Happy Birthday Paddy! Was searching thru the blog and found my exact 1 year old entry on my 32 years old birthday :)'Hit 32 today .. urgh.Time really really flies, man!It been a journey since 25 yrs old when out of the army and started working. I was hoping to be able to own a merz before I hit 30yrs old as a measure of success. But by the time I can afford one which I didnt get, I found that measure of success is not on materials but more on the experience and the ability to sustain the ongoings. Now at 32, I hope I am halfway there and perhaps able to better afford a better life to the love ones. :)' LinkNow at 33, I am 50% there where I want to go. It is the last mile that proves to be the most difficult and tough to reach. Over the year, so many things changed... with most of them not within your grasp and that is the scary part.Parents grow old, more health related problems .. you see them grow old very quickly in a quick glance. Now my biggest concern is if I ever have time to accompany the love ones enough. What's the point of having money and not the time and companionship of your love ones.Cross road. All about choices I guess.My birthday wish is to be able to semi retired by my next birthday.Able to do things that I been yearning for years....spend a day with izel and parents without any concern about the businesses, able to just standstill in time and watch things fly past.From Jonathan (Australia) Losing control The problem with some of us is that once given some fame, power or wealth ... if they do not know how to manage it, they start to get snobbish and boss around others.These are the people that have it all too fast and may just risk losing control overnite too. Some so called famous bloggers show such common sighs when they are up and coming ... pamper by the organization, the agencies etc .... have to learn how to manage them all cos everything can and will disappear as quickly too.Manage is the key word. Blogtraffic image I simply love this 2 fellows here ... one ah lau and one sunflower. hahah!'Grab the image and link it back here to BlogTraffic.sg' placed it up on the site. :) Dont you just love Music Remixes? I am a big fan of music remixes.. here's one from DJS UNITY. If you like the music play in iShop by Club 21, here's a site that you gonna visit.Remixes by the inhouse DJs.http://www.djsunity.com/ Furniture moving On Sat, Izel and I went to Centrepoint after dropping by iShop to make payment for the BLOG2u seminar and also to visit her dad. We walked passed the Harvey Norman and saw these 2 very beautiful sofa sets, one is a 'L-Shaped' sofa that costs a whopping S$14k!! Wow! It is very very nice but not something that we can afford nor crazy enough to get also. Then this other one is as big as a king size bed but is a round sofa set. I think is about S$17k. Woooo...We were saying since we cant afford to pay for those, might as well just go home and change our existing furnitures arrangement and make it 'new' instead. hahah! So today after brunch we went back home and start to rearrange everything in the living room. The l-shaped sofa was shifted 90degree down with the tv facing the 'red wall' instead and many other changes pulling, dragging the massage chair to the other end of the room. :)2.5hours later, everything got shifted .... and tonnes of dust collected. Eek!The good thing was we paid very little for our furnitures with most of them from IKEA or non-branded electronics stuff 4 years ago. We dont go for branded stuff, just be realistic on what we can afford and go for it. Head not that big, dont go for hats that dont fit is the motto for us when we first set up the new place.After the shifting, we decided to give away the TV to our parents, weights to my bro, and probably sell off the gym bench (chest) set and throw away the home entertainment sets and replace it with this new LCD TV that we saw in Northpoint on sales with a free home entertainment sets. Going to spend less than S$800 for this, since we only watch CNA and other news on the tv and perhaps some dvds .. that's all. No point waste all that money on things that we not going to use that often. :)Update:Just back from Northpoint.. somehow a 37" LCD TV looks better.. hahah! And we discovered that the so call 'free' home entertainment system is a rather old set with a rather old model TV. So instead we settled for these... everything in about S$1500. Exceeded the budget but we know we will have it at least for the next 5 years :) And most importantly it is approved by Izel. This one very important. hahah!After the purchase, went for an interview with Mr Johnson for BAK2u as Sales & Marketing manager. Will be joining us very quickly. Happy 13th Anniversaries! Time flies when you are having fun!We got together 13 years ago, today from Singapore polytechnic in the same class. But I was older :)I went into the army, she went to work. She traveled in the asia region as marketing where as I travel between camp and home.I further my studies when in the 2.5years of army, ad dip, degree, started my own companies etc. She climbed up the career ladder.She travelled as much and I was worse .. 