Dating site for chubby people

If you consider yourself chubby or admire larger sized people, then there is this unique site especially for you. Introducing BHM and BBW Dating from Cuddly Dating. This dating site is targeted specially at larger sized people and their admirers.

In case you were not aware BBW and BHM are the abbveviation of "Big Beautiful Woman" and "Big Handsome Men" respectively.

They have two types of membership: SILVER, which is free and Gold where rates vary and depend on the length of time of membership.

Silver members can create full profile, search the database and receive and read messages from other members. However, in order to reply to messages or to send own messages to other members, you would need to upgrade to the GOLD membership.

Easter bonnet project

Had to make an easter bonnet for Rahil's school easter parade.

So here is what we came up with:



It's made from a straw hat covered with cotton balls. Turned out great and Rahil is very proud of it.

Windows utility tool

I download a lot of shareware and freeware programs on my computer all the time. If I don't like it or the trial period runs out, I just remove them. The problem is that in several case, there are always some traces left.

Just reviewed Macecraft Software's Windows optimization suite called jv16 PowerTools. This tool may be just what I need. It contains a registry cleaner, software uninstaller, file cleaner, history/MRU cleaner and lots of other features.


I am sure a lot of you don't want to buy software without trying it out. Well that's true for me too. Macecraft allows users to to download a fully working trial version (valid for 30 days). It was quite effective in removing all traces of removed software from the registry.

In case you are interested, jv16 PowerTools 2006 costs US$29.95. One plus point is that they have a really active support area with online forums.

Click here to get a discount coupon. A cookie will be saved in your computer on clicking the link and this will give you a 20% discount when you purchase any Macecraft Software.

Cat on the roof

We have an extra toilet outside which we have converted partly into our storage shed. Cats have decided to make the roof over it as their sunbathing place. So far we have identified 3 cats but it seems that there is some short of cat hierarchy as there will only be one at any given time.

Caught this cat as it was yawning. Picture taken from our bedroom window.

Anyway, among the three cats, there's one particularly fat cat and apparently it got stuck one day and was trying desperately to get down. trying one side and then the other.

I was reminded of the incident after going through a post on Lattégirl's blog "Inner Dialogues", when her cat got stuck on their back porch. Read her post here.

Coming back to my story, I went out hoping to help the cat get down but it was so scared when I opened the back door that it jumped right down from the roof and ran like it's tail was on fire.

Can you speak BM

For those who are not aware, Malaysia is made up of three main ethnic groups - the Malays, Chinese and the Indians (mostly Tamil) and other smaller ethnic groups. The national language of Malaysia is Bahasa Malaysia (BM), mother tongue of the Malays who form the majority of the population. 

The Chinese are made up of different Chinese dialect groups. This includes Hakka, Cantonese, Hokkien, Teochew, etc. Most of the younger generation of Malaysian Chinese can speak Mandarin too, due to the fact that most of them went to Chinese schools where Mandarin is the formal medium of education. National unity is issue of concern in the Country and also controversial because there are a lot of different views on how to go about it. 

Anyway, read an interesting piece of news on The New Sanctuary blog. The post titled "Chicken and Duck talk", discusses a new Malaysian TV series where most of the characters are ethnic Chinese but they speak BM. According to Anthraxxxx, this is a bad idea. He says,

"It’s fine if these casts are good and fluent in Bahasa Malaysia but if you read the article properly, most of them are not good in that Bahasa."

I haven't seen the series, so I can't really comment. What do you guys think? Would love to her the opinion of guys who have seen it.

Alcoholism and drug addiction treatment

Nobody needs to talk to me about the horrors of drug addiction or alcoholism because I have seen the ill effects with my own eyes. I have seen families torn apart and even people dying because of these two diseases.

The problem with many addicts is the denial. They refuse to accept that they are addicts and will give excuses like "I am only a social drinker".

I was going through Watershed.com's and found this interesting article titled "The Signs & Symptoms of Alcoholism and Drug Addiction". If you have the symptoms listed, you better seek some professional help.

Baby boy taking one step at a time

Taking care of a baby is not easy and I can totally relate to Ami-chan when she writes

"I remind myself part of learning is falling down, getting bumps and bruises, and apparently givng your parents heart failure on a half-hourly basis."

Read the full post here.

My son crawls so fast that before we know it, he's either in the kitchen or trying to climb up the stairs. We have put in door-safety hooks and stoppers. Right now we are shopping for used stairgates.

A few days back we were in the dining room and heard a thud followed by loud wailing. We guessed that he was standing up against the sofa and had fallen backwards on the wooden floor.

We nearly had a heart attack. And this was not the first time. Fortunately the living room is carpeted but we now take take the extra precaution of putting a thick comforter on the floor near the sofas. My wife also bought him a woolen helmet for extra safety but he hates wearing it and we gave up after the first day.

Car boot sale online

I am sure that most of my regular readers are aware that going to car boot sales has become our favourite family weekend pastime. iBootSale.com is UK's online version of Car boot sales, where sellers put up their unwanted possessions on their pitches. Buyers can browse, haggle and purchase the items just like in a real car boot sale.

The only difference is that this is one car boot sale is open 24/7 and is not affected by rain, snow or sleet.

If you have unwanted stuff stored in your attic or garage, just go over there and register. Right now the charge for pitches are currently FREE! This is for 90 days and 25 items. However in the future, there will be a simple charge for each pitch.

Just checked and found out that there are a lot of items at incredible prices. Better hurry before they are gone.

Google adsense on your blog

Was going through this post: "No sense in AdSense". Totally agree with Paul when he says,

"...for smaller sites (and I mean much smaller) it just isn’t really a big earner and often it doesn’t do anything except take up screen real-estate."

I have been running Google adsense on my blog since April 24, 2004. If you ask me how much I have earned from the ads, I can only say - not much. I used to have Google ads plastered all over my blog but not anymore. Later learnt that eople are turned off by too many ads on a site. Now, I still have some ads on my site but slowly culling those wthat don't bring me any or negligible revenue.

BTW, Paul is a web monkey since 1998 (his own words not mine), Read Paul's Rants and Revelations.

Tags: google adsense ads

Social networking for sci-fi fans

If you are a science fiction fan like me, you can socialize with others having a similar interest on Sci-Edge, a new social networking site. This site is not only for sci-fi fans. They also welcome people who love technology and gadgets, as well as science hobbyists.

I know of a friend who had a bad experience when he joined a social networking site. Unfortunately people in that site (or forum) thought that sci-fi was not cool and he was called a geek. Now he doesn't want to have nothing to do with social networking sites. I finally convinced him that being a sci-fi fan was not weird - though small in number, there are millions on this planet who love science fiction - books, movies and so on. He just happened to join the wrong group. I am definitely going to recommend Sci-edge.me.com to him.

If you are like my friend (or me), you can sign up for Free on this site, which will be will launched on April 2nd. BTW, you can also make some money by blogging and posting links on the site. Check it out for more details.

Guy with the big smile

Are you watching American Idol? 

Every week I keep expecting one person to be voted off but he's still there smiling his sweet smile. In case you are wondering who I haven't guess who I am talking about, it' Sanjaya. 

