Forever Holding Your Piece for Peace?

In my earlier posts I said that nothing is taboo in Jeny’s Closet. Except politics. I take that back. Nothing is taboo in Jeny’s Closet, period.

Too long have I been in a society where to speak up warrants getting into trouble. With your boss, with the law. Anyone or anybody who deems to think that they are off the higher authority. I am not one who loves confrontation or for that matter stirring up a revolution but I do like to think that when an injustice occurs or something is just not right, you stand up for it. You stand up for it not to stir trouble but just because it is the right thing to do.

I like to think that we all have something to say and policy makers and laws need to know that. Any changes made affects us, doesn’t it? If we don’t speak up for ourselves than who will? Keeping quiet won’t mean that the problem will just go away. I can abide to survive but for how long. I can abide and hold my piece because God forbids I will get into trouble but for how long. And isn’t it interesting to note that fear really keeps things together? Holding my piece for the sake of peace, is that wise?

The media manipulates and bend the truth, statements are released without due thoughts – are we going to be the generation that just take news as truth and not questioned it. Perhaps the majority thinks that speaking up won’t change anything. I used to think that way too till a friend of mine reasoned that ‘if we don’t say it, no one who needs to know will know. They can decide to do anything they want with what was said but our duty is to tell them’.

Agreed. Till then I shall have an opinion and not afraid to say it.

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7 Ways to Pull Yourself Together

From time to time, we all get a little down, maybe even a little depressed. Maybe we are feeling overwhelmed, or feel bad because we’re not doing well with our goals. There are many reasons for feeling down, and I’m not qualified to discuss all of them, their implications, or clinical treatment. What I can talk about are some things that have worked for me. So God help me, last month has been pretty rough on me. I won’t get into details but lets just say it was so bad I had to put writing on my blog on hold because I was feeling it a little too much.
Feeling a little depressed can interfere with achieving our goals. We know we should be doing something, but we just don’t feel like doing anything. This can last for a long time if you don’t head it off as soon as possible and take action. Here are some of the things that work best for me:

1. Make a list. Sometimes we are depressed simply because we are overwhelmed with all the things we have to do that we haven’t gotten around to doing. You might be into GTD (Get Things Done), but sometimes every GTDer falls behind with his system, and sometimes you just don’t have the energy to do so. So all the “stuff” that’s in our head can overwhelm us. Start simply by picking up a piece of paper and a pen, and making a list of the most pressing things you have to do. Sometimes it’s work stuff, sometimes it’s stuff around the house that’s bothering us, sometimes it’s goal tasks, or a combination of these and more. Simply making a list can be a big relief — you’re getting things under control. You can see, right in front of you, what you need to do, and that alone can pick up your mood. I listed mine on 43 Things while I don’t really start on all of the things I listed but seeing them up and published does remind me of the things that I am excited about and always wanted to do.

2. Take action. You’ve made a list, and you still feel overwhelmed? Well, get started on the first thing you need to do. Is it a big task? Break it down and just do the smallest task, something just to get you started. Once you get started, once you get into action, you’ll feel better. Trust me. You might still feel overwhelmed, but at least you’re doing something. And once you start doing something, you’ve got momentum, and that feels much better than lying around feeling sorry for yourself. Example, you’ve always wanted to save but never got around to it. Take your wallet, get all the change out and put them in a jar. Deposit them to a bank once the jar is full. The key is to start the habit of doing.

3. Exercise. I know, you might not be in the mood for exercise. But just do it! Taking a walk, going for a run, going to the gym, whatever it is you do for exercise — get out and do it now! You don’t need to do a real hard workout, but the simple act of exercise can lift your mood immediately. Just do it!

4. Shower and groom yourself. Laying around in your underwear, smelling bad, is not going to do you any good. Simply showering, and feeling clean, can do wonders for your mood. Brush your teeth, comb your hair, shave, do whatever it is that you need to do to feel clean and good about yourself. Instant pick me up!

5. Get out of the house and do something. Sometimes, if you stay home lying around, feeling depressed, just getting out (after showering and grooming) will change your mood. Staying home all the time can really get you down, and you may not realize this until you go out and do something. Preferably something on your list (see No. 1).

6. Play some lively music. I am now very much into Maher Zain, Paramores, a little of Rihanna from time to time and upbeat 90’s tune, but you might have your own brand of feel-good music. Whatever it is, crank it up, and let yourself move to the beat. It may just be what the doctor ordered.