3 million miles within a few years.I started Europe connect and BAK2u and she been very supportive of me since day 1. Used up all savings and she supported me all the way. Thanks!She quited her job and went full time jewelry design. BAK2u turned from Red to Black in 2007 and is now picking up. Should fly by 2009. Then BLOG2u was born on 8 March 2008, it should fly by mid 2009.If without her since day one, doubt I can be where I am and be who I am.Thank you. Blog2u seminar .. a great one :) Tonnes of stuff to do after the BLOG2u.SG Seminar. The turnout was really great with lotsa key players from retail kings and queens to telecommunications players and even airlines attended the event.What was most amazing is that the feedback from them were really great and many hope to be invited again for the next event. The evening one was also as great although that CEO just cant stop cracking silly jokes.... stupid man. hahah!Will finish up all the follow ups and start posting up the photos later.Image: Stomp.com.sg giving a talkhttp://www.blog2u.sg/blog/index.php/2008/05/15/thank-you/ Video: Jay Chou vs Savage Garden (2008 Remix) Very cool remix.From a fellow friendDJsunity.com Very nice looking pendant from Izel Was surfing the net to Izel's blog and saw these very beautiful jewelries handmade by her.Wow! She can really design when I am not around the house to disturb her! hahahHere's more:Chainofbeads.comHer blog:Scubscub.blogspot.com All 'bout Blogging - BLOG2u Seminar (Stomp, Yahoo, Kaiiten) Made some changes to both Tomato75 and BAK2u blogs with the same theme. Gonna thanks to BlogSpottemplate for making it so easy to change.Been planning to update the blogs for a while but held back waiting for the BAK2u.com to be up first. Now all comes with a whitish look. Nice.Coming wed will be the 2 seminars for both BLOG2u.SG bloggers and advertisers, it be running from 2-6 pm for 1st session and then for the 7-9pm will be inviting our members to join us. Not so much of a gathering but more of sharing 'Understanding new media and it’s impact' with our bloggers to know more about how new media is integrating into the traditional media and how it is affecting the advertising industry.Some of the overseas partners of BLOG2u will be attending also.Prominent speakers be coming in on the noon slot (2-6pm)Keynote Speaker Mr Nicholas Aaron Khoo, New Media Advisor, CNET BloggerMr. Felix Soh, Chief Editor of STOMP, Singapore Press HoldingsMr. Amos Kwok, Manager, Community Products Yahoo! SEAAmos Kwok joined Yahoo! in 2000 to work on Yahoo!'s biggest product at the time, the Yahoo! Directory. Since then, his role has changed and expanded along with the evolution of Yahoo! and the Internet. He has helped managed Yahoo! Search in Southeast Asia, as well as other pillar products like Mail and Messenger. Other products he has handled included GeoCities, Greetings, News, the Yahoo! Front Page and more.He currently overseas the community products for Southeast Asia. These are products that center on user interaction and user generated content, like Answers, Flickr, Groups and 360plus.Ms. Elaina Olivia Chong, Managing Director, Kaiiten Communicationand in the evening slot (7-9pm)Mr Nicholas Aaron Khoo, New Media Advisor, CNET BloggerMs. Elaina Olivia Chong, Managing Director, Kaiiten CommunicationMr Jairus Lee, Director, Comiqs Hong Kong Trip - Final On the day before leaving Hong Kong, Louis met up with me for a meal and we went to this vegetarian restaurant near to the hotel for a quick bite.After that with a few hours to kill, I roamed around the place in Kowloon on foot. A real treat where you know you be going back to Singapore and you sorta get a day of freedom from work. But no no .. got a call that somehow resulted in my Shanghai trip and a few others to USA and Japan. Oh well... decided not to do anything about it but just leave the planning on the plane instead.My conclusion with these few days in Hong Kong meeting up with several people and able to immerse into their culture and see the way things are being done from business to personal... I gained a lot of new experience. Somehow I thought I am consider as a fast worker but no no, these guys really impressed me a lot, everytime I am there. The way I work and function is nothing to these guys!P/S Those photos are a mixed of food that I ate (various days)Part 1http://tomato75.blogspot.com/2008/04/hong-kong-trip-part-1.htmlPart 2http://tomato75.blogspot.com/2008/04/hong-kong-trip-part-2.htmlPart 3http://tomato75.blogspot.com/2008/05/hong-kong-trip-part-3.htmlFinalhttp://tomato75.blogspot.com/2008/05/hong-kong-trip-final.html 7 Secrets to Personal Finance Success From: Helen Anderson of Bankaholic.com'Personal finance management can sometimes seem like a daunting task. With the amount of financial responsibilities people have today, keeping track of anything can prove to be quite challenging. However, you don’t have to be a rocket scientist to be successful in personal finance management. I’ve come up with a nice list of some tips anyone can use when managing your money. With some economists calling an official “recession” in the USA, it is a good idea to keep your finances in check!'1. Stay OrganizedOrganization can be helpful in all areas of life, especially personal finance. The most organized people will usually have the most success. Being organized in personal finances isn’t tremendously difficult either. Simply keeping track of bills, when things are due, and how much money you have can do wonders. There are also a variety of things one can do to help stay organized. Using calendars to write down when payments are due, or using any other sort of organizer can be quite helpful. Keep track of your bills, and file them with as much organization as possible. 