Dannybuntu

The Internet Mogul: Kim Dot Com

2012-01-25T11:49:00.001+08:00

LOOK ALIKES

The two have nothing in common, save for the fact that they're both Internet sensations by their own right. Not to mention, they look like twins. Tim Dot Com allegedly ~~runs~~ ran an Internet empire built around shared material from movies, while Numa Numa or Gary is happily making a living out of his personality thanks to his Numa Numa video.

Kim Dot Com has recently been on the spotlight for being the subject of an FBI raid on his mansion for racketeering and piracy among other things. The scenario that was painted seems to be one fit for the Mexican drug barons, rather than the founder of a file sharing website.

The Secret Stuff that Internet Dreams are Made of?

Is it tech savvy, hacking panache, personality or the sheer desire to attain unfettered success that granted these two the status?

For Kim Dot Com aka Kim Schmitz, apparently according to Wikipedia, it was insider trading and piracy as evidenced on the webpage of Megaupload.com.

The New Zealand press is having a party reporting on the Spy-thriller esque raid that happened on the Kim Dot Com mansion.

$30 million dollar mansion (Rented)
Lavish parties on a yacht with topless women and people spraying champagne
$6 million dollars worth of luxury and vintage cars

My personal encounter with Megaupload

The first time I ever encountered Megaupload was when I wanted to watch episodes of 24 and Lost online. You see, I don't have a television set nor do I have a cable subscription. Living here in the outskirts of Lipa city, there's a very limited scope of things that I can do to entertain myself that would cost so little.

Anyway, Megaupload relied on small blogs that are annoyingly plastered with numerous advertisements.

For instance, I personally do a search on Google for "watch 24 season 4 episode 1 online free" and the site that comes up has the word "tv" or "24" on it. For example:

From there, I go to one of the sites and see this:

Clicking on the ads, takes me to a page that is surprisingly localized - meaning it's targeted specifically for me. The assumptions are:

Since I want to watch 24 online for free, I must be one of the more financially challenged users of the Internet. Ergo, I need money.
I came to the site via Google, ergo, I have a certain affinity or liking towards the search engine. I trust Google, hence, I would be inclined to satiate my need of earning money by clicking on a trustworthy source such as the ad displayed above.
I came from the Philippines hence, the site that I am brought to, features a story from the Philippines about twerps who make money online by doing so and so stuff for whoever it is who is running the whole shebang.

I don't really know whether these small sites are affiliated with the Kim Dot Com fiasco but if they were, the execution of their system is quite exhaustive and complicated. They feature both technical skills such as search engine ranking skills as well as social engineering skills. Combine the two and presto!

You have this:

It's More Fun in the Philippines?

2012-01-09T16:15:00.000+08:00

The banana leaves are swaying and the bamboo poles are dancing, somewhere over the distance is a bonfire. You can hear the merry laughter of people sitting around it as others dance the night away and party like there's no tomorrow.

For Context: Philstar.com

But what is fun?

Such is a question that I have not asked myself for a long time.

Jordan Corey "Valerie" Amy Winehouse Cover

2011-12-03T03:48:00.001+08:00

Buying Cheap Computers in the Philippines

2011-10-28T16:17:00.000+08:00

Notorious cheap gadget geeks like yours truly buy only the cheapest gadgets in town or on the Internet.

Granted, that my PC absolutely needs replacing since this was really my dad's (circa 2006), I must say that I sometimes suffer from PC envy. As a result of my inherent cheapness, I can only play browser games and old DOS games that I play on DOSBox.

So I'll tell you what I want, what I really, really want:

The Dell Alienware Ultra Mega Super Desktop

Which is a rather unfortunate choice since I only alloted $150 (5000 PHP) for my "NEW PC Budget". The beast above will suit every single bit of my passions and probably increase my productivity by negative 50% despite the performance upgrade.
Why? Because I'll sure as heck only play those fancy schmancy games like the new Fallout or that Crysis thing. (They really should learn how to spell "crisis" you know).
The Games That I Want:
Crysis and Fallout 3

Games That I Play

Master of Magic

Try it, this is really fun, you get to watch pixels fly from one part of the screen and then smush other pixels to the other part of the screen.

Wait aren't you the guy who just won $1,000 dollars on Prizes.org?
Yep, indeed. I've imposed a 2 week think-it-through-you-dummy program on myself so I basically tucked the money just beside my 1 and a half foot long short sword - (haha!)

No really, even if I had the money physically with me right now, I wouldn't blow it all on just one thing no matter how much my heart is bleeding for a very fast computer. I am more intent on turning that $1,000 into something like $2,000. But as of this moment, the ideas elude me.

Win-Win Solution
I'm a win-win solution type of guy. Basically, I'm thinking of putting up another micro business for the indigents in the neighborhood in the form of a mini micro Internet cafe/student center. I'll be giving away the spare PC that we have while I can use the "new" one.

In this way, the new owner of our spare PC will get to have a small Internet cafe business where people could pay 30 PHP to 50 PHP (roughly $1 an hour) and at the same time contribute to education.

Buying Cheap Computers in the Philippines
So, now that we've got that out of the way, it's time to actually look for a computer. My first stop is a store in Robinson's Lipa called Max Saver. (I don't have any relation with the business, except that I once bought an LED monitor there.)

There's very little way to accurately measure the performance of the machines since they provide very little information. But on first sight, their prices are really low!

Looking at this now, I can only laugh. I remember 5 years ago, when I wanted to buy a Pentium 4 PC and thought that it was the world. Back then I had to settle for the office computers in my dad's office which are mostly Celeron's.

To my old PCs credit though, this old baby was the old PC that helped me win that international video competition so I'm not one to complain even with 512 MB of RAM. You can only imagine me editing videos for hours and hours on end using a slow machine. It was a mixture of pleasure and pain but the good thing is it did it's job and it did it's job well.

