Last year, I posted a list of my favourite WordPress plugins. Today, I use a slightly different lineup of WordPress plugins because I have found better plugins to replace some of the older plugins I used and the latest WordPress has made certain plugins obsolete.

The 2007 WordPress Plugin List

1. Akismet - Default WordPress plugin but worth keeping.
2. WordPress Database Backup - Default WordPress plugin but worth keeping.
3. Similar Posts - This plugin now requires an additional plugin to work. You may find out more by visiting their wb site.
   
4. Subscribe To Comments
5. Math Comment Spam Protection - Prefer to use word verification spam protection like WP-reCAPTCHA. Some spam bots have figured out how to do some simple math calculations. 1 + 1 = 2 isn’t hard for them to figure out.
   
6. Simple Trackback Validation
7. Social Bookmark Creator - ShareThis is an upgrade of this plugin.
   
8. Ultimate Tag Warrior - Obsolete now because WordPress now has a built-in tagging feature.
   
9. Another WordPress Meta Plugin - All in One SEO Pack is an upgrade of this plugin.
   
10. Feedburner Feed Replacement - FeedBurner FeedSmith is an upgrade of this plugin.
    
11. Feed Control
12. Filosofo Home-Page Control - Still works way better than the default WordPress feature because you do not need to install your blog in a folder like “/blog” to display your posts in the “/blog” folder.
    
13. My Page Order
14. Google Sitemaps
15. Smart Archives
16. monthchunks - Removed because I do not want too many outgoing links on my web site.
    
17. wordTube - Still has a place for the playing of FLV videos and MP3s.
    
18. WP-ContactForm

The 2008 WordPress Plugin List

1. Akismet
2. WordPress Database Backup
3. Similar Posts
4. Subscribe To Comments
5. Simple Trackback Validation
6. Feed Control
7. Filosofo Home-Page Control
8. My Page Order
9. Google Sitemaps
10. Smart Archives - There should be better ones available.
    
11. wordTube
12. WP-ContactForm - There should be better ones available.
    
13. All in One SEO Pack - Replaces the Another WordPress Meta Plugin and SEO Title Tag plugins.
14. FeedBurner FeedSmith - Replaces the Feedburner Feed Replacement plugin.
15. ShareThis - Replaces the Social Bookmark Creator plugin.
16. WP-reCAPTCHA - Replaces the Math Comment Spam Protection plugin. You need to sign up for an account and enter the keys to use this plugin. This plugin has an additional email address protection feature.
17. Zemanta - A great blogging helper tool that lets you find similar content to the post you are creating.
18. Google to Yahoo Sitemap Converter - This is not actually a plugin but a normal PHP script, which needs to be run on a regular basis via a cron job. It will be obsolete soon once Yahoo and MSN adopt Google’s sitemap standards.

Happy blogging!

I adopted another cat early last month and named her Mini. She’s a really sweet, affectionate and intelligent cat. I bumped into her while I was walking to the lift early last month. She was begging for food at my neighbour’s door so I invited her to my place for free food, which she happily obliged.

Soon after this initial meeting, she began to visit my apartment and ask for food. I continued to feed her for about a week and decided to adopt her as she is such a cute and wonderful cat.

I got more than I thought. Who would have known that she was pregnant when I adopted her? Mini gave birth to 2 cute kittens last Friday. Therefore, I have a total of 4 cats at the moment. Thankfully, Mini and her 2 kittens are doing fine at the moment. I will post more pictures when they are older. They look like little hamsters at the moment.

If you’ve got cats and you would like to network on Catster, click on my Catster profile links and add me as your friend.

I have not decided whether to keep the 2 kittens or not. I think I would either put them up for adoption once they are about 3 months old or keep them. It took me about 4 weeks to get my 2 cats Milo and Mini to get along. Milo does not seem to recognise Mini since she gave birth to 2 kittens. Most likely this is due to her new scent and the scent of her 2 new kittens, which are both new to him. What that means is I would have to redo the whole introduction process again.

