Everybody says that health is the most important thing. But a little bit of luck could do more. Many victims of earthquakes or airplane crashes can be very healthy, indeed…
1. Imagine that luck is on your side. You have to behave in such a manner as if you expected only good things to happen to you every day, not just from time to time. Optimism is the key.
"If you're convinced that you're a lucky person, you will have a behavior which will determine those around you to be more receptive with your person," said Martin Seligman, Psychology Professor at the University of Pennsylvania.
2. Try to control your negative emotions. Shyness, fury and resentments turn people against us. How to oppress them? First,
look for the cause of those emotions, in order to stop them before they control you. If you succeed, you'll have a better
opinion about yourself, you'll be more optimistic and more extroverted.
Change the way you see difficult colleagues: "X is very good at her job, even if she is short-tempered."
b We don't know what will happen, but we can improve our chance by training, putting more trust in people and in the fact that good things will happen to us due to this.
For instance, some do not share their ideas with their workmates fearing that their ideas will be stolen. But if you keep amazing ideas just for yourself, they won't be good for anybody. It is honest people that are actually appreciated.
4. Manage expectations. Set clear and realistic goals with your colleagues and clients, but be prepared: these can change. If demands overwhelm you and timescales become unrealistic, deal with the situation. Communicate your worries to your team.
5. Do not believe the world is yours. You won't be luckier if you stay home. If you're invited to certain events, enjoy the moments. Exploiting them, you can improve your luck. Be always ready, be prepared to make mistakes.
We will gain more by learning than if we stay isolated or we are not interested in what's going around.
6. Find an escape. Go to the movies or gym, retreat to the country; shifting your focus brings mental and physical relief. You'll come back with a fresh perspective, ready to tackle your problems.
7. Take charge. Worrying can keep you alert, but wallowing is pointless. Accept what you can't do and get on with what you are capable of. Don't panic when everything seems to have gone wrong. Talk to people. Sharing your concerns with colleagues who've been through the same experiences will offer you insight and coping strategies, decreasing anxiety.
8. Do not envy the others. Those that obsessively compare their life with the others end up being unhappy. For instance, if you're obsessed with the fact that somebody was promoted at the office, you will feel like a loser.
Nothing guarantees that the person is happy. In most cases, promotions bring about more headaches. What's ideal for others is not necessarily for you, too. Just focus on your own goals and desires.
9. The more people you know, the more pleasant and prone to luck you are. Why? Because if we interact with powerful people they can share some information and introduce you to important persons.
Many feel it is complicated to make friendships with such people and prefer staying home and party with close friends. It is actually much easier to keep in touch with such people, through e-mails or postcards sent on certain occasions.
The more people you know, the more opportunities you will have.
10. See the good part of the things. To be lucky, you should look at the past from a positive angle and at the present with optimism. People that pretend they're lucky remember more often the good experiences in their life than the bad ones.
If something bad happens to them, they compare it with their worst situation from which they managed to come out winning.
1. PPC Advertising Networks
Google AdSense is the most popular option under this category, but there are
also others. Basically you need to sign up with the network and paste some code
snippets on your website. The network will then serve contextual ads (either
text or images) relevant to your website, and you will earn a certain amount of
money for every click.
The profitability of PPC advertising depends on the general traffic levels
of the website and, most importantly, on the click-through rate (CTR) and cost
per click (CPC). The CTR depends on the design of the website. Ads placed abode
the fold or blended with content, for instance, tend to get higher CTRs. The
CPC, on the other hand, depends on the nice of the website. Mortgages,
financial products and college education are examples of profitable niches
(clicks worth a couple of dollars are not rare), while tech-related topics tend
to receive a smaller CPC (sometimes as low as a couple of cents per click).
The source of the traffic can also affect the overall CTR rate. Organic
traffic (the one that comes from search engines) tends to perform well because
these visitors were already looking for something, and they tend to click on
ads more often. Social media traffic, on the other hand, presents terribly low
CTRs because these visitors are tech-savvy and they just ignore ads.
List of popular CPC advertising networks:
2. CPM Advertising Networks
CPM advertising networks behave pretty much as PPC networks, except that you
get paid according to the number of impressions (i.e., page views) that the ads
displayed on your site will generate. CPM stands for Cost per Mille,
and it refers to the cost for 1,000 impressions.
