The Race To The White House...

I'm not one of those bloggers that keeps my eye on the news channels 24/7 in order to stay up-to-date on the latest political news, but I realize I am watching the Fox News channel far more than I ever have - probably in my entire life, unfortunately. And I don't know the exact statement given by both senators about economic issues that are threatening our financial security. Only thing I really care about is that our next president will be more attentive to our problems and will generally do a much better job than our president now.

But one of the reasons why I'm sittin here blogging now is because I was watching this video clip on Youtube. Matter fact, I'll go head and post it here.



I watch this and I wonder, "Do McCain's supporters actually support him because they think he's gonna bail us out of the shit we found ourselves in, or do they support him only because his opponent is 'Arab'"? When you see an Obama rally, you see him going through the mistakes our former president made while outlining his own plan to ensure balance in our economy, by helping the middle class pay their bills by lowering taxes - while also keeping a close eye on those making an ungodly amount of money so they don't go spending about $400k on spa treatments and whatnot. Obama is focusing on the economic issues. McCain and the media is focusing on Obama's past affiliations. He's guilty by association. He's the guy riding with his friend who's carrying a pistol, and when they get pulled over, he goes to jail with the gunslinger - even when he has no knowledge of his friend carrying the gun. That's what I think.

And that clip up there is proof that America is still rooted in racism. That lady up there - does she think all Arabs are terrorists? Does she think Obama has links to Al Qaeda because his name is Arab? Am I unpatriotic because I made that statement? No! It's rediculous to think that this presidential campaign has to heavily rely on ignorance instead of the actual economic issues we're facing today. Because we're in some deep shit. Excuse my French.

John McCain: when he's rallying the crowd, he mainly just says things his supporters wanna hear, and that's what you're supposed to do at a rally, but his tactic so far has been to put down his opponent while he talks about how he's a veteran and that he's gonna stand up and fight. Yeah, whatever. He can't even multi-task, and it showed that day he was about to cancel the presidential debate to fly to Washington to stand around and scratch his ass while "congressional leaders" formulated the rescue bill that wasn't even passed the first time.

Barack Obama: I heard some state or whatever misspelled his name on the ballot, putting his name as "Osama" instead of "Obama". What the hell? "S" is not even on the same line as "B", you know? Even the media - and I'm talkin bout Fox News - is mainly bashing him for his past with ACORN and Bill Ayers. But all that stuff with them happened almost a decade ago, even though the media is saying they haven't heard a real plan from Obama, hell, even John McCain said "...He's telegraphing his punches" when he gave his standpoint about foreign policy or whatever during the debate. You know, the feeling I had about these two candidates months ago was that Obama drew up plans that would better our economy in the short-term as well as the long term, while McCain is only making plans for the short-term, conveniently while he's in office (presuming he gets elected), so the next president in '12 can clean up his mess when he leaves.

Now, I know that maybe some of my readers are supporting the McCain campaign, maybe because you think he has more experience than Obama, or you think his way of thinking would bring our economy in "good standing". And that's fine. But I hope you supporters are not out there cursing Barack Obama's name because he doesn't look like our former presidents. Lets focus on the issues at hand, people.

I think that if America was less concerned with skin color and the fact that Obama's name is less American than we'd like and more concerned with how our next president is going to handle this economic downturn, I think more people would appreciate having an upright candidate be elected president instead of a snickering one that addresses his racist followers as "My Friends".

Optimize Your Computer!

I have an old laptop. Not only that, it's not exactly a high end model. I mean, it's from HP, and so far it's never failed me. It just lags... bad. And it has 40GB hard drive memory xD. Fortunately, I came across some programs that gave my laptop a performance boost. And they can work for yours as well. These are all free by the way, and use very little resources!

1. Advanced WindowsCare V2 Personal - A great utility for getting rid of spyware and freeing up some memory. The entire process takes maybe 10 minutes at the most. (ooh! Firefox 3.0.2 just released! Sorry, I blog in real time xD) You can use this with your antivirus software and there shouldn't be any problems.


























2. JkDefrag - More effective than your default Windows Defrag, this defragger is not as flashy, but it gets the job done. Cool thing about this program is that it starts defragging upon start-up! Just double click the icon and let it do it's thing! It takes maybe a couple hours if you don't defrag regularly, so the more you use it, the less time it takes to defrag. I've gotten it down to like 10 minutes!




3. RamBooster v.2.0 - What else to say about this one? You download it and it helps free up some RAM.





















Those three really helped my computer with the lag problem; now it doesn't take like a minute for the start window to load xD. Plus my applications boot up a lot faster than before. If you want Windows to start-up faster, though, you may want to disable some start-up applications. You might already know this, but you can go to Run... and type "Msconfig" to disable some of those processes you don't need. Like if you run across a print spooler, and you don't have a printer (like me), you can disable it, no problem. If you don't know what a process does, you can always Google it.

While I'm at it, I'll show you some media software I use to watch movies and listen to music. I mainly use just two, but the both of them combined still use up less resources than, say, WinAmp (I have that too, but it's very slow for me - sometimes it just freezes even before it loads!). Check these out!

1. Foobar2000 - You might already know about this one. It only plays music files, but the application is really small, so it doesn't take long for it to load - maybe 5 seconds at the very most, and uses only about 5k memory to run.




2. Media Player Classic - Plays media files, and also doubles as a dvd player. I found this while looking for a program that can play dvd's, since I'm running into problems with Windows Media Player (says I have to validate it -.-). But this player is very good, and uses little memory to run. Best of all, it's already set to play dvd's; no need to download a codec or whatever. I wanted to show you the picture quality of this player (it plays a lot smoother and the picture is a lot clearer than my other player, which won't play my dvd's at the moment -.-), but it won't show. Very easy to use - can't go wrong with this one!





















Granted, these programs don't look as flashy as other programs, but you use software for it's functionality, not it's cool looking interface, right?

The Dust Settles... Finally

Finally, we got everything done - we moved to the new house, changed our mailing address, got rid of the junk my mom loves to keep, and kept the stuff we really need. Like my Playboys xD just kiddin.

