Feedclowd.com

Quit Complaining and Start Making A Change

Posted by jiggsfoo on August 6, 2008

I’m a patient fellow. However, there are times that I get annoyed by people who just complain about things that happen in their lives. In my view, gripe once or twice about a bad day - that’s it. Gripe more than twice and you will see that you’ll start attracting misfortune. I want to shout to them “Try to refocus all the energy to something happy and positive!”

Shift your attention. Re-focus. It takes practice but when you start doing it, life becomes easier.

Here’s a nice email I just received this weekend that emphasizes this point:

Years ago, my friend, Harvey Mackay, told me a wonderful story about a cab driver that proved this point. He was waiting in line for a ride at the airport. When a cab pulled up, the first thing Harvey noticed was that the taxi was polished to a bright shine. Smartly dressed in a white shirt, black tie, and freshly pressed black slacks, the cab driver jumped out and rounded the car to open the back passenger door for Harvey . He handed my friend a laminated card and said: ‘I’m Wally, your driver. While I’m loading your bags in the trunk I’d like you to read my mission statement.’ Taken aback, Harvey read the card. It said: Wally’s Mission Statement: ‘To get my customers to their destination in the quickest, safest and cheapest way possible in a friendly environment. ‘

This blew Harvey away, especially when he noticed that the inside of the cab matched the outside. Spotlessly clean!

As he slid behind the wheel, Wally said, ‘Would you like a cup of coffee? I have a thermos of regular and one of decaf.’ My friend said jokingly, ‘No, I’d prefer a soft drink.’ Wally smiled and said, ‘No problem. I have a cooler up front with regular and Diet Coke, water and orange juice.’ Almost stuttering, Harvey said, ‘I’ll take a Diet Coke.’ Handing him his drink, Wally said, ‘If you’d like something to read, I have The Wall Street Journal, Time, Sports Illustrated and USA Today.’

As they were pulling away, Wally handed my friend another laminated card. ‘These are the stations I get and the music they play, if you’d like to listen to the radio.’

And as if that weren’t enough, Wally told Harvey that he had the air conditioning on and asked if the temperature was comfortable for him. Then he advised Harvey of the best route to his destination for that time of day. He also let him know that he’d be happy to chat and tell him about some of the sights or, if Harvey preferred, to leave him with his own thoughts.

‘Tell me, Wally,’ my amazed friend asked the driver, ‘have you always served customers like this?’

Wally smiled into the rearview mirror. ‘No, not always. In fact, it’s only been in the last two years. My first five years driving, I spent most of my time complaining like all the rest of the cabbies do. Then I heard the personal growth guru, Wayne Dyer, on the radio one day. He had just written a book called ‘You’ll See It When You Believe It’. Dyer said that if you get up in the morning expecting to have a bad day, you’ll rarely disappoint yourself. He said, ‘Stop complaining! Differentiate yourself from your competition. Don’t be a duck. Be an eagle. Ducks quack and complain. Eagles soar above the crowd.”

‘That hit me right between the eyes,’ said Wally. ‘Dyer was really talking about me. I was always quacking and complaining, so I decided to change my attitude and become an eagle. I looked around at the other cabs and their drivers. The cabs were dirty, the drivers were unfriendly, and the customers were unhappy. So I decided to make some changes. I put in a few at a time. When my customers responded well, I did more.’

‘I take it that has paid off for you,’ Harvey said. ‘It sure has,’ Wally replied. ‘My first year as an eagle, I doubled my income from the previous year. This year I’ll probably quadruple it. You were lucky to get me today. I don’t sit at cabstands anymore. My customers call me for appointments on my cell phone or leave a message on my answering machine. If I can’t pick them up myself, I get a reliable cabbie friend to do it and I take a piece of the action.’

Wally was phenomenal. He was running a limo service out of a Yellow Cab. I’ve probably told that story to more than fifty cab drivers over the years, and only two took the idea and ran with it. Whenever I go to their cities, I give them a call. The rest of the drivers quacked like ducks and told me all the reasons they couldn’t do any of what I was suggesting.

Wally the Cab Driver made a different choice… He decided to stop quacking like the ducks and start soaring like the eagles.

No one can make you serve customers well. You make the choice. That’s because great service is a choice.

Exactly the point. Everything you do is your choice. CHOOSE to be happy.

Thanks to:: Your One Dollar Donation : Don’t you think this info is worth at least $US1?

Making Money on Casual Games

Posted by jiggsfoo on August 1, 2008

Several friends of mine are making money with casual game like these:

How? Advertising of course. Here’s his site on Bratz Dress Up Games. See all the ads? Now I’m making my own site - Play Make Over Games!

It’s a simple model that works. Just get traffic and sell off ads. My other designer friend adopted it and quickly made some income - around $5-10 a day. Not bad eh? I’m hoping to replicate their success.

These addicting games are quite viral since you can embed it to your website. I’ll see how far I can go with this.

A Triathlon Video To Inspire You Today

Posted by jiggsfoo on July 31, 2008

A friend sent me this today.