I was reading a post "Sweet Sanjaya..how could you?" on Jerri's journal, and totally agree with her. He's good but not that good. I keep wondering "who's voting for him?" 

 BTW, Jerri a mother of 2 and she blogs at "A crack n' life". She has written a book titled "Sleep is Sacred: Sleep Begets Sleep". E-mail her (jareason@gmail.com) to get a copy.

Self rewinding hose reels

Slowly but steadily, I am transforming our garden. It is proving to be quite tough as I have to deal with tough grass, lots of pieces of junk buried in the soil and deep roots of the brambles that the landlord cut down a few months earlier.

Right now I am using a watering can to water my plants, which is not very convenient. I thought about buying a water hose but I know of the problems associated with hoses, namely rolling up them up and storage after use. Just imagine the work if they are a 100 ft or more in length.

I was surprised when I read about the NO-CRANK™ range of hose reel. As the name suggest, these hoses are hands-free rewinding garden hoses. Intrigued by it all, I found out that Hydro-Pro™ system is a water piston engine that uses the water pressure to rewind up to 175ft of garden hose. In other words, it is like an engine and powered by water.

The hoses are available in various designs and different price ranges to suit every gardener. I am seriously considering getting one.

UK in Summer time

This Monday I took my daughter to her play school at the usual time and was surprised to find that there were no other parents around. Usually it would be quite hard to find parking but there was no one in front of the school that day.

"Is it a holiday today?" I thought to myself. However, was quite relieved when I found that the gate was open.

Then it suddenly struck me.

In the Winter, the UK uses Coordinated Universal Time (almost equal to Greenwich Mean Time). However, at 1.00 am on 25 March 2007 (Friday), civil time returned to British Summer Time (BST). The whole of UK set their clocks forward by one hour last Friday.

I had forgotten to set my wrist watch and my daughter was late to school by exactly and hour.

Trying to lose weights - Avoid scales

I was going through this health and fitness blog "Building A Healthy Body, One Day At A Time" (yeah I know it's a long title), when I came across this interesting post - "Dump The Scale"

A lot of people trying to lose weight will religiously climb on their scales after every workout or in the morning, to see whether they have lost any weight. According to bodyforlifer26, watching the scales too closely can actually discourage you from tying to lose weight. She says "

Toss the scale. If you can't completly toss it, at least only pull it out once every two weeks or so and don't rely to heavily on what it says."

Actually that kind of makes sense. Do you agree?

I have actually experienced it myself. In Kedah, I had started swimming twice every week and was quite disappointed when I found out that I hadn't lost any weight at all. In the end I just didn't look at the scales at all.

Latest video from Iraq

Saddam is gone but the violence hasn't ended.

Bombs are still going off.

And the country is worse off than before.

Online POS software

POS stands for point of sale. It is the checkout counter in a shop or anywhere else where you pay for your product or service.

There are several POS and inventory management software on the market. I just got to know about the MerchantOS POS and inventory management software. What makes the MerchantOS different is that it is a web based POS system This means that you only need an internet connection to help you record sales and keeping track of inventory. No need to install the software on your computer or other technical stuff.

Anyway, I was just going through the MerchantOS.com website. The design is quite simple, nothing flashy here but gets it's message across. I guess that is quite suitable for a B2B website. The website is quite easy to navigate and very informative.

They have a support forum but I would have also liked a simple FAQ page with a link on the front page.

I have to admit that the home page does look a bit congested. Maybe they should get rid of all the wasted spaces on the sides which would help in a better layout. The web designers can play around with colors and font sizes to give the site a more professional look. Right now it looks like a blog. Some people feel that you should not have a lot of text on the home page, but I beg to disagree. You should have all the important information on the home page and linked to other pages with more information. I found out what I was looking for on the MerchantOS.com website right on their home page.

If you have a business, you can check out their 3 minute demo or log on into their demo account to give it a trial run.

The information that MerchantOS customers have processed around $5 million in sales in 5 months, is quite impressive. Read about this and other news on their blog here.

Kids forced into marriages

Children as young as 10 are being forced into arranged marriages. I guess this is nothing new in several developing countries. However, I was shocked to learn that this is occurring here in the UK and more precisely in Coventry.

The Coventry Times reports that many Asian families (read Indian, Pakistani and Bangladeshi) are taking their children out of their schools, shipping them abroad and forcing them into arranged marriages.

The report says that the authorities keep quiet for fear of upsetting the Asian communities involved. I agree when the newspaper adds that this is a case of "..political correctness gone mad".

Just proves that even though these people are living in a developed country, their mentality is still way behind.

AT&T to Cingular and back again

When I first heard about it, it was really confusing case of branding. First of all, AT&T became Cingular. Now Cingular is becoming AT&T again. Unless you are someone from the industry, I guess you are scratching your head in utter confusion.

OK, let me start from the beginning. Cingular Wireless was founded in 2001 as a joint venture of SBC Communications (now AT&T) and BellSouth (which AT&T acquired in 2006). Cingular, later purchased AT&T Wireless Services on October 26, 2004, making Cingular the largest wireless provider in the United States.

Cutting short the story and back to the present - a few later after SBC and AT&T merged, plans to to market Cingular's service under the AT&T brand were released in 2005. Finally, as part of the transition from the Cingular brand to AT&T, a new multi-media campaign was launched early in January this year.

I guess the re-branding may be a smart move on the part of AT&T, as the Cingular name as suffered from some bad publicity in the press in recent years. It should be pointed out that AT&T is the top carrier in the United States, based on customer totals. However, it may take some time before consumers accept that Cingular is the new AT&T.

It is expected that the first cell phone under the new AT&T brand will probably by the Apple iPhone, which many consider as a Cingular exclusive model - "the AT&T iPhone".

Some feel that the company should have waited until they had launched the phone to go for the rebranding.

Take a look at this gadget and you will definitely agree when I say that it more than a gadget but is simply a work of art.

You can check out the other Cingular phones available on the Wirefly.com website. Wirefly.com is an authorized dealer of Cingular phones.

Online opportunities site

You will find that there are so many technology sites out there promising to help you earn money that I sometimes say "not again" when coming across another similar site. I was planning to create a satire site making fun of these sites and had even registered my domain name Adamok.net, when I had a change of mind.

This was because after going through some of the sites trying to find a way to criticise them, I found out that many had really interesting, useful and original posts. Dustin's blog, Little America.us seeks to provide tested revenue ideas for "the little guy" (like me). However, unlike other similar blogs, this blog seems refreshingly neat. I realised that this is due to the fact that it is not plastered with ads of all kinds, unlike some blogs (that includes me). One of his side bar is totally empty except for the words "Help me put something pretty here." Think you can help him with that?

His recent post "Arrington Changes View on PPP" is very interesting to me as another Payperpost postie. Techcrunch is probably jealous that they are going to lose out advertising to small bloggers like me.

UK contact lens site

This is a review of the LensCatalogue.co.uk site, an online retailer of contact lens in the UK. As an irregular user of contact lenses I was quite impressed with the range of branded contact lenses they have including Johnson & Johnson, Ciba Vision, Bausch & Lomb, etc. You can also choose lenses based on the type - from Daily disposable and Weekly Disposable to Colored and Tinted ones.