Why Buying Computers Suck

I spent the whole day researching and researching about performance and cost. To my consternation, the way that PCs are sold both online and offline are vastly superficially misrepresented.

It used be as easy as this:

Slow PC, 1 Ghz xRAM
Fast PC, 2 Ghz xRAM
Faster PC, 3 Ghz xRAM

Now, you'd have to do a lot of research on whether a Dual Core PC is faster than a Core2 Duo PC. Gahhhhh!!!

Thankfully, I've found some very useful tools to compare the performance of PCs. So far, the best that I've found and I really do recommend their website is CPUBenchmark.net. What they did, was that they provided a scoring system for the CPUs in one page so you can just do a CTRL+F to look for the model and compare its price and performance using a scoring system.

Clicking here will take you to cpubenchmark.net

Why are really useful websites ugly? I don't know...

Using Cpubenchmark.net I can somehow gauge the performance and capabilities of a particular processor using their Passmark CPU Mark and Rank. So far, this is the only website I've seen that provides this kind of in-depth comparison. Now, if they only made their site look better then we have a winner!

Popular computer stores/websites in the Philippines

From the top of my head, there are only a handful of computer stores that I can spell and name without a blink.

Pccorner.com.ph - PC Corner (New computers)
Pcx.com.ph - PC Express (New computers)
TipidPc.com - Tipid PC (Old and new)
OpenPinoy.com - Korean owned (Old computers)
Sulit.com.ph - (Misc + Old computers)

But still, the way they presented their computers seems to be more inclined towards marketing rather than providing possible customers with the exact information that they need.

I used to be technically inclined to learn all about the nuts and bolts and innards of a PC, but now time is more precious in that I wouldn't have to research about every single performance detail of a component.

Startup Idea

I haven't seen exactly what I want, but this is my idea of a new startup that would help people buy computers and other gadgets later on.

Basically, the website will get performance information from sites like CPUBenchmark.net. Then it will get the current performance of the PC that is currently being used. So, for instance, when I checked the Passmark CPU of my particular processor (Celeron 2.0 Ghz), I discovered that it was scored as:

233

I then searched (via CTRL+F) for the CPU's that are being sold on Max Saver, here are the results:

Pentium 4 2.0 - 247

Pentium 4 2.4 314

Pentium 4 2.8 416

Core Duo T2350 1.86 850

Core Duo T2300 1.66 791

Core2 Duo 1.8 e4300 1056

Core2 Duo 1.8 l7700 1071

I know that it doesn't mean that since my Celeron processor has a score of 233 means that a Core2 Duo 1.8 L7700 will perform 3 times better, but it does give me a rough idea - a "guesstimate" if you will, which makes it easier to decide and makes the whole thing more pleasurable.

Anyway, if you're a programmer and you think you can do this, I would make the interface of the website like this:

Well, not exactly like this, it still looks cluttered. But you get my drift. Buying a PC should be as easy as this game where I got the inspiration from: http://playspent.org/

So rather than researching for hours and hours on end, I could just answer a series of questions, which would help me choose the computer I want, for the price I want, for the performance I want and for how far it is too me.

Just like a game. Anyway, I'm not a programmer and the idea is still very rough but this is how I would like to buy a PC. No frills just simplified information for people who are too busy to find out whether a Core 2 Duo is faster than a Dual Core.

I Won Again! Thank You! Thank You!

2011-10-26T07:37:00.000+08:00

Again, thank you to all who helped me win the contest:)

Best Plan for Google Plus

I am running out of words to express my profound appreciation to all of you who helped me. After all, Danny + buntu/ ubuntu means Danny is who he is because of who we all are.

In this way, we are all winners.

I have a great idea on how I can give back to society in a fun way. So for all of my readers who are avid prizes.org fans, please ready your singing voice! We are going to make a mini singing contest pretty soon

I Won $1,000 + Video on Flipping

2011-10-25T11:29:00.000+08:00

Danny on Google+

How I Won $1,000 Dollars on Prizes.org
My Online Dreams and Starting From Nothing
Video: Buying and Selling Websites on Flippa.com

I Won $1,000 Dollars on Prizes.org

I was waiting for my wife to watch 'Friends' with her while our kids played with their raggedy dolls in the house. The cool air of Batangas province wafted through my nostrils as I patiently thought about the future and what it holds for me, my 4 kids and my pregnant wife.

Out of the natural tendency to check my email every now and then, I decided to sit down and click on the gmail icon. The familiar blue status bar slowly inched its way to 100 percent and I rearranged some stuff on my table as I normally did if I didn't have anything else to do.

I haven't checked my email for 1 day, so the inbox had about 50 unread messages - mostly people selling something or asking me to do this or that.

Then I found it. (I kept the email and starred it)

Without saying anything, I patiently walked towards my wife and I told her, "I love you". I hugged her and I felt some moist warmth coming out of my eyes. I kneeled with my hands down on the floor and just stayed there, just saying "Thank you, thank you and thank you."

For me, the ground that I'm standing on, reminded me of the times when I had no money. The warmth of the wooden floor made me understand that. I needed to remind myself how difficult it was to reach this point. I knew that one single misstep could bring me back down to having nothing and being nothing. Money is tremendously hard to earn but it was infinitely easier to spend.

My Online Dreams and Starting from Nothing

My online dream is simple and that's to make a legitimate online business thrive through content and services. I wanted to take on the giant Demand Media. When I first started this blog on http://dannybuntu.blogspot.com, I had wild dreams of being a dot com mogul as Mark Zuckerberg or Sergey Brin but with a slight twist, I only had my ability to write and to follow instructions. I am not a programmer.

I wrote everyday with very little rest and made quite a living out of it. But then, I knew that I couldn't go on like this forever. I needed to find that elusive making money online formula that seemed to have gotten lost among wads and wads of blogs and opportunists who have no intent but to mislead. I had to manually test every single avenue and possibility to ferret out the truth.

