A Short Break... A New Job

It's been half a month of a hiatus from blog posting but those days were such a busy break to attend to offline activities and some online communications.

A job opportunity came at the beginning of the month and letting it pass like the rest that came during the early months of this year isn't a good move. I guess at this time, being on the engineering field again is where my bread and butter is. Well, i guess i just need to re-focus. So, i did grab the chance to send the application and drained a lot of energy studying and reviewing some technical details in preparation for the interview.

Hopefully soon, I'll be traveling back to where i used to work and be maintaining this blog from another spot of the earth. 'Guess that's the best thing about the web...it's world wide. (but hey! isn't that obvious?!)

Did i say i got the job?!... Uhummm...we'll i did.

Just a short note to close the post:
If you are into a technical, industrial or engineering field, let me share some Useful Tools for you. Give it a try... it's Free.

Chinese "iPhone girl" Internet Fame by a "Beautiful Mistake"

An internet forum member had the very rare chance of knowing who assembled his iPhone 3G (or at least packed the device) from the production plant when he discovered some pictures pre-installed on the phone.

The "Chinese iPhone girl" buzz started when a macrumors.com member, markm49uk, posted 3 pictures of a chinese girl on the iPhone forum last Aug. 2o.

"Not sure if this is or is not the 'norm' but I just received my brand new iPhone here in the UK and once it had been activated on iTunes I found that the home screen (the screen you can personalise with a photo) already had a photo set against it !!!!
It would appear that someone on the production line was having a bit of fun - has anyone else found this ?"- markm49uk

In the photos, a cute young chinese girl is wearing pink striped factory uniform, a cap, and white gloves with yellow finger tips. She is smiling and making a hand victory sign (or is it peace?!) as she poses next to an iPhone in what appears to be an assembly line of the 3G phone.

The photos created enough attention on the web that news agencies in the UK and China did efforts to trace the identity of the girl. News reports say the young chinese girl works at a factory run by an Apple contractor, Taiwan-based Foxconn Technology Group in the southern Chinese town of Shenzhen. South China Morning Post on Wednesday quoted Foxconn spokesperson, Liu Kun, confirming that the young girl dubbed as the "iPhone girl" in the photos works at Foxconn.

The spokesperson explained that workers testing the device may have snapped the photos and forgot to delete them. Early speculations were circulating that the girl was fired from her job but a Foxconn spokesman claimed it as baseless and said that such "beautiful mistakes" are unavoidable. The identity of the girl is still undisclosed and Apple has not released comment on the issue.

Will this be another chinese hype? We'll sure know in the coming days as the "iPhone girl" buzz continues to become viral.

(Chinese "iPhone girl" photo from www.macrumors.com)

A Gold Medal for the Philippines in Beijing 2008 Olympics

Finally, the Philippines got a gold medal in the Beijing 2008 Olympics. Filipino Wushu delegate Willy Wang won the gold medal in the wushu competition last Friday. Winning in the competition lifted up the spirits of the Philippine delegates several hours after the last medal hope of the Philippines, Mary Antoinette Rivero, lost to a Croatian fighter in women’s taekwondo’s -67 kg class. At last, the Philippine flag was raised and the national anthem played in the Beijing Olympics.

Though Wushu is classified as a demonstration sport in the Beijing 2008 Olympics and a medal won in this event will not be included in the official medal tally, winning a gold medal in the event indeed brings honor to the Philippines. A gold medal is always a gold medal anyway. A similar victory in an exhibition sport was achieved by Filipino bowler Arianne Cerdeña who won a gold medal at the 1988 Seoul Olympics.

The other medalists joining Willy Wang are Marianne Mariano and Benjie Rivera who took the bronze in the sanshou events and Mary Jane Estimar earned silver.

In a bid to eventually get the game considered in the official Olympic’s event, 128 athletes from 43 countries who qualified in the last year’s world wushu championships gathered in the Beijing 2008 Olympics. As a demo sport, wushu debuted in the 1936 Berlin Games.

Though the 15-man Philippine contingent will come home without any medal from official sports event in the Beijing 2008 Olympics, a similar fate that happened in 2000 Sydney and 2004 Athens Olympics, they deserve the gratitude of the Filipino nation for they did their best and fought a good fight, which I think is most important. Anyhow, a competition has always a two-sided result, winning and having done your best. We could only hope that the Philippine government will truly exert efforts to revitalize its sports training program for the nation to achieve the ever elusive gold medal in the Olympics.

