Last year, Facebook overtook Google to be the most-visited site on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. I don’t think the forecast will be any less different in 2010 considering facebook continues to outshine other social networking sites in terms of user base and connectivity. Plus, you must have heard that Facebook beats ebay to be the third most valuable web company in U.S. lately, right? With so much power and fame, facebook lives under the radar of its 500 million active users daily, hoping their expectations be heard and taken heed of.

Two days ago I had an interesting discussion on my page wall. I asked the fans to share what they hope to get from facebook for Christmas this year (if facebook is listening). Their feedback was amazing and I had so much fun learning what people are expecting from facebook! That’s what I love most about a facebook page – you can never expect how a normal wall post can create unusual responses! To reward their enthusiastic participation, I hope their wishes be heard. What can be a better way to chase away Monday blues than a Christmas wishlist to facebook? Take it away, dear Social @ Blogging Tracker members:

1. “I would like an exclusive souvenir from Facebook!” – Mico
2. “Two Newsfeeds – one for personal profiles and one for business pages.” – Jill




3. “To keep it as it is. I dont want them to change its appearance or functions!” – Noor




4. “Time on my hands.’ – Todd




5. “An easier, appropriate, reliable and fair way to communicate, to support people. Please!” – Debbie




6. “To share via my page instead of my profile (because sometimes that’s what I want to do WITH the share button). Ooh, and to be notified when someone does something on my page (likes, comments, etc.). Please, please, please.” – Anne




7. “A free T-shirt.” – Jill




8. “To rid my old account name from any search engine such as google, facebook, etc so i can live.” – Aved




9. “A an email informing me to wait for my gift cheque worth 100 million in my snail mail..lol” – Jena




10. “To solve my privacy bug so that my friends could see my photo albums!!” – Miriam




11. “The ability to unmerge a places and business page; Two news feeds, one for friends and one for pages, each accessible with just one click.” – Laura




12. “My gift from Facebook would be to keep our profile pics with the post, ie. don’t change the profile pics from previous posts. I’d like to keep the pic with the post.. like Christmas, Halloween, Veterans Day.” – Mike




13. “If possible, I want to have a chance to meet Facebook CEO – Mark Zuckerberg.” – Lee




14. “Better option for privacy settings for posts, photographs etc, even amongst friend lists.” – Shubhra




15. “Thumbs up for Anne’s wish! It would be way better to be notified when someone does something on pages! And the page can leave a comment on their friends.” – Jane




16. “The ability to communicate better with Facebook (the organization) when you have problems or questions. And more FBML commands!” – Genevieve




17. “My wish is for better separation between personal and professional activities and pages (finally). Let’s hope they listen to all of your readers’ comments!” – Scott

Are you nodding at some of them? I know I am. Why not join our page and share what is your biggest wish from facebook on Christmas day ? You can do so in the comments too if like, but be sure to tell why that wish is important to you. Fact is, you never know who is going to see the list and checking it twice (*waving* at facebook). Together let’s create an ultimate Christmas wishlist for facebook.

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I’m currently on day-21 of my family vacation in Penang Island. It’s the longest leave I’ve ever taken in a year. Despite of a blue screen laptop that failed on me few weeks back, I’m thankful at least I can use my nephew’s PC to declare:  I’m very much alive and never been kidnapped by aliens, thank you.

Social networking is pretty much on-going here alright. Sometimes it’s even more challenging when you’re around with family members who you only meet once every 2-3 years. Nevertheless, this trip is of a great value. I won’t have a better place to share it if not here with you guys whom I missed dearly.

8 Lessons to Boost Up Blogging Experience

1. Don’t Give Yourself Reasons to Feel Old & Sloppy

Keep Young At Heart - I like to remind myself that whenever I feel I’m too old for something new. Stop blaming ‘age’ for the things you cannot do or we won’t have much fun growing older. Put that aside and think about how much you’ll celebrate if you manage to overcome age barriers – confidence, knowledge, connections and energy. The more we tried, the more we realized where our ability stands.

Negative mindset is all you need to stop miracles from happening. Let your writing be filled with excitement! Use words and pictures to capture readers’ interests! Remember, aging will only make you wiser, never a loser in blogging.

Root of Inspiration:

Kids! I’m surrounded by my nephews and niece (aged 3, 5, 6 & 8 ) who are constantly energetic and curious about EVERYTHING! Learning is the best way to stay young and ahead of the curve.

