Eversince I got the BlackBerry Torch from my employer, I have been busy learning how to work around RIM’s technology. So far, one of the best feature of the BlackBerry is its push email whether you have gmail, or yahoo or your corporate email– setting up is a breeze.  Since the BlackBerry Torch is the bearer of RIM’s latest OS 6.0,

October 2 will remain etched in my memory.  Twas the day I met Matt Mullenweg, the Founder of Automattic and Developer of WordPress, the CMS that powers all my websites.  I have been a WordPress user for more than 7 years.  I started blogging with Typepad then I wanted more control over my site and moved to Moveable Type.  That was the time when blogging meant posting family pictures and writing about my trip here and abroad.  After the birth of lifediscourse.com, I decided that I needed to compartmentalize my website and decided on a niche and since I am very interested on personal finance, Pinoy Frugal Living was born.

Hanging around Facebook is becoming a pain because of the barrage of online stores and stores tagging their goods with your name. At to some point it can become annoying and I now I started grouping those stores into Online Stores and added high privacy settings on this particular group. Although there were stores that I am genuinely interested in, there are some that can become annoying so I just unfriend those annoying ones just to get a grip on my list and it does

Being an online worker can be very rewarding, not to mention convenient! I have been working online for quite some time now, and the best thing about online working is the fact that I never have to leave my house in order to earn a living. Talk about working on your pajamas, or even on your nickers… whichever is comfortable for you should work.



You certainly needed to be disciplined enough to follow schedules, honor deadlines and follow through every bit of task for which ever projects or clients you are working. But on my case, I use several productivity tools to track my work as well as keep tabs of what is needed at home as I am a single parent to 4 young children.



Being a mother, a teacher as well as a friend to my children take a toll on me, believe it or not. It takes alot of time to track each one of my children especially when almost all of them are attending school. Thankfully,l having a job online allows me to take care of my family as well as their need as they come at all times.

Eversince I started working online, I try to stay away from my work PC for at least two hours a day.  Apart from the fear of getting carpal tunnel syndrome, my eyesight is beginning to wane and lets face it, as we live in the internet age, everything just seem possible online.  You name it, shopping, banking, connecting with friends and VOIP.

Sometimes, my body screams foul and although I have promised to stay connected in case of emergencies, I never turn off the PC and Yahoo just in case.  So what do I like to do besides sitting on my comfy leather high back chair?  I like reading and watching movies. 

Its been awhile since I read a book for pleasure.  I love mysteries and legal fiction.  When I have extra cash, I like hanging around BookSale to look for Kellerman, Crighton, Patterson and Scottoline novels.  BookSale is convenient.  It is full of books from all genre.  Cheaper than buying new from National Bookstore.  Books are almost good as new!  And cheaper…

For this week I bought myself James Patterson’s Beach Road and Dirty Blonde by Lisa Scottoline.  It takes me one day to read a 350 page paperback.  Not bad.  But when I have work, I read my novel between breaks and before going to sleep.

To me, reading is one of the ways I can relax.  I like reading my books in bed. I also tend to take my book inside loo and tends to read while seated on the crapper.  Who doesn’t read while in the bathroom?

So, my friends, what books do you like to read?  Anything interesting?

As a webworker, I use alot of online applications.  There are a myriad of collaboration tools out there, and here is a list of those I use every single day.

1) Gmail.  Who can live without gmail?  Gmail is quite convenient.  I have one catch-all account.  I have countless email accounts!   Believe me, if I would take the time to check each one of them, I’d end up wasting alot of time and yes- money.  So, I have made one gmail account as my catch all.  I also use gmail’s filtering and labeling feature to segregate my emails.

2) Dropbox.  I keep alot of files.  Work files, personal files, children files, medical files, legal files, you name it, I have it.  So having an online storage system is very important to me.  This allows me to unclutter my PC, as well as ease of access because I have 2 PCs, a laptop and a mobile phone at home.  Having DropBox enables me to share and move files from one end to the other.  This allows me to share folders with other coworkers easily.  And did I mention that its free?

