If you are the type of mobile worker that hangs out at coffee shops not just for the coffee but also for the excuse to be around humans, you will also yearn for that always-on internet device that you can easily carry around for internet accessibility. Why? Because a coffee shop internet connection will never be enough. Those lines have limitations either with sites that you can access, the bandwidth you can use, or the amount of time you can connect to their network. Thus, the need to have your own personal zone for yourself and your gadgets.

The Globe Tattoo Superstick (Huawei E5) is a pocket wifi modem – a device that a mobile worker like me might find very convenient to use. It is a handy and light device that you can easily hide in your bag or include in your gadgets pack for storage. Right now, it is part of my mobile pack for when the need to go out of house arises.

 The first thing that I did when I had the device (since it’s postpaid) was to find a sim card for it. I had to specify that I needed the Tattoo mobile broadband sim for the device. I got it at Greenbelt for about Php 200.

When you open your pack, you will get two guides for your device. Included is the USB cable which you can use to access the device admin UI. It is also the same USB cable that you can use to charge it. Aside from that, you have the Huawei E5 and the battery. You will obviously need to put them together — unit + SIM card + battery.

Since the battery is already initially charged (and you can’t wait to use it just like me), you can immediately turn it on using the instructions on your quick start guide. It will initially show you an icon with the number 5 (which probably is the device name – E5- or the fact you can actually connect up to 5 devices to it). After everything is setup, your screen will look like this image below.  It shows you the signal that you have, the connection strength (depending on your location), the network name, the wifi icon (not shown) and the battery level.

I connected the device on my laptop via the included USB cable. If you access it on your laptop, it will ask you to install the admin app/UI of the device. Default is 192.168.1.1 or e5/home. The default password: admin. Here in the panel, you can access and change info on the connection, review SMS received, see the SD card status and, of course, change settings. For vanity and security purposes, I changed the connection name and added a password to my connection.

Now that you are ready, make sure you have load credits for your Tattoo SIM. I am not really a Globe user so basically, the network (and branding/terms) is new to me. I had to contact my eloader – Ms. Binky – to load Php 300 via Autoload Max. I am not sure why but she had to do it at 100 pesos at a time. Sending an SMS – SUPERSURF 220 and sending to 8888 will now give you unlimited access to the network for 5 days.

Tech Specs:

• Flexible WiFi Hotspot (5 devices)
• WiFi 802.11 b/g
• HSUPA/HSDPA/UMTS 2100/900 MHz
• EDGE/GPRS/GSM 1900/1800/900/850 MHz
• Equalizer and receive diversity (UMTS 2100/900 MHz)
• HSUPA data service of up to 5.76 Mbps
• HSDPA data service of up to 7.2 Mbps
• MicroSD card slot
• Li battery
• LED display
• Plug and play

To sum, the device is something that I would use when I am mobile. I can easily connect the iPad, iPhone, and laptop to it. Traveling and on the move? No problem. Just turn on the device, leave inside the bag you are carrying and now you have a network you can use to access Facebook, Foursquare, Twitter, etc.

As stated on their site, Bilibid.com is a penny auction site wherein users can bid for a specific item using bid points. Just like the usual bidding process, whoever bids the highest price for the item, wins the auction.

Instead of bidding for free though and cashing out only when you win a bid, these auction sites require you to pay for each bid. It means that you need to buy bids so you can participate in an auction.

A bidding fee auction, also called a penny auction, is a type of all-pay auction in which participants must pay a non-refundable fee to place a small incremental bid. When time expires, the last participant to have placed a bid wins the item and also pays the final bid price, which is purportedly significantly lower than the retail price of the item. The auctioneer makes money in two ways: the fees for each bid and the payment for the winning bid. -Wikipedia

I decided to try out this site when their Facebook page announced on my stream that they have Krispy Kreme GC bidding ending in 20mins. Just to see what the hype was all about (and hey it’s KK!) after hearing about this from the Cebu Bloggers Society members, I decided to give it a try.

Buying Bid Packs

What I did since I already had an account was to purchase 20 bids worth of pack for Php 300. That’s about Php15 per bid. A bit expensive for my taste. The good thing about it is that they made it easy for you to purchase bids. You can get your bid packs over LoadCentral, CashSense and Paypal. I got mine over Paypal of course.

When I got my credits, I had to redeem. It’s actually just a sort of “top up” page where you enter the Card Number and the PIN that you just purchased.

Bidding on an Item

After redeeming, I navigated to the Krispy Kreme GC bid page that I saw. There are other bid pages but some still have hours to go and some are already hot at the eight-seconds countdown so I settled at the KK GC that I came there for.

