I think the success to anything does not simply lie on "Failure is okay; just keep doing it till successful." This is wrong. It urges you to blindly risk whatever it takes in hope that success would come at the end. Of course, success will come after a string of failures but at what price you have paid for it? And when? I hope it will come before your life candle runs out. You won't have a clue about the answers because your mantra lies solely on the foundation of hope rather than reality.

Failure is NOT okay. You are constructing a tall building, for instance. When it collapses and kill a bunch of people, it is NOT okay for you to say, "Nah... I'll just buy more cement and build it again. After a few more collapses, one will stand tall." This is not a statement you will hear from a sane person.

Likewise, if you are a doctor performing a life-threatening surgery on this person, it is NOT okay to say, "I'm going to try removing this black-yellow thing out. Here it goes nothing..." And then the person dies, and you say, "Ops! Hehehe another failure. I did it again! But it's okay." This is not from the mouth of a sane doctor.

Well, don't get me wrong. I am not an expert in this success and failure things. At least I know what works for me and what not. Now I am struggling to be successful myself. In finance and business, I think I have done a pretty good job, having gone from a kid waiting for dollars from his parents to a financial-independent adult running a company in another country. In education, I think I have done a pretty good job too, having transformed myself from a kid who "believes everything people say because he doesn't know much" to an adult who "questions things around him and finds out the truth and what not."

My mantra on success is that, to be successful, one has to understand and manage the risk (and reward) very well. There is no excuse, and there is no easy way to cheat your way around it.

For every business venture, you must pen your ways to achieving the objectives. You are selling clothes, for instance. One of your objectives would be to maximize your profits. Ask yourself how you would do it, what tools you will need, whose expertises you will hire, how much money you will need to keep the cash flow healthy, and last but not least how much time you will consume. You absolutely must not try your ideas out blindly because you think it's cool and that failure is acceptable. If you do that, you will fail, period. 

For risk management, you should be aware of the obstacles, big and small, that you may face, and then plan out how you would absorb such impacts on your project. You are buying and selling properties or stocks, for instance. One of the prominent risks is that the prices could fall. What if it falls by 20%, what would you do? Would you sell it as soon as possible? Or would you hold on to it until the prices fall by 50% or even more? Or would you need certain data to make decision? You should never wait for problems to arise first to plan out the solutions later, or you could be too late to solve it.

To conclude, there are three outcomes when people do stuff. One, failed. Two, successful. Three, neither failed nor successful. It is common for people to make mistakes and to fail; however, one should try his best to minimize the chance of failure by managing the risk accordingly. If it does fail, allow it to fail gracefully and controllably. In case of doubt, he should all together avoid the risks that do not suit his risk profile. If the opportunity is too risky, just pass it. Only play on what you can afford to lose, 'cause if you screw it up big time, that one big time, you might end up living on the street screaming why heaven did not help.

There are those rich people out there who write books and do seminars, and they spread lies just to pimp money from your pocket. Are you sure that people like Donald Trump tells you his business secrets in a $19.99 book so that you would become a better competitor who would then bring down his billion-dollar empire? Think about it. Well, I hope you find this article helpful one way or another.

About The Author: Neo Lee is a financial analyst and software developer at FxFisherman.com, a website dedicated to providing resources on foreign exchange trading. He is known for creating the 'Super S/R' technical indicator which automatically identifies the support/resistance levels of security prices.

Internet banking offers the convenient new ways to checking the account balance, transferring fund and even pay bills through your own internet-connected computer. There is no line to wait, no dirty note to count, and there is no need to drive out anywhere. Everything is all done at home.

I did some research and found four banks in Cambodia that provide the internet banking service to the customers. (There could be more since Cambodia's banking industry grows so rapidly.)

FTB - http://www.ftbbank.com/

You can request the internet banking service applied to your savings account for $10. You will be given an One-Time-Password device (OTP) and a password to log in to your account. This OTP device offers another layer of protection in a way that even if somebody else knows your password, the person will not be able to compromise your account without the OTP device given to you.