7. Talk about it. Got a significant other, best friend, family member, co-worker you can talk to? Bend their ear. That’s what they’re their for. If you don’t, there are hotlines, or professionals, you can talk to. Or God. And then there’s always online forums. These are great places to find someone to talk to. Getting things off your chest makes a big difference, and can be a huge lift. It can also help you work out the reasons you’re feeling down. Personally, I express my thoughts to Tumblr through a personal journal I started. There are random thoughts I may have or feel and I just wanted to release it through the online universe. It is just my way of some ‘poetic’ justice if that makes sense at all.

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Posted in: Nomad Philosophy

I can Copy, Right?? Copyrights Explained

I blog (duh.) in case you don’t notice. So I know how frustrating it is to see someone else copying my blog content word for word and not giving me due credit for the chain of thoughts, research or just the fact that I’m staring into space for an hour to come up with a content I find useful or interesting. I may write poorly but it is still my piece of work. Something got to be right if someone is using it still, right? Not that I am hard for credits.

I am no lawyer or law student so finding simple explanations for what exactly is ‘copyright’ is a task unto itself. Haven’t you wanted to for once claim defense on your piece of work only to be thrown legal jargons you get even more confused with? No wonder lawyers make a lot of money. My take, the best person to defend you is YOU.

Let’s clear this ‘copyrights’ mystery for once.

“As soon as someone creates a work — writes an article, writes a song, composes a tune, or whatever — copyright is automatic. There’s no need to register copyright; the creator owns the copyright whether or not it has been created. Most copyright works, in fact, are not registered, which is a good thing. If they were, the Library of Congress, which houses the Copyright Office and stores copyright registrations, would be the size of Alabama.

If you don’t see a copyright notice attached, it doesn’t mean the work’s copyright isn’t owned by someone. Current copyright law does not require such notices.

If someone owns the copyright, that person has the right to say what can be done with, um, copies. What this means is that you generally can’t take an article you find in a newspaper, magazine, or Web site and use it without permission. (There are exceptions)

In the United States, certain kinds of copyright infringement are felonies. You may not only get sued but also get prosecuted. [Note : This may apply in Singapore too.]

If you don’t know whether you have the right to use something, assume that you don’t.

You can’t just take something and rewrite it. Derivative works are also protected. If the result is clearly derived from the original, you could be in trouble.

Copyright has to be expressly assigned. If you hire me to write an article for your Web site and don’t get a contract saying that you own all rights, or that the work was a work for hire, you only have the right to place it on your Web site. I still have the right to use the article elsewhere.

A number of exceptions can prove very important when you’re gathering content, so listen closely:

If it’s really old, you can use it. Copyright eventually expires. Anything created before 1921, for instance, is free for the taking. [Note : Anything created after 1989 automatically gets copyrighted for the lifetime of the author plus 70 years. When the copyright expires, it becomes public domain.]

If the guvmint created it, you can use it. The U.S. Government spends millions of dollars creating content. This content is usually not copyright protected.

If it’s donated, you can use it. Authors often want you to use their materials. If they have given the public permission to use it, you can, um, use it.

It’s only fair — fair use explained. Copyright law has a fair use exception that allows you to use small parts of a work, without permission, under particular conditions.

By Peter Kent “

Do you know your rights? What do you do when someone uses your work without permission?

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Posted in: Entrepreneurship

What are your 43 things?

I stumbled upon 43 things recently and although I don't use it on a daily basis I love that it forces me to think about what I wanted to achieve in my life. I think about I want today and as the day progresses it reminds me to take small actions to achieve them in a small way. That way it doesn't become a 5 or a 10 year goal because I never like to plan it that long. Also, I don't know if I'll still be here tomorrow.

The cool thing is you can look at other people’s goals, and get ideas and inspiration from people all over the world. There are also other kinds of lists … books you’d like to read, places you want to visit, your lists of favorites or things you’d like to do before you die. Many possibilities, all of them good. If you haven't started, I suggest you go to the site and try it out.

Of course, you can do this on paper or on any program but what is cool is that you can set a reminder from your future to yourself to keep your goals on track — you may also publicly challenge yourself to do one of your things by a certain date, and if you don’t, you set something that you have to do instead (like eat your shoe, or whatever).

I have started with 20 things and for sure I'll add more to make up 43. I just can't figure out what it is (yet). They are not in order.

	1.	Learn Arabic
	2.	Own a home
	3.	Complete my driving licence and own a car
	4.	Backpack through Europe
	5.	backpack through the world
	6.	film a documentary
	7.	host a documentary
	8.	write a song
	9.	know what I want
	10.	Live in a different country every 3 months
	11.	Pursue dancing professionally
	12.	Complete to read and understand the Quran
	13.	Road trip to Egypt
	14.	See Mecca and complete Haj
	15.	Do splits
	16.	Get lean
	17.	Earn online full time
	18.	Get 2nd citizenship
	19.	Get out of debt
	20.	love unconditionally.

