Pinoy Blog Machine (Beta)

It’s National AD/HD Awareness Day on 19 September 2007. This campaign is being led by the Attention Deficit Disorder Association (ADDA) for the fourth year in a row.

Help promote awareness on AD/HD by distrbuting this fact sheet in your community. There’s also a list of books that ADDA suggests you read through to gain more knowledge about this disorder.

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And while we are on the subject of AD/HD… do you have a question about it? Join Ty Pennington (of ABC’s Extreme Makeover: Home Edition) and a group of AD/HD experts on the 19th of September, 8AM to midnight EDT, for some live and free Q & A. For more information on this one-day-only event, visit ADHD Experts on Call.

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I guess every person dreams of owning a house of their own. Having your own house allows you to do anything with it to make it the best home that it can be.

Unfortunately for us, home improvements are not possible at the moment as we are leasing the place that we are now living in. One of the things that we would have changed was how our garden looked. Being tenants, we are limited only to trimming the plants. And now that spring is finally here, conservatories would have been a nice addition to the house so that we can enjoy more of that warm sunshine.

The day we step and move into our own house will surely be one of the most awaited occasions in our life. With a growing family such as ours, I hope that day will be any time soon. In the meantime, we will continue on dreaming. After all, dreams do come true! :)

I’ve been hopping around on different blogs and I noticed a new trend in some blogs. They are adding this new thing called BlogRush. At first glance, it looks like a list of blog posts from different blogs. I was thinking, what is this for?

I also got an invite from Karlo.PinoyBlogero to join BlogRush last week. So I went to visit the website and try to learn about it.

What is Blogrush?

From my understanding, blogrush is a type of link-exchange where you show links from other blogs in exchange for showing your own links in other’s blogs automatically.

How does this work?

Every time you show the blogrush widget, you gain one (1) credit. This credit will be used to display your links (blog titles) in other people’s blogrush widget. For example, if I were to show the blogrush widget five times, my blog links will also be shown to other’s blogrush widget five times also.

How can this increase my traffic?

It can increase your traffic through added exposure to your blog. As long as your links (blog titles) show up in other people’s blogrush widget, you can count that as another exposure to your blog. Now what if that blog’s visitor clicked on your link, then you would have gained a new visitor to your blog. This is like having free advertising on other’s blogs.

So how do I start?

• You can start by registering an account at BlogRush.
• Then you will have to fill in your information such as Blog Name, Blog URL, Feed URL and Blog Category.
• After that, add the blog rush code to your blog to activate the blogrush widget.
• Sit back and relax. ^_^

Added Notes

• Joining blogrush does not guarantee that your traffic will increase dramatically but it increases the probability of more visitors due to more exposure of your blog.

Important Note: If you are reading this blog post from a website, then this is a copied post from Silkenhut’s Blog. The post has been scraped illegally from my RSS Feeds. Please report this copyright violation.

Erin officially turns six months today! And among the three of us, I am the most excited person with this milestone. Here's why...

We can now introduce her to eating solid foods. I insisted on buying her own bowl and spoon weeks ago and her rice cereal is now available in our pantry, in case we decide to finally give her solids. I am also thinking of purchasing fruit juices for her this weekend.

She's been very active these past few weeks, rolling around in bed all by herself. We can't leave her alone anymore! She has fair trunk control now so we're constantly practicing her sitting skills. She'll need to be a fairly good sitter once we start feeding her solids. It's also time now to consider buying a portable cot and a high chair for her. (Yay, shopping na naman! :D )

She's due for another round of vaccinations this Friday. The next set will be given when she turns one next year in March. So, we're saying goodbye for now to those painful injections. :)

I suppose there are still more new things happening with Erin but that's all that comes to mind at the moment. In the meantime, wish us luck with feeding. I hope she won't give us a very difficult time. *fingers crossed*

Would you like your website or blog to be graded in terms of SEO? Check out this Website SEO Score Tool.

What is this?

Website Grader is a free SEO tool that provides an SEO score for your website with custom search engine optimization and marketing advice for your website. Use the form above to enter your website, your keyword phrases and your competitors to receive a report about the marketing effectiveness of your website.