Services:

• Check account balance and transactions
• Fund transfer
• ATM
• Pay electricity bills

ANZ Bank - http://anzroyal.com/en/Personal/

ANZ provides everything FTB does except the OTP device. They rely entirely on your password to protect your account. They do however employ a basic protection against attacks. Basically, if somebody attempts to log in to your account with the wrong password three times, your internet banking account will be locked out, and that you would have to pay a visit to ANZ to reactivate your internet banking access.

Services:

• Check account balance and transactions
• Fund transfer
• ATM

ABA Bank - http://ababank.net/

Advanced Bank of Asia, or ABA, really do offers a set of advanced products and services to its customers. Internet banking with secured OTP device and CryptoCard is provided to all account holders. You may check all the transactions at your convenience through your computer. On top of that, you may sign up for a VISA debit card and have it linked to your bank account, and that allows you to make purchases on the internet and at credit-card POS nationwide. What is more advanced is that, through the internet banking system, you may issue your own virtual credit cards with a custom maximum balance you set for temporary uses. This allows you to limit how much a merchant may charge you for the purchases. Once the transactions are completed, you could just cancel the card to ensure that you will never get recharged. You will never have to worry that the credit card number is compromised.

Services:

• Check account balance and transactions
• Fund transfer
• ATM
• VISA debit card
• Virtual credit cards

CPB Bank - http://www.cpbebank.com/cpeb/index.html

Cambodian Public Bank, Campu, or CPB also provides the internet banking service, ATM and debit card. More details will be added.

Short story long, hehe, there are only two occassions in my life when I meet a person so unexpectedly that puts me in awe. It's like when a photon meets an electron in the vast universe, and the electron gets excited and leaps into the higher quantum state. I was totally like that.

Okie, so the first time happened in January 2002. It was a winter here although not that cold to make it snow. It was around seven when I woke up and all of a sudden, there's a voice in my head. "Pheap, go take a shower and ride your motor to Angkor Wat." I was like, "Hoh? Who are you? Are you telling me to go there at this hour? Cuz who the heck goes to Angkor Wat this early." If you're in Phnom Penh, know this, it's like the feeling of going for a ride at the river side early in the morning. Who would do that? Nobody except alien tourists and local nutcases. So yeah a nutcase I was, 'cause I was actually driving to Angkor Wat.

There were two roads leading to the temple, the main road and the small road less taken. At the crossroad, I heard the voice again, "Pheap, take the road less taken." Then I was like, "Excuse me, Mr. Voice, are you trying to get me robbed on this quiet road?" There eventually I was driving on the small road. There's something special about that road. There were tall eerie trees that smell so good. Some leaves were falling slowly in front of me. The fallen ones were not yet trodden black. It was real cold, real quiet, three mintures driving on the road. Then I saw someone's riding a red motorbike from the other direction. "Oh! oh! At least there's another local nutcase in town," I pondered to myself, "Oh! A girl! a girl! LOL." As we're getting closer and closer I realized I knew that girly, pretty face. She was a classmate of mine that..... I had a crush on. That's when I looked at her, with awe filling in my head, so did she, I believe.

"Pheap, forget the old temple. Just go reverse and rendevous with her!" said Mr. Voice. Oh that's something I could agree on. I quickly U-turned my motorbike around and drove with her all the way. Our small talk was all about how amazed we were seeing other like this. I mean, what's the odds? 8AM + Angkor Wat + Road Less Taken + Time Window = Speechless.

The next morning after I woke up, the voice spoke to me, "Pheap, get ready to ride to Angkor Wat again." So yeah I followed. There at the crossroad, I took the road less taken. It was quiet like it was yesterday. The road was winding into the woods, and I couldn't see far but that didn't stop me from trying to see what's coming ahead. It was a red motorbike, and it was her, again! Oh man.... that's just unbelievable. Talk about meeting someone you love at this very place, TWICE. I didn't believe in fate or destiny, but this was just too weird, too accidental.

