Remember that Hackers movie that came out in ’95? It was about a group of kids who discover a plot to unleash a dangerous computer virus and they use their great computer skills to find the evidence while being pursued by the NSA and the mastermind behind the virus. This movie practically made being a hacker a pretty cool thing.

But you know what’s not cool? Hackers writing viruses that have the capability to cripple major Internet sites. Imagine having someone switch your identities with another person or emptying your banking account as you’re about to make an online transaction. The hacker did all that from the comfort of his living room while he’s munching on burritos.

It is because of threats like this that companies everywhere around the world are taking measures to counter the attacks of hacking. This has seen a growing demand for ethical hackers to test the security of companies systems and networks.

“An ethical what?” you say?

An Ethical Hacker is someone who is usually employed with the organisation and can be trusted to undertake an attempt to penetrate networks and/or computer systems using the same methods as a Hacker. The goal of the Ethical Hacker is to help the said organisation take preemptive measures against malicious attacks by attacking the system himself while staying within legal limits. This concept is the same as the proven practice of “the best defence is a good offense”, or “to catch a thief, you got to think like one”.

The CEH Program certifies individuals in the specific network security discipline of Ethical Hacking from a vendor-neutral perspective. The Certified Ethical Hacker certification will strengthen the application knowledge of security officers and professionals, auditors, site administrators and anyone who is apprehensive about the integrity of the network infrastructure.

Basically, a Certified Ethical Hacker is a skilled professional who understands and knows how to look for the weaknesses and vulnerabilities in target systems and uses the same knowledge and tools as a malicious hacker.

EC-Council can train you to become an Ethical Hacker and you can benefit from rising pay/jobs IT Security sector despite the economic downturn. They offer training in Security Fundamentals, Ethical Hacking, Penetration Testing, Computer Forensics, Disaster Recovery and Secure Programming categories. For details, please visit the EC-Council website.

I had installed the Blog List widget (pictured below) with the intention of bookmarking the blogs I read. The other cool thing about this widget is that it displays/sorts the blogs based on the most recently updated (because nothing can be more frustrating to me than visiting the same blog that hasn't been updated since my last visit).

Apparently installing the Blog List widget alone isn't enough.

For some unknown reasons, there are certain blogs where its rss feed doesn't get picked up by my Blog List widget, such as Savante's blog. Even though his latest update doesn't show up on this widget, I still hop over to his blog knowing that there's always something new to read (I have no idea how this doctor is able to blog every single day! lol!).

However, in the case of Samantha, this one hit slightly close to home because she is someone whom I personally know and is one of a handful of my sister's friends whom I instantly liked the moment I met her (I think I just gravitate towards crazy people *wink*). So when I didn't see her blog update on my widget, I just assumed that she had stopped blogging. So imagine my surprise when I read about her updates from another blogger! Lol!

Though it's good to have a Blog List widget, in my case for instance, it's not the most reliable when it comes to staying in touch with my fellow blogger friends. I find that it's also better to subscribe to that person's blog *insert my shameless plug here*

By subscribing, you will instantly get updates straight into your mailbox. This works great especially if you're at the office and you don't have time to personally visit your friend blog.

There are some companies who are a bit anal with how their employees spend their working hours. Some have even taken the liberty to block certain websites, such as Blogger, thus making us blog-whores a unhappy bunch. Though my company is way too cool to be doing such thing, there are certain days where the internet connection is so slow, it feels like we're back on the dial-up connection days. Some blogs/websites take forever to load! But if you've already subscribed to that person's blog, then this wouldn't be an issue because you would've already gotten the updates into your mailbox.

One of my goals this year is to be a better blogger, and recently I had joined Associated Content (thanks to Kat for introducing this to me). I had been spending the past couple of days doing my research on AC, and found it to be a great place to expand myself as a writer.

Then I came across an article written by AC_Miguel. The article, titled "Autosurf and Traffic Exchanges Will Get You Banned from AC", definitely made me rethink my position on being an Entrecard user. With Entrecard being a traffic exchange program, that would definitely put me at risk in getting banned from AC.

So to my readers from Entrecard, thanks for stopping by my site and I hope you'll come back to visit from time to time. All the best and take care.

As I was going through the hassles of changing the layout for my blogsite, I encountered quite a number of issues with Blogspot. I hated that I was unable to create new pages (although there is a way to go about doing it, but that way is just too technical and tedious for me). And because of that, I have to depend heavily on widgets. Which are fine, except that using too many widgets will make the site look cluttered.

So I’ve been toying around the idea of getting my own dot com. Should I decide to make that leap of getting my own domain, I will definitely be reading up on web hosting reviews to see which web hosting service can best suit my needs.

There are so many great web hosting services out there, and at WebHostingGeeks.com there’s a section that lists down various categories such as Best Dedicated Hosting, Best Budget Hosting, and so on.

