Self-Designed Custom Natural Rug

I had the chance to visit my friend, Sam, at his new home over the long holiday weekend. I have to say that although his house is large and more beautiful than the photos of it that he showed me earlier because he has finally furnished it, I have to say that the house is too large and lack warmth. Also, it is too spacious and for a house like that. I read that one could use floor rugs to create dividers.

Sam's is a million-dollar house and buying any rug off the shelf at a shopping mall would not do. For him, The Natural Rug Company comes to mind since we could easily custom design our very own rug online through their website.

This online rug designing tool is particularly useful for rug buyers like Sam whose homes are already furnished. I am sure you know how difficult it is to buy a rug that matches your interior furnishing, right? With The Natural Rug Company, not only can you select the right colour and size, you can even select from a range of material, borders and weaves, ensuring that you have just the right rug for your home. This is definitely something I would like to try out when I have my own home!

Great California Garage Sale Declared A Success

The Great California Garage Sale has been declared a success, with a nett sales of US$1.5 million garnered from its online and offline auctions. If you have read a previous post of mine, you would remember that California Governor had the idea of holding such a sale from a Twitter conversation after he invited ideas from Californians on how to reduce the state's budget deficit of US$26 billion.

For its online auctions, Craigslist and eBay were utilized but buyers were allowed to collect their winning items at the surplus property warehouse in California on 28th & 29th August, 2009.

Besides state vehicles, office equipment, surplus and furniture, California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger also took the opportunity to autograph some of these items in a bid to raise their value. In fact, a personalized autographed leather jacket of Governor Schwarzenegger is still open for bidding on eBay. Link here.

Although the Great California Garage Sale was declared a success, it did not go without criticism particularly its eBay auctions which did not receive payment via PayPal. Although this is in violation of general seller's rules of eBay, eBay was willing to close one eye in this case.

Accounting Woes

My friend, James, has just started his own company dealing in electronics. He told me that he has problem with his accounts, something that he learned in school but has given back to the teacher already!

James told me that he is looking to hire an accounts clerk, someone with a couple of years of experience. He doesn't want a fresh graduate although she would be cheaper and neither could he afford the services of a Las Vegas Quickbooks Accounting Firm.

I would help him too but I am also facing similar problems. No, I didn't give back to my teacher but I have figures; always have, which is surprising that I decided to venture into business in the first place. I guess I could help him look for a suitable candidate and judging from the current employment market, I think he shouldn't have a problem!

Ramadan Bazaar

My friend sent me a text message last evening asking me if I have visited the Ramadan bazaar near my home. There are two nearby actually, and these vendors selling Ramadan food and goodies would be here for the full fasting month.

I usually would visit the bazaars though like everything else, I am giving them a miss this year. I reckon that like past years business is very brisk because not only are these bazaars visited by Muslims who would pick up some food for their opening of fast, non Muslims also love to treat themselves to these food, which may not be easily bought if it's not the month of Ramadan. I think we could call them "seasonal food" too.

My non-Muslim friends tell me that they look forward to the month of Ramadan for the food only, much like many people look forward to the durian season. Of course, if you cannot tolerate the pungent smell of durians, the King of fruits, that's another issue altogether!

Sharing A Housewarming Gift

My friend, Terrence, will be holding a housewarming party next week in conjunction with Independence Day. He actually already moved into his new home a couple of months ago but has only just finished unpacking and settling down into the home enough to host a party.

With all the things that are going on in my life right now, I had to turn down his invitation. However, I proposed to a mutual friend, Sandy, to share a housewarming gift for him. She is attending the party so she would be the one choosing and buying the gift. I am just going to pay half the cost of it. Just the kind of arrangement I like, actually, since I do not have time to worry about these things at the moment.

Sandy told me that she is looking at ovens and may get one full-featured oven for Terrence. I guess every home needs an oven but I haven't asked if Terrence already has an oven! According to Sandy, an oven is large enough a gift to be shared between two people but is small enough to be carried by one person. LOL Poor Sandy has to do all the hard work this time. I hope Terrence appreciates it no matter what gift Sandy ends up buying!

