roomsDB.net helps Singaporean bloggers earn extra cash!

You’ll probably have noticed that Advertlets is running ads to promote Singapore as a tourism destination recently. With the Formula 1 Race Weekend coming up, and with thousands of new tourists arriving in Singapore, you can pretty much expect that hotels will be full. So, Singaporean bloggers…roomsDB.net offers you a great way to benefit from this situation and make some extra cash! You could either rent out one of your spare rooms with roomsDB.net’s brand new short-term booking system, or, if you don’t have a spare room to rent out, you can join their new referral program and earn by promoting their new idea! But more about that option later.

So what’s this new idea all about? Well, in a nutshell, roomsDB.net helps ordinary Singaporeans to profit from the big events by helping them to rent out their spare rooms on a daily basis. Once the spare room is being listed in their new short-term section, guests can book the spare room just as if they would book a hotel room! The roomsDB.net booking system will inform the homeowner about new bookings, keep track of the availability of the room and send out booking confirmations to the guests. The homeowner can just relax and see the bookings coming in. And for those looking for short-term accommodation in Singapore, there are plenty of benefits too. Rooms are available on a short notice and most importantly: it’s cheaper than staying in a hotel!

RoomsDB.net has a web tour that describes how homeowners can rent out their spare rooms on the roomsDB.net short-term section and maximize their rental income. For example, homeowners might rent out a master bedroom for 1000 SG$/month in the conventional way. But if they charge 100 SG$ for a single night using the short-term booking system on roomsDB.net, they could as well earn up to 3000 SG$/month! So the system is not just for those who want to rent out a spare room just for a couple of days, but also for those homeowners who continuously want to rent out their spare rooms and maximize
their rental income. Check out the web tour here:

It’s a system that makes it easy for you, and takes care of you – guests booking your room have to make a credit card downpayment so you can be sure they will really turn up. There’s also a scheduling feature that lets you change the room availability for specific days or whole time periods with just a few clicks. You can even set the minimum number of nights required for booking a room. Overall, it is a very clever idea!

But now let’s talk about how you can earn extra cash promoting their new idea with your blog!

If you don’t have a room to rent out, roomsDB.net also allows you to earn extra cash via their referral program. All you have to do is write about it on your blog, include the roomsDB.net javascript widgets if you want – and if homeowners sign up using your referral ID, you will earn whenever a guest books that room. Signing up for the referral program is simple – all you have to do is to enter your e-mail, and your personal referral code and password will be generated. You can then log into the internal area and find all your personalized javascript widgets to put on your blog.

To give you an example of how much you can earn, here’s an excerpt from the RoomsDB website:

“Let’s say the homeowner asks for 100 SG$ a night and within the first month he receives bookings so that his room is fully booked for the next 6 months, which is absolutely possible. The overall downpayments that he will receive from his guests are 10% of the rental price. In this case that is 1800 SG$. Since bookings have been made in the first month after you referred him, you will earn 50% of the downpayments, which is 900 SG$! And that was just earned from a single homeowner! ”

So it surely pays out to take part in the roomsDB.net referall program! And with the F1 weekend coming up, it shouldn’t be too hard to persuade your blog readers that this is a good idea and worth it to give it a try and sign up! Please check the roomsDB.net referral program website to find out more and sign up!

Lastly, check out this funny roomsDB.net promo clip …

So do check out roomsDB.net – we hope it’ll be useful for you the next time you come down to Singapore, or for Singaporean residents – a great way to make full use of your property!

EC Council Presents Hacker Halted 2009!

Online security is a growing concern, and is especially relevant to those that spend a lot of time online – yes, especially bloggers. Some of you may remember an incident in 2007 where over 400 websites were hacked , the majority of them being Malaysian, and quite a few of them being blogs. This affected even some very experienced bloggers running on the WordPress platform. Read more here.

Btw, some quick tip for bloggers – if you’re on WordPress, its always a good idea to upgrade to the latest, most secure version – and of course, choose a secure password that consists of letters and numbers.

