Comment Exchange, Do They Read Your Post Before They Comment?

Currently, I'm participating in an activity called Comment Exchange in, at least, three Facebook Groups about Blogging. I participated in this activity because I wanted people to start commenting on my blogs. If visitors see that other people are commenting on a post then it might just encourage them to comment as well.



Comment Exchanges in Facebook work like this, if you are a participating blogger then you must post your link to your blog entry in the official Comment Exchange post which is oftentimes started by an Admin of the group. Other participating bloggers will also post their own links to their own blog entries.

You must then visit all the links posted and comment on the blog entry. In return, other participating bloggers will do the same with your link. They will visit your link and comment on your blog entry as well.

Comment Exchanges are very common in the blogging world but I've never really participated in them until just recently. It's a very good idea of getting traffic and comments but it also has its own problems.

One of its problems is, some Comment Exchange participants don't even read what you've posted. They'll just base their comments on the title of your post and you will eventually end up with an out-of-topic or an off-topic comment.

For example, my blog post titled "Sizzling Bangus and Rice, Perfect Lunch For The Masses" received 19 comments but 7 of them had nothing to do with the topic. Those who posted the questionable comments simply read the title and assumed I was talking about a real Sizzling Bangus but if they had read the post then they would had known that I was talking about a brand of cheap fish crackers sold in Sari-sari stores.

Fortunately, the majority of those who commented read the entire post and was able to comment accordingly.

So, are you participating in any kind of Comment Exchange? If you are then do you think they are reading your post before they comment on it? If yes then post your answer as a comment below. If no then post your answer as a comment below as well.

Read More

Gaming Is A Waste Of Time And Money

I mostly blog about online games or MMOs or MMORPGs like Star Trek Online, Champions Online, DC Universe Online, Dragon Nest and others. Obviously, if I'm going to blog about online games then I'll need to play them and, at least, become familiar with them.



Unlike most bloggers who can blog about virtually anything, I can only blog or write about things that interests me and one of these things is playing online games. Don't get me wrong, as a gamer, I'm not addicted to any one game. I do have my favorites but I don't spend 16 hours a day playing them.

Well, there was a time when I would spend an entire day playing Ragnarok Online or Khan Online or even Cabal Online but that time was long gone. I am now more of a casual gamer who only spends a few minutes playing and more time blogging about the different games I play.

Recently, I joined a few Facebook groups about Bloggers and some of these groups have an activity called Comment Exchange. I enjoying participating in this activity because I get to visit and comment on other blogs and other bloggers do the same with my blogs.

On my online gaming blogs, I've received a few comments saying things like playing online games is just a waste of time or it's just a waste of money. Of course, that is their opinion and I respect them for that but, is playing online games really just a waste of time and money?

I guess it depends on how you look at it. For example, I'm making a little money from my blogs about online games like Free Play MMO and Kabalyero. In fact, I had two gaming blogs before that made me $1,000 USD and $4,000 USD in just one day.

So, if I'm going to base it on my experience then gaming or playing online games is definitely not a waste of time and it can be a great source of money too. You'll just have to use what you learned from the games you play and turn it into a possible source of income.

For example, some expert gamers write Strategy Guides for their favorite online games or MMOs like Guild Wars, World of Warcraft, Star Wars: The Old Republic, etc. They make some money by selling them to other players.

In my case, I can only blog about them. I'm not good enough to write a Strategy Guide about a particular game and sell it to others. That sort of thing takes years of expertise.

Anyway, the next time you play a game or an online game or even a game in Facebook. Think of it as an opportunity and, who knows, you might just find something that could potentially become a source of extra income for you.

Read More

Jeremy Lin's Winning Streak, Is It Finally Over?

Wow! The last time I followed nor watched an NBA game was when Michael Jordan was still playing for the Washington Wizards. Last week, the NBA had a break-out superstar and he is neither black or white.


(Image Credit: NBA, Jeremy Lin, New York Knicks and New Orleans Hornets)

He is none other than Taiwanese-American Jeremy Lin and he led the New York Knicks to 7 consecutive victories before losing against New Orleans in a very close game. Is the Jeremy Lin magic over? Of course not.

In their game against New Orleans, New York trailed all the way. They were able to close the gap a few times but it wasn't enough to catch-up. In the last minutes of the fourth quarter, New York got a few breaks but New Orleans was able to hold on to the lead and win.


(New Orleans Hornets beat Jeremy Lin and the New York Knicks, 89-85)

The lost against New Orleans stopped Jeremy Lin's winning streak but getting 7 wins in a row is already a big accomplishment. Besides, losing a game is nothing to worry about. As long as they are getting more wins than loses then losing one or two games is fine.

I'm not really rooting for any NBA team but I'm very much interested with the New York Knicks and Jeremy Lin right now. I guess I'm just curious to know how far this team can ride on Jeremy Lin's success and how long can Jeremy Lin handle it.

Superstars carry huge burdens. Once you are tagged with it, people will start expecting a lot of things from you and some athletes can't handle it. Those who overcame it became more than just Superstars, they became Legends.

Anyway, Jeremy Lin's winning streak is over and, hopefully, it doesn't turn into a losing streak because it will suck big time if that happens.

Update: Jeremy Lin and the New York Knicks just defeated the defending champion, Dallas Mavericks, 104-97 at Madison Square Garde putting the Knicks back in the winning track.

Read More

10 Random Things About Me

Obviously, my regular blogs are still down because if they were up and running then you won't see me posting on this blog too often. This is my fourth blog post for today and it is about 10 Random Things About Me.



