Earth Day 2007

April 22 is Earth Day. On this day, I hope all of us can take a few moments from our busy lives to think about the health of Mother Earth. Mother Earth is sick.

The Eart is the only planet with conditions to sustain human life. The future of humanity depends upon the preservation of a healthy biosphere, with all its ecological systems, a rich variety of plants and animals, fertile soil, drinkable waters and breathable air. The protection of the Earth's vitality, diversity and beauty is our shared obligation.

Sadly, we have failed to live up to our obligation. For the past 200 years, since the beginning of Industrial Revolution, the world has evolved patterns of production and consumption which have caused environmental devastation, the depletion of natural resources and led to the extinction of species.

The increasing demand for and the use of fossil fuels, coal, oil and gas, to generate electricity, power vehicles and operate plants and machineries is touted as the biggest threat. The burning of fossil fuels produces carbon dioxide, about half of which is absorbed by the atmosphere. This causes glocal warming which in turn leads to Earth's climate change.

There is now near universal consensus that humanity are faced with the very real prospect of ecological disaster if we do not drastically reduce our emission of CO2 and find ways to reduce our dependent on fossil fuels.

The battle against global warming and climate change cannot be won by the actions of the Governments and businesses alone. Every individual human being must be aware of the dire straits and be infulenced by the urgency of the problem and we must be prepared to make sacrifices and adjustments to our lifestyles, our values and our attitude towards nature and Mother Earth.

For a start, we can aspire to lead simple lives rather than lives of conspicious consumption. When we make purchases, we can look for ebvironmentally certified products. Most of all, we need to learn to love Mother Earth and do our little part to help restore the balance between the human enterprise and the natural world.

global warming earth day

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Predict PageRank contest and make money!

It's contest time once again but I'm not running one, yet. I'm referring to Kumiko's "Predict My PageRank" contest, where bloggers who correctly predicts her PR ranking (next update coming soon, so I hope I'm not too late to submit my prediction) stands the chance to win US$30 and the 'money-can't-buy' opportunity to write a post and get published on her site on any topic that the winner chooses.

Yes, it's Kumiko, that feisty lady from Tokyo who live in her own pinkish world and who is on a divine quest to make money online. She just got banned from Adsense but this small hiccup (it's not even a setback) has got her all fired up and her divine quest will not be stop! On the contrary, she's finding new money making opportunities in the face of adversityand I'm expecting her to go on and do better in her post-adsense days ahead. Kudos to her unflinching fighting spirit! BLOG ON!!

For her contest, Kumiko is daring anyone to submit a prediction of PRzero and I'm tempted to go along this line as no one had done it. My heart says go for the dare, but my head says her blog is way too good to be PRzero. In conculsion, I'm going with my head and make a un-calculated bold prediction that Kumiko's blog will attain a PR6 ranking! Yeah, she's that good!

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Remodel, Blog & Win!

RemodelingMySpace.com (no relation to the teen-filled angst found on MySpace.com), an online home improvement and remodeling resource — is running a "Remodel, Blog & Win" contest starting from 1 March to 24 April 2007. Details are explained through a somewhat amusing "Getting started" video found on the official contest page.

Bloggers and website owners are encourage to send in entry of their home improvement project. It’s important to note that no project is too big or too small or too amateurish, and the same can be said about the budget.

What is a contest without the prizes? For this contest, Remodelingmyspace.com is offering a grand prize of US$5000 to the winning entry which will be judged on creativity in layout and design, best use of space and budget, how your showcase posted on your blog captivated your readers, so on and so forth.

Besides the grand prize, "People's Choice" award (US$1000) and "Random voter" award (US$250)are also up for graps! However, monetary prizes are only eligible for entrant who is a legal resident of the 50 United States and the District of Columbia, or a legal resident of Canada, excluding the residents of the Province of Quebec. Click here for full contest rules

For International entrants who are not eligible for the cash prizes, fret not, more benefits awaits us in joining this online contest. So wait no more, dust off those cover-alls, bring out the paint brushes, carpentry tools, and crank up your creative juices and join the contest now!

