Smartphone for my Mother

Migrating my mother to use an Android™ Smartphone

I plan to migrate my mother now a senior citizen to use a smartphone. This will be a challenge and a learning experience for me since she is not computer literate so even a smartphone will take time for her to adapt to. She still uses her old keypad phone and I recommended to change her phone because of the following reasons;

1. She likes pictures, her old keypad phone has poor picture and image quality and small screen which is not suitable for her eye sight.

2. Her keypad phone buttons and fonts is too small that she needs to wear glasses to read the letters.

3. Dual Sim, since she still uses two phones.

4. With TV so she can watch her favorite programs while away.

5. Play puzzle games to lessen the possibility of an Alzheimer disease.

Now what brand and model to use, It must be running on Android™ operating system for easy customization, dual sim, with tv and probably more than 1,500mah of battery because she will definitely notice she would be charging constantly if I will get a typical 1,500mah battery phone, and not too expensive brand phone, she don't like buying branded and expensive gadgets would turn her away since she's the one paying.

So with that in mind I got her a Starmobile Energy phone. I tried to customized it to make it easier to use, made the fonts and keypad larger and all, so what is her feedback?

1. She like the 4 inch screen, its big enough to see and its easier to browse the pictures using touch.

2. She commented about the white color, saying dirt would be easily visible, but I don't think that would really matter as its a minor problem.

3. Using the user interface is confusing.

So re-branding the user interface is the way to go for her to easily use the phone. The default interface is composed of the icons that I need to change. So I made this kind of user interface that works for her. I created an all widget desktop screens.

Screen-1 is a dialpad where she can input load codes or saving numbers in the contacts by just an input of the numbers.

Then when you swipe it going to Screen-2 is the contacts, she can browse her contacts and by pressing a name, a popup will appear whether to Call or send SMS.

Screen-3 is the SMS widget messages, where she can read the inbox easily.

Screen-4 is some icons like Camera, Gallery, Calculator, Calendar, FM, Music, Alarm clock and Puzzle games.

Removing the App drawer and Docks as its not needed yet and will only make the interface complicated and confusing but you can use a gesture swipe up for the app drawer to show incase. I also used Perfect Keyboard app for the keypad T9 type, so I can adjust the keypad fonts size and button width for easy use and better visibility, she does not like those small qwerty buttons.

So there you go, a phone she really likes. The interface is nice, just thinking of a good business out of it.

 Android is a trademark of Google Inc.

Flood and Floods Everywhere in the Philippines

Floods in the Philippines

Why the Philippines is getting flooded

Every year, floods struck the Philippines with a devastating blow than the typhoon winds itself. After the typhoon passed by, it will suck all the monsoon clouds from the ocean, pouring all the water from the land, causing lots of deaths and damage to properties, hamper the economy, put the businesses and agricultural business to a halt every year. So I classified what is the problem, why we have so many devastating floods in the country.

1. The obvious; As captain obvious will say, because they cut the trees that absorb the water and the global warming melts the ice so the sea level rises every year, also as the earth warms, typhoon is its natural cooling system, the warmer the place is, the more powerful the typhoon wind and rains will be, well that is the obvious.

Solution; Listen to the green crowd. Approving more coal fired power plants is not going to help. More on electric vehicles, we already have E-trikes, E-jeeps and E-carts plying the metropolis as proof it can be done. Lease residential and commercial rooftops and place a solar panel on it giving them rooftops owner incentives for doing so like electric billing discounts.

2. Population; It seems its getting worst, a lot of people is dying and displaced because of the floods, but if we look at it, decades ago, no one is living on that flat plane, no ones squatting in the river canal, now people are every where living where ever they want to. And the government don't care because the population has the voting power, mess with them, elected officials get messy after the election.

Solution; Create a digital map flood hazard, the government should prevent people from living on those flood hazard areas. I believe that population is an asset so you won't be expecting from me suggesting a solution on population control.

3. Land Conversion/Zoning; decades ago, this place was just a farm land and a creek where water pass by, now there is a Mall and a subdivision, so when a heavy rain comes, where do the water goes? it gets trapped and creates an artificial dam system on places where the water is trapped, and when the trapped water found its way out, its going to be a flash flood, so fast, the people don't know what hit them.

Solution; Come on government create water channels and use digital maps to map out the floods so water would go back to the river, and be strict on zoning or land conversion policies or even have some studies on it.

4. Deep Well Pumps; The more people pump water using deep well, according the a study, the more the land sinks, and primarily the Philippines mainly use deep wells as water source aside from dam sites even though the Philippines is surrounded by sea water. They still prefer deep well pumps especially in depressed areas.

Solution; Find a way to convert sea water cheaply into usable water, we are surrounded by sea water and its not running out in the future. Probably use Solar or Wind turbine to power water desalination plants.

5. Drainage System; Yes yes, those garbage clogging our drainage system and most of it are shopping bag, the reason some cities penalize the use of plastic shopping bag but you can still get one but you have to pay P2 each which means makes the business guys more profit, which in turn is useless because people would just be using black garbage bags instead or the people would be more lazy to throw their garbage in the right place thus increasing garbage mess in the metropolis. But its not just that, its also connected to how houses are build, its just that more house is equals to more water being pump in the drainage when heavy rain pours, those water gushing in that came from the house gutters combine with the heavy rain will create a water traffic and exceeding capacity of the drainage system thus cause flooding.

Solution; Aside from garbage policies, recycling, awareness and reinforcement, the government should require or at least make an effort on equipping houses with water catchment where liters of rain water will be collected before being thrown out in the drainage, this will help delay the water being pump out of the drainage system that will cause water traffic, It will also help during summer where there is water shortage, those water catchment tanks can be used for cleaning or watering the plants during summer season instead of using tap water to preserve water during those water shortage summer season. During the rainy season, it seems that all the water in the ocean dropped by the land then on summer, we complained on where have all the water gone to?

6. Government; as you can see the above problems and even solutions fall in the hands of the government or they have the power to change the above, its their job anyway so no debate there, aside from fixing corruption in their houses like those overpriced flood control projects and so on.

Solution; Vote properly, we people is still the power behind electing government officials. A dumb vote is equals a dumb government official. And your vote can either save or make your life miserable.

In the picture in San Fernando Pampanga. The tax paying people payed for this kilometers of dike for flood control, now rehabilitated by sand bag, a portion which gave in, is now useless, because the other side, when heavy rains pour, it creates a dam effect as there is no water to go which supposedly going back to the river, some genius billionaire blocked the water passage on where the water should go, which is going back to the river and the government, instead of making a water passage way, they would just patch the dike yearly after the damage is done, after lives is lost and property is damaged by the flash floods. When that rain water fills that opposite area and creates an artificial dam, it will find a way to overflow or destroy another portion of the kilometers dike, creating a flash flood in the local town which supposedly being protected by this dike. So much for the pumping station.

Turning Wasteland into Paradise

Turning Wasteland into Parasise

A project to turn a wasteland into a profitable land

We have this ancestral land somewhere in Pampanga near the river. Yearly during the rainy season, it gets flooded waste deep as the Pampanga river overflow. So basically its a useless land not unless you sell it, but its condition makes it a cheap land value so selling it would be a waste.

So a lot of our relatives has little interest on that land since its not even habitable because of yearly flooding. I have been thinking of making that wasteland into something useful, that could benefit our relatives.

My relative is split in half, those who are well off and lived abroad and those who are struggling financially, making that land profitable by not selling it would be a great help to those in need.

What is my interest? Why would I bother? Even though we have rights of share on the land, I am not interested on it because we have our own family farm land already in another place that I am focusing to make it profitable itself in the future. Making this ancestral wasteland into profitable land is just my hobby and to help my relatives. Empowering our relatives would prevent them from asking money on us during their time of need because they have their own additional income.

So how can you make a wasteland into a profitable land then? even though its inhabitable, I noticed that the land is very fertile, fruit trees would just bear fruits easily as compared to our own family farm land. So you get the idea what to do, Plant fruit bearing trees.

