Walk
- The car that blogging bought
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Abe [yugatech] just got his first car courtesy of his blogging earnings. Congrats pre, pasakay naman!
# - Bryan Veloso joining Automattic → Yes, a Filipino is joining Automattic, the company behind WordPress and Akismet. Congrats! #
- WordPress 2.0.4 → If you’re running on WP2, get the latest version and update your weblog. This is primarily a security release fixing several issues, but they’ve thrown in over fifty bug fixes as well. #
- Be an Expert on Anything → With blogs sprouting every second, everybody is an expert, or at least tries to. This article will help you “fake it” and command respect and fame. #
- Jani Taskinen leaves the PHP group → One of PHP’s lead programmers leaves, apparently due to political reasons related to the Israel–Lebanon conflict. #
- Writing words vs. writing software → “Whether we?re authoring software or prose, rewriting is key. Rewriting is when you turn good into great.” #
Pinoy Bloggers Meetup Two
Remember the blogger meetup I wrote about more than a week ago? As usual, I’m one of the last ones to write about it. Abe was quick to upload photos from his spankin’ new Canon EOS 350D which everyone used for most of the evening. My D60 was seated on the sidelines occassionally stealing some snaps, leaving me with three photos worthy of showcasing on this entry.
I finally got to meet and talk to Ricky Manzano, a household name in Filipino blogrolls for several years now. Due to the quirky position of our table at Italianni’s, it wasn’t exactly easy to chat with everyone. I wasn’t able to talk much with Juan, Noel, Sasha and her friend Trini. I had a bit of photography talk with Chris and Anton, and lots of WordPress chat plus blogging chika with Gail, Marc, and Arelle. Jayvee’s brother Angelo was also there and happily talking about his new gig blogging NBA news for b5media.
It was a fun evening, but I’m sure the next ones will be even better. You should be there!
- Copy What You Like → “That was one of the most valuable things I learned from painting: you have to figure out for yourself what’s good. You can’t trust authorities. They’ll lie to you on this one.” Another good essay from Paul Graham. #
- Relational Database Normalisation Process → “Normalization is the process of efficiently organising data in a database. There are two main objectives of the normalization process: eliminate redundant data and ensure data dependencies make sense.” #
- Apollo 11 TV Tapes Go Missing → Apparently, the master copies of the moon landing footages are suddenly missing, just in time for NASA’s planned return to the moon. Concidence? #
- Library of Free Data Models → Designing a database? Why reinvent the wheel, your answer could possibly be here. This is a good collection of data models than can easily fit various needs. #
- Open-source LAMP a beacon to developers → “For years, the business-software development world has been split largely between Microsoft’s .Net toolset and Java. Get ready for a third option.” #
- One of the greatest footballers ever was a Filipino → “… remains the all-time top goal scorer in the history of Spain’s FC Barcelona, one of the most storied and richest clubs in world football… “ #
Blogger meetup, again!
There will be another blogger meetup this Saturday, this time at Italianni’s Greenbelt 2. Jayvee is spearheading this one again, and a round of beer is on him. Abe will be there as well, and if we’re lucky maybe we can have him pay for bottomless iced tea!
Who: All bloggers, casual and professional
When: July 15 2006 5:30 PM
Where: Italianni’s Greenbelt 2, Makati
This will likely be another impromptu photo shoot like the previous one since we’ll probably have at least three Canon digital SLRs on that day. One is mine but the other two are tagged “classified,” and I won’t tell you if they’re up for grabs. You’d have to be there to find out. 
- Materazzi’s history of violence → If you think Zidane was crazy for headbutting on a World Cup Final, here’s a compilation of Marco Materazzi’s downright violence in other games in his career. Perhaps dirty tricks of similar nature were slowly provoking Zidane throughout their match, until he snapped. #
- The Zidane headbutt → Jason Kottke’s disection of the Zidane headbutt in the World Cup finals they lost to penalty shootout. I’m late in sharing this, but interesting still. #
Let there be light
I just finished reading this great set of articles from Strobist, a great resource–in–a–weblog for shooting with portable hotshoe flashes. Though I’ve been shooting with a Canon EOS D60 and a Sigma EF500 DG Super for almost a year now, I feel I’m severely lacking in skill in flash photography. I just wrote about taking good photos with a flash in my photography blog and was overwhelmed with all the technical stuff I didn’t know before. Now I can’t wait to try the things I just read.
Globe HSDPA @ 2000
With my problems concerning Smart WiFi’s mediocre service, I couldn’t resist inquiring about Globe’s “3G Mobile with HSDPA.”
While passing time at the Podium last Saturday, Anne and I asked about the new service, already anticipating a steep price. We were happily surprised when the Globe Hub agent mentioned that it is currently priced at 2000 pesos a month, with unmetered internet usage. You can also make calls and send SMS, though he didn’t explain the plan’s free allocations. Unfortunately, it is currently available to corporate accounts only, and no launch date has been set for mass deployment. A demo laptop was available and web page loads were zippy enough, and it should be since their theoretical maximum is set at 1 mbps.
Connection is achieved through a PCMCIA card, so the new MacBook is out of the picture. The card has a SIM module, and through it you can make voice calls and send text messages, aside from the 3G internet connection. Calls are made by using the provided software dialer and connecting a headset, or maybe utilizing the laptop’s built–in mic and speakers. The same software is used for sending and receiving SMS.
2000 pesos a month for truly mobile broadband access seems a good deal, considering most 1000 peso offers from PLDT and other providers are unreliable. However, service quality levels could possibly drop once this plan is offered to regular subscribers. A guaranteed downside is the inability to use a router for networking. Internet connection sharing might still be possible, but not as straightforward as a “LAN cable to router” setup. Despite the possible downsides, I just might avail of the service. I’d love to try this one for a test drive.
- Accidental Tech Entrepreneurs Turn Their Hobbies Into Livelihoods → Your tech hobby could just be the next big thing, just as these enthusiasts accidentally discovered. #
