well as a phone and this feature is only found in the Optus Mytab and the Samsung Galaxy Tablet.
Price: Cost wise this tablet is a bargain. I purchased the unit for $149 and that included a dedicated wall charger, a 2 gig memory card, a prepaid sim card with $50 of credit included.
Last time I checked they had reduced the price to an unbelievable $99.
The unit also ships with a USB cable and headset.
The preinstalled version is Android 2.1 but this can be upgraded to 2.2.
Definitely a best buy considering that higher end versions of Android such as Gingerbread and Honeycomb still have problems configuring developer software to run properly.

Rim Losing Ground In Mobile Stakes.

2011-07-23T23:31:00.002+10:00

Going back only a couple of years ago Rim was a respected name in mobile technology. Current surveys indicate that the once mighty and arrogant developer has lost the plot and has become an also ran.
Instead of upping the stakes in development Rim chooses to play copycat and catch up.
Take for example their tablet offering, conspicuously entitled the playbook.
Universally panned as lacking in features, the tablet has encountered lack lustre sales. I was extremely disappointed when I had a close up look at it.
Currently Rim is undertaking to make it’s name in the gaming market.
Full details are are not currently available, but let us hope that Rim who lags behind Android and Apple can reinvent itself as a leader in future forays.

Do you have to be John Grisham to succeed at Blogging?

2008-03-14T17:13:00.002+11:00

There are many articles on the net about successful blogging and there is a never ending stream of new recruits entering the blogsophere.

These new adopters eagerly search the how to pages of other bloggers in an effort to become a successful blogger.

The blogging craze and the competitive arena that it has become have bloggers scratching their heads in an effort to make their new venture a success.

For some, success as is defined as the tangible legacy of their cathartic journey.

This group seeks nothing more than to record their life and thoughts. They have no financial or political agenda other than their desire for self fulfillment.

As the internet evolves and socially engineered software becomes more streamlined, diarists have also evolved and for some, blogging has become their ticket to a new vocation and financial independence.
Blogs that have a high amount of visitors are able to monetize their web pages to an extent where the authors are able to generate enough income to derive a part time or full time living from their input.
For those desiring more than to see their diary online, the challenge exists to create content that satisfies their own literary standards but at the same time achieves populous standing.

The race to stand out from the blogging crowd has seen a multitude of online tutorials, e-books, educational courses, marketing plans and get rich easy programs bombard the web.

We no longer take much interest unless the author has something unique to offer us.

I have two friends who have their own web sites and self publish for a living.
One has an article archive of 17,000 posts and the other has an archive of 14000 posts.
One has been blogging for seven years and it took him five years before he was able to derive full time income.
The other was well established in his field before he became a self publisher.
He had a list of high profile contacts that provided exclusive information and this enabled him to establish his web site as a respected source of news in his field.

Their sites and interests are quite different but they both agree on one point.

There is no easy way to be successful. Content is king. If you desire success then you have to compile a body of works that has is both popular and voluminous. Be a John Grisham of your genre. Write all the time and learn to write what people want o read.
Quality, quantity and marketability are the key factors that never change.
I recently printed out all my articles and stuck the pages on the bookshelf behind my desk.
The small file looked so inconsequential next to the volumes of my favorite authors.
Like the rest of you, I have my work cut out for me too.

Amazon.com Widgets

Is Amazon a godsend for publishers?

2008-03-13T12:34:00.003+11:00

Publishers have entertained a rocky relationship with Google Adsense for the last few years.
Google has confused and frustrated us with their confusing rules handed out to advertisers and publishers.

Frustrated web site owners have endured lower click revenues, convoluted service terms and irrelevant advertising content in order to make a success of being a Google Adsense publisher.

In spite of its shortcomings Google has far outflanked the competition for advertising space.

Unlike the most of the competition, Google has won the minds of publishers with its "get paid for clicks" program.
Lately business for Google's Adsense program has reached
a plateau. Site visitors are clicking less. Google advertising revenue is flat.
Publishers are looking around for a new advertising revenue earner.

