Either you are a blogger or a business owner, you will want to have your own website. Sure there are free hosting sites both for blogs or business sites, but you will have more control when you have your own site. The problem is, with so many web hosting services out there, how do you choose which one is the best for you?

You can either ask your friends for referrals, like I did. Or you can check independent web hosting reviews. Yes, there are sites that reviews web hosting service providers and rank them in different categories, so you can choose which one is best for you, depending on your needs.

Checking on the reviews of done of these sites will save you from a lot of trouble. You will at least have a better idea of the different services provided by the web hosting companies, what are included in the package and will help you weigh your options in making your final decision.

Consumer Ranking is one site who reviews web hosting companies. Aside from the reviews made, they also have a blog that has different articles on web hosting, and other techie matters. One thing I noticed was their ipage review entry. Being a blogger for more than five years, this is the first time that I heard about a web hosting company like ipage. Imagine what other things I can discover browser this site.

If you are a techie and knows how to find bugs in any website (read: hacker), then Facebook will pay you $500 if you can identify security glitches in the social network.

Facebook said in a blog post that they are offering a monetary bounty for “certain qualifying” security bugs. The site says it is their way of “showing appreciation for security researchers.”

The blog post proceeded that the “first person to responsibly disclose” a bug that could compromise the integrity or privacy of Facebook user data would be eligible for a bounty of $500.

The social network says their security team will assess the bugs reported if they qualify. It also added that the $500 bounty could also be increased depending to the type or degree of the threat of the bug reported.

Sony Ericsson launched its first android phone with social networking feature and also allows users to enjoy their favorite Glee songs.

The new Sony Ericsson W8 Walkman, Zylo, Yendo and Spiro Phone let users connect through Facebook and Twitter and come with songs from the hit television series Glee songs.

The W8 has a three-inch screen and a 3.2 megapixel camera with direct picture upload to Facebook. It also allows users to create their own music by simply sliding their fingers through the touch screen. W8 also has video recording and an internet access via 3G or WIFI.

It comes with a 4GB micro-SD card which is exclusive to the Philippine market. The W8 is available for P7,990; Zylo for P4,990; Yendo for P3,990; and the Spiro for P2,990.

Sony Ericsson will also be having an online music contest where fans could submit videos of their own cover of Glee songs on Facebook and winners will get a chance to Sony Ericsson W8 Walkman phones and vacation packages for two to Boracay Garden resort.

Google will help you find a hotel on your next trip.

That is because the internet giant launched a new tool for finding hotels after purchasing a leading flight software company earlier this year.

The new service called Hotel Finder, according to Google software engineer Andrew McCarthy, is an “experimental search tool” which is designed to help users not only to find hotels, but to book hotels online as well.

Hotel Finder interfaces with Google Maps in helping users refine their choice by geographic area. It also uses various criteria in narrowing down choices, among which are price, number of stars, and user ratings.

The service is restricted to the United States as of this time.

To be honest, when I first saw it, I thought it was really a sneak preview of an upcoming release. I thought it was cool!

Well it just goes to show you that I’m not really adept at the ins-and-outs of video game.

But this First Person Super Mario video really rocks!

Just in case you haven’t seen it yet, here’s the video of First Person Super Mario:

www.youtube.com/watch?v=KBb9wFP7uZM

It was made by Freddie Wong who I later learned has a million followers in his YouTube channel.

Well, make that a million and one!

Now, if only video game makers from the old could get a hint.

The latest updated version of the Microsoft’s Web browser, Internet Explorer 9, was said to have been downloaded more than 2 million times within the first 24 hours it was released, or a rate of 27 downloads per second, according the Exploring IE Blog.

Since Google’s Chrome has effectively been biting into its market share, after Mozilla’s Firefox, Microsoft deemed it’s about time it gets back its place in the browser war, via IE9.

The new features of IE9 reportedly matches those of Chrome’s — speed and a minimalist user interface. It also adds some its unique tricks: graphics hardware acceleration and the ability to pin site tabs to the Windows 7 task bar.

The Microsoft Web browser also includes the most advanced Tracking Protection feature available, allowing users to subscribe to lists of sites known to profile them for targeted marketing.

The catch? The new Internet Explorer version, unfortunately, only runs on Microsoft’s latest two operating system versions, which are Windows 7 and Vista. This practically limits IE9′s market growth to those using the said OS. But Microsoft said that this limitation would eventually get those people to upgrade into the two systems as well.

The IE Blog by MSN says “IE9 can can play HTML5 video in both the industry-standard H.264 format and the newer WebM format. With the WebM Project’s release of WebM Components for IE9 (Preview), Windows customers running IE9 can play WebM videos in Web pages. IE9 is the only browser today committed to supporting both formats directly.”

Click here if you want to download and test drive the new IE9.

Who doesn’t want to win a Samsung Galaxy Tab? I’m sure you do.

Well, here’s a sweet chance for all you out there who are eager to get their hands on a Galaxy Tab P1000, cause you can get it free from San Marino Corned Tuna.

