Sink or Swim

My baby’s baptism party is in a few weeks and I still don’t have giveaways to my guests. I don’t want the usual dust gatherers, i.e. figurines, frames so I’m looking at promotional items instead. I saw some really useable items from US Imprints like custom journals, bike bottles, aluminum coffee mugs and eco-friendly totes. But what I liked most are these cute non-alcoholic hand sanitizer sprays. They are costly if you buy just a few but for a minimum of 250 items, you could get them for as low as $1.06. I’ll have to check if you can have different logos per spray because my client is planning on purchasing these for a promotional tour this December. I could ask him to get me extra fifty items so I can hand it out to my guests as well.

I love reading eBooks on my smartphones. It’s actually the only thing that I do aside from browsing websites and checking emails. Which is why I got so frustrated when I switched to iPhone. Although there are several ebook readers that you can choose from (free and paid), either you still have to buy books from them so you can use the ebook reader or scroll left and right to read the whole page of the book. I got loads of ebooks in html, txt, prc, lit format and I want to be able to read them again. So I didn’t give up until I came across BookShelf for iPhone. I wanted something that I can read just by scrolling up and down, with nice sized fonts so it won’t hurt my eye and overall pleasant looking. I got all that with BookShelf and more. In fact I couldn’t stop raving about it that I emailed all my friends who have iPhone and told them to download it immediately.

First you’ll have to install the ShelfServer on your PC. Once installed, you’ll need to add a shared directory which is basically specifying a folder where your ebooks are located. On your iPhone, you need to install ShelfServer (around $3.99 at iTunes). You need WiFi to be able to download the books from your PC. Once installed, scan for Near-by ShelfServers until you find the one for your computer. Tap that server to see the shared directories that you created and then a list of all ebooks available. Just click on a file to download and that ebook will be stored on your iPhone.

I just love how the final output of the ebooks look like. It’s almost like you’re reading an actual book from the type of text and paper, the way you turn the page, bookmark and many more. I’ve read about 20 titles ever since I’ve installed this app. I’ve never been so happy with my iPhone until now.

Read here for full details

I sooo love my iPhone 3Gs. I’ve always wondered what the big fuss was but now that I could see the difference in graphics quality, audio and performance, you could say I’m hooked. And did I mention the apps? There are just sooo much free apps out there that I spend most of my free hours now browsing and installing. My husband and I couldn’t help but make some ooh and ahh noises whenever we stumble upon a cool app with a kick-ass graphic.

And as if the coolness of iPhone 3Gs is not enough, Apple just have to come out with the new iPhone 4G.

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A friend was ranting over Twitter today on how her laptop dies every hour or so. She was so worried about the possibility of buying a new one that she couldn’t work any more. As soon as she told me how hot it is in her work area, I told her to get a notebook cooler immediately. There could be tons of reasons why laptops heat up from clogged laptop vents to improper placement to a broken laptop internal fan.

One thing I’ve proven however is that it could be as simple as very hot room temperature. Getting a laptop cooling pad is a necessity now especially if you live in humid areas. If you check the laptop accessories at LaptopStand.org, you’ll see tons of options depending on your budget and style. I’m particular in choosing a more expensive laptop cooler after doing some research on how it can really help your machine perform well. I also have personal experience in buying those generic, cheap coolers and all it did was create noise and gather dust without really improving the temperature of my laptop.

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I received this from my email today. It’s something about those Mother’s day treats. As soon as I saw it, I wonder how it will compete with Kindle. This gadget currently sells at $259.00.

Over one million titles

Get bestsellers and new releases, your favorite eNewspapers, and eMagazines all delivered fast and free via 3G wireless or Wi-Fi. Browse the vast Barnes and Noble eBookstore and sample any eBook for free.

A better reading experience

Choose an eBook using the beautiful color touch screen, then watch it appear instantly on the E Ink® display, where text appears as crisp as a printed page. The 16-level gray scale display offers great contrast with no glare or backlight. Choose from five font sizes so you can read with ease.