I recently joined Amazon as an affiliate.
Amazon is different to Adsense because visitors to your site have to buy something from Amazon in order for you to earn money.
Browsing an ad for further information and then closing the page will not earn you any money.
The task at hand may appear daunting but further examination reveals Amazon is a creative advertising tool that puts control of creativity in the hands of the publisher.
A few days ago I posted a niche article on Filipino music.
I was able to use one of Amazon’s ready made widgets to list a few of the CDs recorded by Filipino artists.
This widget brightens up the post and is totally relevant to the topic.
One of the most exciting aspects of Amazon is that you can enter the ad inside your actual post. The ad then appears only for that post which makes it ideal for Blogs. This is quite a different approach to Adsense where the ads appear on the side of all the pages.

Amazon.com Widgets

What Are You Going To Do When The Recession Hits?

2008-03-10T20:18:00.000+11:00

If it is not here already then it is on the way. I am talking about the world recession that is going to put a nasty dent in our lifestyle.

I am talking about the recession that will engulf our lives and threaten to repossess our mortgaged homes.

Share markets are tumbling. Blue chip businesses are still just hinting about what is to come.

An ill wind is brooding discontent. The leaves on the trees tremor in nervous anticipation.

How will you insulate your life against the wolf approaching the doorstep?

If you are reading this then you are already into blogging or reading blogs, or you are steeped into the digital world in some manner.

How will you survive the lifestyle change the next era will usher in?

When the cash reserves dissipate how will you improvise?

I will bury my woes by sinking further into the surreal world of my notebook pc.

As cash strapped citizen I will look for a better life in virtual games such as “Second Life”.

I will stuff my sinking share portfolio documents into the bottom drawer of my wardrobe and cover them with the happier colors of my sports socks.

I will become a superhero in the game of “Crysis” and use my powerful weapons to fight virus toting aliens who seek to take over our imminently recessionary world.
My world will be imaginary where reality is blurred.
Only the online world will exist and it will wash away the harshness

When the winds of discontent once again turn and leave us to return to affluence, I will once again draw the curtains across and gaze upon the new opportunities that await us.

Why I like Filipino Music.

2008-03-09T17:49:00.003+11:00

It seems that my ipod is always playing Filipino music these days.

Whenever I visit a new country, I pick up a couple of CDs featuring local talent. I have done this all of my traveling life because as a music lover I am always searching for new and inspiring music.
In most cases these purchases get a couple of plays and then sit on the shelf gathering dust.
I think it is quite difficult to enjoy music that is foreign sounding to one who is not used to new rhythms and languages.
Folk instruments can sound harsh and untrained to ears that have never heard them before.
I find difficulty appreciating music from Thailand, Cambodia and The Middle East but that is not to say that that they don’t have fine musical heritages.
As an Australian my musical tastes have been always steeped into blues, country and jazz genres but Filipino music has somehow penetrated my senses and it ranks among my favorites.

My first encounter with Pinoy music was ten years ago. .I was holidaying in The Philippines in a place called Puerto Galera.
At night I switched on the radio to listen to the local talent.

The first song that made an impression on me was Halik by a band called Aegis. They were just starting their career and were storming up the charts.

I remembered the name and when I mentioned the band to a vendor, he produced a copy of the album on a cassette for me to purchase. That cassette got played to death over the years, right up until the time I replaced it with the CD version.

In 1998 I never really knew much about the band only that they were an all female rock band except for one member.
Their voices were fantastic and that’s all that I knew about them.

About a year ago I decided to look them up on youtube and I found a few videos featuring Aegis.
Damn it. They were so good and funny. I made up my find to see them next time I was in Manila.
I got in contact with their manager who gave me their gig dates and when I arrived in Manila I ventured out to the outer suburb of Las Pinas to see one of their shows.
They did not disappoint. Comedy clubs may seem like an unlikely choice of venues for a rock band but it was worth waiting around till they came on at midnight.

Before I forget here is a link to my Filipino Music Blog http://walletss.blogspot.com/

To be continued.

