The Lady Programmer

Whenever stem cell research is mentioned, there is always a big controversy that is always talked about. The production of new embryos from this research is always something that sparks debate in many social circles. I got around learning more about this thing and I strongly believe in the benefits of this technology. For a start, learning about the about the science of stem cell research had convinced me that this is the ultimate cure to many deadly diseases that medicines, surgery and other alternative methods cannot do.

Perhaps others do not really understand what the stem cell research is all about. I’ve heard this technology several years before and now it has advanced well to simply using a woman’s menstrual blood to store stem cells for future use. The C’elle service makes sure that these stem cells are kept for safekeeping. The site provides all the necessary stuff to facilitate any woman in taking some specimens out – and the package comes in several plans.

A C’elle client testimonial clearly explains how her preserved stem cells can help her other family members cure their history of family diseases. If I had known this earlier then this technology should have saved my cousin from early death due to leukemia.

I’m seeing more Filipinos trying to find some online jobs to augment their income. Many of these people hold full-time jobs but tries to find opportunities for part-time jobs. Others are work-at-home moms. There are even a few who manage their internet cafe business while getting some online jobs. Freelance sites like Elance and oDesk are a good way to find some jobs, but the most of the opportunities are not for everyone.

I’m not trying to discourage people, but this is truly the reality that I see in freelance sites. Most Filipinos who get into oDesk the first time are generally interested in data entry jobs. Even those who earned a degree in Computer Science and Information Technology even get themselves categorized as data entry providers rather than catching opportunities geared towards a specific technical skill.

image credit to Mike Colvin

Pursuing jobs at data entry level can be a lot competitive. Newcomers get lesser chances of getting hired. I hope that there are more Filipinos who would pursue more specialized skills in other areas. Writing is one such skill that other can target, medical transcription services can be another. For anyone who is serious in pursuing part time jobs, one should consider upgrading his or her skill rather than getting hooked with data entry jobs.

I’ve heard a lot about GPS from my dad, who happened to be a Geodetic Engineer. I had witnessed how the GPS technology changed the ways of surveying, and he had explained to me the difference of using traditional surveying techniques versus the one that is powered by GPS. One of the main changes that this technology that really changed surveying is reduced manpower. There are a lot of one-man total surveying stations that are very practical and useful.

Now after more than a decade since I heard its use, GPS is widespread in many consumer products. It is now made affordable to the consumer market – it is easily seen used in high-end cellphones and other products. Even families can now install GPS Insight vehicle tracking system as a way to track their family members. For the father and mother with teenagers in the household it is a way to know the whereabouts of their children when they get home late. But of course this is only one of the uses of having this hardware installed in cars.

For a company, a fleet of cars is easily monitored through this system. A company can know the whereabouts of their employees in company cars and monitor their usage. Not all employees work trustfully and without being monitored these people can get to fall into the trap of spending company time for personal benefit. GPS Insight’s tracking hardware gives an amazing report of the car’s activities: the product is designed to work directly with the hardware interface of the car. The direct contact of hardware gives a more accurate data result. It also gives a lot of details about the car activity such as: fuel consumption, speed violations, landmark activity, geofence history and even vehicle performance. Thus for the employees who need to travel a lot, the knowledge about being monitored is surely a thing that will keep them doing their jobs away from the office.

GPS Insight has more information written out in their blog for GPS vehicle tracking where I learned more about the practical uses of GPS vehicle tracking as well as the latest news tidbits about this technology. It is practically an anecdote about how the GPS insight is actually used in the vehicles with some interesting information about its employees too.

GPS Insight has their contact numbers written in their GPS Insight support wiki for customers together with their time availability.

Being prepared at the earlier time poses a great advantage. If one is into part-time jobs or full-time freelancing then I highly recommend doing these preparations ahead of time – even if there are still no clients available to hire your services.

Take note of these most important preparations that need to be done:

• profile: Most freelance sites require their members to create a profile. oDesk, Elance and Guru requires their freelancers to create a comprehensive profile that includes the resume and a defined objective because of the nature of the outsourced jobs which requires a set of skills. Freelancers with work experience are generally preferred over those without any.
  

  image credit to Richard

• portfolio: The portfolio strongly illustrates one’s skills in completing a job. Having several projects listed increases the probability of getting hired. Not all jobs are fitting to one’s portfolio. I’ve recently read a post from Julie Roads of Blogging Roads that case studies can also do wonders to a portfolio.
• payment method: It is best to set the payment methods ready earlier than arranging this after the first job. Getting the money out of the internet can take some time. For instance, verifying a Paypal account using the Unionbank EON debit card can take several weeks. Getting the Payoneer card from the mail can even take more or less a month.
• online tests: The online tests guarantee one’s skill for the job. It measures one’s technical capability which can also be useful in hiring decisions. Without these tests then it can be quite difficult for the freelancer to back up his claim on his technical skills.

Every freelance site may adopt a different set of requirements, so be sure to take some notes in addition to what I have just mentioned.

I was catching some new opportunities in SocialSpark just the other day and I suddenly noticed that all the props that I gained in my profile dropped to zero. I checked other profiles too – even the bloggers with the most friends got zero props in their profile.

When I checked the IZEA forums it seemed that everyone’s props had been reset barely a week ago. Just like what had been discussed in one of their forum threads, I just could not repeat the effort of getting to everyone in SocialSpark to redo all the props as well as regain these props too.

Even the SocialSpark code of conduct stated their props/drops etiquette. It mentioned about serial prop seekers getting reprimanded. Even bad comments that sound like “propped you, hope you’d prop me back” are now being removed. UPDATE: Customer Love can break your heart by removing if you try to add too many friends at one time, solicit props just like above and put a comment that puts out a slot request for the advertiser to write an opportunity. These are grounds for having one’s account suspended, as this blogger had experienced.

photo credit: mommyof9 (SXC)

I think props and drops are great, but I do not think it would affect one’s ability to get some opportunities from SocialSpark. Getting a good traffic and having a good IZEA rank is still the top choice of advertisers for screening out opportunities.