Those fruit bearing can turn into profit by selling the fruits after 10 to 15 years, that's far off but better start now while its early. You can read my other article regarding profits on fruit trees titled; Money do grow on Trees.

Problems to Solve:

1. Flooding; the flood can kill your small fruit tree seedlings, being soaked all day long can have a toll on the plant. So what we do here is grow the fruit tree seedlings into a seedling bag for the first 2 to 3 years, once its 5 foot tall, we can already transplant it by the month of December to the ancestral land to avoid the rainy season and have time for the fruit tree to entrench its roots deeply before the rainy season starting as early as May or late as August. Once it has entrenched its roots and is 5 foot tall, it can survive the flooding that occurs every year. Also taking into consideration that there are trees that is very resistant to floods even if it got soak for weeks during its early stages of growth, like Mango trees, other are Duhat, Guyabano then some fruit trees as long as its already an adult tree.

2. Goats and Livestock; Some of the neighbors goats, carabao and horses might stray on the ancestral farm and eat the 5 foot tall fruit tree. The tree is not safe against livestocks until its 8 foot tall, those grass and leaf eating loaf will feast on that tree and chew it dry. So by placing a perimeter fence is a must. Avoiding using metal or tin fences or even nets as this type of materials gets stolen, the ancestral land does not have a caretaker, having one could put a cost in operation. Probably a plastic mesh could do.

3. Public Road; There is an old road in the middle of the ancestral farm, that after sometime, years has passed by it became a public right of way road where people pass through there. Fencing a place like that would be hard because you are going to fence both side of the road for the sake of other people?, so the idea is to just move the road in the middle and place it on the far edge side of the property for public use, this way you only have to fence one side only and you don't interfere with the right of way of the people, even though its private property, in the province, its not nice to just close down a road after years of use. That public road could also be used in other purposes in the future, such as temporary business shops.

So that's it, eventually after 10 years, when the trees is starting to bear fruit, it would be fenced and guarded properly so thieves won't be stealing the fruits of labor. Selling the fruit trees would be the benefits of my relatives, at least it would add income especially when they got sick, they would have financial assistance through a profitable land which if not transform right now would just be a piece of wasteland with low zoning value.

It also has a fishpond, a very fertile fishpond where fish just grow big, where it could be used for lease on some other time or probably use my system for Tilapia fish farming when I had the time for it.

I remember this place when I was a kid, we used to play here and climb the trees, we play with the farm animals and bath in the fishpond, then the whole clan would eat together under the mango tree during fiesta and watch the river floats parade on the side. Decades has passed by, geography change, the place sinks as the river grow larger. Well its not too late for our children to experience that same memories anyway.

Road in the middle which is I am talking about, some old trees, still there are lots of space for fruit trees, a fishpond in the far end, not visible in the picture, abandoned caretaker houses due to yearly floods, banana trees being planted for starters. So my dear cousins, let us start the project.

FILA FL21-WIZER Casual Watch

My First Wrist Watch Purchase

Once upon a time, a Sale day in a Mall. I just bought a wrist watch out of the blue. A blue, casual with a little sporty look wrist watch from FILA for P1,560. I don't know I just like it. After a personal issue with the Girlfriend, I just want to buy something that would make me feel better and a change of look by wearing a decent but not too decent wrist watch would do, I don't wear a wrist watch, I used to when I was in elementary, but wearing one would be nice for a change.

I have noticed It also attract some girls to have a second look, a man with a watch just appeals to some female audience making me feel better at least.

Enough with the personal thing, let's go with the review. As I've said earlier, its a casual but with a little sporty look so it will still looks good even wearing a formal attire for formal business events. I used to use my smartphone as my clock, but this come in handy as you don't need to reach for the phone. It comes with rubber strap and a digital clock, along with a visible seconds and week-day(ex. Sat, Sun). An easy light button up front and date button on the side. I like the backlight amber glow, giving an easy read during at night when you wake up. Aside from that, it has an alarm clock and a stopwatch being a semi sporty watch and is water resistant. That chrome frame makes it look formal and tough.

I really like this watch, well at least I did not regret it when I bought it even though I just bought it out of the blue, you know that feeling, those "Regret Buys" well this is not it, I would consider this a "Satisfied Purchase" If there is one thing I don't like about it is its protruding plastic lens. Its just a scratch magnet, it would hit anything and absorb the scratches but its part of the design that makes it look good minus the scratches.

Locally built Ships for Philippine Navy and Coast Guard

Local Shipbuilding in the Philippines

Locally building Ships for Philippine Navy and Coast Guard

So, supposedly I have read in the news we are receiving a second New Old Ships for the Navy, another Hamilton Class cutter renamed as BRP Ramon Alcaraz from the United States, years before we also received another and was named BRP Gregorio Del Pillar. The platform and performance is good, but its already old, maintaining these old ship is going to be costly. But because of time constraint that we really need a patrol ship ASAP to guard West Philippine Sea then it is a decision that has to be made. But why don't they just lease some patrol ship until they can get new ones.

Okay going to the point, The Philippines is the 4th Largest Shipbuilder in the world according to the news. The Philippines has been building huge commercial ship, just recently the largest ship that was built is a Greek owned ship M/V Argolikos ($60Million) in a Hanjin shipyard, its a huge commercial cargo ship.

Militarily, the Philippines has made some ships and boat like a Multi-purpose Attack Craft and a Landing Craft Utility Transport Ship the BRP Tagbanua ($5Million). If that is so, why are we still buying ships abroad? why don't we just build one for ourselves. Typically we could do simple Offshore Lightweight Patrol Ships at first that do not contain any military grade engineering like complicated armor protection nor stealth components. A simple Offshore Patrol Ship hulled with guns, a cannon, engines, radar, complements and endurance, helipad, even smaller stand alone missiles if desired. The U.S. Coast Guard Hamilton Cutters was donated by the United States for free but we have to pay for the refurbishment ($10Million), in which the cost of refurbishment and maintaining the old ship can actually build you a brand new one locally saving you of maintenance nightmare and gives local economic benefits.

Building ships locally can benefit the economy, It will give jobs to a lot of people and will create an Industry that the Philippine itself would be exporting more ships even for the military like what Indonesia is now doing, why do our government have a mindset of buying abroad instead of making local one even though we have the capability to do so? Make ships locally and contract foreign weapons system manufacturer is a win win solution.

Recently the Coast Guard will purchase 10 brand new Patrol Ships, and that is brand new with the help of Japan International Cooperation Agency(JICA), JICA then proposed that 5 of the ships will be build in Japan and the other 5 will be built locally in the Philippines, but according to the news, a Philippine coast guard officer just wants all to be build in Japan. What? Okay I don't blame him, he is a coast guard officer after all, but any sensible Economic Agency in the Philippines like National Economic Development Authority(NEDA) should have interfere to build the 5 ships locally to benefit our economy and to increase our skills in ship building.

If you have seen economic parks in the country, when time out comes, you would see thousands of workers going out and in the outside, businesses benefits and flourishes, from stores to transports, everything is inter connected. And those people with salaries in their pocket would be spending on products and services within the county, making our economy healthier.

Come on Guys in the Government, you should reduce and tone down giving tax money to some people through dole outs like the Pork Barrel or Conditional Cash Transfer, but you should be providing them jobs by making Industries. And Shipbuilding Industry is one of them that needed support, just building your ships locally is a great help to our industry instead of buying ships abroad.

Grandma's Pizza from Sbarro

My favorite Pizza

When I frequent the Mall, I always look at Sbarro for their displayed pizza menu, once I saw that Grandma's Pizza, I always get tempted to dine on it.

I think Grandma's Pizza is not so popular and unattractive not until you taste it, most people will dig in on Pizza's on display that you can see the toppings like bacon, pepperonis, pineapple and such.

Grandma's Pizza is something I can't resist, Its rich tomato flavor, soft white cheese and powerful onion taste along with a crusty dough make it very uniquely different than all other pizza around. Couple up with a Raspberry juice will make a punch. The ingredients looks simple but the combination of taste is really addicting, I would suggest you try.