Of course any contact lens site won't be complete without the accessories and this site is no exception - they stock all short of contact lens accessories including the regular solutions and cleaners. I was quite unsure what "Computer Vision Aides" were and on checking found out that listed under this category were special glasses, which were designed to help reduce glare and block UV rays produced by monitors and fluorescent lighting. I really need those.

Coming to their website, I was interested in knowing more about them but they don't have an "about us" or "Company profile". I would strongly recommend them to put one up as soon as possible.

Research has shown that concern over online security and lack of trust are the major factors preventing consumers from shopping online. LensCatalogue.co.uk is a Verisign verified site and they should fully emphasize that by putting up the Verisign logo on their home page.

I also noticed that the title of the FAQ page is given as Privacy statement.

Apart from this, the site is quite easy to navigate and the design is easy on the eyes. One thing that will bring in customers are their prices - the lenses listed are upto 70% lower than retail lens prices. I also liked the fact that you could track orders online. In case you were wondering, yes! They do ship to the US (but not to Puerto Rico, Alaska, or Hawaii).

Tip Tail blogs about anything

Tip Tail is the blog of Cynthia, a blogger from Salt Lake City, Utah. She blog about almost anything and a lot about her dogs. She has four dogs - Chase, Levi, Angel and Lucy. She also has 2 cats - Littles and Phoebe. It's hard to find people who love both cats and dogs.

I was reading here latest post "Working from Home Rocks" and it is about her trip to the dentist.

Like millions of people around the World, I hate going to the dentist (sorry! Uncle Megh but I prefer to visit you at home too). The last time I went to a dentist was to have my wisdom tooth extracted and it hurt like hell. Read my old post here.

Yeah! I agree with you Cynthia, working from home rocks. Actually I have no choice.

Great lead management software

If you are in the market for a sales lead management software, I suggest that you take a look at the AIMpromote system.

In case you are wondering what I am on about, Lead Management is a term used to describe the methodologies and systems to manage customer prospects and inquiries, generally generated by a variety of marketing techniques (from Wikipedia). Some people refer to it as customer acquisition management. There is no point advertising or carrying out different marketing campaigns if it does not translate into new customers.

I noticed that there is a slight typo on the home page under the heading "Achieve Your Goals". Hope they correct it soon.

AIMpromote claims to have the most enterprise-level features in the industry. On the features and pricing page they have provide a comparison of the various features between AIMpromote and other leading competitors and I have to admit, it looks like AIMpromote wins hands down.

It might surprise you to learn that an average of 60% of all sales are wasted due to neglect. This increase to 80% due to lead neglect. One of the features in the software that will prevent this from happening is their innovative "Lead Attention Meter".

It was quite easy to understand how it works. All 'Open' leads have a Lead Attention Meter. They have different colour codings based on how much attention (or neglect) has been paid to the lead. The meter shows green for leads that have been recently addressed. Slight neglect is indicated by yellow. As more time goes, by the meter will turn to red. Neglected' leads will produce an alert. This is but one of the features of this software.

The software is quite flexible in the sense that it can be used in various industries, such as Mortgage and Automotive Lead Management, which are quite different.

Another thing I really liked is the fact that there are no setup fees and they will even integrate the system with your website, totally free of charge. This is the hidden price that other companies will add later in the final bill.

Right now the company is offering a 14 day free trial of the software. So why don't you sign up and give it a test run?

Kelantanese Crazy Frog

It was bound to happen sooner or later. There is now a Kelantanese version of the annoying Crazy Frog.

It is sung in the Kelantanese dialect in the Dikir Barat style.

For non-Malaysians, Kelantan is a state on the east coast of Malaysia. It happens to be the only Malaysian state ruled by the opposition Islamic party PAS. It is also famous in history for being the only state ever ruled by a Queen in the peninsula - Siti Wan Kembang.

Now for the clip:


I will try to get someone to translate the words to English. Anyone wants to volunteer?

Drug rehab centres

Have had a few members of my family fall prey into the jaws of drug addiction and alcoholism. And let me tell you, these are diseases as bad as cancer or other life threatening diseases, maybe worse because they can effect people around them in a very very bad way.

I have no research data to support it but I personally feel that people suffering from drug addiction and alcoholism who want to get better should go into a rehabilitation centre rather than getting treatment at home.

When we talk about drug rehabilitation centres in Malaysia, the first thing that comes to mind are jail like conditions where the patients are treated like prisoners.

I am not sure but that might not be the right way to treat any form of addiction. Forcing them to stop will only be a temporary situation. Once they get out, they will most likely get back into the habit again.

Instead of jailers, they should have qualified nursing and medical staff on premises includes members who have actually graduated from the very program. They would be able to relate and understand each and every person that joins their program.

Introducing Ghetto Barbie

I would like to introduce my readers to Danyel aka Ghetto Barbie. The first thing I noticed, when I visited her blog was the big graffiti style logo. Certainly eye catching.

She has 3 themes that you can choose from. The default is the Easter layout but I found that the easiest to read text was the "Erin Go Brah" theme, which incidentally looked like the colors from the Irish or Indian flags.

This 24 year old stays with her boyfriend Mark, baby son Tegan, Mark,s father and (you won't believe it) 25 pets. Go to her blog to find out. I was not sure what a bearded dragon was and had to look it up on Wikipedia.

You sure meet lot of interesting people on the net.

Pingo pre paid cards

We call out a lot to friends and relatives all around the World but mostly to Malaysia. After receiving a shock with our first telephone bill, we decided to go for pre paid calling cards recommended by our friends here. Everybody seems to have their own favourite brand or company and we are trying out a couple.

Recently I heard about Pingo.com and intrigued when I heard that Pingo’s mobile users save 90% or more on their international calls and am thinking of signing up.



I am also thinking of recommending Pingo pre paid calling cards to the philippines to some of my Filipino friends in the US after I learned that the calls rates are as low as $0.138/ minute for a call.

Anybody who signs up with Pingo.com will receive 4 hours of free International calls. There is another great offer for readers who sign up for Pingo through my blog - they will receive US$5 in FREE Calls.

For your information, Pingo is a service offered by iBasis, a public company and one of the largest carriers of international phone calls in the world.

Technology posts

Lucia, one of my regular visitors, recently left a comment on my previous post: "Interesting personal blog" about my posts on technology. According to her,

"you started writing about technology, business and e-commerce was because they are sponsored posts."

First, I was thinking of just replying to the comment but then I thought the reply would make a nice post.

I have to disagree with Lucia. I have been writing about technology ever since I started this blog. Here are my few first technology related posts (All of them were written in Sept. 2003):
1. Are most bloggers, Girls?
2. Lot of great FREE stuff on the net
3. Spy in your computer?

One of my blog posts on "Top 5 Ecommerce Companies of Malaysia", also received a lot of interest from my visitors, which also resulted in some collaborative projects with academics.

But she's right. Of late I have been doing a lot of sponsored posts. It's my source of income now.