So…welcome to the internet. Hackers are here. Where are you?

With that in mind, if you’re a programmer, and IT specialist or a network security administrator, there’s a conference called Hacker Halted Asia Pacific 2009 coming up this November that is going to be pretty useful for you. And even management types too (CEOs, CIOs, CTOs, etc) – you should know what your peons are talking about, don’t you think?

And yes, you can get your boss to pay for it. EC Council’s courses are accredited by the government (PSMB/SBL), claimable and they work with the national Cybersecurity council.

CEH? Nothing to say ceh! about…

Those in the security field will probably know the terms “white hat” and “black hat”. And well, if you haven’t – remember Mad Magazine used to have this comic called “Spy vs Spy”? Basically, its something like that – the white coloured spy vs the black coloured spy continually come up with ways to outsmart and defeat each other.

And that’s kind of how security on the internet is like – if it can be created, it can be cracked. And if it can be cracked, it can be fixed. And the cycle repeats.

EC Council is the proud owner of the world renowned CEH – Certified Ethical Hacker certification. Basically someone with CEH certification knows all the things that the hackers on the dark side know, but he uses his powers for good – to defend networks and prevent intrusions. The power of the CEH certification will ensure you do not succumb to the lure of the dark side!

EC Council will make you more L33t

One of the highlights is the workshops, where you will get to “experience more than 300 new lab examples on application security and the latest hacking techniques”. It does sound pretty fun.

You’ll get to learn how to reverse engineer Java, Adobe Flash and Microsoft Silverlight to bypass restrictions, using cross site scripting to steal data (through secretly saving what your victim types) and execute code, as well as SQL, LDAP and Xpath injection. And, you get to learn how to steal passwords, hack Google (yes!), engage in social engineering (hint: sometimes the easiest way to get a password is to ask on the phone, pretending to be someone else), hacking USB devices and spying technologies.

This is serious stuff – as to catch hackers, you have to be able to think like one. As part of the workshop, you need to prepare a basic laptop – and the organizer made it clear that the machines should NOT contain any personal or company data.

You’ll leave the conference smarter than when you arrived.

With speakers that range from those in national security (from the Department of Homeland Security, USA), codebreakers who assisted in covert Middle East ops, to those who work against cyber-terrorism, those who deal with large corporate networks in the Fortune 100-500…

…and even a few that have to stay so low key because of the sensitive nature of what they do that, that no picture of them can be provided – you’re pretty much guaranteed to leave with a lot more knowledge about the threats that you could face as well as handling them.

So do check it out Hacker Halted 2009 at eccouncilapac.org.

It’ll be a valuable experience for you, and one that will make you, and your organization safer online.

Advertlets Presents “The Ugly Truth” Movie Screening this 7th September 2009!

It’s romantic movie time again this September! Advertlets is proud to present a screening of “The Ugly Truth” this 7th September 2009 (yes, you get to watch it earlier than the release date of 10th September 2009!) at Cathay Cineplex Damansara. Starring Gerard Butler (yes, Mr Sparta from 300!) and Katherine Heigl (of Grey’s Anatomy fame), this is a must watch movie for men and women!

Check out the trailer below:

Synopsis – A romantically challenged morning show producer (Katherine Heigl) is reluctantly embroiled in a series of outrageous tests by her chauvinistic correspondent (Gerard Butler) to prove his theories on relationships and help her find love. His clever ploys, however, lead to an unexpected result.

Get tickets to see The Ugly Truth!
1. Play the game ‘Are you a Chick or a Dude’ in the Advertlets website to earn a pair of tickets. (that’s 2 tickets per blogger)
2. Take a screenshot, and post your results on your blog!
3. To make sure we get it, send an e-mail to posts@advertlets.com
4. We will then confirm your tickets!
5. The first 15 people to redeem their tickets at the redemption table will receive special gifts as per below.