Merdeka Sale

This 31st August, 2009, Malaysia will be celebrating her 52nd Independence Day. Even though there is the (A)H1N1 threat, many shopping malls are already running Merdeka Sale. Merdeka is Malaysian word for independence.

This year, unlike previous years, I am afraid that I would have to give this a miss. Sure, I love shopping, but I have other priorities to see to for the time being. I sure will miss jostling with the bargain hungry crowd and to think that I was so looking forward to pick up some new clothes and shoes.

Well, I guess it is a blessing in disguise that I would not be able to shop. I would be staying away from the shopping crowd, minimizing the risk of an (A)H1N1 infection and I wouldn't get to spend as much as I would have to picking up bargains. Lucky me credit card. Hehehe!

Beauty Course

Although I am already running my own business, small as it is, I think that I should equip myself with some skills. I would love to take up a beauty course that includes bridal make up and nail art. I may not be the most creative person on earth but I think that if I could find a beauty school that could help unearth my hidden talent, I would be able to hold my own.

Searching for cosmotology schools is very easy now with the internet at this point, I could finance my own studies. However, time is limited. If I could free up time to attend school, it would affect my income. Sometimes, I wonder if I should take a step back so that I could move two steps ahead later but this is really not the time to wonder with so many responsibilities to shoulder. I don’t think I could take on yet another commitment.

Non Standard Accessories

I recently bought a Samsung LCD screen from a local store and because I was rushing for time, I asked the technician to test the screen and then bought it by cash and carry. I have to say that it was my own fault for not checking EVERYTHING that came in the box and by EVERYTHING I mean even the cables and CD.

So I went home and tried to plug in the screen to replace my older 17 inch CRT monitor only to find that the 2-point cable that came with my LCD did not fit in the power point of my home! I was pretty pissed off to say the least as the shop was about to close and I had to rush back to get a standard 3-point power cable.

Of course, I could go to an electrical store to purchase a converter but why should I? It is also Samsung's fault for not shipping standard accessories with the screens. I was told by the lady boss that part of their consignment came with a 2-point power cable, some came with a standard 3-point power cable. Why then did they no tell me when I was there the first time?

Great California Garage Sale

California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger has announced that the Department of General Services of California has listed some items for auction on eBay and Craigslist ahead of the Great California Garage Sale, an idea he received from an invitation via Twitter for ideas on how to manage the state budget. Items that are listed online include office furniture, office supplies and computers, some signed by the Governor himself.

The actual Great California Garage Sale is an offline yard sale at the surplus property warehouse in California on 28th & 29th August, 2009 where auctions for over 500 vehicles will also be conducted. Some other items to look out for at the Great California Garage Sale would be unclaimed and confiscated items like jewelry, surfboard, racing bike and an antique piano.

For online purchasers who live in California, they would also be able to pick up their winning items at designated booths during the Great California Garage Sale.

Energy Sapping Caregiving Duties

My sister sympathizes with me that I have to care for our sick dog. That's all she could do; sympathize, since she is so far away and have left home 8.5 years ago. I wonder if she still remembers how our dog looks like. Anyway, that's what been keeping me really busy to the point of letting my online business idle for the time being until such time I am free of these caregiving duties.

I was telling my sister that how tiring it is to provide 24 hour care, especially in the middle of the night when any sane people would be asleep. But I have no choice since there is no one to share this responsibility with me.

My sister tells me that I should try Acai Berry Energy Supplements. Whether it works or not that's hard to say but in America, it looks like there is a miracle cure for any ailment. In my case, I think that I would be better off sleeping 24 hours straight. That is certainly more effective in recharging my batteries.

End Of Summer Sale

The end of summer is still a month away, technically, but many online retailers are already running end of summer sale to offload as many seasonal items as possible to make way for a new season.

While some people think that running an online store is a simple task, we really have to think ahead, like in this example, holding end of summer sale before the end of summer arrives. An online retailer also has to order stocks of the new season in advance and plan to publish them at the store when a new season arrives. No shopper would want to browse through off season items when a new season is here, right?