The serving is quite big and also I would say the price, but I won't regret it as it is equivalent to a full size meal as if you ate a Rice meals to a different restaurants. Its a good alternative if you are hungry and you feel you had enough of rice meals at the time.

I don't think the masses crowd would appreciate the price and taste though, it has a different target market, making their restaurant less crowded and spacious as compared to popular affordable fast food chains. When you eat at Sbarro you just enjoy the meal with less hassle long lines and crowded chairs and people. Its just relaxing.

My All in One Multimedia Server

All in One Multimedia Server

CCTV, Network Storage, Torrent, UPnP Server in One

I'm doing another experiments for future use, it may be useful in some point in time probably for business planning, products and system, so I like experimenting stuff to see how it goes. So basically I have this fan-less mini-PC dual-core Atom and turning it into an All in One multimedia server so I don't need to purchase separate standalone products in the market. The server must be usable using local network in order for other PC to connect and use its features.

I chose an Atom because its power efficient and the server will run 24/7 so if you mind the electric bill then this is the way to go and because its the only available system as its too slow for gaming, it probably rated at 30Watts, being fanless is going to help in the long run. I also used a very old TV Tuner that is compatible with a Linux system so I can input an A/V camera for CCTV purposes.

Of course it will run on Linux for it to be lightweight no non-sense, solid, stable, admin secured operating system, precisely I used Ubuntu, the old 10.04 LTS which was released since 2009, its the same version I used for my father's PC. Its enough for a less tech savvy like me but not too much bells and whistles that will eat up system resources. Here are the software I used in order to make the server;

Torrent (Transmission)

Transmission comes pre-installed with Ubuntu 10.04 as its default Torrent download client. Just enable the Web interface in the settings and you can access it on a local network, anyone on the network can download and check torrent downloads.

Network Storage (Samba)

Easily just install Samba in the Ubuntu Software Center, then you can configure what Hard drive and folders to share. Other PC users across the house can access the files like movies or store their files onto the network storage as long as writing is allowed.

UPnp Server (MediaTomb)

MediaTomb can be installed easily with Ubuntu Software Center, streaming is different from direct accessing a movie file using the network storage, like if you have a device that can't play a particular movie file due to codec restriction/unavailability when you directly access it on the network storage, you can use the UPnp server to stream the movie file so it can be playable.

CCTV (Zoneminder)

I would say this is the hardest part of configuring the server. Basically you need a TV tuner that is compatible with a Linux system, If you install TV time on Ubuntu Software Center, you can immediately check if your TV tuner is working and is compatible, if it is, then go install Zoneminder according to your Ubuntu version, mine is 10.04 and if you follow the instructions properly there would be no problem, its just a matter of cut and paste lazily like what you do on Wikipedia for your home work. You can also use USB camera or Network camera but I haven't tried that yet so its not covered in the article.

Once its installed you can add a camera, select the proper format and its good to go, usually it will say "Network Camera error" when you probe it, but its working, just make sure you have the right resolution (mines 640x480) and capture pakette A(mines RGB555, usually its on device path /dev/video0 then the channel is 1 for A/V, channel 0 is television, channel 2 is s-video. The video would not work if the settings is wrong and the color would turn red.

I used to put it on Record so it will capture images FPS constantly but it will eat up disk space, so I used Modect which detect motion before capturing images and saving it onto the hard disk, Modect will  consume more system resource but less on disk space as the opposite for Record.

If on Record state, maximum FPS is the frame/images per second to be recorded onto the hard disk, alarm FPS would be irrelevant.

If on Modect state, maximum FPS is the detection, so the higher the FPS the better detection of motion, before it will trigger an alarm when it detected a motion, in turn when it detected a motion, the alarm FPS is the frame/image per second to be recorded onto the hard disk, the higher the alarm FPS is the more images will be saved per second thus eating up disk space. My settings is maximum FPS is 22 then alarm FPS is 10.

Saved FPS images will be at /var/cache/zoneminder/event folder, you can change it if you want but make sure the permission of the location folder must be writable by anyone or else it will not record.

The good part is anyone in the local network can access the CCTV camera even using your Smartphone, so if someones knocking on the door, you can see who it is.

Just don't forget to make your multimedia server to use static IP so it won't change IP address when you turn it off so if its been bookmarked on other PC, it will not be lost since its looking for the old IP address.

Signing up for Forex

Signing up for Forex Trading

Forex trading, making the first step

Finally after all these years of planning, I made my first step in Forex Trading, by making an online international account. The international thing is blocking me from getting out of my comfort zone.

It's time to trade something different aside from stocks so I could see if I'm good at it or not. You'll never know unless you try.

So basically living in the Philippines there are no known local Forex brokers here so you have to sign up internationally for a Forex account that accepts Philippine residence. And signing up internationally is strict. But that should not discourage you, just do it and don't think, sometimes being impulsive has its own advantage.

After researching a little bit, and read a blog, I have selected FXOpen as my Forex online broker of choice. Basically registering is easy, you just fill up your information about yourself like Name, Address and so on. Then second is validating your account. You must validate your account in order to deposit or withdraw money on your account to be able to start trading. You will just need to scan some of your valid documents and upload it to your account.

Proof of Identity

I had no problem with Proof of Identity, it passed with flying colors, scanning and uploading my valid Driver's License and my Passport.

Proof of Address

They will require you to scan and upload Utility bills or Bank Statement to verify your address, It must include your name and address on the bills or statement. I tried to send them a broadband bill but it was rejected, broadband bills are not allowed, you must send water or electric utility billing statements which I don't have because my father are the one paying the bills. So anyway if you trade in stocks, its better you must have a bank account because it will be easier for you to transfer money that way. Good thing I have a BDO saving account and asked for a Bank Statement, if you don't have one, you should already signed up for a bank account because that is going to be your foundation in investing, not literally saving on the bank but that will be your transfer point, transferring your money from investments accounts and so forth or into your pocket, signing up a bank account is easy.

Going back to topic, I went to SM Fairview BDO branch to ask one but was advised that you can only get your Bank Statement on a branch where you signed up for an account, in my case, It was in Fairview road BDO branch. So I went there to get a Bank Statement.

Its a small branch so parking problems occur, I need to park in another place and just walk a few meters. After reaching the bank branch, I get a number and waited for my turn, upon my turn the teller then told me the printer is broken, so I need to return the next day to get my copy of my Bank Statement. That Bank Statement is the final hurdle I need for my forex account to be validated. I am telling you stories on how I did mine so you will have ideas how it went through, its not going to be smooth but these troublesome little things occurs and will try to stop you from your goal, but you have to be determined in order to succeed, your mind must be focused on achieving your goal and nothing can stop you... like boredom and comfort zone, those things will drag you from doing anything, what more if you haven't had a bank account and ID's you will start from the bottom and you need to work it up step by step what requirements you need and you haven't even started yet.

Yeah like if signing up an account is that really hard, not really, all you need is patience and don't think too much, thinking how troublesome it is will just make you lazy.

After all that I got my Bank Statement printed costed P100, scanning and uploading my Bank Statement to FXOpen finally validates my account and is ready. If you are wondering what a Bank Statement is, it's just a printed paper contains your bank transaction for a certain period, it includes your name and address which is crucial required document.

Now the Second Step, putting money on my account to trade, I haven't deposited anything yet, probably waiting for Peso to be stronger against the Dollar when it reaches $1=P41, usually during the Christmas Season, but I need to put a little so at least I get the hang of Forex Trading before putting large amounts of capital on it..

Well As of now, I am still here on this stage, I will update a post on my blog once I do and share some info on what I will learn on this venture in Forex Trading.

Migrating my Father from Windows to Ubuntu

Windows to Ubuntu Migration

Migrating my father's PC from Windows® Operating System to Ubuntu Desktop

I am currently experimenting some Ubuntu desktop probably for business use in the future, I tried to use it in my previous Internet Cafe several years ago but it failed because there are some games that do not run on it. Aside from the server side, I am looking for a target market on it.

