NiQsTeR

May 2-9, 2011... the worst days of my life... I never thought of it to happen. My most treasured pets were gone and worst, I was not able to do anything because of what? Financial crisis. Why do we have to suffer because of this? Why do the people and the things that I love get to suffer more? I just hate it.

May 2, 2011 - Cookie

We had our meeting at school, and I spent most of the day out, and when I arrived home, she was gasping for life, she was breathing hardly and paralyzed. She can't move her body, it was so stiff and she can't even blink her eyes, it was wide open and I can feel her pain while she was trying her best to scream and ask for help. Earlier that time, around 4 am, my mom woke me up because her mouth was bleeding, but then we ignored it assuming maybe its just her tooth or something. We didn't thought that it was serious that lead her to that situation. I was so frustrated that time, and all I could do is to cry. It's really hard seeing her like that because she was like our baby. She used to sleep beside me and even under my shirt when she feels cold. She's so malambing and very cute. I'm going to miss her so much.



May 6, 2011 - Dax aka GD

4 days after Cookie's death, Dax followed. We were really curious about what's happening to them. Dax was bleeding, seriously. And we didn't know what to do. We were asking our mother to take him to the vet but she was hesitant since we were in crisis. Again, i was frustrated and i feel so useless. I was not yet fully recovered with Cookies loss, and then now? Dax. I have seen him slowly becoming weak while the blood continuously coming out of his mouth. The next morning, I was observing him walking around the house, I was sitting on the floor when he fell on my leg because he was too weak. Right then he started to vomit then I took him outside. I was carrying him and he was crying that made my heart crush. My mother decided to take him to the vet, but when they got their, it was too late. Dax left us. It was really devastating. 2 pups in a week? how worst could that be? The snow-like fur Dax. I'm gonna miss him as well.

Ahhhh! So Kyeoptda!! As in super cute! I got a little jelly-jelly because of Leeteuk.. and they are so sweet on that video T_T.. but its ok.. Leeteuk-oppa! Jjang!

No man really knows
A word is so important
Why don’t you understand my heart?
Fool you never fell in love

Sistar's sub group Sistar19 released their new single with MV called Ma Boy. They are just talented, right? I so love Bora, so pretty and the dance? just amazingly kewl!



Personally, i like the song.. it talks about a boy, who shows hints but never uses his words to tell what he feels that makes the girl confused and unsure. He gives warm looks but also looking at other woman, that's mean! And the girl... stupidly waiting for him to say "i love you". These are just so familiar. LOL.

I love them dance moves too, cute and sexy. Hyorin and Bora's voices compliment each other so well.

Download the song HERE!

Am I really that busy that I wasn't able to notice that 2NE1 released a new music video? Gosh. Thanks to Cling-Cling for the link.

When I heard the song, I felt like, wow. This song matches my current mood these past few days. I'm lonely, Cholo, Dax and Cookie are gone. I don't what happened. It JUST happened. I feel so sad that I didn't want to go home anymore. I think about them a lot, even when I'm working, I can't think straight and I'm always on tears.

But this is life, I keep reading The Edges, Word 4 the Day just to give me a little courage and perseverance to pursue and move on with my life. I know Cholo, Dax and Cookie will be watching me from up there.

OJT matters...

I've been very busy with our OJT thing. but it's our last week now. And I'm so happy with the result on the CSS and layout. :D I hope we will be able to satisfy our supervisor and coordinator.

I don't wanna talk more about it.. :D

the MV...

KEWL!! 2NE1 is just AW AW AWESOME!! I love them! I'm so excited for their upcoming concert here in the Philippines this June 4, though I'm not watching.

Download their new song here...

I think I should end this post now. Too much talking. LOL.