And, the next mornings, every friggin morning, Mr. Voice woke me up and urged me to drive there and look for her. I did, as always. Again, and again, I met her on this exact road. It wasn't timed at all. Some day, I went there at 8, I saw her. Some time, at 9, I still saw her. And some other times, at 10, and I still saw her. It wasn't exact timed since we didn't ask each other to meet up at X:XX AM. Not at all. Some other days, I took the main road instead, and I still saw her. Whatever roads I took, I still met her.

I gotta fast forward on this one. Many years of the bitter sweet, hopeful and happy relationship with this very girl ended with broken hearts. I asked Mr. Voice or whatever he was, "is this your fately destiny, Mr. Voice? All these moments and then a good-bye." And he replied, "I think you stalked her. It was no chance nor fate, buddy. You wanted it. You got it." I hadn't heard from him since then.

Let's fast forward to yesterday, when for the second time, I heard him again. This time he changed his name to Mr. Voicio since he erh moved to Italy all these times. He's here in Cambodia only for vacation. Mr. Voicio greeted me with this, "Pheap, go to Sovanna Shopping Center." And I was like "Wow! This is interesting. What's in store for me this time?" So I went there and parked my car neatly. I haven't been to this place for two months already.

Beep... beep... beep...

An old friend messaged me as if she knew I was close by. "Hey, come meet me at Sovanna restau." Now I was pondering if that's someone who Viocio wanted me to meet. "Huh.... so... let's go meet her then." I was also just so starving. Standing there at the crossroad, I could have just taken the elevator and just gone eating with her. But instead I went shopping. After it's all checked out, it was just a small bag I could have carried with me up to the restau. I could have gone looking for her, but then Viocio spoke to me, "Pheap, go put all the groceries in your car. Girls hate a boy carrying a white plastic bag." So I did.

As I was walking and hurrying in the parking lot--it was dead quiet--and that's when I saw this black Lexus driving very slowly toward me. "Whoa ho! a Lexus. Could it be her?" Even when it was so close, I couldn't see a thing inside the car. I just walked pass, thinking, "Oh, hehe not her." That's also when I turned my head around and to my amazement, the window was rolling down, and there! My lovely lovely internet friend, Kmouy Bondol Jet, was the driver. Weeks earlier, I had told her we would never meet, but then there she was before me in flesh and bone. Awe strucked me 'cause it was just so awesome, so unbelievable, and I'm just dumbfounded. The cyber world and the real world have collided, and I'm no longer Mr. Robot. Haha...

So what's the odds of two friends meeting by chance? Yes, a lot. Several times I have met my friends on the streets but I was just doing my usual chores, walking the same streets everyday, and it's just too sure that some day I'll meet them. But this is not the usual. Because all of a sudden, I had this voice inside my head telling me to do things I don't really want to do but I still do it anyway.

Anyway, I was just so shocked and forgot to meet up with my old pal. Or maybe I met Kmouy Bondol Jet already and that I thought I didn't need to meet anybody else.

Okie, are you saying it's fate and destiny? Well, Voicio and I don't believe in them. We are both atheists. "It was no chance nor fate, buddy. You wanted it. You got it." Maybe Kmouy Bondol Jet stalked me. :))

So yes, last month I gave my long-lost childhood dream a serious thought. It's about making my own electronics and robots.

As a young kid, I was bombarded with all the tech news. When I was like ten, Honda made a headline with "Honda Humaniod Robot Takes Its First Step," and then more headlines on robots, cool electronic gadgets, and more robots. I was awe-inspired by these kind of technological achievements. I was like, "Gee! I want to make one myself." Hehe.. and I remember I couldn't do anything else besides unscrewing my Chinese-made, remote-controlled toy car and looking at the wires. "Gee! So which wires to connect to turn this toy car into a robot?"

Color me stupid but not yet. And so, still as a little kid, I thought, "here is dad's 10kg video camera. Hmm.... how to put this huge thing on this little toy car so it records the video and send back to the TV?" Well, soon eough I discovered I couldn't make a robot out of a cheap Chinese toy, so yeah I crushed the toy and threw it against the walls to vent my anger. I admit, some smashed pieces of it sure looked like tiny plastic robots.

