Adventures of a Comsci Student

2 months hiatus

2009-01-29T09:00:00.002+08:00

I miss blogging so much. It's been almost 2 months since I wrote something in this blog. I've been missing out some opportunities to write because I lack the time. Yeah, I want to concentrate with studies. And I've been keeping up with my social life.

Well I hope I could start writing again some stuffs here. But I am planning to have new blog in wordpress, hopefully by April. Well, I'm just dropping by. If you want to stay in touch with me, add me in plurk. Or you can see my timeline in the right side of my blog. You'll know what I've been doing lately.

Ciao!

Movie Survey

2008-11-04T16:21:00.003+08:00

This survey is all about movies. I like most the question "If you are movie, what are you and why". It's like a Miss World question. Hehehe. If you are not that busy, take time to answer the survey. It's only short but fun to answer.

I'm back!

2008-10-25T14:41:00.003+08:00

It's been awhile since I posted something in this blog.. I've been so busy with school even though I only have 4 subjects. I don't know why i'm struggling with only 4 subjects. It's hard for me to budget my time.

Anyways, I am now back in blogging and I do hope that I can regularly post again. Actually, I've been planning to buy a new domain. But with a hectic schedule, I think I can't maintain a new domain. I'm planning to buy it by december. But I do hope, my schedule is not that hectic anymore so that I can make out of most for what I will pay for the new domain.

I'm also thinking of a domain name and a niche for the blog that I'll come up. Anyway, I still have a few months to think about that.

Follow me on my plurk for some little updates on my life. (LOL)

Lost File Survey

2008-10-25T14:27:00.004+08:00

Lost file.. Yeh, it can happen ... and our first reaction is a blank stare that says "What do I do now?" ... and then, we kick ourselves "Why didn't I backup my files?"

See my answers below about a survey about losing files and back-up

Compiling Open Suse 10.2 Kernel

2008-09-29T21:25:00.003+08:00

I've been trying to compile the kernel for two days already and still was not successful. I got a hard time with my hard disk so I decided that I have to reformat it even though I did not like the idea. I had a lot of files there that for me are very important. But I'm having a hard time with it, so I really need to reformat it as soon as possible.

Compiling of kernel really takes a long time. It really needs a lot of patience. Hopefully, by tomorrow I get to work it. All I did today was to compile the kernel, but i was not successful. Getting disappointed with it, but I won't lose hope.

U.S Presidential Politics

2008-09-29T01:21:00.001+08:00

This survey is all about what I think about the U.S. Presidential Politics

Freebie: Win a Free Handbag

2008-09-29T00:15:00.003+08:00

Yes, this is true! And there's no catch here. This means no shipping/handling fees or credit card required. Yes, it’s really that simple!

Handbag Planet is launching at October 15, 2008. Their giving away free handbags every hour on the day of the launch!

You just have to sign up, choose your bag and wait!

I’ve joined myself and now I’m sharing this FREE opportunity to you

And you can choose the handbag you want!

JOIN HERE!

Happy 10th Bday Google!

2008-09-28T23:28:00.003+08:00

As I opened my browser today, it gave me a hint that today's google 10th anniversary

And i confirmed it when I saw it in the Official Google Blog. And I just want to greet Google

HAPPY 1oth BIRTHDAY!!!

Google is one of the leading companies and I want to congratulate you for a decade of success.
Keep moving forward! :D

As you can see in the picture, they want as a gift aside from the cake and the party hat is a
new server rack. With billions of profit, I know you can buy it for yourself. LOL.

Don't Be Fooled @ Hoffman MC Depot

2008-09-28T19:53:00.007+08:00

It's sad to hear a lot of people are taking advantage of other individuals for their own benefit. It's been common here in the internet world - scamming, phishing attacks and etc. And not only in the internet world, but as well in the REAL world.

Yesterday, my mother and I went to MC Home Depot at their branch at Fort Bonifacio, Taguig. We went there to buy vinyl tiles and as we went there, there was a promo girl in front who approached us and said that she will give us a mug by just visiting their showroom. I was skeptic about it. My mom said it would be nice if we could get a discount at their tiles. So even though I did not like the idea of going to their showroom, I just went with my mom.

The promo girl did not actually say anything about their product as we were walking towards the showroom so we both thought that it was a showroom of tiles, lighting or home furnitures. When we went there, it was actually a showroom of electronic appliances - made by HOFFMAN.

Because the promo girl said that she'll just tell to us some of their product, i sat down with my mom and attentively listen to the promo girl with their manager babbling about the usual - what's good about their product and what makes it a best buy. I don't want to be rude so even though i'm skeptic about the whole idea, I listen through all of it. Some of their products are 19 inch portable lcd t.v., chiller, air purifier, dvd player and some plates (they were extra ordinary because only 100 pieces of it are distributed through out the Philippines; they said Imelda Marcos actually bought one like that). What I liked from all about their product is only the 19-inch portable lcd t.v.

As we are about to go, the promo girl gave us a discount and asked us if where we live. My mom said that we lived in Makati. All the staffs including the promo girl and the manager was astonished to find out that we lived in Makati because they have a promo that the first 10 person to go to their showroom who lived in Makati will be given free 19-inch portable lcd t.v. worth about 39,000 pesos. I looked like I don't believe it. So the manager explained that it was free because instead of hiring a model to endorse their product, they were giving it free. For me to believe it, he actually called their supervisor that it was actually true. My mom talked to him and confirmed that it was actually true, and not only that, they're giving away the chiller, air purifier and two set of the extra-ordinary plates.

I was still not convinced because I would like to know the catch about it so the manager told us the three conditions. The manager said that the only conditions are: (1) we have to say that it was not given free - as if we really bought it; (2) we will use it for a year and we will not sell it to other people; (3) we will not in any way erase or block the brand name HOFFMAN in their product. The conditions were not that hard to comply with so my mom was actually happy to hear that it was actually free.

They have placed the products already in place for us to bring it, when the manager said that we have to buy at least one for us to bring to whole package. That's the big catch over there. They were actually forcing us to buy it because it was already packed and was already in place.

Without further ado, I said that we don't have that money right now (the cheapest was the lcd monitor worth 39,000 pesos and it's not our main purpose there anyway) and walked away from the showroom. The staff there did not even gave our supposedly free mug for visiting the showroom. And I was actually disappointed that they were fooling us to buy their product. They should have said that in the first place.

I did not post it to ruin someone's business. I post it for people to know what they are ACTUALLY doing. That's really not a good thing to force people to buy your product. I hope everybody should be aware of this kind of thing.

Escape

2008-09-27T16:34:00.005+08:00

I'm getting busy with things right now because I'm working on my project. I have a client presentation this friday, October 3. I hope we would do well in the presentation even though there's a little progress in our prototype. These couple of days, I'm too lazy to look at our prototype because I know once I go through it, hello stress again. But I have to. I cannot escape from this. But somehow I manage to escape by not focusing on it. LOL.

I was suppose to work on the project today but once again, because I want to break loose, I invited my mom to go to mall today. Even though she knows that I have a lot of things to do, she still accompanied me. I was surprised that she did not forced me to just stay at our house. I felt she was also stressed out.

Tomorrow, I will be doing the project with my groupmates in one of my groupmate's house. I just hope that we'll accomplish a lot of things. But I don't want to stress myself out. I think I need to go with the flow.

Windy Alternatives

2008-09-27T08:44:00.003+08:00

Wind produces about 1% of world-wide electricity use... However, it accounts for approximately 19% of electricity production in Denmark, 9% in Spain and Portugal, and 6% in Germany and the Republic of Ireland. For your country, are you in favor of continued development of the technology and distribution of wind power as an alternative to non-renewable energy sources?

Take the survey below to answer the question.

Well, for me, I think the Philippines need to switch to windy alternatives. Price of electricity here is very high. We need alternative solutions

Visual Talking

2008-09-26T07:42:00.005+08:00

I've answered again some questions about Visual Talking. The site is really nice. You'll squeeze a lot of your creativity juices when you're in the site. And it's also a nice way and sweet way to say something to your friends and love ones.

Not Feeling Well

2008-09-24T09:17:00.006+08:00

I did not go to school today because i'm really not feeling well. My head hurts a lot and my body is aching. I don't have any fever or cold YET. I think a need a little rest because if not it will turn into a flu which I cannot afford to have because every attendance counts a lot. 15% of my grade comes from attendance in my QUAMET class which is my subject every tuesday and thursday. If I get to absent tomorrow, a deduction of 2% will be given - so big for a day of absence.

What's worst with my situation, I can't stand an hour or two in my computer. It's giving me migraines especially when blog hopping. So I really need to just stay in my bed, sleep and take some medicines.

I think what is also affecting my situation is the weather. It's raining all morning and the coldness makes my body hurt more and I don't know why. I hope I get well soon so that I can attend my classes tomorrow.

To Buy Or Not To Buy

2008-09-22T22:59:00.004+08:00

I'm torn if I will still buy the new book for my Operational Research subject a.k.a Quamet2. The book that I need is Quantitative Analysis for Management 9th Edition by Barry Render that will cost about 850 pesos. The book is required for the course but we were also allowed to have photo copies of it. I'll be only using it for three months and it's not my major subject so I'm really thinking twice in buying the book. It's expensive for me and for the fact that I will be only using it for three months makes me think twice.

However, I don't want photo copies of the book because there's a big chance that I might lose it. So I really want a book copy of it. So I'm also considering buying a second hand. The problem is where to find a second hand copy of the book.

I really need the book and I really want to study hard for the subject because I've heard in the upper-batch that my professor is a hard to please one. One subject this term can really affect my GPA because I only got 4 subjects. One subject with a low grade can pull my GPA(Grade Point Average) down. If ever you do have one, can I borrow it? :D I would really appreciate it. Hehehe.

But what do you think, should I buy a new one or just have photocopies?

What I really need is Time

2008-09-21T23:10:00.000+08:00

I'm really enjoying my load right now - 4 subjects are really not that heavy for me. And I have a lot of time doing things I want to do when I was too busy like blogging, meeting my old friends and others.

But right now, I have many things I want to accomplish. However, I don't know what, when or how to start it. I have many things in my mind right now.I think I just need to write it down so that I can track them all down.

No.1 in my list and my top priority is to master symfony so that I can finish our project about the waste exchange system. I got the habit to play first before working on symfony which is really bad because I end up playing and not doing any symfony lessons. Arggh, it's like online games are calling me when I'm in front of my PC. Hahaha.

No. 2 is to meet my high school and elementary friends. It's really hard to meet up with my grade shool and high school classmates when I got into college because I am so busy with school. Now that my schedule has loosen up a bit, i think this is the time to meet them up.

Third in my list is to post at least once a day in my blog. I know I can do this if I know how to budget my time - my weakness, time management.

Fourth is to learn to cook a new dish. I know how to cook two dishes but how can I just survive knowing only two dish. I think I need to broaden my knowledge about culinary arts.

No. 5 is to make a cross-stitch. I know how to make one and I want to make one for our living room.

N0. 6 is to clean my room. My room is such a mess. I bought a new table but I wasn't able to put it in my room and is still in the living room because it's so heavy. I don't know how to carry it from the first floor to the 3rd floor all by myself. I need help that's why it's taking so long.

Lastly, is to change our telephone billing statement in my name. I need it for paypal purposes. Paypal needs a proof of billing before I can transfer my earnings in my debit card. Paypal is so strict.

And I know I can do all of things, if I was given a lot of time. Even though I have spare time because of the not-so-heavy load, I got a lot of things to do. I think I need a one on one talk with time management.

Getting Addicted at Dneero Conversations

2008-09-21T22:54:00.001+08:00

I really love answering surveys that's why I'm loving Dneero Conversations. Not only that, I learn something new from Dneero, like Visual Thinking. It's really nice to learn new things and just tried Visual Thinking.

If you are interested in Visual Thinking, you can click below my answered conversation about it

I thought T.V. was dead for me...

2008-09-21T20:34:00.003+08:00

I recently signed up for Dneero Conversation and I got to join my first conversation about Primetime T.V. I thought I don't watch t.v. anymore because of my hectic schedule as a comsci student but when I got to fill up the survey form, I was shocked to know that I know a lot of primetime show and do actually watch them. Even though I know a lot, I am the kind of person to just record it for later person not unless I really like it like CSI or America's Next Top Model

See My Answers Below

Formal Launching of Easy English PSL

2008-09-20T23:44:00.002+08:00

Last Sept 12, I went to the formal launching of Easy English Palm Size Learner.(EE PSL) Thanks to the invitation of pinoyblurker of techblog.ph for inviting me. I had nothing to do at that time because it was still my term break and I want to post something for techblog. It was a very notable experience.

Went there by myself. I don't want to bother any of my friends to go with me because it's an early event - 11:30 am. At first I thought, the launching will not push through because three days before the event, i did not receive any notice from the organizer. Only a day before the event that they called me and was informed that the formal launching will be on Meeting Room No. 5 of SMX Convention. Because I had nothing to do, i confirmed that I will go to the launching.

At the day itself, I arrived at Mall of Asia at exactly 11:30 am. The launching started around 11:45 am. Juan Jose Reyes, the Filipino-American entrepreneur who pioneered the Easy English PSL, got to talk about a lot of great things about the product, why they have come up with such a product, their goals, market and future plans.

The Easy English PSL looks like an IPOD which makes it very appealing to children. They hire graphic artist and software programmers here in the Philippines for the technical stuffs and graphics. With the sound, they hire someone from America so that it would come from a native American speaker. All the materials were studied thoroughly by the American Institute for Learning. The product is unique and very promising indeed.

If you want a thorough review of Easy English PSL, you can view my article HERE.

Invitation

JJ Reyes talking about Easy English PSL

Sample pictures of the product

My Schedule for 2nd Term

2008-09-16T16:50:00.004+08:00

Got only 4 subjects this term because I got to advance two subjects that I was suppose to take this term - Economics and Rizal. Good thing because the three out of four subjects are my major subjects. I hope I could use my spare time for the completion of my project for Philippine Business for the Environment(PBE) which is a waste exchange system.

Mondays, Wednesday and Friday

CSPROJ2 = 1:00pm - 2:20pm

Tuesday and Thursday

SYSADD2 = 10:00am - 11:45am
QUAMET2 = 1:30pm - 3:15pm
OPNSCR2 = 3:30om - 5:15pm

I have no classes at Saturday. And I have to attend one class on Monday. The bad thing about the schedule is i'm not with my blockmates anymore. I'm in a different block because it had conflicts with my elective, which is open source. So I was forced to take subjects in a different block.But anyway, I'll still see them at school.

I'll try to change my schedule in the load revision period because I still want to be in my block. ;D

My First DOTA session

2008-09-15T23:08:00.002+08:00

I had my first DOTA session today with my blockmates. It's not my first time to play DOTA, my former high school classmate, Kevin introduced me to DOTA but it's my first time to actually play with my friends and not an A.I as an enemy.

