Owner: Daryl's Journey of Discovery URL:http://daryl-discovery.blogspot.com/ Join Date: Mon, 05 Feb 2007 09:58:12 -0600 Rating:0 Site Description: A virtual realm for my thoughts as I journey through this life full of discoveries, wonders and inventive human spirit especially in the Malaysian context. I will also be featuring videos and reviews of singing reality shows which I love to watch. Site statistics:Click here
The Return of The Lost Blog 1970-01-01 00:59:59 Well... after nearly a month of neglecting this blog, its time for a revival. I would be changing the theme of course more towards Malaysia context and reality singing shows like American Idol, Malaysian Idol and perhaps others if they catch my attention.I assure you guys will be hearing much more from me on this blog... so stay tuned! Read more:Return
Preparing The Site 1970-01-01 00:59:59 After toying for hours to turn this blog into a more comfortable home... I've finally found the solution in Pannasmontata. His free templates are truly awesome and easy to install although I had to convert to the classic format unfortunately. I do like the flexibility of the new drag and drop editting feature but with it is quite a daunting task to change the look and feel.I will try to add other important elements like site tracker later today if time permits.
A Post to Start Them All 1970-01-01 00:59:59 Well I guess all Blogs must start somewhere huh.. so here goes with a short and sweet introduction about little old me. I was born in Penang, Malaysia to a very loving and supportive parent but at the moment am residing in the capital city of Malaysia. I've been through a lot and would just like to pen down my thoughts where I can share it with the world and also have a place to come back to for reflection in later life.Thank you for stopping by... and make yourself at home! Read more:Start
Blog Directories 1970-01-01 00:59:59 There are so many blog directories out there to generate traffic and most will request for a reciprocal link. Thus far I think BlogExplosion and Technorati is extremely popular and effective. I'm of course trying out others as well but its still early to see the effectiveness. I guess posting to as many directories as possible is good afterall it takes only a few mins to submit to one.The other feature I'm still bewildered about is Pinging and thus far I can understand its importance for the blog site. Hard to determine if the free pinging sites are doing what they say it will do. Guess its all trial and error. Read more:Directories
Requesting Reciprocal Link 1970-01-01 00:59:59 One of the most powerful way to building short-term traffic I found thus far is to get reciprocal link from other blogs within the same or similar topic of interest. I tried it out with my Food Blog and I must say it works wonderfully. Of course I prepared a personal and sincere email directed the blogger selected and hope for the best.Out of 20 I sent out to, I received 5 reciprocal links which is awesome in my opinion. Of course there will be quite a few who is not so accommodating to new blogs such as mine which is totally understandable but at least they know of my site existence and might possibly bookmark it. Read more:Reciprocal
Adding Categories to Blogger 1970-01-01 00:59:59 I have been searching all over the internet for a good and easy solution to adding categories to my Blogger
site and it seems there are many techniques available although some are quite complicated to say the least for a noobie like myself when it comes to html and script editing.With the launch of Blogger BETA, they have implemented Labelling to each post where you enter them at the bottom panel each time you create a new post. So far I think this is the simplest solution till Blogger develop a more comprehensive one in the near future.Here is the step-by-step way of doin it:1. Set the Labels for each post in the bottomframe of the post editor2. Publish post3. Add Labels to sidebar via Page Element tab under Template tab* Important to Note- You have to be using the new Beta version of Blogger- You might have to edit all your previous posts in order to make it work wellYou can have a look at how I implemented it for my Travel blog site. I had to edit the old posts to accomodate this fe Read more:Categories
Internet Access Disrupted 1970-01-01 00:59:59 These past few days have been frustrating indeed trying to access overseas sites due to the earthquake in southern Taiwan which caused a fault on Asia Pacific Cable Network 2 links between Shantou, China and Tanshui, Taiwan, and between Lantau in Hong Kong and Chongming, China.Sometimes it takes an event of such magnitude to remind us how interconnected we all are and how reliant we are on the internet at the present time. A lot of bloggers like myself and people wanting to confirm flight details online travelling to this affected region faced sluggish access so hard to live by. I contemplated how accessing the internet back when there were no broadband service was like... seems like centuries ago to me. From Malaysian NewspaperFor tourist David Persson, 20, who was trying to update his website at a cybercafe on Leith Street in Penang, only managed to upload his travel pictures but it took him more than an hour to do the normally 10-minute job."I read online that there was an earthqu Read more:Internet
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Learning About E-marketing 1970-01-01 00:59:59 Spent the entire evening yesterday gathering information on e-marketing and such... and I must say it is truly a daunting task to master it well. I really salute all the people whom are sharing their ideas and tips all over the internet to guide newbies like myself. I think the most important one I have found is Technorati.com which acts as a gateway for new blogs to reach out to readers around the world.I am still toying around with several site tracking providers and will post here which one I think is best of the lot in my opinion based not only on accuracy but also traffic information provided. Read more:Learning
