Music Critic of the Year Is an Anonymous Twitterer!

Twitter continues to make its musical mark on the internet!

The Village Voice's Rob Tannenbaum has chosen a music critic of the year--and it's an anonymous Twitter account called @Discographies.

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the 50 most recommended people with #followfriday

Be advised, these folks are "follow friday friendly" - also check out "50 Best Twitter Moms"

#musicmonday - Hallelujah!

X Factor 2008 FINAL: Alexandra Burke - Hallelujah! If you cannot view the clip in your country click here to watch the FULL HD version

Come join Music Monday and share your songs with us. Rules are simple. Leave ONLY the ACTUAL LINK POST here and grab the code below and place it at your blog entry. You can grab this code at LadyJava's Lounge Please note these links are STRICTLY for Music Monday participants only. All others will be deleted without prejudice.



PS: Because of spamming purposes, the linky will be closed on Thursday of each week at midnight, Malaysian Time. Thank you!

Merry Christmas! A *FREE* VPN Account!

A very special offer from chinaSMACK!

Why use a VPN?

1. You want to use a service or application that requires a US IP address.
A nice side benefit of using FBVPN services is that you can enjoy the use of a US IP address wherever you may be. Essentially, you will enjoy the same Internet as someone in the US.

2. You live in, or are visiting, a country that engages in Internet censorship or monitoring of content.
Beyond blocked services, more and more countries are engaging in Internet censorship or monitoring Internet users. FBVPN services will ensure full, anonymous, and uncensored access to the Internet from wherever you are.

3. You have a company-issued VPN but don’t wish to use it for personal business.
When you use your employer’s VPN, typically all your online activity is tracked by default. Also, using your employer’s bandwidth and IP addresses for personal business is likely to be a violation of your company’s policies.

4. You don’t want your ISP or network owner to be able to monitor or control your online activities.
You call it “your” Internet connection but it really isn’t. You rent access to the Internet under, often rather ominous, terms and conditions from an ISP, or you gain access through some other means under terms you aren’t even privy to.
Often there is no evil intent, but there have been many cases, even in the United States, where individual privacy and access to the free Internet have been blatantly and willfully disregarded.
We believe it is every law-abiding individual’s right to secure their data and protect their privacy online. Businesses wouldn’t think of sending data without VPN encryption to protect their interests. What’s good enough for them is good enough for you.

5. You don’t want Google, Yahoo, and other search engines recording every search you perform.

Skype is down; twitter is up!

Do we rely too much on net-based technology? Imagine if the internet collapsed. Day-to-day life would grind to a halt. Have we become way too dependent on the world wide web? Think of this: everything we do now is controlled by computers. Gas pumps. Doctor's office appointment schedules. Telephone service (although old-fashioned "hardline" service is still available in North America and other places). Radio station playlists. If you go back to the 1980s, this was not so. Bad Skype! Tsk! Tsk! Tsk!

RIP MyBlogLog

Sources say the service is finally closing down, after rumours of its demise surfaced about a year ago, joining other services yahoo picked up over the years. The news broke originally via twitter in a tweet reportedly posted by one of the original founders of MyBlogLog!

In a statement about the current status of one particular site, Yahoo said 'we are not shutting down Delicious'.

The firm added that the site was 'not a strategic fit' and that 'there is an ideal home for Delicious outside of the company where it can be resourced to the level where it can be competitive'.

Just in case you were wondering what the co-founders of soon-to-be dead MyBlogLog are up to, Eric Marcoullier and Todd Sampson started a new website/collective named OneTrueFan. (A better title would be "OneMoreThingToSlowYourBrowserLoadTime" - a must to avoid if you want to keep your Google PageRank high enough to make a little adsense money!)

16-Year-Old Chinese Girl To Marry 34-Year-Old “Uncle”

"...at 16-years-old what does she know? Is today’s China really this poor? I’m speechless."

Is this any worse than P.I.'s "Mail Order Bride Industry"??? Your thoughts, ex-pats?