Here are some of my social networking profile pages:

• Facebook
• Friendster
• LinkedIn
• MySpace
• Catster

I am going to join Twitter and FriendFind soon just to see what the fuss is all about. In the mean time, let’s connect via these social networking sites.

I really messed up my home page of my Oasis Fanatic web site. What I did in the beginning was I redirected the default home page “/index.php” to “/home/index.php”. I initially put the home page in its own directory “/home/”.

Over time, I began to realise the dumbness of this idea. Therefore, I made the home page at “/index.php” the default while I kept the other home page at “/home/index.php” intact.

Another problem is people usually link back to my site directly to the domain name http://www.oasisfanatic.com. In the search engine’s eyes, I have 3 home pages:

1. http://www.oasisfanatic.com - Google PR 3
2. http://www.oasisfanatic.com/index.php - Google PR 2
3. http://www.oasisfanatic/home/index.php

The reason why home page 2 exists is because I link back to my home page on my web site’s navigation to that address when I should have linked it directy to home page 1. There are no links to home page 3 on my web site but there are some old back links to this page.

How Did I Fix My Multiple Home Page Problem?

1. I updated the links back to my home page to my domain name http://www.oasisfanatic.com in all my web site’s navigation.
2. I created a 301 redirect for the old home page at “/home/index.php” so that it redirects all visitors to http://www.oasisfanatic.com instead.

What I learnt from this experience is to simply link back to the domain name of the web site for the home page. This would improve the SEO of your home page as well as your web site as the search engines won’t think you have duplicate content on your “multiple home pages”. They regard “http://www.domain.com” and “http://www.domain.com/index.html” as 2 seperate pages.

My Australian Skilled Migration application was received by the Australian authorities on 30 April 2008. They sent me an email to confirm my application after processing my AUD $2600 application fee. I am glad I paid the application fee last month because the AUD was slightly lower last month that its current value today. I think I might have saved close to a hundred bucks.

According to the instructions in the email, I need to get a medical examination and a police background check. I can either wait for them to tell me to do it or I can do it as early as possible. The usual troublesome paperwork of getting passport-sized photos and filling up forms is about to resume.

I will get a police background check in June and maybe I will get the medical exam done in July. The processing time for a Skilled Migration applicant usually take 7 months or less. What that means is I should get my Australian PR by 30 November 2008. This is my second Australian PR. I used to have an Aussie PR when my family moved to Perth, Australia in 1987. This is my second migration to Australia, which I never thought would have happened because I have not set foot in Perth since 1988, a full 20 years! It would be nice to rekindle some old childhood friendships when I get there.

Vincent Liaw (???) is 26 years old, currently living on the tiny island of Singapore but will be moving to Australia from late 2008 to early 2009. He is “unemployable by choice” and absolutely proud it. After serving his compulsory military service (from June 2002 to October 2004) in the Singapore Armed Forces and a string of unhappy jobs, Vincent made a promise to himself to become free of JOBs to create a life of his dreams no matter how hard it takes.

In his free time, Vincent enjoys reading, writing, watching movies, playing with his cat, building Web sites, swimming, running, listening to his favourite band Oasis and other relaxing activities.

Vincent has been obsessed with Web development since he was 17. He firmly believes that the Internet is the best thing since sliced bread. He continually searches for ways to leverage on the Internet to make money, build communities online, have fun, make friends and a lot more!

Vincent enjoys reading and learning about the latest trends on the Internet. He is constantly reading about topics like XHMTL/CSS, PHP, MySQL, blogging, social networks, Google AdSense, banner advertising, affiliate program marketing, Ubuntu Server, Linux, XAMPP and search engine optimization. Therefore you will see stuff like that posted randomly on this web site.

Vincent understands that he can be a bit blunt and irritating at times but most of the time he’s nice.