As for online shoppers, even for a no-brainer task like shopping, we also have to plan WHEN to shop. Now that we know that end of summer sales are actually held a month or more away, we should hold on tight to our purse strings and wait for the right time to check out our shopping carts and with hefty discounts too!

Honouring A Bid

It looks like it is not only happening on eBay Malaysia where eBay and Lelong bidders do not honour their bids. First, there was the radio talk show host who placed his bid on the rights to name a baby boy due September with no intention to win, though it looks now that he did have the intention to help jack up the price, and then there is the Japanese who placed a winning bid of US$4,602,100 for the crypt above Marilyn Monroe's at the Westwood Village Memorial Park Cemetery.

It looks like when people sign up to be a user of eBay, or any other website for the matter, they fail to read the fine lines of the terms of use. On eBay, a bid is a contract and one should honor it. Of course, if the winner backs off and the seller accepts his/her reason, then all is fine and well but if the seller wants to be mean, he/she has every right to.

I have to admit, I have backed off an auction before after winning it. It was a long time ago on Lelong when I was still a green horn. Luckily the seller was very graceful about it.

Secure Online Shopping

My sister, finally, is comfortable with shopping online. It's funny how she was afraid to do so previously because she did not feel comfortable with disclosing her credit card details to online retailers. Of course, I do understand her fears but we know where to shop and not venture into the dark alleys of the world wide wide, we should be safe.

Her husband has also caught the bug of online shopping and would spend hours online checking out items he would like to buy. However, he would still leave the shopping decision to my sister like which store is offering an item at a better deal and so on.

I was told that they are comparing weight vests now and since it's not an urgent purchase, had waited for a promotion, at least free shipping. I think they need not hold on any longer as Allegro Medical is offering free shipping on all web orders above $25 though they need to act fast as this offer ends midnight Thursday.

Installing A Car

A friend told me that his ten year old car is starting to give him trouble already. It seems like he is always visiting the workshop, from repairing his engine to repairing his power window, then the battery died, etc.

A car is the second largest purchase in a working class person's life, second only to a house. Assuming that a new car owner takes out a maximum of nine year auto loan, this means that as soon as the car loan is paid off, the car would start showing its age already.

Of course there are some people with better luck. Either they buy a better car right off (Japanese and European cars are sturdier) or they don't have to take out a maximum loan. Or there are people who could afford to change their car before it shows signs of age (according to another friend, six years is the time to let it go).

And then there are people who are rich enough to be able to afford to purchase a car in cash, without having to take out a loan and pay interest as interest alone could cost 1/3 to 1/2 of the total cost of the car in the end. However buying a new car in cash is never a good idea as one may get a knock at the door by the IRS.

Anyway, now my friend with car problems is thinking if it is more economically viable to repair his car or to buy a new car. This got me thinking that it looks for working class people, we would forever be tied to a car loan! Well, of course, we could not own a car but that's another matter altogether!

Personalized Gifts Gift Certificate

A survey revealed that gift certificates remain the top gift among women for all special occasions. My sister could attest to that as she has been receiving gift certificates from her husband for her birthday, Valentine's Day and Christmas year after year. My sister says there is no surprise anymore but I think that if we know where to look, we could still create a special surprise with gift certificates.

One of the best gift ideas to me is in gift certificates for stores that specialize in personalized gifts. On one hand, we are giving the freedom to our gift recipient to select their own gift, taking this burden from us, and at the same time, the gift would be a personalized gift and it would be a good reminder of the gift giver and the special occasion that it commemorates.

Personalized gifts like those featured on The Today Show offered by American Personalized Products are perfect for weddings, Mother's and Father's Day, Thanksgiving, Christmas, birthdays and any other special occasion.

American Personalized Products has made it really easy for a gift giver to customize the gift online through their website and the unique flame cut steel gift will be delivered within a week. What a hassle free way to order a personalized gift!