Endless shelf space

Store as many as 1,500 eBooks, eNewspapers, and eMagazines on your nook’s 2 GB of internal storage, so you’ll never be without your favorites. Need more space? Just add a Micro SD card.

I know I shouldn’t be thinking of shopping especially now that we’re saving up to make a bulk payment on our lot property. However, I kept seeing tweets of my old boss’ and how he loves his new iPad. You know I’m a sucker for any Apple product even if I can’t afford them. Still, with the help of fast cash, I may be able to convince my husband to buy it for me just in time for my birthday in June. We can loan for as low as $100 up to $2500 and when I checked, he’s already pre-approved! So there’s really no stopping me from getting one. I’m sure he can pay it quickly the same month if he wants to. Besides, it’s my birthday and who knows, I may have given birth by then so it could also serve as my “push gift”.

Curious what is it that I want about iPad when I have a perfectly working 17″ laptop and a touch screen phone? Well, it’s the size really. The 17″ laptop is too huge and heavy to lug around while my phone’s screen, although considered big at 320px or so just makes my vision blurry.

I’m planning of selling our camcorder and then just buy a new one when we go to Hong Kong in two days. I wanted something that I can easily plug in and out of my laptop. However, practicality sets in because we don’t really use our camcorder that much. Plus I’m happy to use my Canon iXus to record stuff because the quality is so good and it’s very portable too. So now, I’ll just wait until the baby comes out before deciding on upgrading any of our gadgets. We have so much that I don’t think we’ll have to buy anything new. It’s just my shopaholic tendencies that’s making me want to check out the online stores and discount shops even if there’s no need.

I always worry about my parents growing weak and having accidents when they’re at home. I’ve heard so many stories about old people falling and that they never recovered. But thanks to Medical Alert products, our elders will now have immediate access to help wherever they are. The BrickHouse Alert system consists of two parts: BrickHouse Alert Tele-Assist for the home and BrickHouse Alert Mobile GPS which is a mobile watch. Unlike other home and emergency response systems, you don’t need to press the panic button to alert someone. With the help of the fall detector, the system will sense what happened and will instantly contact a professional emergency dispatch operator. read more »

Giving out Promotional jump drive is the most popular thing to do during holidays and events. In fact, I’ve received so many of them I can’t count anymore. It made me remember 5 years ago when buying one will cost you a lot. Now, just attend a free seminar or office party and you’d be happy to know that you can go home with at least a 2GB flash drive.

A free iPod or mp4 player however, now that’s what I would love to receive for free. And a laptop, an iPhone, a designer purse, a car or a house. The list goes on.

I didn’t know I’d be shopping for laptops this early. My DELL studio 17 is still good but I feel like I’m not giving it enough rest. From time to time, I hear this really freaky and loud sound from the fan and it scares me that something bad is about to happen. According to te forums, this is normal but I don’t want to take chances you know? I don’t want to get a desktop unless it’s an iMac. And God knows when I’ll be able to afford the one that I really want. For now, here’s what I’m looking to have. A Sony Vaio Lifestyle – 8 inch laptop so I can take it with me whenever I have meetings.

A client of mine wants to put up a paintball business here next year and asked my help in researching for the right location. Aside from that, he’s also paying me to look for affordable paintball guns. The first site that I saw is zephyrpaintaball.com which provides all kinds of paintball gear at the lowest prices. Aside from Tippmann Paintball Guns ranging from $299 to $479 (didn’t know guns could cost that much!) and other safety gears, they also sell casual clothing, barrels, goggles, harnesses and bags, scenario gears and other miscellaneous items. They have package specials, clearance items, monthly giveaways and free items like lanyard, shirts, mats and ground shipping. Definitely a paintballer’s paradise if you ask me.

iPod Videos — I can’t leave without them. It’s a must for parents who can’t turn on their TV sets at night because the little ones are sleeping

High end cellphones — that are not just for calling and texting. Amazing how most of them resemble mini computers now functionality-wise. I love how you can surf the net, read ebooks, take 5MP photos with a small gadget.

Facebook/Social Networking – the ability to contact old friends from high school, elementary never cease to amaze me.