To the Philippine athletes, welcome home champions…Mabuhay kayong lahat!

Information Technology Essential Sources

Engaging With The New eLearning discusses 12 strategies for engaging and retaining learners through compelling online experiences.

Published by Adobe, eLearning enables us to deliver both learning and information at will—dynamically and immediately; to tap the knowledge of experts and nonexperts and catapult those messages beyond classroom walls and into the workplace; and to know, through the magic of technology, who is learning, referring, and contributing—and who is not.

eLearning helps organizations increase knowledge and improve skills by connecting people, ideas, and information in online courses with engaging interactive content. eLearning can include formal online courses and simulations as well as informal and workflow learning using web conferencing, mobile performance support tools, digital learning games, publications, and podcasts.

You may get your FREE copy of eLearning HERE.





Another essential Information and Technology source which can be availed for free is eWeek.

eWeek is the essential technology information source for builders of e-business. Through a combination of news, analysis and evaluation, it guides readers in making the best technology decisions for their enterprise. Focusing on e-commerce, communications and Internet-based architecture, eWeek enables readers to successfully evaluate, deploy and leverage new technology solutions for competitive advantage.

Avail of FREE eWeek subscription HERE.

Easy Ways To Relieve and Prevent Backpain

"I've been suffering from lower back pains a couple of days ago, so i guess it is worth to share on this blog some tips on back pain relief and prevention. I also got these from a friend thru email. Thanks Paul..."

Back pains are usually brought about by sprains of the ligaments and straining of the back muscles. It is oftentimes caused by activities we are not used to such as moving or lifting heavy objects, accidentally twisting the body in ordinary activities and more often in sports activities.

A more serious cause of back pain is a slipped disk or a condition when a disk between the bones of the spine bulges and presses the nerves. This is usually caused by twisting while lifting.

If you feel some back pains, the following resting positions illustrated below are useful to relieve the pain:




A hot compress or the use of heating pads for about 20 to 30 minutes and a light massage may also give relief to an aching back.

Some useful tips to prevent back strain are as follows:

• In lifting an object, bend your knees and squat then lift up the object. Keep the back straight and hold the object close to your body. Never lift by bending over and avoid twisting while lifting.
• In moving heavy objects, push rather than pull.
• If sitting on your office desk for long hours is necessary, break-up the time to stretch.
• Wear low heeled or flat shoes whenever possible.
• A regular exercise or body stretching is a helpful muscle activity.
• The best way to sleep is on your side with your knees bent. You may also put a pillow between your knees for comfort.
• If you sleep on your back, try putting a pillow under your knees and a small pillow under your lower back.
• If sleeping position is not helping much to ease back pains, try adjusting the sleeping surface to gain comfort. Sleeping matress should generally be not too hard nor too soft. However, it's always an individual choice.
  

If you are spending long hours of sitting and doing office works, below is an illustration of the best way to sit which you may apply:

It is always proper to consult your doctor if your back pain is caused by injury or accident and you are suffering the pain for a prolonged period.

ABS CBN News Domain...Expired!?!

I can't help it but to say "OMG!!! I can't believe this..." when i was browsing ABS CBN websites a few minutes ago and checked for some early morning news only to find that the domain for their News ( http://www.abs-cbnnews.com/) has expired since July 26, 2008.

I can only think that the department incharge with their domain registrations had failed to renew it for reasons only the management can explain.
I am always visiting their sites (in fact, its in my news & info bookmarks list) starting off from http://beta.abs-cbn.com/ and if my memory serves me right i was able to pass by the abs cbn news site yesterday morning while i was searching for news about the earthquake that hit Bacolod City early morning yesterday but since i find no news on the subject just continued searching on other news sites.

Well, for sure ABS CBN, being one of the biggest company in the Philippines and the leading tv station will surely settle this unfortunate happening. That is, unless otherwise, they are planning to change the domain name for their news site.

Let's just wait and see... as of now, we can only speculate on this issue and hope that we can access the site again soon.