A blog that generates 100,000 page views monthly displaying an advertising
banner with a $1 CPM, therefore, will earn $100 monthly.
CPM rates vary with the network, the position of the ad and the format. The
better the network, the higher the CPM rate (because they have access to more
advertisers). The closer you put the ad to the top of the page, the higher the
CPM. The bigger the format (in terms of pixels), the higher the CPM.
You can get as low as $0,10 and as high as $10 per 1,000 impressions (more
in some special cases). CPM advertising tends to work well on websites with a
high page views per visitor ratio (e.g., online forums, magazines and so on).
List of popular CPM advertising networks:
3. Direct Banner Advertising
Selling your own advertising space is one of the most lucrative monetization
methods. First and foremost because it enables you to cut out the middleman
commissions and to determine your own rates. The most popular banner formats on
the web are the 728×90 leaderboard, the 120×600 skyscraper, the 300×250
rectangle and the 125×125 button.
The downside of direct banner advertising is that you need to have a big
audience to get qualified advertisers, and you will need to spend time managing
the sales process, the banners and the payments.
Related links:
4. Text Link Ads
After Google declared that sites selling text links without the nofollow tag
would be penalized, this monetization method became less popular.
Many website owners are still using text links to monetize their sites,
though, some using the nofollow tag and some not.
The advantage of this method is that it is not intrusive. One can sell text
links directly through his website or use specialized networks like
Text-Link-Ads and Text-Link-Brokers to automate the process.
Text link marketplaces and networks:
5. Affiliate Marketing
Affiliate marketing is a very popular practice on the Internet. Under this
system you have a merchant that is willing to let other people (the affiliates)
sell directly or indirectly its products and services, in exchange for a
commission. Sometimes this type of advertising is also called CPA (cost per
action) or CPL (cost per lead) based.
Affiliates can send potential customers to the merchant using several tools,
from banners to text links and product reviews.
In order to find suitable affiliate programs you can turn to individual
companies and publishers like Dreamhost
and SEOBook, or join affiliate
marketplaces and networks.
List of popular affiliate marketplaces and networks:
6. Monetization Widgets
The latest trend on the web are widgets that let you monetize your website.
Examples include Widgetbucks and SmartLinks. Some of these services operate
under a PPC scheme, others behave like text link ads, others yet leverage
affiliate links.
Their main differentiator, however, is the fact that they work as web
widgets, making it easier for the user to plug and play the service on its
website.
List of companies that provide monetization widgets:
7. Sponsored Reviews
PayPerPost pioneered this model, with much controversy on the beginning
(related to the fact that they did not require disclosure on paid posts). Soon
other companies followed, most notably Sponsored Reviews and ReviewMe, refining
the process and expanding the paid blogging model.
Joining one of these sponsored reviews marketplaces will give you the
opportunity to write sponsored posts on a wide range of topics. Not all
bloggers are willing to get paid to write about a specific product or website
(because it might compromise the editorial credibility), but the ones who do
are making good money out of it.
If your blog has a big audience you could also offer sponsored reviews
directly, cutting off the commissions of the middleman.
List of sponsored reviews and paid blogging networks:
8. RSS Feed Ads
With the quick adoption of the RSS technology by millions of Internet users,
website owners are starting to find ways to monetize this new content
distribution channel.
Feedburber already has its own publisher network, and you can sign-up to
start displaying CPM based advertising on your feed footer. Bidvertiser
recently introduced a RSS feed ad option as well, with a PPC scheme.
Finally, some blogs are also opting to sell banners or sponsored messages on
their feed directly. John Chow and Marketing Pilgrim are two examples.
Related links:
9. Sponsors for Single Columns or Events
If you website has specific columns or events (e.g., a weekly podcast, an
interview series, a monthly survey, a special project) you could find companies
to sponsor them individually.
This method increases the monetization options for website owner, while
giving advertisers the possibility to target a more specific audience and with
a reduced commitment. Mashable illustrates the case
well. They have several advertising options on the site, including the
possibility to sponsor specific columns and articles, including the “Daily
Poll” and the “Web 2.0 Invites.” Problogger also runs group writing
projects occasionally, and before proceeding he publicly announce the project
asking for sponsors.
10.Premium Content
Some websites and blogs give away part of their content for free, and charge
for access to the premium content and exclusive tools. SEOMoz is a good example. They have a
very popular blog that gives advice and information on wide range of SEO related
topics. On top of that visitors can decide to become premium members. It costs
$48 monthly and it grants them access to guides, tools and other exclusive
material.