2. Life is About Taking Chances, So Is Blogging

Life can open doors when one is willing to take chances. I quit my job to pursue my dream when people are looking for one; I submitted my work to bigger names when low self-esteem had crept all over me; I tried my hands on social media when people are less likely to believe their potentials. All doubts replaced by new theories one by one. I learned if I don’t take chances and overcome my fear, I’ll never discover my full potentials. I would probably still working in a cubicle, sighing and waiting for the day to end!

Root of Inspiration:

In Amazing Race, competition can make people overcome their fear in an instant, because they have a higher goal to reach. We worried because we presumed the worst we can reap from an action. Of course I don’t mean putting yourself in danger but with thorough understanding of your own ability, you’ll know when it’s the time to go full force for one thing. The picture is just an indication. While you admiring my courage, the snake-tamer actually stood beside me after handing me the tail.

3. I Deserve to Spoil Myself Once in a While

When I work, I work hard; when I play, I play hard. That’s the rule. All work and no play I’ll soon bored you and me to death. I’ll have nothing useful to share. Words will be meaningless for life is boring! That’s the last thing you need in blogging! Give yourself a treat for doing a good job. Vacation is the time of the year I let myself go with a reasonable manner. Before this I usually have a financial plan to make sure I won’t go overboard and drown myself in debts. If I want to play or spend, I’ll make sure I can afford it. Having fun should be rewarding, not to trouble us afterward.

Root of Inspiration:

I eat and I shop. I bought new clothes to replace old ones at home, which I’ve sold online or donated. Year End Sales with discounts up to 50 – 70% always a charmer. Be a smart consumer. Don’t get ripped off while you’re at it. Bottom line, have fun and enjoy life the way you want it.

4. Capture and Utilize Inspirations Wisely

An artist will appreciate inspiration more than normal people. They will value and inject it to their work before it vanishes. I’m no where near an artist but I figure if I’m able to capture it in words or pictures, I’ll know how to present myself in the next post. Inspirations are important for bloggers to be expressive. We need a lot of input to make things happen. During vacation, everything is fresh with new surroundings; people are handling matters differently which may enlighten us how we run our lives. I tend to bring this back with me in blogging and everything I do at home.

Root of Inspirations:

I was greatly inspired by my brother who is an amateurish photographer. He has a keen eye for the surrounding. Look what he painted on his wall, the photo frames will be fully up on the coconut tree in less than 6 months, I’m sure.

Opportunity might occur once in a lifetime, grab it while you still can. The hibiscus in the garden only blossom for a day before they died the next. If I didn’t capture that moment, nobody would have known they existed.

5. Appreciate & Treat Your Work as a Legacy

Today will be remembered for many years to come by your descendants, if you left them a legacy. People may shrug or yawn when they enter a museum or art gallery, but we are made from those history. Without the past, we won’t enjoy the luxurious lifestyle; without the inventions, we have no ways to communicate or work from home. Culture made us who we are today and we are still living it, renewing its definition every time with improvements and discoveries. I’m living to create my page of history today. I’m looking forward to telling my grandchildren how their grandma live through the adventure daily.

Root of Inspirations:

I came across this old light house that I never knew existed at Fort Cornwallis. It was built in 1882 and 21 meters in height (renovated a couple of times in early 1900). The view up there was wonderful! I climbed to the top, admiring the view. Imagining what it would be like to have its light beaming at night, guarding the ships to reach the shore. And the wall carving from Kek Lok Si, looks magnificent isn’t it?

6. Embrace Your Childhood for Innocence & Excitements

Think about the good qualities a kid possesses: innocence, pure intention, cheerful! I love how they come around and try to solve a puzzle by themselves. We were once a kid and loving it! We knew how to have fun. We appreciated things easily and forgot why we just cried. We enjoyed simplicity and contentment. I like to keep a bit of childlike in me — not to be naive but fast to ditch the sadness and anger; ready to go out and start a journey all over again.

Root of Inspirations:

For a net-goer like myself, living with kids is hard to adapt at first. Tasted all the bitter sweet of having kids around but it’s always wonderful to put us in somebody’s childhood.

See how happy I was at the Toy Museum? I was totally a big child there!

7. Be An Initiator in Your Social Network

We are in need to communicate daily. Whenever I’m on a social media site, I look forward to the engaging conversations. That’s how I like to treat blog commenting as well. I may not be the best writer or grammatically impressive, but I will try to express my thoughts in words that people can understand. To reach out first has earned me friendships and learning opportunities. Never be afraid to make mistakes for it’s a chance to be better.

Root of Inspirations:

When I was riding the Singapore Flyer, my husband and I were greeted by this friendly couple from England, Mr and Mrs Potter. Mr Potter was kind enough to offer us a hand in photo taking. Later we had a nice 10 minutes conversation before we landed. It was a pleasant experience! On my way back to Penang Island, I sat beside a couple from South Carolina, US. We talked briefly and wish each other happy holidays before getting off the plane. It’s fantastic when we get to practice what we preach online about social networking.