Yup! You got it right, San Marino Corned Tuna is giving away a Samsung Galaxy as a prize for its contest.

All you have to do is come out with an original sandwhich recipe that has San Marino Corned Tuna or Chili Corned Tuna in it. Of course, your recipe has to be original for it to qualify.

You can submit your entry at the San Marino website or at the San Marino Facebook page. Although it is not required, it would be better if you can also send a picture of your product.

A panel of judges from San Marino will choose among the submitted entries the top 6 sandwich recipes that will qualify for the online voting. The top 6 sandwich recipes will be chosen based on the following criteria:

• 25% Originality
• 25% Uniqueness
• 25% Creativity
• 25% Integration of San Marino Corned Tuna/ Chilli Corned Tuna product
• The top 6 participants will advance to the final stage and will be required to submit photos of their finished product that will be used for the online voting.
• Photos of the sandwich recipes must be orignal and prederably unedited.

Dates to Remember

• March 2 to April 2, 2011 – Submission of Entries
• April 5, 2011 – Announcement of Top 6 Finalists
• April 6  to 28, 2011 – Voting Period
• May 2, 2011 – Announcement of Winner

Prizes

• The entry with the highest number of Facebook “Like” by the end of the voting period will receive a brand new Samsung Galaxy Tab P1000.

Winners

• Winners will be notified through an email confirmation and a phone call from a representative to discuss the details and claiming of the prizes.

Qualification

• The sandwich recipe contest is open to anyone residing in the Philippines, culinary professional or otherwise.
• Participants must be 18 years old and above.
• All employees of CDO Foodsphere, Inc. and Innovative Systems & Technology Alliance, Inc., their dealer network, accredited advertising agencies and suppliers, and their relatives up to 2nd degree of consanguinity or affinity are disqualified from participating in the promo.

So, hurry! The deadline for the submission of entries is fast approaching!

Click here for more details!

Used to be that one would have the excuse of prioritizing work over studies, so much so that when an undergraduate finds work and began earning money, he quits schooling, albeit temporarily, and work full time. Soon, he’ll find himself without time to be able to go back to school. But thanks to online colleges, he would be able to continue and finish his studies and finally get his degree online.

Online schools made it possible for people who are “too busy” to go to real world schools because of workload, families and other “reasonable” excuses. But since we have technology, we might as well use it to our advantage. With the internet making the world much smaller, and all information accessible online, online schools offered such opportunities for those of people.

Classes and Careers is one example of such schools which offer college degrees for people, who for some reason or another, have to skip college and venture into the working environment early in their life.

We all know, formal education and college degree is still an advantage, especially if one is serious in slugging it out in the corporate jungle. Top management still rely on scholastic credentials aside from professional backgrounds.

So make no excuse, and get that college degree online now.

With the anticipation of another super typhoon coming to the Philippines, Pagasa gets people updated with latest news via Twitter.

The Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (Pagasa) announced that it will keep the public updated via Twitter under the name @dost_pagasa.

Keeping track of the weather through Twitter allows the people to follow up on the developments on the coming super typhoon Juan (international name: Megi) bearing the unpredictability of the weather.

Aside from their Twitter account, the public may also check on their website www.pagasa.dost.gov.ph.

“We would be able to inform the public on the arrival of the storm, the public storm warning signals and an every hour report. We are starting with typhoon ‘Juan’,” said Pagasa officer-in-charge Graciano Yumul.

“We only created our Twitter account past 12 noon last Friday (Oct. 15) and now we already have 5,000 followers. We are being followed by people from all walks of life, such as students and the media,” Yumul said.

The creation of the Twitter account of Pagasa is part of the “national government and the Department of Science and Technology (DOST) program to address all the concerns of our kababayans,” which they say has proven to be an effective medium.

Yumul said the creation of the Twitter account is part of the “national government and the Department of Science and Technology (DOST) program to address all the concerns of our kababayans. It has proven to be an effective medium.”

With more than 14,000 Filipinos having a Twitter account, Yumul believed that the social network site is so far the most effective means of disseminating information. At the same, he said, they were also deluge with requests that they also open a Facebook and Friendster account.

I am sure that you have heard about the CIS or the continuous ink system. An ink system that helps save cost on printer inks. Actually, I just bought a printer recently installed with a CIS. But I just learned that aside from a CIS, there is another for us to save on printer ink costs and consumption.

That was when I stumbled upon the website of InkGrabber.com, who sells printer ink cartridges, copier toner and fax cartridges online. They supply ink cartridges that are called Genuine (OEM) name-brand.

They help you save on printer cost by providing you quality remanufactured inkjet, compatible inkjet or refill kit. You get the same quality output at a much lower price.

They carry almost ink cartridges for all brands. So whatever brand and model your printer is, chances are, you will find a compatible inkjet cartridge at InkGrabber.com so you can save on your printer cost.

Right now, I can say that I am quite happy with my CIS equipped printer. But I know that when I need a second printer, I know where to look for on the web to buy quality but affordable inkjet refills. You might want to check out InkGrabber.com too.