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Almost every single job these days require you to have some sort of computer knowledge. I mean come on, it’s the 21st century here and already we’re reaching a complete revamp of Internet websites while it hits the full web 2.0 style. Now because the 21st century is mainly about technology and how we all revolve around using technology to accomplish things, most job places utilizes computers to get work done quick and accurate (despite Windows problems). Basically if you don’t know how to use a computer, you’re practically out of date with the current inventions and technology. Technology is everywhere and we use them when we’re awake and when we’re asleep.

Now lets just say you get a job that requires you to use a computer, so the chances are you’re going to sit on your own little desk with a monitor, keyboard, mouse, some filing cabinets, a chair, and things any workplace would have. If you’re not going to turn your blogging life into a full-time job or if you fail at trying to be a successful blogger (no offense), you may see yourself just working a 9-5 shift that normal people do . Working at a real job is just the same as if you worked at home except you have to eat all the things your boss or manager tells you. One thing that everyone does do the same is eating. Whether you’re working, on vacation, or at home, you will still need to eat food. You could always go out to eat lunch or dinner with your friends or colleagues, but money may become a problem after a few dine outs

Eating Where You Work

Ok, I’m not saying you shouldn’t go out for lunch or dinner with your friends, but if you were to go alone, you would most likely bring the food back to your workplace. If you don’t go out to purchase food, you’re more than likely bringing your own pack lunch, which is way more healthier than buying fast food or any food cooked outside. Some job places have designated areas for your to sit down and eat your lunch or dinner. Come to think of it, a workplace is required to have a designated area for you to eat unless it’s a small little self owned and self-employed job where you just gather some family and friends to work at.

Although there are designated areas to eat, study shows that a lot of employees eat at their desk rather than sitting down at a different lunch/dinner table. Rather than working 8 hours in front of a computer (most jobs), you will be sitting at your computer for 8 1/2 hour or 9 hours depending on what your work’s lunch/dinner policy is. According to the American Dietetic Association and ConAgra Foods Foundation, 70% of Americans eat at their desk several times a week.

Of course eating at your desk allows you to multi-task with your work, chat with friends, play some games, and even do some blogging, but it actually leads to poor nutritional choices and causes food problems. You’re pretty much not focused on eating your food when you’re at your desk because you’re distracted. The result is occasional stomach aches and diarrhea, less heart pumps and blood flows, food contamination, and a bacteria infested workspace…

Dirty Keyboards

I know that a workplace is usually dirty with a lot of work, which builds up a lot of dust that brings out bacteria, but a keyboard is actually one of the worst bacteria infested computer component. It has been proven that a computer keyboard is 100 times dirtier than a toilet seat at even a gas station (the whole computer desk is 400 times dirtier). Since that is the case, I would rather be licking the toilet seat cover than eating on my computer desk. LOL. I mean there isn’t much difference and it is a lot cleaner than the computer space.

This pretty much is true since most workers or bloggers don’t clean their fingers when they start working, so that results in all the food particles and greasy fingers leaving residue on the keyboard. Unless a manufacturer comes out with a keyboard that doesn’t have those letter gaps, food will continue to fall in to the inside. If you hear a crunch or press a key that is stuck, you will know why .

Simple Facts:

“Most people don’t do anything to their desk until they are sticking to it,” said Dr. Charles Gerba

1 in 10 people don’t clean their keyboards. 20% don’t clean their mouse.

Tips For Keeping A Workplace Clean

Since now most of you are probably wondering if your own computer desk or your keyboard is infested with bacteria, here are some tips on cleaning your stuff. Some of you already know that you have dirty workspaces

• Turn over your keyboard and if you see a snowstorm, you’re dirty .
• Have one of those dust spray cans handy and bring it outside to spray between the gaps. You will most likely see dust and crumbs flying out between the keys.
• If you’re lazy, you could use a dust cloth to capture all the dust of your keyboard.
• Use a placemat for your food if you wish to eat at your desk.
• Clean your hands before you get back to work and do not try to multi-task while eating.
• Don’t make eating at your desk a habit.
• Lastly, clean your keyboard, mouse, monitor, desk, and any computer stuff (water safe) a least once a week to kill off the bacteria.

Thanks to Zedomax for the idea for this post Do you guys have a dirty workspace?

The world economy is just horrible. Everything around the world is rising in price and most of us are not able to keep up with the ever-changing prices of items and daily necessities. When in need of money, we seek for loans, but almost all of us use these little tiny plastic cards known as, credit cards. Some call these the root of all evil and hell, but others call it lifesavers. Depending on how you use it and what you use it for decides whether or not a credit card is what you need. Lets just say that all of us has one and require it shall we?

Credit cards usually solve all problems when we seek for a problem-solver and that is why they’re there. I’m sure ALL of you over the age of 18, with few exceptions under 18, receive spam mail from credit card companies asking you to sign up. Receiving more of these type of letters does not mean you have a good credit score or anything like that. Credit card companies seek out the ones that need money the most and mail out these applications to get you more in debt. It’s just weird how all starts out, so I’m going to explain a bit and go on to my own experience.

