Happy New Year

Before this day ends, I would like to greet all a Happy and Prosperous New Year!

The Mindanao Blogger's Christmas Party

The Mindanao Blogger's Christmas party was exciting and intimate because there are only about twenty of us attending the festivities.

The party was also a nice time for bloggers to get to know each other up close and personal. When the exchanging of gift came along, I got a 1GB Sandisk SD Flash Card

Mindanao Blogger X'mas Party @ World Palace

A Collection of Blogger Templates

Blogger is one of the most popular hosted blogging platforms out there, but many people are still surprised when they learn you can customize the look of your blog well beyond the pre-built options the site offers.

Finding these other templates can be a bit of a task, so I would like to share this article about 30+ Great Resources for Blogger Templates

I'm Officially 31

It's official! I'm now 31 Years old. And I thank the Lord for the blessing that have come to my life. I thank my parents, my siblings and of course I thank my wife Jeanie and daughter Venice Marie.

Birthday Wish post

As of this writing I approximately have 4 hour before my age becomes the last number of the calendar (if you know what I mean). With that thought I would like to share my "Wishlist" of things I really wanna have as soon as possible. Anyways since I was born at the eve of Christmas, this "Wishlist" will be either a Birthday or Christmas wishlist. Either way I'm happy.


Dell XPS M1530 laptop
Specifications:

*Crimson RED
* Intel Core 2 Duo T9300 (2.5GHz/800Mhz FSB, 6MB Cache), 4GB RAM, 160GB HDD, DVD+/-RW
* 128MB NVIDIA GeForce 8400M G Graphics Card, 15.4-inch WXGA 1280x800 Glossy Screen.
* Integrated 2.0MP Camera, Wireless Wifi-G, Bluetooth, 8-in-1 Card Reader, Express Remote Control
* Windows Vista Home Premium OS, 90W A/C Adapter1 Card Reader, Express Remote Control
* HDMI, VGA, S-Video, Firewire/1394, three USB 2.0 ports
*OS:Window XP Professional (dual boot Ubuntu) (Windows Vista really sucks)
Why this one: DELL XPS M1350 is one of the best laptop computer for multimedia works. With this I can do my Web Developing, 2D and 3D Graphic Designing , as well as multimedia editing all in this laptop. It's a bit pricey but its really worth it.


Nikon D80 dSLR Camera
Why I chose this one: My Mom always say tha photography is one of the most expensive hobbies of all time because of the high cost of each accesories needed to get the best shots. Well for me it's an investment because aside that I enjoy taking pictures, I also know that you can also earn by selling some of your pictures online depending on demand. Since I'm a bit new to the dSLR environment, the Nikon D80 would be the best choice for me as a newbie SLR user if ever I get my hands on it.

Office Christmas Party and Mother-in-Law's Birthday

I really enjoyed my weekend because I got to be in two important events: Our company's Christmas party and my Mother-in-Law's birthday.

Update: Here are the pictures from of the AoV 2008 Christmas Party


Eversun Software Davao Christmas Party
The much anticipated Christmas party last night was very enjoyable with almost all of our agents attending the festivities. The event was held at the Mergrande Beach Resort dome just beside their pool area. The place was big with good sound system and a band setup (thanks to our resident DJ/Agent Supervisor Althone Borja).

I was in charge of documenting the event so I was able to borrow one of our agent's video camera and my trusty Sony Cybershot digital camera for pictures. Raphael Banta was in charge of doing the bulk of the picture shooting because he's using his Nikon D40 dSLR camera. Don't worry guys picture will be uploaded nextweek before Christmas.

Aside from our usual exchanging of gifts, we also have some fun parlor games and of course a live band which includes several talented agents and some session musicians.

I would hope that next year's party will be as fun as this.

Nanay's Birthday
We celebrated my Mother-In-Law's birthday with a small get together at their house in Toril with my wife and of course our every enegetic baby daughter, Venice Marie.

Plurk Themes for Plurkistas like me

Plurk has been the microblogging platform of choice for most Filipino netizens. Now here's a website called Plurk Themes for those who want to improve their plurk aesthetics by installing these wonderful themes.


Most of the available themes are being designed/developed by Andrew dela Serna with some contributions from other designers like the famous "Nyok-nyok" blogger Jezlau. You can also contrubute you own plurk theme by leaving a comment anywhere on the site.