3) Google Docs.  This application is so versatile, I use this to share and collaborate with my coworkers and clients.  I use Google Docs for ease and access.  Almost all my active work files are conveniently saved in Google Docs.

4) Google Notebook.  So sad that Google has stopped developing this great collaboration tool.  Just like Google Docs, Google Notebook allows you to share Notebooks with other collaborators.  You can browse, clip, and organize information from across the web in a single online location that’s accessible from any computer.  I continue to use this for compilation purposes.

4) Jing.  I use Jing everyday.  This application allows me to quickly create screenshots.  I can quickly annotate any webpage using Jing.  Below is a screenshot desktop.  Cool ha? I also use Jing to create quick tutorials for internet challenged clients.

5) Yahoo Messenger and Skype -  Self explanatory.  I use Yahoo Messenger and Skype for work.  At a cost of $30/year,   I also have an online US number which enables me to call and receive calls from the US.

6) Firefox- My love for Firefox has not waned.  I use Firefox everyday and never use IE unless it is necessary.  I use alot of Firefox add-ons and most of them I use everyday.  Firefox continue to dominate the browser arena.  I also use Google Chrome from time to time.

Here is a list of my favorite Firefox Add-ons:

GButts. This is a nifty add-on by Soeren Rinne.  This add-on is a must for those who use Google services alot.  Upon installation, you can easily jump from one Google service to the next.  It is also non-intrusive and sits neatly on your toolbar. In case you run into some glitch with GButts, which is rare, you may contact Soeren and he’ll quickly help you sort it out. Thanks to Soeren for helping me with my GButts years ago.

SEO Quake- Since I started learning SEM last year, SEO Quake is almost on at all times in my Firefox.  SEO Quake allows me to view and track our website’s ranking from various SEO parameters.

TwitterBar- I am not as active on Twitter now.  But its good to be able to share links and post one liners just by typing on Firefox’s address bar.

list.it- Do you constantly wish you have a quick notepad access on Firefox?   List.it is a research project from the Haystack Group at MIT CSAIL.  What is great about List.it is that you can sync your notes from one installation to another.

Persona- I love dressing up my Firefox.  Currently, its wearing WordPress Inkwell from WordPress.org.  Really funky!

Fox Clocks-  This allows me to display more than one local times around the world.

ScrapBook- This Firefox extension, is great when doing research.  It helps you to save Web pages  quickly as well as add annotations and other notes.

ColorPicker- this is helpful in determining the color of any webpage.

Stylish-   this addon allows you easily install themes and skins for Google, Facebook and YouTube.  However, I use Stylish for SEO work.  After installing Stylish, I have installed the NoDoFollow addon.

OnlyWire- this great addon allows me to submit content to over 30 social networking sites with one button click. Great with article marketing and bookmarking purposes.

There are so many online applications available to make collaboration easier. There are literally thousands of great Firefox addons to date.

Me at Suvarnabhumi Airport

True to my promise, I did not use Cebu Pacific when I went to Bangkok for a client meeting and took Philippine Airlines.  The flight went well anyway, although I was pretty curious about the new airport, I decided to take the more reliable airline- Philippine Airlines.

The bought the ticket online a month early so I got a better deal.  The price difference with Cebu Pacific– the airline that suck, was only P900.  Since this is a client paid trip, my itinerary was short and this was also my first trip without any of my children.  It was pretty weird waiting in the departure lounge alone.    It sucked and I resisted calling my kids since I know this transition is necessary for all of us.

So how did my trip go?  It was good.

This was my first trip after 2 years.  My first trip out to anywhere without my children.  With quick planning and ardent budgeting, I made it to Bangkok with hefty shopping money and in one piece.

I booked myself at a small family run hotel, Bangkok Loft Inn.  The location of the hotel was great and convenient as it was on the Thaksin Ave, and close to the Bangkok Skytrain.  To check out how I found the Bangkok Loft Inn, click here. I used my internet savviness to find a budget hotel.  What made Bangkok Loft Inn ideal is its size.  Their Superior Room is ideal for a lone traveler, as well as a couple.  The bedding is great and true to their ad, the room boasted with a Samsung Flat Screen Television, free and robust wifi connection and good bathroom features. Its not crowded, and the location great.  The Inn was only a Skytrain ride away from Siam! Fantastic!