SEO In Online Sales

My blogger friends would be familiar with Search Engine Optimization or SEO in short. Optimizing keywords in your blog could drive more search traffic to it but did you know that SEO is also useful when it comes to online sales?

Whether you are selling on eBay or run your own online store, optimizing keywords, especially brand name (at the same time gaining brand recognition) is most important and could be done via categories, sub-categories, titles and description.

For your categories and sub-categories, it would be best to have a standard format, or layout, and have it appear on the left sidebar of your store as that is the spot that search engines could easily read first.

Imagine if you have this list of categories and sub-categories on every page of your store, you have already multiple the number of "different" pages that would be spider by search engines which means that you would have generated more search engine results and ultimately more traffic and eyeballs.

Renovating My Home Office

I have been reading various interior design magazines lately to get some ideas on how to renovate my home office. I have wanted to do this for a long time now but have been bogged down with work, I could not afford any down time.

Lately, I haven't really been working because of other commitments which give me some time to make such plans to redo my home office. I read that playing with lights would create an effect that would make the room seem larger, although it is not.

Although I do actually have time to do anything yet, I have been scouting for discount lighting fixturers, waiting for the right time to buy, even if I may not have the time to do any actual renovation work yet. I can stock them if they are well worth the money. I wouldn't mind at all!

Business Proposal

Victor, a business associate, sent me a business proposal last night. It was something that I have always wanted to venture into, expanding my online lingerie business. You know, it's always wise to diversify and that's what I have plans to do, though I am not able to do it alone.

Unfortunately, I had to turn him down at this point in time, though I plan to take it up with him when I could sometime in the future if it was still open, much to my regret as I am bogged down with serious commitments and responsibilities that are taking up all my time at the expense of my work and business.

If later, this proposal is no longer open to me, then I guess I will have to look for another partner, or get it off the ground by myself. Not that I haven’t done something like that before! LOL I'm keeping my fingers crossed but we shall see.

Blowout Sale

My friend, Terrence, is on the road again. I am so envious of him that he gets to travel so and for free too since everything would be paid for by his company, while I am stuck here with stacks of responsibilities and commitments. His latest travels gave me an idea to buy him something really useful for his birthday, something like Eagle Creek luggage that he could use when he is on the road.

I have been told that there is a blowout sale for bags and travel accessories right now. How timely. I am sure I would be able to get something that fits my budget. I just need to spend some time finding the most suitable gift for Terrence. It's not only the thought that counts

VS Swimwear $10 Per Piece

Victoria's Secret is running an awesome promotion, too bad it's going to end tomorrow, where you can purchase Victoria's Secret swim wear at US$10 per piece only, with the freedom to mix and match your pieces.

This promotion is just in time for the warmer weather for those who are waiting for the chance to show some flesh and soak in some sun. If you have ever purchased swim wear before, you will know how difficult it is to find a set that you fit your body perfectly. Either the top is too large or the bottom is too small or vice versa.

How frustrating could that be? Victoria's Secret knows that is why allow shoppers the flexibility to buy different pieces without going by fixed sets. If you are going to purchase swim wear already, go check what they have available before this promotion ends.

Dressing Up

The bad side of working from home, I told a friend, is that I hardly have the chance to dress up. Needless to say, I don't own any office attire. Luckily, I do occasionally get invited to social parties which I am obligated to attend even though, frankly, I don't really like to socialize with a bunch of strangers in a formal setting.

I do try to stay away from some of these events, even for business sake, which require me to be in a cocktail dress simply because I feel very awkward dressed in one and need I mention, HEELS?

Even though I don't like to be in a dress, I still like to keep up with the latest trends and I could do that comfortably by surfing various trendy websites. Style Hive is one of them and they have always been very up-to-date with fashion and style that all fashionista wannabes should check out. I'm not even one but fashion sure makes a good conversation piece with my friends!

