QD 10060

50 Responses to “Government and Public Services in the Philippines”

1. Philippine National Bank, Olongapo City and Subic Bay Says:
   May 18th, 2009 at 1:05 am

   I currently bank with the Philippine National Bank (PNB) in Olongapo City. PNB is the oldest of the banks in the Philippines. It was established in 1916, became the first universal bank in the Philippines in 1980 and was privatized in 1989. PNB currently has over 100 branches throughout Asia, Europe, the Middle East and North America. I’m going to provide a little information on the local branches.

   Dollar Accounts

   Dollar accounts can be opened at both branches, but direct deposit accounts are handled only by the Olongapo City branch.

   If you need to wire a lot of money to a dollar account, and you’re in the US, it’s best to open an account at either of the Los Angeles or New York City branches. Here are the bank codes:

   LOS ANGELES BRANCH

   Wire Routing Transit Number (RTN): 122038756
   Swift Code: PNBMPHMM

   Address:

   3345 Wilshire Blvd, Suite 200
   Los Angeles, CA 90010
   Telephone Number: (323) 802-8000
   Telefax Number: (323) 802-8001

   NEW YORK CITY BRANCH

   Routing Transit Number (RTN): 026003007
   Swift Code: PNBMPHMM

   Address (Changed on 2008-05-12):

   30 Broad Street, 36th Floor,
   New York, NY 10004
   Telephone Number: (212) 790-9600
   Toll Free: (866) 922-9975
   Telefax: (212) 382-2238
   Email Address: pnbnyc@pnbnewyork.com

   I have my monthly direct deposit payment going to the New York City Branch. Please be aware that these direct deposit payments are processed like remittances and allotments. There is currently a $7.00 (in US dollars) fee per deposit. The type of account required is a dollar savings account.

   Local Branches

   The Olongapo City branch is almost always crowded and parking is usually only available in the rear. There is plenty of parking at the Subic Bay branch.

   OLONGAPO CITY BRANCH

   Philippine National Bank
   2440 Rizal Avenue
   East Bajac-Bajac, Olongapo City
   Philippines 2200
   Telephone numbers: 63-47-222-8343 and 63-47-223-4989
   Telefax number: Same as second number
   Email Address: olongapo@pnb.com.ph

   SUBIC BAY BRANCH

   Lot 5, Retail 2, Times Square Mall
   Sta. Rita Road
   Subic Bay Freeport Zone
   Olongapo City, Philippines 2220
   Telephone Number: 63-47-252-7963
   Telefax Number 63-252-7964
   Email Address: subic@pnb.com.ph

   For more information, visit the official website: Philippine National Bank
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2. Parallel Worlds: Where is Jack Hunter? Says:
   May 18th, 2009 at 2:05 am

   At one time, recently, I thought I might be crazy. If you read the first article I wrote about Jack Hunter, you could certainly come to that conclusion. I’m not crazy, though, and I can tell you why. Within the last 20 plus days (After September 10th), I have experienced what I would call the strangest communications that I can imagine. The bad part about it is that I can’t prove anything happened.

   The Lucid Dream

   The first lucid dream I mentioned was only the beginning of several related dreams, but they weren’t lucid. There were images similar to the first and images of places I don’t think I’ve ever been to.

   I still have dreams, but they’re unrelated, so the dream sequences have stopped, or at least I think they’ve stopped.

   Vanishing Email

   I have thousands of email messages stored in folders (retrieved from Gmail and stored with Thunderbirdl). I periodically clear out batches of email I know I’ll never need to see again, but I’m slow at doing it.

   After the last dream that I can remember, and while my wife was still here on her Philippines vacation (don’t ask), I received an email message from a person who called himself Jack Hunter and in the message he told me who and what he was. I wanted to show my wife the message, or even my son, but the message disappeared along with the reply I sent. Up until about a week ago, he sent me at least one message per day.

   I’m no dummy and I can check email headers and where the email is supposed to have originated from. I checked each one. In each message, he had used a different name in the “From” line. One message came from China, one from the US and one from Canada and I stopped checking after that. He must have been using proxies. Always, shortly after reading them, the messages disappeared. I have no idea how he did that.

   Parallel Worlds

   During the lucid dream sequence, Jack briefly told me about the shadow people. In the email messages that followed he told me so many things that I can barely remember them all. He told me he came through a portal, located inside of a steel shed, on a farm in Iowa (US) in 1933. The image was presented in one of my dreams and it looked like any other shed, unremarkable except that it wasn’t painted. He said it was new at the time, but that there’s rust and corrosion on the outside of it now.

   If you’re in Iowa, or know someone in Iowa, perhaps you’ve seen this shed or could look for it.

   Jack explained about his age, which would have to be about 100-years old. He says he still looks like he’s 25-years old because the people of his world live to be in their late hundreds, just like Earth people did thousands of years ago. His people look just like us — they’re human too, only way more advanced technologically.

   If this sounds like something straight out of fiction, it’s because it was intended that way. Jack’s people, according to Jack, have been mentally influencing writers for at least two generations. I asked him to expound on that, but he refused.

   UFOs and Near-Death Experiences

   People have been seeing UFOs since the 1940s. Jack said the sightings go back much further and that they just haven’t been documented. He explained that they weren’t aliens from another planet; they’re from here, just from another parallel world. He also briefly mentioned that the multiverse theory was “horse shit”. His words, not mine.

   When people have near-death experiences, most recall seeing a bright light, or traveling through a tunnel towards a bright light. Jack said the bright light is from the parallel world furthest from our own. Again, I asked him to explain it in more detail, but he refused.

   Our Missions

   Jack explained something to me that didn’t make sense. After talking to my mother-in-law and my wife, just this evening, I don’t know what to think of it.

   Jack said that each person born has a single mission in life. That person will not die until that mission has been completed. It doesn’t matter if the person ends up in an institution or is incapacitated in some way, that person will not die until that mission has been completed.

   As I was speaking to my mother-in-law about it, she told me about her father-in-law. She said that he had spoken about the mission many times before he died. About an hour ago, my wife called from the US and I asked her about her grandfather, on her mother’s side. She told me that he was from the island of Luzon (this island) but was in the navy (but didn’t know what navy) when he was young. This was prior to 1933, the year of her father’s birth. Did the Philippines have a navy back then? Did the US have Filipinos in the US Navy back then? I don’t know the answer, but I intend to find out.

   According to my wife, her grandfather had met her grandmother on Mindanao while he was in the navy. Her grandmother and her father were Muslims, but her grandfather was not.

   More Shadow People

   I haven’t seen any odd shadows in more than three weeks, but two days ago, my oldest sister-in-law saw a shadow in the kitchen/dining room while she was cooking. She cooks breakfast and dinner for me and my son frequently and we call her ate since she’s the oldest of my wife’s five sisters, but her name’s Florian.

   Florian and my wife and I, so far, are the only people who’ve actually seen these mysterious shadows. Florian was afraid to cook in my house for the past couple of days because of her encounter. She took the food to her house, cooked it there, and brought it back here.

   You Can Call Me Crazy

   Yes, you definitely can. I have more information, but I’ve spent too much time writing this much today and have other tasks to complete before heading to bed. I may be crazy, or someone may just be messing with me, but I’ll let you think about it until the next time I write about Jack Hunter.
   Similar Posts:

   Lucid Dreams: Who is Jack Hunter?
   Weird Dreams
   Do You Believe In Ghosts?
   An Uninvited Guest
   Okay, I Am Officially Weirded Out

3. Blog Review: Weight Loss Weapons Says:
   May 18th, 2009 at 12:05 pm

   Is this a blog about weight loss or is it about something more specific? Only a review can tell.

   What is “Weight Loss Weapons” all about?

   According to Steve’s “About Me” page, he has struggled with his weight for years. He’s tried fad diets, read countless weight loss books and purchased far too many useless exercise machines, which all led to one simple conclusion: “The only way to lose that weight is to be conscious of what I’m eating and get my ass moving.”

   This is what he, through his blog, will try to teach, promote and inspire others to do.

   Site Design

   I ignored the theme this time because it’s a typical WordPress theme, the type of which is favored by bloggers: two right sidebars. Besides, there was nothing obvious I could find wrong with it.

   The header, as well as the tagline, is where the action’s at. I like it a lot. “Arming you one post at a time” is the perfect tagline to go with “Weight Loss Weapons”. Seriously, I couldn’t have thought of anything better if I tried.

   Article Content

   I don’t have a real problem with my weight. I’m hovering between 200 and 220, which is average for someone at 5 feet, 10 inches quickly approaching the age of 50. I’m not gaining weight; I’m actually losing a pound or two per month without trying. The biggest reason, I believe, is because I don’t snack between meals and I don’t eat junk food (except maybe once a month around payday).

   When it comes to maintaining your weight at a normal level or losing weight to get there, Steve’s latest article tells you NOT to do it for yourself. People tend to procrastinate when they do things, that aren’t any fun, for themselves. Doing it for someone else is a much stronger incentive.

   My Overall Opinion

   Being overweight is a problem that plagues Americans more than any other country. I blame fast food, video games, television, and convenience for the problem. You can hop in your car, hit the drive-through for just about any fast-food chain in minutes, return home and plop down on the couch in front of the boob tube, or hook up with your favorite video game, all within an hour.

   That’s a stark contrast to other countries where it can take an hour just to navigate through all the traffic (especially in Asia). Also in other countries, people tend to walk more than they do in the US. That alone keeps them healthier on the average.

   Read what Steve has to say. There’s some good advice on his blog. You only need to heed it.

   Would you like a Review?

   My reviews are simple, including at least one link to an article as well as a link to the blog or website. They’re also absolutely free. Make sure your blog is ready to be reviewed and then submit it on my “Request A Blog Review” page and I’ll try to do my best to give you a fair review, without being overly critical.
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4. The KeywordLuv Format is Now Required on ALL Comments Containing Keywords Says:
   May 19th, 2009 at 5:05 am

   Comment spammers are getting very good at writing content that passes the filters. It’s getting harder and harder to tell the comment spam from the legitimate comments.

   Therefore, the time has come to draw the line.

   Comment spammers (the automated type) haven’t figured out KeywordLuv yet and they probably won’t mess with it until it becomes really widespread. I am now requiring the “YourName@YourKeywords” format in the name field on two of my blogs. Two of my other blogs will be operating the exact same way when I get done with them.

   If you’re only using your name, you can continue to do so. Only people using keywords are affected. I’ve placed an “Important Note” above the comment form to make my new policy as obvious as possible. Similar words are also contained within my “Comments Policy” in the “Policies and Statements” sidebar widget.

   Unlike the author of the plugin, who simply removes the link if the rules aren’t followed, I will delete the comments without hesitation. If you can read this, you can read the policy before you get to the comment form.

   I hate to create and enforce strict rules, but it’s either do it this way, or turn comment moderation on. I’d much rather make it as easy as possible for both you and I to keep the comments section free of spam.Similar Posts:

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5. About People: Kouiji and his Haiku Poetry Says:
   May 19th, 2009 at 8:05 am

   he’s getting older
   wiser? don’t know about that
   maybe more wrinkled
   —-
   he didn’t really have a full fledged ‘about’ page on his blog, so he thought he’d try to make up for it a bit by churning out that ‘about’ post.
   —-
   well, he’s a guy. he still feels young, even if he’s no longer that young anymore. and his knees sometimes feel a little creaky.

   Find Out More

   You can read more about Kouji at his haiku poem blog and if you comment, perhaps he’ll write some haiku poetry about you.

   About My “About People” Series

   Rather than repeat what doesn’t need to be repeated, just cruise over to my “About People” page and you’ll see the method behind my madness.Similar Posts:

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6. My Gilded Cage in the Philippines Says:
   May 19th, 2009 at 11:05 am

   Before I tell you what I’m referring to when I say “my gilded cage in the Philippines”, I need to tell you exactly what “gild” and the phrases “gilded cage” and “gild the lily” mean. You can click on the picture to get a larger view. The frame still needs to be repainted.

   According to what I read in a couple of dictionaries, “gild” means to decorate the outside of something, usually unnecessarily. The phrase “gild the lily” (referring to the flower, of course) means adding ornamentation to something that already looks nice. Finally, “gilded cage” means a cage that’s decorated and the cage is not necessarily to keep something in, but to keep something out.

   My Gilded Cage

   As you can see when you look at the picture closely, or when you enlarge it, it’s a sliding door with a heavy duty lock to keep it in place. It’s the only windowed door on the first floor and the only one in which the iron bars can be moved out of place. The rest of the windows on the first floor have bars, but they can’t be removed without tools and a lot of time. They all sort of look like this one (click to enlarge):

   Why the Cage?

   Ever since I foiled a burglary last year, I’ve had to remain awake during the hours of the night when burglars are most likely to strike. I waited until my wife came home on her Philippines vacation (you’ll have to read why it was like a vacation and not a homecoming in other posts) to have the bars installed.

   Filipinos with little or no income live in shoddy houses of all kinds and most aren’t even painted on the outside. A house that looks nice, painted and especially with more than one floor is usually what’s targeted by burglars. They think foreigners have more than anyone else. How could I possibly let them know that my in-laws have more than I do, other than the house itself (and our car, of course)?

   Recently, a nice house a few blocks from here was burglarized and it happened while my wife was here for the month. I’m sure, that if I didn’t have bars on my lower windows, my house would be their next target.

   Until the bars went in, I hadn’t had a decent night’s sleep. My sleep cycle was completely opposite from what it should be. Now, I sleep every night for at least six hours. I only sleep longer if I’ve actually done something physically tiring during the day. Because my wife is still suffering from jet lag, I’m calling her as soon as I wake up to make sure she’s up early enough to head to her second-shift job.

   Other Gild References

   According to an entry at Bartleby.com, to be like “a bird in a gilded cage” is to live in luxury but without freedom.

   The world “gild” is what the word “guild” is based on, which is usually an association formed for the protection or support of its members. Some historical guilds later became government entities in some countries, like England.

   So, in my final thoughts on the matter, I truly do live in a gilded cage.
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7. A Free and Private Backlink Network Idea Says:
   May 20th, 2009 at 3:05 am

   After spending hours checking backlinks and backlink sources, I must say that the number and type of backlinks to this blog suck more than a vacuum cleaner or a vampire. Oh, I have more than 40,000 backlinks pointing to this blog, but there’s a problem. The majority of them point to the home page. Very few point to the inner pages. Of the ones that do, the majority of those are “nofollow”. There has to be a good way to get decent backlinks without working so damn hard. Let’s examine some options, shall we?

   [Update 2008-12-04: The network is established.]

   Backlinking Options

   I’ll probably leave something out. I usually do. Anyway, off the top of my head, here are some options that I know about:

   Commenting on blogs.
   Leaving bookmarks at bookmarking sites (including scuttle sites).
   Requesting link exchanges.
   Submitting articles to the article repositories.
   Buying links.

   Regardless of any existing method, it can be time-consuming, frustrating, and/or expensive. Buying software to automate the process can be a win or lose situation, depending on how you use it and how much money you invest.

   While it’s a good idea to pursue links that are “dofollow” (DF), a healthy mix of both dofollow and “nofollow” (NF) links won’t hurt anyone. The dofollow links help your Google search engine rankings much more than the nofollow links while the other search engines don’t seem to differentiate between the two.

   In my opinion, if you’re going to work on building your backlinks, you want to use the DF links as your base and not the NF links. After all, Google is the biggest player on the field.

