Welcome

This is my personal blog where I share thoughts that mater to me. Things that makes my day a present. You may also want to visit my other sites - Avatar State, Amazing Davao, Davao Life, Tribu Hagtik and Shared Pool

Monday, September 29, 2008

Lenovo Y410



Ok, I promised to feature my new laptop here, so here it is. It is a Lenovo Y410. This unit suits me just right. I changed the operating system from Vista Basic to XP Professional for a lot of reasons. Its specification are as follows:
  • Core2 Duo Intel Centrino 2.6GHz
  • 2GB RAM
  • 160 GB HDD
  • 14.1" LCD Screen
  • 1.3 M Pixels Camera
  • Blue Tooth
  • Facial Recognition
  • DVD RW
  • Wifi Ready

Sunday, September 28, 2008

Rough Seas



Today our organization is in rough seas. Due to external pressures, the company that I am in is removing a benefit that has been enjoyed by its employees for decades. It has saddened many of us. We can hear a lot of complaints and see signs of disagreements.

I understand why this is happening and why the company is taking this path. It seems to me that its really rough times nowadays. I only hope that top management's offer would be appealing and the company would be more generous in their offer. I know that the company has thought of this thoroughly that all we can do just buckle up for a bumpy ride and hope for a good outcome.

I just feel sad for the others who won't get their even shares. Its just that all of us is in our right position at the right time.

Anyway we all know that opportunity knocks at our doors. The questions is, are we going to wait for it to knock on our doors or are we going to make it knock. If you can't beat them, join them.

Tuesday, September 23, 2008

A Letter From God

A friend emailed me this message and I thought that it is worth sharing.


To: YOU
X-te: TODAY
From: GOD
Subject: YOURSELF
Reference: LIFE

This is God. Today I will be handling All of your problems for you. I do Not need your help. So, have a nice day.
I love you.

P.S. And, remember...
If life happens to deliver a situation to you that you cannot handle, do Not attempt to resolve it yourself! Kindly put it in the SFGTD (something for God to do) box. I will get to it in MY TIME. All situations will be resolved, but in My time, not yours.

Once the matter is placed into the box, do not hold onto it by worrying about it. Instead, focus on all the wonderful things that are present in your life now.

If you find yourself stuck in traffic, don't despair. There are people in this world for whom driving is an unheard of privilege.

Should you have a bad day at work; think of the man who has been out of work for years.


Should you despair over a relationship gone bad; think of the person who has never known what it's like to love and be loved in return.

Should you grieve the passing of another weekend; think of the woman in dire straits, working twelve hours a day, seven days a week to feed her children.

Should your car break down, leaving you miles away from assistance; think of the paraplegic who would love the opportunity to take that walk.

Should you notice a new gray hair in the mirror; think of the cancer patient in chemo who wishes she had hair to examine.

Should you find yourself at a loss and pondering what is life all about, asking what is my purpose? Be thankful. There are those who didn't live long enough to get the opportunity.

Should you find yourself the victim of other people's bitterness, ignorance, smallness or insecurities; remember, things could be worse. You could be one of them!


Should you decide to send this to a friend; Thank you. You may have touched their life in ways you will never know!
Now, you have a nice day.

Sunday, September 21, 2008

Down The Drain



Yesterday I attended a workshop on Visual Basic .Net at Genetics Computer Institute. Genetics invited me on this special event that costs 300 Pesos per participant. I have known Genetics as one of the best computer institutions in Davao and in other places in Asia. In fact, I had four trainings conducted by them.

This time things are different. The workshop I attended was a failure. The facilitator failed to meet my expectations. I was pissed off when I heard wrong information like "Bill Gates bought the BASIC programming language in able to make Visual Basic". Where in the world did he got that information?

It also sting my ears upon hearing "these things are impossible to do in Visual Basic 6" where in fact I can even teach him how to do that "impossible thing" in Visual Basic 6!

The facilitator came unprepared, his examples were wrong and doesn't work at all. He can not even make a VB.NET program to write data in an MS Access Database!

I was totally disappointed that I walked out of the session even before it ends.I don't mean to brag, but I can facilitate a VB.Net workshop a lot better!

I came to ask the registrar some questions about the facilitator and I found out that the poor guy has only been teaching for two months and was not even sent to a proper training.

It was really disappointing to see a computer institute with a very good reputation is offering poor services. I poured out my frustrations in the evaluation sheet. I hope that they get the message before they go down the drain.

