My cutie sis and her hubby had been busy with shopping for their baby’s needs weeks before the expected date of birth. It has been exhausting on her part since they had to visit the malls and find the items on their shopping list. She had also been searching the net and doing research on some items new to her (it’s her first time to be a mom).
There’s another way of doing a product research online, which my cutie sis could have used. It’s utilizing the power of sharing information that a wiki provides as a guide to purchasing. This is by using Shopwiki.com which is a wiki-based shopping resource site providing information and guide to consumers. The advantage of Shopwiki.com is that consumers have a say, they can edit or update the content about the product thus giving firsthand unbiased information to shoppers. For instance, searching for ‘babies and toddlers’ returns a page with results on many categories such as baby care, accessories, learning and more. You can be more specific and add more keywords to narrow down your search on a specific item, for example ‘baby car seats between $200 and $300’.
Doing research and knowing what others have to say is important in shopping especially when buying new gadgets, appliances, apparel and other products that need to be used for a long time. For quality conscious shoppers, safety is an important feature for them especially with new parents who need to buy the essentials for their little one.
Just to give a quick update and good news to those who are quite apprehensive about the PayPal (Philippine based accounts) to UnionBank funds transfer. Last week, I have successfully transferred my PayPal funds to my UnionBank savings account (e-Wallet) twice already, and the amount was reflected after three days which was quite fast compared to my usual PayPal (Thai based account) to Thai local bank transfer which typically reflects on my bank after a week.
I have documented all about my application and other related matters in my post ‘UnionBank and PayPal processing: Two thumbs up!’ for those of you who are interested to know more about it.
Related posts:
Some PayPal updates
Good news for PayPal Philippines
Robots, Jedis and Lightsabers, stuffed toys, Barbie dolls, teddy bears, Legos, toy guns, miniature dragons and dinosaurs - all these things and more are what you can find in a kid’s world, and most of them are influenced by pop culture and media. I remember how my big sis’ kids would beg their mom and dad to buy them swords to play with after watching the movie The Chronicles of Narnia. They wanted to imagine themselves as the kids from Narnia, battling the witch and her minions. Whether they’re using toy guns or swords or just playing virtual war games on the computer, I guess most kids don’t realize the reality of hurting others or the sorrow death brings, they just relate it with adventure and fun. In a kid’s world, anything is possible, like having nine lives or being invincible.
Nowadays, more high tech toys are created, not just for kids but for grown-ups as well who still love to play around. For instance, you have those high powered green laser pointers which could fulfill any Star Wars buff’s fantasy as a Lightsaber for real. I’ve browsed over some laser pointers at Tech Lasers (http://www.techlasers.com) and their Crossfire and Infiniti green lasers could pass as a Jedi’s Lightsaber.
These are not your ordinary laser pointers, and they come in four types – green lasers, yellow lasers, blue lasers and infrared lasers – with the high powered ones definitely not for kids since they are powerful enough to burn, melt and cut some materials and should be used with extreme caution and handled with laser safety gear. Some of them are even used for military operations such as their Enforcer and Ranger series. As for me, their 15mW Infiniti laser pointer would be perfect for future training projects and definitely safe for playing around too.
The week has been filled with anticipation and suspense, of waiting for things to materialize, at the same time hoping for other things not to happen so soon. But life goes on and there are so many things to be thankful for. Here are some of them:
1. I am grateful for life’s lessons. That I have realized some important things about myself, and I am feeling much better now than the previous days.
2. For the prayers and encouragement from family and friends. Doesn’t it feel good when somebody tells you he/she is praying for you?
3. For the good health of my parents, that they still have the energy and enthusiasm for their hobbies and interests.
4. For the safe travel of my Mom, she arrived early today from Manila. I miss my Mom so I’m glad she’s back after two weeks of being away from home. Thank God that her trip in Manila (processing of papers for my techie bro's condo) was a success, so she was able to go home earlier within this week.
5. For the unexpected blessings and answered prayers regarding my finances. This month I am really struggling with money matters and I’m so glad God made a way; a transaction was completed sooner than expected. He truly provides for our needs in His own time.
Thank God for all the blessings! Thanks to Crystal for hosting this meme until mid-November. If you want to share your blessings weekly, you may join the Thankful Thursday meme too.
Keeping a journal where you write down important (and not so important) events in your life can be therapeutic especially when you’re going through some tough times. What used to be some private collection of ideas and thoughts whether brought about by disappointments or happiness has been made more public with blogging.