The first major break was also the first stumbling block. I was supposed to get my Adsense check on the first of October. It was the product of 4 years of blogging with no income. You can only imagine how painful that felt at the time.

But then I moved on. At the very least, it validated what I was doing. Knowing that I had the ability to reach that point gave me the impetus to find out how to minimize the amount of time to replicate it.

Dividing Time Between Real World Business and Online Business

Moreover, one of the challenges of running extremely streamlined businesses is time. I simply had to do most things on my own. I had to learn everything I needed to do in a shorter time frame and I needed focus. There's a limit to how much I can multitask. Sometimes, real world business gets in the way and I have to physically leave the zone to handle matters. It's difficult and I am getting tired.

The Road Ahead

My short term goal is modest - to earn at least $10 a day in adsense revenue. After that, $50. Ultimately, a $150 daily revenue stream would be sufficient to cover the costs needed for the next big step.

I came from the dirt road, and now I am on the pavement. The next step would be to move on to the expressway. There are still a lot of loose ends and lot of inefficiencies in my process but hopefully with the money that I won, I would be able to get some help to optimize my already boot strapped operations.

Giving Thanks

I am very thankful for all the people who have helped me specially my sister and Lovedy, my sister-in-law who is an excellent writer.

I am thankful to Nist, the person who held the contest on prizes.org.
I am thankful to the actors that I hired.
I am thankful to everyone who voted and believed.
I am thankful to God for giving me the ability to win.

Video of John Chow, Zac Johnson, Tyler and Steve Re: Flippa

If you are a person like me, then you would most likely agree with my principle of reinvesting 75% of earnings derived from online sources to endeavors that would also generate income. One of the things that I am studying intently is website flipping. Here, you can buy websites or blogs that are already generating money for a certain amount.

Though I have still have some reservations, I think that the video below is very instructional and informative.

My First Amazon Affiliate Sale

2011-10-24T14:09:00.001+08:00

Danny on Google+

A few years ago, someone on Ubuntu forums introduced to me the concept of affiliate marketing, back then I was an Ubuntu newbie who didn't really know anything about affiliate marketing or Ubuntu for that matter.

Fast forward to today and I still don't know that much about Ubuntu, but have at least made my first affiliate sale from Amazon.

The book that I sold was one that had a very powerful message that I haven't even read. In all honesty, I don't even have a clue on which particular post I put the affiliate link in, since I've been using Amazon Associates sometimes as a free picture repository where I use the pictures of products that are for sale rather than just get from images the Internet.

I find it heartening that the first item that I ever sold online is a book of encouragement and about winning. Who dares wins, I like the sound of that. :) To whoever bought the book from me, thank you!

Hollywood Sign Taal Batangas

2011-10-20T17:16:00.001+08:00

An Open Letter to Gov. Vilma Santos-Recto,

Dear Gov. Ate V,

First of all, I'm a big fan. As a Lipeno who lives 30 minutes away from this volcano, I think you've done the city of Lipa a lot of good. I used to think that showbiz people really don't belong in politics, but you've changed my mind. Honestly.

Please don't make me change my mind again

I saw this picture on the Inquirer and I can't help but scratch my head and think that it was a bad joke.

Wow! Pangit!

Apparently it wasn't (Inquirer, 2011):

"He said the proposed sign would be painted white and positioned following the contours of the island volcano. The letters would be 14 meters tall and stretch for about 110 meters.

The font would be similar to that of the iconic Hollywood signage, the official added.

“It is not an out-of-this-world concept. It’s a simple development which can easily attract attention and even visitors to the area,” Leviste said."

Come again?!
If there would be any visitors to this volcano, I can guarantee you that they would probably go there just to pray that the volcano erupts so that the sign would be destroyed.

Seriously. What if it looked like this?

"Masasaktan po ba ang pride natin?"

As a small resort owner who lives nearby, while I will agree that Batangas definitely needs a lot of support when it comes to domestic tourism, this one is in particular bad taste. Very bad.

Ok fine, I used to think to that Taal was part of Tagaytay, but now that I know that it's part of Batangas, it doesn't change a thing! They still have the view and the posh restaurants - we have the volcano mud that's good for planting.

Putting the sign up is just like Batangas saying to Tagaytay "Umpf, up yours!"

Best Way to Support Domestic Tourism in Batangas
While money would definitely be welcome, I think Batangas would be better off if it totally stops overfishing in the lake and instead replace it with water oriented recreational activities aside from the traditional banca.

Gov. masarap siguro mag jet ski diyan ng medyo affordable naman ang cost para sa lahat.

Or, floating restaurants. Or a large wildlife sanctuary nearby.

I guarantee that when the good folks see a themed and environmentally friendly tourist hub on the lake or near it, the good folks in Tagaytay would definitely want to come down and join the fun themselves. Win win situation di ba?

So please, scrap this silliness.

Regards,

A Lipeno Ate V Supporter.

P.S.

Dear Reader, do you want to win $10? All you have to do is Say "Yes" or "No" in a contest I've made on Prizes.org. Click here!

Read About the Legend of Taal Volcano, Alamat ng Taal

Danny on Google+

For You

2011-10-17T19:49:00.003+08:00

Photo Credit: Createsima

Third World Occupy Perspective

2011-10-17T10:25:00.000+08:00

My father once said, that "it is easier to be poor and then to slowly become rich than it is to be rich and to suddenly find yourself in the doorsteps of poverty. Life is a cycle, know how to ride it with grace."

Danny on Google+

My personal third world stance on the Occupy movements
Why I think that it's wrong to not have an agenda
Greed as the impetus for capitalistic society
Could there possibly be a hidden end goal?

