Untwisted Vortex

Electronic Signatures in the US in the 21st Century

RT Cunningham | Untwisted Vortex | Philippines — Fri, 21 Nov 2008 03:18:33 +0000

While I was researching how to obtain the appropriate tax forms in the most efficient manner, while working on my top secret project, I searched the web for the pertinent information. I remembered that electronic signatures could be submitted on US federal government forms after an act was passed while I was still on active duty in the military (prior to 1999).

Electronic Signature Misinformation

While doing the research and reading hundreds of pages and documents, I was flabbergasted by the wealth of misinformation about electronic signatures that's out there. I sincerely believe that some of it (but not all of it) is intentional, designed to make money for companies that specialize in digital signatures.

This example, one of many that are completely wrong, was found at Yahoo Answers: Does IRS Form W-9 Need to be Signed to be Legal?

The "best" answer included this: "If you're going to fill out an actual w-9, it needs an actual signature, not a stamp or image pasted in." Wrong!

The other answer, from a "top contributor": "It's not legal unless signed by your hand. Since anyone can capture and paste a JPEG image, it is NOT legal. You must sign the form by hand and transmit the physical form to the recipient. An advance faxed copy is sufficient to make the first payment but you should hold off for the physical form after the first payment." Wrong! Pure shiitake!

Uniform Electronic Transactions Act (UETF)

When in doubt, go to the source. The UETF is the source for the US federal government. The text of the act can be found at: http://www.law.upenn.edu/bll/archives/ulc/fnact99/1990s/ueta99.htm

A quick scan of the document pointed to several passages of interest, but I won't repeat them here. Briefly, you CAN use a signature image and you can use your typed in full name. The situations where neither is authorized is dependent on other requirements.

When I bought my 2nd house, I was able to use images on emailed .jpg files on all except for one document which required a notary signature. That one document forced me to make a special trip to the American Embassy in Manila to get a special power of attorney that I had to FedEx to my wife in Phoenix, Arizona.

Google uses a typed full name as an authorized electronic signature for their AdSense program. The signer's name is pulled from their records while the signer is logged in. The IP address and timestamp are stored along with the signature. I believe the timestamp is required.

My Choices

Since my project includes an affiliate program, to be implemented soon, I'm required to obtain IRS tax information on the affiliates. I can use online substitutes for the W-9, W-8 and other forms. I could do one of two things: One, I could point a link to the official form at the US IRS website, have the member fill it out and email or upload the form. Two, I could have the member fill out the form(s) online and store it in an encrypted form.

I'm choosing the latter in order to remove unnecessary barriers. In order to comply with form requirements, I have a little bit of JavaScript to work on in addition to creating the forms for online use.

Did I ever mention that I hate programming? I only do it when I don't have a choice.
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A Top Secret Project and Unscheduled Downtime

RT Cunningham | Untwisted Vortex | Philippines — Tue, 18 Nov 2008 10:29:24 +0000

If you're wondering what I've been up to for the past 9 days, it's a secret - TOP SECRET. Actually, it's not that secret, but I've been working with it "under the radar" for as long as possible. Coupled with 6 hours of having a suspended account, I feel like I've been away from here for weeks.

The Top Secret Project

Like I said, it's not really a secret. It isn't being publicized, however, until I finish the project at another domain. I'll give you a few minor details because it's going to be opened up to the general public by the beginning of December anyway.

It's a private network. Shhh! You didn't read that, you were not here.

The network is a community of like-minded people looking for the same thing: Relevant backlinks to their websites — backlinks that don't violate Google's webmaster guidelines concerning link schemes.

Although the network has been in operation for at least a month at its current location, the PHP code on the pages wasn't as optimized as it should have been. When I threw it together, I wrote everything from scratch in about 2 days. I've should've taken my time, but I can be impatient at times.

I've spent the majority of time during the last two weeks doing the rewrite. I'm almost done — it will probably be done by tomorrow (my time). I've been doing everything I can to minimize database usage and keep HTTP connections to a minimum. I did a lot of reading and should have foreseen what happened earlier today.

The Unscheduled Downtime

My web hosting account was suspended because my WordPress index page was keeping the server's CPU at 65 percent. There were two lines of code that I'd added to the page to make the site a little snappier for first time visitors. Apparently, one of those lines was too much for the server — the ob_gzhandler, as I wrote about in "Speed Up WordPress WITH or WITHOUT a WordPress Cache".

I plan to move to a new host as soon as I can find one I think can do a better job. I didn't even get slammed by Digg or Stumbled into oblivion and I still had my account suspended. Mediatemple.net looks like good solution, but I'd be interested in hearing recommendations from others.

Of course, I have some unique hurdles to jump over. I live in the Philippines and my AdSense earnings presently get direct-deposited into my Philippine National Bank dollar account. I'll probably need to redirect the payments to the joint account at Wells Fargo in the US that I share with my wife. That way, I can make automatic monthly payments — the yearly costs for web hosts like Media Temple are just a little too much for me to handle all at once.

