I’ve always been a home buddy since I start working at home and it is like home-my kids’ schools-home on weekdays and home-church-home on Sundays.  My youngest son is a first-time school boy and then once I had a chance to go out with him for a school trip.  It seems that I am more excited than him that I prepared our things for the early leave the next day.

The places we visited for the school trip seemed nothing new to me, but it was his first time so I let him enjoy the places and took pictures.  The last place that we visited was something very new to me.  I saw the place and sign before when I was working in Cubao and was still living in Quezon City.  The tour guide asked everyone to prepare our camera phones or cameras and he said that it is a huge place with different paintings on the walls, ceilings, and even floors.  Everyone was so excited to wear our pair of foot covers at the door of Art In Island.  It is an interactive 3D art museum located in Brgy. Socorro, Cubao, Quezon City.

The first part of the paintings was the common optical illusions and at first, I can’t take pictures because we were so amazed of the wall paintings.  When we get inside the place more, there were different themes and really huge paintings that change the atmosphere of the place.  Since it was a mother and son event for the two of us, I took more of the picture of the place with my very handsome good boy.  Well, I can say that there were just a couple of people who volunteered to take a photo of us both like the huge message in the bottle.  We sat in the middle of the two walls and that is the middle of the painting of a huge bottle that was floating in the ocean with beautiful scenery of the sunset as a background.

There were some parts that it seems like you were in a jungle, Egypt, Milan, Snowy Mountain and a lot more.  There were also parts in front of the painting that has a sign of camera; it means that is the good spot to take a picture.  When we were on our way home, I was so surprised that I took more than 50 pictures in that place and I uploaded more than 180 pictures from the places that we visited that day.  It was fun and we’re planning to visit it again with some friends or family members. 

This post was contributed to us by a work at home mom.

Home-based audio transcription is increasingly popular in the Philippines.  A lot of audio transcriptionists or sometimes called as transcribers  nowadays are trying to get clients directly from the source. Through the advent of internet, many Filipino transcriptionists are able to get jobs or voice files from the USA, Australia or even in the UK.

With appropriate skills and equipment, one can start immediately at the own comfort of your home.  One must consider several factors in starting a career in home based transcription. In the Philippines, since majority of Filipinos have good grasp of the English language, they can immediately acquire the trust of transcription clients all over the world.

Audio transcription in Philippines dates back to early 2000 when medical transcription became profitable for business process outsourcing companies.  Since then, the Philippines becomes the first choice of US and the UK to source out their medical transcription work.

See below our readers comments:

The technology has made it easier for us to play the games online either on the phone or the Internet. Since, smartphones play a big role in our life nowadays, we rely mostly on the cellphones when we are on break during our blogging work or free at home. There are tons of applications in the Android OS, which can be played but here we are going to mention the top 6 apps for brain teaser in Android. You can download the applications for free from the Play Store of Android and get ready to play.

The top 6 games apps are very addictive and can be considered the best to be played as a time pass. The puzzles games and the strategy games keep our attention towards them because you have to be quick in thinking how to clear the certain level and reach to the other.

Top 6 Brain Teaser Applications

The top 6 brain teaser applications of Android are as follows:

1.      Cut The Rope

Cut the Rope is a pretty simple game where you have to slack ropes to get the candy in the game. You have to collect as much as gold stars through which you can get the points in the game. It is exciting, as hanging with the rope keeps you going in this game. Though the game is easy to play, yet you will have some seconds to pass each level, which is a real brain teaser.

2.      Mahjong Connect

Mahjong Connect is a puzzle game, which has tiles in it. It needs planning ahead of time where you need to think quickly with the good coordination of hand and eye. The identical tiles should be in connecting pairs in order to clear the board of Mahjong connect. It is an exciting and fun game to play.

3.      Angry Bird

Nowadays, Angry bird is installed in everyone’s Android smartphone. This game requires planning on how to hit all the pigs in the games. You will have the option of numerous birds on each level to be used to hit the pigs in order to proceed further to the next step. There are different interfaces for each angry bird level, which makes the game more exciting.

4.      Apparatus

The concept of Apparatus game is to throw the ball in the basket. It seems easier but it is not because you have to take the measures on how to make it as a perfect throw. Thus, it is challenging to complete the levels. You have to goal the ball accordingly because there are fewer chances given in this game.

5.      Slice It

The puzzle game of Slice consists of cutting the paper into equal portions. As the levels get higher in this game, it gets trickier. You have to be very quick on how and from where you can cut the paper. There are set of numbers given to slice the paper on each stage, which you will have to reach accordingly. It is free to download and fun to play when you are free.

