Cashle or Points2Shop? Are They Legitimate or Scams?

So, I recently ran into this site because I was using another survey site called "UTalkBack" and felt that utalkback was severely lacking and I needed something different. If you don't want to read any further, let me tell you this much: Cashle and Points2Shop appear legitimate after about a month's worth of playing around. Here's a referral to their site: http://www.points2shop.com/?ref=ss0luu Other details follow...

It appears that both cashle and p2s are the same site and that the main difference in the two sites are the payouts. They also appear to be available in the US and UK. I'm not sure yet if they're available in other countries. Anyhow, let's look at cashle first. Cashle pays you pennies to a dollar for you to do surveys. At first glance, the surveys seem to be conducted by third-party phishing sites. In fact, most of them are (ie: myrewardsvault, national survey panel, etc). However, there are a couple of surveys that are sprinkled in that are genuinely used for market research. I did one about cars from AmpSurveys today for instance, and look, no spam mails in my inbox yet. I also have to throw in that it took me circa 40 minutes to complete. Not really worth it for $0.50 USD, it's still better to get a job. I can see though that with time, this could be a side-hobby and a tertiary source of income. If I had to guess, I suspect the most you'll get out of this will be a hundred dollars (maybe a couple hundred for those that are extremely active).

So, onto p2s. Regardless of which site you log on to or register with, your information will be interchangeable with the other. This makes life easy, eh? So let's talk payouts. on p2s, you get points for doing surveys. These points can be racked up and cashed in for any item that is currently selling on amazon. 1 point = $0.01 and 10 points = $0.10 and 100 points = $1.00 and so on. You could even get an xbox 360 if you worked diligently on the site. That aside, you have a little more in terms of stuff you can do on p2s. For one, you can play games against other people and score points if you win. Unfortunately, you have an entrance fee which is about half of the total prize fee. The games are also pretty simple and I fear subject to cheats. However, to the best of my knowledge, these two sites regulate cheaters and potential cheaters pretty intensively. However, I still think they fail because I lost about 500 points to just one individual. Apparently, whatever I played, she followed and I wasn't comfortable with that. Still, the games are only a small subset of what's available. And one game particularly, Number Limbo, gives you an opportunity to win a pot of points which could be a couple thousand on the weekends.

Two more things are left to talk about. First, referrals. Yes, you can refer friends and like a pyramid scheme, you can get a higher payout based upon their activity. Financially though, it makes sense and unlike the infamous pyramid schemes we've seen before in the past, these payouts aren't ridiculous and really, they're still just pennies to a dollar. Next, there are "quests" that you can participate in. No additional energy is required as these are things like, "Do 5 surveys in one day" or "refer 5 friends to p2s" and such. The catch is that quests award you "merits" which are different from points. You can use these merits with other individuals as a team in monthly competitions though, and the winning team is then rewarded a prize (points). Still, you have to then start your own team or be accepted into one. Being accepted into one will require a lot of work though as the individuals here are really dedicated to winning.

If you're seriously that interested in it, I suggest you just go to the site and check it out. There's not much difference in being a spectator and registered user other than that registered users actually accrue points and money. That's all for now, I'll tell you more about UTalkBack.net next time. Cheers!

Happy Chinese New Years!

Well, February 14th is Chinese New Years. So, I just thought I'd wish you all a Happy Chinese New Years! After all, there's only about 1.3 billion people (in one country) that celebrates it. Who knows how many others celebrate, but regardless, wish you all an awesome and great new years! And by the way, 2010 is going to be the year of the tiger.

...And while I'm at it, Happy Valentine's Day!

One Really Messed Up Bad Dream that I Hope to Never Have Ever Again. Ever.

At 2am, my eyes were open and my heart was pulsating. Another bad dream. Nightmare? Yep. The visions in my dreams are entirely apocalyptic but what's worse is that my dreams always find a way to become darker, more insidious, and more disturbing. Yet, despite the seemingly endless nightmares that my mind conjures, what makes it so awful is how it could be real. In fact, all of my dreams are in the context of real life, even if that life is similar to my own. I wonder what this means, I truly do. To say it is due to what my daily activities, well, I live a very dull life. I wake up, brush my teeth, shower, get dressed, eat food, and go to work. At work, I sit in front of a computer all day. After work, I return home, cook some dinner, take another shower and answer questions on Yahoo Answers all night until I get sleepy. That or play online poker (not real money) or read up on new cell phones or technology stuff through a bunch of random blogs. Going to the grocery store is the one bi-weekly activity that stretches beyond my normal routine. And yet, my dreams are so vivid and even realistically horrifying that if I stopped to describe the setting and the people, I'm certain there would be an actual place identical to what my mind saw. I wouldn't be surprised if Hollywood made a horror movie out of what I dreamt! I mean, horror movies have got nothing on my brain. I just hope that the events never happen!

