A Date With Astro B.yond

 Heard of Astro B.yond lately? Perhaps you have seen this funny advertisement below as well.

Apparently, Astro B.yond will be the first-ever High-Definition broadcast service in Malaysia. This is indeed good news to Malaysian TV lovers. One step closer to becoming a developed country, eh? Nah, I'm not all that narrow, but yeah, sometimes the status of a country is based upon such yardsticks too.

Anyway, kudos to Astro for this move, yet again consolidating its position as the leading regional broadcast company. There's no better time and place too. Being just about 6 months away from the biggest sporting event on earth, FIFA World Cup 2010 will surely help in gaining new subscribers and HDTV buyers. The internet services in Malaysia which can be best summed up as "developing" (in contrast to third-world and developed) also ensures there will be people content to catch up on the latest episodes of Grey's Anatomy, House, Smallville, Heroes, etc. one or two weeks after they are aired in the US, now in High-Definition. Nice!

At least there are some good news amid bad news in the new year in Malaysia (*for once*), but the following should rank quite highly in the good news category. Astro will be organizing a Astro B.yond Bloggers Night.

Date : 13 January 2010 (Wednesday)
Time : 7:30pm till 10.30pm
Venue : Modesto’s, Desa Sri Hartamas

Refreshments will be provided for and a total of 3 units of Astro B.yond set comprising 32” LG High Definition TV, Astro B.yond box, new remote control and new outdoor dish will be given out along with free subscription to Astro B.yond channels!

To grab the chance of attending this event, please refer to the following post on Nuffnang's blog. And yes, you got it right, Nuffnang Glitterati Bloggers will be given priority for a place (*I'm glowing proudly*).

Join Astro B.yond Bloggers Night and Win Yourself a 32” HDTV from LG

What are you waiting for? Go sign up for Astro B.yond but first make sure you have HDTV first, otherwise your B.yond experience will be pretty ordinary. RM20 additional fee for existing Astro subscribers for 10 times better quality broadcast. Can't beat that, can we? That would be a really good deal. Don't know if we need to foot the costs of the B.yond box and outdoor dish or not, though. Deal or no deal?

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Get .INFO domains for as low as .49$ each from GoDaddy

This information is time sensitive, the coupon code will expire and will not work beyond the deadline. However, it is a common practice for GoDaddy to recycle their coupon codes. Who knows, the promotion may be available again after a period of time, pray someone would alert me then.

From now until Jan 10, you will be able to purchase .INFO domains for as low as .49$ (including ICANN fee) each, PROVIDED you register a minimum of 5 domains simultaneously. Even if you have no need for so many domains at once, think of something. You can register some for your friends, give them away, sell them or donate them.

.INFO domain has traditionally been among the cheapest to register but the renewal fee (for subsequent year) is not much cheaper than other domains. Such domain has its advantages and disadvantages. A man's meat may be another's poison, so consider your options and priorities and choose the best for yourself.

The coupon code to use for this promotion:
gdr1259

This coupon code also gives you free domain name privacy protection for a year (which is normally priced at $8.99 per year per domain at GoDaddy). Just remember to opt them out when you renew the domains to avoid paying more than is necessary, especially if you have no specific need for privacy protection.

There are also other coupon codes available such as domain renewal discount, bulk purchase discount, hosting purchase discount, etc. If you need them, do get in contact with me.

http://twitter.com/bobbytco

P.S. I myself have purchased 7 .INFO domains this morning, the total came to 7 x .49$ = $3.43 (which is about the usual cost of registering 1 .INFO domain).

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The 7 Figure Code Home Study Course for FREE

I think some introductions are required here.

The 7 Figure Code is Mike Filsaime's best selling product. Mike Filsaime is an internet marketer or internet marketing guru who could easily qualify in a top 10 most successful internet marketers list, if such list exists.

Allegedly, this said product, sells better than Butterfly Marketing, another best selling product of Mike Filsaime prior to The 7 Figure Code. That's totally possible but it does not mean one product is superior than the other, they cover different topics and The 7 Figure Code actually rides on Butterfly Marketing and other products' successes as it is actively promoted to customers of those products.

As far as I know, The 7 Figure Code aims to help entrepreneurs who are earning 6 figures reach the magical 7 figure income. That breakthrough is important, first time is always the hardest, dude! Don't worry though if you do not already have an online business, the speakers in the course are revealing their secrets of building 7 figure businesses.

Honestly, I don't believe this blog post of mine will be read by too many people who are regularly earning 6 figure income. Normally I would not even consider posting this news, for one there is no profit to be made (no affiliate link), secondly this product is apparently priced at $1297!!!

The holiday season is coming soon but the miracle has already happened. Mike Filsaime will be giving away 10,000 copies of The 7 Figure Code Home Study Course for FREE! Customers only need to pay for shipping and handling (S&H) which will be kept to a minimum of $7-$12 (depending on your location). I cannot thank Mike Filsaime enough for his generosity, especially when he mentioned that customers will not be forced into any continuity subscription upsell/downsell products during this giveaway.

I have received at least 4 newsletters from 4 different JV partners of Mike Filsaime regarding this giveaway and I am sure it will be snapped up rather quickly. Therefore if you genuinely want this product for free, add me on Twitter at @bobbytco and request the URL from me. I will update this post with the URL only after I have secured my own copy (or after the immediate launching of the giveaway). If you feel that I am asking for too much from you, you can always search for the URL yourself (I believe I have given sufficient information in this post), suit yourself.

Remember, to get the URL, do the following ASAP (no, I meant immediately)
Add me on Twitter and send a request @bobbytco
http://twitter.com/bobbytco

P.S. Here's a hint, it will start real soon, you don't want to miss out...

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Long absence

Has been a long time since the last update.

I am not able to post regularly yet, so just back to bring you a short update.

If you have not already heard, I would like to introduce 2 websites to you which were launched several days apart few days ago:

Malaysia Today - http://malaysia-today.net/
Malaysia Today is no stranger to us, often providing great insights and shocking revelations. This is not a new launch, a relaunch would be more accurate, the site is back at its original web address and it looked (to me) more organized. Don't delete the URL of the backup site though, because judging by the new articles published on Malaysia Today, I would not bet against it being blocked (again) in the near future.

Free Malaysia Today - http://freemalaysiatoday.com/english/
I think this website would be less bias than the one featured above, it will assume the role of an alternative (and hopefully independent) news provider in the country, like its predecessors such as MalaysiaKini and Malaysian Insider but it will apparently cover many other topics besides socio-political news.

To read a more comprehensive review regarding these 2 websites, visit the link below:
New look for Malaysia Today, look out for FreeMalaysiaToday site

Do you have new and interesting Malaysian sites to share with me? Come on, don't be stingy, sharing is caring. Comments are always appreciated.

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Entrecard Acquired By ZipRunner, Founder Graham Langdon stay on as advisor

The inevitable has happened. Apparently, EntreCard founder Graham Langdon has sold EntreCard Inc. to ZipRunner Inc. Googling the name ZipRunner Inc. returns zero relevant result apart from EntreCard's acquisition press release.

Read about the announcement here:
EntreCard has been acquired by ZipRunner

Here's a little about ZipRunner, as narrated by its CEO, Andrew Te:

ZipRunner is an investment company with many years of experience with Internet companies. We intend to have a smooth transition and will continue to provide essential services such as dropping cards, earning credits and allowing bloggers to network. We believe that these services are what make Entrecard special. In addition, Entrecard will continue to have Richard Clark (phirate), Entrecard’s founding developer, on its management team.

I really hope this move will further improve EntreCard. EntreCard has gone from (blogger) fans' favorite to a controversial startup, with divided opinions about Graham's plans and what he hope to achieve with EntreCard. No doubt Graham's decisions have been partly fueled by desire to break even or earn some profits from EntreCard even after serving the blogging community without any charges for a year or two.

To Graham's credit, he has implemented many changes to EntreCard in the final few months of his tenure as CEO, probably much more than he has ever done in the 2 year prior to that. Some noticeable changes in recent months:

• introduction of paid ads on EntreCard network which is wildly popular
• revamp of the old forum and setting up a new one
• offering to buy back EntreCard credits from members
• asking members to complete CPA offers in exchange for EntreCard credits to raise funds

We wish Graham Langdon best of luck. Just hearing his story, we know that he has gone through a lot, struggling and moving forward with EntreCard. He will now spend time with other projects, yet you may still hear from him about past and current challenges at his new personal blog:

http://ontrapranore.com/

Lastly I also hope for the best for EntreCard users. If there is one thing ZipRunner could do to make us believe that EntreCard is improving for the better under their management, please honour Graham's initiative to allow EntreCard users to cash out their credits! I have about $100-200 worth of credits now and I don't really know how to spend it.

I welcome response from Graham Langdon, ZipRunner Inc. and Andrew Te as well as other bloggers and people from EntreCard community network.

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Bing inherits legacy to challenge Google

It is official now, bing Beta was fully launched on 1st June 2009. It is a new web search engine owned by Microsoft Corporation.

It is no secret that Microsoft would like to have a portion of the search engine market and revenue which is currently dominated mainly by Google. The closest competitor to Google is Yahoo while Microsoft's search engine has been ranked the third most popular search engine for a good few years now.

Microsoft sure has a peculiar way to do things. If we were to count precisely, Bing would have been Microsoft's 4th generation search engine, which are preceded by MSN Search (1998-2006), Windows Live Search (2006-2007) and Live Search (2007-2009).