I usually don't touch politics on this blog but since it is already becoming pervasive as world news, I'd like to offer my perspective from the third world (developing nation if you must). Living in the third world has somewhat baffled me as to the impetus of these Occupy movements. Don't get me wrong, I am sympathetic to the plight of the first world dissident even though their lack of cohesive agenda save for quite possibly "bringing down the system" makes me averse to their position.

Even here in the third world, social dissent usually has some end goal or collective agenda in order to be successful or even recognizable as legitimate. The over variety and the "seeming" lack of direction of these protests is alarming for it may indeed herald what the conspiracy theorists have been peddling all along. But I will save my conspiracy theory post for later when I've gone nuts.

What Exactly Is Occupy's Position? What Exactly Do They Want?
If I have a clue I'll tell you. For the moment, let's try to cull it from various sources on the web.

"Cities from east Asia to Europe and north America saw rallies on Saturday denouncing capitalism, inequality and economic crisis, but riot police were busy only in Rome. (Reuters, 2011)"

"Social movements spring up not to achieve narrow policy goals but to shift the broader public debate, mobilizing public will toward change. Polls show this movement's message against corporate greed not only has wider support than either political party in Washington but wider support than the tea party. - What will victory look like for Occupy Wall Street? (CNN, 2011)"

Photo Credit: CNN

"Social movements spring up not to achieve narrow policy goals but to shift the broader public debate, mobilizing public will toward change."

Precisely! What Change Exactly!?

This is why the question needs to be addressed more. What kind of change does everyone want to achieve?

The abolition of the banking system?
The abolition of capitalism? If yes, what will replace it?
Politicians denouncing corporate greed?
No more bailouts for the banking sector, big businesses and governments. Let banks fall and the government of Greece to collapse and default.
Do they want to end corruption in America? If yes, then ask yourself who "we" is in this case.
Or is it simply the proverbial turning back the hands of time when daily partying was the rule of the day?

When Excess Drives Societies Not Everybody Has a Party
The now global phenomenon that is the "Occupy Movement" is the natural end result of societies in excess and not merely the big corporations. Every system runs like clockwork and no individual component is big enough to drive it contrary to popular claims. I will try to pick my words carefully here, even though I know that I'll still run the chance of being misunderstood.

Let me put it this way, before our colonial overlords arrived here in the islands of the Philippines more than 400 years ago, life was simple.

When we've gotten our independence in 1946 and have been exposed to the wonderment of "civility", "civilization" and a "proper education", that concept of a simple life or a "Simpleng Buhay" evaporated and became a lust for everything that is not us and a lust for all things that are not from here.

And yes I am being a hypocrite. Admittedly, I am at the very least, a hypocrite who wants to enlighten rather than mislead if only to show my own weakness. I did not create this game, nor did I have a hand in crafting the rules. I merely play by it whilst speaking against it.

This lust for everything that is not simple, came to us in the guise of "betterment" and "personal and socio-economic development". Hence, the concept of living a life that is "stateside" became prevalent. Through poverty, we have lost out identity and have become willing purveyors of all the cultures of the world and their niceties. There's a Filipino in every continent of the world doing the bidding of another culture and when they come back, most of them become cultural hypochondriacs.

Then when relative wealth strikes us, we go back here and then bask glowingly at the wonderment of our "ignorant" fellowmen who should emulate so and so culture because this culture is disciplined, we should emulate this so and so culture because they are rich and therefore progressive, we should emulate everybody else, except ourselves.

I am merely a product of this shift. Regardless of this historical fact, I am now a part of this change and going back is no longer possible specially with the advent of the concept of the global village.

Now back to Occupy, these slogans and causes would just as easily dissipate and everything will go back to what they used to be once prosperity returns. And it will return- eventually. Except when the proper dominoes have been toppled paving the way for a bigger global economic cataclysm that could lead to an altogether different society.

The First Domino is the Illusion
As a Filipino father, one of the things that I've learned is that rebellion should be kept within the walls of our own houses. This particular idea is very difficult for me to explain without being politically incorrect but having seen rebellions of various shapes and sizes, two things are universal: the rebellion could either win or lose.

If the state is the father, the state must enforce its rule. If it cedes power, then the rebels then become the new rulers who will then enforce their own rules. This rule cannot be subverted as economic reality plays a huge part in determining who gets the scarce resource.

Even Anarchists Have Their Own Rulers
They claim to be the voice of progressive agenda and yet hide behind the masks of anonymity. Yet, mark my words, once they have used the populace to their own ends and have toppled the state and the pillars that support it - their rule will just be as tyrannical as the one they have brought down. You would see this even from their actions now. The problem is, a lot of well meaning people are being caught in this agenda.

Their leverage is raw human fear.

I have experienced having someone dear to me confined to the hospital with huge medical bills and absolutely no cash to pay for it. For me, the realization of this stark truth was one of the things that gave me one of the biggest scares of my life. I was able to surpass that moment through sheer humility and some humiliation too.

But the fear that lingers that such could happen again is real. Multiply this fear on a national level and then multiply it exponentially on an International level and you have yourself a global movement - the next domino that will topple.

In a Consumer Oriented Society and a Consumer Driven Economy - Everyone is Greedy
In such a system, the impetus for living is to live in gain at the expense of the other. It is always like that. One of the things that I've learned is that there are no absolutely altruistic acts. Oftentimes, charity is even a demeaning acceptance that it is the only option and the only thing that can be done. Oftentimes, charity is merely a way to assuage the guilt of knowing that what has been taken is more.

I will not go too far in mentioning specifics, but if you are acute enough then you would know exactly what I am saying.

Conclusion
It is still too early to say what the future will hold for all of us now that this thing has taken on global proportions. If all things revert back to the way it was, the least fundamental change that could happen will only be a slight redistribution of wealth via the contraction of the bigger economies. Multinational corporations are expected to benefit from this specially if they are not geographically hindered and are able to maximize the economic advantages of each of the world's geographical units.

