Aja Lapus

Category: Thoughts

  • Something Personal for November

    I haven’t done a personal blog entry for a long time, but since I would be creating one in the near future apart from a tech blog and a web standards blog, I might as well … uhm … practice.

    Those links above won’t work, as I still haven’t set those blogs up yet. I’m actually waiting for the release of WordPress 2.7, so I could continue blogging there. And, I promise not to let go of this domain, as I have most online accounts registered through various email addresses here. I just hope I could manage these three efficiently (especially financially).

    So, what’s up for November? Nuthin’…

    But, I would like:

    1. a Nikon D80 or D90
    2. a 1-Terabyte hard disk drive
    3. an Apple iPod USB power adapter
    4. a Bluetooth USB adapter
    5. maybe … an iMac or a Macbook as well

    And … all my close friends with me on my birthday! Yep. I’m turning 21 next week, and this serves as my wish list. Heh. I actually had istanbul travestileri in mind a new mobile phone and a really nice gadget desk/shelf for all the stuff I have with me now (scattered on my desk and around the room, actually). But, my father bought me a new phone (a very pretty one) already, and yes … I know … I need to cleanup my room and free a lot of space.

    I didn’t immediately realize I had two of those listed above already in my wish list last two years ago, but I have better-sounding lanyard earphones and a DVD±R/RW Drive (albeit black) already. Yeah, it was that long ago!

    You could post comments below this entry if you want to sponsor any of those listed above to avoid doubling of presents—I really only need one of each kind, thank you. 😉

    Oh, and if you haven’t already, follow me on your Plurk timeline! I update there most often. Thanks!

  • WordCamp Philippines 2008

    This was the first ever WordCamp in the Philippines, thanks to the Mindanao Bloggers who organized it. I wasn’t able to resist going even when I have classes on a Saturday especially since Matt was coming.

    With the backdrop

    Midnight before the event, after I’ve finished making a presentation for an oral group report for school, I hurriedly composed a letter I wished Matt Mullenweg would sign. I slept through the night, but woke up a little later than I hoped for.

    I was actually thankful the event was held on a place easily accessible from Las Piñas. Arriving at the De La Salle College of Saint Benilde, I immediately saw Shari on her black WordCamp volunteer shirt. We entered the auditorium and looked for Lexie. With her red hair I haven’t seen before, we walked past her and Dre looking like idiots searching for someone in front of everybody. Heh.

    I brought Azusa with me, and blogged right after I’ve sat beside Lexie. She convinced me into signing up with Plurk. And so far, I’ve enjoyed Plurking that I wish you guys would join, too. 😀

    Lauriat

    After the introduction, breakaway sessions took place. I was with Lexie and Dre all those times, and we ate a bountiful lunch from Chowking together afterwards.

    That’s when we ambushed Matt for autographs. I remember he laughed when I told him, “I didn’t come to school today. Will you sign my excuse letter?” Haha! It was great! The geek in me became happy. 🙂

    Plenary sessions came, and Matt talked about the future of WordPress. That reminds me, I still haven’t upgraded my installation yet! Uh, anyway, I consider WordPress 2.7 be Matt’s birthday gift for me on November. 😆 Upgrades are promising as always, and I’m looking forward to the new version.

    Last photo

    The topic of Web standards was a part of the plenary sessions, all thanks to Shari and Sir Regnard. The geek in me was even happier. 😉

    After the event, I’ve met up with fellow standardistas Ia and Mae to talk with Shari and Lexie how we’d start the group Web Standards Philippines again. Let’s set the meetings already! 😀

    Some more picture-taking took place afterwards. I’ve posted them on my Flickr. 🙂

    It was fun. See everyone at the next WordCamp Philippines! 2009 maybe? 😛

  • WordCamp Breakaway Sessions

    Building a Blogging Community

    I’m still live blogging here in WordCamp Philippines 2008, and I’ve seen Matt already! I still haven’t had the chance to make him sign my excuse letter, though. 😀

    These are the breakaway sessions I’ve attended with Lexie and Dre.

    First Session: Creating WordPress Themes and CSS Power by Gail Villanueva

    Gail discussed the basics of creating WordPress themes especially The Loop, the separate theme files, and widgetizing themes. I was hoping for a more advanced discussion, though.

    Second Session: Building a Blogging Community by Blogie Robillo

    I actually liked having attended this session, it really gave me an idea how to start/continue forming the Web Standards Philippines group with Shari and Lexie.

    Blogging and Journalism

    Third Session: Blogging and Journalism by Danilo Arao

    I couldn’t actually explain much about this session, but I’ve learned a lot about opinion, position and views about blogging and journalism—the laws, government policies around the world, personal opinions, and much more.

    Photos with Matt on a later post. 😀

  • Here at CSB for WordCamp

    WordCamp Philippines 2008

    I’m live blogging here at the De La Salle College of Saint Benilde, and Matt Mullenweg is still missing.[1] It’s 9 in the morning and WordCamp Philippines 2008 still hasn’t started yet. I’ve already met Lexie, Dre, Shari and Ronnie, and the hall is still filling in with people.

    The event is about to start in minutes, so I’ll just post another update then.

    Footnote:

    1. ^ at least from my sight.

  • Is Yahoo! under attack?

    I could not get onto Yahoo! Messenger right this moment. Even Yahoo! Mail and Web Messenger wouldn’t load. With only a few Yahoo! services I make use of,[1] the only thing I could currently load is the homepage.

    I was thinking about a localized network issue on my part since PLDT myDSL has had a lot of negative feedback from subscribers.[2] But my cousin from another city just got online on Gmail with Chat/Google Talk, and though he is on the same provider, I could confirm this isn’t an isolated issue. Unless of course the whole of PLDT’s network couldn’t resolve a connection to select Yahoo! servers.

    So, I thought: Is Yahoo! under attack? It is, basically, on a distributed network of servers. So I could think that only the mail and messaging servers were targeted with DoS attacks. Could anybody confirm this?

    Losing a heavily used communications tool is much of a hassle for someone like me especially at these times of night. And all those cyber crime in TV shows and news articles I’ve read just fuels my h4x0r imagination.

    Ohhhkay. The moment I hit “Publish”, Messenger popped-out having just signed on again. That was weird, but the 2½-hour downtime is still something considering Yahoo! is a very large Internet corporation. So I still ask: Was Yahoo! attacked? Or should I consider changing my Internet Service Provider now? 😛

    1. ^ Those two mentioned above, Messenger and Mail.
    2. ^ Though I am still 95% positive about the service I am getting.