In order to generate a report, you will have to provide the following information:

• Website URL
• Related Keywords - Optionally enter search keywords that describe the website. The software will determine how the website ranks for the given search keywords.
• Competing Websites - Optionally enter websites of competitors. The software will provide a competitive analysis for these websites.
• Email Address - Enter your email address below. A link to the final report will be sent to this email address.

After that click on GENERATE REPORT and these are the things you will get…

Silkenhut.com got a grade of 84 / 100.

Aside from these, it will also provide more information about your blog/website with regards to SEO. The following are the additional information that you can find in the report:

• Google Page Rank
• Web page structure
• Domain Info
• Heading Summary
• Image Summary
• Google Indexed Pages
• Google Crawl Rate
• Conversion Methods
• Inbound Links
• Technorati Ranking
• del.icio.us bookmarks
• Alexa Traffic Ranking
• Readability Level
• digg.com Submission Summary
• Historical Data Available

As you can see, you can learn a lot from this web tool. How about you? What is your score? Don’t be shy! Do share. hehe

Note: Descriptions have been copied from the Website SEO Score Tool page.

I spent most of my afternoon editing and re-uploading pictures of K. Wasabi from the past and now. There are still some I still have to edit, but will do that some other time.

Originally posted on hyukta.vox.com

presents

 

Digital 101: Photography and the Computer Workshop

 

by Jay Alonzo

 

October 6, 13, and 20, 2007 (9:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.)

The workshop, designed for digital camera users who want to learn the basics of photography, discusses topics such as:

• Factors affecting photographic output
• Basic understanding of light
• The digital camera and its functions
• Exposure setting
• How to see better pictures
• How to take better pictures
• Basic image enhancement and output considerations

To further develop the participants’ knowledge, this workshop will entail photo assignments, critiquing, and a photo clinic.

Requirement
Digital camera with manual override

Venue
Filipinas Heritage Library, Makati Avenue, Ayala Triangle, Makati City (across The Peninsula Manila)

Speaker
Teaching for more than 10 years now, Jay Alonzo is considered as one of the country’s leading photography-workshop instructors. He has been teaching regularly at The Alcove since 2001, and he has also conducted photography classes for Picture Company, Pilipinas Shell, Chevron/Caltex, Procter & Gamble, and Microsoft Philippines.

In between classes, Jay is involved in shooting for hotel, tourism, and restaurant businesses such as Big Buddha, Superbowl of China, Chili’s, Pier One, Mr. Softy, Sicilian Express, Tin Hau, and Hotel Mandarin. Also, Jay is currently a photo contributor for High Life and Mabuhay (Philippine Airline’s in-flight magazine).

Fee
Php 4,000.00 inclusive of handouts, light snacks, computer use, and certificate

Due to the limited number of slots, interested participants are requested to register on or before September 29 by placing a partial payment of at least Php500.00 (non-refundable). A 10% discount will be extended to those who will settle the payment in full on or before the deadline.

For more details, please call 892-1801, email cruz.ct@ayalafoundation.org, or visit www.filipinaslibrary.org.ph.

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We will post our top scores from our trivia chat everyday.
Top scores will reset to zero every 2 weeks.

How do I join?
You have to use your own name. You have to use this name every time you answer the questions in our trivia. You need to use your own name so that points could be credited to it.
Every time you answer a question correctly, you will gain points depending on how quick you answer.

How can I change my name?
You can change your name by typing your new name on the right lowermost corner of the chat box. After typing - press enter.
You can also use this command on the chat message box (/nick myname)
For example: /nick Juandelacruz

If the chat box accepts your name then it is OK but if it asks you to identify by a password then someone owns that name. You have to choose another name.

How can I view my scores?
Just type this command (!rank) or (!rank myname)
For example: !rank
For example: !rank Juandelacruz

How can I start a trivia session?
You have to type 2 commands.
First, type (!stop) then press enter
Second, type (!trivia) then press enter
Note: Do this if the Trivia Bot is present. The name of the bot is TRIVIANURSE.
If you don't see TRIVIANURSE in the room, this means that there is no one to conduct your trivia (please come back some other time). We are looking for ways to make our trivia 24/7 but for now please bear with us.