Financial Needs

The need of applying for credit cards and charging them all starts out because you need money to pay off certain things. The thing about a credit card is that you can use it to charge and purchase many items or pay off many bills without having to worry about it. Doesn’t that just sound great? You can pay off all your debt within a few weeks without having to worry. WRONG!

Monthly Minumum Payments

Charging up your new plastic will only allow you about 30-45days of grace period before you have to pay “the bill“. Some of you may even receive a lower grace period, but the period I stated is usually for new applicants. After you receive the bill, you will be able to see your total balance, but right under it, it usually would state the minumum payment, which is usually a minumum of about $15, but goes higher depending on your total balance. The first sight at the lower minimum payment usually relieves your pain of knowing you owe so much money, so you probably will decide to pay only the minumum.

Credit Line

The larger your credit line is, the more you could charge. I’m not going to be sexist, but females usually receive a larger credit line than a male applicant. Why, do you ask? I have no comment and I’m going to leave it at that. A start out applicant’s average starting credit line is $700, but it rises as you start using the card more. This actually decides how many credit cards you’re going to sign up for. Take for example you have a debt of around $10,000, but your credit card credit line is $1,000. This would mean you would have to sign up for 10 different cards and the applications usually get approved.

Never Ending Payments

If you sign up for credit cards because you’re in debt, you would usually stay in debt. You would have to send out never ending payments because that is how evil these companies are. They will find you and they will need your money.

• APR (Annual Percentage Rate) – The higher you APR is, the longer it’ll take you to complete all your payments if you are paying the minimum. I personally have family members that owe $10,000+ to credit card companies and paying minimum or any amount under the total balance, does not solve the problem. If you still have a total balance after the end of the monthly credit card bills, they will charge you an APR, which is daily percentage of the leftover balance you have. Paying a $25 minimum for a $3,000 balance will bring back that $25 next month because the APR is adding on. It has been said that it takes usually up to 30 years to pay off a balance if you were to pay only the minimum. If you think about it, that’s a lot of lost money…

Find The Best Rates

If there is no other choice but credit cards you should find the best rates. An average credit card for a new applicant without a credit history is about 25-35% APR. That percentage is considered VERY VERY high and it usually attacks students because students are usually clueless and splurge on almost everything (my wife and I are students too). Because of that, you must find the best rates and promotions out there when you are applying for credit cards. This is pretty simple because the Internet is where most of these hidden deals are

• Promotions – Seek for promotional credit card applications. There are some that get sent to your mail box, but they only offer about $20-50 in credit for your first purchase. I suggest you guys pay a visit to iCardBonus to find all the latest credit card offers with low to nothing on fees. My wife and I used that site when we were running into financial problems. We applied for 2-3 0% balance transfer cards and it works wonderfully! Promotions usually last from 6-12months and that gives you a lot of time to figure out a different strategy on paying off your bills. The only thing you gotta make sure about is not to spend more when you sign up for new cards.

• Credit Score – An applicant’s credit score most definitely affects all the rates and promotions. It usually takes about 2-3 years after your first credit card to receive higher better offers. It takes time, but it’s worth it in the long run. Your score lives with you the rest of your life.

Missed Payment Madness

Forgetting a payment is like hell, but worse Credit card companies are very automated and a small missed or late payment can do so much to your credibility in real life. Lets take a look at 2 points and examples shall we?

• Intentional – Lets say you have a $15 minimum bill amount due in two days, but you don’t want to pay for it. The reason you don’t want to pay is because your total balance is over $3,000. Paying minimum won’t do anything because the APR usually kicks in to put that $15 back onto the total balance. With this said, I’m sure you wouldn’t want to pay your bills and some people really don’t.

• Not Intentional - There are also non-intentional missed / late payments and it’s usually because of an emergency or a quick brain fart. I just so happened to have missed my Washington Mutual payment completely for this past month and wow did it suck. These things just happen to anyone a least once in a lifespan. So what happens after these problems?

Rates Alter

If you initially received an APR rate of 10%, a missed payment could bump the rate up to 20-30% without you knowing. It really does suck because credit card users usually do not know about this until the next bill statement comes. Not to mention, your promotional rates or offers also end if a payment is late or missed. A fee or finance charge is usually put into place for this problem and it ranges from a flat rate fee of $20 to a % of your total balance.

Rebuttal Against The Problem

Whether you intentionally or unintentionally missed or paid a late payment, you should also rebuttal against it. Never give into the evil TOS (TERMS OF SERVICE) that credit card companies put onto you. Most credit card companies put customers first and you could call or e-mail them about the problem. If the first few answers deny your request, you must keep trying. Try again and again until they give in and credit you back for the late payment. I recently forgot about my bill, but I mentioned in my message to Washington Mutual that I did not receive my paper statement. It took 3 e-mails, but they took my lie and said they valued me as a customer, so I received credit. Sometimes a lie is worth it especially when credit card companies scam almost everyone one way or the other.

Disputing the problem through the online e-mail/messaging console usually works better than calling If your credit card is one of those “off brands”, you might have a tougher time getting this done.

List Of Companies

There are thousands of different credit card companies in the world, but many of them link back to the same parent company and I’m going to list 3 of them that own almost all the sub-companies.

1. Bank of America
2. Washington Mutual
3. Chase

Fraud?