I am keen to believe that continuity is rather important for any web services and virtual real estate to grow and be successful. Thus, I think Microsoft should tinker less with the name of its search engine and just concentrate on improving its search results and related services. I suppose that they are indeed heading in the direction I am indicating, for it seems the main reason Bing is launched and separated from its Live products and services is so that Microsoft's search services would be more independent, efficient and popular among web users.

Regardless of the lack of continuity or of a long-term vision (in the past), it would be naive to write off the potential of Bing at this moment. Backed by Microsoft's vast resources, it may be able to gain a larger portion of the search engine market than its predecessors. It is also important to note that Bing incorporates many new features and improvements, not just a simple name change.

Some interesting sites or pages related to Bing for you to explore:

Google / Bing Comparison
Bing (search engine) at Wikipedia

Try out Bing for yourself. It remains to be seen what Bing could do to improve web users' experience online and what effect it would bring to the search engine services market in general. What do you think about Bing?

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Demonoid Open For Registration

Demonoid.com is now open for registration but I have news that it will only be open for a day.

So you better hurry up if you wish to join one of the best "torrent" distribution and tracking sites which is still free.


Usually Demonoid.com is a closed membership site, with its own private torrent trackers. Membership registration will be open periodically throughout the year as its server resources allow. The only other way to join as a member when the public registration is closed is through existing members' invitations. Take note though, nobody is supposed to charge a fee to send out invitations, this is against the rules of Demonoid.

Enjoy yourself registering and downloading all the quality and hard to find torrents there.

For bloggers who do not download much torrents, membership at Demonoid is akin to being a member of 9rules blogging network, there's certain privilege and honour not found elsewhere.

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Entrecard Do You Hear Me?

Today I received an email from Entrecard, informing that there are some new features and events coming up.

If you are an Entrecard user, you should have received the email too. Seems like they are eager to break the news to us. However, the events don't really look all that interesting to me. No offence but who wants to go on a dropping spree when they can surf the web and interact socially at Facebook? Echo your approval of this in the comment below if you agree with me on this.

Unfortunately I won't be sharing the news from the email with you here, you may read it on Entrecard blog, it is the latest post. By the way, at the end of the email, there are these wordings,

Do you like the new features?

If you like the new forums and the manual approval feature, let us know! We read and listen to all blog posts written about Entrecard, and writing a post about us and telling us what you think is a great way to show your support!

Right, it was exactly the same size, I just copy and pasted from the email. There I revealed some of the new features announced in the email. Anyway, that's not my point. I seriously wonder whether the staff at Entrecard really listen read and listen to all our blog posts about Entrecard.

Hence the experiment that is this post.

I previously sent an email dated 13 January 2009 to their support staff but until today, has not received a reply yet, not even an acknowledgement of receipt or an excuse saying they are busy and would keep my email in view, no, none of that. Perhaps they are just too busy reading our blog posts and have no time for email support?

I think I will save both our time if I just ask the question here. The Entrecard staff may even reply here by commenting, hey it is much quicker than replying to an email, right?

The question is, "Would you mind providing me with a list of Malaysian Entrecard users, for easier drops and other activities?"

Or perhaps you could respond to my request, can you bring back the features to list all Entrecard users according to their geological position? I could compile the list of Malaysian Entrecard users myself if this feature is enabled, I don't really fancy troubling the support staff.

Without this search feature, it is akin to searching for certain Entrecard sites with specific niches, just that we don't have the sites all under different categories, so users have to wade through the master list by themselves, visit those sites one by one, and still could not be certain about the niches of some sites or totally don't find what they are looking for.

I have written too much now, time to retire and rest. I have just installed the Entrecard toolbar, look pretty neat to me at this moment. Will certainly help for card dropping, card advertising, bookmarking your favorite sites and changing between several linked Entrecard profiles. But more about the toolbar later, in another post.

Hope to have an Entrecard staff notice this post.

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Feedburner Accounts To Be Transferred To Google

I have not logged into my Feedburner account for a few days now. Today, when I log into it, guess what I saw?

Can you read the small print? It says, "Hey! We are moving FeedBurner accounts to Google. Learn more or Move your account now."

That statement seems to mean that Google is shutting FeedBurner down. However, that is not entirely true, your readers can still each your via your FeedBurner feed URL, such as http://feeds.feedburner.com/BobbytBloggingToAT. Google intends to support the FeedBurner feed redirection URL for as long as possible (it will be redirected to a feed hosted by Google server when your account is transferred there), but it is my view that the service will eventually be dropped.