2. Be ProactiveSometimes the best way to be successful is to be proactive. Instead of waiting for the bills to pile up, have your checks already written. Anticipate how much certain costs may be and set money aside specifically for that. Just like with some sports, the best defense is a good offense. If you’re being proactive with your personal finance, you’ll be less likely to get caught with not enough money to pay a bill or a pesky late fee. If you’re carrying a credit card balance, do your best to pay more than you need to (it will help you to avoid some higher interest fees later). The same can be said for any loans you may be paying off. Paying more than what is required can really help and get rid of loans faster. 3. Don’t Fall BehindIf you’re not being proactive, then you best not be falling behind. Make sure to stay with your bills and keep track of your finances well. Falling behind is terrible because it usually leads to falling further behind. Once the bills start mounting, they don’t stop, which spells trouble for anyone. Do whatever you can to make sure you at least stay with the bills, on-pace, and on time. If you are organized and use some of the other tips here, you shouldn’t fall behind. 4. Seek Advice if NeededSometimes we all need a little friendly advice or help. If you are stuck on how to deal with a certain financial situation, never be afraid to ask a friend or family member for advice. If things are bad enough, you should also consider professional financial advice. However, I feel it’s always a good idea to only seek professional help if nothing else can be done and it is a last resort. If you are new to some things (such as buying a house, financing an education, etc) then you would be crazy to not seek some advice. You can learn a lot from people who have been through things before. Find out about other’s mistakes so you don’t repeat them. Remember, it’s not smart to forego seeking advice because of pride or laziness...more Hong Kong Trip - Part 3 16 AprilWe made our way to Cyberport for a meeting and as it is located on the east side the traveling was slightly longer. Along the way, passed by some areas of businesses and also the university and got to learn about the history of that area too. Fantastic!After the meeting, a good one ... we took the cab and passed thru the tunnel to Kowloon Bay where our partner is located. 4 hours later after the training is done we made our way for dinner to meet with another associate. See the red building on the photo? It's a new shopping mall.. very nice looking.The evening traffic begins to build up and it took longer than expected to reach but it was a journey worthwhile to know a new friend from Iran. We had dinner at the hotel's western restaurant. We learnt many things from each others' culture, way of communications, correction of the wrong perceptions of what Iran is about and middle east. Nothing beats talking to someone from the country where USA is trying to isolate. You can get to hear the different side of the stories.Part 1http://tomato75.blogspot.com/2008/04/hong-kong-trip-part-1.htmlPart 2http://tomato75.blogspot.com/2008/04/hong-kong-trip-part-2.htmlPart 3http://tomato75.blogspot.com/2008/05/hong-kong-trip-part-3.htmlFinalhttp://tomato75.blogspot.com/2008/05/hong-kong-trip-final.html All in a day's work - New BAK2u site, meetings, jogging, shanghai 11am meeting at Redhill. 2pm meeting at Bugis. 3.30pm training for new sales staff. 4.30pm pack up all the necessary stuffs for shanghai trip and also to clear off all the necessary paperworks and orders that came in over the weekends. Hopefully, I have some time and energy left to go for a quick jog. Must exercise more after the terrible kick start at the gym when I flunked badly even a 5min run.. urgh.Will redesign BAK2u blog after the main site was up today. Thanks to Hwee Boon and Roger for making it possible... to have a more organized and cleaner look compared to the all jam up information on the old site.Do drop by BAK2u.com :)BlogTraffic.SG has been going well with several more bloggers signed up over the past few days since the launch. Tweaking here and there on the bugs .. caught a few, killed a few and discovered a few more. hahah! Anyway if you are a blogger, sign up (free) and see where you stack up against others. BlogTraffic.SG Foreigners Vs Local workers This is a neverending debate that never fails to get heated arguments from both sides. Saw from the CNA where several were interviewed (with some food still in the mouth.. urgh. Wipe it off first leh!) about their views on foreign workers.Some gave their support to it that foreigners help the economy and also provides more job opportunities and some dont ... but what caught my attention was with this uncle that the foreigners are here to steal our jobs and most of them are here illegally. Well done!! Dumbass!Seriously, someone should pour that meepok over his head. It is one thing to voice out your own personal displeasure about threats to own rice bowl, it is quite another to talk nonsense on the national tv. That also shows how narrow minded one can be.My take on the this issue is very simple ... like it or not Globalisation is happening and will continue to be. Internet is part of the driving force of it and as the world gets smaller the mind must also learn to see it more wider. Otherwise, just whining about how others are coming into Singapore to take away that job, is not going to help at all. How about this, even before there are as much foreigners will you or me be able to take that 'job' up? There is and will be competitions even within the same 'locals' too.Perhaps instead of worrying about what the 'foreigners' will do to us, use that energy and time to fight it all out. Too many times, we complained so much that while standing still doing nothing the world just swing pass by you.Also not to forget, foreigners are here for a reason .. for a better living and for that they will