We were actually very lucky to get this house, because we couldn't find an apartment to live in for the time being, and time itself was winding down. My mom talked to one of her friends, who was a real estate agent (go figure -.-), and it turns out she knew my friend's brother had a house that he was renting out. I had no idea, but he's rented it out to the Thai foreign exchange students when they were here, and I guess he decided to keep at it. It's weird since he still lives with his mom xD. Smart guy.

So we talked to him and he agreed to let us stay here in this halfway renovated house. There's no carpet, the heater is messed up, and the landscape design is horrible. Not to mention there's no ramp on the driveway like the other houses, so it's like runnin over a curb when I pull up. But the work he has done to it is really nice though. I like the paint job and the living room renovations. He put in one of those skylight type things on the ceiling where you install the t.v to the wall, looks real nice. Well, it's not a skylight, but it's one of those overhead lights... you know what I mean.

He also kept the furnishings he had before we moved in, which is good, because my bed before was just a mattress with no spring board or bed frame, that's why I usually slept on the couch xD. But now I got a real bed to sleep in. One of those full sets with the drawers on the bottom. HELL YEAH! We also got two more beds and a futon, which I've never used before. Only problem is we have so much stuff that my mom kept over the years that we have no place to put it. So it's still kind of cluttered here. I gotta try to convince her to let some of this stuff go!

But it's refreshing though, to live in a house, and not an apartment. We actually have a front/backyard now, and it's got 4 bedrooms and 1 1/2 bathrooms with a dining room and a laundry room. The works. Soon I'm going to start on the landscaping job, and hopefully he'll knock some of that off from our payments. It's gonna be a huge project.

Even though I don't own this house, it still feels like home sweet home! Still can't wait to move out and get my own place though.

Be Proactive

I love my mom to death, but there are differences in the way we live our lives. She reacts to problems, instead of acting beforehand to possibly avoid them. And now the problems are multiplying, so she can only react to each of them, instead of making a strategy to deal with them all at once. We just don't have the money.

My definition of proactive is to be prepared, to act beforehand. I'm not always proactive, but I try to be as much as possible. When I make a purchase with my credit card, I don't just pay the minimum balance, I pay extra. Sometimes I pay the full balance. Helps keep my account in good standing. I don't workout all the time, but I try to fit in a couple ab exercises and push ups when I'm pressed for time. Helps keep my body in good condition, so I can possibly avoid health problems in the future.

There's alot you can learn when you understand the difference between being proactive and reactive. Don't accept a telemarketing offer unless you can do research on whatever it is they're offering. When you get "pre-approved" for a credit card, don't just immediately sign up for it; instead do your research beforehand to see if that card is really for you. When I chose my bank, I did research on them before I opened an account with them to see if they offer a good service. And they do. And as a result, my bank account is in good standing. No fee is hidden. Before, I had an account with a cell phone company, but I didn't have this mindset until recently. So that cell phone company gave my information to a collection agency. I reacted to that situation, instead of proacting before my bill was late and avoiding the agency thing. See my point?

When you react, you're following someone elses lead. They make the decisions, and you react to them. I mean, it's bound to happen, for instance, like in the stock market. If you invested in a company, and stock prices are down, you have to react to protect your investment. So there are times when you have to react to situations. Since you know you'll face those situations, you have to have a proactive mindset, to keep those situations to a minimum.

You're your own boss. Don't react to life's situations and then struggle with life's problems. Take the reins, and steer your life in the right direction!

Keep It Hush Hush With Hushmail

Feel paranoid about your webmail's lack of security?

Enter Hushmail, one of the safest webmail services on the internet! With Hushmail, you don't have to worry about those pesky hackers peeping into your personal emails!

Haha, advertising is fun. I don't know if I have any dedicated readers out there yet, but if I do, I gotta apologize for not updating the blog as frequent as I use to. Still doing alot of runnin around, so I'm tired as hell when I get home. If I could blog in my dreams, there would be a new post every night!

Done with the excuse, on to the subject at hand. I found this webmail service.... hmm... I don't remember how I found it xD! But when I did, I did a little research and learned a little bit about encryption software and whatnot. Offering more than just spam protection, Hushmail uses a 256 bit encryption software - double the security found on most bank's websites - to ensure there are no peeping toms when you check your mail. Very convenient if you bank online.

Maybe you knew about it before I did, maybe you didn't. But if you did, why not spread the word? Everyone knows most webmail services like Yahoo and Google don't fully protect your emails from potential hackers, so a service like Hushmail is pretty much needed in this day and age. Now, no webmail service can be protected %100 (nothing done on a computer can be protected %100, I don't think), but Hushmail does do a good job at making sure your emails won't be intercepted by some guy looking to get your bank account number or your affiliate account number, or whatever. And spam is not an issue with Hushmail, of course.

So if you get emails that contain sensitive information, you really should check out Hushmail's webmail service - you won't regret it.

Finally, Time to Blog!

That was probably the longest time I haven't updated any of my blogs (sorry!). Busy week, with parties springin up from here to there. I think I lost a couple lbs from the all runnin around I've been doin xD.

Still some issues in my personal life that needs to be resolved. But other than that, I'm starting to make moves. I'm about to work on my uncle's restaurant website, I'm about to get my Capital One credit card in the mail soon, and I'm looking for another job, hopefully doing something different, cuz my hands are wearin out from doing too many dishes!

But yeah, I'm gonna have to make alot more posts to make up for the time I've been away. So keep checkin back here!

Shake a Soda Too Much and It Will Explode

So I've just got back from the hospital. Had to stop by my mom's case worker's office to try to apply for a reconsideration, because her first application for disability was denied. I guess liver diseases and the possibility of her dying without a liver transplant doesn't concern them.

One of the case workers remarked that it might be because of the recession - and it makes more sense. If you get approved for disability, you get social security checks from the government. They give you money. And last I heard... we're about $9.5 trillion dollars in National Debt right now. So I guess the government is trying to cut their losses as much as possible. By denying what my mom needs most. Financial aid.