Last and most importantly,

8. Treat Bad Experience a Learning Point

Perfection is ideal, but how many of us can reach there? We made bad decisions and failed, but who doesn’t? Ask any people who succeed, almost 90% will tell you it’s more than just luck. Failure is discouraging but one can still claim the victory if he’s not been struck down by it. My work had been rejected before. Disappointment is inevitable but you need to get out from the mourning asap. Don’t forget another door opens when one closes. You just earned a second chance to try and be better! How good is that!

Root of Inspirations:

I hurt my back a week ago, painful and hard to sit straight. My laptop left me a blue note and currently on strike for overworked.  Fine! I’m not gonna grumble.  I’ll ease my pain and rest more instead. Spend more time bonding with the kids. Took this pic while Javon was attempting to bake a Strawberry cake. Yum!

Hope this post can turn on your holiday mode! It’s a time to rejoice and be glad. Get ready to wrap up 2009 before starting fresh in 2010!

Now Is Your Turn…

Did you learn something from your vacation as well? Have it told in a post or share with us in your comment below. If you didn’t go anywhere this year, do update us with your work so far. What does your year-end-review tell you?

In the mean time, how about a little love-sharing on social bookmarking sites?

I Can Still Remember Clearly…

It was a scorching hot afternoon, my husband and I were driving our way home from a nearby town. The approximate road distance was about 200 km.  Since we weren’t in a hurry, my husband had been maintaining the speed well around 90km/hour.

The two-way traffic was less busier than usual with occasional palm oil trucks passing by. After the winding roads, we turned into a long straight one. Coming from the opposite direction was a taxi, followed closely by a four wheel drive – both with a considerable speed. As we getting closer, suddenly the four wheel drive sped up and drove in our lane! The guy was crazy enough to try overtake the taxi with just 150m distance away from us! My husband honked hard and repeatedly to alert the car with me gripping the car handle tightly. The taxi quickly slowed down to give way. The big car was still half in our lane when my husband hit the break and steered into the side road immediately with limited space. I could feel my heart racing like mad when the reckless driver drove past us in minor distance! Close call!

This wasn’t the first time we had a near death experience. A land cruiser rammed into us last year and I still freaked out when thought about it.  Not a day goes by when we don’t feel grateful about being alive.

Treasure Your Life: Even The Smallest Thing Counts

There are many times in life I grumbled ‘how unfair life has been! Why can’t I have what others are having?’ It took me a long while to appreciate how fortunate I am to live my very own life. You don’t always need a big incident to tell you how blessed to be just YOU. Life is not a bed of roses, but it’s not all thorns either. Comparing ourselves to those unfortunate ones who have no love, no food, no education, no home,  no peace…  how one has the heart to complaint? Why can’t  we see our glasses being half full instead of half empty? Envy, greed, selfishness and other negative thoughts enough to confine us in a grumpy mood, what more an unsatisfactory life?

Recently I had an inspirational read of Regina’s 50 Timeless Life Lessons in which I learned a great deal about contentment. How I should be grateful about being enough, treasure my family more and people I met along the way. Life is too short for grumbles. If we can all learn to be appreciative for the smallest things in life, our perspective about ‘not having enough’ can be changed tremendously.

Ways To Spend Thanksgiving Differently On Social Media

For those who are reading this, you are owning a powerful asset  – social media to spread this wonderful spirit among your network. It’s a moment to really think about Giving instead of Receiving all the time:

• Post about Awareness Months & Thanksgiving ideas to create awareness among others.
• Promote meaningful and inspirational posts via social media bookmarking sites.
• Make an effort to comment as a way to support writer’s effort and hard work.
• Promote users on Facebook by sharing selective tweets when necessary. I acknowledge my Facebook fan by Weekly Selected Posts or occasional tweet about their latest posts in my Facebook Page and Twitter.
• Join Tweetsgiving today and share your story within your network. It’s an annual occasion with wonderful events you can take part in.
• Other References: Top 5 To-Do’s for the Gratitude Season.

It’s time to give back. If not financially, a prayer, a post or a shout out in social media can make a huge difference in people’s lives. We spent too much time worrying about personal matters; our eyes are constantly upon ourselves that we forgot the compassion we should have for others in need. Let’s try to be observant and caring, share the message about love and gratitude today. One Small Step for Us, a Big Step in Humanity.

