Web Directories and Portals

Web directories are Web sites that selectively catalog and categorize the broad range of sites available on the Web, usually including sites that are only likely to be of interest to a large number of users. Although they have quite a bit in common with Web search engines, web directory, such as the Yahoo! Directory, also differ tremendously from search engines. Web directories serve unique research purposes and in some cases may be the best starting point, even though their databases may include far less than 1 percent of what search engine databases cover.

The two most distinguishing characteristics of these tools (especially in contrast to Web search engines) are their selectivity and their classification (categorization) of sites. By selectivity, I mean that each site included in the free web directory is reviewed by a human being and included on the basis of some measure of quality. The underlying characteristic generally looked for is that the site must contain significant content and the content should be of interest to a fairly large number of people.

No matter how important, relevant, and useful they may be to you, commercial sites will probably not be found in the Yahoo! Directory unless these sites have paid a fee. For any site, chances of being included in the Yahoo! Directory in a timely fashion is greatly increased by the payment of a fee. In contrast, Open Directory Project does not accept any fees for inclusion.

A third characteristic of these tools is that typically only the main page of a site is indexed (in contrast to Web search engines, which may index all pages of a site). Web sites rather than Web pages are what is included in general Web directories. One impact of this distinction is that if a term is not on a site's main page, a directory will probably not identify that site as relevant for your search. Furthermore, directories are less likely to index every word even on the main page and may list and search only a brief description.

General Web directories typically organize sites into about a dozen broad categories, with each of those categories broken down into additional levels of hierarchy. This categorization can be the most important reason to go to a directory. It allows browsing through the levels of the classifications hierarchy and can provide valuable direction for a searcher who is not quite sure how to narrow down a broad topic. Different directories use different classification schemes, which may influence a user to choose one over another.

Ads on Your Blog

While blogs can be useful as an enhancement to your business, sometimes your blog can be the business. The primary ways bloggers can earn income from their sites are via advertising and sponsorships, and there are more than a few who are making a good living from these sources. The good news is that adding revenue-generating features like ads to your blogs is very easy. The not-so-good news is that your site will need to be extremely popular for the revenue to be more than trivial. Even though riches are hard to come by, many bloggers are happy just to make enough to cover their hosting costs.

More and more advertisers are moving their ad dollars away from traditional media (television and print advertising) to online publications and blogs; this trend is working in bloggers' favor. Hence, the Internet has clearly become the fastest-growing advertising medium. Sponsorships are another method that can provide bloggers with compensation for their efforts. Creating a blog that aligns with a target audience can be attractive to a corporate sponsor. Many companies are eager to have an ongoing branding presence on a well-executed blog.

There are sites that garner revenues from both ads and sponsorships and can confirm what many bloggers say - sponsorships are generally more lucrative and make for a better experience for their visitors. Whereas the most popular ad service that bloggers of all kinds use is Google's Adsense network. Adsense subscribers are paid based on how many visitors click on the ads Google presents on your pages. After filling out an application at the Adsense site, Google will likely approve you and will then route you to a page that lets you specify how you want your ads to look.

But as with other marketing-related blogging initiatives, the main strategic goal is for your blog to have lots of visitors, readers and inbound links. If your site has those things going for it, any ad or sponsorship program you administer will be much more lucrative. But do note that there are some basic tactical approaches that can help a blog get more advertising revenues.

Things look different from behind the looking glass

The only source of betrayal may well be within the heart. The ability to love can be a curse sometimes. Stay true to yourself, never back down. It is you you're staring back at and you who you must answer to. When despair and a sense of indirection chill your heart, look deep inside for the greatest source of inspiration. The only challenge is admission.





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Fried Eggy Hor Fun

Well, what a way to start the morning with a Fried Eggy Hor Fun. I didn't make the name up, the stall that sells this called it Fried Eggy Hor Fun.





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Bibimbab

Well, the photo looks nice. That is until I bought it, tried it for the first time and nearly cried. The taste was really horrible...