I am particularly taken with the post on vintage cocktail dresses. Just look at this blue dress. It looks so exquisite, isn't it? Too bad I would never be able to carry a dress like this well!

eBay Gallery Picture Issue

I just received a couple of notices from eBay regarding an issue with my gallery pictures. Apparently, the system was not able to call up my old images and I would have to reupload them. Now, before anyone again tells me that these are phishing mail, let me just say that I did not click on any link in these email notices but logged in directly to my eBay account to check and try to fix things.

Too bad that I couldn't upload the photos yet because I lost them after my hard disk was damaged so I will have to bring out the items again to shoot a new set of photos and I will only do it tomorrow.

You know, as an online seller, we should always shoot new photos for our items if they do not sell after a while so as to keep our listings fresh and try to attract new browsers. If we have time, we should also reword our description but you know, I have been preoccupied with other work for the past couple of years neglecting my online business.

Smart Investments

A friend asked me if it's worth buying the latest bonds. I told him that compared to previous bonds, this one isn't as good. Of course, that's a missed opportunity for those of us who did not invest back then. Even so, I know my friend is someone who would rather have control of his own money and investment portfolio.

If he were to purchase bonds, he would have his capital tied for at least a year. How then would he be able to continue meddling with stocks and options? He wouldn't be able to make use of options express tools like those provided by Power Options. Well, that is UNLESS he has so much excess money for investment that he could do both at the same time.

Exclusive Online Preview Of La Senza Lingerie

I received the latest email newsletter from La Senza informing of an online preview of their latest range of lingerie which includes push up bras, strapless bras, bustiers, t-shirt bras and demi cup bras.

Browsing through La Senza's online catalog is way easier and friendlier than browsing the website of Victoria's Secret. Here, we are able to refine our search results using its search filter, selecting our choices of lingerie to view according to category, size, style, color, fabric and price.

It has been quite a while since I shopped at La Senza, mostly because I am put off by the killing international shipping, although they do offer flat rate shipping, sometimes free shipping, to Canadian addresses.

Also, do bear in mind that when you are purchasing lingerie from an international store, you, the buyer, would be responsible for custom tax, if any.

Perfect Wedding

My friend, Sam, is planning to get married at the end of the year, probably during the year end school holidays. Actually, I should say that he is planning to get married since all the planning is done by his fiancée. Sam, for all I know, could get married tomorrow without any fuss.

Sam's fiancée on the other hand, probably like all brides-to-be, would like everything to be perfect, from wedding photographs to wedding reception, wedding favors, right down to her vera wang wedding gown. She is also making sure that everyone that matters would be on the guest list.

My friend, Julie who is an amateur wedding planner, tells me that planning a wedding is a lot of work, even if it's just going to be held locally with only one reception. She says that it could be most stressful especially for someone who has no experience. However, Sam's fiancée wants to be hands on and doesn't mind planning the wedding without Sam's help.

I can probably understand why she is putting herself through all the stress. I bet she will be very satisfied with her hard work once her wedding is over and done with, knowing that everything went as planned and everyone had a most memorable time.

Man Auctions Back For Advertising On eBay

Not too long ago, we had an American woman who offered to tattoo her body permanently for a year, anywhere that is usually visible. She says this idea just popped into her head and she thinks that it's a good way to put herself through her studies to upgrade herself.

I don't have information how that auction ended though I would not pay someone to advertise my product, especially someone who doesn't usually go anywhere but stay at home.

In this case, Australian Ash Mackinnon is offering his back to raise money to put him through a bad financial patch after putting his wife through cancer treatment in America, mostly on credit.

While I think that it is fine for someone to offer wherever up for auction for the purpose of advertising, I wonder which company would want to advertise their product, service or brand name on the back of a senior citizen. Don't tell me that this walking billboard would be walking around topless or at least bareback in public most of the time?

Delayed Wedding Party

My sister told me that it's surprising how time flies. She has been married for about eight months now and still they have yet to hold a wedding party. Somehow, as they are caught up with work and in life, a wedding party may not seem as important anymore but it is still at the back of her mind.

Recently, my sister has been looking into various popular destination weddings after being told by her colleagues how romantic it could be yet cost effective. She is thinking that this is what she should do for her first wedding anniversary.