Vincent Rich’s Personal Mission Statement

To find happiness, fulfilment, and value in living I will:

• BE the best me I can ever be by exploring my every gift and talent, never wasting my potential to bring goodness, beauty, laughter and prosperity to my life and the world around me.
• LEAD a life centered on the principles of excellence, growth, integrity and honesty.
• REMEMBER what’s important in life is freedom, integrity, spiritual fulfilment, success, and health.
• REVERE admirable characteristics in others such as being ambitious, courageous, creative, self-reliant, wise, and giving, and attempt to implement similar characteristics in my own life.
• RECOGNISE my strengths and develop talents as a person who is visionary, trustworthy, optimistic, a leader, intelligent, and confident.

Vincent Rich’s Favourite Quotes

“Knowing is not enough, we must apply. Willing is not enough, we must do.” - Bruce Lee

I finally received my Australian skills assessment results and I am happy to announce that it was approved. I received my approval letter last week on 15 April 2008.

It did take about 3 months but I am sure it would have been faster if not for the delays. If you’re reading this, send in certified true copies of documents instead of the originals. I had a few original copies of references letters and I submitted one of them to the Australian Computer Society and they were rejected. Extremely inflexible if you ask me.

Now that I have the green light to submit my application for the Skilled - Sponsored visa, I have about 3 application forms to fill up, AUD $2060 to pay to the Australian government for the application fee and some other paperwork to do.

In my process of applying for this visa, I have learnt that some of the common myths of emigration out of Singapore are absolutely untrue.

1. Myth no. 1: You must have a degree to emigrate to Australia. This is not true at all. I only have a Diploma and it is enough. If you don’t have formal qualifications, you need to prove to them that you have related work experience.
2. Myth no. 2: A migration agent is necessary and they can get your application approved faster. Rubbish. I went to a migration agent because I didn’t know what to do at first. Then the migration agent I went to told me which visa I can qualify for and what are the documents I need to prepare. However, I did not follow up with the migration agent because I did think paying him SGD $4000 for filling up forms was a good investment. Read the instructions carefully and do it yourself. The Australian government does not give applicants priority if they submitted through a migration agent. Save that money to move your stuff or pets over to your new country instead.
3. Myth no. 3: Your skills have to be on the “in demand” list of occupations. My chosen profession was not in the Migration Occupations in Demand List (MODL). That does not mean that they don’t want you.
4. Myth no. 4: Places like Melbourne and Sydney are “full” and it would be hard to migrate there. I am not so sure about this but I do know that there is a labour shortage problem in Western Australia. Common sense tells you that they need more people in that area. The Australian government is issuing an additional 6000 visa this year for skilled migrants. Obviously, they want and need more skilled people in Australia. If your plan is to migrate to the eastern side, get to Western Australia first and move to the east. Unless your visa is for a “designated area”, there isn’t any restriction on you to move around within Australia.

Even Lee Kuan Yew once stated that most Singaporeans cannot leave. This is nonsense. A more accurate assumption would be that most Singaporeans can leave but they won’t. You do not have to be the “top 20 to 30 per cent of educated Singaporeans have the skills and abilities to emigrate to anywhere in the world”.

I once believed I was not able to emigrate out of Singapore because I listened to friends and relatives who knew nothing about how to do it. You should not listen to these unqualified people like I did. Instead, go to immi.gov.au and check out the requirements yourself and visit a qualified Australian migration agent that has free consultation.

Thank you for subscribing to Vincent Rich’s “Internet Marketing for the Rest of Us” Newsletter!

Please configure your email filters to accept messages from VincentRich.com and MyNewsletterManager.com (our mailing list provider).

An email has been sent to you. Please verify by clicking on the link in the email to activate your subscription.

Zero-Spam Privacy Guarantee. We hate spam as much as you do! We never sell or disclose your name or email address to third parties. For more information, please view our privacy policy.

I just upgraded my blog to WordPress 2.5. I really like the new admin interface but I found a few bugs with WordPress 2.5.