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So you want to create multiple websites, you have one shared web hosting plan and dozens of domains? In other words, how do you host multiple domains in one web host? Normally, what people do is they buy one web host for each domain which is clearly very expensive! So, now I am going to teach you how to be cheap (lolz) and just use one web host for multiple domains.

First, I would like to say that this is not always a good idea. It is good financially but if you expect a lot of traffic from each of your domains then don’t do this. Either get a dedicated hosting server for your domains or get a shared hosting for each. But if you expect minimal traffic, you could do this technique.

To begin with, I assume you already know and have the following:

• Shared Web Hosting Plan
• Multiple Domain (at least 2)
• Knowledge of FTP or you know how to access your files via the CPANEL

Ok let us be quick and thorough. Here are the instructions:

1. Go to your CPANEL and click file manager.
2. Go to your root folder (www folder).
3. If you have say 2 domains, create 2 subfolders for each domain. That means you would have subfolder for site1 and for site 2.
4. Open the .htaccess file in edit mode. If you have none, create one.
5. Enter the following code below:

RewriteEngine On
RewriteCond %{HTTP_HOST} site1.com$ [NC]
RewriteCond %{REQUEST_URI} !^/site1/.*$
RewriteRule ^(.*)$ /site1/$1 [L]

RewriteEngine On
RewriteCond %{HTTP_HOST} site2.com$ [NC]
RewriteCond %{REQUEST_URI} !^/site2/.*$
RewriteRule ^(.*)$ /site2/$1 [L]

And that’s it! If you are using wordpress, just point your site to your domain name and not the subfolder. When you enter “www.site1.com” in your address bar, it should get redirected to your subfolder but URL would still be “www.site1.com” and not “www.site1.com/site1″.

Let me know if you have any questions.

I will be dedicating this post to swine flu updates.

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07/12/2009
Swine flu is expected to make a comeback with rage this winter. That is why swine flu vaccines are being readied before that season of reckoning.

Obese and highly stressed people have a higher probability of mortality based from statistics retrieved from those infected and killed. So better shed off those pounds and start working smartly (to reduce stress…) and you might avoid the A(H1N1) wrath.

06/30/2009
Can getting the mild version of the swine flu immunize you against a stronger version of it? Some people definitely think so and are even discussing holding swine flu parties. Definitely one party I do not want to go to…

06/27/2009
Is the swine flu in the process of mutating into a more lethal virus? First China, now back to New York.

A(H1N1) cases in RP rise to 861.
06/22/2009
First Asian swine flu related casualty is a Filipina. Though she did not die because of the swine flu (she officially died of heart failure, a pre-existing heart disease she had), it seems those at a higher rate of mortality are those who are already sick beforehand.

06/21/2009
A mother loses the battle against swine flu and fails to hold her newborn baby who also died (but not from swine flu).

Some companies are taking advantage of the swine flu pandemic and are selling herbal supplements to ward off the swine flu virus.

06/20/2009
In my last post, A(H1N1) Antigenic Shift, we saw that the current swine flu is a mild one. However, the virus is slowly mutating into a more lethal one as seen in China. This same scenario was last seen in the Spanish Flu pandemic of 1918 that killed 50-100 million people worldwide.

Possible first swine flu death from the asia pacific region. Man who was diagnosed with multiple serious ailments (including the swine flu) has died. Should we be alarmed?

Good news! As of 06/19/2009, 76% of those afflicted with swine flu in the Philippines are now healthy and fine!

Here is another email worth sharing. It tells us not to use our car aircon right away when in our car as this may cause sickness in us such as cancer. Read on to find out more:

Do not turn on A/C immediately as soon as you enter the car!

Please open the windows after you enter your car and do not turn ON the air-conditioning immediately. According to a research done, the car dashboard, sofa, air freshener emits Benzene, a Cancer causing toxin (carcinogen- take note of the heated plastic smell in your car). In addition to causing cancer, it poisons your bones, causes anemia, and reduces white blood cells. Prolonged exposure will cause Leukemia, increasing the risk of cancer may also cause miscarriage.

Acceptable Benzene level indoors is 50 mg per sq. ft. A car parked indoors with the windows closed will contain 400-800 mg of Benzene. If parked outdoors under the sun at a temperature above 60 degrees F, the Benzene level goes up to 2000-4000 mg, 40 times the acceptable level… & the people inside the car will inevitably inhale an excess amount of the toxins.

It is recommended that you open the windows and door to give time for the interior to air out before you enter. Benzene is a toxin that affects your kidney and liver, and is very difficult for your body to expel this toxic stuff.

“When someone shares something of value with you and you benefit from it, You have a moral obligation to share it with others”

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Is Prudential Life using dirty tricks to lure people to buy their plans? Are Prudential Life Plans a scam?

Sparky here definitely thinks so. While here is a story of Prudential Life using the dead to trick people into buying their plans. There are also may instances where they try to find credit card holders to make them buy something most of us cannot afford.

I got into a similar situation.

I already forgot when, it was probably 2 months ago when someone sent my wife a text message. It said that because Prudential Life was having their anniversary, someone referred us to them and thus we had the privilege of getting a free insurance, free 2 year scholarship with Datamex and some raffle tickets. All we had to do was go to their office in Rada Branch, Makati. Since everything was free, it sounded like a good deal.

In short, we went to their office in Makati. Their office did not seem like an office. It was kind of dirty and unprofessional like. But hey, we are here for the free stuff so we did not mind. Strange thing though, they asked if I had a credit card for identification purposes. Real strange.

We are asked to go to a room where their potential clients are briefed. The agent who entertained us was cheerful and full of life. He said that we were fortunate since he was the manager (or officer or something in their office) and he never actually fronts clients but only this time because they were lacking employees that day since it was a Saturday. Okay good for us! Or so we thought.

First, he explained how the free stuff worked. He showed us the Datamex coupons that we would need to present to Datamex to avail of the free scholarship for any 2 year course. He also explained how we were to avail of the free insurance and then asked us to sign a form to formalize our ties with Prudential Life and avail the free insurance. Then he also gave us some raffle tickets. He said for every credit card that I have then and there with me, I would get 5 extra raffle tickets! I only had one so I only got 5 extra raffle tickets.

And then the ‘ugly’ part of the story came. After making us happy with all those free stuff and making us feel like the most fortunate couple in the world, he started pre-selling to us. He introduced us to their health plans. I am not going to go into detail but what I want to point here is this, we were somewhat tricked into buying their health plan. I had no intention of buying or availing of one but in the end we did and cost us 36,008 pesos. I believe this is what they call sales talk.

However, his sales talk wasn’t clean. He did not tell the complete truth which cost me another 6,000 pesos. You see he said that I can use my credit card to pay for the health plan. I brought a Citibank credit card that day. He said Citibank is one of their affiliates therefore I can use it to pay for the plan. I asked if the 36008 pesos can be paid monthly (divided into 12 months) without interest. He said yes. He also said that Citibank would call me after a few days to do arrange this. We signed the contract and then left.

A few days has passed and Citibank never called. We called Prudential Life and asked for the person who entertained us. He answered the phone. We asked why Citibank never called us. He said he never said anything like that. He is a liar. He even said that he cannot remember who we are. Certainly one of the worst customer service I have ever encountered (worst is Smart but that is another story…). He also said we cannot cancel the plan as it is already signed. Just great.

Thus, I had no choice but to call Citibank myself. I had them stagger the payments for the health plan but for a cost, around 6000 pesos (interest somewhere between 1% - 2%).

Another one of the promises the Prudential Life “officer” said was that the plan documents (or whatever you call it) will arrive at my house after 3 weeks. Did it? No it did not. The worse part it they never even bothered to call us that it would get delayed. Really bad service from Prudential Life. But we did get it maybe 2-3 weeks after the promised date.

So to answer the question above, is Prudential Life plans a scam? Probably not. We did actually get it (but yet to use it…). I think what destroys their reputation is their marketing side. They use dirty cheap tricks to lure clients into buying their plans. I think this is how it works:

1. Make potential client feel happy by letting them know that they can get free insurance.
2. Make sure potential client can pay by asking for a credit card.
3. Show potential client the free stuff to further lure them in.
4. When the timing is right, start pitching in the sales talk to the potential client.
5. Claim half truths as part of their sales pitch.
6. Hard-sell their products and make instant profits.

So there you have it. If you encounter the same marketing technique, be forewarned that it all boils down to them selling you their plans for a profit.

Image via CrunchBase

Do you need a hunch? Do you need someone’s advice on something but no one is around? You want to buy that new car or that new bag but do not know if you should? Then there is a perfect solution for you! There is this new website where it will do just that. First, it would get to know you by asking some general questions. Then, it would generate a list of questions for you to choose from which requires quick decisioning. This is where you come in and choose the question related to your question.

Try it today here => Hunch.

What is Antigenic Shift? And how does this relate to the A(H1N1) virus?

To give a brief background first, the A(H1N1) virus or what we commonly call Swine Flu today is relatively a mild virus. Compared to other pandemics we had before, this is not so deadly. That is why some people say that this pandemic is over-hyped because of the large media attention it gets. What most people do not know is that this virus can undergo Antigenic Shift.

In layman’s terms, when a virus undergoes antigenic shift, it mutates into a more deadly and potent virus. That is where the danger lies. According to some studies, this was how some of the earlier pandemics such as the Spanish Flu(a virus strain of subtype H1N1) brought its deadly toll.

Here is a very good illustration on how antigenic shift works (care of National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases):

That is why we cannot downplay the need to be vigilant in helping to prevent the spread of this virus. It may not be deadly today but what about tomorrow? So let us all not put our guards down but keep our heads up.