So, if I explain what I dreamt last night you'll understand. Things began with a small man-made creek behind a woman's house. It was a small farm-town in the heart of America. A sleeper town, if you will. The woman was a young and beautiful researcher who had been studying fish and fish behavior for all her life. As part of her studies, she filled the creek behind her this house with pirahnas. Her perspective was that pirahnas were capable of sentient thought if they could just get enough food. The fact that they were extremely active and had high metabolic rates was just due to their active lifestyles further fueling their hunger (please note that I do not know if this is true or not, but it was a hypothesis that was discovered while I was dreaming). Unlike dogs who could never stop eating, pirahnas knew when enough was enough but could never achieve that state due to their level of activity. Furthermore, the environment for which they live in require them to be together in groups, much like schools of fish. Once all of them were full, they would all be able to communicate with the human world. Therefore, as a scientist and as a researcher, she figured she would prove her theory.

In my dream, it began respectably. She threw in meat purchased from grocery stores and observed the fish. Nothing new. Then, she moved on to larger quantities. Nothing. The other thing that was growing was her obsession to prove her theory. She began to go around and steal animals like horses and cows and then threw those into the creek when she ran out of grant money. I could feel my body break out in a cold sweat. These were still living and breathing creatures! And when they were thrown into the creek...

I snapped awake at this point. It was still dark out and I thought, "Man, I don't want to go back to THAT dream again. I think I'll go eat something." Leaving my room, I poured a glass of milk and had some toast with butter. Finishing relatively quickly and washing the empty plate and glass, I returned to my bed expecting to dream of something new and different. 45 minutes have since elapsed but it wasn't even 3am yet. So, I returned comfortably to my bed and before long, was out cold.

As if my dream were reality and could not be stopped by being awake, things picked up and continued right where they left off. By this point however, the woman completely lost sight of her theory and developed an obsession with just seeing things thrown into the creek. Living things. She even abducted people and threw them into the creek! The thing that made it scary was that I could feel the fear, frustration, angst and pain of each person she abducted and threw in. I could even feel each pirahna's bite in my skin and the eery warmth of my blood when it entwined with the water in the creek. Upon dying, I became a spectre that took over the next victim's body the second after it hit the creek. A painfully infinite loop...

At first, she would bound and gag me. Then it escalated into drugging me into a comatose state and then she ultimately just gave up on that, smacked me in the head with some blunt object and just threw me. All the while, I wondered where her strength came from. I always felt like she had help but could never see...

Once when I fell in the water while conscious, I thought, "This must be a dream! This can't be happening! Surprisingly, I didn't wake up. The pain, the hurt, everything felt so real. And I felt so powerless. I even thought somebody would eventually come and save me. No such luck. In one such death, I saw that the local townsfolk came by to be an audience to my killing. It was as an endorsed event as if this killing was punishment for a crime... though whether or not I committed it as the victim (not suspect) was not essential. Still, never once did the person thrown into the creek do anything bad or unlawful. They were just at the wrong place at the wrong time. Since I was conscious this time, I even thought, "But... wait... the sheriff's supposed to be helping me and arresting her... Not watching as I drown and die..."

Then one day, it started to rain. It rained extremely hard. There was thunder, clouds, and all things dark. I was a new and different person but was now bound to a pole in a barn before I was to be thrown into the creek. Looks like it's turning into a flood! I saw water rising quickly from my feet to my waist. Within seconds, I was engulfed entirely in water and drowning. I was panicking but was still tied down. Was it really raining that hard?The door of the barn then gave way and I could see a dark horde come bolting straight at me like a swarm of locusts. And they were singing! They were singing an operatic tune acapella! But... they were the pirahnas! So... the doctor woman was right? Having fed on human flesh for generations, did they evolve?! Maybe I was delusional from asphyxiation but the second their razor sharp teeth pierced my skin, I realized that even if they could interact with humans on the same level understanding, they would not be able to control their desire to consume. The time of humans was coming to an end and all things aquatic, especially these fiercely intelligent pirahnas, would come to dominate the world. And though I'm dying inevitably, I wonder if the townspeople already went or if they are still scrambling to surivive above the flood of the rain. Still... what beautiful singing.

