Finally got to review Matt's blog "The Lost Boy". Matt is a "farang", a British expat currently working as the desk editor for a local newspaper in Phuket, Thailand. His blog is really cool and the first thing you will notice is of course the great banner.
I really like reading his humorous posts. Nearly fell off my chair when I read this post: Cooped up Paris will lead chickens to salvation. He has got a nice writing style and it's no wonder as he's been writing for various magazines and newspapers for quite sometime now.
Matt wanted some constructive criticism to make his blog better. However, I couldn't find anything to criticise maybe except for only one thing - I would have loved to see more pictures.
One list I would like to see, not only on his blog but on others' too, is a list of the most popular posts.
Check out Matt's blog to get the latest on everything Thai.
04 July 2007
03 July 2007
Booking Indian hotels online
The last time I ever visited India was in 2005 for a conference in Delhi. My wife was there with me and we wanted to mix pleasure with work, so we planned our itinerary in such a way that we would be able to do some sightseeing - including a visit to the famous Taj Mahal. A visit to North India won't be complete without a visit to this romantic tourist destination.
The problem we faced was trying to find an affordable accommodation. You should be aware that Indian hotels often have separate charges for Indians (paying in rupees) and foreigners (paying in US $). The difference can be several times higher.
We were interested in the Bed and Breakfast type hotels so that we had more money to spend on shopping. Searching on the net for a suitable hotel near the conference venue proved to be a formidable task and we finally gave in an choose the 5 star (and costlier) hotel suggested by the organisers. It was not that near either and was somewhere in the middle of nowhere on the outskirts of Delhi. Later learnt that there were several much cheaper yet comparable (if not better) hotels in the area. However, most of them don't have a website and you can't deal with them directly.
Anyway, if you want to book Indian hotels, Inasra.com is an excellent site. This online hotel booking site had 35000 listed Hotel Rooms all over India (when I last checked). The company is based in Chennai, Tamil Nadu and was set up in August 2005.
The home page is very neat uncluttered unlike other hotel directories I have visited. It seems like every body is going for the Google look now. Not that I am complaining. However, don't let the simple looking interface fool you as this site is clearly high tech as I found out.
Searching for a hotel starts by choosing an Indian city and the the duration you are planning to say there (from and to). They will then give you a list of hotels which you can then filter by ticking a number of choices such as, whether they have a doctor on call, the star of the hotel, food preference and so on. Unlike other Indian hotel directories I have visited, they do list hotels not affiliated with them. However, we have to make the bookings ourselves. That's great.
I have a good knowledge of India and noticed that a few cities I have been to were missing. Maybe I guess these places are a bit of the beaten track. This site is clearly targeted at foreigners as all the prices are listed in US $. They might be cheaper for Indians. A currency exchange calculator would have been a welcome addition so that people in countries other than the US could find out the rates in their own currency. It would be nice to have a link from the hotel names to the details page.
Other than these minor details, this is a really useful and informative site and I would definitely visit it again when I pay a visit to India again.
The problem we faced was trying to find an affordable accommodation. You should be aware that Indian hotels often have separate charges for Indians (paying in rupees) and foreigners (paying in US $). The difference can be several times higher.
We were interested in the Bed and Breakfast type hotels so that we had more money to spend on shopping. Searching on the net for a suitable hotel near the conference venue proved to be a formidable task and we finally gave in an choose the 5 star (and costlier) hotel suggested by the organisers. It was not that near either and was somewhere in the middle of nowhere on the outskirts of Delhi. Later learnt that there were several much cheaper yet comparable (if not better) hotels in the area. However, most of them don't have a website and you can't deal with them directly.
Anyway, if you want to book Indian hotels, Inasra.com is an excellent site. This online hotel booking site had 35000 listed Hotel Rooms all over India (when I last checked). The company is based in Chennai, Tamil Nadu and was set up in August 2005.
The home page is very neat uncluttered unlike other hotel directories I have visited. It seems like every body is going for the Google look now. Not that I am complaining. However, don't let the simple looking interface fool you as this site is clearly high tech as I found out.
Searching for a hotel starts by choosing an Indian city and the the duration you are planning to say there (from and to). They will then give you a list of hotels which you can then filter by ticking a number of choices such as, whether they have a doctor on call, the star of the hotel, food preference and so on. Unlike other Indian hotel directories I have visited, they do list hotels not affiliated with them. However, we have to make the bookings ourselves. That's great.
I have a good knowledge of India and noticed that a few cities I have been to were missing. Maybe I guess these places are a bit of the beaten track. This site is clearly targeted at foreigners as all the prices are listed in US $. They might be cheaper for Indians. A currency exchange calculator would have been a welcome addition so that people in countries other than the US could find out the rates in their own currency. It would be nice to have a link from the hotel names to the details page.
Other than these minor details, this is a really useful and informative site and I would definitely visit it again when I pay a visit to India again.
Betshopboy reviewed
If you read a lot of blogs like I do, you will notice that a lot of bloggers have an online alter ego and I guess I am no exception. I recently got to know Singaporean blogger Cheewee Ng who goes by the online name "BetShopBoy". He blogs at "I Thought, Therefore I Blog".
His blog is using the no frill, purely functional DownRight Blogger Theme v3.0 created by Thur Broeders. I like simple templates like that. He could have personalised it a bit though.
Most of the posts are technical but not too much. Found a lot of them to be interesting and useful - like "Personalize Your Blog Posts - Add a Signature", for example. Noticed a few spelling and grammatical errors but it happens to me too.
Another great blog with great original content.
His blog is using the no frill, purely functional DownRight Blogger Theme v3.0 created by Thur Broeders. I like simple templates like that. He could have personalised it a bit though.
