My Top Favourite Android Live Wallpapers

Live wallpapers can add totally different dimensions to your phone or tablet screens. After searching for hours, these are my top five picks for live wallpapers.

Lightwell Live Wallpaper CE by DeDee – A great piece and visually pleasing. This wallpaper shows your current location, how long you are at your location, time, battery status, etc. It is not live in the sense that it does not move on screen, but information changes on your screen based on your movement and location. Very easy on the battery and does not slow down the device.

Puddle Drops by Schular Mobile – Having this wallpaper is like having a live pool on your screen. This wallpaper simulates falling water drops on screen. Tap or shake your device to create more drops. Looks really good on a tablet screen.   

Radar Live Wallpaper by Biturix – Make your phone or tablet look like a real radar with this app. Radar beam speed, objects on radar, and color are customizable. Easy on battery.

Blue Skies Live Wallpaper by Kittehface Sostware - This wallpaper makes you feel like you are flying through the clouds. Looks good, but drains battery and slows down device.

My Beach Free by DualBoot Games - Have your own secluded beach on your screen while clouds floating above you and ocean waves breaking onto the shore. Looks very good, but drains battery and slows down device.

Link: https://market.android.com/

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Toronto Is Bracing Its First Big Snowfall of The Season

Toronto gets its first big snowfall of the season today. Whle waiting for bus, I shot these two video clips on Danforth Avenue & Birchmount Road and Birchmount Rd & St Clair Ave E. in Toronto, Canada, just hours ago today. Taken with HTC Panache.

Light Travel Packing List

I love to travel. And I guess it would be hard to find someone who does not like to travel. I am a minimalist person and what I have found out throughout my years of travel experience is that applying a minimalistic approach while you travel does make a difference – a lot of difference. When I travel, my objective is to pack only those things in my bag that are absolutely necessary. There is a day and night difference between carrying negligible-weight luggage and carrying bulky, hard to carry luggage. I have my own list of objects that I must need when I travel. Today, I will share this list with you.

The Absolutely Can’t Survive Without It List  

- Toothpaste
- Toothbrush
- Mouthwash
- Cotton Swabs
- Floss
- Razor
- Deodorant
- Sunscreen
- Shave Foam
- Soap/Shower Gel
- Shampoo
- Conditioner
- Lotion
- Lip Balm
- Perfume
- Chewing Gum
- Glasses/Sunglasses
- Comb
- An unlocked cheap Smartphone
- Nail Cutter
- Hair Trimmer
- Polo Shirts (2-3 pieces)
- T-Shirts (2-3 pieces)
- Pants (2-3 pairs)
- Underwear (2-3 pieces)
- Socks (2-3 pairs)
- Long Sleeve Shirts (1-2 pieces)
- A packable Raincoat Light Jacket
- A winter Jacket, Scarf, Gloves, etc. (if your destination is a cold country)
- Shorts/Pajamas (2-3 pairs)
- A Tablet Computer
- A small Camera
- One Universal Travel Adapter (most of the A/C adaptors are dual voltage compatible these  
  days and you may not need a separate universal power converter)
- A small Flashlight
- One pair of Light Shoes
- One pair of Light Sandal
- Some OTC Medicines and Accessories (Such as Band-Aids, medicines for pain, nausea,  
vomiting, cold and flu, diarrhoea, heartburn and gas, and so on)
- Alcohol Wipes/Towelettes
- A few different size Ziploc bags and plastic bags
- Some Cereal Bars
- A mini travel First Aid Kit

The reason I asked to leave your expensive smartphone at home is because in some countries it may attract the unwanted attention of thieves or robbers. You need an unlocked phone because it lets you buy a SIM card in the destination country to make cheap phone calls if you don’t have Wi-Fi to use Skype.

The reason I can survive with only 2-3 pairs of all my clothes is because I hand wash my dirty clothes every day and they are ready to wear again the next day. Also, if I think I missed something, I just buy it in my destination country.  

You may not need some items I mentioned here to travel light, or you may need to add some more. Save or print this page and make your own list if it will help. And yes, don’t forget to double-check before you leave to make sure you are not missing anything. Happy traveling!

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E-Commerce or Electronic Commerce

Why E-Commerce

The main reason is that, unlike a physical store, e-commerce knows no boundaries of time and distance. An entrepreneur can run an online store from a remote island in the South Pacific and a buyer can purchase products or services from a world-class city like Toronto 24 hours a day – crossing the global boundaries and time restriction.

E-commerce offers other advantages such as:

- Easy to start up a new business
- Often requires a lot lower capital than a physical business
- The convenience it offers for buyers and sellers
- Ability to offer cheaper prices than physical business due to its lower operational cost

Is My Success Guaranteed If I Start E-Commerce?

Like any business, e-commerce has its ups and downs, and it not guarantee that your business will not fail. Before starting an online business (or any kind of business), always do your research. Your success or failure will largely depend on what type of services and products you are offering and how efficiently you can serve your customers at reasonable prices.

