Start your own garden with the help of EasyBloom

For those of you who have green thumbs and want to start utilizing that bare garden of yours but don't know what to plant, you might want to check out EasyBloom. Before you waste your money, time and effort only to find out that the plant you want is not suitable for your garden, it is better to do a little bit of research first.

With EasyBloom, you just stick the device into your garden soil for a day and let its sensors collect the humidity levels, moisture patterns, temperature and amount of sunlight an area gets. Once you're done, plug it into your PC via USB and it will analyze the data against a database of more than 5,000 plants, trees and vegetables that is suitable for your garden.

Pretty clever idea huh? For $60, it's a good investment for those who enjoy having a thriving garden at home. It can also diagnose an ailing plant and alert you so you can bring it back to life.

Have you been paid by Scour?

If you don't know what Scour is, it's a search engine that aggregates results from Google, Yahoo and MSN. To attract users and at the same time produce quality and relevant results, they are offering a $25 payout via Visa Gift Card once you reach 6,500 points.

You get a point for searching, voting or commenting on a search result as well every time your referrals earn points. It sounds easy but actually it's not. Well not unless you consciously set a quota to achieve per day but that's not fun.

I've been a member since July 2008 and right now I only have 1621 Scour points. Hehehe. As much as I want to use Scour as my search engine, I still tend to use Google which gives me results instantly. Scour is too slow for me so I don't think I'd be able to reach 6,500 points anytime soon.

How about you? How's your experience with Scour? Have you been paid already?

Thanksgiving Contest from WebTrafficROI

Internet marketing blog WebTrafficROI is holding its first contest to celebrate Thanksgiving in Canada. The prizes are not that grand but it's quite easy to join. Here's what you could win:

First Prize - $50 cash through PayPal from Health Directory PR 2
Second Prize - Indepth review of your blog by Shanker Bakshi of ShankerBakshi.com worth $50
Third Prize - Submission to 100 Social bookmarking sites worth $40
Fourth Prize - Indepth review of your blog, product or service on WebTrafficROI worth $30
Fifth Prize - Indepth review of your blog by Adam of Creadiv.com worth $15
Sixth Prize - 30 Day 125×125 banner ad on Frogstr.com worth $10
Seventh Prize - 30 Day 125×125 banner ad on WebTrafficROI worth $10
Eighth Prize - Indepth review of your blog by Tushar Dhoot of TusharDhoot.com worth $10
Nineth Prize - 30 Day Featured Link on WebTrafficROI worth $10
Tenth Prize - 30 Day Featured Link on Cool Web Developer worth $ 10

Hurry, contest ends on November 10.

Yahoo Messenger causes multiple instances of IE to popup fix

A lot of people at our office experienced dozens of instances of Internet Explorer popping up. This happened every once in a while and we thought it's a virus. We soon found out that this happens every time Yahoo Messenger disconnects which happens a lot due to our firewall.

If you're also experiencing the problem, download this fix. Extract noYMads2.rar then simply run the .bat file. It's just a list of commands that will tweak your registry to disable the ads in Yahoo Messenger that causes the IE to open multiple times when sudden disconnection.

Don't worry it's not a virus. You can view the contents in notepad before you execute it to be sure. But another solution is to upgrade to the latest version of Yahoo Messenger which is a safer choice. :)

Download FREE MP3's easily from BeeMP3

Ever since EvilShare.com requires users to sign up just to download mp3's hosted on their site, I tried looking for other mp3 download sites that's easy to use. Good thing there's BeeMP3.

BeeMP3 is a free MP3 download site that I think is much better than EvilShare. You can search by song, artist or album and they have a huge list of mp3's. I was even able to download the song from the Converse commercial (My Drive Thru by Santogold) which is not that popular. Check the site out!

Saw this site from BerryBlog a few months ago and I decided to post it here for my reference. Enjoy your downloads!

Cheap Gadget Gift Ideas from Chinavasion

It's 62 days till Christmas and you're already probably looking for gift ideas for yourself or for those technogeek friends and relative of yours. It's time to visit Chinavasion.com again for gadget ideas.

