PREGUNTAVER

Looking for my next charity to support next year, I decided that it should have something to do with hospitals. I used to shy away from causes such as prevention and cure of HIV, cerebral palsy , heart diseases and similar areas for the thought of lingering sickness depresses me. This year however, I decided to confront these societal problems head on, in my own quiet ways. I hope that my efforts will be not be in vain. Happy New Year, Everyone!

My friend has a nice project that will result in a big part of our city being WIFI enabled. Long direct burial fiber optic cables will be installed underground and used to line tall vertical structures like the tallest buildings downtown. Hopefully, the project won’t take so long and people like me will finally be able to go around and transact online from our laptops. Good luck, Amigo!

Here's the Top 5 world new stories for 2008, as compiled by Voxant. Happy New Year!

The bus that we took on our way back from vacation had a nice recliner . The entire vehicle only had 27 seats and because of the wide spaces in between, a recline almost all the way to the back allowed the passengers to almost completely lie down, simulating an airline’s first class cabin. With economic development, new companies create competition that eventually leads to the customer’s ultimate benefit. Cheers for free trade

Got this from onemansblog , it originated from an email and contains something that I have been hearing about from fellow motorists. "Only buy or fill up your car or truck in the early morning when the ground temperature is still cold. Remember that all service stations have their storage tanks buried below ground. The colder the ground the more dense the gasoline, when it gets warmer gasoline expands, so buying in the afternoon or in the evening….your gallon is not exactly a gallon. In the petroleum business, the specific gravity and the temperature of the gasoline, diesel and jet fuel, ethanol and other petroleum products plays an important role. A 1-degree rise in temperature is a big deal for this business. But the service stations do not have temperature compensation at the pumps." Other tips in this post .

Rockefeller was famous for this answer, when asked how much more does he need, "A little bit more" This millionaire couple, has taken it to the extreme. Instead of working harder and helping the poor as Rockefeller did, they decided to save on costs by enslaving their maids. They made their two maids work for up to 18 hours per day and paid them only $100~150 per day. To make matters worse, all of it were sent to relatives overseas, leaving them with nothing and effectively deterring any attempt to escape. Cruel, huh? Read the rest of the details in this link

For those who has missed a lot about what's happening to the world's economy, this short clip is a good source of updates...

I remember the time when I bought a pocket watch in, of all places, Jungfrau! Of course, Switzerland is the country where some of the finest watchmakers are. But why buy it on top of the mountain, where it is more expensive? Friends who learned about it laughed and said, you are such a tourist! Well, looking back, it was not a waste of money at all. The model that I bought has become a rare piece and is now worth a lot more than what I paid for.

And from virtual family organizers to tabletop touch-screens, their vision of the future sees technology move from the traditional desktop computer to become seamlessly integrated in all aspects of our lives. Comments later. Gotta go...

Since I changed careers, my lifetime membership in an expensive gym has gone to waste. I am at least 25 lbs overweight and that’s not all most of my body seems to be starting to sag. I’ve been thinking of ways to go about weight reduction and I think exercise bikes are the best option. Thirty minutes a day in that machine seems to be a good idea I hope to be able to get one as a Christmas gift to myself. Hmmnn..

A well travelled millionaire complained to me once. “My teenage son has been to Vegas. When he was there, he was rubbing the fact to my face by singing on the phone Viva laaas Veeeegas!”. I told him, you spend most of your time traveling so why don’t you make a weekend stopover and get it done with. Vegas is a good entertainment capital even for short breaks. One need not go out of the legendary hotels in Vegas and still have the time of his life. Shows, casinos, etc, etc. It’s all there. Take a break.

As a young boy, I had a fascination for Four-Wheel Drive (4WD) vehicles. 4WD's look very macho and there's nothing like being in a big car. However, as I started to accumulate driving hours, I realized that fast cars brings me to my destination faster. But as I grew older, I realized that sedans and big cars have their own separate purposes and cannot really be compared to one another. Sedans bring me to my office faster but SUV's can fit lots of cargo and are generally better for road collisions. As an old man once said, "When you collide with a car while in an SUV, you land on top of the heap" -- well said. In purchasing SUV's, will you go for a 4WD or a simple 2WD? In terms of price, 2WD's are cheaper and performance wise, a 4WD may not necessarily outperform the other. If you drive in rough terrains, a 4WD will definitely be much better. But if you are a like me, who spends most of his driving hours shuttling from house to the office, a 2WD is probabl...

Walking around the mall this morning, I saw beautiful adjustable beds on display and remembered a Top Gear review of a certain German car that boasted a living room theme. Two of the hosts spent 24 hours inside the car and found nothing worthy of mention except for the front seats that extends the rear. In exasperation, the hosts remarked that instead of talking so much about a “Living room theme”, they should just have referred to it as “Adjustable seats”. Funny!

I have quoted time and time again that saying that, “All great wealth comes with real estate”. Then and now, those words remain to be true. With the subprime market on a decline, the game on the year is called “Where is the floor?” The rules are simple: Determine the lowest point that the market will go down to. Determine the properties that are most likely to appreciate most in terms of value. Invest. While waiting for the price to increase, treat the market as a rental property investment . Determine the peak price of the property and wait for the market to reach it. Sell the property with a very good profit. Give me my 5% consultancy fee--- WHOA!!!!