First, the email message:

A son asked his father, ‘Dad, will you take part in a marathon with me?’

The father who, despite having a heart condition, says ‘Yes’. They went on to complete the marathon together. Father and son went on to join other marathons, the father always saying ‘Yes’ to his son’s request of going through the race together. One day, the son asked his father, ‘Dad, let’s join the Iron man together.’

To which, his father said ‘Yes’ .

For those who don’t know, Iron man is the toughest triathlon ever. The race encompasses three endurance events of a 2.4 mile (3.86 kilometer) ocean swim, followed by a 112 mile (180.2 kilometer) bike ride, and ending with a 26.2 mile (42.195 kilometer) marathon along the coast of the Big Island.

Next, the video:

I am speechless.

And probably something I’d be stupid enough to do as well.

A Brief History of Batman (Movies)

Posted by jiggsfoo on July 30, 2008

A brief history of the Batman Movies in posters.

First let’s start with the oldies.

Now the goodies.

Seriously though, I now want a JOKER movie.

So we can have fun. Not be too serious. Hehe.

Foodie Tag - MCDO, Jollibee or KFC Chicken?

Posted by jiggsfoo on July 29, 2008

For my friend Maia, a free link (for SEO purposes) and the answer to her foodie tag thingy.

1. Chicken sa McDo, Jollibee, or KFC? - KFC
2. Pepsi, Coke, or rootbeer? - Rootbeer
3. Greenwich, Pizza Hut, or Yellow Cab? - Greenwich
4. Adobo, sinigang, or nilaga? - Sinigang
5. Beef, pork, or chicken? - Chicken
6. Starbucks, Coffee bean and tea leaf, or Gloria Jean’s? - Seattle’s
7. Cornflakes, Honey Stars, or Milo cereal? - Milo
8. Goldilocks or Red Ribbon? - Red Ribbon
9. Tokyo Tokyo, Teriyaki Boy or Rai Rai Ken? - Teriyaki Boy
10. Take Out or Dine In? - Dine In

Tagging my food friend addict - Arpee and anybody else who loves food out there.

Apple TV: 40GB of pure TV fun!

Posted by jiggsfoo on July 26, 2008

Last Saturday, we got to test the Popcorn Hour Media Player. This Saturday, it’s Apple TV’s time to shine in the living room.

The Apple TV comes in two flavors — the older 40GB version and the newer 160GB. The thing is, the 40GB version doesn’t really have 40GB of available storage — something like just around 32GB.

As expected from Apple, the device didn’t came with an HDMI cable so you’ll have to fork about $20 for it as well.

Was expecting the Apple TV to be a little smaller but this one seems to be a little wider. It gets pretty hot too after a couple of hours of usage.

Will have to spend some more time with this rig to make a better review. My biggest frustration so far is the power cable — the magnetic cord just won’t stick to the socket well that it often gets disconnected.

Wait! There’s more!: Win Php500 Free Prepaid Load from Smart or Globe. One (1) Winner Everyday!

Globe tops Yahoo! oneSearch usage in Southeast Asia

Posted by jiggsfoo on July 26, 2008

Globe Telecom is the top Yahoo! oneSearch partner in Southeast Asia, based on number of unique page views per day using the mobile search engine.

Globe entered into a mobile search partnership with Yahoo! only around this month last year but usage is already considered being one of the most active globally.

This is a positive indication that 3G usage is growing strong in the Philippines. I’m still trying to get how much actual traffic does Globe get via their myGlobe portal and Yahoo! oneSearch. Globe will soon add a zeitgeist of sorts for the top keywords searched via Yahoo! oneSearch.

Disclosure: This blog and a couple other blogs I author are featured on myGlobe WAP site.

Nokia E71 Review

Posted by jiggsfoo on July 25, 2008

After a couple of weeks with the Nokia E71, I can certainly say it’s the best and most equipped smartphone coming out of Nokia’s doors for the longest time. The smaller form factor has some drawbacks but is something to be expected due to size constraints.

The Nokia E71 (see unboxing pics here) is the successor of the popular Nokia E61 & E61i but follows the same features from the candybar Nokia E51 (see review here). Click on thumbnail images to see larger pictures.

Nokia has shrunked the E71 to just 57mm (E61i is 70mm) and trimmed it down to an amazingly 10mm (E61i is 13.9mm) thickness. That’s slimmer than the E51 at 12mm and as slim as the Nokia 5310 XpressMusic (9.9mm) and Nokia 6500 Classic (9.5mm). The size of the E61 was the primary reason I chose the Samsung Blackjack over it.

Because of that, the display screen got narrower a bit at 2.36 inches (320×240 pixels) from 2.8″ with the E61. That includes the QWERTY keyboard with the keys a little too crowded. However, I think Nokia made a good trade-off by making the keys more embossed so you don’t accidentally hit neighboring keys. Typing becomes comfortable when you’re fingernail-oriented rather than thumb-oriented. The number keys are all positioned at the center so you can easily type in single-handed.