My father is already a senior citizen and finally after all this years he has found some use with the PC, he is really addicted to it, but it is not the PC alone but more on the Internet, yes I am talking about Google which is his starting point, Gmail for E-mail messages, Facebook where he could talk and be updated with his old friends and relatives abroad, Youtube where he watches lot's of funny clips and movies, checking Google Maps before going to a place he has never been before and Geni, where he makes the Family tree online, OpenOffice for documents then finally Printing and Scanning documents using a Linux compatible all-in-one printer scanner.

So why fix a system that works, well, not totally... When my father still use a Windows XP OS, not being accustomed to using a computer safely, he would just click every pop up that comes out, as a result the PC is always infected with viruses, and I would do a re-format every 3 months because the system no longer boots which is maintenance headache.

So I decided to migrate his PC using Ubuntu like I do, I just made some desktop adjustment to look like a Windows XP desktop, he didn't know the difference anyway since he would just click icons on the desktop and use the Web Browser, Install and put an icon shortcut and bookmarks on websites he uses, and the process is simple that it is easier than a Windows Desktop. His Ubuntu desktop still stands 10.04 LTS (Sep 2009), its old but it works and does not crash and slowdown after all these years. I would say the migration is a success.


Here are the problems I encounter on most Windows to Ubuntu Migration:

Hard to Use

Many people complain as it is hard to use, I hear it all the time with people who are new to a computer or old Windows user.

For new computer user, yes the learning is hard but same with a Windows desktop, it is generally hard to understand the concept of mouse and desktop especially for older people than using a touch type devices.

For old Windows user, its not hard, its just they are not used to it. Ask them how long they have been using a Windows system and they tell you Years, while about an Ubuntu system?.. they tell you Hours, so its about getting used to, its not really hard.

Applications Compatibility

A lot of games and application does not work on a Ubuntu system.. Yes its true, because they are not made for it, when those application was made, it was for a Windows system, no need to force it or I will I recommend to use Wine. This is where target market differs, just leave people to use Windows desktop because they are dependent on application that runs on it, because I am looking for new emerging target markets which I found in Casual PC users, they are starting to be or already are the majority of tech users. Casual PC users just do documents and browse the internet and that's it!, which a totally free Ubuntu operating system can happily fulfill. Let us remember that a Windows® operating system is not free, you don't just download it like most people do like 77% of users here in the Philippines according to an old study.

So now that it works for new market casual users, the only problem now is how many people can actually assist the migration of their relatives casual internet users to Ubuntu and products that has a pre-installed Ubuntu desktop when they purchased their devices straight from the stores. Unlike in the mobile space where Android™ is dominating, when they purchase a mobile phone, its already pre-installed with an Android™ operating system, its easy to use and much cheaper than a desktop PC.

As of now I am thinking of selling pre-installed ubuntu computers on low-cost low-powered atom mini-pc with printer/scanner bundle. The software runs Ubuntu and configured the same way I did on my fathers desktop, which just works, all items is available on the desktop. Then probably offer fast accessible support since only few people has relatives which can teach them how to use Ubuntu desktop, probably their relatives would install a non-legit copy of Windows on it if not properly handled. This is one of my business plan I am developing, though I revealed it prematurely is because the business plan may be obsolete later on as mobile platform powered by Android™ will be the standard for casual users.

Like in the mobile world, its the Apps that rules, installing apps in an Ubuntu system is similar to it, It may be limited but its safe using its Software Center. In a Windows system, its Apps maybe its strong point but installing it is too easy and risky, that ease of software installation in Windows is the same reason why its a fragile system as viruses and spyware can easily be installed into the system without the user knowing it. So if you are a casual PC users, Ubuntu is the best for you. Probably try Linux Mint if you want a complete system out of the box, Linux mint is based on Ubuntu except that they pre-installed everything like codecs and software that would make your life easier.

Aside from this, I need to be observant as a desktop PC trend is being limited to a workplace and hardcore gaming, I am not saying the PC desktop is dying, it is just that, a lot of people are going to use their Smartphones and Tablets to do their casual internet thing and they are a lot of them. Smartphone is getting cheaper and cheaper by the day and free WiFi is just everywhere.


 Windows are either registered trademarks or trademarks of Microsoft Corporation in the United States and/or other countries.

Android, Google, Google Maps, Gmail, Youtube is a trademark of Google Inc.

Small Business Startup Strategy

A Must read tips and advice before starting your small business

Starting a small business? Here are some tips and info I can share.

I will be frank, many small businesses fails. But with a few info to share, it could make yours a failure to success. Some information on this page might help you avoid some start up failure and pit falls most small business owners encounter, a mistake beyond recovery. We start at;


Location

There are 3 important things on a business. 1. location 2. location 3. location, that concept did not come from me but you will learn that the hard way later on, even if you have a bad business shop or expensive pricing schemes, but your location is situated perfectly on large foot traffic area with less competition and reasonable rental price, people will go to your shop. If you failed to land a good location then you fail the moment you step on the beach. When people start a business, the mistake they always do is they think first of what kind of business they will put up, probably if they are an IT student, they will put a an Internet Cafe, then find a spot even its a mediocre spot. There is nothing wrong doing business on something you know or your passion, but make sure you put it in a good location, or don't start at all because you will learn that the hard way later on. Getting a good location requires mapping and timing. What kind of business do you cater at? residential? industrial? commercial? education? Is it situated where there is lots of people passing by? (also called as foot traffic). How about foot traffic at night? or during holidays? 200 foot traffic per day is OK but the more the better, don't put a shop where its 200 foot traffic below. You draw a map, mapping that all out, you don't just look for an empty rental space blindly and rely on luck or arrogance.

Then timing, a lot of good location are already taken, hmm sounds familiar. But with proper timing, some will close shop and you must be ready to snatch it when it happens because it won't be available the time it closes down. When looking for location, don't just ask the empty rental space, also ask the already taken shop if they will be closing down in months time so you can follow up that space.

But.. but.. Yes I know you can cover up a bad location with your skills and ingenuity, but the same effort you put up if you just place it on a good location with your skill and ingenuity = increase chance of success.

How about rental rates? It depend on how large the space is and where it is situated, like for example you will start an Internet Cafe, P12,000 per month rental rate and you can only put up 10 computer on that space and foot traffic is low about 150 people passerby per day, its too expensive, that rental space should only cost P2,000 per month for it to be feasible or to be called a good location. When you say location, it does not mean it is just situated on a good area, price of rental rates is also a part of it because even if you live on low foot traffic area, but you are not paying rental fee like your house then that is part of a location, it now depends on what market you are catering for it to be called good or bad, if you are catering to online market, then there is no point getting an expensive space for rent not unless you need a physical shop aside from you house.

Competition? Avoid business that can easily be copied because if it is, expect a competition will start up just besides you or on another corner, so if that is the case mostly, avoid location that other businessman can easily copy your business, like if you see too many empty rental spaces, that is the place you should avoid, and don't ever tell people asking you that if your business is doing good, because chances are, they will start one the same business as you, worst just beside the empty rental space unit near you.

There is also a Strategy I device for myself, I called it Location Fencing, you just find a good location with good foot traffic, then when its available you lease it immediately then just think of what kind of business you will put up on it later. Also you can talk to shop owners in a good location if they plan to close shop in some point of time so you can get ahead of the line before the line existed. For me the chance of success is higher of a bad business in a good location than a good business in a bad location.


Capitalization

Another mistake of first time small business owner is disbursing his capital, example is if he has a P500,000 capitalization cash to spend to start up his small business, he will write that down and break down all the expenses for equipment and others and spend all that P500,000 right from the start, but it should not be, because you must only spend half of it, start small, so you will still have some capital left once you learn to adjust your business from the customer and market. Example is if you will start an Internet Cafe, you will spend all that capital money for good computer performance, until you experience the problem, its not about good computer performance but its about numbers, how many computers can you field in an hour and you should have invested in more good network system and internet connection than on high end computers, after you realized that, you no longer have the capital to fix or adjust to that mistake.

Which will give you more money an hour, 10 high end computers or 15 mediocre computers with good network connection and fast stable internet? Now you know, depending on your market. Another is if you need to move shop on a different location when you are still early in the game, because you need to look on a greener grass to survive and you realize this place is not your target market, the good news is you know the problem, the bad news is you don't have the capital to move out, you are stuck in there like you step on a quicksand. You learn from your mistake, and its a mistake beyond recovery.