My sister says that it would be awesome if her family and a few close friends could be with her. It would just be a small party but that's the way she likes it. That sounds like a wonderful opportunity for me to get away for a short holiday. We shall see!

Victoria's Secret Free Shipping With Bra Purchase

If you do not know yet, today is the last day of Victoria's Secret's free shipping with a bra purchase. If you think this is not a good enough offer, then hold. But if you are a fan of Victoria's Secret bras, free shipping is definitely something good. Imagine, the savings that you enjoy means that you have more money to spend on Victoria's Secret purchases, right?

If you are going to take advantage of this, the Victoria's Secret coupon code to use prior to check out is SHOPVSBRAS. This code will be valid through 11:59pm EST, 12th August, 2009. There's still time but not much so if you want to buy a VS bra now, this is a good time to go and check what they have to offer before it's too late! Otherwise, you'd have to wait for Victoria's Secret semi-annual sale. Let's face it. It's never worth shopping at such stores when they are not running some sort of promotion, right?

Compatible Water Filter

My friend, Noel, told me that his mother just bought a new water filter. He said that he was quite surprised at the residue that was filtered from tap water as along, he had been drinking water from the tap but never realized how dirty it could be!

I have been thinking of installing a refrigerator water filter at home too but am afraid of the cost of monthly maintenance. However, Noel told me that I could always use compatible water filter like PuriClean ukf7003axx which is just as good as the original without the steep price tag!

That sounds like a good deal to me but I will still have to see how well this could fit my budget. Being out of work makes one calculate every single cent spent!

Maybank Unauthorised Access Discovered

I have been receiving quite a number of email, dropping into my Spam folder, thankfully, with the subject header per the title of this post. I know that these are phishing attempts and would like to bring attention to you reading this not to click on any links that are in the email.

Obviously, when these hit my email box, even though only the Spam folder, I didn’t even bothered to open them but trashed them straightaway. I did, however, log in to my Maybank2u account just to check if everything was in order.

If you also received email like these and have a minute or two, you should also report such emails to Maybank from the link that is available on the website of Maybank2u, at the log in page. This would allow them to investigate and if necessary, issue an alert on their website so that Maybanjk2u customers can read about it and take precautions.

Skin Care & Personal Hygiene Products

The other day, I wrote about brand loyalty and how I do not mind changing brands for certain products, especially for household cleaning products with more reasonable prices. Usually, I would buy whatever brand name products on sale. I totally do not have brand loyalty there.

My friend asked me if there's anything that could make me stick to a brand name, I have to say that after some thought, it has got to be skin care and personal hygiene products. Don't get me wrong. These do not have to be absolutely the best, most popular or even the most expensive in the market today. What I am after is the suitability of these products. And because of that, these are the only products that I am willing to pay through my nose! These companies know this, don’t they?

You know, as someone who suffered from acne for years, it took me a long time to find the skin care product that did not cause me to break out in zits after a couple of weeks of use. You can bet that now that I have found one that suits me just right, I am not going to change to another brand anytime soon! That's brand loyalty for me.

Sarah Palin Autographed Xbox

An Xbox purportedly autographed by Sarah Palin two days before she resigned as the Governor of Alaska, which means that the autograph was by the Governor of Alaska, has been put on auction on eBay and the asking price is a whooping US$1.1 million. Gosh, if this is sold, it has got to be the most expensive Xbox in the world.

Whether something like this, items autographed by celebrities or other famous people, are worth the asking price is not for us to say. It's like an investment. If Sarah Palin becomes the President of the United States, whether in 2012 or sometime in the distant future, THEN the item would be worth a considerable amount of money.

But first of all, we have no idea if this autograph is genuine. Someone tried to sell a Michael Jackson autographed Nintendo, if memory serves me right. I have no idea how the auction went; if it was sold and for how much. But for the Nintendo, there is no way we could verify with Michael Jackson if he did autograph that particular game console. At least Sarah Palin is still around to confirm it. LOL

Profit Recovery Concerns

My friend, Paul, who runs his own architecture-cum-construction firm in New York City, told me that business seems to be picking up lately, as in there are more people seeking his price quotation on architecture and construction jobs.