An Earthquake Rocked Bacolod City, Philippines

I was in front of my pc at 2:20 early this morning when i noticed that the table and monitor was slightly moving but i didn't gave it a serious thought for a second coz it coincide with the start up of the A/C's compressor from idle mode. I was thinking it was just due to the vibration on the bedroom walls created by the A/C. I just realized that it was an earthquake after about 5 seconds when the cabinets were rocking and the bedroom walls started to move accompanied by strange sounds. As I immediately shut down my pc, I calmly alerted my wife sleeping in bed but she was already awake due to the tremors she felt. The quake lasted for about 20 seconds. Thinking that there will be some aftershocks, i didn't go to sleep until after about more than an hour had passed.

I checked the local news as soon as i woke up but couldn't find any reports about an earthquake hitting Bacolod City or the province of Negros Occidental or Visayas area. However, I came to know that there were reports of more than 5.0 magnitude quakes in Mindoro and Olongapo City in the northern Philippines yesterday. So, today's quake is somewhat an after-effect.

At past 2pm, i read a news that the tectonic quake that rocked Bacolod City was at a magnitude of 4.1. Thank God...there were no reports of damage or casualty.

The Philippine archipelago sits on the Pacific Ring of Fire, hence, seismic and volcanic activity is common in the country. However, today's early morning tremor was the first one felt in my place since the start of the year. 'Hope nothing destructive will come in the future.



image source: http://www.iris.washington.edu/

UPDATE: (04 Aug 2008, Monday)
As i was reading yesterday's news (or shall i say history)... i came to think of updating this post coz of some info discrepancy from the same local news agency. Yesterday's news mentioned that the earthquake that hit Bacolod City last August 2, 2008 was intensity 6 (intensity 4.1 was reported in earlier news) and had created some hairline cracks in some walls of the new Bacolod-Silay airport in Silay City as well as dislodged some acoustic boards from the ceiling. Good thing that the damage was superficial and no cracks were found on the runway.

Personally, i prefer to agree with the latter news considering the time given for the investigation release from Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (Phivolcs) and of course, for the physical tremor felt during the incident.

Earn While Giving Away Free Publications Through RevResponse

A friend from the US had asked me for some ebooks a few days ago. After sending her some files from my collection, I tried to search the web for free publications coz it reminded me that I haven’t been able to download anymore reading materials since the last time that’s far beyond my memory search.

The search for free publications download led me to a unique site. I’m talking about RevResponse.

You may ask why RevResponse is unique... Well, once you sign up with them for free, you will be given a free co-branded site where you could offer an extensive list of free trade magazines and professional/technical publications and downloads. These subscriptions are from Tradepub.com, which is a division of Netline Corporation based in California and is a leader in the online subscription services for professional publications that had been serving the publishing industry since 1994. To simplify, Netline’s RevResponse is the online marketing arm of Tradepub.com.

The good thing of having a partner site doesn’t end there. As a partner, you will be compensated $1.50 to $20 for every qualified subscription through your co-branded site and marketing campaigns such as banners, links and widgets in your blog or website. If you are good in referring friends as partners, you will also be paid 20% of the earnings that your referrals generate for the first 6 months of their partnership. Another good thing is…you may run RevResponse widgets alongside Google Adsense. So, how does generating revenue from a blog while giving away free publications that are relevant to your viewer’s professional needs sounds?! Amazing isn’t it?!

Here’s a screenshot of my co-branded site:

Your free subscription starts here:

Please visit HERE to browse the extensive list.

Before I forgot, RevResponse is available for international partners and their default payment system is by check but you may also use Paypal as payment alternative by request. They also have a very nice support through the site’s Blog and Forum. Do take a visit to know more. You may also check their FAQs for more info.

For sure by now you are interested of becoming a partner. So, if you plan to add a monetization option to your website or blog, just click the banner below to join for free.

Google Publicly Launched Knol

I was logging in to my Blogger account today planning to write on something when i noticed right on my dashboard was the latest Blogger Buzz from the mighty Google. A few months ago Google announced that a new product called Knol is on testing stage. Just yesterday, July 23, 2008, Knol was officially launched.

So, what really is a Knol? As Google defines it, Knol is a unit of knowledge...an authoritative article about a specific topic.

Since it is in a form of an authoritative writing with the underlying key principle which is authorship, it will have an author or group of authors who will share their expertise on a specific topic.