How Secure is E-Commerce

In the past, security was an issue while commencing e-commerce. However, technology has solved that problem by creating SSL (Secure Sockets Layer) encrypted secure transactions. Also, most credit card companies are guaranteeing that online shoppers will not be responsible in case of fraudulent charges.

What Does The Future Hold for E-Commerce?

E-commerce has revolutionized the 21st century and yet this is just the beginning. The rise of mobile e-commerce (e-commerce from smart phones) is still a newer concept and will increase at a steady pace in the next few years. However, due to market saturation and fierce competition, the key to survival will be to offer innovative products and exceptional customer service skills at rock-bottom prices.

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Canada Is The World’s Best Country For Business

Prestigious Forbes magazine recently compiled their annual list of the best countries for business and Canada ranks as the world’s best country for business. Canada is up to number 1 after coming up from number 4 last year. Ford’s ranking is based on 11 criteria in 134 countries. Here are the top 10 countries for 2011:

- Canada
- New Zealand
- Hong Kong
- Ireland
- Denmark
- Singapore
- Sweden
- Norway
- Britain
- Unites States

Here are some of factors that placed Canada as the world’s top country for business:

- Canada’s overall tax burden went up to the 9th spot from 2010’s 23rd spot.
- While Europe and the U.S. struggles with debt crisis and double-dip recession fears, Canada’s banks survived the financial crisis and its economy has held up well.
-  Canada’s 1.6 Trillion dollar economy is the ninth biggest in the world.
- Canadian economy grew 3.1 percent last year and is expected to grow 2.4 percent  
   in 2011.
- Canada’s unemployment rate is 7.3 percent, while U.S. has above 9 percent and the
   Eurozone unemployment rate is 10 percent.
- Canada’s reduced corporate rate is attractive and it keeps falling.

According to Forbes, it is easy to start a business in Canada due to good investor protection and the lack of red tape, among many other factors. Entrepreneurs are taking note of Canada across the globe and it is no wonder global entrepreneurs are flocking to the best country to live and the best place for business in the world.  

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Downtown Toronto Building Demolition Video Clip

10 York Street is located in the heart of downtown Toronto, just steps from my work. This 2.5 acres of prime land, near Harbourfront, is one of the last development sites available in downtown Toronto. This clip is a result of three different video clips taken in three different days. As I write this, the demolition has been completed and 10 York Street is now a straight flatland. It’s hard and kind of impossible to imagine what went on right on this piece of land just days ago.

See More A Dawn Video Clips Here – A Dawn Journal YouTube Channel

Social Entrepreneurship

Social entrepreneurs are entrepreneurs, but they work on a larger scale. Instead of concentrating on a business or an entity, social entrepreneurs concentrate on social problems and issues and use entrepreneurial skills to solve or change social issues to make society work or societal systems to work better, efficiently, and in harmony with nature and environment.

Social entrepreneurs can work in a voluntary or not-for-profit environment, or can also work in a non-voluntary or for-profit environment, just like a regular entrepreneur. However, their major goals are to concentrate on wide-scale social problems and to offer solutions for entire societies for a better tomorrow.

Social entrepreneurs are visionaries and practical minded to see what the real issues are and how practical the implementations will be. They avoid impractical and unrealistic solutions that may falter for the society as a whole, or solutions that may not be cost-effective or realistic for the long run.

Business entrepreneurs wait to seize the opportunity to identify and come up with products or services to change the face of businesses, to create whole new industries or create brand new markets. Social entrepreneurs take a similar approach, but on a different aspect. They seize the opportunities to change society and various societal systems that bound societies together with innovative solutions and strategies on a mass level for the society and its people.

Let’s look at a few very well-known social entrepreneurs:

Muhammad Yunus – Yunus, a noble laureate, invented microcredit, a loan system that awards very small loans to the poor for starting entrepreneurship.
John Muir – An American naturalist, worked to preserve nature and wilderness. He is the one who established the national park system and also the founder of the Sierra Club.
Florence Nightingale – The founder of modern professional nursing. She also established the first school for nurses. She dedicated and sacrificed her life to improve the health and welfare of all people.

The social entrepreneurs I just mentioned above are only a few of many. However, I must admit that there are many social entrepreneurs out there who dedicated their lives in the past and are dedicating today which we have never heard of. These not-so-known individuals are dedicating their time and life behind the scenes for us to have a better future tomorrow, and I would like to state my appreciation and homage for them. You are inspirations to all of us.

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Buying an Established Business

Entrepreneurs like to build businesses from the ground up by developing ideas and putting the time and effort into it. However, it may not always be realistic to build something from scratch – especially when time is of the essence and ideas seem to not be making sense. Buying an existing business gives some advantages over starting a brand new one. For example, you already have a customer base, a setup procedure that runs the business, and its reputation. On the downside, there is a lot of money to be spent, and you may run into something unexpected, causing you lots of headaches and financial loss. Today, I am going to talk about a few things you should consider before buying a business to make your new venture a smooth and a successful one.