May this be considered as fraud? Yes, it can be considered as that, but I don’t care. I’m sure a lot of you are with me on this matter since credit card companies do steal from us. It may not get you, but it may get your family or friends. It’s time to take back and gain control.

My Experiences

If you ever have some sort of emergency, you should always plan things out ahead of time. I understand that emergencies usually happen at the last minute, but there are signs to tell you ahead. I’m talking about financial problems here and if you ever hit a point where you have no money, what are you going to do? Signing up for new credit cards are going to put you in debt unless you do it correctly. A loan is usually more difficult to obtain, so credit cards are your only choices, unless you have parents . Sign up for those promotional credit cards early in time, so you could get that free $100 credit or that 0% balance transfer to stablize your debt for a half a year or a full year.

Work Out A Plan

If you never want to run into these type of financial or credit card problems, you must make sure you plan things out first. My wife and I worked out a plan to stabilize ourselves even though we are $5-6,000 in debt. But our debt isn’t that bad because we utilize a 0% balance transfer to pay off the initial amount first and now we have 1 year to make money or plan out something else. We even have $1,000 in a savings account that we’re not using unless we absolutely need it. Maybe you guys have plans too, so why not mention it to all of us in the comments below?

If you guys have been online and checking up the latest updates these past couple of months, you would realize that everyone is moving onto the new so called Web 2.0. Why do they call it that? I do not know the truth behind it or who made it up. By taking a shot at it, I think it’s basically all the latest websites online running a new look, but it’s actually more difficult than it sounds. Web 2.0 is suppose to make life easier for all of us average people who blogs or uses the Internet. You gotta admit that every household has a computer now, but if not, the school or library provides it. Even kids at the age of 7 are supposedly starting to blog.

I’m not sure if you guys have heard of the Webware Top 100, but I certainly just heard about it very recently. It is basically an awards program nominating and awarding the top Web 2.0 applications for 2008. It seems like this awards program has been open for two years now (not sure of the correct duration) and it seems pretty big for some of these top guns out there. Lets get to know this event shall we?

Webware’s Background Info

After digging a bit, it seems like Webware is being worked on by few members of the CNET team. What Webware wants to bring to the people Online is the web programs that no longer needs to be downloaded physically onto the computer. You basically say that if you want to look for some online programs, you could go through this site because most of the applications are reviewed, giving more in-depth detail to anyone that wishes to read before trying.

The 2008 Categories

Because of the huge amount of Web 2.0 applications out Online, the contest is going to be more intense due to all the nominations. There are going to be 10 categories with 10 different winners in each:

Audio: Music, podcasts, audiobooks.	Browsing: Browsers, start pages, RSS readers, widgets, runtime engines.
Commerce and events: Retail, auctions, travel, real estate, concerts, conferences.	Communications: E-mail, chat, voice.
Productivity: App suites, to-do lists, groupware.	Publishing and photography: Blogging, content management, photo sites.
Search and Reference: Search engines, encyclopedias, mapping.	Social: Social networking, family sites, recommendations, online worlds, contests.
Utility and Security: Infrastructure providers, storage, online protection.	Video: Video storage, playback, streaming, editing, and animation.

The Event

Nominations are over now and the voting has began to seek out the 10 winners of each category. There are 300 finalists racing to become one of the apps on Webware’s Top 100. A list of that could be found here. There’s even some big names in there that I have personally stumbled across before like Justin.tv, Joost, YouTube, Xfire, Twitter, Digg, and Delicious. Seems to me like the blogging industry is taking over now because of all the social networks available to bloggers now. Webware even mentioned that in 2007, about 1,000 of the nominations were social networks.

A Quickie

The reason I name this sub-topic a quickie is because Steven Finch over at Crenk has come up with a competition with guesses on who will become the winners of the Webware 100. Bloggin-Ads has even decided to challenge him on this event to see who will come out victorious.

Here’s a list of my guesses:

Dare to join the competition? Don’t worry, I don’t know more than half of these services If you do want to compete, I’ll most likely throw in some prizes for the winners. Just make sure you link to this post and Steven’s. It’s just cool how all the finalists are the top Web 2.0 sites on the net and you just wonder how much trouble it was to come up with it. Start voting for the best!

As many of you may already know, today is Valentine’s Day. Today is the day that single people go out to try to find a mate or try to make a woman awe. For the ones that already have a significant other, you’re probably finding yourself buying flowers, chocolates, or something special for your mate. Why? This is the day that women can feel special and that doesn’t mean that men doesn’t receive the same because men also receives gifts on this special day. To think back, this day was created way back in time, but many still don’t know the truth behind Valentine’s Day and why is it that some of us call it “Single Awareness Day”?

History behind Valentine’s Day

I recall as a student that Valentine’s Day was never really explained to me and that is because no one knows the truth behind this day and how had it come to be a special date on our Calendar. Many believed that this day originated with Lupercalia, a Roman celebration honoring the wolves Romulus and Remus (yes you did learn this in school). During this festive event, young men struck women with a goatskin hide, februa. Receiving the blows were supposedly to make women more fertile and have ease with childbirth. Names of all women are then put into a box and men were to draw a name from this box, which would form couples until the next Lupercalia celebration (1 year a year? ). This celebration was soon renamed by the Christians to Valentine’s Day.