So I moved on, to something else. I soon fell in love with computers. I think I wrote about this back. You can check them out. Yeah so I moved on to the field of computing. After high school, I taught myself computer programming. Fast forwarding many years, I guess now I can create many different kinds of computer software. Software, yes! You can see a lot of buttons on the computer screen but you can't touch it. So this stuff is pretty much intangible. You can see, you can use, you can hear but you can't touch. (Your phone touch-screen display isn't real touch, nah!)

I want to touch my inventions. I want to move them around here in the real world, and I want them to move in real world. And I wonder what my inventions will smell like. I bet plastics and metals.

So there, my long-lost childhood dream came back. I didn't ignore the call this time. I vowed to make it a reality. Oh yes! I am gonna make some robots for real. Considering that I have zero knowledge on electronics, this is a leap of faith. You say, "confidence" is the right word? Darn right. So all these is based on my life-long motto, "You did it. I can do it too!" I always believe anything is possible if enough effort is put into it.

So now I'm buying a lot of tiny parts to begin with. My original budget was gonna be small like 500 bucks or less, but now, I've thrown in three grands, and I'm only seeing a glimpse of light at the end of the tunnel. Two weeks of sleepless nights by browsing for the parts, three thousand dollars spent, and it is still asking for more. If the spending goes more out of control, I might have to beg on the streets. If you do see me, just give me a lot of Benjamin Franklins, okie?

Okie...  I'm still waiting for all the parts about four thousand individual parts to arrive here. Well, stay tuned. I'll post unboxing photos when I've got it.

Yes, I want a decent e-book reader that has a large e-paper display. It will save me a lot of money if I read a lot of books, which I do. I have been buying regular paper books at Amazon.com and having them shipped to me here in Cambodia. Each typical paper book ultimately costs me about $35 to reach my hand. This is insanely more expensive than an e-book which will cost me about $10 each, not to mention that there are tons and tons of free e-books on the web. A quick calculation reveals that such device will pay for itself in no-time. Plus, it is not only money that is saved but also trees and the environment. As you know, an e-book is just a digital computer file which could be transferred electronically through the internet in bulk for less than a cent. Thousands of e-books can fit into a small flash memory. On the other hand, if you dissect the actual costs of a paper book, you will see that it costs a lot of harms. Making the papers will need trees cut down for use as raw materials. The machines used for manufacturing, printing and transporting paper books will burn fuel, emit CO2 into the atmosphere, and accelerate the global warming. Now, storing books at home will waste the precious space that you pay in square meters/feet. In all, it is really unnecessary to spend $25 more just to do more harm.More...

I'm currently giving away 14 best-selling books that I have read. These books imported from the US are apparently not sold in Cambodia. Each should costs around $30 if Monuments Book Store has it. I wished I could keep them but that would be pointless and selfish. So, I thought why not give these precious books to my friends as a gift of wisdom? It seems to be a good idea.

Email me to claim a book asap!!! I'm dropping them off at IFL canteen, so that you would be able to pick it up at your schedule. Below is the list of the books. Click on the title to see its details.More...

 

This is my home office. The two-screen computer, bought last year, is currently the most powerful in da house. With Intel Core 2 E6400 2.4Ghz CPU, 4GB of RAM and GeForce 7900GS graphic card, it is good enough for both work and play. I imported some hardware from the US, as most computer shops in Cambodia sell many low quality components. Genuine Vista Business, also imported from the US, boots blazingly fast. I can use it immediately as soon as I press the login button. Thanks to this workstation, I've created many powerful software applications that change my life (in a good way) forever. My previous workstation, seen on the far left, is now significantly slower, as a truck load of viruses are running in it. It was also running fast years back. I borrowed 500 bucks from my ex to buy it and failed to pay back for it, so now it belongs to my ex. I'll clean it up if she allows me to.