And these from various sites and places all around the world.

Hand scultpure -

Deep in the the Atacama desert in Chile emerges a giant sculpture of a hand. A popular photo spot for tourist visiting the Atacama. The hand was constructed at an altitude of 1,100 meters above sea level. The work has a base of iron and cement, and stands 11 meters tall. The sculpture was inaugurated on March 28, 1992. The sculpture is located about 70 kilometers to the south of Antofagasta, Chile. The artist behind Mano de Desierto, The Hand of the Desert is the Chilean sculptor Mario Irarrázabal.

Underwater Sculpture Park

The Underwater Sculpture Park is the work of sculptor Jason Taylor from England, who has a passion for creating fantastic and unique pieces of work depicting Grenada’s colourful history and folklore and placing them underwater. All of the sculptures are in beautiful clear shallow water easily accessible by divers and snorkelers. The sculptures end up creating artificial reefs, and enhancing the marine environment.

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If there’s one thing I’m excited about, it’s the Black Friday and Cyber Monday on Buy.com. I am looking to buy a 22″ LCD monitor for the longest time but never seem to have the budget to go ahead with the purchase. Thanks to Buy.com’s specials though, I now have several options to choose from that is just below $300.

I really hope I can find a way to ship this to my place so I can start creating the work station of my dreams.

Samsung 23″ Widescreen LCD
$220 after rebates

ViewSonic VX2433wm 24″ (23.6″ Viewable) Widescreen 1080p LCD Monitor with HDMI

$227.01

Acer H233Hbmid Widescreen LCD Monitor – ET.VH3HP.001

$196.28

I still can’t believe you can buy these for less than $200 when it was barely three years ago when I bought my 19″ LCD for almost the same price.

Playing with keywords on twitter is my latest favorite thing to do when I’m bored. So far, I’ve tried designer, web design, real estate, celebrity income, diet pill, interior design, money online, exotic food and many more. No matter what I enter, the results never cease to amaze me. And just a couple of minutes ago, I came across japanese toys. When I clicked on it, here’s what I found. An article on bizarre Japanese toys from incrediblethings.com.

Tuttuki Finger Game Box – pass the time by poking several things on the screen.

God Jesus Robot

Lokuloku Pig Toy – now this is interesting. No matter how many times you squish this toy, it always manages to bounce back and retain its shape.

 
H-Bouya USB Toy – this baby will blink whenever you type H on your computer. H stands for “hentai” which is the word for porn in Japanese. So if you type H too many times, it just shows how a pervert you are.

Weird I know.

Hex Bug Robot cockroaches – for those who want to have cockroaches in their house but don’t really want to deal with the real thing.  These toys have sensors that lets them change direction when they encounter a wall and they also run away when they hear loud sounds.

I came across an old post of mine about Nokia N96. Now that N97 and N98 have been launched, I’m hoping that I will now be able to afford this.

Nokia N96

Just like any other smartphones in the market, this is a multi-functional phone designed to integrate mobile communication with complete entertainment features. I’ve always been a fan of smartphones ever since I found out I can browse the net using these small gadgets. This particular smartphone is different from its predecessors because of advanced video and camera capabilities. The 5MP camera lets you take high resolution photos and record great videos with the help of stabilization feature. With a large 2.8″ screen, you would enjoy watching your TV shows, thanks to advanced television viewing feature (network-dependent). It stores up to 16GB of internal memory and can be expanded with an optional microSD card.

A quick look on the features:
Quad band GSM / GPRS / EDGE: GSM 850 / 900 / 1800 / 1900
3G and WLAN access.
Mobile TV (network-dependent feature).
GPS Navigation.
Instant upload to Flickr, Vox, Yahoo! and Google.
Full-HTML browser.
5-megapixel camera, Carl Zeiss optics.
High quality VGA camera in front of the phone, for video calling and self-portrait use.
Plays music files, and lets you download easily via Nokia Web.
Allows high-quality video calling using 3G
A built-in motion sensor that automatically rotates the screen when tilted as on the Nokia N82.

*photo from http://news.ecoustics.com