So it really boils down to the theme or direction of your website. I’d most likely look for something under Best Blog Hosting.

To help make your decision on which web hosting service to go with, you can always read up reviews from the webmaster or other customers. So you’ll be getting real feedback from people who’ve tried their services before you.

So if you do decide to get your own domain, do read up the web hosting reviews on WebHostingGeeks.com. A little bit of research in making sure you get the best hosting service that suits your requirements will do more good than harm. Afterall, no one wants a lousy service right?

I’ve never been one to get hooked to shopping online but I can certainly share the excitement that McChef had when he started going to eCommerce websites like eBay or PlayAsia to buy video games. He and my sis certainly share that “hobby” together as she too likes to shop online for her Japanese DVDs.

Unfortunately for McChef, he had to experience the ugly side of eBay: fraud. Last year my sis wanted to buy a limited edition PSP, which was sold out in most retail shops. Ever the nice guy, McChef decided to look for the item on eBay. He managed to find a seller and after reading other people’s comments about that particular seller (which was mostly good), he made the purchase.

Only, the PSP never got to us. And that started our nightmare. We lodged a police report, lodged a report on eBay, lodged a bank report (which led us to know that the seller was part of an online scam because his bank account was empty and his last transaction was made in another state). McChef did receive reimbursement from eBay but only half of what he paid for the PSP.

That was the problem. We didn’t know which seller to trust. We were not able to make informed online shopping decisions because there weren't anything else to help us other than the comments and ratings left by other people (who also turned out to be part of a scam group).

Thankfully now there are better ways to protect ourselves when we shop online. The buySAFE Shopping Advisor is a FREE browser plug-in that enables people like you and me to shop online safely and securely.

What is does is that it enables Retail Websites to display a meaningful trust signal (the buySAFE Seal) backed with a broad guarantee. Merchants who qualify to use the buySAFE Seal have passed the buySAFE Business Inspection, which ensure the merchant is trustworthy, reliable and committed to delivering on the terms of the sale. These merchants can then display the buySAFE Seal on item listings, which tells us buyers purchases are automatically protected with a bond guarantee of up to $25,000 and identity theft insurance. Additionally, all buySAFE Bonded Merchants agree to allow buySAFE to continuosly monitor their performance. This ensures a virtually risk-free shopping experience.

The buySAFE Shopping Advisor also provides Safe Shopping Ratings on more than 320,000 eCommerce sites in the search results of Google, Yahoo, MSN and eBay.

So guys, if you love to shop online, no harm in downloading this FREE buySAFE application. Afterall, isn’t it better to equip yourself with tools that can help you make safe and informed online shopping decisions?

Every girl loves to shop. But if you’re like me, though I do enjoy the occassional shopping spree, I don’t enjoy having to physically go to the store & endure the long queues, or wait while the shop assistant runs into the storeroom to look for my shoe size.

Nowadays, I even stay away from going to shopping malls because finding a parking spot is near impossible and it’s just a waste of petrol being stuck in traffic jams.

So I’ve found an alternative: To shop online from U.S. retailers. It makes sense, doesn’t it? The “shop” is available to you 24/7, you can compare prices or get the product reviews without ever leaving your home or office and the selection is unbeatable.

Yeah, I know, some of you are most probably going,”Hmm... but isn’t it expensive to get the items shipped here?”

Not if you use the package forwarding services provided by Access USA at MyUS.com website. As we are well aware of, many US retailers will not ship overseas and the ones that do, well, they normally charge very high shipping rates for international shipping.

So what Access USA does is they provide you with a genuine US street address that the US retailers will accept as a valid shipping destination (and btw, having a USA address can also bypass potential international shipping hurdles).

If you’re an account holder at Access USA, they help you save money in more ways than one:
• You can save up to 70% on international shipping.
• They will consolidate multiple purchases into one sturdy shipment, which will save you more on international shipment costs than having each package sent individually.

Also, if you don’t want to waste time and just get your stuff, you can even treat MyUS.com website as your personal shopper service provider. You just tell them what you want to order and they will buy the goods for you. They accept wire transfers, payment through PayPal and can take major credit cards with foreign billing address and/or issued by a non-U.S. bank or other financial institution. Of course, there’s a small fee for the service and a slight markup on the purchase to pay for processing your credit card payment, but it’s still a cheaper alternative.

Shopping on the internet can be so much easier at MyUS.com website.

Many of you don’t know this but I actually have a bachelor’s degree in Information Technology. Even though I was quite good at it (for my final year project I built a child’s education program using C++ and used Maya to create my 3D animation), I took a completely different career path. But now, I have seen so many of my college friends becoming successful in their chosen I.T. field. And sometimes I do wish, what if I had stayed on and became the I.T. consultant like the one I thought I’d be after graduating?

But now, if I were to dive into any I.T related job, I’d be so lost because the field of I.T has become so diversified that it requires greater understanding and technical knowledge.