   I purposely left out the social sites such as StumbleUpon, Digg, Reddit, and BloggingZoom. These kinds of sites generate traffic, but not much more. If you’re trying to apply SEO to your site, you’re much better off spending your time building links using other methods.

   My Backlink Network Idea

   There are a couple of heavy-hitters who’ve started up private backlink networks and they’re good, but they’re not free. They face a minimal risk of getting found out (and I won’t get into that unless you specifically ask me via my contact form/email) and I think a free and private backlink network would eliminate that risk completely.

   The easiest way to generate backlinks is to create backlinks in posts. If you have a lot of people doing it at the same time, hundreds or even thousands of backlinks can be generated for everyone involved. How do you control it and how do you keep everyone who’s involved honest?

   Well, you need a central point (me) to collect the anchor text and backlink URLs, compile them into something coherent, and send them out to each individual in the network. The recipients would then create new posts with the targeted links embedded in them or edit old posts to include the targeted links. These would be targeted, one-way links.

   Checking backlinks is easy with this online tool: Link Checker v2.0. Yes, I know it’s a beta service. It works well as it is, but it can only get better as more people contribute bandwidth.

   Not Specifically for Niche Sites

   I need to emphasize this part. This will work for any kind of site, not just the niche sites. The more topics your blog covers, the easier it would be to participate. Is this something that might interest you?

   Putting Out The Feelers

   I’m sorry, but I’m not popular enough to draw people in like a magnet. I’m not an expert butt-kisser. This idea won’t be worth pursuing unless I can get enough people involved to make a difference. I’m not talking about thousands of people. I’d say anywhere between 20 and a hundred would work. Of course, the more the merrier. So… it’s up to you to help me out and pass the word somehow. I don’t need a link to this page unless that’s the easiest way for you to do it.

   If enough people show interest, I’ll jump in head first. If not, I’ll continue to build backlinks the way I’ve been doing, using a slow and tedious method. It’s all up to you, the reader.

   The only real question I have for you is, “Are you game?” Please use the contact form and drop me a private message if you are.
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8. How to Reduce AdSense Impressions while Improving the Click-Through Rate (CTR) Says:
   May 20th, 2009 at 4:05 am

   Before I tell you how to reduce AdSense impressions while improving the click-through rate (CTR) at the same time, I have to admit I dropped the ball on this one. Back in July, I published “Reducing AdSense Impressions from Robots”, and then later inserted an update message saying I wasn’t doing it that way. I meant to do a follow-up after testing, but I got sidetracked by real-world events.

   These techniques require you to insert code which will set a condition. A condition of 0 will allow an AdSense block to be displayed while a condition of 1 will prevent it.

   Blog Software Loops

   The WordPress platform uses a loop to display posts and I’m sure other platforms do too. Any conditional code should be used before the loop starts. Unfortunately, in some cases it can’t be helped. Categories and tags have to be retrieved from within the loop for WordPress.

   The first two batches of code can be used before the loop.

   The MSN/Live Robots

   Certain MSN/Live Robots are operating with JavaScript enabled and are therefore causing needless AdSense impressions. It won’t do you any good to try to block the log entries or block the robots, but you want to prevent them from causing the unnecessary impressions. This will create the prevention condition:

   $skipadsense = 0;
   $searchref = $_SERVER[’HTTP_REFERER’];
   $live = array(’FORM=LVSP’, ‘FORM=LIVSOP’, ‘FORM=QBHP’, );
   foreach ($live as $livesearch) {
   if (stripos($searchref, $livesearch)) {
   $skipadsense = 1;
   break;
   }
   }

   Search Terms

   Those of us with experience know that bloggers and other types of visitors will never click on AdSense ads. If they’re searching for something that you know won’t result in a click, you want to set a prevention condition. You may laugh, but this applies to niche sites as well.

   This is the code I use for the terms I’ve spotted. I’ve repeated the first line from the previous code block for the sake of completeness:

   $skipadsense = 0;
   $request_uri = $_SERVER[’REQUEST_URI’];
   $noads = array(’site:www.untwistedvortex.com’, ’site:untwistedvortex.com’, ‘powered by wordpress’, ‘leave a comment’, ‘commentluv’, ‘keywordluv’, ‘dofollow’, ‘do follow’, ‘nofollow’, ‘no follow’, ‘blog’,);
   foreach ($noads as $noad) {
   $pos = stripos($request_uri,$noad);
   if ($pos !== false) {
   $skipadsense = 1;
   break;
   }
   }

   The Categories and Tags Arrays

   You can set this up either before or right after the loop the starts (if you have a loop). In WordPress, the loop starts with something like “if (have_posts()) : while (have_posts()) : the_post();. You can combine two arrays into one, if the categories and tags are unique enough. I suggest using the slugs for the categories and tags instead of the names in case you edit the names later. This is a sample:

   // categories:
   $noads1 = array(’blogging’, ‘blog-reviews’, ‘website-reviews’,);
   // tags:
   $noads2 = array(’reviews’, ’seo’, ‘wordpress’,);

   The Categories and Tags Code

   In WordPress, these must come after the loop:

   foreach (get_the_category() as $category) {
   if (in_array($category->category_nicename,$noads1)) $skipadsense = 1;
   }
   $posttags = get_the_tags(); if ($posttags) {
   foreach($posttags as $tag) {
   if (in_array($tag->slug,$noads2)) $skipadsense = 1;
   }
   }

   The reason you have to check for post tags and not categories is because WordPress requires at least one category (such as “Uncategorized”) while it doesn’t require any tags.

   If you have a post that doesn’t fall within a particular category, but it shouldn’t show AdSense, you can either use an existing tag or you can create your own to insert. I use “noads” for that purpose, just in case I forgot to include a particular category or tag.

   Before and After the AdSense Code or Plugin Function

   Whether you put the raw AdSense block on your page, calling a plugin or within a plugin, the principle is the same. I call a plugin. Anyway, if you get a condition of 1 out of any of the above code, this code will prevent the AdSense block from appearing.

   if (!$skipadsense) {
   < !–insert adsense block or plugin code–>
   }

   Finishing Up

   Remember to watch your PHP opening and closing tags and everything should work fine. You can use it on standard template pages that show posts (i.e. “index.php”, “page.php”, “archive.php”, etc.), but you can’t use it on template pages called unless you have AdSense blocks on those pages (i.e. “header.php”, “sidebar.php”, “footer.php”, etc.).

   After I inserted this code on my “single.php” template page, my CTR doubled virtually overnight.

   Disclaimer: Your mileage may vary. Slippery when wet. Objects are closer than they appear. If there are any errors in the documentation, blame someone else.
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   Blog Tip: Comply With Google AdSense Restrictions On Your WordPress Index Page

9. Blog Review: Financial Marketing Blog Says:
   May 20th, 2009 at 6:05 am

   The first of two blogs I’m reviewing for Bob Richards, this one contains daily posts for professionals involved in off-line sales and marketing.

   What is the “Financial Advisor Blog” all about?

   Well, it’s about financial marketing, obviously. What it includes are tips to improve lead generation for more and better prospects in order to convert a higher percentage to clients and earn more from each relationship.

   The main focus is for and on professionals in the financial services industry like insurance agents, investment advisers and financial advisers.

   Site Design

   Who says you have to have an image at the top? For an informational blog, the focus is on the content. As long as the layout looks decent, it works. I’m inclined to do the exact same thing on new blogs because it takes a while to come up with a unique header image.

   The colors are fine and the size of the sidebar is great. It works well in both fixed and fluid widths of 1024×768 and higher.

   Article Content

   I’ll be honest and say up front that I’m not into financial marketing. I don’t even like to do Internet marketing and only do it when I have to, and that includes link building.

   If I wanted to pick a good article as an example of what to expect, “Three-Step Transition from Financial Sales Person to Financial Advisor” would be perfect. It’s fairly complete. The only problem I have with it, as well as some of the other articles I’ve viewed, is that (in my opinion only) they need to be broken up more. Shorter paragraphs and more subheadings would make them more readable by the average person.

   My Overall Opinion

   As a blog supporting his “Javelin Marketing” website, it does what Bob designed it to do and that’s really what counts. It’s not a blog that I’ll be returning to, simply because I don’t have any desire to pursue marketing. This is geared for the offline world and it wouldn’t work in my neighborhood (the Philippines) anyway.

   Would you like a Review?

   My reviews are simple, including at least one link to an article as well as a link to the blog or website. They’re also absolutely free. Make sure your blog is ready to be reviewed and then submit it on my “Request A Blog Review” page and I’ll try to do my best to give you a fair review, without being overly critical.
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10. The Subic-Clark-Tarlac Expressway, Philippines Says:
    May 21st, 2009 at 4:05 am

    On September 24th, I took the Subic-Clark-Tarlac Expressway (SCTEx) to the Northern Luzon Expressway (NLEx) en route to the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) in Manila in order to drop my wife off for her flight on Philippine Airlines.

    As you can see if you click to enlarge the image, it starts at the Tipo Junction on SBMA (Subic Bay Management Authority, more properly titled Subic Bay Freeport Zone) and heads northeast to the Clark Economic Zone. The length of that stretch is about 50 kilometers (about 31 miles). The speed limit on the expressway is 100 kph (about 62 mph), so it only takes about a half hour to traverse.

    As of now, we have to travel northeast on SCTEx, then southeast on the spur road to connect to NLEx, which heads south to Manila. It appears there will be a spur road completed from the Dinalupihan interchange to NLEx, which would trim 100 kilometers from the trip.

    SCTEx versus the National Highway

    The National Highway runs along the coast and through central Luzon and it passes through almost every little town you can think of. From the coast to Olongapo City, it’s National Highway. While it runs through the city, it’s Rizal Avenue. It turns back into National Highway when it leaves, en route to the Pampanga and Bataan provinces.

    The route from Olongapo City to San Fernando, Pampanga takes from an hour to an hour and a half depending on what time of day it is and how many jeepneys, tricycles and humans are in our path. San Fernando is where we used to get onto NLEx at. The SCTEx route has us taking the Clark Logistics exit, a spur road which goes past Dau and onto NLEx. That stretch of NLEx also bypasses San Fernando.

    The 30 minute drive along SCTEx is like a dream come true compared to the National Highway. There are no obstacles to contend with and it doesn’t seem like the Philippine demolition derby every time we travel on it.

    Pictures?

    My driver, my bilas (Tagalog for sister-in-law’s husband, which is a brother-in-law in English) wouldn’t slow down enough for me to get a decent shot until it was too late. It started raining. I managed to squeeze off a shot of the toll gate area as I entered and the area approaching the Clark Economic Zone (and the nasty weather), but that was it:

    If it’s any consolation, here’s a picture I snapped just before we left, looking out the back window of the spare bedroom:

    Click to enlarge any image on this page.Similar Posts:

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11. SEO - Defeating 404 Errors Generated by Retarded Search Engine Crawlers Says:
    May 21st, 2009 at 11:05 am

    I just spent more than an entire day trying to track down why the retarded search engine crawlers were generating 404 errors on this blog. I went through everything, including the sitemap.xml file. I couldn’t find a single reason for the Googlebot to tack on words like “.More” (notice the period) or for the Yahoo Slurp bot to tack on the post title. What an incredible waste of time!

    Redirections

    I could have used the Redirection plugin to take care of this, but I’ve moved everything to my .htaccess file. Here’s the rule I used to get rid of the words like “.More” and “.Back”:

    RewriteRule ^(.*)/\.(.*)$ http://www.untwistedvortex.com/1 [R=301,L]

    Notice the escaped period. It wouldn’t work right otherwise since a period represents any single character with regular expression rules.

    Here’s the rule I used to get rid of the tacked on post titles:

    RewriteRule ^(.*)/(.*)\s(.*)/$ http://www.untwistedvortex.com/1 [R=301,L]

    The 404 errors were displaying “%20″ which translated into a space character. I used “\s” to isolate the 404 URLs with one or more spaces in them.

    Performance Improvements

    Over the past month, I’ve taken steps to kill off the spambot and other retarded crawlers because they’ve done nothing but slow down the rendering of the blog pages and consume bandwidth. I was even able to fend off a malicious hack attack on one given day, although I don’t remember what day it was.

    The point is, if you take the time to defeat the 404 errors, you’ll catch the retarded bots with their pants down, so to speak. Don’t wait until your site comes to a near stop to do something about it.

    It goes without saying, but I’ll say it anyway. Redirecting erroneous URLs to their correct locations can do nothing to hurt your site’s ranking in the search engines. It can only make the ranking what it should be or even help to improve it.Similar Posts:

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12. Blog Review: The Sports Dollar Says:
    May 21st, 2009 at 11:05 am

    At first glance, this blog appears to be a sports blog masquerading as a make money online (MMO) blog, but I could be wrong and it could be the other way around.

    What is “The Sports Dollar” really about?

    There’s just way too much sports-related stuff on this blog to classify it as MMO blog, even if Kellex says it is. I wouldn’t even waste my time reviewing it if he was competing with the MMO niche. But he’s competing with sports blogs, not the MMO niche, so it’s okay with me.

    Site Design

    I’ve seen the layout before, but I can’t tell you who put the finishing touches on it because there aren’t any credits of any kind in the footer. All of the navigational items I’ve come to expect are right there, under the banner. Speaking of the banner, it doesn’t look like it should go with either a sports-oriented or MMO blog. It’s unusual, but it seems to work with the rest of the design.

    At first I thought it was a WordPress theme because the content on the left and the two sidebars on the right are perfect. It’s not. It’s a custom theme being used with Blogger (blogspot.com). I had to look at the page source to spot that.

    Article Content

    I’m not into sports or MMO, so I had to pick an article that I didn’t deal with either really. I found “What Makes a Sports Blog Great?” on the second page (currently).

    The interesting part of this article was about the “network”. I couldn’t agree more. Networking, without necessarily being extremely social, will get you a ton of backlinks.

    My Overall Opinion

    I like the blog. It’s not my cup of tea, so to speak, but I still like it. Maybe it’s because Kellex isn’t writing solely about sports on it. He’s not writing solely about making money either. It has a good mix of things that should appeal to the average blogger. It appeals to me, and I don’t consider myself average.

    Would you like a Review?

    My reviews are simple, including at least one link to an article as well as a link to the blog or website. They’re also absolutely free. Make sure your blog is ready to be reviewed and then submit it on my “Request A Blog Review” page and I’ll try to do my best to give you a fair review, without being overly critical.Similar Posts:

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13. Blog Review: Ramblings from Paul Sanderson Says:
    May 22nd, 2009 at 1:05 am

    This review is being pulled from the bottom of the queue, where I had stashed it when the site resolved without any blog appearing (only the website directory appeared). It was like that for more than a couple of weeks — I checked periodically. I’ll be updating the queue as soon as I’m done with this review.

    What is “Ramblings from Paul Sanderson” all about?

    The title says it all, even if it isn’t in the logo (it’s in the browser title). Despite it being labeled as “ramblings”, there’s a lot of good stuff if you look around a bit.

    Site Design

    I don’t remember what the blog originally looked like, but it looks really nice now. It appears to be a custom theme and it reflects a lot of design work being put into it.

    The only element of the design that looks like it needs more work would be the footer. There’s a stray “Smashing Magazine” copyright notice stuck in the middle of the categories list. Also, the 3 images for the lists, designed to be the backgrounds for those lists, don’t extend far enough to cover them. I recommend changing those backgrounds to CSS boxes and repeated small images (except for the turned up flap), if only to save on server connections and download speed.

