Wednesday, November 26, 2008

Venturing Photoshop

.....At last! My presence in the so called "blogosphere" is here again. I have a lot of things to share with but then I only have this limited time therefore, I can publish only one post for this day.

.....I would like to inform my audience that I already finished my Adobe photoshop self tutorial and I'm glad that I'm part of the growing community of avid photoshop followers. Being one of the software's slave entitles me to have sleepless nights trying to master different techniques that would enhance my skill.

.....I already have series of pictures being tested but only few were being saved because I don't want to fill my laptop's memory with my experimentation. I'm still reserving those awesome memory for my thesis works.


A photo taken during the Freshmen Day 2007

Modified picture through Adobe Photoshop

I'm still a neophyte trying to improve my skill. Till next time!


Monday, November 17, 2008

Here Comes The Laptop

.....At last! The I have my very own laptop. My father bought it for me and why should I give so much value for this one? It is simply because, this laptop is costly that my father need to extract some thousands of pesos just to meet its total price. Another reason is that, this laptop would serve as my personal connection and bridge for my academic life. Knowing the fact that I'm currently in my 5Th year and a candidate for graduation. Another good thing about it is that I'm now able to operate and learn different softwares that are related to Architecture. Of course, I really need to master all of those softwares for me to create a wonderful and presentable thesis.

.....All of these won't happen without the support of my father who use to sacrifice a lot just to make sure that we're on the right track.

.....For all of those photoshop savvy out there, watch out because I'm going to master it. (laughs) Anyway, no matter what would be my achievements, I'll remain as humble as always.


Touring Philconstruct 2008

.....As an architecture student, it is a must (or at least, highly needed) for us to look for different specifications and trends in the design and construction industry. That's why most of us students are looking for brochures that can help us in determining our desired materials to be used in our every designs and to give us additional ideas in every design problems.

.....I must say that students nowadays are fortunate enough because of the establishment of different exhibits and conventions. In my own case, I have participated and witnessed Philconstruct 2008 which happened last November 13-16 and was held at the SMX.

.....I did gathered a lot of brochures and freebies from different exhibitors and it was so tiring that I ended up sitting on the bench just to take a pinch of rest.

.....Philconstruct 2008 is, indeed, bigger and better than the previous ones. One thing that I noticed during my tour to different booths is that most the products that they're endorsing are environmental-friendly. Yeah you read it right, environmental-friendly. It's nice to know that entrepreneurs are now taking environmental issues seriously by developing products that could, in any way, sustain our available resources. Sustaining these said resources is a must rather than depleting them.

.....I hope that by the next Philconstruct, I will be able to see more environmental-friendly products that could help reduce the effects of these environmental dilemmas


Friday, November 14, 2008

Sweet Farewell For Blogrush

.....Have you heard about Blogrush? In case not, let me first introduce it for you. Blogrush is a website that gives traffic to lots of blog nationwide. No need for manual processes because it's just a widget away. All posts are being syndicated worldwide letting blog posts to be read all around the world. Now, enough for the introduction. Let me dig down a little bit deeper.

.....Blogrush is now being terminated by its developers due to some reasonable purposes. Here's the message that they left to their website:

---==+==---

.....After careful consideration, we have decided to shutdown the BlogRush service. If you have the widget code on your blog you will need to remove it.

.....When BlogRush launched in late-2007 it spread like wildfire all over the Web. Thousands of bloggers were talking about it and the service exploded to become one of the fastest growing free services in the history of the Web. During the first year of the service it successfully served 3.4 Billion blog post headlines and the BlogRush widget could be found on blogs all over the world; even up until the moment we closed down the service.

.....BlogRush didn't grow without its fair share of problems -- from security issues to abusive users trying to 'game' the system to much lower click-rates than expected. We also had some problems with trying to fairly control the quality of the network, and in the process made many mistakes in deciding what blogs should stay or go. All of these issues, ultimately, limited the service's full potential.

.....Our team worked very hard to try and build a service that would truly help bloggers of all sizes get free traffic to their blogs. This was our primary focus. Not once did we ever try to monetize the service with ads or anything else. BlogRush never made a single penny in revenue. We wanted to be able to help our users FIRST and then worry about monetizing the service later. Unfortunately, the service didn't work out like we had hoped. (It happens.)

.....I want to say "Thank You" to all of the great bloggers that at least gave BlogRush a test to see if it would work for them. We sincerely appreciate you giving the service a try.

.....We have received several offers & inquiries about acquiring BlogRush, but we are choosing not to go that route. While many might think this is crazy, we truly feel it's the 'right' thing to do for our users. Believe it or not, it's not always about the money. In fact, BlogRush will have lost a small fortune when it's all said and done, and it was by choice. There were many things we could have done to monetize the service but we wanted to make sure it was going to benefit our users first.

.....Last but not least I want to say that I hope the failure of this service doesn't in any way discourage other entrepreneurs from coming up with crazy ideas at 4AM (like I did with this one) and from "going for it" to just try and see if something will work. Without trying there can be no success. And as we all know, ideas are worthless without action. The Web wouldn't be what it is today without entrepreneurs trying all sorts of crazy ideas.

.....On behalf of the entire BlogRush team, we wish the best of luck to everyone with their own blogs, ideas, and crazy ventures.

Sincerely,

John Reese

---==+==---


.....I never expected Blogrush to meet its downfall that soon but then what can we do, it happened. As what people says "Nothing is permanent in this world." I agree on that and I will never blame its developers for a sudden termination. After all, I have a lot of reasons to thank them for creating Blogrush and for putting it part of history.


.....My view about John Reese's message is simple, it's filled with leadership. Why? Simply because it tells us about the team's effort in maintaining the site even though problems arises everywhere; Sufferings and sacrifices that were exerted fully; And courageousness to fulfill ideas even though it came from one's crazy ideas. It even caught my attention when John tries to challenge everyone to think of crazy ideas because from my point of view, thinking wild ideas can give us new and exciting results and those results may only be experienced if we take one step higher. What step am I pertaining? Implementation.


.....In conclusion, I would like to thank the entire team of Blogrush for a job well done. I'm hoping that you will continue to prosper the success of your creative thinking ("crazy ideas" as you call it).





Wednesday, November 12, 2008

Torture Alley

It's ten in the evening and I'm alone
Walking on streets towards my home.
I can feel the night's creepy chill
While hearing the noisy muteness that kills.

As I approach towards the alley,
It reminds me about death valley;
Accompanied by ghostly mysteries
And deep horrific activities.

With heart-pumping so fast, I move silently
Aiming to pass through the dreadful alley,
A place for wild tortures and deaths,
That continues to haunt every one's breath.

Heavy whispers entered my ears
Pleading for my innocent fears;
Longing for justice as they weep
"Please, get us out from this unwanted sleep!"

Hearing voices, that suffered from pain,
Awakens my entire weary veins;
Screams of those unfortunate victims
That was shattered by a mischievous villain.

Before reaching the end of this fear,
An unusual silhouette appeares;
Carrying the axe of life and death,
He stares at me with heavy breath.

Saving my life, I try to run away from him
But the song of death is tonight's hymn.
He implanted his axe on top of my head,
This is how my struggling story ends.

A story of a merciless prey
Slain at a dark shallow way,
Where thousands of innocent souls rally,
A place dubbed as "Torture Alley".

Monday, November 10, 2008

Teaching "Money Shots"

.....Last Saturday, with the help of my professor, I was able to attend a seminar that is being hosted by one of the United Architects of the Philippines (UAP) Chapter. The title of the seminar is Architectural Photography and it was held at the Teatro Arkitekto located at the UAP Building.

.....At first, I find this seminar unusual for my status, a student, because not all students are given a chance of attending an Architectural seminar that is being hosted by a professional organization and not its student version, which is the United Architects of the Philippines-Student auxiliary (UAPSA). As I entered the UAP Building, different views were built in my mind as what to expect, and what to learn. I began thinking of great possibilities that the seminar would give. I began observing the surroundings and watching those architects who were once students like me.

.....And of course, here comes the interesting part, the seminar proper. The UAP South Triangle Chapter introduces the speaker of that day. He was none other than Paulo G. Alcazaren. A Landscape Arcitect with a lot of experiences and expertise. One would extract much of his energy just by reading Alcazaren's resume. He is a notable architectural Photographer because he's one of Bluprint Magazine's promising photographers.

.....The outcome of the said seminar is great! Great enough that I gained a lot of information from it. He (the speaker) thought us different tips and techniques in taking pictures for architectural purposes. He even gave us different examples of shots that can be considered as a "money shot" and "tourist shot". Of course, the aim is for us to master "money shots."

.....Overall, the seminar didn't gave me any regrets. I sacrifice one of my weekend vacation and that seminar gave me a realization that it is worth spending. Given the fact that it is a FREE seminar with lots of snack, freebies and learning to ponder. Everything would not happen without their sponsor, which is CANNON. The entire seminar were devoted to Architectural Photography that is why CANNON is there to support us all the way leaving us with their motto "Delighting you always" and yes, we were all delighted.




Sunday, November 02, 2008

All Souls' Day Confusion

.....Today, November 2, is an all souls' day. Speaking of all souls' day, My relatives and I visited our departed love ones at the cemetery where their bodies were placed. As we approached the entrance gate of the cemetery, a lot of things captured my attention that brought me in creating this post. What are those? Hmmp... Those are just the things that made my mind be confused and let me question myself on the real purpose of this occasion.

.....Let me begin this way, an occasion like this lets us have ample time to visit our departed love ones and to commemorate them. But, are these reasons all true?


.....As I approached the entrance gate, a lot of tents were built with names and pictures of politicians attach to it and political signage that expresses their sympathy to the public. Are these things done because of their sincerity to the people? Or... Do this things have something to do with public exposure? I guess this occasion is not just about the dead, it is also about politics.


.....As I entered the cemetery, too much traffic greeted me due to the irregular circulation of people plus a number of vehicles trying to make their way through a thick mob. I thought that it was made clear by the news that people from authority doesn't allow vehicles to enter the vicinity? What was that all about? Is it an issue of inconsistency?


.....As I walked the pathways, I witnessed different kinds of businesses all over the place. Money really do tame people. Businesses that differ from food to unnecessary stuff. Not only that, some vendors do make noise to catch the crowd's attention. Hmmp... Noise pollution. Too much for the word solemn.


.....As I stayed inside the cemetery and tried to feel the atmosphere of the area, what even shocked me are the trash scattered everywhere. These trash are evidences of human irresponsibility that was left at the scene of the crime. These evidences are telling us that we don't care for the environment that much.


.....All I could ever do that time is to think if people still know the real essence of this holiday. Are we really commemorating our departed love ones? Are we just there because we want to impress the public with what we can do for the sake of election? Or are we just there to creating lousy stuff, fooling around, and making a lot of mess? Let's try to respect this holiday for it was made for us to offer our prayers for the soul of those people that was finally laid at rest.

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