11. Private Forums
While the Internet is populated with free forums, there is also the
possibility to create a private one where members need to pay a single or
recurring fee to join.
SEO Blackhat charges $100 monthly from its members, and they have thousands
of them. Obviously in order to charge such a price for a forum membership you
need to provide real value for the members (e.g., secret techniques, tools, and
so on). Performancing also launched a
private forum recently, focused on the networking aspect. It is called The
Hive, and the monthly cost is $10.
These are just two examples. There are many possibilities to create a
private and profitable forum, you just need to find an appealing angle that
will make it worth for the members.
List of popular forum software:
12. Job Boards
All the popular blogs are trying to leverage job boards to make some extra
income. Guy Kawasaki,
ReadWriteWeb, Problogger… you name it.
Needless to say that in order to create an active and profitable job board
you need first to have a blog focused on a specific niche, and a decent amount
traffic.
The advantage of this method is that it is passive. Once you have the
structure in place, the job listings will come naturally, and you can charge
anywhere from $10 up to $100 for each.
List of popular job board software:
13. Marketplaces Sitepoint is the online
marketplace by excellence. Some websites and blogs, however, are trying to
replicate that model on a smaller scale.
Depending on your niche, a market place that allows your visitors to buy,
sell and trade products could work well. Over the time you could start charging
a small fee for new product listings.
The problem with this method is that there are no standard software on the
web, so you would need to hire a coder to get a marketplace integrated into
your website.
You can see an example of a marketplaces being used on EasyWordpress and on Mashable.
14. Paid Surveys and Polls
There are services that will pay you money to run a small survey or poll on
your website. The most popular one is called Vizu Answers.
Basically you need to sign up with them, and select the kind of polls that
you want to run your site. Most of these services operate under a CPM model.
15. Selling or Renting Internal Pages Million Dollar Wiki
made this concept popular, but it was being used on the web for a long time
around (check Pagerank10.co.uk for
instance).
These websites sell for a single fee or rent for a recurring fee internal
pages on their domain. Usually they have either high Pagerak or high traffic,
so that people purchasing a page will be able to benefit in some way.
Implementing this method on a small blog would be difficult, but the concept
is interesting and could be explored further.
16. Highlighted Posts from Sponsors Techmeme probably pioneered this
idea, but somehow it has not spread to other websites. The tech news aggregator
displays editorial posts on the left column, and on the sidebar they have a
section titled “Techmeme Sponsor Posts.”
On that section posts from the blog of the advertisers get highlighted,
sending qualified traffic their way. Considering that the monthly cost for one
spot is $5000 and that they have around 6 sponsors at any given time, it must
be working well.
17. Donations
Placing a “Donate” link or button on a website can be an efficient way to
earn money, especially if your blog is on a niche where readers learn and gain
value from your content.
Personal development and productivity blogs, for instance, tend to perform
well with donation based systems (one good example being Steve Pavlina).
A small variation of this method appeared sometime ago with the Buy
Me a Beer plugin. This WordPress plugin enables you to insert a customized
message at the bottom of each article, asking the readers to chip in for a beer
or coffee.
18. In-text Adverting
In-text adverting networks like Kontera
and Vibrant Media
will place sponsored links inside your text. These links come with a double
underline to differentiate them from normal links, and once the user rolls the
mouse over the link the advertising will pop. Should the user click on it the
site owner will make some money.
Some people make good money with this method, but others refrain from using
it due to its intrusiveness. It is also interesting to note that very few
mainstream websites have experimented with in-text advertising.
19. Pop-ups and Pop-unders
Pop-ups are a common yet annoying form of advertising on the Internet. If
you are just trying to make a much money as possible from your website, you
could experiment with them.
If you are trying to grow the traffic and generate loyal visitors, however,
you probably should stay away from them. Just consider the hundreds of pop-up
blockers out there: there is a reason why they are so popular.
Ad networks that use pop-ups:
20. Audio Ads
Also called PPP (Pay Per Play), this advertising method was introduce by Net Audio Ads. the concept is pretty
simple: play a small audio advertising (usually 5 seconds) every time a visitor
enters into your website. The user should not be able to stop it, creating a
100% conversion rate based on unique visitors.