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Smooth Criminal

Pretty ironic that Michael is going to be worth more in death than he was alive, agreed?




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Tribute to Michael Jackson

It is a sad day to see the King of Pop icon passed away unexpectedly. His music never fails to bring a smile and a smirk to my face and I've always respected his music way when I was just a young teenager. As a tribute to Michael Jackson, there will not be any blog posts for today as we should take a moment to mourn the loss and to give our final respects to the King of Pop. All blog posts will resume normal activity tomorrow. Let us join in offering our deepest sincerities, condolences and prayers to the one who gave us the power to dream with his music. Rest In Peace, Michael. You will never be forgotten.

Satay

When you visit Singapore, the one dish you definitely must try is Satay. (For a full description and history about Satay, click on the link.)

Anyway, some favorite hot spots where you can eat satay would be Lau Par Sat and Clarke Quay. (okay, my favorite hot spots actually as it's easier for me to catch the bus home.) At Lau Par Sat, it might be a little tricky as it's always packed with locals and tourists alike and the best time to have your satay would be at night where you'll get to have an alfresco satay experience.

As for Clarke Quay, the location is quite close to the side road and also near Liang Court too. Also another tricky zone as hippie-wannabe teenagers like to hang/chill around Clarke Quay around and you might not get seats as soon as you want.

But the most important thing before you can eat your satay is to first "survey" all the satay stalls within the vicinity. As soon as you walked up to or near stalls that sells satays, owners and assistants from the stalls would try to tout you into buying from their stall first. And that is one thing you shouldn't agree to hastily. Also check out other satay stalls around as some stalls might be selling cheaper than the other or maybe some stalls have more choices of meat (chicken, beef or mutton but never pork as most satay sellers are Muslim and it is against their God and religion to consume animals that aren't slaughtered properly, so be mindful of their culture.)

After you determined the stall you are going to buy your satay from, it's just a matter of how many sticks you want. If you like meat, then go ahead and order as much as you think you can finish. But if you can't, you can ask for the remaining satays and condiments like cucumber and onion cubes to be packed up so that you can finish the remaining at your home or hotel room.




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Pork Bun

In Chinese-speaking Asian countries, pork buns are generally prepared with the available seasonings so that the bun, when upon being well steamed (meaning well-cooked), can be eaten immediately without any extra flavoring needed.

But for pork buns in Japan, the buns are prepared just the same, with the exception that the meat isn't flavored or seasoned at all. Once steamed and ready to eat, a small little packet of oil (seasoning oil, I presume) will be given for 1 bun. Right after you take the first bite of the bun will be the meat and that is the moment you will or can either:

» Drip the seasoning oil sparingly onto the meat while eating it simultaneously;

» Or squeeze the entire contents of seasoning oil in the bun, right onto the meat and let it spread before enjoying it.

Interesting ways to eat pork buns in different countries, huh?




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Boxes of CUTE... Widdle Animahs

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That's one way to come down the stairs

And seriously, I actually rolled across the cold hard dirty cement floor from the escalator to my doorstep when I was just only 6 years old...




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Ice Ice Baby..

Whenever I see ice flakes, I wish it would somehow snow in Singapore. Not the flakes which you grab a handful of from some ice cream truck, but the real thing that falls from the sky. No, seriously. I'm waiting for the moment when I can finally start singing, "Snow drops keep falling on my head..."





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In comes the new

Before the new dresser arrives, my mother attempts to clear out all her stuff inside.




Now that the new old is here, it's a headache to stuff everything back in.


Well, the old dresser has been with us since I was living in my grandfather's old home. Yup, for a whole whopping 27 years (or most probably 30 years) when my parents got married until now. Nostalgic, right? Anyway, it's starting to fall off in bits and pieces and the handles sometimes can come right off unexpectedly too.




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Eggs = Grandfather

Everytime I see or eat eggs, I'm always reminded of my grandfather...