My New Blog Navigation.. Thx to Bluqube! 1970-01-01 00:59:59 I would like to give a HUGE THANK YOU to Lizzam from Bluqube for assisting me on setting up my blog's brand new navigation. I simply love the simplicity and how it eases the content placement on my sidebar especially since I'm only using 2 columns template. It took me 5 hours (I'm kinda noob when it comes to codings and javascript lar) to set it up today but its definitely worth the effort.If you guys wanna learn more about it, check out his tutorial at Bluqube | IT Lah! blog. Oh yeah... don't let his avatar scare you... he's really a very helpful fella.So Bro Lizzam... Ribuan Terima Kasih man for everything! Read more:Navigation
Earning that Little Extra with your Knowledge 1970-01-01 00:59:59 I've been so busy setting up my blogs these few weeks and did not have the opportunity to interact with people outside my blog topics which is one of the main reason I revived this blog. But recently I've stumbled upon a great community site called MyLot which pays you for babbling about your interests and expertise from cooking to relationship to anything you can think of.Its a great concept indeed and I find there are only less than 30 Malaysians participating which is quite shocking. Its truly sad to see so many Malaysian topics going unanswered with little or no participation at all. So I hope to introduce this to all of you who have a lot to say and get appreciated not only in terms of money but also making new friends and building a network.Don't expect to make a lot of money here going solo as you can generally make about USD 1.00 - 2.00 per day from your own postings and comments. I think its great tho as it would help me pay for my domain name and register a few new ones ev Read more:Earning
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The Skies are HOTTING up! 1970-01-01 00:59:59 An interesting price-war has begun today between MAS and AirAsia which can only benefit the consumers even further. I was able to obtain free tickets by AirAsia last year to Phnom Penh and K.Kinabalu and had a wonderful time there. These engraved memories would definitely not be possible at normal air-ticket prices.I guess MAS is really feeling the competitive heat now more than ever and their newly offered rate of RM 9.00 between Kuala Lumpur-Kuantan and Penang-Langkawi routes indicate their intent to wrestle the local air travel market from AirAsia. This pales in comparison to AirAsia's 99 sen offer but at least we get cheap options from both carriers and more seats on offer as well.My only wish it that our KLIA was not that blinking far away... LOL! Read more:Skies
Katharine McPhee New Album Commercial 1970-01-01 00:59:59 Ms. McPhee
's long awaited album was released 2 days ago and this is a look at the commercial aired in the US.I'm sure she would do very well and perhaps enjoy the same success as Clay Aiken the season 2 runners-up or perhaps even surpass it with her large fan base. I'm pretty sure we'll get a taste of her music on the local radio channels very soon.Well here's the best of luck to last season's songstress. Read more:Katharine
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Chris Daughtry on Fire! 1970-01-01 00:59:59 Since his abrupt departure from last season's American Idol, Chris
have been blessed with an even larger fanbase perhaps due to the so called controversy over his elimination. His band, called Daughtry
, saw their self-titled debut album, released in November on Sony BMG's RCA label, jump to No. 1 last week. The disc has sold nearly 1.3 million copies on the shoulders of its single, "It's Not Over."The amazing thing about that statistics is that Daughtry have out sold the gray-haired Taylor Hicks debut album by nearly doubled. Perhaps it's his appeal to the younger segment of listeners which Taylor might find it hard to penetrate with his adult contemporary songs.Nevertheless the American Idol show have propelled his career and the future does look bright for him and his band. He did actually turn down an offer to be the lead singer for the band Fuel and decided to sign instead with 19 Recordings Unlimited, the label managed by "Idol" creator Simon Fuller. The deal though allowed hi Read more:Chris Daughtry
Good Audition - Nicholas Pedro - NY 1970-01-01 00:59:59 Mr. Nicholas
is back and better than ever! He will really make a big impact this year I think with his soothing voice and assured performance.I believe he has learnt from his mistakes last year and looks to be taking this season more seriously. So yes most definitely I will be rooting for him as one of favorites this season. Read more:Audition
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Katharine McPhee Original Idol Audition 1970-01-01 00:59:59 I've almost forgotten that her mom was a voice trainer. Nevertheless she was totally awesome that day and blew the judges away. They all agreed that her voice was the best they've heard all season.I just love watching the auditions of the eventual finalist cause it shows how they have grown though the season.Enjoy the recap! Read more:Katharine
