Aside From Twitter and Facebook There is Twiends

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Published on Webupon, Apr 19, 2011 Category – Social Networks

Twiends is another social network that help get more Twitter followers, Facebook likes and YouTube views.

Twiends is not only for fun and for socializing. This serves also as helpful tool to reach people out there whom you don’t know yet. Through Twiends you can find new would-be friends through the simple process of following.

Another useful usage of this site – it helps boost traffics and views for your blog sites or websites. When I became a Twiends user many people follow me on Twitter and more people added me as friend on Facebook and YouTube. So far I have over nine hundred followers at Twitter through this tool Twiends. Some of them became my avid fan readers and they helped me increased my online views.

Twiends help promote your business and personal stuff online. Although you should make sure that your site is built with love and care and with good contents. Content that adds value to other members, interesting and non-spammy content. Twiends will not allow you to create fake account, spam others and to use automation tools, like bots – they are software applications that run automated tasks over the Internet.

Do I Have The Rights to Tell and Ask The President of The Philippines Noynoy Aquino

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Published on Socyberty, Apr 18, 2011 Category - Ethnicity

This is my simple way to tell and ask President Noynoy Aquino that the Filipino people including the million Filipino Diaspora scattered around the world and the country are thirsty for a change and it is in the form of a poem.

Every year our country produces thousands of graduates and the labor market could not accommodate them. And the best option is to look jobs out from the country and it is through working overseas. I am one of the million Filipino Overseas Contract Workers.

The poem was written in Filipino language. It can be read on the following links: http://429p.wordpress.com/2010/09/27/mahal-naming-pangulomeron-nabang-napatunayan/ and at http://patnubay.com/link.asp?TOPIC_ID=264.  

Working abroad is an ally for those who are fortunate enough to have good jobs and considerable employers. However, it becomes a foe for the sexually abused and maltreated domestic helpers. But despite all this, the overseas contract workers are patiently working hard because it is for love for their families and country.

More about the poem – a Facebook user has plagiarized my work. He used the whole poem as his letter to President Noynoy Aquino and posted it to Pres. Noynoy Aquino’s Facebook profile – without crediting the original author and the source where he got the item. This is the linkhttp://www.facebook.com/presidentnoy/posts/190290631003692. It was Triond who digged the plagiarized item found on Facebook today. I thank Triond for this.

April 29 is My Birth Day and The Wedding Day of Prince William of Great Britain and His Future Queen Ms. Kate Middleton

Published on Socyberty, Apr 15, 2011 Category – People

On that day, April 29, 1960, I was born at around 11:00AM and that was Friday. Last April 29, 2011, also Friday – the most awaited wedding of Prince William of Great Britain and Ms. Catherine "Kate" Middleton took place.

I was born under the constellation of the zodiac Taurus - in English name it is the Bull. In Chinese Zodiac, I was born under the year of the Rat or the year of the Mouse. In broadly meaning the Rat or Mouse is also called Rodent. Last April 29, 2011, I was exactly 51-year old.

Prince William was born a famous left hander. He was born on June 21, 1982 under the constellation zodiac Cancer – in English name it is the Crab. In Chinese Zodiac, Prince William was born under the year of the Dog (25 January 1982 – 12 February 1983). On his wedding day, he was exactly 28-year old, 10 months and 8 days.

Ms. Catherine ”Kate” Middleton was born on January 9, 1982 under the constellation zodiac Capricorn – in English name it is the Sea-goat. In Chinese Zodiac, Ms. Kate Middleton was born under the year of the Rooster (Feb 05, 1981 – Jan 24, 1982). On her wedding day, she was exactly 29-year old, 3 months and 20 days. She is 5 months and 12 days older than Prince William on their wedding day.

Friday is considered the day of Venus – the Roman goddess of love and beauty. And it is also believed that it is the lucky day for sowing the seed!

 

The Crucial Elements of Characterization

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Published on AuthSpot, Apr 13, 2011 Category – Short Stories

There are dozens of different techniques for creating stunning and memorable characters or individuals when writing short stories. But whatever ingenous tricks you may dream up, all use the two most important elements of characterization - putting over (1) how someone looks and (2) how he acts and thinks. In other words, it is his appearance and personality. The ideas I injected in this article are taken from my personal journal when I took up my creative writing course with The Writers Bureau in Manchester, London in 1999 by mail.

If your interest is to write short story (fiction) you would have to accept it that in a short story you have not got the space for long, involved, descriptions of your characters. The reader is only going to be in their company for a little while – just as long as it takes for the central drama to unfold and be resolved. So you need to find shortcut ways of telling what your cast looks like. The most effective shortcuts are names, unusual features and mannerisms.