In a nutshell, my mom has a liver disease in which her liver is attacked by it's own antibodies. The doctor prescribed her some medicine for her, but one of the side effects it has is that she might be a diabetic. And now she is. So now she has to worry about her liver shuttin down, as well as her insulin levels from spiking up and down. SHE IS DISABLED. She cannot work because of this.

Her case worker already filed for a reconsideration, and recommended a conference to be held so the social security people can actually see she's not well. You can't really blame them though, as they are not doctors. But at the same time... they run into these types of cases on a daily basis. They should know that a liver disease is very dangerous to a person's health. C'mon, it took me 2 seconds to research all this crap on the internet and find out more about her diagnoses.

If we get that conference, I know we'll get approved. Because this problem is destroying my mom's life right now. Mine too. Check out the cumulative effects on the second segment of this post.

_______________________________________

In my older post, I mentioned that I'm gettin the boot from my apartment. They initially gave me till July 31 to return the keys. And guess what today is?

I went to the Century 21 office (this post can double for a review about these crime figures here -.-) when they told us (me and mom) about the notice. They said because we weren't making payments on time, and missed a couple (relates to the 1st segment in a way), that we had till the end of this month to return the keys and leave. Stay another day and we'll have to face penalties.
We had to sign the notice.

But then next week, they send another notice telling us that our lease is up at the end of August. But in this notice, we had another option. We actually could renew the lease. I'm not a real estate agent, with no knowledge of real estate affairs, so I try to renew the lease. I go in there and schedule an appointment with the director of the property (is that right?) and ask to renew the lease. He tells me that since we've made late payments, there are late-fees that have to be paid, as well as security for two month's rent (since we used it to pay for those two months we skipped), and the actual rent money. Total comes out to over $2.000 dollars. For a small ass apartment with one bathroom and no washer/dryer hookups. Our best option is obviously to move out and put Century 21 in the past. Except there's a little problem regarding the actual date our lease is up...

The director guy says that the property owner stated we had to move out by the end of this month. But my mom called the office and the lady there said it's actually the end of next month that we have to move, because the security deposit was used for July and August. So August's rent is paid. That makes more sense. But it's stated on our notice that we're to leave the apartment tomorrow. So I'm hoping that lady is right, but I'm still packin my stuff, and will finish by today (sike).

_________________________________________

So my next move is to pack all the stuff, rent a storage room and store most of the stuff there. We're probably gonna have to be light on our feet for the next couple of months. And for my mom, I'm gonna start writing all of her symptoms down on paper, as well as take a before and after picture, so the social security people can actually see the difference. I'll have to also talk to some of my mom's friends to see if we can room in with them until we get shit straightened out. Aw crap! What if she gets approved for disability, but we have to change our address? I hope she doesn't have to resubmit her application!! All this plus my own problems I have to deal with....

Oh yeah... and it's my birthday today.

Movin On Up!

Google has updated their PageRank (as if you didn't know already... it's like a broadcast echoing throughout the web). And my Endless Possibilities blog finally has a rank! I got a 1 xD. Feels like I accomplished something!

There's no PR (PageRank) for this site or the Muscle Armor blog, just yet. But I have some plans I'm going to put in effect pretty soon, or when I have time. But check this out: type "Muscle Armor" into Google's search engine and you'll find me on the second page! A couple weeks ago you couldn't find my blog no matter how hard you looked! Or try searching up "Thaiger" on Google - Thaiger's Tidbits is also on the second page! Before I was on the 6th page! And you already know about Thaigerblog. Search that up on Google and just about all the entries you'll see are mine! Yes!!

Feel proud at the moment - had to let my readers know. Man, just imagine where my blog will be in the next 6 months? I'm gonna friggin dominate the search engines!

Maybe not... but still! I'm movin up!

Opera 9.5 vs. Firefox 3 (pt. 2) Plus Extra Tips for FF3

After about a month using Opera 9.5, I have to say it works ok. Not as great as I hoped. And here's why: Opera is not compatible with some websites! You might know this already - but I had no idea! Mapquest, for one, isn't compatible for Opera. When I'm on Mapquest, it will show the map for only 10 seconds before it closes and says that it's not compatible with my browser. That sucks.

Also, I've found more problems with using Opera 9.5 for blogging (with Blogger). There's this problem with adding a new Page Element. I have Opera set to where instead of opening a link to a new window, it will just open a new tab. For Opera, after I open the tab and make additions, it has a problem closing. Or it will have problems saving, at which point I'll close the tab and refresh on the Layouts screen. The changes are saved, it just lies to me and says it's not (o_O). Very inconvenient for blogging.

So in the first "Opera 9.5 vs. Firefox 3" post (I should have named it "Battle of the Browsers", would've been cooler), I gave a good review on Opera 9.5. But after finding these problems, I would have to say that it's still good, but there are alot of things they need to improve, far as compatibility is concerned. I still use it for casual browsing, since it works for popular websites, such as Youtube, Google, and whatnot.

A Firefox update was just released about a week ago. They supposedly fixed a couple bugs that were giving people some problems, I guess. Personally, I haven't run into a single problem as of late. Currently, I use Firefox as my default browser. Yes, it may be slow, but it works without problems. Plus it's so customizable I feel like a geek whenever I add stuff to it xD. For now, FF3 is the best browser out there. In my opinion, of course.

One thing that is very cool about Opera 9.5 is the "Speed Dial" feature. If you see a website you think you're going to check out often, just add it there, and when you open a new tab, you can select it from the "Speed Dial". Pretty cool. But I've found a way to add that feature to FF3! You have to download a couple add-ons though, but it's not intrusive, and it doesn't slow your browser. Here's how I did it:

1. Download Tab Mix Plus (Dev Build). Here's the link if you don't have it already (the link will take you directly to the download page). You can check it out on the FF add-ons page for more information. After you download it and restart FF, go to your Tools section at the top of the toolbar and go to Tab Mix Plus options, and go to the Links tab. Enable single window mode.

2. Download the Taboo add-on. This has a feature similar to the "Speed Dial" for Opera 9.5. The problem is you can't change the settings. After you download it and restart FF, you can start adding your favorite websites by going to them and clicking the new "+" button that should appear to the left side of the address bar.

