A former colleague, KT, lost his laptop, 2 mobile phones and cash earlier

Horror of horrors!

One of the things I fear most would be this one especially since I have precious photos and confidential reports regarding my students in my files. I use an encryption tool for the confidential files as well as some photos but still laptop insurance is totally unheard of in this country. Or maybe it is just me

There is this interesting article I read about entitled  “Putting a Private Detective in Your Laptop“. This article lists down several anti-theft software programs for your laptop which can track down activities done in your device: capture emails and sites visited, take screen shots of the user and/or provides information on the user’s current wireless access point.

Wow. It is important too to password protect your device to keep the files safe and hope the passwords won’t be guessed correctly. But if you use any of the anti-theft programs, you have to have an open log in account for “guests” so that the program you installed will get activated.

Furthermore, take care of your devices and do not carry them with you if you don’t really need these.

I am no techie when it comes to tweaking my blogs and be able to earn from the Google Adwords advertisers have in my Google Adsense. Sure, I already received a check from these Google Adsense ads but not as frequent as some bloggers I know. I tried to read about how I can benefit from these as well as how I can change the settings to my blog’s advantage in terms of how I can make Google Adsense work to my advantage, tweaked a little bit here and there but still come up short with what I want to happen. Kinda frustrating.

But then, maybe there is something that needs to be improved with the Google AdWords to make these more clickable by people who see them in blogs and/or websites. These Google Adwords should be “edited” for maximum website traffic AND sales.

Google AdWords have a lot of advantages for businesses who want to advertise online and a few of these are:

• people needing the services being offered are able to see these ads online
• there is ad budget control
• advertiser can create unique AdWords that specifically suit what the business is all about
• ads are seen on pages relevant to the search or topic being made

Imagine my surprise to know that there is going to be an Insider Secrets to Google Adwords event coming up a few weeks (or is it a few days?) from now. The event will be held on June 24 and 25, 2010 at the Crowne Plaza in Ortigas Center. My husband has online clients who expressed to have their own ads put up in Google and this is a wonderful opportunity that the husband shouldn’t miss.

Why should this interest business owners? Watch this short video:

Simon Leung a retired Google Search Engine Optimization (SEO) Specialist and another SEO specialist Fabian Lim of Click Media which is a pay per click company will be the speakers in the Insider Secrets to Google Adwords. This limited seats event is an event internet marketing people should not miss.

Yes, there is such a thing called Internet Addiction Disorder.

A photo I took during the iBlog6 I attended last Friday. No, I didn’t log-in to my blog nor watched YouTube videos and not even read about the best slimming pills, I just wrote small details of the happenings in a social networking site that I frequent. No, not Facebook too.

The internet is a good thing especially with the vast knowledge and information (as well as misinformation) that one can get. It is like a wonderland of surprises awaiting at every click of the mouse.

But if one’s life has been changed drastically like no food for hours, no taking a bath, household chores forgotten, social life and chit-chats limited to chat rooms and status updates, then there is definitely something wrong.

Do you know someone who has Internet Addiction Disorder?

photohunt

It used to be that a lot of spam mails go through my blog mails until I discovered Akismet and these stopped for a while.

Still I’ve been getting spams like medications, questions marks (yes, like this: ?????), Russian words, and even quips about the topic I posted. Oh, I also get weight loss supplements and  questions asking me how I am. These spambots are getting smarter, eh?

I asked around and found it I still have to do a little bit of tinkering inside my blog’s dashboard and so I did and viola! From 30-50+ a day, I now get just around five, yey! One or two legit comments still find their way to the spam folder (and these are usually the same persons whose comments in another blog I own go to the spam folder too) and now I don’t have a hard time looking for the legit ones.

How did I do it?

• Go to dashboard
• Click on “Settings”
• Click on “Discussion”
• Check and uncheck the settings you prefer
• In the box for “Comment Blacklist” write down the key words that you usually encounter in the spam folder

You can even close the comments on your posts after several days, if you choose to.

P.S. Don’t forget to save the changes

When I saw Yahoo! Meme being presented by Jonas de los Reyes during a Blog4Reviews Christmas party I attended, I warmed to the idea of making my own account.

Meme is pronounced as m:im and in the internet, a meme is something that is or can be circulated fast. In other words, a meme can be like a wildfire that spreads in the internet. Since an internet meme is a narrowly defined category of cultural information, this reaches people who have interest in the meme who in turn will tag others about it.

Presentation during a party, you ask? Yes, even geeks have to party from time to time. And no, I am not one of these geeks, I was just there to party

From what I understood, Yahoo! Meme is very easy to use. Not only does this allow one to post short text posts, photos and videos and even audio files, one can follow others and see on their own dashboard what these people are currently doing. You don’t need to blog with a lot of words (like I do), a few will suffice. Microblogging it is.

And one of the nicer things to do would be the ability to repost memes that you found interesting and useful.

Anyway, since I am doing 2010 Project 365 this year, I decided to have the photos put up in my new Yahoo! Meme page called Photo Stories.

I hope to meet new friends and interact with them here in the Yahoo! Meme.

Have you finished your Christmas shopping yet? If not, I suggest you go check out an online gift service portal called Regalo Service which I stumbled upon while looking for online shopping sites.

Christmas is just a few days away and I am sure everyone is frantic with the festivities that go with the holiday. Traffic jams from early morning till the time everyone else wants to go home is evident. Lack of sleep, exhaustion and sickness due to weather changes seem to alleviate the stress level.

Online shopping seem to be the better alternative than being pushed and shoved here and there before you get to the person behind the cashier.

While browsing this site, I secretly (not anymore) made a wish list for my loved ones and for me as well.

1. 160GB HD/DVD Recorder for the hubby’s viewing pleasure
2. Cool Black Sophistication fashion jewelry for the eldest daughter
3. Justice League Personalized Story Book for the only son
4. God’s Special Gifts to Me (Personalized story book) for the youngest daughter.
5. Blender Ice Crusher for my Papa and mama for their fresh drinks
6. Pixel DVH 563 for my brother to take videos of his young daughter
7. Filipiniana Capiz Dinner Set in Lotus Leaf Basket Case for my mother-in-law
8. Baby’s Create a Book for my cute niece and two new cute godsons
9. Nicole Laptop Bag for me
10. Leather Journal to write down my thoughts just in case I get an “A-ha!” moment

Sarap mangarap!

Christmas being a season of giving does not automatically translate to giving material things.

Instead of giving your child a bike, take walks together. Instead of giving your child the latest in mobile phones, spend time with him/her for a face-to-face talk. Instead of dining out, cook your favorite food together for a family meal.

Have a wonderful Christmas everyone!