6.      Mixt HD

It is one of the best games, which can give you the excellent use of touch screens of your Android smartphones. You have to fill the colored wells with appropriate colored blob at the bottom of the screen. The colors can be of different combinations making the red into yellow or yellow into orange and so on.

About the Contributor: This post is written by Adeel Zia. He is a part time blogger and Internet marketing expert.

For some people blogging is just a thing to enjoy, a hobby, where one can fully express what he wants to write about a particular topic. Blogging can be real fun and you can even turn this into the best money  making blogs on the web. It is often the belief that in order to earn money from these blogs, you need to advertise or sell a product or service. While this is true, there are other ways to make more money by selling advertisement on your blog site.

Instead of you promoting a certain product or service, it will be the other way around, which means advertisers  pay you for placing their ads on your own site. Many people are now creating their blogs daily and if you are that serious to get some real cash, then learn to be different from the others. Try and become a member of an existing advertising team.

If you want to  be one of the top money making blogs, network your work through some advertisers and be an associate:

Google AdSense. This is a very good advertising network and very lucrative. Google’s ads are relatively short and usually contains 25 characters for the headline and the next lines about 35 characters only.

Expoactive. This network gives you the right to select specific advertisements that you want to appear in your site.

Crispads. This advertising network gives you the opportunity to negotiate how much you charge for a particular ad. High blog traffic means increase in the price and you have the option to do that.

These advertising networks can give you an income that you never imagine you can have. You always have the choice whether to be an affiliate or to promote your blog solo. Although it is a little bit slower when starting up with this business, in time you can have the best money making blogs with perseverance. There is great money in blogging and one must only learn the basics and guidelines to be successful and be one of the top money making blogs on the web. For newbie bloggers, read this money earning ideas.

Do you dream of becoming a Search Engine Optimization (SEO) specialist? If so, you need to have some qualities that will prepare yourself to be a qualified one.

SEO specialist is being hired by bloggers needing to optimize their blog to stand out above the rest. The following are some important requirements of an SEO specialist.

1. Beginners might be frustrated but a basic knowledge of JavaScript, HTML and also CSS is very useful.
If you are going to work on websites, you will encounter some of the different codes you may not familiar with. Others may look simple but surely there will be some that will be complicated than you think.

2. Writing skills is a must.
It is significant that you can write and communicate effectively since there are tasks that necessitate this skill.  Websites often assign SEO’s to build links and you will also need to submit contents, furnish articles and do other various kinds of writings.

3. You need to be analytical.
This is the best quality an SEO expert must have. When situations get tough, you have to think of the best solution to make and be a winner. There are difficult decisions that will need fast implementations and it will need a good analyst in circumstances like that.

4. A comprehensive knowledge about the internet.
You need to have an intense knowledge on how the internet works.  Further, promotions are needed when you are engaged in SEO marketing; therefore you have to be very good in promoting the sites assigned to you in various networks available.

5. You must possess good research abilities.
One vital role of SEO’s is research. More often than not, there will be several research works that will be assigned to you. This is very true in a lot of situations.

A successful SEO specialist should learn all the skills and needs to continue learning. In order for your services to be in demand, the best thing to do is hone your knowledge towards productivity in order to acquire best results possible. This way, you can provide satisfaction to your employer, and you deliberately add more skills to yourself. Competitions are tough therefore always give your best foot forward.

Being a blog writer comes with different perks. Individuals who have a way with words and who are on the lookout for a more productive way to spend their free time should consider working as part-times writers. Below are the key qualifications that employers look for when hiring associates for their teams. If you have the following skills and expertise, then you are a great contender to cinching a blog writer post.

Blog writers, whether they are working full time or part time, should be team players. In addition to having stable connection to the Internet and having ample free time to produce great articles, they should also have a professional attitude towards work. Obviously, a good command of the English language is a must. There are still a number of blogging tips and tricks to follow and are available online.

A blog writer should also be able to produce unique and plagiarism-free pieces. No phrase, fragment, or sentence should be lifted from any website or book. A writer should also be able to write individual posts that deal with a singular context and use appropriate keywords. Titles and paragraphs should be of just the right length – not too short and not too long – for a total of 400 -600 words per blog post is somewhat the standard length. Use of the third person perspective should be implemented at all times. Also, writers should be able to produce pieces that summary paragraphs that will synthesize the whole article. While the summary is already included in the total word count, directly lifting some parts of the article and using them to summarize the piece should be avoided.

In addition to having these skills, a blog writer should have an online account or for instance a verified PayPal account, which will be used to course payment. Compensation and rates are usually discussed upon approval of the applicant’s test article.