Well, I'll talk about it some other day soon. Meanwhile, just pretend that you readers are also seeing an image of my grandfather happily eating eggs.




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Cell Phones in the 1980s

Yes, my father had one too. And back during the 1980s, if you own one of these, you're considered an "elite" of the society, somewhat similar to being successful. But now, even kids as young as 5 years old are already becoming users of cellphones, and I don't mind using their parents' cellphones but having their own phones to carry out. Different times, huh?




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Wedding Photo

Everytime, this wedding photo never quite see the daylight, in a sense that there would always be something to block at least the lower half of it. Basically, a wedding photo of my parents back in the 70s.




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Bei Bei... the Pumpkin?

When I passed by these pumpkins in the local supermarket, I thought they looked small and green and my mother commented that these pumpkins looked really beautiful. When I was looking for the item description, I saw that it said, "Bei Bei Pumpkin"...

P/S: I have a colleague at work who also happened to have the same name as this pumpkin. So cute~ ~ ~




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I Won't Be Updating Tonight...

Due to the fact that while I was busy deleting other ads in favor of Nuffnang ads to see if my monetary gains for this blog will be increased, I had to update this survery thingy from Nuffnang. When Nuffnang provided me with a new ad code, I don't know exactly what I had done back there, but all my precious links to other blogs including the Chinese Accomplishments links were all wipe out. So, I had to source the same layout from Blogskins (thank god the layout was still there, including some of the layout's images were still stored on my home PC) and re-do this blog's layout again.

Meanwhile, I'm trying my darndest to find all the old blog links which I had previously linked to, and while some are non-existent anymore and in which I had to forgo them, I am also actively looking for new blogs to add into my blogroll too. Any bloggers are welcome to submit their blogs for blogroll consideration. Personal blogs are most welcomed of course, and will also get a higher chance of getting blogrolled by me. How to apply? Simple, just leave a comment with your:

» Your Name, Or Alias if your use one, so that I know who you are;

» Your Blog Title, although please do try to keep it short as my blog's layout size is quite limited;

» Blog address, so that I am able to link you back.

Yup, instructions are simple as pie, right? So, get on to it and I'll check for comments to this post every few days!!

P/S: All blog links will be in alphabetical order.





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Ruffles were cheap, I heard...

Back when I was in school, I thought I wanted everything. But when I started working after school, I realized I still wanted everything even more than before, but at cheaper prices. So, out comes the cheapskate minded Pu Niao and good-bye to the Pu Niao who thought she was ever so generous.

By the way, these Ruffles chips were quite cheap last week, so I bought all the available flavors on sale, except for the original flavor. Previously, it was the Kettle Chips, but the "so-called" discounted price wasn't worth buying, according to the in-built potato chip sensors in my head. Besides it was less than SGD1.50 cheaper than the original price sold, so, I forgo buying it..




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Tang Dian Wang

Well, my mother claimed that she can cook most of the dishes in this restaurant. Who am I to judge anyway?




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You call this fried rice?

Seriously, visitors to Singapore should always avoid this dish at all cost. The so-called "Fried Rice" or "Singapore Fried Rice", the ingredients used are so lame that it's a shame to call it fried rice in the first place. I personally called it the "I Can't Be Bothered To Cook A Proper Fried Rice" fried rice...




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Curry Chicken

I'm not going to talk much in this post too, just enjoy the Curry Chicken here!!




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Yoville Madness

This is the Arabesque Living Room.




This is the Egyptian Bed Room.




This is a non-themed Kitchen Room.




This is the Hall, where portraits of some random looking Yovillians pop up on the wall. So, I thought I could make it into a guest room and bought all the cabin furniture, until I realize non of it fits. So, I'm saving the Cabin-theme furniture for a new room that is popping up in the Hall and transforming the Hall into a mini-living room/study room that is attached to the soon-to-come room. Sounds confusing?