Paul is afraid to take up some of these projects, particularly from new clients. He told me that he is afraid that these would turn out to be bad debt. I can certainly understand his apprehension if he has never collaborated with the client before but I always believe in giving people a CHANCE. These people could turn out to be a long term clients!

Actually, Paul need not be afraid that he may have to waste manpower and man hours chasing for payment after work has been completed. If at all his new clients fail to pay up, he could always kick the dirty task of collecting payment to a debt collection agency. They do this best, right?

American Profit Recovery is a profit recovery company unlike conventional debt recovery companies and it shows in its high success rate. Besides, American Profit Recovery works with clients in any industry, large or small. Architecture and construction? No problem too!

Hopefully now that Paul knows of such services, he will have no qualms accepting projects from new clients.

PayPal Annual Privacy Policy Notice

I received a notice from PayPal last night regarding their privacy policy. If you haven't logged in to your PayPal account and go through your account information particular what information you allow PayPal to share with third parties for marketing purposes, it is a good time to do so now.

You can restrict PayPal from sharing your personal information by going to My Account and then click Profile. You would be able to make changes from there.

In addition, you should check your notification preferences. I opted to receive notices and alerts from PayPal in case there are any policy changes or amendments to their Terms of Service. PayPal is my primary online payment processor so I definitely must be on the ball.

Fan Devotion

Michael Jackson may have died quite some time already but his memorabilia are still hot stuff on auction sites. It is just too bad that these non fans always have the good fortune to get their hands on them while real fans have to PAY.

I told my mother that if I were a Michael Jackson fan, I would want to fly to Los Angeles on the day of his public memorial service. My mother does not understand that there would be people who would go there even without tickets. She doesn't understand that truly devoted fans do not mind lining the streets if they are unable to sit comfortably inside Staples Center.

I read that in the history of celebrity deaths, there are only a few who managed to garner a huge crowd of people on the day of their memorial service where fans would fly in from other cities, even from other countries. Michael Jackson was one such person. And then there were the Pope, Elvis Presley and Princess Diana.

I don't remember anymore the exact numbers but you can bet there were millions of fans who traveled just to be there for the celebrities even in death. It's not an exaggeration to say that local authorities had to work around the clock and bring in ultra sturdy Crowd Control Posts just to keep the fans in check.

In the recent Michael Jackson memorial service, the city of Los Angeles was said to have spent US$1.4 million. I am sure some of the money was spent buying high quality crowd control posts and ropes!

Women Entrepreneurs Conference 2009

If you are female and have plans to be an entrepreneur, here is something that should interest you. It is the Women Entrepreneurs Conference 2009 which will be held on 12th & 13th August 2009 at the Technology Park Malaysia in Sri Petaling, near ASTRO.

As mentioned, this conference is held over two days. The first day, it will start with registration at 8.15am and will end at 5.30pm. The second day starts later, at 9am and ends at 5.30pm. While I think that this is an awesome opportunity for women entrepreneurs and entrepreneur wannabe, I think that it is pretty inconsiderate to hold this event on Thursday and Friday where many entrepreneurs wannabe still have to report for work.

However, if you could make it, event tickets are MYR100 each, by the way, this would be something that you don't want to miss. There will be knowledge sharing by people from Nuffnang and Google, as well as some pretty successful women entrepreneurs. There should be plenty to learn!

For more information and detailed agenda, visit the website of Gorgeous Geeks.

Employment Law Training Webinars

In a way, I am so glad that I am running a one-woman-show company. I certainly wouldn't relish the issues that my friends who run their own company, or even friends who are in management or human resources, deal with on a daily basis. You see, when we're dealing with the workforce, we are dealing with people. It is very tricky indeed.

For decision makers of a company, any company, they need to be well versed with employment and workplace laws at state and federal levels to ensure that the management team and staff are compliant. This is where Employment Law Training Webinars come in.