I started bidding at the last-eight-seconds countdown timer. This is said to be the most crucial part of the auction. This is the time when the bid wars begin. The more bidders, the longer this would take. And in the case of the GC card, it reached about Php 4.00 before someone won the bid.

Bidder Point of View

In the point of view of a bidder, you might be able to say that it was really good way to earn items like this at a very low price. Imagine buying a GC with the market value of Php 500 for only Php 3.82. It’s that cheap!

But when you try and put yourself on the other side of the table, you would realize that penny auction sites earn way, WAY too much in the process. If you are planning on building a penny auction site as a business, it could be very, VERY profitable.

Bidding Site Operator Point of View – The Real Winner

Take a look at this screenshot below where the bidding was already really tight. You can see that nine bidders were waiting to get their hands on the GC by trying to out bid the others. Every time someone bids at the last eight seconds, the timer gets reset to back to 8 seconds. Oh my.

At this point, the price was already at Php 3.82. It means 382 bids right? Multiply it by the amount of each bid (at Php 15 each) and you get Php 5730. Five thousand pesos plus for a five hundred peso gift certificate! Guess who’s the real winner?

And yes, that does not include the final payment of the winning bidder and the  of course, the winner needs to pay for shipping.

TLDR; Penny auction sites can be a real money maker.

Is it a legitimate bidding site? Yes. It has been recommended to our blogging group and so far I have not seen complaints. So yes, you are very much welcome to visit the site and bid.

I still have 25 bids left but I want to hit myself for even purchasing Php 300 package. I know I will never win at this based on the circumstances that I need more than 25 bids to win a gift certificate. Maybe it requires skills and a whole lot of luck but it’s hard to join up when you are not under control of the situation.

Would you use penny auction sites?

Whenever I hear about Multiply there is only one thing that comes to my mind – online shops. I have been accustomed on being given a Multiply link when I ask for online sellers to show me their website. I even remember one attendee at our Bloggable seminar with Ms. Janette Toral before telling me that the website she has was a Multiply. And it was clear that it was her basecamp since every product she has was listed there.

Browsing the Marketplace

So when I heard that Multiply already has a marketplace, it didn’t come as a surprise. It was actually a welcome change to Multiply itself and it just made it easier, safer and faster for people to do their ecommerce transactions with thousands of merchants who have shops on this site.

Browsing the marketplace would bring you to the thousands of storefronts offered to you. Of course, you have the capability to filter it further to the category of the product that you are looking for. My favorite part though is that they have featured products and best sellers dished out for you when you visit the marketplace. It has that Amazon feel for me.

Promotion Options

I have created Third Team Media’s Multiply Store before as part of the online profiles that I should have for the brand but did not realize that I did not have products/services populated. Today, I updated my online shop on Multiply and added two basic packages I offer for Third Team Media.

Before I was able to add the two packages, I had to add my BPI account and a mobile number. They have already listed that the fees for transactions are waived until January 31, 2011 so this is a great time to enjoy selling on Multiply.

When I get to finish adding the details to one product, I was immediately given the option to run an advertisement for my product. This is actually good for those who are too lazy to think about setting up ads for future use. It would save them time and would immediately get the word out about your product throughout the marketplace.

At this time, I skipped this option. For future promotions, have noted that you can do so using the advertise page.

Buying an Item from the Marketplace

I also noticed on online shops that there are such terms as Buyer Protection and Trusted Seller. Have noticed it in shops like Eletshop and Digital Train Case.

The conditions covered for Buyer Protection are as follows:

You bought from a Trusted Seller.
Your payment was processed on Multiply (rather than exchanged offline).
Your purchase was not under the "Professional Services" category.
Note that Buyer Protection covers up to Php 22,000 or Rp. 4.500.000 of the purchase price.

This is a good thing for picky buyers like me who want as much payment options as possible.  In the Marketplace, you can take advantage of convenient online Payment Systems including BDO, BPI, GCASH and PayPal.

To try out the online payment system of the Multiply Marketplace, I decided to check out their multiply store and order a Tshirt. What’s more apt to buy than a statement Tshirt right?

I have verified that this seller (of course it’s Multiply itself) has the Buyer Protection coverage by checking that it has the Trusted seal and other conditions. I am that cautious.

After choosing the size and quantity apt for me for this item, I proceeded to click the Buy Now button. It then led me to my cart which shows the price of the item and other items as summary to my purchase. I clicked Proceed to Checkout after reviewing.

On clicking Proceed to Checkout, you can then add your address (if first time buyer) and choose your online payment option. Maybe in the future I can try out BPI since I have an account there but for this example I used Paypal.

Those who always pay using Paypal will be familiar with this next screen. It will give you the option to either create a Paypal account or pay from your existing Paypal.

You are given your receipt next to keep. It is good that you have this so you can keep a record of your purchase. You are also emailed a summary of your purchase.

At this point what you can do next is to continue browsing the marketplace and wait for the item to arrive. Yes, you can see on above receipt that they added Php80 for shipping by the way.

The Multiply Marketplace has now proven to be a good contender for solo WordPress blogs and brochure websites in showcasing a merchants goods and services. This is certainly going to pull in more ecommerce activity due to the ease of online payments too. Of course for any questions, you can always visit the Multiply info and FAQ page. I would if I will have future concerns with my account or transactions.

Would you use the Multiply Marketplace? What will you sell?

Cebu Educational Development Foundation for Information Technology (CEDF-IT) in partnership with New Media Group has launched the first SMS-based job site for Information Technology applicants.

According to the Inquirer news article, it was a project that has been “in the planning stage for five years”  and now they have found a partner for that need through John Kim of New Media Group.

The job site compliments well and serves as the next step or service in the advocacy of CEDF-IT itself – providing training and acting as the link between universities and industries.

What makes the platform different is the Web 2.0-ish capabilities that it offers to applicants.

• You can easily log in the site using Facebook as with most sites. Currently does not import your details to the necessary fields upon creating an account. You have to manually add it.
• It has the ability to “follow” companies you are interested in.
• It also is targeted much to those who have smartphones with its ability to easily send and receive SMS alerts. (But do they have an app for it?)
• You have your own customized URL. Mine’s at http://itrabaho.com/fleirecastro

If you are into deals and coupons, you must have heard of Appsumo.

Appsumo has a very nice guarantee for their customers. They offer a 100% money back guarantee for any reason before you die. It is like a til-death-do-us-part grave pact sort of  guarantee and it works. I know some marketers offer the same deal but in fine print, they actually request you to return the products with original receipt or something.

I never imagine using it until I came across an offer that I really needed for the designers at Third Team Media. They offered a toolkit that could have been so helpful if not for the fact that  the product itself was not so awesome as I expected it to be. And yeah, you can Google most of the items they have. Sorry.

So immediately, as all digi-citizen would, I called them out on Twitter because when I sent the refund request I didn’t get any reply at all. Not even an automated one. As expected from former friends of Facebook, Curse and Mint.com, I eventually got the refund I wanted.

On Users Engaging Companies/Brands Online

So why do netizens like you and me create social media accounts? One reason is to connect with brands that barely reply to emails. Or rather to have my problems of their products solved in an instant. Please! Take away my pain!

According to this graph from eMarketer.com, 77% of the resp0ndents expect brands to give them incentives through freebies (Clue for brands: Run contests or give away coupons!)

But take a look at the 46% who use the channel for the purpose of solving their problems with purchases. Customer service (or escalation process) should definitely be integrated into a brand’s social media plan especially if you are in B2C.

Facebook Page Frustrations

This awesome infographic from Vivox says a lot about how new media users are communicating these days and which channels they mostly use. Could also provide an insight about the future of social engagement?

With Hangouts available on Google+ and Facebook making video calls available, isn’t it about time that Facebook makes these features available for pages too? Page owners have no way of communicating with their users directly. They can use a profile account that they can use to communicate with customers or reply to people on the wall itself. A public conversation that brands don’t want to happen right at their walls. Instead they would either ask you to email them your problem or as you to send a support ticket. And that’s it.

Why are they not activating such for pages so they can immediately send a message to users even when logged in as a page? Would it also hurt to activate calls or even chat for a Facebook page? This is one great feature that brands would appreciate from Facebook. Eases out the frustrations of rendering customer service via a Facebook page.

 Dell and Google Hangouts

Michael Dell expressing thoughts of using Hangouts for Business

A few days ago, Michael Dell already expressed his idea of using hangouts for business. That would be a really nice way to immediately talk to a customer service rep. Assuming they are not those outsourced from India or here in the Philippines, it is really a stellar idea and I would look forward to see if this was actually implemented.

Your Thoughts?

To conclude, Facebook has to somehow activate it for pages. I mean like, now.

Are you a Facebook page owner too? Would you like to see chat and voice available for pages? How about for a fee? Kindly leave your thoughts via  comments.

Cat img source

I am a much pampered Amazon shopper. I get suggestions based on my previous purchases and of course, those items that I have stalked and drooled on. And because I got used to this one so much, I would expect everything to be auto-suggesting for me. But imagine this feature integrated into a television. Interesting!

Now, here’s a fact about us here at home: We rarely watch local television shows. In fact, we sold our old TV to my mom and brought it to our Siquijor vacation for use in out Eastside Cottages. But  with this new technology out in the market, who knows I might change my mind about getting this.

Samsung has released its new model of television called the Samsung Smart TV.  I find it exciting to know that it has a feature that gives suggestions based on your viewing behavior. So let’s have a little peek into what Samsung Smart TV is.

With this, Samsung continues its commitment to slimmer and edgy design, the new Smart TV continues to stay true to its One Design that has been proven to be an aesthetic, truly Samsung.

What is Samsung Smart TV?

Samsung Smart TV is an imaginative technology that brings people together. The first of its class, it creates new and exciting immersive viewing experience offering more than just internet TV – rather, boasting of a unique intelligence where content is suggested based on your viewing behavior which what separates it from competition – making it truly a Smart TV.

Imagine getting suggestions on what to watch and the content that you will get off of this history. Now that’s smart technology!

The First TV App Market

The new Samsung Smart TV creates an avenue to enjoy web applications – via Smart Hub – the first TV App market globally. We can now enjoy our favorite social network sites as it ignites with SocialTV – a function where one can watch television, while posting live twitter feeds or updating a status message on Facebook.

I envision that this is quite useful in social media command center especially for reporting now that we have lots of calamities due to the rainy season here in the Philippines.

SearchAll, Up-scaling and a Web Browser

It conveniently comes with a 2D-to-3D up-scaling in vision and 3D sound for a total 3D experience. Moreover, it comes with a SearchAll functionality which allows you to search content from the internet and within the devices paired to your TV. More importantly, the new Samsung Smart TV provides you with a full web browsing capability via its own Web Browser – enabling you to go beyond geographical boundaries of the web, at the comfort of your home.

Join the “Dear Dad” Contest

If you are still reading this, you might be drooling with all the functions of this television. I would not be surprised if you would join this content they have on Facebook. I know because I joined! Join now and you might just win a Samsung D6600 Smart TV 46-inch or Samsung D5500 Smart TV 40-inch.

What I found nice too about the contest is that they actually included (as choices) all the things that you can actually do on the TV itself. That is why the Dad contest is quite engaging for fathers and husbands and boyfriends who are techie.

Here’s my letter:

How to win the Samsung Smart TV for your Dad? Check out these 5 easy steps on how to join the promo, for a chance to win one (1) out of the three (3) Smart TVs that Samsung is giving away.

1. Like the Samsung Smart TV PH Fan Page and register for the Dear Dad Contest.
2. Select or create your own letter that you want to send your Dad.
3. Type in your Dad’s name and write a personal message about how you can bond with him through a Smart TV.
4. Type in your Dad’s email address and click send.
5. Post it on your wall, share to your friends and get a chance to win a Smart TV for you and your Dad!

Most Filipino web workers know that when it comes to verifying your Paypal account, the most convenient way to do so (if you don’t have a credit card) is by getting a Unionbank EON account. And with this Unionbank has proven to be very useful when you transact online a lot – like buying from Amazon.com for example.

Last week, I received this email from Unionbank and somehow it got stuck on my inbox. I meant to save it so I can share the news with fellow web workers who might find this one a very convenient offering from Unionbank – uMobile Unionbank’s New Mobile Banking Service.

We want YOU to be our partner.

It is our goal in UnionBank to provide you the BEST and most INNOVATIVE banking products and services to suit your ever changing lifestyle. Because you are important to us, we want YOU to be the FIRST to use our new mobile banking service uMobile. We are holding a private launch for you to explore this state of the art mobile banking facility.

uMobile: Banking to fit your mobile lifestyle.

Through this exciting and private launch of UMobile, you will be able to experience fast, secure and efficient transactions through the convenience of your mobile phone. And best of all, it’s FREE*.

What is uMobile?

It is a new facility of Unionbank that allows you to do bank transactions on your mobile phone.

It works for all providers (Globe, Sun, Smart, etc) and for java-enabled phones. You can download an app but it will be processed via SMS.

Things you can do with this tool includes:

• Inquire balance
• Transfer funds
• Pay bills
• Buy load (I love this.)
• Call and text Unionbank

Registering on uMobile

You can access the uBmobile site at wwww.unionbankph.com/umobile. After such you can enter your details as per screenshot below to get a private invite.

Private launch is limited to 100 participants and will be free for them. After the period, charges are applied which is also listed on their site.

But I have a smartphone?

According to their site, they are on their way with creating mobile apps for both iPhone and Android users. It will be most convenient but I am not sure if it is still via SMS or it will be an app like Paypal. I pray it’s the same as Paypal’s app though. I don’t want to pay for each SMS transaction too.

Will you use this app?

What are your thoughts on this tool that could greatly benefit us mobile workers, web workers, freelancers? Do you think this is a good move by Unionbank?

I was laughing so hard when I saw that image on the WhiteLotus  blog at Eggxpert.com. You see I was trying to imagine how you can compare 3G versus 4G. And seeing this pic just describes it all!

Well take a look at that and see if you’ll also compare this to this new thing from Globe. Look at the picture below. Go on, I’ll wait.

You may have seen this one from Globe. It may be on posters, advertisements or other blogs  but without the details. The phrase may have compelled you to ask the question for yourself :

How do you live big your way?

For me, technology is an enabler. It gives me the power to perform duties to run my online business which is Third Team Media. It has helped me meet people that I could not have reached otherwise. This is me. This is me with technology. It helped me live big and live life  my way.

Globe’s 4G mobile

Now Globe is giving us a new power. It is called 4G mobile – the first of its kind here in the Philippines. Globe is the first carrier to roll out a commercial version of this new mobile technology. At this moment, it has been deployed to cities in Luzon specifically Marikina, Makati, Quezon to name a few. But if you are not in Luzon, fret not as they expect to increase and expand this technology up to 2012.

What this means for you?

You will enjoy high peak rates, lower latency, improved “always-on” experience. This means you can have

• faster downloads (for graphics downloads and large files at work)
• high-speed browsing (beneficial to online workers who need to multitask with work)
• faster streaming (think FastPass TV and music streaming at Grooveshark)

What this means for me?

Same as above and specifically:

• No more waiting for hours of buffering shows for my son who loves Pocoyo.
• No more lags in loading websites for work purposes.
• Faster Pop music streaming at, yes, Grooveshark. I love that site.
• No more waiting for a site to load on my iPhone.
• Going back to torrent-ing ebooks that I can use for studying.
• No more connection issues during online conferences and webinars.

Some tech notes

• 4G and HSPA+

HSPA+, or Evolved High-Speed Packet Access, is a 4G wireless, mobile, high speed broadband technology that allows for peak theoretical download speeds of up to 21 Mbps with upgradeability for 84Mbps.

• Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access (WiMAX) and Long Term Evolution (LTE)

These are the other technologies included in the 4G category as per rated by the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) – the leading United Nations agency for information and communication technology issues.

• 3GPP Long Term Evolution (commonly known as LTE)

Another 4G standard wireless technology that has completed trials that verified some LTE functions including quality of service.

Prepare yourselves for this epic-ness and comment below if you can imagine being blown away (just like the girl on the pic!) after you read about this new technology from Globe.

What do you think? Will you look like that too? Leave comments below please.

Authors are celebrities for me. They can be as famous as J.K. Rowling, Stephanie Meyer or Elizabeth Gilbert. That is why I would not be surprised if Bagsy Boy (a classmate in college) who is really good in writing will become a celebrity soon.

But I have not bought any books from them since either I borrow or just watch the movies. Different for Seth G. I have been a follower of Seth Godin ever since I read about him. I am a fan on his Facebook page, read his blog and even bought his Linchpin book including the workbook “Ship It”.

When Seth Godin announced The Domino Project along with his new book – Poke the Box – they experimented on lowering the price in exchange for the audience trading some attention. It ended up being set to a preorder price of just a measly $1!

A dollar.

Of course, I immediately bought it and downloaded it on my Kindle.

Just like any fan, I emailed him about the book –

Hi Seth,

I am still reading your book on my Kindle and highlighting stuff that have struck me.
So far, there’s a handful of highlights and I am halfway through the book.
Thanks for inspiring me!

Fleire

And I got a reply!

Oh how I gushed! Enough of my babbling. Below are some of the highlights from the book. And as Seth replied, enjoy!

• The boundary is in her head, not in the system.

• If you had a chance to do a TED talk, what would it be about?

• He took the wrong start and revised and improved and innovated..

• Initiative and starting… They are about “let’s see” and “try”.

• Try is the opposite of hiding.

• To merely start without finishing is just boasting, or stalling, or a waste of time.

• You can’t snooze your way to greatness.

• She approached the challenge as a professional would. She studied, budgeted, and failed.

• Keep starting until you finish.

• Once you’ve engaged with an organization or a relationship or a community, you owe it to your team to start.

Those were some of the highlights from the book. If you have an iPhone or Kindle on Mac (Hi Doc Lilly!), you can purchase it off Amazon: