The question whether to use a free blog platform or a self-hosted one may have been lingered in your mind before you started blogging. Well, it depends on why you blog. Some blog for money, some blog for fun, some blog to share and some blog for all the above. Me? Let’s just say that I just blog for fun and use it as a way to escape from reality. Maybe it sounds foolish to you but what the heck? I don’t bother people, so I guess that’s okay.

For those who wish to monetize your blog using a free platform then Blogspot is the answer. You can pratically take charge of the HTML and edit it as you wish. You can monetize it with Adsense (blog has to be in English of course), Bidvertiser, Nuffnang and other type of advertisement. With good content, SEO techniques and blog marketing, you can start to earn on your niche blog. This is also a good training ground for bloggers to enhance knowledge before actually start investing in self-hosted blog and adword.

WordPress.com on the other hand is not designed for monetization. Nevertheless, you can learn a few features on blog customization before you actually spend to get your own domain and host the infamous WordPress.org blog. The dashboard features are excellent and built-in with a blog stat for you to monitor your traffic and comments coming into your blog. Unlike Blogspot, you do not have to login to Google Analytics to do all that.

There is no right or wrong answer to this as really depends on you. Many may advised you to go straight to self-hosted blog where you can reap the benefit of SEO, page ranking and attract advertiser easier than free blogs. The decision is entirely yours but make sure you make a well-informed decision and not just do it because people ask you to.. Happy blogging!!

I’ve read about blogger’s block where a blogger no longer has the idea on what to write or not having the drive to even do it (blogging). I guess this is quite common as I have stumbled into many posts be it from pro or part time blogger describing the cause, ways to overcome and place to find new ideas.

I am not got at writing, so I need to write more to improve. But what is the topic that I want to write about? That is the question that I’m having difficult time to find the answer to. I want to tell people about me, but who would want to read about a boring life of an ordinary guy with ordinary experience.

For now, I’m just rambling about things that strike my mind. I have no idea whatsoever on what is to be achieved out of this. Just for my personal reference in the future, I guess (of what I was thinking in the past). Hey! This is my way out of the blogger’s block..!

I am really new to blogging, I mean really new! My first blog was created in December 2009 after gotten the inspiration from Rohaizad, a Malay pro blogger. Through his blog I learned that some people can really earn a decent income from blogging activities. Paid review, affiliate marketing and advertisement are the main source of income for many bloggers. Some use numerous ways to generate income while some bloggers only focused on a couple of methods. Either  way, you can be equally successful so long as you know where to use you strengths and capitalize on them.

Rohaizad has been conducting a series of workshop called Smart Blogging to give guidance to new and seasoned bloggers on the smart way to earn money from blogs. Many of his students have been successful in a short period, evidence of the  high quality of the lessons learned from him.

I will be lying if I say that I don’t want to be as successful as him. In fact his thousands of followers want the same thing. But for me the learning process is on-going. I am not well equipped to play the game just yet. There is a lot of things to learn and so little time to do it, as I am only a part time blogger. Who knows maybe one day I will start earning my first dollar through my blog. God willing, I will. So, am I the blogger material? Only time will tell.

I was standing with a friend, talking about his children and offering him my two cents’ worth when a woman walks past and says: “Ask her to have her own children first, before talking.”

I was stunned. So was he. Then I felt sad. That woman has three children born with golden spoons in their mouths, and yet …

Yesterday, I was talking to another friend about her children and she was listening intently to the perspectives I was offering and before I left, she held my hands and said: “You will be a very good mother.”

I went away thinking: “Oyy! Don’t say such things! I’m not ready for motherhood!”

The difference between the two mothers was this: one was not willing to listen, the other was.

Some parents let the power over their children go to their heads. Sometimes the best advice on parenting comes from those who don’t have children. Reason being, we’re not involved.

We’re a disinterested party. We are not caught up in the web of push and pull and all that power play.

The best parents I have met are those who do not assume that they know everything and are not hung up over the whole “respect me because I am your mother” issue. The best parents are those who do not demand respect but quietly and gently illicit respect from their children because they have earned it.

The best parents I have ever met learn and continue to learn from their children and admit that their children are in fact the greatest teachers in their lives. They respect the fact that their children are not blind and can see right through them.

The best parents I have ever met are good listeners before they are good advisors. Sometimes all your child needs is for you to listen to them and ask them how they feel, and wait for the answer.