Why can't the Bot recognize my answer?
Sometimes the trivia bot don't recognize text in bold or in colors so don't change your text properties.
Watch out for wrong spellings.

Can I use SMILEYS:
Yes.
Just type -
:)
:d
:o
:p
;)
:(
:

Good luck!

So I’m going to plug the post with this picture!



Go read/see it please.

QUOTE FOR THE DAY

Failure is only the opportunity to begin again more intelligently.
by Henry Ford

This policy is valid from 01 September 2007.

I've seen this restaurant (or more of a fastfood) a couple of times while passing the Ilustre area. TATUTS Fastfood, which is located at Governor Duterte Street and fronting Shakey's Pizza, displays a theme which can make its guests feel at home. The restaurant location used to belong to Abe's where I used to eat hot thai food. Most of dishes served here are Filipino dishes. They also have different varieties of noodle dishes. (Palabok, malabon, canton, etc.)


Since I badly need food, I happen to pass by TATUTS and decided to have my dinner here. I was their last customer for the day. Upon entering the restaurant, I saw a spring chicken poster beside their door. Since it was the first thing that I saw, I deliberately ordered a half spring chicken. It was a bit expensive (compared to the other local restaurants in the city) but it was fulfilling. The chicken maintained its tenderness and juiciness. The taste is similar to home-cooked fried chicken.


Aside from the good food they serve, the restaurant is also furnished with decorations your mother would surely love. The decorations and lamps made the place more accommodating and homey.

The restaurant is open from Monday to Saturday from 10am to 10pm. It's a perfect place for lunch, snacks and dinner. Your home away from home.








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I've been working out at the gym for three weeks now. Most often, I go to the gym during peak hours because it's the only time where I got no class. Nothing much have changed on my physique but changes can be noticed inside the gym. For three weeks, we have seen new gym enrollees entering the gym everyday. We get to see more or less two enrollees being oriented on the gym facilities everyday.

It's my habit to always take a shower after my 2-hour workout. But this evening, I didn't have the chance to do so. The male locker room was so crowded that there were still few people waiting to take their turn outside the shower cubicles. I didn't want to wait and I immediately left.

I was not the only person who noticed the increase of people enrolled in the gym. My friend, Henelsie, said that she noticed it too. We both saw the numerous number of unclaimed membership cards at the front desk. Whew.

I wish I can get a good class schedule next semester so that I don't need to go to gym during peak hours.

P.S. I noticed a week ago that local talents from ABS-CBN are enrolled in our gym too. Ala lang.









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Batang Yagit

Bisaya Word of the Week No. 4

WORD: hayag (bright, maliwanag, 明るい、あかるい)

Other Conjugations:
1. Nihayag (It became bright, lumiwanag, 明るくなりました)
2. Kahayag (Bright future or success, magandang kinabukasan)

Usages:

1. Hayag
Hayag kaayo ang suga sa akong kwarto.
The lighting in my room is too bright.
Ang ilaw sa aking kwarto ay masyadon maliwanag.
私の部屋の明かりがとても明るいです。

2. Nihayag
Nihayag ang ug kalit ang akong kaugmaon katong nakadaog ko ug lotto.
My future became bright when I won the lottery.
Ang aking kinabukasan ay lumiwanag nung nanalo ako sa lotto.
ロッテリーが勝つしたら、私の未来は明るくなりました。

3. Kahayag
Ang kahayag sa kaugmaon sa usa ka tawo naga depende sa iyang paningkamot.
A person's bright future (may mean success) depends on his efforts.
Ang magandang bukas ng isang tao kay depende ito sa kanyang pagsisikap.

Just arrived yesterday from Thailand, still feeling weary from the weeklong project management training workshop organized by the Southeast Asian Press Alliance (SEAPA). The workshop -- facilitated by MDF management trainers and consultants Susanne van Lieshout and Roshanga Wickremesinghe -- proved fruitful, as it provided participants helpful information on project-related issues such as managing projects, securing funding from various institutions, writing proposals, making presentations, among others.