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Politically Incorrect

RT Cunningham | Untwisted Vortex | Philippines — Sat, 08 Nov 2008 21:55:10 +0000

When I recently wrote that President elect Barack Obama is not black, I guess you could call me any manner of things, including politically incorrect.

I was making a point about Obama being labeled as black by the media. Why didn't they label him as white? Because it isn't politically correct to label someone who looks black as anything but black. I hate political correctness as much as I hate politics.

What-American?

I don't care where your ancestors came from. If you call yourself an "African-American", "Mexican-American", "Filipino-American" or whatever, it properly represents you as a naturalized immigrant in the United States of America. If you were born in the US, or of at least one American parent, you're simply an American. If the "whatever-American" terms were used for everyone, there's wouldn't be any plain "Americans" at all (except for the native tribes of America).

Only people afraid of being called racists or bigots are afraid to use the terms that properly describe races. One of the earliest courses I took (at like the age of 14) was about races and ethnicities. I learned there were only 3 races in the world — Caucasian, Mongolian, and Negro — and all the other so-called races or ethnicities are simply subsets of those races.

If you're a Caucasian, there's nothing wrong with being called white. If you're a Negro, there's nothing wrong with being called black. Neither color (or lack thereof) is quite correct, but they're close approximations. White people are actually kind of pink and black people are actually some shade of brown. Colors of red, yellow and brown have all been used for the people of the Mongolian race and most of them aren't correct either.

Native American?

This one irritates me the most. I have a quarter or more of the blood of one or more of the native tribes. Of course the tribes are native Americans. So is anyone else who's living in America. "Native" refers to indigenous inhabitants of a place or country.

I have worked with many people of the native tribes over the course of my lifetime. Not once did one of them refer to themselves as "Native Americans". They always used tribal names such as "Navajo", "Apache", and "Pima".

"American Indian" was a popular term until political correctness took over. The term came about when early settlers saw the native tribes and thought they looked like the Indians (from India). Of course the tribes never recognized the term, just like most don't recognize the politically correct "Native American" now.

Afraid to Offend?

All of this political correctness stems from the fact that people, particularly politicians, are afraid to offend any particular race. Why does race even matter? I wish it didn't. I haven't paid much attention to race or color since I moved to Hawaii in 1974 (and that's a story I've already briefly written about).

I found it interesting when the media labeled Obama as the first black president. I didn't see a black man getting elected and definitely not an African-American. To me, he was simply an American and that's all I see him as now.

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Goodbye, Circuit City, and Good Riddance

RT Cunningham | Untwisted Vortex | Philippines — Fri, 07 Nov 2008 23:35:52 +0000

You can have the best products in the world, but if you have the worst customer service and sales staff in the world, you're going to fail. Circuit City, a computer and electronics store in the US, has failed. They're still in business, but barely. They probably don't have the worst customer service and sales staff, but they certainly don't have the best products.

Circuit City Store Closures

According to news sources, 155 stores out of 700 will close by the end of the year. Obviously, the majority of the employees of those stores will be laid off.

"The weakened environment has resulted in a slowdown of consumer spending, further impacting our business as well as the business of our vendors. The combination of these trends has strained severely our working capital and liquidity, and so we are making a number of difficult, but necessary, decisions to address the company's financial situation as quickly as possible," said James A. Marcum, vice chairman and acting president and CEO.

That's the excuse of the year: Blame the economy when poor management is the real culprit.

Corporate Layoffs

According to other news sources, upwards toward 800 corporate employees will be laid off by today (in the US, a day behind my time). No one can tell me that the corporate-level employees didn't see it coming — it's a natural consequence that managers without "managees" will get the ax.

No Sympathy for Circuit City

Judging by the thousands of comments I've waded through in the last 24 hours, the only ones that will really miss the Circuit City stores are the employees themselves.

I no longer live in the US, but I can say that even if I did, I wouldn't miss their departure. A few years ago, my older son worked at a nearby store in Phoenix and told me about the quality of the employees, including the management. Needless to say, he left after a few short months to seek employment elsewhere.

The Underlying Problem

The underlying problem beneath Circuit City's failures is the same problem that plagues places like "Best Buy" and other computer and electronic retail stores like them. It's the attitude of the managers and other employees.

From my own observations of several retail chains, I can tell you the attitude problems stem from the "working for a paycheck" mentality. They work in order to get paid and nothing else. They don't take pride in their work and they don't appear to make any conscious effort to improve.

I would love to be a store manager for Circuit City, even for a short time. I know that I could excel because the competition from other managers and employees just isn't there. Before you comment on that, I'll warn you that I've spent more time managing people than most retail managers at the corporate level.