The best parents I have ever met never make their children fetch and carry. I mean, come on! Don’t ask your child to go get your handbag, go get your phone, go get the remote, go fetch this and that for you. What are you trying to teach your child when you do that? Asking for help is one thing but being lazy is another. And openly demonstrating laziness to your child really is not the most flattering of attributes.

Anger and violence – physical, emotional and verbal – should be obliterated. You are the parent. You are the adult. You are the one who is supposed to have self-control and discipline to not react with anger and violence towards your child, and call it “love” later on. That’s the most twisted ideology ever.

“Mummy slapped you because Mummy loves you.” “Mummy called you names because Mummy is scared of what may happen and Mummy loves you.” That’s a very dangerous game being played. You cannot even gauge the implications of how very dangerous this method of upbringing is.

What will happen then is this: your child will grow up associating violence with love. Only if someone abuses him will he feel loved. Because you have taught him over the years that your violence and aggression stem from love.

Shaming and taming is another very Asian method of upbringing which has disastrous long-term effects on a child’s self-esteem and confidence. It will take years of hard work to re-build this loss of self-worth.

For what reason would you shame your child in front of others? One lady at the LRT was yapping away like a dog with rabies about her overweight seven-year-old son. With her son beside her, she was talking to strangers, going on and on about how fat he is, how he never stops eating, how she has to spend so much money buying teenage clothing for him.

I seriously considered physically putting a stop to her tirade. Firstly, did she not realise how fat she herself was? To put her in the same situation, her husband would need to strike up a conversation with strangers about her weight issues in her presence. There the poor boy was, squirming with embarrassment in his seat, so young, so defenceless, being publicly humiliated with no one to rescue him.

Shame your child to tame your child and one day, you may not have your child.

So, the next time you want to say something about a child’s hair or skin or dressing in public, ask yourself: How would I feel if someone said that to me in public? If it builds you, say it. If it doesn’t, zip up your lips and swallow.

A good article that came into my inbox (from my wife). Some tips on how to treat our children is summarized below:

1. You can learn from your children, nothing wrong with that
2. Listen to them, ask about their problems
3. Don’t ask them to fetch things for you – they are not your servant
4. Control yourself – avoid from anger and violence (physical and verbal)
5. Don’t humiliate them in front of others – they have feelings too!!

source: email..credit to the writer (whoever that may be)

The world’s most popular and awaited game is here again. Some people are still selecting their team to support for World Cup 2010 in South Africa. Some have their plans changed to suit the game scheduled which will be aired in Astro channel. You won’t believe how this game can have so much affect on people’s life. Some have even save some money to bet on the games, now that it is allowed here.

Many has bought a High Defininition TV or LCD screen just to enjoy the game and feel the excitement. The sale of these TVs have surged about 50% in Malaysia in the last couple of months. The most sought-for TV size is 42 inches!! Size does matter. For those who can’t afford to purchase a new set, there cheaper option would be restaurants with big size LCD screen. At least you can cheer all you want and nobody will complain. So, are you ready for World Cup 2010? What’s you favourite team?

I lost my handphone last night. A Nokia 5800 Xpress Music which I bought less than a year ago. Cannot blame anybody for it as it was entirely my fault. It must have dropped out of my pocket when I got out of the car to have dinner.

I really like the phone for its features and the 8GB memory space which I considered worth the price. I had tried its camera for still photos and videos and it works as I expected. Although the camera is only 3.2 Megapixel, but I’m quite happy to use it whenever I want to – it’s no DSLR!! (I’m still upset thinking about losing all the videos of my kids I recorded).

The first thing I did after realizing that I had lost the phone was to block the SIM card. This is to prevent the perpetrator from happily using my sim card. But that’s about all I can do. I cannot call Nokia to block the phone by providing the 15-digit serial number [you can get the phone serial number by pressing(*#06#) – jot it down somewhere]. With a little know-how and the right software, the serial number can easily be changed to something else using a PC. I know that in some countries user is prohibited to change the serial number, but not here.

Sometimes I wonder why we don’t implement it. At least if the handphone is stolen, although there is a little chance for us to get it back, it will become unusable and the one who stole it cannot even sell it. Maybe handphone thieves might even have to find new things to steal other than handphone. So what is your right to the handphone when you lose it? Nada!