To read my previous articles on this topic about Cracking The Short Story just visit the following links and you can even download them if you wished to: (1) Ingredients Needed for Your Story, (2) Finding Story Ideas, (3) Plotting Your Story.

In addition of what I am feeding you now – you may consider the following 22 good points for your short story characterization. Here they are:

(1) It’s the characters in stories “the people” that we care about, not the setting, the building, the landscape or the weather.

(2) A fiction writer has to make sure that his characters are strong and believable. He can’t get away with vague outlines.

(3) Characters don’t have to be realistic to be believable but they have to be fully-rounded individuals.

(4) Even if they are aliens or goblins they must still have personalities, likes and dislikes, faults and good points, motivations and goals.

(5) In a short story you need to describe your characters quickly. The best shortcuts are names, mannerisms and unusual features.

(6) Character names are vital. Everyone needs a name. You can’t expect a reader to feel empathy for an anonymous figure.

(7) You can suggest a great deal about a person’s age and background by the name he or she has.

(8) Unless a name is exactly right for the setting, era and genre, it will seem odd and risks destroying the suspension of disbelief.

(9) Know when a name feels right – short, strong names for powerful characters; long, fussy names for officious or pompous individuals.

(10) A safe bet for a name that won’t date or seem out of period is to go for Biblical names like – Ruth, Mark, Daniel, Luke, Rachel and etc.

(11) Pick names that are distinctive and as different as possible from each other. Don’t let the reader mix up characters in his head.

(12) Stick to describing the basics (age, sex, height, build and etc) as swiftly as possible.

(13) Readers are interested in what makes someone look different from other people. Only tell the reader about unusual features.

(14) When describing a person, you can suggest his personality and individuality through his mannerisms.

(15) Dialogue is another powerful way of suggesting character. Every utterance provides information about an individual background.

(16) The way people speak reveals their background, up-bringing, the closeness of their relationships and the era in which the story is set.

(17) Once you identify what motivates your characters, you will know why they think and act as they do.

(18) The reader needs to understand your hero’s or villain’s motivations. What drives him is as important as a good description of his appearance.

(19) Often it’s the characters motivations that make your readers decide whether or not they like him.

(20) A person may not be evil but he may act in an evil way (completely out of character) if the right motivation is provided.

(21) Always make your characters real and different. Don’t use stereotypes. They insult the intelligence of the reader and reinforce prejudices.

(22) Using stereotypes is defensible only when you are using the reader’s own prejudices and lazy thinking against him. 

 

What Ingredients Needed to Cook a Good Entertaining and Profitable Short Story

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Published on AuthSpot, Apr 11, 2011 Category – Short Stories

In the late 1970s the short story was believed a dead genre. No one wrote or published short fiction anymore. But in the last forty years, short stories have enjoyed a stunning revival. Magazines are bulging with exciting new fiction and short story competitions popping up by the hundred. Now short story fiction is already a trend – not only for magazines, newspapers and books but also it had become a partly life of Internet. There are thousand of websites working so hard to attract fiction writers like Triond. This article will guide you some important points needed to enhance your short fiction writing capabilities. Bear with me.

Finished dishes can look amazing – especially if a top chef has lavished time and effort on them. But although the colors, tastes, textures and shapes all blend together to provide a treat for the senses, the chef has not used paranormal skills to create the feast. All he has done is use ordinary ingredients plus a little experience and easily following cooking techniques.

The same is true for short story writing. You may not be able to re-create every nuance of the haunting prose of highly experienced writers that only comes with years of practice – but there is no reason why you cannot write stories that are technically competent, containing all the right ingredients in the correct amounts and in the correct order.

In order to cook a good entertaining and profitable short story – one should need the following ingredients:

(1) You need a single narrative thread. Because the space in a short story is so limited perhaps as little as 850 words to 1,200 words – there is not time to explore the stories of several different characters or at how your main character reacts in a series of different environment. You would need to stick to one storyline and do not deviate from it.

(2) You need a short timescale. All the best short stories are tightly focused on one storyline covering no more than a few days. The most gripping yarns recounts events happening to your hero in a few crucial hours.

(3) You need only one mood, pace and style. A short story should have the same feel throughout. It should not start as an emotionally packed tale of grief then suddenly switch to knockabout comedy. It should not speed up and slow down erratically or switch from a tightly written story with short, punchy sentences and simple vocabulary to a flowing, languorous piece of prose oozing baroque expressions and overblown imagery.

(4) You need brief descriptions. A short story is not the place to show off your descriptive skills. Long descriptions kill the pace and divert the reader’s attention from the plot. Always aim to get the maximum effect with the minimum number of words.