The workers of developing nations still stand to gain from the advantage of the unwillingness of workers in first world economies to bring the cost of production down to third world level.

A worker who can produce the same output at a lower price and live relatively comfortable with lower costs of living face better prospects than a worker who demands more wages, and who is accustomed to living in a location with a high cost of living.

It sounds overly simplistic but think of it this way, what's happening now?

My War Against Smoking

2011-10-14T09:06:00.003+08:00

Danny on Google+

Photo Credit: Vieran2001

Every day I wake up is an endless war waged against smoking. I lose these perpetual battles against myself most of the time. This time around, it has reached a most critical phase in my life. I have to win these small battles or else lose everything.

For those who have following this blog, you know that I've been trying to quit for a very long time. It has been 10 months now since I started this battle and it's not over yet. This campaign against smoking is real. The stakes are higher and the prospects dimmer.

Now, it's about willfully stopping myself from smoking or my body itself stopping me.

I am in that stage when my organs are starting a revolution against my body and my mind.

It's only a matter of weeks or months before that revolution is won.

The Mind is a Curious Thing

Sometimes I feel as if I have two minds. One that knows that I should stop and is noisy about it and the other who keeps silent. The silent mind injects its poison subtly without the knowledge of the former. It works like the CIA. Instigating small pockets of revolt one cell at a time.

Absence is far more difficult to deal with than presence.

With any type of absence there's always that painful longing that keeps the mind aware.

Awareness is Torturous.

It's like a fragmentation missile that hits you in many places at once. You become aware not only of the things that you need to be aware of, but also of the ones that you have placed at the back of your mind for retrieval.

One day of ceasing, results in this bombardment of the senses. It's like seeing that tsunami of fears, desires, wants and caprices all coming for you.

In your fear, you reach out for something that can soothe this pain inside.

Smoking banishes that tsunami and dissipates that wall of fear in the smoke that one blows out. With this, every thing becomes "ok" in a perverted sense of the word. The mind becomes clouded.

My Ad Sense Check

2011-10-12T14:11:00.001+08:00

I lost it.

Danny on Google+

Well no, not really. I didn't even get to see it and I've been counting every day. 42 days now.

So, who wants to vote for Ron Paul?

This also explains why I haven't been holding those $5 dollar weekly contests. The money that I was supposed to share was supposed to come from that check.

I so totally missed the moment because of a newbie mistake.

I should have opted for the registered mail missile delivery system
I should have not sent the check to my mom's address. (far away)
I should have not trusted the post office.
I should have gotten payments from Western Union instead.

Sooooo, this is not particularly happy.

Trollface! You!!!!!!!! $!$@#@#%^!@#%@#

Ron Paul Campaign for US President 2012

2011-09-24T15:26:00.000+08:00

Danny on Google+

500 Startups Livestream Now

2011-09-23T21:53:00.000+08:00

Starring: Robert Scoble Fred Wilson Dave McClure

Watch live streaming video from 500startups at livestream.com

Danny on Google+

Hate New Facebook? Try Diaspora

2011-09-22T18:01:00.001+08:00

Or of course, Google Plus.

Danny on Google+

Seriously, I'm tired of receiving all these emails about a yet to exist social network. But in the spirit of fair bloggerism, here's a copy of their email and a directory of existing pods:

Dear Friend of Diaspora* -

Thanks again for your interest in joining the Diaspora* community, and for your patience. We’re working on getting your invite out to you as quickly as possible, and we’re still committed to getting it to you by the end of October. We’re pushing out hundreds of thousands of invitations as quickly as we can -- thanks for bearing with us.

As promised in our previous message, we want to tell you a little more about why we believe so strongly in Diaspora*'s mission: to build a new and better social web, one that's 100% owned and controlled by you and other Diasporans.

Diaspora*'s distributed design is a huge part of it. Like the Internet itself, Diaspora* isn't housed in any one place, and it's not controlled by any one entity (including us). We've created software that lets you set up and run your own social network on your own "pod" (or server) and connect your network to the larger Diaspora* ecosystem. You can have a pod all to yourself, or one for just you and your friends, or your family, giving you complete ownership and control over your personal social information (including your identity, your posts, and your photos) and how it’s all stored and shared. Or you can simply join one of more than 20 open pods.^[1]

This means you can do what you want. You can express yourself candidly, and be your authentic self. You can go by whatever name you like on Diaspora*. Pseudonyms are fine, and this both protects you (if you want to say something your boss or your parents disagree with) and opens the door to real connection. Here’s how one blogger and Diasporan put it:

Maybe his kind words mean so much to me because T is someone I've met through a [pseudo]nym -- he got to know the real me's ideals and beliefs, and liked that person... A compliment from [him] is based on my own sincerity, and thus, has a certain purity. It is untainted by perceptions of how I look, what I'm wearing, and so on. Given that, I value it especially highly.^[2]

This kind of authentic connection brings back the social freedom that made the Internet awesome in the first place. And this is just the beginning.

You can make great connections with anyone in the Diaspora* ecosystem, not just the people on your own pod, because the pods are linked together.

You can also use Diaspora* as a home base for your outbound posts on Facebook, Twitter, and Tumblr, writing to them all from Diaspora*. In the future, you’ll be able to monitor your inbound streams from Diaspora* as well.

Yet our distributed design means no big corporation will ever control Diaspora*. Diaspora* will never sell your social life to advertisers, and you won’t have to conform to someone’s arbitrary rules or look over your shoulder before you speak.

And because your information is yours, not ours, you’ll have the ultimate power -- the ability to move your profile and all your social data from one pod to another, without sacrificing your connection to the social web. Over time, this will bring an end to the indifferent, self-serving behavior that people can’t stand^[3] from the walled gardens that dominate social networking today. When you can vote with your feet for the environment where you feel safest, the big guys will have to shape up, or risk losing you.