When done right, being a blog writer will not only improve your writing skills but will also boost your bank account. If you have a good grasp of written English, can follow instructions easily, and can work on project-based tasks, apply for a blog writer post by sending an e-mail to prospective job providers. Regular tasks and projects are available to writers who show exemplary performance.

Imagine waking up one morning and suddenly boredom begins to strike in.  But instead of giving in to that boredom, I was thankful God has given me another day to live and thought of engaging in an unexpected road trip!  Finally, I had the guts to get that much needed break from the daily household chores, some unfinished projects, and being a mom and wife.

I dropped by my sister’s house and invited her to come with me to places I wanted to go, but honestly don’t know where to go.  That was where the fun began.  So off we went to Banate, a town in the northern part of Iloilo Province in the Philippines where we can just sit, relax and enjoy the sea view.  This place has an eco-park, where small eateries are located with their specialty called “buko halo,” a mixture of various fruits, shaved ice, milk, and sugar inside a young coconut.  This municipality is also known for their fresh crabs and shrimps; truly a paradise for visitors.  We then proceeded to Estancia and Carles, considered the last municipalities of the province, which are also famous in fresh fishes and sea shells, and other exotic seafoods delightfully new in our eyes.  After some picture takings for remembrance and memoirs, we proceeded to Roxas City, another province in Capiz.

See also Pototan, Iloilo here.

By this time the sun is beginning to set, and we need to slowly return to Iloilo.  We took another route in Capiz province and passed by several towns and municipalities, occasionally stopping to take pictures and taste some of their delicacies.  Near ending the trip, we finally stopped to buy crabs and some interesting sea shells to cap the adventure.

Truly, the Philippines is a country with sights to behold with several hidden places and virgin beaches waiting to be explored.  I had a very good time and enjoyed my rewards in this road trip.  My sister enjoyed the trip as well and we are both looking forward to the next escapade.  Soon, we will explore the southern part of Panay, where hills and zigzag roads are quite challenging.  We arrived safely, satisfied and renewed.

The contributor of this story is a home-based article writer, blogger, and researcher who loves travelling and adventure.  She is a graduate of Business Administration at the University of San Agustin, Iloilo City.

This is a story of a former SPi employee working as a medical transcriptionist. I wasn't able to save his contact information so, this is posted anonymously.

SPi is one of the leading transcription company in the Philippines in 2006 to 2010 and it was one of the featured companies here in my blog.

At first, he really have no idea about transcription until eight months after he graduated.  He was working then as a gym receptionist.  One of the gym instructors was a physical therapy graduate and he noticed that he have quite good typing skills.  He told him that he might want to try medical transcription since he is a graduate of a medical allied course.

During that time, SPi was in need of medical transcriptionist.  He applied for the position and underwent series of tests and interviews.  He narrates that, "It was funny because during the final interview with the operations manager, instead of her asking me questions, it was me who asked bunch of questions about medical transcription."  In their conversation, he was able to grasp idea of how this career would be.  He was luckily considered for the position and underwent an extensive training for two months.

Everything about medical transcription was discussed to him; turnaround time, flexibility, use of different reference materials, client specifics, confidentiality agreement, et cetera.  He thought since he have knowledge of medical terms and good typing skills, maybe he could fit for this job.  It would just take familiarity with the accent (would the clients be American or ESLs), being resourceful, willingness to learn, and of course hard work.  He eventually worked with the radiology account (4 hours turnaround time) for two years, 18 months of which as an off-edit MT.

His last year with SPi was spent doing other different types of dictations including acute care, discharge summaries, orthopedic account, ER notes, and even medical conferences and some general transcription jobs.


His final remarks states that, "Even though I am no longer working as a medical transcriptionist, my current job is still related with transcription.  I still transcribe dictations; the only difference is that my current job is transcribing real-time dictations, from a person talking to me on the phone."

This article was originally written November 1, 2015:

I've been in Qatar for only three days and I'm thinking what makes me decide to live in Qatar for work. I remember a few months back waiting long time to get my job application get approved. During those times, I kept on asking myself if I really want to live in Qatar for the next three or more years.

Now that I'm here, there are considerably good reasons why living in Qatar attracts me.  Well undoubtedly the pay for expat workers here is better that their respective country.  Another of course with the upcoming FIFA World Cup in 2022, there is very impressive development in Qatar.

