At the moment, yes... I am still smoking. But very2 little already. Sometimes I go days without even a single puff... But at certain times, I fall prey to my own desires when hanging out with friends... I'd normally end up smoking 2-3 sticks in one seating... Anywayz... I am not buying anymore, so whenever there's no hangout session, then ok la. I am tobacco free Alhamdulillah :D

Recently, I found out about the electronic cigarettes. It's been around for quite some time already... but I think only recently has it made its way into Malaysia (I myself have never seen the product before). The E-cig resembles a real cigarette... except that it's battery operated. When powered up, it delivers vapor instead of smoke... therefore making it a 'healthier' choice. The vapor of course, is filled with a certain amount of nicotine... since the mouthpiece connects to a nicotine 'reservoir' thingy. According to the Electronic Cigarette Association – ECA (yes, they do have one... Google it...), compared to normal cigarettes, the e-cigarette only has 20 ingredients... all of which, if consumed according to the product's labeling/instructions, is totally safe for human consumption (normal burn-up ciggies btw, has around 4000 toxic chemicals...).

Anywayz... even though a very intriguing concept… and even though seemingly less harmful than normal cigarettes, I still wonder whether the exorbitant claims of e-cigarette health benefits are for real. I mean, for starters, they never say that e-cigarettes are healthy. They always say… ‘healthier’. Ok... what does that mean? Healthier means that something else equivalent to it is less healthy. 'Healthier' would mean being a bit better in terms of 'unhealthy-ness'... I think... :) I’d appreciate it if the ECA can clearly say that… IT’S HEALTHY! Hehehe. But then again, how can smoking (or VAPING in the e-cig’s case) be healthy? Tapi takpe… that’s a small matter… The bigger matters are what other parties are saying about the e-cigarettes.

The American Food and Drug Administration (or is it Association?) said in an online article that e-cigarettes contain some harmful ingredients… carcinogens ke pa ntah…  I forget. But basically, according to their tests there are some harmful ingredients! Another worry for them is the fact that e-cigarettes might be made available to children! Therefore introducing them to the habit of smoking at an early age… WHO pulak said they wanted to do some testing. But after Googling (a bit only), I didn’t find the outcome of their tests. If anyone can Google for me, would really2 appreciate it :)

There’s also talk that… some countries (e.g. USA and Canada maybe?) are a bit scared of this e-cigarette. I mean, there goes the TAX money! Since e-cigs don’t provide tax income (I read somewhere lah…), governments and tobacco companies are getting worried that their incomes might drop. Ya la, I mean, if the e-cigs are indeed harmless, then they’d be out of business once the price of e-cigs goes down (now still a bit expensive these e-cigs)… So… sometimes I think… “Could the FDA be in it together with the US govt. to stop e-cigs because of the $$$?”… buleh jadik jugak! Konspirasi tahap gaban terbesar Asia dan donia! Or am I just paranoid? hehehehe....

Anywayz… just wanted to talk about the topic of e-cigarettes. TQ for reading iya :D Assalaam aleykom!!!

I thought it was all over! But after saja-saja searching thru the Internet, I managed to find this website (http://www.jutawanklik.com). Just by looking at the homepage, I think we could all agree that this is just another attempt at photocopying STUDIOTRAFFIC (and all of the other defunct autosurf scams)... 

For those of you who are not familiar with autosurfing, well... basically you join a program (like Jutawanklik). Some will ask you to pay, whereas others simply allow you to create a free account. But believe me, after knowing the potential of how a paid account can make you rich faster, many opt to upgrade to a paid account. Anywayz...

Last time, when I was part of an autosurf program (Studio Traffic), what members had did was to surf a certain number of webpages (or websites) per day in order to get money. For instance, if you have a paid account of USD100, whenever you finish your surfing quota for the day (say, 100-websites)... you will get earnings equals to 1% of you account's worth (in this case 1% of 100 = USD1). So over one month, you'll get around USD30. In a bit over three months, dah kira pulang modal since you can cover the USD100 that you paid to upgrade the account in the first place... After this, of course you can opt to withdraw the money, or REINVEST your earnings to upgrade the account further (higher account worth means higher 1% per day earnings rite?) Imagine... 1% of USD1000... sehari dah USD10 tu beb!!! Sapa tak nak!!! :o

Oh! And I forgot to mention... that the website surfing quota is done by a so called AUTO SURF program... which automatically alternates between websites every 10-20 or 30 seconds or so.... You don't need to do nothin... just run the program, and voila! You're quota is filled for the day... BTW, last time... the alternating websites were that of Studio Traffic themselves, and also some other crappy websites and screen shots of famous companies....

Simple aye? Easy money.... The program I joined, Studio Traffic... ended up being closed down... leaving many (including myself) with holes in their pockets. Luckily for me, tak la banyak sangat invest. Kalu tak, mau nangis (like some of my frens who actually took out LOANS to upgrade their accounts!)

Anywayz... that's my story. I have learnt from such programs... that money never comes easily. Nothing beats old hard (and smart) work :) Jadi, in case la anybody comes to you to promote an autosurf, it's best to run away as far as you can, before he/she manages to persuade you to join... :) Oh, and also lari if anyone promotes any other types of high-yield and TOO GOOD TO BE TRUE investments!!!! LARI RUN RUN... ARRET when you get tired of course!!!

Some might ask, how to identify such scams? For me, a few simple indicators would already make my scam alarm bells ring:

1. High return (high yield) in so little time - 1% per day was Studio Traffic's promise. Not sure about Jutawanklik. But come on... 1% per day... that's 30% per month!!! Even the stock market can't promise you such returns!!! Plus, if it were true, don't you think Donald Trump or even our own local Milan Doshi won't already be investing in such vehicles/mediums?;
2. Easy Money - Do (almost) nothing, and get $$$!!! Ok, this has been a very old trick of these (scam) devils. If money is easy, it ain't earned money... It's stolen money... as was the case with Studio Traffic since it was a pyramid/ponzi scheme;
3. Too much sweet talk - Similar to MLMs (even tho they're legal), you'd hear too much sweet talk about each program... run away if the talk is too sweet. You might even die if u're diabetic :P
4. TOO GOOD TO BE TRUE!!! - If it's too good to be true, run away also... 

Well, these are the four points I have identified for myself. Other people might have other alarm triggering facts :D Kalau nak tambah kat sini pon, amat dialu2kan :D

Anywayz... it's quite sad to see so many people joining Jutawanklik (at the side bar... you can see new members joining in. IC number pon leh nampak sekali...). But I understand how they feel. Some get tricked into the hype that this is the new way to rake in the $$$! It's Online and in a short time!!! (Hmmm.. kinda like a slogan with a nice ring to it aye?). Furthermore, it's difficult to convince people otherwise... because when you join something... you suddenly get very2 defensive and ta'asub about it. Just like when you join a brick and mortar company or even an MLM. Same feeling... and you get jumpy when people start saying things about your organization/product etc. :)

Anywayz... just for my friends out there... stay clear of such programs. Because like all pyramids/ponzis, they will close down :) And the ones who will benefit will only be the 'creators' of such schemes... and yes, of course, people who join early :D

Oraits... Assalaam aleykom