I just got my Factoidz writer application approved and I found out that as a member I can instantly upgrade the status of my affiliates to that of a writer. You don’t need to go through their writer application process before being able to publish and earn revenues. I have not yet start writing but the site seems promising. For those who are interested click the link below, sign up as my affiliate and if you want me to elevate you to writer status just leave your details in the comments section below.

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A few weeks ago, I got a package from the mail. Well, I was actually expecting it since I bought it from a seller at Etsy.com but the shipping was a bit longer than I expected. But it was worth the wait, you see I am a lip balm addict, I always carry one (or two… or three…) around. I rarely use lipstick, I just don’t like them – they don’t smell as nice and have a really sticky feel to it.

I currently have about five lip balms that I use interchangeably, you see I can’t make up my mind which one is better (1 nivea, 1 blistex, 2 chapsticks and 1 Shiseido Water-in Lip). Now came the lip balms I ordered from longwinterfarm, I ordered three (hot cocoa, peppermint and peach). And of course I just had to use the hot cocoa first, so I opened it expecting nothing and was pleasantly surprised when the smell hit me. It was very chocolaty in an unassuming way – not too overwhelming, subtle and yet very tangible. The first time I used it, I was instantly hooked, it was so creamy without the greasy after feel and you can almost feel the chocolate at the tip of your tongue.

So now my quest for the perfect lip balm has finally ended. longwinterfarm’s lip balm is the best one I’ve tried so far, no contest to that. The other flavors (peppermint and peach) are not too bad as well, but hot cocoa is my favorite. I’ll definitely order more… come to think of it, I already did. And yeah, this is not a paid review, just my way of saying thank you to Amanda of longwinterfarm for being accommodating and friendly and for a superb product.

This is about three days late but I had some problem with uploading pictures, so here goes…

Last December 1, while blowing up plastic balloons and have the kids throw it up in the air in our unfinished 2nd floor, Reign pointed out that the moon is smiling! And wonders of wonders, it actually was, so I went quickly back downstairs to get my digital camera and clicked away.

It was an awesome view and it was more worthwhile with Khleomi and Xanth singing Twinkle, twinkle little star. It was aptly called the “smiling moon phenomenon” and it happens only once every 48 years, that would make me 70ish on its next show and I reckon with blurry eyesight to boot, so I enjoyed it while I still can four eyes and all.

I haven’t had the time to check out the moon since that night, had projects to finish and kids to attend to but that smiling moon stayed in my mind and I know I just have to get the word out, although I may be too late. I read in the papers that on the other side of the globe the moon is frowning, hmmm… bad luck? I hope not… Come to think of it, what do they call their phenomena? Frowning Moon?

And yeah, just so you know the Geminids meteor shower will have their show on the nights of December 13-14 so be sure to have your digital cameras on the ready, I sure will.

As a web designer, logo making is part of my work. Designing the layout of a website is pretty easy compared to designing a logo. Logo design is a very delicate process as it must conform to what the client’s business is about. You can’t just give them a logo without giving it careful consideration, everything has to be perfect with regards to what the client needs. You have to have insight so that you will be able to see beforehand how people will react to the logo when they see it. Will your logo reflect your client’s business in one glance? Will it be worth a second glance?

Needless to say, logo making is a very hard process for the inexperienced. So being inexperienced, I browsed the web for some help, the angels must be smiling on me because I was able to find a DIY Logo Design site. I tried it for the logo of my father’s construction business and this is what I came up:

The process was straightforward and very easy to follow. And there are a number of great symbols/images to choose from, enough to get your creative juices flowing.

Fuelmyblog does it again. They are offering all Fuelmyblog bloggers a chance to showcase their blogs at the USA Today Homepage Blogger/Podcaster Guide for one month FREE! I am not one to pass such a great offer, so I headed on to the sign-up page at bloggerandpodcaster.com/usatoday and registered. The process is relatively easy although I was expecting to bypass the credit card info page since this is a free offer – no chance. I know that it is a necessary step but it would have been nice not to input credit card info for once. Look for my blog on the 15th of February. I wonder what it can do for my readership… Let’s just wait and see…

You can read more about the offer at the Fuelmyblog Blog here.

With time in my hand, I again scoured the web for something exciting and new for me to try. I found Buzzfuse, a free content marketing service who aims to help bloggers, like me, market their content. They do have account upgrades at $14.99/month and $149.99/year, but I would like to try a service first to make sure it is viable before I shell out some hard earned moolah. So, I signed up, the process was straightforward, you enter your email address, agree to their terms, wait for a confirmation email (less than 1 minute), click on the link in the confirmation email, enter your details etc. – the process took around 2minutes tops. For now, they are just offering more visitors through the content you post but they are planning to offer real cash earnings soon. Visitors + Earnings = Good Enough for me.

To post a content, you need to add at least 10 contacts then you have to add a custom code to the content that you are planning to post. A new code is generated for every new content. After adding the code and publishing the content, you will be shown an “Invite to Activate” Buzzfuse image on your post, clicking on the image will bring you to the content signup form, you have the option to keep your content private for a select few or to spread it around. I opted to have everyone read my content, I posted the Lonely pig story, I wonder how much buzz it will get. I’ll keep you guys posted.

Network security management is a very hard thing to do these days. As technology becomes more advance, network security is harder and harder to manage. Controlling who has access to a network, what they are doing and making an accurate report is becoming more and more challenging, add to it the geographical distribution of networks and you have a recipe for disaster. Envoy, Uplogix’ flagship product, addresses all the requirements needed to run a secure network. I could not put it better than the expert on Envoy, so here’s a snippet from the Uplogix site:

Uplogix’ flagship product, the award-winning Envoy appliance, represents the next-generation in remote management technology. By combining the localized control and survivable connectivity of a console server with the intelligence of an enterprise software solution, Envoy delivers active, secure management that effectively automates and simplifies the administration and maintenance of your distributed infrastructure.

Envoy provides powerful capabilities unlike any you’ve ever experienced in a console server, KVM switch, or other out-of-band management product. Rather than simply offering passive access to devices, Envoy delivers functionality than can help you actively and securely manage and maintain the complex array of switches, routers, firewalls, servers, and myriad of other devices that populate your remote sites and data centers.

In fact, Envoy appliances single-handedly address 95% of the issues that impact distributed networks and automate more than 60% of normal maintenance tasks – like OS upgrades, configuration and policy changes, and password updates. No other remote management solution can make that kind of claim. Nor do they offer the secure management and compliance features that the Envoy provides.

My desktop is filled with folders, my computer’s hard drive is close to full all because I have not yet found an online storage system that I believe will work for me and will keep sensitive files private. I know there are a lot of totally free online storage sites but they just can’t give me what I am looking for. In my searching, I found IBackup, their service comes with a price but its a very affordable price considering the features that they offer. They even give free trials so that you can check out their service and believe me, it really works. I just love all their features especially the Snapshots, which enable you to view older copies of data, Network Drive for easy drag-n-drop operations, Sub-Accounts, WebFolders, sharing and collaboration options. The feature that really made me give in is the IBackup Drive which works by mapping your online storage account as a local drive on your computer. With Drag-n-drop, open, edit and save files directly from Office applications options. You can experience the IBackup advantage for as low as $9.95 per month.

I got an email about something big happening on December 17, 2007. I got excited and created my own badge which I have posted on my sidebar. The idea is to do something offline and share it to the online world on 12-17-07. It does not matter if it is as simple as saying hello to someone you don’t know or smiling to someone passing by. You may think it a very simple thing but to that person, you might be an angel from above. Share the kindness, share the love and spread the word. Bloggers Unite in Acts of Kindness, are you in?

I love watching TV, although I do not get enough time to do it. One of the shows that I take the time to watch is Extreme Makeover: Home Edition, I love the way they do the makeovers, everything is well-thought of from the ceiling to the walls to the floors, the windows, the window coverings, the furniture, the beds… I just absolutely love them! If only they would give our house a makeover…

I am a big fan of blinds and I love the blinds that they use in the makeovers. So, the researcher in me took over and tried to find who supplies their blinds. Lucky me, their supplier has a website – SelectBlinds.com. I browsed around and saw the loveliest blinds called the “2″ Distressed Wood Blinds“, I would want to have one but unfortunately free shipping is only for the continental 48 United States and I am nowhere near that. SelectBlinds.com offers low price blinds and with a wide range of window coverings and blinds, it is no wonder that Extreme Makeover chose them. I would to but…

I have always been intrigued by hypnosis and the various ways that it can help you. Although some people may think that hypnosis is bad and could not accept the fact that hypnosis can really help, there’s just no denying the facts. Just look at the statistics. It is understandable that some people might be wary of something that could not be explained. But hypnosis does work and it has helped and continues to help lots of people. From health problems to phobias to feeling good, there is a hypnosis treatment just for you. All you have to do is take the time to try it out.

I found this a site that offers hypnosis downloads for a very minimal amount and with a moneyback guarantee too! They are willing to give you 90 days to be amazed and if you’re not, you can get your money back. Easy as pie. Head on to the Instant-Hypnosis site at http://www.instant-hypnosis.com/

Obtaining a Small Business Loan has never been easy. The time and effort that you have to expend in searching for unsecured business financing can be put to better use if used in marketing for your business. Now comes EZUnsecured.com, they not only give great service, they also live up to their name: the processing time is drastically cut short, the funding that you need can be yours in no time at all. Try EzUnsecured.com and see how they redefine easy.

Being away from your families is hard and the coming holidays only makes it harder. Just imagine the loneliness you would experience just thinking about your family back home celebrating the holidays together while you have to be on your own with no one to celebrate with except yourself. Imagine this scenario, say 10 or 20 years ago when the internet is virtually unknown and calling home costs a lot more than you can spare.

A very dire picture indeed. Now, imagine being able to call home and talk for a long time with your families during the holidays. It would be like having them beside you and celebrating the holidays together. Calling home is the next best thing to going home, it erases the boundary of distance and brings you home. And you can do this in two ways: paying huge amounts for a phone plan or through buying an internet phone card for half the price. There are many internet phone card companies who offer low cost call cards, one such company is Phone Cards Avenue. They offer international phone cards at a very affordable price. Not only will you be able to call home, you will be able to save as well. They even have a 3% rebate program where you will get 3% of every calling card or phone card purchases that you make with them.

Are you tired of having heavy objects dropped on your foot? Do you experience panic attacks everytime you look at your work boots knowing that they would never give you the protection you need and crave for? Have you ever dreamed of one day becoming the man of steel so that your precious feet would be safe?

Fret no more for MetBoots’ Steel Toe Boots is finally here to save your day. Be like superman, put your best foot forward and feel no pain. MetBoots, short for Metatarsal Boots, products are made from high-quality durable materials specifically made for use whenever there is a risk of heavy objects being dropped on the foot. MetBoots carry products from well-known brands at a very competitive price and they even offer free shipping for orders over $100.00!

If you need those boots, head on to MetBoots. You may not be the Man of Steel but at least you will have Boots of Steel.