    Article Content

    As I said, there’s a lot of good stuff on the blog, and an item I found in the sidebar (featured) was good enough to steal my time away. I read “7 Websites No Website Developer Should Be Without” and then followed the link provided, read the article there and then followed another link and I was lost for about an hour.

    This might not happen to you. I’m interested in design applications (because I’m redesigning the theme for this blog) and I was consumed with interest.

    My Overall Opinion

    The blog isn’t quite awesome yet, but it has the potential to be exactly that. I could go on and on, but if you visit the blog and look around a while, you’ll see exactly what I mean.

    Would you like a Review?

    My reviews are simple, including at least one link to an article as well as a link to the blog or website. They’re also absolutely free. Make sure your blog is ready to be reviewed and then submit it on my “Request A Blog Review” page and I’ll try to do my best to give you a fair review, without being overly critical.Similar Posts:

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14. Overseas Filipino Workers and Me Says:
    May 22nd, 2009 at 2:05 am

    The term, “Overseas Filipino Worker” (OFW), is a broad term used to signify Filipinos who work overseas. While advertisements in the Philippines and some of the destination countries don’t mention it, a Filipino (non-US citizen) serving with the US military would also be classified as an overseas Filipino worker.

    According to the Wikipedia page on Overseas Filipino, there are more than 11 million overseas Filipinos worldwide, equivalent to about 11% of the total population of the Philippines. The reason that number is so high can be attributed to the high unemployment rate here in the Philippines.

    Overseas Filipino Workers in the US Military

    At my first US Marine Corps duty station, MCRD San Diego, California, I worked with an OFW. That was in 1979 and 1980. His name was Juanchito Ugalde. I spoke to him over the phone when I was serving at the Marine Corps Recruiting Station in Phoenix, Arizona, in 1996 — he was serving as a personnel chief at the same duty station again. I’m pretty sure he retired a few months before I did and returned to his home in the Visayas.

    In 1984, I worked with another OFW, at Marine Corps Base Hawaii (it was called “Marine Corps Air Station, Kaneohe” back then). His name was Cornell Munalem. I don’t remember what part of the Philippines he was from, but he spoke Tagalog. I haven’t been in contact with him since I left the island of Oahu.

    The vast majority of Filipinos serving with the US military serve in the US Navy. Filipinos were recruited out of the Subic Bay Naval Station before it closed in the 90s. They’re currently being recruited out of Guam and other areas outside of the Philippines. I don’t know how it’s being done here in the Philippines now since there aren’t any US bases anymore.

    Overseas Filipino Workers in Various Countries

    There are Filipinos working as contract workers in the US, Canada, Saudi Arabia, Dubai, Qatar, Singapore and a whole slew of places I can’t name off the top of my head right now. When I was in Saudi Arabia in 1990 and 1991 (operations Desert Shield, Desert Storm and Desert Calm as part of the first gulf war), I came into contact with several OFWs. They were working as cooks and store clerks.

    One of my sisters-in-law has a fiancé (Alex) working at an Internet cafe in Qatar. Alex pointed the home pages on all the computer browsers at the cafe to the home page of this blog a couple of days ago. I then redirected them (from here) to my “Google Search - Qatar” page, created specifically for that reason. You can see it (currently) in my upper right sidebar. When Alex’s contract is over in Qatar, he’ll be moving to Dubai. I’m sure the person who takes his place will remove the blog from the home pages for the computer browsers in Qatar, but if Alex works at another Internet cafe in Dubai, he’ll do the same thing there.

    I want to make one thing perfectly clear. I didn’t ask or pay Alex to do anything. We just happen to be friends. Next year, he’ll be a relative, somewhat removed.

    I have a nephew (Michael), who finished a caregivers course last year. He currently works at a place called “Ocampos” in Olongapo City, but he’ll be working somewhere overseas (probably Canada) when he gets contracted as a caregiver. He lives with my mother-in-law, his grandmother, right now and he’s about the same as my son (Jonathan). They often “hang out” together here in the neighborhood.

    Returning Overseas Filipino Workers

    In November of 2006, I met a neighbor (Joel) who served with the US Seabees (the US Navy Construction Battalions). I didn’t know, until then, that his daughter (Candy) was one of Jonathan’s college classmates. In fact, she stopped by here just an hour or so ago to check out my blog. Anyway, Joel and his family speak very good English.

    Joel is going to a different college for a second career in nursing and will return to the US when he gets his degree, and it’ll probably happen before Candy gets her degree.

    Filipinos come and go as overseas contract workers and I don’t foresee it slowing down at all. I’m sure I’m going to be involved, over time, with more Filipinos seeking employment elsewhere. I can’t predict the future, but I plan to live here for a long, long time. The amazing thing, right now, is that I can remember names from more than 12 years ago. Not bad for someone who has CRS (can’t remember Shiitake) disease.

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15. About People: Cyril and His 'Golden Dagger: Cebu Imaginations' Says:
    May 22nd, 2009 at 8:05 am

    Golden Dagger is his Chinese name given by his grandfather in keeping with his ancestry’s descent and as a symbol of embracing their roots yet is living in this beautiful island of Cebu, Philippines.

    He goes by the name of Cyril. A husband to a loving wife, a father to a wonderful son, a certified public accountant by profession, a good friend, a Cebuano ninja, a closet rock-star, a day-dreamer and a sleep-talker.

    Find Out More

    You can read more about Cyril and the things he writes about in connection with Cebu City travel on his blog, “Golden Dagger: Cebu Imaginations”.

    About My “About People” Series

    Rather than repeat what doesn’t need to be repeated, just cruise over to my “About People” page and you’ll see the method behind my madness.Similar Posts:

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16. Getting Back Into The Groove Says:
    May 22nd, 2009 at 10:05 am

    My wife departed on Philippine Airlines flight number 102 last night at approximately 10 pm. She’s now at the Los Angeles domestic terminal for United Airlines, waiting on her flight to Phoenix.

    While she was here, I found very little time to get onto the computer for writing purposes. I was able to keep up with spam maintenance and fix some other back-end issues, but that’s about it. Tomorrow morning (possibly later this evening), I’ll be picking up where I left off. More than that, I’m going to be posting non-stop until I get a lot of things out of the way that need to be completed, such as blog reviews, adding to the “dofollow” list and much, much more.

    Out with the old and in with the new.

    For your viewing pleasure, I started a new blog to incorporate stuff from other blogs that weren’t going anywhere. There’s still much more to be added to it and I’m way behind. It’s called “Oh, You See One!” I’ll be moving a few items over there from this blog as well. Don’t ask me what the title means — it’s just something I’ve said repeatedly while working with people over the phone and voice chat.

    I’m in the process of moving posts from reviews.untwistedvortex.com (and I’ll be getting rid of that subdomain) and videotyme.com (which will be completely redone) and hope to get all that finished within a week.

    I’ll be starting up another new blog, as yet unnamed and without a domain name, as soon as I get everything else pretty much caught up. I’ll give you a hint as to what it’ll be about: It’s my favorite hot beverage.

    Planned Articles

    I have more stuff to publish than I can shake a stick at. Two articles will involve the Subic-Clark-Tarlac Expressway (abbreviated SCT or SCTEx) and overseas Filipino workers (abbreviated OFW). There’ll be some more information on Jack Hunter and why I’m sure I’m not crazy and in need of hospitalization for psychiatric services or surgery.

    There will also be the blog reviews, of course, along with other link love type stuff going on as I progress. The point is, I’m going to be publishing articles as fast as I can complete them during all of my waking hours over the next few days. It should work out well, now that I’ve adjusted my sleeping cycle again and have iron bars on all my first-floor windows.

    Smile. Give your face some exercise. The next few days are going to be awesome (at least for me) and are really going to suck for people subscribed to my feeds.

    [Update: The Philippine Utility Department (PUD) decided that I had too much time on my hands and graced me with a brownout for 3 and 1/2 hours this morning, so I’m already behind in my plans.]Similar Posts:

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17. Colorview Cable TV in Olongapo City, Philippines Says:
    May 22nd, 2009 at 12:05 pm

    While my wife was here on her Philippines vacation, she had cable TV installed in our house. She didn’t just get an installation done; she had the installation done in three rooms: The living room, the master bedroom, and my son’s bedroom.

    The Cable TV Company

    The name of the cable TV company here in Olongapo City is Colorview CATV, Inc. It’s the only cable company in the city. It was founded in 1972, and became operational in 1973, during the reign of President Ferdinand Marcos. The first CEO was Ramón Banzon Magsaysay, Jr. (son of former President Magsaysay — Magsaysay Drive in Olongapo City is named after the President). At the time Ramón was not involved in politics, although he’s now a senator in the Philippines.

    Colorview CATV is an asset of the Asian Vision Cable Holdings Inc., its umbrella corporation.

    Cable TV Installation Charges and Monthly Subscription Fees

    The installation charges were minimal. I have only the invoice to go by, but it appears that the total cost of installation was 3,544 pesos (around $76.00 in US dollars). This includes the deposits on three converter boxes, splitters and advance payment for the monthly subscription fee for one month.

    Each converter deposit is 500.00 pesos (around $11.00 in US dollars). The monthly subscription fee for the premium/full package, which includes HBO Asia, Cinemax Asia, and channels from other countries, is 1,325 pesos (around $29.00 in US dollars).

    We are stuck with analog cable TV for now. The lead technician told me they expect to go digital next year, but I’m not holding my breath. My wife brought a single 19-inch widescreen TV with her from the US (I’ll try to mention it and put a picture in a later post). None of the signals are in widescreen yet, obviously. The TV is the same size as my computer monitor, but a lot more expensive. It must have something to do with all the doo-dads that can be plugged into it, along with being able to use it as either a primary or additional computer monitor.

    Colorview and Cable Internet

    Colorview CATV is also the company that provides broadband services by cable to most of the city. According to the lead technician, once again, cable Internet should be available in my area next year. A sister-in-law’s sister-in-law living on Gordon Avenue, just off Magsaysay and near the freeport zone, has cable Internet in her home and it rocks compared to the lousy DSL connection I suffer with.

    Around these parts, next year usually means 2-5 years, so holding my breath is out of the question.

    Colorview CATV, Inc.

    I couldn’t find much by searching for the company on the Internet. I’m surprised it doesn’t have much of a web presence. I do, however, have their contact information:

    Colorview CATV, Inc.
    2298 Rizal Avenue, East Bajac-Bajac
    Olongapo City
    Philippines 2200
    Phone 63-47-222-3185

    There’s also an address at 62 Gordon Avenue (everything else would be the same), but I don’t know which address is correct — I have not been there. The phone number hasn’t changed, so I’ll find out from my mother-in-law (when she pays the bill for me at the beginning of October) what their actual location is.

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18. Lucid Dreams: Who is Jack Hunter? Says:
    May 23rd, 2009 at 1:05 am

    I’ve been having problems with writing here as of late due to being overwhelmed by lucid dreams. After I published my article on an uninvited guest, I started having lucid dreams on a regular basis. After ignoring them and writing about shadow people in the Philippines, I started getting repeats of previous dreams. It was then that I started to keep extensive notes on what the dreams were about.

    These dreams have been bothering me so much that I’ve been sleeping less and less. I try to stay awake as long as possible, hoping that even if I do dream, I won’t remember the dream when I wake up. It hasn’t worked so far. The dreams are long and vivid, even if I only sleep for a couple of hours.

    Scientists have theories, and they’re only theories, about the meaning of dreams. Perhaps random dreams and such are created by chemical processes in the brain. Lucid dreams, however, can’t be explained away so easily. When you have full or partial control of your dreams, you are experiencing lucid dreaming.

    Who is Jack Hunter?

    The first lucid dream I experienced, and I can’t tell you the exact date (sometime between September 10th and today — it was one of the repeats), was like something straight out of science fiction and fantasy. The first part of it was a battle between a group of people and some kind of monster who was after someone called “Jack Hunter”, the leader of that group. That group appeared to me to be some kind of paramilitary organization. The monster appeared to be one of the monsters from the original Doom.

    When I thought it was over and was going to wake up from something that I knew was a dream, I was interrupted by Jack. He explained to me that he used the images from my memories to build the fight sequence. It’s probably the reason he looked a lot like Richard Dean Anderson.

    When I woke up, my first impulse (which I acted on) was to search for Jack Hunter on the Internet. One thing Jack had mentioned is that he was 25-years old in 1933. That would make him 100-years old! I found quite a few references to “Jack Hunter” on the net, but none of them were as old as this Jack is supposed to be. In other words, I wasted my time.

    The Shadow People

    Jack explained to me what the shadows I’ve been seeing actually are. They’re shadows indeed, but not shadows of people from our world. The reason I can’t see who or what is casting the shadows is because those people exist in a parallel world. I asked him why I and my family can see these shadows and why it isn’t a common occurrence.

    Jack told me the reason has nothing to do with our location in the Philippines. It has to do with perception. Many people can perceive the shadows, but few will take the time to investigate. Most people attribute them to spiritual phenomena and continue on with their lives as normal. Jack said he was drawn to me because of what I was writing about and he believed I would pass on the information he’s giving to me over time.

    He’s absolutely right.

    Call Me Crazy

    You can call me crazy, a complete nutjob, or whacko if you wish. I’m not going to tell you I believe in all of this. All I’m going to do is to write about the lucid dreams I continue to participate in.

    I’ll continue with another article later on because this one is long enough as it is. I want to get back to writing the things I normally write about and get these crazy thoughts out of my head for at least a day or two.Similar Posts:

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19. Government and Public Services in the Philippines Says:
    May 23rd, 2009 at 2:05 am

    What would you define as government and public services in the Philippines? The obvious answer would be things like water and electricity. The not-so-obvious answer would include residential telephone services and other services that are necessary for the majority of the public (and sometimes a minority of the public). Services do not have to be government-run or government-owned in order to be considered public services.

    What follows are a few my experiences and observations while residing in Olongapo City, Philippines.

    Electricity

    When I was deployed here with the US military in the early 1980s, there were brownouts almost every day. Brownouts are still a fact of life here in the Philippines and rarely does a week go by without at least one brownout occurring. I read somewhere that the local power plant is considered modern. Modern by what standards?

    The Philippine Utility Department (PUD) has shut off power for periods of a few minutes to hours at a time, without rhyme or reason. The short outages seem to be taken well by most residents, including me. Everyone complains, as they should, when they last for more than an hour. Any power outage for more than just a few minutes will usually result in a water outage as well. Even after the electricity service is restored, it can take another 30 minutes or more for the water supply to return to normal.

    Water

    The water distribution here is controlled by the Subic Water & Sewerage Company based at the Subic Bay Freeport Zone, adjacent to Olongapo City. They do the same thing as PUD, except with the water supply, by turning off water at any given time without rhyme or reason. This is in addition to the outages that coincide with the power outages.

    Back in the 1980s, I noticed that most people shared community wells. I don’t see too many of them anymore — most people are relying on the municipal water supply. Of course, many complaints are lodged when unscheduled outages last 12 hours or more.

    Mail

    I don’t know anything about the local mail service (local to local mail) because I never receive any. The utility companies hand-deliver the monthly bills.