So what's are your 43 things?

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Death of the iPhone - What You Should and Should Not Do When Your iPhone Drowns.

Before I got the iPhone, I was one of the many who ridiculed its existence. How unnecessary it was to have everything in your life controlled by the iPhone.

I have since chewed my words and swallowed it whole.

I am extremely attached to my iPhone that when it fell into a puddle of water during the big flood couple of months back, my heart sank the way it did to the bottom of the puddle.

My iPhone died and as I tried as much as possible to cpr it way to life, it just died on me.

This can happen to anybody be it in the toilet bowl, caught in the rain etc etc etc. Water damage is one of the worst things that can ever happen to an iPhone.

[At the time of this post, my iPhone is alive and survived its coma. Read on to know how you too can save your beloved iPhone. This is a story of happy endings!]


What you should NOT do :

Don’t try to switch it on.

Don’t try to charge it and then switch on.

Don’t dismantle if if you don’t know know how to.

Don’t dismantle even if you know how how to but don’t really know how to figure out it's components.

Don’t use the hair dryer in an attempt to dry it.

Don’t search for ‘How to repair water damage iPhone’ in YouTube and then watch it. It is quite misleading.

Don't ask your friends 'What to do if your iPhone fell in water?' in Facebook. You'll get tons of suggestions that doesn't work and seriously everyone else is as clueless as you are.

Don’t put in a sack of rice or silica gel. Contrary to what others say, this will kill your iPhone!

Don’t attempt to sell a water damage iPhone that do not work at all. That is just dumb.

Don’t attempt to be smart.


What you should do :

Do curb your instincts. Whatever your instincts tell you to do, I implore you to do the exact opposite.

Do switch off your phone. If it's already off then leave it.

Do check your warranty expiry date. (iPhones have water indicators that turns to red when in contact with water. This voids all warranties, make sure you have it checked and fixed first.)

Do send it to a professional to have it repaired if your phone is no longer in warranty. If you follow the ‘Don’ts’ above your iPhone has a 99% chance of survival. Mine has about 50% chance of survival and it still works after repair. If I knew what I know then, I would have had a brand new iPhone.

Do send it to iPhone Repair Singapore. They bring my water damage iPhone to life and won’t charge you a bomb for it. Get in touch with them here or get updated with their blog.

[This is not a paid advertorial. They are really good, they fixed my beloved iPhone and I am an ass for not sharing this with all iPhone users]

J.

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I Am Sorry Mum but Tonight, I'm Cleaning Out My Closet

Eminem has seen this coming.

A couple of weeks ago I had my mum rang me and when I answered she screamed “Your closet is broken!”

It seems that the pole that was holding my clothes broke into 2. My closet which has served me for only 2 years collapsed at the insanely amount of clothes I have that seems to pile endlessly on top of one another. I have since cleaned up my closet and replaced the pole but told myself to start a habit of cleaning it every 6 months.

Though I like to think myself as a neat freak or an extremely organized person, I am far from it. When I am pressed for time, I’ll grab the first top I see from the pile and by the same manner grab whatever clothes strewn on my bed and chuck them in my closet. It is an endless cycle.

Now cleaning up your closet can be intimidating and many would dread the idea of spending the afternoon going through your clothes but trust me, it is extremely fun. I find it therapeutic plus I’ve uncovered a few dresses and blouses never worn along the way. I am pretty sure if you ebay some of your clothes it would have come up to a nice dough on the side. Just a thought.

So let’s start cleaning out the closet of the literal kind!

Editing your wardrobe.

Take a look at your closet — is it stuffed full of clothes you don’t wear? Do you have trouble picking out what to wear in the morning? Are there clothes you don’t fit, don’t like, or can’t wear because they are stained or torn? How about your clothes drawers? Overstuffed?

If so, your closet may be in need of editing. Most of us are in this category. And even though I tried to simplify my clothes, I need to go through my closet to see if there’s stuff in there I no longer wear. I pull out a bunch of things and put them in a bag to trash or sometimes donate them to my sister. When my closet is simpler, my mind is more at ease.