Systems and Consistency

No, its not a computer, a system is a process, like how human able to reproduce and survive. It just run automatically, it should be the same on your small business, even if you will attend a birthday party, you don't need to close your shop and leave your customers disappointed. This will make sure you have consistency, if your customer is carving for your burger, then they must be sure they will not be disappointed because you attend a party or something, and even if you are not there, that same burger you used to make is the same they will eat made by your employees because they are following a system made by you for you to be consistent and earn customers loyalty. If you engage into small business, indeed you will be your own boss, but that does not mean you will also be your own employee, your own job and your own world, you will need to hire people to do all the work for you, your job is to think. If you are riding a boat, you don't paddle and steer all on your own, you hire people to paddle for you and your job is to steer the boat's direction. If you are against that principle might as well forget being in a small business and become a self employed doctor or lawyer. Because if you are going to steer and paddle all in one, chances are you are all stressed out and your boat is heading into the waterfalls and its too late before you know it.


How do you Consider a Small Business to be a Success?

1. Personal Success, many people I know failed on small business and close their shops, but they learn, they look for other sources of income like working abroad and found their success. If they force themselves to be stuck on that struggling small business of theirs then they won't have the realization of greener grass out there. I am one of them, If I did not failed in one of my first small business shop, then I would have not explored investing in the stock market where I found something where I am good at. I even manage to recover my capital loss because of it.

2. Genuine Family Business. If it survive 20 years and still providing you good income for you and your family daily needs. You remember that old hardware store, pawn shop or retail shop when you where a kid? Then after all these years its still there, that kid back then is now running the shop and the whole family has finished college, move out and has lives on their own. But this kind of small business is rare and take years to built, and you will notice they all have one in common, they had good location, like its just a regular house then the center of commercial has moved just in front of them, there is also luck involve in here, because no matter how hard working you are, its not gonna work alone on a business because you also have to think hard so luck will work on your side. Aside from that, it could have taken decades for you to have developed a tradition of business, like that on China Towns, which they're family has been doing business for centuries. So don't expect you belong on that category.

3. Branch Out. If your shop has managed to have 3 or more branches. Then that means you are doing a very good business. Small business tends to explode and expand or shrink and die, If you are not expanding, then you are dying, there is no in between like a stable small business kinda like a job, the only way for that is if you have that Genuine Family Business. You are doing good System wise and Location wise.

4. Incorporation. This is the ultimate destination for a small business, many successful Corporation you hear out there started as a small business and grew, like that popular Fast food chain the B and the M. How did they do it? read and buy business books, invest in your knowledge. You have to work out your working small business first before moving into a corporate category, no shortcuts.

Juan Tamad Sayings:

Who am I to advise you about business? I am not advising just sharing my experience, I no longer have small business, but I do have incorporator shares on a small fast food corporation and an IT corporation we incorporated. And I love investing because you just sit there and earn money, small business is not my forte, maybe you might find your success on it so go for it, you will never know and find out not unless you are on the other side of the fence, either you become a success or failure, one thing is for sure, you will learn something which is very valuable.

Don't give them Money, Give them Capital

What to do with those annoying friends and relatives keeps asking you for money

One day, a relative of yours or a close friend asking you money, you have some to spare, so you give them some, but they keep on coming back, asking or wants to lend money from you, refusing or when you ask your money back, it might make you look like a greedy scrooge.

How to take care of friends or relatives asking you to lend them some money? Well if you have some to spare, lend them, but don't expect it will come back, its already a gift but don't say its a gift but a debt, if he paid it back then that is good, but if he don't then you won't have any hard feelings because you already expected the money won't come back, well at least he can't ask anymore from you because you can invoke or question that previous debt he had ask from you. The line stops there.

First things first, ask him what will he do why he is asking for money, for birthday? denied. For new gadgets? denied. For Debts and Bills payment? denied. Hospitalization?... maybe at least give some. For business capital? approve, lets talk about it.

If you keep helping them, then you are making them weak and lazy by letting them pass unto you their responsibilities and obligation. So giving them capital for business start up is a lot better than just giving them money, so they learn to fish for themselves than annoyingly beg for fish everyday like the famous saying.

Most of the time they will fail, but they will learn, and you won't be of any guilt that you did not lift an arm helping them. They would also have an idea on how money should be worked on and its not going to be easy as how you obtain your wealth.

Finally upgraded to Samsung Galaxy S3.

Samsung Galaxy S3

Samsung Galaxy S3 the best music player smartphone and for business of course

Finally, I upgraded to Samsung Galaxy S3 after earning a little in the stock market, a little spoil for me and to make myself feel better after a personal problem with the girlfriend.

Galaxy S3 is not new especially since the Galaxy S4 is in the market already as the top of the line phone, but for me its the perfect time to get it since its now cheaper and its specs makes it still a powerful phone, its still the second best, they would have also fixed any bugs on it being in the market for some time now. I got myself a Titanium gray, the color looks nice and gives it a gun metal surface.

I did not use a wallet case because it will hide the beauty of this phone so instead I used a plastic back casing so its value won't degrade much due to scratches and the plastic casing is easier to replace when it gets old looking than replacing the phone itself so you will get that brand new flawless feeling like a perfect victory in Street Fighter or I think is a disorder or something. Going back to topic I got myself a transparent one so it will still show that nice Samsung logo and that metallic look of the phone. Probably remove all the protection after a year so I will get that new look feel before replacing it later on since I replace my phones every 1 and a half to 2 years old and of course always purchase the second to the top of the line phones.

What made me decide to purchase this phone model I-9300 than other brand and model is because of its Wolfson audio chip, the other model of Galaxy S3 is I-9305 which is LTE-4G capable but do not have the Wolfson audio chip, I don't need LTE as of yet for faster internet connection since I rarely use my phone for mobile network internet connection except for important purposes, I mostly connect through home and free public WiFi. In fact I put my network configuration to GSM-2G only for regular calls and SMS to preserve battery life, its enough for that purpose alone.

Going back to the audio chip, Wolfson is one of the best audio semiconductor company thus this phone has a very good sound quality even with the stock earphone, you can feel the boom of the bass and the treble very clearly. Its a good music player to make me feel better during this gloomy days or down days of business and investments. I'll get myself a quality expensive earphone once the stock one gets old. Aside from that Notification Led I love, being notified As soon as possible for a message from girlfri....business is a must have.

The only downside that I realize with the phone after I purchase it is its size. Yes I know the bigger screen the better but in my opinion the best compact size without sacrificing screen size is a 4.0 inch phone like my old one (LG P970). My new Galaxy S3 has a 4.8 screen size, its good and easy to read but when you are wearing a jeans and you put it in your pocket and you sat down like I always do, you can immediately feel it obstructing, well I can force it but I might broke it. So I always put it in my pocket bag instead, which I rarely feel its vibration if in case someone sent me a message. Aside from that, I have no regret getting it, I still can't move on staring at it because it looks so good, the Galaxy S3 that is.

I still installed the same apps from my old phone anyway, the layout is the same. Battery life is 2x better than the old one. This is now my new sidekick for my every day casual, investing and business living.


*update Sep 5, 2013 My Galaxy S3 is gone!

So who is the culprit? the Girlfriend, seems like she got envious because mine looks bigger than her S3mini. Well its OK, my effort and hard work are for my loved ones anyway, so we swap phone, the problem is, she got the LeFleur limited edition S3mini, so when I got the S3mini, there is no way I am going to use that because of its flowery design, Its a phone customized for the ladies so I swap it on Greenhills shopping center for a phone I could use, and I think I got the short stick when they offered swap it for a Nexus S I-9020, that Nexus S has similar specification to my previous old phone and I only knew that when I went home and done my research.