This post was created as part of a global groundswell of gratitude called TweetsGiving. The celebration, created by US nonprofit Epic Change, is an experiment in social innovation that seeks to change the world through the power of gratitude. I hope you’ll visit the TweetsGiving site to learn more, and to bring your grateful heart to the party by sharing your gratitude, and giving in honor of that for which you’re most thankful.

Isn’t it the cutest, and sweetest thing? Awww….

Do you know today (13th Nov) is World Kindness Day? If not, Congratulations! You’ve just being kind and let me be the first person to inform you about it! You made my day, and that’s the first kindness you did! Bravo! *wink*

So, how did it all start? In 1998, Japan held its first World Kindness Movement conference in Tokyo, and 13th Nov was the opening day of the event. Later, 13th Nov has been recognized as the global event for World Kindness Day. Organisations and foundations were set up by the participating countries, to instill the importance of kindness act to people around the world.

How about a little kindness act to somebody today? Well, actually it’s not all that hard. Starting from within your household, for instance: help your mom with her groceries, clean up the garage for your dad, help your sister to do her homework.. wait, wait, WRONG info. Forget the homework thing! Parents, maybe can help your kids to do the chores he/she hates the most? Just an idea. While you’re out there, look around and offer a helping hand when seeing somebody in need, like helping an old lady who has trouble getting across the road etc. A little kind gesture from everyone, the world is going to be whole lot prettier!

Let the kindness spread all around the world, and make today a heart-warming, and wonderful day for everyone. I’ll start by visiting more blogs today, as you know, bloggers desires readers, so why not? We can help even by working on our PCs. ha.. Share the love and kindness! Happy World Kindness Day!

Copyright © 2008 by Wong Ching Ya, All Rights Reserved, “World Kindness Day!”.

Great Song. Inspiring. I love it for the first time I heard it, as it’s for a good cause.

November is Lung Cancer Awareness month. I decided to stop the post I’m working on, and put this up instead. Over the years, our human lives had gone through massive changes, advanced technology, greater intelligence with incredible discoveries in many fields, knowledgeable, better living conditions, but none of us can deny, our health condition is deteriorating each year. Diseases come right out of no where and attack our fragile bodies – AIDS, SARS, CORSAKIE, and most of all, CANCER! Where are all these viruses come from? Some people, who’s living a great life, ended up collapse on the floor one day while playing sports, and never get up; and some people died in their sleep with no early signs whatsoever. What is happening to us? Are we destroying ourselves literally without even knowing it? Or we just don’t bother that much because simply, “It won’t happen to me!”.

This morning, when I was about to step in the office, a customer ran up to me, asking about his broadband application status. I can’t help but noticing the cigarette in his hand, and he is just in his early 20′s! I’m not a smoker, and I wasn’t very fond of people smoking around me either. I learnt people smoke to release stress, and may have their personal reasons. I just hope they could somehow see the effects that’s bound to strike them before it’s too late. But as human, we tend to overlook the ‘premonitions’, as we’re enjoying the present, and that’s all we care about. I, myself too, sometimes even risking my health with hours of non-stop-working, ended up feeling weary & mentally exhausted. I’m basically Killing myself softly. Oh, I’m very much aware of it, I just don’t bother it that much as so many tasks at hand. Wrong concept, Wrong emphasision, definitely Wrong way to live our lives!!

A friend of mine just came back from her trip in KK, not vacation, but to accompany her sister who had gone through a very tragic and horrible moment: her husband passed away last week due to Colorectal Cancer. According to her, the husband had been busy with family business; hardly has time for a proper meal at home. The intention of providing a better living for his beloved wife and future kids, he worked very hard. I’m not sure what’s actually causing the disease, but definitely it’s not genetic as none of his parents or family members had the history of cancer disease. The last couple of days were the worst time of their lives. The physical suffering and emotional pain, knowing they couldn’t do anything, hopeless… In the end, he passed away, leaving a young widow of 29 years old, and his old parents behind. He was the only son of the family. Imagine, both him and his wife were still on their honeymoon year, and planning to have children on their 3rd year of marriage… and now? it’s really a tragic, sad story.

What happened could not be undone, but us, who know the story could do something about our own life, and the people around us, especially our loved ones. Don’t we deserve more time to be with each other? We all have responsibility to certain people, even to ourserlves. We take control of our lives, and that’s final. Think twice for your actions, even if you don’t care about your own health, your loved one does. Don’t let youserlf, or them suffer because of the selfish act. Change our lifestyle for a better tomorrow, most importantly, healthier life style. Say NO to Cigarette & second hand smoking, say NO to Lung Cancer!