We’re still building this move-your-profile capability, as well as other key features. It’s hard work, but we’re building the future we want to see, with incredible community support.

Diaspora* is a genuine community effort. More than 160 people have contributed to our code, putting us in the top 2% of all open source projects tracked by Ohloh.^[4] Hundreds more volunteers have translated Diaspora* into 13 of the world’s spoken languages so far, with another 32 translations in progress. Thousands of Diasporans have given us more than 3,000 points of feedback. (We’re listening closely, and building the features you’re asking for as fast as we can.) And of course, thousands of donors have helped pay for our development, and hundreds of thousands of people -- including you -- are patiently waiting for access to try it out.

Thanks again for your patience. We can’t wait to see you here, and to build a brighter future together.

Sincerely,
- Dan, Max, Ilya, Sarah, Yosem, and Peter
Wednesday, September 21st, 2011

PR Useless? And Flippa.com: Close Enough

2011-09-21T13:51:00.003+08:00

Why You May Want To Read This

If you are like me and have no clue about website flipping
If you want to join me in not knowing anything about website flipping :)
Is Page Rank useless?

A few weeks ago, I tried analyzing one particular website auction taking place on Flippa. I guesstimated that the price for that site (uneasysilence.com) would fetch about $4,000 to $6,000 USD.

I was wrong by $2000.

It sold for $8,000.

Danny on Google+

Read more »

Contest Winners for Contest 2 and 3

2011-09-19T09:28:00.001+08:00

Danny on Google+

Photo Credit: Mzacha

Without further ado, the contest winners:

Money = Happiness? - Winner: Hope Foster
Do You Need 5 Bucks? - Winner: MongThungIT

Contest 4

2011-09-16T09:52:00.001+08:00

Contest 4: List down 5 things that make you sad.

Danny on Google+

Prizes.org Boosts Traffic Big Time - Your Next Marketing and Promotions Platform

2011-09-15T17:47:00.002+08:00

Photo Credit: XvoltageX

Danny on Google+

You need to read this if

you are a webmaster or a blogger and are looking for a new and very cheap way to increase traffic for your site.
you have a service oriented website (graphic design, content services, seo, logos, etc.) and are looking for zero cost advertisement.

The cat is out of the bag. Traffic to my own network of blogs has increased significantly (3 figure percentages) based solely on my participation on prizes.org as a contestant and as a contest holder.

Sections:

I. How to increase traffic and clients using prizes.org as a contestant and make money as well.

II. How to increase traffic and clients using prizes.org as a contest-holder.

BONUS: How to install the prizes.org widget

Disclosure:

1. Google owns Prizes.org. (Mashable). Knowing Google, there are reasons why it makes its acquisitions.

2. If you join and then win a contest by clicking here: Prizes.org (Affiliate), it will be your way of thanking me for divulging my current and only marketing strategy as of the moment.

Section I. How to increase traffic using prizes.org as a contestant

First of all, ask yourself this question, "what is my service or blog about?"

Let me tell you a story about Adam and Giorgos Vasileiadis. I don't know them personally but when I think of "graphics designers" from the top of my head, I can even spell their names because they're so damn good.

How do I know? They keep winning the contests!

In joining the graphics design contests on prizes.org, they not only showcased their talents and abilities, they also effectively advertised themselves as well as their services.

And most of all, they got paid to do it (when they won)!

For example, a contest was held by a game designer named Nicholas Wentworth Shaw, about creating the icons or logos for the two factions in a game he was creating. The prize was $150 USD. Giorgos won it with this:

This is now the property of Nicholas Wentworth-Shaw

Giorgos:

1. Win $150 in the contest for free - CHECK!

2. Showcase my abilities - CHECK!

3. Get referrals from people who see my work - CHECK!

4. Get contacted for future business - CHECK!

Take a look at Giorgos work at http://www.sloorpworld.com/

Section II. How to advertise and get some work done by creating a contest

Now let's look at this from the perspective of Nicholas. As an independent game designer, he needed someone to help him with the artwork as well as the storyline for the game. Needless to say, being an indie developer, he wanted to focus more on the programming aspects of creating the game.

Moreover, he also needed to promote it when it was done.

To do this:

1. He made a contest about creating logos for the two factions - $200

2. He made a contest about writing the storyline for the game - $150

Thus, we can say that not only will he have created a fanbase (the contestants) for the game before it is even made, he has also done some work with the help of guys like Giorgos!

The possibilities that one can explore with Prizes.org are innumerable. Unlike traditional freelancing and outsourcing websites - prizes.org lets you choose the exact solution for your outsourcing needs.

How many times have you outsourced and gotten terrible results from seemingly good and well intentioned candidates who unfortunately didn't deliver?

Prizes.org solves that problem by letting you select the best solution and not just the best candidate.

BONUS SECTION: How to Install the New Prizes.org Widget to Showcase Your Contest

1. Join Prizes.org (Aff)
2. Connect your Facebook and Twitter account so you can broadcast your contest once you've created it
3. Optional but recommended: Verify your account by inputting your mobile phone number - you'll get a $10 FREE CREDIT you can use to create a contest.
4. Fill out your profile - it's better if you input accurate information, so people can find you.
5. Click on Create Contest and fill out the details. You can even make $5 contests if you like. Actually, I've found that these $5 contests are also effective even if the amount is not so big. You just have to ensure that the contest would not be too difficult.

6. On Your Profile Page, click on "Get Widget"

7. Copy the Code and Paste on Your Website's sidebar

Why Prizes.org?

It is owned by Google
It is the best place to hold contests

It gives you options for the type of contest that you'd like to hold.