If you don't know what Chinavasion is, they sell electronic gadgets from mp3 or mp4 players to computer accessories and home security. And they sell it cheaply. They have lots of cool gadgets on the site that a gadget-freak like me would enjoy just browsing through.

Of course don't expect much from electronics that are made in China. But if you want a cheap version of an iPod touch sans the WiFi, they have plenty of models with price not exceeding $100. They have lots of these touchscreen portable media players (PMP) available.
This PMP here sports a whopping 3" TFT LCD screen and 8GB of space and can also acts as a file storage via USB cable. How much does it cost you may ask? Only $60.75 but you can save more by buying in bulk.

They also have plenty of dual-sim capable touchscreen mobile phones. Actually, most of the mobile phones they have are touchscreen and will not cost you more than $150.

Shown below is a touchscreen wristwatch/phone/camera all-in-one. Can you believe that? Beside it is another touchscreen tri-band mobile phone that has a built-in projector. I don't know how useful will that be but they claim that it works.

Chinavasion has been operating for a few years now so you don't have to worry about getting scammed if you buy from that site.

Disclaimer: I do not work for Chinavasion nor was paid to write this post. They just have amazing products that appealed to me so I decided to share it to other gadgetfreaks out there.

Is SocialSpark's Affiliate Program any good?

If you're a SocialSparker, you may have noticed new opportunities popping up that are of the Affiliate type. The first one would probably the Personalized Flash Drive opp that offers $1.95 per conversion. So how does this work?


Most of the affiliate opportunities are open to everyone so it's easy to just take the opportunity. Once you do, you have to choose the type of ad you want to use (there are a number of image ads and even a text link) and get its code. You can also check how many views or clicks your link generated from the get link page as well.

You can write a post about the product and insert your code there or just place the ad code on your sidebar for maximum exposure. You can also put the text link code on your e-mail or forum signature for more chances of getting a sale.

So how will you get paid? Well it depends on what the advertise chose but currently, all affiliate opportunities pays you for each conversion made. So for the Flash Drive opp, you will be paid $1.95 for each sale that was generated from your link. Seems easy? Not sure.

Right now, I'm staying away from affiliate opportunities unless they pay per click or per views. It's really hard to make a sale if the product does not suit your blog or if the product is not just that marketable. The "get code" link seems to be buggy at the moment too.

Please let me know if you already made any sale with this type of opportunity.

The man who traded a paperclip for a house

I don't know if this can be called inspiring but it sure is interesting. This is old news by the way but some you may not have heard of it yet.

It's about this man who posted a red paperclip on his site for trading. He was able to trade it for a pen which in turn got traded into a doorknob. A year later and after 14 trades, his red paperclip got him and his wife a house in Saskatchewan, Canada.

Can't believe it? Visit the site it's true! Imagine what a red paperclip and a free space in Blogger can get you.

Now I have here a box of paperclips in different colors, interested in a trade? Who knows? It might get you a whole subdivision hehehe.

Widget Tips For Bloggers Part 1

So you finally decided to set up your own blog and it's time for you to add fancy stuff on it. Upon visiting a number of blogs, you can't decide what you want to put. There's just too many out there.

Actually, your decision on what widget to use can be determined by the type of blog you want your site to be. Is it a personal and private one? Do you want to drive lots of traffic to it? Or is it a niche blog to showcase your knowledge on a certain subject?

I don't consider myself an expert but I've seen a quite number of blogs to know what works and what doesn't from a user's standpoint. To help you decide on what widget to use, here are the common ones and my thoughts on them:

1. Top Posts/Popular Posts
This is a widget that showcases the top articles/posts on your site based on the number of hits (views) or the number of comments (popular). If a person stumbles on your site via a search engine, you want him to also check out what other best stuff your site has to offer. This is pretty effective for niche blogs but not so much for the mixed bag type or personal blogs.

Grade: B+. You should definitely use this if you're a niche blog.

2. Recent Posts
Just like the Top Posts, this is also an effective way for your visitors to check out other posts on your site especially if they did not come through the main page. Just make sure that the titles for your posts attract attention or else it would be neglected if seen from the sidebar. This is also a good way to keep your not-so-frequent visitors updated quickly without scrolling down too much.

Grade: A. Quite useful if your blog only shows a few posts per page.