My first impression at DOTA was it was not that fun contrary to the popular belief. Maybe because I only played with an A.I. but when I got my first DOTA session today, i was converted.

I was supposed to go home right after my enrollment today. However, my guy blockmates asked me to join them in their DOTA session. At first I was hesitant, but after thinking long enough and knowing that i don't have things to do at home, i finally agreed.

I was the only girl in the group. I did not get awkward because they were my blockmates. But as I entered the internet shop, that was the time that I got awkward because I was surrounded by boys. But I didn't mind.

I know the basics but I don't actually know how to start with the strategy and what items to buy, so they were kind enough to teach me. I also have a "mercy" status in the group. Because I was newbie, nobody can kill me except if i'm killing them.

For three hours, we got overall 4 games. My team didn't win any of the games. When you're my team mate, our team will surely lose because of me. LOL. However, even if i didn't win, I got to kill some of my hero enemies. It was not about winning but it was about having fun. I did enjoy playing and it was fun having a "mercy" status. Nyahaha.

Till next time, blockmates. :D

Getting Disappointed At E-Games

2008-09-14T01:36:00.002+08:00

E-games Philippine is the software publisher company behind the revolutionary free-to-play MMORPG in the Philippines like RAN online, Granado Espada, Audition, Cabal and others.

I've been loyal for E-games for quite some time already, about 2 years and I'm getting more and more disappointed at their service.

I even bought a loyalty card in their 1st anniversary gaming event, Domination. I really like their online games, especially Audition, RAN and Cabal. The nice thing about their games are their free to play. But sad to say when it's free, don't expect good customer service.

For a year, I have no complains at them. But lately, I am getting disappointed with their service.
Why? Because of the following reason:

First, my first account at CABAL was banned without no apparent reason. Good thing that I did not bought E-points before I got banned. I did not use any 3rd party program. I think as a gamer, I have the right to know why I was banned. They should inform us through e-mail. I should be able to know what terms did I violate. But sadly, they did not inform me about anything through my email.

Second, the extended maintainance of Audition for almost a day got my and other people den(money in Audition) wiped out. I had almost 1.3 million den. They just gave me 120,000 den as a compensation for the super extended maintainance. And another thing is that there's a lot of bug and bots in Audition.

Even though I'm getting disappointed, I'll still be playing online games of E-games. I really like E-Games but I do hope that they'll do something about their service.

My New Layout

2008-09-14T00:32:00.002+08:00

Personally, i think the new layout is better than before. The text where so much visible with the white background and it looked so neat.

I changed the layout because I want an invigorating layout. Something that is refreshing. The last layout was more me but more of a personal girly me.

What do you think?

UNDER CONSTRUCTION

2008-09-10T22:51:00.004+08:00

If you see something that is not right in this page, don't worry i'm just experimenting on my site. I want to have a new layout that will somewhat look better for my theme.

To all my link exchange partners: don't worry if you don't see your link here. I'll put them again after the renovation.

Watch out for my new layout. :D

Finally, End of Semester

2008-09-08T18:05:00.004+08:00

Last week was our finals week a.k.a hell week. I was so busy then and not to mention, stressed out. Luckily, i manage to budget my time and do things one step at a time (Jordan Spark is singing in my head - LOL). That was really the key why I managed my time even though I had plenty of things to do.

Last Saturday was our class card distribution. Class card distribution means officially ending the term. Yipee! It means I can relax now. I was so happy that my grades was high enough even though I expect a much higher grade in one of my subject. Anyway, I'm still thankful that I got high grades.

These are my grades:

Note: 4.00 is the highest grade and 0.0 is the lowest with an interval of .5. (which means that the next higher grade to 4.00 is 3.5)

Philosophy of Man - 4.0

Operating System - 3.5

Data Networking - 3.5

System Analysis and Design - 4.0

Statistics - 3.5

Open Source - 3.5

GPA = 3.66

As you can see my grades are the almost there but not quite stage. I'm almost 4.0 but I did not made it. See that's why it's making me disappointed. But I'm still thankful that it's still high and I did not get lower than 3.5.

I should just strive better the next time. Anyway, i know why I failed to make some of my subjects 4.0 is because I was quite lazy and I felt that I did not push my limits. I know I deserve only a 3.5. By the next semester, I hope I would be more focus on my studies.

I'll be having a week long semester break and soon after, I'll be having my 2nd semester. Time flies so fast. I'll be enjoying this week long break because I know when I get to school again, i'll be very much pre-occupied again.

Chrome: Newest Browser Project of Google

2008-09-03T09:37:00.008+08:00

I'm trying the newest browser project of Google, Chrome and I find it very cool. Why?

First, because of it's appearance. The look is more modern, hip and very refreshing to the eye. It has less buttons and it uses special tables. Instead of traditional tabs like those seen in Firefox, Chrome puts the tab buttons on the upper side of the window, not below the address bar.

Second, the sites are very accessible. You load up pages faster than other any other browser. The browser has also an address bar with auto-completion features. Called ’omnibox’, it offers search suggestions, top pages you’ve visited, pages you didn’t visit but which are popular and more.

Another great feature of Chrome is it has a "special dial" feature similar to the one of Opera. On a new tab (without the address), you will see your most visited webpages as 9 screenshot thumbnails. To the side, you will also see a couple of your recent searches and your recently bookmarked pages, as well as recently closed tabs

Another thing that is cool about Chrome is that it has also a "privacy mode".Google says you can create an “incognito” window “and nothing that occurs in that window is ever logged on your computer.”I haven't tried it yet but it's cool to have that feature.

And what's more is that it's open source. You can download Chrome at www.google.com/chrome. Try it for yourself. I've been loving it and I'm still using it.

Classes Suspended.. Too Late

2008-08-20T16:16:00.002+08:00

I woke up late than the usual. During monday, wednesday and friday. I usually wake up at around 6. But today, I woke up at 8:30. The first thing I noticed was the window. It was raining hard outside. I think it was the reason why I didn't wake up early because I enjoyed the coldness the rain was giving. I liked to sleep more but I have classes at 10:40 am so I immediately get up because I need to prepare so I won't get late.

I did my usual routine, checked my mails first before taking a bath. After getting dressed up, I ate my breakfast. I was suppose to go at 9:50 but the rain is still pouring hard and I don't have an umbrella.

Because I don't want to be late for my first class and buying a new umbrella will consume a lot of time (I'll still need to go to the market), I decided to get a cab to school. Right at the moment that I just got inside the cab, my boyfriend texted me that classes in all levels are suspended starting 12:00 nn.

Awww. Come on. Why do people suspend classes in the middle of the day? I only have one class in the morning starting from 10:40 am up to 11:40 am. Getting a cab is such a waste. I wasted 80 pesos just to go to school and to think of it after an hour, I'll be going home already. A waste of time, power and money.

I just wish that the next time they'll suspend classes, I hope they'll suspend it early in the morning. Anyway, I just have to look the brighter side of things. I got home early and I got to do my thesis and rest for a bit.

A Hard Time With Smart Bro

2008-08-19T17:59:00.003+08:00

Yesterday, I was suffering from lot of problem loading page when I was surfing the net. At one point a website will be up, and for a few minutes, it will be down again. I had been a Smart Bro subscriber for the past 6 months and this was the first time that I'm really had a hard time with the connection. Considering I'm in the urban (Makati Area), I was shocked to have slow connections.

And as I was browsing the net, I am not alone. A few subscribers also experienced the same thing. After researching some solution, I have found out the smart bro DNS has been poisoned. If you are one of the few subscribers of Smart Bro and want to know how to fix your connection, you could try to change your DNS.

Go to Control Panel -> Network Connections

Right click to your network connection and select Properties

In the list, find Internet Protocol (TCP/IP) at the bottom of the list and double click

At the bottom, select Use the following DNS server addresses.

For the Preferred DNS server, enter this address: 208.67.222.222.
For the Alternative DNS server, enter this address: 208.67.220.220

The following IP numbers are from www.opendns.com . For more information, you can browse their website.

Click Ok. Don't forget to restart your computer so that the changes will take place.

After I have changed my DNS, it worked well for me.

Bye Bye Cabal

2008-08-13T08:44:00.006+08:00

I think it's really not my studies that is hindering me from posting regularly in this blog. I think it is because when I have the spare time, I play CABAL online, the hottest MMORPG (massively multiplayer online role-playing games) in the Philippines. I got so hooked that after school or even at school, I play CABAL online.

I also feel that this is not affecting only my blogging life, but my school life also. I think I am so lazy to study because whenever I have the time, I play CABAL. I even wake in the middle of the night just to play. Or even worst, I play the whole night that I only got 3 hours of sleep. My sleeping pattern is really affected.

I really want to focus with my studies, now that i'm in my major. So even though it's hard for me to leave Cabal, I'm officially saying goodbye to CABAL. YES I AM QUITTING CABAL. Maybe I'll be back after the semester ends. I just don't like CABAL interfering with my school life.

To all my guild mates and buddies, I will miss you. XD

cautionhot (wizard) will be temporary unavailable.

My First Prototype Presentation

2008-08-13T08:34:00.004+08:00

I was busy this past few days because I was focused on my project - about the waste exchange system. And by tomorrow, i'll be having my first prototype presentation with the client. I am really not that ready with our prototype. It was so plain and simple with few functionality. Anyway, it's only the first iteration and we will be having a lot of presentation in the following weeks to come.

But because this is my first iteration, I am nervous that we will not able to meet the client's expectation. I am still new to symfony (the framework that I am using) and because of that it's hard for me to work on my project. Shocks, symfony is really giving me the hard time. I hope it's just in the beginning because I'm still a newbie in symfony.

Oh well, I just hope that my client presentation tomorrow will be ok. Wish me luck!

Freebie for E-Gamers Out There

2008-08-05T23:31:00.005+08:00

Are you a caballista like me? Do you like playing audition, o2jam or RAN online?

And because i had my birthday last week, I want to give something special to all E-gamers out there. This freebie was suppose to be for my guild mates only but because only few gamers are online on our guild (only 5 at most including me), I want this freebie to be open to anyone who drops by at my blog.

I'm giving away two 50php worth of E-points for the first two person who will write a comment at this blog post and guess what's my middle initial. Well, you have 26 letters to choose from. Hehehe.

It's just a small token for e-gamers who are reading my blog. Well, the mechanics is not that hard.

Don't forget to put your e-mail address so that I can contact you as soon as possible. I'll be sending the pin to your e-mail address. I'll be waiting for your comments.

My Birthday!

2008-08-04T16:43:00.006+08:00

August 1 was my birthday. And now i'm already 19 and a 3rd year student. Time flies so fast and after a year, I'll be graduating already. A year is such a small span of time. So fast that when the time comes, I'll be leaving this blog. Hopefully, to replace a new domain that will serve as my outlet of passion and also to help more people. But I hope before I go and leave this blog, I hope I can leave something worth reading, inspire others and be able to help in my own little way. Anyway, that's my purpose for putting this blog in the first place.

Enough with the realization, I got to have pizza birthday party with my friends at school last Friday. I got a camera but I was so engrossed with the moment that I forgot to capture any pictures. Anyway, it's the memories that will stay in my mind that matters. I really had fun with them. My friends and I are just suckers for pizza.

And the good thing about that day is that it was the last day of I.T. week in our school so there were no classes and I just enjoyed the movie marathon in the auditorium. I had fun watching Sweeney Todd even though it was so bloody and I was relaxed watching What Happens in Vegas. Later that night, the school had an I.T. Night party in which bands played but I did not finished the event because I have to go to our house and have a little celebration with my family. I got a chocolate cake, chicken and spaghetti.

After that mini-celebration with my family, my boyfriend and I went on a date and we are supposed to watch the mummy but the seats are already full, even the last full show. So, I just bought some medicine because I had runny nose at that day, stroll in the mall and went straight home. It was really a one jam packed day but I really had fun.

I can't imagine this is my last year being a teenager after a year I'll be twenty-teen. Gosh, I'm really getting older. Anyway, everybody is getting older. Hehehe.

How to Install Symfony in Windows

2008-07-21T19:42:00.008+08:00

Symfony is a PHP Framework in which you can easily create web applications without the hassle of repetitive coding task.

There is a step by step installation here in Linux. But if you want to install it in Windows, here is the step-by-step guide.

1) You have to install apache, mysql and php in your computer. If you don't want to be bothered to install it one by one, just install xampp, an easy install distribution. You can download it here. It's not the latest version but it's the most stable version. If you want the latest version, you can download it here.

2) After installation, go to your command prompt (Start->Run-> type cmd)

3) Go to the directory where you install the xampp and go to the php folder. Or rather type cd [directory path]\xampp\php\ e.g. cd c:\xampp\php

4) Type pear channel-discover pear.symfony-project.com in the command prompt.
Result:
Adding Channel "pear.symfony-project.com" succeeded
Discovery of channel "pear.symfony-project.com" succeeded

5) After that, type pear install symfony/symfony [version] to install symfony. If you will not put the version it's fine, you will be installing the latest version that is available.
Result:

Starting to download symfony-1.0.1.tgz (1,911,013 bytes)
................................................................................
................................................................................
................................................................................
................................................................................
.........................................................done: 1,911,013 bytes
install ok: channel://pear.symfony-project.com/symfony-1.0.1

After the fifth step, you already have symfony installed in your machine. You can now create a project and a module that you need to get started with symfony.

Busy Mode is Over

2008-07-21T14:16:00.004+08:00

YYYYEEESSS!!!! Midterm week is now over. I am now free of stress. But I will still be doing a lot of school works but I am more relaxed now. I need to relax myself after the long hard week. So, I watched Dark Knight. It's really nice. I really recommend that you watch it. But if you don't like serious movie, don't watch it. Hehehe. Heath Ledger was so good in the movie. It's so sad that he passed away early. I just hope the next batman movie is as good as this movie. It's worth to watch it.

Enough about Dark Knight, after the midterm exam week, i still need to wait for my midterm results - the GRADES. I just hope that I get a high grade. I'll get the results, i think, by next week. With study and prayers, I just hope I pass with flying colors.

And the good thing about my busy mode being over is that I can catch with blogging, with playing cabal, and with many good things in life. Hehehe. But of course, studying always come first. I just want to balance it out with my life, sanity, and school.

I also want to apologize to all my blogger friends. I'll promise to put your tags and visit your blogs hopefully by this week. Keep blogging! =D

So Many Things To Do, So Little Time

2008-07-17T22:14:00.003+08:00

I'm so sorry if I was not able to write in my blog lately, i'm so hectic. It's our midterm week that's why I don't have the time to write. Imagine my jam pack schedule tomorrow..

Got to pass a paper in Philosophy
Practical exam in Data Networking (router configuration)
Defense of our prototype (Waste Exchange System)
Midterm Test in Statistics

The good thing is after all of these things, I will watch "Dark Knight" tomorrow night after all the stressful things for these past few days. Hope I'll be able to catch up with my blogging life.