I probably should say that I feel for the employees that are losing their jobs, but I don't. They'll find better work elsewhere — almost anywhere.
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President Elect Barack Obama Is Not Black

RT Cunningham | Untwisted Vortex | Philippines — Wed, 05 Nov 2008 06:08:45 +0000

Senator Barack Obama was duly elected as the President of the US on November 4, 2008. He'll be sworn into office in January of 2009. The thing that I find funny is that it's being hailed as a historic triumph by US media sources — the first black president in the history of the United States — and Barack Obama isn't black. I'll explain what I mean.

Mulatto is an Ugly Word

Until the 1930s in the US, mulatto was the word commonly used to describe a person with one white parent and one black parent. Back then, Obama would have been called a mulatto. One of the reasons the word is offensive is that prior to the abolition of slavery, mulattos inherited slave status if their mothers were slaves. Slavery is offensive.

Based on literary research, the term was never accurate to begin with since it also referred to other mixed ethnicities. Today, the terms "biracial" and "multiracial" are friendlier and more accurate. Obama is biracial.

Half and half does not equal a whole of one or the other.

It's ridiculous to call Barack Obama black (or Negro) when he's only half black, but it's a common occurrence in the US where racial quotas have been instituted over the years. The truth is that he's no more black than he is white. When I wrote "3 Reasons Why Senator John McCain Will Be The Next US President" back in April of 2008 (before Hillary Clinton withdrew from the Democratic Primaries), I didn't look into Obama's racial background. I assumed (and assumed wrong) that the media usage of black didn't need to be questioned.

Would Obama have been elected if he was completely black instead of just half? I'm not sure if it would have made much of difference. Having a female running mate could have been enough to sway the votes away from McCain by itself. Did Americans believe a relatively young woman could lead the US should something happen to McCain? Obviously I can't read minds, but it's one of the thoughts that crossed my mind as I examined the choices. I'm sure it crossed the minds of many others.

The Racial Quota Systems

My younger son (the older one is adopted) is half white and half Filipino. Does that make him a Filipino? According to racial quota systems in the US it does (as a "Pacific Islander"). If you look at him, however, he looks as white as I do. He can claim a minority status just about anywhere once he returns to the US after nursing school. Whether he does that or not is entirely up to him.

If proper tribal records had been kept (or could be verified), I could claim a minority status as a Native American since my grandfather (my mother's estranged father) was a Native American. To this day, none of my relatives can say whether he was a full or partial Native American, but it was verified that he lived on a reservation in Oklahoma. Whether I would claim the status or not isn't worth thinking about since nothing can be proven.

Minority statuses shouldn't matter. They should never matter. Whether Barack Obama is black or white shouldn't matter. Unfortunately, in the eyes of the media and every prejudiced person living in the US, it does matter. I personally think all of the racial quota systems should be abolished and I wonder if Obama will even address the issue while he's in office.

For those of you who read the title of this article and skipped to the end (right here), I'll repeat the gist of the message: Barack Obama isn't black. His mother is white and his father is black. The election is a victory for people who aren't completely white, but it's not a victory for people who are completely black.
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Election Day 2008 - US

RT Cunningham | Untwisted Vortex | Philippines — Mon, 03 Nov 2008 19:56:55 +0000

Approximately a half a day behind my current time, the 2008 presidential election in the US will begin. According to news sources and polls, the front runners are senators Barack Obama (Democrat) and John McCain (Republican). Are they the only choices? Of course not.

The Official Candidates

Just because the two senators mentioned garnered all the publicity during their respective campaigns, they're not the only people running for President of United States. There's a list of all the candidates, along with their running mates (for vice-president), their parties and their websites at Wikipedia's "United States presidential election, 2008".

If you're an American, you owe it to yourself to investigate each and every candidate before casting your vote. If you don't like the choices you're given, you have the opportunity to "write in" the name or names of the people you'd prefer to see in office.

Cast an Educated Vote

I wrote, at one time, that I hate politics. My position hasn't changed. I vote based on who I think will do a better job of serving the country, not based on some political affiliation. I will not tell you who to vote for or why and I won't tell you who I vote for or why. That decision is solely up to you.

I urge you, however, to cast an educated vote. Don't vote with your emotions or along party lines just for their sakes alone. Think about the next four years and make sure you're going to be as comfortable with your choices at the end of those four years as you are today.

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2008 - The Year of the Rat

RT Cunningham | Untwisted Vortex | Philippines — Sun, 02 Nov 2008 12:46:22 +0000

I'm a little late. The "Year of the Rat" started on February 7, 2008 and I'm just now getting around to writing about it. What significance does it have? I was born in 1960; I am a rat and this is my year!

Chinese Astrology

Despite having said that I'm a rat according to Chinese astrology, I don't believe in any kind of astrology. Having recently read about the Chinese love horoscope, I'm even more of a skeptic.