Anyway, I am visiting a lot of technology related blogs now to catch up with the latest tech developments. One of them is the "SQKIKI Simple Tech" blog. She has some great tips. Just learned about a new Internet advertising services and promotion website called Dclickads from her blog. I might sign up.

Tags: blogs technology

Loans for people with bad credit

When you start a family of your own you start building debt in so many ways - for buying a car, buying a house and so on. In our case, it was worse because we were working at different place, me in Kedah in the north of Malaysia and my wife in Kuala Lumpur. We had to maintain 2 separate houses and we also had our own cars. We also decided to buy an apartment on a loan which we have to repay for 25 years.

This caused a severe strain on our finances. We were fortunate because both of us were working. However, things would suddenly turn up that we had no chance but to borrow money (using our credit cards). Like the time my wife had to go for a Caesarean birth. We decided to go to a private hospital and as you know these places are not free or even cheap. Fortunately our bank credit history was good.

We are still in the process of repaying of our house loan. Thank God! we got rid of both our car when we came to the UK, otherwise we would have been paying for that too.

I am sure many people are in a similar situation and maybe worse. Some of these people come under what is known as a bad credit history. Whenever we apply for a loan, our credit history is reviewed. If you have a bad credit history, you may have to settle for a bad credit loan, which has less favourable terms including higher interest rates. There are several Loans For People With Bad Credit. This includes Bank loans for financing your business and Secured loans for people with bad credit but who have property, among others.

Interesting personal blog

A friend told me that my blog has become less interesting after I starting writing about technology, business and e-commerce. According to her, it was more interesting when most of my posts were about my personal life.

I don't know why but I too prefer personal blogs over blogs with technology or any other specific theme. Somehow I feel more involved. "Where’s Mommy’s Prozac?" is such a blog. The 30+ mother to two teenage girls and a teenage stepson writes that

"My life is all about drama, drama, drama."

One of the posts I really found deeply touching was about the death of her brother - "In Memory of My Brother".

I also found out that we share the same interest in music. Most of her favourites are also mine too.

Buying Euphoria

Euphoria is the new fragrance from Calvin Klein. My wife wanted it and so I thought it would be an ideal Mother's day gift.

Checked out a few online retailers and as I wanted to pay with Paypal, I narrowed it down to Harrods and Boots.

The prices of Euphoria Eau de Parfum 30ml, were same in both: £28 (approx. US$55/ RM192). The only difference was the delivery charges. £4.95 for Harrods and £2.95 for Boots. So naturally I choose boots.

The final charges was £ 33.90. This included "Gift boxing" (£2.95) and a free card.

Looking on the net, I discovered that I could have got it cheaper. The cheapest prices are at:
1. Fragrance Direct: £26.94 (£24.99 + P & P: £1.95)
2. Cheap Smells: £26.45 (£25.50+ P & P: £0.95)
3. Supaperfume: £26.45 (postage free).

Do you know of any place I could have got it cheaper?

Next time before I shop online, I will definitely do a little bit more research to find the best prices.

Tags: Boots Calvin Klein Euphoria Fragrances Harrods Perfume

Web directory with a new concept

There are so many directories on the web today and all of them seem alike. However, I just learned about one which has a slightly different concept not used by many directories.

So how is this directory different?

Well, instead of sorting listings by popularity, Page Rank, or alphabetically, Big Web Links Directory aims to list the best and most popular websites on the Internet, sorted by the contribution amount. The mininimum is US$29.90 for a new listing. You can contribute to a listing to increase its ranking.

Every submission will receive two direct links: one within the specified category and one on a dedicated page. The top 10 listings are shown on the homepage, while the top 20 listings are shown on the top links page, which is a significant benefit for those listings.

The owners of this new site hope to have a very respectable Google PR soon.

So what do you think of this concept?

Car booting March 18

I have posted a few posts about our favourite pastime here in Coventry - searching for bargains at car boot sales. From today I am going to post a list of stuff we bought at every car boot sale we go to over here starting from today under the label: booting.

Here is the list of stuff we bought at the CJ's car boot at Stoneleigh sale last Sunday:



1. 3 books:
i) Bag of bones by Stephen King. 30p
ii) The sigma protocol by Robert Ludlum. 40p
iii) The reality dysfunction by Peter F. Hamilton. 50p

2. 2 folding camping stools. £5

3. 3 jigsaw puzzles. 50p

4. A frying pan. 50p

5. Pair of rubber gloves. 50p

6. 4 framed drawings of classic cars. £2

7. A Mothercare framed baby carrier (not in picture). £3

Total spent: £12.70

Related post:
- Rainy carboot day
- Car Booty in Coventry

Tags: Car boot CJ's Car Boot

Eco tourism in Hawaii

Ecotourism is not a new thing and this concept of tourism is slowly but steadily gaining in acceptance. People can define ecotourism in several ways but I would like to describe it as:

Leave nothing but your footsteps and leave with nothing apart from your nice memories (and the pictures).

There is also a growing breed of eco-friendly tourists - the ecotourists. People who love to travel but are environmentally conscious and friendly. Like millions of people around the World, I love traveling and I would definitely wouldn't want to do any damage to the environment of the places I visit.

One place I have always wanted to visit was the islands of Hawaii. I found out that there are environmentally friendly Hawaii trips for the eco-tourist too.

As opposed to trips offered by the automated sites
Kauai Ecotourism Vacation Rentals hand-picks their properties and offers first class service for you. This local agency claims to lessen "the damage to the spectacles of nature on Kauai and the other Hawaiian islands".

So if you are planning to visit Hawaii, do check out their site.

LoudLaunch - Compensating bloggers for their unbiased opinions, reviews, and analysis. View the LoudLaunch campaign release this post was based on.

Freak snow in Coventry

A lot of people had told me about the crazy English weather but I never believed it until today. Spring is in the air and the daffodils are blooming. It was bright and sunny in the morning and suddenly this afternoon, it suddenly started to snow.



Happy Mother's Day to all the mothers out there.

Tags: Snow Weather Coventry

T-shirt contest update

I have a contest running on my auto lah blog, which ends on the 25th of this month. However, I am really disappointed with the response. Only 1 entry so far.

On discussing with my wife about the poor response, we came up with some possible reasons why the contest has not attracted that many entries.

1. Number of visitors to my auto blog is quite low.
2. The prizes (2 T-shirts) are not attractive enough.
3. Very few people have actually driven the Dodge Nitro.
4. Asking people to link back to my blog with keywords may have turned off some people.

As a result, I am putting the link back to my blog as optional.
You also don't need to have driven the Dodge Nitro to write about it. Just tell us what you like about the design or the specs.

There are 8 more days to go, so feel free to join in.

Memories of KL

Was just going through Tracy Tan's Blog "Wahseh!". Her posts about life in Kuala Lumpur and looking at the pictures brought back fond memories.

Ever since we arrived in the UK, our social life has suffered a great deal - what with the kids, my wife's research work plus the fact that we are living on a budget. After 8 the only places open here are the nightclubs and a few expensive restaurants. Makes us really miss KL with it's 24 hour mamak outlets.