I missed blogging

2008-07-10T21:20:00.003+08:00

It's been a while since my last post. I am very much busy lately in school. I can't manage to post in between class anymore because I am more focused on my school works. Even though I am busy, I really don't want to stop blogging because it's my outlet. It's something I do to enhance my writing skills and to express myself. If you know me personally, I am shy and only have a small closed knitted friends and in blogging, I feel that I really do have a lot of friends (even halfway across the globe). I can express myself without being shy at all, my life is an open book to all and I can share things that I know to others.

I also missed blog hopping. It's interesting being able to see others opinions at a topic and learning new things. It amazes me how much knowledge I can gather in just blog hopping for an hour.

While I am away, my google account was disabled due to invalid clicks. I was really shocked. because of course I was not clicking it (specially I am busy). Oh well, I am really not into earning, it's just a bonus for blogging because as a student, I really need an extra income because I got a lot of expenses (tuition, computer, books, etc.). I think I should just switch to bidvertiser.

Today, I am not that busy but this weekend I'll be doing the waste exchange system so now I will be more hectic. I just wish we will come up with a nice prototype by next week. Please wish me luck in my project and I also need your prayers. Even though I am busy, from time to time, I will be checking my blog and I do hope that I will be able to post regularly just like before.

When A Door Closes, A Window Opens

2008-07-10T20:26:00.004+08:00

Update on my Laptop:

My laptop is still not working well. It's still booting but sometimes when I type it gets deleted or hitting backspace gets me to right click. Hehehe. So I bought a USB hub and got my old external keyboard back to working. But it's really big for the laptop, so I rather buy a new one which is smaller as soon as possible.

Back to the title, my laptop is still not working well but I got a new PC. YOOHOO! So I really do believe that when God closes a door, a window opens.

Specs:
Pentium Dual Core Processor 2 GHz, 1MB L2 Cache, 800 MHz
ECS 945GCT-M2/1333
1.00 GB of RAM
ATI X1550 GDDR2 64 bit Video Card
Liteon 20X DVD/CD Writer and Rewriter

It's really an upgrade from my old PC because I now have a DVD writer (my old one does not have a writer instead it has a floppy disk drive which i think is now phased out) and I can play CABAL with my video card. It's really a blessing and it did not cost much.

I just used my old CRT monitor because I'm in a budget. If I can still save some money, I'll buy an LCD monitor for my new PC soon.

My Laptop Got a Bath

2008-06-28T00:40:00.003+08:00

I always leave my laptop in my study table. Lately, I'm not putting it in its bag anymore because I always use it anyway. And a lot of people in our house also use the laptop, so I felt secured leaving it behind because I thought that many people will take care of it while I'm away at school.

However, when I got home this evening, my sister gave me the bad news. My 3 year old niece poured water in my laptop. The keyboard and mouse were not functioning well and my LCD got water inside of it. I was horrified seeing the situation of my laptop. The good thing about it is that it's still booting. I cried after seeing it. I cannot believe what have happened.

I don't want to get angry at my niece because she is still young and she still doesn't know what she's doing (even if she is in a day care already). I did not get angry but I feel so depressed because I still got a lot of programs to do and it's very hard for me to surf the net and blog

Lucky me, my boyfriend lend me his laptop - an IBM Lenovo T61. It looks like my laptop but a newer version. I hope I get to finish my program by Sunday so that I can give it back to him. I'm actually using his laptop at this very moment and I also do hope the keyboard will work well tomorrow when it's already totally dried up.

Lesson: Always be cautious. It's ok to be safe than sorry.

Busy Mode

2008-06-26T16:35:00.005+08:00

I was busy this week that's why it is so hard for me to catch up with my blogging life. But still, I manage to get at least an hour a day for blog hopping and catching up with my online friends. Now, that weekend is getting nearer, I'm getting more relaxed now even though I still have a lot of things to do.

I still have
3 programs to submit for my operating system subject,
a presentation that needs visual, kinesthetic and situational learning for thursday next week,
and I've got to learn more about a framework of PHP, symfony.

Oh well, that's my busy life so far. Got to balance it all out. Please still keep in touch in my blog 'cause I'll still be keeping it up to date. Ciao! =D

Sharing The Love

2008-06-26T15:23:00.004+08:00

This tag was given by Blessings and Beyond by Mommy Ruby

This award was created by Memoirs of a Mommy. It’s a very special award that she created in Honor Of The Donor That Saved (her son) Noah’s Life. Noah received a heart transplant, and she hopes that by passing this award around the blogosphere everyone can help raise awareness of the need for Organ Donation.

The rules of this award are: SHARE THE LOVE!!! Share this award with all those blogs out there that you love. All the people who make you smile. All those that make you laugh. All those that make your day. All those that leave uplifting comments on your blog.

**All I ask, is that you include a link to this post with the award and ask your recipients to do the same*
I would like to pass and thank the following people for always leaving comments in my blog:
Lionel and Beena

Triple Tag

2008-06-26T15:17:00.004+08:00

I was tagged by Beena, Marvz and Charmdestiny so I really think I should put it in my blog.

Here are the rules: 1. Check out your Blog Readability Test here then post it.
2. (OPTIONAL) Stop asking yourself regarding the results of the test (LOL!)
3. Add your blog from the list together with the results.
4. Tag as many friends you like.

1.Big Eyed Gal - High School 2. The Chronic Shopper - Elementary 3. Vital Sighs - Genius 4. Princess Vien - High School 5. Em’s Detour - Junior High School 6. Strawberrygurl and Busy Mom - Elementary 7. Reflexes snapshots of life (on manillapaper) - Junior High School 8. expressions and thoughts - Genius 9. our family story - College (Undergrad) 10. MOMEMO - Genius 11. Blessings and Beyond - Genius 12. Charmdestiny - Genius 13. Adventures of a Comsci Student - College (UnderGrad)

And I'm tagging everyone in my link list! =D

TechBlog.ph: Newest Technology Blog of the Philippines

2008-06-22T23:51:00.005+08:00

Tech Blog Philippines or www.techblog.ph is the newest group blog for people who wants to know more about the latest trend in technology that is very suitable to the Filipino audience. This blog has just started a week ago and is now making a big step in the technology blogging scene.

It was the same guys who brought pinoyblogoshpere.com and I'm proud to say that I am one of the contributors there even though I'm only a newbie in blogging and not that a "geek" in the technology world. But I have to say that my other contributors are very well diversed and I know that this blog will go very far.

I just hope I can post regularly twice or once a week if I have the time. Please visit the blog here and take the time to read the articles and get to visit it more often. I hope you'll be a regular reader.

I don't like RAIN because I love going to school

2008-06-22T22:21:00.003+08:00

It's been raining so hard here in the Philippines during this weekend because of the typhoon Fengshen (locally known as Frank) . And because of that classes here from elementary, high school and up to college are suspended. That's why I don't like rainy season because classes are getting suspended and also because my birthday falls in the rainy season (rainy season here are between june to september). I know many of you don't believe in me. Because a lot of students unlike me loves rainy season because classes are being suspended.

Well, I used to but not anymore. When I was in high school, I like that classes are being suspended because I can have a rest day from my 6 to 6 classes. I don't have to bother to rush and cram for a project or an assignment that I have to pass on the submission date. I got to play online and won't worry for any school work for that day.

Now that I'm in college, I now have a different perspective. I now don't like classes being suspended because I am now eager to learn new things. And whenever we have suspended classes, we are the ones who will suffer because we have to take make-up classes on saturdays or in our vacant time because we have to catch up with the lessons that we have missed. I also don't like the rainy season because I have to suffer going to school wet in a formal attire.

And what I really don't like about rainy season is that it causes accidents and calamities. Like today, a lot of people are bracing floods all over the country. And a passenger ship (MV Princess of the Stars) got capsized. Now, my perspective is not selfish anymore but I'm now more concern with the safety of other people around me. I think this is a sign I'm getting more mature.

Let's all pray that the condition won't get worse and that all would be safe.

Cabal Online Grand Launching

2008-06-20T18:58:00.002+08:00

Since the start of Cabal Online Open Beta Test (OBT), a lot of players from all over the country have joined in this revolutionary online game. And now that it's fast growing, they are now ready to roll it out officially.

Tomorrow, June 21, 2008, Cabal Online will be inaugurated as a full-service MMORPG as gamers from all walks of life gather to witness the commercial launch of the country’s fastest growing new MMORPG in the country.

This inauguration will be held in Glorietta Activity Center from 10 a.m. to 7:30 p.m and prepare yourself for lots of fun activities that awaits all the participants of the event.

What to expect in this event:

overflow of live contests
interesting trivia games
entertainment from the two hottest band in the country: Urbandub and River Maya
lots of rewards and freebies

If your a true blue Cabalist, please come in your respective dress code:

Mercury Server Gamers - Green Shirt
Venus Server Gamers - Blue Shirt
Mars Server Gamers - Red Shirt
Jupiter Server Gamers - Black Shirt
Saturn Server Gamers - White Shirt

Funny But So True

2008-06-18T20:26:00.004+08:00

This is the reality of life. I always like reading comics in my spare time. It really relax my mind.

Forgetful Me

2008-06-18T17:27:00.004+08:00

My school doesn't have uniforms but implements a dress code to all its students. Student should wear office attire during Monday through Thursday and have a wash day at Friday. For a girl like me, I should wear skirt monday and tuesday, slacks during wednesday and thursday. I should also wear a collared shirt and at least one-inch heel shoes.

I don't want to commute with high heels so I just bring along my shoes with me and commute with my slippers on. I just put my high heels when I'm almost near the gate where there are benches that I can sit on.

But because I was almost late and in a hurry, I didn't notice that I forgot to bring with me my slippers when I changed my footwear into high heels. I only remembered it when it was just my last class already. Imagine my first class was 10:00 in the morning, I only remembered it 3:00 in the afternoon. Good thing that the guard saw it and kept it. I was really embarrassed because this is not the first time that I forgot something.

Whenever I put my USB in the computer lab, I always forgot to get it back. For the nth time, I'll ask the guards if they saw my USB. Luckily, they'll see it before they'll lock the lab and will hand it to me. I also had many cases that I forgot my book somewhere. In this case, I usually go to the logistics office (my school's lost and found department) and ask them if they see my book. I also had a lot of jackets that I lost that I have found in logistics office.

I really hate losing things. I don't know why I'm like this. I just don't remember things easily. Even in names, sometimes I just only remember the face, but not the name anymore. There was once that I want to call a familiar friend of mine but I don't recall her name anymore so I was not able to call and greet her.

I'm really doing my best to remember things. Should I take a memory pill or some sort? I am also scared that in the near future that I'll have Alzheimer's disease at a young age. Sometimes, I really don't know what to do to lessen my "forgetfulness". I just hope that this is not a serious disease. Or I am just paranoid? Is this really normal?

Tag Tag Tag

2008-06-18T12:56:00.003+08:00

I have been tagged by Rowena, an online friend.

Have you ever gone on a blind date?
Yep. I met my boyfriend in an online forum eyeball. (Is an eyeball a form of a blind date?)
Skipped school? Skipped classes twice
Been on a plane? Yes
Been lost? Can't remember...
Swam in the ocean? Don't know how to swim.. =(
Cried yourself to sleep? Yes. Many Times.
Played cops and robbers? Nope. It's a boy thing.
Played dolls? Yes. when I was young
Recently colored with crayons? Nope.
Sang Karaoke? Yes with my sister and younger brother
Paid for a meal with coins only? Yes, when I was young
Done something you said you wouldn't? I dunno.
Cheated on a test? Nope.
Made prank phone calls? Yes, when I was young
Laughed until some kind of beverage came out of your nose? Yep
Caught a snowflake on your tongue? There's no snowflake in Phil.
Danced in the rain? Nope.
Watched the sunrise with someone you care about? Nope.
Been kissed under the mistletoe? Nope.
Gone ice skating? Yep this is my P.E.
Been skinny dipping outdoors? No.
Favorite drink?- Iced Tea
Tattoos? Nope.
Body piercings? Nope
Vacation spot? Boracay
Eaten cookies for dinner? Yep when I was in my diet days.
Ever been on TV? Yes, I got into a commercial when I was young
Ever been in a car accident? Nope. Thank God!
Favorite number and why? 23. That's the date when my boyfriend and I got together
Favorite movie? Forrest Gump
Favorite holiday? Christmas and New Year
Favorite smells?
What do you do to relax? Watch movie and play games.
Where do you see yourself in 10 years? successful in my life

I will tag Beena and Darlene.

My Not So Beautiful Day

2008-06-16T12:46:00.013+08:00

As I entered the school today and went straight to the library because I came very early for my class, I saw my blockmate, Ely, at the corridor greeted me and said that I'm really getting fat. I shrugged it off by saying "Do you really think so?"

After I went to library, I went to the cafeteria where my blockmates usually hang out whenever they came in early. As I was walking towards the table, Sami, also a blockmate of mine, said the same thing - that I was really getting fat. And all of my blockmates also agreed that I'm really getting fat. Sami demonstrated to all of my blockmates there how big my tummy is when I am walking. So who cares if I'm getting fat.. My tummy is big but I'm really not that fat, I'm just chubby. But I'm getting a little bit concious about my weight because I think I'm gaining fat because I usually eat lunch at fast food restaurant. I think I should cut off my fast food intake.

When I went to our room for my first class, my classmate, Jessie, said that I looked stress out. I think it's because I had a lot of zits and I have a particular that is very red and big. A classmate of mine, April, who was late for the class said that I looked that I didn't get enough sleep.At lunch, Julius also a blockmate said to me that I used to have a very sexy curve but now I have a lot of bulging fats.

Many people noticed me today that I looked fat or ugly in some sort of way which is very unusual. And because of that I felt that I'm very ugly today.. but they can't bring me down. I will make ways to improve my health, maybe I just need a regular exercise. I just don't get to exercise that much because of my schedule. Or I am just too busy with my laptop and surfing the net.

As I was typing this, I remembered the song "Beautiful" by Christina Aguilera. I particularly remember the line "I am beautiful in every single way, yes, words can't bring me down, so don't you bring me down today"

Indeed, I am beautiful no matter what they say. Hehehe. This day is what I will call "ugly day" in which we sometimes encounter once in a while.

<--- Me, in my beautiful day. I'm just 12 years old at that time.

Mark Your Calendar: June 17 Firefox Download Day

2008-06-15T13:29:00.002+08:00

It has been set the official firefox download day is on June 17, 2008. So if you want to experience Firefox 3, pledge to download it today.

Firefox 3 sets the innovation bar very high with exciting new features, including one-click bookmarking, the smart location bar and lightning fast performance. Firefox 3 also includes phishing and malware protection, plus the new instant site ID info.

With features like built-in spell checking, session restore and full zoom, Firefox 3 makes it possible to work faster and more efficiently on the Web.

Pledging to download it on June 17 will also make you a part of the Guiness Book of World record attempt for the most software downloaded in 24 hours.

PC Specifications

2008-06-15T12:46:00.004+08:00

I have a lot of friends asking me for PC Specifications that fits in their budget because they want to buy new computer. And because of that, I want to share to you the PC specifications that I came up recently with your 13k budget.

