Bid to win prizes

Here's an interesting online contest. You can win USD $50,000 or a mercedes. All you have to do is guess the lowest unique number to win. If you don't win you don't have to fret. You can get discounts in the rewards store for some top gears. Try out www.bid4prizes.com to win some really cool prizes. Imagine driving home a Mercedes.

Well if not for the Mercedes I think the next coolest item they have there is the Transformers Animated iPod/MP3 Speakers. The one featured is Bumble Bee complete with lights from his eyes. There are also several great notebooks up for grabs at this unique website.

Susan Polgar Chess Blog: It's bad. The problem is serious with Fischer

Susan Polgar Chess Blog: It's bad. The problem is serious with Fischer

Made a new chess video

I created a new video tutorial on how to create a chess blog in 10 minutes.

Well it took me well over an hour to produce it :) But it was worth it. I hope I can continue and add more tutorials in this series. Planning to add "How to monetize your chess blog" and "How to increase traffic". Hope to see more chess blogs in the blogosphere.

Garage Flooring

I think the idea of getting some garage flooring to cover the concrete floors in any garage is a good idea. Take a look at the picture above. Doesn't it look much better than a plain concrete floor?

You know that garage floors stained with oil is simply horrible. A nice epoxy coating will protect new garage floors. Check out www.carguygarage.com for some attractive flooring you can use.

* sponsored *

Went to KL Sentral

Today there was a Malaysian bloggers meet at Starbucks, KL Sentral. I didn't plan to go but I stopped by on my way to lunch at Petaling Street. KL Sentral was as usual, crowded on a Saturday afternoon. I reached Starbucks and saw that the place was packed. Are all these people bloggers? Anyway, I saw Liew CF sitting and taking a photo of a two people.

One of them looked like the webmaster for Menj. Anyway, I didn't introduce myself to anybody and left hurriedly because I had to 'ta pau' food back home. I regret I didn't register earlier or make plans for this. It would have been interesting meeting the bloggers I only know of on their blogs.

Ireland : Emeral Isle

I had a pen pal a long time ago (before there was an Internet!) and she lived in Ireland. It's a magnificent country from the impressions I got from the letters as well as my own research in libraries.

I love the natural green beauty that still scatters the landscape in most of Ireland. It wasn't called the Emerald Isle for nothing you know.

The first place I would like to visit is Dublin. The Guiness Sorehouse, Kilmainham Gaol, Dublin Castle are on my checklist for place to visit.I also checked that there are many dublin hotels listed online. I don't care much for the price because I'd be spending most of my time outdoors!

Other places of interest I would like to visit is the Cardiff castle and the Llandaff Cathedral. Again I've bookmarked some cardiff hotels sites I may want to stay in. If I have time I would like to visit Newcastle as well as Leeds. Again there are some good bargain newcastle hotels as well as leeds hotels I will go for.

I love podcast

When I was working, I was always looking forward for lunchtime. This was my highlight of the day where I can just load up my PDA or mp3 player with my favourite tech podcasts and take it along with me for the full hour lunch. It always picks up my mood for the day which is something I need daily. Particularly when you have crazy bosses that try to push the blame to you whenever something goes wrong.

I'll take a long LRT ride to Petaling Street and all my troubles will melt away after I listen to the latest tech happening, web developement, latest gadget etc. Sometimes it even helped me in work when a project needs some new web services and I know way ahead what tool to use. This did not make me popular with the project managers because it was their job to know this stuff. :)

Online Gambling Pros and Cons

Have you gambled before? If you are a Malaysian (and non-Muslim), I'm sure you have!

Well I'm not a gambler but I do bet on some things on rare occasions. I also did go to Genting Highland's casino before. I like to play on sites like www.bet365.com for online poker occasionally but I don't do that often.

Pros

Believe it or not, I think there are some good that comes out of online casinos compared to the real casinos. First of all, you do not have to take that hour long trip to the nearest casino. All that can be done in the comfort of your home. Those who say there's no kick in this, well, when there is real money placed on the online casino tables, believe me, there IS a KICK :)

Also as a non-smoker I like the fact that there is no SMOKE around me when I gamble online.

Cons

I don't have to mention this but everybody knows the dangers of gambling addiction. And since you are using the credit card, you can get carried away and lose a ton of money without even realising it. What's more is the cashing out time frame is pretty long. You'll have to typically wait 2-4 weeks before you see your winnings (if there is any) in your credit balance.


Conclusion

Gamble for fun but not for profit. The system is against you. Just throw in the money for fun and be happy if you win a couple of bucks. However therein lies the bait of online casinos. If 10% of those who want to play for fun become addicted, they'll have big profit margins.

I am late!!