(5) You need minimum background information. Only give the background information that is relevant to the plot. The trick is to maintain a good balance between keeping information tight and giving enough relevant facts about a character so that the reader can visualize him.

(6) You need at least four character or less. Think how difficult it is to remember all the names of people you are introduced to at a party. That is the problem the reader has if you populate your stories with a huge cast of characters. Two is an ideal that allows you to use dialogue as they talk and react to each other. Three is great for eternal triangle tales but four is really the limit.

(7) Avoid sub-plots, hidden morals or sub text. Keep it simple. Tell the story in the most direct form possible and do not try to be too clever or erudite. The plot is of paramount importance so do not allow anything to interfere with the swift and smooth telling of the narrative.

(8) Avoid lengthy run-up or wind-down. The most common reason why short stories fail to grab the reader is that some fiction writers waste those precious first few sentences in setting the scene. Instead of getting the story off and running, they hold everything up by having an unnecessary description of the weather or the town where the story is taking place or the main character’s mood, his appearance and his family. What you need is to get into the plot right from the first sentence.

(9) You need taut and punchy dialogue. There is little point having an enticing title and an attention-grabbing intro if every time your main character speaks he sends your reader to sleep. Dialogue has to be fast-paced, exciting and dramatic.

(10) You need as few points of view as possible. A short story tells what happens when the main character faces a certain set of events. View those events through his eyes and his eyes only. Don not start viewing the action from another character’s perspective. When a story works well, it usually has a single viewpoint with the reader imagining himself as the hero.

(11) In you story show it that the main character is facing up a conflict. Whatever the conflict is: low key or highly dramatic - it must put your main character on the plot. It must worry him. It should force him into acting in extreme or unusual ways and should pose a moral or physical dilemma.

(12) Your plot will start at the point of conflict. The plot should begin when the main player faces his dilemma and it should end when the decision has been taken and the threat has been neutralized by him.

(13) You fiction writer avoid resolving the conflict that is happening in your story by yourself. Let the character resolves his own conflicts. And do not let him off the hook by having a lucky twist of fate rescue him from his impending doom. A good fiction is about how human beings react to challenge – about ordinary people in extraordinary circumstances.  

Email Hackers are Everywhere: How to Avoid Them

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Published on Computersight, Apr 9, 2011 Category – Security

We cannot deny it that Internet is indispensable tool nowadays. Million of people around the world are using this tool for socializing, networking and other imaginable benefits from using the Internet. This tool is also used by those unscrupulous people for their fancies and whims.

Just recently, my Gmail account was hacked. I could not sign-In. I brought the issue to Google help center and I was told that they spotted someone using my Gmail account other than myself – espying my online activities. And they further advised me to immediately change my password.

Following their advice I had sent off my mobile phone number to them and in a few seconds I received the secret code immediately and that was the only time I had accessed my Gmail account. I am still using the same email address but with the new password code.

To avoid email hackers I recommend the following:

(1) Do not leave the site on log-on status.

Any site you are visiting – Triond, Bukisa, Yahoo, Google, MySpace, Facebook, Twitter, Wikinut and other websites that you always love to visit. Leave the site on log-out status.

(2) Do not entrust the password of your email account to anyone.

Your email addresses at Yahoo, Gmail, hotmail, AOL and other server provider to anyone – this includes your family, relatives and friends, email contacts, forum groups and other e-groups.

(3) Do not reply spam and other form of communications to people you are not familiar with.

Everyday there are tens and even hundred of spam letters coming to our mail boxes. Do not entertain them. It is better to delete them if possible. By communicating with these people you are giving them chances to hack your email and other personal identities about you. So beware of them. They are everywhere.

 

How Does Saudi Arabia Combat Electronic Crimes

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Published on Trifter, Apr 6, 2011 Category – Saudi Arabia

Every country has the rights to combat electronic crimes. In Saudi Arabia, where I am working as an OFW (Overseas Filipino Worker) the (SC) Shoura Council approved the law and submitted it to the (TITC) Telecommunication and Information Technology Commision.

When the said law was intensified in the kingdom, question emerged and had become the subject for discussion on some forum groups in the Internet. To read the details regarding the law please refer to the following link: http://prudaline.livejournal.com/.