Intel E2200 (2.2 G) 1 mb 800FSB PDC 3640 php
ECS GF7050VT-MS Nvidia - pcle/S/GL/rai 2300 php
160 gb Western Digital SATA 2250 php
PQI 1gb 533/667 1070 php
Inno3d 7300GT 256 ddr3 128 bit divi 2300 php
Casing w/ power supply 1340 php

Total 12, 900 php

This prices is based on PC Express prices. This specification is ok if you want to play CABAL online in your pc and other online games. In this age, many are trying to trick you with high price but not so good PC specs. So my advice for you is to be wise and check first the prices in the market before going to buy new PC parts.

My Dad: My Mentor, My Student

2008-06-15T11:06:00.005+08:00

My Recent Pic w/ Dad

This is a father's day special post. I really want to thank my dad for bringing out the best in me. He taught me a lot of lessons in life. He was the one who taught me how to multiply, and how to play chess when I was young. He trained me to be responsible and be likable to others. Even though sometimes I have hard feelings whenever you nag at me, I know you did it because you love me.

You are my life mentor. I always turn to you whenever I need advice whether it's in school or in dealing with other people. You're the best, dad!

And you're not only my mentor, you're my student, too. You turn to me whenever you have problems regarding with computers. I am always ready to teach you new things. Remember, I was the one who taught you how to e-mail and transfer files from your digicam to PC. I like the feeling that you can also learn from me, that I am a big help for you.

I really don't know life without you, Dad. I hope that you take care of yourself especially that your away from us.

To all, Happy father's day to your dads and to all the fathers out there! :D Take time to appreciate more your dads.

Can I Get a Job Soon After I Graduate?

2008-06-13T19:42:00.003+08:00

Well, I'm really sad today. Because my sister said a lot of discouraging words about my course. My sister and I have a common friend who took up Computer Science same school as mine. He was my sister's former classmate in high school. And that friend of ours graduated last March and decided to teach in my school. He said the reason why he got into teaching is because its hard to find a job in the I.T. industry. Come to think of it, why is it hard for him to get a job even if he graduated as a cum laude?

My sister graduated in University of the Philippines also just this March. She took up BS Tourism. Even before she graduated, Mandarin Oriental was hiring her. Philippine Airlines was suppose to hire her but she declined because there is a two year bond. She has plans to get married next year and stay for good in Canada with her boyfriend.

And she said to me that I should regret taking up my course because there was limited job opportunity unlike with her course. She said that I'll be like our common friend force to teach in a school because of limited opportunity in the I.T. industry. She said that my hard work is non-sense if no one will employ me.

I got really down by her words. As if she is saying that I should get into another degree or change career path. And what keeps me really sad is because she was very discouraging, as my sister, i'm expecting her to be encouraging me.

My sister was also considering that maybe one of the factors is our school. She's from University of the Philippines (U.P.) and me I'm just from Asia Pacific College. I know a few of you only know this school. My school is just small and unknown compare to U.P.

Even though I know my school is not that popular, the teaching here is very good. I am happy here and I'm happy to take up a course that I really like.

Can I get a decent job soon after I graduate? I really don't know. I just hope that my sister is not right.

7th Philippine Toys, Hobbies and Collectibles Convention 2008

2008-06-13T12:29:00.003+08:00

The Philippine Anime and Cosplay Community will once again gather in this annual event most popularly know as ToyCon or the Philippine Toys, Hobbies and Collectibles Convention this June 14-15, 2008 at SM Megatrade Hall 2-3.

Ticket price will be 70-80 pesos and will not be pre-sold by any shops and will only be available on the event itself. So if you ever want to go, make sure you come early.

Some of the exciting event activities are the following:

Toy Designer contest - Create your own cute toy designs.

Comic Creation Contest- Pro or a freelancer, you can join this comic creation contest.

Cosplay Clicks - Cosplay photography contest wherein you have to take a creative shot with a Cosplay model.

Toy Clicks - the one who originated the cosplay clicks. It's a toy photography contest.

Animation Contest - Have the art to create a unique and fun anime of your own.

Booth Babe Contest - Exhibitors has a chance to win, too.

And there are lot of other contests that you can join..

If you want to learn more about the event you can visit, www.toyconph.com

I will be going in this event tomorrow, see you all there!

Happy Independence Day

2008-06-12T18:44:00.004+08:00

Today is Philippine Independence Day. And I think I should greet my fellow countrymen in our native language.

Mapagpalayang Araw ng Kalayaan, Kababayan!
( Happy Independence Day, my fellow countrymen!)

Metro Rail Transit (MRT) gave free rides today because of the special event. I was not informed about it so when I rode the MRT this morning, I was surprised that they're not selling any tickets. That's when I remember that it's Independence Day today. I don't feel that it's independence today because Pres. Gloria Macapagal Arroyo moved the holiday last Monday.

Because the MRT ride is free, trains are jam-packed. Not only that, the aircons are not working. It was like a heating chamber inside the train. Good thing, I have a fan and a handkerchief. I'd rather buy a ticket than to have a free ride without the aircon. It was scorching hot.

Still, the good thing is I got a free ride because of the event.

Organization Day 2008

2008-06-12T15:59:00.006+08:00

This week was Organization Week in our school. And I missed being an officer, I was supposed to be an officer of Junior Philippine Computer Society (JPCS) APC Chapter but I quit. Read Post(Organization Vs. Studies). Now that I'm not an officer anymore. I joined as a member in most of the clubs.

Actually, you can join in three organizations only. But I have the feeling that the school admin does not monitor how many organizations you have joined so I joined in 7 organizations out of the 20. I know it's a lot but I'll just be active in a few.

These are the organizations that I have joined:

Flickers Photo Society - It's a club for photography lovers. Even though I don't have an SLR camera, I just want to join because I love photography and want to learn more about it.

Junior Information Systems Security Association - I liked this organization because I'll got a lot of benefits in joining. I'll get to attend various seminars and tutorials about networking. I can also get a lot of discounts in certifications like Fluke CCIA, Red Hat Certified Engineer (RHCE) and others. I can also get free licensed software from Microsoft. I think the registration fee of 200 php is ok because of the benefits.

Junior Philippine Computer Society (JPCS) - This was my former organizations and I still want to support my former co-officers in their events.

Explorer's Club - This club aims to explore different places in the Philippines. I want to explore more of the Philippines and at the same time meet new friends in this organization

Math Society - I am a member of this club ever since because they always give plus points to their members that still have Math subjects. I have many Math subjects so I really need to join this club. Hahaha.

Pro Guild - This club is about programming. Well, this club is really not that active in school and just joined it because it's just free and it will still be good in my resume. It is also good if

Association of Junior Marketing Association - Actually a friend of mine just forced me to join this club. Well, I should give it a try even though I am not a marketing associate. But I'm really interested in business.

I wonder if the school admin will notice that I joined 7 organizations already...

Take Part in the World Record: FireFox Download Day 2008

2008-06-11T18:28:00.006+08:00

I've always been a Firefox user. And this time, Firefox will be having a Download Day in which their mission is to set a Guiness World of Record for the most software downloaded in 24 hours.

What I really like about Firefox is its very secure, fast and doesn't have a lot of bugs. And with the new release, it will be a way more better than it is today.

To take part in this one of a kind record is simple, just download Firefox 3 as soon as it is available. It still doesn't have a definitive date, but it should be this month.

Pledge now to experience Firefox 3 as soon as it has been released.

Microsoft Phil. MSDN Event: GIGO Project

2008-06-11T17:36:00.005+08:00

Microsoft Philippines will be having an event about the Gigo Project, which won the 1st runner up in Imagine Cup 2008 at the Microsoft Phil Office in Makati this June 18, 2008, 5-7 in the afternoon.

Discover how a team of students used Visual Studio, SQL, WPF and Web Services in solving real life problems.

GIGO, or "Garbage in, Garbage Out" is a term used in a field of computer science which means that the integrity of data output is dependent on the data input. It was this very concept which inspired Microsoft's web application, also named GIGO.

The context of this is that we as consumers have different needs, and then inevitably produce trash. This is where Garbage Input comes in. The problem here lies in the proper disposal of trash. Most of the time, we just throw them in any trash bin we see, not mindful of whether it was the proper way or the consequences of disposing it. The purpose of the web app is to provide easy access to consumers for information to their trash such as a short description, how to recycle the trash themselves, and if not possible or if the user would prefer, the proper way of disposing it to its corresponding recycling center.

The app shows other details such as composition, images of that type of trash, and even some maps as to where the recycling center is. If the user would choose to dispose his trash in a recycling center, the user can save as a calendar file the date and location of when he would dispose his trash, then sychronize it on to outlook and then his mobile device.

Isn't this a very nice idea that would really help save our world?

This MSDN session is open to all students and faculty.

Online Registration is required to attend this seminar! Register here.

If you have any questions, you can e-mail me at cautionhot01@gmail.com

My New Layout: FireFox or Ubuntu Bug?

2008-06-10T16:34:00.004+08:00

Thanks guys for all the compliments that I have received for the new layout. But I think my layout is having a problem with the Ubuntu operating system with Mozilla Firefox Browser Version 2.6. Well, my school uses open source software specifically Ubuntu as a software and I have found out that my layout doesn't show up right. It just turn into a green background without the colorful flowers in both sides.

Huhuhu. I think a need a new personalized layout as soon as possible..

Cabal Online: The Hottest Emerging Game in the Phil

2008-06-10T15:39:00.006+08:00

Cabal Online, the year's highly anticipated MMORPG, has finally arrived in the Philippines. The newly released game of e-Games (just released it's beta version May 24, 2008) has made a bunch of gamers hooked in this very addicting game.

In playing CABAL, you can master any of the six forms of force: Warrior, Wizard, Blader, Force Shielder, Force Archer and Force Bladder. It is a story-driven game play with a lot of interesting story bound quests.

What's really cool about this game is its free to play. Unlike World of Warcraft (WOW) which is really good but very expensive especially to student gamers like me.

If you want to play in your computer, you need to meet the following PC requirements:

Type	Minimum Specification	Recommended Specification
CPU	Pentium 3 800MHz +	Pentium 4 1.4GHz +
RAM	512MB +	1GB +
Graphics Card	3D accelerator	Radeon 9800PRO + /Geforce 6600GT +
Sound Card	Any DirectX 9.0c compatible sound card
Hard disk space	2.5GB +
It is necessary to install DirectX 9.0c or later version It is recommended to update graphic card driver

If you want you can also play in your local computer shop. Well, for sure, they have already installed this very in demand game.

My brother and my blockmates are really into this game. So I decided to try it also. I don't want to miss the fun. Hehe. But I'll still prioritize studying. I just need to balance it out.

Waste Exchange System Update

2008-06-10T00:13:00.006+08:00

Well, my groupmates and I made a dummy (layout screenshots) of our proposed waste exchange system. (Read post about Waste Exchange System). This term we have to come up with a working prototype and we have to learn about symfony - a framework of PHP.

The twist? I have to learn symfony all by myself. My professor will leave for a week and he asked us to self-study symfony. When he comes back, we have to work on the project already. It's hard to study symfony all by yourself. When I was in my summer vacation, I tried studying it. But to my dismay, I can't understand it. I don't know if my mind is not that prepared or it's just to hard to understand. I think it's just between the two. The good thing is I have installed it already in my laptop.

This is called cramming! One week to learn a new programming language.. Well, it's really not new because it's still PHP but in a different style.

Oh well, I hope I can squeeze the 24 days tutorial in Symfony into a week. BE OPTIMISTIC, ennah! YOU CAN DO THIS! ~ I do this a lot to boost my esteem. There's nothing impossible. :D

My Picks: Top 10 Emerging Influential Blogger

2008-06-09T22:12:00.005+08:00

I joined Jannette Toral's Writing Project to help my schoolmate of mine and to have a say on the top 10 emerging influential blogs in 2008.

What's influential for me may not be influential for you. Influential is very subjective. And these are my nominees:

1. Music Picks by Ed Arevalo - I really love music and this blog gives me latest buzz in the music industry

2. Pinay Mommy Online by Mommy Ruby - She gives me insight to what motherhood will be and I know it's not an easy one. I really like her blog because she is very open and honest.

3. You Got Tech - It's a tech blog for non-techie people. I really like the vlogs there.

4. The NOT so Talented Mr. Montano - He's very brave to expose such controversial topics.

5. - 10. Coming Soon.

It's hard to pick out influential blogs for 2008 because I'm still new in the blogging community. Well, I have almost 2 and a half weeks to complete this post. I'll be still in the look out for other influential blogs.

DO YOU WANT TO WIN $100 BY NOMINATING TOP 10 INFLUENTIAL BLOGGER?

Nominate a list of ten bloggers who you think have been influential to the blogosphere

Who can be nominated?

Blogs started from July 2007 up to present.
Any blogs from any country can be nominated

Post it in your blog for promotion
Link it to Influential Blogger and make a comment there that you have participated. Only one entry per blogger

Cut-off date and time for submission of entries is on July 26, Saturday, 5:00 pm (GMT+9:30). They will pick ten writing project entries in random who will get one hundred dollars (US$100) each.

If you have questions, you can e-mail me at cautionhot01@gmail.com or reply to this post.

My First Award!

2008-06-09T11:35:00.006+08:00

I received this award from Kate. I want to thank her for this award. This is my first time to receive an award from an online friend. The rules of this award are as follows:

1) You have to pick 5 blogs that you consider deserving of this award for their creativity, design, interesting material, and also for contributing to the blogging community, no matter what language.

2) Each award has to have the name of the author and also a link to his or her blog to be visited by everyone.

3) Each award winner has to show the award and put the name and link to the blog that has given her or him the award itself.

4) Award-winners and the one who has given the prize have to show the link of "Arte y Pico" blog, so everyone will know the origin of this award. Make sure to visit the link. http://arteypico.blogspot.com/ Now, my awardees are the following...

Mommy Ruby, the one of a kind mommy

The Coffee Cup Princess - a one of a kind mommy, too

Jhoice - living in States but Pinay at heart, loved her layout

David Tamayo - got a lot of nice articles about security

Andrik - got a lot of tips in his blog

From Yahoo Answers to MyLot

2008-06-08T13:57:00.005+08:00

I was very active in Yahoo Answers for the last two months when an online friend referred me to use mylot instead.

What is Mylot? It is a community in where you can post your questions, queries and problems and at the same time answer questions that you know and can relate to. It is very similar with Yahoo Answers except that you can earn just by posting and answering. You can also earn by referring your friends.

Well, don't expect to earn a lot from this. The more relevant the reply, the more you will earn. It's like a bonus for helping out other people. You can also earn by posting your own discussion.

I really like helping other people in the net. Well, all of us become a newbie before becoming an expert. If you are interested to join, click here.

Even though I am more active to MyLot, I still use Yahoo Answer.