HR Learning Center provides interactive employment law training, be it live webinars or recorded ones. They also provide on-site employment law seminars by experienced law professionals. This would be very convenient and cost effective for a company that plans to send a large number of people to such webinars.

The scope of legal issues covered in a company by HR Learning Center is large and includes harassment prevention, discrimination investigation, leave of absence and violence in the workplace. Of course, this is just part of the module. For a clearer picture of benefits you can gain from webinars by HR Learning Center, please visit their website.

Credit Cards Write-Offs

A friend who works with a bank in their debt collection department told me that there are many people who owe the bank money due to the misuse of credit cards. Well, at first, they were able to settle their credit card balances monthly, but then they lost their jobs and unfortunately, there are other more pressing matters that needed to be looked into so much so that they don't see settling their credit card debts with their savings as a priority.

I asked him what he could do in collecting the debts. He said that all he could do is issue legal letters to these clients, take them to court and if their debt is not that much, the clients couldn't even declare bankrupt.

According to him, after a few years of non payment, eventually, the bank will have to write off the debt. I know that there are many people who are saddled with credit card debts. The amount may not be too much per card. And those who know of this loophole will try to drag on and on and not make payment knowing that one day, the debt will be written off, which it will.

My own cousin has a credit card debt of only MYR5K or so. The debt collector asked him to pay MYR3K+ only, while the rest would be a discount for him. Yes, they do give discounts even for debts, but so far, my cousin hasn't responded. Bad, huh?

Naming A Company

A friend proposes to set up a joint venture company with me but I am not very keen. First of all, I am a lone ranger and would rather do things myself and secondly, I have tried to start a company with him but after all the discussion, it didn't come to anything conclusive. I was miffed at the time wasted.

One of the problems we faced was in naming the company. I wanted something that represented the company and our service and the name has to be short and to the point. Most importantly, to me, is that a company's name has to be easy to remember and pronounce! People would not remember the name if they couldn't even pronounce it, right?

My friend, on the other hand, does not understand the power of a good brand name and would suggest all sorts of names to me and get angry when I rejected all of them! Perhaps we could have avoided all these heated discussions by hiring a Naming Company. At least we could argue over another person's suggestions and it would not be anything personal!

Seriously, even if we have a great name, it is important to check with friends to see if the names mean anything bad in another language!

PayPal's Asia Mall

PayPal has stated an online shopping mall to cater to residents in Asia Pacific. It really is not difficult for them because they are already the payment facilitator and all they need to do is band together a group of merchants to join the mall and start selling their wares. I am thinking that companies that also sell here at Paypal's Asia Mall will enjoy very favourable PayPal rates.

So far, there are already quite a number of merchants who are selling here including SaSa, ActFind, Razer, Light In The Box and Gadget Gear. Although there are not that many merchants yet, I figure that eventually, there will be many more joining when they see the advantage that Asia Mall provides, particularly cross border sales. It may just end up being as large as the original PayPal mall that caters to the United States with merchants offering anything and everything from consumer electronics, heath and beauty, household products and gift items.

The benefit of shopping at Asia Mall would be free shipping offer that is provided by merchants, even for international shipping. This would save us a lot of money!

Freebies 4 Us

Running two freebies blog, I always keep my eyes peeled for websites that offer freebies, or even samples. This evening, I was informed of the Free4Me Network, which says that we can have whatever we want for free, from game consoles to laptops to digital cameras and many other consumer electronic products.

This website did not specifically mention HOW we can get our hands on these free products but we are supposed to sign up with them first and then complete various offers for credit which we could then redeem for free products.

If you are familiar with these offer programs, I am sure you would know that these programs may not work for everyone in the sense that if you participate, you have to be on your toes making sure that you are receiving credits for the offers that you completed.

Although I have not personally participated in programs like these, I do know that some people, especially those who work from home, are completing offers full time and they are able to get a pretty decent side income and freebies for family and friends.

Oh, I should mention that most of these offers are only open to United States residents and in some cases, Canada, so if you are not living in either of these countries, you are out of luck!