Have fun and good luck!

Free Blog review #4

The fourth installment of my free blog review campaign brings us to a blog touted as "observations of an aspiring internet marketeer" hosted by Mr Gary Lee who is a self-confessed Apple Whore!

Gary Lee lives in Southern California and currently work from home consulting a number businesses to drive more traffic to their site and also how to monetize that traffic wisely.

Similar to my Review Exchange campign started in March, Gary is offering a linkback promotion for reviewing his blog. So here I am, taking up his reciprocal offer. Gary's blog, only 2 months young, offers many useful 'need-to-know' online marketing news and tips, as well as blog monetization secrets and tricks.

Gary's blog is not all business. Besides offering tips on how to make money online, Gary also blogs about his love for Apple products and his gastronomical experiences. If you get tired reading the tons of marketing and blogging tips, and Apple gadgets do not happen to be your 'poison', then take a stroll down memory lane with Gary or hop over to read about his travelogue.

In conclusion, "observations of an aspiring internet marketeer" is a dynamic blog with future PR6 potential that offer its readers different topics to satify different segments of readers. Invest your time in this young blog, and you will be rewarded with riches in your knowledge!

free blog review

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Technorati Favourites Exchange Experiment (Update #1)

3 days after posting the Technorat Favourites Exchange experiment, I've been favourited by 28 members and received link love booster all round!

The success of this project is never in doubt from the word go. The speed in which the project took off (I have no way to verify but based on the 'faves' received, I would like to think it i spreading like wildfire in the blogosphere), and the spillover effect it had on the technorati rankings (courtsey of link love booster) of all participatig blogs must be quite AWESOME!

There is NO STOPPING the unrelentless charge of this Technorati 'train' and as the saying goes', "a rolling stone gathers no moss", so wait no more, jump on the bandwagon and start giving and collecting your Technorati Favourites by clicking

Posted below is a list of blogs that had exchanged faves with me and I'm linking them back, as promised and as my way to say thank you. Those blogs not link here at press time, I seek your kind patience and it will be updated soon. These links also act as a one-stop resource for new project member to kick-start your Technorati train.

EJ Cooksey
JAMEO TIPS - Valkrie Angles
Quasi fictional
foreignpersepctive - arnold
Christyscoffeebreak - Christy Z
Sexy in Red - Norlina
star500k
Home Based Business - Brian Pratt
millionnzdollars - Rob St. George
Brown Thoughts - Ariel Garcia
Money Conciousness - Nenad
Ant3eye - Anthony Tripodi
Shadowscope - Richard Miles
Beyong the gas
Fortune Watch - Robin Bal
The Sports Trader - Ray Atkins
Necessary Skills - Peter Haslam
smemon's blog - sean
digitalphocus - brendan
Manila Mom - Maia Jose
smartwealthyrich - Jonathan
Thoughts on the World - Simmons
walletrehab
Life In the Fast Lane - Deborah Petersen
the anitokid chronikos
rishiraj
Local Lingo
Planet Apex
smstoday
Somewhereoverthedebt - Sarah
tech lock - rahul
Our Journey - Cynthia
Sharing Everything in Life
Azhad
Techlivez.com
TechChee.com
The Frugal Momma
Filipino Entrepreneur
Show Me The Money - Gerri
Diet Recipe For Everyday - Cherry
Technacular - Vikas
Ordinary Folk - Mike
Blogtology
My head's Angol - Wanah
Sleeping Princess
Our Journey
i.ndustrio.us
Earn Money on the Web - Kent
Spark Minute - David Spark
Making Money through Internet
Blogs et IE
Techno Freak
Enkay Blog
Earn Money Online
40s Singleness - Lisa
Betshopboy

technorati favourites

Technorati Favourites Exchange Experiment

If you thought my link swap campaign to boost my technorati ranking was evil, you thought wrong! This exercise appears juvenile when compared to what Maki is scheming over at Dosh Dosh where he started a Technorati Favourites Exchange experiment aiming to break into the top 100 favourite blogs in Technorati! Definitely EVIL!

I'm all for this type of "I scratch your back, you scratch mine" programmes where bloggers help out fellow bloggers. Needless to say, I've added DoshDosh.com to my Technorati Favourites, and will systematically exchange favorites with all the interested participants of this experiment. So wait no more, jump on this bandwagon and join in this unique experiment.

Here are the steps you can take to get started:

1. Participate by Exchanging Favorites
This is fastest way to join the exchange program. Favorite my blog by clicking Add to Technorati Favorites and then leave your Technorati username and a link to favourite your blog in the comment page. I'll add your blog to my Technorati favourites once I see the link in the comment page.

2. Get a Link Back.
Link to this blog post with your post about this Technorati Favorites Exchange experiment.

These are the steps you need to take:
Create a post on your blog announcing that you are exchanging Technorati favorites. Prominently include a link to this post to indicate that there is a Technorati favourites and link exchange exchange going on here. Similarly, leave the url of your post in the comment page and I'll do a link swap to your blog as soon as I possibly can.

By linking here, you’ll send your readers to participate in this experiment and when I link back to you, the readers of this blog can visit your blog to trade favorites with you as well.
This is a targeted two-way arrangement and allows us to share traffic and readers with each other, and trust me, this will add some serious turbo charged booster to our technorati rankings!
If you are not comfortable to leave any links in the comment page, feel free to email me anytime.

Free Blog review #3

The celebration and holidays are over, it's back to another week of free blog review again.
To start off the week, my blog review takes me to a fabulous blog that I wanted to do some time ago but only got down to doing it now.

I'm referring to Christy's Coffee Break! It's header introduces the blog as "great contest every month" but in my opinion, Christy's Coffee Break had much more substance than just mere contests. Besides those contests, Christy's blog focus on "A Coffee Break Review" where she reviewed products, services, and companies. She also blog about her own experience of making money online, post constant stream of interesting articles here and here, and if those do not cut it with you, then Christy's 5 quick tips on becoming a better blogger is a must read for all newbie, like me.

As a fellow blogger, I draw valuable lessons from Christy's blog, one of which is to
DIVERSIFY
DIVERSIFY
DIVERSIFY
both in contents as well as revenue sources. One can never go wrong.

Visiting Christy's Coffee Break never fails to give me the relaxing feeling of having my coffee in a cafe, flipping the magazines and simply watching the wold pass by.

And if one coffee break review is not enough for you, Christy actually authors 3 other blogs (where and how she find the time really puzzles me) and they are The Reviewer, where products, companies, services, and web sites are reviewed, for business owners' who like a review of their companies, products or websites, and also for consumers who wish to post their review or experience in a company, product or service.

The next blog is titled "A Hint of Poetry", it is a site about poetry and writing. You will find poetry from around the world, poetry contests, and great writing advice. You are welcome to submit your own poetry for review and possible publication on the site. See the submission guidelines for more information.

The fourth blog that Christy authored is a fun blog for kids, titled "Just For Kids (and their parents!)". Just For Kids has great links to children's websites and great articles for parents to enjoy. Christy had callaboarated with Ezine Articles to provide useful articles for parents as well as for kids to help them in their growing up years. Kids can send in their drawings, pictures, and poetry for a chance to be published on Just For Kids. Find out more by reading "Send In Your Work."

There you have it, this free blog review of mine actually consist of 4 mini reviews all authored by the multi-talented Christy Zutautas. Be sure to drop by Christy's "cafe" for a coffee break...



free blog review

Painting Day

I moved into my current flat some 7 years ago, and the initial coat of paint is still intact. Some of the walls are in need of a fresh coat of paint, and a little home maintenance will go a long way to keeping my nest in tip top shape. The online home improvement and remodeling resource, RemodelingMySpace.com posted some useful and important pointers on how to find the right home painter. Since I'm not painting the entire house, I'll embark on a little Do-It-Myself mini home improvement poject. Today I'll start with painting the ceiling of the 2 bathrooms and that of the kitchen.

