Network Marketing vs. Pyramid Schemes

Oh boy. So some endorser from Global Fusion, Inc. tried talking me into joining his company which employs a multi-level marketing strategy. In a nutshell, MLM strategies gain profit not just from product sales, but also through sales from recruiting more endorsers of the company's products.

MLM, as some may know, is criticized mainly about it being a cover-up for a pyramid scheme, which is illegal in many countries (including the Philippines). What the pyramid scheme basically does is hire recruiters who give a certain amount of money, and those recruited will gain more recruits for a certain amount of money, profiting everyone from a percentage of that money, and so on BUT the number of potential new recruits will eventually run out, meaning those in the top tier of the pyramid will be the only ones benefiting, while those at the bottom are left without profits. My explaining sucks so you guys can gain a better understanding with this chart. Anyway, without any potential new recruits, who pay to join the company, and whose payments are the profits of the company, the company will just go bankrupt. As aforementioned, those in the top tiers are the only ones benefiting.

The guy who talked to me about this was a good speaker. He knew how to lure me in, but of course I'm not stupid and I realized his Wall Street hook, line, and sinker kind of talk immediately. I'm not accusing GFI of employing the pyramid scheme, but it does look like a scam at first, too good to be true and all. So yes, I did some research on some of the terms he mentioned while speaking. It made me double-take on the matter but, well, Esther wants to join, and I'm doing this for her. I love her so much, and I'm willing to make this work. I want her to be happy, even if this means I'm going to be taking a big risk with my moolah.

PSP Stuff.

I'll be selling my PSP-3000 later tonight for P6000, which is about (130 USD). This guy's a good friend of mine (without him I wouldn't have passed High School) so I'm selling it to him at a fairly large discount (a PSP-3000 would originally set him back some P8500 (170 USD).

I'll probably wait for the rumored PSP2 which reportedly will come out on Spring 2011, right with the Nintendo 3DS. Hope it isn't much of a flop as the PSP Go. I hope it'll come out with custom firmware so I can play pirated games and homebrew a music and video player, like the the previous generation's PSP.

Have a Break, Have a Sky Flake.

Ah finally, my semestral break has arrived! This slice of heaven ends on the 8th of November though so oh well. But still, I'll make the most of it! Hour-and-a-half train riding to Esther as much as possible! I'm here now actually, waiting for her classes to end so we could hang out a bit.

Other plans include Muay Thai training, resting, looking for a job, enrolling for the next semester, being with Esther, and a lot more. Hope I can make this worthwhile.

Christmas break's in a month and a half anyway. Excelsior!

I do hope I passed my finals, and ultimately the semester. If not, then I'm just gonna have to do better than my best (since I already did my best last sem and well, if that didn't work...).

My Dream Alienware

Processor:  
Intel Core i7 980x Extreme 6 Core Processor (3.33GHz, 12MB Cache) for my ultimate gaming needs, obviously.

Operator:  
Windows 7 Ultimate 64bit because why choose a Mac. Yuck
.
Video Card:  
Dual 1GB DDR5 ATI Radeon HD 5870 CrossfireX Enabled. Hmm, although there are better options, it requires me to upgrade to a Chassis with 1.1 KW. A part of me says it's worth it, but... oh well.

Memory: 
6GB DDR3 1333MHz (3x 2GB) Tri Channel Memory. Surprisingly, 6GB was the lowest they had to offer. Since I'm no multitasker, I'd stick with this.

Hard Drive:  
1TB (at least).

Optical Drive:  
Blu-ray Disc Combo (reads BD and writes to DVD/CD. In case there's ever a time we buy Blu-rays. I'm always stuck with Standard-definition TV's so, yeah, it'd be a cool experience.

Speakers:  
Altec Lansing Expressionist Ultra MX6021. Because I'm a bit of an audiophile.

Sound Card:  
Creative Sound Blaster Audigy 2 Series. See above.

Keyboard:  
Alienware TactX Keyboard

Mouse:  
Alienware TactX Mouse

Office Software: 
Microsoft Home and Student 2010

Monitor:  
Dell Ultrasharp U2711. 27 inches of gaming goodness.

Semestral exams (also known as the torture before the release)

My Literature, Filipino, and Math exams are coming up on Thursday, October 14. Last few days have been hell, what with all the late nights and the cramming and the what not. I had to finish 5 papers yesterday, and that was not cool.

At least after this it's 3 weeks of rest and relaxation. Semestral break, baby.

Also hoping to take the TOEFL test so I can get a part-time job some time in the near future.

In school right now, finishing up on most of my projects. I still have my Laboratory Investigatory Project to finish, and it's due tomorrow. However, my groupmates are kind of in a scuffle amongst themselves. Egos bursting, immaturity flaring.

I'm in the first batch of next semester's online registration? That would be cool if I could pick my Natural Sciences subject. But no, I'm stuck in BS Biology for the time being, meaning the only subject I can pick for myself is Physical Education. Judo or BJJ? I wish they had Wrestling. Being in the first batch, what a waste.

Reminder: Must get an Dell Alienware Area-51 desktop computer. Saving up 200,000 Php starting NOW.