The company is still rolling tests, but some users are reporting to get from
a $4 to a $6 CPM. Regardless of the pay rate, though, this is a very intrusive
form of advertising, so think twice before using it.
21. Selling the Website
Selling your website could be your last resource, but it has the potential
to generate a big sum of money in a short period of time.
Market places on online forums like DigitalPoint
and Sitepoint are always
active with website buyers and sellers. Keep in mind that they most used
parameter to determine the value of a website is the monthly revenue that it
generates, multiplied by a certain number (the multiplier can be anything from
5 to 30, depending on the expectations of the seller, on the quality of the
site, on the niche and other factors).
Some people also make money trading and flipping websites. They either
create them from scratch or buy existing ones, and after some revamping they
sell them for a profit.
Related links:
22. Selling an Ebook
Perhaps one of the oldest money making strategies on the web, using a
website to promote a related ebook is a very efficient way to generate revenue.
You could either structure the website around the book itself, like SEOBook.com, or launch the ebook based on
the success of the website, like FreelanceSwitch did we the book How to be a Rockstar Freelancer.
Related links:
23. Selling a Hardcover Book
Many authors and journalists leverage their blogs or websites to sell copies
of hardcover books. Examples include Guy
Kawasaki, Seth Godin and Malcolm Gladwell.
While most of these people were already renowned authors before they created
their website, one could also follow the other way around. Lorelle VanFossen
did exactly that with her Blogging Tips
book. First she built her authority on the subject via her blog, and afterwards
she published the book.
List of self publishing and publishing services:
24. Selling Templates or WordPress Themes
As more and more people decide to get an online presence, website templates
and WordPress themes become hotter and hotter.
On this segment you have mainstream websites like TemplateMonster, as well as
individual designers who decide to promote and sell their work independently. Brian Gardner and Unique
Blog Designs are two examples of websites that make money with the sales of
premium and custom WordPress themes.
25. Offering Consulting and Related Services
Depending on your niche, you could make money by offering consulting and
related services. If you are also the author of your blog, the articles and
information that you will share will build your profile and possibly certify
your expertise on that niche, making it easier to gain customers. Chris Garrett used a similar strategy.
First he created a highly influential blog on the blogging and new media niche,
and afterwards he started offering consulting services to clients with related
problems and needs.
26. Creating an Email List or Newsletter
Email lists and newsletters represent one of the most powerful marketing and
money making tools on the Internet. They offer incredible conversion rates, and
the possibility to call people to action in a very efficient way.
Creating a big list is a difficult task though, so if you have a popular
website you could leverage it to increase the number of subscribers on your
list. Yaro Starak is a famous
Internet marketer, and if you visit his blog you will notice that right on top
he has a section encouraging visitors to subscribe to his email newsletter.
Yaro generates five figures in revenues each month from his email newsletters,
proving that this method works.
List of software to manage email newsletters:
27. Mentoring programs
People are willing to pay for someone or something that will teach them and
give them knowledge (as opposed to mere information). Education is one of the
biggest industries in the world, and the online landscape behaves in a similar
way.
Creating a mentoring program related to the niche of your website could be
very profitable if you manage to structure and promote it adequately. There is
a wide range of media and tools that you can use to deliver the information,
from text articles to audio and video lessons.
Brian Clark leveraged the success of Copyblogger
to launch a mentoring program teaching people how to build membership and how
to sell content online. The program is titled Teaching Sells, and it costs $97 monthly.
Sounds expensive, but they have over 1,000 members.
28. Creating a conference around the website
If your website takes off and becomes an authority on its niche, you could
create a conference around it. Depending on the size of your audience, the
event could attract thousands of people, and you could make money directly from
conference passes and sponsors. Search Engine Land, for instance,
created a series of conferences that visit several cities on the United States
and on other countries as well. The conferences are called Search Marketing Expo, and the
tickets and passes cost thousands of dollars.
t is the summer holidays and many people have plenty of
time on their hands. Some of us are stuck with laptops and can’t play
the huge blockbuster games that require hefty graphic cards. Why not try
these classic open source remakes? The underlying gameplay has already
been proven and the graphics are updated to a presentable and playable
level. Everyone of these games listed here were best sellers of their
times and many of us hold great memories of these games.
