It just dawned on me that come next month, my supposed-to-be money-making website/blog will be turning a year old.
Unfortunately, it has failed to generate the expected income and visits. It did however attract a couple of inquiries from advertisers and much as I wanted to take them on (and reel in the moolah), the site being hosted on Wordpress.com had its limitations. Days of research yielded the fact that any website or blog hosted on Wordpress.com is not meant to be money-making ones.
So, come next month (hopefully), I will be relocating the said website to a new domain and thereby eliminate the Wordpress.com limitation. But I will still be using Wordpress as my CMS as I have already grown familiar with the system.
I'm counting on a colleague to do the Wordpress-enabled website for me and hopefully he can deliver.
Now, how much will that cost?
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Once again, the apartment is a full-house as Ikai's cousins (with their parents) are spending the next three weeks with us on what would be their summer vacation.
So, I find myself trying to avoid the little critters (three of them, Ikai included) who have decided to make the apartment their own little playground.
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I have twitted it and I am saying it again ... I just love Destiny Cable. I have been a SkyCable subscriber before so I can compare.
Aside from the very affordable rate (ours is the P500 per month subscription plan), the range of channels is quite superb.
SkyCable is ok, I guess, but since they lost the Solar Entertainment channels, Destiny just became more interesting especially since they have been adding more and more interesting channels in their line-up.
I don't think I am missing out too much if Destiny does not air LifeStyle, or ANC, Myx, Cinemax, AXN, StarWorld and StarMovies, National Geographic, or Hero. I can do with Destiny's great line-up which includes channels not found on your regular SkyCable subscription like Discovery Travel & Living, Biography Channel, Discovery Turbo, History Channel, Playhouse Disney (Pocoyo, Dibo :)), and the Solar channels BTV, Jack TV, ETC, 2nd Avenue and CS Origins. Add to that their latest offering Sci-Fi Channel and I am one happy customer :)
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The results from my wife's ultrasound tells us that she will give birth around Christmas time :P
While we're seriously hoping for a boy (all superstitious indicators tells us it's a boy from Ikai's "buntot" to other body signals), another femme is a welcome addition as long as the baby will be healthy and free from any complications.
We're also starting to make Ikai get used to the idea that she'll be an "Ate" soon and we think she's going to turn out fine.
Now, who do I choose to be ninongs and ninangs?
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I've just finished reading "The Redemption of Althalus".
The problem with David and Leigh Eddings' writing style is, saying it in their own words, they repeat themselves.
Don't get me wrong. I'm still very much a fan of the Eddings and still count them as a major influence to my embracing the fantasy genre and my decision to take up spec-fic writing as a major hobby.
But sad to say, after reading Althalus, I can say there's not much difference between reading this book and that of the Eddings' other fantasy books and series.
The problem actually lies in the actual writing -- the choice of words, the flow of conversation, and the flow of the ideas. The Eddings use the same words and phrases for many of their books. While the overall concepts and premises of the books and series are different, the use of words and phrases and ideas are duplicated in many instances.
The similarities in use of the language and words and phrases to express ideas and concepts isn't too apparent when you read two Eddings series. It becomes apparent on your third and fourth and fifth.
In my case, I read the Elenium series first followed by the Belgariad. Then I read the Tamuli and started seeing similarities in conversation and choice of words. When I read the Mallorean, the full impact of the similarities became evident but I didn't mind. I even bought the stand-alones Belgarath and Polgara and still enjoyed them. However, when I started the reading The Dreamers that's when it hit me that I could not for the life of me understand why the Eddings write only one way. Unlike my enthusiasm to complete earlier Eddings series, I have yet to finalize my The Dreamers collection with still two books missing.
So, why did I buy the Althalus book? Because I had expected it to be different because it was basically one book and not three or five in a series. Because I had expected the Eddings to write it quite differently.
Unfortunately, my expectations were not met. It was still a good read and quite a great companion at 12am at a Starbucks branch somewhere in Timog Avenue while waiting for your wife to finish her gimmick.
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GoDaddy has been sending me reminders to renew domains I've registered that are set to expire.
I have four domains and none of them are active sites. One I intend to use for my money-making-scheme (as mentioned in the first item in this post) while the rest are pet projects -- all of which are still facing uncertain futures.
Now, how much is that registration? Egad!! P500 for a year-long registration!
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Been playing Texas Hold'em on FaceBook in the scant chance that I'll get to win that World Series of Poker package!!! Hah!!! Dream on!!!
But ambitions aside, the poker app in FaceBook is quite fun and engaging, so, feel free to head on over and try your luck -- http://apps.facebook.com/texas_holdem/
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Missed a lot of movies ... been missing a lot of movies since Ikai was born actually and that dates back to 2006. Recent misses include Watchmen, Star Trek, and X-men Origins: Wolverine. I don't know if I'll be able to watch Angels & Demons but so far, I really missed a lot on missing out Star Trek on the big tube.
Talkin' 'bout stuff over steaming cups of coffee. Grab a seat and be part of the chit-chat.