A Screen shot of a Knol about Lung Cancer

As I've had a short read of some Knols available, the tone of writing is of formal sort or simply academic. One good thing about its feature is that, readers are allowed to give suggested edits and the author in return can either accept, reject or make necessary modifications to the posts before a Knol will be available for public view. This gives the author full control of their written topic which is of course associated to their names and credentials. On a readers point of view, with the available feature of rating, giving comments and review of a Knol, I find it an advantage for the readers to acquire academic information which are thoroughly screened. Another good thing also is that the author is allowed to put Adsense on a Knol as a means of monetizing it. As i did several Knol hopping, I noticed that the template used were all same. But for a formal form of writing, the design was indeed well layed-out.

With enormous amounts of information we can get from the web, some of which are not worth knowing about, Knol is indeed a good alternative for Google to cater the best of information and in taking the lead.

A New Blog Template and Some Word of Thanks

If you have visited this blog for the past couple of days, you will notice that it has been redressed... or having a new template to say it simply. I haven't been posting for a couple of days because of the said redressing. Actually, the learning process took me more time than uploading the new template code. Oh! well, what to expect from a neophyte in the blogging world?! My former template which i had downloaded free and still in beta was giving me some problem in customizing the look and placement of contents. Hence, I resorted to using the classic blogger template but gave it some enhancements and simple tweaks i learned from other sites.

I guess in this post, it is just appropriate to give credits to whom credits are due. In customizing the HTML & CSS codes, i really appreciate the valuable tips and tricks specifically tailored for Blogger by bizwhiz of Tricks for New Bloggers and Amanda of Blogger Buster. Both sites have easy to follow tutorials in modifying the look of a classic Blogger template. A little skills in Photoshop in blending the images used in the blog header proved useful but of course my commendation goes to Smashing Magazine for the resources. Foremost, of course... my "thank you" goes to Blogger for the original template and almost everything for this blog to go live on the net.

Well, i guess everything's up in this blog... except of course for more posts. So. i better be up too...always!

Enjoy the Luxury of a Holiday Travel by Minimizing Jet Lag

Being a stay-at-home dad for quite awhile, I do miss travelling to places and the everyday travel in going to work. Just when my thought was focused on the days when i was still in UAE (where i used to work), a split-second thought popped up in my preoccupied brain about the article i wrote during my first few days in Dubai. It's related to the travel condition i felt at that time. Well, I'm talking here about Jet lag and the ways of overcoming or at least minimizing it during long haul plane travels.
Here it goes:



Getting more out of the first few hours or even days of a much awaited holiday or an important business travel can be difficult if it is ruined by the condition so-called jet lag.
This is usually experienced if the vacation venue requires a long-haul travel.

Jet lag is caused when our body’s time patterns are disrupted when traveling across several time zones. It is a natural body rhythm that we normally are active during daytime and need sleep during the night. This natural rhythm is what we call the body clock. Since jet lag disrupts the body clock, the symptoms usually felt include extreme fatigue, insomnia, feeling fuzzy or disoriented, stomach disturbances and aches or soreness.

A slightly low level of oxygen in airplane cabins than our normal atmosphere which affects our mental and physical balance also increases these jet lag symptoms. However, jet lag can be tackled and avoided thus enjoying the holiday travel to the fullest. Proper preparations and being aware of some important things how to cope with jet lag need to be considered.

Beginning the travel in a relaxed state of being is a must. Jet lag is oftentimes psychological in nature. If you are thinking that the travel can be exhaustive, then there’s a big chance that you will be restless. It’s a sort of negative mind conditioning. Be well rested before you go onboard.

Get to know the time difference between your origin and destination. With this in mind, you may arrange for a flight schedule with an arrival time that is most comfortable to you. This results in lesser fatigue, hence a lesser jet lag. Reset your watch during the flight so you could easily adapt to time changes. However, be aware of the time difference especially if you are on a scheduled medication. Also arrange important commitments at the time when your energy level is most likely high.