About Narcissus

You learn a lot of interesting thing while surfing the net.

Yesterday, I bought some daffodils to plant in our front garden. However, the tag said Narcissus and these were white, scented and smaller variety unlike the more common large trumpet yellow ones and I had some doubt.


A look at this site confirmed that these were indeed daffodils too. Both belong to the genus Narcissus. Daffodil is the common English name now used for all plants under this genus.

The variety I planted is called Bridal Crown.

The site had some interesting trivia. The daffodil is the emblem of Wales and Prince Charles is paid one daffodil annually as rent for the unattended lands of Scilly.

The name comes from Greek mythology from the guy who fell in love with his own image. Yeah! It sounds so stupid but looking around, it doesn't seem so stupid after all.

Best humour videos

Almost every day I will receive at least one e-mail from my friends and family, with a link to a funny video or a copy of the video itself.

Video hosting sites similar to YouTube have mushroomed all over the net. However, for every great clip there will be hundreds of clips that are not interesting or funny at all. In fact they are downright boring.

Found the perfect solution. CoolVideoClips.com searches the web for the funniest, best, and most amazing video clips. It save us time and energy (and of course money if you are on a dial up). And we don't have to waste time watching all the boring clips.

The site had an interesting clip of how celebrities look with and without their makeup. An example:


Check out the site and tell me what you think.

Is AZ Dana Wacky

AZ Dana (not sure whether it's her real name) is another blogger I recently got to know. She blogs at Azdana.com and claims to be wacky in real life (I believe you, I believe you) and she wanted to translate it into this blog of hers.

She has been blogging for a relatively short time but her blog is way better than some who have been blogging for years. I like the neat tidy look of her blog which is not wacky at all. Wanted to know more about this blogger but clicking on the about link doesn't give me a clue. You probably want to put something there AzDana. Here list of links are empty too and I hope that I will be the first one she puts up. he he

Tell me what you think when you try the Butter tea.

Listen to the Apprentice winners

The Apprentice is one of my most favourite reality TV shows ever since it started. Currently season 6 is running on NBC. The part I love the most is when Donald Trump says the dreaded words: " You are fired!"

It is one show that I always recommended to my MBA students back in Malaysia. gives them a taste of what the real Corporate World is all about and what you need in order to succeed in that brutal World.

Now, you have the chance to hear straight from the show's former winners, Randal Pinkett, Sean Yazbeck, and Kendra Todd. This is part of the Trump University Speaker Series. Take this opportunity to listen to their experiences - from their professional lives and The Apprentice show and learn how you can apply them to your own career.

Tags: Donald Trump Apprentice Kendra Todd Randal Pinkett Sean Yazbeck

Do you like classic rock

Classic rock is my kind of music. Unfortunately not many of my friends are into this genre of music. I was lucky that my wife loves the same kind of music I do.

I do listen to the new songs on the radio but if you asked me to name any new singer or band that I really liked, I couldn't come up with any. I simply don't feel a connection.


Give me Led Zeppelin any day. Listening to Nazareth's Love hurts can send shivers down my spine.

It was a great moment when I was finally able to watch the legendary band Deep Purple live, when they last visited Malaysia. It was amazing to see these guys (some of whom are grandfathers) still rocking.

Going through the blogosphere, I find that I am not alone. There are a lot of classic rock lovers out there. Olivia from Canada is one of them. She blogs at "The Funky Olive". Learned that they actually play classic rock in her office. I really envy her. In my last place of work, I was the only guy who liked classic rock music. One guys actually told me that listening to it was giving him a headache.

Anyway, read what happens when a temp comes in to their office and tries to switch the music to "sappy easy listening bla bla" music here.

Related posts:
- Farhan singing the blues on AF4
- Led Zeppelin and the evil one

Tags: classic rock music

What makes you laugh?

Is it a clown, a funny picture, the sitcom "Friends", a dirty joke that your colleague narrated, a satire of the politicians or simply your toddler making funny faces and sounds.

Wikipedia defines Humour (or humor) as "the ability or quality of people, objects, or situations to evoke feelings of amusement in other people."

Humour can cheer us up, it can lighten the mood in a tense situation, it can break the ice in parties and can even be used to attract attention. For example, a nice way to catch the attention of students in a classroom is to start the lessons off with a relevant joke.

Of course, it is important to remember that other people might not share your same views on stuff you find funny for example. I found it quite funny but my wife didn't. It depends on culture as well. The British are famous for their unique sense of humour, which unfortunately might be lost of people from other countries.

On the other hand, many people like Physical/Slapstick humour, which seems to cross cultural boundaries. A good example would be the old Laurel Hardy and Charlie Chaplin movies.

So what makes you laugh?

So what makes you laugh?

Kim's life in a blog

Kim Darrell is another blogger i got to know through Payperpost forums. She a 38 years old mother who loves sewing and knitting. She blogs at
Life in General. I got to know of two really interesting tech blogs through her blog:
1. Tap Blog, which has loads of Internet and Web 2.0 news. and
2. Mom's Gadget - about gadgets, gizmos and working from home, from a mum's perspective.

This process of jumping from one blog to another though links is called Blog hopping. In fact, if you click those links you will be blog hopping too. I do it quite frequently. On the other hand, other people usually have a few blogs they regularly frequent and don't blog hop much.

Do you blog hop too?

Belated birthday gifts

I received a very pleasant surprise this morning. Was getting ready to send my daughter to school when the doorbell rang. There was a delivery lady with a parcel. I could make out the words Amazon on the side of the box and the first thing that came into my head was "I didn't order anything!"

Then I guessed that it must be a birthday gift and I was right. It was from my two sisters (Juliana & Diana) and Fred down in Australia and consisted of a book - "The Age of Kali: Travel and Encounters in India" by William Dalrymple, Two volumes of Herge's "The Adventures of Tintin" and 3 DVDs of "An Inconvenient Truth".

Thanks a lot guys. You really made my day.

Tags: birthday books comics gifts personal

Online bookmarking service

I am sure you faced the problem whereby you had visited a great website but couldn't recall the url when you wanted to access it again. Now, whenever I find a website or blog I particularly like, I would immediately bookmark it on my browser.

Just learned about this online bookmarking service provided by
www.BookmarkAll.com. Some of you might ask why one would need an online bookmarking service.

As opposed to bookmarking on a browser, bookmarking it online has several advantages:

first of all, as is mentioned on their site, you can now access your bookmarks from anywhere, anytime or any computer in the World.

Security is another reason you may want to have your bookmarks online. For example, your boss won't be able to view your favourite sites.


Of course some of you techno-savvy guys will be pointing out that there are similar tools already available. However, the difference is that Bookmarkall provides both online and social bookmark. A user can share research or information on a specific topic and even publish your bookmarks on your blog via an RSS feed

In order to do that, you have to sign up and create a "User Profile". This user profile is accessible to the public.

You can install BookmarkAll’s Tool Bar in internet explorer/Firefox browsers, which enables users to quickly access their online bookmarks.

TV is bad for your kids

Was watching some parenting programme on the idiot box some time back and the expert on the show mentioned that too much TV can result in a host of behavioral problems in children. This include short attention span and hyperactivity among others.