Amazon.com Widgets

Self Censorship. Is It Necessary Sometimes?

2008-03-09T09:56:00.000+11:00

A few years ago the responsibility for publishing and censorship rested with the mainstream media of newspapers, radio and television.
In a world where any one of us can publish to the masses, these responsibilities have been passed to us.

There are times when we want to express our thoughts and honest opinions on a particular topic that we have very definite opinions on.

The writer wants to be honest and to the point with his readers, but in certain instances the topic is explosive and embroiled in controversy.
At the least this honesty can offend others and at the worst it can lead to an escalation into violence.

I recently was involved in an online discussion where I put forward some rather forthright views on a particular topic. This topic concerned a country where I had spent some time and formed an opinion on.
Problems occurred when my comments aroused the ire of the Filipinos who were reading my posts.
My posts concerned my views on corruptive forces plaguing the Philippines.

I found myself shouted down because according to the contributors to the discussion, no foreigner could point the finger at the weaknesses and failings of their country unless he had experienced the hardships as an inhabitant.

I went to great lengths to explain that my posts were based on my own observations and experiences.
The overwhelming response from readers was that I should consider the ramifications of what I write.
I am the first one to admit that I tend to focus on the negative because it makes for interesting reading.

Do I have a responsibility to balance negative comments with the positive?

On one side I had my personal experiences and observations and on the other side I had the responsibility of not portraying The Philippines in a bad light. The fact is that I enjoy my time there and portraying the Philippines as a “no go” country to visit was not my intention.

It seems that there is a rule that foreigners do not have the right to criticize, and Filipinos simply do not like foreigners to make judgments.
Perhaps they are right?
The fact is that negative posts affect the standing of their country in international eyes and that the writer should consider the big picture.
Although my rantings would hardly cause ripples on a large scale, I can see that sometimes the enticement of writing something controversial should be balanced against the harm a foreigner can cause to industries such as tourism and international labor markets.

Internet Explorer Sucks Big Tme. Internet Explorer 8 Released.

2008-03-07T16:43:00.001+11:00

I have been working hard on my Blog for the last three months and I don't have much time to waste with software that wastes my time.
Sadly Microsoft's browser Internet Explorer is doing just that and consequently I have now more or less switched to Firefox.

Microsoft's standards have slipped since Bill Gates lost interest in the company and Internet Explorer now languishes behind Firefox in terms of functionality.

It was only yesterday that I decided to make Firefox my default browser.

Currently I am spending all my spare time updating and promoting my Blog. There are a couple of sites that I spend hours on each day. One is entrecard and the other is twitter.
These are cutting edge sites and Internet Explorer cannot accommodate them.
The back button does not work on either of these two sites.

Hey Microsoft guys. .Have you fallen asleep?
Don’t expect any good reviews if you can’t fix your problems.

I remember downloading Internet Explorer 7 some time ago but it was so buggy that I had to reinstall Internet Explorer 6.
Apparently Microsoft is beginning to understand the depth of their problems because they have released Internet Explorer 8.
This browser has a compatibility mode. It seems a bit amateurish for Microsoft to have to have this feature at all.

Too Many Faulty Xbox Consoles

2008-03-06T16:10:00.001+11:00

Last week I found myself with some extra cash in my pocket and decided to finally buy an Xbox gaming console.

There was a special advertised by Dick Smith superstores where the Xbox was packaged with a game and a power pack.

I had been holding off buying till a good deal came along.

The advertised package sounded tempting so I drove down to the nearest store branch and told the salesman what I wanted to buy.

The salesman checked the stock levels on the computer and went to retrieve one from the stock room.

He returned shortly and informed me that there were four units in stock but they were all faulty and had been returned by customers

When I asked if the Xbox 360 had a lot of store returns, he told me that they get lots of returns of faulty Xboxes.

I went back and did some more research on the internet and found similar comments from an EB Games manager who admitted that Xbox consoles had a much more hardware problems than Nintendo or Playstation.

The reason has now become clear. Microsoft does not own anything in the console.

