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Monthly Archives: August 2007

Wirecard: Prepaid (Virtual) Mastercard

Got the info from a local techies eGroup. A new service was launched that lets you use a Virtual Mastercard to purchase online, it is called Wirecard (https://www.wirecard.com/wirecard/app)

What is it?
“As easy as cash. As convenient as a card. Send money, receive money – worldwide and in real-time. Pay with your virtual MasterCard. Experience the advantages of convenient online access that is available 24 hours a day, worldwide. Our latest offer: receive an additional prepaid MasterCard.”

Now, how will you load money to your Prepaid Mastercard?
Currently, the only accept deposits made at Netopia Megamall, Lower Ground Floor
Mega A Building, SM Megamall, EDSA cor. Julia Vargas Ave. Mandaluyong City (soon at other Netopia branches, as posted in their website). Minimum deposit amount is US$15 or roughly Php720. They can also give you a plastic card, if you opt to have it (pamparami ng cards sa wallet).

My wishlist for Wirecard:
1. For them to accept bank deposits (via BDO, preferably);
2. For them to lower the minimum deposit amount to say, US$5 or US$10.

I just hope that with this new product, eCommerce in the Philippines will flourish.

LF: Website Content Writer

I am looking for a Website Content Writer. The project is for a local logistics company. If you or a friend of yours is interested to take the job, please email me your (his/her) resume and asking price for the project via [email protected]

Thank you!

Password Generator in Windows XP


Did you know that there is a hidden password generator in Windows XP for your Administrator user account? Launch the Command Prompt (click on Start > Run… and type “cmd” without the quotes). Then type “net user administrator /random” (withou
t the quotes, again). This command will generate a strong Windows XP Administrator Password.

Invitation to a Business Orientation

Guys, I am inviting you to attend a Business Orientation on Saturday, 11 August 2007 1:30pm at the San Miguel Building (Ground Floor, Octagon Building). This paves way to a part-time job and you will really earn a lot of income. On top of this, you will have a lifetime membership under the San Miguel Corporation and of course, this comes with great discounts on their products.

You will be accomodated by my cousin Boyet Bautista (#8 for the Purefoods Chunky Giants) himself … text me via 0916.320.1513 or email me personally via [email protected] for confirmation.

Thanks!

Aug. 20 Holiday ‘Economics’ Proclamation Signed

Executive Secretary Eduardo Ermita has signed the proclamation declaring August 20, which falls on the eve of “Ninoy Aquino Day,” as a special non-working holiday.

He also affirmed that Bonifacio Day (November 30) and Rizal Day (December 30) will remain regular holidays whose observance dates will be unchanged.

“Now, therefore, I, Eduardo Ermita, Executive Secretary, by authority of Her Excellency, Gloria Macapagal Arroyo, do hereby declare … Aug. 20, 2007 (Monday) (as) a special (non-working) day throughout the country,” Proclamation 1353 read.

It added that: “August 21, 2007 (Tuesday) shall be a working day throughout the country. All activities and celebrations in observance of ‘Ninoy Aquino Day’ shall, however, remain to be observed on Aug. 21, 2007.”

Ermita also ordered the Department of Labor and Employment to promulgate implementing guidelines for the holidays.

President Arroyo recently signed into law Republic Act 9492, which moves holidays, traditional non-working days to the nearest Monday.

If the holiday falls on a Wednesday, the holiday would be observed on the Monday of that week. If it falls on a Sunday, the holiday would be observed on the Monday that follows.

Under Republic Act 9492, the following holidays would be moved to the nearest Monday: Araw ng Kagitingan (from April 9); Labor Day (from May 1); Independence Day (from June 12); Ninoy Aquino Day (from August 21); National Heroes Day (from the last Sunday of August); Andres Bonifacio Day (from November 30); and Rizal Day (from December 30). – GMANews.TV

Taken from http://www.gmanews.tv/story/54986/Aug-20-holiday-economics-proclamation-signed

Vatican rejects Rosales’ Resignation as Manila Bishop

The Vatican has rejected the resignation of Manila Archbishop Gaudencio Cardinal Rosales, who will reach the mandatory retirement age of 75 on Friday.

Cardinal Giovanni Battista Re, prefect of the Congregation for the Bishops, told the Apostolic Nunciature in the Philippines that Pope Benedict XIV still wanted Cardinal Rosales to keep his position.

Re said the Pope invited Rosales “to continue in (his) ministry ‘donec aliter provideatur’ (unless otherwise provided for).”

Church canon requires bishops to submit their resignation to the Pope when they turn 75, the retirement age for the bishops.

In his resignation letter submitted last June 10, Rosales thanked the Holy See and “the Holy Mother, the Church for having granted me the privilege of serving the Church as Bishop.”

Rosales said in his letter that his decision to tendered his resignation was to “allow the proper selection of the Archbishop who will succeed” him.

Rosales, ordained as a priest in 1958, was appointed Manila Archbishop in 2003. He replaced Jaime Cardinal Sin, who died in 2005.

An advance mass for Rosales’ birthday was held on Wednesday with Cebu Archbishop Ricardo Cardinal Vidal, delivering the homily and paying tribute to “Cardinal Dency” as “someone who has offered a new vision not only for Manila but also for the Philippines.”

Vidal himself turned 75 more than a year ago and had also been invited by the Pope to continue with his ministry. -GMANews.TV

Taken from http://www.gmanews.tv/story/54988/Vatican-rejects-Rosales-resignation-as-Manila-bishop

OS X on a PC?