I
personally remember playing a lot of Total Annihilation, Transport
Tycoon, Civilization, Colonization, X-COM: UFO Defense and Worms. I
still regularly play TA Spring and FreeSpace. TA has great multiplayer
and FreeSpace has some quality campaigns that boast of good stories and
exciting gameplay. Please do take your time to try these games out. They
are free, have very good gameplay and are sure to entertain you. You
won’t be disappointed!
Top 10 Classic Game Remakes
1. TA Spring - Remake
of Total
Annihilation “Total Annihilation a.k.a. TA is a futuristic RTS PC
game, created by Chris Taylor and Cavedog Entertainment and released on
September 30, 1997[1] by GT Interactive. It was the first RTS to
feature 3D units and terrain, a significant achievement in the days
before graphics cards with hardware based 3D acceleration became
commonplace. Two expansion packs were released, The Core Contingency on
April 30, 1998[2] and Battle Tactics on June 30, 1998.[3] The game won
many awards, including Gamespot's Game of the Year Award for 1997. TA is
considered to be one of the best RTS games of all time, and is still
played actively today, more than 9 years after its release.”
TA Spring has improved 3D
graphics, control schemes.
Even the TA’s successor, Supreme Commander takes a few pointers from
Spring. Great multiplayer community means there is always a game ready
to be played. Try this out if your computer is unable to run Supreme
commander or you are looking for a great RTS night with your friends.
Download
@ http://spring.clan-sy.com/download.php 2. FreeSpace 2
FreeSpace
2 was a Space simulator like the Wing Commander Series. However now it
is living on as an open source game where there are even user created
campaigns with quality and content that rivals that of the original.
User created campaigns include settings in Babylon universe, Battlestar
Galactica Universe and also Wing Commander. Improved graphics means that
flashing light effects and sounds make the game seem quite modern.
Great for a fun night blasting enemies away. Download @ http://www.hard-light.net/wiki/index.php/FreeSpace_Open_Installer
3. Simutrans -
Remake of Transport
Tycoon
“Transport Tycoon (TT) and Transport Tycoon Deluxe
(TTD) are computer games in which the player is in control of a
transport company, and can compete against rival companies to make as
much profit as possible, by transporting passengers and various goods by
road, rail, sea or by air.” I remembered spending a
hours playing Transport Tycoon
when I was still in school. You get to learn some basic economics and
business skills. Great for a young mind to play as it is addictive and
educational. Parents might just want to introduce this game to their
children. Sadly economic building games are no longer hot games and very
little companies actually develop them anymore. Simutrans has simple
graphics but the underlying game play is very complex and there is much
to learn.
Download @ http://forum.simutrans.com/index.php/board,51.0.htm
4. NetHack - Remake of
Hack
“NetHack
is a single-player roguelike computer game originally released in 1987.
It is an evolution of an earlier game called Hack (1985), which was
itself an evolution of Rogue (1980). The "net" element references that
its development has been coordinated through the Internet, which was
notable at the time. The "hack" element refers to a genre of
role-playing games known as hack and slash for their focus on combat.”
The player takes the part of a
dungeon-diving hero in search of the Amulet of Yendor. The dungeon spans
over 50 levels, most of which are randomly generated. The dungeon
contains monsters, weaponry, magical items, hidden doors and
more.Diablo, Titan quest has great graphics. Nethack has no graphics to
speak of. Instead it compensates by adding very flexible gameplay. Using
ASCII characters to represent monsters and walls, it creates a random
universe everytime you step into the game. I tried it once but I found
that I kept dying. Not for the faint hearted I guess. But as an RPG, it
is the golden benchmark of game play
Download @ http://www.nethack.org/v343/downloads.html 5. Vega
Strike - Remake of
“Elite” which inspired Wing Commander: Privateer
“Vega Strike
aims to insert players into a large, dynamic universe with diverse
factions of varying disposition to the player and to each other, and an
economy model where trade, combat and exploration are all profitable.
Financial gains allow the player to buy upgrades and/or better vehicles,
thus enabling him/her to advance into more dangerous and profitable
missions. The player can have varying levels of relations with factions.
Negative relations can form if the player kills some of a given
faction’s ships. Positive relations can be formed if the player destroys
ships that are part of an enemy to a given faction. Players can either
buy and sell cargo, or accept missions from the Mission Computer, as
well as talking to people in the local bar at the space station/planet.