No not for work! Today is a Sunday. I'm late for a chess tournament. After a month of Ramadhan there has been no chess activities. So now after Raya this is the first chess tournament I can take part in. It's been a long time. I don't think I'll do well because I have been in a marathon blogging session to try to beat the two superheroes :(

Anyway, wish me luck as I'm making my way to the tournament hall... Late as usual

I dream of Paris

If you have read my past posts, you'll know I'm very keen on travelling to strange and foreign places. One place I would like to visit is Paris. (Who wouldn't!)

Paris is famous for it's Paris fashion week which I am just dying to see. There are also other attractions such as visiting museums, dining and wineries. French food is one of the finest cuisines in the world. Going to a French restaurant anywhere outside of France is NEVER the same.

Online research reveals good hotels in france.

Take this Chantry Hotel in Bordeuax. It costs only EUR 53 a night. It's just one of the many affordable but nice hotels you can find. To hotels in paris need not be 5 stars as I will be out visiting more often than staying in the hotel. Any decent hotel with basic facilities will make me happy.

Andrew Ooi vs Two Super heroes

The race is on.

It's this blog vs Two Superheroes. It's an unfair match up because Two Superheroes is well, TWO persons vs little old me.

Anyway I will take the challenge and will not back down. Let's see whose traffic is higher for the month. Since both our blogs are new, this will be an interesting race.

The two websites competing will be:
http:/www.andrewooi.com
http://toosuperheroes.blogspot.com

We'll compare our total traffic for the month of November to see who is the winner. Prize? Hmmm.. we'll figure it out later :D

Mortgages

I am planning to look for a new house. Without a lot of cash, I'll have to look at mortgages for a way to afford a new home. Of course mortgages is the common way for people like me to be able to afford paying for a new home.

However there is also a new group of people who buy to let mortgages in view of buying a property and renting it out. This is especially true in UK where the property business has become lucrative.

Again, I recommend doing your research so that you can compare and find cheap mortgages especially when there are so many different mortgages out there today.

This post is sponsored by NationsFinance.co.uk. You can find more info on loans, banking and buy to let mortgages on their website.

Will you do paid reviews ?

That's the question being asked by Darren Rose of Problogger.net. This is the question on many posties mind after the Google slapfest penalising many leading sites that were selling links and/or doing paid posts.

From what I've seen, experienced posties are continuing their paid posts even with PR demotions. They are unfazed. As a PPP postie I'm predicting more signups to PPP now with blogs getting new PRs after the latest Google PR update. I have at least 3 friends now who are new posties with PR3 and are writing paid posts like crazy. I think it's safe to say there are many more like them. As an 'old' postie, I will continue writing paid post.

So in essence, Google may have temporarily affected these posties ability to grab higher paid post by degrading PR. However, I with new metrics like Argus coming out, PPP posties have less dependancy on Google.

SaveBuckets

Websites that saves me money always interests me. Save Buckets is one such site.

If you are a Brit, then this site is for you! It is a new price saving website whose primary function is to save you up to 20%. Just in time for Christmas too!

One alarming fact is that one in three Brits are still owing money on credit for the gifts they bought last year. SaveBucket.com will enable Brits to get more for their money this Christmas.

Anyway the site is full of items that I would buy. I love the iPod touch sale at £248.32. There are literally close to a million items you can search from 700 retailers with the best price. What's more the site allows you to set an alert if your dream product falls within your budget.


For further info, here is their press release:-

Press Release:

GHOST OF CHRISTMAS PAST HAUNTS INDEBTED BRITS

- New price saving site launches to save Brits up to 20% this Christmas -

As the nation approaches the final countdown to Christmas, new research rings alarm bells over the financial impact of Christmas in credit crunch Britain. The research from the new money saving website Savebuckets.com reveals that as Brits prepare for Christmas, many are still paying off last year’s festive spending.

With 41 per cent of Britons paying for Christmas on credit last year, almost one in five are still paying for last year’s festivities (17%), fewer than one in three having cleared their Christmas debts when their January credit card bill arrived (29%).

Following a year of consumer confidence in 2006, Christmas spending soared 52 per cent in two years (from an average £548 per adult in 2004* to £837 per adult in 2006), with over one in five Brits spending over £1,000 on Christmas last year (22%). This year, with spending power at its lowest level for 10 years**, consumers are feeling the financial hangover from a more confident Christmas enjoyed on the credit card and loans.

Alarmingly, it is cash strapped youngsters and low income earners who, having spent the most on last Christmas, are most likely to be feeling the repercussions of last year’s spending spree (see figures below).

The research into the financial impacts of last Christmas amongst a GB representative sample of 2,000 British adults was carried out by the new money savings website Savebuckets.com which launches this week to enable Brits to get more for their money this Christmas.

With these alarming figures in mind, Savebuckets.com will give shoppers the opportunity to save up to 20% on their Christmas shopping. Putting consumers back in control of their spending, the site searches over 700 retailers for the best price on around one million products. The site includes a unique price checker which allows consumers to set the price they want to pay for items, notifying them when the price of a product falls to within their budget.

* sponsored *