Unlike Sony and Nintendo, where everything is 100% Sony and Nintendo respectively, the Xbox is a hodgepodge of different manufacturers bundled into a package that suffers from hardware compatibility issues.

Having heard these admissions from stores who have first hand knowledge, I decided that my six hundred bucks deserves better and I will hold off and buy a Sony Playstation or Nintendo wii as soon as a good deal comes along.

The Culture Of Corruption

2008-03-04T20:50:00.001+11:00

“Why do you think the culture of corruption is so endemic in Philippine society? Is it because of poverty? Is it a Filipino culture?”

The culture of corruption is strong in other Asian countries not just The Philippines.

The cruel reality is that even though corruption is prevalent in countries such as Thailand and Vietnam, their economies and standards of living are advancing at a rapid rate.
The Philippines is not faring well under the same constraints.

The Marcos era has passed and yet somehow the people have been duped into falling once again for similar models. Estrada has come and gone. He is now free.
It seems Arroyo did a tradeoff with him for her power grab.
It still amazes me that Imelda Marcos is free.
The world outside The Philippines does not comprehend how a wicked and unrepentant first lady can be a free person after all that has transpired.

Poverty will always breed some degree of corruption. The only way to stem corruption at least among the lesser power brokers is to improve social resources.
This can’t be done if there is no money for social welfare and a turnaround is not going to happen any time soon.

There will have to come a point when revisionists see PP1 and PP2 as failures.

The way things are deteriorating PP3 is a forgone conclusion.
PP3 must see a complete restructuring of the administration. It must breed transparency and accountability.
No ifs and no buts.

MBK Department Store Bangkok. Be Careful of Being Ripped Off.

2008-03-03T11:15:00.000+11:00

Some things never change. I remember years ago when Hong Kong was a great place to shop for electronics.
Vendors had a reputation for being cagey when dealing with tourists shopping for electronic bargains.
It seems similar practices still exist today and I found evidence of this at another famous shopping area in Bangkok.
MBK is a huge mall in central Bangkok that is well frequented by tourists.
The fourth floor of MBK is devoted to electronics and mobile phones.

At first glance everything seems fine. As you walk past the vendors and inquire about the products on your short list, you think you have found some bargains.
Prices of well known brand names are much cheaper here than in other places.
Well at least that is what you think until you return to one of the vendors who quoted you a really low price on that mp3 player.

You take out your wallet and are ready to handover your hard earned money and just before you hand it to the vendor, you ask to check the contents of the box.
When the box is opened you notice there is no charger or manual inside.

You think that maybe the vendor forgot to put the manual and charger back in the box but no.
The vendor tells you that if you want the manual and charger you will have to pay extra.
Your bargain has just gone down the drain.
You argue that the charger and manual are part of the product but the vendor slyly shakes his head
Be careful of vendors at MBK. If they can get you to hand over your cash before you check the exact contents, you will find yourself ripped off.
Not every vendor in MBK is dishonest but many will take advantage of you if you drop your guard.

Pinoys Fighting Corruption

2008-03-02T21:30:00.000+11:00

Ok Pinoys. Let’s be realistic. You will not succeed in stamping out corruption by changing one corrupt administration for another.
I am trying to use some lateral thinking.

Why focus on the top hierarchy when corruption can be seen so easily in the lower echelons?

When do pretexts of being business minded give way to the realization that each one of us plays out his part in the grand scheme of corruption?

When does a bible reading Pinoy who is in a privileged position stop kidding himself into believing that god would understand he is only trying to survive?

What about when a schoolteacher complains about the administration but at the same time accepts bribes to give good marks?

What about when a policeman pulls up a taxi driver for a farcical on the spot fine and still wears his uniform with pride?
It is up to every single person to disentangle himself from the web before pointing the finger.
Corruption is only relative to positioning of power. The only difference between the above examples and The Philippine administration is the price.

Until Filipinos can resist the lure of ill-gotten rewards, even in the face of poverty, there will never ever be a better Philippines.

Airlines Ripping Off Customers.

2008-03-01T20:28:00.000+11:00

I am getting a bit tired of the bad service I am getting from the airlines.
It is one thing to be penalized for mucking them around at the last minute, but why should a customer be penalized for mistakes that the airlines make?

Mileage Points, Frequent Flyer Points or whatever you want to call them is something that is earned by travelers and is not a gift or favor from the airlines.
I am a member of three frequent flyer schemes and have had arguments with two of them.

The first was with Thai Air. I was peeved when I found I was not credited some miles that were omitted from my account.
When I received the statement and noticed that miles were not credited for one of my trips, I rang them and was told that I had to send in my two boarding passes with a letter.

I informed them that I still had a copy of my ticket but only one boarding pass could be found but they refused to give me the full points credit.
Begrudgingly I accepted their decision and as luck would have it I later found the missing boarding pass and contacted Thai Air to claim the missing points.

They told me that it was too late to do anything about it.
I don’t why they felt the need to cheat me. As far as I was concerned I had sufficient proof but they preferred to deny me rather than offer me fair service.
I have never flown with them since.

More recently, I have experienced problems with Philippine Airlines.
Upon checking my online statement I noticed that they had also forgotten to credit me with some miles. I went through my file box and dug out the copy of the electronic ticket pertaining to that date.
I rang Philippine Airlines thinking all that was needed was for me to quote my ticket number to them and the missing miles would be updated on the phone.

According to the voice on the phone, this was not possible.
Instead I was advised to use the online facility to claim the points. I filled in all the missing spaces and then clicked return and promptly got an email from Mabuhay Miles.
The mail said that the online submission was not successful and I would have to print out a form and send it off to them, enclosing all copies of ticket and boarding passes.

At this stage I have located the copy of the ticket and three of the four required boarding passes. One boarding pass is still missing
I will post these off to Philippine Airlines on Monday.

Guess who will blow their stack if Philippine Airlines don’t give me full credit for the missing points?
One needs to bear in mind that the missing miles points was an error by them not by me and I have better things to do than be on the back foot for a mistake that was not mine in the first place.

Obese People To Pay For Two Seats On A Plane.

2008-02-28T17:42:00.000+11:00

I have just come back from an overseas trip and endured eight hours on a plane sitting sideways in my seat.
The reason was that I was wedged between two tremendously fat guys whose torsos did not fit properly in their seats.

I was irritated when I sat in my designated seat and found myself seated next to the first very fat man.
I mean he was huge. His shoulders were so big that they overlapped six inches into my seat.
His flabby side bits were pressed into my side.
I never could have dreamed that a second similarly huge guy would take the aisle seat next to me.
Here was me stuck in the middle with these two fat guys with their blubber pushing into my body.

Do you think there was anything I could do to prevent this from happening?
Not a dam thing.

I anxiously called for a flight attendant and asked if there was an empty seat elsewhere on the plane, but the answer was no.

There was nothing I could do but spend the next eight hours twisted sideways at an uncomfortable angle while the fat guys on both sides invaded my confines.

Has the world gone mad?
Are the airlines too politically correct to say what needs to be said?

If obscenely obese people need to take up other people’s space on a plane, then force them to buy two tickets.
Weigh them as you would luggage. If you have reasonable limits for luggage then why not have weight standards for passengers?
I don’t ever again want to have to spend eight hours on a plane squashed by blubber and lard.
If the passenger is so overweight that he can’t sit in a single seat without spilling over into a second seat, then make him pay for two seats.
This is much fairer than forcing the regular sized passenger to subsidize these
hippos, by allowing them to invade your space.

Is Blogrush Worth It?

2008-02-27T12:42:00.001+11:00

I have recently subscribed to Blogrush. The widget is now displayed on my blog. After watching their very impressive videos I decide to enlist the services of Blogrush in order to boost traffic to my site.

At first I was apprehensive because I have Google adsense ads on my blog and I didn’t want any drama from Google. As it turned out, Google does not expressly forbid the use of Blogrush so I have taken the opportunity to try it out.

