Charles Lau

I was at the PC Show for two days last weekend. We went there to look for cameras. On Saturday, i went with my wife and we walked around the whole place to have a look.

Some interesting products caught my eyes are the power saver which can instantly save you about 15%. The salesgirl is pretty good at her selling skills as she tackles me from how much i can save, with 90 days money-back guarantee. However, i didn’t buy it in the end as my wife don’t think it’ll help much.

We did our research for a camera over at the PC Show on saturday. Then, we went to buy on the last day. Indeed, there was a further discount of $30! But one thing i don’t like is that the salesguy used the no-stock method to close us. As we were about to decide to buy from him, he used the method of saying the pink color that my wife chose is out of stock. So i told her if she likes the blue one. The salesguy showed us the blue camera, saying that this is the last piece. After discussing with my wife, we decided not to buy on impulse as we rather pay more to get what we want.
Guess what happen? We went to another salesgirl and she showed us exactly what we wanted and we bought immediately!

The moral of the story is that sometimes the buying button is already pressed, hence don’t think too complicated…

At the end of the day, my family bought a total of 3 cameras costing us around $1500..

It’s been a while since my RSS feed seems to be facing problem.  I was so frustrated with my feed problem that I just asked Carl for help out of desperation.  It’s just in case he may know what happens…

We went through a couple of things.

Disabling the feed redirection

First, we disable the feed redirection first.  This is the most headache one because I don’t seem to find anyway to disable that.

1. I disabled feedsmith.  It is still redirecting!
2. Carl asked me to look through the .htaccess in case I do my redirection from there. It’s not there either.
3. I removed my feedburner link in this UBT theme option as well.  (It’s a blogging theme created by Carl.)  It don’t work either.
4. Something came to my mind about WP-Insert.  I went  there and found any  redirection there.  So I disabled it. My raw WordPress feed finally shows up!

Something seems to be preventing feedburner from updating

Strangely speaking, after I disable that link redirect, everything works  really well!  From then on, I decided not to enable feedburner in WP-Insert anymore.  It has caused me enough problem and getting zero feed update for my readers.

Here i come again with my blog!  :)

While I have been posting over here, my feed is out of sync from my blog postings.  I really don’t know if it is Feedburner’s problem, or WordPress is not updating my feed.  There is no clue after trying so long.

After trying so long configuring my Feedburner settings, it is still not giving me  any clue.  Does it have to mean that I cannot keep my feed readers happy any more?  I really don’t know.

I’ll just try it out and find out the root of the problem.    I do realize that there are a couple of  people complaining the same problem at Google Group and there is still no reply.  In the hope of getting it to work, I have also posted up my question there. Just cross my fingers that a miracle will happen…

http://groups.google.com/group/feedburner-services/browse_thread/thread/17c755ed295dcf36#

Amazon Kindle DX has been released on 6 May 2009.  I have been wondering whether I should buy this little gadget or not at $489.  (Tha’s about $740 in my currency!)

There is a very big problem here.  I have a lot of PDF files to read, and I have been  reading them on my Nokia N95.  It’s pretty convenient but the screen is a little too small.  Reading them on my laptop can really strain my eyes after reading about 20 pages.

Sounds like Amazon Kindle DX is the right choice for me to buy now! 

However after considering for a while, I start to wonder why there is no color.  We have already passed the black and white mobile phones, palmtops and even television.  Can I just wait till there is color version of it?  Oh yes, I read about E-Ink.  Looks like E-Ink has only black and white version.

Engadget has done a good job for covering the news about Amazon Kindle DX.  Here’s a video I’ve embed from their site.

I have been facing information overload for many years.   It’s frustrating to find out that I have valuable information which are deeply buried inside my folders in my hard disk.  3 years ago, I have purchased a portable 300GB hard disk just to store a lot of my information which I believe I have only utilize 20% of what I have.

I don’t know if you have faced the same problem as myself.   I just find it frustrating when I want to get certain information and it is not there for me.  And when I forgot about this piece of information, I really hope it will surface when I need such information.  You know?  Sometimes, we really don’t know what we don’t know…

In search of the best way of organizing my information and files

I tried all sorts of ways.