    International mail is horrible. Regular 1st Class mail from outside of the country can take up to 3 months to arrive, if it arrives at all. Most of the people I know use FedEx and other services to receive mail from the US, even though it’s much more expensive. I haven’t heard of a lost FedEx letter in the time I’ve been here.

    In the US, the regular mail service was privatized years ago. The service improved seemingly overnight. I wonder if privatization is even a viable option for the Philippines.

    Residential Telephone Service

    Residential telephone service is a public service required by people like me — people who have to have the service in order to have an Internet connection. In a lot of areas locally, DSL and prepaid dial-up cards are the only options available.

    On two separate occasions, I suffered 24-hour periods in which I had no dial tone. A call to the telephone company’s trouble desk didn’t seem to speed up the restoration of service. Each time, they could not tell me why I lost the dial tone in the first place.

    Internet Service

    More and more people are getting connected at their homes instead of at Internet cafes. It’s only natural to consider Internet service as another necessary public service.

    I’ve had my share of troubles with poor technical support and so have many others. In December of 2006, I had no broadband service for a period of time due to the earthquake near Taiwan. It’s probably the only time that a lack of service was justified. On another occasion, I didn’t have Internet service for 24 hours because someone cut through the fiber optic line in the city — and it took them 22 of those hours just to find the cut.

    Transportation Services

    There isn’t a lack of transportation services in Olongapo City, or anywhere in the Philippines that I know of. In fact, there are so many jeepneys, tricycles, buses and taxis (but no local taxis that I’ve seen) that it’s annoying. It’s sometimes impossible to pass them when they’re going extremely slow due to the heavy traffic coming from the opposite direction. Never mind the level of noise — it doesn’t decrease until you get out of the downtown areas.

    Airline services continue to improve. Philippine Airlines by itself has more flights than it ever had before and they have daily flights to the US. Busing services are on the rise as well. I see buses all over the place.

    Overcoming Deficiencies

    I have to save for a few more months, but I plan to overcome at least a couple of the deficiencies I’ve mentioned. I plan to get a backup generator, automatic if possible, for the brownout periods and a gravity tank for water storage for the water outage periods.

    I have a pressure tank for the water, which is useless, but I won’t get into that right now. A gravity tank is a much better idea.

    I’ve been told by the cable company (Colorview) that cable Internet should be available in my area sometime next year. I’ve heard that song and dance before, but I’m being optimistic in believing them this time.

    Final Thoughts

    It may seem that I’m saying that the government and public services in the Philippines are poor all the time, but it’s simply not true. Weeks and even months can go by without anything unusual happening. It’s just that when it does, it seems to happen frequently for weeks at a time.

    So… when the service is good, it’s really good and when the service is bad, it’s really bad. There isn’t any middle ground.
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20. Shadow People in the Philippines Says:
    May 23rd, 2009 at 5:05 am

    I’ve written about my experiences with shadow people here in the Philippines on more than one occasion. I was officially weirded out in April of 2007 and wrote about an uninvited guest a mere two weeks ago.

    I hesitate to continue writing about these shadow people, but the story didn’t end two weeks ago. I don’t know how many of these “entities” are involved, but the appearances are becoming more and more commonplace.

    Last Week

    I think it was Wednesday night, but I can’t be sure. I’m not too good at keeping track of which day is which nowadays, being retired and not having any kind of schedule to follow.

    I, my wife and my son had finished eating dinner. My son had just left the table to head upstairs and to his room. I was seated at the head of the table and Josie was seated to the right of me, facing the window. Beyond the other end of the table and off to the side is our stainless steel refrigerator.

    While Josie and I were talking, I observed a shadow rising on the right front corner of the refrigerator. Josie turned her head to see what I was looking at, but didn’t say anything. After the shadow retreated, I started to ask her about it and she said, “Yes, I saw it too.” I had already mentioned my previous experience a couple of days prior to this event.

    I walked around the room, interfering with light sources, and tried to create a shadow like that. I couldn’t.

    This Week

    Until a couple of days ago, I had only seen these shadows at night and not every night. Now, I’m seeing them in the daytime as well. Their appearances are random. There never is anything seeming to cast the shadows. It’s like the shadows themselves are independent entities.

    My wife seems to think it’s the ghost of one of her deceased brothers (murdered in 2001) because neighbors have seen him since then. My mother-in-law says that it’s one or more “bound spirits”, whatever the heck that means.

    I’m Curious, but Not Afraid

    Before anyone makes a comment, this house has been blessed. There are Catholic religious symbols in various parts of the house (the wife is Catholic, not me) and even a cross hanging in the stairwell. Regardless, these shadows don’t seem to be demonic in nature. I don’t sense any hostility and negative vibes of any kind.

    I’m curious as to what these “shadow people” actually are. When they appear, I definitely feel a presence in the room, but I don’t know what to make of it. People that talk about ghosts say they feel chills, but I haven’t noticed any changes in temperature or lighting.

    I’m starting to think the Philippines is the paranormal epicenter of the world. I have heard so many stories about things that people have seen and experienced. Most of it I attribute to folklore, but when something like this starts happening, it makes me wonder.

    I don’t know how these events are going to progress or for how long. I’ll be sure to write about it if anything changes.Similar Posts:

    An Uninvited Guest
    Lucid Dreams: Who is Jack Hunter?
    Parallel Worlds: Where is Jack Hunter?
    Do You Believe In Ghosts?
    Okay, I Am Officially Weirded Out

21. Filipino Cuisine: Pork Fried Rice (with a twist) Says:
    May 24th, 2009 at 2:05 am

    The picture doesn’t do it justice. I took a picture of a plate of pork fried rice with my cell phone just before digging in. It’s not just any plate of pork fried rice. It’s a little different. Before I tell you what’s different, I’ll give you a little background on fried rice in general.

    Fried Rice

    According to the Wikipedia article on fried rice, “It is made from cold leftover rice fried with other leftover ingredients…There are dozens of varieties of fried rice, each with their own specific list of ingredients.” The two sentences conflict with each other.

    Any specific variety of fried rice in the Philippines is not to be confused with fried rice in China or other Asian countries. Filipinos don’t normally add peas, bean sprouts, celery or carrots. That is, unless the family is of Chinese descent.

    I’ve had my fair share of the different varieties of Filipino fried rice over the past 25 years and I can tell you first hand that Filipinos don’t use leftover rice. There usually is no such thing as leftover rice when it comes to Filipinos.

    Pork Fried Rice

    Pork fried rice is normally made with rice, other ingredients and, of course, pork. While no specific part of the pig is required, it’s normally the same parts as used for chops and such. What my wife does when regular pork pieces aren’t available is substitute wieners.

    We call them wieners in the US, but they just call them hot dogs here. Americans know that the term “hot dog” includes the bun and the condiments, but what do you expect when one of the major suppliers of wieners in the Philippines, San Miguel Pure Foods, labels them as hot dogs. I have yet to see a package here with “wieners” on the label. Imported wieners from the US don’t count.

    Preparation and Cooking

    I observed my wife when she was cooking this batch of pork fried rice, but I still had to ask her for details because I’m not too good at paying attention. The ingredients she used were:

    Rice (bigas/kanin) - 3 cups
    Wieners - 4
    Soy Sauce (toyo)
    Garlic (bawang) - 3 cloves
    Onion (sibuyas)- 1 medium
    Eggs (itlog) - 4
    Vegetable Oil

    First, she cooked the rice in our rice cooker (which took about 30 minutes). Then she put a little vegetable oil in a deep skillet so that the rice would fry without burning. She cooked the rice, turning it frequently while adding soy sauce. She only added soy sauce until the rice turned golden brown. You may have heard the old saying, “too much sauce spoils the goose”. It’s the same thing with soy sauce and rice. The flavor of the soy sauce shouldn’t overwhelm everything else.

    Before she started cooking, she pre-scrambled 4 eggs and fried them all together, and then cut up the result into little pieces. She also pre-cooked the wieners and cut them up into small pieces. She crushed the cloves of garlic and minced the onion as well.

    As she cooked the fried rice, she added the ingredients one-by-one, the last being the fried eggs. The entire process took no more than an hour. She cooked enough for 4 or 5 people. Me and my son ate the pork fried rice on two different nights (the second time being the leftovers, of course).Similar Posts:

    For the Love of Chicken and Rice
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    American Goulash is like Meow - it could be anything!
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22. Blog Review: Poke Farm Says:
    May 24th, 2009 at 6:05 am

    What is “Poke Farm” all about?

    This is a specialty blog where characters from the popular Pokemon series are bred, hatched and traded. Don’t ask me anything else about it, because I don’t know.

    Site Design

    The theme Steve picked for Poke Farm is perfect, in my opinion. Both the front page and the news page look like magazine-style layouts and they work well for this kind of blog. There’s also an active forum that I took a few minutes to scan.

    All of the navigational items I’ve come to expect on any blog are there and working properly, which is more than I can say for some of the blogs I’ve come across recently. The colors work well for the topic, Pokemon, and that’s about all I can say about that because I’m not familiar with Pokemon other than watching my kids watch it on TV years ago.

    Article Content

    The latest article, “Pokemon Farming- Ash Kicking Pichu”, might as well be gibberish. I’m clueless about this topic. It appears to be well-written though and received quite a few comments.

    My Overall Opinion

    If you’re into video gaming, or Pokemon, this is a blog you might want to take a look at. It appears to receive a lot of traffic, if only based on how many comments it receives and how active the forum is.

    As for me, I’m clueless. I can’t tell you even one of the character’s names without looking it up.

    Would you like a Review?

    My reviews are simple, including at least one link to an article as well as a link to the blog or website. They’re also absolutely free. Make sure your blog is ready to be reviewed and then submit it on my “Request A Blog Review” page and I’ll try to do my best to give you a fair review, without being overly critical.Similar Posts:

    Blog Review: The Hawaiian Life
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23. My Empire of Dirt - in the Philippines and on the Net Says:
    May 24th, 2009 at 9:05 am

    Everything in this world has an intrinsic value. That value, however, is dictated by needs and wants. If no one needs or wants what I have, then all I have is an empire of dirt. Everything starts as dirt and everything ends as dirt.

    My House

    The total cost, through a contractor, of building my house was 2.4 million pesos. That came out to something like $48,000 in US dollars. It only included the house and the driveway (and the garage-like storage area below it).

    We have spent several thousand dollars on other items, such as our fence (including the fence gate) and “Americanizing” the kitchen and bedrooms as much as possible. The latest expenses have involved the “add on” rooms — the laundry room and dirty kitchen being added to the rear of the house. They’re now in a skeletal state and will be for another six months — the money we saved for it is depleted.

    For me, the house is worth at least $100,000 in US dollars. That’s probably pretty close to the current real estate value of it. By the time everything is finished, it’ll probably be worth $150K. What difference does it make? None. I seriously doubt we could sell it for $50K unless the economy here improves in leaps and bounds. So… the value of my house is really whatever someone would be willing to pay for it. If no one is willing to buy it, it’s an empire of dirt.

    My Blog

    Out of curiosity, I checked four websites that give estimates of blog worth:

    estibot: $11,000
    dnScoop: $20,928
    Website Outlook: $32952.20
    Business Opportunities Weblog: $81,293.76

    As you can see, the values range from a somewhat normal amount to a ridiculous amount. Regardless, if no one is willing to buy it, it’s an empire of dirt.

    I’m Not Selling Anything

    Regardless of the value of my house or the value of my blog, I’m not selling either one of them. I probably never will. There’s just way too much of me in both of them.

    And since I’m not planning to sell either one of them, all I really have is an empire of dirt.Similar Posts:

    Metal Cabinets in the Kitchen?
    Why Am I Still Alive?
    Building Our House in the Philippines
    Google My House
    Autobiography, Part 2

24. About People: Tim & Ernie of the Redneck Bar & Grill Says:
    May 25th, 2009 at 1:05 am

    This is where they (Tim and Ernie) peel back the layers, and let you get to know the real them. You may or may not know of their previous home, Blue Beaver Beer (intentionally not linked to).

    They drank a lot of beer and talked about various things (Ernie drank a lot more beer than Tim did!), but in the end they decided they needed more room. A local pub came to their attention. Situated in the world famous Horseguard Valley, this old pub was darn near a historic landmark. It was a little rundown, but nothing a little hard work wouldn’t fix. What better way to promote Blue Beaver Beer than to sell it! With the help of their friends they got the place back in business.

    Find Out More

    You can read more about Tim and Ernie on their “About | Redneck Bar & Grill” page, even if the thought repulses you just a little. We’re talking about rednecks, remember?

    About My “About People” Series

    Rather than repeat what doesn’t need to be repeated, just cruise over to my “About People” page and you’ll see the method behind my madness.Similar Posts:

    About People: Bonnie Hicks and DataPlus
    About People: Kouiji and his Haiku Poetry
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    About People: Steve and Asian Ramblings
    About People: Paul LaMach and LaMach Web Site Design

25. Cheap Calls to and from the Philippines Says:
    May 25th, 2009 at 4:05 am

    There are a few ways to save money and make cheap calls to and from the Philippines. Using the long distance service provided by your regular residential telephone service may be convenient, but it isn’t the cheapest route to take even if you manage to get a “preferred country” deal.

    Residential Long Distance Service

    The best deal I ever received using my residential long distance service in the US was 21 cents per minute for calls to the Philippines as part of their “preferred country” plan. Without that plan, multiply that amount by 10. Either way, they weren’t exactly cheap calls.

    For a long time, it was the only option I had. After I obtained phone service in the Philippines, I found the local long distance service charged 40 cents per minute for calls to the US. Sure it’s an international call, but it’s highway robbery for the people that live on local wages.

    Phone Cards

    Phone cards, some specifically designed for Asia, are a fairly cheap route to take. Cards can be purchased in amounts of $5.00 and $10.00 (and possibly more). The rate adds up to something between 10 and 12 cents per minute.

    In my opinion, phone cards aren’t reliable enough. If you get a bad connection, you lose money quickly when you hang up and dial again and no longer getting cheap calls.

    Text Messaging

    While text messaging isn’t voice (duh), it’s incredibly cheap if you get a monthly plan going along with your cell phone service plan. My wife was paying $7.50 per month for unlimited texting.

    While a plan like that’s cheap, using Skype (for voice) is even cheaper.

    Skype and Skype Out

    Skype has a few different options, but I only use “Skype Out” for calls to and from the US and the Philippines. I even have a local Phoenix (US) number so friends don’t have to use long distance. In my opinion, this is the best way (right now) to keep an open line of communication going between the US and the Philippines.

    Some people may call me crazy, but after an initial investment of around $500.00 (in US dollars) and a monthly cost of about $75, calls to and from the Philippines are virtually unlimited. That investment includes a cheap computer and the most expensive monthly Internet service. If a family member in the Philippines already has an Internet connection set up, the additional cost of the Skype Out service is less than $7.00 in US dollars.

    The Absolute Cheapest Calls

    Internet cafes are all over the place here in the Philippines and currently cost anywhere from 15 to 25 pesos per hour (or 33 to 55 cents in US dollars). Using a Skype Out account and a computer at an internet cafe is the cheapest route when only one end is using a computer (and the other end is using a residential or cell phone).

    The cheapest call is made using an instant messenger with voice from computer to computer. The only charges are those of the Internet connection itself, or the hourly charges at the Internet cafes.

    Changes in Technology

    The cheapest and best way today may not be cheapest and best way tomorrow. It makes sense to pay attention to advertisements concerning telephone service and news items about telephone technology.

    There will always be some direct or indirect costs associated with any kind of telephone service. Telephone service, as cheap as it is or may become, will never be completely free. You don’t, however, need to pay more than is absolutely necessary.Similar Posts:

    Cell Phones in the Philippines
    Colorview Cable TV in Olongapo City, Philippines
    Text Messaging Causes Illiteracy and Death
    Technology YOU Can’t Live Without
    Thoughts on Piracy

26. Blog Review: Cathy's Capers Says:
    May 25th, 2009 at 5:05 am

    What is “Cathy’s Capers” all about?

    It’s a personal blog, written by Cathy at the foothills of the Dandenongs in Victoria, Australia. There really isn’t much more to say about it. It’s hard for me to write a review on a personal blog unless I’ve been reading it for a while.

    Site Design

    The blog uses one of the standard templates for “Blogger” (blogspot.com), so any criticism of the design would be a waste of time for both of us. I generally save my criticisms for those who self-host.

    Article Content

    I can’t pick any single article on a personal blog to pick on. Cathy is on vacation and won’t be back until later in the month, as she pointed out in “See you in September” and “Missing part”.

    My Overall Opinion

    Cathy’s posts are easy to read and that’s enough. She has quite a few commenters so she has to be doing something right on a blog that’s just a few months older than my own. She’s obviously not doing anything wrong with it. It’s not a monetized blog, so there really isn’t anything more to say about it.

    This review, like some of my other short reviews, may appear to be hurried and pushed through without any thought. The truth is that I have difficulty criticizing any blog unless either positive or negative things stick out at me.

    Would you like a Review?

    My reviews are simple, including at least one link to an article as well as a link to the blog or website. They’re also absolutely free. Make sure your blog is ready to be reviewed and then submit it on my “Request A Blog Review” page and I’ll try to do my best to give you a fair review, without being overly critical.Similar Posts:

    Blog Review: On the Horizon
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27. Balikbayan Boxes and Shipping Freight to the Philippines Says:
    May 25th, 2009 at 9:05 am

    Unless you’re a Filipino or have close ties to Filipinos, you probably don’t have a clue what I’m talking about when I mention anything about a balikbayan box. The word “balikbayan” is actually a combination word coined in the 1970s. “Balik” means to go back and “bayan” means home town or home country. So “balikbayan” is someone going back to their home country, but it only pertains to people going back to the Philippines.

    Since I’m an American living in the Philippines, I become a balikbayan when I return after a trip to the US.

    Balikbayan Boxes

    Balikbayans normally bring pasalubong (gifts) to friends and relatives on return flights, but the term “balikbayan box” also refers to boxes shipped via cargo containers.

    With the recent 50 pound limitation introduced by most airlines (to reduce fuel costs), bringing balikbayan boxes back with the airlines becomes less and less attractive. If your box is a single pound over the limit, you can be charged $50 (in US dollars) or more. This happened to my wife when she came back for her Philippines vacation.

    Shipping Freight

    Shipping freight via well-known cargo companies is becoming more and more attractive as time progresses. The cost of shipping each box can range from $100 to $125 (in US dollars). The advantage, however, is that there isn’t a weight limit. You say you have a box that weighs 500 pounds? If they can get it on the truck that goes to the port, it isn’t a problem. I’m exaggerating of course, but it’s common to see boxes that weigh more than 100 pounds each headed to the ships.

    In California, there are a lot of cargo companies. In Phoenix, there is only a handful. That handful includes Forex Cargo and Manila Forwarders. Some popular companies in southern California include those as well as LBC and Alpha Cargo.Similar Posts:

    Philippine Airlines - Excellent Customer Service
    Philippine Airlines: The Best Airlines for International Philippines Travel
    Fear and Loathing in Metro Manila, Philippines
    Olongapo City, Philippines - My Home
    The Subic-Clark-Tarlac Expressway, Philippines

28. Blog Review: Syndicated Elitist v2.0 Says:
    May 26th, 2009 at 2:05 am

    This is a Blogger (blogspot.com) blog masquerading as a non-Blogger blog. It’s not a bad thing, I assure you.

    What is “Syndicated Elitist v2.0″ all about?

    Without an “about” page to refer to, I was left with the first post in November of 2007 to look at.

    According to Benjamin, Syndicated Elitist was relaunched after being dead for 3 years. In his words, “SyndicatedElitist.com is the Official Blog of Benjamin Kerensa and his Official Web Presence and his blog will contain posts on a variety of subjects and his style of writing will come from a personal standpoint.”

    Site Design

    As I mentioned at the beginning, this is a Blogger blog. Benjamin pointed it to his own domain name and did away with the Blogger dashboard, so it looks like any other self-hosted blog. With domain names as cheap as $7 per year (or less), this is an excellent route to take if you’re willing to put up with some of the restrictions. You can save a few bucks per year on web hosting costs.

    Article Content

    While I would like to spend time reading more than I have, I just don’t have the time right now. That probably sounds worse than it is, but I have a few other details in my life taking priority — I still wanted to take a look at Benjamin’s blog and see what he had to offer.

    There are some interesting articles to read, judging solely by the headlines. I picked “AOL Spammer recieves 30 month federal prison sentence” because I hate spammers with a passion. It’s an information-type article and there’s nothing wrong with that. It’s easy to read and I enjoyed it. Tremendously.

    My Overall Opinion

    It’s a personal blog and there’s no doubt about that. It could be better, but only if Benjamin wants to spend more time with it. I would recommend adding an “about” page and doing away with some of the useless sidebar widgets (and I’m sure he knows which ones I’m talking about).

    I don’t like or dislike this blog. It’s really hard to form any kind of opinion on a personal blog, especially one that isn’t updated frequently.

    Would you like a Review?

    My reviews are simple, including at least one link to an article as well as a link to the blog or website. They’re also absolutely free. Make sure your blog is ready to be reviewed and then submit it on my “Request A Blog Review” page and I’ll try to do my best to give you a fair review, without being overly critical.Similar Posts:

    Blog Review: About Every Little Thing
    Blog Review: Cathy’s Capers
    Blog Review: Human Psyche
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29. An Uninvited Guest Says:
    May 26th, 2009 at 6:05 am

    While I was writing my previous two articles, I noticed I had an uninvited guest in my house. Perhaps he or she is welcome, but it’s impossible to determine that when I can’t see him or her.

    You could say that I’m seeing things out of the corner of my eye, as is discussed on the Wikipedia page about shadow people. You could say it, but you’d be wrong.

    Strange Encounters

    Back in April of 2007, I wrote about being weirded out. A couple of days later, one of my mysteries was solved.

    Aside from the unknown source of light, which wasn’t unnatural in any way, I had been seeing shadows in my right-side peripheral vision. After a couple of weeks, those shadows stopped appearing and I no longer saw anything that freaked me out.

    What I’ve seen this evening is only similar in that I’m seeing shadows. But I’m NOT seeing them out of my peripheral vision. I was watching a gecko scurrying in the hallway and saw a shadow of a person on the floor, just like I would see if my son had walked out of his bedroom to go to the bathroom. At this late hour, and considering he has school tomorrow, I walked into the hallway to check up on him. He wasn’t there! I opened his bedroom door and he was fast asleep. The shadow hadn’t been cast by him!

    I have been seeing random shadows like this for the past three hours. They’re clearly shadows of people, but I can’t see who or what is casting the shadows.

    Addressing the Unknown

    I’m not easily frightened. I’ve seen enough bloodshed and death in my lifetime, both in and out of the military, to say that it doesn’t have much effect on me. I’m desensitized to fear and violence, which in my opinion isn’t a good thing. We should always be afraid of something because fear is a normal, protective, human emotion.

    I’ve been seeing these shadows clearly enough (I have a light on in the hallway as well as my bedroom) to know they aren’t products of my imagination. A minute ago, I watched a shadow moving down the hallway (like a person walking) until it disappeared at the opposite end. I’m confident that I have one or more visitors who I can’t see, but he/she/they cast shadows. I’ve spoken out loud, asking why I’m being annoyed.

    I have yet to receive a response.Similar Posts:

    Shadow People in the Philippines
    One Mystery Solved
    Okay, I Am Officially Weirded Out
    Parallel Worlds: Where is Jack Hunter?
    Lucid Dreams: Who is Jack Hunter?

30. How to Make Money Online with a Blog Says:
    May 26th, 2009 at 7:05 am

    It’s time for a reality check. You can make money online with a blog, but you’re probably not going to make a whole lot of money with ONE BLOG. Of course, your definition of “a whole lot” may be different than mine.

    How to Make $100 Per YEAR with a Blog

    Back in March of 2007, I wrote two articles. The first was titled “How To Make 100 Dollars Per Year Blogging”. In that article, I wrote about how I’d made $100 (in US dollars obviously) in my first year of blogging without really trying. All I had to do was put Google AdSense on my blog.

    A hundred dollars in a year isn’t a whole lot of money, in my opinion. Even poor people in my neck of the woods, the Philippines, make more than that in a month.

    The point is that you can make a hundred dollars per year simply by writing on a continuous basis. You don’t need to focus on any specific topics and you don’t need to practice SEO (search engine optimization).

    How to Make $100 Per MONTH with a Blog

    A few days after I wrote the previous article, I wrote “How To Make 100 Dollars Per MONTH Blogging” after I hit $100 per month for the first time. In that article, I emphasized good, quality content as a way to increase readers.

    A hundred dollars per month still isn’t a whole lot of money. Unskilled Filipino laborers can easily make that much in a month and it’s barely enough to live on.

    Again, you don’t need to practice SEO to get to this point. You just have to focus a little more on specific topics.

    Beyond $100 Per Month

    More than a year later, I can honestly say that I make more than $100 per month from Google AdSense alone. I won’t tell you how much I make — just start multiplying by 2 and 3 and 4 and keep on going.

    Many bloggers are relying on social website traffic to make money online. While that’s fine and good, it isn’t consistent unless YOU are very good at drawing the visitors. Search engine traffic, on the other hand, becomes consistent as long as you practice SEO and write about things that people are searching for.

    Doing the “make money online” thing with one blog is hard work. It really is. It’s much easier to use one blog as your starting point and then branch out from there. You can call it your flagship blog or whatever, but it’s not the website that’s going to make you the most money even though it may be the website you put the most effort into.

    Recycling Posts

    This isn’t a secret. I recycle and republish frequently, using articles that are more than a year old. As this blog ages, some of those articles are stretching beyond two years.

    I’m recycling them because I wrote them while I was an inexperienced blogger. Most of the articles I’m talking about get looked at maybe once every other month. Really. While they may have some minute historical value, I see them more as fodder for more up-to-date information.

    Recycling old blog posts may be something you might want to consider if you’re starting to practice SEO and attempting to increase your ability to make money online.
    Similar Posts:

    How to Make Money Online
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    Stay Focused and Get Lots and Lots of Traffic
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31. Philippine Airlines - Excellent Customer Service Says:
    May 26th, 2009 at 7:05 am

    My wife (Josie) missed her connection to her Philippine Airlines flight at LAX but because Philippine Airlines has excellent customer service, she was re-booked for the next flight with minimal problems.

    A Sudden Storm

    Josie’s flight out of Phoenix was supposed to depart at 7:32 pm on the 25th of August and arrive at LAX at 8:57 pm. The Philippine Airlines flight was scheduled to depart at 10:35 pm. There would have been plenty of time for getting from the domestic terminal to the international terminal, check in and make that flight.

    A “microburst” hit the airport area of Phoenix when boarding on her United Airlines flight was supposed to take place. Microbursts are extremely dangerous to airlines during takeoff and landing. The flight ended up being delayed about an hour and a half. When Josie arrived at LAX, the Philippine Airlines flight had already departed. She is stuck in Los Angeles for 24 hours.

    She has relatives in Los Angeles. Unfortunately, she doesn’t have any of their numbers in her cell phone address book and they’re not listed in the local phone books. She is spending her 24 hours at the LAX international terminal.

    Philippine Airlines Customer Service

    I called the Philippine Airlines 800 number via Skype (800-435-9725) because I don’t have national long distance on my residential telephone line. I explained the situation to the customer service representative and she re-booked the flight and told me that Josie needed to head back to United Airlines to get some kind of re-something in order to avoid paying any re-booking fee.

    As I write this, Josie is headed to the United Airline ticket counter. It’s a good thing she won’t have to pay any fees because she spent her last $50 (in US dollars) paying for a 1 pound overage on one of her bags. One lousy pound! That wouldn’t have happened if the baggage weight restriction hadn’t been reduced from 70 to 50 pounds due to the increase in fuel costs.

    A Vacation Delayed

    Yes, Josie’s Philippines vacation is being delayed for 24 hours. LAX doesn’t count as part of it. She’ll be extremely tired upon arrival, both because of being stuck at the terminal and because she can’t sleep on airline flights.

    I moved her party from Wednesday (naturally, since she won’t be arriving until Thursday) to Friday so that she can get some rest before getting tore up from the floor up. I went to the Royal Subic store earlier and picked up two more bottles of Jose Cuervo tequila and two bottles of Tanduay dark rum. I’m going to get tore up from the floor up as well.
    Similar Posts:

    Philippine Airlines: The Best Airlines for International Philippines Travel
    Kauai Vacation Rentals
    Balikbayan Boxes and Shipping Freight to the Philippines
    The Subic-Clark-Tarlac Expressway, Philippines
    Philippines Hotel and Resort Offerings - Olongapo City and Subic Bay

32. About People: Steve and Asian Ramblings Says:
    May 26th, 2009 at 11:05 am

    The Stevo once braved the frozen tundra of northern Canada as a reporter and photographer. He now calls southern China home and enjoys the humid clime more than the bone-numbing cold of his native land. He misses little of North America: Riding in the back of a Canadian air force transport plane and crossing a Chinese street both hold the same level of danger and excitement.

    After traveling extensively in south-east China he has plans to see and photograph more of Asia. When not shooting photographs or writing about China travel he works as an ESL educator and administrator at a private school.

    Find Out More

    Steve is a regular reader of Untwisted Vortex and one of the “Friends of the Vortex”. You can find out more about Steve on his “Asian Ramblings | bio” page.

    About My “About People” Series

    Rather than repeat what doesn’t need to be repeated, just cruise over to my “About People” page and you’ll see the method behind my madness.Similar Posts:

    About People: Paul LaMach and LaMach Web Site Design
    About People: Bonnie Hicks and DataPlus
    About People: Day Job Nuker
    About People: Cyril and His ‘Golden Dagger: Cebu Imaginations’
    About People: Kouiji and his Haiku Poetry

33. Cell Phones in the Philippines Says:
    May 26th, 2009 at 11:05 am

    You can find many kinds of cell phones in the Philippines, but I can’t tell you what’s used where, other than what I’ve seen here in Olongapo City. I can’t tell you exactly what’s used in Manila, although I’ve heard they support the Apple iPhones there along with every other major brand. Here in Olongapo City, I’ve only seen three brands of cell phones and no Apple anything (iPods don’t count).

    Motorola and Smart Communications

    My wife sent me a Motorola cell phone last year and I can’t tell you the model without taking it apart and I really don’t feel like doing that. It’s an older flip phone with a lousy camera.

    I didn’t find out until AFTER I changed the SIM card to be compatible with Globe Telecom that Motorola cell phones work better with Smart Communications. I don’t know why that is, but it’s true.

    Since I don’t use the cell phone, it sits fully-charged without any service. In a few days, my wife will be bringing me a Motorola RAZR V3 - the cell phone she’s been using for a year. She recently bought another, later version of the Motorola RAZR V3 for a second year with her cell phone service provider. The cell phone she’s bringing me takes excellent pictures and I plan to use it for local picture taking instead of lugging around my video camera.

    Nokia and Globe Telecom

    From what I’ve seen, all of the Nokia models of cell phones work better with Globe Telecom. Again, I don’t know why that is.

    Most of my in-laws have Nokia cell phones. They don’t have regular jobs, but they have cell phones! Text messaging is dirt cheap “in network” and costs one peso per message unless they get unlimited text messaging for X number of days, in which event it’s even cheaper. One peso is a little over 2 cents (in US dollars) right now.

    Sony Erickson and What?

    I have an in-law of an in-law (but not my in-law) that uses a Sony Erickson model of some kind. I don’t know what service she uses, but I suspect it’s Smart Communications.

    It’s the only one I’ve ever seen here, so I can’t say any more about it.

    Monthly Service Versus Prepaid “Loads”

    Most people in the Philippines, not counting the businesses, use prepaid “loads” instead of having monthly service. Monthly service requires a monthly income. While I could get a monthly service, the area I live in doesn’t support text messaging well enough to justify the cost.

    Loads can be purchased in increments of 20, 50, 100 or more pesos. I don’t recommend the large purchases because loads get “zapped” sometimes for no apparent reason. I hate to see people waste money, no matter how little they spend.

    Voice loads can be purchased as well as text loads, but I can’t tell you tell you the cost. I’ve never attempted voice service with any cell phones here. I use a residential telephone line and DSL (using Skype and Yahoo Instant Messenger) for my voice needs.Similar Posts:

    Cheap Calls to and from the Philippines
    Text Messaging Causes Illiteracy and Death
    Resonate This, MIT
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    Technology YOU Can’t Live Without

34. About People: Bonnie Hicks and DataPlus Says:
    May 27th, 2009 at 1:05 am

    Bonnie is the Owner/President of DataPlus, which has been in operation since 1992.

    DataPlus is a small and successful data processing company located in Georgia and Bonnie hires contractors for “work at home” typing from time to time. She actually started the business more than 20 years ago in order to be a stay-at-home mother and raise her own children while working. Both of her sons are now grown and happily married.

    Find Out More

    Bonnie is a daily reader of Untwisted Vortex and one of the “Friends of the Vortex”. You can find out more about how Bonnie got started in her business, as well as other personal things, at her personal blog: My Work from Home Experience.

    About My “About People” Series

    Rather than repeat what doesn’t need to be repeated, just cruise over to my “About People” page and you’ll see the method behind my madness.Similar Posts:

    About People: Paul LaMach and LaMach Web Site Design
    About People: Steve and Asian Ramblings
    About People: Day Job Nuker
    About People: Tim & Ernie of the Redneck Bar & Grill
    About People: Kouiji and his Haiku Poetry

35. Blog Review: laptopmanpaul.co.uk Says:
    May 27th, 2009 at 4:05 am

    A blog containing news, tips, hints, ideas and freebies for people building websites or blogs (stolen from the tagline).

    What is “laptopmanpaul.co.uk” all about?

    It’s a blog that oriented towards information technology of all kinds. It’s actually an “off-shoot” of webcumbria.co.uk, the main portal for all of his personal websites and his website construction business (some of that was stolen from his “about” page).

    Site Design

    This blog is using one of those themes that doesn’t use quite all of the available screen real estate the 1024×768 resolution (still the most widely-used resolution) has to offer. Most people don’t realize how much more scrolling is required when the theme is just an inch narrower than it could be.

    I noticed the tag cloud in the sidebar, but I couldn’t find his list of categories anywhere. Besides being an almost a standard on blogs, categories count as additional pages. Perhaps Paul doesn’t feel it’s necessary to display categories because they’d just be lumped into one, but I see the potential to for several categories.

    I found it odd that there’s only one article displayed on the front page. This is the first time I’ve seen that and I’m not sure what to make of it. Each of the archives pages only displays one article at time also. This makes looking for past articles very cumbersome.

    Article Content

    The latest article, “Selling your blog for $10k - surely not?”, talks about buying and selling blogs at sitepoint.com. I suppose buying and selling of purely informational-type blogs is a worthwhile pursuit, but I can’t see it for blogs with personality.

    I found most of the articles easy to read, except for one small detail: The justified text. On some lines it’s just excruciating to try and read the complete sentence naturally.

    My Overall Opinion

    The blog appears to be about 4 months old and there isn’t a great deal of content. Since Paul maintains many blogs at the same time, I don’t expect the content to grow in volume quickly. In this kind of situation, I’m sure quality will prevail over quantity.

    Due to the low publishing frequency, this blog should have feeds by email enabled (but doesn’t as far as I can tell).

    Would you like a Review?

    My reviews are simple, including at least one link to an article as well as a link to the blog or website. They’re also absolutely free. Make sure your blog is ready to be reviewed and then submit it on my “Request A Blog Review” page and I’ll try to do my best to give you a fair review, without being overly critical.Similar Posts:

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36. My Wife's Philippines Vacation Says:
    May 28th, 2009 at 2:05 am

    My wife (Josie) will be arriving for a month-long Philippines vacation on the 27th of August, her birthday. After she returns to the US, the plan is to stay no longer than six months. Her next arrival in the Philippines should be permanent.

    Our Reliance on DSL

    One of the problems with DSL is that it requires an active telephone line. Some companies in the US don’t require regular telephone service, but they do here in the Philippines.

    At 3 pm yesterday, my dial tone disappeared and didn’t return. I had to head to a neighbor’s house to call PLDT (Philippine Long Distance Telephone Company) and make a trouble call. My mother-in-law went to their office this morning to follow up. My telephone service was restored more than 24 hours later.

    Needless to say, Josie freaked out when she couldn’t reach me. She calls me via Yahoo Instant Messenger during the day and Skype at night. When she couldn’t get through to me either way, she tried to call my phone and got some vague recording about my number not being active. She then called the cell phone of one of my in-laws. Luckily, all of my in-laws knew what was going on.

    I haven’t spoken to Josie since the dial tone returned, which is okay since she’s asleep. I’m 15 hours ahead of her, and it will be at least four or five hours before she sees my Yahoo message on her cell phone.

    Her Arrival

    Josie’s Philippines Vacation starts at approximately 6 am on the 27th of August, when she arrives at NAIA’s (Ninoy Aquino International Airport) terminal 3 in Manila via Philippine Airlines.

    Her Birthday Party

    We’ve made it clear to the in-laws that no outsiders except invited guests would be allowed into our compound for her birthday party, which is going to be as simple as we can make it. There will be plenty of food and drink for everyone that way. Some of our other relatives make it a habit to just show up and then eat and run. We’re going to have:

    Lots of Rice
    Kaldereta Kambing (Goat Caldereta or Stew)
    Roasted Lapu-Lapu (a grouper fish named after Lapu-Lapu of course.)
    Langka (Jackfruit)
    Lechón Baboy (roasted pig)
    Barbecued Chicken and Chicken Adobo
    Different kinds of Pancit (noodles and meat)
    Jose Cuervo Tequila (along with a couple of other brands)
    Emperador Brandy
    Red Horse and San Miguel Beers
    and More!

    Her Departure

    She’ll be departing the same way she’s arriving, but obviously in reverse, on the 24th of September (I believe - I don’t have the ticket information handy). I don’t like traveling in Manila, Philippines, but at least the route to the city will be easier to travel since the Subic-Clark-Tarlac Expressway is finished.

    If you can understand what I mean, I’m hoping this will be the first and last of Josie’s Philippines vacations.Similar Posts:

    Happy Birthday, Jonathan!
    North To Alaska
    Happy Birthday, Joseph!
    My Wife Is Leaving Me!
    A Nursing School in the Philippines and Necessary Equipment

37. The UV SEO Series - Part Seven - Backlink Sources Says:
    May 28th, 2009 at 9:05 am

    In part one of “The UV SEO Series”, I introduced the series. In part two, I wrote about having one website address. In part three, I wrote about internal linking strategies. In part four, I emphasized meta descriptions and meta tags. In part five, I introduced keywords, keyword density and keyword placement ideas. I began with offsite SEO in part 6 with the backlink format. Although I could continue this series forever, I’m going to conclude it today with backlink sources. I plan to start the next and subsequent series with narrowly focused topics.

    The Great and Powerful (or maybe not) DMOZ

    In an act of providence, I received a comment from Ed Coyne of Angelo PC yesterday on a post that’s nearly a year old. He said, “I don’t know why, but I just can’t seem to get a listing at DMOZ approved…”

    While DMOZ seems to carry some weight with Google, I don’t consider getting listed there as a worthwhile pursuit anymore. My site was listed as personal blog back in 2006 after a few months of waiting, but it’s obviously no longer a personal site. There is no way I’m going to try to get it changed. Each category is handled by volunteer editors and some categories don’t have any editors assigned at all. It could take months, even years, to get listed in the right category.

    I have a better idea. Let someone, anyone, create another directory with better management. Make the listing exports free to anyone. To make it even better, set it up with AdSense or something and let each human editor monetize the areas they’re responsible for. They can still be volunteer editors, but this way they’ll get paid for the effort and have an incentive to actually keep it up-to-date.

    There are way too many sources of good backlinks to worry about DMOZ. And that’s my final answer.

    Comments

    Comments are always a good source of backlinks and it doesn’t matter if they’re “nofollow” or “dofollow” links. Yahoo, MSN and others seem to ignore that attribute while Google doesn’t. It makes me think that “nofollow” was created specifically for Google.

    Nevertheless, if you want your comment links to carry any weight at all with Google, they need to be made on a site where the comments have that attribute removed, effectively making them “dofollow”. I have a list, which isn’t that long considering how many blogs are out there, of some of the blogs that have the attribute of “nofollow” removed called the “Do Follow, CommentLuv and KeywordLuv Blog List”. The list is far from complete and requires a large chunk of time each time I add to it, so I don’t add to it too often. I check each and every one to make sure they are exactly what they advertise to be.

    Using comments to build backlinks are fine, as long as you’re contributing to the conversation. All blog owners have the ability to delete comments and many will if they consider your comments to be nothing more than comment spam.

    In addition to “dofollow”, many blogs are using two WordPress plugins to make commenting even more beneficial: CommentLuv and KeywordLuv (I can oh so smugly add that I was the guy who inspired KeywordLuv.)

    What if a blog is “dofollow”, but the blog owner isn’t using KeywordLuv and doesn’t allow keywords in place of author names? Try using something like this: RT Cunningham | Philippines Nursing School. The keyword is added along with the name. I, like most blog owners, like to know who I’m dealing with. I’m sorry, but just Philippines Nursing School wouldn’t tell me who you are. I’m more likely to allow an “iffy” comment to remain if there’s a name attached somehow. Keyword-only comment authors tend to piss off most site owners and even I, as liberal as I am with comments, get torqued by some of the inane comments I have to wade through.

    Bookmarking Sites

    There are some good bookmarking sites that are not “nofollow”. Feel free to bookmark any or all posts from this blog (or your blog) at these sites (the list is much longer, but I haven’t confirmed my own list yet):

    backflip.com
    bibsonomy.com (be sure to make your bookmarks public)
    furl.net
    ma.gnolia.com
    rawsugar.com
    spurl.net
    mister-wong.com
    spotback.com

    I’ll stop right there. I’ll have to go through my own list and confirm them all. If and when I get it done, I’ll create a page where people can tell me about more that I can add to the list.

    Social Sites

    While StumbleUpon is used primarily for traffic and the links are “nofollow”, they still appear to carry weight with Google. Don’t ask me why because I really don’t know. Do NOT stumble your own posts. Have a friend do it for you or you risk getting labeled as a spammer. Here’s a list of some of the other sites I submit my own posts to:

    bloggingzoom.com
    digg.com
    propeller.com
    stumpedia.com

    I know, it’s a short list, but it’s a very effective list. Remember, I’m not looking for traffic with these, I’m looking for backlinks, and it doesn’t matter if they’re “dofollow” or “nofollow”.

    Other Sources

    There are always other sources and I can’t even begin to scratch the surface. You’ll notice I didn’t mention sites that would boost PageRank or anything like that and the reason is simple. PageRank is an over-debated topic and how much it has to do with link authority is still undetermined.

    Conclusion

    I hope you enjoyed this series. It was about three parts longer than I anticipated. As I said earlier, the next SEO series will be narrowly focused. I’m way behind on my other projects, so I can’t say when I’ll start on the next series concerning SEO.
    Similar Posts:

    A Free and Private Backlink Network Idea
    The UV SEO Series - Part Six - Backlink Format
    Search Engine Optimization (SEO) for WordPress, Part 2
    The UV SEO Series - Part One - Introduction
    The UV SEO Series - Part Four - Meta

38. About People: Paul LaMach and LaMach Web Site Design Says:
    May 28th, 2009 at 12:05 pm

    Paul LaMach operates the LaMach Web Site Design service and is an SEO consultant. He doesn’t say much about himself and the only thing I could find in writing was something like “This Web Design BLOG is owned and operated by LaMach Web Design. I think you will find we are very responsible, and will respond to all messages promptly. To send us a message, please use our Contact Form.”

    LaMach Web Site Design specializes in Philadelphia search engine optimization. If you live or work in the Philadelphia, Pennsylvania area, Paul could be your source for local search engine optimization.

    Find Out More

    Paul is a daily reader of Untwisted Vortex and one of the “Friends of the Vortex”. While I can’t send you somewhere to read more about him, I can point you to an article on “Engine, Internet Marketing, Optimization, Search”.

    About My “About People” Series

    Rather than repeat what doesn’t need to be repeated, just cruise over to my “About People” page and you’ll see the method behind my madness.Similar Posts:

    About People: Bonnie Hicks and DataPlus
    About People: Steve and Asian Ramblings
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    About People: Tim & Ernie of the Redneck Bar & Grill
    About People: Kouiji and his Haiku Poetry

39. The UV SEO Series - Part Six - Backlink Format Says:
    May 29th, 2009 at 4:05 am

    In part one of “The UV SEO Series”, I introduced the series. In part two, I wrote about having one website address. In part three, I wrote about internal linking strategies. In part four, I emphasized meta descriptions and meta tags. In part five, I introduced keywords, keyword density and keyword placement ideas. It’s time to move on to offsite SEO by starting with the format of a link, commonly called a backlink because it links back to another site and not internally.

    Backlink Format

    The best and most effective backlink is a link that targets a specific keyword on a specific page of a site. Any backlink is better than no backlink, but targeted backlinks drive traffic to specific pages instead of to the home page. Here’s an example of a targeted backlink:

    Philippine nursing school

    Used in context, it looks like this: Interested in a career in nursing? Take a minute to examine a Philippine nursing school as one option out of the many options available to you.

    Let’s break down the attributes one by one.

    The Hyperlink Reference Attribute

    The “a” stands for anchor and “href” stands for hyperlink reference. I’ll bet you’ll have a hard time finding the abbreviation for “href” defined anywhere else.

    The actual link, as it appears in a browser, is what’s assigned to the “href” attribute. One mistake I’ve seen a lot of is when people link to a comment instead of a page (with “#comment-19139″ or something appended to the URL). If the comment gets deleted, the link dies. It’s now called a “dangling” link. Dangling links have absolutely no value at all.

    The Relationship Attribute

    I left the “rel=” attribute out of the example because you don’t need it to produce a backlink. If you want to comply with Google’s rules, you’ll want to add “rel=nofollow” to backlinks that are paid for. If you’re looking for traffic from other search engines, you should know that they ignore this attribute — it’s a Google thing only.

    The Title Attribute

    Some people are under the mistaken impression that the title attribute is treated like a keyword. Instead, it’s treated as content by the search engines. It’s a usability and accessibility attribute. The best description is that it shows you where you’re going before you click a link.

    Even though it has no keyword value, I recommend using it as it is intended. It makes your links a lot friendlier than they would otherwise be. How many times have you hesitated to click on a shortened URL (like TinyURL) because there wasn’t anything telling you where you were going to end up?

    The Target Attribute

    This attribute is valid in all HTML markup except HTML Strict and I really don’t know why the strict document type disallows it. One theory is that the user, not the browser, should determine how links behave. I say balderdash. The vast majority of users have no clue how to control the links they click on.

    The target attribute for backlinks should always be target=”_blank” where as internal links shouldn’t specify any target attribute at all. Does anyone still use frames? Frames are the only things that the other target parameters deal with.

    Finally! The Anchor Text

    This is the meat of the link, the coup de grace, the defining blow. If you use an anchor text like “here”, “click this” or something similar, you have killed the value of that backlink as far as targeted traffic is concerned. Keywords are competitive and those keywords are in the billions.

    If you don’t know what the anchor text should be, you can do one of two things. You can ask or you can guess. Asking will get the better result, obviously, but guessing should be pretty simple. Just look for the main topic and work from there.

    Coming in Part Seven

    I wrote from the viewpoint of providing backlinks to someone else, but the rules to applying backlinks to yourself still apply. In the next part of the series, I’m going to show you some places where you can create your own backlinks and point them anywhere on your site without it looking like search engine spam (and without pissing off other site owners).

    If you don’t want to miss anything, make sure you subscribe to my daily, full articles by email.Similar Posts:

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40. Blog Review: The Hawaiian Life Says:
    May 29th, 2009 at 12:05 pm

    This is a blog about a former Californian who moved from the mainland US to the state of Hawaii in the US.

    What is “The Hawaiian Life” all about?

    It’s a purely personal blog. I browsed the archives and I must say that “King Jeremy III” hasn’t been as active with it as he could have been. Six months have passed and not very many posts are available.

    The categories don’t point me in any particular direction. It kind of reminds me of my own blog when I first started.

    Site Design

    I’m sorry, but I don’t like the theme. Perhaps it’s because it’s in 4 columns, 3 of them being sidebars. The content area is much too narrow for my tastes.

    I realize Jeremy has been working on the theme, but there are a couple of things I want to point out. The date on each post is missing the month. His email address is on the “about” page, which I guess is fine, but he would be much better off adding a contact page to the top navigation area.

    Article Content

    I don’t know. Call me whatever you wish, but there’s some weird stuff on this blog. The latest post, from July 26th I might add, is an example. It’s a post which includes a video that’s supposedly better than webcam Carmen. I have no idea what he’s talking about but the video is just plain odd.

    My Overall Opinion

    I can’t get my head wrapped around this one. From my casual perusing of the blog, on more than one day, I don’t think he can get his own head wrapped around what he wants to do with it.

    Would you like a Review?

    My reviews are simple, including at least one link to an article as well as a link to the blog or website. They’re also absolutely free. Make sure your blog is ready to be reviewed and then submit it on my “Request A Blog Review” page and I’ll try to do my best to give you a fair review, without being overly critical.Similar Posts:

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41. About People: Day Job Nuker Says:
    May 29th, 2009 at 12:05 pm

    Who is he? Just a regular guy who HATES his job! Do you like punching in at work everyday? Do you like being reviewed by your manager who doesn’t really know what you do? Do you wish you could get up every morning and do what you WANT to do rather than do what you HAVE to do? Are you tired of repeatedly having to list your resume at the different job web sites?

    In 3 years leading to 7/1/2010, he is going to NUKE his day job! Why? Because he can’t stand it and working in the politically correct environment of today’s corporate world is NOT for him. His goal is to have many different income streams which will ultimately allow him to NUKE HIS JOB!

    Find Out More

    Bruce is one of the “Friends of the Vortex”. Find out more about the Day Job Nuker and how he intends to work from home by reading “Who Is DayJobNuker?”

    About My “About People” Series

    Rather than repeat what doesn’t need to be repeated, just cruise over to my “About People” page and you’ll see the method behind my madness.Similar Posts:

    About People: Bonnie Hicks and DataPlus
    About People: Steve and Asian Ramblings
    About People: Paul LaMach and LaMach Web Site Design
    About People: Tim & Ernie of the Redneck Bar & Grill
    About People: Kouiji and his Haiku Poetry

42. Blog Review: EightBiz Says:
    May 30th, 2009 at 2:05 am

    After Costa suffered tremendously with Blog Templates Reviews before revamping it, he decided to create this blog and I thought I’d help him out in getting it seen while the paint is still fresh (less than a month old).

    What is “EightBiz” all about?

    If the article titles don’t clue you in, nothing will. It’s all about home based business. I’m willing to bet he’ll be publishing a ton of useful articles in forthcoming months that will aid any of us in conducting an online business.

    Site Design

    Mr. Fong, if you read this, never ever change your theme or design unless something’s broken. It looks great and everything you need to have on a blog is there. It isn’t overloaded with useless widgets and nothing is there to detract from the content.

    Article Content

    Being such a new blog, I can only point to the most recent article, “Getting Targetted Traffic To Your Online Stores”. It’s something I need to know about before jumping into niche stores head first. Maybe I’ll use my feet instead.

    My Overall Opinion

    This looks like it’s going to turn into an incredibly useful blog with excellent content for anyone that wants to do business online. I’m subscribing to the email feed as soon as I’m done here.

    Would you like a Review?

    My reviews are simple, including at least one link to an article as well as a link to the blog or website. They’re also absolutely free. Make sure your blog is ready to be reviewed and then submit it on my “Request A Blog Review” page and I’ll try to do my best to give you a fair review, without being overly critical.Similar Posts:

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43. A Nursing School in the Philippines and Necessary Equipment Says:
    May 30th, 2009 at 3:05 am

    My younger son (Jon) is going to a nursing school at the Subic Bay Freeport Zone, Olongapo City, Philippines. He’s in his third year with about a year and a half to go. I don’t know what the degree is actually called, but he’ll have a bachelor’s degree in nursing when his education is complete.

    The First Two Years

    The original name of the nursing school was “Global City Innovative College”, but it was renamed this year to “George Dewey Medical College”, after an admiral of the United States Navy, best known for his victory at the Battle of Manila Bay during the Spanish-American War which ended in 1898. The name change coincided with new ownership.

    Jon enrolled in the first semester of the first year in November of 2006. I was surprised at how affordable the tuition was at 28,000 pesos (about $560 in US dollars). Of course, uniforms and other fees pushed the cost up another 5,000 pesos (around $100 in US dollars).

    At first, Jon and his classmates did their homework at Internet cafes. Because of how long each assignment took, I figured it would be cheaper to get a printer and let them use my Internet connection at home for research. So… in February of 2007, I broke down and purchased an inkjet printer along with some extra cheap printer ink cartridges (which had to be ordered from Manila, Philippines — what a pain that was).

    The Third Year

    The tuition for each semester has steadily increased, but not by that much. The first semester of the third year of nursing school added up to 33,000 pesos with an additional 5,000 pesos for uniforms, for a total of about 38,000 pesos or $880 in US dollars at the current exchange rate.

    I haven’t mentioned how much I paid for supplies, books and other miscellaneous items because I never kept track. They weren’t very expensive until the third year books had to be purchased. Those ran about 4,300 pesos or about $100 in US dollars.

    My son also needed nursing shoes because the third year requires instruction at local hospitals. It took Jon a full day, with help from another classmate, to locate nursing shoes for men here in Olongapo City. My wife (Josie) started looking for nursing shoes in the US, but couldn’t find any at all. I think shoe manufacturers need to get with the times because nurse jobs aren’t strictly for women any more.

    Josie recently spent some time at a Phoenix hospital while her cousin was having a baby. While she waited, she observed what the male nurses were wearing. All of them were wearing white sneakers of some brand or another. I asked her to look and see if there were any Bapes shoes that would fit the bill, but she couldn’t find any in plain white. I checked with the nursing school and they told me Jon had to wear nursing shoes anyway and that sneakers were unacceptable.

    The Fourth and Final Year

    My son received his pinning last month at the cap and pinning ceremony, which was held at the Olongapo City Convention Center. I and my mother-in-law attended and I ended up being part of the ceremony, which was something I didn’t expect — Jon never said a word about it prior to the event.

    Being only the third year, I inquired as to why the ceremony took place this year. I don’t remember the answer, but it had something to do with having duty at the hospitals during the fourth year.

    From what I understand, the fourth year is primarily duty at local hospitals. I’m not sure what else is involved. I guess we’ll cross that bridge when we get there. Anyway, laws have changed and people enrolling in their first year now have to attend FIVE years of college versus four.

    Other Equipment

    Since Josie’s cousin is an office manager for a company that staffs on-call nurses, miscellaneous hospital equipment such as thermometers, stethoscopes, blood pressure testers (whatever they’re called) and related items were obtained for very cheap prices. Some of it was free.

    There are probably other equipment items I haven’t mentioned but I can’t remember them off the top of my head. Regardless, I’ve spent far less on equipment than I ever thought I would.

    Other Nursing Schools

    There are several nursing schools in Olongapo City, but they aren’t dedicated to nursing only. Gordon College, for example, isn’t specifically a nursing college.

    Strange as it may seem, almost all of the local colleges offer some form of nursing program. George Dewey Medical College is specific to nursing, at least for the time being. The college is less than 5 years old and isn’t subsidized in any way. It’s the most expensive nursing college in the city.

    Nursing Jobs after College

    Nurses are in high demand throughout the world and available nursing jobs are plentiful. While Jon wants to head back to the US, where nurses get paid $30 per hour on up, he could actually end up anywhere. He won’t be restricted to traditional nursing jobs and could end up working as a nurse practitioner in a nursing home or as a nursing assistant of some kind, instead of a working at a traditional hospital as a registered nurse.

    George Dewey Medical College

    For more information, please write or call:

    George Dewey Medical College, Inc.
    Hospital Compound, Zambales Highway, Upper Cubi,
    Subic Bay Freeport Zone, Olongapo City
    Philippines 2222

    Phone 63-47-252-1804 or Fax 63-47-252-1805

    I recommend using registered mail versus standard mail. Your letter would probably get lost in the Philippines mail system if you send it via standard first class mail.Similar Posts:

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    Autobiography, Part 1
    English Teacher?
    22nd Wedding Anniversary
    My Life Goals - How Many Have I Reached?

44. Blog Review: Real Estate Investing Secrets Says:
    May 30th, 2009 at 10:05 am

    I’m not sure I can trust a guy that kind of reminds me of Tom Cruise. I’m just joking of course, but there is a small resemblance.

    What is “Real Estate Investing Secrets” all about?

    The title is the key, but it’s much more than that. The blog emphasize the things you need to know about before adding real estate into any investing portfolio. Scott is teaching the things you need to know while still continuing to learn new things. Thank goodness he knows that the learning process never ends.

    Site Design

    The front page is a static article and the meat of the blog is further in. The sidebar is way too busy and I’m sure there are a lot of widgets on there that are doing Scott absolutely no good at all. Sometimes, less is more.

    Scott is a smart guy, but he overlooked something when he removed the meta generator tag from his theme. One or more of the plugins still identifies that he’s using some version of WordPress.

    The rest of the site looks fine as is. I couldn’t do it any better.

    Article Content

    Real estate is something I refuse to dabble in. For those of you who are into it, or are contemplating real estate investment to replace the typical 9-5 job, there are some excellent articles for you to peruse.

    Scott’s latest article, “How to Reduce the Risk of Doing Your First Deal…”, is an excellent article for beginners. It outlines the tools and techniques to use in reducing risk and in a logical manner.

    My Overall Opinion

    This is an excellent real estate investment blog. The only thing I can think of that would make it better would be article frequency. It’s not a blog that I would personally follow because it’s just not me, but that doesn’t mean anything. There are a whole bunch of people reading the blog.

    Check it out when you get a chance to do so.

    Would you like a Review?

    My reviews are simple, including at least one link to an article as well as a link to the blog or website. They’re also absolutely free. Make sure your blog is ready to be reviewed and then submit it on my “Request A Blog Review” page and I’ll try to do my best to give you a fair review, without being overly critical.Similar Posts:

    Blog Review: Tampa Real Estate News Blog
    Blog Review: The Phoenix Real Estate Guy
    Blog Review: EightBiz
    Blog Review: Financial Marketing Blog
    Blog Review: Syndicated Elitist v2.0

45. The UV SEO Series - Part Five - Keywords Says:
    May 31st, 2009 at 3:05 am

    In part one of “The UV SEO Series”, I introduced the series. In part two, I wrote about having one website address. In part three, I wrote about internal linking strategies. In part four, I emphasized meta descriptions and meta tags. Today, I’m going to give you some ideas about keywords, keyword density and keyword placement.

    Keywords and Tails

    In the vernacular used by people in SEO circles, the definition of keyword includes single words and multiple words or phrases. The word “keyword” is self-describing — it’s a key word. Filler words, such as “the”, “in”, “at” and “with” are not considered keywords and should be avoided except when required for context.

    A “long tail” keyword refers to a single word with related keywords preceding or following it. On this blog, “Philippines” would be considered a main keyword and “Philippine Airlines: The Best Airlines for International Philippines Travel” includes the main keyword as well as long-tail keywords such as “airlines”, “international” and “travel”. The less related the secondary keywords are, the longer the tail is. A primary keyword is usually one or two words, a short tail is one or two additional keywords and a long tail is multiple additional keywords. [All this single and multiple phraseology gives me a headache. I hope I explained it well enough.]

    Keyword Density

    There are several different schools of thought on how many times you can repeat a keyword without it being considered spam by the search engines. These same schools of thought emphasize different keyword density levels. I’m not going to get into that. If you practice natural writing while keeping your keyword(s) in mind, you should be able to easily get to the density required for the search engines to recognize it.

    I use a rule that isn’t set in stone, but I try to follow it as much as possible. If I write a post that’s 100-300 words (the more, the better), I try to include the keyword at least once for every 100 words. It I write a post that’s 450 words or longs, I try to include the keyword at least once for every 150 words. Keeping them well-spaced apart isn’t necessary if you write naturally. Since search engines clue in on keywords surrounded by “strong” and “bold” tags, the keyword should be in bold format at least three times per 300+ word articles, but not more than five times, even in extremely long articles. If you use subheaders which include your keyword, it’s extremely easy to get the minimum of three.

    Keyword Placement

    Keywords can appear anywhere on the page, not just the post content. You can place them in the header, the footer and the sidebars as well. You can look at the title of my blog at the top of the browser window for one place (at least in Firefox), see how I did it in the footer, and see how I reference articles with the keywords in the sidebar. A cursory check of my main keyword density for the home page shows it at 3.55 percent and the home page only shows excerpts (using the “more” tag). It would be much higher for articles I’ve written specifically about the Philippines.