A different history of Valentine’s Day was that it was traced back to the Roman emperor, Claudius II. In 200 A.D., Claudius had trouble recruiting young men into his army and he became frustrated that these men did not want to join the army because they were married with children. Claudius then banned marriage for all single young men, but a priest by the name of Valentine disobeyed the command and performed secret marriages. Claudius soon found out about Valentine’s secret marriages and sentenced him to jail until his death on Febuary 14, 270 A.D.

I know that many blogs are probably posting some sort of Valentine’s Day post, but I’ve decided to keep it short and explain something else that you will see below.

“Single Awareness Day”

Single Awareness Day is celebrated by all men and women that are single, which is why the acronym is SAD. Although it may seem like a tragic day for many single men and women out in the world, people form their own celebrations of being single. People use this term to boost up their self-esteem because being single can be a horrible thing for some, but may also be a good thing. It all depends on how you think about it. Throughout the 20 years of my life, I’ve never really found the true mate for myself and I’ve always been shot down because I’m not that good looking as some of you may see in the header. Because of getting shot down countless number of times, I started to reply to others with “It’s fine, I’m not looking forward to being with anyone anyways”. Now that I think back to it, that was just my self ignorance to the matter and gosh I feel so stupid. There’s actually no point of being sad if you’re single because sooner or later, you WILL find your mate unless of course you do not believe in LOVE. On the other hand, my wife, Michelle, has been with a lot of people throughout her life because she is just gorgeous and no one would want to miss out on a chance to be with her. I’m lucky to have actually found my wife and now we’re together living happily ever after Is this the matter? No. It’s because of society today that women are the ones that get chased after more than men. I simply hate the fact that us men have to court the ladies .

Anyways, this SAD day has turned into such a huge event for single men and women that there are websites and even clubs created to celebrate. Take a look at the single Awareness site and you’ll notice that celebrating this day can be fun for single people. Young teens in East Asia has even brought it to a higher level by starting a club called “Lovers go die” and “Unit Solo” club. It just seems that fun can be experienced by anyone on this date, so enjoy it.

Remember, you are beautiful no matter who you are. Everyone is unique, so if you think of it, Valentine’s Day is quite a nonsense. We don’t need this day to express feelings or anything like that, but…..

QUIT BLOGGIN’ AND GO OUT TO FIND A MATE!

HAPPY VALENTINE’S DAY EVERYONE!

Are any of you guys movie fanatics? I’m sure most of you watch movies once in a while since almost all households have a dvd player now. Of course renting DVDs or pirating them (like me) saves you a huge fraction of the price of watching the movie in the theaters, but some of you may still like the joy of purchasing some popcorn and soda and sitting in the theater either by yourself or with company. These recently years have just been crazy though. Why do I say that? The prices of movie tickets here in the Los Angeles county went from around $6.50 MATINEE to $8.50 and $9 EVENING up to $12 just for one damn flick. People that purchase tickets to watch a movie usually purchase some popcorn and soda, which adds up to quite a huge amount of change. The result of all this? You probably just watched a crappy movie and spent anywhere from $15-30 for something you wish you received a refund from.

Worth The Popcorn is a daily feed for movies worth your popcorn. We post a movie every day. Shannon mostly does the Pink Popcorn Fridays. And as you can see, she did a special Pink Preview last Sunday too. The other days are mostly done by me, James. By posting every day, we try to build a list of movies that are worth checking. To get to know what our readers think about the movies, we end every movie impression with a small poll. So, I’d like to introduce ‘worth the popcorn’ by doing a recap of the last movies. If you like it, have a look and take a fun poll.

American Splendor
“Combining documentary with fiction, animation with realtime and a voice over by Harvey Pekar himself, this movie doesn’t want to be put in a box.”

(Special) Sex and the City: The Movie
“Now that there is a movie on the way it makes me wonder, are they just desperate for money or is it going to be a movie that really adds something to the tv show?”

Where In the World Is Osama Bin Laden
“Seeing the trailer did not bring up the question of entertainment of this movie, but rather the depth.”

Juno
“It’s always good to see a movie, where the only special effect is sketched texts, manages to impress you in the theatre. ”

Bridget Jones’s Diary
“Bridget is just so clumsy and always speaks her mind, which is getting her in embarrassing situations (she actually kind of reminds me of myself in some ways).”

Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter… and Spring
“This perfect display is combined with a profound and touching story about the life of a Buddhist monk.”

Capturing the Friedmans
“If you are convinced your average documentary is manipulating you, Capturing the Friedmans should convince you otherwise.”

This is England
“Mixed with a documentary style, it is engaging and funny, but frightening at times.”

Requiem for a Dream
“So if you take it this movie isn’t for the light-hearted, it’s impressive on almost every level.”

The Dark Knight
“Batman isn’t the kids’ toy anymore.”

Cloverfield
“A rollercoaster of thrills.”

The Devil Wears Prada
“It makes you feel bad for the assistant, but at the same time you want Miranda Priestly to make things even worse.”

A Dirty Carnival
“He makes it painfully clear a gangster life and a casual life don‘t mix well together.”

