It is always wonderful to receive email from friends once in awhile but the problem with emailing is that it is so fast, people expect an equally swift response. And you know I have so many tasks to complete daily that I never really have the time to write a reply of respectable length.

Moreover, nothing good happens in my life that is worth sharing. How can I make a 100-word email from the word “Work”? Yes, life is very boring here when I spend the whole day and night working. But they never understand.

I do feel bad when I am unable to reply as fast as I would like to, but time flies. I have a friend who told me that he flew from England where he lives to my hometown a couple of times since his last email to me.

And another friend even gave birth to a new baby and I still did not manage to get down to replying her email. Eeekk!

At times like these, I wish to go back to plain old airmail! At least people don’t expect a speedy reply *sigh*

Should I or should I not grab that $10 from Google CheckOut? This $10 is to be used to pay for a future purchase from participating online merchants but it has a validity period.

I would have grabbed it if we do not have to disclose our credit card number. I am always reluctant to disclose financial information like this. I have already placed my information on PayPal and some other websites that just have to have the information. Bah!

One can never tell for sure how safe our information is. Yes, it is hack safe and secure but these sites are still managed by PEOPLE. The news report that people’s email addresses and passwords were leaked out through a search engine result was very scary indeed.

So this is what is holding me back from registering with Google Checkout. Why do they make it so hard for us to get that $10?

Friends know that I am always in the loop for any new money making opportunities. Today I came across a website that helps people to buy and sell their Flickr images. I am a Flickr member, just not a heavy user but I believe many readers are into Flickr big time.

FlickrCash is the facilitator of image trading on Flickr.com. If you have images that you want to sell, you can do so easily thanks to features provided by FlickrCash. As an image publisher, though, the first thing you need to do is to protect your images using the auto/bulk watermarking of every image for every image owner on Flickr tool provided by FlickrCash.

For the Sellers, FlickrCash will also help them to accept payments safely and securely while archiving licences for public inspection.

For the Buyers, FlickrCash has made Flickr.com into a huge stock image marketplace where they can search for suitable images for their project and easily buy them.

Beginning next week, FlickrCash will be a subscription based service. HOWEVER, I have great news for you. If you register with FlickrCash NOW, your registration will be grandfathered into the change and your membership will be free for life.

So what are you waiting for? Register with FlicrkCash NOW and enjoy all the features it has to offer free for life.

I have been a happy member of the Fuel My Blog for months. They are so actively organizing competitions that I am so hoping to win because they always have exciting prizes to give away that are relevant to bloggers.

The latest is their Design a Widget competition. If you do not know what is a Fuel My Blog widget, look at my sidebar for the black, orange and yellow rectangular box, remember to click on it too and vote for my blog!

So, yeah, they are running this competition where the winner will win a free blog consultation from an expert from Better Business Blogging. Didn’t I say they always have relevant prizes?

Every blogger needs feedback from an unbiased third party, so this is a chance too good to be missed, and from a professional, no less. The thing is, not only Business blogs need such a consultation; even personal blogs need one too. Well, I wish I could stand a chance to win this too but I can’t even draw to save my life *sigh*

Click HERE for more information on the Fuel My Blog Design a Widget Competition!

I have always been interested in marketing and believe that it can actually make or break a business. Effective marketing can turn a business 360 degrees so it is up to us to find the best marketing plan, not only in business, but in work and life in general.

Today, I came across a blog where a Reformed Adult Webmaster Reveals Cutting-Edge Marketing Secrets.

I have always enjoyed reading unconventional thoughts, methods and techniques and there are plenty generously dispensed on this blog. This blog may be new, but it is not lacking in content.

I have gained new knowledge and plan to implement what I have learned.

The Paid to Blog marketplace is so competitive, advertisers can basically pick and choose what amount they want to offer to have bloggers spread the word.

Last month, I wrote a few sponsored posts from a marketplace. The money wasn’t great but it’s still money and the tasks were pretty simple. Only a minimum of a hundred words per post and I can type out a hundred words in less than ten minutes.

Anyway, this marketplace is SO quiet that for the rest of the month, I did not get any fresh offers and I was left wondering if I would be paid at all. I was pleasantly surprised to receive my payment from them this morning after one long month. The month seemed long as I was waiting for my payment

Sometimes, when I hear or read people complaining about the lack of offers to write sponsored posts, I wonder, how long can this last? I know it’s here to stay but will mall time bloggers like me be sidelined? Is the pie only large enough for professional bloggers? We shall have to see.

A blog reader asked me if I know of any community site that he could hang out with like-minded people like him. He is a scientist wannabe and find that not many people understand his theories. He thought that I know since I practically live on the internet.

Well, the good news is that he can now hangout at the newly launched social networking portal for people just like him at Sc-Edge.com. This site was just launched on 2nd April, 2007 and it is new but this is where people come in and start BUILDING the community.

I do understand that it can be boring and lonely working on the computer the whole day and I try to encourage people to join a community like a forum or a social networking site like Sci-Edge. People can actually interact and forge great friendships even on the internet, which I myself have experienced.

With a full-featured social portal like Sci-Edge, it is all the more fun being a member of. If you have enjoyed MySpace, you will enjoy this twice more. I find Sci-Edge easier to navigate and has a better layout and great speed. These are factors that make it user-friendly and that’s why people keep coming back.

Join me at Sci-Edge if you are looking for science hobbyists like yourself!