• I made the usual way of organizing my folders (just like what most of you do).  
• I also tried to use the PostIt notes to organize my information.  In the end, both are just getting more and more messy with my information and files.
• I tried having one Microsoft Word file, and index all my information properly.  In the end, I don’t open that file.
• I tried putting in all  my to-do list in TXT file.  In the end, it is also not opened.
• I tried to use iGoogle desktop to organize my information.  But it is just not as robust as I needed it to be.

I need a better way!

Wiki is the way to go!

I believe there are still many of you who don’t know the meaning of Wiki.  I’ll just put in a video of leelefever’s Explanations in Plain English to explain Wiki to you here.

Ok, I don’t need anybody to edit my information.  All I need is just a place for me to edit my own things.

Ok here are the things that I need for my information organization:

1. One-stop place to access my information and files.
2. Easy to use.
3. They are stored in my portable hard disk so that I can start using  it with any computer.
4. I don’t need to store them on the Internet because of security issue, and the files can be really big when I need them.
5. It allows versioning of my files and information so that I can revert to my old version whenever I need to.
6. And when I delete them, it allows me to “undelete” instantly!

The Wiki Solution

Ok here’s the exact solution I have used.

1. I installed Mowes on my portable hard disk.
2. I installed MediaWiki (The exact software used by Wikipedia).
3. I did some configurations such as configuring the file size upload, the allowable file extension, file grabbing through URL, and many others).
4. I’m done!

Next, this is what I do with it at the very initial stage:

1. I plug in my portable hard drive via the USB port.
2. I run the Mowes software.
3. I open up my Internet browser, and go to “http://localhost/wiki”
4. Immediately, I have my Wiki up and running!
5. I put in all my information that I need.
6. I upload my files and organize them in a meaningful way.

Usage

1. Now, I will update my Wiki whenever I need to.
2. I can access all my files and information more efficiently.
3. I will click the link in my wiki to open a certain Powerpoint file, and edit it.  When I am done, I will upload a new version of it.  So, I have kept different versions of my work!
4. I used Wiki to help me download certain files that I need in the background, while working.

Conclusion

Ok, I think this blog post is getting really lengthy.  I am going to stop here now.  Basically,  I have a portable Wiki in my hard disk that I can use.  In fact, I also installed WordPress in it as well just for the fun of it.

I personally find that Wiki is the best way to organize my information and all my files. 

What’s the weakness?  Definitely there is… So far as I know, Mowes is basically suitable for Windows only.  Hence, Mac and Linux users may not be able to enjoy them.  And there is also difficulty in accessing the files directly if you need to because they are in the Wiki’s own way of indexing the files.

Everybody knows about it.  They are doing all they can to earn credibility, whether it is by hook or by crook.

So far as I know after working in various industries with various business directors, they are basically three types of credibility.

1. Fake
2. Truth
3. Both fake and truth

Fake credibility

Many people actually fake their way to get what they want.  They are especially good with their sweet talks.  If they are real good, many people can get “smoked” through easily with their disguise.  But one good thing about this group of people is that they are pretty good at grouping things together.  They are basically thinking of solutions.  They have actually let go of what they are capable of because they know they have to settle it at a later stage.

And on the website, we may see a lot of claims of people saying that they are making thousands of dollars when they are not even making a single dollar.  This can be seen easily through their own website branding.  Some even add on with fake testimonials and fake income!  If we have seen this group of people making a lot of money, their names should be easily googled.  Try it before you attempt to buy from them!

Credibility of truth

These are real players in the market.  They have been around for many years.  You’ve heard about people talking about them.  You’ve seen them writing books.

There are people who build their strength slowly over the years, and building targeted audience who really listen to them!  It’s no doubt to work with the true people!

Credibility in both fake and truth

These group of people may also be from the fake credibility in the past till they become really good and they practice good from then on.

This group are probably the ones who are known for being  “streetsmart”.  But is it really necessary to be like that?  Are they really themselves?   Are they really happy since they are holding two faces…

Any thoughts about this?

Photo Credit: mikemindel

We have just started a new Facebook group called “Internet Review“!  It has been a while since I tried to find out the best way to review websites.  No matter how much I review, it is still from my own point of view.  And when I do search for better internet review websites (which are my “competitors”), I realize that there aren’t many good internet reviews around, and the potentially good ones are only for the eyes of the buyers who want to find out how their websites fare.

Objective of the Internet Review group

The objective is to gather the group’s opinions on the Internet.  It could be websites, webware, web hosting, web articles, or even products and services which are selling on the Internet.

Who is this group for?

Basically, this group is to gather as many people around the world as possible who are interested in helping to review the websites which are also created around the world.

This world is lacking of ordinary people’s opinions!

I found that there is a lack of a space where people can give their review of how a website should look like.  It is always the case where the website owners are using website optimization techniques to discover the best way to increase their conversion rate.  What they may be lacking, is still the test of their content quality, which is the real reason for a better customer satisfaction.

We are going to have a new website on Internet Review!

Sometime ago, I rambled about expanding the review industry.  I am still setting the things right on that website, but Yahoo is already giving me some traffic over there, probably because I am leaking the url out over at our Facebook group, and also on our internet review twitter (will cover on Twitter below).  This Internet Review website is currently still under construction while it is serving live on the Internet because I don’t think there will be much traffic coming in while we can build on its contents to feed the search engine spiders around the world.  (hint: You may find the link at Twitter account actually.)

We are going to have our new Twitter Account!

We have set up a new twitter account just for Internet Review.  That’s because I don’t want to mix my own Twitter ramblings with the real Internet review information.  I will want to focus on bringing out the Internet juice at the Twitter.

Join us today!

While building a tribe of people to be our reviewers in Facebook, we are also building up our own website and twitter account.  It is not going to be long when we will have a strong team of reviewers (who can be of different industries other than the web) helping to review the Internet!

Join us in our facebook group today!

I haven’t have the time to talk about my wedding experience which I have gone through with my wife.  Now I have finally done all the celebration with my wife, I finally have the time to talk about my experience with the companies we had to talk to.

After I had proposed to her on her birthday on 28 August 2008, we have decided to start our venture to look for the various companies to help us with our wedding preparation.

Our Bridal Shop Experience

First of all, we went to look for a bridal shop who can fulfill our needs of taking wedding photos, and to dress up for our wedding night.  We went to the first few shops along Tanjong Pagar.  We went to the first few, and find it really exciting to look for more to find out which one is suitable.  Then, we met ZWedding.  The salesperson has been telling us that 24 full page photographs and 8 digital photographs for our photo album is good enough at a few thousand dollars.  My wife-to-be has been hearing from her friends that it is not enough, while the salesperson kept on arguing that we don’t need so many photos.  I trusted this salesperson for what she said.  Guess what?  We really chose only just nice for what we needed, and they kept on pushing for more photos while they can.  Reason being “These photos are so nice, it will be a waste if you don’t print them out.”  

I just find it a little mismatch between the two sayings in the previous paragraph.  I knew my wife really wanted the photographs because her mindset is that this is only once in a lifetime.  I did not reject any of the photos for sure, and go for as many photos as we think are nice.  And the price shot up to two times more than the original amount I have spent.  In the end, we have 51 digital photos.  Take a look at them in my flickr.

You might think the clothes are very nice on my wife.  Actually, she wasn’t very happy because she just cannot find the dress that she wanted.  As for me, I have less than 5 clothes to choose from.  Just trying to make the best out of what I can since I have already paid up a few thousand dollars.

I heard that Bridal Concept seems quite good, but I just didn’t have the chance to go there…

Our Hotel Experience

We chose M Hotel to have our wedding dinner.  This hotel is best recommended by me!  I like the hotel room that they have prepared for me.  I feel like a king there!  Thanks Simon for helping me to arrange such a wonderful night!