To edit your wardrobe, here are some simple steps:

• Pull out all the clothes from your closet. Put them on your bed. Now go through this pile, one item at a time, deciding what stays and what goes. Follow these rules:

1. If you haven’t worn an item in months, put it in the donate pile. There’s a reason you don’t wear that item — you’re probably not going to wear it again for a long while, if ever.
2. If you no longer fit an item, donate it. Yes, you plan to lose 5 kg to fit into that outfit. Well, when you do, go to the thrift shop and get some better-fitting items. Until then, they’re taking up space in your closet.
3. If an item is stained or torn beyond repair, donate it. If you can repair it, put it in a bag and take it to be sewn tomorrow (or do it yourself). If that bag sits in your house or car for more than a week, you’ll probably never do it, so donate it or toss it. For myself, I often keep stained or torn clothing, if I really love an item, but I only wear it around the house. I save the good clothes for company. :)
4. If an item is out of style or doesn’t match anything else you own, consider donating it. OK, if you really love it and still wear it, go ahead and keep it. Butterfly bell-bottoms? You’re still cool.
5. When in doubt, donate.
6. For seasonal clothes, Where I live, there’s always tropical goodness year round, so this isn’t an issue.

• If you still have a lot of clothes left, consider the following:

1. Keep clothes that are of the same color scheme, and toss the rest. This way, everything matches, and you don’t have to worry about what goes with your blouse. Neutral colors like tan and white are great, with some color tossed in. I avoid bright colors, especially those that bleed in the wash. I don’t like to worry about that.
2. Keep clothes that are simple in design, and can be paired with anything. Jeans are a great example (not the kinds with bells and whistles, the simple kinds). You can put just about any shirt with jeans, and you’re good to go. Shoot for this kind of philosophy. Don’t have pants or a skirt that can only go with one or two other items. Be able to mix and match with ease and without some kind of complicated chart.
3. Make comfort a priority. Looks are important, but comfort is more important. You want to be at ease in whatever you wear, so keep that in the forefront as you edit your clothing.

• Hang the clothes back in the closet nicely, in some order. Pairing by color is nice, and has an especially nice effect if you use the same color hangers. If you have fewer clothes, they look much nicer in the closet.

• Repeat this process with your clothes drawers. Throw out the torn underwear and stained socks. Once you weed out a lot of the stuff, fold them neatly and put them back in your drawers nicely. Again, fewer clothes look much nicer in your drawers. If you have time, organize a sale or ebay or you can even do a swap with your friends. That way you'll get fresh edition of clothes without spending pennies.
  

• Edit your wardrobe every 6 months or so. It’s best if you refrain from buying too many more unnecessary clothes, but I know some of you are shopaholics, and even the rest of us accumulate stuff over time. Make this a regular event, and you’ll keep your wardrobe nice and simple.

I still need to edit my wardrobe, though, on a regular basis. I know it’s time when it’s hard to find stuff, and when I look through my closet and find lots of stuff I rarely wear.

Simplify your wardrobe, and your life will be much simpler and stress-free. It’s wonderful. Give it a try!

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Posted in: Nomad Life,Nomad Philosophy

4 Ways to Make Money Online - Tried and Tested

[This is the 2nd article of the online business series. Read the first article here.]

Suppose you already decided to be a web worker. (Tongue in Cheek)

Congratulations.

That was easy.

Now comes the hard part.

What next? Where do you begin?

Firstly,

Figure out what you want to do. There are several ways you can make money online. Here I shall share 4 ways, you can do one or do all. Word of advice, it is better to start small, one thing at a time than to attempt all at once. When you get better, you can always progress to bigger things.

Take the time to think about your skills and anything of value that you would like to market in the cyber world. Your skills and expertise are what will determine what you will thread on eventually.

1. Start a blog

Sites like Blogger, Wordpress & Tumblr has made it a breeze to for anyone to start. The challenge is though how to earn from it. You may want to attract advertisers to buy adspace or put up adsense but to do that you must generate enough traffic to your blog. Traffic will come if your blog provides value to readers. Professional bloggers have the distinction of writing on their expertise so think and write about what you are good at. Typically, you must have good writing skills and an acute sense of knowledge. You may diverse to do product reviews or affiliate marketing but even so, blogging about it is still about content, so write well with value for your readers.

Contrary to what others might think, no one would want to read a blog about what you had for breakfast, how your dog died or if you didn’t shower this morning. (Unless you are Angelina Jolie, no one is really interested what you do day to day). Advertisers want to work with a blogger who can make clear judgements between personality and professionalism. You are encouraged to be personal but not TOO personal. If you want to fill the internet with your sob stories, DON’T. Rarely would you make money this way.

2. Sell Stuffs Online

Majority of us will want to start here. I did. I started with my immediate friends in Facebook with no website whatsoever. Or you can even sell at eBay. I just decided I want to approach people with my dresses and took off from there. Though this may be the easiest path to follow, there are several things you need to note.

Do you have a product to sell? Is there a market for it?