not be just contended about what the media or the govt tries to tell us that they are more of a low wage workers. It is not. They need to do better than just trying to tell others the foreigners are harmless. They are human just like us, we have needs and everything.They will want to climb higher and I personally think that they should cos everyone deserve it if he or she can prove that they work for it. No one should be deprived of a better life, be it foreigners or locals.Bottomline, whine and work on it .. you wont be out of the rat race. Whine and dont work on it... good luck.But as I always say .. even if you win in the rat race, you are still a rat. All about choices and actions. Beat the crap up trailer - The Incredible HULK Dont you just love such movies where the character just beat the crap out of everyone? :) What have I done - 30 Apr 08 Today is one helluva day with meetings packed back to back. :)Started off with a lunch meeting at 12pm in O'Brien with BLOG2u partner, kicking it off with a really good tasting sandwich and a cold cold mountain dew drink. The weather is really a killer and esp when you are in long sleeves.Finished around 1.30pm and we took a train to iShop where we met up with the gang for the coming BLOG2u seminar. Here are some photos of the place:Later once we were done, we took the train and went back to Raffles Place again where I met up with BAK2u partner to establish some partnership with Geek Terminal for our anti-theft softwares for the executives lunching there. It was 3.55pm.In the same location, a few other potential partners begin to arrive one after another and we started the lively discussion. It is a challenge as it is something not done before but we do see the benefits of having this meeting, it is more of how to position it altogether. It takes time and it takes effort too. But nonetheless, it is a good meeting that stretched to almost 7pm before the rest of the bloggers arrive for the PodFire soft launch event.Bernard, Michael, mintea, nadnut, nicole, henry, tian hong, arzhou, jean, ice angel, sabrina (and sis), aaron, andrews peter, teddybear, tech65 gang, daphne .... and too many to remember arriving one after another.The event was a soft launch by Michael and gang on Podcasting where they showed a few pilot ep of Blogger's Treat, Tech65, GeekGoddess ... rendered using the MacBook Pro and iMovie where Michael showed it to me and the camcorder they used. Nice.Personally I see a huge potential in Podcasting bringing bloggers (and influence) nearer to the audiences and also a platform for the advertisers to reach out to their potential customers. But there are challenges where good quality ep have to be created and appreciated by the advertisers before about to make some money out of it. It is a long running process and selling cycle but once over that obstacles, the value will be revealed almost instantly to the advertisers.It is just like now where everyone is talking about new media ... but what is really new media? Well, you can define it as much as you like but bottomline either you follow it or you define it, your way at this chaotic period. Many PR companies are looking into tapping new media and searching for the way out of this jungle mess.We too as we try to find out what it is actually. I think the answer is no clear definition as it is all mush up then evolve sovertime very quickly, internet timing .. yeah that quick so instead of trying to find out what the hell it is, we try to define it and work its way out. :) Facebook Fatigue As fast as it comes, I am seeing droves of people leaving facebook not checking their inbox or invites anymore. First it was too many invitations joining some applications that you cant block them at all. Then came the feature to block it all but already you have tonnes of them to clear. So before you realized it, there is just too much noises for you to bother it anymore and just leave it as it is .. to die. Sound familiar? You are not the only one. Many of my associates, friends, relatives dont use Facebook anymore. Instead of it being a tool to help manage the busy life a little bit, it somehow becomes too overwhelmed. Hong Kong Trip - Part 2 14 AprilThe first thing that I did was to check that there is internet access in the hotel room otherwise I will be cut out from the rest of the world especially the operation here in Singapore. Although we have Shine and Gerard around, but I still worried as Shine is still new to the company and may not be sure what to do if there are some nasty customers' emails.Very quickly I took a bath and put on my suit and out I went on the nearby station, Prince Edward to ride to the island itself and reached Wan Chai station within 30 mins.The place was superpacked! I expected some crowds but definitely not that many people on the first day. Woo.. it took me a while to reach the booth with along the way looking around speaking in my broken Cantonese with a good mix of Mandarin and English. Very weird. :)The booth was at Hall 5 where Louis and Toni were there under HKiShop.com and they placed those very beautifully designed packaging of BAK2u anti-theft softwares there.We stayed put for a while before we made our way to meet Ronald before proceeding up for the meeting. Was trying to arrange my ex-boss to meet them but he couldnt make it and needs to fly off to Malaysia the next day.The guys took me to a very good vegetarian restaurant in kowloon area for dinner and after that we departed our ways, where I took my time to walk back to the hotel with suit on hand and slinging the bag on the side. I still very much prefer in jeans and