Testing out D-loads cellphone reloading business
It is common for small business owners to try other income streams to maximize business space.It is the way to survive, especially if you’re paying a monthly rent or trying to find a way to augment your income. For example, the sari-sari store in our block is also selling Japanese surplus items which seems to be common these days. I was discussing with fellow blogger Wenchie since we both own laundry shops and we’ve agreed that we can very well sell ukay-ukay clothes too, if only we know the source, LOL.
Cellphone reloading is really the easiest sideline business to think of. There are countless load retailers around, from stand-alone types to those added as a supplementary service to existing businesses. I’ve already been thinking of going into this, but quite frown at the thought of buying separate retailer SIMs for Globe, Smart and Sun, the Philippines leading cellular networks.
Thankfully, I was at the Manila Food and Beverage Expo (MAFBEX) yesterday and chanced upon the booth of D-loads – a pioneering e-loading service which can send load to a full array of networks from a single SIM. D-loads can service Globe, Smart, Sun, internet prepaid cards, landline prepaid, online games like Ragnarok, TANTRA and the rest of them.
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Seeing red with the HP Mini 1100 Vivienne Tam Special Edition
This is a rather late reportage on last week’s launch of the new line of HP Mini notebooks. It includes an upgrade of their 2133 model via the new HP Mini 2140 and their 1100 PC series which is priced for as low as P18,950. The fashion-conscious will surely like the HP Mini 1100 Vivienne Tam Special Edition specially because it’s in red and has a stylish design of peony blooms. Retailing at P27, 950, HP is highlighting the desirability of this “digital clutch” by saying that only 250 pieces will be available in the Philippine market.
We saw former beauty queen Miriam Quiambao modelling the Mini in its full glory and Cosmopolitan editor Myrza Sison was indeed so lucky to get the gadget in the night’s raffle. I do like the HP Mini and the fact that it’s getting good reviews. Maybe there’s still space for this in the next bonus? hehe. I do believe that something like this will make a good supplementary laptop, if you’re not comfortable carrying your more expensive laptop around because of theincreasing incidence of laptop theft. Take note that this notebook is just about one fourth the price of a Macbook. Plus it’s lighter and smaller too!
Anti-theft software for your Mac/laptop
Okay, so an unsafe environment will probably make you think now about how to keep your precious laptop from disappearing in the hands of bad elements.
I still have to encounter companies offering laptop and cellphone insurance in this country. The most people do is shop car insurance or get cheap life assurance quote. This is understandable, considering the high risk involved. What you can do is to probably include your gadgets as part of your home insurance, but it will probably be insured only in case of burglary in your home. Another option is to acquire secured loans, but that’s another matter.
An anti-theft software that’s linked with your computer seems an easier option, and that is what I did, upon the hubby’s prodding recently. Purchase of the software will cost you an average of $40, but I think this is good enough for the peace of mind it will give you. My philosophy is that you will not completely blame yourself if your laptop gets lost and you did not do anything to prevent it. Besides, what is $40-$50 to protect a gadget that costs $2000 or so $$$$$, like those cases I cited in the earlier post.
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Laptop & camera thefts are on the rise
As a theft victim myself, I couldn’t help but feel the pain of friends and acquaintances who’ve lost their precious gadgets recently.
One is my Plurk friend Pau who lost his laptop and high-end cameras at the rooftop parking lot of MC Home Depot, The Fort in a span of less than 10 minutes!
Last night, Plurk was abuzz again with news of another robbery. This time, somebody recounted how some rogue peeps broke into the trunk of a car and stole a MacBook Pro, MacBook Air and a Dell laptop amounting to more than P200,000 at the Podium parking lot in Ortigas.
Yogini Jane recounts how one lost a laptop through the clever workings of the Salisi Gang.
Earlier in our photography class, my seatmate also recounted how she lost her camera collection in her parked car inside BF Homes Paranaque.
Another (and a reporter at that!) was victimized by somebody who engaged him in a conversation in Greenbelt. He lost his MacBook because he put down his bag to talk. His bag was gone in a split second.
The common thread in all these is that it’s almost suicidal to leave valuable items in any part of the car these days… no matter how inconspicuous they are. It seems that ruthless thieves are now targetting gadgets more expensive than cellphones. And they are doing so upscale places in Makati, Taguig and Ortigas.