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Jangan Main-Main lar... I'm Hungry! 1970-01-01 00:59:59 It's truly shocking hearing the news of people donating expired consumables to the already unfortunate flood victims recently. Instead of helping with a giving heart, they are making things worse with the possibility of inducing food poisoning.Talk about stepping on people when they are down... this is ridiculous! Here is a quote from Mohd Kamal Omar the director of operations of The Malaysian Red Crescent Society:"We noticed very attractive labels placed over the expiry date. We tore them off and saw the (expiry) date was Oct 3 last year. Can you imagine what would have happened if the expired food products had reached the flood victims?" he asked.I implore those who are considering helping to do so in kind or please don't help at all if you're gonna do something as harmful as this. Read more:Jangan
, Hungry
My take on the Idols Power Packed Bunch 1970-01-01 00:59:59 This is the 6th season and we have all come to expect the same routine through the audition process. So far the 3 judges have served up slightly more arrogance and heartless remarks than ever before although they commented that they are not being any crueler than previous seasons. So in that respect how can one view this season for further improvements... well this is my take:Let the Dawg be the Dawg. I love the grouchy, self-aggrandizing Randy Jackson who's worked with every artist in the known world and who so shuns actual musical theory that he has devised his own music vocabulary for the show. He shouldn't try to "impress" us with things like "proper grammar" or "actual words" or "lines of thought" We want the "dudes" We want the "dawgs" We want the "dope"Let Paula be Paula. No one likes a sober, coherent Paula Abdul. When it's week four of the finals and all the contestants are butchering Randy Newman song after Randy Newman song, the prospect Read more:Idols
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Stephen Horst the Vocal Coach Audition 1970-01-01 00:59:59 Stephen Horst got more than he bargained for when he stepped into the AI:S6 audition at New York. Being a vocal coach, he really riled up Randy.I feel quite bad for the fella as I'm sure his business will now be effected negatively for this unwanted publicity. Read more:Audition
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Just How Valid is American Idol? 1970-01-01 00:59:59 A great post I wanted to share on my blog written by TERRY MORROW."American
Idol" is now facing the ghost of Jennifer Hudson.The powerful singer from Chicago wasn't good enough to win "Idol" in 2004. She was sixth runner-up. But she's since gone on to higher acclaim in 2007: a Golden Globe win and an Academy Award nomination for "Dreamgirls"So what exactly does that say about the validity of "Idol" as a talent contest?"I don't think it dilutes ("American Idol
') at all," host Ryan Seacrest said. "I think it opens it up even more. I think it shows how someone can become a household name."She became a household name on the show. Once you become a household name on this show, you can become a star. She has talent. She has hustle. And she got the right (roles)"But Seacrest says it's up to the voting public to ultimately decide who wins "Idol" So, regardless of whether a singer has the chops, he or she must go beyond to win "Idol" (which airs
Paul Kim - Audition 1970-01-01 00:59:59 LA produced another favorite for me. So besides Ebony... Mr. Paul Kim really made his mark for the world to see and hear. I'm so glad he proves that Asian can sing pretty darn well too. Read more:Audition
Brian Miller - Audition 1970-01-01 00:59:59 Hope 2nd time is a charm for Brian
... didn't exactly knock me off my feet but we'll see how he fares in Hollywood. Read more:Audition
, Miller
American Idol - Best of the Rest highlights 1970-01-01 00:59:59 This will be on TV in 18hrs time here in Malaysia. In this clip of best of the rest in this season's audition sessions, 2 of my favorites can be seen here and they are Paul and Ebony.So enjoy this collection! Read more:American
, American Idol
Girls Hollywood Audition Day One 1970-01-01 00:59:59 Man they are ruthless this year! So many were sent packing but I guess they have raised the standards this year in order to put on a better season. Read more:Girls
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, Audition
Boys Hollywood Audition Day Two 1970-01-01 00:59:59 The boys definitely fared better on the second day but the jury is still out. I'm just so glad to see that my favorite 3 contestants all made it through. Read more:Hollywood
, Audition
My Fav Female Top24 Performance 1970-01-01 00:59:59 Lakisha turned out a performance worthy of a winner's medal. She totally set the place on fire and everyone including all 3 judges was blown away with her energetic performance. Read more:Female
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Listen to 45 of My American Idol Songs Collections 1970-01-01 00:59:59 Here's a 45 songs collection by all my favorite American
Idol contestants. You can listen to it whenever you're online like myself. This wonderful widget is made possible by FineTune.com where you too can create your own playlist by picking up to 3 songs from the same artist and build it up to 45 songs.I do hope you guys enjoy it! I have also placed a direct link to this post on my sidebar so all of you can easily listen to it in the future. Read more:Listen
, American Idol
First 4 to be Eliminated from the Top24 1970-01-01 00:59:59 Sadly one of my favorites which is Paul got cut this week. He didn't do a good job in his last performance as compared to his audition especially. But I guess thats the way life is and what American Idol is all about.The other surprise for me is actually Rudy who I think did a darn good job in his last performance but this is the very first viewer's choice round and I guess popularity plays a very vital role.Here's to next week then... Go PHIL, NICK and Melinda! Read more:First
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