In the connectivity department, the Nokia E71 offers everything imaginable in its form factor — 3G/HSDPA 3.6Mbps, WiFi 802.11 b/g, built-in GPS receiver and A-GPS function, microUSB, infra-red and Bluetooth 2.0 with A2DP. The internal memory of 110MB is a little small considering the E51 has 130MB, but a dedicated 128MB RAM and ARM 11 369 MHz processor makes the phone responsive. Besides, you can add in 8GB of storage via hot-swappable microSD card.

The only disappointing feature with the E71 is the 3.15 megapixel camera (2048×1536 pixels). It’s supposed to be auto-focus but there’s no way I can see it working The autofocus will have to be manually toggled each time you make the shot. You need to press the “t” or “4″ key to do this.I made several sample shots here (click on thumbnail) — can’t even make a single decent and on-focus shot had a more decent shot here but if you’re going to take moving pictures with this camera, forget about it.

There’s no dedicated camera button on the side too, so you’ll need to use the middle button to take photos and videos. Video quality is no better as it maxes out at 15fps. There’s secondary front-facing camera for video calls.

I guess Nokia didn’t bother to make improvements in the optics considering that this is mostly a business phone. I once had a chat with the Nokia N78 Product Manager and he told me that the camera is on the top of the list of features that affects the thickness of the phone (so is the cost).

The audio quality is decent and sound volume is good even if the speakers are placed at the top side. There’s support for 3D tones and MPEG4 video playback is smooth.

A bunch of mobile office productivity tools are pre-installed — QuickOffice, Dictionary, Adobe PDF reader, Zip and printer manager. There’s an intranet feature to securely connect to your office network via VPN. You can also enable the built-in encryption feature to secure files in your phone’s memory or external memory card.

Battery life is good and the BP-4L lithium polymer is rated at 1500 mAh. Nokia suggests a talk time of a whooping 10.5 hours! Just make sure to turn off WiFi scanning to conserve more juice. From experience, usage lasts 2.5 to 3 days with normal 3G and WiFi usage.

All-in-all, I’d give the Nokia E71 a good buy for data/connectivity dependent users. This is not for the multimedia fans though. The list price of about Php21,000 to Php23,000 makes it an even attractive purchase.

Note: Updated then section on the camera with newer sample photos.

Wait! There’s more!: Don’t have Paypal yet? What are you waiting for? Sign up now!

Intel Atom 330 Dual Core for Nettops

Posted by jiggsfoo on July 25, 2008

Intel announced yesterday the 4th quarter release of the new Intel Atom 330 Dual Core processors running at 1.6GHz & 1.87GHz, an upgrade to the earlier single-core Atom 230.

Intel reps from Singapore today confirmed during the Netbook Benchmarking Workshop that the upcoming dual core Atom processors will be used for the Nettop line of PCs. The Nettop is Intel’s answer to low-cost PCs with much smaller form factor.

Last month, Intel launched the “Nettop ng Bayan” together with the Department fo CICT but the mini-PC only came with a Celeron processor.

According to published rates, the new Atom 330 will cost about $43 and will be out by as early as September 21. The older Atom 230 was selling at $29 a piece. (Pricing is based on a per 1,000 units.)

During the workshop held at the Shangri-la Makati today, Intel representatives from Singapore and the Philippines explained how to properly benchmark netbooks. Three (3) models were presented by Intel — Acer Aspire One, MSI Wind U100 and Asus Eee PC 901. These netbooks have the Atom N270 version installed (1.6Ghz, 512K L2, 533Mhz FSB).

Intel’s naming convention for Netbooks include all portables within the 7 to 10″ and costing Php20k to Php25k.  Ramaprasad Srinivasan of Intel Singapore adds that generally, the Atom had general average performance increase of about 30% over the previous Celerom M models used in older Asus Eee PC units.

Wait! There’s more!: Win Php500 Free Prepaid Load from Smart or Globe. One (1) Winner Everyday!

Samsung Innov8 i8510 confirmed

Posted by jiggsfoo on July 24, 2008

The rumored new Samsung i8510 that tows in an 8-megapixel camera and a 16GB internal storage becomes official.

This new Samsung i8510 phone will be named Innovate or Innov8.

Samsung i8510
Display: 2.8 inches (16.7 million color QVGA TFT, 320×240 pixels)
UMTS/HSDPA
WiFi 802.11 b/g
Symbian 9.3 S60 3rd Edition, Feature Pack 2
Camera: 8 MP (autofocus, image stabilization, face, smile & blink detection, geotagging)
Storage: 16GB internal, 8GB via microSD card
FM radio
Bluetooth 2.0 w/ A2DP
A-GPS receiver
Optical Mouse
Accelerometer
Size: 106.5mm x 53.9mm x 17.2mm

I’m unsure if this one is better than the wider screen and touch Samsung Omnia but I guess there’s room for one more. I reckon that the Samsung i8510 is positioned against the Nokia N95 while the Omnia is targetted as an iPhone alternative.

Wait! There’s more!: Send Money to the Philippines Remit2Home - it’s fast, easy and reliable.