Thursday, September 18, 2008

Time to Get Fit


Loosing weight has been one of my problems. Seems like this is going to a very, very long and tough ride. It has been a roller coaster ever since - I get started with a fitness routine, then I stop, start again, and again stop, and here it is again.

Based on my last annual physical exams I have some health problems like cholesterol and uric levels above normal limits, and over weight. I really wanted to loss weight, but it seems that it is getting impossible every day.

Tomorrow I will be attending a Wellness Evaluation and Scanning by ShapeWorks. Perhaps I can find insights on how to get this weight-loss goal rolling into action.

My friend Joe emailed me earlier on a diet that helped his cousin loose weight effectively. I'll see if this works for me. I'll give it a try somehow.

Tips AND Guidelines:
No more cookies, no more cake, no more of these saturated fats.

These carbs will eventually turn into fat. Foods like sugar, white bread, rice, pasta, potatoes, etc.
are high in simple (bad) carbs. Sure, your body needs carbs,

Only
Stick to high protein/good carb/low fat foods like tuna fish (and other seafood), chicken breast, turkey, whole grains, fruits and vegetables etc.

WATER! Drink water! Get rid of the soda, get rid of the beer, and get rid of the sports drinks.
Drink around a half gallon a day, more if you can. Spread it out throughout the day, just like your 5 meals. Yes that's a lot of water, but it's that water that will give you energy and speed your weight loss.

Some high protein foods include:
Meat, Chicken, Turkey, Fish, Eggs (egg whites), Nuts

How much fat?
For fat, I can't give you an exact number of grams. Instead I can give you a percent. Approximately 25% of you daily calorie intake should come from fat. It doesn't have to be EXACTLY 25%, but something in that range seems to be the ideal amount. And by fat of course, I mean GOOD fat.

Some foods containing "good" fat include:
Fish, Fish oil supplements, Nuts and seeds, Olive oil, Flax seed oil

How many carbs?
And that leaves carbs. You factored in that you need to eat 1 gram of protein per pound. So now do the math. Sticking with the 180lbs example, that means you are eating 180 grams of protein a day.

180x4 = 720 calories. So in this example, 720 calories of the daily calorie intake is accounted for from protein alone.

You can now also factor in the 25% of your daily calorie total coming from fat. Once you factored in both the protein and fat, whatever number of calories you are left with...
those will come from carbs. Got that? 1 gram per pound for protein, 25% of the total calorie intake is fat, and everything else should come from GOOD carbs.

Some foods containing "good" carbs include:
Oatmeal, 100% whole wheat bread, Whole wheat pasta, Brown rice, Yams, Sweet potatoes, Beans, Green leafy vegetables

Wednesday, September 17, 2008

Alienware Laptop



I got my hands on an Alienware laptop today. It's every gamers dream to have one. It's not mine, its from one of our executives. I just did some configurations so that a particular program could run on it. This is my "crowded" workplace. I'll do some re-arrangement once my new laptop arrives.

My new laptop is a Lenovo. I'll feature it here once I already have it. I heard that its still on delivery. I hope its going to be any sooner.

I used to have an Acer Aspire. My wife is using it now.

Do you think Alienware laptops looks good on me?

Vehicle Tracking Project

Today we presented our Vehicle Tracking project prototype to top management. It was a relief to see at last that a working vehicle tracking system is finally here. It has been one of our goals to set up a vehicle tracking software in our operations. An I think this one is turning into reality.

A vehicle tracking system spells a lot of benefits to our organization including increase in operation efficiency and productivity, cut in fuel and overtime cost, better customer service and more...

I attached below a clip from our presentation.

Tuesday, September 16, 2008

What does it take to get you 101%?



So what does it really take to get you 101%?

From a strictly mathematical viewpoint:

What Equals 100%?
What does it mean to give MORE than 100%?

Ever wonder about those people who say they are giving more than 100%?

We have all been in situations where someone wants you to
GIVE OVER 100%.

How about ACHIEVING 101%?

What equals 100% in life?

Here’s a little mathematical formula that might help
answer these questions:

If:

A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z

Is represented as:

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26.

If:

H-A-R-D-W-O- R- K

8+1+18+4+23+ 15+18+11 = 98%

And:

K-N-O-W-L-E- D-G-E

11+14+15+23+ 12+5+4+7+ 5 = 96%

But:

A-T-T-I-T-U- D-E

1+20+20+9+20+ 21+4+5 = 100%

THEN, look how far the love of God will take you:

L-O-V-E-O-F- G-O-D

12+15+22+5+15+ 6+7+15+4 = 101%

Therefore, one can conclude with mathematical certainty that:

While Hard Work and Knowledge will get you close, and Attitude will
get you there, It’s the Love of God that will put you over the top!