3. Click the new "T" button to open your Taboos in a new tab. After that, copy the URL in the address bar.

4. Go to the Tools section and click Options. Go to Main (if you're not there already), and paste the URL you copied into the homepage section. Click OK. That's it!

Now, instead of having to click the "T" button to see your Taboos (your sites), you can just make a new tab my pressing ctrl+t and it will automatically display on the new tab! One thing about Taboos is if you click the "+" button twice, you can also add a description for the Tabooed site. You can also edit it on the Taboo page. Also, you can add as many sites to Taboo as you like!

Hope you find this tip useful! This makes browsing with FF3 all the more convenient and easy! Like to "ping" your blog? Add the site to Taboo, and you won't have to re-type the URL evertime you update your blog! If you're having trouble getting it to work (I might not explain things too good xD), just leave a comment and I'll help you out. Or if you have tips of your own, let me know about them!

Life's Twists and Turns...

Not sure why, but I live my life in a spontaneous manner. I'll be driving by some restaurant and just decide to go eat there, or I'll hear about something on the net, like Adbrite for instance, and just join it. Sometimes I'll just wake up and decide to check out the flea market with my friends in a different county miles away, just to see something different, I guess. Being spontaneous can be good, but there are also moments when I do bad things, like catch a charge and get into trouble. I wrote a post all about it on the Endless Possibilities blog. That one's more of a personal blog than this one.

My life now: I'm currently on state probation and I'm getting kicked out of my apartment. Those are the big things going on right now. I was working at Kmart for only two months when I just walked out. Low paying job, like 20 hrs at the most, no real benefits... I had to quit.

I go into the probation office and they said if I don't find another job soon, they'll violate me (probation officers are too kind -.-). So I'm putting in applications everywhere like it's a video game, where the objective is to put in as many applications to different places before the time runs out, and hopefully I pass and advance to the next level. Trouble is no one calls me. I know it's because of my record, but still. If they gave me a shot, I know I can exceed their expectations and leave a good first impression. But I didn't get that shot - and soon I begin to count the days until I go to jail... for not keeping a job (is that even legal?).

Well, I was with one of my cousins drinking a couple beers, trying to cool my jets about the situation, when I hear a knock on the door. It's my other cousin, and he tells me that my uncle needs another person to help maintain the restaurant his wife owns. He didn't want to do it, so he refered me. Err... more like he stuffed me into a car and drove me there. And I was drunk xD.

The place is called Gus Corona's Cafe. I've worked here before, but after my experience here as a dishwasher, I vowed I would never work in the restaurant business ever again. I broke my vow this day.

Me and my cousins stagger our way in the cafe, and we talk to my uncle, the "bossman", for a couple minutes. At first, he was iffy about me working here, because I quit last time. But I do some talking (don't know if I was slurring or not xD), and he tells me to throw on an apron and start on the dishes. Back to the same position I was in before. Ain't that a b****? Oh yeah, and my cousin was a huge help too. He helps refresh my memory about what he did when he worked here, and he brings me to the front to ask the customers if they needed a refill or whatever. And he asks me to do the same. And I was drunk. I could barely walk straight as it was, but I did the damn thing. Don't think they noticed anything out of the ordinary at all!

Well, at closing time, I go head the talk to my uncle about what's been up with me since I left. I tell him about probation, and I tell him about my previous job at Kmart. He says, "You did a good job today, worked fast, the dishes are clean... can you start on Monday?", I was like, "Sure can. And thanks for giving me this opportunity! Can I have a Singha?". I got the job. And just in time, too.

So what's in my future? For now, I'm back to work at the restaurant me and my cousins hate, doing the job I hate the most. I still have about two weeks to pack my stuff and ship out of this dump. I'm working on the Muscle Armor blog, so hopefully that will help me balance out the crappy pay I may be earning at the cafe. This and that. But it's a good thing. I'm not in danger of violating probation, and I have this job until I get a better one. I just have to work on my networking skills.

Even though my situation is preventing me from really living life to the fullest, I still keep a positive outlook on life in general. I never know what I'll run into next! Maybe I'll talk my way into working in Destin with the rich folks, or maybe I'll get huge earnings from Muscle Armor, so I won't have to work anymore (hopefully), or I just might haul ass to Thailand and check out the scenery (once I'm done with probation, of course!).

So if you're in a tight situation, always know that even though things are not looking your way at the moment, they won't be like that forever. There is a God up there, and he may not throw a million dollars at your doorstep, but He will save you from real dangers - if you ask Him.

Entrecard: One Widget to Rule Them All

Entrecard. If you don't like recognition for your work, people to interact with, or attention in general, I suggest you stay away from it. Because joining the Entrecard network will ensure you get all that - and more!

Check out my Muscle Armor blog. Before I joined Entrecard, I had 14 views in two weeks, some from me xD. After I joined, maybe 2-3 weeks ago, that number has climbed to 174! Very effective! I even have a few return visitors! I have to thank Entrecard for all they've done for me, and you should really consider it if you're lookin to pick up traffic for your blog.

Why Entrecard? Why not! Look, you can join a million different blog directories and ping your blog every post, but it's not going to bring you nearly as much traffic as Entrecard will do in just a couple of days! My blog is a true testimony to this claim! All you do is sign up and add your blog (which is all free). After you activate your account, get the code for the widget and place it on your blog - that's it! Oh, and drop your card to other Entrecard bloggers and they will surely return the favor!

That's why it works so well. It's based on a credit system - the more you drop, the more people will return the favor. And if your blog is interesting, something may catch their eye! That's how it works. Oh, and here's another huge thing about Entrecard. They've recently just partnered up with SezWho, a blog commenting service, to ensure visitors actually read your blog and make comments! That's an extra credit per comment, which is a reason why more people do it, but to comment, people will have to read your blog's content, and again, if it's interesting, they may return and hopefully comment some more, giving you more credits!

Like the title says: one widget to rule them all. This simple looking widget has a function that completely dominates all other blog trafficking services!