While browsing through some information about Lung Cancer Awareness Month, I came across this informative website called “Centers for Diseas Control & Prevention”, great info about the disease, causes, ways of curing, and how to help the cancer survivors with the issues they faced.

Actually there are tons of websites like this, just take the time to surf and find the nearest association which could provide you the latest info. If not interested, at least you could pass the news to someone who needs it. Just one click away to change or even save a person’s life ~

Some Lung Cancer Survivors Story link:

http://www.cancercenter.com/cancer-survivors.cfm

http://www.lungcancer.org/reading/faces/laurel.php

http://www.cancerguide.org/stories.html

Copyright © 2008 by Wong Ching Ya, All Rights Reserved, “Lung Cancer Awareness Month (NOVEMBER) “.

Jack grown up and working as a plumber. He took night class for Science, insisted by his whiny girlfriend, Eve. He came to the class late one night, and wow, guess who’s playing the science teacher, Professor Crowley ? None other than Robert Englund, the great.

At the house, Crowley greeted Jack at the door. They went to the basement and checked on the pipes. Jack assumed that the problem was only due to simple clogging at the main line. So he performed some plumbing job, but sort of messed up the problem even more, not only hit himself on the head by a flying valve, but the pressure caused the pipe to blew up somewhere underneath, outside the house, causing some part of the ground to crack open. Back to the house, Jack told Crowley he would replace the valve for a new one. Crowley comforted him: “Every step’s a progress,at least you had found the heart of the problem”?He could never be more accurate!

Jack had an unpleasant conversation at the parking lot with Eve and John, and even hit John at his throat. The noisy John lost his voice and finally, shut up.

On the following day, Jack went for the counseling again, this time he discovered the ‘heart of this problem’ ! The reason he was always upset and angry, was because he could not forgive himself for running away when the monster attacked his family. Although Mr. Silverstein told him he shouldn’t feel sorry since he was only a kid at that time, but to Jack, he felt he should have done something!

At night, Jack went back to the hardware store for the valve, and the story. Howard told Jack, he was living in that house with his uncle back when he was a kid. His uncle even told him about the legend of a demon came to our world and tried to spread evils to the humans. The demon destroyed by some brave men, but they kept its heart as the trophy. The heart was been auctioned and passed around until his uncle found and kept it. It possessed his uncle and due to self-defense, young Howard shot him with a rifle and buried him, exactly where Crowley had found the heart.

After the story, Jack went for his class. Crowley’s condition worsened, and acted strangely and more ridiculous than ever. I’m not going to write out the details unless you want to spoil your appetite for your coming meals. Suddenly, his whole figure began to transform… And all hell break lose, a Monster he became !! So exactly 1 hour after the show.. lots of screaming, running, chasing, and as a host, Crowley transformed some students into hungry-zombie-like monsters. As you can witness in the trailer, not pretty at all!

What happens next? Well, I figured you will have more fun finding it out yourself. Unless you’re really eager to know, drop me a comment.

Overall, I enjoyed it because I didn’t expect it to be great. You need to cut it some slack, because it’s actually the combination of old-times-monster movie + Army of Darkness type storyline. When the regular guy becomes the monster slayer after accidentally awaken the ancient curse! So it is absurd, with averagely ok effects, even without much CGI, and rely only the make-ups and costumes to do the tricks. Not to mention some parts are actually quite funny too. Crazy horror movie, but I can’t help myself laughing at the end of the show !

Copyright © 2008 by Wong Ching Ya, All Rights Reserved, “Halloween Special : Movie Spree (4) !”.

123Greetings.com

“Viewer Discretion Is Advised”!

Happy Halloween, folks! Something for you to drift down the memory lane. Despite all the news of MJ, still you cannot deny this is one heck of a MTV! I remembered watching it when I was less than 5 years old and still it made quite of an ‘impression’ back then. Don’t blame my bro for showing it to the minors, I didn’t get nightmares out of it anyway since too young to know about zombies. ha.. The dance steps were real cool ! Don’t you think? Don’t compare it with the technology today, but put yourself back in the 80′s, no CGIs, no nothing. Just simply costumes and make-ups. They still pull it off!

As I was telling you guys earlier about putting up a ‘crazy’ scary movie, it’s on the way, believe me! I’ll post it up right after dinner! Anyhow, enjoy the Thriller moments.. hia hia hia..

Also, don’t forget to tell me what ‘is’ or ‘are’ your favourite horror movies as well! Let’s see which movie is successful enough to make an impression until now.

Copyright © 2008 by Wong Ching Ya, All Rights Reserved, “The Legendary ~ THRILLER!”.