The can of paint only cost me $9.
The brush and paint holder tray were borrowed.


I've slotted in a plastic bag over the paint holder tray
for easy removal of left-over paint later on


Some 'before' pics of the stained ceiling shown here.



Oh, these stains are evil!


Let me wield my magic brush on the 'canvas'.



I'm getting the hang of it, but my neck is stiff and my arms are burning!


Now for the final assault. Surrender you dirty stains!
You have been completely surrounded!



Yes, finally completed! Compare this 'after' pic
with the 'before' pic posted above.

My first house painting project finally completed without much fanfare. I was awashed with a sense of satisfaction and expecting my neck and arms to go on strike tomorrow. I'm sure this paint job is nowhere near 'pro' standard, but for a first-timer like me, it will have to suffice.

Go With The Blow

There's not much you can do with soap bubbles, except blow them, watch them float about andvanish into thin air - unless you are Tom Noddy.

BUBBLE-BLOWING extraordinaire Tom Noddy shares 5 things about bubbles you probably never knew:

1. Bubbles burst not because they come into contact with a sharp object. It happens becausethey touch a dry surface. You can use a wet straw to gently pierce a bubble and you won't succeed in popping it.

2. Humidity is good for bubbles. If the weather or surrounding is too dry, the bubble solution vaporises more quickly, causing the bubble to burst.

3. A single soap bubble in the air is a near perfect sphere. Surface tension acts to minimise the form of the object, and the sphere is the most economical shape in nature - it uses theleast amount of surface area to contain a given volume.

4. Bubbles are not weightless. In a room with no air circulation at all, bubbles will dropto the ground in a straight line. You see them floating and drifting about only because theyare carried by moving air.

5. To catch hold of a bubble, don't place the blowing stick under the bubble. Part of the bubble,outside of the contact surface of the blowing stick, will inevitably come to rest on the drywrist area causing it to pop. Always use a wet stick and hold it from the top. Lots ofpractice is needed, like 30years?

Free Blog review - Batch 1

From today onwards, my "Free Blog Review" posting will undergo some changes. Instead of writing review to individual blog, I'll do mini review in batches of up to 5 blogs (max), depending on my sighting of interesting blogs in the blogosphere. The basic rules and objective of this campaign remains unchanged,

The reviews are as follows (not in order of preference):

1. Dawayne of Dwayne's World had earlier dropped a comment in my post for a review exchange, I'm honoured to oblige, albeit a little belated. Dwayne blog about many different topics, but mainly about how to make money online, useful tips on how to write simple, effective post and how to keep the blogging fire burning can also be found.
   
   The poems that Dwayne posted brought much joy to my reading, my favourite being "RAIN". His blog is worth repeated visits base on the quality of his poems.
   
2. 
   Acquirewisdom is an interesting blog that focus on posting words of wisdom or inspirational quotes, like Leadership, Seizing Opportunity and Success, to name a few.
   The blog title with its short write ups already sets the tone of what is to come."Wisdom lies not in the amount of knowledge acquired but in the degree of its application. We only live once. But if we live properly, once is enough" Very meaningful, isn't it?
   In a nutshell, Acquirewisdom is indeed an acquired taste.
   
3. BLOGGER LOUNGE is a relatively new blog that was started less than 2 months ago, but do not take its newness for its weakness as its popularity is evidence in the speed at which its Technorati ranking shot up overnight! BL touts itself as a place learn and share the latest trends, tips, strategies, for those willing to become part of a new breed of creatives and entrepreneurs.
   The most impressive feature that makes Blogger Lounge stands out is its uniquely designed logo and amazing icons! Its owner George C must be a damn fine web designer, although his background was not published in his profile page. He has just started a blog contest where the Top commentator will win (no prizes for guessing right)an amazing free logo design for his/her blog, by George of course!
   His blog post Top Blog Branding series teaches the essential basics of blog branding and one of the techniques is via unique design, which is his expertise! Blogger Lounge is one hell of a website for bloggers, new and seasoned, to learn, to contribute, and to participate!

blog review