An Idea for Job Applications!

Right now, I'm currently working at Kmart. It's very slow with minimal hours, and small pay. And the 20-35 hrs, they said, is so they don't have to pay extra for insurance. Does that make sense? I guess so... they don't have to pay for the insurance, unless I actually get injured, at which point I can just sue them for unethical practices (probably can't but whatever). Ha!

I'm lookin around for a new job. Because of my past, I'm not able to get just any job I apply for. Hell, I'm lucky if I get a job I'm even comfortable with.

As I go from website to website, looking to apply, I came up with an idea for submitting multiple applications to all local businesses that are looking to hire. With blogs, there's this "ping" service in which you enter your blog info (like your blog name, URL, and/or RSS feed address), and the service "pings" multiple blog directories, basically letting them know you've updated your blog. What if there was a website that did the same thing, but with career applications, "pinging" local hiring businesses and letting them know you've submitted an application? Would be easier than manually visiting the websites and applying to each one that you're interested in. You can just fill out a basic application, telling about your past work experience, education level, and your personal info. And if they need additional info, they can just contact you by phone or e-mail. Simple and easy.

Like I said for my other "bright" idea xD, I dunno if there's already a service that does this. So far, the websites I've been to are like "medium" websites, businesses just make job openings and post them to the site, and people looking for a job search it up and apply. But if there's a website out there that has automatically submits applications, let me know!

Ripple Effect of Gas Prices?

I heard from Fox News just now about airline tickets raising in price about %10. And earlier in the week, I hear about airlines trying to keep a tight schedule to arrive on time without delays. Maybe it's a strategy to balance out the rise in gas prices. That's what I think.

Gas is about $4.11 on average over here on my side of Florida. Last year, it would've been around $2.90. W-t-f? $10 back then would give me about a half tank, but now it's double in price for the same amount.

I know there are other problems out there that are caused by rising gas prices. I saw on Youtube this video about how real estate in metropolitan areas are higher than in rural areas. The guy's reason is because of gas prices. I also heard on the news about people stealing used vegetable oil to find an alternative to gas, which is theft on a small scale but it may be a growing problem.

Is this the ripple effect from rising gas prices? If, so, what does the future hold for our ecomony if our next president can't find a feasible solution?

*Sigh*, at times like these I wish I was a farmboy in rural Thailand...

Firefox 3 vs. Internet Explorer 7 vs. Opera 9.51

Here are the notes I made while browsing with Opera:

"First impression of Opera... this is fast! It looks different! It's like a tricked out version of IE7, but faster! Not to mention the added features! Very impressed and looking forward to learning more about it! Also, there's this thing to the right of the address bar that's sort of like a progress meter. No other browser has this!

Hmm, let's see how it works with Blogger... ran into problems with both Firefox 3 and IE7. Uh oh, problem found. Went to check my email and there was a problem with the shockwave plug-in. Opera just crashed. Firefox never crashed like this... also takes a LONG time to sign into Twitter. What's up with that? May be the server, cuz it lags pretty bad while I'm Twitting (that right?) on FF3. Hey! I noticed the scrolling action on Opera is way smoother than FF3, same as IE7. Lags a little bit with video's also. Checked out my Muscle Armor blog. FF3 for some reason won't display my video widget on the sidebar, IE7 takes too long to load, but Opera loads the site quicker and also displays my sidebar vid. I've just found out this shortkey to check my security. By hittin the alt+Enter, I can see if a website is safe or not. Should be useful. Ok, scratch what I said about the vids. I'm watching the vid on my site, and I notice the video doesn't lag when I scroll, unlike IE7. Not significant, but kewl. 

Alright, done with the review. Opera would really benefit anyone that has a computer (with internet).Also, I'm typing this note on Opera! Very useful for bloggers. A little laggy though. One last test..."

To sum all that mess xD, here's Thaiger's review:

• Opera is faster than FF and is safer than IE7
• Smooth scrolling and quicker video uploads
• Crashed earlier from a Shockwave plug-in... maybe this can be fixed? 
• The look and feel of Opera is more organized and looks more visually appealing than FF (although you can download skins for FF, you can also download for Opera)

Blogging with Opera, I haven't ran into problems like I usually do with IE7 and FF. For Firefox, the problem is sort of the same with IE7 (bulletin problems, uploading vids, and the bold/italic buttons get messed up sometimes), but I haven't run into any problems with Opera as of yet. But this is only my first post using Opera. 

With IE7 out of the picture, which is best? FF or Opera? Hmm... tough call. Haven't downloaded anything with Opera yet, but with FF the downloads are quick, and the files are scanned before hand. So I would say keep FF for downloading apps and for casual browsing, and use Opera for watching vids and blogging, because the notes feature is invaluable for bloggers like me who don't plan on topics to write about xD!

America's Best Dance Crew!

I've been watching this show since the middle of last season. At the time, I thought it was just another dance show that's boring, with the same moves seen over and over again. Wow, was I wrong! There is alot of talent here, and every crew is different from the next!

Last year, the Jabbawockeez won it, hands down. Not just because they wear masks and gloves, but because of their intricate movements and they all dance at the same level (and the masks tripped me out xD, you can't see their face, or what they're looking at!). Personally, I think the final two should've been Jabbawockeez vs. Kabba Modern. Would've been a great ending, but whatever. Atleast they battled each other in the top 3.

This season, it's not as exciting (so far) as last season, because there's nothing too unique about the crews, with the exception of the Super Crew. They're on fire! Their breakdancing influenced choreography is going to take them to the top! They also breakdance better than the Jabbawockeez. SoReal Crew is also one of my favorites, because they dance similar to Kabba Modern, even though Kabba is better, in my opinion.

I was thinking about the similarities from this season to last, and I compared the different crews. If there was ever a showdown between the two seasons, I think it would look like this:

• Kabba Modern vs. SoReal Crew
• Super Crew vs. Status Quo
• Iconic vs. Fanny Pack
• Break Sk8 vs. Supreme Soul

I didn't add the Jabbawockeez because, of course, they're in their own league. Maybe at the end of this season, they'll comeback to battle the winner of America's Best Dance Crew season 2!