As I said, the workshop ran for about a week, although a project management workshop like that takes about two weeks. As it was shortened to just a week, the workshop's sessions sometimes stretched from 9 am to 6 pm or more. And the sessions were about management-related concepts, processes, and issues. Talk about major nosebleed.

But don't get me wrong. I am very thankful that the office has sent me (together with Lara) to attend the workshop. I learned a lot from the workshop, and very eager to apply the things I learned in our projects. Plus, I get to meet old friends in Southeast Asia as well as meeting new ones. And it was my first time in Pattaya, the venue of the workshop. Overall, it was great.

The participants, which are managers, project coordinators, and budget officers in their organizations, come from SEAPA and its member-organizations, as well as partners the Timor Lorosa’e Journalists’ Association from East Timor and Centre for Independent Journalism from Malaysia. Aside from the two of us in the Center for Media Freedom and Responsibility, the other two Philippine participants were Jaileen Jimeno and Baby Cacdac of the Philippine Center for Investigative Journalism.

Here are some photos:

Some of the participants.





































Despite the hectic schedule, Lara still manages to look pretty for a photo.



Probably the most difficult task given to the participants was to make a toy car overnight. The cars should be made of recyclable or organic materials only. The participants were divided into two groups. To a group of journalists and press freedom advocates, the task was almost next to impossible.

The other group, Team Ferrari, made this:



















Our group, Team McLaren relied on heavy corporate support to do this. Meet the next "It" car. Haha.
































The two cars were tested in a car race. Because the Team Ferrari car ran faster and looked prettier than ours, it won. Boo. Haha.

When not eating at the Cosy Hotel in Pattaya (where we were billeted) or elsewhere, one fave dinner hangout of the group was this restaurant, which is near our hotel. Great food and service.



















The guy on the left wearing a white shirt, which seemed to me the restaurant's owner, knew which person ordered what food and drinks the previous night. One my first dinner there, I ordered jal jeera for drink, my first time to order it ever. Turned out it was a wrong choice for a drink. The rest of the participants, who sipped the drink, practically agreed with me. I guess it's an acquired taste. I could still feel my stomach churning every time I think of the green-flavored polyjuice potion-looking drink.
























At the end of the workshop on Friday, the participants who were leaving on the weekend were accommodated in a hotel in Bangkok.

I had some free hours on Saturday morning, so I went to the Chatuchak Park and of course, the Chatuchak Weekend Market.





























































A lot of things happened back home, most especially the conviction of former president Joseph Estrada for plunder . Man, lots of catching up to do.

This is an experiment of one of Google’s features called Google Alerts. This is the description of Google Alert based from their page.

Google Alerts are email updates of the latest relevant Google results (web, news, etc.) based on your choice of query or topic.

Some handy uses of Google Alerts include: [1] monitoring a developing news story, [2] keeping current on a competitor or industry, [3] getting the latest on a celebrity or event, [4] keeping tabs on your favorite sports teams.

Creating the Google Alert

Creating a Google Alert is easy. Just enter the search terms you want to receive updates on, choose what type of report, how often should you receive the report and give your email address.

My Google Alert Experiment

Since Google Alerts is supposed to send you alerts based on the latest relevant results about a specific search keyword/query, I thought of an idea. What if I’ll use this to send me an alert that will let me know every time Google indexes something new from my blog?

For example, if I want to receive updates of the latest Google search results on the search terms, “Pinoy Blogero Scandals“, I would use that as my search terms.
Also, did you know that you can use the search term “site:yourblog” such as “site:silkenhut.com/blog” to know what pages Google has indexed from your blog or website? Note that when Google indexes a page of your blog, it is included in the Google search results. Do you get it so far?

So now, how do you think I can get an alert every time Google indexes my blog? Ain’t it similar to receiving updates of the latest Google search results (latest pages Google has indexed) about my blog? In order to make this more clearer, I tried it by making an alert of the search term “site:silkenhut.com/blog” and here is what I got in my email.

