I Accidentally Clicked On My Own Google AdSense

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It happened two days back, just before noon. I was updating my blog and reading some other blogs at the same time when I noticed a very interesting AdSense advertisement. It was about Anwar Ibrahim, the next Prime Minister (at least that’s what the advertisement stated). So naturally, I was curious. I ended up clicking it.

I see nothing that interests me in the blog. There were a few videos in it but they didn’t generate enough curiosity for me to view it. I personally dislike politics. It’s like a 4 letter word to me, maybe worse. After all, it is 2 times a 4 letter word (“poli-tics”), isn’t it? Then I realized that the ad was actually from my own blog. I panicked.

Will I be banned by Google for my genuine mistake? Will I lose the 50 cent ad revenue that I’ve generated so far? OK OK, that’s not a lot I know. Haha. Anyway, I googled for more information on what to do next and this is what I did.

After I log into my Google account, I went to Google Support. There’s a list of category for things you can contact Google for. I look for a category that was about “invalid clicks“. In the subcategory, I chose something like “I accidentally clicked on my ads“. I fill up the details in the form. Wrote them a message telling that I ACCIDENTALLY clicked on my AdSense ad and that it was a genuine mistake from me and submitted the form.

(Notice that I sound a little uncertain of what I’m talking about here. That’s because on the time of writing, I can no longer reproduce these steps. Somehow Google removed the invalid clicks category, or I just couldn’t find it. So, there won’t be any screenshots for this post)

Just moments after submitting the form, I received a mail from Google AdSense Support team. This is part of what is in the mail:

Thanks for letting us know about the clicks on your ads. We appreciate
your honesty and your efforts to keep your account in good standing.
Although publishers are not permitted to click on their own ads for any
reason, we do understand that accidental clicks may occur, so we don’t
require that you contact us every time you click on your ads.

I guess you don’t have to inform them every single time you accidentally clicked on your own ads. However, I recommend you notify them at least once. It’s better to be safe than sorry.

For more information, check out these links:

https://www.google.com/support/adsense/bin/answer.py?answer=23921
https://www.google.com/adsense/support/bin/answer.py?answer=62472
https://www.google.com/support/adsense/bin/topic.py?topic=160
https://www.google.com/support/adsense/bin/answer.py?answer=9876

Lightning Strikes Twice At MAS

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After my previous complaint on F1 commentary needs to improve, I believe the next person that deserves a spanking is the staff at the ticketing counter of our Malaysia Airlines (MAS) at the Kuantan airport.

I booked a ticket online for a flight from Kuantan – KLIA – Auckland – KLIA – Kuantan. As for the current procedures, the self-printed-ticket can be used for domestic flights. However, if you have an international flight, you will still need to collect the tickets from their ticketing counter.

When I went to the counter to collect my tickets about a week ago, the staff took a brief look at my self-printed-ticket, and told me that I didn’t need to collect any tickets for my flights. Seeing me puzzled, he explained that I didn’t have to collect the tickets because I booked the tickets online and had already made the payment. He also added that I only need to pass the self-printed-ticket to the check-in counter, and I will be given a boarding pass then.

Confused, I had no choice but to leave the counter even though I was quite certain that I must collect my tickets from them. After all, he’s a staff there, and I’m sure he knows what he’s doing.

Upon reaching home, I made another call to the MAS office to inform them of what happened. Again, they told me I MUST collect my tickets from the counter at least one day before my flight. I almost blew my top. It took me a little over an hour to go to the airport and back. Now I will have to waste another hour just because of the staff’s mistake.

Few days later, I made a call to the ticketing counter to ask what time they will be open. It didn’t help the situation when the staff replied rudely, “Aiyah…you just come before 6pm lah”. He sounded like he had a bad day and is picking on me. I almost had a fight with him on the phone, but decided to air my complaint in The Star one day.

When I tried to collect my tickets for the second time, I was greeted with a different staff. However, after looking at my self-printed-ticket he told me that I didn’t need to collect any tickets. I was furious. I told him to look at it properly, that I had an international flight due. He replied, “Oh yeah ah”, and finally started to print the tickets for me.

The image of MAS can easily be destroyed by a few bad staffs like that. And I thought that VMY 2007 will see some improvements in the customer service sector. I guess I was wrong.

Who said lightning doesn’t strike the same place twice?

Beware Of Internet Scams

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There must be hundreds of “make money online” or “get rick quick” programs on the Internet. Some of them would claim that their program will enable you to earn hundreds of dollars in a day. What is their proof? Most of the time, they’ll display some sample cheques that shows how much they claim they have made. Another common method will be to display print screens of monthly earning statements, paypal statements, or monthly bank statements.

Some of these scam artists’ work is amateurish. However, others look too good to be fakes. So how do you distinguish whether it’s real or not? Well, just use your head. Would someone who earns thousands or even tens of thousands of dollars a month, sell you his secret for $9.95 or maybe $50? Don’t be surprised if you find out that their “secret” is…

“Go create a website. Tell everybody you have a secret to earnings thousands of dollars a month. Sell your ‘secret’ for $50. Get 20 buyers and you’ve just made your first thousand!”.

If you are arguing that those monthly earning statements, paypal statements or bank statements look real, beware that those might be photoshoped or edited somehow. Still not convinced that “MOST” of them are fakes?

I read one article from digg.com some time ago entitled CRAZY cool javascript : Edit whatever you want on ANY page : Images, Text. With the technique mentioned in the article, you can literally edit anything on most websites. With proper cover-up techniques, you won’t notice any foul play with the print screen. Since I don’t have a paypal account (yet), I’ll show you what I did on my Google Adsense statements.

