It’s buzzing around the internet because Blogrush had suddenly came to their senses and started doing some major cleanups. According to Blogrush, they had just banished 10,000 blogs that do not measure up to their ’stringent’ QC.

Don’t know about you, I’ve not clicked on their widget. Nope, I didn’t sign up with Blogrush but I’ve seen their widget around blogs I visit. Hearing this, I’m not exactly motivated to go all out to check them out either.

On the other hand, you know what? I’m curious about the 10k blogs that got banished. I would like to check them out though… Curiosity is the word. Bet people are curious what warrants the ban. I know I am.

So, the 10,000 blogs that are sidelined, take heart. Bet you’ll be getting hits from curious peeps. Who knows, these blogs might emerge the actual real winners from this recent fiasco.

Now, where is the list?

Update: Ok, I found a partial list here. Good post too.

A recent survey came out Americans are working 30% more than their European counterpart. I won’t even put in the fanatical Asian worker who probably view hard work and long hours as their work culture. All these hard work and for what? Money and luxury are a powerful motivator. Please correct me if I am wrong, I have so far not heard anyone complaining they have too much in the bank. It is true what they say, nobody can be too rich or too thin.

Working hard is the norm in this competitive times. Is there a balance to this? It better be. Nothing beats reaping the fruits of your labor than savoring them. If you have worked hard and looking for ways to reward yourself, this is where site like www.affluentluxury.com comes in.

Affluent Luxury site offers plenty of articles and reviews on luxury resorts, luxury cars, luxury vacations and luxury yachts. Yes, do notice the word luxury at the front. These are reviews on some of the most exclusive shopping places for luxury gifts, golf courses and winery. There are plenty of information and articles on the site that will appeal to you if you are looking for something different from the regular run of the mill places with a generous touch of exclusivity.

Definitely a site to check out if you are seriously trying to reward yourself and your loved ones.

2 short months after the much anticipated launch of Apple Iphone, Apple now slashed USD200 off their phone. When Iphone first rolled out, people in this part of the world were drooling. The price factor is honestly not an issue… even before the price slash. Good folks over here are already forking out big bucks for Nokia N series.

Functionality wise, Iphone might not measure up to the high end N phone models, but, looks wise, Iphone is a clear winner. Iphone LCD has the most amazing colors. They always do. Just look at the Apple notebooks. Totally gorgeous. My husband’s colleague just bought an Iphone and it’ll probably arrive next week. The phone is hacked of course and it runs on Digi’s EDGE.

The price? RM1,900.

Is that a good price? I honestly don’t think so.

I’ve seen the phone (hacked ones) going for much less on ebay in the region of RM1,500+.

Internet advertising had indeed reached new heights with the emergence of online journals or blogs. Blog advertising had gain much popularity in recent years. Around 2 years to be precise.

Services like Smorty present a platform connecting advertisers with bloggers. Bloggers get paid for blogging and giving their opinion. Of course there are many who feel bloggers who get paid for blogging are violating the sanctity of blogging itself. On a neutral front, this is a personal choice. Bloggers by virtue are opinionated individuals. Bloggers blog to voice out their thoughts and opinions. Regardless if they get paid to blog or otherwise. I do think that is an important factor.

For bloggers who blog for money, Smorty is an option. If you do not mind getting compensated for voicing your opinion, Smorty is a good choice because signing up with Smorty is one of the fastest around. Just submit your blog for approval and it is usually completed within 72 hours. Now, I am not saying all blogs will be accepted by default. There are requirements to fulfill. In general, your blog must be in the English medium, indexed by Google and is at least 3 months’ old. Once approved, bloggers are paid minimum USD6 per post and of course higher ranking blogs do command more.

Their full terms of service are available on their site.

My husband just bought a PDA phone and of course I was the last to know. Now that he’s working in the city, we only get to see each other during weekends. I was enveloped in a little cloud of guilt because I’ve been at it again… online shopping. I’m using my own money, but then I still feel compelled to let him know. You can imagine my surprise when he dropped a bigger bombshell announcing he just bought a new O2 Atom. Guess I’ll have to call it even.. wait, it’s not.

I immediately did a search on O2 Atom and I found the limited white edition. Gosh, it sure looks good in print. My husband bought the usual black one. Yes, boring. I asked why didn’t he go for the white one and I got the usual typical guy response…. “I never asked what color they have..”

A lady would have asked.

It is marvelous seeing how technology is moving in perfect synchronization with the hectic demands of people’s lifestyle. It is no denying the pace of living is moving faster than ever in the name of survival. I guess when there is a demand, restassured there will be an answer to meet the void.

Mobility and portability are the essence of today’s requirement in the gadgetry department. It is little wonder portable DVD player is the sensible solution in the portable entertainment scene. Specifically, portable 10 inch DVD player. Anything smaller you will be squinting your eyes, trust me.

Big city folks who had to contend with massive jam will be relieve to know the portable 10 inch DVD player just need to be plugged into your car cigarette lighter to run. Of course the rechargeable battery pack itself boasts of 4 hours play. The DVD player comes with surround sound stereo speakers and reads all major CD format including MP3, MP4, VCD, DIVX and JPEG. Shock suspension feature is included so your picture need not suffer from bumpy rides.

Regardless if it is to pacify restless children in the car or bored adults, this portable DVD player is a wonderful solution. The player is available conveniently online from Digitalframez.com.

This online electronic store ships worldwide.

After 3 years of blogging, I still feel the excitement when someone new comes and leave a comment. Most of the time, I will seek the person out and visit their blog. There is nothing superficial or pretentious about it. I do think it’s plain courtesy. If I find the blog is something I can identify with, I will continue to drop-by. Afterall, I derive much pleasure reading their post and most of the time, a blogging friendship is formed.

In fact, that is how bloggers socialize and network in the first place. In real life, somebody has to take the initiative to walk the first step. It could be a smile or a casual hello. In blogosphere, where physical presence is not an option, leaving a comment in another’s blog is akin to a casual hello. There is nothing wrong.

I know, nowadays, everyone is viewing everybody with suspicion. God forbid, you might even be accused of whoring for attention by leaving a comment…. well, say what they want because I’m not buying it. That’s no way to live a blogging existence by viewing every commentator with doubt and malice. I say bring back the good old days when a smile is viewed as nothing but a smile. Start your panic button only after you get to know the blogger well enough to make an educated judgment.

Blogging is really a social network. Take away the social element, it is pointless. No matter how much money you’re making out of it. Well, at least that’s how I feel.

The business trend nowadays are gearing towards the internet. It makes perfect sense too in view of the fact online business startups are way more affordable. I will disregard the big boys which probably have plenty of capital to burn, for the small business owner, the internet provides the perfect medium to level the playing field.

A few short years ago, starting your own online business meant having to hire web designers to design a good website and layout while incorporating an ecommerce software. Ecommerce software complete with shopping cart is essential. Not to mention the hassle of finding the right payment gateway. Without these, people cannot pay. When people cannot pay, you cannot sell. The principal is that easy.

With the emergence and availability of ready built ecommerce shopping cart software like Ashopcommerce, having your own online business is not hard. You do not even need to be especially IT savvy to operate their ecommerce software. The last I heard, Ashopcommerce even provide free store design for even greater convenience.

People who aspire to try their hand in online business, it pays to checkout what www.ashopcommerce.com has to offer. It is basically a one-stop online business solution complete with ecommerce and shopping cart software.

For the past few days, I had been doing posters and banners for my personal use. I am enjoying myself too much. Come to think of it, I might even like doing posters more than writing.

Since I’m doing paid posts, I do not mind incorporating a little self gratification by doing up posters for my sponsors. I know I’m not obliged to… but then I’m enjoying it.

Well, I’m not saying every person who do paid posts should go the extra mile, but then I love doing it so why not? Whatever rocks my boat. Nay, I don’t get paid for it. But then I could not careless. Fun is priceless…

Who says it’s a sin to find ways to enjoy paid posts even more? I’ll be putting up more self-made posters for my paid posts. It makes my blog looks nicer and as long as my sponsors are not complaining I’ll keep on doing it.

The much anticipated Google PR update had come and gone. While most were hoping for some upward movement in their page ranks, most ended up in a trail of disappointment. The page rank for many sites had gone down. Forget about new sites. Most still spot the N/A comment. Well, in all honesty, N/A does look better than a fat 0. Provided of course you do a search on your site name and it comes out in the Google search result. The very least, you know your site is indexed and not just ignored by the crawlers. N/A simply meant there’s no available ranking designated to the site for the time being. Not really something to warrant sleepless nights.

There are of course plenty of speculations regarding the PR drop to most sites. Paid posts being one. Seeing some of the sites that lost their PR are not doing sponsored posts, I think this accusation does not completely hold water. Another popular notion is, bad links/bad neighbourhood.

Google had been known to clamp down on bad links (links that Google considers not in their good books. Might be dubious Spam sites and all). Sometimes, site are merely penalized on the basis of ‘bad association.’ When certain good sites are penalized, resulting in PR drop, that creates a domino effect on its other links. It’s been open knowledge one way to get your site PR up is to get links from higher PR site. In the event the ‘higher PR site’ suffers a drop in their own PR, inevitably it will affect the other sites.

I don’t want to lose sleep over what those folks in Google are doing. It’s fun reading the theories, but, personally I won’t think too much. Especially on things that is not within my control. Dang, life is too short to be worrying about how other people (Google) are conducting their business. Something worthy of consideration is PR rankings are in no way a reflection of actual traffic. For sites that thrive on a good base of loyal readers, PR ranking is not everything.

For peace of mind, web owners and bloggers can just play their role in this whole thing. What role? Make a concerted effort to ensure your site is not linking to any site that is in the bad books with Google. There are sites checking the veracity of the links you intend to put up. Now, I’ve just started this practice and I’m not sure how effective it’s going to be. But then the very least, I can be restassured I’ve done my part in this whole PR fiasco.

What will be, will be.