You can click on learn more to read about the imminent changes regarding the move or you can move your account right away. To save your time, let me innumerate a few key points which average FeedBurner users like you and me are supposed to know about the move:

1. The move is primarily intended to improve the AdSense platform. Google will try to improve on FeedBurner's technologies and address its shortcomings during the move and integration of the two platforms.
2. In the future, all FeedBurner will only be a virtual entity, all its data will reside on Google's network of servers, like all its *important* assets.
3. You most probably need to move your account by February 28, 2009.
4. You will not lose any subscribers during the transition process. All feeds.feedburner.com URLs will redirect your readers to feeds hosted by Google. Your readers will continue to receive your feeds.
5. There are better algorithms at Google to more accurately calculate feed subscribers and reach than the algorithms used at FeedBurner.com
6. So far, no concrete new features will be available at feedburner.google.com.
7. The Site Stats (visitors) and FeedBurner Networks will be permanently retired.
8. You need a Google ID to manage your feeds at the new platform (get Gmail now).
   

Well, so you got some things to do after reading this post. It's weird though, why don't they do autocrated and automated move and only inform users after that? Probably it's because they just want the users to sign for a new Google ID, so as to standardize all users across the network.

Learn more about the move here.

A step-by-step tutorial on how to move your FeedBurner account, anyone?

P.S. There was a major Google slowdown and breakdown about 4PM GMT today, I wonder if it is connected with Google allocating space and resources for FeedBurner integration. Any insiders can confirm this far-fetched guess? More importantly, did you notice the slowdown?

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AirAsia X Makes My Dream To Go To Japan Possible

The post today will be a break from my ordinary topics. I cannot resist posting this because it is something personal and has long been one of my many wishes. Also, I noticed there is lack of comment in my post, hence decided to be more personal in my post, hoping for comments from some sympathetizers (I don't usually post in a personal tone, but that does not mean I am a robot, so get to know me, I'll proof to you that I am no droid).

Anyway, I noticed this news:
AirAsia X eyes Japan after Tokyo relaxes tough visa rule

I have only traveled once by AirAsia (Bangkok-LCCT) and the experience was not especially good or bad, I would rate it as so-so, I have had worse rides on the air (ask me if you really want to know). However I have already booked an ultra early e-ticket to Kelantan for a friend's wedding, so 6 months from now, I'll hopefully be traveling on AirAsia again.

AirAsia X as you all know is a budget international airline, it had flown to Macau, China and Indonesia and Thailand. Its most recent success is securing the flying route to London and now Japan. As far as I know, they have ordered the largest single purchase of the Airbus A330-300 planes ever in this whole wide world.

So why am I so excited about this piece of news? First of all, cheap tickets. Secondly, I am very fond of Japan and its culture, I am not really sure why. I like their gadgets, technology, their brands, their manga, their ramen, their footballers (err just Nakamura perhaps), kawaii girls, opps!

Generally I am very curious about Japan, it seems their society is so different from ours, that I can relate my culture to any Westerners better than to them. Their social values and ethics are very unique too, their love for mangas and unchallengeable work ethics are among the things which they are famous for.

Unfortunately AirAsia X is only flying to Hokkaido, Osaka and Fukuoka. No Tokyo. Never mind, you can always land in any of the 3 destinations and then travel to anywhere in Japan on their famous bullet trains. By the way, do save up more money if you are going to Japan, I heard it is an expensive trip even if the AirAsia X tickets may cost peanuts.

Am I personal enough now? Hope to have some comments ;) Would you like to go to Japan and why? If you have been there, could you share with us the places of interest there?

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Vote for Next P1 W1MAX Coverage

I suppose this is a first for an ISP in Malaysia to allow consumer voting to influence their coverage expansion and development plans.

Packet One, in an unconventional move, has launched an interactive voting feature on its website, declaring that the most popular places voted will get P1 W1MAX coverage first in order of popularity according to number of votes.

Currently the favorite places (with most consumer demand supposedly) are:

• SS2, Petaling Jaya, Selangor
• Bandar Sungai Long, Kajang, Selangor
• Jalan Ipoh, Kuala Lumpur
• Seksyen 14, Petaling Jaya, Selangor
• Taman Bahagia, Petaling Jaya, Selangor
• Taman Universiti Indah, Seri Kembangan, Selangor
• Desa Aman Puri, Kepong, WP Kuala Lumpur
• Taman Puchong Permai, Puchong, Selangor
• Taman Istimewa, Johor Bahru, Johor
• Pumpong, Alor Setar, Kedah

Notice how many areas in Petaling Jaya are listed? If it were up to me, I will tell P1 to just cover the whole Petaling Jaya area before proceeding anywhere else, that would give them some capital too once they secured 1/2 year(s) contracts with new subscribers there.

Then I am also surprised to find Alor Setar on that list, how about other supposedly rather modern states like Penang and Perak (Perak can also be quiet, I know...)? By the way, some parts in Johor Bahru is already covered, I guess Johor will be the state with most demand for fast internet connection after Selangor.

