Alltop.com... Its time for us Vietnam bloggers to have our own category

Alltop.com is an Guy Kawasaki's news aggregater.

I think we should get ourselves on it, but Guy sez that he mostly picks up referrals through his Twitter.

Well, time to send him some tweets!

Website flippers: Looking to make a quick buck..

A nice little article on the International Herald Tribune about how some people will buy websites on the cheap, spruce them up and then flip them to make a quick buck.

Dave Hermansen did not own a bird or a cage when he bought bird-cage.com, an online store, for $1,800 three years ago. He simply saw a Web site that was "very, very poorly done," and begged the owners to sell it to him. He then redesigned the site, added advertising and drove up traffic. Last December, he sold it for $173,000.

This process is done usually through re-coding so that it will have better search results when being searched through Google or Yahoo. This process is known as "search engine optimization" or SEO. There are complete companies dedicated to this now as it is so lucrative to land your website in the top spots on the search engines.

Creating the value, though, is the tricky part. Many Web site flippers said they begin by tweaking a site's template and making other superficial changes like adjusting fonts, colors and type sizes. After that, they manipulate a Web site's structure, coding and presentation so it shows up more prominently in Web searches.

In an era when Web use is increasingly search-driven, making sure people find your site makes all the difference, Hermansen said. "Once you beef up traffic, everything else just happens," he added.

source

Searching for a Lead Modeler/3D animator for video games

I'm searching for a local 3D animator that is an expert in modeling with Maya and/or 3D Studio Max.


Job Description:

- You are highly motivated, with a passion for video games.
- Candidates must have a proven track record in a previous managerial-oriented position
- Your knowledge of the different 3D works (modeling, animation, texture…) will enable you to coordinate the different teams and projects.
- From a technical point of view, you master 3D Max and Maya perfectly
- Ability to make low-poly meshes and low-resolution textures.
- Organic and environmental modelling
- With a high-level in the texturing field, you are also able to do pixel art.
- Good sense of volume, lightning and materials.
- You are an experienced animator.
- Your organizational and interpersonal skills enable you to deliver quality projects under strict deadlines.
- You are fluent in English.
- This high-duty position requires a proficient level on both a technical point of view and on a managerial one.
- We are seeking for an experienced profile / senior person, autonomous and versatile.

Please email me at Gerard.Lechau[@]gmail.com for further info. Salary will be above average if the candidate is above average.

Nigerians open shop in Vietnam

If you were to head down to Pham Ngu Lao (backpacking district), you would see many Africans around there.

The funny thing is, I never really knew why they were here or what they were doing here. I mean, Africa is a long ways away.

But this article about Nigerians setting up a fashion shop was pretty cool. They had problems finding clothing sources because of the color of their skin. But as they kept at it and their shops became more popular, it became easier to find clothing sources.

Kevin said he left his home in Nigeria three years ago to be a worker in a Vietnamese garment factory but then he wanted to open a fashion shop of his own in suburban Tan Phu District.

His boss and some Vietnamese friends helped him set up the business by applying for a business license and introducing them to local suppliers, Kevin recalled.

I'm always down to seeing Vietnam becoming more multicultural. Not is it economically fruitful, but I love discovering new foods to eat ;)

source: Thanh Nien Daily

Amazing commercial from The Discovery Channel: I Love the World

After watching the Discovery Channel one night, I was instantly captivated by this commercial.

Its about the Discovery Channel being a fan of the world, or "the world is just awesome."

It includes notable characters from the Discovery Channel such as Mythbusters, Dirty Jobs (Mike Rowe), The Deadliest Catch, Storm Chasers and FutureWeapons singing about how they love the world.

It was created by the ad agency 72andSunny.

testing