For instance, I’ve just read about a blogger from the Thoughts.com community who posts daily regarding the medical condition of his sick child. It provides some sort of therapy for him, aside from keeping a useful record of his child’s condition, and providing information for the therapists when they check out his blog. I find it inspiring to read about his optimism and strength even though he sees his child suffering and struggling to survive. His posts have been widely read in the Thoughts.com community and other members are inspired with this strength. He also finds encouragement and some helpful ideas from their comments.
Thoughts.com is an online community where members share their experiences and ideas through their own free online journal where they can blog, upload photos and videos and podcasts. The site has a user rating system which allows members to rate each other and the highest rated posts get to be featured in the Top 5 recent posts as popular posts. This is a great way to read up on quality posts rather than wade through lots of blogs in finding the best ones to browse through.
Ever since I have subscribed to RealTravel, my email inbox gets some updates on what’s the latest in the travel world via their weekly newsletter. Aside from getting the latest deals on popular destinations, and catching up on the latest travel news, I also get to read up on exciting adventures from fellow RealTravelers in their own travel blogs. Some of these blogs are the Editors Picks and are featured in the main RealTravel blog which includes the best articles, stories, photos, updates and recommendations from among the RealTravelers.
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I am not sure what to call myself as a blogger because I just blog about ideas and life experiences I want to share. Through blogging, I am glad to have made friendships and interact with others in a bigger venue that is the blogosphere. And with my recent blogsy ventures, my blog has become an assortment of personal musings, trivia and information. So when Leen tagged me with being a passionate blogger, it gave me a different perspective about myself, not only as a blogger but more so as a person. I consider myself passionate when it comes to things I believed in and care about, and I guess it also shows in my blog.
So now, I am tagging anybody who reads this and considers herself/himself a passionate blogger. If you live by the Passionate Blogger’s Creed, then you are a passionate blogger! Visit the Passionate Blogger’s site for the image code which you can use on your blog’s homepage or sidebar. Leave a message so they can include your site in their blogroll. You can leave me a message if you have placed the badge in your site, so I can check it out too.
Happy blogging everyone!
While most companies and organizations rely heavily on copyrighting their products to protect intellectual property, the culture of collaborative sharing brought about by open source systems is a step forward in software development. For instance, the Linux system is the product of a collaboration of experts in its development and advancement, providing considerable advantage to software companies and users. To protect Linux from threats from companies that might assert their patents against this open source system, the Open Invention Network (OIN) was formed which makes available royalty-free patents to companies that agree not to claim their patents against the Linux system.
OIN members include big industry names in software development such as Barracuda Networks (Barracudanetworks dot com), manufacturer of spam filter and other network security devices. Barracuda is an active open source advocate, contributing expertise and donating resources to open source communities to support and fund development. Their spam filter appliances are Linux based, and their technology also uses other open source applications as well, to provide affordable and user-friendly products.
Having the element of joy in living is a proactive state of mind, a result of trusting Somebody who’s bigger than your problems and who knows you inside out. Isn’t it liberating to be able to laugh at one’s self - at our own silliness and mistakes instead of drowning in misery and self pity, and to have the nerve to smile at situations that didn’t go as planned? Being joyful means to appreciate and be thankful for the little things, because they are actually the unanticipated keys that lead to bigger things. To have joy within, despite things turning upside down, this is real strength.
My recent disappointment with a certain money transfer service was mainly due to their not-so-helpful customer support. I did some transactions through their online system but they were not successfully processed, so I inquired about it through an email and they referred me to their company’s website, specifically their terms of service for reference. It didn’t help a bit with my questions, so I emailed again and was advised to contact their customer service by phone since they can’t provide more details in the mail. I browsed over their site and learned that their customer support numbers can’t be accessed toll-free from my area. I finally lost enthusiasm about their service and decided to try other options. That just goes to show how most probable sales are lost due to poor customer support or simply because nobody was there to accommodate to a potential client’s or visitor’s inquiries in real time.
While most websites provide FAQs (frequently asked questions), Help sections, video walkthroughs and demos, nothing beats the assistance to customers provided by a live online or support chat. They not only answer some questions and address certain issues in real time; a live chat support assures your site visitors that your business is easily accessible. Companies with websites wanting to reach out to their clients through live chat support can invest on software such as LiveHuman which works as a hosted solution without the need for program installation in their websites. Aside from real time chatting with visitors, other features include online visitor tracking, secure and encrypted operations, chat logs saved up to 2 months, and more. A live chat support encourages visitors and prospective clients to eventually purchase your products or service knowing they can get the same dependable service in the future.