t-shirt but hey this is a business trip not holiday trip. haha! James called me up asking me about some iPhone problem, told him that I am in HK, where's the place to look for toys. He is the expert :)Pointed to me some direction which I kept in mind to probably drop by on the last day before back to Singapore. Izel is always asking me to try to shop or relax a bit whenever I am on business trip. Usually I dont cos I prefer to pack everything together back to back to really make the trip worthwhile.15 AprilSlept really late at 4am to finish up the emails and also making calls overseas. Woke up at 8.30am and went to the hotel cafe to have a simple breakfast. The waitress was talking to me in Cantonese that was too fast for me.. I asked her to slow down.. hee and later learnt that she was from China and we conversed in Mandarin instead. I had this very nice lemon tea (chinese) really perks me up the whole day.Hands down for the public transportations here in Hong Kong. Everytime I visit I am always impressed about how integrated they are between the ferries, MTR trains, buses, taxis. I dont mind paying more to get to places. Here in Singapore, you pay and pay and it still takes you as long to reach your destination. Load of craps I say.LTA should really learn to learn and now just centre around itself as the best. The best is only when it is praised by others, not by itself.Part 1http://tomato75.blogspot.com/2008/04/hong-kong-trip-part-1.htmlPart 2http://tomato75.blogspot.com/2008/04/hong-kong-trip-part-2.htmlPart 3http://tomato75.blogspot.com/2008/05/hong-kong-trip-part-3.htmlFinalhttp://tomato75.blogspot.com/2008/05/hong-kong-trip-final.html Media Makers’ Networking Evening This is one of its kind event where many media professionals gather together for a networking session at Geek Terminal.It was held on last thur 24 April, 7pm where many start to stream into the restaurant even before the official opening hours. One of the members from Tech65 was there early too. :)Took some pics with the iPhone (looks good on the screen but not that good on the laptop), of those hardworking people in Kaiiten preparing everything to ensure that it is a smooth sailing event. The pressure is really high as everything will be as it is with guests and bloggers watching everything live.The event started on the dot and Angela made the opening speech to welcome everyone there and proceed to introduce what the event is about. In a nutshell, this is an event for networking amongst media professionals from various sectors such as TV, film, animation, publishing, media services, programmers, media financiers, as well as individuals from higher learning institutes. This is the first of many to come together from MDA and each with different group of people but under the umbrella of Media, including traditional and new media of course.As the event kicked start, more bloggers entered into the scene.. Bernard, Jean, Alice, Tian Hong, Ridz, Nicole, Michael, NTT, Farinelli, Wee Wu, Claudia, Zakka Zakka, Sabrina, Daniel (finally got to meet up with him after several failed attempts) and several other bloggers; MediaSlut, Highwayblogger, Precious etc .. cant remember all of them :)Brought the BAK2u team there too with Gerard, S and R there.During the event, spoke to Katherine of Drinkdings.com very cool drinks. Ought to try it out more. Also got to know Dex which both of us have common friends. Small world huh. A personal friend of mine brought his ex-staffs to the event also where they work in this broadband media business.This is truly a good event to get to know so many people. Very beneficial indeed.After the event is over, a few of the bloggers stayed back to chit chat together with Angela before I made my way back home.Look forward to the 5 other events and I believe more BLOG2u members will join to get to know more of other bloggers and those guys that run the media industry here in Singapore and overseas.Others: Beta-testing BlogTraffic.SG Hong Kong Trip - Part 1 14 AprilThe flight was 6.40am and that means gonna be at the airport really early. I wanna make sure that I can have the first meeting as early as 1pm so therefore took this Jetstar flight (and cheapest also). Everyone looks blur blur q'ing up at the line to check it. :)Once in the plane, the seasonal passengers will start to make themselves comfortable and being to sleep to cover that lost hours waking up early. I couldnt get to sleep much but instead just play some games and read a few books flipping them. We arrived slightly late at the airport but still ample time for me to check into the hotel (hotel 36) travel via the bus transfer to Hong Kong island before back to Kowloon area.As this was sort last minute trip (as usual), I didnt really go around hunting for a replacement hotel compared to the one that I went which this time was too expensive. It costs about S$700 plus in my previous trip for 3 nite stay but this time, it hits almost S$1000 thanks to the exhibition in Hong Kong island. So this time, I went for a budget hotel instead to save cost .. S$555. I know I pay lesser but I didnt expect the room space to be so much lesser also :)Part 1http://tomato75.blogspot.com/2008/04/hong-kong-trip-part-1.htmlPart 2http://tomato75.blogspot.com/2008/04/hong-kong-trip-part-2.htmlPart 3http://tomato75.blogspot.com/2008/05/hong-kong-trip-part-3.htmlFinalhttp://tomato75.blogspot.com/2008/05/hong-kong-trip-final.html Video: Tunnel of Death Try not to be frightened by it. Oh, what's my position now? Testing BlogTraffic.SG now. This is really fun when you see the site climbs up the ranking.Break them down into PageRank, unique