I wanna thank Blogie for sharing this information on his blog

New post on Daddy Blogs

I have been busy for a while at work because of the training I'm conducting. I have updated my Daddy Blogs with pictures of my family taken over the weekend.

Zoho Office Suite: Managing my work online

Before I go on with my personal experience about this great online application. I would like to enlighten you about Zoho Office Suite.

Zoho Office Suite is an online office suite which includes tools for word processing, spreadsheets, presentations, databases, note-taking, wikis, CRM, project management, invoicing and other applications. Like the better-known Google Docs, Zoho applications are web-based and therefore operating system independent.
source: Wikipedia.org

Zoho is indeed a good online application which helped me lessen the hassles of installing office application on my laptop which would eat up my hard disk space. Also the advantage of accessing your work regardless of which computer you are using was refreshing that sometime I can finish some of my work at home.

In my opinion, Zoho is much better than Google Docs in the sense that I can support older browsers like Linux's Epiphany and other similar browsers which on Google Docs doesn't support.


Click here for details of Zoho Applications

Download Youtube videos using KickYoutube

I found this interesting tip from blog post which I reader from my Google Reader. The blog post talks about how you can download videos on YouTube using his method called "KickYouTube".

The idea is to simply go to the YouTube video you’d like to download and insert the word "kick" at the start of the URL (e.g http://kickyoutube.com/watch?v=xxxxxxxx) and options to download the clip are provided at the top of the page.

Unfortunately, this method wouldn't last long since Google will find some ways to prevent this time of "hacking"

Internet User's Guide to E-Commerce Policies

With the success of her last book Blogging from Home, Janette Toral will release another edition of her E-Commerce for Entrepreneurs Workshop Books which is called Internet User's Guide to E-Commerce Policies.

The new book will help us "demystify" about the E-commerce policies which can greatly help for those who wanna engage into into e-commerce.

The World of Nothing: A Funny Bisaya themed Blog

Wanna read some funny stuffs in Bisaya? Here's a blog that I guarantee will laugh you butts of the point of falling off the chair that you sitting in right now. The blog is call the World of Nothing which was written by my officemate Jacob Amanza.

Who's next for Pacquiao? Hatton or Mayweather Jr.

I have read several articles that the next in line to face Manny "Pacman" Pacquiao is Ricky Hatton of Great Britain here's a surprise news.

According to a kin of retired boxing champ Floyd Mayweather Jr.,He (Floyd Jr.) has express of fighting Pacman next and wants his father, Floyd Sr. to train him. Though this report is still unconfirmed.

Now who do you think should be next to face Pacman?

Expression Engine : Another personal CMS project

As of this writing I'm now doing some final preparations as I am gonna embark on installing another Content Management System (CMS) call Expression Engine.

I will update this post later on with link to the EE project site.
Here's the link to My New Expression Engine Blog

How to use Google Reader

Google Reader is a Web-based aggregator, capable of reading Atom and RSS feeds online or offline.

Mashable.com has put together a quick how-to guide for both beginners and veteran users alike.

How To use Google Reader

Manny Pacquiao Win By TKO over Oscar De La Hoya

Manny "Pacman" Pacquiao was too fast for "Golden Boy" Oscar De La Hoya as he wins by Technical Knock Out (TKO) on the 8th Round of this Dream Match. Pacquiao dominate the fight all throughout the match.

Congratulations Manny "Pacman" Pacquiao!
. Mabuhay ka!
Detailed Story on GMA New Website

Today is the Day: Pacquiao vs. De La Hoya

We wish Manny Pacquiao "Good Luck" on his fight against "Golden Boy" Oscar De La Hoya today. We support you all the way. Mabuhay Pacman!

HOW TO: Getting Started with Really Simple Syndication(RSS)

I would like to share this artticle by Paul Stamatiou who has put together a great new resource for people wanting a good introduction to RSS by the title of HOW TO: Getting Started with RSS

50 Ways to Gain RSS Subscribers

Most bloggers love their RSS readers. Not only that, but they also love to gain new RSS readers. So here are 50 Ways to Gain RSS Subscribers according to Daniel Scocco

5 Days to Go: De La Hoya vs. Pacquiao

5 days to go for the dream match between Manny "Pacman" Pacquiao against "Golden Boy" Oscar de la Hoya. As a proud Filipino, we support Manny all the way.


