Who just called?

Dear Kotsengkuba,

Sometimes, when you’re looking for a job, you’re full attention is almost always focused on the phone (be it landline or mobile phone). You just don’t want to miss a call from a prospect employer or some sorts. Same thing if you’re on a business, you just can’t left a prospect client to just slip away without even a single conversation. Then you’ll find some missed calls registered on your phone but you never knew from who it was. “Who Just Called?” you ask yourself but the answers is of not available.

Concerned,

Your alter-ego

Offline with Jessica Zafra

Dear [Insert your name here],

We lost our internet connection at home during the weekends. Until this morning, before I left the office, there’s still no connection. I remember when we moved in to this new apartment, we also didn’t have internet connection for two days and during those two days I was almost able to finished reading Twisted Travels by Jessica Zafra. And why I wasn’t able to finish the book? Because when it came to the second to the last part where she wrote about her travel in Prague, she began to embed photos on the pages. I’m not sure why but when it comes to reading JZ, I expect not to see pictures. Probably because she has some dislike for taking pictures during her travels and seeing one makes me wonder why one existed.

Anyway, I still love Jessica Zafras style in writing. Merely reading her works somehow makes you feel exactly how she felt things at that very moment. Try reading one of her Twisted Series and you’ll know what I’m talking about.

I have finished reading The 500 People You Meet in Hell but I wasn’t exactly overjoyed. I’ll blog the details later.

Yours,

Kotsengkuba

Is Online Gambling Legal?

Dear Kotsengkuba,

Even if it couldn’t possibly kill the usual “offline” casinos, online casinos has sprouted like mushrooms all over the internet which could only mean that their popularity in western countries are getting high? However, with this current increase in online gambling sites, an uninformed and unsuspecting online gambler could easily get lost with the massive number of online casinos. With this event, gambling gurus have massively formed online casino review sites to provide the internet gamblers an easier way in choosing how to spend their money in gambling. But is online gambling legal?

In 2006, a great debate was formed when a bill was submitted in the US Senate. The bill was supposed to ban Internet Gambling and similar online gambling sites. Quoted from the omniquoted Wikipedia: The Internet Gambling Prohibition Act (IGPA) was a 1999 bill in the US Senate to ban Internet gambling. Passage of the bill was defeated, in large part, by the lobbying efforts of Jack Abramoff. The bill was supported by Christian conservative groups such as Focus on the Family, Moral Majority, and the Christian Coalition.

Curious but not confused,

Your Alter-ego

We’re So Fine. Thank you!

Dear Fans,

My wife and I would like to thank everyone who sent their messages asking if we’re okay. Yes, we’re okay. If you would take a look at this China map, you will find that we’re miles and miles away from the earthquake’s epicenter in Sichuan Province. We’re in Jiangsu province and though tall buildings here were rumored to have experience the tremors, we’re too far from being affected. We didn’t even felt a bit of the vibrations.

Thank you for all your email and messages checking whether we’re fine or have been affected. We also pray that no other Filipinos were hurt during that recent tragedy.

Yours,

Kotsengkuba

Are cheap web hosting services really reliable?

Dear Kotsengkuba,

Are cheap web hosting services really reliable? There are some points to consider in order to address that kind of question. Let’s say for example Web Host Provider A is a well know and reputable web hosting provider but as most well known web hosting providers, they come with a slightly higher prices. Then there’s Web Host Provider B which is not so well known but offer reasonably lower prices. Because WHPA is well known, they would obviously a huge number of clients. Problem comes with such kind of massive number of accounts in their servers, things get crowded so the servers tend to get overused and then fail in the long run. But WHPB has fewer clients so the servers are a little at ease so the accounts run smoother.

Additionally, WHPA offers huge web space and other features that the clients wouldn’t really need. And even if the clients would max them out, they don’t have a high CPU allocation so their web sites tend to work slower.

Therefore, to answer the question “Are cheap web hosting services really reliable?” the answer still depends on each client’s needs.

Moderately-confused,

Your Alter-ego

“LOL!” Says BBC News on the Great Firewall of China

Dear Kotsengkuba,

After being blocked from China’s internet portals for years, BBC News is now being accessed by millions of internet users in China.

BBC News says: It is not clear why China’s net population, the world’s largest, is suddenly able to view the BBC News website after years of being blocked. Nor is it clear how long the access will continue.

But what is certain is that China’s authorities have dynamic control of what their citizens can and cannot access.

In a nutshell, most countries are employing site blocking by manual (one-by-one) blocking of internet sites by telling ISPs to prevent access on these sites. However, China’s so-called “Golden Shield” does the blocking by preventing access for certain keywords.

LOLing as well,

Your alter-ego

Call Me!

Dear Kotsengkuba,

After I left my first job, I got a few amount with me that allowed me to start a little business while at home and looking for a job. I bought a few amount of phone cards and internet cards, post a sign board on front of our house to announce my inventory and sell it to our neighbors. At that time, prepaid phone and internet cards are still of high value until the cheap AUTO LOADS and DSL connections became popular.

On the side light, Getmecalling.com is one of the largest retailers of international calling cards or phone cards. Perhaps this is one good source of cheap international cards should you need one when you go on another country.

Curious,

Your alter-ego

Torch relays, millionites and mediocresborgs

Dear Kotsengkuba,

The Olympic torch has conquered the summit of Mount Everest but, at least for me, it wasn’t as much astonishing as the passing of the torch in the streets of Shenzhen. Yes, having the torch relay participants climb the top of the world was undeniably stunning but what is more flabbergasting than the massive throng of cheerful people covering the whole four legs of the intersections, making a needle drop literally impossible.

Seeing photos from this event and last year’s job fair in Shenzhen made me wonder how much that city population really is. Unfortunately, I could only find a 2005 year ender report showing an estimated population of 8.27 million.

Amazed,

Your alter-ego

Hire a car on rainy days and Mondays

Dear Kotsengkuba,

In Kunshan, you have experienced the difficulty of having to call for taxi every morning when you have to go to work. Especially on Mondays, it seems that everyone don’t want to take their bicycles or whatever. Also, when it’s raining, it seems that all taxis on the world has been reserved by someone else so looking for one at any given time on a rainy day is as tedious as no one could ever imagine.

Why not take a Car Hire service? You could find one from this UK site after they give you a fifty plus comparison in seconds.

Good luck,

Your alter-ego

Remembering the 45-letter English word

Because this entry was previously sucked by a mysterious black hole and because I can’t let go of this word (that I memorized by heart), I’m trying to recreate it through this post.

Dear Kotsengkuba,

I know that you have memorized the spelling, pronunciation and even the definition of the longest English word by heart. However, let me reiterate Wikipedia’s definition of Pneumonoultramicroscopicsilicovolcanoconiosis: according to the Oxford English Dictionary, “a factitious word alleged to mean ‘a lung disease caused by the inhalation of very fine silica dust found in volcanoes’ but occurring chiefly as an instance of a very long word.”[1]. It was coined to serve as the longest English word and is the longest word ever to appear in an English language dictionary. This 45-letter word, referred to as P45[2], first appeared in the 1939 supplement to the Merriam-Webster New International Dictionary, Second Edition[3]. It is listed in the current edition of several dictionaries.[4] A condition meeting the word’s definition is normally called silicosis.

Now you have a little bit more information about your favorite English word to date aside from your memorized definition: A lung disease common to miners due to inhalation of silica dust.

Regards,

Your genius alter-ego