Murderball
“Not looking back, but coming out with more than they had before.”

The Three Burials of Melquiades Estrada
“Tommy Lee Jones not only impresses with his direction, but lets you feel the pain of Pete Perkins.”

Stranger Than Fiction
“It’s not every day a story so fresh, quirky and original entertains without being too shallow.”

Defiance
“It’s interesting and unlike the general passive victims portrayed in your average war movie.”

I Am Legend
“It’s not the best movie about this subject I have seen, but definitely worth the cinema popcorn!”

The Notebook
“This is what real love feels like.”

Make sure you check out Worth The Popcorn if you’re a movie fanatic. My wife and I watch movies occasionally and this blog would actually make us reconsider watching some movies. I must say that when we watched Cloverfield, I didn’t think it was worth the bang for the buck. Paying to get into a movie that made me almost want to puke was my worst decision ever! Of course the movie wasn’t that bad though (as some of you reviewed).

Interested in submitting your own review for your blog or someone else’s? Submit A Post and if your review is chosen, it will be featured here on Bloggin-Ads.com.

I’m sure you guys are wondering what the heck my title means, am I correct? Well, if you understood my title, you can basically disregard the introduction paragraph of my post, but if you want to know more, please make sure you read this. The phrase “Gong Xi Fa Cai” is Chinese (technically Mandarin pronounced) and it is translated into “Happy Chinese New Year”. I’m not going to be racist or anything like that here, but I must say that Asians are almost everywhere now and even the population rate is high for Asians. In Beijing, China, there is a law that is supposedly going to prevent families from having more than ONE child, but I personally do not think that this law will do much. Hey, I’m Chinese, so I have the right to talk about my own race here (I hope) and I’m going to dedicate this post to the Chinese tradition, Chinese New Year. Although I do understand that I’m late 2 days, I still want you guys to get to know this tradition (even Google/Yahoo’s homepage were following).

Mythology

I must admit that I’m not that familiar with this tradition since I am the first generation born in the States, but I’m researching as much as I can to get you guys the true meaning.

According to the legend in Ancient China, there was a man-eating beast from the mountains (or under the sea), Nián, which came out every 12 months to prey on humans. Another meaning of the word, Nián, is that it translate to the word YEAR in English. The people in Ancient China believed that wearing the color red and making loud noises (fireworks) would scare this beast away. Because of this came the Chinese term, Guò nián, which means to celebrate the new year. Another thing is that the Ancient Chinese used a different type of Calendar, Lunisolar, which indicates both the moon phase and the time of the solar year. I really don’t understand the concept of this Calendar, but my Grandma still goes by it for her birthday and the date is totally different from the Calendar most of us use today.

Apparently, some of us bloggers know more than others and I think that Stephen Fung brought up an interesting version of Chinese New Year as there are more than one.

Like many Chinese things, I don’t quite understand them, even though they are a part of my heritage. It’s like getting “Yeet Hay” when you eat fried foods, or having to eat every grain of rice in your bowl because it will affect the complexion of your future wife. Asking elders to explain them is like pulling teeth and we are then just told, “it’s just the way things are”. So what’s the deal with the Rat? I mean, compared to the Dragon, Horse, Rabbit, heck…even the Sheep, the Rat doesn’t have that great of a reputation as a “noble” animal.

Apparently, the story goes that the twelve animals that make up the Chinese Zodiac were asked to cross a river and the order in which they crossed would dictate the rotation of the Zodiac. Since the Rat is a…Rat…it jumped on the back of the Ox and rode all the way, leaping off the Ox at the last minute to clinch the win and the first place on the Zodiac. Sounds pretty dirty…borderline evil. I wonder if John Chow is a Rat?

The Infamous Red Envelopes

This envelope is known as “Hong Bao” or “Lai See” in Catonese, which is a huge tradition in this Chinese festivity known as Chinese New Year. These envelopes comes in any size and design, which includes cartoon characters and can range anywhere from $2 for a pack of 20 to $5 for a pack of 10. It’s during this time of the year that families and friends give out these envelopes and the good thing is, there is money inside and it ranges anywhere from a few dollars to a few hundred, depending on who you receive it from.

Of course the newer generation of Chinese born here in America does not follow the traditions as much, but if they do, the envelopes would usually consist of an even number because it is good luck. Another amount if the infamous number 8, which means “Fa” in Chinese and translate to Wealthy. If you were to give out $18, it means Continuous Wealth because the number 10 means Guaranteed when translated to English.

Another tradition of these red envelopes is that you’re only suppose to give them out if you’re married. My wife and I love receiving these from family and friends during this time of the year because adding both of our “LAI SEE” together, we get a few hundred dollars

Superstitions (Source: Wikipedia)

Good luck

• Opening windows and/or doors is considered to bring in the good luck of the new year.
• Switching on the lights for the night is considered good luck to ’scare away’ ghosts and spirits of misfortune that may compromise the luck and fortune of the new year.
• Sweets are eaten to ensure the consumer a “sweet” year.
• It is important to have the house completely clean from top to bottom before New Year’s Day for good luck in the coming year. (however, as explained below, cleaning the house after New Year’s Day is frowned upon)
• Some believe that what happens on the first day of the new year reflects the rest of the year to come. Asians will often gamble at the beginning of the year, hoping to get luck and prosperity.
• Wearing a new pair of slippers that is bought before the new year, because it means to step on the people who gossip about you.
• The night before the new year, bathe yourself in pomelo leaves and some say that you will be healthy for the rest of the new year.