HBO has released a video Highlight of Manny Pacquiao's previous matches

Long Weekend More Family Bonding Time

Since yesterday was a National holiday, My daughter Venice was happy because I got to spend another day with her. She also showed me some new moves when she dance by swaying her hips side by side mimicking the dance move on Madagascar 2. It was unfortunate that I wasn't able to get some pictures of the 3 days we spent together. Maybe nextweek.


Baby Venice's new Dance Craze

Engage With Grace

In Alexandra Drane's words, we need to "start talking. Engage With Grace: The One Slide Project was designed with one simple goal: to help get the conversation about end of life experience started. The idea is simple: Create a tool to help get people talking. One Slide, with just five questions on it. Five questions designed to help get us talking with each other, with our loved ones, about our preferences."

SpitzTunes Without a Cause

Spitz speaks ... start ove, satisfy, ideas, rebellion, smokin' guitars ... who the heck knew that Red Hot Chill Peppers are a bunch of light bulbs!?

New Post on iCNSQ Tech Blog: Youtube goes Widescreen

I just updated my tech blog which is about Youtube having widescreen player in what seems to be a preparation for hosting of more professional contents in the future.

Read more about it on iCNSQ Tech Blogs.

50 Things to Do Before You Die

Life is short and that's a fact. It's already a bonus if you ever reach the age of 85. Now all have some ambitions in life. Here's a nice article about 50 Things to Do Before You Die

7 things you can do to give your blog more of an edge

Although most of you have already read this tips from other blogs but for others who haven't I would like to share this tips which was posted by Jacob Cass

Read more about it here

New Posts on Daddy Blogs

I finally added some new posts on my new blog DADDY BLOGS.

The Dude Behind Edward Cullen

When it comes to "Twilight," the question isn't whether the teen vampire movie is any good, but whether the hero, Edward Cullen, is as magical as we want him to be. Edward is brooding and sensitive ... and thanks to Pattinson's furrowed eyebrows, crooked smiles and carefully crafted hairstyles, he delivers just the Edward we've been waiting for.

Digitaltoolz just got Pimped

Some colleagues of mine suggested to me to add some "graphic design" feel on my Digital Toolz blog since it's all about web and graphic design stuff so I did some minor "pimping" and add some background design.

And I also a new post which is all about 50 Incredible Fonts for Professional Web & Print Design

Back from a One day Rest

It's good to be back working after a days rest because of a fever. The irony of it was that I was able to see Monday Night Football live and I was a bit happy that the Cleveland Browns beat the Buffalo Bills on a missed field goal by the Bills kicker.

Christmas Music

Christmas/Holiday music cuts across all genres ... is it the go to music when you exercise, clean the house, shop, surf the Web, travel

Sports Clothing - Where? When?

A more sporty, casual approach to clothing is permeating our lives ... remember when athletic shoes, were for, well, athletics? ... did you ever wear Chick Taylor's outside of the gym ... then came the sports shoe craze ... is high-performance fitness/sports clothing going to follow? Seems to be making some in roads.

New Parenting Blog

Just created a new blog for a new niche which is all about parenting since I'm now a parent myself. The blog is simply called Daddy Blogs. This blog will be about my experiences as a newbie parent and will also share some tips on smart parenting.

Mom's Birthday Party

Yesterday, I took my vacation leave to celebrate my mother's birthday. As usual relatives and close friends where invited to grace the event. Even my daughter joined and showed our visitors her "walking-with-no-help-from-daddy" skills.


here are some of the photos of the event


More pictures here

Mom's Birthday

More Updates from My Other Online Works

Because I spend more time bonding with daughter on weekends (I have a separate blog post about this later on), I'll have to postponed some of my updates when I got to work. So here are the latest updates


*Two new blog post on CNSQ Online BLOG
*A DVD Review of Bangkok Dangerous on my Blog-A-Wenyo blog
*Added some new friends on Multiply site
* and last but not the least a List of Pay-to-Click sites that recently joined

New Posts on My Other Blogs

I just updated my digital toolz blog which talks about the 15 Key Elements All top Websites Should Have. Also I updated my TUMBLR with various photo rants and ramblings.