The system works like this. You register and place a code on your blog. Blogrush monitors your blog and when it decides that your blog meets their minimum content standards your widget springs to life.

The widget consists of links to other blogger’s sites. When visitors come to your blog and see the widget they can click on a headline which takes them to another blog without leaving your page. This second blog is opened in a new browser. Each time this widget is loaded it will contain 5 clickable headlines that form part of their "Cooperative Syndication Network."

Traffic is stimulated by virtue of the fact that when a reader clicks on a link in the widget, the click is recorded and you earn credits.
You then appear on the widgets of other bloggers and hopefully they will find your headlines interesting and then click on your blog.
Syndication credits are earned based on the following formula: You earn credits on your own traffic using a 1:1 ratio. (One credit for each time the widget is served.) You then earn credits based on your referrals traffic (and their referrals traffic) through 10 generations of referrals based on the following ratios: 1st and 2nd generation (i.e. your direct referrals and their direct referrals) 1:1, 3rd - 6th generation = 1:4 ratio, 7th - 10th generation = 1:8 ratio. After all the math is calculated, there is a surplus of 1 headline space (5 spaces in each widget load) for every 10 that are served. So 10% of all the headline space is reserved for BlogRush itself to sell or use.

Is it working for me?
At the time of writing this post it is too early to say.
I joined Blogrush less than week ago so I will reserve my opinion till a later stage.

Buying a Laptop in Thailand.

2008-02-27T10:48:00.001+11:00

There are pros and cons for buying notebook computers in foreign countries. Price and service need to be weighed up in order to arrive at a decision.

I have bought my last three laptops in Thailand even though I live in Australia.

These purchases have been made over a period of six years.

Why buy a laptop overseas?

There are plenty of models to choose from in Australia but manufacturers release different models in Asia compared to the Australian market.
It has always struck me that the Asian models are a better deal than the models I see here locally.
The first laptop I bought was a Fujitso Life Book.

This was an ultra mobile notebook that I liked so much when I played with in one of the shops in Pantip Plaza.
It was one thousand dollars cheaper than the price in Australia.
The reason for that was that ultra portable notebooks have never been a huge seller in Australia because consumers here do not have the problems of space constraints facing our Asian neighbors.

When I bought the second one four years ago it was the only the model that had a 512meg ram memory and an Athlon 2000 processor... It was a Compaq Pressario and it allowed me to play any game that was on the market at that time.
The notebook was not on the market in Australia. For some strange reason all notebook distributors here were selling notebooks with 256 ram memory.

My third notebook purchased in Thailand was an Acer Aspire 5580.which I bought about 15 months ago in Pantip Plaza.
It came with 512 ram but the service department upgraded it with an extra I gig of ram.
The service from IT City was great. They even tested out the latest games on various laptops so I could purchase the best configuration for my purposes.
I have always like gaming and thought it a waste of money to have a separate game console or desktop to handle the power demands of games.
The Aspire came with a Centrino Duo T5500 processor and a NVIDIA GEOFORCE 7300 Graphics card.
At the time of purchase this was a powerful configuration.
I only buy from stores that are part of the VAT refund scheme of Thailand.
I fill out a form get and get a VAT tax refund of 7% at the airport on leaving the country.

Asus Eee PC Not Underpowered

2008-02-25T11:10:00.001+11:00

Don’t be fooled by the specs of Asus Eee PC. It is easy to under rate the power of the machine by judging it by the Celeron 900 processor which at first glance may seem underpowered.

I am an owner of an Asus Eee and now that I have used it for a few months I have come to realize that the processor works extremely well.

The Asus Eee does look a bit like a toy but looks can be deceiving.

My typical applications are running the Asus with tunes, downloading from limewire, transmitting streamed music to my Apple Airport Express and uploading my blog.
I can multi task all these without much problem because fortunately the Asus Eee comes with 512 meg of ram.
My preference is to run it with Windows XP rather than the Linux software that it came with it. If you are thinking about running Vista, you will find that it won’t work well.
The most telltale aspect of the Eee is the amount of scrolling that is involved.