Bad luck

• Buying a pair of shoes is considered bad luck amongst some Chinese. The word “shoes” is a homophone for the word for “rough” in Cantonese, or “evil” in Mandarin.
• Washing your hair is also considered to be washing away one’s own luck (although modern hygienic concerns take precedence over this tradition)
• Sweeping the floor is usually forbidden on the first day, as it will sweep away the good fortune and luck for the new year.
• Talking about death is inappropriate for the first few days of Chinese New Year, as it is considered inauspicious as well.
• Buying books is bad luck because the word for “book” is a homonym to the word “lose”.
• Avoid clothes in black and white, as black is a symbol of bad luck, and white is a traditional funeral colour.

Year Of The Rat

Being the first sign of the Chinese zodiacs, rats are leaders, pioneers and conquerors. They are charming, passionate, charismatic, practical and hardworking. Rat people are endowed with great leadership skills and are the most highly organized, meticulous, and systematic of the twelve signs. Intelligent and cunning at the same time, rats are highly ambitious and strong-willed people who are keen and unapologetic promoters of their own agendas, which often include money and power. They are energetic and versatile and can usually find their way around obstacles, and adapt to various environments easily. A rat’s natural charm and sharp demeanor make it an appealing friend for almost anyone, but rats are usually highly exclusive and selective when choosing friends and so often have only a few very close friends whom they trust.

• Positive Traits
  • Meticulous, intelligent, shrewd, compassionate, charismatic, charming, ambitious, practical, industrious, honest, eloquent, versatile, familial, creative, hard-working, neat, organized, lovers of music, loving
• Negative Traits
  • Controlling, obstinate, resentful, lacks-a-sense-of-humor, manipulative, cruel, vengeful, power-driven, critical, possessive, stingy, bossy, fickle, defensive

This Year’s Rat Fortune

Those born in the “Year of the Rat” are clever, ambitious, creative, hard-working, fastidious, charming and sociable, but can be a bit stingy when it comes to sharing their wealth or possessions.

Famous Rat People

Alyssa Milano, Cameron Diaz, Charlotte Bronte, Daryl Hannah, Gwyneth Paltrow, Jennie Garth, Kristen Scott Thomas, Lauren Bacall, Lucrezia Borgia, Margaret Mitchell, Margot Kidder, Mata Hari, Nancy Wake, Olivia Newton-John, Sinead Cusack, Stevie Nicks, Toni Collette, and Tracy Pollan.

I don’t know why I am picking Mike’s blog to post a rambling. It just feels right to do a rambling guest post on a blog that allows you to ramble. How many out there does? I dunno… but I’d like to thank Mike for including this topic.

I received a mail from Intrascape this morning. In a nutshell, they wanted to let me know that they have acquired the Portland Web Hosting services. It would be great if I could remove all my files from my Port 5 subdomain. Failing to do so within a certain period of time would force them to lift their fingers and do the deletion themselves.

The mail brought back a flurry of memories. I don’t know how many of you were making a living on the Internet back in the late 90’s and early 2000’s, but I was. Still a teenager, I taught myself HTML, Photoshop and Flash, and launched my first website in 1999.

Back then, there was a hosting company called Portland Communications, that, out of the goodness of its heart allowed people to host their websites for free. Yeah… FREE. Their USP was no ads, and they allowed the free users to use sub-domains of their own registered domain names.

There were quite a few domain names that freeloaders like me had the option to pick between, but the port5.com domain was the most popular. I remember, my site’s URL was buzzbin.port5.com.

What was it all about? Well, it had a lot of articles… how to’s, book reviews, recipes etc. I remember publishing a few ebooks for interested writers as well. Not sure if they are still available for download on the net… but back then, I was really into it.

I was on a “learning by doing” drive then, and slowly kept adding features to the site. It was actually quite popular, had a good ranking on Google, and a decent band of readers. Hey! I had guest posters too.

I even did link exchange, though I had no idea that it helped in SEO. I did it to increase visibility for the site. There was also a very elaborate advertising page. Unfortunately, I did not know how to market it.

The site fizzled out in a couple of years. I joined a full time job where I did pretty much the same thing, for an assured and decent pay, but also as an anonymous entity.

Then recently, I took up blogging for a cause. I love it. I also love the support I am getting from everyone in general, and especially from my fellow Entrecarders.

It felt strange to read the mail this morning. Almost 10 years back I was unknowingly doing something I loved. Who knew that 10 years down the line, I would still be here… “blogging”?

I will leave you with a few remnants of my e-adolescence. Enjoy…

Courtesy: the Wayback Machine – June 2002

My favorite – advertising page

About 1-2 weeks ago, I posted a 3 part series called, “See No Evil, Hear No Evil, Speak No Evil” and it seemed like quite a hit to my visitors and subscribers. I even received a small spike in traffic from many social bookmarking sites, which included StumbleUpon and Digg. It may seem like I didn’t get much controversy around the post due to my comment count, but never let that fool you Anyways, instead of having it as a 3 part series, I’ve decided to have this post wrap it all up. I’m sure some of my readers can’t wait any longer since I took so long on this post, but it’s all below.