In the tradition of some precursor games, individuals of significant
plot importance are often found in bars.” Download @ http://vegastrike.sourceforge.net/files/index.html 6.
FreeCiv – Remake of
Civilization
Sid Meier's Civilization is a computer game
created by Sid Meier for Microprose in 1991. The game's objective is
"...to build an empire that would stand the test of time". The game
begins in 4000 BC, and the players attempt to expand and develop their
empires through the ages until modern and near-future times. It is also
known simply as Civilization, or abbreviated to Civ or Civ I. It is
generally acknowledged to be a pioneer in the genre of turn-based
strategy games.” Civilization is one of the
longest running franchises in
computer gaming history. The latest is Civilization 4 which
incorporates multiplayer. Civilization is another turn based game that I
played a lot of. Even recently I had play matches of civ 4 with my
friends. This game definitely brings out the “one more turn” syndrome
that sucks you into the game and refuses to let you go until the game
ends.
Download @ http://freeciv.wikia.com/wiki/Download 7. FreeCol - Remake of
Colonization
“Colonization
has many similarities to Sid Meier's previous title, Civilization. Both
games pit the player as a godlike leader of an embattled civilization,
the objective being to gain supremacy over rival civilizations,
primarily through military means and discovery, but also through
diplomacy, economics, and the strategic transformation and utilization
of the land.[3] In Civilization the player begins the game in 4000BC,
with a ‘primitive’ tribe which “gradually builds up a sophisticated
conglomeration of cities... infrastructure, units, resources” and
scientific know-how, “nearly everything is quantified (not only money,
production of units, and infrastructure but also science and culture).
With increasing levels of sophistication of the population of the
cities, the player controls the differentiation of the people, some
become farmers, others soldiers, scouts, diplomats, scientists etc.” Colonization is very similar
to civilization. Both comes
from the great game designer, sid miero. Colonization takes place in
the great immigration of the New World. There is a stronger focus on
economics and diplomacy compared to Civilization. A game I played in
between civilization 1 and civilization 2.
Download @ http://www.freecol.org/index.php?section=6
8.
UFO:_Alien_Invasion
- Remake of X-COM: UFO Defense
“The story of X-COM begins in
1998. The initial plot centers around increased reports of UFO
sightings. Tales of abduction and terrorism by the unknown aliens become
widespread. The nations of the world come to perceive this as a threat
and attempt to form their own forces to deal with this, such as Japan's
Kiryu-Kai; these forces fail miserably, the Kiryu-Kai not intercepting a
single UFO in its five months of operation. On December 11, 1998,
representatives from some of the most powerful nations in the world meet
in Geneva, Switzerland, to discuss the issue. From this meeting was
born the Extraterrestrial Combat Unit—X-COM, who the player controls in
the course of the game.” Another remake of a classic
game. UFO Alien Invasion is
a turn based tactical game when you do battles with aliens. In addition
you also have to allocate resources to develop new technologies and
build new bases. Games of these type have almost become non existent
now. The closest I think is Company of Heroes.
Download @ http://sourceforge.net/project/platformdownload.php?group_id=157793 9.
BZFlag – Remake of
Battlezone
“Battlezone is an arcade game from Atari released
in 1980. It displays a wireframe view (using vector graphics rather than
raster graphics) on a horizontal black and white CRT (with green and
red sectioned color overlay). Due to its novel gameplay and look, this
game was very popular for many years.” Download @ http://sourceforge.net/project/showfiles.php?group_id=3248 10.
Wormux – Remake of
Worms
“Worms is the first in a series of turn-based strategy
games developed by Team17. It was released in 1995 and is one of the
most popular strategy games ever made. The player controls a team of
worms, each team consists of four members. The objective of the game is
to wipe the enemy team(s) within the time limit, the team which has
worms still alive at the end of the match is the winner. The player has
access to a whole variety of weapons, from simple firearms like the
shotgun, to heavy weapons such as the air-strike.” Simple to pick up and play
with your friends. Worms is a
great party game. Download @ http://www.wormux.org/wiki/en/index.php
Hi Readers, welcome to the May 27, 2007 edition of Top
Ten List Carnival. It is still amazing to me how many bloggers
are writing their post in Top Ten List formats. Top Ten List are simple
to follow for the reader and an effective way to share an experience
with the readers of your blog.
isabella mori presents the
10 paradoxes of creative people posted at change therapy,
saying, "an
abbreviated version of a list made by psychologist mihalyi
csikszentmihalyi, perhaps the greatest living expert on the psychology
of creativity. this post sparked all kinds of interesting discussions
and further blog posts."