In order to view the entire page, you are continually scrolling across and down.

I store all my applications on the internal 4 gig hard drive and on a 4 gig SD card which I leave permanently installed in the card slot.

Backup of extra files and storage is provided for by the use of storage are on my ipod.

The Swagman Hotel in Manila

2008-02-23T19:25:00.000+11:00

When you are visiting a relatively dangerous city such as Manila, it is important to find a safe haven in a city that can be very unforgiving for the uninitiated.

The Swagman Hotel in Ermita gets thumbs up for one main reason.

It is a place of safe refuge for the Western traveler who doesn’t mind paying a bit extra for the services that The Swagman Hotel provides.

When I visited Manila the first time, I was advised by those who went before me to book a room at The Swagman Hotel and to use all their transport services.

Not wishing to have my vacation spoiled by unfortunate incidents that could have been avoided, I decided to heed the advice of experienced travelers.

The rooms at The Swagman are really quite poor compared to other hotels in the same area.

To be honest, I only stayed there once and soon found better places to stay.
The Swagman Hotel does have some other favorable aspects to it and these draw me back to as a regular stop.
They have a great coffee shop called The Outback Café and this Australian themed coffee shop has pretty good food although it is expensive by Philippine Standards.

The Philippines is not famous for their great food, so it is comforting to be able to order meals similar to what you would get at home.

The Swagman also offers their bus service to the airport, and for an expensive price, you can even arrange to have them pick you up from the airport on your arrival.

Taxi drivers in Manila can be aggressive and often take advantage of inexperienced tourists so my advice is to take advantage of their bus service and avoid the pitfalls of dealing with tax drivers.
Fly The Bus is a private bus line that has a base in The Swagman Hotel. The buses ferry visitors to the popular city of Angeles three times a day, and while you can elect to take public transport for less than half the price, the relative comfort and safety of Fly The Bus makes it worthwhile, especially if you have bulky luggage with you.
They provide free and reliable WIFI at their coffee shop.

Internet Connections on Long Plane Flights.

2008-02-21T19:03:00.000+11:00

I want an internet connection on plane flights.
It seems that despite advances in technology, internet connectivity on airplane flights has not materialized.
They have been talking about providing internet connections on long plane flights for several years.
In the modern world there are not many places that you can’t find internet connectivity. Sadly plane travel has remained on of those places.

Qantas has publicized the fact that they will take delivery of some new planes this year which will have WIFI internet connectivity and also SMS technology.

If past experiments are anything to go by, then don’t hold your breath.
There have been previous test runs with other air carriers.

Boeing launched a foray into the market in 2004, and along the way signed up a number of big name carriers as customers, including airlines from Asia, Europe and North America.
The service was short lived with Boeing determining that the market for on board internet connectivity had not yet matured.
Virgin America and American Airlines have promised a series of test runs this year.
They will provide laptop internet access as well as webmail in their back seat entertainment section.

Let’s hope that the proposed internet service will not be another stalled attempt to revitalize the so far unsuccessful efforts to connect plane passengers.

One of the big negatives that the new adopters have to contend with is the effect terrorism has had on airline regulations.

Just how airlines will be able to connect their passengers in the wake of current terrorist
Incursions, is a question that remains unanswered,

Apple Airport Express Review. From A Guy Who Bought One

2008-02-20T14:26:00.003+11:00

I know The Apple Airport Express has been around for a while but I have only recently bought one.

Initially I was going to spend a bit extra and buy The Apple TV.

The reviews of Apple TV listed too many limitations like lackluster file support for non-itunes video formats; oversimplified remote and no built-in DVD player.

I was put off by the lack of video formats that were supported so I concluded that at the end of the day it was more practical to hire a DVD from the local video store.

The Apple Airport Express on the other hand is a great product.

For those who love their music and want a product that delivers flawless wireless music from their itunes browser direct to their HIFI, then The Airport Express is perfect.