When you are a webworker, the internet connection is crucial, so when Globe in our area went down without prior notice, my kids and I went on a huff to look for a place with very good wifi connection.  Since our favorite place to hang Apple Tree Resort and Hotel also has Globe, we had to find an alternative.

My requirements for a good place to hang are:

1.  Has internet connection (wifi or cable)

2. Has a Swimming Pool

3. Good and affordable food

We found them all at Cha-Li Beach Resort.

The last time I was at Cha-Li was almost 20 years ago.  Then, it was just a small place with thatch huts for day time swimmers.  They did not have a pool yet.  Once I have checked the amenities of Cha-Li using my mobile connected through GPRS, I called them to ask about the internet connection and their rates.

Ivy, the amiable receptionist confirmed that their internet is up and running at that their service provider is PLDT, I booked and we packed and left for the city.  When I got to the resort, Ivy took me around while we find the cabana with the strongest wifi connection.

We settled in at Cabana Naranja.  The cabin has 2 queen sized bed, full tub and bath, plush pillows, aircondition, cable television, and yes, my very important wifi connection at the veranda.

The children loved Cha-Li.  It has a good pool, although I would have preferred a kiddie pool, but since they only have one adult pool, the kids have to make do and wade on the shallow end.  While they are in the pool, I am at their restaurant which is close to the pool and has yes, my wifi connection!

Although I had to shell out almost $150 for the weekend, it was no biggie since I managed to stay in contact with my work and my kids had a break from the usual house related activities and they all spent their time on the pool and the beach!  A win-win situation!

To book and for more info:

Cha-Li Beach Resort and Conference Center
Zone 3, Cugman, Cagayan de Oro City
Philippines, 9000
Phones: (+63) 88-855-5941
info@chalibeach.com

In response to @ryanbarr’s contest sent via Twitter, I would definitely love to win a $50 or $25 Apple Gift Card from Spookyismy.name – Web Design and Development. To comply with the contest rules, here are my response:

1. What you would do with your Apple Gift Card if you won?

If I would win, I would definitely get myself a subscription of MobileMe or a Mac Box Set if I have extra money to cover the balance.

It’d be nice to get an upgrade from my older OSX!

2. Who do you find most inspiring and why?

I find Matt Mullenweg because of his achievements as well as his influence in the development of WordPress and other web applications. He is inspiring especially to the youth and to web users because of his dedication and obvious talent as well as intelligence and his hardwork in harnessing his craft.

3. Your Twitter username so others can follow you if they please. (Not required.)

Anyone interested on SAHM tips as well as VA tips can follow my progress via Twitter @lifediscourse.

(Via Ryan Barr)

I panicked the other day when I woke up to rush to my Macbook to work and discovered it failed to charge overnight.  I was surprised to see the battery life at 22%.  I tried wiggling the adapter and noticed that the green indicator was off.  I went to Mac website to search “battery” at support and went nowhere.  To make it worse, one of my clients went online and asked me to help with the research for an article he was doing an I almost died…

This was perhaps the worst day of my life as a webworker.  I panicked and turn off the dying Macbook and rushed to my daughter’s PC and when I go there, I realized that all my important data were in the Macbook…  In short, I did my work in the PC and proceeded with the search for answer.  I dreaded that something worse must have happened to my Macbook.  Dang, how much would a new battery cost?  A quick check at the Philippines Apple Store gave me the figure of P6,990 for the battery…

What???  I almost cried…

I checked philmug.ph for help and I got immediate response and the advise that I got was that the problem was probably the adapter or the battery.  Since my children and I were scheduled to head for town the next day, I used their PC for my webwork and I was simply lost.  The bookmarks in the other PC was not updated, not to mention that my passwords were all in my Macbook.

I was lost… and to make it worse, my children kept hounding me if I was done with work because my daughters wanted to use the computer and play online games at y8.com.  Ayay!!!  My head started to beat and I felt like dying, so I decided to…