I've Got a New Layout

2008-06-07T11:41:00.009+08:00

I want a new look for my blog but I have no time doing some css and photoshop. So I went for the free blogger layouts in the net. What do you think about the new layout?

The previous layout was very simple, white background with a butterfly in the corner. Now, it's more colorful. If I have the time I really want to make a personalized one. But I admit that I am really not that creative to make one. I really suck at photoshop, colors and blending. Yah, I'm a computer science student not a multimedia arts student.

My blog is still underconstruction. The comments were powered by disqus before but I am having a hard time to intergrate it. For now, the comments will be handled by blogger. I also still have to put some widgets.

I'll be fixing my blog as soon as possible.

From Trains to Buses

2008-06-06T17:48:00.010+08:00

When I was in my first year in college, I was lucky enough that I had a driver and he had to drive me to and from my school. But due to financial crisis, our car had to go and I was forced to commute.

Because I was not used to commute and I was not familiar with the streets, I commuted by train particularly by MRT (Metro Railway Transit). I just drop off in Magallanes Station and walk from the free shuttle bus that is provided by our school. From my school, I go home in the same route also.

Now, that the oil price is increasing rapidly and that I have to save my allowance, I am now forced to take the bus. Buses here in the Philippines have two types: the ordinary and the airconditioned. I usually take the ordinary to save more. But I have to say that ORDINARY buses are the most unsafe vehicle in the world.

I really got a lot of experiences in ORDINARY Buses. Here are the list of my extra ordinary experiences in ordinary buses.

1. Because ordinary bus drivers drive very fast (as fast as a roller coaster), my head always hit the wooden chair. I think the government should implement seatbelts in the passenger seats of ordinary buses. Hehehe.

2. I had experienced two incidents that the bus driver was very fast that he hit a private car.

3. When I was staring outside of the bus' window, I began to notice small cockroaches (about 30 of them) in the curtains. It was so gross. So whenever I seat in a bus, I don't seat near the window.

4. A guy sitting right next to me tries to take a picture of me secretly with his front cellphone camera. I really don't know why guys try to do that. I experienced this thrice already. As if I won't notice it.

5. When I dropped off the bus, a guy followed me and asks for my name. It was so scary. At first, I thought we just going in the same route but when I was about to cross the street, he tapped my shoulder and asks for my name. I did not give my name but he still insisted and was still following me. I just run away and immediately hailed a tricycle.

6. Someone sits right next to me, asks for my name and my cellphone number. I usually give a different name and a wrong number so that they'll stop asking for it.

Luck for me, I did not experienced being robbed. I've known many people already experienced that so if I were you, you really should be watchful with your environment whenever you are in a bus.

Usually, I take the train in the morning so I won't get late and take the bus in the afternoon when going home.

Well, I have no choice, if I really want to save enough I have to take the bus. I really don't want to depend so much on my parents. As much as possible, I don't want to ask for extra money to them. I really just have to be careful when riding in public transportations, may it be train or buses.

Candid Pics in our First Week in School

2008-06-06T13:17:00.009+08:00

Most of the pictures here are candid pics.

Some are just pretending that it was a "stolen shot". LOL.

These are my blockmates - SSE63. They're really fun to be with.

He's so camera shy so I grab my digicam and pretend that I was tweaking it.

Alphard (the guy that was looking) saw the cam and smiled.

They were all unaware.

Mhar (girl) did not notice the camera.

April smiling at the camera.

Mhar and Sami (Couple)

Kevin and Miles (Couple)

April is checking out someone

Melo and I (No, we are not couple)

Nap is all smiles in this pic

Guess who's hand is this? Clue: Not mine

He's thinking of something

Wow! Macaroni! Yummy..

Whenever she sees a camera, she automatically smiles.

Me, writing my "Patience is a Virtue Post"

Alphard is busy writing his poem

The boys are busy playing warcraft in Sami's new laptop

I've been tagged

2008-06-05T16:00:00.005+08:00

My first time to be tagged by a friend. I've been tagged by my online blogger friend, Beena

20 QUESTIONS TAG

Here are the Rules for this tag :

Remove one (1) question from below and add in your personal question, make it a total of 20 questions, then tag eight (8) people on your list. List them out at the end of this post.

1. What is your favorite food?
- pasta, Mcdonald's fries and coke float, menudo, and chicken curry

2. What was your happiest moment when you were a child?
- when my mom and I went to her province, Surigao

3. Where is the place that you want to go the most?
- Japan

4. What are you mostly against?
- abortion.

5. When you encounter a sad moment, what do you do?
- Eat a lot of chocolates. Chocolate makes you happy.

6. What are you afraid to lose the most?
-My family

7. If you win $1 million, what would you do?
- I'll keep it a secret first, save the half of it, give money to charities and spend some for myself and my family

8. What is the saddest moment for you last year (2007)?
-When my ex boyfriend cheated on me and replaced me with his bestfriend.

9. Which actor/actress would you like to play you in a movie?
-Hermione Granger

10. How do you cope with boredom?
-read books, watch movies or play sudoku

11. Till now, what is the moment that you regret the most?
-I don't regret doing anything. :D

12. What type of person do you hate the most?
- a person who is not true to himself and says bad things to you at your back.

13. What is your ambition?
- be a successful system administrator and be successful in life

14. If you had one wish, what would you wish for?
- World peace. hahaha.

15. How did you celebrate New Year?
- I celebrate it with my family with lots of food

16. What has been the craziest thing you’ve ever done in your whole life?
- Planned to go away from home at age 6

17. What do you look forward to in 2008?
- I look forward that our project with Philippine Business for the Environment be implemented.

18. If your life is a song, what title best fits it?
- I think it's Life goes on by Leann Rimes

19. What is your inspiration in life?
- God, my family, friends, and mentors

20. If you were to change one event in your life, what would it be?
- I think I would not change a single event. I'm not who I am today if I change just a single event in my life.

I tag Etevasi, Marky, Urban Guru, Mommy Ruby, Hazel Grace, Darlene, Z'ris, and Bojoy

Go to Sun Tech Days Conference, Discover Java

2008-06-03T19:42:00.007+08:00

Interested in Java? Then join Sun Tech Days, a one of a kind worldwide conference on June 17-19, 2008 at Shangrila-Makati, Philippines.

Tech Days, now in it's 10th year, is a Worldwide Developer Conference that spans 15 cities across the world reaching more than 100,000 developers. So if ever you want to enhance your skills in Java, learn new things, contribute to the community and meet new friends, this is the conference you don't want to miss.

This conference is open to all - developers, students and even people who just want to know more about Java.

The conference will have 11 tracks, 55 sessions and hands-on lab. Benefit from insights of technology leaders from around the world and take home fabulous keepsakes to cherish. Topics to be covered will include Java FX, Java SE, GlassFish, MySQL, OpenSolaris and more.

You can avail these conference at a very affordable price. (See the image at the left)

What I really like about this conference is they'll be having a university world tour just for students for FREE at June 17 - the first day of the conference.

The university world tour will be discussing about enhancing employability, introduction to solaris and OpenSolaris.org and real world technologies like NetBeans GUI Builder, Jruby,, JavaFX and JavaME. They will be also having tech demos in between discussions. You also earn certificates by participating.

The fun part of it is it's FREE. If you are interested, you can register here.

I am so much into Java. If ever I'll have the time, I'll definitely go to this conference.

My Philosophy Class

2008-06-03T19:18:00.005+08:00

My philosophy class is 8:00 - 9:45 a.m during Tuesday & Thursday. Today is my first day and I think I'll be having loads of fun at this class.

Well, my first impression about philosophy is that it was boring. I was supposed to take philosophy class last year as an advance subject. But I had a conflict with one of the subject that I was not able to take it. My supposed to be classmate said that it's ok that I did not take Philosophy at that time because it was very boring - a boring subject for my first subject.

Now that I'm taking it, my professor got a lot of intellectual brain-storming today. Actually, he was in the seminary before and he's good in having a lot of discussions. I really had a great time in my first day in class.

This is just my first impression and I do hope it last.

Patience is a Virtue..

2008-06-03T15:51:00.005+08:00

If you have read my post about my subject, open source, you'll know that I have to wait for three long hours for that subject (Read post here)

Today was my first time to wait. And because I have nothing to do in that vacant time (I have nothing to study because it's just the start of the school year), I was VERY bored waiting.

I was very sleepy but I can't sleep in a chair and a table. If I have to sleep, I need a bed and a pillow. That's why I can never sleep in class. To keep me busy, I wrote this blog post in a piece of paper first and typed it when I got home.

My blockmates who are also enrolled in the same subject (Open Source) are also with me, bored to death. So we end up playing card games even though card games were not allowed in our cafeteria during 12-2 in the afternoon. Due to boredom, we were forced to hide the cards and play discreetly. If we get caught, we can have a minor violation in the school. Three minor violations will lead to a three-day suspension. I was really nervous playing. Luckily, the school guards did not caught us.

I'll be waiting for 3 hours, every Tuesday and Thursday for 3 months. I need to be patient enough. But I hate waiting I don't know what to do? Maybe, it's just at the start, I'll get the hang of this. This situation will really test my patience.

My First Day

2008-06-02T21:30:00.002+08:00

My first day in school turned out fine. It's the start of a busy schedule ahead of me. And I really missed by blockmates. We were all noisy and jolly today.

My professors was not new to me. They all have been my professors. They were all nice.

Since we know each other, introductions were not needed and we started the first meeting with lectures.

My subjects today were Data Networks, Systems Analysis and Design, and Statistics & Probability.

Tomorrow, it will also be my first meeting with my three other subjects - Philosophy, Operating Systems 2, and Open Source.

I really want to focus in my studies so I have to really do my best this time. It's my third year so I need to take it seriously if I really want to get a good job in the near future.

Big Day Tomorrow

2008-05-31T23:15:00.000+08:00

It's my first day of a new school year tomorrow. Well, I don't know why but I'm not as excited as the previous year. Well, maybe because I know I have a lot of things to do this year as a 3rd year college student. And I'll miss being here in the house doing nothing but chatting, blogging, reading and everything nice.

Gosh, I'll miss being bum. LOL. I'm not mentally, physically, emotionally prepared to go to school. I think I still need some lllloooonnnngggg rest. Hehe. Well, wish me luck on my first day of school. I hope it will turn out fine.

It seems as if I'm a pre-school student. Hahaha.

New CellPhone: Nokia 6233

2008-05-31T09:51:00.006+08:00

At last, I got a new phone - Nokia 6233. Well, it's not really mine. My sister bought this phone but she's still using her old phone. She's generous enough to lend it to me because she knows I'll be needing one in couple of days because school is starting.

Nokia 6233 is a 3G phone with new Series 40 with animated 3d menu and graphics.

What I like about 6233? It's simple yet elegant.

~ Nokia 6233 has a music player and two twin speakers that gives a 3d surround effect. I really like listening to music. And I'm enjoying the speakers. Not only that, it also has a stereo FM radio and can handle a range of formats.

~ It's attractive with it's metallic body frame casing. It's handy. It's not that heavy for a 3g. phone.

~ It has 6 mb internal memory and 64 mb internal memory card which I can store a lot of pictures, music and games. You can still add up until 2 gb of memory.

~ It is Bluetooth, Infrared and USB supported. Web browsing is fast and battery life is long.

What I don't like about it.....

~ The camera is only 2 mega pixels and there is no flash.

~ There's no front camera.

~ The buttons are hard to press. But I don't know, maybe without a phone for a month, I'm not used to texting anymore.

Overall, I'm loving it. And it will be my baby for days to come. Hehehe.

Laptop - A Necessity

2008-05-31T01:38:00.010+08:00

A laptop with Cellphone Capabilities - Fujitsu Esprimo Mobile Series (V, D, M and U) and Lifebook Series (E, S, P and T).

For more details: http://www.fujitsu-siemens.com/products/mobile/notebooks/index.html

I saw this when I was browsing because I want to have a new laptop. The laptops are very versatile and I really like it's professional look. Yah, I know I still can't afford to have a laptop like this. When I do get rich tomorrow if ever I'll win the lottery (which is impossible because I don't get to bet), I'll get this one of a kind laptop.

Well, my laptop is WAY TOO OLD.

Really I'm not kidding. That's why I'm planning to convince my parents to buy me a new one. My laptop is an IBM ThinkPad T23 Series. I got this from an auction. I bought this for only 2,000 php ($46). I think many people thought that the battery was not working properly. However, when I got a hand in the laptop, it was working properly. However, in 6 months that I have been using it, the battery suddenly did not work. So whenever I have to use it, I have to plug it in. So my laptop was not that portable. I need an outlet to make it work. I bought a new battery for 1,500 php($38) in which the price is close to the whole laptop itself.

Up to now, it's still working but not really in a good condition. It has a crack in both sides of the LCD. My younger brother fell it on the floor, the only damage was the LCD. Actually the two cracks was like a design. Hehehe. And sometimes, it's having fan errors.

As a computer science student, I really need one. I have to bring it to school when I have presentations and whenever I have to cram for a project. It's still working but I think I have to buy a new one because I know one of these days, it will suddenly stop working because of it's oldness.

I don't have enough money to buy a new laptop so I'll convince my parents to buy me a new one. I hope that they'll agree. But I know we're in a tight budget, so I think if ever they'll agree to buy me a new one, it will not be too soon. I can still wait. =D

My Lappy Tappy..
We've been through a lot.

Organizations Vs. Studies

2008-05-31T00:05:00.007+08:00

Junior Philippine Computer Society (JPCS) is the premier national student I.T. organization in the Philippines. I am lucky to be a part of the JPCS - APC Chapter as an officer. I was the Directress for Information Security for the last school year. I was suppose to be the Treasurer for this school year. But as early as the last semester, I quit.

Being an officer, I got a lot of privilege. I got to print at the resource center for free, I got to have plus points in one of my subject and I got a lot of free snack during meetings. LOL. I also encountered a lot of people along the way. But it has also its downside. It's hard for me to focus on my studies. Well, last semester, we are starting with our mini-thesis - a waste exchange system for the Philippine Business for the Environment. And it's so hard to work on it because we are only three in the group and the two of us, Alphard and I are officers in the said organization. And I'm the project manager of the team so I was suppose to supervise them but I got into a lot of activities in the organization that I need to cram for our project.

Because our mini-thesis is continuous until next year, I decided to quit even though I know I will miss being an officer and the privileges that comes with it.

Just last week, a friend of mine, Ely, offered me to be an officer of Junior Information Systems Security Association. The organization is catered to computer science students who wants to know more about networking. Ely, as a president of the organization, offered me to become the vice external affairs of the organization. Yet, I declined.

The same reason. I just don't want to be stressed out with the organization and my studies. I just want to choose one.

But I'm somehow sad with my decision because I let to slip two opportunities that came knocking over me. Only few chosen people are given that opportunity but I was not able to grab it. I felt I missed the chance given to me. But who knows, maybe, just maybe, something great will happen.

Wow! I'm Popular?!?