visitors etc... interestingly some of the keywords to some of the blogs (mine) are:Bing lang mei, anna nicole smith, ping.sg, live to work, anti-theft, bak2u, back2u, backtoyou, backtou PHP.. not for me. :) I told myself to pick up PHP and learn more of it as the work requires it but overtime I only picked up that little or simple editing, linking here and there ... sounds more like HTML than PHP. haha! Anyway I was trying to convert some of the forms into the new BAK2u website designs... foaming.... urgh. 10 Totally Stupid Online Business Ideas That Made Someone Rich Interesting read from Nichegeek.com1. Million Dollar Homepage 1000000 pixels, charge a dollar per pixel – that’s perhaps the dumbest idea for online business anyone could have possible come up with. Still, Alex Tew, a 21-year-old who came up with the idea, is now a millionaire. 2. SantaMail Ok, how’s that for a brilliant idea. Get a postal address at North Pole, Alaska, pretend you are Santa Claus and charge parents 10 bucks for every letter you send to their kids? Well, Byron Reese sent over 200000 letters since the start of the business in 2001, which makes him a couple million dollars richer. Full Story 3. Doggles Create goggles for dogs and sell them online? Boy, this IS the dumbest idea for a business. How in the world did they manage to become millionaires and have shops all over the world with that one? Beyond me. 4. LaserMonks LaserMonks.com is a for-profit subsidiary of the Cistercian Abbey of Our Lady of Spring Bank, an eight-monk monastery in the hills of Monroe County, 90 miles northwest of Madison. Yeah, real monks refilling your cartridges. Hallelujah! Their 2005 sales were $2.5 million! Praise the Lord. Full Story 5. AntennaBalls You can’t sell antenna ball online. There is no way. And surely it wouldn’t make you rich. But this is exactly what Jason Wall did, and now he is now a millionaire. Full Story 6. FitDeck Create a deck of cards featuring exercise routines, and sell it online for $18.95. Sounds like a disaster idea to me. But former Navy SEAL and fitness instructor Phil Black reported last year sales of $4.7 million. Surely beats what military pays. 7. PositivesDating.Com How would you like to go on a date with an HIV positive person? Paul Graves and Brandon Koechlin thought that someone would, so they created a dating site for HIV positive folks last year. Projected 2006 sales are $110,000, and the two hope to have 50,000 members by their two-year mark. 8. Designer Diaper Bags Christie Rein was tired of carrying diapers around in a freezer bag. The 34-year-old mother of three found herself constantly stuffing diapers for her infant son into freezer bags to keep them from getting scrunched up in her purse. Rein wanted something that was compact, sleek and stylish, so in November 2004, she sat down with her husband, Marcus, who helped her design a custom diaper bag that's big enough to hold a travel pack of wipes and two to four diapers. With more than $180,000 in sales for 2005, Christie's company, Diapees & Wipees, has bags in 22 different styles, available online and in 120 boutiques across the globe for $14.99. 9. PickyDomains Hire another person to think of a cool domain name for you? No way people would pay for this. Actually, naming domain names for others turned out a thriving business, especially, when you make the entire process risk free. PickyDomains currently has a waiting list of people who want to PAY the service to come up with a snappy memorable domain name. PickyDomains is expected to hit six figures this year. Full Story 10. Lucky Wishbone Co. Fake wishbones. Now, this stupid idea is just destined to flop. Who in the world needs FAKE PLASTIC wishbones? A lot of people, it turns out. Now producing 30,000 wishbones daily (they retail for 3 bucks a pop) Ken Ahroni, the company founder, expects 2006 sales to reach $1 million. Departure of a staff and down the rabbit hole It was quite sudden when I came back home from the airport to receive an email from diana that she wants to tender her resignation. When just an hour ago she was texting me about work. In it, she cited about family problems and stuffs like that and wants to leave by end of the month without even a month notice. It just threw everything in haywire for all of us. I was super pissed off about the unprofessionalism displayed. Why not just call me up instead but resign thru email?I was to make an announcement via the email to the staffs about some changes both financially and the expansion plan right into Hong Kong and China. But the email just couldnt get send out due to the problematic PCCW wifi in the hong kong airpoint. So the email just stayed in the outbox and when I was back in the airport the Wireless@SG just dont get connected before my iPhone went flat on the way out of the custom. The email never got sent out and I strongly believe it would have change the way things are. But again, it might not also. However Diana didnt know about it all until probably when she reads this blog. Once back, spoke to DK about it and I made the decision to let her go immediately on the spot. There is no need to negotiate about the day to leave. It is all market standard to give at least 1 month notice. But she dont see it this way with all the reasons given. Therefore there is nothing much to say but accelerate the hiring process earlier on that Friday morning instead of the intended week.I rather we all shoulder the problems that come along. We want a team and work as a team and not when things happened without warning, shit just hit the wall. This is what a startup is all about, handle