And during this epiphanous death, I was awakened by my operatic acapella tune coming from my phone. Thank all religions and deities and all things wonderful that the nightmare could finally come to an end! My heart was still beating quickly, my head was beneath my pillow and I could barely breathe because I was entangled with blanket.

Whew... But what's up with that anyways? What a weird dream! I mean, I know that I sometimes continue dreams when I awaken in the middle of the night and go back to sleep, but they rarely continue on the same path. Furthermore, I am (strangely enough) usually aware of when I am dreaming so I can usually control it. This night however...

Needless to say, I was a zombie when I arrived to work and remained a zombie regardless of how many cups of coffee I had throughout the day. Everything seemed so real, yet so much like a dream. I don't even know how real this is right now. I'm half-way expecting some really crazy-strong but attractive woman with long hair to barge into my house, drug me, and then throw me into a creek out in the middle of nowhere. Man... I think I should pick up jogging or something... My brain is obviously trying to make up for all of my inactivity and coming up with exercises of its own. Why it can't dream of the next awesome invention that'll help people on this planet though... Sheesh.

Lonely as the Snow...

Friday the 13th was today and amazingly enough, I had a great day. Work went pretty well--training played out smoothly and I survived quite well despite having been thrown into the proverbial shark tank. And yet, here I am sitting in my home--safe, warm, and comfortable. Admittedly, I am a bit tired and have every intention of showering in the next dozen minutes, but my heart seems hollow, as if a "vacancy" sign has been thrown up. Indeed, the only thing that occurred to me since the last blog I wrote has been some precipitation in the form of snow.

Snow... to me, it is the world falling apart. As far as I am concerned, the snow is merely the debris of the crashing world; the cold that it brings, the slippery roads that it creates, the accidents that it causes. Sometimes I wish I were in the tropical islands so I could avoid the icy hell that it creates. I would take the rain over the snow almost any day. Almost. You see, for me, every time it snows, I get lonely for some reason. It may be a function of events that took place in my past (see my other blog post, "My Willpower (from the Past)") or it may be a function of all of those Christmas flicks that I end up watching by myself when it snows because I have nothing better to do. I don't know. Two things I do know though, are: one, whenever it snows I wish I had a girlfriend by my side to hold; two, despite its purity, the snow is a dark and bittersweet chocolate.

Wouldn't you agree, it's beautiful isn't it? I have to admit, I love the wintry scene that it creates. The snow envelopes the world in its own image of its own ideal beauty. As it snows, I look up to the nearest lamppost and watch as the snowflakes cover the ground. To me, the view is comparable to watching angels gliding to and fro before finally -- gracefully -- touching down upon the ground. It's a level of purity that is unrivaled by even that of a newborn child. If you enjoy watching ballets, you'll agree with me on this. For everyone else, the snow may seem like a mother as it slows the world down to a crawl and reminds people to take shelter from the cold. And even in the coldest and wettest of snowstorms, there will still be a good soul who will extend his or her hand to a fellow stranger. Only in the coldest of times will we see the most heartwarming events take place. To me, that is worth the cold.

So whenever it snows, even with a fire in my soul and a beauty in my eyes, my isolated heart will beat like the rain on an abandoned oil drum. I guess, right now and for the foreseeable future, I will look to the sky whenever the flurry white flakes fall, enchanted and haunted by the beauty and purity that it continues to bring. This is the one time in my life when I genuinely wish I had a beautiful woman by my side to cherish, both in the moment and for the moment...

My Willpower (from the Past)

In 1998, I was in the 7th grade. It was the one year in my entire childhood where the schools closed on account of bad weather. You would expect the schools to be closed more frequently given the fact that I lived in the mountains of Colorado during my adolescent years, but that only happened once in my 12 years of school. Regardless, I remember the time when my patience was grid-iron despite a challenging time and though I had a reputation for being a "hot-head," I also had the ability to wait forever. Where has my willpower gone? How did I lose it in the first place? What was it that I had that made me stronger then instead of today? Let's see how much I remember...