2008-05-30T16:47:00.005+08:00

This is my last day as a student assistant. If ever you have enrolled to Asia Pacific College, you'll never miss me. We have talked already. I'm the girl who validates your I.D., signs your registration forms and gives you a lot of pamphlets.

This is such a wonderful experience talking to people in all walks of life and in different moods. Hehe. Most of the people are nice. I think people are nice when you are nice too and whenever I smile to them. Some are snobbish, in a hurry or just plain angry at life. And I' just smile away to them. I don't get anything by being upset except wrinkles. LOL.

For 5 days, I have talked talked to 200+ people a day. Almost 1000+ people in all. And take note: they wait for my signature. I felt I was a superstar and a fan of mine is waiting for my signature. Hehe. Now, I know how it felt to be a star and popular. Haha.

I'm a very shy girl and you'll never get to notice me. And now everybody knows my face. Some of the students even get to ask my name. Some even wants to know my friendster account. Haha. Because of that I was actually thinking of promoting my blog, but I was so shy to do such a thing.

I know they'll forget me about a week after this. But at least it's nice to be popular for 5 consecutive days. =D

People inquiring at the registrar's office.

My log book.. Lot of people already have signed

My supervisor's screensaver, Miss Cecille
that's why many people call her "Betty Boop"

Egg Pie, that's our free snack

Me and my co-student assistant, April.
She's also my blockmate.

My Blog's Monthsary

2008-05-28T23:09:00.001+08:00

I am celebrating today May 28, 2008 my blog's one month. I just want to thank you all for visiting my blog. I don't know how to repay you. If this blog will be more successful, I would like to give out contests or anything to reward my readers. Maybe in the near future. But for now, I will just announce that starting from mid of June, I'll be promoting an online friend of the month. And i'll give her a blog review that he/she deserves. If you are interested to promote your blog, and please be my online friend. =D

I choose Open Source

2008-05-28T19:45:00.004+08:00

Today was my enrollment day. And for months now, I don't know what to chose as an elective course, Web Technology or Open Source. I only have to chose one. (See my blog post - Elective: Web Technology or Open Source).

Now, I chose Open Source. However I'm still not decided, gosh it's really hard to pick. And a factor that is shaking my decision is the schedule of classes. Picking Open Source means that I will have 3 hours vacant. If Open Source is not in my schedule, I can go home early as 12 noon. But if I will take it up, I have to wait until 3 pm and the class will last until 5 pm. Anyway, this schedule will only be for tuesday and thursday.

Schedule of Web Technology are MWF (Monday, Wednesday, Friday) . If I'll take Web Technology, I will be having a class from 8 - 4:30 in which Web Technology is 3:30-4:30. I'll be going home early during in Tuesday and Thursday which is quite nice.

I still have time to change my elective, in the load revision period. But the schedule is not a good reason for me to change my decision. Well, I'm just considering it because it can also affect my performance.

I hope I would pick the right choice.

No Tuition Fee Increase & My Scholarship

2008-05-26T21:26:00.008+08:00

I'm glad that Commission on Higher Education or also known as CHED stopped any increase in tuition for state universities and colleges (SUCs) here in the Philippines. They are also convincing private higher institutions to reconsider their plans to hike tuition and other fees for this school year.

When prices are increasing, this is a nice news to here. Even though my school(Asia Pacific College) is a private institution, still they did not have a tuition fee increase. I'm a scholar myself because I cannot afford to pay the 45,000 pesos ($1047) regular tuition fee per semester in my school. I have a 70% discount in which I only pay 14,000-15,00o pesos ($313) per semester. It really helps me to continue pursuing my course.

Because of this scholarship, I have to render student service to the institution. So now, that's enrollment is starting, I'm a student assistant to students that are enrolling. I validate their ID's and registration forms, give them flyers and collegiate calenders and make them fill up a survey.

Well, it's really nice experience to talk to 300 people in just a day. And yet, it's also a tiring job. I have to be there as early as 7:00 am and I can go home at 5:00. I have to say "Thank you" a couple of times and I have to look as if I am not tired. At first, I was energetic but as the day goes by, my energy is wearing off. I have to do this for 5 straight days. Whew, Still, i'm happy doing my job.

I also have to maintain a grade so I need to study hard too. I don't want to lose my scholarship because if ever it will happen, I have to stop going to school, get a job and transfer to another school. I don't want that to happen.

I'm just glad that today, I'm not that a burden to my parents.

Collegiate calendar and flyers that I'm giving away

Got many to give away..

Other student assistants like me..

The long line awaits me...

My supervisors - Registrar's employees.

Being a student assistant will keep me busy this week, I hope I still have time for blogging.

Dinosaur King Tournament @ Powerstation RockWell

2008-05-26T00:42:00.010+08:00

Dinosaur King is a card collecting video game from Sega. The game involves card collection in which cards can be categorized as a dinosaur card, a move card and a character card. At first, the arcade machine will dispense a card. After giving you your card, you will choose to battle it out with a computer or a friend. After choosing, a player has to swipe in the arcade machine a dinosaur card and move cards. If you don't have any you can use the default dinosaur and moves along it. You can also use a character card instead of a dinosaur card. However, character cards are rare and is only given to Dinosaur King tournament winners.

The game concept is rock-paper-scissors, in Filipino "Bato-bato-Pick". A player has to choose from the three buttons, rock in color red, scissors in yellow and paper in blue. The scissors beats the paper, the paper beats the rock and the rock beats the scissors. The one who wins the rock-paper-scissors gets the chance to hit the losing dinosaur. Every dinosaur has its strength value depending on the type of dinosaur. If one hits another dinosaur, he loses some strength. You win if you get to hit him many times that he gets knockout in which he has no strength value at all.

Almost every month usually during the weekends, the Powerstation in Powerplant Mall, Rockwell, Makati schedules tournaments to kids 15 and below. They battle it out with friends and this brings good camaraderie to young children. The final four winners are given 200 gift certificates from Powerstation, the 2nd gets 1,500 gift certificate and the champion gets to go home 2,000 gift certificates, a collector's item dinosaur and a character card courtesy of Powerstation.

Yesterday, my brother and I went there because my brother wants to join the tournament and I accompanied him. Luckily, he won and was the champion. I am so proud of him. If you think it's just a child's game, my brother also used some strategy and techniques to win. And of course some luck.

The emcee, Marvin, giving his own comments while the tournament is going on

My brother is the guy in blue. He's starting to swipe his card.

Got into the final four

With other final four finalist.

As a champion, he got this cute dinosaur collectible.

If you want to know the tournament schedules, you can visit Powerstation at the 3rd floor of Powerplant Mall and it's also posted in all Powerstation branches.

Coping with Stress

2008-05-25T20:00:00.005+08:00

I got this from a friend in multiply and I really like the article because I am always stressed out with home work and projects from the last term and it can really help me to cope up and handle stress. School will be starting again and I'm seeing that it would be more stressful than the last term because I am in my 3rd year and in my major year. Everyone can benefit from reading this article

COPING WITH STRESS
Author Unknown
May 15 2008

A lecturer, when explaining stress management to an audience, raised a
glass of water and asked, "How heavy is this glass of water?"
Answers called out ranged from 20g to 500g.

The lecturer replied, "The absolute weight doesn't matter. It depends on how long you try to hold it.
If I hold it for a minute, that's not a problem.
If I hold it for an hour, I'll have an ache in my right arm.
If I hold it for a day, you'll have to call an ambulance.

In each case, it's the same weight, but the longer I hold it, the heavier it becomes."

He continued, "And that's the way it is with stress management. If we
carry our burdens all the time, sooner or later, as the burden becomes
increasingly heavy, we won't be able to carry on."

"As with the glass of water, you have to put it down for a while and restbefore holding it again. When we're refreshed, we can carry on with the burden."

"So, before you return home tonight, put the burden of work down.
Don't carry it home. You can pick it up tomorrow. Whatever burdens
you're carrying now, let them down for a moment if you can."

So, my friend, Put down anything that may be a burden to you right now. Don't pick it up again until after you've rested a while.

Here are some great ways of dealing with the burdens of life:
* Accept that some days you're the pigeon, and some days you're the
statue.
* Always keep your words soft and sweet, just in case you have to eat
them.
* Always read stuff that will make you look good if you die in the
middle of it.
* Drive carefully. It's not only cars that can be recalled by their maker.
* If you can't be kind, at least have the decency to be vague.
* If you lend someone $20 and never see that person again, it was
probably worth it.
* It may be that your sole purpose in life is simply be kind to others.
* Never put both feet in your mouth at the same time, because then you
won't have a leg to stand on.
* Nobody cares if you can't dance well. Just get up and dance.
* Since it's the early worm that gets eaten by the bird, sleep late.
* The second mouse gets the cheese.
* When everything's coming your way, you're in the wrong lane.
* Birthdays are good for you. The more you have, the longer you live.
* You may be only one person in the world, but you may also be the
world to one person.
* Some mistakes are too much fun to only make once .
* We could learn a lot from crayons... Some are sharp, some are pretty
and some are dull. Some have weird names, and all are different colors, but they all have to live in the same box.
*A truly happy person is one who can enjoy the scenery on a detour.

Cramming For An Exam: Do It The Right Way

2008-05-24T20:50:00.012+08:00

You have a long test, 100 items, in your Psychology class at 1 pm. It covers from Chapter 1-5. It's already 11:00 am and you have not even read a single page in one of the chapters. Just 2 hours away from the big exam. Is this a familiar scenario to you?

I'm a procrastinator. I always do things at the last minute. I do not study ahead. For me, it doesn't work if I study ahead because I am such a forgetful being. But even though I always cram, I can still manage to work it out to top my exams. I'm not here to boast out to you how I manage to work it out to top my exams but I want to tell you that if you ever have to cram, you have to do it the right way in order to be successful at it. These following tips helped me to cram the right way.

1. Focus.
When I know I have to study just 2 hours for an exam, I keep away from distractions. No T.V., No Music, No Yahoo Messenger. I locked myself in my room and just focus to the material i'm studying.

2. Don't Panic.
Usually when you are force to study many things for a certain amount of time, your brain starts to switch to panic mode. Just be calm and be positive. Tell yourself that you can manage it and you can do learn it in a limited amount of time.

3. Budget your time.
Don't waste your time in one chapter or a part of a material you're trying to study. Divide your time in each part. What I usually do is allot a time span. When I have to review for 3 chapters and I only have one hour, I usually allot 15 minutes for each chapter and when I do not finish the chapter in the alloted time of 15 minutes, I skip to another chapter and when I'm finish with the 3 chapters, I go back to topics which I have missed.

4. Scan for important key and concepts.
Well, you're cramming right? So don't study as if you have enough time. Learn how to pick out important bits of information and remember it the first time because you may not have the second time.

5. Look for quiz pattern in the first quiz
The first test of your professor says a lot about how he/she makes the exams. You'll learn a lot about where does he/she gets the questions. It maybe in lectures, textbooks or in things that he/she writes on the board.

6. Use mnemonics.
This really works for me even if I am not cramming. If there's a list I gather all the first letter of the list and make a word out of it. There's a lot of way and you can make your own style to remember things.

7. Remember it the first time
There's a big chance that you'll forget it if you just repeat it to yourself. I didn't remember the information by repeating the sentence "Nikolaus Wirth invented Pascal" over and over. I usually quiz myself. I'll ask my self who invented Pascal and i'll think and answer Nikolaus Wirth.

WARNING! Cramming is really not good. It gives you stress. And this tips, don't work all the time. So if you want to really excel, then I advice you to study frequently and budget your time effectively. And another tip, don't cheat.

Actually, I want to quit this habit of cramming and procrastinating. I don't know I can't help it. There's so many things to do but so little time. I hope by the start of a new school year, I can somehow minimize, if ever i cannot totally stop, cramming.

<--- It's me surprised by my school mate and I was cramming and studying at the library...

I signed up for PayPerPost

2008-05-23T14:57:00.010+08:00

When I was blog hopping, I saw a blog entry saying that she has just signed up for PayPerPost. She said that it's a great way to blog and to be paid for what you are blogging. I got curious so I researched PayPerPost in the internet.

PayPerPost (PPP) is a website which helps content creators such as bloggers, videographers, podcasters and photographers find advertisers willing to sponsor specific content. (Wiki Definition)

I also saw that many people have joined themselves and it was credible so I signed up my blog.

What I like about PayPerPost is that they pay you while blogging and not just that you can also meet other PayPerPost friends as well . It's a great way to reward yourself.

It's nice to have some extra bucks because I really need it for my tuition fee. As a college student, I need to pay for the internet bills and my computer books as well which really cost a lot. And if ever I'll get rich by doing this, (which is I don't know if this will happen) I'll give scholarships to students that are in need and deserve to have one. This is such an ambitious goal. LOL.

If you have a blog and wants to earn as well, then I suggest that you sign up as well.
Get paid to blog

A Month W/out A Cellphone! Can you handle that?

2008-05-22T09:24:00.007+08:00

Mobile phones are everywhere. They are necessity for many people. Imagine a life, without a cellphone for just a month. What about for a year? In this world evolving in the new era of technology, I think a few people can handle that.

For a month now, I don't have any mobile phone. I used to have one. It's because my Motorola v3i is not working properly. I really don't know what's wrong. When I charge it, i have to charge it for more than 6 hours and I can only use it for an hour. Weird huh? Maybe it's because of the battery or the charger whatever it is I hope I would find someone that can repair this phone.

Not having a cellphone for one month, has its own advantages and disadvantages.

Advantages

1. Nobody is bothering you
You will not get bothered by anyone. I have many friends bugging me when I had my cellphone. Now, I have a valid excuse for not replying. And i had a worry free life. :D
2. You do not have to check anything.
You don't have to look your phone hour after hour just to see if there's a missed call or someone texted you. And me as being forgetful, I don't have to mind where I put my phone. And I really enjoyed this advantage, for I felt free from the responsibility of having a phone.

Disadvantages

1. I am not updated about my friends
I don't know if they moved to another country, another school or another planet. Anyway, there's friendster for that.

2. I can't keep in touch with my loved ones.
My father is in Cebu and I'm here in Makati. I can't text him. =C Just to keep in touch, I just email him and we sometimes talk in YM.

I'm loving the freedom from a cellphone. But definitely I would repair my phone or buy a new one because even though I can stand without a phone, sometimes we need our phones for emergencies and unexpected events. So I say I cannot really handle a year without a phone.

How about you? Can you handle that?

Please bear with the pictures. Had it in my bedroom that's why it was dark.

New PC Express @ Market! Market!

2008-05-21T07:54:00.006+08:00

PC Express is a shop where you can buy the broadest range of PC components, desktops and quality peripherals. I went to Market! Market! yesterday and I was so surprised that a new PC Express has opened up there. It opened last Tuesday, May 13. I am so delighted that a new PC Express has opened near my house because I was planning to go in their Buendia branch.