I also joined a new social bookmarking service called Design Float a Digg-type social bookmarking which focuses on Web and Graphic Design , Web Development and SEO.

And last but not the least, I added a new section of my Money and SEO blog which is called Pay-To-Click Lists it's a collection of my referral banners on Pay-to-Click (PTC) services that I joined.

Congratulations Barack Obama

Congratulations to Barack Obama for winning the 2008 US Presidential Elections

Movies Stuff

Movies touch a cord in most of us ... drama, comedy, suspense, romance, sports, documentary ... you name it ... the following questions just keep the conversation going!

Updating My Blogs

It's been a while since I update some of blogs because of the hectic workload that I had last month and also the transfer of the new office. Here's a run down of what I did to my other blogs.

* I updated my Blog-A-Wenyo blog in which I posted a review of the latest DVD that I watched which is Appleseed Ex Machina. I also updated the design and arrangement and added feedburner RSS Feed widget.

* I will be adding some new tutorials on Digital Toolz blog after I gather more information about HTML 5 and some new tutorials on CSS and Inkscape.

* Added a new tag on my Rock Music Buzz blog called "Women In Metal" in which I will feature the hottest chicks in heavy metal. For my 1st post under that tag, I featured Sonic Syndicate's Karin Axellson.

1st Day at the New Office

It's my first day working on our new office. It's much better because it's spacious and I got to have my own private area :D, and the location is a nearer to my house than the previous one. Also we have more options on where to buy food (we are surrounded by restaurants and pizza parlors hehehe)

You can see more pictures on the link below:
NEW OFFICE PICTURES

The Blogging from Home Book Review

This book review is a bit overdue because I said from my last post that I'd post my review on tita Janette Toral's book entitle: "Blogging from Home"..


To start off, I would like to say thank you the author for publishing this book because there are a lot of people still doesn't understand the concept of "blogging". With this book I was able to learn some of the aspects of blogging like how we promote our own blogs to creating blog networks and others.

The book is so easy to understand because there are real visual examples included for the readers to understand the topics better. I HIGHLY RECOMMEND this book to both novice and pro bloggers alike because you will learn a lot from this book.

Starbucks' pick from iTunes

Free music ... Starbucks gives us a little extra.

Less than a Week to Go

It's only a few day 'til The US Presidential Elections and the global crisis is slowly choking our economies. This will be a worthy challenge to the new US president.

Still Reading "Blogging from Home"

I plan to post a review of Ma'am Janette's "Blogging from Home". I plan to concentrate reading on the book this coming weekend.

Drupalism being moved to a new webhost

For those of you might wonder why my Drupalism (http://drupalism.co.cc) blog is currently "not found". Well to tell you frankly the (free)webhost caused some errors when I try to upgrade and it cannot be recovered. Fortunately I was able to back up some of the modules need when Drupalism rises again on its new home.

Well it's a brand new start for that Drupal project of mine and some lessons learn: Never rely too much on free web hostings".

New Updates on my Other Blog

Just updated my Rock Music Buzz blog. The new post is all about Sonic Syndicate my newest favorite metal band.

Also I made some updates on my Squidoo Lenses. Just Click the icon below to see my lensmaster profile:



To Join The Squidoo Community Click The icon below:

DigitalFilipino.com Club and Bloggers Davao Networking Event

I just arrived from the DigitalFilipino.com Club and Bloggers Davao Networking Event which was held at Pantawan Hall, Grand Regal Hotel. The place was filled with bloggers and IT professional alike which includes some of Davao's known bloggers like Blogie Robillo, Ria Jose, Andrew Dela Serna, etc.. Some of my colleagues at work where also present like Isis Lahora, Aweng Basco, Gerard Lanzona, Dante Basalan, Dennis Casa, Raphael Banta, Kaiser Mangampo and Kurt Damada.

The evening started with a dinner buffet and I would like to commend Casino Filipino for serving delicious foods specially the lechon. I was able to go two rounds of serving.

.

After dinner, Janette Toral started with her presentation about the Digital Filipino Club, Update on Ratified.org and the Influential Bloggers Writing Project.



After Janette's presentation, the band Music Authority then went on stage to play while the rest socializing and having a good time.




Before I left the place, I was able to bought Janette's book Blogging From Home from her with a signed dedication.