Just some wishful thinking...

Muscle Armor Blog Makeover

Wow, I didn't know making an affiliate blog could be so hard!

I changed the template for my other blog to make it more professional looking, and it looks ok so far, only thing wrong with it is the header banner. When I tried to add the banner to my header, it doesn't display properly... it's hidden behind the blog! For now I just added the pic of the banner and put it at the top until I can figure out how to make it display the way I want it to.

Besides that, everything looks better than it did before. It's more organized (less clutter), and I can add more to it than I could with the previous template. Still trying to figure out how to add this XML feeds to display the top 50 products. It's not an RSS feed, so I'm not sure if I'm going to be able to add it to the blog. I just added the link to the link bar for now.

It's still a work in progress. The XML feeds thing gave me a headache, so I'm going to finish it tomorrow (hopefully). Once I'm done, I can concentrate on blogging. There's still so much to blog about!

Good Blog Titles Gone to Waste

Earlier, I came up with an idea for another blog that I was gonna title, "Music and Movies". Simple title, just bloggin about movies and stuff (name says it all). I went and checked it out to see if it was available, and... ta da! It's not. >:-(

That's fine if the blog title is already taken, but this site I went to is garbage! It's just two UK dudes conversing with each other via this blog! There's nothing in it that relates to music and/or movies! The last post was made in 2002! I should stop there...

There was another blog that already beat me to the blog name. BodyArmor.blogspot.com was going to be my original blog title for what is now Musclearmor.blogspot.com. Same deal here. Although this photo blog is a little more personal, I really wish the guy would've changed the name. Maybe something like "Roy and Friends!" or "Wright Makes Right!", or something other than "Body Armor". I had like this dream that if I ever made it big, I was gonna start a supplement company called "Body Armor Supplements (BAS)" -- and that's where I got the idea for the title. Well, I can fuggetaboutit now. >:-O

So yeah, that's my rant for today. I wish Blogger would like check these sites out and if they're incomplete for a certain number of YEARS, then they should just delete the blog (like the musicandmovies.blogspot.com one), because the authors are not going to update it anytime soon. I don't even think they remember that blog existed.

Hmm... maybe I can just change it up and call it musicnmovies.blogspot.com... ARRGH THAT ONE'S TAKEN TOO! >:-(

Thaiger the Twitter!

Just made a Twitter account today. I have no idea why, probably because everyone online has one, so I'm just jumpin on the bandwagon.

If you notice that little Twitter Updates thing below my profile on the sidebar, that's it (for those who don't know what Twitter is). It's this website you sign up to where you just type in little tidbits of information, like what you're doing or what your plans are or whatnot. Basically it's a stalker friendly micro-blogging service o_O.

Follow me!

Some Ideas to Gain Traffic

Everyone I know in the real world right now don't know about blogging. They go on the internet to check out Youtube vids and update their Myspace, or they might shop online occasionally. I like to surf around the internet, because it gives me something to do, and because there's a ton of info out there for me.

I also like to play online games, mostly because I don't have the available funds to buy a PS3 or an Xbox 360 (just yet). Two of the games I play online are Endless Online and Luminary: Rise of the Goonzu. Luminary is pretty fun, but the file is big (about 500+MB to download. You can check out Ijji.com for more info). Endless Online is a smaller download, and it has less lag.

I've been playing Endless Online (EO for short) for about seven months before I started blogging about it. I saw a couple other EO blogs out there, and I just said, "Hey, I wanna make my own!", so I did, without any prior knowledge on blogging. Well, not much you need to know about it. But the more you know, the better your blog will turn out.

Now, I get about 50 hits a day from my EO blog, which to me is good for a blog that's about three months old. At the end of the month, I might end up with about 1,000 hits. This is because I became known in the game a little bit before I started blogging (I think o_O).

So this is my idea for gaining traffic: if people know about you before you make a blog, then people would be more interested in what you blog about. If you have like thousands of friends on Myspace, and you make your blog, chances are alot of your friends will check it out. Like I said earlier, I played Endless Online for about seven months before I made my blog, and now I have alot of hits and unique visitors. On the other hand, this blog doesn't have many hits, because people don't know me, so they might not care what kind of content is found here. But it'll grow, eventually (I hope!)

If you have friends like mine, who don't really pay attention to blogs and online stuff, you might wanna find online friends. There are alot of ways to do this. Myspace, Youtube, and online games are a great place to start. And when it comes to online gaming, there are alot of them to choose from! Anything you want, from that popular card game you see on t.v (that I'm not allowed to mention), to multiplayer strategy war games. There's even an online game where you just create an avatar and you socialize with other people's avatars. A great way to gain traffic to your blog if you depend on traffic to earn you some extra gas money.

Of course, if you use this strategy to gain traffic, you have to be friendly!

Operation: Muscle Armor

Finally, I'm proud to announce the opening of my new project blog called Muscle Armor! It's a blog dedicated to informing readers on health and nutrition, so it's gonna be pretty useful for my readers out there that are thinking about getting in shape, but may not know how or where to begin.

I think the blog looks pretty good. The ads are not intrusive, but they do grab the readers attention, because they're on the side of the blog posts, with a "Tried and True" sidebar to the far left. That is a list of the supplements I've used in the past and have found them to be pretty effective. The items on the side of the blog post are new releases, courtesy of Bodybuilding.com.

The template is a 5-column one remade from the Minima template. It's unique, but I dunno, one critic suggested I use the 3-column instead, so it doesn't look too overwhelming. Eh, maybe I'll keep it. Fuggetaboutem xD.

So check it out! Maybe you'll find something useful to aid you in your fight against obesity! o_O

Firefox 3 Review

I just downloaded Mozilla's new Firefox 3, and I gotta say... it's friggin awesome! I still have IE7 for my Windows Updates, but I think I'm gonna set Firefox as my primary web browser. There are a couple things I don't like about it, but there are more positives than negatives for Firefox 3, in my opinion.