Kinda disappointed and regrets.. regrets, until... I found out that the Nexus S is also carrying the Wolfson audio chip to my surprise, disappointment turns into excitement!, aside from that it has a curve phone look and feel instead of the flat tablet or phablet of my old phone and the S3, Its comfortable to hold and placed in the jeans pocket. Being a 4.0 inch phone, its compact enough but do not sacrifice screen size. Aside from that the Galaxy S3 is too good for me, I don't like phones that I take too much precautions like it is a fragile glass, I like phones that you could just slip into your pocket and don't care. For the girls, they like those big phablets(phone+tablet), because they put them on their bags not on their pockets like I usually do. Its also an old phone the Nexus S so I can tweak it or toy with it installing custom ROMs for notification led to work since it doesn't have one, and getting Voodoo audio software to work with the Wolfson audio chip is a winner! I still use the stock Galaxy S3 headset and the music is superb!, I never did that with the Galaxy S3 as it was still covered with warranty and the default software is great for everyday use, no need for customization.

Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd. is a South Korean multinational electronics company headquartered in Suwon, South Korea

Wolfson Microelectronics plc is a multinational microelectronics and fabless semiconductor company headquartered in Edinburgh, United Kingdom.

How's Tilipia Fish Farming Business?

Tilapia Fish Farming Business

Here are my experiences I share from Tilapia Farming Business

Tilapia Fingerlings

Tilapia fish is one of the in demand never goes out of style food staple of the Filipinos, its healthy, meaty and it has large few bones which is easily seen and remove, you can also fry its thick skin to make Tilipia skin chicharon(crackers). And culturing it is easy, as its resilient and not a picky eater. You just harvest them in 3 to 4 months, that makes it passive income for me, but you have to fix your system first which is hard to master.


Pond Preparation

This is the first and most important step, fail here and fail on the rest 3 months. You can visit other site like this one; EntrePinoys for a detailed step on preparing a fish pond for tilapia. Its basically to prepare the proper nutrients and removal of predator like catfish that will eat your small tilapia fingerlings. Don't have a fishpond? try doing a small scale backyard pond or by using drum container for starters, maybe you get the hang of it and purchase yourself a fishpond in the province later on, farm/fishpond is cheaper per square meter and to own than regular residential land, it also has cheap real estate tax. So its doable if you really want to own a fishpond, your brand new car might be even expensive. Fish farming is exciting at least for me, you have to find out how you can grow your fish, inventing your own system to make it easier and cheaper so it will put money on your pocket as passive income later on.

Get your Tilapia Fingerlings

You can choose what type of Tilapia fingerlings you want to use, regular but cheaper breed or a hybrid ones that grows faster and larger. The regular cost somewhere about P0.25** centavos each while the hybrid cost more, it will be placed on a oxygen and water filled plastic bag about 5,000 to 4,000 Tilapia fingerlings contains one bag, here is a map where I get my fingerlings;


GOZUM's Tilapia fingerlings, Regular Breed
Sta. Monica, Pampanga

View Larger Map


Apung Libring's Tilapia fingerlings, Hybrid
Sta. Catalina, Pampanga

View Larger Map

Release it in your pond

After you got your fingerlings bag, go to your pond as soon as possible, because the fingerlings gets weaker after a few hours because of oxygen deprivation. Place the bag in the pond for a several minutes but don't open or release them from the bag so the water from the bag will adjust to the same water temperature, so the fingerlings won't be surprised with the sudden temperature during release.

This is where your branch of strategy differs, some will just release all the fingerlings to the pond and fed for themselves naturally with plankton, bacteria and weeds that grows on it during preparation period, some farmer put them first on isolated net(kulambo) on the pond so they can be fed easily and properly with fry mesh feeds.

Consult the webpage link provided on how many fingerlings can be stock on your fish pond, it depends on the size and depth, too much fingerlings might deprive them of oxygen and will result to smaller growth of Tilapia.

Feeding your Tilapia

There are 3 kinds of feeding, Intensive, Semi and Natural feeding;

Intensive feeding is you go all out purchasing sack of feeds, this is an expensive method but the growth of Tilapia will be faster and their weight will be heavier. It will pollute the water also easily so you need to clean it when it gets dirty by pumping out water with a water pump. And pumping in water with a water source so you can replenish oxygen in the pond, its expensive but of course you get more results during harvest.

Natural feeding is you just let them feed on natural plankton and kangkong or with duckweeds that grows on the pond, this is the cheapest method as it will give you less operating expenditure but of course growth and weight will be lesser as a result is marginal income when you sell your fishes. And also you could only put less fingerlings because the fish is dependent on oxygen, the more fish you put on the pond the smaller they become. Some fish folks use this method if you are in the danger season like rainy season and there is risk of flood.

Semi feeding is in between Intensive and Natural feeding.

Consult the webpage link provided on how much you need to feed your Tilapia based on their age or weight.

Kang kong

Duckweeds

Problems might Arise

Typhoon can flood your fishpond, losing almost all your Tilipia stock, this is depending on your location, its up to you how you fix this problem like putting nets or avoid rainy season.

Drought can make your pond at low water level, this could make them overcrowded, as a result oxygen deprivation which could stun their growth and worse fish kills. You must pump more water on it.

Looters can get your stocks during night time if your fishpond is not in a secure place especially when you are nearing your harvest season and your Tilapia is big enough. They could visit your pond every night and before you know it, you are harvesting mud. Also make sure you have a trusted caretaker.

Harvesting

After 3 to 4 months, you can harvest the Tilapia fish by draining the pond using a water pump or getting a huge harvest net. Draining the pond will take time and more expensive but you are sure you will get all the fishes unlike using a harvest net alone. Its also up to your entrepreneur idea or innovation on how you will run/harvest your fishpond efficiently, that is your business secret.

Selling your Tilapia Fish

Many fish folks think this is the hardest part, they think its more easier to grow fish than to sell it, for me this is the easiest part. Tilapia is a Filipino favorite, from ulam(meals) to pulutan(snacks). There are many types on how to sell your fish;

First is through contractors, basically they will contract you your fishpond, then they are the ones to harvest it at their cost, they will pay you an estimate price contract of the whole harvest or weight of fishes then your job is done, all you do is count the money. But because they are the middle man, they need to profit as well so you get less income in the process but its more passive income. Its hard to get contractors not unless you have a well know reputation, you have to sell your fish cheap, you are at their mercy for pricing, but as long as you would gain income and not loss, then its ok. Example is you have a 100 square meter of fishpond, they will estimate its content and fish sizes by dropping a net, then give you a price like P30,000 its all yours and they will take care of everything or sometimes they need to count and weight all the fish and buy it for you per kilo like P35 or P30 per kilo. The price is reduced because they will bear the harvest expense.

Second method is you contact a fish truck or fish tricycle and you will sell your fishes to them, your income would be higher but you will bear the harvest cost. They will sell it to the market also so the cheaper the price they get it to you the more income they will get, at this rate they will buy it to you at P40 to P45 per kilo.

Third is, you sell them directly to market, if you have a vehicle, go straight to the market early at dawn, and sell it directly to the market stalls sometimes there is a system in the market that you cannot sell it directly to the stalls but a collector, whatever the system is, you talk to the one in charge and sell your fishes, they would buy it at probably P50 to P55 per kilo. It depends on how big your fishes are, and if you are selling it, it must be fresh straight from harvest, some still moving. Probably market vendors would sell it as P80 to P100 per kilo on the consumers depending on the season like sometimes if there is a previous typhoon, fish value increases in the market.

Fourth is, which I have learned, because the contractors don't want to buy my fishes at an agreed price, they told me to sell it myself, which... Is a good idea, this is one of my business secrets I will share.

Basically you will need a bike with sidecar, and two trusted person selling the fishes, the other will pedal the other will scale and remove the gut of fishes when someone buys it, you will sell them directly to the consumers houses early in the morning, you just put a large sign Tilapia P70/kilo in from of the sidecar and people will buy it. Since there is no middle man like contractors and market vendors, you can sell them at a lower price than the market, like P70 or P75 per kilo. People will buy it, why not its cheaper than the ones in the market, they don't need to go to the market themselves since its already being cater in front of them and its fresh, straight from harvest, the ones in the market would have probably swarmed by flies or so. So if that's it but if you don't want to go to this kind of troublesome things then stick to the first method.