I'm going to make it as random as possible but I must admit some of it are not totally random. For example, I won't consider the fact that I'm a blogger and a freelance web designer random but I'm sure the other things are.

Here goes:

1. I often fall asleep infront of my computer. Yes, that's how addicted I am to computers and the internet. LOL!

2. I'm in my mid 30s but I still love watching animes. My current favorites are Bleach and Fairy Tale.

3. I used to drink a lot of coffee but not anymore. Now, I drink a lot of water instead.

4. I love playing Massively Multiplayer Online Games and my current favorites are Star Trek Online, Dragon Nest, Champions Online, DC Universe Online and Showtime.

5. I love watching movies online for FREE. No, I don't download them. I just watch them for FREE.

6. I love watching television series in HULU for FREE! Yes, paid shows or paid series are also available but why pay for them when there are others that you can watch for FREE.

7. My favorite color is navy blue and, because of that, most of my shirts are in that color. In fact, if you see me every day then you might even think that I don't change shirts at all.

8. I have four intelligent children and I love them all.

9. I'm married to my wife for more than 16 years and I am looking to extend that a hundred years more.

10. I am a blogger, an online gamer, a web designer, a father and a husband rolled into one person.

Well, those are 10 random things about me. I probably could add more but this post only calls for 10 random things. Maybe I'll add them in future posts but, for now, I'll just leave it at 10.

I hope you enjoyed learning more about me in this post. If you like then you can also share some random things about you. Simply post them as a comment below.

Read More

Budweiser Shootout Started With A Bang

Are you a fan of NASCAR racing? Well, I like any kind of race in general specially those that involves vehicles like cars, bikes, planes, boats, etc. I also enjoy watching them when I can but not always.



Unfortunately for NASCAR fans out there, the Budweiser Shootout started off with a couple of crashes already. The first crash involved five cars and it happen in the last moments of the opening practice for Saturday's Budweiser Shootout.

I wish I could say it wasn't a terrible crash but there is no such thing because any crash is terrible. A simple bump can lead to a pile-up that can result to massive losses both in property and lives.

The second crash happened today when nine cars crashed in the ninth lap of the race. This crash was larger than the first crash not because it involved nine cars but because it was more destructive.

Cars were thrown-off the course and collided with the wall. A few even burst into flames and a flaming car is very, very dangerous because it could also explode. If it does then it will greatly put the life of its driver at risk.



From what I've read and seen in the news, none of the drivers in the crash got hurt seriously and that is very fortunate indeed.

This year's Budweiser Shootout started off with a BANG but, for some reason, I don't think crashing or car crashes is the kind of BANG they want their fans to get.

Read More

Kevin Costner In Superman: Man Of Steel

I'm sure many of you know about this already but I just found out about it recently. It seems that our favorite superhero, Superman, is going to have a new movie and we can expect to see it next year.



The title of the new Superman movie is Man Of Steel and it is a reboot of the Superman story. What it means is, the movie will start from the very beginning. This Superman movie is not based on any previous Superman movies.

Man Of Steel has an all-star cast of Hollywood stars and movie veterans with Henry Cavill playing the title role as Clark Kent/Superman. The movie also includes Russel Crowe of Gladiator playing Jor-el, Superman's biological father, Amy Adams as Lois Lane, Diane Lane as Martha Kent, Laurence Fishburne as Perry White and others.

As you can see, Man Of Steel is not lacking in star power but what caught my attention most is the star playing Jonathan Kent, Superman's foster-father. I've seen him in movies like Dances With Wolves, Water World, The Postman, The Bodyguard with Whitney Houston (RIP), Field Of Dreams, Tin Cup and many more.

Obviously, I'm talking about Kevin Costner. I've seen many of his movies and, I guess, it is safe to say that I am a fan of him. Seeing his name the new Superman movie made me more interested to see this new version of the Superman mythology.

Saying that he is perfect for the role would be very bias of me but he does have the look of a Jonathan Kent in him and I'm sure he'll do a good job at it too. I just hope that he will have a longer role as Jonathan Kent in this version because, in the original Superman movie, Jonathan Kent died early in the story.

Anyway, I'm planning on taking my entire family to see this movie when it comes out just like with Superman Returns. Superhero movies are more fun to watch when you have your family with you.

Read More

All Sites Down, SpeedySparrow

As of this writing, all my regular blogs are down. My hosting provider, SpeedySparrow, is currently doing some work on the server that has all my blogs and all I can do right now is wait for them to finish. Hopefully, whatever they are doing will make the server more stable.



According to Uptime Robot, the downtime started yesterday, February 17, 2012, at around 12:00 AM. It's already 10: 30 PM of February 18, 2012. So, counting from the time the server went down up to now, all my blogs have been down for more than 20 hours already.

SpeedySparrow has been experiencing server problems since last year. As you can see, they are still having server problems this year. I wish I could explain what they are experiencing better but I'm not really knowledgeable in server technology.

I'm just a simple blog owner and, right now, all I want is to get all my blogs back up and running. Everyday they are down is making me lose potential income from various sources including Adsense. If I don't make anything then I won't have any money to pay my web hosting with them and I don't want that to happen.

Don't get me wrong, the people behind SpeedySparrow are nice people and I know they mean well. It's just that, their server is having too much issues and these issues are hurting their customers and it's hurting them as well.

I also know that they are doing their very best to fix these issues but they should really look into a more lasting solution like maybe moving all their customers to a new server rather than trying to salvage an already problematic one.

Anyway, I do hope they can permanently fix whatever it is that is causing their server problems and I also hope that they can fix it soon.

Update: Now we have a member from a different server gloating about our misfortune with our server. I know it's a joke but the timing is way off.

Read More