When Steve Jobs announced that Macs will be shipped with Intel processors, what came into the minds of geeks was: “Let’s run Windows in it.” And they actually did that on the first week Intel-based Macs were sold.

Why not install OS X on a PC, since Windows (which runs more than 75% of the world’s PC units) can run on a Mac?

This video will show us how to install Mac OS X on an IBM laptop. Not as easy as you think, but it works! If you want the step-by-step guide, head on to http://wiki.osx86project.org/wiki/index.php/Main_Page

Internet at Lightning Speed?

Just after my class at the SDA building last Saturday, my attention was caught with this sign: “iHooked Internet … Internet at Lightning Speed.” I was actually thinking of paying Netopia UM a visit to check on my server remotely, but this one is nearer (and newer) — so I thought, why not give it a try.

Now, my initial impression cum review of iHooked Internet Cafe (http://www.ihooked.ph) Vito Cruz branch:

Since they had just opened, they offered me FREE internet surfing that day as well as a FREE Membership Card that will entitle me to discounts on all of their services (Internet Surfing is at Php40.00 per hour). The place is nice, the seats are better — something that crosses between a manager’s and a gamer’s chair. Their PC units are fast, though I wasn’t able to check on the specs, but I am certain that they are running Windows 98 with a Windows Vista theme *wink*; the computer monitors are Samsung LCDs (rectangular, not the square ones).

Now, let’s talk about their tag line: Internet at Lightning Speed .. this is where they failed .. I managed to run an internet connection speed test, and got only this:

Another minus point goes to the speakers. Even though each of the computer units sport a Creative Labs speaker system with sub-woofers, I will still prefer to have the ear or head phones.

By the way, the place is run by the same guys who owns Station 168 at the Makati Avenue (reminds me of the jerk owner of Sabiclub.com). Will definitely go back there this Saturday afternoon to check if anything had improved (especially the connection speed) since my last visit.

Now, for my not-so-nightly internet connection speed update:

10 Steps to Success on the ’Net Without SEO

Search Engine Optimization (SEO) as we know and detest it is obsolete in this day and age. When some while ago Philipp asked me to write an article “How do I optimize websites” I couldn’t do it: The way SEO works in Germany on Google.de can not really work for international websites in English. Moreover nowadays you do not need conventional SEO tactics to have success on the Net or in Google. In order to make a site succeed in these times you have to forget everything you know about on page optimization and link building first.

Now we can start our ten step guide to Google and traffic heaven.

  1. Discover your niche
    Be different, choose a topic or product that not everybody else already covers or sells. Discovering it is not to be confused with “keyword research” as in conventional SEO. You try to introduce a new niche not just obeying the Google users demands. Try a different angle. Even a very crowded place like SEO itself does have new ones. I am indeed the first blogger to tackle mainly the SEO 2.0 topic.
  2. Use WordPress
    Instead of “on page optimization” you can install WordPress that is search engine friendly out of the box. WordPress is not only a blog software, you can use it as small scale CMS and it will suffice for most average websites. Also “search engine submission” even with XML sitemaps is not needed anymore with WordPress. It pings Google Blog Search automatically so your blog posts end up in the Google index just a few hours later.
  3. Create a killer CSS design and submit it to CSS galleries
    Traditional SEO is all about link building or getting links. Sites doing SEO often look crappy. These days people link web sites that look great just for the sake of the design. Unlike some years ago nowadays CSS and web standards are the best way to design a site. Now it is not difficult to create a great design, especially with WordPress. Create a killer design for your blog and you will be linked everywhere. Just check out this list at CSS Juice.
  4. Allow trackbacks, use dofollow
    Blogs thrive in connection with each other. The best way of connecting blogs is the trackback function. Install the dofollow plugin in order not to treat other bloggers like spammers.
  5. Socialize, write comments and link other blogs
    Link and mention other blogs and bloggers in your posts. Also commenting in other blogs is much appreciated as blogging is not a monologue if it’s done right.
  6. Include social media on your site, use social media yourself
    Include buttons to your favorite social bookmarking services like del.icio.us or Stumple Upon. Be careful with social news sites like Digg or Reddit. They may crash your server and/or cost you lots of money by driving tons of useless traffic in short periods of time to your site.
  7. Write your own content, say something new, express yourself
    Write about stuff out of your niche that you know about. Write your own content, do not just post links to other sites. Say something new that wasn’t already said by everybody else. Express yourself, do not repeat yesterday’s news.
  8. Compile what you know or what others said and publish it
    If everything was said and done already in a particular case, compile it and create a list. Top list are the best solutions as a “200 WordPress plugins” list is just too big. “10 indispensable WordPress plugins” is far better.
  9. Contribute to your favorite online publications
    Do not just publish at your own blog or site. Contribute to other publications that cover your topic. Try your favorite ones first, as you probably know exactly what kind of topic they would like. Most publishers will link to your site
  10. Add new content at least every second day
    Add new content often enough to create a stable readership. People that visit your site once a month might forget about it. It’s not always necessary to post every day but if you write a real blog do it at least 3 times a week.

As you see most of it is not very spectacular and you probably already do some of it. Moreover no SEO as you know it is really involved until now. If you are not satisfied by now, you probably need some advanced SEO or SEO 2.0 as I call it.
Taken from http://blogoscoped.com/archive/2007-07-31-n90.html