You can choose the winning entry
You can let the audience decide who wins

It is a safe platform where both parties are at ease about the transaction.
It uses Paypal and also the option to use your credit card or debit card to upload funds
It is a mini social network
You can comment on the entries
You can mark the entries as your favorite
You can eliminate nuisance entries
You can send messages to participants
It's more reliable than just blaring out your contest on twitter or facebook

How to Redeem Your Credits if You Win a Contest on Prizes.org

Congratulations!

If you're reading this, this means that you already won something, correct?

1. Click on the Blue Dollar Amount on the top of your prizes.org dashboard
2. Find the Redeem Credits link and click it

3. Input your Paypal information.
Note: Prizes.org charges a 10% fee on top of a 5.5% Third Party Payment Handling Fee - so that's 15.5%
If you win $100 - you get $84.5 in your Paypal account.

Join Prizes.org

In a Perfect Internet...

2011-09-14T14:25:00.000+08:00

PHOTO CREDIT

THERE WOULD BE NO

...need for SEO
People will just make creative content that everybody interested appreciates. People would flock to these websites somehow impartially.

...people stealing other people's content
Artists, writers and musicians would thrive independently without the need for an expensive marketing machinery. People who work hard at creating get rewarded more.

...piracy
Because there would be no need to buy expensive software for the consumer market. Free operating systems with the same capabilities and the perfect compatibility with proprietary systems will exist because there would be no greedy patent holders that keep that from happening. Music would be distributed like in the olden days, when bards and real poets would travel like wandering minstrels and artists.

...racism, stupidism, disrespect, hate, greed and evil.
Because people would understand and respect each other's differences. If a person doesn't like another person's opinion, then that person voices his dissent respectfully without using derogatory words to make the point. Evil would cease to exist, well, because there's simply no room for evil in a perfect Internet. Or evil has it's own place and doesn't invade the realm of good.

Danny on Google+

But that's only going to happen if the world itself is perfect.

Because the Internet is merely the world's imperfect reflection.

Voting on the Internet

2011-09-14T09:30:00.001+08:00

Secure and feasible voting on the Internet is still lagging in terms of security and viability.

Why This Matters To You

if you participate in online voting platforms which involve money
if you are holding a contest where the participants vote for the winner

Sometimes, with the prodding of marketing necessity or even political expediency and agenda, voting on the Internet has been downgraded to the status of a poll. In this regard, it can be considered to be less authoritative and one loosely conducted with a minimal consideration for accuracy.

Photo Credit: http://www.sxc.hu/photo/235200

Security
Though I'm not personally a network security expert, there are a lot of resources and news reports on the Internet concerning the matter of security in online voting. The existence of political interest groups which have the capability to subvert any network security system also compounds the matter.

Is Online Voting Safe? - Wired
Internet Voting Arrives... Is it secret and secure? - FoxNews
Internet Voting in Florida Raises Security Concerns: Geek the Vote - Popular Mechanics

Verification
Danny on Google+
Aside from the technical issues surrounding online voting systems, there's also the matter of padding and ghost voters in any type of platform. In my case, it's in the weekly contests that I hold for my own network of blogs. I tried to allow participants to vote on the winning entry but I found that the entries with the most votes tend to be not as good as the entries of verified contestants.

Moreover, I found one of the entrants voting for himself using another account.

In any system there's always the crucial element of verification to ensure fairness.

In democracies such as in the United States, the Philippines and others, this most often hinges on the voters' registration information.

In websites, this verification system hinges on different levels.

Anonymous - No verification
Account Verification - Usually email verification
Social Network Verification - Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Google+
Mobile Phone Verification - Call ins, registration codes, verification codes
Official Documents - Bank Statement of Account, Driver's License, Social Security, Government issued identification, etc. (Most often applied in banking and mobile payment facilities)

As far as I have experienced, it doesn't go beyond this. I suppose that the next level for this would be online biometric scanning. But that too could be compromised if the infrastructure for transmission is not secure. It is data just the same after all - even if it's biological in nature.

Why I Wrote This

My intentions in writing this was to clear my mind regarding the system of voting on the Internet. Having participated in online voting platforms, I can say that most websites voting systems are flawed - therefore providing inaccurate information.

This is more dangerous if the voting involves financial interests.

NYTimes: Niche Blogs Are In

2011-09-13T16:43:00.000+08:00

It's official, the impending fall of Yahoo.com, heralds the golden age of niche blogs and websites.

"AOL’s acquisition of TechCrunch last year for a reported $30 million was an acknowledgement that scale, once the grail of the Web, can be a disadvantage when it comes to attracting the kind of audiences advertisers want." (NYTimes)

Indeed, though these large sites still command a hefty readership, much of that traffic may not be converting because of the divergence of interests. People who go to any of the major news portals such as CNN.com, Wall Street Journal and NYTimes, most likely go there not to find information about a particular product or to focus on a particular interest - but to consume news.

Here's more:

"Like newspapers, portals like AOL and Yahoo are confronting the cold fact that there is less general interest in general interest news. Readers have peeled off into verticals of information — TMZ for gossip, Politico for politics and Deadspin for sports, and so on."

Of course, another possibility that may exist is the unbounded flow of information that independent sites provide. The blogs mentioned in the New York Times article have all mostly been co-opted or assimilated by bigger media companies.

Big Media Using Small Blogger's Tactics?
Danny on Google+

Indeed, there has been several instances when larger websites were caught red-handed by the Big G using small time SEO tactics to compete. Among the bigger names involved is Forbes.com.

Based on my own observations, some of the more respected sites are also leveraging their traffic to monetize some portions of that precious white space.

This is a screenshot from a very prominent International news website:

Grey Area

I'm not so sure if this is in violation of Google's linking policies which generally frowns on paid linking. To quote:

"However, some SEOs and webmasters engage in the practice of buying and selling links that pass PageRank, disregarding the quality of the links, the sources, and the long-term impact it will have on their sites. Buying or selling links that pass PageRank is in violation of Google's Webmaster Guidelines and can negatively impact a site's ranking in search results."

