Archive for the ‘Non automotive’ Category

Dear readers,

Once again engine start button apologises *bow*

My trusty Apple Macintosh of 4 years crashed on me, and i’m using a borrowed PC to blog now.

Till date apple computer has not given me any word about my mac’s repair, and it’s been close to 3 weeks since i submitted in the CPU for repair.

Sorry guys but once the apple is fixed (or screwed for a new PEE SEE) i will get back to regular blogging.

In the meantime, await more auto tips….

Regards,

Philip-san.

Dear Readers:

I apologise for my lack of posting activity.

Due to various projects and work and the internet, i was going crazy. My company, a Japanese trading firm, also had lost of ‘entertainment’ to do at night, if you know what i’m saying.

So i made a tough decision. They were paying well but the people and customers were nastier than the British paparazzi.

I resigned.

And right now, armed with affiliate income from the Internet and my own tidy sum of savings, I will devote my time to enginestartbutton as well as other online income.

But thanks for your viewership and readership, and I promise to inject more fresh news and tuning tips for your reading pleasure.

Dozo Arigato Gozaimasu!  

 

My apologies for not posting recently, I have been very busy settling into my new job.

It’s hard to juggle work and blogging, especially in a busy (i would say slave-driven) nation like Singapore.

Anyway I have been seeing a lot of people parking really badly all over the place.

I really think they either bribed someone, stole their driving I.D from a corpse or got their licence from the PRC practicing parallel parking using 2 water buffalos.

Kudos to a local hero, the ‘parking idiot’ vigilante, for exposing these selfish, boorish, WANKERS who make me ashamed to tell foreigners that i am a singaporean. Good on ya mate.

Are there any sites that expose the double-standards of the local parking ticket wardens as well? Heheheh….

Dear readers:

As of today Engine Start Button will be going through slight changes.

Firstly, i got a new job as a Business Development guy in a Japanese Petroleum firm. Yes, you may think there’s more cash to be made but in truth, well, I work the Japanese way.

I don’t have to spell it out. Basically it means less time for my blog posts, sadly. But that’s a fact of life.

Nevertheless, i will still post, but maybe not as frequently.

Secondly, a friend, a kind soul, informed me that engine start button’s alignment and overall site design was amatuerish.

I have to admit he’s right. But I hope you guys cut me some slack, because I’m a first time blogger. Engine Start Button is my first (and to date, only) blog.

For those who have read my postings and voraciously continue to read new ones, I have to say thank you from the bottom of my heart, and I am grateful that you appreciate my expertise, advice & tips.

I will continue to churn out delicious nuggets of automotive advice and news. But i ask a favor of you, the reader.

Your feedback is valuable, and I would love you to talk to me.

Of course comments like: ”Wtf you chink? My badass f**king turbo is gonna blow your balls off” will NOT be answered, thank you very much.

I am looking for constructive feedback. If you have to be negative, go ahead, but slice off the immaturity and throw it in the dustbin first.

Thank you once again, my dear reader, and i look forward to many good years of automotive information exchanges between you and me!

Regards,

Philip Emmanuel Chan

Dear all:

I will be on compulsory military service from the 20th of August -31st of August for the Republic of Singapore.

You see, (to my American & foreign mates) this is compulsory service for every male Singapore citizen. Like it or not you have to do it.

Therefore there may a blog posting lag during this period. Occasionally i may be allowed to return home or to go out for a short period of time, before scurrying back to camp.

Therefore if you do see a blog post between the period of 20th August -31st August, I managed to re-appear in the civilian world. Somehow.

Many of my fellow countrymen complain about the 2.5 years of military service and subsequent yearly callups.  I will not get political here because i know big brother is watching closely…but i have a message to those who, like me, yearn for freedom:

Where you are right now, endure. Be strong.  I managed to survive 2.5 years of military service because i had a vision.

I saw myself in Sydney, Australia. I saw myself living in a nice suburb house, owning my own business.

I saw myself going to church in hillsongs, coming back with a smile on my face.

I saw myself enjoying winter, spring, summer and autumn with my family.

I saw myself never having to struggle with high inflation rates, cramped living conditions, and I saw my future generations free. Free in a country where they will never be told where to go, what to study, or what occupation to take up.

I have not given up the vision of being an Aussie. To my mates down under, I see myself drinking Victoria Bitter, watching aussie rules and munching Fish & chips with my left hand.

I see myself driving a Holden Monaro.

I have not given up on my dream. Neither should you.

Ok so I am not talking about auto-related stuff today but something new in the market called WP text ads.

“Philip, we come all the way from USA/Australia/ name your country to see your auto stuff , not listen to IT geek topics!”

WAIT LAH. This topic could change the way you advertise your WRX online. There, i mentioned a performance vehicle. May I have your attention now?

Ok lets say you have a blog about performance cars. Lets call it enginestartbutton.org. Haha. You wish you had a sugar daddy to give you some cash for that new recaro bucket seat/ bring your g/f to eat expensive steak etc etc. Your online friends wish they could find a good deal in their area, say UK or Singapore. And autotrader or sgcarmart wishes they could sell off that old VW GTI.

WP text ads is a system to satisfy everyone in this threesome. Say Autotrader/sgcarmart goes to the WP text ad marketplace.  They find your blog, enginestartbutton.org there and they realise: “This fella has a lot of hits/traffic on his site (Amen to that!), let’s advertise on his page.”

So they go to your blog and click on ’buy a text link ad’. They purchase a sponsored link, say $15 for 30 days, and you negotiate with them on the price. So the price is set, and the sponsored link: ‘Look at autotrader for cheap car prices’ or whatever goes up on your blog.

Your mate in the UK goes to your blog to look around, and sees the sponsored link. He clicks, it brings him to autotrader. He has an itch to buy a golf GTI. Wonder of wonders, he finds what he’s looking for. He makes the purchase. Guess what? You’ve got cash to bring the girl out for a steak (and more!), Auto trader is counting their profits, and your mate in UK is happily driving his GTI, and hopefully crashes into Alex Ferguson (the VW will be ok but i doubt Fergie will!)

“Aren’t there systems like these already?”

Sure there are, but they are controlled by a middleman company which decides whichever company lands on your blog as a sponsor. Not only does the middleman squeeze from the blogger, he throws the advertiser into some crap blog about ‘i drifted my mom’s car’ and the advertiser does not get the target audience he hoped.

WP text ads is run by a fellow Singaporean, Alex, and his customer service is prompt & solid. Other companies take way too long. Your grape juice would have fermented into Bordeaux Red by then.

WP text ads isn’t perfect. Their market place isn’t really big or well known, but comeon, it’s a very new startup. Alex is a human, not the thousand hand guanyin. There are times he replies fast, others not so. Truth is, i want to interact with my advertiser. It’s not about money always. Some advertisers i will blatantly reject, example, anyone from www.manutd.com

Remember if you wanna get publicity go take a look at the marketplace. I’m not the only one there, but i sure hell am the best one there. Hah hah!