April 2009 - Earning, Blogging, Tips and More

Globat's GX01: Affordable Web Hosting

Globat.com, the world leader in Performance Web Hosting, has always been my target if ever I would get a web host for any of my blogs. Why do I have my eyes for Globat? For one, affordability. When I compared it to other web hosts, Globat seems to be lower than the extremely commercialized ones. A part-time blogger like me doesn't really need all the luxurious and extravagant hosting features that other web hosts offer. A simple hosting and quality plan with Globat will do just fine. Another thing is that Globat is receiving a lot of good feedback and testimonials from their loyal customers.

The most affordable hosting plan from Globat is called GX01. GX01 has the following features aside from Unlimited Disk Space and Unlimited Bandwidth:

Host Unlimited Additional Domains
Unlimited E-mail Accounts
Free Domain Registration (1 year)

Setting up won't be a burden as it would be free in the package. If you need a lot of data to gather and keep, 50 MySQL Databases are also given. Other free services in the plan are: Site Builder & Templates, Blogging, Photo Album (a must, if you don't want to rely on Photobucket or Picasa), Shopping Cart (for online businesses), SSL, and Stats. The GX01 plan also supports FTP, CGI, PHP (I'll use this one if ever) and Perl. And just like every service on the web, though Globat's is exceptional as they say, 24/7 Full customer Support and a 30-Day Money-Back Guarantee. Wow.

Wait, there's more. The stuff mentioned above are sneak previews. There is more to that when you visit the GX01 page.

I know you are wondering how much all those features come. With Plan GX01, you would only be paying $4.44/month. Talk about affordability. If you are earning online, even just a petty amount, $4.44/mo. would be not a sore on the wallet.

As soon as I get a stable offline income or if I save enough, I'd probably go Globat. No hesitations.

iBlog5: The 5th Philippine Blogging Summit

Less than a month from now, yours truly would be flying to Luzon via Philippine Airlines to attend a big, nationwide blogging summit. The iBlog5: The 5th Philippine Blogging Summit will be on May 9, 2009, which is a Saturday, and will be held at the Malcolm Theater, UP College of Law, UP Diliman, from 8 AM to 5 PM. Registration is absolutely free. So what is this all about? Since this will be my first time in attending such convention, I can't point out the exact activities. All I know is that for the whole day, talks will be given by prominent bloggers and professionals. The time table is shown below.

Morning session: (some can be sponsored talk)

9:00 - 9:20 Blogging 101 (Micaela Rodriguez & sponsor slot)
9:30 - 9:50 Photo Blogging 101 (Faith Salazar and Fritz Tentativa)
10:00 - 10:15 Break
10:15 to 10:35 Video Blogging 101 (Azrael Coladilla)
10:45 - 11:05 Mobile Blogging 101 (sponsor slot)
11:15 - 11:35 Do’s and Don’ts of Blogging 101 (Benj Espina and Juned Sonido)
11:45 - 12:05 Blog Promotion & Traffic Generation Strategies 101 (Winston Almendras and Coy Caballes)
12:05 - 1:00 Lunch break
Afternoon session:

1:00 - 1:20 Legal issues in Blogging
1:30 - 2:30 Preparing Bloggers for the 2010 Elections
- COMELEC on Blogging & Bloggers
- Citizen Journalism for the 2010 Elections (Oliver Robillo, NAMFREL Chairman - Davao City)
- The Bloggers Election Handbook project release (Janette Toral)
2:40 - 3:30 Blog Advertising Situation in the Philippines (Yehey and 2 sponsors)
3:30 - 3:45 Break
3:45 - 4:45 Blogging to the Next Level (Fitz Villafuerte and Anton Diaz)
4:45 - 5:00 Raffle & Group picture taking
7:00 pm onwards After-Event Party (sponsored)

Wow, given those speakers (some of which I know of) that event would surely be something, like a class that's only ever going to happen once a year. Attendees should probably prepare a thick blank notebook and a pen plus an extra one. Or recorder if available. Precious information must not go out unrecorded. As of writing, there are already 315 who signed up for iBlog5. I am registrant number 291, by the way. If you don't know where Malcolm Hall/Theater is (like me), here is a map of UP Diliman (my mother school), with #12 as the exact location for iBlog5. Click on image to see a very large view.