A BIG NOTE: All the modifications and print screens below are for educational purpose only. No harm intended. It doesn’t represent the website’s true view or opinion.

Google Adsense Earnings (Before)

I know that my Google Adsense revenue is nothing to be proud off. Give me a break, I’ve just started blogging for a month or so. If I’m blessed, it may look something like the one below in a year’s time.

Google Adsense Earnings (After)

Currently, you’ll see this at The Star’s website.

The Star Website (Before)

And if I’m really really blessed, you may just see this article some time in the future.

The Star Website (After)

My grades during university was OK to me. I really wonder how some people could managed to get all As. NERDS! 😯

Examination Results (Before)

Forget about studying hard or smart. This proves that you only need to know some technologies to have great results.

Examination Results (After)

Well, whatever makes me happy.

Conclusion? There’s a big bunch of scams out there. You have to depend on your wits and judgement to identify which are scams, and which are potential opportunities. Instead of wasting your money on scams, may I suggest you donate the money to me. 😆

The Star publishes TenthOfMarch’s first letter

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Yesterday (Sunday) at 6:09pm, I received a phone call from The Editor of The Star. At least I think it was from him, the line was so bad it took me a lot of, “Who? What? From where?” before I got a clear “The Star….the newspaper…” from him. He called me to confirm that the letter that I sent the previous night was selected and will be published in the newspaper today (Monday). I was ecstatic when I heard the news.

The Star full page

He asked if I wanted to write off as “TenthOfMarch“. Deep down in my heart, I really wanted to write off as “TenthOfMarch.com“. At least that will pull some attention to my blog. In the end, I did not, out of fear that they might not even publish my letter (due to free advertisement). 5 minutes after the phone call, I regretted my decision. I should have at least suggested “TenthOfMarch.com“, and let him decide if it’s appropriate or not. Well, it’s already too late. I couldn’t call him back and say, “errr…can you please change it to TenthOfMarch.com instead? please please pleasee……“.

No problem, I’ll just use TenthOfMarch.com for the next letter that I will send in. Hopefully my letter will be picked again, and that they’ll allow me to publicize my blog. 🙂

The Star: F1 commentary needs to improve

Ahhh…sweet. They even included a picture of Kimi Raikkonen in his spanking new red ferrari for the article MY ARTICLE. Here’s a quote from the article MY ARTICLE (I wonder who owns the copyright to the article. Anyway, no harm. They’ve edited some grammar mistakes I’ve made as well. Don’t blame me, it was 4.20 AM when I posted that letter):

I WAS forced to watch the Australian Grand Prix Formula 1 qualifying on TV2 because I had no access to Astro that morning. I avoid watching local channels because the commentary is usually dull and uninteresting.

As the event progressed, I was laughing and angry at the same time. The commentator literally read all the information on screen.

There was no sense of excitement at all. You cannot commentate in Formula 1 like how you would commentate in a local football match.

The current qualifying is split into 3 sessions. At the end of the third session where qualifying is already over, the commentator actually mentioned something like; “…the drivers are coming in and preparing for their final qualifying…”. I thought I heard wrongly, but he repeated it again as if there were a 4th session.

A message to TV2 (or to whoever is concerned), please improve the quality of your commentary. At least do your homework by checking out the rules.

There are a lot of passionate Formula 1 lovers out there. I for one, rather listen to the sheer sound of the V8 engines without commentary, than having to put up with lousy commentaries like that.

There you go, my first letter to The Star. I wonder what my next letter will be. Will it be published also? We’ll see….

Earn RM1668.20 in a day…

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… at least that’s what the advertisement reads.

(Disclaimer: TenthOfMarch.com is neither affiliated with the advertisement nor responsible for its content. In fact, TenthOfMarch.com advices you against joining such a program.)

I found this paper advertisement stuck on the car’s wiper one day. As usual I wanted to just throw it away. However, I stopped when I saw “BERITA BAIK” written in big bold letters, which means “GOOD NEWS”. Well, who wouldn’t need a good news once a while right? So I continue reading. It read, “daily income, paid daily!”. Wow! I would definitely benefit from a little extra income. It also claims that the company is registered and recognized by the government of Malaysia. Should be safe then, right?

Advertisement front page

One big problem, what’s their company name? They said they’re registered, but company name also dare not include in the advertisement?

Even their so called “proof of profit” is so poorly designed. It looks like they just typed it from Microsoft Word and printed it out. If they want to be more convincing, at least print out a photocopy cheque, or a proper computer generated statement. Doing it their way only spells S-T-U-P-I-D on their face.

Advertisement earning page 1

“Penerangan melalui telefon tidak akan dilayan kerana jadual kami yang ketat“.

Wah, really so busy? Or they just have no balls to talk to me? Try lying into my face.

Advertisement earning page 2

If those figures is not enough to attract you, they’ve also included a ‘real success story’. Apparently some guy named “Bob” had some serious financial crisis. But after joining this program, his whole life changed. In a little over 2 months, he and his wife managed to earn well over RM60,000.

I smell crap. One stinky crap from a big rat.

Advertisement real story

I would like to take this opportunity to advice all my fellow Malaysians, please use your head. If something sounds too good to be true, it probably isn’t true. There’s a big variety of scams out there. Sorry for saying this but some is so lame that you must be retarded to be fooled. Imagine this…

“Congratulations sir! You are the luckiest person on earth! You’ve just won RM1 million from us. However, before you can get your RM1 million, you’ll need to pay us RM20,000 for taxes. It’s the law.”

Who in their right mind would believe such a scam? If I really need to pay taxes also, can’t I pay later? Or just deduct from the RM1 million lah. Dumb ass. Some people did got fooled.

As Phua Chu Kang always say…..”use your brain, use your brain, use your braaainnn….”.