Based on this email, I can say that it works. Although I’m not really sure if this is the supposed result in Google Alerts. What do you think about it? ^_^

Note: Sorry to disappoint you but PinoyBlogero.com does not have any scandals. haha

Yoon Eun Hye, when did you get so thin?



She’s now a model for Levi’s.

I spent these past few days at home except last September 12. I went out with Mac to search for LEAH DIZON’s Destiny Line album. It was on Tokyograph and Wikipedia that her first album will be released on that date. GRR~ I had no luck. I only saw Utada Hikaru’s albums. Tower Records and M1 are… LAME. I’m thinking of ordering it online, but I’m worried as to whether or not it will reach me in good condition. I’ve been paranoid/scared of the PO ever since they tried to charge me in DOLLARS. Yes, DOLLARS! Gawd~!

Our thesis is still, hmm, going nowhere. Well, we’ve finally come up with a better proposal paper. But since we decided on changing locations, the professor is asking for validity with the strategy we want to use which is rather confusing for us because that is what we will be defending! Asking for that before we could defend it on the finals kind of already defeats the purpose of our thesis. What the heck? They’re asking for a TABLE which is most likely because they want to skip reading all the paragraphs we came up with and I even had to edit a number of times. Our thesis is about environmental assessment. The strategy we want to do hasn’t been used in the country, for what we know. It’s been used in other developing countries and we want to show them this could be used here too. Since they’re very much clueless on our thesis, they’re like, “WHAT??? WE DON’T UNDERSTAND.” I’m guessing it would be less trouble if we make a thesis out of another thesis because it seems other groups like that get approved with no worries. WTH.

I’m now only relying on Jay. One of our groupmates pissed me off. He sent me a message last Friday asking if we (minus him) passed forms for approval in the final defense since the deadline is on that day. I thought, “Aren’t you part of the group too?” Plus, me and Jay aren’t in school everyday to know what’s going on with the thesis. It’s like he’s asking us to do things without him. When Jay talked to him last Saturday, Jay told me that he hardly cared and admitted he can’t give time for the thesis. So, we have to sacrifice ourselves just for him. Eff. There are so many people pissing me off lately that it’s not healthy anymore. My head hurts a lot with these BS.

Anyway, on to _happier_ things… I watched Romeo x Juliet episodes 17 to 18. I didn’t want to watch RxJ to be honest. Juliet’s drama annoyed me, but these episodes were good enough. It made me want to see the next episodes asap. For those who hasn’t seen this anime yet, Romeo’s a farmer already. Go watch!

I’ll make another post tonight. I’ll play Innocent Life or Lumines first as I want for my Murder Princess ep. 5 download to finish.

Here's a picture of Isabel Preysler in the latest issue of Philippine Tatler magazine, which features Filipinos of poise and social standing.

I've met Isabel before, and she is a wonderful and kind person, not to mention beautiful at the age of 56.

When starting out a new blog, part of a blogger’s concern is to set a posting frequency which determines the number of posts to be dished out by a blog in a specified amount of time. I bet some of you took the decision of choosing the posting frequency lightly, thinking that it is not that significant to waste time on. Little do you know that a fully optimized posting frequency is one of the greatest secrets of blogging that was never told (exaggerated, for effect) which can maximize a blog’s capability to earn readers.

Seriously, it’s true.

Look around the blogosphere, you will see that the more successful ones are those who provide content on a consistent basis. If readers like your blog, they would expect more of your posts from you. The decision on WHEN you will give them the content they are yearning for is the one that will greatly affect your blog’s readership.

Post post post!
So how can you choose the optimal posting frequency for your blog? Listed below are the factors that you might want to consider in choosing your posting frequency.

• Blogger’s Availability – Does your schedule allow you to have sufficient time to blog? Lay out your free time and see if you could flesh out a posting frequency that is perfect for your schedule. Remember to also give time to other blogging activities such as visiting other blogs, replying to comments, and such.

• Blogger’s Capabililty – Be familiar with your own writing capability. Are you a fast writer? Are you capable of finishing an article in a pre-defined amount of time? It would be hard to have a posting frequency of one post a day if you take 12 hours in composing one (like me), you would only stress yourself out.