According to a Chinese horoscope love compatibility chart, I and my wife aren't compatible. I'm a rat and she's an ox (my younger son is an ox too). That's strange. We'll be celebrating our 24th wedding anniversary in January, so I guess that chart is just about worthless, isn't it?

Astrology and the Paranormal

Yes, I categorize Astrology with the paranormal. It certainly isn't normal to believe that our lives and our loves are dictated by the movement of stars and planets.

Did I ever tell you the story of how I met Bigfoot? He sat between me and Elvis on the UFO after I was abducted. The damned aliens were studying astrology too!Similar Posts:

Street Lights of Olongapo

RT Cunningham | Untwisted Vortex | Philippines — Wed, 29 Oct 2008 04:20:05 +0000

I was going to spend some time writing about the different kinds of street light fixtures I've seen in both Olongapo and at the Subic Bay Freeport Zone, but decided instead to point out one of the most common street light fixtures in Olongapo. Look at the picture on the left.

What you're looking at is a fluorescent light bulb attached to a cement post and protected from rain by a piece of corrugated tin roofing material. Unlike more modern societies, the majority of street lights in the Philippines are owned and operated by home and business owners. The Philippine Utility Department, responsible for electrical services in Olongapo, has nothing to do with these types of lights.

The Advent of Light Emitting Diodes (LED or LEDs)

While LEDs have been around longer than home computers, it wasn't until recent years that LEDs started to replace traditional light bulbs. They're now used in flashlights, solar garden lights and as LED home lighting fixtures.

One of the reasons LEDs are quickly becoming the favorites for lighting fixtures is because of their lower power consumption and because of how long they last as opposed to light bulbs of different kinds.

Reasonably Cheap Solar Power

Things like LED garden lighting are becoming more and more popular due to slowly decreasing costs of solar cells and the availability of cheap LEDs, which require far less electricity than fluorescent or incandescent bulbs.

Eventually, street lights everywhere (and not just in modern societies) will use arrays of LEDs to replace the bulbs currently in use. How long it takes for the people who make the lights to incorporate solar cells and batteries to replace standard electrical lines is the unknown factor in the equation.

Street Lights for Security

I have two posts and two street lights set up at the front of my house, as part of the front fence. One is at the main entrance to the compound and the other is at the far right corner of the property, next to the creek.

In the past, burglars have scaled the fence walls next to the creek to get onto my property. They've never succeeded in breaking in before being spotted, and having street lights that shine light onto specific areas of the property, as well as the street, is the primary reason.

The street lights are there for safety as well. There's a trail that comes out from next to the creek and onto the main street. Without a street light shining onto the trail, the chances of missing the trail and walking into the creek would be much greater. This trail is basically a shortcut from lower residences to the main street. With the trail, which is only from about 100 to 200 meters, people would have to walk more than a kilometer along two streets to get from point A to point B.

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Confessions of a Drug Addict

RT Cunningham | Untwisted Vortex | Philippines — Sun, 26 Oct 2008 07:25:49 +0000

Until very recently, I was a user of the most dangerous drug in the world. I'm not talking about cocaine, heroin or any of the hard drugs you hear about. I'm talking about a drug that's thousands of times more powerful. It's just as deadly as the hard drugs, but it kills you slowly instead of quickly.

What drug?

Some of you may laugh when I tell you it's nicotine. Yes, nicotine is the most dangerous drug in the world and the reason it's the most dangerous is because it's deadly and legal. No other drug as deadly as nicotine can be obtained legally without a prescription.

Drug addicts don't use drugs to get high. Drug addicts use drugs to feel normal. This is exactly what tobacco smokers do; they just don't know it.

My Failures

I failed to stop smoking permanently so many times that I lost count. Each failure was because I thought I knew how to quit smoking and didn't. Every time I tried, I failed because I didn't have one basic piece of knowledge that's crucial for success: That smoking is caused by a drug addiction that requires continued smoking in order to feel normal.

My Success

I am extremely confident that my latest attempt to quit smoking cigarettes was a success and I consider it my only success with tobacco. Every other attempt was a failure because I returned to smoking.

I smoked for most of my natural life; more than 30 years. I can look back and attribute more than half of my health problems for the last 10 years to the use of tobacco products.

The Secret of My Success

I understand that some people think they need some form of crutch to quit using tobacco products, but I assure you that once they learn the truth about their addiction, quitting is the easiest thing in the world to do.

The physical addiction to nicotine disappears in less than two hours after a smoker stops smoking. Two hours! When a smoker goes to sleep, the physical addiction is already gone by the time he or she wakes up. Again, he or she just doesn't know it.

When a smoker realizes that he or she is lighting another cigarette in order to feel normal, the addiction becomes painfully clear. It is at that point that quitting will have the most chance of success. It was for me.