The English Dictionary defined Electronic crime as any criminal activity involving the use of computers, as the illegal transfer of funds from one account to another or the stealing, changing, or erasing of data in an electronic data bank. This includes: (1) Email spamming (2) Email hacking (3) Money laundering (4) Plagiarizing of other works (5) Copying/stealing of copy righted materials (6) Supporting terrorists activities (7) Hacking into government networks (8) Stealing information related to national security of any country (9) Destroying values or public ethics (10) Advocating vice and immorality (11) Advocating drug usage (12) Publishing pornographic materials (13) Installing viruses that damage its facilities (14) Using the Internet to harm other (15) Advocating how to make explosives.

Some people looked at them as human rights violations without realizing that they are also protecting their human rights respectively. In Saudi Arabia it is now the job of the Telecommunication and Information Technology Commission to detect violators and if found guilty they are subject for prison sentence and fines.

 

Triond Website is Now Restored to Public in Saudi Arabia

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Published on Trifter, Apr 5, 2011 Category – Saudi Arabia

I feel better now and happy indeed that Triond is now reopened in Saudi Arabia after the eight days from being restrained on March 28, 2011. I have no idea what was the reason why it was blocked. Today at around 3:40 PM Saudi time, the site was set free.

For eight days I was totally isolated from the rest of Triond users. I could not access the website by using my desktop/laptop computers including net-cafe computers. I can only accessed Triond when I used my mobile phone for some updates. With my mobile phone I replied to some of the comments for my articles though my time was so limited and I could not visit my friends pages too. I am sorry guys.

During those days of longing my Triond dashboard, I did not just stop from there. I consulted Google about the problem. I even brought the problem too to http://getsatisfaction.com/triond/topics/triond_website_is_blocked_in_saudi_arabia to inform Triond. Not only that I also wrote a short blog http://pruelpophoto.blogspot.com/2011/04/triond-website-is-blocked-in-saudi.html and shared it to Twitter and Facebook.

I quoted ”Triond helps thousands of people around the world to earn online through sharing their awesome original articles. Now I am confused. I am puzzled as well – Why Saudi Arabia blocked triond? I would wish that Saudi Internet Regulatory Department can read this short message. And I would ask them to check out the site www.triond.com and at the same time to re open it to public. I am one of Triond’s Contributors. Articles that are published on the different websites powered by Triond are definitely informative and educational pieces.”

 

Scienceray.com is The Top Among The Referring Sites

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Published on Writinghood, Mar 27, 2011 Category - Writing

For a month now Scienceray.com is the top among the referring sites recorded on my control panel. I have seven articles published on this site.

How old are You Today? Happy Birthday was published on December 23, 2010 and received 107 views and 0.14 cents. Then followed How Many Days You Take Off Work During The Year 2010 which was published on December 27, 2010. This article received at least 62 views and 0.09 cents of earnings

On February 1, 2011 – Six Plus Five Equals Nine was published. It received 49 views and 0.04 cents of earnings. Followed by The Most Versatile Branch of Science is Mathematics which was published on the same date. It received 43 views and 0.03 cents of earnings.

On March 6, 2011 – How Do Numbers Tell Our Life Paths, Our Expressions and Our Heart Desires–part One was published. It received at least 505 views and 0.27 cents of earnings. On March 7, 2011 – I published two articles How Do Numbers Tell Our Life Paths, Our Expressions and Our Heart Desires–part Two. This article received 196 views and 0.14 cents of earnings to date. And How Do Numbers Tell Our Life Paths, Our Expressions and Our Heart Desires–part Three. It received at least 349 views and 0.22 cents of earnings.

If this article is approved this will be my 104th article. To date my journal has recorded approximately 6,249 views so far. Out of these views 1,311 are credited to the seven articles published at Scienceray.com which is equivalent to 20% of the total views. And the remaining 80% will be determined for the remaining 96 articles. This is awesome result and not bad for a newbie.

Will You Plagiarize My Works

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Published on Writinghood, Mar 27, 2011 Category – Online Writing

If you plagiarized my works, it is understood that you love my works. You love my silly thoughts and you love my stupidity.

This article is the result from those articles I read this morning from my Triond Friend’s pages. I cannot believe that there are people loved this habit of stealing others works. Did they do that for money or for fame?

Now to make them happier, I am offering my works to be plagiarized but they should meet my three conditions.

• They should not edit my articles.
• They will use them and publish them as they are and
• They should read first 102 times for each article I published here.

If they will focus on number three condition – I am so sure they will feel uncomfortable and might forget to plagiarize my works!

So far I have 102 articles already published at Triond excluding this one. They are available on those sites powered by Triond. If they (thieves) are willing and have the interests to steal my works – this is the link where to find them: My Triond Treasure Box. They can also include all my Triond badges too if they wanted them.

After they do that and they successfully published them - they can invite me to visit those articles and become one of their avid fan readers too. I will not charge them for anything.