#music monday - ♫ A Gift of Music ♫

"The night is young, but time is old" sings Yasmin - Yasmin blogs too: "I often get people saying to me I seem to have come out of no-where and got to where I am right now, but the truth is I’ve worked my ass off, I’ve put up with things and pursued a lot of things that many people would’ve given up on, I don’t need to be congratulated or praised for it, I’m fully aware it’s just a necessary step. Another lesson I’ve learnt is that talent, contacts, wealth etc mean absolutely f*** all unless you’re willing to work haaaaaaaard, but the beauty of working towards the career you’ve dreamed of is that it never feels like work :) they say if you love what you do, you’ll never have to work a day in your life."

Come join Music Monday and share your songs with us. Rules are simple. Leave ONLY the actual post link here and grab the code below and place it at your blog entry. You can grab this code at LadyJava's Lounge Please note these links are STRICTLY for Music Monday participants only. All others will be deleted without prejudice.

Pinoy Expats/OFW Blog Awards

CONGRATS TO PEBA 2010 WINNERS!

To A Better Bathroom!

The first apartment we rented when we got married had the most amazing bathroom. I found out later that it had been created by knocking down a wall that resulted in the joining of a sunporch with a rather large pantry when the building was sub-divided by a previous landlord. The floor plan was well thought-out.

The towel racks, mirrors and other accessories were strategically placed and of the highest quality. The same could be said of the sink, tubs, faucets and tiles. (Not to mention oodles of closet space). I decided then and there that one day when we bought our own home, this would be the way I want our bathroom to look!

Fast forward to today... we recently closed on a wonderful house in a really great neighborhood. We'll be happy and safe. The kids will attend a wonderful school that's just a few blocks away! The first project when we move in (actually BEFORE we move in) is the bathroom!

First things first! I ventured out on the net in search of the bathroom furniture and accessories we will need. I found an amazing site, betterbathrooms!

All of the products are showcased on the landing page! They are eye-catching, with strong designs suggesting timeliness and durability. On the sidebar of the webpage there are things I had on my list, such as bathroom mirrors, along with things I hadn't thought of, like heated towel rails! (Which are now ON my list too!)

Betterbathrooms' website is very user-friendly: clear, concise and precise! That's just the way I like it when I'm ordering things!

Best of all, I can use my Master Card or Visa when I make my purchases. And should I need any particular fittings or adhesives, they are readily available directly through betterbathrooms! They're all about good products, fair prices and great service!

Twitter Puts On Corporate Shoes

Twitter CEO Dick Costolo has work to do now that Twitter has raised $200 million of financing in a deal that values the microblogging company at $3.7 billion, less than a year after it began its first serious efforts to make money. In the past 12 months, Twitter users dispatched 25 billion Tweets and added more than 100 million new registered accounts!

Investment Alert: Gold in IRA - A Better Alternative

Question: What investment increases in value during times of war, inflation, high oil and gas prices, budget deficits and most economic turmoil?

No, that is not a trick question. While paper investments like stocks depreciate during negative conditions, there’s an investment vehicle that increases its price: GOLD. Historically, gold has been a valuable commodity and even up to this point in time, it is still considered precious. This probably explains why more investors are rolling their IRA, 401k, 403b and pension plans into IRA gold, specifically 401k gold account.

Since 2000, gold 401k’s performance has surpassed almost every other asset that can be included in a retirement account. A report said that a $25,000 investment in the year 2000 had grown to $26,853 by 2002, $40,817 by 2004, $50,289 by 2006, and $74,777 in 2007.

Currently, the US government allows Gold American Eagles and Gold proof American Eagles in gold IRAs. However taking possession of your IRA gold is qualified as a distribution and may require you to pay a possible penalty and the taxes to the IRS. This is the reason why it’s advisable to have your IRA gold stored at a depository who offers secure safekeeping service.

Other assets can be held in your precious metal IRA and it’s best to inquire about gold IRA transfer and related stuff from a gold investing company if you are contemplating to try it.