Qatar somehow is very peaceful.  The environment is a bit relaxed.  The neighbourhood is really quite.  You will only get to see people going to mosques during prayer times.  The traffic is very moderate to heavy on peak hours.  There is only a few build up on some major intersections.  Because the infrastructure is relatively new, roads are easy to navigate.  It seems that fun and too much leisure is not a priority here, but it seems people are contented.  Shopping malls are not that jammed pack.  There are some small shopping malls here actually.  I've seen one, and there is a cinema.  Alcohol is not prohibited, but you need to get a license.  I'm thinking getting one.  I've heard to some of my friends who have been here for a couple of years telling me they are definitely staying here as long as they could.  The weather by the way is likeable, although it's a bit early to tell because winter is just approaching.  

I can't wait to explore more the city of Doha.  It seems that you can tour the whole city in just few hours in a not so busy day.  I see that there are major constructions undergoing to build the metro rail as well.  There is a public bus that seems efficient.  Well, I must say these are only an observation of someone who is relatively new here living in Qatar.

I think I will continuously enjoy living and working here in Qatar.  I particularly like the culture that is relaxed as compared to other Arab countries I've been to like Saudi Arabia.

Blogging has been slowly eating our system, positively that is. From being a hobby and a trend, now it’s beginning to be a money earning idea that is providing opportunities for writers. Blogging for others had already begun to conquer their lives, since this type of writing is a kind of journal, where one usually had to do some blogs every day regarding his or her experience, or just about anything that he wants to share publicly. Others had been doing this for quite a long time, and had earned some considerable amount of money by blog writing.

However, there are some tips about blogging that you need to know:

1. Determine your target market.
Ask yourself to whom should you address the topics you are writing? Categorize and distinguish if your blogs focuses on the particular audience that you want to impart your message to.

2. Write and be yourself.
In order for you to reach out to your readers, just be cool and focus on subjects which you think can highly relate to others. This is one way of getting the attention of your readers and can make them want to go back reading your other blogs.

3. Use colorful images.
Pictures and images can be very attractive. This is a visual stimulation and can help trigger curiosity in your reader’s brains. There are numerous websites that provides various images that can be used for any topic in your blog writing.

4. Be responsive to any comment that are posted on your blog site. 
Responding to your audience comments and suggestions perhaps only means that they had been reading your blogs thoroughly. Be sensitive and try to be more appreciative of these readers. A thank you can be a very good gesture to these people.

5. Be active in social media sites.
Share your blog writing on different social networks that you are a member of. This is one method of promoting and advertising your blogs to gain more views and readers. Ask your friends to share the blog with their friends if you really want to be a little bit popular.

These 5 tips about blogging will lead you to create your quality blog. So you must keep motivated and always be focused on your blogging.

In this article, I will feature my interview with Marilou who considers herself as an average transcriptionist.  She is located in Cebu City and presently not connected to any company.

In 210, she had joined a week training as a transcriptionist but decided to stop because the location was far from where she lives.  She started transcribing sometime around November of 2010 when she helped out someone she knew who was originally working as a Transcriptionist with her load. Being a part-time transcriptionist helps her earn money while enjoying the job.

When asked what is her preference to work home based or in an office setting, she explained she prefers to work home based because it is a lot more convenient.  Also, general transcription appeals most to her interest.

She said that the most important characteristic or quality to become an effective and productive transcriptionist is being passionate.

She advised that for anyone who wants to work as transcriptionist, extend their patience, obtain active listening, focus and love the job while being passionate about the work.

Being a mom is a full time task. Once I worked with one of the prestigious State universities in our place. It was quite rewarding because it was, yes, a more stable job, I supposed so. But being a working mother has its own perks. Having three little kids while working 50 kilometers away from home made me think a hundred times if I have to keep my job or quit to be a full time wife and mom. I was starting with my career and again yes, personally I would have kept it if I was not always worrying with what was happening with my children when I am not around. I had a “yaya” back then, but with my third child suffering from asthma and would not even taste her food when in an attack, I had to let go of my job.

It was not long so long ago that I came across a platform that offers various home-based jobs ranging from telemarketing, writing and more. Although foreign to that idea, I had somehow managed to get a job as a writer. And it really helped me a lot, positively. I have also discovered that there are even more rewarding home-based and online jobs available.

Now, I am working at home and managing my own time and pace, minus the dilemma of anxiety that always haunted me when I am away from home. I do not have to run every morning, deal with traffic and all the stress that comes with it. Imagine working the 8-5 routine; waking up as early as 5am preparing for work and going home as late as 8 pm, tired and useless. For others it can be perfect, but for me it doesn’t work. I was not happy with my life as well as my job anymore.

The onset of home-based jobs for me is a blessing. I am enjoying my life now and most of all my family. I feel I have the best of both worlds, and I am grateful to have found a rewarding career.

The contributor of this article is a home-based article writer, blogger and researcher who loves travelling and adventure. She is a graduate of Business Administration at the University of San Agustin, Iloilo City in the Philippines.