August 6, 2008
This past long weekend (Canada’s Civic Day) I have been playing with a free linux-based desktop operating system on all the PCs in our house. It has a strange name: Ubuntu. I must say that I like it a lot - it is much better than Lindows/Linspire which I tried and abandoned years ago because it was very slow. But this is not the case for Ubuntu - although it takes some time to install it, once installed it runs faster than Windows.
And it is lighter too. It even runs on a 2GB thumb drive (USB flash or pen drive, whatever you may call it) within or without Windows.
I had some problem getting it installed on our newest HP computer (HP a6457c-b that comes with HP w2207h monitor). But eventually I got it worked and posted the experience on Ubuntu’s forum. Basically it was a monitor display issue. To be safe, always pick the safe graphic mode to install Ubuntu - after the installation is finished, you can play with the display and screen resolution.
I spent much time figuring out the best way to get it run on two of my USB thumb drives: one is 2GB DATA and the other is 8GB SanDisk Cruzer. After trying all kinds of tutorials for Windows and Linux environments, I have settled on these two approaches: (1) running Ubuntu from USB drive within Windows without rebooting and (2) running Ubuntu from USB drive with rebooting.
Running Ubuntu from USB Drive within Windows without Rebooting:
For this approach, I followed these instructions given here and installed Ubuntu 7.10 on my 2GB DATA USB drive. The nice thing is, I could run Ubuntu from this USB drive on almost any computer without rebooting the computer. It does ask you if you want to install a tiny QEMU accelerator program on the host computer in C:\Program Files\Kqemu - you can uninstall it easily by opening that folder and click the uninst.exe file in that folder. This approach is the best for demo - showing to your friends how Ubuntu works on their computers from within Windows XP or Vista.
Running Ubuntu from USB Drive with Rebooting:
For this approach, I followed these easy-to-understand instructions given here to install Ubuntu 8.04.1 (the most updated at the moment) on my 8GB SanDisk Cruzer USB drive. The advantage of this approach is that running Ubuntu from this USB does not alter anything on a host computer - leaving not even a trace on it. I can easily boot from it if the host computer allows for USB booting. All settings and changes stay there on the drive. Cool!
Posted in Handy Offline Tools, Miscellaneous 
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July 26, 2008
Just got my cell phone upgraded from LG8100 to BlackBerry 8330. In the beginning I could not display Chinese characters in email and web browser. After following instructions given on this link to install Chinese fonts via Application Loader in BlackBerry’s Desktop Manager, now my BlackBerry can display all Chinese characters. Note that the installation instructions were given for BlackBerry 8100 (Pearl) but it also works for BlackBerry 8330 (Curve) for this one file only net_rim_font_chinese.alx - all other three files cannot be loaded with the loader.
One thing I cannot do is how to input Chinese in BlackBerry 8330 (Curve). If anyone knows how, please let me know by adding a comment below.
Posted in Miscellaneous, Sell Your Own Products No Comments »
July 10, 2008
I have not posted anything here for quite a while because (1) I am working on something else - testing an oxy hydrogen generator to boost fuel efficiency on our 2006 Dodge Sprinter cargo van and (2) there is not much I can post about. Yes, I do find something interesting concerning internet marketing here and there but nothing excites me until today.
Today I found a website offering services like ClickBank (CB) but is much better. You can call it ClickBank alternative and here is the link to it - it is called Click2Sell.
If you have been looking for a ClickBank alternative, you may have heard of PayDotCom which was set up with a purpose to compete with CB. But one thing that troubles people the most - if you are a merchant doing the selling - you may recall having to do some code modification on the download/thank you page. This new CB alternative does it all for you and the download link automatically expires in 72 hours. It has many other neat features for merchants as well. Here is a list a few:
- Free signup and free to list your products to sell - as many as you want and no need to wait for approval.
- When someone does buy from you, they only charge a simple flat fee - no percentage.
- They allow you to sell both digital and physical products
- You can take either a one-time payment or subscription-base recurring payment
- You can set any price for your product - no maximum.
- You can sell your own products or promote other products as an affiliate using only one account.
- You can contact your affiliates and vice versa.
- You can receive funds instantly - no more waiting for payments for weeks.
- Works with your Paypal, Authorize.net, Worldpay, Google Checkout or Moneybookers accounts
- Supports various currencies - USD, EUR or GBP.
- You the merchant controls the refunds.
- You can set a separate commission rate for a special affiliate
Click here to learn more features that CB and PayDotCom do not have for merchants - do not forget to check their 86 reasons why you should join when you get there. Here is a list of selected features for affiliates:
- Free signup
- You can promote as many products and services as you want - no limit
- You earn commissions in multiple ways (1) from the merchants when someone buys from your referral link - commissions up to 95% based on sales, (2) from Click2Sell based on 30% of the transaction fee charged to the merchant and (3) when you refer others.
- You can promote digital, physical or subscription based (membership) products
- Other affiliates find it harder to steal your commissions
- If a returning visitor buys a product within 6 months - you still get a commission even if you did not promote it
Click here to learn more features that CB and PayDotCom do not have for affiliates - do not forget to check their 86 reasons why you should join when you get there.
Posted in Sell Others Products, Sell Your Own Products No Comments »
April 12, 2008
When we tried to join MonaVie, three times we had problem using their website - we filled out the enrollment form and paid for the autoship, but got stuck at the last step. None of our sponsors knew why. Odd enough, we did not get any email notification about the problems. Then by accident we found that we could solve all the enrollment problems by login to the virtual office - no one told us that 
We finally got the products: active and jel. To be frank, we like the taste of the active drink a lot. However, for some reason our three kids do not like the gel at all - we ordered the gel form specifically for them!
Then we started to search for an alternative. What we found kind of shocked us. It turns out that MonaVie has the lowest ORAC value among most of the popular antioxidant drinks! ORAC (Oxygen Radical Absorbance Capacity) is a method developed by the scientists at the National Institute on Aging to measure antioxidant capacities of different foods.
After further comparisons and digs, we picked the Vemma Nutrition Program as its ORAC value is more than 4 times of MonaVie - see here:
More than that, compared to others, Vemma has more nutritional ingredients in their bottles:
- Full spectrum of antioxidant vitamins
- Mangosteen and pericarp extract
- Aloe Vera
- Green Tea
- 65 major, trace and ultra-trace plant-sourced minerals
- Over 40 different xanthones
Vemma Mangoteen Plus
% Daily Value
Vitamin A 5000 IU 100%
Vitamin C 300 mg 500%
Vitamin D 400 IU 100%
Vitamin E 60 IU 200%
Thiamin 1.5 mg 100%
Riboflavin 1.7 mg 100%
Niacin 20 mg 100%
Vitamin B6 5 mg 250%
Folate 800 ncg 200%
Vitamin B12 15 mcg 250%
Biotin 300mcg 100%
Pantothnic Acid 10 mg 100%
Selenium 140 mcg 200%
Proprietary Mangasteen, Whole Leaf
Aloe Vera, and Green Tea Blend 25.2 g
Vemma Essential Minerals
Proprietary Mineral Blend 959 mg
Carbon, Calcium, Sodium, Sulfur, Magnesium, Choride, Bromide, Fluoride, Iodine, Potassium, Nionium, Aluminum, Iron, Phosphorus, Silica, Manganese, Boron, Strontium, Titanium, Tungsten, Copper, Zinc, Tin, Zirconium, Molybdenium, Vanadium, Chorium, Selenium, Nickel, Cobalt, Lithium, Gallium, Barium, Yttrium, Neodrmium, Hafnium, Cadmium, Thorium, Antimony, cerium, Tellurium, Beryllium, Samarium, Dysprosium, Erbium, Bismuth, Gadolinium, Ceslum, Lanthanum, Praseodymium, Europium, Luteium, Terbium, Ytterbium, Holmium, Thallium, Thulium, Tantalum, Geranium, Gold, Platinum, Rhodium, Rubidium, Ruthenium, Scandium, Silver, Indium.
The Vemma Nutritional Program combines both of these products. In your Vemma Nutrition Program you’ll receive a 32oz bottle of Mangosteen Plus and a 32oz bottle of Kiwi-Strawberry Essential Minerals®. Fill your Vemma™ shot glass (included in your program) half full with Mangosteen Plus and fill the rest with Essential Minerals for your daily power shot.
Vemma comes with a 30 day empty bottle money back guarantee. Try some.
We also like the fact that we can join Vemma program free of charge. Yes, free membership with free websites - you actually get two free websites in one membership. Click here to join the Vemma program.
Posted in Announcements No Comments »
I am a father of three kids with my dear wife Margaret. I started internet marketing since 2000 and now have gained enough experience and technical know-hows to share with you. Enjoy!