Prices vary depending on season, so the figures above are just examples and estimates, like during rainy season or after a typhoon, fish prices in the market will surge, because there is lack of supply, this is one thing you should also consider when selling your fishes. Law of Supply and Demand applies.

Juan Tamad Sayings:

You need to learn and adapt your strategy based on your location, the most efficient the better, that is going to be your business secret that you will rely on, its the missing link from being a success to failure, but of course, there will be lots of failure in the journey, trial and error and experimenting, its up to you how you do it. By automating or creating system for your fishpond, the more it becomes a passive income. In the world of information technology, you can adapt them for your own use, an example is what you are reading now enables you to have an insight what is going on.

Money can't buy you Happiness

A words of wisdom on someone whose been there

The famous line we always hear, what is Juan Tamad's sayings about it?

People very close to me who know me said I have money why don't you buy stuff, I will not bring it to the after life you know they said. Well its because I am not preserving my money, I'm preserving my lifestyle, once I started to buy stuff and be lavish, It can be addicting and may change my lifestyle and contentment level as we speak, I try to be contented and be the same guy as I was back then. Most people belong on lower class just look at the good part of being rich, having money and all and buying what you want.

But the truth is Money will just bring you problems, more problems, like you won't get to sleep thinking what to buy, problems of bad elements waiting for you like criminals such as kidnappers and then there are gold diggers and user friendlies will be after you left to right, you won't be contented and you will look at things you don't have than things you have, people and relatives will be envious of you and may avoid or even despise you and you are the gossip of everyday past time. Really rich people cannot just go out of their houses alone or to the malls, go hiking without having lots of body guards, talk to regular people or some sort, there is a price on having lots of money, you will only know that once you are there, and if you are there, there is no turning back.

Good to know that, People won't really know how much you earn, they will know how you live. If you carry expensive gadgets, telling people you own this shop instead of you work there, dress nice, sporting a luxury car and a huge house then they know you are rich, but if you look like the average and live a simple life then they won't know as long as you don't brag about it like in Facebook, they would see you not having a job and lazy unemployed guy around the corner. I am not saying having money is bad either, money is not evil, its the one who wields it. Having money enough so you won't need to work and spend your time to things you like is better and also you won't have financial problems like hospitalization cost due to sickness to you and some of your family members so you can spend time with them better, and for us, Time is more important. What I am pointing at is, having both worlds like I am just a regular lazy guy, the same I was in college, I could hang out to the mall with regular people and stuff, but unknowing to them, I could also buy things that I really need and wants. Having that simple lifestyle makes me more money in the process its a by-product of having more savings than expense, its a choice.

Being contented is the first part of being happy, a poor man eating on a fast food and is very happy beats the richest guy in the world who eats at a triple AAA buffet restaurant and still not contented and happy on what he eats and think of it as a regular day. This is the concept of man is created equal, whether we are rich, poor, have arms and legs, being happy is the same feeling for all of us. Of course if one of your family is suffering from sickness and you don't have money for hospitalization and you are happy, then maybe you need to go to the hospital.

Fresh Water Banami Shrimp Farming Flop

Fresh Water Banami Shrimp Farming

My first venture in farming a freshwater shrimps

drawn using GIMP

Not all investments will be a success, most will be a big Flop after spending time and resources, what is left is Experience. You learn, a lot. And there will be emotional obstacles you have to deal with.

I have hit a road block on this investment, but I will still tell you some details, maybe you could try and find your success on it.

If you have a good location on your pond, a small mixture of salt water because, river water near the sea flood it during rainy season which is pretty normal in the Philippines, you have a good chance of cultivating shrimps and prawns. Shrimp and Prawns can give you good income, its always in demand and will thrive on with little saltwater mixture(brackish). But if your pond location is fresh water like ours, then you have little luck.

Supposedly a variety of shrimp called "Banami Shrimp" can survive on freshwater, our neighbor's pond has able to culture it, without putting sacks of salt on the pond, putting salt on the pond would increase your expenditures, the banami shrimps larvae will survive through a "climatization" process as according to them, he has his share of imperfection like survival fall short and harvest in few kilos because the climatization process was made hastily, but it did survive, he was able to sell some for us a few kilos of his harvest, it was dark gray and taste like.... shrimp.

Banami shrimp is a good compliment to freshwater ponds combined with Tilapia fingerlings, because the shrimp will eat water polluting Tilapia's waste and Tilapia Feeds leftovers, both the Tilapia and Banami larvae must still be small, so they will grow together and prevent the Tilapia from eating the tiny Banami shrimp larvae.

First you have to ready your pond like how you would do with Tilapia, there is a good site out there like EntrePinoys Atbp. that you can get tips on, but each pond has different characteristics.

Hatchery Location

After that you can check out this map where I got my Banami larvae  Its a hatchery in San Felipe Zambales, If this is your first time, your pond must be ready, so in case you went there because its a little far off place, and the larvae is available, then you can purchase some right away and go straight to your pond, because if you do not have contact numbers as of yet to just call them if banami larvae is available, you really need to go there to know, and its better that your pond is ready in case you can purchase larvae right away so you can start than if your pond is not you will go back there and waste fuel again.

View Larger Map

This is a digital map provided, incase you came from NCR or nearby provinces you can navigate your way going to the shrimp hatchery. Coming from Olongapo traversing the National Highway, before you reach San Felipe boundary, there will be a bridge called Maculcul bridge, after that you will pass a cemetery then not far from that, on the left side there is a Sitio LiwLiwa Signboard which you turn left on that road. As shown on the map, this street is full of hatcheries of prawns and shrimp of different varieties.

In the hatchery, there is a minimum numbers of banami shrimp larvae you can get, in my case the minimum is 100,000 banami shrimp larvae and cost P0.12** centavos each (as of 2011), so its P12,000 total, you can count the larvae if you want... you can try, the counting method is they put it in oxygen and water filled plastic bags, then they get one bag and count the larvae one by one, you can watch them if you want, in my case, one bag is counted as 5,000+ fries, then automatically the number applies to the rest of the bag which is 20 bags all, of course they give you extra bonus bags for assurance in case some bags will be less 5,000+ and the fatality rate during travel. The banami shrimp larvae is very small like dots swimming in the water.

** prices are subjected to change without prior notice

Once you got the larvae in the bag, you should go to your pond as soon as possible, don't waste your time stopping by a Mall or something because the more they stay on the bag the oxygen level decreases for several hours before they start to get weak and die. But I'm sure its enough time for you to go to your pond before that happens.

Climatization Process

So basically this shrimp really need a very small mixture of salt water but by a climatization process, they will able to survive in fresh water. How? first you pour one bag in a container along with the water and larvae in there, and go near your the pond, pour 1 glass of pond water to the container, wait for a few minutes then remove 2 glasses of water from the container, make sure no larvae gets along with it, then pour another 3 glasses of pond water to the container, wait for a few minutes, then remove 4 glasses of water from the container, and repeat the process and apply also on the other bags, any way if its time consuming then go figure out another way, if you did, then good for you, the important thing is the concept of slowly letting them adapt to your local freshwater pond from the brackish water they came along the bag/hatchery.

Epic Failure

After a few weeks, you will be able to know if the shrimp survives, during night time, you will flash a flash light in the pond and to the pond's corner, you will see their eyes glow. But in our case, there was none. Evidently something went wrong in the early stages.

After a few months, when the Tilapia where harvested, no Shrimps was in sight. Its a failure! a Flop!. What happened? I don't know. Possibly, they failed to adapt in freshwater so they disintegrated after the climatization process, or they where eaten by Tilapia, since the Tilapia where a little larger than they are suppose to be when the shirmp was placed on the pond because of timing issues, you have to time the right timing to get the Tilapia fingerlings and the Shrimp larvae. Even though my neighbor say the Tilapia wont eat them, I have doubts in my mind, since a small Tilapia would eat a small ant if you throw one on there because I tried it to simulate a shrimp larvae...... just nearly had a panic attack just typing this paragraph, I think reminiscing on what happen that time left me an emotional scar or something even though it happened few years ago already, Oh well, I just need to relax for a little bit. How about you, maybe you may get your success on Shrimp culture.