Choose The Right Type of Business – Do not just buy something you are not familiar with just because you think this is where the money is. Buy something that interests you and make sure you have the required skills and knowledge to stick with it for a long time. It is likely that you will be putting in long hours year after year without any break or vacation in your business. If you buy something that does not interest you, for sure you will give it up in just a few months. Also, don’t forget how relevant the business is to your line of experience. If you never drove a taxi cab before or set foot in a garage, it makes no sense to start “Jimmy’s Taxi Cab” – because you are bound to be a failure.

Know You Limits – Have a clear idea of exactly when you can buy, what you can afford to buy, and where you can location wise without constraining your budget.

Get professional Help – It is unlikely that you will know the ins and outs of buying a business. Hiring a professional such as a business broker not only will help you to save time, but will also avoid the unnecessary hassle you need to go through when buying a business. Some of the issues a broker can pinpoint: if the business is hiding anything or has any financial problems, they can inform you on the latest rules and regulations, negotiate with the seller to save you money, help with obtaining licenses and permits to operate the business lawfully, and so on.

Some resources – Here are some websites to help you with your research finding a business.

- International Business Brokers Association

- Biz Buy Sell

- Business Broker

- Business Sell Canada

- Business For Sell Canada

- Biz Match

- Canadian Biz Mart

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Steps to Starting or Settingup a Corporation

In Canada, setting up a corporation or incorporating a business is a straightforward process. Depending on the nature of your business and how accurately you file required documents, it is possible to start your new corporation within 1 – 2 business days if you submit your documents online. For example, my own federally incorporated business entity A Dawn Dot Net Corp. was approved in slightly more than 24 hours. Today, I am going to discuss how you can start a corporation in Canada in simple words.

Although there are many small steps involved incorporating a business, at the end it comes down to these three major steps you need to complete to start a corporation in Canada.

Pick a Name – You need to decide on a name and even before that you need to know whether your corporation is going to be a federally or provincially incorporated corporation. A federally incorporated business can do business anywhere in Canada. A provincially incorporated business will have to be physically in the province where it was incorporated. Once you know what you would like your corporation to be called, you will have to search for your name availability using the NUANS (Newly Upgraded Automated Name Search) and obtain a NUANS name search report.

Complete Articles of Incorporation – These are the documents that you file with the authority setting out to provide the legal structure of the corporation – in other words, Articles of Incorporation describe a corporation’s purpose, rules, and regulations. For example, how many directors there will be. Where the registered office will be located. Where the remaining property goes if corporation winds up. What classes and how many shares the corporation can issue. Can these shares be transferred or should there be restrictions so the corporation remains private? And so on. Articles of Incorporation are what make each corporation unique. Articles of Incorporation are also known as Certificates of Incorporation.

Submit Documents and Payment – The last step is to submit the documents mentioned above and any other necessary documents along with the payment to Corporation Canada or provincial authority.

Last Word

Although it is possible and may not be difficult to do everything by yourself online, I recommend you seek the expertise and assistance of a qualified professional. While setting up my corporation, I noticed that it would have been difficult for me to fill up some of the forms and submit everything online fast like the way my accountant was able to do. There are so many rules and regulations that I could not have been possibly known, had my accountant not mentioned those to me.

Some Helpful Links

Here are some links you may find useful:

Corporations Canada Home

Corporations Canada Frequently Ask Questions

Corporations Canada pdf Guide to Federal Incorporation

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Making Money Online With Google AdSense

AdSense makes money; there is no doubt about it. However, it’s not a perfectly flawless system you should rely on to make your only source of income. Today, I am going to touch base on this a little bit based on my AdSense experience.

The main problem I am having with Adsense is the tremendous level of fluctuation. There are days when I make good money from Adsense, and there are days when I make not so good money. You may say that proper AdSense optimization should solve this problem. Yes, I thought the same way and experimented optimization only to figure out that this heavy fluctuation is out of my hand. It’s kind of like the Internet has its slow traffic days and high traffic days and we have no control over it.

If I have a situation in which I have no control, I try to resolve it working on something in which I have full control. In the above scenario, instead of wasting too much time on fixing Adsense, I worked to diversify my ad revenues. Besides Adsense, I am running Infolinks, Chitika, and some private ads (mainly on A Dawn Journal). My least expected ad system Infolinks is actually making me the most unexpected money. There are days when my Infolinks revenues beat Google Adsense. I know it is hard to believe, but it has happened a few times in the past.

Just like about anything else in life, online money making sources need to be diversified as well. The century old Adage “don’t put all your eggs in one basket” applies to Internet entrepreneurship as well and you should never bet all your sites on one income source.

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