The Aftermath

When I made my last decision to stop smoking, the need to rid myself of all tobacco products wasn't as strong as the desire to get the smell of cigarette smoke off of my body, out of my clothing and off of my breath.

I hopped in the shower and scrubbed like a madman. I jumped out of the shower and brushed my teeth like a man on a mission. After I dressed, I handed all of my remaining cartons and packs (open and otherwise) to my son and had him deliver them to one of my relatives who smokes that brand.

The Future

I'm confident I will never return to smoking. Being an ex-smoker feels too good to give up. I don't get urges anymore. In fact, the last time I quit I didn't get any urges at all. The key was recognizing the addiction for what it really was.

I still find myself reaching for a pack of cigarettes that aren't there on occasion, caused by the memories of having done it thousands of times in the past, but it doesn't fuel any urges.
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Halloween and the Day of the Dead in the Philippines

RT Cunningham | Untwisted Vortex | Philippines — Sun, 26 Oct 2008 01:55:31 +0000

Halloween isn't celebrated by the older folks of the Philippines. The majority of them celebrate the Day of the Dead, which is the very next day. As far as I can tell, the only celebrations associated with Halloween itself are the costume parties.

What is the holiday called "Halloween"?

When Christians began to gain authority in Europe more than a thousand years ago, November 1st became known as "All Saints Day" or "All Hallows Day". It was the day the Christians honored the dead. The evening of October 31st became known as "All Hallows Eve" and was eventually shortened to "Halloween".

Over the years, people acquired the belief that the dead mingled with the living on Halloween, and thus starting wearing masks and costumes to hide in plain sight so that the ghosts wouldn't recognize them.

I don't how or when the "trick or treat" mantra started for kids going to house to house in search of candy, but I understand it's a predominantly American tradition. A tradition that's slowly disappearing due to malicious people sabotaging the treats with razor blades, poison and other nastiness. Children used to be treated to homemade candied apples, caramel-covered popcorn balls and other assorted things you couldn't buy in stores. Nowadays, children are discouraged from accepting anything that isn't store-bought, wrapped and sealed.

The Day of the Dead

No, I am NOT referring to the George A. Romero zombie movie from 1985. I'm referring to the holiday, called Araw ng mga Patay in Tagalog, which Filipinos celebrate on November 1st of every year. Filipinos don't celebrate Halloween like Americans do, or at least the way Americans used to. The American Halloween holiday is slowly progressing (or returning) to an adult-oriented holiday, with Halloween costumes for couples becoming more prominent in shopping areas.

The Day of the Dead is celebrated at cemeteries where tombs are cleaned or repainted, candles are lit, and flowers are offered. Entire families camp out there, sometimes for days. It's a very important holiday for Filipinos and they'll eat and drink, play card games, and even sing and dance while spending their time there. I believe it's a national holiday in the Philippines.

I will never understand the Filipino (or Spanish/Mexican, since it's celebrated in those countries as well) fascination with the dead, much less their superstitious beliefs concerning the dead among us. I prefer to deal with the land of the living. After all, it's the living people that need our help as we can do nothing for the dead.

Halloween Costumes

Unlike shopping places in the Western countries, there aren't a lot of costumes available for purchase in the Philippines. However, it seems that the availability of Halloween costumes increases with each passing year.

The last time I went to the Royal Subic store at the Subic Bay Freeport Zone, I noticed they had a few costumes available (including kids Halloween costumes, although I doubt I'll see any kids wearing them in public) as well as some masks without costumes. I saw two masks that were well done, one of a demon and another of a monkey of some kind. I was thinking of prowling the streets on Halloween, scaring neighbors and passers by. My brother-in-law, Joshua, quickly discouraged me from buying any mask or costume. As superstitious as the Filipinos are, I would probably get shot or stoned to death when the people mistook me for an aswang.

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Use CSS to Make WordPress Tags Lowercase

RT Cunningham | Untwisted Vortex | Philippines — Sat, 25 Oct 2008 04:59:24 +0000

When tags were introduced to WordPress, most people expected the tag names to be in lowercase. They weren't, or to be more exact, they weren't forced into lowercase. They use the same format as the category names. It's your choice. There's a problem with this, however, as I'll quickly explain.

Categories and Tags

Since WordPress uses the same tables for categories and tags, if you have a capitalized category name and decide to use it as a tag as well, the tag will be capitalized.

If you change the tag to lowercase, the category will be changed to lowercase. There doesn't seem to be a way around it. There is, but you have to step outside of WordPress itself to do it.

The CSS Solution

Every WordPress theme is different, so in order to make the change I'm going to recommend, you need to edit each page of the theme (that displays tags) and surround the tags with spans ( and ), kind of like this:

Tags:

Of course, your code is probably going to look different. I used the class of "lowercase" to make it easy to remember when I added it to my stylesheet, but you could do it inline as well by replacing class="lowercase" with style="text-transform: lowercase;".

Yes, text-transform: lowercase will do the trick and in the stylesheet, it can look something like this:

.lowercase {
    text-transform: lowercase;
}

Which way you do it depends on how much of a CSS purist you are.

More About Text-Transform

Unless you know what you're looking for, you may never come across this property. Here are the three ways to use it (besides "none", the default):

text-transform: capitalize; /* Each word in a text starts with a capital letter. */
text-transform: uppercase; /* Defines only capital letters. */
text-transform: lowercase; /* Defines no capital letters, only lower case letters. */

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Filipino Folklore: The Aswang

RT Cunningham | Untwisted Vortex | Philippines — Fri, 24 Oct 2008 23:15:09 +0000

To the Filipinos, the aswang is a creature as real as any other creature on the face of the Earth. I live around these people and trust me when I tell you that you can't change their beliefs regarding this creature. I once asked my wife why we never heard of things like this in the US and she couldn't explain it rationally.

The Wikipedia Article on "Aswang"

My wife was born in the Visayan islands, another group of islands in the Philippines. It's on those islands where the aswang belief is the strongest. My wife's family lives here on the island of Luzon now, but their beliefs came with them.

The Wikipedia article describes aswangs exactly as my wife describes them: The red eyes, the reclusiveness, the proboscis and the shape-shifting.

Recent Occurrences

When the girlfriend of one of my brothers-in-law was pregnant, he (Joshua) spent many nights awake because he thought an aswang was nearby. I tried to persuade him that it was nothing more than superstition, but he wouldn't have any of that. I didn't see what he saw and or hear what he heard.

One night, an old lady tumbled down the hill in front of our house. I can't describe the terrain, but we live in the mountains and she was someone who lived further up. Anyway, she was taken by tricycle to the local hospital.

When the tricycle returned to this area, the same old lady was already back and sitting on the side of the road. It was physically impossible for her be back before the tricycle, never mind the amount of time she would have had to spend at the hospital getting checked out. I don't have an explanation for what happened, but every person in this neighborhood believed she was an aswang. She hasn't been seen in this area since that night.

What are they, really?

Some people theorize that people have seen lemurs and colugos, shortly after being around particular individuals, and have attached those images to the people they believe are aswangs.

Aswangs, as far as the descriptions go, are a combination of vampire, werewolf and witch and are almost always female.

How much of the folklore is true, I can't tell you. It's proven, however, that all myths and legends start with a basis of historical fact that gets exaggerated and altered as time goes by.

What do you think they really are?
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Blog Review: Wuhan, got you all in check

RT Cunningham | Untwisted Vortex | Philippines — Fri, 24 Oct 2008 21:57:04 +0000

This is one of the few blogs I've seen written by an American living in China. This American, however, has moved back to the US.

What is the "Wuhan, got you all in check" blog all about?

It started out as a blog about Lee's life in China, working as an ESL (English as second language) teacher. Now, it's about his life AFTER China. Regardless, it's a personal blog about Lee's life.

Site Design

Lee's using a decent WordPress theme, which is fixed width. I don't want to critique it in detail because it's something that bores me to tears. I will point out a few obvious things.

Where's the archive list? Where's the category list? These are basic items that every blog should have displayed. I was going to go back through the archives to find out exactly when Lee left China, but I refuse to page back from the front page to find the answer. I shouldn't have to do that. I should be able to spot a post in an archives list that will get me to the answer, or at least close to it.

There are other items in the blog's sidebar that aren't as important, yet they have high prominence.

Article Content

Out of everything available on the front page, my eyes and my appetite were drawn to "The craziest thing I’ve barely eaten". I haven't had breakfast yet and just about any food looks appealing to me.

Except this. Either the picture doesn't do it justice or it really does look that bad. I'll tell you the truth; I would never eat anything I couldn't identify without tearing it apart first.

My Overall Opinion

There are some amusing stories on this blog, so don't get me wrong. It's not a blog I'll be returning to simply because I couldn't find anything in common with my own life. Lee's only a year older (give or take a few months) than my younger son, which by itself almost automatically guarantees that I won't be able to see his point of view. Now that he's not in Asia anymore, I don't have anything geographically in common with him either.

Would you like a Review?

My reviews are simple, including at least one link to an article as well as a link to the blog or website. They're also absolutely free. Make sure your blog is ready to be reviewed and then submit it on my "Request A Blog Review" page and I'll try to do my best to give you a fair review, without being overly critical.Similar Posts:

Filipino Cuisine: Dried Fish

RT Cunningham | Untwisted Vortex | Philippines — Tue, 21 Oct 2008 18:34:43 +0000

While I wouldn't be the person calling Filipino dried fish (tuyo in Tagalog) a cuisine, many Filipinos would beg to differ with me. I'll explain exactly what Filipino dried fish is once I tell you about some of my experiences regarding it.