Those are the places I vote for. If your residential or office area is not listed in the favorite places on the left, you can actually add your own favorite place into the list and then vote for it. This is cool because I am looking forward to having the option to subscribe to P1 W1MAX, although I am still mostly undecided.

By the way, which areas did you vote for?

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PC Fair III 2008

Have not been to a PC Fair in such a long time, I believe my last one was 2-3 years ago. Going to the one held in KL Convention Centre was also my first PC Fair in that venue.

I wish I have some photos of the ancient PC Fairs held in Putra World Trade Centre (PWTC) to include here so that we can compare the conditions then and now. I must say that the choice of KL Convention Centre is much better than PWTC, location wise and condition wise. There were a few times in the past, when PC Fairs were held in PWTC, the exhibition halls have to be separated through an outdoor bridge.

Besides, it is simply easier to breath and walk in KL Convention Centre, the booths are well-spaced and getting from one exhibition halls to another is rather convenient.

Another major difference between old PC Fairs and the recent ones are the goods for sale, among some items hardly found in the past are PDAs and smartphones (HTC anyone?), Mini Notebook (I think I need a separate post to talk about mini notebooks and their popularity) and broadband internet packages.

By the way, there is this new broadband internet newcomer that is getting *most* of the attention in the recent PC Fair III 2008. Yes, it is none other than P1 W1MAX and their cash chamber (sound like Harry Potter and The Secret Chamber?).

There were so many people queuing up to enquire about the available subscription packages that from 5-10m away, you could hardly identify the P1 booth. Of course, in crowded places and events like this, you have to improvise, look for visual cues, easily identifiable objects, people or sign boards put up high above the booth, etc.

With the on stage cash chamber, it did not take long to know that this is P1 booth. I have a friend who has signed up for P1 W1MAX service in this PC Fair but I don't know if he went into the cash chamber.

Seriously, if he did not go into the cash chamber, I am going to smack my friend on the head because I heard that there was a lucky subscriber who managed to walk away with RM1000 from the cash chamber.

If there is anyone wondering, no, those are not RM1 notes, it is simply printed papers.

Of course, there are also other visual cues available but not everyone could spot them.



Could you spot those not so obvious visual cues? Yes, I forgot to mention that PC Fair also happens to be a good place for us to take photographs of gorgeous beauties. By the way, the girl is *so cute*!

Can't wait for the next PC Fair in 2009. I bet there will be many new items and gadgets next year, better start saving now.

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Free 3 Month Hosting With Arcade Script Purchase

Hi,

I am offering 3 months hosting free of charge with the any purchase of Arcadem Pro arcade script or its game packs through my affiliate links.

Click here to purchase Arcadem Pro arcade script
Click here to purchase 2500 Game Pack
Click here to purchase 3500 Game Pack

I have just bought 1 copy of Arcadem Pro arcade script at a 50% discounted price of $19.99, there is another ongoing promotion, the script becomes cheaper and cheaper as you buy more (each license can only be used on 1 domain), i.e.

1 additional copy after first copy - add only $8.99
2 additional copies after first copy - add only $14.99 (about $7.5 per copy)
5 additonal copies after first copy - add only $24.99 (about $5 per copy!)

Arcadem Pro is one of the most powerful arcade scripts, see the comparison chart below:
https://secure.agaresmedia.com/v6/products/arcade-script/

By the way, if you are convinced yet to buy from my affiliate links, take a look at my demo site before deciding:
http://tinyurl.com/a7z5rt

Arcade site is a good way to make money online if you have no time to produce content, applications or softwares to attract visitors.

Lastly, I should be transparent regarding the free hosting offer, here are the specs:

• unlimited add-on domains
• unlimited subdomains
• unlimited mysql
• 5GB disk space
• 10GB monthly bandwidth
• no illegal content, scripts, spam sites, adult content and resource-hungry applications allowed

A hosting account with such specs will easily cost about $3.50 per month. You can also choose to only buy the game packs and use the free Arcadem basic arcade script, the free hosting is also applicable for such purchase.

Feel free to contact me after you have bought the script, I will set up the free hosting account for you as soon as possible. Any questions can be addressed by commenting below.

This offer will be open up to January 15th, 2009

Merry Christmas!

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WordPress 2.7 Auto Update (WPAU) Problem?

Do you have such a problem (see picture above) after upgrading to WordPress 2.7? I don't mean to say that the WordPress Auto Update (WPAU) plugin has bugs but I am not sure whether this problem happens to everyone or whether it is only an isolated case.

I have 2 different WordPress blogs on different servers and both have encountered the "Download failed.: couldn't connect to host" problem with the WPAU plugin. However as I prepared the above screen shot, my last attempt at updating a plugin at one of the blogs miraculously succeeded. Unfortunately, the other blog is still having problem connecting to host.

I tried to google this matter up but there has not been much complaints. There are a few people who has problem with WPAU on WordPress 2.7 but others have already reported WPAU compatibility issues with earlier versions of WordPress. I am happy to say that throughout all 2.6.x versions of WordPress, I am very happy with the WPAU plugin and have no problem with it whatsoever.

What's your experience? Do you have any problem with WPAU on WordPress 2.7? Any disatisfaction with WordPress 2.7 at all?

Apart from the above problem, I find the admin area of WordPress 2.7 to be slower than 2.6.x but the documentation says it is supposed to be faster than before.

So which is right? Do I find it slow because I have too many plugins? I wonder.

I cross my fingers, hoping that updating plugin on the other blog will have no problem soon and that the source of the problem is only temporary connection disruptions between my webhosts and WordPress servers.

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The University Kid for Sale!

The University Kid is an entrepreneur and make money online (MMO) blog owned by Jason Pereira.

Jason is a blogger which I have been following and keeping tabs on for almost my whole blogging life. He is as close a blogger to the A list bloggers as I know but unfortunately I do not yet have chance to work together with him. Hopefully I shall have such chance in the future.

Back to the story - The University Kid is a pretty helpful blog, many blogging and make money online tips are available there (with some entrepreneurship tit-bits). I myself have benefited a lot from his advices and occasional free ebooks, MMO reports and case studies.

Jason, following in the footsteps of John Cow, has decided to list his blog for sale on Sitepoint because he is going to be busy for the next 2 months or so. Apparently, 2 months is considered a big gap in time for a MMO niche blog and instead of letting the value drop, Jason has decided to sell The University Kid and let someone else take it to the next level.

Do check out the listing, here are summaries of the blog details:

• Google PageRank: 4
• Uniques/month: 5,000
• Pageviews/month: 11,000
• RSS readers: 1,100++
• Backlinks: 20,000++
• Alexa ranking: 67,000
• Monthly revenue: $500-$1000

Jason has always mentioned that he did not monetize The University Kid to its maximum possible potential. I can certainly say that it is true, unlike a certain A list blogger, he does not send out (read spam) emails preselling his partners' products, nor does he saturate his blog with affiliate links everywhere. Kudos to Jason for making a difference in the MMO niche, giving us the anchovies a slice of the MMO cake instead of profiting from our desperation!

Based on the monthly revenue and potential reserve (remember I said that it was not optimized fully for making money?), I myself would value The University Kid at the price of $8,000-$12,000. Even at that suggested price, it would be a steal, considering that Jason will pass over a new design and template to the new owner along with unique high quality posts and tons of backlinks.

Also, the Buy It Now (BIN) value is set at $15,000. If anyone buys at that price, Jason will throw in his Blog Premiere site with 10,000 forum posts as an added bonus for the BIN buyer. Blog Premiere has Google PageRank 2 and a vBulletin as well as a premium WP theme licenses are included in the bonus, I presume. This bonus must be worth $1000-2000 at least.

If you are interested to bid for The University Kid (TUK), please don't forget to mention my name - BobbyT. Jason is kind enough to give 5% from the sale to the person who referred the end buyer that purchases TUK or 10% if the end buyer purchases at BIN value.

Thank you and best of luck selling your site, Jason :)

How much do you think TUK is worth? Would you or would you not sell your blog if ever there were such need? Would you or would you not buy another person's blog and how much maximum are you willing to spend doing that?

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Effects of Global Recession Felt in Blogosphere

Howdy people?

I don't really have specific news to share with you, just some observations about the changes in blogosphere in recent times, which I personally think is associated with the global recession.

There have been many things happening in the blogosphere in November and December, I predict there will be even more news in the coming days.

Some companies have closed down, some have tried to monetize desperately, others are trying to sell off their stakes. Various promotions are also being made in the name of festive seasons and New Year Celebrations but in fact the only purpose is to get consumers to spend more so that those companies have a healthier finance as they usher in 2009.

To convince you that I don't simply say these things, I shall mention a few events just to get the question over with. BlogRush has shut down at the end of October, Matched.co.uk had closed since 20th November, there is also rumour that many advertisers are considering switching to CPM from CPC advertising model. I also know of a company that tries to monetize in a way that is like "conjuring money from thin air" and individuals who prefer receiving money upfront now rather than holding on to their web assets in anticipation for a slow business in 2009, but I shall not disclose the names here. Sure you can argue that these events are isolated cases and are not related to each other but I am not buying that argument.

Even before the recession, it was becoming increasingly hard to make money online. While paid reviews were worth $20 or more in the past, advertisers are only willing to pay up to less than half of the amount per review due to rapidly increasing number of blogs in the internet. Experienced internet marketers also have to face new competition in the form of teenagers who are tech-savvy, have more time and are more radical. Then there are also group of working adults who have opted to work from home and jumped in the making money online bandwagon. Needless to say the web is saturated with people who are looking to make money online and a slow year is expected in 2009.

What are my advice for you to prepare for the recession?

1. Sell any web assets you think that can still make you money and keep the money real tight.
2. During recession, it is a good time to save money and to invest too. However, avoid investing huge amount of money, when the business is slow, try to build up a business from scratch, invest efforts and time, you shall reap great rewards once the bad air is over.
3. Income sources from conventional advertising will be drying up. Look for alternatives or spearhead a new buzz campaign and methods to earn more money.
4. Do not lose hope and abandon your projects and visions. They will be pretty hard to pick up again, instead try to endure the hard times ahead, hoping to see good times again.

I am obviously worried about the prospects in 2009 and so far have little to offer on how to brave the difficult times but I shall not stop until I find a good income stream. Wish me luck, once I found one, I hope to share the essentials with you.

Meanwhile, please comment below on your observations regarding the effects of recession on blogosphere and what can be done to combat those effects and improve our incomes. Thank you!

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P1 WiMAX Experience

I had an opportunity to attend P1 WiMAX Experience event about 10 days ago. I managed to secure an invitation to the event because of a fellow blogger friend who attended P1 W1MAX Launch back in August.

The purpose of the event is to showcase P1's superior services and products. I also later learn that it was the opening day of the P1 Packet Hub. During the P1 WiMAX Experience, we were given a tour around the main lobby, the brand-new office, as well as a short peek into employee's facilities and the service monitoring room.

The main lobby or customer service center is located on the ground floor, it is very well decorated, there were many fancy souvenirs, banners and comfortable seats and sofas spread around the space. Now anyone interested can just walk into the customer service center, try out any of the 3 P1 W1MAX speed packages on offer and talk to customer service for enquiries regarding the services.

P1 is among the most proactive WiMAX provider in Malaysia. Before departing the ground floor for higher floors, we got a chance to laze on the comfortable sofas. Apparently that is a cue for us bloggers, industry experts, members of the press and other invited guests to have an open discussion with P1 staffs regarding the issues of internet, ISP(s), wireless internet services, P1 W1MAX, WiMAX and the roles played by P1 in the industry thus far. I have noted down some important points from the discussion but I shall post them in another blog post.

Next, we were brought up to the higher floors. If you think the lobby is impressive, then I am all the more impressed with the employee's entertainment and relaxation facilities seen below. I suppose the reason why the discussion is done before further tour is because P1 doesn't want what we see in the higher floors to influence the discussion but I must say that the sight of the facilities have no doubt changed my views regarding P1.

Lastly we were given a glimpse of the service control room which is a high priority and security room. We were of course, not allowed in there, we have to see the settings of the room through a glass partition.

Well the tour was fun and the P1 staffs are really friendly and accommodating. When I started this blog, I have never expected to participate in any blogger events or meetings. However I suppose a blogger needs to interact with other members of the society and keep himself updated on all happenings, otherwise he will be outdated. I fully support such events, so if you know of any, kindly do let me know!

Oh by the way, I forgot to visit the toilet of P1. I wonder if it will be as sophisticated as the rest of the building or as pretty as the RM5 or RM7 "premium" toilets in KLCC and Midvalley.

Have you attended any blogger gatherings or events? Would you like to attend one? If there is another event by P1 or other companies, do you want me to invite you (if it is possible)?

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Cheap $2.19 dot com domains at GoDaddy

This is the sort of time when I would really chant, "Gooooooooooooooo Daddy!"

Yes, GoDaddy is at it again, there's some sort of inexplicable coupon code which will enable each customer to register a dot com (.COM) at the low price of $2.19!!! I have just got myself a domain, within first 5 minutes of getting to know about this coupon code. Be warned, most of the time when this kind of things happen, it will not last long! So, use the coupon code below to get a major discount for 1 new .COM domain:

199TEST

Comments on my blog posts and thanks appreciated if I helped you in any way with this post.

Lastly, I don't claim credit for the discovery of this coupon code, read about it on The University Kid today, just have a hunch to visit it, normally I don't visit it everyday. I guess that just means that there are gems to be found almost every other day on The University Kid. Thanks TUK!!!

What domain did you register using this coupon code?

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Entrecard, Where to?

I guess this is a pretty stale news by now but I still would like to talk about the recent Entrecard and its economy makeover.

On 29th September, I received an email from Entrecard. Apparently it is having an overhaul of its economy and redefining the value of its credits as well as setting some rules on what is allowed and what is not when it comes to credit transfers. Here's a quote from the email I received from Entrecard management:

1. Buy credits for less: Entrecard is now selling 1,000 credits for $6.00. You can buy them here: http://entrecard.com/r/buy_credits
   
2. More pricing increments: Instead of prices doubling every time, there are now a few more steps. The new price points can be found on the Advertising page in the wiki, here: http://entrecard.com/docs/doku.php?id=advertising
   
3. Members are not allowed to sell credits: This goes for ebay sales, posts in the Marketing forum, and posts on other forums. If you have references on your site to the sale of credits, please remove them immediately, as it is now against our terms.
4. Credit transfer limits: Members are allowed to make a maximum of 14 credit transfers a week, up to a maximum of 1,000 credits, whichever comes first. This means you can still run contests where you give credits away for free, and under 1k per week. Note: This does not affect linked blogs, you can transfer unlimited credits between linked blogs.
5. Transfer tax: From now on, all transfers, including transfers made with our new payments API, will be taxed at a rate of 12.5%. The taxed credits will be sold to members (see #1).
6. Blogs cannot be unlinked: Once you link a blog, it's there for good unless you ask us to delete the blog from your account. This prevents linking/unlinking to get around the credit transfer limits, and it also stops you losing access to a blog if you unlink it in error, which happens a lot.
7. No more coupons: You are no longer allowed to send coupons.
8. Shop closed: Except for Entrecard upgrades (Featured Status, Fast Pass) the Entrecard Shop is now offline until further notice. Please do not request a seller token until the shop returns. When it comes back, it will be bigger and better. We'll communicate more details nearer the time.

I don't see eye to eye to this new rules set by Entrecard, many original Entrecard users are not happy either when many changes were made in regards to its economy several months ago. I would like to respond to each points presented above (the number corresponds to the number of the points found in the email sent by Entrecard):

1. Buy credits for less (1000 for $6)? I think the Entrecard management has been oblivious to the fact that 10,000 EC were selling as low as $1. No doubt we can buy from Entrecard but their price IS not low.
2. No comment here, just that publisher would be earning very little EC from now on.
3. Nice, so now there is total monopoly when it comes to sales of EC. However, I think some users would ignore the warning and continue to sell EC from underground.
4. I actually welcome this new rule. From now on there will be less worthless contest offering thousands of EC which does not worth much anyway!
   
5. Entrecard gets EC each time an advertiser buys ad from a publisher, they also impose tax on EC transfer. The EC will go directly into their account to be resold for $6 every 1000EC. Perhaps this is enough to pay for server fee?
6. No comment, maybe it is the logical rule to impose?
7. Many people will be affected when coupons are no longer allowed, people who run contests and other people who offer EC for visitors who participate in their events.
8. Shops are closed, many interesting items will also be pulled. Gone are the days when 1000EC can be sold for $10 and when 7000EC could buy you a year of Linux hosting. Wonder when the shops are opened again, will it be as good as it were.

Entrecard has been on the decline for quite some time now (I hope I don't get into trouble with the management for saying this) but I guess necessary steps are undertaken to help revive its glory. However, with the gigantic amount of EC still floating in the market, I think it will take quite a long time before the economy is steadied and Entrecard Credits will be a valuable commodity again.

Don't worry Entrecard, I have been with you for 9 months now. I hope to still be around to see you regain your glory, hopefully sooner rather than later :)

What do you think about the recent Entrecard makeover? Has it affected you? How? What is the ideal way to run Entrecard and regulate the use and value of its credits?

Coming up next: BobbyT will be discussing about Entrecard's partnership with OIO Publisher :)

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P1 W1MAX Promotion Extended

Packet One has recently extended its WiMAX service launch promotions till 31st December 2008.

The most attractive offer in the promotions is of course the free modem which is worth RM999. Nationwide access fee of RM10 per month has also been waived (you need this enabled for your account if you intend to use WiMAX services outside of your registered service address).

Besides that, there are some fee reductions in the personal 2400 plan and both 1200 and 2400 business plans. Normally business plans will certainly be more expensive than personal plans but now they have the same subscription fees, business owners should seriously consider this once in a lifetime offer. The fees shown above are recurring meaning you only have to pay subscription fees according to the advertised fee until your 1 or 2 year contract expires. You can also opt to sign up to P1 W1MAX service without contract but you would have to forgo the promotions, they are only available for contract subscribers.

This extension of the promotions is indeed a wise and sensible move by P1. Many internet users are dying to try this new Internet service but unfortunately many places in Peninsular Malaysia do not have WiMAX services coverage yet. Hopefully P1 will cover more areas in the coming months so that more internet users could benefit from this promotions.

Have you heard of WiMAX yet? Do you wish to subscribe to this service (hoping to have better internet connection)? Or are you satisfied with your current internet connection? Do you prefer fixed line or wireless internet access? Do you mind sharing with us what connection you are using now?

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