Which is why I find programs like the Cisco certification to be very useful to someone like me. Even if you’re working in a field not related to information technology, you can still benefit from it as it can widen your resume. Afterall, many jobs these days do require you to be somewhat a computer literate.

At Cisco, they offer many certifications from general certifications to specialist certifications (for those who wants to enhance their core knowledge by achieving specialist certifications in technologies such as security, IP telephony and wireless). Cisco is a learning network that can enhance and advance your IT career. You can learn about the opportunities for your career path, as well as get connected with the community by sharing insights, opinions and knowledge.

No harm in checking out the programs offered at Cisco. Afterall, in this day and age, it’s very important to have the necessary certifications as it not only gives you better job opportunities but also gives you credibility.

My dad is like a sponge that absorbs knowledge. He’s also interested to learn new things and loves discussing and debating whatever issues that interests him. When he got his RX8, he purposely set up a Facebook account so that he can join in the discussions with other RX8 owners. Same thing goes for the his love of guitars and his ever expanding guitar collection. I think he has more Forum accounts than I do. As a matter of fact, I think he spends more time online than I do!

So when I came across this Free Forum Hosting at forumity.com, I thought to myself,”Now, this could be something that’s very useful for daddy”. Not only can he create his own Forum in a few simple clicks, but he also gets the freedom to manage his Forum.



Here are some of the features that the forumity.com have that I find to be pretty amazing:

Anyways, they have more features at forumity.com than the ones I mentioned here as their R&D team is always adding new & exciting features to their FREE forum service. So if you’re looking for a place to build your online community, then this Free Forum Hosting is the place you ought to check out.

You know, online surveys are nearly as old as the Internet itself. You should know how these surveys work by now – companies conduct market research online and you get paid for giving your opinion or experience with certain products. In a way, you influence new products even before they hit the market.

Always remember, you should NEVER have to pay to take a survey. Where as most online surveys asks you to pay to take their survey, GetPaidtoTry is different, as it OFFERS you a quick sign-in bonus of $20.00 without any obligations for you to purchase and doesn’t ask you for your credit card number. Payments are done via Paypal within just 48 hours.

From what I’ve seen so far after signing up, there are many offers to choose from. The amount of money that you make is based on the kind of surveys you take and how much time you put in. You either get paid by check, or redeem your points for Gift Certificates to stores like Amazon and the GAP.

Right now, GetPaidtoTry is only open to people living in the US. In my opinion, GetPaidtoTry are for fun at best. Definitely not something you want to quit your job for. So if you’re constantly online and looking for something to do, Click here to begin making some spare change in your free time.

If you’re always on the look out for ways to encourage your readers to visit your blog, such as giving them updates on your latest post, then perhaps you should take a look at what Zookoda has to offer. Zookoda basically allows you to promote your blog with the use of email newsletters.

Zookoda also allows you to have full control of how your email newsletters should look like as you can add custom newsletter subscription forms to your blog and choose the newsletter design and content. It’s also up to you to schedule broadcasts as it can either be one-off or recurring, where you can choose to have your newsletter sent out daily, weekly or even monthly.

Zookoda gives you real-time open, bounce, click and unsubscribe reports so that you are well informed about your email success and visitor habits. Another awesome feature is you can also access mobile users by emailing your blog content in text format. Isn’t that a cool way of always keeping in touch with your readers? Just think of Zookoda as an alternative to the RSS/Atom feeds.

And you know what the best part is? All these services are provided to you for FREE! So if you have products to launch or sell, or know of some opportunities that you think your readers would like to hear, then try out Zookoda and make the most of this great application. I mean, why wait for readers to visit your blog when you can take the initiative to keep them well updated? So check out Zookoda and start creating your very own professional looking newsletter!

I’ve been trying to find ways to increase traffic to my site. We bloggers, as much as we love to write, we love it even more when there are actually people reading the stuff we write. To me, readers serve as some sort of validation to my thoughts.

Recently, I stumbled upon this particular traffic generating tool called TrafficXplode2.0. I’ve personally given it a try and right now, it’s showing a lot of potentials.

For starters, TrafficXplode2.0 is really easy to use. You can easily extract contact information from either your social networks (such as MySpace, Facebook, Orkut, Friendster or Hi5) or email accounts (such as Gmail, Yahoo!, MSN and others) to send friends a message telling them about your site.

So what your friends do next is to refer more people to visit your site. The more people they refer, the more points they will accumulate. And with the points that they’ve accumulated, they can exchange it for gifts.

What’s great about this tool is that it works base on a reward system, which is pretty unique I must say. Apart from choosing gifts that will suit your budget and appeal to your readers, you can also set the gift levels for them. What this basically means is that the more people they refer, the more points they’ll get, and the better the gifts your readers will receive. And the best part is, this tool has a system that keeps track of all the referrals.

TrafficXplode2.0 is definitely something worth considering if you're serious about increasing traffic to your site.