whatever that comes along the way. Either you climb out of it or you sink with it. We have no plan to sink, definitely.It is a minor setback to BLOG2u indeed as it not only impact the new direction but also the follow up on the emails by her to our partners and customers without citing the reason for departure. It was a field day for me with things piling up and overseas guys calling asking what had happened, they thought we fired her. It would have been so much easier if just tell the truth in the email to them that she is leaving for family reason. I guess she is really inexperienced in all these without knowing that it will impact the company and the disappointment resulted from her action. Till date, there wasnt even a call to me at all to tell me what is really going on. I guess I treat her more like a friend than an employee like someone that can groom to handle the sales/marketing for the region, thus the recent trips to Bangkok. That is now out of the windows and a poor judgment on my end too. But at least I dont regret my actions, it was afterall a situational decision made to train her also and to get another sales executive to assist her on the follow up, increases her salary (which I just did a month ago after she joined in Jan) for the increasing load of work and to promote her. Again all out of the windows. I dont hate her or anything, I still treat her like a friend but I can sense that she dont see it that way anymore when she want out so suddenly.I am now re-deploying back the staffs that I shifted over to other businesses to copy with the situation first and at the same time be interviewing a few pre-selected that wrote in to us. In total, we will need at least 50 people to run the entire Asia market and fate as it is, I decided to beef up the entire team here in Singapore so that the management side can be free to handle in setting up in other countries. With multi-million dollars at stake, everything has to be executed it correctly. Being a CEO .. a young and naive CEO (afterall it is just a name) is really really challenging when things just turn upside down, inside out for you. You have to handle the human side of things and at the same time to ensure everything stays afloat with everyone not killing each others in the company also.Cobaltpaladin was on the phone with me together with DK, he knew about what happened and his words brighten me up.Afterall, I am also a human, not a super human that can execute everything right. I try but I am not always right although I am expected to when everyone depends on my action, my thinking, my moves to affect their livelihood. I can make them rich and I can also make them down the rabbit hole into darkness.But if I am put to the test of running a startup again.I will. Invitation: Media Makers’ Networking Evening This is indeed one of its kind where they place all the people from TV, film, animation, publishing, media services, programmers, media financiers, higher learning institutes individuals into one room for networking event. Details What have I done - 16 Apr 08 (BLOG2u HK) It was a pleasant surprise when I received the reply from L that he is also here in Hong Kong! I didnt know that he is here cos most of the time when he wanna travel from USA he will drop me a mail to meet up (if we can).So when I wrote to him about some matters on the anti-theft software for iPhone, he replied to me the next day and I was like ... hmm.. time zone different, so fast? Hey, he is just staying not too far from the convention centre from where our partner is exhibiting!So together with my hong kong partner we took a cab and met him and a new friend together for a beer. I cant imagine 4 guys from all over the world able to gather together in Hong Kong for that glass for beer just like that. :)It been crazy for me since I arrived in Hong Kong on monday. Almost immediately I was at the convention centre and then ran a few meetings with the partners and clients ... it been non stop with only a short hours back to hotel (only to clear up emails, making phone calls to overseas) and then that few hours of sleep before going out again for business. One thing unexpected was we may just open up BLOG2u Hong Kong! Well.. long story short ... someone heard about what we are doing and got interested, so we talked. And decision was made rather fast... I dont know, may have to hire a few more help to handle the rest of the operations and accounts otherwise I dont think the current team can cope with so many things rushing all in at the same time.I think it be very soon before we really start marketing BLOG2u going into the market more prepared.Be coming back home around 12am tomorrow ..... cant wait to see Izel. What have I done - 11 Apr 08 9am- Meeting with Peter (travel agency) Had a Set C at Ya Kun in Northpoint Yishun. Peter is my dad's friend that handles our family traveling. A very trustworthy guy that go all the way out to assist customers. I used the work 'assist' and not 'service' becos what he provided is not just the typical service that you get from a travel agent. He understands very well how the internet is killing the traveling industry and customers are getting smarter cutting thru the middle man to go direct.But there is one thing that the internet can never replace; the personal touch that comes from a sincere person.His agency may not give you the cheapest price for flight or hotel stays. But what he can provide is he understands your needs and your objective of going on a trip. If it is a leisure trip, he do not just leave everything to the other agency in that country to take care of your