Just outside Alton Apartments, me and quite a number of Yovillians were suddenly transported into the twilight zone...


P/S: For all of you who played Yoville on Facebook, you can use my Hall as an inspiration to make it into another wonderful room, instead of using it as a storage room as there's going to be another room located within the Hall Room.




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San Remo: Mushroom and Chives

I only cooked this when I am too lazy... boneless to gather anything and cook a proper meal.




Bring to boil 125ml of skimmed milk and 310ml of water, add in 1 teaspoon of butter.




Pour in contents of the pasta and stir while boiling it continuously for 7 minutes.




Serve hot!!





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Endurance Athletes

Endurance training and racing requires quite a commitment from athletes ... the commitment is for time and money ... they put up with pain, they eat for the event and buy supplements that cost a bundle ... their equipment is specialized to their events (shoes, high performance clothing, bikes, skis, wet suit, heart monitor, exercise equipment, etc., etc.) Some of the athletes are in the professional ranks, but most are age-groupers. Why do the age-groupers do it?

Useful Garden Equipment

Do you know that garden equipments like zero turn mowers can take care of our yards? Of course they do and they do an excellent job too! When I first used post hole digger complete with skid steer attachments, everyone I know came to tell me why it wouldn't work at all. Even my neighbors would purposely throw stones and sticks in front of the mower to prove their point and also see if my mower would chomp everything that is thrown on its path. Regrettably for them, my mower has been taking care of my beautiful yard, making sure all weeds are mowed down, proving them wrong.

Now my neighbors no longer question about my choice of mower and whether it can take care of my yard. And just less than one month ago, my neighbor got the same model as mine for his yard too. Now, she can tend to her yard easily and without backaches too instead of having to push a manual mower around her yard for hours.

Every other morning, I would bring out my mower and start the "elusive" search for weeds and stuffs that harm my yard. The moment it locates the weeds, my mower starts to systematically cuts down all the unwanted growth in the specific area. Isn't it wonderful to have such a handy mower around the house to ease yard work for you?

Dancing or Leaning.. Doesn't Matter

Ever encountered the moment when you stepped onto public transport with the hopes of finding somewhere (at least) comfortable to stand and hold onto the pole for dear life? I've been there, done that and trust me, most of the time, it's the Singaporean men who are doing the leaning.

Bus Scenario:
You rush for the bus, managed to hop onto it in time without worrying being late for work. Even better, you got yourself a seat and hence sat down to catch your breath. When your bus stopped at the next bus stop, this smartly dressed, middle aged, semi-bald bozo chose to stand beside, or rather in front of you as there are no more empty seats left. Nothing much to think of, right? Wrong! Said same bozo decided to lean his butt on the seat rest that is located around your shoulder area. In other words, he's indirectly leaning his ass on one side of your shoulder.

My question to you is: What would you do in such a situation?

MRT Scenario:
You rush for the train, managed to squeeze through the fast sliding doors in time before getting flattened in the face. Phew! So you managed to get onto this train and thankfully in time for work and make your way into the center of the train carriage. But what you saw next left you thinking, "WTH!?". 2 or 3 people were leaning with their ass on the pole that was supposedly meant for passengers to hold on to as that they can steady themselves in the event the train makes a sharp turn or abrupt stop. You tried to stick in your hand and grabbed just a tiny piece of the pole. But those same goons are hard at leaning on the poles. In fact, when they realized you are trying to hold on to the pole, they suddenly decided to block you further in a way where only 2 of your fingers barely touched the pole.

My question to you is: What would you do in this situation now?

P/S: Best 5 answers would get free links from my blog to you. Higher chance of getting linked if you happened to be caught in either one scenario, better if you're caught in both. Results of permanent & lifelong blog linkage will be announced on 24 June, so hurry!!

I'll post up details of what I had done in a couple of days. (I've encountered both scenarios before, so I'm using it as a conversation topic ^_^)




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