Filipino Dried Fish in Yuma, Arizona

Prior to getting married to my wife in 1985, I had never tasted or smelled Filipino dried fish. One day when my wife and I were living in our first apartment, in January of 1985, she started cooking some dried fish. I don't remember where she got it. I think one of the other Filipinas living in the apartment complex had brought some back from San Diego, California.

Our apartment was on the second floor and the front door and picture window were adjacent to an outdoor hallway that looks more like a sidewalk — kind of what the Motel 6 looks like. The smell of the dried fish while cooking was horrible, at least in my opinion, but tolerable. Our next-door apartment neighbors didn't think so. The wife came out of her apartment, said something like "What's that smell?", ran back into her apartment and closed her window (that was just like ours).

Filipino Dried Fish in the Philippines

Between 1985 and 2006, I avoided Filipino dried fish like the plague. I had tasted it at least once and it was way too salty to even taste the fish.

Ever since I've lived here, after moving here in 2006, I have smelled the dried fish and watched relatives munching down on it as ulam (main dish) with their rice. I can eat it now without wanting to spit it out, but I still prefer not to eat it at all. The smell doesn't bother me anymore either.

What exactly is Filipino dried fish?

I don't know exactly what species is used, but it's a corned, sun-dried fish that's popular with Filipinos because it won't spoil for weeks, even without refrigeration. The fish are very small, the size of goldfish and they're eaten whole.

They're extremely salty, but most Filipinos like salty foods. I only like salt on french fries, popcorn and as seasoning on certain food. I like the taste of fish, not the taste of the salt. I even like canned tuna better than dried fish.

(Image Source: Everyday Food: 11 Little Tuyo)
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Customer Service: What NOT to Say to the Customer

RT Cunningham | Untwisted Vortex | Philippines — Mon, 20 Oct 2008 20:38:19 +0000

I recently had issues with my web hosting provider. It wasn't the first time I dealt with the customer support staff and I seriously doubt it will be the last. Over the course of several support requests (over a period of months), I noticed some things that should be taught to customer support staff concerning customer service, but apparently isn't: How to properly respond to customers.

I have a lot of experience in people management, both in the military and after retiring. I don't have a lot of customer service experience; I've been an observer most of the time. Most of my observations occurred at a telemarketing and collections company.

It's Your Fault

When someone from customer service says something to a customer that translates into "it's your fault", it's something the customer doesn't want to hear. It doesn't matter if it's on the telephone or by email, it has the same effect.

Instead of pointing the blame at the customer, the customer service representative should try to project empathy. How is this accomplished? By asking questions. Is there something the customer did or didn't do to cause the problem? What avenues did the customer take before contacting customer service? By asking the customer questions, the customer doesn't feel like he or she is being blamed for anything.

It's Their Fault

Telling a customer that the blame is with someone else is almost as bad as telling the customer that he or she is to blame. Being responsive to questions and offering solutions is the best way to gain the confidence of the customer.

Instead of pointing the blame at someone else, a customer service representative can gain the confidence of the customer by offering to find solutions to the problem. This applies even if they can't do anything about it all. Offering to contact a third party on behalf of the customer is a sure-fire way of pleasing him or her.

It's Not Our Fault

Accepting responsibility, even when not responsible, will earn a billion points with the customer. Accepting responsibility doesn't mean the customer service representative is to blame or is accepting blame. It simply means the customer service representative is willing to listen.

By avoiding anything that translates into "it's not our fault", the customer service representative is in effect accepting responsibility as far as the customer is concerned.

The Art of Speaking

Yes, speaking is an art form. How a customer representative speaks is almost as important as what he or she is speaking about. Customer service representatives should avoid saying (or writing) anything that translates to anything but: It's our fault. What can we do to help you?

The Art of Listening

All customers want to be heard when they have problems. Customers will always be frustrated if it seems that no one is listening. They're doubly frustrated when dealing with customer service representatives because customer service representatives are supposed to be trained to deal with their specific problems.

Many times, customer problems are extremely minor and all they really want is for someone to listen to them. Unfortunately, many customer service representatives spend so much time talking that they never hear what customer wants them to hear.

What Customer Service is All About

The most annoying thing a customer will deal with is the one thing that customer service representatives should avoid: Scripts. Anything automated or read from a script tells a customer, even if only subconsciously, that the representative is nothing more than a robot.

If you're thinking of filling a customer service position, do you really want to be perceived as a robot? Wouldn't it be much nicer to be perceived as a human being, a human being who's there to help the customers?

Customer service means exactly that: Service to the customer. Anything that falls short of providing service to the customer isn't worthy of being called customer service in the first place.

(Image Source: BBC News: Lunch Lesson Four - Customer service)Similar Posts:

People that Disappear in the Philippines

RT Cunningham | Untwisted Vortex | Philippines — Fri, 17 Oct 2008 10:23:50 +0000

When I talk about people that disappear in the Philippines, I'm talking about something different from what I was talking about when I wrote "How to Disappear or Vanish without a Trace in the Philippines". The words and phrases "disappear" and "in the Philippines" are the only things the articles have in common.