I felt a bit guilty because I had been letting the TV babysit my daughter - putting on the cartoons for her while I did my thing.

My wife and I recently decided to cut down on her TV viewing and substitute it with some other activities.

Last Sunday, we were able to get some great bargains and our purchases included 3 boxes of Jigsaw puzzles (almost brand new with their original boxes). You will be surprised when you hear the price - 10p each. 2 of the jigsaws were for me (500 pieces each) and another for my daughter.

We had lots of fun. And before we knew it, we had spent hours without no TV at all. That day we only put on the TV at night after the kids had gone to sleep.

When it gets warmer, I plan to have some outdoor activities for her.

Tags: games jigsaw kids

Dealing with hair loss

Almost all the males in my father's side of the family suffer from baldness. Of course, the degree of severity varies but when we have a family gathering and we are outside and it happens to be sunny, you can see a lot of shining patches, especially on top of those 40+ guys. It is clearly genetic and I am going to find out soon whether I by some freak of nature, happen to be one of those guys who didn't have that particular gene.

I am happy that I still have luxuriant hair growth and in fact I have to go to the barber quite regularly, but it is still worrying. There are many ways to deal with hair loss and on way is to just genetics and/or old age take it's natural path. However, if there is an easy solution, I would definitely take it. A comb over is a definite no no. Sorry Samy.

Procerin is a relatively new all-natural supplement produced by Speedwinds Nutrition Inc. As you might have guessed, it is targeted at people suffering from hair loss.

Procerin comes in both a tablet form and topical solution. The manufacturers claim that it is specially effective in reversing hair loss in men caused by androgenetic alopecia, the most common cause of male hair loss. Guys with androgenetic alopecia have elevated levels of a chemical called dihydrotestosterone (DHT) in their scalp and it is the main cause of thinning hair and receding hairline in men. Procerin is a DHT inhibitor (blocks the production). The company actually offers a 90 Day money back guarantee.

It is an available without a prescription. However, I would suggest that you discuss it with your doctor before starting on a course.
Tags: hair loss procerin supplement

Blog with all the wacky news

I read hundred of blog posts everyday, blog hopping from one to the another.

It's not often that I find a blog interesting enough to stay for a while and browse through past posts. Well, Rebecca's Snark the News Blog kept me occupied for nearly 20 minutes, which in Blogosphere terms, is a very long time to spend on a blog. It has a simple layout but has loads of crazy and unusual news like "Burglar Calls Police to Help Break In Church", which I initially thought, was made up but later confirmed to be true.

Just proves that you don't need to have fancy graphics and hi-fi layouts to attract visitors.

She even has a weekly contest on her blog. Go over there to find out more about it.

Working from home blog

There is nothing new with running a business from home. However, running a Global business from home is something altogether. go get global news & views is a blog that "a bird’s eye view on running your global business from home". The blogger doesn't identify himself/ herself on the blog but he/ she has a lot of great tips for those working from home.

As a "working from home" father, this blog post on "Balancing work and play" was quite relevant to me. I totally agree with what the blogger has to say:

If you’re feeling like something is missing from your work at home life, like you were meant for more than this, maybe all you need is a break from your online life!

Help for startup launches

Launching a startup is not easy and definitely not cheap. A major part of the launch budget usually goes to advertising and editorial coverage, even when you have the right contacts. You do this to introduce your company to your potential customers and more imprtant, to your potential investors.

With hundreds of startups getting launched everyday, the question is "how do you get noticed among the crowd?"

I found one of the best solutions around for launching startups. StartUpCrunch provides an online opportunity for startups to pitch their company, services and/ or products.

So how does StartUpCrunch operate?

1. Well, if you are a startup, you put up your pitch here. The Pitches can either be in traditional video formats or or the Filmation system and must be no longer than 6 minutes long.

2. You are then ranked by peers.

3. Your StartUp is listed according to its CrunchRank and sector.


For your information, the CrunchRank is the ranking system (scale from 1 (lowest) to 100) that they use and was developed to rank startups according to their challenges and potential for success.

I like their system whereby, those pitches with higher page ranks and have received wider editorial coverage will go down and make way for the newcomers.

Finally the question that everyone has in mind is how much it's going to cost you. Well, they charge a one-off flat fee of 100€ (approximately US$131.16). That's really cheap for the exposure you are going to get.

How do you like your tea

Teh tarik and Teh ais at Syed, Kelana Jaya

I have been a tea drinker since I was a kid. Me and my father could finish a huge tea pot between us. Our favorite was always the aromatic light Darjeeling tea.

As a student in India, I once visited a Tibetan monastery where I had my first (and last) taste of special Tibetan tea. Instead of sugar and milk, they add salt and butter. It tasted like soup and I politely finished the drink but my friends refused to take another sip after the first. It was a unique experience.

In Malaysia, initially my favourite tea drink was "Teh O ais limau" (Iced lemon tea). Whenever we went out, it was the drink I always ordered. That changed after I had a severe bout of throat infection and had to stay away from cold drinks. It was then that I started "Teh Tarik" (Pulled tea). AT first I didn't like the taste and it was too sweet for me. Later on, I would always start my day with a cup of hot teh tarik at the stall near our office.

Over here in the UK, we initially made our tea like most people do, that is, boil water, pour into a tea pot with tea bags. Add milk and sugar separately. One day I was feeling a bit lazy and boiled everything in our sauce pan. Tried "pulling it" - pouring from one glass to another and Surprise! It was really tasty. Ever since then, no English style tea for us anymore.

So how do you like your tea?

Tag: tea

Dreaming of Key West

"Key West or Bust" is the blog of Leigh, one of my online friends. The title of the blog comes from her plans to live in Key West one day and in fact her latest post lists thirteen reasons to move to Key West.

Even though her blog is so pink, I really love the simple, neat and uncluttered layout.

Dreams do come true and I sincerely hope that yours do.

Search on Wabbadabba and win

I was a bit skeptical when heard about Wabbadabba - search and win. Well! What is Wabbadabba. It's a search engine with a difference. Searching on it might instantly win you a prize. The prizes range from Amazon vouchers to Plasma TV’s.

You are allowed up to a maximum of 15 searches a day and if you do win, you will see an alert like this image. You just have to tell them your name and where to send the prize. As simple as that. You can also increase your chances of winning by inviting friends. If they win, you win as well. However, in order to do that, you have to register with them first here.

I haven't won anything yet but no harm in trying.

Useful Firefox extensions

I have been searching for an extension or widgit, which could help give me the word count of my posts. I wrote about it in my Freebies blog.

Finally found a Firefox extension called Text Area Word Counter on Anna's blog Bloggers for Dollars. Really found her post on Favourite Firefox Extensions really informative and useful. In fact in the end, I ended up downloading two other extensions, which I thought might be useful, namely Search Status and Smiley Xtra. The blog has loads of useful and informative posts. Will definitely be going back there more often.

BTW, if you haven't, click to download Firefox with Google Toolbar, the best browser in the World.

