February 08 had been extremely hectic and stressful for me. There were extra curriculum activities, competitions and examinations to cope with, resulting in extremely packed and tiring days and weeks. However, I did beforehand tell you readers that my examinations went rather well (for me). I am glad to say that though the days were tough and exhausting, I managed to endure through them. Also, I took a scholarship test in the month of January and the results are out. I am sad to say that I have failed to clinch the scholarship and that I have wasted the opportunity to get a free education till I am 18 and a cash amount of $15,000 (for 4 years after deducting the miscellaneous fees etc). How sad. Demoralized and down but still, life has to go on. Besides, it is just $15,000, an amount that JUST requires me to earn the same amount the site is currently earning for around a century. Hmm that was kind of sarcastic but oh well. What is gone is gone, there is no point crying over spilt milk. Perhaps I did not have the capabilities or the potential to be one of the creams of the crop. Nevertheless, the site has been doing rather well; increasing inhabitants visiting it (did not reach my target though). Oh and lastly, I have learnt how to record in-game footage for the PS3 WOO. Boo though as the resolutions are like terribly disgusting. Right, perhaps I’ll grab some screenies from other sites or freelance ps3 gamer screen capturers (asking permission of course). Till then, I guess that is all I have and below is the details of the events that took place and some of my goals for what lies ahead.
Swift World Traffic Statistics
| Unique Visitors | 2597 |
| Number of Visits | 3027 |
| Page Views | 6489 |
| Bandwidth Used | 1592 mb |
| Average Uniques per Day | 90 |
Goal: To reach an average of 100 uniques per day.
Earnings and Revenue
Google Adsense:Â $2.05 USD ($2.84 SGD)
Advertlets:Â Less than a Dollar
Total Earnings: $3.00 SGD
I excluded Nuffnang as it is not really earning me much money at all. Perhaps Advertlets would be next to go. I guess my visits aren’t enough or localized. They do not pay for most overseas traffic. Hmm maybe for the month of March I’ll put in Nuffnang only to see how it goes.
It is like winning a war but suffering heavy losses
I managed to endure through all the time consuming practices for my campcraft competition as well as the school’s birthday’s parade while still getting some good scores for my academics. However, the inability to clinch the scholarship was like a deep gun shot through my heart that was happy and almighty at first. Painful, but I doubt it will hinder in my goal and path to success. Like the saying goes “failure is the stepping stone to success”, I bet you that I have gain experiences through the process of completing the test. Let bygones be bygones, forget about it and continue looking forward to other opportunities. Right so here are my test results in school:
| Subject | Marks | Grade (1 – 7) |
| Language Arts (English + Lit) | 74% | 6 |
| Higher Chinese | 72% | 6 |
| Core Mathematics | 90% | 7 |
| Advanced Mathematics | 72% | 6 |
| Chemistry | 90% | 7 |
| Physics | 63% | 5 |
| Biology | 73% | 6 |
| Introduction to Human Societies* | 80% | 7 |
Average: 76.8%
The marking and grading scheme follows the International Baccalaureate Diploma Programme (IBDP) examinations (7 is the highest obtainable grade and 1 the lowest). The test I took isn’t the real IBDP examinations but just marked according to it. I’ll be taking that major examination in around 4 years time. The marks I have achieved is not one of the top, but it is neither at the bottom. Above average I suppose.
*Combination of humanities subjects. (Geography, History etc)
For my mid-year papers, I would aim for such grades (my goals in other words):
| Subject | Marks | Grade (1 – 7) |
| Language Arts (English + Lit) | 70% | 6 |
| Higher Chinese | 65% | 5 |
| Core Mathematics | 80% | 7 |
| Advanced Mathematics | 80% | 7 |
| Chemistry | 80% | 7 |
| Physics | 70% | 6 |
| Biology | 70% | 6 |
| Introduction to Human Societies* | 80% | 7 |
You might be wondering why on earth I am aiming lower than what I achieved. Mid-Year paper covers a whole lot of topics thus being much harder. The first term paper ought to be the easiest among all four terms and thus the best opportunity to score extremely high marks. Therefore, it is rather realistic for me to aim a little lower for some subjects.
Enough about academics lets move on to other topics.
Reviews
Boxwave sent me a few of their products to my home for reviewing. It was kind of fun since it was my first ever somewhat “paid” review. Excited and eager, I came up with what I think was a rather detailed critic on the different products they sell. You might want to read the review here before deciding the purchase anything from their site. I reviewed mainly the PSP accessories as it was the only category I fit into. (I don’t have any phone models their accessories support). Some commented personally to me that the review was rather negative but still, it is all my honest opinion. Since they gave me the products for free, all the more I have to be critical and strict in my reviewing. Enough of me talking, go read it if you are interested.
Conclusion
It was tough in January but tougher in February. Still, I managed to scrape through those hard times and came away with what I would say a victory. Great job for me and I hope I will do better for the months that lie ahead. Oh and Swift World would be turning one soon in July! Whoopie!