Juan Tamad Sayings:

Like what is said earlier, not all investments will succeed, there will be failures ahead and emotional pains can scar you and beat you up, just think of it as you are going to school, you pay money to learn, same as failures in the business, after you spend lots of money, it just fails, but you learn, you pay for experience, it fails, now you know and try something new. How about not quitting you say? Well I am not totally quitting the shrimp thing, I must perfect my Tilipia culture first then maybe a few decades I will start the shrimps again, but as of now, I will look for a different passive income avenue to cover the losses, this thing will go to "Experiments" and probably try a small batch of shrimps first or wait my neighbor farm to perfect his freshwater shrimp culture, as of now, there is little source of information about freshwater Banami shrimp even on the internet, this niche product will make it more attractive but of course risky also.

There is another thinking that I shouldn't force it, for farmers who has naturally small salt mixture in their ponds can grow the shrimp or prawns easily, but there are this things that grow better on fresh water also which I am still experimenting that I should focus on.

My Business Sidekick; an Android™ Smartphone

My Business Sidekick; a Smartphone

Smartphone for Personal and Business use

This is my LG Optimus Black (P970) Android™ smartphone. What did you say? its just a luxurious product I want to brag about and I don't need it? Not really, this smartphone is one of the things that I need for my everyday living and business of course.

My Smartphone host a 4 inch display, its big enough for ease of use but not too big when you hold it on your hands, bulky in the pocket or if you put it in your face during calls. Its one of the lightest and slimmest smartphones at least during its time. Along with all the good features of what an Android™ smartphone you expect.. Well except the LED notification, that blinking thing when you got a message, but that's not a problem since I am able to install an app that makes the buttons bellow acts like a LED notification.

Its not those low-end affordable Android™ smartphones that gives in quality hardware and lacks features that you can buy everywhere and not the other also, the expensive one, the fruit with a bite on it. Its a mid range Android™ smartphone, gives you nice performance and style and can Do The Job.

Specs is not something to brag about, but its enough for the task, dual-core phones are now affordable, my phone is already old which is more than a year, but its still working good, and plan to upgrade it later on if it broke or something, just don't give me a reason to replace it like a hairline scratch in the middle is annoying or the lock button became stiff "now I need to buy a new one" excuse.

Like investing in Stocks, you must know at least the overview of what you are buying, you don't just buy because it looks good or its popular, so by choosing also an opensource operating system like Android™, I'm sure I wont be vendor locked and make my usability simple, like when I plug it on a computer, it just works, It does not require me to download some software suite and stuff to transfer files or some sort, and the video format of my videos can easily be played and edited with default player or generic players like those in TV, instead of asking you to get a specialized codec online for you to convert it and be playable with other home devices which is a headache.

Its really useful... back in the days, I have to carry a gaming portable, music player, laptop, digital camera and a cellphone, now its All in One go.

OK here are the list of why its necessity not a luxury, mostly its the Apps that matters that makes it above a regular cellphone aside from the features it sports. Apps can be easily installed by just touch of the pad in the Application market mostly for free as long as you have an internet connection, no need to connect it on a computer like an old cellphone does.

Droid Money by William Bruno

Ministocks by Nitesh Patel

Stock Market Widget Apps; I am always updated with the world wide stock index in the main screen, I must know whether the world market is collapsing or booming so I can decide my strategies, When the world wide market panics, Its instant fast cash for me. You can put other commodities if that is your style.

Expense/Income Apps; Monitoring your expenses and income is a must, you can easily make sure you are not spending beyond your means, how much you are earning in a month and analyzing what are those things that eats your monthly budget whether its important or not and what to do about it.

Notes Widget Apps; Its always displayed in the main screen, so I won't forget anything that I needed to do, If you are Juan Tamad, you tend to forget lots of things.

Motivational Quotes by Mike AF

Motivational Quotes Apps; Most of the times you are lazy and out of focus, you need some motivation to keep you moving and aim for your goals, ok, example.. let's see; "Many an opportunity is lost because a man is out looking for four-leaf clovers" well said, this keeps me motivated to look for more opportunities instead of lining up in a Lotto outlet.

Happiness Quotes Apps; Having Social Anxiety Disorder, I am battled with depression all the time, and what things to keep you going and reminding you things is to be Happy, let's see; "Happiness is your dentist telling you it won't hurt and then having him catch his hand in the drill -by Johnny Carson" Bwahahaha!, that was good... ok back to work.



Traffic Update; Being a passive income earner, most of the time there is really nothing to do but sometimes there is this things you need to finish out every month like you need to move from places to places, get some cash, move it here, pay there, check this one out and traffic is gonna get you, what better way is check the traffic update and plan ahead on which route you could go, a passive income earner like me dislikes being in the lemmings crowd, I tend to move on the opposite like a black sheep or something.

Web Browser; Yes a quick research check from the internet is important when checking a product or location, specs, requirements, cost, reviews, availability etc. etc., even if you are lost, you can just check on the maps, or just sitting around wasting time. And if the need arises, you can use it if you need to sell or buy stocks while you are in the middle of nowhere.

Quality Camera; Smartphones has good picture quality, mine even has Flash, and you can edit them with apps and probably use them on Facebook or your blogs, Its decent enough for you to forget your digital camera and since you carry it all the time, you can get snapshots anytime and no longer say "Too bad I forgot to bring the Camera", I also use the camera to snapshot lets say a direction or address or get a copy of a receipt, contracts and so on, its faster and easier than typing it in. It makes the word "Photocopy" what it really means to be.

Comprehensive Music Player; Regular cellphones has them also, but they don't have detailed playlist, equalizers and effects, search music or something and organizing features. I use music as a form of relaxation, especially during depressing days or stressful ones like an investment gone wrong or something. Its good to have a music player available to you when you just need to be distracted at that point of time or have something to pass time while travelling long distances, stuck in traffic or if you have to wait for someone especially if she's late.

SMS and Call blocker; Well it says it all, it blocks SMS and Calls from annoying people you don't know and offering you stuff. Being in the business, you always give your number to companies, I'm not saying its a bad thing, but this is my personal number.. don't call me I'll call you.

Offline Dictionary, Bible and More; You can have a handy dictionary so if you need to know what terms or meanings that pops out, example is you are reading a contract, before you sign it, make sure you understand some terms on it like "tenure" "liable" "comprehensive" etc. don't lie to yourself acting you know what it really means, if you don't understand some words, there is nothing wrong consulting your dictionary. And of course the Bible, its personal for me when things just don't go the way it is and everything is going crazy, you can read some verses to inspire you up and make sure you are doing the right thing. There is more you can do like; you can even get a cook book if you are a cook and so on just an example on what you can do with this smartphone, just make sure you get the offline versions, some apps will require internet connection, here in the Philippines, a 24/7 internet connection through mobile is still expensive about P1,000/month, for me its not that expensive but my issue is the signal strength and connecting to the internet all the time will just drain my batteries so I still prefer affordable prepaid on-demand connections like P50 unlimited for one day or P20/3hours, some network providers measure MB data per transmission instead of time.

Text Editor; When I started blogging, I need something to write my idea when I'm out doing something that I might forget later on, so a handy text editor will do the job.

Entertainment; If you are bored, you can just play games, or if free Wifi is available, you can go watching videos online or checking your Facebook or whatever. Though it will drain your battery faster so I rarely use them, I'd go for the music player because it eats less batteries.

Juan Tamad Sayings:

Being an investor, you have to be disciplined, I try to avoid being impulsive, a sudden rush of emotion can dictate your mistake in investing and in every aspect of life whether its a relationships or purchasing something. You have to think first, research and evaluate before going in... but to much deep in details might hold you back, at least an overview is just enough.

Tools of today makes life easier, back in the days, if you want to buy stocks you have to use a telephone, now you just click or touch using devices, You must be either ahead of your time or you must be able to adapt on the current trends in our time like a child.

Android is a trademark of Google Inc.

LG brand and trademark is owned by LG Corporation