I’m so glad finally my PayPal Philippines account is already verified using my UnionBank e-wallet savings account. This is an option of having a Visa electron debit card which you can use for PayPal Philippine accounts aside from credit cards. The whole process takes time though. I opened my savings account last October 8, and waited 3 days after for the ATM to be activated. Add to that another 2 banking days for the online features to activate. And when I registered my UnionBank e-wallet to my PayPal account, it took another 5 banking days for the expanded use code to be available to complete the PayPal verification process. All in all, it took about 10 banking days.
Finally I was able to transfer funds to my UnionBank e-wallet yesterday. Let’s see how long it takes for the amount to be reflected in my account. By the way, there’s an interesting thread in the eBay forums where some eBay users share and discuss their experiences about their PayPal funds transfer to their UnionBank accounts. It’s good to know that more and more Pinoys are now using this new receiving and withdrawal features for their PayPal Philippines accounts. Finally another option for me to withdraw funds locally aside from my PayPal to Thai bank account processing which is kinda messy. 
Recently, my pink room got a nice cleaning from me and our househelp. Yey! Some things are not arranged yet but having a clean room is one of life’s simple pleasures.
As we took out the window curtains though, I noticed the curtain poles have some ugly rust spots already. Well, when you live near the sea, that’s what to expect. So I am thinking of changing it in the future with something that’s rust-proof and more stylish just like the ones I found at Terry’s Fabrics. A wooden curtain pole is definitely rust-free and lends a warm and comfy look to any window.
For workaholics, this is the usual scenario: Work is piling up and you want to do so much within a limited span of time, even sleep gets in the way. Or you have a terrible headache but you've got to finish a deadline and so you do your thing even if you’re not feeling well. Well, last night, I just decided to ‘let go’. I figured out if I work late, I would end up feeling more tired and less effective on my work the next day. So I restrained myself from staying up late for another night and rested earlier, now I woke up feeling refreshed and in much better spirits.
Sometimes, working when you’re exhausted or sleepy could only result to inefficiency and being less effective, your work could even be prone to errors since the body catches up on the rest it badly needs and does some ‘microsleeps’ whenever it can. An hour of alert and concentrated work produces better and more effective results compared to 5 hours of working in a fatigued and sleepy condition. Let go. Giving yourself a good rest makes you wake up more energized and ready to tackle the bigger things ahead.
Flowers never fail to warm the heart. Whether given as a gift or used to convey a get-well-soon or congratulatory message, a bouquet of blooms is one way to cheer up, inspire, encourage or make somebody feel loved. I’m picking up some fresh and colorful tulips for you dear readers and blogsy friends - they’re fresh from the garden of my imagination. *winks*
So pretty huh! I found this big bunch of tulips from proflowers.com – it’s a lovely mix of 30 assorted color tulips in a moss ceramic vase, a perfect gift to put a smile on somebody’s face. Proflowers have other flower varieties such as roses, carnations, daisies, and lilies and they’re all pretty actually though I chose tulips since they’re one of my favorite flowers. They don’t grow in a tropical country like ours, so seeing them in reality is a rare treat. The first ever tulip blooms I saw for real was last December at the Royal Flora Exposition in Chiang Mai when we visited the Netherlands booth. It drew lots of onlookers particularly those who took photos of the blooms.
Have a great Friday ahead and hope you like the flowers! 
Early this month, my cutie sis encouraged me to join this weekly meme Thankful Thursday hosted by
Iris of Sting My Heart. I thought it’s a good idea but I have been putting it off until now. So this is my first time to join and it’s really what I need these days - to list down and ponder on things I am thankful for. The concept is also similar to the Blessing Count of the Rambling Virus in his blog’s sidebar which I also intend to put, though not in my blog, but in my desktop’s sidebar. I have so many things to be thankful for, despite some trials last week. Even little things mean so much when it comes to counting blessings. Here’s my list for this week:1. A major financial problem was solved today. Yey!
2. Blogsy friends - they make blogging fun! Special mention to Virus and Tin-tin for the encouraging comments on my last Sunday’s post.
3. The laughter and fun in conversation with family and friends. My four year old nephew R-jed told me in the chat just now, “You go to the airport, ride an airplane and come here in Finland, and then we will ride the airplane and go to the Philippines.” LOL. Funny how riding airplanes can be that simple to a kid.
4. My Dad cooked instant yakisoba noodles for our midnight snacks (after much pestering from me, heheheh).
5. My cutie sis - she was there when I needed somebody to listen to my rants and sobs. Thanks dear yoeee!
6. My family – my loving parents and my thoughtful, ever-generous and helpful siblings. Despite the great distance being in different parts of Europe and Asia, we still keep in touch with each other regularly.
7. This evening, it was raining hard while we were cruising along but it miraculously became a light drizzle when we arrived home so I wasn’t soaked in the rain when I opened the gate.
8. The second balikbayan box from Thailand arrived today.
9. For the inner peace and strength after going through some disappointments last week.
Thank God for all the blessings! Thanks to Iris for hosting this meme. If you want to share your blessings weekly, you may join the Thankful Thursday meme too.
Having a group to belong with is a need for most students especially in college. This is why most freshmen join fraternities or sororities, also known as Greek organizations or societies, to bond with fellow students and do academic, social and community activities aligned with their organization’s principles. In the Philippines, there are many Greek societies established and members bond strongly with each other, though some issues, such as questionable hazing and initiation rites, come up every now and then.
In the US, there are lots of Greek organizations too, and members take pride being associated with the fraternity or sorority they belong to. It does them proud putting on all sorts of Greek merchandise ranging from Greek wear, jewelry, glasses, to blankets, gift items and other stuff. Wearing Greek gear with their organization’s insignia is meaningful to them. It’s important for members to purchase authentic merchandise bearing their organization’s name, thus licensing is a must. GreekForMe.com is an authorized vendor of quality Greek merchandise approved by sororities and fraternities in the US. Wearing licensed gear makes fraternity and sorority members represent their organization with pride.
Aside from creating an online presence via websites, another way for businesses and organizations to get their message across to their clients and members is through email marketing – delivering news and information right to their subscribers’ inbox. This provides a summary on the latest news, products and services, announcements, service upgrades, promo deals, and more. If the subscribers find something interesting on the email newsletter they just click on its link which would take them to the company’s website for more browsing of information. Most email marketing tools include newsletters, surveys, autoresponders and RSS feeds.
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I haven’t visited a museum or art gallery for a long time now. The last time I was at the mall, I passed by some art projects of architecture students and it reminded me of how we used to hold art exhibits back then in college. If I had a choice, I would visit the ongoing Melbourne International Arts Festival (11-17 October) in Australia which features not just visual arts, but a diverse range of creativity from dance, theatre to music and multimedia for about two and a half weeks. What makes it more interesting is the gathering of the world’s best artists with the showcasing of contemporary and innovative art.
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I just received a notification email from hi5, informing me I got a comment on my profile from my friend in LA. I was curious about the message and followed the link to my hi5 account. Ugh, I even forgot my password since I haven’t accessed this site for centuries already. Finally, I read my friend’s comment which told me she has a new profile, a much better one and I have to check it out. Naturally I did and was surprised to find it pointing to a lewd site. Huh… so my friend’s hi5 account was hacked. It got me thinking about saying goodbye to my own hi5 account since I am not using it anyway and only have about few friends connected to it. I guess I better delete it then before it gets hacked too, it could be even worse than what happened to my friend’s account.
Social networking sites are just sprouting up here and there, and it makes me wonder how many are there in the World Wide Web right now? I still haven’t signed up to MyBlogLog and the other new ones. I always receive invitations to join this and that networking site, and I am weighing the pros and cons. Should I decide on joining one, it would better be a tool for communication and not just a site where you place photos, add as many contacts as you can and make them reach a hundred without even creating meaningful friendships.
Being a travel bug, I always find ways to minimize initial travel expenses particularly on air fare and accommodation. The savings will then be used in making the trip better with more resources for gifts and souvenirs, entrance fees, dining, shopping and going places. Thus, when going on a trip, it is good to plan ahead and do a bit of research on the best travel deals and find out if any of your banking institutions offer some travel rewards program. Who knows, you might qualify for some of their incentives and get considerable savings on your trip.
For instance, Coutts Bank in the UK offers attractive travel deals with their Courtesy of Coutts rewards program which facilitates collection of rewards points when clients use their Coutts World or Gold Card. With Courtesy of Coutts, accumulated points can be redeemed for hotel accommodations, car rentals or flights from over 400 airlines via ebookers, pay airport taxes and other extra travel charges or fly with easyJet. Clients are also given the option to donate their points to a charitable institution. Coutts’ clients who are travelling frequently will surely benefit much from a rewards program such as this.
Ideas are powerful. A train of thought can make or break, build or destroy. The choice is ours. Our ideas become our future. I believe that life’s meaningful lessons are best learned when shared with others.