It was the week before the giant blizzard. We had accrued plenty of snow that year -- so much that plow trucks had built us a giant fort just by piling it all in one area of the parking lot. We had lots and lots of snow and even though the roads were supposed to be cleared for people picking up their kids, they weren't and in fact, all of the buses chained up their tires. I remember it being like any other winter afternoon that day. The school bell rang, I left my class, grabbed my books, and headed outside to the cloudy and gray outdoors. Sometimes my parents would arrive before I could leave, sometimes they would arrive afterwards. Because this was the norm, I didn't think too much when I did not see my parent's car outside. Rather, I spent most of the time just chatting with my friends. Half an hour quickly passed by and by this time, the school premise was fairly vacant. My friends had all caught their respective buses or parents while I continued to loiter the school grounds. I considered stepping back into the school doors to stay warm but ultimately, I avoided doing so fearing that I would miss my parents if I did. About 10 minutes later as I was rubbing my hands together to keep warm, the school intercom called me to the office for an important message. I thought, "Wow, look at me! I'm so important they called me to the office!" Without a second thought, I bolted towards the main entrance and headed towards the main office. There, I had a phone call from my sister. What she reported turned my blood colder than the arctic temperatures of the north pole. Our parents were in a car accident. A semi-truck merged into their lane forcing the car off of the bridge. My brain stopped functioning and the next few sentences drowned out on the phone. The only clear instruction was to go to the public bus station, wait for the next bus to arrive, and return home immediately. I was equally as worried as I was scared. But that didn't matter, my mission was clear: get to the bus stop and return home as soon as possible. What happened to mom, to dad? Were they together when they left? Where are they now? Are they in the hospital? No, they couldn't be. They had to be at home because otherwise my sister wouldn't tell me to go home... Right?

So, my instincts took over as my brain stayed in its infinite waltz. I returned the phone to the school staff and bowed politely to them. A confused expression grew upon their faces as I turned to walk away. Due to the fact that students were all gone, most of the snow plows stopped trying to clear the roads by now. Regardless, I trekked to the nearest bus stop in the chilling cold, about a block away from my school. There, my body sat itself down on a frozen metal bench and waited. Alone. I was so alone. Even in thought, my instincts noticed how very few cars were driving by. Normally, as this was next to the mall and on the highway, it would be more crowded. But neither the absence of traffic nor the layer of snow covering my body mattered. My parent's car just fell off the bridge.

When I finally saw the bus arrive, I came back to earth and realized just how cold I was. I quickly signaled the bus with my frozen hand and jumped aboard. With my frozen fingers, it took me a many seconds to find a way to pay for the fare as I fumbled for my wallet. Finally seizing the only bill I had, I turned to the driver and asked, "Does this machine give back change?" The bus driver pointed to a sign and said, "Sorry, this is the express bus. It only takes prepaid tickets." On that note, I was told to jump off and wait for the second bus. Without thinking to ask how long it would take (as if that somehow mattered), I walked back out and returned to the bench. This time, it was colder than I remembered and the only thing that kept me company was my brain running through all of the worse-case scenarios possible. I wrapped the collars of my jacket in closer to my face as I tried to hide myself in my thoughts and what was supposed to be a warm coat.

Many more minutes passed. Finally, a second bus showed up. It slowed to a stop in front of me as the chained tires were failing to grip on the icy road. This one was clearly different than the previous one as it had all sorts of gadgets. I noticed one showing the temperature outside. 20 degrees. Regardless, my instincts took me aboard. It even noticed the sign saying, "Exact change only" and then it prompted me to ask the driver, "Excuse me sir, do you have change for a $20 bill?" The man just shook his head and apologized profusely. He told me that I would have to give the exact fare or he would not go on. Now, I felt like my brain was thawing and finally, it I should be embarrassed. So, nervously, I shrugged and turned around and walked off the warm bus. I sat back down on the metallic bench realizing just how cold the bench was. Using what little curse words I knew to release my frustration about everything that was happening, I squat back down on the bench to prevent my bum from freezing. I couldn't feel my fingers, my face, or even the inordinate amount of snow on my back. It didn't matter though.

Somehow, I didn't notice the girl from my school walk towards me. When I did, I tried to strike up a conversation with her. In my pre-pubescent and frustrated voice, I informed her authoritatively that she would need exact change to get on the bus or have a prepaid ticket to jump aboard. In her sweet innocence, she smiled a toothy smile covered with braces and said, "Thanks, but I got my ticket here." I simply looked at her. I couldn't tell if my mouth was hanging open or not because I was just too numb and my brain felt numb. Really, I was also quite tired and just wanted to sleep. After a few seconds pause, she spoke again and said, "Looks like we just missed the bus huh?" I snapped out of my daze and said, "Yeah, I hope the next driver can break my twenty." She told me that while she didn't have change, she could find somebody that did. Looking at her wristwatch and then at the streets, she invited me with her to the restaurant on the other side of the road. It was just a fast food restaurant, nothing extravagant. But here she took me in to the empty place and asked the only cashier working for change. On that note, she beckoned me for my twenty. I obliged feeling my brain tingle as if it was thawing. My face must've been glowing with glee as I received back the change. The girl then said, "Let's go sit down for a while. Like, we have another 20 minutes 'til the next bus comes by, you know? Let's hang out so we don't freeze to death... So, how long were you out there for?" I looked around for a clock and told her I didn't know when I failed to find one. I could only say that I was there since I got a message from my sister at school. Her jaw dropped in shock as she exclaimed, "Was that when they called you on the intercom?! 'Cause that was over 2 hours ago! Didn't you even notice how dark it got? Weren't you cold out there?" Her compassion was really flattering and I didn't know how to respond--probably because my brain and my tongue were both still thawing. Was it really two hours ago? Gosh, no wonder I was tired. She broke the silence as she said, "No wondering you were cussing. I'm impressed that you could stay out there for so long, but hopefully, you don't get a cold!" As our conversation continued a bit further, the alarm on her watch chimed and she told us to quickly return to the bus stop in order to catch the next bus. Opening the door to leave the place, it felt much colder than before and the snow and engulfed the bench by now. By the time we made it back to the bus stop, the bus arrived. From here, things went much smoother. I was able to get on, had exact change and didn't need a prepaid ticket, and continued the conversation for another 30 minutes until she arrived at her stop. After she got off, I stayed on the bus for a few more stops until I could reach my destination and make it home.

As the day continued, I found out that my parents were both safe. The car was forced off the bridge due to a semi-truck merging into their lane and pushing them off the bridge. Though neither vehicle was going very fast, the car took all of the damage and my parents stayed safe despite being landing in a snowy ditch underneath. It was pretty miraculous. Though the car was stuck, neither had to go to the ER or doctor's office for anything. And in those days when we didn't have a cell phone, all my parents could do was ask try and flag drivers for help. One person did and seeing everybody was safe, went to a public store somewhere and left a message on our answering machine at home. As for my parents, they waited for a tow-truck to pull the car out of the ditch.

Because of that time, I had noticeably developed an iron-will that was incapable of being demolished. I even went so far as to sleep on the floor of a closet as a testament to my level of strength. This was ultimately short-lived as I no longer have that level of strength. Unfortunately, there are even some days now when it is 40 degrees and I am caught wearing two layers of clothing! Why? I suppose my strength was drawn from my love of my family. Anymore, it seems like that may not be the case. And, quite literally for the life of me, I cannot seem to go to that level of strength and love for my family as I had before in my life. What is wrong with me? Did I die a little inside somehow? I think it may be something regarding my character or my perspectives. Optimism? Pessimism? A lack of ethics? None of those have changed. It's more like complacency. Hm... That sounds more accurate. So, when I had more passion back in the day, what was that passion for, where did it come from? Certainly, a part of it was to make my family proud, but what else was it? I'll see if I can remember and put it in another blog next time...

Mid-Life Crisis or Depression?

Honestly, I don't even know what I'm doing anymore. Though I'm doing a million times better today than I was this time last year, there is still a gaping hole in the middle of my heart. I'm not sure what went wrong and I'm not sure why I feel this way. I'm only 23 and it seems like it's much too early to have a mid-life crisis. Is it depression? That's possible, but I'm not sure about that either. Let's be frank: I'm surrounded by laughter, love, and happiness. So... in an effort to try and find what it is that's missing in my heart, I'm going to look back and review my life. I feel like I've made my life worth living, maybe it's time to prove it.

So, let's start with high school...

Why George W. Bush is a Flop, but Still Okay

I don't know how much anybody has been caring about George W. Bush's recent and past administrative stuff, but as I look back on his tenure, I felt compelled to write a bit about him. I do believe that he was a president that did not make enough correct decisions but overall, I do not think he was a terrible person. Agree or disagree but you know, here are a few of my opinions with the perceptual lens that I am wearing. Clearly, in any opinion, two sides need to be represented and for this and well, that's where you come in and throw in your thoughts in the comments section.

That said, I think he would've done his father okay in being somewhat proud. I mean, imagine for a second that you had a kid who followed in your footsteps and despite all odds, became president of the United States! Here's a list of other things that he did that you (as a president) could not do...

-harvard (you went to yale so that's okay I suppose)
-ousted saddam hussein (you had a chance but lacked the necessary support)
-made many lives better in the world (refer to above)
-united a nation that was otherwise apathetic and did not all agree on a single cause
-successful in doing a lot of damage control (china's pilot, wang wei; 9/11; war in iraq; financial meltdown where he did not take it lying still)
-knows how to roll with the punches
-surrounds himself with those who are smarter than he is
-alberto gonzalez fiasco

Maybe these were the only good things that occurred. Maybe he's still not that great, but you know, he did try his best and that's gotta account for something, right?