One part of me thinks if this is in any way related to the elections, but laptops will always be in-demand among students and the like. (Yes, even if the advent of cheap netbooks has made owning a laptop easier)
An even more dangerous trend: unscrupulous persons are cannibalizing stolen items and selling them by parts, where they’re less likely to be traced. Browse the online marketplace and you’ll see some ads being ran about Macbook LCD screens for sale, and being peddled for $200 to $400.
Here’s my thoughts on the matter:
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Go ahead, Plurk your world!
This post first appeared in Manila Bulletin’s Terchnews last December 24, but I don’t think it was uploaded online. So here’s sharing with you my thoughts on Plurk and the many ways by which you can Plurk your world!
Is the Philippines on its way to becoming the next Plurking capital of the world? Unlike in other countries where Twitter continues to reign, Plurking appears to be the more popular microblogging medium now, at least among the denizens of the blogosphere. Not a few have said that they’ve left Twitter for good, or visit there now ONLY occasionally.
Let us dissect some of the reasons why.
Firstly, Plurk is addicting because of the karma philosophy involved. You gain points every time you Plurk, and lose points for even a day of missing it. It’s a slow, uphill climb but human nature dictates that nobody wants to go down, as far as thge Plurk score is concerned. You see, after attaining so much number of points (let’s say 80), you’re supposed to reach Nirvana, or the state of eternal Plurkiness. After Nirvana, one’s supposed to aspire for more, and it escapes us what’s the highest Plurk points out here. The only secret we can tell you is that you Plurk with consistency every day and Plurk Buddy will take care of the rest.
Then, there’s the concept of having Fans and Friends. The more, the merrier; and the more friends/fans you have is supposed to indicate how popular/likeable you are. You’re given Plurk icons if you’ve attained the desired number of fans or invited this many users.
Perhaps, Plurk’s most endearing trait is its ability to give instant interaction among Plurk users. Let’s say I greet everyone “Good Morning!” and 12 of my friends will greet me back.Perhaps, along the way, somebody will make a totally zany comment, or reciprocate with an equally zany emoticon.
The Plurk banana is certainly one emoticon I love. The Plurk banana dances and rocks. I wonder they haven’t imported him to YM or Google yet, he’s certainly lovable. Other unique Plurk emoticons are W00t, Ninja, Hungry and Music 
My not-so-late Christmas wishlist
My Manila Bulletin column on A Blogger’s Wishlist For Christmas appeared two weeks ago, and am reprinting it here. Our peer, Melo Villareal, has an ongoing blog promotion on Christmas wishlists and am joining coz I want to win the 2009 Starbucks Planner, even though last year’s remain unused 
Here it goes:
It’s the time of the year again! Christmas is synonymous with wishlists and we do this for a couple of reasons: remind ourselves in choosing which stuff to spend our bonus on, guide our loved ones as to our preferences, or serve as a raincheck for future purchases.
The difficulty with blogging is that it’s a technologically-dependent field. You’d almost always need your own computer, high-speed internet connection, cameras to aid in your photo-documentation, software as needed, and other gadgets you see your blogging contemporaries using. This is what makes blogging pressure-filled. You gotta keep up with the Joneses, so to speak.
Don’t get me wrong. One can survive in blogging by owning just the basics. There’s even talk of a blogger earning a lot of money from his site, but has to bike his way to the nearest internet cafe. Still, it’s better to be equipped with the best, and that is why I crave for the following things:
1. A new cellphone, either a Nokia E61 or the new E63. Don’t know why, but I just like the look of this mobile phone, after attending the line’s launching in Singapore this year. The fact that it has wi-fi and a decent camera is an added plus.
My Top 3 Cellphone Peeves
Word Sell. Inc. has an ongoing group blogging project on Cellphone Users and Abusers. Since the topic is interesting, I now give my two cents’ worth on it. It helps that am in the Philippines, the so-called “texting capital of the world.” This way I get to see cellphone mania in action. Here goes my Top 3 Cellphone Peeves:
1. Texting when it’s not safe.
An example of this is using/not turning off the cellphone in the airplane, before take-off or even upon landing. Am afraid of flying so I get paranoid when somebody insists on texting, as we all know that wireless signals can interfere with the aircraft’s navigation/communication device. There’s such a thing as an Offline Mode, all right, but most airlines still prohibit cellphone use at crucial points, or until the plane has skidded to a complete stop.
Texting while driving … this is self-explanatory really. I just know that somebody’s doing it when am on the road and the car in front of me is moving real slow. Too bad that the law on using cellphones in the road is not fully enforced in the country, in the same way as the seatbelt rule. But yes, you do imagine how disastrous the consequences are using the cellphone while driving in a busy highway? Funny, but am sure some people still insist on doing it.