I photoshopped the very first icon for MicroCreditor today. I brainstormed it since yesterday. I first thought of drawing three persons posing together to create a letter 'm'. They show the unity of two debtors and a loan shark a loan creditor in the middle. You can see them above. Yeah that'd be the icon. But without me telling you, I don't think you'd know that the three persons look like a 'm' which would stand for MicroCreditor. I scraped the idea since it looks quite lame and classic. I opted for a modern look with letter 'm' embossed in a glass orb. It looks so nice for me. As much as I love it, I have something to confess: I cloned the design from another icon by an unknown designer. The orb, the light and the shadow are his pure creativities, or he might have learnt those bits by bits from the others. I just happened to have the skills to learn and replicate his design. This is good enough for a photoshop rookie like me.

It was 8 years ago, in year 2000, when I got my first computer. It was a dream came true. Before that I had been watching my neighbor typing his word documents, staring at his shiny computer screen, thinking of what kind of machine it was. I don't know what country you live but here in Cambodia, having a personal computer back in year 2000 was a pride. So... I liked it so much that I was stuck in front of it for hours everyday. My private tutor taught me Word, Excel and Windows 95. It wasn't long until I learnt something useful myself. Dad bought some phone equipments from Hong Kong, and so for a while I played with it *cough* unlocking, flashing and bricking phones *cough*. In 2001 and early 2002, nobody was sending a SMS picture message, since 60% of mobile phones didn't support it. It was totally new when I designed several picture messages in Khmer, my local language. The first one "Eternal Love" ស្នេហ៍អមតៈ was a hit among Cambodian phone users. Apparently, almost every darn phone in Cambodia received it, as people quickly learned to forward to their friends and families, although many old models would see "Message cannot display here" instead of the picture. The funny thing was that I received the picture several times from my friends. Hell no! They didn't believe I was the creator. I guess I played a big role in jumping start the Picture SMS technology here. Subsequently, I created more picture messages in Khmer including "I Love You" and custom-made "My Love" sealed with "Chakrya" my then girlfriend's name, and I guess it played a role to win her heart. You can see those pictures above.

Past is past. Today, years after my first legendary picture SMS, I created a set of three pictures about the upcoming solar eclipse on Friday, August 01 2008 which is visible totally in China and partially across Asia. Will this be my new legacy in which people are mass forwarding my pics? Let's see.

I know some of you are occupied with the Preah Vihear issue, but there's one important event in the next few days you should not miss. Studied and predicted by NASA, it is a very rare Partial Solar Eclipse (So Kreas - សូគ្រាស) on 01/08/2008 from 5:55 PM to 6:30 PM in the evening. While the sun's setting into the horizon, it will be covered partially by the moon that passes in front of it. People in many Asian countries including Cambodia and Thailand will see this magnificent show of nature. It's as if the Universe, God if you're religious, is trying to ease the conflict of our countries. I do hope this is to coincide with a peaceful withdrawal of all troops both Thai and Cambodian along the border. Soldiers and civilians alike should reunion with their family and take time to enjoy this gift. Imagine how romantic it is, taking your special ones to a high ground to watch the once in a lifetime solar eclipse at sunset. Of course, to protect your eyes, you will need a pair of special viewing glasses which is easily made with a roll of undeveloped camera film. You can also look through the LCD screen of a digital camera. Please never attempt to view it with naked eyes, which could make you go blind. I've got some films left. Let me know should you need one.

By the way, we all know the consequences of war: Poverty, loss of lives, broken families, destruction everywhere it touches. Wars made us live in this state of "your horror stories here". War is endless, and there is no winner in this game. Excuse my humble request, please try not to overreact to the border issue. You may have wanted to boycott Thai products or do harm to any Thai you meet, but in doing so, it will probably further isolate Cambodia from the rest of the world. Believe me, they can make us miserable too if we make them miserable. Instead of doing all bad things, why don't we do something good? We scratch their backs. They will scratch our. It's a win-win. There are too many good deeds you can do that I can't list them all here. Make your own good judgment and make a good foreign friend, will you? Well, you might be now saying that I'm nobody to ask you to reconsider your political ideology. Hell yeah, I'm not graduated in Political Science, but I've got common senses.

Enjoy your solar eclipse viewing! On 01/08/2008 from 5:55 PM to 6:30 PM at sunset. And you should let your friends know about this solar eclipse too!

Sopheap - Your Humble Friend