No More Jack Hunter Stuff

I'm actually thankful that I stopped dreaming about Jack Hunter and stopped receiving any email from someone claiming to be Jack Hunter. I think the last dream was at least 3 weeks ago.

Dealing with paranormal things usually doesn't bother me. It's starting to bother me. In the coming days, I'm going to be focusing on some of the folklore in the Philippines and explain why I think it's not all folklore.

People that Disappear in the Philippines

It's unnerving when something strange happens once. Imagine how unnerving it is when it happens twice. I'm going to mention the second strange occurrence.

A couple of weeks ago, I was on the street in front of my house, walking toward a local sari-sari store, tindahan (Tagalog for store), mini-store or whatever you want to call it. It's nothing more than a small shack where the owner resells products bought at the regular market, broken down into smaller portions. Anyway, I was walking toward this store when I spotted my wife's cousin, Julius (who happens to live with my mother-in-law in our compound) walking in the same direction at about 50 meters in front of me.

I was a mere 10 meters away when he passed the store and turned right onto another small road. Not more than 5 seconds later, I turned onto the same road and he was nowhere to be seen! I have some friends that live on the left side of the road and their front gate was locked. The other people that live on the left and right sides of the road have fences surrounding their property and the gates face the main street. At the end of the road, there are bushes and a trail that leads to where other people live. It's basically a dead end for anything but people who walk or stray animals.

There is absolutely no way that Julius could have made it to that trail before I turned onto the road, even if he sprinted. There were no openings on the left or right sides of the road for him to enter someone else's property either. The question I asked myself was "Why is he avoiding me?" There is no animosity or anything between us.

Well, I turned around and headed back to my compound, downhill to my mother-in-law's house. It only took a couple of minutes to get there. When I arrived, I spotted Julius sleeping on the floor in her living room (people do that here, you know). I waited until he woke up and asked him why he had avoided me earlier and he was clueless as to what I was talking about.

So, who was that disappearing person?

I have absolutely no idea. It couldn't have been Julius. He was fast asleep when I returned and he would have been out of breath had he been the person who ran away from me fast enough to get back to my mother-in-law's house. The person looked like Julius, walked like Julius and probably smelled like Julius, but I never got THAT close.

This is the second time something like this has happened to me. Unless there's a whole bunch of doppelgangers running around, I can't explain it. I've been told about this happening to other people, but I never believed it. Until recently, that is, because it has happened to me.

The paranormal epicenter?

I'm starting to believe that a lot of the folklore that people talk about here in the Philippines is more fact than fiction. There are just too many strange things going on all the time.

I've come to believe that the Far East, and particularly the orient, is the paranormal epicenter of the world. It doesn't matter which country you visit in this area, be it the Philippines, China, Singapore, Hong Kong, etc., you will hear some amazing stories if you take the time to listen.

I'm listening.

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The 7 Dollar Secrets Ebook

RT Cunningham | Untwisted Vortex | Philippines — Fri, 17 Oct 2008 09:32:08 +0000

At some time in the past day or so, I added the affiliate link and image for "$7 Secrets" to my lower right sidebar after seeing Costa Fong's post on the 7 dollar script. In fact, I purchased the product at his site.

Designed for Ebooks

"$7 Secrets" is a cheap ebook download that tells you how to make money selling ebooks for a mere seven dollars. Included within the pages are links to other places at the site mentioned, including the scripts, so that you can become an affiliate for this ebook and set up scripts on your own site to duplicate the process.

The scripts are perfect for selling ebooks for popular PLR products (private label rights products) at the low cost of seven dollars.

Why is $7 the key dollar amount?

The concept is simple. If you can afford to buy a cup or two of coffee at StarBucks or Seattle's Best, or even pump a couple of gallons of gas in your car, you can afford this. People are much more likely to buy something for a low amount than a high amount, even if the product at the higher amount is much better.

It's a compulsive thing. Right now, people usually won't hesitate to buy something under 10 dollars, but will think twice about something that costs 20 or more dollars. It's the hesitation factor that stops people from purchasing even slightly more expensive ebooks.

Why am I interested?

I stuck it way down in my lower right sidebar because I'm not really after affiliate sales. Sure, I won't turn one down, but it won't break my heart if I never sell one. How do I make money? Well, it's not with affiliate sales.

I'm interested because I've been told time and time again that I should be selling ebooks about some of the information I've been giving away for free. I can't make a valid decision unless I know what's in store for me.

Perhaps some day, when I have a lot more spare time, I'll sit down and write an ebook that consolidates information on specific topics and put it up for sale. That's the reason I bought the "$7 Secrets" ebook and it's the only reason.

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