Since you will be subjected to long hours on an air conditioned cabin, you will tend to feel dehydrated and your skin gets dry. Drink plenty of water or fruit juice. Avoid caffeine and alcohol intake so as not to aggravate jet lag insomnia. Try also to adjust your mealtime to your destination’s time as soon as possible. Take some sleep if the long haul travel is at night. This may be induced by listening to a soothing music, reading a book or watching a movie. Request from a flight attendant for an ear plug and eye mask if necessary.

For an overly long flight, try to split the jet lag. This means you may take a stop-over and divide time zones which could be a chance for an open air and an exercise. It will give your body time to calm down and reduce the jet lag fatigue. For an extended stop-over, try to take a warm shower which could enhance the blood circulation.

If you are arriving to your destination at daytime, stay active and deprive yourself of a nap so you can easily adapt your body clock by setting your bedtime to that of the local time. Expose yourself to sunlight as much as possible to align your body clock to the new time zone.

Taking these things into consideration with sensible planning and preparing ahead, jet lag is never a hindrance to the luxury of a holiday travel. That is, it would be a truly amazing vacation right from the very start.

Watch ABS-CBN TV Programs Free

Did you ever wish of watching your fave tv program on your idle (and i mean really IDLE) time at work? Are you an OFW who's a bit(?) homesick and doesn't have access to Filipino channels while working abroad? Give this post a minute of reading coz i'll be sharing to you something.

We'll the good news is, as i was strolling the "net avenue" today, i stumbled upon a site which offers video and tv streaming. And the better news is... ABS-CBN Kapamilya TV, a leading Philippine tv network is available for streaming.

The reception is "just acceptable" and the broadcast is delayed by several minutes (well at least it's almost live)...but what the heck... it's FREE. To enjoy streaming, you need to have the proper browser plug-ins and codec. If you are using Firefox, download Windows Media Player plug-in to successfully stream the broadcast. To watch other broadcasts besides ABS-CBN, you can find the site HERE.

ABS-CBN TV Broadcast:





*The server may be offline if video screen is blank.

Have fun & enjoy!!!

Hydrogen from Water as Fuel... Will It Be The Ultimate Alternative ?

With the soaring prices of oil and petroleum derivatives nowadays, a lot of freelance scientists and even big time car industries are searching for means of using alternative fuel such as battery cell, solar energy, etc.. and even hydrogen which can be derived from a very abundant compound on earth….that is WATER. While browsing the web yesterday I came across a news which i believe is worth sharing here. Try to watch it and think if this car prototype can be mass produced and would eventually solve the global issues of oil crisis.


A follow-up news about this Japanese invention can be found here:

http://techon.nikkeibp.co.jp/english/NEWS_EN/20080616/153301/

While viewing the video, I came to remember some news on the Philippine tv in the late 90’s and I tried to search for the Filipino inventor of a water-fueled car who had been doing his invention for more than three decades.
Here’s what I found:









Without getting a positive support from the Philippine government for his invention, was he able to sell his design to rich automotive companies who is willing to invest on it? This might be a speculative thought but... let me just say it… Given the similarities of the prototypes, was the Japanese invention in fact modeled from Mr. Daniel Dingel’s design?
Well, I guess I’ll leave it to you to think about coz I am also clueless to those questions as well…but IMO, water can be a source of an alternative fuel…that is Hydrogen, however the handling of the gas would prove difficult, nevertheless, given a quality and safe design it will be possible. I say this because I had actually seen a hydrogen plant way back 2002, which produces Hydrogen from water by electrolysis splitting it from the other component which is Oxygen. It was used as a coolant for the generator of a power plant. Though different in application, hydrogen was isolated and thus, was used in some other way it could. With flawless design (or at least close to that), I believe it can indeed be a good fuel alternative of the future. Well… that’s just my viewpoint.
What’s your opinion on this issue?

Soaring Into Blogosphere

Peace be unto thee who come across my page...

This is my first post as i trek into an online journey and soar into blogosphere.

This blog is my haven of free spirited logs and posts.
It could be a chronicle of issues, point of views, opinions, beliefs, perceptions, insights and outlook… a hodgepodge of escapades and jaunts and even ordinary events and experiences of everyday life.

It’s an assortment of “whatever-u-call-it”.
If it doesn’t acquiesce with your viewpoint… you always have the first statement to look back to.
Feel free to post your comments and views.

Have a good day and WELCOME to partake in my smorgasbord of indispensable thoughts...

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