I was looking for a PDA phone to buy so that with Wifi,
I could use Skype even without my laptop. I narrowed my choice down to
the Dopod 818 pro or the HP 6282 PDA phones. But recently Starhub
slashed the price of the o2 Xda stealth making it quite a bargain as a
newly owned model could be bought at around the second hand prices of
818 pro and 6282.
Anyway after sometime of searching, I saw a
pretty good deal on vrforums
.It
turned out the seller was quite dishonest both about the age, the
origin and the condition of the phone. Just to help everyone, here is a
handy list of items to check when buying a second hand phone
1.
Check IMEI The IMEI is a code that identifies each phone.
No 2 phones have the same number and manufacturers use this number to
verify stolen phones and the amount of warranty that your phone has.
Check that the IMEI number on the phone corresponds to the number on the
box and receipts. If the numbers differ, there could be several
reasons. The first is that the phone is a stolen/ found set or the phone
had been sent for servicing and had the main board replaced. Both
situations are warning signs of a problematic phone.
2.
Examine the Original Receipt Get a receipt from the seller.
If it comes from a reputable retail outlet, then you do not have to
worry much. The receipt will be able to tell you when the phone is
bought and how much warranty is left. Phones usually have only 1 year
warranty. However if you see a receipt that is of dubious origin, be
very wary. The receipt might be faked to make the phone look younger
than it actually is. It might even be from a second hand dealer trying
to sell off the phone again.
3. Closely Inspect the
Exterior This step is rather simple and should give you an
idea of how old the phone is. Wear and tear will occur. Usually this
means the buttons’ paint will peel of. For PDA phones, the paint near
the Stylus slot will also peel off. Ensure that the condition is what
you expect to pay for. Ratings by sellers are very subjective therefore
when no photos are uploaded, buy only when satisfied of the condition.
4.
Stress Test the Keypad Press all the buttons…many
times…phones should be able to withstand multiple presses without giving
away.
5. Do a Detailed Check of the Functions After
you are done with the exterior, it is time to check the phone itself.
Try every function that the phone has. A laptop or another phone will
come in handy at this time. For pocketPC phones, there is a self test
function under the “Programs” Menu. You can use that to check the
various functions of the phone.Phone manufacters have a secert code on
their phones that will allow access to a menu that test the functions of
the phone.(Sony Ericsson: -> * <- <- * <- *) Example of
functions to check · Calling · SMS · Bluetooth · Music
Players (Speakers) · Infrared Red · Wifi · GPS
6.
Scratches on the Display? Check the LCD display. Dead
pixels are rare in phones unlike LCD monitors. But for phones, try to
see if there are scratches on the screen. Scratches are expensive to
repair and most people should buy a lcd screen protector to ensure the
high resale value of their phone.
7. Moving PartsSome
phones have sliders, flippers. Try them to test if they are flimsy.
Moving parts tend to be easily damaged by drops and frequent use.
8.
Battery life Batteries drop in performance as they age.
However even a second hand phone should not use more than 10% of its
battery in the time you are testing. This point is hard to check and the
best solution is to get a personal warranty from the seller so that you
can test the battery life later.
9. ChargerPlug
in the charger and see if the phone charges the battery. Try to nudge
the charger connection a bit to see if the charging port is loose.
10.
Accessories Usually most phones have headsets now. Plug em
in and repeat the calling test
One last thing…
11.
Is there Warranty? Get the warranty card. See if it has
been sent in. Some manufacturers will not honor their warranty if the
card has not been sent in within a few days of purchase. Some brands
will also have their users register their warranty online. Prior to
meeting the seller, get the IMEI number and do a warranty check online.
Also ask the seller for a 7 days personal warranty so that you have time
to interact and ensure that the phone is in working condition.
This
is unlikely to be an exhaustive list of what to check when buying a
second hand phones. Everyone should exercise caution and bear in the
mind the saying of “caveat emptor”
Are you an asset to your company? In a company,
everyone occupies a niche that he excels in. What niche are you
fulfilling n your company? Here are 10 easy ways to identity your role.
1)
A client requests to deal only with you
Strong
client relationship
2) You are asked to
take over a failing project halfway.