Matt Mullenweg on why bloggers shouldn’t be like the Fourth Estate
My Blog-O-rama interview with WordPress co-founder Matt Mullenweg came out last Monday; it was cut due to space considerations, full transcript is here. The bad news is that I wasn’t able to attend the historic first WordCamp in St. Benilde 
The good news is that I was able to chase him down just the same. It was over a buffet breakfast, and we were both sleepless: him from drinking the night before, me from working the graveyard shift. Hehe. Also in company were two of the WordCamp organizers, Mr. Batang Yagit, Winston Almendras and Blogie Robillo. Anyway, we all agreed he was such a cool guy, that Matt
Here goes:
He’s only 24 years old but made history by creating and founding the platform that changed the blogging world – WordPress. Visiting Asia, and the Philippines for the first time during the most recent WordCamp 2008 here, Matt Mullenweg (named by PC World as one of the Top 50 Most Important People on the Web in 2007, most recently one of Inc.com’s Top 30 Entrepreneurs Under 30 ) sat down with us for a not-so-geeky interview on playing in casinos,eating pansit and why he thinks bloggers should dissociate themselves from all the PR hoopla, in order to remain “authentic.”
Q. How were you as a student?
A. I was taking up political science and philosophy in college,and only finished two years. Back then, I hated computers, or computer classes. I’ve always loved technology but to me computer classes were never interesting; one, because they were working in non-open source technology. To me, technology was always a means to an end, and I wasn’t interested in technology the way they were teaching it in school. I was pretty bad as a student ’cause I was always focusing on other things, like music. I scored high in my SATs, but I never passed my papers, showed up late, things like that.
Q. It’s your first visit to the Philippines and spent some time at the maiden Philippine edition of the WordCamp. First impressions?
A. People love taking pictures here and I prolly had more than a hundred of that in the WordCamp. It just blew my mind. It’s a little bit common in other parts but not the same here. During the event, I saw that Plurk was really big. Everyone was plurking!
Filipinos are very warm, very outgoing. I think it’s cultural. In places like Germany, they’re a little more reserved. Filipinos like talking and communicating. You have big families, it seems. I was hanging out and this person has, like, five cousins in the room. I love that all the warmth and openness creates a very vibrant blogging community.
Plurk, Twitter & the rest of the microblogs
My Manila Bulletin Blog-O-Rama column this week talks about the unstoppable rise of the so-called microblogs. If you ever wonder where your favorite bloggers are, most likely you can find them in sites like Plurk & Twitter.
What you can find here? Mundane details such as what we ate for lunch, gossip in cyberspace and all sorts of chatter that would otherwise be worthless in a blog. Ask me to write a movie review worth writing about and I am likely to squirm. It’s quite hard choosing my words and forming them into coherent paragraphs. But somehow it all seems so easy announcing “It sucked! ” on Plurk or Twitter. Both of these sites show that more facets of our life can now be made public (or less private) if we choose it to be. And if they gain visibility, the microblogs can be great influencers of public opinion. What they lack though is the substance that both new and traditional media brag about.
Just a few of my thoughts on the rise of microblogging:
‘it’s a small world’ at Hong Kong Disneyland, a must-see!
I realized after our last trip that Hong Kong is indeed one of my favorite cities. It is almost a good neighbor of Manila since it’s so near and there is still so much about it I want to explore in terms of food, shopping and places.
But I have to admit it was quite a downer visiting Hong Kong Disneyland when it’s raining. Riding the Orbitron in our raincoats wasn’t exactly my idea of fun.
My advice really is not to go to Hong Kong Disney during the rainy season, even though I can just imagine how crowded it is during the summer. Size-wise, I found this Disneyland quite small, must be only as large as our very own Enchanted Kingdom. I realized after visiting Hong Kong Disney that we are doing very well with Enchanted. It is just the legacy of the Disney name, the Disney “magic” and the way they market the Disney brand with an array of merchandising products that makes it such a hit with tourists.
Anyway, if you only have less than a day to tour Hong Kong Disney, it’s a small world is one of the theme resort’s newest attractions and definitely one of the highly-recommended rides. In a nutshell, it’s a boat trip guests take to replicas of the different regions of the world with their own landmarks and Audio-Animatronics dolls dressed in national costumes, singing “it’s a small world” in different languages, including Tagalog (kay liit lang ng mundo…..)
Blogging since 2004 and recently married to Mr Z. I can't live without coffee....and brown sugar.