Latest trends. Tons of Opportunities for the information technology people. The union of the latest trends and the greatest opportunities this society offers for people. Those are the things came up to my mind when I read about our fourth exercise in Technopreneurship. If you see our society today new brands and models of mobile phones pops out in flash, huge IT companies are growing everywhere offering such great opportunities for people. When I thought making this essay, I find too simple but yet it is hard to take down because of the number of latest new things our society has. Lots of ideas came up to my mind that I end up blank. But still I will try to recover things up. So, what are my observations on about our latest trends not just in our country but worldwide as well? Actually there are a lot of things to look out for.

The information revolution is rapidly spreading and dominating our society. Everywhere we look and everything you touch have a touch of Information Technology on it. Aside from computers information technology is also present in our home appliances, mobile phones, even in simple image making, editing and logo designing can be done with the help of the latest technology in our society. But first let me just define what are these terms all about.

TRENDS

What is hot and what is not? What is cool and what is old-fashioned? Trends can be defined as the latest kinds of everything that is being used on this period of time. And sometimes it could be defined as a direction of inclination in which things are headed to. It could also be a tendency of a movement of something. I find trends as what is “in” and what is “out” of the era, a popular taste at a given time. A trend can obviously be noticed because you can see it everywhere. It could be in the sense of fashion, architecture, even in the way the people speak and most especially in the technology we have today. You see, if you try to observe from our history, lots of changes happened and it is inevitable. And we are now on the 21st century, new trends are coming especially in information technology which we know changes its trends rapidly and in a flash. If we talk about information technology trends as of today, you could cite hi-tech gadgets as one. I could still remember how we use VHS players before and using VHS tapes for viewing some old videos, then from VHS we have the VCD (or the Video Compact Disc) players and us CDs to watch videos and play music, form VCDs we o now to the DVD (or the Digital Video Disc) players which have the DVDs that could store up to 24 movies in one disc. For computers, we have the Pentium computers but now we have i7 for Intel which is way faster than the old processors. We also have some new laptops that are very cool like Apple’s MacBook Air, Sony Vaio and whole lot more, and for Christmas, I want a MacBook, hehehe. LCD (or the Liquid Crystal Display) and LED (or the Light Emitting Diode) televisions are the latest TV that more people are using now we also have it as desktop computer monitors. For me, one of the things I find fast in changing its trends is mobile devices. I could still remember using Nokia 3310 and it was the coolest phone that time, it was like everyone is dying to have one of it but now we have Apple’s iPhone, Samsung’s Galaxy S or popularly known as that Android phone also LG’s Optimus which I also know as an Android phone. In the communication world, I could still remember sending snail mails that take 3 days before the recipient receives it but now we EMAIL or the Electronic Mail that takes up a second to be sent to the receiver. And if you could observe, internet surfing can now be done using just your mobile phones and you now do not have to go to the internet cafes or open up your computers to send emails or check your inboxes. Internet connection evolved as well, before we have the DIAL-UP connections to DSL or the Digital Subscriber Line or also we have the BROADBAND which is way faster than dial-ups. We also have the plug-it devices for laptops and desktops too, actually I am using one now, and it has the same speed as DSL and it is very handy especially for outgoers because you can bring it anywhere. Aside from those connections, the latest among them is the WI-FI connection or the Wireless Local Area Network is used by most of the people nowadays especially laptop users and for now, even mobile devices also have wifi connectivity too. For job-seekers, you could now look for jobs by just sitting in-front of your computers and just wait for the employers to contact you, online jobs are also available for freelancers like some of my friends who love to stay at home and too lazy to look for work outside.

You see, everything changes easily. And because humans are always asking for more, these things I could maybe outdated already. People are so much into thinking how we could improve our lives and make our works easier and efficient.

OPPORTUNITIES

What is an opportunity? For me, it’s a favorable circumstance that could maybe help you and you could benefit from it. It is like giving you a chance to do something that benefits you. As I have observed lately, opportunities are everywhere, can be easily seen especially if your eyes are open and the willingness to achieve your goals is there. Even if you just sit in-front of you computer the whole day, you could still see a lot of opportunities there. What more if you are to explore more in the cyber world, numerous of opportunities are spreading.

Have you been to Ortigas in Manila? Well, I have not. Hehe. But I have seen some pictures of my friends when we had our field trip there. I have seen gigantic buildings and amazing sights, it was like they were on another country. As I was watching, I could sense that there are a lot of opportunities for people because of the fast changes and the evolution of technology in our society. Even here on Davao, IT companies are arising everywhere, like Concentrix and Sutherland. They give great opportunities for people, fresh graduate or even undergraduate can work there. Before the information revolution, I could still remember how people especially newly graduated students suffer from being unemployed and looking for jobs. If I am to review everything I have learned in Technopreneurship, there are still a lot of things to be discovered, a lot of opportunities to conquer and things to be explored. Every one of us is talented and skillful, if we are going to use these, I know for sure that we are going to succeed in whatever career that we will take.

CONVERGENCE
Just so you know, this word is not anymore new to me, but, a very big BUT, the meaning of it is still unclear to me. I tried to look for definitions online and this is what I got, from Wikipedia, “Convergence can refer to previously separate technologies such as voice (and telephony features), data (and productivity applications), and video that now share resources and interact with each other, synergistically creating new efficiencies.” So basically, convergence is about different things that meet, interact or converge. For example, let us say the PSITS event or the Philippine Society of Information Technology Students, once a year we hold an event where IT students from different schools gather to create great camaraderie and friendship among others, which is called convergence. There are a lot of types of convergence, it could be in by means of medical, math, technology, and a lot more. But since we are talking about the IT convergence and the trends and opportunities it has, we will just cite some points on what will happen if IT trends and IT opportunities combine.

There are a lot of things that are involved in this convergence (this is from Wikipedia):

THE INTERNET

The most popular medium in mass communication at this era. Everyone and everything is n the internet. People, places, things, and events you can find them on the internet. Even the latest headlines on the news are available over the net. Want some research samples? There are a lot of it spreading over the cyber world. Business and communication is best on this medium. In business, putting up your online store can also be done here, E-bay can be one good example, E-bay is now one of the best sites that offer stuff with great security. I also have some friends who sell their stuff over the internet like t-shirts, accessories and even gadgets too, whether it is second hand or brand new. Try to put your company online, it will be a huge blast, since people are into surfing so much, it is a good chance to boost up you company’s advertising schemes in order to be known and be popular. In communication, the internet is also the leading medium. After cellular phones, the internet became the hub of every people. If you try to contact someone, you could find the information over the net. If you want to announce something, everybody on the internet will know. Even reunions happen on the internet too. That how important and valuable the internet is.

MESSAGING CONVERGENCE

Messaging including SMS, MMS and EMAIL are some of the factors that contribute to the convergence of the IT trends and opportunities. You see, SMS and MMS can be done on mobile phones right? So since, mobile trends are fast evolving, even emailing can be done on it too.

HOME NETWORK

Since internet is worldwide, you could be in any place while just sitting. Being able to meet other people from other countries is a great thing too. Being able to develop my communication skills by talking to foreigners is very important to me. Being able to earn money while playing is fun in a way that there no pressure and I can still do whatever I want whenever I want to. Being able to have fun while talking to some old friends from the past is a hug thing to me. That is why I am very thankful to the technology.

THE CONVERGENCE

So what is this “Trends and Opportunities in Convergence” all about? So if we are going to analyze everything, it is where the latest trends and the opportunities it offers that meets together to set something and to help the society to improve. It has been a long time since this convergence began but only a few people in our country responded to it and noticed it. With the help of these latest trends and the opportunities it offers, people can live and earn money the easiest way. I also have a friend who earns at least 15,000 pesos a month by just writing an article and updating his blog. I got envious when I heard about it so I tried to do my own thing as well. I know have my own blog but still I am in the b\newbie stage. I also have some friends who earn money by just making logo designs which they can sell it to their foreign clients and earn dollars. With a simple help from these trends and the hi-tech things we have right now, everything is smooth-sailing and progressive.

Having IT trends and opportunities to converge brought new life to our society. It has greatly improved our ways of living especially those who went for several sufferings just to survive. Even high school graduate people can live the life they want to even though they do not have any degree attained.

What is meaning? How can I make one in my life? How can I put something meaningful with what I am doing? Do I love what I am doing? Is this what I really want? Do I have a great career waiting for me in the future? Can I be successful?

All this time in our Technopreneurship we are being asked about our passion and what do we want to happen in our lives in the future. I could still think about how I am going to change my life, how I am going to do a 180 degrees turn against my past mind set. I have been thinking about this ever since I have enrolled in this program. Did I make the right choice? Will I be happy on this path I took? Ever since grade school, I already have plans in my life; what course I will take; which path I should take. When I was still young, it was always been my hobby scanning my father’s architectural magazines; I love scanning his portfolios and I love looking at his blue prints of huge buildings. When I grew I bit older, I started to love drawing, designing structures of establishments; it has been my first love designing buildings. I have joined several art workshops and earned awards. At that moment, I have already known what I my heart wants. But sudden twist came into my life. Due to unexpected events, I had no other choice but to take up Bachelor of Science in Information Technology rather than Bachelor of Science in Architecture or Civil Engineering. I had to do a forceful maneuver to move on. It was quite hard for me; it was like taking away my toys; I became heartbroken. But I had nothing to do but to continue and prove to my self that I am versatile. I can do whatever it is that I am asked to do. I was just doing this because I have to not because I want to. Ever since Sir Randy became our facilitator, he keeps on instilling in our minds to know what we want as early as now. He shares things that really motivate us in reaching the summit of success. But since being on this program is not really the thing that I want, how am I going to be successful?

So I was thinking that I have already spent 3 years on this program, there is no turning back. All I did was to accept and to think of something that would make me love this course. Now, I am thinking about what I can do to myself with this path I chose. How can I be successful? How can I make myself happy? How can be useful to my family? How can I be useful in my community? As I go on with this program Sir Randy, a realization suddenly came and made me think that with this course and with my hidden skills, I can make a “thing” that would answer all of my questions. At first, I was able to determine what I love, what I do not love and the things that I can do. I was also able to determine what my purposes are, for me, for my family, for my community and for the whole world. Sir Randy even asked us to think of a techno business, which was sort of new to me.

Since we are still on the “making of a business” node, Sir Randy shown to us a video of a certain guy. That guy was Mr. Guy Kawasaki; he was once an Apple fellow and the director of Garage Technology Ventures, a venture capitalist firm. So what was the video all about? What was he talking about? Everything he said talks about how to make a meaning on entrepreneurship. Why do we have to make a meaning and how important it is to have a meaning on everything that we do. Many people on our generation want money on the easiest and the quickest way they can.

He strongly believes that the essence of entrepreneurship is to make meaning; “if you make meaning, you will probably make money; but you set out to make money, you will probably not make meaning and you won’t make money”. I was struck by what he said. Is making meaning that important in earning money? Since when does “meaning” became a way in making money? I agreed on what he said, if you really think about it, the belief he stated was sensible. People nowadays are into making money. Who else doesn’t? And then they tend to forget about what are his purposes why he came up with such company or business. We make businesses just for our own benefits and not thinking how our business could help others and the community as well.

Mr. Guy Kawasaki stated that there are three main ways to make a “meaning” to your career: increase the quality of life, right a wrong, and prevent the end of something good.

Increase the quality of life

Think of something that would greatly help and increase the quality of life not just for you but for the people around you. When starting a business think of something worthy as your inspiration and think of something big that could be your greatest motivation. As what Mr. Guy Kawasaki said, when they were making the Mac computers, they were motivated not because of the money they are going to earn but because they wanted to unleash the creativity and the skills of the Mac users, the people behind Mac were motivated by thinking how they are going to change people’s lives. It is not that hard to do, right? Instead of thinking how we can get money, let us think on how we are going to change people’s ways of living; let us think of something that will put a big mark on the industry, a legacy that we can be proud of. Through this, we will be genuinely happy and contented for sure. It is great seeing the smiles of people because of what you did for them.

Right a wrong

Observe Philippines for example, if you are a pessimistic person, you will see this country as dirty, not organize and chaotic. And as a starting-up technopreneur, it will be best to think of something that would greatly help this country. Fix something that you think is wrong. Like corruption, abuses, and such; think of something that could end all those. It would not be easy since big people are behind all of the bad things happening but start with small things and slowly pull up and let people hear your heart. And when you find something to end it, it would helpful not just for yourself but for the community where you are at as well. Isn’t it great if you will be one the people who will contribute to the end of crimes in your country? You will be an instant super hero. But yet the essence of helping is the main key for you to achieve the thing that you want.

Prevent the end of something good

Despite all the bad things happening around us, I know we could still see something good beyond all of these. If your will search deeper, you will be able to see things that are amazing and just waiting for us to be seen. If you can see something good, something great, something very useful, do not change it, instead, make something that would improve it and enhance it. Use everything that you think is the best in order to improve yourself as well. Use every resource you could have to start or improve your business. For example, there are still hidden paradise here in the Philippines for sure, instead of invading them and destroy, make something out of it like putting up a resort or a museum that showcases the greatness of our country, in that way, you will be promoting country’s tourism and yet make money out of it.

Mr. Guy Kawasaki highly recommended to at least have one of these three ways if you plan to put up a business or an organization. If you do not have any, take time to think all over again. Having these three ways could help you make a meaning in your business. Through this, you will not grow tired in working on your business since you know that you are doing it because you know you are helping others while you are earning as well.

For me as person, I have also set my own ways on how I am going to make meaning in my own very ways and experiences. So these are: to know what I want, to set my goals, to set my scope, and to determine my purpose.

SET: WHT I WANT

This was one of our activities during Techno 1, it was to determine what we love, what are we best at, and what our irritants are. I was also able to assess myself of what I really wanted to do with my life. Fortunately, I was able to find one that caught my interest and attention. It is not easy seeking for your love and your wants, although its easy when we talk about material things but when it comes to real things in the real world, it would a little harder. So it is really important to determine what you love, what you want and what your interests earlier.

SET: GOALS

Setting up your goals would help us find our paths and never get lost. Setting up goals serves as our map in our journey to our finish line which is the success of our business. These goals will also serve as our reminders and motivation. Every time we see our goals we will be reminded to be more persevered and determined. Every time we see these goals we will be able to know where we are heading and be guided.

SET: SCOPE

Just like in our Programming Management subject, it is really important to determine the scope of your business. In order not to over-do everything, determining the scope of your business will greatly help you in terms of management in time and in cost.

SET: PURPOSE

Knowing your purpose is just the same as setting some goals but it is way more deeper. Knowing what you can do in order to fulfill your purpose is a great achievement already. Having purpose in life also serves as our guide not just in your business but in your life as well. Since I told you that it is way deeper, your purpose should come from your heart and not just from your mind through paper. Fulfilling the purpose of you business is just the same with fulfilling half of your purpose in life. That is why determining your purpose and fulfilling them is a necessity and it is also a key to eternal and guanine happiness.

These are just my own list to make my own meaning. Different people have different perspective in life, which is why we have to look on both sides in order to avoid misconceptions and misunderstandings. I also highly recommend to apply Mr. Guy Kawasaki’s ways to find meaning, it is very easy to understand and very easy to apply. Its message is very clear and meaningful as what I have said. Apply at least one will help you find your own meaning and having the real happiness would be very easy.

WHAT I LEARNED?

Money is not everything. Meaning is everything. We cannot have money all the time but we can make meaning with every move we make and every breath we take. When you already found your meaning on things that you do, then you are doing the right thing and you are on the right path. I know sometimes we tend to get lost on the track but having a certain meaning could help you get back and move on.