Proven ability
to deliver results under difficult conditions
3)
You are sought to undertake a very specific task
Unique
talent and ability
4) You are asked to
run your company’s first foreign operation
Loyalty
and trustworthiness
5) You are selected to
attend you company’s high potential assessment centre Demonstrated
high potential
6) Your boss makes mention
of you to his superior
Ability to contribute to
higher management’s success
7) You are
asked if you want to be part of the company’s expansion plan
Potential
to be developed
8) Your company has to
call you back when a problem crops us, even when you are on leave
Vast
experience and knowledge to deal with problems
9)
There is a company award and your name comes first to the mind of the
management
Key contribution to the company’s success
10) You are asked to resolve people and cultural
issues
Diplomacy in resolving sensitive people and
cultural issues
Employers check references because they need a second opinion on their potential hire. Everyone should have references. But how do you get a great references that will outshine the others? Here is a simple 10 Step tutorial to get consistent and presentable references from your previous colleagues.
Find a suitable referee. They are generally people whom have work with you in a professional capacity. Examples can include direct manager, peers or clients.
Arrange for a meeting or phone conversation with your referee. Review questions that may be asked
Tell your referee about the kind of job you are seeking. Ask if he is comfortable recommending you for such a position. Give hi a copy of your resume, clarify your accomplishments and answer questions he may have
Suggest to our referee that you would appreciate strong recommendations in the key areas and traits mentioned above
Ask the referee what he thinks about your weaknesses or developmental areas, for example:” May I ask you what you think my developmental needs are, so that you and I are consistent?”
With former bosses, clarify reasons for leaving. Tell them what you are saying and ask if they are comfortable saying that as wel. You are not asking your referee to lie. You merely need a congruent story as reasons for leaving may be vague at times
Write a summary so your referee can refer to it. The summary should consist of key points raised during your conversation and the traits and strengths, developmental needs and reasons for leaving
Tell your referee who will be getting in touch with him so he is not surpired when the call comes. Even better, schedule the call yourself if possible
Gain your referee’s commitment to call you if anyone contacts him
Do you want to live a happy life? If you say yes like most people do, then it’s important to learn to enjoy life. Some people may think that they can only enjoy life when they already have a lot of money or have a successful career. But that’s not true. You can enjoy your life where you are with what you already have. You can enjoy your life now.
Here I will share with you how to enjoy life. But before that, I’d like to share two tips that are essential to live a happy life. The first one is to be grateful. I can’t emphasize enough how important it is. No matter how many pleasant things you do, if you don’t learn to be grateful you will always see things negatively.
Enjoy LifeThe second one is to slow down. Life has a lot of simple things you can enjoy. But if you move too fast you will overlook most of them. So don’t be in a hurry. Don’t move too quick. Slow down and pay attention to the world around you. Most of the ways I’m about to share will work well only if you slow down.
With those two tips in mind, here are 30 ways to enjoy life. Pick the ones that work for you:
1. Enjoy your meal. Don’t just eat. Taste it and appreciate its richness. 2. Learn to cook. 3. Feel music and not just listen to it. 4. Play music. More than just listening, playing music allows you to express yourself. 5. Sing. 6. Gather with old friends. 7. Take a walk in the park. 8. Go hiking. 9. Read a novel. 10. Find and watch a movie you like. IMDB‘s recommendation engine can help you find movies you may like. 11. Give yourself a lazy day. 12. Play board games with your friends. 13. Have a candle-light dinner with your spouse. 14. Play mini games. 15. Read comics. 16. See beautiful pictures. 17. Read inspiring quotes. 18. Learn to paint. 19. Read a classic book. 20. Exercise with friends. 21. Watch funny videos. 22. Play with kids. 23. Play a mind game. 24. Have a cup of coffee. 25. Get a massage. 26. Go to a museum. 27. Go to a theater. 28. Watch sunrise. 29. Take pictures. 30. Browse your photo album for your treasured memories.
I’m sure there are still a lot of other ways to enjoy life. What is your favorite way to enjoy life?
1. Imagine that luck is on your side. You have to behave in such a manner as if you expected only good things to happen to you every day, not just from time to time. Optimism is the key.
1. Imagine that luck is on your side. You have to behave in such a manner as if you expected only good things to happen to you every day, not just from time to time. Optimism is the key.