I guess that is all for now. You could visit the official homepage of the iBlog5 here. By the way, I'd like to thank my accommodation sponsor Vanjohnn Mendoza of Through The Focal Glass.

Calling out all Filipino bloggers or bloggers in the Philippines (Filipino or not) to attend the iBlog5! This is FREE, nothing to lose, many knowledge to gain! See you all there!

Disqus Against Cyberstalkers

I have been once a victim of a whiny cyberstalker. One of my readers called the cyberstalker "whiny" so I'll use that description too. That was one of my most stressful experiences in the online world. I was so confused, angry and irritated. The cyberstalker was filling my blog and chatbox with indecent comments. He was destroying my AdSense by clicking on it 200+ times. Google though knew it was hate clicking that was happening and did not do anything against me. He was trying to manipulate me! He said that I must follow his orders, his wants, that I must obey him. I was so angry I resorted to tracking the IP Address. That is then that I found out that he is also a Filipino, possibly from Cebu (where I live). It is sad knowing your fellowman is trying to destroy you. Evil people really do exist. Anyways, I threatened back that I will report the incidence to PLDT (the ISP of the cyberstalker and my ISP too) and that I would ask help from them in tracing that person. He is gone. I hope forever.

Just recently, another cyberstalker, possibly the same one flooded my chatbox. My chatbox only! That is then I realized that before, I had the default commenting system of Blogger, which is really very weak, that is why he was able to penetrate my commenting system. The recent incident also made me realize, hell, Disqus can be a cyberstalkers enemy.

Disqus, traces the IP Address of a commenter already so one need not to resort to tracking scripts to get rid of cyberstalkers. Acquiring the IP Address of a commenter can mean a lot. The internet police can use it to track the person, or you could just ask help from the ISP using that IP Address whether dynamic or not.

I am glad I am already using Disqus on all of my blogs. Besides the great features, it indirectly scares away whiny cyberstalkers. Shoo shoo!

Recent Page Rank Update Hits BKDC

I am so glad to announce that this blog has already a Page Rank of 2! On it's first months, it has a PR 1. Now that Google is updating again, it got a PR 2. I am so surprised. I haven't updated the blog lately yet I get the PR 2. I am satisfied, really.

I thank all those who are still visiting this blog. To the subscribers, I appreciate your kindness and trust. And to all viewers and passers-by, I will do my best to let this blog live longer and I will make this blog, probably better.

Is Google really updating the Page Ranks now? Better check your blogs now at PR Checker!

The Struggle Of A Part-Time Blogger

Are you like me? I consider myself a part-time blogger. So what makes a part-time blogger? A part-time blogger is someone who has other bigger priorities other than blogging. Students, working parents, professionals with corporate jobs and all those others who see blogging as a side dish rather than the main course. Of course, side dishes are also important.

It is a big struggle to be a part-time blogger. First and foremost, there will a point where both, blogging and the other end, would meet, collide and all fall. That is hence the time for the person to choose which one to prioritize.

I have had my experiences. This blog hasn't been updated for a long time because for one, I have two other blogs, and another, my studies kept me from doing anything other than school work excessively. I have to juggle my priorities then. And it is normal to try to meet both ends together at the first attempts but eventually if, one has to go, then one has to go.

Here are some questions to ask yourself when faced with such kind of struggle in one's priorities.

Is blogging more important than Task A? Or is it the other way around?
What would happen if I pick blogging over Task A? What would happen if I leave blogging for a while and do all my tasks first?
Which would make me happy?
Can I do both together? Can I make it?
Should I leave blogging forever because it is in my way to progress?
Should I start focusing on blogging now than ever? What happens to Task A?
Should I do nothing instead?

Those are some of the many questions part-time bloggers get. It is always in the question of priority. Prioritization and synchronization are key elements for someone to get past through these things.

Are you a part-time blogger too? What do you do in such circumstances?

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