I find that products that are easy to sell tend to have tons of competitions. If you like to introduce an innovative product that’s unique with less competition, find out if there is a market for it first. When I was selling my dresses, many asked if I can recommend good backless and strapless bras. That spurred me to source for Brastick as the purchase will complement my dresses very well.


[Note: At the time of this post, I had more enquiries on Brasticks than the order. That is a good thing. Another learning curve.]

You may know or source for wholesalers who’s willing to arrange dropshipping or others who can work with small business owners by reducing the bulk minimum order. Sites like Amazon, Clickbank and Doha offers tons of products you can affiliate with. For a price, World Wide Brands can even connect you with wholesalers or dropshippers world wide.

How much capital is involved?

The best things in life are free. (Well, almost)

In my next article, I will share with you,

• · How to start an online business with very little or no capital
• · Determine a market for your products and sourcing for them
• · Can you trust your wholesaler?
  
• · Launching your products

Please subscribe for the next article.

3. Freelance

Register yourself with sites like Elance or Freelance Zone. There are various skills required from accounting to website designing to even mundane tasks like data entry. You may have those specific skills and if you do learn to market those skills and actively source for clients.

Get that first gig.

There are many jobs to choose from but employers tend not to trust someone without any feedback, so you remain pigeonholed until someone decides to take a leap of faith and hire you. A good strategy in this situation is to bid the lowest possible amount and take the financial hit in order to land that first project and some positive feedback from the employer. Employers most often will return to the same freelancer over and over again if they like your work and trust that you can deliver. Believe me, it takes a lot more time and energy to find another freelancer when there is a deadline crunch. Aim to get that one repeated client and have them recommend you to others. As you progress, you can increase your fees accordingly.

Bid a lot and use a great template.

Write one highly persuasive project proposal and save it as a template. Use it to save time and maximize the number of assignments you are bidding on each month. If you find that you are not getting offered any projects after 20 bids, go back and revise your template. Strive to use all of your bids every month, because the more bids you use, the more opportunities you have to get work.

You can turn down projects if you have too much on your plate, but chances are you will use 15-20 bids before you receive one project award in the beginning. As you complete projects and receive great feedback, the ratio will begin to decline and you will be spending fewer bids per awarded project. However, if you receive negative feedback for a project, expect the ratio of bids per awarded project to increase until you can get your feedback rating back in good standing.

Answer quickly and produce even quicker.

When an employer hires you for a project, answer all communication (phone calls, emails, etc.) from the employer as soon as you get them. Strive to complete the project ahead of schedule. The faster you work, the more money you are making for your time. Note: Do not work so quickly that you compromise quality.

Never give out free samples.

If an employer asks for a sample design, artwork, logo, article whatever – especially for a specific idea or campaign, DON’T - There are many scam artists that never intend to hire a freelancer but instead use their project and market it to other people for their own benefit.

4. Online Network Marketing

To the likes of one who has been introduced to network marketing or multi level marketing (MLM), this would be the easiest and perhaps the fastest way to make money online. No longer do you have to do sales call or bring prospects down for a ‘seminar’ in the hope that they will buy or get recruited. Online, you simply send an email and get your prospect to watch a video presentation in that email. Companies like Global Domain International offers this opportunity so people would continue to subscribe to their web hosting and domain provider services. You get paid for as long as your members subscribe to the services you referred them. Duplication just gets automated.

Fact, my decision to start a blog, starting a website and integrating an e-store spurs from having to subscribe to a domain provider referred to me by a friend. It was an added bonus that there was the opportunity to earn by referring their services.

Ask me anything, I will try to assist or guide you along. You may even have a dedicated post written here.

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Posted in: Entrepreneurship

The Decent Obsession with Maher Zain

My last star struck episode I had with a celebrity was with an asian boyband ‘4u2C’ which comprises of 7 semi good looking dudes with oversize T-Shirts and CD blings. It was the local perception of what was ‘hip hop’ at the time.

That was 15 years ago. I have outgrown boybands since then.

Up until recently.

My obsession was triggered in the form of a good looking Lebanese who produce religious music.

Maher Zain.

A Swedish singer and music producer of Lebanese origin, Maher Zain exploded into the scene in November 2009 with his debut album Thank You Allah. There was something in his songs that resonates in the heart. His hit song The Chosen One was on repeat mode in my playlists for weeks and every chance I got I will share his videos on my wall.

It wasn’t enough to have him on my repeat tracks. He needs to stage a performance in Singapore. He’s been to Malaysia & Brunei, why not Singapore as the next pit stop?

My humble invitation to Maher Zain. That I would personally host a concert for you here, if no one else would. Insyaallah.

Amin.

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Posted in: Random Thoughts and Expressions