Occupational Hobbyist



I came to stumble upon a word called "occupational hobbyist" and I thought that it would be great if I spend some time knowing the lingo. I found out that occupational and hobbyist are two different types of people, perhaps occupational-hobbyist lies in between.

According to Mike Schinkel in his website mikeschinkel.com, "An Occupational [Programmer] is one whose job is something besides programming..." Clearly I can see myself in the description. Borrowing Mike’s words, therefore, A Professional [Programmer] is one whose job is programming [only].

In my career, I can say that I am an Occupational Programmer than a Professional Programmer. Although at certain times I perform like one.

The other type of people is called the Hobbyist. According to Mike, Hobbyist [Programmer]’s main objective is to learn. A Hobbyist [Programmer]’s goal is to get better at something, and is passionate and interested in learning ways than Occupational [Programmers]. This definition is interesting. I can see that I also possess this Hobbyist nature in me. I love to learn and explore and I am interested in learning new things that are not much of interest by Professional and Occupational Programmers.

Overall I can say that I am a 50% Hobbyist, 40% Occupational and 10% Professional Programmer. In my other professions, this came up:
  • Music - I'm a 80% Hobbyist, 15% Occupational and 5% Professional,
  • Photography - I'm a 95% Hobbyist, 3% Occupational and 2% Professional
  • Blogging - I'm a 90% Hobbyist, 9% Occupational and 1% Professional

Which side are you in?

Monday, September 15, 2008

Things Aren't Always What They Seem




This is a story about faith and perspective. I hope you like this one.

Two traveling angels stopped to spend the night in the home of a wealthy family. The family was rude and refused to let the angels stay in the mansion's guest room. Instead the angels were given a space in the cold basement.

As they made their bed on the hard floor, the older angel saw a hole in the wall and repaired it. When the younger angel asked why, the older angel replied... "Things aren't always what they seem".

The next night the pair came to rest at the house of a very poor, but very hospitable farmer and his wife. After sharing what little food they had the couple let the angels sleep in their bed where they could have a good night's rest. When the sun came up the next morning the angels found the farmer and his wife in tears. Their only cow, whose milk had been their sole income, lay dead in the field.

The younger angel was infuriated and asked the older angel "how could you have let this happen!? The first man had everything, yet you helped him," she accused. "The second family had little but was willing to share everything, and you let their cow die."

"Things aren't always what they seem," the older angel replied. "When we stayed in the basement of the mansion, I noticed there was gold stored in that hole in the wall. Since the owner was so obsessed with greed and unwilling to share his good fortune, I sealed the wall so he wouldn't find it. Then last night as we slept in the farmers bed, the angel of death came for his wife. I gave her the cow instead. Things aren't always what they seem."

Sometimes this is exactly what happens when things don't turn out the way they should. If you have faith, you just need to trust that every outcome is always to your advantage. You might not know it until some time later.

How Tight Is Your Rope?



I heard this story before and while browsing a some materials in the Internet I came to stumble upon this self-reflecting story. Here it goes:

There is a story of a cliffhanger, determined to reach the summit of a high mountain.After years of preparation, he began his adventure. Only he journeyed alone, because he wanted all the glory.

He began his ascent, and as daylight faded he decided to continue climbing. Night fell. The night fell heavy and he was overcomed by total darkness. The moonlight and starlights were hidden within the clouds. There was zero visibility

He was only a fer meters away from the summit when he slipped climbing a ridge and fell off, falling at frightening speed. While falling he could only see shadow-like figures in the darkness and felt the tug of gravity sucking him down. In those anguish moments he saw his life pass before his eyes.

He thought death was near when suddenly he felt the tighting of the rope aroud his waist that tied him to a nail embedded in the rock wall of the mountain.

In desperation, suspended in mid-air he screams "God, please help me!"
Then unexpectedly a deep voice from the heaven responds: "What would you have me do?"
"Save Me!"
"Do you really think I can save you?"
"Of course my Lord!"
"Well then, cut the rope."

There was a moment of silence, then the man tighten the rope around his waist.

The mountain rescue team tells a story of a man they found frozen to death, his hands wrapped firmly around a rope tied to his waist...
HANGING TWO FEET FROM THE GROUND...

So how tight are your ropes? Would you let go?

Sunday, September 14, 2008

New Groove

Our music team got a new groove. Jim, one of our drummers, arrived last week from Dubai. He got a 6-month performing arts contract to Dubai and is now on a 3-month vacation here. Jim’s style in playing the drums gives a new dimension to our music.