• Blog’s Traffic – It would be a wise move to base your decision on your blog’s traffic behavior. The idea is to set a posting frequency that on the days that you have high traffic. If you get a lot of visitors during Saturday, you may want to put a post on or before the rush of traffic.

• Nature of the niche – Sometimes, a posting frequency of a blog is based on the nature of its niche. Keep in mind that different niches have an ideal posting frequency. For example, tech blogs are usually on a daily post basis because people want to be updated on the latest gadgets daily. Personal blogs, on the other hand, doesn’t really need to have a high posting frequency because it depends upon the mood of the blogger.

• Type of posts – If your blog features newsy type of posts, then it would be ideal and easier to have a more frequent posting frequency because they are easy to finish (all you need is the facts, your own words, and voila you have a news post). When compared to editorial-type of feature type of posts, a low posting frequency is much better because these types of posts usually require lots of time and thought for it to be finished.

Reader’s Feedback!
Here are some of the insights of my readers about Posting Frequencies [For the complete discussion, go here]

Jan (GF ni PinoyBlogero)
cguro its better na thrice a week na lang ang pagpopost para may enough time ka to think and to re-edit ur wok.. mas makakapagproduce ka pa ng magagandang articles..

Maki (No Need for Ink)
At least once a week and not so many posts in a week so that many readers will at least read all of your posts on your index…that’s just what I think for personal blogs..hehe. Personally, I like reading blogs updated 2-3 times a week. If more than that, sometimes I get lost in following the posts, but I guess it depends on the niche. I love blogs about technology so even if bloggers post 2/day, I read them.

JM (Blue Pencil Chronicles)
The goal is always to post at least once a day. But then again, that’s the goal. And I always make it a point to miss the goal. LOL. So my posting schedule is very much erratic. It really depends on the free time I have in my hands plus the topics I’m willing to discuss. So far I can make do with talking about the mundane things in life, so as of late I’ve been posting very frequently. But most of the time, my schedule dictates the frequency, not the other way around. LOL. =) But I really make it a point to at least try to post the ideal frequency. I try. LOL.

sylv3rblade (Atma Xplorer)
I think it depends on what articles you are posting and your blog age. If you’re going for informative and entertaining posts, by all means take your time with them. However, if it’s just updates, breaking news and the like, well you get the idea. As for blog age, I supposed if you’re new to the field, it’s much easier to gain readers via frequent posting. You can get on with your life after getting enough people to come back over again to your blog

P.I.N.O.Y.U.N.I.T.E.D (Pinoy United)
…If you do make it clear somewhere in your blog how frequent you’ll be blogging then you’re reader won’t rather expect more or less. But it does depend on what you’re blogging at. Perhaps, twice a week is a little too infrequent. Make it every other day. There you go, bargaining in action. Interaction is always the key. I’m not saying this as an experienced blogger but an experienced reader.

coy (Cokskiblue)
For video bloggers, once a week is already frequent enough. Not only because of the time we have to spend on shooting, recording and editing but also so that there is more time for more readers err, viewers to watch and comment on our post. The more exposure our vlog gets on our top page/index, the more people will get to watch and comment on it.

yatot (Yatot Chronicles)
ako naman… if i find a free time! wahehehehe… usually kapag hindi kami rush, i see to it na meron akong post 2-3 times a week sa english blog ko. dun naman sa taglish blog ko, dati meron akong posting na umabot yata ng 11 blog entries sa isang buwan… ngaun at most na ang 4 every month or once a week… puro kalokohan lang namn iyon e… hehehehe… ang hirap kasi ng work sa publication, walang definite schedules at iba-iba ang dates ng deadline!

To conclude this post, always keep in mind that if a blog has a higher posting frequency (14 posts a week?) it does not mean that it is already the best and suitable posting frequency. The decision of what posting frequency to choose still falls under the hands of the blogger. So just enjoy and keep those blog posts coming!

Happy blogging!

Are there other factors that should determine and be the basis of our posting frequencies? Do you think you already have the best possible posting frequency on your blog? Share your thoughts below!

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