well-being. He ensures that everything is well planned and executable as according to what he promised to you to close the sales. We all have nasty experience of not getting what was promised to you and left dangling out in a foreign country. He dont. He dont just pass the ticket to you and close the deal after that. He will call you after you are back from the trip to find out if the service is good and how can he and his partners can better improve. And he took the feedbacks positively and true enough those are tighten up after that. (not that there is anything biggie to complain anyway)For the extra S$20-50, it always give me a peace of mind whenever I travel under his 'care'. I introduced at least 100 clients to him just based on words of mouth and none of them ever complaint about it. This is top notch service.10.30am- Kevin newmanWe are running a contest with Newman magazine with a couple of issues. Strange as it may sound when we own BLOG2u.SG so why run a traditional media ads? Well, new media can never replace traditional media, this is the fact. It is just like trying to use Internet as the replacement to reference books etc... BLOG2u is to be the buddy to traditional media; magazines, newspaper, billboards etc. It cant and it will never replace traditional media and it should not. I like Kevin this sales person. He just joined the company not too long but what impresses me is his honesty. Unlike some other sales persons they try to 'smoke' you with too many things that they are not able to relate back later opening up too many holes to patch. What he did was he go for honesty, sharing with me the pros and cons on what we intend to do.I learnt new things from him.12.00pm- printing of BAK2u cd/brochures (bras brasah)Had to cancel this trip as after some thoughts with the distributor coming in, decided to use their design instead.1pm- Lunch with ishopThe guys have been very supportive of us, BAK2u and BLOG2u since we started the business. I can say that if they had not given us a chance to prove ourselves, I doubt we can make inroad into the Mac market just like that. As for BLOG2u, we are consistently getting businesses from them not just from iShop but also from their other businesses under Club 21. They believe in us and I always tell the team that when a customer is supportive of us, we must not take things for granted. We have to under promise and over deliver to them to show that we are really appreciative and really work to deserve it.The lunch was joined by K and G.2.30pm- Meeting with sales manager3.00pm- Meeting with distributorJust engaged a sales manager for BAK2u to handle the local sales. It was a short meeting before we made our way for the first meeting with a distributor. It was right on the spot training for him to learn how to work with partners for long term, to build a strong foundation.5.00pm- Meeting with HIt didnt happen as he was engaged in some interviews of a professor.7.00pm- ishop - Singapore CocoaHeadsIt was a no show for me :(10.00pm- Meet upH and G called around 9.30pm to check where and when to meet up. But K was sick and frankly I was a bit overwhelmed as there are some deals coming in from Europe and north asia side. So gonna run a few stuffs to ensure everything is in place.Took the train and back home around 11.05pm.Tomorrow will go do some Qing Ming (spring cleaning for tombs) in the noon and then dinner with parents and out for a drink with H, G and K before H flies off on Sunday midnite. But will need to settle the next next event for BLOG2u where we are getting a few heavy weighs to come in to educate us.Sunday will be my father-in-law 18 years old birthday.... hahah! Think will pack my bags only on sunday morning before the gang comes for the celebration and the makan. Need for speed ... CEO is no fun Dumbass lookOnce again history has proven itself again and again. Everytime, before any traveling there will be tonnes of unexpected things to take care of. Just this morning, I received a mail from this associate of mine that he is leaving the company with immediate effect. It was kinda shocking as everything seems ok when I last met him. D was asking me what to do as we are so close to closing the deal (one of its kind). Had to react very fast on it. Then upon back to office, I learnt that instead of going to China in mid May now have to bring it forward much earlier which crashes with another event we be running. They are so going to kill me. Need to settle all these mess ....Thailand partner was here with a team and supposed to pick them up for dinner before checking in for their flight but last minute changes. So have to make some more changes again,. Aint life fun? :) D called me up when I was in the meeting about what had happened earlier in the meeting with partner's client. Not so good news. Have yet to return call as I am already worn out with so many things on hand. H text me last nite that he be arriving on friday morning from China, and be meeting up with him tomorrow for lunch to catch up with him before he flys off again next monday to USA. Doubt I will be having any rest time when in Hong Kong next week also, since the exhibition be running with partner's channels there and be meeting up with some other service providers also. Wooo... this is going to be super busy. After Hong Kong, will go China then San Francisco, then Australia, Malaysia, Indonesia, UK ... most likely will send D to thailand for blog2u and then another D to China also for blog2u once everything starts running with the CEO reporting to head office.I think I will hit 15 trips much earlier than budgeted and expected. Ouch.