I tried looking at the source code of the site in question but didn't find any links to the materials on the widget. Maybe some of you SEO guys can explain this better.

Photo Credit: http://www.sxc.hu/photo/1115855

The Treacherous Future of Yahoo

2011-09-13T15:41:00.001+08:00

Colorful personalities enthrall us, specially if it's the CEO of a large Internet company spewing forth expletives like water running down the Niagara Falls.

Yahoo.com Former CEO Bartz's Famous Last Words:

"Yahoo F**ked Me Over"

Photo Credit:http://www.sxc.hu/photo/1321251

Danny on Google+

Toughness vs. Arrogance
Online business is a cutthroat business that's really bereft of the niceties and social media manners that's been taught to us. But there's a very fine line between toughness vs. arrogance. The CEO who wants to portray toughness should realize that she's not the only one performing that balancing act. Her subordinates, clients and partners and the board are also there with her.

Sometimes, the action of one very prominent individual is a great barometer of the internal affairs that transpire within the walls of a company.

See Steve Jobs Respond to Insult in 1997

I don't buy Apple products for the simple reason that I have access to the same tools which can do the same job as well at less than 10% the cost. Which is of course, another way of saying that I have no money. :)

The Human Side of Business

Be that as it may, CEOs are also humans dealing with the problems and needs of many others. In Yahoo's case, it was revenue growth which sparked the board's dissent that lead to Bartz's firing.

Yahoo.com as a Media Company and Content

Yahoo.com is the first website I've come to know ever since I was able to access the Internet. Watching it fade or implode like this is quite disappointing yet somehow expected as the years went by. I couldn't even remember the last time I visited Yahoo.com.

A while back, some Internet personalities have shown some interest in taking on the role that Bartz left. Admittedly, I put a dash of humor on the posting because of the seemingly ludicrous pronouncements that the said personalities have made. However, with the realization that Yahoo.com is indeed becoming more of a media company than a tech one, somehow, it makes perfect sense to put someone inside who could shake things up from the media end. That someone may very well be Chris Brogan.

I don't think that Yahoo.com has innovated on something that has created new technology that brings out the wow in us. It has become old and senile. They need someone who is totally the opposite of Carol Bartz, someone who is charismatic and someone who doesn't think the same.

Admittedly, however, the chances for this happening is very slim.

An Alternate Perspective and an Interesting Note:

Tech companies are also media companies
To quote from Digidave,
Media companies must understand that they are also technology companies.Technology companies must understand that they are also media companies."

Sell or Revitalize
Both Yahoo and the media has been sending mixed signals about Yahoo's future. Some say that one of it's options is to sell. Jerry Yang, one of the co-founders however says something completely the opposite. Regardless of the outcome, I think one thing is for sure - Yahoo.com is fading.

It's understandable why Yang would say so - Yahoo.com is his baby. It's his startup. Selling it for a price that doesn't fall within his expectations would definitely affect his decision making process. At this juncture and with the previous failure of a sale to Microsoft, it is highly likely that the board would prevail on this one and finally offer Yahoo up for sale - the question is who would buy it and for how much?

Whatever the future may hold for Yahoo, it is almost certain that it won't be bringing in something new on the table to compete with the likes of Google and Facebook.

The most that I could imagine Yahoo being is a future where it is on equal footing with Demand Media. Why? I'm calling it a hunch.

Do You Need 5 Bucks?

2011-09-12T17:12:00.000+08:00

The Winner for the First Week of September
The winner for the first week of September is Almost Darkslide's Blind Love Ballad entry. There are many great entries that made it on solonely.org, but I chose Almost Darkslide's because the song that he posted captured the gist of the question.

Today's society is replete with the loss of sacrificial love as an element of expression. Instead, what you have are numerous alliterations to booty, casual sex and wanton carnal relations that I'm sure piques not only the romantics but also the religious authorities. Congratulations to Almost Darkslide, whoever you are and may you enjoy your 5 bucks.

Danny on Google+

2 New Contests!
For the second week of September, I'll be holding 2 contests:

Good luck!

911

2011-09-11T17:18:00.000+08:00

Update: I've compiled a list of the best resources for today.

From a Nearby Resident

I'm not American and I don't even live in the United States but I can remember finding out about the attacks from my old lady landlord back when I was still a student in Baguio City in the Philippines.

She knocked at my door and I opened it. With her wrinkled and wide eyes she alarmingly told me,
"They bombed the twin towers."

Being the half crazy old lady that I thought she was, I dismissed the news since I really needed to get to school on time. I didn't have a TV then and didn't even know where the twin towers were, I ignorantly said, "These terrorists do this all the time."

Her eyes grew wider, "They do?!!"

I rushed out and excused myself before the conversation made me late for my university class. It was there that I would find out what the twin towers were, where it was and how many people lost their lives.

It was crazy.

It would be the topic of many conversations and discussions for many more years to come.

Looking back at the historical consequences of that event after 10 years, I thought of watching some videos on youtube. Nowadays, youtube is filled with all sorts of conspiracies and BIG HEADLINES THAT JUST MAKE YOU WANT TO CLICK. The videos that I posted here, are the ones I think provided the best perspectives since they're also the least biased.

To be sure, the devastation caused by this single event would reverberate in history as the one which would cause so many more suffering and wars all over the world - for all people. This was the beginning of a new era in world history, one where the value of life became less. An era when people would begin hating religion collectively. An era where hate will begin to gnaw at the hearts of everyone and the darkest realm of human thought would become expounded and expressed in so many ways, via different channels. Danny on Google+

I could have made a tribute for the victims of the attack on that fateful day, but then I realized that they're not the only victims of this one single event.

The world is.

From the Ground

Inside the WTC

From the Street