Rumors Kill

Yes, I know that a huge majority of you spread some sort of rumor either on the net or in person. I agree that spreading rumors may be fun, but did you know that rumors kill? There are so many blogs in the blogosphere today that it isn’t just one group where all of us get together to share some tips & advice, but instead we all have our own “niches” to stay at. Of course we bloggers do catch up with other blogs that have different niches, but we seem to bring up thoughts in our minds about them, which results in killer controversial rumors.

For Example:

During school year, I hung out with my own crowd of friends that just sits around at lunch and goes home right after school to play computer games. My friends and I had nothing to do with the “popular” kids in the school, but we surely wanted to become them in one way or another. Because this is simply a task that we could only dream about (as kids of course), we resulted in talking to ourselves and spreading rumors. Well, my friends and I didn’t know what was true, but we still talked shit. Who did we talk shit about? The popular kids of course.

Take my example and picture bloggers having the same problem. We tend to spread rumors because of some sort of jealousy, but don’t realize that we may be wrong. I know that E-mail RSS feed is an important add-on to a blog and usually this is where rumors hit. A lot of lower bloggers are using the black hat technique of subscribing to theirselves via e-mail rss to gain high feed readership counts. With a little research, I was able to find out which blogs are sneaking this in, but we can’t always depend on it.

Do Not Assume

This brings us to the point of “ASSUMING” things. If you guys went through college with some English professors, you probably have heard of the term “ASSUME” being used in a way that some of us may still not know of.

ASSUME: ASS = U + ME

If you see from above, you will realize that “ASSUME” makes an ass out of you and me. Assuming things is always wrong no matter what some of us may think. I totally admit that I assume things to a very high extent and I end up being a dumbass when my wife, Michelle, proves me wrong Assuming things go for everyone even when we least expect it.

For Example:

Angelina Jolie, the Tomb Raider chiq , walks on the red carpet with with skimpy tight dress. What she doesn’t know is that her dress makes her stomach look big, but the paparazzi is just going crazy over the snapshots without second thoughts. Most of the time these snapshots would be published in a magazine or newspaper the same night and will be on the stores/stands the next day. When the newspapers/magazines are purchased, there will be small and different snipplets for the snapshots of Angelina. These snipplets will go anymore from “Jolie gains some weight due to her upcoming movie” to “Angelina is expecting a baby in a couple months”.

As you can see from my example, people assume things no matter what. These assumptions aren’t even correct, but it brings me back to the point of “Rumors Kill” because rumors are spread with assumptions.

Many of us smaller bloggers, including myself, judge people differently because of their success, because of their content, or almost anything. I’m almost positive that you guys probably think that Mr. John Chow is a stuck-up ass that is making so much money and bragging about it. Well I admit that I have that in my mind, but oooops!!!!! We’re assuming things again because most of us haven’t talked to John personally, am I correct?

Make Friends, Not Enemies

This topic is the most important one if you wish to make some sort of success through blogging. Now I’m not talking about making money through other 3^rd party affiliate programs or sites similar to that. I’m talking about pure blogosphere here.

I’m sure all of us bloggers wish to put some sort of dent on the net because we wish to be remembered as a SOMEONE and not a NO ONE.

For Example: I’m a daily reader of John Chow’s infamous blog and it was pretty interesting to me. As time went on, I noticed that his posts have no value at all and I start getting bored, but I don’t want to unsubscribe to his blog because…well, he’s “John Chow”. Reading it for another few months, I notice that his blog is getting worse and worse and I can’t take it anymore. The result of that is I make a post about him like the Bloggin’ Bitch one or include small snippets of how evil this man is.

Of course I’m not the only one that likes to slam others because Slam Blogger loves to make these types of posts to stir up some type of controversy. Some of you might say that controversy is good because it brings in traffic, but that doesn’t always happen. You might be lucky the first couple of times and get away with slamming others, but some “high-end” bloggers might dislike it and in return, you are their ENEMY.

The End

What is the point of my 2 part series? Part 1 describes how a blogger should listen to his/her viewers, while Part 2 describes how a blogger should keep thoughts to him/her to play it on the safe side. I’m curious on what you guys have to say about this?

Many of you just like my wife and I have a holiday today, Monday, January 21 and do not have to go to class or work. Of course for some of you unlucky ones, this holiday doesn’t matter to the business you work at, but what is this Martin Luther King holiday anyways? This event has been discussed in schools and certain churches for many years and will continue for as long as human beings are still alive. What most of us remember about this day is that Martin Luther King Jr. was shot and that is why we have this holiday. To tell you the truth, this isn’t the actual summary of this Martin Luther King Jr.. Therefore, I’m going to take this post to have some type of remembrance of this great African-American man and how he made an impact for all human beings no matter what the race is.

The story behind Martin Luther King Jr.