The compact unit is slightly smaller than a deck of cards and includes a 10/100 Ethernet port, an integrated 802.11g access point, a USB print server, and a mini stereo jack so that you can use to connect a sound system to your wireless network.
The Airport Express only works with itunes, but that’s fine with me because I am very satisfied with itunes
I recently sold over 1000 CDS and before I disposed of them I converted them to mp3s which are now stored on an external Hard Drive.
.
My music library has grown to about 20,000 songs and itunes can find a song in a second.
I find it very relaxing to stream my music from my laptop while I am propped up on the couch.
It beats rummaging through a heap of CDS looking for a favorite track.
I have no hesitation in recommending The Apple Airport Express as a music streamer.

Pirated Movies And Software In Asia

2008-02-20T10:02:00.001+11:00

Pirated movies, games, software and even pornography are a huge industry in many parts of Asia.

Piracy is like a cancer. It seems there is no cure for it.

Record companies and Movie companies have millions to spend on anti piracy measures but they can’t seem to prevent piracy from flourishing.

When I travel to Bangkok, I like to visit Pantip Plaza, which is the major electronics hub of Bangkok.

I have been shopping there for many years and can bear witness to the huge amount of pirated movies, software, games and music that is being sold in Pantip Plaza.

About half of the five floor complex is devoted to the selling of pirated material.

The system works like this. There are dozens of small booths set up in the complex where the vendors display the covers of the DVDS.

The actual disks are kept in a different part of the building.

They have touts working for them. The touts entice the shoppers to browse the new movie releases. After browsing the movies for sale, the shoppers are offered pornography, games and business software.

The hottest item of software at the moment is Windows Vista.

It seems odd but many of the computer shops sell new computers without any operating system, and it is almost as if they are saying, don’t pay for a licensed operating system when you can get a working copy for pennies.

The sellers of pirated software at Pantip Plaza have their own network of security to warn their bosses of police raids.

Lookouts roam the lower floors of Pantip searching for police who are trying to catch the vendors red handed.

I asked a vendor if he was ever caught and he explained to me that the police can only prosecute if they catch you with the actual disks.

If you have the artwork covers but they can’t find the discs, then you have no case to answer for.

When a shopper places an order, he hands over his cash and told to come back in fifteen minutes.

The cost for a new release movie or software title is about two dollars

During that time, the pirated disks are brought over from some hidden location and then passed to the purchaser in a plain unmarked bag.

Pantip Plaza has been selling pirated material in this manner for years.

Amazingly the police never see fit to shut it down.

Dump Your Landline Phone And Switch To Wireless USB Modem

2008-02-18T10:24:00.002+11:00

I am just about to dump my landline. For the last few months I have been thinking about getting rid of my phone line but have been concerned with service issues.

There is nothing worse than being stuck with a service that does not perform like you expected and this major factor that has deterred me from changing to wireless connections.

My setup over the last few years has been to have my modem upstairs with a router directing the signal downstairs to my laptop.
The setup has worked well but because I spend three months a year overseas, I am losing money on two fronts.
Firstly I have to pay $50 per month even when I am away overseas.
Secondly I am paying about $35 per month for my landline rental that I hardly use.

It would be better for me to cancel my landline, change my mobile to a slightly higher plan, cancel my broadband and switch to a wireless USB modem.

USB modems have been around for a while. I tried some about a year ago but they were slow and expensive.

Up until recently you had to buy a USB modem and then find a data plan to suit your budget.
It was an all too expensive solution, however competition has livened up and consumers are now presented with an affordable and efficient solution.

The 3 network in Australia have a plan that offers customers 2 gigabytes of mobile downloads for $29 per month.
If you elect to take the plan on a 24 months contract, 3will give you the modem free.
You can buy he modem for $299 and then avoid the contract.

Nothing beats word of mouth advertising and my friend who has been using it for the last month claims it is fast and completely reliable.

http://www.three.com.au/cs/ContentServer?subId=1156241342637&homeId=1154931041257&c=Page&pagename=Three%2FPage%2FServiceTemplate&p=1155054450837&cid=1178581421058