I’ve tried several antivirus software in my 14 years of PC usage. In the beginning, I used Norton Antivirus for several years. As each version got more complicated, it slowed down my PC speed significantly. Then there was McAfee antivirus. And later, I used Free-AV software, which is free of course. While using it, I still get virus infection on my PC.

So I tried searching for a better antivirus software to replace it. And I finally found it.

It’s the Computer Associates Antivirus which I use until now. This software has strong virus detection capabilities. When I installed it on my computer protected by Free-AV, it caught several viruses on the spot! It seemed Free-AV was sleeping all the while!

If I stumbled upon website with virus, CA Antivirus catched it immediately too. So far I don’t have any virus problem for my computer.

Unfortunately, I see many PC keep getting virus infection. So they format their hard drive for fresh Windows installation. But after a while, they get infected again. This is truly a waste of time and productivity. Just few days ago, my friend’s PC was infected with virus again even with the Kaspersky antivirus installed (sounds Russian to me).

Shield: Realtime protection

Powerful antivirus solution

Computer Associates is well-known for its industrial strength software solution. CA Antivirus is a powerful software to protect your PC from unwanted virus infection. As a light weight program, it won’t slow down your Windows. It also won’t bother you with lots of messages or warnings where you have to manually close it each time. Just tick “Don’t show this again” and you’re done.

Virus database update is straight forward. You can let it update automatically or schedule the update at a specified interval. For me, I set it to update once a week. This lets you have the latest virus protection and software update.

Unfortunately, CA Antivirus is not free. But you can have a 3-month-free trial here.

When the trial expires, you can purchase a yearly subscription at USD 19.99 per year. So you need to pay USD 19.99 for each and every year. But if you still want to use it for free, you know what to do

Simple but strong

My second favorite is email titled "FedEx Int'l Shipment Release"

Previously I mentioned having a record of 3 sales in one day. And today, the third Ganoderma shipment to US has been released by US FDA (Food and Drug Administration). Phew!

Few days ago, all those 3 shipments had clearance delay. This made me slightly nervous. Now I’m glad all shipments has been cleared after I submitted the required documents. Fedex has also delivered the first two shipments to US and Australia.

Below are emails I’m afraid to receive…

"FedEx Clearance Delay" - Please don't send it to me!

Sometimes, herbal supplement shipment will encounter clearance delay if you send to US or Australia. When this happens, I need to resubmit some documents for custom review. Actually, I always include the necessary documentation together with the shipment. But it may still encounter clearance delay. So I just resend the same documents again. This clears the custom smoothly.

The required documents are:

• FDA Prior Notice (for US only)
• Product information in company letterhead
• Product analysis report
• Capsule analysis report (Bovine gelatin is not allowed into US)

So far, I only encounter clearance delay for shipment to US and Australia. There is no problem for shipment to other countries such as UK, France, Ireland, Cyprus, Switzerland, Kuwait, New Zealand, India and Philippines.

If I cannot clear my shipment, it will be sent back to me or dispose of over there.

• Shipping back from US costs 6 times higher than shipping to US. Ouch!
• I need to pay for both export shipment and import shipment. Ouch! Ouch!
• And I have to fully refund the order amount back to my client. Ouch! Ouch! Ouch!

That’s why I’m afraid to receive email titled “FedEx Clearance Delay”. And that’s why I’m very happy to receive email titled “FedEx Int’l Shipment Release”.

Here’s the tracking information for the first two shipments.

I’m glad everything went smoothly

I love email from Paypal titled "Notification of payment received"

These 3 sales are:

1. Two boxes of Longheh Lingzhi to USA
2. Six boxes of Longheh Lingzhi to USA
3. Six boxes of Longheh Lingzhi to Australia

Total sales amount is USD 742.00 Isn’t it great to have this sales amount everyday? Just a few days ago, I added a few graphics on the product page. So I wonder whether these graphics let visitor understand more about our Lingzhi and improved conversion.

If you want to order some Lingzhi or Ganoderma Reishi herb for your health, you’re most welcomed! 

Click here for more information on Longheh Lingzhi

Immediately, I prepared all the shipping documents and have it picked up by Fedex this afternoon. I only send out two packages today. One to USA and one to Australia. The other package to USA will be sent out on Monday to avoid possible clearance delay at US custom. Just to play safe.

Waiting for Fedex pickup

It started from Malaysia where I’m from. It then went to Singapore and later to United States. From there it went to France. From France, it should go to India. But no it didn’t.  Instead, Fedex sent it back to United States again! Oppsss…

From United States, it went to France for the second time. Hopefully, Fedex can get the direction correct this time. But guess what… it went to United States again!

After that, it went back to France again for the third time. Huh! I’m rubbing off my sweat!

Finally, it went to India directly and arrived destination today. Phew! Here’s the Fedex tracking information for this shipment.

Don’t get me wrong. Fedex is still a great company to work with. Previously I used DHL express for all my shipment. But for the last 2 years, I gradually change to Fedex to ship my health supplement overseas.

Sometimes, big company makes mistake too.

1. Open a hosting account with Thirdsphere hosting (USD 24.95 monthly).
2. Register the domain Jamespang.com with Godaddy and point the domain to Thirdsphere DNS.
3. Add this new domain to Thirdsphere (USD 10 one time).
4. Use Thirdsphere script center to set up Wordpress automatically.

And you’re done. You may host your website or register your domain elsewhere. But the above steps are basically what you need to do to have a blog with your own domain.

However, the easier method is to use Wordpress hosting and upgrade to their paid premium package for your own domain. The reason I use Thirdsphere is because it allows multiple domain hosting in a single account. So it’s more economic for me.

To learn more about Thirdsphere features and test drive it free for one month, click here.

But why you should put out money for your own domain when you can have it hosted with Wordpress for free?

Blog with your own domain

If you’re serious about earning money with your blog, then I highly recommend getting your own domain for several reasons.

1. You cannot put your Adsense ad on free Wordpress account. No ad, no advertising money. Wordpress may even put their Adsense ad on your site too.
2. Over time, more and more websites will link to your blog if you have good content. This brings in more visitor to your blog. It also builds up your site link popularity and Google page rank. Just like having a good brand, this is your business asset. However, if Wordpress or other blogging company disappears or changes their policy, you may lose your free blog domain address and all the inbound links. But with your own domain, you still can host it elsewhere and retain your links.
3. Having your own domain gives better image compared to free hosted domain.

However, if you’re not interested in earning money with your blog, you can always use the free hosting at Wordpress.

New Wordpress

Now Wordpress 2.7 is easier to use with cool user interface, much better than version 2.2 used by my sister. I recommend everyone using the old Wordpress to upgrade it.