Back in December, 1955, Martin Luther King Jr. has just received his doctorate degree in “Theology“. He moved to Montgomery, Alabama to preach at a Baptist Church, but he saw there that African-Americans had to ride in the back of public buses. He then organized and led a boycott of the public buses in Montgomery. Any person, black or white, who was against segregation refused to use public transportation. Those people who boycotted were threatened or attacked by other people, or even arrested or jailed by the police. After one year of boycotting the bus system, the Supreme Court declared that the Alabama state segregation law was unconstitutional.

African-Americans were not only segregated on buses throughout the south. Equal housing was denied to them, and seating in many hotels and restaurants was refused.

In 1957, Dr. King founded the Southern Christian Leadership Conference and moved back to Atlanta, Georgia. He continued to organize non-violent protests against the treatment of African-Americans and his philosophy on this matter remained the same. Nonetheless, he and his group were often threatened and attacked.

On August 23, 1963, a crowd of more than 250,000 people gathered at Washington, D.C. and marched to the Capitol Building to support the passing of laws that guaranteed every American, no matter what the race, equal civil rights. On the steps of the Lincoln Memorial, Dr. King delivered his speech, “I Have A Dream”.

“I Have A Dream”

I say to you today, my friends, that in spite of the difficulties and frustrations of the moment I still have a dream. It is a dream deeply rooted in the American dream.I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: “We hold these truths to be self-evident; that all men are created equal.I have a dream that one day on the red hills of Georgia the sons of former slaves and the sons of former slave-owners will be able to sit down together at the table of brotherhood.I have a dream that one day even the state of Mississippi, a desert state sweltering with the heat of injustice and oppression, will be transformed into an oasis of freedom and justice.I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character…

I have a dream today.

I have a dream that one day the state of Alabama … will be transformed into a situation where little black boys and black girls will be able to join hands with little white boys and white girls and walk together as sisters and brothers.

I have a dream today.

I have a dream that one day every valley shall be exalted, every hill and mountain shall be made low, the rough places will be made plains, and the crooked places will be made straight, and the glory of the Lord shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together.

This is our hope. This is the faith with which I return to the South. With this faith we will be able to hew out of the mountain of despair a stone of hope. With this faith we will be able to transform the jangling discords of our nation into a beautiful symphony of brotherhood. With this faith we will be able to work together, to pray together, to struggle together, to go to jail together, to stand up for freedom together, knowing that we will be free one day.

This will be the day when all of God’s children will be able to sing with new meaning “My country ’tis of thee, sweet land of liberty, of thee I sing. Land where my fathers died, land of the pilgrim’s pride, from every mountainside, let freedom ring.”

And if America is to be a great nation this must become true. So let freedom ring from the prodigious hilltops of New Hampshire.

Let freedom ring from the mighty mountains of New York.
Let freedom ring from the heightening Alleghenies of Pennsylvania!
Let freedom ring from the snowcapped Rockies of Colorado!
Let freedom ring from the curvaceous peaks of California!
But not only that; let freedom ring from Stone Mountain of Georgia!
Let freedom ring from Lookout Mountain of Tennessee!
Let freedom ring from every hill and mole hill of Mississippi.
From every mountainside, let freedom ring.

When we let freedom ring, when we let it ring from every village and every hamlet, from every state and every city, we will be able to speed up that day when all of God’s children, black men and white men, Jews and Gentiles, Protestants and Catholics, will be able to join hands and sing in the words of that old Negro spiritual, “Free at last! Free at last! Thank God almighty, we are free at last!”

Outcome of Martin Luther King’s work

The Civil Rights Act of 1964 was passed because of the great speech. The act guaranteed equal rights in housing, public facilities, voting, and public schools. Everyone would have impartial hearings and jury trials. A civil rights commission would ensure that these laws were enforced.

In 1968, Martin Luther King, Jr. was assassinated while he was leading a workers’ strike in Memphis, Tennessee. White people and black people who had worked so hard for peace and civil rights were shocked and angry. The world grieved the loss of this man of peace.

Martin Luther King’s death did not slow the Civil Rights Movement. Black and white people continued to fight for freedom and equality. Coretta Scott King is the widow of the civil rights leader. In 1970, she established the Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial Center in Atlanta, Georgia. This “living memorial” consists of his boyhood home and the Ebenezer Baptist Church, where King is buried.

On Monday, January 20, 1986, in cities and towns across the country people celebrated the first official Martin Luther King Day, the only federal holiday commemorating an African-American. A ceremony which took place at an old railroad depot in Atlanta Georgia was especially emotional. Hundreds had gathered to sing and to march. Many were the same people who, in 1965, had marched for fifty miles between two cities in the state of Alabama to protest segregation and descrimination of black Americans.

January 15 had been observed as a legal holiday for many years in 27 states and Washington, D.C. Finally, in 1986, President Ronald Reagan declared the third Monday in January a federal legal holiday commemorating Dr. Martin Luther King’s birthday.

I don’t know how much of you actually care about this holiday or what Martin Luther King Jr. has done in the past, but I’m Chinese and I still understand that if it wasn’t for his speech, we would still have a lot more segregation problems. Help me out and spread this post around or write your own remembrance post. Every little bit helps in getting the word out and reminding people would this event. Thanks!

Sources: U.S. Department of State , Wikipedia