My boyfriend and I was supposed to buy a keyboard, a power supply and a mouse. However, there is no more keyboard and power supply that we wanted. The store is new so they don't still have a large supply in their store. The only thing that we bought is an A4Tech Optical PS2 Mouse.
I really like the people there because they are very knowledgeable about computer hardware and they are really friendly. If ever you get there, you can try out their PC arcade like game which is free and promotes their steering wheel.

They'll be adding more stuffs in June. If you are near Market! Market! try to visit them there. It's in 4th floor above Anson's.

Cd-R King: Price Vs. Quality Vs. Service

2008-05-20T17:25:00.007+08:00

Cd-r King is one of the leading one-stop shop for your technological needs here in the Philippines. You can see their branch everywhere. And as a student, I always buy at Cd-r King because they have way cheaper price than any other stores.

Why is Cd-r King price way cheaper? They say it's because they buy right from the factory and they buy bulk orders.

I say it's because its an original equipment manufacturer (OEM) from China. And because it's way cheaper, you are not guaranteed of its quality.

Actually I've buy a lot of items from Cd-r king and many of them are still working. Just a few of them are not. I got a lot of blank cds from Cd-r King and a mouse not working . But my router, notebook cooler and my web cam are still perfectly in shape. I still use my Kingston USB from them. You just need a lot of luck to have good items from Cd-r King that last.

And one thing that I really hate about Cd-r king is the long line of people just to buy from them. They can prevent this from having an automated system. I just hate it when they still have to put the receipt in a piece of paper.

Nevertheless, I have no choice. Since I'm saving up my money, I still have to buy in Cd-r King stores. Just wish me luck that I'll get a good product.

Is ComSci right for you? 7 Questions to Ask Yourself

2008-05-19T13:02:00.012+08:00

I have a lot of classmates who doesn't want to be in their course (computer science). It's whether they want to be a fashion designer, photographer and other careers that are not related to computer science. At the middle of the semester, they shift to other course. Others are struggling because their parents want computer science for them. Realizing this, I want to save others from picking the wrong career for them. If you want to be a computer science major, then you need to consider these 7 questions.

1. Are you interested in technology?
If you do not like technology and you do not like to be updated, then think twice in taking up any computer science related course.

2. Are you the person who likes to read?
Being a computer science student, you have to read a lot of books and technical stuffs. You also have to read articles about the latest news and buzz about the I.T. industry.

3. Are you fond of studying?
I.T. is constantly changing. What hot and cool today, may not be tomorrow. You have to be updated in the latest trend. You have to study new technology that you might not be able to study in school.

4. Is it ok for you to work in groups?
Usually projects are in groups because you cannot make a system with your expertise alone. You need other opinions as well. You have to learn to be able to communicate well with your group and be able to work it out. Others prefer to do things alone and don't communicate well, that's why many group projects fail. You have to develop team spirit.

5. Do you have a good foundation in Mathematics?
Prepare yourself in the world of Math. You'll be dealing with a lot of mathematical applications.

6. Do you have good logical skills?
You have to always think and be able to solve problems in this kind of course. You have to reason out and be able to give proper solution.

7. Do you communicate well?
The difference between a tolerable programmer and a great programmer is not how many programming languages they know, and it's not whether they prefer Python or Java. It's whether they can communicate their ideas. If you cannot communicate your ideas well, you will not get the chance to promote your concepts and works.

These seven questions will help you in deciding if computer science really works for you.

The World Cyber Games Elimination Has Started

2008-05-17T22:18:00.007+08:00

I went yesterday in Megamall and found out that World Cyber Games Metro Manila Elimination has started here in the Philippines.

World Cyber Games or also known as WCG is one of the biggest video game competition in the whole world. The best gamers around the world are gathered to compete and to share the excitement and fun of the game tournaments.

The Metro Manila preliminaries will continue all saturdays and sundays of May 17 - June 1, 2008. To join click HERE.

The list of games that they are battling out are:

• Half-Life®: Counter-Strike™ 1.6
• WarCraft® III: The Frozen Throne™
• Command & Conquer 3: Kane’s Wrath™
• FIFA Soccer 08
• Guitar Hero® III: Legends of Rock

Everyone can join. I'm calling all the dota addicts there, you can try. By just registering, you can also win an Xbox. There's no harm in trying.

If ever you are lucky enough to win, as a finalist you can win 1,000 php. As a first prize winner, you can win 30,000 php and represent our country to Cologne, Germany on November 5-9, 2008 in the World Finals.

Hurry now and register and make our country proud.

References:
http://ph.worldcybergames.com/prizes.htm
http://www.worldcybergames.com/6th/main.asp

Father of Java gave Pinoy Students an Award

2008-05-17T19:36:00.003+08:00

James Gosling, the father of Java, gave a group of UP computer science students an award for having the most innovative use of Java technology in the category of Medical Solutions last week at San Francisco in the 2008 Duke's Choice Award.

The award-winning project was Expert System for Poisoining also called the Project ESP. The project is a tool to diagnose and to help treat poisoning. The user enters signs and symptoms observed in a patient, and the system outputs a list of matching poisoning types and possible treatments for the medical attendant to use.

The 2008 Dukes Choice Award is an annual event that recognizes the best and the most innovative use of Java Technology. The Java technology leadership team -- including James Gosling, known as the father of Java technology -- selects the winners based on the creativity of the Java technology-based applications and services.

References:
http://java.sun.com/javaone/sf/2008/articles/2008dukeschoiceawards.jsp
http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/breakingnews/infotech/view/20080512-136106/UP-students-get-award-from-father-of-Java

Computer Science Funny Lines

2008-05-15T23:15:00.003+08:00

Warning: If you are not a computer science or don't know anything about programming, you will not understand why these lines are funny.

"You are a field in my class. You will always be protected."

"Are you an exception? Let me catch you."

"You are my increment operator. You make my value increase."

"I think you're my compiler. My life wouldn't start without you."

"You are my initializer: without you, my life would point to nothing (null)."

"I am a BufferedReader. You input meaning into my life."

"You are my semicolon; always present in everything I do."

"You are the JDK (Java Development Kit) in my life. I won't compile without you."

"If I were a method, you must be my parameter, because I will always need you."

"Can you be my private variable? I want to be the only one with access to you."

"We are an aggregation of classes: one cannot exist without the other."

"public class YourWorld extends MyWorld"

"My love is a for loop without the increment operator-- infinitive, non-terminating, and difficult to stop once it starts running."

"Let me be the 'throws Exception' to your 'public static void main (String[] args)'. I will accept whatever you give me."

"[me != me]. [me += you]."

"You are my superclass: you define what I can do."

"You are the IDE of my life: I find it easier because of you."

"My main method is 'public love iLoveYou().' "

"I am the field attribute in your class: I can't exist unless you do."

"My love for you is a constant variable: unupdatable and unchangeable."

"Are you an applet? You make me feel all GUI (gooey) inside."

"You are my loop condition. I keep coming back to you."

"You are my methods. I am nothing without you."

"Are you my driver? Because you make my life worthwhile."

"You are my API. I want to know everything about you."

"Can you be my ActionListener? That way you notice everything that I do."

"I am a boolean method whose love will always return true."

Elective: Web Technology or Open Source

2008-05-14T23:09:00.000+08:00

Two weeks from now, I have to enroll my subjects and I am still not decided in what elective I'll be taking. I have to choose from the three: web technology, open source and computer security. Computer security is out of the question because I really don't like it and it's primarily for computer networking majors.

What elective subject should I get, Web Technology or Open Source?

I've been thinking this for months now. I know the answer will depend on my interest. However I really like them both.

I like Web Technology because I will be learning Photoshop, Flash, Dreamweaver and other stuffs. However, I know I am not that good in design because I'll admit I'm not that creative. If I'll take this up, it will bring out the creative juices in me but I'm afraid that I will fail the subject because of the lack of creativity.

I also like Open Source. I have a great interest in programming and configuring the kernel will be a challenge for me. It will enhance my programming skills. I know if I take Open Source, it will be very hard for me than taking up Web Technology.

Waaahhh. I'm so torn.

Back-To-School Guide

2008-05-14T16:14:00.003+08:00

Summer getaways are almost over and two weeks from now, students like me will have to face another school year ahead of us. I know every student is still not prepared to go to school and we’re still enjoying the summer vacation. But still we cannot change the fact that we will be coming to school soon, so I prepared a BACK-TO-SCHOOL guide.

1. Check your old stuffs.

If you can still use your old clothes for this coming school year or your old school stuffs like ballpens and notebooks, please do so. Prices of commodities are increasing so we better save up some money. You will not only save money, you can also help mother earth. Also checking your old stuff will help you see what you still need to do for shopping.

2. Talk to an upperclassman.

Talking to an upperclassman will help you with the insights of the subjects that you will be taking and the professors that likely to handle that subject. Upperclassman can also help you handle the subjects and survive throughout the semester. They can also lend you with some stuffs like papers and textbooks that you need for some subjects. Lucky for you, if they give you a free tutorial on your subjects.

3. Do your complete back-to-school shopping after school starts

Some may agree or disagree with me. But I find less crowded in the mall after school starts. And usually, professors give their need to buy list in the first day of school, so it’s better you make up first a complete list of really need to buy stuffs.

4. Be mentally and physically prepare

Because it’s summer and there’s no need to wake up early, we tend to sleep late and oversleep. Try sleeping early and waking up early a week before the school starts so that you can adjust easily. Try also to get enough exercise, so that you can be physically fit when the school starts.

A good way also to be mentally prepared is to read in advance what subjects you will be taking up. You’ll get a lot of insights and you will be prepared for your first class.

5. Get on the right foot

Getting off on the right foot means managing your time effectively and establishing good study habits. At the start of school, try to maintain a calendar of homeworks, assignments, test descriptions and test dates. (It really helps). If you get things right at the start, you will get the flow and continue to set a good study habit.

Funny Error Messages

2008-05-08T00:13:00.003+08:00

If you want a good laugh, click here.

Some are funny.

My favorite:

Windows found a bug in your software. It's a fucking butterfly.

hehehe.

Windows XP Error Messages

2008-05-08T00:00:00.002+08:00

When you get to program and nothing is working, you tend to hallucinate that the error message is saying the following:

• Smash forehead on keyboard to continue. --> i really do this when nothing seems to work.

• Press any key to continue or any other key to quit.

• BREAKFAST.SYS halted... Cereal port not responding.

• Close your eyes and press escape three times.

• File not found. Should I fake it? (Y/N)

• Runtime Error 6D at 417A:32CF: Incompetent User.

• Enter any 11-digit prime number to continue.

• Bad command or file name! Go stand in the corner.

• Windows message: "Error saving file! Format drive now? (Y/Y)"

• Windows VirusScan 1.0 - "Windows found: Remove it? (Y/N)"

Waste Exchange System

2008-05-07T18:22:00.005+08:00

My group mates and I in a subject (Introduction to System, Analysis and Design) have come up with a waste exchange system. This is just a layout screenshots. It's really not working. We will come up with a working prototype in June. We will be using symfony - a framework of PHP. The waste exchange system is for the Philippine Business for the Environment. This system will be helpful to them so I hope my groupmates and I got to implement this.

Optimize your Internet Connection?

2008-05-06T01:34:00.004+08:00

I friend of mine suggest this tool to increase your internet connection. It works for me. I suggest that you also try this. However, if you a fast internet connection, you will not notice the difference. Only slow running internet connection can appreciate this.

Download SG TCP Optimizer here

Tell me if it works for you too. =D

Rules of Precedence (Machine Problem)

2008-05-06T01:23:00.003+08:00

Assume the following rules of precedence for expressions:
Highest is addition (+)
then subtraction (-)
then multiplication (*)
then division (/)

Evaluate inputs such as:
(a) 1+4*3-2/2 Output: 5*3-2/2 = 5*1/2 = 5/2 = 2.5
(b) 5-2/2+1*2 Output: 5-2/3*2 = 3/3*2 = 3/6 = 0.5
(c) 3-2+4-2+5 Output: 3-6-7 = -3 - 7 = -10

Statement Level Control Structures, Subprograms

2008-05-05T17:27:00.000+08:00

Chapter 7. Statement-Level Control Structures

1. What is pretest loop statement? a posttest loop statement?

Pretest loop statements are set of statements to be executed repeatedly in which the test for loop completion occurs before the loop body is executed

Posttest loop statements are set of statements to be executed repeatedly in which the test for loop completion occurs after the loop body is executed

2. What is the main reason user-located loop control statements were invented?

The main reason why user-located loop control statements were invented because in some situations, it is convenient for a programmer to choose a location for loop control other than top or bottom of the loop. As a result, some languages provide this capability, the user-located loop control mechanism.

3. What is a user-defined iteration control?

A user-defined iteration control is the one that issues a special call to the iterator, in which the iterator is called at the beginning of each iteration, and each time it is called, the iterator returns an element from a particular data structure in some specific order.

4. What are the design issues for

(a) selection structures

What is the form and type of the expression that controls the section?
Can a single statement, a sequence of statements, or a compound statement be selected?
How should the meaning of nested selectors be specified?

(b) multiple selection statements

What is the form and type of expression that controls the selection?
May single statements, sequences of sentences, or compound sentences be selected?
Is the entire construct encapsulated in a syntactic structure?
Is execution flow through the structure restricted to include just a single selectable segment?
How should unrepresented selector expression values be handled, if at all?

What are the type and scope of the loop variable?
What value does the loop variable have at the loop termination?
Should it be legal for the loop variables or loop parameters to be changed in the loop, and if so, does the change affect the loop control?
Should the loop parameters be evaluated only once, or once for every iteration?

(d) logically-controlled loop statements

Should the control be pretest or posttest?
Should the logically controlled loop be a special form of counting loop or a separate statement?

Sebesta. Chapter 8. Subprograms

5. Define

(a) static-chain

Static chain is a chain of static links that connect certain activation record instances in the stack.

(b) static depth

Static depth is an integer associated with a static scope that indicates how deeply it is nested in the outermost scope.

Ex: A main program has a static_depth of 0. If procedure A is the only procedure defined in a main program, its static_depth is 1. If procedure A contains the definition of a nested procedure B, the B's static_depth is 2.

(c) nesting depth

Nesting depth is interchangeable with chain offset

(d) chain offset

Chain_offset is the length of the static chain needed to reach the correct activation record instance for a nonlocal reference to a variable X is exactly the difference between the static_depth of the procedure containing the reference to X and the static_depth of the procedure containing the declaration for X. This difference is the chain_offset.

Ex: If the static_depths of A, B, and C are 0, 1, and 2, respectively. If procedure C references a variable declared in A, the chain_offset of the reference would be 2 (static depth of C minus the static_depth of A). If procedure C references a variable declared in B, the chain_offset of the reference would be 1. References to locals can be handled using the same mechanism, with a chain_offset of zero.

6. Explain the two methods of implementing blocks.

Blocks are treated as parameterless subprograms that are always called from the same place in the program. If blocks are implemented this way using the display method, one disadvantage is that as maximum nesting grows, required display size grows along with it. A display must be limited in size if it is to be stored in registers. So requiring display cells for blocks can cause the display to be stored in memory rather than in registers, causing considerable slowing of references to nonlocal variables.