    I use the “h2″ tag for post titles. It seems to work well for Google, but I’m not sure what effect it has on the other search engines though I suspect it’s the same. If you can include keywords within “h1″ tag sets, it would probably be better, although it’s difficult to use “h1″ anywhere other than the header of the page. I’m sure the “h3″ through “h6″ tag sets will work to a varying degree, but I can’t tell you how well. I suspect the “strong” and “bold” tags are equal to, or possibly even preferred over, those tags.

    Coming in Part Six

    While there could be some things about onsite SEO that I may be forgetting, I’ll be forging ahead with offsite SEO in part six. If there’s anything you need to know more about concerning onsite SEO, feel free to ask or comment.

    If you don’t want to miss anything, make sure you subscribe to my daily, full articles by email.Similar Posts:

    The UV SEO Series - Part Four - Meta
    The UV SEO Series - Part Three - Internal Linking
    The UV SEO Series - Part Six - Backlink Format
    The UV SEO Series - Part One - Introduction
    SEO - Little Things Like ‘US’ and ‘H1′ Can Make a Difference

46. eBook Review: Secrets to a Healthy Life Says:
    May 31st, 2009 at 5:05 am

    Kris Stone (aka AgentSully) sent me a preview edition of the “Secrets to a Healthy Life” eBook more than a month ago. I receive so much email that it got buried rather quickly and you know the old saying: Out of sight, out of mind. I simply forgot about it. I spotted something a couple of hours ago that reminded me of it and I decided to get this done before I forgot again.

    Secrets to Healthy Life

    This eBook promotes just about everything you need to know to live a healthier lifestyle. It includes chapters on healthy eating, healthy exercise, stress reduction, support systems and meaningful life.

    I agree with everything except for the vegan dietary choices, but that’s because I’m a member of PETA (people eating tasty animals). Actually, I don’t eat nearly as many animal products as I did when I was younger. Fruit, vegetables and other plants seem to taste better as I get older.

    Healthy exercise is a necessity. I was as healthy after 20 years in the military as I was when I joined. The years after retirement in which I’ve lived a more sedentary lifestyle, and my resulting weight gain as well as quicker fatigue, proves that continued physical activity is much better for me than sitting or standing in place. Over the past few months, I’ve been increasing my daily physical activities and feel much better for it.

    Stress reduction is always a good idea, unless you’re talking about my definition of stress. Sometimes stress is a good thing and makes me do things I wouldn’t otherwise do without being under any kind of stress — kind of a “call to action”.

    Summary

    I thoroughly enjoyed reading “Secrets to a Healthy Life and I highly recommend it to anyone who wants to improve their lifestyle. It’s well worth the $9.00 (in US dollars) cost of purchase.

    Similar Posts:

    Blog Review: Ramblings from Paul Sanderson

47. Blog Review: A Darker View Says:
    June 1st, 2009 at 2:06 am

    What is “A Darker View” all about?

    Andrew is an engineer (although he doesn’t say what kind of engineer) and an amateur astronomer living in Hawaii. The blog contains his many ramblings about exploring the big island (the island of Hawaii in the state of Hawaii), diving, and astronomy.

    Site Design

    This is the first blog I’ve been to that uses the Serendipity blogging platform and I have nothing to compare it to. It’s a fluid-width design which works well for resolutions of 1024×768 on up.

    The colors, or lack of when you consider that black is the absence of color, are perfect for a blog dealing with astronomy. After all, the night sky is virtually black.

    The recommended navigation items are in place, in the sidebar, so there’s nothing missing from this blog that I can see. It doesn’t appear to be monetized (yet).

    Article Content

    This is a fairly new blog, with the first articles appearing in June of 2008. Looking at the first 10 entries when using the Google site search, Andrew’s articles on

48. The UV SEO Series - Part Four - Meta Says:
    June 1st, 2009 at 7:06 am

    In part one of “The UV SEO Series”, I introduced the series. In part two, I wrote about having one website address. In part three, I wrote about internal linking strategies. Today, I’m going to emphasize meta descriptions and meta tags.

    What the Search Engines Index

    Google, the 1000-pound gorilla in the search engine market, indexes each page of a website using an algorithm known only to Google. Through observation, however, we know that Google looks at titles wrapped in the “h” tags (h1, h2, etc.), the slugs (the unique parts of URLs), words wrapped by the strong and bold tags, and the first 100-150 characters of the content. Google pays little attention to meta keywords, drawing the keywords from the content itself. Google also pays little attention to the meta description, unless there aren’t 100-150 words of content (such as only having embedded videos or images). Of course, links are followed or “nofollowed”, depending on what’s in the content.

    Google isn’t the only player in town, so it’s ridiculous to place all of your search engine faith in them. Yahoo still has a decent market share and other players are out there, just waiting to fill any void.

    Yahoo looks at all the ingredients that Google does and adds meta descriptions and meta keywords to the mix. When I started adding tags to my blog posts, it didn’t make much of a difference. When I started using a plugin to copy each post’s categories and tags to the meta keywords, it made a huge difference. I use the same plugin to copy the excerpts of 150 words to my meta descriptions.

    Quantifiable Differences

    Prior to concentrating on meta descriptions and meta keywords, maybe 5 percent of my traffic came from Yahoo and the rest from Google. A pie chart of the last 72 hours shows me that 73 percent comes from Google, 20 percent from Yahoo and the rest from the other search engines. I’m starting to see players like MSN/Live, Alta Vista, and even AOL poke their heads in.

    Overall, since I started tracking the SERPS, Google has only garnered 67 percent of the market share as far as this blog is concerned. That’s 33 percent of the searches coming from someone else. Doesn’t it make sense to attract that 33 percent as well?

    Manipulate the Meta

    If you have control over your meta description and meta keywords, use your head and fill them in with the appropriate information. Make sure they’re both related to the content. If you can’t get your keywords into the first 150 characters of the content, get them into the meta description. If you CAN get them into the first 150 characters, you can simply copy the first 150 characters to the meta description and be done with it.

    I have no doubt in my mind that I’ve hit the first page of Google and Yahoo for single keywords multiple times due using to the meta information the way it’s intended to be used. This was using onsite SEO only.

    Coming in Part Five

    I have to take a day or two off from writing in order to take care of personal business. When I return, I plan to write about keyword placement and keyword density and how easy it really is to manipulate both.

    If you don’t want to miss anything, make sure you subscribe to my daily, full articles by email.Similar Posts:

    The UV SEO Series - Part Five - Keywords
    The UV SEO Series - Part Six - Backlink Format
    The UV SEO Series - Part Three - Internal Linking
    The UV SEO Series - Part Seven - Backlink Sources
    The UV SEO Series - Part One - Introduction

49. Building Our House in the Philippines Says:
    June 1st, 2009 at 8:06 am

    My wife and I decided on building our house in the Philippines after our arrival in April of 2006. It wasn’t an instant decision and there were a lot of factors involved. The best way to explain everything is to allow you to follow along as I describe everything that happened, from start to finish.

    The Original Plan

    Our original plan was to take the money we had earned from the sale of our house in the US and buy a decent house, already built, somewhere in Olongapo City, Philippines. We spent a month looking around and found a few that we liked.

    The problem we faced was that of the houses we liked, most were overpriced and some of them had been pawned to renters. I’ll have to explain the pawning thing someday. Anyway, the short version of this is that we couldn’t find a house that met our requirements and we decided to have a house built.

    The Final Plan

    More than a year (and I can’t remember how long it really was) before moving to the Philippines, my wife bought the lot next to her mother’s lot. Her mother’s lot doesn’t really belong to her mother. It belongs to us, but that’s another story I’ll have to relate at another time.

    Before we decided to use our lot, we looked around for empty lots throughout the city. After seeing what was available, the lot we already owned ended up being the logical choice. I didn’t like living so close to the in-laws, but it made the most financial sense out of all the options we had at the time.

    One of my wife’s brothers-in-law used to work in construction. My wife ended up hiring a contractor through him. The guy was a lousy contractor, but none of us knew that at the time.

    Before Construction

    Our lot sits next to a big creek. From the road, downhill to the end of the property, it was an uneven slope with a huge Santol tree in the middle of it. The tree had to be uprooted and part of the land needed to be leveled.

    It took the construction crew more than two weeks to get the tree out. Getting the trunk on up was the easy part. Uplifting the roots, which were extremely huge, is what took all the work. The lousy backhoe they were using didn’t help matters as it kept overheating.

    Building Our House

    The skeleton of the house started being built shortly after the Santol tree was completely removed. The house was being built on the front half of the property. The foundation was laid without any leveling being done first. That should’ve clued us in to how lousy the contractor was, but it didn’t. They ended up doing the leveling the hard way, but I’m getting ahead of myself.

    I watched the forms being pulled away from the skeleton in June of 2006. I and my wife were able to walk around on the second floor (the first flooring for the first floor wasn’t even in place) to see how much space we would have when it was all done. It didn’t look like a lot but at that stage, looks can be deceiving.

    Construction was impeded by heavy rain near the end of the month. It lasted for a couple of days, but every day drags when you’re anxiously waiting for something. Construction was again impeded, for quite a few days, in July and August. Tropical Storm Bilis (which became Typhoon Florita) was in the area during the second week of July, followed by Typhoon Glenda in the fourth week, and then Tropical Storm Hendy during the first week of August. Anyway, the monsoon rains continued after the storms left, causing construction to slow down tremendously.

    I and the wife returned to the US for two weeks in August to attend my older son’s wedding. When we got back, the roof was on the house and the first coat of paint was on. The staircase wasn’t finished and some of the plumbing was yet to be put in place.

    The house was almost done during the first week of September, but they had to go back and fix all the mistakes that were caused by shoddy workmanship. It was done before the end of September, but we had to wait until another storm, Typhoon Milenyo, left the area before we could move in.

    We finally moved in during the first week of October, more than four month after construction started.

    Cost and Other Factors

    The total cost of the house itself was 2.4 million pesos (around $48,000 in US dollars at the time). The cost didn’t include the things we had to do ourselves.

    We ended up hiring our own person to fix the electrical and plumbing problems. We paid to have a rock wall built to separate the lot from the creek and to connect with the rock wall behind my mother-in-law’s lot in the back. We also paid for the materials and had relatives build our front fence.

    Due to being misinformed, we wasted money on a water pressure tank and a water pump (before we hired our person) when what we really needed was a gravity tank. I’ll address that in a later article.

    Nearly Two Years Later

    Due to other, unforeseeable expenses, we haven’t finished everything we need to do with our house. We haven’t completed the finishing on the interior of our front fence (which includes an area UNDER the driveway). We haven’t completed the part of the house to be attached to the rear, which is a combination laundry room and dirty kitchen.

    We have furniture in the house, but one bedroom is unfurnished and three windows are without venetian blinds, like the rest of them. We have most of the appliances we need, but we don’t have televisions or audio equipment.

    My wife, who is in the US right now, will be returning on the 27th of this month (via Philippine Airlines I might add) for a period of a month. Why she’s leaving again is another long story that I can’t get into right now. While she’s here, however, we’re going to take what little I’ve managed to save and do as many things with the house as we can.

    I will not include any pictures of our house or the property until everything’s completed, even if it takes another year. Due to the length of this article, I’ll get into more specific details in future articles.Similar Posts:

    Our House
    In My Little Area Of The World, My Word Is LAW
    My Empire of Dirt - in the Philippines and on the Net
    Back In The Philippines
    Mother May I?

50. The UV SEO Series - Part Three - Internal Linking Says:
    June 2nd, 2009 at 7:06 am

    In part one of “The UV SEO Series”, I introduced the series and didn’t get into anything specific. In part two, I wrote about having one website address. I’m continuing on track with the onsite SEO portion with part three, internal linking strategies. It’s another article that’s longer than I anticipated, so please take your time.

    Why is internal linking important?

    To understand, you have to think like a robot. A robot has no incentive to visit another page unless it’s linked to the current page in some way. If there are no links pointing to another page, it may eventually get to the other page, but it will take longer and it may not happen until a subsequent visit. Without links, it has to rely on other factors such as site maps, archive pages and category pages. Why take chances?

    From personal observation I can tell you that my entire blog is not re-indexed frequently. Only the new pages get indexed on every visit and old pages only get crawled if there’s been some kind of change to them or if new internal links point to them.

    Develop a keyword list.

    When you write a new article, you need to link to any articles related to the current one and it’s easy to do. You don’t have to focus on keywords because the relevancy is self-explanatory.

    If you’re targeting keywords for your entire site, or for specific pages, internal linking will build up the keyword authority. Rather than try to explain it in long form, I’ll give you examples from this blog. My main keyword is Philippines and some related keywords are Jollibee Philippines and Philippine Airlines. That’s just a fraction of them and I want you to notice how I used the keywords as anchor text.

    My internal linking strategy is to link to the pages for my chosen keywords at least 10 times; 10 times for the main keyword and 10 times for the related keywords. The more related articles I write, the easier it is to accomplish. This is called “link clustering”.

    Use the header, the sidebars, and the footer.

    You can use the header and footer to link every page to your home page. You don’t want to waste the link authority on a general term such as “home” and there’s an easy way to avoid it. Have the home link point to another page that redirects back to the home page. On that page, use something like this:

    < ?php
    header ("Location: http://www.untwistedvortex.com/“);
    exit;
    ?>

    If you don’t have PHP running, you can use a meta redirection to accomplish the same thing. Just make sure to specify a delay of 0 seconds. I don’t have the code handy (I never use it) or I’d give you an example.

    Notice how I use “Untwisted Vortex in the Philippines” in the footer. There’s the main keyword that links directly to the home page from every page.

    The sidebar is a great place to link to every related keyword. I have my “The Philippines” widget in the right sidebar (for now) and my keywords are in each of the titles so I don’t have to manipulate the anchor text.

    Work with every page, not just new pages.

    People have a tendency to link back to old articles when they write new ones. You should go through your pages (and I have over 1300 here, rapidly approaching 1400) one by one to link to both relevant pages and pages with the targeted keywords. While you’re doing that, you’ll get the opportunity to reword specific phrases and such to optimize keyword usage.

    It doesn’t have to be done all at once. Working with 10 to 20 pages at a time, and only once per week, should be sufficient. If you get in the habit of doing it, it gets easier and easier.

    Side Benefits

    Link building is the most boring thing you can do with your website, but it’s also the most necessary thing to do. It has side benefits that can’t be ignored, however, even if those benefits aren’t readily apparent.

    While you’re building your internal links, you’ll see what you’ve been focusing on as opposed to what you should be focusing on as your main topics. If you find that you stray from your main topics too often, this will help you get back on track.

    Internal link building will also help you generate ideas. Perhaps you meant to write about something and forgot about it. Perhaps you didn’t spend enough effort on a particular topic. The pieces start to come together as you build your internal links.

    Coming in Part Four

    In part four, I’m going to emphasize meta descriptions and meta keywords. Google may be the biggest search engine in town, but it isn’t the only varmint you should be gunning for.

    If you don’t want to miss anything, make sure you subscribe to my daily, full articles by email.
    Similar Posts:

    The UV SEO Series - Part Five - Keywords
    The UV SEO Series - Part Six - Backlink Format
    The UV SEO Series - Part Four - Meta
    The UV SEO Series - Part Two - One Website Address
    The UV SEO Series - Part Seven - Backlink Sources