What is Emo music

You might have guessed correctly that the term "Emo" is short for Emotional. However, you might be surprised to learn that this refers to a subgenre of hardcore punk music. This music phenomenon is nothing new and originates from the music of the mid-1980s Washington, DC scene. It has evolved since then and now used to describe various emotionally-charged punk rock. Of course I do wonder, soft sentimental music can also be full of emotion.

Anyway, the Emo Hairstyles websites takes a lighter look at the emo phenomenon. They call it the "ugly twin sister of Punk Hair Styles."

Their zany description of famous emo bands based on their pictures are pretty hilarious. For example, read their description of The Appleseed Cast:

Isn't that the Edge himself second from the right? What a hairdo! It looks like a mullet. I'm guessing the guy to the right of him is bald. Why else would he be wearing the hat? To the left of the Edge we have fat Che Guevara who is going for the guillera look there. It's not very emo is it?

When I last checked, they had 12 emo bands/ singers in their list, which is fast growing.

Organic food blog

My mother-in-law is a true believer in the health benefits of organic food and in fact almost everything in their fridge is organic. I too was influenced and a large percentage of our food purchases consist of this type of food. Would have loved to have 100% of our food intake to be organic but that's simply not possible. One strong factor is the cost. We simply can't afford it here in the UK.

The fact that organic food is much costlier than the normal food is one of the major reasons that turn people away from this healthy food. However, if we put into the calculations savings on hospital, medicine and other bills, we might actually be saving more in the long run as we are healthier. I don't know whether it's just in the head but we do feel healthier.


Anyway, if you are look for more information on organic food I would recommend you to visit "Live Life… Organics & Your Health". it has loads of articles on natural and alternative health topics, especially organic food. The site belongs to my friend Doris, who also writes in her personal blog and shopping blog.

Just another day

It was my birthday yesterday.

Had a long distance conversation with my two sisters down under. Then chatted with my parents over Skype. It really cheered me up.

In the evening we had a small private party - me, my wife and our two darlings.

Growing older and hopefully wiser.

birthday
cake

Gatwick to Orlando

I blogged about my childhood dream to visit Walt Disney world in Orlando in Florida. Yes!It's sad but I have never been there.

My friend was commenting that he won't go across the Atlantic just to visit some Children's theme park. Some people may disagree with that. Not wanting to get into an argument, I just pointed out that Orlando is not only about Walt Disney world. For those who are not aware, the place has over 90 attractions. This includes the Universal Studios and Seaworld. No wonder that Orlando has over 40 million tourists a year.

So if you guys are planning to visit Orlando for your holidays, you will be thrilled to learn that you can have a cheap flight to Orlando. For example, price of a flight with Northwest Airlines from Gatwick to Orlando starts from £150 (+ £130 tax). This offer is valid from 01 March 2007 until 30 March 2007. 

On a quest to ending debt

Almost everybody I know has some kind of debt or another - whether it's paying for a car, house, or education. And I am no exception. "Broke as a Spoke" is the journey of Corrin on her quest to become debt free. She has loads of posts on practical ways to save money. However, she says that "I’m here to learn, not teach."

I don't understand how reading what she spent her money on could be interesting but it is.

Yoga is good for you

During my younger days in University, I was a yoga fanatic and I could do complex poses like the "Mayurasana" or the peacock pose with ease. I don't know why, but with time I got sucked into the corporate world and slowly lost Interest in yoga when it would have benefited me the most.

A few days back, me and my wife were talking about Yoga and I tried to show off some of the simple poses. I was shocked to find how stiff I had become - I couldn't even touch the tips of my hands behind my back, one arm above and other reaching from below.

It's quite funny that the growth of interest in this ancient Indian philosophy in recent years has renewed my Interest. I say philosophy because it is more than just bending your body into strange shapes. It about self control, meditation and much more.

I just came across this site. To illustrate that fact that, Yoga is not all about poses, this is a page about Pranayama, Breathing Exercises explained.

Go over to Yogawiz.com site and learn about the various health benefits and how to use yoga to heal various ailments. Believe me Yoga is good for you.

A little fish blogs

Karen calls herself "a little fish in a big pond" and she blogs at The Pond.

Like my blog, Karen blogs about almost everything (meaning that her blog doesn't have a theme). I am not sure about others but I personally prefer blogs without a theme. Blogs purely on technology or on automobiles can be pretty boring sometimes.

Going through her blog, I came across this post called Cracked Pots. Love the message behind this story. No one is perfect but you are special in your own way.

Battlestar Galactica fan

I haven't watched a single episode of Battlestar Galactica ever since I moved to the UK. Just learned that they have killed off Captain Kara "Starbuck" Thrace played by Katee Sackhoff on the TV series..

Got this piece of info while going through the Lubyvision blog. Chris, the owner of Lubyvison.com and another Battlestar fan, has decided that Starbuck is not dead and bases it on a few reasons.

FYI, Chris is the director at a summer camp in the Texas hill country.

JMH Techtronics blog

If you love reading about technology and electronics, then head on to JMH Techtronics blog. It's a relatively new blog but has a number of informative posts. His latest on promoting the Technorati Favorites badge sounds quite interesting and I might have a go as well.

BTW, JMH stands for Jimi Morrison's Head. The word Techtronics is something he made upand is simply the combination of the words Technology and Electronics.

Review of King Nomar blog

I am sure you have noticed that blogs on web development and those that offer advice on "how to make money on the net" are mushrooming everywhere on the blogosphere.

Sad to say but they are all beginning to look alike with the same advice, same news, etc. and only a few stand out. One such Web development Blog that caught my attention is Kingnomar.com. It the blog of a 20 years old web developer from the Netherlands.

Unlike other web development sites, this blog looks very eat and tidy and is not cluttered up with ads.

He has a number of interesting and useful articles. My favourite is titled "The Process Of A Domain Sale At Sedo", which has 377 diggs when I last checked. I too plan to sell some of my domains and have decided to go for Sedo.com. Yes, I was influenced by his post. Another post I found quite useful and was actually the first I read on his blog, is the latest post: "Why You Should Use Web Directories!". I had an online discussion with a friend on the same topic sometime back and he was of the opinion that web directories are useless because hardly anyone visits them. I guess I have to e-mail him a link to this post.

On the down side, most of Nomar's posts are on technology related topics and are quite long. Unless you are a geek like me, the blog might turn you off. So if you are looking for celebrity gossip, you better go somewhere else.

A termite inspector who blogs

The blogosphere has definitely made the World a much smaller place. Through blogs we are actually reading about and sharing in the lives of bloggers, who live literally on the other side of the globe.

Skeet’s stuff is the blog of a lady from Hawaii. The way she describes her job is quite amusing "this old gal crawls around under houses and examines bug poop for a living." She's a termite inspector.

Spent some time reading her old blogs. I don't know why but found one long post titled "Letters" particularly interesting and touching. Makes me reflect on myself. I realise that I haven't sent a hand written letter (not counting cards) for a long long time.

Check out her blog.

Interactive tool to learn driving

When I first applied for my driving license, I was really confident. Maybe too over confident in hind sight because I failed my driving test and had to retake it.

After obtaining my driving license, I only drove short distances and that too near my house. It took me another 2 more years before I could pluck up enough courage to navigate through the crazy roads of Kuala Lumpur. I actually had to relearn how to drive all over again. I guess a lot of people go through this process.

Now it's so easy to learn to drive. This award winning 105 minute DVD from Vat19 is loaded with so many interactive features. It is hosted by teens that will relate to the driving student, and boasting high quality production values.

Some of the features include Interactive Quizzes, Multi-angle 3D explanations and Road Sign Tests among others. I really liked the fact that they put in a bonus section on basic maintenance of your vehicles. As noted on the site:

"A properly maintained car is safer and more reliable."

Also check out their AAA-certified emergency auto kit. They have thought of almost every emergency, including a bungee cord "for holding down a broken trunk or keeping a door closed".

Plugging Lisa

Lisa is a fellow postie at ppp and she has a very interesting blog called "My thoughts, ideas and ramblings". A work at home mum, she is involved in several side projects and is indeed a prolific writer. For example, she wrote 11 posts today (when I last checked). I would be hard pressed to come up with 3 a day.

Good luck with the baby Lisa.

Publish your book online

If you are an aspiring author, I am sure you want an easy way to get it out to the public as soon as possible. You may want to take a look at Amira Press, a relatively new comer in the book publishing industry. According to Yvette A. Lynn, CEO of the company and author herself:

"our mission is to provide an experience so far out of the ordinary, that our readers will look to stay lost forever in the worlds our writers have created for the reader's enjoyment."

They require new authors in most genres of fiction, including romance, mystery, sci-fi, fantasy, futuristic, young adult, etc. However, writers of horror, children's stories and erotica should go somewhere else as Amira Press doesn't accept these genres.

If you do have written something and on the look out for a publisher, check out the submission guidelines here: http://www.amirapress.com/submissions.htm

It should also be noted that Amira Press is a royalty-paying publisher and no fees to authors at all.

I was going through some of the titles they have and most of them seem to be romance titles. The prices start from $2.50. Not much of a fan of romance novels and would love to see some science fiction titles on their list.

Spooky sound

As he made the strange spooky sound.
I seemed to hear a voice
And then a ghostly image passed by...

Buying rainbow sandals online

rainbow sandals are considered as the best sandals in the World and Active Sandals has the best selection of this brand of sandals anywhere on the web.

Men's Rainbow Sandals - Premier Leather - Sand XXL

Active Sandals is an online store, which specialises in sandals. It has one of the largest in-stock selection of sandals on the net. The brands they carry are Reef, Chaco, and Rainbow sandals. Rainbow sandals are known for their excellent quality. You might be surprised to learn that they are Hand-Made with parachute stitching and 2,000 lb test military spec strap. The sole is made up of of laminated, closed cell sponge rubber and feature a non-skid surface which molds to the foot.

So if you are looking for rainbow sandals, I recommend Active Sandals because of their great prices and reliable shipping.

Friends from Holland

We finally got to meet up in person with our close friends Zaza and Hardy, and their cute son, Aidan, after such a long time. Actually Hardy's here for work but it was the perfect opportunity for Zaza to visit us and her sister, Fifi and her husband Redza.

They informed us that they were planning a trip to Birmingham to stock up on food and we decided to tag along yesterday. It was our first visit to Wing Yip, which probably has the largest selection of Asian food in the UK. Was amazed to find some familiar Malaysian brand names there.

Finally tasted real Malaysian "roti chanai", again today. Not as good as the one in my favourite stall in Kedah but I am not complaining.

wing yip
friends

Creating wedding invitations online

A wedding is one of the most important and special occasions in our life. For most people, it is a once in a lifetime thing.

If you are among those who are getting married soon or plan to get married in the near future, there are a number of things you have to take care of. It is always advisable to keep a checklist.

One of the most important items on that checklist are the invitations. Whether you are planning to invite a few close friends and relatives or even a hundred, make sure you have a nice personalised wedding invitation. As I mentioned before, it is a "one in a lifetime" occasion. On our wedding, I was lucky I had a very creative and resourceful father-in-law who actually designed our wedding invitations and even arranged for their printing.

I realise that not everyone is that lucky and designing and printing out your own invitation cards is not everybody's cup of tea. In fact I strongly advise all those planning to get married to get a professional to do it for you. You may want to take a look at Noel's Gift Shop, an online retailer of personalized wedding invitations and bridal accessories for soon-to-be brides. They provide beautiful personalised wedding invitations at really affordable prices.

They have a number of invitation themes. According to the site, their most popular ones are the African wedding invitations, snowflake wedding invitations, fall invitations, seashell invitations and modern invitations. Had to search around a bit before I could find them. Maybe it would be a good idea to have a "popular designs" on a separate page. My wife also commented that the font were a bit too small for her liking.

Overall, the site has a simple design and is quite easy to navigate. They also have a free online catalog in the Acrobat (pdf) format that that you can view and immediately click on an invitation to begin the ordering process.

For your information, they are having a free napkin promotion for the month of March. Check out the site even if you are not getting married soon as they have invitations for other occasions too.

The new FuelMyblog

Check out the all new FuelMyBlog.com site.

Definitely looks more professional. The walls are gone and instead they have several categories. Getting on the top 10 in each category depends on your visitor's votes. So grab the widgit code and add to your blogs.

Nobody can accuse them of being a Milliondollarhomepage clone any more.

Related posts:
- Fuelmyblog on radio
- Free blog advertising

Tags: FuelMyBlog

Create your address labels online

If you have a company, one way to impress your customers and potential customers is to use envelopes with eye catching address labels. Even if you don't have a company, you can still use the labels while posting event announcements and invitations.

The returnaddresslabelsonline.com site has a good collection of high-quality return address labels in a range of styles. The different styles range from modern looking bold designs to traditional ones. You can browse label designs by:
1. Industry and Profession,
2. Styles and Themes, and
3. Occasion

In case you are wondering about the price, it's a great bargain at 150 labels for only $4.95.

They also has a good collection of Mailing labels and Business envelopes.

The Matrix religion

There are some really weird sites out there on the web. While surfing around, I somehow got to the Matixism site.

I learned that there is such a thing as a Matrixsim religion: "The path of the one". This religion is based on the Matrix movie trilogy.

According to the site's FAQ, the new religion has already sixteen hundred adherents (i suspect most of them are teenagers who have signed up just for the fun of it. However, I won't be surprised if some actually take it seriously.

So do you want the RED or the BLUE pill?

Flash widgit for sharing files

Get your own Box.net widget and share anywhere!

Don't you think that the application above is really cool.

The Box.net Widget is a great way to share files. I have only uploaded three images but this flash application allows more than that. You can stream podcasts, music, videos and and any other type of file.

Unlike other hosts, this widget allows unlimited bandwidth and I have up to 1 gigs hosting space for my files. Best of all, it's totally FREE. Signing up was really easy. All it took was just 3 steps. Initially only 3 files can be uploaded when you sign up but you can add more later.

Tried uploading a video clip but it was too big and was taking so long. Maybe later.

Tags: Box.net Widgit Streaming