The positives: There are a TON of add-ons and plugins! You can pretty much trick your browser out with all the latest gadgets and skins and really make it look nice. Also, there are a TON of short keys to make browsing convenient. Like if you want to go to the previous page, simply hit the backspace button -- no ctrl+b or whatever. If you want to Google something up, just type it in the address bar and it searches for you. For me, when I hit "y" on the address bar, it goes straight to my e-mail with Yahoo. Bookmarking is also convenient. If you want to bookmark something, just click the star on the right of the address bar and it's done. If you click the star again, you can edit the settings for your bookmarked page, like adding a keyword for it or saving it to a folder. There are plenty of options available for Firefox 3.

A couple downsides though: It takes alot of memory. And obviously, the more add-ons you add, the more space it takes. So you may want to just get the ones you need. I did a test with Firefox 3 and IE7 to compare how much memory the web browsers use. I went to two pages for both and I used Windows Task Master to compare the two, and Firefox took up almost 80,000 k while IE7 took up only 12,000 k memory. So if you have a slow computer, you may lag a little bit with Firefox.

I pretty much tricked out my Firefox browser the first 5 minutes I downloaded it xD. I got a new skin (which I might uninstall), an add-on called Tab Mix Plus (very useful), and this feature that allows me to zoom in on my tabbed webpages. I'm about to add a couple more add-ons to it soon. One thing I noticed about Firefox is that it's actually kinda fun to mess around with.

So if you don't have Firefox 3 yet, you really need to check it out. This is my first time using it, and I gotta say I'm hooked! There's a Youtube video by jimmyrcom that gives a better tutorial about Firefox 3, here's the link.

I still have IE7, but it's not really working for me, atleast not as good as Firefox is. Some features here in Blogger actually don't work with IE7 (for me anyways), and it's only now that I notice the difference. Some of the differences I've noticed while blogging is that here I have to highlight the text to make a link, while in IE7 I couldn't do that. I also didn't notice I had a spell checker here. It didn't work for IE7. Also a couple times with IE7 I couldn't right click if I'm online for a certain period of time. I have to either close the browser or restart the computer. Hope it's not a virus, but I don't have the same problem with Firefox.

So, to me, Firefox whoops IE7 any day!

Too Many Widgets Make a Bad Blog

That's just my opinion. There are alot of bloggers out there that have the Adsense program, and to drive traffic, they'll submit their blogs to ALOT of blog directories. That's fine. It's just that plus all the widgets they use that, to me, make a uninteresting blog.

I say this because I've seen alot of blogs out there, and for some reason they all look the same. Most have the Feedjit widget, they have the Recent Visitors widget, they have a huge list of blog directories, and every nook and cranny is filled with ads.

I'm not a professional blogger. But as a reader, I like to be able to read your content before the next full moon. My laptop is not that fast, so if you have a million things going on for your blog, it takes awhile for it to load. If it does take too long to load, I usually hit the back button to find another blog to look at.

Ok, this is a sample of what I do when I run into one of these blogs. I go to the site, wait a couple seconds for the top part to load, and I start scrolling down to read the content. I actually don't pay any attention to the sidebars. Sometimes I read the content when all of a sudden, a context link appears (the kind from Kontera, with the double underlining). So I try to scroll down some more, but the page is laggy. Finally I say "fuggetaboutit" and I go back to the site where I found the blog to pick another. Here's an example of a blog with too much stuff: http://www.myadsense-gold.blogspot.com/. I'm sure he won't mind, since he hasn't made a new post since January (not criticizing his blog...well maybe xD).

So here's a tip from an amateur blogger to getting return visitors: Don't cram your sidebars with flashy widgets, as this may deter visitors from actually reading your content. I've seen blogs with two or three widgets that do the same thing, like the recent visitors and stat counter widgets. Try to stick to one -- that's all you really need. As for the Adsense, try not to stick em in every nook and cranny of your blog. A few well placed ads will be as efficient, if not more so.

In my opinion, when it comes to blogging, less is more.

New Projects

Finally, a new post xD! Been kinda busy, so today I finally get a chance to relax and do some blogging. I'm still workin on the layout of this template (don't like that search feature), but besides that everything is back in order.

I've come across a couple affiliate programs I'm interested in working with. The first one can be found at bodybuilidng.com, and it looks like a good opportunity to get additional income. The second is clickbank.com. This one I may or may not work with, just because I've seen some of the ads they use, and to me, they're just not that enticing. But I dunno, I might try it out.

But yeah, like the title says, I'm about to start a couple new projects involving these affiliate programs. It's gonna be about fitness, and it'll contain tips and reviews etc on how to get in shape for the summer. I might make a second one with my mom about Thai food, and the ingredients used in making it, because I see alot of variations in Thai style cooking so my second project will be about authentic Thai cuisine (with the help of my mom... I can't cook xD).

Hopefully these two projects will be succesful! Wish me luck!

Template Change

Haven't found the template I'm even 60% satisfied with. This one looks cool, I guess. It's got the tabbed labeling I'm looking for, but the sidebars are too small. My Cnet widget is all the way down at the bottom! Not cool!

So if you happen to be checkin my blog out and it keeps changin... sorry for the inconvenience! Hopefully I'll find the right look for my blog!

I'm just @_@ right now...

Finding A New Web Browser: It's Easier Said Then Done

Now, I'm not an expert in this subject. But I do use a computer (obviously xD), and right now I'm looking for a browser that's faster than my current one. I'm currently using IE7 (Internet Explorer 7). It's alot nicer than the previous version, with it's tabbed browsing and newer icons, but it still has some problems. Plus I hear IE7 has alot of security issues, which is probably why it's updated with like a bunch of programs at once!

I was checkin out Firefox, and alot of people say it's better than IE7. Some say IE7 is better than Firefox. I asked, "What's the difference?"

Well, they pretty much have the same features. Both have tabbed browsing, the RSS feeds button thang, and some add-ons if you feel you need it. Only with Firefox, people are saying its alot safer when browsing the internet.

I was just about to download Firefox when I thought I'd do more research. People say you can use both browsers without problems. I was a little skeptical. So I Googled up the question, "Can I use Firefox and IE7 both?", and got some answers. Unfortunately, it wasn't a good answer.

It was an old post, but it's about security issues that can be found when using both browsers. Because it was published about a year ago, I'm not sure if the problem has been fixed or not. It says basically that they both work fine as stand-alone products, but not together. I want to use Firefox, but I might need IE7 or the Windows Updates. Eh, I dunno... I might just go to Safari...

Here is the site you can go to for the news post: http://news.cnet.com/8301-10784_3-9741435-7.html

RE: Hip Hop Is Not Music It's A Philosophy Of Crime

In an effort to promote my blog and gain traffic, I went to http://www.fuelmyblog.com/, and their "Blog of the Day" was http://bloggingtoblame.blogspot.com/, a blog that's about... what else? Blaming. And the most recent post is about blaming hip hop for, in his/her opinion, it's negative contribution to society.

While this is not an attempt to discredit this blogger's opinion, this post did inspire me to write a reply about it. I'll start by asking this: What is every human's true goal in life? In my opinion, our goal as humans is to live in comfort, without hassles. We strive to make as much money as possible before we retire so in the end, we can possibly live comfortably, which is why we work so hard to get to that point.

Hip hop is inspired by people who endure excessive hardship. A blend of hatred and poverty for so many years has left many people to think that living life comfortably is not possible, and this is expressed in their music. Like every other genre of music, hip hop is a product of it's environment, inspired by the people who lived in this kind of atmosphere.

But even so, hip hop started out as a cultural movement in the 1907's, primarily by African Americans, as a way to overcome the oppression they faced in New York at that time... and this genre of music eventually spread throughout the world.

One of the reasons it's so popular today is because the listener can relate to the messages expressed through hip hop. The message of being able to become successful in the face of hatred and prejudice inspires the listener to find motivation, even when it seemingly could not be found. To overcome adversities despite the negativity around them. This may be why those born into wealth cannot understand the concept of hip hop.

But nobody is perfect. Granted, there is a current trend in hip hop today that would suggest that the message is to engage in illegal activities, but the message is still the same. Even so, there are still those who support hip hop, but in a positive manner, by addressing the issues that are causing hip hop to become so corrupt, and even making suggestions that may inspire the listener to make a positive change in their lives, to be active in their communities and to change the environment hip hop was born in. Because we all would like to live comfortable lives, without the hassle, without the stress.

Also, if junk brain food results in junk behavior, by who's hand did the food come from? Who's the one to blame? (Read the original post if you don't know what I'm talking about.)

An Idea!

Today I was looking around at some sites when I came across this affiliate program type deal at cnet.com. If you notice that widget over to the right side, that's one of the things I picked up from that site. Not only does it look kewl, it's also pretty useful for all the techno-geeks out there (just kidding xD)!

In the affiliate program, they require you to confirm your e-mail address. So I go to my e-mail (at Yahoo) and I click. It brings me to the "Internet Explorer cannot display the webpage" page. As visually stunning and informative as it is... this is not my e-mail page. I refresh and try again...nothing. Double-you tee eff?

I have another e-mail address that's supposed to be my mom's, but she has no idea how to access it -- or even type an e-mail for that matter. Funny thing is, she knows how to play the casino game just fine xD! So in the meantime, I use her e-mail address, but rarely.

While I was in total awe of the Internet Explorer page, I came up with an idea for accessing your e-mail (if it hasn't been thought up already). You know that OpenID thing? You can access your account from one site, and you automatically login to an affiliate site? I think that's what it does, atleast for Google/Blogger. Someone should come up with a small file program or widget you can download to your computer that can access ALL your e-mails from one source, making it easy and convenient. Sort of like RSS Feeds on blogs, but for your e-mail. And of course, using state-of-the-art security technology, or something close to that, to make sure no one goes hacking into e-mails.

If I was a programmer, I'd already make this program and find a way to place advertisements on it to make it a free download. But that's just me. If this kind of program is already available, please let me know, and I'ma snatch it up. If you're a widget programmer or something, I advise you... MAKE IT FOR ME please! xD

Template problems

For bloggers, templates are what makes blogs stand out from one another. Unique colors, designs, and the content itself gives the blog real value to the reader, and also to the author as well.

If you don't know much about HTML (like me), you might be a little picky about the template you choose. Even if you find the one you like, it might not work as well with Blogger as you hoped it would. Like when I placed that pic up there above my header; at first the text kind of ran into each other and made it look messy. I had to edit out the caption for my header pic to solve the problem. No biggie.

On the other hand, my other blog has a special feature that makes it unique to most templates. Called the Neo Template (developed by Ramani, of Hackosphere.blogspot.com), this uses some kind of AJAX coding (I think) to enable the user to view recent posts without loading, which makes it convenient for the reader.

Well, I was updating the blog, and I re-organized some of the page elements to make the "Recent Post" even with the post. When I checked it out...the links were missing! I can't change the post!

I'm trying to fix it right now, but I have almost ZERO knowledge of HTML. I'm about to e-mail Ramani about it, and hopefully he can fix it or give me tips. Hopefully.

If there are any readers out there that know what I'm talking about, and maybe you know how to fix this problem, please... leave a comment! Any advice is more than welcome at this point!

For a blog that's supposed to inform my readers, I'm pretty clueless right now xD!

My Introduction

Hello, and welcome to Thaigertidbits.blogspot.com! This blog is just sort of an extention of my other blog at http://www.thaigerblog.blogspot.com/, because I sometimes make posts that are irrelevant to the main subject -- which is an online game called Endless Online (I know! I'ma nerd xD). The main topic of discussion here? Anything! Everything! Whatever I feel like putting on this blog!

My first few posts I'm just gonna forward here from my other blog. And from there -- the fun begins!

I'm planning to write mostly about my opinions and/or thoughts about a topic I find interesting on the web. My current interests are: fitness/exercise, business/economics, music, movies, games,and other things. So you can expect most of the posts to be about those subjects. But who knows? I may even make a post about politics!

So check back here once in a while...you may be surprised at what you find!