Screening Details
Date: 7th Sept (Mon)
Time: 8.30pm (Come on time to collect tickets, prizes and meet bloggers!)
Venue: Cathay Cineplex D’sara @ Cineleisure Damansara (now known as E @ Curve)
Hall: 10 (162 seats)

Early Bird Prize
The first 15 people who have written the post AND are present at the venue at 8:30PM will win ONE of the 15 items below: (yes, you can choose, as long as the items last!). Make sure you submit your posts to posts@advertlets.com to book your spot after you’ve written your post!

5 x Limited Edition The Ugly Truth T-Shirt For Him worth RM 200 each
5 x Limited Edition The Ugly Truth T-Shirt For Her worth RM 200 each
5 x Limited Edition The Ugly Truth Hug Pillow worth RM 180 each

Best Blog posts prizes
And, the bloggers who write the best 10 blog posts will also win: (1 each only). Prizes will be awarded based on judging from the Advertlets team:

10 x Limited Edition The Ugly Truth Heart Shape Box of Mints worth RM 50 each

Play the game here: http://advertlets.com/theuglytruthmovie/

Get a taste of Shihlin Taiwan Street Snacks!

Thousands of Taiwanese crowd the local Taiwan night markets in search of their favourite and delicious snacks, and Taipei’s Shihlin Night Market is the most famous due to its very wide range of local delicacies in its small streets and alleys. Named after the famed Taipei’s Shihlin Night Market, Shihlin Taiwan Street Snacks brings the wonderful street snacks of Taiwan to over 18 outlets across Malaysia!

Of special note is that Shihlin Taiwan Street Snacks can be enjoyed by all Malaysians – not only is there no pork and lard in its ingredients, it is certified halal, so even our Muslim friends can enjoy it “tanpa was-was” (without any worries), as Shihlin Taiwan Street Snacks is a certified customer of the Halal Food Council:

Anyway, let’s tell you a bit about the menu highlights of Shihlin Taiwan Street Snacks…

Looks delicious doesn’t it? Read on for details…(described clockwise from left)

Crispy Floss Egg Crepe
A whole, fresh egg lightly panfried and topped with an imported spring onion crepe and topped with crispy chicken floss. The crepe is allowed to puff slightly to achieve a somewhat crispy exterior.

XXL Crispy Chicken / Happy! Ricebox Set
A large, tender and succulent piece of bone-in chicken breast, painstakingly marinated to perfection, coated with imported flour and fried to a golden crisp and sprinkled with a special blend of oriental spices. Or, have your XXL Crispy Chicken with a side dish of delicious, smooth cold tofu topped with diced century egg. A tasty Taiwanese style thick sauce completes the picture and the set is served with soft, fluffy short grained rice and your choice of drink for a fuller experience.

Handmade Oyster Mee Sua
A special stock comprising 5 core ingredients, brewed over a slow flame, forms the soup base for the imported mee sua. Only handmade mee sua is used for its superior flavour and texture and a generous amount of oysters and shredded chicken is added before serving.

Seafood Tempura
Handmade from seafood paste infused with secret ingredients, the paste mix is painstakingly kneaded and tossed until the correct consistency is obtained. It is then flattened into small pieces and scalded with hot oil before being cut into strips and deep fried. A sprinkle of our specially blended spice powder completes this delicious and crispy Taiwanese delight!
Get a taste of Taiwan today…

Wondering if it tastes as good as it sounds? Interested to know more? Check out what bloggers have to say about Shihlin (warning, detailed reviews and lots of yummy pictures, it may make you very hungry!).

one, two, three, four, five, six.

Hungry yet? So, stop reading now, and get going to get a taste of Shihlin Taiwan Street Snacks for yourself! Shihlin Taiwan Street Snacks are available in major Klang Valley malls such as 1 Utama, Sunway Pyramid, Tropicana City, Mines, Ikano Power Center, Pavilion & The Gardens. It’s also available all around Malaysia, check out the full location list at the Shihlin Taiwan Street Snacks website.