Most of the posts are technical but not too much. Found a lot of them to be interesting and useful - like "Personalize Your Blog Posts - Add a Signature", for example. Noticed a few spelling and grammatical errors but it happens to me too.
Another great blog with great original content.
Get those termites before they get you
My in-laws had been using one of their bed rooms as a store for quite sometime. One day they decide that they needed that extra room and started clearing it. When they opened up the built in closet, they found out that a huge colony of termites had decided to make it their home. They had completely destroyed the inside of the closet as well as the contents. My wife's leather jacket was half eaten as well most of the old clothes inside.
They had to spend a bit to get rid of the pests and repair the damage. Fortunately, it was not that bad.
I guess the signs of termites were there even though we had ignored it. For example, there were mud-looking material on the wooden surfaces as well as holes. To find out how to get rid of termite, refer to the 'Termites guide'.
However, I just wish they would get rid of that awful red background. Makes it really hard to read the information. Really informative and contains everything you needed to know about termite infestation and their control.
They had to spend a bit to get rid of the pests and repair the damage. Fortunately, it was not that bad.
I guess the signs of termites were there even though we had ignored it. For example, there were mud-looking material on the wooden surfaces as well as holes. To find out how to get rid of termite, refer to the 'Termites guide'.
However, I just wish they would get rid of that awful red background. Makes it really hard to read the information. Really informative and contains everything you needed to know about termite infestation and their control.
Doctors or killers
I was shocked when I learnt today that two of the suspected arrested by police over the latest terror attacks in the UK are doctors.
While Dr Mohammed Asha, 26, worked as a junior doctor at the Royal Shrewsbury Hospital and the Princess Royal Hospital in Telford, another doctor, Dr Bilal Abdulla, worked as a locum at the Royal Alexandra Hospital, Paisley.
Wonder what they were thinking when they took the Hippocratic Oath.
Or maybe they took the hypocrite oath.
While Dr Mohammed Asha, 26, worked as a junior doctor at the Royal Shrewsbury Hospital and the Princess Royal Hospital in Telford, another doctor, Dr Bilal Abdulla, worked as a locum at the Royal Alexandra Hospital, Paisley.
Wonder what they were thinking when they took the Hippocratic Oath.
Never to do deliberate harm to anyone for anyone else's interest.
Or maybe they took the hypocrite oath.
02 July 2007
With geek friends and java forums
A lot of guys are really surprised when I reveal the fact that I don't have an IT background and most will exclaim "But how come you know a lot of the technical stuff?"
I guess it's all about interest and this interest was what lead me to specialize in web related technology and e-commerce. However, I have to admit, I am less inclined toward the programming details and more onto the managerial side of this field. The only IT related training I had was when I did a short certificate course in Informatics in Malaysia. We even had to do Java programming and to be honest I was quite lost. Was really thankful I had some friends who were experts in Java programming.
Talking about Java - I was having coffee with some of my IT friends and they were discussing Hibernate - an open source solution for the Java language. From what I could gather, it is used in developing databases. Suddenly they asked me my opinion. I didn't want to bluff and honestly told them I have no idea what they were all talking about. Like usual, some of them were quite shocked to learn that I do not have an IT background.
Anyway, if you are into Java programming, join the Java forums. Registration is quite fast and it's totally free. Besides discussion on various Java topics, the forum also carries info regarding books as well as job listings. I am not sure but they claim to be the largest Java community.
I guess it's all about interest and this interest was what lead me to specialize in web related technology and e-commerce. However, I have to admit, I am less inclined toward the programming details and more onto the managerial side of this field. The only IT related training I had was when I did a short certificate course in Informatics in Malaysia. We even had to do Java programming and to be honest I was quite lost. Was really thankful I had some friends who were experts in Java programming.
Talking about Java - I was having coffee with some of my IT friends and they were discussing Hibernate - an open source solution for the Java language. From what I could gather, it is used in developing databases. Suddenly they asked me my opinion. I didn't want to bluff and honestly told them I have no idea what they were all talking about. Like usual, some of them were quite shocked to learn that I do not have an IT background.
Anyway, if you are into Java programming, join the Java forums. Registration is quite fast and it's totally free. Besides discussion on various Java topics, the forum also carries info regarding books as well as job listings. I am not sure but they claim to be the largest Java community.
Getting it on with Steven
Just finished going through Steve's blog "Get your blog on!". Steve is a former model and Chippendale dancer.
Regarding the look of the site, as I have mentioned several times, I am not really fond of black backgrounds. Nothing wrong with that. It's just a matter of preference. However, some of the colors he uses (for example, red and purple) for highlighting some sentences or words might not really follow the web design guidelines. Some people may find it hard to read them.
Having said that, even if you have a great looking site, people won't come back if your content is lousy. That is one thing this blog is not. Steve's posts are humorous and interesting. You can judge this even without going through the posts,from the fact that it's Google Page Rank is 3 even though it is only four months old. I know of several people who have been blogging for more than a year and still stuck at 0.
Regarding the look of the site, as I have mentioned several times, I am not really fond of black backgrounds. Nothing wrong with that. It's just a matter of preference. However, some of the colors he uses (for example, red and purple) for highlighting some sentences or words might not really follow the web design guidelines. Some people may find it hard to read them.
Having said that, even if you have a great looking site, people won't come back if your content is lousy. That is one thing this blog is not. Steve's posts are humorous and interesting. You can judge this even without going through the posts,from the fact that it's Google Page Rank is 3 even though it is only four months old. I know of several people who have been blogging for more than a year and still stuck at 0.
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