All of our drummers are skilled and talented, and everyone have their own style. Perhaps Jim’s style is one of my favorite. Jim will be back to Dubai on January 2009, but until then we shall enjoy our time playing the groove that is “world-class”.

Saturday, September 13, 2008

Cool Metal Bending Art

This cool art is made from recycled metal scrap. It’s nicely done that you can even use it as decorations or wine holders. I guess it takes metal bending skills and artistic talent to make this piece of art.

T-Hawk


Martel



Zorro

More sites to visit... Avatar State Amazing Davao Tribu Hagtik A Day Called Today

Thursday, September 11, 2008

Love in a child's eyes



A friend emailed me this heartwarming story. I want to share it with you, here it goes

A man came home from work late, tired and irritated, to find his 5-year old son waiting for him at the door.
SON: "Daddy, may I ask you a question?"

DAD: "Yeah sure, what it is?" replied the man.
SON: "Daddy, how much do you make an hour?"
DAD: "That's none of your business. Why do you ask such a thing?" the man said angrily.

SON: "I just want to know.. Please tell me, how much do you make an hour?"
DAD: "If you must know, I make $20.00 an hour."
SON: "Oh," the little boy replied, with his head down.

SON: "Daddy, may I please borrow $10.00 ?"

The father was furious, "If the only reason you asked that is so you can borrow some money to buy a silly toy or some other nonsense, then you march yourself straight to your room and go to bed. Think about why you are being so selfish. I work hard everyday for such this childish behaviour."

The little boy quietly went to his room and shut the door.
The man sat down and started to get even angrier about the little boy's questions. How dare he ask such questions only to get some money?
After about an hour or so, the man had calmed down, and started to think: Maybe there was something he really needed to buy with that
$10.00 and he really didn't ask for money very often. The man went to the door of the little boy's room and opened the door.
"Are you asleep, son?" He asked.
"No daddy, I'm awake," replied the boy.

"I've been thinking, maybe I was too hard on you earlier" said the man.
"It's been a long day and I took out my aggravation on you. Here's the $10.00 you asked for."
The little boy sat straight up, smiling. "Oh, thank you daddy!" He yelled.

Then, reaching under his pillow he pulled out some crumpled up bills. The man saw that the boy already had money, started to get angry again. The little boy slowly counted out his money, and then looked up at his father.

"Why do you want more money if you already have some?" the father grumbled.
"Because I didn't have enough, but now I do," the little boy replied.
"Daddy, I have $20.00 now. Can I buy an hour of your time?

Please come home early tomorrow. I would like to have dinner with you."
The father was crushed. He put his arms around his little son, and he begged for his forgiveness.
It's just a short reminder to all of you working so hard in life. We should not let time slip through our fingers without having spent some time with those who really matter to us, those close to our hearts.

Do remember to share that $20.00 worth of your time with someone you love.
If we die tomorrow, the company that we are working for could easily replace us in a matter of days.
But the family & friends we leave behind will feel the loss for the rest of their lives.

And come to think of it, we pour ourselves more into work than to our family.

New Stuff for the Boys




Xander likes to watch Hillsong's Kids Praise so we bought him his very own copy. Nathan also loves to listen to music, he also shares the fun of listening the Hillsong's Kids Praise.



We got Xander a Dragon Ball Z medallion. It looks perfect for him. Xander also calls this medallion "Bling-bling".

Still



Hide me now
Under your wings
Cover me
within your mighty hand

Find rest my soul
In Christ alone
Know his power
In quietness and trust

When the oceans rise and thunders roar
I will soar with you above the storm
Father you are king over the flood
I will be still and know you are God

Its Just Me



A lot of things come in my mind lately. My interest in blogging and photography sparked in me once again. I am stretched out, my schedules are so tight and I still have a lot of things to do. I noticed that I no longer do what I like doing before such as reading books, programming and watching movies. My wife called me early this afternoon an asked me to go to the movies. Yeah I need that.

My head is so full of stuff; stuff that needs to be accomplished immediately and stuffs that are lagging behind schedule. I have a lot of deadlines to meet, and what am I doing now? I have mixed feelings right now, I feel stressed and tired, but at the same time I also feel excited, perhaps its because that my new laptop will be delivered to me within the week.

Sometimes I just don't understand my self. Still I want to go for more. I do not want to stop. I know that my friends and family are always here for me, and that my Lord is with me always. At the end of this day, I know that this day is still God's present for me.