3. Calendar
If you are a new blogger, you might find this widget attractive and can spice up that bare sidebar of yours. Ok , it's cute at first but eventually it just consumes a nice chunk of your sidebar that you can have better use for. You're better of using the Recent Posts to keep your visitors updated.

Grade: F. The only thing this is good for is to let people know quickly how often you update your site. It can do harm if you don't write frequently.

4. Recent Comments
I like this widget especially if I'm a regular visitor on a blog. This widget allows me to see quickly if someone posted a new comment which is very helpful to the owner and the reader. This makes people want to comment on your site more often since they will have a link on the front page.

Grade: A. This is a must have for most blogs. However, blogs that are getting very few comments or the other extreme, very large amount of comments per day might see this as a waste of space.

This is it for now. I'll continue with other common widgets on my next post. I have a few more in mind but if you have suggestions on what other widgets that you commonly see, please feel free to comment.

Dropping 300 EC a day shouldn't be a chore

Ever since I joined Entrecard, I was always on the lookout on how to efficiently achieve the 300 EC drop max limit a day.

I checked out the U Drop I Follow program of Lee Doyle but I don't like the requirement of having to register to BlogCatalog.

I also tried and actually signed up for RingSurf's Surf and Drop. The idea was good since you don't have to open multiple browser tabs. You just click next from the top frame to move to the next blog. However, I found out that some of the blogs there are outdated or don't have the Entrecard widget.

There's also the Entrecard Credit Generator from The Germz boasting of 300 credits in 5 minutes. If you want to just earn credits, this is the easiest way but it doesn't guarantee a high percentage of return drops.

I realized that the only way to get the 300 drops with the likeliest chance of getting a return drop is to create your own drop list based on the active droppers and your favorite blogs. It would also help if the site loads fast without waiting for tons of widgets and videos and the Entrecard is located above the fold for easy dropping.

Since it's really hard to create such kind of a drop list (unless you have 300 favorite blogs), I looked for a list that contains active droppers as a starting point. Luckily, I found Turnip of Power | Social Networking EC Drop list. Here's what I liked about it:

• It's updated regularly so you won't be stuck with old, outdated blogs
• It has a great number of interesting and active blogs
• Most of the blogs listed loads fast and the EC widget is easy to locate

His list does not contain 300 links but only around 245 I think. This is good actually since you can have the room for your own friends' blogs and you also have some drop space for the top droppers on your blog that are not included in the list.

Not only can you get your 300 credits in a timely manner, but you're also dropping to the right people who will most likely return the favor. The interesting posts you find along the way are just bonus so make sure you leave a comment every now and then.

Spore: PC Game Review

Spore got me hooked!

Spore is a PC game from EA and was developed by Maxis, the same people who brought us The Sims. It's a very unique evolution type of game that is quite addicting as The Sims.

First you start off as a creature on the cellular level that can either be a herbivore or carnivore. Once you go around eating smaller organisms, you will earn DNA (sort of like the currency in the game) to upgrade your creature. You can choose to buy defensive parts like flagella to quickly avoid bigger organisms or more mouths to dish out greater damage.

Once you acquire enough DNA, you can then evolve to a land-type creature. This is where the fun starts. Here you have more parts options like better mouths, arms, legs, horns and more abilities like charge, strike, dance, sing. You can ally with creatures by singing with them and have them join your pack. Or you can choose to attack and make them extinct which I'm doing. Hehehe. That is just what I've discovered so far after playing for a couple of hours.

Creature customization gives you endless possibilities. For each creature part there are numerous styles with each giving a different bonus to attributes. You can add multiples of these parts and adjust its size, position and angle. For me, I'm trying to create something like a manticore with narwhal horns. Each version of your creature will be saved in your history so you can look back on how your creature evolved.

There's also a way to connect online and visit your buddies' worlds where you can wreak havoc with your creature or attempt to breed with other creatures there.

Most users might give it a bad press due to its DRM (Digital Rights Management) protection but once you get past that, the experience will be quite enjoyable.

I'm just starting out so I couldn't comment on other advanced features (vehicles, technology?) but it's a pretty cool game that can make your kids forget about homework and other important stuff such as goals and aspirations.

Where to watch TV shows online

Do you often miss your favorite shows on TV so in turn, you just watch them online? Here's a short list of sites that are offering streaming TV for your viewing pleasure.

1. Hulu

Most of you have known Hulu by now. It is a site that allows you to watch popular TV shows from different TV networks in high quality. Popular shows include The Family Guy, SNL, The Office and The Simpsons. One of the drawback here aside from commercials is that the videos are restricted to US residents. But we have a way to bypass that don't we?

2. Alluc.org

This is an online video aggregator site that points you to links where you could watch the show. Quality is not that good since most came from YouTube but they have a very large collection of popular TV shows.

3. SurfTheChannel
Another site that aggregates video all over the internet including Hulu. It is a frame based site so that searching for that show and viewing it would be easy.

4. SideReel
Yet another video aggregation site similar to Alluc and SurftheChannel. Looks better than SurfTheChannel but kinda hard to navigate through though.

There you have it. You could also opt to go to the TV network's site to ensure that you're gonna get high quality videos. ABC, CBS and NBC.

If you often watch TV episodes online, make sure you bookmark at least one of these.

Cyber Clean Your Dirty Keyboard

We all know the keyboards can get really dirty. But how do you exactly clean it? Do you simply turn it upside down and shake it till all those dirt fall off? Do you manually remove the keys and clean the insides with buds?

I used to have can of compressed air with a long nozzle to blast the insides of my keyboard with it. It's pretty cool but it won't get all the dirt out, just displace them into different nooks inside the keyboard.

I would really like to try Cyber Clean's goop to clean my keyboard. It's like a clay dough that you press and rub over your keyboard. Because of its elasticity, it will sink right into the cavities absorbing dirt while killing germs on the surface. It will bind particles of dirt so it won't fall back to your keyboard.

You can also use this stuff on other gadgets such as cameras and phones. Just make sure to keep it out of children's reach since it looks fun to play with.

Joining Garanew's $20 a week contest

There's this contest from Garanew.com that is so easy to join! Garanew is promoting his site, 'Gossip, Gadgets and Oddity' by holding a contest where he will be giving away $20 per week for 20 weeks!

It's so easy to join, just write a short post and include this simple piece of code.

Read the latest celebrity gossip and Amy Winehouse news on Garanew.com.

When you're done, leave a comment on his site and you're in. It's that simple! Good luck!

Watch FOX and CBS online videos from outside the US

These days, TV companies such as FOX and CBS are offering full, high-quality version of episodes from their shows for public viewing on their web site. However, these shows are not available for viewing outside the US.

Unless you use a software such as Hotspot Shield. It is a free program and service that allows your machine to connect to their VPN (Virtual Private Network) inside the US. Hotspot Shield is really used to secure your connection and provide anonymity but it can also be used to bypass those region restrictions on online media. Go ahead and try it. You need a really speedy internet though to watch decently.

If you don't want to go site hopping to see your favorite shows, try Hulu or Veoh first. This also works on Pandora's region-locked music service.

What are the top iPhone Apps out there?

Ran out of ideas on what apps or games to install on your iPhone/iPod Touch?

You might want to check out 148Apps. It is a site dedicated to iPhone OS app reviews and news. They do the work for you by keeping track of what's selling, new or what prices are dropping in the iTunes store.

Check out their 148 Free iPhone Apps list and 148 Free iPhone Games if you don't want to spend any money.

Why 148 by the way? It's the maximum number of applications you can install at once on your iPhone.

From Lifehacker

Where to get cheap, quality eyeglasses

My wife recently decided to get a new pair of glasses when her old one was making her dizzy. She had her eye examined and found out that she really need a new pair.

So right now we’re looking around for a nice deal on glasses. Corrective glasses don’t come cheap and they are usually priced at a hundred dollars minimum until I stumbled upon Zenni Optical. They have the best deal around for single vision, bi-focal or progressive eyeglasses as far as I can tell.

There single vision eyeglasses starts at a very low price of $8.00! Can you believe that? That’s all in! The lens already has an anti scratch coating and UV protection as well. You can also have it upgraded to a premium photochromic lens so that you will have a clear vision indoors and becomes tinted outside in sunlight. This cool upgrade costs only $39.00 which is still below the $100 mark. Their shipping rate is a flat $4.95 no matter how many glasses you order. Better ask the whole family if they want to get one to save on shipping.

If you’re having doubts if the company is legit, they are recommended by the Clark Howard Show which teaches consumers how to save more, spend less and avoid rip-offs.

Joining the Advance Christmas Giveaways contest

Hey guys, MommyKo.com is having an Advance Christmas Giveaways contest and it's easy to join. Here's what you can win:

1st Prize
$15 thru PayPal - My Endless Thoughts & Simple World of Haze
5,000 EC - History And Travel
customized blog header - Designs By Vhiel
1,000 EC plus 125X125 Ad for 1 month from The Pinay Blogger
1,000 EC plus 125X125 Ad for 1 month from Momma Wannabe
125x125 ad for 1 month from ThereisHappiness.com
125x125 ad for 1 month from When SAHM-one Speaks

2nd Prize
$10 thru PayPal - Wonderful Things In Life
1,000 EC plus 125x125 ad for 2 weeks - Praning's Shoutout
1,000 EC from My Collection
1,000 EC from Regalo ng Diyos(God's gift)
1,000 EC from What A World
1,000 EC from Heartrandom.com
1,000 EC from Thoughts Of A SHAM
125X125 ad for 1 month from Photography, Travel and Life
125X125 ad for 1 month from Aerin Collections

3rd Prize
$5 thru paypal - Beauty Of Life
500 EC plus 125X125 ad for 1 month from Life Expressions
500 EC plus 125X125 ad for 1 month from Pinaymama's Diary
500 EC plus 125X125 ad for 1 month from Mommy Earns Money Online
500 EC plus 125X125 for lifetime - Starts at Two
500 EC from Pinay Mommy Online
500 EC from Lourdes' Mia
500 EC from Wonderful Things In Life
125X125 ad for 1 month from When Silence Speaks
125X125 ad for 1 month from That blog 4 me

4th Prize
500 EC plus 125X125 Ad for lifetime - The Money Maker
500 EC from OnlineBiz and Resources
500 EC from Blessings and Beyond
500 EC from Welcome To My World
500 EC from Brown Pinay
300 EC from A Message From My Heart
125X125 ad for 1 month from A Mother's Journal
125X125 ad for 1 month from Twins Happiness

5th Prize
500 EC from Digital Life Scraps
500 EC from Pheandy's Blog
300 EC plus 125X125 ad for 1 week - It's My Party
300 EC from My Little Home
300 EC from Thoughts Of Mine!
125X125 ad for 1 month from The Fashop
125X125 ad for 1 month from Etcetera atbp

Consolations:
100 EC plus 125X125 ad for 1 month from Wonderful things In Life
100 EC plus 125X125 ad for 1 month from The Joy Of Life Forever
100 EC plus 125X125 ad for 1 month from My Life's Adventure
100 EC plus 125X125 ad for 1 month from The Fountain Of Happiness
100 EC plus 125X125 ad for 1 month from A Message From My Heart
100 EC plus 125X125 ad for 1 month from Earning Money Online
500 EC each from Maldita
500 EC each from Supladita

Here's how to join:

1. Blog about the contest with all the Prizes and Sponsors.
2. Subscribe to her feed via email.
3. Put the logo contest in your post.
4. Leave a comment along with the link of your post.

Contest ends on October 21 by the way and the more blog you enter the more chances of winning. Good luck!

New issues of magazines available at Zinio for Free

Zinio Newsreader has updated some of its free magazines with current issues. Included in the update are Men's Health, Saveur, PC Magazine, Macworld, Kiplinger, Viv, Penthouse, Car and Driver, etc.

If you have an iPhone or iPod touch, use it to access Zinio Newsreader and enjoy free current issue magazines. For Firefox users, you can trick your browser to behave like an iPhone to access the site. Much better to read those mags in a big screen.

Trying out Entrecard

On my continuous effort in bringing traffic to this site of mine, you will notice the new Entrecard widget on my rightmost column. Yup! I decided to check out Entrecard.

At first I was dubious that it would really bring traffic to my site but after hearing my blogger friend Gem saying that she got 3k visits from Entrecard in a month I know I had to try it out myself. So I designed my own Entrecard and signed up. Check it out. :)

I read some guides on how to maximize your card but I'm still a bit confused on some areas. Like what's the difference between purchasing and dropping a card. I thought your card will appear on other people's site if you keep on dropping it. So what's the use of purchasing the ad space? What's the use of having an expensive price?

Anyway, I'll continue to read more and monitor my stats and I'll report back the result after a month. I'll be active in visiting sites and dropping my card so feel free to drop your card here as well.

How to protect your PC from the internet

At this point in our time, it is very easy to access the internet unlike before when most people are still using dial-ups. Now, broadband is getting cheaper and we have free WiFi access on some areas as well as cheap 3G rates.

With more and more people going online, the internet is becoming a perfect place for some people to wreak havoc by accessing your machine, stealing private information, etc. The internet is becoming a dangerous place for people who doesn't know how to protect themselves. Having an anti-virus just won't cut it these days. There are lots of ways for hackers to penetrate your system by just staying online and your anti-virus can't help you.

I spend a lot of time online visiting different sites for blog materials and I do encounter a lot of sites that have phishing codes and abilities to drop spyware or malware to your system. I'm not afraid wading through those sites with COMODO Firewall Pro installed though. With a personal firewall, I would know whenever an application from my PC is accessing the internet or if an unknown source is accessing my system without my knowledge.

I highly recommend having a firewall installed on your system for added protection from online attacks. COMODO is a trusted internet security company that offers their products for FREE! Yes! They offer their award-winning firewall program for free! Aside from that, they also have free anti-virus and secure email software available for download.

Wake up properly with the Glo Pillow

We all know that alarm clocks aren't that effective. We just turn it off or snooze it then go back to sleep whenever we hear the alarm. Studies show that waking up by audio alarm just shocks your system and will leave you tired in the morning.

The Glo Pillow can help you wake up more naturally than an alarm clock. Instead of blaring sounds, your pillow will glow gradually to recreate the natural light cycle for a more healthy sleep/wake pattern. It has bright LED lights inside that will trigger on a pre-set time. The pillow starts from 0 to 500 lux over the course of 40 minutes, but most people will be up by the time the light hit 220 lux.

It started out as a school design project but will be undergoing production soon. Expect it at the end of the year for $80 apiece.

Pretty nice alternative for an alarm clock. Perfect for rooms with heavy curtains or with no windows.

Basketball in my life

I love basketball. I love playing, watching and talking about basketball. I remembered back in high school I use to play basketball at school or near our house every chance I can. Even though I know I don’t have the talent to be a skillful player, it kept me out of trouble and kept my body in shape.

In college, I was very much into the school spirit when it comes to our basketball team. Although I seldom watch them play live during the eliminations, I went to see them during the Finals. On that best-of-three event, we won the first game but lost the second one. I was lucky to be able to watch the last game in which we won and the experience sharing the victory with your schoolmates was really awesome.

Right now, I still do play pick-up games although not that often. I’m satisfied with just watching basketball games on TV especially the NBA which will start real soon. I even joined a fantasy league to force myself to be updated with NBA news.

I’m going to leave you with a sports clip of one of the phenomenal players in the NBA.

Here’s Dwight Howard with his Superman dunk that I found on SportsVids.



SportsVids is a site where you can find online sports videos and upload sports vids of your own. Think of it as YouTube for sports enthusiasts. If you are one, be sure to check it out.

Protect your PC from being infected by worms from USB devices

My PC is full of PSP games and my neighbors usually copy from me. They will give me their memory sticks, external drives, flash disks to copy some games. It's a bit risky though since plugging different USB devices on your PC is a sure way to spread those worms.

Net Studio's USB Firewall is a small app that can prevent your PC to be attacked by virus coming from autorun files in USB devices. While this app is running, whenever you plug in a USB drive which tries to run a worm file, it will prompt you first before the autorun is executed. You can view the autorun file from the USB device and delete it when all it does is execute the worm.

The interface could use some better design but it does its job well and it's FREE.

Related: Protect your external disks from worms