Top 10 most retweeted tweets of 2010

1. @StephenAtHome: In honor of oil-soaked birds, ‘tweets’ are now ‘gurgles.’ (retweeted 37,000 times)
2. @drakkardnoir: We always ignore the ones who adore us, and adore the ones who ignore us.
3. @liltunechi: Aaaaaaahhhhhhmmmmm baaaaakkkkkkkkkk!
4. @justinbieber: Te quiero mucho mi amor.
5. @alqaeda: Just noticed Twitter keeps prompting me to “Add a location to your tweets”. Not falling for that one.
6. @joejonas: I cry because I love Justin Bieber!!!
7. @ladygaga: I’m beautiful in my way, ’cause God makes no mistakes. I’m on the right track, baby. I was Born This Way.
8. @kanyewest: I’m sorry Taylor.
9. @rihanna: Justin Bieber just flashed me his abs in the middle of a restaurant! Wow! He actually had a lil 6 pack! Sexy, lol! #Beliebersplzdontkillme
10. @shitmydadsays: Don’t focus on the one guy who hates you. You don’t go to the park and set your picnic down next to the only pile of dog shit.

#musicmonday - ♫ All That I Want... ♫

The Weepies singing "All That I Want" as an encore at World Cafe Live in Philly on December 5, 2006. The original commercial recording in HD Stereo, as featured on "Gossip Girl," and on TV commercials, is HERE - but the LiVe ViDeo is more cooler!

Come join Music Monday and share your songs with us. Rules are simple. Leave ONLY the actual post link here and grab the code below and place it at your blog entry. You can grab this code at LadyJava's Lounge Please note these links are STRICTLY for Music Monday participants only. All others will be deleted without prejudice.

Friday LINK Freebies 10 Dec 10

Welcome to the Friday Linky Freebies! Feel free to leave your blog url and links here – yes, for free. No strings attached.


If you’d also like to host the linky in your blog, you can get the code at GEORYL: Blogging With My Heart.

Mexican Potato Skins - A Winner at Dinner!

Here at the birdhouse the peeps are always hungry - here's what the twitterer made for dinner last night, and did they ever turn out deeeeelicious!

Wiki Hacktivists Wreaking Net Havoc!

Twitter has not removed the account @wikileaks, nor has it announced any plans to do so.

A statement released by Facebook simply reads, “[sic]… The Wikileaks Facebook Page does not violate our content standards nor have we encountered any material posted on the page that violates our policies.”

While this was happening, Jason Goldman, Twitter's longtime vice president of product, announced his resignation Wednesday on stage at the Le Web Internet conference in Paris.

December 8 I Remember You

This dedicated to my father, who passed away one December day, a short long time ago. This song was very dear to him, as it reminded him of his first love, my mom. He would sing it to me when putting me down for my nap when I was two, maybe three years old. I love you Daddy!

Tumblrs Take To Twitter

I chatted with an old friend on IM earlier about the fall of MySpace, particularly how Facebook was able to swoop down and gather its members so quickly. Two things came to mind: MySpace pages kept getting more complex and quite difficult for the average computer to load. And suddenly if you didn't have what MySpace interpreted to be an "up to date browser" you were shut out of the service.

Now, Tumblogs came crashing down Sunday and twitter was there to receive the digital refugees. A problem with one of Tumblr's database clusters took the site down sometime between 7 p.m. and 8 p.m. Eastern time. The site announced the outage on Twitter, saying it was "incredibly sorry for the inconvenience." In a follow-up tweet Tumblr said that it is working through "a slow and painful recovery."

Founder David Karp told Tech Crunch, "Some scheduled maintenance yesterday that wasn't intended to interrupt service went haywire and wound up taking down a critical database cluster. Rebuilding the entire cluster has been a painfully slow and manual process, but we're almost through. We'll be posting a recap when we're back up."

If Twitter's past is Tumblr's prologue, chances are that most of Tumblr's users will stick by the company -- for now at least. But Tumblr's epic day of downtime does highlight a few important things.

#musicmonday - Courtship Song

"The Courtship Song" (and dance) - by Robert Mirabal. The audio alone is mesmerizing, and the beauty & lightness of the dance is breathtaking. Happy MM everyone!

Come join Music Monday and share your songs with us. Rules are simple. Leave ONLY the actual post link here and grab the code below and place it at your blog entry. You can grab this code at LadyJava's Lounge Please note these links are STRICTLY for Music Monday participants only. All others will be deleted without prejudice.

Alyssa Milano Interview

An Interview with Alyssa Milano: Actress, Philanthropist, Entrepreneur, and Twitter Superstar!

Alyssa Milano's Evolution: Jersey Shore from Alyssa Milano