I find this hotel is giving us at a very good value for its money.  Thank God that we are able to break even for the dinner.  They are very professional in their serving of food, wedding ceremony and everything.  No amount of words can sufficently describe how much I am really appreciative of them.

My Wedding Video

I met Jimmy and Alicia when they are looking for couples who are preparing for wedding.  We are very glad to have them as our actual day videographer, and he also brought in a very good photographer to help us take photos throughout the whole day.  You can view Jacky’s portfolio here.   See my videographer how professional he is when he is taking photos of a car.  The two of them are perfect for my wedding that day.  Take a look at our photos.  Also take a look at our video.

Our Story in Video

This is another well-spent investment to make memorable wedding dinner.  We had two videos done by Coffee & Tea Dreamworks.  They are as follows:

1. Cartoon Animation of our story
2. Photo montage of our story

I think the guys are fantastic over there!  Check them out!

Conclusion

As a whole, the whole experience is still not so bad.  We had also spent other times to go Courts to buy our bed, Ikea to buy our wardrobe, and some other furniture shop to buy our cupboard and such.  This is my experience I had.  A very good first experience which I think any wedding couple will never forget too.

The other day, I was rambling about a nice weekend I had with my wife.  It was a Valentine’s day.

Yan Susanto thought I am going to teach a thing or two about making your wife happy.  So, I thought that might be interesting to talk about, and decided to talk about that in my blog.

Sorry, there’s no 101 things to talk about.  Only 10 of them!

1. Focus on the key things in your life: Family, Friends, Career, Fitness and Religion/Belief.
   Trust me that your wife will be very happy that you are serious in your life.
    
2. Give her a good massage when she wakes up.  She will feel grateful that you are helping her to be awake with a very nice feeling.
    
3. Make more money.  No need to explain over here.  So you all better get your affiliate marketing work as soon as possible!
    
4. Bring her out once a while to keep memories of the times when we were still in BGR mode back then.
5. Create a scrapbook for her on special occasions.  She likes “redundant” things.
6. Buy flowers of her favorite.  No brainer here. 
7. Take more photographs and print them out.  She likes to keep them for memory.
    
8. Come home earlier to accompany her as much as you can.  She will appreciate it.  I am lousy at this as I am a workaholic.
9. Do up a website just for the two of you.  We are all experts in creating websites, right?
10. Forget about how she treats you, and always treat her well.  That’s because I found that girls tend to echo back louder accordingly after you say/do/treat something good or bad.*

*Don’t understand what this is?  Just do all the good things to her, you should be safe.

Ok, let’s sidetrack a bit.

As I mentioned to all of you previously, my review blog is moving house and I am busy building up the contents and adjusting the designs.  This blog shall contain more of my life as a reviewer, as a husband, as a friend and as a business partner to you.

Valentine’s Day was just over yesterday.  It was quite an experience when I said the wrong words on the eve of Valentine’s day (Friday) and had to do 101 things to make my wife happy.

We watched Slumdog Millionaire on that day.  Here’s the trailer.

I find this movie quite interesting as Jamal is trying to get the girl’s attention by participating in the game show “Who wants to be a millionaire”.  It’s especially cool to see him getting what he wanted even if he has to jump into the pool of shit!  It was so funny!

Then on the Saturday, we went to visit a good friend’s baby’s birthday party. Looking at my friend having her own baby, I realize that my friends are all getting married one after another.

Afterwhich, we went to Mr Bean restaurant at Selegie.  It was recommended by my wife.

I had a very bad impression of their service.  I waited one hour for my food, and decided to ask if it is ready.  Only then to find out that they had run out of stock!  Am I going to wait forever for my food till they buy from the market??

In the end, we went to the Hong Kong cafe which provides really good service!  Thanks!

It’s a Sunday today, and I have spent the whole day planning and working out for the whole business plan.  Bought quite a couple of domain names for my business plan (as an Internet reviewer), lots of anticipated activities are going to happen pretty soon.

I also found out that my good friend Carl Ocab gave his seminar at such a young age!  Check his seminar pictures out at his blog!