Blocks can also be implemented in a different and somewhat simpler way. The maximum amount of storage required for block variables at any time during the execution of a program can be statically determined, because blocks are entered and exited in strictly textual order. This amount of space can be allocated after the local variables in the activation record. Offsets for all block variables can be statically computed, so block variables can be addressed exactly as if they were local variables.

7. Compare the deep access method and shallow access method of implementing dynamic scoping.

When a program that uses dynamic scoping refers to a nonlocal variable, the reference can be resolved by searching through the declarations in the other subprograms that are currently active, beginning with the one most recently activated. This concept is similar to that of accessing nonlocal variables in a static-scoped language, except that the dynamic-rather than static-chain is followed. The dynamic chain links together all subprogram activation record instances in the reverse of the order in which they were activated. Therefore, the dynamic chain is exactly what is needed to reference nonlocal variable in a dynamic-scoped language. This method is called deep access because access may require searches deep in the stack.

In the shallow access method, variables declared in subprograms are not stored in the activation records of those subprograms. Because with dynamic scoping there is at most one visible version of a variable of any specific name at a given time, a very different approach can be taken. One variation of shallow access is to have a separate stack for each variable name in a complete program. Every time a new variable with a particular name is created by a declaration at the beginning of a subprogram activation, the variable is given a cell on the stack for its name. Every reference to the name is to the variable on top of the stack associated with that name, because the top one is the most recently created.

The choice between shallow and deep access and nonlocal variables depends on the relative frequencies of subprogram calls and nonlocal references. The deep access method provides fast subprogram linkages, but references to nonlocals, especially references to distant nonlocals (in terms of the call chain), are costly. The shallow access method provides much faster references to nonlocals, especially distant nonlocals, but is more costly in terms of subprogram linkage.

Data Types, Expression and Assignment Statement

2008-05-05T17:13:00.002+08:00

Chapter 5

Part 1. Define the following:

1. Descriptor

2. Ordinal, enumeration, subrange types

3. Static array, fixed static-dynamic array, stack-dynamic array, dynamic array

4. Aggregate constant

5. Row major order, column major order

6. Fully qualified, elliptical references to fields in records

7. Union, free union, discriminated union

Part 2. Answer briefly.

1. Why does a decimal value waste memory space?

2. What are the design issues for character string types?

3. What are the design issues for pointer types?

Chapter 6

Part 1. Define the following:

1. Operator precedence, operator associativity

2. Functional side effect

3. Coercion

4. Conditional expression

5. Overloaded operator

6. Narrowing & widening conversions

Part 2. Answer briefly.

1. What is the purpose of a compound assignment operator?

2. Describe a situation in which the add operator in a programming language would not be associative.

Answers

Chapter 5
Part 1.
Define the following:
1.Descriptor

A descriptor is the collection of the attributes of a variable. In an implementation a descriptor is a collection of memory cells that store variable attributes. If attributes are all static, descriptors are required only at compile time. They are built by the compiler usually as a part of the symbol table, and are used during compilation. For dynamic attributes, however, part or all of the descriptor must be maintained during execution. In this case the descriptor is used by the run-time system.

2. Ordinal, enumeration, subrange types

An ordinal type is one in which the range of possible values can be easily associated with the set of positive integers. In many languages, users can define two kinds of ordinal types: enumeration and subrange.

An enumeration type is one in which all of the possible values, which become symbolic constants, are enumerated in the definition. Enumeration types have advantages to readability and reliability.
Example: In Ada, type DAYS is (Mon, Tue, Wed, Thu, Fri, Sat, Sun);

A subrange type is a contiguous subsequence of an ordinal type. Subrange types were introduced by Pascal and are also included in Ada. There are no design issues that are specific to subrange types.
Example: 12 ... 14 is a sub range of integer type.

3. Static array, fixed static-dynamic array, stack-dynamic array, dynamic array

A static array is one in which the subscript ranges are statically bound and storage allocation is static (done before run time). The advantage of static array is efficiency: No dynamic allocation or deallocation is required.

A fixed stack-dynamic array is one in which the subscript ranges are statically bound, but the allocation is done at declaration elaboration time during execution. The advantage of fixed stack-dynamic arrays over static arrays is space efficiency. A large array in one procedure can use the same space as a large array in different procedure, as long as both procedures are not active at the same time.

A stack-dynamic array is one in which the subscript ranges are dynamically bound and the storage allocation is dynamic (done during run time). Once the subscript ranges are bound and the storage is allocated, however, they remain fixed during the lifetime of the variable. The advantage of stack-dynamic array over static and fixed-stack dynamic array is flexibility. The size of an array may need not to be known until the array is bound to be used.

A dynamic array is one in which the binding of subscript ranges and allocation is dynamic and can change any number of times during the array’s lifetime. The advantage here is flexibility: Arrays can grow and shrink during program execution as the need for space changes.

4. Aggregate constant

Aggregate constant are initializing values which are assigned to the array element locations in the order in which they appear or by directly assigning them to an index operator using direct assignment (=> operator). They are usually delimited by parentheses.

5. Row major order, column major order

Row major order is one way of mapping multidimensional array to one dimensional array in which the elements of the array that have as their first subscript the lower bound value of that subscript are stored first, followed by the elements of the second value of the first subscript, and so forth.

Column major order is one way of mapping multidimensional array to one dimensional array in which the elements of the array that have as their last subscript the lower bound value of that subscript are stored first, followed by the elements of the second value of the last subscript, and so forth.

6. Fully qualified, elliptical references to fields in records

A fully qualified reference to a record field is one in which all intermediate record names, from the largest enclosing record to the specific field, are named in the reference.

An elliptical reference to a record field is one in which the field is named, but any or all of the enclosing record names can be omitted, as long as the resulting reference is unambiguous in the referencing environment.

7. Union, free union, discriminated union

A union is a type whose variables are allowed to store different type values at different times during execution.

A free union is a union for which there is no language support for type checking. Programmers are allowed complete freedom from type checking in their use. FORTRAN, C, and C++ have this kind of union.

A discriminated union has a field that indicates the type of the data in the union. This field is called a discriminant. Pascal and Ada have discriminated unions.

Part 2. Answer briefly.

1. Why does a decimal value waste memory space?

Decimal values are designed to be accurate to a given number of decimal places. Because of this, decimal takes more memory than binary representation because decimal values must be represented by using at least 4-bits per digit in the decimal number, so for instance:

12.69 is represented as: 0001 0010 0110 1001
1 => 0001
2 => 0010
6 => 0110
9 => 1001

Therefore, to store a six-digit decimal number requires 24 bits of memory. However, it takes only 20 bits to store the same number in binary.

2. What are the design issues for character string types?

Design issues for character string types:
a. Is character string a primitive type or just a special kind of array?
b. Is the length of character string objects static or dynamic?

3. What are the design issues for pointer types?

Design issues for pointer types:
a. What is the scope and lifetime of pointer variables?
b. What is the lifetime of heap-dynamic variables?
c. Are pointers restricted to pointing at a particular type?
d. Are pointers used for dynamic storage management, indirect addressing, or both?
e. Should a language support pointer and reference types?

Chapter 6
Part 1. Define the following:
1. Operator precedence, operator associativity

Operator precedence are rules for expression evaluation that define the order in which the operators of different precedence levels are evaluated.

Operator associativity is the rules of the language which determine, when there are two adjacent occurrences of operators of the same level of precedence, which operator is evaluated first.

2. Functional side effect

Functional side effect is the side effect of a function that occurs when the function changes either one of its parameters or a global variable.
Example: A + FUN(A) (This works only if FUN changes A, then there is an effect)
3. Coercion

Coercion is the implicit type conversion that occurs when two operands of an operator are not of the same type (and that’s legal in the language) and the compiler must choose one of them to be coerced and supply the proper code for the coercion.

4. Conditional expression

Conditional expression is an assignment statement of the general form

expression_1 ? expression_2: expression_3 (if-then-else)

where expression_1 is interpreted as Boolean expression. If expression_1 is evaluated as true, the value of the whole expression is the value of expression_2; otherwise, it is the value of expression_3

5. Overloaded operator

Overloaded operator is an operator that has multiple purposes assigned to it, i.e. , in Java, + is used both for numeric additon and for string concatenation

6. Narrowing & widening conversions

A narrowing conversion converts a value to a type that cannot store even approximations of all the values of the original type, for example, converting a double to a float in Java (the range of double is much larger than that of float).

A widening conversion converts a value to a type that can include at least approximations of all the values of the original type, for example, converting an int to a float in Java. Widening conversion are nearly always safe.

Part 2. Answer briefly.
1. What is the purpose of a compound assignment operator?

A compound assignment operator is a shorthand method of specifying a commonly needed form of assignment. The form of assignment that can be abbreviated with this technique has the destination variable also appearing as the first operand on the first side, as in: a = a + b.

2. Describe a situation in which the add operator in a programming language would not be associative.

Consider the equation A + B + C where A and B are large positive numbers C is a negative number with a very large absolute value. If we were to associate the equation as follows: A + (B + C) then the equation will evaluate correctly, as B + C will not cause overflow. However, the situation is not associative as we could associate the equation as follows: (A + B) + C and have an overflow situation which would not yield the same result as the first associations evaluation.

Names, Binding, Type Checking and Scopes

2008-05-05T16:53:00.002+08:00

Research 4. Read throughly Chapter 4 of Sebesta's Book. Really helpful. I got a perfect score in this research.

Read Chapter 4 by Sebesta.

Part 1. Define the following terms:

a) Alias

b) Binding and binding time

c) Static binding, Dynamic binding

d) Static, static-dynamic, explicit heap-dynamic, implicit heap-dynamic

e) Coercion, type error, type checking, strong typing

f) Name type compatibility, structure type compatibility

g) Lifetime, scope, static scope, dynamic scope

h) Block

Part 2. Explain briefly.

a) What are the design issues for names?

b) In what ways are reserved words better than key words?

c) What are the advantages & disadvantages of implicit declarations?

Answers

Part 1

a) Aliases

Aliases are names that have more than one variable name that can be used to access a single memory location. Aliases are multiple identifiers reference the same address.

b) Binding and binding time

A binding is an association, such as between an attribute and an entity or between an operation and a symbol. Binding time is the time a binding takes place.

c) Static binding, Dynamic binding

Static binding is a binding that occurs first before runtime and remains unchanged throughout program execution. Dynamic binding is a binding that occurs first before runtime or can change in the course of the program execution.

d) Static,static-dynamic, explicit heap-dynamic, implicit heap-dynamic

Static variables are those that are bound to memory cells before program execution begins and remain bound to those memory cells until program execution terminates.

Stack-dynamic variables are those whose storage bindings are created when their declaration statements are elaborated, but whose types are statically bound.

Explicit heap-dynamic variables are nameless (abstract) memory cells that are allocated and deallocated by explicit run-time instructions specified by the programmer. These variables, which are allocated and deallocated to the heap, can only be referenced through pointer or reference variable.

Implicit heap-dynamic variables are bound to heap storage only when they are assigned values. All their attributes are bound every time they are assigned.In a sense, they are just names that adapt to whatever use they are asked to serve.

e) Coercion,type error, type checking, strong typing

Coercion is an automatic conversion of compiler generated code to a legal type.

Type error is the application of an operator to an operand of an inappropriate type.

Type checking is the activity of ensuring that the operands of an operator are of compatible types.

Strong Typing is a new idea in language design which type errors are always detected in the language. This requires that the types of all operands can be determined, either at compile time or at run time. A strongly type language allows the detection, at run time, of uses of the incorrect type values in variables that can store values of more than one type.

f) Name type compatibility, structure type compatibility

Name type compatibility is a compatibility method which means that two variables have compatibility types only if they are in either the same declaration or in declarations that use the same type name.

Structure type compatibility is a compatibility method which means that two variable have compatibility types only if their types have identical structure.

g) Lifetime,scope, static scope, dynamic scope

Lifetime of the variable is the period of time beginning when the procedure is entered and ending when execution of the procedure reaches the end. Lifetime is a temporal concept.

Scope of a program variable is the range of statements in which the variable is visible. It is from its declaration to the end reserve word of the procedure. Scope is a spatial or textual concept.

Static scope is the method of binding names to non local variables. Static scope is thus named because the scope of a variable can be statically determined, that is, prior to execution.

Dynamic scope is a type of scope that is based on calling sequences of subprograms, not on their spatial relationship with each other.Thus the scope can be determined only at run time.

h) Block

Block is a method of creating static scopes inside program unit. Block is a section of code that have its own local variables whose scope is minimized. Such variables are typically stack dynamic, so they have their storage allocated when the section is entered and deallocated when the section is exited.

Part 2

a) What are the design issues for names?

The primary design issues for names are the following:

· What is the maximum length of a name?

· Can connector characters be used in names?

· Are names case sensitive?

· Are the special words reserved words or keywords?

Length

o If too short, they cannot be connotative

o Language examples:

§ FORTRAN I: maximum 6

§ COBOL: maximum 30

§ FORTRAN 90 and ANSI C: maximum 31

§ Ada and Java: no limit, and all are significant

§ C++: no limit, but implementors often impose one

Connectors

o Pascal, Modula-2, and FORTRAN 77 don't allow

o Others do

Case sensitivity

o Disadvantage: readability (names that lookalike are different)

§ worse in C++ and Java because predefined names are mixed case (e.g. IndexOutOfBoundsException)

o C, C++, and Java names are case sensitive

o The names in other languages are not

Special words

o An aid to readability; used to delimit or separate statement clauses

b) In what ways are reserved words better than key words?

A keyword is a word of a programming language that is a special only in certain context. A reserved word is a special word of a programming language that cannot be used as a name. As a language design choice, reserved words are better than keyword because the ability to redefine keywords can lead to readability problems.

For example in FORTRAN whose special words are keywords:

Integer Real
Real Integer

which declare the program variable Real to be a type of Integer type and the variable integer to be of real type.

c) What are the advantages & disadvantages of implicit declarations?

An implicit declaration is a means of associating variables with types through default convention instead of declaration statement. In this case, the first appearance of a variable name in a program constitutes its implicit declaration.

The advantage of implicit declaration is its writability because of its default mechanism while the disadvantage is its reliability because it prevents the compilation process from detecting some typographical and programmer errors.

Checking Grammar

2008-05-05T16:41:00.006+08:00

My 2nd Machine Problem. Similar to the 1st Machine Problem. Again in VB.NET

Input: An assignment sentence
(see ambiguous grammar for simple assignment sentence)
assign --> id = expr
id --> A | B | C
expr --> expr + expr | expr *expr |(expr) | id

Output:
"Syntax error" if the grammar is incorrect
or
"Valid" if the grammar is correct.

Example.
A = B + C * B
Valid

B = A * (C + B)
Valid

A = A+C * B+
Syntax error

Screenshots: