#135. Mobile Phone SMS Scam - II

Another SMS Scam On Shell

I received another scam SMS on Shell. 

Here it is.

It's from +60128346501, and the message:

Congratulations

Nombor SimCard

Anda tlh m-nangi

HADIAH UTAMA

Wang tunai!!

Rm15,000.00,dr

Syarikat SHELL

Call/sila dail;

012-8348788

Terima kasih

If you received this message, please don't reply to any of the numbers above. It's a scam.

Nor should you call the local Shell customer service centre hotline. They will just tell you to, erm... ignore them.

Don't let scam happen to you.

#134. Save Money With Ebook

Save The Trees, The Environment And Your Money - 8 Places To Get Ebooks

With the current economy being hit, I am sure you are looking ways to save money and cut your spending.

If you are an avid reader, stopping buying books may not be an option for you I guess.

Perhaps we can look into buying ebooks instead. Or download them from the web. Or read from Google Books.

Buying ebooks save you time travelling to the bookstore. If you drive, you are burning more expensive petrol. With ebooks, you can download and read immediately. You also save on shipping and delivery charges compare to buying hardcopies.

Places to download ebooks with a quick search on the web are:

1. Sony Connect: http://ebookstore.sony.com

2. Clickbank: http://www.clickbank.com/buy_products.htm

3. eBooks: http://www.ebooks.com/

4. Taylor & Francis: http://www.ebookstore.tandf.co.uk/html/index.asp

5. Amazon eDocs: http://www.amazon.com/e-Docs-Books/b?ie=UTF8&node=551440

6. Cambridge University Press: http://www.cambridge.org/ebookstore/

7. Waterstone's: http://www.waterstones.com/waterstonesweb/home.do

8. Ebook Mega Store: http://www.ebook-mega-store.com/

There are many more to add on to this list. Let me know if you find a great site that has a good collection of ebooks. Leave a comment.

You can read your ebooks with a Sony Digital Reader PRS-505 too.

#133. Recession Risk In Malaysia

Source: International Herald Tribune

A private Malaysian think tank Thursday cut its 2009 economic growth forecast for the country to 3.4 percent and warned of a possible recession if the U.S. economy deteriorates.

The influential Malaysian Institute of Economic Research predicted the economy would expand 5.3 percent this year after a strong performance in the first six months.

But it expected growth to slide to 3.4 percent in 2009, down from its earlier forecast of 5 percent, due to the knock-on effects of a flagging global economy. This was sharply lower than the government's forecast of 5.4 percent.

Executive Director Mohamad Ariff warned that growth in 2009 may slump further if the U.S., one of Malaysia's top trading partners, goes into recession.

"There is a 40 percent chance that Malaysia will enter technical recession in 2009, meaning two quarters of negative growth and a 30 percent chance it could be a real recession lasting more than two quarters depending on what happens in the U.S.," he said.

The institute said the global credit crisis showed no signs of abating despite concerted interest rate cuts and massive liquidity injection by governments and central banks worldwide.

It said consumer and business confidence in Malaysia has dipped and warned conditions would worsen if the credit squeeze dries up funds for investment and household spending.

Ariff said there are heightened concerns that the current global economic slump could drag on until the end of 2010 or 2011.

Given the economic pressure and declining oil prices, he warned Malaysia's budget deficit may exceed 5 percent of gross domestic product this year and more than 4 percent in 2009.

The government raised development spending in August which it said will push the fiscal deficit to 4.8 percent of GDP this year and 3.6 percent in 2009, from 3.2 percent in 2007.

Finance Minister Najib Razak earlier this week said Malaysia can still grow 5 percent this year but the government may need to revise its 2009 forecast. He has said he would announce a "stabilization plan" on Monday to prop up the economy.

Najib, who is also deputy premier, is expected to take over from Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi in March.

The quicker-than-expected transition follows the ruling coalition's poor election results in March and is aimed at thwarting opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim's threat to oust the government through parliamentary defections.

#132. Petrol Price Down

Is The Petrol Price Reduction Helping The Motorists?

Yeah, so what?

The petrol price has dropped 15 sen. So what?

The population is growing, hence the cars on the road are also increasing. Therefore, it now takes longer to go anywhere within the city. Why? Because I am stuck in the jam!!

More people, more cars, more jam, more petrol is burnt. So what with petrol price dropped by 15 sen? We end up burning more fuel anyway.

Thanks, or no thanks to our town planning. It takes forever to reach from one point to another. We all know the shortest route from point A to point B is a straight line.

Look at New York. All lined up in grids straight lines. You can just turn into another road whenever there is a jam ahead. How convenient too to avoid traffic jam.

Satellite Map Of Manhattan, New York.

Now look at Kuala Lumpur!

Satellite Map of Kuala Lumpur

Just a lot of wasted time and petrol running from one end of the city to another. Crazy!

I guess with the petrol price reduced, people are now going back to driving instead of taking public transport (when the price was at RM2.70 per litre). More cars on the road again! Public transport is inefficient, really can't blame our citizens. I have tried taking KTM Komuter at rush hour in KL Sentral and have given up. What to do?

What's your view? Please comment.

#131. Maybank Site Slow

Maybank2u.com FAIL!

Maybank2u is very slow la!! Slow gila!

Change to new look but no improvement in speed.

What's wrong?

What's more all the old links are gone. I can't find the gold price... took a long time. But here is the gold price link for those who are interested. Click here.

But check out also the Public Bank Gold Price here.

#130. Switching Your Unit Trust Funds

Think Your Funds Are Not Performing... Want To Switch?

Thinking of switching your unit trust funds now that the market is moving up and down. You think that your funds are not performing and would like to switch to another fund? Or you are also thinking of cutting your losses and cashing out?

Before you do any of the above, think first and read on.

Switching your unit trust funds is somehow similar to switching lanes in a traffic jam. If you drive a car you will understand the concept much better.

Ever felt that when you are stuck in a traffic jam, you glance over the next lane and curse why is the other lane is moving faster? You then switch lane and only to instantly see your original lane now moves faster.

Research on lane switching has concluded that it may just be 'illusory' to think that the other lane is faster. Some people are saying that the study shows that lane switching during a traffic jam may actually be better. The other lane is in fact moving faster.

Of course, while you are stuck in a traffic jam, there is no way to measure accurately.

However, investing in unit trust funds, you are able to see the fund performance and judge for yourself whether your fund is performing or not. You are able to compare your funds performance with other funds in the same category.

For example, if you have invested in a China fund, you should know that the Chinese market is the world's worst performing market this year. If you have set yourself a 20% margin for loss, then perhaps you should have cut your losses when your funds have hit that mark.

If you are using a dollar-cost-averaging, then it is good that you stay with the funds. Because when the funds dipped, it becomes cheap and you will buy up more units.

So, with a good unit trust consultant's advice, you should be able to make your own judgement on what to do during these trying times.

#129. Clean Air For Health

Read This If You Want Clean Air

Most of us use water filters at home to filter the water for drinking. What about air?

Do you use any machine to filter, purify or sterilize your air?

I was at the 1Utama looking to purchase the Medklinn air sterilizer for my office use. Below is part of the conversation with the salesperson. Actually, I have read all the information on their website and was there just to buy it. But, it's fun just to test out their selling skills sometimes. 

Me: So what is the coverage area for this thing?

Salesperson: It can cover for an area of 600 square feet.

Me: Oh, my office is quite big, that means I need two.

Salesperson: If you are rich, you can buy two.

Duh! This person really lacks sales skill.

Besides persuasion skill, tactfulness and being diplomatic are the next best skills a salesperson should acquire.

I did taught some of these selling skills to my colleagues in a previous job. And I surely know at least some basic. Not to say I am an expert.

Anyway, to those who happened to find this post, I am sure you are looking for some information on this Medklinn product. Well, I can tell you it's definitely worth your money. The air in the office air-cond room becomes fresher and crispier.

When you eat take-away food in your office, the smell is also quickly neutralized. Maybe I can try eating durian in the office next time. Ha ha.

Also, I find the fresh air produces by the negative ion from Medklinn makes me feel better and in a happier mood. Now, I am considering buying for my home. 

Note: This post is not a paid article by Medklinn. Just my honest opinion.

So, what do you think of that person's skills?  

#128. Being Rich

What Is The Meaning Of Being Rich?

Some people want to be super rich and they want to get rich quick. Some people get rich slowly. Some people say "you don't have to be rich."

So, which category do you belong to?

I have been taking a long leave at home doing nothing. How blissful. Well, thanks also to the tumbling market. Bad news about the stock market and more bad news day after day. Week after week.

Just don't know when this bad news is going to end. 

To me, being rich is just having freedom to do the things I want to do. That doesn't mean that I need a lot of money. Just enough to have time to spend with my family and friends. Of course, to do that, we need to have passive income. 

Being rich doesn't have to mean that we have millions in our savings account. To me, it's just having enough to laze around and do simple things at home. 

Well, it's not easy to have enough passive income to live without working. Sure it's not impossible too. 

Anyway, what is the definition of Rich to you?

#127. Making Money Online

Check Out 10 Exciting Real Case Studies You Can Start Making Money Online

1. Be an Infopreuner/Information Publishing.
Everyone knows something very well. You must have a hobby or an interest that you can share about. Teach people how to do gardening. Rent your web space out for ads. Read more.

2. Sell your e-goods or your own self-created products.
Create your own e-products to sell online. Write an e-book. Sell your knowledge. Read more.

3. Be an online travel guide.
You may know some places very well such as your own home town. Why don't you write about it and give hints and tips to people looking to travel to your town. Read more.

4. Sell your own hard goods.
Have a great product that you have created. Sell it online. Explain how to use it and what benefits it brings to the user. Start a mail ordering services and you can work from home without a physical store. Read more.

5. Sell other people's products.
Perhaps you are a real estate agent and fed up of spending thousands of Ringgit advertising your every property listing in the newspaper. Why not create your own website and advertise just only your website. Read more.

Maybe you are able to get some unique products that are hard to come by in the common mall. Sell them online. Read more.

6. Be an affiliate.
Review some products and then refer people to the sellers. Get a commission from these referrals. Refer people to buy books from Amazon, for example. Read more.

7. Sell your services.
Are you a photographer? Are you a wedding planner? Or an investment consultant? Share your passion with the readers. They may like what they read and contact you. Your site will be your 24X7 calling card and brochures. Still, many small companies out there are without their own website. Perhaps you can sell your services to them to create a site or blog for them. Speaking of that, anyone interested for me to build a blog for them, let's discuss. Read more.

8. Be a referrer.
Know a great place to dine or to holiday? Rave about that great restaurant you just had dinner last night. Refer people to the hotel you stayed in the last time you went for a holiday. Earn a small keep each time you refer people there. Definitely a great way to make money or perhaps get many free dinners. Read more.

9. Network marketers.
Can't get enough 'legs' or downlines? Tired of chasing your own relatives and friends and telling them to sign up as your downlines? Create a site to talk about your products. Check with your network marketing company to see if they allow you put a site. Most companies frown on this practice by their agents. (Wonder why they still always talk about 'creating your own business' and yet disallow you a free hand to start your own site?) Read more.

10. Move your local offline business online.
Do you run a physical store that sells a service or product? Tell people about your service and product. The people in your neighbourhood or town may find your site and this drives business to you. Read more.

Read more on the real life case studies, click here.